Hi Matt, thanx for doing this interview with us, how are you doing?
Thanks for asking me, Life is good.
You are part of the band Encephalon, can you give us a brief introduction to Encephalon?
Encephalon is a dark electronic act from Ottawa, Canada. We made our debut in 2006 on Dependent Records “Septic 6” compilation with the song “Responder” - our 3rd song written together as Encephalon. We took some time to perfect our style and after a few set backs (see question #11) re-emerged in 2009 with the Drowner EP that we released ourselves to a very positive reaction. We have been very fortunate to have a few songs included in films (The Gene Generation, Necromentia) which has exposed us to a large following outside of the usual dark electro scene.
Encephalon is an uncommon name for an electro band, where did you find it, what does it mean and why does it suit the band?
Encephalon is a medical term for “Brain” although I first heard it from the classic PS2 RPG Xenosaga, in which it refers to a virtual reality world where the consequences of what happens in that dimension effect the body of the observer. The first definition appeals to me because I continuously strive to improve myself through critical thinking and expanding my perspectives, the second definition because the more I think critically and gain perspective on things the more I tend to doubt anything is what it seems.
Did you play in any other bands prior to Encephalon, what is your musical history?
I have played synths and done backing vocals for Fractured on numerous occasions and have contributed vocals on a few songs that will hopefully be heard soon. I also did horrendous drunken guest vocals for DYM once.
Without any formal training 5am and I started making experimental music with tape decks and radioshack keyboards through guitar pedals together when we were kids, this evolved to a Ministry/Kmfdm inspired band that we did throughout highschool . After that 5am continued making Electro and EBM and I explored Ambient/Noise, Synthpop, and Goth Rock before reuniting again in 2005 to make what would become Encephalon. We both also compose music for film, television, theatre, and video games when we get the chance.
What was the reason to start with Encephalon, was it a show, a song or an occasion that triggered you to start?
I always knew I would front a band some day, it was just a matter of getting the proper confidence and vision. At the time I started it I was rather isolated socially and I liked the notion of being able to record my thoughts and put them out in cyber-space and then to go on stage and yell them at people.
Who are the other members of Encephalon, what is their role in the band?
In the studio it’s myself and 5am. I begin work on the music and record vocals and then we pass the files back and forth until we are happy. Its a long process but always brings about unexpected results. Other people who help us live and on recordings occaisonally are Nick from Fractured (www.faithisfractured.com) who plays guitars live and did the music for “Face First” and Alice - a multitalented artist who plays synth, guitar and sings live - she also wrote some of the vocal melodies on “The Killing Horizon” and “The Claw”
How would you describe your music yourself, it doesn’t fit in a box? What are the ingredients of a good Encephalon song?
Dark EBM with Industrial, Synthpop, and Goth-Rock influences - I tend to judge each song on its own as they all have something different about them. The main ingredients are beats, basslines and dynamic vocals - we usually work an organic sound like piano, choir, or string ensemble in to add more dynamics and melody. Then a ton of production and fine tweaking.
How is the music of Encephalon created, do you always follow a same structure in composing?
Not always. Generally I start with some melodies and simple beats, arrange it into something intriguing, put vocals on it, send all project files to 5am and he makes new beats and adds some sound design and synths and mixes it to be more club friendly. Once his version is almost done we usually continue editing and pass back different ideas and incidental sounds. On some of the more epic tracks like “The Killing Horizon” and “A Lifetime of Puppetry” I decided to do the entire production on my own as I didn’t feel they would benefit from being deconstructed and rebuilt. But 5am was listening along the way giving suggestions.
What are the lyrics are about, do you have certain theme you like to write about?
Existentialism, personal evolution, and trans-humanist themes are common. It would be nice to inspire people to evolve beyond emotions, religions, and traditions that have been plaguing the human-being experience for far too long. I keep my lyrics fairly metaphorical/hazy so people can project their own meanings on the words, although there is usually a personal meaning to me as well.
In 2009 you released the ep “drowner”. How were the comments on it and how do you look back on it yourself?
Considering we had zero dollars for promotion and I was responsible for every aspect of the production and manufacturing I’d say it went better then expected! we made it to the Storming the Base top ten and in one year we have sold close to as many CDs on our own as would have been manufactured if we had done our album with a smaller label deal. All the comments we have had have been positive, mostly people just want more.
Did anything weird or unforeseen happen during the recordings or did it all go as planned? Most often a first release goes hand in hand with lots of problems.
YES. Where to begin. The first major set-back was a freak accident I had in 2006 that ripped the membranes off both my eyes, leaving me unable to open my eyes and in steady agony for a week, and a little disturbed for some time after.
In winter 2007 I got really sick and one of my lungs collapsed partially which made me unable to do vocals (or breath without pain) for several months, although I swear my voice came back twice as loud after and with a greater range.
The next thing to happen was the closing of Dependent Records which really crushed me as it was one of my favorite industrial labels and we had just begun working with them after having released Responder on Septic VI. Thankfully they didn’t stay away for long!
We moved on and we were approached by Hive Records in the US who seemed really enthusiastic to release our album, it seemed like it was going to happen at first but then the guy who ran it just disappeared and I never heard from him again. More time wasted while “Rise” was getting increasingly popular with its release on “Das Bunker - Greater Than A Thousand Suns” as well as the Gene Generation soundtrack
What finally made me decide to release “Drowner” entirely myself was when we got booked for EBMfest playing alongside Iris, Individual
Totem, and Apoptygma Berzerk - I knew we would look pretty amateur without any merch so I took it upon myself to do everything it would take to get a cd and t-shirts out. It was a lot of work but an excellent learning experience, I could see myself running a label more seriously someday but for now I would like to focus on the music and let people who know the business do what they do best.
Especially the song “rise” got attention, what does this do to you as an artist? You will probably have to play it till the end of times, does this worry you?
It’s an interesting story - I had put up a demo for Rise that got passed around online and a DJ from Das Bunker got it and started playing it although the filename didn’t state the artist so they kept playing it at the club hoping someone would recognize it but of course no one did until a few months later when someone identified it on our myspace. From what I hear it was played in heavy rotation by a lot of DJ’s and eventually film director Pearry Teo heard it at the club and decided he needed it for his closing credits for “The Gene Generation” which was a nice little ego boost considering the 2 other main artists with music appearing in the film were Combichrist and Ronan Harris (VNV Nation).
In what way do the songs deviate in the live versions, after all you can’t drag all the studio equipment on stage?
They deviate quite a bit depending on how much we’ve had to drink! Although the worst days are behind me. Every set has been different, when Nick plays guitar with us he provides incredibe metal riffs that beef everything up significantly, other times we have opted for more electronic sets. On album I do all the voices but live I get 5am to do the mechanical/vocoder parts and Alice and I do the melodic stuff and some harmonies. I like to have a lot of synths and samplers on stage loaded up with crazy effects that we can make improve noise on during bridges and quiet parts.
The shows seem to be really energetic, do you see yourself more as a performer or as a creator?
I could live without playing live but i’ll never get tired of the creation aspect. For a long time I just focused on performing the songs well, but playing EBMfest and seeing some great bands at Kinetik inspired me to go the extra mile for the visual aspect so I spent a few months creating videos and graphics for all our songs and have moved our live show into more of a multimedia performance, that still totally rocks.
Encephalon appeared again on the latest Dependence compilation with the track “the Killing Horizon”. It started off with an ambient feel, can we expect such tracks more on the debut album? Why picking such a hard track to get into instead of a straight forward instead clubhit?
Sure, I’m all about drastic mood changes so there are a couple of songs that are structured to start out gentle and as they progress they shift into something more ominous.
I will always enjoy making heavy relentless club tracks but its cool to slow things down and try more complicated song writing techniques, also the dynamics make it that much heavier when it kicks in.
How far are you with the debut album, when can people expect it?
Pretty far, we have a lot of material and I want all of it to be worth listening to. Early 2011.... Most likely. After this many set backs I hate giving out specific dates!
What can people expect of the debut album, in what way has Encphalon developed since the “Drowner” ep?
Drowner was partially a compilation of the few songs we had put out in public at that point so it had very little continuity from song to song, especially in the how the vocals were effected. This time I wanted to develop a more obvious identity and take the best elements from Drowner and expand them in more tracks. My voice has gotten much stronger so I do more singing and use the vocoded parts more sparingly. You can expect the club songs to be more club friendly and the experimental tracks to be more chaotic, epic, and out there.
I read on facebook that it was really hard to create the tracklist of the album, can you explain this?
Yeah I likened it to which body parts I would keep if I had to choose. Just because over the last few years there were very few times we ever stopped writing music so there is a lot of material in various states of complete that we could work with, some of it is very old and I feel it deserves a proper burial but every time I write something new I (hopefully) feel like its a great improvement over songs I’ve done before it and am eager to release it.
What will be next for Encephalon?
We have a song coming out on the “Advanced Electronics vol. 8” compilation in November and in the fall the Necromentia soundtrack featuring our song “The Claw” is supposed to come out on itunes, although its been delayed a few times before.
Any last words for the readers?
Wikipedia everything you put in your body!
www.myspace.com/encephalon
www.integrate-or-disintegrate.com