The Lodge @ Peccatum Interview

Peccatum
an interview with Ihriel and Ihsahn

Six years have passed since the inception of your project; what would you gather to be your best and worst memories throughout this phase (and probable miscalculations at some stage in its course), both on musical and personal levels?
It is difficult to single out certain moments in this regard, but the privilege of working with music and the excitement of fulfilling albums, are ranking high on our "best moments" list. On the downside, there are all the trivialities of the music business one not only has to encounter, but often give main priority.

Lost in Reverie is your latest effort, standing equally as a vast departure on musical and visual terms; please elaborate a little on how this gem came to life, what do you treat within its abstract theme, plus why did your brother did merely a little session appearance in one or two songs instead of continuing as an element of the pack.
We always try to build on our previous experiences and work to renew and refine our expression with each new release. Lost in Reverie was a year and a half in the making and we probably threw away two albums worth of material in the process. We wanted to approach the writing process with even more diversity than before, so some of the material was taken from a purely acoustic point of view, either just building it from piano or acoustic guitar and other songs have their outcome purely in electronic equipment; then there's everything in between too. Parallel with this, we wished to explore the themes themselves in a more traditional and compositional style, to express them accordingly and weave them into new themes and patterns.
As for PZ, he left to focus fully on Source of Tide, but still helped us out with a couple of choir parts.

In contrast with your preceding works, Lost in Reverie was released by Mnemosyne Productions; what made you ditch Candlelight in the first place and what led you to create your own company by having Peccatum as its first artist? Do you plan to keep the label for your own creations exclusively or are you planning to sign other projects in the medium-run as well?
After releasing two full-lengths with Candlelight, we felt the need to move on. We got some offers from several other labels, but ended up starting our own. However, Mnemosyne productions is not just an outlet for our own projects, so we look forward to try and find new talent and start working with other artists as well. We believe in working closely with artists and hopefully do some of the production work here in our studio.

Not so long ago, you released a solo album on Jester under the Star of Ash moniker, entitled Iter.Viator; what was your incentive to craft such an ethereal and theatrical symphonic tapestry, aided by a seemingly personal theoretical ethos? And how did it come about to get together such an ensemble of guest musicians for the choir pieces, including your husband and Kris (of Jester and Ulver's fame)? To wrap it up, was Iter.Viator your only single release, or are you envisioning subsequent ones in a nearby future?
I initially had quite a few ideas which I wanted to pursue in a different manner and though Peccatum is a versatile constellation, there is always something else we have to compromise. Further on, I have every intention to keep on
working with this outlet, but at present I'm rather tied up with both Mnemosyne Productions and new Peccatum material, hence Star of Ash will have to wait for a while.

Dreams seem to depict central elements in Peccatum's universe and I consider that each one of your works (with particular attention to your last piece), could be described as dreams to be dreamt independently: would you agree with this conjecture? How do dreams influence your inner self and daily life and how would you realise if someone said that they'd grant you to be as closest to Death as possible?
We use the word dream more as a metaphor of that which removes you from the meaninglessness of everyday life and allows you to be lost within your own solitude. We do not believe in following dreams we have not dreamt ourselves and thus it also represents sincerity and the path towards a goal. To sum it off: "There is nothing I don't dream. There is nothing I don't scream - Georges Bataille."

Someone once said that "Death is certain, Life is not": how would you hold on to this notion? And grabbing the matter dealt in the previous question, would you agree that Life is but "a dream within a dream", as Edgar Allan Poe once wrote? Might the idea of Reincarnation be something you'd be prone to be opened to? If not, do you think it'd be more plausible to imagine that in one possible future, the closest thing to such a premise would be supported by the fact of tracing multiple features of a certain being (that would eventually disperse themselves in a spiritual sense) within the flesh of another human organism?
"You tell me: Life is hard to bear. But if it were otherwise, why should you have your pride in the morning and your resignation in the evening? Life is hard to bear: but do not pretend to be so tender! We are all of us pretty fine asses and assesses of burden! What have we in common with the rosebud, which trembles because a drop of dew is lying upon it? -Nietzsche."

The meaning of something is subjective in itself, while a value is definitely objective; hence, it'd be apt to consider that Subjectivity always arises before Objectivity, wouldn't you say? It's also a fact that such a viewpoint implies that human life, as we know it, is little more than that an arena of meanings, values and relationships as well. Do you think that the expansion of Consciousness is shorthand for the principle that a human is constantly uplifting meanings into values - and therefore transforming relationships from the Material to the Mental and in the end to the Spiritual?
These last questions are of such philosophical depth, that it is impossible for us to concur, or not, with your statements - and to sum up our views in a few sentences. However, we'd like to follow it up with yet another quote from Nietzsche: "Truly, men have given themselves all their good and evil. Truly, they did not take it, they did not find it, it did not descend to them as a voice from heaven. Man first implanted values into things to maintain himself - he created the meaning of things, a human meaning! Therefore he calls himself: Man; that is: the evaluator."

(Question for - and answered by - Ihsahn) Ihriel told me that you have a new solo project on the side and judging by your common remarks in the press linked to your former projects, I guess it'll be something poles apart from everything you've been musically caught up in the past; can you shed some light on this new-fangled proposal you'll make available some time this year (does it have a name yet)? And on the topic of likely involvements with musicians from your ilk, would that be some thing out of the question, or rather a question to think things over?
Yes, I'm currently working on an Ihsahn solo-album, which most likely will build on my experience with Extreme Metal.
As for session musicians, I have some ideas, but no part of this project will be made dependant on anyone but myself.

To sum it up, provide me with an insight on your upcoming projects for Peccatum, Ihsahn's solo venture and Mnemosyne Productions - and feel free to add anything you find fit to address.
At present we're working with a follow up EP and video for Peccatum, which will be out this autumn.
The Ihsahn solo-album is scheduled for 2005 and we hope to sign a couple of new acts in the near future.
Thank you for the interview and hails from Norway to all experimental music lovers of Portugal!

www.mnemosyne.no

© 2004 The Lodge

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