Printed From: Progarchives.com
Category: Progressive Music Lounges
Forum Name: Interviews
Forum Description: Original interviews with Prog artists (which are exclusive to Prog Archives)
URL: http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=82716 Printed Date: December 23 2024 at 07:25 Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 11.01 - http://www.webwizforums.com
Topic: Silvester AnfangPosted By: toroddfuglesteg
Subject: Silvester Anfang
Date Posted: November 12 2011 at 17:55
An evil, demonic free folk / "acid" rock collective coming from Belgium. Albums such as Echte Vlaamse Geiten (2007), Satanische Vrede (2006) reveal mesmerizing, absolutely weird loops & drones, dark psychedelic improvisations and bluesy-kraut epics. In some aspects, their music can be considered as an original combination between the funeral & aggressive heavy krautrock of German Oak, the primitive, pastoral folk of the first Amon Duul or Dom and the hypnotic dark ambient of Aethenor. A macabre, neo krautrock celebration! The band collaborated with the American folk guitarist Jack Rose (also known for his mantra, abstract, droning acoustic recordings under the name Pelt).
..... Tasty ! I got in touch with them and Glen answered my questions.
Your
biography has been covered in your ProgArchives profile so let's
bypass the
biography details. But which bands/artists were you influenced by and
why
did you choose that name ?
We
are influenced by a lot of things. Krautrock (bands like German Oak,
Kalacakra, ...) and late 60’s and early 70’s psych (Träd, Gräs
Och Stenar, Pärson Sound, ...) have been a huge influence. But also
a lot of newer bands like Davenport, Vibracathedral Orchestra, ...
have left their marks on Silvester Anfang and Sylvester Anfang II.
The
name of the band comes from the intro Conrad Schnitzler made for the
Deathcrush E.P. by Mayhem. A band that we all really liked when
starting things.
Now
are influences are very divers. We still are deeply into kraut, psych
and metal, but also ethnical music, minimalism, Indian classical
music and folk music in different styles take place on our
turntables.
Your
album titles has some demonic and satanic undertones. What is your relation
with the fallen angel and what is the whole Silvester Anfang/Funeral
Folk concept and ethics ?
When
we started Silvester Anfang and Funeral Folk some of us were really
into metal and everything related. It provided us a lot of
inspiration for the early “concept” of the label and the band.
But when time shifted we also got interested in heavy tripped out
stuff and psychedelic images. We always look for images that suite
our music well and that we like. We are all big fans of lo-fi
esthetics, so it think that is the most important thing.
You
also have a good relationship with goats. Is there anything about
goats we
as mostly mundane city dwellers should be aware of if we by chance
should bump
into some goats ?
Goats
are really strong. Don not ever underestimate the power of the goat!
For the rest they provide wool to keep us warm during winter and when
they pass away they are great food.
This
is an archive based interview also intended for the fans you get well after both you and I have passed away so let's go straight to your albums. Please
give us your views/some words on your albums, starting with.......
I
think it’s almost impossible to comment on all those albums
separately. They already date from a while back. Most of the
recordings were made on a 4-track on the attic of my parents place in
a small town where some of us grew up. All the tracks are recorded in
one take during sessions that could take up to 7 hours. That’s also
why sometimes it’s hard to remember when what was recorded and who
played what intrument. What I really like on all these recordings is
that you can hear the evolution of the band. It’s nice to have
those things documented, even if some of them are probably less
interesting or good. You can hear us discovering new territories. We
are constantly looking for new sounds, instruments, ways to approach
to what we do and try to get new things done.
For
those of us unknown with your music; how would you describe your
music ?
I
find it always hard to describe our music, because it’s a blend of
a lot of influences and styles. A lot is also based on improvisation,
but I don’t think that makes us an improv band. I think we try to
make music we are all really into and that’s a mixture of far out
psychedelic sounds, no matter from which genre they come. Maybe you
can call it free music, but that also sounds a bit stupid. We
constantly try to change the path we walk on and that sometimes makes
it hard to describe.
How
is the creative processes from coming up with an idea to it's being recorded ?
We
don’t really talk a lot about what we do. Most of the time we just
set a date for recording and when everybody shows up and sets up
their gear we just put up the mics and press the “record” button.
Afterwards we edit the jams and keep the parts that we like. Out of
those jams we select the tracks who fit together as a record. And
ofcourse, there is a lot of hanging out, drinking beers and making
bad jokes involved in the process.
You
have changed your name to Funeral Folk. What is the reason for this
and what
is your plans for the future ?
In
fact Funeral Folk is the label that we started to release the first
recordings of the band Silvester Anfang. After a while the music of
Silvester Anfang changed and we changed the name of the band to
Sylvester Anfang II. But we kept Funeral Folk as the name for the
label and it still excists today. We haven’t done a lot of releases
the last years (except for the Aqua Nebula Oscillator archive LP),
but we are still planning some action.
To
wrap up this interview, is there anything you want to add to this interview
?
Thanks!
Thank you to Glen for this interview
Their PA profile is http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=3045" rel="nofollow - and their homepage is http://www.funeralfolk.be" rel="nofollow -