Interview mit Torsten Larson von The Dark Red Seed

In our last interview you already made some hints what we could expect from your debut „Becomes Awake“. Did it ultimately turn out exactly as planned, or have you come up with other ideas in the meantime?
Both are true at the same time. Some things happened as planned and new ideas are always coming as well.

You’re taking a quite different direction on your debut than on your first EP. Was it difficult to implement these new elements in a fitting way?
Interesting you think/noticed it was so different. I suppose I’m away, they are different yet in my mind they were two parts of one concept.

Has your approach to songwriting changed compared to the process on „Stands With Death“?
„Stands With Death“ was very improvised and also almost 100% live. „Becomes Awake“ was much more orchestrated and took much more time. In fact truth be told. About 80% of „Becomes Awake“ was recorded over 3 years and we recorded „Stands With Death“ in about two weeks at the very end of that time period. It was very spontaneous. But in my perspective „Stands With Death“ needed to happen first.

While some tracks like „Darker Days“ are rather straightforward, there are also rather strange pieces like „Alap“. Do you think that some listeners have a hard time dealing with this contrast?
I don’t think about that. I made this album as a linear singular piece of music. The different “movements” tell different parts of a story I’m trying to tell. It’s not pop music, so my main concern isn’t whether or not the audience likes it.

If you could just play one particular song to someone to give that person an impression of your album – which one would you choose and why?
It’s all one song. More like how a symphony has movements. I also think it would be unfair to choose one song to give an impression because there is a dynamic range of material amongst the movements.

Do you think „Becomes Awake“ has been well received by listeners – also in comparison to „Stands With Death“?
I don’t know. I haven’t been paying attention to that.

What is the thought behind the title „Becomes Awake“? Would you say that the listener can in some way be enlightened by the mythological topics that you sing about?
No, I don’t think so. Not intentionally. The concept of the album is more about my own personal journey through the traumas and pain of life. However the album is simply a story of experience many other people have had through out history. I’m just retelling a very old story that’s been told many times before in a way I hope that brings it into a contemporary context.

The content of your album contains some dark aspects, but musically there seems to be a positive mood. Would you say that on „Becomes Awake“ one or the other is more present or do you see it more as a mixture?
Yes, part of the concept of the album is the acceptance of both our dark and light sides.

Musically as well as lyrically there are many oriental influences on your new album. Where does your interest for this particular culture come from?
I couldn’t tell you with certainty where this interest first came from but it probably started when I was about 10 years old and my violin teacher gave me an album called “East Meets West” which are classical Indian ragas performed by Ravi Shankar and Yehudi Menuhin who was virtuoso violinist of western classical violin. I have always had a passion for “eastern” scales from Persia, India and Roma (gypsy) culture. I can’t say exactly why. I just love the feel and emotions they instil inside me.

Do you think that „Becomes Awake“ could bring listeners with a more western or eastern orientated taste closer to the other music style?
I hope so! But the question is too simple for a complicated answer because it’s so hard to separate “eastern” and “western” music, art and culture because the truth is that people from across most of Europe and Asia for at least hundreds of years have been in touch with each other. Traditional Roma folk music can be found in the works of Johannes Brahms and Moorish Architecture intertwined with medieval Spanish tradition. Vikings from Scandinavia began trading with Arabs in as far south as Turkey over 1000 years ago. It’s such a normal part of the human experience many of us rarely notice it happening.

The artwork was once again created by Paul Romano. Did you give him concrete instructions or did you leave it all to him – maybe after you played the record to him?
I would say yes, he had almost entirely complete creative control over the art. The only slight instruct from me was to share with him the meaning of the story and the concept of the album.

Do you plan to leave the visual realization of your music to him in the future as well?
At this point I don’t have an answer to that question.

With all the different instruments you’re using on your debut, the live realization probably isn’t all that easy, is it? How do you solve this?
We used some backing tracks but performed the set with slightly different arrangements that a 4 piece band could play. I really enjoyed performing these arrangements.

Do you already have an idea what you want to do next with THE DARK RED SEED? Will it be something completely different again or can you imagine keeping the style of your debut?
Yes, I have other ideas in the works. Now all I can say is that I have different stories to tell and as the stories evolve so will the music. I always hope my music has some threat of commonality simply through my inherent writing style but I intend to always allow my music to evolve. So you can most likely expect some familiar sounds and ideas blended with new instruments and stories.

Let’s continue with our traditional Metal1.info Brainstorming:
Spirituality: Important and difficult to maintain.
Trade war: I don’t have enough clear and objective information on that to provide a responsible answer.
Western movies: What? Western? Like movies from the West or “Westerns”?
Soccer World Cup: I have never thought about sports.
Most exciting Prophecy newcomers: THE DARK RED SEED
Electronic music: Aphex Twin always and forever – I challenge you to show me another more important or prolific musician from the last 30 years.

Thank you again for this interview. Is there anything else you would like to share with our readers?
Nope! Thank you!

Publiziert am 1. Oktober 2018 von Stephan Rajchl