Interview mit Dylan Neal von Thief

The effects of the pandemic and the lockdown vary widely – for many they were hard to bear, threatening to their livelihood or even fatal, while others were even able to find some good in the situation. How did you fare in the process?
I’m definitely in the latter category, luckily enough. I was able to continue working from home and am an introvert so having less social interactions was a dream, and both of those things meant more time for music. I feel some guilt saying that, as I’m incredibly fortunate to have not lost anyone close to me, but that was my experience.

According to the Bandcamp description, you recorded your new album „The 16 Deaths Of My Master“ almost exclusively at home and a small part in a forest cabin. How did this isolated approach work out and why did you record a small part of the music away from your appartment after all?
Firstly, I needed a place where I could record all the loud, extreme vocals without worrying about my neighbors calling the police. Secondly, I also needed one final “push” to really wrap up the finishing touches on the album, so being away from any distractions or worldly affairs really helped make that happen. It was nice too to have that final time with the album in a beautiful forest. I lugged all of my gear out there. There was a serious heat wave going on though and the cabin didn’t have air conditioning so it was actually a bit tortuous, but I like to think that made my screaming more intense. (laughs)

The mastering this time was done by John Greenham, who has already worked with some well-known pop acts. Why did you choose him and how did his work influence the album?
I normally have Chris Hackman (THIEF’s live bassist) do the mastering but I have a friend who mentioned he knows Greenham and that he’d probably cut me a deal. I was listening to his work and the mastery and breadth of his catalog really intrigued me (for example: he’s done pop but also bands like The Locust… that’s unique). It definitely wasn’t cheap but I thought “fuck it lets see what happens” and here we are. I wouldn’t say he influenced the album but he definitely gave it the final polish and adjustments needed and I’m very happy with his work. I got to be involved with the process and I learned a lot watching him do his thing.

Your new songs sound more aggressive than ever and you also use screamed vocals this time. Did you have more anger you wanted to get rid of this time?
Yeah, I think so. This album was much more personal thematically, so there was some of that waiting to get out of me but also I was never quite sure how to do that with the previous albums. I felt I got to a point creatively where I was able to make it happen in a natural way with this new album. I also wanted to put some of our live energy onto this album, and I often scream live because we just play with a lot more “intensity”.

The theme of addiction is much more present on „The 16 Deaths Of My Master“ than before. What’s the background of that lyrical focus?
For a good portion of my life I was a slave to drugs and alcohol. That world and its environs are embedded in my life map. I’ve been sober for 8 years now though!

How hard is it to sing about such personal and serious things?
You know, I don’t find it too difficult, but of course I’m rarely being totally blunt about stuff. There’s a couple tracks that are pretty emotionally raw and I had some trepidation exposing myself like that, but I got over it. My only concern now is someone thinking the song is about them. (laughs)

Your lyrics are very personal, but also full of cryptic imagery. Are your lyrics and songs solely about expressing yourself, or do you also want to trigger something in people with them or convey messages to them?
I hope the personal expression will trigger some kind of meaningful reaction or relatability. I never want to convey a “message”, I don’t want to preach or anything like that.

Both vocally and musically, the album is a lot more diverse and probably more experimental than your first two records. How challenging was it for you to integrate these new elements into your sound?
Interesting, I hear it as more accessible than the other two albums. I think it’s a bit more “defined”. I make so many tracks when I’m writing new material that I usually let the material dictate the direction, so it integrates itself in a way. I just try to keep it new and interesting for me and not repeat myself too much. New ideas just pop up all the time and if the “feeling” is right, then it works for THIEF.

You also use spoken word samples in your songs, which have always been quite cryptic, but are even harder to contextualize on the new record. Can you give us a hint about what the samples – for example the one on „Victim Stage Left“ – are about?
Ooh, that one! I love that sample. It’s from a vinyl I found that is for, like, school activities for children on rainy days. That sample is a kind of healing statement after that very intense, emotional, almost self-pitying song. It’s kind of saying “Ok, look, let’s recognize that it’s raining. Go ahead and exclaim and label that turmoil, do what you need to do about it, but then you need to get back to living your life despite the rain.”

You mentioned in a post that you also included samples from the video game „Castlevania“ in one song, and you released a download code in the form of a „Magic The Gathering“ card. Would you call yourself a nerd?
(Laughs) Yes, I suppose so. I have so much nostalgia around those things that I find them influencing me here and there. I can’t help it. In the gatefold vinyl for „16 Deaths“, there is a grid system showing all the gear used to make the songs, and there is one section showing all the tracks with „Castlevania: Symphony of the Night“ samples. They’re not overtly obvious, as I never want to “break the spell”, but they’re there.

Speaking of video games: Some have compared the dancing person in the music video for „Teenage Satanist“ to a character from the obscure indie game „Pathologic“. Do you know the game and if so, what do you think about this comparison?
I’d never heard of that game until I read some of the comparisons, so, no, no relation. I can kind of see it looking up the pictures, but the THIEF Creature mask is much more bird-like.

I have the impression that the liturgical chants are less present in some of the new tracks. Did you want to explore the possibilities in the electronic realm more instead?
Yeah. Chants/sacred music will always be a part of THIEF I think, but I already did two albums where it was the predominant element so I wanted to make some room for new ideas.

Above all, the differences between your new album and your more homogeneous, atmospheric debut „Thieves Hymn In D Minor“ are striking. Looking back, how do you feel about your first album?
I’m proud of it overall, but some of it is hard to listen to because my production/voice skills were still pretty novice back then. I’m definitely still getting my footing with that album. It’s been a long time since I listened to it, but I remember the last time it came up on my iPod shuffle I was like “oh god what was I thinking with this mix?!”. I think I nailed the atmosphere on „Thieves Hymn in D Minor“ though.

With 16 tracks and a running time of one hour, the new record is much more extensive than your previous releases. What would you say to someone who calls „The 16 Deaths Of My Master“ „overloaded“ because of that?
I’m personally a fan of shorter albums. If you want me to focus and listen to more than 40 minutes you better have a fucking banger record. I had a fucking banger record.

You also released an accompanying split with Botanist alongside the new album. What inspired you to release a joint split now after your previous collaboration?
I had a lot of tracks left over that didn’t make it on the LP. It’s not that they weren’t “good enough”, they just didn’t quite fit. I know Otrebor (the man behind Botanist) always has a ton of unreleased stuff lying around so we started to talk about doing a split to get some of it out. It was great to do, I’m glad our projects are sharing physical media together.

Your songs on the split are sonically different from „The 16 Deaths Of My Master.“ How did you decide which song would end up on which release and how do the two works connect to each other?
When I was writing „16 Deaths“ I got to the point where I had like 25 or 30 songs. There was a pretty clear river running through them as to what flowed into where. However there were 5 or 6 tracks that were kind of like distributaries. They were from the same source but went their own way. Once I knew a split would be possible I decided to release those tracks as a sort of “companion piece” to the LP. They are the LP – thematically and sonically – but in extremis.

Unlike full-lengths, splits seem to not be noticed by many or considered releases worth mentioning by a lot of listeners. Does it bother you that your split might fare the same way?
Yeah, I don’t know why that is – maybe it’s just that the same amount of PR never goes into a split (or even an EP). It doesn’t bother me though. They’re like candy or a post-dinner cigarette. Not everyone wants one but those that do fucking love it. Some of my favorite albums are splits and EPs.

Recently, British trip-hop band Massive Attack made a strong statement on social media in support of more climate-conscious concerts and touring. How do you assess the situation – is too little being done in this respect in the music industry?
I think too little is being done in the world as a whole. Every person should do their part, and I think it’s great that a huge band like Massive Attack are setting an example. However, I don’t think smaller touring bands should worry too much about it. None of us are burning jet fuel or employing a small town’s worth of roadies and stage/sound techs. We are usually barely breaking even. On a concert/festival level there are loads that can be done and if they get enough pressure from the headlining bands, they’ll do it. So, bravo!

Finally, here’s a quick brainstorming session. What do you think about the following buzzwords?
Billie Eilish: Actually like some of her tracks. Ballsy lack of reverb on her voice. Probably an industry plant.
Lo-fi: Keep it primitive!
Hyperpop: I’m not sure what this means but I already don’t like it
War on drugs: Failure and obfuscation.
Remixes: Quite a few I like more than the original tracks.
Concept album: No concepts! Direct experience!

Thank you so much for your time. Would you like to tell the readers something in conclusion?
Thank you! To anyone reading this: Hope you enjoy the album and whatever you’re going through, keep going.

Publiziert am 10. November 2021 von Stephan Rajchl