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: GOLGATHA : |
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Stark:
Hello Chris. First of all I'd like you to introduce yourself and
your project. Could you in few words enclose the beginnings of :GOLGATHA:? |
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Chris:
":Golgatha:
evolved out of the raw artistic vision of myself some years ago.
In the early nineties I experimented with gothic rock but never
managed to get this off the ground. An early project was to be
called ‘Trail of Tears’ but never went beyond some demotracks. In
2004 I was introduced to some music-programs and started
experimenting with old ideas, which now were possible to be formed
into appealling music. The CDr-album ‘Waste Land’ – inspired by
T.S.Eliots poem, was the result.
As I am not an educated musician I had to search for collaborators
who share this vision in one way or the other. Fortunately this
worked well from the start, and most of the musicians who worked
with :Golgatha: return to participate again, which I am really
happy about. Today :GOLGATHA: is the musical output of at least
two people, myself and S. Marleni, who is into folk music and dark
pop. I am usually working as a journalist, Marleni is a musician
for many years and worked with several bands from the gothic area.
But there are recently also important new female influences like
Sorakey, whose voice you can hear on the new tracks ‘Rite of
Spring’ and ‘Garden of Love’ or ‘Tunguska’. She will be present on
the new releases. Or the viola-parts by Anna-Maria K., who will
also appear on future albums. She is actually a classic musician
working in different fields. Most of our – but not all –
contributors have a connection to the gothic subculture." |
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Where that your interest in all this kinds of music (darkfolk/ambient/industrial)
has its source? |
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"I
was into several subcultures from 1987 on. First I was into gothic
rock, but in 1989 I was introduced to Current 93 and Death in June
which was really a flash for me. From then on I have been
following several musical developments and bands from different
areas: Tangerine Dream, Popol Vuh, Nine Inch Nails, Ministry,
Johnny Cash, Fields of the Nephilim, Sisters of Mercy, David Bowie,
Brian Eno, but also industrial acts like SPK, Lustmord, Coil and
obviously Current 93, Sixth Comm, Death in June and Sol Invictus.
I used to be a DJ years ago – from industrial to alternative dance
stuff." |
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Which musical and non-musical artists had the greatest influence
on you these past days? Maybe there was one very special artist
who's works were the direct impulse that you've decided to be a
musician? |
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"The
most important influence was probably Tangerine Dream, a band I
like from the age of eleven years on. I am especially influenced
by the first four albums. Records like ‘Atem’ and ‘Zeit’ were the
main reason to try this out myself. In the past two years I grew
more into folk music, so I should cite the late Johnny Cash and
Woven Hand/16 Horsepower as important influences." |
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Why have you decided to name your project :GOLGATHA:? To be honest,
it is not the most original name in the world. |
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"I
was asked that several times, but I see it differntly: Golgatha is
an eternal symbol of conflict, religion and ideology – and seems
to be more important today than ever before. Except the crusades
maybe… ;) I think this name works very well in our concept which
is about a musical reflection of these conflicts: ideas of heroism,
the arabian conflict, the east-western religious conflict,
shamanism, pantheism, mythology etc. We try hard to make the name
:GOLGATHA: original again." |
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You released two albums on Athanor Records. Could you tell me few
words about your cooperation? Will another album also be released
on that French label? |
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"I
knew most releases by Athanor and liked to idea of appearing on
this French label. I especially like the ‘Lucifer
Rising’-compilation. When Stephane agreed to release ‘Kydos’ it
was kind of a honour for me. I can’t complain about our
cooperation: Stephane produced the albums exactly like we wanted
them to be. We had complete artistic control. Both albums belong
together thematically, ‘Icarus e.p.’, which came out on a very
small German label, is more like a footnote to ‘Kydos’. At this
time no further album is planned on Athanor. But I still think it
was a good idea to appear on Athanor first." |
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The main theme of "Kydos" is heroism in all its forms. What is
heroism for you? |
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"Heroism
used to be an idealized way of life, often in context with martial
and military societies. Today this idea changed – a necessary
thing. The greek term of ‘kydos’ was stained with the blood of the
victims, today ‘kudos’ is gained by other forms of courage.
Heroism for me is to be true to one’s own ideas and ideals – not
to act for the sake of the consense of society." |
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In your opinion, can we talk about any heroic acts these modern
days, where society is selfish, consumptive and corrupt? |
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"Most
of the classical heroic concepts can only be realized as art today." |
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I think that nowadays to be hero means to survive without selling
yourself, without betraying your ideals. Could you agree with such
theory? |
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"See
above." |
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In your opinion is suicide an act of heroism or cowardice? |
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"I
see nothing heroic in suicide, although it may need some courage
to end the own life. But I am not the one to judge – some people
may have their good reason, some may be be desperate or total
loosers. Who can tell?" |
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Why have you decided to dedicate your second album to Thomas
Edward Lawrence? |
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"I
was first confronted with the myth of Lawrence when I saw the
David Lean film on German TV. I was a child then. Many scenes
stayed with me my life since then: his masochism, his blood lust,
his cruelty and tenderness in some moments. And the desert itself.
I have only been twice in the desert, but that was in California.
I would love to visit the Sahara. Emptyness itself. When I saw the
reconstructed film on DVD again some years ago the idea grew to
find out abouth the true story. I read many of the new books on
his life, which is of growing interest these days. The album came
out shortly after the Lawrence-exposition at the Imperial War
Museum in London. As Lawrence is exactly this mixture of artist
and war ‘hero’ the former album was about, it seemed to be a
natural step to focus on him directly. There are actually a lof of
connections between him and Yukio Mishima: they are both
narcissistic homosexuals, apologets of violence, fascinated by
warriors codes and the military system, they both liked ‘kitsch’
and had a uniform fetish. And both wrote some of the most
important books of the 20th century: ‘Seven Pillars of Wisdom’,
‘The Mint’, ‘Confessions of a Mask’, ‘The Sea of Fertility’…" |
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You know, you encouraged me to read "Seven Pillars of Wisdom".
After first few listenings to the album I went to library and
borrow this book. But to what degree the concept of the album is
exactly based on "Seven Pillars of Wisdom"? |
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"That’s
great to hear. Well, ‘Seven Pillars of Wisdom’ is Lawrence’ book
to create his own myth. As the album refers to this myth, it is
the main source of inspiration, but we go further in time. We
show, how his dream failed, how Arabia was broken into pieces by
the colonial forces. Lawrence’ book is about gaining something,
‘Seven Pillars’ the album is about the ultimate failure of a
dream." |
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The music on "Seven Pillars" reminds me all those old epic dramas
like... well like "Lawrence of Arabia" or other David Lean movies
for example. Is this an intended effect? |
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"I
am heavily influenced by film music, but we tried to avoid simply
sampling what we like. The idea was to combine several styles (neoclassic,
folk, martial industrial, ethnological source music) to create a
soundtrack for an imaginative movie. I see the connection to huge
epics in ‘Victory’ and ‘Akabar’, but other tracks avoid this
‘greatness’ in favour of melancholia. We don’t do martial
industrial to praise a warrior lifestyle. ‘Seven Pillars’ is more
complex and difficult. Some people got this, some didn’t." |
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What do you think about such movies, do you like'em? |
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"I
really enjoy David Leans film about Lawrence, but it is entirely
about the myth itself. I was more interested in the new and more
down to earth biographies hitting the shelves the recent years.
Realizing the ambivalences and problems in dealing with Lawrence I
kept the reference to his myth…
There are two epic films in the recent years I really like: the
director’s cuts of Oliver Stone’s ALEXANDER and Ridely Scott’s
KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. Both films try to transcend the mythical
approach typical for Hollywood cinema and head for a more
political dimension. Stone’s film is in fact a meta-mythological
discourse. But I also have sympathies for Stanley Kubricks
SPARTACUS. I do not like the Christian propaganda-films like BEN
HUR or THE ROBE. They seem pathetic today…" |
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"Seven Pillars" is very diversed album. There are so many musical
genres mixed up together. How do you control everything, that we
don't have an impression of musical chaos? |
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"That
is a very good question for it refers to the greatest challenge we
had with this concept: To keep things together despite the
diversity of its material. I discussed the album several times
with different people, changed a lot and in the end simply trusted
in my instinct and the experince of Deadlock Mutex, who did the
mastering. The album was intended to work like a audio play with a
nonchronological structure. The dramaturgy now goes in waves,
changing moods from melancholic to aggressive, to euphoria and
finally to a feeling of the sweet hereafter. Every text appearing
has a function within this context. The arabian vocals on ‘Nadir’
are the interpretation of the forword to Seven Pillars, the
dedication to ‘S.A.', which can be Southern Arabia as well as
Salim Achmet, Lawrence's lover who had died by then. [It is
mesmerizing poem. You may find at the end of this interview, as a
kind of epilogue. - Stark] I found it a nice idea to let this be
cited by a female voice – and in Achmet’s own language. So content
is similar important to musical form here." |
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I love the graphic design of "Seven Pillars", it's nostalgic and
intimate feeling... Could you tell me few words about your
cooperation with Birthe Klementowski? |
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"We
are really proud of how this concept worked out. Birthe is a young
German photographer with a unique and very dark style. Check out
her webpage: www.birthe-klementowski.de. I spoke to her about he
concept of reflecting the myth of Lawrence on a musical basis, and
she came up with the idea, not to simply use historical material,
but to create a situation that symbolizes and visualizes this idea
of reflection: She took pictures of me looking at pictures of the
real Lawrence. She totally got the idea of :GOLGATHA: being a ‘Gesamtkunstwerk’,
a complete work of art. Later she made the cover of Desiderii
Marginis’ ‘Seven Sorrows’, one of the most intense albums this
year – here the images are totally dark and pessimistic. We will
collaborate agin on the new album ‘Tales of Transgression &
Sacrifice’, which might be out this summer. There Birthe will
present a photo inspired by every track of the album respectively." |
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I see that :GOLGATHA: is among others inspired by Yukio Mishima
works. Why do you think so many projects on today's scene claim
that one of their greatest inspirations are the works of this
Japanese artist? |
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"I
am totally aware of the fascination that Mishima evokes within the
underground culture: Grey Wolves, A Challenge of Honour, Death in
June, Ostara – they all pay tribute to him. On ‘Kydos’ we mainly
took him as an example of the self confident failing of
heroism.Mishima has become a symbol for a traditional way of life
and thinking, therfore he seems of great interest for
‘conservative thinkers’. But most people are not really into his
writings, his actually decadent lifestyle and taste. His
warrior-attitude seems to me like a homosexual dandy-pose, that
makes him even more interesting on another level. For me he is
like Icarus, a ‘fallen’ artists. I think he did not reach his aim
to revive any samurai spirit – he is more or less a victim to his
ideals and ambitions, which didn’t fit into his world any more. A
martial Oscar Wilde, if you like… Mishima saw himself as Icarus in
his book ‘Sun & Steel’. To fall, not to fly, is the law. This is
his final credo. I appreciate Mishima as a writer and performer,
but I do not simply admire his idea of the warrior…" |
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What do you think about combining music and politics? |
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"Most
musicians are really simple when it comes to politics. And most
listeners as well. Rock music needs slogans the mainly young
audiences can follow. That may be considered ‘political music’,
and it seems to work: rock music as a means of revolt. On the
other hand there are really complex artists and concepts dealing
with political aspects: Laibach for example, or John Zorn’s
project Masada – another great symbolic name, by the way. What is
too vulgar for me is simply affirmative music: martial industrial
praising martial concepts. This is too cheap. Or power electronics
simply expressing a wish to dominate. There have to be traps and
loose ends in those concepts to make them interesting for me." |
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As I see you made a soundtrack for a short movie called "First
Encounter". Could you tell me about this experience? |
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"I
love to do film music, and both experiences so far are documented
on our homepage. ‘First Encounter’ is a student shortfilm about a
Kendo sword-fight. The final film is not as good as it could have
been, but if it ever might surface on YouTube, I will let our
listeners know…
I read the screenplay and worked out several mood tracks, sounds
and rhythms which I then gave to the director. He used them to
good effect. The mix on our homepage is my own idea of how these
sounds should be used." |
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Is there any director, you'd especially like to make soundtrack
for? |
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"Well,
there are too many filmmakers I could imagine to work with.
Actually I prefer thrillers and horrorfilms, but also experimental
stuff. I talked with several directors about possible soundtracks,
let’s see what will work out…" |
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How did you convince such big artists like Tony Wakeford or
Patrick Leagas to cooperation? |
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"Marleni
personally knows Tony Wakeford, so it was our honour and pleasure
to invite him to speak the Ezra Pound-lyrics on ‘Seven Pillars’.
Some people will know that Wakeford likes this poet a lot. Patrick
Leagas on the other hand was simply contacted by mail. And without
him we would have missed two of our best tracks: ‘Icarus’ and
‘Final Age of Heroism’, where he re-interpreted some of his own
lyrics in a great way reminding of earlier Death in June songs. We
are really proud of these songs. Fortunately he liked the result
which we sent him… I think of further projects, but nothing is
sure for now. Patrick has to decide this…" |
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I'd like to ask you about 5 greatest musical moments of 2006. It
can be albums, concerts, soundtracks... |
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"Well,
the best concert in 2006 was Woven Hand. I also love their album ‘Mosaic’,
it is the best in 2006. The best soundtrack I bought in 2006 was
‘Kingdom of Heaven’. It is like the possibly best martial-folk
album, only more professional… I also enjoyed the soundtrack ‘The
Fountain’ by Clint Mansell and Kronos Quartet. There is a Finnish
label called Aural Hypnox that I find interesting. And the album
‘Arabian Knightmares’ by Ure Thrall was fascinating for me. I
might not forget Coil's 'Ape of Naples' and Current 93's 'Black
Ships Ate the Sky'..." |
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Could you tell me about the concept of next :GOLGATHA: release? |
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"‘Tales
of Transgression & Sacrifice’ is inspired by George Bataille’s
philosophy of sacrifice and trangression of social taboos and
boundaries. It is musically our most melodic and rhythmic outing,
some of the songs can already be heared on MySpace. Folksongs like
‘Garden of Love’ may also appeal to a more gothic audience. Every
song might be commented in the 24 pages booklet and illustrated by
a photo that Birthe has done. The visual focus will be on mystic
organic structures. It will also be our most erotic project so
far.
On the other hand a symbiotic cooperation with the French band
Dawn & Dusk Entwined is coming up, adapting the myth of the Grail
– but on the basis of the fertility rite it originally derived
from. This album is more into neoclassical vein, but you will see." |
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That would be everything. Thank you for your time, Chris. Last
words are yours. |
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"To
fall, not to fly, is the law. – Thank you very much for your
interest in our work. We hope that there will always be people
willing to go beyond the simple pose of affirmation and develop
their own way of life and thinking. :GOLGATHA: is dedicated to you
all." |
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[ Stark ]
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************************************************************* |
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To S. A
I loved you, so I drew these tides of men into my hands
and wrote my will across the sky in stars
To earn you Freedom, the seven-pillared worthy house,
that your eyes might be shining for me
When we came.
Death seemed my servant on the road, till we were near
and saw you waiting:
When you smiled, and in sorrowful envy he outran me
and took you apart:
Into his quietness.
Love, the way-weary, groped to your body, our brief wage
ours for the moment
Before earth’s soft hand explored your shape, and the blind
worms grew fat upon
Your substance.
Men prayed me that I set our work, the inviolate house,
as a memory of you.
But for fit monument I shattered it, unfinished: and now
The little things creep out to patch themselves hovels
in the marred shadow
Of your gift.
T.E. Lawrence |
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