INTERVIEW TO Cyanbaal
(Patrick M.
Wenzel aka Georg Kasperski & Haether Wayward)
https://cyanbaal.bandcamp.com/
http://www.darksignmusic.de/?page_id=2363
https://www.facebook.com/Cyanbaal
https://open.spotify.com/artist/4yBqcQdNrIsvUrqNqQ8nFx
*HW: questions answered by Heather Wayward
First say welcome to this
written interview for Cian Orbe blog. Today we make an interview to the german/american industrial dark electronic duo Cyanbaal.
-What means the name: Cyanbaal?
Actually, "Cyanbaal" has no meaning. But someone from "Musiktelegramm Online Magazine" found out. He wrote:
"Cyan is the color that is neither green nor blue. And depending on mythology, Baal is a demon or a god.
Cyanbaal is living contradiction. You don't know what it is. " I really like this.
- Which are the concept behind your music, how you categorize your own music?
We want to create creepy, strange and morbid stories in music. Corresponding images should arise in the listener's head. We use all means of sound that are available to us. Analog, digital synthesizers, samplers, field recordings, drum computers .....
Everything that is suitable to achieve appropriate sounds is used.
It should mostly sound atmospheric and scary.
Due to the diverse musical interests that influence us, it is therefore difficult to find a clear allocation.
For the sake of simplicity, I have called it Electro Dark Wave / Post Industrial.
Sometimes there are also synth pop elements or cold wave.
I also like to break through listening habits or deviate from classic arrangements.
-This year we know a new Cyanbaal member: Haether Wayward. tell us about her.
We got to know each other through the social networks. In autumn 2019 we met with several Dark Electro Music fans in East Germany. There we went to concerts by „Fix8 Sed8“ and „Pyroline“. At the end of the weekend we had the idea to make music together. I've been looking for a singer for a long time.
We share a lot of interests and musically we fit together perfectly. It is a lot of fun to work with her. She has a lot of good ideas and turns songs that I have sometimes given up into something special.
HW /// How do you feel the experience of be member of Cyanbaal?
It has been amazingly fun. I was already a huge fan of Patrick before we met. I very much enjoy this very unique style of minimalistic dark, creepy songs with humor. Patrick has welcomed me to the project with openness and gave me full creative freedom and has embraced it. Right away he encouraged my own writings and vocals. It has really worked out perfectly. He pulls something out of me that surprises myself at times. We have made a lot of progress in one album together and it keeps going as the next album is already in process. Being across the pond from each other can be challenging but many trips are already in planning. Just waiting for the world to open again.
HW /// Favorite Bands, Music projects?
My all time favorite band is Click Click. I also like more commonly known bands like Front Line Assembly, Skinny Puppy, Covenant, Solitary Experiments which all had good time periods. But I like many different styles like This Mortal Coil, Numb, Coil, Diorama, Soil and Eclipse, and more recent bands like Statiqbloom, Fix8:Sed8 and The Opposer Divine. I am currently listening to Amorphus, Circumpolar, Black Nail Cabaret and Placebo Effect. I have interests in further listing to Minuit Machine, 11 grams, Frame of Mind. I even enjoy projects like TV HWY and Access to Arasaka.
HW/// Are you member of other music projects? do you had some in the past?
I have been into the ‘industrial/gothic’ scene since the early mid 80s. Cyanbaal has been my only personal project. I have worked a little with some bands doing intimate reviews and by providing sampling. I am working along side James Mendez of Jihad for a small fun project. Others have approached me about making a song or so. I am open to the idea for I think all artists have something to express and together with another can be a completely different experience. However, there is no one out there making music like Cyanbaal and I am very proud to be a part of this project.
- Do you release music only under Cyanbaal name of you have other monikers or music projects, bands?
At the moment I only publish under Cyanbaal. But I like to work with other people, even if it unfortunately happens very rarely.
I'm still working on another project. It's a Dark Ambient Project and I hope to publish something in the near future.
- In what year did you start making music? which was your first band/project?
I am already older. It must have been 1994. The music project / band was called "Syndrom 21", later "Schadow Basement". "Syndrome 21" was too reminiscent of "Trisome 21".
We had a small studio in a basement. In our house on Schadowstrasse. Hence the name. People always thought it should be called "Shadow Basement". But the name came from Johan Gottfried Schadow, the sculptor. So Schadow, not shadow. :)
It wasn't until 2014 that I founded "Cyanbaal". But very, very many songs are old "Schadow Basment" songs.
- Which inspiration you have from the place where you live? There's some inspiration from your country in your music?
I like my home region very much. I don't know if it inspires me musically. Probably a little. The place I live in is very idyllic and has a little dark romance. We have a lot of hilly forests. I call "Buchholz" (the place I live in) the "Dunwich" of Germany. In the vicinity there are many old castle ruins but also old collieries and steelworks that are almost all shut down today. We call it industrial romance. Maybe that's the reason for the industrial elements in a lot of the songs. :)
- Which are your favorite music projects and visual/plastic artists who inspire your work?
I'm a huge "Skinny Puppy" fan. As far as Gothic Rock is concerned, "Fields of the Nephilim" was my number one. These bands have accompanied me in my life. Today I like to hear "Lustmord" and Atrium Carceri. I get calmer with age. :)
As for art, I like fantastic art, surealism. Max Ernst, Rene Magritte, Joan Miro and of course H. R. Giger. :)
But my music is very much influenced by writers and films. I'm a huge H.P. Lovecraft fan. I also like Neil Gaiman, David Lynch and Tim Burton.
HW: Click Click is my biggest influence. Their unleashed freedom of expression is pure. Edward Ka-Spel has also been largely influential. Honestly my life has not been a quiet one, and I draw a lot of influence from personal experience and dreams. I am also a Lovecraft and Burton fan, with a little bit of Anne Rice and Clive Barker.
- How do you see the current industrial, dark electronic music scene?
I think the music has developed a lot in the direction of "techno". Much sounds very similar!
I have the impression that the musicians are focusing to be evil and aggressive.
It's okay, but it's not quite my world. I like it more subtle and more eerie, with a dark mood. And it's nice when it's more experimental and maybe breaks listening habits.
To be honest I don't know a lot of new bands.
Back then I used to go to clubs or festivals more often.
Today I listen to many old bands and reminisce about them. But every now and then I find current projects and bands that I like. It's just hard to find these bands today.
HW: Ive seen a huge uprising in the past 10 or so years. A lot try to mimic the sounds of yesteryear. But there has been a decent number of really great bands. I do like the “Post punk” sound but too many are doing it and so only a few really stand out. The “EBM/Dark Wave” scene has really blossomed as well. Still, It’s a tough go at finding something that doesn’t “sound like” someone has done it before. But those who do original material really shine. I hate labels. So I won’t even go into the millions of “genres” that could be mentioned here. Good music is a matter of perspective. Unique music is hard to find.
So far, Cyanbaal has been a pure studio project.
But we will actually play live in winter 2021/22.
We got some nice inquiries and we were very happy about it. So we decided to give a couple of concerts.
- Which is your favorite song and album created by yourself?
I fluctuate between "Cautionary Tales" and "Living Tunnel".
"Cautionary Tales" feels a little bit more varied to me. Haether alone has greatly upgraded Cyanbaal. On the current album, the vocal tracks are much better too.
The question of my favorite song is difficult.
I like "Shimmering Darkness" a lot. But I also really like "Madame Degradation". It's very dark. Otherwise "Mirage", "Schizophrenia" and "Dancing Idiots".
HW: I can really only comment on “Cautionary Tales”. As writer, personally I like “Taken”. It has deep meaning from 30 years of extorted past experiences. “Mirage” does too but with “Taken” it really comes out. As a vocalist, my favorite song is “No Escape”. Its heartbreakingly beautiful about a horrible situation. After that would be “Android Love Failing”. Its the most artistic.
stream link: https://open.spotify.com/album/2eh1rSHaPhTTqLVjBMc6dO
Oh, that was very exciting. During the creation of the album, Heather joined.
Some songs were already finished: "Shimmering Darkness", "Repressive Gold", "Figurative Self Destruction".
But many songs were still in the process of being created or in the song archive. I had sent some material to Haether. She then developed many vocal melodies and lyrics. She made suggestions for changes and took care of samples a lot. Many songs would have not turned out so well with out her ideas.
Some songs I had already written off, but by her contributions they became great songs.
Some songs are classic eerie stories set to music.
But there are also songs on the album that deal with gloomy SciFi stories and prognoses.
Some songs are inspired by SciFi books or just what might happen in the near future.
- Tell us about the underground music scene in Germany or in your zone. and which are your favorite artists from your country?
The region in which I live used to be a stronghold of the black scene. We had the legendary club called „Zwischenfall (Incident)“. Unfortunately it burned down. There was nothing like it later.
But there were many other clubs in our region where the scene has evolved.
But today, I think, a lot is going on in East Germany.
There is also the "Wave Gothic Treffen" and other great festivals every year. The cities of Leipzig and Dresden have nice clubs.
My favorite artists from Germany are "Haus Arafna, Echo West and" Blue Angel Lounge "(no dark electro).
HW: In the US our scene is very small with isolated spots in places like NY, Denver, Texas and LA. However some spots are emerging and the scene is growing. I can’t say I have looked up where every band is from but I am always on the look out for new locals bands. Nearest me, Baltimore has produced some interesting projects and seems to be a place that has laid in waiting for a long time. Bands Such as Kiss of the Whip, (the late) Precision Field, and Dan Barret of Venal Flesh and Worms of the Earth all call Baltimore home. SYZYGYX is from next door DC. My favorite bands from the eastern US would have to be Statiqbloom (NY) and Crüxshadows (FL).
- Any anecdote that you want to share with us in the creation of some track?
Yes! It's not always as serious and gloomy as it sounds. Often a little black humor flows into our songs.
Madame Degradation is very dark but actually it's all about the "Corpse Bride" by Tim Burton "
And in "Dancing Idiots" there is a reference to a style of music that I really like. "I like the electric shock therapy, POWERELECTRONIC".
Many people think of power electronics as noise or soul torture. :).
And "Clipped Wings" speaks for itself!
HW: Yes to add to Patrick, a little humor is often there. “Treachery” is about a Raven that would come to me almost every evening and hang out in the tree where I work. He stays for hours. So therefore he has his own song.
- Any news for 2021 in your music project?
We'd like to release our fourth album next year.
Otherwise we will probably start our concerts in Winter 2021/22.
And maybe the first release for my Dark Ambient project will come. That would be great.
- Any other thing that you want to say to your listeners?
Yes! Make music! Be creative! It's a lot of fun. Much more is possible today than in the past.
And it should always be about fun, not money. And thanks to the people who listen our music!
CYANBAAL APPAREANCES IN CIAN ORBE COMPILATIONS AND SINGLE TRACKS:
https://archive.org/search.php?query=cyanbaal
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