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Interview with Daniel
Pharos of Beyond The Void
January 24th 2008 by Steve Green |
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Beyond The Void are a Dark Gothic band from
Munich in Germany. They are just about to release their new album,
Gloom Is A Trip For Two and I think the quality is going to blow more
than a few people away. I spoke to lead singer Daniel Pharos, also
frontman of the Doom band Worship, about the new Beyond The Void album
and his many other projects.
Just before the release of a new album and just before a tour. I guess
it’s an exciting time for you right now?
You bet! All is buzzing here. We are full speed ahead. I am just
coming back from London, actually, where I bumped into Johnny Rotten,
and shopped away money I don't have.
I’d say the band are ready for anything right
now. The sound on Gloom Is A Trip For Two is about as professional as
it gets. How has the feedback been so far?
We have more press power this year than ever before, we have seen a
growing lists of mags in many countries who are working on reviews,
but I have actually just read only a couple which were rather good. I
wonder what the fans will say, this is the most important thing. Not
that we heed good advice, advice is for those who are afraid to lose
or to find out. But a fan gives us life. And we did not make a
critic's album this time, but actually something worth listening to.
(grins)
I love the whole album, but the two tracks
with Isadora Cortina work so well. Are there any plans to add a
permanent female vocalist?
Thank you Steve. I like her too, that's why I asked her to do those
session vocals. But I think my ego wouldn't survive another permanent
singer next to me, like a girl wouldn't survive my band. One way or
another a female singer would end up dead in our backyard. So let's
just forget about it and move on.
Seductora is a great choice as a single. In
which countries will it be available?
We are working on the world. Right now everyone can grab it at our
label
www.EndzeitElegies.com Furthermore, it is distributed in Germany,
Austria, Switzerland, UK, Italy, Mexico, Poland, Russia and Japan. We
are expanding constantly.
After 2 releases on 2 different labels,
you’ve released your new album on your own label, Endzeit Elegies. Is
it easier taking control of your own music and maybe your own destiny?
We have not yet met the label we are totally happy with (that showers
us with bucket loads of cash and calls us at night just to tell us how
great we are). And as nobody is more into us than our sorry selves, it
makes sense to put everything I earn and own and will earn and own in
the next year into this record. Why not? Money exists only to be
burned for art. So we work for our own success, a rare case nowadays.
This album is a real handmade passion product, not an industry item
that feeds a whole circus of nodders and useless accountants waiting
to be shot. Of course we have help that needs to be mentioned though,
namely the colleagues at our label, our partner label Avasonic and our
distributors. |
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Why do you think you’ve been so
popular in Mexico? Is Mexico the new Japan for gaining
cult status?
Everybody is unhappy with themselves and wants to be
somewhere else. Many Japanese bands have French/German
bastard names that don't mean a thing. Even some clubs
and parties in London have flyers written in a twisted
German nonsense. The scene in Germany is hooked on
Finland. And finally, Mexicans dig that European Dark
Rock sound including us. For them we are exotic,
snow-crusted, beer-guzzling, ruin-dwelling Old Europe
rock monsters. And they are right. Maybe it's just that
to be German sucks almost everywhere on this planet, so
if we are actually somewhere thought of as "cool", we
celebrate it.
The world is a smaller place to
reach now because of advancements such as the internet.
What has been the biggest change since your first demo
tape back in 1994?
My own quality has evolved from horrible, towards
shockingly bad. About everywhere new technology popped
up. Back then we were already recording with computers,
but hey, that seems like the stone age now. But who
cares, a good song is a good song, I don't care too much
about fashion. Still, MySpace is a big help and one of
the best ways to reach new people. |
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What’s the idea behind the virtual
world tour? And how does the 3d online world “Second Life”
work?
The idea is to become rich and famous without getting up
or donning clothes. It's a virtual online world, complete
with virtual perversion and virtual boredom. We thought,
hey, let's rock that place, and it worked. We are touring
there, people seem to like it, the press promotes it
heavily. Everyone's happy, as far as that is possible.
You are also involved in making
music for computer games. How did you get involved in this
and what games have you worked on so far?
Following a dream here. I tried before, end of the
nineties, with Gothic 1 which became a huge hit later on.
I had trouble with the software used by the game so I
missed a chance, but I am catching up on that. I want to
restructure myself to serve music alone. Right now I'm
working on Schachwelten and Broken Sword 2.5, two mystical
adventures. And frankly I can't get enough.
You’ve 2 bands, neither of them
very happy in style. What makes you smile?
It is my solemn duty to make the world miserable, and
possibly outlive it. Of course things make me smile or I
wouldn't linger. There is no humour without suffering
underneath, and vice versa, both are essential human
flavours and in bed with each other. To laugh at the world
is one prime defence I muster. I just can't stand happy
sunshiny brainless music. A rare stretch of actually funny
music does exist, e.g. Mighty Boosh, Weird Al, it's just
nothing I like to do myself. What I do like is the better
crust of British and sometimes American comedy which I
devour on DVD (again Mighty Boosh, Black Books, Father
Ted, IT Crowd, Spaced and so on), in lieu of anything
bearable to watch on our local TV.
What scene is the most miserable,
the Doom scene or the Gothic?
Clearly the Doom Scene. The Gothic scene hates mortals and
itself, but the Doom scene hates mortals, itself AND the
Gothic scene. Scenes by definition include multitudes of
people and opinions, and therefore wars and fights of all
kind. All scenes ought to be heavily decimated by drive-by
shootings. For every cool bloke I find three idiots, but
that's just mankind for you. Everything with people in it
is bound to be shit. I believe it's nice to belong
somewhere, but better to belong nowhere. |
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Going from Beyond The Void, to
your other band Worship. Who designed the packaging for
Dooom? I have to say it’s the best digipack I’ve ever
seen.
That's my friend Gustavo Sazes of Abstrata.net who also
did the new Beyond The Void album. We wanted to do
something out of the ordinary, something epic, and your
reaction makes me believe we succeeded in a way.
Are there any plans to play
live with Worship? Or is it going to remain a studio
only project?
Actually there are. I am setting up some gigs for 2008,
10th anniversary of Worship, new live musicians. I will
announce the dates as soon as I have them all together.
As you are involved in so many
projects, do you have time for anything else apart from
music?
Sadly yes. I still have to finance art with mundane
work. Something I want to get rid off as soon as
possible. People just have to hate my "art" enough to
pay decent money for it.
Apart from the new album and
tour, what else can we expect from you in 2008?
My 2 PC games have release dates in 2008. I have a
Soundtrack offer for a movie production. I will try to
start recording for the follow-up albums of Beyond The
Void and Worship this year. I want to be poor and
famous, get some new tattoos and generally spiral
downward into ruin.
Thanks for your time, anything
else you’d like to add?
Thanks for your support, everyone check our label
www.EndzeitElegies.com for news or our new MySpace
page which should be up when you read this:
www.MySpace.com/BeVoid
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