Interview with Eric of Thesyre 2007

By Bradley Smith

Your new album Exist! Has been unleashed and it is an advancement by leaps and bounds over Duality in both concept and actual musical skill and structure.  Can you tell us a little bit about the concept behind it and how you approached constructing it?  Do you think having such a long single track as your entire album might be a double edged sword for the fans?

“Exist!” was built as a single piece of music in order to go along with the idea that life is a continuous, uninterrupted journey. The different sections of the song were written with the idea that there is up and downs as well calmer and more tumultuous moments in a lifetime. Obviously having an album done this way can either be real good for people already supporting our band but it might also be harder for newcomers to get into us due to the more challenging nature of the music this time. We hope people can get over this and really let the music convince them; not simply the fact that we have 10 short and catchy songs easy to get into on the first listen.

Well do you think that a lot of bands make their music too easy to digest these days?  Was Exist sort of a fist in the face of that sort of thinking?

I think it was more a way for us to avoid painting ourselves into a corner. With our previous two albums we were stripping everything down to its very core and although it helped create some really effective, to the point songs, it also sacrificed any chances of subtlety for us. ‘Exist!’ was our way to bring back the possibility to expand our own sound without sacrificing the approach. This album might as well be an indicator or a distraction of things to come, time will tell…

You guys made a pretty big step up in the world by switching to the much more well known label Osmose.  How has this transition been and what prompted the change?  How is your relationship with your old label?

Osmose came in the picture at the right time. We were experiencing a major drop with our past label, Selbstmord Services, and we were looking for someone to push us in the right direction. The transition has been really easy. We speak the same language and everything Osmose says gets done. We’re glad we signed with such a legendary label and we’re really satisfied with what they’re doing for us right now. As for any relationship with our last label, it’s inexistent!

Why is the relationship nonexistent?  Is there bad blood there or were you able to part on amicable terms?

The relationship is inexistent as we never heard back from the label since their supposed ‘bankrupt’ state, which led to their demise. They never sent us any sales report since ‘Duality’ got released. We still have no idea if all the copies manufactured have been sold or are gathering dust somewhere. Even the label manager is still missing for now, although we suspect he’s just trying to have everyone thinking he’s dead or something. The end of our relationship was simply wrongly handled and we’re in NO way to blame in the proceedings.

With the switch to Osmose, Thesyre is getting “Bigger and Better” exposure as a band.  Can you tell me how this has been manifested and have you noticed a great deal of difference from before Osmose and now after Osmose?

Well, the main difference is the promotion. Our previous albums benefited from almost no promotion at all. Our first album was self-released and we handled all the promotion ourselves. Selbstmord did one advertisement I am aware of and that’s about it. We did a few interviews and I had to book a lot more by myself to at least make sure our name was circulating around. Osmose sent promos everywhere, we get a lot of reviews and so far I am still answering interviews weekly. Hopefully all this will translate into decent albums sales as well. It’s obvious that a label such as Osmose will look out for substantial sales to back up their investment in us and I can only hope they’ll keep pushing us this way with the next album.

You say Osmose wants a return on their investment.  How did their investment compare to your previous label’s?  I am assuming it was larger so did this enable you the freedom to do anything you weren’t able to do in the past?

We’re usually fast in the studio so we do not need a big recording budget. We’re probably among their less expensive bands at the moment and I think we delivered them an excellent product. Quality and price-wise we’re a safe bet I think. Manufacturing and promoting an album cost a lot of money and I guess this is where Osmose is looking to have its investment returned first, which is normal business-wise. We get total artistic freedom on Osmose and this is one of the reasons why we signed with them.

Is it important to you as a band to get your name out there and get the “right” advertising?  I know I have seen ads for you guys in various places.  Do you think Osmose is marketing you correctly?

Since we’re not playing any concerts and that we’re not spreading around our pictures the only for people to know about us so far is through advertisement, interviews, reviews and magazine features. It is crucial to have our albums advertised and I am glad a label like Osmose is taking care of that right now. What they’ve done so far outshines everything which has been done previously so we can only hope they’ll keep pushing us. I am also glad that we’re benefiting from good old word of mouth. People are helping to spread around our name and this is also why I do not mind that much when people download our albums in MP3. I download a lot of albums myself and usually buy the good stuff. It’s just like cassette tapes back a few years ago. People with enough interest in your band will buy the actual CD or LP and that to me is what really matter in the end.

I know recently you just did your first Radio Interview in regards to Thesyre.  How do you think it went and what sort of differences do you feel there is between the live format and the written words you are so used to doing already?

I did many phone interviews with radio shows when I was involved with other bands but this was the first for Thesyre, you are right. This interview helped me to figure out how unknown we are in our homeland. The interviewer thought we were on our second album while in reality we’re on our third full-length and we also have a string of split releases out there as well. I like to do live interviews because it keeps the challenge higher. You never know what people will come up with. Written interviews obviously allows me more time to make my mind on the questions asked and we also often get a more in-depths feature that way but I would say that I like both formats. One complements the other.

You won the contest to become the Celtic Frost Roadie for the Day.  How was that experience?  Did it change your perspective on such a legendary band or did it kind of rob you of some of the magic that they held for you?  What do you think of that Xtian fundamentalist that betrayed CF under the guise of a fellow roadie contest winner?

I became ‘roadie of the day’ for Celtic Frost at their Montreal concert. The experience was simply GREAT! I really didn’t know what to expect and after meeting a bunch of bands backstage and I kind of feared to meet a bunch of inflated egos. I was glad to immediately realize that Celtic Frost are gentlemen. I rarely met people that polite and humble. I think that they deserve all the respect their legendary status allows them. None of the magic is gone and even better, my personal respect for them as individuals only increased since then.

I learned about that pathetic idiot who infiltrated the backstage area just to harass Tom with his Christian nonsense. That’s totally mindless but also very disrespectful to act like he did. It’s also a sorry fact that this moron stole someone’s chance to meet the band. I am glad he didn’t show up in Montreal while I was the roadie as I would probably have got myself into serious trouble while ‘helping’ to show him the way out!

The last time I interviewed you, there was a reference made to “Freedom through Hard Work and Dedication.”  What exactly do you mean by this phrase? 

A lot of people take for granted their various freedoms. Many young people take for granted that the government (or their families) will supply them with everything they need in life and that everyone around them owes them something. I think that hard work, perseverance and dedication leads one’s to its full autonomy and then to its very freedom. These are values which were put aside recently into kid’s education. I think that the best gift a parent can do to his kid is to show the way of perseverance and dedication. It’s not an easy way, asking for compromises sometimes and one might face many hardships on the way but I think that it pays tenfold in the end. I am glad my parents didn’t make it all too easy for me. I consider myself fortunate now when I see all the slackers and system abusers around me. Our logo is a direct representation of this idea.

Doesn’t it piss you off when you see all these spoiled crust and punk kids rebelling against their government when in reality they have no real life experience to back up their opinions?  I mean how do they know that their government is bad and that someone else’s is better when all they have experienced is a privileged life living in the suburbs?

It’s always been the case, isn’t it? Hungry and starving kids do not have the energy to raid the streets and vandalize public property. Poor kids are glad enough to have something for dinner so they’re not out there to manifest against this or that. Many of those spoiled kids are actually benefiting from the very government they despise, biting the hand that feeds them. Their parents are probably employed by this government or some of them might as well receive a welfare check to buy their dope and their booze. It’s easy to scream out loud against everything but much harder to get out on the fields and try to have things change. It’s easy to be an Internet-warrior confronting the world in your basement. I hope that with age some of the protesting people will understand that instead of campaigning against the problem they should try to become a part of the solution.

Did you ever confront the government and other organizations in such a manner without being properly educated yourself as to what exactly you were rebelling against?  How have your views changed in regards to government and are you involved politically, in other words do you vote?  Do you follow politics in general?

I went through the phase of blaming everything on the government and the politicians, obviously.  As teenagers, we all manifest ourselves against the authority, be it your parents, teachers, police and whatever.  It’s a normal thing as it has a lot to do with the affirmation of the individual in its early stages.  The government is a necessary evil if we want to keep going with our actual system.  In theory, a democratic system like ours in Canada could be great.  Problems arise when the individuals positioned on all levels of the government starts prioritizing their personal interests before the ones of the population. Problems arises when such a government thinks it can rule over an ever increasing mass of people and keep thinking they’ll be able to please everyone; when in reality we all know its impossible.  Democracy is an illusion used to make people feel they’re in control but they aren’t that much.  I often refused to vote for the candidates available and simply decided to vote for me instead!  You need to at least get your vote cancelled instead of just not going to vote; this way your cancelled vote will have smaller chances to be used fraudulently and we all know that elections can easily be manipulated.  I do try to keep an eye on what’s going on in politics, here and abroad.  You can’t keep trace of everything obviously and you cannot trust everything the TV set is feeding you with. The Internet is a good source of ‘slightly less manipulated’ media. You can learn a lot from news feeds before they get filtered by news agencies.  I am glad that a lot of my friends are following such information streams and sends me bits of news from all over the world.  As you already know, the insight we get these days is not a shiny one…

So many bands it seems associate themselves with certain philosophers (ie: Nietzsche).  To me that can be kind of a trend in a way.  What do you think of this whole application of philosophy towards black metal?  Who from the world of philosophy do you think applies to you the most and who do you respect? 

There is a Nietzschian trend in extreme metal, you are right. A lot of people refer to Nietzsche like if they’ve read his complete biography when in reality they’ve only read snippets here and there on the Internet. That is where the whole philosophical ‘trend’ comes from. Nietzsche is not only about the survival of the fittest. Reading Darwin would suffice on the matter I guess. The same applies to teenager reading the satanic bible and then claiming they’re hardcore Satanists. I think that philosophy in general should first be a personal thing. You can develop and expand upon one’s ideas but true philosophical achievement relies a lot upon authenticity and identity. You need to develop your own mind about everything. You can help yourself by borrowing here and there but the most important thing is to forge your own impressions, ideas and opinions. This is a long process and I still feel like I’m evolving at 32. It’s a lifetime work and you shouldn’t only let yourself indulge into futile trends on that matter. My readings have diminished a lot recently. I feel like I need to solidify my ideas in order to build upon them and from there look out to level-up and deepen my understanding of it all.

I personally don’t really like what Nietzsche I’ve read.  Too wordy and I didn’t agree with much of his logic.  Do you think that this whole behaviour from a lot of these people is just as bad as the sheep mentality of the Xtians they supposedly despise?

Swallowing everything and following blindly a politician, a thinker, an intellectual, a philosopher, or in our case some musicians or bands eventually make you a sheep. There might be black sheep in the herd but this does not make them any different than the rest. The whole reasoning behind all this is to come up with your own understanding to develop your own ideas and then take action over them. There are people out there spreading around their words not simply to have people following them but mainly to trigger a reaction out of them and help to eventually make it to the front row as instigators, not only as followers.

You are right, a sheep is a sheep regardless of the colour.  Who do you think out there are genuine instigators and frontrunners?  What do you think of people who chose a hermetic existence rather than one of leading?

Public personalities are so much ‘built-up’ these days that you can hardly identify them properly. It’s hard to know who’s a liar and who’s not. Honesty is now hidden under layers and layers of image manipulation and everything coming out sounds fake. Political Correctness makes everyone paranoid these days so it’s even hard to come across authentic people. We have a few authentic people here making the headlines because they make the ‘wrong’ statement about a delicate issue or because they expose a truth that people just can’t swallow. I call them dreams-breakers. Those people will never be ‘popular’ because they have the tendency to break the sugar-coated version of reality that most people rely upon. I’d like to think of myself, in some ways, as a dream-breaker; someone able to go to the sensitive core and hit hard even if the outcome hurts a few people’s feelings on the way. A lot of people might consider me as being pessimist, disillusioned or close-minded but it’s a role I like to play. In out times of falseness and hypocrisy, some of the true instigators or frontrunners are the people who might often be seen as the offenders.

One theme that always seems to come up in a discussion regarding Thesyre is Aesthetics.  In regards to your band it seems that minimalism is the route you take.  I would like to understand more about how you feel about Aesthetics in general and as it applies to Thesyre?

I love minimalism for its purity. When you’re thinking minimalism you need to filter, purify, sort out and organize everything because every small detail gets oversized in the end. For Thesyre minimalism plays an important role as it helps to focus on very specific details, be it song titles, images, logos or quotes. The visual impact also goes with our music which is often stripped down to the very core. We’re not getting technical for technicality’s sake. Same goes for the lyrics, which are often streamlined and very direct. I want to offer a solid package with Thesyre and so far I am glad we managed to do it accordingly.

Musicians should work more on the aesthetics inherent to their works. The visual aspect of an album or a t-shirt is an important factor sales-wise. People need to know who you are upon a first look. That’s about it when they’re browsing the shelves in a store. It’s even more important on the web were people will only allow you a few seconds to decide if they’ll either erase or keep their MP3 files. Once you managed to grab the attention then you can open up and let subtle details to their work. While some artists can get away with an elaborate, almost overcrowded concept, I feel like a minimalist approach suits more the general  ideas behind Thesyre.

In a world full of idols and icons most are worthy of scorn and derision but are there any that you feel are valid?  What do you think of people who idolize musicians and place them on unrealistic pedestals? 

The problem is that people venerate idols instead of worshiping role-models. It applies to musicians but also to actors, politicians, businessmen and some people also idolize animals! A role-model can help develop your identity and help you develop qualities or show you some guidelines to follow in order to fulfil yourself. An idol is something people will venerate for artificial values like beauty, fashion or success. No human should be put on a pedestal. Once on such a pedestal all humans will look down on people and will eventually let their ego inflate so much that they’ll rapidly lose contact with reality. Musicians are a good example of that when they think that the world revolves around them just because they had a hit single on the radio. We shouldn’t ignore that for the majority,  there’s nothing as useless as an artist for society and people are half-wrong in thinking so. Art is important in itself as art is a manifestation of humanity but the artist, on its own, plays a secondary role. When you manage to fuse art with reality, when you live in a society where art becomes a lifestyle, when the image or the notes becomes inseparable from the message or the idea, then and only then can artists play the role they rightfully aspire to…

So you are saying that worship is all right if the person is a worthy role model?  What makes a person a worthy role model?  Do you have any Role Models of your own that you hold above others?

Worship is a big word. I think that role-models should/could be common people you can look-up to as being strong individuals whose words, actions or realisations could be considered a good influence. My father was and remains a model for me. He’s been a good, caring and also authoritarian father who managed to raise two kids properly and pass unto them some important values so they can also become responsible adults. He acted as a model I could regard as being an example of the adult I could become. That to me is the best form of role-model you can ‘worship’, so to speak. Anyone can become a role-model and we should aspire to this on a personal level; not to be ‘worshipped’ but to serve as examples for future generations. This world has its fair share of degenerates and bad icons to influence the youth of today so it’s time to bring up some decent models for them.

It is interesting that you use your father as a role-model.  With a lot of the youth out there it is automatic to rebel against the parents.  I personally feel that my parents taught me a lot of valuable lessons and instilled me with some important morals.  I see you feel similarly.  Why do you think people are so busy rebelling against their parents rather than learning from them?  Is it a matter of fighting the establishment or something different? 

It has a lot to do with age, as I mentioned earlier and it’s, in some proportion, a normal phase to go through. I see kids rebelling against their parents daily and it’s there to stay, trust me.

One reason why we might see more and more of them rebelling, and often to a much greater degree than you and me might have done in our teens, is because we’re seeing many irresponsible parents being unable to raise their kids properly. Only-child and broken families are a result of the explosion of the family nucleus. The family environment is an important institution but we’re kind of forgetting how to keep it solid and active. The young adults coming out on the professional market, at 18, 20, or 25 are really qualified technically. They often are experts in their respective jobs yet they cannot handle themselves properly and even less their kids. Our system is making a lot of grown-up kids breeding for the wrong reasons. It’s not surprising to then see them having problem kids requiring a lot of assistance at school and in their private life. We need to remember that we pass unto kids a good portion of what we are ourselves and we should be aware of this before giving birth to another child. When I talk about responsibility, I think that parenthood is among the more demanding and sadly this is the one that’s the most baffled.

I know you and I have known each other for quite awhile but I have my limitations when it comes to interviewing you.  Is there something that you have been dying to discuss that I haven’t already covered?

Well, I would say that I am glad to be able to talk openly about many subjects without having to predict if the interviewer on the other side is trying to coin me up into some trap he’s built to gather sensationalistic press. We’re doomed to suffer from editorial tyranny when dealing with journalist and the outcome if often different from what happened in the original interview. A lot of interviewers act as judge and jury these days. I think we covered a lot of ground here and I appreciate your insight. I could take the opportunity to let your readers know that they can write to me and get deeper into some of the topics we covered. That could be great, although I’ll suggest the shit-seekers to avoid emailing me as I’ll give no reply to their crap.

I also have a Blog here, if anyone cares to read it.

Thanks again for this great interview Bradley!

Eric