Diadalos Interview

 

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the solo project?

I was drummer in various punk and metal bands before and I loved it. 

But as a drummer I wasn`t too involved in the process of writing the songs so I often had the feeling I was missing something. 

When the Coronavirus made playing with my former Trash-Metal Band Revolt no longer possible, I searched for another way to experience music. 

I immediately felt that writing and composing music refill my energy. 

As a full-time worker and a dad of a four-year-old, I could get totally lost in the music and story and followed Sir Franklin on his journey with these heroes of their time. 

So I started to take my time for this project and realized my ideas.

2.Recently you have released your first full length, can you tell us a little bit more about the musical style that you went for on the recording?

Honestly, in the beginning, I just wanted to use the piano to portray the particular atmosphere of the song and theme, and then play drums along with it.

But little by little I realized that with an orchestra you can portray a much more complex and intense, detailed scene. And so I then developed a separate orchestration for each song, to match the part of the story it tells.

So each piece is written alone on the piano, then I "completed" the songs by that orchestration.

Musical style? Hard to say, I'm just impressed and certainly influenced by a lot of artists of different genres. By genre, Daidalos is certainly at home in Symphonic Dark Metal. But I prefer to say, "I make atmospheric music".

3.The lyrics on the recording are a concept album can you tell us a little bit more about the story you covered with this release?

The sea and seafaring are a popular topic within my family. In former times there was no other way to discover more of the world, but to sail with the ship. 

These amazing men went for a real adventure, mostly some years away from the family, without knowing whether they would come back for fame or die. 

150 years ago, nobody was sure what the north pole could look like. Some scientists believed after a ring of ice would be a climate like in Hawaii. So they really weren´t prepared too well. 

The journey of Sir Franklin is one of the best known, I guess. He was a hero of his time and really popular. On an earlier expedition near Canada he came in big trouble and survived, to the legends, by eating his shoes. 

His goal was to find the north-west-passage. Through this passage, the way from Asia to Europa is so much shorter. So it was really important to find this way for the economy. 

Sir Franklin sailed with two ships: HMS Erebus and the sister ship HMS Terror (both cool names though) with a total of 129 men. From today's perspective a by far too large expedition. 

Officially, the abandoned ships sank and nobody survived. The End.

But... what happened to these men? How does it feel, knowing there could be only glory or death? What does it feel like, being trapped in the ice for a month, day and night in eternal white?

Imagine sitting below deck in the belly of the ship with your comrades, freezing and starving, far away from your family.

Was there real hope or did they all know it´s just a matter of time until everyone left is a frozen statue in the wind? 

These were the thoughts that I couldn`t get out of my head and the only way to express them was in my music. 

The man, who really discovered the North West Passage, was Roald Amundsen btw. The guy, who also was first at the south pole after an unbelievable race with Robert Falcon Scott, who unfortunately lost his life on the way.

4.One of the songs is also based on a Robert Frost poem, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in his writings?

To be honest, I wasn`t that familiar with Robert Frost before writing this album.

I had this idea of the last living sailor carving his last words into the frozen snow just before he freezes to death. 

The song should have a continuous narrative style, without the typical verse-bridge-chorus sequences. 

I wanted it to be his story, which then ends abruptly. Then I realized that this is how it's done in many poems, and I set about researching.

In the process, I came across Robert Frost and his extremely expressive pieces. "Once by the Pacific" was just a perfect fit for my album in that regard. 

Then, while reading other poems of his, I realized that he was basically doing the same thing I was trying: He canalized his feelings and thoughts and expressed them through his art. 

I immediately felt the connection so I wanted to honor him by merging our arts together.

5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Daidalos'?

My first thought when I was searching for a name, was something like “sectio aurea”. The golden section stands for the perfect balance.

The golden section is proved since the time of Greek antiquity. I went on researching and came along Daidalos, the father of Ikarus.

Daidalos is a figure in Greek mythology. He was a brilliant inventor, technician, builder and artist. 

His arts were widely known, and the figures he designed are said to have been lifelike. 

And that's what I wanted to create: Lifelike music, where the atmosphere is that strong, that you are not just listening to some men on an expedition, but that you are one of the men on the expedition. 

I wanted the audience to experience the loneliness, the ice, the wind … and the death. 

Another facette of being an inventor, although he is brilliant like Daidalos, is to fail. Just remember Daidalos' son Ikarus, which flew too close to the sun so that the wax in his wings melted and he fell into the sea.

So the name set a big goal, which is worth emulating, without expecting perfection.

And that's what I strive for with my music: it doesn't have to be perfect, but it should trigger something in the listeners and create a feeling in them.

6.Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the new album cover?

While searching for a suitable artwork I came across Pradika Lahitama Reffananda from Indonesia. I was impressed that he paints many of his works in oil/acrylic and thus creates true works of art.

I wrote him my vision and the theme and he immediately jumped on it.

Together we did a quick brainstorming session on how to bring the different main elements of the story into a single, meaningful painting.

Then I sent him my songs in demo version.

That was it.

He then got back to me after a while, wrote "that's it!" and presented me with this brilliant painting in blue-green-black-white. 

The ship, surrounded by huge waves, which pass into icy mountains, the spray twists with the icewind, above the starry night and below the infinite blackness of the sea. 

In addition, the narrator, who looks melancholy in his story - I had goosebumps immediately!

I just wanted him to sign it so that my cover is the image of his work.

7.With this project you work mostly solo but have played in bands with full line ups in the past, how would you compare the two?

It's difficult to compare, it's just different.

In a band, everyone has their own tasks. Everyone can compensate for each other's weaknesses with their own strengths combined. Often there is a leader, so there is always the danger that quieter voices are overheard. 

Fortunately, that's never really been the case with my bands. The cooperation has always worked well.

On the other hand, the result of a band's music is always a compromise. The majority prevails. And that's only reasonable, because what pleases the majority of the band will hopefully also please the majority of the audience. 

As a solo artist, you just have to follow your own heart. You are completely free in every single decision. The flip side is that you're also responsible for every single decision. In either way.

For me, it's just important to make music. To be able to express myself in the language of notes. At this stage of my life, I enjoy working as a solo artist. 

But that doesn't mean that Daidalos can't grow into a band over time. 

Just as the inventor Daidalos tinkers with his inventions, I tinker with the band. Because stagnation is the death of art. 

There have already been first talks in this direction. But I can not reveal more at this time.

8.On the new album you also have a few guests, can you tell us a little bit more about who they are and also their contributions to the recording?

There are some people without whom I would never have finished my album. 

From a musical point of view, Martin Simon is clearly one of them.

He is a very close friend of mine and I was allowed to be his best man. Martin is the singer and bassist of Kambrium and has a lot of experience in music business. 

He was the first to hear my first steps with Daidalos back then. 

He was immediately on the journey and invited me to his studio. There he showed me the essential steps needed for my do-it-yourself project. 

It was mainly about the recording of vocals and instruments and the software for it. He also taught me a bit of his vocal technique, because he has been a live frontman on stage for many years.

In the end, he said, "If you need a bass player, I'm in!"

And so it was.

Part two was then Fabio Rossi.

By the way, we met once in an internet forum. 

I immediately felt that he has this absolutely emotional inclination towards music and essentially loves black metal. His guitar work was extremely good and so I asked him if he would like to record my album.

He immediately agreed.

We had a great process, very creative and he got involved a lot, designing additional solos and rhythms. He told me that on every one of his weekends he stood up at 6 in the morning to work on my songs the whole day... 

In some songs he really went above and beyond, I'm absolutely thrilled with his influence on my songs.

He brings the necessary bit of blackness and rawness to it.

Then followed Noga Rotem.

I was looking for a suitable female voice for Icewind that sounds both vulnerable and strong and secure. A difficult mixture.

I found Noga through her website. 

Since she is a composer herself and has already worked with greats like Hans Zimmer, I was unsure whether she would be interested in my project.

I sent her my song and asked her to emotionally engage with the atmosphere and lyrics and then just sing freely to it.

She said, "I've never done anything like this before, but... let's give it a try!"

The result is sensationally good and far exceeded my expectations. Noga has not only sung a voice, but also interpreted me still a kind of choir, absolutely brilliant!

She felt the atmosphere and the text perfectly.

Last but not least, Francesco Petrelli.

When we talked about mixing my album, he offered me to do some additional guitar tracks on the songs, because he liked my music and would like to be part of it.

So I decided to do it at his studio and he really did a very good job! His playstyle is very tight and straight, he brought some technical work into my songs.

He also did a great and very professional mix. I´ve sent him tons and tons of tracks, one for each instrument of the orchestra plus everything else and he had to find a way, when and how to push out the main instrument of the orchestra, without overwriting the rest.

I bet, he was sweating sometimes, when I came up with additional ideas during the mixing process...

But in the end, he let "The Expedition" shine like it is.

Francesco is doing a lot of live mixing, too. Maybe I will go back on him one day...

9.On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of black and dark metal?

I don't know how to answer this question without seeming overbearing. 

But I will answer it with a big smile on my face, because the feedback has been amazing this far and I am always happy to think about the nice messages that reach me every day.

I am totally overwhelmed by the positive critique that has reached me so far. I already have listeners all over the world and I appreciate every single one. 

As I said earlier: As a Solo Artist, you have the responsibility for both the bad and the good decisions. And it seems so far that I made more good than bad decisions for this expedition. 

10.Where do you see yourself heading into as  a musician during the future?

I am already working on the next album. I won’t spoil you, but I can tell it will also be an adventure and a journey. The atmosphere is different, but not less strong. 

I want to develop Daidalos steadily on all levels and I am curious myself where this expedition will lead me.

11.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

To name a few metal bands, it is for example Fleshgod Apocalypse, Dimmu Borgir, early Wintersun and many more. I listen to a lot of different genres, which I always did.

Nowadays I am still mostly into Symphonic Dark/Black/Death as well as some calm piano music for example.

It always depends on my mood, my personal atmosphere.

12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?

I am grateful.

For every crew member that has accompanied me on this journey and every new crew member that wants to come on board. 

Just like on an expedition, everyone contributes to keeping the ship on course - from the journalist who gives me the opportunity for an interview like this, to the fan who orders a t-shirt and writes such a nice message that I am speechless.

Thank you.

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