Noctilucant: Apocalypse Now

Introducing Joseph Mlodik, the 35 year old mastermind behind Dark Ambient/Soundtrack behemoth Noctilucant. After 13 years at the helm of blog Lunar Hypnosis, Joseph decided he'd had enough of writing about music and stepped down from his role in order to have more free time in which to create music he enjoyed.

In September 2015,  the debut of his project Noctilucant ‘Back To The Mud’ the first in a series of apocalypse themed concept albums was released, sending shockwaves throughout the Dark Ambient community.  Almost a year later saw the follow up 'Oblivion To You All which has also been received very well.

You can listen to the album below and read my thoughts on it after this interview....

DMD: What is the meaning behind the name Noctilucant and how did you came by this name?

Joseph Mlodik: Noctilucant is a made up word, which is derived from the words Nocturnal and Applicant. You could almost view the meaning as someone who applies to the night.  Although it hasn’t been revealed in the storyline within the albums just yet, Noctilucant or “The Noctilucant” is a character, a sort of post-apocalyptic vigilante you could say.  My goal is to have him make his first appearance at the end of the next album in a rather dramatic and intense piece.   

DMD: Growing up, what artists/bands left a real mark on you?

JM: So many I wouldn’t honestly know where to start.  I would however say that I discovered “my own” music and tastes around the age of 10 or 11. It all started with stuff that was popular at the time, bands such as; Guns ’N’ Roses, Metallica, Megadeth, AC/DC, Slayer, etc… early 90’s we’re talking here.  

My parents had mostly raised me on oldies from the 50’s and 60’s, intermingled with stuff from the 70’s and ongoing 80’s.  So, I guess this was a step of sorts towards more extreme if not weird territory, but alas I ended up spending a lot of time in the 90’s listening to shitty radio and alternative rock like Nirvana, STP, and Bush.  

It wasn’t until the late 90’s/early 00’s and the internet sensation that I discovered the underground music scene, which still to this day is among the best times of my life. The amount of music, culture and ideas I took in at this time was a complete sensory overload.  

I knew I had stumbled across something I had been longing to be a part of for a very, very long time. I had found my place, I guess you could say.  After that anything and everything normal and common in everyday life (music, sports, religion, typical ways of thinking/acting) seemed odd and more or less stupid to me.  

I should also mention that growing up I was also always very fond of the scores found in video games, and an early hobby of mine was recording that music from the TV in our basement by sticking a cheap tape deck next to it and hitting record. 

Again, by the time I had internet I was able to order the Japanese import CDs of all of these soundtracks I adored so much. I truly do miss those days.  Back then I was literally buying stuff from mail orders a couple times a month and was always so excited to get home and see what amazing new music was laying in an envelope on my parents front porch.     

Anyway, looking back to those really early years probably the band that eventually influenced me the most were Pink Floyd. The synthesizers in Pink Floyd’s ‘Welcome to the Machine’ are amongst some of the coolest I’ve ever heard, and as a child listening to this at night totally creeped me, but I knew way back then that I wanted to make music with synthesizers some day in some form.  

DMD: Before Noctilucant, what kind of music were you making/bands were you playing in? and with what instruments?

JM: Absolutely nothing, although the dream was always sort of hanging there.  I had literally wanted to do something musical for well over a decade before Noctilucant, but due to some personal inner struggles I never grabbed life by the balls and went for it.  That is until a few years ago when a friend was moving to Greenland and selling 90% of his possessions. 

One of those items happened to be a very well kept synthesizer, which he offered to me for $200 (he had originally paid $600+ for it).  I couldn’t pass it by.  I immediately began experimenting with ideas, but it wasn’t until a bit later that I had a proper PC to record my ideas and finally start assembling the ideas into songs.  

DMD: What originally inspired you to start making Dark Ambient/Soundtrack?

JM: It was basically just a long running passion for the genre. I first heard Dark Ambient music way back in 1999, and I can’t explain why, but it really clicked with me. It spoke to me in a way no other music had spoke to me, as if it reached deep down inside my soul and coalesced everything together. 

I’m sure my already established love for Video Game music was a factor in my appreciation too, but obviously dark ambient is an entirely different and often darker beast. It was something I used when reading, writing, relaxing, sleeping, driving late at night, etc.  It was a part of me. I was also always very fond of this genre, because not many folks understood it.  That was important!  

It’s still the one genre of music that hasn’t been tainted and made commercial.  Anyway, I knew soon as I heard this music that someday I wanted to create it. I never felt that way about any other music or art form other than DA.  Of course, it took a lot longer than expected, but I’m glad I waited, because it gave me a chance to grow and mature both inside and out. 

If I had started a project ten years ago it probably would have been a very simple dark droning cavernous bullshit project, whereas, with Noctilucant I feel at least, I’ve created a much more interesting and detailed project.

DMD: There are a lot of apocalyptic themes in Noctilucant’s music, is this something you think about often? What are your thoughts about humanity’s future?

JM: I figured this question would eventually come up.  Just for the record, I’m not an armageddon prepper, survivalist or conspiracy theorist that’s terrified that the government's going to knock on my door one day looking to take my guns and toss me in some concentration camp. No.  

Nevertheless, I have read some pretty scary things in the news lately relating to nuclear war or at least World War 3, and it gets you thinking about things. The government in the United States is painfully corrupt, and I do believe that the powers that be, would without question sell this country to save their own ass.  

Everyone has a price, and anyone that thinks our so called government cares about us is just a joke. I’d like to think that humanity has a peaceful future, but unfortunately money, religion and power dominate most of their minds and it will eventually be our downfall.  It could be something entirely different though.  

We’re constantly killing off species of vital insects and other animals.  We live in a fragile ecosystem and it might only take the destruction of one species before all is lost. There’s also the upcoming election with Clinton and Trump, two corrupt, awful, repulsive, evil human beings, and we’re suppose to choose one of them?!  

No matter if Russia suddenly bombs us or civil war breaks out here in the states, the future isn’t a very optimistic one. Will it be a post apocalyptic situation when the dust settles… only time can tell.      

That aside, the post apocalyptic themes in my music are just an expansion of my creativity and my desire to tell a story under a different medium.  It’s influenced by cinema, literature and other post apocalyptic music makers.

DMD: Could you please tell me about your recording gear and how you get your sound?

JM: It’s nothing too special.  Literally just a PC with my synthesizer and microphones hooked up.  I record all of the field recordings via my cell phone, although I’d like to get proper recording equipment for that soon so they come out a bit more clear and detailed.

DMD: Recently 'neath the cerulean abyss' came out on cassette through Grey Matter Productions, how did this come about? Any plans for more physical releases in the future?

JM: Grey Matter got in contact with me first, which was a pleasant surprise because I had considered releasing these two songs the exact same way.  I'm pleased with the release and I'm thrilled to have more of my music available in a physical medium.  

I had considered releasing the latest album, Oblivion to you all, in CD format, but when I started pricing everything together it was simply too much for me to afford.

I'm super proud of that album and it’s my hope that someday a label picks it up for a CD release, but that could be years from now.  Meanwhile, I don't personally have any plans to release anything on my own as digital seems to truly be the format my fans prefer.

DMD: Any plans to take Noctilucant out on the road or will it stay as a studio only project?

JM: At this point I’m about 99% sure Noctilucant will stay a studio project.  Speaking only for myself, Dark Ambient is very introspective music, which I use in a lot of ways.  It requires you to pay attention and lose yourself for a while.  It takes you places, it invigorates the mind, it’s an experience all in itself.  So much of that is lost in the concert.  

Tranquillity is suddenly replaced with drunk dickbags who are talking while you’re playing and completely not paying attention to what’s going on around them or onstage for that matter.  To me playing live would be nothing but a burden.  

Even more so because there are no other dark ambient artists around here to gig with, and I’d end up opening for black metal bands, and I absolutely don’t want anything to do with that scene or be connected to it. 

The other problem is that my tunes are very multi layered.  I’d need multiple synthesizers onstage and multiple people to play each part. It could work, but I honestly don’t want to go through the trouble, because it simply wouldn’t be worth it.

DMD: Please give me your desert island disks

JM: I’m going to keep the theme of Dark Ambient here and just list my favorite DA albums… in no particular order, mind you.

Atrium Carceri - Seishinbyouin

Northaunt - The Ominous Silence

Inanna - Day ov Torment

Sabled Sun - 2146

Halo Manash - Syoma

Verhoren - Death is Safe

Mortiis - Keiser av en dimenensjon ukjent

Svartsinn - Traces of Nothingness

Nothing - The Grey Subaudible

I’m probably forgetting something, I know I am, but my mind is betraying me at the moment.  So, accept this as my list for now.

DMD: What is the music scene like in Wisconsin?

JM: Lots of black metal, death metal, doom metal, grindcore, noise and normal alternative whatever rock bands, I guess.  A few years ago it really felt like the underground scene around here was getting good, but then some of the bands and people involved went onto other projects and new adventures in life and I lost touch of things. The most interesting bands currently going are: Cannabinol Synapse, Conqueror Worm, Khazaddum, Temper, Magma Dragon, Hadak Ura, Devil Met Contention and Asatta.

DMD: You painted the artwork for both ‘..Cerulean Abyss’ and ‘Buried Alive..’ which came first, the album art or the music? Have you always been a painter? Is it a passion or just a hobby?

JM: The paintings came first, and after completing the music I just felt they fit each of those songs.  I had not seen a lot of dark ambient artists using abstract paintings as their cover artwork, so I figured I’d go and change that.  When I was in high school painting and drawing were fun for me, and a serious passion, but basically after that I completely gave up on it. 

It wasn’t until a few years ago that I tried doing it again, unfortunately when you don’t use a skill for over a decade you lose it.  I still get a canvas out here and there and paint, but it’s usually only when I really have nothing else to do.

'Neath The Cerulean Abyss

Buried Alive in Mud

DMD: What does the rest of this year and 2017 hold for Noctilucant?

JM: I want to complete the final single in my 3-part lengthy single series.  This last one will again be about 30 minutes long and I’m trying to create a post apocalyptic world on a cold foggy day.  I’m not using a painting this time around, but rather a photograph I took in 2008 as the cover artwork. 

I’d like to release this by the end of November as most of the music is done, but I just need to fill in more details at this point.  That aside, a few film makers have recently contacted me about using my music or even creating entirely new music for their projects.  

I’d also like to say that I’ve started work on my next full-length album, but I think what I’ve created so far will probably make its way into the single, the films, or even this briefly discussed split album with a project from Russia.  

DMD: Do you have a release date for the final single yet?

JM: No exact release date for that final single, but hopefully sometime in November if all goes well.

DMD:  Apart from music, what else inspires you?

JM: I find a lot of solace in nature and it’s definitely always been an inspiration.  Anytime I can get away from the noisy city and my routine day-to-day existence is a pleasure. Other than that, my girlfriend, friends, family, life’s ups and downs are always going to be inspiring.

DMD: ’Oblivion to You All’ features a few spoken passages, when did you get the idea to include these and how did you come into contact with these people?

JM: It started on the Back to the Mud album actually.  I wanted my music to be as cinematic as possible, but not overdoing it.  Originally, I was going to go down the common path and collect samples from movies, but when I realised I could do better than that I went for more. All of the text for these speeches I wrote myself, nothing is stolen from movies, poems, etc, but in some cases was inspired by such. 

For example, the skit on ‘The Deep Dead Hour’ was inspired by a movie called PontyPool, whereas in ‘Introspective Dissolution’ it came to me after watching a post apocalyptic documentary on YouTube.  The three guest vocalists on ‘Oblivion…’ are all people that I’ve known for a while.  

Kara is my girlfriend, Steve is an old friend from high school who showed interest after I asked for help on my Facebook page, and Michael is a dark ambient enthusiast and zine writer from Maryland who I became good friends with after the release of Back to the Mud.  Since Oblivion to you all’s release a few others have shown interest, and I’m really excited to work with them in the future.

DMD: When you are composing, do things tend to happen in a certain order? 

JM:  Not really.  My music is so multi layered that it’s a little here and a little there kind of thing.  Sometimes I even take parts that I wrote a year ago and fit them into new songs.  

A friend who once had a dark ambient project told me that it’s important to always save anything and every little detail you record, because you never know where it will work later on.  

It might not make sense in the current piece you’re working on, but there’s always possibilities for later.  I really took that advice to heart. Honestly, often when I have a specific idea in mind how I want something to sound I fail.  

Sometimes I think these songs write themselves, because it’s usually when I’m just being casual and having fun that I write my best work.  I do however always add the spoken parts or field recordings last.            

DMD: Anybody you want to give a shout out to?

JM: Thanks to everyone that's either listened, purchased, or supported this project in some way.  I never imagined anyone would really care about my music, but its been quite the opposite and I'm eternally grateful to everyone that's taken notice thus far.  Extra special thanks to my guest musicians, and those that I plan to work with in the near future.

My thoughts on Oblivion To You All

Musically, Oblivion To You All picks up where 'Back to the Mud' left off, but as the opening monologue of track one 'Introspective Dissolution' explains, the album is actually set 3 months after the apocalypse has happened. 

Oblivion… contains an almost ever present cold, doom laden drone that varies in degrees of intensity. The added field recordings and spoken word passages help channel the storyline through the music but aren’t relied upon that frequently, leaving the rest to the imagination of the listener.

'This Day Brings Forth Our Destiny' starts off with the sound of an old-style projector being switched on and turns into quite a calming soundscape, while 'The First Light Of Morning' goes in a more sinister direction allowing the cold drone to emerge, interspersed with sputtering and crumbling textures that delve deeper into a cavernous ambience. 

'Where Snow Remains and Life Fades' continues in a similar fashion but with the use of more prominent field recordings, next up 'The Old Machine Shop' whirs away as the title would suggest, building into an intensely high pitched noise while the cold drone flies out of hearing range.

Despite being primarily a gloom filled atmosphere, Oblivion… does offer some brief moments of tranquility, fittingly on ‘Those Peaceful Days Of Our Past?’ which comes complete with a hooky meditative synth line and the sound of birds singing away happily. No doubt reflecting on happier times prior to the apocalypse.

'Back Into The Hole Where I Was Born' shatters that memory and brings us back to the cold harsh reality that is Oblivion...a myriad of sounds such as footsteps on crunching gravel and coughing all prelude the entrance of another character, who turns pages in a book noisily while he declares 'everything is gone' then puts a gun to his head and pulls the trigger.

The title track is probably the weakest point of the album I would say, mainly because it is just a repetition of saying the title with more and more intensity every time. However it does set up the closing track 'And The Far Unlit Unknown' nicely which ends the album on the sounds of tweeting birds and flies buzzing presumably around our character's dead body before the drones whoosh off into the distance.

I will admit that this album does demand a certain amount of attention, I found I had to really focus on it with zero distractions in order to enjoy and become absorbed in it, but if you're already well versed in Dark Ambient music then that shouldn't be a problem. 

Something which I cannot stress enough is to listen to this (and all of Noctilucant's work) with a decent pair of headphones or you will surely miss out on the extra sounds. 

I feel that Joseph has created an interesting musical world and I look forward to hearing what he does next.

All things considered, 'Oblivion To You All' is an immersive release that will suck you in.

8.5/10

Noctilucant Bandcamp

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Listen to some brand new Noctilucant material here

‘Neath the Cerulean Abyss / Buried alive in Mud was released on cassette via Grey Matter Productions back in August which you can listen to / purchase here

You can read an interview with GMP founder Daniel Cornejo here

Daniel Cornejo: The Grey Man

"So much of who we are as people is built up by these sounds and imagery we take in...we want to help build people who enjoy our sounds into the fullest person they can be."

In order to keep extinction at bay, the underground music scene has a constant need for extremely dedicated & focussed individuals prepared to invest a lot of their time, money, blood, sweat and tears into releasing music with almost no financial gain to be had down the road.

Thankfully we have people like Daniel Cornejo, a passionate youth hailing from Santa Barbara, California whose hard efforts with record label Grey Matter Productions have paid off. In less than a year, GMP has established their name as one of the most formidable in the scene. 

With tapes flying off the GMP bandcamp shelves, Daniel has been putting out a range of mind blowing releases, some of the newest have been: ‘Agyptiaká’ by Doom Jazz quartet Shambhala, a live session by Death Industrialists Destruktionsanstalt, ‘I Hurt Because I Must’ from Harsh Noise maker Misery Ritual and 'Neath The Cerulean Abyss...’ by Dark Ambient/Soundtrack artist Noctilucant. 

Cornejo also plays guitar in his band Pale Hands who have been touring almost non-stop up and down the west coast. Not only content for band life and being head of a label, so far he has put out 3 tapes of his ANW/HNW project hermit (listen to hermit’s debut release below) as well as occasionally teaming up with his cousin for their Ambient Noise duo Unborn Insekt. 

I caught up with Daniel to find out about his early influences, the future of GMP and what it truly means to be 100% DIY…

DMD: Growing up, what artists/bands made you want to play music?

Daniel Cornejo: That’s a little difficult for me to recall honestly haha. I remember being into a lot of artists unknowingly that probably inspired my subconscious. My parents would play different types of music all the time, and on top of that my older brother and sister would play even more different artists so I was always influenced by that whether I was aware of it or not (all of my family plays music as well). 

The very first artists I think about fondly are bands like Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath and AC/DC. Iron Maiden is just perfect in pretty much every way and everyone knows it. In my first "band" I wanted to cover Black Sabbath and when I got my first guitar I got an SG because I wanted to be Angus Young haha. 

When I was in 5th grade though, I got my brother's old iPod and that changed everything. At that point for me it was Green Day, Avenged Sevenfold and As I Lay Dying haha. I really discovered music through my brother and he was into all of the "screamo" and metalcore at that time so that was my introduction to it. And of course the classic heavy metal records.

DMD: How did Grey Matter Productions get started? What is the label’s ethos?

DC: I remember the day specifically. My cousin Sebastian and I had been hanging out with each other non stop the whole past year and a half and had really just been building each other up, musically/spiritually/mentally/whatever, but we had never made music together. It kind of reached a culmination point I guess.

I was at work and for whatever reason I felt extremely inspired to release music as a label. I get in these modes where I'm extremely enveloped and involved in an idea and it becomes so much a part of me. I was in one of those modes and so I texted Sebastian just going off, letting loose all the ideas in my head and it totally snowballed. 

I got home and we created it that night. I forget the exact date, but I know it was in February - which is perfect because late February is my birthday and early March is his birthday and for us we were at a peak of creativity. It started as a way to release our music and really push us to constantly be creating. 

We didn't think people would want to release with us initially, but we wanted the label to be serious and real so the idea was that we would have to each come up with albums to release under different pseudonyms at least once a month. 

While we could probably do that for a bit, that's pretty intensive and luckily for some reason the label kind of took off in its own way. Massive thank you to Liam of Shurayuki-Hime, Nemanja Nikolic of Dosis Letalis and Patrick Flynn of Olm for being our first real releases and for some reason wanting to work with a couple of random losers. 

Those 3 releases mean a lot to me. Not only because each release is beautiful in its own way, but all of those people are fantastic people as well. Sorry this is such a long answer. 

The ethos behind Grey Matter is fairly simple. We want to release sounds that affect and inspire us so that maybe we can affect and inspire others the way our favorite artists have inspired us. The intention of the label is to spread all of the facets of life that we're interested in through art. 

So much of who we are as people is built up by these sounds and imagery we take in, whether it be from just listening to music we enjoy or deliberately seeking out the extremities in art. We want to help build people who enjoy our sounds into the fullest person they can be. Regardless of all the "dark", "brutal" or "evil" concepts our releases deal with, our intention is not dark or evil. 

Maybe brutal, haha. But what I'm getting at is in the name - GREY MATTER. Not black, nor white. Not dark, nor light. A balance of the two. Because whatever you believe, dark and light are just terms that mean nothing. What makes it "dark" or "light" is the intention you put behind your art. Same goes for every action we make daily.

DMD: As a guitarist who are your main influences? 

DC: Honestly, I’m not sure. I have many influences, but I don't necessarily think of it that way. I get inspired by the music, not the guitarist, or even what the guitarist is doing. I hope I don't sound like a dick, I just am actually not sure. 

I even looked through all of my music trying to find something, but no luck.. If I had to make a decision, I guess I'd say Jef Whitehead of Leviathan, just because he's without a doubt one of my favorite artists overall (music, tattoos, paintings, etc), and he creates some extremely complex and beautiful sounds with his guitar.

DMD: Is guitar your only instrument? Do you play any other instruments? 

DC: I play guitar, bass guitar, a little bit of piano, and I'm okay with a synthesizer! I also play distortion pedals and noise boxes real nice though!

DMD: When was your first encounter of noise/HNW etc and what attracted you to it? 

DC: My first introduction to noise was in junior high now that I think about it. My sister's boyfriend at the time was a part of a local noise group called something I honestly forget, but he gave me a couple of tapes and a cd of his project. I remember having friends over and being stoked to show them the cd because of how bizarre it was to me. 

The album name was perfect and I still wanna re-use it but probably never will - Sensory Deprivation Techniques. I also remember going and seeing a live noise show with them around that time. I had no idea noise would become such a big part of my life. 

With that said, my TRUE introduction was via a drone blog I followed called dronemuzak haha. 

The guy who ran the blog had a noise blog as well (obviously called noisemuzak for those interested) and he reblogged a post of an advertisement for Vomir. All it was was a black background with VOMIR HNW in bold letters and below it "No Dynamics, No Change, No Development, No Ideas." 

I had no idea what it was so I immediately looked it up because the design was minimalistic, but I could tell the purpose was very heavy/grandiose, which is something I'm always drawn to in art. 

I listened to a few of his sounds and made my first wall that night - The Slow & Inevitable Heat Death Of The Universe, which is a serious title, but I took it from a Cards Against Humanity playing card haha. By the way (shameless plug), I'm continuing that wall series so be on the lookout for parts 3 and 4 coming soon through Endless Landscapes Of Decay (another fantastic label).

DMD: What’s currently going on with your Progressive Power Violence band Pale Hands right about now? 

DC: Progressive Power Violence? Wow, that's a wild term but I'm not opposed! Well after our recent CA tour with Stoic (who unfortunately had to drop because their van broke down), our drummer and vocalist both moved down to LA (my cousin and I both live a couple hours north of LA. My cousin plays bass and I play guitar.) so we haven't practiced in a bit but we have about 6 new songs that we're pretty excited about and are currently figuring out how to record them. 

All of the Pale Hands albums so far have been recorded or mixed by myself and our drummer so chances are, we'll do it that way again. Because it's cheap and easy, but also because there's always a DIY ethic behind what we do. If we can do it ourselves why wouldn't we? All of our tours have been set up via our drummer, our old bass player had the van we toured in (I drove my jeep on this last tour), we recorded our sounds and - hell, we even WROTE THE MUSIC! 

That last one was a joke, because obviously we did that, I was just trying to knock myself down a bit I guess because I started to sound egotistical in my head. Anyway, we want to record our new songs and will likely release them as a couple of splits. 

DMD: Do you know who the Pale Hands splits are going to be with?

DC: We’re unsure of who we're going to do the splits with. A few bands have been talked about but nothing very concrete. We were supposed to do a split with a hardcore band called Akira from Portland, OR a while back so we might still do that.

DMD: For hermit, what is your recording set up? 

DC: Well, hermit is an interesting concept. hermit is who I am and so all of my ideas and sounds and influences are a part of it. Not necessarily on every album, but that's always been my idea behind it. So for the past noise releases I've done, it's just been pedals. Distortion, delay, loop, reverb, and a pitch shifter.

That ran through a broken 8 track to a working 4 track. I run through the 8 track because it has a solid set of EQ controls that can completely shift the sound. Sometimes I'll run through all that and through the 4 track into my audio interface if what I want is more complex and I'm gonna need to mess with the sound in post more. For other albums I'm working on but haven't released, it's changed though. 

I have a black metal split I'm supposed to release soon with Moloch of Depressive Illusions Records as hermit and the setup for that was a Korg Poly-800 Mk II (an 80's synthesizer that has some pretty great dungeon synth vibes), my guitar through a practice amp (KVLT) and an electric drum set. 

Go check out Depressive Illusions if you haven't before. Amazing label and distro webstore that was actually one of the first black metal labels I found when I was first delving into that world. There's a lot more coming from hermit though and I'm not even sure what yet.

I just recently got a Moog and a Pittsburgh Modular desktop synthesizer, because I've been extremely into acid house and techno lately, but knew it would also work perfect for where I want to go with hermit and for any noise ideas I might have.

DMD: Do you have any live noise shows planned for hermit? 

DC: No hermit live shows yet. If there ever are any, ideally I wouldn't be there haha. But realistically, there will probably be a few shows. At the moment what I want to do is have a wall of amps with me behind it making the sounds in a pitch black setting. 

It's not about me or what I do or how I do it. Listen and feel the sounds and you can understand the purpose behind what I do. The experience I want people to have is discomfort and uncertainty. Not because of how intense the show is or anything like that (Misery Ritual comes to mind) but because I don't want what I do to be something they've experienced before. 

As for the sounds I'd make.. I'm not sure - it'd vary show by show because as I said, hermit is every facet of my musical tastes. At the moment, I imagine it as a blend of harsh noise, synthesizer sounds (think the main theme for The Thing or the intro sounds in The Shining), and multiple voice samples and drum samples to keep things moving a bit. Really inspired by what The Haxan Cloak is doing live though.

DMD: Any other projects of yours we should know about? 

DC: Occultus is a Black Metal project I'm hoping to release on Grey Matter soon. UNBORN INSEKT is obviously my collaboration project with my cousin (who's primary project is INSEKTOID). Lots of other projects going on but nothing solid yet - just some sounds.

DMD: Since GMP is primarily a tape label currently do you have any plans to expand into vinyl or CD?

DC: Yes! The hermit/Moloch split album I mentioned earlier should be a vinyl release. Also working with Pale Hands' old bass player who has a band called Trash that we made tapes for and we're trying to get that pressed as well. That's all we have planned at the moment, but now that that door is open in my mind, I'm sure there will be more. 

As for CD, that might happen someday (I assume it will), but personally I've never been a big fan of that format. No disrespect to anyone who enjoys them, as the physical format of music can be extremely personal and important to some, but it was never in the intentions of the label to work with CDs.

Something I'd like to stress here is the 100% DIY ethic behind the label.  Trust me, you don't have to be DIY to get respect from me, but sometimes I wonder how many "DIY" labels use massive companies to produce t shirts, stickers, or whatever it may be. I never want someone to think of Grey Matter like that. 

We made an extensive discography release for Sword Suicide a while back and I hand cut and glued every single box for that box set and my cousin, myself and the Pale Hands vocalist all made the patches for it ourselves as well at 4am the day before the release! I like that and I like memories like that and that's why I use the term 100% DIY rather than just DIY. 

I bring it up with this question because I've deliberated in my mind a bit about how "100% DIY" it is to have another company press your vinyl for you. Yes, I'd still be funding it but in a sense, the magic of what I love about dubbing tapes and cutting each cover by hand would be lost.

That said, I've been able to find a couple of companies that hold the DIY ethic and one that even has a massive arm in the noise world, so my qualms about pressing vinyl have dissipated a bit. I think I'm also thinking into it too much haha.

DMD: What equipment do you use for dubbing the tapes? Also what is your personal favorite physical format?

DC: I have a Telex Copyette and a Technics tape player/recorder that I use together. The Technics records the masters and the Telex duplicates the master into 3 separate tapes at a time. Although I just had some issues with it and so now it only does 2 tapes at a time but that's still good enough for me.

By the way - this setup was only about 250 dollars total and I bought both the Telex and Technics off of eBay. If anyone reading this is toying with the idea of starting a tape label, I think it is absolutely the way to go if you're doing everything DIY. 

With that said, my favorite format is vinyl. It probably has a lot to do with the size of the album artwork haha and not so much with the supposed "better quality" that vinyl can give you. Most of the time people don't realize that the records they're buying are pressed from digital masters just the same, so it's not necessarily "better quality" the way most people think about it. But regardless, it's a hell of a fun format to collect, so I get why it's gotten popular again.

DMD: How did Tomhet getting his tapes onto GMP happen? Did he contact you or was it vice versa?

DC: Tomhet actually contacted us which is kind of bizarre to think about haha! He was supposed to release Nightmares In Damask with another label, but unfortunately they couldn't fund it at the time which is how he ended up coming to us. 

We hadn't really done a black metal release before that so I'm not sure why he contacted us in particular, but it was perfect because I've been trying to expand the palette of Grey Matter as much as possible and Black Metal is probably my favorite style of music.

DMD: On that note, what are your favourite Black Metal albums?

DC: Haha I'm kind of excited to answer this one, because I'm a nerd. In no particular order - Aske EP by Burzum, Panzerfaust by Darkthrone (The unholy trinity as well, but that's a given) Bergtatt and Nattens Madrigal by Ulver, Verrater by Leviathan, self-titled album by Lurker Of Chalice, and the self-titled album by Paysage d'Hiver (but also Das Tor and Die Festung because it's hard to choose).

Triumph.Genocide.Antichrist & Superion.Command.Destroy by Revenge, Two Hunters by Wolves In The Throne Room (Malevolent Grain EP is beautiful as well), Il Était une Forêt by Gris, Defective Epitaph by Xasthur (again its hard to choose.. honorable mentions for Nightmares At Dawn, Subliminal Genocide and Telepathic With The Deceased), Phantom by Lustre because I'm not trve kvlt, and if we're gettin' wild then anything and everything from Gnaw Their Tongues. 

I also consider some of The Body's work to involve black metal and they're great artists so I'm just gonna sneak in I Shall Die Here by them on this list. It's not really black metal at all but the feeling I get from that album reminds me of black metal sometimes. Not sure if this is a good list or not, but it's what I often find myself listening to the most.

DMD: Apart from music, what else inspires you? 

DC: Life. Obviously, I mean life in the sense of what we all go through day to day and the chaos that takes us wherever it is we end up, but what I really mean is life at its most basic form. Nature. What really does it for me is trees, the sun and the moon. 

So this is also kind of a cop out answer because by saying life I can also say I'm inspired by all art because the experience of art is a part of life. To answer your question in a less vague and douchey way, films are extremely important to me. As are all visual aesthetics of course, but that's more my cousin's thing.

DMD:  Any more exciting releases from GMP this year that we should be aware of? 

DC: All of them hopefully! Haha we have some cool things coming soon - some powerfully charged noise/powerviolence from the mind behind Lilith. Some post black metal from the man behind Mademoiselle Bistouri. Some black metal from Moloch. A great industrial electronic album from the guy behind N0123NOISE and honestly too many more to mention haha.

DMD: As 2016 is almost at an end, which noise/HNW releases this year did you really enjoy?

DC: I really enjoyed seeing the HNW compilation come together, thanks to James Shearman and the

HNW Netlabel. Since we talked about him already, I might as well mention his other netlabel SSN Technologies, which has seen some awesome releases (SOMA by ADD.ICT and Destination by Gesis come to mind). Dosis Letalis and Lilith have also had releases through that label. 

The Climate Refugees was good to hear come together as well, thanks to Altar Of Waste. Some of my favorite wall-makers collaborating not just to make walls, but with the intention of spreading awareness of natural and societal decay? Yeah, that was probably one of my favorite releases of the year. 

The latest BoneMagic release from Cruel/Corrupt Recordings was pretty heavy. Oh, and I can't compliment Building Castles Out Of Matchsticks' work enough. Haven't worked with her yet, but if/when it happens, I'll be stoked!

DMD: Have you got any advice for any people out there wanting to set up labels of their own?

DC: Hm..My answer to this could be pretty long so I'm going to limit myself to 3 things:

1) If you're going to do anything like this and take it seriously, do it because you love doing it over any other reason: and if you don't love music or sharing people's music, then I don't know how to help you haha.

2) If you don't like people in any  sense and don't enjoy interacting with unique human beings on at least one or two levels then this probably won't be for you. The sounds you'll be releasing are someone else's deep thoughts or emotions or whatever, but the point is that it's something important to them and you're endorsing that.

You have to like and know those people at some level as well and aside from that aspect; if you're a one or two man show, then think of all the people you're going to have to connect with to listen to your releases, share or promote your releases, etc.

3) Keep this one basic - In this day and age what i think is most important (aside from having a decent flow of income, unfortunately) is to be good on social media. So much music is listened to and so many connections are made via the internet now. Everything is done online. Your music scenes are as present online as they are in real life - Sometimes even more prevalent online.

If you can't reach your audience via the internet these days, it's going to make it nearly impossible for you to reach half or more of the people you can and should be reaching.

*KEEP IN MIND* I'm really bad at practicing what I preach sometimes (particularly in reference to social media).

DMD: Is there anyone you want to give a shout out to?

DC: YOU! You're the man, Ed. Thank you so much for being interested in the nonsense I have to say and thinking other people will be interested as well. It really means a lot to me. Shout out to Kyle Ferguson of Misery Ritual, that guy's on another level and I'm stoked to work with him more and hopefully help him progress in the future somehow.

Nemanja Nikolic again, for being someone I feel I can relate to and for always 110% supporting every artist and label he enjoys. Patrick Flynn of Olm needs a shout out because his music is some of the most beautiful I've had the privilege of releasing - sorry we haven't talked lately, man! Haha. 

Liam McGeorge is a pretty awesome human being as well and I have to say thank you to him for being our first real release and for putting in all the hard work I know he does for our scene. James Shearman is also the man, but I think everyone knows that. Never spoken to Cory Strand of Altar Of Waste to be honest, but I'd like to give him a shout out because that label is DENSE. In every sense of the word. 

I'd also like to thank anyone that's released with the label before and anyone who's contacted us for a release, regardless of whether it's worked out or not. Thank you to my family and my brothers - you know who you are. There are too many things and too many people to be grateful for, so I'm going to cut this short and end with this: The biggest thank you of all to anyone who's ever listened. That's all that this is for. 

The most recent aural sizzler to come through Grey Matter Productions is by Red Forest Project,
a collaborative effort between Serbia's Dosis Letalis/Relicuum and Arizona's Go as DeatH. Self-classifying the project 'nuclear disaster noise' RFP's debut cassette is entitled 'Kyshtym Disaster' after one of the most serious nuclear accidents in history. In just under half an hour, both artists cook up an eerie post-explosion atmosphere where the air is thickly contaminated by the nuclear fallout. Intrigued? Have a listen here

GMP also have a future release planned with Seattle HNW behemoth Condo Horro called "Besieging Edith Macefield" which is currently nearing its final stages, so be on the lookout for that one!

You can also read 2 reviews of one man Black Metal project Tomhet here

Grey Matter Productions bandcamp 

hermit bandcamp

Pale Hands bandcamp

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