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| Interview by Burt Wolf with guitarist Sam, singer Mike & guitarist Sam of DAATH. Interview done on May 9th, 2004. |
| COULD YOU PLEASE GIVE SOME OF THE BACKGROUND HISTORY OF DAATH? Eyal: Mike & I started playing our current instruments at the same time. We've been working together on & off for about 11 years. During one of our off periods between 1998 & 1999 I was living in Boston. In the winter of 2000 I decided to return to Atlanta for about 5 weeks. I called Mike Kameron & asked him if he wanted to write a Techno Death Metal album to help pass the time. We got together for fun & started writing. The 5 weeks turned into 10 months & we had 3 albums worth of material & the band name DIRT NAP that eventually got changed to DAATH. I went back to Boston & realized that i had better cut off my ties there & get back to DIRT NAP. I moved to Atlanta & we got serious with this band. WHY WAS THE NAME DAATH CHOSEN FOR THE BANDS NAME & WHAT DOES IT MEAN? Mike: The primary encouragement for naming our band DAATH arises out of our ambition to act as educators as well as entertainers. If you are unfamiliar, DAATH is the hidden point on the Qabala's tree of life, which reconciles knowledge with understanding. The Qabala is a Hebrew mystical text that acts as a guidepost to all seeking mental clarity & evolution. Although we tolerate any & all forms of religious belief in DAATH, we are a non-religious group with our roots more in metaphysical psychology rather than any institutionally based religion. On the tree of life DAATH is the hidden point on the tree that connects & reconciles the tree with it's adverse side. This is important because true evolution & growth only arises from a balanced force. Both Eyal & I have both suffered for years with these unchecked & extreme sides of our personalities, therefore the reconciliatory nature of DAATH provides a healthy way to contain these unchecked elements instead of repressing them. I believe the need for this reconciliation has been the most important elements in building DAATH, not only as a band, but also as a philosphy for our lives. |
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| EYAL - GUITAR |
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| WHO OR WHAT HAS INFLUENCED YOU IN CREATING YOUR STYLE & SOUND? Eyal: My influences come from various different places. Musically speaking I get on different kicks. Right now I'm mainly on a Metal kick. I love a lot of the new things that are happening in extreme music. The new level of technicality & complexity are mind blowing. Some of my previous kicks have been a Classic Rock kick where all I listened to was THE BEATLES, THE DOORS, LED ZEPELIN & PINK FLOYD. I don't just mean listened, but I learned to play their songs, analyzed their structures, analyzed their lyrics & figured out was going on harmonically. THE BEATLES actually have all their songs scored out. I spent a whole lot of time with that book. The same goes for orchestral. I went through a kick where orchestral music was all I listened to for about a year & a half & during that time I analyzed everything that i could about the pieces I was listening to. I also draw influences from non-musical elements. For instance military like percision, natural disasters, catastrophes & events that cause humans to emotionally short circut from the intensity of the occurrence really draws me in. Mike: I'd say that there are many influences to choose from. I have always been a big Metal fan & it wouldn't be fair not to mention some of the bigger names like DEATH, MORBID ANGEL & CARCASS. I also would like to mention APHEX TWINS for providing some of |
| the inspiration for the electronic influences inour music. Sam: Everything began with the ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA. I went through some Michael Jackson & Tom Jones before I found my way to Dave Mustaine & Mike Scaccia. Scaccia owns, man. In a larger dimension, I think John Williams owns, but Koji Kondo snaps at his heels with tiny nipping jaws. I rip all those jerks off. YOU HAVE A LOT OF WORLDLY & MIDDLE EASTERN TYPE SOUNDS IN YOUR MUSIC. ARE YOU HEAVILY INFLUENCED WITH THE MIDDLE EASTERN CULTURES? Eyal: My dad is Israeli as well as a professional musician & my mom is Mexican. Their backgrounds alone make for a diverse musical upbringing. Growing up I spent a lot of time traveling with them to concerts all over the world & I've also spent a lot of time in Israel. World music & especially Middle Eastern type music are parts of my upbringing & I guess they've embedded themselves into my musical style. PLEASE DESCRIBE A LITTLE BIT OF THE CREATIVE PROCESS IN CREATING YOUR MUSIC? Mike: There are various methods that Eyal & I use in writing. Some of these techniques cannot be discussed in great length in this interview, but I will briefly summarize some of the methods we use when writing. Eyal & I used to compose using conventional methods of piece writing, starting with the vocals or a guitar riff or what have you. More recently Eyal & I have explored various methods attaining the sound we desire by agreeing on the best sound for the song, instead of who has the most time in the limelight. This open minded approach has expanded our group action & has relaxed to rigid boundaries of more conventional forms of writing. In addition, DAATH explores deriving new sounds using custom made modular & granula synths with which we hope to expand our listening audience's aural array. YOUR MUSIC IS A BIT DIFFERENT FROM A LOT OF MUSIC I GET & REALLY HAS STOOD OUT FOR ME. HOW WOULD YOU BEST DESCRIBE YOUR STYLE & SOUND? Eyal: Techno Death Metal. |