Hot off the press, Party music for graveyards, the second album from the Bloody Mary crew, the fruit of an ambitious and demanding creative process that makes the narrative the soundtrack of the music, the protagonist of the record in a sort of reversal of the usual notion of a concept album. We explore this interesting subject with Aldebran and company.
- Party music for graveyards is built on a real story that forms its lyrical backdrop. How did the album's writing process develop — did the words come first and then the music, or the other way round?
Aldebran: First came the dreams. The twentieth century was for us an absurd, tragic, epic, beautiful and terrifying century. We internalised and relived all this heritage in the films we saw, in our travels, in our minds and in our souls. It came out of here, out of us, out of our inner life. At a certain point there was this imagery that entered our conversations, that haunted us in the rehearsal room, on our nights out… we had to expel it, draw it out of ourselves to objectify it, to make it art, otherwise it would have haunted us forever…
- The story is very unusual and intriguing: were you inspired by any particular work, novel or author, or is it all the fruit of your imagination?
Aldebran: Clearly there are references ranging from Mary Shelley to Young Frankenstein, from Horace Walpole to Dante… but what characterised this record most is the story of Giovanni Aldini, an Italian proto-scientist who inspired Mary Shelley. We saw in him a precursor, a damned soul who in some way anticipated the topos of the resurrecting scientist, but we caught its embryonic elements, the obsessions and the humanity.
- Such a deep and articulate concept also sets you clearly apart, lyrically, from the other groups in the field: is it a (successful) attempt to distinguish yourselves from the mass of all-the-same bands that sing only of teenage sighs, vampires and broken hearts?
Juerghen: When we worked on this record we didn't think about the other bands. We don't work thinking of others; we bring out what we feel as pressing, as a creative urgency.
- Let's come to the purely sonic side: there is certainly remarkable growth in both songwriting and performance. Given the excellent response to Blood'n'roll, what reactions do you expect from the public and the press?
Aldebran: So far we're getting a great response from the critics; we hope the public will like this work too. For us, though, the important thing is to manage to stir feelings in whoever listens to it. We hope we can be ferrymen and let listeners experience their own sensations. We'd like to be a key that opens the treasure hidden in every listener, their dreams, their imagination.
- Compared with the debut just mentioned, there are line-up changes to note: who are the newcomers, what is their background, and how have they settled into their new role as members of a group of which so much is expected?
Aldebran: Actually there has been only one change: La Rouge was replaced by G_Drone, because after a journey in search of certain things his path naturally parted from ours. G_Drone has brought us enthusiasm, anger and freshness.
- Among my favourite tracks I unhesitatingly name "The right way", marked by a harmonious structure, different from the frontal impact of other episodes such as the outright goth of "Before you fade". An isolated case, or is there a chance this approach will be explored further in the future?
La Mountain: What we'll present with the next record, to which I'll contribute more on the songwriting side, as I did for the first, Blood 'n Roll, will be something different again. We have dozens of songs in embryo, in a jar of formalin, and we like to experiment and to give continuity both within the same album and with the works past and to come. We'd rather not reveal too much for the moment.
- The opening triad "Velvet", "Better way" and "Sobibor" is truly stunning in its relentless pace: what meaning do these songs take on in the context of the story?
Aldebran: As you well know, narratology teaches us that every story begins with a situation of balance, which is then disturbed by exceptional or at any rate traumatic events — think of the opening of Goethe's Elective Affinities, the life of the villa, the couple spending their time in domestic occupations and in the contemplation of a friendly nature. In our story we enter "ex abrupto" into the tale of the scientist, who is already devastated by the loss of his beloved. She will live within our story, but only through the device of the flashback, only in his memories. The album opens under the sign of a deprivation and of its stormy consequences on the lover's soul.
- Why did you include the cover of "Pet semetary", already on the EP Dig up for the party?
Juerghen: Because besides being a great song that we love, played by one of the most brilliant bands of recent decades, we believe it perfectly reflects the atmospheres of the record and of our story. In particular we think the video represents one of the peaks of this imperfect and hybrid art, which juggles between film and song. The special effects and the fairground tricks — go and watch the "Pet…" video again and you will discover the purity, the truth, the love there is in a great song.
- Have you already chosen a song that could serve as a potential single (I really like the HIM-esque "Somebody to love")?
Aldebran: There will be a double single this time, "Gettin' older" and "Better Down". Honestly, for us it's very hard to choose a single song; the single format is something that hardly fits our sensibility, but as you well know the market has its rules and its needs, which we respect. Many people are asking us for a single, for example to play in clubs… Fine, it's right they should have it.
- In "Gettin' older" there is a moderate use of electronics that brings it close to the work of Deathstars and Zeromancer. What is your view of the use of synthesizers and keyboards in this genre, rigid only in appearance and in reality open to contamination?
Aldebran: In PMFG everything was put there for a precise narrative purpose. The electronics are there because they represent the tool the scientist uses to bring his beloved back to life. We used the theremin, for example, because it recalls the atmospheres of certain horror and science-fiction films that influenced us a great deal. And for us it is the true voice of electricity, the instrument that lets us give it a voice as a creative force but also a terrible and destructive one — religious, therefore. Think of a lightning bolt, the divine instrument par excellence, the instrument of the demiurge in traditional societies. Well, for us that lightning has the sound of the theremin, and we love it.
- Closing are "Deathly gone" and "The reason": does the unfortunate scientist succeed in his mad design in the end?
Juerghen: Absolutely not! Can art succeed over fate? The madman wanted the ideal, he wanted the perfect brain, he wanted to animate the idea and make it real. He will find himself amid a mass of inert flesh. Alone and in misery.
- The production is very powerful, clear and polished, letting one fully appreciate the great work done by the rhythm section and the guitars: how much does this weigh in the success of a record?
Aldebran: A lot, because it lets us communicate as well as possible what we really want to express. We'd like what we want to convey to be as clear as possible, so as to pass on to the listener the idea we had. If we could, we would sing directly into the listeners' ears. Since we live in the age of media and that isn't possible, at least we take maniacal care over the production. It's the least we can do.
- Whose is the basic idea behind the vaguely Burtonian artwork that illustrates Party music for graveyards?
Aldebran: Ours. Then Marco Hassmann, a Disney illustrator, brilliantly turned our total vision of the concept into a painting.
- Which Italian bands do you find the greatest affinity with, both musically and in attitude?
Aldebran: Honestly, we can't give you an answer; we're more tied to the art of the late nineteenth century. Each of us, though, has a different background and brings his own contribution to the band.
- You record for Valery Records, a label whose roster boasts very interesting bands, of different backgrounds too (Myland, Timecut, Arcadia to name a few): how did you come into contact with this label, and how is your relationship progressing?
Juerghen: Valery is a great label and Nicky Lou Rosh is a kind of guru for us, a true rocker and a great producer. And he is a brother to us!
- You have built up more than decent live experience, often playing abroad. What are the most significant differences, in Italy compared with abroad, in the organisation, the venues and the audience, that you can point to from your own time on stage?
La Mountain: The organisation by the people in the business is extremely professional; it doesn't matter whether you play in a band called U2 or Bloody Mary, they treat you the same way. That struck us a lot.
- Who are Bloody Mary in everyday life?
Aldebran: What you see on stage. We can't separate our artistic life from our everyday life; that is a luxury we have not been granted.
- Do you feel fulfilled by Party music for graveyards, or do you consider it just one more step in your career as musicians?
Aldebran: PMFG is exactly what we wanted it to be. Every single sound wave, every single pixel, every single line of the lyrics is exactly what was in our heads. We are completely satisfied with it.
- Can one, in our Italy, live on one's art alone?
Aldebran: We live on our art in that our art is the very reason for our existence. As for the economic side, it isn't something that interests us…
- Over to you for closing thoughts on the present, on the future and, above all, an opinion on Ver Sacrum's new look (I just had to slip this one in…)!
We have followed Ver Sacrum for many years and consider it one of the most authoritative voices on the Italian scene. We really like the new look. It is also thanks to outlets like yours that the music we make can go on living. Sic gorgiamus allos subjectatus nunc.
First published in Italian; in English here. Where it appeared ↗