Nick Skog is the owner of Canadian-based Hypnotic Dirge Records, as well as the man behind the neoclassical / black ambient project Ancient Tundra.  Hailing from the often forgotten province of Saskatchewan (which is nestled firmly between Alberta and Manitoba), the project and label get little local attention, however have managed a well-placed international foothold in their mere 3 years of existence.  Hypnotic Dirge Records, for the time being, focuses primarily on Dark Ambient / Black Ambient, Neoclassical, and Blackened Doom at the current point in time, but as you'll see below, they have plans to expand.  This interview precedes the label's upcoming debut venture into the DVD world, a CD+DVD collaborative effort between Ancient Tundra and Symbiosis.

 

 

 

Generalities

Heathen Harvest:  Greetings and thank you for accepting this interview.  Could you tell us about the beginnings of Hypnotic Dirge Records?  What did the label seek to achieve in its infancy?

Nick Skog:  Hypnotic Dirge Records began in the fall of 2008. The idea to form a record lable stemmed from a variety of reasons. One reason is that I wanted to have complete control over my project Ancient Tundra in terms of its promotion, the distribution of CD's and the manafacturing process. After that initial idea, I thought of the potential of opening up a record lable as a way to keep my mind busy and to be creative in another sense asides from just writing music. Since I personally knew of a few good artists that were without a record lable at the time, it seemed like a good idea to build a partnership of sorts with these artists as we all had similar goals and viewpoints on how we would build this record lable. The main idea for Hypnotic Dirge Records stemmed from my own thoughts but there was a lot of verbal exchange between myself, Bruno - Immundus, Scott - Astral Luminous and Mort - Exiled From Light to a certain extent. I think what stemmed some of the motivation from this record lable, asides from wanting to be in control of my own music and how it was distributed was also that I was not satisfied with the amount of apathy and lazyness that seemed to be abundent within underground black metal and ambient record lables and I was convinced that I could do a better job. Of course, this is not the case with a lot of fantastically-run record lables, but there seems to be more half-assed record lables than one's that are fully commited.

HH:  Do you believe you've met those goals, or are you still trying to further the label?

NS:  I believe I have reached some good things with Hypnotic Dirge thus far, but there is so much more I would like to acheive and hopefully I can keep the lable advancing for many years to come. There are going to be setbacks along the way. Hypnotic Dirge Records is ultimately not going to dictate my life, and is not going to be my main focus 100% of the time. I have plans to go to university this fall, which will take up a good portion of my time, and will be the main focus of my energy but HDR is always something that is going to be there. I can't predict the future, but I have come to view Hypnotic Dirge as one of the many important aspects of my own life and I would like to further it as much as possible. I don't judge success by monetary means so whether or not Hypnotic Dirge actually makes any money in the future doesn't really matter to me, (although that would be a sign that more people are buying albums, thus appreciating the music more) but basically my goal is for Hypnotic Dirge to have a strong reputation for continuously releasing quality music and for the name of Hypnotic Dirge Records to be well-known in the underground eventually.
 

HH:  Tell us about the name.  Hypnotic Dirge seems close to describing much of the music on the label, but it instills images of funeral doom in my head rather than the nearly neoclassical dark ambience we've become accustomed to. 

NS:  Right. Perhaps the name does resemble Funeral Doom in a way, I can certaintly see your point but I feel it also accurately describes most of the artists on the roster as well, and who's to say that I won't be adding a Funeral Doom project sometime in the future? The name is basically just a generality to describe the lable, and when I came up with the name I thought that it fit together nicely with the type of music I planned to release.  Regarding the Neo-Classical dark ambient you refer to, Ancient Tundra is basically the only project on the lable that has a neo-Classical sound, and even that in my opinion is a minimal influence while remaining mostly within the constructs of Dark Ambient - with of course some outside influences.
 

HH:  Hypnotic Dirge claims to be in existence to promote dark and experimental music.  Do you really feel that you've delved into experimental regions so far?  It seems most of your releases have been along the lines of well established genres rather than on the experimental front.

NS:  You're correct, all of my releases asides from the Immundus album are in generally well established genres although the argument can be made that there are experimental qualities to be found in the Neige et Noirceur releases, the Astral Luminous album, and the Old Forgotten Lands/Ancient Tundra album. Anyway, I can see your point and I agree with you but Hypnotic Dirge has only been in existance for a little over a year so it will take me a while to seek out the right experimental projects which are without a lable. It`s all about maintaining a balance and that might take some time to become a reality. There is however a local project that is experimental in nature which has basically joined Hypnotic Dirge already although we have not made the announcement yet. Hopefully as the months and years go by, I will be able to add some new projects onto the roster although it remains unlikely that I will expand too much in the near future because of budget restrictions. I believe the current roster is strong right now, but it can defidently expand as well.
 

HH:  Imagery seems to play an immensely important part in Hypnotic Dirge Records' appeal.  While all of your imagery is dark and provoking, it still poseesses a style of minimal elegance that carried over to even the album artwork for your releases.  For example, the latest "The Foetal Mind" release.  Can you explain what emotions you are trying to provoke and what you feel this type of minimal beauty acheives regarding the music you focus on?

NS:  I suppose this is a question that would be better answered by the artists themselves who came up with these concepts for each individual album. My opinion though, and this is purely philosophical in a sense, is that there is no such thing as black and white, and that there are always going to be shades of grey in between. Perhaps this is a bad analogy but it seems as if that minimal elegance that you mention is what makes the concept appear more real. If people were trying to explain emotion without a certain balance, then it would feel scripted or cheesy and that is the problem with a lot of the purely depressive black metal bands is that most people do not believe that these artists are genuine, and they become a self-parody of themselves. Incorporating that tiny glimmer of hope or elegance amidst a lot more negativity makes everything appear more real, and the negativity appears stronger as a result of that contrast. Of course, this depends on the artist and I don`t want to make the notion that every project on HDR is based around negativity as that is certaintly not the case. Hypnotic Dirge Records as a lable is certaintly not based entirely around negativity or depression but rather as the entire spectrum of emotion from the highest ecstacy, to the deepest depression. Even though that may not always be showcased properly, that is what is real and what is based in reality.
 

HH:  Up to this point in the label's history, you've focused on dark ambient, black ambient, and black metal / blackened doom.  Have you considered venturing out into other territories as well like, just for example, old school gothic doom like Saturnus and Empyrium, or even neofolk like :Of the Wand and the Moon:?  These styles of bands seem to fit your style and imagery on the border, though not necessarily the music you've released thus far.

NS:  Yes! In fact, I would be really interested in adding a project with a gothic or doom twist onto the Hypnotic Dirge roster. I would like to branch out with the lable into other types of music, and as you mentioned, these styles are not too far removed from the music currently on the record lable. I am personally a fan of a lot of different types of music so it would seem natural to me to add something a little bit different into the overall picture, for the sake of variety. Nothing is set in stone, and the lable is bound to change, and progress naturally as time goes on otherwise there is always the risk of getting bored with what you are doing. I want to be passionate about what I do, and the best way to do that is to follow your inclinations and branch out rather than be stagnant. The problem with this is that while receiving hundreds of demos in the depressive black metal genre, or just flat-out boring bedroom ambient music, (as well as death metal which I have no interest in releasing) I have not received a single demo from any interesting projects in other genres. Hopefully this will all come with time, and the lable will start to catch the attention of bands and projects from other genres once people realize that I am not limiting myself to specific genres.
 

HH:  Many of your releases are unlimited.  Do you believe in unlimited releases for the most part?  What drives you to keep these records in print?

NS:  I dont know... I think that I kind of get annoyed when I am looking up various projects and find that everything they have ever done is sold out. I personally think that people romanticize the idea of a sold-out release as they think it makes them look more "kvlt" or more black-metal, or maybe that just makes them feel more underground. I just think it's a stupid idea. I don't see any reason why a release should not be kept in stock. If people are still willing to buy the CD, why not make it available? If only a few people are interested, then simply re-print a smaller amount, but I think an album should be kept available for as long as its possible. Fans of black metal in particular have this ridiculous notion that they are better than other fans if they discover a band or project before, and they seem to want to be rewarded by being one of the select few to own a CD.

I guess, this comes from the theory that record lables must concentrate on new releases, so older releases simply disappear once they sell out, but I don't think it takes much effort to do a re-press of an album (that also would depend on your manafacturer - I am lucky to have a really good one that will consistently do re-presses for me in any quantity) and a lot of it comes down to quality over quantity. Would you rather have a slower release schedule and make sure each album gets proper distribution and promotion or would you rather shell out a new release every couple of weeks flodding the black metal scene with countless albums and projects that are just not neccesary.
 

HH:  You also have a section of the website dedicated to free digital releases that have been released under the Hypnotic Dirge Records name.  Have you embraced the digital realm from the beginning of the label in 2008?  Do you feel that the digital realm is a key component of the label, or rather just a way for you to support releases you wouldn't otherwise have the funds to support?

NS:  I don't remember exactly when I began releasing digital albums on the website but I think it was around June 2009. I never actually had plans for a free downloads section of the website at the beginning but naturally you get ideas along the way, and that's how the digital download section of the lable began. The free downloads aspect of the record lable is not really a key component. I suppose it's nice in a way, but it's just another aspect of promotion. The artists like it because it's a nice way to release extra material that is not meant to be showcased on a physical CD. Immundus is a good example of this, he had plans to release an EP and a single release on his official website, so of course I made the albums available to download from the HDR website as well, but he would of released it for free regardless so all I did was try to create more promotion for his music by also making it available to download from my website. That's the whole point anyway, it's just promotion and a thank you for people who are supporting us.
 

HH:  Have you considered making your digital releases available through payment rather than free?  Or even a "Pay what you want" style purchase?

NS:  No. I don't do this for two reasons. First of all, I'm not greedy - If an album is in digital format, It will be free. I don't have to pay to ship the album around the world, I won't be shipping promo copies to reviewers, or trade copies to other lables. I won't be paying manafacturing costs either, so essentially there was no money spent on "releasing" a digital album. If I'm not spending any money, then I don't feel right in charging any money to listen to something that doesnt even come on a physically tangible format. Besides, I don't even consider digital releases proper releases, and they are usually just done for promotional purposes anyway. If people like what they are downloading and want to support the lable, then they can just spend a little bit of money on purchasing physical albums from me and they will get a much better product that way.
 

HH:  Have you considered venturing into the world of Tape or DIY releases as physical alternatives to your digital releases?

NS:  Not really. As I mentioned, the digital releases are just meant for promotional purposes and the best way for promote your music is to make it available for free download. If people enjoy what they are downloading for free, then they can easily support the lable and the artists by buying one of the official albums from HDR, or going through the distribution and making an order.  I don't have a problem with tape or DIY releases, but I feel that I just don't have the time to step into another aspect of the lable. I would rather devote my time on concentrating on the current elements of the lable, and let the tape lables do what they do best.
 

HH:  Hypnotic Dirge will soon break into the DVD world with the upcoming Symbiosis / Ancient Tundra collaboration, however, you haven't really touched the world of vinyl.  Has this medium been considered for release?  Dark Ambient especially tends to do pretty well on the vinyl medium.

NS:  It's a nice idea, but I don't know if it's something that is possible at the moment. I have a hard enough time trying to break even and keep my activities going with my CD sales, so I really don't think that vinyl would be a possibility right now. However, when I started the lable, I never really considered the possiblity of a DVD release aside from being something to consider for the future when the opportunity presented itself so I won't completely rule out the possibility of a vinyl release in the future, but it is not in the immediate plans.
 

HH:  Has the local music scene accepted Hypnotic Dirge Records, or is it like many small labels and not really even known by its local audience?  Have you attempted to promote live shows with your status as a label owner?

NS:  I have made absolutely no effort in promoting Hypnotic Dirge Records locally. There is nobody around here even remotely interested in this sort of music, and definitely no local bands that are of any interest to me. Of course, my friends know about the lable but most of them don't really have any understanding of what I am doing asides that I have a lot of CD's around and I spend a fair amount of time at the post office. I live in an extremely shitty town of 16,000 people that claims to be an important "city" for the region but basically it is an area filled with worthless people and mindless fucking idiots, asides from a few exceptions. Luckily I am moving out of here in the summer because it is a dead-end town with no opportunities, no decent jobs, no music scene, and basically just a bunch of idiots that waste their life away doing drugs without any desire to do anything with their lives.
 

HH:  Does Hypnotic Dirge do DIY printing for their apparel or do you have them professionally printed?  How many shirts typically are printed per batch?

NS:  I get my shirts professionally printed from a company in California called Icon Screen Printing. The Ancient Tundra shirt design was the first shirt printed for the lable, which was printed in a run of 30 copies. The Exiled From Light T-Shirt had a run of 50 copies and is now almost sold out and I am thinking that all of the future HDR shirts will probably be printed in editions of 50 as well. So far there are plans to make Astral Luminous, Immundus, and Neige et Noirceur T-Shirts sometime in 2010 so hopefully this vision can be fulfilled. I would like to maybe make hoodies in the future too but I have not looked into the prices on that yet, but that remains a goal of mine.
 

 

 

Artists

HH:  Immundus seems to be the odd man out on the label.  His dark ambient style is perhaps the closest to experimental that Hypnotic Dirge currently hosts, and his fantastic logo in itself sets him apart from the other projects featured there whom have more traditional black metal-styled logo (with the exception of The Foetal Mind).  Why was he welcomed into the roster despite seeming to be outside the norm?

NS:  Immundus has been a good friend of mine for over two years now and it was him that I first spoke to about the possiblity of opening up a record lable at the very beginning back in the fall of 2008. I have always been a fan of his music and we discussed the possiblity of opening up a record lable with Ancient Tundra, Immundus, Astral Luminous, Neige et Noirceur, and Winds of Sorrow as the initial artists. We continue to have a very good relationship as friends, and artists to this day, and him being without a record lable at the time of the lable's inception, it just seemed logical to offer him a spot on Hypnotic Dirge right from the start. If he seems like an odd man out, then I view that as a compliment because one of my visions for HDR, is for every artist to seem completely unique from one another, and not to be connected to each other because of genre specifications. However, you are correct Immundus is probably the most experimental project that is currently on the roster, and is rather difficult to place him into a specific genre. Don't call him Dark Ambient, the purists will get upset!
 

HH:  Requiem Nocturne is, visually, one of the more interesting artists that you have welcomed into the digital side of Hypnotic Dirge.  Why haven't they been welcomed into an actual release if you believe in them enough to host 3 of their albums digitally?

NS:  I would like to strongly emphasize that the digital promotion which is I do with Hypnotic Dirge is not really connected with the record lable, it is simply promotion. I am not too enthusiastic about releasing digital albums personally, so all of the albums appearing on there are for the most part, just to help out other artists and friends. I have known Bjorn of Requiem Nocturne for a couple of years now and he is a really good guy and an interesting artist, so I had no problem in hosting his albums digitally. He releases all of his albums in digital format for free download on his myspace page anyway so all I am really doing is providing extra promotion for him and hopefully creating more interest for his music. I have not completely ruled out the possibility of releasing a physical copy of his album some day on Hypnotic Dirge, but this is not something that is planned for anytime in the foreseeable future.
 

HH:  With the exception of Neige et Noirceur and Ancient Tundra, you don't typically work with the same artists twice.  Is this due to your wish to promote many artists and not enough funds to continue with others, or other reasons?

NS:  I plan to continue working with all of the artists on my current roster. The reason why it may seem like I do not work with many artists twice is simply because in most cases, the upcoming albums are still being written and recorded. The lable is still fairly young so most of the artists have not had the chance to write a new album since their first album release on Hypnotic Dirge. Astral Luminous, Immundus, Exiled From Light, Funeral Fornication, and The Foetal Mind are all currently writing for a new album that will be released on Hypnotic Dirge Records in 2010. In the case of Winds of Sorrow, I believe that project is now dead so there are no further albums to come, and as for Echoes of Silence, that project was removed from the roster shortly after their only album was released on HDR. All of the projects currently on my active roster (asides from Winds of Sorrow) will see many releases on Hypnotic Dirge in the future as I plan to work with all of them exclusively and hopefully will be releasing all of their future albums for years to come.
 

HH:  Since Winds of Sorrow only had a release of 100 copies and sold out, do you believe that you'll be working with them again in the future?  Selling 100 copies from an unknown band on an underground label is a pretty good feat these days.

NS:  Well actually I only sold about 35 copies of that album to individuals, but the remaining 65 copies went to other distros and record lables through wholesale and trades, as well as 10 copies to the artist, and a copy for myself. Even with those numbers, I managed to make a tiny profit from that release (less than $100) which is more than can be said about most of my other releases. As for releasing another Winds of Sorrow album, that all depends on Mort. As far as I know, the Winds of Sorrow project is probably dead because Mort is busy with his other projects, mainly Exiled From Light, and When Mine Eyes Blacken, but if he were to make another Winds of Sorrow release in the future, it would be released on Hypnotic Dirge! The debut album is now sold out both from myself, and all of the other lables who bought or traded for the release, and the myspace page was deleted by Mort, so all that remains of this release now is some fan-videos that were posted on youtube, so in that sense it has completely been removed from existance. I may post the album as a free download sometime down the road if there is a genuine demand for it.
 

HH:  Echoes of Silence utilizes MIDI instruments instead of actual guitars.  Given that this artist is from California, how did you come to work with him and why did you choose him for your third release?

NS:  Echoes of Silence is a project I knew of for a couple of years before opening the lable, and I developed a working relationship with the artist. After opening up Hypnotic Dirge, he asked if I would be interested in signing him and releasing some of his upcoming albums. I agreed to do so, but looking back at it now, this was probably my worst decision in regards to Hypnotic Dirge. His music is far from what I believe HDR to represent, and I agreed to release his music based more upon our friendship than his music. I made this decision only one month after opening up the record lable and before truly realizing how to properly run a record lable, and that you cannot release sub-par music, as that is a representation of your record lable as a whole. I suppose I knew that, but figured there would be a few people interested in his music, and I would be able to eventually break even on his release. That was far from the case, I only managed to sell 2 copies! Later on, I talked to the owner of Clovenhoof Productions who released a few of his previous albums and he told me he has not managed to sell a single copy of any of his previous albums. I realized that it would not be possible to continue releasing his music, so I let him know that I did not wish to release any more Echoes of Silence albums on my record lable. After receiving a bunch of demo submissions since that point I realized there was countless other artists who were more deserving of a release rather than him.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HH:  I've already interviewed Astral Luminous for Heathen Harvest so I won't delve too far into your relations with him -- but it does seem that you have the highest respect for Scott and his project given your explanation of his release:  "Astral Luminous' debut album is one of the most intelligent, thought-provoking and innovative black metal albums to come out in quite some time."  What exactly gives you such high respect for this artist? 

NS:  Astral Luminous is a project that I always had the highest respect for. I suppose that a lot of bands mix intelligent topics into their music, but I have always thought of Astral Luminous as something truly unique. The Lunaric Tide album is fantastic! Even after listening to the album for the past year, I still think the riffs are amazing and it is a pretty mesmorizing album. Asides from this, Scott Johnson is a perfectionist, It seems as if he was working on that album for almost 2 years, always refining little details and re-recording stuff, and he had the idea that he would not release the album until it was perfect in his eyes and something that he was truly proud of. Once you release the album to the world, there is no taking it back and changing things, so I highly respect the fact that he is highly dedicated to his project and doesn't do anything half-assed. He spent a LOT of time making sure the visuals for the album were perfect and you can certaintly tell in the final product as I think it has some of the most beautiful artwork to ever adorn a black metal album.

Sadly, about a month ago someone broke into his house and stole his guitar, bass, computer, and his flash drive which had all of his information for the second Astral Luminous album and this set things back considerably regarding the second album. He's a pretty persistant guy though, and I just spoke to him earlier today and he's been working to save up money for new equipment again. He has already bought a new computer and re-recorded the synth portions of the album and is getting a new guitar next week, so that is another admirable quality in him. A lot of people would of probably given up and sulked about it for quite a long time.
 

HH:  You've now released two albums from the secretive Quebec project Neige et Noirceur.  Neige et Noirceur gives off an aura not unlike that of Darkspace, Paysage d'Hiver, Trist (Germany) and others.  What do you think is the strong allure for this project, which I personally feel is the most interesting amongst the others on your roster?

NS:  Neige et Noirceur is a project that seems to always get positive responses from listeners. It is a quite secretive project as you mentioned but we are working to change that. Most people have never heard of the project but upon hearing it for the first time, there always seems to be a mention of a similar atmosphere to Darkspace, and Paysage d'Hiver in particular. I'm not sure why this project seems to be so well liked asides from the fact that the project sounds good, he is connected to a thriving Quebecois scene which is a birthplace of a lot of fantastic black metal, and that his presentation is that of a genuine artist. Neige et Noirceur is certaintly a special artist and I'm glad to have the priveledge to release and promote his music. It's cool that you also like the project!
 

HH:  Why did you make the decision to re-release "L'Abime des Jours, l'ecume des nuits", originally on Dungeons Deep?  Wouldn't you rather have showcased another new offering from the project?

NS:  Dungeons Deep has pretty much disappeared from existance in the past couple of years, and I don't think many people are aware of the earlier Neige et Noirceur recordings, nor are they able to get a hold of these releases as they are have been sold out for quite some time. It was important for both myself and Spiritus to properly release and distribute the early Neige et Noirceur material before moving on to new material. This gave us to opportunity to release a double-disc album featuring the tracks from both Demo III and IV and release it with updated artwork which was something that seemed logical to us given the fact that the album was sold out, so we wanted to make it available again and give it a new presentation. The new Neige et Noirceur material will come shortly however, there should be a new full-length release in the summer of 2010 on Hypnotic Dirge. Spiritus is a pretty prolific guy and spends a lot of time writing music.
 

HH:  Exiled from Light is perhaps the most typical of the artists on your label, despite his geographical location in New Zealand.  How did you come to work with him?  Do you find it strange that this area (Oceania) breeds such authenticly disturbing characters (see:  Abyssic Hate, Drowning the Light)?

NS:  Exiled From Light is the epitone of Depressive Black Metal, you are certaintly correct about that. It's typical of the genre but I don't think it is boring at all. Mort is an extremely underrated musician in my opinion and Exiled From Light is a very interesting project. I think his project is right up there along with the best of the genre, and unlike certain projects in this genre (I won't mention any names) his music is actually genuine, and with that carries a lot of real emotion. His unreleased material that will make up the second Exiled From Light album is a huge step up in terms of how the project has developed and as much as I like the first album, I actually consider the second album to be a huge improvement and one of my favourites in the genre. His other project When Mine Eyes Blacken on Self-Mutilation Services is also really good and seems to be getting a lot of attention. I met Mort about 2 and a half years ago when he only had a little project called 'Dimma Sinfonia' but soon after he created tons of other projects such as Balthazar, SerpentThrone, Schizophrenia, Beyond Light, When Mine Eyes Blacken, Winds of Sorrow, and then Dimma Sinfonia trasnformed into what is presently Exiled From Light. Unlike other bedroom black metal musicians with countless projects, his music was actually really good! Once I had the idea about starting up the lable, he was one of the first musicians I had in mind as far as releasing his music and luckily the other lables that were supposed to be releasing his projects (particularily Exiled From Light) were kind of dicking around and delaying everything, so it all worked out and I was able to release his music on HDR.

As far as the question about whether I find it strange that there seems to be a lot of depressive black metal bands in the Oceania area... Not really. The same thing applies in California and that seems a little bit weirder to me, but I suppose the time of geography having any thing to do with music scenes is pretty much over, since everyone is now connected by the internet.
 

HH:  The Foetal Mind offers an exciting new era for Hypnotic Dirge, as it brings about your first release with a project that has a full band.  Do you intend to further your release schedule to more band-styled projects?

NS:  Whether or not a band plays live, or has a full band roster is of little importance to me. I will not be taking an active role in promoting band shows since my artist roster comes from all around the world, so they are better off to promote shows themselves or find a promoter who is local to them. I only promote via the internet, since I live in a small city of 16,000 people in the middle of the Canadian prairies, where there is absolutely no interest in what I am doing. To actually answer your question, I would gladly accept more band-styled projects and they would have my full support in playing shows, and doing tours if they so wanted, but ultimately the recordings of a band or project is what leads my judgement. Another way to look at it though, is that live bands have more opportunity to promote rather than to be lost in the sea of music on the internet, and that would bring more attention to the record lable, allowing me to expand my activities so that has to be kept in mind as well!
 

HH:  Are there any local artists that you've been considering approaching about releasing?  Are there any artists you'd like to take this chance to announce?

NS:  Actually, strangly enough there is one local project which will be added onto the HDR roster fairly soon. I have not announced it yet before now, because I was originally going to wait until the second half of March after I got my next release out and finished the bulk of the promotional responsibilities and had a bit more time to promote a new project, but this is a good opportunity to announce the latest signing to Hypnotic Dirge. It is a project called 'One Dark Curse' which is a solo experimental project from my friend and old bandmate in a gothic black metal project that was active from 2005-2007. The One Dark Curse project is really hard to describe because it does not really follow any specific genre guidelines, but I think it is something really unique and experimental and quite a bit different than the rest of the Hypnotic Dirge roster. It's important to me to bring a different dimension to the record lable and not be restricted to specific genres, because although I have released a lot of Depressive Black Metal, and ambient music, I am a fan of a lot of different music and want to expand HDR beyond what it is known for today. To be able to help out a good friend of mine is a nice bonus, and being able to work with a local artist is going to be a lot of fun, as we can meet fairly often and discuss things in person, and of course he is full of good ideas. I've actually known this guy since I was about 8 years old. Anyone that is interested in checking out this project can do so by going to their myspace (click the hyperlink in this paragraph.)
 

 

News

HH:  Has your distro been successful at all?  Are there plans to increase your stock or slow it down?

NS:  The distro has been moderatly successful. I usually only trade for around 5 copies of a distro album, so naturally a few albums have sold out from my stock, but most of the albums remain and I have gotten a few re-stocks of sold out items along the way. The distro sales has actually slowed down lately despite the addition of tons of great albums recently, and with the ever rising costs of shipping because of the beaurocratic postal service, it seems as if the logical choice is to slow things down a bit, at least until sales pick up again. I still plan on expanding my distro regularily but perhaps things will slow down a bit over the next few months. Although I fully respect record lables and distros with thousands of different titles in their stock and realize that there is a place for these mailorders on the internet, I prefer to stick with a quality over quantity guideline with my distro.
 

HH:  How have sales for the label itself been?  You started out really strong in 2008 and filled 2009 with many releases.  However, 2010 has yet to see a release.

NS:  Sales have been alright. When i first started out the record lable I expected more, but now I have a better idea of what to expect month to month. I have not made a single penny with the record label, and have probably lost over $5000 so far running the lable. It's unfortunate but this is an underground market and I think a good majority of people are not interested in buying CD's anymore. Also with the saturation of music these days, it becomes harder and harder for people to find projects and record lables they like, as they have to sort through so much shit and clones to find anything that stands out and is worth spending their money on. All I can do is keep releasing music that I personally appreciate and hope that enough people agree with me and my assessment of the music I release so that I can keep releasing new albums.

The reason I released albums at a faster pace from late 2008 - fall 2009 is because I had a regular job during that time and I spent my own personal money on releasing albums. Since September however I have been going to school and quit my job and have been living on a provincial traning allowance which is just barely enough to survive, it's ridiculous. So therefore, I can only release a new album now once sales reach a high enough point to fund the manfacturing process of a new album, so in this sense, releases are entirely dependent upon sales of the lable's previous releases. I have made this point recently on a number of different occasions so I hope this encourages people to spend more money on HDR, as this is now the only way that new albums will be released.
 

HH:  Is the Symbiosis / Ancient Tundra CD + DVD still slated for release this month (February) or is it delayed?

NS:  It has been delayed a little bit but not very much! It is now slated for a release on March 14th, 2010 which is now just a few short days away. I am now accepting pre-orders for this release as well, so people can buy it just like any other album on HDR. I encourage everyone to check out the Symbiosis / Ancient Tundra Promotional Video for the release on our official youtube channel, or by going to the videos section on the official website. There is plenty of information about this release all over the internet, so I hope people check it out, and give it a good listen as this is the product of over a year's work from both myself and Valerio Orlandini of Symbiosis.
 

 

 

 

 

HH:  How did the idea for this collaboration come together, including the inclusion of the DVD?  What will be featured on the DVD?

NS:  I wrote the songs for the Ancient Tundra side of the release back in the late stages of 2008 actually, for a planned split album release with a project called Fjellelv. That however never came to be, and I was left with the option of saving the tracks for a full-length album or finding another project to release a split album with. I wanted to do a split with an aritst I really respected as otherwise I don't believe there is any point, and you may as well release an album as a full-length solo album.
I have always respected Symbiosis. I discovered him as part of the Dungeons Deep Roster back in early 2007 when he was still a relatively young artist. I watched his sound progress over the years and he reminded me a lot of my own project, His music has a similar quality to mine, also incorporating some neo-classical influence into his project over the years, whildst keeping with a nature ambient feeling, so I approched him about the possibility of releasing a split album and luckily he was interested.

As we continued to discuss how to make our split release memorable, and different from the typical bedroom ambient/black metal split album cliche, it became more and more clear that we both wanted to give a visual representation to our music and so we decided it would be a nice touch to film some music videos and include a DVD into our split album.

The DVD will include over an hour of experimental film including three music videos, a slideshow presentation, and a nature-scenes montage from my side, three music videos from Valerio's side and promotional videos of Hypnotic Dirge as bonus features.
 

HH:  Winds of Sorrow's "Through Twilight" is now sold out -- do you plan on re-releasing it in the future, or will it remain unavailable?  How many copies of your releases do you typically get printed out?

NS:  The Winds of Sorrow album will remain unavailable. The first three Hypnotic Dirge releases are limited releases and will not be re-printed once they sell out. The reason for this is mainly because I am not happy with the visual presentations of the albums and prefer to put this era of Hypnotic Dirge in the past once the albums are sold out, especially in the case of the Echoes of Silence release (HDR - 003) because he is no longer on the HDR roster, and the project does not properly represent Hypnotic Dirge. As for the other releases (HDR-004 onwards) they are unlimited releases and will continue to be in stock as long as the lable is running. I usually begin by printing 100-150 copies of a release, and then get more manafactured along the way when I run low on stock so that it always remains available.
 

HH:  Can we expect any upcoming live events or tour announcements from artists on your roster?  I know that currently The Foetal Mind is perhaps the only band-format project on the label and thus the only project capable of carrying out live performances as a group.  However, dark ambient projects aren't unaccustomed to carrying out sparse solo live sets.

NS:  Immundus has been approached by Svartsinn about opening up for him on some shows in Norway, as I believe they are pretty good friends, and I have encouraged him to do so, but he is not really interested in taking his music to a live setting and prefers to just be a recording artist. As for The Foetal Mind, their vocalist has just recently left the band which is quite unfortunate as they had some shows planned with Forgotten Tomb, and had to cancel them. Other than the two I mentioned, I am really not too sure, I would like to personally play live at some point but it would not be with Ancient Tundra, so there is nothing concrete with that. However Valerio Orlandini (also of the Symbiosis project) is busy right now preparing for shows in Italy for his other project carrying his own name and has already previously played live with the Symbiosis project.
 

HH:  Obviously you at least somewhat embrace the digital realm given several of your releases, but do you believe that illegal downloading hurts or helps small labels like yours?  In one way its taking away potential sales...in another its free promotion.  The typical arguement, but we always like hearing each label's viewpoints on the issue.

NS:  My digital releases are not something I consider to be connected with the main aspect of Hypnotic Dirge. The albums that are available for free download are typically just old demos, sold-out albums, or just using the recognition of the lable to help friends get their music more widely reached (Requiem Nocturne). The only exceptions are the Immundus EP's 'The Method Learned II', and 'Poemia' and the Hypnotic Dirge Records Compilation album which was created to celebrate the one-year aniversary of the lable, and offer a sneak peak into current and upcoming releases for any prospective fans.

I believe illegal downloading hurts lables, small or big it makes no difference. The purpose of websites like myspace, reverbnation, and youtube is to show a few songs from a release, and more times than not, all of the songs get posted on youtube from fans anyway which I think is perfectly fine after the album release because everybody deserves a chance to listen to an artist's music before buying a CD to determine whether it is shit or not.

However, if we as music fans want artists to keep releasing something tangible as opposed to digital than we must be prepared to spend money on the product to keep the market alive. Maybe I am old fashioned, but I want to own a physical CD, and not just a soulless collection of songs on my Ipod, or computer. I do not even own an Ipod, but own a collection of about 350 CD's and I am certaintly not rich by any means.

It is not easy for a lable to keep afloat when people are downloading music illegally and I have absolutely no interest in succumbing to that reality and releasing albums digitally. I will continue releasing music on CD's or some sort of tangible physical copy, much like the old-schoolers that continue to release vinyl despite the fact that most people have long forgotten that this format still exists.

HH:  What does the future currently hold for Hypnotic Dirge Records? 

NS:  I'm hoping to release the second Exiled From Light album sometime in April in funds allow me to do so. More than likely this will be the next release after the Symbiosis/Ancient Tundra Split CD+DVD, and then later on, there are new releases coming from Astral Luminous, Neige et Noirceur, Funeral Fornication, Valerio Orlandini, One Dark Curse, The Foetal Mind and possibly Immundus to close out the year. There are also plans to release T-shirts by Astral Luminous, Immundus, and Neige et Noirceur sometime in 2010 as well. This all depends on sales though, as was pointed out earlier so hopefully I can manage to sell enough albums to fund the manafacturing process of these albums in a timely fashion and nothing has to be delayed.
 

HH:  Thank you for the opportunity to look into your world.  Please feel free to take this last spot to say whatever you feel needs saying.  Cheers!

NS:  Thank you for all of these thoughtful questions and the obvious research that you have done in preparing for this interview. You have challenged me on certain questions as well, and that is a sign of good journalism. Keep up the good work with HH!  For any prospective readers, I hope you found some value in this interview and gained some interest in Hypnotic Dirge after reading this. Please be sure to check out the official website!  Cheers!