Doses cavalares de art noise industrial, barulho gratuito, vocais viscerais, relembrando a grandeza de gente como Terminal Cheesecake, Rapeman, God Machine, Silverfish e similares, o duo australiano Danyl Jesu em seu ep de estreia, o devastador Celebration, lançado no final do ano passado, impressiona pela agressividade e principalmente pela brutalidade das canções.
Uma daquelas bandas para manter a distância de indie kids.
***** Interview with Danyl Jesu *****
Q. When did Danyl Jesu started, tell us about the history...
We started about a year and a half ago - we wanted to create a project based off the “ghost tapes” used in the psychological warfare operations in Vietnam. The US made a bunch of recordings that played into the Vietnamese spiritual beliefs of burial and the afterlife, and they’d play them to the Vietcong via loudspeakers in the jungle at night to frighten the shit out of them. Basically it was the voice of a tormented, wandering ghost of a vietcong soldier that had been killed in battle and was now condemned to wander in agony, warning the other soldiers to consider returning to their families. Eerie as fuck - have a listen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4d9H_1ygEv8. We slammed out an ep based off this, called “Disembody”. After that we started writing music with more of a framework, but that starting point is still evident, I think.
Q: Who are your influences?
We listen to loads of stuff, but we try to not wear any influences too strongly. My goal is to create something that feels huge, jarring, abrasive and otherworldly, whilst not limiting our appeal to the noise & avant crowd. Bands like Suicide would have had this quality back in the 70’s, but if we were to borrow too heavily from their musical style it’s the wrong way to pay homage to them, I feel. I don’t think we’ve hit our mark quite yet, but I essentially want people to think “Fuck, I’ve never heard anything that sounds remotely like this before, ever”, without going down the overtly arbitrary/freeform/atonal route. We’re influenced by stuff like Wolf Eyes, Pan Sonic, Sunn O))), Portal, HTRK, MBV, Scott Walker, Dirty Beaches etc.
Q. Make a list of 5 albums of all time…
I think this question is way too difficult, so I’m just gonna list five albums that I’m listening to at the moment-
Grouper - Ruins
Earl Sweatshirt - I Hate Shit, I Don’t Go Outside
Ben Frost - A U R O R A
Andy Stott - Luxury Problems
Grief No Absolution - Eurostopodus Argus//Crypsis
Q. How do you feel playing live?
Really anxious. Locky is amazing live - he has infinite confidence and can generally commandeer all the attention, which I’m completely happy with! I’m much more into the experimenting/writing/recording process. I love nailing a set, and feel quite euphoric after the fact, but I never really enjoy it in the moment…I just stress about all the things that could go wrong, and how all my peers are going to despise me and think I’m worthless if I miss a snare hit. Ha.
Q. How do you describe Danyl Jesu sounds?
In a constant state of change. We’re drawn to the realm of synthesizers/sampling/effects processing, as the possibilities are much less limited than traditional instruments. There’s so much that is left to explore, and conquer as your own, which isn't so with ye olde Rock configurations. The percussive element is also a huge part of our sound too. I still like incorporating organic, real percussion, as well as a human (non-quantized) feel, which is a really vital part of our sound. Also, I guess I’m the one who approaches things from a “musical” perspective, whereas Locky isn’t a musician, and approaches stuff from a more conceptual point of view. He is a great sounding board, mainly because he is impartial towards music processes and gear and all that, where those things can really influence how I feel about music. Plus he can bullshit his way into securing grants for us as well…very handy. Combine all of the above with a hatred of basically everything.
Q: Tell us about the process of recording the songs?
With the “Celebration” EP, and the first album we just finished recording (with Phil Elverum of all people), I used an acoustic drum kit, and configured the kick drum to trigger samples (mostly bass) in Ableton, and a foot controller that I used in lieu of a hi hat pedal to change the sample that was being triggered. Locky used a cassette 4-track as a poor man’s mellotron to play various drones and pad sounds, and pitch them up & down. At the moment I’m not using a full drum kit - just a bunch of synths and some scrap metal percussion, and Locky is doing some weird-ass Alan Vega style improvised vocals.
Q. Which new bands do you recommended
I really dig FOREVR (who you’ve already interviewed). Narrow Lands from Sydney are great, and they seem to have a similar ideology to us, even though they sound completely different. Barge With An Antennae On it, who we just released a split 12” inch with today. Pleasure Symbols would be my favourite Brisbane band right now.
Q: Which bands would you love to make a cover version of?
I don’t know. I’m not against covers, but I’ feel like I’d need a good reason to do one, personally. I’d only want to create a new interpretation of an existing song, but then I just sort of think "If I’m gonna go to all this effort, why not just write an original?”.
Q: What´s the plan for the future....
To do what we feel like doing. I get restless quickly, so I love being able to just reconfigure everything on a whim and try something completely different. I want to throw myself into writing & recording this year. We will probably tour here and there also.
Q: Any parting words?
Thanks a bunch for getting in touch with us. If anyone’s keen, you can purchase Celebration at sonicmasalarecords.bandcamp.com.
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Thanks
https://danyljesu.bandcamp.com/
https://www.facebook.com/danyljesu
