This is an interview, or rather, more of a conversation that I've been meaning to have with James Brown III (His real name) for a long time coming now, and we finally did that sporadically over the summer, (which says a lot about how late I am to posting this up on here). It's more of an organic conversation rather than a set of pre-mediated questions, which admittedly was far more music based than I sometimes go for, so rather than ask 'what is your favourite kind of soup' or 'do you like your Corn Flakes soggy or crispy' or whatever else I might normally contrive.
I digress, I've been a long time appreciator of
Horus' work since I first heard
Moonknight's
Ligeia back in 2012 and I've been subsequently listening to just about everything else out on
Rising Beast Recordings ever since, totally ambivalent to the fact that it was all done by a singular human being. Over the course of a few weeks, him and I talked back and forth and I had the privilege of parsing between this bit of meaningless minutia and that. Everything is meaningless. But I humbly thank
James Brown III for his time anyway. An exemplary musician with the coolest name I've ever heard.
Before we dive into the vast ether that is your music and massage through the fascia of this sound and that, let’s wade through a few icebreakers. What music out there currently has it’s hooks in you and what is it particularly about it that is appealing to you?
Horus) I’m constantly checking out new music. For black metal I really like some of the bands coming out of the Korpsånd Circle in Denmark. Ærekær is fucking fantastic, a really magical blend of dungeon synth and raw black metal. Grifla da la Secta is great too, and I like Jordslået. I also love this band Pa Vesh En from Belarus, it crosses between the later-era Velvet Cacoon / Clair Cassis and the raw hypnotic style of Black Cilice or Candelabrum from Portugal.
Outside of metal I listen to a lot of dreampop and indie pop music. My favorites are No Joy, Tamaryn, Ariel Pink, Barlow, The Cleaners From Venus, Matt Berry, Dum Dum Girls, lots and lots more.
I guess I just think about what draws me to like a band...I seem to always search for some type of beauty in the music-whether it’s pretty and uplifting, or a sad beauty, or even a malevolent beauty. And I find beauty in lo-fi music. The hiss and gritty textures can add emotive power to the atmosphere. It’s all about the atmosphere. I want to drown the world in reverb.
Hahaha drown the world in reverb, nice. You being into the Korpsånd Circle sound makes total sense, I think those interests clearly shine through in your sound, but did you ever go deeper into the dungeon synth side of things?
I can see how influences of dreampop and indie pop have seeped into your music as well, especially in the warmer flourishes of Moonknight or Vorpal Sword. Did you ever fall into John Maus’ work? He's collaborated often with Ariel Pink, especially on his 2006 debut ‘Songs’ (something I’m currently over playing). Finally, What’s your take on Darkthrone’s latest album ‘Old Star'?
Horus) Hmm dungeon synth as a whole hasn’t fully grabbed me, I love Old Tower and Stefan Traunmüller’s ambient work from the 90’s but I don’t return to the style too often, I need to be in a certain mood.
Oh yeah, shoegaze and dreampop have always influenced me. Really the first Moonknight album Toplov, it’s all there, I was trying to blend shoegaze pop and raw black metal. That album is almost a thesis statement for everything I’ve done since then. The seeds of Vorpal Sword are also in Toplov.
I don’t know John Maus, I will have to look him up! Yeah after listening to Ariel Pink I’ve become a fan of many of his collaborators too. This guy Jorge Elbrecht plays in his live band but is also a solo artist and prolific engineer/mixer, everything he touches is gold. He recently released a shoegaze black metal album under the name Coral Cross, it’s great!
Oh man I love the new Darkthrone, which is not too surprising, I’ve really enjoyed the direction they’ve been going in. I think the new album is a little heavier and doomier than the last one, and the songs are simpler too. Fenriz just locks onto these simple and monotonous drum patterns. The riffs are lean, with no-frills and the songs just pummel you.
Likewise, the direction since 'F.O.A.D.' has really done it for me. Would you say both Fenriz and Nocturno’s extensive understanding of music new and old, across all genres can be attributed to how well the two of them can execute a song? * I like to think there's some accounting for taste.
When you’re writing new material, do you ever take into account the elitism within purist black metal and try not to deviate too far from that path or do you always do what you want with no second guessing?
Horus) Regarding Darkthrone, I think their vast knowledge of music informs them a lot. I come up with a riff sometimes and I have no idea where it came from, or what the hell I was listening too. I get the sense that with Darkthrone there are no accidents, those guys know exactly what they want and their tastes can get really specific.
Wow that last question is a big one for me. The truth is I am constantly wrestling between doing what I want musically and then worrying what other people will think of it. I have a whole batch of Vorpal Sword songs that got cut because I was afraid they went too far in the pretty/dreampop direction and I freaked myself out. I’ve recorded entire albums and then shelved them for years, I have a vast archive. I’m coming around these days and trying to have courage, I want to get some of this stuff out there cause I believe it’s really good… But yeah, releasing music is terrifying hahaha.
I agree about Darkthrone, they seem to exist and operate in a musical realm of their own, and they almost can’t fuck up. On that note, what's your favourite Darkthrone album, song and album cover?
Horus) Man, this question sent me into a frenzy of revisiting all the old Darkthrone albums and artwork haha. Favorite album would have to be Under a Funeral Moon with Panzerfaust a close second. Those early albums can’t be beat. The artwork too, the high-contrast black & white, classic. But I always thought the original art for Total Death was great too, that sci-fi landscape sticks out from all their other cover art.
This segues into my next question. Across all of the music you release, there seems to be more than just a modicum of thought on the layout design and artwork itself, where does all of that come from?
Horus) I’ve always done my own layouts and most of the art. One of my best friends in Louisville, Kentucky is this artist William David Pollard, he’s been my regular Moonknight cover artist since Ligeia. He and his partner Eric Rakutt started Ghost Cat Studio here and they are always throwing art shows and local events.
Anyways yeah, I learned how to use Photoshop pretty much so I could do my own layouts. I really enjoy it, it’s another part of the creative process for me. All my life whenever I got a new cassette, CD or LP I always studied the art and layout, looking at all the pictures, reading all the credits and lyrics etc, so yeah that’s an important part of it for me.
Going back to what we were saying before, about the vulnerability of putting your music out there and it being terrifying is a fair point. Whenever you put anything out there it's wide open for critique, but I’m thinking you should find a way to release those unreleased songs.
Horus) I am actually working on a lot of archival music now, starting with my old shoegaze project PRAY FOR SNOW. I have a “lost” album of neofolk/dreampop songs called “Inheliopic”, I just finished mixing and mastering it after it had sat on a shelf for nearly 12 years. There is a TON of unreleased Moonknight material too, and I’ve got a batch of that in the pipeline. As for VORPAL SWORD, I will either eventually gather up the balls to release the really pretty stuff or I will come up with another name for it, I dunno yet, haha.
I’m trying to wrap my head around what a mix of neofolk and dreampop would sound like - good I imagine - any band recommendations there? I'm equally trying to wrap my head around how you manage to be so prolific… What's the secret sauce of productivity, Horus?
Horus) Soon I’ll be sending you a DL code for that PRAY FOR SNOW “Inheliopic” album. I don’t exactly combine neofolk and dreampop on it; it’s more like there are some neofolk songs and some shoegazey electronica songs. I’m imagining myself what neofolk and dreampop combined sounds like. There is a band I can point to as a reference - KEY from Finland, it’s a side project of one of the Circle of Ouroboros guys. Gothic folky songs, almost a medieval vibe, with these snappy beats and a hazy, lo-fi production. It crosses into 60’s psychedelic pop for me. There are two albums of really wonderful and catchy songs, they have been on my regular rotation.
There was a piece of advice I read from an artist somewhere, he said, when it comes to your art, "you have to immerse yourself to the point that it hurts you to be away from it." I definitely go through spells, but when I’m really excited about working on music it’s all I can think about. And if I’m going to work, or out with friends, or shopping or whatever, in the back of my mind I’m editing song arrangements, or coming up with song titles, and thinking about what I’m going to work on when I get home. But also I work very fast. I have my writing and recording process streamlined, it’s very efficient.
Haha that quote sounds like something Bukowski would say, only with a less fatalistic tongue. What things non-musically would you say inform and inspire your sound?
Horus) I draw inspiration from all sorts of places, I have a wide range of interests. I’m always borrowing titles for songs or lyrics from somewhere.
What releases specifically out in 2019 (and within the walls of metal) had your full attention? Any unequivocal end of year favourites? Also, anything on the horizon for Harassor?
Horus) Man, I had to go back and review the last 6 months of releases to see what stood out to me. There have been a lot of good ones and I don’t even cast as wide of a net these days. In no particular order:
Vaal - Ondood Rehearsal
Golden Ashes - Gold Are the Ashes of the Restorer
Ærekær - Avindskjold
Pa Vesh En - Cryptic Rites of Necromancy
Psychotomimetic - Delirio Dimensional
Mork - Det Svarte Juv
Wishfield - Wishfield
Måneskygge - Untitled MMXIX
Sadness - Circle of Veins
Phobonoid - La Caduta di Phobos
Coral Cross - 002
Trübsal - Verfehlte Entsagung
Harassor is on an “extended hiatus” of sorts as I left Los Angeles last fall and moved back to my hometown of Louisville, Kentucky. The other two guys Sandor and Pete are still in LA. So that has slowed us down but there are still a few unreleased songs kicking around, and I wouldn’t rule out the possibility of playing live again in the future.
Sandor is very active these days with his solo project Andorkappen, he plays out a lot and is always recording new material. Pete has a new doom band called Qaalm, they just released their first demo and started playing live, it’s pretty exciting stuff.
Damn, that’s a big list of names I’m unfamiliar with. I thought Ærekær, Mork, Pa Vesh En and Coral Cross were great though! You familiar at all with Void Eater from Norway? Real ugly stuff.
Ahh right on, so it’s a matter of proximity. Unfortunate for everyone but it happens. Is Living in LA on your radar again or are you happy not to uproot out of Kentucky?
Horus) I haven’t heard Void Eater! I’ll have to look them up.
I miss Los Angeles a lot, I have really great friends there and it’s an epicenter for all sorts of art, culture and food. But I was perpetually frustrated with the crowds and traffic. Being back in Kentucky is a big change. Louisville has grown as a city and there’s a lot more going on here than I remember. I was away for 17 years and enough has changed that it feels new again. My family is here and it’s good to be with them now.
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We'll end it all there, thanks for engaging, and equal thanks to anyone reading.
"I'm currently going through a prolific phase" - Horus, aka James Brown III
I hope to enter into my prolific phase real soon, with more of these to come in the future, if the future ever gets here. Stay heavy, brothers and sisters.
Moonknight (bandcamp) * The new EP 'Discernment' was one of my favourites last year
Vorpal Sword (bandcamp)
Pray For Snow (bandcamp)
Harassor (bandcamp)
