Primordial Woods Interview

 

1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the solo project?

1) Primordial Woods is my Atmospheric black metal project, son of a life-time inspiration, I am the only composer here and that's the first time I work totally alone. This project has no main topic reference, it is mainly my way to express a lot of things that I experienced or lived, or even thinked during my life. This first full length is just my first step, I hope to develop a lot of other work I already have in mind.

2.So far you have released a full length, can you tell us a little bit more about the musical style that you went for on the recording?

2) It is a bit hard to "describe" the style I used for De Rerum Natura, because the inspiration made most of the work: I start composing Rerum Primordia as an experiment, first track of the album but also the first one ever composed, the melodies of the main guitar were sounding in my head for days, than I found a way to develop them working on rhythmic guitar and other riffing plan, I leave the drums pretty "easy" and groovy to help the development of the riff, but I feel that I need even more. I decide to make some experiment with my studio keyboard, it's been my first time as a keyboardist, so I add some synth and even some piano tracks, finally I get it: the sound was founding the way it need and I was happy about that. Primordial Woods was already existing, even if I wasn't conscious about it. Clinamen was written just after Rerum Primordia, the composition style was the same, then I finally understood that this stuff was "connected", it was the dawn of something new, a new project on the horizon and I start working how to use this material for something bigger and this was the born of "De Rerum Natura". The vocals part was the last one recorded, I like to change a lot of different styles with harsh vocals, in my opinion it helps the track to develop different pathos.

3.In your previous and current bands you have also played other styles of metal, do you feel this makes you a better musician?

3) I must admit that I don't call myself a musician: I have such a little knowledge about how music really works, I just enjoy discovering sounds and the new games of harmony and dis-harmony while I play and compose. But to answer your question: yes, I think my previous (and current) experiences helped me a lot, I feel lucky to have good friends and good musicians around me. I played mostly folk (metal but generic folk too), and metal during my life, I had many different band such as Haegen & Brainsane, and I worked as occasionally session with so many other (as Hellcome and Infernal Angels), all of them, even with different styles, had leaved me something that will never disappear, it could be an experience or a lesson, and my "musical style" is pretty alive with those things, I think that the art we create is always the results of the person we are building day by day. As I said, I feel lucky about that and I would like to thank those people if they are reading this interview now.

4.Some of your lyrics cover Paganism themes, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in this topic?

4) People who know me personally know how much I love history: I come from Italy, a country where there is a piece of history in every corner, in every stone, in every street you walk. I feel a great pride about my historical heritage and I want to celebrate it everyday, as well I want to study and know as much as I can. Talking about the "De Rerum Natura" is hard without mention who was the latin author of the opera I took inspiration from, Tito Lucrezio Caro is a part of this majestic piece of history which is part of this country, even when most of the people around me ignore who Lucrezio was, a pagan writer who wanted to discover what was "divine" and what was "part of the natural things".

I also have a specific interest in ancient religions indeed: let's think about the time when people used to pray to nature giving it the name of the Gods or Goddess which represent it, I found all of this so amazing and deeply emotional. I don't like to call myself a "pagan", I feel more near to Lucrezio vision: he used to say that, if the gods exists, they don't care about our mere and mortal life, they must be superior even among all this amazing natural landscapes that we have, they have no role in the laws of nature, they are just divine spectator and we (humans) are part of this laws. This is what I like to answer when people ask me about my "spirituality" . But soon I will show another project (folk-black metal) which is a full immersion into the vision of a pagan Gaul in the V cent. B.C., where we will discuss a lot more about gods, goddesses and paganism; I will share it also on my PW page, stay tuned!

5.What are some of the other lyrical topics and subjects you have explored so far with the music?

5) I tried to talk about what I felt reading De Rerum Natura, where a person who lived 2000 years ago had such an incredible mind and a way to think so modern and contemporary. He talked about the natural disasters that create lines in our history, as well as our actions. Following his steps, I tried to bring in music his way of seeing the "nature of things", analyzing the atoms which compose everything in this material world, but there's a lot even in the "unseen" world, where our emotions and thoughts bring to our consciousness part of our reality. I also discussed the will of every human being, which is independent from the will of gods or fate, we are the only author of our story. Even with the help of music it is hard to express such a great quantity of information (and emotion) a book like that could give us, I hardly recommend reading those pages.  

6.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Primordial Woods'?

6) I lived in a mountain place, where I have a lot of ancient woods where I love to walk, losing myself into a maze of thoughts. So the name of this project is my intention to "suggest" how every person could find himself again in the most natural places of all, where all we came from. The first mans used to hunt and live in these forests, but they also started to think as a human being, creating a division between them and the animals who lived mostly by their instinct. So I tried to bring a specific idea of what kind of woods I was lost in, I dug up in ancient times, discovering the primordial essence of our mind, as many masters of the past have already done. And here it is: I discovered I lost myself in the Primordial Woods.

7.Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the new album cover?

7) The artwork is a photo taken from my friend Justyna Ujek. It is one of the most beautiful places I love to visit, the woods of Canfaito, on Mount San Vicino, really near to where I live. The day I decided to work on this concept album, my first idea for the front cover was to try to take a photo in the woods by myself, because their magic is pretty unique. Then, the following day I checked my Facebook home, and I saw this album of photos uploaded by Just, they were great, but one in particular took my mind. I thinked: "No matter what, this is the cover I want, this is the cover I need".

I met Just in the same mountain on a summer day, I asked her about the photo and the possibility of using it as a cover for my project. She was near crying for the emotions and I was glad she was excited by my proposal. 

Can't wait to have some physical copies of the album, where you will find other photos by Just, some photos of me taken by my girlfriend Silvia and some other amazing pieces of art by an artist I will soon show on my social media!

8.With this project you record everything by yourself but also have experience working with other musicians, which one do you prefer?

8) Hard to say, I would prefer to say that is a "different" way to write and perform music. For most of my experience I worked with other musicians, trying to build something bigger and with all the lines the band want to fullfill, about what we want to express, this can be a bit slowly sometimes but it brings a lot of shared satisfaction when the work is finished. On the other side, composing alone is maybe "faster" sometimes, you can decide by yourself how to develop your riff, your dynamic, your song, but you also have to face the "block" by yourself, lot of stuff (even over the composition topic) is on your shoulder and you have to work hard to reach your goal.

9.Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest?

9) I am currently searching for a label who can help me in the printing and distribution of the physical format of De Rerum Natura, I am looking for European distributors and maybe somebody really interested in promoting my future producation. By the way, this one is a really hard and busy period for me, so if I will not find one in the next month, I will print them by myself, because lot of people (more than expeted) is asking me for a copy.

10.On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of black metal?

10) I am receving lot of good words about De Rerum Natura, people is enjoying a lot this album and this project as well. Maybe the tipical "old school Black metal" fan could be a little unsatisfatced about a work like that, no always so dark and hostile, but I don't care: I think that what i recently create is not perfect at all, but is mine and is true, something I really want that way and something that has part of me and my past experience in it. So I hope people will listen for how it is, musical taste is always subjective, the influences are a lot and this make this work good for people who doesn't dislike something new in the actually huge black metal world.

11.Where do you see yourself heading into as a musician during the future?

11) Hard question, I fear I have no sure answer this time, I will probably work on my project, starting from Primordial Woods to other project that I will present in the following months, I have lot of work to do with my bands as well and I wish to play around as we used to do before the covid era. Life is unpredictable, but what I know is that music, in any way we can discuss about it, is part of my life, one of my several passion and all the time I spend in it, I know it's well spended.

12.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?

12) I have several band that inspire me every day, mentioning the most famous and reknowed I could surely talk about: Agalloch, Kroda, Woods of Ypres, Primordial, Saor, Summoning, Forteresse. Other bands from the underground scene are: Draugr, Heol Telwen, Bran Barr, Enisium, Novembre, Nero di Marte, Messa. I listen to so many other genres, from folk-metal, to thrash, death, doom, exc... I don't have a preference to be honest: I check my music libriries based on my mood and my period. At the moment I am listeing to Lorna Shore, one of the few Deathcore bands that I love (I don't tipically listen to all the "-core" genres, few exception apart)

13.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?

13) I would like to thank you for this interview, the questions were very interesting and I like to discuss about this topics, so thank you again. Thanks to the ones who spend part of their time reading this interview: my final suggestion is to read "De Rerum Natura" by Lucrezio, than listen to "De Rerum Natura" by Primordial Woods and possibly doing it while you lost yourself in your preferite woods, breathing the wild essence of this world, dreaming about a fate who doesn't really care about us, feel free and be (really) alive.

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