1.For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the solo project?
I started Trve Sagacity in around September 2022 - writing demos and riffs on Garageband, drawing on some of my experiences from three years learning drums (I started drums at age 11). I made lots of material, as I found it fun and I started to think about properly recording some of the material. At the time I was pretty new to Black Metal, and Darkthrone was my favourite and a month later I completed my first song 'Footsteps of Winter'. Over the next three months I wrote the songs that became my first EP 'For the Great Fall of Time', came up with the name Trve Sagacity and started trying to engage with the Black Metal community and other forms of extreme metal through my instagram account.
2.So far you have released an ep and a full length, musically how do they both differ from each other?
I began writing the EP without being very experienced in the forms of Black Metal, so the riffs and overall feel bring in more heavy and thrash influences (I've been a Metallica and Iron Maiden fan since being very young). Whereas, by the time I came to write the album I was more confident in the sound I wanted, plus had learned quite a bit through the first recording process. Also,'The Red Book of Hergest' is a kind of concept album, covering ancient Wales and Welsh Folklore.
3.Most of your lyrics are based on Welsh Folktales, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in this topic?
The inspiration to write about Welsh folklore came from an interest in the area in which I grew up, but also a memory of some of the stories I learned in school at a very young age. Bread of Hell is a great example of a story that was very well known to me - that was actually the first song I wrote for the album. From there I decided to seek out more Celtic stories, and learned about the Mabinogion, which is a very famous, ancient compendium of Welsh stories. The first volume of which is called 'The Red Book of Hergest'. Other Welsh Black Metal projects have also drawn on the rich heritage of Wales, such as Iselder, Defod, Verletzen, Ysbrydnos and Isfydd. (Really good bands)
4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Trve Sagacity'?
Before sticking with the name Trve Sagacity, I was originally going to call myself just ‘Sagacity’, as it basically means to be wise, but on its own I felt that it didn’t fit a black metal band, and there’s a million bands with that name, so I changed it to ‘Trve Sagacity’, basically meaning to hopefully have a good idea of what I’m doing in my black metal music. It’s also kind of a nod to Mayhem as they call themselves ‘The Trve Mayhem’.
5.Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the new album cover?
Yes, I bought a leather bound notebook simply because it had a pentagram on the cover - not at all thinking about the design making for an interesting album cover. This was back in March, while I was doing the Bread of Hell photoshoot (Devil's Bridge is a real place in Ceredigion, West Wales - and the legend of the bridge is the subject of the song). Then when I'd settled on Red Book of Hergest as the album title, I remembered this book I'd bought. Plus, I think it is a pretty nice cover and a little different from the usual style of black metal album covers.
6.With this project you record everything by yourself, are you open to working with other musicians or do you prefer to work solo?
I do like working solo, as its easy to get my own ideas across, but i do also work in some bands too, but it is more difficult to get ideas down and out when working with others!
7.Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received an interest?
Yeah, having a label would be cool for many reasons such as distribution and stuff, but I am doing alright without one so far. Maybe if my little following grew a bit, then maybe some labels will take interest, guess i'll see what happens!
8.On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of black metal?
Yeah pretty good! I have made some friends and fans within the community (such as Dark Death from France for example, cool guy!), but at the minute, maybe I could do with more listeners, so anyone reading this who hasn't heard the new album, you got some new music to listen to!!
9.Where do you see yourself heading into as a musician during the future?
I hope to become a professional musician and get into music college in September (I am 15, so i've got to finish my formal education first) and hopefully on the way i'll record some more metal stuff and it would be cool if i could find a way to get Trve Sagacity to perform live at some point.
10.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?
During the recording of the EP i would say bands such as Darkthrone, Burzum, Black Sabbath and Metallica influenced me, hence the more slow, doomy and heavy atmosphere. But more recently i would say Kekht Arakh, Moonblood, Death, Grausamkeit, Burzum and Darkthrone (still). There are obviously still huge thrash influences (Whiplash, Sodom and Exodus are massive influences)
11.What are some of your non musical interests?
There's something other than music?? No idea! I actually don't think i have any as music has taken over my life since I was 11, so there is literally nothing more!
12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Thanks for having me man! HAILS TO BLACK METAL!! NEVER STOP THE MADNESS!!!
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