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Negru Voda rise from the ashes of Megaptera...
Peter Nyström, currently active in the one man project Negru Voda, has been involved in many projects; First Aid, Each Dawn I Die and Megaptera are a few of them. Peter recently put an end to Megaptera in order to work with Negru Voda instead. We thought that it would be interesting to meet the man behind these musical outfits and hear what he aims to accomplish in the future.
- I started Negru Voda, I guess, just because I always have a lot of ideas spinning around in my head, and those experiments just won't fit the Megaptera concept. We were very careful not to mix too many styles in Megaptera. We all hate bands that mix styles too much. I need to spread my expressions, and Megaptera is a strict concept and I don't want to destroy that. In addition, I don't think old band members would like to see that happen. Therefore, it will only be Negru Voda from now on.
With the need for a great number of projects, it is a qualified guess that Peter is a man who prefers musical variation before narrowness. We start to talk about what he listens to and where he finds musical inspiration.
- Right now, I listen to Cabaret Voltaire almost all the time. Their music is magic! I suppose I didn't see their greatness 15 years ago when I bought the first records. I also listen to lots of Sephiroth and the solo records from Söderberg - I have some special CDRs, which were recorded for me, and a few other people, and they are amazing!!! Other stuff I listen to is Ulf Lundell, Eldkvarn and Bruce Springsteen. Good industrial records lately are the latest Inade album, "1890" by Brighter Death Now, Converter's "Blast Furnace" and the stuff by des Esseintes. I like film music, some regular pop music and trance as well. I think Negru Voda in the future will be a mix of all the above mentioned, plus some ideas I have had in my head for many years. I still get inspired by the same things that characterized the atmosphere in Megaptera's music - life, death, TV, radio, news, films and a little bit of beauty. With Negru Voda, I will challenge myself to do things that were impossible with Megaptera.
- I get ideas whenever, but most often when I listen to music or when at work. I work at SSAB, which is a very industrial environment. I love all kinds of sounds and I listen to how other tracks are arranged and structured, but I never copy arrangements. I just use them as a source of inspiration. The title of every track is connected to how I feel about the particular song and what images I get in my head while listening. I also work with the length of songs, titles, graphics and layout. Most of the sounds used are sampled. Almost all these things are done before the music is. I create the music in cooperation with Magnus Sundström of The Protagonist and des Esseintes. Magnus sits by the computer and I tell him how I want it. It has usually taken about one day or a little more to finish a song. The album I'm working on now will be more varied than before. I feel that I must challenge myself and move forward!
Sometimes, there were long speech samples in the music of Megaptera, which makes it easy to believe that movies and other possible sources act like a source of inspiration.
- The film samples are instead of lyrics sometimes. Sometimes I just want something more to fill out the music, to create a stronger atmosphere. Sometimes the monologues are more in the front of the music, sometimes just something far in the background. Sometimes in Swedish, sometimes in English - it depends on my mood. When we started Megaptera, a video recorder and an analogue delay were the only equipment, so film became very important. Some films helped us create the atmospheres in certain tracks. I often make music to try to express pictures in my head. Like small soundtracks and I just have to get them out of my head and put music to them. Nowadays the films aren't that important anymore.
Are you afraid that samples from a certain Adolf could be misunderstood, or do you think that your audience is intelligent enough to understand that your music is far from being nazi friendly in any way?
- No, I'm not afraid of that. No one has ever mentioned anything about that speech, so I guess my audience understand what my work is about.
Peter makes clear that he is definitely not a fan of the new fascist movement so we move on and talk about something funnier - the forthcoming Negru Voda limited edition (600x) single "From Liquid Steel to Frozen Metal", which will be released on the Cold Meat Industry label.
- You can say it's a mix between the split CD with third EYE "An Impulse of Fear"/"Raudive Experiments", and Megaptera's ambient side. The A-side is a dark rhythmic piece while B-side is some kind of chaotic ambient - a soundtrack to the pictures on the cover. I'm also working on music for a full length CD and a 7" on the German label Formosan. And I will also participate on "Death Odours III" on Slaughter Productions and "Mes Amis" on Fin de Siècle Media.
Peter has released his material on many different labels, which seems to be a coincidence.
- The first Megaptera cassette was released through Sound Source. After that, we released the LP "Songs from The Massive Darkness" on Vinyl Attack. Then we got several mails from labels and we were featured on a number of compilations. Anyhow, Roger Karmanik (Cold Meat Industry) got to listen to "Beyond The Shadow" when the songs were finished, but he did not accept it so we released it on the Italian label Kronotop. After that, it became somewhat of a rule to deal with foreign labels. This has not been fully successful since we have not got a single dollar for the very successful album "The Curse of The Scarecrow", which was released on the American label Relapse. Because of this, I will try to use Swedish labels from now on. Cold Meat Industry and Magnus Sundström's Fin de Siècle Media are the most probable candidates when it comes to releasing my works.
Me, and Moving Hands, would like to finish this interview by wishing Peter good luck with his, present and future, projects!
/Johan Astemark
Discography Megaptera:
1991 MC "You Will Recover" NÜX001 Nüxdorf Recordings [10 copies]
1992 MC "Near Death" 1917 Sound Source
1992 LP "Songs From the Massive Darkness" Vinyl Attack [200 copies]
1994 CD "Beyond the Shadow" KNT 001 Kronotop Label/Fluxus N2
1995 MC "You Will Never Survive This Nightmare" Slaughter Productions
1996 CD "Disease" ART 21 Art Konkret [999 hand numbered copies]
1996 MC "Near Death V2" SOSS 02 VUZ Records [Re-release with bonus track,
100 copies]
1997 MC "Electronic Underground" SSSM-020 SSSM
1997 LP "Deep Inside" Slaughter Productions [Mini LP, 500 copies]
1998 CD "Beautiful Chaos" FP18 Fever Pitch Music [Mini CD] [500 copies]
1998 CD "Live in Rostock" Bastet Recordings [200 copies]
1998 CD "The Curse of the Scarecrow" RR6979 Release Entertainment
2000 CD "Electronic Underground" SPCD08 Slaughter Productions
2001 CD "Beyond the Massive Darkness" CMI.92 Cold Meat Industry [Double CD,
2000 copies]
Discography Negru Voda:
1994 MC "An Impulse of Fear" T.17 Slaughter Productions [Split MC with third
EYE]
1996 MC "Voodoo Killers" OEC 095 Old Europa Café
1998 CD "Dark Territory" OECD017 Old Europa Café [500 copies]
1999 CD "An Impulse of Fear" Crowded 11 Crowd Control Activities [Split CD
with third EYE]
2001 10" "The Mine Shaft / The Drill" Fin de Siècle Media [Split 10" with
des Esseintes]
2002 7" "From Liquid Steel to Frozen Metal" CMI.114 Cold Meat Industry
(Limited to 600 copies)
Later this year (or even later):
2002 7" "AVA:(dunk)" Formosan Records
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