Etteilla: To be completely honest, Peorð isn’t a project that I ever imagined myself doing. I’m primarily a guitarist – I don’t play piano, and I’d barely even attempted to play synth before starting what eventually became Captive. I basically bought a MIDI keyboard on a whim, and as I played around with it I found myself becoming increasingly fascinated by all the different possibilities in terms of tones and textures. So I started layering some of those textures, ended up writing a couple of songs, and then decided to go ahead and do an EP.
2. So far you have released one demo and a split, musically how do they both differ from each other?
E: The split is much more abrasive, no question. Even though Captive has its noisy moments, I primarily worked with more natural sounding tones – mostly brass and woodwind plugins with a bunch of effects thrown on top of them. I used almost all synth tones on the split, some of which were fairly noisy to begin with, and then layered on effects to make them sound even harsher.
I think the song structures are a bit more straightforward on the split as well, with fewer changes and more layering. I didn’t realize it until Poppet’s Entropy Deity listened to my half of our split and said he heard a lot of post-punk in it, but “Sun in Gemini – Pt. I” really has a Bauhaus influence in its structure.
3. What are some of the themes and concepts you bring out with your musical style?
E: With Peorð, I mostly take a ‘let’s see what happens’ approach. I had no themes or concepts in mind at all with Captive, though I could sense a kind of loose thematic arc as the songs were coming together. I couldn’t tell you what that arc is, but based on “Captive IV,” which was the last song I finished for it, I know it had a positive outcome. For the split, Entropy Deity and I agreed that we were each going to do something in more of an ambient/drone vein, but I ended up basically going full dungeon noise on it.
If there’s a common element, I think it’s that I tend to write fairly melodic stuff and then bury it under layers of effects. I was actually talking about this recently with a friend, who said that my music sounded like an attempt to pull order out of chaos. I thought about it for a minute and said that it’s actually the exact opposite – I take something orderly (i.e. melodic) and impose chaos upon it, and then keep pushing until it falls apart.
When it comes down to it, I want to make melodic – or even pretty – music that can be physically painful to listen to at times. I don’t know if that counts as a theme or concept, but I guess it’s the logic behind why my music sounds the way it does.
4. The musical project was named after a rune. Can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in this topic or Norse Paganism?
E: I’ve never really been the sort to subscribe to one particular belief system or school of thought. I read pretty widely and take bits and pieces from all over. I hadn’t really explored Norse Paganism until earlier this year, when a friend sent me a .pdf of Edred Thorsson’s book Futhark: A Handbook of Rune Magic. I thought that I was familiar with all of the Elder Futhark runes, but I’d never encountered the Perthro, or Peorð, rune previous to seeing it in that book, and I had a very intense physical reaction when I first saw it – a sort of pressure originating somewhere behind my stomach, that tingly feeling in my scalp like it was suddenly too small for my skull, a ringing in my ears. It was almost like the rune was calling to me. I ended up practicing runic meditation with it for a while, and I had some very intense experiences.
Of course, the fact that it’s the least understood of the Elder Futhark runes also played a part in my fascination. It’s most often interpreted as having something to do with luck or fate (the rune itself may have been based on the shape of a dice cup), but others have read it as pertaining to the sacred feminine or with divination, calling it the rune of the tarot reader and oracle witch. I am also a student of the tarot - Etteilla, the name I use for this project, was an 18thcentury French occultist who is considered the first ‘professional’ tarot reader, and a lot of his writings are still part of modern tarot divination. It’s also worth mentioning that Etteilla worked on combining the tarot and the Egyptian Book of Thothover a century before Aleister Crowley thought to do it.
5. Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the demo cover?
E: Paul Klee (pronounced like Clay) is one of my favorite artists. In general, I find representational to be incredibly boring. I much prefer surreal or expressionistic art – pieces you need to look at and contemplate for a while. When I finished recording Captive and was trying to figure out what to call the EP, I thought of Klee’s “Captive,” which is my favorite of his works. When I found out it was in the public domain, I had both my cover and my title. Like with my music, though, I threw some effects on Klee’s original to make it look a little more chaotic.
There was also something very playful about Klee that I find appealing. He once described a line as ‘a dot that went for a walk.’
6. With this project you record everything by yourself. Do you feel that dungeon synth is meant to be played solo?
E: Not necessarily. I know that tends to most often be the case, but I think that there’s plenty of room for collaboration just like with any other genre. In fact, I’m actually working on a project with one of my favorite DS artists – we started that before I even considered doing any kind of solo thing, but she’s really busy with her main projects so it’s been going very slowly.
In the meantime, if anyone else wants to collaborate on something, feel free to hit me up.
7. Recently some dungeon synth acts have been doing live performances. Are you open to this idea in the future?
E: Right now, my answer to that is a hard no. I’ve been doing music for a long time, and I’ve played out more times than I can count, and I got to the point where I no longer enjoyed it. I have some pretty bad anxiety issues – I’m all but agoraphobic without the right doses of my meds – and the amount of effort that went into getting myself into the right headspace to be able to play no longer seemed worth it.
Who knows what the future holds, though. If I somehow ended up being asked to play at Northeast Dungeon Siege next year or something, I’m not sure I could pass that up.
8. Recently you have released a split with 'Poppet.' What are your thoughts on the other musical project that had participated on the recording?
E: I love Poppet – it’s such a wonderfully strange little project, and Entropy Deity is a really good kid. He’s got something like ten other projects as well – WageMage, Fishterbation, Lodge of Research, a Family Guy-inspired depressive black metal project called Petergeist, and a few others I’m not remembering right off. Anyway…right after I released Captive, I decided that I wanted to do a split before starting work on a full-length, and Poppet was the first (and only) person I asked. Since neither of us really make music that fits neatly into the traditional dungeon synth mold, it seemed like a perfect pairing, and luckily he agreed.
9. On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of dungeon synth?
E: I don’t know about worldwide, but Order ov the Black Arts contacted me the day after Captivecame out and asked to stream it on their YouTube channel, and the reception there has been really positive. I’ve actually been pleasantly surprised by how well it’s been received, since it’s not the typical sort of dungeon synth record. One thing I have noticed from talking to people about Captivemyself is that people who aren’t all that into dungeon synth seem to really like it, but some of the dungeon synth people don’t quite know what to make of it. I’m totally cool with that – Peorð will find the audience that it’s supposed to.
10. Currently you are unsigned. Are you looking for a label or have received any interest?
E: I haven’t really been looking. Much like I said about finding an audience in my previous response, I’m content to see if the music generates any label interest on its own.
11. Are you also involved with any other bands or musical projects?
E: I already mentioned the dungeon synth collaboration that I’m working on. I also have a black metal project that I hope to be able to release something from by the end of the year. I’m done with all of the guitars, bass, and drum programming – I’m just waiting on my band mate to add keys, some cello, and her vocals to it, and then the guests I recruited to add their bits to it as well.
Now that I think about it, I’ve been done with my parts for that record since like January…maybe that’s why the idea of a solo dungeon synth project ended up being so appealing.
12. When can we expect a full length and also where do you see yourself heading into as a musician in the future?
E: I’ve actually started working on the full-length. I have a few ideas as far as what I want to do and how I want it to sound, but we’ll see what happens. I’ll say I want to do something, but once I get into writing and recording it will come out sounding like something else. I’ve essentially come to the conclusion that my songs are smarter than me - I try my best to just let them do what they’re going to do before I go back in and noisy them up.
13. 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?
E: There were a few points when I was working on Captive where I had to stop and made sure I wasn’t accidentally ripping off The Cure – especially Disintegration. I love the way they layer the keyboards and guitar parts on that album. I mentioned Bauhaus earlier – there’s definitely a goth/post-punk element to what I do. I also listen to a ton of raw black metal – I’m a huge fan of Occelensbrigg and the other Aldebaran Circle bands from Portugal, and of Switzerland’s Helvetic Underground Committee.
As for dungeon synth artists, I’d have to start with Adam Matlock’s projects, especially Kolessa. I also really like Lamentation, Mors Certa, An Old Sad Ghost, A letter for Carmilla, Wyvernsnout, Fief, Fogweaver, Sequestered Keep, Malfet, Elderfrost, Grimdor, Gronthor, Feasting, Erythrite Throne, Aquatic Slumber, and entirely too many others to name…
And I have to give a special mention to Sun Through Eyelids – their latest record Akashic Resonance is probably my album of the year right now.
14. Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
E: Thanks for having me. The obligatory links: perthrods.bandcamp.com and www.facebook.com/perthrods. Email is perthrods@gmail.com.
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