Eumourner Interview

 

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

 For many years eumourner has been a private project of mine, I archived a lot of material without ever making it public. Only in the summer of 2019 (don’t ask me why) I decided to self-release some of the demos. In the meantime, I started playing with two other musicians, especially improvisation, jam- sessions, free-form music, and the type of atmosphere that was created seemed really suitable for the project. So, almost without realizing it, eumourner has become a trio: FLC + GZP + MV. Our music wanders somewhere between dark ambient, black industrial, weird noise and something more that I cannot define. 

2.Since 2019 you have also released a good amount of material, musically how do your releases differ from each other? 

Our albums are different from each other, but they also show a coherence of style and sound research, I think. Usually these are concept albums and therefore the subject matter influences the atmosphere of each single work. 

3.What are some of the themes and concepts you bring into your music? 

Our first album, “Trakl Trauma Tracks” is inspired by the death of an Austrian poet (Georg Trakl) during WW1. Another album, “The Oval Scream”, is based on a horror story by Thomas Ligotti. Weird tales are very important for our music and also the real world with its real absurdity. Philosophy is another great source of inspiration, and the lies of history and politics, too. So, at times we humbly try to feed our album concepts with some dangerous researches of contemporary thought (pessimism, nihilism, the post-human, the Black Metal Theory), without locking ourselves up in any faith. Mixing darkness and dissent is the true goal of eumourner. 

4.On the Bandcamp page you have made references to Edgar Allan Poe, Thomas Ligotti, can you tell us a little bit more about your interest in their writings?

 I think it’s enough to say that in their works they had the courage to face and describe the abyss, the unknown, the fear, the outer space, the evil. The nightmare of being alive and that of being dead.

 5.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Eumourner'? 

The name is a word I invented many years ago. It combines two opposite meanings: the mourn (or mourning) and the sweetness (or pleasantness) in the sense of the prefix "eu" (as in the words euphony and euthanasia). So, “eumourner” ironically means something like “making a funeral dirge sweet or pleasant”. By the way, please remember: the word “eumourner” is always in lower case letters, even the first “e”. 

6.Originally the band started out as a solo project but recently expanded into a trio, what was the decision behind adding in more members?

 It was not a decision but, as I wrote above, it happened spontaneously, and even paradoxically, because eumourner as a trio came to life just when it was no longer possible for us to live in the same place. During 2017 I had to leave the town and this situation led us to a remote and continuous exchange of musical sequences. It's funny, eumourner as a band was born from a forced separation of the members. 

7.Are any of the band members open to doing any live performances? 

My band mates sometimes play live with their other projects, but eumourner is not made for usual live acts. Maybe we would like sounding theatrical performances or art exhibitions, obviously only if poisonous and dark enough. 

8.Since 2019 you have released a great amount of material, do you spend a lot of your time writing and creating music? 

I try to work on our music every day, or almost. The interaction between the three members of eumourner is constant. We can count on material accumulated over the years and obviously we update our archive. 

9.You have also worked with a variety of many different labels on releases, can you tell us a little bit more about the labels you have worked with so far?

 We have always had excellent relationships with labels that have released our music, and of course we thank all those who believed in us. As you can imagine, a small and experimental music label doesn’t have an easy time. For instance, the post about the release of a new album can collect a lot of "likes" and “little hearts” on a label’s Facebook, but when it comes time to practically support the label or the band, just three or four people (if you’re lucky) are willing to spend a meager coin (and I really mean a little meager coin!) for the album download. 

10.On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of dark ambient, drone and noise? 

Since we have been wandering around the web for just over a year, the little attention we are receiving is encouraging. But we have no illusions! 

11.Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?

 I don't know yet! Or at least, not knowing for sure... it will be more exciting to find out... 

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? 

We have always been interested in all forms of musical experimentation, from contemporary classical to the sacred and profane music of other cultures, up to the most extreme noise and the darkest ambient of our days. The list of artists I admire is very long, I try to follow the dark ambient and death industrial scenes, and even black metal is proving to be a fertile ground for experimentation. 

13.Does Occultism play any role in your music?

 Life itself is occult and therefore occultism, as a “specialization”, is meaningless. Matter is the only mystery, and matter (the presence of something instead of nothing) is everything, including the “spirit”. The mystery (Enigma) is infinite, unsolvable, but for this very reason we must continue to search in matter, to investigate matter, to know matter as much as possible. And this is not materialism. 

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

 We are really glad for your interest, thank you! And we hope to read soon the review of some  of our other albums on this blog. Take good care.

https://eumourner.bandcamp.com/