The British death/doom band MY SILENT WAKE seems to be restless. Practically every year there’s a new release and on their latest record „Invitation To Imperfection“ they incorporated a completely new genre – not for the first time and surely not for the last time. Read the following interview to learn more about how the creative process was different from their other releases, why mastermind Ian Arkley thinks the songs are flawed and which changes of musical style we can look forward to in the future of the band.
Greetings! Thank you very much for letting us do this interview with you. How are you doing?
Ok, thanks. Thanks for getting in touch. Very pleased that the new album is out and „Damnatio Memoriae“ is coming out again as a re-release with bonus tracks very soon. We are working on new material and hope to record that in autumn.
Many of our readers will still be unfamiliar with you, so please introduce yourself and your band MY SILENT WAKE to get started.
We have been going since Ashen Mortality split in 2005. Three of us formed MY SILENT WAKE and although the line-ups have changed, I have been working on this band and Ashen Mortality from the start. Ashen Mortality began around 1993. As for MY SILENT WAKE, we took a break for one year, but apart from that we have been regularly writing, gigging and recording. The music is death/doom based but only loosely as we veer off in whatever direction we please!
As already mentioned, your band bears the rather gloomy name MY SILENT WAKE. What was your intention behind that name and how does it reflect your music?
Hard to remember the intention but it was a name that we liked and suited our music. It can mean more than one thing but any way you see it, it has a melancholy ring to it.
What bands and musicians had the most impact on you?
As I was growing up: NWOBHM, Black Sabbath, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, other metal and goth bands a little later, then more doom, death/doom, etc. I always liked folk too, so I listen to a lot of folk rock and 70s psych, prog, classic rock bands as well as metal and alternative stuff.
You play mostly death/doom, but you have also released albums that are completely different like folk („Preservation Restoration Reconstruction“) or ambient („Eye Of The Needle“). Why did you switch genres so often and so drastically?
Even with the first album we did two acoustic songs and an ambient intro, so it was always part of what we do. We enjoy doing other types of music… it stops things getting boring and means we get to put a lot of music out there. The plan from the start was not to be restricted by genre. As long as we enjoy it, we will do it.
However, even fans that prefer you to play death/doom usually don’t have to wait too long because you are releasing a new album or other stuff almost every year. How do you manage to create and release so much music in so little time?
I’m not sure really! The metal releases have slowed a bit over the years as they cost more and take more planning as there is less improvisation within them. I like writing stuff fairly quickly and most of our music isn’t overly complex. It is more about the feel than anything.
Your latest record „Invitation To Imperfection“ is once again no death/doom, but a mixture of ambient, folk, neoclassical and medieval music. Why did you again change your music that way, which is quite unusual, even for your standards?
We had built up a collection of music and decided to put it out. The plan was to record a metal album and get that out but with the financial situation we were in at the time, this made more sense. Some of these tracks date back a while, and since Simon joined on keys he contributed a lot, so we ended up with quite a collection of songs by the time we were ready to compile the album.
In which way where the songwriting and the recording of „Invitation To Imperfection“ different from your previous albums?
These songs were generally created from an initial idea which was then developed rather than fully written songs. This is a very enjoyable way of doing this as you build it up like a picture. „Eye Of The Needle“ was similar in some ways. If I can give you one example from „Invitation to Imperfection“: My friend Mark was over one day for a social visit and I had a simple guitar part which we jammed. I then recorded both my guitar and his percussion together on a hand held recorder. This was then put into Audacity and effects added. I then recorded a zither being played with a cello bow and added this the same way. Other parts including more guitars were added and finally during a visit from Simon he added the pump organ. All parts were written spur of the moment. The recorder is an Alesis Palmtrack which cost me £ 50,- some years ago and Audacity is a free programme. Some parts were recorded at our local studio for the last track which is 20 minutes long. These parts were recorded before I started recording much at home. The most we had to pay for this release was in the mastering process.
Will you now stick with this new sound or will you return to your death/doom roots?
We are working on metal stuff right now so the next album will be a metal album. After this we hope to do more home recording.
What specifically fascinates you about the types of music that you have played up until now?
I love playing heavy music live, I enjoy the recording process and we always have a good time doing it. Playing acoustic stuff is completely different but I enjoy recording this more than playing it live. The ambient stuff is just a studio thing but would be interesting but difficult to play live. I love the spontaneous nature of recording this way as you never have to learn any music, just play it! I find all styles we play equally entertaining and it is nice to have a break from one or another by doing something different and fresh.
Could you imagine playing a completely different style of music in the future? Or will you keep playing the genres that you have already tried out?
Absolutely! I would definitely consider doing something different. I am not sure what as we have covered many of the styles I enjoy at some point or another. We have only done a bit of space rock and goth rock so we may do more of this as these are definitely styles I enjoy a lot. We haven’t done traditional metal though and I do love that!
Which track on „Invitation To Imperfection“ means the most to you and why?
Probably „You Drift Away“ as this song’s lyrics were written directly after my Dad’s death. I was there when he finally passed away from kidney failure. I sang the vocals a fair while after this event, during a time when I could barely talk and had almost lost my voice which gave it the sound I wanted for this track. My Dad meant the world to me and I think this track is a good tribute to that. The original words were a lot longer but I just chose to do part of the poem in the song. The music was created with a child’s zither being plucked. I added cello and my friend Luke played a wooden flute. Our bassist made a low drone for it and the risset drum I added mimics an irregular heartbeat which comes to an abrupt stop during the song. This was recorded in a similar way to the track I described earlier.
As the title implies, the album deals with accepting and even appreciating the imperfection of all things, right?. Would you say the album’s tracks are flawed?
Oh yes, definitely. As I explain in the liner notes, it is done in quite a rough and haphazard way. Edits are used where necessary but much is left in that couldn’t be edited. Sometimes three instruments were recorded at once in a single recording on my hand held machine. The parts were not really rehearsed as such, just played.
Why did you leave most of the tracks without vocals and lyrics?
They were complete as they were. They still say things but don’t need lyrics for the most part.
The artwork shows a part of a human body or a statue. What can you tell us about it?
A photo taken by Simon on our visit as a band to Mechelen Cathedral in Belgium, as we had a gig there. The pulpit is the most amazing carved beast of a thing and this is just a small detail. I had originally made the cover from one of my photos but when I saw this photo I knew this was the right cover for the album.
What are your next plans for MY SILENT WAKE?
The recordings mentioned at the start and hopefully a live album. Not much live stuff lined up this year but we have a local gig in June on a day which also happens to be my birthday. The rest of the time we will be working hard on the new stuff.
To end this interview, I’d like to invite you to take part in our traditional Metal1.info-Brainstorming:
God: Said too much in the past already.
Metal: The older the better for most of it.
Brexit: Sick of hearing about it!
Love: Essential.
Favorite album: Mike Oldfield – „Tubular Bells“
MY SILENT WAKE in ten years: Decrepit
Alright, thanks again for your answers. Is there something left that you want to tell our readers?
Please listen to MY SILENT WAKE!
23. Juni 2017 Stephan Rajchl