Amos/Anon Newsletter Interview

Muzic.net.nz’s Review Co-ordinator and fellow reviewer is Peter-James Dries a.k.a Amos/Anon. The music, variously described as Progressive Doom Metal and Gothic Industrial, is dark, haunting and brooding. Thanks to Peter for answering the following questions:

What can you tell us about the new album?

It’s called Anomy and it’s loosely based on Suicide by Émile Durkheim, and his idea of mechanical solidarity. It was kind of an experiment in mechanical solidarity in a way. Made without help from the industrialised music world and doesn’t work within the standards of the contemporary scene. The basic narrative is someone outside society trying to join it and failing, which is a common theme over our previous releases.

I’ve worked it out at thirteen, plus this one, plus two I’m working on. That’s sixteen over the past ten years. That’s including the DVDs and the demos, but other people probably wouldn’t call them albums. Actually, all of my releases are probably classed more as demos and EPs in the traditional sense than albums. This one I’d say is more conceptual art.

Not so much. If I had to pick a least favourite, it would be Darkness from Light, the album I did with Marque Duckmanton. More because of the mixing than because of the music. I’d fluked my way through mixing the albums before it, and they were ok at the time. With Darkness I put too much effort in and over-cooked it. If I get a chance I’ll make a Darkness Redux one day, though a lot’s changed since then. I don’t think the songs hold the same relevance to me.

Almost everything. My ability as a musician and producer especially. It’s like every album is practice for making the next. I’ve been trying to treat the product with the same reverence as the process with this album.

One good thing about vanity projects like this is the lack of deadlines. You don’t have labels or band mates or fans breathing down your neck. It’s good to take your time to iron out the creases. 

But you’re constantly fighting the desire to rush out half finished work because you want to get something out there for the world to hear, which is something I’ve been guilty of in the past. You listen to it weeks later and think I should have… I could have… Like what I was saying about Darkness from Light. I’ve had to tell myself “look you’re doing this for you. No one else. There’s no rush.”

Yeah. Plus I’ve had a bit of a shit year. You’d think that would be good for making music like this. No this time apparently. I used to use the creative process as a retreat from the world, and release all the built up crap I couldn’t deal with or say that way. I think recently I’ve been bottling up to the point of being numb. No feelings, no music.

And I was a student back when this [Amos/Anon] thing all started. I had all the time in the world. Now, there doesn’t seem to be enough time between working full time and sleeping. I must be getting old.

Kind of, but I’m making another album about that.

Yeah. It’s slow going, cause it’s based on the Kübler-Ross model of grief. You kinda have to go through the five stages before you can write about each one.

I’m also working on, have been working on, the next acoustic release. I think that will make it out first. It’s going to be a thematic extension of Anomy in a way. A prequel kinda. From a place before the decision to change represented in Anomy. It kinda leads up to the first track.