Column Of Heaven interview - Incidental Afterthought zine
#15, February 2012 (Philippines)
INCIDENTAL AFTERTHOUGHT: Like most new bands I discover (especially on my own),
how and when did Column of Heaven start? Current line-up?
COLUMN OF HEAVEN: Nothing very interesting to tell, current line-up is King.
Kristiansen. Nolan. Simpson. Formed in our minds 2010, but didn’t even rehearse
until 2011.
Three of us have played in various bands together for a few
years now (The Endless Blockade, Slaughter Strike, Death Agonies and others).
Simpson is someone I’ve known for a while; we asked him to
play guitar when Ward had to leave the band.
IA: You've stated on your blog that shows won't be a
regular thing with Column of Heaven, too. Do you guys live in different
cities/countries from each other?
COH: Quite by accident we all live pretty close to each other. A lack of
regular live outings is mostly due to a lack of time, frequently due to a lack
of energy, and definitely due to a lack of money.
I find the more I play songs live the less invested in them I am; it's almost
as if they're (the songs) moving too far away from their initial spark of creation
for me to remain interested in them.
Every band I've ever played in has retired songs from the live set fairly
quickly once new ones are written.
IA: I really admire your generosity of spreading your music by posting it on
your blog (complete with its artwork cover and lyrics, too), but the tape
copies sold out fast. I guess my question is, Column of Heaven has shown (in my
eyes at least) a total passion toward DIY underground by releasing its music
first in tangible form (cassette tape), and then after it all sold out, gives
it literally for free online. That's the idea of why I really like the
underground network of DIY-released music, the idea of communal ideas, not just
being entertained; however, as you might have known, I'm sure, people have
developed an attitude that's sheep consumerism in nature, so to speak. What are
your thoughts as to why underground music in general (not just hardcore) have
been plagued by this (for example, shitty bands releasing 3-colored versions of
their 7"s that goes for insane amounts on Ebay; people buying records for
the 'bragging' entitlements due to limited copies/rare color, etc.)?
COH: OK, I’ll try and answer this question as best as I can. I think I read
four points here; one about giving our music away for free, one about music –
or more specifically the culture of music – not just being entertainment, one
about consumerism in the underground and a final one about the politics of
limited edition releases, which to me has two different responses, depending on
whether or not it’s from a creator or consumer perspective.
I posted the Ecstatically Embracing release
online once I'd sold all the copies that we made (200 in total). I'd sold all
the copies we made and even if I was completely precious about limited releases
being only heard by the 200 people that bought them – which I'm not – I can't
stop people uploading it so others can download it.
If I can't stop people downloading it for free then I may as well make it
available in a lossless format, not some awful lo-bit rate rip done on
substandard equipment. And if everyone did this with their music eventually
download blogs would die out because there would be no need for them.
Yes, we're totally committed to DIY principles, less out of any flag waving,
chest beating idealism, and more because we realize that most of the time it's
easier and more gratifying if we do it ourselves. This is also the approach we
take with live shows, we'd rather only work with one or two local promoters or
just book everything ourselves. Basically, our band is something that's
important to us, so we don’t leave it at the mercy of people not up to the job.
Obviously nothing's set in stone and compromises have to be made sometimes.
The value that I place in music is primarily in the culture
that surrounds music; nothing happens in a vacuum. That cultural sphere isn't
really "entertaining" in any traditional sense, but something has to
bring you in to that sphere. If there's nothing entertaining about music, no
one's going to care about it, people don't just like Whitehouse because it
makes them uncomfortable after all. Most people don't think this way and that's
fine, I know what my motivations are and where my passions and interests lie,
if someone else is into whatever they're into purely because it feels good then
that's absolutely valid as well, but in any underground culture – by which I
mean any art form that does not have money as its motivator – there's always an
extra level beyond the superficial aspects. Part of the struggles are always
who has the right to interpret what that extra level means, see any discussion
about Liturgy and whether or not they're actually black metal for example.
If we can think of underground music in terms of having multiple levels of
meaning to it – even if you don't agree that music means anything beyond the
sound itself there are people in the world that act as if it does – then there
are multiple ways that people extract that meaning. One of the ways of
extracting deeper meaning is always going to be through ownership; music means
more than just sound, music creates artefacts like records and shirts, those
artefacts are sometimes consumed because it is believed that they contain the
essence of that extra meaning. To put it more simply; sometimes people buy
things because they think it gives them a higher status in whatever hierarchy
they operate on.
To get to the final point and try and connect this back again (thanks for your
patience). Bands create limited editions for a number of reasons. One of those
is because music doesn't sell very well anymore so you have to
"force" the hand of the consumer to buy directly from you and not
from a distro or store. At shows bands sell merch primarily because they need
money to put into their gas tank. If you sell a 7" with a limited sleeve
only available from you at that show, then you're more likely to sell them than
if people can buy them online. And if limited editions give bragging rights (as
you identify): "that's cool that you downloaded the entire back catalogue
of [insert band name], but I own this record and you'll never even see a copy
of it."
At its most simplistic level, limited releases for the band it's just another
tool of for selling music, for the consumer it's a way of feeling a closer connection
with that band by "owning" a part of their creation.
IA: I really like the Noise-aesthetics that Column of
Heaven incorporates into its music. I know this might be incorrect to some but
your music truly sound unique and innovative because of this. Was this
incorporation of approach consciously in the band or did it just come
naturally? (I love your Joshua Norton Cabal Inner Light CD by
the way, great forward-thinking stuff)
COH: Thanks for your kind words. The addition of noise isn't really for any
goal of uniqueness or innovation; it's just something that makes sense.
Non-traditional sound as music ("noise" etc) has been a part of my
sonic interests for as long I've been interested in music. The recording
process is still another compositional step as far as I'm concerned, so I use
the recording time to figure out if there's anything else I can add to a piece
before walking away from it forever (bar performing those songs live of
course).
IA: How is Column of Heaven's music/song writing-process? Is it in a
collaborative way or is there a main-songwriter?
COH: It’s pretty much a benevolent dictatorship really; I write all the
music, though there’s a loose process with King where we talk in incredibly
vague terms about what we want to do before I go off and write it all.
At this point I haven’t played with another drummer for seven years now, so
we’re pretty in tune with each other’s style and approach to music.
Having input from the rest of the band is important, but I’m not really a fan of
collaborative writing; it’s just not how I work. I think all bands need one, at
most two, people directing the music, but everyone needs to be on the same page
and trust that the person whose responsibility it is to do the music, or
aesthetics, isn’t going to fuck it up.
The actual music writing process is undoubtedly boring as hell to outsiders,
but I’m pretty much writing exclusively in additive rhythms these days, I like
the dissociative aspects of that kind of playing.
"Jamming" is
something I can't get my head around; to me it's like aimlessly doodling with a
pencil and hoping to come up with the Mona Lisa. There was only one Austin
Osman Spare after all (and he worked alone anyway).
IA: Your lyrics on Ecstatically Embracing all... are very
powerful in their own. I am a big fan of poetry/prose as well and I
get a different kick when I read lyrics of a band I like musically; it's like
hitting a mental bird with two stones. Are your lyrics in Column of Heaven a
collaborative effort as well? Are they written together with the music or
independently from it?
COH: I was handling all the vocals on the demo, so I wrote all the lyrics,
Kristiansen is doing that now and it's better if he writes the lyrics from this
point on. We talk about concepts and directions, but the ultimate form the
lyrics take are going to be his sole responsibility from here on in. As much as
it might pain me, I can't control every single aspect of the creative process,
otherwise people would get fed up and leave.
I try to operate on a level where there's a clearly defined aesthetic and
consistency to each release, musically and lyrically, so it's important for me
that we get that right. Most people don't care about lyrics anymore, and who
can blame them really, most of them are trite at best and garbage at worst.
Which isn’t to say I see myself as some kind of Oscar Wilde of hardcore, far
from it, I feel everything I write falls short of what I actually want to say,
thanks for the compliment though.
IA: It is very difficult (literally) to get into the kind of reading like
Howard Bloom here in our country and it could be because of a combination of
geography and access per se (even in the advent of the internet). I eventually
have been looking up Howard Bloom's work because of Column of Heaven when you
sampled him on your song "The Future Of War" and I must say that as I
grow older, getting into underground music still feels very rewarding and
profound to me on a personal level (on top of the music kick I get; never the color
of vinyl, scarcity of CD run, etc). Do you still feel the same as well when in
a similar situation (of getting into a newly-discovered band I mean)?
COH: I’m still very much enthralled by music and literature and have never
really gown out of that sense of marvel at coming across something new and
exciting. I’m not rabidly enthusiastic about everything I hear, but I’m
perpetually being introduced to, or finding, music and writing that gives some
sense of perspective and meaning to my life.
IA: Lastly, could you tell me something about your upcoming releases? Any
plans for a full-length album perhaps?
COH: We’re currently working on our second release, Mission from
God, SPHC from Washington DC is releasing it as a 12”; we’ve struggled to
find the time to get together and track the drums, but since starting this
interview we found the time to get the drums done.
After that we’re doing a split 7” with Drainland from Ireland [Radioactive
Vomit] and a 7”, called Of Dogs and Wolves, on English label
Hemlock 13. I’ve written bits and pieces for those two records but want to
get Mission from God out of the way before I start thinking
about those.
There’s talk of a full length with a label I’ve worked with in the past, I feel
like I need to get a few shorter records out of my system first before I try
and tackle another full length, it’s been a few years since I had to write one.
