interview with 1derlying
How was the band formed? Can you tell about your band? It was formed as 11th Universe in 2009 by Dardo and Methos. The latter then had some ins and outs of the band due to his unstable nature and at some point Dardo changed the name of the band to 1derlying and started regarding it rather as a musical project. Most of the material of our debut album Mind Lost, Time Found was made then. In 2013 it was released, while Methos was definitely out and Lithine joined in. From then, 1derlying began to be considered a band again. In early 2014 an EP named Salto was released to show a bit of the new musical ideas for the band. After that, Logan and then Ravenrain joined the band and we started the recordings of our upcoming album.
Where are all band members from? Who does what in the band? We are all from Murcia (Spain) or near. In the past, 1derlying was a musical project... and in some way it still is. For example, the roles of people in the band are not as rigid as in the average band. Ravenrain is the main guitarist, Dardo has written most of the tracks we have today and now he plays the bass among other things, Lithine does female vocals and plays several instruments, and Logan mainly plays the keyboards and does vocals. But it's not that important what each one of us do as long as we all contribute in the best way we can.
What make us a band today, is that we plan to play live and we rehearse for that, and also that now everyone can contribute in songwriting and there is not a definite boss telling the others what to do. It's good for the band that everyone can virtually do everything, because that forces all the members to become better on everything we do in order to not to be replaced at something we like to do.
What was the ambitions of the band when you started? To be original and unique at what we do (be it the concepts and/or the sound), to make music we would want to listen to, and ultimately to become a cult band.
Could you explain your music to someone that haven't heard you?
Until now it is mainly metal (most of the time some kind of extreme metal), and the sound is always more focused on the atmosphere and the feelings it evokes than on individual playing.
The sound on our debut Mind Lost, Time Found is probably best described as merging the melodic death metal of Dark Tranquillity (riffs, melodies) with the ambient/atmospheric black metal of Burzum (vocals, production), which is kind of a strange mix. That happened by accident rather than intentionally, because at the time of writing most of the songs Dark Tranquillity was our main influence and at the time of recording the vocals and mixing the album our main influence was Burzum. Of course, there are other influences on this album like gothic metal in the vein of Paradise Lost and soundtrack music for the quieter tracks. And also, besides all the influences, we have elements of our own in that album, like the bass melodies, original/experimental song structures and of course the focus on our own kind of atmosphere.
The music on the album we are recordng now keeps those mentioned elements of our own and also still has the 1derlying feeling (can't explain what is it), but on everything else is completely different. Mind Lost, Time Found was inorganic and complex, and the upcoming album is organic and simple. It's less artificial I'd say, not only because we are recording everything with our flaws, but also because we let each track grow naturally, and the whole album grows naturally too. The lyrics are much more related to nature too and more straight forward, as opposed to the lyrics on the debut, which were more abstract. There is also much more minimalism going on here, for example we are trying to express more with less lyrics. And fianally let's say our upcoming album is darker and more focused on clean vocals while keeping the harsh ones and making them even more agressive.
Oh, and can be added that another constant in 1derlying's music is the bipolarity or contrast, meaning that in each album we have very aggressive songs and very quiet ones too, so they are always a dynamic listen.
Who writes your songs? Who writes the music who writes lyrics? In Mind Lost, Time Found most of the music and lyrics were written by Dardo, and Methos collaborated. Since then, with the latter out of the band and with new and willing people, things are getting more balanced day by day.
What's good with the band? That we all have good attitude and dedication.
Who has the best sense of humor in the band? We don't know, we have different kinds of sense of humor.
What genre do you feel you are? We feel we are something like Experimental Atmospheric Metal, but genres doesn't matter for us as long as we don't copy other bands or even ourselves and as long as we keep our identity.
Why did you pick that particular style? What are your songs about? We didn't "pick" our style, we make the music that comes out of us. The songs on the debut album are mostly about different kinds of insanity that are caused by society on the individual, in particular one of the tracks is about a dream Dardo had and another one is about a story he read long ago.
Do you write your own material or mainly covers? We write our own material, but we don't discard playing some covers too when we play live in the future if they add to the atmosphere.
Do you have any clips on YouTube? Yes, we have uploaded the audio of the entire Mind Lost, Time Found album and a lyric video (in Spanish) for Through A Distant Window. Several other tracks can be found on YouTube too.
How old are you? We range from 17 to 25 years old.
What got you started in music? For each one of us; liking music and noticing that we are able to make it, was an strong enough reason to get started in making music.
At what age did you start playing? Dardo is singing since he was 3, Logan since he was 8, and Lithine doesn't even remember when she started. Dardo has a guitar since he was 17 but haven't played it seriously until now, and is playing the bass for less than two years now. Ravenrain is playing acoustic guitar for 6 years and electric guitar for 4 or 5 years. Lithine and is playing keyboard for a few years and Logan since he was 8.
Where have you played from then till now? Probably for all of us the answer is that we've played or sang mostly alone or practicing, on our own.
When did you decide to go all in for the music? For each one of us it is the same answer: when we started in 1derlying.
What are the plans for the rest of the year? To find a drummer, to finish our album and maybe to play live.
What are your goals with your music? To make music in a different way. To make music to open people's eyes and minds and souls. Also to make music that we can listen without getting tired of it after a lot of listens.
Is it easier to get your inspiration from older bands or from bands more modern? It is easier to get our inspiration from bands we like. We don't care if some band is older o newer, but in the case in which the quality is the same, we tend to appreciate more the older ones.
What are your sources of inspiration? Good music, good films, good reads, nature, landscapes, paintings, good architecture and art in general, feelings, dreams, thoughts, conversations, personal experiences, spirituality... In fact inspiration can come from almost everything.
What's the first step when making a new song? Everytime it is different. It may be playing something in the guitar and composing from that, if it sounds 1derlying enough. Other times it is the lyrics what we have first and we do the music for that. We can also compose from something that is in our heads... There are many ways, really.
How do you feel about the downloading of music instead of buying albums? Anyone of us is a music listener before being a musician, so we like the idea of being able to listen to the music before deciding to buy it or not. We buy the albums that we like. As long as people who really likes our music buy it, it's fine.
Besides your own music, what genres and bands do you listen to?
Since genres are often confusing, we are naming bands/artists.
- Dardo: Bloodbath, Behemoth, Pestilence (early), Dark Tranquillity, Swallow The Sun, Woods Of Ypres, Katatonia, Anathema, Paradise Lost, Dead Can Dance, Arcana, Daemonia Nymphe, Rotting Christ, Enslaved, Mayhem (Mysteriis, Ordo), Darkthrone (early), Burzum, Ulver, God Is An Astronaut, Jaani Peuhu, The Cure (the darker albums), Joy Division, Pink Floyd (Darkside, Wish, Animals, Wall), Tangerine Dream (Alpha Centauri, Zeit, Atem, Phaedra, Ricochet, Stratosfear, Hyperborea), Aphex Twin, Iannis Xenakis, Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, Hans Zimmer, Vangelis, Angelo Badalamenti, Denez Prigent, and traditional music too.
- Lithine: Katatonia, Darkseed, Anathema, Paradise Lost, My Dying Bride, My Personal Murderer, Tristania, Theatres des Vampires, Therion, Unsun, Swallow the Sun, Arch Enemy, Dark Tranquillity, Be'lakor, Fractal Gates, Insomnium, Omnium Gatherum, Eluveitie, Battlelore, Mägo de Oz (until Gaia III), Arcana, Daemonia Nymphe, Bandari, Nox Arcana, Bloodbath, Vader, Noctem, Behemoth, Rotting Christ, Enslaved, Mayhem, Darkthrone, Dark Fortress, Emperor, Caladan Brood, Satyricon, Tsjuder, Burzum, Moonspell, Secrets of the Moon, Krios (industries), Eisenfunk, Aphex Twin, Ulver, Sun O))), Blutengel, Lord of the Lost, Lacuna Coil, Vhäldemar, Wolf Hoffman, Sólstafir, Múm, God is an Astronaut, M83, Sigur Rós, No Clear Mind, Alcest, Bach, Chopin, Pachelbel, Vangelis, Enya, Handel, Vivaldi, Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, Mozart, Adiemus, James Horner, Yann Tiersen, Hans Zimmer, Denez Prigent, Dead Can Dance, Amorphis, Woods of Ypres, Death, Dethklok, Morbid Angel, Crematory, Marilyn Manson, HIM, Nightwish (early), Terasbetoni, Warcry, Guns'n'Roses, Dover, Romeo, Skizoo, Evanescence, Kittie, Maximum the Hormone, Stellardrone, and some Tangerine Dream.
- Logan: Rammstein, Oomph, Megaherz, Eisbrecher, Dark Tranquillity, Tristania, Sober, Skizoo, Romeo, Warcry, System of a Down, The Rasmus, Linkin Park, Marilyn Manson.
- Ravenrain: Megadeth, Lamb of God, Meshuggah, Vildhjarta, The Faceless, Conquering Dystopia, Nevermore, Children of Bodom, Arch Enemy, Eluveitie, Nightwish, Epica, Opeth, Dying Fetus, Behemoth, Noctem, Pantera, Iron Maiden, AC/DC, Black Label Society, Versailles, One OK Rock, Xjapan, Linkin Park, Extremoduro, Mägo de Oz.
What would be your dreams for the band? To be able to tour and visit many countries and there let our music be spreaded and grow.
Have you been in any other bands? Yes, three of us were in another band that didn't even have name.
Have you been part of any other projects? Apart of the aforementioned band, Lithine has a side project called Moonolith, and Dardo releases music under his own surname and as Aseptickill.
What is your favorite crappy instrument? Crappy? Then is has to be the güiro.
What do you work with outside of the band and the music? We all do other (normal) things outside music, like studying and working.
What would you do if there was no music? I would invent it.
How important are your fans? They are important because they are the listeners and they value our music. They are the ones that maybe will make us go far one day. However, we don't let the desires of our fans infuence our art.
How often do you rehearse? Twice a week right now.
Where do you rehearse? We don't have a drummer now, so we can rehearse almost everywhere.
Name 2 of your own songs you like at the moment. To name songs that have been released already, Through A Distant Window and Crimson Minscape, and perhaps Overdose Of Faces I too.
What do you feel is the best live band you've seen? Rotting Christ, followed closely by Dark Tranquillity. They are very different though, one is simplicity and the other complexity. Noctem is also an incredibly good band live. Katatonia is great too, but only one of us has been a witness of it.
What drives a band that isn't all that famous and renowned to try to make a living on their music and to keep playing? To enjoy making music, and to think that one day our music can be really big.
How do you view the music industry of today? There are many bands that go commercial, and labels are usually more interested in them than they are in original art. Music is not about money.
What are the biggest obstacles for a band? The initial budget, and also that there are many bands already so it is difficult to get heard.
Do you have any webpages? Yes, by now our official site is 1derlying.blogspot.com, but we are building another, more independent, webpage. Also we have a facebook page and of course a Bandcamp profile where everything we've released can be heard.
Tell us about upcomming gigs and why we should be at them? We are rehearsing and until we play the songs completely the way we want, we will not play in concerts. You should be at the gigs because we will make bigger the same atmosphere we create in our songs.
How would you describe your sound in one sentence? The atmosphere has a bipolar disorder.
Any pearls of wisdom for all other bands out there? What advice would you like to give other bands? To be themselves and to do what they want. Always do the things your way and not how it is supposed to be done. Put passion and dedication into your music. Be free to experiment and don't be afraid of mistakes. And of course be honest.
Do you have anything to add? Thank you for an in-depth interview. It even made us realise things we didn't know about ourselves! For the people that like our music and/or liked this interview, stay aware of our next releases! Also, we need a drummer so badly, so if anyone living near Murcia is interested, he/she can get in contact with us.