interview with Dimholt
How is it that you started playing music? Out of inspiration and dream chasing I guess. You know how things fall into place at a certain moment. You feel a need to express yourself in a certain way.
What are your names? / Who plays what? / How old are you? Dimholt is basically Woundheir (vocals), Asen (guitars), Rumen (guitar), Yavor (bass) and Stanimir (drums). Our age includes a couple of decades from each of the last two centuries.
Have you had other previous members? No. Dimholt has not changed any members since the beginning of the band as a 5 piece.
Did you make music even when you were young? Well, my first attempts at making music date back to when I was 10 years old, so I would say "Yes".
Where are you from? We are from Burgas, Bulgaria.
What year did the band form? The band was formed in 2003. That was the year when Woundheir (vocals) presented the idea for a band to me and we founded Dimholt.
What's your style of genre? I would label it as black metal for the sake of labeling itself.
What inspires you? From anything life can offer to any kind of experience and knowledge that a human being can long for.
How often and where do you rehearse? That is a good question. Since 4 members of the band live in Sofia and I live in Burgas (400 km away from Sofia) we carefully schedule rehearsals when all of us need to be present. That may sound like a serous obstacle but we have overcome it and for the time being this way of working suits us.
How have you developed since you started with the music? We learn as we exist as a band. If I have to mention something in particular - maybe we have started to pay a lot more attention to detail, in any terms. But not so much as to turn ourselves into robots or pedants.
Do you have other interests of work outside the band? All of us have their daily jobs and the little time that is left is being dedicated to music I guess. But of course each of us has their own personal approach to enjoing our earthly existence. Pretty much individual.
Are you looking for a booking agency, and what are your thoughts around that? Yes, we are, and we have actually been approached regarding these matters but some things needed time and we couldn't agree on terms. Booking agencies are a definite must, no doubt. Organizing a tour with all its details has to be done by someone who is experienced. Not that a band cannot do it themselves but it would cost much more time and energy.
Are you looking for a label, and what are your thoughts around that? We are looking for a label, yes. We have sent a lot of promotional copies and time shall tell how things will turn out.
What made you decide to make this music? You just fell close to a certain way of playing or composing music. Certain aspects of the music touch your soul and you feel enchanted. You naturally feel close to a certain genre or sub-genre more than to any other.
What are your songs about? About life and the darkness that surrounds it. It may sound cliche but the lyrics have to speak for themselves.
Who does the composing and writes the lyrics? I do most of the composing but the shaping of a song involves each of us. The lyrics are mainly responsibility to our frontman Woundheir.
Do you start with the music or the lyrics? Usually the music
Do you compose in a certain inviroment? There are environments which feel more suitable for composing but since composing itself never comes as something planned it may occur in the most bizarre places.
Have you done any covers live? Yes. We usually do Hundre Ar Gammal from Khold but recently we added Ravencult's The Nightsky Codex to the live set.
What language do you sing in? English.
What are the least and most people to attend one of your gigs? We have played in front of 10-15 people but for example when we opened up for Rotting Christ or Cradle Of Filth in Sofia there were a couple of hundred people attending.
What ages are most of your concert attendants? I have no precise knowledge about this but I would say any age.
Do you always play the same songs live, or do you vary? It varies according to the situation. We have recently srated to play 2 completely new songs which are to be found on a possible second full length album.
Do you have a regular place you play live often? Most of the gigs take place in the capital city of Sofia (Bulgaria) but recently we set out to play in various cities throughout Bulgaria in order to present our debut album.
What was your first gig like? It was in 2009. A set of 30 minutes. It went well as for a debut gig.
What was your latest gig? Last week in our hometown of Burgas. It is always special to play in your hometown.
Have you had to cancel a gig? Yes. In November 2011 we were about to play two gigs in Serbia but unfortunately one of them had to be cancelled due to some issues with the venue.
Where have you played live this year? We already had gigs in Bulgaria - in Sofia, Varna and Burgas.
Where do you plan to gig the comming year? We have a gig scheduled to Thessaloni, Greece in May as part of the Death's Black Descent festival. We have also many more plans but we would announce them only after everything is certain.
When did you start to sell merchandise, and what do you have for sale? Our first t-shirts were available right after the release of our Live Somnia EP in 2009. There are still copies from the available. Recently we issued new t-shirts as part of our "Liberation Funeral" album design.
Where can people buy your merchandise? Everything is available via the band at www.dimholt.org.
What do you think about people downloading music instead of buying records nowadays? For a band like us it doesn't make any difference. Some people might even say that underground bands benefit from this. If playing music is way of living then I would understand that downloading has its negative effects. But still one has to adapt.
How do you think the music industry have changed because of this? Bands nowadays have to do a lot more tours than compared to the past. At least the well-known bands. As far as the underground is concerned - I have no specific view on this.
What do you think of my work? It is encouraging that we spend your time to interview bands. Besides, this might be the longest list of questions we have ever replied to.
How do you think and know that this interview will help you in the music business? The information we share might be interested to anyone interested in the band as well. But I think we are far from the music business in general.
Do you have any role models or idols? I personally have overcome the tendency to idolise. So no one in particular for the time being.
Why do you think that they exist? Maybe they can serve as some sort of an example. The rest is up to the one idolising or the one accepting these role models.
Is it easier to find inspiration from older bands, or bands that are more active today? They are definitely a foundation or a starting point. We are in the music realm so older bands must have had served as inspiration.
What have been your biggest obstacles? We have spent a lot of time within the band to set or thoughts on a mutual level so to say. This has cost us a lot of time but it ultimately paid off. The physical distance between me and the rest of the band has sometimes caused us difficulties but as I already mentioned - we learned to accept this situation and turn it into an advantage.
What advice would you give other bands or artists? To be sincere to themselves and not to lose time.
How do you get psyched for a gig? The gig itself is a reason to boost your adrenaline.
Do you have any new material? Two songs are ready, two more are almost finished. We hope to have at least 7-8 new songs songs by the end of this year.
What are your web sites? Our official website is www.dimholt.org. Links to our FB profile and our bandcamp page are available there.
How can people reach you? Our email is [email protected]
What are your plans for the future? We have many plans for gigs this year including some abroad. The composing for a second album has also begun so we will keep ourselves busy.
Do you have something to add? I would like to thank your for sending us these questions and hope that you enjoyed what we had to say as well. Thank your for the support!