Interview by Sean Fitzgerald
Beginning in 2005, Morne have developed their own distinctive sound that we have all become familiar with. There is almost an Amebix mysticism about them too, heavy and dark without even trying. With last years album ‘Asylum’ I think their sound evolved even further into an even more doomy minimalistic sound, but still with their built-in chug.
They will be playing a free gig in Pomona, California on Saturday, July 21st at the Moshpit Tragedy Records Scion Label Showcase along with Phobia, Morne, Total F%cking Destruction, Skarp and Seas Will Rise.
http://www.facebook.com/events/396257287088760/
Morne’s sound has evolved since 2005. Getting a much more complex approach and atmospheric by mixing in violin, cello and ambient sounds. Are you influenced by classical music or film soundtracks and if so are there any that you particularly admire?
Milosz: Adding more instruments and making the sound more complex in a way but also very simple was my goal from the beginning. I think things like that always take time and little evolution. I feel music and bands never stop shaping, adding or taking some sounds out. To be honest I never thought of getting any inspirations from soundtracks. I love film music, specially Ennio Morricone but I try to have our music come naturally from us. We all have some influences but in the of the day music should come from the heart I suppose.
Max: Mixing heavy music with darker classical instruments creates a really great atmosphere, so long as it’s used in moderation. Many bands have done this in the past and it was always something we wanted to try out. I remember the first time I heard “Untold Wait” with Kris Force’s tracking my jaw dropped to the floor. It took a song we already felt was close to complete and brought it to another level.
How did it come about working with Jarboe, Kris Force from Amber Asylum and Alicia Morgan from 13? How did you go about writing the song ‘volition’ with Jarboe and Kris, was it already written or was it written as a group. Is it hard to recreate live?
Milosz: I really wanted to get some violins in some parts on Untold Wait. I thought it would make the sound much thicker and maybe little smoother in some parts.Before Untold Wait recording session I emailed Kris Force and asked her if she could help us with some violin tracks. She was cool with that. It was very simple, we sent the tracks to her to California and after a little while she sent them back to us. Few times when I called Alicia she wasn’t there and I had to leave a message on her voicemail, I thought her voice was perfect for that little part. I asked her if she would like to help us out. She came up to Boston to our studio and simply recorded it with the first take.
Volition… I had a riff that I thought would be cool for the last song on the album. Some kinda loop. I and Ian did a demo with it and it actually sounded pretty cool. We kept working on it for a while. I thought maybe we could have a nice quiet part with a female vocal on it. I really like Swans and I knew that Kris Force knows Jarboe personally, I asked Kris what she thinks about that idea. She put us in touch.
I wrote the riff, Max wrote the lyrics and we sent it all to Kris and Jarboe and they made it happen. We don’t play that song live because we live so apart from each other and it’s not possible to do it, but maybe some day.
When recording/writing ‘Asylum’ was there a unifying theme/idea behind it? As it plays so well together with each track blending into the next.
Milosz: Yes, I mean, I always try to write songs that way so they flow better, sequence them so it all feels like one very long song. I feel that gives a potential listener a little journey and comfort of listening to the album.
Max: Asylum was really the first time where we really wrote as a band. Up until then, Milosz had written the bulk of our material, so it’s almost as if Asylum was our “first album” in a lot of ways. Considering how many cooks were in the kitchen, I feel the songs all meshed together fairly naturally. We were very proud of Asylum, but it is certainly a transition album to what we do next. I would anticipate the future output being even more focused and evolved.
Is Erik Larson (Parasytic, Might Could) the bands full time drummer now or is he still helping out until you have a new full-time drummer?
Milosz: I asked Erik to do our first European tour with us after we part with our original drummer. Erik is my friend and was the only drummer I would think of to learn our songs fast. Erik did few tours with us but never did any recordings. We tried to make it work but he lives far away from us and the distance made it difficult to write music which means Erik was never a real full time member of the band as much as we wanted him to be. We all agreed that it wouldn’t work. Now we have a permanent drummer!
You originally released the split with Warprayer yourselves. How do you find the difference between full distribution and sales of your own release, than being on a label? How did you hook up with Profound Lore Records?
Max: We actually only handled the CD pressing of the Warprayer split, the vinyl was released by No Options in the USA and Alerta Antifascista in Europe. We’ve been fortunate enough to have people helping us with our releases ever since we put out the demo in 2008, and all the DIY labels we worked with in the past had good distribution. So, although I can’t really say that we see a tremendous difference there, I can say that the way a metal label handles promoting and exposing their bands is generally beyond what average DIY labels are capable of facilitating. When Chris (Profound Lore) first approached us to do the CD release of Asylum, it was exactly what we were looking for. Most DIY labels don’t even want to bother with pressing CD’s anymore, it made more sense to have a metal label handle the CD and continue working with our friends’ labels to release the vinyl. It just felt like the right balance to us. So far it’s proven to be the right decision, Chris has been really awesome to work with and he has helped us out tremendously.
After seven years of playing do you find you can be more particular about what shows you play and who you play with? Is it tougher as time goes by to get time off day jobs etc to gig and tour? What have been your best gigs do you think since the band began?
Milosz: We always were and we still are very selective about the shows we play. There are commercial shows that we will play with out any problems and there are “DIY” gigs that we won’t play and vice versa. There are rights and wrongs on both sides. We choose our musical freedom and go with it. It’s a matter of our own comfort. Morne was never a political band and never will be, we all have our own views but no one gets their political rides on us. Like I said we pick our options and make our choices. We all have full time jobs but we make sure that we get enough time off so we can tour and play shows. I feel pretty lucky with that.
Max: Being selective about shows is not a reflection of merit in any way, in fact it’s mostly based on the desire to play shows where we feel we will fit in and be well received. Many of our best shows have been the DIY gigs, probably because the spirit and vibe of the evening tends to be more laid back. When we play a good set and everyone enjoys our music, it’s all that really matters to me regardless of whether it’s a big club or tiny basement. My personal favorite shows thus far were the gigs we did with Amebix in 2009, and then the European tour following the first release of Untold Wait. That entire tour was excellent from start to finish.
Did you get a surprise seeing the Morne patch on Darkthrone’s “Circle The Wagons” album cover, are you fans of Black Metal?
Milosz: Haha, no I wasn’t. Fenriz emailed me and asked if they could do it. You know my answer. I do like some of the older black metal bands but i have no interest in the “new” black metal scene. It’s a completely different thing now.
What’s in the future for Morne ?
Max: Right now we’re in the process of writing and planning to record our next release. We’re hoping to enter the studio next winter. Until then we’ll continue playing gigs around the Northeast and then hopefully touring again in 2013.
http://morne.bigcartel.com/
http://www.morneband.com
http://morneband.bandcamp.com
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