Conjuring the nuclear interview (interview with Emesis of Conjuro Nuclear)

following my review (HERE) of the latest Conjuro Nuclear release (an excellent black metal / D-beat / post punk brew you really should listen to) now here is the interview I did via email with CN only member Emesis :


- Can you present Conjuro Nuclear, how did it start and evolved?

Hello Dennis. Thank you for your interest in our work. Conjuro Nuclear was unchained on 2012 by Ghamil (bass) hand by hand with me (Emesis, guitars and the rest), we aborted on 2013 "Luna llena y radiación" and recorded some unreleased demos and shit. During these days the duo splits up and Conjuro Nuclear becomes a solo project from then on. This year (2014) Conjuro Nuclear gives birth through spores to their self-titled work and it will simply destroy the world.

- You told me that the equation Discharge + Joy Division + Emperor that I used in my review to describe your music was a good explanation, was it your project at the start to mix these styles or did it just evolved that way? do you see significant other influences in your music?

Yes, d-beat, black metal and postpunk have influence on our music and you named some bands that are representative classics of this genres. Psychedelic music, darkwave and soundtracks are other sounds that have influence on my music. Conjuro Nuclear takes the darkness and howls of black metal, like the energy, dirty production and minimalist structures of punk, and the ethereal atmosphere of darkwave. Although at the start we're already listening to these genres of music, we don't have intention to record nothing but punk noise, like a raw blend of Bathory with Discharge (answering your question, the second option is the best). I don't know how exactly they influenced me but a lot of musical projects exist that directly or not inspired our work in some way. Some of them are Bathory, Celtic Frost, Hellhammer, Darkthrone, Carpathian Forest, Joy Division, Amebix, Misfits, Discharge or Sopor Aeternus... but I'm digging too into other underground bands like Acid Witch, Cult of Fire, Ice Ages, Summoning, Nachtmystium, Hateful Abandon, Urfaust, Circle Of Ouroborus, Hail Spirit Noir, A Forest of Stars, A Black People, Lost Tribe, They Feed At Night...

- What about the making of yourself titled album, how was it written, recorded, etc..?

If I don't remember wrong the first songs for this work were written and recorded near December 2013 in Barcelona and finished at April 2014 while I was using as studio the infected basement of the ruined house where I was living for some months. The gears varies on each song but aren't nothing remarkable. The most representative equipment used on both albums consists of a shitty laptop with an external sound card and Washburn X-100 guitar, the bass model used was a Washburn T-50, and I don't remember the microphone model. For me it’s not important how to define this work (album, demo, tape, EP), what is the audio platform where it’s recorded or where it’s released, these are merely marketing connotations. Here there are just a bunch of songs breathing into the world.

- What about your lyrics?

This work is inspired by the chemical reactions in our heads... hate, depression, euphoria, extasis, madness... dressed on thematic scenarios about apocalypse, witchcraft, visionary plants, recurring nightmares, toxic visions...

- Have you tried to play your music live with other musicians or intend to try it, or will Conjuro Nuclear stay a recorded project only?

For now this will stay as a studio project. Sorry, but at the moment I can't provide much information about this.

- Do you play or have played in other musical project or bands?
No. I had never played in a band before and for now I don't belong to any other project.

- Which bands from your area would you recommend?
I'm listening now to Destino Final, Invasión, Human Bastard, Edenkaiser and Itnuveth.

- What is planned for Conjuro Nuclear in the coming months?

Nothing is planned for Conjuro Nuclear, this is an impulsive work in essence. For now I'm working on writing new music for the upcoming times.

- Which evolution would you like to see for underground music in the future?
I don't care. I assume that the digital era has an important role on the evolution of underground music, which has its advantages and its inconveniences regarding the quality of the stuff released and it also has an important impact into the discographic industry, but as I said before, I don't care. If the discographic industry goes to hell or everybody releases their stuff on myspace, I don't care while we continue having access to musical gems through any way or platform.

- If your music would be used as a movie soundratck, what kind of movie would you see fit for that? or what could be a good read while listening to Conjuro Nuclear?

I would like to see my music on a surrealist/psychedelic horror film with a bit of sci-fi/fantasy and dark humor. Creepy and grotesque. Some films that I like or I watched lately are The Holy Mountain (Alejandro Jodorowsky), Neco z Alenky (Jan Svankmajer), Rabbits (David Lynch), Donnie Darko, Pan's Labyrinth, Fear and loathing in Las Vegas, Fantastic Planet, "Wizards" by Ralph Bakshi (good film with post-apocalyptic/magic atmosphere), Fight Club, Mad Max, Twelve Monkeys... And for the books, The Doors of Perception and Hell and Heaven (Aldous Huxley), Plants of the Gods (Albert Hofmann), Fight Club (Chuck Palahniuk), Les Fleurs du mal (Charles Baudelaire) and of course, Steppenwolf by Hermann Hesse.

- Something to add?

Thank you for your interest in our music, Dennis.


and as a conclusion here is the link to CN new song, Demonios Danzantes on Bandcamp :
https://conjuronuclear.bandcamp.com/track/demonios-danzantes-4

Conjuro nuclear - Conjuro nuclear (2014)

Conjuro nuclear is a spanish one man band and it's music could be described as a mix of new-wave, black metal and D-beat. it evokes Joy division (the sound and the basslines), Emperor's Nightside eclipse era (the synth parts, the black metal vocals and the obscure epic feel) and Discharge (remember "D-beat" is for "Discharge beat"). but the most striking is not the influences it's that this mix is quite original and that it's really well done and fresh sounding in Conjuro nuclear. this black metal / post-punk crossover reminds a bit Circle of Ourorborus but Conjuro nuclear is way more punk and direct so it's really a different thing. their new self titled cassette is their second full-lenght album and it's a really enjoyable and exiting one.

Conjuro nuclear bandcamp