Interview with Ross Hagen of Schrei aus Stein
Interviewed by Starlight Temple Society, 2009

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-What is Schrei aus Stein?

SaS: Schrei aus Stein is a 1991 Warner Herzog film starring Donald Sutherland and featuring the imposing Cerro Torre peak in Patagonia.

-How did this band evolve from Encomiast, and why did you decide to do something musically separate from the aforementioned? Please put both bands into perspective.

SaS: I've been working with the Encomiast project for 10 years now, and while it's been my creative mainstay I've also stretched the boundaries of what might be able to fit under the Encomiast umbrella. Most of the albums are pretty solidly in the "dark ambient" world, but I've no intrinsic desire to remain faithful to that. I mean, the bathed in sunlight record I released with Crucialbliss a few years ago was pretty much a collection of depressing avant-folk songs...but somehow it made sense as an Encomiast record. I try not to start a new band every time the sound changes a little. But the Schrei aus Stein recordings have a very different energy to them, and I imagine that I will continue working in this direction so I'd like to give this fledgling idea a little room of its own.

-Describe the sound of Schrei aus Stein. What will listeners find familiar or new with the music you write?

SaS: I'd say that anyone familiar with the fuzz-drenched sound of bands like Procer Veneficus or Velvet Cacoon will find an affinity with the overall aesthetic of Schrei aus Stein, although I feel like I added my own spin on it. My plan was to start with a similar sort of minimalistic aesthetic, but infuse it with a measure of noisy chaos and some more dynamic rhythmic and harmonic changes.

-Tell us about your debut album from song to song and in its totality.

SaS: In its totality, the album is the end result of mixing the ambient music I've been doing for a long time with some black metal experiments. I'm not sure what else to say about it, hah. "Serac" This track contains no guitars and sounds like a distant avalanche. "Lenticulars" - The heart of this song is the noisy chaos that lies underneath the first section and takes over by the midpoint of the track. "Couloir" - This was the song where the Schrei aus Stein idea finally coalesced for me. It's probably the most succinct and straight-forward piece on the record. "Foehn" - The foehn is a violent alpine wind that races down a mountain and wreaks physical and psychological havoc with those below. The song likewise has an agitated character that melts into warm ambience and mellow psychedelia. "Crevasses" - This track features some intense solo flute work by my friend Megan, who also makes appearances on several Encomiast albums and sometimes plays with me live. She recorded the solos for me about 3 years ago and I hadn't found a spot for them until now.

-What are your hopes and expectations for this release?

SaS: Hmm, well I'm not sure really. My intention is to just enter the conversation, but my ambition wants to make some sort of impact.

-It's still too early to tell how reactions will be to the debut, but what are you expecting from fans of black metal and of the catalog of Encomiast alike?

SaS: Many Encomiast fans will not necessarily like it...too many vocals and heavy metal-isms. I honestly don't know what to expect from the black metal fans.

-Personally speaking, if you were to approach the album as a fan, what would you like the most about it? And what, if anything, do you think could have been done better?

SaS: My hopes would be that the listeners enjoy the depth of sound and the subtle chaotic variations that happen to come through in certain spots. Those are my favorite parts anyway. I stand behind the record in its entirety, even if my ear constantly picks up things I could've changed. At some point, you have to leave things be.

-Does Schrei aus Stein have any sort of ideological or conceptual points which play any importance to speak of?

SaS: I don't associate any of my music with non-musical ideologies....which is an ideological stance in and of itself I guess. .

-Is there necessarily a correlation between intelligence and the level of dynamism radiated from one's art?

SaS: If we're talking about the intelligence of the creator, my answer to this lies somewhere between "not really" and "absolutely not." It seems to me that connecting intelligence and artistic dynamism (defined how?) is usually just a way to reinforce a particular set of artistic and cultural values. For example, some might state that W. A. Mozart must have been smarter than Robert Johnson because Mozart's symphonies are more formally complicated than Johnson's rural blues recordings (according to Western harmonic theory, at least). But I think this reinforcement is actually most often done using an *inverse* correlation between intelligence and artistic vitality. Many might put forth that people like Robert Johnson create music that is more visceral and exciting precisely because it seems simplistic, unlearned, or unmediated. Yet the underlying slight to the creator's intelligence remains, and is all the more insidious for being buried within praise. However, I think "intelligence" and "dynamism" are things that can be found in most any piece of music or art, depending on how one's attention is focused. The means of expression simply vary.

--How much of an influence does your environment play on SuS? Give an example if you will.

SaS: Well, I'd say my daily environment plays almost no explicit role in the project, but the seminal idea for it came from winter and spring mountaineering. There's a real sense of immersion and awe when it's just you and the mountain...just rocks, snow, wind, and silence. It's glorious even when the conditions make you miserable and it just turns the volume down on everything else in life. There's of course a certain amount of inner reverie associated with it, but it requires that you keep your wits about you...daydreaming and dawdling are not rewarded! I'd been knocking around some black metal ideas before, but Schrei aus Stein only coalesced after those experiences.

-What's the skinny on your musical background?

SaS: I've played music in a number of different contexts, including jazz combos, gamelans, cover bands, orchestras, rock musicals, live techno, improvised krautrock, and metal bands. I wrote a couple of chamber pieces in college and have some limited experience scoring short films. I also currently play bass in a groovy stoner metal trio called Governors.

-What instruments do you enjoy working with the most, and which ones do you hope to incorporate next?

SaS: I think my favorite instruments are my electric autoharp and my Micromoog, neither of which played a huge role in this record, although they do make appearances. I hope to make more use of them next time and possibly bring in some other secret ingredients. If I ever get a new reed for it, I'm going to try to fit my French shawm in somewhere.

-If one were to ask you- "Why do we need another band, especially one like Schrei aus Stein", your response would be?

SaS: "Why not? What's so special about the ones we have?"

-What are some bands and composers you find interesting?

SaS: Jandek, John Cage, Charles Ives, Anton Webern, John Zorn, Josquin Desprez, Ensemble Organum, Gnaw Their Tongues, Horde, Hurdy Gurdy, Weakling, Munly, Everything Absent or Distorted, Pink Floyd before Roger Waters took over and made it all emo, French black metal, Public Enemy's first three albums, & Depeche Mode.

-Do you think that experiencing such a broad spectrum of music helps to unlock creative strength useful to writing music for SuS and Encomiast?

SaS: Absolutely. Being artistically and culturally omnivorous is invaluable to my own pursuits. As the saying goes, "He who knows only his own time and place remains forever a child," or something like that.

-What are your plans for Schrei aus Stein post-debut? How much emphasis will you place upon the band and new material what with the ongoing recordings of Encomiast?

SaS: It's probably too soon to say for sure. I have some new Encomiast material finished, but I'm not in any rush to put out a new recording since we just did the Encomiast/Copper Thieves box a few months ago. Recording Schrei aus Stein is more interesting to me right now, so I imagine I'll continue tinkering and making new tracks.

-Likewise, how do you see the band evolving?

SaS: I want to explore new avenues for writing the guitar parts, conceived more in terms of counterpoint rather than blocks of harmony. I might bring some friends into the fold as well, although I don't ever see this being a true ensemble project.

-Thanks for allowing STS to collect data. Please end this study in any way you see fit.

SaS: Perhaps with someone else's famous last words: "KHAQQ calling Itasca. We must be on you but cannot see you. Gas is running low."