Interview with BH & SB of Sjenovik
Interviewed by Wilhelm, for Canadian Assault magazine | 2008

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Based in the southern United States, Sjenovik is a new band pushing deep into unknown territory of heavy underground music. Their sound is hard to explain, but in a nutshell imagine an eclectic style merging elements of Neurosis, Paysage D Hiver, Burzum, (early) Grave, Brighter Death Now, Sun 0))) and similar bands in a way that is completely unique. With three demos and now a stellar debut album under their belt the band is poised to continue creating dark musical chaos reflecting the depth of Western Civilization.

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--The eclectic sound of Sjenovik is immediately prone to a variety of comparisons ranging from death metal to droning ambient. However, underlying this projection of various genres there is a deeper concern with the band's artistic value. What in particular inspires the sounds of Sjenovik?

S: Sjenovik is more or less a result of all of our influences rolled into our own sound thus creating something "unique". This came to be after throwing around a lot of ideas regarding musical style. After awhile it was more or less like "why not combine everything we’re into?" Musicianship is our lifestyle and as artists we use the music created as a medium to convey a large palate of ideas and such that we identify with. Several topics include yet not limited to: philosophy, religion, culture, politics, etc.

-Likewise, philosophical, historical and cultural concepts construct the ideological basis of Sjenovik. Please define some of these concepts, and explain why they are of importance to both yourselves individually and for Sjenovik.

S: I find a strange connection amongst varying philosophies. Some may find the following points of view contradictory but certain elements I feel are very complimentary to one another. As most of philosophy is subject to personal interpretation. Postmodernism: In a nutshell; the idea to create culture out of the resulting lack of culture caused by the overabundance of consumer culture in the modern world, most notably the USA. A popular method of this is to combine elements not normally compatible to create something "new". I find this concept reflects in our music. Nihilism: It seems to me that elements of religion, politics, etc, tend to produce lack of effort. Since one is "saved" by their "God" or other invisible power: they no longer need to care about making things better. After all, they’re going to heaven, right!? (laughs) I think once one accepts the nonexistence of purpose or destiny or their meant to be; then and only then will one strive to do something great. Progressive: We want progressive economics and progressive politics. Like most forward thinking intelligent people. Progressive taxation of the rich, enforcement of the Sherman act, higher minimum wage, transition to renewable energy, stricter environmental regulation and so on.

-Your lyrical perspective diverges from the traditional metal formula "Beer, metal & Satan". At least you have noted once that "Metal needs to evolve". Is this the first step? What is the next step- and why should metal have to "evolve" in the first place? Would the genre be doomed otherwise?

S: Well, there’s nothing wrong with the "beer, metal & satan" per se. If that’s what you’re into then that’s cool and there are some very entertaining bands that promote such ideas. On top of which, I particularly enjoy "beer, metal & satan". In regard to using that as a "gimmick"; I just think to myself: "That’s all you got?", "That’s the best thing you have to talk about?". How bout some effort and creativity as it doesn’t take to much brain power to create something that’s cliche and beat to death. On the contrary, as the ex-drummer for Exhumed allegedly left the group to pursue a career as a scientist in the cancer research field, I think the assumption that these people are necessarily stupid is ridiculous. The average person can’t do a thing with a guitar or any other instrument for that matter. So if one doesn’t know how to play an instrument and operate a relatively functional band then your opinions are not really worth much. As far as metal evolving... Luckily most things tend to evolve on their own. As of late metal music seems to be moving forward thanks to some creative minds in the genre. I don’t have a step by step analysis of how metal should evolve nor am I concerned. I think that metal in say mid-late 90s seemed to set itself this negative guideline system of sorts which caused it to stagnate. For example: the music MUST be a certain way, you must BE like THIS, BELIEVE THAT, DRESS and certain way and if you don’t you’re a poser. If you change your music you "sold out" and then the end result is most people complaining that it’s all the same old shit. Which then produced a slew of clone bands and all those metal people that aren’t at shows or whatever anymore are now into hardcore. I guess my reason for mentioning this is to be creative. It’s cool to be influenced by the bands you like. You could probably say we sound like a bunch of different bands but our goal was to do our own thing and combine our influences and not pick a genre out of a grab bag and try to fit the mold. We are very influenced by metal music but it’s not our goal to BE a metal band.
B: Metal's become nothing more than a corporate gang. Band's aspire to be on labels like Relapse and Roadrunner that are fully RIAA endorsed labels that screw countless bands out of money. So these bands form their own little microcosms or "scenes" as they would have you call it, for example: "TRUE PORTLAND, MAINE DEATH METAL" or "SUPPORT DULUTH HARDCORE!!!". So these gangs all get together and put on 800 billion shows with 900 billion bands of which one or two bands get signed, and that's a stretch. From there, these bands go on to either relative success, or financial ruin depending on the mood of the label. Which is in truth, fucked up as these are usually people who have laid dry-wall since they were 15 to afford gear or a van to go on tour with. Something for which a label, let alone a metal label, would never front money. So I have lost much of my affinity for metal. Modern metal anyway. It just seems like a big sleazy pyramid scheme that these labels like Roadrunner, Relapse, and Century Media have going on. I still like everything I liked way back when, much of which was on Roadrunner, but I'm always hard pressed to find a band that I don't feel is trying to join the "gang".

-"Jouissance" is your first full length release, and will be available by the time this interview is posted. Let's breakdown "Jouissance" song by song, and explain the importance of each one in sequence.

S: That’s a little extreme. "Jouissance" is a concept album (as well as everything else we do) that promotes a nihilist perspective of the decaying modern world. I feel it represents not only that but spiritual emptiness and failure yet through the darkness the strive to overcome. Let’s leave the rest up to the listeners interpretation.
B: The ultimate message of the album is self-accountability. I think 'Jouissance' on a consumer and/or spiritual level brings justification to a lifestyle and method of existence that is damaging to everything from the environment to our individual psyche. Giving life to things that are not alive (e.g. God, material goods, fast food, petroluem, etc.) has been a massive setback in the growth and progress of mankind since Ancient times and the sooner we overcome our earthly and spiritual hunger, the sooner we can focus on maybe trying to be a society that lives in harmony with itself. As "hippie" as that may sound.

-What did it take to prepare for the recording process? Did anything in particular help drive the creative aspect of "Jouissance"?

S: We’re so rapid fire. We create music at an astounding rate. Our next release should be out by March and the music of which was finished before "Jouissance" was even released. Being the owner of the studio we’re grateful for the luxury to pretty much always be recording. Everything from writing to rehearsing to recording is all done in the studio. We get some riffs going and or songs we combine it with an idea and a release is born. It’s that simple.
B: We've schooled ourselves on efficiency over the past 12 months. As the process becomes more routine we will find ways to challenge ourselves and make the recordings more challenging and better.

-Are you happy with the results?

S: We’re always proud of what we do. But their’s always room for improvement. With every release we like it and think what could we do better. Trial and error.
B: Self-repore is always biased. I think it's a very engaging listen. I also think we haven't even come close to our creative zenith as of yet.

-You've noted that your future endeavors will be much less "metal driven" and will instead focus on other forms of dark underground music, emphasizing experimentation and atmosphere. Indeed "Jouissance" was a significant transition from an essentially core death metal sound to a more progressive, ambient style. How do you foresee this progression continuing?

S: Well, on the demos the majority of the riffs were speed picking slow chord progressions which is commonly typical to black metal... Add in the keyboards and I don’t see where anyone gets death metal. Oh the deep vocals. Whatever. What people want to call our music is up to them. We were calling it dark metal but it doesn’t really matter. The progression seems to be sending us to much darker terrain in a more subtle way. Everything now is much more minimal regarding the metal elements. Blast beats are gone, double bass is minimal, little distortion, etc. We tend to let the music go where it wants to opposed to going "hey, let’s sound like this now!" In fact our first recording of this new sound entitled "Gemeinschaft" will be available as a free download on our web site. This does not mean that we’ve "changed our sound" or anything like that. We sound however we feel like and if we want to make another metal based recording...we will.
B: "Metal" is always going to be inherent in Sjenovik. I think it's hard to get around that when you're making music that's as dark as what we're doing. If we do a release of all acoustic instruments with cheesey female goth vocals and then do a splatter grind album with no ambience whatsoever, it'll be Sjenovik because we say it is. I personally don't hear a "huge progression" from the demo material to 'Jouissance' outside of the improvement in the production and arrangements. Regardless, we'll do what we want and the 'metal' element will be there due to how much weight it holds as an influence for all of us. Whether or not this is apparent to the listener is irrelevant.

-Does Sjenovik fill a necessary gap, or bridge a chasm for the potential of underground music? What precludes Sjenovik from being "just another band"?

S: We ARE just another band. I hope people enjoy our music but we don’t think we’re some messianic entity sent to rescue underground music. There is a particular way we operate and that’s that. That would be great if people admire how we do things and we hope that happens. But whether that happens or not won’t change what we do.
B: I think the music's need for a "conquering hero" every ten years is a little on the pathetic side. I think that mentality is how people like Kurt Cobain, Janis Joplin, John Lennon etc. ended up dead. All different means to the same end. These were all regular everyday people at one point and their "iconic" status ended up finishing them off. I'm not one for preaching "sanctity of life" or anything like that but, this is just music. We're not finding a cure for AIDS or stopping glaciers from melting. We're just expressing ourselves. Hopefully it inspires someone to go back to school and take up that cause or to write that book or whatever. To directly answer the question, I honestly believe that with how insanely vast the internet is right now and how many billion indie labels there are in the world that if you can't find the "bridge to the chasm" then your standards are just way to high and you should try reading or watching more movies. Or maybe smoking some pot, that can make things sound better too.

-How have reactions been to Sjenovik from listeners? What in particular is praised or criticized?

S: Very positive but not everyone is going to love what you do. I’ve read one person saying that the 20 minute ambient recording "In the Tomb of Sleeping Children" from the "Circle I" demo was like the most astounding thing ever. Then another said the same track was boring.
B: It's all relative. You have to have an ear for psychedelia, doom, black metal, noise, goth, industrial, and other more obscure forms of music to really relate to what we're trying to do. One thing I get asked a lot in my personal life is why we don't play live. Which, in truth, makes me laugh.

-What first sparked your interest in creating music?

S: Interesting question. Believe it or not I think I turned to music subconsciously as an angry teen seeking identity and self worth. It made me feel empowered so to speak. Some kids get into sports or art or even drugs...music was my thing. At 14 my parents bought me a bass and shortly after which a got a job and bought drum kit. I’ve been producing music ever since...
B: I went to Lollapalooza when I was 13 or so and it changed how I looked at things. I decided that counter-culture was more suitable for who I was probably going to be as an adult. Part of this realization was picking up the guitar and learning Metallica and Sepultura songs. I then branched off into piano and studied classical guitar for a little bit, but formal music education seemed contradictory to why I played music in the first place. So I just kept learning Metallica and Sepultura songs and playing in bands.

-All artists aspire to grow; some take their progression as it comes while others set goals for which they seek to pursue to it's fullest extent. As an artist and musician, what do you intend to learn or acquire that is currently just out of reach for you? How will your creative abilities emerge in say another 5-10 years?

S: This isn’t something I consciously ponder on any longer. I don’t sit here going "I need to learn this beat" etc. I have learned that some things simply come with experience and/or age. So I can do this now but I wonder how much better I’ll be in time. You can always be better... Practice is the only way to get there.
B: I'm learning drums a bit. I've been slacking of late. Though, Shane's usually got me on a good regime. I'm working on my own home studio, slowly but surely. I work in a music store so I'm always learning new licks, which makes one a better musician at the end of the day. I always wonder if the passion to make music will leave me someday as I move on to something new, but it's kinda pointless. Right now, music is still very fulfilling so I just focus on Sjenovik and whatever else I have going on.

-Some agree that popular music is a projection of the society in which it is created within; much like Wagner exemplified the romantic, and patriotic current of the Germany of his time. If this theory is correct, how does "dark" themed music like black metal or industrial project society in the 21st century?

S: Not anymore. Pop music is now fashion and doesn’t reflect reality whatsoever. Pop music is designed for consumer culture to generate sales targeted at youth and other determined targets. For example: promiscuity to draw in horny teenagers and perverts, gangster rap and whatnot to draw in the people looking for a facade to promote there machismo, etc. The music industry is designed to make money now and things like creativity and reality are not of interest. Especially since this music is produced by major corporations receiving massive tax cuts via republican economics. I highly doubt it’s their intention to reflect the current time. If it was, instead of 50 Cent of whatever you’d be hearing songs like "Oh, Fuck! What Credit Card Do Have To Put Gas And A 6 Pack On?" or "My Household Income Is $4k Takehome But After Daycare, Rent, Car Payments and Credit Cards I’m Fucked!" Just because it’s mainstream doesn’t necessarily make it bad as there are some good bands.
Dark music as well as independent music as a whole is a reaction toward the mainstream whether it be deliberate or not. Independent music either approaches real things or at least represents artistic freedom. People have figured this out though. I believe it was 2006 where there was an all time low for platinum albums and whatnot yet music sales actually increased 19%! People are sick of it and it’s starting to show. Now the majors are suing people because their music sucks and people just download it since most titles simply aren’t worth the 15 bucks.
B: I think there's a genuine anxiety about the civilization as we know it ending and there not being anybody else to blame but ourselves. I think that tows a very very profound hatred for humanity in and of itself and that is the true message of black metal, I think at least. I believe that's also why it was/is so easy for the National Socialist elements to be intertwined in the message of black metal. It's very elitist and overtly fascist, but if you thin out a large portion of the world's population than we may very well allow ourselves to exist for several more centuries. It objects to "sanctity of life" so that life may actually be allowed to continue. It's contradictory of itself but it's not absurd. I think the "dark themed music" of today is a reflection of mankind's self-loathing. I'd also have to say I'd be lying if a huge part of me didn't necessarily disagree with the message of black metal music and industrial as well.

-I'm optimistic about the evolution of music throughout the 21st century. Dark times help to influence great works of art, and we may be on the threshold of a new "golden" age of music. What are the possibilities? For example, could music be "experienced" in such a way that it would interact more intricately with human emotions than it does now with current technology?

S: One way or another music (as well as everything else) will continue to change/evolve. I’m not concerned with that. As far as technological interactivity I’ve heard you can take classes on human reaction to sound. Like certain frequencies can cause different reactions in humans. I’ve also heard that country music causes more violent reaction than any other music. I’m not sure on the facts on this but if these things are true I would assume the possibility is there. I think this is already inadvertently practiced as certain people like certain music and it’s in turn marketed to those for consumption.
B: As long as the RIAA is indicted on over 250,000 counts of entrapment and all the major labels are sunk to the bottom of the ocean and left to rot, whilst all the bands on those labels are relegated to 3rd shift at their closest Whataburger....then I think music will be fine. It really makes me sad to watch these artistic visionaries that I really looked up to as a kid beg me for money. I think it's pathetic and there's no dignity in making music at that level anymore. By declaring their stance on the side of the labels, they stand for making music for no other reason than money, period. I find this to be shameful, and dishonorable to our craft. Music will continue to be downloaded for free. Myspace and other tools are great ways to find new music. I will actually go out of my way to purchase independent music in the flesh. But if someone on an RIAA endorsed label releases something...I download it for free. Music will change and evolve, naturally, that's a huge part of its appeal to me. If it stops, then I'm bored and I'm moving on. But music will find a new identity. It will be an independent identity where you can share music for free on the internet and you will be able to, quite literally, listen to whatever you want whenever you want however you want.

-You intend to amass a considerable catalogue for Sjenovik with constant new recordings. What is forthcoming?

S: We are currently in the recording process of "Gemeinschaft" an online only free download release based on the apocalyptic current of US politics. We’ll have shirts to go along with the release as well.

-I appreciate your investment in our chat. You have the last word.

S: -
B: Thank you for the attention. Very best in the new year.