Seidr webzine - interview with Dwelling

Interview with Dwelling

Are there many fans of such a melancholic music in your sunny land?

In Portugal, much like in every other country, this kind of music is appreciated by a small group of people even if some of its influences come from traditional music. I guess all the media exposure to mainstream music has that effect. People tend to consume what is right in front of their noses instead of trying to find out what they really like.

How did you come to the idea of playing this kind of music?
What bands exerted influence upon your works, if there were such?

I've always had a fascination for acoustic instruments, their perfect sound and the ambience they can create. That was what drove me to start an acoustic project in the first place. A while later, I met Helder, and when I realized he shared the same fascination, I asked him if he wanted to do an acoustic band with me. Later on, when things got into motion and some songs were outlined, we invited the rest of the band. All of us shared the same vision regarding sound and how the concept should be so, Dwelling was born. Our influences range from Classical music to Black Metal. Between all the members of the band I think we cover most of the genres except Pop. I don't think that there is a band that influenced us in any way and I think it's difficult to track down which genre of music inspired each of our pieces. The music comes from within so all that we've heard over the years is reflected in some way but hardly explicitly.

Do you hold, that you were born at a time and place you'd had to be born at?
Do you consider yourselves people from another age?

A few years ago I would have told you "Yes". Nowadays I think that I wouldn't be the same person I am today if I had been born during a different Age. From what I've gathered from the band, I think they agree with me. We would never have the same cultural background as we have today if it weren't for the easy way you can communicate with anyone around the world, if we couldn't listen to as much music from different cultures as we do and read as much as we do. Even if we dislike the way our society is at the present, the over populated/over organized capitalist society, we can't avoid the fact that we are a product of this age.

Portuguese language is very melodious and beautiful, especially by the singing of Catarina Raposo, and most of your songs are written in English, aren't you afraid that such an approach to the music could deprive your band of its individuality?

We've heard that remark a few times already. There's always an inner conflict regarding which language to use. We find English a suitable language to express ourselves not only because it is "Universal" but also because it's very direct and powerful, but we also love our native tongue. When we wrote "A Danca", we chose Portuguese because the song really brings out the feeling of Fado, one of the Portuguese traditional styles. We have discussed creating a full Portuguese album sometime in the future but for now I think we will keep writing in both languages.

According to another Portuguese band Karnnos,
the world is just a circus and one shouldn't escape from it.
What is your opinion about this allegation?

My opinion is that it's impossible to avoid the world. You can even try to hide for a few years but at the rate things are moving, it'll be impossible to escape the "progress" as many like to call it. The comparison with a circus, it really depends in which context they mentioned it but I think its suitable in many ways, especially if related to political, economical and social matters. I'm sorry if I keep this short but this issue would be enough for a lifetime of debate.

What does your musical work narrate about,
do you try to carry out any of your life or philosophic views?

I think it has a bit of both. It really depends on how we're feeling at the time. Sometimes we plan ahead a theme and decide to write about an issue that we find important, and sometimes it's just something that we felt and decided to turn it into words and music. Our only care is that everyone in the band is comfortable with what they are doing; all the rest depends on how we feel.

How can you, in short, describe the feelings and thoughts you mean to provoke in the souls of your listeners?

We don't think much about the listeners when we're writing the songs. I hope I don't disappoint anyone with this answer. Like I said earlier on, we take great care on how we feel about the songs but I don't think we mind that much about how other people will look upon them. Each person will interpret the song according to their experiences and each of them will finish the songs using their own feelings, liking or disliking them, finding them beautiful or boring, relating to the poetry or not. So we try to touch the souls of people we know best - ourselves.

In your debut album you used the text by Joao Monteiro.
Do you want to revive the names of Portuguese poets in your works?

Joao Monteiro is a good friend of ours and a partner at Equilibrium. He has some fascinating poems and we asked him if he would write a lyric with us, that was how "A Gaze of Innocence" came to being. We have some new songs with poetry by some great poets but none of them is Portuguese. We are planning to use some Portuguese poems for that album I mentioned earlier on dedicated to the Portuguese language. This is just a thought and hardly anything settled so it's possible that someday we'll revive the work of Portuguese poets as you mentioned. I don't know if you're familiar with any but if not, I'd strongly recommend the work by Fernando Pessoa and Florbela Espanca.

Did you already give concerts out of your native land?

Unfortunately we haven't. We were hoping to get on the road around Europe this year but I seriously doubt that that will happen this year. Perhaps with the release of the full length album after the summer, something like that may come true.

Are you in touch with other bands, playing in a style similar to yours?

Yes, we keep in touch with some people involved in music. I think Silvia is keeping in touch with Francesco Banchini from GOR and Ataraxia ever since our concert with them here in Lisbon. I've also had the pleasure to exchange correspondence with Louisa John-Krol, Matt Howden, the violinist from Sol Invictus and Sieben, the Italian band named Ashram and a few others whose music I enjoy.

Thanks for the interview. My sincere best wishes for Seidr and all involved in the project.
Cheers!
Nuno Roberto on behalf of Dwelling

The official Dwelling website