Die Verbannten Kinder Evas
It was a cold, cloudy afternoon when the beautiful sound of D.V.K.E. first reached my ears, and with which delight did I carry on listening and meditating for the next 67 minutes to follow. Now their founder RICHARD is sharing some of his time with us. Welcome to OMEGA my friend. Kindly introduce the other band members and some band information.
Its a great honor for me to give an interview to Omega, because it's the only interview I got from Malta. The band was formed by Michael and by me . We have both started our musical activities in the metal scene, later we formed SUMMONING and with time out desire for more quiet, mystic and melodic music increased, so we both came to the idea to form D.V.K.E. With my synthesizer we were able to compose big Orchestral songs , but due to the fact that we like bands like STOA or LOREENA McKENNITT we didn't want to miss female vocals in our songs, so I asked Nora to sing for us, later my sister joined us. Female vocals will always be a main part of D.V.K.E.
You and the co-founder of D.V.K.E. are also known for your other band SUMMONING. Was there any particular reason for forming D.V.K.E. Is it perhaps because certain ideas would not fit SUMMONING?
As I said above we wanted to make more quiet, less aggressive music. I enjoyed to sing instead of just shouting, and also to use instruments like; Oboes, Horns and Strings. Those two bands inspired each other. To work in many different bands for me means to increase creativity and to avoid narrow-mindedness.
Musically speaking; you describe your style as Classical Influenced Dark Wave, claiming influences from artists the like of STOA and the great LOREENA McKENNITT . What are your other musical inspirations?!
I also love bands like SOPOR AETURNUS, LOVE IS COLDER THAN DEATH and DAS ICH. But I aim to go in even a more classical direction. I like to make long ,melodies which don't repeat after a few seconds, so that they don't get boring. This is not so easy. I also want melodies which are not easy to sing, but nevertheless I try to make the songs not to sound pseudo-Progressive. You shall always enjoy them and not just understand them (or just find them interesting).
Which are for you the best bands in the genre? And, do you think that Dark Wave is getting more exposed and appreciated nowadays?
Apart from the bands I mentioned above I also like Dark Electronic bands like EVILS TOY (Ed. Is it ?!)or KOLTE FORBEN. Although they are dark, the sound is quite different to Dark Wave bands; more rhythms and more aggressive with distorted voices. I think that especially in the Black Metal scene, Dark Wave is getting more and more accepted. People search for dark music and realize that Metal is not the only dark music style. No person wants to bang his head all day long.
You signed with Witch-Hunt Rec. and released your debut CD. (Ed. .A Masterpiece!!) What are your views an the label, sales etc.?
Witch Hunt make a lot of promotion but the only disadvantage is that it is a strict Metal label , so our CD is quite unknown outside the Metal scene. I think there can be a bigger audience to our music . Don't misunderstand me!! I don't want great musical success but if you look at all the shit that is aired on radios and TV's …..I want to give the people opportunities to listen to real "Alternative" music.(Not like in MTV's 120 Minutes Underground? Ha Ha Ha !!). Witch Hunt was the first offer. Afterwards, we got an offer from Napalm Rec. (SUMMONING) but because of the fairness we signed Witch Hunt (Although Napalm would have been easier, because it's an Austrian label.)
To complete the line-up of D.V.K.E. you recruited first Nora El Shamma, then your sister Julie. Quite a good move, since they do enrich the music of D.V.K.E. They help to bring out the essence which is melancholy. What is your opinion about these two vocalists? And would you consider working without them on a future release ? I'm sure it wouldn't be the same thing without Julie and Nora!!!
Female vocals will always be a main part of D.V.K.E. The difference between male and female vocals is important. But I am not so sure if Nora will stay , I think she doesn't suit to the voice of my sister and also she's more interested in Techno and "Underground" pop than in real Dark Wave. But we will see. I guess there will be Julia singing with herself (like I do) on the next CD.
The lyrics/poetry of D.V.K.E. are really sad. They deal with melancholy, nostalgia, disillusion and the kind. Richard, are you such a sad person or are these the reflections of your dark moments? What inspires you most to pen lyrics? Any particular mood or situation/s?
I must tell you that the lyrics were made in collaboration with a friend of ours. We are surely not sad persons. I think if you sing (or write) about sad or negative things, you get rid of them- instead of happy music which makes me feel depressed. By the way, did you ever realize that "passion" can mean "suffering" as well as "great emotions"? Or, can you imagine people who have just fallen in a great love just laughing around ?
A cruel question now. Since you write music; different styles of music (yet bearing some similarities), what gives you most satisfaction, writing for D.V.K.E. or for SUMMONING ? Or is it again a question of moods?
It's really just a question of moods. SUMMONING is more spontaneous whereas a D.V.K.E. song is more complex. Sometimes I want to write a D.V.K.E. song and don't find any additional melodies, so I make a SUMMONING song out of it.
When listening to both D.V.K.E. and SUMMONING you cannot not notice the complexity of some of the arrangements and the whole song structure itself (Very Classical orientated at times,) which makes me suppose you have a certain amount of musical theory to back you up, am I right or what?
I do have some musical theories , but I created them by my own. Afterwards I realized that they already existed in classical music. For example, if a tune gets higher, I try to make the accompaniment tune go deeper ( Short countapoint), not just play the same tune with different instruments together. If you want to increase the complexity , you can give the two tunes a different rhythm at the same time. ( I hope you understand what I mean. It's hard to explain even in my own language.) and many other theories. Michael is using no theories, he is more spontaneous; that's why he is more involved in SUMMONING, here he often plays the main melodies, and adding different other melodies.
When it comes to write a song, do you write music or lyrics first? Or is it a process of co-writing both at the same time?
There is always the music first, which for me is more important than the lyrics; which have just to support the music.
Can you tell us why you called the band DIE VERBANNTEN KINDER EVAS ?(Which if I'm not going wrong means EVE'S EXILED CHILDREN)
We found this name while searching for musical inspiration in an old Renaissance booklet. The fact that the name sounds very lonesome suits our music perfectly.
Allright, that's all my brother, thanks for your time and the really great answers.. Any final message?
I hope you are satisfied and good luck with Omegazine.
If you're interested in this great band , I suggest getting hold of their magnificent debut CD . Latest news from D.V.K.E. are that a second album is due this year. I'm not sure which label will take care of this, anyway… All the best my friends !!!