MORTIIS: I tend to base my tastes on nostalgia more than what is going on right now

You worked with a plethora of artists over the years. What collaborations were/are the most interesting and important to You and why?

Well personally getting to mix a few songs with Chris Vrenna meant a lot to me, given the fact that he is very talented, and once was an integral part on NIN which was a huge influence on me around the time when I personally changed my musical direction so radically (the beginning of Era 2, which eventually became The smell of Rain). It was almost like vindication, because a lot of people complained about the change of direction, so when this guy that was part of something that held so much meaning to me, wanted to work with me, that was a huge personal triumph to me.

Can You tell me, in short the main ideas are behind Your music? Could You name Your favorite Your compositions / albums / collaborations? What about the new album?

The idea behind my music has always been very simple: To create something that I can personally stand behind, and be proud of in the years to come. I have done that to varying degrees of success. Some records I will be proud of till the day I die, and others I am not so proud of, but they all represent me fairly accurately as who I was and what I was all about at the times they were made. I just prefer to create something that is honest and representative. If some of the music or lyrics resonate with other people at some level, then that is great too.

My favourite records have varied a lot. When I started Mortiis, my favourite artists were electronic artists like Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze, and probably records like "Stratosphere", "Exit" and "Cyclone" by TD, and "Moondawn", and "Dune" by KS. Later on I was very inspired by the Conan the Barbarian soundtrack by Basil Polidouris, which to this day I think is a great film and soundtrack. By the late 90´ies NIN, Ministry and Skinny Puppy were huge influences for me…"Too Dark Park", "Psalm 69", "The mind is a terrible Thing to Taste" and "The Downward Spiral" were very influental. I should also mention that all of the 4 first Enigma record also inspired me a lot.

I was into a lot of vintage metal and hard rock at the time as well, but they didn´t influence my music to the degree the above ones did. Metal and hard rock has always been my main passion, but it´s not a musical style I wanted to play exclusively, even though Mortiis has gradually become more guitar heavy in time.

The sound is magic. You‘ve proved it. But, what ends, when there‘s no sound?

Life goes on, albeit with less meaning.

What is and what is not a Sound Art?

I really don´t know. I think as long as you try to convey some sort of message or emotion through sound, it´s probably art. If you throw together some layers of sound with no emotion or direction, is it art? Who knows…I try not to worry about it. I prefer stuff that holds meaning and direction to the one who created it. That gives it heart and soul…Without that, it´s lifeless.

What do You think about relations between the old art and computer art? Are they compatible?

I tend to prefer art that was created organically. Which is a bit of a paradox for me, because the computer has been integral in my work for many years now…I prefer a painting that was created by a brush, as opposed to a computer generated image, I prefer music whose sounds are generated by hardware as opposed to instruments existing within a computer…I just think they sound better… I personally prefer to use hard ware as opposed to plugin synths etc. But we mix it up, we do use both…I don´t dislike soft synths or effects, I use a lot of those too, and it´s very practical, I just happen to prefer to sound of the real deal, but they are definnitely compatible, we´ve done it many times, like many other bands and artists before us. I just don´t solely rely on computer generated sounds… We use digital samplers, meaning computer programs, but we use a lof of "found sounds", real life noises sampled and recycled into the music.

What do You think about thousands of neofolk/industrial/ambient/tribal/electroacoustic/avangarde etc. bands/projects? Is it a kind of trend, o just a tendency forwards better music?

I have no idea, I really do not pay any attention to much of what is going on. when you say Neofolk, I think of stuff like Death in June, which I always loved, stuff like that…I think that says a little about the kind of attention I am paying to things these days. I tend to base my tastes on nostalgia more than what is going on right now. I guess I just reached the age where I just don´t care so much about what happens right now...

What do You know about Lithuania? How and when did You come to it? What Lithuanian and foreign musicians do You value most?

I have to admit I know very little about Lithuania. We played a show there once, may years ago, in 2004, and from what I can remember, it was a pretty cool show, and people were very nice to us.

What inspires You most?

Hard to answer that… These days fucked up people, fucked up behaviour, lies and greed seems to ignite ideas based on anger and hate in me. musically right now, I´m trying to figure out what to do next.

Your image is a discussed matter, but what does it mean to You metaphisically?

I grew up with big image bands like Kiss and WASP, Alice Cooper and Twisted Sister, so I always thought it was obvious that music should be combined with a cool image. It just seemed boring otherwise…I no longer have a big spritual or personal need to use the image, but Mortiis has always been image heavy, and I wouldn´t want to do it any other way, be it with the mask, or just a lot of make up… Either way, it´s something we will always do, because it comes naturally to us.

Thank You.

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