THE AMENTA

Timothy Pope chats about N0N, ignorance, FINALLY touring in Europe, and why there'll be no giant light-up Santas outside his place this year...

When prog metallers The Amenta came out of nowhere to scoop the much sought after 'Best Metal Newcomers Award' at the 2004 Kerrang Awards, it was clear that this Aussie collective were a force to be reckoned with. Now the with the follow up to the critically acclaimed debut Occasus finally out, it seems there's no sign of that changing. Telling tales of corruption, religion, politics and addiction before wrapping them up in one unbelievably heavy package, N0N is an extremely dense, mind-warping album.

Matt Fodor caught up with creative force Timothy Pope to talk N0N, ignorance, FINALLY touring in Europe, and why there'll be no giant light-up Santas outside his place this year...

So your second album N0N [click HERE for the RM review) to me sounded to me like it was meant to be taken as a whole rather than as individual tracks. Is this something that was actually put into practice or was it just my skewed interpretation?

"We certainly approached the album as a complete unit. Songs were written based on what we believed the album needed. So that is certainly true to an extent. However I do believe that each and every track stands up as a complete work of art in and of itself. I think a lot of people think similar things about our albums (we had the same feedback about Occasus) mainly because or music is so dense and packed full of detail. Hooks and intricate details don't reveal themselves immediately but they allow themselves to be uncovered over time. So the album which, at first, seems dense and impenetrable becomes much more catchy and song-based.

"I think you are definitely correct in that the album can and should be viewed as a whole, but it can also be appreciated in any configuration."

N0N features a lot of radio chatter in the background that really adds to the decayed feel on the record. Where did this come from and is it people talking about specific themes?

"A lot of the radio chatter came from a circuit bent radio that I was playing with at the time. So some of it is a completely garbled mix between two stations, however one sample, which appears in one form or other in almost all the tracks was a conversation I accidentally recorded between a very proper BBC reporter and an Iraqi Nationalist (as opposed to a Muslim Extremist, the distinction being very important) who were arguing about the use of suicide bombing and terror tactics in protection of a countries rights.

"The aim when harvesting all these sounds was to represent what I see as a society drowning in media and unwanted stimuli. There is a theory that humans, when exposed to too much information do either one of two things; shut off completely and take nothing in, or become addicted and have to go further and further afield in order to get the same level of stimulus. I wanted to explore this idea with sound."

N0N creates a real feeling of disdain for the ignorance on display in today's society. Are you hoping that this album maybe helps to dissipate the fact that people don't really know what's going on in the world today?

"I know that we will never be able to change the world. At one time I thought that that was possible but I have since come to the realization that the things that I have disdain for in the world aren't aberrations but actually fundamentals of society. How can you dispel ignorance in society when that society is based on ignorance? Everything we see around us is based on disinformation and manipulation of ignorance. Advertising plays on impulse. Impulse is an animalistic trait. Advertising is full of Orwellian double-think and hyperbole designed to bamboozle. Democracy is defended, not by war, but by deliberate acts of disinformation and local sabotage.

"You can't change this world without breaking it down and building it back up again. At the end of the day, I don't want to run the world but I do insist on living my life as I see fit. So while I can't change the world, I can choose how and when I will enter it for my own aims."

Your song 'Slave' deals with the fact that although people feel hugely passionate about politicians, they often don't know much about the ideals and the beliefs that these people hold. In light of one of the biggest elections on the planet, do you think that this song applies to the Obama / McCain election too?

"Of course it does. It applies to all elections. I read a lot of stories about people supporting Clinton in the primaries but, when she was beaten by Obama they began supporting McCain so Palin had a chance. That isn't politics! That is a sexual f**king agenda! And that is just one very obvious example of why this and all elections are a farce. It always shocks me to see how fickle and uninformed people can be about something they "care deeply about". Democracy is essentially the majority electing a minority to make decisions. It is in the best interests of that minority, riddled as they are with business interests and personal agendas, to promise whatever the majority wants to hear while keeping their core beliefs and purposes in the shadows."

Do you feel musicians provide an important social commentary at a time like this, when many musicians seem to be speaking out about what's going on in the world (or even showing their support, such as in Springsteen's case).

"I don't know how important it is that musicians speak out. I think a lot of artists fall into the trap of believing they have a duty to speak out about social change. That is as ridiculous as saying a death metal band has to sing about intestines. The only duty artists have is to be honest and create art which represents them completely. My lyrics are about the world around me because I believe this dissatisfaction is the basis of my art. I don't write the lyrics because I want people to take notes. I write them because that is an honest representation of the muse of my art. I am as against musicians showing their support for politicians as I am of any other clueless people. I don't believe that most musicians know what the f**k is going on. I sure as f**k don't!

"To clarify, I think it is very important to express dissatisfaction, be it social, artistic etc. provided that is the basis for your art. I think Springsteen has made a healthy career out of being a "working class hero" and therefore he believes it is his duty to support the left wing because that is his 'character'. I am suspicious of any endorsement."

During its production, a large number of people were involved in playing on N0N. Do all the various people have creative input as to what goes onto the record or is there a set group of people that are behind the creative wheel?

"We don't farm out our creativity. I don't believe that bands truly function well as a democracy. It's the old chestnut: too many cooks spoil the broth. The more people an idea is filtered through the more it becomes softened and corrupted with compromise. We keep our creative team small because it works well for us. We are able to visualize the music and create it without having to take into account other people's ideas and feelings. The Amenta is essentially what happens between the writing team, not in the people who perform our parts. "

Of course having said that, the guest appearances were invaluable additions to n0n. It was an absolute pleasure to have friends such as Alex Pope and Jason Mendonca on our album. When we wrote some of these parts we always talked about the style of vocals that we could hear working over the parts and these guys came up. It's a f**king thrill to have worked with them."

What do you feel that having such a large group of people involved brings to the record?

"I think the biggest benefit of having a large group of people to choose from when creating an album is that we weren't limited in what we could achieve sound-wise. Most bands have a two guitar, bass, drums and vocals set up and, while the sounds those instruments can make are unlimited, often the band is limited by familiarity. Tom Waits once said that his hands where like dogs and they go to familiar, comfortable places when he plays an instrument that he is familiar with. It is the same with people. When we deal with someone we haven't worked with before it makes us think in different ways and we will come across an idea that we wouldn't have found had we used someone who we knew back to front."

Having such a unique sound, are there any bands that you derive influence from?

"We deliberately avoid 'influence' as I think that tends to homogenize music. We do, however, look for 'inspiration'. I am inspired by bands that create their own language with music. Bands like Einsturzende Neubauten who make beautiful music with sheets of scrap metal and engine turbines. Or Captain Beefheart who turned blues inside out and made it ugly. I like to hear things I have never heard before. That inspires me in turn to create music that has never been heard before. I think that is the most important thing to ensure that music continually evolves. That, after all, is how we evolved between Occasus and n0n. I think if you allow yourself to be influenced your rate of evolution is much slower than if you are inspired. We were inspired by different artists for both albums but the point of inspiration was the same. NEW F**KING IDEAS!

Do you like Christmas and if so, what will you be doing this year?

"I like the holiday aspect of Christmas. I have no time for the Christmas tree, tinsel and eggnog side of things. It has nothing to do with me and I find it cloying and often too robotic. People tend to carry out traditions that they have no spiritual connection to and certainly no understanding of their meanings.

"This year I will be working as I need the money for our tours soon after. AS of January 8th 2009 we are touring for about three months. Firstly in Europe with DEICIDE, VADER, SAMAEL, DEVIAN and ORDER OF ENNEAD and then Australia and New Zealand with THE BERZERKER. So Christmas will be pretty much spent getting our sh*t together and rehearsing like crazy so we can blow those bands off stage!"

So you're playing Winterfest with Deicide just after Christmas. Do you want to tell us a little about that?

"I am really looking forward to that tour. We have never played in Europe so it is a big thing for us to be invited over there for these shows. We are playing with some great bands, so I am really looking forward to checking them out each night. We are hitting some amazing countries which I have never been to before so it's going to be f**king amazing to see what I can in between shows. Obviously we are touring with some pretty amazing bands but we are going to try our best to blow them off stage every night."

Are you doing any sort of preparation for Winterfest? Your Myspace page says that you require a touring guitarist, have you found anyone up to the job yet?

"We are doing a lot of preparation. We have never been the kind of band who rehearses a lot, more because we had members living thousands of kilometres away than anything else, but we know that we really need to bring our A-Game to this tour so we are rehearsing as much as we possibly can. The n0n material was f**king hard to get up and running properly in a live setting as so much of it was created in the studio but, due to our rehearsal schedule, it is starting to sound absolutely amazing. It's a very different album to 'Occasus' not just recorded but also live. The material has a lot more light and shade I think and it can also be denser. So it's important to make sure everything is tight and well played otherwise people miss the dynamics and can get lost in all the minute details.

"We originally looked for a touring guitarist but we eventually decided to stick with one guitar. It's an advantage for us touring wise because it's cheaper and we can get on more tours where space is often a premium. We had to arrange some songs differently to make sure that nothing was missing and it meant that Erik [Miehs, guitars] has to work a lot with effects and pedals to get the same orchestration to make sure that nothing is lacking in the tracks. We'll probably play with another guitar player again in the future but for me it is exciting playing with us as a five piece. It's a bit strange but it makes us think about out music differently which is always a good thing."

For more from Timothy Pope on his favourite album of the year, carols, and which Christmas classic he'd cover, check out our Best of 2008 feature, online next week!

The Amenta's new album N0N is out now on Listenable Records. Check out the Rock Midgets review HERE.

by Matthew Fodor

Further links

The Amenta on MySpace

Official Myspace page of extreme metal band The Amenta