Interview With Vadim (Sun Devoured Earth)

Sun Devoured Earth is, for us, one of the most interesting bands / projects with that we have run up in the latter years. The reason for which we think this is simple to explain: his seems to us to be authentic, honest, and very deep. Today, in a world where great part of the people tries to be a sight to feel that it exists, where the same people are capable of making any idiocy so as to catch our attention, meet someone as Vadim, so lucid and ready to do what he likes without him a shit imports anything, it is refreshing, encouraging. Laura Serviän, fan of SDE's work, contacted the Latvian, and this musician not only that agreed to grant the interview to us, but he said the most interesting things.

PR: Vadim, how are you?

Vadim: Hello! I'm fine. Not any worse than usual and not any better.

PR: How good was the fan response to "Sounds Of Desolation"? At least here in South America, the number of people who listen to and admire your music has increased in the last year.

V: Well, from what I've observed during my countless journeys through google, the response was generally very positive. The album is currently the most popular one judging by mediafire downloads, too.
The common criticism that people have expressed was that the songs were far too short and often uneventful, and I can see what they mean. When recording, I always feel that songs are too long and end up making 
shorter versions of them, so I might want to think more before doing that from now on. I'm pretty happy with the feedback I've received so far, though. I'm also more or less satisfied with how the album turned out.

PR: For anyone who has not yet heard Sun Devoured Earth, tell us why you decided to create this project, what motivates you, and what are your influences.

V: I've already went into how I started this project in particular, but I don't think I've talked about how I got into making music. Grab some snacks and the strongest liquor you have, because this will be lengthy. 
Back in 2007 or so, I started seriously getting into music. I've listened to a bunch of bands before, but was never really motivated to explore new territory. I've wanted to play an instrument for a while, but never had the opportunity or enough determination to do it before. After listening to bands like Radiohead, Muse, Cloud Cult, My Bloody Valentine and others, I realized how fucking awesome and diverse music can be. Shortly afterwards, I got a very old, worn out acoustic guitar that a friend of my parents' found in his basement, and started playing obsessively. 
I think it was the first half of 2008 when I got into metal, and discovered a lot of incredible bands that just pushed me to decide - "fuck it, I'm going to make music." A lot of DSBM/Atmospheric Black Metal really gave me motivation to start recording due to how low-budget but good the music was. And then I got exposed to the Shoegaze/BM scene thanks to Alcest and Amesoeurs, and the whole idea got cemented into my head. I recorded a bunch of acoustic Black Metal song demos, but since my guitar was terrible, I never bothered to release them anywhere. I got a new acoustic guitar around summer 2009, and that's when I started to record more seriously. I released a short acoustic EP under Fuschia, and then sacrificed my internet for a bit to get an electric guitar. After that it was mostly a lot of experiments in different genres, and then I recorded The Black Death and that's how I started SDE.
I keep making music now because, as cliche as it sounds, I can't imagine my life without it. It's such a big part of my routine that I don't feel quite like myself if I'm not making music. The creative process also feels really amazing.

PR: I noticed that in your Bandcamp account, can also be found direct download links. That leads me to wonder about the limits of Industry and Multinational Corporations want to impose on our freedoms, both online and off the net. Think those limits, seeking to exercise such control over what runs and what happens in the network, it can also affect, in one way or another, to artists like you, who prefer to be independent artists outside the mainstream, free from all bonds ?

V: Without a doubt. I'm sure everyone knows exactly how technology and the internet improved the lives of independent musicians. With the tools available to bedroom musicians now, they can create music that sounds on par with the stuff being produced by paid professionals, and more efficiently. No real worries about money, no real worries about labels, no real worries about any kind of contracts or outsider pressure. Just you recording and spreading your music exactly how you want and when you want it.
I know of a lot of musicians that spread around their albums via file sharing sites. Seeing greedy, selfish, hedonistic assholes trying to take that away from us to make a bit more profit really makes me mad. They are demonizing their customers and force them to pay for their shitty service, and their determination and refusal to accept progress ends up making them look like the bad guys. Honestly, I don't think they'll be able to do anything about piracy or file sharing. The internet is currently too big to control, so unless they completely change how it works, people will always find a way around it. And even then, there's always physical piracy. I'm done with my ramblings, by the way.

PR: Vadim, what is the idea behind the band name? I mean, it can be interpreted literally or abstractly, there are many images that come to mind when I think of the name: Sun Devoured Earth. But what is the essential idea behind the name?

V: The name was supposed to add to the atmosphere of my early music. When making it, the images I've thought about were apocalyptic and massive. I picked the name to fit the sound. It's less relevant to my music now, but I still make songs about an apocalypse every once in a while. 
It's always been a pretty big fear of mine. Not so much dying, but the idea that the world we've lived our lives in would just disappear one day because of forces we had no control over. Taking every great achievement, every great crime, every story and every record of humanity with it. This comic is pretty appropriate :
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LtVTsqrQuSI/TqSoji7AwPI/AAAAAAAAAEo/4YS3rxptTxg/s1600/end+of+world+comic
There's no intentional abstract meaning to the name, but anyone can interpret it as they see fit.

PR: The titles of the songs, and albums also have a dark and melancholy aura, like your music. However, at least in me, your music creates a dichotomy, a duality of feelings. On one hand, I feel a little melancholy and hopelessness. But they also cause me inner peace, I can relax and, after hearing any of your albums, I feel really at peace with myself. Do you know that your generated music causes these feelings in a listener / fan?

V: I didn't know that for sure, but I expected it. I believe that life experiences and personality both have a very strong influence on a person's music tastes. So it's no surprise that people who understand and relate to the feelings that I want to express with my music would like it.
The atmosphere is pretty similar to how I feel when I have periods of nostalgia-induced depression. I think everyone knows how strong nostalgia feels like. The feelings are very contradictory, you feel warm and at home while at the same time feeling sad and hopeless. There are also quite a few non-gloomydoomy songs I've made that seem more sad in context of the albums.
Regarding the song titles - in earlier albums I wanted them to be overly depressing. I think it helps enhance the atmosphere of the music.

PR: How is the creative process? Work based on an idea? Or you like to improvise and go take what you like from each improvisation?

V: It varies a lot. Usually I just start with a very simple melody/chord progression and then fuck around on my guitar/synths until I come up with something I can add to it. I find that it's a terrible idea for me to start making a song with a certain sound in mind. The vast majority of those attempts end up with me getting frustrated and then hating my lack of musical skills. 
There's also an interesting pattern I've noticed. When I sit down to record a short experiment that's not even meant to be a full song, I get a lot of inspiration, finish the song and end up liking the result a lot.
I almost never plan out things too much or think about song structures. I prefer to just let it come naturally, because it's way more fun and satisfying that way.

PR: We know very little about the music scene in Latvia. Can one say that there is a scene of Post-Rock, Shoegaze or Post-Black-Metal or other similar styles in Latvia?

V: Oh man, I don't even know. I'm not involved in any scene here, because I barely even leave the house. There are some bands from Latvia that I really like, but I've never really explored the music scene all that much.
My favourite latvian bands I've found are Tesa (Sludge/Post-Metal) and Macabro (Ambient). There's also Skyforger (Folk Metal/Black Metal), but I'm not that big of a fan.
Anyone who is interested in the latvian music scene might want to explore the "Baltic Post-Rock" group on last.fm. 
http://www.last.fm/group/Baltic+Post-Rock/

PR: What emotions, feelings or situations inspire you when creating? You must be in a particular mood to compose? Or usually happen to the music, as you compose, it creates a mood in you?

V: The only required moods are being inspired and not being too sleepy. Recording music when depressed rarely works out for me, because I'm always too lazy to even pick up a guitar. Although after I'm done pitying myself, I get a rush of inspiration and make a bunch of music.
And yeah, the music I make often influences my mood a lot. There were times when I felt absolutely fine when starting out, but after recording a song I just got really sad because of the things I thought about while making it. It's pretty weird.

PR: I find your music very cinematic. As I listen, I cannot avoid thinking in images, in situations that occur as a film. Has someone said this before?

V: Yeah, a few people have. That's more or less my goal (and the goal of all other atmospheric music, I'd imagine), so I'm glad that it's working the way it was intended!

PR: Ok, Vadim, we are finishing. One more question - what's next? Have you some project in mind, parallel to Sun Devoured Earth? Or only do you try to focus in this project, for the present?

V: Despite what I've said before when I was clearly under the influence of stupid, I'm not planning to stop the Sun Devoured Earth project. I'm slowly working on a new full length album which will possibly come out within the next 2, 5 or 20 years. In the meantime, there will be physical releases of "Sounds of Desolation" and the Wounder split on CD's. Will have some bonus tracks and everything. 
Other than that, I'm working on a soundtrack for an indie JRPG-inspired video game called Wanderings. I'll post updates about that when the time comes! I've also made a bunch of songs inspired by the Megaman soundtracks, covered a bunch of tracks and did some experiments.

PR: Vadim, I thank you kind enough to accept and answer this interview. If you want to say a few words for your Latin and Spanish-speaking fans in general, do it freely.

V: Thanks for asking me to do the interview! And thanks to all of my spanish-speaking fans out there for the support and spreading the good word. Invite me to a fiesta some time!