Latest / Ghost Cult Magazine Podcast / PODCAST: Episode 851 James Kent of Perturbator's On His New Album - "Age of Aquarius"

Transcript

PODCAST: Episode 851 James Kent of Perturbator's On His New Album - "Age of Aquarius" · Ghost Cult Magazine Podcast

• 0:00
  Hey, this is Derek Verduren from Megadeth, and you're listening
• 0:02
  to ghostcokemag.com. What's up everybody, it's Kifi
• 0:17
  at Ghost. Cokemag.com, I am super stoked
• 0:19
  to be joined by James Kent AKA Pertubator.
• 0:23
  How are you doing today? No, you're muted now.
• 0:35
  Welcome to the broadcast and thanks for being here.
• 0:39
  Yeah. Thank you.
• 0:41
  Again, the technology is sometimes unforgiving.
• 0:43
  It's not your fault or my. Fault.
• 0:46
  But I hope it's, I hope it's okay now.
• 0:48
  I hope it's not going to cut. Yeah, we'll do our best.
• 0:51
  I appreciate you. Time dip, time zones and
• 0:54
  countries and sea and space. All the things in between I was
• 0:59
  saying offline before. We started to record.
• 1:01
  That, you know, I, I don't even hide the fact we have been huge
• 1:04
  fans and supporters. Of you.
• 1:06
  I think your career kind of coincides.
• 1:08
  With Ghost cult. We were founded in the
• 1:10
  Netherlands as a Zine and we were really underground extreme
• 1:14
  music and not really commercial bands and, and you know, not
• 1:18
  really not doing a lot of news. We were basically made to cover
• 1:21
  Row Burn and later on Desert Fest and, and things like, you
• 1:27
  know, Incubate festival, which is now gone and All Tomorrow's
• 1:30
  Parties and things like that. And then I kind of came in
• 1:32
  during the first year and made it a little more global and I
• 1:36
  and we did a lot more commercial bands, but we, I.
• 1:40
  Always feel like there are, sort of.
• 1:42
  Identifiable pinnacle bands for us and your band, Yeah, you as
• 1:46
  an artist have been one for us. That we just.
• 1:48
  Keep coming back to I feel like. Yeah, I'm super happy.
• 1:53
  I'm super glad. Thank you.
• 1:54
  Yeah, my pleasure. You know, we've, we've, we've
• 1:56
  covered you around the world and like I said, Europe and, and
• 2:00
  here and I do feel like it's an interesting time before we start
• 2:03
  talking about the. New album Age of Aquarius, which
• 2:05
  is your first for nuclear? Blast.
• 2:07
  I feel like the rest of the. World is now catching up to this
• 2:11
  amazing world of music that I have been yelling about.
• 2:14
  For over. A decade, maybe 15 years.
• 2:16
  Health is having a huge, you know, surge with their
• 2:20
  popularity, you getting new audiences many.
• 2:23
  Other artists? That I really.
• 2:25
  Like Ghost? Not the Swedish.
• 2:27
  Ghost, but the other ghost. Ghost without the H.
• 2:31
  Yes, Ghost minus the H Ghost 1980s on social.
• 2:34
  Media for you nerds. And it's been really gratifying
• 2:37
  to me to see this really what started in the underground and,
• 2:41
  and based in extreme metal also dance music and, and just these
• 2:46
  incredible vibes and people coming up to me and being like
• 2:49
  have. You heard Perturbator and I was.
• 2:51
  Like have you because I've been on this.
• 2:52
  Thing. For a long time or or over his
• 2:55
  more recent records. Right.
• 2:57
  And we'll talk about Christopher.
• 2:58
  Being on your record, you know, I don't know if this is
• 3:01
  translating over to you. Are you also sensing it that
• 3:04
  there's this like wave of fandom now?
• 3:08
  Well, I mean at first, like I see what you mean, because at
• 3:14
  first to me it was, it was like like the music I was making the,
• 3:21
  and the music I was doing with my friends, including, you know,
• 3:24
  the guys from health and ghost without the H.
• 3:30
  It's it's it was sort of like natural for us and we we're just
• 3:33
  doing it because we like this sort of music.
• 3:36
  But there was, there was often this, you know, like how, like
• 3:42
  how, how does it feel to have metal people listening to you?
• 3:47
  And they're like there, it was so always sort of like a
• 3:49
  question that we, we are asked, you know, and it's, it's such a
• 3:56
  hard question to answer to because to us it was like, at
• 4:01
  first it was like odd. Well, this is cool because we
• 4:03
  love metal and we love, you know, alternative music in
• 4:07
  general. And, but nowadays it's, I do see
• 4:12
  that it's became, it became more widespread and more like, you
• 4:17
  know, it's OK to listen to all kinds of stuff.
• 4:21
  Even if you're a metal head or, or, you know, a goth or whatever
• 4:26
  kind of music you're into. It's it all kind of goes into
• 4:30
  the same, you know, Dome of, you know, we listen to alternative
• 4:39
  music. This is what I would call my
• 4:42
  music. Right on.
• 4:43
  We're all in the same Venn diagram of taste, I think
• 4:46
  eventually or less gatekeepery and much more open.
• 4:51
  And I don't mean it in a bad way.
• 4:52
  That you are. Getting, you know.
• 4:54
  Popular. I think it's a great thing that
• 4:56
  people are discovering you, I think.
• 4:57
  It was Everyone is catching up to you.
• 4:59
  Where I thought. You and health and you know a.
• 5:02
  Bunch of other artists were. Gunship a lot.
• 5:05
  Of artists were so ahead of the. Curve and really pushing this to
• 5:08
  the forefront and now I feel like.
• 5:11
  People are like, oh, I also like.
• 5:13
  That I can listen to extreme metal and I also.
• 5:15
  Like this so. And understand where the roots
• 5:17
  come from. So I'm really, that makes me
• 5:20
  really happy. And I think nuclear blast will
• 5:22
  help continue to push. This and promote this out.
• 5:25
  How's it been being with them? Because you were pretty DIY at
• 5:29
  the beginning of your career and I don't know if you.
• 5:30
  Had goals. To be on major record labels,
• 5:33
  but you know, nuclear blast and and their parent company, I
• 5:37
  think they're doing. You know personally.
• 5:39
  A very nice job with you and the team.
• 5:42
  Yeah, I mean, at first it was absolutely DIY.
• 5:45
  It was literally just me, you know, putting out my very first
• 5:49
  albums 10 years ago on band camp, you know, self release
• 5:54
  and, and, you know, then I went on to Blood Music, which is with
• 6:00
  the Finnish, you know, metal label.
• 6:03
  And, and for this album, yeah, the, the I signed with Nuclear
• 6:09
  Blast and it, you know, it, it feels like, like a normal, like
• 6:14
  a natural, like way of doing it. It feels like, like they're,
• 6:21
  they're very stoked. They really wanted to have me on
• 6:24
  the label and I was, I was, I was like, OK, let's fucking do
• 6:29
  it. And this is my first time doing
• 6:31
  it. And I'm very happy with the
• 6:34
  working, you know, with them. I'm very happy with the way
• 6:37
  they, they do things. It's, it's, it feels natural
• 6:42
  because I also have a lot of friends like like Alcest or
• 6:48
  Hangman Chair or Igor who are also on the label.
• 6:53
  So it's like, you know, I'm, it feels like I'm home, you know,
• 6:58
  it feels like, it really does feel like home.
• 7:00
  It's in, it's, it's, it's bigger, but it seems like, you
• 7:04
  know, they're, they do respect the, the, the, the DIY kind of
• 7:11
  demands that I have, you know, I want to keep my band camp and
• 7:14
  stuff like that. So it's been really cool.
• 7:17
  The the deal is really good and I'm very happy with the way they
• 7:20
  work. I'm super glad to hear.
• 7:22
  That they're one of our favorite let labels.
• 7:24
  Of course I love Al sest. I'm a huge.
• 7:26
  Fan of Nage and also, yeah, last record was stupendous and you
• 7:32
  know, of course. So many other.
• 7:34
  Great bands on the label that you can, you know.
• 7:37
  Be a part. Of and and and, you know so much
• 7:40
  great things going on. I was wondering.
• 7:42
  Just to just to dial it in about.
• 7:44
  Age of Aquarius. Now I'm I'm super digging the
• 7:48
  record I. Listen to it.
• 7:48
  Through a few times before doing this and I always go back and
• 7:51
  try to like listen back to. Whole catalogs before I chat.
• 7:55
  With someone I wasn't sure if this was like a defined concept.
• 7:59
  Record, it does seem. Very connected you.
• 8:01
  Maybe I'm just reading the Internet.
• 8:03
  I wanted to ask you. Is.
• 8:04
  There an overarching concept. Well, there is a, there is a,
• 8:08
  there's a theme, but not really a, there's not a concept, but
• 8:12
  there's a theme to it. And it's about conflict, you
• 8:17
  know, war. And when I say war, I mean, you
• 8:20
  know, in a general sense of the word, like war, you know, not
• 8:24
  current, current state of war, but war as we have been as a
• 8:31
  species since they basically our existence.
• 8:36
  So it's about war and it's about individualism.
• 8:39
  Individualism, sorry, my pronunciation.
• 8:43
  And so the album talks about that, but there's no real like
• 8:50
  there's nothing, there's not like a story behind it like it
• 8:53
  would do like I used to do before.
• 8:59
  Right on, I get. I get that.
• 9:02
  There there is a lot of relevance to what's.
• 9:05
  Going on in the world, so I'm sure.
• 9:07
  People out there. They're not looking.
• 9:09
  For something specific. It'll ring with them.
• 9:11
  It'll ring true because you know, obviously, you know, I
• 9:14
  always say. That artists.
• 9:16
  And you know, I'm sure this is no different from you.
• 9:17
  You don't go into like, suspended animation between
• 9:20
  albums and then, oh, I have a new album.
• 9:23
  You're living. Life you're the world is.
• 9:24
  Happening to you and around you and you know, even if you don't
• 9:28
  want to. Be overtly political.
• 9:30
  Everything kind of is political in life.
• 9:32
  You make choices, you align yourself with people that.
• 9:35
  You know, reflect. On your choices.
• 9:38
  To be associated with people. Or not.
• 9:40
  To be associated. With people, movements,
• 9:43
  politicians, whatever. Fake.
• 9:45
  Leaders etcetera. So I feel like this record.
• 9:47
  Is a very timely 2020. 5 record like.
• 9:50
  It's not necessarily. It it does, it does.
• 9:54
  Sorry to cut you off, but it does happened to be released at
• 9:59
  a time where it's very relevant. I didn't really do it on purpose
• 10:05
  because I've been working on it for years now, but it is, it
• 10:11
  does ring a little more than it should when it, when it's going
• 10:17
  to be released in 2 days from now.
• 10:21
  But yeah, it's really about our, it's, it's not an album.
• 10:25
  It's, it's not an album about, you know, there is, there's no
• 10:31
  political stance to it. It's more about the
• 10:35
  inevitability of war and the fact that it's that it's been
• 10:40
  going on like we've always been at war and I think humanity has
• 10:45
  always been, we've always been killing each other, basically.
• 10:52
  That's the kind of thing. And it's a very nihilistic album
• 10:55
  in that sense. Definitely talking about the
• 10:59
  music, you know, I think it has a lot of familiarity for your
• 11:03
  older fans, but I think. There's a lot of early era.
• 11:07
  Stuff on here sonically and some of my favorite.
• 11:10
  Guitar stuff ever that you've. Done I.
• 11:13
  Am sure that. Yeah, I'm sure that programming
• 11:15
  in synth is probably your number one.
• 11:17
  Language musically, but. I've always been a fan of your
• 11:20
  guitar work and I love the. Layers of.
• 11:22
  Guitar on here that I think really serve the songs.
• 11:26
  Thank you so much. I actually it's the other way
• 11:30
  around because I've been like my first music instrument was the
• 11:36
  guitar and I got into synthesizer a little later.
• 11:41
  But when I was a kid, I think around 11, that's the first
• 11:45
  instrument my father gave to me, gifted me was a guitar.
• 11:50
  So I used to be a guitarist before I started Pachebator and
• 11:54
  I've been playing guitar for a while now.
• 11:57
  A lot of metal bands or you know, local metal bands.
• 12:03
  And I also had like a Prague metal band and, and it's all,
• 12:08
  it's only been recently that I've incorporated the guitar
• 12:13
  into Perturbator. And I was trying to, you know,
• 12:19
  make it as sort of, you know, elegant as possible, you know,
• 12:24
  not, not try to. I don't like when people I don't
• 12:28
  like when you know, you adds you, you want to add metal
• 12:32
  guitar to an electronic track. And it's just our chorus is just
• 12:36
  like, you know, chug, chug this and that.
• 12:39
  So I just want to have like melodies and, you know, nice
• 12:43
  chorus and nice. I want the guitar to be on the,
• 12:46
  on the front of the composition. And so I'm, I'm very pleased
• 12:51
  that you like it. Yeah, no doubt.
• 12:54
  And I was wondering, I know that you.
• 12:56
  Basically, are credited with the entire.
• 12:58
  Album, except the guest vocals and some of the lyrics.
• 13:01
  Did you let your guest artist? Come in and contribute.
• 13:04
  Their own lyrics or or is that? Something you know, you handed
• 13:08
  them tracks and said, you know, do what you want.
• 13:11
  Yeah, all the guest vocalists, they wrote the lyrics.
• 13:17
  The only thing I did was basically I, I gave them a
• 13:20
  rundown of what the theme of the album was.
• 13:24
  And you know what, what this, you know what this specific
• 13:26
  track should be about. And they would send me the
• 13:29
  lyrics and maybe I would change like a phrase or two.
• 13:32
  But it's mostly as French men, we say carte blanche.
• 13:40
  So it's, you know, you do you, you write your own lyrics.
• 13:44
  This is the concept, this is the theme, and they all did a
• 13:48
  stellar job. I'm I'm not a very good lyricist
• 13:51
  myself, so I I trust others. Right on.
• 13:56
  I I appreciate. That I appreciate.
• 13:58
  That let's talk about some of these guests, I think.
• 14:01
  Probably. I want to start with Greta.
• 14:03
  Because I think. Very underrated.
• 14:06
  Yeah. Probably the least.
• 14:08
  Well known to metal. Heads but.
• 14:10
  Like, what a phenomenal talent, right?
• 14:13
  And what a. Lady.
• 14:14
  Lady Moon might be the best. Song on the record, almost.
• 14:17
  It's right there with me, like 1-2 or. 3.
• 14:20
  And it's such a compelling performance.
• 14:23
  Like, she's incredible. She really is like, I mean, she
• 14:28
  I'm, I'm always impressed by her vocals and I, I know her since
• 14:37
  the my album I am the Knights, which came out in 2012 too.
• 14:42
  So she was a collaborator of mine for almost the start of
• 14:49
  portrait her. And the The thing is, she
• 14:54
  doesn't really, she doesn't really put her voice out there
• 14:57
  like on her own. She makes a lot of music, but
• 15:00
  it's mostly instrumental. And but she contacted me 10
• 15:05
  years ago and she was like, oh, I can sing on this track, which
• 15:08
  is a track called Desire on the I Am the night.
• 15:14
  And ever since I was like, we need to make more, you know, we
• 15:18
  need to make more music together.
• 15:19
  And, and so we made, you know, Avenger, which is on uncanny
• 15:26
  Valley, and now we made a new one.
• 15:28
  And every time she sings on the track, it's like it's so, you
• 15:33
  know, the, the, the chemistry and the, yeah, the chemistry and
• 15:36
  the alchemy of it is always so important.
• 15:39
  And I really love working with her.
• 15:41
  I really love her Timber. I love her way of, you know, no
• 15:45
  bullshit. She sends me stuff and it's it's
• 15:49
  just a very good back and forth. Right on and.
• 15:54
  Of course. I can't not talk about Oliver
• 15:57
  and Alsace these. Are two of.
• 15:58
  My favorite bands of my whole life.
• 16:00
  I've been go. I've been down with over since
• 16:06
  the beginning. So like you know, Alceste, I
• 16:08
  came into. Probably when everyone else did
• 16:10
  in the underground, but. Over I've been a fan of and
• 16:12
  every version of them. Every.
• 16:14
  Every style, everything. I was so thrilled to get to see
• 16:17
  them before the plague took. Over and I came to New York for
• 16:21
  the first time or like one of the first times and it was
• 16:24
  amazing Christophe. Christopher is incredible.
• 16:28
  Also and it really. Feels like a true collab.
• 16:32
  Song like all the other songs. Are perturbator songs.
• 16:35
  And I feel. Like that first.
• 16:37
  Track sounds like such a good mix of the two sounds.
• 16:41
  I don't know if that was accidental, but it just seems so
• 16:44
  perfect to me. I was asking about the.
• 17:01
  Collaborations, right and. You talked a bit about
• 17:05
  Christopher. From over and what a huge you
• 17:08
  know. The both of you are hugely.
• 17:10
  Inspirational to me, but I wanted also pick.
• 17:13
  Your brain about the other. Collaborations on the record.
• 17:16
  And you know how those you know, I know you said mostly.
• 17:19
  Traded files but. You know, I I love the choices
• 17:24
  and I love the. The tracks with the guest
• 17:26
  appearances. Yeah, well, thank you personal
• 17:30
  and also well. All the.
• 17:34
  Collaborators on the. On the album are friends of mine
• 17:38
  and they are all people that are very, you know, admire their
• 17:44
  work, their body of work and the way they make music, for
• 17:49
  example, over and and the author and finisher are very, you know,
• 17:56
  unique artists also. So it really goes well with the
• 18:00
  theme of, you know, individual individualism that goes with the
• 18:05
  album. So yeah, I mean, you know, I
• 18:08
  cannot name a more individualistic band and Uber,
• 18:13
  for example. And so it's just I, I made the
• 18:16
  tracks with all the guest vocals in in mind and I made the track
• 18:21
  for them all the time. So yeah, it was really easy.
• 18:26
  It was really back and forth talking to to them and, you
• 18:30
  know, even giving them some ideas and some of the, you know,
• 18:36
  themes of what the album is about.
• 18:38
  And it was really simple like that, Yeah.
• 18:47
  I love that. Thank you very much.
• 18:49
  I mentioned what a huge. Alcest fan I am also so it's an
• 18:52
  incredible to get. You know Stefan on the record as
• 18:56
  well. And I really love the choices
• 18:58
  vocally. They're like, you know, a very.
• 19:01
  Almost like an extra instrument, not just.
• 19:04
  Like I'm singing lyrics over a song, but like you the way the
• 19:07
  voice is used there, which of course you.
• 19:09
  Know this is you're nothing new to fans of All Sest, but maybe
• 19:13
  some people will. Discover all SEST through
• 19:15
  pertubator. That would be.
• 19:16
  Fun. Yeah, yeah, that would be very
• 19:18
  fun. But yeah, I mean, I mean, his
• 19:22
  voice is very much like like a synthesizer, like, you know,
• 19:26
  it's very layered. And I know that this track in
• 19:29
  particular, which is the last one of the album, is pretty much
• 19:35
  we wanted, I wanted to make this sort of like the repetitive
• 19:41
  things. So it's like 4 chords that
• 19:43
  repeats, but then it it layers like this layering, you know,
• 19:48
  because layers after layer after layer and sort of like this sort
• 19:53
  of big climax at the end. And so Nage locals step on are
• 20:00
  very much, you know, layers. There's a lot of, there's a lot
• 20:04
  of like, yeah. Tapes.
• 20:07
  That are on top of each other and it's closed at the end it's
• 20:10
  closed so. Yeah, it's really beautiful.
• 20:13
  And kind of reminded me a little bit of a.
• 20:17
  A perfect circle. Like that kind of multi.
• 20:19
  Light multi track vocals that I don't think we hear that much.
• 20:23
  Today, but I. Yeah, very creative.
• 20:28
  Yeah. And then, yeah.
• 20:32
  You do, right? Yeah.
• 20:35
  And then? It's super cool that.
• 20:37
  Your record is coming out around the same time as the new author.
• 20:40
  And Punisher also, which is really great.
• 20:42
  I got a chance to listen to that.
• 20:43
  Too. Wow, what a record.
• 20:46
  Oh, I got AI need to ask him for that.
• 20:49
  Yeah, I want to listen to it. I really enjoyed his peruse 1 I
• 20:54
  think it was called Cooler Cooler cooler.
• 20:57
  Yeah, Cooler. But yeah, I'm going to ask, you
• 21:04
  know, I I cannot say his name with a English pronunciation.
• 21:11
  You're good, you're good. I I'm American and I can't say
• 21:14
  words with correct pronunciation so.
• 21:16
  Don't worry about it. Yeah, just a few more things.
• 21:18
  I I really appreciate you making the time today, you know.
• 21:21
  Like I said earlier, I do feel like the.
• 21:24
  Fans are now catching up to you. Obviously there's a lot of
• 21:28
  touring and festivals, hopefully.
• 21:30
  For the next. Year How do you.
• 21:31
  Do you ever? Have any?
• 21:32
  Trouble recreating the stuff you make in the studio live.
• 21:35
  That was the thing I always wanted to ask you from the last
• 21:37
  time we spoke. It is, it is pretty complicated
• 21:42
  and obviously it needs some of the tracks, especially on the on
• 21:46
  this latest record, some of the tracks you need to readapt for
• 21:52
  live shows because they're not, they're almost unplayable, you
• 21:57
  know, So especially the drum parts, you know, they get, they
• 22:02
  get really fucking crazy. And I do have a live drummer.
• 22:06
  So, you know, I gave him some parts and he doesn't do it.
• 22:10
  You're going to need like at least three dramas for that.
• 22:15
  And I just kind of, you know, well, let's re adapt it fit your
• 22:20
  way and but I think it's really good.
• 22:23
  I think it's a fun thing to do, but it's, you know, it's almost
• 22:28
  like really listening to the album, it's just like a
• 22:32
  different in a different, you know, point of view.
• 22:36
  And yeah, I mean, it's, it's, it's a little complicated to, to
• 22:42
  set up, but it's, it's, it's worth it.
• 22:48
  Absolutely. And it's, you know, at the end
• 22:50
  of the day, it's it, you know, it's over the cool.
• 22:53
  So I'm happy if people are happy too.
• 22:58
  Word. I'm so excited.
• 23:00
  For you and I'm so excited to see you.
• 23:01
  Again, live and play some of this new material.
• 23:04
  Live just for a last question. I always like to end these with
• 23:07
  a. Wild card it's.
• 23:08
  Spooky season and I know what a big John Carpenter fan you are,
• 23:12
  so I wanted to ask. If you have like a favorite
• 23:14
  horror. Movie soundtrack.
• 23:15
  Ever. Oh, I have and I have multiple.
• 23:20
  I have multiple, yeah. Do I?
• 23:25
  Do I have to pick one? As many as you want, it's fine.
• 23:30
  OK, good. I'm a big fan of so I'm a big
• 23:35
  fan of the soundtrack from the movie of Psycho.
• 23:39
  Like, you know, the alpha descript cycle made by the
• 23:44
  soundtrack is made by Bernard Hermann, which is one of my
• 23:47
  favorite composer. Same.
• 23:50
  Yeah, I also love Goblin. I mean, I'm a huge fan of Dario
• 23:55
  Argento and Diallo movies, Italian horror, horror.
• 24:01
  So I would say Suspiria, it is the the from from Dario Argento,
• 24:07
  the soundtrack from Goblin and and I mean the Halloween
• 24:12
  soundtrack from John Carport. The most minimalistic yet
• 24:17
  efficient horror soundtrack I've heard.
• 24:22
  Amazing. Thank you so much, James.
• 24:24
  It's been a real. Pleasure to talk.
• 24:25
  To you and congratulations on Age of Aquarius coming out now
• 24:30
  on Nuclear Blast. This has been another episode of
• 24:33
  the Ghost Quote Magazine podcast.
• 24:35
  Check us out at ghostquotemag.com and follow our
• 24:38
  socials at Ghost Quote Mag. Until the next time, Peace.