Percht, interview October 2011

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Percht is a one-man atmospheric black metal band from Ghent, Belgium. I caught up with the man behind the project- Ferre Bulte- to get the picture of what his music is about.

Where did you get the band name Percht? What does it mean?
Well, I was doing an interview with a guy who follows the heathen path and all of a sudden we started discussing particular symbols and elements of that way of living. Then Percht came up. It�s a moral persona which appears in every culture at any given time in history. In order to link this particular, and heathen, term to my atmospheric black metal I manage to take the concrete concept of Percht and elevate it to a more abstract level. Morality as a weapon of enslavement, throughout history used by the wielding hand to keep the average human being in a state of perceptual anesthesia. Anyway, that way it allows me to create more angles from which to look at my writings. It gives me a chance to think outside the box, lyrically and musically.

How did you get started with making music?
I take that question as �how did you get started with making music for percht�, just to be on the same page. Anyways,
My previous band split-up and as I�m a person who can�t be musically dead, I started figuring out ways to record on my own. Now the recordings itself(primitive as they may have been at that time) started out when I was 16 and first discovering the �new territory� that is black metal in general. I don�t think there�s a direct correlation between those early recordings and what Percht is today, but I believe if it hadn�t been for those simple one-track excerpts and primitively concocted songs that I tried playing right over and over again, I never would have reached the level I did today. 
Everything was set up for recording at the beginning of November 2010. So that�s about almost a year my project exists. 

What would you describe your music as? What is your goal when making music?
There�s not really a method to my madness, it�s just letting go of boundaries, reaching new ground(not to be arrogant, because there�s nothing new anymore under the sun). I would describe the music as a time-altering journey throughout your own memories. Just like any type of visual or lyrical art, it�s a very subjective feeling that rises when listening to Percht. Every person hears what he/she wants to hear. I try to visualize the (now) utopically brewed image of my youth, combined with a more general touch(I often speak of nations and the grey witnesses of the first ages) that is pretty much what Percht is. But there have never been and will never be boundaries. Nothing in my head will remain unexplored. And I think that is the goal. Achieving absolute bliss by extracting the correct memories and use them in the correct sequence, as a way of �therapy� and dealing with memories and feelings that are greater than internally manageable .(which now sounds awefully cheesy when reading it out loud, nevermind:D) 

Your music is based largely around atmosphere, it seems. What bands or ideas influence you?
I�m greatly influenced by every band that paved the atmospheric path before me. Not limited to metal, I have numerous influences throughout the musical history. Some influences are only heard by me when listening to my songs, but that�s just because when I was writing the work that singer or band came to mind. To be more concrete I�ll give you a brief list of greater influences. I got the outside-of-the-box nature by listening to early Pink Floyd(with the eccentric frontman Syd Barrett). When listening to Interstellar Overdrive it always amazes me how musically ahead of their time they were. I try to be innovative as well.Anyway, moving on. Metal bands that greatly influence me are Wolves in the throne room, especially their album Two Hunters. I hope one day to achieve that level of musical perfection. Alcest and Souvenirs d�un Autre Monde Is also an influence, especially for the clean vocals. Furthermore I�m also affected by Drudkh and Nokturnal Mortum for their typically Eastern-European way of using specific scales that may seem �off� in some western cultures. And of course for the blastbeat-parts I looked at Immortal as a source of brutality.

What is your process for writing? How are Percht songs composed?
Well I first start out by playing unplugged on my electric guitar til I find a riff that�s good. And it�s a little blind-walking from then on. Usually when starting to write a new song and recording the first riff I have absolutely no idea how the song will end, or proceed for that matter. Percht songs are usually composed in one session of one afternoon(average 6-7 hours) but sometimes I stretch it over a few days. 

Please describe your recording method briefly.
Like said before I first play a riff on my guitar, when I find it good enough I open my recording program, I use Reaper. Than I look for a good VST-plugin to create a guitar effect. I usually create three lines for distorted guitar, one for clean, two for vocals(growl and clean) and one for drums. For my drums I�m limited to the options I have using Drumkit from Hell. Since I do not have the financial nor the actually capabilities to play drums, I have to manage the best I can. But that�s pretty much it. I write the lyrics when the instrumental version of the song is finished. I then repeat the song over and over again til I have enough text to go with.

Thanks to Ferre for answering the questions!

Percht's Myspace can be found here: http://www.myspace.com/perchtmetal
Percht's MMA Profile can be found here: http://www.metalmusicarchives.com/percht.aspx?ac=perc

Edited by Conor Fynes - 14 Oct 2011 at 3:56pm

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Conor Fynes Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List MMA Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: 06 Jun 2010 Location: Canada Status: Offline Points: 83	Post Options Post Reply Quote Conor Fynes Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Topic: Percht, interview October 2011 Posted: 14 Oct 2011 at 3:54pm
	Percht is a one-man atmospheric black metal band from Ghent, Belgium. I caught up with the man behind the project- Ferre Bulte- to get the picture of what his music is about. Where did you get the band name Percht? What does it mean? Well, I was doing an interview with a guy who follows the heathen path and all of a sudden we started discussing particular symbols and elements of that way of living. Then Percht came up. It�s a moral persona which appears in every culture at any given time in history. In order to link this particular, and heathen, term to my atmospheric black metal I manage to take the concrete concept of Percht and elevate it to a more abstract level. Morality as a weapon of enslavement, throughout history used by the wielding hand to keep the average human being in a state of perceptual anesthesia. Anyway, that way it allows me to create more angles from which to look at my writings. It gives me a chance to think outside the box, lyrically and musically. How did you get started with making music? I take that question as �how did you get started with making music for percht�, just to be on the same page. Anyways, My previous band split-up and as I�m a person who can�t be musically dead, I started figuring out ways to record on my own. Now the recordings itself(primitive as they may have been at that time) started out when I was 16 and first discovering the �new territory� that is black metal in general. I don�t think there�s a direct correlation between those early recordings and what Percht is today, but I believe if it hadn�t been for those simple one-track excerpts and primitively concocted songs that I tried playing right over and over again, I never would have reached the level I did today. Everything was set up for recording at the beginning of November 2010. So that�s about almost a year my project exists. What would you describe your music as? What is your goal when making music? There�s not really a method to my madness, it�s just letting go of boundaries, reaching new ground(not to be arrogant, because there�s nothing new anymore under the sun). I would describe the music as a time-altering journey throughout your own memories. Just like any type of visual or lyrical art, it�s a very subjective feeling that rises when listening to Percht. Every person hears what he/she wants to hear. I try to visualize the (now) utopically brewed image of my youth, combined with a more general touch(I often speak of nations and the grey witnesses of the first ages) that is pretty much what Percht is. But there have never been and will never be boundaries. Nothing in my head will remain unexplored. And I think that is the goal. Achieving absolute bliss by extracting the correct memories and use them in the correct sequence, as a way of �therapy� and dealing with memories and feelings that are greater than internally manageable .(which now sounds awefully cheesy when reading it out loud, nevermind:D) Your music is based largely around atmosphere, it seems. What bands or ideas influence you? I�m greatly influenced by every band that paved the atmospheric path before me. Not limited to metal, I have numerous influences throughout the musical history. Some influences are only heard by me when listening to my songs, but that�s just because when I was writing the work that singer or band came to mind. To be more concrete I�ll give you a brief list of greater influences. I got the outside-of-the-box nature by listening to early Pink Floyd(with the eccentric frontman Syd Barrett). When listening to Interstellar Overdrive it always amazes me how musically ahead of their time they were. I try to be innovative as well.Anyway, moving on. Metal bands that greatly influence me are Wolves in the throne room, especially their album Two Hunters. I hope one day to achieve that level of musical perfection. Alcest and Souvenirs d�un Autre Monde Is also an influence, especially for the clean vocals. Furthermore I�m also affected by Drudkh and Nokturnal Mortum for their typically Eastern-European way of using specific scales that may seem �off� in some western cultures. And of course for the blastbeat-parts I looked at Immortal as a source of brutality. What is your process for writing? How are Percht songs composed? Well I first start out by playing unplugged on my electric guitar til I find a riff that�s good. And it�s a little blind-walking from then on. Usually when starting to write a new song and recording the first riff I have absolutely no idea how the song will end, or proceed for that matter. Percht songs are usually composed in one session of one afternoon(average 6-7 hours) but sometimes I stretch it over a few days. Please describe your recording method briefly. Like said before I first play a riff on my guitar, when I find it good enough I open my recording program, I use Reaper. Than I look for a good VST-plugin to create a guitar effect. I usually create three lines for distorted guitar, one for clean, two for vocals(growl and clean) and one for drums. For my drums I�m limited to the options I have using Drumkit from Hell. Since I do not have the financial nor the actually capabilities to play drums, I have to manage the best I can. But that�s pretty much it. I write the lyrics when the instrumental version of the song is finished. I then repeat the song over and over again til I have enough text to go with. Thanks to Ferre for answering the questions! Percht's Myspace can be found here: http://www.myspace.com/perchtmetal Percht's MMA Profile can be found here: http://www.metalmusicarchives.com/percht.aspx?ac=perc Edited by Conor Fynes - 14 Oct 2011 at 3:56pm

UMUR Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Visit Members Homepage Add to Buddy List MMA Special Collaborator Errors & Omissions Team / Retired Admin Joined: 25 Mar 2010 Location: Denmark Status: Offline Points: 18085	Post Options Post Reply Quote UMUR Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 15 Oct 2011 at 1:09am
	Nice. I�ll add the interview to the interview list.
	Forever TRUE - Forever BLUE! UMUR on RYM

Time Signature Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List MMA Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: 04 Apr 2010 Location: Denmark Status: Offline Points: 7690	Post Options Post Reply Quote Time Signature Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 15 Oct 2011 at 3:00am
	Yeah, this is the sort of interview I like... you know it's about the music first and foremost :-)