Interviews : “…as a metal musician it is really healthy to listen to and absorb other styles of music…” – an interview with Subterranean Disposition

Not too long ago, “new” doom project Subterranean Disposition signed to and released their new album through Hypnotic Dirge Records. It’s a stunning release, as you can find out in our review, and has been spinning regularly since. The whole band is a bit of a mystery though, especially in regards to what we can expect in the future. Thankfully, as you can read below, Terry Vainoras (the one man behind the band) has informed us that another whole album has already been demoed, with a live band in the works. That’s what we wanted to hear!

So your self-titled full-length was written as a sort of follow-up to Insomnius Dei’s “Illusions of Silence”. Was this originally supposed to be released under that name, or is it just a follow-up musically and thematically?

Originally after completing the Insomnius Dei album I was intensely inspired to contribute to the body of work that Mark Kelson had written on ‘Illusions of Silence’ and I began writing ideas which snowballed into full demoed songs that I shared with Mark. Time was against us doing any further work on it as we were also recording and touring with The Eternal at the time. In 2009 I parted musical ways with Mark and still had those demos there, which was whenI decided to record these songs properly under this name. In hindsight the first Insomnius Dei album was Mark and I meeting at a crossroads and having a doom conversation, before going off down our own musical paths. Subterranean was born in that time, no doubt.

Illusions of Silence was released all the way back in 2007, have you been working solidly on this release since then, or was there a delay in getting it released?

The demos were recorded in 2008 and then revisited and recorded properly with Adam Calaitzis in sporadic bursts over 2010 at Toyland Studios, due to finances. It was mastered early 2011 and honestly it had taken from then to this year to find a suitable home for it. Enter Nick Skog and Hypnotic Dirge Records. A slow gestation for a slow band!

There’s a lot of variety, and the addition of guest female vocals and saxophone on the album. Are there any other sounds that you wanted to try and incorporate into it? Any instruments you’d like to use on future tracks? Personally, I’d just love to hear more sax.

For this debut album the two guests were the only extra sounds ideas that came to mind for those specific songs, if you listen close when writing a song it will tell you what it needs. Phoebe was brought in to portray the female side of the conversation going on between a woman and a man in the Lyrics of “Prolong this Agony”. As for ” The Most Subtle of Storms ” I had wanted a fluid, detached melody for the quiet passage that a guitar just could not provide.
Darcy Molan on sax nailed it, with a requested little tip of the hat to one of my favourite groups; Bohren und der Club of gore! In future if a song calls for outside the norm instrumentation then so be it, but I am cautious not to use this type of thing to the point of it being a “schtick”.

Currently in the demos of the second album i have sampled an instrument called an ondes Martinot, which is like a hybrid of a single string lap steel with a piano. It creates a very ethereal, haunted kind of tone.

I’m gathering from the release that you don’t listen exclusively to metal. What other styles of music do you enjoy? Who were your influences behind this particular album?

I do listen to many different styles of music, among my favourites are funk, country/americana, golden era New York hip hop, noise, jazz, soundtracks and the list goes on. I think as a metal musician it is really healthy to listen to and absorb other styles of music, eventually it creeps into your own playing and writing and keeps the metal fresh and evolving. For the album, now in hindsight I can hear all the lessons learnt throughout many of the bands i have played with / written for over the years. I think it really is a melting pot of all the different genres I have done channeled through doom. Also i can hear the influence of similar music that inspires me personally, Neurosis, Cult of Luna, Bohren und der club of gore and Earth.

How about lyrically; what’s behind the lyrics?

Influence for the lyrics came from many varied places. For instance “Seven sisters of Sleep” was inspired by the book of the same name, using the metaphor of a female temptress to represent drug addiction. “Prolong This Agony” like previously stated is a personal account of an ongoing conversation between a woman and man. ‘”Between Apes and Angels” and “The Most Subtle of Storms” are in short looking into different aspects of the human condition.”Wailing my keen” is a rumination on the point of physical death and how those present can affect the departed.

The album was released through Hypnotic Dirge Records who, judging by our few emails with them, seem like a genuinely helpful label. How are they to work with?

Nick and HDR have been a fantastic team to work alongside to get this album out. I think it boils down to that the fact that they are passionate about the music they put out first and foremost, and I think they have a great aesthetic in how they present their artists to the public.

Are there any plans to turn this into a full band, and perhaps performing live?

Yes; over the course of this year I have slowly drafted the right musicians to form a live band and we are getting close to being able to present the material live. An Australian tour for early 2013 is in the works as we speak and our sights are on Europe for next year as well.

Have you already started work on any newer material?

Yes actually, an entire second album has been completed in rough demo form at this stage, some more experimenting with the songs will take place and hopefully they can be recorded and released next year also. Time will tell.

Do you have any other music projects as well?

Concurrently I do the vocals and bass for long running metallic hardcore band Order of Chaos, we will have a new album out in 2013 called “Deadweight Undertow”. Also I have a ambient/noise/field recording project called Dentata and I produce hip hop instrumentals as The Left Handed Beatsmith.
These two projects will have recordings released in the coming months.

To finish off, plug your three favourite Australian bands, with reasons.

I do not want to pick favourites, as there is so many good Australian bands past and present to choose from so instead i will list three that have really caught my attention recently :

1. Broozer

Power trio from melbourne that I have had the pleasure of sharing stages with in Order of Chaos. They mix up riffery and sludge with off time signatures in a unique and memorable way. Great guys, great players. Their debut album ” 12.04.12 ” just came out, go and get it!

2. We Lost The Sea

I notice these guys when their “Crimea” album came out and I was blown away when I saw them perform in Melbourne last year. Amazing post/sludge with layered guitars with keys and samples. They have three or four guitarists, I think? After hearing one track from their forthcoming second album I am really anticipating its release.

3. The Broderick

I caught the band supporting Rosetta recently and was totally in awe of the dynamics of the set as a whole and their sense of building and releasing tension within songs. Their new album “Free to rot, free of sin” mirrors the live show and is one I have gone back to on a regular basis. Great band.

You can stream and purchase Subterranean Disposition’s new album over at Bandcamp.

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