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Interviews : Ne Obliviscaris – “It’s a step forward in a positive direction” (An interview with Dan Presland)

By on July 10, 2013

Ne Obliviscaris

Ne Obliviscaris – Dan Presland

Melbourne’s Ne Obliviscaris are gearing up for their first tour of Asia this August. Metal Obsession had the pleasure to speak with drummer Dan Presland, regarding the upcoming Asian tour, new material, plus the band’s induction into the Sydney Conservatorium curriculum.

Metal Obsession: ‘Portal Of I’ hasn’t been out there for too long yet, but it seems people are already looking forwards. So the important question is; how’s the new material coming along? Are there any elements or other musical influences being brought into any of the new songs that we haven’t heard before?

Dan Presland: The new material is coming along really well, I’m personally extremely happy with how things are turning out! There will definitely be things we haven’t done before, both stylistically and emotionally. It’s definitely shaping out to be my favourite material we’ve done so far.. We certainly aren’t the kind of individuals that want to go down a path that has already been walked, all of us like to challenge ourselves and progress forward all the time. I really think this will show on our new record also.

MO: Tell us about the new songs you’ll be debuting live this weekend in Melbourne & in Sydney on July 20?

DP: Well one of the new tracks is a 3 part movement which is clocking up at around the 17 or so minute mark. Technically it’s quite challenging for me as there’s a stack of tempo changes, time changes and lots of stuff that requires some pretty precise playing for the music to come across the way we intend it to. Musically it has a lot of different landscapes and textures, it’s definitely my favourite song personally we’re doing at the moment. I hope it translates well live also! The other track is a bit of a quick one, some pretty catchy guitar work and some faster elements are in there.. We also end this one with a bit of a post rock feel. Definitely something we’ve never done before! It came out quite naturally in the jam room so hoping it also comes across well on the  live circuit.

MO: You have your first international tour in August which, somewhat surprisingly, is China and Japan. How did that one come about?

DP: Well it just worked out that way really. We had a great offer to get over there, so we just jumped at it and went from there. Welkin has been tireless in booking and working out logistics with our asian bookers/promoters, language barriers and all! We are all extremely keen to hit the road and experience different musical surroundings we’re yet to encounter.

MO: Do you have any idea what to expect over there?

DP: Some of my friends have toured over there multiple times, so only the kind of stuff they have told me. I’ve been told I’m in for a culture shock! Apart from that I’m really not sure what is going to unfold, but that’s part of the experience and definitely keen to get amongst it.1017323_10151634342119898_2114502353_n

MO: What are the plans post-Asia?

DP: We are going to continue to write, do pre production and have a few shows remaining for the year. We have a couple of shows with Enslaved, and we also  have 3 or 4 shows which will be announced soon! We plan to start tracking the next record around November. So definitely have our hands full.

MO: Ne Obliviscaris’ recent first try at vinyl pressing went exceptionally well with all copies of ‘Portal of I’ and ‘The Aurora Veil’ selling out in less than an hour via Blood Music. I take it any future Neo releases will be getting the same treatment? 

DP: We were absolutely thrown back by the reception to our releases on vinyl. None of us anticipated this was going to happen! We are very confident vinyl will now be a regular occurrence with anything we release in the future.

MO: Was it always your intention to put both albums on vinyl?

DP: It was something we didn’t really consider until we started getting quite a few emails/messages from people who were keen to see our records on vinyl. We got talking and all thought it would be cool to have it ourselves and put the plans in motion. Things worked out extremely well with Blood Music, and they have been great throughout the process. It’s been a smooth process for sure and definitely swayed us to look at doing this again in the future.

MO: Could you tell us a little about the vinyl process? Was there many alterations from the original mix? 

DP: ‘The Aurora Veil’ is the original audio just on vinyl, whereas ‘Portal Of I’ was re-mastered for vinyl to make sure it sounded as good as possible for that format.

MO: Many music elitists swear that vinyl is the best way to listen to music. Do you notice any major significance in sound quality in either versions?

DP: I haven’t heard the vinyl version myself yet – but I’m definitely big on musical sound quality. I’ve always been a digital fan myself, but I’m very interested to hear how the vinyl is going to come out.

MO: Ne Obliviscaris have informed fans their music is now studied as part of the teaching curriculum by students at the Sydney Conservatorium. How was Neo’s music inducted into such a curriculum? 

DP: Matthew Hindson, Chair of Composition at the Conservatorium attended our Sydney show last year and came up afterwards saying how much he loved our set. We gave him a copy of the album and then a couple months ago he contacted us informing us of his plans to include it in the composition subject. Definitely very unexpected and a great honour.

Australian metallers NE OBLIVISCARIS have seen their song “And Plague Flowers The Kaleidoscope” (hear audio below) included in a teaching curriculum at the Sydney Conservatorium Of Music, one of Australia’s most prestigious classical conservatories.

The track will undergo a compositional analysis by Professor Matthew Hindson, Chair Of Composition at the conservatorium.Hindson is a world-renowned classical composer whose works have been performed by ensembles and orchestras throughout the world.

His recent ballet music, for example, has been presented by such companies as the Birmingham Royal Ballet, the San Francisco Ballet and the National Ballet Of Japan.Hindson commented on the event, saying: “I will be presenting ‘And Plague Flowers The Kaleidoscope’ to the composition students at the conservatorium next semester as an exemplar in structure, mixing timbres, meters, modes, how to approach virtuosity, sound and noise, extended performance and techniques. The students will need to study two technical aspects of what NE OBLIVISCARIS have done in their music, and then use these techniques in their own classical music compositions.”

The professor continues: “It is my pleasure to introduce such high quality music making to our students, alongside other music by composers including Beethoven, Gershwin, Steve Reich and Peter Sculthorpe. Musicians deserve to hear the music of NE OBLIVISCARIS, and the music of many other metal bands, in order to appreciate the compositional complexity that lies within it, no matter what their musical tastes.” – Blabbermouth.net

MO: Do you see this as a sign of change in the general public’s perception of heavy music?

DP: Well it’s hard to tell, I mean something like this is small time exposure to such an issue. But at the very least, I’d hope it could perhaps persuade a few people to give heavy music a go where they may have not have otherwise. I guess it’s a step forward in a positive direction for the heavier styles of music though!

 

Catch Ne Obliviscaris in Sydney on Saturday, 20th July at the Bald Face Stag with AMDBL, Rise of Avernus and Myraeth. RSVP – www.facebook.com/events/157362307772852

Ne Obliviscaris will co-headline the upcoming Hell on the Bay, a heavy metal cruise departing on September 7th.

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For more information head to: www.facebook.com/NeObliviscarisBand

About

Mitch Booth is the owner, designer and grand overlord of Metal Obsession. In the few seconds of spare time he has outside of this site, he also hosts a metal radio show over on PBS 106.7fm in Melbourne (Australia) and organises shows under the name Untitled Touring. You should follow him on Twitter.