Interview with LITHIVM aka Gustaf Hildebrand.

AUTARKEIA: I find it almost impossible to start an interview with Lithivm with a traditional question: when and how did it start? It as equally important and interesting to ask what your created Frankenstein did to you that you made it vanish so fast? After all, only one album Threshold to Disharmony has been released, while you will perform the only and the last concert. What mystical story lies beneath all this? Why has Lithivm disappeared and Gustaf Hildebrand emerged?

GUSTAF H: It started as an abstract idea that I tried to put into some sort of audio format, really. I had this idea of a special “horror” sound (if you could call it that) that I wanted to convey, using suggestive themes that I found fascination. Lithivum was put on hold because I frankly got really tired of it, by the restrictions of it both in sound and theme. For a long time the Lithivm material didn’t sound very good at all to me, but I guess that period has somewhat passed. It’s not impossible that I make music that sounds like Lithivm in the future, but I think that it’ll be under my own name.

I do however think that it’s it’ll be interesting to have this little first-and-last resurrection performance. Hopefully you’ll like the gig!

A: What was the impetus for this horrible nightmare? I have in mind your personal experience and not the cultural influence. Well, as we may presume not every Swede or a regular person composes such eerie music?

G: I’ve always been a big fan of suggestive music, where the message of it isn’t necessarily spelled out for you, but instead leaves room for imagination. I tried to do this with the Lithivm album, to create a sort of dystopian atmosphere of surreal machines and human misery and then leave it up to the listener to interpret the music further. I guess I enjoy the atmosphere and contrast of places that are supposed to be teeming with life and activity but are instead dead, decaying and silent, so I made an attempt to put that into audio form. I don’t know if that makes any sense but it’s a bit hard to explain, hehe.

A: And if we touched upon the concept of “influence”, please disclose your sources of inspiration. What literature do you read (if you do at all), what music do you prefer (who are your inspiration and authorities?), what films do you like and, on the whole, what do you do in life and how do you make your living?

G: All of these medias function as sources of inspiration as well, of course. I can’t really point to a single author that has influenced me more than other, but I’ve recently read some stuff by Neil Gaiman and I really enjoyed it. It’s the same deal when it comes to music really, but I’ve always enjoyed artists such as Lustmord, Steve Roach, Robert Rich and the likes. As for films, one of my all-time favourites is Eraserhead. I remember that the first time I watched that movie I suffered from a terrible flu and high fever, and hadn’t slept for a long time. Quite an interesting condition to watch that movie in.

I don’t do much at the moment but I might start working later this year, I’ll see what happens, I’m not quite sure yet. It’ll sort itself out though.

A: Why did you opt for Cold Meat Industry label to release your only album? Or, perhaps, Roger K. discovered you?

G: With CMI being such an established label in the business I decided to send some material to them, and Roger was kind enough to contact me, saying that he wanted to release the album.

A: What is your opinion about Swedish industrial underground: bands, labels and movement. What would you single out as worthy of interest and why? How does Swedish public view industrial music? Is there any censorship? Does the society impose any restrictions on the album design?

G: The industrial scene here is alive and well I think, I don’t keep that close watch over it though. Thankfully there isn’t any censorship or restrictions when it comes to artwork or anything like that. I think the government has more important things to do than to supervise the album covers of strange electronic music. Or at least I hope they have better things to do…

A: By the way, how important is the design of your albums for you and who does it?

G: The design of an album is very important. Of course the music is what counts in the end, but I think that good looking artwork and packaging can add a whole new dimension to the music. The Lithivm album was designed by Tomas from Ordo Rosarius Equilibrio who did a nice job with it. The artwork on the albums under my own name was designed by myself though, which is really the way I like it since I have complete control of every aspect of the artwork.

A: Don’t you think that the industrial movement is losing its energy and starting to repeat itself in the global context? What, in your opinion, is awaiting it in future? What could replace it? And, in general, I am interested in your opinion about the meaning of this movement. Do you believe that it bears some long-lasting value in the global culture? After all, a number of labels and bands emerged and vanished unaccepted by masses. It still exists in deep underground and this situation is hardly changing. In short, industrial is still miles away from what was achieved by punk or metal.

G: I have no idea what the future holds, but it will be interesting to see. Industrial music is (to me at least) very hard to define so I think it could evolve in any number of directions. I suppose it’s still a relatively obscure genre because it’s so different from “conventional” music in that industrial artists and bands often use completely different methods of recording than those used by a “normal” band with for example drums, bass and a guitar. And I think it does have a lasting value in that it accents themes and issues that other forms of music might have a harder time trying to convey.

A: I am interested in your view on the attempts to commercialise industrial. I have seen cases when more known bands are made a fetish without any limits although some of their albums are rather poor, while debut bands that have released a really impressive album are ignored. Does not it remind you of pop scene?

G: A bit, yeah. I guess that when a certain genre has been around long enough it is bound to become, at least in part, commercialised. I don’t see anything odd with it really, it’s just the way the world works. However, I do agree that it’s a bit sad when talented artists are overlooked in favour of more established acts.

A: Can you make living in Sweden composing industrial music? And, in general, is it difficult for artists in Sweden?

G: No you can’t really make a living out of it, this kind of music doesn’t sell nearly enough for that to be possible, I’m sure a lot of people know what I mean. It’s not difficult to make yourself heard with today’s level of technology, but to make a living out of it is a bit harder.

A: Your last works have been released by a Canadian label Cyclic Law and Swedish label Erebus Odora. What made you choose them? By the way, I heard that Cyclic Law was some kind of clan reminding of Cold Meat Industry family. What are its aim and what is the link between its members?

G: Peter who has Sophia (also Arcana) recommended Cyclic Law to me as he was to release a Sophia album there. At this point Lithivm was pretty firmly in hiatus so I decided to send some of the calmer ambient-like material I had recorded under my own name. It’s a very nice label to deal with, and I’m a big fan of the unique kinds of packaging that we have access to. When you listen to the artists that have released material on Cyclic Law it does remind you a bit of early CMI, nothing wrong with that though if you ask me. And of course, both me and Peter and Karjalan Sissit have released material on CMI as well so I guess that it’s only natural that there’s a bit of a “cross-over” when it comes to the sound.

A: What are your musical plans in future?

G: I’m currently in the process of recording some new material, so far I’m very satisfied with it. It’s a bit reminiscent of Lithivm actually, or at least more so than the last two albums under my own name.

A: What do you know about the country where the only Lithivm concert will take place? How do you picture it?

G: I don’t know as much about it as I’d like I’m afraid, it’ll be an interesting place to see though. I’ve read about some of the usual tourist attractions and a few of the more odd places like the hill of crosses. Pär from Kammarheit told me that you had great food and beer, so that’s a good start.

A: What is your opinion about the European Union? I heard that Swedes were rather cautious in respect to this weird Community.

G: Yeah, we are. Sweden has a long tradition of not belonging to any sort of international alliances, so joining the EU was a bit strange, but I think we’ve adapted pretty well. I guess we drew the limit at accepting their common currency.

A: You live in Stockholm. I have always wanted to know why you demolished some part of your Old Town?

G: Yeah, a very strange decision indeed. They bulldozed down many older buildings in order to make way for horrible “modern” concrete cubes to store people in. Of course, nowadays you have to wonder what we were thinking.

A: And the last question: what if Ulof Palme attended Lithivm concert? What would your reaction be? And what if George Bush came?

G: I would be pretty surprised and flattered.

A: Thanx for the conversation.