Mournful Congregation Interview From 2008

This interview with Mournful Congregation's Adrian was originally conducted by the DMA's founder Derek Edward Kellington in 2008 and I thought it was worth a re-post. Check it out.


1. Thanks for taking time to answer my questions Adrian. The band has been going for 15 years now and I would like to start off by asking how Mournful Congregation came to be? By that i mean what were the influences behind your dark sound and how it all came together in general.


"Mournful Congregation originated in the South Australian Riverland town of Loxton around 1993. I joined several years later in 1997 after Damon relocated to Adelaide and we've been based here ever since. To the best of my knowledge the three original members were quite inspired by the works of bands such as Thergothon and Candlemass and simply sought to create their own form of extreme darkness with the band name being a reflection of this intent. As far as I know the formation of the band was like that of many other young bands - in a shed or bedroom, something like that."


2. How was it that you came about being in the group, and what are your personal influences to play so extremely slow?


"I was approached about joining the band around the summer of 1997. I was familiar with the doom genre in general but MC was definitely on the extreme edge of it all and the emotional and musical extremity appealed to me greatly. I'd never played that slowly but my approach was to basically take all that I knew and apply it to the style and in the process try and give the band a certain signature feel. Hopefully over the years we have succeeded in this."


3. What were you doing musically before joining MC?


"I joined MC at the start of 1997 and prior to that hadn’t really done anything of note. I’d spent the years before that as a typical enthusiastic high school drummer, practicing as much as I could and taking lessons. At the time it was a real thrill to join a band that had demos circulating through the underground worldwide and a developing reputation."


4. I will ask the ultimate cliche question, but put it into terms ive never seen anyone do. You mentioned the emotional extremity of the groups sound. How is it that you get this sound down? Does the band get into this mindset, or does it just come natural when you begin to play? Cuz i know you guys dont just walk around with tears in your eyes all day.


"The band's signature sound begins with Damon as he is the principal composer and I honestly don't know what mindset he is in when he comes up with the riffs and the song structures. The three of us are very aware of the overall sound we want to generate as a band and work towards this both in the arrangements and the actual sounds we seek to pull. The whole mindset thing is a difficult one to answer - I think after this much time we all know what is required and perhaps place ourselves in the appropriate frame of mind, even on a subconscious level. So when we jam it's not like we have to consciously shift into "Mournful mode" or anything like that. Having said that, for the forthcoming album I spent weeks before recording my parts deliberately reading nothing but suicide literature, the darkest material I could find. The subject matter and the feel of much of the music is so bleak that I felt it necessary for my performance and state of mind to be a reflection of this."


5. Suicide literature for two weeks? wow dude. you hear how actors will get lost in their role. How did this effect you during and after-wards?


"Yeah, I basically immersed myself in the writings of a Romanian philosopher named Emil Cioran who seems to be largely unknown in the west. The feeling of hopelessness and pessimism that flows through his work is like nothing I've ever encountered before. I did feel as though I was creating a particular psychological state, like it would have been completely wrong to walk into the studio upbeat and happy. I believe that certain energies resonate and translate through the medium of music and this was somehow my way of honoring both the themes we are exploring and those who believe in what we do. It did mess with me a bit, like I wasn't sleeping properly and became pretty moody and so on - but it felt right... to become one with the music."


6. Has mournful congregation seen the light of day outside of Australia?


No, not as yet. If fact we've never once performed live with this band. Having said that, plans are underway for both an Australian and European tour early next year and we are very much looking forward to this.


7. Plans of a European tour. Any plans of playing with other bands yet? If so who?


"This situation and the bands with which we may play rests in the hands of the tour manager and we’re quite unsure ourselves who we’ll be sharing stages with. There are certain bands (Worship, Esoteric, Funeral, Ahab, Ataraxie etc) that we would very much like to perform with but only time will tell on this."


8. Ive heard alot of groups out of Australia, but not much in the way of funeral doom or the likes. Are there other groups with your style there?


"There are various doom bands here but not other funeral doom bands of note, as least as far as I'm aware. There are death/doom bands such as Stone Wings, and most doom fans have heard of Disembowelment but we are the only ones I know of carrying the flag of extreme funeral doom, or however people wish to categorize our style."


9. Would you catagorize you sound as funeral doom, or do you care to catagorize your music?


"I’ve always considered us to be an extreme doom metal band and I’m not really into classifications. We tend to be most often labelled funeral doom which is fine but at the same time I’d like to think we don’t fit into any particular niche and have our own distinct sound."


10. Doom metal is a rather large scene comparatively speaking looking back to its beginnings, with festivals popping up all over the world. Are there any in Australia, and if so has the band been able to be involved?


"It's great that these festivals continue to evolve around the world and we hope to be a part of some in the near future. As far as Australia goes though, I've never heard of any doom festival taking place. There have been doom oriented gigs but I believe that's as far as it has gone."


11. Are there any side projects among the band mates that the public should know of?


"Damon is also involved with two established bands, Stargazer and Cauldron Black Ram and has a project entitled The Esoteric Connexion which can be located on our MySpace page. Justin is a member of Black Orchid in addition to MC and all of us have and continue to do session work outside of the band."


12. Anything you would like to add that we haven't covered?


"Many thanks for the interview and support! The new album shall be out in the very near future and hopefully we get to tour in your part of the world before long. All the best!"

www.myspace.com/mournfulcongregation