Interview with Moirae

- How did the band form?

Aric: I met our drummer Davin toward the end of 2009. I showed him a record that my old hardcore band had just put out. I'm sure he wasn't impressed, but we kinda hit it off and decided to jam together that same day. I guess we dug what was happening in the room and decided to form a little outfit. Davin had already been playing with our bass player Joel in another band so he brought him on board right away. It was a similar situation with our vocalist Rene. He had been in bands with me in the past and we thought he was a good fit. We had another Guitar player at first who eventually quit, at which point we e-mailed our current guitar player Danny with some demo recordings and he joined us pretty immediately. The group came together pretty easy.

- How is “Eternitarian” different than your earlier releases?

Davin: It's pretty different in its song writing, and the quality at which we recorded and mixed it. Our lead guitarist, Danny, also added a ton of dreamy colors and textures that weren't as much of a thing in our earlier songs. We're all pretty happy with this one!
Danny: I wanted to convey a sense of other-worldliness in contrast to Antemortem’s more grounded, earthly vibe, so we expanded the melodic context in that direction and added the shimmery reverb effect that’s been a growing part of our live sound for a while, now. There’s also more singing, which stems from the desire to have a variety of voices and vocal textures present in our music.

- What’s the message being conveyed in Eternitarian?

Danny: It's a continuation of events that occurred in the previous release, the song "Ouroboros Severed" in particular. Eternitarian is about a man who dies and searches for his lost love in a strange, dreamlike realm (Postmortem, Farewell). He spends entire eras traversing this realm and it's only fixture, a massive tower, long enough that he begins to learn of it's true nature and nearly forgets his purpose and prior existence, left only with the feeling that a piece of himself is missing (Ascent, Solivagant, Phantom Limb). Finally the two are reunited in the end (Second Turning), and they are revealed to be two halves of the great will of the macrocosm (or God, if you're into it), separated and made to live the lives of men. As the two reunite, they begin the process of creation anew (Eternitarian). There really isn't a single message that we had in mind for this release, but there are very honest expressions of personal loss and hopelessness collectively woven into the music and fiction. I think our goal was more so a kind of escapism. We want people to feel like they’re being taken elsewhere, watching these moments unfold, experiencing something universal.

- What was your favorite part of the tour from Miami to Augusta and back?

Davin: Playing at the Backbooth in Orlando, FL. We spent all day traipsing around the downtown area checking out cool bars, and some art galleries along the way. That, in addition to an incredible pre-show barbeque AND a fun-ass show. Pretty good, not too bad.

- What was your least favorite part of the tour?

Davin: Definitely the regularity of people owning cats in the places we stayed at. Most of us are pretty allergic. But in the scope of things, all of the people that put us up were saints to do so, and we couldn't be more grateful for their hospitality.

- What was your favorite show of the tour? Why?

Danny: For me, it's a tie between Gainesville and Augusta. Gainesville had one of those "you had to be there" moments: after the last band played, Rene and I surprised everyone with an impromptu stoner/doom set, slow as molasses, featuring members of both touring bands playing drums, myself on guitar, and damn near everybody there on vocals. The Augusta show was just fun all around, great people, sick bands, great vibes. Three of us came out of mosh retirement, and I had a pretty gnarly case of metal neck that weekend which is usually a good sign.

- What was your favorite show you've played thus far? Why?

Davin: We played this show about two years back at a nearby club/bar called Rumors. Since it was closer to our homes, a lot of our friends and family were able to make it out, which is refreshing to say the least. And did I mention that all of the bands were paid handsomely?

- Are there any bands that have influenced you guys?

Danny: We're all over the place. Some of our collective favorite bands are Mastodon, Envy, Isis, Opeth, Boris, Alcest, Meshuggah, Converge, Sigur Ros, Deftones, Torche, and Mars Volta. Personally speaking, I'm also hugely influenced by Moonsorrow, Swallow The Sun, Jesu, My Bloody Valentine, classical composers (Chopin is my absolute favorite), and old video game soundtracks, particularly the Chrono Trigger/Chrono Cross games.

- Are there any bands local to you that you think our readers should know about?

Danny: Cave of Swimmers, Nixa, Tetragrammaton, Shroud Eater, Ether, Holly Hunt, Orbweaver and our bros in Suns of The Morning Star, all really badass bands. I'm kind of a hermit and it surprises me all the time that we have all of this sick music going on right in our back yard.

- You had physical copies of your music at your show and you also have your music up on bandcamp. Do you worry about people illegally downloading your music? Do you think that digital music sales will eventually replace CD/Record sales?

Danny: Truth be told, we really just want it to be as freely available as possible. Bandcamp has a limitation on free downloads, so we started giving away the digital album ourselves to make up for it. The option of donation or digital purchase is there for those who wish to do so, and we're ridiculously thankful to those who have. That said, I think many people, myself included, still appreciate the idea of having a physical product, art, liner notes, that whole deal. I don't think digital will replace physical products so much as digital has already become a standardized method of distribution which is supplemented by the continued existence of tangible products (which allow for the ability to enjoy the music in the absence of a computer or MP3 player, for example). Should the demand become more apparent, we'll be working towards getting CDs and eventually some vinyl pressed for this and future releases.

- When I spoke to you guys at the show in Augusta, you didn't have a merch site. Any changes to that?

Danny: As soon as we're done getting readjusted to real life, we'll be getting our asses in gear and fixing that asap.

- Does Moirae have any future plans? Any upcoming tours or releases? What should we look forward to?

Aric: Next thing on the docket for us is releasing a split in early February with the band Hoffa HQ. We are currently tracking for that as we speak. We're also simultaneously plotting/booking a tour with Hoffa for February. More info on that will be available as time passes on our Facebook and other pages. After the tour we'll start recording our next full length which we already have a lot of material for.
Danny: Our side of the split will feature a song slated to be on the new full length and a brand-new-as-fuck song, as well as a nice surprise for you headbangers out there. Prepare your finest trousers.