Interview with Gosha Solznev from New Orthodox Line / 1g0g

Gosha Solznev is a founder of russian label New Orthodox Line. He is also a musician and he plays various kinds of postindustrial music.

Please tell us something about the beginning and the main idea of New Orthodox Line.

NOL has started from me, with an inner connection between an Orthodox tradition and the music that I perform. At first it happened in my soul. Now it happened in my mind. I think it happened due to an influence of a God. The first work "All sacred" was released in 2007. You can read here in detail: http://noises.ru/electro/electro-e.htm.
Then together with Bardoseneticcube (Russia) we mixed the "All sacred" sound with the sounds of an analogue noise and distortion sound generators. As a result a new album titled "New Orthodox Line" was created, released on the Finnish label “Some Place Else”. It was a good impulse from a Pure Mind and so this album has given a birth of the new label and project.
New Orthodox Line is experimental electronic music developed within the bounds of Orthodox tradition and presupposed the faith and religion as the main conditions of music creation. Music is not only harmonious choirs and emotions of big orchestras. Very often it is a voice of a simple man who makes sense of his own way and his place in the history, thinks about the salvation and joins to the Highest.
Here you can read more about the project: http://www.orthodox.noises.ru

How many albums have been released by New Orthodox Line? Please describe us them shortly.

Recently only two albums were released; the third one is coming soon.

1g0g - "Cover Me from Any Evil" – It is a solo album. Music on this album depicts my personal nature. It's always difficult to determine a style; it can be called an ambient with a religious bias.

"Polyelei" – a 44-minute composition, creating a spiritual noise space. With service in the temple without cupola, where foul rains come inside, with angels, who sing for the shot chorister, with the dripping wooden cross in the forest, with endless bells; frescos turn out to be a thin lamina, a cigarette paper, behind which the silhouettes of cherubs are seen; the kitchen radio preacher, talking to himself, and to god, yielding to the noise, that covers him, dissolving in it, beginning to speak vice versa and croaking fancily, praising god, as frogs from the parable about the king David do; someone’s routine sleety funeral, in the land, where are four seasons: winter, winter, winter and winter; a singing old woman, already in the eternity, somewhere between snowstorm and her lonely one-room flat in a bedroom community; the requiem of the bells’ quantity, through which the last motets and voices force their way; and, finally, the ending, the last message – no one will be saved.

There is also your (as Noises of Russia) and Bardoseneticcube album "New Orthodox Line" released by Some Place Else. Tell us something about this material.

I found a way and Igor (a composer from the Bardoseneticcube project) supported my idea. Then he mixed my theme with some analog sounds, added his processing as fadebacks, growl, harsh sounds etc. At the end, Niko Scorpio from the Some Place Else label has released this album. To be honest, I wasn't satisfied with that work, but it’s a pleasure to have a CD, and Niko‘s label has a good PR in Europe.

Do you think that your idea of "postindustrial" music inspired by Christianity is still something new, original or maybe even controversial? In fact, a lot of industrial/noise/dark ambient bands take their inspiration rather from "heterodoxy" (paganism, occultism, magic etc.) than from Eastern Orthodox or Roman Catholic religion...

It's a good question. It is a fact that the majority of the Dark Music bands take an inspiration from the “dark spaces”. Actually, the life of the majority of the people goes like this. Stupidity and foolishness in a spiritual sphere dominate in this world at all times. People born in foolishness, so the life goes, and so they leave this world.
On general an age of creators and listeners of the dark music is not that high. When you are young you are attracted by all the Dark, because for you it is protest against the dictated System. And this is not only about music.
There is a Dark Side shadow on my music too. It is a result of my and general sin, that comes from our foolishness. I do not like it, but I have no choice. It’s impossible to make a light music and to have a dark soul at the same time.
My music is not an extraordinary unique, there was made a lot before me. Perhaps, my music seems unusual… But it only seems so. It can seem quite weird or provocative, but different people have different opinions. My hart and soul work as a big sequencer, that’s why, may be, I do music like this.

Interview with New Orthodox Line

more...

Do you know orthodox and catholic compilation "Credo In Unum Deum", released by Josef Klumb (Von Thronstahl) and Damiano Mercuri (Rose Rovine e Amanti)? What do you think about concept and realization of this album?

I am acquainted with this album, they are famous artists and the sound is powerful. It's a pity, I don't speak other languages except Russian so I do not know what the words are about, but on general I would say that the album has a strong gothic wave but with a commercial taste, as I think. It’s a kind of music that musicians make for a consumer and I try to avoid this way.
From my side, I would recommend you to listen to the Russian project "Irmologion", it was released in 2003 on the Raig label, and you can find more information about this project here: www.raig.ru/irmologion.asp. Their ideas and music are closer to me.

What is "industrial" or "postindustrial" music for you? Do you have any special interpretation of this genre? Some people are interested only in "noisy" and "experimental" sounds, the other think that industrial music is a mirror of modern civilization, accurate to describe problems and obsessions of modern people etc.
Thierry Jolif from Lonsai Maikov said: Imagine paradoxes journey, the Energies of the Spirit playing with the noises of the World ... Imagine the ugly and weird sounds of this crazy and ugly world are the only we could use to express the unspeakable beauty of God !
What do you think about this interpretation?

Unfortunately or luckily I do not understand the definitions and differences. I just do what is interesting for me and what I can do. I fully agree with such a worldview. It’s real paradox. Usually we use our boring and trivial words to explain what does really happen with us and between us - It’s real paradox!

Do you know American orthodox zine Death To The World? What do you think about their radical message and "apocalyptic" aesthetics? Are there any similarities between your and their approach to orthodoxy? Are you also inspired by writings of Seraphim Rose?

I think it's a good magazine. Though this dark aesthetic is alien to me, but I understand, that it is hard to express ideas that they are trying to tell. As far as I know, in past they were punks, and it feels like they brought this heritage to the recent times. Nevertheless if I get a possibility to work with them, I would like to.
The Seraphim Rose's writings don't inspire me at all. The idea of distinguishing between “good” and “bad” is alien to me. As for me, Christianity and Church are a citadel of Love not a politics. His books are strongly poisoned with "the politics of the Party" – as we say in Russia. It’s sad, but it is usual thing in Christianity as in other spheres. People think too much about football, money and politics, they distinguish others between “good” and “bad”, “friend” and “enemy”, “my team” and “rival”, “rich” and “poor”. All this things are very important in our sinful life. Instead of practicing the ideals of Love, people do a politics, and their Ego stay with them in spite of a heartwarming faces… But it’s better then to seat in a bar drinking alcohol.

What does it mean "apocalyptic" to you? What do you mean when you use the term "apocalyptic experimental music"?

Apocalypse is a translation from the Greek "lifting of the veil" or "revelation", so it means "an opening". People used to think about it, like if it was something huge and global. I consider Apocalypse like an opening of yourself, opening of your inner Sacrament life, what connects through a God with your external life. Our music is an opening for us as well, while synthesizing we don’t really know what we are doing. Later, after a CD is released, we listen our music and it inspire us by a deep immersion into our Sacrament life. And this Sacrament life becomes visible by the creation process. In a creation process we feel a breath of a God. Our music is an experiment for our self, nevertheless it can seem too usual and naïve for a “professional” audience. Of course the ideas of global Apocalypse are very close to us, but at first, it is a changing and opening our inside world towards a God.

What equipment do you use when you play as Noises Of Russia?

We combine the field recordings with the voices - we have three singers - classic vocal, experimental and MC… We use program synthesizers and some analog devises, through them we transform signals and sounds, that we take from iron stabs.

Could you tell us about your nearest plans of New Orthodox Line?

I'm preparing the third album for a release - it is devoted to Kievo-Pecherskaya Lavra, to The St. Mark the Gravedigger, he was a Saint who lived in caves in Lavra. This Saint could raise people from the dead. For the album I used the field recordings that I made in Lavra in caves with lying relics of saints, one of them is The St. Mark’s.
Some of the material I recorded from under Mark’s head… The title of the album will be "Gravedigger".
Also an album of a project “Stydobischa” (Russia) is coming soon. In Russian this word means something like a "very intense shame". The music language of this project is hard to characterize or explain anyhow….. mmmm… except if only you try to imagine a penitential trash-power noise-hardcore. Their live concerts are very impressive. Their penance happens in a real time. It is very inspirational. More evidently it will be a concert DVD.

Thank you for your interesting questions,
Regards and greetings from Russia!
1gog [Gosha Solnzev],