Interview with KREUZER

 

KREUZER is a martial industrial / power electronics / dark ambient one-man project from Israel.

„Kreuzer”… Why did you choose such name for your project? Does it have any special meaning for you?

I’ve first heared the word "kreuzer" 10 years ago when I’ve first started to deal with numismatics; kreuzer was a minor coin used in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. A couple of years later I’ve found out that it’s also the name used for a big battleship.
When I first started making music and needed to pick a name for my project I thought that the name encapsulates the military, army-style and historical, archaic aspects of my sound.

What equipment and instruments do you use to create music? Do you often play live?

I use Roland SP-606 and also some music production programs. Till now I had 3 live shows: One in 2007, another two years later at noisemass festival and the last one in 2010 as part of the NSK exhibition in Israel.

When did you heard industrial, ambient or experimental music for the first time?

It was 2005 when I discovered Death in June it was a year after they’d performed in Israel. Afterwards my interest in this type of music was aroused and I’ve found myself exploring.

Industrial music has started from harsh, noisy, very “modern” or even “revolutionary” sounds and even more revolutionary ideas – but the message of modern “martial” bands is often quite “reactionary” and their music combines achievements of industrial music with classical, symphonic music and European folk. Do you think that this “conservative (r)evolution” of so-called “martial industrial” is a kind of interesting paradox?

No, I don’t think it’s a paradox. Musically most martial industrial project are reactionary towards the former generation, but from my point of view the real “counter revolutionary” are the projects that use the christian tradition as their message. That’s because many projects use a modernist, totalitarian and sometimes even an atheist image. Such a message confronts the original conservative state of mind.

You come from Israel and this is probably interesting for our readers – mainly because of all those strange controversies with “martial industrial” and it’s “fascist aesthetics” (recall, for example, problems with Der Blutharsch concerts etc.). Also, it is simply something “exotic”. For a lot of people Israel means zionism and kibbutzes or – on the contrary – orthodox hasidic jews with payotes and hats. But martial music is considered as strongly European and Eurocentric, we have a lot of CDs about European history but not about history of Israel, India, Africa etc. Any comment? Do you consider yourself as European?

First of all, yes, I consider myself as a european. I grew up in Kyiv before my family moved to Israel. Concerning the aesthetics of “martial industrial” fascist don’t necessarily mean racist. As far as I know the majority of martial, neo-folk, ambient and power-electronics don’t support and are capitally opposed to racist and neo-nazi ideas (as a pure modernist ideas). Moreover as an historian I don’t have any problem with historically inspired music.
Most importantly let’s ignore the primitive biases about Israeli society. Israel is a european state for all matters of purpose with it’s own unique demographic challenges. And about Zionism it isn’t less effected by european 19’th and 20’th century thought.

I said that we don’t have a lot of martial/noise/industrial albums about a history of non-European countries. But, of course, you have recored “Noises of Independence”. Please say something more about this material.

The material for this release was recorded during the first months of 2008. That year Israel celebrated it’s 60 years of independence. I considered it a good idea to record something like that, especially since no other Israeli musical project did anything remotely similar. To my surprise.

Kreuzer...

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Tell us about you album “In Hoc Signo Vinces”. It is about crusades. Today we can read everywhere that crusades were something very bad, even stupid, that they were barbaric and primitive. What is your opinion?

First of all I hardly consider them in such light, I consider the principal purpose of the crusades as an original way of self defense, inspired by religious fervor. Secondly a lot of writers take a positive perspective towards the crusade phenomenon, take Rodney Stark’s “God’s Battalions” for example.

We can read in the booklet of “IHSV” that you would like to thank God. There is also a quote of St. Thomas Aquinas. Does it mean that you are Christian / Catholic?

Yes, both.

By the way, did you listen to split album “Empor die Herzen” which was recorded by Zr19.84 and Heiliges Licht? It is also inspired by religious themes because it is dedicated to Archangel Michael. Or do you know “Credo in unum Deum” compilation?

I know the “Credo in unum Deum” compilation very well and like it very much. Refretably I haven’t had the chance to hear the album by ZR19.84 and Heiliges Licht.

“L'Armée Secrète” – please describe us this material, it’s sound and main inspirations.

This EP is dedicated to the french resistance during the second world war, the heroic struggle of La Résistance provided the inspiration. The sounds floats between harsh power electronics with martial industrial flavor and soft melancholic dark ambient.

You’ve recorded a split album “Absinthe (Oder Das Andere Licht Der Wahrheit)” with B-Machine. Do you know Les Joyaux de la Princesse and Blood Axis album about absinthe? Or maybe album “Absinthe” of John Zorn’s jazz-group Naked City? Do you think that there is a second paradox on the “martial / neofolk” scene – that heroic and war themes are as much popular as songs and compositions about decadence, fin-de-siecle, old cafés etc. (Division S, Spiritual Front, Novy Svet – and, of course, your album)?

I know the Les Joyaux de la Princesse and Blood Axis album and like it. I think that the combination between martial aesthetics and the decadence spirit goes well together. The decadence movement developed near the end of the 19’th century and the beginning of the 20’th during the final years of the old regime, consequently it was soaked with the mood of this period. Also let’s not forget that the decadence movement grew up from the romantic movement that flourished one century before it.

What do you think about torrents, rapidshare, blogs with underground music and all those things? Personally, I think that it is good evolution, although I still buy a lot of original CDs and I like when they are pretty-made (like your “IHSV”). What’s your opinion?

Personally I look at it in a positve light, especially when we talk about “our genres”. That’s because lots of releases are produced as limited edition and only a few can obtain the original CD/ LP. Torrents and blogs allow a greater number of people to get to know this musical styles.

What are your main musical plans? When there will be your new CD? And do you have any side-projects or maybe you play in any bands?

I don’t have any side projects since I’m trying to materialize all of my musical visions in Kreuzer. That’s why my sound combines different influences with improvisation.
The material for my new album is already recorded, I only have to find a label to release it. It will be in the mood of “In Hoc Signo Vinces”, martial industrial with ambient tunes.