Nuclear Hailz from Hungary! I ordered your debut tape „Priests of the Bomb” from the distro of the Hungarian label Funeral Chants Productions and I have to say that this is a masterpiece. I really like it’s haunting, menacing and ominous atmosphere. Looking back, are you still satisfied with this material? How were the feedbacks for it?
Veit Vanadium: When we recorded the demo, we didn't know it would turn out so well.
It set the the standard for our upcoming full lenght pretty high.
So yes.
The feedback was pretty good and really surprising comparisons, like the first Teitanblood, but I guess more soundwise.
Approximately how many inteviews have you given through the time? Do you usually reply for interview requests or you only answer them when you have mood for it? Maybe you check the one who wants to fix an interview with you? Is it important for you to participate in a printed zine or webzines are still ok for you?
V.V.: This is the second.
Of course, you're more willing to give one, if it interests you.
Normally we would do it as a band, but this one is just me as a person.
Interviews in general, no matter if fanzine, webzine, blog whatever, are sometimes pretty senseless.
Many Interviews are like, what were your influences, what do you think of the scene and so on.
I guess the most interesting form of an interview would be a real conversation.
But that wasn't the question, if it's interesting it doesn't matter where it's published.
Let’s go back to the past and talk about the creation of the band. Who summoned this entity and who are the members of it right now? According to the booklet of the first demo the band consists of 2 people and you only use session members at gigs, right? Is the band strictly the production of Wishbone and Veit Vanadium?
V.V.: Wishbone and I founded the band, after we recorded the song „Nuclear Magick“ in early 2010.
During the recording of the demo, it wasn't clear if we would ever play live.
Nowadays we have four fullmembers.
Dennis on drums, Din- Tah Aeon plays guitar, Wishbone bass and vocals and of course me guitar and vocals.
Every member can participate in songwriting, but yes it's mainly me and Wishbone, to keep the style.
Your first demo „Priests of the Bomb” was created in autumn 2010. Do you work that fast or these riffs and songs have been already composed prior to the creation of the band? Again I have to say, that it is a very killer debut!
V.V.: I write the riffs at home and then we work out the basic structure of the song, after that Wishbone writes his basslines.
If I remember the recording of the demo correctly, it took a few months. We are definitely not fast haha.
With the uptight, opressing and menacing atmosphere, do you want to draw people’s attention to what’s happening in the world? Or do you use it as a weapon of your propaganda and you are awaiting for the total destruction as soon as it is possible?
V.V: When we started the band, we wrote the music for us. So it's unintentional.
Total destruction awaits! But I wonder in what form it comes. Or will we surpass the great filter?
Luckily, a well-known label in the underground released your first stuff on both tape and LP, namely Iron Bonehead Productions. I guess you are satisfied with their work, right? Are you proud of being under the banner of this label or the only important thing for you is to have a label that distributes your materials? What are your principles when it comes to choosing a label, when do you say yes to a cooperation?
V.V.: We are very satisfied with Iron Bonehead and of course you can be proud to be in conspiracy with such a great guy like Mr. Bonehead.
If you just want to „throw“ out your music you can do it yourself. But with a label like IBP you can be sure, the people get quality!
In 2012 an EP was unleashed with 3 songs, again by Iron Bonehead. What should we know about this material?
V.V.: The EP was recorded in one week for our tour with the mighty Diocletian.
Planck Power was written for the EP, but M.A.D. was originally an unfinished demosong.
Some trivia, we were both sick during the vocal recording, so we couldn't sing like usual.
I guess you are a band that does not play every weekend. How many live performances you had so far and in what countries did you play? How should we imagine a live performance of Nuclear Magick? Do you have special accessories for the live ceremonies? Is there any need for this or you just stand to the stage and play your songs?
V.V.: I guess it's around twelve times in total.
Germany, Italy, France, Switzerland, Czech Republic and United States.
Every concert is unique, since we don't play so often.
We try to keep it dark, we wear robes and burn verbena, but the core of a ritual is the music itself.
In my opinion, this musick is definitely not for big stages and for a huge audience of thousands of people. What is your opinion about his, do you agree with me? Would you accept an invitation for example to Wacken Open Air?
V.V.: Our music does not work very well on open air stages.
I prefer club gigs. But I would play something like Chaos Descends anytime.
From the mood of your art I got the conclusion, that you don’t want to be famous with your music, rather you are expressing your own personal state and you realize it through music. Are you interested in how many fanatics of Nuclear Magick there are? Are you in touch with your audience? There are bands who don’t give a fuck about this but if someone buys their material it’s ok. What is your opinion on this?
V.V.: Haha! Hell no! Music is passion and that's how we keep it.
Everybody can talk to us, if they meet us in person.
I don't bother with bands I don't like, nobody should.
There is a huge Doom influence in your music, in the most desperate and disenchanted way. Besides that there is a mixture of Black and Death Metal in your art, with a monotonous and puritan touch. With this fusion, you managed to create something interesting and exciting. Who would you name as your biggest influences? Can you imagine, that in the name of „progression” you will move towards a more popular direction throughout the years?
V.V.: Of course I can only name MY biggest influences.
I'm really into Doom Metal and subgenres.
I just throw in some names.
Saint Vitus, Pentagram, Disembowelment, Witchfinder General, Autopsy, Archgoat....
I guess we already „moved on“ since „progression“ is unavoidable, but not in a popular direction.
You evolve as a human and musician, that's just life.
Music, as well as other artistic manifestations, is a medium, with which the artist provides his inner entity towards the world and the audience. Do you agree on this? If it was not music, what do you think, what would be the form of art with which you could express yourself the best? Guess you don’t think about it usually, but let’s play with the idea now.
V.V.: Writing would be pretty interesting, but I'm not sure what I would write haha
Sadly I suck in drawing, painting and so on, even my handwriting is messy.
Painting would be the ultimate expression for me.
Many artists use alcohol or drugs in order to reach a change in the state of mind and many claim that it helps in order to carry out artistic visions better and deeper. What do you think about this?
V.V.: Of course you can do what you want.
I work the best when I'm sober.
But I lack the experience.
Nuclear armament, chaos, war and destruction of nature is a matter of everyday life and can be mentioned as a non-musical influence of you, right? What do you think about this question? Is it normal, that among others, the great powers are starting wars simply because of financial reasons?
V.V.: History in general is my biggest non musical influence.
The cold war is a great example for the madness of „enlighted“ society.
It's humans nature to strive and causes for conflicts remained the same over the centuries.
What do you think about the exploitation of nature? I think it is disgusting what humans are doing. We are breeding like parasites and after that we are crying that the Earth can’t maintain us. What would be the ideal solution for this? Maybe a 3rd World War? Do you care about your environment and nature in order to pollute it minimally?
V.V.: In my opinion we're simply just a part of nature, I don't like to exclude humanity as something „special“. The earth itself doesn't care, there were bigger catastrophes than us and they will happen even after us.
A perfect solution for all problems?
Of course something like a big war to throw us back into the middle ages can help haha
Or the technological singularity.
OR we get caught in the great filter.
Germany has a really wide underground metal scene. With who are you in contact, are there any bands who are friends of yours? What labels and zines would you recommend us to check? Are you dealing with the underground spirit at all, or you are just doing your things and don’t care about the scene?
V.V.: The german underground may be big, but everybody knows everybody and if not your friend knows.
It would be a long list.
I only can recommend our own label, since we never worked with other labels.
But I can recommend our local promoters from Unholy Metal Mayhem!
True manics!
Sometimes I`m helping out with gear for underground concerts and I visit the most underground concerts here, so you can count me as one of the active underground supporters!
Tell us about the future plans of the band! What do you want to realize under the name of Nuclear Magick? Thank you for your answers and time, the last words are yours.
V.V.: Releasing our full lenght and repeat.
For my part, I just want to manifest our thoughts.
I'm not a fan of delusions of what will come. I live now.
Thanks for the interview.
Interview by Dr.A.
