:Golgatha: Interview for Bewitched magazine (April 2008) by Necromancer

Answers by Christoph Donarski of :Golgatha:

1.how are you?

Currently I have a lot of different jobs to do, which is fulfilling but stressing at the same time. Used to be better some time ago...

2.which are the things that you want to express with your music and lyrics?

:Golgatha: is kind of audio mythology by the means of ritual- and folk-music. We try to express a certain vision of the respectively chosen subject of each album or project we are involved in. This can be very strictly concentrated on a certain topic like on 'Seven Pillars', which collects reflections on the myth of T.E. Lawrence of Arabia – or we work more associative like on 'Tales of Transgression & Sacrifice' which is a more personal access to these philosophical ideas.

3.are you in touch with paganism?

Despite our name :Golgatha: is in fact not a Christian project. All people involved have their own ideas of spirituality, but what may connect us would be an awareness of nordic shamanism, animism and in a way pantheism – the idea that sacred powers lie within all natural creations on earth.

4.tell me your favourite tracks from your latest work?

I personally prefer 'Garden of Love', 'Man of Fire' and 'Tunguska' on 'Tales', but I still like several tracks on 'Seven Pillars' a lot, especially those with string arrangements. I am still very proud of 'Icarus' in the version sung by Patrick Leagas, which is a very strong folk song.

5.which are the bands that you respect the most?

I am heavily influenced by early Leonard Cohen albums, late Johnny Cash, Woven Hand, Steve von Till, Dead Can Dance, Death in June, Sol Invictus, Sixth Comm, Nico, early Tangerine Dream, Vasilisk, Graeme Revell, Lustmord, the soundtracks by Clint Mansell and Arvo Pärt.

6.how you record you album? Is there any particular preparation before the recordings?

The recordings happen in two steps usually: I am collecting ideas, sounds and vocal parts on my own home recording facilities, then we meet at the studio to record the acoustic instrument and arrange and mix the songs in a professional manner. I am collecting ideas and sounds all the time, so several projects might progress continually. For example the coming album 'Sang Graal' was built with Dawn & Dusk Entwined at the time 'Tales' was finished. On the other hand some tracks on 'Tales' date back to 2006.

7.is your next album going to be different than the first one?

Yes, 'Sang Graal' contains 50% of Dawn & Dusk Entwined and is therefor an album composed in symbiosis with the talented Frenchman. While our first album 'Waste Land' is pure ritual-abient-msuic, ''Tales' may be considered the purest expression of our personal ritual folk sound today, and 'Sang Graal' will appear more neo classical and martial atmospherically. Anyway it will contain folk songs and very dark ambient parts. This combination seems to confuse some people who always need pure genre works – but we don't work and think in such a limited way. :Golgatha: has many faces mingling and separating as necessary. If you would like to understand the concept, one has to go with the given flow...

8.which kinds of music do you listen to?

I used to be very open some years back, but over the last years I am more and more interested in bands from the dark ambient, pagan ritual, folk and atmospheric industrial sectors. Recently I re-discovered some bands from my past: Fields of the Nephilim and Neurosis, Joy Division and David Bowie.

9.are you plan to play your music live?

We played live three times so far: at the Wave Gotik Treffen (Leipzig, Germany, 2007), at Zurich (Switzerland, 2007) and at Augsburg (Germany, 2008) together with Sol Invictus. The recent one was the most satisfying for us, for we work well as a band now. We are in negotiation with some concert organizers in Portugal, Spain, Italy and Poland and have the strong wish to play more in future.

10.future plans?

We will appear on some compilations in 2008, by Cold Meat Industry and by Beast of Prey magazine among them. In addition we are collecting ideas for a new album on the subject of 'Nihilism', but this is in a very early state. It will not appear before summer of 2009. And there might be a collection of videos to selected songs in the style of our artwork, with concert footage as a bonus. This might appear on Cold Meat some time in the future. We are in very good cooperation with Roger Karmanik and he seems very open to our concept and ideas...
There might be an e.p. some time in future with cover versions called 'Love songs from the Waste Land' - melancholic tunes based on Joy Division, Death in June, Leonard Cohen etc. But this still has to happen really...

11.last words ?

I see a certain growth of interest in our work which makes me really happy. :Golgatha: is not elitist but a means of communication, so this voice should be heard. Reactions are also very motivating. Thanks to all of you who dared to get in contact. This is really appreciated! But never forget: To fall – not to fly – is the law...