TROGOOL - Interview may 2018

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Hello Bryan. Thank you for responding favorably to this interview request. Let's start from the beginning ... I did not find anything on the net about the story of your project. Can you present the genesis of it ?

Hello and thanks for taking the time to do this interview. I always find “origin stories” hard to answer. Nothing is quite as simple as, “I woke up one day and decided to make a dungeon synth album,” is it? I was always interested in making this style of music, and I tried for many years. Between about 2013 and 2015 I was “rediscovering” myself musically after some previous projects were finished, and I decided that I needed to get serious about virtual orchestra music. I noticed that a lot of my time, energy, and money was being spent on it, but I really didn’t know how to do it properly, nor did I know who would listen to it. I was already getting started educating myself and making some progress when a friend showed me Arath. After exploring Arath, Murgrind, and Grimrik, I was heartened to find really good, well presented music that was in the same general style of what I wanted to do, and I felt I finally had found an audience.

Prior to that, I had followed some of the “new wave” of dungeon synth but did not find much that I felt was as interesting to me as Era 1 Mortiis, or other ambient / folk / symphonic / whatever style music I was already listening to. Interestingly, my first idea was to do something FM synth based, like Abandoned Places, who I felt were the most memorable of the “New Wave of DS” projects I had heard at the time; but my musical tendencies are too melodic and dynamic for that sort of approach, so I naturally turned back to the orchestral stuff I was already doing.

My choice of “Dunsanian” and similar themes was not arbitrary, either. As many metal fans are, I was always interested in bands that explored such themes as fantasy, mythology, etc., but I wasn’t always very good at it myself. My own concepts and lyrics were typically more personal, even when they drew from such sources. But I was taking a break from making music with lyrics, so it seemed like a good time to explore what worked and what didn’t in a framework that I had always felt I should be able to work in.

Literature has always been a big influence and I always found HP Lovecraft’s Dunsanian stories (and by extension, Dunsany’s work) to be very inspirational for instrumental music. I had been experimenting with such ideas for many years, on and off, and I guess it finally just clicked.

How would you describe your music to someone who has never heard Trogool ?

I usually just use simple terms like “fantasy music” or “symphonic / orchestral”; or I describe it with the usual terms like “epic” and “atmospheric,” and let people decide for themselves. I suppose it depends on the person.

Which artists have made you want to become a musician? By extension, what are the sources of musical inspiration behind Trogool ?

I think, like a lot of people, my inspirations are far reaching and stretch way back through my whole life. And they probably aren’t too predictable, either. I’m pretty sure I wanted to make music from a very young age. I always loved the music in my favorite movies and video games and the connection between music and other media was pretty apparent to me fairly early on. I already enjoyed quite a variety of music as a kid before discovering metal culture, but of course, there were a number of years where I really identified as a metal guy and wanted to play guitar like all the shredders. I got pretty serious about it when I got my first guitar at age ten. I wanted to be as good as Eric Johnson, but sadly I still haven’t learned “Cliffs of Dover.”

Since I always liked soundtracks and orchestral music, when I got into metal as a kid I naturally gravitated toward bands who brought in such elements. One of my earliest memories of being really blown away by a metal album was when I stole my brother’s copy of Celtic Frost’s To Mega Therion when I was twelve years old, and the brass and guitars and timpani kicked in. I was not expecting that!

As a teenager I was really impressed by the “non-metal” tracks by bands like Finntroll and Bal-Sagoth, which went above and beyond mere “intro and outro” music and were more like self contained songs that you could hum along to as much as the full-on metal tracks. I mentioned to a friend that it would be cool if someone just made albums in that style and he told me to check out Mortiis. I would say that was a pretty pivotal point in my life, when my interest in virtual orchestral music really took off. I started to really try to figure out how it was done and how I could do it too. It gave me some kind of direction at a time when I was still pretty naïve. People often point out Basil Poledouris as one of my influences, and that is absolutely true. But pretty much anything “epic / fantasy / atmospheric” was on my radar from an early age. I was profoundly affected by both the film and the score for Jurassic Park at about age eight, I recall.

On that point, one thing I always like to bring up, because I think it’s one of the most influential moments of my musical development is that when I was very young (maybe seven or eight years old) my brother showed me the SNES game Ogre Battle V: March of the Black Queen. Much of the music in that game has always been like magic to me, ever since then.

Tolkien's work has often been used as a reference in the Metal scene as well as in the Dungeon synth groups ... But Trogool is inspired by a less well-known author in France and Belgium : Lord Dunsany. Why this choice ?

As stated above, the Dunsanian approach is not an arbitrary gimmick. Tolkien is wonderful, but so many people already do it, I’ve never felt as if I needed to add anything of my own. I enjoy experiencing other people’s Tolkien music rather than trying to create more myself. Tolkien may just be less of an obviously direct source of inspiration for me. I’ve often looked to Roger Garland’s Tolkien paintings for inspiration.

There are a lot of authors and themes I want to use, but this is just what has worked so far. I didn’t want to just choose something random so I could make fantasy dungeon synth. I wanted it to be something a bit deeper than that, because I work best by having a real connection to something, even if it’s just a simple concept or image. I always just try to go with whatever gets me in the zone.

When I was about fifteen I borrowed some HP Lovecraft books from a friend and that’s where I discovered the “Dunsanian” style. I was totally taken with Lovecraft’s Dream-Cycle stories and I’ve read and re-read them continually since. Dunsany came a bit later, after I’d digested Lovecraft and gotten a college degree in writing and literature. Dunsany gave me more of that dreamy, poetic style I found so captivating. The vagueness, the poetic language, the overall atmosphere all do a good job getting my creative juices flowing. It’s rather literary, too, and the deep ideas are all packed into memorable phrases that make for evocative song titles.

The word "Trogool" comes from the work of Lord Dunsany. I explained in my review of "In the Mists..." briefly what this word and its concept meant. But what does it mean to you ?

Trogool personifies concepts I find very fascinating in general. In the book, The Gods of Pegana, It and It’s Book are beyond the gods, they represent forces that are inexorable, impersonal, and that cannot be controlled by anyone, Man or God. I also find some interesting parallels in Trogool to the works of authors like Joseph Campbell and to other mythological traditions (as you pointed out in your review, to “That” and to the “ultimate mystery”). Dunsany is often pretty specific about his gods, but Trogool—who is not a god—is known in many lands by many names. What It represents is something beyond complete understanding or worship.

This is a theme I’m constantly exploring; the idea that there is something that moves us continually to create and to explore, but that cannot be directly known or understood. Campbell might call these things “Masks of God.” Obviously this doesn’t work %100 with Dunsany, because he has already given us many gods who are pretty straight forward. But Trogool adds perspective to Dunsany’s universe. It’s sort of like a force of Nature. The character Time is also a bit like Trogool, but Time is more calculating and malicious; Trogool just exists.

I was certain when I was setting about starting the project that I didn’t want it to be “run-of-the-mill.” I wanted it to have its own personality. I worked with Wappenschmied on the logo and we agreed that it would be best to avoid the common stuff like Mjolnirs and that sort of thing. I’m proud of what he came up with. I think it’s a great visual representation of the whole concept of the project. I suppose Trogool the character reflects my innate need to make everything complicated and existential—Ha! But I think it also leaves things open for variety, too, by not being overly specific or even typical with the themes. My music then doesn’t have to just stick to certain themes or atmospheres, so it’s easier to keep it fresh.

Aside from Dunsany's work, I'm pretty sure fantasy literature is a great source of inspiration for you. Can you name 3 books (or more) that you would recommend to our readers and that particularly marked you? What are you reading now ?

Right now I’m actually reading more academic / scholarly stuff, namely, The Song of the Earth by Jonathan Bate. And I suppose I’ve already recommended Dunsany and Lovecraft. But, though it’s hard to pick just three, I can recommend three excellent fantasy / sci-fi series:

1. Tad Williams’ Memory Sorrow and Thorn trilogy (Begins with The Dragonbone Chair).

2. Ursula K Le Guin’s Earthsea series (Begins with A Wizard of Earthsea)

3. Dan Simmons’ Hyperion Cantos (Begins with Hyperion)

When I saw that you came from Illinois, I was quite surprised. The medieval inspirations come mainly from the European folklore ... Have you already come to Europe ?

I was only in Europe once when I was very young. Unfortunately I have not been back since. I guess my interests are just European! I don’t consider Trogool specifically “medieval,” though. “Fantasy” is more proper, I think.

Only one draw !!!! haha

As you can see, I am incapable of giving simple answers… Sorry.

- Mortiis or Depressive Silence ?

Mortiis, for sure. I have little experience with Depressive Silence, actually, though some of what I’ve heard is pretty great.

- "Conan The Barbarian" or "The Neverending Story" ?

Conan! Though I think the Neverending Story is maybe more “Dunsanian.” It’s been a long, long time since I’ve had any experience with it.

- Tolkien or Michel Moorcock ? 
You’re killing me! Tolkien, perhaps. Though I love Moorcock, particularly the Von Beck stories….

- Krull or Willow ?

These are actually two of my favorite fantasy movies. It would kill me to choose only one!

- Zelda or Castlevania?

Castelvania is awesome, but older Zelda is pretty nostalgic for me.

- Immortal soul ou mortal body ?

Mortal Body. I don’t think we’re much without it.

- Elves or Dwarfs ?

I find I’m partial to Dwarves, at least in computer games.

- Vikings or Game of Thrones ?

Never really got seriously into either. GoT, probably, at least the first two or three seasons that I saw.

- Belgian beer or French wine ?

No contest! Belgian beer, absolutely!

- Stormy Daniels or Melania Trump ? (haha)

Yikes! Can I just have both Krull and Willow instead?

If it is not too intimate, what are your philosophical or spiritual convictions? Have you had spiritual experiences that would explain the almost mystical side of your music?

I guess I gave some of it away with my explanation of Trogool and all that Joseph Campbell stuff. I do not have any spiritual beliefs, just philosophical ideas. I don’t believe in any gods or anything, but I am very interested in the psychological and metaphorical aspects of human creativity and how we see and interact with our world. People often say that experiencing Nature is “spiritual,” and I would agree. I always get a lot of good out of spending time in Nature and enjoy long hikes in beautiful and wild places. As for the “mystical” side of the music, I suppose it comes down to the evocative, dreamy nature of the source material.

"Beyond the River Skai" is for me one of the best albums of DS ever released to date ... do you work on the next album?

Thank you! I’m glad you enjoy it. Yes, the third Trogool release (second full length album) is basically done. There are just a few things to get sorted out and then the release can be planned.

Last words are yours...

Thanks again for your interest in Trogool. Keep an eye out for the next release, coming this year.

Since it appears Dunsany was recently translated for your audience, I wish you all happy reading!