Interview: [ B O L T ]
Tell us about your latest release: the main concept; what fans should expect; what were/are your goals with it:
Our latest LP is a collaboration album with LAVAS MAGMAS from Gainesville, Florida (USA). I think I discovered his Soundcloud or Bandcamp page some years ago and loved his sounds from the first listen on. I showed his music to the rest of [ B O L T ] and asked if they could imagine to do a split or collaboration. They affirmed and so I got in contact with LAVAS MAGMAS and we concocted this album: one song per band and one song together. All in all we worked a long time on everything and now the listener can expect a record in the fields of drone, ambient and soundscapes. The songs grow little by little and create musical boscages with a few spots of light. There is no doom and no metal like on our latest album. The collaboration LP has a way more atmospheric and layered ambient and drone sound.
Did you have a specific sound in mind when you formed the band, or did that grow and evolve as you played together?
That’s a huge question! When [ B O L T ] started back in early 2011 we were thinking of doing slow, dark and unduly repetitive music with just two bass guitars and some melodically snippets. Then we added long-fading drones and swells to the sound and got a bit more extensive. After three albums and several splits, collaborations and projects we were joined by a drummer in 2016. [ B O L T ]’s sound got even more structured and we swayed between dark and slow sounds and fast and rough riffs. Our latest album is the result of this journey. Right now we are a bass guitar duo again and we will see how our sounds will evolve.
How does your writing process normally work out?
In general one of us has a simple riff or swell concept and we just start to build something around this first idea. After a while a structure emerges and we arrange riffs, parts and ideas until we are happy with the result. Sometimes an idea gets pre-structured or otherwise prepared at home but mostly everything happens while rehearsing.
What are your ambitions and how far do you want to push your band?
Since the line up and the sounds of [ B O L T ] are a bit off track and really not everyones taste we have no career ambitions or something like that. In fact we are happy to be able to create our songs and show them to an interested audience. We know that some people like our straight doom riffs while other prefer the endless drones. And even adding drums and fast beats was accepted by our fans. I think we are a lucky band to have these options and our ambitions might be that we will keep on creating atmospheres, evolving from silence to noise and from slowness to blast beats. And we will keep on working with other artists and bands to expand our sound.
What are your influences/musical references and the impact those same influences had in your sound?
Of course drone and doom had a huge impact on our sound and we still listen to several artists of these genres. But black metal, jazz and ambient also influenced the way we think about our sound concept. We try to combine genres on a record but also within one song. And since we listen to so many different bands and genres I think that this all affects our song writing.
What’s next for you?
Right now we are working on a split with MORASTH and we have a long time project with a butoh dancer. Both projects should be finished in 2019 and released as soon as possible. Next to that we have another N + [ B O L T ] album ready to be released this winter. And we will start to write songs for our next album.