VO.I.D
"a thunderous prayer, a joyful emanation of expression"
answers by Martin Jarolím
How would you shortly introduce VO.I.D?
We are an orchestra, manoeuvring instorms and white-light. We trans/be-thunder the world's din into transcendence´sSilence. We operate with intensivity, we being Vojtich Hanka (currentlyreplaced by Robert Hnát - ed.) - noiseophone and Martin Jarolím - effect-edvocal outbursts.
Could you somehow define the musicof VO.I.D?
A magnanimous uproar with a circularconception of time.
What was your musical and personalevolution like?
Thoroughly disjointed, tangled yet continuous:once upon a time, when Vojtich passed through his orthodox punk phasehe took command of the electric guitar in the "Etyoi promile" group.Thereupon, smitten by the commencing EBM he became responsible for theone-man project Furnace. He also pitched in with metallic percussionfor the industrially-improvisational tandem Spess Art. I have been weanedby the alternative Rock in Opposition. As a drummer I was swept offmy feet by the charismatic Chris Cutler. Soon I have experienced an"ontological enlightenment" through noiseous antimusic. I also reverevarious ethnic music. Vojtich is rather oriented towards more harmoniousphenomena. Notwithstanding that we are governed by a mutual symbiosis- by the name of VO.I.D.
The music of VO.I.D is very intense,pulverising blocks of the superficial, tired and slumbering consciousness.How do you yourselves experience it?
A fulminating prayer, joyous gushingforth of expression.
Another typical aspect of VO.I.Dis the language you use. How is it construed?
It is a spontaneous "articulation" ofenergy, equivalent to the music's texture. Verbalisations may be misleading.The purpose of our "words" is phonic, not semantic.
Many consider your music as "dark".What do you gather from their judgement?
Dark words. As Havel wrote: "The outlinesof terror induce the will to fight them." We dwell in lightness, thoughby roaring gloom. "He who is not eagle should not nest over abysses."
Do you also have other studio orconcert players?
Miroslav "Mupa" Zahajský. A man versedin electronics and composition. An admirer of Liszt and Wagner, butalso Kraftwerk or Laibach. He has treated us to orchestral samples andsome of their sculptural parts. A highly emphatic man.
In what direction is VO.I.D likelyto move? Are you open to current trends, are you considering takingon more players or new instruments?
That is the question. Though mindfulof our sensibility, we are often surprised with where we are heading:we have already undergone a third complete metamorphosis and anotheris already hovering close by. Our evolution "intelliges" a certain "peculiar"(guardian) "attractor". Wherein we have invested our faith and are questioningmerely the course of its future drive. "The Spirit wafts where it will."- Let us wait and eventually see.
Don´t you ever consider yourselves,at least in the context of the local scene, as a kind of "dinosaurs"?
Rather as "pterodactyls", fractal virusesor night-worms.
Do you think or secretly hope somesort of "revival" of industrial music will ensue?
In the least. - The temporal orbit ofeach musical wave is approx. 20 years and its return is always a fashionablederivation of the original. We nourish a hope that anything that ispure and alive in industrial music (or anywhere else) may flourish ceaselesslyinto structures beyond our grasp. We defy the post-modern (or "post-fashionable")eclecticism, where disparate forms cross-breed erratically and thusdevaluating all content, of which we are ardent advocates. We do notcondemn experimental fusion, if it is a creative means, not sterileblending for the sake of blending. We are not inveterate purists. Weinvoke new emergence. MARAN ATHA!
What should the ideal sound of VO.I.Dbe like according to you? Can words describe it at all? What shouldit comprise of?
An "eidetic" ideal of sound is beyondour given possibilities. It would be a hypersonic outburst, an absorptiveProto-tone, burning its way into the Unbeholdable. Words cannot approachits essence - perhaps a fragrance or death could come nearer. It shouldbe created by a strong electromagnetic emission, the shimmer of thestars. It should contain tectonic vibrations, the smell of roes, proteinsand angelic lovingness, loving agression.
What does sound mean to you, it'sstrength or colour?
A potential mystical initiation - vertigoand being.
What do you think of the contemporaryCzech musical scene?
It is to us as we are to it: shame,disgrace and ignominy.
What parts of it do you considerauthentic, what do you value in it?
Especially kindred ensembles, but asidefrom those also Kokolia and Muchow, PPU + DG 307, Michael's Uncle.
And abroad?
I am predominantly linked to noise spitfires(Sutcliffe Jugend, Taint, Grey Wolves, Einleitungszeit, Merzbow), musiqueconcrete, ethno and grind. Vojtech imbibes Skinny Puppy, Coil, DeadCan Dance, some of triphop, EBM and classical industrial.
What kind of thoughts stand behindyour music? To what regions do you venture through it?
Thoughts of moisture, electricity andarchonts. Sultry wombs, deterministic chaos. We often venture into thebowels of planets, bird's blood and fire.
Do you feel isolated, or perhapsa part of something being born, bringing forth light into the future?
In the framework of our isolation wefeel as part of anything within the transversal nets of circumstances.Yet we are alone in the soar of our contemporaneity. We are ingrowingwith fellow authors into this fate of isolating mutuality. That we maybe the light that is to come, through now being dusk onto ourselves."He who has not tasted bitterness shall not know sweetness."
In one of your reviews I have comeupon the assessment "cellular furnace". What do you think of this assertion?
A full assertion, worthy of unexpectedbiopsy.
I think that VO.I.D are in any casemore than music. How do you perceive this?
Sub specie aeternitatis we are all morethan ourselves - the same goes for what we occasion. In form there isnone of arch-mindedness nor finality, only symbol and approximationto fire: launch the form!
What does VO.I.D, or music (anti-music)in general, mean to you?
A single hand applauding. The ignitionof congenial understanding.
The final question. You are knownto be great lovers of literature. Could you mention some favourite titlesor authors?
One title for all - The Holy Writ.
Any message to our readers?
Space is the solid state of time. Timeis a diluted consequence of the will. Sound is in motion and motionin silence. All is carried upon its absence. Be alert, people!
(Czech original published in OrphanAgefanzine summer 1997, for Art and Industry)
translated by Silvia