Orkus Interview
Kirchohmfeld »Sic Transit Gloria Mundi«

“We dream our lives”

translation www.deepl.com

Actually, the recently released concept album “Sic Transit Gloria Mundi” by the German experimental duo Kirchohmfeld is a real sound nightmare. Psychedelic sounds and chimes, dark melodies and basses that seem to echo in the deepest abysses underline one of the strangest collections of classical German poetry I have ever encountered.

A. On the CD, Neumann and G. Eminger process texts by Eichendorff, Nietzsche, Hofmannsthal, Goethe and various other authors and combine them with historical language samples, sounds and everything that supports the album’s traumatic mood. It is a musical experiment that seeks to combine sung classical lyrics, an overarching philosophy and sound experiments. This interesting approach finally led to the following interview with the rather shy artists.

KIRCHOHMFELD

Orkus: Who is behind Kirchohmfeld? Tell me something about you, please.

Kirchohmfeld: Kirchohmfeld is a construct of thought. The personal individuality of the participants is insignificant. We do not attach any importance to anonymity in the strict sense - the equally exaggerated counterpart to the personality cult - but we prefer not to answer questions about ourselves personally.

Are you guys active in other musical fields?

Apart from Kirchohmfeld, we have no mental or temporal space to be active in other musical projects. But Kirchohmfeld is a broad artistic platform. One part of Kirchohmfeld is involved in book projects, the other in painting.

What does the name Kirchohmfeld mean? How does it relate to the Ohmgebirge low mountain range mentioned in the booklet?

The name offers many possibilities of interpretation. As you have already noticed, there is a connection between the name and the mountains you mentioned. In these mountains there is indeed the village of Kirchohmfeld with the same name. It represents the last corner post to be determined in geographical space, the bridge to our spiritual world. Here, living in exile, we want to surrender our thoughts.
In a syllabic separation (Kirch-Ohm-Feld), the tension between civilisation, technology and nature in which we live becomes apparent.

Will there be further publications under the name Kirchohmfeld, or is it a unique project?

Originally it was founded in 1994 as a unique project. In the meantime, however, we intend to continue it. We are currently working on material that is oriented towards the industrial of the 1980s, including the style of early Nocturnal Emissions and Coil.

You combine mainly texts by well-known German poets and thinkers with almost alpine or feverishly dreamy music and sound collages. What was the basic idea behind the creation of this CD?

So you have already beautifully expressed our basic idea in your own words. The album tells of a recurring hike, starting point and destination are identical. We want to symbolize eternal suffering like a rebirth of penance. “Sic transit gloria mundi” is based on a drama concept characterized by an arc of tension. The composition (i.e. selection of poems, percussion, change of tempo, choice of key, voice samples) corresponds to this.

How would you describe your music?

That’s an interesting question. But? we think, because of the lack of distance, it is difficult for any artist, no matter what his profession, to describe his work. On the contrary, we challenge our future listeners individually to form their own opinion.

How important are dreams to you?

We dream our lives.

Do you think that “civilized” humanity is now suffering from a lack of phantasmagoria?

Our society may not suffer from a lack of phantasmagoria, but to what extent is this desirable? Most people buy them in the supermarket of the media landscape instead of becoming aware of their own dreams. Dreams as commodities.

What are your sound experiments for? What (personal) goal do you pursue with this?

Experimental music defends itself against a boring, thoughtless and not innovative musical landscape, the mainstream. Our personal goal was simply to implement our ideas as effectively as possible with little equipment (mainly effect devices).

Would you call yourselves “eccentric” people?

Name: A. + G. = K. Maybe we seem eccentric, we accept that, but we don’t aim for it. What does “eccentric” mean? In the cultural landscape defined by fashion and media, “eccentricity” only means a contradiction between the familiar and the, apparently, new.

Do you see yourselves as modern, psychedelic advocates of German prose and poetry?

In a way, yes?. You practically took the answer away with your question.

What does the symbol of the butterfly on the cover mean?

The butterfly stands for the metamorphosis of the soul. He thematizes again the endless wanderings, the whole album is to be understood as a whole. Panta Rhei! We all walk on our path of life like a river in its eternal cycle from its apparent origin to its destination?

Du murmelst so, mein Fluß, warum?
Du trägst seit alten Tagen
Ein seltsam Märchen mit dir um
Und mühst dich, es zu sagen
Eduard Mörike

You’re mumbling so, my river, why?
You’ve been wearing
A strange fairy tale with you around
And struggling to say it
Eduard Mörike (German poet, 19th century)

Some speakers will have a hard time surviving your music (fortunately mine are still alive). Should the subsonic frequencies directly make the subconscious tingling, or what else is behind it?

We are glad that your loudspeakers “sic transit gloria mundi” survived without damage? The foundation for exalted highs can only be deep basses? Working on consciously influencing sounds has always fascinated us - some such sounds were processed, e.g. an electronically encrypted text passage in one of the pieces.

Do you have any contacts to the “black scene”? If so, what do you think of this scene?

We appreciate the “black scene”, especially as a part of Kirchohmfeld was already DJing in it years ago. Recently, however, there has been a certain tendency towards superficiality. For example, the exaggerated S/M cult, which we sometimes find very dishonest.

Finally, one of the classic questions: what do you hate or love most in this world?

Hate love loves hating.

Orkus 10/1007 - by Alexander Maciol

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