"MY MAIN GOAL IS TO HAVE APL BE THE BIGGEST BAND IN THE WORLD!"
Yes, that is none other than Damian Master of A Pregnant Light holding an Action News Morning Mug. I sent it to him after naming his 2014 release My Game Doesn’t Have a Name my Top Extreme Metal Album of 2014. Churning out awesome songs with great riffs and hooks all day has to make you thirsty, right?
Anyway, APL made my 2015 list by releasing the single No Longer N 2 U. It is a fantastic song that waves the flag of APL like nothing else Mr. Master has released to date. APL has found its sound and its mastermind is now ready to push this one past the goal line.
But will he? Master is an ambitious dude who fronts an extreme metal band that employs harsh vocals and tremolo picking - but the band simply rocks. Is it crazy to have huge ambitions when you’re side-winding through a number of genres that just don’t have broad appeal? Crazier things have happened on this planet of ours. Didn’t December in the Northeast feel more like September? Isn’t a reality TV star leading the race for the GOP nomination? Aren’t all Philadelphia sports teams missing the playoffs for the second straight season?
So, my thinking is, Damian Master has a chance at bringing A Pregnant Light to the masses - on his terms. I think he is one of the most inventive musicians extreme metal has to offer these days because he is bringing talented songwriting to the table and he cares about musical structure and band imagery more than most. I was shocked when I saw Social Distortion on MTV when I attended college - this was a band that exemplified uncompromising and non-commercial California punk rock! Blasphemy! APL will never be on MTV because it doesn’t show videos anymore (at least I don’t think they do) but call me crazy - I think this band has a chance at being a household name, despite its abrasive vibe. There, I said it!
I sent Damian Master a bunch of questions about his latest single No Longer N 2 U and what APL has planned for 2016. Here are his responses:
Did you record No Longer N 2 U with the musicians who played drums and bass on My Game Doesn’t Have a Name? The song’s production is very different from APL’s other releases this year.
I did! The shell of that song was recorded at the same time as Game, but the more I looked at it in the context of the record, I didn’t think it fit on there. To me, it was kind of too similar in vibe to “Fresh Flower Offering” but more like the evil-twin version if that makes sense. hah. It became pretty clear that it didn’t belong on the record so, we left it half-finished and focused on doing the rest of the record. Some months passed and I remembered that I was sitting on this track, and booked some more studio time (which was a miserable experience) and went in and finished it. I really like how the vocals and lyrics came together, and the bass is especially ripping on this song. I fought with the guy recording me on the bridge section with the auto-tune in the vocals before I just gave up and let it be what it was. He just wasn’t interested in following my direction, which is really funny because who is paying who? I’m happy with how the song turned out, but it could have been cooler. This song ended up costing me almost half of what the entire last record cost me. Totally ludicrous. People have this idea that I’m some famous musician, or that I’m rich… I assure you… this is not the case at all. Since I figured I had so much financially invested into the song, I thought I’d release it on 7" single, which is not a very profitable format, but one that’s close to my heart. The music and lyrics stand on their own too. The lyrics were written the day before I recorded them, so as far as the story of APL, even though the music is from the era of the full length, the narrative is current. I see no point in backtracking ever, it’s about moving forward, but since I could update my lyrical narrative, I thought it was a good opportunity to release the song.
Is the song title a tip of the hat to Prince, or a crafty way to throw off a listener’s expectations?
Regardless of what people think about my approach, I have never and I will never do anything solely to throw off listeners’ expectations. I do what I want, and what seems right to me, and I think I have a really cool supporter base that keeps up with me for the most part. The song title is I suppose a bit of a tip of the hat to Prince, and all those late 80s early 90s bands that spelled things like that. It was the era where everything was “X-treme” and stuff. Kind of silly, but I suppose certainly never bad to evoke Prince in someone’s mind. He’s the original purple one!!
As prolific as your musical output continues to be, do you foresee coalescing towards making APL your artistic focus one day?
That’s a great question, because APL is unique in that it’s the only of my many projects that I do where I work alone in the creative process. So, all these other avenues sort of “get in where they fit in.” I’m trying to focus in and make stuff that really kicks. Stuff that really bangs. For some bands, they fall into making the music they want to make, but they make it thinking that they’re giving their supporters what they want. I really went the opposite direction, not for the sake of being contradictory, but because it was where I was being led creatively, and I released the All Saints’ Day demo and I thought people would hate it, but they totally loved it! I was humbled, but I think the next full length I’m working towards will probably be more along the lines of the first one, but hopefully even better. I think APL has the most potential, but it’s not like I’m forgoing opportunities with APL to make these other projects happen. That’s not the case at all. My main goal is to have APL be the biggest band in the world! I wish that was the case, I’d love nothing more than to dedicate myself to the project fully. I don’t think these other projects are interfering. I think about how a chef works in a restaurant. He crafts his dishes, he works on presentation, but when he goes home, he still has to cook. I’m not saying these other projects are lesser, but I am saying they’re far more immediate and quick. Like, Aksumite - it’s very primal and raw. It’s not fussed over. It’s the sandwich from the fridge late at night. It’s got beauty in that, and it’s not trying to be anything more than that.
The public image of APL has become very personal for you, has that changed anything about you or your music?
Absolutely. When you create behind this veil, you protect yourself from the barbed opinions of others. Since everything is so open and personal, I sort invite the entire world to make judgments on my personal life, and to look in and see how I process my pain, my emotions, my heart and my work. So, if someone says “it sucks,” it does sting a bit more, because great care is taken to not wrap things in gaudy or ornate metaphor. I try avoid complicated language and to speak directly to the listener in a way I don’t see a lot of bands in metal doing. The people around me, they realize that they’re now very clearly a part of my artistic story. My journey, the way I express myself. It will get more and more personal, but like I mentioned, the goal is to speak specifically enough to be captivating, but remain open to having people find themselves in what I do. My experiences aren’t unique, or maybe they are, I’m not sure. I feel like a pretty normal person. I’m very proud of, for better or worse, not letting perceptions change my music. I try to balance listening to some feedback, but remaining on my path. I guess, now that things are personal and people are watching, I’m less likely to make quick moves. I want everything to be planned and executed flawlessly.
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