Interview with Matthew Pilgrim from FUNERAL CIRCLE (Canada)
Drumwitch: Hey Matthew, thanks for doing this interview with Frost and Fire. When did you first start playing the guitar and which bands and guitarists motivated you in the beginning?
Matthew: The pleasure is all mine. Thank you. I first started playing guitar when I was in high school. I forget exactly when I started, but I know I started playing seriously when I began Funeral Circle. At first the band was just a fun project between some friends to just make music we enjoyed, and for me to muster up the motivation to learn my instrument. As for influential bands, I remember at the time being very much influenced by stuff like Candlemass, Solitude Aeturnus, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Solstice, Pagan Altar, and others that were namely classic doom and heavy metal. Guitarists like Tony Iommi and Alan Jones were big influences, but to me I always focused on a band's music as a whole, I wasn't exactly fixated on individual musicians much in my early years.
Drumwitch: You founded Funeral Circle with Steven "Heretic" M. in 2006. Tell us the story about you getting to know each other and founding this band.
Matthew: We became aware of each other due to mutual friends and meeting at concerts, and we kept in touch online. I remember after we saw Heaven & Hell with Dio live I proposed we start a doom metal band together. He was a great musician already and I had barely any clue what I was doing, so I saw it as an opportunity to create music and learn the tricks of the trade from him. At the very beginning, I couldn't even palm mute properly, truth be told. Steve was great though, a true musician, and formidable at a variety of instruments. Most of what I know about playing music is due to him, and I'll always be very thankful for that.
Drumwitch: Steve is no longer the member of the band. Why?
Matthew: Creative differences, mostly. We also had different ideas on how we should approach playing live, especially when it came to presentation. We parted ways amicably though and now plays in Order of the Solar Temple (with Sinister Sacrilege-era Funeral Circle vocalist Matthew "The Grand Inquisitor" Emery!), a great band from Vancouver definitely worth checking out.
Drumwitch: How did you come up with the name Funeral Circle?
Matthew: It's a song by The Wizar'd from their 2006 EP. That track in particular stood out to me, and Steve and I agreed to name our group after it.
Drumwitch: There were a few line-up changes in Funeral Circle. In which moment was the Circle complete with the current line-up?
Matthew: Yeah, it's been Funeral Circle's greatest challenge to try and maintain a consistent line up. Before it felt like I played the role of being the essence that held the band together spiritually. We've always been sort of like a cooperative of musicians, but now I feel differently about Funeral Circle. I'm the only original member to maintain everything musically and aesthetically. The band is constantly developing and incorporating new ideas, new sounds and new personnel, but I feel like the foundations of Funeral Circle have finally been established with the release of our debut.
Drumwitch: The band released two demos, in 2007 and 2008, before releasing the EP "Sinister Sacrilege" (by the Miskatonic Foundation). Are you personally satisfied with the recording process and the final result?
Matthew: Sinister Sacrilege was a weird process, but it was very fun. It has a very "live in the studio" feel to it, since we recorded the album in a minimal amount of takes (for instance, both guitars were recorded together in one go). I really do like it, it's not perfect but I think there's a lot of charm to that EP. As a band we didn't really know what direction we wanted to take and it shows in each song, but I also think that gave the EP strength in its variety. Some folks prefer it to our full length since it's a bit more loose, there are more upbeat rocking Judas Priest styled songs on it complete with kitschy, catchy bedroom Satanic sing-a-long lyrics, and that's fair. I think it's exactly what you would expect from a bunch of guys who were mostly not even in their twenties. I don't prefer it to our debut, but I can't see myself ever being disappointed in anything Funeral Circle has done. Sinister Sacrilege was our first stepping stone into what the band is today.
Drumwitch: Who is the main lyrics writer and which are the themes you speak of?
Matthew: I am the main writer of the lyrics, since the beginning. Now I've moved on to assume complete control all the qualities of Funeral Circle, both aesthetically and musically... it's been quite the challenge. I felt there was a bit too much compromise before, it made the band a bit too similar to others in terms of imagery since we were always compromising and defaulting to something we all thought was presentable, and that stifled creativity if you ask me. To be frank, I always found our Satanic material very uninspired and campy, although I do very much like the music in those songs (Hexenhammer, Sinister Sacrilege, Fist of Satan). For our first album I was very inspired by fantasy, especially the works of Robert E. Howard, Clark Ashton Smith and H.P. Lovecraft. I was also very much into the tales of the Orient, such as the Shahnameh and Arabian Nights. The first album has, quite appropriately, a very oriental sound to it, and that is what I always wanted with Funeral Circle. When I listen to our debut I imagine huge deserts littered with abandoned necropoli, unusual and otherworldy architecture, hierophants who pray to strange and ancient Gods, haunted battlefields, and so on and so forth. My fascination with the religion of my heritage, that of the ancient Zartoshti, has always proved an influence, even from the very beginning of the band. Subtle at first, as time goes on I expect to see that topic at the forefront of Funeral Circle's themes and lyrics, especially certain heterodox interpretations of the Zoroastrian worldview that have come to influence me artistically in quite a profound way.
Drumwitch: Do your current bandmates share your religious views and what is their opinion on your lyrics writing?
Matthew: No, they don't share my religious views, but that's fine. We are all individuals, and I wouldn't say my views are religious. "Religion" literally means to be "bound by the same belief". We are all different people as human beings. We have our own thoughts on cosmology and the nature of the universe, and I respect and value that. Religion is always suspect to me though, because more often than not it results in dogma and orthodoxy. In other words, spiritual death. It should be said that bands assert that they function better with a uniform philosophy, but I work well, or better, with a diversity of opinion courtesy of my bandmates. At the end of the day however, anything conceptual is my under my direction. As for my bandmates' opinion on the lyrics, I can say with confidence that they enjoy the themes, lyrics and imagery of Funeral Circle. If they don't... well, suffice to say it would be strange that they're in the group to begin with.
Drumwitch: Which bands, besides Candlemass, have had the most influence on your music?
Matthew: I think Solitude Aeturnus, at least on our debut record, was a more substantial and obvious influence than Candlemass. Other bands that largely informed our style at the beginning were Pagan Altar, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Reverend Bizarre, Solstice, Judas Priest, Isole, The Gates of Slumber, Orodruin... and before the list becomes too long, some others I might be forgetting. Lately though we're incorporating a lot more influence from other bands, quite a few of which are not metal. As time passes I'm starting to become more involved as a musician rather than just a metal musician, although I always want to make metal music. Does that make sense? I just want to push the boundaries as far as they'll go, even if it means straying outside of doom metal territory. What the fans want to hear and what the musicians want to write can sometimes not even remotely coincide. I'm open to taking that risk.
Drumwitch: I agree with you. Music is a wide field of possibilities, so why not try something outside the genre "boundaries"? Why do you think bands rather stick with something already well known and heard before with an excuse that everything is already made up, instead of unleashing themselves from those chains?
Matthew: I think some bands operate better with a simple formula, perhaps they just don't have the energy and time to invest in trying to be too experimental. That's probably not what they want from music. Some bands can take well established musical styles, give them their own little spin and become massive and incredibly well respected both on record and live, like Midnight (for an example off the top of my head). Maybe not the most original band ever, but you'll be hard pressed to find a more insane live act these days. As for pushing the boundaries, it's remarkably exhausting to try and write material that's unique. The only way it really works is if inspiration and ingenuity hit you both at the same time. That just doesn't happen under most circumstances. Then a band like In Solitude comes along and writes "Sister", an album that sounds almost effortless in its execution but is incredibly groundbreaking and one of the best metal albums since the new millennium. The perfect synthesis of an established sound with a new approach and fresh dynamics. That's the kind of album a band should hope to create in their careers.
Drumwitch: Tell us about your experience with your "fellow doom magickans" Lord Vicar, considering your split release (or as you like to call it, "ritual").
Matthew: That was an exciting opportunity for us. I remember when we put out our first demo the vocalist of Reverend Bizarre, "Albert Witchfinder" as he's known to most, was one of the first to openly express his admiration for what we were doing. He offered to design our logo, the ghostly-urn design, and after that Kimi (or Peter Vicar), Albert and I kept semi-frequent communication. Reverend Bizarre broke up and Kimi was starting his new group, and the offer eventually came from him to record a split together. That was a lot of fun, recording Hexenhammer and our Witchfinder General cover was probably the most relaxed and fun recording process the band has experienced yet.
Drumwitch: You recently released your self-titled full-length debut through Shadow Kingdom Records. The album received the best reviews and was even called "THE SEXIEST EPIC DOOM METAL ALBUM WE’VE HEARD FOR AGES!" on Doommetalheaven, and I couldn't agree more. How do you feel now when you play the album? Does it sound like you wanted it to sound or is there something you would change?
Matthew: I enjoy the album, I'm very proud of it... but there is a lot about it I would change. There are some great ideas on the album, but I think as a cohesive whole the album falls a bit on the flat side as a lot of debut albums tend to. The debut has that "compilation" feel to it in my opinion, like we just took the songs we had written up until then and lumped them together on a disc without so much regard for a unified theme. In that sense we never grew beyond Sinister Sacrilege. I suppose in terms of mood the album is very evocative, in that sense it's sort of like Powerslave by Iron Maiden. For our next record I would like to write something that's a bit more conceptual in nature, where the songs compliment each other a bit more readily but without being too obvious. Finding the right balance has proven to be quite challenging. I also wish we had taken a bit more time on some songs, I feel a few of the longer songs are a bit short of being totally complete, like Charnel God. Overall though, I'm happy with the performances of everyone on the album and I really like what we came up with.
Drumwitch: The artwork is also a masterpiece. Who is the artist?
Matthew: His name is Martin Hanford, he's a British artist known for other album covers by bands such as Solstice, Bal-Sagoth, Slough Feg and others.
Drumwitch: Do you think that the internet has helped the doom scene blossom once more in the past decade ("blossom" may seem a bit funny standing next to phrase"doom scene")?
Matthew: I definitely think it has. Metal in general has grown a lot because of the internet, and it has led to the creation of some amazing and innovative bands because musicians and metalheads have more access to music than ever before. Since the internet is also something of such monumental scope and depth, and open to the flaws of people in general, it has also resulted in some negative aspects. What I mean by that is that since music is so readily available there doesn't seem to be as much appreciation for really absorbing an album. The readily available nature of information has helped foster a Huxleyan culture of distractions which has proved to be negative in more than a few aspects. But for those with even a shred of self-discipline, the internet has proven to be invaluable to music at large. Funeral Circle has reached people from places I never thought it ever would, and that to me is a much more amazing experience than worrying about of consequences of downloading, as much of the older generation of metal musicians so often do. I believe that the internet and downloading will never get in the way of buying records unless it makes it physically impossible to do so. In that case, our ire should be more readily directed at our awful postal services...
Drumwitch: Which doom musicians have you personally met?
Matthew: Quite a few briefly, but the ones I'd like to mention and that I'm closest to are Alan and Terry from Pagan Altar. They are two of the most talented visionaries in metal history and it's great to have spent time with them casually on multiple occasions. Incredibly humble, too. I always knew I wanted to be a musician, but they showed me what kind of personality I should strive to have as one.
Drumwitch: What are your band's plans for the rest of the year?
Matthew: The band is freshly out of lineup limbo right now, so we're currently working on tightening up our live performances. We are playing Wings of Metal in August followed by a string of Eastern Canada dates. After that, we'll be writing and recording our new album.
