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Interview with

Torul (mastermind) of Torul

From the beginning, Slovenian band TORUL was not just a fresh wave on the electronic scene, it was a breeze storm. Finally there is someone who showed: It is still possible to make something surprisingly new in this direction. Being young band with just couple of releases behind them, TORUL took its place near such acts as VNV NATION, MESH and DE/VISION. The new single ‘All’ which is going to be released on 10th of October is kind of teaser for the upcoming album. However the mastermind of TORUL assures: this song doesn’t fully reflect the concept of the new album. So let us be surprised once again. A bit shy and humble, as all the great minds, Torul told us what’s going on with his project.

Reflections of Darkness [RoD]: Tell couple words about the new single? Is there anything new in sound?
Torul: Well, you’ve actually heard it — for me it’s hard to describe it, it’s audio and it’s best to be just listened to; this is still a kind of pop music, so it should be self-representing. Usually, when there is really no need, I don’t find it so sensible to describe songs, you should just listen. What I can tell you is that this may not be a typical-new-album song, there will be songs in a bit different style, too. We chose ‘All’ to be the single because it’s very structured, vivid and has catchy elements and maintains that TORUL-feel.

RoD: As far as I know the songs for the new album are already written. Why did you choose this one to be an appetizer for the new album?
Torul: Most of them, yeah. Well, as mentioned, ‘All’ was one of more open, catchy tunes. People react well to it, that’s what we experienced! I don’t need all songs to be catchy, because an album format is much more than a pile of catchy songs. But of course it’s the right choice for a single. Putting an album together, it’s some stamp of our time, a story, the torul2014 02life we live in that period, and it gets personal too. While Jan was in NYC the first three months of this year, I sent him some stuff over Skype and he’d record vocals for me, after I had lyrics and tunes in mind. So it was some special distant emotion as well. There are songs for the forthcoming album that I just can’t get fed up with! I think this is a good sign, not to get bored over your stuff too soon.

RoD: Tell please about the cover artwork? Who made this picture? Was it made especially for you or did you find it?
Torul: We are still friends and connected with Iztok Medja, one of the key guys in making the video ‘Try’ with us. I get to see his photos regularly and when he’s sorted them finally, I took a good look and saw these interesting series of night landscape photos, experimenting with different techniques. So this one is to me so stand-alone, powerful, also mystic and needs no explanation….there’s ALL on it.

RoD: Visual part of TORUL is quite huge. You always do video clips for the songs, your live shows are supported by visual effects as well. However it is easy to notice that some of visual effects are kind of blurry or caught in the moving so in the end it is difficult to see the sharp picture. Is it meant for purpose? Does it reflect your idea and your music?
Torul: Everything that is moving represents time. Life is not a still picture, it’s a voyage, motion through time. There’s more than sharpness. There’s also everything else… peripheral sight, moving objects, which we also won’t see sharp in some conditions, then conditions in which you are psychologically not able to see the full picture, the sharpness of a situation, the crisp…the “yellow halo” as you named it, is just a way, an interesting way to capture the light an object projects… it’s like a night event even, well, hopefully, it brings up to some aesthetics on its own…

RoD: What inspires you for the visual part?
Torul: There is no uniform thinking here — we like to explore a bit. I think you gotta put torul2014 01things in the context. You can’t use every aesthetics on everything, some things just go well together and some not so much. We are sometimes closer, sometimes not, we are experimenting and also rate some outcomes better than others.

RoD: The white blank mask often appears in your videos. Where did it come from?
Torul: It all originated from the ‘Try’ video, where our faces are not the main thing — in this video, it would attract too much attention, we didn’t want to promote facial expressions, because the video has different dynamics. We actually didn’t re-use the masks much, but it does appear in ‘The Fall’ video, besides the artwork from the first album, the use is symbolic, makes a bit of a connection with the past. We like to play with stuff like that, it’s all one story. But further use will only be spontaneous, if any.

RoD: The physical release of ‘All’ is limited to 444 copies. Does this number mean anything?
Torul: We are far from superstitious – so no, no magical meaning. It just sounds better 444 than 423 or 483, doesn’t it? J Also, the label came up with this number, but I’m sure there’s no magical meaning.

RoD: TORUL has quite original and fresh sound. How did you find it? Was there a moment, when you thought - sound like this is missing, so I'll do it?
Torul: It's difficult to talk about your own work, but I believe the whole process is a bit of magic for me. I often discard some more typical solutions, sounds or progression in favour of diversity. There is no rule how the next song should be. Often people tend to write one type of songs, albums are very uniform, which can be cool and delightful. But I am interested in many ideas, I research, where I can go with it. So I see albums as a voyage, a story from the beginning to an end, so in a traditional way. There's also many inspiration involved, chaotically mixed in my head, from various music genres, movies, life, details etc.

RoD: How long does it take to write and record a song? How does the working process go?
Torul: Usually we are working on many songs at once. Ideas cumulate. There are many stages, from a basic idea, sketching, developing arrangement, vocal studies, sound design, torul2014 03vocal recording, editing and arranging, finalizing, mixing and finally, mastering. So, it’s hard to say, if not impossible.

RoD: What is the hardest part for you in the album-making process and why?
Torul: All of it is hard and fun at the same time. But maybe I’d say that it’s hard to decide, when a song is really done.

RoD: It is also an interesting thing about the TORUL that even if you are the mastermind of the band, normally you're not in the centre of attention when it comes to videos or live shows. Do you take it easy to stay at the edge of the stage and not in the centre? Do you have to fight any personal ambitions?
Torul: No. I have no ambitions like this. Everyone has his role. The centre, the frontman is the main correspondent with the audience. I have no ego problems with being most visible. And people do know by now that I write, create, produce and am in charge of the concept. Or they don’t. I don’t care. I know. And my heart is in the success of the whole thing, so each to its own. 

RoD: You also often wear sunglasses - in the videos, on the pictures and sometimes even during the concerts. Does it have any practical use?
Torul: Not so often as you think. But of course, we like wearing them, who doesn’t? Sometimes it’s a part of style, sometimes a practical thing. Sometimes the future looks so bright… J And sometimes it’s just that feeling of intimacy. Nothing more to it really. We actually rarely wear sunglasses during concerts! I mean if we play outdoor, daytime, then we will probably wear them.

RoD: TORUL comes from Slovenia. Till now the most popular Slovenian band was LAIBACH. Now when TORUL becomes more and more popular, do you feel kind of responsibility for catching that title of "THE Slovenian band"? Are you proud of it?
Torul: I really don’t know, but I’ll be flattered, if it’s so. LAIBACH are still quite big, have great and vast audience. I recently did a remix for them, finally. They loved it. It’s coming out this fall. Regarding where the bands come from – I don’t think it matters anymore, it’s one audience nowadays, easy to reach music etc. We just try to do our best, we have no huge background, support, and we work a lot for it.

RoD: Is the electronic scene big in Slovenia at all? Are you famous in Slovenia?
Torul: The biggest in Slovenia was/ is the club electronic thing, such as techno, minimal, house etc. More a DJ thing. No synth pop really, no movements. The mainstream often sucks, a lot of copying the obvious selection from the cheesier part of 80s pop-rock. There is some experimental electronic scene as well. It’s easy to be ignored here, no big scenes for many genres. Synth pop here is quite marginal, although we have many sympathizers here, they do not form the scene really. Promoters tend to book different kind of music here.

RoD: And a random question: I know you like skateboard. Since when have you been doing it? Can you make and do you often do any tricks with skateboard?
Torul: We’ve been done with skateboarding since ages, we ride longboards now, it’s quite different. No “gymnastic” tricks, just riding and speed, cruising and sliding sometimes. It’s great but also can be dangerous. You have to wear protection, it’s faster than skateboarding.

RoD: In the conclusion, tell please a bit about TORUL plans for the nearest future?
Torul: Well, the main thing is to finish the new album. It’s planned for 1st quarter next year. There shall be another single before that, we are working on it. Most of it is already written and now all the recordings, arranging and production in general takes place. We are really looking forward to it, but first we have to be satisfied with what we did.

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