Interview with Peer Lebrecht from Voyna
“Remain disturbed. Slide.”… The new EP by the most excellent project of Peer Lebrecht’s VOYNA, ‘And the Heresies’, is to see the light on 23rd of June 2023. Filled with the most profound, invigorating and intellectually challenging content, ‘And the Heresies’ stands as a proof Peer made another step in his artistic journey and reached his own unique and beautiful style. About the new release but also inspirations, purpose of music and art.
Reflections of Darkness [RoD]: The last time we spoke about your project VOYNA was in March 2021, when the debut album ‘The Cinvat Bridge’ was about to be released. Your new material, ‘And the Heresies’, will be released on June 23rd. The time in between has been very intense, with rapid changes happening in the world. To what extent do you think you’ve changed as an artist, and how is it reflected in your new release?
Peer: Hallo and yes, it’s always quite striking and frightening to realize how fast the time is able to fly. Two years and when we have perceived it as an unwanted exceptional state then (maybe a few of us remember) it feels now like an oasis of calm and silence I even miss sometimes. (No meteorological blundering please, it means no disrespect for anyone who went through bad times then!) But yes, everything outside feels upside down suddenly. And the fact that my choice for the name of the project became a creepy, uncomfortable omen is just one of many. I really can’t tell you how much the tenor of events has changed me as an artist, but it definitely influenced me as a human being bound to and rooted in the presence and so it consequently had an impact on my creative output. I guess I became more attentive when it comes to time and the way to deal with it. No worries, this doesn´t become a threnody about age and time-sand-finger-metaphors, but it is the value of time and its fragile consistency that appears in my mental spotlight quite often these days. And the look out of the window is not always an act of hope and faith recently. I became more aware of certain things… guess that’s a proper summary…
RoD: The musical sphere of the album perfectly balances profound, melancholic, dark, and energetic, hard-hitting elements. What sonic effect do you typically strive for when composing new pieces? While the debut album was more experimental and exploratory, it seems like you have now developed your own unique sound with this second release.
Peer: Thanks for this compliment at first. It’s the first public feedback to the new output, so it counts twice! Still the whole VOYNA thing is some kind of unfenced playground for me and after all this is what it was intended to be from the very beginning. As with the debut - there was not that particular moment when I said to myself “Let’s work on number two!” I’m really addicted to the process of creating and I don’t need a purpose or a reason necessarily. The moment I put on my headphones is like entering some kind of cocoon, a hideaway, so needed now and then [Note: For more information see Q1]. And one thing I learned (aside from listening carefully to Bukowski’s penguin!) - never enter with concrete expectations. Nothing is solid, everything is shapeable, (…) everything is permitted… I really have no idea about the result when the first soundwave hits the tympanic membrane and really no demands on colour, dress code or condition of aggregation. Everything that happens on the sonic level is a reaction to the moment you are wrapped in…
RoD: Who did you collaborate with while working on the new EP?
Peer: No VOYNA without Thommy Hein it seems. He not only mixed and mastered everything, but he also contributed guitars (again) and was my creative sparring partner (again). I really enjoy working with him. A soulmate (if I’m allowed to become solemn for a second). Unfortunately, a few initial ideas turned out to be not realizable. Of course, it was a matter of the heart to have Denis (Ivanov) involved again but some certain realities made it impossible. I really hope to get another chance in a not too far away future. And there were a few other names around, but I reached the point when I reminded myself to keep things low. It became what it was meant to be - a personal, partly intimate little piece of music and quite glad about. Let´s see what comes next…
RoD: The journey you take us on is both thought-provoking and emotionally challenging. Does art serve as a means to convey difficult fragments of reality, or does it serve a different purpose?
Peer: What’s the purpose of art? What’s the purpose of putting things like feelings, emotions, perceptions and sentiments in a tangible shape and pushing it to a visible place outside your head? I have no idea. I don’t want to come up with this therapy thing here again, too many others did already. For me it always felt a bit like keeping a diary. A collection of thoughts and moments and memories, which fill you with joy while revisiting them… or unease. In the end it’s a conversation with your head and the never-ending try to get what it wants to tell you…
RoD: Let’s shift our focus to the lyrical aspect for a moment. The motif of silence appears to be one of the major themes in your lyrics. It is something that is undoubtedly lacking in the current world, and some even fear it. What does silence represent in your texts?
Peer: Silence is the alpha and the omega.
Silence is in the waters and silence is in the earth.
Silence is shelter and silence is rest.
Silence is exhaling and the equilibrium position of the pendulum.
Silence is where I want to be…
RoD: “...and the heresies we plan, so where are the blind?” If you were to summarize the general message you wanted to convey in ‘And The Heresies’, what would it be?
Peer: Remain disturbed. Slide.
RoD: ‘Death by Thousand Cuts’ is a form of torture and execution originating from Imperial China. In psychology, it refers to a major negative change happening slowly and in unnoticed increments, which is not perceived as objectionable. The lyrics (particularly the last verse) immediately bring to mind THE POLICE song. STING wrote the lyrics to ‘Every Breath You Take’ in 1982 when he was in a rather poor mental condition during the breakdown of his first marriage. He took on the role of a voyeur in that song. Is there any direct reference here?
Peer: Yes, you are right there is an acoustic resemblance when it comes to that line, but although I’m a great admirer of THE POLICE’s oeuvre it’s really a coincidence here. Or to quite someone, who crossed our way already a few lines ago: “In the magical universe there are no coincidences and there are no accidents. Nothing happens unless someone wills it to happen…” No intention. No stalking. Guess it is a summer song… with two Ms!
RoD: The lyrical aspect is thought-provoking yet very dark. How would you say that your experiences while working on it are reflected in the words that accompany the music? What inspired them?
Peer: It is always an imprint of the things around and the things inside. I even would say there’s no way to avoid that. And for what reason? That’s the good thing about a cocoon… despite those moments of claustrophobia. It is always a question of set and setting and from a certain moment in time you have no influence on it anymore. And I like the vulnerability of those moments… that’s the good thing about a cocoon…
RoD: Regarding the album cover, what does it symbolize or refer to?
Peer: The visuals are a little shenanigan linking to the title. The veiling effect of the stylistic device of pixelating in combination with the word “heresy” creates some lovely little feeling of curiosity. Of course, I’m in the good position of knowing about the actual imagery, so it puts a decent smile on my face. I have them all on display here... framed on the walls of my cocoon…
RoD: And finally, I understand you have an intensive concert schedule with GOLDEN APES. Are there any plans for live shows with VOYNA?
Peer: I was thinking about it now and then to be honest. And it’s strange… in one moment I think it could be a nice idea, some challenging change of scenery and in the next I wonder if this is something I really want? I have to confess that I have no real answer for this. What is definitely not a “no”. I guess it depends on some essential parameters. So, give me a few more moments to check if Laplace was right in the end. For the moment I’m more than happy with the companionship on stage…
RoD: Thank you for your time!
Peer: …more than pleasure…
Pictures by Lüder Lindau
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