Fantasy Audio Magazine Interview:
Ig: @fantasy_audio_magazine

 

Deionarra, the great and sprawling fantasy world and all music releases therein, effectively ended last year. With the casual releases of the new "yellow" collection, it seems the realm is opened once more. What brought that decision?

From the beginning, Deionarra was conceived to be only five trilogies, each with a theme and a representing color. I usually start with the title, cover, and track names, and that dictates how the music will be. As I released the albums, I gradually realized I was constructing a world, or 'unearthing' it. I liked the idea of revealing a story and lore in fragments, where one can imagine what happens based on what they hear and the song titles. When I released The End, I realized that while that album represented the end of Deionarra's story, there were still many more things to tell about that place, as can be seen on the map (which I plan to redo). So now with the yellow series, I want to start showcasing characters, creatures, and entities from that world. With Nialdreoth, I accompanied the release with a text telling its story, but I removed it because I want to refine it. The same goes for Egiveus and the upcoming releases of the yellow series.

What thought goes into determining the colors of each trilogy? Is there an underlying theme that the colors represent? Is it merely visual?

The yellow series is the only one where the color is purely visual. In the five trilogies, each color represents a mood or even a geography. It's most obvious in the green trilogy, but it's the same for the others. There are several clues about that on the map.

What were the early days of Deionarra like? At what point did you realize you had something special? 

I have a solo project where I use my real name instead of the pseudonym Louis Glimmen and has very little to do with what I do on my label Rusty Pilgrim. Deionarra started when I began including some ambient and somewhat dark tracks in that project, which I knew belonged to another musical universe but wasn't sure where to place them yet. So if you listen to my latest solo album 'Miguel Molins - Random Obscure Soundsystem' from 2021, you'll find that some tracks are also in the first two Deionarra albums. Later, I felt the need to create Rusty Pilgrim to encompass other projects of mine that diverged from Deionarra's theme. The only thing on Rusty Pilgrim that isn't mine is Sons Of the Forest, a local folk band from El Bolson / Bariloche.

What inspires the music of Deionarra? Any artists in particular or does it go beyond simply music? 

Some have told me that some of my work reminds them of Coil, Current 93, or even Gary Numan, which I love because I've always been closer to that than to Dungeon Synth. Pure DS is more tied to Black Metal, and while I like it, my background is more post-punk / industrial. Within the genre, perhaps what influenced me the most could be things like Myst, Ghoëst, Kyvon, and especially Voldsom Tapes, which, if you think about it, isn't pure DS, just like Deionarra.

As an international artist, and one of the only artists I'm familiar with hailing from South America except for Onoskelis and our own Abstract Eon, what has your experience been mingling with the wider fantasy music community? Are there any obstacles that get in your way that the global internet platform doesn't accommodate?

From South America, I've had the most contact with Onoskelis; we've shared online events, and she was also featured in a zine and compilation from Rusty Pilgrim. And perhaps a bit with Criptadel from Argentina, because I was part of the Argentine Dungeon Synth compilation made by him. With the rest of the world, it's always been rewarding to talk and exchange music with other artists. The only obstacle to me is being dependent on platforms like Instagram and Facebook. I would like to completely avoid them and also streaming. Streaming is a business model that doesn't do anything for us at all. Music is completely devalued because the industry is in the hands of techies who have no interest in music. To them, it's just 'content.' Look at Zuckerberg's face, or any tweet from some Spotify CEO, what do those guys could know about music? Everything given for free has a sign that says "this is worthless," unless it's a gift, like with Bandcamp codes. There's almost nothing from Rusty Pilgrim on Spotify and similar platforms, only Psychic Maze Club because it's part of the soundtrack for Hell Night (an amazing TTRPG by Gavriel Quiroga). And Smeagol's Fate as well, but I might remove it. On YouTube, almost everything I release on Rusty Pilgrim is uploaded by other channels, and for now, that benefits me much more than if I were to do it myself through a distributor and those channels received copyright strikes.

What's your favorite part of the cassette creation process? And least favorite?

My favorite part is undoubtedly having an idea that excites me, those moments when the album seems to write itself. My least favorite part is everything that isn't related to music or visuals (shipping, logistics, manufacturing, etc.), but it's part of the job.
I don't see the cassette as something retro; it's just a low-cost format that got taken away because it no longer serves the industry. But, like vinyl and CDs, it lets you enjoy music away from a screen, which is how I prefer to enjoy it. CDs always seemed ugly to me, and vinyl is expensive.

If the music and lore of the collective Deionarra universe had one singular message to the world, what would it be?

I'm not sure I think in terms of a 'message'; I believe good pieces of art simply 'are,' they tell something and the viewers or listeners can take from it what resonates with them. Three things come to mind: Lou Reed, David Lynch and Tolkien. Lou Reed describes situations in his songs and keeps a distance from what he writes, but in describing what happens, he makes you feel something. Some believe 'Perfect Day' is an ironic song... that's up to them, but for me, it's not. David Lynch tells a story in disjointed fragments; in those empty spaces, our imagination enters. It's not surrealistic, he's simply telling you a story as if it were a painting. I'm interested in that way of telling something. On the other hand, Tolkien, when referring to his work, speaks of escapism as someone escaping from a prison, not as a deserter. I like those approaches. Deionarra is a fantasy world that begins and ends with Nialdreoth, The Glowing Dragon. At some point, I'll republish the text of that album and those from the yellow series, where I'll explain Deionarra's world in more depth, but I want to find a way to do it without spoiling those empty spaces too much.

Any chance of a box set release? Each color trilogy might fit on a single tape, you know. Could be a fun project. 

My only obstacles to doing that are financial. I think Rusty Pilgrim should grow a bit more before doing it; at least now I'm trying to manufacture from the USA because almost all my buyers are from there, and shipping costs have decreased a lot this way. If this allows the label to grow a bit more, a box set would definitely be an option. I would also like to release them on vinyl. I received proposals from some labels to release them, but they haven't been in touch again, so I'll probably do it myself at some point.

If you had to organize Deionarra trilogies by most suitable season to enjoy them in, how would that look? I'm trying to stack up my Deionarra Summer playlist. 

Green: Spring - Summer

White: Summer

Red: Autumn

Black: Autumn - Winter

Blue: Winter

What has the now-releasing yellow trilogy done for you as an artist? Is there something in particular that this new collection is satisfying?

Actually, it's not a trilogy; it's a series where each tape will focus on a character, entity, or creature from the lore. It came up from the need to continue unearthing that world.

If there's anything we can ever do to help you stateside, let us know! Thanks for speaking with Fantasy Audio Magazine. 

Now that I've started distributing from the USA, this is already a great help. Thank you very much for the questions and best of luck with Fantasy Audio Magazine!

 

Stay up to date with all RUSTY PILGRIM releases by subscribing at rustypilgrim.bandcamp.com and following on IG @rustypilgrim_