Well,Friends Of Aristocracy!
Line Up:
Andy Wit On All Instruments
We speak again of our newsroom, where in a little while, we will begin in all your emotions, the interview 136 of the Aristocracy.This time, we'll be talking to a death metal band that only belongs to one person. This person is called Andy Wit.He takes care of a whole project that tells about the 19th century, questions our existence and other themes that are very intense for all of us. This band is called Anchillys and he presents at the end of next month, his debut album entitled Elan Vital. single from this album and all our chat with Andy. Before that, we must thank Andy himself and a thank you to Wouter Hommel, owner of the Dutch production company Dead Mill Media. Now, let's go to the music and the interview.
A1:Talking about the composition work in Elan Vital?
Andy Wit:The music is based on the quest for dynamics, controlled chaos, stubbornness and emotions. Whatever came to mind, must have come for a reason and I needed to express that. Driven by the bands that I’ve loved through-out the years, I needed to create something of my own that felt perfect to everything I’ve learned about the style. From complex measurements, straight-on slamming breakdowns, highspeed blastbeats and shredding, low ‘n slow doom parts, physically demanding parts to riffs almost too simple to perfect. I’ve tried applying as much diversity as possible to the creation I’ve come up with within the genre. There’s even a waltz in it, if you can find it!
A2:What made this album so melancholy?
Andy Wit:There is, of course, a lot of pain of life involved in the process of creating the album. As almost a cliché that any musician could confirm: music or any form of art brings relief in moments you need to forget or process live-events, this is no exemption to that. While many parts of the album are based on excitement, aggression or joyful bridges, melancholy is also part of life and therefore deserving a place on my album. See it as a mental outlet.
A3:Why does the 19th century inspire this work?
Andy Wit:Because I feel like music was rather pure, the further you go back in time and musical history. Nowadays music has become too much of a product,where it used to be pure passion. Obviously, that refers to decades, or even centuries ago, as your question is about my preference for the ‘90s. The answer is simple:Blast Beats were developing! As the genre Brutal Death Metal evolved in the ‘90s. So the closer to its origin, the more purity.
A4:Some literature or film inspire the band?
Andy Wit:Not really to be honest. Maybe I’ve tried to use some stubborn influences from movies/tv and the concept of plot twists: you think you know where the plot is heading, but then a completely different riff or timing hits you.
A5:Do you think about hiring other musicians for your project?
Andy Wit:Definitely, for the near future I will be looking for 4 strong, dedicated and serious musicians! So if you think you got what it takes and live in The Netherlands, Belgium or Germany, then drop me a line at info@anchillys.nl.The bigger dream for Achillys has always been to hit the stage and enjoy the moment with a live audience.Running a solo-project is nice and all with its benefits, but eventually it’s all about interaction that brings that rush of adrenaline And for that you need band members and an audience: losing our minds together on that slamming riff.
A6:What ́s the idea behind album’s artwork?
Andy Wit:It all came to me in a dream and it’s all about how I experience life. The desert wasteland representing the open emptiness of depression, sand storms of disruptive events, the demon standing for the individual in life and the hands coming out referring to inner demons trying to conquer while being trapped. Covering the eyes actually stands for taking control of what’s happening within the individual.
A7:Has any particular experience influenced any of the songs on this album?
Andy Wit:The title track Elan Vital, definitely. I practice meditation in my daily life, it has always helped bringing more clarity and reaching that extra dimension of awareness.To the point of achieving an out of body experience, I’ve kept feeling a gloomy atmosphere that I’ve eventually materialized into the doom riff + sample that the song starts and ends with, and maintain during certain parts of the song. Later articulating the experience in the lyric, I’ve started realizing what I’ve actually experienced during that out of body experience: pure awareness of what is consciousness, what is the mind, what brings the momentum of life and that is where the title came from: Elan Vital, momentum of life, lifeforce.Since the creation of this album is quite the part of my life, I’ve decide it to dedicate the name to it.
A8:Why the band have this name?
Andy Wit:For many years, I’ve been trying to find the right name, but always came up with names that were to cliché, already used, or both, or just not feeling right. Until the day, during a BBQ and a beer, a very impulsive question came to mind that came with an answer within a split second: “if you would give you inner demon a name, what would it be..?”,so he’s called Anchillys: lord of inner demons that needs to be tamed.
A9:What meditations are you looking for in this work?
Andy Wit:I wish people would do more what is helpful for themselves as an individual, without having it at cost of someone else.Look deep within who you really are and be the better person. If we’d all preach and practiced this, the world could be a better place. I know it sounds farfetched, coming from a Death Metal musician, but the message is hidden in the lyrics.For the music: people should do more what they feel like themselves, not needing to conform what has been decided for you. Biggest message: do what you love, do it with passion and dedication and persistence will come with it.
A10:How is Anchillys different from your previous bands?
Andy Wit:Although Once Begotten has set my passion for creating something so brutal, technical and hectic, it still triggered me to push it further. Overstep boundaries. Other previous bands like Abscessed, Iron Harvest or Dictated were amazing, but too straightforward for me, I need to not understand something.
A11:This album is conceptual?
Andy Wit:There definitely is a red thread going through it. I’ve done what I had to do and I don’t see myself throwing the towel in the ring, I feel like it paved a way for the passion I’ve done it with and history will repeat itself. But in a refreshing jacket, of course.
A12:What kind of subject don ́t deserve a Anchillys song?
Andy Wit:Anything that would be against human rights, racism, misogyny, anything of political sense, animal abuse, all have no place in this project. It’s all about minding your own business and living your life without affecting someone else’s without being asked for.
A13:Does the seventh song have an erotic context?
Andy Wit:No it does not, haha. Actually it refers to a rude Dutch saying “having sand in your vagina”, it means when somebody is just being pissed-off without any obvious reasoning. It’s a nod to certain past members and the way they’ve left the project.
A14:What band mean with Somniphobic?
Andy Wit:It refers to the anxiety of going to sleep.The lyric describes the trauma of sleep paralysis and what horrible hallucinations it can come with.In this case,it’s about an extraterrestrial force and the fight to escape abduction.
A15:What would Andy today say to Andy who was starting to make Anchillys?
Andy Wit:Dude, relax.Learn to move on and hold on to it.Set your mind on the goal and prepare for the obstacles.Life doesn’t happen in a straight line,but if you do it with confidence: great things will rise.
A16:Would you call the Anchillys of your youngest son or a blood brother?
Andy Wit:It’s my blood brother, for sure.Many years have passed since it started and I can’t imagine it not being a part of me anymore. Yet offspring shall materialize.
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