1.For those that have never heard of you before,can you tell us a little bit about the musical project?
qip is my solo effort. At this moment in life I found it easier working alone and I felt an urge to try doing it on my own to learn new things in the process. It's a result of 3 year production cycle. Long nights of painstaking work. Trial and error. Moments of frustration, doubt,enlightenment and satisfaction. I started off with just an acoustic guitar and wrote most of the riffs that way. The material sounded quite heavy and dark in that primal form already. I demoed the songs and started adding different elements, building soundscapes, evoking
cinematic atmosphere and epic feel. It's a mix of many influences from different kinds of metal but those who know me say it's just my style.
2.So far you have released one album, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording?
Sure. Vocal wise it sits comfortably in death metal domain. The songs are just full of growls and lyrics are long. Apart from death metal, there are elements of bitter doom, industrial metal and sf soundtrack
music. The album is full of melodies, which I think is unique quality in death/industrial genre. This time I decided to make the rhythms straightforward so the songs flow in a catchy way. It's a heavily layered material - a wall of sound which was hard to mix. Guitars are heavy and big - down tuned to C and played in a modified open tuning. The album was mastered (by my friend Darran Thompson) without heavy limiting to preserve the dynamics and avoid crushing. This is important because the songs are very dynamic - building up from mellow, atmospheric parts to roaring climaxes. The perceived loudness levels are close to albums released in the 80ties and it makes the sound more natural and less ear-fatiguing when played back really loud.
3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects you explore with your music?
There is a variety of themes and in 8 out of 9 songs the subjects shouldbe very clear to anyone who reads the lyrics. Every song tells a story. I explored espionage, totalitarianism, psychology of revenge, alien abductions, transhumanism, nuclear holocaust, Kursk submarine disaster. One song - "Ergoregion" has a dual meaning - the literal one which is a venture into a hard sf territory and metaphorical one which refers to my
personal circumstances.
4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'qip'?
It is not a real name. It's an ASCII representation of a symmetrical symbol resembling a house fly head. I did not want any names and went for something like this to avoid cliches ever present in metal.
5.With this musical project you record everything by yourself, are you open to working with other musicians or do you prefer to remain solo?
Yes, in future I would like to start working with other people again.Completing projects takes less time when you can share the workload. There are synergies that I was missing too, but you need the right people to have these.
6.You also took a 13 year hiatus from music, what was the decision to comeback?
I had been writing music for my solo material before but I there was not enough motivation to learn the technical side of the music making process - recording and mixing - until around 2012 when for some reason I found it more interesting and started to learn quickly. The best wayto absorb this kind of knowledge is to put it into practice so the album brought a huge educational benefit but it also meant I had to spend three years until I was happy about the sound.
7.The album is getting re-issued by Arachnophobia Records, are you happy with the support they have given you so far?
Yes. Arachnophobia is a small independent label with great reputation and strong integrity. Renowned of consistent quality output, interesting bands and beautifully packaged albums - they never disappoint and make areal impact with the albums they release. I feel the songs are too good to end up in just an electronic format available for download from bandcamp so I decided to approach some labels and I was very happy when Arachnophobia expressed their interest in releasing my music.
8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of death metal and industrial?
I have not reached a bigger audience as I was limited to my own promotional capabilities which are very limited. The album has gathered very positive feedback and some really good reviews so far. I'm having
more publicity these days thanks to the label's support and the fact that it is going to be released on CD in 3 weeks. This is just the start.
9.Where do you see yourself heading into as a musician in the future?
I would like to try stepping out of my comfort zone as well as improving my skills as a composer, producer, guitarist and growler. I've been thinking of making an sf horror ambient record with impressive melodies
and creepy atmosphere.
10.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
Despite my metal background I do not have a favourite genre. I listen to some bands or artists which I found interesting at some point in my life and I am sure all o them influence me in a direct or subliminal way.
You can probably detect some of my direct influences when listening to the album: SYL, Nefilim, Skinny Puppy, Vangelis, Hans Zimmer, Gojira,Celtic Frost/Triptykon. Apart from that I'm into Scott Walker,
minimalist records of David Sylvian, Sarah Kirkland-Snider, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Recoil, Thomas Feiner,
11.What are some of your non musical interests?
My family life is very busy at the moment so there is not much time left for hobbies. I love long distance and uphill running. My house is located at the foot of a massive hill. The views from the top are
stunning. On a fair day you could see the whole province from the Mournes to County Donegal plus the coast of Scotland and Isle of Man and the whole Belfast City panorama. I try to get up there as often as
possible. It's a punishing steep uphill 9 mile run but totally worth it.
12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Check my album. It was recorded in a tiny box room but sounds bigger than many records produced in studios. It's full of information andsonic content, interesting concepts, engaging atmosphere and massive
growls. I hope you will enjoy.
qip is my solo effort. At this moment in life I found it easier working alone and I felt an urge to try doing it on my own to learn new things in the process. It's a result of 3 year production cycle. Long nights of painstaking work. Trial and error. Moments of frustration, doubt,enlightenment and satisfaction. I started off with just an acoustic guitar and wrote most of the riffs that way. The material sounded quite heavy and dark in that primal form already. I demoed the songs and started adding different elements, building soundscapes, evoking
cinematic atmosphere and epic feel. It's a mix of many influences from different kinds of metal but those who know me say it's just my style.
2.So far you have released one album, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording?
Sure. Vocal wise it sits comfortably in death metal domain. The songs are just full of growls and lyrics are long. Apart from death metal, there are elements of bitter doom, industrial metal and sf soundtrack
music. The album is full of melodies, which I think is unique quality in death/industrial genre. This time I decided to make the rhythms straightforward so the songs flow in a catchy way. It's a heavily layered material - a wall of sound which was hard to mix. Guitars are heavy and big - down tuned to C and played in a modified open tuning. The album was mastered (by my friend Darran Thompson) without heavy limiting to preserve the dynamics and avoid crushing. This is important because the songs are very dynamic - building up from mellow, atmospheric parts to roaring climaxes. The perceived loudness levels are close to albums released in the 80ties and it makes the sound more natural and less ear-fatiguing when played back really loud.
3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects you explore with your music?
There is a variety of themes and in 8 out of 9 songs the subjects shouldbe very clear to anyone who reads the lyrics. Every song tells a story. I explored espionage, totalitarianism, psychology of revenge, alien abductions, transhumanism, nuclear holocaust, Kursk submarine disaster. One song - "Ergoregion" has a dual meaning - the literal one which is a venture into a hard sf territory and metaphorical one which refers to my
personal circumstances.
4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'qip'?
It is not a real name. It's an ASCII representation of a symmetrical symbol resembling a house fly head. I did not want any names and went for something like this to avoid cliches ever present in metal.
5.With this musical project you record everything by yourself, are you open to working with other musicians or do you prefer to remain solo?
Yes, in future I would like to start working with other people again.Completing projects takes less time when you can share the workload. There are synergies that I was missing too, but you need the right people to have these.
6.You also took a 13 year hiatus from music, what was the decision to comeback?
I had been writing music for my solo material before but I there was not enough motivation to learn the technical side of the music making process - recording and mixing - until around 2012 when for some reason I found it more interesting and started to learn quickly. The best wayto absorb this kind of knowledge is to put it into practice so the album brought a huge educational benefit but it also meant I had to spend three years until I was happy about the sound.
7.The album is getting re-issued by Arachnophobia Records, are you happy with the support they have given you so far?
Yes. Arachnophobia is a small independent label with great reputation and strong integrity. Renowned of consistent quality output, interesting bands and beautifully packaged albums - they never disappoint and make areal impact with the albums they release. I feel the songs are too good to end up in just an electronic format available for download from bandcamp so I decided to approach some labels and I was very happy when Arachnophobia expressed their interest in releasing my music.
8.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of death metal and industrial?
I have not reached a bigger audience as I was limited to my own promotional capabilities which are very limited. The album has gathered very positive feedback and some really good reviews so far. I'm having
more publicity these days thanks to the label's support and the fact that it is going to be released on CD in 3 weeks. This is just the start.
9.Where do you see yourself heading into as a musician in the future?
I would like to try stepping out of my comfort zone as well as improving my skills as a composer, producer, guitarist and growler. I've been thinking of making an sf horror ambient record with impressive melodies
and creepy atmosphere.
10.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
Despite my metal background I do not have a favourite genre. I listen to some bands or artists which I found interesting at some point in my life and I am sure all o them influence me in a direct or subliminal way.
You can probably detect some of my direct influences when listening to the album: SYL, Nefilim, Skinny Puppy, Vangelis, Hans Zimmer, Gojira,Celtic Frost/Triptykon. Apart from that I'm into Scott Walker,
minimalist records of David Sylvian, Sarah Kirkland-Snider, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Recoil, Thomas Feiner,
11.What are some of your non musical interests?
My family life is very busy at the moment so there is not much time left for hobbies. I love long distance and uphill running. My house is located at the foot of a massive hill. The views from the top are
stunning. On a fair day you could see the whole province from the Mournes to County Donegal plus the coast of Scotland and Isle of Man and the whole Belfast City panorama. I try to get up there as often as
possible. It's a punishing steep uphill 9 mile run but totally worth it.
12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Check my album. It was recorded in a tiny box room but sounds bigger than many records produced in studios. It's full of information andsonic content, interesting concepts, engaging atmosphere and massive
growls. I hope you will enjoy.
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