Interview with James Kent / Perturbator May 2021, by Fabian Filiks Kvlt Magazine

INTERVIEW WITH JAMES KENT / PERTURBATOR MAY 2021, BY FABIAN FILIKS KVLT MAGAZINE, WWW.KVLT.PL

For fans of synthwave and retro-electronic music James Kent doesn't need any introduction. Perturbator has been one of the trendsetters in this genre for years. With his latest release, "Lustful Sacraments" he seems to take a turn from the path to Neo Tokyo. I had a chance to talk with him about touring, musical evolution and his plans for the future. Here's Perturbator!

Hi James! It has been a while since we last spoke after your show in Warsaw back in 2018. You were touring in support of your then last release: "New Model”.

Yeah. I did a lot of tours back then. I remember you played before us in Gdańsk, right? I did some touring in the US. I think I did two others in Europe. It was a very exhausting experience, but I have good memories of it. I played at few places that I always wanted to visit, like Las Vegas, which I love. I think I came back to Poland for even some more shows after that tour.

Yeah, you did. Your biggest live performance was at the Pol’and’Rock festival in 2019…

Absolutely. Yeah, that was a huge crowd. It was like five hundred thousand people or something like that. At least that’s what they say.

I think many fans know and remember that period very well. But time flies fast, and here we are in 2021, five years after the release of “The Uncanny Valley” and four years after the “New Model” EP. This time you took your time. Why the long wait?

Mostly because I was super exhausted after this whole touring thing. I was like all the time on the road, giving shows and traveling. I couldn't find the time to chill and relax. I just wanted to get home and write some music. But I also had a lot of other things to attend to do. I had to move to a different house and so on. A lot of personal stuff.

So you are not the type of artist who writes music on the road?

No, absolutely not! I know some musicians that do it, but I can’t do it at all. I need to be in my headspace. In a mindset. I think that’s actually why it took so long to make this album. When Covid 19 hit the world it allowed me to focus on writing and recording the new album. So it’s a good thing that was born from a bad thing.

I remember when “Excess” came out, and it was quite a surprise. I mean, it wasn’t your “regular” Perturbator track, with this coldwave vibe and post-punk twist. Why did you decide to go that road with your music? Natural evolution?

Yes, I think of it like that. I like to change my music. I like to try something different and to experiment a lot. I hate making the same album twice. When I write an album, I like it to be different than the previous one. You know, apply a little something here and there. Something new. “Lustful Sacraments” is a love letter to goth music that I've loved since I was a teenager. So it’s something I always wanted to do. Finally, the time was right to do it.

Does it correspond with what you stated for the Metal Hammer interview that “synthwave is dead”?

No, it doesn't [laughs]. I didn’t say this phrase. Guys at Metal Hammer just wrote it to the interview. I’m not saying that synthwave is dead. It’s just that I don’t do it anymore. The music style. I just basically do what I like to hear. I like writing music influenced by different stuff, you know, ambient music, post-punk, post-industrial, and so on. So that’s why I don’t do synthwave anymore.

"Lustful Sacraments" is an interesting album, to say the least. It has that new "beat" and energy that we heard in the first two singles. But it also has that gravity and darkness of "New Model". I especially like the track "Messalina, Messalina". Strong old-Perturbator vibes there. Maybe I’m still living in Perturbator’s past?

Maybe you are? [laughs] But yeah! It’s one of the heaviest songs on the album. I wanted to make it this way, and it’s also one of my favorite tracks.

I think I understand why you didn't put this song as a single. You did that because the overall vibe of the tune is different than the current Perturbator direction?

I wanted to keep the DNA of the Perturbator project. Perhaps change the style but not the substance. The core. The tracks that we released already show the different sides of Perturbator. So you have “Excess” which is pretty fast, energetic. And then you have “Death Of The Soul” which is more electronic, like EBM, and then "Dethroned Under a Funeral Haze" which is like a chill track. I just wanted to release those three tracks to show a kind of the range of the album.

You started as a solo artist, and then Dylan came along with live drumming. Has it influenced in a way the new direction of your music?

Do you mean the drummer? [laughs] I don’t know. Maybe a bit? I don’t know to be honest.

I mean that writing music with the idea that you will perform it live. Not only the synths but a drum kit and maybe guitars in the future? Perhaps it changes the perspective?

I don’t think about it when I write music. Sometimes I even make some drum patterns that are impossible to play. I don't do it on purpose. You see I'm not a drummer. But when I listen to the finished album and then prepare the live show, there are some changes. Just like with the songs from the new album that will sound different when played live.

Could you tell us something more about Hangman’s Chair and True Body? You have both of them featured on “Lustful Sacraments”. How did this happen?

Both of them are good friends of mine. I met True Body in Virginia. We played a show together, and I really fell in love with their music. They are the authentic kind of post-punk band. It’s very well done, and I really like the voice of the singer, so I knew I had to do something with them. This collaboration was very natural. The same goes for Hangman’s Chair with whom we made a track in like two days after hanging out in Paris.

A match made in heaven?

Yeah, something like that [laughs]. I love their music. I think we have similar thoughts about the atmosphere and the vibe of what we want to do. Heavily influenced by Type of Negative, Sisters of Mercy, and so on.

“Lustful Sacraments” is a record with a melancholic vibe. That’s something that I picked up after spinning the album quite a few times. It’s different than other Perturbator releases. It’s no more “we’re surrounded by cyborgs and fighting for our life in a post-apocalyptic New York” kind of feel [laughs]. It’s different. More mature. More grounded but then again ethereal in a way. Am I right?

[laughs] Yeah, you are right. Well, what I wanted to do this time was to focus on melodies. “New Model” was a very cold, aggressive album. It had a lot of complicated structures. You can even see it in the artwork. With “Lustful Sacraments” I wanted to change that and focus on something more melancholic, that’s right. Something closer to me.

The tracks on "Lustful Sacraments" are also more spacious. The new album is not as “tight” as the previous one. It flows so naturally.

It was pretty hard to change because I used to put a lot of layers of the synthesizers. I’m used to complicating everything. But with this record, I wanted to simplify things. I wanted to make it almost like a pop album. Simple songs with catchy melodies. It's one of my most calm albums. And it's done on purpose. I needed to make it this way.

So you’re at peace with the world right now, or not? [laughs]

[laughs] No, not at all. It’s still a dark album. It’s still very nihilistic and has a dark outlook of the world. It’s just a somber kind of calm.

Could you tell us something more about the recording process? I don’t know if you were asked a lot about it or not, but I think some of our readers would like to know that.

It’s very simple. I have this little home studio and a couple of keyboards, guitars, bass, microphone, and so on. I just open my software and play along. I just kind of record all the things on my soundcard. It’s as simple as that. It takes a long time, I guess because I change a lot of things and even throw away some tracks as well.

But you play around, goof around with the music, or have a concrete plan from A to Z? You experiment with music a lot?

Depends on the track and the mood. Sometimes I have a precise idea of what I want to record. And I do it. Sometimes I try things out. And play with the idea. If I don’t like it or don’t know where to go with it after a week or so, I just throw it away and start a new one.

Throw it away, or keep it for the b-sides in the future?

No, I throw it away [laughs]

After a fruitful collaboration with Blood Music "Lustful Sacraments" is likely to be your last release for them. How was your experience with the label, and what's next for Perturbator? A major label?

Well, it was pretty nice to work with the guys. I think we did some great releases like on vinyl, and I also released pretty cool records with them. I love the fact that they had an enthusiasm for Perturbator from the start.

For a metal label, they surely stirred the pot of electronic music, right?

Yeah. They believed in me when I started Perturbator, and that’s very cool. For the future, I created my own music label. It’s called Music Of The Void. I plan to release my stuff on there. I will focus on that a lot. Right now, I’m working on the logistics and so on. It’s a lot of work, but I think it’s worth it. I will also like to release maybe some of my side projects and friends. So I will focus on that soon.

I guess we cannot have a conversation nowadays without the question about the pandemic. How has the Covid19 situation affected you other than not touring and having more time to work on “Lustful Sacraments”?

Except for giving me time to finish the record, it didn’t affect me a lot. I’m a very homey person. I don’t go out a lot anyways. So I stayed at home, and it didn’t affect me that much. But to be honest, the situation sucks, it’s so long now, and I still don’t know if I will be able to play the tour that I have planned for the Fall?

I think that there are quite a few people interested in seeing and hearing you again live.

Yes, and you know, I don’t know if it’s going to be happening. Fingers crossed! I hope it will. And I actually do hope to come to Poland too.

What can we expect from Perturbator in the upcoming shows?

I think the show will change a bit. I’m going to keep the synthesizers, I'm going to keep the drum, but I will add some guitars that I’m going to play with my friend. And some other things to liven it up a bit.

So you’ll be busy on the stage.

Yeah, I’ll try not to switch too much between synthesizers and guitars, cause I don’t want to be like a circus guy, you know [laughs]

I understand [laughs]. So the direction is to do a more rock show now?

Yes, it’s going to be a bit more rock, but it still going to be Perturbator. I can’t do a show without playing “Future Club”, or songs from “New Model. I'm going to play a bit of a new album with guitar and then just put the guitar away and play an old song that does not require guitars. It’s kind of hard to do the show, so I am also working on changing the tracks, to make them more fitting to the new style…

To keep the flow of the performance?

Right. To have that flow and energy.

I can’t wait to see that. Listen, James, you released “Terror 404” in 2012 if I remember correctly. It'll be 10 years old next year? Any plans to commemorate that?

I checked that recently, and I started Perturbator on October 7, 2011, so this year will be the 10th anniversary, I guess. I don’t know what to do actually. We thought about big boxes, like complete discography, but that's a lot of work, and honestly, I’d rather have a drink at the bar or something [laughs]

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