INTERVIEW WITH
HIDE TEPES
OF
CARRION
Hide:
Hide: I’m the founder and front-man of Carrion, a project born experiment and explore that through the years has evolved and become the focal point of my existence on the physical plane.
Hide: It was whispered by disembodied entities somewhere between dream and what most refer to as reality.
Hide: Blood Not Diamonds laments the seeming hyperfocus on materialism the majority of the population has become victim to. It’s a reminder , prayer and a plea to not get lost in the pursuit of the proverbial diamonds and recognize what holds true and lasting value such as art and passion and things you can’t simply order on amazon.
Hide: I handle every aspect of Carrion myself including the artwork. I always felt the art should serve as a visual representation of the music. Each part is equally important to me. The trinity of sound, word and image.
Hide: While there are certainly painters, writers, poets and musicians I’m sure have rubbed off on me through the years I really couldn’t point to anyone specificn as a definite answer. Art wise I pull from relevant parts of psychological alchemical symbolism to accentuate and enhance certain aspects of the music through the art.
Hide: believe we’re all on some level, even if only subconsciously, influenced by our surroundings be that through news and current events, social media or seemingly trivial events in our private lives. As far as the creative process there isn’t any set method. A song could be spawned from a late-night modular session, a word getting stuck in my head for whatever reason or perhaps from me fiddling around guitars playing with effect pedals simply exploring sound for the sake of it.
Your latest releases have been so damn good, its very exciting to know the album is coming.
Hide: Thank you, it seems to have been well received so far which I wasn’t sure if it would be given how once again I’ve taken a step into a new direction but perhaps a bit more dramatically this time around. There is indeed an album in the works, but it’s still too early to say anything about release times. Mike Nolen and I will dive into the mixing/mastering process towards the end of the year.
Hide: Those who live shall see.
Your style is kind of unique, it is mysterious, haunting, and weirdly calming. How do you define Carrion?
Hide: I try to refrain from setting up any sort of limitations. Carrion is a vehicle to explore and examine the psyche, a therapeutic tool and a journal of hope , love , dreams and loss. On a more earthly and musical level I pull from everywhere, my roots are in the rock and metal world, ranging from 80s rock like Motley Crue to the early black and death metal scene with Death and Morbid Angel alongside more experimental acts like Coil or Nine Inch Nails.
Hide: It seems all my idols are long dead and gone, but beyond fulfilling any childhood fantasies, I do occasionally collaborate with friends, such as the Sever The Servants project with Mike Nolen or non-musical ways such as providing artwork for The Cult Sounds.
Mortiis, Combichrist, Apoptygma Berzerk, Carrion, the list goes on. Why do you think so many great bands are coming from Norway?
Hide: There really aren’t that many industrial adjacent bands here, and those we do have are often comprised of the same 4 or 5 people on rotation throughout several different projects. Seigmen, Zeromancer and Ljungblut are great examples of this. All great bands, by the way.
Hide: Thanks to anyone and everyone who has supported Carrion and my various endeavours through the years. It’s greatly appreciated. Hopefully, you’ll stick around to see where we go next as we have many plans both musically and visually.
