Interviews: None

This is a new interview with the Neo Folk-Black Metal band None from the USA. Check out the interview and follow the band on their FACEBOOK PAGE.

1. Where did you get the idea for the band name, you plan it or came out just like that?

Nicholas: Hello, and thank you for featuring us on your website. The name “None” came to me when choosing a name for my device sometime in 2014/2015. Afterward, None grew into the concept and name I chose to recognize as the higher self - and the essence of everything.

2. Why did you want to play this genre?

Nicholas: There isn’t an exact or fixed style of music that we play; but in the beginning, None had started as an acoustic-guitar duo. The pattern or geometry of None is authenticity and devotion to my craft. It wasn’t ever “just” about the music - instead, it has always been about purpose.

John: Playing in the folk/metal genre has always been something interesting to me. I enjoy creating something that I really haven't heard before, especially in the context that we are creating. Acoustic and metal needs to be done more often.

3. Did you know each other before the band was formed?

John: Yes, we'd met through mutual friends and jammed quite a bit before this project was a real thing. Great shirts signal quite a bit, people.

Nicholas: Yes, John and I had met about a decade ago through a mutual friend. Since then, we have continually worked and grown together playing various styles of music - which, in the beginning, had been somewhere between the lines of Technical Death Metal, Avante-Garde, and Black Metal. This had started a couple years before my acoustic guitar playing had developed.

4. Each band member's favorite band?

Nicholas: For the past decade I’ve always said that if I were to have to pick “one” artist who is at the top of my inspiration list it would be Blut Aus Nord. Currently, I am mainly listening to Dominick Fernow’s work (Prurient/Vatican Shadow), Muslimgauze, Baise Ma Hache, The Doors, Nitzer Ebb, etc. to put into a light perspective what my playlist is like.

John: I'd say either Cynic or Tyr; any progressive or fast things tend to make me think about the possibilities of where music can go.

5. Who or what inspires you to write songs?

Nicholas: It’s a broad question to answer. An easy reply would be “everything”, or “myself”, “life” - but also physical stress, and pressure, nature, socio-politics, philosophy of both the inner and outer world, connection with “God” - etc. I suppose the correct answer would be, again, authenticity and unrelenting devotion. This is who I am.

John: Creating something new and interesting. I can't say that I'm trying to emulate any people or projects when I'm writing, it's mostly about making something that I haven't heard before.

6. Where was your last gig?

Nicholas: The most recent show None had performed took place near home; at a smaller-local venue called the X-bar. We had been offered to join the bill with the bands Vintersea, Voices Of Ruin, and Dawn Of Ouroboros who had been on tour at the time.

7. Where would you like to act?

Nicholas: That’s a question similar to “Where would like to travel?” - well, many places of course. It’s hard to say since I have yet to actually travel to anywhere outside of the United States. Instead, I want to be everywhere that has value to None and would fulfill the greater cause.

8. Who would you like to feature with?

Nicholas: It’s not something that I spend the most time thinking about, I would want to play with bands that I listen to of course.

John: I'd love to play with the guys from Xanthocroid, they're one of my favorite local(ish) bands and I think that they have enough acoustic material that we'd have a great show together.

9. Who not?

Nicholas: Any and every act that would not uplift and fulfill the cause.

10. Have any of you ever suffered from stage fright? Any tip for beginners on how to beat that?

Nicholas: Get in there and do what you have to do, there’s no way around it, no opting out, and no plan B. This is who you are.

John: Yes, and I still do depend on how often I've practiced or played with the band. My biggest advice to avoid this is to practice as much as you can and practice as if you're on the stage. If you can play something behind closed doors, the only difference is a crowd in front of you.

11. What bands have inspired you the most? 

Nicholas: I could insert some of the artists I had mentioned before, but here is a broader list: Blut Aus Nord, Death In June, Rome, Marilyn Manson, Thangorodrim (Occult Rock), Plague Phalanx, Benighted In Sodom (in the earlier days of None), Black Witchery, Anata (in my younger years), Depeche Mode, Kettle Cadaver, Vatican Shadow/Prurient, Baise Ma Hache. I have no “favorite artist” and am constantly on the go both in life and my listening palette.

12. What’s the weirdest thing a fan has ever asked you for?

Nicholas: To join the band

John: Nothing too weird, but I'd say someone asking to join the band at a show. It wasn't entirely out of place, but uninvited and a bit random.

13. What do you think of your fans?

Nicholas: I’ve heard multiple interpretations by solo listeners and spectators, who’ve for the most part given great feedback, share a point of view either similar or vastly different than what it may have been that I’ve meant in my work. For example, I’ve heard some say that they take None as nihilistic, or that the instrumentation wasn’t meant to be the main vocal point of the whole masterpiece. In contrast, I’ve heard some describe my performance as nude, and most will point out the fact I’m playing an acoustic guitar over blast beats or shrieking vocals. Despite the array of feedback and audience interpretation, I’m glad that None has achieved a resonance and created an inspiration for those who It has. All is exactly what you wish to perceive.

14. What do you think of our site?

Nicholas: The questionnaire was not addressed specifically to none, however, some of the questions did require me to take time to meditate on my answer. I appreciate that. The layout of the website is clear from my perspective, appealing to the eye.

15. Something to add?

Nicholas: Thank you again for featuring None on your website. A new video for “Pride And Blood” will be premiering soon via Wormholedeath and I’m proud of its coming work thus far.