Order of Melchizedek

Here is an interview we did with Order of Melchizedek. I dare say one of the best in the experimental game

fighting the good fight so check them out. Support him and his Label. Lets keep the scene alive peeps .

 

 

 

Tell us about Order of Melchizedek?

 

Darin M. Sullivan – DMS – Order of Melchizedek started out sometime late in 1999 as an offshoot of my first project, 7 SE7EN 7. With those beginnings being very spacey, Dark Ambient / Experimental forays with very New Age concepts, the more Theologically abrasive music I was creating needed its own outlet. There was a definite division in sound for certain things I was creating, and I wanted to keep it separate from 7 SE7EN 7. Since then, O.o.M. has become, by no intent of my own, my primary source of expression.

 

 
How would you describe your music?

 

DMS – To look at the whole, artistically, O.o.M. is evangelical, extremely evangelical at times. Fanatically religious ideas permeate both sound and art, sometimes to overemphasize, sometimes to deliberately contradict Christian beliefs. Some people have, and some will continue to question what I do, but that is my intent, to be questioned. To make one think, especially for themselves, to question things like the existence of God, to really put some effort into the thought of an afterlife and where are they going to spend eternity.

Sonically, Order of Melchizedek has begun to run the genre gamut. At times, the soundscapes are Dark Ambient or Experimental, at others Power Electronics or Death Industrial. Some newer material has very Classically inspired passages. I approach things more by the mood or ideas I’m trying to express, not by where I want to fit in on a playlist. The music I create is an outlet for what I am feeling at that moment in time. Watching the news, especially our Presidential rat race lately has been great for me, artistically. Mentally, however, I’ve become quite apathetic, almost nihilistic at times. Hypocrisy is everywhere!!! This shows through in my recent work.

 

 
How long have you been doing this kind of music?

 

DMS – I’ve been experimenting with electronics for just over ten years, now. Previously, I played guitar as a hobby since I was 10 or 11 years old. I used to sing a lot, too. I’ve had a love for music my whole life.

 

 

 

What kind of music do you listen to? Does that play a factor in your
music?

 

DMS – I listen to a lot of stuff, really. I think the only thing I don’t really like is rap music. Let’s see, the last 5 songs I listened to on my iPod were DRAPE EXCREMENT’s Good Grief, DIE FORM’s Silent Order (Attrition Mix 2), SIGILLUM S’ Double Border / Reignited Bioreaktor, COIL’s Never and TRIARII’s Regicide II. I love Pink Floyd, Nurse With Wound, NIN, Genesis, Severed Heads, Tangerine Dream, Megaptera, IDT…we could be here all day with this question!!! If I were to say that what I hear had no influence on what I do, I’d be lying. I try to create my own music, but to say I do that without ANY bleed through of what I listen to would be silly. I really try to create music that I like & I would like to listen to… I don’t mean to sound at all pompous, but if you can’t enjoy what you create, how will anyone else enjoy it?

 

 

 

What got you into this kind of music? Any other influences?

 

DMS – Man, I’d have to say, “Not just what, but what and who”. I was turned on to a LOT of music at a very early age by my older brothers. I remember being only 8 or 9 years old listening to some local College radio station, hearing stuff like early, early Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dream, S.P.K. and who knows what else!!! In fact, I still remember stealing my brothers, ‘The Man Machine’

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

cassette to take into school for show & tell when it came out!!! Then, there were my teenage Metal years. Lots of Slayer, Metallica, Misfits & stuff like that. Even then, though, I was always looking for stuff like I’d heard years back. In ’90 and ’91 I found the whole NIN / Ministry culture. At that same time, a friend introduced me to a local Goth act, Lestat. That was all it took to send me back, way left of the dial, looking to local College radio for anything like Lestat. Anyone from this locale, at that point in time, would remember the Steve Wainstead shows. He was just a local College DJ, but he had his impact on the rest of my life. Listening to his shows, I heard bands like T.A.G.C., Attrition, Muslimgauze… the whole Projekt / Soleilmoon / Staalplaat thing. Around July of 1998 I was writing for a local music magazine, covering all the Electronic stuff, the Goth scene etc. I’d befriended many musicians; one in particular was Brian Sutter of In Death’s Throes. Through our numerous conversations he discussed

meeting his band mate, Stephen Petrus. Brian also mentioned that Stephen ran his own label, Live Bait Recording Foundation, and had a solo project called Murderous Vision. That meeting was pivotal to me starting my own project. I was so enthralled with what Stephen was doing, with his projects AND his label, that I started my own experiments with sound. Through Stephen’s encouragement, and my own desire to start something serious myself, I’d soon find myself knee deep in borrowed software, desperately trying to carve out something worthwhile. Some of my earliest recordings are still in the vault; others were on cassettes that were lost when moving, some were destroyed with PC’s crashing and the like. Anyway, out of all of this, I’d have to say Stephen has been my biggest musical influence, professionally and personally. As far as other influences, Spirituality, psychology, politics, the horror genre in general and altered states of consciousness all play their roles.

 

Fallout Music wants to encourage other people to experiment and find
new sounds. With that said, what equipment do you use? Do you have any
secrets that you would like to give away as far as recording and
playing this kind of music?

 

DMS – I use a Digi003 (Rack), ProTools LE, Glyph Storage, a PC, a Roland XP-50, a Yamaha AN200, a Boss SP505, a pair of Event TR8 XL’s, MOTU MIDI interfaces various soft synths, sound libraries and just about anything else I can get my hands on. As for secrets, I’m not really sure. I do a lot of reading, Electronic Musician, Mix, EQ etc. I also read my equipment manuals, if all else fails!!! I guess if I had a ‘secret’ that may help someone; I’d say to study up, buy some books on the subject. You’d be amazed with the number of so called ‘musicians’ trying to make music without the slightest clue as to what they’re doing. To be fair, there ARE bands that have been incredibly successful without any idea of what they did or how they did it, but you can accomplish so much more creatively, so much quicker if you take a little time to understand just what the heck it is you’re working with. I’m pretty sure the same is true with most tools… if you try to build something with tools that you have no idea how to use, you usually don’t end up with much but broken tools. Talking to other musicians and sharing ideas is a huge help, as well. And, the 2 most important things, how could I forget… always stay organized and NEVER FORGET TO BACK UP YOUR SESSIONS!!!! ALWAYS copy what you’ve done to save your work!!! I know of artists that have lost entire albums they’ve recorded by a simple PC crash, so do whatever it takes, back your stuff up!!!

 
Do you play out much?

 

DMS – As for the first several years of being in the electronic music scene, I was more of a studio musician, but in the past few years I’ve had the opportunity to play a few shows here & there. Bringing Order of Melchizedek to a live setting has gone much better than I had anticipated. One problem I’ve had, which really kept me from playing out in the beginning, is the fact that I don’t like to rely on backing tracks to perform live. I wanna do it all on the spot. Most bands I’ve seen, though, use varying degrees of backing music when they perform, but I want to be ‘live’ when I am playing a set. I begrudgingly relied heavily on a backing CDr for the first show I did and since then I have used it less & less. I’ve incorporated my backing music more as its own instrument now, not as something to rely on as the performance with me playing over it. The last show I did was with Friends of the Bureau and Of Swine and Swill. I did everything live and on the spot that night. That set was definitely a departure from anything I’ve done before. It was really minimal, like a modernization of an 80’s synth pop sound, based on a few ideas I’ve had lurking in the back of my brain for some time now. It was cool to step away from what I’ve been doing with Order of Melchizedek and try out something else. The reception from the crowd was positive, as well. I was even offered a spot on a split release with Reichardt van Grieken on the Live Bait label 2 minutes after my set ended!!!

 
Speaking of playing, how was playing with Mago and Sanctum?

 

DMS – Oh, Wow!!! What a dream come true for me!!! I’d met Sanctum back in ’99 for an interview while writing for that music

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

mag, and they were so cool!!! When I found out they were coming back on tour I was psyched, when I was asked to open for them… I flipped!!! Jan & crew were all VERY cool to work with. It was a very positive experience, even though my mixer hates compressors!!! I recorded my set that night and released it on CDr. I had everything preordered, so I just ducked in back after my set and started burning copies & assembling packaging for people. There were a total of 15 ‘Private Issue’ copies made for the show that have a few extras; a bonus CDr, inserts, caffeine pills & a piece of wire. The cover for the bonus CDr is MRI cells of my wife’s head, cut directly from the films!!!

 

 

 

What other projects are you currently in or have been in?

 

DMS – Well, I work as 7 SE7EN 7 & O.o.M., primarily. I also have a project that I dabble with called Digital Solace, which is not at all of a religious nature. I was a part of Order of Black Vision with Mike Duncan (Black Mayonnaise) and Stephen Petrus (Murderous Vision). Stephen & I have also collaborated on a project called Lithopædion and I’ve done guest appearances on a few Murderous Vision tracks. I’m not sure if that synth pop stuff I did will ever take the form of an official ‘project’. For that show, it was called DMSO, but it may end up being incorporated into Digital Solace. I also do sound design for another self made company called Shadow Sound Design. The idea with that is to make sound beds for the Horror Attraction industry and to eventually score independent horror films. In 2003 and 2004, I designed all of the sound environments for Nightmare in Painesville, which, at that time, was one of the première Haunted Houses in all of Northeast Ohio. I’m also currently working on music for the score of a movie called Legend of The Melonheads.

 

 

 

Enlighten us about Ambimorpheous Recordings?

 

DMS – Ambimorpheous Recordings is the label I created to release my music on. Initially, I intended to exclusively release my own music, but I’ve had ideas that have stretched beyond those bounds, so we’ll see what happens. And, yes the word Ambimorpheous is made up. I’ve had that question presented to me many times with rather hostile overtones. Why, I really don’t understand, but some people seem VERY opposed to having to create a word to describe exactly what it is you do. The idea behind it is blatantly obvious, I thought… a morphing, or mutation of ambient sound. Admittedly, this made a lot of sense while intoxicated, but it still seems very apparent clear headed, if you ask me. Anyway, it’s the outlet for my sonic expression that would find no other source of external exposure.

 

 
Is this just a record company to release personal stuff, or do you
work with other artists?

 

DMS – As I said, Initially, I wanted to be solely responsible for the material released on the Ambimorpheous label. But, as time progresses, so do the ideas. I’ve had contact with some incredible talent throughout the years that I feel needed a place to fit in, as well. Some future releases will not have religious themes, so this will open up the label to new ground, unhindered by spiritual themes. The break from exclusively being a Christ based label started with the Lithopædion CDr, really. I took on the responsibility of that release because it was an honor for me to be able to pay some respect to Stephen for all the work he had done with that material and for asking me to work on it with him. So to me, not only participating in the project, but doing the release was mandatory for me, even though it was not in any way religious. I’m looking forward to releasing a 3 inch by Simulacra and I am also compiling material for a compilation to be released in the not too distant future, based on the 10 Commandments. All artists, outside of O.o.M. were by invite, that is to say, all involved have, for me, very personal reasons for appearing on this comp. The artists involved have all in some way inspired me, all being influential to what it is I do musically. Some bands that I feel would fit into this category have graciously declined my invite to appear, leaving room for those more willing to explore the concepts of God’s Law. Yes, there are both Secular and Non Secular bands appearing and that IS intentional. I am pursuing a world view on laws and morality, a non denominational outlook on a code of ethics, not just a singular view based upon God’s Commandments. People throughout the world see things differently and, I believe, to truly understand each other as a global community, we need to understand how we view basic laws and how they apply… to others AND ourselves. I could have started with the code of Hammurabi, but that wouldn’t seem appropriate. All bands were given the same directive, explain your Commandment musically, as you see it. How does it apply to you, to the world around you? I am very excited for the way things are panning out with this release.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Your name, I assume, comes from the Bible. How has (the Bible) your
spirituality played a part in your music?

 

DMS – Yes, it does. Melchizedek is a scarcely mentioned Biblical figure, seen as a foreshadowing of Christ. The Order of Melchizedek was basically his followers. My spiritual journey is a rather interesting topic, but suffices it to say, things I’m

passionate about are always reflected in some way in my music. When I started out, it seemed as though there were only a handful of bands dealing with any Christ-based themes. Everything was Satan, Serial Killers & Sex. I wanted to fit outside the mold, a main reason most subcultures are formed. Everyone had done all the ‘evil’, so I thought it would be a great idea, a good way to be different from the rest. Plus, I am a Christian, so it just made sense to want to make Experimental Ambient music for like minded individuals… and for anyone else who was interested.

 

 

 

Do you feel that the spiritual overtones in your music have limited
you in anyway within the noise/ambient community?

 

DMS – There have been a few times I’ve questioned my intent, but this is my path. If I have ideas that don’t quite fit into the realm of Christianity, I have created outlets for them. Some may challenge the validity of my faith with some of the other projects’ I’ve worked with, but no one seems to remember that, as a Christian, the first thing you need to do is admit that you are not perfect. I feel that this basic principal is all but forgotten, by the Christian who judges as though they are the law AND by the pagan, who challenges everything a Christian does with perfection as a weapon of disproving the existence of Christ. No one is perfect, no one. Don’t let yourself be fooled, that is where hypocrisy starts, with the misconception that, just because you’ve accepted Christ, you’re now perfect.

 

 

 

 

The community is usually overrun with artists trying to out-shock each
other with images of violence or perversion; do you think it is harder
to get your art out to the public when those elements are missing?

 

DMS – No, I don’t even see where anything is really missing at all. If an artist feels the need, religion is a goldmine for ‘Shock & Awe’! The Bible is chuck full of sex, death, plagues, disease, violence, betrayal, evil, magic… all you have to do is read it to find out.

 

 
I have read some of the reviews of your music it seems that some were
just focused on the images or some lyrics instead of listening to the
whole of the work, focusing on your religious beliefs instead of the
quality of the art. How do you as an artist cope with such narrow
mindedness?

 

DMS – I think with a bit of a different perspective on that topic. A review is only someone’s opinion of a work, and as with the sphincter, we all have one!!! As far as the reviews of my work that have tried to focus negatively on the subject matter, I believe those were based on ignorance and immaturity. But, if you really listen to what was said, I really got a reaction out of them. With attempts to belittle me or my faith, they’ve fallen victim to MY spell!!! My mission has been a success. They’ve thought about Christ, if but for a moment. And, sometimes a moment is all it takes for God to claim a new warrior. Also, ponder this, in all their defense of ‘evil’ and all their badmouthing Christ, they sound eerily similar to those book burning televangelists screaming about Def Leopard records being evil. The hypo-pagan sounding like the hypo-Christian!!! To actually defend my work with that point has been one of my greatest moments, as an artist. They were none too happy about it, as you can imagine!!! To be fair, though I’ve spoken with one reviewer who actually apologized for his reviews, and like I said, to really look at what he had said in one of my personal favorites is very revealing. I had ‘shot’ [myself] in the foot’ by sending a disc (that was clearly marked ‘PRESS TEASER”, meaning it was only for mention that it would be released and what it would sound like, not for a full review) with no other information. What an idiot I was, especially when he compared the music to one of my all time favorite Death Industrial acts, Megaptera!!! He was just trying to be funny, but inevitably paid me one of the best compliments I’ve had. I thanked him for that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What would you say to an artist just getting started? Any advice?

 

DMS – Yeah, do it. Creativity is a personal thing, if that’s your means of coping with what life has to offer, do it. Don’t fear the critics, read your manuals and back your stuff up!!!

 

What does the future hold for your music?

 

DMS – Where should I start? I’m working on a new Order of Melchizedek release that will be coming out on Broken Organ Donor Records, run by Steven Makita of Lockweld fame. I’m also taking on the mastering engineer role for the soon to be released Of Swine and Swill CD. I already mentioned the Melonheads movie and the split with Reichardt van Grieken…, I can’t wait for that, Richard Pflueger is amazing!!!. Also in the works for the Ambimorpheous label are looking at trying to get The 10 Commandments CDr out and releasing a new Lithopædion CDr. I may end up releasing another CDr from 7 SE7EN 7. There are also plans for the Simulacra 3 inch. I guess you could say things are kinda busy around here.

 

 

Could you let us in on one weird quirk you have? (Everybody has at
least one).

 

DMS – Well, I guess I’d say that I obsessively try to live within the boundaries of my compulsions way too much!!! I’m an extremist and a perfectionist, I can be too harsh on the ones that I love and not nearly as harsh on those who deserve it. Oh, wait…, you said just one. Sometimes I talk too much. It’s better to remain silent and be thought the fool than to speak and remove all doubt.

 

~ by fedbyravens on September 23, 2008.