TB: Your recent performance at Berghain was truly impressive. I particularly appreciated the use of live instruments and vocals. How does it feel to play such a live show in front of a crowd that might be expecting more techno?
AM: Thank you. At Berghain we had a perfect technical setup and a great crowd - lots of friends that listen to all kinds of music. Obviously it’s much easier to meet expectations of a crowd that is aware of what you are doing. But I guess for a live show, that is the significant difference versus a DJ set. In my opinion it is more important not to worry too much about the audience's expectations. Plus, there wouldn’t be much room for it anyway since all your focus is on the performance of the instruments.
TB: You mentioned in the past that you rarely listen to techno. What have you been listening to lately that really made an impression?
AM: That’s a difficult question since it is so much and always a mix of recent releases and "classics". Some of the most impressive recent releases have been certainly Trepaneringsritualen’s Kainskult, Bain Wolfkind’s Hand Of Death, Prurient’s Rainbow Mirror, La Breiche’s Le mal des ardent, Heaters’ Matterhorn, Alder & Ash’s Clutched In The Maw of the World. Furthermore the recent output of (Dolch), Die Wilde Jagd, Becoming Animal - only to name a few. According to the the counter on my mobile device Hypnopazuzu, Burial Hex, Giöbia, The Blue Angel Lounge, Gas, Kentin Jivek, Day Before Us, Frustration, Rome, High Functioning Flesh, Johann Sebastian Bach, Art Abscons, Hekate, Herz Jühning, Soviet Soviet, Popol Vuh, Necro Deathmort, Martial Canterel, Restive Plaggona, Wrekmeister Harmonies, Coil, Johann Jakob Froberger, Whispering Sons, Urfaust have been on heavy rotation. Lots of recent music I listen to is featured on the radio show on Berlin Community Radio.
TB: How do you stay inspired, be it through music or any other source? Is there a show you attended recently that stayed with you for a long time?
AM: It’s the triad of music, books and movies, lately the movies as an inspirational source suffered the most from my time famine. From the most recent shows I saw undoubtedly both Nick Cave concerts belong to the most intense and impressive shows I ever attended.
TB: We live in a time when the concept of the label "Music Will Tear Down Walls" hits home more than ever. Do you believe music still has the power to tear down walls?
AM: Absolutely. Delimitation and exclusion are encouraged by abstract ideologies that fuel prejudices, aversion, hate. Music and, in particular, dance music can bring people together and I believe in the power of direct encounters, face to face, similar like traveling to a foreign country, to overcome these negative forces. But remembering the ambivalence of the Jericho picture. music itself is a neutral amplifier of emotions and one can also load it with an ideological message and hereby abuse it for the contrary.
TB: The album feels like a sonic journey, with highs and lows, reminding me of Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey, where the hero embarks on an adventure to eventually return home transformed. Reflecting back on the work you put in and the final result, would you say that Ancient Methods changed over the years? Is there something you feel you have learned from the experience of working on this particular release?
AM: I wouldn’t say my music has changed or transformed, but it has further developed. The work on the album already made me hungry for the next projects, I learned there are still so many things to explore I haven’t touched yet, so many ramifications of ideas. After so much work during the last month I would have expected to be tired and longing for a break, but I learned it’s quite the contrary.
