THE HOWLING WIND - ENTREVISTA

Muchas gracias a Ryan Lipynsky por tener a bien contestar a estás preguntas, sobreponiendose al hecho que los miembros integrantes vivan cada uno en una esquina del pais, no quita que nos pueden ofrecer un buen trabajo de black. Por otro lado quiero pedir disculpas por adelantado por el hecho no tener constancia de que el grupo no actuaba en directo...Boas noites.

1. Could you tell us a little as has been the process of composing this work? What issues have motivated you when composing?

Ryan Lipynsky: Composing The Howling Winds music consists of Tim Call and myself sending ideas back and forth. Usually the songs will start with a skeleton of drums and then I will come up with riffs and music on top of that. We will repeat that process a few times and refine the song until we are satisfied. We never rehearse as we live on the opposite sides of the country, so this process of trading “demos” of our ideas is our means of creation and composition. The issues that motivate us are always out of pure quest of creation and execution. Improving our artistic statement each time around.

2. I see that your lyrics revolve around themes such as the occult and mind control, Could you explain a little bit these concepts?

Ryan Lipynsky: The occult is that which is hidden in this realm; the esoteric ideas that are embedded in symbolism and texts. The entire album “Of Babalon” can be interrupted as an occult metaphor. The hidden or secretive means of understanding these things is left up to the listener. The lyrics were purposely excluded on “Of Babalon” so that the music would be the cerebral focus and the ideas and concept would be left for the listener to draw their own conclusions. Mind control is something that we explored on our first album “Pestilence and Peril” and its tentacles can be felt in every aspect of modern life. If you are “plugged in” you are being subjected to forces that are attempting to control or strongly influence your brain. Sometimes overtly obvious and other times it is sinisterly through the subconscious.

3. You carry five years with the group, how has been the journey until the day how has evolved the group?

Ryan Lipynsky: The group evolved out of the ashes of my previous Black Metal influenced band Thralldom and to a lesser extent the short lived solo project Drifting Collision. After Thralldom disbanded I still had the desire to create this dark form of harsh hypnotic occult metal. From the first album we were exploring our sound and recording our selves. On the second and third album we fully realized our sound and recorded in a real studio together in person. We have developed in the sense that we have refined our scope of composition and sound. The journey has been onward and upward. I’m very pleased where The Howling Wind is and where we will go in the future…

4. Tell us a little type of equipment that you use in the recording sessions and live performances.

Ryan Lipynsky: We don’t play live. In recording the past two albums I have used a mixture of Gibson guitars with Ampeg and Peavey guitar heads and Emperor Cabs. That solid state Ampeg Guitar head is something I used on all albums I’ve done over the past ten years with my other bands such as Unearthly Trance and the previously mentioned Thralldom. It is my main sound and I’ve continuously fixed and preserved it so I can continue to use it in the future. Usually in the studio I will blend it in with another tube head to give it some warmth and texture. On “Of Babalon” I predominately used my Gibson Flying V with Lace guitar pickups. For bass on the last album I used a Fender Jazz copy through Ampeg and GK bass heads. Tim used a Yamaha drum kit with two rack toms and two floor toms on the last album…

5. How is it being received by the public of this work and not only in terms of sales but also live?

Ryan Lipynsky: Like I said before, we don’t play live and in terms of sale - we have done moderately well. Not sure of numbers and to be honest, its not that important to me. As long as we keep creating music we are proud of and putting these recordings out into the world, I am satisfied.

6. How were your beginnings in music? Groups and disks What are your inspiration and what would you recommend us?

Ryan Lipynsky: We are influenced by Bathory, Darkthrone, Celtic Frost/ Hellhammer, Autopsy, Dissection, Early Katatonia, Old Morbid Angel, Old Slayer and many other bands of Heavy Metal, Death Metal, Doom Metal and even some punk bands...

7. How difficult is the coexistence within the group? Who is the leader of the now compose, or both aportáis ideas and you respect?

Ryan Lipysnky: As a duo, we are both leaders. We are good friends and greatly respect the others opinions and intuition.  In my opinion, a duo is the easiest and most production way to create. I think if we didn’t work this well with each other, this project would not have lasted this long as it’s a difficult process and not everyone could do things in such an unorthodox manner.

8. What song would you like to ring at your funeral?

Ryan Lipynsky: Morbid question… Something from the mighty Black Sabbath would be ok with me.

9. What are for you the top five black disc in history.

Ryan Lipynsky:

Darkthrone – A Blaze In The Northern Sky

Darkthrone – Under a Funeral Moon

Bathory – Blood Fire Death

Bathory – Under the Sign Of The Black Mark

Dissection – The Somberlain

10. Thank you very much for your time, if you want to add something for people who like The Howling Wind this site, thanks.

Ryan Lipynsky:Thanks for the interest and to all who have taken the time to listen to our music. We plan on working on a new EP on cassette and 12” vinyl in the near future. It will be a bit different from the last album and we are really looking forward to recording the new material.