mind.in.a.box interview:

mind.in.a.box - Interview for magazine 'Ritual Magazine', Interviewer:'Antonio Bassu', about: 'Dreamweb', Date: 2005-06-28
 
Link: Ritual Magazine
 
Let’s talk about album stuffing starting from the title. ‘Dreamweb’ seems to be influenced by certain feelings and “schemes” related to the “dream” dimension: Is the whole album a kind of journey through the mind and its gift of creating parallel dimensions ?
It is a very interesting view to think of it as a journey through the mind and how it can create or travel through parallel dimensions. The artificial word ”Dreamweb” is directly related to the background story of the album. It is a parallel reality, a world of dreams into which people are escaping to free their minds. It is a metaphor for the dreams that drive us forward, that tell us who we are, and that let us be who we think we are. This world was already an important part of our debut album “Lost Alone”, although there it was only alluded to and not given a name. The literal “Dreamweb” will also be an important part of the next mind.in.a.box albums. Nevertheless, it is also related to real dreams and the feelings they evoke in us.
 
Can you explain the relationship between the “identity” of the album and the musical side? Is there a common line passing through all the songs?
“Dreamweb” is in many respects the continuation of “Lost Alone”. Where loneliness and alienation were very important themes on our debut, the second album is more about ways to escape these feelings or states of mind. The common line on “Dreamweb” is the search for this parallel reality where dreams reside, and the story of people looking for it. Some of them already know about it, whereas some are not yet aware of what they are really looking for.
 
Still talking about relationships, tell me which is the one between the strong presence of machinery and technology and the “human” side of your music…
Technology, and computers in particular, have a very important influence on our lives, and in our case on our music. However, the big feelings in life usually have nothing to do with technology, and consequently I think that our lyrics have a more human than technological basis. Our songs most of all represent specific feelings and emotions. When I am working on a song, I have a very specific image in mind, a certain emotion that I want to express with music. And so I think the human side is the dominant one in mind.in.a.box, although technology naturally plays also an important role and our concept revolves around the relationship between the two.
 
Is Mind.In.A.Box a “personal experience’ far away from the scene and “reality”, or do you consider it part of electronic movement?
We are feeling very well in the electronic scene, and are also very happy when our music is played in clubs. Sometimes we want to hear it at really loud volumes, too! :) But the story we want to tell and our approach to connecting individual songs and even albums together is probably a bit different from the way most bands in the scene approach their music.
 
The sound of Mind.In.A.Box seems to be projected towards new horizons and influences, since your debut album…How did you judge it, by now? What can you tell us about your musical background?
In my past I have mainly been working on various computer game projects. I started on the Commodore 64 and continued on PCs with the early FM synthesis chips such as the Adlib card, as well as a bit on the Commodore Amiga. The times before powerful sample-based soundcards became common were dominated by technological limitations. And these also influenced my musical style a lot. It was basically a completely different platform for doing a very distinct kind of music. All in all, I think that my approach to music was more influenced by technology and computer games music than by traditional bands. I have also been working for more than ten years with a custom sequencer software that Msh wrote for me, which also shaped my way of working. Of course I’ve also listened to a lot of music over the years, but I don’t think that my main background is that of a “traditional” electro band. This is probably a reason for the mind.in.a.box sound being a bit “different”.
 
And now let’s talking about your individuality. How much of your personality is there enclosed in ‘Dreamweb’?
The whole concept of mind.in.a.box mirrors a lot of our personalities, although we try to tell self-contained stories and to focus on certain traits of the people and world around us. And in the end it might also be a way for us to “escape the box” :) The “Dreamweb” itself is a part of the Science Fiction world of mind.in.a.box that we have created, which is also a metaphor for aspects of our real world. As such it also represents an important part of our lives, although of course not in a literal way.
 
Are there messages, or recurring themes, to be discovered in your album?
It is not a focus of our music to convey specific singular messages, but to convey that people should think for themselves and make up their own minds. Nevertheless, each song represents specific emotions and aspects of the world around us, where we want listeners to decide what they can mean for them personally. Important “big” themes on “Dreamweb” are the quest for making your dreams come true and believing in yourself.
 
And if you had up to three reasons why should we buy the new Mind.In.A.Box, what would they be? And your peculiarity? Which other band do you recommend alongside it?
I think that people who like “Lost Alone” will also like “Dreamweb”. It is a natural progression, and at the same time contains palpable new developments as well as a feeling of familiarity. An important part of mind.in.a.box is that we are always trying to surprise listeners musically. Alongside songs with a more “typical” song structure, such as “Sun and Storm”, there are also songs that are more similar to little adventures and that are parts of a continuing story, such as “Dead End”, which we started on “Lost Alone” and are now continuing on “Dreamweb”. The new album is also a bit harder than our debut. The song “Between Worlds” is available in full length at www.mindinabox.com. In addition to electronic music, we are both listening to a lot of guitar music too. Recently, I am having a hard time finding electronic releases that really touch something inside me. The last albums that stuck with me were Informatik’s Re:Vision, Battery Cage’s World Wide Wasteland, New Order’s Waiting for the Siren’s Call, and I Am X’s Kiss + Swallow.
 
What do you think will Mind.In.A.Box evolution be?
We will continue on the path set by “Lost Alone” and “Dreamweb” while integrating new elements. But who knows where the wind will take us.