[Interview] Tar Pond: “music conveys things that cannot be expressed in words”. – Benzine Magazine

Born in painful circumstances after the death of its founder Martin Stricker, Tar Pond transformed mourning into a singular work. Petrolits second album, the group deepens its doom universe, between hypnotic slowness, sonic power and raw emotion. This interview looks back on his approach and his inspirations.

Buried somewhere in the mountains. Cold air and persistent fog. Amplifiers buzzing in silence.” It is in these terms that the Swiss group Tar Pond found refuge, in what, commonly, could be, in many ways, a permanent blues. A persistent desire for transcendence with an acute awareness conveyed by their dark music whose beauty unfolds outside of pre-cut lines, over time. Attend a concert Tar Pond is a memorable experience, both for the public and for the musicians. It’s like a part of you is laid bare in someone else’s words.

The group’s roots are numerous, at the intersection of Celtic Frost, Coronerbut also influences like Alice In Chainsof something that is accomplished over time, emotional anchors and metaphorical power. The group has forged strong bonds, configuring a lasting musical unit, and it is in this guest house that the group finds itself, in an act of composition, recording and creation, with a view to a highly anticipated third album. But let’s give the floor to the members of Tar Pond.

Benzine: How did you come up with the idea for the illustrations that adorn the covers of your two records?

Tar Pond : The decision was commonly made for the first album Protocol Of Constant Sadness. Marky, the drummer, works in the artistic sector, and has numerous contacts with artists from all over the world. He knows Steven Shearer who regularly collaborates with the Metal scene. So we asked him if he would agree to use one of his paintings for the cover of our album. We were delighted. For our second album, Petrolwe wanted to continue using artists’ paints. For my part, I don’t want to make covers with my own drawings, for me, it’s important to separate my drawings from the music. Of course, if it’s for album covers or t-shirts or that sort of thing, I think it’s fun. I don’t want to mix genres. I really like the idea of ​​using these paintings for a cover. For the third album, we are also looking for an artist.

Benzine: How have the lyrics influenced your work? How specifically do the lyrics correspond to your state of mind?

Thomas Ott : Currently, it’s mainly me who writes the lyrics. The main idea of ​​the group is to make music that is quite dark, sad, but beautiful at the same time. I don’t consider myself a poet, nor a writer. I try to capture sentences that I hear, or when I’m in bed and I can’t sleep. Sometimes I have an idea, I visualize a picture of something, and I try to describe it. It can become a text starter.

Benzine: Do you have notebooks in which you take notes?

Thomas Ott : Yes in a small sketchbook where I also make drawings, but I mainly use my phone. I have a little built-in notepad, it’s handy because you can transfer everything to the computer, etc. Recently I found something very interesting: sometimes watching documentaries about quantum physics and that kind of thing, there are really interesting sentences, which, in another context, fit well for a possible composition.

Benzine: What do you think of this change of perspective regarding melancholy? Is the world now perceived differently – both by artists and the public – this sadness being considered ideal?

Chris Perez, bassist : I’ve always loved melancholy music, I think that’s always been the case. And I think everywhere in the world there is sad music, but it can be different. I’m half Mexican. My father played in a mariachi music group. I grew up with Mexican music. If you sing for example, “ Oh, Oh, Oh, Tequila “, it’s a happy song, but there are also songs in this musical genre that are more imbued with drama, heartbreak, and death too. This is a subject I don’t commonly discuss, I’m just starting to talk about myself. Happiness or beauty is found more in sad music. I don’t know if I listen to a happy song, it doesn’t touch me. For me it’s not like listening Emperor or very long sad songs. It’s like almost crying and then feeling better.

Thomas Ott: I think it’s difficult to write good, happy songs. Well, I can’t really explain it to you. For example, Clint Eastwood of Gorillazit’s a song when you listen to it, you feel good. But it’s also very cynical. For me personally, the music and the sound we create is a form of outlet. It’s like externalizing your demons or your fears, putting them on paper, putting them to music, and then when it comes out of you, it’s close to an exorcism. You see this also goes back to the question: what is oppressing you? You can kind of spit it all out.

Daniele Merico (Guitare) : It’s a perfect language for communicating serious subjects, thoughts that are difficult to express in words. It’s easier to make someone feel my sadness through music. Because it touches something that words can reach, it’s very cathartic, in a way.

Benzine: Do you have any rules that you follow when it comes to writing?

Tar Pond : It’s very difficult and frankly, I never imagined I would find myself writing so many lyrics. Because not only do I not like it, but I also don’t speak English very well [Sic : Thomas Ott répond en anglais]. And then, no one else in the group offers to write the lyrics: “Here are the lyrics, it’s up to you to sing them.” So, I said to myself: “I have nothing to do while the others are rehearsing. “I try to feel the essence of the music and put it into words, what I see while listening to it. Actually, I listen to the music first, and the lyrics come later.

I had a friend, a writer, to whom I sometimes showed my texts. He would read them and say, “It’s… it’s… it’s a really bad poem, pretty close to what hippies and kids do when they’re in a bad mood.” But I think when you sing it, well it works. Do you see the difference? If you just read the lyrics, you say to yourself: “Come on, stop being such a jerk, stop complaining about nothing. “But when you listen to the music, it’s much more understandable.

Maybe that’s what Daniele meant too: music transports things that can’t be expressed in words. Yes, I just add a few words, I bring a little depth to the music and, personally, I think the lyrics are not that important. Finally, it’s good to have words you’re not ashamed of. I don’t want to say anything stupid that I would disagree with, but hey, it’s not that important either. I can’t say anything more. It’s just the atmosphere. It’s just time.

Benzine: Your music seems to be linked with personal dramas, tragic events, what were the effects on your respective lives?

Tar Pond : I think it’s very easy to be depressed right now. You can say you’re sad about things, and then tell someone else about them. But every person has the right to be sad because of personal problems, about the loss of a loved one. If you just want to say “I don’t care about anything”, that’s not the way we think. The important thing is to have emotions. Yes, to have emotions. I think we’re very emotional.

Benzine: Rarely has a group embodied such sadness – is it a state of mind that allows us to perceive the world differently?

DanieleÂ: I would say that it’s a way of being more vulnerable, of accepting one’s vulnerabilities more easily. It’s putting yourself in a state of great vulnerability to immerse yourself in the music and the lyrics. I don’t know if it’s a blind reflex to only want to explore this state of sadness intentionally, but it seems to be the spirit of the group since its beginnings. And like I said before, it’s a great process and I think we’re all very lucky to have this group and this opportunity. So I don’t think that will change. I also don’t know what’s supposed to be planned, but there’s a certain line you have to follow. Our compositions must sound precisely another way.

Benzine: Are the group members all close to each other in terms of distance?

Thomas Ott: I moved to Basel, an hour from Zurich by train. Before, we were all based in Zurich, in the same city. This is still the case for the rest of the group. I am the only one traveling, but Switzerland is a small country. We try to rehearse once a week. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. This is the main program for this week, that’s what we’re here for. We’re here for a week in this little house, to try to concentrate on writing new songs, to find ourselves and appreciate the melancholy.

Chris Perez: This is why we are in this place, a guest house, where many artists have visited. There is a special atmosphere here.

Benzine: Few singers have such vocal range. Would you say that she is like a pillar that consolidates the foundations of the group?

Tar Pond : I think that in general, when a band has a lead singer, it always gives a certain character, a certain tone to the group. If we take Mark Lanegan… or if you listen Danzigthe voice is like an instrument: with an instrument, you have a much greater range thanks to the effects and sounds, while with the voice, it is a little more limited. But we can also work on the voice in different ways. Of course I like the voice of Mark Laneganbut at the same time, I think it’s good to have my own voice. I don’t want to copy anyone. I don’t really like my voice when I listen to it. I wish it was a little different. It’s the same for everyone. If you look in the mirror, you always see something you don’t like, but hey, that implies that I have my own personality.

Benzine: Do you prepare your compositions in advance? Are there any surprises along the way?

Tar Pond : In the writing process, I would say we operate very democratically. We really follow a guideline, it’s something we’ve worked on, being together is more like getting together and trying to write songs together. It’s not like other bands I know, where someone works at home on their laptop and sends files to others saying, “Here’s the new song, we’re going to play it like this,” as if they were working simultaneously. Sometimes it’s just an idea, just a riff, and then we start extracting the good things from it, it certainly takes a lot of time but we need it. Yeah, we need to be together and work together. This is why we came here. Because normally, working in everyday life, or more, we meet once a week, we rehearse and then we leave. We are perfectly in sync. We try something, we improvise, we have a sort of jam session.

Benzine: Does music soothe pain?

Tar Pond : If you really get carried away with a song, some scars can open up. Maybe we were happy before, but it makes us sad when we listen to certain songs from the past, it’s very cathartic. It’s a place where you can put your pain and transform it into something beautiful. I don’t think any of us are channeling anything specific right now, related to the war or the current times, but we all live in these conditions. At the moment, we’re not really thinking about going on stage.

Benzine: Which group would you like to share the stage with?

Tar Pond : So we’re really focusing on this album that we want to record in June, and we’re hoping that the production with the label and everything else won’t take too long. If everything is in order, we might be able to release a new album at the end of the year. But you never know. There are always obstacles. For the moment, we’re not really thinking about going back on stage. I would have liked to tour with Alan Vega…

Daniele : Or with Acid Bathbut Mark also plays in a group with whom sharing the stage is an honor.

Thomas Ott: I think Chris and I finally found the comfort we needed, and it’s really great to work together. I find that we harmonize and synchronize quite well. We’re all pretty dynamic guys. We are all very nice! And as soon as we’re in the studio, once the recording is finished, we’ll take care of the cover and everything that goes with it. And we don’t know exactly yet, but by the end of the year, maybe we can start thinking about concerts…

Comments collected by Franck Irle

Their latest album:

Tar Pond – Petrol
Label : Prophecy Productions
Publication date: September 15, 2023