Mirrorthorne Interview Question Suggestions

[Angmar]

I sent off a message to Vladimir, the sole member of the symphonic black metal band Mirrorthrone, asking if he would like to do an Interview. He accepted the request and I need suggestions of questions to send to him. Something along the lines of.

Do you ever intend on getting a full band so you can perform live?

What bands do you listen to the most?

Things along this line will do. I will pick my favorite ones and compile them into a full interview. Thank you for participation.

[Liberi Fatali]

Ask him innovative questions

[Cocaine]

How about:

Why not find a live drummer? Why perform as a one man act? Is it because doing it all yourself means you see the results you want?

What's the status on your other projects?

etc

[JumpTheF**kUp]

Ask him about his views on Iraq.

[Angmar]

Interesting ideas, I'll be sure to try and ask him slightly intelligent questions. :p

[Stoic]

no (american) politics for god's sake :upset:

I like the questions Tyler came up with.

[Neoteric]

*Mirrorthrone

and Cocaine has got it right.

[The Jungler]

Please, if your going to interview a professional as a representative for Sputnik, at least spell the band's name right.

[Luc214]

I'd like you to ask him the "do you ever intend on getting together a full band so you can perform live?"

Ask him where he gets his musical inspiration/how long he's been playing for.

Also, how he feels about recording black metal in his parent's house :lol:.

[Channing]

How about this: Let someone else do it.

[The Door Mouse]

Oh chan don't be such a downer, I'm sure stevo won't mess this up.

[Angmar]

Ouch, I guess since Mirrorthrone isn't picked up on Mozilla i just excused it and forgot to look it over :(. And the reason I am making this thread is so i can get suggesstions for what to put on the questionnare. I do no intend on doing this all by myself, I am merely the sender.

[Eliminator]

"Why is your music so boring?"

"Are you gay? If not, why are you lying?"

[Dave de Sylvia]

"Have you heard of this kid Eliminator? How many different ways can he phrase the same bad joke?"

Why not find a live drummer? Why perform as a one man act? Is it because doing it all yourself means you see the results you want?
I think you could phrase it a little less like an interrogation :p

no (american) politics for god's sake
For the love of God, yes.

I'd like you to ask him the "do you ever intend on getting together a full band so you can perform live?"
It'd probably be better to ask why he hasn't already, and what the benefits of performing solo are.

[Neoteric]

How about this: Let someone else do it.yeah

[Abaddon2005]

I'd like to see a question or two about his songwriting, like why he chooses to create such long songs/compositions and how he starts out writing them and where he gets his inspiration from.

I'd also like to know what bands he is into and what different kinds of music he listens to.

[Angmar]

yeah

Nah

[Thor]

I'd like to see Shadows do this interview.

[Channing]

i definitely second that

[Angmar]

I guess that would be cool, but i have been whoring it for the last 2 days and he hasn't showed any interest...

[Eliminator]

Nobody certainly shows any interest in you doing it.

[Angmar]

You're probably the most helpful person on this site, kudos.

[Jom]

I'd like to see Shadows do this interview.

It has been pointed out to me by somebody else, but everybody should read his Carriers of Dust or whatever the hell it's called review.

Specifically the intro.

http://www.sputnikmusic.com/album.php?albumid=11203

Question: who here has seen Shadows use any of those words ever?

Holy thesauruses, Batman!

[Apocalyptic Raids]

I'd like to see Shadows do this interview.
good idea.

[Dave de Sylvia]

It has been pointed out to me by somebody else, but everybody should read his Carriers of Dust or whatever the hell it's called review.

Specifically the intro.

http://www.sputnikmusic.com/album.php?albumid=11203

Question: who here has seen Shadows use any of those words ever?

Holy thesauruses, Batman!
Sacrosanct synonymy!

[Angmar]

I'm sure it would turn out fantastic. Where is he anyway?

[Eliminator]

I'm pretty sure everyone is aware of Shadows' bad intros.

.-.

[Jom]

Sacrosanct synonymy!

more like synonym sodomy amirite

Stevo: I wish I could be more helpful, but I don't listen to black metal.

[Angmar]

Tis fine, I am putting together some questions, ill run them by some folk on AIM.

[Eliminator]

Run them by the people in R&M.

[Channing]

lets get shadows to do the interview!

[Thor]

I agree I think he's the most qualified, though he's like a ghost around here lately.

[Angmar]

This is what I have so far

When did you first come up with the idea to start Mirrorthrone?

What is the status on your other various projects?

Do you ever intend on branching out into a full band, mostly for the purpose of performing live and getting more people into the writing process? Or do you prefer working in solitary?

If you are in a rut, what do you typically do for writing motivations?

What artists do you listen to the most? Are they your biggest influences, or simply the bands you enjoy the most?

Do your parents support or enjoy the type of music you compose?

Between Of Wind and Weeping and Carriers of Dust, which album did you enjoy recording the most?

Have your album sales been profitable to you? If so to what degree?

[Channing]

well that last one you could probably just find online

[Angmar]

possibly...

[Channing]

but if you want to waste vladimir's valuable time with it then ok

[Dave de Sylvia]

Few suggestions:
When did you first come up with the idea to start Mirrorthrone?
Don't ask when, try: What prompted you to start recording as a solo artist?

Do you ever intend on branching out into a full band, mostly for the purpose of performing live and getting more people into the writing process? Or do you prefer working in solitary?
Do you ever intend to recruit a full band for touring or for extra creative voices, or do you prefer to work alone?

If you are in a rut, what do you typically do for writing motivations?
I wouldn't ask this, this just ask about his motivations in general.

What artists do you listen to the most? Are they your biggest influences, or simply the bands you enjoy the most?
What artists do you listen to on a regular basis? How influential are they upon your own music?

Do your parents support or enjoy the type of music you compose?
Awful question.

Between Of Wind and Weeping and Carriers of Dust, which album did you enjoy recording the most?
Which Mirrorthrone album did you most enjoy recording?

Have your album sales been profitable to you? If so to what degree?
I'd advise against asking this too.

[Thor]

I think it'd be better if we got someone else to do this. I like the fact that you're trying to get an interview...but I think someone else would do a better job.

[Angmar]

Someone suggested that one about the parents :p. Ok, that is great and all Thor but where the hell is Shadows?

[Eliminator]

You will use those if you do it.

[Channing]

obviously you should hand the reins over to trustxdialect

[Angmar]

If is the emphasized word there, does anyone have Shadows on any messengers or anything? Does Trust like Mirrorthrone?

[Channing]

trust only listens to pussy indie pop

if shadows can't do it then just hand it over to some other r&m regular

[Dave de Sylvia]

I think Jom said he wanted to do it.

[Angmar]

Hmm, how about Cocaine? Jom said he wanted to help but didn't listen to Mirrorthrone, so i dunno.

[Thor]

omgz i'll do it. i r an r&m gawd

[Channing]

you don't have to listen to him you just have to ask the questions

[Angmar]

Well the main reason i set up this whole thread was so everyone could input there own questions and i would simply compile them and send them off to him since i have the original email and could simply respond to it.

[JumpTheF**kUp]

lol @ all the stevo bashing


As long as you get someone to read over your email and make sure it's all spelt right and that all of the questions are ok, then it should be all good if you do it. We don't want to offend Mirrorthrone now, do we?

[Angmar]

No the last thing we need is an unhappy Vladimir. And i don't see why i am being criticized for this, people need to learn that not everything i do is retarded.

[Shadows]

Band-related:

Why do you choose to continue Mirrorthrone as a one-man project? Do you ever intend to progress into a full band and perhaps begin touring? Also, do you aim to ever record outside of your home and in a full professional studio?

It's been over a year since the release of Carriers of Dust and it was rumored that a new album was planned for the end of 2006. What's the status on the next Mirrorthrone album?

You also have a multitude of sideprojects, each covering different ends of the spectrum of the music you seem to gravitate towards. Could there be albums coming soon for Weaping Birth or Unholy Matrimony? What about the as of yet premature projects, Deafening Loneliness and Accurst Journey?

Why so many different names and "bands"? Why not mold all of your ideas into one and release them under one name?

Personal questions:

You seem to be proficient on guitar and piano. How long have you been playing these? Are there any other instruments that you play?

Your musical taste obviously includes not only metal but also classical. What are some of your favorite metal bands/classical composers, and how would you say the two come together to form your sound?

Lyrically, your works seem to encompass a wide range of topics including philosophy, religion, death, descendancy, and various emotions. What would you say is your prime influence for your unique style of writing? Are there any specific people or events that you can link your lyrics to?

These are just some that I would throw out there. They may seem a bit fanboyish but I was trying to stay positive and respectful in asking these questions. I'd also be interested in the gear he uses to record, like his guitars, amps, keyboards, etc. This is from a musician forum after all, but that might not fit in with everything you ask him.

It has been pointed out to me by somebody else, but everybody should read his Carriers of Dust or whatever the hell it's called review.

Specifically the intro.

http://www.sputnikmusic.com/album.php?albumid=11203

Question: who here has seen Shadows use any of those words ever?

Holy thesauruses, Batman!
Obviously I never talk like that in my common speech, but I use dialect of that sort regularly when I write formally for essays and works of the sort. I tried to increase the prose I used for that review specifically.

Jeez, I'm away for a little while and people start accusing me of things. =/

[Angmar]

Awesome Shadows, I will surely include the questions you asked.

[Abaddon2005]

You seem to be proficient on guitar and piano. How long have you been playing these? Are there any other instruments that you play?


He isn't proficient on piano, it's all programmed, I read that in another interview online. Please avoid asking questions that have already been asked in interviews that are readily accessible.

[Dave de Sylvia]

Obviously I never talk like that in my common speech, but I use dialect of that sort regularly when I write formally for essays and works of the sort. I tried to increase the prose I used for that review specifically.
I think you went a bit overboard, Captain. :yar:

[Shadows]

He isn't proficient on piano, it's all programmed, I read that in another interview online. Please avoid asking questions that have already been asked in interviews that are readily accessible.
Do you have a link to this interview? Of course it would be programmed, it's a keyboard tracked directly with the rest of the instruments. But it's still him playing it.

I think you went a bit overboard, Captain. :yar:
Be that as it may, I'd rather people don't make assumptions like that with little or no justification.

[Jom]

If you want justification, look at any of your last ten reviews, and not counting your two most recent, show me that you use that same vernacular.

I'll also just call you lazy, too, if you're going to basically use the same introduction for your Opeth review. Outside of those two reviews, you exhibit no signs of raping the thesaurus of words.

This isn't about your reviewing, because it's always good.

I'm just pointing out that the excessively-polysyllabic nature of those two (well, one) introduction paragraphs is really, really funny, because I don't know who you're trying to kid by saying that you consistently write like that outside of whatever academia you claim to be from.

[Angmar]

Alright all the questions that Shadows, and SOP corrected as well as some other suggested ones have been sent off to Vladimir, all spelled correctly of course :D

[Jom]

Good work, stevo, and good luck.

[Dave de Sylvia]

Yes, great work Stevo.
Be that as it may, I'd rather people don't make assumptions like that with little or no justification.
Heh, well it's not a big deal, it's just difficult to read even for people who know what the words mean.

[Angmar]

After he sends it back to me, is there an email i should send the interview to?

[Jom]

Send it to SOP's - it's in his profile.

[Neoteric]

Stevo, you should make an article out of it rather than a bunch of questions with answers. Just look at any music magazine and you'll see that it's not just Q&A. Sadly, I don't think you are a good enough writer to do this.

[Angmar]

Have you honestly not been keeping track of this thread and seeing that Shadows and others have posted many ideas that I used. Sadly, I think your to bias against me to realize this.

[Neoteric]

No.

You have to write an article to make it look professional and you don't have the writing ability to do it.

EDIT: btw your rep isn't worth anything so no point neg repping me lol

[Channing]

yeah you definitely gotta have an article to go along with the interview

[Neoteric]

We were discussing this in the staff reviewer forum the other day.

Jom spent ages making his Space interview as it's a long complete article but when MisterBunghole sent his interview to SOP, it was just an intro and Q&A.

So basically SOP will just tell you to improve it if it sucks.

[Jom]

Let's just take it easy and see what happens first.

I will be the first to admit that I became incredibly ornery when I saw the remnants of that Orphaned Land contribution and projected it as an insult on me for having someone think that something so bare-boned be even considered admissible, but hopefully Vladimir Mirrorthrone will provide nice, long-winded answers like Space did. For someone who writes depressing, elegiac music, he seems like a nice guy.

The thing that makes mine different from the two proposed interviews are that mine was entirely spoken-word. I had to take the recording, transcribe it to text, and organize it so that it was fluid and looked sharp. I give a lot of credit to mx as well for organizing the interview like he did in terms of coding. I had those images and captions and things, but I did it all on MSWord with a vision of how I wanted it to look, and mx was kind enough to take the time and code it as-is, which is real cool of him. But to listen, record, transcribe, etc. took hours of work, and I did think that the Orphaned Land Q&A was very poor and not of an acceptable quality in the sense that it doesn't represent the best that we can do as a site, and would best be designed for an article, where the quotations would be used to bolster the article.

The next interview that is slated for going up is going to be very good because it did just that. It's also a very awesome read and very engaging, so I'm looking forward to seeing it when it goes up, whenever that may be.

[FlawedPerfection]

Hey Jom, do you schedule these interviews yourself by contacting the artist or do you go to the record label? Also, where do you meet them to interview?

[Eliminator]

A lot of interviewers do it by telephone.

[Jom]

Hey Jom, do you schedule these interviews yourself by contacting the artist or do you go to the record label? Also, where do you meet them to interview?

Space was extremely approachable and I can't say enough nice things about him taking his time to talk back-and-forth like we did - I think that's a rare quality to have when you're in the mainstream.

I first started writing him via mySpace. He runs his own mySpace, and he always returned messages within a day when I sent them, which is how we first started talking. He also was generous in taking the recording and mixing it as an MP3 and sending it to me. He still sends me news about how he's doing without me even inquiring and couldn't thank me enough for allowing him to use Sputnikmusic as a voice for being able to have free reign in talking about his album. It was good practice for him, he said, before he starts his soon-to-begin "major press" run.

Who knows, maybe Sputnikmusic will be considered "major press" later :p

So, if you can contact the artist directly, more power to you. If not, then start working your way down the ladder (label, fansites, etc.).

If meeting face-to-face isn't possible, then the telephone would be ideal. Failing that, then send questions via e-mail like others have done, I suppose, just make sure they're not questions readily accessible (such as, "Who am I currently interviewing right now?" or "What do you play in the band?" because that's kind of condescending/retarded to begin an interview... that's what introductory paragraphs are for).

I knew in the back of my mind what I wanted to ask, while giving Space the ability to have an unrestricted ability to say what he wanted, how he wanted.

My biggest [personal] goal currently on the site is to elevate independent artists. The last rock listening party is a local band outside of where I live, and they had five streamable tracks, so I figured, "Hell, why not put them on the site? They have three albums!" Of course, there are only five comments, but still, those guys were extremely appreciative of both the review and the listening party, and they link to them liberally on their official site, mySpace, Facebook group profile, and more.

To me, giving independent artists a voice is extremely important. Another positive about Space is that he links to Sputnikmusic on his mySpace, sends bulletins about Sputnikmusic, and more. It's kind of a mutual agreement, I suppose, but it's his way of saying thanks for the support, which he was extremely appreciative for in our correspondence.

He may use the review and interview in his press kit, for instance, too. When labels and artists see these things, the site will grow in recognition, hopefully. I've seen more and more artists link to our reviews on their official sites and their mySpaces. When these labels and artists see us, and we approach them, they'll know that their time isn't being wasted and they'll know that the reviews and interviews and articles and so on and so forth are well-written, thorough, and that we bolster the artists by giving them an unrestrained stage to talk at length about what's important to them; in Space's case, it's his solo album and his current endeavors.

I also wanted to give both the readers and him an inside look at his life from a very brief standpoint. He's from Australia, so I asked if he gets homesick, and he said that he does and that he misses his parents and friends and that "he's at the point in his life where he can call his parents 'friends' because that's exactly what they are [sic]."

I dunno, I'm a dork and thought that that was really special stuff. I already knew that he was a humble and genuinely nice guy, but I wanted to be able to show to the readers that he is, and not just take my word for it. I think I accomplished that, just looking at the first page (since I can't see the second :() page of comments.

I thought it would have been extremely difficult to get a major-label artist right off the bat. I have been proven wrong, as you guys will come to find out, and I have no problems about that, because that interview I'm alluding to is very exciting stuff.

[FlawedPerfection]

Cool, I'm excited for that interview. How would I record a telephone interview? I'm not sure what's going on with the New Atlantic thing, I'm still awaiting a call back from the publicist which will hopefully come on Monday, so I'm not sure if this is a face to face interview or a phone interview.

[Channing]

i'll try to set up a few interviews. we don't have telephones in virginia so i guess i'll just use myspace!!

[Jom]

Cool, I'm excited for that interview. How would I record a telephone interview? I'm not sure what's going on with the New Atlantic thing, I'm still awaiting a call back from the publicist which will hopefully come on Monday, so I'm not sure if this is a face to face interview or a phone interview.

Well, the really ghetto way of recording a telephone interview is to put the artist on speakerphone and have a tape recorder :)

In my case, I was real fortunate because he had a lot of gadgets to take the conversation, pull out all the junk, re-master it and mix it as an MP3, and pass it on to me for me to transcribe. I sent the transcription back to him to make sure I didn't misinterpret what he said, but he said it looked awesome and that he was excited to see its final product.

I need to talk to more Australians - their dialect and diction are unparalleled. Maybe I'll get Trash from The Red Paintings :p

[JumpTheF**kUp]

I need to talk to more Australians - their dialect and diction are unparalleled.


Quoted for truth.

[Shadows]

If you want justification, look at any of your last ten reviews, and not counting your two most recent, show me that you use that same vernacular.

I'll also just call you lazy, too, if you're going to basically use the same introduction for your Opeth review. Outside of those two reviews, you exhibit no signs of raping the thesaurus of words.

This isn't about your reviewing, because it's always good.

I'm just pointing out that the excessively-polysyllabic nature of those two (well, one) introduction paragraphs is really, really funny, because I don't know who you're trying to kid by saying that you consistently write like that outside of whatever academia you claim to be from.
I wrote those two reviews as a pair. The intro was used for both because I see them as very similar in content and the concept I was aiming for applied to both.

I don't write like that outside of my "academia". That's my point. 99% of my reviews are very casual and straighforward, but with those two, I wanted to go above and beyond what I usually do and use diction that's a bit less colloquial.

But by all means, if my choice of words truly offends you, then maybe I should draft every review and send it to you from now on to make sure everything meets your expectations.

Heh, well it's not a big deal, it's just difficult to read even for people who know what the words mean.
Fair enough.

[Jom]

okay dude seriously how small are your grapefruits

if sop can get it and he didn't even write that then surely you would

[Dave de Sylvia]

No.

You have to write an article to make it look professional and you don't have the writing ability to do it.
No.

He hasn't written anything yet and you haven't earned the right to criticise. Sorry.

Stevo hook me up whenever you're done or mail me with any inquiries.

[Neoteric]

Okay sorry sir, I will stop criticising completely.

[Abaddon2005]

Why is there this whole fuzz over Shadows' intro? :/ Yeah it uses some uncommon words but geez. Don't make an issue out of something that's not really an issue to begin with... Next to that, when a person writes a review, it's his choice how he wants to write it, isn't it? It's not like people get criticism when they don't put certain words in there.

[Jom]

Why is there this whole fuzz over Shadows' intro? :/ Yeah it uses some uncommon words but geez. Don't make an issue out of something that's not really an issue to begin with... Next to that, when a person writes a review, it's his choice how he wants to write it, isn't it? It's not like people get criticism when they don't put certain words in there.

hey look another person who, quite clearly, doesn't get jokes

commence crazy tourist photographing now

[Dave de Sylvia]

Why is there this whole fuzz over Shadows' intro? :/ Yeah it uses some uncommon words but geez. Don't make an issue out of something that's not really an issue to begin with... Next to that, when a person writes a review, it's his choice how he wants to write it, isn't it? It's not like people get criticism when they don't put certain words in there.
No no no he had no right to use big words.

[Sepstrup]

As a person with English as my second language, I felt greatly offended and discriminated.

[Neoteric]

what's your first language?