Interviews: Antania

On this new occasion, we have had the opportunity to interview the Blackened Doom Bass band Antania from the USA. Check out the interview and follow the band on their FACEBOOK PAGE.

1. Where did you get the idea for the band name, you plan it or come out just like that?

Well, Dr Luna is a high Priest at the Temple of Hecate in New York City and Antania is a title of Hecate meaning “Enemy of Mankind”. That title of hers seemed to be fitting for a project that is focused lyrically on the murderer and the occult.

2. You’re sort of considered a pioneer of the “blackened doom bass” genre. What was the inspiration for the sound initially?

Thank you for that question as I do believe that I created a new sound. I was originally a bass player in metal bands and I ran into a health problem that led me to start going to India. I couldn’t bring my bass guitar so I brought a keyboard to keep creating music. On one of my trips to India, I decided to have a 3-day layover in London and went to see the band “The Prodigy” live. I realized that if I created a black metal version of that sound it could be one of the heaviest sounds out there. I started creating a “new” sound that would evolve into Antania.

3. How did you and your partner Kali meet before the beginning of Antania?

Kali Mortem was the photographer for my previous project Luna 13 and we became friends and more as she lived here in Joshua Tree CA as well. We decided to form a side project for fun because she could sing. She has this old-school black metal voice with moments of Quorthon from Bathory. While we were putting Antania together Luna 13 folded and Antania became my center project.

4. What transitions did your work go through between the last album and ‘The God Complex”?

When Antania first formed it was a side project where I wanted to concentrate on a slower “doom” sound and I wanted to keep my other project Luna 13 with a faster “Blackened” sound. We put out a release called “Lividity” and shortly after Luna 13 folded and Antania started headlining with only one release. We had to go back into the studio to create new music to have more live material. I decided to try to merge the two sounds together while working on “The God Complex”. The God Complex was supposed to be a 5 song EP displaying a new sound, the merging of the doom and blackened sound. I also wanted to create better songs and upgrade everything I do. Songs “The God Complex”, D3D SOLZ, Trophy, Black Glitch Six and Cyclops were the songs written for that EP. We were getting ready to sign to Slip Trick Records from Latvia and right before signing that got oddly controlling. They wanted to move forward with a marketing campaign that would require us to dish out our own cash. While this was going on a label in Italy, HellBones Records referred us to The Triad Recs and we signed with them immediately. We really liked their bands and it seemed to be the right fit for us.

5. Who, outside of the metal or goth industrial genres inspires you to write?

I love Gary Numan and listen to a host of ambient electronic music like Aphex Twins and Boards of Canada. I listen to ambient and IDM in the day and Metal at night. Kali listens to a lot of classic 70’s and 80’s rock like Led Zeppelin, Queen, and Journey and also bands like BAND-MAID. Yet she listens to completely different styles of Metal than I do. She listens to Static-X and Infected Rain where I stay with old-school death metal like Deicide and Morbid Angel.

6. Do you engage in any sort of ritual before going on stage or creating your work in the studio?

Not while on tour but I do before writing music. I often do a host of Hecate invocations before writing music.

7. Any of you has ever suffered from stage fright? Any tip for beginners on how to beat that?

Oddly enough “no”. I get super excited to play and Kali was in the military so the strength she earned there pays off in performing.

8. How did you hook up with Matt Zane for the video for “The God Complex”?

I was friends with “Dirt” and would go watch “Society 1” live often. I saw his videos and thought that was the right fit for us and it was. We will work on another video with him in February 2024.

9. What's the weirdest thing a fan has ever asked you for?

We recently were asked to sign a poster with blood. We are only 7 months old now so I am sure we will have more stories as we evolve.

10. What do you think of your fans?

We are watching this happen right now. We are gaining more traction in Europe right now. So this is exciting as the path of Antania is completely different than my previous project. We are signing posters and sending them to Germany and Italy at the moment.