Interviews: Solystalgia
On this new occasion, we had the opportunity to interview the Atmospheric Doom Metal/Atmospheric Death Metal band Solystalgia from Canada. Check out the interview and follow the band on their INSTAGRAM PROFILE.
1. For readers discovering Solystalgia for the first time, how would you describe the band's sound and identity?
AW: The sound is something that has been described as reminiscent of Warning, October Tide, but in truth, I think Wilco and I kind of accidentally fell into that sound. Wilco and I have historically bonded over a few things, music-wise: metal, ambient, and post-rock (to name a few). I think when we were songcrafting, we were less concerned with genre or sonic identity and more exploring those ideas that historically we had not felt free to do in the past.
W: Mournful doom. An Oreo cookie where the outer layers are Paradise Lost - Lost Paradise and Autopsy - Mental Funeral, and the cream filling is a balance of grief and political violence.
2. Why did you choose the name Solystalgia, and how does it connect to the music and themes explored on the album?
AW: In the early days of this project (2020, if you can believe it), we had a different name, one that was more spiteful and vitriolic, and even a bit on the nose. As the music developed and began to take a more esoteric form, transforming from a “fuck the system, bring out the guillotines” type of song writing to something a bit harder to pin down. The songs weren’t the revolution sounds I thought we were making - but funeral dirges for promised futures turned to ash. A homesickness for a place that doesn’t exist - and maybe never has. The term Solastalgia was coined to describe this feeling - Homesickness while being home. Like an oceanfront town watching its home get swallowed slowly by an ever-rising tide, helpless to prevent it. This feeling perfectly encapsulated the feelings we had while making the record, so we changed the name and put a Y in there to make the logo look cool and called it a day.
3. Your debut album tackles themes of grief, atrocity, and inherited suffering. What inspired you to explore these subjects?
AW: I had just lost my mother when the wars in Ukraine and Palestine started to kick off. The timing of these events caused a perfect storm of emotions - days where I felt guilty for missing the loss of one person, while so many lives were being lost every day abroad - often at my taxpayer expense. I was trying to work on a song for another project and was writing from the perspective of a conquered city in Mesopotamia, and I looked down and realized that what I had written could have just as easily been written today about Palestine. We’ve been writing the same history as our ancestors for over 5000 years. The weight of that realization, simple as it may sound, was devastating.
W: Regardless of what the music sounds like, if both Austin and I are working on it it would inevitably either begin or end in those places. When we were making music in our early twenties in a genre not even remotely adjacent to the metal ecosystem, we still worked on songs that were about grief and the juxtaposition of a supposed American dream and how it actually occurs for most people in reality. You write what you know, and the two of us, growing up in the deep south of the United States, have seen our fair share of it.
4. Austin Wheeler described the album as "a 37-minute riff-filled meditation on loss." Can you expand on what that statement means to you?
AW: Loss of life. Loss of Home. Loss of Stability. These are the feelings that I found myself experiencing when I lost my mother. This album was my attempt to explore each of those concepts, not just as an art form, but as a therapeutic creation. Each of these songs in one way or another, was an emotional sandbox in which I could explore these dark concepts and exercise a few demons I had been harboring.
5. How did the songwriting process unfold? Did the concept come first, or did the music naturally evolve into the story?
AW: As mentioned, the sound, we kind of just fell into by accident. Two friends exploring ideas that we hadn’t been able to in previous collaborative efforts. I think that part, from my perspective, is pretty well answered above - but I hadn’t really ever thought of it as a concept or story, per se, but it wouldn’t be inaccurate to do so. The emotional backbone of the record came naturally and evolved in tandem with the music. I think the only conscious decision that was made with regard to the “framework” was adding in Acceptance (the last song). It was the last song written, and it was written because I couldn’t accept the ending that we were painting, from an emotional level. 2 songs about personal loss, 2 songs about loss on a worldwide scale, and no resolution other than “this sucks”. I couldn’t accept that thesis, because I can’t accept it for myself. So we wrote Acceptance to put the 2 halves in conversation with one another - to write a better resolution.
W: Both are sort of true. As mentioned, the previous version of the project was politically pertinent, but in doing the initial writing for the music that is on the album, as it was released, we sort of stumbled into that. I was at home in an initial iteration of my home office/studio set up and wrote the riff for what would become Funeral while my spouse was prepping to make breakfast. I texted Austin an audio file of the original riff and harmony with the (un)fortunate message “I'm sorry, but I think we’re scrapping everything and I've found the sound.”
6. The album balances crushing death-doom with expansive atmospheric passages. How do you approach writing music that is both emotionally heavy and sonically immersive?
AW: Wilco and I have always written this way - to the point, I don’t know that we think about it. Blending influences, building expansive soundscapes - often to songs’ detriment, admittedly! With Solystalgia, we just finally found the right shoe to fit our old habits, sonically. The emotion part is harder to pin down - originally i don’t know that neither Wilco nor I considered that this project would actually be heard by an audience - so when I started using my darkest therapy days as partial inspiration, I’m not sure I gave it much more thought than “I need to keep working through this, and this is the best tool I have”.
W: These two things come from me in two very disparate ways, funny enough. When I sit down with my guitar to write the heavier stuff, it’s sometimes as simple as wanting to write a single-note riff that reminds me of Trouble or St. Vitus, some sort of older doom like that, then I might write a harmony for that riff, mute the original idea, treat the harmony as if it were the original idea and write a harmony to that, and repeat ad nauseum until, once isolated, the end melody feels substantial enough to form a foundation. It’s all pretty methodical, all things considered. For atmospheric, ambient passages, it’s sort of the inverse: I’ll find a sound I like on one of my keyboards, run it through a number of both outboard and VST effects until it’s no longer recognizable, record something, and repeat the process with any combination of equipment until I’m satisfied with the result. The final product is almost stream of consciousness experimentation by way of Brian Eno or David Lynch that then gets refined and recomposed into a more structured thing. Both of these processes being so diametrically opposite of each other is the magic of it: left brain meeting right brain.
7. Arthur Rizk handled the mastering while the band produced and mixed the album. What was that collaboration like, and how did it shape the final sound?
AW: Arthur and I share a mutual bandmate in Brendan Radigan by way of Savage Oath and Sumerlands. The album was already 80% mixed, and I shared some early mixes with Brendan, who, naturally, told me to send it to Arthur. The rest is history - he agreed that day, I sent final mixes in December, and had the masters back the next month. I don’t know if it’s a good or bad thing that I didn’t receive too many notes about the mix during the process, other than “sounds great!” But coming from him, I’ll take that every day of the week. But what CAN’T be overstated is how transformative his part truly was. I thought the mixes were pretty good, but when I heard the Master, it was like I was hearing the songs for the first time. I cannot sing his praises highly enough, or thank him enough for helping out. Truly a one-of-a-kind human being.
8. Tanner Anderson contributes guest vocals throughout the album. What made him the right choice, and what did he bring to the finished record?
9. Critics have compared the album to landmark releases like The Mantle and Trisagion. How does it feel to receive that kind of recognition so early in the band's career?
AW: Scary as hell. I’m humbled, honored, and happy beyond measure that these songs have resonated with at least a few reviewers the way that we intended - that would be enough to hang my hat on. But to be compared to such greats, all-time albums - it’s just such an honor. Even if we, as the creators, are a bit more hesitant to believe such statements, we’ll be damned if we said it didn’t feel amazing to read.
W: It’s a tremendous honor and, in a way, humbling. Austin and I became connected with each other by way of a mutual friend, Ian, when both of us were still in high school. We didn’t really meet in person until a few years later, when, just through pure coincidence, he was the drummer for a folk band I had been asked to play bass for. Our very first practice together, he and I really clicked based on a mutual love for The Mantle, among other albums like Boris - Pink and SubRosa - More Constant Than the Gods. To be compared to something like that is a full circle moment for us and reminds me of that phrase, “standing on the shoulders of giants”
10. Which song on the album best represents Solystalgia as a band, and why?
AW: Probably Entropic. That was the first song where I consciously said, “This is my benchmark for everything that comes after,” - and the only song that came after, writing-wise, was Acceptance. I’ll leave whether we hit that benchmark or not up to the audience, but I’m proud of it. Entropic has all of the elements that Wilco and I sought to combine, and it all feels very organic - black metal blasts, weaving their way through doom metal riffage, accentuated with ethereal synth pads - hell, there’s even krautrock influence in that track that we threw in for good measure. To cap it off, it probably has the most potent emotional core of the whole record.
11. What role do atmosphere and dynamics play in your songwriting compared to sheer heaviness?
AW: Interestingly enough, I’m not sure we thought too much about “heaviness” from a conventional sonic perspective. “How can we capture the heaviness of the subject matter?” - painting with sound. It’s not enough to simply be a heavy down-tuned riff, well, not for this outing anyway - capturing the essence of the concept required moments of reflection, ambient passages, room to breathe, to be uneasy and uncomfortable. It required pauses and moments of beauty, surrounded by doom riffing. The heaviness of the subject matter was no simple matter; the sounds with which we present it shouldn’t have been either.
W: These concepts are immutable. Heaviness is given context by its juxtaposition with other ideas. I really enjoy bands like Sulfuric Cautery or Primitive Man that are peine forte et dure from the moment you press play, but moments like The Beatles - She’s So Heavy or Roger’s insane inhale screams on Pink Floyd - Careful With That Axe, Eugene feel similarly crushing just by feeling like they explode from the moment before it.
12. Were there any particular albums, books, films, or life experiences that directly influenced the creation of this record?
AW: The loss of my mother and her mother’s spiral into dementia was a primary influence, as mentioned. But for me, a few things that had a profound influence:
The Keening - Hell is a Mirror, Anagnorisis - Perepetia, Fall of Civilizations by Paul Cooper, Man’s Search for Meaning by Victor Frankl, Alfonso Cuaron’s “Children of Men”, and, as always, the fount of perfection that is the catalogue of the late David Lynch.
W: During a good portion of the writing process, I was reading Emil Cioran’s “A Short History of Decay,” which feels like it corresponds aesthetically to some of the themes of the record. Musically, as mentioned previously, Warning played a huge role in the sound of the album, but similarly, there was influence from Godspeed You! Black Emperor, specifically their most recent album No Title as of 13 February 2024, 28,340 Dead, and, strangely, Cindy Lee - Diamond Jubilee. I’d also be remiss if I didn’t mention that when Absolute Elsewhere by Blood Incantation came out, I sat down for 3 or 4 months to learn both the lead and rhythm parts on that album by ear. I don’t know that I could (or would have) done some of the more demanding guitar passages without that personal bootcamp.
13. How do you hope listeners feel after experiencing the album from beginning to end?
AW: I don’t know that I have an expectation of what emotion specifically I hope they feel after a full listen. Only that they do FEEL. I’ve described this record to curious listeners as nothing other than “emotionally potent”. I know it is. What those specific emotions are that it elicits, I think, varies from person to person. My only hope is that the listener allows themselves to feel every moment. And explore why they felt what they felt. And if they are feeling up to it, share it with a friend, and talk about it. It’s not my record anymore. It’s theirs. I want to know how it made them feel, more than the other way around.
14. With such a strong debut, where do you see Solystalgia heading creatively from here?
AW: Straight to bed *he says, typing at his keyboard at 3 am*. In all seriousness - I’m incredibly excited about this project’s future. It’s already become something bigger than any of us EVER expected it would be. That Arthur would even WANT to work with us was one thing, and that Nameless Graves would be willing to take a chance on a completely unknown band whose resume is “it’s got that drummer from Savage Oath” and a sick ass guest feature. We are so grateful and don’t take any of it for granted, but what that does tell me is that our songs MUST be pretty damn good. And imposter syndrome be damned - we made good enough music that all of the above happened. So really just leaning into that and trusting our instincts. That’s where we are headed. Hopefully y’all will stick around for the ride!
W: In some ways, I’ve got an unofficial roadmap in my head. We’ve got nearly an album’s worth of material that’s currently in its infancy that will sound to the listener like a well-polished and somewhat evolved mutation of our first record. After that, I don’t imagine I’d be satisfied with a third record unless it feels completely left-field of the ones before it. I have some ideas of what that might look like, but it seems smart to focus on LP2 before really hammering out what LP3 is, lol.
15. What can fans expect next? Are there plans for live performances, new material, or touring?
AW: Because Wilco and I live nearly 2000 miles away from one another, it makes weekend gigs a particularly tough affair. But we do have the beginning stages of plans to make our debut live appearance before the end of the year, and potentially a fest appearance in 2027. Follow us on socials to keep up with those updates!
W: Fans can expect some live performances, hopefully, once we figure out how to round out the lineup. Then, new material, maybe a tour through Europe. Austin will get a drum sponsorship, possibly do some promo for the sponsor, like a video on Drumeo where he hears some Madonna song for the first time and has to drum to it. I’ll be arrested for disturbing the peace at Gibson’s factory in Nashville for demanding they make a Moderne with a Floyd Rose for me, and as a result, Seymour Duncan will destroy all of the Wilco signature pickups they had in production like the Prince Black Album. During our first tour to Australia, Paul might get lost in the bush for three days and come back a changed man, and will have us making a yacht rock record. Somewhere in the recording process, he’ll also secure a one-line role on whatever Star Trek show is in production at the time.
16. Is there anything else you'd like to share with the readers of Breathing The Core Zine?
W: If you're near a convenience store right now, any type of 24‑hour store, go into the store right now and put your hand in the cash register for no reason. Their money is your money as of right now.
AW: If you found yourself moved by the record - share it. And if you found yourself compelled to make a change, consider donating money to Red Crescent Societies working in humanitarian relief in Palestine and Lebanon and operating across the Middle East.
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