Interview with Giorgio Vicentini of "TrueMetal" Italian webzine. April 17th, 2006.

1. Welcome to Truemetal.it, Night. The first question is very simple, or maybe very complex: who is Night?

"Night" is a name which I have chosen for myself. It is indicative of a wide variety of things, and it's not the only name I use for myself. Most people call me by my birth name, which is (to a certain extent) reserved for a different aspect of my personality. Although I do have many names, the name Night is one that I use more commonly than others, and it is one that aligns fairly closely with the atmospheres present in my art and creations as Procer Veneficus. It's not a pseudonym because it's just as real and legitimate as my birth name. It's not intended to hide my identity; rather it is intended to express with clarity a particular aspect of my identity. Part of the reason why I chose the name Night is because I identify quite well with the warm, secure blanket of complete darkness that allows me to feel as though I'm inside some sort of astral womb once again. It's also a reflection of the strange images in my mind; the quintessence of surreality is the vast unknown, and Night can be interpreted as a physical manifestation of this deep, fathomless, surreal world. When your eyes are open, you see what is in front of you. However, when your eyes are closed, Night descends and your lids become dimlit screens in a bizarre, hazy theater where the depths of your mind are allowed to determine the contents of the show that is playing out before you.

2. "Of Starfire And Blackshadows Crawling" has totally black artwork; there's a "shot" of you in the booklet but it's only a white frame around a black square. Is there a particular reason behind this negation of yourself?

There's a funny story behind that, actually. The photo was not originally intended to turn out so dark, but due to something or other in the printing process, it turned out nearly pitch-black. Now that I look back on it, I think it works nicely with the artwork for that album. I suppose you could read some sort of meaning into it, although that's not really what was originally intended. However, the themes on "Of Starfire And Blackshadows Crawling" have a lot to do with dissolution of identity on a cosmic scale, and that "photo" might serve as a decent graphic representation of said concept. Or then again, perhaps it's more like a scrying mirror. Who knows?

3. As I've written in review, there are some phrases in the booklet that summarize the album's sensations very well. I've related a part of them, do you want to tell us their meaning?

I incorporated the text in the booklet at the suggestion of Reece, who runs Basilisk Productions. I believe that he felt it was important that I make clear my stance in the "black metal" genre – my music has nothing whatsoever to do with satan, hatred, chaos, evil, goats, or any other nonsense one might typically associate with this genre. Instead, this particular album is a surrealist exploration (which happens to utilize heavily distorted guitars and electronically-recreated drums) of the beauty that I discover within my own mind and within nature. Any similarity between my music and the larger genre of black metal is essentially irrelevant. In fact, I hardly think of this music as "metal" of any sort; it's certainly not "heavy" or "hard" in any way – it's just an arrangement of traditional human string instruments (read: guitars) being run through various different types of heavy electronic manipulation in order to achieve a cold and entirely inhuman atmosphere. The narrative in the booklet is essentially there to explain where this music came from: the constellation which we call Orion. For this particular album I believe I was acting more as a channelling entity or a medium rather than a composer. The words are just as natural a description as I could provide detailing the purpose of that album: "Heed these words and the starchamber within your heart may open."

4. You seem to be a very prolific artist: "Of Starfire..." first, then "Ghostvoices" in 2006, and soon to be released is another MCD called "Astral Birth". Where do you find the energy and inspiration to compose all this material?

Well, "Astral Birth" actually consists of older material than "Ghostvoices". In fact, I recorded it almost directly after I finished "Of Starfire..." about a year ago. I believe it serves as a final exploration of the themes on that album. I suppose it represents the final stage in the evolution of the starchamber concept. Recording a lot of material is natural for me; it serves as a method by which I can check myself and my development. It is also just a natural part of my ongoing exploration of my subconscious mind. I have plenty of field recordings and poetry readings lying around in addition to musical material, and most of this stuff never makes it onto any sort of cohesive recording. It's true that I've recorded or released a lot of material in the past year, but lately I think I've been slowing the whole process down quite a bit in order to more carefully refine my music. I have some "black metal" material that I've been working and reworking since the beginning of last summer, as well as various threads of ambience which have been fermenting and decaying and turning themselves inside out until someday when they've ripened I'll put them on a disc and give them names. This way the good material has more time to mature, and the not-so-good material can be weeded out. As far as my inspiration is concerned, it comes from all sorts of strange places within and without my skull. If you look to the sea and the storms you'll find a darkness that can breathe, and watch you. If you look to the stars you'll find even stranger things. The deeper you delve, the more opulent and strange the reward.

5. Your music is certainly very personal; you describe a world closely related to you. Will there be space for another member in Procer Veneficus in the future?

Procer Veneficus at its core nature is myself alone. In fact, Procer Veneficus is by definition a living exploration of my own subconscious mind captured in art. However, I've certainly worked with friends in the past and will continue to do so in the future. Since this isn't really a "band" in the conventional sense of the word, there aren't really any members except for me. However, in many of my recordings there have been contributions evident from my various musically-inclined friends and colleagues, and these contributions will continue to exist in the future to varying degrees. Whether I record something completely alone or with three other people is not really relevant to the Procer Veneficus moniker; what is relevant to the Procer Veneficus moniker is the particular atmosphere and feeling of a recording or a work of art. Theoretically I could walk into a studio tomorrow morning with the same friend who played with me on "Through Ash And Mountains" and record a thick, deep blues album. However, if I were to do something of that nature, it wouldn't see daylight under the name Procer Veneficus, because chances are that it would be completely irrelevant to the atmosphere which Procer Veneficus embodies and is intended to convey.

6. I've written you after "Of Starfire...", but I've listened to "Ghostvoices" too, and it's different from the first one. Do you want to compare these albums for us?

"Of Starfire..." and "Ghostvoices" come from different musical realms within the overall spectrum which Procer Veneficus encompasses. This is immediately obvious in terms of the genre, but it is also true in terms of the atmosphere. Whereas "Starfire..." is completely focused on the stars, the cosmic array, and the interior of the human body, "Ghostvoices" is resonating from somewhere deep inside of the earth and the water and the fog. Part of my inspiration for "Ghostvoices" came from canoeing with a friend of mine out on the back-bay near my old home. It can be incredibly beautiful when the fog gets thick and the water takes on this murky, turbid, greenish quality that suggests all sorts of bizarre things moving around somewhere below the surface. I think the simplicity of the instrumentation on "Ghostvoices" is very important as well; I purposely chose not to use any synthetic instruments because I wanted the album to have a very organic, natural, watery feel to it. All of the ambience for that album was created using either my acoustic guitar or my own voice. If I had used any synths or heavy distortion it would have become something totally different – something more akin to the cold, alien feeling that can be heard on "Starfire..." or "Argo Navis" perhaps.

7. Is there a link between Velvet Cacoon and Procer Veneficus? Is it wrong to associate your music with theirs?

No, there's not really any direct link between Velvet Cacoon and myself aside from the fact that I thoroughly enjoy all of the music and art they have created, and they have duly influenced my own aesthetics to a certain degree. I'm sure that some people find similar atmospheres in my recordings as they do in some of Velvet Cacoon's material; this is most likely because the general aesthetic terrain that I favor and that they favor seems to be closely related.

8. Recently, I've read that Fenriz from Darkthrone says he hates internet forums and "recreational judgments". What do you think about music forums and internet information?

More and more lately I find the internet to be conducive to hardly anything but a waste of time and energy. There are a few small and interesting pockets of discussion here and there that are worthwhile, but in general – and especially on metal forums it seems – there is an unprecedented amount of tomfoolery. However, I would be certain to point out that on the sidelines of all the nonsense that so often occurs, there are small channels of intelligent exchange that can be found if one looks hard enough. Perhaps it's sad that these small and oft-overlooked channels aren't larger than they are. Or perhaps it's inevitable given the way that people behave and our society is currently set up. Either way, the result is that I generally prefer to eschew the internet as a medium for thoughtful exchage. Personally, I find direct interaction to be much more worthwhile and rewarding than any sort of electronic interfacing method.

9. Ok Night, It was a pleasure to know your thinking. If you want, close this interview as you prefer.

Thank you.  I'm sitting on a grassy hillside, where everything is verdant and beautiful, and I'm staring down at the sea.  My own skin is white with sunblood and daydreams.  Remember that wherever you are, you're under the stars.  Sweet dreams.