Through an eclectic array of sounds that are intricately put together well, mysterious musician RUNEREADER has been gaining attraction and interest from both curious listeners are critics alike. Rock Out Stand Out’s Lotty Whittingham caught up with RUNEREADER where they spoke about his latest EP A Frost That Never Thaws, how far the sound has come and mental health.
Hello there, thanks again for taking time out. I’m sure the mysterious man of the weeping woods is very busy.
Well, the woods need cleaning up so you’re welcome.
So when we last spoke, you were keeping your identity secret. Has that now changed or is that still the same?
I think it’s still the same. It’s probably a little easier to find out who I am now. It seems to have a little bit more traction I think. I was talking to very few people listening to my music at that point. I mean it’s a still a few, it’s a small number; I don’t have disillusions about the size of my fanbase. I really appreciate everyone who does listen to my music. One of the songs I released between the two EPs gained a small bit of traction and that’s probably pushed it to the point where it’s easier to find out about my identity. The identity is still anonymous and an anonymous project.
Am I right in the song in question is your cover of ‘Zydrate Anatomy’?
Yes, that one seems to be really popular and gone down really well. A lot of credit goes to Captain Davey Silver from Red Rum and Sheridan Froggatt for that one because they put a lot of work into that one and as well as Bella Ravenheart who added some bits in as well.
So your EP A Frost that Never Thaws; I noticed with this one, there’s more of a focused theme.
Yes there is, it’s a concept theme. I knew before the release of Forn Sior – En Ny Borjan, I wanted to do something more rooted in Black Metal whilst still being very Runereader. A couple of the songs weren’t originally meant for this EP, the way they came out musically just really worked. I can’t remember which ones they were but they weren’t made with this EP in mind, at least musically.
Whilst I wanted to create something that was rooted in Black Metal amongst other things, it’s not necessarily a permanent change in direction as such. There’s a lot of sounds I like to explore but it’s something that means a lot to me. I’m a big fan of Black Metal for better or worse; probably for worse [laughs] It’s a sound I really like and I like doing the vocal styles. I wanted to focus on that style for the EP, not necessarily a full album.
The concept part of it came much later, it was going to have more Black Metal influenced tracks. It became a concept sort of towards the back end of last year, I was more about having a concept in this. I am working on an album that’s probably going to be released next year. The music is pretty much there with the mixing and stuff but there is a lot to do lyrically and the concept of that which is going to be a fictional story. A Frost that Never Thaws wasn’t originally going to have a concept but it became a mini concept.
The concept of the EP is the telling of the end of the world that I believe could be potentially realistic. That story is told within the fraction of a song that takes place before an event that may or may not have actually happened in the world. The second track is immediately after an event that is caused by the Plague Coronation. Ghost In The Ruins is set thousands of years into the future. There’s another song that magically ties into this, it was never going to be on the EP but it will tie into it and will most likely release it as a single at some point.
One of things on this EP, the production has come along a really long way.
Yes it has. I guess that’s down to experience, now I have more experience. Forn Sior – En Ny Borjan was very much a product by someone who had zero experience in terms of the mixing side of music, I was kind of winging it. There’s still some aspects of winging it but there is also elements of where I have learnt a lot, I work a lot on my stuff and I’m looking at how to improve it all the time outside of working on it. It’s from using techniques I see, read about and doing whatever I can to improve. I still want it to be raw and abrasive but I didn’t want to make another EP that had no layering whatsoever, I wanted to up that production a bit and make it sound better in those aspects.
What was the most challenging song to put together?
That’s an interesting question. It depends on in which sense on what fortifies as the most challenging. Production wise, I would say it was probably Ghost Of The Ruins, the closing track.
I can understand why that might be.
That was the most challenging in terms of producing the song, including mixing and mastering. In terms of writing, I would say the title track. That was a song I have had before Forn Sior – En Ny Borjan came out if I remember rightly; so the music was there in it’s unmixed state. So lyrically, it was difficult to put something to it. It was originally going to be influence by stuff like HIM, Ville Valo, The 69 Eyes and Lord Of The Lost; so gothic stuff lyrically. It never felt like there was an influence of that in the music, it’s mainly heard in the chorus. HIM were a huge influence for that but lyrically, it just didn’t work. As I started to put more of a black metal focus onto the EP, the more I could hear harsher vocals with it and a darker, more bleak theme to it as opposed to a dark romantic theme to it. That one was a real challenge in terms of the writing process. The first song was challenging with some of the gang vocals, I have done them before but not where it had to be so prominent.
‘Ghost In The Ruins’ wouldn’t be out of place at an alternative nightclub, maybe even in the Blood Rave Tent at Bloodstock.
There is a lot going on in that song, it’s one that I am very proud of. I am really proud of everything on this EP. I was very worried with the production on this and the mixing stage, I was worried it wasn’t going to come out how I wanted it to be because normally I don’t have a sound in my head at all when I am making music. All I knew was that I wanted more Black Metal influence in this EP and that was enough for me to be worried in a way. Not in terms of reception but in terms of if I was going to like it.
What other influences were there in your EP? You mentioned HIM and Lord Of The Lost which I now can’t unhear.
They were the standout influences on a Black Metal EP. There is a lot of influence from the second wave of Black Metal; so bands like Mayhem and Emperor, all of those bands. For all the controversy surrounding it, the music from that period is very influential on me when it comes to writing the metal side of my stuff; especially for this EP. So all of those bands pretty much played a part in influencing that part of the thinking when it came to writing the EP.
The other side of it; there is dance influences like Cascada. There is always a folk influence in those as well; I don’t know if it really comes out in this EP but there’s always a folk influence.
The first track, there was definitely a folk influence.
Yeah, dance music is always a big thing in terms of how I like to make music; I always like to have that in there. Synthwave is always something that will have an influence on how I make my music.
Going back to our last interview, you mentioned an EP that will have mental health themes. Whether it’s this EP or a future one.
There’s been a couple of tracks released in the meantime; Forged In Flame (Expelling The Parasite), that was one song that was very much mental health related. There is a lot of mental health stuff going on in the lyrics. There will be more stuff based around mental health in the future, there is some on the EP I am currently working on. That’s going to go in a different direction so certainly lyrically there’s probably going to be less Black Metal influences. That’s always going to be there but it’s going to be less black metal in terms of the songs I have for it already. Lyrically, I am not sure about that one yet; the title is sorted and the idea behind it is there. That well may include something with mental health, it’s something that effects all of us in one way or another so there’s always something to be written about and we will see lyrically where I go with that.
What would you like people to understand when it comes to mental health? Particularly when it comes to living with a mental illness and down days.
I can only speak from my own experience so what I will say is, there’s always going to be a better day ahead. No matter how low you feel and get to, there will be a better day ahead. If you’re doing the right things to help yourself, it will improve. Everybody has those low days and anyone who says they don’t are liars. [laughs]
What does a mysterious man living in the Weeping Forest like to do to unwind?
Manopotions and quite often writing lyrics to the music. I don’t really have an off switch.
It’s quite hard to switch off if you work in music.
Yeah because it’s all encompassing. You’re always surrounded by music, unless you’re sitting in a dark room with no songs. Even when you watch TV, you’re surrounded by music and when you make music, anything can inspire you. It gets the cogs turning in the brain.
Even when you’re at gigs, they turn into networking opportunities.
I try not to do it as the people mostly care about the band they are going to see but of course I do it, we all have this natural desire to want to promote ourselves. To be honest, if you believe in what you’re doing then you should want to promote it.
Do you have a message for your listeners?
First of all, there’s more of you than I thought there was going to be; which is a very nice thing. I know this is a very niche sound. For those who have stuck around and provided feedback, it’s appreciated. The goal for me is to make songs I want to make and to say what I want to say, get those feelings out. It means the world that people love it, and relate to it in someway.
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