THY CATAFALQUE - nezajímají mě žádné hranice, takže mě ani nezajímá jejich překračování

THY CATAFALQUE - I’m not interested in any boundaries so I’m not interested in crossing them either

Hungarian musician Tamás Kátai released this year with his main band Thy Catafalque 10th album Vadak. Here’s an interview about his new record, band’s past and also about the composition process and Tamás’ inspiration.

Thy Catafalque - Tamás KátaiHello Tamás! We have been your fans already for a long time and we like a lot how your music evolves. For example, the record Naiv from last year  is really great; it combines numerous musical genres and it’s really catchy at the same time. But before we start talking about current things, we would be interested in your memories of your black metal oriented past. We’re sure that after more than 20 years your approach to music has changed a lot. But could you say if similar progress noticeable from your music can be seen also in your personality? Would it be even possible for you these days to compose a record with a similar feeling as those from the turn of the millenium?

Hello. Well, I guess I have also changed a lot but that’s normal and I would be concerned if I wouldn’t have. My approach to music shifted a bit for sure. I learned not to take things overly seriously and to realize this is not a matter of life and death. My horizons got broader, however I’ve never been the elitist type of a musician or a fan. Anyway, yes I think I could be able to compose in a similar way as we did on our first albums. In fact, I really like our early outputs. Production and the execution was obviously pretty poor but the songs were fine. I did a re-recording of our first song ever last year and I planned to do the same with the whole Sublunary Tragedies album but after discussing it with János, we decided to drop that idea and rather focus on new stuff instead.

As people from the Czech Republic we simply cannot miss an opportunity to ask you about the Epidemie Records era. How have you been satisfied with your cooperation with Martin Čech? Have these days been in some way better or easier in comparison with the Season of Mist cooperation?

It was really great to work with Martin and if he wouldn’t have offered us a deal back then in 2009, probably we would not be talking now. It was pure luck anyway, after I finished with Róka Hasa Rádió , I sent the audio to about 20 record labels with no replies at all, apart from a guy from The End Records who had some very dodgy deal for his own label that he was about to launch or something fishy like that, but that was all. Weeks later I got an email from Martin saying he was fine if I declined his offer but at least I should have replied. Then I checked my spam folder and his first email with the offer landed there somehow so if he wouldn’t have followed up, nothing would have happened. Since that day I do check my spam folder every single day. He then released Róka hasa rádió two times and re-released Tűnő idő tárlat on digipak. Now, of course Epidemie is not on the scale of Season of Mist but it was a big step up for us. I was extremely happy to be picked up by a nice underground label and I think our cooperation was pretty good. I have a lot to thank Martin for.

Thy Catafalque - Tamás KátaiIt’s quite natural that musicians consider their current albums as the best ones compared to their previous records. After all, it can also be a reason to continue in the composition of new music. But considering your extensive discography, is there some specific record you have stronger memories of, compared to the rest? I personally enjoy Rengeteg in particular, which was also your first Season of Mist release. Could you maybe share some specific memories from the creation of this record?

I think my special one is Sgùrr, even though probably that’s the least popular among the later albums. Rengeteg was written between 2009 and 2011 and it was weird times then. My life in Scotland got a bit more relaxed. I was still working a lot but we had a nicer place to live at and I got used to the new environment by then (we moved to Scotland in January, 2008 with my girlfriend). I was working mainly in a massive printing factory in Dalkeith, very monotonous, factory-like agency work for minimum wage, you know, the classic migrant story with mostly Polish guys and girls. I actually enjoyed it, sometimes I still miss those times, it was straight, no bullshit, physical labour. I worked there for four years. Anyways, it was good because all these huge machines were loud and the factory had this ongoing polyrhythmic clanking all day, it was easy to discover certain rhythms and they gave me plenty of ideas for songs and patterns. I wrote all the lyrics for Rengeteg in the factory while working. I tried to remember the lines and wrote them down during the breaks. The whole album was put together relatively fast. At that time János was living somewhere else, I didn’t even know where. Norway or The Netherlands. He disappeared and didn’t contact me while I was writing and recording. Just when I was about to finish the last song he turned up emailing me that he had lost all his ideas on a laptop that got physically broken in an incident but he was about to write new riffs. I was already in talks with Season of Mist by then and I knew I couldn’t rely on him when things get serious so I told him that the album was done and will be released without him but for the next one he will be more than welcome to participate again if he is ready. It was a very hard decision for me but after all these years I think it was the right one. He took it hard and left the band and that’s also understandable.

Compared to a couple of your previous albums, we can say your newest record Vadak is heavier, more guitar focused and even relatively more metal oriented. Was it intentional? Could you also tell us, if you are already working on new stuff, and if so, what changes can we expect from your upcoming work? Are you always working with some specific vision, which you are trying to achieve with a certain record, or is the final result just a natural result caused by a combination of various factors such as current mood etc.?

Yes, for some reason Vadak has more guitars and heavier riffs, the whole mood is somewhat darker in tone but there was no concept behind. It just turned out like that and mostly this is how it happens. I usually have no ideas before starting to work on a new album, just play some music and see where it is going. For example with Vadak after some songs I realized these ones would sound better with more live instruments so I decided to involve real instruments wherever it was possible to achieve a more organic, natural sound. I already have a handful of new songs without any vocals and guess what, they are pure death/thrash/heavy metal songs, with only guitars, bass and drum. At this point I don’t even know if this should be the next TC or a spin-off because this is just simple metal worship. I’ll see as it progresses.

Thy Catafalque - Tamás KátaiEach of your records sounds a bit different, combining influences from various musical genres such as metal, electronics or even folk music, but it’s always crystal clear after the first spin that we are listening to Thy Catafalque and we would hardly confuse it with another band. Yes, there are other avant-garde metal bands influenced by a lot of different music styles, we can name Solefald as an example, but they still sound quite different from your music. Anyway, we would be interested, if there are any specific bands inspiring your work and if you could consider them your ‘idols’?

I can be inspired by anything but I cannot really name one or two single bands. Or let me think. Clearly my first inspiration was Kraftwerk, at the age of 12-13. My aunt had Die Mensch-Maschine on vinyl and I got mesmerized by it at first listen. One of my dearest albums since then, I can’t even listen to the English version, only the German one. This record is a pioneering masterpiece. The other big entry was Ride The Lightning from Metallica. Metallica brought me into metal. I had an accidental listen to Stormwitch “Live in Budapest” before and by that time I started to enjoy it but when I met Metallica with Ride it was a real revelation. The person I still keep on watching is Ihsahn. I really adore all his works since the Emperor years of course and I keep following him since then.

Considering how your records are varied and how many musical genres you’re able to naturally combine together, are there even any musical boundaries that you’re refusing to cross?

I have never thought about that and frankly I don’t even think about crossing any borders at all. I just write music and let go. I’m not interested in any boundaries so I’m not interested in crossing them either.

With Thy Catafalque you can combine very energetic rhythms with melodic lines played on various instruments. Sometimes you can hear a dominant guitar, in the next song it can be keyboards and in others some guest instruments such as violin, saxophone or even redpipes, as can be heard on the newest album. Is there some prefered instrument you enjoy to play the most? And could you also tell us how the composition of new songs in your case usually looks like? My expectation would be that you start with guitars and drums, and additionally you focus on details by adding other instruments. Am I right?

Well, I cannot play many instruments, only keyboards and guitar on a basic level and I always said I am not a real musician, but more a composer. I enjoy making music, creating something new but playing and performing on an instrument is different. The way I usually approach writing is similar to what you’d expect. I start with something simple and then I let my imagination work and the song will write itself, all I need to do is follow my feelings. Many times I have no clue how a song will end or where it is heading when I start writing and it keeps the process more exciting than using the usual clichés we all know. But don’t misunderstand me here, sometimes those clichés work the best and if that’s the case I’m totally not shy to use them. It’s all about the song.

Thy Catafalque - Tamás KátaiOn your records you are usually surrounded by many guest musicians playing various instruments. Is there some specific musical instrument you are dreaming about including in your music or even some specific person you would love to collaborate with in the future?

Hm, not really. I mean I don’t want to have a special instrument just for the sake of it. Everything unfolds during the writing process and that’s when the ideas pop up. I have no wishes about this now and neither do I have anyone’s name in my mind to collaborate with at the moment.

Speaking about guests, when asking someone to play on our record, let’s say a trumpet player, is it predetermined what exactly this person will play and how the result should sound like? Or are you allowing your guests some freedom in their expresion to play it by themselves, maybe even to improvise a bit?

Sometimes I have the exact melody and I ask them to play it the way they think it sounds best but many times it’s like a free buffet. Here is the music, play whatever you feel like to add to it. They know their instruments, their limits and what sounds good and what does not. For example when we recorded the redpipes for Köszöntsd a hajnalt, I asked Andrei to play the main melody I had written on synth and also to play a solo on his own and he did that and the result was great, I didn’t change anything on his recording, it fit perfectly. This way it’s more exciting for the guest, for me and most importantly much more beneficial for the song.

What about some live shows? Could we expect Thy Catafalque gigs some day in the future? And hypothetically, if you will start with concerts, how would you imagine they should ideally look like? Would you focus primarily on new songs or would you also like to play some older stuff?

There have never been any TC gigs, not even any rehearsals because this project has never been a real band and now it would be massive work to build up a show from scratch. This is not my daytime job, I work normally like everybody else and do literally everything in TC, I don’t have enough time and energy for organizing, rehearsing and putting together a full live show. However, there will be a gig in the Fekete Zaj Festival in August where other musicians will play TC songs for the first time live and I’ll be there as well.

Thy Catafalque - Tamás KátaiCould you please recommend some essential hungarian bands or artists we should know about? Ideally less known names from any field. Maybe bands flirting with metal music or even anything else we should not miss?

Sure, here are some of my favourites. VHK, Watch My Dying, Perihelion, Svoid, Ordog, Aebsence, Ahriman, Tyrant Goatgaldrakona, Sear Bliss and of course Tormentor .

Thank you very much for your answers! In case you have any last words, feel free to speak!

Thank you very much for the interview!

review Vadak
review Naiv
review Roka Hasa Radio

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