Mental Exile is a Spanish solo-project set up by Mondträume singer Damasius Venysthe. We last…
Mental Exile is a Spanish solo-project set up by Mondträume singer Damasius Venysthe. We last year discovered Mental Exile by the EP “Exile Nights” revealing a great retro electro-pop approach. Mental Exile has now unleashed its debut album “Ride The Madness”. The album is available by Alfa Matrix and reveals a danceable sound mainly inspired by eighties elements. But it also is a conceptual work, which has something sensible and emotional. The interview will give you more details about it all.
Q: What incited you to set up Mental Exile as a side-project to
Mondträume and what do you expect from this solo-project?
Damasius: Many years ago, before I joined Mondträume, I was working with
other projects as a musician. When I started with Mondträume, my part of
the work was writing the lyrics and to sing. That was okey for me, but of
course the necessity of composing my own music was present all the time. For
this reason I kept on working with Mental Exile, just for me and without
priority.
What incited me to give it the importance that it deserves and to share
it with the rest of the world, was a good friend of mine. He showed me how
short life could be and we don’t have to wait until tomorrow to do the things
that we really wish to do. Mental Exile is my way to talk, to feel and to see
around me, so what I expect is to keep this special connection between myself
and the music I create.
Q: The album has a solid 80s connotation in some aspects of the
production. Tell us a bit more about your passion for 80s music and how did you
try to transpose it into Mental Exile?
Damasius: The 80s left their traces in a lot of aspects and for me
personally, the music and the films are a great inspiration. Here I have to
mention the synth-wave genre, a music style that was growing more and more
during the last years and where I found my place with Mental Exile. I’m
fascinated by this genre, because it sounds totally 80s, but it didn’t exist
like that in the 80s. Without any doubts, this helped me to transpose this
essence to my music.
Q: “Ride The Madness” is a conceptual album, which has been introduced
as inspired by this passion for 80s music and
sci/fi movies, which you tried to transpose into music as a
movie-soundtrack. Tell us a bit more the concept?
Damasius: If it would be a movie, I resume the conceptas an action film, with an antihero, hungry for vengeance and trying to
find the sense of his life again. This is the summary of how I decorated the
history, but there is a true story behind the concept. A good friend of mine
was diagnosed with a cerebral tumor without cure. He was fighting during one
year and eight months to live another day, although he knew that he cannot win
this fight. He lived with his wife for 23 years, the most beautiful love story
that I ever knew, and together they were fighting against everything to enjoy
the time they had left. The reason why it was created as a movie soundtrack is
because of the situation he was passing in a concrete moment. He was my
inspiration and for me “Ride The Madness” is my dedication to him.
Sadly he passed away one year ago and I couldn’t show his history to him.
Q: So the ‘hero’ of this concept called ‘Shadow’ was
inspired by a good friend of yours, but are there still parts from yourself in
this story?
Damasius: Without doubts, Shadow has the personality
of my friend, but he looks and lives the situations through my eyes. I talk
through Shadow from my perspective about what my friend was living and how I
was feeling it too.
Q: You last year released the EP “Exile Nights” which
featured songs that don’t appear at the album. It makes the EP really
interesting, but do you see this EP as something apart from the album or still
inspired by the same concept?
Damasius: Thanks!! “Exile Nights” is
something totally apart. The concept of the album starts and ends with the
album and it is something that I don’t want to touch. About “Exile
Nights”, I like this kind of EP concept and I can tell you that I will
repeat it.
Q: A clip has been also released. What can you tell us
about it and do clips still make sense today? What brings the future for Mental
Exile?
Damasius: To do the “Renegades”-video was a
fantastic experience and it was a pleasure to work with the director Achilleas
Gatsopoulos (Hypnagogia Films). During the production of the video we really
had the impression to live in a dream and it was a feeling that I like to
repeat.
About your question if clips still make sense today, I
see two sides of the story. On one hand, of course they make sense because it
is a way to spread and give life to the music, and for the followers it is a
very positive point. Including myself as follower of other bands, it is
something that I really enjoy when a group releases a music video. On the other
hand, financially it does not make any sense. It is obvious that you will not
get back the money you had to pay for it. My conclusion: if I can afford it, I
will make more videos!
About the future, I’m working on the live shows because
I like to bring my creature on stage next year. At the same time I’m working on
new material for a next EP and album. Probably a new music video will come too…
Since you’re here …
… we have a small favour to ask. More people are reading Side-Line Magazine than ever but advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. And unlike many news organisations, we haven’t put up a paywall – we want to keep our journalism as open as we can. So you can see why we need to ask for your help.
Side-Line’s independent journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce. But we do it because we want to push the artists we like and who are equally fighting to survive.
If everyone who reads our reporting, who likes it, helps fund it, our future would be much more secure. For as little as 5 US$, you can support Side-Line Magazine – and it only takes a minute. Thank you.
The donations are safely powered by Paypal.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. Cookie settingsACCEPT
Privacy & Cookies Policy
Privacy Overview
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.