First Aid 4 Souls interview: No Counterpoint, No Judgment
First Aid 4 Souls
With “Progenitrix (feat. Divas of the Dark)” First Aid 4 Souls steps away from pure industrial force and into a more restrained, ritualistic form of power. Built around female voices and vintage new wave electronics, the album rejects narrative storytelling in favor of emotional states, intimacy, and conceptual balance. Conceived as the first half of a duology, “Progenitrix” is neither a manifesto nor a provocation, but an invitation to listen without choosing sides. In this interview, mastermind István Gazdag reflects on authorship, freedom in collaboration, sensuality, and the idea of neutrality in a world obsessed with extremes…
The new First Aid 4 Souls album is available as download and on CD.
First Aid 4 Souls interview
SL. The new FIRST AID 4 SOULS album “Progenitrix” marks a clear break from the industrial harshness of earlier FIRST AID 4 SOULS. Was this shift driven by exhaustion with aggression or by the need to explore a different kind of power?
I. I keep saying that the electro industrial sound of FIRST AID 4 SOULS doesn’t suit the delicate and special female soul, in my opinion. Of course, if you listen to the album carefully, there are definitely some harder moments, but that’s not what the album is about as a whole. I don’t feel exhausted at all. I think that my both other projects STAHLGEIST and FIRST AID TECH do show that there is no lack of electronic aggression. But “Progenitrix” is actually mostly new wave, although there are many delicate industrial sounds in it as well.
SL. Every track features a female voice, yet the project remains clearly authored by you. Where did you draw the line between curation and control?
I. Personally, I wrote the musical foundations and then mixed them with the vocal tracks, which, as always, I also did the effects for on this album. I do not tolerate restrictions on other people at any level, especially in the creative process, so the ladies were given complete freedom. I didn’t even have to mention the usual mantras that there is no place for current political and religious references in FIRST AID 4 SOULS. This was obvious from their personalities and delicate souls.
SL. This FIRST AID 4 SOULS album leans heavily into sensuality and ritual. Do you see “Progenitrix” as storytelling or as a series of emotional states the listener is meant to inhabit rather than understand?
I. There is no unified story arc behind the “Progenitrix” album. However, there is a unified concept. You know, I wrote this album for my two daughters. And all I asked the female artists was to tell them something that I, as a man, couldn’t.
SL. Working exclusively with vintage synths can be read as devotion or limitation. Was this a romantic decision or a way to impose discipline on the emotional tone of the album?
I.Working with vintage synthesizers was primarily a compositional consideration. The goal was to use as few tracks as possible and achieve the most authentic sound possible. Of course, during the final stages, all the latest studio technology was brought into play, but the sound is completely authentic to the eighties and early nineties. I’m currently working on several new songs, but I’m not even using MIDI here, I’m recording the tracks live. Not on a retro instrument, mind you, but on an Osmose. And yes, I hadn’t thought about it until now, but I find there’s something romantic about the sound of vintage synths. Reminiscing about the past is a romantic option when you’re over fifty (laugh).
SL. If “Progenitrix” were released without any context about feminism or concept, what do you think would disturb listeners the most: the vulnerability of the voices, or the authority they project?
I.I think the length of the album would bother listeners the most, because it’s too short and they would want to listen to more (laugh). But joking aside. FIRST AID 4 SOULS is complex music. It is for educated, cultured people. I don’t care at all what hurts the plebs. I know that my music can only have an effect on people with a certain IQ.
The sincerity of the ladies, however, is heartwarming. For example, while finalizing the last song, “Du,” even I had a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes.
SL. This is the first half of a duology, with a male-voiced counterpart still to come. Does “Progenitrix” stand as an answer or as a challenge to what follows?
I. I think I set the bar high with this album. The male counterpart is slowly maturing, but it will be completely different. As a man, I am on much firmer ground here than as a creator. I talked to a few underground world stars about this, and we started thinking together. If you knew their names, you would say: Now, right here, right now! Of course, that album will be completely different. It is not being made as a response, nor as a counterpoint, but as an equal, yet different companion.
SL. When the full cycle is complete, do you expect listeners to choose sides or to realize they were never meant to?
I. This is a very good and important question. Humans are not inherently capable of choosing sides; rather, they are born into it. This is a simple biological question. Spirituality is a completely different matter. There is no predestination there; the soul’s freedom of will is a sacred question. In our present world, there is a serious moral and ethical crisis and confusion on this subject. Everyone is pushed toward one of two extremes. Either they recognize a static biological state as exclusive, or they disregard it completely in favor of the freedom of the soul. Both are extremes. Nothing is black and white. The master concept behind duology is completely neutral. It does not pass judgment or manipulate. Instead, it presents a more complete spectrum based on the understanding of the listener. The rest is not our concern.
About First Aid 4 Souls
First Aid 4 Souls is a Budapest electronic/industrial project formed in 2007 by István Gazdag as the direct continuation of his earlier industrial/EBM act Vacuum. Gazdag is the founder, producer, composer and sound engineer of the project. The project has generally operated around his work with guest contributors rather than as a fixed full band, with collaborators including Havasi Zoltán, Vető Gábor, Frank Balázs and Tamás Nimród.
The first release was the 2008 double CD “My Favourite Pain With Some Bizzare Remix Package”. Later releases were “Brutpop” (2009), “Deathstep” (2011), “Beyond the Galaxy” and “Navigator” (both 2013), and “Back To Shambala” (2014). After the Some Bizzare release he worked with Germany’s Electro Arc and later Japan’s Poison Girls Records, while also recording with collaborators including Brad Bishop, Linda Daemon and Victoria Moralez. “Trashcathedral” was released in 2016 and “Dark Tunnel” in 2017.
In 2019 First Aid 4 Souls signed to Alfa Matrix and released the EP “Increased Sensory Perception”, followed that same year by “Keep This World Empty”. Around that period US-based singer Mortum of Human Vault became part of the project’s line-up. He then continued with “Fire” and “Dreambox” in 2020, “Stainless Steel Eyes” in 2021, “Beyond The Galaxy / Rework” and “I Am The Night” in 2022, “This Present Darkness”, “Dancing At The Abyss” and “Laudator Temporis Acti” in 2023, and “Progenitrix” in December 2025
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