Dead Man’s Hill interview: ‘I’m not the kind of person you’ll see frequently at crowded places’
Dead Man’s Hill (Photo by Jean-Michel Fotofosu)
It has now been over 20 years since Bart Piette released his first work under the name Dead Man’s Hill. Since then, this Belgian artist has built up an impressive discography —and that’s not even counting his various side projects. Dead Man’s Hill has always fascinated me with its idiosyncratic blend of Dark-Ambient influences on the one hand, and Ritual elements on the other. Add in components of Industrial, Tribal, and Cinematic music, and you begin to get a clearer picture of what this project sounds like. Each album is built around a central concept, often related to Nature. This is also true of his latest release, “Born From The Black Cauldron”, which came out this year on Zazen Sounds. The album is a series of carefully constructed tracks that are bound to move the listener. It is a magical and deeply immersive production —one that inspired me to conduct this interview. (Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)
Q: Do you remember when you first knew or felt that you were going to make music yourself, and what did Dead Man’s Hill originally stand for?
Bart: As a kid, I was intrigued with certain sounds that I heard on the radio. When the opportunity came, I received a small synthesizer for children and started toying with the idea that I could try to create some sounds of my own. That’s how it began. In the nineties I met some friends who played music and we started a band, which encouraged me to go a bit deeper with it.
When I started Dead Man’s Hill around 1998 I wanted to forge a sound that fitted certain panorama’s and emotions into sound. The core of this remained more or less.
Q: I think most musicians have some kind of example or reference point. What was that for you, and have new influences or inspirations been added over the years?
Bart: Sound wise this was definitely the music that was released during the early times of Cold Meat Industry and a handful of 90’s Black-Metal bands. Of course a lot has changed during the years. A lot of influences and inspirations come from Nature, meditation, connecting, dreams, experiences,… but also from certain sounds that trigger something and from the process of sound manipulation.
Q: You’ve been active with Dead Man’s Hill for over 25 years now and have built a fairly impressive discography. How do you look back on those works today, especially the early beginnings?
Bart: I was very enthusiastic when I was creating those early works but don’t resonate much with it anymore. Energy shifts and changes as time evolves and it felt right to work that way at that time. The approach of creation kept changing too, as new ideas emerged and new sound tools came into my hands during the years.
Q: Every artist or group experiences key or turning points in their career. What were those for you?
Bart: Not really sure if there’s something significant to mention here, except for the natural processes of change and evolution.
Q: Besides Dead Man’s Hill, you’ve been involved in several side projects, with Brotherhood Of Sleep being the most recent, if I’m not mistaken. What are the differences between these projects, and do you need a different mindset to work on one versus the other?
Bart: While Dead Man’s Hill draws inspiration and contains energies from the sublunary world, Brotherhood Of Sleep is filled with the cosmic energies from the workings in the astral temple.
Sometimes certain sounds could overlap but the 2 projects are very different from each other and demand a different approach.
Q: You’ve always been deeply connected with spirituality and nature, which have clearly inspired much — if not all — of your work. I imagine that interest started in your childhood, but how did it evolve for you personally? And what does that say about the person behind Dead Man’s Hill?
Bart: It’s difficult to say because it evolved/evolves all the time, and very unconsciously when I was younger, probably because of the senses that change over time, and about learning what it is that I feel. Now the last 15 years, I want/need to be in Nature as much as possible to be nourished, to receive inspiration, peace, stillness, beauty, harmony, etc… without this I’d experience a lot of unhappiness.
I guess it says about me that I’m not the kind of person you’ll see frequently at crowded places, since it’s so energy-demanding.
Q: ‘Spirituality’ is a word used — and sometimes abused — by many people and movements. But doesn’t that also say something about the world we live in, and how people experience themselves within it? What does spirituality mean to you, and how do you live and create music in alignment with it?
Bart: It definitely does. Everyone has their own definition about spirituality. For me it means – in an attempt to put it into words – travelling to the Core of oneself, connect to the Core of Mother Earth and over time to the Sky, the Moon and the Great Central Sun, and then revisit as much as possible to strengthen that feeling and that connection, and as a consequence, one can live by that in doing as little harm as possible in as much definitions thinkable.
I spend a lot of my free time in my garden and in the forest nearby. This helps to strengthen the bonds, especially when walking barefoot, without sunglasses and without too many clothes so that prana can easily be absorbed by the skin, the eyes and the feet. This works for me to go back to Alignment. My music isn’t per se in alignment, it’s rather the sonic energy of an experience at a certain moment in time.
Q: Speaking of spirituality, let’s turn to nature, which in recent years has suffered greatly from human actions. Do you believe our planet — and especially our connection to nature — can recover?
Bart: I’m sure she can recover if she receives the necessary time to heal… but will this be with or without humans? Earth is a free will zone, so our connection to Nature can only recover if we consciously want this to happen, and if we open up to it.
Q: What was the origin and driving force behind your latest album “Born From The Black Cauldron”? What is it about, and what are you aiming to express through it?
Bart: The driving force behind it is a profound connection with the Wild Nature, and surrounded/penetrated by its energy during liminal times. The tracks are inspired by rituals and adorations that connect to Power plants, Power animals, the Elements. The aim is to express my experiences in the shape of sound documents, and as an invitation to elegantly surrender to the Call of the Wild.
Q: What were the different stages involved in composing and completing this album? And what instruments or tools did you use in the process?
Bart: I started with creating raw sounds, then I did the structure, and then everything was revisited and re-arranged during a year or so, ’till the result reflected the experiences as much as possible.
I have used my voice extensively in different ways, along with the use of native flute, arghul, and manipulations through hardware synths.
Q: On this new album, I recognize several familiar influences that you often incorporate, but the overall atmosphere feels darker — at times even tormented. Do you recognize that yourself, and how important is atmosphere in your work?
Bart: To be honest, I didn’t notice. It was not the intention to create a darker album than usual, it just became what it is. Atmosphere is very important, because without it it’s impossible to bring an experience back to life by means of sound. It needs to be in a way that people suddenly notice that they are in another place than, let’s say the living room where one is listening to the sound.
Q: You mostly work alone, which I assume is a conscious choice. What should we understand by that, and are there other artists you would like to collaborate with?
Bart: I collaborated with other bands in the past: Hrossharsgrani, Uruk-Hai, Kenji Siratori, Bloody Woods, Deathwalk, and there is 1 more collaboration on the way.
I never reach out to other artists, but I’m always open for collaboration (if it resonates) when someone reaches out.
Q: Beyond composition, there’s also the live aspect of your work, which always leaves an impression. How important is performing live for you, and how do you translate your studio work to the stage? How significant is the visual or ‘imagery’ aspect in your live shows, which seems important for many artists?
Bart: Performing live is not very important to me, although I had some very good experiences with it. During the years from time to time there were live-musicians joining Dead Man’s Hill on stage, but the last 5 years I perform solo for the sake of comfort. I’m not preparing extra special elements for a live show, except trying to make sure that the sound is convincing. The last 3 Dead Man’s Hill concerts were together with Rosa Crux, so I have been grateful to do my set on a stage filled with their amazing art, which keeps impressing me.
Q: What else is in the pipeline for this year and the longer term?
Bart: New work from Brotherhood Of Sleep is on its way, and maybe there will be a concert of another side-project this year too. All info will be shared on the DMH- Facebook page.
I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.
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