Belchior Interview!

1.Hailz Belchior! 
Here in Sweden the cold & dark autumn is creeping upon us... but How are your day?

- I live in the Northern United States, in a region known as New England and we have the 4 defined seasons. The cold and dark autumn is also happening now and pretty soon (December 22nd) the winter will bring heavy snow followed by temperatures below freezing. This is the best season (winter) for me to create and record my music, as I'm very influenced by the solitude and beauty of it.

2.As Belchior is a fairly new project can you tell a bit on what drove you into this one man constellation? What type of desires and visions did you have when starting doing this music? My interpretation of you music is that it is quite personal but not in a introverted why though. what type of experiences did you have before this? And did that helped you to realize Belchior with more precision?

- BELCHIOR is a new project but has been an idea of mine since the beginning of the 90's. The entire project started to become a reality in 2006. I've played in a few bands before but always felt that something else was missing. I tried to put a band together to play this music for a long time but even then it felt like something was still missing. The fact that in a band you have to compromise on ideas and accept suggestions from others began to change the characteristics of the music. I then aspired to be a one man band. Back then I could only play the drums and didn't have the skills to execute my ideas to my satisfaction. 

As time went on I self-taught on guitar, bass and keyboards, allowing me to keep the project a one man band. Desires and visions... Well, I just wanted to be able to show the darkest side of my mind and try to convert this evil and eerie energy that I carry inside me into songs. Personal experience contributes a lot to BELCHIOR. I was born and raised in Brazil where Christianity has the power to keep my people blind and ignorant, including in my own household. This always fucked with my mind and was, for sure, the catalyst of the damned and unholy creature I am. This helped me to realize BELCHIOR with more precision.

3.I get i feeling you where pretty sure of what you searched for and how the end product should sound & look like but please tell me how the process looked like the days & nights from when the idea was born until the unholy birth of this full album ? What type of trials and tribulations artistically and technically did you endure under the 7 years between the demo "I Despise Jesus Christ" until now?

- The idea was born in the early 90s as I mentioned above but between then and the middle of 2000 I had many obligations that kept this project on the back burner. In 2001 I moved to the United States. Between getting settled, adapting to cultural changes and continuous work with other bands I didn't begin focusing on BELCHIOR full time until 2014. Even knowing that I recorded a demo in 2007 the project went back in my drawer right after the demo tape was finished, mostly because I needed help to record and had no experience with production. From 2007 until 2014 I dedicated my time to get the perfect sound and atmosphere that I would want to use on my first album. So, I filled the gap between the demo and the album learning to record myself at my own studio. All my music was written in the heart of the winter with hate and depression. 
I tried not to involve too much planning, rather just absorb the feelings surrounding me at the moment and translate that into songs.

4.Besides this i also get a feeling that you are a old school horror movie buff or at least to some degree movies is an inspiration for you... if thats the case which directors and movies is on your top "list"?

 - I have appreciation and interest in underground twisted horror films, they are a direct influence on my music in the sense that I can relate to the way the creators translate their sick and dark feelings into an art form. My top list: Subconcious Cruelty, Nekromantik, Eraserhead, Cannibal Holocaust, Begotten, The Evil Dead, The Exorcist, Cannibal Ferox, The Omen and Rosemary's Baby.

 5.Ah nice selection of cruel flicks there! 
The only one i dont know/seen is Subconcious Cruelty, whats that about? Many of these have also great soundtracks like Nekromantik & Cannibal Holocaust (i have since long planned to use music parts from Cannibal Holocaust to some project, there some some beautiful part that runs over think the scene where they start to burn up some hut where the inhabitants is...) And like in my review of you album i felt that your music have soundtrack vibe to it so i guess you would like to do a score to some devilish movie? 

-  Subconscious Cruelty is a bit hard to explain as it is four situations happening independently of each other in one film. I wouldn't want to ruin the surprise but for anyone who's interested in this genre of film it's worth a watch. I don't have any intention to do any movie scores right now but could be an interesting project

 6.Have you seen some of the new wave French "torture-porn" cinema? If not i wholeheartedly recommended Martyrs & Inside.

- I've never heard about this new wave of French cinema and don't know much about it.


7. It feels that it could be a bit problem to take your music to play live, well some live members is needed but have you thought about this? Would be great if you succeeded doing so as it could be a pretty grand experience i think.  

- It would be a challenge to take my music live, as you said it would require more members. Also it would go against the main reason this is a one-man band, the fact that all energy, feelings, and moods are coming from my own experiences and I could not explain that to other musicians. 

8.In what filter do you look back on the 90´s regarding Black metal, rosy? Rusty? And which bands do you consider have pushed you into this path?

 - I look back at the 90s as a bridge between me as an underground metal fan in the mid 80s to an authentic musician now. In Brazil the 90s was a very intense time as I started to get more involved with death and black metal. It was then that I discovered bands like Morbid Angel, Deicide, Death, Mayhem, Darkthrone, and so on. However, the bands that have influenced me into this path are mostly Master's Hammer, Bathory, Venom and Hellhammer.

9.After this release what other release plans do you have?

 - The way I work is a bit odd. I don't plan to get anything done on a schedule. All the music comes naturally and I'll keep composing and recording until I'm satisfied. I believe that I will come up with a new album in 2016 as I can already feel the cold of the winter and the inspiration that always follows.

10. What does the name Belchior means to you? On a funny side note when i googled Belchior a famous Brazilian singer and composer named Belchior Fontenelle Fernandes... i guess you dont have close relationship with that dude? hehe

- Belchior is my middle name. It doesn't have any meaning in the way most people would expect like some kind of demon's name or entity, for example. I decided to put my own name because it would be strange to give 100% of myself and call it something else. For this music I am doing I don't hide behind anything, this is all me. The other Brazilian composer called Belchior also uses his middle name and it is a coincidence. Belchior is not our last name and we are not related in any way.

11.We have come to the inevitable end, last word is yours!

 - Destroy all that tries to control you. Decimate the smallest idea of God, his son, or any holy spirit. 
Trust yourself and only yourself and fight an everyday battle to free your body, mind and soul. 

This is the only way to find strength inside you