Lost in Bohemia #Interview
Good day, good morning and good evening to those metal heads/music enthusiasts who are looking for new and unique sounds. Have I got a band for you, going by the name of: Lost in Bohemia
I’ve recently had the pleasure of getting to know Lost in Bohemia and find their energy and vibe to be positive and approachable. I sent some questions to “Howling Mina” and “Samson Deluxe”, who are a two- person, husband and wife band, who describe their sound as “melodic industrial metal”. I would go on to say that there is so much more to their music than those descriptors.
Their debut single is called “Obsidian in Dust” and it is based on a volcano and how nature has had it with us (humans) and wants retribution. I want to know more about this single!
Without further ado, I would like to introduce Lost in Bohemia, and hope that you find them and their music thoughtful and far-reaching, with capacity to branch into many tastes of music.
(Samson writes) – Firstly, thank you so much for reaching out to us, we both REALLY appreciate it ((horns) and (heart) symbols here)
(Blessed Altar Zine) Please share a little about yourselves and how metal has been in your lives
(Samson writes)- Well, as for getting into metal it’s a LONG story as we are both old lol! 😛
In a nutshell I have an uncle who is a guitar player, teacher, and musician and he turned me onto a lot of cool stuff when I was younger. Plus, my Mum was and is into a lot of 70s British Glam rock and 70s hard rock, so it was kinda in the house A LOT as a kid! As for my own music journey, being born in the late70s, growing up in the 80s, and early to mid 90s, I’m massively influenced by ALL types of 80s music from chart pop to hair metal. Also, Indie, Goth, Alternative and of course 80s metal! Particularly 80s doom metal, so Trouble (R.I.P. Eric!), Candlemass, and Solitude Aeturnus. I also love Industrial metal so, Godflesh, Treponen Pal and of course Ministry! I also grew up loving 80s thrash, and death metal (the NWOBHM proto black metal) Venom and traditional metal. As well, Alternative metal too, so bands like Janes Addiction, Kings X, Faith No More, Helmut, but I would add Alice in Chains and Soundgarden to that list.
I’ll shut up now as I’ll be here all night lol! :p
As for being a musician, I’ve been in bands since a teen in the early 90s, of all different genres.
(Mina writes)- I started to listen to heavy music in my late teens. I had grown up with a family who liked rock, New Romantics (as it was in the 80s) and 80’s soul. I started with rock by listening to Queen, Guns n Roses and ACDC. Not long after that I also started listening to Stevie Nicks, Kate Bush and David Bowie.
Then as my music list got bigger I was into a very different style like T-Rex and Metallica. When I frequented London clubs I got further into the metal genre. I loved old Machine Head, and other obvious bands like Slayer and Pantera. However, my music net cast wider and I was very much listening to The Cure, Type O-Negative and Sisters of Mercy.
I found a cd in an old music store in London where I bought so many bands, but what stood out was a compilation album “Electric Dreams” which was mostly 80s electronic and the infamous “Goth Box”! I did really admire and love My Ruin at that time too.
Now I have too much music, which is not a bad thing. I like to admit to non metal and obvious metal music as I think its important to be true to oneself.
(Blessed Altar Zine) How did you choose your name?
(Samson writes) As for the name Lost in Bohemia, well Mina can go into more details but in short we wanted something that reflected the many differences in our music and to not have a name that type casted us to a single genre!
(Mina writes) Lost in Bohemia states very well what we are as a band, as in lost in estranged styles! We have always liked mixing different music together which suits are band name very well.
(Blessed Altar Zine) What was the starting point of your band?
(Samson writes) Well, being married to each other helps! Lol
(Mina writes) I met Sam via a friend and we clicked musically, he has a wide range of musical interests as well as talent. He has taught me a lot about music, how it is in its raw form to understanding what it means and there are no barriers.
(Blessed Altar Zine) How did you choose the musical influences of your particular sound?
(Samson writes) As the title “Melodic Industrial Metal” we wanted something that would be reasonably easy enough for people to latch on to, honestly I still feel that it’s a bit limiting as it misses a lot of our NON metal influences in our music. Maybe “Alternative metal” might have been a better choice , but I feel that would conjure a certain musical style from the90s into someone’s head and we don’t really sound like that either. Hmmmm, it’s a tough one!
(Mina writes) It’s a good thing for people to ponder where to put you in a sub genre, as it shows you might just stick out. It takes a while to find what you are normally and you can tell where you sit in different places.
(Blessed Altar Zine writes) What is the meaning within the lyrics of your single “Obsidian in Dust”?
(Samson writes) as for the lyrics to our debut single Obsidian in Dust, we decided to write an allegory: what would happen if the volcanoes that ERUPT were actually people, or in this case a goddess, a vengeful one who decides to smite the towns people for their “sins”. The song was inspired also, by how many people live by active volcanoes seriously! Like we need to save our planet, but we put that statement in hopefully in a NON preachy way.
(Mina writes) Life is like that, it is fragile and wrathful all at the same time, but at times it needs to be heard. I like the angry goddess as it is something I personally am researching in cultures, and stories are an important part of music.
(Blessed Altar Zine) Do you feel that overdoing on the production of your music will make you sound too similar to other bands?
(Samson writes) The reason we record differently than other bands is because we both got incredibly sick and tired of using PC based recording! This could honestly be a massive RANT on its own, but in short, I hate the fact that I would record a guitar part in say five minutes and then spend the next hour editing it. Picking out what amp sim to use and I was like “to hell with this, I just want to have FUN again!!”
So we bought a digital 8 track studio and everything we have recorded so far is to those 8 tracks!, Meaning, drum machine, synth bass, both guitars, 2x my vocals and 2x Mina’s vocals a bit of EQ and then its good to go!
I personally think it makes better music BECAUSE its real! No edits, no drum sample replacements and no copy and pasting music! Ironically my favorite produced album is “Hysteria” by Def Leppard lol, but I wanted to take that approach with a more DIY noisey minimalist approach! Anyway, enough of my rant against most modern metal productions lol
(Mina writes) It’s too easy to get used to fixing something and losing the essence of the music, the way in which you can easily upload and make music is astonishing, but it needs some realism! A little bit of both is the best.
(Blessed Altar Zine) Are you working on an upcoming album?
(Samson writes) Yes, a four-track mini album in fact…
We can give you an EXCLUSIVE…
We have agreed to release a four song mini album called “False Humble Origins” via the amazing Trepanation Records run by the equally awesome Dan Dolby! We hope to have it out by December, and we are recording right now!
(Mina writes) We thought we would give a taster of what’s to come!
(Blessed Altar Zine) What is going to be theme of your new album?
As for the forthcoming lyrics/theme they will be a mix of things, some nature, but more thoughts, ideas, and more allegories. Two of the songs for example are called “The Men that Built the Engines” and, “The Black is Never Far Away”, basically the first is an allegory about how the modern era with social media etc is kinda like the Victorian/Industrial revolution Era and how we still exploit people but not in workhouses anymore, but by companies like Amazon etc, and how the village mobs with the pitchforks have been replaced by people on social media etc. Hence, why we don’t have any personal social media accounts!
With “The Black is Never far Away”, we wanted to talk about how life is neither good nor bad, it’s the CIRCUMSTANCE that determines your feelings, eg, you win the lottery or fall in love then life “feels”amazing, but if you lose your job, get sick, somebody dies, etc, then life “feels” devastating, but LIFE isn’t, it just is a mix of good and bad.
There’s another song called “Sea and Sky” which is about the earth, nature and minimalism.
(Mina writes) I suggest reading up on stoic thinking, it’s a good way to figure out your needs in life.
(Blessed Altar Zine) What are some anecdotes you remember while you worked on making the single?
(Samson writes) as for funny anecdotes from recording, well, I was recording the “spoken word/demonic vocals” portion, and I would say really silly stuff in there (was deleted, but the one that got both of us was in the middle section was me saying: DOES ANYBODY FANCY ANY POPPADOMS!? Lol!
Also, the riff started as a joke when I got my headless guitar for the first time to see if I could write a riff alternating between only 1 note and one power chord and like most things in jest, sometimes the muse strikes you just right!
(Mina writes) I learned how to sing all in one go rather than cuts here and there as you would on a PC based song, so I guess I can be proud of that!
(Blessed Altar Zine) Please share some final thoughts
(Samson writes) I am a human male from The Peoples Republic of South London!. I’m a husband, a vegan, have ADHD, erm yeah, that’s all I can remember!
(Mina writes) I think we are a band that enjoy being individual, and firmly believe in being true to oneself.
(Blessed Altar Zine writes)
There you have it everybody, a little glimpse into Lost in Bohemia. I want to extend many thanks to Samson Deluxe and Howling Mina for taking the time to answer my questions, and to also wish them the very best in their upcoming musical endeavors!
I have some links I’d like to share so as to have everyone have a chance to listen to their music. Samson and Mina also invite you all to checkout their social media: twitter, bandcamp, spotify or youtube, as well as head on over to their label
Finally, thank you from Blessed Altar Zine, sending positive energies for your future !
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Metal Marie
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