Interview
with Franta Storm of Master’s Hammer 2009
By
Bradley Smith
Hells
Franta
Storm, It has been a really long time since Master’s Hammer
mysteriously
vanished. Can you
tell me what prompted
this reunion and how it has been functioning as a band again? Was the old magic there
when the various
members of Master’s Hammer were face to face again after all this time?
We
tried to prove that senile old
men can still make some noise. No magic at all. Just rock'n'roll.
Seriously -
it was a combination of various triggering impressions: Moving from the
city to
the countryside, listening to frogs while stumbling home from a pub,
visiting
India with Vlasta, drinking Old Monk rum and smoking some good stuff.
Finally after this
overly long wait we the world have a new Master’s Hammer album so sink
our ears
into, Mantras. How do you feel it fits
in with Ritual and Jilmenice Occultist?
It seems to have the aggression of Ritual with the boundary shattering
creativity of Jilmenice. What were you
trying to achieve with Mantras and what inspired its creation?
Our
website says: ...our aim was to
have fun (adequately
to our age) and to use proven blackmetal methods to express ourselves.
Mantra
is in many eastern religions a synonym for "word of truth". I wrote
these songs after real stories and feelings taken from countrysides we
partly
live in, namely Southern Bohemia and India.
Soundwise,
I agree, it's a heritage of good old MH years, both albums are there as
clear
influences, but don't forget to mention Necrocock's sick tunes and
Vlasta's
hammonds and organs among Silentlhell and Monster's contribution. There
are
several new features like using real wooden flutes and brass cymbals
(Epitaf)
plus certain influences of ethnic and disco music. That's new with MH.
Master’s
Hammer
has a truly cult mystique. Do
you
agree? How do you
think this air of
mystery was summoned surrounding MH?
Do
you think that being mostly silent for all these years and being from
Eastern
Europe which in some ways seemed “darker” has helped MH achieve this
status?
You're
not the first mentioning a
"cult" of us. I hate it, it makes me unfree. When being a
"legend", people expect certain behavior from me, but I'm a man of
irony and like foolish things, rather than moving in patterns.
Darker
Eastern Europe - it sounds
funny - that implicates "brighter Western lands" and even darker
Asia. There is no such issue, everywhere you go, it's just you. The
World has
no attributes itself. Sometimes I regard the whole western civilization
as hopelessly
degenerate.
Jilmenice
Occultist was the first Black metal opera.
What made Master’s Hammer think they could challenge the
preconceived
notions of what black metal is with such a bold statement? I mean, what inspired MH
to compose an actual
opera? What was the
thinking when the
members sat down to conceive this album?
How do you think it was received by the underground at
first and how do
you feel they see it now?
There
is a slight difference
between opera and operetta. We've never composed any opera. We're not
entirely a
blackmetal band anymore. Today, we play rock'n'roll and brutal Manele
with
Chalga influence. Operettas mostly have stupid lyrics and that's a good
match
with us, frivolous and verse-mongered words suite perfectly to our
simple music.
I can remember
being quite shocked when I heard Šlágry
the first time. Can you give me some
idea on what the thought process was when Masters Hammer recorded this
album
and how did Osmose react when they received it from you?
Šlágry
is our best album in terms
of a 2-man project with Vlasta. It's an answer to those who regard
blackmetal
musicians as featureless authors simply focused on distorted guitars,
double
bass drum and aarrgh. We noticed a warm acceptance of Šlágry from
non-metalists, alternative-listeners, and as a side-effect, it
introduced them
to a blackmetal realm. We love that album for its semantic shifts. It
consists
mostly of cover versions of certain popular songs and our
interpretation filled
them with a new meaning.
According to your
website Master’s Hammer seems to have a larger than normal problem with
Bootlegs. Why do you think this is and
what action have you taken to deal with it?
Does it frustrate you to see your art circulating in a manner in which
you have no control over?
We
realized, that after years of
silence, certain unmentionable companies thought that they could do
whatever
they wanted with our copyrighted material, music, design, pictures.
There was a
discrepancy in the definition of the word "copyright", so we realized
it will be much better for both sides to split immediately. Master's
Hammer is
completely independent on any label now. We're not a world's exception,
other
bands have also abandoned their labels recently to set forth in a
freelanced
way. Today you can have a good studio, production, promotion and
distribution
at a fraction of costs from before. So we did. Nowadays we have
everything
under instant control, every decibel, each square millimeter of cover
design,
daily sales reports; no separation wall between fans and the band.
On
the other hand, some bootlegs
can provoke the band to do something new, original. I'm always trying
to look
at the bright side of a problem.
To
me one thing
that separates Master’s Hammer from their contemporaries, even aside
from music
is that each album is a truly artistic endeavor with the art, layout,
fonts
etc, for each. When
approaching the
creation and placing the final touches on a new MH album how do you
view the
non-musical aspects of the whole artistic package as it were? I mean how much time and
effort is placed on
these details? Do
you think other bands
neglect this important aspect of an album?
I
don't think so. Every band does
care. I designed dozens of record covers for various bands in my
career, and
can't remember one who just kept it on me. Usually we used to spend
endless
hours in my studio consulting on every detail.
For
Mantras, we're happy about
Martin's canvas, and the band’s group portrait, both are about 1x1 m
big,
hanging in my dining room - it has changed slightly the atmosphere in
my house.
I know, a skull is not that innovative in terms of metal music design,
but
Martin's sloppy gestual craft made it unique, and - he's a band member,
although he doesn't play any instrument.
Speaking
of Fonts
what is Storm Type? Do
you design your
own fonts or bring old ones you discover to life?
To you what are the artistic merits of words
and their aesthetic qualities? Do
you
feel this is something that most people and bands overlook?
What
I'm trying to do, is just to
offer my experience as a trained typographer and designer. I used to
teach at
Prague's Academy for a couple of years and made my best student take my
position when I left retired. Type and typography is the mediator of
knowledge,
history, science, truth, lies, whatever. You perceive 90% of
information in
your life by printed (or on-screen displayed) type. And fontmaking is a
comfortable way of earning money, too. It gives me freedom.
Necrocock
contributed a recipe to the Hellbent for Cooking heavy metal cookbook. Have you seen it? It was for Bull Testicle. Have you had this dish
before and do you like
it? Do you cook at
all and what’s your
favorite recipe?
He's
known gourmet, you can see
his belly on the recent pictures... I prefer a goose baked slowly in my
tile
oven. I live among three lakes full of fishes, so you can imagine my
table when
the owners - friends - haul them in every autumn.
You
have another
music project, Airbrusher. Can
you tell
me about it? What
other musical projects
have other MH members been involved with prior to the reanimation of
Master’s
Hammer?
When
I built my studio back in
2007, I needed to check its sound, adjust acoustic treatment, learn
what to do
with mixing, etc. Vlasta helped me a lot with technical solutions. Soon
after
finishing it I recorded Airbrusher as test album - it's completely
about bad
taste, you can hear those synths. I was a bit of a Yello - fan, the
essays by
Dieter Meier influenced me a little, although - and most probably
because -
they are written in such a dandy-shallow style. But his musical and
lyrics
approach remain irresistible forever.
Airbrusher
lyrics have something
in common with Mantras - it's also about the south-bohemian countryside
with
its bizarre people and scenery.
For
Necrocock projects you should
ask him. I confess it's not exactly my cup of tea, but in general, he
is a very
experienced composer, and I appreciate very much his skills in Mantras
mixing.
I read that
Master’s Hammer are already looking towards the Next album.
How will it differ from Mantras and will it
remain a “black metal” album or is it headed into new directions?
It
appeared possible for all of
us to meet sometime and have another party in the studio and
occasionally press
the record button. No specific plans yet. I would love to make
something
humble, free of sophisticated effects. I like an unprocessed brutal
sound as it
was on the very first demo. Cheap cassette recorder put in the middle
of
rehearsal room, done.
If Master’s Hammer
had not reunited what do you think their legacy to the underground
would have
been? How do you think a new album
affects that legacy and what new inheritance do you want to leave to
the metal
scene since the rebirth?
Recently,
I met a nice girl, born
in the year of releasing "Finished" demo. She was decently tattooed,
dressed in alluring black boutique with essential baphomet necklace,
skilled in
drinking, and she knew all our songs including new ones, so I assume,
we're
likely addressing another generation of fans. Later on, she confessed
she sings
in a blackmetal band. My message to them is clear: Make your own music,
don't
go trendy with labels.
I will leave Final
Thoughts and artistic visions to you.
Your feedback matters, write us your opinion on Mantras.