1. Greetings to the TRANSCENDING BIZARRE? camp. To start the interview, I would like to ask you about the current situation in Greece. How is it? I guess that everybody knows that you were the country most mentioned by the media in connection with the financial crisis... Did this affect you anyhow? What is your stance on the current situation in Egypt?

Well, my life was a bit affected by the crisis as my salary was decreased and some of the goods became slightly more expensive. The Media tend to exaggerate and people think that there has been a major change here in Greece, which is a lie. This is capitalism, the rich become richer, the poor become poorer but they always vote for the rich ones. So they get what they deserve in the end of the day. Regarding Egypt now, I guess people revolted against the financial and social inequalities of their country. Mubarak was not actually elected by the people, he is a kind of dictator that was favoured by USA and Europe, and his way of living provoked the poor people. I am sure that USA will grant them a new president that will be even more obedient and even more capitalist. Life will go on...Humanity doesn’t know how to vote, how to live, how to judge, religion is powerful etc etc, so we will always live in mediocrity. Unless you are very rich.

2. As TRANSCENDING BIZARRE? is not a well known name in the Czech Republic, could you please say a few things about what you would call milestones in the history of the band? NO need for biography, more like a few fragments that would give the readers an idea about your evolution, history and current direction...

Our previous album is the only milestone I can think of, since it introduced us to lots of people and made our name quite known in the underground scene. We’d like our new album to be the next milestone, time will tell...So far, the reviews are positive ...

3. Why did you decide for the name TRANSCENDING BIZARRE?? Frankly, I sometimes forget about the question mark behind your name...And I for sure am not the only one, hehe...

The question mark shows that we don’t really have a clue about what our name means...

4. I did not discover your art until the "The Serpent's Manifolds" which surprised me mainly by its gaminess when it came to experimenting and playing with all possible elements of metal. Nevertheless, I still would label the album as black metal, even though it maybe seems like a limiting definition. What drives you to create music, why do you do it? Do you set any borders which you would not want to cross or do you just go and create and what happens simply happens?

What drives me to create music is instinct. I was born in an environmant full of music, my father used to bombard me with tons of music, my best friends were musicians, so I learnt to live with music and I learnt to love music. It was an instinctive reaction like in Pavlov’s dog experiment. I cannot think my self without music. I always have tunes in my mind. Even when I sleep I guess. I mostly compose music without setting any rules or any boarders, otherwise I would compose some more conventional things. Music sometimes comes from inside me while others it comes after a huge session where I try things at the piano or my guitars. The final form of the music takes shape according to my aesthetics. I don’t know why I compose avantgarde black pieces, my subconscious aesthetics dictate things to me. And my aesthetics are formed by random experiences, my environment, my congenital musical abilities etc. Most of the musicians label their subconscious instict/aesthetics as inspiration. Which is a very vague term.


5. I am a bit confused about how to understand "The Misanthrope's Fable". On one hand, the record seems much heavier and more aggressive, but on the other, I hear many progressions that at times negate this feeling. It is difficult to describe. How long did it take to create the record and what were your intentions?

It almost took one and a half year, from the very first composition till the last day of the mastering process. I personally believe that this album carries our own distinctive mark. We are influenced by lots of bands but we created something that I would dare to say is original. Our main focus was songwriting, we wanted to create complex and sophisticated songs but catchy at the same time. I think that the album has equal doses of experimentation and catchiness. I would never like to create something exclusively catchy or exclusively experimental. The final result was a very dark,unearthly album that combined the psychedelia of our debut and the symphonic avant-gardism of our sophomore album.

6. What is the main theme of the record, what is it about? Are there more topics or is there one strong main idea that is maintained and evolved through the whole album? Do you put strong emphasis on the lyrics?

Our new album is a concept album both musically and lyrically. It is about a genious scientist/philosopher/hypnotist that initially tries to favour humanity but in the end he becomes a misanthrope and hypnotizes all men. Since then they continue being hypnotized. This is the world we are living, full of misdirected hypnotized beings. The story is nihilistic and misanthropic.

7. "The Misanthrope's Fable" contains a wide range of vocals - from the black metal screams through a kind of "incantations" to chorals and the more melodramatic singing etc. Is this a way to support the atmosphere and enstranghten the unseizable character of your music?

They sounded cool, that’s why we used this kind of vocals. They enrich our music by making it sound more intense, passionate and avant-garde. The same goes for the children’s choir. 20 chldren singing sounded like something strange at first but when we mixed the choir with the music we loved it.

8. How do you personally understand "The Misanthrope's Fable"? Do you feel that it is the peak of your creation so far? Do you see any flaws already?

Hmm, I cannot see any flaws right now. Maybe I‘ ll spot some in the future. I don’t know if this album is my peak. Again, time will tell.

9. Your music sometimes seems like some kind of show or a bizzare play. Let's say, something like a decadent theater. Even your promo photos for the new album seem to point at this idea. How do you personally see TRANSCENDING BIZARRE?? Is it more than just fun for you? Maybe the word "art" would be appropriate?

Transcending Bizarre? is my way of living, since my way of living is encircled by music. It is fun and art at the same time. I like to see it more as fun, to be honest. What else should it be? I don’t plan to change the world with it, nor find the meaning of life. I express the musical part of myself through the band, I express some ideas, but mostly I do it to enjoy myself.


10. What can we expect from TB? in the future? Even more experiments, moving from black metal to something difficult-to-put-a-genre-label-on? Do you already have any plans?

I really don’t know.

11. What about TB? and live performances, are you anyhow active? If you were offered to play in Czech Republic, would it be a problem for you to accept the offer?

We’d love to play there. That’s why we search for a tour around europe if possible. We have played many times in our country and we would like now to go abroad.

12. To somehow close the interview, I would like to ask you what you know about our country, the Czech Republic? I like to ask bands this question because the opinions tend to differ and it is very interesting to read what memories of our country the band members brought home with them after their visit or what they heave heard or read...

When I first started listening to metal, I was introduced to 2 bands from your country. Tortharry and Section brain. The latter were about to play in my hometown in 1993-4 but something happened and their show was cancelled. Additionally, I know that your country is very beautiful. I have never visited it myself but there are friends who came there and were impressed. You know, our cities are very ugly and when a Greek goes to Prague is stunned by the traditional buildings, the parks etc I also know Pavel Nedved and lots of other Czech players, you have a good team but you are unlucky most of the times. Finally, I know that you have a good reputation when comes to classical music, ballet, theatre etc

13. Thank you very much for the interview and the quality album. Be well and I wish you lot of success and verve for the future creations!

Very nice to talk to you, thank you for the support. Wish the best for you and the ‘zine!