Tkivo: Infidel Interview #16
First of, just want to thank you for participating in this edition of Infidel Interviews. Could you start off by giving a little information about yourself to the audience? Whatever you feel comfortable with, but name, age, and where you live would be pretty standard? Also what instruments you can play might be good as well?
My name is Karlo, 30 years young male (not living with my mom) writing to you live from Zagreb, Croatia (EU). I am a musician (hiding under alias Tkivo) who can't read notes/sheets very well, graphic designer, video editor, motion graphics master and sex guru. I can't say that I play any instrument like a pro but I can sure use (and love to use) a lot of instruments in my music. Instruments that I like to play and record are drums, bass guitar, piano, acoustic and electric guitar. Those are also the instruments that I own and molest. Do you like where you live? Do you think that your locale has had a positive or negative impact on how you make music and who you make music? Or is a combination of both?
I can't say that the place where I live has any impact on my music (or my creative process) whatsoever. My music does not have any political connotation and I'd like to keep it that way. I was never into artists who fight/play/sing against the man and against the system. All those things sound and look gimmicky to me and the sad part is they were never intended to look like that. And I can't help but to feel like it's all just a PR stunt. Artists should never take themselves too seriously.
What would you say would be you short term, and long term, goals for the band? Obviously you have many, but outline or describe some of the one's most important or crucial to you right now as a band?
Actually I don't have any short or long term goals. I make music because I have a need to create something that 's mine and something that I can be proud of. I need to make music or otherwise my head would explode.
Esotercism, magick, and philosophy seem to be important themes for you. What has drawn you to the path esoteric? Are their a particular path that you follow? Are there any authors or philosophers you particularly revere?
It's always something beyond this thing we call reality that fuels an artists imagination and inspiration. Esotericism, Magick and Philosophy are, among many others, the fields of my interest so it comes naturally for me to implement them into my music and artwork. I could say I am lucky enough to have a boring life; just a few friends and some spare time to study these things. But I'm far from an expert. My attention span is VERY short when it comes to studying. A short essay is good enough for me to write/compose a song about the theme that it touches. I have my favorite authors and philosophers but I keep that kind of stuff mostly to myself. I try not to talk about these things because I don't like to preach and like I said I'm not an expert. My music and artwork are the only things in which you can hear and see my interest in the occult.
When making music do you consciously think about the esoteric theme of the song, or does the symbolism become apparent after the construction of the music is already completed?
It really depends. I am a very visual person. Most of my ispiration comes from paintings, photos, films, documentary films, music videos, etc. I really like to watch experimental movies because they tend not to focus on any message or moral of the story. It's like following your weird doppelgängers train of thoughts (if the movie is good) and trying to embed it into your artistic expression. I guess this too explains why my attention span is so short. ​​
Do you wish to eventually use your music as a means to convey a particular message? Or is the image more of a combining of interest and sound, with the message to be discovered by the viewer on their own? If there is a message behind it all could you elaborate?
I'm not the one who delivers the message. I just want to let people think and explore the things that they hear and see in my music and artwork. For me, if there is a strict message in a song – the song loses it's magic. If I'm aware that something is hidden, I'll try to find it and by doing so I accidentally learn a lot of other things along the way. If the message is strict - there's not much more that you could learn from that. You can get bored very quickly. I don't want to shove my opinions and world views down your throat, and by having a strict message in your music – you're doing exactly that. Some people like it. I don't.
Would you say that your choice to pursue music has changed your life since you started? Would you say that creativity has evolved you spiritually, emotionally, or logically?
I started making music when I was a kid so no changes were made in my life. I'm on the same path. Got my first job, learned a lot of things, had sex, ... all thanks to my interest in music. Creativity has to evolve you spiritually, emotionally or logically, otherwise it wouldn't be called 'creativity' – it would be called 'your day job.'
What sort of processes do you go through when making music? Do you have a formula(s) that you follow, or do you feel it out as you go along? Or is it more of a mixture of the two?
With each album I'm trying a different approach in making it. My last album 'Grimoire' was more guitar oriented so all of its songs were mostly composed on a guitar. The album before that ('Changes') was more samples and vocal oriented so most of the songs were composed on a piano and acoustic guitar then chopped up and transposed into samples and synths. But I like to feel it out first, of course. So the process of making an album keeps being interesting to me.
The sounds that you use to manipulate your guitars and sound effects are quite extensive and well mixed. What are some of your favorite effects, and combinations of such, that you like to use? Also do you do your own mixing or do you have a mixer?
I tend to have a lot of recorded-acoustic sounds in my songs because all those sounds are imperfect and organic. When combining those with strict sounds of drum machines and synths I get sexually aroused every time. My favorite effects would be reverb, distortion and delay. Standard. I do all my mixing and mastering because I'm a hot little potato right now.​​Are you musically self taught? Or have you had mentors along the way to help you develop?
I'm self taught mostly. But I've met a lot of people who learned me some new tricks.
Promotion can be one of the most difficult things in the music industry. Do you have an agent that helps book shows and manage your online presence, or have you decided to trek it out without and mantle the reigns of the social media apparatus yourself? Is it difficult engaging the online world consistently and originally, or do you find it easy?
I don't have an agent or anything like that. I do it all by myself. That's right... I sit in front of my computer and upload, share, promote my music with my own hands because I'm not rich and famous. But I'm getting really tired of that and don't know how much long will I have the will power to do these boring things. I'm not trying to engage the online world into listening to my music. I just upload it and share it on my social media channels and profiles. I'm too lazy to go around and type 'Hey, do you want to hear some great dark music that would make you want to live again?'. I tried that but gave up really quickly. There's a thin line between promotion and boring spam. Or is it the same thing? I don't know, I'm tired. I'm a real noob when it comes to music promotion.
If you could collaborate with any artist, dead or alive, who would it be, and for what reason?
I think I never fantasized about collaborating with any famous artist. I always end up fantasizing about collaborating with someone I stumble upon YouTube, SoundCloud, etc. I tried it a couple of times but it worked out only once – with my friend Nikola. We have a very sexy band called TET. People contact me or I contact them but it's always a dead end. And it turns out that most of them who contact me are actually promoting their own work. But at least it beats those 'Hey, Tkivo! I really like your music. It's a shame you have so little plays on SoundCloud. You should check out this app called You're a DJ if You think this works to get more plays and likes' messages and e-mails. Ok, maybe I would like to collaborate with Scott Walker. But that's just because I'm listening to his music right now. Good thing I'm not listening to Pretty Ricky... right now.
Thank you so much for participating in this episode of Infidel Interview. Any parting words for your fans, or my audience?
Thank you very much for showing your interest in my work. I appreciate it. To all my 20 fans: fuck even more, I need more fans and souls - my evil ain't gonna feed itself. And check out my other band TET (https://tet-band.bandcamp.com) if you want more plays and likes on your SoundCloud. I like naked girls (18+) so you can send me your pics via e-mail. I also collect skulls and skullish things. Don't forget to rate, comment and subscribe on my PornHub channel.
You can download Tviko's work on their Bandcamp: https://tkivo.bandcamp.com/
Check out their Videos on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/tkivoband
You can find Tkivo on Social Network...
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TkivoMusic
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TkivoBand
Last.FM: http://www.last.fm/music/Tkivo
YOu can find Tviko's artwork...
DeviantArt: http://tkivo.deviantart.com/
Tumblr: http://tkivo.tumblr.com/
#NewMusic #Interview #Tkivo #Downtempo #ElectronicMusic #Esoteric #Magick #theProphet #TheInfidelNetwerk #RockMusic #IndustrialMusic #PostRock #MetalMusic #2016 #Croatia