Interviews :                                                                                                                                                  24/07/2007

Band : Dreamlike Horror, Ancient,Analogue Fakir
Interviewed : Deadly Kristin  
Interviewer : Alorchi Samir
Language :

 

 

ZT-webzine : Salam Hayam !Thanks for talking to us. Everything is ok with you ?

 

Wa alaykum salaam! Alhamdulillah everything is alright, apart from the fact that just today I received an e-mail from Aphazel telling me he is leaving Dreamlike Horror, the band we founded together 7-8 years ago. Although it affects me emotionally, I will not let it become a burden to my creativity, in fact it is actually stimulating me more in going on with the project!

 

ZT-webzine : Could you please present yourself to the readers ?

 

I am formerly known with the artistic name Deadly Kristin, I am a singer, composer and lyricist. I was many years in a black metal band called Ancient, with which I recorded a few albums for the major Metal Blade Records and toured all over Europe. I also have other musical projects, an horror project called Dreamlike Horror which I had founded with Aphazel of Ancient ( who was my partner in life at the time) and an electro sufi band called Analogue Fakir, which I am very proud of. I am also a tv and radio presenter and a language teacher, among other things. I left Ancient in early 2004 and in 2006 I became muslim and got the name Hayam Nur as Sufi.

ZT-webzine : Have you converted to Islam ? Could you tell us exactly what happened ?

 

I grew up in a christian catholic family but from an early age I could see there were many questions this religion wasnt able to answer. The answers I was getting were often meaningless or contradictory and never satisfied my thirst for knowledge. I had many existential questions in my head, I wanted to find out the meaning of life and the mysteries of the universe and of life after death. Since christianity wasnt able to give me answers, I started to reject it and for many years I considered myself an atheist. I believed there must have been a meaning to it all but just couldnt figure it out. I started to study a lot of science, biology, chemistry, astromy, physics, philosphy....all in the hope to find answers to the mysteries of life. The studies of all these science led me to elaborate my own theories on the universe and on human life..I had even started to write a book about my theories...and right in the middle of writing this book I met my husband Abdullah and through him and another muslim friend called Dawoud Kringle ( who now plays with us in Analogue Fakir) I got to learn about Islam. Learning about Islam was an amazing discovery for me. I wasnt looking for a religion, I was looking for answers to my questions and it came like a shock to me to see that Islam was very similar to the own theories I had develloped and it actually filled in the gaps that my own theories had. I wanted to learn more, so I read the Qur'aan and started to study Islam...I felt it in my heart that was the Truth, everything became so clear in my head, all these questions that tormented me all my life were finally answered and it gave my life its true meaning. I took my shahada in march 2006 and I am now a proud muslim.

 

ZT-webzine : is there any change in your life when you choose Islam as religion ?

 

Well yes. Islam changed me to the better and I got rid of a lot of people who were having a negative influence on me. I became a much better person. I used to be so selfish, full of ego and even very arrogant at times. I didnt have much shame or moral. In fact I did a lot of bad things and hurt many people ...a few on purpose, but most of them unconciously. I was ready to step on whoever would cross my way to achieve my own goals. I was only concerned about myself and what I wanted, not caring about other people's feelings. I was also a bit of a racist. I felt superior to most people and was looking down on others.Now when I think about it I feel disgusted by myself. Islam brought the best out of me, I am a new person now and I am very happy of who I have become. I used to have so many depressions and suicidal thoughts and panic attacks...now these things belong to the past, alhamdulillah, I am a very peaceful, happy, positive and serene person now.

 

ZT-webzine : Tell us a little bit about your career with ANCIENT. And Why you left them?

 

I joined Ancient in the summer of 1999. After a few weeks of practise we already went on tour to the Netherlands. It felt so amazing and it was very rewarding and inspiring for me at the time. After that, we worked for half year on an album called "The Halls of Eternity" on which I sang and wrote many lyrics for.  It was a very special time for me which I will never forget. After this album we had a line up change and we recorded the mini cd "God loves the dead" and the wonderful album "Proxima Centauri". That year we did a lot gigs, including the wonderful performance at Wacken Festival in Germany. That was probably one of my best performances. With Ancient we travelled all over Europe, it was an amazing time. I had a lot of fun with them on the road!
As far as me leaving Ancient circumstances forced me to leave. In the end of 2003 after a wonderful final tour with the band in eastern Europe, I decided to move to Sweden. The band was very disappointed by this decision and didnt think I was going to be able to work with them, being so far away.

I didnt want to leave them and I offerred to continue my collaboration but they all thought that it would be better for us to part ways as they saw this distance as a huge obstacle.

 

ZT-webzine : If ANCIENT decided to Invit you again, would you return?

 

No, I wouldnt. I would join them again only if they played different kind of music, being muslim it would be hypocrisy to play that kind of music.

 

ZT-webzine : Who were your main influences?

 

My influence was only myself. It has always been myself and what I have inside, my emotions, my fears, mu visions, my dreams.

 

ZT-webzine : Let's talk about your songwriting .what's the kinds of your lyrics? ? I heard that you speak many languages that's true ?

 

My lyrics are always very emotional and deep. Most of the lyrics and poetry I wrote in the past were based on visions I had, on worlds that existed in my head, on my fears, on my obessions. Many of them dealed with existential problems and suicidal thoughts. They were very sinister and dark.
These days my song writing has much more of a mystical and sufi oriented touch, mostly about love, spiritual desire for the beloved and  the mysteries of the unknown. I am also currently working on some political lyrics as I am very interested in politics, especially about the Middle east situation.
Yes I currently speak italian, english, swedish and I know some french and german and I perfectly understand spanish.

 

ZT-webzine : I heard that you're an italian teacher at a highschool . that's right ? Why you choose this job ?

 

Yes that is correct. I always taught both english and italian. I love teaching, I think it is a very good and rewarding job, it makes me happy and the kids seem to love me! Many of them told me I am the coolest teacher they ever had !

ZT-webzine : What's the idea behind the title of the album "Delightful Suicides"? How was the reaction of the fans after the release?

The idea simply was to begin an inner journey to discover why I always had these terrible depressions and suicidal thoughts. I started to make these songs using my own lyrics and music as therapy. It worked, I really understood so many things while writing this album and I managed to take things off my chest. It was an album I basically wrote for myself. The title "Delightful Suicides" was to express the delight of liberation from troubles that I thought death would bring. I was seeing suicide as an escape and as the end of all torment...now that I am muslim of course I know that suicide is basically the worst solution one could ever choose...as it leads to the perpetual damnation of the soul. But I didnt know that back then.

The reaction of the fans was very good! We sold a lot of albums and we keep getting emails of admiration from all over the world! It is indeed a very intense album. We also got many proposals from film makers to use our music in their films. That was a big honour.

ZT-webzine : How did you first come into contact with ANALOGUE FAKIR's members ?

 

It was a few years ago when I met Abdullah Celt Islam and through him I met Dawoud and David Vause who were already his friends. We actually met each other on the web, we started to exchange thoughts and theories and then we started to make music together. I fell in love with Abdullah straight away. Meeting him changed my whole life! He was living in England back then, I used to go and see him there every month and we would make music together. Now he moved here to Sweden and we live together.

ZT-webzine : What's your opinion of the music industry, especially the way people gravitate towards what's popular?

 

My opinion is that the music industry's sole goal is to make money and even more money. They are not interested in promoting good music, that is why there is so much worthless and really bad music around...a lot of fake artists who only look good and have their music written for them and all handed out to them on a golden plate. I think it is disgusting. Most labels only care about making money off people, both off the artists and off people who buy cds. The moment the artist doesnt sell enoug money, he gets dropped by the label. How sad. It should be about the music, not about the money!

 

ZT-WEbzine : Tell us something about your gigs.What was the best live experience.

 

I always very nervous about 10 or 15 minutes before going on stage. As soon as I am on stage and the music starts I calm down and I am  ready to rock and give my best! The best experience was for sure our performance at Wacken Festival in Germany in the year 2000. Playing in front of thousands and thousands of people, hearing my own voice coming out of stadium-like speakers was an amazing experience! I felt like I was living my childhood dream! Too bad it only happenned once sofar.

 

ZT-webzine : What are your future plans? Future touring projects, next releases etc...

 

My future plans are hopefully to become a mother soon but also to continue with music, both with Analogue Fakir and Dreamlike Horror. I am working on Analogue Fakir new album at the moment and I am soon going to start with the new Dreamlike Horror album. I also hope to go on tour again with these new projects.

 

ZT-webzine : Would you like to say anything in conclusion to our interview?

 

Yes I would like to thank you so much for your interest and I would like to give my myspace address where you can interact with me, read all my blogs and listen to my songs. www.myspace.com/deadlykristin

I am working on the new deadlykristin.com site but it will take some time before it is ready to upload. You can also check out my other projects: www.myspace.com/analoguefakir and www.myspace.com/dreamlikehorror

ZT-webzine : Thanks for appeasing us. Thanks so much for spending time with us

It has been my pleasure my friend! Ma'asalaama!

 

 

 

 

 

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