Vile Crone is a solo project, blending Black, Death, Doom and Synth. Based in Adelaide, Australia Vile Crone started as a weekend hobby dabbling in music writing and production that quickly got out of hand. My aim with Vile Crone was to fully write, record and produce a body of music as well as create all at the visual elements - to create a true, fully solo musical and visual endeavor - which has always been a dream of my to do.
2.In January you released your first album, can you tell us a little bit more about the musical style you went for on the recording?
I can’t say I went with any specific plan, I kind of thought I just wanted to write and record music, so I recorded what I liked with what I had. The first Vile Crone song that fully wrote was As The Fire Fades, the final track on the album, It almost wrote itself once I got going, I found that with most of the songs on Apostle came about in a similar fashion. In reality I had expected I would end up just ripping of Darkthrone’s Transilvanian Hunger, but ended up going in my own direction.
3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects you have explored so far with the music?
I like to tell stories. I’m not big on writing more personal or emotional things, I consider myself more an entertainer than an artist. This is not to say I don’t try to channel some emotion into the delivery of the vocals or the music itself. Apostle the title track is basically a straight forward revenge story, inspired by the witch burnings of Europe and America, while Gatekeeper is a humours take how “exclusive” some members of the metal community act. I write the music first, then come up with lyrics that I think fit the tone of the song, based on various inspirations.
4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Vile Crone'?
It honestly came from the Youtube Channel RedLetterMedia, on an episode of Best of the Worst - they watched a terrible documentary about “Crones”, essentially a kind of old fashion term for a transitional period in a Woman’s later life. I thought the word Crone had a great pagan sounding quality but was already an existing band. So like any hack, I added a word - Vile - one of my favorite words and it just sound right. A quick google search showed no one was using it so here we are - Vile Crone - I just think its a good solid Heavy Metal name, a little sinister and a little cheesy and gave me the Crone mascot that features heavily in the related art.
5.Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the new album cover?
I started working on the album artwork VERY early on in the process, I believe after the first song I wrote before I even had come up with the band name. Even after that first song I couldn’t help but start paling out the whole album presentation. I enjoy pin-up style art, so I wanted to do a darker, metal style of that. Once the name Vile Crone stuck, it kinda turned the figure into my mascot, or more so the Avatar of the music. That has extended to all the related artwork - each individual track has its own related illustration - which I also animated for the Youtube channel. I am also working on a fully animated film clip - but is a little while off being finished.
6.With this musical project you record everything by yourself, are you open to working with other musicians or do you prefer to work solo?
I’m very controlling when it comes to creative projects. I want to do everything myself, regardless of my prior knowledge or skill - which is honestly a bit of a curse. I did, however, share my work in progress tracks with a very talented songwriting friend of mine, to get his opinion. Working by yourself honestly lends itself to a lot of self-doubts, but at the same time, you only need to compromise with yourself. I also find I generally enjoy bands or musicians who work solo or 2 person projects mores - those were always my biggest inspirations. I am contemplating the idea of a live band version of Vile Crone, and would love to feature some guests in the future, especially some female vocals - right now I’ll stick with being solo.
7.Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have receive any interest?
Absolutely - I cannot WAIT to sell out, first chance I get, I don’t care if they make me do Mumble Rap, I’ll do anything for a dollar! But in all honesty, it would be great to have that support and backing of a Label to get my music out there to a wider audience. I have been approached by a few labels, but they required me to pay money I simply don’t have, so not sure if they were just scams, watch out for those people!
8.On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of black, doom and death metal?
The first week I had nearly 200 downloads and over 600 Track plays on Bandcamp - Numbers I thought I would never even reach and continue to rise. I think I’ve had a bigger reaction internationally than I have locally - within the first day of release Apostle was upon Eastern European piracy sites - which was great! Most of my promotional offers and contacts have come from Europe and South America. That being said I was featured on local Radio Station twice in the first 2 weeks from release - which I never thought would happen, especially with the type of music I am making. Honestly, I’m thankful anyone takes the time to listen to my music, let alone enjoy it. I don’t consider myself a musician, and I think the music I have written could be divisive due to the blend of genres, but ultimately I write for myself, and if anyone else likes it, that's just a bonus.
9.Where do you see yourself heading into as a musician during the future?
I’m just gonna see where it takes me. I’ve already started working on new tracks, approaching how I write this release a little differently, trying a few new ideas I’ve stolen from better bands. I wanna take what I learned from writing and recording Apostle and try and build upon and improve that general theme and sound.
10.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
In terms of inspiration DARKTHRONE! - the biggest influence on actually making music at this point in my life! I’ve been listening to Black Metal since my mid-teens, Mostly the 2nd wave Norway bands like the aforementioned Darkthrone but also Emperor, Arcturus, Immortal, Burzum and of course Mayhem, and more recently bands like MORK and MGLA are really inspiring in there sound. I’ve also really gotten into the 80/90’s Death Metal sound (Ironic seeing as that's what those Black Metal bands were rebelling against), bands like Death, Morbid Angel and Obituary and I’ve been a huge Cannibal Corpse fan for a while now. I’ve also always been a big Doom fan, Type O Negative is my favorite band of all time, and I’ve been hugely inspired by local legends Virgin Black. Other Inspirational bands include Paradise Lost, 3 Inches of Blood, Ne Obliviscaris and Nine Inch Nails. Lately, I’ve made a conscious effort to listen to newer metal bands, just going on Spotify and listening to random playlists and things like that.
I also listen to a lot of other genres outside of metal, perhaps more. I’re really into the Australian grunge/pop-punk scene right now with bands like Slowly Slowly, Sly Withers and my boys in NO NO NO NO NO. I’m also massively into synth-wave, darkwave and synth-pop - bigger acts like Chvrches, Grimes and Pale Waves as well as acts like Perturbator, Stvngers, Nightclub, and KANGA.
11.What are some of your non musical interests?
I’m big into video games - especially the Dark Souls Series (As the fire Fades is inspired by Dark Souls) and the Witches. I’m also into tabletop gaming and RPGs. Other than that it's watching a good movie, eating good food and drinking good Rum and Scotch!
12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Just wanna say thank you to everyone whose given Vile Crone a listen - if you dig it, spread the word!
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