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Häxan interview

November 10, 2020

Häxan interview

Häxan is a study of how superstition and the misunderstanding of diseases and mental illness could lead to the hysteria of the witch-hunts.


‘Aradia’ is the first official album release of this great group from Toronto. It was released by Fuzzed and Buzzed Records (North America) and DHU Records (Europe). Enjoy your doomy trip to Häxan.

Who’s in Häxan and what do you all play? Have you all made any changes to the lineup since you started or is this the original lineup?

Paul Colosimo – Guitar
Kayley Bomben- Vocals
Eric Brauer – Bass
Paul Ciuk – Percussion

We initially went through a total of two rhythm guitar players that we played and recorded with prior to recording ‘Aradia’.

What do you consider to be your first real exposure to music?

Paul Colosimo: My mom listened to The Beatles and my dad to Elvis Presley. I acquired 90’s grunge albums from my sister somewhere in my early adolescents.

Kayley Bomben: I’d say listening to classic rock stations with my dad on road trips. He grew up in Hamilton, Ontario going to see bands like The Forgotten Rebels and Teenage Head. He still won’t let me forget that he saw the Ramones at CBGBs once, ugh.

Eric Brauer: My mom had a bunch of Jimmy Cliff (RIP) / Toots and the Maytals records that she’d play when I was very young. Later when I was forming my own tastes in music, I would watch a lot of stuff on Much like ‘The Wedge’ and read about stuff in alt-weeklies

Paul Ciuk: Probably my childhood dreams of being a percussionist in an ancient tribe. I remember playing during ceremonial acts with many others, full of joy.

When and how did you all originally meet?

Paul Colosimo: Through different areas of the Toronto music scene, through the last decade, through different projects, coming together as Häxan somewhere in 2016/17.

Eric: I met Paul (guitar) through a mutual acquaintance and we ended up playing in a bunch of things. I met Kayley when we were putting together a Germs cover band, and Paul when he joined the band.

Are any of you involved in any other bands or do you have any active side-projects going on at this point?

Paul Colosimo: At the moment, I write and record instrumentals on acoustic guitar at home and collaborate with friends on different things.

Kayley: Nothing as of right now other than fiddling around with vocals and keys at home, but I have collaborated with a couple artists on tracks in the past

Eric: At the moment, just goofing with friends and at home. I think probably the pandemic has pushed us all to be working with stuff at home.

Paul Ciuk: For the past 12 years I have been involved in the performance and production of experimental/free improv music, so this is something that is always happening for me. One of the oldest projects, still going, is called Commander Goznales, an avant-garde project with my good friend, filmmaker, critical theorist from el Salvador: Mark Allwood. Ever since my arrival to Canada, I have been consistently djing and organizing all sorts of events, my DJ name is Dauri Cems and at the moment I am doing audio ethnographic performances connecting sounds from the different regions and temporalities of Latin America. I also create my own music on the side, and lately I have been into doing songs only with percussion instruments to then have other musicians use them as the rhythm section for their songs.

So you’re all fans of the 1920s Benjamin Christensen film Häxan?

Paul Colosimo: I personally have only seen clips.

Kayley: I’m definitely the one that brought in Häxan I’d say. I found a VHS copy in high school and have been obsessed with how ahead of its time it is, style wise.

Eric: I don’t think I’ve actually seen it the whole way through yet..! But I definitely enjoy silent films of that era, so I should make some time one of these evenings!

Paul Ciuk: I have seen some clips, definitely enjoy the photography and still mesmerized with the futures that it has created. I am more of a fan of Felini’s ‘8 ½’.

Can you share some further details how your latest album ‘Aradia’ was recorded and released?

Paul Colosimo: ‘Aradia’ came to be after our first 7” debut Burn The Witch through Fuzzed and Buzzed Records.

They reached out to us back in 2018 wanting us to be a part of their ‘Altar Box’ set with Rough Spells and Astral Witch. They had curated covers they thought each band would slay (in our case, ‘These Heavy Times’ by Kincade), plus wanted one original, and set us up with our own recording squads. We were so blessed to have Alia O’Brien of Blood Ceremony produce that 7”. The first release went so well that we wanted to work with her, as well as the sound engineer (Steve Chaley, Palace Sound) and master engineer (Alistair Sims) again for our full length.

DHU Records had approached us wanting to help us with the release of ‘Aradia’ and when I realized they had released Rough Spells LP just recently, we got him in touch with Fuzzed and Buzzed. A merger of sorts, haha. From there it was agreed that Fuzzed and Buzzed would help us with the recording, DHU the pressing, and the two labels would take care of distributing. This made it possible to get the album out in both North America and Europe with ease. It was a great experience and both labels are class acts!

 

Eric: Recording-wise, Alia had the idea of distinguishing between tracks that were meant to be more live-sounding and more raw, and those that were more creatures of the studio, ie. cleaner and less “punk.” I don’t know if that duality is really noticeable in the final product, but it’s fun to try and guess. For the most part drums, bass and rhythm guitar were recorded live off the floor and additional guitars/vocals/instrumentation were added later.

What’s the songwriting process like?

Paul Colosimo: Usually stems from a member of the band having a riff or loose song structure. Once the music is sorted (usually through jamming it until it evolves) and finalized the vocals are written and that’s basically the process. It’s a pretty natural process for us, it’s rare that something comes in full formed and ready to just be taught to the group. The songs grow over time as well.

Eric: Yeah what Paul said. I think our process is to be coming from different places style-wise and find places for everything. Sometimes a song comes fully-formed, but usually it isn’t considered done until everyone’s gotten their fingerprints over it.

How are you currently dealing with the pandemic?

Paul Colosimo: In high stress environments, I’ve been working with Toronto’s homeless population. We are also experiencing an opioid and housing crisis here so the pandemic has had another impact on top of pre-existing and challenging circumstances, especially as each individual comes with a multitude of needs unique to their own experience. There’s limited support from the government to address housing and substance use as compounding issues. The pandemic is only intensifying the experiences of a population that was already at risk. Personally, I’m just trying to remain as healthy and optimistic as possible.

COO Connor and CFO Regicide of Fuzzed and Buzzed

Kayley: I’ve also been hit pretty hard during this time. Before this happened, I worked at a medium sized music venue (The Garrison). As of now, I’m still out of work and trying to find a new career. At least until this all blows over and live music returns. I’ve worked in the arts for over 12 years, so this has been a major adjustment. As Paul said above, there’s a major human rights, housing , and substance abuse crisis in our community and around the world right now. I’ve been spending my free time trying to volunteer and lend support in whatever way I’m able.

Eric: I’m extremely fortunate in that my job was able to transition to remote work fairly easily, but it has obviously taken a toll on people. In my work I try to keep an open mind and be approachable as possible and make things less disconnected. As far as personal coping, I take a lot of walks, take on a lot of projects and commune with my cat more than what’s probably healthy, haha.

COO Connor of Fuzzed and Buzzed

Paul Ciuk: The pandemic has been amazing for me in many ways. I have been an immigrant for a long time in Canada, and structurally, one in this condition is always affected. For these reasons, I felt that my experience made me different and even more alien to this culture. Now that the pandemic has started, I feel that many many others are experiencing this sensation of not knowing what will happen in the future – this loss of control over one’s being. Although the pandemic has hit me hard with family passing’s, even more intense financial burdens, I feel that we are starting to pay more attention to our boundaries and those of others. We are now obliged to look at all of those who were unequal immediately as equal so they can stop experiencing the structural disadvantages of the system. I am hopeful that in adapting to this new normal, we will progress as a species. It is not easy but it’s a bold reality check.

What are some future plans?

Paul Colosimo: Still grieving the loss of our epic release show that never was. It was slated for April 11th with Smoulder and NLP at this great intimate venue called The Monarch. As well as our show with King Buffalo (still slated for Jan…but let’s be real)

Kayley: We would like to record a follow up to ‘Aradia’ soon and hopefully play live again. Just keep creating and finding ways to get our stuff out there.

Eric: I think figuring out how to be a band without being in the same physical space. I know a ton of artists are doing live streams, being online and so on, and that’s something we’re trying to figure out as well. Well and also we’ve been writing a lot, so another future plan is to get the new shit recorded and out into the world.

Haxan live by scarcaso

Let’s end this interview with some of your favorite albums. Have you found something new lately you would like to recommend to our readers?

Some classic inspirations for writing guitar for the band include:

Jimi Hendrix – Any live recording
The Stooges – ‘Fun House’
Black Sabbath – ‘Sabbath Bloody Sabbath’
MC5 – ‘Kick Out The Jams’ (Live)
Funkadelic – Self Titled
Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band – ‘Safe as Milk’
Dead Boys- ‘Young Loud and Snotty’

Newer stuff:
Brant Bjork – ‘Mankind Woman’
Estatic Vision – ‘For The Masses’
Big Scenic Nowhere – ‘Visions Beyond the Horizon’
Tia Carrera- ‘Tried and True’
11PARANOIAS- ‘Asterismal’
Lingua Ignota- ‘Caligula’
HUM – ‘Inlet’
Stoked for the new Thou/Emma Ruth Rundle collab!

Thanks, Häxan.

Klemen Breznikar


Häxan Facebook / Instagram / Bandcamp
Fuzzed and Buzzed Records Official Website / Facebook / Instagram
DHU Records Official Website / Facebook / Instagram / Twitter / Bandcamp / YouTube

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