MORTAL REALM

Mortal Realm is the multi-genre project (with an industrial core) fronted by Adam Jones. While Adam was previously known for the project, HAEX, it's the new Mortal Realm album, 'Stab In The Dark' that will take him creatively to new levels and byond styalistic confines. The new album is out on Negative Gain Productions and we're pleased Adam took some time to answer a few of our questions today.

Hello and thanks for answering the interview for our blog today. We usually like to start off by asking for a brief background for the readers that might not be familiar with a particular band. Would you kindly do so?

A: This is my debut solo project under the name "Mortal Realm," so it's likely that most people aren't familiar with it yet. However, some may recognize me from my previous band, HAEX, which was a two-person project. With HAEX, we toured the West Coast and played at various US festivals over the past few years.

I've been a dedicated industrial music fan for many years and have been creating music for more than half of my life. This new project holds significant importance for me because it explores a lot of personal themes, and I am solely responsible for the musical direction and composition.

The latest album is ‘Stab In The Dark’. What kind of genesis did the songs have to go through before you were happy with the final product?

All these songs have been brewing in my mind for a while now. Before my last project disbanded, I had suggested using "Trash" as a single or potentially including it on a second album. However, we both decided it was too complete of an idea to use, especially since I was the sole writer and producer. After that discussion, I kinda hyperfocused myself in writing "Stab In The Dark," approaching it as a personal album with no external influences. The album title serves as a description of the approach, a bit of an inside joke with myself.

Do you think that you’ll adopt a release plan that is perhaps less full-length albums and more singles, remixes and Eps?

A: If I continue at my current pace, I hope to release a full follow-up album within the next year! I'm also exploring the possibility of a remix album for "Stab In The Dark" and creating tracks for other artists.

Scenario: You are stranded on some island but you had the capability to put a flash drive with three of your most important songs into a sealed bottle and send it out to the world. These are songs that mean the most to you and best represent your legacy. What are they and why did you choose them?

A: Oof. This wil be difficult since it's a rather short list of songs to pick from!

1.) TRASH - It's the most personal one for me because it paved the way for how I wrote the other tracks.

2.) DEATH DEBT - This one is close to me because it was very experimental. For the last seven years, I've mostly been screaming violently into the microphone, but this track allowed me to use my natural clean singing voice.

3.) THE FACE - I chose this one based on your requirement to "send it to the world" because it likely has the most important message in the song. It urges people not to trust wealthy authorities and to demand a fair life for everyone, or else risk following the fate of other tyrants in history who took advantage of their people.

Are your songs created in pretty much the same way in every case? Do you have to be in particular locations or moods to be inspired?

A: My inspiration and creative spurts come wildly. For instance, with "Trash," I was driving in my car and thinking, "Man, I wish people would write songs like _____." The song then played in my head as clear as day. I recorded the idea into the voice recorder app on my phone and wrote about 80% of the song that night, including the instrumentation. Other tracks came from reading the news, contemplating my mental health, and even from ideas in dreams.

Could you give us some insight into your studio, your “tools of the trade” so to speak? How much is hardware/physical instruments and how much is based on softsynths and the like?

A: I am 100% convinced I have hyperphantasia, and I challenge myself to recreate the exact sound that plays in my head once I get an idea for a song. Because of this, I feel like an oddball since I write 99% of my material using software. While I can certainly use physical keyboards and drums, I prefer to start writing from either a clean synth from the ground up or by heavily modifying presets that might fit what's in my head. The remaining 1% is the "industrial" percussions I recorded on my phone.

Some artists often engage in certain rituals when composing in the certain studio or before performing. Ex: They may like to have certain items around, They may do certain pre-show preparation, They may do things like meditation. Are there any particular rituals you do before writing or performing?

A: I havent started live shows for this project just yet. In regards to composing; My sometimes rampant ADHD doesn't let me meditate, so when I write, I find I do my best work by making the lights in my room match the color that best fits the song. I keep my workstation vibey with a plasma ball and a Hue light system, so I feel like I'm truly a part of what I'm writing, if that makes sense.

Some artists have resorted to using AI for the likes of cover art and even videos. What’s your feeling on that? Do you think that it’s already gotten out of control and maybe is an excuse for lack of creativity? Or do you think people are still inserting a bit of human/organic quality into what’s being produced?

A: AI is a slippery slope. The only thing I've ever considered is mapping my own voice into AI programs to support tracks that call for very challenging vocals. It's not because I can't perform the vocals myself, but because I have vocal damage from a horrible bout of COVID in early 2023. I just don't want to wreck my voice to the point of being unable to use it in the future at all. I'm hoping for a full recovery so I don't have to think about how to work around permanent vocal damage.

My goal is to do everything myself as much as I can, with care, but not risk my health over my ego. I haven't used AI for music and hope to never need that backup plan since I really love doing filthy vocals both live and in the studio.

What do you anticipate for the coming months? Side projects, shows, more releases?

A: Creatively, I'm going to focus entirely on production for a little while. I won't be able to do live shows for at least a few months as my voice is still recovering, but I'm certainly brainstorming the best way to accomplish live shows. I want to put on fun, emotive performances and really put on a show, not just 'play it live,' so I want to do it the right way, hitting the ground running.

William ZIMMERMAN
17/07/2024