A Chat With Mikhail Tank About “Prima Materia”
Q: Hi! When you first set out to make Prima Materia, were you starting with concrete lyrics and ideas, or were you mostly chasing a specific mood before any words even hit the page?
I never chase, and this was not written. It was an accumulated psyche-stream about how Apex Creatures in the world are respected for being themselves and left alone to be. That is an archetype I connect with on a deep, spiritual level. A moment came when I simply HAD TO RECORD ~ and that’s what happened. It came out of my Soul via voice in a series of takes, as most Darksoul does.
Q: Recording out in Maui and Kauai had to bring a unique energy to the room. How much did physically being on the islands seep into the pace and feel of these tracks?
It altered my rhythm and actually made me stutter due to the rhythmic variation. Once that occurred, I gave myself a night to heal into the calm self, and from that point on, I was ready to record once the truth inside was concentrated.
Q: Take a song like “Apex Instinct”—there’s a lot of intentional breathing room in the arrangement. How do you and Dip figure out the right balance so the instrumentation leaves space for your voice without feeling empty?
Excellent question. Dip understands the drama, the moments and the bang. FLY is the bang in this track. The rest ~ I record the spaces naturally, as they are true to the inner timing, and he works around them tactfully.
Q: “Future Beach” hits on this idea of holding onto a calm, safe place almost as a promise to your future self. What was happening in your head when that theme started taking shape?
Anxiety and panic. The way that cortisol is naturally dumped from the adrenal glands into the bloodstream after a traumatic situation. This actually happened to me again recently. It takes time for the Soul to feel joy again, and this track is for that moment in time when one simply can’t. This is something I have yet to master.
Q: You name specific spots in titles like “Nectar of Protection (at Leolani Cove).” Did that piece actually get written right there on the shoreline, or was it a place you kept returning to in your mind later on?
I went there with pure intent about a specific memory that I shared at the location, in person, with my Dearest GrandMother. I awaited the moment and recorded the track in one take, during which a single butterfly flew past me and toward the ocean. Butterflies have always been my GrandMother’s favorite creature. And yes, I always spell GrandMother with a capital, united G and M.
The moment when I smile-cry, “The Butterfly just flew by,” it did so exactly then and there.
Q: A title like “The Dragon Contains the Pearl” instantly paints a picture. Where did that imagery come from for you, and how did it find its way into the narrative of the album?
This particular archetypal image belongs to ancient Chinese and Japanese cultures. The five-clawed dragon represents not the devil, but a certain power … the Emperor (repressed in our common culture). In my interpretation of the archetype, through experience the Dragon is able to obtain a Kundalini superenergy, represented by the Pearl. But holding it endlessly is boring, so the Dragon releases it and finds it again through unique experiences. I do this in life!
Q: With “Behind the TV Screen of Your Dreams,” you’re tapping into some really vivid, dreamlike territory. Since you also work in film, do you approach a piece like that like writing a scene for a movie, or is it purely sound-driven?
It starts with an original phrase: “I am not a Seed Object” ~ which is a powerful statement. It then goes on to question the inner wishes of those near me. It is a film-like motif, and this album is not a car or gym play. It’s a nighttime, headphones, start-to-end experience.
In fact, it’s one of my top four favorite albums of all time, along with Irina Allegrova’s Ugonshchitsa, Sade Adu’s Love Deluxe, and Kylie Minogue’s Tension (One).
Q: You’ve been steering the Darksoul Theatre world for a long time now. Does Prima Materia feel like the natural evolution of where that started, or did you feel like you were breaking off into uncharted territory this time?
Darksoul Theatre is uncharted, but that is its comfort. I sway in the Yacht of the Moment, the memory, emotion or experience that strongly affects me. A recent experience produced three new tracks, only the last of which will be part of my future project, Warmth or Nothing at All.
Q: Because you aren’t writing standard verse-chorus-verse pop songs, you don’t have typical structural cues. How do you know when a track is actually done and doesn’t need another layer?
Great question! Everything that needs to come out, comes out as live magma and forms its very own statue.
I was at the Mount Fuji World Heritage Centre, where you can see forms created by once-flowing lava, frozen into their own shapes. That is exactly my process.
Q: “Summon Fortune from the Soul” is a massive six-minute piece that wraps up the whole record. Did you know right away that it was going to be the finale, or did it just naturally claim that spot as the track list came together?
It was the first track recorded, and it features my lovely Mom. It is also the spine and core of the future Live Show and Film. It is very different from the rest of the album, but it closes it delightfully and leads into another dimension ~ a world I will pick up again in some time.
The next project, Transfer Soul, is about visiting the Underworld and returning to Earth. Apothéōsis is about retaining true inspiration and removing all the things that cause one to fall, flail and fail. And then Warmth or Nothing at All is my vulnerable project. I cry in the track, for real.
Q: The visual identity of an album always sets an expectation before anyone hits play. How did working on the imagery with Keith K. out at Poipu Beach help tie the whole world of the record together?
Keith and my dear Japanese friend were there at the beach with me. Keith was very easy to work with, and the location was the perfect setting because the large lava rocks are just like Darksoul Theatre tracks.
I told Keith, “Just shoot what you see, and I’ll be true.”
That’s the way this all came about. It’s easy to misunderstand art and banish it to “ego” or some other throwaway term ~ often without even considering the entire Id/Ego/Superego trinity of Freud. But the freedom to create pure inner truth and release it without an ounce of doubt, censorship, concern for critics, charts or sales is a rare gift.
Thank you for your thought-provoking and specific questions.
