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Selected Interview Bits About Music


Your artist name, Nebelhexë, has an interesting history. The February 2003 News' entry on your website goes into some detail on that and includes allusions to the Morrigan, owl-like witch women and fog-witching. Could you elaborate for us?
When I came to be part of the ghostly duo Aghast, in 1994, me and the other girl I was working together with decided to call ourselves Nacht und Nebel (Night and Fog). I always had this fascination for fog and ghostly mysteries, so Nebel kind of became my image back then. Since I also promoted the fact that I was a witch, I was soon calling myself Nebelhexë, kind of as a nick name. But then I became quite famous, or rather 'infamous', under that name, due to my image, views and writings. With Hagalaz' Runedance I changed it back to Nebel and then, when I ended the Hagalaz' Runedance project, I thought of continuing my work under the name Nebel, but then this was kind of a too open name, so I called myself Nebelhexe again, also because people knew at once who I was and it stirred up a new curiosity. I always liked the image of the Nebelhexë, the dancing fog, the mysterious being that no one can see clearly. I also found out that a particular owl is called Strix Nebulose, in german folklore called Nebelhexë. But I also like the name because there is something humorous about it, as it is a name from a german children's story called The Little Witch. In that tale, each force of nature has its own witch: you have the forest witch, the rain witch, the marshland witch, the sea witch… and thus the fog witch… and the fog witch was the "bitchy one" (which doesn't mean to say that I am bitchy :-). And with it I like to show that I am a person with quite a bit of self-irony.

The cover from Lene Lovich's Bird Song, can we consider this an influence?
I always had in mind to do a cover version of this song. 80s Gothic, Industrial and Synth-Pop inspired me very much. As a tribute to this era, I have made a cover song of Lene Lovich's Bird Song, my most influential song. I was just a kid when I saw Lene Lovich sing this song on TV. The ghostly song and her gothic appearance... and I was mesmerised. I always had the fascination for dark stories, gothic images, vampires, etc. and her image was just what I was looking for. I said to my mother, "Oh mom, look at this... When I grow up I want to look like her..."

On Essensual, you have again included a cover version... which band is it and why did you include it? That is, what special feeling or importance do you have towards that band and that song?
It's The Figurehead, by The Cure. It's from the album Pornography, truly one of the best The Cure albums ever. I have memories from living in London, living in a squat, a large empty factory building, which we also used as a gothic night club on Saturdays. So to listen to the most dark and depressing sounds of Pornography was perfect. I have great memories from many The Cure songs, one of my favorites are Charlotte Sometimes, The Top, Bird Mad Girl, Cold, Empty World... I first thought of making a cover of Empty World, but then it became The Figurehead...

You said in one interview that some songs are very inspired by the atmospheres of David Lynch's movie and I must agree with that. Mystycism, secrets, unknown paths... I have the feeling that you speak about some things but never straight. Your music have very, many metaphors - just like Lynch's cinema - and I think that as Lynch's movies, the audience being a little bit older and with a more specific taste, your new audience will be very similar and I think it is good for you, agree?
Yes, I like to write with a lot of symbolism and metaphors. I don't really know what kind of audience the new songs attract, hopefully those who have insight of the lunar side of things...

Do you have favourite Pop music artists, who maybe have also influenced you? I read that The Cure is an example.
Wow, wow, The Cure is not really Pop music. They were one of the forerunners of the Gothic era, together with Siouxsie, Sisters of Mercy, Bauhaus and so forth... So, yes, they inspired me a great deal, together with all the sounds from the 80s, like the New Romantic and New Wave bands as Visage, Soft Cell, Eurythmics, Depeche Mode, Peter Gabriel, Kate Bush, etc. Back then, good music with meaning and interesting artists was in the charts, not like today where you have all these bimbos wagging their arse like wannabe porn stars, singing stupid songs they did not make themselves. Today, charisma and quality music does not make you popular anymore, really... It is money from the record labels that makes you popular these days and this fact is really disgusting.
As a child I listened a lot to songs from the 70s, because that was what my parents listened to. Some songs from there also really inspired me; for example, I still love California Dreaming from The Mamas and Papas, or the Bee Gees, or Fleetwood Mac and Bowie, etc.
From today's Pop world, I like stuff like Moby, Faithless, The Killers, Green Day, Superfamily and hey, I actually think the dude Timberlake makes some really cool songs... shamefully trendy or what...?

Is it a problem for you as a Gothic, Wave, Electro-artist to have a Metal label like Candlelight, or do you think it's better for you?
Well, whatever music I did, somehow it got really popular in the Black metal environment. When it comes to the business side of making music, I had - since the times with Cradle Of Filth - a good Metal network and I guess that's also because this scene has a larger, more mainstream network than Gothic. I think if I would have been on a Wave, Electro label for example, I would have been more underground. My albums have quite a good (and thus expensive) production and the Metal labels pay quite good. With Essensual, I actually tried mainstream labels, but I didn't land any good deals there. So again, it was Metal labels that showed greater interest. But I think Candlelight is a good choice, they are quite known, they are really efficient, very familiar with alternative music and I have been knowing them since they began, actually. Plus it is really nice being "back in England".

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