THE BEAST

MDPR Clients: Luna 13 - God.Dis - Interviewed and reviewed By Lack Of Lies / Totentanz Magazine! (Score: 89/100)

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The Deathtronica Duo LUNA13, from the small town of Joshua Tree in California, is referred to in the Black Bass Metal scene as "the bass music scene’s Slayer". By completely doing without guitar and bass, they create their distorted, dark, satanically influenced, bass-infected and swirled Black Bass / Electronica / Industrial / Coldwave / Cyper Punk sound primarily through sorcerers and sound creators Dr. Luna's synthesizer, drum computer and distortion pedal performance, as well as Diva Satanica Lilith Bathory's brutal, distorted and rasping vocals. LUNA13's brutal and demonic broadband hybrid creates a unique, gloomy and dynamic atmosphere, which is visually supported by the sorcery and magic of its one-off, theatrical stage performance. Lilith with the devil horns and Doc with the SadoMaso mask indulge once again on their seventh output "God.Dis" (if you count the remix album "Lilit" from 2017) once more to occultism, witch worship, apotheosis and that Cult of gods. In the following lines you can read what the American Occult'n'Evil Black Bass Entourage has to say about their genesis, their latest output and life around LUNA13 ...

LACK OF LIES (LOL): Hey Lilith, hey Doc, first congratulations for your new release "God.Dis". For those not familiar with you and your music. Can you please give us a little inside in and about LUNA13? How things got started, about your work, your feelings about your music, the Black Bass Scene and what ever you got in mind about LUNA13s environment…

Doc:  I was a bass player in black metal and punk bands since I was in elementary school. I saw The Prodigy live and felt the power of bass music for the first time. I thought while I was watching them that if I create a black metal version of this, it could be super heavy! At the same time I was also getting fed up with being in bands. I had a few close calls with record deals but the bands I was in would implode the second we started signing contracts. I love creating Black/Bass/Metal, it’s a pretty genuine tag as I am a fan of both worlds. I listen to chill, ambient, IDM and dark ambient in the day and shift to death and black metal at night. 

LOL: It is always interesting how it came up that musicians and artists found their muses. How did that develop in your childhood until today? And are you both involved in other musically projects? And if so…what are they about?

Doc:  I was in elementary school when I heard Metallica for the first time. I thought my head was going to explode hearing the song "Battery." I pleaded with my mom to get me a guitar yet my dad who is a guitar player encouraged me to get a bass as he was always looking for bass guitarists as they were hard to find. My dad said if you want to work as a musician you have to play bass. I got a headless Devo Bass when I was seven. I was in bands with high schoolers when I was in 6th grade. I left high school to join a band called Epoch featuring Gus Chambers who was also singing for GRIP inc (Dave Lombardo). I lived out of my car while I was in that band. My bands of inspiration are Metallica (with Cliff Burton and not after), Possessed, Deicide, Death, Lustmord, The Prodigy, The Orb, Aphex Twin, Ministry, Dark Angel, Necrot, Venom and Bathory. I also on occasion do black ambient releases under the name Dr. Luna but it's often just to improve some of my techniques, LUNA13 is my sole focus. 

LOL: You see no need to use stringed instruments and are using a drum computer, but you call your Music Black Bass Metal(!)…the metal scene still is very biased about the overuse of electronic devices, as you know (not me, I'm hearing everything from Classic over House Music to Extreme Metal…I also love Yolandi and Ninja from DIE ANTWOORD ). How would you argue? Of course you see yourself as part of the metal scene... Do you in general think these delineations are just too narrow-minded?

Doc:  ‘Metal’ to me is an attitude and we are full blown Metal. Surprisingly we have more critique from the Industrial world then the Metal world. Yet, to be real, we have prepared to be booed before Possessed and Ulcerate. Not only did that not happen, but we were well received. Our live sound is so heavy that I think they can tell this sound comes from a Metalhead. We have headlined a few Metal festivals as well. 

Lilith:  My early years were mostly filled with softer artists due to a strict Catholic/homeschool lifestyle. Earth Wind and Fire, Jimi Hendrix, classical artists, jazz, etc. When I was finally in public school in 7th grade I had easier access to favorites such as Marilyn Manson, Slayer, Otep, Mudvayne, Rammstein, 69 Eyes, Arch Enemy, Black Sabbath, and more. I love artists from many different genres of music. 

LOL: "God.Dis" will be out next week. The title of the album could be interpreted in many ways. As you mentioned in your Album announcement as the name for The God Hades, Pluto or the roman God Dis Pater. Otherwise in slang as Goddess or third variation to deny God, to dis, disrespect or renounce God. Tell me what you think about the institution God itself. What does the title mean for yourself or what did you want to express with it? Isn't it perhaps also intended as an apotheosis of the inner self?

Doc:  Lilith wanted to call this release Goddess and I wanted to find a way to darken it. I thought of God Dis referring to God Pluto. We together thought the idea to “Dis God” could be a twist in the name. We are real witches, I have been a devotee of Hecate for years now, almost as long as I have been a musician. I also lived in India for a couple years in my early 20s and I was a Kali devotee there and spent time with a Kali tribe. Witchcraft is a deep part of our music and it’s completely genuine. I also run an occult business on the side. We are LHP Witches and practice the craft in our home in Joshua Tree, California. 

LOL: You shot a video for "Cursing The Sky". I've seen it several times now, but tell me about it and the making of from your kind of view…

Doc:  Lilith came up with the concept and the imagery, all the way down to the drums being beat by real human femur bones! I edited it. It’s the best we could do during the quarantine. 

Lilith:  Story-wise, the witch hunting priest shouldn’t have tried to burn someone for being different, the witch came back and delivered his karma. However we were given two weeks while keeping distance during the pandemic so we made it ourselves for now. 

LOL: Your music, your stage performance and your videos are ice cold, dark and gloomy, almost frightening or even mind disturbing. Where does this feeling, sense or even desire for the (d)evil, satanic and the conspiratorial come from for you and how do you feel about religion, Christianity and Satanism in general? 

Doc:  Having an Eastern understanding of darkness, it is the challenge we have to go through in order to master our higher self. A pop culture version would be Harry Potter who would have never become a wizard without Voldemort constantly challenging him and pushing him into greatness. LUNA13 is a homage to the dark forces that press us into our higher or natural self. I feel Hecate (Dark Mother) is the force that challenges us to become greater. We can also access this force for greater mystical understanding as well. Lilith actually worships the goddess Lilith in a similar fashion. 

LOL: The themes of your "modern kind of witchcraft" have a very dystopian view. They should reflect the traced view of our society, I suppose!?! Is there some other kind of special meaning behind your texts or music from your sight?

Doc:  That is the part of this release that reflects the current state of the USA. A crazy dictator leader in Trump giving a voice to the most absurd conspiracies out there. The song ‘Illuminati Lucifer Party’ is somewhat of a pun at them and Sacrificial Lamb is also addressing the current political turmoil. 

LOL: Your live shows always have something theatrical about them. They consist of black magick, sex, satanic and burlesque elements and driving rhythms. A really cool, deep black performance that I was unfortunately only able to follow on the screen so far. Tell me about your statement, your expressions and your thoughts about these performances.

Doc:  LUNA13 live reflects the various powers of darkness. Lilith projects the violent and sexual aspects of the goddess Lilith. We also use a lot of Kali imagery as well. The real human skull and the blood ritual can be seen as an invocation to the Black Mother. I call my facade the ‘Throne of Hades’ that throws deep bass around. On certain sound systems it feels like you are wheeling power all over the place. Something our live videos fail to project. I absolutely love our live show and we take awesome pictures yet video captures us the least. I rarely show LUNA13 live videos. They do not capture what we are like live at all. We have a live sound like no other and your laptop cannot capture that sound. 

Lilith:  Each song can have its own story to tell visually. It’s more fun and adds another element of artistic expression to the show. Music has always been a part of theatre, dance, movies and more. They all mesh and offer an otherworldly experience. 

LOL: You are now with COP International and "God.Dis" is the first album on your new label. What can you tell me about the cooperation between you and COP so far? How did you get in contact and so on…COP International founder Christian Petke speaks very highly of you…

Doc:  We had several releases with Cleopatra Records and we wanted to start shifting things around. We came to know about COP International from a band on their label Suicide Queen who we were supposed to tour with before the quarantine. Suicide Queen is one of the best Industrial Metal bands out there and when we heard Stabbing Westward joined COP International, a band we jus saw live at Bar Sinister in Los Angeles, we thought we would reach out to them. We did have interests from other labels as well but the bands in COP International were super good and that mattered to us. I contacted Christian and the rest is history. 

LOL: Doc, your favorite Band is POSSESSED (I also like "Revelations Of Oblivion" it's burning hell) and it was an honor to you to open up for them at The Whisky in Los Angeles. Tell me about this happening and their band members. Whatever you got in mind about POSSESSED and this evening. You also got in touch with Peter Stormare. Will there ever be a collaboration between you and him. He liked your performance as I could read and he is an enthusiastic man. Are there other bands you and Lilith would name as influences or "Idols"? 

Doc:  People talk about Slayer and I talk about Possessed. I love that band,  Beyond the Gates  not only had the best cover ever, the timing of that album was perfect for me. I was in elementary school going through a breakup. My mom took me to the local swap meet in Lake Havasu, Arizona and I was depressed and I needed some new Metal. I saw that album cover at a ‘cassette gazebo’ and stole 3 cassettes while the worker was talking to someone. I stole Voivod’s  Nothing Face , Possessed's  Beyond the Gates  and Celtic Frost’s  Into the Pandemonium . The latter two became a part of me growing up. To have Possessed's last release become one of my favorite releases ever represented a type of completion for me. I have been a fan of theirs twice in both of their forms. They are also super cool guys and Peter Stormare is friends with Possessed and that’s how he saw us. He came up to us after the show to tell us he loved our set. 

Lilith:  Queen, Stevie Nicks, David Bowie, Within Temptation, Evanescence, Machine Head, Tenacious D, Nina Simone, and many more.

LOL: Lilith, you love working with animal rescues and planet saving initiatives, as I could read (I really appreciate and honor that). How do I have to imagine that and which initiatives do you support?

Lilith:  Animals and the planet don’t deserve an ounce of the bullshit humans have put them through so I try to support any way I can. So far I have been vegan for over 7 years, donate when I can, adopt animals, recycle, learn as much as I can. There are many groups that offer ways to help even if just through petitions. Best Friends Animal Society, ASPCA, Mercy For Animals, PETA, Farm Sanctuary, and many Earth/Ocean/wildlife eco friendly organizations are all ones that I try to keep up on in some kind of way as I can. 

LOL: Corona has been on everyone's lips for well over half a year now. Soon you can no longer hear or bear it. How does the pandemic affect you personally or as a band? You are not very happy with your government's handling of the pandemic. How is it currently with you? Lockdown or something like that? Our restaurants, pubs, tattoo shops, cosmetic shops etc. are closed this month. We should stay at home. The number of infected and/or dying people increases every day. For me, these are signs of the times...man-made.

Doc:  I think we were more impacted by it than other bands. We went through the blood, sweat and tears to put ourselves out there. Our turn was right around the corner and the pandemic may have sent us back to the beginning with live shows. Although, The work that COP International and publicist Selena Fragassi has done could change that. Time will tell. 

LOL: Three days ago the presidential elections took place. I've just seen Joe Biden (who pretty much all Germans would prefer) leads with 264 votes to 214. Now Biden only needs one state, then he has the choice in his pocket ... if Trump doesn't do something manipulative. By the time you get down to answering my questions, the choice could already be made. I would be interested in what you think about the US election result and the last four years under Donald Trump? 

Doc:  Trump was a horrible president! I didn’t vote for him in 2016, but I was open to his presidency at the beginning. Once he started dismantling LGBT rights and dismantling climate change laws, he lost me. The division he created is going to take years to fix. The types of Christianity that formed around him were of the worst kind as well. The Church does not need to be involved in politics and I hope the idiots in QAnon fall apart. These cults started to resemble a Christian form of Scientology, a type of fact-less cult that feeds off the stupid. Good riddance. 

Lilith:  Trump was nothing but a spoiled baby and a total pain in the ass. Good riddance to the worst president ever/rapist/traitor/pedophile/racist/sexist/you get the picture. Trump as a president was a dumpster fire incarnate. Now that he lost fair and square we can all start to move forward.

Find LUNA13 Online
Website: www.luna13.net
Label Site: https://www.copint.com/luna13
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/luna13official/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/luna13official/