Strange Pathways Into Neo-folk

23 treads are a Polish three piece now relocated in New York City. They summon-up a macabre, at times wonky & darkly psychedelic blend of neo folk, which is often repetitive & sonically locked down, with wordy female spoken word vocals on top.   In 2015 they released their first album in  15 years-Conspicuous Unobstructed Path, and this turned out to be one of my surprise highlights of the year with  was its  edgy, stark & often experimental edged take on the  neo-folk genre. So I decided to track down the band for a email interview, and the following interview is with lead  singer Ingrid Dawn Swen, and main songwriter/ musician Marek Marchoff.

M[m]:Can you tell us a little bit about the origins of the 23 Threads project?
I&M The band was formed spontaneously in 1994 in Ciechanow (Poland), a town built on marshland, with a great fortification, Castle of Mazovia Dukes.  The project was to be a onetime undertaking, thrilled with kraut rock and early psychedelic music, Pink Floyd especially, I wanted to record with friends a  material differing from my mother form which was and is Different State.

 

M[m]:What’s the meaning of the project’s name?
I&M We are talking about links to Absolut.

M[m]:CUP is band’s first release in 15 years.  Why was there such a gap in releases?  How do you feel the project has changed since you first started?
I&M 20 years actually passed, not 15, and feelings reawakened toward the first production “Magija”.  So I began to do guitars and arrange the material.  However, the problem emerged with vocals, the old female vocalist left the picture long ago.  In New York in 2013 at my friend’s store in Brooklyn I’ve met Ingrid Swen, who was post recording of her demo and also searched  for someone with whom she can work. And we signed the pact of non-aggression to work together on new material!  The great advantage for me was the financing and support of Machej Mehring and Michal Porwet of Zoharum, who gave me the green light with the project.

 

M[m]:How did your working methods vary on 2 different albums? And how has your sonic set up change since you started?
I&M If you’re speaking about “Magija” I implemented a generator, tone generator, tapes, drum machine, guitar, and voice. As far as “Conspicuous…” goes, we used a looping method, guitar, voice, and analogue synthesizer. On “Conspicuous…” we used more equipment, which reflects more the state of our emotions. Perhaps it helped bring out the depth of our awareness of what we do.

 

 

M[m]:What do you see as the meaning behind the new album title and what do you see as main themes as?  
I&M Hermeticity, mystery, passion toward occultism, phantasy, feelings for mother nature and Absolut.

 

M[m]: “Conspicuous…” showed quiet and experimental tingle take on neo-folk. Will the new material see those experimental tendencies increase?
I&M We do not draw inspiration from neo-folk because we are not interested in this type of wave of music. We are more rooted in contemporary and classical music. Also, we are not interested in martial music. Our references are closer to the German krautrock and British psychedelic music. And yes, we will experiment.

 

M[m]:What do you see behind the title “Conspicuous…”?
I&M Target destiny to a certain point.

 

M[m]:The band is now at three-piece.  Please outline what each member does within the band and when you write songs, is it a joint venture or is there just one main songwriter?
I&M We each participate, we arrange together, but mainly I write the music, with Ingrid’s help, and we traced the tones together.  She also melo-recites.  With Rafal, on the other hand, I complete the base layouts, and it was Rafal himself who organized visualization of studio reports which you can see on youtube.

 

M[m]:You have recently finished a tour.  How did this go and what were some of your highlights?
I&M The tour was superb, all concerts were as one ritual divided into episodes.  It’s difficult for me to indicate which one was better.  But we know one thing, we want to come back to Europe as soon as possible.

 

M[m]:Have you started writing a follow up to CUP and if so, what can we expect?
I&M We are working on the material that is minimal, colder, more glitches and drones from acoustic instruments emerge, with which Marcin Polak strengthens us.  We recorded with him quite a lot of material which I am now handling.  Material which will bring the breath from otherworld and spiritual conflict, a tale about a woman named Miranda and her spiritual experiences.    

 

 

M[m]:The project original –started in Poland, but is now based in New York.  Do you think this move influenced or changed your sound?
I&M Maybe a bit. But being originally from Europe, I am rooted in the music of my ancestors.  And listening to their music I take inspiration from composers who played a great role in our great machine –subconscious.

 

M[m]:Have any of the members been in or are in any other projects, and if so, could you give details of those?
I&M Ingrid was involved in New York  theatre in the past, also participated in music projects with Von Lmo known as a grand-father of electro-industrial-new wave punk , on whom NIN, Ministry and Sonic Youth modeled their music.  I myself am rooted in my child, Different State, and I keep it.  Wait for the new album, An Absolute Necessity, in which Robert from old New York formation, M’Lumbo, participates.  Rafal, on the other hand, is in the process of finishing his film.  Cheers, long live macabre folk!

 

M[m]:Tell us a little how you came to sign with Zoharum?
I&M  Both I and Maciej Mehring like "Magija", and getting to know Ingrid I concluded that it is worthwhile to record under this name (23 Threads) a new material which will be a continuation of the first but at a higher level of consciousness.

Thanks to both Marek & Ingrid for there time/ effort with the interview. Conspicuous Unobstructed Path is still available from Zoharum here