Walled-in Black-out
Nar
m[m]:When did you first become interested in noise, and in particular HNW, and is there any one release or track that made you want start creating your own ‘walls’?
Nar I first became interested in noise in late 2008. I was only into dark ambient stuff for about the first year in a half. Then after countless trades I started liking harsh noise since I would get so much of it. I just got used to it and started to enjoy it more. Up until about September 2012 I hated HNW. I thought it was so talentless and stupid. Yea let’s hook up 100 distortion pedals and press record for an hour while I go jerk off. There was just no meaning to it, no use for it (to me).
Nar Fall 2012 was a pretty depressing time for me. I had a horrible job that paid close to nothing; I was literally living off my savings. I was dating a chick that was psycho, and was still recovering from a psychological trauma from the year before. All I would do was sleep until I had to go to work and then after work I would come home and watch the original Dark Shadows series from the 60’s till 3-4am. That’s all I did for about a month. I was so sick of emotions and feeling like shit. I just wanted to take a break from it all. At that same time I started to get trades of HNW. I started to actually listen to it because that’s the only thing that helped me cope. It didn’t make me feel happy or depressed; it just helped me escape from reality. It was almost like dying for a half an hour and coming back to life. I started to listen to HNW on my breaks to block everything out.
Nar No release/track/artist made me want to start making my own walls. The real reason was all the HNW releases I listened to weren’t good enough for me. They were ok, but everything I had listened to I knew could be better. So I started to make my own walls to cater my own needs. It was easy since I had been recording noise for years; I had all the equipment already.
m[m]:You said you were not very impressed by most of the HNW you'd heard before you started the project- were their any projects you did like?
Nar I did end up finding HNW projects I liked, but I won’t mention any names.
m[m]:Can you tell us the origin & meaning of your rather cryptic project name?
Nar Nar steams from Narcissism. When I was coming up with a band name I wanted something short. Like 3-4 letters long. One night I looked up to the sky and it just came to me and stuck. I drifted away from my friends and my previous girlfriend really did some damage. After that I started to appreciate myself more, I enjoyed my own company more than anyone else’s. I make walls for myself and no one else. That’s why Nar is such a perfect name for this project. In the end, if I like it, that’s all that matters. The only reason I release my material is for trading.
m[m]:When did the NAR project first start, and is it your first project?
Nar Nar started in October 2012. I recorded a few of the releases about 2-3 weeks earlier. I would come home after work and sit and record in complete darkness for hours. Everything I recorded I listened to while recording. I just sat as still as possible and “escaped” from life. It was very pleasant, until I had to hit stop.
Nar No this is not my first project, I have been making noise since fall 2009. I have a few other projects.
m[m]:The projects logo features two hung figures- what's the meaning behind this?
Nar It’s an image that represents lifelessness, devastation and hatred. All are big themes for Nar.
m[m]:Why have you decided to remain so secretive about the project, not even giving out which country you’re based in?
Nar I have kept Nar a secret because I have other noise projects and I feel if people connected them it would lose some of its charm. I like keeping this project so bleak and mysterious because that is what the project is all about. I don’t think it matters to know who is making the walls and where he comes from. I do have a few noise buddies that help me out so it keeps it a guessing game to the people who don’t know. Some people know who I am but most don’t and I tend to keep it that way for as long as possible. I really don’t care if people find out but just don’t think of Nar as “just another HNW project”.
Nar I have gotten a few releases with no info on them and actually dislike that concept. I like stuff that can be looked up if desired and know if the project has more releases. 10 years down the road when I have forgotten about it, I’d like to remember who it is. So that is why Nar is still on every release and not just a plain white sleeve with nothing on it.
Nar I have also purposely kept everything strictly to hard copy stuff only. No bandcamps, no soundclouds, no youtube, no nothing. I like to keep this project reserved for the few who dare to seek it. I think it would be very cool if Nar got to the point of having a bunch of releases and was pretty well known to the HNW community but no audio or artist info could be found on the internet or anywhere for that matter. 
m[m]:Can you tell us a bit about your set-up?
Nar Nothing really special here, I do have an obsession with guitar pedals. My set up is different every time. I have an old fisher price 45 player that I use quite often for source material. I play vinyls I have altered in various ways run through a bunch of pedals. I like to record with analog equipment. It seems real to me. Sitting on a computer that generates walls just seems lazy to me.
Nar Everything I record has a meaning or use to it. I never record random noise or release something just for the hell of it. I really take a lot of time on my walls. I try to be unique but at the same time cater to my own tastes. Sometimes I will sit down for hours trying to shape the tones and will come out with nothing good. If it’s not perfect to me, I won’t release it. I will either delete the files or keep trying to work on them until they’re perfect. I think my material is some what different than most HNW projects out there.
m[m]:Lets talk about you’re releases thus far, and what do you see as the themes behind each?- so first we have the self titled full length CDR release from 2012. Then we have 2012’s c90 Black Tape. After this we have CDR release What Lies Beneath The Woods from, along with tape release recycled, Death fetish CDR, and CDR Silent Treatment.
Nar Untitled – This is not my self titled release, just “Untitled”. This is my debut to the world. No theme to this. Just a wall used to escape like I talked about before.
Black Tape – I’ll keep this one a secret and open for interpretation…
What Lies Beneath The Woods – I have always enjoyed nature. I spend a lot of time in the woods ever since I was young. It’s an escape from humans which I need every once in awhile. I like the peace, the beauty and solitude which you rarely get much of any of those now days. I always believed the woods/forests had secrets. I have seen some pretty weird stuff happen in the woods and wonder what happens when I am not there. I’m sure if you dug deep enough under the woods you’d find all the answers you’ve been looking for.
The RRR release had no theme. Just 2 walls that are very sharp and cold. I have always wanted to release a recycled tape on RRR. So this release was very exciting to me, just a personal accomplishment and 2 great walls to meditate to.
Death Fetish – Death has been on my mind ever since I was a kid. I have thought about it way too much which is where the name steamed from. I have thought about it so much that it is basically a fetish, not saying I enjoy thinking about it. It’s just how my mind is, it can’t stop it.
Silent Treatment – This title I’ve wanted to use for awhile and it ended up bleeding over to this project. The title is total opposite of how the track sounds. HNW is my ultimate antibiotic for everything, so listening to it is like a form of treatment. I don’t drink, smoke or do drugs so I don’t have that outlet to help grieve. After awhile I get so into it that I hear nothing but silence, it’s like its not even there anymore.
m[m]:Have you ever thought of playing live as Nar?
Nar I don’t feel playing shows is important. Every time I record I am putting on a show for myself so I really have no interest with sharing the experience with anyone else. But yes, I think it would be very exciting to play Nar live, although boring for other people. The noise scene where I am located is pretty big, but HNW I don’t think is big anywhere (show wise). I made a full head latex mask to conceal my identity for shows and pictures. I also wear it very often when I record. To most people it would feel very claustrophobic, but to me it makes me feel safe. The mask is almost like a wall in itself. It’s my shell I can escape to. It cuts off most of your peripheral vision and can be hard to breathe in. Nar live would basically look identical to a Vomir show. I like to stay as still as possible but on rare occasions I have had severe anxiety attacks while recording.
m[m]:What's next for the project?
Nar Self preservation and self admiration.
Thanks to Nar for it’s time & effort with the interview. Nar has no real web-presence, the nearest thing to it is the projects listing on discogs which can be found here