Meet Mystiker

One-man Black-Metal maestro and creator of one of my favorite self-portraits to date Mystiker are full of surprises. They are also a lot of other great things but we will get to that in the interview. For now, this is the intro where I sometimes do a good job of describing the band you are about to read about.

Taking influence from Black-Metal’s earlier iterations. Mystiker baths their beautiful riffs in fuzz and distortion. Which sounds absolutely spectacular laid against the atmospheric drums, and distorted ethereal vocals.

Learn all about our good friend in today’s interview.

Self-portrait by, Mystiker

Would You Rather

have a magic lasso that would make people tell the truth or everyone believes every lie you ever told? Why 

Neither. I’d rather let the forces of nature run its course. Positive and negative. Pure and hurtful. The polarity of balance - it’s the way things are.

Some questions with Mystiker

Did you ever get detention in school? If so, why? 

I got in a lot of trouble growing up mostly because I neglected authoritative and oppressive figures. In school and with religion, I always had problems acting in the way I was told to. I had the desire to do the things I wanted, and I always did them. Dismissing my duties in school work and adherence to rules always led me to unfavorable circumstances. Hahah.

Being a solo project do you show your work to anyone for feedback before it is released?

Yes! This project is quite new and the self-production aspect is an irking endeavor without any formal learning. I have many friends heavily involved in the music industry, notably in the metal and hardcore punk scenes, and I value their opinions highly. At the same time, I love sharing music, be it my own or anyone else’s, it gives me great satisfaction to share the magick of music with others and seeing them be influenced by it as I have. As I’m creating and learning more I’m gaining integral insights to be able to be autonomous and grounded with my work.

How do you see yourself maturing further as an artist after this most recent release?

This release was incredibly cathartic for me. It’s my first formal music release ever, and it being self-made has given me incredible fulfillment. Going through the motions of recording, composing, and experimenting has made me aching for more. Through this process I’ve been finding my sound and learning recording processes that will help make it more seamless in the future. I will be creating more music in this way as long as the inspiration and intentions remain veritable. Maybe down the line I will collaborate with musicians for a segment or a meditation, but Mystiker at its roots will remain my own personal exercise.

What was the catalyst that brought this project together?

Mystiker was a result of the dichotomy of bouncing between NJ (where I grew up) and NYC (where I’ve been at since 2013). Over the past two years, I found myself in a situation where I had no apartment in the city anymore and I was forced to come back to NJ when I wasn’t couch surfing in the city. My home, being a difficult environment for me, cultivated manic desires to exude my emotions and it found its form in Mystiker. That, and with the conjunction of my other musical endeavor not progressing as fast as I would like to, made me want to create and release music on my own. 

In the infrequent moments where I found myself back in NJ, I’d lock myself in my room and manically create music for hours trying to construct something substantial. Time was precious because I never stayed home for more than a few days. After a while, I figured out what I wanted to do and started going for it. With the first single “Banished” releasing in July (2019), and it’s positive reception, I was determined to continue my efforts. And here we are now!

You describe your album “Credos of Practical Meditation” as “embodying true emotion, a reflection of motives, and pursuits of man” could you elaborate a little more as to what that means?

The lyrical themes revolve around these concepts and they flowed through me in moments of deep pensivity. With thoughts of toxicity and malevolent situations I’ve encountered in my life, the songs came. Speculative in nature, it’s calling out those who contradict themselves, and toxic exercises intended to heal oneself that end up hurting others and the environment. It deals with mental processing and recognizing the byproducts of emotional concepts that many refuse to acknowledge: love, pain, anger, addiction, desire. I feel the songs are naked and vulnerable in execution, hence embodying true emotion.

If you could give one animal species (besides people) the ability to fly which would it be. Why?

Pigs! Imagine how many insane occurrences would happen on the day that pigs fly hahah.

Do other forms of art inform your work? If so, who/what and how? 

I’m really influenced by my environment and experiences and I seek inspiration throughout my daily routines. I try to interpret reality deeply and philosophically, and so I get ideas and inspiration from everywhere. I study and discover music very heavily, and aside from that, I enjoy viewing vintage prints, engravings, and woodcuts, especially landscapes and those of dark subject matter. I’ve also enjoyed a lot of role-playing games in my life that carry the same themes. Arts and sciences birthed out of the medieval ages and the baroque period has always been fascinating and analyzing that material is tireless for me.

Is this your first foray into Black Metal?

As a musician, yes. I played bass for a band called NOHRMAL which had a 65 year old badass frontman, and I currently play guitar and write songs for the hardcore punk band Content. I grew up on rock n roll and heavy metal, and have been studying black metal for years, it was only a matter of time before I started creating it hahah.

How did you make the artwork on the cover of your album “Credos of Practical Meditation”

It was an old photo of an abstract image that was on my phone for years. I have some photo editing app that I used to change and distort it until it became entirely something else. Everyone I’ve shown it to has proclaimed it to be something different. I enjoy the ambiguity a lot. I see what I see. What do you see in it?

Who are your favorite bands active in NYC right now?

I’m quite involved in the punk scene out here so I’m really into bands like Haram, Retail, Cutie, Greta, Signal, Warthog... The only NYC black metal that I really fuck with is Woe.

Any final comments? (This is your electronic soapbox for one last answer.)

Music is the most powerful form of magick and it’s so accessible nowadays. What I deem important is the power of communal positivity and support. There is no greater feeling than sharing something beautiful with someone, whatever the medium. With that concept, I want people to channel the energy from my meditations and feel them beyond the surface level. Share the magick, support one another, and enjoy the present. Time is ephemeral. We’re the masters of our reality, and if you want something done, do it your own damn self.