Extract of Interview in Obskure magazine, 2003 France

Interviewer: Nikö for www.obskure.com

Alabaster foundations are based on positive feelings, like friendship or meetings. But we can perceive a dark surrounding on songs. Do you think that the ambivalence of mankind pushes us to not take simply the benefit of these … feelings … ?

Ambivalence haunts each ripple of alchemy, each crack in the marble, each line of laughter or pain; time illuminates, like tension of light and shadow… An earlier song of mine, ‘Contradiction is the Dragon’ explored Ibn Arabi’s notion that when we see a contradiction, we are looking at reality.

Fayries are still breeding this album. Do you think they could evolve with the present world? Or do you think this stories should be kept in mind, in order to get a proper view on real life? As they were written by ancients and cross ages, they might carry wisdom?

Perhaps Faeries are evolving with us, not only as elementals, but also as mischievous companions in our urban activities! Yes, I believe that literary and oral traditions of the Ancients still speak to us.

The packaging of Alabaster is wonderful! Do you have a total confidence in Sabine? Do you give her the music and then she draws, or the opposite way?

Yes. Her art is one reason I signed to Prikosnovenie, when Frederic Chaplain wrote to introduce the label. Sabine wields colour to convey emotion and intrigue … displaying a quirky sense of humour that sets her art apart from more sombre images associated with our scene. Yes, there’s an interplay between music and design, but we respect each others independence.