Artist Spotlight: Meet The Holy Mountain
What inspired you to write the lyrics/music for "Remains Unsaid?"
Andreas, or main songwriter, got inspired to write something dark and empowering, about the feeling you get right before a relationship ends. You both know what’s happening, but it still “remains unsaid.” There’s a certain silence that goes through your mind and body: Your world is about to change, and you are headed towards the unknown. As for the music, we wanted something melancholic and Lynchian, something sci-fi and synthpop.
Is there a particular message or theme you hope listeners take away from this single?
We hope they feel confident, romantic and a little upset, maybe? A kind of happy melancholy. But it’s difficult for us to say what we hope people will feel when they listen to our music. We just hope it resonates with them somehow and that they like it, of course.
How does "Remains Unsaid" fit into your overall artistic vision and what can listeners expect from you in the future?
“Remains Unsaid” and the upcoming EP ‘They Are Alseep’ is very much about having a party in hell, you can say. We wanted to do something evil and catchy, something with a dark but exciting energy. For instance, all the lyrics on the EP are about themes like collective ignorance, existentialism, loneliness, other dimensions, death, and the decay of nature. But on the other hand, the music is upbeat with drum machines, sometimes even with tambourines and shakers(?!), and often in the key of major. We love this kind of tension-building in music and art.
Speaking of the future, we are pretty happy with the vibe and sound of our upcoming EP. Going forward, we will most likely try to play as many gigs as we can and try to record some more music in the same style.
Can you tell us more about you as a trio?
We have actually played together as a duo (drums, synthesizers and accordion) for ten years, and as a trio with vocals since 2020. Besides the fact that we use an accordion as our main harmonic instrument, we're a pretty normal group that tries to create interesting music with an edge or two.
We should also say that we’re huge film nerds. This is something that influences us a lot, especially in our aesthetic choices when it comes to cover photos, band photo shoots, general vibe, etc. There’s always some cult movie or movement that we try to take inspiration from when we bring everything together for a new release.
How do you approach creating something new and different?
Andreas, our main songwriter, starts with one idea and branches out from there. It can be a chord, a bassline, a rhythm, or a melodic motif. It has to have something weird about it and the chords must have some sort of religious connotation to me (This is because the accordion sounds like an organ, our band is called The Holy Mountain, we love Johann Sebastian Bach et cetera…). When the main part of the music is composed, we get together (Aleksander and Andreas) to make demos and do alot of back and forth on getting the sound right. When the demos are done, we meet as a full band and start playing together before heading to the studio.