Louisa John Krol
Arcana Noctis: Please describe to the readers the musical style which Louisa John Krol is presenting to the world and talk about the evolution of your musical style from album to album.
Louisa: I've moved steadily from Folk-Rock to Dream-Pop, but there's always a fusion of genres, a mythological basis and at least 1 Ambient piece on every album.
Arcana Noctis: Before the release of the "Argo" album in 1996, have you released any other material or cooperated with other artists in that period?
Louisa: Yes, I performed with artists across diverse styles, from Folk to Funk, recording many albums before releasing my first CD.
Arcana Noctis: Please describe the main themes which are developed in your songs, please tell me more about the symbol of the "Black Bird".
Louisa: One theme is a conflict between freedom and security: on "Argo" a sea witch builds a house of legend or golden cottage for refuge, solitude and rejuvenation. By "Alexandria" it has become a fortress, where a woman shoots arrows into the mist at invisible enemies; the arrows could signal passion, war, or cries for rescue. By "Ariel" it is a bird's nest, hanging from a tree on the brink of ruin; we also meet a Will o' the Wisp, a creature of temptation who opposes the sentinel-guardian. By "Alabaster", all safe places are abandoned for descent to the underworld, with the union of Hades and Persephone. For me birds represent winged messengers - muses, faeries - heralding inspiration, transformation or flight. In Australia the blackbird is a European invader, not native to our land, it's a regular visitor to my garden and many poems about it have intrigued me. In my song "Blackbird", a woman calls this scavenger - the vagabond - to steal her soul.
Arcana Noctis: Can you find a main symbol for each of your releases?
Louisa: None of my albums is dominated by one symbol. In all dwell the 4 elements, boiling together in volatile alchemy: fire might be expressed as a salamander, alongside a sea giant who evokes the ocean that in a later album is expressed as sirens, and so on.
Arcana Noctis: I can see that many of your songs from the "Argo" album (and not only) are connected to writers like Hölderlin, Blake, Dostoevsky, please explain.
Louisa: I am often inspired by the imagery or characters I read about. A lot of people approach my songs as if they were boxes with magical locks; to find a secret code, a combination to unlock the mysteries. But maybe there is no explanation? Perhaps there are many levels of meaning that I don't understand entirely? The Sufis say that good stories have at least 7 veils of interpretation, which unfold layer by layer when we are ready. Perhaps some music is like this too?
Arcana Noctis: Is the European culture well known in your part of the world?
Louisa: Yes. Australia was colonized by the British after about 50.000 years of Aboriginal culture, and has since been populated by immigrants from many parts of the world, including Asia, the Middle East and Eastern Europe. I have taught several students from Romania and especially enjoy their dancing. We have some Romanian gypsy music at home along with hundreds of other CDs, audio-books, videos, DVDs, pictures, novels and poetry from your continent.
Arcana Noctis: Do you know any Romanian poet or storyteller?
Louisa: We have some books by Mircea Eliade, who is associated with Jung and Joseph Campbell: "The Myth Of Eternal Return" for example and my husband has long wanted to read "The Forbidden Forest" but we cannot find a translation of it, so if you know of one please let us know! Of course Eugene Ionesco is very well known - French but of Romanian origin - his "Rhinoceros" play is world famous. I saw a bilingual edition of poetry by George Bacovia that struck me as melancholic. There is a wonderful Romanian story about a father who decides to teach his son a lesson: he sends him into a forest with a broken cart and asks him to call upon his friend Necessity to help. The boy searches everywhere, calling: "Necessity! Necessity!", but finding no-one of course, he ends up fixing the cart himself. When he returns home he says to his father, "Well, I did not find anyone by the name of Necessity. I learned it is best to do things properly myself". His father replies, "So you see, Necessity came to you after all!" I've heard that humor is a strong feature in Romanian stories, is that true? Can you recommend any Romanian authors to me?
Arcana Noctis: Are you into other kinds of arts besides music?
Louisa: Yes. Touring Europe recently, I loved the Renaissance art of Firenze, the more ancient Roman streets of Napoli and traditional dancing of Pozzuoli, the tombs of 10 medieval kings in Petersberg and the Toone Theatre De Marionnettes in Bruxelles. In film I enjoy Gothic-fantasy, science-fiction and social satire. There is a horror movie called "The Keep" that is supposedly based on Romania, do you know it?
Arcana Noctis: What do you think about the technical revolution and the possible killing of the traditional culture?
Louisa: It depends on which aspect of technology we explore. If we limit ourselves to commercial television for all our musical diet, than certainly I'd worry: the multinationals have almost destroyed ethnic diversity or integrity in music. But if we look at the internet, using search engines and webrings to connect with specific scenes, we find that the technical revolution assists the survival and accessibility of obscure things, old or new. Technology is just a tool that may help or hinder human evolution.
Arcana Noctis: Which are your views upon religion?
Louisa: I do not like monotheistic, conventional religions that present a single deity or a fixed rule-book. Naturally, I respect that some people take comfort in them, which is fine so long as they are tolerant and don't attempt to dominate others. Personally I am more interested in polytheistic perspectives, such as the classical Greek Pantheon, Norse and Celtic mythology, Buddhism, Hinduism, Sufism, Aboriginal Dreaming or Wicca, all of which I group under the general umbrella of Neo-Paganism.
Arcana Noctis: Which is the most important thing that ever happened to you?
Louisa: Living for most of my childhood in the Australian bush land, perhaps. It set foundations to enjoy solitude, to construct imaginative worlds, to explore unknown realms (externally and inwardly), and connect with an ancient, pristine environment that had for thousands of years lain undisturbed by the white man's culture. This was a childhood steeped in dreaming.
Arcana Noctis: In the late time I was confronted with death or the idea of death. What do you think about death?
Louisa: I too had to confront this, with the recent death of my father. His illness troubled me during the making of "Alabaster". He died a few weeks before I left for my tour of Europe. I have never known such grief. It was hard to endure this overseas, so far from my family. My emotions were easier to manage when I was kept busy or when hosts were especially considerate of my feelings, such as handing me a telephone to call home. What do I think about death? I believe in an afterlife, as well as in reincarnation and parallel worlds. Some people assume that ghosts are tormented souls, not ready to move on. But what if some souls enjoy traveling between worlds? Maybe we can choose to spend time in the Dreamtime, Faerie Realms, Limbo, the Alam Al Mithal, or whatever else we call these places? Maybe there are positive links to forge, when we cross these borders?
Arcana Noctis: An ending word?
Louisa: Thank you for your interest, Cătălin. I wish you and your loved ones a joyful new year.
With love, Louisa.
Louisa: I've moved steadily from Folk-Rock to Dream-Pop, but there's always a fusion of genres, a mythological basis and at least 1 Ambient piece on every album.Arcana Noctis: Before the release of the "Argo" album in 1996, have you released any other material or cooperated with other artists in that period?
Louisa: Yes, I performed with artists across diverse styles, from Folk to Funk, recording many albums before releasing my first CD.
Arcana Noctis: Please describe the main themes which are developed in your songs, please tell me more about the symbol of the "Black Bird".
Louisa: One theme is a conflict between freedom and security: on "Argo" a sea witch builds a house of legend or golden cottage for refuge, solitude and rejuvenation. By "Alexandria" it has become a fortress, where a woman shoots arrows into the mist at invisible enemies; the arrows could signal passion, war, or cries for rescue. By "Ariel" it is a bird's nest, hanging from a tree on the brink of ruin; we also meet a Will o' the Wisp, a creature of temptation who opposes the sentinel-guardian. By "Alabaster", all safe places are abandoned for descent to the underworld, with the union of Hades and Persephone. For me birds represent winged messengers - muses, faeries - heralding inspiration, transformation or flight. In Australia the blackbird is a European invader, not native to our land, it's a regular visitor to my garden and many poems about it have intrigued me. In my song "Blackbird", a woman calls this scavenger - the vagabond - to steal her soul.
Arcana Noctis: Can you find a main symbol for each of your releases?
Louisa: None of my albums is dominated by one symbol. In all dwell the 4 elements, boiling together in volatile alchemy: fire might be expressed as a salamander, alongside a sea giant who evokes the ocean that in a later album is expressed as sirens, and so on.
Arcana Noctis: I can see that many of your songs from the "Argo" album (and not only) are connected to writers like Hölderlin, Blake, Dostoevsky, please explain.
Louisa: I am often inspired by the imagery or characters I read about. A lot of people approach my songs as if they were boxes with magical locks; to find a secret code, a combination to unlock the mysteries. But maybe there is no explanation? Perhaps there are many levels of meaning that I don't understand entirely? The Sufis say that good stories have at least 7 veils of interpretation, which unfold layer by layer when we are ready. Perhaps some music is like this too?
Arcana Noctis: Is the European culture well known in your part of the world?
Louisa: Yes. Australia was colonized by the British after about 50.000 years of Aboriginal culture, and has since been populated by immigrants from many parts of the world, including Asia, the Middle East and Eastern Europe. I have taught several students from Romania and especially enjoy their dancing. We have some Romanian gypsy music at home along with hundreds of other CDs, audio-books, videos, DVDs, pictures, novels and poetry from your continent.
Arcana Noctis: Do you know any Romanian poet or storyteller?
Louisa: We have some books by Mircea Eliade, who is associated with Jung and Joseph Campbell: "The Myth Of Eternal Return" for example and my husband has long wanted to read "The Forbidden Forest" but we cannot find a translation of it, so if you know of one please let us know! Of course Eugene Ionesco is very well known - French but of Romanian origin - his "Rhinoceros" play is world famous. I saw a bilingual edition of poetry by George Bacovia that struck me as melancholic. There is a wonderful Romanian story about a father who decides to teach his son a lesson: he sends him into a forest with a broken cart and asks him to call upon his friend Necessity to help. The boy searches everywhere, calling: "Necessity! Necessity!", but finding no-one of course, he ends up fixing the cart himself. When he returns home he says to his father, "Well, I did not find anyone by the name of Necessity. I learned it is best to do things properly myself". His father replies, "So you see, Necessity came to you after all!" I've heard that humor is a strong feature in Romanian stories, is that true? Can you recommend any Romanian authors to me?
Arcana Noctis: Are you into other kinds of arts besides music?
Louisa: Yes. Touring Europe recently, I loved the Renaissance art of Firenze, the more ancient Roman streets of Napoli and traditional dancing of Pozzuoli, the tombs of 10 medieval kings in Petersberg and the Toone Theatre De Marionnettes in Bruxelles. In film I enjoy Gothic-fantasy, science-fiction and social satire. There is a horror movie called "The Keep" that is supposedly based on Romania, do you know it?
Arcana Noctis: What do you think about the technical revolution and the possible killing of the traditional culture?
Louisa: It depends on which aspect of technology we explore. If we limit ourselves to commercial television for all our musical diet, than certainly I'd worry: the multinationals have almost destroyed ethnic diversity or integrity in music. But if we look at the internet, using search engines and webrings to connect with specific scenes, we find that the technical revolution assists the survival and accessibility of obscure things, old or new. Technology is just a tool that may help or hinder human evolution.
Arcana Noctis: Which are your views upon religion?
Louisa: I do not like monotheistic, conventional religions that present a single deity or a fixed rule-book. Naturally, I respect that some people take comfort in them, which is fine so long as they are tolerant and don't attempt to dominate others. Personally I am more interested in polytheistic perspectives, such as the classical Greek Pantheon, Norse and Celtic mythology, Buddhism, Hinduism, Sufism, Aboriginal Dreaming or Wicca, all of which I group under the general umbrella of Neo-Paganism.
Arcana Noctis: Which is the most important thing that ever happened to you?
Louisa: Living for most of my childhood in the Australian bush land, perhaps. It set foundations to enjoy solitude, to construct imaginative worlds, to explore unknown realms (externally and inwardly), and connect with an ancient, pristine environment that had for thousands of years lain undisturbed by the white man's culture. This was a childhood steeped in dreaming.
Arcana Noctis: In the late time I was confronted with death or the idea of death. What do you think about death?
Louisa: I too had to confront this, with the recent death of my father. His illness troubled me during the making of "Alabaster". He died a few weeks before I left for my tour of Europe. I have never known such grief. It was hard to endure this overseas, so far from my family. My emotions were easier to manage when I was kept busy or when hosts were especially considerate of my feelings, such as handing me a telephone to call home. What do I think about death? I believe in an afterlife, as well as in reincarnation and parallel worlds. Some people assume that ghosts are tormented souls, not ready to move on. But what if some souls enjoy traveling between worlds? Maybe we can choose to spend time in the Dreamtime, Faerie Realms, Limbo, the Alam Al Mithal, or whatever else we call these places? Maybe there are positive links to forge, when we cross these borders?
Arcana Noctis: An ending word?
Louisa: Thank you for your interest, Cătălin. I wish you and your loved ones a joyful new year.
With love, Louisa.