Krepuskulum: The new album have a same conceptual lay out in the cover illustration and book. The cover is very simple, but very impressive too. Talk with us about your cover concept and about the symbols that it represent.

Gudrun :Yes, all four of our albums have its individual graphic design. We always try to make them in such way so they would correspond with the musical content of CD as close as possible and so they could serve as a symbolic entrance gate. Also with the latest project we have used the archetypal symbolism. For those, who do not know the cover I may say that inside of the circle of the eclipse of the Sun there are two lions joined with one head… To make it clear – in 1999 was our country (Slovakia) in the territory of the total eclipse of the Sun. This phenomenon made very strong impression to us not only as fantastic performance of the Universe, but also with its symbolic message. Side by side there were at least for a while the day and night.. And to the title "The roads of light flow through darkness" it really wasn`t far to go. The second motive has slightly more personal symbolism. Me and 677 are both lions in the zodiac and beside this it stands in for the „Green Lion", what means certain level of the knowledge by the transmutation of the Philosophers` stone.

K: The songs are singing in your language but in this album (and in others) you translate the lyrics to English. Do you think in sing any song in English in future albums? What are the roots of your language??

G :Yes, from the very start of our production we use our native language and we see it by our style of music and the overall attitude to the authenticity of the work as quite natural. Because of the lyrics are in our sight equal to the music part, we try to translate their message into English. We want to make it possible for the „world" audience to understand it. Our native language – Slovak – belongs to the large group of slavonic languages the same as Russian, Czech or Slovenian (this language had used Laibach in their best things). And as regards to the idea of singing in English, we do not think about it at the moment, even though it would be for the commercial success perhaps much more profitable. We prefer the overal artistic expression to the commercial effect…

Your voice is the great mark of the band, it is simple incredible, sounds like a siren's cry, like in one of the songs of this album "The Cry of Sirens". Your voice is a result of training and study or this is a instinctive talent?

I`d lie if I were to say that similiar reactions do not please me. And I may tell you at the same time that not everyone has the same opinion… Ther exist qiute large group of people, who think, that it is such a pity, when so good music damages so inappro-priate singing… by all means, there is so much opinions as people…And regarding to my „gift"… I belong rather to the group of natural born talents, who create in the years of training their own and unique expression…

In this promotional pictures, you looks like sado/masochist lover, with leather clothes, whip and nils but the lyrics and music of L'AHKA MÚZA don't talk about this kind of sexuality/pleasure, this is more deep and talk about return to the old knowledge, mystics and symbolic auras, root searchs. What are the meaning of this SM visual in the pictures and what are the reason that you didn't include this pictures in the albums??

I have to confess, that it will be on such a small space quite a large problem to put all the things into the correct bearings. Lahká Múza is in the first place performative band. This means that besides music and lyrics is equally important also the visual part, whether it is straight on the concerts or on our videos, photographs or www site. Definitely we are not looking for some cheap S/M expression since I design my stage dress alone and I like the cyber image, combination of leather and metal, it may evoke fetish style. And as to the propriets such as chains, here it stands for the symbolic expression of the relation of binding and freedom in relationships. It is definitely not about the will to manifest or induce to the possessing of others. Therefore are our lyrics about the things you write about… about the searching of roots and connections… and as regards to the second part of your question, on none album there are photographs of the band members. We try to present the work itself in the first place and not our own image, though it may be attractive to someone. We know too much, that in most cases was all the potential of the artist spent and dissolved in great image, and for the work alone there was not left enough of energy…

My favourite song in this album is the intense mantric "Freedom, Sorrow,Madness", this is an epic of deep feeling and I feel an crazy creep inside my soul, it is pure, pure feeling, music to the kings, music to the Gods!!!! Talk to us about the feelings behind this song and the lyric!!

Hmm, pretty hard to add something more, since you have said it quite peculiarly on your own… which only makes stronger my opinion, that it is not important, in what language you sing, but what and how you do it… and that is great knowledge… only few kinds of art (such as painting) allows the first-plane subconscious communication without the differencies between people. And music surely belongs to them as well.

Some music of this album like the desconstructive "Downfall(New Millennium) have a strong industrial influence. Are you lovers of the industrial music movement?? Do you like bands like "Mental Destruction", "Brighter Death Now", "Dissection Table", "Deutsch Nepal" & "Nine Inch Nils"?

Well, you know, it is all about the fact, that we have been on the scene since 1984… And our deep roots reac up to the industrial music… and this marked us quite significantly. Even though our albums are slightly different, we try to keep certain musical continuity. And on our debut album from 1992 we recorded also the track „Downfall". Through the years we`d transformed it, but its message, according to us, hasn`t lost even in the new millennium. And so we decided very exeptionally to put this – actually a cover version – on our fourth album. And as to the bands, that we like in the industrial the most, certainly belong here Diamanda Galás, SPK, Einsturzende Neubauten, Test Dept.,Throbbing Gristle and Psychic TV.

Do you live of your music?? If not, what are your another work??

To keep the full artistic freedom and devote to basically extreme art it is not possible to live out of it. Just the opposite, each of us has a full-time job so we could make it. We basically all of our earnings put into high-tech equipment and studio work. I work with the info-system in one mining corporation, 677 is employed at the financial unit of the same firm and Voda translates from English and works in an institution for hard adaptible youth.

The musical style of L'AHKA MUSA is very personal but the press named you of GOTHIC band, Is it a good label to named your band??

That is the everlasting problem… the need to have everything sorted out and defined… You are right, at the present time the press often puts us into this branch… But there used to be days, when they liked to put us into industrial, dark wave or world music… it`s all right, partially… We are an overgenred band, in fact we belong to no genre… we`re above it… and the point, that some genre groups usurp us, is another matter… we are basically not interested in all this stuff… Into the music we put everything, that should be there according to us…neverthless the „purity of genres".

Some of the new promo pictures show the band in a incredible scenic gig, with spectral light and bat fantasies, talk with us about this interesting performances and about your new gigs? Are you play in another countries?? Do you have plans to a future world tour??

We are the performative kind of a band, which means, that on our concerts co-works with us on the performative aspect Cora. We try with the stage presentation intensify the effect of music… in all our performances are always some small rituals… and there certainly belong special costumes and propriets… and since I like the archetyp of a Black Angel, I use for my transformation its magic wings… And as regards to our concert activities, we play besides our home scene also in bordering countries. We like to play at the stylized festivals like polish Castle Party or german Gothic Treffen. And as to our tour… our publisher offers to us realization of an European tour… but our music and ourselves as too free beings do not want to be bound by the violent atmo-sphere of a tour…Maybe this is why even after all those years we still have pleasure from playing and creating…

What do you think about the humanity? Do exist reasons to live? For you the future of mankind is the abyss or the redemption?

Well, definitely you are not giving me easy questions… To be honest I see mankind as an organization of individuals, who I know… and there are moments, when I have from all things really mixed feelings and my inside is filled with deep sorrow of impossibility to „brake the waves"… From the view of this Universe we are definitely not that important structures as we try in our pride and arrogance to present to those who do not know… but since I am here and now, I am trying to give to my existence certain system and meaning… I try to get out of the net of mortality, into which all the mankind wraps with still greater intensity… and so happens, when we at least in our dreams visit the Paradise, that its sky has the colour of infernal flames…and regarding to the future of mankind… it`ll have such as chooses anyone for themself alone… Even here is in force the effect of the butterfly wings… But for the most important I see the moment, that when we meet with someone or something and after it leaves there stays a little piece of light in soul from it, then this world still has its meaning… And with this kind of knowledge we try through our music to deal with those, who want to listen to the voices of Sirens…

-------------------------------