Interview with Bloody Hansen, leader of the one man band The Providence who has completely enraptured me with his albums. His horror music leaves Sardinia and expands over the airwaves into the world. It serps on the Internet, in readers, enters our homes and invades our senses. Like oxygen it passes through our nostrils, like wild, dreamlike music it slips into the auditory field ... and reaches the heart, enrapturing us. Punching rhythms and scratchy vocals envelop famous phrases from unforgettable films that will thrill music and horror movie lovers doubly.
Images and sequences flow into our eyes as Bloody Hansen's music takes us on a surreal journey...The Providence brings niche cinema to light with the strength of its voice and the power of its musical notes.
A: Who is Bloody Hansen?
B: Bloody Hansen is a person who as a little girl, when her kindergarten classmates drew horses and flowers, drew dead bodies hanging in trees. Bloody Hansen is a person who used to save her first pennies to buy Dylan Dog. Bloody Hansen is a person who when he saw the Death SS promotional photos for Heavy Demons in junior high school, he enjoyed it like a beast and couldn't believe his eyes. He is a person who loves witch stories, he is also a friendly person who loves to laugh and drink with friends.
A: Why did you choose this stage name?
B: Bloody seems to me very appropriate to the situation being a somewhat splatter nickname, it's also quite friendly, nice, in Sardinia we could very well say that Bloody is "di greffa" (of company), I wanted something like Blackie from W.A.S.P.
Hansen is taken by Gunnar Hansen, the first Leatherface.
A: You are a musician and singer from Silighe, how long have you been involved in music?
B: I remember when I was about 13 years old returning from a wedding with my parents I asked my father if he could buy me a bass guitar because the older kids needed a bass player for a village band. Actually the main purpose was to join the older kids, and if I could accomplish that by trying to play an instrument all the better. For years they never called me bass player, but "the bass master," and I remember that almost all the time I wasn't playing my instrument myself, they were blowing it out of my hands and I had to watch, it was the price I had to pay to hang out with the older kids, counting also that I didn't even know how to pick up that bass. On my own, though, I was trying, and in the end I was the only one who kept going, believing in it, doing crazy shit with my godfather's acoustic guitar (Ah! You are baptized! ed.), without knowing how to play, I was composing very bad songs, it was the era of Nevermind, and I was taking the lyrics of Nirvana, of the songs I didn't know yet, and I was setting them to music, just for singing. But in short I was trying and all that trying to do that shit in short it helped. Then going into high school I would see that people would often seek me out, even though I was poor technically people would gladly seek me out because I had an imagination that hid my technical flaws, and the metalheads in the area treated me very well, and so there were all the teenage bands until The Providence.
A: What genre of music do you identify with?
B: It's difficult this question because even though I get more satisfaction from horror music, I also get compliments with other styles of music, you have to know that I've always liked to compose songs in the style of Anathema, Paradise Lost, things like that, but maybe horror metal is the ideal dimension for me, the biggest satisfactions I get there and I'm more than happy with that.
A: Which groups have influenced you the most?
B: I can't help but say one name out of all: Death SS, for me they are something unique and exceptional, with them you don't hear about movies like for example The Ring or Scream, but they deal with horror that I like, in short when I listen to them I see gravestones, fog, the full moon etc.. mica killer vhs.
A: The Providence is the name of your one man band. Why did you choose this name, is there a special meaning?
B: When I had to choose a name, it was torture, kind of like everyone. I didn't know what to use, and it was so important to me. Then after all these years the best names have all been taken already, so you can imagine. At night I put on the movie Danza Macabra and I heard Providence, and I thought "what a great name, it reminds me of the band The Provenance... well, found the name, very evocative and sounds good, problem solved!"
I always wanted a name that had that sound, so I decided that my music would be represented by The Providence. There are quite a few homonyms though, in case any complaints come from these people who have maybe trademarked it I would have no problem with the alternative, "Bloody Hansen & The Providence."
A: Have you ever thought of involving other musicians in your project or do you prefer to work alone?
B: Yes, I asked a friend of mine from Sassari, but he also has a solo project that engages him so much mentally and he didn't feel like it, but it was good that he told me no, because although it can be an honor to share the project with him, it's better if I continue on my own, I'm not a dictator but in the past a couple of screw-ups I've done, and so I prefer to have the whole control of the project. If I screw up it has to be solely my fault, I don't want to be in a bad mood with a friend because I think maybe he twisted a piece the way I don't like it or vice versa. Friendship is very important to me and I don't want it to be ruined by things like that. However, when I called guests for the last album, I gave them carte blanche by trusting 666% and the trust paid off, I had no doubt.
A: When people talk about The Providence, they talk about "Horror Music." Where does this need of yours to combine music and horror come from?
B: Horror was born to me, like music, when I was 6 years old. When I would see Profondo Rosso with my parents and their friends, they would say, "What could a 6-year-old possibly understand?" Yet I stood there watching the screen, I repeat certainly without understanding a thing but so be it, I stood there. The music as I said I have always loved and simply learned from the teachings of Death SS.
A: What do you want to convey with your music?
B: I want to tell everyone that I have a great passion and I like to cultivate it, I live in a very quiet place where nothing ever happens, and the most fun is drinking at the bar. As much as I like to get wasted with friends I want to say that it is not the only fun, and especially not the most important.
A: Do you choose your album covers?
B: Yes, I chose them all.
A: Tell me about your latest work, The Bloody Horror Picture Show. The title is clearly inspired by Jim Sharman's The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975). What connection is there with the aforementioned film
And what is the relationship between the album title and the tracks featured?
B: From the very beginning I loved to do the famous quotes with modifications: "The Fear remains the same" is a quote from Led Zeppelin for example, "The Song remains the same," and the last CD ditto. As you said it's a quote from the famous musical, there's no relation, I just had fun doing it, also because I hope the new CD will be seen as a show, as there are various guests, in a show there are always guests if you will. For the rest I can tell you that I finally sang, it's the thing I like to do most, The Providence couldn't remain instrumental, and then also metal had to come sooner or later, luckily it didn't take long to make its appearance, I wanted more songs, not soundtrack pieces, I wanted verses and choruses, and I will continue like that as long as The Providence has life.
A: The cover of your latest work is completely different from the others. What does it depict? Who was it made by?
B: The cover is a comic book, it's not very original as an idea but it's a whim I wanted to get rid of, and then the comic book always looks good on CD covers. It was done by my old friend from high school Francesco Porcu, who also drew the cover of the new Daemonia album, and I told him that I wanted something inspired by Dylan Dog number 1. The same night he sent me the first drafts--a great professional and talented friend, I hope he gets his big chance someday because he deserves it.
A: Your lyrics are in English. Is it possible that you might decide to sing in Italian in the future?
B: I've thought about it, I think about it a lot, possible in the new album, but as long as it's something decent and decent, because I'm not very good at singing in Italian, maybe I'll get some advice from my friend John Cardellino of The Empire of Shadows.
A: What is usually the part of the day when you bring your creations to life?
B: The idea can arise at any time, everyone would think at night, but not necessarily, but more than anything I must not be stressed, because otherwise I don't feel like playing.
A: What is your source of inspiration?
B: I just pick up the guitar and play, then surely it's the horror films that inspire me but exactly what drives me I don't know, it's a mysterious force, I'm not talking about paranormal phenomena or Poltergeist, I'm saying it's kind of like what happens to everybody... there's a force that makes you see things, you have images and if you have patience, desire and why not even ass, you can translate them into notes.
A: What is generally your state of mind while composing a piece?
B: I have to be calm, because if I have problems of any kind I have no concentration, I can't do anything, it's useless to even try.
A: What do you think of Italian bands like Death SS and Cadaveria?
B: Death SS is my all-time favorite band. Of Cadaveria I had bought the first album when it came out, The Shadows Madame, and I liked it, I didn't cry out for a miracle but I listened to it with pleasure, but with the last CD in my opinion they have taken it to 10 levels higher than before, I listened to it often with great pleasure.
A: Give me the name of a musician with whom you would like to collaborate on a musical project.
B: Very difficult question, I have a huge list, I'll tell you the first one that comes to my mind otherwise I'll call it a night... the lead singer of Blood Ceremony or the lead singer of Jex Thoth if you turn down the first one. But again, if I could choose it would be a dilemma because I esteem a lot of people.
A: In what historic album would you have liked to have collaborated musically?
B: Black Mass by Death SS, immediately.
A: What are your favorite music magazines?
B: I used to often buy Metal Hammer and Metal Shock from the good old days when there was Fuzz and also Borchi. Even before that I used to buy H/M, I still remember the first issue I bought, there was Slash featuring Gylby Clarke replacing Izzy Stradlin.
A: Your songs guard phrases from famous horror movies or niche films. Based on what do you choose the words to include in your piece?
B: I usually say, "I saw Suspiria today, what a supreme film, yes, I want to dedicate a piece to it for The Providence." Then I throw out some riffs, build a base, and if it fits I put in the excerpts from the film, otherwise I go without. It also takes a good amount of luck because you also have to find dialogues where there is no music in the background. If there are sound effects you have to pray in Latin and Greek that they don't get in the way. Everything has to coincide perfectly, so you have to take into account not just one thing, but more than one thing. It's kind of hard to explain like that, let's say it "depends."
A: What movie would you have liked or would you like to do the soundtrack for?
B: If I had lived in his time, I would have liked him for Don't Open That Door for sure, or for Fulci's Death Trilogy, in those cases, especially the trilogy, I would have had as much fun as a kid in Willy Wonka's mansion.
A: What movies could make you think of the soundtrack of your life?
B: This is a very difficult one. A movie that could represent me? Mumble mumble, buth let's say that every metalhead in adolescence is seen as a freak, pretty much everyone is like that, you know how it is, the cool kids who look at you and criticize you because you have ripped jeans, long hair and listen to "the music of Satan"
as they say. Well in this case "death by 33 rpm" might also fit.
A: What are the horror movies that have marked you the most?
B: Don't Open That Door, The House, The Exorcist, Hellraiser, Suspiria, Friday the 13th, Creephow, Halloween, etc... all those in short that we could see at 10:30 p.m. on Italy 1 for Uncle Tibia's Horror Night cycle.
A: What does a horror movie have to have to inspire you?
B: The atmosphere absolutely, I don't give a damn about the amount of blood if there is no atmosphere, it may not be there, it's okay. If we take Rosemary's Baby for example, there is no blood, yet just the opening music alone gives you goosebumps.
A: What do you think about this interview?
B: That I had so much fun answering and it was nice to dive into past memories.
A: A message for DarkVeins!
B: Hi folks, see you again in the pages of this beautiful portal run by two great and very nice people and filled with horror-informed people like few others!
A: Thank you Bloody Hansen!
