Hello Jeremy, how are you doing now holding the new album "Swallowing the Sun" in your hands after four years?

Great! It took way too long for this to happen, but finally having this complete feels like a big accomplishment and I am very excited and motivated right now to keep moving forward and keep this project more active.

What does the title stand for?

On a simple level it represents an eclipse, darkness moving in. On a deeper level it represents a self imposed eclipse created by man. The sun becoming black is not a natural occurrence but it is "swallowed" by man who is in the process of creating a great darkness on our earth.

Can you explain us the idea behind your bandname "Distorted Memory", please?

Unfortunately there is no deep meaning to this name. I could come up with many different interesting meanings for this name but the truth is that when I was young, around 14, I used this as an online screen name. This is the same time when I first started trying to create music. When I made my first attempts at music I labelled the songs as Distorted Memory to share with people. Since they started to become popular I decided to just stay with this name.

How did you get in touch with the German label Noitekk? Did they ask you or did you approach them from your side?

In 2002 I created the demo CD "Left Alone to Die" with the intention of getting signed to a label. I didn't send out a lot of copies to labels, maybe four or five, to the labels I really liked. NoiTekk was the first to respond and at that time they were one of my favourite labels so I decided to work with them.

How do you describe the music of Distorted Memory

I like to label it as Dark Electro. This is the name I feel most related to. The music on "Burning Heaven" had a big hard trance influence but more recently this has become less prominent in my music. Now I like to add more ethnic and tribal styles to my music. Distorted Memory is always dark. I think another aspect to my sound that really stands out is the dense atmospheres in my songs, even the harder more club friendly ones. It is important for me to create a strong mood in my music and not just focus on making a song for the club.

The project was founded in 1999. How did it all start?

It actually started a bit by accident. A friend of mine installed some simple music making software on my computer and I just started playing with it for fun. I had no musical training and really didn't know anything about creating music. At this time I was listening to a lot of old Suicide Commando, Klinik, and Leather Strip and I realized it was not that difficult to create music similar to this. I spent some time just making short songs for fun, but after a while I started to see some potential and began focusing on learning how to create the music properly so I could turn this into a serious project.

What are your influences inspiring you for lyrics and songs?

Musically I tend to take influence from a lot of different music, mostly outside of the industrial genera. I like to listen to a lot of world music, metal, techno, and indie synth music for inspiration. For lyrics and content I am inspired by the world around me. I rarely write about personal experiences or emotions and tend to focus more on large global ideas. I take a lot of influence from my dislike of religion as well as environmental and social issues.

In 2007, you have released the debut album "Burning Heaven". There has been a long gap of eight years from 1999 then until you released the material. What happened during these years?

After NoiTekk heard my demo they asked me to create a full length album for release. I went forward and completed an entire album. Around the time I completed this album I started to get very bored with industrial music and how repetitious it had become. I was starting to discover a lot of new and different styles of music that really excited me. At that time I decided not to release the album because I felt it wouldn't offer anything new to an already stagnant scene. I spent the next few years experimenting with other styles of music, this is the time when I created my breakcore project CAKEBUILDER which became quite successful. After experimenting for a while I started to want to write industrial again, but in my own way, so I started creating "Burning Heaven". I still think that some of the songs written for the original album that never got released are good, and deserve to be heard. I just did not want them to be my debut material that gave people their first impression of the project. In September of 2011 NoiTekk and I will be releasing a limited edition CD titled "Archive 1999-2003" which will showcase what I think to be the best and most interesting of my early material.

Do you see "Swallowing The Sun" as a sequel of the first album or did you try to change yourself and go in a different direction now?

It started out as being a sequel, but I think in the end it became a very loose sequel. There are definitely ideas that continue from the first album, but there are also ideas that take place in a world completely separate from the first album. I think the sound of the second album has a lot of new ideas on it too, which are continuing to develop as I write the third album.

Thematically you picture a time when mankind has destroyed nature and became powerless by that. Do you reckon this to be a futuristic vision that will come true?

I would not say it is something that will definitely come true, but I think it is something that could happen if we aren't careful. Humanity has been so successful because we are so good at using the world around us. Over time we have become too successful. The world is grossly overpopulated and we do not have the resources to sustain ourselves if we continue to use them in an irresponsible way. Right now humans are living in a resource deficit. We are "spending" more than we are paying back, and eventually we will run out. I think that in the last few decades there have been some very promising advances in technology and awareness regarding environmental issues but there are still too many large organizations with huge financial interest stopping positive change regarding the environment.

And according to the topic – your opinion about the Fukushima incident?

This is a topic I don't wish to discuss too much as I think anything but pure sympathy could come off sounding harsh or insensitive. I obviously feel a great sadness for the people affected by this disaster but at the same time I think it is a perfect example of how we have put ourselves in a dangerous situation by taking the earth's power for granted. Japan is a hugely populated area situated in one of the earth's most volatile regions in regards to earthquakes. Placing nuclear facilities in this area without proper safety measures in place seems irresponsible to me. I don't think using nuclear power in Japan was a poor decision as their options for other power sources are limited, but the decision to only make these facilities able to withstand a limited amount of natural disaster because the cost was too high to make them more protected was a typical human financial based decision. I can only hope that this situation acts as a wake up call for the rest of the world, although I am sure it will not.

What do you think about environmental protection?

I think it is one of the most important areas we need to be focusing on. I am not so far to the left that I think we need to stop using earth's resources, I just think that we need to do so in a responsible way with long term effects being taken into consideration. There are ways to use our environment while also protecting it. The Canadian lumber industry is a great example of this. Canada has one of the largest foresting industries in the world but for every tree cut down, two or three more are planted in it's place. Only trees of a certain age are harvested. Right now Canada's forests are stronger than ever BECAUSE of our foresting industry. This is a situation where both the environment and corporation's bank Account s can prosper. By harvesting in a responsible way we can guarantee future resources and future profit, as well as a protected environment. More industry around the world needs to function on this model.

Okay, back to music. We can enjoy eleven tracks of harsh electronic music. Sometimes melancholic, sometimes really hitting in the face. How you do work on the lyrics and get them fitting to the sound? Do you start with lyrics or sound?

My songs almost never start with lyrics. Generally they start by writing a main melody. I will usually complete an entire song instrumentally before I approach writing lyrics. When writing the song I will write it knowing where vocals will be placed and with a general idea of the lyric theme. For "Swallowing the Sun" the entire album was recorded musically before I entered the studio to record vocals. The vocals were all recorded with the same set up during the same period of time for consistency.

You work as a solo artist. Did you ever think about involving somebody else in the studio production or to become a band?

I have thought about it many times but I just find that it never quite works properly. I think I am too protective of my material to let someone else get too involved. This is something that is slowly starting to change though. Tim, my live support, is having more of an influence in the studio and writing process lately.

Tim Doerksen supports you on stage as a live musician. Could you, please, introduce him to us with a few words?

Tim is someone that I have known for many years. We worked together at a record store and became good friends. He comes from a completely different musical background than I do, and isn't involved in the industrial scene at all. He is a singer / songwriter himself but writes acoustic music. His musical skills and influences are so completely different than mine, but that is why I wanted him involved. He offers a totally different perspective and comes into things with a general ear for music rather than just an ear for EBM. What is interesting though is that although we have very different musical backgrounds our overall ideas of music in general are very similar which is why we are able to work well together.

The song "Hand Of God" sticks out by his drum tracks. Please, tell us some details about its genesis.

I write a lot of songs about religion, and this is one of them. This song is about specific events that happened in North America when religious Europeans came and wiped out the native people. This is something that has had very serious social impacts that are a problem here even today. In a way this is my song for those people, sort of a call to arms for them to rise up and take back the culture they were robbed of. A side note about this song: The verse lyrics are actually taken from an early demo song titled "Infection". The original song shares only the verse lyrics and has a different chorus and melody. The original song will appear on the future "Archive" release.

The mentioned track is also included as a Die Sektor remix. How did it come?

I wanted to include one remix on the album and since I am a big fan of Die Sektor I asked them to do it. I gave them a few tracks to choose from and they picked "Hand of God" to work with. They did a great job, especially since time was tight. I think they had only two weeks to complete it and they were already busy with a lot of remix work.

What is important to mention or to know about the title track "Swallowing The Sun"?

This is a rather simple song lyrically, but with a lot of mystery. The chorus simply states "Black tyrants, swallowing the sun". I will let the listener decide who these "black tyrants" are. This is a song that could be very controversial if heard by the wrong people. The intro sample is the morning prayer from the koran....it is my first song attacking islam rather than just christianity.

The more technoid "Prey" is really straight forward. What prey are you after?

We are all the "prey" whether we like to think so or not.

What do the "Raven Eyes" refer to or see in that track?

This song is about leaving the world that we have destroyed. With the freedom of a bird to fly over and see what we have created through a bird's eyes. It may only come through to english speaking people but "Raven Eyes" has a bit of a double meaning when spoken. It can represent a bird's eye view but if said quickly it also becomes "Ravenise" which is not a proper word but could sound like carrying out a "Ravenous" act.

Your vocals are always extremely distorted. Did you ever think about singing without distortion in a different range of expressions?

Not really. In the past I have added some clean backing vocals to a chorus, in songs like "Loss of Faith" and "Beyond the Darkness". I feel that the extreme vocals give the right tone to my music. On the current material I may do some more honest folk style vocals but more probable is that you will hear other "clean" vocalists on songs. I am already working with one female vocalist for one song and there is a possibility that Tim will be using some of his incredible vocal skills on a song.

Will you be on tour with the new album? If yes, can you tell us where we can get to see your shows?

Jeremy: This is something I am just starting to look at organizing. It is very difficult being in Canada and wanting to tour as an underground musician. Travelling to Europe is incredibly expensive, travelling to the USA is complicated because of paperwork and work Visas, and touring within Canada is expensive and time consuming because of the huge distances between major cities.

Many thanks, Jeremy, for answering our questions and we wish you much success with your new longplayer and the future of your project!

Thank you! I hope that everyone enjoys the album. Please follow us on facebook for up to date news and information. Cheers, Jeremy