SUMMARY

0.0.2INTERVIEW WITH GAVIN

RUSSOM

0.0.3INTERVIEW WITH DIAMOND

CUT

0.0.4 INTERVIEW WITH oOoOO

0.0.5INTERVIEW WITH MORGAN

PAGE

After Screamworks “Love In Theory And Practice Chapter 1-13”, HIM give us their new gem: SWRMXS.SWRMXS is the first remix album in the history of HIM. a very important step that enables HIM to explore in a deeper way their music. You may can call it “the Screamworks trilogy”, the studio album, the acoustic album "Baudelaire in Braille," and finally SWRMXS to close in a perfect way this year. A year in which HIM gave to the fans everything they could give, and in the best possible way!

This month Himi interviewed some

of the great artists whocollaborated on SWRMXS: Gavin Russom, oOoOo, Diamond Cut and Morgan Page.What are you waiting for? Flip through the pages and explore the heart of SWRMXS!

SWRMXS is available on heartagram.com in the bundle pack version or in the normal version:http://www.heartagram.com/splash/

Enjoy the reading!

0.0.2

Interview with:

GAVIN RUSSOM

You have been making

and unmaking synths

since a young age

while searching the

unity between man,

machine, and art, you

basically build your

own tools, effects and

sounds...

How everything

started?

I was always

interested in creating

sounds for music.  I

studied both musical

composition and

sculpture and I

became interested in a

way of combining the

two processes.  I built

many acoustic

instruments to try to

achieve this but when

I discovered analog

synthesizers they

were obviously the

way forward.  I

learned the basics

and began to create

instruments and

instrumental systems

to create the music I

wanted to hear.

How was to work on

the HIM's song Ode To

Solitude for making

the remix?

It was a very

interesting process.  

There was a lot of

material to work with

and I really ended up

creating a new track

which was especially

inspired by the intro

of the original HIM

song.

How everything

started?

I suspect the band was aware of my music and

remixes and was curious what I would

do with one of their

tracks.

Surely, the fact that you use your own

instruments, is important for the

final result, but what they have in addiction

respect the other ones, which is the

basic advantage?

I think creating instruments and

understanding electronics on a very

basic level allows me to approach making

music in a very physical way.  I use a

lot of commercial instruments as well,

and I think knowing them inside and out

gets me to use them in a very deep way, and in

unusual combinations.

Do you usually

prefer, during a song remix, to maintain the

main idea, the main structure of the

track, or you like to rebuilt it,

highlighting the other potentiality

that the song itself offers?

I like to maintain

something of the

original, but to take

it to a really

different place, so

that someone

listening would

instantly know the

original, but be

surprised by the remix

as well.

Ode To solitude is surely the heaviest

song on the album, what we have to

expect from your remix?

I tried to find an

equal heaviness, but through a very

different channel.  And especially to

highlight the dark mood of this song,

even to increase it.  You can also see in

the track listing that it's quite long.

www.myspace.com/

gavinrussom

www.gavinrussom.c

om/

0.0.3

Interview with:

DIAMOND CUT

How your Diamond

Cutting Room project

started?

I really wanted to

start a project that

represented what I

love about great

electronic music:

emotion, clarity,

power, intensity. So I

started with the

Diamond Cutting

Room & started

referring to my

remixes as "Diamond

Cut" which I thought

sounded cool &

reflected the

precision I like to put

into my work. It's built

into a nice mysterious

project where no-one

really knows who I am

or much about me! I

like that mystery.

Tell us your setup.

My studio set up is a

mixture of the old

world and the new

world. I have a whole

bunch of great

vintage synths, and a

couple of new ones,

which form some of

the backbone of my

sound, and I also use

Logic and Pro Tools a

lot. But I've also done

several remixes on my

laptop in hotel rooms,

mixing on iPod

headphones! Maybe the

result isn't as precise

but I think the paints

& brushes are less

important than the

picture you're trying

to paint.

You have a bright

crystal style, like a

diamond, with some 80's influences that

fits with the happy mood in the HIM's SW

album (i mean the music, what we have

to expect from your part?

Thank you, that's a

great response to the remix! I really loved

the SW album because it has a lot of

production values that I relate to & love.

It was easy to find things to grab onto

for inspiration. I love the 80's aesthetic but I

try not to get too stuck in reproducing

that sound too much. I use some of the

vocabulary but I try to speak my own

language! I always try to maintain my own

individual style & I'm going to continue

down that path. I think it's crucial in

electronic music to have a unique touch!

How did you started

working on the "Scared To Death"

track, did you worked together with the

band or on your own?

Ville approached me saying he'd heard some

things that I'd done & thought we had some

common ground...

turns out we love a

lot of the same music!

So I created my remix

after talking with him

a lot about music. And

I was really glad that

the band liked it

enough to include it

on their release.

What is the main

difference (in the approach) between

remixing a rock track and a pop track?

The main difference

between remixing a rock track & a pop

track is usually the vocals. Rock vocals

tend to be a bit more aggressive & leave lots

of room to build intensity. Pop tracks

hopefully have vocals that are great for

melody & mood. But often in pop tracks

there will be instrumental parts

which you can grab & build from, whereas

usually with a rock band it's easier to

start with vocals, or a segment of vocals.

It really depends on the track! The great

thing about Scared To Death was that it

had some great instrumental parts

which I was able to use and build from, as

well as a great vocal to work with.

www.myspace.com/

thediamondcuttin

groom

0.0.4

Interview with:

oOoOO

You are an artist

that try to escape

from the

biographical details

(your name oOoOO is

an example right?) to

focus in a very

original way on the

final work, the music.

How everything

started?

I started out making

remixes and moved

on to original tunes. 

oOoOO isn't even

really a name, its the

absence of one.  I just

wanted to be an

anonymous

producer.  I'm

definitely more

interested in people

hearing the songs

than hearing about

me.

You remixed "Shatter

Me With Hope" for

the SWRMXS album: a

mythological,

enigmatic and

melodic track that

fits very well with

your latest work "CD-

R": dark, misterious

and elusive, how was

to combine the two

styles?

I'd never really

remixed a song based

around guitars

before, and the

original is pretty

fast, so I slowed it

down and added a

lot of synths.  But

yeah, the song is

kind of dark, and I

enjoy working with

tracks like that.  I

tried to make it even

darker, I guess.

How was working on

that song and with the band? Did Ville

gave you some specific guidelines for the

song or not?

No, I was pretty much told to do whatever

I wanted to, which is cool.  Ville seems

cool.  

Your music style is original, haunted,

gothic... But i'm wondering... Which

are your main inspirations?

A lot of other music,

especially pop, but film and

photography are important to me, too. 

i like to make music that feels like a lot

of my favorite photographs feel to

me.

http://www.myspace.com/

wkwkwkwkwkwkwkwk

0.0.5

Interview with:

Morgan Page

Morgan PageAcclaimed Producer, Remixer, and DJ; Morgan Page is one of the brightest stars in US Electronic music. Page has built a loyal following from his string of club hits including The Longest Road, Fight For You, and his latest single, I’ve Had Friends. As a remixer, his recent productions include tracks for Adam Lambert, La Roux, Madonna, Katy Perry – and  most recently HIM. His style merges punchy House beats with strong melodies and song structure that connects resoundingly with dance music veterans and newcomers alike.

You remixed Nelly

Furtado, Katy Perry,

Madonna but also Korn

and Coldplay, how it's

the way of approach a

song? And the original

genre of a song

influence you and the

final result?

 

I always start by

focusing on the vocal -

I take the acapella, drop

it over

a beat, and start

working on the

syncopation and then

the chord progression.

The arpeggios and other

leads follow after that.

I try to work quickly,

and make music without

over thinking it.. you

have to trust your gut,

in order to get your best work.

 Your latest album

"Believe" fits perfectly, in my opinion, with  the

directions and the intentions of the latest

HIM's work, even if the two genres are really

different, but what genres do you prefer to

remix? 

I like to remix anything that has a strong vocal

and a good song to begin with.. once you

have that foundation, you can do anything

with it.. I find it very difficult to remix

instrumental songs. 

 Music Piracy is affecting every artist in the

"Internet" era, also HIM, now sell like 10.000 copies

is like to sell 100.000 copies in the '80, and is

also frustrating for an artist touring the whole

world, with tons of sold-out gigs, even if the

album, that took so much work, didn't sell

so good. According to you, there is a solution

for that? 

The biggest problem is over-saturation - there's

just so many bands and DJs, and there's only so

many channels for them to reach people. You

have to find new ways to stand out.

You have to make music

that excites people and

makes them want to

Shazam it, ask what the

DJ is playing, and track

the record down. The

record business is done,

but the music business

will continue to thrive.

4- Talking about the HIM's remix on their

upcoming album SWRMXS, how did the idea born

and how everything was developed?

 HIM wanted a club

remix, and I had done some work for Warner

Bros in the past - remixing Madonna, so

they sent me all the parts - and I took the

vocal and just made a club mix that I would

play live. 

 all the HIM's fans are

waiting for buying the album, we didn't hear

anything, but we are super-excited of this

much needed work and important step for every

rock band, even if HIM are making remix since

1997. What we have to expect from your part?

 I'm excited to hear all

the remixes.. I heard that Tiesto did one as

well. I hope everyone enjoys my mix! :)

www.morgan-

page.com

www.myspace.com/

morganpage

0.0.6

DISCLAIMER

All photos are not of HIMI

properties. We used them to 

informative and visual

aims. These images are

not been published for

profit and commercial

purposes , and 

belong to their respective

owners. 

This issue, like all numbers

of “The HIMI Mag”, is 100%

free and printable.

this is not a journal

because it is updated with

no periodicity. It can not be

therefore considered an

editorial  product under

the Law 62, 7.03.2001. 

CREATIVE COMMONS

Creative Commons Attribution

Not Derivative Works 2.5 Italy

License 

Official HIM

Website

www.heartagram.

com

WEBSITE

www.himi.it

FORUM

www.hisinferna

lmajestyitaly.for

umfree.it

www.twitter.com/

him_italy

http://

www.facebook.com

/pages/HIMI/

114506761934129

I’m a monster, but

you made me.