Martin Bladh is not only a musician which you may know from such acts as IRM or Skin Area, but also a performer interested in various forms of dark and extreme art.Let’s check how was the past year for Martin.
Tell us your way for a successful or happy life. Do you think that man is able to live free from religion? What do you think is the meaning of our existence?
Artistic creation. Your work is what you are and the only thing that matters. Art is the substitute for religion – to leave a mark behind however insignificant it might be; an impossible strife for immortality.
How would you sum up your musical activity in 2015?
I’ve focused all my energy on literature, filmmaking and visual art. Two books will be published next year: The Ripper Genome (a collaboration with Jeremy Reed) on Infinity Land Press and The Hurting Club on Kiddiepunk. Music has been almost absent in my life this year. Although my band IRM did a very satisfying mini tour in the US, taking us to Philadelphia, Baltimore, Providence and New York.
How are you going to spend the upcoming holiday season?
Going to Sweden to visit my family (I live in London) and meet up with Magnus Lindh to work on the forthcoming Skin Area album.
Is there any film / book / theatrical play / exhibition / computer game which made a particular impression on you in 2015?
I’ve been attracted to the novels and films of Allain Robbe-Grillet, and the writings and drawings of Unica Zurn.
Did this year change you in any way, changed your perception of the world, perhaps opened your eyes on something?
A twist of fate got me a part-time job in an occult bookstore. I have never thought that I would ever pick up and read a book by delusional occultist Kenneth Grant, but I did and actually enjoyed it.
Any moment of 2015 you’ll remember on your death bed?
The city of Baltimore. I never seen anything like it in the western world. A hellhole. Amazing.
Your predictions for the world (in the political and cultural context) for 2016?
The plague is here. Hell is to come.
Your personal plans, hopes, expectations for 2016?
To finish my book Suture(s), the Skin Area album and start to work on a new feature film together with Karolina Urbaniak.
Martin Bladh website
IRM Facebook
Santa Sangre 