Hello to you, mage Falaris. Your musical universe stands at the crossroads between Keller Synth and other influences that reflect a rich musical culture. When did you start making music?

I started making music years ago, but when it comes to my current project and everything surrounding it, it was in 2021 that I began to practice and experiment. Although I've always been into black metal and dungeon synth, I started doing some goth electronic darkwave music. I knew I wanted to fusion both worlds somehow, and then I discovered Keller Synth, and immediately understood that was the perfect genre for such mixture. The potential was almost unlimited.

Okvlto Amatista’s music seems divided between an ethereal spiritual world and another, more physical universe, stirred by saturated keyboards and frantic beats. How do you reconcile these two tendencies?

An alchemist would say: “As above, so below”. The physical aspects resonate with the more terrenal aspects of life, such as doing drugs lucidly, being in love, being depressed, wanting to get drunk, and so on. While the more spiritual aspects, which I would say is the biggest topic, comes from a deep and genuine interest in magic and the occult, in the possibilities of the afterlife, mythology, psychology, and all sort of esoteric knowledge. I tried to reflect that in my music, when the beats are usually more grounded and heavy, and the synths more ethereal and whimsical.

Have you ever used substances or altered states of consciousness in the creation of your music? In what way have they served as inspiration?

Most of my albums were made not only under the influence of psychedelic substances, but also under a quite unorthodox state of mind, I like to say. I was in a very dark place, many bad things happened to me and my mind had to fly away and lose its touch with reality in order to survive. The combination of those two factors definitely helped to be more creative about the compositions, as well as more focused on finishing them all.

I still hold the sin of laziness, cause I should have put everything on some streaming platforms and I didn't, and haven't done it to this day. But that's another story. I just felt like my true impulse was making music, not promoting it. It was a radical and raw conviction, that I was a musician, not a marketing agent.

There is also a strongly caustic dimension in your music, but at the same time a sincerity that reflects deep spirituality. Could you tell us about the role of magic in your music?

In consequence with the previous topic about the spiritual influences, magic was a big part of the creation of not only the albums but the musical persona as well. What a musician does is to conform sound and time, and when those two are in harmony, we call it music. It is mathematics applied upon time itself. The one who doesn't see magic in that, for sure lacks the eyes to see.

Every composition in that period of time was a small ritual. One of my albums I completely forgot how I did it, like some archetypal possession did it for me. It might sound like madness, but I know the mental asylums are full of alchemists.

Your music is far removed from all the caricatures of Tänzelcore and the trendy guys wearing wizard hats. Any thoughts on that?

From the beginning I was pretty sure I wanted to differentiate myself from all the others, while still remaining close to the movement. I do love the wizard hats and all of that, I just wanted to do something new.

So I got my old hat, bought a priest robe and a cloak, and finally, a white mask. All in one day, like I knew how it would be. It was an alter ego, to portray aspects of myself I wasn't able to show in public. It was cathartic. I think that's why it feels genuine, because it is. It was way more than just an aesthetic choice for a musical project, it was me doing shadow work.

You have released very little music in physical format, aside from your first demo on Narbentage Prod, a split with Feu de Saint-Antoine, and another split release. I nevertheless consider your demo “Spooked by an Unfathomable & Shy Ghost” to be one of the best works in the genre, and “Die Psychopannychia” one of its most remarkable songs. Do you have any collaborations or future releases planned?

As I said before, I'm a musician, not a marketing agent. I'm clueless about how to operate, and I have shown little interest in it, but I regret it and I'm aware I need to work on that, cause my work is barely out there, neither on cassettes nor streaming.

I do not have anything planned with anyone at the moment, but I do want to return to the studio again and create some more music. Because of everything I already said, it is difficult to feel the same kind of inspiration again, but I'm convinced I will be back.

You live in the Canary Islands, a Spanish territory off the African coast. Does your environment contribute to a particular mindset when creating music?

Most definitely. Everyone knows my land as a tourist destination, few know about our history and culture. I introduced elements of Spain's syncretic traditions, which some of them are also common along the Mediterranean Sea, and also Caribbean elements, because of our mutual influence with the Antilles, specially Cuba and its Santería.

This unique mixture along with my own preferences and interests are crucial to what I intended to do.

What do you think about the repetition of Keller Synth and Tänzelcore clichés on platforms like TikTok or Instagram?

I spend little to no time on social media nowadays. I know about what you are talking about, but my opinion is vague and very generalistic. I think social media degrades everything, it is a cesspool of mediocrity.

Few people try to be genuine and get stomped by those who fake it but are noisier. I do have an Instagram page, cause it was a useful tool to promote myself, less complicated than other platforms, but I don't spend time on it. Trends come and go, but passion perseveres.

Do you think Keller Synth and everything surrounding it has reached a point where nothing original remains, except artists copying one another?

It is something I still struggle to understand. As I said before, to me it was a perfect genre to fusion and experiment, enough to enrich it, but not enough to alienate it. But what I see is many identical projects.

Some of them, remaining between the usual parameters, are incredible and impressive artists. Some others appeal to the lowest common denominator, and take advantage of the “low quality” aspect of the genre to do just enough to be qualified as such, but very poorly made.

So, once again, I don't understand why the limitation. Maybe because of this stupid teenager mindset of tribalism, where these young artists fall for the pressure and don't risk experimenting just to avoid being called out.

What are your current musical perspectives?

I've been wanting to keep my formula, but adding more classical music into it, particularly music from Spain's golden age. Follias, fandangos, zarzuelas, and all sort of sadly forgotten musical styles which to me are such a delight. Elegant and profound.

About other artists, I can say about friends of mine whose music is truly exceptional and inspirational, like Feu de Saint Antoine, NecroArmor or Lysergic Suicide. Others I know but are not that close to me, like Fester Witch, Tenebris or Wytchkrackft.

And those who I don't know personally but listen to a lot, like Cries of Agony, Polterwytch or Medwegya.