Interview with Hedge Wizard!!

Interview conducted via e-mail in March 2015.

Listen and support Hedge Wizards' music: https://hedgewizard.bandcamp.com/
Keep updated about Hedge Wizard: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hedge-Wizard/725977330805106

WULF: OK, there's seriously like no information about you that I can find on the internet, except that you're from Toledo, Ohio, and you produce your own minimalist dungeon synth music recordings on cassette tapes. Tell us about yourself, Mr. Wizard!

HEDGE WIZARD: Yes, I am from Toledo.    I live in a place that sort of feels like a boarding house for factory and retail workers.  A lot people in one spot, you know.  Working long hours while playing games and drinking on our nights off.

I occupy my time with a lot of other good stuff though like books, comics and magazines.  However, I do spend most of my time playing and listening to music, while at the same time trying to avoid both death and taxes.

WULF: Speaking of cassette tapes, I like the art that you've chosen for the cover. Did you make this art yourself? If not, then who did? 

HEDGE WIZARD: Yes, I created the cover.   I just wanted to make something by hand and have some fun with it.  It seemed to work out in the end and the response I have got back has been encouraging.

WULF: Your music seems to fall into the "old-school" dungeon synth style, similar to (era I) Mortiis and point-and-click adventure games from the 1990s. Do you agree with this?

HEDGE WIZARD: I'm not sure where this album would be placed.  I would have to leave that for others to decide.   But when it comes to Dungeon Synth inspiration, I was listening to a lot of Gvasdnahr and Darkstroll at the time.  Along with a lot of the 90's DS recordings.  So I'm sure some of that influenced my musical direction.

WULF:  Is this a particular style you are aiming for on purpose, or is it just a matter of working with a lower budget? 

HEDGE WIZARD: There was no clear direction for this album. It was just a hodgepodge of spells I conjured with the equipment that I had.

WULF:  Do you plan on making future Hedge Wizard music within this style, or could you see your music evolving into something similar in sound to the newer, neo-dungeon synth style (such as Erang or Lord Lovidicus)?

HEDGE WIZARD: I am not entirely sure what the horizon brings.

WULF: Is "More True Than Time Thought" a concept album, or is there an underlying, unifying theme? Honestly, the vibe I get is that each song has kind of its own mood and storyline, but that's just my interpretation. 

HEDGE WIZARD: This album is about smoke emerging from strange mixtures.  The aroma of mildew in a dank hall.  Maybe this music sets the pace to the beads of sweat that roll down your face at the climax of a reoccurring nightmare.  These are a few of my favorite things.

WULF: Also, is there a particular way in which you would encourage the listeners to experience your music? Personally, I think most dungeon synth works best as ambient music for table-top RPG sessions in the evening, but I'm not sure if everyone else feels that way.

HEDGE WIZARD:  Like any music, I believe it is in the eye of the beholder.  I could see a lot of pen and paper players really digging Dungeon Synth for their sessions.  Or set the mood for a fantasy author to write their stories.  It could be the soundtrack to an entity's nightly musings.  Personally I love to walk around or drink ale while telling stories. I suppose everyone has their own unique interpretation.

WULF: Are tabletop role-playing and/or computer games an influence in your music? I know that many dungeon synth artists have gaming backgrounds...

From when I opened up my first Magic booster and smelled that fresh print to the grueling raids during the MMO boom, I would say I have some gaming blood.  And yes, quite a few RPG and tabletop sessions.

WULF: Is there any literature that you'd like to recommend that has either played a big role in your music production, or would perhaps enhance the listener's experience or understanding of your music?

Reading is probably my biggest past time besides music and it has a large influence on my musical script.  I enjoy the Sword and Sorcery short stories the most.  One of my favorite authors being Fritz Leiber.  I've recently been reading the Swords of Steel anthology by DMR Books. That's been killer.

WULF: Along the same lines, is there any particular philosophy or world you are attempting to convey through your music, or at least something along these lines that you adhere to and would like to share with us?

HEDGE WIZARD: The blending of the real world and the fantastic.  I walk this line constantly.

WULF: I've asked you a bit about your plans for the future of your music, but would you like to add to this? What can Hedge Wizard fans expect from you in the coming months or next couple of years?

HEDGE WIZARD: I'm not sure when the next album will be ready, but I am working on it.  Only time will tell.

WULF: That's all the questions I have for you, my friend!! Any final spells or incantations before we end this Malicious interrogation?

HEDGE WIZARD:  Hey! Thanks for the interview Wulf.

Forever In The Dungeon!

You can read more of Wulf's thoughts on Hedge Wizard here.

Dungeon Synth Explorations - Part 4 - Hedge Wizard

Click below to check out previous installments of this series!
Part 1 - here

Part 2 - here
Part 3 - here

Hedge Wizard is a very mysterious, obscure dungeon synth artist hailing from the equally mysterious, obscure city of Toledo, Ohio (seriously though, I know nothing about Toledo).   What I find most interesting about his style is that it reminds me not so much of (Era I) Mortiis or Wongraven, but point-and-click adventure games from the 1990s instead.

Have you ever played Inherit the Earth?   I remember playing this game for hours when I was about 9 or 10 years old, and really loving the game in terms of storyline and atmosphere even though I found it to be pretty difficult.   Actually, it was because of a glitch that caused me to never actually finish the game, so I've always been meaning to go back and see what happens to Riff after he escapes the dungeon of Dog Castle!  Anyway, the point of this story is that for some reason the music from this game really stuck with me, even though when I listen to it now it doesn't seem that special or memorable.   I guess I just really loved the ambiance that the low budget keyboards generated...it really matched the "low-fantasy" style of the game, much different than the high fantasy atmosphere that I was used to from playing hours of Warcraft 2 or Baldur's Gate.  It was because of these games from the '90s like Inherit the Earth or Hero's Quest/Quest for Glory: So You Want to Be a Hero that made me appreciate this specific video game soundtrack style, and for whatever reason Hedge Wizard's music reminds me of that.

More True Than Time Thought (2014)

I feel like this would make the perfect soundtrack to browsing through the original AD&D rulebooks... this music doesn't exactly make me think of someone tiptoeing through a dungeon, but instead maybe a wizard or enchanter reading up on mysterious creatures of the wilderness in a large, dusty tome.   You can emulate this by dusting off your old original AD&D monster manuals, loading a pipe of your favorite shit to smoke / alcoholic beverage, and spending an afternoon or evening checking out the cool shit inside!
Each of the songs kind of have their own mood, but they all fit into a similar, laid-back kind of style that really leaves a lot of room for your imagination to explore.  For example- "The Conjurer's Clutter" makes me think of an absent-minded wizard bumbling around his weird tower trying to remember where he put the final ingredient for some strange concoction he's been working on for months... I don't know if you guys are into Lamentations of the Flame Princess or not, but it kind of reminds me of the "Tower of the Stargazer" adventure.   Or another favorite, "Huffing Petrichor", brings to mind a scene of a sorcerer inhaling mysterious fumes reminiscent of the smell of petrichor and recalling some sort of riddle or code that he encountered decades ago that still remains unsolved to this day.   Honestly though, my favorite song on the record is the first track, "Ancient Vibrations".   While it's certainly evocative and atmospheric, it's one of the few songs on the album that doesn't immediately bring a scene to my mind...it's just the one that reminds me the most of the old games I was talking about earlier.

So if you want to listen to some more laid-back, lo-fi, simplistic dungeon synth that still does an excellent job of stimulating the imagination and evoking an old-school, retro-gaming atmosphere, then definitely check this album out!!

You can listen to the entire album here.

Keep updated about Hedge Wizard: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hedge-Wizard/725977330805106