Entrevista a Bar-Gal (PYLAR) en The New Noise

My name is Samuele and I'm an editor for Italian online mag The New Noise. I have reviewed both your full length albums and I'm really excited about the new one, which is one of the most interesting record I have listened to during the last couple of years. Here you have a few questions about your music. Thanks in advance.

The New Noise: Can you, please, introduce to us the main concept behind Pylar?

Bar-Gal: First of all, thank you for your words.

Pylar try to use music as our ancients did, this is, like a tool to be in contact with other reality sides. Music was the doorway to other worlds and it was sacred because of that.

TNN: If compared to Poderoso se alza en my, He venydo a reclamar my trono seems to be a little more focused on contemporary music, as there are some electric moments, but it still captures the feeling of  somewhat that can be defined as an ancient music. Does this reflect also a change in the concept behind the music?

Bar-Gal: “He venydo a reclamar my trono” try to tell a story so the music is used like a narrative tool. The music is really close to the lyrics and it describes what is being told. There are different narrators that sing an epic poem and the music moves from fixed themes to absolutely improvised parts.  

TNN: He venydo a reclamar my trono consists of a long track which flows naturally through different suggestions, but there is always a dramatic feeling in it. How do you feel after a rehearsal session? Which are the feelings you feel through it?

Bar-Gal: It´s always difficult but pleasant to play. The story and the music are so epic that they control you totally. It isn´t easy to go back to real world after that kind of experience.

TNN: I appreciate your sound a lot, because it’s heavy but also contemplating on the same time, so I'm curious to know something about the instrumentation (pedals, gears...) you use to create it...

Bar-Gal: Thank you but it doesn´t really care. The most important thing when you play an instrument (ancient or modern) is your mind, the thoughts you are having at the moment. I use my guitar like a weapon to create and destroy worlds and gods. I can feel the distant tide and the moon bright on the face of my daughter. I can bend time and call upon Ouroboros. I can feel Yggdrasil roots growing slowly and powerfully. I can see the hidden secrets inside the mighty temple. I can listen to the voice of my ancestors. I can see the pride in my mother´s eye that leads me to the farthest horizons.

TNN: As your music is rooted in ancient history and culture, you should have read a lot of books about it. Which are the ones that fit the concept of your music in the best way?

Bar-Gal: The most important things that we read are nature and the inside of our own minds. But I can say you some books that inspired us a lot: “The language of the Goddes” by Marija Gimboutas, “The White Goddes” by Robert Graves, “Moby-Dick” by H. Melville and the varied work of Mircea Eliade, H. P. Lovecraft, Borges or Alan Moore.

TNN: The cover artworks of your album are fulfilled with details and show a special taste for art. What do you want to express through them and which are your favorite painters or illustrators?

Bar-Gal: Gamaheo, Pylar´s drummer, has a really personal style. When he draws he tries to let his mind as free as possible. He just enjoys his instinct. Both front sleeves of our albums are like portals that you have to go through using your mind. Gamaheo´s favorite artists are William Blake, El Bosco, Goya, Rembrandt, Escher, Harry Clarke, Moebius, Valdés Leal or Van Eyck.

TNN: The nature around you seems to have a great impact on your compositions. What do you think about the relationship between men and nature in our society and which are the best places you have visited so far in your Country?

Bar-Gal: The rise of patriarchal cultures distanced us from nature. That was the turning point.  Since then mankind´s history is full of lost people trying to find themselves again and the only way to do that is to look back our mother nature.

Our region (southwest Spain) is full of great and lonely megalithic temples. Some of them were raised centuries before the ziggurats or the pyramids. It´s really impressive being there singing and playing music. The acoustic echoes inside a dolmen is something that you can´t forget… that huge stones vibrating around you.

TNN: Here you can express some thoughts about the music you love. It is not important that you say what you listen to, but only why you listen to (and play) music.

Bar-Gal: Universe is vibration. Reality is vibration. The hidden arcana are revealed to you through sound. Sound is the last frontier.

TNN: Thanks for the time you have spent answering my questions. You can close this interview with any word close to you.  

Bar-Gal: Ouroboros reigns over all of us. Our ancient Mother is singing again. Listen to her. Her songs are the path to follow.