Name: New Age Doom
Members: Eric J. Breitenbach (drums), Greg Valou (multi-instrumentalist)
Nationality: Canadian
Recent release: New Age Doom's Remix The Universe, featuring Lee "Scratch" Perry, is out January 27th via We Are Busy Bodies. It includes remixes by, among others, Tuvaband, and BLK JKS.

[Read our Tuvaband interview]
[Read our interview with Tuvaband about her creative process]
[Read our BLK JKS interview]
[Read our interview with Dubokay about working with Lee Perry]

Recommendations: EJB: I recommend the album Believer by Smerz. It is a masterpiece. Sung in English and Norwegian, Smerz combine R&B, Opera, Classical, Synth pop, trip hop and other styles to make something that is unlike anything I’ve ever heard before.
Keeping it Copenhagen, my second suggestion is the band Baby In Vain. I saw them when they played Vancouver and was blown away. They were opening for another band that night and that is a good reason to always get to the show early. You never know who you will see. It might be your new favourite band. Bene, drummer of Baby In Vain, has become a close friend and is contributing parts to a new album that we are working on which we will be revealing more details about soon.
GV: I recommend King Ayisoba from Ghana, who I’m convinced is the most sensational vocalist in the world. When I first heard his music, I figured there were at least three singers with unique voices in the band, but no, it’s just one guy! Ayisoba is able to sing in several distinct vocal styles, each with immense power and deep tradition. His songs are polyrhythmic, intensely groovy, and carry a positive message.

If you enjoyed this interview with New Age Doom  and would like to find out more about the band's music, visit their official website. They are also on Instagram, and Facebook.



When did you start writing/producing/playing music and what or who were your early passions and influences? What was it about music and/ or sound that drew you to it?

EJB: I started playing drums on Christmas Day in 1996, when I had just turned 10 years old. Prior to that I had been playing piano and a Casio keyboard but had always had an interest in the drums. I don’t know if I can place a specific moment or thing that drew me to it. For as long as I can remember I have had ideas for drum beats buzzing around my head. I loved the idea of playing in a band and being able to express those thoughts in a collaborative environment.

GV: I come from a relatively musical family so music always been a big part of my life. My rock music journey started around age 13 when I first picked up my dad’s acoustic guitar and tried plunking along on one string to Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin songs.

When I listen to music, I see shapes, objects and colours. What happens in your body when you're listening and how does it influence your approach to creativity?

EJB: I have spent a large portion of my life in headphones as a means of escapism. Music can make a long drive or flight go by in an instant. My approach to creativity is to feel free, let ideas flow and get lost in my instrument. Music allows me to get into that flow state. It enables to me to float above my waking thoughts and tap into a place where I feel encouraged to be creative.

GV: My sense of music is deeply intuitive and visceral, but the experience is mediated through an intellectual process, so while I feel music profoundly, I can also dissect and analyze it. I’m not much of a dancer, but a good piece will get me moving in time, and a great piece might make me cry a little.

How would you describe your development as an artist in terms of interests and challenges, searching for a personal voice, as well as breakthroughs?

GV: I’ve always had an interest in composition – even as a kid I’d try to come up with my own tunes. During my teens I focused on improvisation, which is basically real-time composition, to develop my sense of rhythm and phrasing so that I would have a distinct “voice.”

In my 20s I joined as many bands as I could, in as many genres as possible, to gain lots of experience. I especially wanted to join bands where I’d be the newbie, so that I’d have to learn more quickly. Then, the focus shifted to learning techniques for recording and production, and now it’s all about bring all the styles, inspirations and capabilities together through New Age Doom.

EJB: From as early as I can recall, I’ve had ideas for drum beats and songs floating around in my head. I grew up in a musical household and was exposed to a wide variety of music styles. I also played with many different bands to be able to play and adapt to as many genres as possible. I like to be able to focus inward while playing and care more about how the music makes me feel rather than feeling like there are limitations placed on my playing by genre.

A huge breakthrough for me was playing with Greg. His ideas of free and unrestricted music align with mine. It feels like a unified and more powerful approach to music and one that I have always strived for.

Tell me a bit about your sense of identity and how it influences both your preferences as a listener and your creativity as an artist, please.

EJB: I am inspired internally, by things that are unique to me. I aim to express things that are true to me. I gravitate towards art that looks or sounds like nothing else I’ve ever seen or heard before because that is also what I strive for: to be honest with art.

GV: Creativity is humanity’s birthright and I identify as a human being.

What, would you say, are the key ideas behind your approach to music and art?

EJB: To capture things in the moment.

GV: New Age Doom’s musical philosophy is open to interpretation, but it may include: ambiguity, experimentation, union of opposites, and non-genre music. We value spontaneity and I like to look for ways to add a little chaos into the process. How much of all this is serious or tongue-in-cheek is up to the listener to decide for themselves.

How would you describe your views on topics like originality and innovation versus perfection and timelessness in music? Are you interested in a “music of the future” or “continuing a tradition”?

GV: I’m interested in pushing boundaries of music by mixing various genres and traditions together in new ways, as well as by inventing new instruments or techniques that may one day influence future traditions.

EJB: I personally am not concerned with perfection. Sometimes a demo can be better than a polished recording. The idea or creative spark is the most important aspect to me. The reason I have always loved live music is because of the possibility of imperfection or improvisation. I am interested in being able to capture that sense of raw intensity.

Over the course of your development, what have been your most important instruments and tools - and what are the most promising strategies for working with them?

GV: For a couple of years there I went through a phase where I only played electric guitars and amps with no effects pedals. That really made me appreciate amplifiers and the nuances of the guitar-amp relationship, especially feedback manipulation, which is now a key part of my sound. The amplifier is also an instrument – it should not be underestimated.

EJB: Whatever is at my disposal is what I will use. I’m not fussy about having a particular piece of gear. Sometimes simplicity wins. I like the idea of being able to adapt to whatever is available. I feel there can sometimes be a “paradox of choice,” or been limitations placed by needing to work with a certain instrument or tool.

Take us through a day in your life, from a possible morning routine through to your work, please.

EJB: I don’t have a routine; I take the day as it comes. We own and operate a recording studio and that is where you can usually find me. Lately we been meeting up a few times per week to record new music, as well as hosting live shows in our space.

GV: Having a great studio of our own near home means we can make music when the inspiration strikes – no need to schedule time or spend hours setting up gear before recording.

Could you describe your creative process on the basis of a piece, live performance or album that's particularly dear to you, please?

GV: New Age Doom’s creative process often involves intense, extended improvisation sessions to generate as many ideas as possible, then listening back to pick out the most interesting bits for development, unless the improvisation is already good enough to use.

Once we have a strong bed track, we’ll send it to our collaborators to add their parts. Sometimes we’ll send the same beds to multiple collaborators simultaneously, so they won’t hear what the others are doing. This allows for interesting synchronicities and a more spontaneous sound. Once everyone’s parts are in, we’ll edit and arrange the parts to satisfaction, then it’s onto mixing and mastering.

EJB: The albums that are most dear to me are Himalayan Dream Techno and Guide to the Universe.



On these records, my parts were recorded live in a single improvised take. This take was then built upon, like Greg has mentioned. This way of building on top of improvisation is a creative challenge that I thoroughly enjoy.

Listening can be both a solitary and a communal activity. Likewise, creating music can be private or collaborative. Can you talk about your preferences in this regard and how these constellations influence creative results?

EJB: My preference is to collaborate in a small group of one or maybe two other people. I like to work with someone who will take me out of my comfort zone which then informs my work later on. Creating is forever a learning process. A good collaboration should make you feel empowered and like anything is possible, which I feel in New Age Doom.

GV: I prefer to listen to music alone, but to perform in a group.

How do your work and your creativity relate to the world and what is the role of music in society?

GV: Humanity would be worthless without music. In my opinion music is the highest form of art, as it is as powerful as it is intangible. I am pleased to be able to devote my creative energy to making music … May everyone live in a society that values music and creativity.

EJB: Music is a metaphor for life. The concepts of giving, taking, leading and listening are life lessons that music has taught me. Music is medicine and can change a person’s whole mood. I feel completely different before and after playing drums. It’s like a form of meditation – an opportunity to bring forth what is internal to a tangible external expression. I hope that others are able to find these truths in music as well.

Art can be a way of dealing with the big topics in life: Life, loss, death, love, pain, and many more. In which way and on which occasions has music – both your own or that of others - contributed to your understanding of these questions?

GV: Music provides the best catharsis, so it helps us get through all life events, both positive and negative.

How do you see the connection between music and science and what can these two fields reveal about each other?

GV: Music has been a way of understanding the physical world since ancient times. Pythagoras explored the relationships of musical notes and their corresponding mathematical intervals with his monochord, and postulated that planets and stars move in musical harmony. This “Music of the Spheres” idea held that the structure of the universe was based on mathematical and harmonic principles and was extremely influential in early philosophy and helped lay the groundwork for the development of modern science.

Math and physics affect every aspect of music from instrument design to tuning and intonation, to the electrical and digital components that let us more easily bend sound waves to our desires. Music and science have benefitted each other in uncountable ways, and music will continue to inspire scientists and engineers forevermore.

Creativity can reach many different corners of our lives. Do you feel as though writing or performing a piece of music is inherently different from something like making a great cup of coffee? What do you express through music that you couldn't or wouldn't in more 'mundane' tasks?

GV: Making a great cup of coffee is nothing like making great music. Coffee is formula and routine: if you want a consistent result you need to the right type of bean, roast level, grind strength, water temperature, extraction pressure and so on. I don’t approach music this way at all – if you use same moves to make every piece of music, you’ll stagnate. It’s important to change up the process, add chaos and randomness, and experiment to avoid getting
caught up in a routine.

Music is vibration in the air, captured by our ear drums. From your perspective as a creator and listener, do you have an explanation how it able to transmit such diverse and potentially deep messages?

GV: From an evolutionary biology perspective, music activates the reward system in the brain, releasing dopamine, which makes it highly pleasurable. Music also helps form and maintain identity and social bonds, which is one reason it is so important to human societies.

EJB: Sound is subjective to each person and their perception of it. There is really no way to ever be sure that what we hear, is what someone else hears. In this way, it is a deeply personal medium.