Eclipsed - At first the obvious question: 20 years ago you have founded Saturnia.
Since then it was a one-man-band. Why did you now decide to go on as a three-piece-band?
Luís Simões - My original idea back then was to do something that involved a lot of people, more like an acid orchestra. The realities of life and my desire to explore more instruments quickly led me to work alone in the studio.
From a certain point onwards, particularly from the Muzak album in 2007, all the music I composed and produced became gradually more and more traditional and organic and band sounding, this was a consequence of rediscovering and returning to my roots, which are in rock music. It was a natural consequence to conjure this ensemble and do it really live to tape, pure with almost no production.
Eclipsed - Where and when did you meet Nuno Oliveira and Andre Silva? Which experiences did you make with them?
Luís Simões - I met André Silva when I guested on a few shows with a classic Portuguese Metal band, Sacred Sin, in 2013.
He has great technique and taste. I later discovered we have some comon friends and he saw one of the first Saturnia shows in 2000, so he is part of the mafia. Nuno Oliveira is someone who was around.
These musicians are very good and instinctively understand what Saturnia is all about.
So I didn't really experiment at all, I gave a few indications, we played the songs for a few weeks and just let the tape rolling all the time, picked up the best takes, mixed, mastered with Stefan Koglek and that is the album. It's that simple.
Eclipsed - How will you work together in the future? Will you still be the main man? What will the contributions of Nuno and Andre be?
Luís Simões - Creative wise things will be the same, I feel fulfilled with what i have achieved artistically as a composer, designer, musician and producer in Saturnia, and want to keep developing that. That said, i definitely want more different musicians playing on the albums, the work dynamics are more real and with the rigth people the music gets richer. I think that, in the future, other peoples contributions, if any, will happen purely on a playing level.
I'm going in a more natural direction, creatively and with the production itself.
I'm aiming at something extremely polished but totally natural and real, basically what your hear in a good classical music recording with a very good orchestra directed by someone like Herbert von Karajan.
Eclipsed - For the new album "The Seance Tapes" you have newly recorded 12 old tracks of your back catalog as a band. How was it going?
Luís Simões - For me at this point in Saturnia's career it was time to do either a compilation or a live album, but I think neither would be totally right, so I did the in between thing, a live in the studio compilation.
My personal life evolved in a certain direction in the last couple of years, I lost important people in my family so my existential perspective has changed considerably; I wanted to do a collection of pieces that really represented what i really am and always have been, something that is just me with no bullshit involved.
If God came down and asked me "who are you?", I would play him The Seance Tapes.
Eclipsed - What are the differences between the old versions and the new ones? What has improved?
Luís Simões - Well, in the case of the very old material, the songs from the first three albums, the differences are more evident because these songs have been maturing, developing and ageing for quite a while and also were originally produced and approached in a way that I don't really relate to so much today.
Material like Gemini or The twilight bong from the first album or Chrysalis or Sunflower from The Glitter odd and Hydrophonic Gardening, which were impressionistic lo-fi albums, is sounding amazing compared to the original versions.
The more recent material, from Alpha Omega Alpha or The Real High is sounding much closer to the original studio versions as it was approached in a more similar way to what I am doing presently, because that is where I am now.
Anyway, I think all songs are now much closer to their truly original essence and it's fantastic that all these songs from different periods and albums stand so well next to each other and sound so good after all these years.
Eclipsed - You have 6 previous studio albums. On the new album there are exactly 2 tracks from each album. I think this is no accident. Is this a sign of your desire for harmony and balance?
Luís Simões - It was a problem on this album to choose the pieces; stuff like I am Utopia, Mindrama or A burnt Offering was obvious but others were not so immediate and with an already quite big discography to choose from, a few songs were in real competition with each other.
As the album started to reveal itself and I started picking takes I realized it was going in that direction on its own.
From that point onwards it was obvious to me that it was going to be two songs from each album, something that both mathematically and magically made perfect sense.
This balance presented itself to me but it was i who decided to use it, so yes, I think this manifests my craving for harmony and balance.
Eclipsed - All of your previous studio albums are smooth, hypnotical, harmonical and like a trance. Does this reflect your personality?
Luís Simões - This reflects me, but only part of me, something that I am but also a philosophical and intellectual path that i approve; a direction I took in my life many years ago.
I also have a harder side and that shows in The Seance Tapes which rocks very hard indeed, at some points.
I am a Human being so parts of my life are not as smooth and harmonious as Saturnia, that's life.
Humanity has the opposites inside and you can't really have one without the other.
Eclipsed - Now as a band: Will there be a stylistical change in the future?
Luís Simões - Who knows? there are always specific ideas floating about that I want to materialize from the ether but I try not to plan ahead too much and just let things happen.
Change is part of everything that exists but I don't seek it, i just leave enough space in my creation so that the music can evolve in a natural and balanced way, like water finding its way.
Eclipsed - The beginn of a new phase for Saturnia is a good occasion for a conclusion of the first 20 years. How do you see your musical career so far?
Luís Simões - I started playing when I was eleven, it's just amazing that I am still doing it.
I like everything I have done, I feel fulfilled and grateful that I got so far as a musical artist, this activity is not easy and I feel fortunate that I got to release all these albums and that most of my creation is released on record whether its Saturnia or other projects.
You are right when you talk of a new phase; The Seance Tapes is a new beginning indeed, but it's a new phase that carries the essence of its past in its birth; it's not an interruption it's like a Matryoshka doll, they just keep coming.
Eclipsed - What are the highlights? Are there things on your older albums you don't like any more?
Luís Simões - I think the highlights are the songs that got into The seance tapes, these summarize me and Saturnia well, but I like all Saturnia albums and songs and I am proud of what I've achieved.
I would change some things here and there but it's not healthy to think about it in that way, all this music was done honestly with inspiration, devotion and the with the best possible quality at a certain moment in time and that's it.
I think all the material stands the test of time well and almost nothing sounds dated and even when it does, it is still quite enjoyable; I believe this is because i always put only good ingredients and my full soul into the Saturnia cauldron.
Eclipsed 21-8-2018
