Super excited to be able to interview Russian dark ambient artist Mourneress! She's getting ready to release her new album "A Rooted Sorrow " on the 19th. We already got to hear it, and it's absolutely fantastic!
Q: Tell the readers who you are and what you do
A: I’m Natalia Drepina - creator, composer, poet, photographer and filmmaker. Mourneress is the voice of my soul. I compose melancholic music for sad dreamers and wounded souls.
Q: What inspired the song “Pearl Pallor”?
A: Foggy morning. Oh, is there anything more like a journey into a vague dream than the fog that embraces this sick world and tries to console it? Nature has always been a true muse for me; it has given me so much inspiration. Pearl Pallor is an ode to the fog that pacifies my worries and sorrows.
Q: How did you develop your sound, and how long have you been making this type of music?
A: As a child, I went to a music school to study piano, but my teachers then almost made me hate classical music and the piano... Only a few years later, around 2007, I decided to try to release my mind and subconscious from the insinuating melodies that sounded in my head when I was lost in thought. I’m an intuitive musician, my music is simple and probably wrong in some way. I can't call myself a
pianist or a good singer because I lack technique and skills. But with the help of sounds I try to express my feelings, tell about strange dreams and create a slightly different reality. Timid piano, ghostly voices,
echoes of strings, birds, rain, wind - this is Mourneress. Previously, I released my albums under the name Your Schizophrenia, and perhaps only the name has changed, but the music remains the same sad and predisposing to reflection and nostalgia.
Q: Does your photography inspire your music? Or is it the other way around? Or are they totally separate?
A: I think that all my work is interconnected, because all this is a reflection of my essence, my moods, how I see the world and how I feel. Photographs, music, poetry - all this can be born simultaneously or flow
from one form to another, complementing perception.
Q: How do you decide which songs to do in English and which to do in Russian?
A: Usually the songs themselves decide that. I mean the rhymes and words just come. I always write in a burst of inspiration. Usually something happens in my life, or something leaves a deep impression,
makes me feel, and it turns into a poem.
Q: Assuming you haven’t yet, is Mourneress something you would like to take on the road and do live shows?
I'm not sure that this would be possible. It's hard for me to imagine how I could organize a live show. I'm an introvert and a very shy person, I feel quite uncomfortable and scared around people. So my project is probably more suitable for the same lovers of solitude.
Q: What is it that you hope people get from listening to your music?
A: I hope they find some comfort and inspiration. Negative emotions, sadness, grief, pain also need to be lived through, and not rejected. I think that all this helps to better know yourself and your boundaries of
melancholy, the depth of sorrow, learn empathy and feel less lonely in a difficult period of life.
Q: For you, is there a distinction between writing song lyrics and writing poetry? Or are they one in the same?
A: My songs often don’t have a chorus or clear lines of verses. So for me there is no difference. I think it’s more important to put your heart into it and be sincere.
Q: Have you gotten good feedback so far on the singles you’ve released?
A: Yes, and I’m very grateful to everyone for the response and comments. Perhaps my first single “I’m numb in my grief” gained special love from my listeners. This is a very personal song and I’m pleased that it was so warmly receireceived.
Q: Does the album release date, November 19th, have some sort of significance to you? Or is it just the day that was chosen?
A: This date was not chosen randomly. Every year my new album comes out on November 19th. It's my birthday and my unique way of summing up the days gone by through music and poetry.
Q: What platforms are you on?
You can follow me on Instagram (@mourneress), boosty (nataliadrepina), Patreon (nataliadrepina),
vk.com (mourneress), Youtube (nataliadrepina), Spotify and a bunch of streaming platforms.
Q: What message do you have for the people who read this?
A: Turn your pain and sadness into art. And thanks to my listeners for supporting my project.
Q: If you were a salad, what dressing would it have?
A: Undoubtedly only vegetable ingredients: arugula, lettuce, basil, purslane, lovage, thyme, chili, tomatoes, celery, avocado, some pine nuts, seed mix and olive oil with lemon juice.