Click Interview with Colossloth: ‘No Rules To Recording Or Playing Music’

Hailing from Leicester (UK) Wooly Woolaston is involved with Colossloth for quite a while now. After having released his first album on the Belgian label Doom Structure (2008) he next released an album on Doom Mantra Records (2009) and one on Dark Meadow Recordings (2011). Things started to get more ‘serious’ when he signed to Cold Spring Records. Colossloth this year released its fourth full length album for the British label. “Promethean Meat” reveals a harder sound driven by harsh rhythmic but still centered around noisy sound treatments. Colossloth never stops evolving in sound and influences while holding on its rough and merciless sound.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: How would you introduce Colossloth to people who aren’t familiar with your work? How would you define yourself as an artist/musician and what characterizes your sonic alter-ego? 

Wooly: I’d introduce Colossloth as a one man Experimental Electronic artist where there are no rules to recording or playing music, I definitely don’t class myself as a musician as I can’t play any instruments as such, my main weapon for recording is a sampler and loop stations.

Q: You’re already active for multiple years now so how do you see the sonic journey and evolution of Colossloth throughout the years? 

Wooly: Yeah I’ve been going for about 18 years, the music has changed massively in that time and that was always the plan, to keep evolving and moving in new directions and not following a formula, I’m really happy with how the music has transformed from the first tracks which were long guitar drones and now somehow it’s evolving into harsh electronics with sections of melody.

Q: Your work has been always centered around ‘noisy’ sound treatments although the newest album “Promethean Meat” indeed reveals an interesting evolution into harder, rhythmic, fields. What have been the main sources of inspiration to write this new work and what kind of album did you’d in mind? 

Wooly: Yeah the new album is the first time I’ve actually used a traditional drum sound, I sampled live drummers and manipulate it into something different and it seems to work. It was a bit of a gamble using drum tracks as I never wanted the music to sound mathematical and calculated but it seems to bring something new to the sound.

Q: “Promethean Meat” is an interesting and intriguing title but what did you try to express here and in which way can it be seen as a metaphor to the world we’re living in? 

Wooly: The title is based on a theory that humankind has reached its highest level of evolving and has now stared to slide backwards  we don’t need to think as much anymore as our phones do it for us, we don’t need to walk anymore as everyone is using electro scooters etc.

Q: What have been the different stages in the creation and production of the album? And can you reveal details about your way of working and eventually criteria you handle to produce your sound? 

Wooly: There is no specific way of working, I create hundreds of samples and loops and then try to make tracks out of them. A lot of the time it doesn’t work but when it does it does, I then take them to my friend Tom’s studio where it all gets recorded properly. It’s a really enjoyable way of working. 

Q: Your country is going through hard and instable political times. What impact does it have on you as citizen and artist (-especially referring to Brexit)? So what brings the future for Colossloth? 

Wooly: Funny enough I’m looking at playing dates in Europe in 2023 and the whole system has changed for me to do such. Our country has been ran by clowns for the last few years and it’s time for a change!