1 I haven't seen interviews with DM so far, so I start this very interview with a bunch of pretty typical questions. OK? Could you tell me a bit about yourself? Who is Johan Levin?

- I'm from Sweden, I was born in 1970 and I grew up in Linkoping, in the province of Ostergotland. I moved to Mjolby in 1988 and I live here since with my girlfriend and three dogs. Right now I'm studying Cultural Science at the University of Linkoping and I've been doing that for the past three and a half years. I'm interested in history, medieval art and architechture, calligraphy and archeology among others. In the summertime I work as an archeologist assistant at various excavations in this part of the country. I've been creating electronic music since 1986 when I bought my first synthesizer. My friends usually descibe me as a calm, thoughtfull and rather humorous person - and I can pretty much agree on that.

2 Do you have musical education or you are self-taught? As a rule industrial/ underground musicians expand limits of contemporary music, sometimes they break rules and traditions: do they still need musical education for their Art?

- No I don't belive you need any musical education at all to create good music. Novelty can be a wonderful thing if you start out with an open mind, and without prejudice or restrain. On the other hand it's easier to break rules and traditions if you're familiar with them - so it can also be of value to have some insight or education. The problem as I see it is that once you've accuired an education it becomes almost impossible to violate, or to act contradictory towards it. It becomes a blindfold. I'm at no loss from not having a musical education, I belive in experience and intuition.

3 When have you started your first musical experiments? Was it industrial or more "typical" music?

- I joined my first band in 1986 and we played music that is best described as EBM is suppose. We were influenced by DAF, Skinny Puppy, Cabaret Voltaire, SPK and such. You could say it was quite typical at the time, (and there are still a lot of swedish band in that particular vein). I've always had a weak spot for noisy stuff and I experimented early with industrial elements in the music. Unfortunately my fellow musicians were into more traditional electronic so we terminated the band after about two years due to musical disagreements.

4 Do you remember when and how you've been introduced to industrial music? Do you remember the first industrial recordings you bought?

- As I mentioned before I descovered Einsturzende Neubaten, SPK and Cabaret Voltaire quite early, so I think my first 'industrial' record must have been 'Kollaps' or something similar. I can't recall exactly how I was introduced to it though, friends I reckon. It was Peter Andersson (Raison d?etre) who introduced me to Cold Meat Industry however.

5 And do you listen to ambient/ industrial these days? If so, could you name albums you've been listening to lately?

- I don't buy many albums, like a handful a year or something like that. And of course I pick up most of the stuff released by CMI as well. Hell, I think like half of my CD collection is CMI and related material� Fortunately I have friends who are notorious collectors and completists so I get to hear quite a lot anyway. Lately I've been listening to Sola Translatio (Ad Infinitum) and Voice Of Eye (Transmigration). Not exactly new but still very good.

6 Let's talk about DM. When and how you have started the project? Was this decision a spontaneous one or it was something that just had to happen one day?

- I started up this project in early 1993, simply because I had a bunch of songs ready that didn't fit in anywhere else. So I thought I might just as well do a few tapes and sell them myself, I didn't even intend to send them to a label or something.

7 Could you talk a bit about first recordings of DM? How much they differ from the debut CD?

- Most of the early recordings are represented on the first three tapes. Compared to the first CD the sound quality is rather poor since I used more basic equipment, otherwise the style is the same. A few tracks taken from the tapes appear on 'Songs�' in remixed versions. Apart from that the old tracks are usually a bit more melodic and percussion-orientated.

8 I know that before Songs Over Ruins you have released 3 tape albums. Anything interesting we missed on those tapes? Please tell me a bit about those albums...

- See the above�

9 I was introduced to DM music through Songs Over Ruins. I believe the album is one of truly classical CMI releases. What do you think about CMI64 today, almost 5 years after it's releasing?

- It's CMI.56 actually� and well, I still like it. There are a few things I wish I'd done differently, but that's just minor details. I think the album captures much of the CMI spirit.

10 Do you listen to your own music?

- I do, from time to time. Of couse it can be problematic to listen to music that you know inside and out. Every timbre, structure, the slightest click is so familiar that you tend to be oblivious to the whole. On the other hand it happens that you hear new elements in the music, and that you rediscover older material - wich is truly inspiring and comforting.

11 Deadbeat was released not long ago... what took you so long to record the second album? You've decided to take a vocation? Lack of inspiration? Anything else?

- I sent the Deadbeat master to CMI in january 2000, so it had been stashed away in Roger Karmaniks dusty vaults for well over a year untill it was finally released in march 2001. I had actually been recording regularly since the release of 'Songs over Ruins', but the process was interrupted when we relocated our studio and built a new one from scratch. I never suffer from lack of inspiration, only from lack of time and studio access.

12 Deadbeat differs from SOR dramatically... It's noisier. I'm pretty sure lots of your fans miss medieval atmosphere and bells like those on the debut album. What has inspired you on writing the second opus?

- I'm confident that people will recognize the moods and atmospheres, although the sound is a little different compared to SOR. I don't want to repeat myself too much, even if that means that I may scare off some fans who just like a particular element in the music, like bells or whatever.

13 What is the main difference between Songs: and Deadbeat from your point of view? And how do you see progression between these albums?

- Deadbeat is less static to begin with. I agree that it's a bit on the noisy side, but I think that's because I set out to make a darker album in the first place. I also wanted it to be rythmic, but without the'acoustic' drums that I used on 'Songs�' The two albums are different in these aspects, but as a whole I think they are similar regarding the mood and style. It feels like a logical progression to me.

14 How do you write your music? Is this something that comes out naturally or you need specific mood, state of mind, emotions, alcohol and drugs :) ?

- I don't do drugs so I wouldn't know, but alcohol and composing is a rather bad combination I my experience. As long as you're drunk you think that it sounds great, but when you hear what you've done in a sober condition it usually stinks. Maybe it works for some people but not for me it doesn't. I have to be focused and reasonably concentrated in order to create music for Desiderii Marginis. It is quite fun to perform after a few beers I must admit, but the process of writing in the first place requires that I'm straight. Otherwise I can't seem to get things done properly.

15 The music of DM is something that has a mark of it's creator or you try to avoid to involve personal matters in the final "product" which is prepared for consuming by other people? In other words, do you write music for yourself or you remember even during music creating that people from outside would hear it?

- It's completely a matter of writing for my own satisfaction. I always have, and always will, write what I like to hear myself. I'm not oblivious to the fact that nowdays other people might care about what I do, but that changes nothing regarding my way of creating. I don't like the idea of 'consuming' music. To me consuming means devouring and then disposing of something, but music shouldn't be disposed of. Sure, you can outgrow certain music, or find something new that you prefer, but there's always something new to discover if you listen closely, no matter how old the music. The music of your choice should be savoured like a fine whisky, not consumed like a loaf of bread.

16 You have released your debut album 5 years ago. The new one came out in 2001. Technology has changed, hardware progressed dramatically, software and computers became extremely common... Do all those changes influence your music someway or technological miracles do not affect the creativity?

- The level of technology have no impact on my creativity at all. I'm just as happy making music with a basic tape-recorder and a distorsion pedal as I am about tweaking away in Wavelab or with a sampler in a well equipped studio. Sure, it's nice to be able to make a good quality recording, and it's a relief to have reliable and professional hardware - and above all, it saves a lot of time and money. (Both of wich I'm hopelessly short of�)

17 Today everybody can afford to buy computer with musical software. Printing of CDs, vinyl's and booklets is pretty affordable as well. May be we all experience the sacred dream of humanity - everybody can become a musician... as well as an artist, photographer, director... at the same time I don't see much difference between amount of interesting recordings on the market today and 5 years ago... Quantity of CDs impressing, their quality is depressing... It looks like total artistic freedom for everybody is unnecessary and even dangerous... What do you think about that?

I'd hardly describe artistic freedom as being unnecessary for those who exercise it. What is unnecessary for you might be essential to someone else. If people enjoy making music that's fine, it's the well being of the person creating it that matters. Neither would I consider it dangerous in any aspect. It's sad that a lot of good bands pass unnoticed simply because they have a hard time reaching a potential audience. The cheer amount of music available (or any other expressions of art for that matter) makes it difficult to sort out what's interesting and what's not. There's so much going on outside the established channels that it's really impossible to keep track of it all. Consequently there's also a huge amount of crap competing for your attention, and a never ending flow of ads, flyers, mails, newsletters and so forth.

18 Your title "Songs Over Ruins" could be a prophetic one... I hardly see any hope for contemporary world... wars pop out like mushrooms after rain... anthrax... terror acts with hard to count victims... extremely low level of moral and etc.... What do you think about the days you are doomed to witness? Many artists just don't care about the rest of the world and live in their own universe... What about you?

- Well, what can I say� I feel lycky in spite of all the misery I witness. I suppose it's because I don't live in the eye of misery myself. I definitely can't say that I live in some fabricated universe of my own. I very much live in reality, and to the best of my ability I keep myself informed on what is going on around the world. In a longer perspective I don't see any possibility for humanity to exist on this planet - but that doesn't have to be a bad thing. I'm sure there will be life on earth in some form or another long after we're gone. Life itself is important, humanity is not. Maybe something better will come eventually, but until then we'll have to make the best of what we've got.

19 I see today's situation as a way to suicide of humanity... actually, this issue of Stigmata is dedicated to theme "Is suicide a solution?" What do you think about suicide? It's one of the main problems of contemporary society...

-Is it really? I'd say that famine, war, corruption, poverty, pollution, unemployment, drugs, violation of human rights and many other problems are of far greater importance than suicide. Suicide is perhaps of interest for the individual and his friends and relatives, no more, no less. Regarding 'suicide as a solution' - A solution to what? To despair or loneliness? Well how can we be sure that we're not even more alone, ignored or miserable when dead and buried? We simply can't know that for a fact. If you make the final decision to take your own life you are at the same time renouncing your only certain possibilties to alter things. The problems themselves don't disappear, it's simply you disappearing from the problems.

20 You know what is interesting... Liberal countries like USA or Sweden declare human rights and freedoms for their citizens, at the same time suicide rates in these countries increase with every year... But totalitarian countries like those with Muslim population hardly know about suicide... Nonsense? Any opinions about that?

- Both religion and dictatorship provides people with dogmatic answers. Religious authorities may declare that it is a sin to take your own life, as is the case with Islam I recall. A totalitarian state may very well deny the fact that people commit suicide at all, or make life hard for the relatives of those who do kill themselves. And a great many countries combine the two ways of rule. It's understandable that liberal secular countries suffer from a great number of suicides, understandable but sad i might add. If there's noone there to deliver answers or motivation, and you're left to your own devices, it's easy to fall into despair. Especially if you're left in an exposed position, like poverty, loneliness or alienation. If noone cares about you - you care for noone, including yourself. Anyway, I wouldn't trade a liberal rule (with an ever so high rate of suicides) for a totalitarian rule were the government might kill you instead.

21 What do you think about legalization of euthanasia? Is that possible in Sweden?

- I'm not sure on this but I belive that some kind of 'passive' euthanasia is permitted if the patient is beyond recovery. Like you stop life-supporting treatments and let the patient die by himself. Active euthanasia, like giving someone an overdose of morfine, is not legal however. Now, what do I think about it? Well, there are many aspects to concider on this issue. There's the doctor's 'Hippocratic oath' to save lives, not take them. And then there's the individuals right to decide for himself what to do with his life. If the hospitals' recources were unlimited there would hardly be a problem, but as we all know they aren't. So if were uncomfortable with having to choose wich patient to save and wich to sacrifice, then we'd better make sure there are enough recources. If a person is in such severe pain that he or she wants to die rather than live on, who can really deny them that option? In theory they could jump out the window if they so desired, but usually the're too weakened by their disease to do it.

22 Well, I don't want to finish this interview with answers about scary things... let's come back to the music. Do you plan to continue to write music in future? Any plans for DM?

- Many. Right now I'm in the middle of recording a new album entitled 'Strife'. This new material is very good in my own oppinion, and quite terrifying in it's desolate beauty. Creepy stuff. It should be finished sometime around Christmas if all goes well. I have no idea how soon it can be released, but Roger Karmanik promised that the next album shouldn't take as long as Deadbeat, so hopefully in 2002 at least. I have been in touch with a some people arranging live performances as well, so I'll be playing live on a few occasions next year, wich I very much look forward to. (Nothing confirmed yet though) And the there's a few compilations in the pipe as well, 'Death Odors III' (Slaughter Productions), 'The Last Bleak Days' (Bleak Records) and of course the much awaited for CMI.100 DVD(!). All of these will contain exclusive Desiderii Marginis tracks. I'm also remixing my old tapes, and hopefully something will turn up this year�