In this interview, we had the opportunity to speak with GregFilth, a one-man band project that emerged from the unique fusion of music and tabletop role-playing games, particularly Dungeons and Dragons. GregFilth shared how his experience as a Dungeon Master in "The Curse of the Vile Divine" campaign inspired him to create music.
Can you take us back to the beginning of your musical journey and share how your experience as Dungeon Master in "The Curse of the Vile Divine" campaign inspired you to create music?
Well the curse of the vile divine was a homebrew campaign based in the world of filthenburg, a swampy southern coastal town off the black ocean.
The first mission of the campaign was to find the evil magician enki who needed to find 3 elves and rip out there organs to perform a ritual, ultimately enki found some elves and robbed them of their organs and summoned an evil elder god that followed the players throughout the campaign to transform them into elder beast slaves. There were dark tones to the story, misery and struggles as the players evolved through the campaign. I felt that it needed dark music to fit the moment. I started with making drum beats when battles started. In down time there was ambient atmospheric music I made, like a calming safe mood to break the intensity. With each chapter I wrote every down and made a song about it. Which evolved into focusing more on making music after the campaign ended because I had so much written material to build songs with.
How did you go about translating the stories and experiences from your Dungeons and Dragons campaign into songs? What was your creative process like?
I started with a chapter like one example was a boss map where there were old rotting hardwood and broken ceramic all over the place. At the end of the room was the flooring slayer boss. He threw saws and had an air nailer gun as weapons. Used extension cords as a lasso to attack the players. The players found that the knees of the flooring slayer was his only weakness so they beat him that way. After that chapter ended I made a song called “the flooring installers nightmare” about that chapter. As well off my new survival horror album I included an old song about the Flooring Slayer himself. I basically took the best parts of the d&d campaign and formed songs about the most eventful moments.
With the COVID-19 pandemic affecting your plans for the next campaign, what made you decide to transition from being a Dungeon Master to starting a one-man band project, GregFilth?
Well when COVID started we joked it off because we were all resident evil fans among the group of players, until it hit Arkansas then one player got sick and another got too paranoid to show up and play so we just put the campaign on hold. I faked being sick at one point to give myself a wonderful two weeks off giving me loads of time to work on the campaign. As I was working on the campaign building towers, minis, maps and stories I decided to add some guitar into the battle drums, some ghostly screams into the ambient songs. Over time I realized I wanted to end the campaign after the finale and have my next focus on the music more than building a dungeons and dragons campaign. All the musical work turned into the first ever GregFilth demo album. I felt that since I was the only one doing all the work and crafting to the dungeons and dragons campaign that I might as well do all the work in the band too. Becoming a one man band.
Could you tell us more about the six albums you've released since starting GregFilth? How do they reflect the world and stories of your Dungeons and Dragons campaigns?
Well the first 3 albums are mainly focused from the dungeons and dragons campaign then after that I had some life changing events, some were amazing, some were traumatizing, some were absolutely horrible events in my life. I decided to veer away from the dungeons and dragons theme to more of what’s going on in my life. I went through a heavy depression through catastrophic events and my music made a turn. Right around when the song chaotic evil came out that’s when I felt that I was fueling my music through my depression, trauma and anger. My emotions and life journey changed the overall theme of the band to more of a dsbm/ gloom/ sorrow type resulting in more eviler music. I loved it because I knew I could go deeper into the rabbit hole and make my music more evil with an 8 string guitar and a 6 string bass that I started using than a regular 6 string guitar.
Being featured on a podcast episode must have been an exciting experience. Can you share the details of that opportunity and how it impacted your musical journey?
Yes it definitely was a fun exciting moment being on crashcast podcast. I wore corpse paint and requested the episode to be in black and white to fit the theme of the dark depressive theme of where the direction of my band was going.
I talked about several different topics and themes that me and Cory definitely vibed with, a lot of laughs and horror stories from my life.
It definitely got a massive reach of new fans coming in from the Little Rock Arkansas area as well as bands from the Little Rock scene reaching out to me and bands from different countries reaching out.
Landing a place on Rotting Sun Records is a significant achievement. Can you discuss how this record deal came about and what it means for your future as an artist?
Well from what I know Rotting Sun Records started from a band called End. It was excellent black metal that hit all the right notes and tones. Then End changed its name to without the sky. Then somehow in between that Rotting Sun Records emerged, brand new, looking for bands for the new label. I immediately reached out and i was accepted on the label. It’s my proudest moment in my band. Honestly I never thought I’d get on a podcast or even land a spot on such an amazing record label. The owner is a great friend and a powerful ally on bringing up a legendary trail of success. So far RSR has made GregFilth shirts, CD’s, Cassettes, And Stickers.
We are discussing alot of powerful long term ideas constantly and running ideas of my new albums to him. It’s a great partnership and I couldn’t be happier in the situation I’m in with RSR.
As a one man band I do the drums, bass, rhythm and lead guitar, vocals, mixing, production, all artwork and logos.
I take it day by day. Like example I’d do the drums one day then add guitar then bass then vocals and mix the song for a few weeks until I feel that it’s ready. The quality isn’t important to me because I still want to have the black metal aesthetic of the sound. I’m able to play and record music then mix the music on my phone when I’m out and about. Even sometimes I’ll recording vocals while I’m driving to get that shitty black metal vocal tone too.
Do you play multiple instruments or use technology to create a full sound?I don’t use any drums machines or anything that I haven’t made into my music because I prefer to have my music to sound as raw and rage fueled as possible. Like true GregFilth coming from the core of my soul. Letting fans and musicians alike know my suffering and pain through the sounds in my music.
Are there any particular Dungeons and Dragons moments or characters that have had a significant influence on your music? If so, could you share some examples?
Well when I started the campaign I went as the code name Dungeon Master GregFilth for the entire campaign. It kinda stuck with me then I looked up that it wasn’t a band name yet so I decided to claim it as my own.
Can you describe the overall genre or style of music that you create as GregFilth? How would you define your sound?
As the style and genre for GregFilth I’m not 100% sure because I’ve made doom, black metal, atmospheric black metal, dsbm, ambient synth, electronic music, raw sludge , I did land a spot on the metal archives and I was labeled as blackened Sludge Drone which sounds fitting because every song I make isn’t true black metal but something that comes from my core so I can’t really place a name for an exact genre.
Has your experience as a Dungeon Master in D&D influenced your songwriting techniques or storytelling approach in any way? If yes, could you elaborate?
Yes because as a dungeon master you have to build a story, build characters, environments, back it up with structure etc. which I still include in my music. I do like structure in my music, I can’t make a song without a theme or story so I still in a way make music as I would as a dungeon master.
How do you envision the future of GregFilth? Are there any specific goals or projects you have in mind for the coming years?
I’m not sure on the future of GregFilth. I do strongly believe in time I’ll be able to gather some members do perform certain instruments to become a full live band, like having fake blood splatter onto the crowd, wearing full corpse paint every show, very theatrical each performance. I have a low key dream of finding a video game developer to use my music in a game with the help of Rotting Sun Records by my side to make it happen. But currently being the only one working in my home paying all the bills and working 6-7 days a week limits how much I can go out. Until my son is a bit older then I’d be able to do live shows.
Finally, do you have any advice or words of wisdom for aspiring musicians or fellow D&D enthusiasts who may be inspired by your unique fusion of music and tabletop role-playing games?
For advice on future one man bands, don’t let anyone ever make you feel alone or bad about the music you make that comes from your heart. Your music is a part of you. Don’t change who you are for anybody. Keep going, you’ll fuck up a lot but you’ll learn as you go. It’s all about finding who you are as a musician. Reach out to folks, even if it’s half way across the world there will always be someone who loves your music.
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