Cradle of Filth: Dani Filth’s dark side…
Christopher Porter of Washington Post Express recently conducted an interview with vocalist Dani "Filth" Davey of British extreme metallers Cradle of Filth. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.
Washington Post Express: Have you always been interested in the dark side?
Filth: I grew up in an area — well, I still live in the area known as the Witch County — but I used to live in old village, and one of the old houses we used to live in was where Damien in "The Omen", which they put on every Thursday, and it just progressed from there on in. But I was a normal teenager: smoking, drinking, womanizing. But I managed to keep a healthy balance between being a naughty boy and getting my math work done.
Washington Post Express: Did you grow up in a religious household?
Filth: No, although my mother tired to get me confirmed, and went to a Church of England school, and got christened, etc. But religion wasn't a big thing; my parents were down to earth. My grandma is a very devout Christian, but she kind of has this blind spot when it comes to us. We can't do anything wrong, despite obvious flaws like the "Jesus Is A Cunt" shirt. I'm sure she heard of it; she's not stupid. She's all-seeing, my grandmother.
Washington Post Express: Are you religious in any way?
Filth: I take bits from all kinds of things. I've been out to India a lot of times, and I've seen a lot of things, and practiced a lot of things. I take tidbits from everything; a composite religion, really. Each to their own beliefs. I don't adhere to any one belief system. I collect antiquities, so my house is full of religious and demonic kinds of things, like masks, voodoo stuff, Egyptian artifacts, Hindu artists, statues of Kali, busts of Nefertiti, and people like that. A bit of everything.
Washington Post Express: Tell me about your forthcoming book.
Filth: "The Gospel of Filth" is more of a foray into the darkside. It's about horror movies, childhood nightmares, esoteric England, Satanism, witchcraft, femme fatales. And it's all corroborated and substantiated — verified almost, validated. There are contributions of hundreds of different people, like [horror film director] Dario Argento, Clive Barker, Doug Bradley, [horror actress] Ingrid Pitt, Christopher Lee, Ville Valo [HIM], Tom Araya [Slayer], Marilyn Manson, Charlie Manson, [serial killer] Richard Ramirez. It uses Cradle of Filth, with each of our albums as a springboard to discuss other topics. And it was co-written with an occult historian, so what it's come out as is a dark arts bible, which is why it's taken four years to reach completion.
Washington Post Express: Since you engage in the dark arts, do you ever worry about demonic possession?
Filth: I do and I don't. On one hand, a lot of people believe in protection, and other people believe in just absorbing everything and allowing life to take its course. I have a lot of things in my house that are quite questionable — like serial killer art, which was bought quite a long time ago. But my house is a very homey place, filled with antiquities and stuff like that. My wife doesn't work, so it's a nice house that she looks after, and people say they feel comfortable there despite some of the things I have.
