Who or what is MK-34179, and what is this entity's connection to the music of Cacophony?

Vaclav: MK-34179 is an alien being, neither male nor female, from Mercury. It is a messenger unit, and MK-34179 is what its name translates to in human language. MK-34179 is a mysterious being that lives in the lush jungles of Central America where its ship crashed. MK forms all its beats and patterns using Mercurian technology. MK then renders these strings of mass information and transmissions to its home planet into human numbers, which it then hands to me, and I place the sounds and samples in place of the numbers. Since the earth has an atmosphere not compatible with MK, I play all its live shows, plus there's no way we could bring MK's gear! The CIA and Feds would be all over that and capture MK for autopsies.

What is the inspiration behind the story of MK-34179 and the idea of doing a concept album based on an extra-terrestrial crash landing? Will you continue the story on future recordings?

Vaclav: Through yoga and meditation, my ajna chakra began receiving messages of distress and anger. One day I just woke up and felt angry and energetic like I hadn't felt in years, so I began writing. MK-34179 was telepathically sending me messages about the crash. In the next release, we are going to include a comic book with the whole story illustrated. I have no idea beyond that; it's all up to MK.

Between some of the sound effects and the cover art, it seems like you're a pretty big fan of old-school video games. What are your favorites?

Vaclav: I was raised on Space Invaders back when you had to first load the operating system into the computer from a 5.25-inch floppy, then load the program. It was actually pure coincidence that German from Verdilak chose that for the art. Maybe MK was contacting him, too. My favorites are old-school Nintendo, like ExciteBike, Balloon Fight, and Duck Hunt. These days, I can't get into video games. They are too involved, and if I'm gonna fuck up my vision more, it's going to be staring at a screen to write a track.

You've also released music under the names Vaclav and Lathander. For those unfamiliar with your work, can you describe your other projects and how they tie in with what you're doing with Cacophony?

Vaclav: Lathander was a black metal band started in 1996 and ended in mid '99 that I played guitar and sang in. That was actually how I started programming drums and getting into keyboards. We use to get pretty cut up and bloody when we played. After that broke up, I went solo and was lazy, so I just used my name, Vaclav. That project is more electronic and experimental and is constantly changing in style and sound. It's basically what I've been working as up until now. The only way those projects are related to Cacophony is that I'm in them. Cacophony is all MK-34179; I just bring it to the masses for MK. I am actually getting ready to play as Paroxysm, my drum 'n' bass and breakcore project, until further notice from MK.

What made you decide to create a new project to explore your interests in gabber and power noise, rather than incorporating it into your Vaclav releases?

Vaclav: Actually, my older Vaclav stuff was more along those lines. I've worked under that name for seven years now. I rarely play or publish my music, so it's been kind of a Los Angeles secret up until recently. If you were lucky enough to have caught one of my biannual shows, you got to hear what I was up to. Over the years, it morphed and became so eclectic I wouldn't get booked in the same scene for too long. I bounced around from industrial to IDM to drum 'n' bass and back around again, always experimenting with sound, making people go, 'Huh?' Lately, it seems all the musical scenes are bleeding over, so I'm finally getting more appreciation. Shit, I mean come on, even vacuum cleaner commercials have breakbeats in them now.

What's your opinion of the current rhythmic noise scene? Do you have any favorite artists in the scene right now? What albums are you listening to lately?

Vaclav: I don't have one on any scene, really. I try to avoid them all together and stick to the music. I really don't listen to much noise or industrial these days. The few noise bands I do really enjoy in that scene would have to be Victo Ecret, W.A.S.T.E., Synapscape, and Winterkälte. Anything off the labels Nentech or Sistinas is really good, especially Sysex. Lately I've been listening to anything non-electronic or dance-oriented, because that's all I hear in the studio all day. Stuff like trip-hop or jazz, and I've even been going back to my punk and metal roots. Black metal!

You've stated that your next project will be a concept album based on the signs of the Zodiac. Can you give us a hint as to what style this will be? Will this be released under the name Cacophony? Do you have any other plans you can let us in on?

Vaclav: The Zodiac album is going to have a song for each sign based on my research of the occult and astrology. It will be released under 'Vaclav' as possibly my last electronic album under that name, so I'm taking my time with it. Vaclav is my real name, so it's too personal, you know? I will probably save it for film scores and my classical compositions. Plus, I work with a ton of other bands and have many other electronic projects, so I guarantee it wont be the last time you hear the name. Right now, my label Nentech is about to launch its first Web site. For the first time ever, the entire Nentech catalog will be made available to the public. It will feature all our artists, as well as artists from Sistinas and the Gaia Project labels. So far, about 20 releases in all musical styles, ready for your enjoyment and stimulation. Look for it in early 2007.