Ferry, Edward, Tobias and Taro are Celestial Bodies, a band that in musician, artist and video director Ferry Gouw’s words: “Is the first to have no manifesto, no financial ambition, no real direction.” Even with such a solid, concrete mantra for world domination, their debut single Vanity, a humble 7” put out on Home. Under. Ground. (the record label born out of the underground party of the same name) is an amazingly broody, dreamy and accomplished slice of dark pop. The last time Gouw was interviewed for Dazed he’d just completed the 80‘s-indebted, twisted G.I. Joe animations for Major Lazer and Diplo’s Free Gucci (Mane) tee, so this time it’s an extended conversation about music, art and enlightenment in a digital world.  

Dazed Digital: For someone who designs visuals for other bands and labels, what’s Celestial Bodies’s aesthetic?
Ferry Gouw: Celestial Bodies is the only project where I’m allowed to have no real clear vision of what anything is. I can go with ideas on a whim, or a gut feeling and when it's done it doesn't matter if I didn't know why it ended up like it did. Paradoxically this too becomes an aesthetic in itself.

DD: What’s your favourite line from Vanity?
Ferry Gouw: “Black and alive.” It sounds x-rated and stupid.

DD: What new projects are the band working?
Ferry Gouw: We've recorded some songs hopefully for an EP. We're talking to some people about putting them out at some point. Ed just bought a risograph machine, hopefully that'll give us an excuse to play around with doing more print projects, and maybe link that up to some web-based whatever. I'm still not sure what's what. Video work... Celestial Bodies stuff, just did the new Lightspeed Champion video, more Major Lazer hilarity (maybe TV show) and some stuff that are not set in stone. I'm not really that desirable.

DD: With your comic book background do you feel a want to recreate that magic of tangible, physical objects?
Ferry Gouw: I'm glad you asked. I've been playing with this: I think the idea of physicality is quite passe. The only reason ideologies are differing and confrontations are occurring is because different subjective ideas exist in a single objective physical world. I think real beauty, or utopia, or enlightenment lies in a purely non-physical world, where all epistemological system is true, at the same time. Our only flaw is that we're physical beings. So, in a roundabout way, the answer is no.