Snapshot #5: David Seth Moltz, D.S. & Durga

(VV) Where did you grow up?

(DSM) Swampscott, MA 

(VV) Can you share a childhood olfactive memory? 

(DSM) I lived right by the ocean.  Wild beach rose grew everywhere in the summer.

(VV) Do you have any daily rituals? 

(DSM) Meditation. Making tea in the morning.

(VV) How does being a perfumer influence your everyday life? 

(DSM) I pay more attention to smells through out the day.  I can smell trouble from afar.

(VV) Do you think it’s better to be a perfumer today, in the 21^st Century compared to (say) the early 20^th Century? 

(DSM) Yes.  There are more materials to use, & more freedom to make bizarre scents.

(VV)  What raw materials are on your mind at the moment, and why? 

(DSM) Orris root, Indonesian Vetyver - two ingredients in a scent I'm working on.

(VV) Are you comfortable with all the attention you-the Nose and the line has received? 

(DSM) Yes.  I don't use the term nose - as I think that's for the people who went to perfume school.  We have been blessed with great fans & people who are really interested in perfume.

(VV) Can you explain Kavi’s role related to D.S. & Durga? 

(DSM) She does all of our designs.  She evaluates all the scents.  And she runs 1/2 of the business.

(VV) Can you talk about your updated packaging and web design, specifically talk about your visual sources? 

(DSM) We use a lot of old records & outdated manuals for our images that conjure up the people & places where our scents exist.

(VV) I find it very interesting that your website defines your fragrances as feminine and masculine, especially when there is such a strong push for shared fragrances in the industry, Can you talk a about this? 

(DSM) I understand all scents are unisex in reality, but I like to work with in the classic framework of perfume.  The freedom to wear what you want is a personal decision. 

(VV)  More and more I feel the general population is becoming more aware of their relationship to olfaction and how it can be both positive and pivotal in its power to influence who we are. Besides making perfume, are there any other ways you would like to influence the olfactive world? 

(DSM) I don't think people set out to influence something.  They just make what they make & if it inspires other people that's a bonus.

(VV) Any Gallery or Museum that you favor? Have you been to any shows lately? 

(DSM) I love the MET.  I have a one year old.  Don't get out much!

(VV) What do you like about living/working in Brooklyn? Do you see yourself as part of local artisan movement that’s happening here? 

(DSM) Brooklyn is a great place to be.  We love mixing with all the people making great things. There is much to be inspired by here.

(VV) Will you be traveling this summer or anytime soon? If so, what is the one thing you will not leave home without? What book and fragrance will you travel with? 

(DSM) We have been to 3 weddings already, & are planning a retreat to Nantucket in August.  Can't leave without swim trunks.  I always read Wodehouse on vacation.

(VV) Will you share some of the fragrances that you wear that aren’t your creations? 

(DSM) I usually am wearing tests of new stuffs honestly.  I rarely get to wear anything else.  I wear a co-distilation of sandalwood with gardenia sometimes, or one with rose sometimes if not testing things.