As the dates on posts will show, I have neglected this blog for most of 2012 thus far. I have been doing tons of work behind the scenes at Inner-X-Musick and the new label PANICMACHINE and I have been writing. Here’s a quick rundown of what I scribbled for Dominion Magazine in the first half of this year:
The Valley Of The Shadows And Beyond – An Interview With She Wants Revenge
She Wants Revenge
She Wants Revenge made a big impact with their eponymous debut album just a couple short years after their formation. This kicked off years of hard work, both on the road, and in the studio bringing them to audiences far beyond what a post punk/darkwave act can usually expect to reach. In interviews She Wants Revenge‘s core duo of Justin Warfield and Adam Bravin show very eloquently their love of and passion for music and the artists that inspired them. What grows out of this inspiration is an organic bloom that is very much their own.
Valleyheart is a love letter from She Wants Revenge to San Fernando Valley where they grew up. Not everyone could write so lovingly about the place they came from, so I wonder if this love for their roots is something they arrived at over time after travelling far and wide, or if they had this appreciation for where they came from all along. “Everything that contributed to the artists we are today”, says Adam Bravin, “we learned about while growing up in the San Fernando Valley, it help shaped who we are today. All the music, all the movies, the people, the experiences of youth, they all took place in the San Fernando Valley. We have always been in love with where we’re from and decided it would be amazing if we could make an album that would be an homage to that place and pay our respects to the place that influenced us in so many amazing ways.”
Armed with brooding sawtooth synth bass and just enough reverb to create an expansive sonic space for their songs to unfold, Heretics bring strong songwriting uncommon in witch house. At the same time they deliver songs with an organic, dark atmosphere that is all their own. As flowers will bloom in the cracks of the most desolate parking lot, so does art in the bleakest of times. The aforementioned flower may not be a deliberate protest against the pavement, but it demonstrates eloquently the unstoppable nature of life and creation. Since their inception in 2010 Heretics have seductuve black blooms in the dark light of post-punk, synth pop and witch house. I got the opportunity to ask Heretics’ David Whiting a few questions.
Heretics have been and will continue to find themselves on the bill with many well established and popular acts including Xymox, Method Cell and the upcoming show with She Wants Revenge. I ask what the reception has been like from the audience of very popular acts. “It’s been surprisingly good actually. There’s something intrinsic to audiences in the Goth scene which you don’t get it a lot of other circles, where people are really open-minded to hearing something new.” A good thing to hear, and an encouraging contradiction to the charge of musical conservatism sometime lobbed at the goth scene. “As Heretics is the first music I’ve been involved with which fits into that scene”, David continues “it’s been really nice to have so many people listening to what you’re doing and judging on its own merit.”
Opening up a short release with the entire “I’m mad as hell” speach from the movie Network might be a little excessive, but the tone of defiance it sets is backed up by six high energy tracks that match the sentiment. Tongue, being from the Czech Republic, may not have seen the clip as many times as some of us in the States. Not a day goes by without one of my yank friends posting the clip. We’re mad as hell over here, but we’re taking it…
I grew up in Bergen, Norway and I can attest to their rainy days in Bergen. Many rainy days. It has been said that one day there was a surge of reports of UFO’s over the city. Upon investigation it turned out people had seen the sun showing faintly through the cloud cover. One might not expect that it is an Italian band that goes by this name, but each song would fit very well with the kind of video that has the singer declaiming head up, arms out in pouring rain.
Pwin Teaks And The Children Of The New H – Kosmische Puppen LP
Phantasma Disques
Formerly known as Pwin ▲▲ Teaks, a moniker emblematic of Witch House’s Twin Peaks fetish. Twin Peaks references are manifest in sound and image in many a Phantasma Disques endeavour, but have shown a much wider set of interests over the course of past releases. In their best moments their combination of hazy soundscapes, pulsing delays and spoken word cutups can bring to mind early experiments of Nurse With Wound or Seven From Life, though largely simpler, and easier to digest.
You drop the tab and as you feel the first lift the clockwork elves appear, pour you a drink. They chatter playfully and wind up the music box. You hear a soothing voice you can’t quite understand and then the clockwork elves seize you and open up your third eye with a long, narrow dagger. Your surroundings once so familiar that you no longer noticed any part in detail is now populated with figures of haunting and haunted glamour. Mannequins seem to be sentient and eyes of living people betray no conscious thought. There is something terrible lurking beyond vision and sound. This thing that can not be described is not a beast out of Lovecraft, nor is it the usual petty and violent criminal figures of fear. The journey into the world of Inverted Triangle III has begun.
Here is what some of those who have contributed to our fundraiser campaign have said about this project:
“Modern Mythology’s work is way too important to not support. We need this discourse. Rock on guys!”
“You’re doing good work; I’m proud to support that.”
“Myth is something that even our technological, interdependent and global society cannot escape. Myth can illuminate and unveil aspects about ourselves and where we are going, where we have come from. Myth, in short, is self-knowing. As an essential dimension of human experience, it would behoove us to try to contextualize myth—or more appropriately see how myth contextualizes—the modern age.”
“You rock so hard, rocks are jello in your very presence. Neutron stars are tied neck and neck in the races. Your stuph is dense, and heavy. Keep it up. Way up.”
9 days left! We are presently running an ongoing tweet-a-thon under #myth on twitter. Listen in or join the discussion.
Even a donation of $1 gets you a free eBook and helps to keep us going.
[Check out some of the books, albums, and soon movies produced by Mythos Media and our various media partners.]
Just out, an interview with me in Aftermath Magazine #1 covering Choronzon, Veil of Thorns, Foolish People, Strange Factories, art and the underground. Read on for interviews with: Dean Francis, Killjoy Desade, Kaylee Williams (no relation…), Timothy Pope, Laz and Ivy Asphyxia.
All brought to us by the good folks at Katzenjammer Records.
DEAN FRANCIS – DIRECTOR – ROAD TRAIN (AKA ROAD KILL)
KILLJOY DESADE – MUSICIAN / HORROR ENTHUSIAST – NECROPHAGIA
KAYLEE WILLIAMS – ACTRESS – SLICES OF LIFE, ZOMBIE BABIES, THE LASHMAN ++
TIMOTHY POPE – MUSICIAN – THE AMENTA
P EMERSON WILLIAMS – MUSICIAN / ARTIST – CHORONZON
LAZ – TATTOO ARTIST – SLEEVEMASTERS SYDNEY AUSTRALIA
IVY ASPHYXIA – BUSINESS OWNER / MODEL – ASPHYXIA CORSETRY
A conversation with Louis DeWray On Behalf of NOSFERATU
When one speaks of bands representing capital G goth, no better example can be found than Nosferatu. With this, that and the other hyphenated fashion take on goth coming and going in the over two decades of the band’s existence they never compromised their fundamental dark and romantic style. Their fans remain loyal and in return Nosferatu are no less loyal to their audience and to the edifice of dark art they have built. That ‘Wonderland’, their latest album shot to the top spot of the dark wave charts on Amazon UK attests to the depth of this symbiotic relationship.
A week after a triumphant performance at WGT Nosferatu front man Louis DeWray was viciously assaulted, bringing up ugly memories of the attack on Sophie Lancaster. «As you may have read, I’ve had a somewhat difficult week…» is how he put it to me. With characteristic kindness and strength of character he shared his thoughts on Nosferatu’s long awaited return, the goth scene and hipsters among other things just a few days after the attack. Louts, thugs and reactionaries notwithstanding, Louis DeWray shows that Nosferatu and goths are here to stay. We pull together in support during hard times, just as we do under happier circumstances.The attack has made every member of Nosferatu all the more determined to play a great gig at DV8 (UK) and Castle Party (Poland) in a week’s time. “Luckily my spirit is stronger than my jaw!” Louis DeWray said to me. “It was a sad irony that at least one of us was wearing a ‘Sophie’ wristband when we were attacked…”
John Zewizz speaks on SHEMHAMPHORASH, living in America, the 10 year hiatus, writing musick now, the Vinyl On Demand box set, the Inner-X-Musick Studio, Eroticism, and Reptiles, Cats, Women, the Internet, the 30 year anthology “Sacrifice”, the SLEEPCHAMBER sound, and new Inner-X artist artists.
This Episode is decidedly NOT work safe. Best viewed with a glass of absinthe in the comfort of your rumpus room/dungeon.
The John Zewizz Radio Show – Hosted by the infamous John Zewizz. Each show will include information on upcoming SLEEPCHAMBER events, programming, and new releases. You can expect to hear lots of unreleased material as well!
Over the last two years P. Emerson Williams has been extremely busy. His art work has been seen on the front cover of SLEEPCHAMBER‘S return to action release “Socery, Spellls, and Serpent Charms“, as well as the Zewizz tribute releases “That’s Romance” (both part 1 and 2). He is heavily involved with Foolish People.org (with the current “The Abattoir Pages” production as well as the production “Cirxus” from earlier this year). Not to mention various other cover art project, book cover projects, creating musick with various bands, AS well as writing musick for his own projects -Veil Of Thorns, Choronzon, and Kkoagulaa - and that’s just the tip of the iceburg.
October see’s the release of two new CD’s by Williams project Veil Of Thorns on Inner-X-Musick. Impossible to categorize, Veil Of Thorns began as a Goth band in the early 90′s club scene in Boston but steadily moved toward a more eclectic sound. Not afraid to use any influence – you will hear styling’s of goth, hip hop, industrial, classical, and just about the whole kitchen sink.
TOS: I imagine you are thrilled to be part of historic Inner-X-Musick. You were part of the Boston scene. You have been booked by John Zewizz for shows… It must in some ways seem like a natural progression. VOT: Being part of Inner-X-Musick is more than I could have hoped for. I can’t imagine a better fit. With most labels, the challenge for me is to rein ideas in to palatable song forms, but with Inner-X, the challenge is to live up to the long history of innovation, experimentation and forward thinking of the label and John Zewizz. This is a much more exciting and fruitful kind of challenge than the former kind which I look forward to taking on.
TOS: Veil Of Thorns (part 1 I shall call it) 1991 to 1994 saw you work with a few different collaborators before settling upon Chris McClain. Good memories?
VOT: Some amazing times were had, for sure. the first lineup started with just me and a jazz drummer (Sean Savoie) but by the time it was filled out with a bass player (Catherine Chenoweth) and second guitarist, (the late, great Jarrett Laitinen) that drummer was off to a new adventure in Japan. If he had stayed, the first demo may have sounded more like Cognitive Dissonance than what we ended up with for our first two demos.
At that time, Catherine booked all our gigs, which with her many biker friends brought us to biker bars as well as the first shows at TT the Bears in Cambridge and the late lamented Channel. The recordings from that time are definitely primitive, but I’m still proud of them. I would like to see less slickness in underground music than there is in general right now outside Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
Chris McClain came in, bringing a new focus and maturity to proceedings.
TOS: Everything stopped in 1994. Then nothing till 2002 – 03 really, with “Birthed”. Why the hiatus? What inspired the return? VOT: Well, we were gigging a lot more in the period between -94 and -98, which ended up cutting into the writing and recording. If I had been more forward thinking, I would have had these shows recorded in audio and video. Many of the gigs included guest players and extensive improvisation.
We were slated to release our debut CD through Misanthropy Records by the end of this period, but was not to happen as Tiziana, head of Misanthropy decided to close the label. What ended up as “Cafe Flesh” and “The Dead God Sessions” were demos done for the label for this album. There are more than a hundred hours of material not included in those releases I have on DAT tape, some of which that may see the light of day at some point.
In 1997 I signed with Nocturnal Art Productions and released the first Choronzon album in 1998. This brought much more attention than Veil of Thorns ever got, and I focused on that for a bit. I recorded the Choronzon albums “Lilith“, “Era Vulgaris” and “Larvae” in 1989/1999, and dropped out of all normal society for a few years following.
Basically I went into the woods and was deep in the grip of the Gwyllt. By the time I re-emerged, I was psychically stripped down to nearly nothing. There’s a world of difference between the work prior to and following this time. My methods continue to evolve from what I established with “Birthed” to this day.
TOS: If I am not mistaken “Salon Apocolypse” and “Necrofuturist” were recorded during the same time. Was the intention to make two CD’s? Was the correlation between the two releases always intended? VOT: Both albums grew out of the process of working on “The Abattoir Pages” as part of FoolishPeople. The intention was to finish “Salon Apocalypse“, as the concept I had been working with for this release was in the same realm that John Harrigan tapped into for “Abattoir Pages“. Through countless sleepless nights and days of madness, “Necrofuturist” wrote itself as a further expansion of the studies and current we were working with. I would not have chosen to take on so much in such a short period of time, but I really had no choice in the matter.
TOS: Both releases are giant steps in a direction one would not have suspected after “Cognitive Dissonance“. In fact, as I go through your catalog – this is close to the shift that occurred with the 2003′s “Birthed“. Does this represent a shift in your personal life, or your musical interests, or both. VOT: This represents a huge shift in everything I touch. I can’t say that I know what will result, nor what I’ll be when I emerge from the other side. We are all in the process of experiencing aspects of this process. We’ll be living in a new reality, (or rather, we’ll have reality tunnels exploded), by the end of this.
TOS: I suspect that this release is steeped in chaos magick. I could be wrong, as I listen to them – I am reminded of Burroughs and Gysin early experiments. Was this the process you used with the lyrics? With the musick? VOT: Well, there’s quite a bit of old school Western magick with more than a little shamanistic madness and gnosis. Also Goetic methods overlaid with, yes, Burroughs/Gysin experiments to break down language patterns. The musick was carved out of what started with dense layers upon layers of sound. The musick is still dense, but given pulse and negative space like a sculpture.
TOS: Who are the performers on the new releases? VOT: On guitar I had contributions from the amazing Aidan McGoran. “Salon Apocalypse” was very loose and amorphous until he got his hands on the material. James Curcio was only on a couple tracks on this one, but his contribution to percussion and electronic manipulations was invaluable. My colleagues in FoolishPeople, John Harrigan and Lucy Allin provided the mythological framework these albums inhabit, as well as some source material which is present throughout. Pandora brings her contribution from a parallel universe. Too much analysis of that aspect would be unwise.
TOS: Will there be a live version of Veil Of Thorns? VOT: I would love that, but it’s hard to say. Member and collaborators are all over the world and busy with a lot of other things. If it does happen, it’ll not be a regular rock’n'roll show methinks…
Joseph Matheny interviews “another Joe”, AKA Bazooka Joe, from Solipsistic Nation and formerly of the smallWorld. They talk about music, podcasting and get into a weird Joe to Joe cross interview feedback loop.
Also, another episode of In Your Ear, this week reviewing “Variant Frequencies” a podcast of (mostly) short fiction in the horror/subgenre sci-fi vein. From Puske: I pay special attention to the podcast novel which they debuted – “The Failed Cities Monologues” http://www.podiobooks.com/title/the-failed-cities-monologues/) – link is to the podiobooks version.
Veil of Thorns had the pleasure of playing live on Bazooka Joe’s show on WMFO in Massachusetts way back in the dark ages. I’ll include those here:
Veil of Thorns first radio appearance one dark Saturday night on Tufts college free-form radio. The second guitarist was Jarrett Laitinen, who I recently learned died of a heroin overdose in 2004. In his final year he lost his father and stepmother in fucked up circumstances. I wish I had recordings that could give a good example of what an otherworldly amazing guitarist Jarrett was. He was the second guitarist on the first two Veil of Thorns demos from 1991 and 1992 respectively.
This is the original lineup:
P. Emerson Williams – Vocals, guitar Jarrett Laitinen – Guitar Catherine Chenoweth – Bass Ruddy Bitch – Drums
Sourced from a reference tape recorded at the station. Some glitches and noise were minimized to the extent possible.
Veil of Thorns radio appearance a stormy night, Halloween, 1992 on Tufts college free-form radio. On second guitar we borrowed Dave, (can’t remember his last name), the guitarist from Chuck.
This is the lineup:
P. Emerson Williams – Vocals, guitar Dave (From the excellent Boston funk rock band Chuck) – Guitar Catherine Chenoweth – Bass Ruddy Bitch – Drums
Information: In the SLEEPCHAMBER bit, John Zewizz and co. gives updates on the band, shares tracks from the forthcoming album “Stolen Sleep”, and thanks the fans and collaborators who have supported the return of SLEEPCHAMBER.
Exerpt from Cirxus, a FoolishPeople production written and directed by John Harrigan. This psycho-audio sequence is produced and performed by P. Emerson Williams and directed by John Harrigan. A promenade performance will run from 25th May – 13th June 2009 in Arcola Theatre’s new industrial space, Studio K in London.
// About Newtopia: a definition n – a cultural review that examines how our politics and policies are reflected in our arts, government, and humanities. v – an experimental form of thought mutation and cross-breeding, providing a unconventional forum for a range of detailed and informed socio-political opinion and analysis. adj – words or ideas used for the development of new possibilities, theories, and solutions for a better world. Often confused with the word idealistic.
TOS: If I am not mistaken “Salon Apocolypse” and “Necrofuturist” were recorded during the same time. Was the intention to make two CD’s? Was the correlation between the two releases always intended?
CHORONZON
Incunabula Papers – Ong's Hat
PANICMACHINE
Veil Of Thorns
