Interview with Nathan Hall, U. S. Christmas, September 2009

I first heard of U.S. Christmas on the day I interviewed Steve Von Till, from Neurosis, for this blog. He told me that Neurot Recordings was going to release this band that "just play really dark, dirgy, very spaced out Rock music." It is the perfect description for U.S. Christmas. They really blew me away at this year's Roadburn Festival and therefore I was very happy when Nathan Hall, U.S. Christmas' lead singer agreed to do an interview. Apart from the good news for vinyl enthusiasts, he had something to tell about the Southern influence on the lyrics, musical influences, news on new releases and many other things.

Nathan Hall

R.: Could you summarize U.S. Christmas‘ history? How did you guys get together in the first place? Did you know each other beforehand? Did you live in the same town?

Nathan Hall: We have been a band for about eight years, Matt [Johnson (Theremin, Synth)] and I both live in Marion. Some new people are in the band now: Josh [Holt (Bass, Guitar)] and BJ [Graves (Drums)] live in Knoxville Tennessee, Justin [Whitlow (Drums, Synth)] lives in Asheville, and Chris [Thomas (Bass, Guitar)] lives in my hometown Spruce Pine, North Carolina. Like I said, the band has been around a long time, everything is sort of a blur at this point. This is the only band I haver ever been involved with. Our town, Marion, is a small town in western North Carolina.

R.: Recently, there have been some changes in the band that has been hinted at on your Myspace blog. Could you talk about what has changed for U.S. Christmas and why?

Nathan Hall: That is a reasonable question, but we are not going to discuss that publicly.

R.: Eat The Low Dogs is already your fourth album, with former releases on a Russian and American label, plus one self released album. From your standpoint, what has changed for the band since Neurot Recordings released the latest album? Are the three former albums still available?

Nathan Hall: Things change constantly in this band, but I think that is universal. But to answer your question, Neurot opened a lot of doors, it is hard to imagine where we would be without them and without Neurosis. We've opened for Neurosis several times, once with them and Mastodon. We've played big festivals with them in the US and overseas. To some degree, we are known all over the world now. The guys in Neurosis have been our mentors in a lot of ways, and that is a huge honor. We have been dealing with them for years now and it is hard for me to remember how it was before. As for cds, I think RAIG might still have some cd copies of Salt The Wound left, and I'm Better Than Everyone Records is going to release it on vinyl soon. The vinyl won't have the awesome red dog artwork that the Russian artist Victor Pushkin did, but it looks like a really good artist is going to do the vinyl design, and if it works out then the cd and LP will each have their own unique artwork. Keep an eye out for that. Of course, Eat The Low Dogs is still in print, and I'm Better Than Everyone is going to release the vinyl version as well very soon. The self released stuff is out of print, no plans to re-release it.

R.: From the few printed lyrics in the Eat The Low Dogs booklet, I had the feeling to be reading an excerpt from a Southern novel, like William Faulkner or Cormac McCarthy. What kind of influences did you have writing the lyrics to the album?

Nathan Hall: That is a huge compliment, and Cormac McCarthy - particularly his novel Blood Meridian - was a huge influence on that album. I have read William Faulkner for years, many other southern writers as well. Flannery O'Connor, James Dickey, and Robert Penn Warren are other favorites. I am an avid writer and reader, I am actually in grad school studying literature. You hit it right on the head actually, I am a southern person and very much influenced by the literary history of the south. But at the same time, I never set out to do anything, it just sort of happens and I go with it. A lot of it is a mystery to me.

R.: From the lyrics that I can understand on Eat The Low Dogs, it almost seems like a story told in different parts with a concept behind. What kind of themes does Eat The Low Dogs cover?

Nathan Hall: Right again, there is always a concept or theme that emerges when we write an album. Not necessarily a story - but a clear idea that develops as we write. For Eat The Low Dogs I would say as a whole it involves: cycles of violence, sadness, loss, some Cherokee mythology, and human darkness. And the idea that living things become vicious in chaotic and stressful situations. We turn on ourselves.

R.: You have mentioned several times that a USX live show can be very chaotic, yet it accomplishes to capture that raw energy that the music evokes. What is the difference between recording and playing a show for you? Do you have any “guidelines” before going on stage to play a live show?

Nathan Hall: We never have any guidelines live, and crazy things happen sometimes. I don't even like to have set lists if I can help it. But recently we've been focusing on getting the best live sounds we can. We have put a lot of thought into our rigs and everyone sounds really good as a result. We are a band full of gear hounds. Having the best gear ensures that you get a good sound. That's why I never hassle sound guys for "more guitar". I just turn up my amps. Recording is different of course, but we are very open during that process as well. Lots of things happen that we could never anticipate. But I wouldn't want to know the future in advance.

R.: It is known that the band name comes from a Sam Peckinpah movie and in another interview that I have read you said to be inspired by bands like Neurosis, Melvins, Neil Young and Hawkwind, to name a few. What other bands and movies to you consider to be an inspiration? What has caught your attention recently?

Nathan Hall: Caustic Resin is possibly the biggest influence on me as a guitar player. Brett Netson, the guitar player and songwriter in that band, has been a constant source of inspiration for the last decade. He has the best big, warm, trippy tone. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds were a big influence on the album we just recorded with Sanford Parker, it is called Run Thick In The Night. Townes Van Zandt was also a catalyst. As for recently, we play with so many great bands. I guess I could name a few, but I'm sure to leave someone out. But here goes: Minsk, OM, Wolves in the Throne Room, Kylesa, YOB, Inter Arma, Generation of Vipers (our rhythm section now), Pontiak, Saviours, Grails, Dark Castle, Across Tundras, Baroness, RWAKE, and Weedeater have all left an impression.

R.: What happened to uschristmas.net? The last time I checked it was offline.

Nathan Hall: It was a pain in the ass so we abandoned it.

R.: What is next in line for the band? Can we expect a new album?

Nathan Hall: New album is done. More on that later. We also have a Hawkwind tribute project that is complete, Minsk and Harvestman (Steve Von Till) are on that as well. And we have a live LP coming out on I'm Better Than Everyone Records. And a tour with Baroness this fall.

R.: The last words belong to you:

Nathan Hall: There are several people who have supported us and made our custom gear: Brent Monson/Monson Guitars has hooked me up with two excellent instruments, Ear Candy Cabinets has built gear for both Matt and myself, Emperor Custom Cabs made my two excellent 2x12 cabs, and our friend/guitar tech Robert English in Marion NC has kept our gear solid and running for the last eight years. Thanks to all of them.

Nathan Hall, USX

Interview with Pete Simonelli from Enablers, August 2009

Pete Simonelli is a writer and poet, who not only creates powerful words on paper but transforms them on stage with the rest of the band that is Enablers: currently Joe Goldring, Kevin Thomson and Doug Scharin. With Simonelli being an "underground literary veteran" and the rest of the band being musical veterans they created three albums up until the latest piece called Tundra. From intimate confessions to powerful, raging words, Enablers have it all and this makes them a band not to be missed. Pete Simonelli took his time to answer some questions on the transformative process on stage and on the albums, the roots of Enablers, the necessity to move on stage and much more in the following interview.

Pete Simonelli

R.: How was your recent tour? Which places did you enjoy and what did you experience on tour?

Pete Simonelli: It was great--- as they all are, really--- but this time was a little different. We had a new drummer, Doug Scharin, and because we didn't book this one I think we were exposed to a few places we ordinarily would not have played. Andreas Kohl (Southern Germany and Exile On Mainstream) re-released "Tundra" in a limited edition box set and handled the booking and the tour for us. His main territory is Germany, which we had never toured much of, so we covered a fair amount of ground there. He definitely opened some doors for us and has broadened our future intineraries for sure. Poland, for one, was great, and we also played Prague for the first time and had a great show there. In all, I think this tour proved to be a more expansive one, musically (because of what Doug brings to the band) and in a motivational sense as well. Touring will do that; it gives you a sharp sense of focus and can tell you where your strengths and weaknesses are. This one did that, and now we're ready to record some more damn songs.

R.: How did Enablers get together in the first place?

Pete Simonelli: I approached Kevin Thomson about a book project I had in mind. Neither of us expected a band to emerge from it at all. He was playing with Goldring (and still does) in a band called Touched by a Janitor, and I was--and remain--- a very big fan of them. Kevin and I were working at a bar together at the time, so I eventually asked him if he, and possibly Janitor, would be interested in providing some music for this project. Basically I wanted to read some poems over good, challenging music and use the recording as an accompanying CD to a book I was going to put out myself. Nothing new or novel about that--- we both knew it--- but we were opposed to the usual and obvious "backdrop sound" that so often says very little for the music and leaves most of the ear time to whomever is doing the speaking. I turned over a few poems to Kevin and within a short amount of time Goldring became a part of it. Joe Byrnes, on drums, was added a little later on. Songs were being developed at a pretty steady clip once we had everybody there. But it was Byrnes who essentially initiated the band. He said that in order to record, he'd have to play the songs live a couple of times. Shows pretty much just kept coming from there on out. And we were already recording what would become End Note by that time anyway. Those few local shows turned into a small European tour and, almost on a whim, Goldring gave Neurot a demo and they decided to put it out. The "project" pretty much fell by the wayside at that point and we started to get more serious as a band.

R.: How do you write songs? Do you already have the lyrics (or poems) before the music is created?

Pete Simonelli: For the most part, yes. End Note was all old stuff---even then. I'd written most of those poems years before, which more or less prompted my wanting to record them as part of that initial project I'd approached Kevin about. By the time Output Negative Space was being recorded, we'd toured two or three times already and many of the poems on that record were written specifically for that release. I still had some old ones around, like "For Jack", but that record is primarily taken from what were then new poems. I only mention all of this because we were essentially becoming more and more serious and devoted to the band by that time. As a result of that, we were also becoming hungrier for newer material, which created, and still does create, broader or different approaches to how the songs are written. We're all constantly working on something anyway, and now that I'm living on the east coast, we've gone the way of audio files and whatnot. They have riffs and ideas, they send them along; I just keep writing, but I hear, and write, a lot more musically now, for better or worse.

R.: Was it clear from the beginning that you’d perform your poems to the songs? What is the difference between the three albums – musically and lyrically – for you?

Pete Simonelli: No, it was never clear. In fact, it was the last thing I wanted to do. But as I mentioned above, it was just something that transpired out of a need, for Byrnes especially, to get a better feel for the songs. The irony is that most of the poems I now write are intended for the band--- to be perfomed, that is. Not all of them make it and that's perfectly fine. As a writer, I need my own stable of material anyway. The same can be said for the others in terms of music. We've always recognized that there is Enablers material, and there are things that are distinctly not Enablers material. Which sort of carries over to the latter half of your question. The main difference between all three albums is growth, really. Music gets developed by one's involvement with it. If you like the sounds and noises you're making with other people--- fantastic; you keep moving along and growing one big ear together. That's where we are now, especially with the addition of Scharin on drums. He brings an intensity of focus and musicianship that I wouldn't say was necessarily lacking, but it drives the rest of us into newer territories because we have this renewed or invigorated presence in the band. We're more inclined to take risks without the fear of failing. I hear that in the course, or arc, of the three records. Lyrically, the writing has become more focused on sound, which created a lot more editing. On "Tundra" for instance, the poems' words are slightly different than the lyrics to the songs. "Carriage" is a perfect example of that. It's a permutable piece of writing. As a poem, taken on its own and away from the music, it reads differently than what you'll find on the lyric sheet. In short, there's a lyric version and a poem version that exist independently of each other, but they have the same title. As another, but different, example, "The Achivement" started out as a story (and was recorded as such) and then was cropped down to fit a certain shorter arrangement. Weird? Maybe. But it's a definite indication of how we're all willing to shift our roles to the desired effect of the songs or situation.

R.: Was it easy transforming your poems into spoken song lyrics?

Pete Simonelli: I suppose I sort of answered that already--- getting ahead of myself again. Sorry about that. Sometimes it is easy, other times not. The idea, or the aim, is to retain the integrity of each element--- the writing and the music--- so that they can work together and independently of each other. But I think under the crux of the harder times you can really see the limitations or the possibilities of the lyrics. There have certainly been times when I'll have to call a break, sit down and get to work all over again--- sometimes right then and there, in the studio. "Transforming" is the perfect word for the process, though, because there are times when the song's arrangement will dictate how a line comes across; it will heighten or lessen segments where I haven't necessarily seen it coming and I'll have to adapt a line, or a break in a line, to the direction of the music. Again, this is one definitive way the whole approach has changed over the years. The push and pull has sort of shifted. Where they once felt the need to accommodate the words, I now feel the responsibility to accommodate the music. I have to adapt more now, and I think that only helps. We're much more at the mercy of the song and the arrangement now. Not always, but a lot more than before. You have to reconcile space (voice) and sound (music) accordingly and do it in a way that still makes sense to you, the listener and, hopefully, to the whole and eventual combination of the poem and the music.

R.: Your words in your poems have sometimes an intimate quality to them so that I could imagine that it could be difficult performing them. Do you see that as a challenge?

Pete Simonelli: A challenge, yes, but a welcome one. It's really just about feeling your way through the process of combining these two separate things. Mistakes are often very helpful because you can step away from one approach and see another developing. We're trying to record everything now--- the practice, that is--- to see where the possibilities lie, and to what advantage they can best be used. Intimacy comes out of that. I can't really come in and say, "Ok, it's gotta be really quiet here," or, "Dial it down here because I gotta get sexy with it; I gotta get this line across." None of that shit. The intimacy will reveal itself as you get more familiar with the song. I mean, I first thought that the poem "Tundra" would get a sort of quiet or mild treatment. Then Kevin introduced this really great southern fried, ZZ riff and I got such a resounding hard-on about it that the aggressive delivery kind of took over. And then it got even more raging when they told me it had to be delivered harder, dirtier. That movie, "Downfall", had just come out; we all really loved it, and I can remember Kevin telling me to basically imitate Bruno Ganz as Hitler raving in the bunker--- the ebb and flow of it. That was an intimate performance to me so I ran with it. Performed live, I love turning into an absolute fucking lunatic with it...with some hearts and flowers thrown in for nuance of course.

R.: How do you perceive yourself on stage during a performance?

Pete Simonelli: I try not to perceive myself. That's troubling. I do some things in a performance and wake up the next day wincing out of physical pain or sheer, psychic embarassment. Other times everything's ok. From a techical standpoint, I'll think, alright, I hit my marks, the voice felt good, the delivery seemed good; I fell ass over heels over the monitor, but that's cool; it got a laugh--- all of that. I guess I'm still trying to figure it all out, faults and all. I don't worry about movement, though; I know that'll always be there because those guys make truly compelling music that forces me to move and respond to it. Who wants to see a "poet" or "singer" just standing there as this provocative music pours around him? I wouldn't, so I suppose I react against that kind of perceived performance. Ultimately, it's rock music, and there's an inherent demand on a performance. You should come out with the intent on delivering something people can take away with them.

R.: Could you elaborate a bit on what some of the lyrics/poems mean to you?

Pete Simonelli: They all have a special meaning. I wouldn't have written them if they didn't have some kind of initial curiosity or emotional weight. Other than that, I really don't care to elaborate on what they "mean" or how they come about. I will say that their origins may not indicate the outcome. I just don't believe in breaking down the meaning to any poem, and as I progress as a writer I think the writing and thus the point/meaning/gist becomes clearer. As a favorite poet of mine, August Kleinzahler, said, a poem is just another form of entertainment. If people accept a poet or a poem deeply into their lives and it somehow gives them succor or meaning--- great. But I wouldn't set out to specifically do that; that would make for some startlingly BAD work. But I will say that poems like "Mediterranean" and "A Blues" are definite points of pride, and for various reasons.

R.: Do you have any writers/poets or stories/poems that you like very much?

Pete Simonelli: Sure, there are many of them that over the years have proven to be really influential or just things that have made a strong impression. Over the last dozen years or so I've been reading almost everything August Kleinzahler has put out in that time. The first time I saw him read I thought, "Alright, now I know what I want to do, and, more importantly, what I have to do." I was reminded of Celine a little bit, because Kleinzahler has a great technique, style, and approach to how he writes: he combines everyday spoken language with a sort of elevated language that rarely loses the reader. He can write poems with his feet firmly on the ground and yet he can also launch a poem into these great, expansive territories of memory, history, or even science. He's a poet and writer with a lot of curiosity, instinct, and humor, and he just seems to be very comfortable doing what he does with language. He contorts it without becoming too vague, and at the same time will sort of retreat into a given character's (he writes a lot about people in his neighborhood, friends, acquaintances, strangers past and present) way of speech, which takes a very refined ear to pull off successfully. He's also a hugely tasteful music buff and critic, and has written pretty extensively about Jazz, old R&B, early Rock, Blues, and even the occasional Classical piece.
Another favorite of mine is a guy named Jack Gilbert. I came across him after an old friend of mine turned me on to one of his books, "The Great Fires." I've been hooked ever since. He's led a pretty interesting life. Grew up in Pittsburgh when it was still an Iron Town with a largely working-class population; a city based almost exclusively on heavy industry. He went to Yale, eventually winning a very distinguished award (The Yale Younger Poets Prize) and then fucked off to Europe and drifted around for the next 20 odd years before settling in some obscure part of Greece for many years more. His poems read like dispatches from acute points of pain, loss (his wife died at a young age), and the resolve that comes out of those emotions. A really strong, white-haired, white-bearded poet that believes in telling it like it is. He looks like a grounded demi-god that sort of wanders the Earth recalling things about a life lived with misfortune, fortune, and risk. I just re-read a poem of his called "A Kind of Courage" (from his book, Refusing Heaven) last night, and that's about as good as any poem can get. What he can do in a minimal amount of lines is by turns shocking and enviable. I've read some of his stuff over the years and thought to myself, "Forget it, man....Drop the pen and go do something else."

R.: Do you have any other favorite stories/poems not of yours where you could talk about what they mean to you?

Pete Simonelli: Well there's that Gilbert poem I mentioned above, but a lot of poems and stories come and go in terms of how they "hit" you. Something that blew you away ten years ago may now say nothing more to you than a simple "huh." Some stick with you, though. There's a poem by Elizabeth Bishop called "Crusoe in England," which comes to mind. That one I go back to and read time and again. It's a poem that reads like a short story and, in a technical sense, commands the reader with its transitional mastery, how it gets from point to point so fluidly and keeps its tension as she goes from point to point. And the ending of it breaks your heart. Dog lovers beware.
Aside from these, there are a lot of poems I come across in online journals and small print journals that are great. A guy named Matthew Dickman comes to mind. Kim Addonizio is another really good one. A couple of friends of mine write great stuff: Peter Funk and Mark Terril. Rilke's Duino Elegy #1 (translated by Stephen Mitchell) is an important one to me: "For beauty is nothing but the beginning of terror, which we still are just able to endure, and we are so awed because it serenely disdains to annihilate us." Not bad, eh? Bukowski had one that used to kill me, "Claws of Paradise" from Play the Piano like a Percussion Instrument until the Fingers Begin to Bleed.
There's a line in there about toothpaste caps getting lost down the sink drain--- another stupid reason why relationships fail. I remember that poem having a lot of relevance at one time. Another old friend of mine, Jack Hayes, wrote some great stuff, namely "Sam Peckinpah Mexican Xmas" which I've read at readings a couple of times now. Jack (who is the person addressed in one of our songs "For Jack: A Philippic" on Output Negative Space) is a surrealist poet weaned on all those French guys (Breton notably) who brings a lot of 50s and 60s American Pulp and Noir into play in his poems. Great, vivid images and references to people like Tammy Wynette shake hands in the same line; it's often hilarious and loaded with overtones of pills, booze, deserts, Ecclesiastes--- all sorts of rabid and livewire kind of shit. Makes for a tasty stew.

R.: What were the last few bands/albums that you enjoyed?

Pete Simonelli: I've recently come across The Grails' last record and have been enjoying that. What a great band they are. Last night my girlfriend was playing something called Ballroom Dance is Dead, which is a New Orleans/New York collaboration involving a friend of ours named Lynn Wright. Really, really great. One of those things you hear and your ears just instantly perk up: " what's this??" Then I realized that I'd actually heard it before but hadn't remembered it, which is basically the same as hearing it for the first time. And then there's always Delta Blues stuff, which I'll always love and admire, because 50, 60, even 70 years on now (in most cases) that stuff still comes across to my ears more sincerely than any other form of music I can think of--- just watch, or listen to, Son House. Man.

Interview with Emil Amos from Holy Sons, Grails and Om, March 2008

Emil Amos is not only the fantastic drummer for the magnificent Grails and Om but also the mastermind behind the one-man folk-inspired soulstrip called Holy Sons. Recently Emil joined Om and replaced the original drummer and since Grails have also turned some stones with their recent album it is high time for some praise for Holy Sons. The following interview is going to shed some light on Holy Sons as well as touch themes like conformity and the demise of the Western civilization. For completeness sake I would also recommend reading the earlier interview with Grails' Alex John Hall. But now, sit back, turn on your favorite obscure 70' record and enjoy reading the following interview with Emil Amos.

Emil Amos

R.: Please tell me about the circumstances of how and when you started Holy Sons.

Emil Amos: Sometime in 1992 I went from being obsessed with hardcore to someone who focused only on lo-fi music in a matter of months and ignored everything else developing in music at the time. To me that was just the clear path that underground/punk music was following ...I didn't see the other bands and styles going on at that time as something able to satisfy the specific intelligence I was looking for in music. Like most obsessive underground music listeners I could only really listen to artists that I felt I could totally 'trust'; which is a sort of militant mindset reserved for extremists... it felt kind of analogous to the early 60's folk movement where the listeners were hypersensitive about how truly legitimate and pure a singer's motivations were. I'm saying this while realizing that most people would've and still do disagree with a lot about my perspective. But it's the perspective that made me who I am and the records I make now and I don't feel like I had a lot of control over this development.


R.: As far as I understand Holy Sons is a solo project of yours - you play all the instruments, you sing and compose all the songs. Is this a "living room" project that you do in your free time?

Emil Amos: It used to be just my waking state of being. When I woke up each day I recorded... and, as a kid, I wasn't super interested in much else going on out in the world besides the few fringe things that I found to be of value. But now I've found newer interests in the world, more external issues that I feel strongly about; so the music has become a little less of a diary and more about my relationship to the world. Playing all the instruments alone was always part of the philosophy because it gave me more power to create a total immersion into the world of 1 person instead of watering it down with the common democracies and ambitions of a 'band' mindset.


R.: Apart from Holy Sons you play drums in Grails and Om. How do you handle three musical projects at the same time?

E.A.: I'm just barely pulling it off. When I was younger I wouldn't have had the mental discipline to emotionally compartmentalize these projects and leave my ego behind. Everyday I have to drop whatever record I'm artistically engaged in to switch to a different band or go practice for a tour. Last year I created a nexus of responsibilities for myself that was borderline physically impossible, so this year I'm slowing the flow of releases and traveling so I can try to enjoy what I'm doing. Remembering to enjoy things has become the central issue for me lately. That seems to be the irony of ambitiousness... that the more you attempt to accomplish, the more bullshit you inevitably fill your daily existence up with to get it all done; but simultaneously it's getting in your way. So efficiency has sort of become everything.


R.: Do Grails, Om and Holy Sons complement each other in terms of ideas for songs or do you treat them separately?

E.A.: Yeah, HolySons and Grails have been trading more instrumental songs lately to give the albums more stylistic variation. Each band's sound generates from a certain mood and you generally know what kind of melodies and instruments will fit into that mold. But because the material comes from the same melodic wellsprings inside of you there's always a common thread between the bands.


R.: The cover of your records have an outstanding iconography of collages with images from Eastern, Western and ancient vanished civilizations. What do you try to "express" with these covers?

E.A.: I was heavily influenced by skateboard art growing up... it was kind of cartoonish and surreal but really loud and extreme. Otherwise, I just gravitated towards various strange or disperate aesthestics as a kid and they became a part of my skewed worldview. For example, the first time I remember liking Eastern music was when I was obsessed with a martial arts arcade game called 'Kicker' from around 1986 that had really catchy songs that ran through a lot of Asian scales really fast; we've been talking about trying to cover that video game song recently. I've had a lot of phases of being really into obscure cults and secret organizations that are all somehow connected by the sense that they are hidden behind a sort of psychic curtain; things that you have to uncover or are part of a world behind the world that is sold or taught to you. The name 'Holy Sons' is supposed to be indicative of a secret cult in this way.


R.: "Decline Of The West" is a peculiar title of the last Holy Sons record. What is the meaning behind choosing this title and how does it fit with the themes on the album itself? Do you believe that Western culture is doomed?

E.A.: Yeah, it will eventually die like everything does but I wouldn't say that's a bad thing so much as it's inevitable. Songs like 'Satanic Androids' and 'Slave Morality' are trying to paint a picture similar to Dostoevsky's 'Grand Inquisitor' in that Western consumer culture has gone unchecked for so long, without any sense of self-critique or conscience, that the only pursuit it seems to exalt is the escape of oneself or one's dissolving into 'the crowd'. If you look at something like the state of Hollywood today I think you'll see a reflection of a declining spiritual state; the art of film has winded down this long sophisticated path that experienced very profound peaks to arrive at a bankrupt dead end where art can't really enter into it's equation. I feel like this dynamic is occuring throughout most areas of popular culture... but I guess there's no reason to think that the spiritual errosion of a culture dominated by conformity is any sort of new phenomenon.


R.: Do you see any differences in the way this 'conformity' reveals itself throughout the Western culture? I ask this because to me it seems that in the US it is not so much regarded as a 'shame' to be well adapted to society because this adaption is to a 'free', extraordinary society. On the other hand conformity in Europe is a more problematic notion although it reveals itself in the European view to be more multifaceted than the US. But exactly this view again attests conformity through arrogance. In simplified terms one could say that this is a complicated behaviour based on an ancient tribe vs. tribe demeanor.

E.A.: I think you're on to something; I just can't really weigh in on a cultural comparison because I don't have enough experience with living in Europe. On the other hand, although I don't think it's a totally safe scientific assumption to make, I think it's fair to assume that the impulse to conform has to be pretty evenly spread across the world. The rewards would be different in various cultures but the urge to dissolve oneself into a mass is ancient. Companionship with the like-minded blob, relief of individual responsibilities, and the pressure to join, in most societies, seem to be too hard to avoid for many people... maybe for a lack of imagination or bravery... or the need for inclusion as a simulation of real love. It's hard to underestimate people's need to feel liked by others. What fascinates me about conformism is how subtle and convoluted it can be... it finds it's way into every facet of life... I think conformism is my favorite subject.


R.: Would you say that Holy Sons songs are personal in the sense that they reveal something about yourself? Do you see them as some kind of therapy?

E.A.: Yeah, that was basically the whole dogmatic birth of HolySons in that the whole purpose and DNA of the expression was that it was almost a type of radical therapeutic practice... an environment where I could just be myself, whoever that was, and study that thing with no interrupting social awareness, no moral plane, nothing but a room where I could behave in anyway I was moved to and document it. Obviously that's not really something with an audience or the world of music marketing in mind. At the time I thought that was something people might be able to get into... and over time I felt proved wrong... and, as a lover of music, a sense of disappointment in me grew as I felt like I watched underground music snake further and further out into areas I really found useless and impersonal. I carried the sense that I would never be able to really have a dialogue with an audience at all as it seemed to contradict the wish to just be true to myself. In the last couple years that kind of bile-tasting/morbid view has begun to soften in me a little bit... but ironically a new brand of pseudo-honesty has recently been concocted and succesfully sold to the public and that has contributed further to muddying up the arena of defining what 'honesty' and 'rawness' are.


R.: When I play records that I believe to be emotionally 'raw' and 'honest' to other people I often get the response from them that it is too 'dark' and 'depressing'. The misconception of what is 'depressing' owes this undoubtedly to what has been sold to the public over the years as being 'raw' and 'honest'. What do you think? Could you tell me a bit more about what this 'new brand of pseudo-honesty' is and what it contributed to?

E.A.: Are people conditioned to want processed simulations of reality?... yes,,, Do they enjoy the fake versions even more anyway?... maybe... I think Jandek is a good example of something that's so raw and direct that most people's ears can't even identify what it is or how one would digest it. I suppose anyone has the right to say... "this is too raw, process this for me so I can enjoy it"... you'd just hope that everything in their life wasn't pre-processed without their knowing what reality actually tastes like.
After an industry was created around 'underground music' it began to pay to be 'sincere'... so then we got this new phenomenon of bands who are aware of 'the sound of sincerity' and completely aware that there is a reward for that 'sound' ...or perhaps, more innocently, some are mimicking what they listened to and felt was sincere but have nothing to add to the previously covered dialogue.
It kind of reminds me of that movie 'A Beautiful Mind'... in that the focus of the movie's phenomenon was the leading multi-millionaire/model actor playing the schizophrenic genius and getting best picture,... rather than the reality of the actual schizophrenic guy the movie is based on that most people in the audience would step over on the sidewalk while walking out of the movie.


R.: What can be expected from the upcoming Holy Sons record? When will it be released?

E.A.: The next one, "Drifter's Sympathy", was an attempt to create some sonic contrast between the HolySons records. It's heavily influenced by the experimental German records made in the 70's that had less songs but drew out their ideas into longer genre experiments. Their records created an odd kind of fantasy world but somehow remained very personal sounding; sort of pre-new-age, post-acid, bummer/contemplative records... the songwriting could employ any instrumentation or style that could illustrate the overall meditative/explorative mood.
I always found myself, in ways, drawn to the less cohesive records bands made, while popular thought seems to always vote for a smoother, less jarring presentation. If you really love a band, their b-side collections and private demos can often thrill you more than their big/glossy major label presentations. Neil Young is one of the most obvious writers that sometimes disregarded how an album is 'supposed to flow'... and not always to great results. But what if you flipped that dynamic and consciously made records that didn't have an expected sonic cohesion to create more contrast and give each song more weight? You might find that more in outsider stuff like R.Stevie Moore, maybe Kramer's 'Guilt Trip' or more well-known with Sebadoh III and Bee Thousand but it still seems like there's a lot more to be done to upset the expected formulas.

R.: What have you been listening to lately? What's the last record you bought or 'got into'?

E.A.: I've been in a 70's Italian soundtrack phase for awhile now. I constantly move through genres and just listen to things that are new to me to expand my understanding of production even if I don't necessarily like the music. I've always really liked film, music or imagery that make you feel slightly uncomfortable... and, somewhat inadvertently, I often end up making uncomfortable imagery or music; it's not my intention so much as it's what I like. I like some aspect of a piece of art to be a completely catchy hit,... very colorful, melodically saturated and in the pocket... and then I like another aspect of the art to be simultaneously awkward and wrong; that seems to open up the ceiling for creative and unexpected choices to be made. Within both of those areas lies a sort of honesty that rides a balance for me.

Interview with Arlie John Carstens, Ghost Wars, December 2008

Back in June 2003 I made an interview with Arlie John Carstens, the the former singer/guitarist in Juno which can be read here. Shortly after that interview Juno announced their break up. Myself and assumedly a lot of other fans of Juno were devastated by that. That was enough a reason for me to ask Arlie Carstens again for an interview which he was so kind to accept. His new project is called Ghost Wars in which he and Eric Fisher arrange music with an assortment of excellent musicians. Below are his answers that do not only shed some light on Juno's closure but deliver also some interesting insight on his new project Ghost Wars and the upcoming Juno documentary.

Arlie John Carstens
(photo by Michelle Pullman)

R.: The last time I wrote to you was more than 5 years ago. Although you pretty much explained everything that needed to be said about Juno’s breakup in the statement on your website I wanted to ask what you think ultimately lead to the end of Juno from your viewpoint today. Could you talk a bit about that?

Arlie John Carstens: Some of us wanted to write new music, record another album and tour. These were the activities we had built our lives on and believed in, but after nine years of constant song writing, touring and rehearsing, a couple of people in the band weren’t sure what they wanted to do in any aspect of their lives. They just knew they didn’t want to say yes to touring or yes to starting a new album. Fair enough. Being in a band for a long time, especially the way we chose to do it, could be very hard on a person. Accordingly, rehearsing became difficult for us to contend with; we had always previously been a very dynamic, driven group of people. It was a sad, dark time… until eventually I said, “Well, if we cannot make progress, then it is time for me to do other things.” A few months later I moved to Los Angeles and began the long collaborative project that is Ghost Wars.

R.: Do you miss Juno?

AJC: In some ways I miss Juno, yes. Mainly I miss touring; I miss seeing new places with band mates and meeting new friends through our active music life together. And I miss certain parts of songs. But in general, my life is healthier, happier and filled with a greater diversity of people and experiences, so I cannot be too caught up in missing the past. Juno was a nine-year labor of love. I am still very proud of our time together—our tours, friendships, songs and live shows were a wonderful thing to be a part of. We had a very specific vision of who we were and how we did things.
We had an ideology; we had an ethos that defined how and why we were together. We wanted to make progressive music and create art-in-motion. We wanted to play shows that were dynamic, confrontational and unique. And above all, we hoped to make albums that could have lives of their own long after we were gone. We strived to build community, see new places and learn new things. It was a beautiful, worthwhile struggle almost every day. Most everything we did, we did because it felt right at the time. When it began to feel wrong internally, the right thing to do was to let it go. If you want to strive for happiness your whole life long, then you must believe that life is what you make of it in the present, not dwell too much on what it was at some point in the past.

R.: What have you been up to since then?

AJC: I moved from Seattle four, maybe five years ago? I’m not really sure. In that time I’ve done a lot of travel journalism, music writing, photography, skateboarding, community and arts activism, and I’ve had many strange jobs. Other than that, I’ve been writing and recording Ghost Wars songs with close friends from all over the Pacific Northwest, Los Angeles, New York and Boston, etc… We maintain a rehearsal/recording space in downtown Los Angeles and I occasionally fly up to Seattle to record and visit.

R.: What motivated this relocation? What is it like to live in L.A.?

AJC: Due to the chronic pain associated with my spinal cord injury (among other injuries) I wanted to be warmer. It was really that simple. Other than that, I wanted to get out from under Seattle’s grey, miserable weather, and I wanted to be on the West Coast so that I could easily visit my family and friends.
I enjoy living in Los Angeles, I really do. From all the years Juno was actively touring, I have many friends here. As well, several friends have moved down from Seattle and Portland, and from New York, Chicago, and Austin. So the transition was not difficult at all. I live in the woods in Elysian Heights, in a house built on pylons overlooking a forest of trees. Coyotes, squirrels, skunks, raccoons, wild dogs and opossums run around on my porch, birds chirp day and night, and hawks circle the sky. It is not the Los Angeles that shows up on television. It is quiet here in the woods. My life is filled with creative people, most of who are engaged in worthwhile, creative pursuits. As well, I frequently travel for the different kinds of work I do, which is nice. And I always look forward to coming home.

R.: Last time we talked you said that you have chronic pain and will most likely need to have additional surgeries. How is your health situation now?

AJC: My mental health is much better for having moved out of Seattle. As far as my physical health is concerned, I’ll battle with chronic pain for the rest of my life. My body is falling apart. It just is the way it is. But I can put a fork to my mouth and walk, so I am grateful every day. After breaking my neck it all could have been so different. I recognize how fortunate I am; I appreciate life and I do not fear death.

R.: What do the other members of Juno do now? Are they in new bands?

AJC: Gabe [Carter] and I are like brothers. He’s one of the collaborators in Ghost Wars, so we speak often. As well, he works at Sub Pop doing International Distribution for the label, and he writes and records music with a few people up in Seattle. And his son Aubrey (a/k/a Baby Hercules) is the joy of Gabe and Jen’s lives. They are wonderful people and great parents. Jason Lajeunesse is co-owner of a music venue called Neumo’s in Seattle, and he occasionally still plays music. For a while, Lajeunesse and Gabe were in a band together called Hint Hint with Pete [Quirk] from the Cave Singers. As for [Jason] Guyer and [Greg] Ferguson, I run into them occasionally when in Seattle. Both are brilliant musicians, I hope they are playing music.

R.: How much are you involved in the Juno documentary project? Do you know when it will be finished?

AJC: About 1.5-years ago, Juno reunited to play benefit shows for the community radio station KEXP in Seattle. At that time, the documentary director Jon Mount came out with his film crew to shoot the performances, since then he’s been busy compiling additional archival footage and live tracks, and interviewing people familiar with the band. Jon Mount and the writer Sebastian Sterling came to Los Angeles this past weekend to again interview myself and a few other people. In February 2009 I think they plan to return to Seattle to again interview Juno members and others who were familiar with our band during those years.

R.: Last time I talked to you, you said that you had plans to write songs for a 5-song EP and were beginning to write new Juno songs. I also talked to one guy responsible for the Juno documentary project and he said that there were some song fragments (or even songs) that were never finished. If this is the case, is there a chance that we hear these songs someday?

AJC: I’m not sure you’ll ever hear those Juno song fragments. It is all just rehearsal space recordings, recorded with two room mics to 2-tracks on a stereo cassette deck. A few of the songs still amaze me. Some of the most interesting work we’d ever done. The straight parts were more precise, the angular parts were more complicated, and oceanic parts were more enormous in their sheer sonic capacity. The work was definitely more “otherworldly” than anything we’d done prior. Though we have hundreds of hours of these tapes, the compositions are incomplete, and the vocals are muffled-to-non-existent. Because we only used room mics, the recording quality is good, but not great. Nevertheless, it would be nice to one day digitally remaster these analog cassettes for some sort of weird, low-fi instrumental album. But what label would put that out? And would there be an audience for it? Would anyone enjoy something like that? I have no idea.

R.: Was it clear from the time that Juno finished that you needed to start another musical project?

AJC: All of the years we were in Juno I wanted to start another musical project. Ever since I was a kid, I’ve always planned to do something that was more about collaborative experiments than a “band” experience. However, because we were so focused on Juno, I did not make the time to live musically outside the band.

R.: Who has been involved in Ghost Wars until now?

AJC: Eric Fisher, Arlie Carstens, Nate Mendel, Fasil Debeb, Rosie Thomas, David Lee, Jay Clarke, Cory Murchy, Morgan Henderson, Eric Akre, Josh Myers, Gabe Carter, Eric Kinder, Goth Joel, Drew O'Doherty, Todd Ussery, Ben Lapennga, David Broecker, Jason McGerr, Andrew Rudd, Justin & Jerrod Hopfer (The Twins), David Scott Stone, Derrick Fudesco, Ben Verellen, Damon Way, Jonathan Hischke, and uh….

R.: I read on myspace that you had a lot of misfortunes with the recorded material for Ghost Wars: one hard drive with the unmastered songs broke and the second one got stolen (correct me on that if I’m wrong). How did you cope with that since then?

AJC: We’re still dealing with it. Thirty-three songs all trapped in a broken hard drive… the only thing we have left are unmixed, unmastered rough mixes burned to cdr’s and mp3s. This is an unfortunate circumstance, but we’ll figure it out eventually. We must.

R.: Will there eventually be a Ghost Wars album that can be bought regularly?

AJC: Yes. In the meantime, you can hear a few rough mixes on myspace.

R.: What bands did you enjoy recently/what’s the last album you bought?

AJC: Black Merda. Low’s Guns and Drums. Max Richter. Six Organs of Admittance. Ignition. Pissed Jeans. Amon Duul II. Thrones. Hauschka. Spectrum. Neil Young. Throbbing Gristle. Siouxie and The Banshees. Zach Hill. Constantines. The Great Lake Swimmers. The Raveonettes. Pylon. Nina Simone. Wire. South Pacific. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds. Talk Talk. Lungfish. Gang Gang Dance. Fridge. Boris. Red Fang. Prince. Destroyer’s Trouble In Dreams. Ali Farka Toure. Neu! Bo Diddley’s Black Gladiator. Other than that, I’ve lately been revisiting John Cale’s Paris 1919 and The Academy In Peril. Oh, and Damian from Fucked Up recently turned me onto an 80s dark wave band from Canada named Ceramic Hello, which is incredible.

Interview with Daniel O'Sullivan, Guapo, November 2008

Daniel O'Sullivan is a multi-talented musician from London who is involved in countless musical projects and activities. Reading the list of musicians he was and is involved with is like reading a map of who is who in today's alternative and avant garde music scene. I wrote him an email and he immediately responded with some very interesting insights into Guapo, Mothlite and even more.

Daniel O'Sullivan

R.: You seem to be a really busy person. Can you tell me in which bands/projects you have been are and will be involved?

Daniel O'Sullivan: I play in Mothlite, Guapo, Miasma & the Carousel of Headless Horses, Æthenor, Grumbling Fur and Being. I also play with Alexander Tucker, Sunn O))), Chrome Hoof and Ulver when I’m needed.

R.: Can you make a living with being a musician? What job do you have?

D::OS:: I make ends meet through musical means, but these projects don’t accumulate enough money to make a decent living. Making music for film, TV and the occasional royalty cheque pays the bills (most of the time).

R.: Matt Thompson, the former bassist of Guapo is not present on the latest Guapo release "Elixirs". Why did he leave the band?

D::OS:: You would have to ask him for a more detailed response, but I would say he left mainly because of artistic disparities.

R.: The last three Guapo records are referred to as a trilogy. Can you talk a bit about what categorizes them as a trilogy?

D::OS:: All three records are trussed by tradition. I would say mythology, but that term might be derogatory, as it could be perceived as something untrue. They are all the results of dead belief systems, one overshadowing the existence of an entire civilisation, one that exists perennially through folklore, and one that exists through solitude in a more clandestine realm. The magnifying glass moving closer in all the time. All of these things mirror the uncertainties and problems with designing a musical system that we are searching for. To “believe” in what you are doing simply because it is what you do naturally, no matter how oblique, is what these three records represent… I think?

R.: What connect s the last three Guapo records? What separates them?

D::OS:: Well apart from the overarching concept, I would say the presence of a core instrumentation of Drums, Bass and Fender Rhodes binds the three records, although perhaps less so on Elixirs, which is a lot more varied. Also the fact that Matt had little to no involvement in the last record changed the outlook quite dramatically. The logical thing would’ve been another large-scale extended composition, but I think fragmenting the pieces definitely reciprocated how we were feeling as a band at that point.

R.: The song "Arthur, Elsie and Frances" on "Elixirs" has an organic, ambient-sounding ending. It is beautiful yet surprising to be found on a Guapo record. Can you tell me the "story" of this song (in terms of ideas/title/meaning)?

D::OS:: Yes, the Klaus Schulze ending. It felt very un-Guapo as we were recording it, which is exactly why we pursued it in a way. I think there will be much more analogue synth orchestration and polyrhythmic sequences on the next record. The story behind that piece refers to Arthur Conan Doyle being duped by the Cottingley Fairies hoaxers Elsie and Frances Griffiths.

R.: Moreover, can you tell me where the song names on "Elixirs" come from?

D::OS:: They’re all based on outsider ideologies. Jeweled Turtle is taken from “Against Nature” by Joris Karl Huysmans. The central character encrusts the shell of a turtle in jewels in order to create an asymmetrical myriad of colour against his Persian carpet. He creates a universe entirely based on his own sensory associations and perceptions. The Twisted Stems pieces are based on the enneachordal theory of Athanasius Kircher, who was one of the last great polymaths. He believed that certain plants respond to frequencies transmitted by interplanetary activity, the radiant harmony of the sun and the dissonance of the moon. The Planks comes from the Book of Veles, which is a hoaxed text of ancient Slavic religion and history written on wooden planks. It’s still used as a sort of bible for many Slavic neo-pagans. King Lindorm refers to dragon hunters in Småland, which is an island off the coast of Sweden.

R.: This year also saw the release of "The Flax Of Reverie" from Mothlite, the project from you and Antti Uusimaki. When did you first think about making music with him?

D::OS:: Pretty much as soon as I met him… A profound soul engrossed in machines.

R.: I have to say that "The Flax Of Reverie" is already my favourite release of 2008. Not only do the beautiful cinematic soundscapes remind me of more than one of my all time favourite artists (e.g. Talk Talk), the music also evokes dreamlike pictures and a remembrance of mysteries from my childhood. Can you tell me something about the development of the album and also about the meaning behind each song for you personally?

D::OS:: Thank you. I’m pleased it conjures those feelings for you. A big inspiration for that album comes from a similar state of mind. Each song has it’s own story, but they all belong to the sense of being overwhelmingly protected and vulnerable at the same time. Riverside and The One in the Water are kind of twin sisters. They both refer to the whale that found itself lost in the river Thames a couple of years ago and subsequently died. It was an avatar for me. The wilderness of life made itself visible, and you forgot about all of the triviality and emptiness of living in a city like London. As for the others, well the lyrics are there. It gets a little dull if all you hear is my side of the story.

R.: Is there a concept behind "The Flax Of Reverie"? What is the story/intention behind it?

D::OS:: There is no one resolute concept behind the record. It’s just how I perceive certain things.

R.: What influences did you have when you created "The Flax Of Reverie"?

D::OS:: Musical influences trickle in unknowingly. There was never a point where we attempted to emulate anything else. Although I must say Talk Talk were a major paradigm shift for us. I was listening to either Spirit of Eden or Laughing Stock almost every day for a good two-year period. The only reason I don’t listen to them as frequently is because I like to be astonished by them all over again. There are many other influences… Numinous dreams, Rishikesh sunsets, The Singing Ringing Tree, etc.

R.: You played with Æthenor on the last Roadburn Festival and Kristoffer Rygg (from Ulver) joined you live on stage and also contributed some vocals for the last Æthenor album. How did this collaboration come to terms?

D::OS:: We’re friends. We met on myspace, ha! It’s the mutual appreciation society coming to fruition.

R.: I tried really hard and listened to the last Aethenor album to figure out the position at which Kristoffer Rygg sung. I couldn't find. Would you reveal where that is?

D::OS:: On these recordings he wanted to be inside the room, like a shadow. He’s actually all over that record, contrary to some reviews I’ve read. There is a lot of acousmatic non-vocal like sounds. It’s Æthenor after all, not Ulver.

R.: Tell me something about your work in Miasma & The Carousel Of Headless Horses. When and how did you form this band?

D::OS:: I formed that band a long long time ago. I think it was 98 when we started. The original line-up was myself, James Blackshaw (who has gone on to make several solo records) and Francesca Bury. We were very young when we started that band actually. It wasn’t until I recruited Dave (Guapo drummer) and Orlando that it became a bit more active.

R.: I read that you are part of Grumbling' Fur. What can we expect of the upcoming album? How will it sound and when can we listen to some songs?

D::OS:: Yes, that’s an interesting project. Improvisations involving Alexander Tucker and myself at the core, which are then heavily edited and post-produced with Antti Uusimaki. This recording which is about to come out (Feb 09 I think) on Aurora Borealis features Jussi from Circle and Dave Smith. It’s very psyche.

R.: You have been invited to play with Guapo at next years Roadburn Festival. Will you also perform with Mothlite there?

D::OS:: We haven’t been invited as Mothlite, so probably not. We were personally invited by Neurosis to perform there as part of the day they are curating.

R.: Although you are involved in many musical projects I guess that one can always kind of recognize your "handwriting" in the music. Tell me something about your influences: Which artists/movies/art/etc. inspires you or what do you consider a contribution to your artistic vision?

D::OS:: It changes all the time. Do you mind if I don’t answer this question too extensively? It’s simply because I find it hard to contextualise my own work. I listen to a lot of music, and I love the multifarious nature of music and I love connecting the dots.

R.: Name some of the records/albums that recently got your attention (and what were the last records you bought)?

D::OS:: I’ve just been obsessing over Beatles for the last year or so. I still can’t believe the miracle of Beatles; how they achieved so much beautiful music in such a short lifespan. They were magical beings put here to change the world and they did. Who else can you think of with that amount of energy? I’ve also been dipping back into Low (Bowie) and Penguin Café Orchestra. Lots of Indian classical on rotation too… Shivkumar Sharma, Pandit Ram Narayan, etc.

R.: I already said that I used to host a radio show where I asked a band in an interview to select songs (from other bands) which I then played on the show. Although I won't play them - please select some songs you like.

D::OS:: How many do I get? I’ll give you 6.
Beatles – Blue Jay Way
Beatles – Julia
Scott Walker – Jolson & Jones
Beach Boys – Feel Flows
David Bowie – Subterraneans
Penguin Café Orchestra – The Sound Of Someone You Love Who's Going Away And It Doesn't Matter

R.: What is next in line for Guapo and Mothlite? Have you made plans for new albums yet?

D::OS:: We’re halfway through Mothlite’s “pop” album. We’re laying foundations for Guapo’s “afrobeat” album.

R.: Thanks a lot for taking the time to answer these questions. The last words belong to you.

D::OS::I’ll give them to someone else…

"There is never any end. There are always new sounds to imagine; new feelings to get at. And always, there is the need to keep purifying these feelings and sounds so that we can really see what we've discovered in its pure state. So that we can see more and more clearly what we are. In that way, we can give to those who listen the essence, the best of what we are. But to do that at each stage, we have to keep on cleaning the mirror."

John Coltrane


The following is a list of recent releases from Daniel O'Sullivan:


MOTHLITE
"THE FLAX OF REVERIE" 2LP/CD
OUT NOW: SOUTHERN RECORDS
www.southern.net
www.mothlite.com

AETHENOR
"FAKING GOLD & MURDER" LP/CD
JAN 09: VHF RECORDS
www.vhfrecords.com
www.aethenor.com

GRUMBLING FUR
"FURRIER" LP/CD
JAN 09: AURORA BOREALIS
www.aurora-b.com

GUAPO
"ELIXIRS" CD
OUT NOW: NEUROT RECORDINGS
www.neurotrecordings.com
www.guapo.co.uk

AETHENOR
"BETIMES BLACK CLOUDMASSES" LP/CD
OUT NOW: VHF RECORDS
www.vhfrecords.com
www.aethenor.com

MIASMA & THE CAROUSEL OF HEADLESS HORSES
"MANFAUNA" LP/CD
OUT NOW: SOUTHERN RECORDS
www.southern.net/latitudes
www.headlesshorses.co.uk

Interview with Alex John Hall, Grails, Thursday October 2nd, 2008

"Instrumental music is total music." This quote from the Neurot recordings page about Portland's Grails pretty much sums up what they are about. The lack of a singer in their music only compels the listener to concentrate on the music itself and allows him to make his own sense of the emotions the music evokes. From their very first record up to their latest record entitled 'Doomsdayer's Holiday' they never fail to amaze with their music that changed from an early violinist supported sound to an oriental-psychedelic outfit it is today. And while this description may not be enough to describe the wonderful music Grails have created I will rather let their guitarist Alex John Hall talk about Grails in his own words.

l.t.r.: Sophie, Alex John Hall, William Slater, Rover, Emil Amos, William Zakary Riles

R.: Grails have undergone some changes concerning the band members over the years. Could you sum up as far as you can who was in the band and why they left? Who are the current band members?

Alex Hall: The core of the band has been the same four people for the last 7 years. We did have a violinist at one time, but he left in 2004. And sometimes our good friend Ben [Nugent] joins us for tours and recording. But that's the extent of the lineup changes.

R.: Are there any recordings from Laurel Canyon the project that you and Emil Amos initially started with? How did Laurel Canyon sound?

Alex Hall: The early Laurel Canyon stuff sounded like the awkward first attempts of a band trying to figure out how to play together. Which is pretty typical, I guess. It was total confusion - 5 people with very different ideas about music, without a clear idea of what it was they were trying to create.

R.: I guess if I understand you correctly then you wouldn’t allow anyone to listen to Laurel Canyon even if any recordings existed.

Alex Hall: It's not that we'd be horrified if anyone heard it, there's just no reason for us to work on making it available...

R.: On most of your albums (“The Burden of Hope”, “Redlight”, “Interpretations…” and “Take Refuge in Clean Living”) you included cover songs from more or less unknown artists. Do you look for these songs on purpose or are those part of your record collection anyway?

Alex Hall: I'm not sure that I'd classify The Ventures, The Byrds, Richard Thompson, or Sun City Girls as 'unknown'....but yeah, the cover songs are opportunities for us to pay our respects to the greats. The covers are fun for us to work on, hopefully also reminders that instrumental rock music existed long before 'post-rock.'

R.: With the first two albums your sound was different than it is now. One could maybe say that on “The Burden Of Hope” and “Redlight” you sound like a really heavy version of Dirty Three. After that the sound changed into something different. You incorporated psychedelic and oriental influences. How did it come to that?

Alex Hall: The first two Grails albums were recorded at about the same time, but spaced out by a year for release. Those records are basically just live recordings in a studio; there's very little in the way of over-dubbing or post-production. It wasn't until we got into home recording that we were able to delve into production and real experimentation. And with that came the freedom to start incorporating anything we liked, connecting the dots between A and Z. Call it the Faust-ian method....

R.: Could you elaborate a bit further on that? What do you mean by “Faust-ian method”?

Alex Hall: I just mean that we were inspired by bands like Faust that rejected boundaries and approached music with a genuine sense of adventure.

R.: Do you feel that you created something new with this sound or do you see connections to certain genres/bands?

Alex Hall: There are always points of reference no matter what you do. But the goal has never been to develop some specific NEW sound, rather to develop a creative process that can be inclusive of ALL sounds.

R.: With Emil Amos now being the second part of Om – does change something for Grails?

Alex Hall: No, not really. We just have to plan stuff farther in advance.

R.: The new record starts with what seems to be spine-chilling screams from a woman and galloping horses. It reminded me somehow of Italian horror flicks of the seventies. What’s the intention behind this?

Alex Hall: To reference Italian horror flicks of the seventies.

R.: Was it intentional to record such a “heavy” album?

Alex Hall: In a way. We work on new songs haphazardly - pull a track off the shelf, work on it for a while, put it back up on the shelf, pull up another, etc.... So a lot of the material had been kicking around for a long time, just waiting to find the right home.

R.: Where and how was it recorded?

Alex Hall: It was recorded in what is now our usual method -- basic tracking in a 'real' studio, endless editing and sampling and post-production in our home studios, mixing by our friend Jeff [Saltzman], mastering by our friend Carl [Saff].

R.: Why are there two different covers?

Alex Hall: The label was concerned that some of the bigger stores would have a problem with the more explicit cover. So we agreed to create an alternate cover that they could use for some outlets. But the dual album cover thing was also something we hadn't done before, made the whole project more special for us.

R.: Who created the cover images?

Alex Hall: Better for that to remain a mystery.

R.: Can you live off your music right now?

Alex Hall: No, we all have jobs. I work as a chemist, Bill [Slater]'s a bartender, Emil [Amos] works at a homeless shelter, Zak [Riles] is a bodyguard.

R.: Neurosis will curate next years Roadburn festival in the Netherlands. Have you already been invited?

Alex Hall: Yes, we were very lucky to receive an invitation. Still trying to work out whether we'll be able to do it..

R.: If this helps: Scott Kelly has addressed the Roadburn festival as the best festival in the world and he was right in every aspect....

Alex Hall: Yes, I've also heard this about Roadburn. It's an honor to be invited, but it's also challenging to manage everyone's personal schedules. Hopefully it'll work out.

R.: If you were to curate such a festival, which bands would you invite?

Alex Hall: Just Neurosis, but they'd only be allowed to play Styx and Queen covers.

R.: What are you listening to at the moment? What were the last records you bought / that got your attention?

Alex Hall: I just watched the short film series, True Norwegian Black Metal, and I liked it so much that I bought the last Gorgoroth record....not bad!

R.: What is the next step for Grails?

Alex Hall: There's a dvd project being finished now, to be released in spring '09. Beyond that....Grails exists to make records, so....recording and mixing and recording and mixing.....

R.: Would you reveal what treasures the DVD will contain?

Alex Hall: It's been a year-long video editing project for Emil. It has a bunch of his "music videos", lots of live footage, and a half-hour long film from the first two Grails European tours.

Interview with Arlie Carstens, Juno, June 2003

Juno were a band who (simply put) made independent Rock music. Yet for so many fans including me their music meant much more. They released two magnificent albums: This Is The Way It Goes And Goes in 1999 and A Future Lived In Past Tense in 2001. You can listen to both full albums at last.fm. Shortly before their breakup I had the chance to interview Arlie Carstens, the singer in 2003. He now resides in Los Angeles and is currently writing music for his new project Ghost Wars.

R.: I think, so far not many people here in Europe, especially in Germany are paying attention to Juno's music. Do you have a bigger "fanbase" in the U.S., or is Juno still the "little punk band"?

Arlie Carstens: I don’t really know. We probably have more listeners in the U.S. We’ve toured Europe twice. We’ve had great shows all over the continent and the UK. Given the kind of music we make, Juno doesn’t really fit in with much of the music made in the indie/punk/hardcore/ambient scenes. We sort of touch on all of those elements but Juno tends to sort of exist in a world of our own. Maybe we’re the “little punk band,” or maybe we’re not. We really have no idea.

R.: You just recently toured Japan. How did it come to that and how was the experience?

Arlie Carstens: I’d always wanted to tour Japan so I made it my personal mission to get us there. Fortunate for Juno, a few years ago we played in Denton, Texas with a Japanese noise-rock band named Aspera Bay. We liked Aspera Bay’s music and they liked ours. Shuko (bass) and Ari (Aspera Bay’s roadie, now the singer/guitarist in Blasstwolicks) kept in touch with me via email. We’d send each other packages of music, candy and funny little toys. We’d occasionally talk about trying to get Juno over to Japan. But it always seemed impossible. Then one day about a year ago I received an email from a promoter in Nagoya named Hiroshi. He asked if he could bring us over. I put Hiroshi in touch with Shuko and Ari. And then two larger promoters, Takuya (at the Stiff Slack label in Nagoya) and Katoman (at the dotlinecircle label in Tokyo) also became involved. We spent the next ten months working out the details. We played most of our shows with Ari’s band, Blasstwolicks, and his friends in the band, Balloons. Though getting it set up was difficult work, Japan was the best tour of our lives. Japan is full of very wonderful, kind people. The shows were amazing. The food was delicious. The country is beautiful and the culture is fascinating. And the bands are so good! Great bands!

R.: Juno's first record "This is the way it goes and goes.." is - if you want to label it that way kind of an epic Indie record. There are a lot of songs on it which had a playtime from 6 to 9 minutes. The second album "A Future Lived in Past Tense" was more worked-out, it had punk rock-influenced songs like "Covered with Hair" and again some wonderful epic songs like "The french Letter" on it. For me, it was a perfect album, with wonderful songs and lyrics that seem to be very close to life. Have you already started composing/recording the next album? What is the next step after these two wonderful albums?

Arlie Carstens: We’re trying to sort out what the next step will be. Since coming home from Japan we’ve been playing a lot of shows. It would be nice to be in a recording studio or touring right now, but songwriting has always been a very slow process for Juno. Many of our songs take an extended time to compose. We frequently write for three guitar players and often compose our parts in different tunings from one another. I make lots of field recordings and 4-track experiments. And then once we’re in the studio, we enjoy finding ways to add our friends and their strange instruments to our songs. I think the plan is to write songs for a 5-song EP, and then a new full-length. We’ve only recently begun working on new material.

R.: You aren't singing very traditional, your lyrics are more like you are telling a story. How do you write them? More over, how does Juno compose a song?

Arlie Carstens: You’re right, it is more like I’m telling stories. The standard way that most people write verses and choruses doesn’t really work within the context of Juno. We’re not writing conventional pop songs, country music, or emo-nursery rhymes. It’s more like we’re writing stories set to music… or music set to stories. The way our songs come out seems very natural to me. We don’t really try to write with any specific formula or audience in mind. It’s a difficult but very organic process, the songs become whatever they need to become. As far as lyrics are concerned, I’m as interested in writing fiction and non-fiction as I am in writing music,. I often write about real people and events. I want to ask questions about life, love, death, science, sex, religion and the universe. Through music I want to find answers… sometimes I find the right ones… sometimes the wrong ones. Like chapters in a novel, we hope to take listeners on a journey through many different lives, events, ideas, and sounds… Within an hour-long album, creating a world that starts here… ends there.
As for the music, I often write the lyrics first, and then usually myself, Gabe or Jason will come in with rough guitar parts. We’ll deconstruct that guitar part as it fits (or doesn’t) with the lyrics and then we’ll repair the guitar part, or tear it down, and then reconstruct it five times over again- adding additional guitars and bass, drums, piano, etc… whatever the music and the story seem to be asking for. It can be a very long but rewarding process. Usually fun. Sometimes frustrating.

R.: Not many know that you had an accident while snowboarding a time ago where you broke your neck and had to go through countless surgeries. Have you recovered fully yet from that?

Arlie Carstens: Given the nature of the injury (as well as the many injuries I had before I broke my neck) I’ll never really be fully recovered. I’ve got titanium plates behind my throat, fusing my cervical spine. But I can walk, sing, skateboard, write, play music, feed myself, shower and make sweet love… so, in general I suppose I’m doing well enough. I have chronic pain and will most likely need to have additional surgeries as I go through life. But I’m very fortunate to be walking. I could very easily have been paralyzed from my chin to my feet. My life could be much different right now.

R.: I know that more than one time you stated Punk Rock as an influence to your music. But what are the other musical influences? What are your actual and all time favourite records/bands?

Arlie Carstens:

• Talk Talk- Spirit of Eden, The Laughing Stock
• Lungfish- Rainbows From Atoms, Indivisible, Necrophones, The Unanimous Hour, et al.
• Mark Hollis- eponymous
• Bad Brains- Rock For Light, ROIR Sessions
• Elvis Costello- Too albums many to list, everything!
• Rites Of Spring- eponymous
• One Last Wish- eponymous
• Happy-Go-Licky- eponymous
• Soulside- Less Deep Inside Keeps Becoming More To Become Nothing, Trigger, Hot Body Gram
• Minor Threat- Out of Step
• Beyond Possession- Is Beyond Possession
• Red House Painters- Ocean Beaches
• Afghan Whigs- Up In It, Gentlemen
• Mark Lanagen- Winding Sheet, Whiskey For The Holy Ghost
• David Bowie- Space Oddity, Sound + Vision
• Idaho- Hearts of Palm, Three Sheets To The Wind
• Iggy and The Stooges- Funhouse
• Jeff Buckley- Grace
• Radio Birdman- Radios Appear
• Shudder To Think- Ten Spot, Funeral At The Movies
• The Clash- London Calling, Sandinista
• Nina Simone- The Essential Nina Simone
• Husker Du- Flip Your Wig, Zen Arcade
• Nice Strong Arm- Stress City
• Cat Power- Moon Pix
• Prefab Sprout- Swoon, Two Wheels Good
• Slint- Spiderland
• Come- Eleven:Eleven
• Chavez- Ride The Fader, Gone Glimmering
• Squirrelbait- Scag Heaven
• Quincy Jones- (in his capacity as a conductor)
• Charlie Parker- anything I can get my hands on
• Fugazi- *(everything): Particularly Steady Diet of Nothing, and 13 Songs, End Hits
• Joy Division- Closer, Substance
• Descendents- Milo Goes To College

R.: We already talked about a forthcoming tour in Germany. Will it be a headliner tour, or could you also imagine touring with a band like "...and you will know us by the Trail of Dead" as a Co-Headliner?

Arlie: We’ve toured through Germany twice, both times headlining small venues. But you’re right, doing it with another band would be fun. It’d be nice to play with our friends in …Trail of Dead, Les Savy Fav, or Ted Leo & The Pharmacists. Maybe doing it with Arab Strap, or Mogwai would be a good time. I’m not exactly sure when we’ll be back in Europe, most likely soon after we finish our next recording. That would be nice.


A few months after the interview Juno announced their split up on their official website. Given that, some of the questions seem futile seen from today. I never had the chance to ask what happened to the material they already had been working on for the new record before breaking up. It would be interesting to do another interview. I will try to do that. Make sure and stop by this website. Supposedly a documentary about Juno will someday be released.