[interview] †‡†

I had a chance to interview †‡†, one of my favourite witch house artists. Lately I've been investigating a bit this emerging genre, possibly one of the best newborn musical paradigm.
Read the interview right below:

Serotonin Sounds: What are your influences?
†‡†:New Wave, Dance, Acid House, Goth Rock, Hip-Hop, Noise, Black Metal.

SS: How did you come up with your name?
†‡†:It doesn't really mean anything specific, it means something for me, could mean something different for everyone.

SS: How do you produce your music? [If so], what synths do you use?
†‡†:I do most of the work on a computer using a lot of software and use some other things like mics and effect pedals occasionally.

SS: What do you think of this new term "witch house" and the whole scene?
†‡†:I like the term, when I started listening to SALEM people were calling it "gothic chillwave" so this is much better. I don't think the current scene is what Pictureplane had in mind when he came up with the term "witch house" though, things have changed a lot since the movement started.
I like most of the bands that became associated with witch house when it started but I'm not a fan of most new acts. Some are still good though, like XIX. Most people think this is just a trend that will die before the year ends but I really doubt that's going to happen, 2010 is just the beginning.
Finally, growing up as a fan of 2nd wave Black Metal and Goth music I really love the aesthetic and occult imagery (which I think is what, along with being on Disaro, made me be associated with the movement in the first place).
I think witch house has a lot to offer.

SS: What are your favourite artists on Disaro?
†‡†:White Ring, Passions, oOoOO and Modern Witch. not sure if TEARIST is/was on Disaro but I love them too.

SS: If you could choose a label, what would it be?
†‡†:Oh man I don't know. Have never really thought about it.

SS: Do you do any live shows? If so, when and where are your upcoming shows?
†‡†:Yes, I can't say much about it right now but you'll know in a couple of months through myspace.

SS: Are you into industrial music? This whole occultism surround the genre seems to drawback from the "second-wave of industrial" like some C93, NWW and other artists.
†‡†:I love industrial music, definitely a strong influence in my music.

SS: Are you going to release an EP and/or album soon [or at least pretend to]?
†‡†:I have a CDR coming out on Disaro later this summer.

[interview] Dazzle Ships

I enjoyed Dazzle Ships music so much that some weeks ago I decided to interview them. Here it is the final product:

1. Why did you start making music?;

TYLER: Sheer boredom. I borrowed my sister's bass that she didn't play in like 6th grade, but didn't know how to play it. I would just make weird noises with the built in effects on the amp and put the pickups to the speaker making it feed back, I loved that shit. I eventually figured out how to route the amp into my sound card and record it. I had tons of recordings of me just talking with effects on my voice and weird shit like that. and that eventually turned into playing guitar and recording 15 second songs with drum machine and guitar. It wasn't until I started to play music with my friend Travis that I took it semi seriously. We started our first band when we were 15 and he's been in pretty much every band I've been in since. Actually I think Dazzle Ships is the only one he isn't a part of..
HATII: I feel like music was already in my blood because of my family. I started making music because I was constantly surrounded by family members doing some from of it. I grew up with all my brothers in several bands and at least a good 5 instruments just lying around the house. I feel like it really clicked with me when I was around 7. My brother was a huge fan of Led Zeppelin and constantly played Stairway to Heaven; I remember using one of his acoustic guitars and teaching myself the opening guitar part by ear. From then on music has been like a second habit, so far I've learned to play guitar, bass, trumpet, cello and am a beginner at piano and drums.

2. When did the band start (and is this your first band? if it isn't, please mention the bands you had before);
TYLER: The band started on December 27th, 2009. Hatii and I were bored one day and jammed and wrote a cool song and then recorded it. and that was that..

I've been in and currently in many bands. including Rapid Youth, Twin Lion, and Norse Horse.
HATII: Dazzle Ships is my first band, it's not my first attempt at making a band though. I've tried several times with friends who knew how to play at least one instrument or another. Nothing ever worked out though. Tyler is the first person who fits my style of playing so far.

3. What are your influences?; TYLER: I know that we both want to write energetic, dreamy, catchy, pop songs. But I'm not sure of direct influences, really. We both really like the Cocteau Twins, Atlas Sound, Broadcast, New Order stuff like that. Also bands like Felt, Talking Heads, Wire and a lot of kraut rock bands, guitar wise. We defiantly have a lot of electronic music influence too, there will definatly be a lot more keyboard heavy songs in the future. Hatii listens to a lot of classical music too, I really want her to play some cello on some of the new songs. I am not sure how she feels about that. HATII: When it comes to my vocals I am influenced by Faye Wong and Maaya Sakamoto. Both women have such delicate yet mature voices, and a style all their own. I aim to be somewhere near that category.

4. Have you considered your vocals a bit similar to The Only Ones' (in a good way, of course) ?;
I, honestly, haven't listened to enough of that band to tell you if we do or not...I have only heard the "another girl, another planet" song. I will have to look more into that band now, for sure.

5. Have you given many shows up to date?;
We haven't played any shows yet, there will be a bunch soon. We want our shows to be very visual also so we are still working out the technical aspect of that at the moment.

-Left: A band photo;
-Right: An image which seems to resemble a tunnel [found on their myspace too];

6. If you could choose a band/artist to tour with, who would it be?;
This is a tough question......David Bowie. He would have to play all the songs from the labyrinth and let us be his backing band, though.

7. Are you aiming to release an EP or album soon?;
Yeah we want to have an album out maybe before the end of this year. We need to find a label first, but we will defiantly have an album written.

8. What country would you like your band to play?;
Anywhere in Europe. We would love to play England, France, Spain, Belgium, all those wonderful countries we've never been to. Oh! and Ireland.

9. If you could pick a label which one would you pick?;
hmmm This is a tough question.....4AD.


Once again, thank you Dazzle Ships for your time! I'm anxious to hear your upcoming album.

[Interview] Floating Colors

Yesterday I made an interview through myspace with Floating Colors. Their music seems to me intense and chaotic but still really appealing. I won't speak much about them, because all of this interview has got enough info to satisfy most of you:
Most of the interview, it was the band member Stephen Palke answering the questions.
The interview went like this:

1. How and when did the band form?
Floating Colors came out of the ashes of a now defunct band whose name I choose not to mention. This defunct band started out as a two-piece with me and a guy whose name I choose not to mention, we improvised ambient soundscapes with keyboards and guitar. Eventually, Chase, joined this defunct band as a drummer. We had a couple of good shows and good moments together. We played with some really cool acts like The Crypts, Head Molt, Religious Girls, and Leo Heinzel, who now goes by Flesh Control nowadays. Unforunately, general fuckery transpired, and my musical partner in this defunct band, and I went our seperate ways, and so the band broke up in early July of 09. Shortly after, Chase invited me to spend time with him and his wonderful family, at his late grandfather's farm not too far from Ocean City, Maryland. Chase and I spent two weeks there, watching good films, helping out at the farm, shooting targets, drinking shots of whiskey at night, going to the beach. We talked alot. We walked alot. We found that we really respected and trusted one another, and related to one another in a special way. Our friendship became really strong. This was the musical partnership that was suppose to happen. We were both excited about starting something new, with no baggage from the past. Eventually, we both settled on the name Floating Colors. We liked Floating Colors, because it didn't pin us to any genre, and that it would be more or less true to whatever evolution we undergo as a band in the future. Chris Vincent and Alex Forck joined our band soon after. It's been really good.

2. What are your influences and favourite genres?
Stephen Palke: Broken Social Scene, John Frusciante and Jim O'Rourke have always been favorites of mine. Lately, I've been listening to Grouper, Broadcast and Beach House alot lately.
Chase Gilbert: Influences- Frank Zappa, Bill Bruford, Les Claypool
Genres- Trip Hop, Progressive genres, and Jazz.
Chris Vincent: You already covered Claypool for me....definitely Tom Morello as far as guitar goes and Crimson...Radiohead, Portishead obviously...and genres are also trip hop, progressive, stoner rock, and electronica.

3. Do you prefer to produce music or to play live?
Playing live is the headspace we're more into. We improvise every show, so playing live is the focus rather than making recordings.

4. In the future, will your music change or will you keep an uniform direction in your evolution?
In a year or in a month, I could never say. Who knows how things could change.

5. What instruments do you use to create your music?
I play on a microkorg, some guitar, and found sounds. Chase plays on a Premier drum set. Chris plays on guitar. and Alex plays on bass guitar.

6. If your music could have an environment, what would it be like?
A really rough dive bar or a cathedral.

I have here some live recordings, courtesy of the band. Click here, to obtain them (it has around 70 megabytes - but is sure worth it!).
If you're more curious about Floating Colors, visit their myspace.
If you're more interest now in this band, send 6 dollars North America or 10 dollars via paypal to stephen_palke@yahoo.com to purchase albums, or for digital copies, go to floatingcolors.bandcamp.com.