In a Musical Moment of Maddness, A Musician's Perspective

There is nothing that compares to the trepidation one feels just before going out on stage to preform. Yes, I call it trepidation, for the moments before actually preforming can be just that, quite fearful. This is usually mingled with a great many other emotions, however.

Most often it is coupled with the exhilaration of anticipation. Yes, that would be the most apt description, I think, half fear, half anticipation. Something about this particular ratio gives you an adrenaline rush, and before you know it, you are out there in front of that crowd again. It is like no other feeling on earth.

The fear and anticipation are gone, and now you feed off the energy of the crowd. A throbbing, pulsating wave of emotion takes you over, and you and your band mates are gone...lost in the music, just like the rest of the crowd. You are one with them now. You are a part of that mass of primal energy until the show is over.

Afterwards, there is usually also the emotional oneness you feel with your band mates. As you all go hang for a bit at whatever greasy spoon you can find open, the trepidation that began your evening is now just a distant memory. You wonder if it ever happened at all. Basking in the mutual accolades of your band mates, it's easy to forget the moment of fear laden anticipation before you all took the stage by storm.

Then again, there are those "other nights". The ones when the crowd wasn't as big or as enthusiastic as you hoped. The nights when the sound equipment fails somehow, and mysteriously nothing seems quite right the entire evening from there on out. There are the nights when the band as a whole is far too ill and road weary to "click" on the most fundamental of levels.

These are the nights when we pack our gear in relative silence, unless of course there is an ego in the band who has to seek blame in someone, and animosity, which can run the gamut from quiet disgruntled grumblings to loud obnoxious conflict then ensues. Still, usually these are the nights we all part in silence, not stopping to regroup and figure out what went wrong at the usual greasy spoon as we probably should.

We all have at least a few of these nights, whether we want to admit it or not. From the smallest garage band playing at their uncle's birthday kegger, to the biggest star in rock history...every musician since the first chords were struck, and the first song took shape knows this feeling. It is the very feeling and the very type of experience that causes the fear and panic we all get in that "moment". The moment just before we hit the stage running, and find out exactly which kind of night it is going to be.

Previously published on http://preferredwriters.enjin.com/

Vocal Nuances - The Dynamic Power and Melody of Singing Duets

Sandy Denny

Many people pay little or no attention to who is singing what in a particular rock song. However, being a vocalist myself, I can't seem to help analyzing such things.

There are many singers who sound similar. Most people do not even notice these subtle nuances in a song, and many others still, assume it is simply doubled, or overdubbed in the studio by the same singer. For instance, did you know that :

1. Led Zeppelin - In the song The Battle of Evermore, though it may sound as though it could all be Robert Plant, he is in fact singing along side a female soprano named Sandy Denny. I find their voices to be very similar. In fact, this is one of the first songs that piqued my curiosity about vocal nuances and dynamics as a child. They both sing falsetto at times, and this confuses things further still, but the combination has created a timeless and intense classic.

2. Deep Purple - Another song that intrigued me as a child was Burn by Deep Purple . I was already familiar with David Coverdale, and though he does have a good voice, I knew there was no way he was singing those beautiful high notes. I was only 9 years old at the time, but I knew the difference.

Low and behold, this was my first real intro to the superb vocal talents of bassist Glenn Hughes. I have followed his career ever since, and he is still one of the most amazing singers in Rock and Roll, in my opinion. Thank you, Glenn. You have been an enormous influence on me through the years.

3. Heart - While Ann Wilson of Heart does take most of the lead vocals of the duo, there are several songs on which her sister Nancy actually takes the lead. Though the sisters do sound very similar, and it is hard to differentiate on backing vocals, you can always tell when Nancy takes the lead. Hers is a softer, mellower, and in many ways, a more timid voice than Ann's. Ann, though thoroughly capable of the softer tones, usually has the stronger, more "raunchy" voice that has made Heart famous.

4. Temple of the Dog - Most rock and grunge fans do realize that both Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder and Chris Cornell of Sound Garden share vocals on Temple of the Dog's Hunger Strike, but do you notice the drastic differences in their voices?

Though the two don't really sound similar (to my ear, at least), they do blend well. Vedder's is the softer, mellower, less powerful, and even lower voice in this instance, where as Cornell takes all the powerful high notes, and intense emotional projection. Cornell originally intended to record both parts himself, but when Vedder stepped in, it became the stuff that hits and archetypal melodies are made of.

5. Alice in Chains - Layne Staley was arguable one of the most unusual and inventive singer/songwriters in rock. Many realize now that Jerry Cantrell is the new voice of Alice in Chains, but few realize that he sang lead on quite a few of their earlier songs as well. Here again, you will notice if you listen carefully that Cantrell's is the softer mellower voice, while the late Layne Staley takes the emotive powerful side, with more vocal inflections. If it weren't for Staley's power and unusual inflections, you could barely tell them apart. The two singers meshed and blended impeccably.

Cantrell has always made it apparent that it was Staley who gave him the confidence to sing more, and the influence is still evident in his vocal style, keeping Staley alive in spirit. It is great that he has found a singer like William Duvall to create new A.I.C. magic with as well.

The one thing most evident in all of the forgoing duets for me is the great elements that are brought together to make something unusual. Power and melody seem to be the most prominent of these, and these give way to emotive contrasts and a range of dynamics and nuances that truly set these songs, bands, and singers apart.

Image Credit : Sandy Denny, Wikimedia Commons, This work is in the public domain in that it was published in the United States between 1923 and 1977 and without a copyright notice.
Author : Island Records

Musical Musings from Elsewhere

As I have mentioned before, writing is my current passion, and unfortunately, it keeps me elsewhere most of the time right now. I haven't forgotten my music for a second, though, and hope to be writing more here in the future as well.

In the meantime, there is still much to share here from these many "elsewheres". For example, here is my latest musical entry on Yahoo...

http://voices.yahoo.com/vocal-nuances-dynamic-power-melody-singing-12626166.html?cat=33

It deals with the sometimes subtle, sometimes not differences in the vocal stylings of singers in the realm of rock duets. I think you will all enjoy it. Everything from Led Zeppelin to Alice in Chains is covered.

I also wrote about my friend, Amber Michael, who is an artistic director at the haunt where I work. She recently did some fantastic work for the new Black Label Society video.

http://preferredwriters.enjin.com/entertainment/m/21774053/keyword/Amber%20Michael


In addition, my friend Scott Christophers, who is also my future son in law, for those of you who didn't know (yes, he actually asked her! Poor boy, he can't say I didn't warn him!), has also been doing a good deal of writing. Here is his latest on the new Fozzy...

http://preferredwriters.enjin.com/entertainment/m/21774053/article/2271426/page/2

He also wrote a great birthday tribute to Ace Frehley...

http://preferredwriters.enjin.com/entertainment/m/21774053/article/2270048/page/2

Thanx for stopping by my blog. It means the world to me, and I promise to bring you all something more in depth real soon. In the meantime, I thought I'd at least touch base, and give you some good stuff to go read.

I Create, Therefore I Am,
-Laurie.

Image Credit : Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic

Musical Endeavors in Writing

Being busy with my writing often causes my musical endeavors to take a backseat. Still, it is good to have that outlet to share music through. In that regard, I'd like to at least share here what I and others have been sharing in our writing that connects with our love of music.

The first is a link to my latest review/update on my favorite Goth band,  Angels of Liberty, which you will find here...
Angels of Liberty are on the Rise! by Laurie Tysinger
http://preferredwriters.enjin.com/entertainment/m/21774053/article/2186048/page/3

I'd also like to include this link to the wonderful new title video from their Touch the Daemon EP, which the review involves...
https://www.youtube.com/embed/TCH0SHJjCCk

I'd also like to include an article I wrote about playing local clubs in my area.
http://voices.yahoo.com/nighttime-fun-had-piedmont-triad-area-12608948.html?cat=22

The next is a link to a brilliant piece of writing by a dear friend which I think eloquently captures the true essence of what it is like as we musicians are embarking on another night's adventures onstage. It also conveys to me the essence of being a musician in general. It wasn't quite understood on the writing site where it was originally published, but I think it will be much more appreciated here!
In the Moment by Jaid
http://preferredwriters.enjin.com/entertainment/m/21774053/article/2239890

Last, but not least is my future son-in-law on his favorite band, KISS!
The Top Five Kiss Songs You've Probably Never Heard of...by Scott Christophers
http://preferredwriters.enjin.com/entertainment/m/21774053/article/2214747/page/1

Angels of Liberty Interview – Liber III

In the fourth and final installment of our visit with Angels of Liberty, we focus on the lyrical content, and the controversial subject matter therein in a far more specific manner. It really gives Voe an opportunity to enlighten us about some of his passions. To aid AoL in their seeming quest to spread this enlightenment, I have added a few links for reference, and for those curious minds who would like to delve further into these subjects. Having already read about many of these things myself, you will see why the band intrigues me so.

(Laurie) 7. You speak of things which go back literal millennia, such as the Brotherhood of the Snake. Being a writer of historical fiction, with regard to ancient aliens in Sumer and Egypt (and hopefully throughout all of history...as I fully intend to be the "Dan Brown" of Ancient Astronaut theories one day...hehe!), I can't help but wonder of the connection of Angels of Liberty, or any of its members to this or any of the other major "mystery schools". Am I being presumptuous once again?

Voe :
'So dark the con of man!' Rising organ music! lol

To the Mystery School question: Yes and no. I know the terminology because I have been involved with LHP magical school, but Knowledge, I found personally, had to come from within the self, so my path was inwards and away from schools. The trick is getting connected to what we are which is multi dimentional beings. I also like Robert Anton Wilsons take on The Illuminatii 'we are all secretly in it' . I loved 'Cosmic Trigger' and anything which overlaps with Timothy Leary and Terrence Mckenna. Mckenna really floats my boat, not just the intricately woven ideas about UFOs and mycelium but I could listen to his to his hip comical voice for hours.

Originally, the ancient mystery schools were feminine biased. I'm aware that it was a sisterhood of the snake as the root origin of the serpent cults and the female had the power. There;s a yearly religious procession somewhere i forget now but the males cut their genitals and bleed as they walk. That is an echo of this past. In fact if you go further back there is a whole issue with androgyny, as the base reptilian component in the creation of humans. It was an androgynous reptilian being that was split into two sexes to create the Adam man according to Stewart Swerdlow.

Before I totally wander off topic, at some point there was a takeover and everything became patriarchal with the priest/king system. The thing with the obelisks and the domes is interesting because of the Egyptian hieroglyph for Sirius. I love that because it hints to all sort of interesting things surrounding the founding fathers and the declaration of independence. I don't know if you are familiar with the story about the arrival of a mysterious stranger who helped the founding fathers agree? I know Anton LaVey thought the mysterious stranger who appeared in the gallery was the devil. I think it was a Sirian Reptilian. Different horses for courses, I guess!

I would recommend looking at....

The tau cross with a serpent hung on it, The Slaying of Apep, even Lovecrafts Cthulhu. Its always fish or sea monsters bringing destructive waves (negative emotions). Most initiatory stuff is about brain states, navigating/sailing consciousness. L Ron Hubbard obviously knew 'cos that's what Dianetics is mostly about: controlling the r-complex, nailing the fish to the tree. Hell he even loved sailing and being called captain, I'm sure that was an illuminist joke. There's a big nautical sailing theme embedded into the legal matrix too. It could be that the 'star sailors' came in solar boats bringing us language and law that for me would explain why its so embedded deeply in culture.

The Ubadian mother. Its known now in genetics we all have one common female ancestor back in ancient Africa. There is so much focus on Sumer because of the king list etc that African heritage has been stolen. What the Sumerian tablets talk about didn't happen there. The mystery religion did but the events took place in Africa on a high plateau overlooking a deep valley which at the time had a circuitry look from above due to the arrangement of vast patterns of stone buildings. Michael Tellinger has some good discoveries about that and matches what I've been able to remote view.

There's a big reptilian/snake theme in our past and in language itself. There's an interrelationship between knowledge, teachers and the snake/serpent which is coded into the very fabric of the language matrix. Even the word angel has a relationship to 'messenger' or 'to talk'. 'know the angels they were talkers, A universal code of symbols, a hidden truth, double meaning and they're a part of you and me' Kukulkan was about that. The serpentine connections in language to me is very exciting. Pierre Sabak's Murder of Reality is without doubt an amazing book on the subject.

(Laurie)  8. If the aforementioned are all just my own presumptions, based perhaps on my own readings and personal interpretations of things, are there then other particular writers, groups, or personal experiences that have influenced the content of your work?

Voe :
I was a book publisher for about 10 years that dealt in underground LHP and Occult material which really came out of my own personal interest and involvement in these subjects. As a result I had access to material that isn't in the public domain. Of public domain stuff : Michael Aquino's 'Black Magic in Theory and Practice' pointed me in the direction of the link between the inner and outer worlds. I loved John C Lilleys 'Programming the Human Biocomputer'. At the moment I'm really enjoying Solaris Blue Ravens 'Programmed by Deception', she does a really interesting interview shows and we did a theme tune for those. Shes also an author of many books herself. Shes had experiences in the MK tech milab area which I plan to base a track around in the future. I've just finished Stewart Swerdlow's  'Blue Blood True Blood' for the third time. If you are interested in the reptilian origins of language I would recommend Pierre Sabak's 'the Murder of Reality' as I mentioned.

(Laurie) 9. I sense a "greater purpose" in the "grand design" of things, so to speak, within the work of Angels of Liberty. Am I simply a misguided fan, or is that the intent?

Voe :
We have a plan. When we completed Pinnacle I was planning to release it and then end AoL. Now we are a year away so much has happened i can see not only do we have somewhere to go and something to write about but there seems to be a strange symbiotic relationship between our work and the high strangeness. I totally dig having a cult status 'cos it seems we haven't disappointed the people we wanted to entertain and we aren't so bland it has wide appeal. You know that thing in Castadenas books about the brujo finding a sweet spot to sit in? I feel were in it where we are right now. What I'd say is if you like what we've done so far you'll enjoy the ride.

Scarlet :
Neither of us is particularly 'rock n roll', neither of us is built for touring on the road. Both of us like people but at a safe distance where we can expect the best in them and avoid the worst of them up close. We also just want to make music. Apart from that we like our own private life too much, we don't even go out on the scene anymore. Apart from making music which is a wonderful channel of expression we like living our lives quietly without fuss or getting entangled in scene politics. Our main objective is to make records for people who enjoy them, who are free to enjoy them wherever they wish. We have no plans other than that for now.

Voe :
We'll have to see what the reptilians want us to say! :D So i guess the progression will be a revealing of what they want me to say. Maybe they wont want me to say anything, we could always do blood red vinyl of 30 mins quiet silence? :D I was considering opening a little booth at goth events where interested parties could pay me to feel the alien implant in my ear. But its not hygienic and I don't like traveling. :D

(Laurie) 10. Of course, at its heart, yours seems a message of true liberation, in all things. These are the foundational tenets, are they not?

Voe :
The whole concept with our name Angels of Liberty was a play on light and dark, freedom & tyranny. With Angels of Liberty people can see what they want to see, its a mirror. You can see it as light or dark or you can transcend both. Its a choice based on perception which is the central node in any story or any reality.

It's also mystical tradition to explore things that are opposite to you to break the mechanical trance. I explored things in 2013 that were alien to my basic nature as a libertarian and as a result so far a very dark themed album with a message of hope and ancient currents of spirituality is emerging. For me everything can be distilled down into basic dual components of material experience and these contrasts form the basic playground of our reality which we come here to create and play with as spirit/energy.

(Laurie)11. Perhaps I read far too much into things, but as I have stated, I am a firm believer in the principles of synchronicity, and I can't help feeling I have been lead here by just such principles myself.

Voe :
I don't think you should ever doubt your first or gut feeling on anything. :) Following synchronicity and listening you your inner voice is a must for living these days. :)

(Laurie) 13. Thank you Voe and Scarlet, so kindly for entertaining my sometimes odd queries! I hope that I haven't overwhelmed, or overstepped any boundaries in so doing. I am a very curious person, and Angels of Liberty fascinates me. I literally had to stop myself with the questions. I truly appreciate your time in even considering answering the more "unusual" inquiries.

Voe :
I'm flattered we invite curiosity. As they say 'Hybrid star birds who are feathered flock together!'. Thank you for going where most media fear to tread!  :)

Scarlet :
Thank you, the pleasure has been ours. We both wish you every success with both your journalism and your future Novels. :)

(Laurie) My best wishes go to Angels of Liberty; in the spreading of their music, the instilling of a true Goth Culture (with a capital "G"), and in the general enlightenment they bring to all who hear, and chose to listen to their message.

I think it only fitting to close this interview with what is probably my all time favorite Angels of Liberty song, "Kulkulkan"...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TBWjX3qwBY&feature=kp

Image Credit : Courtesy of Angels of Liberty.

Originally published on fullofknowledge.com, March 4th, 2014.

Angels of Liberty Interview - Liber II

We continue our journey into the minds of two of Goth Rock's most elite and elusive performers. While Voe gives us "the scoop" on the lyrical content, Scarlet seems more about the inner workings of the music itself. I respect that completely. It makes these revelations all the more interesting to me, in that we are seeing a rare glimpse into the many splendors of AoL, and discovering where various influences lie respectively.

(Laurie) 5. I mentioned in my former article that Angels of Liberty bring to mind Sisters of Mercy for me...in that I liken the sound to something that might have transpired had Pamela Morrison actually hung around and become a more vital creative force within the group, as she did later with The Damned. This is not meant to say Angels in not authentic, in fact, I style them even more genuine in the realms of all things "Gothic" than Sisters were (darker, at the very least, and far more controversial in content, which are aspects that attract me personally, even more). Still, do you yourself get my point? Is that a source of influence? Where you perhaps "channeling" the lost potentialities of what could have been such a divine artistic "coupling", of sorts in the combined works of Pam and Andrew had she taken more interest as he wanted her to?

Voe:
I really like all the concise song structures on first and last, and always this is where I agree with Scarlet on song structures. The production on Floodland is better but there's just something about first and last, it's just truly classic. In the late 90s I worked with Dave Allen who did the production on that. I was writing songs and tv/radio jingles in the late 90s and my manager Nik knew him and suggested him to produce a band I was also working with. I got to spend some time picking his brains which is experience, I guess.

I grew up not far from Monmouth so I did some work in Rockfield Recording Studios with John David from 60s band Love Sculpture. I was aware that the Banshees and The Cult had done some great stuff there so jumped at the chance. It was all old school so, like with editing song structures, you'd cut out slices of tape and fix it with cello tape rather than the cut and paste with digital like Pro Tools etc. A few other friends are professional old school songwriters from the 60s and 70s so I've learned arrangement stuff from them. Most of my influences are from the goth bands I liked and working around studios and other writers. Where I lived there was nothing much other than the SAS base and farms. So alot of musicians would hangout at the Dinosaw Market which was a second hand clothes and record shop that Pete (Overend) Watts from Mott The Hoople used to have. When there's nothing to do local musicians just create their own scenes so they don't go mad from boredom and you learn a lot from each other.

Regards controversial content:  Yeah I can't see Eldritch covering Reptilian aliens. I'd give it a listen if he did, maybe I'd even dance too! For me I never wanted to emulate the sisters as a replica. What I wanted to do was something that had the same evocative slightly mystical psychedelic musical feel but I wanted to explore stuff I'm into. I grew up with the X-Files, books of alien channelings whilst under the shadow of black micro dots that were being manufactured by the local Hell's Angels. So its only natural that I should cover subjects that are of personal interest to me. :D

Scarlet :
The Sisters have been the benchmark of what a Goth band should sound like ever since they arrived. We grew up with that Sisters thing as a benchmark and were influenced by it because we like Goth but there were lots of great bands to see. For that reason it makes perfect sense for us to explore things that Eldritch would not have any interest in while utilizing familiar characteristics like ritualistic bass riffs and a drum machine.

There were also some exciting potentialities of mixing Goth with electro that were missed. In a way we've wanted to travel back to 91-93 and start again introducing some electronica, some sci-fi, and dance rhythms to the occult, guitar mystical side and develop an alternative timeline of where Goth perhaps could have gone in an alternate universe maybe.

Basically we are just doing it our way and with the elements we are interested in which is all you can do really. Both of us also have such a wide variety of influences from psychedelia, soul, 70s glam rock, 80s electro etc. One of the bands we both felt had real potential in the early 90s was a band called Crystal Reign, we really liked their use of 80s electronic with Goth.

Voe :
I collect a lot of really obscure psych records which I torture Scarlet with. I've been loving the Fading Yellow compilation stuff for years. Of the less obscure stuff i like things like Iron Butterfly, Strawberry Alarm Clock, The Doors stuff with cool weaving organ melodies basically. Incense and Peppermints with that organ riff sends me to the moon.

We both love 80s new romantic and synth stuff too and I was briefly involved with the ROMO thing for a while in 95-96. I think the thing that got me with Goth in the 90s though is the intimacy of it. I loved the writing to bands, the fanzines, tape cassettes and getting to see the whole thing up close in the dry ice.

(Laurie) 6. Um...other things! Here is where it gets interesting: Being a avid fan and amateur researcher myself into factual based works of research such as the Holy Blood, Holy Grail series by Baigent, Lincoln, and Leigh, I can't help but notice a similar presence of content in songs such as "Black Madonna". Others songs, as well, and perhaps even the overtone (or under current) of the entire Angels of Liberty concept, lyrically, seem to reflect this. They also seem to echo more obscure writers, such as Gerard De Sade in his mingling of these concepts with alien manipulations, as well. Would I be correct in my assumptions, or do the sources of your primary ideologies hail from an entirely different realm, or body of knowledge?

Voe :
Im familiar with The Holy Blood, Holy Grail which I read in the mid 90s. I'm also familiar with the Rennes le Chateau mystery and the Cathars. I'm not familiar with Gerard De Sade. My understanding is that the sacred bloodline of Mary is a dis-info plot also something which the ruling elites can back up their 'god given right to rule' by claiming descendency from the blood line of 'jesus'. However my feeling is that is is based on a seed of truth which for me is the human alien hybridization event and then the spread of those bloodlines.

The persecution of the Cathars to take certain knowledge out of circulation so that the church/corporation could gain more control is of interest to me also. Follow that forward and it puts us where we are today: the 'oposame' choice of mainstream religion or atheism, which is stupidity or bust (with no in between or third way) and the ridiculous war on drugs with criminal cartels like the CIA doing the smuggling and flooding the streets with poison. But the myth of the old gods and the star seed origin story is always there haunting us as its written in the DNA though.

The whole christ bloodline thing doesn't resonate with me at all. There is the man, the myth, and then there are all the other similar christ figures. All born on the same day, died on the same day in similar ways and it all ties in with the change in seasons and astrologocal processions. The zeitgeist movie covered that stuff well. As soon as people mention the J word I usually fall asleep, run, or think about something nice like my bunny to compensate for the boredom. That program has just run its course with me. That's why in Black Madonna I wanted to bring the bloodline/grail story right back to hybridization/children of the gods, etc., which I feel is the root seed and cause of all religion and resonates with me personally.

(Laurie) So ends the third part of this wondrous journey into the nether realms of a band that is quickly becoming an iconic fixture of Goth Roth in their own right, Angels of Liberty.

Image Credit : Angels of Liberty, 2014.

For now, I leave you with a personal favorite AoL tune from the album currently in production. To me, Our Tears is the perfect embodiment of all that is quintessentially "Goth Rock"...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwBPQr-mjV0

Originally published on fullofknowledge.com, March 3rd, 2014.

Angels of Liberty Interview – Liber I

When last we visited Voe and Scarlet of Angels of Liberty, they were in the midst of a touching Sonny & Cher/Gomez & Morticia moment. It seems we are to continue in that vain, and take up the gauntlet right where we left off.

(Laurie)
3. You mentioned strange occurrences in your personal lives that seem to be surrounding the new recordings. I am a firm believer in synchronicity, and I sense there may be connections. I have to admit, you have well peaked my curiosity there. Are these strange occurrences perhaps in that vein?

Scarlet :
"I think I'll let Sonny take this one!"

Voe : 
"Yes, oh my! Where to start! Well....Since finishing Pinnacle of the Draco I started to have alien contact experiences! They have huge humor. They revealed themselves as the secret instigators only after we'd finished Draco.

Last year, I started recovering memories of meeting tall beings and a silver craft with orange lights and a bluish white mist in an area of woodland where I'd been the year before. At first it surfaced as weird dreams about wolves. I was aware something really traumatic had happened because I'm familiar with PTS, and I was all over the place, but didn't have a full memory of the event. Its not the first time I've seen something, but this time it was unmistakable because it was the whole scenario with the craft, beings, and some medical procedure involving the infamous glowing needle which they stuck in my kidney."

Scarlet :
"I supose there could have been worse places! :D "

Voe:
"Quite! :D I had what I can only describe as a telepathic conversation that was staged within my consciousness. What happens is you get drawn in by their eyes which are full of stars and your mind is putty. Rather than being scared I was really curious about them. I thought they were really cool. During the experience I asked why I couldn't see them properly, to which they gave the answer by showing me impressions in my mind that they 'bend light so people either don't see, or they see what they expect to see'.

Afterwards my response went from 'f**k I'm going nuts' to 'oh Christ, no, I don't want to talk about indigo children and star seeds 'cos I'm too embarrassed'. But its such a big thing its really hard not to talk about it. It helps even less if your 'cosmic buddies' are blamed for every evil in galactic history, and well..... its the cheap thin cloaks that kill me. I adore them, but I can see why they don't visit human shopping malls.

What's now become clear is that there's been an ongoing contact for a long time, hence my interest in the subject since a kid. Locals were ringing in the local radio station to report military jets chasing 'flying saucers' over the North East. I wasn't aware of that at the time, but I found out about it via above top secret and the David Icke site so that made me feel a little less silly.

I do have a sense of humor and it helps laugh about it. That's the way I deal with the experience, but it is very real and life changing. I'm amazed at other people telling their experiences because after telling a few 'friends' I didn't want to talk about it at all ever again. People think you are joking about it, or you've flipped your wig.

The UFO subject for me now has become the proverbial mash potato mountain but I don't give a sh*t about the debunkers who haven't had experience. The only thing they can teach me is about their own ignorance of the subject. I'm happy now I have an answer and I love these creatures. I'd much rather spend time with them than humans. They are kinder and better looking too.

The really mind blowing thing for me considering my love of bunnies is that the woodland it happened on is connected to an estate of a house where Lewis Carol was staying when he wrote Alice in Wonderland. Apparently Alice lived there. That's one hell of a rabbit hole! :D Id been having dreams about skiing/flying with bunnies and pets and id suggest to people having similar dreams they may be having screen memories. I'd wager there's about 50% of the world population having alien contact without their knowledge.

I'll be perfectly honest, I'm nowhere near any total understanding of what they want. They are indeed concerned with empathy. The other stuff is for songs cos melody carries the message better. But that's essentially what's been going on, I've been having contact with aliens! I've had to add it to my repertoire with dreams about dead people which is always a great ice breaker at parties!"

Scarlet :
"Parties?! What f***ing parties?"

Voe :
"I dress the bunnies in tuxedos. We talk politely of the 'grand satanic conspiracy'. Its quite a jovial affair."

Scarlet :
"Jesus wept!"

Voe :
"The wee little mice in dinner for schmucks and that tiny invisible violin got to me."

(Laurie)
4. I must ask, as I fully intend an article on the very authentic and genuine sound of Angels of Liberty, even though it is all synth music. How DO you get such an AMAZING sound without the use of more traditional instruments? As a bass player myself, the bass sound alone makes me want to cry in its genius!

Voe : 
"Thank you, that's very kind. :) I have a real distaste for current synth based music as it feels soulless, unlike the 80s stuff which was full of emotion and soul. On the whole, real instruments like guitars drums and bass can be distorted/overdriven to give a raw power that doesn't translate very well when used on synths.

However every single aspect of our tracks are synthetic, there are no guitars only guitarish like sounds. I grew up playing guitars, but I damaged my left hand, so I had no choice but to find other ways of working. What amazes me is that we've been accepted generally in the area of guitar Goth even though we are essentially a synth band, and I feel we wouldn't fit in the electro side of the scene. Nothings ever very straightforward!"

Scarlet :
"What we decided was to make sure the sounds felt organic by having heavily distorted and compressed bass, and making the notes ring out a little longer so they don't sound like horrid staccato synth bass lines. The feel is important, and played organic music has a feel. Usually the guitar is forward, the bass is behind the drums it gives things a little more feel, and a bit of space which we need as we compress everything down to create a wall of sound. When it comes to drums I leave him to it for hours and go out shopping."

Voe:
"She never comes home with food just new shoes or a sari so I'm always bloody starving too.
How do we get it to feel that way? A lot of practice, patience, programming, and processing. Its harder and way more time consuming than just playing an instrument, so its something you'd have to be mad to want to try, or its forced on you by injury. Sometimes it can be painfully slow so i wouldn't recommend it cos its really a labor of love."

(Laurie) Note: Well, it is good Voe has Echo Von Hammer (AoL's affectionately and aptly named drum machine) to help him out!

In our next "installment" of this interview, we will delve further into the workings of the authentic AoL sound, and then it is on to, um...other things...

Image Credit : Courtesy of Angels of Liberty, Logo Design : EoS Designs, © 2014.

Another personal favorite by AoL, "Mars and Minerva", from Pinnacle of the Draco...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyWRIWwC3ok 

Originally published on fullofknowledge.com, March 2nd, 2014.

Angels of Liberty Interview - Liber Zed

As I'm sure I have stated before, Angels of Liberty is, in my opinion, not only a premiere Goth Rock band of the 2000s, but some of the most genuine sounding electronic music out there. I feel AoL is one of the best bands out today - period. That is why I simply had to know more about them.

I was amazed to even be granted this interview. I was even more amazed that Voe Saint-Clare and Scarlet Powers (the formidable creative duo that are AoL) even entertained some of the more "unusual" questions I put forth to them. Still grander is the fact that they have now given me lengthy and legitimate answers to those queries.

Sadly, I will have to break it into parts, but I feel that tantalizing information such as that you will be reading should only be disseminated in small chunks anyway. AoL offer much food for thought in the forgoing interview, and it should be digested properly. Even those not familiar with them will find many intriguing things herein. And so we begin...

Musical Questions:

(Laurie)
1. Angels of Liberty has begun an upward swing in production recently. After several years of EP production, then the release of Pinnacle of the Draco, and now a new full length album already on its heels, it is a very productive time for you, is it not?

Voe:
"Yeah, crazy busy! I got a bit burned out in 2013 because we had so much stuff going on. However, we are now just finishing recording vocals and mixing our second album after putting the work in this year quietly.

We never thought that we'd complete an album or anyone would enjoy our work. It was purely to see if we could create something authentic & soulful sounding from the synthetic equipment. Now we are near the finish of the second one!

At the start it was easy and fun right from the off and came together pretty effortlessly finding a resonance with the right crowd. I put that down in hindsight to being honest & doing what we wanted to do for our own enjoyment. Our second album is more self conscious but I think the production/structures of the songs are much better and the themes have got a little stranger."

Scarlet:
"Looking back 2011 was a special node for us where we had a synergy with 'the flow', everything just worked. It was a perfect time to start a project. We weren't trying to do anything other than please ourselves and chose to cover subjects without worrying what people would make of it or think of us.

Like Voe said, the second album we are working on now is a little more self conscious, as 'Pinnacle of The Draco' set a standard that we both feel a need to improve on.

Regards what the new album will be like....People say 'Oh, your doing Goth, don't you want to do something else or have wider appeal'? Both of us find it condescending. Our answer is, 'No, we don't really, we are quite happy thanks! '

Sometimes you get the impression people think you are traveling backwards in time. We do what we do because we like it, there is absolutely no shame in that. So we've been doing more of it!"

Voe:
"I just spat coffee out! That sounded like an apology for being caught spanking. :D

But yeah, no need for any new fads, just more of trying to get good at Goth and bringing our own personalities into it. God help you all! :D

You have to take some of the best things from the past, couple it with expressed feelings of where you are right now, and then take that forward into the future as you evolve. Its not like we are living in the past. Right now is as good a time as any for some Goth especially if time is one eternal now. :D Goth has pretty defined and expected characteristics but it needn't be a trap if you bring some new ideas to the table. Boredom for me is a sign that imagination/thinking has ceased. I know people listen to Goth and its still relevant to them, they are the ones we do it for 'cos they are basically people like us."

(Laurie)
2. What can we expect on the new album? The set locales for the forthcoming video look very intriguing. It is appearing as though you are delving even farther into the realms of hidden bloodlines, Reptilian Aliens, conspiracies, liberation of the human mind, etc., in your current endeavors. Is this the case?

Voe : 
"There will be much more! Yes! I have many obsessions, the reptilians being one of many. It gives me a source of stuff to communicate via melody. Recently my interest has taken me beyond earthly hybrid migration to the galactic conflict over the 'hybridization or not' question. This really should be put to a 50s tv jingle but...'Its amazing what you can do...when you remote view!'.

My personal aim is to gain knowledge of the existence/truth of reality, and a lot of that bleeds through into AoL. I'm working on the notion that I'm reflecting my own higher/larger/unconscious self into the conscious mind: conversing with the Daemon. I don't mind admitting at times its like trying to fit a truck full of common sense into the body of a fool but that's an awesome card to get dealt from the pack anyhow ;). I had no idea just how trans-formative it can be when you work openly via a public art form, though. It seems to ramp up energies and draws a lot of weirdness to you which you can then channel back out via music. Then people offer their interpretations too, I get quite strange emails, its quite a trip.

When I'm not too busy or taking bunny for walks, I like to engage ideas that are conflicting. It tricks the mind out of dualistic states as a kind of 'pattern interrupt', offering momentary glimpses at other possibilities. No idea for me is too weird, strange, paranoid, irrational for breaking programs down. I don't suffer them or get overwhelmed by them, I eat them and transmute them. It enables you to see outside the cultural hive which is basically a commonly agreed upon form of mutual psychosis.

I've had a quickening of synchronicity's this year and become aware of a communication with the fabric of the universal consciousness which brings access to a huge wealth of info. That's were some material comes from, the rest is being fed to me drop by drop by my friends who we'll discuss on question 3.

This year for me personally has been full of high strangeness and learning. I've had that uncomfortable feeling that comes with adapting to a larger panorama, so hopefully it may have some points of interest for you. ;) "

Scarlet :
"We now have a basic vision of where we want to take things with AoL. I think its good to place some limits on things to create a foundation, so we rarely update the music equipment. Actually never! That can be used as a springboard and stop you getting bogged down in technical issues and the 'my foot pedals got more knobs than yours' thing. I find aspiring musicians get too caught up in the equipment or techniques of music and loose sight of what's important. For me what important is expressing ideas, moods, or feelings through the sounds/melodies, and as moods or feelings don't exist in the 3rd dimension, I'm in total sync with where Voe is. Then what we have with melody lays a foundation for the themes we work with which are around metamorphosis, shape shifting new realities etc.

Goth is probably the only genre that you can translate high strangeness into well, so I don't think there is any danger of a dub step album. Originally, Voe wanted the second album to be a radical departure, and he wanted a 'time travel Goth freak-out album', where there were psychedelic overlays and repeating sequences to give the impression of deja vu and merging time paradoxes. He won't mind me saying, I had to organize things a bit, because there were more creative threads going on than we could distill down into a meaningful experience for outside listeners. The squeeze box had to go!"

Voe :
"Hahaha, yeah it was a tad 'paisley'. We've still got plenty of time to work on my 'Gnostic space opera'. :D "

Scarlet :
"I'm sure the world will be waiting for that with baited breath, my dear! :D "

Voe :
"I work day and night Laurie, she treats me like Sonny Bono! My opera is more respectable than 'Cats on Roller Skates' and reptilians would be super on Broadway!"

(Laurie) I for one AM waiting with baited breath! To be continued...

Image Credit : Courtesy of Angels of Liberty, © 2014.

In the meantime, you can check out Angels of Liberty "Star Sailors" from Pinnacle of the Draco right here...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87NXZ9K9lQk

Originally published on fullofknowledge.com, March 1, 2014.

Angels of Liberty Interview – Liber Zed

Angels of Liberty Interview – Liber Zed

Release the Kraken...um, I Mean Angels, of course!

It's here! The long awaited interview with Voe Saint-Clare and Scarlett Powers of Angels of Liberty!

Part 1...

http://fullofknowledge.com/2014/03/angels-of-liberty-interview-liber-zed/

An Intriguing Interview is on the Way!

OH MY GOTH!!! The long awaited Angels of Liberty interview is forthcoming!
Keep your eyes peeled! It is VERY GOOD STUFF!

I'm thinking I should start disseminating this intriguing interview tonight at Midnight, EST! Seems fitting to me!

Please, don't miss it! It is rather lengthy, but there will be links to the individual parts, right here on PWG, and my personal music blog, Music to Mystify the Masses, so stay tuned for updates.

You simply must read the mind blowing answers I get to some pretty gutsy questions (if I do say so myself)! This should be of interest to the entire Goth community, nah...the whole music scene, nah...THE WORLD AT LARGE, so don't miss it!

I am very grateful to Voe Saint-Clare and Scarlet Powers for sharing a bit of themselves with me, and with the world. This is NOT something you will see everyday, as they are very private, and I must say, amazing individuals!

Here is one of their latest videos to get you in the mood!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwBPQr-mjV0&list=RDjwBPQr-mjV0&index=1

Image courtesy of Voe Saint-Clare and Angels of Liberty.