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...
