You write that "Faith And The Muse is a total experience in art, theatre and music; catharsis at all levels." After your concert in Greece we definitely had an experience of this catharsis but I want to hear you explaining what you mean using the word 'catharsis'.

William: In keeping with the honesty of performance, the emotional and spiritual connection of artist and audience, every aspect of our work is a release, a spilling forth of one emotion, thought or sensation of some kind; sometimes purgative, other times we put it out there for others to respond to. But in all cases, it is a release for us.

Faith and The Muse was formed in late 1993. It has been said that you manage to capture the essence of the early gothic/ethereal bands signed to the 4AD in the early 80's. In the early 90's William Faith was a member of Christian Death and their spin-off bands Mephisto Walz and Shadow Project and Monica Richards was part of the group Strange Boutique since 1987. What made you leave these bands and what was the experience you acquired after all these fruitful career until you formed Faith And The Muse.

Monica: I started out singing for punk bands in 1981, and released my first album with my band Madhouse in 1984 - so any style I captured later was through my own involvement in writing music during those pivotal years. I went through numerous changes during the years before F&TM, and being simply the singer of a band has many limitations - I knew I had much more to offer and say, so having later a partner in William - someone who took my ideas seriously, who allowed me full creativity, was a complete blessing. The experience I got was change in direction from punk to alternative, performing hundreds of live shows, dealing with criticism, writing lyrics, all natural progressions to becoming a more mature musician in F&TM.

William: It grew more and more difficult for me to limit my contributions to these projects to such a narrow degree. I very much enjoyed being part of a band -- I learned a great deal while working in the groups that I did -- but ultimately, I had a lot more to say, and I just wasn't going to have the outlet I desired in any of those situations, so I had to create my own.

After your first full-length album 'Elyria' -1994 you toured the US with Rosetta Stone, Corpus Delicti and Das Ich, as part of the Procession tour. We need to hear you share your feelings on this first tour as Faith And The Muse. It has been written that your performance was a revelation of artistic spirit as you combine the arts. Was it instinctive, this very first time, or it was part of the project as you planned it to be?

Monica: It was instinctive, as we simply hit the stage and went with it! It was a full allowance of styles I had in me, theatrical ideas I had suppressed with other bands, music I wanted to let out. We went all out with the costume, the mood, the songs, it all came together perfectly.

William: Procession was such a load to carry that we scarcely had time to really realize our own situation (Monica and I were responsible for the whole tour, from concept to completion) -- it was ALL instinct -- the organization and preparation for the tour ate up every other waking moment. In retrospect, they were good performances, but it took us a little time to find our footing in the live arena.

I would like you to brainstorm some words next to each of your albums that resemble the essence communicated by these as you experience - it could be words, symbols or pictures.

1994: Elyria.

Monica: Heart. Soul. Love. Release.

William: Birth. Radiance. Freedom.

1996: Annwyn, Beneath the Waves.

Monica: Celtic myths. Goddesses. Sirens.

William: Water. Enormity. Potency.

1999: Evidence of Heaven.

Monica: Victorian. Confinement. Death.

William: Fast. Simple. Not bad.

2001: Vera Causa.

Monica: Night. Morning. Expansion. Milestone.

William: End of an era. Take a bow. Thank you.

2003: The Burning Season.

Monica: Fire! Experimentation. Womanhood. Freedom.

William: Inferno. Truth. Beautiful rage.

Your fans have always wondered how you manage to combine so artistically sometimes diverse elements in your music (acoustic renaissance ballads, Gothic Rock structures, Classical, traditional/ethnic influences -Celtic, Eastern, fairy music etc- pop, trance, punk, jazz and possible some rock 'n roll) and create a harmonious synthesis that leads to our souls travelling to other dimensions.

Monica: What a lovely thing to say!! I think it is just our own freedom to create, as we are the same two people who create it all, we simply continue to have some sort of style within each realm of music.

William: As unique as any human emotion can be, there is an equally unique means of expressing it. We follow our hearts, and the rest just happens.

Many of your songs are inspired by literary themes. I need to hear some of your influences in literature as well as painting and art in general.

Monica: My themes always run around a mythological or historical sense of the current view of the world; the more things seem to change, it all reflects on the fact that things never change - and I tend to move towards artists and writers that feel this way such as Gustav Klimt (and the entire pantheon surrounding Art Nouveau, as they reawakened the classic styles with a new sense of organic strength and structure), and writers such as Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Ray Bradbury, not to mention original mythologies from Native American stories to Chinese fairy-tales.

Which bands you admire and would definitely like to perform with?

Monica: I would love to sing with Bowie or Peter Gabriel.

People in Greece adored your concert at An Club, did you receive this feedback from your audience? Is this energy you get from your audiences transformed somehow into a creative outlet afterwards?

William: Athens is one of the most fondly remembered stops of the whole tour, without question. It was one of those magical evenings when everything goes as it always does in your dreams; the audience gave back everything we gave them 10 fold, and I can never ask for anything more than that.

Monica: It was really one of our favorite shows of the tour! I could hear people singing along with every song, I saw such happiness and enthusiasm for our music, it was infectious. These are the perks to creating music, it actually is the top of all feelings, and its energy simply calls us to continue - that there are fans out there who understand, who are open to us, who enjoy and love our music - this is how it feeds creation.

I know you are a writer can you tell us some things about the topics of your books.

Monica: My views always surround feminine energy and imagery. I'm putting out a full book of poetry soon. My best known book is The Book of Annwyn, which details the Welsh myths behind the Annwyn CD. The Garden Booke of Ghosts is more tailored to Evidence, it's a light-hearted poetic tour of a haunted garden. I've been sending my short stories around as well...

Something else we noticed was the group's love for animals. Do you share the opinion that everything is linked to everything else and we, as humans share this responsibility of directing energies to creation and not destruction?

Monica: Very much so! We have many animals, almost all rescues, and we love them like children. Something I must say: somehow, fur has gotten acceptable again in fashion and the music world! This is just not right, I don't know how it happened!

William: Animals are better than people.