Ghastly Magazine
1995

Faith and the Muse Interview

 Monica: Working with William is unlike anything I have ever experienced in all my years in music. At the time we met, it was more like finding someone I had lost, though I was unconscious of this loss until the moment of reunion. I could honestly say William and I recognized each other the moment we were introduced and in a surreal light we actually knew we would work together. Having said all this may explain a bit as to why Faith and the Muse is so contrary to my past musical endeavors. My writing ability continues to progress through William's receptiveness to all types of music. Working with a single parallel partner allows one to explore different avenues of composition and instrumentation that can't be achieved in the standard rock format, which was all I had worked with previously. 

 Ghastly: Who and what early influences shaped your musical tastes? What are your current favorites? Any other underground acts that you particularly enjoy? 

 William: Growing up, I listened to a lot of different music; on my mother's side, there was Latin music, while on my father's side, we listened to Irish folk. The first band I really latched onto was Kiss. Their influence during my formative years cannot be overstated. Other bands that had a profound influence on my teen years would go from Queen, New York Dolls and Alice Cooper to Adam and the Ants, Gary Numan and Ultravox, to Sex Pistols, the Damned and Buzzcocks to Crass, Conflict and the Subhumans... plus all the obvious Goth and Industrial band. As far as current listening, I've been studying a large amount of Celtic music lately; lots of O'Carolan tunes, as well as some Celtic derivative stuff [Loreenna McKennit, etc.] My current favorite underground acts: Ichor is definitely up there [watch for their debut CD on Danse Macabre - excellent!], This Ascension [of course], Trance to the Sun, Autumn, Das Ich. Corpus Delicti, and a special favorite is Sarband from Germany. 

 Ghastly: Many of your songs have distant ethnic flavors. From what other cultures' music do you derive inspiration? 

 Monica: Ever since I was a child, I have been fascinated with music from around the world and from older cultures. I remember playing the Beatles' "Within You and Without You" [a George Harrison sitar piece] over and over while dancing to my own version of the Dance of the Seven Veils. There was quite a bit of ethnic music played in my house, as well as early gospel and blues. My grandfather is a Welshman and through him and the folksongs my father taught me, I feel I was given a well-rounded education in music. As a tribute to our Celtic heritage, Faith and the Muse is working on a new recording of diverse songs, mostly influenced by Welsh-Celtic mythology. There is a severe lack of historical knowledge in our generation, and we hope to put people more in touch with musical history, yet at the same time we reserve the right to expand upon it in our own way. I've also been experimenting with purely vocal pieces, some of which are influenced by Medieval religious expression. Live, I have been singing a monophonic Gregorian version of 'Angus Dei,' which I hope to record in the future.... 

 William: Celtic music has been a pretty significant influence so far, especially on the upcoming album, but we enjoy music from all cultures: African, Asian, Australian, Aboriginal, Middle Eastern, Native - American, Tibetan, Spanish, Turkish... We adore it all, experimenting with and deriving from all different musics. We are also really into Classical, Renaissance, and Barocque musics, which should be obvious to anyone who has heard "Elyria." 

 Ghastly: TelI us a bit about 'Elyria,' your first release. 

 William: 'Elyria" is the music that Monica and I had had in us for a long time, but had never been in a situation to produce; again, there are elements of our past in some of the music, but for the most part none of the material would have fit in any of our previous bands. "Elyria" is the purest expression of ourselves, undiluted by the standard "band" format and politics. By writing, recording and producing all the music ourselves, we really tapped into the soul, so to speak. The album is really one piece of music; one work designed to convey one experience, albeit with many different facets. The chemistry is a fragile one; were you to remove one song from the album, the entire structure might collapse in on itself. I feel that "Elyria" is a finely-balanced piece of music and I'm very proud of it. 

 GhastIy: TelI us about Procession. Where did the inspiration come from to undertake such an immense task? 

 William: I plead temporary insanity! Truth be known, I felt I needed to do something about the glaring lack of good shows that we were experiencing; all of the bands in the scene were just staying local, playing their own Goth/Industrial clubs and complaining abour how boring *The Scene* was. Nobody was touring except the larger acts. I toyed with the idea of putting together a festival and taking it on tour. I thought of some of the bands I liked, bands I felt represented the scene as it is today as opposed to holding on to the past and looking for old names. Rosetta Stone had been popular over here for quite a while, and I knew a lot of people who had been wanting them to tour, so I contacted them first. Next was Das Ich, who I'd met while I was on tour in Germany with Mephisto Walz back in 1992. Only a handful of people knew about them over here, but if you saw Procession, it should be obvious why I chose them. I'd heard about Corpus Delicti through various fanzines they'd appeared in, and after hearing their music, I knew they belonged on the bill. I decided to include Faith and the Muse because 'Elyria' had just been finished, and we were ready to tour - and what better tour to be on! In a nutshell, the whole idea behind Procession was to show people what is happening now, and to break the stagnation and complacency that had become so prevalent in so many areas of the scene. I really wanted to turn everyone on to what was out there, and to encourage people to seek out new music instead of hanging on to yesterday's heroes. I think I achieved that. 

 Ghastly: How did the tour itself go? 

 William: The tour itself was incredible. The bands all got along famously; everyone would watch everyone else's performances, as we were all fans of each other's work. We were all really excited to be on the road with one another, and I think it came across in the performance. The whole thing became a massive party. Performing almost came second, as we were too busy having fun! There were problems, of course, as with anything, but the highs far outweighed the lows. All in all, it was a blast. A very brilliant, special time. I'm very nostalgic about that period, and I'd wager the others are, too. 

 Ghastly: From what you saw on tour, which cities seem to have the most prosperous scenes? 

 William: Tampa, Florida stands out in my mind. I couldn't I believe how many Goths there were at that show. It was stunning. Obviously, New York and San Francisco were great as the scenes are booming there. Washington D.C. and Chicago were really good as well... 

 Monica: Having a date in Washington was very important to me [especially in the very club where I first sang for a band, back in my harDCore days], yet it was very strange for me to return to D.C. I had been gone for the better part of a year and returned in a seemingly transformed state. The scene there is very small, relatively, but loyal to its local bands; many Strange Boutique fans were there to greet me, but there were numerous new faces in the audience as well. All in all, it was a very pleasurable homecoming. Washington D.C. will always hold a soft spot in my heart, as it was there that I got my start in music. 

 Ghastly: How do you feel about the current state of the underground? 

 William: Procession gave it a much needed shot in the arm. I believe that the people are hungry for something new. Procession definitely showed them a fair sampling of what's out there, but the club DJs really need to open their minds to the new material as well; there is nothing more disheartening to me then to turn up at a club and hear the whole 80's crop of bands: The Sisters of Mercy, Siouxsie, Christian Death, Bauhaus and the Cure - all back to back. I love all the old bands too, but what about the new music? I think that most DJs could learn a lot by watching X at San Francisco's infamous House of Usher [since changed to Roderick's Chamber] spin; he's in touch with the current scene and not stuck in the past. Sure, he plays all the old favorites, but he doesn't ignore what's going on now. As far as the bands themselves, I'd like to see more touring going on. Things have been looking up though, as a good amount of underground bands have been touring as of late. I just hope it spurs others to do the same. 

 Ghastly: Back to Faith and the Muse; how do you feel Faith and the Muse live compares to Faith and the Muse recorded? Do you enjoy working in the studio, or would you prefer to be in front of an audience? 

 Monica: Completely different pantheons, actually! To answer the first part of your question, I have to underline the fact that we are careful to reproduce as many of the studio nuances as possible, and that is why we employ versatile musicians in our live performance. William may play cello on one song, bass on another, hammered dulcimer on a third song and then jump to acoustic guitar, and all of our band members have similar abilities. I think our live show enhances the music as we have put our all into the performance in our efforts to bring our music to life. As the latter half of your query, I enjoy both sides equally. To record in the studio is a release of sorts, as we are finally allowed to let the compositions out of our heads and experiment at our leisure with the songs as we write them. As far as performing live, it is also a release in a different sort of way, as well as a shared experience with the audience. We are face to face with those who enjoy our music and we can finally view their reactions as they in turn witness our journey through each song. No longer are we a frozen photo on a CD, but there before them on stage, and we in turn are able to see the people who have written all the wonderful letters we've received. 

 Ghastly: You recently returned from a 30-date European tour with Das Ich, spanning 11 countries. How did the tour go? What do you think of the European Underground scene? 

 William: Brilliant! It was a great experience, and it was nice to get back to Europe. The chemistry between us and Das Ich seems to work in a weird way, though I'm at a loss to explain it. The European audiences were incredibly supportive and really got into the shows. We were also the very first American Goth band to ever play in Slovakia. The people there were unbelievably receptive; they are literally starved for underground music there, so when we played in Bratislava, they went crazy! The scene in Europe is very healthy. It's always a pleasure to play there. 

 Monica: I must say I was pleasantly shocked at the receptiveness of the European fans. They were incredibly appreciative of our music, and very respectful. What I loved most about the tour was the fact that we were in Europe together and that it was our music that had offered us this opportunity. I cannot find the words to describe how I felt to stand with William in the Roman ruins of Trier, Germany or to walk through Vienna, Austria in the middle of the night. Europe is where we will make our home, I have no doubt. 

 Ghastly: How did you come to be involved with the film, *The Crow*? 

 William: Buena Vista / Disney contacted us after they saw our performance in Munich on this last tour. They said that they really enjoyed our show and asked if we'd be interested in performing on a tour of video release parties for the film 'The Crow.' Being a huge fan of the comic and having enjoyed the film, I said 'yes,' as I'm honored to be involved with 'The Crow' in any way. The tour consists of seven dates in Germany, taking place in March. 

 Ghastly: Do you consider yourselves to be political? 

 Monica: Socrates said that the wise pay no attention to politics, as it has nothing whatsoever to do with life. I tend to agree with this belief; governments come and go, people's minds change daily; what was a life and death problem yesterday is no longer important today. We are only given one life and we should live it to its fullest, and in doing so, respect ourselves and one another. I would never want to use music as a political plarform. If there was ever a message I wanted to send to our fans, it would be beyond words; a mixture of a sense of history along with a stronger sense of imagination. We can be whatever we want to be, and we can do whatever we want to do. Our only limit is our own mind.