Feature Interviews

CrowJane interviewed about her first solo album, ‘Mater Dolorosa’

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Known for her work with such bands as Egrets on Ergot and Prissy Whip, CrowJane has made her solo debut with Mater Dolorosa. Featuring material written over the past 5 years, the album has an experimental, highly percussive sound to it. The mood is dark and often eerie, with unusual arrangements balanced by strong melodic elements and powerful vocals.

Swans documentary “Where Does a Body End?” – Interview with director Marco Porsia

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The documentary Where Does a Body End? presents an intimate portrait of the band Swans, from their emergence from the NYC no-wave/noise scene in the early ’80s through the various line-up and stylistic shifts. Utilizing recent performance footage and interviews, as well as extensive archival material, it provides a history of the band, and, just as importantly, it illustrates the impact Swans have had on their fans and peers.

KatieJane Garside (ex-Daisy Chainsaw ) re-embraces noise with liar, flower

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With liar, flower, former Daisy Chainsaw frontperson KatieJane Garside builds upon the work of her previous project, Ruby Throat, but re-introduces some of the noise and abrasiveness of her earlier projects. Once again a collaboration with multi-instrumentalist Chris Whittingham, liar, flower recently released an extremely varied debut album, Geiger Counter. While some of the songs maintain … Read more

Ann Margaret Hogan interviewed about her nature-inspired solo album “Honeysuckle Burials”

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While Anni Hogan’s last album, Lost in Blue, featured a variety of collaborators, she has returned to minimalist solo experimental music for the recently released Honeysuckle Burials.  Released as Ann Margaret Hogan, Honeysuckle Burials features eight atmospheric pieces that bring together piano and nature field recordings. In an email interview, Hogan discussed the inspirations and … Read more

Chris Spencer (Unsane) and Jim Coleman (Cop Shoot Cop) talk about their current project, Human Impact

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Human Impact grew out of the desire of singer/guitarist Chris Spencer (Unsane) and keyboardist Jim Coleman (Cop Shoot Cop) to work together. Also including bassist Chris Pravdica (Swans, Xiu Xiu) and drummer Phil Puleo (Cop Shoot Cop, Swans), the group released their self-titled debut album in March. Elements of the members’ past projects are evident in Human Impact’s sound, but it all comes together into a cohesive and original sound. It’s dark and abrasive, but also at times melodic. As with Cop Shoot Cop, the electronics blend organically with the more typical rock instrumentation.

Interview with Akiko Sampson of dark post-punk band Ötzi

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The music of dark post-punk band Ötzi juxtaposes haunting melodic and aggressive musical elements, often within the same song. Their highly rhythmic sound twists in unexpected directions, with strongly focused songwriting keeping things together. It’s easy to pick out influences in Ötzi’s music, yet the resulting style is unlike anything else. Hailing from Oakland, CA, the group consists of singer/bassist Akiko Sampson, singer/drummer Gina Marie, guitarist K. Dylan Edrich and multi-instrumentalist Winter Zora. Though their planned spring tour is cancelled due to COVID-19, Ötzi will be releasing a new album, “Storm,” on May 22, 2020

Pete Rivett-Carnac (Single Gun Theory) returns as The Real Ok Boomer

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The Real OK Boomer is a new downtempo / chillhop / lo-fi project from Pete Rivett-Carnac of Single Gun Theory. Debuting with “Exorcise This Wasteland” in 1986, Single Gun Theory was known for combining creative sampling and sound manipulation with strong vocal-driven songwriting. The group released two more albums in the ’90s, “Millions, Like Stars in My Hands, The Daggers In My Heart Wage War” and “Flow, River of My Soul” and did soundtrack music for the film “The Monkey’s Mask” (2001). On “Consume. Be Silent. Die,” the debut EP from The Real OK Boomer, Rivett-Carnac explores new musical directions, but fans will hear hints of his past work.

Loga Ramin Torkian of NIYAZ interviewed about “The Fourth Light Project” multimedia experience

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When Azam Ali and her husband Loga Ramin Torkian realized they needed a new creative challenge for their musical project NIYAZ, they chose to pursue staging a multimedia experience. At the time, they weren’t exactly sure what that meant, but it evolved into a multi-sensory performance built around advanced projection/body-mapping techniques. The show is based around Niyaz’s 2015 album The Fourth Light, which was inspired by Rabia Al Basri, the 8th-century poet and first female Sufi mystic. Both Ali and Torkian were born in Iran and moved to America as children. Their music combines Eastern and Western influences, as well as traditional acoustic instruments and electronics.