Rennaissance Dance Interview-Greece Summer '96
Thanks so much for this opportunity to be interviewed for The Renaissance
Dance. Here are the answers to your questions..
The band consists of: Terri Kennedy-vocals Dave Rhine -guitar, Tony
S.-bass, Larry Salzman-drums
A brief history: Dave and I formed the band in 1992, after I met a former
drummer of his who linked us up..though we originally met back in the early
'80's we never really knew each other. After playing with Jon, his former
bandmate on bass, who ended up going away to school, we went through a
series of drummers and bassists, but I really like this line-up the best.
It's the second time we've had Tony and Larry play with us, earlier
recording Eden Lost  (in a haunted studio!) during a disastrous record deal
with a dishonest label. Now we are independently releasing our material,
and seeking distribution worldwide. Our distributor in the States is
Tess/Etherhaus (PO Box 206 Santa Barbara, CA 93102) who got us into the
Tower Records chain. The CD is a mixture of the two  line-ups..Jon
McPherson plays bass and Paul Rocha is on drums for 16 of the tracks, with
Larry and Tony appearing on four. Eileen Bowe of Dichroic Mirror is playing
with us live now, did the keyboards on the CD on Of the Ambush of God and
engineered half the tracks for us in her home studio.
Pierre: Terri, it seems that Stone 588 are quite known in the U.S. Pease
tell us which of your releases helped you reach the top of the new American
wave bands. And I mention "wave" because I think the term "goth" is too
restricted to represent your freshness.. Do you agree?
Terri: I find it flattering that you think we are famous in America, but we
are not! Our CD has probably helped a lot to increase our profile in the
last six months, however bands like London After Midnight are much better
known and draw a greater number of people to their shows. We want to play
larger venues, but right now we only get such shows when we support acts
like Eva O. and Rozz. The unfortunate fact is people are more impressed
with people who drip vampiric gothliness like Sean Brennan than ordinary
musicians like us! We just aren't scenesters going out to Helter Skelter
every week..but having my store helps. I make a lot of contacts through my
business (more on that later..)Outside of L.A. we have gotten much more
interest. Perhaps if we were playing on the East coast, we would have a
higher profile overall in the scene. Of course all of this isn't relevant
to how good our music is, is it? Requiem in White remained unknown in
America, but they were an awesome band with many European fans. We are
looking on Europe for our following because we think our style might be
better received there. Remember American radio is far different from yours'
in that we won't receive airplay on commercial radio. So-called
"alternative" radio stations, hype whatever they think is the next big
thing (usually whatever the record labels pay them to play...it's called
"payola") They'll play exclusively that kind of sound, like grunge or
ska..ignoring everything else. So bands like ours' can't be heard unless
club or college radio DJs play us. Interviews like this help too, because
listeners will seek us out, and demand their record shops stock us..or
order direct from us!
As far as "goth" being too antiquated to describe our music..well, we were
all kicking around the club scene in the early eighties, when "goth" was
born and the term "death rock" was applied to bands like 45 Grave &
Superheroines (Eva O's earlier band, who I was fortunate to befriend at
that time.) I still like "death rock", because rock is definitely an
element in our music, no matter what other adjectives you choose to
describe it. "Wave" is not a term much used here in America except in
reference to "New Wave" like Lene Lovich, who I greatly admire, but we
don't have an electro sound. Call us what you like, as long as you speak of
us!
Pierre: 4 years in existence and you've played gigs great artists such as
Rozz Williams, Dave Vanian, Usherhouse, etc. Which one do you consider the
best you've ever done so far?
Terri: Probably our most recent show at the Kiss of the Vampire club where
we played alone. Even though our drummer was injured, and couldn't play, we
put together an acoustic/electric set sans percussion.. it came off very
dreamy and beautiful in an ethereal way. Dave played 12 string guitar, and
Eileen Bowe of Dichroic Mirror added some guitar synth and mandolin touches
that were very different from our normal sound. It was nice to be audible
vocally, and have a more classical element surface in our music..A show we
had a week later was also really cool at The Haven coffeehouse, on the same
bill with the Prophetess and my new side project, Feast. That show was the
first following Larry's return to the drum seat and it was magical because
we were inspired to write a new ending to Stygian Darkness while performing
it! Conversely, shows we play with big names usually have six bands, so we
never get a sound check and get rushed offstage after playing for 20
minutes, like the recent Heltir show with Rozz. So, big events are rarely
favorable for us, though  its important to play to a larger audience.
Pierre: I constantly hear that your voice reminds of early Siouxsie. Does
this comment bother you?
Terri: No, but I just don't see the similarity. I find the guitar effects
Dave uses to be more like John McGeogh of Siouxsie and the Banshees, but I
sing higher, with a vibrato and a more operatic style, more like Dead Can
Dance or Cocteau Twins (We heard that comparison at the Kiss of the Vampire
show. So, to me that is more evidence that it's the music, more than the
voice that sparks that comparison.) I do like SIouxsie, but my influences
are more from old jazz, torch singers, and Catholic choir music, though I'm
not religious.
Pierre:Let's get into your new release, called Door in the Dragon's Throat.
Develop your thoughts behind the lyrics, inspirations, and details.
Terri: O.k. here's the commmercial...The CD is available from my store Ipso
Facto at 517 N. Harbor Bl, Fullerton, CA 92832 USA for $14.99 plus overseas
freight of $3.75 or online at our catalog website:
http://home.earthlink.net/~ipsofacto/  It's a compilation of earlier songs
we released on cassette, but in a re-mixed or re-recorded form, PLUS 5 new
songs. The name is culled from Anais Nin, whose writings I greatly admire.
Also, having had an unexplainable meeting with someone I knew who was
deceased, I explore the supernatural with great interest. Ghost and vampire
lyrical references abound, with influences from Edgar Allen Poe as well as
the philosphy of the Marquis de Sade (as inScales of Justice.) I would love
to explain the lyrics to each song, but there are 21 tracks on the CD, so
here's a few...Some were written after disastrous relationships like Door
in the Dragon's Throat, Westering Moon, but I use metaphor to describe the
emotion, so in Door  its compared to an execution, and in Westering Moon
it's the waning of the moon..There a a lot of supernatura/goddess
references in my lyrics, such as the sexual/ moon/fertility/earth metaphors
of Panacea andParadise Fields .Of the Ambush of God is about praying to
saints as a child and later finding out they never existed historically!
Stygian Darkness is about the night, Shards to Sheaths about the both the
power and fragile beauty of water. Night Behind the Mind is about the
persecution of women during the Witch hysteria. Lightning Rails was
inspired my my childhood when I lived next to railroad tracks and used to
walk home along side them imagining the Old West being settled via the rail
system..and the immigrants who gave their lives building it. Ruination is
about the ancient Jewish folktale of the golem fashioned from clay to do
the bidding of its maker.. like the more modern Frankenstein. Poseidon's
Grace was written after I watched one of those '70's Sinbad films..despite
the tasteless blue eyeliner on all the female characters, there was
actually a poignant part where the ship's figurehead (I have a thing for
figureheads, lyrically) ..she was bewitched and forced to steal a map from
Sinbad. Then when she faithfully brought it to the sorcerer, he brutally
cut off her hand, tossing her into the sea.

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