Brainterviews
INTERVIEW WITH
SEBASTIAN ELLIOTT OF BRAINDANCE
AUTOEROTICASPHYXIUM — USA
WINTER, 2001
1. how long has braindance been in existence? what inspired you to start the band?
in the early 90's, i was finishing study in psychology at new york university, and felt a tremendous hesitancy towards continuing my education directly after college, with specific regards to engaging in research at the ph.d. level. having abandoned music altogether after a miserable year at the new england conservatory three years before, i decided to give music another shot and began to search for musicians through classified ads in several local music papers. Ultimately, It was the image of tiny gnomes embedded in sweet basil mashed potatoes that inspired me to seek out progressive darkwave...
2. what is the complete lineup of the band?
braindance consists of vora vor, responsible for production, programming, arrangements, and guitars, and myself, responsible for minced onions, parsley, and braised shallots. we have between three and five revolving members, human and otherwise, responsible for percussion, basses, keyboards, voices, and a myriad of other aural excitements that we'll be performing with live, as soon as redemption is released.
3. since first starting braindance how well known have you become worldwide?
as you may already know, double edge productions functions as a label and management in name only. aside from a very talented group of artists, designers, street teams, and fans who help us survive as a self-produced entity, vora and i are completely responsible for production, promotion, publicity, bookings, management, and financial considerations. we've had limited dealings with limited companies with limited integrity and limited dealings with limited companies with limited funds, but nothing substantial. from the start, we felt we owed to ourselves to become recording artists - I don't believe in granting people the right to decide when my career starts. fortunately, quite a few misguided people out there in candyland felt like spending their hard earned ducats on braindance merchandise over the years, and i think we've been extremely fortunate to have independently received an overwhelmingly positive response worldwide. to answer your question, from what i understand, even the salamanders that live off of the cliffs of the remote villages of foonba-bala have experienced progressive darkwave...
4. how does braindance characterize their music? do you consider yourselves innovators?
when we first started braindance, we never really knew what it was that we were doing in the sense of categorization - we simply produced tasty nuggets intended to please ourselves and the temperamental amphibians we surround ourselves with. when vora and i first met, i hadn't even listened to contemporary music for four or five years, and didn't exactly know what genre i would have liked to have been associated with. it was only after receiving press and response from both the goth/industrial/darkwave community and the progressive community, that we came to be familiar with terms such as gothic, darkwave, ambient, industrial, progressive, death, black, doom metal, etc. in fact, i'm still not clear (and have yet to receive a satisfactory explanation) on what those terms and their respective boundaries are. perhaps if i had been clear on those terms and how they are supposed to be communicated musically, we'd be doing something completely different than braindance, something completely identifiable (and non-threatening by industry standards), and probably making more money doing it. i don't think that we've done anything unbelievably earth shattering - i'm sure that there's a lot of great hybrid music that is out there that combines musical intelligence with a darker intensity...
5. what bands do you listen to personally? which of these would you cite as influences?
on the whole, and not surprisingly, i'm a fan of all of the 'sub-genres' that make up braindance - goth, industrial, progressive metal, darkwave, classical, progressive trance, and sauerkraut - generally, anything with dense programming, multi-layered composition, distinct melody and/or of a darker nature. currently i'm listening to a lot of house, progressive trance, and techno...i'm also listening to cradle of filth, velvet acid christ, dark tranquility, anything by leeb/fulber (front line assembly/noise unit/synaesthesia), and darkwave hybrids such as tiamat, theatre of tragedy, paradise lost, nightwish, within temptation, and samael that produce great music and widen an audience that demands more from their music. my main influence, by far, however, is my father, who taught me the deepest forms of self-deprecation...
6. have you been performing live? if so, how have the reactions generally been?
a lot of vomiting, and refund requests...
7. how are the scenes devoted to subversive music where you're from? is there a high number of bands? would you like to see more pop up in the future?
in a city of 500 ga-zillion, there are quite a few options to occupy oneself in lower manhattan other than music, let alone subversive music. by subversive music, i believe you mean underground metal/goth/industrial/darkwave venues and live music clubs in downtown nyc. other than a handful of well-done evenings, there has been a general decline over the last decade with regard to small to mid-level live music venues or lounges that used to cultivate underground talent. however, perhaps i'm completely removed, as a promoter of dark house music/trance parties, where large numbers of people from new york and new jersey can be religiously passionate about their music as a social phenomenon.
8. do you read many fanzines? if so, which ones do you read most?
i am in constant communication with approximately 2500 underground publications either in print or on-line, but i certainly can't read them all. i would say that my private bathroom library contains a few metal magazines, a few muscle & fitness magazines, and probably a few comic books, preferably from the top cow universe...
9. describe the website for the label double edge productions. how has it been coming along? what effect has the internet had on the underground in your opinion?
the internet has been instrumental in introducing newer listeners to braindance that wouldn't ordinarily be exposed, given the current structure of the music industry. insofar as the issue of pirating is concerned (with specific regards to sites like napster), i would like to believe that consumers take pride in the ownership of an original compact disc as the artist intended. i would like to think that braindance fans are not only discerning consumers that demand an accurate sonic representation of the intended production, but also consumers that cherish the original packaging, artwork, and inserts that we intended to be included in the release. from this perspective, certainly an established and successful international band like metallica wouldn't necessarily benefit by mp3 exposure as much as a smaller project like ours would.
10. what is your opinion of the infighting between fans of different styles of music? what effect is having on the scene as a whole?
unfortunately, i spend far too much time fighting with myself to worry about the warring amonst neighbouring tribes...
11. what are your aspirations for the future of braindance?
future plans include fame, fortune, and the amassing of large quantities of cleansers....
12. any final remarks?
i can't decide between, "through the eyes of misery, everything looks grim", or "regular flossing and brushing are essential ingredients for successful oral hygiene"....you choose....