Interview: 5/6/09 The very first interview that we ever posted was with Josh of Vernian Process. It's hard to believe that was well over two years ago now.
Since then a lot has happened with this little website, the genres we explore... and with Vernian Process. Now seemed a good time to check in with the band...
Sepiachord: What are your live shows like now?
Josh: Well to start with, I don't stand behind a laptop anymore. So that's a huge relief for me. Martin plays guitar or bass. We are auditioning new bassist's, and guitarists so that Martin can just stick to one instrument or the other at any given show. Erica plays Cello with us when her schedule allows, and we are currently working with an incredible drummer, who hasn't played live with us yet. Just last night, I contacted a potential pianist/keyboardist as well. She seems very interested in our project. Oh and I do the main vocals, but we are working on incorporating multiple vocalists.
We still play the atmospheric videos in the background, but the focus is much more on our band dynamic now.
Martin: Hmmm… I didn’t really experience any of the previous VP shows, so I can only describe what the shows are like currently. Lots of energy, fun and slightly unusual… We give our very best every time we play, the rest is for the listener to decide.
Josh: Oh, and make sure to pay attention to Martins "guitar" solo during "The Alchemist's Vision" *laughs hysterically*. Blink and you could miss it! This man is insane... (and that's a good thing).
SC: How did you meet up with cellist Erica Mulkey?
Josh: Well I've actually known Erica for many years. We first met in the goth scene here in SF, just before she started writing as "Unwoman". Recently I was listening to her newest releases and really got into the kind of cabaret influenced work she was producing. So I thought "Hey why don't we see if Erica would like to play out at a show with us?" It turned out that she was the perfect choice. Despite her busy schedule touring with some pretty major acts in the "Dark Alternative" scenes, she was able to learn our songs in a matter of days.
Martin: I really didn’t know Erica personally before, but I am sure glad she’s on board. She’s an extremely talented musician. We’re lucky to have her in VP.
SC: Has the song-writing process changed now that their are two of you?
Josh: Absolutely. It has changed dramatically. Even just with the retooling we've been doing to my older solo compositions for Behold the Machine. The way we go about constructing the songs has been way more efficient than the process I was using before.
Martin: I do not know how Josh worked before, but I sure get to meddle with the material a lot. I usually take a piece he’s working on and ask “Josh, can I mess this up?” and he seems to enjoy the results… it can be quite interesting… we’ll sometimes arrive at the same conclusion simultaneously, or he’ll ask me to try something when that was exactly what I was about to try anyway. All the VP participants are very professional and easy to work with.
Josh: It's actually pretty amazing, the amount of symmetry Martin and I have in the studio. He isn't exaggerating at all. We'll be sitting there writing a new part, and I'll be like... "Oh maybe we can have the bass descend right there while this harpsichord part plays a counter-melody here", and he'll just laugh and not say anything but stare at me like I am psychic or something *laughs*.
But seriously I love giving Martin free reign on my compositions. He just takes them and makes them a hundred times more interesting!
SC: When will we hear a collection of your new work?
Josh: Currently we have an E.P. featuring our work as of February. It can be downloaded for free at our MySpace profile. The full version of the album will be done by early Summer. It will feature a much wider range of acoustic instruments, and much less synthetic elements.
Martin: Indeed, the E.P. we put out on Jules Verne’s anniversary is a good sample of the direction we’re going in, but with every new song, or new album, our concepts evolve…
Josh: Yes this is true, if you listen to the first few tracks we worked on at the beginning of the year and the last few we just wrapped up, the progression is pretty crazy. The Last Express is the one we are currently wrapping up, and I think it's going to be one of our strongest tracks ever.
SC: You're now referring to your style as "steamwave" instead of "steampunk". As the first band to call their music steampunk why have you walked away from the identifier? What's the difference between steamwave and steampunk?
Josh: Steamwave is really a big joke (and our fans seem to get it). We try to make it obvious. It's like calling music nu-rave, or post-emo *laughs*. Despite it being a joke it surprisingly fits our sound pretty appropriately. Mostly because we are heavily influenced by Steampunk literature/film, Darkwave, Post-Punk, Trip-Hop, and Industrial music. But we are also equally influenced by a wide range of traditional 19th Century musical styles as well (hence the "Steam" part of the title). Yes we are big nerds... well I can't speak for Martin, but I know I'm one *laughs*.
Martin: I am not even sure either one fits the traditional definition of a music genre, but a culture in itself… so far Steampunk has proven to be a wide and rich music (and artistic) melting pot… Hopefully it stays that way and “Steamwave” is just another faction of the same cultural expression.
Josh: I think it's comparable to someone referring to music as Deathrock rather than Death Metal. To the fans of those genres there is a huge difference. But to your average joe on the street it's all just goth music.
SC: This coming October you'll be performing at Steamcon in Seattle, can the crowd look forward to anything special?
Josh: Yeah, and we are really excited for that show! What to expect? Well we will probably have an entire band lineup by then, as well as some new tracks from our forthcoming releases. We have some new covers in mind for the show as well. All I can really say, is to pay attention to our drummer. Because he will blow your mind! Oh and... we will have a very special guest vocalist for a few of our songs as well. Here's a hint... he's about half my size *laughs*.
Martin: Oh, you will not want to miss it. We hope it will be a unique experience.
SC: Josh was interviewed by MTV regarding steampunk, how did that come about?
Josh: I believe my friend Evelyn was contacted by MTV, and she forwarded them my contact info. The interview didn't exactly turn out the way I was expecting though. For one thing I was completely misquoted, and the video footage I shot for the actual interview was never used. It's ok though, because any press is good press. And to be fair the interviewer was very helpful and just as bummed that my footage was cut as I was. I wish the interview had been scheduled a month or so later, because that was when Martin came on board.
SC: So tell us a bit about Gilded Age Records. What led you to create it, how is it different from a typical record "label"?
Josh: Gilded Age Records is actually more of a "collective" of like minded artists and is modeled after the way Tony Wilson ran Factory Records in the 70's and 80's. Basically each band has full ownership of any and everything they create. We don't ask for a cut of royalties, or anything like that. We just help the bands get their material recorded (by offering to help produce/master there work for free), and help them promote their finished product. The goal is that each band will promote the collective, therebye promoting all of their fellow bands at once. We started with 3 bands back in December or so, and currently we have nearly 20 bands on board, and more are contacting us each week.
Originaly I created the group as a way to give my project some professional credibilty. I was getting tired of hunting for an interested label, and decided to just release my material on my own. After talking to The Clockwork Dolls, and a few other bands that we had been networking with, we decided to invite other bands aboard. Since then we've had a cavalcade of International artists contact us. All of them bringing their own unique twist to our formula.
SC: What's your criteria for inclusion on Gilded Age's roster?
Josh: Well we're pretty open to all artists, and love bringing in a wide variety of styles. The only constant we look for, is that each band is obviously influenced by the 19th Century, or at least the early 20th Century. It's not a hard and fast rule, but I can usually tell after a few minutes of listening to a potential artist whether or not they are someone that will fit within our groups aesthetic.
SC: After your next album is released, what's the next step for Vernian Process?
Josh: We have three projects we plan on working on next. One is the previously announced soundtrack to the Steampunk graphic adventure game "Shades of Violet", being produced by "Imagineer Games". We are also working with Hatboy studios and a number of our Gilded Age Records artists to produce tracks for another upcoming game in the "AIR" franchise.
Next we have plans to work on an E.P. of Punk Rock covers done in our Steamwave style. The choices we've come up with fall in the late 70's/early 80's realm of Punk. We were sitting around brainstorming ideas, and I had this realization that their aren't any really "Punk Rock" influenced Steampunk projects out there. I later discovered the band The Cretins who are actually writing a double album of original old school Punk songs done with a variety of traditional orchestral instruments such as pipe organ, dulcimer, violin, accordion, etc. (which will be released through Gilded Age), but I'd still like to tackle some really short, fast, songs where I can just spit out the lyrics. After all Punk Rock was my birth place in the realm of music.
Finally Martin and I plan on writing a themed album based on various fallen empires throughout history. We don't have a title for it yet, but it will certainly be a departure from our more strictly "Steampunk" inspired material. For instance, each song will incorporate instrumentation and structure from the regional music of that empire. An example is a song I am currently writing about the atrocities commited by the Japanese Empire during the second Sino-Japanese war, and WW II, with their biological testing facilities like Unit 731. These are the kinds of topics I want to address on the album. Events that have been swept under the rug of history so to say.
Martin: The idea is to reinvent our sound in every release without losing our core identity. We are already discussing more ideas than we can possibly handle and I see that as an incredibly valuable asset. As long as we keep having fresh ideas, we’ll keep making music. Personally, I do not think we could ever settle for a specific theme or formula, we are meant to keep morphing and exploring… and that is how we have the most fun.
SC: Any final drops of wisdom?
Josh: Not so much wisdom, but food for thought I suppose. Personally I'm really hoping to see a shift in subject matter coming from the Steampunk musicians, writers, and artists in general. It would be nice to see more artists embracing the biting social and political commentary so prevelant in most of the works of Steampunk and Victorian Science-Fiction, and not focusing so much on the superficial and fanciful elements of the genre. After all, we are at a time where our voices need to be heard. Now more than ever, the world is spiralling out of control, and we need to say something about it. The paralels with the events of today and those of the late 19th Century are astounding.
Martin: Wisdom? I ignore if I have any… just a thought though. I think that we have stumbled upon, created, found or discovered a fantastic culture, where originality and creativity are the norm and not the exception. Everyone involved in the scene has a very specific view of it… there’s no uniformity, yet there’s unity. I believe this to be a haven for restless, creative minds and I hope it stays that way… in its true, pure form.
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