The13th AÑO: 5 | NÚMERO 45
UNA R E VISTA IMA GINARIA
VANDAL MOON THE FULL SPECTRUM OF HUMAN EMOTION
[ Entrevista a Blake Voss de Vandal Moon por BenjamÃn York. Photographs: Nicole Fraser-Herron y Don Alderon ]
THE FULL SPECTRUM OF HUMAN EMOTION
On the new album "Wild Insane", Vandal Moon’s sound moves along lines created by the parents of the synth goth, Clan of Xymox, or Americans Cruxshadows, like a fish in the water. But we can also clearly distinguish different influences from Robert Smith's band The Cure. From the city of Santa Cruz, California comes this great new album, which is also one of the topics that we will deal with in this interview with Blake Voss, the mastermind behind this project. Hello Blake and thank you for speaking with us today. To kick things off, tell us the when and how of Vandal Moon’s coming into being? I first dreamt up the concept of Vandal Moon in 2012. I was tired of being a singer-songwriter type artist. I wanted to give myself absolute creative freedom to explore new sounds. I'd painted myself into a corner and I wanted out. How did you come to choose your band name? To me, the moon represents something holy and eternal about the human experience. It connects all humans, through all time. To vandalize is to desecrate. Vandal Moon is the good and bad in humanity. The full spectrum of human emotion. The first two albums “Dreamless” (2013) and “Synesthesia” (2014) are the darker and more experimental albums from the band's discography. What were you interested in showing from your sound in the project’s early days? Believe it or not, Dreamless was my personal expression of psychedelic music. But it was also influenced by the 'Drive' film soundtrack. Synesthesia was me learning how to play synthesizers. To paraphrase your song from the album “Teenage Daydream Conspiracy” (2016), have you loved Robert Smith since you were six years of age? What inspired you to write this particular song? The Brian Jonestown Massacre have a song called 'David Bowie I love you since i was six".
My song is a continuation of that legacy of debt to our musical heroes. And i believe Robert Smith and David Bowie are cut from the same cloth. Both brilliant and beautiful. On “Teenage Daydream Conspiracy” (2016), there is a noticeable change towards synth goth. Was this something you did intentionally or would you say this came about as part of the natural growth of Vandal Moon’s sound? It was very natural. I didn't even realize I was making goth music. It just came out of me. I was actually really surprised when I was embraced by the Goth community. I have great respect for the culture. Plus they are some of the nicest people i know. We heard "Baby Sounds" ahead of the new album "Wild Insane" and the sound deepens in terms of synth goth much more than in previous productions, as indicated in your intensive use of synthesizers. Do you think this is the sound you were looking for when you recorded your previous album? I try not to think too much about what sound I'm trying to make. I just try to create what sounds the prettiest to my ears. I'm really happy with the sound of Wild Insane. It covers a lot of ground, but has clear connective tissues. I hope you create something unique. The album has a retro sound from the 80s, as you’ve even expressed via social media. What draws your attention and inspiration from that decade? I ask this because I lived through it and I feel that your current sound is superior to the sounds of that decade. Wow, that's very kind of you. That's a hard question to answer. To me the 80s is about punk rock and synthesizers. Post punk. I believe in a DIY ethos and what punk rock contributed to that movement. I believe in individuality and self expression. So, to that extent my music draws very deeply from that belief system. Also my mom drove me around in her Carmengia listening to The Eurythmics. That says it all.
3
The album description on Bandcamp reads “This album is dedicated to all the traumatized citizens of the 21st century Earth.” Can you explain this statement? We live in interesting times. It's not easy to be a rational, thoughtful, loving human being in a world full of hurt and chaos. I can really empathize with what everyone is going through, even if they, themselves, don't realize are suffering. It's important that people don't feel alone. Currently your band is a duo with Jeremy Einsiedler. For live shows, do your appear with special guests or do you prefer to perform strictly as a duo? It will be just the two of us for now. But I'm working on recruiting someone to play all the synth
parts. I don't like playing along to backing tracks very much. What are your plans for this year? Lots of secret stuff in the works. I want to continue to make friends all over the world. And nurture our child-like creativity together. We appreciate the opportunity to have this interview and we really like "Wild Insane". Would you like to speak about anything that we’ve not already mentioned? Thank you to everyone reading. Don't be a stranger. But also don't be a stalker! :) Thank Blake!! Cheers!
5
The13th U NA R EVISTA IMA GINA RIA