Amber Asylum

ECTONAUT: There have been quite many changes in the line-up of Amber Asylum during the last years. In fact I believe that you're the only member left from the original line-up and Amber Asylum have never released an album with the same line-up twice. Do you feel that you have had big difficulties in finding a solid line-up during the years?

KRIS: For the last three or four years the line up has been relatively consistent; including myself, Jackie Perez-Gratz, and Erica Stoltz. We were drumming with Wendy Farina from 1998 to 2001, but she passed the torch to Chiyo Nukaga in August 2001. The first CD, Frozen in Amber, might as well have been a solo achievement. There were three "chamber" instrumental pieces that I co-wrote with John Oberon and later Martha Burns joined in and wrote her cello parts. I worked by myself in my studio or played with John as piano and violin for many years. John pursued a very successful career as a computer programming. As he put it, "programming was his art form". I was stumped for a while. I could always make studio pieces by myself. Martha still wanted to play but we were two strings without a rhythm section. I began to play guitar. I could sing and putting the violin aside freed my voice. I wrote a whole CD of this material, The Natural Philosophy of Love. It was very simplistic and my first public attempt at singing and songwriting, but I think the essential Amber Asylum feeling is contained with the body of work. We were joined by Annabel Lee and Steve Von Till, of Neurosis, for this CD. Just before the release of this CD I split up the group due to some nasty little social dynamics interfering with the music making. At this point I was faced with a choice to continue Amber Asylum at all or go my way. Well, I decided to go my way, but I took Amber Asylum with me, since it was my brainchild. 

ECTONAUT: You have a new drummer in these days named Chiyo Nukaga. Would you please introduce her to our readers. Have she added any new elements to Amber Asylum?

KRIS: She's a hard hitting Doom Metal drummer. Chiyo played for years with Noothgrush in San Francisco. She's super inspired to be playing in Amber Asylum. Altough she's completely willing to tread lightly when needed, she has added a lot of power to our sound.

ECTONAUT: Amber Asylum have worked quite a number of guest musicians. Michael Richards, Steve von Till and Tim North among many others have played with you on your recordings and the number of guest musicians on an Amber Asylum album often exceeds the number of group members.. What's the reason for this?

KRIS: When we invite people to play it's usually not on the entire CD, but on a song or two. We ask them because they have distinctive talents that we feel will add to the song or to the work at large. If someone is not in the "band", and this is usually because they are in their own "band", it's a big commitment to ask them to play on the whole record.

ECTONAUT: As far as I know, Amber Asylum has released 4 albums. Are you pleased with how they have turned out and how they have been accepted by media and market?

KRIS: Yes, I like all of our CD's and all for different reasons. Some are points of departure, but that means we are thinking or investigating new territory as artists. I'm not afraid to do that. Right now, my favorite of my own CD's would be Songs of Sex and Death and Frozen in Amber. I'm revisiting themes in both of these for future projects. And my other favorites are and the three new albums I'm writing. The media has been very generous towards Amber Asylum. The Market, eh? It's hard to tell. We are not lowest common denominator so it is hard to gauge our sales. I think the Europeans like us more than the Americans. Our sales are evenly split between the two continents, even though 3 of 4 of our CD's are domestic US. We are too dark and romantic for many Americans, but I don't really care. Most Americans are self absorbed, with distorted sense of self and family and would benefit from some good psychiatric therapy.

ECTONAUT: Your latest album was released in the year 2000 and it was baptized to the rather strange title The supernatural parlour collection. I'm curios about this title. Why such a strange name? What is the supernatural parlour?

KRIS: It's whatever you want.. It's the space where phenomena occurs. For me that is always an interior, because phenomena begins with my perception. Better question might be.. what is supernatural? I've been deconstructing my knowledge of the "phenomena", in that many things that we think are phenomenal we will come to learn are properties of physics and not necessarily even human.

The album title is for the song, The Black Swan which takes place in the parlour of a psychic medium. We decided to build the entire album around this song.

ECTONAUT: I believe your sound has changed a bit on this album. In a generalized view the music isn't as obscure as on your previous album and some of the songs are more up-tempo than the slow stuff that you have given us in the past.  Has there been a change in your sound according to you?

KRIS: Oh yes, a definite change in the sound.. A definite point of departure, and exploration in new territory; a more rugged territory. The CD introduces Erica's voice, which is totally new to the sound. Throughout, we attempt to achieve a balance or weave between the immediate and the ambiguous, but even the ambiguous on this particular CD has a sense of immediacy.

ECTONAUT: I was quite surprised when I noticed that you had covered a track by legendary rock band Black Sabbath on The supernatural parlour collection. This song is far more intense and much heavier than the other stuff on this album. How did you come up with the idea to cover a Black Sabbath track?

KRIS: We were invited to perform a Sabbath track for a Sabbath tribute compilation. We never delivered the track, so we put it on our CD. It was a lot of fun to produce. We definitely challenge the status quo if not make a few listeners giggle with evil joy. I think I sound like Shirley Bassy from 007 Diamonds are Forever.

ECTONAUT: You also have an excellent track named Black Swan that is actually an aria taken from an opera by 20th century composer Gian Carlo Menotti. When was it that you got in contact with the works of Menotti and when  did you decide to remake one of his songs?

KRIS: It's from the opera The Medium circa 1940/American. I studied voice with an opera singer and the Black Swan was one of my repitiore pieces. I love the Aria to this day. The poem is so amazingly evocative. It remains my personal favorite track on The Supernatural Parlour Collection. Our performance of the song has improved radically since the recording. That's the problem with recordings. They only capture a moment in time.

ECTONAUT: Black swan is about tragic love, a concept that you have already dealt with on your third album Songs of sex and death. Is tragic love perhaps a reappearing theme in the concept of Amber Asylum?

KRIS: Without a doubt. Love, loss, death and sex.. really, what else is there? ...Food? Well I suppose there there could be investigations into hate and fear, victory and heroism, but men do that so well. 

ECTONAUT: To quote you Kris: "...the best art and music rides on a wave of personal experience....". Well, Songs of sex and death is truly a great album. What kind of personal experiences lay behind Amber Asylum conjuring up utterly sad and melancholic pieces like Secret Ions and Devotion? Do you carry much with you that is being let out through your music?

KRIS: Absolutely, but don't we all? Everyone has something they carry with them. My mother fell into a sleep of addiction when I was just a child. To lose a mother as a child is a  primordial wrong. I found music or I think it sought me out knowing that it would be necessary to my survival. It has always been my solace.

ECTONAUT: I'm scanning through the layout to Songs of sex and death and I suspect that there's some symbolism and hidden meanings to be found within these pictures. For example you have pictures of one red  and one black flower (possibly orchids) that I suppose is there to symbolize sex and death. There's also a picture of a drowning girl on the cover whom I suspect is yet another victim of a tragic love story or perhaps, a victim for her own emotions. Would you please shed some light upon these pictures and how the go together with the general concept of the album.

KRIS: The flowers are dead and are meant to represent genitalia. The model strikes a pose between death and sexuality. The pallete of the design is alchemical.
 
ECTONAUT: My ears inform me that you're a quite skilled poet when it comes to writing appropriate lyrics to your songs. Still you have chosen to let your written words remain unprinted. Why? I mean, I think it's a real pity since I have a big interests in lyrics in general but it isn't always possible to make out what an artist is singing without having the lyrics on paper.

KRIS: I may print them someday, but many of the songs I perform are written by others in part. I have performed lyrics by William Blake, Brothers Grimm, Percy Shelly to name a few. I have a poet soul and the words just flow out with a flash of inspiration, at least partially. It takes me a long time to actually perfect the language of a poem and to break free of the literal and enter the realm of metaphore. It really sucks to be having a poetic flash when you can't find a pen and paper or are driving the car.

ECTONAUT: I read a comment by a reviewer (cgidney@aol.edu) who said that you take the settings from folklore and fairytales and twist them to your own ends in your lyrics. Is there any truth in this?

KRIS: No, not really. I did perform a story from a Brother Grimms fairytale, but I did not twist it; Jorinda and Joringel on The Natural Philosophy of Love.  It is an accurate interpretation. It's actually a song that the maiden sings out to the Prince because the witch of the forest has abducted her and changed her to a bird and caged her with hundreds of others. I'm not terribly interested in folklore. I struggled with why for many years, but I understand now that it is because I am American and there is little folklore that I can say that own with my personal experience. My heritage is from 4 or 5 different cultures. The idea of folklore starts to get confusing.

ECTONAUT: The very same reviewer referred to Songs of sex and death as "New Age music for disturbed people" (hehe, in a positive meaning I guess).

KRIS: That's an anodyne description. Songs of Sex and death achieves a very congruent listening experience. There is nothing obtrusive which makes one draw the conclusion that it is "ambient", but I don't think it is at all. I find it passionate.

ECTONAUT: I heard your first album Frozen in Amber for the first time not too long ago and I was left with the impression that your sound was much darker in the past. Why?

KRIS: Darker, you say? I never really thought of it that way. I suppose it could be. How would one measure that? The lyrics for the Black Swan… 4 albums later are pretty damn dark… "The Sun has fallen and it lies in Blood, etc…"

ECTONAUT: Do you still play any songs from Frozen in Amber during your live performances and rehearsals or have you laid these songs to rest?

KRIS: No, I struggle to remember them. Sometimes I play Aurora on guitar and sing along, but usually when I'm alone. I didn't really perform many of these pieces in the first place, only the three chamber pieces. There were two separate occasions where I performed Avé Maria and Journey to the Sleepy Water. John Oberon, on piano, was really necessary to perform the Volcano Suite. It just could not survive without him.

ECTONAUT: What could we expect really if we were to visit an Amber Asylum live-show? Do you play your songs straight from the albums or do you prefer to improvise?  Do you play covers etc?

KRIS: We do some of each live. Depends on the piece, If there is space to improvise we will take advantage of it. If it's a difficult piece we stick to the score. What is really important when we play live is to feel comfortable with each piece so that we can transcend that physical performance and infuse meaning and expression; make art with it. If we can't do this then the performance fails.

ECTONAUT: What does Jackie mean in her personal profile on your homepage when she says that she had to dodge firecrackers on one of her first live-shows with Amber Asylum? Is there perhaps a story behind this that you would share with us?

KRIS: Yes, we were role playing pirates on a pirate ship being pushed through the audience and there were quite a lot of fireworks. In general quite a lot of decadence; roasted pigs, naked flesh, fresh fruit, oil and water; A completely hedonistic experience. It was one of Jackie's first shows with us; Kind of a crazy.

ECTONAUT: Is there any chance that we Europeans will get the opportunity to see Amber Asylum in the future without travelling to the states?

KRIS: I hope so. I'd love to tour in Europe. Perhaps some day we will. There are rumblings of this idea.

ECTONAUT: What about a show here in Sweden? That would truly be something I think.

KRIS: Sounds wonderful. Can anyone set that up for us? We need gear and airfare for 4. I like Opeth maybe we can play a double bill with them.

ECTONAUT: How do you picture the average Amber Asylum fan? I mean, who are the people who send you fan-mail, visit your live-shows and purchase your albums really?

KRIS: I don't think our fans are very average. Usually they are someone who is moved by the music in some way. They are often fanatical and deeply moved. It's difficult to pin point who they really are. The age and stylistic demographic of our fan base is wide. Younger people tend to get out to the shows.

ECTONAUT: "Amber Asylum's music is too cold to be ambient and to call it new age is reductive" it is said on your home-page. Well, how do you label your music really? How would you describe the music of Amber Asylum to someone who has not heard you yet?

KRIS: There wasn't a genre for our music when we began, but now many more people are doing what we set out to do. It's a space between classical and rock, or more specifically, Metal, with overtones of cinematic ambience. I try to infuse the music with passion, romance and immediacy. The core instrumentation is a hybrid of classical strings, female voices, rock bass and drum; although, we do not always adhere to this. We choose to serve the song as each occasion arises and invite addition players as we see fit. In addition we are an all female ensemble which will destroy any ones pre-conception of the "all woman band". Today the closest genres to our music would be symphonic metal and dark ambient.

ECTONAUT: You have been compared to groups like Black Tape for a Blue Girl, Miranda Sex Garden, This Mortal Coil, Rasputina and Stoa in reviews. What are your feelings towards these bands? Do you see why people have compared you to them?

KRIS: The obvious similarity to these bands would be our vocal quality. We are more raw and direct than any of these bands and tread more dangerous territories. I would Ax Rasputina from this list. We have nothing in common with them.

ECTONAUT: It seems to me like you Kris are a very  open-minded listener who enjoys both frenzied Black metal by bands like Emperor (R.I.P) as well as softer tunes by musicians like Tori Amos. I have also seen that you enjoy industrial music as well as classical music, ambient as well as rock etc.. What qualities do you look for when you purchase music and what are you listening to at the moment?

KRIS: I'm listening to internet radio. I just heard a lovely Idlfrost track followed by the Gathering. It's so rare that I'm sitting at the computer and not using it for sound work.

I want to hear something with unique textures sounds, progressions, rhythms, counterpoints. I want to hear thoughtful lyrics. I want to hear shapes and definable spaces with sound. I actually don't care what genre I listen to as long as the music possesses intrinsic qualities. Sometimes I'll listen to terribly bad music to study what not to do. I tend not to be interested in simplistic bombastic music. I want a little more sophistication with my bombast; Metal.

ECTONAUT: Is there a scene where you feel that you have sort of an anchor if you know what I mean?

KRIS: Metal. I actually tried very hard not to be here, but finally stopped resisting. The Metal audience will listen to anything and they are more open minded than any other audience. Because of the dark nature of our music and it's roots in classical form we are embraced with open arms by the metal community.

ECTONAUT: Tori Amos was mentioned earlier in this interview and I know that you have covered one of her tracks on a tribute album to her. How has people reacted towards your version of Leather? Do you know if Tori Amos herself has heard the track?

KRIS: I'm actually not a huge Tori Amos fan. I wasn't very familiar with her music before I was invited and made an arrangement for the piece from the sheet music. I enjoyed making it. It was fun. I've never performed a "cabaret" style piece before this.

ECTONAUT: It seems to me like you're all pretty busy musicians. You have contributed to albums by Neurosis and Swans and along with Jackie, you have contributed to the works of Steve von Till. Erica Stoltz also has a band named Lost Goat and the whole band contributed to a CD by Matmos. Where do you find the time to keep up with this?

KRIS: It's crazy! I think I work harder than the average person, but I know many other musicians who work just as hard as I do.

ECTONAUT: Tell us about your collaboration with ex. Swans member Jarboe. Will there be anything released in the future?

KRIS: Yes, We started a project called RAPTOR and are working on a full length CD with another woman named Diana Obscura. It's more of a pop-rock project with a lot of digital production. In addition I contributed to a CD by Jarboe called, Men.

ECTONAUT: You are in charge of an internet radio-station called Dark Shadows. What can you tell us about this station and what is going on with it at the moment?

KRIS: Dark Shadows resides on VH1.com; It's a streamimg internet radio station that I program. It randomizes the play list which I try to update a few times each month., It's essentially what the for-mentioned reviewer said about my work, "new age music for the disturbed".  I prefer to call it, "easy listening for the disturbed with high speed connections." It's great for backround listening when you are working on projects, etc... Here's the address: scroll down the page to "ROCK"  http://www.vh1.com/sounds.visions/vh1atwork/ ..

I also co-program with Elise Baldwin and Karen Corbelli another station, REBEL GIRLS, you can find it on the same page.. It is exactly what it's titled.

ECTONAUT: You play alot of different kinds of music Dark Shadows, everything from ambient to metal. I think this is great since I'm quite fed up with the narrow-minded music of commercial radio. Since Dark Shadows isn't limited to a certain genre or commercial laws, what is it that decide whether or not a band gets airplay on Dark Shadows?

KRIS: Since the station randomizes, my deciding factor is whether an individual piece works with the whole stations playlist or totally disrupts the flow. Determining this is somewhat of a fine art. Sadly, I've decided that Emperor disrupts the flow and pulled their tracks, sorry. The station crosses many genres; dark ambient, experimental, sad core, industrial, and symphonic and doom metals.

ECTONAUT: Let us move on to the future of Amber Asylum. As far as I know, you entered the studio in December 2001 to record your next release. What can you tell us about this up-coming new album(?) of yours? When will it be released? What will you call it?

KRIS: Yes, we just finished recording 4 new tracks in the studio. It ended up sounding very naturalistic; having a live "band" quality which none of us are very satisfied with. Needless to say, we will not be releasing it anytime soon. The demo will circulate for certain purposes, but we will be re-working it for our next release.

ECTONAUT: Have you worked with any guest musicians this time?

KRIS: Not yet, although the engineer ended up doing some drum fills. He is Joe Goldring and played on the Swans Soundtracks for The Blind Tour and CD release. Also, Out in worship. His own band is Touched by a Janitor.

ECTONAUT: Will there be any covers on the new album?

KRIS: Possibly, I'm thinking of doing a song originally by Richard and Linda Thomson called, The Valario. It's a beautiful piece. Jackie and I made a huge list of covers we'd like to do. Perhaps we will do an entire album of covers. All of my CD's have at least one. I was really into Buffy Sainte-Marie and have performed 3 of her pieces; poppies, the vampire and Los pescaderos(this one only live).

ECTONAUT: It seems to me like your new material will be different from what you have done in the past. Are you afraid that your fans will disapprove of this change or are you confident that the essential Amber Asylum elements will still be there?

KRIS: I want to keep the essential Amber Asylum elements in place and will do my best to achieve this.

ECTONAUT: Amber Asylum will be featured on a Plant song compilation. Please tell us about this compilation and your contribution to it. What is a plant song compilation really? Is it about herbs and such?

KRIS: Some of the chosen plants have remedial properties. I was one of the last to choose a plant, few were left that I wanted to write about. I picked seaweed, the kelp forest. I will be finishing that track after I stop typing this interview. It's turning out very nice.

ECTONAUT: You have been commissioned to write music for a documentary on the silent film star Clara Bow. Would you please tell us about this project.

KRIS: I was approached by a producer who happened to be an Amber Asylum fan. It's simple. I provided them with several tracks of period correct compositions. Most are Piano and strings arrangements. I wrote a couple of high energy pieces that sounded like Jazz in the flapper style. For these I hired a clarinet player. This project was a lot of fun.

ECTONAUT: Will this music be available on compact disc?

KRIS: Perhaps we will release it as a concept album. I'm thinking it should be heard. It turned out quite lovely. It's not a whole lot of material, but I was also commissioned by the same company to write original score for a biography on Sharon Tate later this Spring. I may release them together as a two CD combo.

ECTONAUT: Well Kris, I'm running out of questions. Thanks for answering this little interview. Would you please end it by writing a couple of lines about the future activities of Amber Asylum. Good luck with the new album.

KRIS: Frozen in Amber will be re-issued on Neurot recordings May 2002 with bonus tracks and new package design.

Jackie is in NYC. The rest of us will go to join her and do an East Coast tour with Today is The Day in early April. She is planning to ride her bike back to California. That is a 3,000 mile journey which will take 2 months. During this time I'll be re-mixing our demo recordings and writing the Sharon Tate score. Erica and I will be writing new songs and Jackie is writing from a distance and sending us tapes.

Thank you to everyone who read this far...

For more information on Amber Asylum, follow these links: 

www.amberasylum.com
info@amberasylum.com