SWTOTD SWTOTD 18 - EMPIRE 3/31/2005 11:02:00 AM | Zeroplate With an announcement coming any day now from Ad Noiseam, it's finally safe to reveal the details of our next 12". Why am I revealing those details in the SWTOTD column? Because as some may have surmised to this point, the next record is an homage to and reflection on Star Wars. As early as the first tour with my main man Needle Sharing, I was aware that the next Larvae record would be a much different kind of animal from either Fashion Victim or Monster Music. Both of those records had thumping, high-energy moments built from by my own twisted take on dance music. I could tell that what was coming next would be a much more subdued, personal record, and one that might not have the beats and tempo that people might be expecting. With Monster Music we intentionally set out to make music that was part tongue-in-cheek, and part serious. I thought the monster theme would work for us because those films have a kind of over-the-top bombast and scale that makes epic drum n bass soundclashes make some amount of sense. At the time that music was written, we were stuggling to find an audience for the weird beats, heavy basses, and overall dark vibe that Larvae was pumping out. The dnb crowd was too skittish about the fractured breaks, the idm crowd didn't like the lack of spaz/glitch and pastoral melodies, and generally we were only ever communicating with like one or two metal head dudes at shows who thought it was noisy and awesome. I knew there was a chance we'd get type-cast as a novelty monster music band, so I made sure that Fashion Victim was much different. That record was a direct result of living with and around people who had what looked to me like a superficial take on the world. I was getting heavy into the culturejamming movement, was reading a lot about globalization and branding and had just gotten out of a job as an "Awareness Manager" so the record was naturally a reaction to all those things. "Mission accomplished," I thought. What I didn't realize was that when you have no audience, there are no expectations. When people haven't bought any of your records or seen you perform live, you have nothing to live up to and nothing to live down. After the tours and the records on Ad Noiseam, a lot of that changed. Suddenly, people were aware of Larvae and of our sound. People had seen the show and judging from the reactions and people I spoke with, people enjoyed it and the energy and playfulness of the videos. All of that would have been great if I felt like we had 10 more songs worth of high-energy anti-corporate muckraing in us, or more monster themes, but I was sure that the next record was going to sound a lot more like the most mellow of Larvae tracks and quieter, and not anything like the off-the-hook madness of the live "Destroy All Monsters." With that in mind, the question became one of how to make music that I believe in that won't completely alienate the people who've already found something they like in what we've done. The first thought was a return to the Monster Music well with a sequel. Of course, that could still happen one day, but I felt like I'd said about all I needed to say about Godzilla and again, I didn't want to pigeonhole Larvae as "the Godzilla Band." So I thought about just making a bunch of intentionally very dnb=inspired tracks, and that also fell flat because for me, music has to come from somewhere and be about something other than a style. I'm no good at taking a genre rule-book and making Track X of Style Y, so we needed a theme. With Episode III looming on the horizon, I thought, "that might be it." And so was born, EMPIRE. Like Monster Music before it, EMPIRE is a half-serious, half-playful look at the Star Wars universe at large. It's not simply a geek fantasy or disco Imperial March remix; it's more of a reflection on the last 27 odd years of my life as it relates to those beloved movies. There's the vibrant optimism of the title track, "Empire" that plays off of fond memories and the romanticism of having a fantasy world into which you can escape for a few hours. It's the track full of wide-eyed wonder and imagination and creativity sparked by the Star Wars saga and everything surrounding it. Conversely, "Hayden's Ghost" and "Solo Shoots First" on the b-side are inspired by the fan reaction to the insidious changes made to the original movies that fans so often lament. Those tracks capitalize on the anger and frustration that so many people express when they feel like a part of their childhood is being erased or tampered with to sell a few more toys. Those songs are also about the other side of the coin, the creative freedom of an aritist to create whatever he/she feels like, and the right of the artist to change his/her mind along the way. That applies to George Lucas as much as it applies to anyone, so there's a dynamic tension in those songs that will hopefully translate into head nodding and toe-tapping. Finally, "Sith Witch" was an attempt to extrapolate on the dark, macabre side of the Star Wars mythos that didn't quite make it into the films. Sometimes the designers took Lucas' ideas a little too far into territory that was genuinely frightening or grotesque, and I wanted to reflect a little bit of that "what could have been" feel. With remixes from Bong-Ra and Enduser, the circle is now complete. The record is done and being pressed into black vinyl discs for people everywhere to enjoy. EMPIRE is meant to be entertaining and nostalgic and maybe a little bit thoughtful, but most of all--fun! I hope that it captures some of the ups and downs of a lifetime of being a Star Wars fan without ever taking any of it too seriously. I hope that it gives other fans a spark--that it kickstarts memories of playing with their first action figure, seeing their first sequel with Mom or Dad, and sneaking into theaters to see the teaser trailer for Episode I as adults. This record is about Star Wars lunchboxes and Underoos as much as it's about the movies themselves, perhaps even moreso. It's about being a fan, about not growing up completely, and about carrying a little bit of whatever it was that made being a kid special with you as you go. I hope that you will enjoy it. Back to Top {0} Comments

PREVIOUS THOUGHTS SWTOTD 18 - EMPIRE