Band: BRAINDANCE
Country of origin: USA
Style: "progressive dark wave"
Questions by: Kai Mathias Stalhammar
Answers supplied by: Sebastian Elliott (vocals)

i’m sure you’ve been asked this question a thousand times right after “Redemption” was released, however, since i never read an answer, this will be the 1001st: that “pre-production cassette” featuring roughly mixed tracks off “redemption” is dated with 1998, however the actual CD had been spitted forth only the year of 2001. as far as i know, you tend not to rush into anything, however one can make a song sound perfect in a briefer timespace…

- as you may already know, BRAINDANCE is technically an unsigned act, and thus, 'progressive darkwave recordings' functions as a record label and management in name only.  we’ve had limited dealings with limited companies with limited integrity and limited dealings with limited companies with limited funds, but nothing substantial.  except for a number of individuals who lend their talents because they believe in the project, braindance is self-produced – we’ve been blessed with the learning of this wonderful business as we go.. i feel very fortunate to have had so many people pick up on what we’re doing, and purchased our releases, but doing it by yourself takes a strong toll, especially financially.  we wrote and subsequently tracked the album over the course of 1998, and into 1999.  unfortunately, several tragedies would follow that prevented redemption from being released as scheduled, including parting ways with long-term drummer notorious, keyboardist / backing vocalist robynne naylor, bassist andy calcina, and more than a handful of flaky investors, production houses, and labels for the cd’s release.  i think we’ve been extremely fortunate to receive an overwhelmingly positive response to the pre-production material that was sent out over the last year in preparation for the release of "redemption".  with a self-produced entity that survives primarily through the underground, there can be quite some time between release and reaction. perhaps the disasters that have delayed the release were, in part, a small blessing in disguise, as the buzz has gradually increased in the underground.  either that or we’re just really, really, really fucking slow…

why this title, “redemption”? i can list at least five or six bands which have already released cds of the same title (such as VOMITORY, DIVINE EMPIRE, TEARS OF DECAY… mainly death metal acts)…

- i can list at least five or six thousand bands which have already released cd’s that sound exactly the same.

one more question which, i believe, you have to answer all the time: all the song titles off “redemption” start with “re…”. obviously, it was done on purpose, but the point is: what purpose?

- so that the cheese hardens.

“redemption” truly is a multi-layered piece in terms of arrangements. i believe it took vora a lot of time to work it all out; moreover and therefore, i doubt if you, actually being a duo, are capable of performing all the tunes your latest effort comes with live.

- we’ve always performed with at least five members – this time around, we’ve garnered the talents of david z on bass, jofu on drums (both formerly of OCTOBER THORNS), constantin v on keyboards, and several backing female vocalists.  however, the two of us are capable of juggling several balls of fire without any assistance – live, up close, and personal.

for how long had vora been practicing playing guitar? i’m a musician myself, and hence i was completely knocked down when i first let “redemption” spin in my stereo.  no drawbacks, no playing mistakes, nothing like that!  man, it’s nearly unbelievable!

- she’s been practicing for hours, although she can’t be held responsible for knocking people down.

almost the same kind of question goes to you, for i consider you one of the best male singers around.  a development literally lasting for centuries or a natural-born talent?

- in the mid-1400’s, the elliott family moved out of castlevania after much persecution and founded the vocal inbreeding institute which became the template for misguided and talentless singers everywhere.

am i wrong considering peter steele of TYPE O NEGATIVE one of those singers you deeply admire?

- i think peter has both a great approach and a great voice.  the comparisons between the two of us most probably stem from the fact that we’re of a small minority of vocalists within the hard music community that sing both cleanly and at a lower register.  moreover, we’re both from new york.  although i’m a fan of all of the sub-genres that make up BRAINDANCE - goth, industrial, progressive metal, darkwave, classical, progressive trance, and anchovy fudge, i listen to a great deal of non-vocal music – generally i like anything with dense programming, multi-layered composition, distinct melody and / or of a darker nature.

the unity of “progressive” and “dark wave” is quite a contradiction, at least if judged by narrow-minded ones.  where do you reckon BRAINDANCE to more, in terms of stylistic definition?

- when we first started producing music, we never really knew what it was that we were doing in the sense of categorization – we simply produced music for the small purple gnomes with lobster forks that followed us around. 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 be associated with.  i had been completely removed from current musical trends, listening to absolutely no music whatsoever for 3½ years, most likely due to my heavy involvement in music as a youngster and my strong desire to forget (or run from) the misery of that period.  after meeting vora, i knew that i had met someone special that shared the vision to lead me back.  after watching an episode of thundercats, we sat down and discussed what it was about our music that was important to us how to expand upon it.  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, epic, progressive, symphonic, 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 making more money doing it.

speak about your former works, “fear itself” and “shadows”.

- nifty sounding discs.

you’ve released three cds thus far, however are still unsigned. what is it, an injustice or purposeful unwillingness to be ruled over by anyone?

- 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.  As mentioned, we’ve had limited dealings with limited companies with limited integrity and limited dealings with limited companies with limited funds, but nothing substantial.  insofar as being passed over is concerned, my subjective reasonings are as follows - in other words, there are two plausable reasons why i believe labels have not responded to BRAINDANCE, no matter how many fans, dj’s and journalists champion the project:

one - what we do frightens labels and frightens persons who are responsible for financial return within those labels.  independent labels as well as majors have risk to contend with.  in order for a major to dump a heap of cash on you, they’ve got to be sure that your music has succeeded in other realms – their competitor must have had one of you, and have done rather well with them.  if you’re the goober in a&r who signed a maverick artist who didn’t do well at the finish line, then you’re the goober who’s looking for a job at the end of the week.  independent labels, for the most part, cater to one form of music, or one specific genre or sub-genre.  because what we do crosses a few different sub-genres, there is no ‘niche’ for us, even in the independent world, which prides itself on promoting new, exciting, underground music.

two -  we’re really terrible.

do you work anywhere, or does BRAINDANCE pays all bills, figuratively speaking? what i mean is, one definitely needs to be a rich son of a bitch to release three – perfectly packaged and nearly overproduced – albums on his / her own.

- just for kicks, i toil away in the big, big city as a personal trainer, cheesy nightclub promoter, and professional socialite.  vora slaves away as a web site designer and reptilian entertainer.

it looks like you directly participated in arranging all the works by BRAINDANCE graphically – and that means you’re also a talented artist.  any comments on this subject?

- although the design and packaging concepts are mine, the cover artwork was pencilled by the very talented kinchi marc latrique, and the very powerful pavement k beard took the inserts to the next level.  we’re always looking for the next crop of artists to steal their work and soil their reputation.

“the chemicals dimethicone copolyol; iodopropynyl butylcarbamate and stearamidopropyl dimethylamine lactate “; do all these preparations you mentioned in the thanx list, have anything in common with your passion for bodybuilding?

- they generally affect the potency of the toothpastes and mouthwashes I use, although now that you mention it, they might contribute to an effective supplementation program within a balanced fitness regimen.

as “redemption” has been in works for no less than three years, i assume we shouldn’t expect you releasing the fourth offering next year?

- If you’ve got the rubles, baby, we’ve got the rubies.

do you have any knowledge on russia?

- yes.

i hope you have at least few words left to conclude this interview with. thank you.

- thanks, kai, i couldn’t have done it without you.