Interview with Claire Voyant

Interview conducted by Rotwang

The interview that follows was conducted on Sunday, September 21st, 1997 with Claire Voyant, a band from Sacramento, California after their performance at BoJangles (hosting Club BioMech)with LUXT. Their members consist of Victoria Lloyd: vocals, Benjamin Fargen: guitars, and Chris Ross: synthesizers and programming. As of this interview, Claire Voyant has one release, their self-titled debut album, released in late 1995, and one song, "Her" on Hyperium's Heavenly Voices IV compilation.

Rotwang: To start off, why don't you tell us a bit of the history of Claire Voyant?

Claire Voyant: Well, we were all in a band before, a five-piece band with drums and bass, as well as vocals, guitars, and synth. As mean as this may sound, we sort of "dropped" the bassist and drummer because Chris could do all that stuff on synth. We actually could do more without them. That old band, Murmur, didn't get very far anyway. After we went three-piece, things finally startred happening. We knew we could get along and work together because we already worked together in Murmur. In fact, Chris and Ben had been working together since grade school for over 11 years!

R: What is the story behind the name?

CV: You mean besides the fact that we were voted one of the ten worst band names in Sacramento?

R: I like the name. It fits the music very well.

CV: Well, the magazine which published that article is a free magazine, anyway. Oh, well...we really don't care. At least it's publicity. Regarding how we got the name, we were really just looking for a name, and everytime it seemed to be already taken by those obscure "one-hit-wonder" bands. Victoria got the name from a 1940's comic book hero, and we just settled on it. We liked the play on words.

R:Have you had any releases prior to your self-titled album?

CV: Before we decided on Claire Voyant for our name, the three of us released a four sond demo tape, just to see if we could make it work. That was still when we were called Murmur. Then we released the album in '95. Except for that, we really haven't released anything besides our song "Her" on Hyperium's Heavenly Voices IV compilation.

R: Where did you get the painting for the cover?

CV: Rachel Stonecipher, the artist, was sort of a friend of a friend and we met her down in Santa Cruz. Her artwork is absolutly amazing. She's this little woman in her 50's who does some of the most beautiful and disturbing work we've ever seen. It's kind of interesting to see that kind of work coming from someone like her. The cover is part of a much larger painting, which was done on glass. Then another piece of glass was placed on that when it was still wet, causing it to smear, resulting in a sort of Van Gogh effect. The picture has often been compared to Van Gogh. It has a real ambiguous look to it.

R: It also fits the music, just as the name.

CV: All too often, a band will postpone the release of a new album because they can't decide on a cover. We hope that doesn't happen for the next album. It can be very difficult to find a cover that really fits the music's mood and emotions.

R: How about having Rachel Stonecipher design the next cover. It worked before...

CV: We actually might do that. But we have to record the new album first.

R: Speaking of new releases, what do you have coming up?

CV: A new song, "Serenade", is going to be released on a new compilation in October. Padraic Ogl, from Thanatos is starting a new label, an offshoot of Projekt Records, called Precipice Recordings for more "pop"-type music, as opposed to Projekt's usually darker, more "gothic" music. Also, in February or March, we'll have the new album coming out, and we're planning a small tour of the California area as well as Phoenix and Mexico City.

R: Tell us about Nocturne Records, your label...

CV: Nocturne Records is our three-way parnership; a publishing company of sorts. CD's, of course, are what we intend to mainly publish, and perhaps books and videos in the future. The name Nocturne comes from the symbol we use, with the drums of night and day. We chose "Nocturne" pertaining to the night because it is such a lovely word, with mysterious connotations.

R: What is going on with Hyperium Records?

CV: Hyperium is going to distribute us. But, the new album is still going to be produced by Nocturne.

R: How did they come across you?

CV: Originally, we solicited to Projekt, and they sent our album to Hyperium. They loved it, and put "Her" on their Heavenly Voices IV compilatilon, which got us alot of publicity, especially in Europe.

R: On a more personal note, what inspires each of you? How does a song go from mind to magnetic tape?

CV: Usually, Chris gets a sort of "skeleton song" going with very basic mood and melodies, but no vocals. Then, Ben will add to with some guitar stuff, or he and Chris will play together constantly adding more to the song. Victoria will listen to these pieces of music and come up with some vocal melodies and lyrics. Her lyrics are usually inspired by what she has read, or heard recently, as well as memories that she has, emotions that she has felt at sometime, or by meditation. After we have a loose song with more mood and lyrics, Chris comes in and strings it together. He will sometimes play "Devil's Advocate" and tell us to change things around or to do this instead of that. Lately, though, it's been more like the three of us getting together and "jamming"; throwing out a bunch of ideas and building on the ones that we like. Most of the new songs were made like that. In any event, it's always been a perfect three-way effort. We always divide the money we get into thirds. We trust each other to do our part and take the song to the next level.

R: How does it feel to perform in front of a live audience?

CV: Oh, it's the best! At first it was the worst, but now it's wonderful. We've built up a small group of extremely loyal fans tha's always building. Victoria loves to go the Internet to see what is being said about us. Really, the fans are what makes all this worth while, because unless you make it big in this business, it's really a bad job. We all have to have day jobs to support ourselves. When we get on stage, and after so much work we put in to get the show working, sound checks and equipment setup, the look we get from the fans as they enjoy our music is what makes it all worth it. They are what keep us going. It really is wonderful.