What inspired you to first start making music? And how did you come to be in your current incarnation? Or if you prefer, a brief bio about you.
Always been interested in music…but the catalyst for me being in a band was the punk explosion,it got rid of the notion that musicians were removed from everyday life,everybody was capable of producing music…a veil was taken from my eyes,the whole DIY approach has been a guiding force in the way I go about getting things done.
After going through various bands ISAWS, RELIGIOUS OVERDOSE, TEMPEST, ATTRITION I decided to take control of my own project so VENUS FLY TRAP was formed…rather than folding when members left, I replaced and carried on…we are down to myself and ANDY DENTON as the core members.
Provide us with some info about your latest release…
ICON our new album came out in late 2018 via GLASS,the first in a number of years and MORPHINE a taster for the re-issue of our first album MARS in feb 2019.
Which ones would you consider your main influences both music-wise & non-music-wise?
I listen to a wide variety of music(thanks Radio 6)so influences would be in direct…we take all these elements and try and come up with something original.
ICON the new album deals with the notion of fame/celebrity…WARHOLS “everyone will be famous..for 15 minutes”as a premise…connecting it with ancient mythology/religion to Hollywood…the over used word icon/ic…the idea that humans imagined religion to explain eventsand here we are in this situation with so many competing religions/cults…god/s are always on OUR side…discuss.
On the flipside I like a lot of sci-fi taking in bladerunner, alien, ai, 1984, clockwork orange, j g ballard, william burroughs,alan moore(fellow northamptonian),brave new world…dystopian futures art including pop art,surrealism,dada…film noir,Hitchcock…the list goes on…
In what way does your sound differ from the rest genre-related artists/bands and why should we listen to your music? In other words, how would you describe your sound?
We are trying to take a lot of elements that are recognizable (art is not produced in a vacuum)and put them together in an original form,re-arranging the DNA…we can present this to the world via channels like your magazine…”you can take a horse to water…”
But if I was forced to put us into a section,especially as I run a record shop (SPIRAL ARCHIVE RECORDS)…I would say post punk/dark electronic…a good quote was”bladerunner rock n roll with acidic cinematic visions…”.
Please name your 3 desert islands albums, movies & books…
Do you prefer studio or performing live and why?
Both have there plus and minus points…to promote what you have recorded its necessary to go out and plug it…theres still something special about seeing a band live…a one off situation between band and audience.
Is there any funny-unique story you would like to share with us, always in relation to your music ‘career’?
Its always an experience playing…people,places and travel…which involves a number of vehicles,one which never moved from the front of my house it later broke down on the way to Glastonbury…a scout bus which the driver had to wear a sleeping bag to drive it in the winter because it was so cold…we abandoned it in Belgium when the engine seized up…we gifted it to an anarchist commune in liege…its probably a greenhouse now…don’t get me started…
Which track of your own would you point out as the most unique and why?
I prefer people to listen to an album as an album in the order envisaged it to be in…
Would you like to share with our readers your future plans?
We are out playing/promoting the current album ICON…our first album MARS will be re-issued on May 31st 2019.
Free question!!! (Ask yourself a question) you wish to answer and haven’t been given the opportunity…
What would you do if you could start again?
Go through another door and see where it lead me….
Curated by: Christos Doukakis
Recommended listening:
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