other 10 Neurotics interviews Ascension Magazine Italy | Autumn 2009 This is the full July 22 interview in English. Q: 23 years have been passed since 1986, when you recorded your first album with Black Tape For A Blue Girl: Do you think that is possible today to talk about a 'goth' scene? You consider your band part of this scene? Sam: Back in 1986 when The Rope was released, I didn't even know there was a goth scene. I was making my music and hoping somebody would give it a listen. Over the course of the first two albums I noticed a certain group of fanzines and DJs were responding positively to my music, and they were from the Goth scene. Yes, there is a goth scene and it has gotten very diverse over the years. I think my band is part of it. Q: What do you think about the evolution of your music during this time? I think I have gotten much better at creating the music exactly as I imagine it, my skills as a musician, songwriter and producer have improved a lot. Q: Let's talk about your new CD, 10 Neurotics: what's the meaning of the title? Is it a concept album, or the songs are separated? The songs are connected in that they are all explorations of passion and desire and obsessions, but they are not connected by a storyline. With most of my albums, the title comes to me early in the process. It serves as a reference for me: a goal for what the album is about. 10 Neurotics struck me, because there is a continuum from the erotic to the neurotic, each person's obsessions fall somewhere between those two points. The album is an honest exploration of passions and fetishes drawn from real life. Q: And the meaning of the cover? There are actually two different covers. For the American cover, there is an Egon Shiele-like photo, a woman in a tormented pose. She is beautiful, yet distorted; I feel that captures the energy of the neurotic. For Europe, Trisol asked for a cover that was more provocative, more thrilling. I showed Alex some of the photographs I had been shooting of my friend Narcissa, who is in the NYC fetish scene. In it she is in a submissive position. America is more puritanical and prudish, so I feel each cover is right for its audience. Q: You wrote the songs for the first time playing acoustic guitar: why have you maked this choice? How this songwriting change the structure of the songs? The other reason I like the name 10 Neurotics is because the "10" relates to this being my 10th studio album as Black Tape For A Blue Girl. Reaching 10 gives me freedom, the opportunity to do whatever I feel like doing. It is liberating to feel no obligation to do things as I have done them in the past. I had the idea to challenge myself by buying an acoustic guitar. It turns out that 11 of the 14 songs were written on the guitar. This is a totally new approach for me, I always started with the electronics in the past. I think the result of writing on the guitar is the songs sound more song-like, if you know what I mean? They are less floaty and ethereal, but still with the dark chords and concepts of Black Tape For A Blue Girl. It's very exciting to hear my music this way. This is the same feeling like when I released The Rope in 1986, in so far as I have no obligations and no expectations. I can do whatever sounds interesting. It is very freeing to work this way. Q: In this album you collaborate for the first time with Brian Viglione of the Dresden Dolls: can you talk about this collaboration? Sure. I met Brian a few years ago through a photographer friend, Pixie. Last fall, half of 10 Neurotics was written and I needed a really good drummer. One night it came to me that I should ask Brian. I got him on the phone we talked, I sent him the demos and he was really excited about the music. He joined the band. It all fell together so naturally, because it was meant to be. Brian put a lot of great ideas and great performances into the album. Not just on drums, but also bass and additional guitar, and the piano parts on "Sailor Boy." His presence is felt on every song. Sometimes I would stop myself, "Whoa. I am kind of risking it by writing this style of song, or these sorts of lyrics!" Brian would always be there, ethusiastically saying, "Hell Yeah! Do it!" His confidence in what I was creating was really wonderful, it is great to have him in my band. Q: Most of the stories of the lyrics are based on sex and fetish-sexuality, and often the content is really strong and shocking: the singers that you've first called for the album refused to sing the songs for this reason. Why do you think this happened? You are right; my previous singers basically quit as a result of the material I had written. It happened because they were uncomfortable portraying the characters I created, but the result is I have great new vocalists: Athan Maroulis (ex-Spahn Ranch), Laurie Reade (ex-Attrition) and Nicki Jaine. Q: What's the message that you want to give to your fans with these 'strong' lyrics? Underneath it all, these stories are about a search for love and connection. No matter what manner these people express their inner self, they are still looking for the things that we all want. There are people out there living this life, not to be shocking or to be freaks. It is their personality and an expression of who they are. Experiences of sex and fetishism are things they have to do. Either they are following their neurotic bent, unaware of what they are doing; or they actually benefit from their experiences. It might bring out a side of themselves that they are not allowed to live in "normal life." Thus they are actually exploring their authentic self in a way that many people do not do. Q: Can you tell us something about the other musicians that collaborate in this album? For example, about the guest vocal appearance by Lucas Lanthier of Cinema Strange on the beautiful "Curious, Yet Afraid", or the guest appearance of Michael Laird in "Caught By A Stranger:" these collaborations are really interesting... Thanks. I have known Lucas for a few years, he's such a sweetheart. We see each other at events in NYC and go out for Vietnameese food now and then. "Curious, yet Ashamed" is my "Philip Glass meets Deathrock" song (laughs). It's a really crazy musical combination and I felt it was perfect for Lucas. In fact, those are the last lyrics I wrote, and it is probably the most "self realized" song on the album. I didn't want it to come across too serious or too spiritual. Lucas's delivery - slightly "carnival huckster" - is perfect. The song is about getting over your fears and following your desire. I really believe the universe is ready to assist you in making your hopes and dreams come true. However, we spend too much time blocking ourselves/the universe from coming through for us. The song is saying "stop being afraid, and do whatever freaky thing it is that you want to do. So long as nobody gets hurt (who doesn't WANT to get hurt), let yourself go. Do what makes you happy!" I think Lucas captures the feeling of wanting to get out of that safe spot but being afraid of taking the risk. Michael Laird, of Unto Ashes has been involved on the last two Black Tape albums. "Caught by a Stranger" is 10 Neurotics' gothic-belly dancing song. Do you know that there is a following for gothic belly-dancing in America? Michael's percussion gives the song a really great, earthy, moving groove. Laurie and I wrote the lyrics for it in the studio. The theme is a woman convincing her boyfriend about the thrills of exhibitionism: "I think you'll enjoy it...." Q: In comparison to the other albums of Black Tape For A blue Girl, 10 Neurotics have a more acoustic, "intimate" sound: this is a choice or a natural evolution of your music? It is both a choice AND a natural evolution. In the past I filled my songs with sounds, reverbs, etc. On 10 Neurotics I strived to be just as powerful with less sound filling up every space. I like trying new things and new experiments, in order to grow as an artist. Q: In most of the songs there is sometimes like a dialogue, and all the vocalists display strong emotions, like actors. In this album, it seems like you give more importance to the lyrics and the stories you tell: it is true? It is great that you notice that. I think because the music is stripped back, the words stand out more. This compelled me to write great melodies that put emphasis on the lyrics. I am a lyricist as much as I am anything else, I really worked to craft these words; both in the sense of getting them to say exactly what I wanted to say AND in getting more rhyme, humor, and character into them. I think all my vocalists did a fantastic job of projecting life into my words and making the songs theatrical. I just love listening to what they did! Q: Let's talk about some of the other songs of 10 Neurotics: I was particulary impressed listening to "The Perfect Pervert": the song is a dialogue of two lovers about extreme sex. What do you want to communicate with this song? Is this a real story or a product of your imagination? To me, "The Perfect Pervert" is one of the songs on the album about true lovers. They are talking about their sex-play and what excites them in their sexual relationship. While it is true that "The Perfect Pervert" is about non-consensual consent, bondage, and pain.... it's still about what two adults chose to do within their emotions for each other. They are searching for perfection and the ideals of love. It is a search for purity. "Purity" is the word they repeat at the end of the song. Because the story occurs in the world of "extreme sex" (as you call it), most of society would not imagine that these people possess the same sort of love, attachment, and connection that traditional people have. Society seems to think the S&M world is only fir deviants and delinquents; for example, there is a sample in that Ordo Equilibrio/Spiritual Front song "the Pleasure of Pain" where a man says, "they constantly portray abnormal sexual behavoir as being normal." I look at my characters without judgement; people in this lifestyle are actually looking for connections and love just like you or I; but it is expressed in a more dramatic, more theatrical, more intense manner. Real story or imagination? This is the question that everyone asks me. This song is, in fact derived from my real experience. Certainly some of it is a projection into fantasy, however there was a woman I dated who desired to completely abandon any shred of control; and I did sincerely tell her "You need to be broken down, you need to be rebuilt, you need to be purified. " I felt that purity was possible with her, though alas it never was to be. Q: For "Marmalade Cat" there is a suggestive videoclip preview: can you tell me the meaning of this song and the meaning of the video? Certainly. "Marmalade Cat" was written for a woman I was seeing, who feels comfortable in her second skin of marmalade-colored fur. She likes to think of herself as a big, lazy male cat; this gives her a sense of feline power and strength. I knew I wanted to write a song about her, but I was not sure exactly what to say; a girl in a kitty outfit did not have enough drama for me (laughs). I was talking with Nicki Jaine about how people who have this erotic interest are just doing the thing that makes them feel good, yet so many people (even within the scene) don't understand the fetish, and give these people a lot of shit. That conversation with Nicki was the impetus to write those lyrics ("I'll be home catching mice, instead of catching flack"). The song is both a description of the girl and also a question about why we (as society) refuse to leave people alone and let them be whatever they wish to be. Now, about the video. I was shooting photos of Narcissa for the "Marmalade Cat" page of the CD booklet (it's a deluxe 28 page booklet, with lots of wonderful / sexy photos by myself and other photographers). At the same time I shot a little bit of video, which I edited into the preview clip for the song. It is on youtube (search on "Black Tape Marmalade Cat"). She is a lovely woman pretending she's a kitty. Which is, really, a piece of what the fetish is all about: relating to animal energy. Q: The usual, but important final question: which are your projects now? You'll dedicate time to your other band, "Revue Noir," or you'll be touring around with Black Tape For A blue Girl? You will come at last in Italy? Oh man, I would absolutely love to perform in Italy!! I love visiting there, such a charming place. I feel 10 Neurotics is the evolution of Revue Noir. It is the cabaret / theatrical element Nicki and I developed, but in a form that is entirely shaped by me. I did not imagine we would record a Revue Noir album, which is why I created Anthology Archive. I wanted a document of our time together as a band. Nicki is working on her own album and playing in the live band for Black Tape For A Blue Girl. She is such a charming stage presence. Athan is in the live band as well, powerful and dramatic. Laurie has had a lot of family stress in the last year or so, but I think that when we get to Europe, she'll be with us. I am so thrilled about this album, I feel like an artist with his first release, eyes blinking and thrilled when people tell me what they think of the songs. On 10 Neurotics, I was able to say a lot of personal stuff that I did not had the guts to say, previously. It feels really great. Thanks so much for this interview.