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this page is an interview that will nicely fill a page of your publication or an html page on your website. 15 Questions with Sam Rosenthal
Recently I had the pleasure of talking with Sam Rosenthal about brides and bachelors, Kafka and Duchamp, medieval torture devices, AND, oh yes, the new black tape for a blue girl album, the scavenger bride. Sam is the leading creative force behind black tape, writing all their music and lyrics, crafting their beautiful CD booklet art, and more. He's also the owner/manager of Projekt Records, on whose label this new album appears.
In addition to Sam's exquisite ambient/neoclassical keyboard work, the new album also features sensuous, soaring vocals from Elysabeth Grant; a string section with violin, viola, and cello; lovely flute from Lisa Feuer, also the model for the CD booklet; dulcimer, mandolin, drums and various percussions from Michael Laird of Unto Ashes; guest vocals and guitar from Bret Helm of Audra; and guest vocals from Athan Maroulis of Spahn Ranch. The result is a brooding, gripping, deeply passionate concept album about a bride, her past lovers, and the many ways relationships can twist us, but also make us grow. Q: In the past, reviewers have compared black tape's sound to bands like The Cocteau Twins, Dead Can Dance or This Mortal Coil. Are those fair comparisons? Anything they miss? Sam Rosenthal: It's extremely generous when black tape is compared to those artists, since they are definitely some of my favorites and some of the most unique and interesting acts in the last decade. I feel the most similarity to This Mortal Coil, since it's a band with one person at the helm, bringing in other artists to fulfill his vision. If there's anything the comparison misses, though, I think it has to do with the concept or the underlying connectivity within my songs.
Q: I think you're right, because one of the things I like best about black tape is the way you seamlessly blend word, image, and music. Many bands can successfully meld two of these three, but very few can do all three at once. How do you do it?
Sam: An album is a complete art piece which should excite as many of your senses as possible. As the album progressed--and the characters began to take form in my head--I began to visualize ways to represent them both in images and in words. The Schavager, the traps of the scavenger's daughter, etc. Early on, I knew I wanted to write additional stories to flesh out the experiences of these characters, like a short story told in brief passages. By shooting the cover and designing the booklet myself, I'm given another way to delve deeper into the themes of the album. I want to create an overall experience, that forwards the characters I have created.
Q: You just mentioned these "characters" to be found in the scavenger bride. Who are the characters of your play?
Sam: There are three characters: the bride, the Schavager, and the livery of bachelors (who are really different, unidentified males). Even before I moved to New York City in 1999, I had the idea that my next album would be called the scavenger bride. At that time, I had no idea what the album was gonna be about, or who this bride was. I began to think *too much* about this character, and it wasn't getting me anywhere. It was actually keeping me from working, because I felt I needed to know her story before I could start. Then I just gave up on having the theme mapped out and started working on music; eventually the theme revealed itself and fell into place.
Q: Was the theatrical aspect something you consciously strove for, or did it just emerge naturally as you worked on the album?
Sam: That theatrical element is what distinguished this album from past ones. Yes, they had themes, but I would always disagree when people called them "concept albums." A concept album--to me--needs to have recurring characters, such as in Pink Floyd's The Wall or The Who's Tommy. I mean, my albums had a "concept," but it was not reflected via the use of characters, which is territory I entered on this album.
Q: Aside from their shadowy presence as influences on the bride, are there songs specifically about the bachelors or told from their point of view?
Sam: Songs like "the lie which refuses to die" and "like a dog/letter to brod" take you into the quite scary minds of some of the bachelors who at one time were important to the bride. Through these songs, you get to know a bit about them and why the bride had to ditch them (laughs).
Q: And what about the mysterious "Schavager"? What is a schavager, anyway?
Sam: Well, that's an interesting question. When I was struggling with the story of the bride, I did a bit of online research. I went to different dictionary websites and looked up the word "scavenger." Aside from the obvious definitions we know, I came to the root of the word which is: "Alteration of Middle English scauager, schavager, official charged with street maintenance, from Anglo-Norman scawager, toll collector, from scawage, a tax on the goods of foreign merchants."
I thought "hmmm, that's kinda interesting." Because here is an actual occupation - a person who swept streets and cleaned up refuse - which clicked with my idea of searching through your personality, to find the truer self. That led to the first story in the booklet, about the Schavager cleaning the streets and believing he could see into people's hearts. The resolution of that piece collided with another thread I wanted to weave into the album, which was the European torture device "the scavenger's daughter." The text that Martin Bowes speaks in this song is a description of the device, shortened (a bit) from an online report I found here
The daughter is the constriction the bride feels, given form. I liked the metaphor of a person crushing in upon themselves, and how it could represent the way we allow circumstances to beat us down and defeat us.
Q: I've read that Franz Kafka is an influence on several songs from the scavenger bride, and you even dedicated the album to him (as well as to Lisa). How have Kafka's life and work affected your vision for the scavenger bride?
Sam: Kafka is definitely my favorite artist. The mood of his writing had an influence on what I created. The only time I really take Kafka's personality into the album is on "like a dog / letter to brod," where I use his words as a reflection of the thoughts of one of the bachelors. The words play very well with ideas I've expressed on earlier songs, where I've felt like a doormat in a relationship that has quite possibly been within my imagination. Of course, "like a dog" are the final words uttered by K. in The Trial.
Q: Given the Duchampian references running throughout the scavenger bride, I understand where the characters of the bride and the bachelors come from. But what about the mysterious "schavager"? What is a schavager, anyway?
Sam: Well, that's an interesting question. When I was struggling with the story of the bride, I did a bit of on-line research. I went to different dictionary websites and looked up the word scavenger. Aside from the obvious definitions we know (about animals that eat dead meat or people who pick through refuse), I came to the root of the word. And it's this: Alteration of Middle English scauager, schavager, official charged with street maintenance, from Anglo-Norman scawager, toll collector, from scawage, a tax on the goods of foreign merchants, from Flemish scauwen, to look at, show
And I thought "hmmm, that's kinda interesting." Because here is an actual job title, a person who swept streets, and cleaned up refuse, which clicked with my idea of searching through your personality, to find the truer self. That led to the first story in the booklet, about him cleaning the streets, and believing he could see into people's hearts.... but the resolution of that piece collided with another thread i wanted to weave into the album, which was the European torture device "the scavenger's daughter." I liked the metaphor of a person crushing in upon themselves, and how it could represent the way we allow circumstances to beat us down and defeat us....
Q: You've mentioned that the album is mainly told through the eyes of the bride herself. It's an old cliche that men can't write female characters, yet you seem to have broken out of that. Is it hard for you to write from a female perspective?
Sam: No, I don't find it hard to write from this perspective; I think it's what I've been doing for years. I don't go into situations with the macho male attitude of forcing things to be the way he thinks it should be. I spend a lot of time (maybe too much time?) thinking and analyzing. Reaching conclusions based on intuition or observation. I think that I've been in relationships in the past where I was the one who was hurt or put through the wringer, which provided good fodder for lyrics and stories. I just write what comes naturally to me.
Q: Was a trip you and Lisa took to Prague part of the development of the scavenger bride?
Sam: For me, the trip to Prague was a fact checking mission. We went at the end of October, after much of the music for the album was already written. It was an opportunity to soak in the environment, walk the streets that Kafka walked and add a bit of color to the album. It's really nice how much of the city still feels like 1913! Athan pointed out that thanks to communism, they didn't have the money to tear the place down and put up modern buildings, as has happened in much of Europe. So Prague retains a very special quality.
Q: And do the words "nevesta metarova" on the back of the slipcase relate to that?
Sam: Yeah, that's a Czech translation of the scavenger bride. I went over the many different meanings with a fellow Martin--in the Czech Republic--to come up with this phrase which (I hope) best reflects the meaning I wanted to get across.
Q: This cd has has a more rhythmic feel than previous albums, thanks in part to some excellent guest percussion contributed by Michael Laird of Unto Ashes Can you tell us a bit about this?
Sam: Michael's contribution is essential. I knew there were songs that "needed something." Something that couldn't be added by playing a sampler or a keyboard. I asked Michael to contribute; the first session yielded the dulcimer on "kinski" and the next one the mandolin on "all my lovers." Both rhythmic and melodic parts. It was very natural and fluid working with Michael. I might say "this needs some drums here" and he would start playing great things. I'd push him into the booth and start recording.
Q: In addition to being the main creative force behind black tape, you're also the head honcho of Projekt Records. Has working with so many other artists on their music over the years changed the way you approach your own music?
Sam: I'd have to say yes, because there are always lessons in life that we have, even if we don't realize it at the time.
Q: How do you strike the delicate balance that black tape maintains so well between getting across your own vision for an album, while at the same time allowing the listener to experience their own individual visions based on your work?
Sam: Well, I think the more of your vision you put in, to a great degree, the more it can be left open for individual interpretation. I guess so long as you don't close all the doors, you can have the room pretty full of furniture (laughs).
Q: Black tape toured in support of aflame when it came out. Any live shows in the works?
Sam: Yes. I think we will play live a bit. We played over 100 shows in 1998-99 and it will be impossible to do that, this time. I just can't get away from the Projekt office for that period of time. I am looking at a few key shows, including an appearance at this year's Projektfest in Philadelphia in late May.
Q: I really like the story with which you close the liner notes, the schavager's answer to the question of why she is "the scavenger bride" and not "the scavenger's bride." Your idea that we all "scavenge a further element of truth" from each experience and relationship, no matter how painful, rings very true to me. Is this something you've learned from your own experience?
Sam: Certainly, yes. Lisa has always said that if it wasn't for this or that experience, she wouldn't be the person she is today. I feel there's no reason to regret anything dumb or painful you have done, so long as you have learned from the experience.
END
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