In the week of both the US Presidential Election
and Halloween, it’s only appropriate that the “land of the free” has just produced
not one but two great gothic albums, with the long-awaited comeback album from
The Wake plus a sophomore set from the Shadow Assembly project led by Michael
Louis. A multi-instrumentalist and songwriter, Louis worked in a variety of genres
before making a breakthrough with the debut album from his goth/deathrock solo
project Chronic Twilight, which attracted fans of the renascent traditional
gothic rock genre and resulted in a collaboration with Sonsombre’s Brandon Pybus
which in turn produced the first Shadow Assembly album Ghostcrawl. With
Pybus taking care of vocals and mastering and Louis doing virtually everything
else, the combination was highly promising but the slightly sparse sound on some
tracks hinted that even better was to come as the pair's relationship flourished.
However, for the second Shadow Assembly album, Arcane
Fusion, Louis has recruited a wide range of vocalists, from himself and (on one track only this time) Pybus to other stellar figures from the global gothic scene, such as Coast Rica’s
Ariel Maniki or Russia’s Andrey Agapitov (of Raven Said fame), so the album showcases
the broad range of talent and styles on the guitar-based goth scene in the same
way as Kill Shelter’s Damage did for the more atmospheric, electronic-based
end of the genre.
Fittingly, Arcane Fusion begins
with Pybus’ only vocal which is typically (and deliberately) somewhat overblown, over a
typically twangy no-nonsense gothic rock bassline and deathrock guitar riff from Louis to create a strong opening, only for the project to move into a
completely different stratosphere on track two with Marselle Hodges’ stunningly mesmerizing vocal
on My Favourite Plaything, surely one of the dark scene’s greatest earworms of the past
few years. Sumptuously multi-tracked over a gloriously full yet subtle Louis soundscape,
Hodges sounds like a latter-day Kate Bush who has chosen the path of ethereal
darkness over mere pop weirdness and instantly shatters any lingering disappointment that Arcane Fusion
won’t simply be Ghostcrawl mk 2.
Whether delivering trademark vocals (October
Burns Black’s Rod Hanna’s slow and portentous Woman Torn or Andrey Agapitov’s evocative faster-paced Lost Places, Forgotten Faces) or trying something new (Ken Magerman’s
dramatic Release The Ravens or Nino Sable’s esoteric Perfect Day reminiscent Green Fairie), Louis’
guest vocalists all bring their own lyrical slant and musical direction to his varied backing tracks, with the instrumentalist keeping things firmly on the rockier
side of things on My Ophelia, whilst showcasing his more eclectic side
on Dr Dealer, the other song on which he himself provides vocals.
Intrigued to find out more about the
genesis and development of this ever-improving project, I reached out to
Michael and was delighted when he agreed to be the latest guest in our “Ten
Questions To …” feature, to give the lowdown on this and his other projects.
Arcane Fusion is available via Bandcamp
and is highly recommended!
1. After a series of projects in various alternative styles you began
working in the darkwave genre with Experimenting with Dawn in 2016. What drew
you to a more gothic sound?
·
I’ve been drawn to Gothic
music as far back as I remember, but it’s true that I also love Glam, (some)
Progressive, (some) Metal, Dark Ambient, Funk, New Wave, Punk, and 60’s Garage,
to name a few. In short, I suppose you
can call me a Rush nerd who loves “dark” / minor progressions delivered with
Punk attitude. Rush was my first
influence that got me to love music, in general. All the other styles I grew to love, reflect
different aspects of my personality.
·
I played with a few
different Gothic bands in the Phoenix/L.A. area in the mid-late 1990’s but I
never did my own Gothic project until 2016.
It was the right time for me as I was freshly divorced and had the time
and resources to do things on my own.
2. You began Chronic Twilight as a solo project the following year and
the debut album Hymns for Heliophobes with its classic deathrock
overtones became a word of mouth success within the gothic rock fraternity. Did
you enjoy doing a solo project and being able to take care of all aspects of
the release?
·
I have a love/hate affair
with being a one-man-band. I like not
having band drama and perpetual arguments over silly things, but I longed for
someone to collaborate with. While I
live in what is touted as “Music City USA” (Nashville, TN), it is a musical
graveyard (pardon the pun) for Gothic musicians.
·
I also get zero support from
the local Goth scene. Local DJs refuse
to play any of my music, for whatever seemingly petty reason, so I am left to
my own devices. I am proud of the fact
that I am capable of doing it all on my own but collaborating with like-minded
others is forever a desire of mine.
3. You subsequently began working with Brandon Pybus of Sonsombre and
you put out the first Shadow Assembly album as a joint collaboration last year.
Which tracks on that debut were you particularly proud of?
·
I am particularly proud of Death
Lights, Languish, and Cold.
They are my favorite tracks on the album. I never have any expectations in mind when
collaborating, but with Brandon there was a high level of trust there in
knowing that he would work hard to pull something very cool off. And that, he did.
4. Why did you decide to use a wider variety of vocalists this time
around on Arcane Fusion? Was this always the intention?
·
It wasn’t always the intention. It happened because Brandon was busy with
Sonsombre taking off as (expectedly) well as it did. He didn’t have time for another full Shadow
Assembly album, which is what I was aiming for again. So, I figured why not branch out and work
with other vocalists who I respect, and also make some new friends in the
process.
5. How did the songwriting process take place? Did you send a backing
track to each vocalist and give them freedom to devise their own melody and
lyrics? How did you decide which backing
track to send to which artist?
·
You are exactly right in
that I send finished instrumentals to folks, letting them take the reins from
there on lyrics and vocal melodies. As
for who got which track, I write music that I think will fit someone’s voice
and style, while perhaps breaking them out of their usual box a bit. There were a few vocalists I initially
contacted who didn’t end up on the project, mostly because of timing (COVID19
hit during production crunch time), so I found some other vocalists who were
interested in singing on the songs that otherwise needed new homes.
6. You’ve got a really impressive line-up of talent from all around the
world on the album, from Russia to Costa Rica, but there are two tracks which
you sing yourself. Were there any vocalists who weren’t able to collaborate
with you this time for whom those songs were originally intended? Are there any
vocalists whom you’d like to work with in the future?
·
Yes, My Ophelia was
not originally written for me, and was written late in the game. I couldn’t nail down anyone to work with it
on such a short timeline, so I went ahead and finished it. Dr. Dealer was one I wrote for myself
and was supposed to be the only song with yours truly singing on it. I really wanted to get those particular
lyrics off my chest.
·
There are definitely
vocalists I would love to work with in the future!! Too many to name. I would love to work with the folks that I
couldn’t quite cross wires with this time around like Yvette Winkler of Vaselyne,
Dru Allen of This Ascension, and Albie Mason of Scary Black.
7. You’re a multi-instrumentalist but particularly known for your
innovative basslines, a facet of classic goth music often overlooked by modern
projects in the genre. Can you tell us a bit about your bass set-up? Who were
your bass heroes growing up?
·
Oh now, this is my favorite
topic! First off, thank you for the kind
words about my basslines. Bass is my
favorite instrument, and it’s what I write all my music on (with scattered
exceptions). It is usually the first
instrument I track and use as a blueprint for everything else.
·
My bass set-up is pretty
simple. I typically use either my Fender
Geddy Lee American Jazz bass or my Fender Precision American bass through a Geddy
Lee YYZ SansAmp pedal, a Boss bass chorus pedal, and then direct to the
preamp. Sometimes I will bypass the
pedals and just effect a raw bass track with the digital effects I have in my
DAW.
·
My first and foremost bass
influence was, and always will be, Geddy Lee of Rush. Following him would be Simon Gallup, Stuart
Morrow, Steve Harris, and Mick Karn.
·
I started off in life as a
drummer, then soon taught myself how to play bass, as I was obsessed with all
things Rush as a youngster. A bit later
on in my teen years, I taught myself guitar and took voice lessons out of
necessity, in order to write songs and convey ideas to former bandmates, over
the years.
8. Brandon recently described your musical style as “esoteric” and I
personally detect a psychedelic aspect to the sound to some of your songs. How
would you describe your musical style?
·
I suppose I would describe
my music as being made by a Rush fan who loves the darkness. I like to sometimes try different
progressions and effects to manipulate sounds accordingly. What I envision in my head when I write a
song is hardly ever how it turns out, which is fine with me. I like to mesh different influences and
styles to create something that hopefully at least ends up dark and danceable.
9. When you come up with a new musical idea, do you instinctively feel
that it would be more appropriate for Chronic Twilight or Shadow Assembly, or
is it just a question of timing, i.e. the project which you are working on at
the time.
·
I do have a gut feeling
about songs as I write them. Also, if I
write a song knowing that I won’t be the one singing it, I feel a wider sense
of freedom in what I can do, musically.
Chronic Twilight songs are written for my voice to sing, from the
start. I like the freedom of
collaborating, so my approach is more open when writing for Shadow
Assembly.
10. You’ve recently announced that Chronic Twilight is expanding to a
duo, with Kyle Andrew joining the project. Which aspects will you each be
responsible for, and does it signal a change of direction for the band?
·
There is going to be a
DEFINITE change in direction, but for the better in my humble opinion. We’re still making dark music, but Kyle is an
amazing vocalist with range and style capabilities that I can only dream of
having. He will primarily be responsible
for lyrics and vocal melodies, as well as any music he wants to bring to the
table as well. Thus far, we have some
songs in the works that are totally his, as well as co-writes and they are all great. I couldn’t be happier with having him as a
collaborator. He was well worth the
wait!
Many thanks
again to Mike for his fascinating answers!
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