CVLT Nation
Artist to Artist Interviews
Vastum Vs. Embers

What’s really interesting about the CVLT Nation Artist to Artist Interview series is how each one is so different, plus the artists open about things that they might not if they were being interviewed by a journalist. Today, we have Leila of Vastum vs. Kelly of Embers – I’m not going to give anything away, but I will say it’s an awesome interview. Stay tuned for Part Two next week, Kelly of Embers vs. Leila of Vastum. For all those reading this in Europe, make sure to go see the Embers tour, which kicks off on May 25th in Bologna, Italy – peep the tour poster after the jump!

What was it like growing up in Florida, being in the music scene there vs the Bay Area?

Well, Steve (the guitar player for Embers) and I are from a small town in Florida called Fort Walton Beach. We were both born and raised there. The whole state is pretty conservative. If you’re from the Northwest Panhandle like us, then there’s really not a lot of culture or an underground music scene. There weren’t many bands of our genre there at that time. Our old band, Lesser of Two, started in that town, and our whole band made the move to California together back in 1996. Steve and I have been living in Oakland ever since. The Bay Area has so much more to offer. Our lives have been greatly enriched with the tremendous diversity of music, art and radical thinking out here. Embers, of course, has been greatly influenced by the local scene as well. We have a very supportive underground community here in the Bay Area that a lot of other cities and towns lack.

Did Lesser of Two evolve into Embers? Are they related in any way or were they distinct projects from the beginning (since Steve was/is in both bands with you)?

Lesser of Two was a very different band, and we had different lives back then. We were together for over 8 years and toured constantly. We were squatting and didn’t give a fuck about our jobs. You can relate. That project was more technical hardcore, crust, punk with anti-authoritarian lyrics. Embers came about in 2004, a few years after LOT dissolved. Steve and I have been playing music together for almost 20 years, and so yes, in that way Embers was an evolution for us, but again the music and lyrics are quite different. It could be said that Embers sounded a bit more like LOT in the beginning, but has definitely developed a more minimalist sound with a black metal influence in recent years. The lyrics are also more introspective and less political. We don’t tour as much, since we all have more responsibilities now. Although we do hit the road about once a year.

You do all or most of the artwork for Embers, and have a very distinct recognizable style; in my opinion you shine equally as a musician and visual artist. How did you get into making art? Do you enjoy doing music and art equally or is there one you enjoy more than the other?

I love the opportunity to share my illustrations with people through the band’s exposure. I drew the cover for our split LP Wrath and for our newest release Shadows. I think I actually have more of an affinity for the visual arts than music. Music, for me on the whole, is a collaborative process, while creating visual art is a completely meditative solo process. They both pose different kinds of challenges. The worlds cross over in expression through symbolism and imagery, and I love making those creative connections. I enjoy my art and my music equally in different ways. I got into making art when I was a little kid. I’m an only child that grew up with a single parent who was often away at work. Drawing pictures was my way of entertaining myself. My mother was born deaf, so we never really had music around the house. I got into playing music later when I was high school and needed a more obnoxious creative outlet for my rebellious nature. Ha ha.

Let’s talk a little about our day to day life. Regarding our “day” jobs,  we’re probably at opposite ends of the conventionality spectrum.

Well, yes, you manage an office at a non-profit and I’m a professional Dominatrix. My work is filled with taboo and kink. I love it! It adds an intensity to my daily life that I crave. Invisible Oranges actually just did a feature article on me and my profession called My Life As A Dominatrix: 1000 Days of Sodom. That should be an interesting read for people who want to know more about that kind of experience. I also touch on how Metal and BDSM cross over in that article. You can check that out on their blog.

Besides the songwriting which seems to be collaborative, you basically run the show for Embers (booking, correspondence, travel arrangements, artwork, scheduling rehearsals, merch, etc). Do you like being in that role or do you wish the duties were split a little more evenly with the band?

Well, it’s not really true that I “run the show”. While Steve and I do handle a lot of the booking and promotion for the band, Jerry and Timm also do what they can when they have time. They both work more than Steve and I do. Back in the day, years ago, I used to do a lot of booking. That was incredibly time-consuming. I’d rather not do that again if I can help it. We’re all grateful to have our upcoming European tour booked by Iconoclast from Italy. I handled most of the booking for the previous two European tours and that was tedious and annoying. You have to start like 4 months in advance and stay on people’s asses almost the whole time. The new social networking sites have allowed us a lot of coverage without the need to have a band manager or a label, but again it can take up a lot of time. While I created our profile on Myspace, Reverbnation, Bandcamp, Soundcloud, etc. I tend to let the rest of the band handle our Facebook page, which is where we now do most of our promotion and correspondence. We’ve almost reached the Facebook limit of having no more than 5000 friends. Steve actually had some wiki wars with the administrative board for Wikipedia, but in the end we got our page up on that site as well.

Lillian left the band a while ago and you’ve proceeded as a 5 piece. In my opinion, I prefer this stripped down version of Embers. Do you feel similarly or is the search still on for a keyboardist/string player?

First off, I have to correct you on the member status. We’re actually a 4-piece band now that started out as a 6-piece. In the beginning, we were 3 girls and 3 boys. Nine played viola and Lillian played keys. Nine passed away last August, but hadn’t played with us in over 3 years, and Lillian left for personal reasons about a year ago. A lot of people have the same opinion, that they prefer the stripped-down version of our music over the more complex, harmonic layers of our previous line up. It’s a real challenge to get a sound guy to make a 6-piece sound balanced live. Unfortunately, that was sometimes a problem with our live shows. Things are much easier now, and we can actually fit on the stages! You can also hear the beautifully subtle guitar melodies better now, which people appreciate. They had a tendency to get a bit buried under the keys before.

Apologies on getting the number of band members confused! And yes, being in Hammers of Misfortune, I understand very well the challenge of playing live with a 6 piece band, both in terms of stage sound and practice scheduling. Having four members is much easier. So Embers has a European tour coming up soon? For how long and where are you going? Embers seems to tour Europe a lot more than the US; would you say that touring Europe works better for you than it does in the US? 

Embers is indeed leaving for a 2-and-a-half week European tour on May 23rd. We’ll be touring until June 10th. The route is posted here on CVLT Nation (below), but you can also see it on the Iconoclast website. Our very first tour as a band was in Europe back in 2007. My experiences touring there with Lesser Of Two made me feel like it was much better to head overseas than tour the US. We are really taken care of out there. You always have a place to stay and get fed amazing meals, the shows are well promoted and well attended. The international community is very supportive, and have a tradition of hospitality that the US lacks. It’s also just amazing to travel in Europe. Touring is wonderful way to see the world, get exposure to other cultures and make friends in the process. Unfortunately, now that airline tickets are astronomically high, it can be hard to justify the cost.

I agree with what you say about touring Europe; hospitality is really valued by promoters there, so much more than in the U.S. However, it’s absolutely insane how much it costs to fly to Europe these days from the west coast. I wonder how smaller bands are able to pull off touring Europe at all, and more often than not, that money is not even made back unless your tour is at least 3 to 4 weeks long. You also have a new album coming out. Can you tell me a little about that?

Yes, Shadows is being released this summer. That will be our first double LP. Iconoclast is putting that out. Our European tour is actually to promote that new release. It’s nice to have vinyl instead of CDs. The European community was disappointed that we didn’t have a vinyl release of Memoria In Aeterna when we first toured out there. Most of those folks weren’t really interested in CDs which I totally understand. We look forward to finally saying “Yes! Here is your record!”

EMBERS May/June 2012 Tour Dates: