Jester: Are you excited to be scheduled to play at Convergence III?
IoEjekta We *were* excited to play there. There were some dissappointments, because the whole thing was "organized" so incredibly poorly - as a result, I didn't feel the event was nearly as grand as it could've been. I know several vendors dropped out, all the decorating was left to the last minute, and promotion outside alt.gothic was virtually non-existent. It was all handled quite unprofessionally, and many people are angry. On the positive side, I felt the people running the sound for the live performances were competent, I felt good about our performance, and it was exciting to be able to reach so many non-locals and people under age who cannot usually see us live.
Jester: Will the entire band be relocating to San Francisco anytime in the future?
IoEjekta Well, the entire band now consists only of Gundot and I. I think maybe if we find other people we want to work with, their location could be a factor. I'm always trying to drag him down here!
Jester: Why did Corey move from playing guitar to keyboards when you play live?
IoEjekta We were looking for a keyboardist at the time Robin moved up to Seattle, so Corey switched to keys, and Robin took over the guitar work for the live performances. I think Gundot likes playing the synths more than guitar live - he really gets into twiddling those knobs!
Jester: How is the new album coming along? Does it have a tenative title?
IoEjekta The new material is coming along very well - I feel that it is stronger and more complex, a more diverse range of expression. we're not afraid to be Techno or Wave or (dare we say it?) Pop sometimes, in harmony with the depths and the dark. Also Gundot and I are working together much more in the entire process from conception through programming and expansion to production. We have the material for about half the length in cohesive form, and many more ideas beyond that. We of course are taking our time to find the right people for the vocal work, be they guest musicians or permanant members, but we are still looking at late winter or early spring for the release date. The title most likely will be "Exit Zero", which is also one of the earliest tracks written for this album.
Jester: What is you favorite Razor Skyline track?
IoEjekta At the moment, I think it's the title track, 'Exit Zero'. I'm thinking of working with it more and doing some remixes, possibly with some of our peer musicians in other bands. But since no one knows this yet, I'll pick a couple that people have heard. 'Hanged Man' is my favourite to play live although another new one that is in our live set already, 'See The Light', is a close second.
Jester: Whose idea was it to have Maria Azvedo of Battery sing on a track on the debut album?
IoEjekta That was actually Xian's idea - he was recording and producing that album at the C.O.P. studio here in SF. Maria actually sings on two, 'Andrea' and 'In the Mirror'. both of these songs are rather slow; we needed something to add interest to the original vocal line since that is where so much of the emphasis is placed in those songs. Maria's timbre and the harmony lines she created add a very effective texture and diversity.
Jester: Any plans for an official web page since the NEC web page is woefully out of date?
IoEjekta Oh, God. (guilty laugh) As Manhole Vortex can tell you, I'm not so punctual at getting my sites up! I really am working on it, that NEC site is embarassing, it's so wrong. With the permanant departure of Karen, and Robin's permanance in question (he may do guest work, but his life plans are possibly taking him out of Seattle), I was waiting a bit to, uh, edit the photos. But that's not any excuse - I should've had it up long ago!
Jester: Are there any plans for a nation-wide tour with the success of the west coast tour?
IoEjekta Sure - we want to go everywhere! Right now we are concentrating on the upcoming album, so live shows will be scarce for a while. But after that...
Jester: Unlike most Gothic bands, to my knowledge you haven't appeared on any of the Gothic tribute albums. Is this by choice or circumstance?
IoEjekta No Goth tributes! It tends to be overdone to begin with - why do it again? But you can never be too silly, so we have tentitively agreed to do a track on the sequel to a certain sucessful New Wave album. Gundot and I are way into our Wave... I think if I had to do a Goth cover, I'd just have to pick something so over the top - like 'Bela Lugosi's Dead', or anything Christian Death - and make it so melodramatic it came back around to being silly again. Otherwise I just couldn't reconcile it!