11 Questions
Q: Describe your style of music, who do you sound like?
I describe it as IDM/Industrial when I need a quick answer. I'm constantly experimenting. So, often I end up with songs that seem to end up in many different genres, but I always try to make sure that I won't hate what I'm playing. So, it usually stays pretty close to sounding like some kind of Electro-Industrial. Who do I sound like? I don't like answering this question, because I always feel like I'm pigeon-holing myself when I do. However, when you listen to the music, I suppose it's not too hard to pick up on my influences.
Q: What are your main musical influences?
Skinny Puppy, Haujobb, Download, Gridlock, Autechre, Aphex Twin, Bauhaus, and Geramie himself. His own stuff is this wonderful ambient electronica kind of style and it always gives me an idea of how to get a certain sound, or where to go if I'm stuck on a song.
Q: What/Who have been your biggest influences in life and on your lyrics?
Technology, desire, EBM dance clubs, quitting heroin.
Q: What's in your CD player?
Autechre's "EP7"
Q: What other local band would you pay to see play? Why?
Mind Altering Substance from Saginaw, because they're the only other industrial band in the area and I've heard their music, but never seen them perform.
Q: How did you meet?
Me and Geramie met in middle school and have collaborated on different kinds of music ever since high school.
Q: Is there an interesting story behind the name of your band? Who came up with the name?
Well, the name Candle just kind of came to me one day just out of the blue, and the Nine was added on by a girlfriend. Looking back though, I think that it comes from the first Skinny Puppy song I ever heard, which was "Candle".
Q. Tell us about your first show together.
Well, since I don't really consider any of my music before this year mine, me and Geramie at the Arlington was our first show. I wanted to play the Arlington for a first show, because I figured it would be a good testing ground to see how people reacted to my music. I didn't think that anyone would come, but quite a few people came out to see it. I was surprised. I started the show with this awful-sounding noisy instrumental, just to get a rise out of people, and it completely worked. Got a few people to leave by doing that, which delighted me immensely. Rest of the show went great, in my opinion. Local scene is obviously not used to industrial music though, because I got a lot of comments after the show that the soundperson mixed everything wrong, and that it was the only thing that went wrong at the show. But all in all, the show really made me feel good about doing the music that I wanted to do.
Q. What have been the high and low points of the band so far?
Well, the high point so far is definitely playing at the Motorpop 3: Industrial Music Festival at St. Andrew's Hall. It's one hell of a feeling to stand in front of a crowd and see people that have no idea who you are rocking out to your music and cheering for you. The whole show all together was amazing. I got to play along with some great acts that I really admire, like Combichrist, Imperative Reaction, and Modulate. I don't know if I've ever been to a show with so much energy and good vibes. It was all one hell of an experience. To me, there hasn't really been a low point yet. Except for being an industrial musician locally, because so few venues want to book you or even give you a shot, because you aren't metal, rock, or hardcore. It's like that a lot of places. I think, because most people listen to music passively, and take it all at face value. My music is kind of abstract, and doesn't exist in one of the popular genres. So, as a consequence, I've alienated a lot of people from it. Then, because I'm not real big on staying in the constant verse-chorus-verse format, I've alienated another group of people. However, I really love the crowd and fans I do have, because they're so passionate about all kinds of music, and really take it in as an art form, rather than just a form of entertainment.
Q: You are the first band to play a song on another planet for aliens that have never heard our music, you can play any song ever written, what would you play? Why?
Autechre's "Gantz Graf", mostly because it was the first thing to pop into my head. If anything else, it's a good example of how technology is used to create music. Maybe?
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