It’s like the longing for intimacy that is constantly disappointed, so shrouds itself in music to escape the pain or, builds a cathedral of intimacy where none exists in love, giving voice to the feelings one feels when we found a love in the streets but it was not ours, swinging b/w the pendulum of dramatic and subdued because were human and keep it all in, but explode sometimes when the tension inside, the tension we internalize, becomes to much to bear, and must be released, spread its wings like a phoenix rising from the ashes of the charred remains of our love, because all thats been held in and held back (& built up) must be released: Therein lie the sensual dreams which make up the music which is The Sleeping Kings of Iona.
Cock-Now: The British artist Rachel Whiteread’s sculptures cast the negative spaces of common domestic objects. In her biography in the Sensation art book they say her work "...literally solidifies the absence of the object -whether it be a room, a house, a chair, a bathtub or a hot-water bottle - making it into a tangible, material thing. With the opacity or luminescence of plaster, rubber or resin, the sculptures create an iconography of memory and loss. They are the negative imprint, both relic and residue, of something that once was, their surfaces still showing legible traces of the object from which they were cast. Twice removed from their origin, they are both ghostly fossils and physical embodiments of ossified, negative space." Although they are describing sculpture above, this description of Rachel Whiteread’s work seems an apt description for the music of the Sleeping Kings as well. The songs to me seem a very beautiful "negative imprint, both relic and residue, of something that once was..., thus serving as both ghostly fossils and physical embodiments of ossified, negative space" (~the solid object they are born from in this case being the feelings and situations that gave birth to the song). The physical embodiment of this negative space (of the feelings), i.e. the songs, becomes something quite beautiful and other worldly in this way (think side two of Joy Divisions ‘Closer’), so my question to you is do you think (the going through) pain is somehow justified when it can be reincarnated into such beautiful negative space (or songs)?
Sleeping Kings of Iona: I wouldnt say that pain is necessarily what we’re feeling. I would say that it is melancholy or even sad moments that we are translating into music. Part of the joy of the negative spaces are the positive moments that come afterwards. So, yes, we do believe it is justified.
CN: "One very strong movement in the late nineteenth century and twentieth centuries was towards music as an immersive, environmental experience...Its a drift away from narrative and towards landscape, from performed event to sonic space." - Brian Eno
And although Eno was referring to classical and modernist composers, I feel like this statement also refers to some ambiguous amorphous fact that makes the Sleeping Kings different from other indie or electronica bands, the fact that your sound worlds are so immersive, more like places or environmental spaces (spaces to enter, worlds to live in, rather than traditional songs, worlds of feelings): Do you think we create these sonic spaces to fill the emotional voids left from life, and do you think by letting the sounds ring out (by giving them space to breathe) we are somehow expressing uncertainty, the spaces between certainties (where we exist most of the time [i.e. not knowing what other people are thinking or feeling])?
SKOI: They are what we are feeling at the moment. You can’t dive into the song. The creation of these songs are to fill a void, but not for specifics. We never want to rush into anything because we understand that its important to let it breathe. We like things that are strict but we also like things to flow.
CN: Longing Longing Held back, like the moment of holding your breath, waiting for the moment to happen, & expressing all that cant be said through sensual sound. In the Sleeping Kings though, the release never is a scream; it whispers, makes epic gestures in huge grand sweeping melodies, and in its most emotional moments pleads for you to leave. In a sense its more powerful this way cause it never lets go, never loses control, even when its obviously lost control (in life). Specifically in fantastic songs like ‘Nearer’ where the ambient textures (the sound of the kick) and atmospherics reveal the afterworld rushing in. What do you think allowing the soft sounds to ring out represents?
SKOI: For us its completely a release. It’s never intended to be a call for help, its an embracing of that feeling, an invitation. Not all of our sounds are soft but the soft moments will lead you to the not so soft moments. Sometimes the building up to is better than the release. Like we said earlier, we like to take our time and not rush what we love to do.
CN: The songs all seem tinged with melancholy, a sense of yearning, a place of darkness. (Yet yearning, hope, and most important, beauty.) How do you think Buffalo has effected your music? As a place? Why do you think Buffalo seems to be so fertile for this style of music? (Vera, Besnyo, Sleeping Kings of Iona, etc.) Do you think Buffalos lack of sun (some parts of the year) has anything to do w/it?
SKOI: Buffalo is definitely more of a run down post-industrial town, which was intended for something grand that never came to fruition or if it did, it died long ago. It snows a lot, we love it. Its very pretty. It gets really cold here. The summers are hazy and really beautiful. All of these things are factors in this, things that we love and hate about the city. Luckily we have bands like Vera Lena, Besnyo , just to name a couple, that help to interpret musically what Buffalo is. As for a lack of sun, there is really no less sun here than any other city on the east coast.
CN: A lot of desperation, miscommunication, and music having the power to redeem, transcend, heal, & mend: ‘Organs song’ is just immaculate. The music, mourning yet hopeful, infusing the words with wistful nostalgic yearning for a future that will not come, utterances heard in silence, the lyrics frozen moments, the perfect accompaniment to the question: why cant you go, so I can move on... In ‘Organs Song’ the speaker keeps changing, the vocal taking on shifting perspectives of what I presume is one situation, and different ways of seeing it: do you think shifting the perspective sheds more light on the situations multi-faced truths?
SKOI: Shifting the perspective always offers multiple views of whats going on. Clearly it sheds more light. Unfortunately, Molly is not here to answer for herself.
CN: Live (and Im assuming on record) all four of you change instruments constantly. Do you think this helps keep egos in check (because everyone gets a chance in the spotlight)? Also, who writes what songs?
SKOI: We play as a group instead of as individuals. We either write on the spot or someone has an idea that influences the next to the next.
CN: You say in ‘Pheromone’, ‘I shudder to think, oh...yes, those were the days’, and in ‘Hibernian’ you say ‘badaladadada, youve never been so sure’, -almost mocking, yeah right-esque, self-deprecating and ironic but full of sadness as well. You do justice to the complicated nature of feelings, the bitterness & genuine mournfulness all wrapped up in one. Do you think theres a genuineness in sarcasm (or truths)?
SKOI: Yes, absolutely. There is always some sort of truth behind every joke or bit of sarcasm, though we don’t purposely include that sense of sarcasm. A lot of our lyrics are stream of consciousness and just sort of happen immediately. Perhaps it’s how we express those feelings of being betrayed, and we just arent fully aware of it.
CN: Like many great artists, the kings are shrouded in mystery (enigmatic). You dont say who plays what on the album, nor do you have a bio...why the mystery? Can you tell us a bit about the history of the kings, how you came together, where did the name Sleeping Kings of Iona come from, etc.
SKOI: The mystery isn’t intentional. We just aren’t really that interested in the specifics, to be honest. We’ve just been friends for a while, before the band actually started. The name refers to a bunch of dead rich guys buried on an isle off the coast of Scotland. It’s really no reference to us at all.
CN: The transformation of desperation and sadness into beauty (so filling the empty spaces) is one of the greatest things music is capable of (Keats truth is beauty, beauty is truth), & Sleeping Kings seem to personify this transformation and emotional resonance. Albums and bands that accomplish this (affect us in this powerful a way) save us in some sense, not literally, but definitely emotionally, especially at certain periods of our lives when we really need them. (Makes life worth living.)...What music or albums have held particular emotional relevance to you and, possibly saved you, at certain times in your life?
SKOI: Whenever we really, really want to have a good time, we put on some Neneh Cherry or some New Order.
CN: Most bands run into ego problems: why & how do you think sleeping kings have avoided this pitfall? Do you think changing instruments so often helps keep egos in check (i.e. everyone gets a chance in the spotlight)? Also, what do you think are the pros and cons to this type of set-up?
SKOI: We’re not the kind of people to really want to be in the spotlight. We play with the lights off. No solos.
CN: I think another great facet of the kings is how often you interact (infuse) live percussion with electronic beats. Who writes the beats and why do some songs call for electronic beats solely, some live percussion over electronic beats, and some just live drums? Also, who is the percussionist who plays along with you on much of the album?
SKOI: Sometimes you wanna dance. Sometimes you wanna fuck. Sometimes you wanna fuckin dance. Our friend Mark Nosowicz plays most but not all live percussion on the record.
CN: Your songs build in really interesting ways, often just one part repeated throughout the whole song (one beat), falling verses, descending, suspended time (frozen) through repeated melodies (pedal points) over shifting chords, choruses just extensions of verses, repetition and layering, parts changing without changing, gradually rising, celestial, up to the heavens. Sonicly dramatic tension rises, and in the building and dropping away of instruments, a journey forms that finally climaxes in the crests of the waves of your songs (sounds) crashing down, finally dropping out, and disappearing...what are your feelings towards the power of repetition & simplicity? (And dynamics.) Can you think of any role models from the past as far as sleeping kings archetypes?
SKOI: We feel that there is something classic and full of integrity about the simplicity and repetition in our music. It’s terribly unfortunate that there are so many groups that overdo and spoil all the moments in their music. You mentioned Joy Division earlier, they were very good at simplicity and repetition. They were good at that.
CN: The album truly sounds like four people interacting, rather than a studio project (& having seen you live a few times, I know this is what you sound like): How do you view live music versus recorded? Do you think about the live presentation first, or do you figure out how youre going to perform the song live once the song is already recorded? (Do you all write together?) And finally, was the album recorded live?
SKOI: We write songs with live presentation in mind. We salt and pepper them in the studio when recording. We are a live band and not a studio project. However, the album was not recorded live.
CN: There’s an air of royalty to some the tracks: Im thinking specifically of ‘Pheromone,’ Seventeen, and ‘Kildeer,’ where the epic quality of these moments become monumental, filled with meaning due to these really huge, grand, sweeping melodies reaching for the heavens: its almost like stating something, and by repeating the phrase it grows bigger and bigger (grander and grander), becomes more confident, and finally bursts, transforming into some huge majestic cosmic gesture. Do you think mounting tension and its subsequent release makes a gesture more meaningful than it actually is (and in mounting the tension, actually creates the meaning)?
SKOI: We could blow our proverbial load earlier, sometimes it works like that. Sometimes we like to go for a long time, still with that load on the way.
CN: ‘Hibernian’ has an evil undercurrent, bubbling beneath the surface. There seems to be all this pent up emotion, almost resentment, about to explode (which does explode in Seventeen): ‘Hibernian’ reminds me of butterfly wings slowly swooshing in & out (in slow motion), hesitant, but its in that moment of hesitation where the real sensualness exists (sensuality): why do you think holding back can often times be more sensual than letting go (or letting loose)?
CN: ‘Pheromone’ is the hit (to me, anyway), and was the song I first walked in on The Kings (coming to the Cake-Shop to see Dedelectric, from The Grassroots [a bar on St. Marx (i.e. headquarters)], and, walking in on that song, kind of a revelation): When I was going through a break-up that song just killed me, the ultimate line venomously whipped: ‘I swear I’d kill you, I swear I would kill you, yes I swear I would’: I mean, what better use for art is there? (Than giving vent to these murderous feelings, being able to catharsize such emotions.) Then you go on to sing in the outro, ‘I never thought that you would betray me, I never thought that you would betray me oh I never thought’ and the mood moon music turns celebratory, the sad chant in turn becoming celebratory. This is the transformation of pain into beauty I spoke of earlier. Do you feel the pain that leads to this type of emotional outlet (and breakthrough) and subsequent beauty (i.e. powerful song) couldn’t come out of joy, and that the pain is somehow worth going through (justified) when you get a song this phenomenal out of it?
SKOI: Again we can’t speak for Molly if its based on specifics or not but ‘Pheromone’ is a breakup song and is an intentional pop song, as well. Molly may actually be out there killing people if she wasn’t in this band. Breakups can make you a killer or cause you to write a hit.
CN: ‘Seventeen’ is everything music should be. It perfectly captures that sparkling uncertainty that disorients and comforts simultaneously. Like the world is exploding and everything's going to be just fine. Totally Molly waving to Ducky at the end of Pretty In Pink. That good. It’s heavy and wonderful, and perfectly evokes that feeling of nostalgia and end of the movie moment where everything comes together in going to be alright, despite life. (Yet that minor key awareness of death, or the end of things, I think captured in the melody, such a strong melody that everything circles around in this song.)Why didn’t you put vocals on this song? It doesn’t need them, of course (the strength of the instrumental melodies are fantastic) but, since all of your other songs do have vocals over them, why not this one, which ultimately / arguably could’ve been your biggest hit [but also could’ve screwed up the song]).
SKOI: ‘Seventeen’ is an instrumental and we simply felt as though it was meant to stay that way. It has this feeling of being that age with the uncertainty of not knowing whats going on. We felt that by leaving it an instrumental we achieved what we had intended to.
CN: ‘Kildeer’ is just epic, the synth line like a plaintiff cry: I love how you hold the tension to the bursting point in the song, not singing over the chorus until the third time it comes around, so that when you do sing over it, the explosion is ten times as powerful because youve built up to it. Still, why resist the urge to go pop & have this very catchy chorus come around more than once? (Dont get me wrong, I understand this urge, ~I often succumb to it myself and think it all the more special cause it only comes around once, but realize the commercial suicide inherent in such moves.)
SKOI: We already did that with ‘Pheromone.’ The way we wrote it and the way that Molly sang it the first time, we thought it was cool.
CN: What is the significance of the oriental architecture on the cover of the album?
SKOI: We liked the design. Our friend Yukiko took the pictures and we thought they were beautiful. We found a love in the streets because it was not ours, it’s foreign. The landscape, that is.
CN: The male vocals versus female vocals is one of the more interesting facets of sleeping kings, most often because the female seem untamed (emotional), while the male are held back (reserved, hushed, quiet): the contradiction leading to the chemistry b/w them (opposite sides of the coin [Tao]). Most bands would go with one or the other: why go with both, and what do you think are the advantages to such a decision?
SKOI: It’s good to have different styles, different points of view. They aren’t intentional but it is the Tao. It’s creating the feeling of having more than one point of view. We can write simplistic music and at the same time have that complicated aspect of dual vocals, male and female.
CN: Thank you*
To find out more about the Sleeping Kings or purchase their music please visit:
http://sleepingkingsofiona.com
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