Since the album was released two months ago, to be honest I've mostly been resting and recharging. I'm dreaming up new things for Entrail--new directions and emotions to explore in the coming year--but for right now I'm just letting myself relax and focus on my health in support of my creative life.
2.Recently you have released a new album, musically how does it differ from the stuff you have released in the past?
Musically, I've allowed the songs on Eater of Starlight to bloom more slowly, leaning more into the hypnotic aspects of drone, with less noisewall. I also feel like I've allowed my voice more vulnerability and intention on this album than on 100 Years Remaining.
3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects that you explore with the new album and also how would you describe your progress as a songwriter over the years?
When I started writing this material, I had just graduated school and moved away from my hometown, and combining this with existential despair at watching the world burn up, I felt spiritually and psychically ungrounded. I had visions of floating out in space on a tether and feeling both the power of that experience and intense loneliness. Each of these songs is a different facet of the yearning I felt in that time. As far as my progress as a songwriter goes, I feel like I'm more likely to trust my intuition with words now than in years past. The lyrics of the first Entrail album are mostly rhymed, for instance. On Eater of Starlight, the lyrics feel more purely sourced from my subconscious than as if I'd spent a lot of time constructing them or trying to make them fit. Dust of Dreamers is entirely from a dream.
4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name 'Entrail'?
I love performing my music. For me it is a way of connecting with others with intention and vulnerability. I chose "Entrail" to mean that through my music I give a piece of my raw self. The word offers a second meaning though that I discovered later--as a verb, it means to find or build a trail through wilderness. I feel this also accurately describes my seeking nature as a musician.
5.Can you tell us a little bit more about the artwork that is presented on the new album cover?
I made this with my friend Adam. It is a self portrait.
6.With this project you record everything by yourself but have experience working with actual bands, how would you compare the two?
Part of my decision to go solo was to have a music project that couldn't be divided. I've been fortunate to play in several bands with richly inspiring musicians and friends... and then have these bands fall apart due to people moving away or relationships dissolving. That Entrail is just me means that I can do whatever I want or need with it. I'm free to explore my artistic growth without hindrance, but also I am free to book a tour or take hiatus whenever it works for me. And making music on my own has led me to depths of knowing myself that I wouldn't have arrived at in the context of working with others. But I do love the communion of playing with other people. I feel very nourished by playing violin in Flight of a Green Heron with my dear friends James Martinez and Adam St John.
7.You also have a background playing in crust bands, what was the decision behind going into a different musical direction with your solo project?
Entrail is the kind of music that happens to me when I play alone. Crust is something I participated in with others--and I really miss it! But it's not something that happens when I'm by myself.
8.On a worldwide level how has the reaction been to your music by fans of experimental and drone?
I've gotten a few positive messages from folks in countries outside the US and that feels nice. I'm personally not that tapped into the worldwide experimental and drone scene though, so I don't know beyond that.
9.Where do you see yourself heading into as a musician during the future?
Oh I have a huge list of things I want to explore! New instruments, more singing, playing traditional folk tunes with buddies here in Olympia, collaborations... but also I feel I'm in a brief hibernation state at the moment. I don't have the future figured out for Entrail but I have a lot of colorful ideas that are hard to describe with words.
10.What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
Lately I'm listening to Amulets, Entresol, Laura Cannell, Širom. I'm influenced a lot by the musicians around me and in going out to see bands coming through my town. This local fiddle duo, Varda, has been playing some incredible Scandinavian and Sephardic tunes that have been painstakingly researched and rendered--seeing and hearing them has play has been revitalizing. I grew up listening to Tchaikovsky and Stravinsky, and Bloody Panda was a huge influence on me a decade ago... Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Worm Ouroboros, The Haxan Cloak, and Wolvserpent also fed early Entrail.
11.What are some of your non musical interests?
I'm into anything that destroys white supremacist cishetero-patriarchal capitalism. What ever builds community, healing, safety, and love in the face of state violence and imminent environmental collapse. I try my best on a daily basis to act in kindness toward the people around me and to throw sand in the gears of fascism whenever I can. Smaller scale, I read a lot of books on mental health and I love being near trees or the ocean.
12.Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
Nothing comes to mind. Thank you for the interview!
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