Interview by George Roldan

This months interview brings you an exclusive interview with Persephone"s Dream the Bands name is on the Greek myth of Persephone, which explains the seasons and whose themes revolve around the struggle of  light and life against darkness and death. Rowen Poole and Chris Siegle explains how the group got it's name and gives us a detailed history of the band. The group also offers up their views on the making of the new album.


GR -  Who founded the band and what inspirations motivated the meeting of the minds?

  – The answer to this is rather long and convoluted. The band sort of evolved itself from my working with Chris. Originally, we had met at a Thanksgiving party in 1993. He wanted to learn how to play bass and I had been a bass player for about 15 years prior to my meeting him. I told him that if he got a bass, I’d teach him how to play. His family gave him a bass for Christmas that year and I started teaching him how to play.

By April 1994 we had begun writing music together. It was very obvious right from the start that we had a great musical chemistry together. By Christmas of 1994 we had several songs written and decided we wanted to record them. After reviewing the costs of all the local studios, we decided we could buy our own recording equipment for less money than it would take to rent studio time. So, we began putting together what would become our own studio.

By early 1995 we had several songs recorded and started thinking about the idea of getting a vocalist and a drummer (we had used drum machines on the original recordings). It was at this point that we started thinking in terms of a “band” rather than just two people sitting around writing and recording music. The name of the band came much later.

GR -  Can you tell us what ideas you originally had as far as your musical taste were concerned?

– I have always been a fan of progressive bands and, it turns out, so had Chris. We were big fans of bands like Rush, Dream Theater, Queensryche, Fates Warning, Ozric Tentacles, etc. So, it is no surprise that we wanted to write and record progressive oriented material. Although we never really planned anything out directly, we sort of arrived at the idea that it would be very cool to have a female vocalist fronting a progressive oriented band.

At this time (early 1995), there were very few female fronted bands, let alone any progressive ones! We thought it would be cool to go that route and see what happened, especially since we were writing more spacey/ethereal music rather than the technical, heavy metal oriented prog ala Dream Theater.

While this idea was interesting and somewhat innovative at the time, it proved to be a nearly impossible idea to bring to fruition. Over a year and a half, we auditioned and/or talked with nearly 100 female vocalists. Most of them had no interest whatsoever in doing anything prog oriented. A good many of them were not very good singers either. None of them were really interested in working with us because, at the time, we were just a studio band. They wanted to play out, doing live shows, etc. We were not set up for that nor were we thinking about it at the time.

GR -  Where did you find your original vocalist (Judilynn Niedercorn) and how did you find her?

– By early 1996 we had almost given up on the idea of ever finding a good female vocalist that had an interest in doing studio work with a couple of progressive oriented musicians. Quite by accident, Chris came across Judilynn in a vocalist forum on the internet. Based on some of her commentary in the forum, she seemed like a good possibility for our project. We contacted her and she was interested. We sent tapes of the songs and copies of the lyrics to her and she’d work out the vocal melodies. Whenever time permitted, she’d travel to Pittsburgh to record the songs. By early summer of 1997, she had completed all the songs on the CD. She did a great job on all the vocal tracks. Judi is a very talented vocalist.

GR -  What's the meaning of the title "Persephone's Dream"?

– Between the time that Chris and I met at the Thanksgiving party in 1993 and the time we had pretty much finished what would become the Evening Mirage album, a lot of things had happened to each of us personally. There were a lot of ups and downs, especially with regards to trying to get a studio album recorded and released. There was the long difficult road of finding a vocalist to work with. My own marriage ended. We each had some rather dark times over the course of all this, especially during 1996. At times it seemed things would never work out for our ideas.

I have always been fascinated by ancient mythology and studied it and classical history as a minor in college. One day, near the end of Evening Mirage sessions, I was reading one of my favorite mythology books and came across the story of Persephone and how her life is basically a metaphor for the seasons on Earth – for part of the year she is among the living, bringing about a vibrancy to the world. For part of the year she resides in the Underworld as Queen of the Dead and wife of Hades, leaving the mortal world which then becomes cold and barren (due to her mother Demeter). The idea behind this – the ups and downs of life – struck me as an interesting parallel to all that we had lived through trying to bring our idea to life. I imagined that Persephone would dream of the vibrant, mortal world during her months of exile in the Underworld. Hence, the name Persephone’s Dream. I described it to Chris and he liked the idea and name and so it has been with us since.

GR -  We described your music as neo progressive rock with a bit of ethereal and classical rock fused in. How would you classify your music?

– I have no clue. At this point we seem to include bits and pieces of almost everything the six of us come across and or like in our musical tastes. We do like to experiment! By definition, yes, I  would probably say “neo-progressive”. The only thing I am sure of is that we have developed our own unique sound and style.

- Well, if you are listening to our CD, we would be considered neo-prog with a splash of gothic pop. However, if you are watching us perform live we would be considered a “performance art” group.

- Well, if you are talking categories, then that probably classifies it. But, for those who don't know exactly what "Neo Progressive" means, including me, here goes: The music has hooks, things that will stick in your head, (like "Pop" music) yet it isn't afraid to stray into deeper waters. Meaning, the music doesn't always come in a nice easy to swallow pill. Some times the themes get longer and more complex, where the listener will have to have patience to see the "yarn" woven that brings it all together. This is the "Progressive" tendency that is referred too. The patient listener is rewarded with an understanding of the bigger picture we are painting.

– Descriptively speaking, I would say ‘Mysterious Rock’ with just the slightest hint (a wee allusion if you will) of ‘Pop’ sensibility.

– Neo-progressive, by definition, probably best describes our style of music. I feel our music embodies many different genres. Everyone in the band brings their own particular interests and manages to infuse pieces into the music. Though, I would describe us as having created our own style of music.

GR -  After using a drum machine on your first album, when and how did you meet Ed Wiancko?

– After we finally finished and released Evening Mirage on November 5, 1997 (the anniversary of the day that Dr. Emmett Brown invented the flux capacitor, which allowed time travel...) we decided to get away from everything. We had no real plans for playing live shows. We had no real plans for continuing anything at the time. We had always sort of viewed ourselves as a studio band and that was it. It had taken us over three years to realize the idea we had about doing something progressive with a female vocalist.

But, as usual, the best laid plans of mice and men... By March of 1998 Chris and I were back at it. We came up with two songs in very short order; Millennium Moon and Worry Beads. I had written the lyrics to Millennium Moon based on a short story by the same name I had recently written (this is published online at Elfwood). Worry Beads was an instrumental song that we both liked a lot.

On May 7 I picked up a copy of the local music magazine and there was an ad in it for a drummer who was looking for studio work. I called and it was Ed. We talked a bit about what we were doing and he was interested. He came over to our little studio, checked out some of the music, and said he’d be interested in laying down some drums for the new material. We gave him a copy of Worry Beads. A week later he returned to the studio and recorded the tracks that are on the MoonSpell CD. We started playing with him instead of the drum machine, everything clicked really well, and the rest is history.

- I had just had a bad breakup with a "cover" group I was working with ("Cover" bands play other groups' music). Some of the other members of that group had actually become abusive towards me. This is why I really and truly enjoy working with the members of Persephone's Dream. Everyone is considerate and respectful of each other's opinions and visions for the music. This is a very original group and wonderful to work with.

GR -  What I know of Judilynn Niedercorn is that she has an exceptionally beautiful voice described as Leggiero Coloratura, the highest most agile vocal type. Was the departure of Niedercorn an amicable decision to leave, what's the story behind that?

- Yes, Judi is a most talented vocalist with a beautiful voice. As I said above, we never really envisioned going much beyond the studio nor, at the time, did we look into the future and think of another album. Plus, Judi lived several hundred miles away. The Persephone’s Dream of the Evening Mirage era was always something of a “project” more so than a complete band. After Evening Mirage was released, Judi went on to her current band Speed Limit 35 and, as mentioned, Chris and I didn’t do much of anything for nearly half a year.

GR - After Niedercorn's departure how did you meet "Karin Nicely" your current lead vocalist ?

– By June of 1998 Chris, Ed and I had finished writing and recording several new pieces of music.  We talked about what to do with them several times and had decided that they’d just stay instrumental pieces.  Besides, we really didn’t feel like going through the long, arduous process of trying to find another female vocalist who liked progressive based music.  However, we wanted to get them mixed and mastered for posterity’s sake.  At the time, we did not have the equipment necessary to fully mix and master recordings.  We could record anything in our studio but we would take the tapes to more professional ones for automated mix downs and mastering.

So, on June 27 we took tapes of Millennium Moon and Worry Beads to a local studio for mix down. While waiting for the final mixes, Chris and I were sitting on a bench in the hallway of the studio talking. Somehow or another I noticed a little blue piece of paper sticking out of a crack in wall in the corner of the hallway. Out of curiosity, I pulled it out and it turned out to be a business card. It was Karin’s and said “Vocalist Available”. Someone had apparently shoved it into this crack. Strange but totally true!

Chris and I laughed about it and thought “nooo way!” But, hey, what the hell eh? So I emailed Karin the next day. Turns out the email address was her mom’s  but she did pass on the info to Karin. After playing phone tag a couple of times, I did manage to speak to her and tell her what we were all about and what we were looking for.  Karin was not a big fan of progressive music but decided she’d come meet us and give the music a listen. We gave her a tape of Millennium Moon and the lyrics. A week later she returned to the studio and recorded the vocal tracks to the song that are on the MoonSpell CD. She liked the music we were doing and wanted to work on a few other things we had going. Again, the rest is history.

Quite to our surprise, by July of 1998 we had an actual band together and one that was writing new music on a continuous basis. By September we had recorded Millennium Moon, Worry Beads, Full Moon, and Altar of Desire. We decided, at that point, to return to MasterView SoundCrafts studio in Ithaca (where we had mixed and mastered Evening Mirage) and see what would happen with the songs. It was during this trip that we decided to complete another CD (which became MoonSpell).

GR -  This question is for Karin Nicely, How would you describe your vocal style?

- Gosh, I don't know. I've never tried to describe it in terms of a style before. Any ideas, guys?

– Ummmm... Aggressive prog-punk with a lot of colorful shadings?

- Aggressive,  a little punk, able to achieve some semblance of operatic style in the ethereal songs, adding or infusing the sound with strong emotions.

GR - This question is for the band. Prior to Persephone's Dream, what were your music backgrounds?

– I have very little training whatsoever in music. I started out playing drums in grade school, which I played for over five years. When I was in high school, some friends had a band that needed a bass player. I joined because I wanted to be in a band and picked up the bass at that time. I played bass in several bands for several years during and after high school but in 1981 quit the music business altogether to go to college. The twelve years between then and the time I met Chris I spent going to school and playing by myself when I had time. Around 1985 or so, I began to pick up the guitar more and more and played less of the bass. I also started playing around with keyboards in the late 1980’s. I had a class in computer generated music and became interested in them at that time. However, I cannot read music and know very little about it per se. I know the notes on the neck (or keyboard) but I am not very familiar with what chords or scales I may be playing. I know I play a lot of unusual chords and voicings though. I really wish I knew more about music theory and have been recently making an attempt at learning some of it. In short, what I play is what sounds good to me in the given song.

- I have no musical background other than PD. I messed around with the bass years ago, but I wasn’t serious then. I am not classically trained nor am I musical “veteran.” I guess you could say that I am green.

- I studied music in high school and minored in music at the University of Pittsburgh.

– Very various if you get my meaning. I made my first $40.00 at the tender age of 14 playing drums for George Nelson and the Westerners. Playing soul and R&B as a teenager was the greatest fun and a good learning experience. I went on to cover all forms of music only to stop short at classical. Now, I love classical don’t get me wrong, I just didn’t have enough reading skills.

- I've been classically trained since the age of 13 and have performed everything from big band music to dark gothic industrial. A previous band I was with, The Critics, received some good press for our original music and played regularly in large and small clubs throughout the Pittsburgh area. Some recordings I've done in the past during other projects have received airplay in countries such as Holland, Germany, and the U.S., and I've done studio backing vocals for many artists/bands over the years.

– I started taking private music lessons on the piano when I was 8 years old. My teachers included a Russian Music teacher who had extensive background in classical music, a pianist who occasionally performed with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and a teacher who both played piano in nightclubs for a living, as well as wrote the occasional jingles. I also started taking violin lessons, and participating in the junior high and high school symphony at age 11. I participated and won recognition in the all region orchestra twice in my high school years. All my training and background has been classical based, particularly Beethoven, Bach and Mozart.
 

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