BUTTERFLY MESSIAH – Eternal (CD 2004)

(The Fossil Dungeon/Dark Vinyl)

After the wonderful debut album „Priestess“ and the Single „It´s Time“, here is the second album of America´s BUTTERFLY MESSIAH. First of all, the again great designed DigiPak and Booklet are positivly to mention.

Musically, the band developed to a straighter electronical style, but still spreads the magic of the first album.

„For Today“ opens the album like a Clan Of Xymox-song in the mid 80s, with wonderful string-keyboards, then comes „The Circle“, a rhythmic Heavenly Voices track, danceable like Sleeping Dogs Wake or Finlands Nyx. „It´s Time“ was the advance single to „Eternal“ in 2003. The song is definetly a hit and reminds me in this version on the „Time“ EP of Polands Fading Colours, really modern sounding. The album title track „Eternal“ has a certain Future Pop feeling and could be a regular track in many Clubs. „With Roses“ has a more late 80s atmosphere, somewehre between Depeche Mode and Twice A Man, a very smooth Wave song. „Virtual“ is very driving, again with Future Pop influences and a definitive Clubhit, while „Grey“ reminds me a bit on newer Delerium or typical 4AD-sound with modern rhythms. „Ascension“ is by far the most typical Dark Wave track on this album and „Believe“ is a dreamy, catchy ballad. Danceable Dark Wave comes then with „Falling Stars“, „Aeon“ sounds like Electro-Wave from the 80s, a bit like „Four Day Romance“ by Doppler Effekt and finally there is „Counterstrike“, another track somewhere between Delerium and Trance Techno.

„Eternal“ shows BUTTERFLY MESSIAH as a grown up, very many-sided band, which found a very own musical style with influences from various musical sources. A great album again with a couple of really brilliant songs. (A.P.)

“Meaningful and important sounding songs…” – An Interview with BUTTERFLY MESSIAH

I firstly heard of the US-band BUTTERFLY MESSIAH, when Michael Riddick of the band The Soil Bleed Black and the Fossil Dungeon label sent me their first CD-album “Priestess”. I was heavily impressed by the combination of danceable and powerful tracks and the beautiful atmosphere in other songs. After I received the second CD-EP “It´s Time”, I thought, the time was right, to present the band with an interview on our site, so here you get the possibility to get a first impression of, what BUTTERFLY MESSIAH is. For further information, visit their website www.butterflymessiah.com ..

BA - Can you please tell us about your personal and social background and how you started to play music?

Josh - Music just came naturally to me. In my social background, the people I kept company with were not "respectable" people. I had a rough childhood. My first bands were punk rock.

Robert - "Rough" is a good description of my childhood.  My "family" travelled and I changed schools a lot, so circumstances changed fairly often.  My first experimentations with music, and this is when I was a small child, involved making collages out of records and tapes; using a boombox to record with and making noises and smashing things and screaming or doing weird voices in the background. I had friends join me sometimes and we'd do skits. Shannon and I were in a  few bands together before Butterfly Messiah, but none of them were serious.  We did learn a lot about music, the business and played a lot of shows back then.

Shannon - I started to play music when I got my first toy Casio keyboard at age 7 I think. I had always liked to sing and my cousin and I would go door to door singing and practice for hours. My family has always encouraged my musical endeavors and I'm thankful for that. I took a lot of dance lessons for many years until high school when I decided to make music my top priority. I played mostly guitar back then but gradually got more and more into keyboards and voice as the years went by.

BA - How did you come in contact with the Wave/Gothic-scene and was it a natural  development for your life?

Shannon - In middle school I started reading a lot of horror novels almost to the exclusion of all else, and I became fascinated with horror movies as well. I started dressing "darker" mostly blacks and greys and my friends knew me for my morbid sense of humour. I listened to a lot of Cure and The Smiths. I got more into ethereal and electronic type music in high school, and the darkness became more elegant and less morbidly obsessed. I started painting a lot and the band, Robert and I were in then, was a funky Avant Garde art band. It was very bad but we learned a lot in that time. When that dissapated we knew we wanted to focus on music that was more passionate and poetic. It came out somewhat darker and we just let whatever came out flow. We really didn't consciously decide to be anything back then but make music and discover who we were. That's pretty much where we still stand today, we just let the music evolve and become what  it naturally becomes.

Robert - A lot of the people I hung out with in school wore black and listened to either stuff like the Cure or metal or punk rock or hardcore rap. As a kid, I loved the whole New Wave thing. I'm sure that had an effect on my musical taste and fashion sense.  As a Scorpio Sun and Capricorn Moon, I was naturally drawn to the Goth Aesthetic.

Josh - I went to a goth club and *poof*

BA - How did BUTTERFLY MESSIAH start and how did you come in contact with the  Fossil Dungeon label of Michael Riddick. Why did you decide to release your music on that very special label?

Robert - Shannon and I had just quit a band. Right before that band broke up, we had bought a drum machine and some friends gave us some keyboards. From those humble beginnings, we wrote songs and slowly developed our sound as we got better equipment. We sent some demo tapes out to reviewers in 1999 to see what the reaction would be. People thought it was insane that we weren't on a label so we decided to take the project more seriously. We worked hard playing some club shows and promoting ourselves as much as possible. All the hard work seemed to start leading somewhere when Michael Riddick asked if he could release “Priestess” on his label, Fossil Dungeon. We really like Michael's attitude and Fossil Dungeon's feel and decided that a situation like that would be good for Butterfly Messiah.

BA - Your album "Priestess" has a very own atmosphere and it seems, that you are also interested in Paganism and Magic, can you tell us a bit about these interests and how much they influence your daily life?

Robert - I'm writing a book on the occult, metaphysics and spirituality. For us, this isn't religious or philosophical - its life. Period. We see a beautiful world of wonder and have only begun to see the richness of existence. I think if people only caught a glimmer of what we're seeing, their lives would be more worthwhile. Hopefully, Butterfly Messiah can continue being a vehicle for this vision.

Shannon - I think it's important to know where we come from and where we are going as people, what connections we have lost along the way and how we are suffering from not having those connections.  It is my hope that we can awaken something that lies dormant within with our music and inspire change and a new hope in people.

BA - Your website seems to be created with a lot of feeling and love...how important is the World Wide Web in your opinion?

Shannon - Thank you, I've done all the graphics and design on the website. I have tried to infuse the imagery on the website with the feel of the music as much as possible.

Robert - I'd like to say that the internet is less important now that everything seems to be going well. Honestly speaking though, the internet is more useful now because we communicate largely by e-mail and our website, www.butterflymessiah.com  ,  is a great resource for those interested in the band.

Josh - The internet is an outlet for our artistic visions.

BA - Your actual CD-EP "It´s Time" sounds very different to the album...why did  you think, it is a good idea, to release an EP for the dancefloors? And why didn´t you remix some tracks of the album (for example the great  "Serpentine")?

Robert - The direction hasn't changed much. The biggest change is that we are no longer using obsolete equipment and recording on a multitracker. Our studio has grown and the change in our sound reflects that.

Josh - We didn't release it just for the dancefloor. Our music has taken a different direction. Since I've entered the band the music has evolved into what you hear now. We actually remixed “Serpentine” - it can be found on the Fossil Dungeon's recently released DJ Sampler.

Shannon - Josh helped to usher in a change within the music adding his particular vibe, if he wasn't there we would have changed anyway but it really wouldn't sound the same. We will never stay static with our creativity because the essence of creativity is growth and change.  Look at the Earth, look at people. The only way to live is to change.

BA - Can you tell us, why people should get especially YOUR releases out of the tons of new stuff in the record shops every day?

Robert - The biggest difference in our music is that the songs are meaningful and sound "important" instead of being strung together cliches with filler for lyrics. It´s the empty disposable qualities of modern music in general that inspired me to make music in the first place.

BA - How important and how intensive is your contact with fans?

Josh - Our fans have been very supportive. We look forward to seeing our fans at our concerts.

Robert - When our cat Ichabod, who has helped us in the songwriting process, got sick, the fans really sent out their love. I really appreciate that. It touched my heart. We try to answer every piece of mail we get from fans. If people are willing to spend hours of their lives (aka their working wage) to purchase your work, you had better be appreciative.

Shannon - We try to respond as much as possible to our fans.

BA - Who is responsible for the great artwork of your releases? And how do you convince Michael Riddick to say "okay" to such expensive artworks?

Robert - Shannon and the Riddick brothers have worked together on the artwork for “Priestess”. Josh and I came up with the basic look of “It's Time” and the Riddicks brought it up a notch.

Shannon - The truly funny thing is, I tried to convince him to use less expensive artwork and he wouldn't hear of it! So it's quite the opposite situation.  Riddick wants the music to have just as beautiful of packaging and I agree with him. If you are going to buy an album, it really should be a treat for the eyes, ears and soul. It should be a total artistic experience or else why not just burn a bunch of MP3s? When I buy a CD, I like to muse over the lyrics, savor the pictures/art, smell the paper...

BA - Are there any bands/artists, which influenced your work more or less directly? What kind of music do you listen to in your spare time?

Robert - I really like almost all genres of music and yet really dislike most music. I'm really picky. I think that Front 242, some of Moby's stuff, Miranda Sex Garden and some Depeche Mode have been influential in one way or another. All of us love classical music.

Josh - Japanese hyper techno! Also, Bands like VNV Nation, Smashing Pumpkins, And One, Kompressor and stuff like that are on my stereo at home.

Shannon - Pre-Raphaelite Art, Anonymous 4, Red Flag, Medieval Baebes, Front 242, Radiohead.....

BA - How can we imagine your live shows and will you visit us in the "old world" in the near future?

Shannon - Our shows are intense and spiritually uplifting.

Josh - We'll most definitely be visiting Europe - particularly Germany! We love our German fans.

Robert - I'm not sure what our live shows will look like myself at this point. I know we're coming up with a lot of new ideas for touring. I channel at shows and if it goes well and the sound at the venue is good, that´s always cool to witness. I've always been a spirit channeller and it´s usually easy to do onstage with all that energy flooding in. It´s different every time and you never know when an interesting moment will happen.

BA - What do you know about Germany and do you have any connections to this country?

Shannon - My great grandfather is from Germany. I have a friend who lives there if he still remembers me.

Josh - My uncle lives in Germany. He owns a castle somewhere. He's very rich and disowned me so I won't inherit any of the money or the estate.

Robert - I have seen pictures of the countryside from German friends - beautiful! Everyone says we HAVE to go to Germany because we'll LOVE it. Butterfly Messiah's German fans have been incredible and German DJs seem happy to spin our music.

BA - Are you working on any side projects or collaborations with other bands/musicians?

Robert - Guy Noegel, the man behind Skindot and KY Deity and a club DJ, may appear on a few upcoming songs. We've recorded a song with him already. We'd like to get some guests in and have some fun. We've discussed having The Soil Bleeds Black bring in some flutes on a future song.

BA - What can we expect next from you?

Josh - An album, a tour in Europe, some more releases, and we'll be performing in Leeds (England) on April 20 (Beyond the Veil).

Robert - Some of the music will be more experimental than before and some of it will be more bombastic. On the other hand, the melodies will be stronger and the leads more infectious. There's a song that will probably be on the new album where I sing really pretty and play the piano. Since releasing “Priestess”, I have been working on my voice EVERY DAY, so there will be a noticeable difference with my vocals.

BA - Well, a more personal question...in which colour would you paint the person, you mostly love (and, if you want to let us know: who is this person?)?

Josh - I would paint my woman Tina fluorescent yellow - so I can find her in a big crowd if she gets lost.

Robert - I'd paint Shannon any color she wants. She'll get really mean, if I pick something funky. I'd pick purple or perhaps a blurred combination of royal purple, navy blue and cranberry if allowed an option. Rich sexy colors reach deep into the soul.

Shannon - I'd paint Robert with raspberry sauce.......mmm...

BA - Anything, I forgot to ask or anything you want to tell our readers? 

Robert - Please don't be shy about dropping us a hello. We love mail and like hearing from people. Don't worry about how "goth you are" or if your English is bad or if we understand German or if you sound silly - that shit doesn't matter. If you fail to stand up for what you like, you're contributing to the status quo - which is very poor right now. It'll certainly help us in our trip to Germany if we have a clear idea of just how popular we are in your country.

Thanx to Shannon, Robert and Josh for answering our questions such quick.

If you are now interested in finding our more about BUTTERFLY MESSIAH, visit their wonderful website www.butterflymessiah.com or order their fine CDs (in Germany from www.going-underground.de ). I am really curious, how the band will develop its sound in the future and hope to see them live in Germany very soon. Thanx also to Michael Riddick, for introducing me to the beautiful music of BUTTERFLY MESSIAH. A.P.)

BUTTERFLY MESSIAH - It´s Time (CD-EP 2002)

(The Fossil Dungeon/Dark Vinyl http://www.erols.com/tsbb/fdungeon )

After the great „Priestess“ album, here is another release of BUTTERFLY MESSIAH. It features three new tracks, „It´s Time“ (in three Remixes), „Monument“ and „Machines“, which are all produced for the dancefloors and it would really surprise me, if „It´s Time“ wouldn´t become a massive Clubhit all over the Gothic/Dark Wave-world. The beat is driving and powerful and the clear female vocals fascinate totally. Maybe it can be called Future-Goth, which means, it is a mixture of the actual Future-Pop hype and Gothic. The vocals are more similar to Inkubus Sukkubus, than on the „Priestess“ album. „Monument“ is more ritual stuff, a bit monumental and very powerful...a dancefloor version of Le Mystere Des Voix Bulgares collaborating with Sleeping Dogs Wake or something like that. Finally „Machines“ sounds like „warm“ Electronic Body Music and has a certain late 80s feeling, very dancable again. If you like the Pop side of Die Form and maybe the Hamburg based project Static Threshold, you will love this song, too. Well, this whole EP is definetly produced for the Clubs and I am sure, the songs will be played by many DJs. Even, if I prefer „Priestess“, this is a good release, as always, with a beautiful artwork, this time, the CD is packed in a black/silver paper sleeve (also the inside of the sleeve is printed!) and has a lyric sheet. This release is limited to 1000 copies, so hurry and get one, it will become a collector´s item soon, I think. Visit the band´s website at www.butterflymessiah.com ! (A.P.)

BUTTERFLY MESSIAH – Priestess (CD 2002)

(The Fossil Dungeon/Dark Vinyl)

This is...well, what is it? BUTTERFLY MESSIAH are from the US of A and released this CD on the fine Fossil Dungeon Label, which stands for high quality releases. It is very hard to describe, what kind of music you´ll get to hear on „Priestess“, ´cos it unites so many different styles. The album is very many sided and simply wonderful. It is mostly electronic-based with ethereal and some medieval influences, but there are also some dancable moments in „Land Beneath The Waves“ and „Introspections“. „Ring The Bells“ has a very Gothic feeling. The vocals are a combination of dark male  and heavenly female voices, which fits very good in this case. The band has a magical and pagan background, but cannot be compared to Inkubus Sukkubus for example, ´cos BUTTERFLY MESSIAH do not play Gothic-Rock.

It is hard to find any comparisons, but I sometimes thought of early Sleeping Dogs Wake.

As we know it from The Fossil Dungeon, the packing and artwork of this release is simply loveable. The CD box has a mirror tray, which looks really great and the booklet has a very noble design. So, it is definetly not a fault to get a copy of this album. For everyone, who isn´t convinced yet: „Serpentine“ should become an Underground dancefloor hit very soon! (A.P.)