EYE OF NIX

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EYE OF NIX- Progressive Blackened Doom

Interview conducted on May 15, 2020

By Dan Locke

Formed in Seattle in 2012, EYE OF NIX has released three albums and a demo EP to date and has shared the stage with artists like Voivod, Alcest, Jarboe, Worm Ouroboros, Sabbath Assembly, and Eight Bells. The band’s creative intent is to craft music that is threatening, beautiful, and harsh through mesmerizing rhythms, emotive melodies, and intense dynamics

Members

Joy Von Spain-vocals & guitar, Nicholas Martinez-guitar, Zach Wise-bass, Luke Laplante-drums, Masaaki Masao-samplers, keyboard

How did you discover music?

Joy Von Spain: It was always the most interesting part of life for me, even as a kid. My father played acoustic guitar a little bit and sang. We had the radio, 8-track & some warped LPs. Then my grandmother gave us an old piano and I got obsessed with that. In 1989 finally had MTV at home and found a lot of bands through that. Also ordering distro catalogs from the back of skate magazines. Or by looking up whatever my sister said she hated, ha ha. That is how I discovered Skinny Puppy.

How did you start to write music?

I lived outside Tampa growing up and was into metal, industrial and goth before getting turned on to classical music. I started writing mostly on the piano around 1992 but then for other orchestral instruments, voice. In the early 2000’s I learned how to create electronic music and eventually connected with Masaaki. We formed a duo with synths/samplers/vocals. I played drums (not well) for a while in another band then eventually picked up guitar. I feel it’s useful to be able to write on an instrument well enough to show someone your idea.

Do you remember how you got your first guitar?

Not a very sentimental story. An old bandmate gave me a junk guitar he found while doing salvage work. I think it was a Les Paul Junior style. It was very heavy, the frets uncomfortably big and it never stayed in tune long – therefore I moved on rather quickly.

And do you still have it?

Nope!

How was it to perform in front of a crowd for the first time?

Being on stage has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. But only when I started Eye of Nix did, I lose all “nerves”.

How did you recreate you name for your band – Eye of Nix?

The name came to me once on the way home from an incredibly long day. Very romantic. The moon was shining onto my face, light from the eye of the goddess of primordial night. Nyx/Nix/Nox are all the same goddess, the same force. Nothing, night, the void, however you want to call her. In my delirium, I saw the stars and space as a vast expanse of beautiful fabric.

What is Teatro de la Psychomechia?

This is a live/work space converted into a tiny theater, where my friend Vanessa lives and practices but oh dance. It’s an incredible temple, my second home.

You have been around since 2007. Tell me about your musical journey?

Eye of Nix began as an experiment to see what would happen if we formed a band with people from different musical backgrounds. EoN is my first metal inspired band. I saw Ludicra play and wanted to express that kind of passion and emotion in a way that would connect with more people, bigger stages, louder systems. Having created avant-garde electronic and vocal music, classical composition, noise, industrial, dark ambient music and cabaret it’s always a very small niche audience. I got into the grimy rave/drum & bass scene when I lived in the rustbelt in the 90’s. I also listen to hip hop and many of my favorite vocalists come from styles outside metal…just have always loved dark, heavy sounding music –the kind that happens to scare the “religious right”.

What do you like most about Seattle?

Marbled skies that are 14 shades of grey and blue, rain that washes the city streets, how you can be completely emotionally isolated even in a crowd, that no one wants to smile or say hello on the street, or on the bus. Asian groceries, evergreens, legal weed. Wearing a jacket almost year-round. Crazy people.

What do you like least about Seattle? And don’t say rain.

3 months of sunshine. Condos. Lack of rent control. Corporate overlords. People who wear hiking gear to walk around downtown. Transplants who don’t appreciate this place and want to turn it into a little L.A.

You have established yourself as master of juxtaposition. What is that?

You’d have to ask the people who wrote the description! I wouldn’t be comfortable calling myself a master of anything. This is a life-long marathon of trials, some successes and some failures. Hopefully something interesting is left in the end.

I see (your Facebook account) that you like the color purple. Is that why “Ligeia” is on purple vinyl?

I don’t really have a preference for one color over another. I loved the subtle purple hues in the artwork and we wanted to highlight that.

Tell me about the recording of your album “Ligeia”?

This is our first album with Luke in drums and Zach on bass – and it’s been incredible to have their contribution and skill brought into the band. Also, Masaaki added a keyboard, and I began playing & writing on the guitar for all songs on this album which added some more depth and layers. When we signed with Prophecy, we met Michael Zech from Secrets of the Moon & The Ruins of Beverast, and we wanted to work with him as producer and engineer for the album. Our friend Brandon Fitzsimons was the assistant engineer, which was fun because he recorded our first LP Moros and has seen us play live many times. With Michael we chose an orchestra-inspired and lush gothic atmosphere for the record, but also to have a lot of clarity in the rhythms. We’re thrilled with the sound of this one.

Why did you title it “Ligeia”?

Ligeia is the name of one of the Greek sirens of myth, whose image emerged in my mind as we wrote this album. Obsession, addiction, betrayal, deception…people can become so ensnared by this powerful force moving through human lives as a creature both comforting and deadly, golden and beautiful, all at once alluring and completely useless.

You just released “Concealing Waters”, video, tell me about it? Was it filmed in the Olympic forest? Whose idea was the visual for the video?

We filmed in places about an hour outside downtown Seattle. It’s a privilege to live in such a beautiful place. The Olympic forest puts our filming locations to shame if you can believe that. We more or less filmed in places that are “normal” for the area. The extent of natural beauty here is unbelievable. In the video concept for “Concealing Waters” I worked with art director Anima Nocturna (who created our last 2 albums’ art) and filmmaker/director Joseph Seuferling to create a new fairy tale, a mysterious offering about what happens when you wander into the forest too deep, searching for a change from your former life. I wanted to create a new folk tale rooted in the meeting of youth and age, memory and forgetfulness, pain and opiate, finding Lethe in the underworld. The imagery draws from several traditions of lore, myth, Butoh dance, witchcraft, and we chose to include as props artifacts from my childhood, from our mothers, grandmothers, and aunts.

What is your favorite track on the album?

That’s tough. Stone & Fury could be closest to my heart in some ways. The lyrics came from a very personal place, as did Stranded and Adrift. But I don’t have a favorite!

How do you stay healthy while touring?

It’s usually impossible to stay healthy, but I try. Water. Avoid junk food. Don’t sleep in a smoky room. Wear a filter mask in planes & airports.

What are you’re feeling about streaming music?

Well, it’s garbage for payment. But it disseminates the music far and wide. A true conundrum. Without someone curating the millions of albums out there, a lot of people just listen to what the algorithms tell them to. It’s sad but also convenient.

Digital vs. vinyl?

Digital for convenience, vinyl for pleasure.

Any plans to tour?

The moment we can, I will.

What song from the past is in your mind right now? And what is the meaning that song means to you??

Society Is A Hole (Sonic Youth) was in my head today. Sums it up.

How do you feel the Covid-19 virus going to affect the music business in the future?

People are hungry for content more than they have been in years. Concert junkies are SOL so what will we do. I have no idea…. Also, the visual aspect of art will have to become equal to the quality of the music otherwise no one will pay attention to your sounds. If we thought video killed the radio star, MTV generation, and whatnot, this new way is going to make us long for the old days when all that was expected visually was a video, an enticing look onstage or a great band photo. Now we will be inspected in 4k…in real-time! Terrified? Also… streaming music services destroyed the idea of album sales for the most part. Only very niche dedicated audience members buy music, especially physical copies. Having no live shows will make it harder than ever to find new listeners until a new system takes shape. My heart is aching for every road dog band, every crew member, every tech whose life just imploded. I can’t stop thinking about it and how much everyone is hurting. Hopefully, there will be away in the near future for people to prove they won’t be a vector, cleared to be in public gatherings. If small venues survive the next year, small concerts could be the only concerts for a while. Maybe the intimate show will be the way for a while. I am okay with that. I like to see the whites of their eyes.

What have you been doing with your self-quarantine?

I am one of the lucky who has been able to stay employed, but in place of all the evenings of band practice and shows…managing to keep busy with releasing an EP I wrote and recorded at home (first attempt), helping to release some friends’ music, production for some music videos for Eye of Nix. Masaaki and I also demo’d out 13 songs for our side project just as the quarantines began. Working also to maintain friendships through phone/video chat/emails, physically distanced face to face meeting once in a great while. Neighborhood walks.

Have you discovered or rediscovered any new hobbies?

Just starting to dip a toe into the idea of video production. It’s a vast field and requires a lot of great (i.e.: expensive) equipment so there is only a curiosity for now. Relaxing and sleeping a bit, maybe this could be my new hobby.

Lots of people are doing nightly concerts over either YouTube, Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. Are you planning to do something like that?

Most of the music I make isn’t going to sound good being crunched down and listened to on a social media site. Currently looking into some other options for being able to broadcast/stream but we don’t want to do it unless the audio and video quality are high enough. Enslaved set a pretty high bar with that live set recently and it would be a pity to do something lame.

Do you think it will be possible to make a living doing concerts this way?

Not really.

First it was an article in the New York Times, then Rolling Stones talked about it and finally Live Nation CEO said that concerts may not start again until fall of 2021. Do you think this could happen?

Unfortunately for everyone involved, I do think that such a far distant date is probable. It’s terrible to realize we may lose part of a generation to the idea of the live concert. But here we are.

What about Holographic concerts in our living room?

This is a funny idea to me. It’s quite the opposite of what I feel a concert should be. I did see Dali’s holographic bust of Alice Cooper in St. Petersburg though. That was pretty cool.

How do you see yourself in the next five years?

If you asked this question before all this mess, I would have said, two more new Eye of Nix albums and two more To End It All albums, plus several tours. Now, I think there will still be plenty of albums, collabs, and videos but the shows- it is too soon to say. Hoping to be able to stay connected to others through music and art, doing our dance of death in this land of chaos until time’s up.

Anything you would like to say in closing?