LIFEBLUD

WEBSITE: www.myspace.com/lifeblud
COUNTRY: South Africa STYLE: Metal / Gothic / Other

WHAT WAS THE ONE THING THAT TOTALLY CONVINCED YOU TO GET INTO MUSIC?

KASSANDRA: I needed no convincing. For as long as I can remember... music has always featured in my life. I made a conscious decision to make it a lifelong journey, at the age of nine, I woke up from a dream with the complete conviction that singing and music was my 'lifeblud' (much to the despair of most of my family).

/AV/: Birth. As a child I drove my parent’s nuts on road trips, making up crazy songs.

HOW DID THIS PROJECT COME TOGETHER AND IN WHAT ASPECTS DO YOU THINK YOU CAN EXPRESS YOURSELF BETTER IN THIS BAND THAN YOU WOULD BE ABLE TO IN A FULL FIVE PIECE BAND?

KASSANDRA: I was singing in 'Abstract Evil Barbee', when by chance I heard that AV (at the time the guitarist of the 'Awakening') was looking for a collaborator on 'a project'. We met through a friend.

Till recently we had not met other musicians that share a common vision with us (I am bound to offend with that comment).

/AV/: I saw Kassandra in the 'Top40' magazine in 97, she was in 'Abstract Evil Barbee' and thought it would be damned great if she would be interested in working with me. I had met about 50 vocalists up till then.

A mutual friend introduced us; we played our first gig about 6 months later. Initially we could not find a drummer, then the bassist quit, then the cat got run over. Our first few gigs were as a 2 piece, and subsequently a horde of people have come and gone. Being a duo has been more of a survival tactic.

LIFEBLUD CONSISTS OUT OF TWO MEMBERS. THERE ARE MANY BANDS OUT THERE THAT CONSIST OUT OF ONE AND TWO MEMBERS THESE DAYS. DO YOU JUST FIND IT EASIER TO WRITE MUSIC AND SHARE IDEAS WITH ONE PERSON WITHOUT HAVING TO WORRY ABOUT COMPROMISING ANY OF YOUR IDEAS WITH THREE TO FOUR OTHER PEOPLE?

KASSANDRA: This is just the way it has worked out for us thus far.

/AV/: We smack it with a really big hammer until it fits.

LIFEBLUD HAS RELEASED AN EP TITLED “OPEN” IN 2005 SINCE THEN YOU POSTED A NEW SONG ON MYSPACE IN NOVEMBER LAST YEAR. DO YOU PLAN TO RELEASE ANOTHER EP OR ALBUM ANY TIME SOON?

KASSANDRA: We have a lot of new material, recorded, and plans are in place for various releases. I don't favour mediocrity or bashing out songs... I am working at mastering my art.

/AV/: Not soon enough!!

YOUR MUSIC IS A MIX OF (AND I HOPE I AM EXPLAINING THIS OK) AMBIENT SOUNDING KEYBOARDS AND BLACK METAL / GOTHIC STYLE DRUMMING. IS YOUR MUSIC ALL YOUR FAVOURITE INFLUENCES FUSED INTO ONE SOUND?

KASSANDRA: There is no conscious decision to fuse our 'influences', music happens chaotically for me and what evolves out of that ...well is what it is... continually changing and becoming. Nothing is forced or intentional. I have a love for many styles of music. I particularly have an interest in vocal styles and techniques of other cultures.

/AV/: Absolute self indulgence.

ARE MOST LIFEBLUD SONGS BORN OUT OF A PARTICULAR VOCAL YOU HAVE IN MIND OR DO YOU USUALLY WRITE AND RECORD THE MUSIC FIRST?

KASSANDRA: There is no particular method we use, it can be either.

/AV/: Our writing process involves severe sleep deprivation and caffeine abuse.

KASSANDRA YOU HAVE A VERY UNIQUE VOCAL STYLE ON THE SONG “LET THERE BE LIGHT”. HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN SINGING AND HOW HAS YOUR VOCAL STYLE DEVELOPED OVER THE YEARS TILL NOW?

I have been singing since I was a toddler, it is just natural for me to do so. Singing is an intense vehicle of expression for me, something stirs in me and I need to vocalize it. It is a primitive need in me. The human voice is incredible, it can convey so many subtle meanings, something I love.

I've not had any formal training. I like to push my boundaries vocally, so it can be said that my style has evolved? My voice represents where I am at this point in time...

THE PRODUCTION OF THE SONG “LET THERE BE LIGHT” IS VERY GOOD, WHERE DO YOU RECORD MOST OF YOUR MATERIAL AND HOW DO YOU USUALLY APPROACH THE SONG WRITING PROCESS BECAUSE ONE CAN HEAR ALLOT OF DIFFERENT LAYERS OF SOUNDS IN THAT ONE SONG ALONE?

KASSANDRA: I record us, (in our studio). Each song evolves in its own time (sometimes years) and as it does we 'hear' another 'layer' ... I often return to a song after being 'haunted' by it, hearing something new or removing a layer, adding lyrics written years ago or I might be inspired by a piece of music to write new lyrics. AV brings his songs, lyrics and ideas to me and I might add a part, add vocals.... and vice versa.

/AV/: We record at the ‘Bludbank’; it’s a small studio around the corner from were I live. They are pretty great; free range of the studio at an incredible rate, and all the Arabica coffee beans you can eat.

ONE CAN HEAR THAT YOU GUYS LIKE TO EXPERIMENT WITH DIFFERENT SOUNDS IN YOUR MUSIC. WHAT TYPE OF INSTRUMENTS DO YOU USE THE MOST TO GET THE RESULTS YOU WANT MUSICALLY?

KASSANDRA: My voice... I have a set of quartz crystal 'singing' bowls that create the most beautiful sine waves when recorded, I then manipulate those tones. I have a love for world and classical instruments, otherwise the usual guitars, synths, virtual instruments.

/AV/: Whatever is in front of us, but for me its mostly guitar.

I DON’T SEE ANY GIGS LISTED ON ANY OF YOUR WEB PAGES. DO YOU PERFORM LIVE ON A REGULAR BASIS OR ARE YOU MORE A RECORDING BAND THAN A LIVE BAND?

KASSANDRA: We have performed live quite extensively over the years, especially during 2005 and 2006 with the release of our EP. As most of our fan base is in Europe, USA and South America thus far, our focus since then has been on the music and connecting with these fans.

We are now working with brilliant musicians and are planning toward a couple of live performances later in the year. I am looking forward to it.

/AV/: As I said earlier, survival necessitated the nucleus, until now. Currently we have a band together that can pull it off effortlessly, and we hope to let things develop from there. For me, performing live is the big pay off in a way, and an essential part of the process.

HOW MANY MEMBERS USUALLY FEATURE IN THE LIVE VERSION OF LIFEBLUD AND HOW DO YOU TAKE THE SONGS YOU RECORDED AND ORGANISE EVERYTHING SO THAT IT CAN BE PERFORMED BY MORE THAN TWO PEOPLE?

KASSANDRA: Well, it mostly depends on what we require at the time, there are obvious parts to a song, we provide score or tab for the other musicians working with us. Live we will use backing tracks for some parts (especially for the atmospherics and additional choral vocals).

/AV/: When we played last, it was keys, drums, guitar, bass, axe, vox, before that it was bass, keys, axe, vox, and at one point it was vox, sequencer, axe, but the current line up will hopefully be vocals, 2 guitar, bass, drums. Ideally I'd like a full orchestra, with extra percussion, so we can do away with these devilish synthesizers. Never think about organising songs much, it just happens.

YOU LIST YOUR INFLUENCES AS DREAMS, VISIONS, LIFE AND DEATH. WOULD YOU SAY THEN THAT YOUR MUSIC IS MOSTLY INFLUENCED BY YOUR INTERPRETATION OF LIFE?

KASSANDRA: My interpretation of life? Naturally ...mmm … a deep love of nature. It is the creative expression of my will.

/AV/: Somatic death occurred about 5 years ago.

ANY LAST COMMENTS / ADVICE OR PEOPLE YOU WOULD LIKE TO THANK?

KASSANDRA: Live your Art without compromise.

/AV/: I'd like to thank Kassandra, who unlike everyone else, put up with my crap for the past decade.