VIRTUALITY PRESS Interview with XAOC Magazine (Currently defunkt) 1. Please, reveal some interesting details about your creative process. I use a similar process for creating both art and music; similar concepts, different medius, but they function, independently and symmetrically, atleast for the VIRTUALITY Project. >From a purely creatice aspect, I tend to work with an abstract concept, which can be anything from a melody line, rhythm pattern, or chord progression. Regarding my digital art, likewise I basically facilitate ideas from a basic outline which can be literary in nature, such as a song title, a phrase, or a personal ideal. >From there, I create using a building blocks technique, which, thank heavens, doesn't consider the use of any type of child's toys. Rather, I work with a centerpiece, or the focal point, and layer atmosphere, textures, and ideas upon that basic structure. I tend to sometimes shy away from using typical songwriting conventions and work in a more theatrical, linear style, one that moves a song through the peaks and valley's of emotions, much a like certain films take you on a journey. The same can be said of my the art I create. At the end of the day, though, no matter the medium, the original emotion and intent is there and more often than not, not as obvious as originally intended. Now, the time it takes to reach a point where I am satisfied, atleast marginally, varies greatly. Sometimes things work out and I have a finished song or piece in a matter of days, or it may take weeks, months. Unfortunately my intake of Dr. Pepper (my beverage of choice) has no impact on the finished results or timeline, otherwise I'd invest heavilly in the stockmarket under the Dr. Pepper trademark.   2. What personal feelings do you put in your works? Almost everything I do is infused with some sort of personal connection to life experiences, ideology and communication, three facets of life I find very important and influential. I am passionate about everything I do, and I think it helps to keep me at once both connected to my original intentions, and free to explore my surroundings, visually and sonically. For example, I am fairly active politically and socially, in environmental activism and social justice causes, and those issues and related themes, do happen to reveal themselves more often than I sometimes envision, and definitely more often than most people think they should (lol). I am consciously and subconsciously affected by both the complexities of life and lifestyles, and I draw upon my own experiences for many lyrical themes and artistic motifs. The ability to express certain emotions, thoughts, conflicts, dreams, and ideals, is a very powerful and subjective talent. Sometimes it's easy to take this for granted, but just having access to facilities to express these capabilities, is the most organic form of communication, even if it is in a vacuum. It's at that point when I sometimes say 'What? I wrote that?' or 'Where the hell did that come from?' for better or worse, mind you! (lol)   3. Tell us more about this digital concept. How did you come up with it? Well, the VIRTUALITY CD is a 3-part project that is divided into these 3 mediums, all mutually inclusive and reflective of each other at various points: Music, Art, and Life. All 3 different creative endeavors that work with a certain symmetry. Imagine 3 distinct points, and draw lines where they all connect and cross each other, and that's similar in scope to the overall motif. VIRTUALITY as a concept is taken from the terms 'virtual' meaning 'hypothetical' and 'reality' being 'real'. Together, and not to be misconstrued with 'virtual reality', it represents a world that MAY exist, or WILL exist, hypothetically, with the confluence of events, or a predetermined situation arises. We can use the Nuclear Winter theory as an example, where that theory was conjured by scientists during the height of the Cold War, ruminating on the state of the earth after a global nuclear war. The barren landscape, irradiated, and unfit for most life, would lapse into a surrealistic winter-like state, with floating ashflakes of radiation, and other winter symbolism. The theory is based upon speculation, but the reality was the concept was grounded in scientific evidence as close as could be presumed at the time. VIRTUALITY is reflected in the cover of the CD (and within the artwork, inside) by the post-industrial landscape. Powerplants covering the landscape to the horizon, and belching their toxic fumes and pollutants into the air. The ambience almost seems a combination of an inferno and a mystical dreamspace, and therein lies the dichotomy, the beauty of nature tamed and corrupted by the implied beauty of industry.   4. What interests you most in other people's art? The expression of their personality, and what characteristics and perhaps character traits of the artist I can assimilate from their work. Their mental and emotional state. The statement they are making, or a paradigm they are inspired by. It's truly different for everyone, but I enjoy seeing and hearing as much work of my peers as possible. I practice tolerance and diversity to a fault these days, and though my heart and soul are full, my wallet and bank account are not too keen on it (lol).   5. What's your inspiration? I'm fairly cognitive that I can be inspired by all things silly and mundane, as well as things complex and scientific. There's really no bar that I register my inspiration by. I am just open to suggestions of other people, as well as being relatively easy (don't ask my mother about this) to communicate with. So, I can find inspiration from a movie experience, from an evening at the beach, from a song, a poem, a song title, a political speech, a crow on the porch, a TV dinner (don't eat many of 'em though) or a shoe. Well, the last 2 maybe stretching it a bit, but I think I made the point, that at any time or place, I can be inspired, sometimes enough to switch gears into creative mode as soon as possible. That being said, writer's block does occassionally rear it's ugly head, usually at the most inopportune moments, and then it's the tortured artist/subconscious struggle pathos.   6. Tell us about your personal music preferences. You asked the wrong guy, dude! Although I love this question. My music tastes are as diverse as possible. I run the gamut, from progressive to new age to hip hop to jazz, funk, electronic, techno, etc. Some of the artists and bands that find their way into my CD player most often are: Fates Warning, Rush (couldn't have guessed that one, eh?), Dream Theater, Enchant, Dokken, Journey, Mordred, Scatterbrain, Kitaro, David Arkenstone, Tangerine Dream, Sacred Spirits, Ice T, Run DMC, Penthouse Players Clique, Sade, James Brown, Prince, The Time, Earth Wind & Fire, Dave Weckl, Steely Dan, the Rippingtons, Van Halen, Dilate, Tori Amos, Christopher Young, Brad Fidel, Hall n Oates, Michael Jackson, Asia, Saga, Engine, and of course, my friends and mates, Earth Eatz Dog and F5.