Blastpheme - Webzine interview-eng-luna-fawn-ripley

YOU KNOW HOW I WORK AFTER ALL THESE MONTHS : I RUN INTO A LOT OF GREAT THINGS, AND SOMETIMES IT'S SUCH A GEM THAT I CAN'T HELP BUT DIG DEEPER. LUNA FAWN RIPLEY WAS CHOSEN IN THAT MINDSET TO GO THROUGH THE GAME OF THE INTERVIEW. AS I MET THE BRAIN OF THE PROJECT, SABRINA STOAKES, WE VERY QUICKLY MENTIONNED DEVIN TOWNSEND IN OUR FIRST EXCHANGES, AND I KNEW THIS CHAT WAS GOING SOMEWHERE I WOULD LIKE. I WISH YOU A GOOD READ, AND PLEASE DON'T FORGET TO SUPPORT THE ARTISTS. (The songs in this interview were selected to be listened as a soundtrack)

HOW WAS LUNA FAWN RIPLEY CREATED ?

Well, that's kind of a long story. I've dabbled in music before, but I never really did much other than write songs for myself.

Last year was a pretty dark time for me cause of lockdowns causing depression, and on top of all of that I had gotten into an abusive relationship which is a full story all on it's own that I won't go into detail about. Point is, I felt like I had to do something, anything to bounce back and find myself again. So I got the idea to start writing a full album to build myself back up. After writing a bit by myself I met Nicolas Trejo through the wonderful world of the internet, and we started collaborating together after I shown him my ideas. We're still the only writers for the band!

AND SO DID YOU MEET WITH NICOLAS FOR THE RECORDINGS OR WAS IT ALL DONE SEPARATELY ?

Nicolas didn't do any recording on the album sadly, he wanted to record the solo for the opening track, but wasn't ever able to get to get around to it. Nicolas is an astonishingly good guitarist, and he has a huge resume of artists he's collaborated with, I'm honestly even surprised he worked with me considering I had no background at all haha.

TALKING ABOUT THE NAME OF THE PROJECT, I CAN'T HELP BUT THINK IT SOUNDS LIKE A PERSON'S NAME. WHAT IS THE MEANING OF LUNA FAWN RIPLEY ?

I wanted something strange and unique, sure it might be a little on the nose haha, but it certainly sets it apart.

The name of the band was actually originally going to be Diapason, but I wanted to avoid any potential issues with that name. EVH had died the week before I thought of the name, so it is a little bit of a homage to him, plus a subtle nod to my spiritual friends. I eventually intend to make a classic heavy metal album so that I can truly pay homage to bands like EVH, so maybe the name will make a bit more sense whenever that happens haha.

MANY TIMES THE FIRST THING A LISTENER DISCOVERS ABOUT AN ALBUM IS ITS COVER. "DIAPASON" IS ILLUSTRATED WITH A VERY SOBER IMAGE, REMINISCENT OF JAPANESE ENGRAVINGS. WHY DID YOU CHOSE THIS ARTWORK AND WHO DID IT ? AND ALSO, HOW IMPORTANT IS JAPANESE CULTURE TO YOU ?

Diapason was designed by a Thailand tattoo artist who goes by the name, "Tom Cobra." He did such a spot-on job of what I imagined it being, I think he even managed to do better.

There's a lot of subtle things you'll notice about the artwork. The woman with a tattoo of a Dragon with yin and yang eyes, the almost ghostly aesthetic surrounding them both, and the kanji symbol in the top left corner which roughly translates to, "vice." All of this, including the title of the album, "Diapason" means coming together. This goes back to me saying how I felt like I needed to build myself back up again, and I did that by using my sadness to create something I was proud of. That's really what a diapason is, it's things coming together to create harmony.

As for Japanese culture. I've always felt a very deep connection particularly with gothic Japanese art, I have many friends from Japan that are always showing me their artwork and it's just the most beautiful, emotional, and sometimes even terrifying art in the world. I'll more than likely stick with that aesthetic because I really enjoy artwork that is minimal, but powerful.

IN THAT SENSE, WHERE DOES THIS HARMONY LAY ? IN FACT THAT ALSO WORKS WITH THE CHARACTER ON THE COVER : THE WHOLE ALBUM AS A PRODUCT IS SHROUDED IN MYSTERY. IS THAT MYSTERY A THREAT ? OR MAYBE SOMETHING MORE CONTEMPLATIVE ? MELANCHOLY ?

I didn't want to outright say what my struggles and fears were in the album because I wanted the lyrical content to be open enough that it could apply to other people going through similar issues. I'd say that the overall message of the album is that you can use your struggles and fears to motivate you, to, "take yourself higher" in the title track you'll find this apparent in the lines:

"Finding deep in my heart

Hatred and empathy

Tearing myself apart

Burning in harmony

Into flames, I will burst

Over a haunting past

Become more than before

Now I am free at last"

So the message of the album is that you should always fight to better yourself, no matter what. The artwork lays a little on the mysterious side because it is a lot like a movie cover, it doesn't reveal the ending, but it makes you look at it wondering what all of it means.

SPEAKING OF PUSHING THINGS HIGHER, IT HAS TO BE SAID THE ALBUM IS DARING IN ITS COMPOSITION AND ARRANGEMENTS. FIRST I NEED TO ASK WHAT AND WHO WOULD BE YOUR BIGGEST INFLUENCES IN MUSIC ?

I definitely appreciate the compliment! My musical roots started with writing quite a bit of DSBM, I also grew up on a lot of hard rock from the early 2000s thanks to my older brother, so I had a bit of a headstart into heavier music, which started with bands like Megadeth who still kind of remains a personal favorite even though I've found a lot of more, "obscure" music.

As far as my influences go, I'd say there's a lot of Hexen in my music, it's easily my favorite prog thrash band and I love how their music is simplistic one second and then absurdly technical the next, it's such a ridiculous dynamic that never gets old for me. I also have a lot of influence from bands like Toxik, Megadeth, older Trivium, Death, Cynic, and Rise Against.

IN "DIAPASON", IT WOULD TAKE A DEAF MAN NOT TO HEAR THE TECHNICAL ASPECT, BUT THIS DEXTERITY IS MINGLED WITH VERY MELODIC, AND SHOULD I SAY SOFT VOCALS, CREATING A QUITE UNFREQUENT THING. DID YOU INTENTIONALLY DRIVE THE ALBUM IN THAT DIRECTION OR DID IT NATURALLY COME ABOUT ?

Absolutely was something that just kind of happened. I tried to do harsh vocals for the album, but it just never sounded right for me, I can do black metal vocals pretty well, but it just never fit Diapason. The reaction I have gotten from the clean vocals has been so all over the place that I honestly think that alone was worth making the album hahaha.

The thing about it is that some of my friends that don't even like metal started listening to metal thanks to it, so i think that the vocal style could potentially introduce people to more technical styles of metal that are turned away by harsh vocals.

EARLIER ON YOU MENTIONNED THE WILL TO DO A CLASSIC HEAVY METAL ALBUM. DOES THAT MEAN THAT LUNA FAWN RIPLEY IS GOING TO BE EVER EVOLVING, WITHOUT MUSICAL BOUNDARIES OR CONTINUITY ?

For sure. Although I would not say that Diapason is the end of me putting my own spin on things. We've actually recorded 2 songs already for the next album, and they're even more polished than the tracks on Diapason, and there's been a lot less, "figuring out" what works and what doesn't work. I also am working on a version of Diapason with another vocalist that is going to mix harsh vocals with the clean vocals that I want to release along with the second album.

SO A SECOND ALBUM IS ALREADY ON THE WAY. WHAT IS YOUR CREATION PROCESS LIKE ? DO YOU START WITH THE INSTRUMENTAL PARTS OR THE LYRICS ?

We start with an instrumental first. Usually, the guitars are the first thing we write, then the lyrics are the last bit. I actually have a track from the second album I'd love to show you after this interview is over!

(the aforementioned song :)

CAN'T WAIT TO HEAR THAT ! AND SO EVERYTHING IS HOME RECORDED OR DO YOU GO TO A STUDIO FOR THAT ?

Partially. On the first album, I used an Interface that I recorded directly into, then the guitars were re-amped into a Dual Rectifier by Nick Woodman who mixed and mastered the whole album. The second album will also be mixed by Nick, but this time the guitars are being recorded with a 100w Boss Katana and my Schecter Reaper 6. Nick has been mixing and mastering for I think he said 12 years, maybe longer, and he has his own home studio. This guy has an absurd amount of amps though, I'm talking pretty much whatever you want haha. It's definitely good to know people like him!

WHAT ARE YOUR AMBITIONS FOR THIS PROJECT ? THAT MAY SOUND LIKE A VAIN OR NARROW-MINDED BUT THE THING IS I NOTICED THAT YOU HAD VERY FEW VIEWS ON YOUTUBE AND FACEBOOK. DO YOU WISH TO STAY IN THE UNDERGROUND WITH THAT ?

For the second album, I'm wanting to really push the limits of what we can do compositionally, and I've figured out how to get more from the vocals without sacrificing the music, so I'm pretty excited about finishing it. I would never say no to more people listening to the music, however, I have a ton of social anxiety because I'm high functioning, so if the music ever did get popular or successful I'd probably personally stay away from the spotlight as much as possible haha.

I'd say I'm pretty comfortable with the reception I've gotten so far, it hasn't been much, but the people who seem to like it are really awesome people that I've became friends with and it's always nice hearing about their passion projects. There's such a strong connection bewteen people in the underground scene, it's absolutelty crazy. A lot of the more popular bands kind of turn their noses up to smaller bands like ours, but there's not much you can do about that.

I will say though, the person that pushed me more than anybody else to finish Diapason was from a pretty big band. That person being Phil Tougas who was a guest on Blessed Night. Phil has been there from the start, and he's one of my closest friends. I honestly wouldn't trade him for the world, he genuinely cares so much about not only his music, but the whole music scene in general. I think that Phil is absolutely one of the greatest musicians who have ever lived and I'm very excited about First Fragment's next album.

IF I'M RIGHT YOU ALSO HAD GABRIEL BORZA TAKING PART IN DIAPASON. HOW DID HE JOIN THE ADVENTURE ? ALSO, SPEAKING OF THE UNDERGROUND SCENE, ANY OBSCURE BAND TO RECOMMEND ?

We were looking for session musicians to record some solos and he was (and I think still is,) doing session work so we contacted him and he absolutely killed it. Such a talented musician.

If I was to recommend a band hmmmm... maybe not obscure, but certainly good, Panegyrist. I really like their music a lot, it's very technical and strange I love it haha.

Panegyrist is also another band that uses clean vocals in their music in a unique way, so you actually might like them a lot.

I'LL BE SURE TO CHECK THAT OUT ! WOULD YOU EVER WANT TO TAKE LUNA FAWN RIPLEY UP ON STAGE ?

If I ever got the chance, absolutely. It probably isn't something that could easily happen sadly, but we'll see. I know that I want to work on some music videos for Diapason, so we'll see what happens with that!

IN WHAT WAY WOULD YOU STAGE YOUR MUSIC IN THE VIDEOS THEN ? WHAT CAN WE EXPECT ?

I'm a huge nerd so you can expect some Dio type stuff going on hahaha. I love the idea of dressing up in costumes for music videos and just making them as weird as possible.

I really like Bjork's music videos too, so maybe some influence there.

TO DEVELOP ON YOUR UNIVERSE, APART FROM MUSIC, DO YOU HAVE OTHER PASSIONS THAT ALSO SHAPE YOUR SENSIBILITY ?

I really love video games, I even went to school for programming! I have been sort of slowly working on my own game, I've never liked to do anything halfway, so it'll probably be several years before that's finished. I also really like building guitars, I'm almost finished building a bass guitar that I wanna use to record with!

WHICH WOULD BE YOUR FAVOURITE VIDEO GAMES ?

I absolutely love the Ace Combat series, Parasite Eve, Resident Evil, Disgaea, Metal Gear, and Final Fantasy (6 being my favorite,) just to name a few!!!

Oh, and speaking of video games. I'd say the second album is very inspired by some video game OST's

KNOWING FROM THE ALBUM YOUR EASE WITH ORCHESTRAL PARTS, I ASSUME YOU WILL BE MAKING THE SOUNDTRACK FOR YOUR OWN GAME ?

Yup! I will also try to get Nicolas involved in the music as well since I'm positive I won't be able to do it and the programming all by myself haha.

ON VIDEO GAME OSTS, ANY FAVOURITES ?

100% Ace Combat Zero.

That soundtrack is just so close to flawless. I really think that the flow of it, the context of it, and the escalation of it are unmatched. Some others I really like are Star Fox Assault's OST (Also, another Namco OST,) and Final Fantasy 6's OST.

I always like to make things just to be making it, so for the game, it'll end free as always. If people want to contribute to the projects though then the Diapason album on bandcamp is name your price, so they can donate and get something in return. We also have physical CDs on there, and a merch store that I'll link to you afterwards!

IF YOU HAD TO CHOOSE 4 SONGS (BY YOU OR ANYONE ELSE) TO BE THE SOUNDTRACK OF THIS INTERVIEW, WHAT WOULD THEY BE ?

Well we started out before the interview talking about Devin Townsend, then we mentioned EVH, talked about my music, then we mentioned video game ost's so let's say:

1. Save Our Now by Devin Townsend

2. I'll Wait by Van Halen

3. Diapason by Luna Fawn Ripley

4. Near the Border (End Credits) from Ace Combat Zero

INTERVIEW ENG - Luna Fawn Ripley