Avarice in Audio

Showcasing a bit of love towards Avarice in Audio, an Australian act who has been impacting the scene in the Sunburnt Country, Julian has given off a very warm review of their debut EP Frostbite EP. With such well reception given to the duo signed onto Alfa-Matrix, I was able to snatch a bit of time from Gerry and Jade, the two lovely individuals who make up the talent behind this fairly new act, for a bit of Q and A.

Alright, Avarice in Audio just recently formed. Tell me where the project idea came from, and how you two got together.

Jade - "I remember volunteering to do a vocal run sample for Gerry for one of his projects in the early days of talking and meeting Gerry and it went from there! Gerry was keen to collaborate in a project after showing him my project work on other tracks that I had created and I was happy to do something on a grander scale with my voice and production experience."

Gerry - "I did a show in Melbourne early 2013 as Cryogenic Echelon, supporting Sirus & Studio-X, and Jade had offered for me to stay with her at her place at the time. We met and instantly hit it off, nerding out over industrial and other things. Both of us had a desire to make different kind of music, and at that time CE had released a very pop inspired EP. And while CE was going to a darker route, I wanted to explore the pop side of myself, with Jade at the helm. I arrived a week before the show, and we laid down some basic melodies and lyrical ideas and a few demos were made before I had to perform. The original version of Sleepwalking Societies was in its infancy then, alongside a few other tracks that may be B-sides or redone in the future, no promises there though!"

I noticed that you two sorta have it listed as Gerry being the Sleaze, and Jade as the Siren. Is this just a gag, or does it hold some value?

Gerry - "Well the Siren and Sleaze came from two different areas for us. For me, I was writing a song called Sleaze & Sirens, the name of one of the endings for Silent Hill: Shattered Memories. I ended up abandoning the concept and reworking it into something new. Jade decided to be known as the Siren, and since every time me and Jade have been together now I've always got girls on my arm in Melbourne, I've been dubbed the Sleaze. Which, oddly enough works for me."

Jade - "I suppose the imagery suited me with the Siren moniker. I usually surprise people with my singing voice as my conversational voice is very different. I'm not luring sailors to their deaths though, as per mythology, so I guess my voice stuns people sometimes in a good way."

Now, Jade, I understand that you were trained and tutored in piano at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music, along with a bachelor's degree in music tech and audio engineering. When you graduated from the school, did you know what you wanted to do next?

Jade - "For the majority of my piano days I was privately tutored in classical and contemporary styles. When auditioning for university at the Conservatorium, I was offered and heavily persuaded to do a performance based degree but I also had been selected to study a technology and engineering based degree, which I finally decided on as I felt more of a connection with the course content. I was still able to study classical music but I majored in sound design towards the end of my degree, taking electives in games design and sound for film and television. I still do commission work here and there in relation to my degree for games and motion picture now that I have graduated, but Avarice in Audio is my main focus now."

I also understand that you've been DJing under the title Acidtrixx. Did you want to make it a point to not use your DJ name as your producer name, as well?

Jade - "I decided to call it a day for the production side of things with Acidtrixx not so long ago. I wasn't producing as much as I had wanted under Acidtrixx and lost inspiration with the project. While I had used the moniker to build a social standing for myself as well, I thought it was more appropriate to use the name as my DJ name where I have done mostly industrial music clubs."

You are said to be the technical half of Avarice in Audio. So, what do you do for the act?

Jade - "In collaboration with Lawrie from Studio-X, we work as a team sharing ideas and ensuring quality control on each track. Gerry will put forward an idea, lyrics and samples to get the ball rolling in most cases unless it's a track I've already had a workable structure recorded. So this includes composing and mixing tracks with soft and hardware synthesisers, samples and vocoders. I also do my vocal recordings, harmonies and editing, but I like sending my vocal tracks for further editing to other producers on occasion for a fresh ideas. Judah from Redux is my favourite with his vocal processing on Sleepwalking Societies and Frostbite."

Gerry - "Jade is an absolute godsend when it comes to her input in AIA material. I get so worked up with creativity that I never really second guess myself. Jade insists on things being perfect, and while that does frustrate me from time to time, its definitely for the best in regards to the music. I'm so used to just doing as I please in control I sometimes forget its a partnership. She calls me on my shit and provides her expertise in sound design and melody, and the result is always magical."

And, Gerry, a bit of a background check on you. You've been involved in a lot of acts within the scene, which helps your portfolio. What acts have you been involved, and which are you still currently involved in?

Gerry - "I was the lead of Cryogenic Echelon for many years, which has been put on hiatus for until I feel like I can go back to it. It may be a year, it may be never. I've also worked with writing with other artists such as Psykkle for their second album Mother Monoxide, Ruinizer for his debut, and Cease2xist for their most recent E.P. I've also made some songs with Lawrie in our official side project Prozium."

Now, what are you two doing to make the sound of Avarice in Audio differentiate from your other projects, Cryogenic Echelon and Aerodroma?

Gerry - "Honestly, not much. I'm just staying true to myself. I've had disappointment from people that want more CE, but I believe its run its due course, at least for now. I don't see it as a continuation per se, but its still me at my core. So its not like I've quit forever, and albums are being released. Now at a new level of sound, songwriting and expression."

Jade - "Aerodroma is an ambient and chill out style project which varies greatly from Avarice in Audio. The project is more about creating imagery for the listener from sound textures and melodic elements rather than telling a story via lyrical content. The project is solely produced by myself so it's a little more personal and a reflection of my own style."

Speaking of your other projects, are you planning on dropping those projects and focusing more on Avarice? Or are they going to stay as your sole focus?

Gerry - "I am entirely dedicated to Avarice now. It is my main project. If CE were to return, it would be as a side project status. I've also contemplated re-recording some of the older CE tracks under the new name for various singles and other uses. I would love to perform some updated versions someday."

Jade - "I've been meaning to get an album together for Aerodroma, but Avarice in Audio is my main focus now. I've been urged to do more work with Aerodroma but time and energy is an issue at this stage with our first album being a priority. Aerodroma is dormant for now. However I would love to perform as part of an art installation or appropriate gig sometime in the future with the project."

Now, in your original formation in 2013, you went ahead and worked under another name. What was that name? And why did you decide to change it around?

Gerry - "Our original moniker was Hope Estheim, named after the character from Final Fantasy XIII. It translates from latin roughly to "Hope Is Home" which seemed to be a good fit at the time. However, the company that owns FFXIII are very prone to defending what they consider intellectual property. So when we were in talks with Alfa Matrix for the signing, we decided to change the name. And Avarice In Audio seemed like the best fit. Plus it really rolls nicely off the tongue."

Jade - "The new name fits perfectly with our aesthetic. I'm happy the way it is now."

Your debut single, Frostbite, just released recently under the Alfa-Matrix banner. Did you send in the demo to them, or did they discover you on their own?

Gerry - "A mixture of both. Our good friend Lawrie of Studio-X sent them some of the work we had been doing for Avarice In Audio and they jumped on it! It was a perfect synergy. Alfa Matrix have been excellent to work with so far, very open to our ideas and leaving us to cultivate ourselves rather than force a certain image on us. Retaining creative control has been a must have to me, if it doesn't feel like us, then its just not us. They've been nothing but supportive, and I'd like to thank Seb in particular for his advice and help in letting us grow these past few months."

And, so far, with the EP, how was reception been?

Gerry - "The reception has been very positive so far! Only a few reviews so far, but all of them have been very positive."

Jade - "I have received a lot of praise from those who have listened to the EP. I even showed my colleagues and they were amazed by it. Even respected producers who I look up to enjoy the EP which is a great thing to know!"

Gerry, you used to wrote a few articles for us. With that being said, do you take criticism from online netzines to heart? Or is it something that you kind of just blow off?

Gerry - "Yes and no. The articles I wrote were quite ginger in review, and I was far from scathing. I kind of went for a Zero Punctuation style with writing for BR, aiming more to make people laugh and intrigue the reader enough to listen to the content and decide for themselves. We've read reviews for our releases, both good and bad. I think they influence the audiences opinions to a degree, but not so much us. We try take constructive criticism to heart, and work forward with new knowledge. But we haven't received much of that so far, so there's been no need to change. At least not for anyone else but ourselves.

On the other side of the spectrum, I've noticed some bands take reviews and criticism very seriously, and it always seems to be a detriment to make your appearance and work based solely on negative reviews. Some bands thrive off it, I'm not among them. I've heard stories of friends who wrote songs about bad critics, and while they turned into very good songs that many may know, its just not for me. The one guilty pleasure I'll admit is I read a review once of my music that wasn't exactly positive. And they completely misspelled the title of one of the songs. And the misspelled title is actually way better, so I want to use it as a song title for the next album. Appreciate the assist brah!"

As far as gigs go, what are your plans for playing live?

Jade - "We have a general idea of how we want to perform our songs, but we will be focusing on this more when appropriate events occur. Our style is different to what mainstream Australia is used to, but I've already been throwing ideas about for promoting ourselves to support larger acts coming from overseas or playing together with established Australian industrial acts. It is our dream to play the big festivals in the UK and Europe such as Infest and Wave-Gotik-Treffen."

Gerry - "I've got a basic idea on how to do live, but live is very debatable in our scene. Some bands do it excellently. My favourite live band is melbourne based SIRUS, friends of ours and excellent musicians. I want to put on a compelling show, but for every Sirus, there are about a dozen dull performances in exchange. So I want to be confident to deliver a great show, and to be able to get people involved."

And, I know that you're also working on your debut album. Can you give us any details on that? Release window, title, track names?

Gerry - "The album title is "Shine & Burn" and while the release date isn't final as of yet, the projected course looks to be about the end of this year. We've got some awesome collaborations with MiXE1, Ascension EX, Redux & XP8, alongside some bonus remixes by ?AIMON, Assemblage 23 and C-Lekktor with all sorts more we can't announce yet."

And this is where I end off. Feel free to leave any final words or messages below.

Gerry - "Thank you Steven and thank you to the staff of BR for letting us do this interview! Check out our debut E.P "Frostbite" available on Alfa Matrix, and our debut album when its released!"

Jade - "Thank you BR for the interview! A huge thank you to those who have supported and allowed our electronic music dreams come to fruition! Please check out "Frostbite" available on Alfa Matrix and stay tuned for our album to be released soon!"

You can check out the Frostbite EP here: http://alfamatrix.bandcamp.com/album/frostbite-ep