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"Let thy light so
shine, that all may see, A personal interview with by Kim Alexander |
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I met Adrian through Kismet and a mutual acquaintance of his. I bring you an extraordinary person and my friend, Adrian Alexis, his music, poetry, writing, and art. |
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Kim: You are quite multi-talented from what I have heard and read of your works. Let's start with your music. How long have you been working with electronic music? Adrian: Thank you for your kind comments. I have been working with synthesizers and electronica since 1980. At that time, it was my voice, a twelve string guitar, a little Casio keyboard, and two boomboxes. That's how I started off. I would strum the guitar and sing while playing the keyboard with my toes, play that back on boombox #1 while recording additional on boombox #2. [Adrian pulls out an old model Casio Sampling board SK-1,
hooks it up to power, samples our voices, comments on the "abysmal lack of high
fidelity" and equates it to the current state of sampling in Rap music. The dog,
rises, wags his tail and seems to enjoy the sounds....] Adrian: I have written poetry since I was in grade
school. I came to the conclusion that people might pay closer attention to my words
if they were lying on a bed of music. The size of that bed, along with my artistry
and competence, has grown substantially since then. And in the case of gear,
expanded as my wallet would allow, culminating in the collection of equipment
you see before you here today. [Editor's Note: I look around the studio, a gargoyle here,
a gargoyle there, a child-size skeleton hanging off the top of the bookshelf, rose petals
in a copper dish, an altar, a pagan wish come true, racks of electronic gear to my left
and right...among other things.] Adrian: Life, I write to get things sussed out within myself; also, with any luck, create a piece of work that moves someone's emotions or causes them to think. My longer works of writing tend to sway toward political and social commentary. Shorter works and poetry come closer to the heart and are inclined to express more emotional content. Kim: Have you ever been on tour? When and where was that? What music did you play live and under what name did you use. Do you have any thoughts about touring you would like to share with other musicians/bands who have yet not hit the open road? Adrian: Oh yes! I've toured
extensively in the U.S. from 1990-1993 and played every dive joint and hole from here to
hell and back again under the name, Adrian Alexis. The album, Random Cuts are the tracks of the music that I
performed during that period of time. Adrian: My touring came to a close in the fall of 1993. It was at this time an awful thing began to happen to me. I started hearing and seeing things, no one else could hear or see. It commenced rather insidiously, but within a period of a month to six weeks my grasp upon this reality had faded to a point of no return. It wasn't long thereafter, I was placed for my own safety within the confines of an asylum. I spent the better part of a year's time in that mental institution trying to reclaim my sanity. In a word, it was a nightmare. The doctors undertook several different avenues of treatment in an effort to help me. I gradually learned to better deal with my disorder, and it was during this time that my psychiatrists and the staff became aware of the fact that some of the statements I made (though there was no logical way I could know any of the particulars) were, or came to be true. Their science couldn't explain it, and neither could I. Kim: So you feel as though you won't be going back on tour in the near future or? Adrian: I am currently incapable of touring,
and am presently seeing a psychiatrist whose council has been beneficial. I still hear,
observe, and bear witness to strange information witch is mine alone to discern. I'm
constantly inundated by visions, and with all sorts of curious and often incomprehensible
extrasensory omens and enunciation's. I can neither control their substance nor their
flow, though my coping and understanding of these matters continues to deepen. My
ability to hear spiritual voices, perceive events and information that quite often
ring true is regarded by family and friends as a gift. I'm dead pleased that in
spite of it I function as well as I do. Adrian: Of corpse. The aforementioned Random Cuts CD, witch as I've said,
chronicles the music of 1990-93 and is soon to be followed by Grave New World
in early 1999, comprised of material written from 1993-95. This CD is based on my initial
experiences within the aftermath of my aforesaid indisposition. Random Cuts can be
purchased off Perimeter Sound Arts. Kim: Do you have any statements about your work or your world you would like to express to our readers that we haven't covered? Adrian: If I have anything to offer the
world, it's an immense empathy for the cosmos and the conditions of all things
living. Love rules my head, my heart, my soul, my evils below and my virtue above,
for love is life and life is love. When I was younger I used to place faith in
that old adage from the Bible that goes something like " love one another as you love
yourself." Well, later in life I came to the painful realization that the problem
with that axiom is, I feel that deep down inside, most people don't like
themselves, let alone, love. Life is such a wonderful and precious gift and each
individual entity unique. In all of time not one living or non-living thing or occurrence
has ever been repeated exactly. There is only one of you and there shall not be
another quite like you again in all of eternity. The miracle of that fact alone discourses
my soul in such a way that in me, love cannot be denied. If I could work my will on the
world, I'd give each individual self love.That's not how it operates, nevertheless, for as
long as I exist, I'll endeavor to do so. Adrian: First off Kim, that depends on
what form you're currently seeing. Adrian: Yes I do. Adrian: (Staring vacuously into
empty space, he appears to be contemplating the lint within his navel...) Kim: What Adrian? Adrian: I know. Want another bite
of my cookie? |
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