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02 April 2000

An Evening With

Maria Azevedo
&
Shawn Brice

Of

BATTERY
Conducted by various people
via IRC channel #liveonline at Undernet
May 1, 1997
Transcript by P.M.

Q : how do you feel working with men in a situation that really is predominantly male in this genre of music; especially curious being a single female in a male genre with a male band

Maria : Evan and Shawn are the nicest guys around, or I would never have considered joining a band with boys.

Q : to be more specific, do you ever feel that they repress you in any way as far as not having faith in your ability to contribute as thoroughly as they could, or do you find that the balance falls in a rather comfortable manner?

Maria : No, Shawn and Evan Rock my Universe. So to speak. At least that's what Shawn told me to write... ;>

Q : are you going on tour in the future? if so, when?

Maria : We're going to tour in October, hopefully

Q : Maria, how do you like being on COP, and have you ever met george of UTN? (Now Urania)

Maria : ummmm... haven't met george of UTN... COP? We plead the fifth.

Q : Maria: Megan my daughter wants to know when you started to sing?

Maria : been singin' all my livelong days, but never in a band before Battery! Never took professional lessons until after Mutate

Q : have you ever considered doing a side project of any kind(or is there one perhaps im not aware of?

Maria : Battery is doing a side project under the name of Influx... winter music titled "Frozen" ... we're remixing the music, re-recording the vocals and adding new songs! Other side projects: I am doing a side project with Reconstriction records... 10 - 12 bands providing music for my vocals... Hate Dept, Society Burning... Shawn is working with Slave Unit in the studio right now ... Evan is going to Italy for three weeks!

Q : are you going to work with Jesse (Heavy Water Factory) again?

Maria : yes, we're trading songs to remix!

Q : Maria: what is your opinion on females fronting bands in the industrial/techno/electroninc music genre, do you feel that it is somewhat a stereotyped role (as in we have to be like the chick from lords of acid...) or do you think theres room to be heavier and respected as musical instead of sexual? i see many female fronted bands in electronic music using very feminine approaches, and a lot of cheesy sexuality to use as sort of a gimmick

Maria : If women in bands feel that they have to be like anyone else, sexual or otherwise, then I just feel sorry for them. I've never felt like I had to portray a "sexual" stereotype for Battery to get anywhere.

Q : what are you guys listening to these days?

Shawn : Depeche Mode all day long!!! Also, new Erasure

Evan : I've been listening to Bjork, Telegram , DM Ultra, Tricky "Heaven"...

Maria : I've been listening to DD's Seven and The Ragged Tiger for about a week now... HELP!

Q : do you ever listen to anything that is "experimental" to draw ideas from...say for instance the Sombient "Drone" CD series?

Maria : Yes, we do listen to experimental stuff... Evan's in an improvisational, experimental band called Nux Vomica

Q : are you going to produce any more vampire rodents tracks? or any other band for that matter?

Maria : we will produce anything anyone asks us to!

Q : do you ever have conflicts with your side projects seemingly taking away more attention?

Maria : none of us would do any side projects that conflicted with Battery's schedule. We're all famous friends, and even hang out in our spare time so you can be sure we wouldn't be fighting about things like that!

Q : Are your cd's distributed in Europe?

Maria : yes, by semiphore

Q : Who would you choose to do a remix war with?

Maria : Remix war? Enya fer sure. REMIXING IS A WAR!!!

Q : will u tour in Europe?

Maria : god, we'd love to! we did a small tour of Germany last May, but no definate plans for another tour yet.... yet....

Q : whats your view of people who insist on referring to bands as "gods".. like "skinny puppy is god"..

Maria : there's no point in idolizing bands... but then again, I had Duran Duran posters on my ceiling until I was 16...

Shawn : idolatry is Evil

Maria : Shawn is a Scorpio, so he's full of shit.

Q : do you feel comfortable being on a smaller label? are they able to facilitate the support that you require, as opposed to metropolis, 21st circuitry, off beat, etc... they seem bigger than cop

Maria : COP is doing the best they can for us right now. Besides, we're stuck on their contract for another 2 yrs, so we don't have much of a choice right now...

Q : are you more of a studio band or live band?

Maria : we used to be more comfortable just working in the studio, but ever since we toured last year, we've got the live bug bad!

Q : I talked with Collide about your cover of "Christine".. Reflections In The Looking Glass suffered without it. Were you miffed that they didn't want it on there?

Maria : we didn't really have a choice, when we sent Cleo the DAT, they sent it back saying, Your track is too "DIFFERENT!" Change it or you won't be on the comp! So we said... FINE!!! Christine is our "fun live song" now, and we like it just fine that way.

Q : Would you be willing to sign to a major label if given the chance, and if so to what extent would you compromise to "appeal to the masses"?

Maria : Sellouts R Us!!! In other words, yes!

Q : any particular bad relationships that inspired some of your songs (i.e. manipulator)??

Maria : That's for me to know and you to never know ... sorry... no lurid tales today!

Q : do you still work with deathline int'l on their stuff?

Maria : not really.

Q : i suppose we dont get to know if maria and evan or shawn have ever been an item either.....

Maria : nope!

Q : I'd really like to see you and Collide do some work together.. I know you're friends, but I think at least some sort of remixing or something would be perfect.

Maria : someday...Collide's super busy all the time.. They were asked to do music for Matrium, but they don't think they have the time...

Q : Are you guys going to release the cover album?

Maria : Cover album "Duplicate" is on hold for the moment... out probably next year...

Q : do you guys use any outstanding equipment/samplers that's helped you make your music?

Maria : no outstanding equipment... just EMAX...

Q : how much of your live show is ' " live" ' and do you enjoy playing live......?

Maria : percentage wise... don't know... we haven't killeourselves yet.. Yes, we enjoy playing live! We want to tour again!

Q : I'm usually disappointed to here a lot of tape behind a live band... i'd rather see the music improvised..

Maria : what does it matter? We used to bring the computers onstage and everything, but they'd just crash. Also, we can't play everything by ourselves.

Q : do you have a big following in the local SF scene?

Maria : yes, getting bigger with every local show... its a great feeling indeed!

Q : did you ever get the track listing on NV fixed?

Maria : no. not our fault, but we'll leave it at that. e-mail COP at: cop (at) dnai.com and tell them to re-press nv with the correct track listing! Maybe they'll listen to YOU!

Q : would you consider working with unsigned bands as far as remixes etc if you liked them?

Maria : yes, we'd love to remix a lot of people

Q : Maria, as a singer, are you most comfortable in large or small venues?

Maria : the bigger the better, baby. I'm a leo, I need it all.

Q : if i might ask, how old are thee

Evan : 29

Shawn : 28

Maria : 24

Q : do you like the cure?

Evan : Shawn and Maria love the cure

Q : have you seen a change in your technique with writing throughout the albums?

Maria : as we have grown closer as individuals, out music writing has solidified with each album...

Q : aside from the musicianship, has the technical approach changed?

Maria : yes, we aren't as stressed about it anymore...

Q : will you ever dive into the realm of ethno-ambient and the related instruments to draw upon ideas for your own music?

Maria : There's no way to out-do Fishtank...

Q : what color underweaR does shawn wear

Maria : Shawn wears black Calvins...

Q : tell us what your favorite sugary cereal is??

Maria : too many to mention...

Battery : email us at: battery (at) sirius.com

Sin-Tek : THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO CAME HERE TONIGHT

Battery : we love you all! Thanks to everyone who showed up, this has been so much fun! OK, Goodnight!

Maria : xoxoxoxoxox

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