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Jenni Blush Meets Excretia

 

Reproduced by kind permission of “The Squat”, Bramley’s top underground mail-order student newsletter.

So, hands up those of you who thought Goth died when the jeans got baggy, grunge became the new misery music of choice and Robert Smith started writing happy songs?  Well, it was just sleeping, because vampire chic has once again become cool.  So it is that I went to meet Excretia, one of the newest acts to hit the scene. 

 

Felicia Devile, aka Excretia

Only two members of the three piece I’d prepared to interview were present when I visited; Excretia herself (she insists her real name is Felicia Devile-with-an-E) and her guitarist boyfriend, Darrell Pthisis.  The mysterious Rabid Bats was apparently yet to arrive, so I asked about him before he did.  Excretia chuckled softly to herself, while Darrell sighed, made a face and prepared to explain.

DP: The sequencer.  Rabid Bats is our sequencer and live backing track. Felicia likes to think of it as a person, mostly to annoy me.

FP:  You know how it is, Jenni.. he’s just worried about the idea of me possibly getting satisfaction from a machine instead of him.  He’s just jealous of Bats.                                          

I see. Moving swiftly on, perhaps we could begin by naming some of your influences?

 FD:  The proper underground legends; Squandering Rachel, The Glum, The Eighth D, Pheromone…

Er, can’t say I’ve ever encountered any of those.  None our readers may have heard of.. Sisters of Mercy, for example?

 FD:  Oh, that’s original.  Anyway, they’re not Goth.  Not properly.

 Ok, so much for that.  Perhaps you could explain instead how you began making music?

 FD:  Basically I’m more a poet.. I’ve been writing since I was young, it was great to put my life as an outcast into some kind of perspective in writing, to explore things that were happening to me.  Vampirism, witchcraft, suicide.. that sort of thing.

 So it’s all from experience then, you reckon?  The vampirism, the witchcraft, the suicide?

 FD:  Of course it is.  I’ve attempted suicide before, for the curiosity as much as anything else, I’m definitely a vampire at heart and as for the witchcraft, listen to “Gingerbread Man”; it’s about the spell I used to capture Darrell here.

 Er, right.. did your Mother ever wonder about this?

 FD:  She just thinks I read too many magazines.  She doesn’t understand. 

 Darrel, you’re very quiet.  How about you?  What influences you?

 DP:  Felicia does. Next question.

 Could you tell me what you think of the direction of the Music business at the moment?

 FD:  I wouldn’t know, I don’t follow the mainstream.

 OK… how about you, Darrell?

 DP:  Crap.  Next question.

 You are releasing your debut single, “As The Darkness Hails The Witching Hour”, over the internet.  Do you see the internet as the future of music distribution?

 FD:  It’s certainly a lot better from the artists’ point of view, because it means we can put stuff out directly without having to butter up to middlemen.  It’s a safe anarchy.

 But would you see related problems with quality control, from the point of view of the consumer?

 FD:  I’m sure I’ve no idea what you’re implying.

 DP:  Next question.

 Will you please stop saying “Next question”?!  It’s driving me crazy!

 DP:  Then ask better questions.

 FD:  Next question. 

 Very amusing.  Anyway, to sum up, describe yourselves in four words.

 FD:  Trapped In Eternal Torment.

 I mean, seriously.

 FD:  That was serious.  You wouldn’t understand.

 Ahem.  OK.  Darrell, how about you?

DP:  “Just Does The Music”.  Next Question.

Excretia’s debut single, “As The Darkness Hails The Witching Hour”, is available for free download from their page at http://mp3.com/excretia .       JB