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New Album: Alex Staines with guests

‘New Album’ is where a band or artist answers some questions about their latest release. Up next is poet Alex Staines who writes transgressive lyrical poems, and has combined forces with talented local composers, musicians and graphic artists to produce several dark-toned albums, the latest of which is ‘Time of the Archons’.

When/where was the new album recorded?
‘Time of the Archons’ was recorded in mid-2016 at Brad Jenkins’s home studio in Wellington. At the same time we re-recorded the vocal for all the tracks on the previous album, “Seclusion Data”, which was recorded by Steve Wolf at his place in Wellington in 2010.

Who produced/engineered the album? How did the tracks come together in the studio, or at home?
Basically all the mixing and mastering was done by Brad Jenkins. He also composed all the electronic music once he had Steve’s piano tracks. Then I added the vocal at the end.

How did the songwriting happen? Are there any overall themes within the songs/album?
That could take pages to answer. It was based on the mood of the poems I wrote. Brad said something like, “it’s the apocalypse, but you don’t care”.

Were you going for a different sound/approach on this album?
It’s really a simple poetry and music album like its predecessor, though with less of an up-front feel probably because there’s electronics instead of guitar. Steve and Brad had complete freedom to express themselves artistically around the theme – whatever that meant to them. I basically gave Steve half a dozen poems and he composed the piano music from there. The piano is the key to the whole thing, as the way Steve plays was completely different from what Brad was expecting for a poetry album. That caused some interesting things to happen musically. Then I decided which poems went with which tracks and basically just read the poems in a kind of conversational tone.

Remnants of the Founding Engine – the Music of ‘Time of the Archons’ – An interview with composers Brad Jenkins and Steve Wolf, by Alex Staines.

Was there any specific gear you used to capture that?
The sound just came together. It’s really basic – piano, skilfully composed electronics, good mixing and mastering, and some words about this and that.

Is there a particular single/track that you feel captures the essence of the album?
With its staunch chord progressions, obdurate poetry and electronic pitch bends, the penultimate track ‘Coptic Lisp’ revels in the apocalypse.

Is there a physical copy available? If not which digital platforms is it available on?
Bandcamp. On the page Alex Staines with guests.

Are you working on a video/promotion for any of the songs?
We’re thinking about making a video, too, yes. I did some gigs in 2010 for the “Seclusion Data” album, just around Wellington. No plans for gigs at this stage, though the third album is being planned as a live performance thing. I quite like the idea of playing guitar on stage at the age of 60 – that’s something to aspire to. Promotional activites for “Time of the Archons” have been confined to boosting a post on Facebook and you guys. Not sure where it fits in in terms of a genre. It’s a strange mixture that just is what it is.

Covers used with permission.


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