Note: This interview was initially conducted at the end of 2008, so some of the questions might seem a bit strange. Also, huge thanks to Stephen and the rest of the band – I’m sure they’re fucking annoyed by my pestering by now!

This is just a formality…Who are you?

Stephen Jarrett

Orgone is all about doing it yourselves. It’s pretty awesome. What made you guys choose this route versus signing to a label?
What are some reasons labels suck? What are some reasons labels are awesome?

I think it boils down to the intentions of the label. If someone starts a label to make money by releasing soulful, rich albums with evocative lyrics and innovative, groundbreaking music, then they have every right to do so. A business major who cares nothing about artistic expression also has the right to make an unreasonable amount of money by selling lousy, predictable, soulless garbage. If a “customer” is dumb enough to buy it, then it’s hard to condemn the suited goons who sell it to them. When human beings become perceptive, sensitive, intelligent, creative and discriminating enough to no longer invest money in wasteful, trite products (from subpar albums to energy drinks), those same businesses will be broke and phenomenal, enriching art will flourish in its place.

You guys have a new album coming out in early 2009 entitled “The Joyless Parson.” You have already posted the lyrics online, but for those who haven’t seen them…what’s it about?

That’s a difficult question to answer. Anything that is written well communicates its mood very clearly and I think the lyrics have much more of a mood than a linear story-line to convey. Even if it’s confusing, it’s creating that feeling of confusion. The album is a lot of things: the sum total of my own repressed psychic content as well as the long-awaited, violent and uncontrolled expression of that content. It’s derived from dreams, astral experiences, five sense reality and everything between, below and above. It includes the past, present and future. One of its messages is that true weakness is the illusion of composure. Strength is often found by embracing vulnerabilIty, uncertainty and pain as it arrives and speaks to you. We have such an intense fear of confrontation, such an animalistic need to be secure that we leave so much unaddressed and that negligence and fear and doubt is the ultimate destructor. It is a force which turns something relatively unharmful into a dangerous, gangrenous wound.

We’d prefer the presentation of composure and centeredness over the real developmental work which unavoidably involves pain, the destruction of many assumed truths and the uncovering of some very dark matter which must be awakened and resolved. In spiritual and psychological turns, it amounts to: “Let sleeping dogs lie while they gnaw at your ankles and you collapse onto the floor”. While you’re collapsed on the floor, someone asks you how you’re doing and you smile and say “Oh, I’m excellent, thanks!” The real reward though, is a return to a genuine self: a raw, unchained, beautiful human being without obstacles that experiences and cherishes life in a state of (what I call) “oblivious wo(a)ndering”. This is not the clueless “wondering” or “wandering” of a man in a mid-life crisis whose neuroses have caught up with him. It’s the wondering and wandering of a child: the total lack of self-consciousness, the unquenchable inquisitiveness and curiosity, the willingness to learn through experience every day, a mind and soul that is perfectly synchronized with the universe and it is synchronized without effort or struggling. I see this album as the documentation of one part of that journey, a part which might seem negative or agonizing, but is a necessary stepping stone. Say that six times. Necessary stepping stone, Necessary stepping stone…

These albums are all signals of solidarity to others who have embarked or will embark on this same developmental path, who feel alienation from mainstream society and family, but also recognize that they must function and flourish on this Earth and serve a purpose which includes and extends beyond themselves.

How is it different than “The Goliath?”

It’s a far more honest album, has more depth and reeks of reality.

Are you ever going to come to Canada?

At some point, yes.

What’s one piece of advice you’d give to bands who want to be DIY like you guys?

Adopt that “ethos” for the right reason. In other words, if it’s your gimmick to be DIY and scorn any artist or band who acquires some degree of success, preferring to hand-press 37 vinyl 5 inches made of recycled Goodyear tires and maple sap, then I would say you may be a bit off-course. If you’re doing that because it’s important to you, then by all means do it. If you’re doing it because it’s a clever novelty and a one-album screamo band from 1995 did it, then I think you’re misguided. DIY to me comes down to the music, writing & artwork you’re creating. If you feel that your music deserves a wider “audience” and you don’t have to compromise your own music or values to achieve that, then go for it. Dilute the poison in the stream and be proud of what you created. The self-imposed obscurity approach is idiotic.

What jobs do you guys have besides playing in Orgone?

I worked at a carousel at one point. Beyond that, we’ll have to pass on this question.

You guys have a lot of non-metal influences. How do they play roles in your music, since you guys are clearly a bit heavier than say.. Tori Amos?

We listen to predominantly non-metal music. I’m pretty enamored with modern composers like Galina Ustvolskaya, Penderecki, Schnittke, Sofia Gubaidulina, Arthur Lourie, Leo Brouwer, but I also love a lot of contemporary jazz like Kurt Rosenwinkel, Ben Monder, Aaron Parks and the like. With that in mind, we in no way want to be considered “metal” musicians. We don’t want to be considered anything. We’re not modeling what we do off of any one person, genre or idea, so that’d be inappropriate. We’re just translating the way we live life into the way we play music and thoroughly enjoying each others creative/personal company.

On top of your music taking a long time to fully understand and grasp, you guys have phenomenal lyrics. Your lyrics are as deep and thought-provoking as a Dostoyevsky novel. Is this on purpose? Or does writing lyrics come as easy as writing the music?

Thank you. Neither process is easy, but both are extremely enjoyable. As with the music, we don’t really go out of our way to set boundaries: “This needs to be an incredibly complex song” or “These lyrics need to be veiled and cryptic”. In the past, we might have had some very specific expectations, but I see that attitude softening more and more. I think writing is a lot about balance and it really has to be a balance that comes naturally, or with a little bit of parental guidance here and there. Sometimes a blunt statement is necessary. It has no unseen dimensions to it, but it’s potent and direct and it strikes you. Other times, I’ll find great enjoyment in developing an environment or experience in such a way that it captures all of the sensations that accompanied it and that has a tendency to complicate or in my eyes, add subtlety and color to a poem or story.

Your music is incredibly complex as well. Do any of you have training at any of your respective instruments? Have you guys taken lessons?

Ransom, our bassist, just finished his first year at Berklee in Boston. I’ve taken piano, theory & harmony courses in college, but have very conflicted feelings about studying music formally. Justin took private lessons for a while when he was younger, but I’d say by and large, he and I are the most self-taught. We developed an unusually strong chemistry very early on and have grown a lot as musicians as a result. Open-mindedness and receptiveness have played a huge role in our music and I find that the less stringent we are about the way an album unfolds, the better.

I’ve asked Trevor from The Black Dahlia Murder about this…Guitar Hero? Ever plan on trying to get a song in Guitar Hero or Rock Band? Your stuff would be a blast to play.

Justin’s animation company actually does a lot of work with Guitar Hero, so we’d have a slightly higher chance than most, I guess. I’m not too into the idea, but then again, my idea of a good night is breakdancing to Chubby Checker in a purple Snugglie while pretending to cast spells on people.

Favourite albums of 2008 so far? Of all time?

2008? Deathspell Omega – Fas, Ite, Maledicti, in Ignem was an album that I really “needed to exist”. Of all time…personally…I’d say (in no particular order): At the Drive In – Vaya, Bad Religion – Suffer, an old CD of Scriabin etudes, Penderecki’s 2nd Violin Concerto w/Anne Sophie Mutter, Alfred Schnittke’s Concerto Grosso No. 6 w/Lera Aeurbach, Kurt Rosenwinkel – The Next Step, Early 70′s David Bowie, Egberto Gismonti – Academia de Dancas, Neurosis – Through Silver in Blood, Galina Ustvolskaya Preludes played by David Arden, Elliot Smith – From a Basement on the Hill, Wang Lien – The Lotus that Stands Out, Denali – S/T, Film scores by Toru Takemitsu & Alberto Iglesias. “Too many to list”, as they say. Those are just some that stand out in terms of consistently pleasurable albums.

Who are some bands that we should keep on the look out for?

There are a lot of excellent bands on the surface and some under the radar who deserve attention for the sophistication, meaning and power in their music. It’s usually easy to tell who means it and who doesn’t.