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Livewire,
Industrial , Synth, EBM
Friday, September 1st 2006
W/Dj Flipps & Dj Shok
was the first LiveWire event @ Toronto’s Savage Garden
Nightclub featuring a live performance by Alfa Matrix artist Ayria.
A fantastic time was had by all, as Ayria rocked the nightclub. 200
people jumping up and down cant be wrong. Really great set , the material
from Ayria's new album "Flicker" was extremly strong live,
and jennifer was in amazing voice as she belted her way through My Revenge
On The World.
'Prior to the show DJ Shok had the opportunity to Interview the mastermind
and vocalist of Ayira: Jennifer Parkin.
Shok = DJ Shok
Jenn = Jennifer Parkin
Shok: So let’s get started here. First question
I have is: How did you get into music and why Industrial particularly?
Jenn: Music has always been a part of my life I can’t
even remember the moment I really got into it. I think at like age 7
I was begging my parents for vinyls. I loved all the 80s and New Wave
stuff. Industrial just happened for me in university. When I was in
high school, I used to listen to more mainstream stuff like NIN and
White Zombie, like that was industrial for me back then, and once I
started university I found this whole underground culture of purely
electronic music from other countries. I loved it so much, because it
was so damn different from mainstream pop music and anything else that
I’ve ever heard, and it just sucked me in, and I wanted to create
it. I create music because I love to sing, and there were never any
female vocals in Industrial; so I never really had any bands that I
could connect with at that level. So, I said hey, I’m gonna create
this music.
Shok: Definitely true, I still think there still aren’t enough industrial bands with female vocals. So, what kind of music do you listen to now? Do you listen to music similar to what you make, or something completely different like punk rock or something?
Jenn:
(laughs) Well that is funny, because even though I like Industrial –a
lot- and ever since I started getting into it I branched out. I think
when I first started I was very elitist and listened only to industrial
and that’s it. But then as I got older I started getting back to
my roots with old pop, and 80’s stuff. I love the Electro Clash
movement. Even indie pop, and indie punk I like. Anything with catchy
vocals, I don’t really care, as long as it’s at least a little
bit dark. Like mainstream pop stuff I can’t really get into. It’s
produced really amazingly but I can’t really connect to it because
the melodies and lyrics are so bad. But if something has a good dark
melody, I love it.
Shok: We mentioned it before, that there really isn’t that much female vocalists in Industrial music. I can only think of about 3 bands that really stand out – you, Pzycho Bitch and Unter Null. Anyone else I’d be a little hard pressed to think of.
Jenn: (laughs) I think I’m the most girly of all three of them. I find that the other bands distort the vocals a lot and almost sound masculine sometimes.
Shok: Well Pzycho Bitch looks really girly, what with the pink hair. But I guess they sound pretty harsh. I’ve noticed that you’ve lent your vocals to a lot of bands like XPQ-21 and Glis, with the remixes you’ve done for them. How do you choose whom to work with? Do they find you, because of the demand for female vocals?
Jenn: Usually they find me and ask for a remix. Sometimes they actually ask that I use my voice in it for guest vocals. Sometimes I just want to use my voice, because that’s like my signature. I work with my band mate Joe on doing the remixes because it takes a while for me to program all that stuff, but I always add my voice and no one complains really. When it comes to choosing people… well their song has to move me and inspire me. I’m not going to work on a song just for the sake or putting out a remix. I have to like and genuinely want to work with them.
Shok: Now I remember you were shooting a video a while ago, here in Toronto. Unfortunately I missed out on that. What happened to it, is it coming out soon, can we expect an Ayria DVD?
Jenn: Yeah! It’s for My Device. The video is still being worked on, it’s in the final stages of being edited. And we really do want to release a DVD. We just played in California and we had a full camera crew of like 3 to 4 people shooting us, and that’s being edited as well. I really want to release something, because it’s fun, the footage looks great and I’m really happy with it. And it’s great for people that always wanted to see me live, but didn’t get a chance.
Shok: California, wow! You get to travel a lot and visit all these different places. How do find the music scene is in different cities? Is the EBM-Industrial thing uniform everywhere or is the scene different from place to place?
Jenn: It’s different. It’s different everywhere. Like for example we just played in Anaheim at an event called Bat’s Day, which was more of a gothic festival, and there were tons of really goth people out there. Toronto doesn’t really have that. It’s just up to whatever your taste is I guess. Like in San Francisco they like a lot of the old school industrial and they also have a big Electro Clash scene. I really liked it. Philadelphia has a great scene too. It’s a fashion difference as well, not just the music. People look different everywhere. Like in California people look more punk and rivet and Toronto is a lot more cyber. L.A. was kinda goth and kinda cyber, it was really neat.
Shok: Where did you have the most fun? What was really the most exciting show you’ve ever done?
Jenn: Hmm, well the most exciting show I’ve ever done versus the most fun I’ve ever had is different. The most exciting show was opening for Front 242. I was so excited.
Shok:
Yeah, I think you lived out the dream of anyone in an industrial band!
Jenn: (giggles) The most fun I’ve had was probably in San Francisco, it’s hard to say though, because that one is most fresh in my head. I guess I just like being on the road and meeting people. We’ve had great times in New York and Philly and all over.
Shok: Well we’re running out of time, so I guess the last question is: Which song do you really like performing the most? I’ve noticed in rehearsal you’ve been doing Disease a lot. Is that your favourite?
Jenn: Yeah, definitely. Disease is my favourite one to sing. I really like My Revenge On The World too, but that really takes it out of me, because it’s a lot of screaming. And Debris is really fun because I get to swear! (both laugh)
Shok: Well, thanks so much for doing the interview, I’m really looking forward to the show.