Colorado's Fill The Void got off the ground in 2014 inspired by nothing less than a mistake on some artwork founder Angie Goodnight was doing. Fill The Void creates experimental sound landscapes of beats, sound effects & spoken word often categorized, for lack of a better term, under the industrial label as pioneered by Throbbing Gristle & continued to a new generation by Trent Reznor. The genre is known for being at times difficult, but is also revealing, unique & open to a listener's interpretation.
Growing up in the Seattle region I spent countless hours at coffeehouses listening to local musicians. The thought that always came to me was why can't more people know about this great musician? The seed was planted to want to share the experience I was having with others, along with the idea that just because someone isn't famous, 'professional' or touring doesn't reflect anything about their creative output. This idea of sharing even over-ruled my own musical forays where the spotlight was uncomfortably on me & not others. A decade later I was in NYC, unemployed & feeling lost until I decided to give myself a Christmas gift of making my dream come true of opening a record label & doing music marketing. Thus was born Roman Midnight Music that released 16 albums on itunes, numerous books by myself & Latin pianist Irving Fields & did lots of music marketing which included a couple podcasts, a music review blog & this blog. I discovered I had a knack for not making money ... but I was good at & enjoyed interviewing musicians & it was helpful to them, which is the ultimate goal not my whose who bragging rights which I believe is the goal of some interviewers. After 4 years the I moved back home to Maine & stepped out of music exhausted & in debt. My fondest memories were not what I attempted & not even some of the famous musicians I got to meet. No, my memories were of the underdogs whose music I discovered, promoted, sometimes helped give a small break to & would come to call long-distance friends. Some of these folks are working musicians, just not household names, but many are 'home bound' struggling artists ... but in my mind the greatest, most interesting & most unique music comes from the soul & the mysterious desire to create, not how many tours one does or how famous one is ... I mean, anyone for Rod Stewart's early 80's output? I mean, just name one successful song post-"Do You Think I'm Sexy" & pre-"Forever Young." Fame & fortune does not make interesting music. Deciding to return to what I enjoyed with music & bring back this blog this year it is an unspeakable pleasure to be sharing others creativity once again. Maybe you don't know the people I'm interviewing, like Angie Goodnight, but I've discovered many musicians by a chance interview I read. I discovered Joan Baez through an interview, only then to find her music & see her in concert. While my discovery of the Doors came from my mom buying for me Jim Morrison's poetry books & most of the blues musicians I love, including Robert Johnson, came from reading about them or interviews with them. Thus, continuing to share musicians I think are cool, have an interesting story to tell, unique music to share & are more than just your typical band it is with a pleasure I share the first public interview with Angie during the reboot days of this blog. The fact that our casual e-mails to set up this up showed her to have an infectious nature of optimism & care, as I told her I'd lost my job due to cutbacks, only confirmed how good the choice was to talk with her about Fill The Void.
Special thanks to Stefan Klein of Dod Incarnate Records for making this happen.
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AJ: I've heard that the FILL THE VOID name came out of an artistic accident you had. Can you relay this story?
FILL THE VOID: Well, kinda funny story. One day, I was staring disappointingly at a pastel drawing I had done a while back where the well in the drawing looked like crap. So, I just decided to erase it with a regular eraser as opposed to a kneaded one & saw this very sad looking empty space staring right back at me. I realized that this happens too often with my art & so I took a sharpie & just wrote, "fill the void" on it as a reminder. My friend came in & said it looked like a band poster & I said that someday I would make that band happen. It was kind of a half-joke at the time but it's only been a couple months since then.
AJ: Staying with the idea of accidents leading to creating something ... what inspires you musically &/or artistically?
FILL THE VOID: Usually when I hear any sound - any sound at all - I'm making a little tune out of it in my head. In the past I saw it as a bad habit I had, but now it helps when I'm searching for samples & new ideas for the sound I'm looking for. Vivian & Stefan Klein help with the music a lot though. Vivian shoots a crap with a ton of ideas. Stefan & I put together a bunch of the instrumental stuff. I come up with lyrics & vocals from it depending on what the sound reminds me of. It's a lot of fun & seems to work out well that way. Vivian is a part time member of the band. He doesn't work with Stefan & I much, but he gave me a lot of courage to start the band & if it weren't for him it wouldn't exist at all, so I give him lots of credit for what he does do.
AJ: How do you label or define the music so far from FILL THE VOID?
FILL THE VOID: I'm not really sure. ... I guess it's experimental, industrial, punk, indie, surf, comedy rock stuff.
AJ: In our initial e-mail to set up this little interview you wrote: "It's very experimental but I think that's what I wanted in the first place. I'm still discovering new sounds & making new sounds & enjoying every moment of it." Can you expand on this? What is it that you wanted in the first place with FILL THE VOID?
FILL THE VOID: That's a good question. I wanted FILL THE VOID to be like a lot of noise, ambiance & jokes. I think we've accomplished that pretty well so far. I just hope that people get it.
AJ: We share the mutual friend of Stefan Klein, musician, producer & owner of Dod Incarnate Records. Having released a couple albums with him where I remixed some of the music of his as Dethcentrik & Dod Beverte, I know he has a tendency to open the ears of those around him with new music. He wrote to me about you saying: "I'm producing for her, she wanted to start an indie band with a THROBBING GRISTLE influence, so I was immediately on board!" Tell me about the role & influence Stefan has had on the early stages of FILL THE VOID.
FILL THE VOID: He does a lot with the music end, but he also does a lot of producing & promoting.
AJ: When I worked with Stefan he'd send me some basic musical line or a previously released song & whatever first came into my head would be the foundation for the remix. For example, he sent to me this one softer piece with some big dynamics that for some reason made me think of war. I added to it clips of George W. Bush talking, the sounds of guns & then birds chirping to create this landscape of battle & then the strange silence afterwards. With more experimental music the plan of creation is anything but finding a riff, adding a rhythm, etc. As you "discover new sounds" & play around with poetic vocals lines, what's been your approach to creating a song?
FILL THE VOID: It's kind of like what you were describing with how were reminded of fighting when you listened to Stefan's music you were remixing. When I listen to an instrumental piece we put together it always reminds me of something such as the "Soft Whispers" track. It was creepy. I had creepy stuff going through my head & we just decided to put it together. I wanted it to be reminiscent of that song "In Heaven Is Everything Is Fine" from Eraserhead. It was cool.
AJ: What would you like to achieve artistically or musically with FILL THE VOID?
FILL THE VOID: I would like FILL THE VOID to maybe become more upbeat in the future but for now, I guess I've just been in an odd mood where I want everything to be super creepy all the time like an odd horror film. I think that we could make it a bit less creepy though for one of the future albums & then it could be a fun, happy, silly in a different way band..weeee. I don't know. I'm pretty happy where it is right now & where it's going looks pretty good too. It's probably going to sound really randomly great from this point on. Also, I hope that my artwork is really understood with the music it goes with.
AJ: Keeping this short due to time restraints, anything more you'd like to add?
FILL THE VOID: I would like FILL THE VOID to go far. I think that even though it's strange, it's also awesome & maybe other people could see it that way too. Hope everyone likes it a whole lot. Thanks a bunch. Your questions were solid & I had fun answering them.
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