Steven Juliano, lead singer and creator of I Am Ghost unveils new epic project: REQUIEM FOR THE DEAD, a pre-curser to the acclaimed Epitaph Records release of "Lovers' Requiem".
So here it is everyone, the very first interview explaining Requiem For The Dead...
So, Steven, how are you doing lately, keeping pretty busy with recording new songs and Lovers and Kings I guess?
Steven: Yea, I have not been this busy since before I started I Am Ghost 5 years ago. Before then, when I was working on films as an animator, I was putting in 14 hour days five days a week at the studio. Now, it seems like I am back to that mentality. I get up early, dabble in emails for an hour or so, then start drawing on my graphic novel. Hours later I then talk on the phone with agents and such, then back to drawing. Around 7PM or its to the studio to write for Requiem for the Dead till about 3 AM. Then, I do it all over again...
We know you are the vocalist for your new band Requiem For The Dead, can you tell us who else is in the band and what they play?
Steve: That's the beauty of this project. We are taking everything slow, slow, slowww. I love that. I have always been rushed in creating music. Everything in the past had a deadline, and it bothered the shit out of me. With RFTD, it's something all of us sat around and thought long and hard about. Everything you are seeing was plotted and planned since day one. There is an entire band (seven members). We have everything you can imagine. But, we are keeping things mysterious for the time being until the CD is released. For now, we are going to release member info every month or so till the final day. So far, everyone knows I am apart of this project. We just released info about our guitarist Ty Oliver last week. The rest will come soon enough....
How long have you known the other members and how did you meet?
Steve: I have been working on RFTD over seven months ago. Even when I was in I Am Ghost, touring and such with them, I was talking back and forth with members through emails and over the phone. We were sending music back and forth via email, and I would write and sing my parts through my Itouch recording app. Then, when I quit I Am Ghost, I moved to where everyone lived.
Will you be playing the same kind of style as you did with I Am Ghost or will you be doing something different?
Steve: Ok, this is the key... this is "the" thing you need to like highlight or make bold in the interview. Requiem for the Dead is something that has been sitting in the back of my head every since we wrote "Lovers' Requiem" in 2006. I actually wanted our second full length, "Those We Leave Behind" to be part two of "Lovers Requiem", but needless to say, again, I was told not to sing about Vampires, Monsters, Zombies, things of that nature. I will swear on my mothers life that's what I was told by everyone. I was pissed, I was very confused, and kinda just pushed this idea aside for years. But I always new I would revert back to "Requiem for the Dead" sometime in my life, either with current members, or out on my own and with all new people. I am an artist first, a hopeless romantic second, and musician third. That's how my brain works, and that's how I deal with what I write. This is who I fucking am. It was the hardest thing to leave something you cared so much about for over 5 years, but in reality, I had to do what was right for myself, and believe it or not, for the fans. I wish to God I did things differently with the last CD. I held back on everything, which was a lot my fault. I should have opened my mouth and taken more of a stance, but I didn't. We had just lost four members from Lovers Requiem, and it really bothered me. But, we tried our best and I think the last CD is pretty bad ass... but it's not what I wanted it to sound like at all.... So is RFTD going to sound like I Am Ghost? Well, in some respects, yes. But it's a different kind of sound. We will have the female/male duets back again, the cellos and violins are back. The synth is a huge part of this project as well.
So what is RFTD all about?
Steve: I am starting my own god damn trilogy... something that should have been done since day one. As the story goes, "Lovers' Requiem" was an epic love story about a man and woman (teenagers) who were madly in love with each other and who both passed away around the same time. One went to hell, the other went to heaven. It's this huge love story about the crap these kids go through to reunite and hold each other for just one last time. All these crazy things happen to them along with way, and the male in the story has to battle his way out of hell to get to her, and the girl in the story has to do the same but from heaven. In the end, after the countless wars that were waged and millions of souls that perished because of all this, the two meet for one last time to just hold each other for a few moments... its the greatest love story ever I think.
RFTD will be before all this happened, before they die and go to heaven and hell. The boy in the story gets bitten by something and starts to change, and the female in the story has to deal with other drama that teenagers go through. Again, it's still this epic love story: a story know one knows about yet.
We are trying really hard not to sound like Lovers' Requiem, cuz for one, it's been done before, and two, there is def a different vibe with the couple in this time of their life. They are young, they are alive, they are happy, they are in love for the first time, and I wanted to bring that tone to the table. The songs are not as moody/gothic in sound but still has a sense of beautiful darkness. They have no clue as to what is going to happen to them, and they come across all these adventures. Each song is about that.
What are some things you have learned from I Am Ghost that you would do differently with RFTD?
Steve: I think the biggest is listen to your gut feeling on everything. If you have something you feel strongly about, speak your mind. If people are not cool with the things I am writing then maybe working with me was a bad idea, cuz I'm not changing anymore for anyone. Never again.
How's the recording of the new album going, and do you have a name for it yet?
Steve: We have 5 songs done. We keep writing more which is kinda weird cuz I thought this would only be a short EP, but now I'm thinking let's go for the gusto and do a entire album. Fuck it. It would be keen. The crazy part is all the people hitting us about about RFTD (labels) that already want to sign us and they have not even heard one damn song. Interesting...
Who have been your biggest musical influences throughout the years and while writing with RFTD?
Steve: Well, there's def a hint of I Am Ghost, but everyone in the band comes from a completely different background than I am not used to. Some are into classical and thats all they know, or some into dancy/synth driven bands that I have never heard before. It's a cluster fuck of great ideas. And I love it.
So, you guys are recording your first video soon! Although we haven't heard any songs by you guys yet, can you tell us the title of the song this will be for and maybe an idea of what the video will be like?
Steve: Yea, we are going to release the video around the same time as the first single hits. That's all I can really say cuz things are changing now every day. But again, everything is coming out in due time. We just want the fans and our friends to understand that we are really looking to make music that just makes us happy...
Other than being a musician, you are a great artist! Will you be doing the artwork for the album?
Steve: Yea, probably. The album cover is being drawn out now. It would be redundant to hire someone to draw up our cd art when I can do it myself....
Have you always wanted to be a musician, if not what did you want to be when you were younger?
Steve: Nope, I never wanted to be a singer in a band. Ever. I wanted to draw cartoons and comic books. I wanted write movies as well. I kinda fell into this by accident, and I just used my knowledge of writing stories and put it into music. Crazy how your life can change, huh?
Do you plan to tour as soon as the album is released and will we get a visit in the UK?
Steve: We have not really thought that far ahead. It was be awsome, but again, we don't know what the future holds with touring...
A lot of I Am Ghost fans are sad about the band breaking up, not just because of the music but not being able to see all you together on tour and meeting you.
If your ex band mates were to start up new bands, do you think you could ever tour with them with RFTD? It would definitely draw in some of your old fans!
Steve: Yea, well, we would have to see about that. I am not interested at the moment but you never know...
Now that IAG is dead, what are your thoughts on the other members and do you still keep in touch?
Steve: They are all doing their own things, and I wish them the best...
Best memories with the I Am Ghost guys?
Steve: The biggest is just all the crazy shit we have seen in such a short time we were all together. Just being on plane rides and going, "We are headlining a show in Greece tonight, how did this happen?" or traveling through Europe on a tour bus and pulling up to venues and just being so excited to be in countries I NEVER thought I would ever see...
You are probably really fed up with this question by now, but it seems to be the main question people are asking, so can you please clear it up one last time for BTS, why did I Am Ghost split?
Steve: It was just time. I did not feel I was honest anymore. The new songs we were coming up with were just not me. I was trying to be something I was not. I was singing bullshit. I couldn't take it anymore...
And finally, where did the name Requiem For The Dead come from?
Steve: It's the entire premise of the new CD. You will find out soon enough with then album is done...
And just a few random questions from your fans:
What is your opinion on Ronnie Radke (formerly Escape the Fate) being jailed?
Steve: Damn, I get this asked so much, and I don't understand why, really. I toured with the dude for two months, shared a tour bus with him, and yes, was a good friend of mine at the time, but I have no opinion of him being jailed. The guy made a mistake, he's dealing with it. Leave him alone. Let him live his life...
What is the story behind the lyrics of 'Masques and Martyrs' ?
Steve: It's just a chapter in the Lovers' Requiem saga. Read the insert cd booklet from start to finish and you will understand it all...
When you're not writing music or working on your art what do you like to do in your spare time?
Steve: Spare time? What's that?
Is it likely that Requiem For The Dead will be signed to Epitaph like I Am Ghost were?
Steve: ;)
For info on RFTD, go to:
www.twitter.com/requiem4thedead
www.myspace.com/requiemforthedead777
SEARCH: REQUIEM FOR THE DEAD on Facebook and LIKE them now!
