Music Monday! Vera Beren’s Gothic Chamber Blues Ensemble

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Interview with Vera Beren of Vera Beren’s Gothic Chamber Blues Ensemble. We discuss how she came to record “Green and White”; her old band, Die Hausfrauen; her Moog Opus 3; recording Nico-esque gothic song; her guitarist, Jon Diaz; Robert Fripp and the League of Crafty Guitarists; King Crimson; goth and glam; the band’s mutual love for David Bowie; how much the sound of the band was planned and how much of it evolved naturally; being compared to Diamanda Galas, Frank Zappa, Tom Waits, Kate Bush and Nick Cave; what their stage shows like; wanting be a female Iggy Pop; performing at The Cutting Room; stages are getting smaller; perforing at The Bowery Poetry Club for CMJ; Jim Thirlwell and Foetus; Lydia Lunch; Nels Cline; Teenage Jesus and the Jerks; Fred Frith; No Wave; Eddie Klinger and An Albatros; recording “The Haunted” with Tom Verlaine; Sorcerer Sound Recording Studios; Ennio Morricone; her issues with reverb; The Sisters of Mercy; over the hill at 24; Memory Man; “I even hate my rock ‘n’ roll”; the death of friend and band member Bill Browning; turning to directing experimental theater and sound design; Edward Norton starring in the play Bible Burlesque; Reverend Billy; Shelly Mars; Antonin Artaud’s The Theatre of Cruelty; The Living Theatre; performing the part of Clytemnestra in the never released experimental Opera of Agamemnon; musicians Ned Sublette, Pauline Oliveros, Shelly Hirsch, “Blue” Gene Tierney, and Arto Lindsay; Nicole Gagné; Idea Records; David Avedore; Suicide, Sonic Youth and Glenn Branca; the phenomenon of MySpace; Deerhoof; Dr. Yo; her upcoming performance at Moe Pitkins.

Featured songs are “Green and White”, “The Haunted” and “The Nod”.

Download: http://www.smallworldpodcast.com/mp3/smallworld030606.mp3

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