EDGE OF DAWN MAGAZINE
1) What does your band name "Blind
Faith And Envy" mean?
Charlene April: Our band name actually came from some old
lyrics I wrote in which the chorus incorporated the line
"Blind Faith and Envy." Daniel and I liked it so much that
we decided it would make for a cool band name. I like to
tell people that they can interpret the meaning however they
like.
2) Which bands are your main influences?
Charlene April: I would say Erasure, Depeche Mode, and Nine
Inch Nails. Although I am really digging a couple of the
bands here in the "synth-pop" scene. "The Echoing Green" and
"Wave In Head" are two good male-fronted bands worth
checking out.
3) How do you divide your work? Which influence do you have
on the songwriting?
Charlene April: Daniel generally writes the music and when
he has most of a song layout done then I work out the lyrics
and melody. Then we tend to work together to shape the final
product. I have written a couple of songs on my own,
however, my songwriting skills are not as great as Daniels
as my songs tend to come out kinda trance-like. Daniel is
capable of writing hit-sounding music, and although he has a
great voice, my voice adds originality and versatility,
which is how/why we were able to settle into our roles so
easily.
4) Do you write lyrics to Daniel's songs or does Daniel
already have your existing lyrics in mind while composing a
song?
Charlene April: I always write the lyrics, Daniel has a good
ear for what is really cool and what isn't very cool. There
are times I re-work the lyrics and they often come out
better then my original work.
5) What inspires you lyrically? Where do your ideas come
from?
Charlene April: The music inspires me the most as I usually
hear a story being told in the various melodies and overall
tempo of a track. It's important to tell a story with lyrics
rather than just vague thoughts strung together. I get a lot
of outside inspiration from "life" and watching how people
behave in various situations.
6) Do you think it's difficult to compete as a female singer
in a scene dominated by male vocalists?
Charlene April: Yes and no. When people hear male vocals
over and over again I would think they would be excited for
something different, on the other hand people don't like
change much either. Female singers also tend to be overly
criticized I've noticed, where fans of male vocalists take
the vocals for what they are without over-analyzing them for
flaws.
7) Why did you cover "Shout" by Depeche Mode?
Charlene April: The song is great but it needed to be
up-dated, it was written by Vince Clarke and performed by
Depeche Mode back in 1981. We also figured it can't hurt to
have a cover song on our debut album to help attract
potential fans.
8) How were the reactions on your debut album "The Charming
Factor" so far?
Charlene April: Reactions have been great! A lot of people
have told us that it's one of their favorite albums of 2004.
That means a lot and tells us we must be on the right track.
We have also had some commercial radio play which is really
unusual for bands in the synth-pop scene these days. It's
been exciting!
9) Do you think your music could appeal to a broader
audience than the Synth Pop / Electro scene?
Charlene April: Absolutely, I think there is mainstream
appeal in most of the songs we write. It's really just a
matter of having the money to do more of a mass marketing.
Unfortunately, the record labels we are on can’t afford what
it would cost to try to get us extensive radio play,
although I do think they are working in that direction for
their bands.
10) Will there be a chance to see Blind Faith And Envy live?
If so, how will you perform your songs live? Will you
rearrange your songs for your gigs?
Charlene April: We have played live and we are excited to
play many more live shows in the future! Daniel plays guitar
on several tracks and keyboard on others while I do the
singing. So far this set-up has worked best although we may
consider adding to our live show with additional members in
the future.
11) Have you already begun working on new Blind Faith And
Envy material? Which direction will you take with your
second album?
Charlene April: We have several NEW songs going out on
various comps this year. Excellent songs that will most
likely be exclusive for the comps. "Secret Affair" is a new
song going on a comp put out by our Euro label "Infacted
Recordings"...probably our best work to date. There's a lot
going on as far as new songs going on compilations so make
sure you check our website from time to time for all of
those updates. Our second album is going to be a bit more
danceable than "The Charming Factor" with more club-friendly
tracks (Daniel's working on writing music as we speak and
it's KILLER, it's so great). We are hoping we can gain a lot
more rotation in the club scene, thus attracting a lot of
new fans. Since our record labels specialize and promote
mostly to the club scene we feel it only makes sense to
start writing more up-tempo tracks. The new album will still
be VERY BF/E so no worries there.
12) What are you working on at the moment?
Charlene April: The song Daniel is writing right now is very
danceable with really catchy melody lines and guitar riffs,
this of course will be on our album along with a couple of
other tracks we have finished recently.
13) On your website, you've released a free CD single of
"Crowded Room". Remarkably, it's not only available in the
MP3 format but also in the uncompressed WAV format. Do you
think it's a good way to gain new fans? Will you release
further free songs on your page in the future?
Charlene April: I think when you are a new band it is
important to give some songs away for free. I am not sure
how many people have heard and/or downloaded our digital
single but I am sure it's in the thousands. The bad part is
that some people might be satisfied with just the couple of
tracks and not be motivated enough to buy the disc. Music is
such a tough business and unless it's being constantly
shoved in people's faces it's hard to stay afloat. Most
indie artist's who have achieved success would tell you that
it took years of hard work and tons of personal investments
and sacrifices in both time and money. To be an indie artist
and have your own studio can be more costly than going to a
studio and working with a producer.
14) You have produced your debut album completely on your
own. Would you like to work with a producer in the future?
Charlene April: We upgraded our studio and Daniel has grown
into being an excellent producer. Our songs since "The
Charming Factor" sound even more amazing. Producing music is
all about learning the software and hardware as well as
trial and error. We would love to work with a producer some
day, maybe someone like Flood or Mark Bell would be ideal.
Of course the benefits of working with a producer would mean
we could actually focus on songwriting and not all the
tedious stuff that comes with trying to mix and engineer
each track.
15) Besides the production of your CD, you have also
designed the artwork on your own. How important is it to you
to have the greatest possible control over the final
product?
Charlene April: It was VERY important to have creative
control for all aspects of our debut disc. It was more of a
"we did this completely on our own, all credits belong to
us" and there's a lot of satisfaction in that, but also a
lot of stress. Now I feel it is important to start
incorporating and considering other people's ideas as far as
image, direction of songs, cover art, etc. The idea is to
get better and not stagnate, that's where asking and
considering other people's opinions is important.
16) Which synths and samplers do you use? Do you also use
software synthesizers?
Daniel: While recording “The Charming Factor” there was one
main sampler and that was the Mod Plug Tracker, there were
no synths or VST’s. Recording that album was a process of
gathering as many samples as possible and utilizing them the
best way I knew how. Now that we have upgraded our studio in
the last few months I am now using a couple synths (Yamaha
EX7 – Roland XP60) and many new VSTI’s. (Halion sampler –
Battery drum sampler – Korg Legacy – FM7 and many more. It
has been great learning new equipment and hope to upgrade
again.
17) Do you mix analog or digital?
Daniel: Everything now is mixed digitally within Cubase SX.
Unlike before I can now actually mix with automation.
18) Which equipment do you use for recording vocals and how
do you process them? How do you record vocals and guitars?
Daniel: We use AKG mics through an M-Audio soundcard, vocals
are recorded straight in, same goes for guitar. After all
the vocals (guitar) are recorded I clean up any clicks or
pops…EQ it a bit, and during the mix of the song I will
constantly re-EQ to get that right level. Vocals are never
really a problem to mix, it is the music around it that is
the hard part.
19) Which tools do you use for mastering your songs?
Daniel: During “The Charming Factor” recordings I only used
T-Racks mastering software, which is the most convenient
tool to use since it has your EQ, Limiter and Compressor all
in one, I am sure I will still use it from time to time next
to my WAVES plug-ins.
20) Does it bother you that many people particularly pay
attention to the appearance of women in the music business?
Charlene April: No, it doesn't really bother me anymore. I
think when you are indie the way you look takes the
backseat. In other words, people like you because of your
music not because of an image being shoved in their faces.
How I look is important to me but it does not dominate my
life or the music. I would rather have people find a lot of
sex-appeal in the music rather than in me which is why I
tend to dress modestly.
21) Do you think female singers / musicians can add a new
dimension to Synth Pop?
Charlene April: Sure, I know I would like to be well known
in the scene for having a great voice and overall talent.
Electronic music is so technical (from the stand-point of
learning equipment and software) men just naturally
dominate. I think there will be more and more women involved
in this scene as time marches on.