Loud Cities Magazine _Issue 3_03_2021

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Loud Cities Magazine / #3 MAR 2021
the first demos. It fit the mood, and I
tend to look at those synchronicities
as providence. Also, speaking of
synchronicities, Beth’s nickname when
she was a teenager was “Raven”, which
I didn’t know when I named the band.
I also tend to have a less positive
worldview than Beth, so maybe I’m the
cloud and she’s the raven?
Beth: I was called Raven when I was
in the goth scene in New Orleans and
then the industrial scene in Chicago.
At the time, I was a waitress at Hard
Rock Cafe (s) and I’m pretty sure there’s
some embarrassing photographic
evidence of me in my uniform with
“Raven” embroidered on it.
What inspires your music and lyrics?
Matthew: I think we draw from life, from
experiences, art, relationships of all
manner. Love, loss, faith, failures, nature,
spirituality, and how we, as spiritual
beings, respond to the environment of
this world, however beautiful or caustic
we find it. ‘Spirituality’ has become this
disposable buzzword these days. I don’t
mean it in a yoga-mat, life-coach and
lattes kind of way. I mean it as a way
of being in touch with the energies
around us that we can’t necessarily see
with our eyes.
Who do you consider to be your
biggest influences as musicians but
also as lyricists/poets, and why, please?
Beth: I saw so many bands as a
teenager. Clan of Xymox, The Cure,
Gene Loves Jezebel, Ministry, Front 242,
Meat Beat Manifesto, Depeche Mode,
The The, PiL, The Cult, it’s a long list. I
was very into anything Wax Trax!, The
Smiths, Tones on Tail, Cabaret Voltaire,
Bauhaus, Sisters of Mercy... being a part
of this project really brings it full circle
for me.
Matthew: When Beth and I met, we
bonded over a shared love of ELO,
something we’ve both taken a lot of heat
for. Haha. Jeff Lynne is a sonic genius.
Lyrically, Nick Cave’s work has had a big
impact on me. He’s got a poetic bent
to his words that can make even the
ugliest subject matter seem beautiful.
Not unlike Anais Nin. Musically it’s a
wide spectrum. The primitive angst of
early ‘80s hardcore, the bare emotion
of ‘60s soul, the grandness of ‘70s arena
rock, the charming innocence of ‘50s