TWELFTH OF NEVER

By Gordon Taylor of Infectious Unease Radio

I first came across Twelfth Of Never when I received there beautiful Debut Cd “blowing Bubbles through Broken Windows” I fell in love with there sound it took me into a world of mystery and dream like states. Their music and lyrics gave such listening pleasure. Twelfth Never are a wonderful talent band that have something special to offer. I discover more about them in this interview. I now give you Twelfth Of Never

Band Interview

Band: Twelfth of Never

Band Members:
Robin Tinker (vocals, recorder)
Ron Miles (bass)
Keith Landry (guitar)
Matthew Davis (keyboards, MIDI, vocals).
Adam Zelny is no longer a contributing member of Twelfth of Never.

Bands Discography:
Blowing Bubbles Through Broken Windows (8 song CD -1999)
2 song promo demo cassette - (Halloween 1999 - NLA)

Bands Snail Mail Address: PO box 7327 Fitchburg, MA 01420

Interviewer: Gordon Taylor of Infectious Unease Radio
Interviewee: Robin, Ron, Keith, and Matthew. Answers transcribed by
Matthew.

Date: November 12, 2000

At what Age did you all take up music, what inspired you to take up music and how did Twelfth Of The Never meet and begin.

Keith:
My brother played guitar and I picked it up when I was younger, I got my first guitar when I was 13 and that was the beginning of the end - the first day of the rest of my life.

Ron:
I started taking keyboard lessons when I was 12 and bought my first bass guitar when I was 14 when I started high school. I switched to bass because my friend Steve layed and he got me into it.

Robin:
Well, I've always sang on my own , I joined the recorder club at school in 3rd grade. I took guitar lessons at age twelve but I didn't stick with it. Twelfth of Never is my first official musical project.

Matt:
I started off wanting to be a drummer in 1987 or so...I made drum sets made out of plastic bowls and such. Then my mother got me a low-cost portable Keyboard...from then on until around 1994, I got various instruments and learned how to play them all and started recording on a 4-track tape recorder. Keyboards have been my main focus since 1994.

What previous bands have you all been involved in? What styles of music did you play in these bands?

Ron:
The first serious band I was in was Scattered Remnants which was a death metal band I was involved with them for about five years.

Matt:
I was in a few minor bands that never got out of the basement from 1988 up to around 1992. Then I had a death metal recording project called Blackened Chapel which made the transition to a full band in 1992 until 1994. After that I had several solo recording projects and then Twelfth of Never in 1997.

Robin I understand you where involved in chorus groups what song did you first perform solo?

Robin:
Well, I did one of the tunes from "Godspell" in elementary school when we performed it.

Robin do you have a particular vocalist or style of singing that you admire.

Robin:
Jarboe.

Robin you are involved in New Blood Productions. How did you become a part of New Blood Productions? What sort of films do you produce? What was one of the first films you produced and are there any particular film producer you admire.

Robin:
In college I literally bumped into Andy Sawyer of New Blood Productions. After that he asked me if I wanted to be in one of his movies. With New Blood Productions and Hour of the Wolf, we produce everything from horror to drama to comedy. The first film I was involved with was Dumb Fiction. I don't know if I admire any particular producers but there are lots of directors I admire, such as Roman Polanski, Dario
Argento, and David Lynch.

Robin you are publishing a collection of sarcastic little nursery rhymes, which have the themes of candy, dead people, and bugs. Who will you be publishing the book with? What was it that inspired you to write about these particular subject matters?

Robin:
Due to becoming more involved with other projects, that project is currently on hold. The poems just popped out of their own accord.

Matthew I was reading a review that you are a photographer of cemetery statuary. What sort of equipment do you use? What Cemeteries have you
captured the images of? Is there a particular cemetery you have really
enjoyed taking photos of? What do you look for when taking photos?

Matt:
I use a Fuji Discovery 290 camera and 400 speed Kodak film. I've photographed various cemeteries around New England but my favorite is Mt. Auburn cemetery near Boston Massachusetts. I usually try to set up my shots to include a lot of different subjects in the frame to have a good sense of perspective and depth. I have a particular fondness for old weathered statuary.

Mathew you have studio called Loony Bin what made you decide on that
name?

Matt:
The Loony Bin is essentially my bedroom/living room and Nightmare Before christmas merchandise gallery in the house in which I live. I decided to call it the Loony Bin because it has a history of varying degrees of dementia and drama.

Matthew what form of Martial arts do you practice?

Matt:
Well, I was formally trained in Kempo and Kung Fu quite a few years ago. I now casually practice a combination of various styles such as Kung Fu, Kendo, Ninjustsu, and Judo.

Matthew you have produced the album Blowing Bubbles Through Broken
Windows. Is producing something you would like to get more involved in?

Matt:
I'd been producing my own demo projects since 1992, learning and progressing along the way. I would really like to get into a real studio and start doing it professionally.

Mathew what songs do enjoy by Faith and the muse?

Matt:
Definitely "Annwyn, Beneath the Waves", "All Lovers Lost", "Fade and Remain"....I generally enjoy all of their music.

Keith and Ron Is there a particular Guitarist that you admire.

Keith:
Thurston Moore, Paul Barker...

Ron:
Michael Hedges.

Keith what are your favourite songs by Laibach, Sameal. Radio Head?

Keith:
For Radio Head, the entire OK Computer album. I like Laibach's Beatles cover album.

What instruments and equipment do you all use when producing and
performing your music?

Keith:
I use an Ibanez Sabre 6 string electric guitar, a Washburn acoustic 6 string, and a 12-string acoustic. Mesa 50/50 power amp with Mesa 4x12 cabs, a BBE 462 sonic maximizer, and an Alesis EQ.

Ron:
a Washburn xp-600 6-string bass guitar, a Hartke 7000 bass head and a Crate 215 cab, a BBE 462 sonic maximizer, and a compressor/limiter.

Robin:
an AKG mic which I don't like, a Yamaha recorder, and an Alesis Nanoverb.

Matthew:
My set-up for Twelfth of Never consists of a Korg N1 synth, a Roland MC-50mkii sequencer, Korg x5d-r and Boss Dr-5 sound modules, an Akai s2000 sampler, Roland xp-30 synth, a Behringer mx1602 mixer, an Alesis Nanoverb, a Shure sm58 microphone, and most recently a hammered dulcimer.

I understand Twelfth of the Never is looking for a drummer have you
had any successful applicants?

Robin:
We have had no applicants...yet.

What creative process do you go through when composing your music?

Ron:
It usually starts off with one person coming in with a riff or musical passage and we build off of it from there.

You have beautiful songs that express emotion, what inspires you to
write such lyrics for the music?

Robin:
I listen to the instrumentation which puts me into a particular mood. Then I allow that mood or emotion to sweep me along with it, and the lyrics just seem to blurp out.

The song "I shall not care" You have used a sample from the movie of Wuthering Heights (the Juliette Binoche/Ralph Fiennes version.) What was it that you enjoyed about the film/book of Wuthering heights?

Robin:
It was utterly emotionally devastating. I can't even read the book anymore because I don't want to cry.

You have adapted lyrics from a poem by Sara Teasdale. Could you tell me about the poet and how you came across her?

Robin:
I first read that poem when I was a junior in high school.... I was alone sitting in a room and I opened a book exactly to that poem and I've loved it since. In reading other poems by Sara Teasdale, found she was an extremely smart and haunted woman. Her writings can be very upsetting.

Ron you wrote the song "Union" what was the inspiration behind this song?

Ron:
It was after my former girlfriend of eight years and I broke up. Basically the song is about feeling that you have some control and direction in your life when you have a relationship, but when the relationship ends, you're at a loss. Then you're looking for someone to help get you out of that state you're in.

What was the inspiration behind the songs "To Lure The Swans And Flies" "Theanna" "Parade OF Bodies" "Your Shroud Of Turin"?

Robin:
Lure" is about my ex-boyfriend...it is about how you compromise your goals in life when you get involved in a relationship. The swans and flies are the potential people you attract to yourself. "Theanna" is about an old man trying in vane trying to keep his younger lover by his side. "Parade" is when you're people-watching at a club.

Ron:
"Shroud" is basically about asking or expecting too much of people sometimes and not being able to return the favor.

In the song "Parade of Bodies" there is spoken word could you tell me more about the production behind this composition?

Matthew:
We have samples in the song from an episode of the Twilight Zone titled "Five Strangers in Search of an Exit". I thought the particular samples fit well with the lyrical content of the song.

Are you influenced by books or movies or plays?

All:
Yes...very much so - mostly movies and a few select writings.

When you get the time what music do you all enjoy listening to?

Keith:
I've been listening to a lot of Front 242, Front Line Assembly, Funker Vogt, Kovenent, Covenant, and miscellaneous techno and industrial.

Ron:
October/November Project, Katatonia, Slowdive, Sopor Aeturnus, and
To Die For.

Robin:
lot of early Cure, the Chameleons, and a lot of Motown.

Matthew:
I've only been listening to music in my car lately because my home stereo is currently broken... a couple compilations, Gary Numan, the Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack.

Your music has many styles of sound. To people who may not of heard Twelfth of the Never how would of you describe your sound to them.

Matt:
Our style of music is just like the title of our CD – Blowing bubbles through broken windows. Soft, yet abrasive, like bits of broken glass shards along with beautiful floating bubbles. That's actually how the title of the album came to be. That's the best way to explain it.

I get the feeling Loony Bin studio is in a beautiful part of Fitchburg Massachusetts. Are all you close to the environment?

Matt:
Well, the Loony Bin studio is technically in Baldwinville, Massachusetts which is a very small town in the middle of the wilderness. As for being close to the environment, Keith is more into to technological pursuits, Ron raked his lawn recently, Robin lives next to a swamp, and I am part wood-elf.

What is the subculture like in Massachusetts?
Matt:
Well....it's kind of in a slump right now...it has become a little stagnant. People seem to be more interested in dancing to top-40 Goth hits than going out to see/hear new bands these days. But the club scene is good - there are a couple of decent Goth/industrial type clubs in the Boston area, most prominently Man Ray. However, Northampton seems to be on the subcultural map these days.

How has the response been for "Blowing Bubbles through Broken Windows?

Matt:
The general majority of people that have heard it really like it. Word of the band is slowly spreading all over the world...the CD is being played on the air in several countries such as Romania and Japan.

How long did it take to produce "Blowing Bubbles Through Broken
Windows"?

Robin:
We wrote the songs over a period of about two years and we recorded for about two months.

I was impressed with the album's artwork and also the artwork for the webpage. Who designed the artwork for both and what Mediums and Methods were used to produce the work?

Robin and Matt:
Mr. Jay Hendershaw, former vocalist of Scattered Remnants and current employee of CDR Interactive designed the website and album layout, mush of which was done using Adobe Photoshop. The statue photographs on the album cover are by Matthew...the photographs of the band on the site are by Babble and Jim Hutchinson.

The photos of twelfth of never have been taken in very beautiful environments. Some of the photos have been taken in the snow and others taken on the coast. At what locations have they been taken?

Robin and Matt:
They were all at locations in Massachusetts. Such as Marshall apple farm in Fitchburg, a little red school house in Leominster, Mt. Auburn cemetery...and the shots at the ocean were at Coolidge Reservation in Gloucester, MA.

Where have you toured, are you planning any up and coming tours?

Keith and Robin:
We've only played selective dates in the New England area.

What gigs did you enjoy the most and what was the audience response?

Robin:
I really liked a show we did at the Java Hut in Worcester MA. I really liked the atmosphere of the place.

Ron:
The Tune Inn in Connecticut because it was our first show away from our immediate area and most of the audience didn't know us yet.

Keith:
I also liked the Tune Inn.

Matthew:
I really liked the gig at the Wallace planetarium in Fitchburg MA...it was just a great place to play and the atmosphere was unique.

Have there been any gigs in which you have not so much enjoyed?

All:
Our last show at the Above Club in Worcester MA, at which the owner/sound man at the club cut us off in the middle of our set so he could go home and drink.

Is there anything special incorporated within your performances?

Matt:
At every show we do, we have samples from a selected movie play in between songs. The Shining was the first...followed by such films as The Lost Boys, Amadeus, Labyrinth, and many more. We usually also try to fill the stage with candles.

When you have a performance what goes through your mind when you are
on the stage. What is it that you feel? What sort of emotions do you go
through when the eyes of the audience are on you?

Ron and Robin:
For all of us, we tend to be start off a bit nervous and are usually praying that we don't make mistakes or forget the songs.

Matthew:
Personally, after I'm comfortable with where I am and what I'm doing, I eventually start looking out at the crowd and gathering the collective energy there - it definitely helps a lot. It's always a major thrill to see people dance to our music while were playing it.

In which countries do you receive the most response from?

All:
Romania!

What are your future plans?

All:
Keep composing...try to generate some label interest...play in other parts of the country and the world.

Is there anything you would like to say to the readers out there?
All:
Thank you for your support. We appreciate all the positive feedback
from our fans.