DOPE STARS

INC
Interview with Victor Love, Darin Yevonde

27 September 2004

Written by Gordon Taylor of Infectious Unease Radio

The Dope Stars come from Italy. Consisting of the members Victor Love: Vocals, Guitars, FX, Grace Khold: Machines, Darin Yevonde: Bass, Brian Wolfram: Guitar. There music gives off an explosive energy that express’s progressive a innovative sound. Within this interview you will find out all about the wonderful energy of the Dope Stars Inc

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DOPE STARS INC - www.dopestarsinc.com

Interview by Gordon Taylor of Infectious Unease Radio

BAND MEMBERS:

Victor Love: Vocals, Guitars, FX
Grace Khold: Machines
Darin Yevonde: Bass
Brian Wolfram: Guitar

BANDS DISCOGRAPHY:
10,000 Watts Of Artificial Pleasures

BANDS WEB PAGE:
www.dopestarsinc.com

INTERVIEWER: GORDON TAYLOR OF INFECTIOUS UNEASE RADIO

INTERVIEWEES

Victor Love
Darin Yevonde

I.U.R.: What countries are you all from? At what age did you take up music? How did you meet? And when did Dope Stars Inc first begin?

Victor Love: I'm from Italy as are the other members. Born in the south, but I moved to Rome after 6 months. I started to play piano when I was nine for five years, and then I started to play guitar when I was 14. I met Grace 'cause he did the 1st artwork of my other band, My Sixth Shadow. Then, we started to be great friends and he moved to Rome (he's from the south too, Sicily). One day he was back from a trip in Finland and he told me that he wanted to start an Industrial Rock 'n' Roll band. When I was free from the My Sixth Shadow recordings during Summer 2003) we started the Dope Stars Inc. project in a dirty rehearsal/studio room near Vatican city. By the time the 1st song come out ("Plug and Die") Brian and Darin joined the band. Darin was a friend of Grace's already, and Brian was a long time club/friend of mine.

Darin Yevonde: We are all Italian. I'm the only one from Milan, because Victor, Grace and Brian live in Rome. I started to play guitar when I was sixteen years old. I met Grace Khold in a famous Finnish Rock club two years ago (and it was the beginning of Dope Stars Inc.). But he wasn't unfamiliar to me, because before our meeting I had heard his "name" and it was the same for him. I met Victor and Brian later, in Rome.

I.U.R.: What previous bands have you been involved in? What styles of music did you play in these bands?

Victor Love: I've been involved in many bands playing Rock, Punk, Metal,
Gothic and I had even had some solo experiences, but just for fun. Some years ago I started a band called Chaos Zero. I played guitars in the band and then I started to sing. We started as a metal band and then turned into a crossover/hardcore band. We split in Sept 2003. Another band that I'm involved is My Sixth Shadow, and it is still active (really active since we've just finished to record the new album! And, I even produced it. The album will come out during the next FALL season). We play a really particular mix of influences: Gothic, Pop, Metal, Rock 'n' Roll, Modern Rock, Electro. I play guitars, programming and backing vocals.

Darin Yevonde: I have played in a lot of bands in the past. The most important were Orcrist (black metal) and Ephedra (Goth Rock). I was even a guitarist for two other bands.

I.U.R.: What instruments and equipment do you use when producing and
performing your music?

Victor Love: For this EP, I've used really low budget equipment. Just a computer with Cubase SX, some direct-x effects, an amp emulator for guitars and bass, and a software-based synthesizer and drum machine. Hopefully, with the new upcoming album we'll have the possibility to enter
in a real professional studio. What about performing live? We'll use a mixed set Rock/Electro. Laptop computer, drum machine, synths/keyboards, guitar amps, bass amp and a couple of mics for some special effects.

Darin Yevonde: I use a Yamaha Bass. However, in a short time I'll buy a
Gibson Thunderbird.

I.U.R.: You have released the album "10,000 Watts Of Artificial Pleasures". What was the inspiration behind the music and lyrics? What creative processes do you go through to produce the music and lyrics?

Victor Love: The inspiration behind the music comes from the will to mix 2 different worlds: The world of Techno/Dance/EBM, and the world of Industrial Metal with a Rock 'n' Roll attitude and a Cyberpunk feel. Even concerning lyrics we take inspiration from the Cyberpunk culture mixed with the Rock 'n' Roll culture.

I.U.R.: How has the response been for "10,000 Watts Of Artificial Pleasures"?

Victor Love: Really unexpected I can say. We have been totally flooded by an incredible number of fans, supporters, and people of the biz interested about the project. Artists have sent their congrats to us and a lot more. The feedback we've received so far is really unbelievable, and we really hope to keep this situation till the release of the debut album. That will happen around October 2004.

Darin Yevonde: Fantastic!

I.U.R.: Your music has a very diverse sound. To people who may not have
heard of Dopestars Inc., how would you describe your sound to them?

Victor Love: Really hard. DSI are a real mix of the Dance/EBM world and Rock/Metal World. This is the only way to describe our music. We are not just a Rock band with some Electro parts. There are thousands of bands like that nowadays, and Electro and Rock music has been written and rewritten too many times. When we started this project we wanted to come out with a real mix of these 2 realities. And, this is also the reason why we do not have a drummer and we do use only drum machines. We are a Rock band with a computer playing in the background. We are a sort of "BioMechanic" band.

Darin Yevonde: A mix of industrial sounds and Rock 'n' Roll.

I.U.R.: What music do you enjoy listening to?

Victor Love: Usually I listen to music before going to sleep. I listen to a lot of different kinds of music. I have a lot of CDs, and every time is a contest to select what is good for each night.

Darin Yevonde: Dark/wave and 80's.

I.U.R.: What other things do you enjoy in life?

Victor Love: I like to watch movies. I love computers and everything that
is hi-tech. And obviously I enjoy to have fun and love with my girlfriend.

Darin Yevonde: Reading, writing, drawing and many other things...

I.U.R.: Victor, please tell me about interests you have in Cinema,
Robotics, Virtual Reality, and Sci-Fi.

Victor: Actually, I think that I'm kinda' a freak for this stuff. Sci-Fi Movies & Culture in general, VR, Robotics, UFO, Aliens, X-Files, Blade Runner, Star Wars, Star Trek, Matrix, and all the related stuff are like a drug for me. I'm totally addicted to everything related to the "future". What about books? My favourite one is "DUNE" by Frank Herbert. It's probably one of the best Sci-Fi books I've ever read. Beside normal books I used to be a big fan of the so-called "librogames". I do not know if you have them in USA. btw it's a sort of fantasy/sci-fi book where you have to decide the story like an interactive adventure.

I.U.R.: Darin, please tell me about your Interests in Anne Rice, David
Lynch, Anglo Badalamenti, and Art?

Darin: I love vampyric poetry; and Anne Rice is, according to me, the best
writer of this particular literary kind. I love her vision of vampires. David Lynch has a great visionary mind. I love the expressionistic influences in his movies; and Angelo Badalamenti is the perfect soundtrack artist for Lynch's movies.

I.U.R.: Darin, what literature and movies do you enjoy reading and viewing?

Darin: I read much. In particular, books about philosophy (often Nietzsche), anthropology, novels etc. My favourite movies are psychological thrillers, old horror school movies, Burton, and Kubrick movies.

I.U.R.: Darin, you have listed Liv Tyler as your ideal girl. Could you tell more about this?

Darin: Liv Tyler is a very beautiful girl, but she's Brian 's favourite. LOL. I love any Scandinavian beauty, hyper-white skin with light eyes. I'm very attracted to androgynous females. The ex-70's top model Twiggy is the perfect example.

I.U.R.: What gigs did you enjoy the most, and what was the audience response? Is there anything special incorporated within your performances?

Victor Love: So far we've never played live 'cause everything happened so
fast that we didn't have time until now to practice and arrange a live show. But, we will work this Summer to be ready for the next season of touring. We are even working about some Special FX and stuff to bring on the stage. Probably we'll do some shows here in Rome just to practice a bit on the live stage before starting the real tour. We've just moved a couple of shows we had planned for September in Finland and Russia to include them in the European tour.

I.U.R.: When you have a performance what sort of emotions do you go through?

Victor Love: Talking about my experiences live with my other bands, playing live makes me feel alive. Makes me feel better, and it's a great boost of adrenachaos. I really enjoy playing live. Besides the satisfaction that comes after, it's just a personal feeling when I'm playing on a stage. It's a kind of sublimation/catharsis. And, it also helps me to forget all the sad things of my personal life.

Darin Yevonde: I could write a book about all the funny and interesting
experiences I have had in my life.

I.U.R.: Which bands have you performed gigs with?

Victor Love: A lot of bands, but if you talk about big bands, it can be very difficult here in Italy. It's even difficult just to find any venue in which to play, then it's even harder to find a decent one with some brain venue's owner. And then, at the very end, you have to find some people to come out to see the show. LOL. Actually, in Italy the Rock scene
is quite crap talking about support What about bands? We got a lot of great ones here, and I really hope that the situation will change soon, since it's a real shame that some bands are just underground even if they deserve much more. Anyway, I played together with a lot of bands, I'm not sure you know the names in USA. Here is a list of bands that came up to my
mind: November, Klimt 1918, Darkshine, Darkwell, Agression, Cheesy
Victims, Aquefrigide, Deflore, Svenia, Bloody Mary, Decandence,
Dehumanize, Physique du Role.

I.U.R.: What memorable experiences have you had when playing live?

Victor Love: One time with Chaos Zero, we were near to totally destroying a venue; stage diving, and stuff like that. A lot of people [attended], and a great show. Another great experience happened in The Netherlands with My Sixth Shadow touring with the band Darkwell. It was one of the best and most professional gigs ever! And the venue was really cool too.

I.U.R.: Have you got any tour coming up? If so, where will these take place?

Victor Love: We'll start touring Europe during the next season (November (2004). Hopefully in Spring 2005 we'll start touring also in USA. There are a lot of fans in USA that can't wait to see us playing. Probably in USA we'll find a way to support a bigger local band, such as Dead Star
Assembly.

I.U.R.: Do you have any funny, or interesting experiences that you would
like to talk about?

Victor Love: Not many funny experiences come up to my mind now, except
the fact that we've just started to sell t-shirts in our store, and so far it seems that a MONEY ORDER is valid in every part of the world, except ITALY! Quite funny!

I.U.R.: You received press, Electronic press, radio airplay, and DJ airplay. What countries, radio stations, and DJ have been positive about your work?

Victor Love: We got some stats that demonstrate a really big interest from UK and USA. The DSI team in the UK is maybe the team with the biggest density. Anyway, the big part of our fan base and media interests come from USA, UK, Germany, Italy and Scandinavia. As every Goth/Industrial/Metal/Rock band nowadays.

I.U.R.: What is the music subculture like in your area?

Victor Love: Is there a music subculture here in Italy? Probably yes,
but Pop media over here are working hard 24/7 to drop a big shadow on it.
Anyway, there is a big trend towards Gothic from one side, and Hardcore
Punk from the other side. We even have great acts here in Rome.

Darin Yevonde: There are many music subcultures in Milan, from Electro
music to Metal.

I.U.R.: Throughout the year, there have been many developing styles of music. Some becoming very large and having their own subculture of fans, and others have styles of music methamorphosising into another. In what direction do think music will go?

Victor Love: Unfortunately, it seems that the direction of music only goes together with the targets of business. There are so many people watching the TV 24/7, especially young people, and taking the shit every day from every side. Media nowadays actually decide what's the trend of each year. They decide that the trend is metal? And you will see lots of
metal bands on MTV, and you wonder, how the hell when I was 15 I could only watch it late at night, even if I had to go school the day after? And now there are so many crappy semi-metal bands on the TV? And all the people follow it just 'cause it's a trend. It seems that in these last years, the Gothic thing started to be trendy, and yeah, it can be good for Goth artists for sure, but at the very end, it will be only good for big Pop-Goth crap major artists who wanna be Goth. That's all. Fortunately, things are changing a bit right now. Probably, it's the globalization of culture through the Internet. Probably because people are tired of all the shit that the music biz wants us to eat every day. Probably because they are tired of all the nonsense bands with super production and super promotion that come out nowadays, and that at the very end they taste just as an hormonic fruit. This is what they want us to eat. A big, big strawberry that tastes like water and probably even causes cancer. Then, if you want me to say what direction will take music, it's better if you ask someone else.

I.U.R.: What are your future plans?

Victor Love: A sports car, a swimming pool, and a Manor in Scotland. Just
kidding. My plans are to kick some ass with the band, and then start a
studio/promotion/management agency to help other bands to get a kick-ass
production, and come up from the underground. This is what I'd really love
to do.

Darin Yevonde: I'll be a famous, rich, Rock 'n' roll star. LOL.