New Interview

Thanks to Jen from 'Interviews with Jen' for the interview....

Welcome Siva Noir! Thank You for taking the time to do an interview with me.

Jen: How many are in your group and what are your names?

Lexi: There are four permanent members: Lexi Newman on vocals, Chris Cano on drums, Chris Ridenhour keys, and Johnny Burke on guitar. We will have a fifth member, a bass player, in the permanent line-up very soon, but we don't want to include him here until it's absolutely set in stone.

Jen: How long have you been together as a group?

Lexi: We are a relatively young group and have only been playing together since November. However, Chris Cano, Chris Ridenhour, and Johnny have known each other for a very long time, and have been playing in bands together for many years. I'm the only real newbie.

Jen: I read somewhere in your blog that one of you were in another band, can you tell me about that and how Siva Noir came about?

Lexi: Cano and Chris' previous band fell apart due to serious internal conflict and failure to really go anywhere because of the lack of a live act. They decided to depart from this situation and start fresh, with longtime friend and member of LA stalwart band The Mansions, Johnny Burke, on guitar. They needed a new frontwoman, and they met me kind of out of the blue. Very fortuitous timing. The rest is history. It was during the stint with the previous band that Cano wrote some of his best music, and we are currently benefiting from that as much of it appears on our forthcoming album.

Jen: Where is your favorite place to perform?

Lexi: Because we are a relatively young band, we haven't played outside of the LA club scene yet. My favorite show was on a Friday night at the Knitting Factory. Great scene. The Mint was also a fun little gig.

Jen: What do you look forward to the most when doing a show?

Lexi: There are studio musicians and then there are performers, and I most certainly fall into the latter category. I love singing live more than anything in the world. So, I guess I look forward to the chance to really blow people away with music and to watch their faces while we're doing it. For me, performing is cathartic. I get my aggression out onstage.

Jen: What is the most crazy/bizarre thing that has happened while performing, or has happened right before/after a show?

Lexi: I really can't say that anything crazy or bizarre has happened as of yet. We play, people have a good time, then we usually go eat a huge meal and go home.

Jen: What's your biggest inspiration?

Lexi: Our music draws from myriad sources; we are inspired by alt-rock from the 90s, 80s new wave, certain classical ideas (Cano is a huge classical music buff). Garbage, Muse, Blondie, Depeche Mode, Concrete Blonde--the list could go on and on. I guess a more generalized (albeit hackneyed) answer would be the intense love of what we do and the desire to reach as many people as possible.

Jen: Who is responsible for the writing the lyrics?

Lexi: Cano has written the music and lyrics for all of the songs appearing on the upcoming album. I'll turn it over to him.

Jen: Are the songs from personal experiences?

Cano: Some are, and some are from the experiences of people close to me. I try to keep my lyrics open enough so that people can read their own interpretations.

Jen: What is your latest album and song? What can you tell us about it?

Cano: Well, we are currently near completion on our first album, tentatively called "The Hunger". I had about 30 songs that were unrecorded when I met Lexi, and with her help we narrowed it down to about 12 songs that we think would form the best collection. This album is very important to me personally because most of these songs were among the first songs I ever wrote. Also, working on this album has brought me together with old friends, new friends, and some other amazing musicians, so the whole process has been incredibly positive.

As for the latest song, we just finished up two new ones called "When Darkness Falls" and "End Times". These songs mean a lot to me because they are the first songs I have finished in which I had Lexi's vocals in mind, and they open up a wide range of possibilities for the future.

Jen: Tell us about the song "Closer"

Cano: Closer is the first song I ever wrote for a female vocalist. I had started a project a few years back with another female singer, and the verse melody came to me one day while I was driving around. The chorus melody was inspired by a piece of music my friend Chris Ridenhour had shown me a few weeks prior, so he also shares credit for the song. This song has been a favorite ever since it was recorded with my previous band, but after I formed Siva Noir with Lexi I knew that I had to re-record it. Lexi has a very strong and nuanced vocal, so she is able to sing the song the way it was intended. We currently have an acoustic version available, but we will be re-recording the full version soon.

Jen: What would you like to tell your fans and new found friends?

Lexi: I guess we just want to offer our sincere thanks for the truly generous influx of support we've seen in the past few months. We are all humbled and honored to be a part of your life in even the smallest of ways. Keep listening; there are many, many good things to come!

Thank you so much for taking the time for this interview.

Have a great week.

~Jen

http://www.myspace.com/interviewswithjen

SIVA NOIR INTERVIEW II

(s.f.m) I HAVE SEEN SO MANY ARTISTS IN ACCORDING YOUR INSPIRATION, BUT TO ME, YOU REMEMBER A LOT TO BLONDIE, FOR ENERGY, AND VOICE.

Lexi: Well, we definitely take that as a compliment! We all love Blondie, and we definitely have a similar vibe. Debbie Harry is a personal hero of mine, and the rest of the band was incredible. We hope we can channel some of the same energy.

(S.F.M.) YOU WILL PLAYNG IN BOLOGNA? WHEN?

Lexi: We don't have any international dates scheduled as of yet, but we would absolutely love to come to Bologna sometime in the future! I have personally visited Bologna; it's a beautiful city! If our album does well, we will hopefully be able to make it to Europe.

(SFM) HAVE A NEW PROJECT?

Lexi: Yes; we are currently finishing work on our debut album, tentatively titled "The Hunger." We are all extremely excited about it, and it should be released in about a month. We are hoping to tour in order to promote the album as soon as possible.

(SFM) THINK ABOUT A GREAT ARTIST FROM THE PAST, WITH WHICH YOU WOULD HAVE WANTED TO WORK?

Lexi: Personally, I would have liked to work with Freddie Mercury, who has been my favorite singer and source of vocal inspiration since I was very, very young. David Bowie is at the top of my list as well, although he is not really an "artist of the past" quite yet. I don't want to force him into obsolescence or early retirement by answering that question with his name. If you ask all the members of the band, I'm sure we would all have very different answers: Johnny would be someone rock and roll, Chris Ridenhour would be a film composer, and Chris Cano would be a classical composer! We all have very different personal influences.

(SFM)WHO'S "NO HERO"?

Cano: No Hero is about imperfection and how imperfections are overlooked in desperate times. The lyrics for this song are actually more direct than usual for me, but they're not about anyone in particular.

(SFM) THANX SO MUCH!