Tony Hamera has been a fixture in Detroit area Dreampop for close to a decade now. Caelum Bliss played the music of it's heroes...darkwave-4AD style before morphing into the more synthpop oriented Deathgirl.com. Now, Tony has rejoined with drummer William King as well as ex-Sweatysuedelips bassist, Brett Haupt. The icing on the cake, is the soaring vocals of newcomer, Kate Hinote.
Auralgasms was pleased to sit and chat with Tony about his past work, and his most recent incarnation, Ether Aura.
Let's start with a little history...your first band was Caelum Bliss - I remember seeing the band early on when
it was almost gothic sounding with strings. Who was influencing you at the time?
Well to be completely accurate, my FIRST band was in 1983, just jamming with friends from school. It's where I got my very first taste for being a part of a group......But as far as Caelum Bliss, the very first incarnation before the string section, was heavily influenced by bands like Christian Death, Siouxsie & the Banshees, Danielle Dax - more of a 'gothic punk' sound. As we progressed as a band we were discovering some European underground bands such as Collection D' Arnell Andrea, Cranes, and Miranda Sex Garden and started to incorporate those influences i.e. the violins, cello, harp, weird samples etc....
A reviewer once stated that Caelum sounded what 4AD bands were doing 10 years ago. I assume that is the highest praise for you
Certainly cause that's what we were trying to sound
like, so in a sense we were successful in that
endeavor. Although we felt that that 'sound' was only
a small part of the total package. Additionally, I was
always a fan of the dark and depressing style of
country & western guitar playing and pedal steel so I
attempted to to add that as an element as well without
actually sounding too country, just as an ingredient.
As I saw the band evolve it seemed to change from a
harder, more Shoegaze sound, and then into a pop
electronica sound. Can you discuss the evolutions of
sound you went through in such a short period?
Yeah, that was kind of a downside to the band in a
sense. We'd form a style and then it would evolve into something different, never really sticking to one style or sound for too long which was mostly my fault since i did most of the song writing. I would hear new music that I loved and wanted to incorporate what i had 'learned' from them into CB. Rather than find different musicians to perform these changing styles and moods I just kept it in-house. The shoegaze movement had a huge influence on me, specifically the use of effects and guitars. And when I started to learn sampling and sequencing, that had a huge influence on our sound. The first Garbage album was a landmark in my mind of what you could do with samples, loops, and rock guitars in a pop setting. Some of it even had a 'punk' attitude to it- punk riffs with electronic grooves was intriguing to me.
You took some of the members from Caelum into
Deathgirl.com with you. What was the fundamental difference
between those 2 bands. Was it a stylistic change?
Did any band members change?
Well, all of us collectively decided to move into a
new paradigm since the sound had changed so
dramatically. We felt the name Caelum Bliss was a
little too obscure, since our music was edging toward
the 'pop' spectrum. However, once we dropped the
string section, the lineup was pretty stabilized for a
few years. The core had always been myself, Melissa,
and William. We'd had several bass players and two
other guitarists over the years.
Deathgirl.com seemed to have so much promise...it
seemed that local media and critics were picking you
as the next big thing out of Detroit. The songs
seemed radio friendly, even. What happened there?
At that point the core of the band had been playing
together for 8 years. The internal pressure to succeed
with Deathgirl was so immense that we just imploded;
that's the only way to describe it. Lots of record
industry people were telling us how good we were, that
we'd be huge, etc...but nothing was really happening;
no one was backing up their promises. Also, writing,
recording, and producing that style of music became
EXTREMELY high maintenance. Every single hair had to
be in the right place, and you find yourself always
trying to please the masses. We'd just had enough.
What happened in the gap between Deathgirl and Ether Aura
and how was Ether Aura finally formed.
Initially my attitude right after Deathgirl.com split
was 'FUCK THE MUSIC INDUSTRY!' So I started playing
another form of music that i love, that's a bit more underground - Industrial. I got in touch with some old friends whom i jammed with before Caelum Bliss, and formed the industrial band Firewerk in 2001. We released 2 CD's independently, played tons of shows including an opening gig with Marilyn Manson in front of 3000 kids. That was the highlight of my stint with Firewerk. The idea of doing Ether Aura was formed in late '03, early '04 when i started writing music that didn't really fit into the Firewerk mold. Initially it was just acoustic guitar, synth, and vocals. I was listening to a lot of Death In June, Current 93, a lot of the old Darkwave and Shoegaze stuff I had grown to love in the past. It evolved from there; we experimented with different instrumentation and lineups before we finally came to the current lineup of myself, Kate, Bret, and William. I think I needed to go back to a style I felt I did well with and give it another try.
You've been playing live shows now with Ether Aura for
over 6 months without a CD...is that strange...how do the
fans connect with the songs?
Actually by the time we played our first show in Feb
'05, we had a few songs already recorded. We had mp3's
online and shortly after that we were making ep's at
home and selling them at shows just to get the music
out there. The idea behind the early shows was just to
get our feet wet; we didn't care if we were playing
for 5 people or 500. They were more like 'dress
rehearsals'.
What can someone who goes to an Ether Aura show
expect? How is your live sound diff from CD?
Just a group of people playing music they
love......As with most groups, the live sound is
generally more raw and in your face, but we stay
fairly true to the recorded versions.
Describe the recording of the Crash CD...how did it
differ from previous bands you've worked in?
Ever since about 1997, all of the music I was writing
and producing was leaning toward the 'electronic'
spectrum. Towards the end of Caelum, all of
Deathgirl.com and Firewerk had their beginnings in my sampler/sequencer and built around that. Our live shows were built around playing to prerecorded tracks on a DAT tape - drum loops, synthesizers, samples, etc....With Ether Aura I wanted more of a natural, 'band like' free and open feel. We'd go into the studio, set up like we would live, and just play. No overanalyzing of tempos or source sounds, kept some of the 'imperfections' and just let it fly. Some stuff we played to a click-track, some not. We recorded Crash from November of '04 through July '05 in small increments, very leisurely. It was a very rewarding experience.
What is it about this particular group of musicians
that seems to click for you?
I think its that we all just do what we're best at,
we're just roll players. Bret is a talented songwriter
and normally a guitarist, but is playing bass for us,
helping with the song writing, and singing back up. He
co-wrote a few of the tracks on Crash. William is an
excellent drummer and just does his thing. Kate is the
'newbie' in terms of band experience, but is holding
her own and is doing a great job beyond what I had
expected. Everybody has been doing a great job thus
far.
What does Kate bring to the table that was missing
before?
Enthusiasm about being a musician rather than the
peripheral things that come with being in a band. The willingness to work hard to make things sound right in the studio and practice space.
Describe the sound of Ether Aura...it seems much more
Caelum Bliss like than Deathgirl. Very Curve...Slowdive.
Well that's cool! As I stated earlier, with EA I feel
like I'm doing a style that i love and am good at. It
comes real easy to me, its low pressure and low
maintenance. Which was the same as Caelum Bliss - it
just flows. Its not overly analytical, or even
completely original. It's true, however, that the 2
bands you mentioned are high on my all time fave list
so its no shocker that those influences come through.
What are you plans for supporting the new record...any
dates outside of Detroit area? Press?
Just playing locally or anywhere in a few hours
drive. Some of us have jobs and careers outside of
Ether Aura that would prohibit us from doing any
extended tours. We may do some shows in California
(where our label is based) next spring. Our label
plans on doing tons of promotion - press, reviews,
etc...
Talk about your new record label The Gaia Project.
What about them attracted you, and what are they doing
for you?
They approached us in early June '05 via email to
discuss the possibilities of starting a working
relationship. They had heard some mp3's and felt it
fit into their mold and vision as a label. Since then
they've been great to work with and very supportive of
our artistic integrity. Things happened very quickly.
We had 90% of the CD already finished when they
contacted us, so the timing was right as well. A few
things attracted us to them but mainly the fact that
they have a very select roster of artists and could
devote time and resources into promoting our music.
We're hoping that we can help each other grow as a
band and record label.
How do you market your band online...how does a new up
and coming band get their sound out there, and what
part does the Internet play?
We just put it out there like everybody else. If you
have a strong sound or style, people will find it. I
feel there is a niche for everybody, they just need to
find it and exploit it. The internet is great. It
allows people to preview music before a purchase and
informs them about a band. The key is to make people
aware of your music and that's where having a label
behind you really helps.
What is your take on the whole Mp3 download
argument...if someone were to download songs off Crash,
would you view that as someone stealing your songs, or
is it a good thing, that the songs are making the
rounds and people are hearing them and talking about
them?
It's the nature of the beast, its the world we live
in at the moment. If someone gets a few tracks off the
internet and likes it, we hope it encourages them to
buy the CD to hear the tracks in all their full
bitrate glory. In general, I feel it is a positive
thing for us and for bands, especially bands in their
infancy. I equate it to the underground tape trading
craze of the 1980's. Bands like Metallica and others
wouldn't be where they are now if people didn't dub
their LP's to cassette and send them all over the
planet. Ironically they were leading the charge
against 'illegal' downloading.
I was very impressed with your cover of the Smith's
classic, Last Night I Dreamt...more impressive though,
is how did you get The Smiths to give you permission
to record it? That must be an interesting story.
The story isn't very interesting at all to be honest.
At the onset we just needed songs to fill out the set
and Kate and I being Smiths fans it was an easy
choice. The recording of that song was just an
afterthought; we were at the end of a recording
session and decided to try and lay it down. It came
out very nicely. Since we're not releasing it on a CD
to sell or promote for radio play, there was no need
to buy a mechanical license for that track or attempt
to get permission from the Smiths themselves. Any band
can cover any song they want, but if you plan on
releasing it for sale, you must buy the mechanical
license for the particular track.
What other songs would you love to take a stab at?
Not really sure at the moment. We were actually doing
the Caelum Bliss song 'Slow' for a while to add some
depth to our set. I've always wanted to do 'The
Crystal Ship' by The Doors although I haven't sat down
to lay out the arrangement for Ether Aura. Maybe some
day.
What bands are you currently listening to?
Not too many newer bands honestly. Mostly listening
to the music that has formed who I am as a musician.
Here's the short list: Current 93, Slowdive, Curve,
Echobelly, Tarnation, Death In June, Jesus and Mary
Chain, Cocteau Twins, Garbage, Sneaker Pimps, Lulabox,
Mazzy Star, Nick Cave, The Faint, Bauhaus, Collection
D'Arnell Andrea, Love Spirals Downwards, Dead Can
Dance, too many to list. Some of the newer bands I
like are Interpol, Ladytron, Black Rebel Motorcycle
Club, The Birthday Massacre, Queens of the Stone Age.