Erie Loch is well-known in the circles of creativity and for never sitting still long enough to allow any rolling stone to gather moss. Erie is in constant creation mode. Erie is known for his songwriting skills, video and studio work, along with remixes with bands such as like Ministry, Gary Numan, Peter Murphy, Rob Zombie, Faith No More, NIN, and many more.
Song River: Looking back Erie as to
where your music journey first began, do you feel it has taken a 180
or done a full circle?
Erie Loch: It's absolutely
done a full circle. When I started, in 1983, I was just a kid with a
Commodore 64 computer that wanted to make PURELY synth music. No
guitars, no real drums etc. But as time passed, I found myself more
and more interested in ANYTHING that made a sound. At that time,
computers really couldn't keep up with where I wanted to go,
sonically, and after I started purchasing "real"
synthesizers and sound gear, the fact that every piece cost so much
in those days, it meant that every time I bought one, I literally had
years to learn every last little thing about them. Even then I knew
that everything I learned was something I now "owned". The
gear was inconsequential in the long run because the knowledge and
experience were what I was collecting.
For years I had been
looking for heavy synth-based music. The closest I had come to find
it at the time was Depeche Mode's "Some Great Reward",
which, from my understanding, was influenced by early industrial
bands that I had not yet gotten access to. I also liked to listen to
remixes because they would take a lot more chances with the sounds,
and I found bands like Sigue Sigue Sputnik that were doing crazy shit
other people weren't. Then, in 1986, watching 120 minutes on MTV, I
saw a video from Front 242 for Quite Unusual, which I immediately
went out and bought... on vinyl! (Laughed) And that led to Wax Trax,
and that led me to what I had been searching for. Heavy, synth-based
music. But Wax Trax bands weren't limited to just synths.
Industrial meant "no rules" in my head. And I began to get
into bands that would hybrid many styles together. Early Faith No
More, KMFDM, Ministry, Die Warzau and so many cool acts were suddenly
available.
I had rented a piano and
tried to really force myself to learn to play better. I took a
lesson or two but it wasn't what I wanted. I took a couple music
theory and studio classes and also became disenchanted quickly. I
found I could learn more just by doing, asking questions and reading
every article I could get my hands on in magazines. Eventually, I
became interested in the sounds that guitars made and began adding
them, so I learned to play guitar and bass and drums as well. During
this time I also started working on my voice. The biggest problem I
had was that I had a very "nice" voice, and the bands I
liked were growling and screeching. So I tried a million different
things vocally and instrumentally and eventually learned how to do it
all how I wanted it done. How I sing now and the sounds I chose to
use are really a distillation of all those things in a meat grinder.
So the first band I was in
was called "Immedia", which consisted of mostly very
melodic and "musical" rather than "dissonant or harsh"
songs. We started playing live in 1990 and we were all-synth, but
eventually added bass, guitar and live (electronic pads) drums. So
in looking back now, being back to an all-electronic band again doing
very melodic and "musical" songs again with Crash is
definitely full-circle.
SR: How complicated has the
road been in creating and finding the speed at which you work?
Erie Loch: I guess I
kinda answered this question already. (Laughed) I've always worked
VERY fast but progressed VERY slowly. It took me years to start
playing live. It took me years to find a modicum of success. But I
was always constantly writing and recording. Even when "digital
multi-track" meant buying two DAT machines and recording back
and forth to each other, adding a track each time. But again, having
to move at a snail's pace from lack of funds to do what the "big
artists" were doing made me really learn all I could about every
step. Hell, my smartphone can download a better studio now than I
had for the first 20 years of doing this. But I see so many artists
now who are overwhelmed by the choices. If you're just getting
started now, you are inundated with a million choices, a million ways
to do things, and a BILLION opinions on the “right way” to do
everything. It's daunting, to say the least. I don't have a problem
with any of that. I know what I want and how to get it now. And
every tool I could have ever dreamed of all those years ago is now at
my disposal. It's very freeing.
SR: What have been some of the
bands along the way that you yourself either formed or came into that
you gleaned the most from musically?
Erie Loch: I gleaned
something from all of the bands I've been a part of. I've probably
learned even more from working on or recording, other people's music.
Doing things I didn't want to do. Learning things I didn't know
that I didn't know. Ha! I've had a ton of little whim projects along
the way, but in order, the main ones were: Immedia, Luxt, Wiccid
(which was actually a covers-only project I did as a side project
about 15 years ago), Blownload, Chalkhead, Cock Diesel, Razing Eden
(which was originally a Luxtish side project but was recently
re-worked into a full-fledged metal project), Exageist, Gods of the
Wasteland, Dream In Red, Esther Black and finally, back to Wiccid
again. I'm sure I forgot one or two in there somewhere. (Laughed)
For you, the industrial
sound, has it always been what you created?
Erie Loch: I think it's
been unavoidable that industrial elements have been present in some
way in everything I do. Even the light, pretty stuff will sometimes
have crunchy loops or strange vocal effects. I think that being a
“producer” really just means that you have a big bag of tricks
that you've collected and learned. The wider the variety of styles
you work on, the wider the variety of flavors you have to work with.
And since I think industrial really just means “no rules”, it has
worked out well for me having worked with so many styles over the
years.
SR: Along the way, you have
worked with many other bands and musicians. Who have some of them
been and what were you contributing to them at the time?
Erie Loch: The first
“bigger” or “national” act I had the opportunity to work with
was Velvet Acid Christ way back in the 90's. After initially
learning synth programming and sequencing on computers in the 1980's,
I moved on to working solely with hardware for many years because
they were far more reliable, especially for live use. Bryan from VAC
actually had a lot to do with encouraging me to get back into
computer-based music creation. I did a remix and also co-wrote the
song “Slut” with VAC. Strangely, after all these years, that
song has gotten more YouTube views than anything else I've done
personally. Which helps me keep perspective. Ha! Years later,
after touring with Revco, I was given the opportunity to remix a
Revco track and Al Jourgensen liked what he heard. I was asked to
remix Stigmata for Ministry for a soundtrack or something, and I did
several different mixes over a couple days. It must have impressed
someone because before I knew it, I had remixed two entire albums,
Mixxxes of the Mole, and I also remixed the entire Animositisomina
album (which never got released for various reasons), and several
other tracks for Ministry. Many of which are scattered around on
various compilations and box sets now. It's hard for even me to keep
up with where they all are.
Then I got to remix
Revco's Got Mixxx record too. I really have to thank Chris Kniker
for believing in what I was capable of and pushing me to Angie and Al
at the time. And I really have to thank Angie and Al for giving me
the chance. Since then I've gotten to remix, do videos for, master
(or re-master) for bands like Lords of Acid, Pig, Front Line
Assembly, Tweaker, Scum of the Earth, Bells Into Machines, and so
much more. I am also part of Primitive Race, the genre-shifting
super-group. So now between that and all of the other studio
projects, I've gotten to work with members of Skinny Puppy, Prong,
Rob Zombie, Faith No More, Melvins, Nine Inch Nails, Marilyn Manson,
Sex Gang Children, Pop Will Eat Itself, Peter Murphy, Mission UK and
the list goes on. Now, being that this is the digital age, that
doesn't necessarily mean I've gotten to actually meet them all.
Hehehehe...
I've also gotten to write
music with a number of these people. One of my all-time favorite
bands is Prong, and after working with Tommy on Primitive Race he
expressed interest in my songwriting, which led to me co-writing
several songs with Prong on their last two releases. I also wrote
many songs with Riggs from Scum of the Earth and Rob Zombie for his
Zombie-Boy project.
This has all been within
the last 9 years. So it's been quite a fast and strange trip. But,
WOW! What a blast it has been.
SR: Is the creation of music,
could it be looked at as a crafting a craftsperson type of defining?
Erie Loch: I think it's
whatever you want it to be... or more to the point, whatever YOU make
it. My “day job” for years has been in graphic design. I've
also learned video, and light programming, and HTML and the list goes
on. I have done it out of necessity, or not wanting to have to pay
others to do it. Or maybe I'm just the ultimate control freak, ha!
But I look at it all as the same thing. The writing, creating,
shaping, remixing, producing, engineering, editing. They're all
similar. It's all art. IMHO
Over the years I have been
a producer, an engineer, I ran a professional sound company for 3
years, I ran a commercial studio for like 5 years, I owned a practice
spaced facility, I play a bunch of different instruments, I sing in
a plethora of styles, I ran an industrial/fetish club for 5 years,
I've been a DJ, a promoter, a stage manager, a tour manager, a
roadie... you name it, I've done it... extensively. It all adds up
to understanding all parts of it and gaining the perspective of
seeing it from BOTH sides. That's important. I know when to shut my
mouth and when to speak up. But, that doesn't mean I always do it
when I should. (Laughed)
SR: Can or will you talk a bit
about Luxt and Blownload? Where are both bands now?
Erie Loch: Sure! Luxt
started in 1995 and ended in 2002. I started it with my girlfriend
at the time, Anna Christine. At first, we were a strictly
industrial, or a “Coldwave”, band which, at the time, basically
just meant we used guitars. And we quickly got signed to 21st
Circuitry Records, after they heard our cover of “Cars” by Gary
Numan and our self-released Jezabel 13.3 album. At the time, Jared
from Chemlab and 5th Column records were interested in signing us
too. Sadly, shortly after that, the label head became more
interested in purely electronic industrial and we became an
afterthought for the label. But we went on several tours. With Scar
Tissue, Hate Dept. And even a very successful tour on our own in
1999. But shortly after that, the music scene in our hometown had
really started to take off. The Deftones, Papa Roach, Cake, Oleander
and many more were all signed to big labels out of Sacramento and the
local scene for all of Northern California got really big, really
fast. I said, fuck it, let's concentrate on just Northern California
for now. We came out, doing our fully industrial-rock, electronic
drum pads, no-amps sound, and before we knew it, we were one of the
biggest acts in the scene. We won several awards in Sacramento and
even one in, Modesto, a city 100 miles south of us, which oddly
enough is the area both Crash and I are from originally.
For a while, we were
playing over 100 shows a year... for several years. It was constant
work, which I LOVE, but after a while, Anna wanted something more and
got tired of doing the work. So we started focusing on getting
signed by a big label. We had been on our own label for several
years at this time and sold more Cd’s than we ever had with a
label. Of course, what you think would happen, happened. The labels
wanted us to change our lineup, our sound, or even just try to steal
her away for their own projects. So we changed lineups, changed our
sound, and eventually broke up because I didn't want to do that
anymore and Anna did. During that time, Anna and I also broke up as
a couple.
In the end, trying to do
something other than what we originally started doing killed the
band. BUT I learned a LOT from going through it. One of the biggest
things was that I learned how to write pop songs. And I also learned
that I was good at it. I had always written melodic music, but I
never developed the discipline it takes to say, “I'm going to write
a bunch of nursery-rhyme type hooks and I don't give a fuck what you
think of me for it”. THAT is important. Not caring what anyone
has to say.
After that, I was so
irritated from dealing with big labels, who focused only on image and
major radio play and were now in the beginning of the death throes of
the music industry as we knew it, that I started a band called
Blownload. Crazy, loud, hard, a million-genres-in-one, and filthy
lyrics in every song. Kind of like saying “Fuck you, try putting
this on the radio”. Our live shows were intense and insane. We
ended up touring with Revco, Jim Rose, Lords of Acid and Thrill Kill
Kult. It was wonderful, it was freeing and we still do it when we
get time. But it had a bit of a glass ceiling and was definitely
more of a novelty. So I began working on several projects; Dream In
Red, an alternative-radio-rock kind of thing, Razing Eden, which was
very metal, Esther Black, kind of like a more industrial Blownload
without the “dirty-only” lyrical content, and Wiccid... and here
we are.
SR: How long have you worked
with bass player, Crash?
Erie Loch: I've worked
with Crash in ALL of the bands I've been in for the most part. He is
actually primarily a bass player, but he also does keyboards,
occasional guitar and sings. He started with Immedia in 1993. But
he's been my best friend since we were seven. And we're both 48 now.
So when I call him my brother, it's true.
SR: What have been some of the
projects you and he tackled along the way?
Erie Loch: We have a
joke. Crash isn't in bands. He's in MY bands. (Laughed) It's not
actually true, he's been in several other bands over the years; IGD,
Malcom Bliss, Slip into Coma, but I love to work with him. I've
never met anyone who “gets it” like he does. That it's about the
work, the work ethic, the DOING. The fact that no matter what you
do, or where you play, you need to impress EVERYONE. Down to the
janitors. Respect where you are, who you're working with and the
fact that it could all disappear at any second. I'm sure that many
people we worked with over the years, that we're no longer working
with, think one or both of us are assholes. But we're still at it.
Still out there rolling with the punches.
SR: Why WICCID now? Why has
its time come and is it true with WICCID you did 10 songs in 10 days?
How?
Erie Loch: I did Wiccid
on a whim. Years ago I had done an “all covers” project that was
all-synth. I did it for fun and because I wanted to really sing
(I've always had a voice that's suited for Broadway musicals).
(Laughed) So I named it after a Luxt song, “Wiccid”. It was fun,
a few people got to hear it, and shortly after I started Blownload
and moved on to that. So over the last 12 years, I had been working
on the same computer and software. Almost all the work I had done
with, or for, “bigger bands” was on that setup. So last year,
when I bought a new computer system and got all new software, it was
a like having these massive ankle weights taken off. I had so much
power and so many choices. All of my experience and skills were
suddenly ten times more useful. I wrote and recorded the entire 12
song album of Esther Black in three weeks, and a month later we were
practicing as a full band. But shortly after, someone asked me to do
a few remixes, and I suddenly realized that I had a shit-ton of new
software synths that I hadn't really dug into learning how to use. I
tend to look at work by myself in the studio as entertainment. Kinda
like watching a movie or playing video games. So I was like, “This
will be fun, I'm going to do an all-synth project, I'm going to write
ten songs in ten days and finish everything in a total of two weeks
just to learn how to use all this new stuff better.” Not only did
I finish that, I also made a video promo-reel video in that amount of
time. The finished album is actually 11 songs because a song I had
written for another project seemed to fit well. But I learned how to
use all the new synths! Next thing we know, we're signed on
Cleopatra and going on tour with Lords of Acid and Combichrist.
Hahaha! At the end, I realized how similar what I had done was to
the all-covers project, Wiccid, years ago, so the name worked well.
SR: Are you finding yourself
more pleased with a quicker process of creative bursts over taking an
extended period of a method to create?
Erie Loch: I can't take a
long time to work on things. I tend to lose interest. If I don't do
it quickly, I'll usually scrap it and move on. I've worked with
other people who really had a problem with that. We end up with
little bits and pieces of songs but never finish anything. That's
not me. I work fast. Regardless of what I'm working on. It's my workflow, my process, and my psychosis. (Laughed)
SR: Is there a particular
brand of synthesizer you like working with?
Erie Loch: I like
ANYTHING that makes noise. But I vastly prefer software synths. I
was using analog synthesizers when they had wood siding. I was glad
to see them go. They were unreliable, fell out of tune, and I've
gotten a few pretty bad electric shocks off of them on more than one
occasion. Yes, some sound really good, I don't question that. But
so do software synths. And with software, when I load up a session,
everything is EXACTLY where it was. No hum, no hiss, no charts to
remember how to set everything. Like I said, I prefer to work
quickly. I have no use for the old way of doing things, and I have
no nostalgia about it. I know what I'm doing, so having a ton of
knobs isn't a necessity either. It does speed things up, so I like
them for live use, but I'm not into big consoles, tons of patch
cables, or having to have a huge room to store it all. If that's
your thing, more power to you! I get it. Everyone likes what they
like. But I have my “bag of tricks” and my way of doing things.
I think it's great that we all have our own thing. But I love the
lack of limitations that working 100% on a computer gives me. If I
like a synth, I can have 10 of them... or 20. And I can run a ton of
different effects on all of them, and layer them, and fuck with them
all I want and still be able to load up that session and have it all
ready to go. It's a no-brainer for me. I have no interest in the
status of owning expensive shit. I had all that. I sold it. Ha!
We do use synths on stage, but they're all virtual analogs and fairly
inexpensive. That's just good business sense IMHO. Bringing a $4000
Nord on tour would scare the shit out of me.
SR: It has been said by other
composers who use synthesizers that the reason they love them so much
is they feel like there are endless possibilities to create sounds
with them. What is your insight to the instrument itself?
Erie Loch: Yes! But not
just synthesizers. A DAW (digital audio workstation) is that way as
well. It's that the synths, the recording capability, the effects,
the possibilities are endless once the sound is on the machine. I
often joke that my main instrument is actually the DAW. As for
synthesizers, the beauty is that once you understand how synthesis
works, it's like knowing a language. And every synth speaks its own
variation of that language. So it just takes a little playing around
and you suddenly know that language too. It's the same with DAW's
and effects. Pro Tools, Sonar, Cubase, Digital Performer, Ableton,
it doesn't matter. They're all just instruments to me. Absorbing
knew abilities is simple, and you learn by playing. It's awesome! I
love the sound of synthesizers, but I REALLY love the sound of
different distortions on synthesizers. Musicians have been doing it
for years with guitars... So much so, that every amp has its own
particular “tone”, that affects the harmonics of a guitar just
so. It's no different with synths. I use a LOT of distortion on my
synths, but it's not always apparent. Sometimes it's just slightly
over-driven. Sometimes with the distortion built into the synth PLUS
a separate distortion as well. I love being able to try a million
things and settle on what I like best.
SR: A debut album, Be Design,
and on tour with Lords of Acid, Combichrist, etc... do you ever feel
like it is about time you held the golden egg or do you sense
you have been holding the prize all along?
Erie Loch: It's one more
chapter IMHO. Success comes in all forms. For me, more than
anything, it's about the work. Being able to constantly have
something to work on. If Wiccid can become monetarily successful,
that just means I'll be able to put out more music that more people
will hear, that more people will come and see, so I can tour more.
It's not about paying bills. I'll gladly work a day job, especially
the one I have now, which I love, to be able to keep doing this. I
think if you rely on the music to pay all your bills, your decisions
might be driven by that. I'd rather be able to put out what I think
people might value, rather than what someone else thinks people might
value. And Crash feels the same way.
But yeah, it's pretty
fucking bad ass to be putting out a record with Cleopatra, and be on
tour with a bunch of bands I really respect.
Pretty... fucking... bad
ass. :)
More Information WICCID:
Wiccid Website
Wiccid Facebook
Wiccid Twitter
Wiccid Reverbnation
More Information WICCID:
Wiccid Website
Wiccid Facebook
Wiccid Twitter
Wiccid Reverbnation
