DECEMBER 1999

ROCKBANDLOUNGE.COM SPOTLIGHT
ACTS MAGDALENA

No tour of the New York indie music scene would be complete without ACTS MAGDALENA. Intensely original and amazingly interesting, this is a band to watch. Lead singer Christian Merry and bass player Rick Van Benschoten, along with Dave McConnell on guitar and Brandon Miller on drums, put on a stage show that's talked about far beyond the goth world. My one regret is that my trip to New York City didn't include seeing them perform live!

ROCKBANDLOUNGE.COM: My favorite quote on ACTS MAGDALENA  came from Aquarian Weekly: "At last here is the soul of the gothic Manhattan underground exposed for all to see. Led by the inimitable Christian Merry, this quartet is gutsy, brilliant and charming as vampires." But that doesn't even begin to scratch the surface in describing your band and music, does it?

CHRISTIAN MERRY: To people who have never heard goth, we are goth. To those who listen to goth, we are not goth. We are, and it had been said by others to us, our own genre. I call it etherkore.

We are a mix of ethereal and hardcore, we don't sound like anyone else, and this is a help and a hindrance. We like that what we do naturally is unique, but people always want to know "who do you sound like". Well, no one actually. But determined people will try to compare and they mention groups who are led by male singers, the musical style is different etc., etc. It's never accurate.

RICK VAN BESCHOTEN: We've never set out to emulate anyone else. I think if a band is truly original, if their music has depth, then the only way to know them is to hear them, and if you can hear them live, all the better.

That was a wonderful review, though. If people want to say "I love that goth band" when speaking of us, I'll never complain. But I reserve the right to bring all sorts of madness into ACTS MAGDALENA, and no trend, fashion, or genre will limit what we do.

ROCKBANDLOUNGE.COM: Christian's voice is amazing. Extremely pretty, sometimes, and then it's like you morph into another animal. Where does that come from?

CHRISTIAN: Thanks. Genetics I suppose and a strong desire to express certain emotions in a real way combined with the lyrics. I was not born sounding like this - it does take dedication to it. But I guess the physical ability to pull it off has something to do with nature.

I also do not do it to shock. If it was all I wanted to do, all of the things I write would be hard. I feel certain stories need to sound a certain way, and those stories inspire that emotion and energy- and that in turn brings that sound out. Kind of a circle.

ROCKBANDLOUNGE.COM: Does it hurt?

CHRISTIAN: I laugh when I hear that. Everyone always asks that. People sometimes cannot/will not believe it's me. They go to Rick and try to find out if he's doing some kind of effect on my voice. He's not.

Its also pain-free. Talking loud hurts my voice more than that kind of singing. I don't know the science behind it but I never have a sore throat from it. Never any friction. Its more about moving air through at a very high rate of speed and muscle/chord reaction to it. You can tell just by hearing me speak, I have don't have any throat damage.

I can't just sing the harder stuff for you right now though. I need to have lots of energy. In our live shows I sound even harder than what's on the recording. I get that boost from people and I can "channel" an even bigger monster!

ROCKBANDLOUNGE.COM:  We have to ask our favorite ROCKBANDLOUNGE.COM question, what are the re-occurring themes that run through your music?

RICK: Musically, I would say forward motion. Whether our music is gentle or brutal, it's not about stop/start or up/down, it's about rolling, tumbling, moving forward.

CHRISTIAN: I don't write love songs. But I do write about almost everything else. I commiserate with people trapped in places they can't get out of, but hopefully will one day. Homes, schools, people- their own heads.

It really comforted me to hear music as a child that said things I felt, or painted a picture I recognized. Loneliness, pain, misunderstandings, nightmares, fear, death, things we all feel and go through are the things I know best, so that's what I express musically and lyrically.

ROCKBANDLOUNGE.COM: Do you think your sound is commercial?

RICK: Yes. You don't have to be cookie-cutter pop bullshit to find an audience. We've proven that in New York already, and this isn't exactly an easy town to win over.

CHRISTIAN: Of course. So many people love what we do.

Its great to think that we can give people music that makes them feel something. I want an emotional reaction, I want to create a strong image in someone's mind. It's the only kind of music I like - the kind that fills your head so you can't think of anything else, not background noise while doing your homework.

Our music will sell, because there are lots of people who want something meaningful - something that feels like it touches them beyond shallow predictable songs. Dave is an amazing guitarist, Brandon an equally amazing drummer, they are both unique. They add to our ideas of what a song should be.

There is a world for predictable music but as far as being "$commercial$", no I would rather do something I consider worthy than something bubblegum to simply sell. I believe if all you want is money then fine, that's all you'll get, but I want to be proud of what I do and not just end up with a big house, cars and paparazzi.

I could have done a lot of things before this if all I wanted was money, but you have to end up liking yourself, not making excuses for yourself.

ROCKBANDLOUNGE.COM: What musical direction do you see yourself heading in? 

CHRISTIAN: Outward even further, like the ever expanding universe (she laughs). Softer and harder. I want to continue to push those extremes. I don't know if most people have gone through this, but my life has always been extremes strung together and I can express this. I would like to explore the very ethereal side of our songwriting and experiences, and also do more stuff that Hell would put an advisory sticker on.

RICK: More extremes. The heavy music will get more violent, the ethereal music more mysterious. We don't limit ourselves stylistically. We can pour all sorts of things into the ACTS MAGDALENA machine and it will come out sounding like us.

ROCKBANDLOUNGE.COM: Christian, can you tell us about Rose and Thorn?

CHRISTIAN: To put it simply, if movies and TV and other forms of entertainment use rape as a subject matter then they should donate part of the proceeds of that show to help rape counseling and crisis centers.

They (the entertainment industry) make a lot of money using the stories of rape and assault, they should then feel obliged to help fund services for the survivors of this. They can pick a local service, or donate to nationwide services.

It is not a feminist issue. Everyone is affected by this, not just women.

And I am not talking about just being a family member of a survivor, no one is immune to this. Rose and Thorn is my way of spreading this message. I hope to make this an issue that becomes a common thought in people's minds, something TV/movies will do on their own.

If not, in the future I will make things a little less easy to ignore, but right now I want to give people the chance to do this voluntarily. It means a lot to me, and anyone that uses rape/assault as subject matter for anything should feel the need to help prevent it, or heal the survivors, and it will, in a way, honor those who did not survive.

ROCKBANDLOUNGE.COM: And Rick, you're a sound engineer by day. Have you worked with anyone we might have heard of?

RICK: Some of the more popular artists would include Madonna, Aaron Neville, Celine Dion, Sarah McLachlan, Amy Grant, Marc Cohn, Chaka Khan. I worked on a White Zombie remix with Youth from Killing Joke and Ron St. Germain.

A bunch of hip-hop things; UMCs, Blahzay Blahzay, Poor Righteous Teachers, Lord Tariq & Peter Gunz, Chub Rock. I mixed the Red, Hot & Dance soundtrack that tomandandy composed.

Some of my proudest stuff personally includes the second Rise Robots Rise album, Spawn. Those guys are great friends of mine. My first real release was Ajax's album for Wax Trax; Mitchel's still one of my best friends. I mixed a song for Percy Jones, one of my all-time heros on bass.

And I record and mix all of ACTS MAGDALENA's music, which is no small feat. You should see Brandon's drum kit! And capturing Christian's voice with a microphone is like capturing a lion with a butterfly net.

ROCKBANDLOUNGE.COM: From a lot of bands you hear the same phrases, when we get famous, when we make it big, or when we get signed. They seem to think that at some magic point in the future their lives will change. I don't get that feeling from you. It looks like you're already living your dream.

CHRISTIAN: We know what we do is good, we don't need some outside record company or producer etc to tell us that. We will expand our audiences with or without them. And one day record companies will be looking for ACTS MAGDALENA clones. So are any of them brave enough to be pioneers now? That makes me laugh to think about it. We'll see, but it won't matter.

Back in Junior High when I was dreaming about where I would be, this is the dream come true I hoped for. But there are always goals to achieve, always something to accomplish, I don't think that process will ever end. As long as you have hope, health, and what you have around you makes you happy, and you make those around you happy, you'll always want to live on and keep working for what you have set for yourself. I still have a lot to do. I need more vitamins!

RICK: In two ways, yes. Firstly, breaking away from middle-America - I was raised in Long Island at a time when Bon Jovi ruled the airwaves - and building a life where I could be myself without compromise was a major achievement. It was the first time I really felt sane.

Secondly, ACTS MAGDALENA is, unquestionably, the focal point of my life. We have to work outside of it and earn livings, but everyone that knows me knows the band comes first.

So many of the people you mentioned in your question are talking about "when" all the time because they don't have the courage to take the risks now. We've made the leap already. We're not playing it safe or worrying about what we'll fall back on. We don't have to pretend to be something else part of the time. We're artists, this is what we do. So yes, in two important ways, the dream is now.

ROCKBANDLOUNGE.COM: And finally, is there anything else you want the world to know about ACTS MAGDALENA?

RICK: See us live. We kill live. 

CHRISTIAN: Well from the singer of AM, I would like kids - and grown-ups - to know not to feel restrained by what other people tell them is what they should be or what they should sound like.

There is no such thing as girl's or boy's places in the world. It's what you like and what you can do and everyone should get a fair chance at everything. It's hard to ignore negative messages that might come from family members and friends, but make your own mind up what you want to be. Take advice of course, but don't take other people's fears as your own.

Not everyone wants the best for you. If they have failed in their lives sometimes they want you to fail too. Whole books are written on this, but I'll keep it short. You know in your heart what I am talking about. Don't ignore what you know is right.

ROCKBANDLOUNGE.COM: And we should let everyone know that your new web address will be www.actsmagdalena.com. Until then you can read more about Christian's Rose and Thorn project at www.jessiemag.com/issue3.html or reach Christian directly at ActsMag@aol.com. Thanks guys!

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