Interview by Archpope Dach the Only
Archpope Dach the Only interviewed Stone 588 during a special 6 hour Goth-a-thon on Closed Caskets For the Living Impaired. To get in touch with the band writeIpso Facto at 517 N. Harbor Blvd., Fullerton, CA 92623 or call 714-525-7865. Their 21 track CD, Door in the Dragon s Throat, distributed by Tess Records, is now available in record stores.
Terri: Dach, have you had people calling in?
Dach: Oh yes! But I haven t been answering the phones because Stone 588's been playing. You ve seen the phone light go on. There ve been calls. You guys wait here while I get the phone .... The caller wants to know what the name means!
Terri: The name comes from a sacrificial burial place in Northern Ireland where they found an infant buried in an urn beneath the stone circle which dates back to circa 588 B.C. Hence the name Stone 588. Also, there s a book called Stone 588.
Dach: You told me it was because Bela Lugosi s grave in Culver City occupies plot # 588! You lied to me!
Terri: What kind of alcohol are you drinking there, Dach?
Dach: Alcohol is not allowed in the studio. I'm drinking -- not that I'm advertising any particular product over another, this being non- commercial radio -- but I just happen to be drinking Brainwash. I got it because it s bright red and the bottle has a skull on it.
Terri: Yeah, so if you let some dribble down your chin you look vampiric.
Dach: (answers phone, repeating caller's question) No I don t think they have any songs about prohibition or hemp. They're like death rock ... remember death rock?
Terri: My literary inspirations include Anais Nin, Edgar Allen Poe, Lord Byron, and Marquis de Sade, about whom our song, Scales of Justice, is based. Soured romances inspired Westering Moon and Door in the Dragon s Throat. History influences my writing songs like Decay of Tempest about what fate befell the explorer Hudson when his crew mutinied, casting him and his son adrift on a boat to die in the bay now named after him, his relatives forever waiting for his return. Ruination was inspired by a pre-Mary Shelley Frankenstein-like legend of the golem, who were clay beings created for the destruction of one s enemies. And I wrote Night Behind the Mind after I spent a night reading about the horrific mistreatment of women during the witch hunts. Sometimes when I m driving I come up with melodies and lyrics, propping a notepad dangerously on my lap! That's how the last song on the CD, Of the Ambush of God, was written, en route to the recording session, where I insisted on taping it immediately so I wouldn t forget it! Vocally, my main influence ... Judy Garland. I used to listen to show tunes when I was in theater in high school, like The Sound of Music, and Oklahoma ...
Dach: Actually, Terri sang the Ave Maria at the funeral for my rat a few years back --
Terri -- We won't tell you in which cemetery. We climbed over the wall, and then I sang the Ave Maria a capella. It was quite a beautiful night with the bats flying overhead. It was so gothic, I couldn t stand it! And then we had ice cream at Norm s .... I really got into new wave in the eighties. I listened to Lene Lovich, who was one of my main influences, and one of the first shows I went to. Then, getting into more underground stuff, I saw The Birthday Party in 1981 with Lydia Lunch, and that really turned me on to both and forever changed my life. It plunged me headlong into the realm of punk rock. That s why I didn't completely finish college and that's why I own a punk store, basically. So thank you, Birthday Party.
Dach: I m going to wrap up this interview because we have a goth-a- thon to do. A goth-a-thon is a very serious thing, you know!
Terri: On a final note, here's a rundown of our whole discography. First, we have Eyes of a Statue, then Eden Lost, and we just put out Catharsis, a four song EP with all the original members. All of these are available at Ipso Facto. And we have a catalog, too, so you can get stuff through the mail. We re putting out our first full length CD, Door in the Dragon s Throat (out now and distributed by Tess/Etherhaus at a record store near you). And we re going to be on some upcoming compilationsa French cassette compilation, Sweet and Savage Memories of a Bloody Kiss; a German cassette comp, From the Dragon s Mouth, to be distributed with Flight Amnesia magazine; the British Vampire Guild s What Sweet Music They Make, Vol. 2; a CD from the German label Apollyn, called La Nigra Opera; a CD comp from the punk label, Revelations Records in Huntington Beach; the TV Terror comp from Permission magazine -- we did a cover of a Henri Mancini song from an 80's horror TV series for that; and we ll contribute to The Damned tribute comp project; plus there will be some interviews coming out in print, like in Darkside magazine and others. So keep your eyes and ears peeled! Thanks for listening!
Closed Caskets for the Living Impaired, hosted by Archpope Dach the Only, can be heard every Saturday from 1000 PM - 1200 AM.