Interview with LVG.
Interview conducted by Chris Mitchell (Desolate Gale).
Date online: November 8, 2004. Original available here.
Chris Mitchell: Greetings, how are things LVG?
LVG: Quite alright. I've got oil paint on my fingers.
Chris Mitchell: Why did you choose the name Velvet Cacoon?
LVG: SGL came up with the name. We basically hung out under this abandoned abbey, drinking rum and writing music in the Shanghai Tunnels. That's what the name comes from.
Chris Mitchell: Why did you wait eight years to release your music to the public?
LVG: We don't play this music for name recognition or record deals. It's an art we refuse to surrender. Part of the reason was because we didn't want to associate ourselves with other black metal bands. Now that "Genevieve" is out I see people referring to us in the same sentence as groups like Moonblood and Nargaroth. We want nothing to do with lowlifes like them.
Chris Mitchell: On the last page of the "Genevieve" inlay you have the word dextromethorphan written across it. Are you suggesting that people take this drug when listening to your music?
LVG: You don't need to take any drugs to listen to our music, but you probably won't understand it unless you are in love with the dissociative mindset. Anyone who has embraced that drug will find comfort in this album.
Chris Mitchell: What is involved in the creation process of Velvet Cacoon's music?
LVG: Lots of drugs. I write all of our black metal type music on acoustic guitars. Generally I do several variations with the chords I come up with, I structure them in different arrangements. Some folky, some almost like pop rock, then I finalize them in a very minimalist way. I can play all of our songs in almost any genre, from goth rock album. It was going to be this unrefined dark rock album. We were going to put SGL on drums and I was going to use this old Fender Telecaster that can scream like hellfire, but we wanted the December Star Embassy trilogy to flow very smoothly so we altered the sounds to create "Genevieve" as a very obscure and grey black metal album. Our ambient music is a very different story. That stuff is generally done as a location recording, improvisational song creation at dusk when the sky is like a blood orange. December Star Embassy's first recording was done in the mountains. It's best to write your music in the atmosphere you are trying to evoke. That's why Genevieve was written on the ocean under a bright moon on the third plateau.
Chris Mitchell: Would you provide us with a brief summary of your beliefs?
LVG: I can only speak for myself, but I believe in many things. I believe in always sleeping facing north. I believe the things ghosts tell me each night. I believe I could live on red wine and dark chocolate for all of eternity. I believe there is a seed deep in Steven Hawkings mind which is calling to me. It screams at me, it knows me.
Chris Mitchell: To the best of my knowledge Velvet Cacoon is supportive of asexuality. Do you promote that humans should avoid intercourse all together, or only reproducing?
LVG: I don't promote anything to anyone. "Dying Celestial Bodies" has sort of a dual meaning in regards to celibacy. I'm drawn to abstain from things like sex, eating, sleeping, etc. It's a personal choice but by no means is it something I believe everyone should follow. It provides a very introspective lifestyle.
Chris Mitchell: How is a song usually conceived? Does an image appear, a concept, a melody, etc.
LVG: Right now I'm sitting on my balcony. I take midnight tea out here every night. It inspires me too. Above all else, my inspiration comes from the conversations I have with ghosts who visit me after drinking datura tea. Some of our acoustic songs are inspired by Eric Rohmer films. He is basically one of the great French new wave film directors, especially the movie "Conte d’été", which takes place in Brittany, France. The movie is filmed almost how a dream sequence unfolds, it's all very pale and blue and the ocean is always somewhere on screen. You feel right there on the beach, smelling the salt in the air.
Chris Mitchell: Your music has a very dream-like and hypnotic quality to it, is this indicative or representative of anything?
LVG: Not really.
Chris Mitchell: How should your music be perceived/interpreted?
LVG: I would never tell someone how to listen to our sounds. It is up to each individual to make what they will of our music.
Chris Mitchell: Does Velvet Cacoon have any affiliation with the terrorist group Earth Liberation Front?
LVG: Velvet Cacoon is a group of a dozen or so people who branched out from ELF to start something more extreme. First and foremost, Velvet Cacoon is a group of deep thinkers, drug abusers, and a few published writers. We are pure and liberated people. Only a few of us contribute to the band. Music wise, I'm the female half of Velvet Cacoon. Our band is only one of the many paintbrushes we use to brand the world with our form of art.
Chris Mitchell: Which season most resembles you?
LVG: Summer. Summer is colorful, warm, intensely deep and almost painful. On the contrary, SGL would be a December midnight.
Chris Mitchell: Does your music contain a message or something you wish to communicate?
LVG: What we are communicating is the music itself and as I said earlier it should be perceived however you wish.
Chris Mitchell: How was Velvet Cacoon's previous member SKV murdered?
LVG: He wasn't murdered. He lost his mind, drank some moonshine and fell over a cliff. I don't really think about it much anymore, that was years ago.
Chris Mitchell: Is it true that you will be re-issuing all of your old releases? If so, when can fans expect them?
LVG: I doubt it. "Genevieve" was probably a one time only thing in regards to public releases. We've recorded December Star Embassy III, which is a folk album, but we only made a few copies for the other people in VC. We will make future ambient and black metal albums but they won't be released for strangers to hear. We don't do this to make fans. If SGL and I were the only 2 people on Earth we would still be making music. This art is very deep and personal to us. It's a shame some people can't respect that notion.
Chris Mitchell: That covers all my questions, feel free to add anything you want.
LVG: Thanks.