STARING INTO NOTHING – Love Goes Prog!
1. Which is the concept behind the name of the band “Staring Into Nothing”?
First, it’s an homage to Kevin Gilbert and his song by the same name included on his amazing album “The Shaming of the True.” Second, it is representative of a form of meditation or just thinking. Finally, it describes the modern commercial and social media culture we live in where we are constantly looking at things that have no real substance, provide no real meaning, and have no context. We are deer caught in the headlights of things that are harming us.
2. Is “love” a reason to stare into nothing?
I think not. Love can be seen as the opposite. It is full engagement with another through thick and thin. It is a shared journey. Love is the real human experience whether it is for a dog, a majestic view or a romantic partner. To love something or someone, we must feel an interaction with something else, so certainly not staring into nothing.
3. You have a new album called “Love”. When and where did you record it? Please discuss the whole process of the recordings.
It was recorded mostly at Studio 19 in Costa Mesa, California with the drums tracked at Stagg Studios in Los Angeles. The process began with our producer Ronan Chris Murphy and us agreeing on final arrangements. We then recorded the backing tracks with Piano and Bass. Next it was off to Stagg Studio where Gregg Bissonette provide the stunning drum tracks that drive the groove and texture of so many of the songs. We then went back to Studio 19 and started the process of adding the instrumental over dubs of Guitars (Mike Keneally), Warr Guitar (Trey Gunn), Strings, Horns, Etc. Ronan then mixed the album and it was mastered by Nick Townsend.
4. Is it a conceptual album about love?
We were attempted to explore the complexity of love, the diseases of love and the evolution of love. We live in a world where so much is disposable. Divorce is the result of disposable love. I wanted to say there is deep and abiding value for two people who find their way through the ups and downs, the passion and the anger, to a life-long relationship that results in many ties that bind (shared memories).
5. There is a strong “Prog” atmosphere here including your super collaborators and Ronan Chris Murphy (King Crimson, Steve Morse, Ulver) who produced and mixed the album. How did you decide to gather all these personas in one album?
Kurt Barabas first met Ronan during a live performance by his band “Under the Sun” when they were on the Magna Carta label. They kept in touch and when we approached Ronan to produce this our second album, he was all in. He wanted to make the best possible album from the songs we had written. We all love progressive bands and we were so blessed that he was able to bring in world class musicians from some of those same bands. These musicians are obviously virtuoso’s, but what blew us away was how much they cared about their contribution to the music. I would say that was Ronan’s number one ethic. The musicians had to treat the songs as if they were their own.
6. Who did design the “heart on fire” cover artwork and how does this correspond to the meaning of your lyrics?
This was an idea Kurt and I had that a heart on fire would be the perfect representation of the thin line between love and hate.
7. There are 4 tracks on the album entitled as the 4 seasons (Winter, Spring, Summer, Autumn). Is nature a source of inspiration for you?
Nature is a source of inspiration and I wanted to explore the seasons of a romantic relationship lyrically using the seasons as a metaphor. What starts in perfect joy during Spring, first shows some cracks in Summer and falls apart amid acrimony and misunderstandings in Autumn. Winter was written to be more of a lament about what had been lost and the knowledge that we could have done more, behaved better, and loved without conditions. Instead the love died.
8. You did shoot a promotional video for the track “Ashes”, tell me the story behind it.
This was produced by a company called Industrialism Films and specifically by Vicente Cordero. The concept of the video was his. I felt he perfectly interpreted the song Ashes by portraying a journey of redemption experienced by an addicted substance abuser that ends in reconciliation and love. Vicente has produced 6 other videos that have yet to be released. We loved working with him.
9. Do you have any plans to promote the album with live shows, even concerts adjusted to the Covid-19 situation?
Well of course Covid-19 has changed everything. So instead of live shows we focused on the videos and just started working on new material.
10. What about your next musical plans?
We got inspired by a new concept and instead of working to finish what we thought would be our third album “War,” we are deep into something new. It has more of a narrative to the songs and was inspired by several books that have meant a lot to me over the years; “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance,” “Amusing Ourselves to Death,” Thinking Fast and Thinking Slow,” and “Brave New World.” The story asks and tries to answer the question “What is good and What is Not.” It considers whether smart phones and social media are not a form of addiction like the drug Soma in Brave New World. So far, we have written 19 songs and are quite pleased that these have taken an even more progressive turn.
Band information: https://www.staringintonothing.com/
