Why did you decide to release "Bath" and "Leaving your Body Map" together?
Well it's all been one project for us. We recorded them in the studio
together, and there are themes and ideas which run through the whole thing,
so it's really one work. We didn't even know at the beginning which songs
would be on which album. The real question we faced was whether to release
the project as a double album or separately, and there were reasons both
ways but I think the main thing was that we didn't want to "make" people
buy a double album--if someone's curious but doesn't want to spring for the
set, they can get just one CD and see if they like it before getting the other.

Did you try to reflect different feelings in "Bath" compared
to"Leaving..."?
I think of a lot of the songs as exploring different facets of similar
concepts. Probably the most prevalent extramusical concept in maudlin of
the Well is this theme of escape, of finding your way out, of seeing past
and overcoming mundanity. We all have different reasons and perspectives
but I think most people in the world at some point feel like they're being
stifled, that there's more to life than the role society hands them. And
this is what I think we're trying to escape from. So there's all kinds of
feelings there--anger when you're prevented from doing what you're here to
do, sadness when you're not sure how to fix it, excitement when you do get
an idea, euphoria when you've overcome something. So there are different
feelings in "Bath" and "Leaving...," but a lot of it's still about the same
thing.

How different are "Bath" and "Leaving..." to "My Fruit Psychobells..."?
I think the band has progressed a lot since the first release. "My Fruit
Psychobells..." was a bunch of songs, and they're great songs, but with the
new project I feel a much more developed larger structure. We've also
expanded the instrumentation even further, and as maudlin of the Well has
been changing from a studio project to a live band also there's been more
interaction between the musicians, so this has been a more collaborative
effort too. However it is absolutely the same band, and the themes and
sounds of "My Fruit Psychobells..." are still present on "Bath" and
"Leaving..."

Your music is really climatic...is the main purpose of Maudlin of the
Well to create those beautiful atmospheres?
The atmospheres are something we certainly think about, but I think of them
more as a means to an end. It's hard to describe what the main purpose of
maudlin of the Well is... I guess the main purpose is artistic expression,
and creating those atmospheres is one way we try to accomplish that. It's
hard to talk about because we really try to focus on the music itself, and
there are some things that you can say in music that you just can't say in
words.

How were the tracks in both CDs composed? Do you have a fixed
methodology of composing songs?
Toby writes the music for the songs, but the arrangement methodology has
changed a bit since "My Fruit Psychobells..." to become more
collaborative. This time through Toby and Sam worked out the drums and
scratch guitar tracks, and then we all listened to rough mixes and made
maps of the songs to figure out where the other instruments should
play. We used the maps to write our own parts without getting in each
other's way--Byron wrote lyrics to the music, Greg wrote solos, Maria wrote
vocal lines, I wrote keyboard and woodwind parts, etc. We're still
refining the technique, but I think the basic idea is that we're trying to
find a way to achieve the diversity of a combined effort while staying true
to the vision that created the band in the first place.

How was your performance at the Milwaukee Metalfest? Do you felt that
you were an "outside" band because of your music style ?
Milwaukee had a lot of ups and downs. We've gotten a lot tighter over the
past year and I think we played well, but the fact that our set was cut
short and we didn't get to play our closer was really discouraging,
especially considering that we weren't really running behind and the band
after us played for like 40 minutes. Also I'm not sure how the mix
was--that's always a big issue for us because we have so many instruments,
and since the monitors don't tell us what the hall mix sounds like we can't
really adjust while we're playing. As far as being and "outside" band
goes, I guess we are, but I don't really notice that any more, it's just
part of what the band is. I actually think it's important not to think
about that too much, because when you do something different just for the
sake of being different there's no point, it becomes just another contrived
gimmick. What we need to do is focus on our musical ambitions, and let
other people worry about how "outside" we are.

Is it a conscious effort to make each Maudlin of The Well song
different from the others?
Of course. What's the point of putting out a whole album if every song
sounds the same?

How did you started to use some not o common instruments like church
organs and all that we can hear in "Bath" and "Leaving..."?
Well it started in "My Fruit Psychobells..." with clarinet and
trumpet. It's all about the textures--the more instruments you have, the
more colors you have to paint with. Toby plays clarinet and Jason played
trumpet, so they used those to create textures you just couldn't get with
the standard guitars-drum-keyboard setup. With "Bath" and "Leaving..."
we're just expanding what was started with the first release. When I
joined the project I really wanted to use pipe organ and more woodwinds,
and in the meantime Toby's been picking up cello and we found a really good
violist to make a guest appearance.

Which are your musical influences? there seems to be some metal
background and some jazz too...
I think one of the biggest strengths of the band is that we come from
varying musical backgrounds. Metal's certainly the strongest influence,
but even within that there's plenty of variation--Toby's really into
Esoteric, Greg's more into Iced Earth, Sam's really into Nile. Personally,
I come more of a classical background, with a fair amount of jazz study as
well. But there really isn't that much jazz influence in the band... I
think a lot of people just hear trumpet playing over drums and don't know
what to call it besides "jazz." When working on this last project I wasn't
thinking at all about swinging, but I was thinking a lot about
voice-leading. In any case, I think the interaction between our different
backgrounds contributes a lot to creating unique sounds and adding variety
to the music so the songs don't all sound the same. We're trying to forget
about genre and make music that doesn't have to fit into any preordained box.

How is your relationship with other Dark Symphonies bands like
Novembers Doom or Rain Fell Within?
Rain Fell Within is awesome. We've been able to hang out with them at a
few gigs, and they're really cool people as well as one of my favorite
bands in the scene. November's Doom has been signed more recently (as has
Brave, formerly Arise from Thorns) so we haven't had a chance to really get
to know them yet, but they're both great bands that are of course more
established, and I certainly hope we can get to know them as well. We see
Autumn Tears fairly regularly, and I'm psyched to say that I will be
contributing to the upcoming Autumn Tears release.

Do you have some musical training in harmony or musical theory? There
are certain complex parts...tempo changes, etc.
Yes. Toby, Greg Josh, and I were all music concentrators in college, and
of course we're going to use some of what we picked up. However we do make
an effort to use the more complicated devices only where appropriate, not
playing parts in 17 all over the place just because we can. I certainly
don't think you have to have a formal education to be a good musician, but
I also don't see why you'd pass up the chance to learn more about music if
you've got the opportunity. I would really like to go back to school and
study orchestration.

How is your deal with Dark Symphonies?
Our deal is great. Industry standard record deals suck--the recording
costs come out of your royalties, the label can keep any of the involved
musicians from appearing on other recordings within the time span of the
contract, and they snag your publishing rights--which means THEY now own
YOUR songs! Dark Symphonies threw all that out and rewrote the contract
from the musician's perspective so it doesn't feel like you're signing your
soul away to get your stuff out there. They don't have the money and
influence of a major label (yet), but the fact that they treat their bands
with respect and deal in good faith more than makes up for that as far as
I'm concerned.

Where are you going to promote the two CDs now?
Anywhere we can! One of the nice things about having a label is that they
take care of a lot of that, and Dark Symphonies (as you have obviously
noticed) has gone international--they've got distributors now in Europe and
Asia as well as the Americas. As far as what we as a band are working on,
I think our main project now that Milwaukee is over will be to play a lot
of shows around Boston and try to build more of a following here.

Any final words?
Yes. Open your ears. Listen to everything. King Diamond, My Dying Bride,
Chopin, Stravinsky, Villa-Lobos, Sarah Vaughan, Charles Mingus, Mary-Lou
Williams, Jimi Hendrix, Soundgarden, Bjork, John Cage, Alvin Lucier,
Schoenberg, Yusef Lateef, Ravi Shankar, Chico O'Farrill, Los Munequitos de
Matanzas... You won't like everything, but sometimes you'll find resonance
in unexpected places. Music can challenge and enlighten you. There IS a
way out, and listening could be the first step to finding it.

My Fruit Psychobells... - CD (2000)