Sepiachord: Would you be so kind as to introduce yourselves and tell us a bit about your various projects?
HUMANWINE: Holly Brewer and M@ McNiss. We are from all over. We live in Boston now and we'll be moving out to The SF Bay Area in November.
We co-created a band called HUMANWINE in the winter of 2001. We run our own Record Label called, Nervous Relatives Records which keeps track of our releases, We run our own publishing company called, Nervous Relatives Music which keeps track of all of our songs and we run our own design company called Nervous Relatives Designs. We have both been making art i n its many forms since we could talk/ hold a crayon.
SC: What's prompting your move to the San Francisco area?
HUMANWINE has been based out of Boston for 2 years now (which is the longest we have stayed anywhere) but now the wind has changed and it is time for us to pack up and bring HUMANWINE out to the West Coast by November 2007.
Spare-A-Swipe: http://www.nervousrelatives.com/Spare_A_Swipe
The Plan is to raise $10,000 which will cover the cost of buying a bus, converting it to run on WVO (Waste Vegetable Oil) and solar power. We plan to follow the warm weather and bring HUMANWINE to each town manually while "Living what we sing about".
SC:There have been many descriptions or your sound bandied about: "Punk Rock Mary Poppins", "Vaudevillian Anarcho-Punk" , "Post Apocalyptic Theatre with a Socio-Political Tongue"... so how do you describe the sound of HUMANWINE to your parents?
HW: Both sets of our parents come to HUMANWINE shows, so they have descriptions of their own.
SC: Is it easier to just give a list of your influences?
HW: No. To give a list confuses the issue and encourages for lazy journalism. When we read about a band and the author lists off a million different bands that really tells us nothing at all about the band they are doing a review of it tells us who they remind them of, which is an entirely different story.
SC: What's harder, trying to describe your sound or having to read other people's descriptions of it?
HW: Neither is hard per se. We find it 'interesting' to describe our music for people who ask and equally interesting to read/hear other peoples interpretation of it.
SC: HUMANWINE isn't just a musical project, it's a linked web of fictional parable you call "The Quilt of Vinland". How did you first find yourself in Vinland?
HW: HUMANWINE is what gets made by the underground dwelling mythical creatures called 'the enjoyeurs'.
Vinland came to us when we were in Montreal. The characters starting coming once the song 'vin d'humaine' was conceived. The words "Faces of the typical so sad are...sad are. Faceless are the typical so sad!". The name Vinland came when we realized that HUMANWINE was such a strong part of this place. Of the Vine...Vineland...no...Vinland. About a year ago we searched the word Vinland on the internet and some chilling discoveries were made... See for yourself.
SC: Your songs and stories are very evocative, can you foresee the world of Vinland being documented as a film?
HW: The plans for Vinland are endless. They are bound only by funding and time.
SC: Explaining the essence of Vinland maybe a bit much, but could you talk about the "quilt" metaphor?
HW: Every song m@ and holly write is a patch. With each patch/song that gets made/written the Quilt grows. The Quilt of Vinland is also endless.
SC: Your audience has taken to dressing as Vinland "Cog Zombies" and "Abrogated Munificents" is both Vinland's fifth column and an organization of your fans. Did you do anything to encourage this blurring of fact and fiction or did yourfans take it upon themselves to become part of the story?
HW: We encourage folks to participate in our live shows. We supply folks with the concept and descriptions, we cast and train folks on the material and occasionally we have a large scale performance where we have the players take a back seat and we have the actors SHOW what the songs means. Upon seeing this many of the kids started to look online for drawings and descriptions of the characters so they could 'represent' them at the live shows.
SC: This interactive story creation process is heavily reminiscent of roleplayng games. Are either of you gamers?
HW: Unfortunately gaming missed us both. We were asked to play a L.A.R.P. Festival once but it never ended up working out.
SC: Music mogul Jac Holzman, known best for his Elektra and Nonesuch record labels as well as being the man who discovered The Doors, has taken an interest in HUMANWINE. How did he hook up with you and what role is he playing in your future?
HW: Jac heard of HUMANWINE through an old acquaintance of his. The role Jac has played in our lives and will play in the future is that he is a fan and a supporter of our music and he is a friend.
SC: You've recently release your newest recording, "Fighting Naked". Could you tell us a bit about it?
HW: Fighting Naked was recorded in January 2007 @ HI-N-DRY in Cambridge, MA. It delves much deeper into the heart of Vinland. A full storyline would include 5 albums at the point. Expect a Box Set in the future.
SC: Your songs are part of the distinctly political parable that is Vinland. Are there specific real world political issues that you'd like to address head on?
HW: There are very specific real world issues that we do address head on. Class War, Human Rights, Animal Rights, Totalitarian Governments and The Giant Corporations that ruin every fabric of a healthy functioning society are our very immediate concerns; which all have many many branches and tributaries.
SC: You have some strong views about animals in "entertainment" situations. Is this concern focused on circuses only or does it encompass the involvement of animals in other types of media and entertainment?
HW: Animals, much like children are being coerced into their acting/entertainment situations by an adult that knows more about their situation than they do (a pimp if you will). Each situation must be examined thoroughly. It is a very broad statement to make. Circuses are and animal rights abomination. Circuses.com is a great collector of common atrocities committed by circuses that include animals into their programs.
SC: Any closing thoughts?
HW: It is important for us to stress that the world around us is being clouded by ego. In order to do an interview we have to realize that we are going to be batting away general chances to talk about 'us'. There is nothing wrong with sharing your own story but there is a very real story going on in the world right now that matters most to us all. For if that story ends...so do we all. Let's keep debate on our plates. Less gossip talk more real talk, even if it is harder to talk about. Ruffle people's feathers. Get them talking about real current issues. Seek out alternate forms of Media. Start with DemocracyNow.org.
