Interview with Julie and Ross of Per Somnia
Interview By: Azriel J. Knight
Azriel: What does “Per Somnia” mean and why did you choose that for a band name?
Ross: Per Somnia is a Latin phrase, which translates to “in a dream”. I initially wanted the music to have a dreamlike quality to it, and some of the songs on the first CD even have lyrics directly dealing with dreams. Names can often sound more interesting in a language other than English, so Per Somnia was chosen.
Azriel: There is a very beautiful relaxing feels to your music that I have only found in a few other bands, how do create this amazing sound?
Ross: I suppose it’s just natural. We’re both pretty relaxed people in general. A lot of the musical style of Per Somnia is a continuation of my work as Sunless, where the music was mostly very gloomy. Take gloomy to a slightly happier level and you get relaxing.
Julie: I’ve had a lot of vocal training since I was in grade school. Usually the goal for a traditional choral voice is rich and smooth. At this point in my life I don’t think I could have an angry or growling singing voice even if I tried really hard. Most of my contribution to this type of sound is due to the fact that I can’t sing any other way.
Azriel: Tell me about the Drifting video, what are your plans with it?
Ross: The “Drifting” video was done so that I could see what kind of video I could make with basically no training or equipment. We borrowed an old VHS style camcorder and made a primitive blue screen from a blue blanket, and then shot the footage. I edited it on my PC and was somewhat happy with the result. Recently I created a new version of the video, incorporating more footage. It will be up on our website soon.
Azriel: How have programs like mp3.com and Napster affected your career as a musician?
Ross: I think mp3.com is wonderful. It has really revolutionized the marketing and distribution of independent music. We’ve had people from all across the world buy our CD’s through mp3.com, I don’t think there’s any way that would’ve happened without them. Napster doesn’t really have much bearing on most independent musicians, especially when you’re giving your songs away on mp3.com anyway.
Julie: Napster hasn’t had much of an effect on us. We’ve done a few searches for our name just to see if anyone is sharing our MP3’s and only found a few people. It seems that more people are interested in trading major label songs. Putting songs on MP3.com was probably one of the best choices we’ve made as a band. We’ve gotten fan mail from people who could have never heard our music otherwise. It’s usually hard to get exposure outside of a local area without having good connections.
Azriel: It could just be me and it probably is, but there is an element of sex appeal in some of your songs like Opiate X and Drifting, was this done on purpose?
Ross: Actually, I hadn’t thought that there was any sex appeal in those songs. If there is though, that’s fine by me. Sex appeal gets people’s attention. 🙂
Azriel: Tell me about your involvement with Sunless.
Ross: Sunless is a solo project of mine, and it was my first real musical project…very gloomy and dark gothic stuff. The music of both Sunless and Per Somnia is my way of getting out whatever emotions I’m feeling at the time. The same goes for my third project, The Endparty. Sunless is the negative extreme, Endparty is the positive, and Per Somnia is somewhere in the middle. Since Sunless is a solo project, it has never played any live shows…which hinders a band’s progress, I think. Right now, new Sunless songs are pretty sporadic since I’m putting most of my efforts into Per Somnia.
Azriel: What sort of places do you play live? Where would you like to play in the future?
Julie: We’ve played mostly in local clubs. Two of the shows played were part of larger events. The first had three bands and about seven DJ’s in several rooms. The second was an underground art and music festival. We would like to play some shows outside of Arizona in the future. Somewhere in California wold most likely be the first place we would go.
Azriel: What is the future plans for Per Somnia?
Ross: to continue making music and gaining listeners. And to tour and play for all of the people who’ve emailed us and said “will you ever be doing a show where I live?”
Azriel: Thanks very much for this opportunity to interview you 🙂
Ross: Thank you!
Interview Originally Published in December 2000
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