Interview with Tara VanFlower By Azriel J. Knight in 2002
One of the big questions that I have is how is the band name supposed to be pronounced? I have heard Lycia, LIE-ceea, Ly-shia. While we are on the topic, what does Lycia Mean?
We pronounce it “LIE SEE UH” but I think the proper
pronunciation is “LIE CHEE UH”. Mike picked the name
Lycia because he was studying Mediterranean culture and
liked the “LOOK AND FEEL” of the word ~e has a degree
in geography).
Before we talk about the new album, could you tell us a little background on what Lycia is all about, the sound and the message. This is mainly for those who have yet to hear your music.
We really don’t have any particular “message” to our music. We just write about what we’re going through, our perceptions at any given time. The environment around us is always a large influence on what we create. I think that’s evident with albums like “Cold” and “A Day In The Stark Corner” in particular. The new album is very much in the same vein ……. very, very soaked with our emotions and with our environment.
Tell me about some of your thoughts when you first heard Lycia before you were a member.
Well, I fell in love with Lycia from the first second I heard it. I popped the tape into my cheapo boombox and my jaw dropped …. then Mike’s voice kicked in and I knew I had to know him. I actually wrote Projekt to get his address and remarkably Sam wrote me back and gave it to me. (Sam just recently sent that letter to us in a frame! I have no idea how he still had it!) The music Mike creates never ceases to move me on a very emotional level I still can’t listen to “Stark Corner” without crying. There’s just something about his work that reaches somewhere deep inside ….. and I think it’s something intangible …. and something he would deny.
What has been the most successful release? Tell us about that.
Well, I guess that would depends on your definition on success. I think we’re probably most satisfied with the current release. Most of the albums have weird stuff associated with them for us – which makes them somewhat frustrating. The current release feels very comfortable to us …. and artistically very satisfying. In
terms of sales, Ionia is the most successful to date, followed by Estrella
Utilizing one of your side projects, “Estraya” you and Mike did a fund raiser for the September 11th tragedy, how did that go?
We ended up having to cancel our set at the last moment. Mike was having some health problems, which caused us to cancel. The event itself was loads of fun! I really enjoyed hanging out with “Fans” and seeing other bands play. I believed they raised a good amount of money. Also, thanks to Angie for the absolutely gorgeous hand printed cookies and fuzzy spider pen! Mmmm!!!!!!
Okay, finally onto the new album. Give us some background on what it’s all about.
Well, as is the case with all our releases, “Tripping Back
into the Broken Days” chronicles a moment in time for us. Mike nearly died a few years back and this threw us into a huge vacuum of sadness and fear and confusion. Mike was so sick at one point that I would sleep with one hand on his stomach making sure he was still breathing. He had dropped to 112Ibs and his body had begun shutting itself down. Coming through that period and into another period of transition really put us into an emotional loop. “Tripping” really sort of chronicles the time before and the few months after our move from Ohio to Arizona and the miles in between; as well as the emotions associated with all we had been through and where we’re heading. The album has a very natural and emotional feel to it. I think the people who understand the history of Lycia and us personally will really connect with this release and really understand who we are as people. The album has a very rustic sort of “American” feel to it. It reminds me of driving through the grasslands of
Oklahoma……and the hills of West Virginia. I can’t really explain what it feels like to me…..but it gives me the same feelings that
some of Steve Roach’s music gives me – where the atmospheres are so vivid you can physically see them…….and the mood
to me is reminiscent of some of the really old traditional blueqrass music . Just a very earthy, natural, emottonally draining, yet simp1e and beautful in its sadness.
I was under the impression Lycia had closed up for good, was that true at the time it was rumored?
It was absolutely true. We had no intentions of ever working on music again. Mike wouldn’t even talk about music for nearly a year. As I said earlier, he was very sick. We had also really gotten
frustrated with the whole “music game”….and we were no longer even able to attempt “the game” with his illness and having to work full time for health insurance and to pay our bills..
Mike slowly starting picking up the acoustic guitar and playing for fun….then he started writing songs. After we moved to Arizona he couldn’t find work anywhere. He was home everyday waiting for the phone to ring and it was really becoming scary. Basically he decided to record as a way from keeping himself spiraling dangerously deep into depression. He didn’t even
tell me he was recording until the album was almost half finished.
What differences on Tripping Back Into the Broken Days will the fans notice from previous releases? What is the meaning behind the album title?
Well, I think “Tripping” still feels very much like Lycia – but I definitely think there’s almost more of an emotional story to this release. We purposely left the vocals a lot drier than on past
releases so that the words could be heard and felt. I think Mike could tell you more about what the title means to him as he named the release ….for me it just represents that no matter how far you come through something traumatic….you can always fall right back into it….and there’s always something around the next corner. For us that’s been the case. As soon as you get through one devastating event there’s another right around the corner. I know some people probably hear our music and think “Man, these people just need to get over it”….but the fact is, if I sat here and told you everything that’s happened to us in the past six years you’d wonder how we’re still standing. We don’t write sad lyrics to feel sorry for ourselves we’re writing about very real and honest emotions…hmm…at least we are honest with ourselves. Writing about these things is in a sense a form of therapy or something. We would like nothing more than to be happy and ride off into the sunset…..unfortunately we haven’t been that lucky yet. We’re always hopeful though…..
Tell us about some of your favorite tracks and the meaning behind those songs.
I’ll just speak for my songs. Blue Heron
was inspired by this one day when we first moved to Arizona. We had virtually no money and we basically just went to parks and sat by the water for entertainment. Well, on this particular day
we watched this blue heron standing on the water’s edge hunting for fish. Because things were so different at the time, it caused a lot of tension… and a lot of real panic. I think the song just sort of represents things I was feeling inside….and on that
day it just really overwhelmed me. Another track is Give Up The Ghost. The idea of this song was inspired by the house on the cover of the album. That house was a mile up the street from where we lived in Ohio and had been abandoned my entire life (who knows how much longer). We went out there to take the photos and I got this idea of this lost, dead girl sitting inside the
house wondering where everyone had gone. There was still old furniture in the house and I just got the idea of her sitting in the chair waiting for someone to come home…..waiting for someone
to come and get her. It also has more relevance to my actual life. Asleep in the River has a lot of different meanings to it. I grew up on the Cuyahoga River, so that obviously inspired me. There’s
also this vague “rebirth” theme to it.. Cat and Dog also has more than one meaning to it, the real obvious, simple explanation would be that it’s a love song between a cat and a dog. The rest of the meaning has to do with me watching Mike fall apart – and in my heart hoping and dreaming to see him happy and healthy. It’s Okay To Be Small is about Mike nearly dying watching him waste away… and me telling him it’s okay to be afraid sometimes……and that he doesn’t always have to be the
strong one. I’d like to mention one of his tracks Vacant Winter Day… It’s one of the most beautifully sad songs I have ever heard ……