Ancient Warfare
Lexington, Kentucky's Echo
Wilcox delivers her hypnotic art project, The Pale Horse
By RAR
Ancient
Warfare is the brainchild of Echo
Wilcox, who in 2010 approached Shangri-La Productions
with a demo CD. She was attending
Savannah College of Art and Design,
at the time, studying photography and motion graphics.
Shangri-La was producer/engineer Duane
Lundy's business and he and Wilcox were friends. He
worked with her to produce an albums worth of material, and over
the last five years Wilcox' demo project has blossomed into a
band.
Wilcox lives in Lexington, Kentucky,
though she grew up in Georgia and California, and she is a
little spooky in a way that you see a lot in female songwriters
these days. Listening to her recordings sounds a lot like
listening to those of another songwriter we have covered a lot
on this site: Angie Mattson, now known as Angie Gail
as part of the hit band In the Valley Below. Wilcox is
one of those "thinkers" your mother warned you about, who may
lead you to think about things you'd be best advised to avoid;
the laden aspects of being human. Her saving grace is that she
does a lot of it quite beautifully, using composition and
instrumentation in ways that might make you look around to make
sure there's no one sneaking up from behind. This feels a part
of the whole concept of "Ancient Warfare", a cohesive conjuring
of elemental powers. Wilcox' publicist puts it this way: "The
Pale Horse lures the listener into a golden dreamscape only to
darkly demand resolution to the inescapable, universal plagues
of love and death. This apocalyptic thread running throughout
reminds us that everything good and true can end; the wild
beauty of a crashing wave will inevitably become the succumbing
regress of the tide. Such polarizing themes are pervasive
throughout the record; expansive skies versus one small soul,
our eternal quest for answers versus a relieved embrace of
cyclical, unavoidable truths. The resulting sound is of a gothic
renaissance breed, evoking images of tribal eccentricity and
dramatic decay..."
Before leaving you with the
impression that Ancient Warfare is some kind of a Druidic
exercise, you should also know that there is a lot of Chrissie
Hynde in Wilcox. She has a very similar tone, range and
attitude, especially on "Gunsmoke", the third track on The
Pale Horse LP, released in August (2015). (Use
this link to listen to "Gunsmoke" on SoundCloud.) Wilcox is
joined by multi-instrumentalist Emily
Hagihara (Chico Fellini, Jim James and solo work),
classically trained violinist Rachael
Yanarella (Oh My Me), and bassist
Derek Rhineheimer (Oh My
Me). It is a strong album, refreshingly focused on authentic
expression versus market engineering. I don't know what outlet
would ever play this stuff, but if one existed I'd listen to it.
Echo Wilcox was kind enough to put
up with a CCJ questionnaire, and she provided thoughtful
responses.
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In previous interviews the members of your
band have listed P.J. Harvey, Chrissie Hynde, Aimee Mann, and Patti
Smith as influences. Those are all really strong personalities, and
smart minds. How have these people impacted the vision you have for
Ancient Warfare?
Our attraction to these artists' work lies in
the way in which they deliver - their stage presence, the attitude of their music,
the character of their vocals...they have been around for a long time and for good
reason. Their personalities are very present - live and on record - they are
able to connect. Ultimately we are making music for ourselves - we want to make
the best music we can make, and that means putting in a lot of time and work
to get there. And hopefully we have the ability to connect with people in the way
that these artists have connected with us.
What is Lexington, Kentucky like for you as
musicians? Is that a scene that somehow naturally spawned your particular
brand of music? Or is Ancient Warfare the odd product to come out of
what that scene typically has to offer?
While Lexington is not typically thought of as
having a large music scene, there is an incredible amount of talent
to be found here. We are a close-knit and devoted group of friends and
colleagues, and feel fortunate for it. Partly due to the small size
of our downtown, getting a large crowd to come to a show can be difficult
and sometimes frustrating. However, even in a small crowd
one can look around and notice that half of those in attendance are
fellow musicians. The amount of support and love we have for each
other and our music is almost beyond belief. Lexington is most likely
not a town you can be “found” in, but it is place where you can find
your sound.
Our music is not typical to this town. We
strive to be creative in the structure of our songs and accompanying
instrumental composition.
Lexington doesn’t necessarily have a recurrent
sound; you can find everything from an exciting roots-y folk style
band, to a more experimental electronic soundscape project or
a more straight-up rock and roll show on any given night. We’re lucky
to be surrounded by the inspiring new music this city has to offer.
Are you inclined to using themes in your
songwriting? If so, which are your favorites?
I tend to fixate over the the idea of holding
onto the past and typically look at songs as a sort of capsule for a
particular moment in time, similar to the affect a photo has. Anything
from the anxiety of the unknown, bliss of a new love, reminiscing a
childhood daydream or questioning our very fate -- its more or less
a state of consciousness being tapped into and brought to the surface
through the music.
Your sound is very clean. Can you describe how
you go about constructing your music and what qualities you
strive to achieve in composition and production?
It’s a pretty organic process. Usually I bring
a rough draft or outline to the table and then we just sort of dive in. I
never feel like a song is entirely finished and because of this we
constantly tweak, rearrange, add and subtract. There are always ways to
adapt and make it better or perhaps it’s just a restless mind not
knowing when to quit.
Do you work with a producer(s)?
Yes, we recorded The Pale Horse here in
Lexington with Duane Lundy of Shangri-la Productions. He added a really
unique touch to the record and pushed the envelope in both a
visual and textural direction.
Is your music easy to put across in a live
setting? Are there challenges there? What types of venues work best for you?
Live, we have a dynamically layered sound that
contrasts both delicate and heavy moments. The record is pretty dense
and we try and replicate this as much as possible. Given we
are a four-piece, we do come across some variances live vs. off the
record. On-stage, we tend to be a bit more free, taking on various roles
including several vocal layers and different combinations of pedals.
We see it less as a challenge and more of an outlet to creating
new and interesting adaptations to the songs.
As far as venues go, we enjoy playing in both
intimate and non-traditional settings where we are up close with the audience as
well as a more full setup on stage.
How committed are you to this musician
lifestyle? Do you see yourself doing this when you are 60 years old?
I can’t imagine a life that does not involve
music in some way. Music has the ability to stop the noise of one’s
surroundings - distractions, inner thoughts, whatever, and hold one solely
there in that moment.
I’ve always felt most satisfied when I’m
playing music - not in terms of ability, but simply the feeling of playing
music. So yes, I imagine music will still very much remain an important
part of my life when I am 60.
Do you think of yourself as an "artist", or do
you even think in those terms? If you do, what defines "art" to you?
What do you aspire to achieve that would allow you feel that you
have achieved "artistry". (Note: I wouldn't ask the question if your
music didn't sound to me like "art" on some level.)
Honestly, I don’t look at it in those terms.
What we do up there on stage I consider to be art, but labeling
myself as an “artist” is not something that I want to personally claim.
I believe you now have a male band member.
When you were an all-girl group, did this create any hurdles to overcome in marketing
yourselves? Do people, for instance, assume
that an all-girl group is part of an LBGT thing?
With so many wonderful and far-reaching female
centered bands playing and touring these days we have had no
need to fight off a typecast, even though there may still be some
inaccurate assumptions that all-girl bands play cute or poppy music.
Our gender and/or sexual orientation has absolutely nothing to do with
how we market ourself as a band. We are females and we play music.
Period. (And our periods come once a month).
What do you feel are your strongest assets as
a band?
We are a hard-working group. We keep a regular
rehearsal schedule and our practices tend to be long - we arrange
and fine-tune new songs and further the development of our
pre-existing material. Many of the songs are not “done” once they’ve been
recorded - they continue to go through different changes. The
reason for this is not only to keep things fresh, but also to find
the best translations of these songs in a live setting.
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