Uma viagem ao mundo dos sonhos a cargo de Omega Vague ou Craig Douglas o responsável pela viagem sonora desde 2001 soltando eps, albuns via omegavague.net, todos com a temática shoegazer e dreamy tendo como alicerce na mente e na alma o Slowdive.
Conheci tardiamente através de contatos imediatos e é claro, tornou-se trilha sonora de momentos isolados, reflexões, pensamentos e devaneios diversos.
Omega Vague certamente pode lhe acompanhar nesses e em outros momentos e te guiar pelos paraísos dos sonhos.
***** Interview with Omega Vague *****
Q. When did Omega Vague starts tell us about the history...
Omega Vague started as an experimental bedroom recording project around 2001. After being in and out of various bands in the Connecticut area I realized that working alone was a perfect opportunity to create my ideas without investing time, money and passion in other projects and relying on people who dont have the drive to be productive. Omega Vague was my personal creative outlet. I always immersed myself in a wide range of styles as a musician but I really wanted to make Omega Vague something different but specific.
Q: Who are your influences?
When I first heard Radiohead "The Bends" in 1995... it completely changed me as a musician and my outlook on music in general. Im a late 80's/90's kid so I used to absorb the easily accessible commercial and what I now consider "cringe-worthy" bands in those eras. It wasnt until I heard that album I became passionate and embraced more minimal and atmospheric music. Years later I heard Sigur Ros' album "Agaetis Byrjun" and they made Radiohead sound like Lynyrd Skynyrd. I was hooked on finding similar artists and over the last decade and the ones I discovered influenced me greatly. Slowdive, M83, Ulver, Cocteau Twins, Landing, GYBE, Mogwai...to name only a few.
Q. Made a list of 5 albuns of all time…
In no particular order....
Peter Gabriel - Passion
Sigur Ros - Agaetis Byrjun
Slowdive - Souvlaki
Pink Floyd - Obscured By Clouds
Talk Talk - Laughing Stock
Q. How do you fell playing alive?
Ive always considered myself a performer. Its where that fire is inside me and nothing else can ignite it the way performing does. Although sometimes I am very self conscious. I sometimes imagine myself from an outsiders standpoint and wonder..."do I come across confident...professional?" or "if I were watching me...would I be entertained?" Its always exciting to play for people but its also a learning experience every time. Its true what they say about artists...we are our own worst critics. There are so many bands I see who all have that magic where there is absolutely no question that they know exactly what they are doing. I sometimes second guess myself before the show and after the show....but during the show I close my eyes and lose myself in the music.Getting lost is exactly where I want to be when Im performing.
Q. How do you describe Omega Vague sounds?
I know its easy and convenient to lock bands into categories or sub-genres and I kind of wish I could come up with a name for this music. My last self titled album that I released in March 2014 has received a bit of attention in the shoegaze/dream pop scene but I would definitely not consider it those styles by any means. There are elements there for sure. I think you will hear a lot of styles going on if you were to dive deep into the catalog. A majority of my work is atmospheric, minimal, dark pop. I did release an album called "In With The Old" that showcases a diverse assortment of material I created over the years that I never did anything with. The songs range from ambient to dance, to metal. Its all over the place. I am also interested in growing and changing musically. My next album will still have some beautiful dreamy tunes but I am also interested in revisiting rock and punk music...but with super ethereal vocals.
Q: Tell us about the process of recording the songs ?
Its pretty spontaneous every time. I never have anything written before hand. I have no idea what Im going to do and tend to take it track by track. Usually I will lay down a drum track, something straightforward. I will then pick up a guitar and play around until I come up with something to my liking and then lay that down. Then bass. Vocals take me forever. I truly admire any vocalist who can nail it in a couple takes. I have the David Byrne (singer for Talking Heads) syndrome. Im not a true and trained singer. I have pretty horrible spontaneous delivery so I sit for hours and hours sometimes doing takes until I get it to where I can tolerate it. I hate it honestly. I layer my vocals through a loop machine line by line....because I truly cant stand hearing my voice alone. Some vocalist have that really nice timbre but I cant get past mine when its alone by itself and not effected. So I will sing a line...loop it...then overdub like a million times as accurate as possible so it becomes thick and lush. You can imagine why it takes hours, sometimes days doing vocals this way....especially when your doing it one line at a time. Eventually...if Im lucky...something really great will come of it...or I just spent hours on something I may just trash. I am always challenged with the vocal process.
Q. Which new bands do you recommended?
As far as brand new I have been a bit out of touch because nothing has grabbed me. If I had to name some bands that have been around a little while though I would mention Wild Nothing. I love everything those guys put out. There is a group called Tinniens (https://tinniens.bandcamp.com/) who are newer and are amazing. I also really dig that band The War On Drugs. They have managed to reinvent late 70's Americana rock by putting an ambient twist on it. Their album "Lost In A Dream" is easily one of the best albums Ive heard this year.
Q: Which bands you love to made a cover version?
Ive done a few covers. My intentions were based solely on songs that really tugged at my heartstrings at the time. I did a cover of Tim Buckley's song "Song To The Siren"..later realizing its been covered by a lot of people and rightfully so...Its one of the most beautiful songs ever written. I did a cover of "Down By The River" by Neil Young for no reason other than Neil Young is awesome. I also did a super gazed out version of "Country Roads Take Me Home" by John Denver that no one will ever hear. If I do decide to do a cover its pretty random and will most likely be by an artist you and I would least expect.
Q: What´s the plans for future....
Playing shows...more albums...more shows....more albums. Being the only member of a band its pretty easy to feel confident in saying it will be around for a long time.
Q: Any parting words?
I just want to express my gratitude to anyone whos listening. Thank you so much
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Thanks Craig
http://www.omegavague.net
https://www.facebook.com/omegavague