MIND INVERSION

Fresh off crafting one of the best new releases of 2009 with the Interracial Coupling EP, Travis von Sydow of Ancient Crux was kind enough to answer a few burning questions that we here at Mind Inversion had for him. Enjoy!

Mind Inversion: First off, are you a Roy Orbison fan? What do you think about all of the feedback linking what you’ve done to him?
Ancient Crux: Oh Yeah, I’m definitely a fan. I wouldn’t really compare my music to his personally, but it is flattering to hear that about my songs. Someone wrote that I sound more like something Roy Orbison shit out, and I think that is a bit more accurate.

MI: How serious is Ancient Crux? You’re a young guy and are involved in Rapid Youth as well. Is this, or any musical project, your ultimate goal?
AC: I don’t know that I have an ultimate goal, I love being in both bands, and I just want to be able to play music with my friends forever. I’m willing to take either band as far as they’ll go, but I’m not tying to be Axl Rose or anything.

MI: In relation to that, are you going to be doing any touring outside of California in support of Interracial Coupling? (the midwest would he honored to have you).
AC: I’d love to tour! We just did our first Rapid Youth tour with no paws (no lions) and it was really awesome. It is hard though, being young and booking shows myself, so if I did tour with Ancient Crux I’d probably only be able to do a short run on the west coast. I’ve always wanted to play the midwest though, I think it’d be lots of fun.

MI: Could you elaborate on the fact to have your next release be on tape only?
AC: Basically, I have no money, haha, and cassettes are inexpensive and easy.

MI: Your album has a very rustic and nostalgic feel to it. What contributes to that, was it intentional?
AC: Yeah, I guess in a way it’s intentional. All my favorite songs give me those nostalgic, timeless feelings and I guess in a way I try to make my songs achieve the same feelings.

MI: Your influences page on your myspace has a video for “Wo Hah” only. First off, great call. Second, what else do you listen to? What music has influenced this album heavily?
AC: I’m really into Wu-Tang’s Enter the 36 Chambers. I guess that’s an example of nostalgia I was trying to create. I’m also lucky enough to be surrounded by really talented friends in rad bands.

MI: Does your song writing draw upon certain influences? “In Teen Dreams” for example, I can relate to those lyrics, is there a connection that you try to create with the listener or is it just something you do?
AC: In Teen Dreams was actually a song I wrote for my girlfriend, haha, I wanted to write a song for her that sounded like “Blue Velvet” and that’s what came out. My songs are all real personal, I usual write about bad friends, haha, or the way I feel about people in general.

MI: I’m going to try something new here, just have fun and answer however you’d like. It’s a “fill-in-the-blank” type section.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 10, 2009 at 5:51 pm and is filed under Interviews, Mind Inversion Exclusive with tags ancient crux, exclusive, family time records, interracial coupling, interview, New Release, Q & A, travis von sydow. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.