Banished is more of ‘a concept album to a certain degree’, according to Reject. While his debut, Drawn + Quartered was mostly a collection of the material that he and his live cohorts performed live over the first five plus years, Reject describes his follow-up as being ‘basically a diary of (his) life between 2007 and 2009’. With this enigmatic answer in hand, find out more about the writing and meaning behind Banished Psalms, as well as learn a tidbit about Chris’ gestating side-project, as well as his plans for his Life Cried’s future.

Vlad: Considering it took five years to develop your debut, Drawn + Quartered, this time you were able to produce Banished Psalms in about half the time. How was the experience of writing your second disc versus that of your first?

Chris Reject: It actually didn't take five years to produce Drawn + Quartered itself… at least not all of the songs that ended up on the album. I had been writing music under the name Life Cried since around late 1999/2000, but never put an album out. I just played shows and gave out demos for the first few years. Then we got signed in 2005, so I was writing music for a while, but the early material was never put out. Those five years was basically the time between when I started the band before I got signed, then after we got signed, I just put a bunch of songs together that I had plus a few new ones. So, Drawn + Quartered is more or less a compilation of songs I produced over the years up until we got a record deal, and then the album officially came out in 2006.

Vlad: Even though Psalms came about faster than Drawn + Quartered, you mentioned that you encountered a few delays in the process... in fact, it was originally supposed to come out in 2008. What were these obstacles, and how did they affect the final product?

Chris Reject: Well, I wrote the basic music for Banished Psalms pretty quickly… it came very naturally and didn't take long at all. However, by the time I was ready to complete it and record the vocals, I had no room for my studio. I had to move from where I was living to get my studio back together, and then shortly after I got a new place, I finished the recording. There was a whole year in between where I had all the songs done but they just had no vocals on them yet… but I would say in the end the recordings came out better that way because it wasn't so rushed.

Vlad: Another small tidbit I noticed with Banished Psalms is that you've dropped the 'Death Condition' pseudonym. How come?

Chris Reject: ‘Death Condition’ was an early name under which I wrote music before I got all that serious about any of it. I figured I would drop it and start fresh; it just wasn't me anymore.

Vlad: There seems to a strong religious undertone to Banished Psalms; even your press junket mentions that it is a work of 'personal strife, love and addiction carefully interwoven with an underlying theme of a loss of faith'. So, how does this tie into being a diary of your life?

Chris Reject: This album was basically me just spilling my guts out on how I felt for the past few years. The whole ‘banished’ and ‘loss of faith’ thing was more personal to me… it wasn't about just religion, it was about a hidden side or aspects of me that had been discarded and that I wanted to overcome.

I had pushed that side of me away for a while and then it just came back out at full force. So, the natural thing to do was to bring it to the surface and put it out in the open… you could also compare it to society or religion. How you can be made to think a certain way, but if you look in between the cracks there is a lot more going on there that isn't so great. It’s a ‘never judge a book by it's cover’ sort of thing... and I want people to get out of it whatever they can.

Vlad: I noticed that Nero Bellum of Psyclon Nine contributed to the track, ‘Bound in Hate’. What was it like to work with Nero, and why did you choose to collaborate with him?

Chris Reject: I have known Nero for a few years now. We did some shows with Psyclon Nine in the past, so that’s how we met and became friends. We were just talking randomly one day and decided to collaborate on something for the new album. Originally, he was going to do guest vocals on a track, but at the time, he didn’t have a lot of his recording gear to get it done in time for the deadline. Since he lives in California and I am all the way in New Jersey, it isn't so easy to get together. In the end, I sent him a song that I thought needed more work done to it, and he added some more keyboard lines and noises to it and it became ‘Bound in Hate’. It was fun working with him, and I think the song came out great.

Vlad: Since the first time I saw Life Cried, you live team has expanded to a full-blown five piece, including drums and even live bass. Considering in the early days, you were mostly a synths-and-vocals-only live unit, has this progression influenced how you write your music while in the studio?

Chris Reject: Originally, I added those elements to the band to make it more interesting on stage, but after doing so, the sound actually improved a lot. It didn't sound like just a backing track with vocals on top of it… like how most of the industrial bands sound these days. Plus, there is nothing more boring than having just a vocalist and a keyboard player on stage. I am definitely including those live elements into the new recordings, and I have already started work on some new songs that way and they are coming out great.

Vlad: In the years between albums, you mentioned that your live members Chris (also of Xentrifuge) and Len (of Cenotype) might have contributed to the writing of Banished Psalms? Along with working with Nero, how was it for you to open the doors and let the ideas of others into your concept of Life Cried?

Chris Reject: I actually ended up writing the entire new album on my own again… aside from the collaboration on ‘Bound in Hate’. I was going to include the live members on this album, but when I started writing, it became very personal. It became something I needed to get out of my system on my own, but I have already started collaborating with some of the live members on the new material, though, and it is coming out pretty sick.

Vlad: Speaking of Psyclon Nine, you both seem to show an interest in the metal scene, with you once citing acts like Dimmu Borgir and Cradle of Filth as influences. While Psyclon's metal influence has become more apparent in their work over the years, do you see Life Cried heading in a similar direction... or do you think that crossover appeal is already inherent in your music?

Chris Reject: I am always open to trying new things, but I can't say exactly where Life Cried will go at this point. Right now, it is all up in the air and I am not trying to do anything specific… I just write songs and whatever comes out in the end is Life Cried. As I said, I’ve already started including some live instruments to the new recordings… though I wouldn't say they’re exactly ‘metal’. Some of the new songs do have more of an industrial rock influence, mixed with the dark electro/goth sound that we already have. I do listen to a lot of black metal and it is an big influence, but I doubt Life Cried would ever end up being a metal band.

Vlad: Upon reading your Myspace blog, I noticed a couple of tracks didn't make the cut for Banished Psalms, them being ‘Rotting Despair’ and ‘Pain Again’. Were they revised for the release? If not, why were they scrapped, and will they ever see release?

Chris Reject: I dropped those songs from the album because, in the end, they didn't fit in with the rest of it. They’re great songs, but the album seemed more ‘together’ leaving them out… but I always end up having a few extra songs that I end up trashing.

Vlad: Apparently, there were also some tracks left behind from the Drawn + Quartered sessions. Did any of those develop into what became Banished Psalms?

Chris Reject: It’s the same story as the songs that I cut from Banished; I had a few leftover tracks from the Drawn + Quartered sessions, but I basically just threw them out. I only took elements from one of those songs, because we we're already playing it live so much, which became the song ‘Forbidden’.

Vlad: In a previous interview, you stated that during those early demo years, you were performing in some other bands that you later quit so you could properly focus on Life Cried. What were those additional projects, and did they bear any influence on your current work?

Chris Reject: My first band was an industrial rock band for which I played guitar. I eventually left the band because I wanted to write an album by myself, so I started Life Cried and got very caught up in that. I didn't have time for anything else, but everything I have ever done musically and every band I have ever been in has influenced me.

Vlad: On your official Myspace account, I caught a mention and a link to your side-project, Thirteen Children. Apparently, a first album called Woebegone is even already in the works. Considering you state that its music includes 'more live instruments', I'm curious - what's this other band like and how does it differ for you from what you do as Life Cried?

Chris Reject: I write a lot of different types of music and all of it doesn't fit in close enough with the Life Cried sound, so Thirteen Children is kind of my outlet for that. I already have a bunch of songs written and some that I am working on, but it is more for fun and I am not really in a rush to get it out. It will happen eventually… it is still very dark and you can tell that I wrote it, but it’s still very different.

Vlad: By the time Drawn + Quartered was complete, it seems you were well into writing Banished Psalms. With Psalms finished, are you in a similar place where you can see where you want to take Life Cried next?

Chris Reject: Yes, now that Banished is out and finished, it has become a bridge for me to take it even further. I’m already working on new stuff and have a lot of ideas… and I can already see where it is going, but it is too early to talk about it.

Vlad: Lastly, do you have any final words for your fans at Vampire Freaks?

Chris Reject: I hope you like the album - spread the word!

Interview conducted by DJ Vlad

Life Cried on VampireFreaks

posted by jet