Who are the members of Revolver1010 and how did you come about as a band?

Revolver1010 is just the two of us - Xander Morivond (who does all the lyrics and vocals) and myself Peter Lucas (I write all the music). I'd been searching for a singer for quite some time. I'd post ads online and everything but there simply isn't an overwhelming amount of singers, especially good ones, here in the NY scene. I had gotten the idea to hand some CD's out with information that I'm looking for a singer at a few of the clubs I visit. I was handing them out one night in a club in New Jersey and Xander took one. He then contacted me and it went from there.

What's the story behind the name?

Peter: Well it goes back about 6 years (1998). When I started making music I was a guitarist. After my metal years I started getting into some more electronic stuff thanks mostly to NIN and Prodigy. I was starting up a new band with some friends and one night we were driving and my other guitarist and myself were discussing band names. I told him that the number 1010 is one of those numbers that I always see constantly in my life. I told him I would like to incorporate the number into the band name. He told me that he always wanted to put Revolver into a band name. Not Revolver like a gun but more of life being like a revolving door. So we put the two together and made it the band name. That band didn't last but I kept using the name and now it's found it's place and a deeper meaning which Xander explains better.

MoriVond: After learning of its numerical significance it quickly began to assert itself as a deeper configuration. I gave it my own personal definition: The zero representing the neutral center of the positive and negative polarities and the 1 representing the individual, revolving constantly through the sphere of experience. This has been my interpretation at least, since joining the band.

How is the scene in NY where you are based? Is there teamwork so to say among kindred artists from there?

MoriVond: Surprisingly not as healthy as it should be. There are so many factions of sub-cultures that exist within the N.Y. underground that one would think there would exist more clubs to perform in. Sadly we are restricted to less then a handful.

Peter: In my opinion the scene here is pretty bad for a number of reasons. There are not many events to choose from, usually only one club to go to playing Goth/EBM/Industrial on each weekend night. We sometimes go to New Jersey to a club called QXT's which we like a lot. In NYC the drink prices are very high, no smoking allowed (though I don't smoke), and there are way too many "cliques". I love the scene in Europe, especially Germany and England. The club nights in Germany are awesome, friendly, laid back, and the prices are excellent. And London's Camden Street has a great variety of stores for gothic/industrial clothing. Astonishingly, even as big as NYC is there's very little in the way of scene clothing here.

Have you now settled with a record label that caters to your type of music?

Peter: No, not yet. We are at the moment undecided whether we want to sign to a label or take the financial plunge and start a label for our releases in North America. For Europe we will start looking for a label soon.

Aside from live appearances in The Batcave, do you perform in other locations as well? Have you shared shows with other EBM acts?

Peter: The Batcave was our first show. We are set to play three shows in Texas in the end of Novemeber and we hope to play Toronto before that. The only other band we played with it is Cruciform Injection and that was the Batcave show.

MoriVond: The show at the Batcave was special to me for many reasons. Being a New York band premiering at the epicenter of our scene was a great way to kick things off. I really enjoy performing live. There is a certain indescribable feeling, an energy transfer of sorts that propels what we are doing beyond the physical. I anticipate experiencing this with a wide variety of acts; EBM, Industrial, Goth, Ambient, Experimental. All are welcome.

Your songs have been spun in numerous DJ sets, in the NY area and abroad, how did you manage to spread your music across the borders?

Peter: Ahhh, lots and lots of hard work! Basically I'd taken up the initiative of being promoter and went online and signed up to Gothic/EBM forums all over the world. I also joined Yahoo Groups throughout the USA and Europe. I can speak a small amount of German. Enough to post simple messages. For other languages I would use a few online translators to translate my messages for posting. At one point a no longer existing website called Electrogarden had a DJ listing section. I e-mailed all the DJ's (and there were a LOT) asking if they'd like me to mail them a CD. I sent out CD"s that those who responded with their mailing address. Also, everytime I travel to Europe I always bring free sampler CD's to hand out in clubs.

Is there an album in the making? How many songs have you completed so far?

Peter: Yes. We have six fully completed songs and a number of songs being worked on.

"Truly Human" is a lengthy, yet promising song with samplings at the start and end, entrapping a dancy accompaniment minus the vocals. Are you still working on it?

Peter: No, the song is done. We just recorded the vocals to it and are in the processing of mixing it. It will be done by the time this interview goes up. From there we will record the vocals to Handed Down and then on to the new material.

There's a female vox on the "Depth" song, but I found no credits at all. Is she a part/member of the group?

MoriVond: The guest vocals on “Depth” were performed by L.B. LaVoison. She is part of the Revolver1010 team. We have gotten positive responses concerning the melding of our two voices with the music. Hopefully she will make more cameos in the future.

My fave track is "Searching for Answers" at 130 beats/min, bearing the question "Do you believe in God?" What are your personal opinions on the subject?

Peter: Well, I'm not into "founded" religions. I do believe in something or some sort of intelligence behind the universe. You can call it God(s) or whatever you want but personally I believe the truth is probably so far from every conceived religion on the planet that it's a waste of time to commit oneself to founded religion. Religion is a fabrication of the human mind. I believe in always questioning, exploring, and learning.

MoriVond: I consider myself a creative atheist. Given that my five senses are my only means to experience the world around me, I cannot conceptualize an idea of God outside of my existential being. Mankind’s need for religion is understandable as it provides a certain psychological comfort. This unfortunately, is commonly accompanied with certain doctrinal obligations that seem to impose upon my definition of what is an individual. In this respect the lyrics to “Searching for Answers” have a heretical quality to it but is by no means meant to be finite in its conclusion. This song as many of my lyrics, allows the listener the freedom to his or her own interpretation. I have my own personal views on the metaphysical nature of reality but Peter summed it up best by saying question, explore and learn. Believe nothing – test everything.

The band's artistic imagery is quite striking in a gothic way, why not the usual obsession with wires and machines or militarism?

MoriVond: It is a question of aesthetics. I resonate more with the antiquated and the archaic. Although I am a firm believer in modern technology and the renegade sciences I am a bit of an anachronist. I think it is quite romantic to see things elegantly decayed.

Peter: Gothic imagery is so much more beautiful. I always prefer dark elegant imagery over modern mechanical stuff. Personally I don't know what the fascination is with all of the modern mechanical art on album covers and such. It really doesn't say anything other than "Technology". I do however like art where technology is blended with organic elements or if the art tells some sort of story.

Please talk about your lyrics, sources of inspiration and preferred topics.

MoriVond: Lyrically, I prefer a style of surrealism and symbolic ambivalence. As I mentioned prior, to allow the recipient audience its own discerning. This not only enables the songs to mean something different to each listener but enables as well the continuity of its relevance by maintaining itself adaptable with each listen. This is what I aspire to anyway. I enjoy using archaisms to convey a transcending of time. To establish the distinct dichotomies between the lyrical past and the musical future and to allow the individuals listening, to decide what is what. I think this is what sets Revolver1010 apart from our contemporaries.

Peter: On the music end, I write a song based on a certain feeling. I try to keep the song's specific feeling and turn it into a type of musical story. Different parts of the songs say different things. My only real source of inspiration for writing is my inner feelings. There's no real preferred topic but we stick to serious material. None of our songs are upbeat "just written to make you dance".

Are you planning to go on tour? What are your plans for the rest of the year?

Peter: We are trying to spread our music around so naturally we are planning on doing shows in a number of US states and we also plan to play some shows in Europe. I wouldn't really call it a tour though as the show dates are scattered. We will do an official tour after the release of our first album.

MoriVond: Once we complete the album I would like to concentrate on a more elaborate stage presence. We plan on implementing more symbolism into our presentation to invite the audience to interact with the performance on a more intimate level.

Do you have other businesses/preoccupations outside of R1010?

MoriVond: I am currently in the process of publishing a book of poems entitled “The Devil’s Troubadour” which will hopefully see release by the beginning of the New Year. I am also the founder of a chivalrous fraternity called the Order of the Knights of the Crimson Nephilim in New York City.

Peter: Not at the moment. Revolver1010 keeps me fairly busy. Though I have been planning for a while to do a completely seperate side project. It's nothing that would interfere with Revolver1010. It's just a another style of music I also like to write.

The last words are yours. Thank you and good luck!

Peter: Thanks for the interest in our music! Please feel free to request our music at your local club. If the DJ doesn't have it feel free to burn him a CD :-) You can also sometimes find the other full versions of our songs on Emule from time to time. Though, if you get them that way please remember to buy the album when it's released!

MoriVond: Thank you and the pleasure was all ours.

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