Beauty In Chaos founder, songwriter, creative force and curator, Michael Ciravolo:
“The ‘White Side’ – sides 3 and 4 on the vinyl double-album – is I think far more introspective. Maybe on the CD when it rolls from ‘Un-Natural Disaster’ to ‘The Long Goodbye’ it might be strange, but I try to think in terms – probably wrongfully so! – of vinyl. And to me, it works. When the needle drops on Side 3, I think ‘The Long Goodbye’ is a perfect start.
Wayne Hussey, Johnny Indovina and Ashton Nyte had songs on Sides 1 and 2 of the album. So I had to keep in mind I didn’t want it to sound like a Human Drama record or a Mission record by having them too close together. When working out the track listing, I spent so long listening to my favorite albums, just listening and seeing how space was created, how things came in here and there and moved around, and how that affected it.
And thank God I have Michael Rozon as my partner in this. It allows me to play and do that stuff. I think he really got that, especially in this side of the record. I think the downtempo and some of the space allowed things to carry and kind of circle around, you know, not just left and right, but kind of front and back of your brain. And I enjoy that part of hearing this side of the record in headphones whenever I can. I think it throws back to what I loved about a lot of the early bands that are in my record collection.
I was so proud of these songs, the mix and how the parts were laid out. The music was probably 95% finished when we sent it to each singer. All those guitars and swirliness and weirdness were all there. As it was unfolding it seemed very easy. We were really invested in it, working on multiple songs at the same time.
It was all so new. I don’t know if I knew any better, you know, it was like, “Oh, there’s a hole, let’s do something there… And, oh it would be cool if we put a guitar backwards, me hitting it with a screwdriver…” And it was just Michael and I having a blast, doing studio strangeness. And it worked that these amazing singers were able to put great words and beautiful melodies on top of it. It seemed like everything about this record just fell into place.
I can only hope that at some point whoever picks up a Beauty In Chaos record just one time listens to it the way It was intended, top to bottom and loud. I think that’s what you need to do, if you really want to get into the mindset.”
Dirk Doucette, Beauty In Chaos drummer and long-standing collaborator: “Celebrating the momentous five-year anniversary of ‘Finding Beauty In Chaos’, an extraordinary record that remains an unparalleled masterpiece in the music industry. As the drummer alongside the brilliant minds of Michael Rozon and Michael Ciravolo, we embarked on a creative journey that fused mesmerizing beauty with captivating chaos, leaving an indelible mark on the hearts of music enthusiasts worldwide. Here’s to the timeless power of art and the magic of musical synergy that continues to inspire and resonate with listeners even after half a decade!”
Side 3
‘The Long Goodbye’
Michael Ciravolo: “This song is based around a 12-string guitar, so it seemed like the perfect song for Wayne. It was in early 2017 that Wayne invited me to Tim’s [Palmer, Mission producer] studio in Austin, when they were mixing ‘Another Fall From Grace’. I had talked to him online about doing a song, and I didn’t know if he took me seriously or not. But when we were there, after going to Tim’s studio we were having some drinks back at the hotel and I was sitting in his room, and he turns to me and goes, “So you got a song you want to play me?” And I’m – “All right, no fucking pressure!” He had a 12-string acoustic laying in the corner of the room so I picked it up and went, okay here’s my shot. I picked it out and played it and he’s like, “Oh, that’s quite good.”
Probably two months later I got the track to him and it came back. I love this song. I think Wayne’s vocal and the lyrics are great. His voice – how he jumps up to the higher part of his voice, like mid-sentence, and his voice just has that perfect little breakup. I think Wayne wrote a great melody and words.
It’s Tish [Ciravolo] playing bass on this song, and she did a great job – I think she’s really happy that she got to play on a song with Wayne, I know she loves The Mission. And when we started dating, that was a band we listened to a lot. So her getting to do this was special.
And I still get chills when Evi Vine comes in on her vocal part. It’s absolutely perfect. I really love this song. I think it encompasses all the elements from this first album: there’s that orchestrated part, which again goes back to my no keyboards rule, but we did it on guitar and made it sound like an old Beatles mellotron, but it does a really great string line.
And later ‘The Long Goodbye’ unfolded to the piano version (below) – which might be the one remix that I think might even be better than the original. When I asked Wayne about it, he sent me back the piano parts within two days. I really love this song.”
- Wayne Hussey: lead and harmony vocals
- Michael Ciravolo: guitars
- Tish Ciravolo: electric bass
- Michael Rozon: live drums
- Evi Vine and Ashton Nyte: additional vocals
- Recorded, Mixed and Produced by Michael Rozon
- Additional recording by Wayne Hussey, Ashton Nyte, and Evi Vine
‘Beauty Lies Within’
Michael Ciravolo: “I always loved Mick Ronson’s ‘Slaughter on 10th Avenue’, that album and that song has a beautiful kind of guitar intro that almost has that Spaghetti Western vibe. I always thought Marco Pirroni from Adam and the Ants did that so well – that reverb clean guitar – kind of like you can see Clint Eastwood walking out on a street in a Western town. So ‘Beauty Lies Within’ kind of has that intro.
To my ears the chorus is probably one of the poppier, even though it’s dark because of Johnny’s singing, but it has this kind of singalong melody. I had already had the album title about ‘Finding Beauty In Chaos’, so Johnny had the phrase ‘beauty’ in mind. It goes on well from ‘The Long Goodbye’, there’s definitely an underlying connectivity I think.”
- Johnny Indovina: voices
- Michael Ciravolo: guitars, bass guitar
- Michael Rozon: percussion, additional bass guitar
- Dirk Doucette: live drums
- Recorded, Mixed and Produced by Michael Rozon
- Additional recording by Johnny Indovina
‘Bloodless and Fragile’
Michael Ciravolo: “When Ashton and I used to text, talking about songs and different things, he mentioned the phrase “bloodless and fragile” and I thought – that’s actually a really good title. And I think he etched it in his head. The song actually started from a bass line, I’d just picked up a bass in the studio and ran it through our guitar gear, so it is reverbed out and kind of haunting. And I knew I wanted to pull out my electric sitar, which seems to happen every now and then. And I think that works really well on this song.
It’s the longest song on the record and it moves, especially at the end where Ashton comes back with the repetitive lines. “We came here for the open law / We waited for so long” – and he keeps saying it, he just repeats it, repeats it, and it builds… and it stops. And it goes back to a really delicate “bloodless and fragile”. I am really, really proud of this. It’s this long, building song that doesn’t have a lot of pieces, but all the pieces kind of work if you add them or subtract them: it’s a big, long, linear song with swirling guitars and things coming in and out. And Dirk’s drumming gets really powerful and tribal at points. Michael mixed this so well. This is honestly one of my favorite songs on the record.
Looking at it, that’s three kind of long songs on this side that I think kind of gel together in a nice 18-minute listen. I think there’s worse ways of spending your time.”
- Ashton Nyte: voices
- Michael Ciravolo: guitars, electric bass, electric sitar
- Michael Rozon: Drum programming, bowed bass
- Dirk Doucette: live drums
- Recorded, Mixed and Produced by Michael Rozon
- Additional recording by Ashton Nyte
Side 4
‘I Will Follow You’
Evi Vine, vocalist: “The song feels like a journey from the beginning. I love listening to this track the melody, still so sad and haunting, the mood warm, textured… a song about longing, fear and desire.”
Michael Ciravolo: “This was probably one of the middle songs that we were working on. I didn’t know Evi, I had seen some Mission videos of her on stage with them on ‘Black Mountain Mist’ and ‘Severina’. I thought she has an amazing voice, and Wayne made the introduction and sent the song to Evi. She sent it back fairly quickly, lots of vocals and textures. And I love the song musically, and her voice and the words just gel in a really long, different style of song. I think this track was maybe the only one that, after we got her vocals, it was such gorgeous stuff that she did, that we extended some sections. She’s an amazing talent. And she’s really sweet.
I’m really proud of the electric guitar, we got this gorgeous sound that just seemed to have this pulse. It just seemed to come together – sometimes songs just unfold. And this one did that. I’d love to work with her again in future. We’ve not met yet in person, and I would love to meet her. She has a great heart, is very animal conscious, which I think is the sign of a great person. I never trust someone who doesn’t like animals. And she certainly has a big heart when it comes to that.
‘I Will Follow You’ led to some great remixes – Michael Rozon did one with his pedal steel that I thought was really great, we titled it the ‘Cotton Socks Remix’ which actually came from Wayne! I told him Evi had sent back a gorgeous vocal, and we were going through some tracks with great parts and harmonies. And he’s like, “Oh, Evi, bless her cotton socks” – and I had no clue what the fuck that meant! But Michael and I loved it, so that’s what Michael’s remix of the track was called.”
- Evi Vine: voices and words
- Michael Ciravolo: guitars
- Tish Ciravolo: bass guitar
- Michael Rozon: Drum programming
- Dirk Doucette: live drums
- Recorded, Mixed and Produced by Michael Rozon
- Additional recording by Evi Vine
‘Heliotrope’
Betsy Martin, vocalist: “So much has happened in five years, seems a life ago. I think we are all trying to grow our world always. Heliotrope to me symbolizes growth and change. Death and rebirth, just like flowers do.”
Michael Ciravolo: “When Human Drama used to play the darkwave scene here in Los Angeles in the mid-80s Besty’s band, Caterwaul, moved here from Phoenix and they got signed. We did some shows with them and they were definitely in that scene, the Scream Club – which was probably Los Angeles’ version of The Batcave in London. It was in a big Gothic theater ballroom on two storeys. And it was cool. Human Drama played there once with Bjork’s band Sugarcubes, and we played with Jane’s Addiction. So there was a really great scene. And that’s where I met Betsy, and her now-husband Kevin was in Kommunity FK, which was another big LA darkwave band. And me, Kevin and Betsy and a drum machine had a live band for a while in the mid-90s. I always thought Betsy had a unique voice, great range and this weird childlike quality, in a great way.
This song sandwiched between two really big listens – to me, in headphones, the guitars are really left and right. And sometimes when I would put it on and focus, even just listening to the music, it almost felt like the guitars weren’t listening to each other. Like it was two guys playing in different rooms and somehow you mashed it together and it worked those things that don’t kind of seem like they shouldn’t work, but they do. And then when Betsy put her vocal on top, it really worked.
She sent the vocal to me and I’m like, “What the fuck is heliotrope?” She said, “It’s a purple flower!” Lyrically it’s open to such interpretation, which I think is great. She really gets to show her range and it’s quirky, but I mean that in an endearing way. It’s got cool little parts and Betsy’s another great talent. I know we’ll work together in future. I’m proud of ‘Heliotrope’ and I know Betsy is also.”
‘Finding Beauty In Chaos’
Michael Ciravolo: “This was a song that happened a little bit different. I knew, thinking in the terms of an album, we had ‘…Rosario’ as an intro, and I was going, “We have to find a way to close this”. Ashton and I had become really good friends by this point, so I didn’t mind going, “Hey, we’re really looking for a closing song here” and he said he’d be into doing it. Then a couple of days later, I got a text message from him, but it was a voice memo. And it’s just him and his big deep voice: “Finding beauty in chaos …” He sang two lines to me and it’s like – “Fuck that’s gonna be great!” I ran into my little studio here and plugged into some echo and shit and just did that little guitar part which is just like three or four notes and it just seemed like it could really work.
So I went in with Michael and we built the music track around this little two lines that Ashton had sent. Then we sent that back to him and he just finished it. I knew we wanted it to end like on this big fucking loud sound. So Michael and Dirk worked on the drums and they’re just beating them sometimes almost out of sync – it just sounds like craziness! Finally I got to do this trick I used to do when Michael and I had this weird industrial band – I brought an electric drill and I’m holding it over the guitar pickups, and it kind of pulls that so you’re hearing this mechanical noise. It sounds like something just dying, and it builds like that. And the record just has this cold stop. A big release at the end. I think it always gave this like, “What the fuck was that?”
For me, for this record, everything combined, that was the perfect way to close it out, to have the needle run off the album, sit there like that. I couldn’t ask for a better way to close out that out this album.”
Postscript…
So what’s next for Beauty In Chaos…?
“With the new record we’re now working on, I’m really trying to allow more of a collaborative feel. Ashton rearranged some stuff on a track I sent to him, which was great, we really wanted that. It’s allowing me to play off the vocals, add textures and melodies to what they do, instead of sending them this painting almost complete. So far it’s working well and we’re enjoying it. So there is that thing of making each record a bit different. With this one we’re certainly trying to do it differently process-wise. And I think at the end it’ll come out a record that’s different from our last release ‘Behind The Veil’ that’s for sure.”
Will we ever see Beauty In Chaos live?
“I still hope it’s possible. I would hate to think that the only live thing we do was the one time me, Ashton, Tish and Dirk did three songs at a party – we did ‘Storm’, ‘Bloodless And Fragile’ and ‘Finding Beauty In Chaos’. And you know, they did lend themselves to that old MTV Unplugged version (below)… So, who knows. We’ll see. There’s lots of ideas sitting there, like getting around to doing a ‘Pinups’ cover record. That’s written on a little piece of paper in my studio – like “Pinups?” question mark. I always look at that and I’d love to get to doing that. But we’ve still got this creative thing going on, new music is coming out. But I hope it happens.”
Read Michael Ciravolo’s track-by-track breakdown of Sides 1 & 2 of ‘Finding Beauty In Chaos’ HERE – and his introductory interview HERE
Check out our other features with Beauty In Chaos HERE.
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