A Cure For Pain – Interview with Darkswoon

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Darkswoon is an electronic shoegaze band out of Portland, Oregon, the primary musical outlet of Jana Cushman. The band performs live as a duo, an energetic show that has Cushman on guitar, effects and vocals and Christian Terrett on electronics. In Cushman’s own words, “Darkswoon builds sonic landscapes from the foundation of loops and beats, layered with intricate effected guitar, harmonized looping vocals, and synths to create a transcendent texture of music.” The band’s second release, a 4 song EP entitled Silhouettes has turned quite a few heads for its flawless execution of the best parts of a teenage ripped-jean rebellion, and capturing the energy of that one enigmatic band from the old days that you just can’t forget. We caught up with Cushman to find out more about her songwriting process and what drives such a compelling sound. Isn’t it true that the best music so often goes unheard? Let it not be true for Darkswoon! Read on and be sure to watch the video that was produced for her song ‘Necromancer’, filmed in and around the lovely graveyards of Portland, Oregon.

Femmecult:

How did you get into making music? Did it start at a young age, and/or was it born of interest in other forms of art?

Darkswoon:

I use music to work through problems in my life and this is how I started writing music, as a way of therapy or my own version of praying. Putting an issue out into the universe and harvesting creative energy is the most effective coping mechanism I’ve been able to develop. That is how I started writing music, not so intentionally but more so in order to survive being young and fucked up. I grew up playing guitar and had a very musical family. My parents divorced when I was seven and my Mom wrote and released a full length album born from that pain in her life. So I guess I learned from a young age about the benefits of music therapy.

Femmecult:

What were your first experiences with making music? Did it begin with singing or an instrument? Would you talk about your background in regards to developing a method for creative output?

Darkswoon:

I remember my Mom letting me bang on a drum and just sing out my internal song in front of a tape recorder when I was very young. I was always really into her guitar, so my parents got me a little acoustic for Christmas when I was five but I was obsessed with getting an electric guitar. I saved my allowance for years and bought one when I was seven or eight. It was a white strat knock off and I put a sparkly vending machine cobra sticker on it. I thought I was pretty bad ass but mostly I just holed up with that guitar, teaching myself Nirvana, Led Zeppelin, Hendrix songs. I developed a habit of practicing creative solitude with that snake strat that I still practice today. I need that time alone with music in order to be human in the world.

Femmecult:

What was the technical process for learning to compose your own music? Did you collaborate with others initially, or were you learning what you liked on your own, and developing your own style as you went along?

Darkswoon:

I have some background in classical guitar but wasn’t as focused during the learning process. Mostly I was too much of a stoner to really let it take me anywhere. I don’t know how to read music anymore but the technique has shaped the way I play. I’ve collaborated with many people over the years and I think that several of these musicians have inspired aspects of my own musicianship that I carry with me presently. My process isn’t methodical. I try not to listen to other people’s music while I am writing. Sometimes I fuck around in my space for a long time and make noise until something clicks. Sometimes a stubborn song will drive me crazy for months. Every now and then, a song comes to me that is complete. I just have to realize it.

Femmecult:

What is your process for collaborating with other artists/performers these days in recording and live settings?

Darkswoon:

I have been performing and recording with Christian Terrett since the beginning of Darkswoon. He has helped me bring the music I write to the stage. In the future, I hope we can write together. Music is so personal to me that there is a lot of vulnerability in allowing someone into the creative space where writing happens but collaboration creates the opportunity to hear and approach the music from angles I may never reach individually. There can be more exploration and constructive criticism, an offering of a different lens from which to view.

Femmecult:

What types of instruments do you use to produce your music, and how has this changed over time?

Darkswoon:

I do a lot of composing on guitar and through recording into Ableton Live. I don’t really use the stock sounds but like to sample my own drum machines, my voice and guitar and then manipulate with delay, reverb, whatever. It’s all more of an experiment than a calculated effort. That’s the creative process, right? Sometimes it’s like gesture drawing– there’s a flow that forms into a complete shape. Other times it more like sculpting in that I need to chisel away a soundscape to reach the intent of a song that’s layered with my affinity for the wall of sound. I have been more interested in live hardware these days, synths, drum machines, samplers. I really like Korg products because they are intuitive mostly. I don’t have to master the manual before I can start using them.

Femmecult:

How long have you used a guitar as your main instrument? What’s been your experience in merging the electric guitar with electronic gear?

Darkswoon:

I’ve been playing guitar since I was five. When I started playing out I was just a lesbian with an acoustic guitar-haha. Even in different band line ups, I didn’t deviate from stringed instruments until the last five years. I still consider myself a novice when it comes to electronic music but I am obsessed with the possibilities and striving continuously to know my gear. I think the hardest part of the merger between guitar and electronic gear is that I cannot play all the parts at once. I compose music that I need at least another set of hands for and I am too attached to guitar to put it down for too long. This may change in the future though.

Femmecult:

Would you talk about the process of adding vocal parts to your music? What kinds of themes do you draw from in terms of lyrical content?

Darkswoon:

The lyrics and the music are almost always written separately. When I write, it’s usually dark in content. Poetry about death and trying to figure out how to live or memories of loved ones, lovers, sometimes cats that I loved. I am a crazy cat lady.

Femmecult:

What is one of your favorite albums or songs, and why?

Darkswoon:

One of my favorite songs is ‘Xtal’ off of Aphex Twin’s ‘Selected Ambient Works 85-92’. If I can’t think of what to listen to, it is usually my go to. It just makes me think of driving through snow in Michigan, where I grew up, and feeling sad but hopeful.

Femmecult:

What are some life experiences that have inspired your work? What are some of your artistic influences?

Darkswoon:

I write about dreams, ghosts, premonitions, imagined conversations. I write about moments that impacted my life. I just wrote a song about doing drugs with my ex girlfriend who passed away. But it’s not really about her death, it’s more about moments we shared in life, like laying on a sidewalk looking at clouds at night in the Midwestern winter. The single I released off the 2016 EP ‘Silhouettes’ was called ‘Necromancer’. It’s another song reflecting on another person I lost, my Nana. The song is about talking to her in dreams and wishing we had known each other. It’s a love poem to her, really. And an apology. If you need to talk to the dead, music seems like it could be a conduit into other dimensions, or wherever we go when we die. Growing up, I devoured music. Nine Inch Nails and Radiohead provided a gateway to electronic music. I fell in love with drum n bass in high school. I worked in this kitchen with some guys who moved from New York City and spent a lot of time at the Limelight nightclub in the ‘Party Monster’ days. They had all these mixed tapes put together by their friends who made jungle and drum n bass. They would stay up all night mixing and then come in with these tapes. I feel like what I do right now was born of my love for fuzzy guitars and drum n bass beats.

Necromancer by Darkswoon from Jana Cushman on Vimeo.

Femmecult:

What liberates you as an artist?

Darkswoon:

Right now, I feel free in the sense that I don’t feel anyone is expecting anything from me. It’s something that I find both depressing and freeing. Where can I go from here? Anywhere.

Femmecult:

What are your plans moving forward with your project Darkswoon? Do you have any releases or performances on the horizon?

Darkswoon:

We will be playing a few shows in the PNW this summer. I am most excited to be opening the fourth day of Seagaze in Seattle on April 23rd. It’s a festival focused on shoegaze, post punk and psych rock. I’ve scaled back on booking and have been focused more inward. With everything going on in the world, energy conservation has been a big focus for me. Balancing self care with activism while fighting the urge to move to the woods or out of the country. I am writing a lot and working with some new pieces of equipment. I have a vague plan to have a new release in 2017 but I want to be very intentional about the content of my next release. I imagine with some of the new gear I am working with and a challenge to simplify, the music may change a bit. But as an empath in this world, the music will stay dark.

Visit Darkswoon online:

http://www.darkswoon.xyz/

https://darkswoon.bandcamp.com/