band - I:Scintilla (Chicago) interview w/Brittany Bindrim & Jim Cookas

J Sohn: How did you decide on 'I:Scintilla' as the name

of the band?

JC: In an effort to try and improve myself, I was once sub-

scribed to a word-of-the-day newsletter. Each day I received a

new vocabulary word in my inbox. Shortly after starting this

project, one of the words I received was "scintilla". I thought it

was a good way to describe the music I was working on, so I

checked to see if the scintilla.com domain name available. It

wasn't, so I had to improvise.

J Sohn: How long has the band been together?

BB: Jim started the band with Chad Mines (bass) in the be-

ginning of 2003. I joined later that year and Vince Grech (drums)

came to us in February 2006. That sums up our present lineup.

J Sohn: Optics is one of my favorite Cd's right now, and

honestly, one of the best I have heard in years. How long

did it take you all to get it recorded?

JC: That question carries some grey area. Four of the songs

("Havestar", "Scin", "The Bells", "Translate") appeared on our

self-released debut, The Approach, in 2004. Our record label

(Alfa Matrix) thought they should be available to a mass

audience, so we completely re-recorded and remixed them for

Optics. The bulk of the other songs were written and recorded

during late 2006 and early 2007. An interesting anecdote: the

album's closing track, "Salt of Stones", was written, recorded,

and mixed in less than 48 hours.

J Sohn: Do you usually come up with lyrics first, or do you have some music and then put words to it?

BB: For Optics, it was a bit little bit of both. I constantly wrote lyrics, notes and vocal melodies during the fruition of Optics. Jim would write the music and I would add my lyrics and vocal melodies to his creations. It was fun to both bring our own ideas and visions to the music and influence each other that way. We plan on changing the process up a bit for the next album by working together more cohesively, as well as writing a few songs with Vince. I think he will really add a tremendous amount of energy to our music.

J Sohn: Who would you say is your biggest influence both musically and non-musical?

BB: My dad has been a huge influence on me musically and artistically. While I was growing up, he was a painter, sculptor, and musician. Being around all of that creativity really influenced me as a child. Charles Bukowski and Pablo Neruda have been my biggest influences in my lyrics and poetry. A few musical artists that have had a profound effect on me are Skinny Puppy, Frontline Assembly, Bjork, Tori Amos, and Wumpscut. I would also add that an insatiable desire to create and the inability to sit still have also pushed me to pursue music at full force.

JC: Although I stay current with the industrial/EBM scene for my DJ duties, I actually gather influence from a wide range of artists. My musical voice has been formed by ambient and IDM artists as much as classic rock and hair metal. My musical influences are quite close to those of Brittany, but throw in some Led Zeppelin, Guns N' Roses, and even Radiohead for good measure. Non-musical cool people: Edgar Allan Poe, Pablo Picasso, Jackson Pollock, George Carlin, George Orwell, and Terry Gilliam just to name a few.

J: Sohn: What can we expect from the group in 2008 and beyond?

BB: We are currently writing and recording our next album, which will be out this summer. After the album is completed, we plan on doing a full U.S. tour.

J Sohn: Where can our readers find the band and the music online?

BB: You can visit our website at www.iscintilla.com. We're also on several of the social networking websites, including MySpace (www.myspace.com/iscintilla).

J Sohn: How is the Chicago music scene these days?

BB: We haven’t entirely had a grasp on the totality of the scene yet, but the music here in Chicago is diverse and abundant. Additionally, there are so many fantastic venues here to support such great artists.

JC: There are multiple musical options to experience every night of the week. It can be overwhelming. Whether you want to check out an excellent local band, a national touring act, or any number of amazing DJ's, Chicago has it.

J Sohn: Is there anything else you'd like to tell us about I:Scintilla or any other projects?

JC: One of the running jokes in our band is my semi-fictitious side project that never seems to get off the ground and constantly changes names. It started as Terrorfist, which had a great logo, but zero songs. It then progressed into Telepathetic and then to Celebutaint. The current incarnation is The Heartfelt Enemas, which fuses power noise with rockabilly (powerbilly?). Of course, we haven't completed any songs yet.

www.iscintilla.com

www.myspace.com/iscintilla

www.alfa-matrix.com

( www.bannedpromotions.com/iscintillainterview )

-J Sohn, BannedPromotions.com

Visit J Sohn on The Audio Nut

Mondays 8-10pm CST on ScrubRadio.com

*Photos by Andrew Reynolds, courtesy of myspace.com/iscintilla

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