Revelation of Tomorrow

On Oct. 27 the Future Bible Heroes played to a maximum-capacity crowd at a Chickfactor Magazine-sponsored show downtown at Fez. The band, which recently released its second full-length album, Eternal Youth, is the synth-pop side project of Stephin Merritt, who is also the man behind the Magnetic Fields and the 6ths. The crowd, which seemed to be made up almost entirely of people who worked for and knew everything about Chickfactor Magazine, was enthusiastic as the group played most of their new album and several tracks from their previous releases. The highlight of their set might well have been when Merritt performed a version of "I'm Lonely (And I Love It)," accompanied only by himself on ukulele. Vocalist Claudia Gonson and multi-instrumentalist Chris Ewen were kind enough to speak to me before the show and answer a few questions.

Spectator: How did you end up being the only singer on the new album?

Claudia Gonson: I don't know. The question gets asked frequently, and I actually haven't figured out one answer to it. But I think that the answer that Stephin and Chris feel is that when it came about to making a new Future Bible Heroes record, they thought that on the last record, my songs came out well and it would be fun to see what would happen if I recorded a whole record. And I think that the other reason that maybe I'm feeling is that Stephin has a lot of different bands, and I think that he likes the idea of writing for other voices, as on the 6ths and even on the Magnetic Fields, he has other people singing. I also think that it helps us differentiate the projects from band to band. There are all these feelings of overlap that go on because Stephin has just a thorough role in all these different bands, so in this band it allows him to take a different position and write in a slightly different way when he's not writing for himself.

Spectator: Neil Gaiman said that you "make singing sound simple." Do you try for that?

CG: Yeah, definitely. I usually start off being really flamboyant, sounding like Geddy Lee or something, and on every song I inevitably discover that absolutely flat, expressionless singing is the way to go with me. A good part of me wishes I could sing like David Bowie or Morrissey or some really colorful singer, but inevitably, no matter how many ways I try to express my voice, I usually come back to realizing that there is one way that I sing that's really most helpful to the way I sing, which is kind of an almost instrument-like, rather than emotive, expression.

Spectator: Do you hope to see some kind of return of synth pop to the mainstream?

Chris Ewen: Yeah, I do. I think that in America especially people have misunderstood synth pop. I don't think the records we make are very "'80s," but it seems like whenever Americans hear a synthesizer, they tend to think of the '80s. I think that you can use synthesizers in a variety of ways that don't necessarily have to be a very new wave kind of thing. So I definitely hope there is a return to it. I mean, there is some with this electroclash stuff, but a lot of that has a very retro tinge to it. I do hope that someday people will just think of it as not a novelty instrument that makes little bleepie and bloopie noises but actually take it seriously.

Spectator: Does working with Stephin Merritt, who is so known as a songwriter, ever get intimidating?

CE: Well, we've known each other for many, many years, so I don't think it's intimidating. But he's a very good director as well. He tends to have a very good intuitive sense about things. So when he says things like "Oh, you should really make this song two minutes long and not eight," or "I really want to change the key of this," or if he gives critiques, I tend to listen to them because he's generally right on everything, every comment he makes about the stuff that I do. So I don't think it's intimidating, but he really helps a lot, just with his sensibility and what he will tell me. It's very helpful. He's a very good editor for me.

Spectator: Is the Future Bible Heroes your first collaboration with Stephin Merritt?

CE: Yeah. I was in a band in the '80s and early '90s called Figures on a Beach, and when we broke up, I still did music, and I had a lot of equipment and a lot of instruments and everything, and I used to just make some little instrumental tracks. And Stephin said, "You know, you really should put vocals on there," and I said, "Well, you're the lyricist I like. Why don't you write the vocals?" And he said, "Well, maybe I will," and that's really how Future Bible Heroes came about.

Spectator: Where does the name Future Bible Heroes come from?

CE: A friend of mine a while ago called me up one day and said, "I thought of the most fabulous name for a band: Future Bible Heroes." And I burst out laughing for about five minutes because I though it was a really, really funny, great name because it's so evocative of so many things. People have said that it conjures up images of Mother Teresa in a jet pack, and there's a lot of really interesting images that you can associate with the name. And when Stephin and I began collaborating together on what became Future Bible Heroes, I really wanted to use the name, so it kind of stuck. I really pushed for it. I just thought it was a brilliant idea.

The Future Bible Heroes will be playing at the Mercury Lounge on Dec. 7, and have an EP of remixes due out in January.