Altered Zones

AZ: Did the line-up change (from a trio to a solo project) have a big impact on how you record?

Stefanie: I mean, yeah. As far as the recording was concerned, when we were writing the songs to get it ready, it just ended up that I was doing most of the writing by myself, so I pretty much continued on with the endeavor. I either played parts by myself, or I would get my roommate Christine, who sang back-up on some of the tracks and played some guitar and stuff. I basically had my roommates fill in the gaps when I needed it.

AZ: Where did you record the album?

Stefanie: In my room. I did it at my house.

AZ: Have you ever recorded in a studio before?

Stefanie: I have. I did it with Silver Pines, but I wasn't completely enthused with how it turned out. I think that for my own peace of mind it's better for me to do my recording at home. Although I would love to try and get back into a studio, because I feel like so many past experiences with recording have made me feel more comfortable doing it, at this point I feel I need to work in a new environment. I think that would be ok.

AZ: How did you achieve the ghostly ambience on the record?

Stefanie: Well, to me it was very important to not take anything directly as it was recorded. Everything was treated in a very specific way. On a lot of tracks I found that it was important to include field recordings and a wash of ambient sounds behind all of the direct synthesis.

AZ: What kind of equipment did you use?

Stefanie: On the album I got to use a lot of my synthesizers that I wouldn’t get to use live, so I used my Akai AX60, and this Roland RS-202 String Synth I had, and a JX-3P. There was guitar, and bass, and different drum machines. I basically used everything I've got; just a mess of drum machines, synths, and pedals.

AZ: How do you transfer your sound to a live environment?

Stefanie: I feel like the live sound is always changing, especially in the last year. I have my roommates who have been helping me out, but I can also play as a two-piece, so it's all pretty varied from show to show. As far as getting an accurate depiction of what's on the album, like the ambience-- there's really no way to do that live. I try to do that, but there is no real way to match the sound recordings of my room. For instance, on the first track I recorded the ambient sounds of my room, and put the other synthesis over it, so there's just no way to replicate stuff like that.

MP3: Sleep ∞ Over: "Bathsalts"

AZ: Would you say that Forever has any overarching themes?

Stefanie: I would say that the theme would be self-reliance, or overcoming your obstacles in a way. I think that I really can't escape the obstacles that were before me when I started recording. There was a lot of social bullshit with the other girls leaving and stuff. It was really hard, and it was a big choice to continue doing it. But it was important to me, and I wanted to do it. The songs were something I needed to finish for myself.

Stefanie: Well, it's not like you want to listen to Katy Perry while you're reading Proust. It has to be something that's gonna be keeping your mind open. I think that's what's great about a lot of [classical music]-- it sort of activates your spirit and your brain. It's not doing all the thinking for you, and supplying those emotions or thoughts.

AZ: Who are some of your favorite composers?

Stefanie: I really like Bach, and Chopin. I just found out about this person named Charles Ditto, who I bought a synthesizer from recently. I met him off Craigslist, and I bought this synth from him for a ridiculously low cost. He gave me all of these records that he made over the years, and he's just so amazing. It was this record called In Human Terms. It was one of the first all MIDI albums-- I think from '84 or '85. It was just around when MIDI was invented, and he pioneered this thing where he had 32 sequenced tracks of MIDI on the record. I'm a big fan of him right now. My boyfriend Jace [Jesse Jenkins from Pure X] does this vinyl compilation series called Brain Club. I think he's actually going to let me curate the next one. I was talking to that guy Charles Ditto about it, and I really want to get in contact with all of his friends, who are just local ex-synth heads from the '80s, and just kind of bring it all together. It's something that resonates. It was occuring back then, and I think people are just starting to get passionate about it again. It would be really interesting to bring the old and new together.

AZ: What are some of your favorite things about the Austin music scene?

Stefanie: I like my friends who play music. Generally, I'm not a huge fan of the venues in town. It is so saturated that I feel like a lot of musicians don't get the respect that they deserve. I'd say that in the group of people that I've been playing music with over the years, there are a lot of diamonds in this town that nobody knows about.

AZ: Can you name a few?

AZ: On Forever, you have a song called "Flying Saucers Are Real." Do you believe in life on other planets?

Stefanie: Oh, absolutely! I think that there's probably other life on this planet that we can't see. Physics and science say, theoretically, that there's hundreds of dimensions within our own reality. I'm sure that in some ways we’ve made contact, but you can never really know the truth.

AZ: Have you ever seen a flying saucer?

Stefanie: I think I might have, but it's really hard for me to say because my eyes play tricks on me, and I really want to see it. I'm always looking.

Forever LP is out September 27th via Hippos In Tanks