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What happens when a synthpop musician from the 80's falls asleep for 20 years then awakens to find himself in the 21st century? Maison Vague!
Keyboardist and composer Clark Stiefel has been writing songs off and on for many years, but almost no one has ever heard any of them. That is, not until recently. Why is that? Find out in this mock interview conducted by none other than the Mock Turtle himself:
Mock Turtle (MT) - Tell us about Maison Vague.
Clark Stiefel (CS) - Well, Maison Vague is a band -- a band which doesn't really exist. At least, not yet anyway. It's the band I always wanted to play in, but for one reason or another, never did.
MT - Why is that?
CS - Well, I think John Lennon put it best when he said life is what happens while you're busy making other plans.
MT - What sort of plans were you making, then?
CS - Plans that were constantly changing! All my life as a musician, I've struggled with a sort of dual personality -- one quiet and classical, the other loud and freakish. Growing up I listened mostly to classical music, but there were a couple of key events along the way which planted musical weeds in my classical garden. First, when I was about 14, my best friend played me a 45 rpm single of "God Save The Queen" by the Sex Pistols, and it literally turned my world upside down. I had never heard such wonderfully ugly, negative, and destructive music. I simply loved it. Unfortunately, my dear mother did not... and so began the age old story of teenage rebellion.
MT - What other events?
CS - Well, despite Johnny Rotten and Sid Vicious, I went on to study piano at Oberlin Conservatory, but the very day I arrived on campus, I met this guy who had a synthesizer and drum machine in his dorm room (I believe it was a Roland Juno 106 with a TR-606). He was a really cool guy, and let me jam with them. I had never played on a synthesizer before. I was simply blown away, as you can imagine. In fact, I would say my life was changed forever on that day. Over time my focus began moving more and more towards electronic music and composition, and away from classical piano. I bought myself a Roland Alpha Juno-2 and began writing synthpop songs, spending hours and hours (sometimes all night) in the basement studios of the Conservatory. You should have seen the expressions on some of the opera singers' faces when I could be seen in the student lounge smoking and drinking beer at 8am prior to my first class of the day, having stayed up all night in the recording studio (laughing). God, they must have thought I was such a freak. Anyway, around the same time I began playing in a few college bands -- none of which ever went anywhere of course -- but it was still great fun. More fun than practicing piano, that's for sure!
MT - Why did you not pursue a pop music career then?
CS - Because at heart, I was (and still am) a quiet, shy classical musician. While I enjoy listening to pop music itself, I have never liked "the scene" , "the music biz" and all that. It can be so superficial, you know -- so trendy, so fleeting, so vacuous. Because of this, it has always been easy for me to retreat into my classical garden -- that is, until recently.
MT - What do you mean by "until recently?" Please explain.
CS - Well, I can't keep it a secret: I'm not so young any more (laughing). I'm already in my 40's, so the chances of becoming a famous pop star at this point in my life are virtually non-existent -- which leaves only the music! But this is what has always mattered to me the most anyway: the music! So, with superficial dreams of fame and fortune (and being chased by hundreds of screaming girls) out of the way, I feel a sense of freedom which has enabled me to unlock the dungeon where I've kept the synthpop muse prisoner for the last 20 years. I no longer feel the conflict between pop music and so called "serious music" I once did. You know, it just doesn't matter to me any more. And I really couldn't care less about fame and fortune at this point (It's a pity about the screaming girls, though).
MT - So what have you been doing then for the last 20 years?
CS - Let's save that for another interview, shall we?
MT - Okay. So, what are your plans for Maison Vague?
CS - I'm in the process of inviting (or rather, begging) musician friends to help me record a CD. If all goes well, Maison Vague should have a CD out by the end of 2008, at the latest.
MT - What will it sound like?
CS - Late 70's - early 80's style synthpop/new wave with a touch of 60's psychedelia... but given the diversity of my musical background and influences... and those of the other musicians I'll be working with... god only knows what the end result may be. It won't be pure retro, though, that much is certain. I may listen to a lot of "old music" but I listen to a lot of new music as well. I live in the present, and I am very aware of what's happening in the world today. My hope is that the songs will still have some meaning, some relevance that is current, not simply nostalgic.
MT - Well, I look forward to hearing it.
CS - Yeah, me too!
This interview between Clark Stiefel and the Mock Turtle himself was conducted on
Sunday the 28th of June, 2008 in Essen, Germany.
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