Download issue as PDFA monthly local music festival every second Friday of the Month at the urban lounge. This month's Localized showcases The Urie Circle, Twilight Transmsisions and Die Monster Die.
PHOTO by BRENNAN CAVANAUGHTwilight Transmissions is:
Chris Alvarado- Everything
I was supposed to meet Chris Alvarado at The Coffee Garden one evening, but when I got there, I realized I had no idea what this guy looked like and vice-versa. Finally, a stocky, clean-cut guy in dark sunglasses asked me if I was who I am and I was completely honest when I said, "Yeah, that's me." He sat down, and before we even got started, he handed me the new Twilight Transmissions disc The Faces Of Zazen and said, "I don't know if it's what you're into, but here you go."
Immediately I liked this 'down-to-Earth' guy. He was soft-spoken, sat up straight, took his sunglasses off when he spoke to me, and just seemed more genuine than most musicians I've ever met (myself included).
In description of his music he said, "I would probably say it's noise. Electronic noise. I love noise because there are no boundaries to it. I used to draw quite a bit and noise was the best thing to listen to while doing it. I can do it by myself; I don't have to rely on anyone else to make or perform the music."
The Faces Of Zazen is his second record under the Twilight Transmissions moniker. His first album is now out-of-print. They were both released on Novaone Productions; a label that Alvarado started and completely controls himself.
He has been playing shows for nearly 20 years. He started playing punk rock around town in the 80s and shared the stage with bands such as Dag Nasty and Government Issue with his then-band, Harsh Reality. He is also a member of local project 23 Ecstasy. The transformation from playing rock guitar to noise wasn't only one of style, but of medium altogether. I asked him what kind of instruments he incorporates.
"I have my main programming; I have tapes that I manipulate. I use more vocal effects than anything vocally, and the lyrics that I do use are all in Spanish," he said.
Alvarado has sessioned and embarked on numerous recording and performance projects with musicians both local and from abroad in his career thus far, and explained that he intends to continue doing so.
The nice thing about Twilight Transmissions is that it calls on no particular group of listeners. I immediately listened to the CD he gave me, and it really has no boundaries. From up-tempo electro-noise cut-and-paste tracks to long, bass-heavy distortion dizziness, it is a mixed palette of sound.
DieMonsterDie are:
Zero Delorean: Vocals & Guitar
Meatwhistle: Drums & Back-ups
Mercury Rising: Guitar & Back-ups
Raven Blades: Bass & Back-ups
This interview was conducted via e-mail.
SLUG: How long have you been together as a band?
ZERO: When lightning shattered the tranquility of a Satanic ritual in 2002, the cascading evil vibration sent out into the atmosphere sparked a fire within the brains of three young men. Diemonsterdie was born. We started out as a 3-piece band and we quickly released our first album, What is Shall Always Be. In 2003 we'd added a second guitarist, LaVerne LaVey, and also released our second album Honor Thy Dead. In 2004, LaVerne was gone and we joined forces with guitarist Mercury Rising, who has seen us through for the release of our latest album, Only The Dead Will Survive.