MUEN: HELLO FRIGHTDOLL, WE'VE HAD YOU IN OUR TOP ON AND OFF FOR MONTHS AND MONTHS.. THAT SONG "UNPREVENTABLE" HAS ALMOST BECOME AN ANTHEM HERE FOR WHEN WE GO TO DELETE A FRIEND, BUT BESIDES THAT, TELL US WHAT IS THE LATEST?

FRIGHTDOLL: I like the thought of Unpreventable becoming an anthem. I'm sure Empusa would also agree ;) As far as for the latest news, just last week I had the opportunity to do a photo shoot with the amazing Janette Valentine. It was a treat for me, as I had been planning on doing a photo shoot with her for a while, and now it finally happened. The shoot was for the photos that will be used for Assimilation Illusion, my next album to be released.

MUEN: SO IS IT TRUE THAT YOU DO ALL THE SEQUENCING, DRUM MAPPING, VOCALS AND EVEN RECORDING ALL YOURSELF? IS THERE ANYONE ELSE WHO CONTRIBUTED TO THE FRIGHTDOLL RELEASES AT ALL?

FRIGHTDOLL: For my own releases, all of the music and lyrics are written, performed, recorded, and produced solely by myself. For me, it's a means of personal expression. It's one of the most direct ways in which I can share some of my inner world, which is why it is important for me that my music is an accurate expression of my own work. As far as for Reference Version, once the album was finished it was mixed at Velvet Basement Studios in Miami, FL by Robert Dante and later mastered by Eroc at The Mastering Ranch in Germany.

MUEN: HOW DID THE COLLABORATION WITH "EMPUSA" COME ABOUT?

FRIGHTDOLL: The members of Empusa and I actually met through myspace. We simply "clicked" and developed a good friendship. As we enjoyed each other's work, we decided to collaborate and wrote Unpreventable. With the release of this song, we faced many obstacles which had it not been for our already established friendship and mutual support, we would not have been able to release it. Unpreventable will be included in the upcoming "Machines Against Hunger" compilation, a release in which all profits will go towards charity. We were very fortunate to receive an incredible amount of support from Machines Against Hunger for this release. Empusa and I do have plans to collaborate again in the near future.

MUEN: WHY ARE YOU CALLING THE LATEST RELEASE, "REFERENCE VERSION"?

FRIGHTDOLL: Reference Version is an album that was actually finished almost 4 years ago. While working on the songs in this album, I wrote in the description for each song "Reference Version" as I wasn't intending at the time to keep these versions as "Final Versions". I eventually burned all of the songs onto a CD so that I could listen to how they sounded in my car. Again, as these weren't intended as final mixes, I wrote on the CD "Reference Version". Once I burned them to a CD, I no longer felt comfortable with going back and tampering with songs which reflected a specific period of time in my life and frame of mind. Since this was my first finished album, Reference Version was the perfect name for it. At the time that Reference Version was released, Assimilation Illusion was already finished.I had the option to release Assimilation Illusion as my debut album, but felt that Reference Version should become available first in order to "paint a clearer picture" of what will become a greater whole. I originally intended for the first 3 albums to be almost like sets of books, which although may be appreciated and understood independently, reveal something more profound when considered in relevance to each other. However, due to recent events, although Assimilation Illusion does continue on this original idea, the 3rd album that I will release at some point will most likely not be part of this original 3 album concept.

MUEN: WHEN WAS THE "OFFICIAL" RELEASE OF "REFERENCE VERSION," IN WHAT OTHER COUNTRIES BESIDES THE U.S. IS THE ALBUM AVAILABLE?

FRIGHTDOLL: The official release for Reference Version was June 11th, 2007 for the European market and June 26th for the American market. Ironically enough, it's a lot easier to get a hold of copies of this album in EU than it is in USA.

MUEN: WHICH SONGS ARE YOUR PERSONAL FAVORITES ON THE ALBUM?

FRIGHTDOLL: I like Marionette, Crash, Gravity, and Unit the best. Unit is a very simple song and easily overlooked in the album, but it was a very fun song to make. I even drew little pictures of how I thought the song should "look"! And although I have not previously shown these before, I'm including a couple of these images for you ;)

MUEN: LAST SUMMER YOU DID A TOUR IN GERMANY AND LATVIA! HOW WAS THAT EXPERIENCE, AND ARE YOU PLANNING ON DOING MORE SHOWS OVERSEAS?

FRIGHTDOLL: The tour in Germany was certainly a "learning" experience. Latvia, I have to admit, was definitely my favorite show of the tour. This was the first show that I played outside of The U.S. I was actually terrified of going up on stage, but really received a very warm welcome from the crowd which of course made me feel very comfortable. Having a supportive crowd while doing a show really makes all the difference. It's almost like establishing a relationship with the audience in which the more you feel that the crowd is enjoying the performance, the more that you are able to give back to the crowd. I do plan on doing more shows overseas in the near future, once I am able to establish a more stable platform for touring.

MUEN: TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOUR VIEWPOINT ON THE MUSIC SCENE TODAY, AND WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON ARTISTS WHO MAKE IT A POINT TO GO ABOUT THE ARTFORM AS IF THEY WERE AT WAR WITH OTHER GENRES....

FRIGHTDOLL: In a way, I feel like our music scene today has become entirely too competitive, with artists pretty much systematically creating dancefloor fillers which conform to the expected standards, then top off their releases by stamping them with industrial labels. So many artists become so caught up in this game, that they forget to simply have fun with their music and use it as a tool to express their creativity. It's ironic that in trying to fit into these labels, many artists actually end up doing quite the opposite of what I believe to be one of the most important concepts behind industrial music, which is to reject what the industry tells you that your music should sound like. For me, it's simply about enjoying the process of making whatever I feel expresses my mood or mind frame at the moment, without specifically caring about what genre it will fall under, and without being afraid to experiment. If I intended to keep on recycling the same elements over and over again without ever incorporating anything new for the rest of my career as a musician, well, I wouldn't have much to look forward to.

MUEN: WHAT, IN YOUR OPINION, TRULY DEFINES "GOTH" WHETHER IT BE ELECTRONICA, INDUSTRIAL OR ROCK INFLUENCED?

FRIGHTDOLL: In general, a darker approach. By "darker", I do not mean "negative", "necessarily depressing" or any of the other commonly mistaken associations with the gothic genre. This approach can be perceived, even when subtle, through different elements in the compositions that fall under this category, whether it be through the lyrics, the sequences of chords, melodies incorporated, or general ambience created. Pretty much, if you have this certain inclination, it doesn't matter if you're the composer of a modern dancefloor filler or a timeless classical music masterpiece, in one way or another, it shows ;p

MUEN: WHAT DO YOU LIKE TO DO BESIDES MUSIC?

FRIGHTDOLL: I like traveling, walking through parks, doing martial arts, and eating delicious ice cream, amongst other things ;)

MUEN: ARE YOU HAPPY WITH THE MUSIC SCENE IN FORT LAUDERDALE, AND WHAT ARE SOME OF THE CLUBS WHERE YOU GET BOOKED AT?

FRIGHTDOLL: Personally, I'm lucky to have the support of many local friends and promoters, but to be honest, it's difficult to get much support for local live events from those in the scene. I'm not specifically talking about my own performances, but in general, there have been multiple occasions in which bands that have come from overseas end up with a crowd of maybe 30-40 attendees, at best. As far as clubs and promoters, I specifically enjoy doing shows for [The Kollektiv] at Respectable Street Caf�. This was the place where I played my first show as a solo artist and the staff there has been incredibly supportive of my project. I also like playing for Destruktion Productions in Orlando, as they are also making a great effort to organize events and support the scene.

MUEN: ARE THERE ANY OTHER NEWS OR UPDATES YOU'D LIKE TO MENTION?

FRIGHTDOLL: Stay tuned for the upcoming release of Assimilation Illusion ;)

MUEN: THANKS FOR THE INTERVIEW AND KEEP US POSTED!

FRIGHTDOLL: Thank you MUEN for the interview! All the best, -Frightdoll!

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