Leandra Ghoulish is in to talk about staying home and being fed up with questions about the band, and mentions Angelus Novus plans for recording their sixth album
Leandra Ghoulish of Angelus Novus, welcome back to The Sewers! We congratulate you here and now!
Hey, hey.
So how are you doing these days?
Well, the most exciting thing I did last week was dyeing my hair blue.
Yes, I saw your picture with Lenny Sinn on Twitter.
Yeah, she talked me into it. We’re staying home, just to be clear. Once this craziness started, we decided we’re gonna stay together, me, Lenny, Julian and Jules, I mean, we’re not staying in the same house, but we’re a capsule, we hang out only with each other, like we did before this thing started… it’s crazy. I dunno. It’s not that I’m scared about getting sick, you know? like, if I get the virus, I’d probably be alright. But I’m worried sick about my parents. And I know that my father is worried sick about his mother. And everything’s gonna be weird from now on.
You didn’t mention Marcus Leary.
What?
In your capsule. You mentioned Julian, the band’s tour paramedic, but you didn’t mention Marcus, the band’s guitarist.
That’s what you heard from everything I said? Wow. Really, wow.
I’m sorry. It’s just that the last alterview you gave here didn’t make the Angelus’ fans any calmer about the band.
You know, there’s this thing going around now, of people, pure Reglas, who talk about how Covid-19 had made them rethink their lives, put things in proportion, how it’s a blessing in disguise. That’s the most hardcore idiotic bullshit that’s been going around since this thing’s started, excluding, of course, everything that comes out of our president’s mouth. The virus didn’t “come here” to make us mumble shallow and empty words of gratitude about our lives, coz our lives and the way we live them caused this pandemic, and the virus doesn’t give a fuck about how we feel about it. But. Staying at home, having all this time to yourself, this quiet time, this idle time, it makes you think, and I mean, it makes you think without thinking. Thought just happens to you, because you have this peace of mind. And you know what I thought? I thought about how we musicians who play in bands are just unbelievably lucky individuals. We get to do what we love best, because we were lucky enough to find the people who happen to do the same. And then we go around calling ourselves names, band names, and we become this brand, you know? a band name is a brand. It’s like, it’s almost corporate. And then we end up in interviews –
Alterviews –
Yeah, in which we need to speak for the brand, you know? I’m so tired of it. I have been for a while. It’s drying me out, too. I mean, these days I have come to realize just how much it had dried my out, musically, artistically, personally. And it’s conversations like these, like this one right now, that make me think that maybe I’ve had enough of this.
Wow. What are you saying?
Again, you’re asking about the brand, not about what I’m saying. I’m not saying – not saying – I’m breaking the band. Maybe I’m saying I’m refusing to talk about it anymore, from now on. I will gladly talk about our music, about art, about things that interest me, but not about the band. Not about the brand.
Well, that’s not really realistic, and I have to say, you sound a bit like…
Yeah?
Well, like a very privileged person whose upset about the price of her privileges, and at the same time unwilling to give them up.
Oh yeah? how did you reach that?
You could have just said, right now, that you’re tired of all this, and that you refuse to give alterviews altogether. But you didn’t. you just don’t want to be asked certain questions, because things are probably rough right now. which is alright, of course. but you oversee the one big privilege you’re lucky to have.
Yeah? which is?
That people want to know, that people ask you questions.
I see. Well, alright. You know, I don’t take it for granted. Maybe I did come across a little whiny right there. Fine. I’m not gonna do the whiny bit now about just how insane it is to have your personal life constantly discussed in public. I chose this, alright? I realize that. I chose it over a decade ago, and right now I’m not sure what I’d be without it. I have no problem, as you know, talking about myself, about the band, about what we’ve been through and all that. You know, when we did the “Why Are They Shouting” documentary, over seven years ago, we talked about it. Marcus and I, we were always – back then, I mean – torn between our fantasy and the way we were realizing it. The fantasy was to go J. D. Salinger as a band. That is, to make music, to have concerts, but to remain, in a way, completely anonymous, as paradoxical as it may sound. We thought we would play music and have fans and still remain completely to ourselves. Completely unreachable. Completely about the music. And that didn’t work out not just coz, you know, reality, but also because it’s against the nature of being a rock band. Fuck, I love smelling the sweat in a concert hall, I love the people who fight their way backstage, I love looking into people’s eyes when I’m on stage. You know why? coz I want them to know me. or, more accurately, I want them to want to know me. that’s what motives a rock star. Nothing else.
And now you’re complaining about it.
Yeah.
So how does that work out?
I dunno. Fuck. Maybe I just, I just need to go out a bit. There’s no… there aren’t gonna be any concerts this year, you know? and maybe not in 2021 even. I mean, what the fuck?
You could do some kind of a zoom concert –
Fuck Zoom. I hate this. It’s not for me. it’s so… corporate! We were planning to get in the studio this November, to record our sixth album. I wasn’t gonna announce it until after our festival tour, which is not happening. So, maybe we’ll get it done sooner than we thought. I’m pretty sure it’s gonna be a weird album. and we’re gonna have a lot of work, with everyone mostly playing music with themselves right now. it’s gonna be interesting. I wonder what’s gonna happen with bands after all this. I so strongly believe in music being a communal experience, and for us, releasing an album is always incomplete until we tour with it.
Maybe the Angelus would start playing small venues, like the ones you enjoyed so much with Agesilaus Santander.
Hah! That would be wild. I’m up for it.
RockStar Leandra Ghoulish, we wish you and everyone better days. We congratulate you here and now.
Thanks.
The Sewers 