Q: When you started this band you each chose an instrument you couldn’t play. Could you talk more about why you chose to do this and how it has impacted your sound?
DELTA OF VENUS: In the early 90s we had a robust original music scene here in Mystic, CT. Dawn, Mat, and Ellery were all active participants since the origin of the scene in 1986. By 1993, each of us were feeling kind of boxed in within the roles we had played or were currently playing. Mat got an Alesis HR-16 drum machine at the turn of the decade, and Ellery and Mat were fascinated by the possibility of starting a band without a drummer, and use the drum machine exclusively.
If we were going to start the new songs from scratch, learning how to program the drum machine along the way; that we might as well all start at that level of experience. Ellery came from behind the drum kit to play guitar, Mat stepped away from his frontman duties and picked up a bass guitar, and Dawn returned to guitar after a five year hiatus.
Q: Was there a pivotal moment in your lives when you decided to follow your paths as musicians together?
DELTA OF VENUS: Not a singular moment. To frame the reference, the music scene in Mystic was very competitive, in a friendly way, but nonetheless competitive. The three of us thought we could get into that competition, and create an absolutely unique sound, by committing to a drum machine instead of a live drummer. We would also acquire an early Peavy sequencer keyboard as another layer of sound. In addition, the fact that all three of us would take on a lead vocal role, similar to Sonic Youth or Fleetwood Mac, would be a template to separate us from the crowd. And it worked.
Q: Did any real-life events occur in your lives that inspired “Disengaged b/w Slipping?”
DELTA OF VENUS: Yes.
Q: Your music doesn’t tend to follow a standard verse-chorus form. What is your process when working out the arrangement of a song?
DELTA OF VENUS: We had an incredible laugh about this at practice about two months ago. Shawn, our live drummer, also plays in a cover band here in town. After a Saturday gig, at practice Sunday, we asked Shawn what the hardest song he had to play was. His response was priceless~ “Song 3…” …which is a new Delta tune we were still trying to corral at the time.
I have to say the attention to detail that Mat, Shawn, and Issy apply to getting the arrangements correct is truly impressive. How Ellery writes is in four block movements that reference each other, but never repeat. The Groop is now starting to achieve that intrinsic awareness of the song early on in the writing stage.
Q: What has been one of the highlights of your music career so far?
DELTA OF VENUS: I would have to say the written response we have received for the single. We have gotten some of the most concise music journalism I have ever been a part of, in any band or group setting.
Q: What is coming up next for you?
DELTA OF VENUS: We are currently finishing the arrangements and demo versions of our next single. Hopefully, we will arrive at Dirt Floor Recording Studio in late February of 2025.
Interviewed by Taylor Berry
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