faith and disease / seventhform music/BMI ( eric cooley/ dara rosenwasser ): r e v i e w s

DAVID KULCZYK feature on F&D for Sacramento News & Review (SNR) Sept, 2003:

10:30 p.m. September 15; at Faces, 2000 K Street.
Sacramento, CA

Few bands release eight albums in 10 years. Even fewer bands can say that their eighth CD is their best. Seattle-based goth quintet Faith & Disease, whose new CD Passport to Kunming was recently released on Projekt Records, is one of them.

Formed in 1991, the year Seattle’s so-called grunge scene exploded with bands like Mudhoney, Nirvana and Soundgarden, Faith & Disease looked past the fuss being made over its now-famous contemporaries; the group released five CDs in six years on Ivy Records. Formed by a 29-year-old Microsoft millionaire, Ivy had an eccentric lineup that included Ninth Circle, Hoover Cain and Hominy, the latter being the former band of Jesse Sykes (of Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter).

“I have no problem embracing goth,” said Eric Cooley, bassist and arranger of Faith & Disease. “The people who show up at our shows and are buying our records, for the most part, match the description of someone who is 'gothic.’ We have no problem with it, and I think that we are one of the best examples of goth.”

Unlike many bands of the grunge era, Faith & Disease wasn’t wedded to a musical trend. The band’s orchestrated and ethereal “darkwave” style allowed it to evolve as a musical unit, and it has sailed on a steady course--selling records and pulling in the goth crowd and lovers of poignant music wherever it played. Losing and gaining members along the way, the band performed at the 1998 CMJ Music Marathon; had five songs used on soundtracks for the 2001-2002 season of MTV’s The Real World; toured the United States six times; and opened for the Spinanes, Gong, Red House Painters, Harvey Danger and Sky Cries Mary.

Cooley and vocalist Dara Rosenwasser are the only original members of the band. Cooley, whose father played in the legendary Northwest garage band the Nomads, received an invitation for Faith & Disease to perform at a music festival in Kunming, China. The entire band was going to be flown to Kunming and paid a considerable sum to perform. The band members got their shots and visas together and made arrangements to be out of the country for a couple of weeks, when the show was mysteriously canceled. “We were all set to go,” said Cooley with detectable anger in his voice. “Took time off from everything, and less than a week before we were ready to leave, we got an e-mail from the promoter saying that 'for complicated political reasons, all western bands will not be performing in Kunming.’ That’s all he would say. Didn’t elaborate on it or anything.”

To soothe band morale, Cooley decided to record a new record with minimal preparation. He frantically searched for a Seattle recording studio that wasn’t booked, and then he turned the band loose. “We were all looking forward to this trip,” said Cooley. “So, I got the bright idea to try to find an available studio in Seattle to record, just to see what we could come up with. We didn’t really know what that would be.”

The result is Faith & Disease’s most adventurous and listenable record. Passport to Kunming is powerful and moving, with Rosenwasser’s trademark dreamy vocals sounding more relaxed and less operatic. The opener, “She’s Got a Halo,” is a Cure-like, snappy little number that could be Faith & Disease’s freak radio hit, the way “Flagpole Sitta” was a hit for Harvey Danger in 1998. The melodic yet melancholy “How Far Does the Sky Go,” “Between the Folds” and “Girl at the Window” might bring tears to Nick Cave’s eyes. A cover of Sykes’ “Made of Wood” tops off the disc.

“Passport to Kunming is our least-prepared album,” said Rosenwasser. “It is one big lump of emotion. There is stuff that we did in the studio that we can’t do live because we don’t know how we did it. It was like the third eye.”

Faith & Disease
Passport to Kunming
~reviewed by Matthew J.

Since their 1993 debut album Beauty and Bitterness, Faith & Disease have gone through numerous lineup changes and explored genres as diverse as world music and ambient to folk and country. On their fifth album, named for the aborted trip to China where they had intended to record it, the Seattle-based project returns to the wistful, moody pop roots from which they sprouted. Their music, however, has grown in many ways, with the light, one-chord guitar strums replaced by intricate, fingerpicked arrangements, richly layered organs and pianos, and a cymbal-heavy, almost jazzy rhythm section.

Although this album has its moments of lyrical surrealism, particularly on “Dyslexia” and “How Far Does the Sky Go” (a reworking of a song from their collaboration with ambient composer Jeff Greinke), the emphasis is still on the lyricism itself. Instead of the dreamy wordlessness of “Fortune His Sleep” (from the 1995 album of the same name), we get such enigmatic yet evocative fragments as “Ocean song, dyslexia perplexed” and “How far does the sky go? Mouths full of flowers.” In lead singer Dara Rosenwasser’s honeyed soprano, these words are otherworldly, to be sure, but from a world close enough to our own that we can at least still recognize it.

The best moments on Passport to Kunming, though, are closer to pop than straightforward ethereal music. Eric Cooley, the band’s principal songwriter and the only member other than Rosenwasser who has contributed to all five albums, is primarily a bassist at heart, and it’s the lovely bass line that stands out in “She’s Got A Halo.” This is a track that you could almost imagine dancing to, at least someplace where people still swirl and wave their arms to the Cocteau Twins or the Cure’s “Charlotte Sometimes.” The old time piano sound and understated guitar of “Girl at the Window” are more lighthearted. Though the song is still languid and bittersweet, it at least sounds more like a winter nap near a fireplace than freezing to death in a snowy forest.

On their previous two albums, Faith & Disease have explored folk and Americana, covering the Byrds, the Cowboy Junkies, and traditional murder ballad “Banks of the Ohio,” but Passport to Kunming’s one offering in that vein – a version of Jessie Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter’s “Made of Wood” – sounds less like the alternative country of the original than British folk-pop darling Beth Orton without all the techno and trip-hop dabbling. Taking things in a more grand direction are the lofty organs and soaring vocals of “His Faded Muse,” which also features an extended guitar passage that, if not for the wash of shoegaze reverb, might recall the beautifully intricate work of Current 93 contributor Michael Cashmore.

While Passport to Kunming might not have the elements of surprise – “Oh, she’s singing in Hebrew!” or “Oh hey, slide guitar!” – that characterized previous albums, it is perhaps Faith & Disease’s most accomplished album, and certainly their most mature. Subtly weaving together all the elements that the band has explored without overemphasizing any of them, it’s the perfect musical accompaniment for somber, gray afternoons.

Track List:
1. She’s Got A Halo
2. Dyslexia
3. How Far Does the Sky Go
4. Between the Folds
5. Lost In Translation
6. Impermanence
7. Girl at the Window
8. Made of Wood
9. His Faded Muse
10. She’s Got A Halo (Remix)
* Enhanced: She’s Got A Halo (Video)

Band:
Dara Rosenwasser, vocals and lyrics
Eric Cooley, electric and acoustic guitars, bass
Barry Semple, drums and percussion
Greg Forschler, electric guitar, xylophone
John Clough, keyboards, organ, piano

FAITH & DISEASE
Passport to Kunming
(Projekt)
*Faith & Disease play Fenix Underground with Legion Within and DJ Opium at 7 p.m. Sun., Sept 28. $8. All ages*
Seattle's own Faith & Disease still have firm roots in their overtly U.K. goth-styled start. It's the source of their striking cover of the Cure's "All Cats Are Grey" some years back, to pick one example. On the new Passport to Kunming, the band's inspirations are plain: The rich, rolling bass that Eric Cooley plays on the lead single, "She's Got a Halo," draws on that of not only the Cure's Simon Gallup but many of his post-punk peers as well. Vocalist Dara Rosenwasser doesn't belt, but her voice has a rich beauty that's neither fragile nor thin; its tone calls to mind fellow travelers-in-black This Ascension or Faith and the Muse. However, Faith & Disease have seldom simply looked 20 years back; they find their inspiration elsewhere, specifically in country and folk. Collaborations with members of the Walkabouts, reworkings of classic murder ballads, and, on Kunming, a fine version of Jesse Sykes' "Made of Wood" demonstrate their sound's unexpected variety. The drowned romanticism of early Mojave 3 surfaces on "Lost in Translation," whose calm guitar reverb is set against an almost subharmonic drum beat, and "Girl at the Window," with its quietly dramatic opening piano. Fully arranged and balancing majesty with subtletythe strong instrumental break on "Between the Folds" perfectly balances impact with quiet volumeit's the sound of a band coming into its own. NED RAGGETT

FAITH & DISEASE At Sudsy Malone's. Cinncinnati, Ohio
F&D's LAMENTATIONS US Tour stop.

BY MIKE BREEN

You could call the tour a Lilith Fair for the dark and moody set. You'd be wrong, but you could call it that if you'd like. The two female-fronted acts' swirling, atmospheric approach is as much about gender as the Barenaked Ladies' songs are funny (that is to say, not at all). And while it's tempting to frame the groups' sounds into one easy-to-file category (in this case, I suppose you'd say "Goth"), the fact is both bands have much more to offer. And, though both are on the same page musically, each is distinct in its style.
Seattle-based Faith & Disease's sound is quite a bit more organic than Trance's, with characteristics more in the vein of 4AD recording artists like the Cocteau Twins or even less "mood ridden" acts like Mazzy Star and The Sundays. While some group's use so many effects that the guitars end up sounding like an unrecognizable wash, F&D don't distort the sonic reality, allowing listeners to discern one instrument from the other. The result is crisp and, while slow-paced, surprisingly energized, falling into the realm of "slow-core" bands like Spain, Red House Painters and Low. Singer Dara Rosenwasser's haunted, crystalline vocals would work well in a more synthetic sounding band, but in F&D, with the sparkling but largely non-ornamental backdrop, she is able to shine in a more honest and less chaotic climate.
-CityBeat, Vol. 4, Issue 42; September 10-16, 1998

Faith & Disease's second release, Fortune His Sleep is a
gorgeous gem that could capture the hearts of neo-goths and
classical fanciers as well as world music listeners. The
music on the disc sometimes resembles early Dead Can Dance,
especially on the tracks 'Wallow' and 'Hashivenu,' where
Faith's vocalist Dara Rosenwasser uses her voice like an
instrument. The band can resemble Love Spirals Downward, but
they can offer a track like 'Healing Anne' that sounds like
the Cure with better vocals.
Fortune His Sleep blends traditional madrigal pieces with
moody dreamscape rock that features violin, acoustic
percussion, guitar, bass, drums, and synthesizer. 'Like
Lillith' is a sparse but lush acoustic piece where as
'Madrigal,' 'Fortune His Sleep I' and 'Healing Anne' show off
the musicianship of all the band members.
This album is a must for Projekt label followers. My only
caution is to not listen to this album on a dark and gloomy
day.
-Patty-Lynne Herlevi, B-side Mag

Writing a review for a bad album is easy: just take what most annoyed you about it and rip into it. But writing a review for a good album is much harder. After all, how many times can you simply say that an album is brilliant and beautiful?

Well...Faith & Disease's new album is both brilliant and beautiful. Over the course of several albums, F&D have been refining a unique sound that can be compared to Mazzy Star, the Cocteau Twins, Dead Can Dance, and Faith/Seventeen Seconds-era Cure. What makes Faith & Disease stand apart from most ethereal darkwave bands is their embrace of rural folk elements. Along with Sixteen Horsepower, Faith & Disease are one of the few truly American "gothic" music groups.

Beneath the Trees, Faith & Disease's first album for Projekt, stands as their strongest work to date. Highlights include...well the whole thing is entrancing. A particularly interesting track is the murder ballad Banks of the Ohio, which sounds like a recording found in a vault somewhere. All of the playing is solid.

Simply one of the best ethereal darkwave albums I have ever heard. Go buy it.

Seattle arch-gothers Faith and Disease should already be
familiar, either from their last album or from their sterling
assualt on Sister-(of Mercy)-hood on 1993's First And
Last tribute album. Cut from a distinctly Dead Can
Dance-shaped cloth, nodding obeisance to This Mortal Coil,
Garlands-draped Cocteaus, and Faith-era Cure,
Faith and Disease are essentially backdrops washing into
water-color prominence, sweeping epics which build within the
lushest darkness. Dara Rosenwasser's vocals are the key to
liking this band; full-bodied and sometimes full-blooded,
they're simultaneously the most obvious cause of, and the
greatest defense against, the glaring comparisons faced by
this band. The longer the cuts are the best; they allow F&D
to truly weave their often mantric moods. But even when
they're brief, the band has a gift for grabbing.
-Dave Thompson, huH mag.

Seattle's Faith & Disease remains one of those "dreamy" bands
slipping over a hydrid of musical definitions.
After the successful release of last years debut, Beauty and
Bitterness, these romantic children continue with more
mood and ambience thatn your typical 4AD artist. What's
distinctive is the intermittent blend of gothic overtones and
mournful dream-pop, particularly in guitar-driven songs like
"Jardeau Blue" (your friendly radio cut), and "Amelius Unhappy" (your daily five-minute alternative to the Cure).
Fortune His Sleep is a highly likeable record, never overbearing in its mellowness, and never unsettling. A wonderful trip into
cloudy realms.
-Laura Horton, Pandemonium Magazine

A review from Alternative Press:
Faith & Disease, the equivalent of a melancholy summer afternoon.
Faith & Disease's 1999 release, Lamentations, was an excellent collection of songs representing 8 years of creative growth. Though an ideal introduction to the band's many moods and colors, it remains a compilation of past work, and as such, lacks the cohesive tone and texture of a new album. Beneath the Trees has that cohesiveness, like a slow, waking dream of cool warmth that keeps building upon itself. With few exceptions, Eric Cooley composes the music and Dara Rosenwasser writes the lyrics, but it's Rosenwasser's child-sweet vocals that light the way.
Giving clarity to the murk of melancholy and memory, the album has the goth ambience of lying beneath the trees, contemplating a parade of centuries. There is safety beneath the trees, but soon the rain will come and one will need to find refuge elsewhere. One day your lover's hand will pull away and your heart will be adrift in the darkness. These are the constants of life, the ebb and flow of the light and the dark.

The affecting poignancy of Cooley's largely acoustic compositions and the storytelling poetry of Rosenwasser's lyrics speak of these things. Each song is as good as the last, each like a memory of lying beneath a tree with someone you love.
-Mark Burbey

What's in a name? Ofttimes a debate, as Faith & Disease know full well. "That name itself has opened and closed doors in the past," admits the band's co-founder, Eric Cooley. "Some people really like it, and some people think it's too pretentious. It's something that I came up with 10 years ago, and it might have borne out a more dramatic mindset at the time. But it's our name, and we have to live with it."

Throughout their five albums, the Seattle-based etherealites have produced haunting songs that match their cryptic moniker, with Dara Rosenwasser's gossamer vocals riding delicate waves of guitar, bass, and drums. Though their early material mined a heavier dark-rock vein, over time, more serene elements have intertwined through their work: the pastoral qualities of folk and country, the spirituality of classical vocals, and the airiness of ambient music. Co-songwriters Cooley and Rosenwasser have never thought what they were doing had a tag. "It didn't really dawn on us when we were making [our last album] Insularia that putting a pedal steel guitar on a few songs would get us lumped in with 'country,'" Cooley remarks.

Once associated by default with the Goth scene, Faith & Disease have become difficult to categorize, a fact not lost on Cooley. "For better or worse, yeah," concurs the bassist/guitarist. "Sometimes I think we'd almost be better off, in some regards, if we were just a narrowly niched band, if we were nothing but a Goth band. But unfortunately, we really can't do that."

Suffice to say that tranquil, introspective beauty remains a band staple. In fact, on their latest release, Beneath The Trees, Faith & Disease--whose recently solidified lineup also includes vocalist and flautist Charlotte Sather and drummer Barry Semple--are quieter and more mellow than ever. "It just happened that way," says Rosenwasser. "A good friend of ours said it was the 'album we had to make.' I think he meant we had to get it out of our systems."

The album's arresting starkness was inspired to a large degree by the group's 1998 tour promoting Insularia. F&D's drummer and guitarist at that time were fading out of the band, but Dara and Eric still wanted to tour, so they brought Sather along and performed as a stripped-down, drummerless three-piece. It was a challenging situation to face on a rock club tour, but the band enjoyed the "unplugged" format. "Not only did we pull it off, I think we ended up surprising our audience, because they didn't know what was coming," recalls Rosenwasser. "We got a lot of positive feedback from it. It just felt right."

As subtle as their music is their lyrical approach. Faith & Disease like to make discreet concept albums. "It might take someone about 20 listens before they piece it together," says Cooley. "We don't make it literal. We don't map out a narrative like an old Yes album or Rush's 2112. We know it's there, but it's for the listener to decipher."

Trees also includes another F&D fundamental: covers. In the past, Faith & Disease have tackled material by Cowboy Junkies, prog-rockers Renaissance, and darkwave group Black Tape For A Blue Girl; this time they take on an 18th-century aria (the title track) and the traditional murder ballad "Banks Of The Ohio," originally recorded by old-time country outfit the Blue Sky Boys and used in the film Paper Moon. The latter track fits in particularly well with the group's distinctive sound. "We didn't want to record it in a modern fashion," explains Cooley. "It's actually recorded and mixed in mono, noise and everything, so it sounds like it's either playing on a distant AM radio or an old 78."

In general, Cooley espouses the D.I.Y. ethic, or as he puts it, "the absurdity of picking up a bass or guitar, not really knowing what you're doing, but wanting to form a band anyway. Joy Division did it, Siouxsie & the Banshees did it, the Cure did it, so give it a try. And I think that balances [us] out nicely. I don't know how we create, it just comes together magically."

Which may explain why many listeners and critics are at a loss to pin down categorically the music of Faith & Disease. "I wish we had a genre we could proudly proclaim as ours," sighs Cooley, "but none of them seem to fit." With a soft chuckle, Rosenwasser adds: "We've always been outcasts, so that's OK."

FAITH & DISEASE: Insularia
Insularia is the fourth album from Seattle-based Faith & Disease, a four-piece employing the merits of dynamic restraint, sonic ambiance and gentle melodicism as the primary components of its musical blueprint. Led by the strong, unwavering voice of Dara Rosenwasser, the band follows the lead of fellow music-to-nod-off-to notables Spain, Low or Mazzy Star in the design of its minimal, downtempo pieces. Faintly outlined blues and country structures inform most of the songs here, washed over by ghostly reverbed guitar and Rosenwasser's angelic vocals. With the addition of some equally dreamy violin, pedal steel, organ and flute touches, the album takes on an aura of quiet, abstract beauty. "Perhaps...Persephone" showcases Rosenwasser's sensual tone, her haunting delivery lifted by some slowly winding guitar and a billowing dust storm of violin and percussion. "Marie Don't Sleep In Your Makeup" is moodier still, trading off between Rosenwasser's pristine vocalizations and some spare guitar lines. Also check out the equally shadowy and suggestive "Birthday Party" and "I Come And Stand As Every Door."
- Colin Helms

As a long time fan of Faith and Disease, I’ve always been impressed by the combination of Dara Rosenwasser's comforting, ethereal voice coupled with Eric Cooley sometimes intricate, sometimes simple, and consistently satisfying guitar work. And yet, there’s always been a sense with each of their previous releases, that this was a band in search of something; With Passport to Kunming, Faith and Disease appears to have found what they were looking for. The album opens with the bass driven “She’s Got a Halo,” which spotlight’s both Rosenwasser’s soothing and quietly powerful vocals and Cooley’s masterful guitar arrangements in a way that is at once reminiscent of classic Faith and Disease while also being evocative of the band’s current foray into the world of lo-fi, scaled down, sadcore, arrangements that seem more appropriate to labels such as CMK or Kranky than Projekt. “She’s Got a Halo” is followed by tracks that become successively more stripped down, successively more vulnerable, and successively more beautiful. This is no more evident than on the album’s 8th track “Made of Wood” which, despite its lo-fi production consisting entirely of Rossenwater’s hauntingly beautiful vocals and Cooley’s perfectly minimal acoustic accompaniment, may be the album’s most powerful track. The album’s final track, a remixed version of “She’s Got a Halo” brings the listener full circle with a strangely satisfying dance-reworking of the album’s first song. Overall, Passport to Kunming, while somewhat of a departure for Faith and Disease, seems like the natural next step in the journey of this talented and unique Seattle based band.
JENNIFER JONES

Somewhere in the past, not too distant to remember but far enough back to be faded and slurred in with a composite of memories, I found myself sitting in the passenger s seat on an impromptu trip to Los Angeles. The late morning crowded warm around us as we drove through the desert towards the Troubadour where Faith & Disease, Trance to the Sun and Love Spirals Downwards would be strumming their guitars and leading the audience into full swoon with some of the finest ethereal music the world could ever know.

Now, some years later, I am pleased to announce they will be returning to Salt Lake City (a city that actually holds a lot of history for the band, but that story is for another day) on September 11th at Club Sanctuary.

Keeping with the theme of this month s issue, we at SLUG thought it only appropriate to steal a few thoughts from Dara Rosenwasser, Faith & Disease s vocalist.

SLUG: I think your perspective will be interesting because Ethereal music, unlike many other genres, is rather dependant on the female vocalist.

Dara: "Ethereal" suggests the siren, the muse, a haunting other-worldly sound that takes you to another realm. Women seem to dominate here more than in any other genre of music because lets face it.......women are the true essence of beauty and grace!

SLUG: Do you think it is any easier to be a woman in the ethereal/gothic/dark wave genre than it would be if you were in a punk band or whatnot?

Dara: For the reasons I mentioned above, it is not necessarily "easier" but more effective and seems to make a lot of sense to me. I've always loved to use my singing voice on a larger, more spiritual scale. I'm not just carrying a note; I'm transcending myself towards something I can't seem to reach in the real world. In all actuality, I could never successfully get my words/lyrics across screaming at the top of my lungs!

SLUG: Often in ethereal music you find two women vocalists working within one project, either as counter points or working together in a more supportive fashion.

Dara: There is a definitive bond that women have and have taken to a musical/vocal level. It becomes dominant in all aspects of the creative process. I've had many great opportunities to work with other female vocalists over the years, Charlotte Sather being the most recent.

SLUG: What is your working relationship with Eric (the musical backbone of the group)?

Dara: Eric and I have the ability to work quite effortlessly together. Our music has always taken on its own life and support-system once the initial guitar/bass and vocal parts have been laid down. Our music is very organic, sparse and genuine. I think people have more of an appreciation for this kind of music than they may have had in the past. People are just getting fed-up with bubble-gum pop and angry-about-nothing over-played music.

SLUG: How do you and Eric go about writing?

Dara: Eric or I will come up with a guitar line and we'll take it from there. We haven't been focusing very hard on writing as of late because we're preparing for this West Coast tour and trying to promote the new album.

SLUG: You've been doing this particular project/band for a decade now, have things changed in the past ten years?

Dara: Our outlook as a band has remained true and focused. We've had a lot of support with other bands/labels/friends that have motivated us to continue. The world has obviously changed and I can't say for the better, but there are definitely experiences for me to draw from on a personal level. My European travels are the main theme behind most of "Passport To Kunming's" lyrics.

SLUG: You've gone from your own label to Projekt Records. What has that change been like?

Dara: Sam and Lisa are amazing people. Signing to Projekt allowed Eric and me to dive deeper into this musical concept/visual aesthetic that we both strive for.

So stay away from the television and celebrate life by catching what promises to be a beautiful, tranquil night out with friends and Faith & Disease.

Talented and slow ethereal from the Projekt label. I'm kinda new to this group, but I think time tells me that I'm going to find out much more after hearing their newest release. See, Seattle did come out with something good besides Alice In Chains and The Melvins. ;-)

Chain D.L.K.: How are things over in Seattle and in the world of F&D? Getting rained out lately with the summertime weather?
Faith And Disease: (Eric Cooley) Quite the contrary, it's hotter than hell here (late July), but we know there are probably 7 to 8 weeks of sunshine here ALL YEAR, so it's alright… (Dara) We're all doing just fine…which is the best that one can do in these uncertain times. A bit of sunshine does actually help to ease the ever-looming gloom of this city.

Chain D.L.K.: I read on the bio that you are considered part of some tag called "sadcore" (whatever that might be) with bands like Low. What are your thoughts on this musical tag and what exactly is it?
Faith And Disease: (Dara Rosenwasser) You've guessed as good as I could at that one! Sad, moody, dark are all adjectives that have been used to describe our "sound". We are quite fond of Low and other bands with a similar tone. I have never liked our music being defined by one certain genre. (Eric) For better or worse, our versatility and range of influences have probably shut a few doors that would have otherwise been open if we were a narrowly-marketed niche band.

Chain D.L.K.: What or where is a "Kunming", and where did the title for the new CD come from?
Faith And Disease: (Eric) Kunming is a city in China, a city we were invited to play a music festival in. They were going to fly us to China for the festival, put us up for a week, etc, and we agreed. About a week or so before our departing flight from Seattle, they informed us "for complicated political reasons" that the festival would not include bands from "the West". Deflated and with allotted time on our hands, I had the brilliant (smirk) idea to record an entire album…Whether we were ready to or not. I felt the band needed something to fill that gap we had planned on, so we recorded "Passport to Kunming" that rainy dark winter, and some of the songs were as embryonic as you could imagine, which I feel only fueled the creative energy. That, and we had a bit of melodrama with Charlotte and myself, but the end result of Passport is what counts, and it's my favorite body of music of all 7 F&D releases. (Dara) Yes, there were some challenging times during that recording, but overall what came out of it was heart-felt and strong. We tossed and turned a bit on the name and even now DJs are mispronouncing it, which is hilarious. (Eric) We've even had our somewhat simple band name misprounouned in print. "Faith and Diesel" comes to mind. Dara has always been called "DARE-UH" by people, sometimes "Dana". I'm always…(Dara) (rudely interupting Eric) E-Rock!

Chain D.L.K.: Were there any effects added to Dara’s vocals (which is common in the world of ethereal), such as echo or reverb, or is it all natural on the new CD?
Faith And Disease: (Dara) I've been told countless times that my voice does not require the crutches of effects. I, however, think they are necessary to complete a "wall-of-sound" tonality, especially in live performance. Hey soundman…I need more REVERB. (Eric) Reverb is Dara's form of oxygen. (Dara) … and coffee.

Chain D.L.K.: Is there a general theme to "Passport to Kunming? " Does it in some way revolve around the artwork photos on the CD, or vise versa?
Faith And Disease: (Eric) No. There is no concept really, no 70s-like "message" encoded throughout the album. Just a bunch of songs we came up with, and personally labored over production-wise. The artworks are cells from the video. That's me running up the stairs (filmed in Seattle) and Dara walking down the street in Los Angeles, in the cloak. To her immediate right is the MTV building - I'm serious! The film crew thought it would be a good idea to use the streets in Studio City as an ideal locaction…at 4 AM. (Dara) It was complicated to create the imagery long-distance, since I was still in California at the time. Eric called me and asked, could I attempt to get some stills from the video and send them? I used my crappy little digital camera to capture the images and, like magic, that was the concept art for the CD.

Chain D.L.K.: On the cover, what is the photo of in the left middle, right below the person climbing the stairs?
Faith And Disease: (Dara) That is one of the images (see above notes) of me walking in a wonderful costume cape from some by-gone day of pageantry. (Eric) The girl at the chalkboard is a still from a 1953 educational filmstrip. I stole it. (Dara) Shame on you!

Chain D.L.K.: How has the, would you say, melancholy atmosphere (well, it appears that way from a visitor’s eyes, considering I’ve only been there twice) of Seattle inspired you, or inspired this CD in any way?
Faith And Disease: (Dara) We get that question a lot. All I know is that it isn't necessarily what the climate is like as much as it is where your present state of being is. (Eric) That and the fact that the creative process involving these new songs originated at various times when we were, in fact, NOT living in the Pacific Northwest, but rather in the coastal region of California, but it wouldn't matter if we were in Miami Beach or on the set of Baywatch, we'd still sound like dreary rainy Faith and Disease.

Chain D.L.K.: With the guest musicians on the CD taking care of percussion and such, will they also be part of the touring ensemble?
Faith And Disease: (Dara) Yes, we'll be taking along all of the "band" with the exception of our keyboard player, John Clough. (Eric) The 5 of us are all close, and I consider the 5 of us on Passport to be F&D, but John can't make it due to his real job - he's the smart one!

Chain D.L.K.: What is some of Dara’s vocal training throughout the years? The vocals have a feel between controlled operatic vocals and that of older ethereal artists like Liz Frazier, so I assume there is quite a bit of training involved.
Faith And Disease: (Dara) Eric and I were actually discussing that last night. I know my voice has matured naturally as opposed to intensive vocal training on a daily basis. In fact, the only formal training I've had were the two years I spent in college attempting a voice major. That wasn't any fun at all and in retrospect I learned more from my "real-world" experiences performing with F&D. (Eric) We both dropped out of an exclusive, private art school. Too expensive, too pretentious and too…lazy!

Chain D.L.K.: With a dance remix (well, not in the often corny sense of the word, in this case), an album version and a video for it, will "She’s Got a Halo" be released as a single?
Faith And Disease: (Eric) When you're on an indie label like Projekt, they don't really release "singles" to the public or radio like, say, a major lable would, so no. But there is obviously an attempt to "promote" a song over the others, and obviously "She's Got a Halo" is that song. (Dara) Yeah, "She's Got a Halo", and "Between the Folds" are our two strongest yet, dare I say, "commercial" sounding songs to date. I still get so excited to hear our songs on the radio. It proves there's still life in us yet, ha ha.

Chain D.L.K.: When the group first burst out into the scene, buried in a sea of grunge fads, how did the grunge crowd receive you over time? How would you say the mood has changed since the demise of grunge, overall and towards you?
Faith And Disease: (Eric) We were elbow to elbow with all those bands, we even had Nirvana next to us at our practice space. Hole was on the other side. No big deal at the time, but interesting now. We'd pass Kurt Cobain and company in the hallway, that is how small Seattle was at the time. It's changed of course, but we played all the same clubs as those Sub-Pop bands did, and even though we had a darker, artier crowd than say, TAD or 7 Year Bitch, there wasn't really a fence between bands. Despite the trimmings, we were (and still are) basically a rock band with drums, bass, guitar, vocals, and…gasp…keyboards.

Chain D.L.K.: Is Ivy Records still active? Why did you decide to start your own label after recieving letters of interest from three major labels?
Faith And Disease: (Eric) Ivy is no longer an active label, seeking out new talent and putting out releases. It WAS for a good 7 years, but Ivy is active in the sense that the back catalog of F&D is still maintained. We grew tired of waiting for the nibbles of interest from majors to resolve, and gave up on the Cinderella Complex that comes along with it and signed with li'l ol' Projekt Records. Sam and I have a steady dialogue and he's essentially on the same page as his bands, being a musician and leader of his own Black Tape ensemble, so it's fine.

Chain D.L.K.: What are some of your inspirations and influences when making music, and with the new CD?
Faith And Disease: (Eric) Hard to say, really. Most of what we do is elusive and hard to articulate. We make music and see where it takes us. It's not easy doing what we do, but at the end of a good decade of making albums, I think anyone involved with F&D can say they are proud to have been part of the music and that there is substance to it. You cannot buy that feeling, and it's a purity of purpose that inspires us. (Dara) The lyrical context comes out of life and living it day by day. I find great inspiration from others such as Billie Holiday, who truly knew how to sing sadness, This Mortal Coil, Jarboe, and the list could go on. Personally, our latest material was spawned from my travels to Eastern Europe and the inner journey that I took.

Chain D.L.K.: I noticed on your news section it said "Born and Died on the 23rd". What exactly does that mean?
Faith And Disease: (Eric) It's a song I wrote from Beneath the Trees, the album before this one. My father was born on the 23rd and died on the 23rd. It was cathartic for me, but I wanted it kept vague, otherwise a eulegy to your dead father could be percieved as self-serving.

Chain D.L.K.: With the artwork on the CD, I sense there is a feel of a film going on or the intention of it. Would I be correct in saying that?
Faith And Disease: (Eric) Yes, for some reason, maybe the fact that we added a video for the first time, and for reasons Dara knows, the cinematic theme kept surfacing. (Dara) For reasons unknown as well. After all, music is a beacon of light that reflects off the surface of the soul. Life at times can seem as though it's being played out, staged, filmed, and captured with such irony that you sometimes feel like it's all just a big laugh.

Chain D.L.K.: If so, is there any film that you would, perhaps, liken it to?
Faith And Disease: (Dara) I love film and have delved deeper into it than I think Eric has, but no particular film comes to mind. Well, maybe Wings of Desire.

Chain D.L.K.: If I were to ask you some of the mental visuals you have when making and playing songs from Passport to Kunming…
Faith And Disease: (Eric) Change, renewal, fragility, strength, perseverance, melody, rain, bridges, escapism, reality. The longing for something better to come and take you away from your drab existence, a new location, romanticized far beyond its capabilities. (Dara) Eloquently said. I'm in agreement!

Chain D.L.K.: Any different mental visuals you get or like to invoke while playing live?
Faith And Disease: (Dara) I tend to close my eyes a lot. It allows me to listen in. Not only to the other instruments, but to the presence of audience and the presence of spirit. (Eric) Just remembering exactly where the chorus fits into the song so you can nod to your bandmates who are expecting you to know. (Dara) Yeah, that is a key element in not messing up the song! Sometimes we just have to communicate via body language which, after 10 years, still seems easier said than done.

Chain D.L.K.: You worked some time back on a CD for an Italian label called Amplexus Records but it is, I assume, out of print (there were only 555 copies made). Any chance of that being released stateside in any kind of anthology or whatnot?
Faith And Disease: (Eric) No. Dream the Red Clouds, and Livesongs: Third Body (1996) are out of print. People should stick to the concept of "Limited Edition" and all it stands for.

Chain D.L.K.: Does Charlotte Sather (vocalist/flute player from "Beneath the Trees") appear on this CD at all?
Faith And Disease: (Eric) No. The vocals are 100% Dara Rosenwasser, just as almost every F&D album with exception of Beneath the Trees is. Charlotte was a big part of F&D from 1998-2002, especially touring, when she played about 120 shows with us in that timeframe. (Dara) Charlotte and I have an amazing bond that goes far beyond the work we did together in F&D. I do miss collaborating with her live because we seemed to feed off of each other in a way I can't even describe, once again very spiritual.

Chain D.L.K.: Are there any other groups she is part of?
Faith And Disease: (Dara) Charlotte is an amazing classical composer, which most may not know. I once told her that I think this is the direction to focus on. She is very involved in quartet work and gives voice lessons on a regular basis.

Chain D.L.K.: On the last CD, we saw a little bit of country and folk (perhaps even some death-folk) influence, even covering Blue Sky Boy’s "Banks of the Ohio". Is there still that same feel to you in the new CD?
Faith And Disease: (Eric) No. Having barely dabbled in what could be remotely descrbed as "folk" let alone "country" in sporadic passages on a few of our albums, we decided we never wanted to hear those two words ever again in print when referring to us. Then I see the new All Music Guide and sure as hell, there it is again. I see TWO songs that fit that mold ("Old Dusk Dakota" on Insularia, and that's only because our producer Kevin Suggs added a steel-pedal guitar over the mix), and Banks of the Ohio, which WAS an ode to the TRADITIONAL MURDER BALLAD. A third, "When the Roses Bloom Again" was on a compilation album that no one ever heard anyway. (Dara) Yes, but that one passage from a previous write-up on Insularia (they drape the back woods in black) really appeals to me in a Nick Cave sort of way. I can't deny that I'm influenced by certain folk music. It's how I learned to harmonize and play guitar.

Chain D.L.K.: With some of the more stripped down accoustic elements of Passport to Kunming, could we see an ‘Unplugged’ type show on your next tour?
Faith And Disease: (Eric) No, we're done with that. Crowd attention spans are far too short or sparse for tranquil music in a club.

Chain D.L.K.: You also mentioned having done that cover song in all mono. Have you considered going that route again, or would you prefer all your music to have that modern feel to it?
Faith And Disease: (Eric) Thank you for noticing that! Recording, mixing, in MONO was a curiosity of mine as a producer, and my way of paying homage to the golden era of vinyl and analog - the polar opposite of compressed, tinny-sounding. wav or mp3 files. (Dara) Eric's really into the recording process/sound. I just sing and do my thing. It all works out in the end.

Chain D.L.K.: I also noticed that the Johnny Cash tribute CD you sang on went out of print. What song did you cover, and could we ever see that cover come to light again in the future?
Faith And Disease: Eric: That was a Carter Family song, actually. Johnny Cash covered it in virtual obscurity, but we tend to favor the buried gems of songs out there when we decide to cover another artist.

Chain D.L.K.: Any soundtrack work or film scores in the future?
Faith And Disease: (Eric) We did that with Jeff Greinke. Now all it needs is the movie to go along with the 23 minutes of material. Of all the comments we've heard about our music being "ideal" for film, the closest thing we got was when The Real World used 4-5 of our songs as background music on their episodes, not exactly what we had in mind for soundtracks, but we welcomed it, the hilarity of F&D being used in that context. (Dara) This is the real world…Wake up. You can't always get what you want, but if you try…

Chain D.L.K.: Since I’ve never seen a Faith and Disease concert and can’t seem to figure out how to access the video from the new CD (I’m a little computer retarded, I’ll admit, haha), what is a live show like for you and your audience?
Faith And Disease: (Dara) Candles, incense, dimly lit stage, and of course the 1 or 2 loud-mouth bastards who talk throughout our entire set. I think we should employ duct tape in the future. (Eric) The added bonus video should work on any PC or MAC, it was tested to do so…I hope.

Chain D.L.K.: OK, a couple of just goofy, laid back questions after barraging you with all these questions…Do you ever run into the problem of getting road rage while being stuck out in a really bad hydroplane out there when it rains? That could make for some amusing behavior I think!
Faith And Disease: (Eric) When I hydroplane on the road it's not rage I feel, it's fear for my life. I drive a Geo Metro! (Dara) The scariest driving moment was two years ago driving in a storm en route to Baton Rouge. Every five feet there were cars that had driven off the road! I couldn't even see in front of me. It was surreal.

Chain D.L.K.: What exactly could you do with that sausage and scrambled eggs in the end (reference to Frasier, which is taped and based in Seattle)?
Faith And Disease: (Eric) Uh, feed it to that little trained monkey of a dog. Doesn't he say "tossed salad" too?

Chain D.L.K.: Doh! If you wind up a guitar good enough, you could probably launch the sausage into the air, I would think, haha. The eggs, good luck launching ;-)
Faith And Disease: (Eric) Not with a '79 Les Paul Custom you wouldn't! (Dara) Yeah, try it and I'll send ya packin'!

Chain D.L.K.: Anything else you’d like to add before we go, and what can we expect from you in the near future?
Faith And Disease: ERIC. . even more time between albums and playing live. (Dara) We seem to have grown accustomed to the time-in-between phases, as of late. Perhaps it is for the best. Time to clarify and create individually. (Eric) To make better as a whole…

Chain D.L.K.: Thanks for your time, answers, and the great new CD. Take care and good luck on tour!
Faith And Disease: (Eric) Thank you! Good questions, even the sausage and Frasier ones.

Melodious melancholia

Expect a chill in the air this weekend when Seattle’s Faith & Disease blows into town. The band formed in the early 1990s when acts such as Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Soundgarden were putting the Northwest music scene on the pop-culture map. Faith & Disease’s atmospheric music, which some critics have compared to the Cocteau Twins, Cowboy Junkies and Mazzy Star, was a bit at odds with the harder-edged “grunge” sounds of its contemporaries. But more than a decade later, the band’s core members--singer-songwriter Dara Rosenwasser and guitarist Eric Cooley--continue to create their brand of sweet, melancholy music. Their latest album, Passport of Kunming, was released in June on the Projeckt label (known for its roster of goth/dark wave bands) and has received critical praise for mixing elements of goth, country and folk music. Check them out Friday, Sept. 12, at the Reno Jazz Club, 203 E. Fourth St. DJ Dorée will spin music before and after the 10 p.m. show. Tickets are $5.50 in advance and $7 at the door. Call 322-5011 or visit www.darkcell.com.--Kelley Lang

Faith & Disease are an ethereal band that hail from the city best known for breeding the "grunge" scene, Seattle, Washington. While having very little, if anything, in common with that brand of rock, neither do they really fit in with the Gothic scene. With their fourth full-length album, "Insularia," the band have solidified and perfected their beautifully melodious style of ethereal pop rock. Fans of "slow core" (i.e.. the band Low) should take note, as well as fans of 4AD and Projekt Records. Gorgeous female vocals, lush electric and acoustic guitar, moody keyboard, exotic percussion and the occasional flute or violin are what comprise the instrumentalization for songs written by Eric Cooley and Dara Rosenwater, assisted by Steven Knouse and Joshua Furman -- along with a host of special guest musicians, including Chris and Carla of the Walkabouts. Though Faith & Disease have been an active force in their hometown, and within the American Goth scene for some time, they are just now broadening their fan base through college radio airplay. The band tour regularly, which may be considered a rarity among dark-tinged acts. We were lucky enough to catch them live at a show in Portland, Oregon, and were quite impressed by their performance. This interview, however, was conducted live over the air, via telephone.

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Justin: Wow! Your voices sound remarkably like they do on that station ID we recorded with you.
Eric: Well, we're the same people that did that!
Justin: You're kidding!
Eric: My voice hasn't matured that much in three months.
Justin: You're not in a men's room right now, are you? (Referring to the station ID recorded in the Men's Room of Satyricon in Portland, Oregon.)
Dara: No. No, we're actually at headquarters, at Ivy Records.
Eric: We're at the Ivy Compound, in Seattle.
Justin: The Ivy Tower?
Eric: Actually, it's pretty close to that; we're on the Tenth Floor of the Ivy Office, and there's only 10 floors here, so it's a little tower.
Anji: Wow, you're in the Penthouse Suite.
Dara: From here you can see the -- which harbor is it? I don't know, but it's an amazing view!
Eric: Yeah, it's a big body of water.
Anji: Ooh, ahh -- waterfront property.
Eric: And we can see David Gobel, who funds Ivy Records, in the other room -- and it is kind of a penthouse, because he has a robe on and a couple of women in bikinis next to him.
Anji: In-door Jacuzzi?
Dara: He's in the room with the gold door. Ha ha ha.
Eric: No, actually he has a white Microsoft tee-shirt and sweat pants on.
Anji: We're both wearing green T-shirts.
Eric: I'm actually wearing a green shirt, too.
Dara: I'm not. I'm wearing black (distraught).
Anji: Oh, you're not in the club! The Spring Equinox Club.
Eric: I feel so? assimilated.
Anji: So, what's new for you guys?
Dara: Well, we just put out Insularia. It's our fourth album and it's been doing really well. Really, really well. We're getting ready to go on a US. Tour in June. Once all the annoying side work is done, we can hit the road.
Justin: So when are you going to be in Southern California?
Dara: Soon?
Eric: We're going out for about a month or so. We live in Seattle, and we're going to go from the East Coast and back. We're definitely going to hit Southern California because we always do well there. We'll have at least five stops in Southern California.
Anji: So have you guys toured the US before?
Dara: Not extensively. We've pretty much stuck to California, Oregon -- we took a trip down to Utah a couple of years ago and that was pretty fun, considering we were all sardined into a '69 bus that was leaking the whole way. It was an experience.
Eric: We played 11 dates in, like, 14 days. It was the Fortune Our Sleep tour. We really went all over the US, we didn't go into the Mid West or to the East Coast, but we did the whole West Coast.

Anji: So are you guys getting radio air play with your new record?
Eric: We are. Last week charted with eleven stations and the album has only been out for a week, and we got a great review in CMJ Weekly. We have this company that does radio for Ivy Records, and they sent out CDs to 300 radio stations. So, I hope we'll do well. It's not the kind of music that's immediately going to catch on, ?cause it's not like Beck or Foo Fighters or May Lou Lord, or whatever, but?
Anji: It's beautiful. I really love this album; it's definitely my favorite.
Dara: Oh, mine, too.
Anji: Such good song writing. And it has a lovely cover, too.
Justin: Where did you get the picture on the cover?
Eric: It's a really old photograph from 1855 that I got out of a book of erotica. It's public domain; there's no copyright on it. Still, it's altered quite a bit. The photographer is anonymous, as well as the subject. I thought the image of the woman staring into the mirror seemed to kind of reflect the body of the material. And Insularia is two words that we strung together. We thought we were making up a word. We used the word Insular --which is kind of keeping to yourself and withdrawn, and Aria -- which is the ancient form of music. Thus, Insularia. But we actually found out, via the Internet, of all places, that insularia is Latin for island. But that's OK, too. It's like an island of music.

Anji: Speaking of the Internet, you guys probably have a web site and e-mail address, right?
Eric: Yeah we do. If people out there want to listen to tracks from the new album, actually from all four of our albums, they can go to ivyrecords.com. And they can even order it from there. People always ask me, from other areas, where they can get our CDs, although this one is being distributed really well, so it should be available at practically any record store across the U.S. We have about thirty distributors, so it shouldn't be a problem, but if people want to order it really quickly, they can also call up CD-LASER, which is a VISA/Mastercard phone ordering system.
Justin: I remember some Projekt Records releases being available through that.
Eric: They're a great service. Even if you don't want to find Faith and Disease, they have a lot of independent artists who are lumped together into this genre of dark alternative music, or whatever. They have basically every title imaginable in that field, so, it's 1-800-CD-LASER, if you're wondering.
Anji: Someone probably is, out there somewhere, silently, not wanting to call in and ask.

Eric: ?And if you're just tuning in, you're listening to?? (mimicking a radio personality)
Justin: We can say that every two or three minutes.
Eric: Well, sometimes I'll be tuning into a radio station and there'll be a band interview, but they won't say who they are, so you can't even tell who's talking or what band it is.
Anji: Yeah. Someone called up during our Love Spirals Downwards interview last week and asked if we played music. I think they got the idea that we just talked because we were talking to Ryan for a half hour non-stop.
Dara: Which is easy to do, but?
Eric: Yeah, as my phone bills can attest to!
Anji: Ah yes, we do have to worry about your phone bill! What else should we ask you, before you go? We probably shouldn't talk for too much longer.
Eric: Yeah, we're probably boring all your listeners.
Dara: No, they're all fast asleep.
Eric: They're going, ?Why don't you guys play some music??

Justin: You know, when we talked to Ryan from Love Spirals Downwards, two weeks ago, all he talked about was setting himself on fire and stripping on stage and whatnot.
Eric: Oh, he's such a wild man.
Dara: Yeah -- Go Ryan!
Anji: He went crazy when they performed (at the Projekt Festival) let me tell ya!
Justin: Actually, I don't think he stood up the whole time! He was glued to the chair with his acoustic guitar.
Dara: Yeah, he was like that when we played with them at the Troubadour -- when was that? A year or two ago?
Eric: We've played with them a couple times. Their second live show ever was with us in Seattle. It was weird, ?cause I thought they were really established -- well, they were, but they hadn't really played live up ?'til that point. They'd done one show in California and then they played with us. They've played quite a bit since then, of course. But it was cool to play with them that time. They stayed up at our house. And then when we played the Troubadour with them, we stayed at their apartment. I really like what they're doing.

Anji: It's good when bands befriend each other and stick together.
Eric: Yeah, it definitely can work.
Justin: Especially with bands who are as genre-less as you two. I mean, you don't fit easily into any specific genre, and so, it's cool when you have a similar vein running through your music to hook up and do shows together and stuff.
Anji: Yeah, you don't consider yourselves to be Gothic, do you?
Dara: No. No.
Anji: I didn't think so.
Dara: I mean, we appeal to many different people.
Eric: We definitely have roots in that scene.
Dara: But being stuck in that stereotype is not too fun. We just hope that, I don't know, people have been very responsive and I just hope that continues.

Anji: I was just thinking about how Ryan said he didn't really like playing live and wondering how you feel about the experience of playing live as opposed to the studio experience.
Eric: Well, we're based in Seattle, which has a lot of live music venues, a lot to offer. In order to survive? It just seems like it's such a natural thing here for a band to form and play live because it keeps you, between doing albums and touring, really focused. We've always been a band that plays live a lot, beginning with the first album. We've played probably 100 live shows by now. So we like playing live. It's fun. You meet people who come up and talk to you afterwards. Oh! I have to tell you, this so weird! We have the radio on behind us, a Seattle station, and one of our songs just came on!
Anji: You're getting simultaneous radio broadcasting!
Eric: Yeah, we're such big rock stars. No, we're not at all, really.

-- Interview transcrption, intro text and page authoring by Anji

Biography by MacKenzie Wilson
Similar to the lush sounds of Mazzy Star and This Mortal Coil, the ethereal darkwave duo Faith & Disease formed the year punk broke (1991) and maintained a solid stance of sold synth-beats and gossamer lyrics in the face of Seattle counterparts Mudhoney, Soundgarden, and Nirvana. Bassist Eric Cooley and vocalist Dara Rosenwasser released the "Jardeau Blue" single in 1993, and with friend David Goebel, Faith & Disease formed their own label Ivy Records. They released five albums (Beauty and Bitterness (1993), Fortune His Sleep (1995), Live Songs: Third Body (1996), Insularia (1998), and Lamentations: A Collection (1999) under Ivy, but signed with Projekt at the close of the '90s to issue Beneath the Trees in fall 2000. Two years later, Cooley and Rosenwasser hooked up with ambient electronic guru Jeff Greinke for the lush, poetic Dream the Red Clouds EP.

Faith And Disease
Beneath The Trees Tour
The CowHaus, Tallahassee FL July 3, 2001
by Matthew Moyer

Heather Lorusso
Pre-holiday. Darkened Cow Haus. What's different? Bit more ambient noise than usual. Kinda hope to myself that this is an art trick, along the lines of using crowd noise as the intro to a song. Didn't Lou Reed do that? Ecch. I know Jared Louche did. Like this:

"xdkfoaihlvnoa;sirlahdnflasktjnflku87lkvj.mav.lai]wpifvmnnbehytfoq [pwf"

Hmmmm...

Sure do seem to be a lot of Chatty Cathys here tonight, swarming around the bar area, backs firmly turned toward the stage, oblivious to everything but the modulations of their vocal chords and the potential for drink spillage and hookupage.

It doesn't get to me, though; not yet. I'm all buzzing with excitement over getting to see Faith And Disease, who completely destroyed me with last year's Beneath These Trees. This is awesome. One of their entourage has just lit a black candle and some incense on the speaker stack nearest the stage, obviously to set the appropriate mood. And the band doesn't as much tramp onstage, clumsily tuning instruments, as much as they fade slowly into view. They look great, clad in leather, lace, powder, dye, silk, steel -- all black, of course. Like a gang; all great bands look like gangs.

Two female vocalists (one short, one very tall) take their places behind microphones and work their way through an unbearably naked (no instruments, no vocal effects, NO NUTHIN) version of "Beneath These Trees." My mouth is hanging wide open.


Heather Lorusso
These fucking songs are just tossed off one after the other -- delicate, exotic, dark, pick your adjective. Pick your instrument, too. All sorts of ancient machinery and wizardry are plied tonight. Nico and My Bloody Valentine by way of madrigals and Morgana Le Fey.

The guitar player looks pretty fab, as well. He's decked out in leather from head to toe, hair trimmed short, glasses, black nail polish, gloves, and a tie. A tie! Bowie circa Station To Station meets SS chic! And he's rocking this look on a balmy (okay, blistering) Tallahassee night. If there were any ECW fans here tonight, they'd surely be chanting, "You're Hardcore! You're Hardcore!" Cuz he is.

They introduce a song as one of the first things they ever wrote together, and start into a shimmering cascade with a measured "Venus In Furs" backbeat. To think that some bands get their start playing Metallica coversS

The wave of human voices surges higher and higher. Though there is a rapt audience contingent up at the very front, the bar area was crowded with hipsters expressing the most malevolent apathy I've ever encountered. It's almost as if they're insulted that a band would dare to play so heartbreakingly beautifully over their banal conversations.

And then the most amazing thing happens: the two vocalists take the center stage again and perform an utterly electric, naked, unaccompanied, brave cover of "Hiroshima." Man, I never thought anyone could top This Mortal Coil's version, but stripped of the drums, and the strings, and the found sound, these two voices surge and swell over lyrics of haunted souls and childhood brutally cut short but doomed to haunt the land. Looking not for justice, but for what? My god, my whole body shakes involuntarily, unsure of how else to react to something so pure.


Heather Lorusso


The vocalist fumbles the intro to the last song, out of frustration, out of anger, spits out something about how we're not even listening anyway. Not good, never show weakness in front of a pack of assholes like this; don't show that you're human and can be hurt. Stay invulnerable, stay aloof, stay beautiful. It's "Rubina Verde," one of my favorite songs from Beneath These Trees, despite growing frustration and impatience, Faith And Disease keep it together, turning in a yearning final performance. Abruptly, they all vanish from the stage in many different directions. I'm drained, reeling from joy and sadness and anger all at the same time. There's only one tangible target: the buzzing mass of humanity at the bar.

Good going assholes, I hope what you all were chatting so fucking intently about was the transient nature of beauty, or how showing vulnerability can actually be a strength, or even how great art will often go unappreciated in its own time. Even if it's right in front of your stupid face.

But you probably weren't, you were probably talking about your stupid pointless life or your boring friends or your ugly significant other, and so you chose the everyday over the transcendent. What a bunch of cunts.

Passport to Kunming - Review

As the press releases came out, the big word was "change of style" for this popular, but well-rounded band. Their style never really has fit well into a genre, ethereal was too light of a term to describe it, because the music was often quite dark and more minimalistic than ethereal or neo-classic. The buzzword for the genre they fall into now is "sad-core" which I don't entirely agree with either, but could be argued as a great description of most of their music. They continue with most of the elements of their original sound, remaining mostly laid-back without any real upbeat or danceable songs, so they will appeal more towards the minimalistic, dark gothic folk and ethereal crowds (mainly because of Dara's beautiful vocals). I love this album and feel it fits perfectly within their discography without alienating any fans, so don't hesitate in picking it up just because of what a press release might say.

So, on to a little bit more about the music on this disc. The ultimate captivating song is definitely "she's got a halo". Apparently they planned it this way, because it appears on this album as a remix as the last track and as a bonus multimedia video track. The video is great, very melancholy and dreamy. The remix is fun too, not really deviating, but mainly just a adding a little more of a beat to the song. If you were to pick up the album for one song, this would be worth it.

Of course there is a ton of other material to enjoy though, so you won't be picking up the CD for just one great track. For me it's every track on the album, but some excellent highlights are the dreamy, yet very moody "How Far Does The Sky Go". One minute you're swooning to the soft and subdued vocals, then you're listening to some grinding guitars and then a soft piano solo. "Between The Folds" drifts back into a blues-like approach with a prominent bass, snare drum and guitars grinding away in the background, non-obstrusive and very nice.

I don't think we could have a decent album from this group without the minimalistic approach taking shape in the form of one or two songs. A great example is "Girl At The Window" which is mainly Dara, piano a slight guitar throughout providing a somewhat lazy and slow-tempo atmosphere. There is an excellent set of this style of music mixed with other more mid-tempo tracks to make this album very interesting and excellent.

I've been very impressed with each album released by this group. They have managed to continue on in their excellent talents and way of making music. A very highly recommended album.

Rating: 4.5/5

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Salt Lake City Show - July 13, 2001

I had the great pleasure of spending my Friday the 13th in the company of this nice gothic ethereal group as they performed live in our lovely city. I can't really think of anything else that I would have rather been doing at the time. It turned out to be a wonderful night and a very enjoyable show.

They took the stage and my heart began to beat with excitement. Charlotte and Dara started off the show with their very beautiful accapella song, "Beneath these trees". Then the entire group performed their excellent work "Fortune His Sleep". This was very impressive as they used live percussion and other types of little "noise makers" which gave the entire concert such an authentic feel.

We were then treated with my personal favorite F&D song, "Marie don't sleep in your makeup". The sound was beautiful, the vocals resonated throughout the club and I was completely engulfed in the entire feeling of the music. Most of the set was from their latest album Beneath The Trees, but also included other works from other albums. The entire set included such songs as "Persephone", "Crown of Sorrow", "Shallow.. two doors down", "Rubina Verde" and "This part of fortune lies".

"Rubina Verde" is another one of my favorite songs from this group which I was happy to be able to hear live. The sound was perfect, and listening to it live just gives you that special feeling. There's nothing like being able to watch the performers in a show like this.

To close the show, they treated us with an unreleased track, "How far does the sky go?". This is a beautiful work of art and was performed excellently live. I'm sure it won't be long until this track is recorded in the studio and appears on another F&D album soon.

There's just something about listening to music being performed live with such a group that really makes any expense worth while. This was almost their last performance on this tour, so if you missed them this time, you're probably out of luck for a while. But when they do go on tour again, you will definitely want to make plans to see this show!

**Note: Above image is not from Salt Lake performance.

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Interview - July 13, 2001

While Faith and Disease were in town, they stopped by the KRCL studio and did an interview with Troy Flandro, host of Dark Star Rising on KRCL 90.9 FM. I have included here most of the interview by Troy (with his permission). Part of the interview has been edited due to size constraints for this page. However, I believe the essence and main points brought out in the interview are here.

Faith & Disease had their touring lineup in town for this interview. The members interviewed include: Eric, Dara, Charlotte and Greg.

Troy - Was there not a fifth member of the band at one time?

Eric – Well, there have been many mutations of Faith & Disease. This lineup is our touring lineup for this summer. We’ve gone through quite a few lineups in the past.

Troy - Tell us about the name of your band, Faith & Disease. Does that have a particular meaning? Or where did the name come from?

Eric – Dara always points to me to answer this question. No, there isn’t really a manifesto or deep meaning behind it. I came up with the name about 10 years ago. I had it kind of kicking around before there was even a band, I just kind of liked the name and met a person I formed the band with, this guy named Brad. He had all the equipment and I had all the ideas. He was the first person who really encouraged the name, he liked it a lot. A lot of people thought it was a little bit too “out there” or too pretentious, whatever. I liked it, and at the time, we just decided to call the project Faith & Disease. It makes more sense to keep a name, with the investment you put into a name then to keep changing it. I’m glad we kept it, and to me it’s just the essence of what we do. There may come a time when we change the name or disband it altogether.

Troy - When did F&D get started?

Eric – The first full-length album came out in late ’93, so you could say 7 years. You could dig deeper and say 10, but the band really took off in ’93 and ’94 with "Beauty and Bitterness" which was the debut album. There were a lot of years before that, but a lot of those were just four track recordings, playing little shows and stuff.

Troy - F&D is from Seattle. Was it hard to compete with the Grunge scene in that area?

Eric – We played at all the same clubs that the other bands hung out during that era. At one point we even had Nirvana next to us practicing, just to show you how insular that whole Seattle music scene is. But I never really felt any competition, I felt that we were really doing our own thing that few other bands were doing at the time, which was a good thing.

Troy - How would you describe your style of music? I’ve heard it described as "Ethereal" or "Gothic", but how would you describe it? [Dara points to Charlotte]

Charlotte – I don’t know why I’m being pointed to… Eric doesn’t like the word "Ethereal"…

Eric – Not really don’t like it, it’s just been pounded over our head…

Charlotte – We’re not "Gothic", I mean we all come out of that influence, that’s for sure, but that’s not the type of music it is. It has certain elements of folk. When people ask me to describe it, it’s "Lullaby" music. It’s the kind of music you put on when you go to bed and try to ponder when you go to sleep.

Eric – I hope people do that and have bad dreams, because I like to think there is a lot of darkness and angst in the music… I know there is. I mean from creation, that’s why I’m a little hesitant to embrace "Ethereal" or "Ambient". To me that just sounds a little "toothless" in a way.

Troy - Speaking of influences, what bands or styles of music have influenced you in the band and music?

Eric – I think we’re all sort of enamored by the post-punk British era in music, the 4AD label, Swans, Cure, Siouxsie and even more recent bands like Rasputina. Dara is quite fond of bands like PJ Harvey. It’s not a one-dimensional influence by any means. Greg’s really into Lydia Lunch and Velvet Underground.

Troy - Are there any current projects you’re working on as a band?

Charlotte – We’re working on touring (laughs). We’re working on driving a lot…

Eric – People ask us if we’re writing songs on the road. I know maybe Bon Jovi does that when they’re lounging around in their limo.

Dara – When you have four or five days off between shows going from city to city, it’s not like we have all the time in the world to sit and write songs.

Eric – We just don’t have time, I don’t see how bands can write songs while on tour. The last thing you want to do when you get in a hot van is…

Charlotte - .. be creative?? (laughs)

Dara – I think our music is very real. If I could best describe it, it’s just real. People don’t have enough time or take enough time to listen these days. So when people come across our music, I think most of them fall instantly under the spell of it because what we create is so genuine, sincere and real.

Charlotte – Part of that is the adjective “slowness” always comes to my mind, cause we just have so little of it. I don’t know if it’s just America or The West or what, but we just seem to have so little “slowness” in our lives. Our music is all slow and all very downtempo and sometimes I think it’s hard for people to have the patience for it. But that just kind of indicitive of the kind of society we live in and this is our reaction.

Eric - … when you see us play you just have to kind of relax and watch us play…

Troy - Let’s talk about your latest album “Beneath the trees”. The second song, “Rubina Verde”, is there any type of story behind it?

Dara – No (laughs) … it has a meaning I guess, the ending of all things.

Troy - Is there a theme to the album itself?

Eric – Yeah, but it’s not spelled out, you kind of have to interpret it, it’s subtle. It’s not footnoted like in a book or anything. There is definitely a thread that runs between all the songs. We labored over that, trying to do that and not make it obvious.

Troy – So you have to kind of read between the lines when you listen to it?

Eric – Yeah, and even the title has a good story because I was thinking of titles for the album and I was constantly suggesting things to Dara. “Beneath the Trees” was kind a title that we both enjoyed. But the funny thing is, Charlotte had written a song that the translation is “Beneath These Trees”…

Charlotte – We should probably clarify, I didn’t write it, it’s actually Handell’s, I just arranged it. He wrote this wonderful piece of classical song and the loose translation of it is “Beneath These Trees”. Often, Dara and I will do just one or two accapella songs because that’s coming to be what we’re known for. So we’ve concentrated more on that lately and that was the song I was thinking about having us do. So it just kind of came together.

Eric – And when I found out that “Beneath these Trees” which was going to be the opening track coincided with the idea of “Beneath The Trees”, that was just something that was waiting to happen. At that point there was no doubt that the album would be called anything but “Beneath The Trees”.

Troy – Is there anything you wanted to tell listeners or any closing remarks?

Dara – Just “Thank You” for all the support you’ve given us. I know a lot of people came out to the show and I know that we have quite a following here in Salt Lake, so that’s always reassuring to come back and see everybody.

Charlotte – The audience tonight was really good to us. It’s hard to play in bars all the time, so I really appreciate the audience tonight. They were attentive and really into it we got the sense that it was very well received.

Eric – It’s also been very nice to have Greg on tonight with us. I would tell Dara if I could handpick up a lineup from Seattle, Greg was always one of the people that I would like to have on Faith & Disease. It’s cool after all these years we’ve been friends and he finally had a chance to play.

Greg – I never thought it would happen. (laughs)

At first listen you might peg Seattle's Faith & Disease as similar to the lush sounds of Mazzy Star and This Mortal Coil. But wait, upon closer inspection (and that can be exhaustive as the band already has 6 CDs to their credit) one will find a versatile band that runs the gamut from brooding 4AD-ish guitar-synth-melancholia to surprisingly advanced eclectic instrumentation -- sometimes hinting at Celtic folk, other times experimenting with styles that might alarm the darkwave-ethereal crowd (like the use of a steel-pedal guitar on their criminally-underrated Insularia CD of 1998), yet still tie in with the bands overall "beautiful sadness" aesthetic. Never veering from the tasteful and sparse, F&D deserve credit for daring to go where few bands of their ilk would dare tread . . . for that reason and many others, this is truly a band to behold. Still in their teens, Faith & Disease formed the year punk broke (1991) and in the face of Seattle counterparts Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, and Nirvana making headlines and depositing big checks, miraculously climbed the club latter and hierarchy . . . headlining all the same clubs as the big boys, with very little competition in their field . . . perhaps with the exception of psychedelic star gazers Sky Cries Mary. F&D released the "Voltaire's Vallerie" 7" single in 1992, then followed 6 months later with another - "Jardeau Blue" on the tiny Utah-based imprint AIDA HOUSE. With friend David Goebel, Faith & Disease formed their own label Ivy Records, inspired by the DIY ethic and having successfully wriggled out of their contract with AIDA House. The treadmill was set in motion -- they released five albums -- Beauty and Bitterness (1993), Fortune His Sleep (1995), Live Songs: Third Body (1996), Insularia (1998), and Lamentations: A collection (1999) under Ivy, but signed with kindred spirits Projekt Records (having appeared on a Projekt release as early as 1994: the ornately-packaged Of These Reminders) at the close of the '90s to issue Beneath the Trees in fall 2000 . . . their finest hour and hopefully the beginning of more brilliance to follow. -- M. Reichlino

Faith & Disease formed in Seattle, WA, and from 1994 to 1998 released 5 albums on Ivy Records. Recently the band signed with Projekt Records and have released two albums ("Beneath The Trees" and "Passport To Kumming"). F&D are the nucleus of Dara Rosenwasser and Eric Cooley, and have gone on two headlining US tours, were selected to play CMJ '99, NXNW '97 and '98, and most recently the sixth annual Convergence Festival. Their music is ambient, etheral, beautifully melancholic melodies with angelic female vocals and lush guitars, keyboards and varied instrumentation. - Faith and Disease website

Reviews:
"The album opens with the bass driven “She’s Got a Halo,” which spotlight’s both Rosenwasser’s soothing and quietly powerful vocals and Cooley’s masterful guitar arrangements in a way that is at once reminiscent of classic Faith and Disease while also being evocative of the band’s current foray into the world of lo-fi, scaled down, sadcore, arrangements that seem more appropriate to labels such as CMK or Kranky than Projekt. “She’s Got a Halo” is followed by tracks that become successively more stripped down, successively more vulnerable, and successively more beautiful" - Losing Today

"All sorts of ancient machinery and wizardry are plied tonight. Nico and My Bloody Valentine by way of madrigals and Morgana Le Fey." - Ink19

"Faith and Disease's slow transformation from a quietly elegant goth band to an equally quietly elegant group with a broader range has been one of darker music's better pleasures over recent years. Passage to Kunming continues that progression — the first song alone, "She's Got a Halo," suggests everything from New Order's warm bass flow to the Moon Seven Times's rich rural reflections and back again. It's a perfect sign that the core duo of Dara Rosenwasser and Eric Cooley aren't content to simply replicate their past, and if the album title and graphics would seem to promise an exploration into Chinese music more than anything else, the focus here is more on other interests." - Allmusic.com

My Two Cents:
What more can I say that hasn't been said in the reviews above other than that Faith and Disease make haunting beautiful music that brings me a lot of joy. The two songs linked above are two of my favorites by the band.

Why this name?
eric: stupidity
Do you play live?
eric: we've played every major city in the US at least twice.

How, do you think, does the internet (or mp3) change the music industry?
eric: more access for mediocre bands and/or computer geeks.

Would you sign a record contract with a major label?
eric: we signed with a small major-indie already, so yes, we know what to expect..

Band History:
Released our debut CD in 1994 (BEAUTY AND BITTERNESS)on local lable IVY, toured the US many times, signed with PROJEKT in 2000, have so far released 7 full length CD's and one EP during our 10+ year history.

Favorite spot?
eric: anywhere warm at night.

faith & disease are probably the last member of the alleviation alumni to get interviewed in QRD. they’re kind of an ethereal shoegazer band....


QRD -- I assume you usually get pigeonholed as ethereal gothic, what would be a better description of your music?

Eric -- in Seattle where we live, we don't get that as much...this question has been beaten to death.

Dara -- of course "goth' could now apply to any gun-toting, trench-coat wearing teenage psychopath....

Eric -- we used to call our music "pre-raphaelite" until they started making greeting cards & calendars out of that art.

Dara -- ...the Pre-Raphaelite artistic beauty that has prevailed through centuries of devastation & sadness.

QRD -- you seem to have a constantly changing band roster, how is this an advantage & disadvantage?

Dara -- we have always welcomed others to help create our "sound." it's part of what makes recording & playing so rewarding.

Eric -- yeah, & ultimately they come & go, but Dara & I persist; we have Charlotte whose a crucial member on the road & Steve who is crucial in the studio, so we have it down to a process by now...like most bands do after they've put out 4+ albums.

QRD -- how has your approach to songwriting changed since your first record?

Dara -- the songs are still born through Eric & I... so not much has changed in the structuring of songs.

QRD -- how much touring would you like to do?

Dara -- we've joined forces with a European label (Glasnost) so maybe Europe is nearing (for a tour). being on the road is the best way to connect with people who have helped us along. I'll keep doing it until...

Eric -- ...as long as there is a demand... & as long as we feel what we do has meaning, value and is genuine.

QRD -- why do you do as many cover songs as you do on your records?

Eric -- we don't do THAT many; only about 6 spanned over 4 albums. they are meaningful in that we “unearth" obscure or forgotten songs & in that regard we are paying homage... when I heard "Ashes Are Burning" I felt a need to share it with people, & the same for "Witches", etc.

Dara -- there are a lot of great songs out there, songs that we've related to in such a way that it's not only paying homage, but bringing beauty into where we are today

QRD -- what’s your favorite Swans’ song?

Eric -- "The River That Runs With Love..." the first song on The Burning World, I also like “Lavender” by Jarboe.

Dara -- I love the Swans, oh yes... let me count the ways; "Cry Me A River" (ironically a cover of a 1940's version by Julie London. I love the way Jarboe uses her darkness in this song).

QRD -- what bands & music do you think people should listen to or respect more?

Eric -- seek, unearth hunt down music that you would never hear otherwise!

Dara -- people should listen to whatever they want.

QRD -- what do you think differentiates professional artists from amateurs?

Eric -- "professional" implies a degree of rigidness; maybe I just don't like how that word resonates with me. but I do feel musicians should not do or say things that take away from the essence of what they are conveying in their music. is that an answer?

Dara -- playing shows, not just practicing. touring. being tenacious.

Eric -- we hardly ever practice anyway.

QRD -- how would your music change if you had access to more finances for your records?

Eric -- more string arrangements. even less reliance of others, introducing maybe cello, mandolin, harp, some instruments we have yet to work with...

QRD -- what do you think of Lisa Frank?

Dara -- who? oh the balloons & bears lady?

Eric -- ???????

QRD -- any interesting dreams lately?

Dara -- bloody ones. I keep waking up feeling wrong about the world....

Eric -- I recently dreamt I was back in high school, as if I never went to college & just remained in high school up until the age I am now. everyone was still the same, full grown adults but still in high school... pretty pathetic huh? I hated that time of my life actually.

QRD -- what job would you like to have not in the music industry?

Dara -- a costume designer or make up artist in the film industry.

QRD -- which Simpson do you most identify with?

Dara -- Bart. poor ridiculous little shit.

Eric -- the Iranian 7-11 clerk...

QRD -- is there anything you think people should be aware of?

Eric -- be wise & content with you actions: don't shop in strip malls, prevent urban sprawl into small towns, don't buy at McDonald’s, support family-owned business, small shops, & indies! buy fanzines instead of corporate rock mags.

Dara -- people should be aware of how they smell.

QRD -- any upcoming plans?

Dara -- a tour in August again. we may jump to a bigger label after the next & final IVY release. I'm just waiting for summer; Seattle is great when it's warm & sunny.

Eric -- the album in Europe is the biggest thing on my mind at the moment, we may call it "Lamentations." a lot of good things are in the works for faith & disease...it's really come a long way since the early days when all I really wanted out of it was a 4-track cassette I could send to my friends.

Ten Questions with Faith and Disease
M McCutchan
I really enjoy music, but it doesn’t necessarily mean I want to read about it. If you think band interviews/reviews are a tedious read, try writing one! I thought it would be much more interesting to gain insight on the people behind the music with just ten little questions, straight from the artists to you...

1) Chocolate or vanilla?
Dara Rosenwasser: Chocolate without a doubt!
Eric Cooley: depends; chocolate at night, vanilla in the morning.
Charlotte: chocolate!
2) Do you have any pets and what are they?
Dara: Not at the moment.
Eric: A grey cat, Seymoura, who is in a Foster Home.
Charlotte: a beautiful little half-siamese kitten named Koshka Marie
3) Favourite place to visit?
Dara: San Francisco for now, Europe where I have yet to go but will surely be smitten by!
Eric: Any body of water–either to swim or contemplate.
Charlotte: Prague...
4) Favourite article of clothing?
Dara: This is a hard one but I would have to say my black leather 70’s boots.
Eric: My vintage overcoats, my John Fleuvogs, and my Coil t-shirt.
Charlotte: ooh.. good question.. an indigo princess floor-length velvet dress of mine.
5) Favourite piece of art?
Dara: “LET” by an up and coming new artist by the name of Kyle Strand. On a more familiar note, anything by Julia Margaret Cameron.
Eric: John Waterhouse, Julia Margaret Cameron as well, John Millias. I also like Elvgren pin-up girls from the 40’s.
Charlotte: I’m all about the surreallists... Dali, of course, and Magritte
6) If you were a cartoon character, who would you be?
Dara: Tweetie Bird?
Eric: Casper, but not that friendly.
Charlotte: Who’s that naughty redhead in “Who framed Roger Rabbit?” That’s who, I think.
7) What are you most likely to be doing at 3 am?
Dara: Tossing and turning plagued by insomnia.
Eric: Dreaming of me.
Charlotte: Dreaming with a kitten curled up on my shoulder.
8) Age you lost your virginity?
Dara: 17
Eric: 17.. almost 18.
Charlotte: Yikes that’s personal! Let’s say a bit younger than my cohorts.
9) What piece of advice would you give to a teenager?
Dara: Don’t buy into the commercialism/consumerism of today’s world!Be yourself.
Eric: and at least try to see through all that consumerism that is so creepily being targeted your way by mass marketers. Boycott slave-labor retail stores like Gap, Old Navy, Nike, etc. Read up on how they get their labor so cheap and you will be repulsed.
Charlotte: Wear a condom. We have enough people on earth to last way too long.
10) What are you most proud of to date?
Dara: All of the music we have created.
Eric: Definitely...
Charlotte: of course F&D music... but also a performance art piece a college and i put together in the first half of 2000 called Fullness and the Space in Between. Original concept, staging, premier performance, and an original score for 10 voices and cello by me. Lots of work and great reward!

If you're ever booking bands for a Renaissance fair,Faith & Disease might be worth hiring, as the music on Insularia intertwines delicate female crooning with gloom-tipped tantalizing string arrangements. In other words, this release calls to mind 4AD and C'est La Mort's ethereal heydays, as opposed to the Gothic quadrant in Cleopatra's catalogue. On Insularia, F&D;'s fourth full-length disc, their songwriting is tighter than ever, yet even with the occasional flute, organ or violin, the most enchanting pipes belong to vocalist Dara Rosenwasser. Even though Rosenwasser's sensual voice is perfectly complimented by the music, Dara's hypnotic melodies manage to make her the focal point. Proving that they're not limited to atmospheric antics, these Seattle-lites deliver an acoustic-driven rendition of the Cowboy Junkies' "Witches." Overall, there is a haunting quality to the music, but in a benevolent angel fashion, as opposed to a spooky Grim Reaper approach.

Led by the elegant vocals of Dara Rosenwasser, Faith & Disease is a soft, subversive landscape of sounds that both paves and drives its on roads. Hailing from the land of a thousand guitars -- all amped up and ready to explode (some may have you to believe) -- Faith & Disease call Seattle home.
As I listened to this disc I sat here and was captivated by the beautiful vocal work on the album, but the quiet tone of everything led the music to background status. But, it was in background status that I started to enjoy and appreciate the music. There it was able to softly flow into my ears while my mind was on other work. But, I would get distracted, close my eyes, and let the music fully encompass me. It helped relax me and, when I got back to work, I was more prepared and focused.

Using instruments such as guitars, flutes, keyboards, lap steel and pedal steel, and an organ, they implement a lot of tools to make their beautifully soft and elegantly breezy sound flourish. It may be quiet, but that doesn't mean it can't overcome you with power.

Having quietly built up a well-deserved reputation throughout the '90s as purveyors of darkly beautiful, goth-tinged music, Faith and Disease hit the year 2004 with another fine effort, "Passport To Kunming" (the bands 7th album spanning 11 years). The core duo of Dara Rosenwasser and Eric Cooley still nail it song for song, her dreamy,
haunting singing and his quietly elegant performances on guitar and bass in perfect harmony. -AMG

*Key members of the live line-up and in the studio also include Charlotte Sather, Greg Forschler, Barry Semple and John Clough.

F&D DISCOGRAPHY:
Passport to kunming (projekt) 2004
Dream the Red Clouds (import EP-Amplexus Records) 2002
Beneath The Trees (projekt) 2000
Lamentations (ivy) 1999
Insularia (ivy) 1998
Livesongs: third body (ivy) 1996
Fortune His Sleep (ivy) 1995
Beauty and Bitterness (ivy) 1994

This is Faith & Disease's sixth release, and their first on the Projekt label. The gothic genre has divided a number of ways, providing a fairly diverse spectrum of bands to listen to. Projekt specializes in the ethereal and darkwave subgenres. Ethereal can be loosely defined (inasmuch as a genre can be) as quiet, slow, and exquisite, often with a focus on subdued strings and ghostly female vocals. I like to think of it as an aural river slowly winding its way through the moonlit forest of my mind.

Beneath the Trees is a lovely example of the genre, gently swaying from track to track. Each is unique, and extremely well done. The album is seamlessly created and produced, brimming over with soft, subtle guitars and a blend of more orchestral instruments. The percussion is languid, meshing seamlessly with the other instrumentation to provide a lush yet subdued backdrop for vocalists Dara Rosenwasser and Chalotte Sather.

Each track is excellent, but a few bear mention above and beyond that. "Banks of the Ohio" is listed as a 'traditional murder ballad' in the liner notes. The subtle effects on the vocals and the gentle twang of the mandolin create vivid images, even if they are a tad morbid (in an oddly relaxing manner). But this is goth, after all. "Born and Died on the 23rd" is also worth mentioning, if only for the way it brings a lump to my throat every time I hear it. The vocals go far above and beyond the already high standards set by previous songs, backed only by mournful acoustic guitar. I could gush about other tracks, but I'm running out of adjectives.

This is a very lucid, calm, and solid release. Definitely worth purchasing for those who enjoy the more ethereal gothic music. For those who enjoy bands such as Mazzy Star, or Dead Can Dance, this also worth checking out.

Faith & Disease – Passport to Kunming (Projekt Records 2003)

It’s a grey and cold day. I walk on cobbled streets & amongst stonewalls. My pale face stands out against my black clothes and the only sign of life I have, my green eyes, are shrouded in darkness by sunglasses that never seem to come off. My stride is slow and somber. My faded black boots click in time with the beat and slow bass, even becoming one with the rich piano strokes at times. The soft guitar often rising proudly only to sink back down as my heart often does when I see a beauty so overwhelming, when I see her. My soul is in anguish.

However a smile is on my face the entire time. My pain and my sadness are of my choosing and are put into an elegant and fragile, almost angelic form. My savior is Dara Rosenwasser. Again I realize why I got into this scene 15 years ago. It was the fact that another could pinpoint my feelings and turn it into music, each note, and each word capturing my sadness, joy, pain, frustration and lust.

This entire album is a complete and utter triumph. I was so enthralled by tracks such as “Impermanence” “Made of Wood” “His Faded Muse” “She’s Got a Halo” “Dyslexia” and “How Far Does the Sky Go”. Since the release of their first album in 1993 they have honed the term beautiful sadness and have never been afraid to step away at times into harder more guitar driven melodies. I now have 4 out of the now 6 cd’s they have put out and I have even seen them live once and have always been impressed with the quality and richness of their sound. If you are a true connoisseur of Ethereal Rock you
will want this album. [Mystchief]

FAITH & DISEASE
Beneath the Trees
(Projekt)
***

It's impossible for Seattle's favorite ethereal band to be any more melancholy, but none of their previous four albums feel as personal or vulnerable as Beneath the Trees. Starting with a reinterpreted aria by Handel and culminating in the mournful "Born and Died on the 23rd" (in tragic D minor), F&D weave a touching, almost thematic album that really captures the intimacy of their live performances. Eric Cooley's arrangements are minimalist, simply supporting Dara Rosenwasser's delicate and passionate voice, especially on "Rubina Verde," where she almost sounds like a wounded angel. Sadly, the duo recently moved to California, and at the time of year I most look forward to seeing them play here. That breaks my heart, but at least I have this CD to keep me company. DAVID SLATTON

Faith & Disease/Jeff Greinke
Dream the Red Clouds
~reviewed by Jezebel

I have a strong affinity to the music of Dara Rosenwasser and Eric Cooley of Faith & Disease. The soft melodic sounds of their melodies and the wistful, longing voice of Dara has always been one of my top choices in my CD collection. Want to find me on a Sunday nite? I will be in the bathtub with a Faith & Disease CD on in the background, as a sip wine and my candlelit bathroom.

So when Blu sent me this special one-off collaboration between Faith & Disease and Jeff Greinke, I was more than excited. I haven't head anything from F&D in a while…new material! Yahooooeeee.

Unfortunately, the best that I can say about this collaboration is the Faith & Disease fans get what they want out of the band. Layered and interesting, the tracks are lovely and stylish, with all of the poetry and movement that you expect out of the band. But….I don't think was too much of a push for them. This didn't really press their boundaries or challenge them. It sounds like another day in the office.

Yes, there are more interesting rhythms percussively and some interesting sounds layered into the structure, but as wonderful as it is…as it does not really make you rethink F&D, is it really collaboration? Or is it just brining in another artist to add something more to an already existing piece?

A collaboration to me is the working of different artists from the germination of a project to its fruition. From what I hear, it seems that F&D had this work already set, and brought in Jeff Greinke to add sounds and rhythms. That is not a collaboration in my eyes.

Do not get me wrong. If you can buy this album, buy it. Dara's gorgeous voice is sweeping and soft and lovely. Its simplicity is what serves it best. It is haunting without being pretentious.

Eric Cooley's bass and guitar are their normal wonderful best. And Jeff Greinke's additions are enhancing to the tracks, but no so much to really not just label this a F&D album featuring Jeff Greinke.

It's a fine addition to your ethereal collection. Now, the question is, when will the new Faith & Disease album be out?

Track Listing:
1) how far does the sky go?
2) lost in translation
3) one September
4) epilogue

Faith and Disease are:
Dara Rosenwasser - vocals
Eric Cooley - electric guitar and bass
Jeff Greinke - sounds and rhythms

Is it predictability or just plain inherent cadence when you can listen to a song for the first time and just know what note or chord is coming up next? Whatever it is, it happens throughout this disc, and it's eerie. The songs just fall into place, each piece of music fitting into the next seamlessly without ever misstepping. The music is beautiful, chamber-music goth ala Dead Can Dance, the vocals sung by the incomparable and pitch-perfect Dara Rosenwasser. Calming, soothing, and achingly sad, punctuated with flute, bells, and music boxes .

FAITH & DISEASE
GREEN ONION
After Faith & Disease's first three albums, you couldn't swing a dead cat without hitting a critic who called them "Goth." It was a fair assessment: keyboards arched like a cathedral doorway and bass lines plumbed the depths of de profundis while Dara Rosenwasser's voice hovered like a gauzy angel. On Insularia, however, they float a little closer to Earth. Instead of broad, orchestral arrangements, the Seattle quartet limits itself to a supple chime and nap time somnolence, not unlike the Cowboy Junkies (whose song "Witches" is covered). It may alienate doom-and-gloom fans, but it should give Faith & Disease the chance to fly free of genre limitations and into higher realms. (JG

DEVORZHUM: FAITH AND DISEASE,

MORTAL CLAY, TO-KA-GE
(111, 111 SE Madison) Faith And Disease has been no passing fad, despite the acronym their silly name spells. They've been cruising along since 1991, thanks to persistent reinvention and creative dabbling. Now with their sixth album, Passport to Kunming on the shelves, the moody, Seattle-based act continues the trend, mixing some country twang with the trademark psychedelic ambient fuzz and singer Dara Rosenwasser's gorgeously eerie vocals. It's a given that the goths'll come out for this one, but it wouldn't hurt normal people to stop on by as well. JUSTIN WESCOAT SANDERS

Faith & Disease have chosen to utilize an extremely minimalistic approach to their music with the release of their fourth album "Insularia". The percussion, woodwind instruments, guitars, and stringed instruments are kept very subdued and restrained. Instead all the power and mood of the music is expressed in the vocals of Dara Rosewater. It is her dynamic vocal arrange that really brings out the passion and creates the aural imagery on this album. The instrumentation only serves as coloring and texturing to her voice. In fact, the album would be just as impressive if Dara sung it all acapella, albeit this would remove the need for the rest of the band who all are very talented in their own right. It is this minimalistic approach to "Insularia", that bring about Daria's comparison to such prominent vocalists such as Lisa Gerrard and Sarah McLaughlin. Other Gothic artists should certainly take note of how Faith & Disease execute themselves on this record because this is how all good dark music should be written.

FAITH & DISEASE
Passport to Kunming
(Projekt)
Seattle's own Faith & Disease still have firm roots in their overtly U.K. goth-styled start. It's the source of their striking cover of the Cure's "All Cats Are Grey" some years back, to pick one example. On the new Passport to Kunming, the band's inspirations are plain: The rich, rolling bass that Eric Cooley plays on the lead single, "She's Got a Halo," draws on that of not only the Cure's Simon Gallup but many of his post-punk peers as well. Vocalist Dara Rosenwasser doesn't belt, but her voice has a rich beauty that's neither fragile nor thin; its tone calls to mind fellow travelers-in-black This Ascension or Faith and the Muse. However, Faith & Disease have seldom simply looked 20 years back; they find their inspiration elsewhere, specifically in country and folk. Collaborations with members of the Walkabouts, reworkings of classic murder ballads, and, on Kunming, a fine version of Jesse Sykes' "Made of Wood" demonstrate their sound's unexpected variety. The drowned romanticism of early Mojave 3 surfaces on "Lost in Translation," whose calm guitar reverb is set against an almost subharmonic drum beat, and "Girl at the Window," with its quietly dramatic opening piano. Fully arranged and balancing majesty with subtlety—the strong instrumental break on "Between the Folds" perfectly balances impact with quiet volume—it's the sound of a band coming into its own. NED RAGGETT

Faith & Disease play Fenix Underground with Legion Within and DJ Opium at 7 p.m. Sun., Sept 28. $8. All ages.

FAITH & DISEASE
Passport To Kumming
Projekt Records
www.operation-glam.com/faith/
CD

It seems like nothing can stop Faith & Disease. They do not fit neatly into any genre of music, although they have been adopted by Goths because of the sheer beauty of their music and ghostly graphics. Faith & Disease's seventh CD, "Passport To Kumming" is their most commercially viable release in their 12-year history. Dara Rosenwasser's dreamy vocals have never sounded better and music man Eric Cooley has proven his mettle as a songwriter, arranger and producer. Often compared to Mazzy Star, Cowboy Junkies and This Mortal Coil, "Passport To Kumming" has elevated Faith & Disease to the same level as the Cocteau Twins as far as quality goes. The Cure-like "She's Got A Halo" and "Lost In Translation" could be radio hits. A cover of Jesse Sykes, "Made Of Wood" is even starker than the original. David A. Kulczyk

FAITH & DISEASE
Insularia
(Ivy)
This isn't as good as my favorite album by this Seattle goth group. It, if anything, even sounds a little more restrained than some of their past efforts. The guitars don't have quite the drive as on past songs such as "Healing Anne." The opening track on the CD comes close, calling to mind Mazzy Star. A lot of this CD does that for that matter, but "Perhaps...Persephone" has that kind of slow gallop to it that reminds me so much of Mazzy Star.
The highlight of this band continues to be Dara Rosenwasser's crystal clear vocals. The production on them is wonderful and they mix well to the subdued rhythms of Faith & Disease. This is beautiful music which can serve as a soundtrack to a deep conversation over glasses of red wine with someone special, or possibly something you listen to when you are gently kissing someone for hours.
[Victor Mejia]

>> Style >> heavenly cold pop

« Passport to kunming » est le septième album du duo américain, trop peu connu, Faith & Disease. Douce, élégante, légère et mélancolique, la musique du groupe se veut très aérienne, et fait parfois naître des atmosphères aux soupçons psychédéliques. Dara Rosenwasser et Eric Cooley nous font évoluer dans un monde éthéré, où l’on avance avec peine au travers d’une brume épaisse.

Après, « She’s got a halo », un premier titre très Curien, le tempo ralentit, et le calme s’installe. Malgré la mélancolie ambiante, les morceaux dégagent une atmosphère chaude et rassurante (« Lost in translation »), et bien que leurs structures paraissent à première vue, assez simples, rien n’est laissé au hasard. Le duo mise sur les atmosphères et les sonorités pour se créer un univers personnel, marqué par une intensité émotionnelle, une sensibilité et une fraîcheur troublante. La voix douce et enjôleuse de Dara n’y est pas étrangère, elle insuffle aux compositions une légèreté pop, qui dissimule cependant une certaine gravité derrière cette apparente douceur. Une basse chaude, toute en rondeur, typiquement Curienne, survole quasiment tous les titres, la guitare de Cooley est souvent acoustique, mais s’évade parfois dans des expérimentations plus bruitistes (« Between the folds »), flirtant avec le psychédélisme. C’est le cas en particulier sur le génialissime « Impermanence », qui rappelle beaucoup le climat du titre « Blue skies bring tears » des Smashing Pumpkins. « Impermanence » se détache nettement de l’album par son côté apocalyptique, énigmatique et percussif, et le chant désabusé et vulnérable de Dara y est véritablement troublant d’émotion.

« Passport to kunming » est un album touchant, plein de subtilité, de sensibilité et de poésie, qui vous bercera au gré de ses mélodies douces-amères et de ses ambiances délicieusement planantes.

Faith & Disease use the majestic voice of Dara Rosenwasser weaved in with acoustic and electric guitars, melodic leading bass structures, ethnic percussion, and the occasional violin, rainstick, bells, tambourine and classically-inspired baroque synth.

Faith and Disease
Moon Tints of Purple and Pearl ep (tape)
Siren Song 1993
Rating: ****
Track List:
Ebb and Tide/Glass-Glow World/Crown of Sorrow/Tuesday's Creation

I suppose I'd best start getting my pat categorization and comparison
skills in shape if I wanna be a music journalist. :-) So here's my first try,
10,000 Maniacs go Goth.
Okay, _that_ out of the way. Faith and Disease are a new band from
Seattle, WA, consisting of Joaquin Taveres(keyboards), Steven Knouse(guitar),
Rick Allen(drums), Eric Cooley(bass), Mary(backing vocals), and Dara
Rosenwasser(vocals/lyrics). The 10,000 Maniacs comparison is actually _fairly_
close to the mark, if somewhat sarcastic. They share many characteristics,
mainly in the vocal department, but really have gone their own way with it.
Ebb and Tide is, put simply, an excellent song and the highlight of
their live set. It builds slowly into an ethereal(gotta use that word in here
somewhere and that seemed like a good place :->), soundscape that carries you
away on Dara's voice. A song where you can just close your eyes and drift
away into someplace a little bit better than where you are.
Glass-Glow World is an acoustic song that drifts away, wafting into it's
own little world. Mary's voice providing the perfect counter-point to Dara's,
turning the song into something of exquisite beauty.

Crown of Sorrow is a slow, majestic piece of music. Somber, yet beautiful
with it's gentle keyboard line and subdued guitar.
Tuesday's Creation builds from a quiet start until it suddenly grabs your
attention and refuses to let go. Vaguely reminiscent of Mesh&Lace era Modern
English, it's a pop song in it's own little way.
The inter-play of Dara and Mary's voices is what makes this tape for me.
They just sound _so_ good together. Not to belittle the rest of the band,
however. They are all solid musicians that provide the background that makes
Dara and Mary sound so great.
My only real quibble with this tape is that it was recorded digitally,
and, as we all know, digital sound brings out every little flaw in the
performance. Dara has an excellent voice, she does, however, occasionally
have trouble holding the same note. Not that she ever sounds bad or anything,
but it is _really_ noticeable on the long, held out notes. They're a young
band though and I'm sure that they more they play, the better she'll get and
will someday, if there is justice in the universe, be a popular as I think
they should be.
[A note, having seen them play again last night, I can safely say that I was
right when I wrote that and Dara has gotten _much_ better. The new single
should be bloody great and I'll review it next time.]

The women in the rock scene: The assorted members and ex-members of Seven Year Bitch,Kill Sibyl,Maxi Badd Sleater-Kinney, Bikini Kill, Mavis Piggott, Violent Green, etc. etc.; and such frontwomen and soloists as Kim Warnick, Laura Love, Anisa Romero,Lisa Orth,Shannon Fuchness, Dara Rosenwasser, etc. etc. They continue to collectively prove "women in music" doesn't just mean out-machoing the men.