It is a perpetual challenge for new bands to really have a sound that is identifiably their own. Many don’t try (and certainly don’t need to – not every band has to utilize their own sound afterall), some claim to have a sound but really don’t, and then a few bands manage to fall into that sweet spot of honing something that is totally and uniquely their own. Boston’s InAeona are one of those lucky few and recently released their Prosthetic Records debut, Force Rise the Sun.
Taking some elements of post-metal, industrial, rock, and more, Force Rise the Sun has it’s own sonic space. More than that, InAeona really push some emotional weight that doesn’t seem to show up in heavy metal as much as other genres. Part of this is due, in part, from vocalist/guitarist Bridge Laviazar. Utilizing a huge vocal range, it’s easy to hear the emotion stemming from her singing. Turns out, it doesn’t take long in conversation with her to feel the same way – thoroughly and genuinely passionate about what she does. Check out what she has to say about the band’s name and back-history, relentless DIY touring, and more.
Dead Rhetoric: Where does the name InAeona stem from?
Bridge Laviazar: It’s kind of like a mash-up of an idea. Do you know the idea of aeon? Aeon is basically the unseen, dark matter of the universe. That type of thing that when you know there’s something there, but you can’t put your finger on it. That feeling that comes over you sometimes. Like when you are looking at the stars or you are somewhere inspiring – you know that something’s there. That’s what aeon is. It’s kind of like the force in Star Wars [laughs]. Aeona is the being of that. So saying that we are all InAeona, is saying that we are all enveloped by this sort of divinity or mysticism of the universe. It’s kind of like we are all in it no matter what.
Dead Rhetoric: It’s been 5 years since Blue Sky All Day – what’s been going on since then?
Laviazar: Touring relentlessly. We put out Blue Sky All Day pretty much right away after we had started InAeona. We had been playing in a project before that, and trying to get it off the ground and trying to do short stints of touring and really, seriously making the art. We were seriously going for it but we had this revolving door of other musicians. They never really seemed to be on the same page, it always seemed to be something that kind of got in the way. Whether it was their dog or their job or their girlfriend or whatever – and we were like, “fuck this,” and threw everybody out. We kept what worked and started InAeona and made that cd right away and hit the road. We’ve done like 7 national tours in a row. During that time, we’ve been developing the songs that are on the album [Force Rise the Sun] now, first touring exclusively on Blue Sky All Day though.
Dead Rhetoric: You said 7 national runs – what do you think is important for an independent band when you are trying to get on those bigger tours?
Laviazar: Bigger tours? Well, I’m not sure because we never really did that. We just went out and grinded it out DIY and ended up meeting a lot of great bands but not getting above the fray. It’s like hitting that lower, middle-class situation – you are trying to get up and get that split-level ranch and the Honda and the good school system. Just grinding it out and grinding it out, and when you are low like that it’s hard. There is little recognition and people really don’t take it too seriously but the people that do, end up helping you out and that’s how we ended up here. It’s just grinding it out. At a show you get $20, a PBR, and a slap on the ass [laughs]. And we were happy for that! But it’s a lot of hard work. Nothing is magical, nothing is like in the movies, it’s really luck and hard work.
Dead Rhetoric: Going along with what you had said before – you worked the songs that are on Force Rise the Sun for a few years. Do you think having that extra time allowed them to bloom into what they are?
Laviazar: Absolutely, completely without a doubt. There are a couple songs that are more new, and one of them we have had out for a while. When we put together Force Rise the Sun, we didn’t know we were going to get signed. We had no idea anything like that was coming down. When we put together this album, we tried to say the most we could – as we are as a band. One of the songs, “Soldier,” has been floating around for a while, but it has really, really taken on a different life on this album.
Dead Rhetoric: I find it interesting, because there are so many bands out there now that don’t have that work ethic. They throw their songs in, and within 6 months they have the whole thing out and ready to go…
Laviazar: Yeah, and on some levels I do envy that. There’s such a freedom in that. For us, I don’t want to say peculiar, because it sounds weird. But we really want to make sure that we are doing the best “us” possible. We believe that the people that would purchase it or hear/see us deserve the best us possible. We tend to be meticulous and very serious about our songwriting. And how each story told ties into the greater idea. It does tend to be more of a process, and something that is meticulous. I’s are dotted and t’s are crossed – being able to tell that story in the best possible way and really be able to bring the listener in to the space that we are inhabiting as an artist. As much as I’d love to have the freedom to do that, and I think that a lot of bands do an awesome job with that – it’s just not our path.
Dead Rhetoric: Is Force Rise the Sun conceptual, or is it like you were saying, where everything ties into something that is a little bit greater?
Laviazar: It’s kind of in between I guess. I think that life is conceptual on many levels. The things that happen to you throughout your life can be looked at as conceptual only because you are you – consistently and perfectly. The only thing you can really be is yourself. That’s the only thing you can perfect. In that idea, it [the album] is conceptual. There’s so many running themes in Force Rise the Sun. A lot of it revolves around this one particular night. If you watch the sun rise, and you stop for a second and realize “holy shit.” You look around at the people with you, and it becomes this one moment of watching black turn into cornflower turn into orange turn into blue. It becomes this very weird metaphor of life.
I guess overall with Force Rise the Sun, it’s about these themes of love and loss, of time – time spent and time wasted. We are looking at the future and remembering the past, and just trying to hold the moment. It’s this weird love story for life itself – it’s sad and it’s tragic, and it’s cruel and it’s elating, and it’s hopeful….and it’s nothing at the same time. We generally explore those things. I can say that something is lost and it’s also given. Or if something is given and it’s also lost. It depends upon your point of view.