9 December 2022

VIOLET NOX is an experimental electronic tandem from Boston – Dez DeCarlo and
Andrew Abrahamson, from Boston – who collaborate frequently with other artists. They operate sonically somewhere in a bright void between earth and outer space where they create synth symphonies for dreamers, romantics and all of us who want to escape from reality now and then, enjoying relaxing and mind-pleasing soundtracks.

Intriguing, right? Absolutely. Discover more about these architects of transcendent trips in stereo in this upcoming chat. But first, as usual, Turn Up The Volume starts an Q & A with a piece of music. In these case, listen to one of the highlights of Violet Nox‘s stargazing 2022 EP ‘Eris Awakes‘.

Hello Dez,
hello Noell,
hello Andrew
hello Jeff,

When and how did VIOLET NOX start its musical journey?

DEZ: “The idea for the project was originally inspired by John Coltrane‘s music.
One night when listening to Coltrane, the music clicked with me deeply and I
understood the improvisational space he was coming from.

I really wanted to create a project that was experimental combining electronic
sounds. In 2016, Karen Zanes and I got together with Eric Jackson, an electronic
drummer, and Violet Nox was born!”

What’s the story behind your project’s name?

DEZ: “Violet, is a very high frequency color and energy that I love.
Nox came from the word “Equinox” meaning change, transformation,
new beginnings, reset.”

Which artists is your work influenced by and why?

DEZ: “I’m heavily influenced more by life experiences that transform
me and melt into musical sounds and patterns. I like sitting in silence,
taking space, then creating from a blank page.”

ALEXIS:“The artists who may have influenced my contributions to Violet Nox
include: Can, Albert Ayler, Brian Eno, Silver Apples, Konono Nº1 & Sun Ra.”

ANDREW: “I think that is something that unites Dez and I in the creative process,
the idea of starting from a blank page as much as possible. In my mind we’re making functional music, so the mental effects of things like binaural beats and extended
drones are more of an influence to me than particular artists or genres.”

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You’re an indie DIY act. What does that mean in reality?

DEZ: “Everything, really. Andrew and I both came from punk rock backgrounds.
We record all our own music, create our marketing and publicity and manage our
press contacts. We also produce our own events. Community is very important
to us.

We have a team of solid amazing friends who we work with that create videos
for songs and visuals for our live performances. A big shout out to Allison
Tanenhaus and DebStep for all their creative input and help with Violet Nox!

It’s a lot of energy networking, connecting with people, releasing your records,
organizing shows, but it’s all possible! I highly encourage any artists who are
waiting for things to happen, to take the lead and do it yourself!

We have been lucky to have some great small independent labels release music
for us too! UK labels: Reverb Worship and Sleep Fuse records, USA Infinity Records,
and German labels, Aumega Project and 23 SWRecords-which is a sub-label of
Aumega Project.

We also had 2 songs included on the recent German compilation “Empire of the 4 Moons, Gruselthon records. We released various remixes with UK duo “The Deckadent Movement” and Boston artist J. Bagist.”

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ANDREW: “So many talented people beyond the band contribute so maybe
a Do It Together ethic is more accurate. I’d say Do It Ourselves but DIO is taken.”

Which of your songs would you pick to introduce
VIOLET NOX to people who never heard of you?

DEZ: “I’d say “Eris” from our Eris Wakes EP that came out last March.”

ANDREW: “I’m going to say “Wolfe Visitor” off of ‘Whispering Galaxy’ just
because I went back through our catalog to answer this question and
forgot how much I like it.”

This year saw the release of your excellent ‘ERIS WAKES’ EP.
Are the songs related or are all six standing on their own?

DEZ: “The songs are definitely connected with more of a space, star, galaxy vibe for sure.”

ANDREW: “Writing and recording that EP was a transformational period for the band artistically. For me that struggle toward a new sound is what unites the songs. The Eris Wakes has other meanings but it captures that well.”

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Who/what is ERIS?

DEZ: “Eris is the Greek goddess of strife, discord and chaos. She is the patron Saint of chaotic creation, rebellious, transformative, awakening, the truth-teller, she is pure fire. Eris is also one of the first dwarf planets to be discovered in the solar system.”

Who developed the EP’s artwork and what
did you want to express with the image?

JEFF: “My name is Jeff Bartell and I’m an artist living in Brooklyn, NY and I created the artwork for ‘Eris Wakes‘. Like with any artwork I do for music projects, I sought to create something thematically fitting and visually satisfying in terms of connecting with the overall album or sonic expression.

In the case of this particular record, I wanted to balance some sense of the chaos, while blending that with a sense of surreal dreaminess. I think this dichotomy is represented in the album and now, the artwork.”

Artwork ‘Eris Awakes’ EP (stream below)

Suppose your music was the soundtrack of
a movie, which one would it be?

DEZ: “From the “Eris Wakes” album I would say “Spaceport 5.”

ANDREW: “I’d say “Senzor” from “Empire of the 4 Moons” Gruselthon Records Germany, since that whole comp is already sort of a soundtrack to a science fiction novel of the
same name by Enko Landmann.”

What’s the best track and album you heard this year?

ANDREW: “If I only get one, what I’ve had on regular repeat is Taravana
by Luigi Tozzi off Deep Blue: Volume 3 on Hypnus Records. Anything on
Hypnus if I get more than one.”

NOELL: “Best album Cat le Bon “Pompeii” and best
track “Everybody Loves the Sunshine” by Roy Ayer’s”

If you were asked to cover
a Xmas song which one would it be?

ANDREW: “If my hand was forced I’d opt for all tracks
of the William Shatner Christmas Album simultaneously.”

DEZ: “The Chipmunk Song.”

NOELL: “Whams! Last Christmas for the win.
The music video for this song is amazing.
Go watch it!”

Name 3 things you really want to happen in 2023.

DEZ: “We would like to release a full album which we plan to do in late Spring 2023.
We definitely will release more videos and remixes. We would love to tour more and possibly performing in Europe would be the dream!”

NOELL: “In 2023 I would like to see Global Action and attention towards Climate
change, women and trans rights, the end of Ukraine crisis, a resolution to Iran’s
civil unrest, Somalia’s famine. Covid is still with us! I would like to see more people
wear a mask. Lastly, on a personal level, I just want to hang out with more cats!”

ANDREW: “I can’t get the reins around just 3 things on a world scale so I’m going to restrain my picks to what I’d like to happen in my personal realm of music. For that much simpler 3: I’d like to see collaborations spawn collaborations. I’d like to be near people listening and seeing in ways that surprise them. I want to remember as much of it as possible.”

Thank you Dez, Andrew, Noell ad Jeff for this chat.
May the road rise with Violet Nox in 2003!

Stream/buy
Eris Awakes
here…

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VIOLET NOX: Facebook – Spotify – Bandcamp