Queen Of The Static Opera
"I Always Wanted To Entertain People"
I got to know the multi-instrumentalist Melody, aka Queen of the Static Opera, some time ago via social networks, and I am an enthusiastic follower ever since. So now, I have invited her for an interview to get some more insights into her art and life.
CW: Sexual, physical and psychical violence, molestation, rape, PTSD, anxiety
Melody's project is more than versatile. She uses elements from industrial, pop, goth, and even electronic and combines them to make her exceptional and political synth art. Intersectional feminism and empowerment are just two of the topics she brings up in her songs. Currently, she is based in Los Angeles, while her foundation lies in the Twin Cities Area of Minneapolis and St. Paul.
Anne: Thanks for taking the time for this interview! How are you doing today? What projects are you working on right now?
"I am working on a heavy industrial album and a dance-pop EP"
Melody: Well, I just got back from a photoshoot with an excellent photographer, so I'm excited about that because he's shot stuff for Quentin Tarantino which is really cool. I just started a show called 808s and Wonderland where I DJ music, and we talk about music, aliens, conspiracies, Hollywood, all sorts of stuff. It's on every night at 7 pm PST on Twitch1. I'm helping a friend with a charity to bring music to inmates in prisons and rehabs. I'm working on a dance-pop EP, and I also plan to make a heavy industrial album based on a concept I built around Sharon Tate after living pretty close to her grave for a year.
Anne: Wow! That's a whole bunch of projects! You told me you grew up in a family of entertainers. Your father mentored Prince, and you've learned producing, dancing, writing, singing, playing keyboards and guitar while making your first steps. How was it like being a child in such a productive environment? I can imagine it both: creative and sometimes also exhausting.
Melody: I guess for me, I grew up and was naturally interested in performing, so it wasn't exhausting. I wanted to do talent shows. I wanted to learn guitar and piano. I wanted to sing, and I wanted to dance. I wanted a grammy when I was like four. I wanted to be able to do everything because I grew up admiring genius artists, and my father was a genius in a sense. I just knew I wanted to be an artist, so I knew I would have to learn everything so my talent would be undeniable. My dad taught me a lot about stage flamboyance and individuality.
Both of my parents were just sort of odd. Artists aren't that well received in the real world environment unless they're extremely wealthy. So being an artist is being an alien in a sense. Growing up in studios and around musicians was excellent. I always loved it. It went away more as I got older til I started doing music myself. My parents were in an active band in the 1990s. I didn't really start my career till after my dad died, and I was a teenager when my dad died.
Anne: How would you describe your music?
"Some of my lyrics are stories"
Melody: Ambient industrial noise dance-pop music, like Kate Bush, meets Nine Inch Nails. I'm also a story-telling songwriter. Sometimes I think people don't understand some of my lyrics are just stories. A lot of it is based on me, but sometimes I'm actually talking in the context of being a narrator. While other songs – like "Lyssa" or "Delete" were directly about my life
Anne: What inspires you the most? What gives you the drive to start a new project?
Melody: Other artists inspire me the most. I like artists who world-build while creating their artistic persona. I'm really more into creating an interactive world- an alternative reality through the experience of music and visuals because that's what it's like for me as an artist to create them.
I also don't believe in writing when you aren't inspired – if you force the writing – at this point in my artistic development, any forced writing isn't that good, so I don't even try. Inspiration is a gift from the universe, and I am just a vessel, so I speak when the universe needs to say something through me.
Anne: You released your debut EP, "Make Love To America Gently With A Chainsaw" when the COVID pandemic was in full swing. How did it affect your work? What would have been different without Corona?
"COVID has transformed the music industry"
Melody: I cannot quite say – the music industry is a dying industry, but COVID has completely transformed it. I'm an excellent virtual artist – I was made for technology, so in a way, I've also thrived in certain ways. I wouldn't be interested in putting on any live performances on Twitch if not for covid, which now I realized virtual performances are the future performances. I also realize how much connection you can make through technology. It's still an experience between people, even if it is virtual. I have no idea what things would be like if I could play live and tour everywhere freely because I'm more focused on recording music right now anyway and some other behind-the-scenes things going on. I don't have any interest in playing any little small bars or djing at small parties usually – and they often beg me. I plan to tour with an established act whenever that opportunity arises when the world opens up, but I know it will.
Anne: Would you say that the last 18 months created a new way of making music and sharing it with the world? I mean: Do you think there would be so much remote recording, streaming and acceptance for social media and streaming platforms if the pandemic didn't hit us?
Melody: Well, the streaming platforms already dominated most of the world. Technology has always affected how people made music. I did remote collaborations before the pandemic, so none of this was new, but some bands do things more old school, who like to get together in person and jam in a room and I respect and understand the value in that too. On the other hand, a part of the substance can get lost when we do things the high tech way. The balance between technology and human art, that's what's up! In a sense, the pandemic also levelled the playing field for social media artists and the bar-band- touring types.
Anne: On your record, you are exploring being a woman in the entertainment industry. Your songs are about topics like abuse, addiction, and your struggles in life. I think you've hit the spot with that. Why is it that the music circus still lacks acceptance against powerful women with a particular point of view?
"A lot of powerful women are part of the music scene"
Melody: I actually think there are many powerful women in music. I believe there are, in general, a lot of bad artists, too. I mean, there always will be. Things are better than they used to be, though. Sure, there is the same bullshit every now and then. So much of music is about politics, social relationships, and money, not so much art itself. Also, no one wants to speak up and lose everything. It's a complicated matter.
Anne: You are considering yourself a survivor. Is there any advice you want to give to people (especially young women and non-binary people) on dealing with things like mansplaining and being molested in their everyday lives?
Melody: In terms of molestation – educating yourself helps. It helps both your awareness and helps you grasp whether or not the abuse has affected your boundaries. It helps you identify stuff like self-soothing behaviour – or literal fight and flight mode. And with any PTSD or anxiety that the horrific event happened in your life caused. Awareness can calm you down. We all have access to a lot of information all the time – you can use it even to start the healing process yourself.
"There is no rule book for traumatized people"
People who have ignorant views just have not evolved to the place to understand your perspective – for me. So they are not worth the energy. I don't need to explain myself to them. I don't need to explain what it's like to feel endangered or explain what it's like to tell the police you almost got raped and have them doubt you because you don't seem hysterical enough. Like there's no rule book in how you're supposed to act when you're traumatized. I've been through a lot of shit, some I don't even talk about. But I've had the police drive off when the man who tried to rape me was right in front of them.
Anne: Would you say music is a source of force and positivity for you? Or do you use it more like a valve? You know to blow off steam from time to time?
Melody: It's a source of joy for me, like yeah, if I'm angry or upset, I can channel it into the music – but I truly deeply have a personal and passionate relationship with my music – I love my music! So it makes me happy, even if it's like, the darkest song you've ever heard.
Anne: You started Queen Of The Static Opera when you met Disraeli Davis at an Open Mic Night. Do you want to tell me about it?
"My dad was a billboard artist"
Melody: I had the name Queen Of The Static Opera, and I had a lot of the idea for what QOTSO is already picked out when I met Disraeli. He mentored me more and nourished my ideas as I wrote the early demos, "Bruises On My Neck", from one of the early sessions. Like, I had my dad, who was a billboard artist, so I had a strong idea and identity as an artist when Disraeli met me, and we just liked making music together. It was super fun, so we kept doing it. I produce alone sometimes. I always played my own instruments, so that was the next step anyway.
Anne: Your videos and pictures are always very stylish. Playing with fashion in its extremes seems to be your thing. Is it all made by you? And who shoots the footage?
Melody: I do most of it. I have photoshoots with good photographers sometimes, but I do a lot of the photography myself. I directed all my music videos. I do all my styling. I personally feel you can do anything you want to do. If I want to make a marble sculpture next, I'll learn how to make a sculpture. That's just how I am.
Anne: What's up next for Queen Of The Static Opera?
Melody: With my next project, I'm going to start releasing NFTs (declaration: digital, non-copyable art), and I'm going to start a discord. I want to design a roleplaying game for the world of my music. Eventually, I want to turn that into an actual video game that I score the music for, and then I want to live in a virtual world with my fans! Finally, besides the multiple musical and visual albums I have planned, I want to go on a world tour.
Anne: Thank you for your time and this interview!
Melody: Thank you!