Friday, March 30, 2012

Psyche Corporation Coming to Dallas-Fort Worth?




I am currently negotiating with local area venues and events to bring Psyche Corporation to Texas for the first time this New Year's weekend.  Live show venues, conventions, and other options are being contacted for available dates.  A performance package is being put together with Psyche Corporation and other bands to present to each.

At this point, The Difference Engine has already tentative booked Psyche Corporation for the Headliner for their New Year's Eve one day event and other locations have expressed interest.  I will keep you informed as we get closer to the date.  The other dates on this mini-tour depend partly on Psyche Corporation and partly on the other bands we are booking with them, so more details are not yet available for release.


In the mean time, take a look at the newly released, Official International Fan Site for Psyche Corporation and remember:  The Shadow Queen Wants You!

Monday, March 26, 2012

Psyche Corporation Music Successfully Used as a Drug!



Today I was advised by my dentist that my root canal was likely to be unusually painful as the antibiotics had not fully addressed the inflammation of the gums prior to the procedure and, as such, the Novocaine was likely to be somewhat less effective.  I told him that if he could put a bite guard between my molars on the other side, so that I did not relax so much I closes the teeth on him while he was working, (or bite him by mistake) I could use deep trance hypnosis to block the pain and not need to delay the procedure.  He knew I could do this as I had used it so effectively in his office in the past that his biggest problem was me getting too relaxed and shutting my mouth while he was working.  He agreed to use a soft bite guard and try it.

Now you may not believe this, but I started listening to my favorite Psyche Corporation album, just before starting the self hypnosis, then got so into the music and the sound of our Shadow Queen's sweet voice and the singing that I forgot about everything, including the root canal.  They occasionally prompted me to get me to pull out the earphones and ask me something, or to get me to re-position something, but otherwise I was pretty much off in another realm throughout the procedure!   This is actually a true story, believe it or not.  Feel free to e-mail me if you want more details.  covenantofthekraken@yahoo.com

Disclaimer:  Psyche Corporation in no way suggests it's music is an FDA approved replacement for more orthodox pain medications, nor does it assume any responsibility for any accidents that should happen if the listener get too zoned out to our music to know what they are doing.  Also, it is already known that different test subjects react differently to different music, albums or songs, so one should not expect similar results in all cases.  Any legal inquiries should be directed to the Psyche Corporation Offices in New Eden in the year 2660 AD.  Thank you.

Saturday, March 24, 2012

One Eyed Doll


"TOP TWENTY MOST EXTRAORDINARY FEMALE GUITARISTS."
-GUITAR PLAYER MAGAZINE

Admiral Ramon Leon del Mar and Vice Admiral Radha Narasimhan recently made a leader's recon to look over some local talent that might just help us in Psyche Corporation's Shadow Court  "War Against Normalcy"

While at a local drinking establishment by the unlikely name of "Trees" we ran into just the sort of people we were looking for!  The other contacts we had gone to see were forgotten in a flash when who did we behold on stage, but One Eyed Doll!  Kimberly Freeman, the beautiful, the talented, the absolute Queen of Weird and her beloved vampire Junior, were absolutely rockin' the house!

An actual quote from a brand new fan I met, that had no idea what he was in for with these two said, and I quote:  "It's great.  It's kind of like Kid Rock meets Rob Zombie!  It's just so wrong!  It's so disturbing I won't be able to sleep tonight, but it's absolutely awesome!"

Yep...that's what he said alright. I would swear to this in front of a panel of True Seeing Angelbots, really!

http://www.oneeyeddoll.com 

Monday, March 19, 2012

The Secret is Out! Accident or Intentional?





Either in a fit of, well something or other, or due to excessive Voodoo Jellybean intoxication (her cybernetic systems can't handle alcohol)  our beloved and much revered Shadow Queen just accidentally???announced to the world that this Official Shadow Court exists and is open for recruitment.

Was this really an accident, or another of her plans to plant subliminal messages in the reader?

You be the judge:

"Holy crap, it seems some people suspect conspiracy behind our claim of being merely a fictional dream corpor--um. 
http://theshadowcourtofpsychecorporation.blogspot.com/ "

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Anachronism 4.5: Dracula Meets The Clockwork Man

Via Facebook Psyche Corporation

 Anachronism 4.5: Dracula Meets The Clockwork Man — Sunday, April 1 at 3:00pm at DROM.

 New Press Release from Jeff Mach: So I haven't signed the contract just yet, but if I were making an unofficial announcement it would be "Dracula Meets The Clockwork Man: Steampunks, Goths, and Geeks Gather to benefit one of our own.

Sunday, April 1st, at Drom, NYC, featuring (for starters) Platform One, a visit from The Royal Baritarian Players, Psyche Corporation, and, oh, by the way, Voltaire of voltaire (dot) net.

Tickets will be either $15 or $20

100% of profits go to Gil's hospital bills.

Presented by The Anachronism  and brought to you by The Steampunk World's Fair - updated every other day.)


Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Marilee Rose Stonestreet - Jeweler Gone Steampunk


I came across this jewelry designer through Visual Kei Music contacts in the world of Versailles Philharmonic Quintet and was surprised to learn that not only had she and her entire family discovered Steampunk while living in Japan (the Genre is quite new there actually), but her work as a jewelry designer got infected with the beauty of Steam as well.  As such I interviewed her about her work and this change in general.  The photo above of Marilee and her Steampunk family was taken by the staff at Little Rain Drops Photography



Can you tell us a bit about how you first became interested in creating your own jewelry?


I have always created many things throughout my life. My father is an artist and lover of the older darker science fiction movies, so when I was a little girl I spent much of my time painting and sculpting with him, and finding excuses to get theatrical with our clothing and make-up. This was something that stayed with me my entire life. However, the art of creating jewelry did not show its face to me until much later, about three years ago actually. I have always loved stones and crystals, so when a friend of mine took me sea glass hunting, I was very intrigued. I didn’t know much about sea glass at the time, but sea glass is actual broken pieces of glass that has been deposited in the ocean by shipwrecks or pollution. After a certain amount of time the salt water and sand have processed it to create something very much resembling a stone, which people often mistake it for. I call it natures way of turning the worlds trash into treasure, so you sort of feel like a pirate when you go searching for it. So, after I had collected a plethora of sea glass, I said to myself ”well now what?” I had heard of people making jewelry out of it, but I had no idea how. I turned to a crystal piece I bought at a Samhain festival many years ago that embraced the art of wire wrapping. I told myself that if someone can do that with a crystal, can I not do something similar with sea glass? So I did, and then found out this was a technique many artists used when creating sea glass jewelry. At the time I didn’t think about selling, I would just give it to my friends and family as gifts, or wear it myself. After being told by admirers of my work that I should really think about selling, I opened my etsy shop to the world. I did not only use sea glass, but I also expanded by using materials like crystal, brass, metal and random vintage finds for my jewelry. I also created a variety of hair accessories using feathers, satin, and lace. I sold my items with some success, but my jewelry always sold more, and to be honest, it was what I enjoyed making the most. I eventually decided that jewelry was where my creative mind was most adept.





Have you received any training in this art or is it all self taught?


Everything I have learned about jewelry has been through observation of other artisans and fellow crafters, or simple self discovery. I’m a history major so the only real lessons I have are the ones that the story of time have taught me, and they have been the inspiration for my work.







What attracted you to Steampunk as a style in jewelry and in other areas of your life?


I have to say that quite honestly I was not fully aware of the presence of the Steampunk sub-culture until three and a half years ago. I had come across portions of the style, but I did not know it‘s true title, I just always thought it was beautifully intriguing. I have been immersed in the Gothic Industrial scene since I was 15 years old, and my style had always been mostly old world, and inspired by the more vampire Victorian aura of it. It wasn’t until I was about twenty one that I started to become more flexible with my style, and explore the different aspects of what I had been attached to for so long; The fae point of view, the futuristic point of view, and then many years later, the true world of Steampunk. Now as you know, I was already half way there without knowing it, so it’s no wonder that when it came to Steampunk I embraced the Victorian vampiric perspective of it most of all. 


My jewelry has always been a bit on the eccentric fantasy side. However, my Clockwork Series, which is of course my Steampunk jewelry, didn’t emerge until I popped in an old CD I often listened to in my early Goth clubbing days. I like to invent story lines and worlds that go with the song I am listening to….I know, I sound a bit insane, but music is often my muse when creating most anything in my life. I have told very few people this, but maybe it will bring some new perspective into what I create; during this particular song I imagined the story of a man who lived in a city of clockwork. Everything about this city was obsessed with clockwork so much, that they used it to run everything, even for the simplest tasks, like a creating a contraption to poor tea into a cup. Their lakes were even filled with discarded gears and cogs, which caused their lake’s water to turn into a rust brown and an oily green. As I said, clockwork was the obsession of this world, but real people were most certainly not made of clockwork…that is until the man in my story lost his lovely wife. With the song I imagined the story of the man, fearful, yet lovingly, bringing back his wife with the use of clockwork bodily inserts, and of course other fictional means to reanimate human life. The story that emerged in my head created my Clockwork Series, and if you read the name of every piece in that series you will see a relation between them and the story I imagined. The story still goes on through each piece I create, and adds to yet another element in the tale.




 




What do you find most challenging about trying to put more “Steampunk” into your jewelry?

The biggest challenge of trying to put the element of Steampunk in my jewelry is the attempt to combine all of myself, and all the crazy elements that I‘m in love with, without having it look like a perplexing mess. I have refused to let go of my love of sea glass, and to my surprise, my sea glass clockwork pieces have been much admired by my customers and other artisans. As a jewelry artisan you sometimes worry about what your customers and the new public will think about a creation that seems just a bit… “out there”, even to genres that are already considered by the general public as “out there”. To elaborate further, It’s like being a mad scientist; Will you create a monster they love? Or one they will fear?….or worse…one they won’t wear? So you put yourself into the steaming public hoping that they will see what you saw; a mix of elements portraying what you adore, and a creation that opens the mind and soul.




 


I understand you live in Japan at present. Can you tell us a little about Steampunk in Japan?


Steampunk in Japan doesn’t seem to be quite as expansive as most would think. You see bits of it here and there in fashion, and of course in animes like Steamboy, Last Exile, and Fullmetal Alchemist which have Steampunk in it’s core. You also see bits of it in Kuroshitsuji a.k.a.The Black Butler, and in films from famous animators like Hayao Miyazaki's Castle in the Sky and Howl's Moving Castle. You also tend to run into very Steampunkish contraptions every now and then. I believe it still has not developed as strongly as something like Lolita or Visual-kei, but it's making it's move. On April 2012 Tokyo will have it's first Steampunk event by held Kennycreations called STEAM GARDEN episode:1 -Tokyo steampunk society. This is a very exciting step in the world of Steampunk for Japan, and I am hoping it will lead to a birth of Steampunk artists in this beautiful creative country.




 


What else would you like to tell the readers about your work as a Steampunk jeweler or as a Steampunk in general?


As a Steampunk and a Steampunk jeweler I find that many try to imitate, and that is of course where everyone starts out. It’s human nature to first imitate in order to understand and find what works best, but then it is very important to put yourself into your creation, because that is what makes yours extraordinary. So of course, with respect to the basic idea of what makes Steampunk, don’t forget to factor in the most important element to the equation that equals exquisite Steampunk, you. 


Please take a look at her Etsy Store as well:


The Rose of Stonestreet



Friday, March 9, 2012

The Nightmare Machine



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Stephanie Moran
Phone    1 817.449.8414
Email    contact@steampunkis.org
Website:    Steampunk Illumination Society

Steampunk Illumination Society & Marquis of Vaudeville present:

~The Nightmare Machine~

~A Three Day Twisted Steampunk Soiree Teetering On the Fringe of Nightmares~

Welcome to This Wicked Victorian Dream:

Jefferson TX, considered to be the most haunted town in Texas by paranormal experts, as well as Discover, Travel, and Sci-fi channels.

Steampunk Bands, Steampunk Panels, Paranormal Panels, Gaming, Vendors, Steampunk Socials,
Ghost Stories, Ghost Tours, Train Ride, and a real Steam Boat Ride.

General Information
Date .........March 30th - April 1st 2012
Location.....The city of Jefferson, Texas
Tickets.......$50.00 for 3 day admission

For tickets-go to The Nightmare Machine - Tickets Page 

(on the Steampunkis.org site with link at the top of the page)

Nightmare Machine Promo Trailer

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Psyche Corporation Presents Chimera News



Psyche Chimere, the Shadow Queen, and her more recent incarnations as Shadow Queens are being honored by their minions who have put together a new newsletter Chimera News.  It is intended to publish on a regular basis, but occasional Neo-Luddite uprisings and such sometimes interfere with the timeline and all so..... You know how it goes.  Just the same, the content includes all the most interesting posts from the Shadow Court, beautiful photos, and a listing of scheduled indoctrinations (sometimes referred to by the uninitiated as concerts or performances).

These indoctrinations in the ways and means of the Shadow Court will be listed as performances by Psyche Corporation.  Thus far only those human mortals on the East Coast area and Canada have been fortunate enough to hear the call strongly enough to schedule such "performances", but that is about to change.  Plans are in the works to bring Psyche corporation to Texas for New Years less than a year from the time of this writing (in linear time terms anyway) and our tendrils are even extending into the Steampunk and performance art community on the West Coast as well, so we will just have to wait and see where that leads.

As a sincere devotee of this Goddess of the beauty of all that is strange and wonderful, I humbly extend my personal thanks and appreciation to Harlequin ( aka CharlieQuinn) for this wonderful contribution to the cause.

If you have any suggestions, submission offers, or questions about the Chimera News newsletter, please email the editor, Harlequinn, at: charliequinn(at)hotmail.com





Chimera News Oct 2011

Chimera News November 2011

http://chimeranews.wordpress.com/2012/02/29/march-2012/

http://chimeranews.wordpress.com/