The Art of Steampunk: Psyche Corporation's Psyche Chimere Grants an Interview

Here at The Art of Steampunk (aka S.S. Kali's Hourglass), we try hard to ally with others that want to share good fun and creative art in all it's forms. We also tend to really like art that leans toward sci-fi or what the Lotus Comic staff define as "Nerdy" vs "Geeky" . Along that line, I would like to bring your attention to a singer, storyteller, comedian, and drop dead gorgeous performer that does cyberpunk/darkwave type performances with one of the finest voices in the industry, yet using such bizarre items as a percussion track based on the DNA sequence of the polio virus. I think you will like her.

Psyche Chimere

Psyche Chimere (also called the "Shadow Queen") of "Psyche Corporation" is the lead singer and much of the creative genius behind the group's work, although she would be quick to point out that it would have been impossible without the help of her dancers, musicians, videographers, sound engineers, and fans.

(and yes the E in psyche is pronounced as it refers to the Greek Goddess of the soul or spirit and wife of the God of love - Eros)

Her entire artistic musical vision is backed by a very complex and wonderfully fascinating dystopian fictional world where dreams (that allow you to fully experience any fantasy you wish) are designed, bought, and sold. The brightest and most promising of dream designers at one dream manufacture group (that is, at Psyche Corp.) eventually hacks the program and takes over the minds of some of their most powerful clients, subliminally, in order to get herself put into power as the Shadow Queen, ruler of the world. Thus begins the reign of the Shadow Court, made up of the executive board of Psyche Corporation, which lasts for centuries, led by various CEOs known as Shadow Kings and Queens. Centuries after the first "Shadow Queen", a new Shadow Queen arises who is so feared by the rest of the Shadow Court that the executive board plots to overthrow her. Their super advanced technology and bio-engineering makes it essentially impossible to kill her, or at least stop her from simply reassembling herself afterwards, so they find a way to send her back in time and strand her in a time and place where the technology is too backward to build a time machine to return. Of course, that's where the Steampunk angle sometimes comes into play.

Here is our first real interview with her:

Psyche Chimere

1) So tell us Psyche, what is your own musical background?

I studied opera for 6 months at age 13, and again for 6 months at age 17. I also studied piano from the age of 5 to 6.

[editor's note: She also said in an earlier interview in Filligri Magazine (Nov 2011) that at six years of age, when her parents finally stopped requiring her to keep up such an extreme pace of learning new piano recital pieces for local community events, she started playing only what she liked and experimenting with music. Eventually she began composing her own music by the age of 12.]

My skills at computer music production were self taught.

2) Who are your dancers, and what types of styles have they studied?

The two dancers that most often perform with me are Arydaea who studied belly dance and Akiri who studied ballet.
[editor's note: She also has other costumed and choreographed dancers already in place with the Texas Street Team for shows in and around Texas, and accepts offers from local dancers who are willing to add interpretive dance to performances if the event is unable to afford transportation costs for her regular dancers, thus the assortment of dancers on some videos.]

3) Do you use the same musicians most of the time, and if so, what are their names, instruments, and backgrounds?

Usually it varies. It used to be Exit on live guitar, then it was Paul Hoppe on live guitar, now we are looking for another guitarist. Recently acquired Mike Lunapiena on cello for the live show. They've all played in other bands. Exit in 99cent Special, Paul also plays in Villain's Lament, Mike does a solo act called the Wandering Cellist and plays for Music Under NY.
[editor's note: I think they are considering taking on a drummer, drum set, middle Eastern, African, still in discussion actually, but this is art baby!...They aren't rolling in money, so it will have to be someone that loves what they do more than with big dollar signs in their eyes, and they still have to be able to do it well.]

4) What do you consider to be your biggest influences in both music and the lovely dark fiction woven throughout your lyrics?

Within Temptation, Poe, Elisa, Kidneythieves, MSI, Loreena McKennitt, Squonk Opera. Don't think I sound like them though.

Dark fiction um.. Maybe Asimov, Bruce Sterling, some book I read in middle school whose title I forgot but which was about telomerase injections, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, but really it's probably things from dreams I've had.

5) Who did your video and sound mixing on the various videos and how did you convince them to work for such beautiful, but mostly unfunded, projects?

Seriah Azkath did the camera work, and he and I worked together on sound and everything else for the first two videos, with acting help from local friends who played characters and extras. I wrote up all the screen plays. The 3rd video was directed and filmed by Brandon Herman. I did everything else except for playing the parts of the extras and other actors which we gathered from local steampunk people and friends. Some people are just willing to help out a friend, as in the first two videos, and in the 3rd video, I think it was still mostly friends and friends of friends helping out, but some people may have joined because it seemed exciting.

Sharkbanana in a glamour shot

6) What do you, your obese unicorn, and Sharkbanana get up to in your almost non-existent spare time?

We have tea parties with the Queen of Helicopter Graveyards. Very solemn and mechanically unpropelled occasions.

7) Are you planning on trying to return to the future any time soon, or would you prefer to stay a while longer and screw over "The Corporation" in this time line?

I cannot return to the future until time machines get invented ['again'], so I have to stick around til then at least.. It'll be a while before the Corporation arises, but I would like to keep an eye on technological processes relevant to the Corporation so that all things are in place when the time comes, so to speak. It would be fairly embarrassing to try to devise a nightmare when you're missing a key electroencephalotransmogrifier or something. You might just get mustard greens instead. Who wants mustard greens when you're expecting Freddy Kreuger, right?

I quite agree! Mustard greens wouldn't make for a very interesting nightmare I'm afraid. You, on the other hand, dearest Shadow Queen, Psyche Chimere, you are quite a dream yourself! Many kinds of dream on many levels, and all of them wonderful, except for the terrifying ones of course. Thank you so much for sharing this with me today...and for not turning me into mustard greens or anything...I do hope you will permit an audience again at some point in the future.

As for you more gentle and funny alter ego ... Stay strange, we love you that way!!!