Lycia (band)
Encyclopedia
Lycia is a darkwave
/gothic rock
band that was formed in 1988, Tempe
, Arizona, United States. The main personnel of the band are Mike VanPortfleet, Tara Vanflower
, David Galas and John Fair. Although only achieving minor cult success, the band is notable for being one of the ground breaking groups in darkwave and ethereal wave
styles. Their 1996 album The Burning Circle and then Dust received some attention for the power pop
hit song "Pray," and the album "remains a high point of American dark rock," according to Allmusic. Lycia's music is characterized by rich soundscapes and layers of echoed guitars, dark and ethereal keyboards, doomy drum machine beats, VanPortfleet's melancholic, whispered vocals and Vanflower's vivid voice. Trent Reznor
and Peter Steele
are some of their more well-known fans.
that Lycia would henceforth use.
John Fair left Lycia in 1990, and Will Welch returned. The sound of Lycia increasingly evolved into a heavy-noise or harsh industrial
direction. At the end of that year, Lycia began work on the first full-length album entitled "Byzantine", but due to technical problems it never appeared. Mike VanPortfleet decided to gather the individual fragments of the album for a second start-up process. The final outcome was in September 1991 under the title Ionia on the label Projekt Records
, and is characterized by ambient textures and very flat and atmospheric sounds.
Meanwhile, production on the next album, A Day in the Stark Corner was already in full swing. This was published in August 1992 and follows technically seamlessly as the successor to Ionia. A short California tour followed. Soon it turned the occupation and the sound again. The line-up was extended by David Galas. Under the project name Bleak, they began work on the album Vane, but in a much more rough direction. In return, in the main project Lycia, new tracks were prepared, increasingly emphasizing on acoustic guitar
s. The line-up was reinforced by the singer Tara VanFlower
, and this material was released in 1995 as a double CD
under the name The Burning Circle and Then Dust
. The album introduced the power pop hit "Pray." Following the release, Lycia played concerts opening for Type O Negative
.
It was followed by Cold in 1996, representing the group's bleakest sounds yet, another landmark in the darkwave genre. 1998's Estrella saw a more experimental output with otherworldly sounds. In 1999 they started their own label called Lycium Music. Under the title "Estraya" was released an EP titled The Time Has Come and Gone with songs based on ambient soundscapes and acoustic guitars. With the same sound approach, but under the name of the main project Lycia, in 2002 they released the album Tripping Back Into The Broken Days. The same year some songs from Cold were licensed for the film titled Lana's Rain. In January 2001 the band released Compilation Appearances Vol. 1, featuring songs recorded in Arizona during the early 1990s, on Projekt Records. After relocating back to Mesa, Arizona
, they released Compilation Appearances Vol. 2 in July 2001, featuring songs recorded in Ohio during the mid to late 1990s.
In October 2003, two months later, Lycia quit their label Projekt Records, and their last album titled Empty Space was released on Silber Records. VanPortfleet released his first solo work in 2004, an ambient
album entitled Beyond The Horizon Line. Tara Vanflower (now married to Mike VanPortfleet) and David Galas have also since recorded their own solo releases. Vanflower recorded This Womb Like Liquid Honey, My Little Fire-Filled Heart, and has performed two solo live shows, including the Cornerstone Festival
in Illinois. David Galas released "The Cataclysm" in 2006 and "The Happiest Days Of My Life" in 2009. After several years of inactivity, Lycia announced on their Facebook and MySpace pages a digital-only release titled Fifth Sun, released on June 22, 2010.
Darkwave
Dark Wave or darkwave is a music genre that began in the late 1970s, coinciding with the popularity of New Wave and post-punk. Building on those basic principles, dark wave added dark, introspective lyrics and an undertone of sorrow for some bands...
/gothic rock
Gothic rock
Gothic rock is a musical subgenre of post-punk and alternative rock that formed during the late 1970s. Gothic rock bands grew from the strong ties they had to the English punk rock and emerging post-punk scenes...
band that was formed in 1988, Tempe
Tempe, Arizona
Tempe is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, USA, with the Census Bureau reporting a 2010 population of 161,719. The city is named after the Vale of Tempe in Greece. Tempe is located in the East Valley section of metropolitan Phoenix; it is bordered by Phoenix and Guadalupe on the west, Scottsdale...
, Arizona, United States. The main personnel of the band are Mike VanPortfleet, Tara Vanflower
Tara Vanflower
Tara Vanflower is a vocalist whose music has been described as ambient, experimental, and darkwave.In October 1994 she became vocalist for Projekt Records darkwave outfit Lycia. She married fellow band member Mike VanPortfleet. After two albums, the couple left the band...
, David Galas and John Fair. Although only achieving minor cult success, the band is notable for being one of the ground breaking groups in darkwave and ethereal wave
Ethereal Wave
Ethereal Wave, also called ethereal darkwave in Europe and ethereal goth or simply ethereal in the US, is a term that describes a subgenre of Dark Wave music...
styles. Their 1996 album The Burning Circle and then Dust received some attention for the power pop
Power pop
Power pop is a popular musical genre that draws its inspiration from 1960s British and American pop and rock music. It typically incorporates a combination of musical devices such as strong melodies, crisp vocal harmonies, economical arrangements, and prominent guitar riffs. Instrumental solos are...
hit song "Pray," and the album "remains a high point of American dark rock," according to Allmusic. Lycia's music is characterized by rich soundscapes and layers of echoed guitars, dark and ethereal keyboards, doomy drum machine beats, VanPortfleet's melancholic, whispered vocals and Vanflower's vivid voice. Trent Reznor
Trent Reznor
Michael Trent Reznor is an American multi-instrumentalist, composer, record producer, and leader of industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails. Reznor is also a member of How to Destroy Angels alongside his wife, Mariqueen Maandig, and Atticus Ross. He was previously associated with bands Option 30,...
and Peter Steele
Peter Steele
Peter Thomas Ratajczyk , better known by his stage name Peter Steele, was the lead singer, bassist, and composer for the gothic metal band Type O Negative...
are some of their more well-known fans.
History
After Mike VanPortfleet started Lycia in 1988 as a solo project, in the summer of that year he met Will Welch who joined for the project. In November, Welch was replaced by John Fair. In March 1989, Lycia's first recording, Wake, a 6-song demo tape, is released on Orphanage Records. The sound is characterized at the time by dominating rock guitars and rhythm patterns of drum computer. Wake was unique in that it was mastered directly onto an audio cassette tape as opposed to the more professional multitrack recordingMultitrack recording
Multitrack recording is a method of sound recording that allows for the separate recording of multiple sound sources to create a cohesive whole...
that Lycia would henceforth use.
John Fair left Lycia in 1990, and Will Welch returned. The sound of Lycia increasingly evolved into a heavy-noise or harsh industrial
Industrial music
Industrial music is a style of experimental music that draws on transgressive and provocative themes. The term was coined in the mid-1970s with the founding of Industrial Records by the band Throbbing Gristle, and the creation of the slogan "industrial music for industrial people". In general, the...
direction. At the end of that year, Lycia began work on the first full-length album entitled "Byzantine", but due to technical problems it never appeared. Mike VanPortfleet decided to gather the individual fragments of the album for a second start-up process. The final outcome was in September 1991 under the title Ionia on the label Projekt Records
Projekt Records
This is the article for the record label. You might be looking for Pro-jekt, ProjeKct, Project Pitchfork, or Projekt RevolutionProjekt is a Brooklyn, New York-based independent record label specializing in gothic rock, ambient, ethereal, darkwave, shoegaze, dream-pop, and dark cabaret created by...
, and is characterized by ambient textures and very flat and atmospheric sounds.
Meanwhile, production on the next album, A Day in the Stark Corner was already in full swing. This was published in August 1992 and follows technically seamlessly as the successor to Ionia. A short California tour followed. Soon it turned the occupation and the sound again. The line-up was extended by David Galas. Under the project name Bleak, they began work on the album Vane, but in a much more rough direction. In return, in the main project Lycia, new tracks were prepared, increasingly emphasizing on acoustic guitar
Acoustic guitar
An acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
s. The line-up was reinforced by the singer Tara VanFlower
Tara Vanflower
Tara Vanflower is a vocalist whose music has been described as ambient, experimental, and darkwave.In October 1994 she became vocalist for Projekt Records darkwave outfit Lycia. She married fellow band member Mike VanPortfleet. After two albums, the couple left the band...
, and this material was released in 1995 as a double CD
Double album
A double album is an audio album which spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically records and compact discs....
under the name The Burning Circle and Then Dust
The Burning Circle and Then Dust
The Burning Circle and Then Dust is the fourth studio album by the American Dark Wave band Lycia, released on April 3, 1995 through Projekt Records...
. The album introduced the power pop hit "Pray." Following the release, Lycia played concerts opening for Type O Negative
Type O Negative
Type O Negative was a gothic metal band from Brooklyn, New York City. The band also incorporated elements of doom metal and thrash metal. Their dramatic lyrical emphasis on themes of romance, depression, and death resulted in the nickname "The Drab Four"...
.
It was followed by Cold in 1996, representing the group's bleakest sounds yet, another landmark in the darkwave genre. 1998's Estrella saw a more experimental output with otherworldly sounds. In 1999 they started their own label called Lycium Music. Under the title "Estraya" was released an EP titled The Time Has Come and Gone with songs based on ambient soundscapes and acoustic guitars. With the same sound approach, but under the name of the main project Lycia, in 2002 they released the album Tripping Back Into The Broken Days. The same year some songs from Cold were licensed for the film titled Lana's Rain. In January 2001 the band released Compilation Appearances Vol. 1, featuring songs recorded in Arizona during the early 1990s, on Projekt Records. After relocating back to Mesa, Arizona
Mesa, Arizona
According to the 2010 Census, the racial composition of Mesa was as follows:* White: 77.1% * Hispanic or Latino : 26.54%* Black or African American: 3.5%* Two or more races: 3.4%* Native American: 2.4%...
, they released Compilation Appearances Vol. 2 in July 2001, featuring songs recorded in Ohio during the mid to late 1990s.
In October 2003, two months later, Lycia quit their label Projekt Records, and their last album titled Empty Space was released on Silber Records. VanPortfleet released his first solo work in 2004, an ambient
Ambient music
Ambient music is a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality.- History :...
album entitled Beyond The Horizon Line. Tara Vanflower (now married to Mike VanPortfleet) and David Galas have also since recorded their own solo releases. Vanflower recorded This Womb Like Liquid Honey, My Little Fire-Filled Heart, and has performed two solo live shows, including the Cornerstone Festival
Cornerstone Festival
Cornerstone Festival is a Christian music festival put on by Jesus People USA and held annually around the 4th of July near Bushnell, Illinois. In a given year, many artists that play at Cornerstone also play at other events such as Creation Festival and mainstream festivals and tours such as the...
in Illinois. David Galas released "The Cataclysm" in 2006 and "The Happiest Days Of My Life" in 2009. After several years of inactivity, Lycia announced on their Facebook and MySpace pages a digital-only release titled Fifth Sun, released on June 22, 2010.
Discography
- Wake (1989)
- IoniaIonia (album)Ionia is the third studio album by the American Dark Wave band Lycia, released on 1991 through Projekt Records.-Reception:Ned Raggett of allmusic gave it 3 out of 5 stars, saying "it's excellent mood music, if you like that kind of mood." Piero Scaruffi gave it an 7 out of 10, calling it a...
(1991) - A Day in the Stark CornerA Day in the Stark CornerA Day in the Stark Corner is the third studio album by the American Dark Wave band Lycia, released on through Projekt Records.-Recording:...
(1993) - Live (1994)
- The Burning Circle and Then DustThe Burning Circle and Then DustThe Burning Circle and Then Dust is the fourth studio album by the American Dark Wave band Lycia, released on April 3, 1995 through Projekt Records...
(1995) (Remastered in 2006) - ColdCold (Lycia album)- Reception :Ned Raggett of allmusic gave it 4 out of 5 stars, calling it a "significant step forward in the trio's continuing sonic evolution" and noting the increased use of Tara Vanflower's vocals as well as electronics playing a larger roll in the music Piero Scaruffi gave it an 7 out of 10,...
(1997) (Remastered in 2007) - Estrella (1998) (Remastered in 2005)
- Compilation Appearances Volume 1 (2001)
- Compilation Appearances Volume 2 (2001)
- Tripping Back into the Broken Days (2002)
- Empty SpaceEmpty spaceEmpty space may refer to:* Outer space, especially the relatively empty regions of the universe outside the atmospheres of celestial bodies* Vacuum, a volume of space that is essentially empty of matter, such that its gaseous pressure is much less than atmospheric pressure* Free space, a perfect...
(2003) - Fifth Sun (2010)
Other albums
- Vane (1994/1995) (Released under Bleak, a side project of Mike VanPortfleet and David Galas)