Bio

Short Version

Axis Evil formed on Valentine's Day 2016 when Emily Williams became pissed that she didn't have a date. The sound is a rough mix of punk and progressive rock. Major influences include NoMeansNo, Sonic Youth, Björk, Rush, and Muse. It’s a solo act—Emily sings and plays guitar, while the rest of the band comes out of her iPad. Emily is new to the San Diego area and is promoting her sound in the region.


Long Version

Motivation

When you add estrogen to a male brain, funny things happen emotionally. Writing loud music helps one deal with it.

When you fall deeply in love with someone who firmly rejects your advance, life sucks. Writing loud songs helps one deal with it.

So I started writing music (again) to deal with these situations. Then I just kept on writing it.

To be perfectly honest, I'm also hoping this will get me a date!

What's In a Name?

Bush’s famous "axis of evil" diplomatic blunder inspired it. But it sounds much cooler without the "of". I think this name sounds intelligent and irreverent, which is my intent. It’s also a joke:  Being transgender is certainly not "evil", but I’m making fun of those who think so.

Why No Band?

They say you should know yourself before you start dating. I'm applying this concept musically by deriving my current style before working with other musicians. It is not that I’m going to insist other musicians I work with in the future use my style; I just want to know who I am as a composer.

Style (Current)

I’m going for "loud and fast". The music descends from the punk, grunge, metal, and progressive rock of my youth. But I think it represents the world of today rather than that of twenty years ago. I don't really know what to call it other than "rock" music.

Style (Where I’m Going)

I intend to add more sound effects and noise as I become more fluent with the technology. More EDM influence, but probably without the strong backbeat since these are rock songs and not dance songs.

Algorithms

I intend also to make greater use of algorithmic composition to derive novel harmonies and melodies--things I'd never think of on my own. In most cases I'll write the algorithms from scratch. But in the case of drum tracks, I'll continue to use other folks' algorithmic drummers since they are far better than anything I could come up with.

As I work with algorithmic composition I'll document the process and technique on this blog.

Endgame

These are the most passionate and honest songs I have ever produced, and I paid a severe emotional cost to write them. So I want the songs heard widely.


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