Hello everyone! Here at Sithspit.com I try to keep things different, fresh, and not clichéd, so keeping with that effort, I have another Sithspit.com first for you! Today I caught up with the vocalist and second guitar player of the up and coming band from New York, SkySalt!

“SkySalt is a modern rock band from NYC with unique sound and fresh look. Founded in 2001 and led by the fiery-haired vocalist Xenia, SkySalt crafts radio-ready, yet dark tunes, incorporating haunting vocals set against distorted guitars and a whirlpool of modern rock beats.”¹

Xenia was kind enough to grant Sithspit.com an exclusive and candid interview, so strap in and let’s see what’s on her mind!

This interview was actually in two parts. Unfortunately, the information in the first part was corrupted, and I’ve reconstructed the pertinent facts to the best of my memory…any mistakes are all mine.

Part One:
Sithspit: Xenia, what is your inspiration for writing music?
Xenia: Emotion.
S: Yours? Others? Both?
X: I was never able to feed off of others' emotions. I have to go through everything myself in order to write about it. That's why we only do one cover--Nirvana’s “Heart-Shaped Box”…I can feel that.  70% of the time when I write, I cry. If my own song makes me cry, I know it's a great f***** song.
S: Is song writing something that comes easy for you?
X: At times…it’s like giving birth. It’s very painful and hard at first to get through…
S: Wow, great analogy…but something beautiful and good comes out in the end?
X: But when I’m done I feel so high.

Part Two:
Sithspit: Xenia, thanx so much for joining me today…
Xenia: You’re welcome.
S: So, let me ask you this: How do you see yourself? Do you like what you see?
X: I do like what I see though, I'll tell you this much. If I didn't like it, I wouldn't be doing this.
S: How do you do what you do?
X: I'm a hell of a 'visual'. My vision is very important to me, and conveying it is often a trick. I trust myself a lot, maybe too much. Rarely, if at all, will I listen to a second opinion. I try to stay true to my own vision and feeling.
S: Is that why you're the primary songwriter?
X: Absolutely.
X: Here's an example: There's too many people trying to tell me how I should be and what I should do, how I should dress and speak. People telling me that our music is too heavy for my voice, and that I look too innocent for such heavy lyrics, etc, and it just pisses me off because: how can THEY know what's right for me?
S: Let's look at that.
X: Sure.
S: As a musician, I don't think the style is too heavy for your voice...I found myself wishing that the two were more balanced in the mix, as sometimes it seemed to overpower you.
X: In the newer songs, the mix is a lot better, Paper Angels for instance
S: I hope so...I can't wait to hear them!
X: We just did a photo shoot for the Paper Angels video.
S: Ok, the second thing...:
X: ?
S: How you look, too innocent for your lyrics?
X: Oh!
S: Only if they don't look at your eyes.
X: Yeah, I've had people telling me: "Xenia, why did you write this? You are not really like that, I know you." And the thing is that they obviously don't... So I just smile and walk away...
S: So, they see what you've let them see...and they're too blind to see past that to what you feel?
X: Yeah, but I'm not one of those who hide who they really are.
S: Perhaps, but people tend to be superficial as to how they look at people.
X: I let people see inside of me - I expose myself completely in my songs…in every song, I'm standing butt-naked in front of the listener!
S: Interesting mental visual for this married Christian man...!
X: Which, of course, will be reflected on the cover of our CD.
S: ?!...You didn't!
X: No, I'm not naked on the cover if that's what you thought.
S: *relieved*
S: I could see explaining THAT one to my wife.
X: (Laughs)
X: You’re a Christian?
S: Yes…surprised? Trust me, they'll keep piling up.
X: I'm religiously unreligious, man. I love religion, obsessed with Christianity - a bit too much....
X: I don't believe in god though…I’m agnostic.
S: What brought about your beliefs? What shaped you the most in that area?
X: I independently study different religions and see plenty of sameness in them all, that's why I can't pick one. I pick none.
X: Christianity's gotta be my favorite though - they have Jesus :-)
S: Right, the “half-naked guy”², as you call him on your site.
X: The sexiest man alive... wait, dead.
S: No...He's alive, if you're a Christian.
X: Yes…but dead if you're agnostic.
S: Which I'm not and you are...and there we are.
X: Yep :-)
S: I'm much looser than most any believer you'll EVER meet and yet I'm firm in my beliefs.
X: Yeah, that's why you're easy to talk to, that's the best thing.
S: That and I'm devastatingly funny, brilliant, and a fast typist.
X: Well so am I ;-)
X: Most people would be attacking me like you wouldn't believe right now.
S: Attacking? Morons. Jesus didn't attack sinners/unbelievers...He ate with them, loved them, shared with them.
X: I'm paying such fools no mind...
S: He ministered to their hurts...He listened...He offered comfort and options, another way.
X: Jesus was one hell of a guy…or gay.
S: In a manner of speaking...oh, no...let's not go there....
X: Let's not.
S: I've heard THAT one before.
X: We don't know. It could be true.
S: Sodomy was punishable by stoning.
S: Not conducive to teaching, don't you think?
S: Besides, in Jewish society there was nothing unusual about a religious teacher traveling with his students.
S: It was common.
X: So was homosexuality in ancient Greece...
S: Yes, but Jesus was Jewish, a Nazarene...not Greek.
X: Yeah…I'm just saying we don't really know who the hell he was
X: I'd love to meet the dude in person.
S: I tend to think you'd be surprised.
X: Meeting Jesus might surprise me, yes.
X: Well... back to music..?
S: As you wish.
S: You play a Les Paul. How did you get it?
X: I broke into a music store at night and stole it.
X: haha :-)
S: Well, that's one way…
X: I bought it - my first one was also a Les Paul, but Epiphone.
S: I saw that in some pictures…it had a diff name on the head...I was wondering.
X: Yeah, the black guitar.
S: *nods*
X: I still love it and play it, but now it's more of a backup guitar.
S: So, have you planned on writing any songs to do with 9/11? Living in New York, and writing from emotion like you do, how did that affect you, a foreign national living here?
X: The WTC disaster affected me quite a bit.
X: My mother works just a few blocks of the place, she saw it happen.
S: Wow.
X: It was horrifying.
X: I myself was gonna go shopping at the WTC that day, but my mother called me on the phone and told me what was happening.
S: Oh, man.
X: Needless to say I didn't go.
S: Right.
X: Fortunately, none of our friends got hurt…
S: That's a relief!
X: …and none of the songs were written for that reason.
X: Wow, that sounded a bit selfish, didn't it.
S: No, I didn't think so
X: I am not a very political person, and the subject is political... that's why I'd never write a song about war or something.
S: Even if it directly affected you?
X: Probably not...I write off personal emotions
X: Like that song, Ago, was written about being separated from my significant other for many years.
S: Ok....do the songs just pour out of you, or is each one a labor and effort to get out? I mean, I know the emotions can be strong and hard, but the actual process of putting the feeling to ink.
X: My best songs always come out easily.
X: My best songs were written in one breath, in 10 minutes
S: “Songs"...plural? Or each?
X: 10 minutes each of course :-)
X: Such songs are indeed blessings...
X: By the way, with me, lyrics never come first. It's always music.
S: Perhaps that's why I'm not a songwriter…I'm better with words than the music.
X: Some people do write lyrics first, but the rule of thumb is: Whatever is written first comes out better, and I prefer to really concentrate on music.
S: Ok....what's your favorite key? How do you feel about bar chords?
X: Favorite key?! Couldn't choose one! They all have different colors to them.
X: I do like how A minor sounds though.
X: Bar chords – Did you mean power chords?
S: No, when you take your index finger and use it as the bridge to move another chord up the neck.
S: I've never heard them called power chords.
X: Ohh, we are talking about different things here - I'm not sure if I use bar chord technique, really. I probably do and just don't notice it -- I'm self-taught on guitar. My first instrument is piano.
S: Is there any piano music on your album?
X: No, I rarely play piano any more, but I did write a couple songs on it. Piano just wasn't my instrument. I
realized it after 7 years of playing piano and studying music theory.
S: Did guitar appeal to you more?
X: I need more action, so yes, the guitar's look and sound appealed to me a lot more than those of piano. Forgive me for saying so, and I know many will disagree (hey there, Vanessa Carlton)but piano's sound is dead.
S: Do you practice, apart from the band?
X: Yeah, I need to play on my own now and then, but mostly I'm a very "band" kind of person.
S: What do you play when you're alone, when it's “just Xenia”? What do you listen to? And who
has influenced you most in your playing style, singing style....
X: Bands that I love: Alice In Chains, Type O Negative, Ozzy Osbourne, Nirvana…a mix of metal and grunge - that's what's influenced me the most. As for listening preferences - I try to stay on top of as many styles and musical trends as I can, and listen to most genres (rock, rap, rap-rock, pop, industrial, dance, some r&b).
X: Singing style influences - I wish I could name some. But I can't, because I am a lonely soldier in this field... (Laughs) I could lie - I could say, Dido, The Cranberries, and all those... female vocalists that I really don't care for.
S: I wouldn't say lonely...but strong females are a distinct minority, and I do note a distinct lack of female
voices in your list.. Do you see yourself as strong?
X: Strong? Yes, absolutely. I am the strongest person I've ever met.... :-) I am a feminist and AIDS activist.
I’m definitely strong, in many aspects.
S: Are you bi?
X: Yes, I'm bi-polar.
X: :-)
S: (Laughs) Ah...good answer.
S: What are your thoughts on marriage? Think you ever will?
X: I hope to have a red-haired daughter of my own one day. Marriage I am not too crazy about, but I'm not against it, either; I might marry one day.
S: Have you talked about it with your significant other?
X: It (music career) won't let me have a family, or a kid for that matter, for a long time ahead.
S: Pat Benatar is married to her guitar player...it's not unheard of.
X: Good luck to her...
S: :-)
X: Childless families are sad though...To me and my sig other, marriage=intention to be a real family and have kids.
S: On a band related note...who joined who?
X: Mark (Dumbleton: Guitar) wanted a band; I wrote songs. So we formed the band in 2000, wrote a bunch of songs, “Stand Aside” was written almost completely by Mark.
S: Weren't you playing alone at first?
X: Yeah, technically - because Mark lived in California at the time. The band was formed 'online' - how's that for being unheard of? ;-)
S: That's a new one on me, certainly.
X: We wrote songs online, sending each other mp3 files back and forth, editing them, adding stuff, writing lyrics, harmonizing…fun times! lol
S: Sounds like it! When SkySalt has been around awhile, and has made the Top Ten of the music charts, you're receiving your first grammy....who do you thank?
X:My band, my mother and sister… along with all those who didn't believe in me and told me I'd never make it… greatest inspiration on earth!
S: Ok, related question...
S: You're in the top ten; a Grammy winner...Playboy approaches you for a nude layout. You're an attractive redhead...would you do it?
S: How much would it take?
X: I was just thinking about this last week, after I found PlayGirl shots of Peter Steele of Type O Negative; I'd never do it. You don't have enough privacy as it is - why would you want people to know even more?
S: No price? I respect that.
X: No price...for privacy. You can't buy it back.
S: Do you have any other aspirations? Acting perhaps? Or do you think musicians acting should just be what they are?
X: Yes, and vice versa. When somebody asked me what I thought of J.Lo's singing career, I had to reply: "I've always thought she was a spectacular actress"
S: Wow, that says so little and yet so much!
X: Acting- I'd only do horror films.
S: Oh REALLY…!
X: Absolutely!
S: As the villain or monster or the fair maiden protagonist?
X: The second one….I'm a big fan of horror films.
S: Would you die?
X: No, I'm just really attracted to that image of an innocent looking child inspiring so much fright, and a music box playing in the background…I guess, older horror film kind of standards.
S: Oh, I see now.
S: How would you kill your victims?
X: I wouldn't kill them - I'd just appear to scare them to death.
S: *chuckles*
X: I liked that movie, The Others, a lot…and of course, the cheesy Nightmare on Elm Street has been my favorite since I was like 6 years old...
S: Ok, a few more easy ones....when did you first learn English, and how many languages do you speak?
X: I speak 2 languages: Ancient Norse and modern Czechoslovakian.
S: Your last name is Czech?
X: No…there is no more Czechoslovakia, either. :-)
S: I knew that....Even here in Louisiana we get the news.
S: I heard they invented the car recently, too.
X: No way!
S: Yes...!
X: I'll be damned! I want one, I want one!
X: (Laughs) I don't drive. I'd drive it into a tree...lol
S: When did you learn english? And doesn't that count as a third language?
X: I learned English a couple years ago. Sure, you can count as anything you want.
S: Only a couple of years ago?
X: When you come to the US, you have to learn the language.
S: But so quickly and so well?
X: Well I did know a bit before - but I still speak with an accent. I picked it up pretty quick - good ears.
S: You write like a native.
X: Thanks.
S: I can hear some little inflections in your singing...having never heard you speak, I'll have to take your word for it.
S: Do you read? For pleasure I mean.
X: I used to read a lot; I read in spurts.
S: Favorite authors, movies?
X: Um, let's see - well I told you I like horror films, but I'm mostly into music. Not so much into quiet arts, although I do fine art…I'm a fashion designer actually.
S: You should put up something for us to see...
X: Bulgakov is my favorite author.
S: I must say I'm not familiar with that author.
X: I'm a big fan of music in general.
S: And on that note... ;-)
X: Wow, we've been talking for a long time, haven't we?
S: Indeed…Time flies when you're talking about yourself... ;-)
X: Thanks, Sithspit.
S: Hey, my pleasure. I have a voice and a website, and I like your music...what other reason do I need?
X: Well anyway, I gotta get back to designing the CD cover.
S: So I can get mine autographed?
X: Absolutely!
X: You have been such a great friend and interviewer.
S: Thanx for your time.
X: Thank you!!
X: Bye Sithspit.
S: Bye Xenia.

You can read more about the band and Xenia at http://www.skysalt.com/.  You can also find some sample .mp3s to listen to!  I suggest you do!