Velvet Cacoon

Velvet Cacoon is a so-called artist collective and multi-genre band from Portland, Oregon, USA. The group allegedly explored musical styles ranging from black metal to dark ambient and even shoegaze, and was somewhat shrouded in mystery because its members entered the public forum by creating and propagating various bizarre rumours about themselves and their music. According to members, the band was formed in 1996, although no public material was seen until 2002. Due to the amount of confusion surrounding the group and the lack of any significant explanation from its members, it proved very difficult to discern what was truth and what was fiction about Velvet Cacoon, but the group, which may only be composed of the frontman, Josh, eventually admitted to being a hoax.

Biography

It is not entirely clear when, how, or by whom Velvet Cacoon began. According to an early interview with Josh , the group was originally a trio that consisted of "SGL" (Josh), "LVG" (Angela), and drummer "SKV". Supposedly SKV died by falling off a cliff somewhere in the Cascade mountains. The group began with an "ecofascist" message (in interviews Josh and Angela have expressed a philosophy somewhat related to deep ecology), but they no longer wish to be viewed as a politically motivated group. Their first publicly released full-length album, titled "Genevieve" (put out by FMP Full Moon Productions in March 2004), was rumoured to be recorded with the use of a "dieselharp", a home-made instrument that consisted of a diesel-powered guitar being amplified and recorded underwater in various sized aquariums. Josh later revealed that the dieselharp was a hoax intended to add to the mystique of the band. He also divulged that the band's previous accounts of their infamously violent and intense live performances were also completely fabricated. This outraged many fans who had been attracted to Velvet Cacoon's extreme and bizarre image, and has had the repercussion of many people viewing Velvet Cacoon as a "joke band". Josh has stated that all of the fabricated aspects of the band were intended to be a parody of the youthful black metal scene, particularly that of the internet forums.

Despite the large amount of misinformation about Velvet Cacoon, the band insisted that the atmospheres invoked by their recordings were not a hoax, but were actually quite sincere. VC emphasized the influence of the drug dextromethorphan (as well as other dissociatives and tryptamines) on the creation of their music. They have also claimed to be asexual, and have made several comments pertaining to this choice and its role in the creation of art and music. VC has persistently asserted that the only important influences on their music are inspired by nature and by the experiences attained through heavy drug use. They insist that their sound is ambient at its core, rather than metal. The recordings which Velvet Cacoon have released to the public have been primarily a very obscure and hypnotic form of black metal that uses a drum machine rather than an acoustic set. However, they have also recorded dark ambient pieces (similar perhaps to Veinke).

Further controversy surrounds this band in the form of plagiarism accusations. The song "Chesapeake Tide" is also credited to Miranda Lehman aka Korouva and appears on her album "Shipwrecks & Russian Roulette" under the name "Tide"; similarly, the song Velvet Cacoon calls "Candlelit Constellations" is credited to Korouva under the name "Wheat Fields", as well VC have also used photographs and drawings from the same source without permission. It seems that the "highly elusive" Velvet Cacoon demo "How the last day came and stayed then faded into simulated rain" was almost completely plagiarized from Korouva's "Shipwrecks & Russian Roulette", which has been sold through the website 16sparrows since February of 2005, before the release of the Velvet Cacoon Demo and were posted in her Livejournal, in working form, long before any Velvet Cacoon release. Korouva's album has 10 tracks, while VC's demo has 9, though two tracks that can be found in Korouva's Myspace are not in VC's demo. When Confronted with these accusations, Velvet Cacoon deleted their official Myspace music page which contained stolen tracks and artwork from Miranda.

Velvet Cacoon's "Dizzy from Eternity" demo is in fact My Violent Ego's "Clicks & Hisses".

Josh's message taken from their Google e-group: "And on the subject of Velvet Cacoon, the band is a total fraud. Nothing about it holds any importance. The "How the Last Day" demo isn't even us. It's Miranda Lehman from Portland. (check the Wiki site). "Dizzy" isn't us. It's "My Violent Ego". Nothing is us. "Northsuite" was recorded in 3 hours and sold to a fake label who paid us enough for rent and substances. That's why its so terrible. We're utter bastards. We have no respect for anything. Now we're beginning the campaign to show just what we've done. We are walking examples of what far too many drugs will do. They make you crave havoc. They make you want to turn the world upside down while laughing like a maniac.

And now the soft afterglow sets in. VC is winding down. One last album. One final collection. And the damn thing isn't even recorded yet. Maybe we'll just steal it too. I must tell you that our correspondence will not continue much longer. I'm going to make a clean break - you'll know when the moment hits. You'll know exactly what I mean too.

First, I must convince the world that I am nothing special or intelligent, nor was Velvet Cacoon. If there was discussion about us before, I can only imagine what is about to come.

Feel free to spread this letter."

Shortly after this incident Velvet Cacoon's label Full Moon Productions announced that they would release VC's new album called "P aa opal Poere Pr. 33" in October. It was never released though. In December 2006 FMP released Dextronaut+ instead which is a remastered version of Dextronaut and a second CD with as of then unreleased ambient songs. On February 8th 2007 the news section of the band's website was updated with a message which contained the title of the new album and the tracklist among unintelligeble words. Some time later the website only displayed a picture of Portland's Virginia Cafe, by clicking on the picture another picture showed up, a promotional poster for a movie called The Uninvited. The website didn't change until the 29th of July when the old structure came back (only the picture changed form the band logo to a running horse) and a new post in the news section announced that "P aa opal Poere Pr. 33" would be released through Full Moon Productions in autumn. The post describes the new album as "very warm and poignant" opposed to the harsh and cold "Genevieve" 2 Two days later a new post stated the reasons why Velvet Cacoon deleted their myspace page and that the new album was in post-production. A definite release date still isn't set.

Band members

Current members

• Angela (LVG) - Guitars
• Josh (SGL) - Vocals, Guitars, Drums

Discography

Studio releases

• Dextronaut - (2002)
• This recording was never publicly released; instead it was "leaked" via P2P networks such as Soulseek and DC++.
• Music For Falling Buildings [Demo] - (2002)
• Chapelflames (Red Steeples) [Demo] - (2003)
• Genevieve - (2004) Full Moon Productions
• "Genevieve" was the band's debut to the public on Full Moon Productions. This release is part two in the "December Star Embassy" trilogy.
• Northsuite [Compilation] - (2005) Full Moon Productions
• This release is a compilation of Chapelflames (Red Steeples) and Music For Falling Buildings. It was initially released by Ivory Snowfish Music (limited to 100 Pro CD-r copies), and was later re-released by Full Moon Productions.
• Dextronaut (Remastered) - (2006) Full Moon Productions
• A completely remastered version of VC's debut, Dextronaut. It comes with a second CD that contains three unreleased ambient songs. Released in December 2006 by Full Moon Productions.

Rumored releases

None of these releases exist and were made up/stolen by the band or fans for publicity reasons.

• December In Dissolve [Demo] - (1996)
• Starlit Seas Of Angel Blood [Demo] - (1997)
• Few Ghosts Roam This Planet [Demo] - (1999)
• Velorum - (2002)
• This release possibly was recorded but never released; the second disc of ambient songs included with the reissue of "Dextronaut" is entitled "Velorum".
• Dying Celestial Bodies - (2003)
• Pieces Of The Cold Sea For The Sleeping Northwest - (2004)
• North Of December - (2004)
• V. Genevieve Acoustic - (2005)
• This release is supposedly a limited CD-r handed out personally by the band. This live acoustic set was recorded under a different name around December 2004 in a goth-based wine bar in Portland, Oregon. This album does not exist, and rumors of it began around the time early versions of Genevieve were completed.
• Sky Like A Pearl, Halfmoon Curl, Starlit Twirl - (2006)
• P aa opal Poere Pr. 33 - (2008) Full Moon Productions
• Follow-up to the debut album "Genevieve". The band claimed it would be released in September/October 2007.

External links

• VC Official Homepage
• Old Official Homepage
• First interview with Josh
• First interview with Angela
• Interview with Josh and Angela
• Official Full Moon Productions Website