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Play Everything Play The Other Me Play Just Here Play Samples of the entire album Songs on this album are: 1. Everything 2. Just Here 3. Lie 4. Leader 5. The Other Me 6. Buttery Hands 7. Don't Cast Stones 8. You Need Help 9. Poison Berries 10. Nothing More 12. Karma 13. Doll House 14. True 15. Safe  |
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| Lighten Up Stygian Veil finds its way through the darkness by Eric Fine, Out & About Magazine For quite a while, Stygian Veil has reigned as Delaware’s most unusual original act. And one of its most compelling, as evidenced by the second-place finish the Newark band scored in the “battle of the bands” competition at Kahunaville a couple of years ago. Combining dense arrangements with brooding melodies and themes, Stygian Veil more than lives up to its name. As the quartet records its second album, however, bandleader Gina Degnars admits her vision is changing. It’s not that she’s exorcised all of her demons, but rather that she is finding relief from some of them. She’s beating herself up quite a bit less in her songs, and there’s even an element of humor, however subtle, beginning to assert itself. Many listeners will likely miss these tiny moments of levity. But that’s OK. The important thing is that Degnars is learning to enjoy an occasional laugh at her own expense. “You learn things about yourself,” she says, during a recent interview. “You just learn about human nature and you develop an understanding; and you reach a certain point where you realize you can make choices and you can live differently. And [the] things that happen around you don’t have to affect you so deeply. “Being an ultra-sensitive person, there’s always going to be that [problem]. But I don’t have to participate so much in the infliction.” Translation: Degnars is maturing. She probably realizes the personal issues that used to consume her were more a reflection of other people’s problems, be they neuroses or phobias or worse. Pop psychology? Perhaps. But wisdom can come from many different sources—while the New Testament fueled the great writings of Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky, vintage comic strips inspired Michael Chabon’s The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, which won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 2001. So whatever works.  This isn’t to say that Stygian Veil will decide to go mainstream. Or that Degnars’ songs will start to chronicle “shiny happy people.” Stygian’s lineup of Degnars, the group’s lead singer and pianist, guitarist Ben Whitten, bass player Ric Tutlo and Degnars’ brother Rich on drums continues to mine the same dark recesses of the psyche. And the band continues to try to generate some interest from record labels. Degnars, of course, realizes that with influences that run from Radiohead and Bjork to Chick Corea, Chopin and Henry Miller, it’s difficult to find a niche in an industry that’s still grappling with the implications of file-sharing, mega-mergers and radio-station monopolies. Even with the progress Degnars has made on a personal level, she finds this sad state of affairs all but impossible to rationalize. The rigid radio formats force songwriters to don straightjackets with regard to song structures, subject matter and even chords they can work with. “I’ve been to [music conferences and workshops] where songwriters submit their songs, and then they get critiqued by a panel of industry people,” the Wilmington native says. “It feels like being in Catholic school, where you’ve got to wear these shoes and you can wear red socks or you can wear white socks or you can wear gray socks. And you’ve got to wear a jumper, and you can only wear a gold cross if you’re going to wear jewelry. “And that’s what the music is like,” she says. “Within 30 seconds you’ve got to come in with the chorus; if the chorus doesn’t come in within 30 seconds, then they don’t even give your song the time of day. So [because] it has to follow such a formula, you’re not going to ever turn on the radio and hear anything innovative or interesting. They’ve got it down to such a science of what it needs to be. “And I think the public would be open [to a more creative approach]. They’re searching for it on the Internet. They’re open to other sounds and other options.” So Degnars and her band soldier on. “You know what? I’m just going to make music,” she says. “How’s that? And if you like it, great And if you don’t like it, oh well.” Visit Stygian Veil's Web Site |