 |
| On one hand, the music of Marshall Burns sounds like something out of this world, but it also sounds dark, rootsy, and mystical. His friends call him Mars. I asked him some questions about his CD, Flowers and Bones, his music, his writing, and his artwork. |
| Bill Ectric: Tell me about the "Ghul Box."
Mars Burns: The GHULBOX is a Leslie cabinet (or analog tremolo unit) that I excised from a defunct electric organ. A Leslie cabinet consists of a speaker behind a rotor. As the rotor spins, the sound is spun in a circle, effectively yielding that cool, spooky tremolo sound. The power supply had to be removed from a completely different part of the organ, then re-wired and drilled onto the side of the ghulbox. I only have one amplifier, being a 200 watt Crate with a built-in spring reverb and digital chorus. I hook up the ghulbox to |
| to its Speaker Out jacks. I used it once on Flowers & Bones, on the lead guitar of 'Mr. Tomi's Grimsong,' which I think perfectly showcases the sound that caused me to name it the GHULBOX ("ghul" being pronounced like and synonymous with "ghoul").
Bill: Who are some of your musical influences? Mars: The most apparent and probably biggest influences are Tom Waits and Captain Beefheart. |
 |
 |
 |
| I've always dug the organic rawness of Tom Waits and his junk percussion, and comes out in my music. I got into Captain Beefheart because I love the complexity, the fugues and counterpoint, and the irregular song form. The latter was the pivotal influence, that's what really got me writing. Before then I had only written, in a very basic chord progression framework, like "Wintersong." It was around that tim I started getting into Baroque music as well. |
| Talking to Mars Bill Ectric Interviews Mars Byrnes |