BIOGRAPHY

THE VIOLET BURNING

Michael Pritzl is a man who likes to be moved. Since their inception, he has been the heart and soul if The Violet Burning, generating a pool of dramatic, dynamic songs. After a revolving-door cast of players has come and gone, the Orange County, California, quartet's line-up finally solidified this year with the addition of bassist Sebastian Monney and renown L.A. drummer Joel Patterson. With all the pieces in place, Pritzl's songs have finally come into their own on the band's self-titled debut for Domo Records.

"We don't really know how to describe the album," Pritzl says. "The influences are mostly post-punk, but when I listen to our music I can see where each of the players is coming from-- Jeff brings in a guitar part or even in my own songs. I know that some of our songs have a Beatle-y flavor. I mean, I know we're not like the Beatles. I just don't know how to describe our sound.

Much of The Violet Burning recalls the bands that Pritzl cites as influences: Echo and the Bunnymen, the Cure, the Verve. When we were recording the album, we broke it down into three categories: love songs, broken-hearted songs, and broken-hearted love songs," laughs Schroeder. But the generally melancholy mixture is sprinkled with a variety of other flavorings. There's a touch of trippy psychedelia ("Arabic Tremolo Radio"), the faint essence of funk ("Fever"), a smidgen of Western twang ("Waiting'), scintillating squalls of noisy guitar separated by moody lulls, several of which ("Blind," "Silver") feature Pritzl's explosive falsetto. Underpinning it all is a distinct brooding quality that smacks of Gothic rock. Pritzl graciously acknowledges the genre's influence, but hesitates to embrace it.

"I don't know if we would be true Goth," he says. "I mean, for me that's what I've been in to most of my life. I just can't help it. As the songwriter, I know that our songs mean different things to different people, and even within the band, I like to keep it that way."

"Totally," Schroeder concurs. "There are definite rock elements, but it's not just a rock thing."

"The goal is not really to rock," Pritzl elaborates. "The goal is more for what we call 'vibes For feeling. The song is the boss. Jeff's not the boss. Michael's not the boss. Not Joel, not Sebastian. It's like, what does the song require to express the most passion-wise. So when the song is rocking, we'd want it to be as out of control as we could make it, but then when it's moody, we want it to have that mood where you just feel it."

"Power's not based on riffing but on chord and song structures," Schroeder adds. "Obviously, we have two strong guitar players in the band so we like to turn the amps up, but there's also this sense of dynamics. It's massive and it feels good, but then you could do the same song quietly and it would be equally as moving to us."

Since the release of the band's album in February, The Violet Burning have been embraced by both college and commercial radio. They have opened for bands such as The Nixons, Dishwalla, Superdrag, Cracker, Goldfinger, and Failure. Criss-crossing the country in their van and trailer, sarcastically referred to as "the bus," (don't call it a van or you will have to wash it), The Violet Burning have been winning over audiences with their passionate live show and sense of style. "We don't want to look like we just got out of bed when we go on stage," says Pritzl. "We want to look different and sound different. The audience deserves our best and that includes how we visually present ourselves. Besides, it's always interesting to watch people's reactions when we walk into a truck stop with vinyl pants, glitter and a few piercings. They definitely know we're not truckers.

With their fan base growing at a rapid rate (10,000 names on their mailing list so far), The Violet Burning plan on touring well into 1997 and will be in a town near you soon. "Performing live is what it is all about, so we will be all about, in "the buses in every city, state and country that will have us."