How did the current lineup all end up working together?
Oscar has been my vocalist, since I began the band. He was the singer for a band that I admired, when I lived in Florida (The Sleep of Reason). So when I began making my music, I invited him to sing for me. Lucian joined in 1992 . . . she was a friend of an ex. Vicki played Violin for SLAP, another Florida musician who I admired. And I met Mera, my cello player, at a Lycia concert here in Chicago. One of the things that impressed me about your album, besides the music itself, is the quality of the packaging. There’s clearly a lot of thought and effort put into it. Some people like to present sophisticated packaging wherein it appears as if there’s gift-like quality to it. Were you making a similar statement? I don’t think that “gift-like” was my idea. I wanted to make some textural, that reflected the complexity — yet also minimal simplicity — of the music. And this was the idea I came up with. For me, I had to top the design on my last CD, This Lush Garden Within. And instead of get
