Interview by Nathan of Pretty Bruises Magazine
PB=Pretty Bruises Magazine
 JW=THE UNQUIET VOID's Jason Wallach
PB-How long have you been creating as the Unquiet Void and has it always been a solo project?
JW-I've been creating under The Unquiet Void since 1989 when I was 15 and still in high school. I can't think of a better time where one would need to begin to express his or herself. There was a lot of crazy shit going on in my life at that time with my family and when I think back on it I think that my life was void of some important things. I was introverted in high school, being popular just did not sit well with me and I'm not the kind of person who follows everyone else... I have ideas and they are different from those of most people and most people don't like that. I was almost always the odd one out. I had a lot going on inside me and I simply began translating all of my emotions and life experiences into sound and I honestly think it kept me alive because it sure as hell kept me sane and focused. The Unquiet Void has always been a solo project and probably always will be. There's a friend I have made recently named Dana Bearror who does engineering for my newer material and I work with him in his studio except that I still write and perform all the music, he helps me piece it together and sound clean on his computer. I still do record material in my own home studio but for the second CD I'll be recording it in his studio. He's not a member of The Unquiet Void but he is someone I enjoy working with and he's musically unbiased and he's really tuned in to what I'm doing... he's very helpful. But yes it is a solo project and it will remain so.
PB-TUQV tracks were featured on several compilations before the release of Scorpio. How did you come to work with the various labels that put out these comps?
JW-In the case of working with Projekt Records I was writing to them and sending them demos and eventually got invited to appear on "Of These Reminders" and I ended up contributing two renderings of songs by Black Tape For A Blue Girl. I have been friendly with Mike of Lycia since 1991 and he then invited me to collaborate with him on "Excelsis: A Dark Noel" on which we covered "We Three Kings". Mike put in a good word for me with Brian John Mitchell of QRD magazine and I submitted the track "What Is Gone Is Gone" for his "Alleviation" compilation. My friend Ashkelon from Trance To The Sun suggested I submit a track to Subnation Productions and I did hence the appearance of "Awakening" on the "Subnation Volume 2" compilation. Ash also suggested that I send a CD-R of stuff to Athan at Cleopatra Records and I did and he dug "Scorpio" and chose "Breathing Liquid Breath" for the "Unquiet Grave, Volume 1" compilation that just came out not too long ago. That's exactly how I came to work with those labels for compilation appearances.
PB-Why did it take so long for a full length to come out?
JW- Well, I think that partly it was life simply running its course and being confused in the midst of it and simply not sending demos around as much as I came to do. Life has its way of letting you know when something is right to happen and I guess I, subconsciously, paid attention. Also, as I've grown into an adult the sound has evolved and matured and I guess I just wasn't ready then. However, it has been a slow climb but a very steady one and one that I'm very comfortable with. I don't think I'd change it if I could go back. I look back at the older stuff and I'll definitely release it, just after the second release that I'm working on now.
PB-You collaborated with Lycia on a version of We Three Kings. Do you plan to work with others in the future?
JW-Yes I do plan to work with others... thing is that there aren't many people that I feel comfortable working with. Creating music is an extremely personal experience for me and there has to be a pre-established relationship there in order for me to feel comfortable. Currently I am working on adding some tracks to material which will become Trance To The Sun's next CD... not the forthcoming "Urchin Tear Soda", which is brilliant by the way, but the one to follow it in 2000. I'd really like to work with my friend Conrad of Stay Frightened and then there's Edward Kaspel of the Legendary Pink Dots. I don't mean to sound arrogant because that's not where I'm coming from in saying this but I can only work with someone that I feel is on a similar wavelength as me, otherwise I'm not terribly comfortable being that TUQV is very personal to me.
PB-How does an Unquiet Void piece come to be?
JW-Well, based on what I'm feeling I sit alone with my synthesizers hooked up to effects (sometimes not) and I play until my soul pours out, until there's no difference between the machines and myself. When it clicks with what I'm feeling I begin writing it out in sounds, you see I play by ear... I can't read music period. Whatever comes out from the depths of me, that's what becomes the songs that people hear on my CD's and compilation appearances, there's a story behind every song I've ever done - a little moment of time immortalized and never to be repeated.
PB-I don't think your work is as horrific or frightening as some would suggest, it's closer to the aftermath of something terrible, but it is undeniably dark. What state of mind are you in while you're writing, and is it hard to be around others then?
JW-It's funny, a lot of the reviews mention how frightening it is and that's fine, those people feel that way about it. This is mostly being said about "Scorpio" and I personally don't see it that way because Scorpio was a realization and purging of inner darkness, not a wallow through it. I see it as a positive thing in my life that has helped me become a better parent and person having ejected it. Yeah it's dark because of what inspires it, the feelings inside and the frustration and anger and fear of the times that the material was recorded (still speaking of Scorpio specifically). I couldn't have said it better than you... it's more like describing an aftermath, that's really interestingly put. I'm in a very transient state of mind when I'm writing and depending on what the inspiration is I can be very hard to be around. My wife put up with a lot from me when the six 1998 tracks from Scorpio were created... I was really just an asshole to be quite honest. I had that darkness inside swirling around until I did something about it and she really took a lot of shit from me. She's very strong and you know someone really loves you when they put up with your shit, especially like I was dishing it out.
PB-Do you have any favorite musical tools / toys?
JW-Oh yeah, I had an Eventide H3000 with which Scorpio was sculpted and I no longer have it and I miss it terribly! I have my trusty Korg M1 that has been with me from the get-go and I have an Alesis synth that I bought in June of 1998. I'm happy with what I have but I would love to get my hands on a Korg Trinity.
PB-What's in store for the Unquiet Void?
JW-Well, I'm working on the second release which everyone who has heard the demos so far tells me that it blows "Scorpio" away. It's lighter in tone and explores dreams. The new CD is called "Between the Twilights" and it really explores what visions and emotions are experienced between the evening and morning twilights. It has its darkness about it but my theory is that darkness never goes away it just changes perspective and unlike in Scorpio where it was the foreground, darkness isn't in me this time – I'm in it. This release will be more experimental, more ambient and ethereal but not as dark. Darkness is expressed in the fact that you sleep at night and it's dark when you close your eyes... darkness is depicted as blissful and tranquil. There's also the fact that when we wake up from the darkness of dream we then have to deal with the darkness of reality... from darkness to darkness. But that's the extent of it. I'm also planning on a double CD release of the outstanding early recordings, these are the pieces that very few have heard that really make the backbone of TUQV. I wish I could describe how these songs make me feel but you'll simply have to wait until it's released to find out for yourself. So that's really what's in store for TUQV, that and I'd like to play some live shows at some point (locally at first) and have a few more compilation appearances. I'm taking it slow though because I have no choice but to take it slow and I'm all right with that.
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