One of the upcoming bands that has left me dazzled with each single and each new album is Corlyx! They worked with Blutengel, Suzi Sabotage, Lord Of The Lost, Massive Ego and Ashbury Heights. And now there is a double album and more gigs to come! I can't wait to finally see them on stage! With this interview I wanted to get to know them better and introduce them to the people who still have to discover them, so enjoy our nice chat with Caitlin Stokes!
How did it all start for Corlyx and what does the name mean or why choose this name?
Caitlin Stokes: Brandon and I met in Los Angeles in 2015 and started making music together, it just flourished immediately, I told him about a dream I had when I was 14 that the name of my most important band (as I was in a few others) was Corlyx and I wrote it down after my dream. I felt like this was now the time to use it and he agreed. Was it a psychic premonition or was it create your own destiny type of thing? We aren’t sure, perhaps it’s both, because it was a very specific dream to have as a child.
How was life the USA? Why did you move to the UK? Why not to Berlin for example (like your Mexican friends from the same label)?
We actually moved to Berlin first before the UK, we lived there for 3 years, we had our first ever Corlyx concert at Madame Claude in Kreuzberg, we wrote “Into The Skin” there as well, all DIY home studio in our flat. As an American, moving abroad was the most important thing for me to do. It’s certainly not for everyone but for me, it built up my character and world view so much. It also shaped the way I write music, each city we lived in gave something our music and it’s part of the reason Corlyx sounds so different. Both Brandon and I have lived all over in many cities and countries. I feel like England in particular brought me to understand 70’s-80’s Goth the most, something about the Brits is just so inherently Goth it’s easy to see how it all started there in the first place. But Berlin will always be my “coolest” city, the person I was there, especially after leaving the superficiality that comes from LA, was the coolest version of myself, that city is so inspiring as a dark artist.
What are the biggest differences that you noticed between living and being an artist in LA (or take USA) and UK/Italy (take Europe)?
LA was the only place I called home for many years, I got there at 16 and left at 31, I feel like those are very formative years, however I could never pursue music seriously in that city. I had to work full time and just didn’t have the energy to really go for it. I had a few bands, but it was just for fun. I never tracked an album there. So Europe was very inspiring but it also meant cost of living was much lower so we could actually go for it. Europe and all the different cities we have lived in meant we could really do Corlyx, so that’s invaluable.
Is it hard doing it all on yourself with a DIY attitude? You want to have control over the whole process and are you afraid it will not have the same outcome?
Sometimes it is hard, I wish I could hire other people to help at least, especially with the videos and photography aspects, setting everything up myself, the lighting, the direction, then doing everyone’s makeup and styling everyone, then I also have to perform… plus I’m not a graphic designer so when I do the album art it’s just me trying my best to figure it all out… I’d have to say though, Corlyx wouldn’t be what it is without all my efforts, we keep getting better because I’m still learning, even with photography I never took a class or had a teacher I just bought a camera and figured it out on my own…I’m probably doing things wrong, but still, maybe the parts that are wrong are what make us unique. And I do frequently receive messages like; you guys are getting better and better…
The fans that have stuck around for a long time see the evolution, they really appreciate the work I’m doing, not just as a musician but the overall concepts. Also for Brandon his mix/mastering has reached new levels of greatness, he spends 10 hours a day in his studio working on music, as he does this full-time as his career too. The studio is extremely busy and it’s because his work is magical, we have very happy clients.
We are going on 8 years now of the full spectrum band DIY, the time and energy that’s been put in is enormous, but very rewarding, it’s exactly how we want to live our lives. However one day we would be open to working with a director or team of people for a video, just never had the budget to do so. And Brandon is the first person to say he should not be mastering the records because he mixed them, so we wish to send a record in the future out to someone else to be mastered when we can afford it.
Do you also create your own clothes? You must have a lot of them?
Yes I DIY a lot of my outfits. Not all of them, but I am getting more into fashion design, got a sewing machine, and really feel it’s important as a front woman to have my own 1 of a kind pieces, especially for stage. Makeup of course I do it, and I do the boys makeup as well, they let me do as I please and are happy I take the time to curate their looks.
The new album winks towards Prince, didn’t expect you to be a big fan of him? Is it because of his music or his way to show the label: I do what I want and I’m not a slave?
Who doesn’t love Prince?? He was an icon, for me particularly style wise, and his diva persona was just everything, he definitely impacted me, when I think total rockstar he is up there. Prince to me embodies 80’s glam, so the album visually is more influenced by this, we used some of the same percussion sounds you’d hear on an early Prince album but that’s really just it as far as the music goes.
As for as our Label, Out Of Line is really wonderful in the way they have given us total trust in what we do, they love our music and let us do what we want and are very supportive, I think also because we are the only band on the label that’s doing what we are doing they give us the thumbs up on all accounts. Nothing but support from them.
Are there other artists you are looking up to and why them?
I’m really loving The Horrors at the moment, but as far as overall influences: Garbage, Joy Division, Depeche Mode, Sonic Youth, Bauhaus, The Cult. These are the main bands that both Brandon and I are very influenced by that we agree on, there’s some 80’s Metal that Brandon loves that I’m not that into, and some 90’s stuff that I love that he’s not that into, but our main influences especially for Corlyx is a mix of all of these, we grew up with these bands and you can hear it in our music.
I noticed some pagan elements, is that your thing or was it just the mood of that moment?
I’m not a practicing pagan but I do a bit of witchy things when I can, as far connecting with anything supernatural, the Occult will always be something I appreciate, there’s certain elements I stay away from and certain ones I feel deeply connected to, so I just follow my intuition with this stuff. And yes sometimes I write songs about it, and visually rep this part of me, but Corlyx isn’t just that obviously.
You already launched a lot of single’s: what is the one getting the most / best feedback / streams?
On Spotify our top singles are “Up On The Cross (Feat. Blutengel)” and “Wasted And Alone”, obviously anything featuring Blutengel will do amazing, and it’s a very different song, and then “Wasted And Alone” is just a great track I think people really loved this one, on Apple Music “Zombie Kid” and “The Letdown" are performing the best though so that’s interesting. We love all these singles so very hard to choose but I think the public got it right.
My favourite one is without any doubt Zombie Kid. Has it gotten a lot of airplay? I hope it was also a club hit? I adore the tempo and the energy I this song. How did this song got worked out?
That’s great to hear! There is another track like this on the new album “Purple Pain” that is very similar, up-tempo punk vibes, called “Downtown” super fun and I’m so happy to hear people are enjoying this track, it’s definitely a new style for us, and yes it’s our top song on Apple Music.
You managed to work With Suzi Sabotage and Blutengel: how was it? Did you already perform the songs on stage together with them?
Yes our collabs with both of them were a wonderful experience, Suzi is now visiting us regularly we are super close friends now. We adore her. With Chris Pohl, he is absolutely a gem, well we do it when we can see him! We all have the best time together, but I’m not sure if we will be able to perform together with his schedule unless we are at the same event maybe we can…with Suzi yes she comes on stage any chance she can and sings Kill Cave with us, we did in Paris and in Helsinki, this year we have more plans to include her as well.
As you will perform at the out of Line festival in Berlin, is that an option? Can we expect something special? A duet?
I’m hoping we can absolutely! But not sure yet.
In the past you also worked with Lord Of The Lost, Massive Ego and Ashbury Heights. Who else is on your wish list (and for sure if you just have to make the call)?
I’d love to do something with `The Horrors that would be incredible.
If you could do the warming up for a huge band (like The Cure, U2, Bruce Springsteen, …), who would you choose and why?
Opening for The Cure, yeah it would be career changing, but alas this is thousands of bands dreams too so even if this never happens I am happy with where Corlyx is, all of the bands at our level of success keep trying to raise and level up but honestly I am okay if we stay like this forever. There is no stress, no expectations, we have very special fans who understand us and that’s all I ever wanted was to connect to MY people. I do not wish for the whole world to know us.
Thank you for these wonderful questions we really appreciate you taking the time to get to know us more! Many thanks for the support!
Here's the album review:
SNOOZECONTROL - Corlyx – Purple Pain (Out of Line Music)
