The Electric Haze, according to the Dead Poets Society is intended to take you subconsciously on a journey through the heart and soul of both men and machines.

Below is an inside analysis of the album's symbolism and metaphors as interpreted by Wa, the primary creator of Dead Poets Society during his interview with THIRST magazine.


"Is the album a concept album?"

Wa: "Not as such. The album has been constructed symbolically to follow similar themes of potentially the same or similar set of characters experiencing the emotions or plots in the tracks. Sonically speaking, the album varies enough from track to track, that it lacks a true idea fixe of a concept album.



"What are the themes of the album?"

Wa: "The Electric Haze is primarily about the coexistence of the society of men and the society of machines as we have created them. I don't want to suggest that I or other members of our group are anti-machine, we are not. We love and embrace machines, even at times when they are not our most beloved of friends, but we can see how potentially the stresses of these two societies are colliding and causing friction at the seams.

Changes in each society are interdependent upon the actions of the other. Humans are either consciously or unconsciously pushed to become more precise, more productive, and less prone to weaknesses, or to generalize, more machine-like. On the other hand, our expectations of what defines a useful machine has come to include more and more human qualities like loyalty, friendliness, and to emote, if not on a very human scale, at least to make the effort to share or aspire to human emotion.

These constant interdependent changes make for interesting stresses that each suffers, hence the sub-themes shown in each track.



"Example?"

Wa: "Quintessential. The title alone was chosen because by definition it means '(an adjective) describing in Ancient Philosophy, a fifth substance (besides the four elements) forming heavenly bodies and pervading all things.'

"The song on the surface can be looked upon as a silly techno dance tune with a shotgun blast in the middle of it. But beneath the surface, we carefully constructed the song to illustrate my sobering experience with a teen's suicide whom I was friendly with while I was in high school. This person, who out of respect to the family and friends will not be named, was as nearly perfect as we humans can aspire to be. He took his own life with a shotgun, hence the sample, but more than that, the shotgun became, in my mind, his own expression of not merely escape from pain and loneliness of being near perfection but his own attempt to transcend limitations of further personal growth to achieve that more heavenly body, the quintessential."

"Conversely we placed the track 'rebirth' immediately after quintessential to suggest that there is perhaps a possible redemption for the character after suffering such a severe transformation in 'quintessential'."

"Another example is 'the vast unknown', that space in our thoughts and feelings that we cannot quite describe to each other, nor perhaps even to ourselves. It is the questions we sense we have about life but are unable to inquire about because we lack the words to converse about them. It is primarily about how language can in itself be quite liberating, as well as restricting in the same moments."

"I want to be clear while we are on this subject of quasi-religion and philosophy, that I am not a believer nor supporter in organized religion of any sort. I revel in my Atheism and the freedom and expression it affords me in my own personal life. We do not however suggest that any one lifestyle would ever be an appropriate 'one size fits all' for others."



"How do you feel about assertions that your music sounds like video game soundtracks at times?"

"Initially I would question what is so insulting about being compared to any other form of artistic expression, including video game soundtracks. Should we as artists cower and sacrifice a larger vision, simply because our expression may strike some out there as a bit odd? I think not.

"On another level I would suggest that the album's title is 'the electric haze' which exhibits various shades of emotion and subtlety through machine-like forms. This would include games, as they have had an immense impact on human society evidenced by things as simple as Pong, to Intellivision years of TRON, to Nintendo games, even text based games like Zork, and Wizardy, and other computer games such as A Bard's Tale, and Wombat.

"Also, it is not the musician's fault nor shame that certain tones and timbres are equated with video games. Even criticizing the complexity of compositions of early games like Donkey Kong, and Pac-Man are quite unfair, when quite honestly much of the sounds used in video games were chosen because of technical hardware limitations that made range and pitch very narrow. So even such memorable melodies were quite creative at the time. Additionally many video game programmers were making unnoticed nods to true masters and pioneers of electronic sound who no one in their right mind would argue were not great artists. Artists on any such list might include Brian Eno, Kraftwerk, and Einsturzende Neubaten.

To sum it up, I think generally, people feel uncomfortable with anything that they don't immediately 'get' or can't categorize easily.


"Judging by the name of the band, do movies and literature really play a large impact on artistic statements made by the group?"

"Yes, quite definitely. We are probably one of the few bands out there that includes what we think are interesting and intellectually stimulating suggested reading lists in our liner notes. Even tracks such as 'so much beauty' would not be possible without the benefit of a common consciousness experience like the film American Beauty to give it resonance on more levels. The track was influenced directly by the lines spoken at the end of the film by Kevin Spacey's character Lester Burnham upon his death, that reads:

"I guess I could be pretty pissed off about what happened to me. But its hard to stay mad when there is so much beauty in the world. Sometimes it feels like I am seeing it all at once and its too much. My heart fills up like a balloon that's about to burst. And then I remember to relax and stop trying to hold on to it. And then it flows through me like rain and I can't feel anything but gratitude for every single moment of my stupid little life. You have no idea what I am talking about I'm sure, but don't worry you will, someday."

Within context of the album I wanted a track without lyrics that suggested that sometimes while searching the skies for our goals in the future, our conquests to be had, we sometimes overlook the stupid little moments that make up our uniquely individual lives."

"The band is also quite well-read, particularly Raven and I. Since we work on graphic design together and discuss directions songs are taking, we can't help but pass them through this prism of literary experience we have gathered on our various passages through the land of the Dreaming.


"I don't (andrea's fault mix) is the only track with true lyrics. Can you expect listeners to truly grasp all of these references you've made without some lyrical guidance?"

"Well, the reading list was provided to assist in some understanding. Many of these references weren't expected to be understood immediately. We intend to fully re-visit some of these tales, expanding upon their mythology, like a good comic series, revealing twists and turns and surprises along the way.

Our recent recording sessions for the second and third albums have included more of Raven's vocals and lyrics.

Frankly, we might not have included Andrea's song on the album if hadn't been for my insistence. As we made the track decisions for The Electric Haze, Andrea Sorrels, our first vocalist, had already left the group. I have always enjoyed Andrea's song, but felt that if we were to wait to put in on a later album it would further complicate the feelings between ourselves and Andy.