In Conversation with Kylyra - page 2
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Kylyra:
I knew the minute you brought it up exactly what I'd end up doing, but I never expected the response I've got from it. I was hesitant at first; I always am on a new project. I have to feel my way into what it's going to be. I began using some of my older poetry that's up on my Dark World page, http://www.darkworld.com/port/literature/word/Poetry/index.html.
I drew a lot from my experience in Stygian Tars, the improvisational band I was in. I didn't start with metering, or refrains...I used my free verse, and spoke naturally.
Then I added ambience and sounds. I found some of the pieces ('Afternoon Tea', 'The Poet') began to pull melodies out of me, and started to work in that direction purposefully.
As you noted, my early poetry is very inward focused. I used to write to me, to express frustration or thoughts I was wrestling with.
Two things happened very quickly this spring that drastically changed that.
One, you invited me to your poetry night, 'Poets and...'.
Two, we began to discuss the beat generation. All this drove me to google the hell out of performance poetry; I searched out videos of poets in the Manchester area specifically since you'd shared with me the excellent tip of knowing your audience. I saw quite a variety of work, but was struck by the overall humour and quirky language that I heard.
I also did some research on the art form of performance poetry, and that led me back to (gasp) the beat generation. We'd talked of Jack Kerouac, and I finally found some of his audio files. I also watched some videos with Ginsberg.
All of this worked in combination, and the material I presented at your night was completely new. My words were written specifically to be spoken live, and I found a new metering and rhyme scheme to work with. I found myself being lighter; I'll get heavy and depressive with myself, but tend to be more playful when interacting with others. So my work included humour, I think for the first time. I also presented the first poem I wrote in the style of the beat generation, 'Clutched and Frosted', which I'm particularly proud of. I won't be so arrogant as to say I captured the style; but I will call what I did 'neo-beat'.
I'm writing more and more these days; thank you for re-sparking my love of poetry. I'm working heavy with the jazz combo behind me, but not exclusively....I hate to be pigeon-holed; in fact, I refuse to be. So I'm still doing pieces with ambient noise, still doing pieces with techno beats, still doing serious material along with the humour.
I hope to be able to pull a full show together With KyPoetry; something I could present in a theatre setting.
Setting Sun:
I love the fact you have also bought your First spoken word CD on DWI called 'Purple'. Can you tell us a little bit about the sessions for this CD and why you called it Purple?
Yes, 'KyPoetry-Purple' is available on Amazon.com. This is a limited edition EP, and includes my first recordings. I'll be back in the studio re-recording and re-producing some of these pieces, so this is your only chance to hear some of them this way!
I've learned quite a bit about how I want this material to sound, and performing live has, of course, changed everything for me. It's a great sounding release, and I'm very proud of it...but I WILL pull it when I come out with the full CD, so get it now!
I guess the idea of calling it Purple developed over a period of time. I'd chosen one of my abstract photographs as the symbol of KyPoetry quite a while ago. The original was in black and white, and I tinkered on my computer with the file until I came up with purple look.
I went through a variety of ideas of names for the release, but in the end I decided that any title would fail to convey what I wanted, so I went abstract. I began with purple unconsciously....it just appealed to me. As usual, though, my mind took the abstraction and wove it into something new. The idea now is to release a series of KyPoetry CDs, taking you through the colours of the rainbow. So expect to see Purple, Indigo, Blue, Green, Yellow, Orange, and Red coming out. If I'm still at it after all that, I'm not out of ideas! lol!
(continued on page 3)
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