Travis Egedy has a lot going on. You may know him best from his musical work under the name Pictureplane or the designs he’s created for the clothing company Alien Body. Pictureplane has a new album out this fall, titled Sex Distortion, and we got together over email to discuss that record, Egedy’s approach to collaboration, and how the aesthetics of horror have shaped his work.
As someone with a foothold in both music and clothing, do the two generally stay separate for you, or is there a connection between the two?
i would say my clothing brand, Alien Body, is first and foremost inspired by music. It is the main influence where the clothes are coming from artistically. drawing from subcultures like underground punk, metal, techno and rave, and all types of weird obscure cult shit. Underground music culture is a big part of the identity of the brand.
When i am creating music, that seems to be coming from a different place inside of myself. it is much more intuitive and organic, even spiritual. writing music for me is very different than working in photoshop designing graphics. I am tapping a different well of creativity.
What first drew you to horror as a genre? And how has your relationship to horror changed over the years?
I’ve always been a horror and sci-fi fan. since i was a kid. one of the first horror scenes I can remember seeing as a kid was the alien abduction sequence in Fire In the Sky. the movie about the real life abduction of Travis Walton in Arizona in the 70’s. Also there is an episode of the X-Files called “Home”, that i saw on television when it came out when i was a kid. The episode was only aired once because it was so messed up and horrific, I guess thousands of people wrote in and complained. It was all about this murderous inbred family that would breed with their own mother who was kept under a bed. It was absolutely terrifying and disgusting. That episode literally burned into my brain as a child. I’m sure those formative early experiences led to a fascination with all types of gore and special effects in movies. Horror is an amazing art form.
Are there any specific ways that you’d say horror films inspired the new Pictureplane album?
Probably? yes. Great horror movies have an incredible atmosphere. creating tension. I think of my music visually, imagining a horror scene for example with red and purple lights, and fog in the woods. Those are fun images to have in your mind when you are creating a song. Black Metal is the genre that does that the best, creating full emotional atmospheres in certain songs. One of my songs on the new record is called, “Glowing Wounds” , which was inspired by actual tales from battlefields in the civil war, where soldiers would describe their wounds glowing blue or green. It was called “angel glow” , because the wounds that glowed actually healed better. it wasn’t until 150 years later when some scientists discovered that it was the perfect conditions for bioluminescent bacteria to infest the wounds, producing a glow. The bacteria would help the wounds. So that is maybe not a horror movie, but thematic stuff like that can definitely inspire my songwriting.
Horror’s place in pop culture has become more prominent in recent years; has that had any impact on that aspect of your music and design work?
Horror is often a mirror to the society in which it was created, our current world is full of so many anxieties and problems, it makes sense that a lot of good horror is being made right now. It will always be an extremely creative genre that attracts people who think and see the world differently. And for sure, i am always scouring the internet for cool films to watch, or looking at the graphic design and art for horror films, both new and old. all that stuff is a big influence on me artistically.
What would you say Ben Greenberg and Mike Birnbaum brought to the new Pictureplane album?
I produce everything alone, so it really helps to bring the music to some trusted and brilliant friends, who can lend a different ear to it, and help me get it sounding really good. they also help record and mix all my vocals. It’s a huge help and adds a lot to the creative process of finishing the music. much respect to both of them.
And as a bonus, here are some of the images that have influenced Travis Egedy…
