Who is Agr1ppa cryofl3sh? How would you describe yourself?
I'm a young, eccentric, creative individual who is inspired by many things and has many interests :)
Can you give a brief introduction to Bitch Brigade?
Bitch Brigade started a few years ago, I make all the music and I sing in it. I think the best way that Crunch Pod (the awesome label I'm signed to) has described the sound of Bitch Brigade is "hauntingly melodic". I guess to me Bitch Brigade is EBM / synthpop with very different sounding lyrics.
Why did you pick the name Bitch Brigade, why is a good name for your music?
Originally I had a friend of mine who was also a girl that was going to be in Bitch Brigade so I was trying to think of something feminine but that would still go with the whole industrial theme. I was sitting on a train one day for about an hour and having a good long think about what I should call the project and then the name came to me.
How important is the visual side of Bitch Brigade and what do you want to say with it?
Very important. The visual side really sets the mood for the music. It's like reading a book with pictures. Without pictures you get a rough idea, with pictures you get an exact idea. With the help of music videos in the near future and more pictures, eventually you guys will get to see this sort of colourful, futuristic world start to appear. It's like taking the experience to the next level :)
You just finished the album Dendrite, how did the writing and recording process go?
It was a fun learning experience. I'm definitely more confident with what I want when it comes to making music now. There's nothing like practice, practice, practice!
I remember that we were talking awhile ago and you couldn’t find inspiration, what did you do the re-find your inspiration? What inspires you in creating lyrics and music?
I listen to a few of my favourite bands when I can't quite find the motivation. I also re-watch movies that inspire me. Futuristic imagery and sounds inspire me a lot when it comes to making music for Bitch Brigade.
The album starts with the track "bubblegum cyber" seems to be really about you, being an auto biographic song, is this correct?
Yes, absolutely. I'm a sucker for cute and everything that I said in that song. I love how innocent japanese street fashion styles like decora look and I love the themes, values and morals behind hello kitty. Screw christianity, live your life like Kitty and you'll never go wrong! Vegan cupcakes for all! Ps. stop eating all the animals :'(
In this track you sing you sing: "I had a plan of going somewhere but I didn’t know where" now the album is done, have you found the direction you want to go?
Yeah definitely. The next album will be much easier to make and mind you it will be kickass ;)
In my mind "Bubblegum Cyber" also pretty well describes the music of Bitch Brigade, a mix of popmelodies and industrial music, do you agree that Bubblegum Cyber describes the music as well?
I think the song more so describes me personally than the actual music. I know a lot of girls (and maybe even guys) that listen to Bitch Brigade can relate to that song :) The imagery you could probably call "Bubblegum Cyber" as well but quite a few of the songs are different from each other on this album. Some are a little darker sounding. Well I think so anyway...
You have a really nice singing voice, why did you choose to use effects on it?
I love effects on vocals. It suits the whole EBM / Industrial music. Clean vocals are for music chart popstars (although I'm sure they probably have every effect on their vocals imaginable).
What are your expectations for the album?
I hope people like it :) It's very different to whats out there at the moment from other bands in the same genre so I hope everyone finds it refreshing! I would like to make a music video soon too :)
The other member of Bitch Brigade is Zero, what is exact role in the band?
Zero will be my live keyboardist when I perform but he also takes all of our photos. He might even be shooting the music video but we're still figuring that out. He's also my long time lover and now fiancé ;)
Having a live keyboard player means you will do live shows, what are your thoughts about it, I know you want to make them visually attractive?
Yes we'll be performing live soon. Probably somewhere here locally to start off with. I've had quite a few offers in the past to perform but didn't want to until I had the CD done. I want it to be something special so that you get your nights worth of entertainment so I'm currently working on ideas for the visual side of live shows that will be interesting.
Besides Bitch Brigade you are also a designer, what kind of things do you design and does inspiration for music and design deviate from each other or not?
Well I haven't had much time to make clothing lately but soon I will be starting things off in a major way. I make japanese inspired street fashion. The kind of clothes you'd see in FRUiTS magazine. The style of clothing I make doesn't really inspire me because if that were the case I'd be making the sort of music you hear on DDR machines or something but it definitely keeps the "Bubblegum" part of Bitch Brigade going (visually).
What are your ambitions in designing?
To make more people look cute ^__^
You have done guestvocals for Panzer Kunst as well as Syndika Zero, how did you get to these collaborations and can we expect some more collaborations in the near future?
That [syndika:zero] song turned out amazing. Paul from syndika has such an awesome voice! I'm on the same label as he is which is Crunch Pod of course so he asked me if I wanted to collaborate on something. Panzer Kunst is actually Zero's music project. I'm not quite sure where we're at with that right now but hopefully we'll make something more in the near future.
What will be next for Bitch Brigade?
A music video, more awesome photos and imagery, more collaborations including a collaboration with the band Virtual Terrorist which is happening soon. Make sure you guys all check out the "Pastel Agressive" remix EP too which will be a free download. A few bands have remixed a few songs off the album and they've turned out great :D
Any last words for the readers?
Thanks to everyone who's shown support so far ^_^ The future is bright!
www.myspace.com/bbrigade