From the El Paso Herald-Post, February 6th, 1992
Course of Empire's music fits few labels
by Paul Maldonado Jr.
Dallas-based band Course of Empire is having an identity crisis in the press.
Called everything from an industrial-metal band to U2 with a Bauhaus hangover,
COE is out blazing its own path - propelled by twin drummers.
"There are some industrial bands we like, but we don't like being dumped into
a label like industrial, metal, or gothic," lead singer Vaughn Stevenson said
last week during a conference call from the band manager's office in Dallas.
"We're the aftermath of industrial.
"We're a post-industrial, anti-rock'n'roll band!"
COE is out on the road in support of its first full-length album, the re-
released, self-titled "Course of Empire" (Carpe Diem Records/Zoo Entertainment),
originally issued in 1990. The band performs Saturday at Club 101, 500 San
Francisco Ave.
Some of the songs on the album are dark, brooding crunchers such as "Coming of
the Century" ("Our favorite," said guitarist Mike Graff. "We're gonna make a
video of it - our first.") and "Copious," while others like "Peace Child" and
"Sins of the Fathers" are mellow acoustic numbers.
"We're schizophrenic that way," Graff said, laughing. "If our music is dark,
it's something that just comes out that way. It's not something conscious.
We don't sit around and say 'That's not dark enough.'"
"It's a subconscious effort," Stevenson chimed in. "We all write. It's
equally split among us, writing our songs."
"We beat around ideas until somehing comes out," Graff continued.
"Whatever comes out, we do," Stevenson added. "We're not boxed into any genre.
It's not like we're an industrial-metal band as some of our press says."
The band took its name from a five-panel series of paintings by British
landscape artist Thomas Cole of the late 1800s. The panels depict the rise
and fall of civilization, "a crumbling of ruins, like ancient Rome, a cycle,"
Graff explained.
Cole, an early environmentalist who saw America as the last paradise, didn't
want the Industrial Revolution to spoil America as it had England, Stevenson
said.
"We don't have a conscious agenda lyrically," he said, "but the environmental
stuff is part of our belief system."
The band is currently scouting for a new second drummer to replace original
member Anthony Headley.
"We're trying for Derek Smalls," Graff said, rather tongue-in-cheek. "You
know, from Spinal Tap."
"We've got a friend of the band, Kyle Thomas, touring with us," said drummer
Chad Lovell. "At this point, he's not a full member of the band. Hopefully
by the time we go in to record our next album we'll have somebody."
"We're planning on the beginning of summer (to record the new disc), Stevenson
said. "As soon as possible, but it probably won't be until summer."
"We've got some new material," Graff added, "but it's still pretty pregnant."
The and is also known to do a cover or two during its live show, including
"We've Got the Beat" by The Go-Go's.
"No! We hate it; we don't do it!" all three yelled.
"Don't listen to them," Allan Restrepo, the band's manager, said. "It's a
great cover. They still do it."
"'Let's Have a War' by Fear - I think that's the only cover we're doing on
this tour," Stevenson said. "This is our first national tour, and El Paso's
the second or third stop.
"We're doing Texas, the West Coast, and Chicago," he concluded. "We've done
one-city tours before like a show in New York, then come back home."
Strange Mary opens the 9 p.m., all-ages show. Tickets are $5. Call 544-2101
for more info.
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