Chiasm- The Industrial-Electronic Project Of Emileigh Rohn Features Collaborator John Fryer (Black Needle Noise), The Legendary Producer Behind Depeche Mode, NIN
Interview conducted on June 5, 2020
By Dan Locke
COP International—the label home of Stabbing Westward, Deathline International and Suicide Queen—today announces its newest release, the 5-song EP Away from industrial-electronic act Chiasm. The project of Detroit-based musician Emileigh Rohn, Chiasm has become known for cultivating lush, eclectic, eerily dystopian sonic landscapes with delicately balanced vocals for the past 20-plus years.
What is your upbringing?
Emileigh Rohn: I grew up in southeast Michigan, later found my education in Ann Arbor and never really left the area.
How did you discover music?
I recall going to a restaurant with my family as a kid (around 4 or 5 years old) and watching a live piano player there. It was one of the most intriguing things I’d ever seen and I insisted on lessons.
How did you start to write music?
I had already been taking piano and singing in choirs growing up, and remember when I started learning to play radio music, I had the sheets for on the piano, I kept wanting to change it. Therefore, I did.
What was the title of your first original song? Did you record it?
Yes, I have a very embarrassing cassette (a full album) I put together with a boom box and a Casio I received as a gift when I was 13. The cover art just says “Emileigh” in multicolored Crayola markers, along with tiny doodles. I’m pretty sure one of the songs was called “Medication,” about prescription drug abuse. There is only the one copy—hopefully.
What was your first and last concert that you saw?
I recall seeing the Beach Boys play an outdoor arena, and Amy Grant in a stadium while she was still a Christian artist with my family. More recently, it was either Aesthetic Perfection or Grendel.
How did you get your first guitar and do you still have it?
I do have a first guitar, but that’s irrelevant because I’m a keyboard player J My first pro keyboard I bought for myself is the Korg Trinity and it’s still my baby. It has had some reworks, but gear is family to me, so no giving up. I have all the love for it.
What was your first performance like?
I’m pretty sure there was more drama than performance happening there, but it was a great lesson in time management and moving lots of equipment.
You have been recording music since 1997. How has music changed over the years?
There’s a lot more planning ahead now, just from prior experience with trial and error, and a lot of re-recording that had to happen to put everything together. I really do enjoy catching raw emotion before I’ve even found a song structure and finding ways to incorporate it, so the experimentation is still there, but I have better ideas of what will really be useful. Now with computers finally catching up, it’s a lot easier to find controlled ways to work with it all afterwards.
How did you come up with your stage name?
I was encapsulated by my graduate studies at the time I started the project, so I wanted to choose something that I found completely inspiring from what I was learning. I chose the name “Chiasm” after the optic chiasm because it’s such a complex structure and represents how delicate perception can be. It’s referred to as a point of crossing over, which is where I felt I was at the time I started the project. My first band logo is also based off its shape.
How did you get your music heard, so it could be included into movie, television and video games?
I was signed to COP International Records in 1999 and they worked diligently to create those opportunities for me. I also try to spread the word of my music online as much as I can, responding to as much interest as I receive because you never know who knows somebody.
You’ve released your EP “Away”. What is the meaning of the title?
It’s as simple as trying to escape our daily lives. I think especially with all the lockdowns we’ve just had, it has that much more impact.
Tell me about your upcoming LP “Missed the Noise”? Does the title have something to do with how there has not been any live music for the last 3 months?
The name really came from a couple of the song titles, and then I realized afterwards that John Fryer’s personal project “Black Needle Noise” also fits into the theme perfectly. The album is really about the collaboration, the impact his music in particular has had somewhat unknowingly on my direction for decades, and then the eventual happenstance of working together.
How did you get hooked up with John Fryer?
John had done a remix of a Chiasm track, “Locked In,” for my recent solo album, Reset, and COP International thought it would be a great idea to create some music together.
What is your favorite track on the album?
“Calling” was the first track we finished together and will always have special meaning to me.
How do you stay healthy while touring?
I’m not a touring act, but in general with lots of coffee and an intentional seeking of green spaces and winter forests.
Why did you picked Delia Derbyshire as the person you put on your Facebook timeline for International Women’s Day?
I reposted a 1965 BBC Archive clip of her explaining the process for creating and arranging electronic sounds for music. She is an incredible role model for all female musicians, it was amazing to watch her in action, and the subject is something I’m personally familiar with. I didn’t realize she had helped create the Doctor Who theme (also a fan of the series) until a fan pointed it out, and then I was that much more excited about her accomplishments.
How has the Me-Too Movement helped female performers?
Has it? I just hope it takes more predators to court.
What is you’re feeling about streaming music?
I was a featured electronic artist on Mp3.com in 1999, so the streaming platform has always been expected and helpful for me just to get the sound out. I personally make an effort to actually purchase the music I know I will listen to repeatedly, partly because I like having something personal in my hands, but because I know how hard we work to get these projects completed. I don’t think most listeners in general understand the practicalities of this.
Digital vs. vinyl?
I just had my latest solo album, Reset, released on vinyl, and it was the first one for me. It’s something I’d always wanted, just to know I had done it, and it’s a treasure. As far as the sound quality, I think digital is less prone to scratching.
What are your feelings about the social uprising going on in the United States?
I’m glad it’s finally happening and hope some huge long-awaited corrections are made.
What song from the past is in your mind right now? In addition, what is the meaning that song means to you?
For some reason, I often sing, “Do You Hear the People Sing?” from Les Misérables while doing cell culture in the hood at work, and that’s in my head again now… not sure why that one came out.
How do you feel the Covid-19 virus going to affect the music business in the future?
I think we will all become that much more creative, hopefully, focused on what we want to write rather than what the collective audiences want to hear. And maybe this newly changed; more personal audience will prefer it.
What have you been doing with your self-quarantine?
I have been writing, recording constantly, and looking ahead a lot.
It you had to tell God something during these days. What would you tell him?
I am grateful for the situation I am in and hope they need for changes just brings resolution and peace.
I actually just recorded a letter to God, released here if you’re interested:
Have you discovered or rediscovered any new hobbies?
I’ve been cooking at home a lot more, and that’s not such a bad thing. I’ve rediscovered some great books I hadn’t gotten around to, been wandering through the forests on a bicycle, and visiting the rivers.
Many artists are doing nightly concerts over either YouTube, Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. What are you planning to do?
I plan to continue as I have been and just keep writing and recording maybe put together some music videos for current releases. I also plan to continue to enjoy watching friends perform nightly concerts on social media.
Do you think it will be possible to make a living doing concerts this way?
Some people have found a way to make a living doing music this way. I haven’t even looked down that path.
First, it was an article in the New York Times, then Rolling Stones talked about it and finally Live Nation CEO said that concerts might not start again until fall of 2021. Do you think this could happen?
Yes. If there isn’t an effective Covid-19 vaccine before then, absolutely, that could happen.
With Social Distance being the norm. Do you feel that it may be the end of music fest for the next couple of years?
I think the packed in crowds of the past may be over for a while, but music festival performances will still happen, even if just recorded/streamed with huge social-distancing outdoor scenarios and limited live attendance, because people need music more than ever right now.
What about Holographic concerts in our living room?
Like, life-sized? Somewhat creepy, but okay.
How do you see yourself in the next five years?
I really don’t see past tomorrow right now, so about the same with older/more cats.
Anything you would like to say in closing?
Thank you for your interest, sleep well. <3
The new Chiasm feat John Fryer single, “Away”, can be found here:
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