Kimberly K: Stella Katsoudas definitely made me really want to make music. The albums she released under Sister Soleil had such uniqueness and it really struck a chord with me. Aside from that a lot of females in the 90's had a lot of influence over me like Hole, Ruby, Tori Amos and Björk. I also spent a fair amount of my teenage years listening to Depeche Mode and early Marilyn Manson.

Angela: The Cure most definitely. They have a song/sound for every occasion. And every genre remake I hear is amazing, even the country version of "Inbetween Days".

Mark: I don't think I could actually pin down any one artist that influenced me the most. There are several and the answer to this could change daily, but from a song writing standpoint of our last record, I took inspiration from 80's new wave, nu metal and dance.


Kimberly K: I just thought making music was a really cool way of examining emotions. It felt very natural. I never had the opportunity when I was younger or had the money to have lots of instruments at hand so my thoughts and my voice were the most direct way I had to creating music. I never thought I had an amazing voice or anything. It was just a matter of working with what I had and what I had was a lot of thoughts. Writing lyrics was an attempt at keeping my head from exploding.

Angela: I've always been singing and dancing. Music has always been my escape.

Mark: In the late 90's, I got my first music creation software for PC. It was a "loops" type software and you could create songs by connecting pieces together. I was hooked! From there I just kept learning new techniques and eventually starting writing my own "parts" using both Virtual and Live instruments. The challenge of seeing "if it can be done" keeps it interesting and always inspires me.


Kimberly K: It depends. Sometimes a title will pop into my head and then from there ideas just sort of treebranch into lyrics. Some lyrics are personal and specific and others are just little hypothetical stories. Just because most of the songs are in first person that doesn't mean they are all about me. In fact, nowadays, I prefer when things are not about me.

Mark: A combination of current mood mixed with what I'm currently listening to.


Kimberly K: Tori Amos' "Under the Pink" and Ani Difranco's "Not a Pretty Girl" were definitely albums whose lyrics resonated with me. My teenage years were not the smoothest, I mean whose were, but they really helped bring home the fact that I wasn't alone in the issues I was dealing with.

Angela: I'm going back to The Cure on this one. They are the reason I made it thru high school alive.

Mark: I'm old school and like another cliché I listened to alot of The Smiths and Morrissey during a time (in my late teens / early 20's) when I was depressed.


Kimberly K: Yes! I wish I had more time to read though. As far as the classics I was probably one of the few students in school who really dug "The Great Gatsby" and "The Scarlett Letter". As far as more recent reads I'm really a fan of Christopher Moore's books, especially "You Suck". It's one of the few books that have really made me laugh out loud. I also can't recommend enough "Let the Right One In" by John Ajvide Lindqvist. It's a Swedish vampire tale which has already spawned a movie and an American remake. I'm also a big nerd and have read all the Harry Potter and Twilight books.

Angela: I could go on about this forever! I love Clive Barker, Melvin Burgess and Chuck Palahniuk. "Cruddy" by Linda Barry and "Tideland" by Terry Giliam are a couple faves. Less than "Zero" and "American Psycho" by Brett Easton Ellis if you've got the stomach for it!

Mark: Hustler, Penthouse...er what? Oh, you meant "books", books.


Kimberly K: Frustration, anxiety and loneliness. It's a feel good album.

Angela: The love of things lonely!

Mark: We drank alot of beer when we recorded this record, does that count as "underlying" inspiration?


Kimberly K: I have a day job. Lady Parasyte doesn't exist as an attempt to pay my rent. It's something I enjoy doing simply because I really enjoy music. I will admit it is often a very difficult balance and I find myself with very little free time between the two. So it's really gratifying when someone says they've really loved a song.

Mark: I put it on the calendar. I have a full time job outside of this band that keeps me traveling for much of the year. That along with the demands of being a family man leave little time but like anything worthwhile I just make time for it. Sometimes that means losing a night's sleep to get down an idea before it pops out of my head.


Kimberly K: Right now honestly the push for more artists to have an internet persona. Social networking does have its advantages but not everyone is good at being super personal and saying the right things in an environment like that. There's a lot of fun elements to it, yes, but it tends to feel like at times it matters more than the music.

Angela: The fact that men seem to need talent and women can get by on auto tune and their looks. It's disgusting. How about America getting out of this love of cookie-cutter bullshit that all sounds the same?

Mark: The pay for play aspect. There is so much good independent music being created right now and yet local and satellite radio is still stuck in same model of playing the same 40 songs every day. Being good isn't enough any more, you have to have a corporate sponsor to pay your way onto the mainstream media.


Kimberly K: Probably myself and my emotions. I've made a lot of poor choices in my life and sometimes it isn't easy dealing with that. I often have a habit of making decisions based off of the wrong feelings. Seeing things clearly and objectively is definitely a struggle at times. Sometimes just making the right choice can be one of the hardest things to do.

Angela: Figuring out what it is that makes me truly happy.

Mark: Moving to Chicago (years ago) without knowing a soul and with very little money. Lots of years holding down 2 or 3 jobs at a time, eating ramen noodles to stay alive and living in crappy apartments in dangerous neighborhoods.


Kimberly K: Honestly, I just want people to enjoy it. I'm not out for world domination or to be a rockstar or anything like that. I just hope it brings others some kind of enjoyment in their lives.

Angela: I just want our music to make people happy.

Mark: Hopefully a few people will hear us and enjoy it.

(Interview by Paul P. for MachineKUNT Records).