VISIONS - INTERVIEWS/ARTICLES
 
 
  MELODY MAKER (DATE UNKNOWN)  
  LOADED (DATE UNKNOWN)  
  SORTED MAGAZINE 1998  
  TOP OF THE POPS WEB CHAT 18/11/98    
  THE HISTORY OF VISIONS  
     

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
MELODY MAKER
 
 
  'Visions Of Ecstasy' failed to get a certificate again from the British Board Of Film Classification when the ruling against it on ground of blasphemy was upheld in court last week.  The film, which centres on the story of Sister Teresa of Avila, features music composed by Banshee Steve Severin.

After the court upheld the ban he spoke exclusively to the Maker.

"I was surprised it was banned, because I think it's quite mild," he said.  "People have very mixed reactions to it.  Some people think it's a work of art, some people think it's rubbish.  But everybody likes the music."

The British Board Of Film Classification is instructed by the Home Secretary to deny a certificate to any film that could be prosecuted for obscenity or blasphemy.  'Visions Of Ecstasy' is the first film in the UK to be denied a certificate on grounds of blasphemy.  The BBFC objected to a scene in which a nun is shown in an embrace with the body of Christ on the cross.

Severin objects to the fact that the art or pornography debate has obscured the question of whether the film is any good or not.

'I think there's a very tricky area where you shouldn't to go out of your way to offend people's faith.  But in Britain, the idea of blasphemy covers bad taste as well.  I don't think the film offends people's faith in any way.  It could offend in other ways, because it's maybe not serious enough.  When you see the idea of a 16th Century in a pound and a half of lip gloss, you'll understand.  It's not pornography in that it doesn't set out to titillate.  But it is borderline."

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LOADED
 
 
  BIKE ON A CHRIST!

 Holy shit!  Ex-Banshee in blasphemy film banning

Nigel Wingrove’s Visions of Ecstasy, an erotic art porn fantasy based on the writings of the 16th Century nun, St. Teresa of Avila, has been denied a certificate in case it is blasphemous.  You might have hated it. You might have loved it.  But you won’t be allowed to watch it.  After seven years the Government has won their case in the European Court of Human rights.

I was commissioned to write the score for Visions back in 1989, after years with Siouxsie And The Banshees.  I’ve watched from the wings as the creaking establishment went to work.  And a pretty inept and scary thing it is too.

I discussed the case with Nigel, the newly crowned beast Of Blasphemy.

I remember the day you phoned saying you had been denied a certificate.  I thought, "It’s not that rude!"  Blasphemy just hadn’t occurred to me.

"One of the features of this saga has been terrible timing.  The Rushdie affair was at its height and consequently everyone was very touchy.  I had to learn fast.  Being so green, I made many mistakes.  For example, as soon as the BBFC gave my producer the verbal decision we went hell for leather to the press.  Unfortunately, when asked by the papers for a comment the BBFC denied they had reached a verdict.  It killed the story dead.  It was the first of many instances of the BBFC being economical with the truth."

The appeal hearing at the ‘Institute Of Health & Hygiene’ was totally surreal.  I kept thinking a bunch of people in gas masks and protective jumpsuits would burst through the door and hose us down.

"That’s right.  The cast list was incredible.  The Video Appeals Committee was represented by Richard DuCann who had been part of the team defending Lady Chatterley’s Lover."

The irony is, despite its officious title, the British Board Of Film Classification is a toothless watchdog set up by the film industry.  Rather than making a film ‘decent’, their only brief is to cover their arse against a lawsuit by some nutter.  It was bizarre how, after all the learned testimony, the chairman of the committee had just one query: "Was the actress wearing any underwear?"  They made a meal of the fact that the ‘actress’ had appeared in Penthouse.  I wonder where you should have looked: "Thespians requires.  Must be willing to drink the blood of Christy-like figure. Some nudity.  No dialogue."

"They were determined to brand me as a smutty pornographer from the start.  Even though they clearly said that the sexual content of the film would only rate ‘18’, as opposed to an ‘R’."

By the end of ‘89, the film was seemingly dead in the water.  Then you decided to take the case to Europe, which is a very slow process.  Those intervening years were tough on you.  You lost your home, each new film venture was plagued by your new reputation as a heretic.  Fortunately you have turned all the bad press to your advantage.

"That was my lowest.  Prior to Visions I had been designing layouts for a variety of magazines Skin Two, Nursing Times, that sort of thing.  Then I happened upon a few horror film fanzines and realised there was a complete underground phenomenon.  A whole network of people talking about these films that I’d never heard of: Nasty Nazis, Gorewhores and the like.  I thought some of these films were gems.  Completely insane.  So I started my own mag, The Redeemer, with headlines like ‘Fanged-Up SS Frauliens’ and ‘Flesh Crazes Necro Nymphos On An HIV Trip To Hell’.  Then I realised I could fill a gap in the video market while making a lot of sick people very happy.  Salon Kitty, one of my favourite films was our first release, then we tried the sleaze epic, Bare Behind Bars, but they banned that too."

Then the European Court of Human Rights sat finally in March, and the Government were scared.

"By this point we had persuaded Salman Rushdie to write a statement on our defence.  All the signs were favourable for a victory, which would have led to the repeal of our antiquated blasphemy laws.  As far as I was concerned, all we had to do was sit back and wait for the verdict."

And then, After eight months, the court threw out Nigel’s case.  Visions Of Ecstasy is banned.  Unlike music and books, film has to be singled out as too dangerous to be judged by consenting adults.  Cronenburg’s Crash also still has no certificate.  Where do we go from here?

"I was gutted at first, but I have signed a deal for worldwide release in the New Year.  At least people will get a chance to judge my film for itself - except in Britain, of course."

Is that good enough?

"No, I always have something up my sleeve.  Not least, Visions 2: The Resurrection.  It will be as erotic as possible."

"And, of course, in the best possible taste!"

STEVE SEVERIN

Visions Of Ecstasy, and the album, will not be available in the New Year (unless you live in Holland, the US, France, Latvia, Puerto Rico etc).

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THE HISTORY OF VISIONS
 
 
  LOOK BACK IN ANGER

Visions of Ecstasy - The Complete Story

Steven Severin first met film director Nigel Wingrove in Plymouth sometime in 1979 when he did an interview with him for Punk fanzine 'Stains'.

Ten years later, in the summer of 1989, the two men met up again at Fred's, a nightclub in London.  This time Wingrove having already made a short film with Danielle Daxx called 'Axel' approached Severin for his new film project 'Visions of Ecstasy', an erotic fantasy based upon the writings of the 16th century Carmelite nun St. Teresa of Avila.  Steven was commissioned to write the entire film score.

He enlisted the help of an engineer friend Jonathan Dee and spent one 20 hour day in Mark Lusardi's studio in Camberwell putting sound to picture.  In fact, all the music was written without Severin ever having seen a single frame!  He wrote the score in one piece then separated it into 4 parts: 1.Sphere, 2.Come Deliver Us, 3.Skin Crawl and 4. Transverberation of the Heart.

Everything was ready by the end of the summer and Wingrove submitted his film (an 18 minutes art video with no dialogue) to the 'British Board of Film Classification' (BBFC), aka 'The Board',  for a classification certificate, but on the 18th of September 'The Board' rejected his application on the grounds of blasphemy.

With lawyer Geoffrey Robertson representing him the applicant then appealed against the Board's decision to the 'Video Appeals Committee', aka 'The VAC'.

The appeal was heard on the 6th and 7th December 1989 by a five-member panel of the VAC.  Amongst the panel were the late Peter Barnes (Chairman) and opposing counsel the late Richard DuCann.  By a majority of 3 to 2, a written decision rejecting the appeal was given on 23 December 1989.

Whilst smaller pressure groups like 'Feminists against Censorship' and in particular 'Article 19' kept interest going, Mark Stephens from the law firm 'Stephens Innocent' approached Wingrove with the idea of taking the case to Europe.

So, in March of 1994 the 'Visions' case was finally heard by the European Commission (an interim body that filters out cases suitable for the European Court) and they decided that there was a case to be answered.  'Visions' reached the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg in March 1996 and after an eight-month wait, the Court threw out the 'Nigel Wingrove vs. The United Kingdom' case, as a result 'Visions Of Ecstasy' is the only film ever to be banned on the grounds of blasphemy and remains so to this day.

Out of devilment, in December 1996, Nigel Wingrove announced his new project, an even more erotic film, provisionally entitled 'Visions 2:The Resurrection'!

Wingrove then approached Severin to discuss the possibility of a commercial release of the 'Visions' soundtrack, at which point Steven returned to the studio to re-master the recordings. He spent the next 2 years polishing and fine-tuning the original tapes, adding a further 30 minutes of new material.  'Visions' CD was eventually released on 8th December 1998 on Severin's own on-line label RE: almost ten years after its initial inspiration and creation!

In February 2005  film director Jean Rollin began preparation on a film version of the George Bataille classic 'The Story Of The Eye', Nigel Wingrove is slated as the producer and Steven Severin is in  the frame for soundtrack duties.

Courtesy of Costas

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SORTED MAGAZINE
 
 
  Punk survivor and Gothic icon Steven Severin on life after the Banshees and the Gothic revival.

There are very few people who can truly be called punk survivors, but Steven Severin definitely is one. He first took to the stage in 1976 in a band formed out of the infamous Bromley Contingent. Four punks, including a then unknown Sid Vicious on drums, played 15 minutes of shambolic noise at the 1976 Punk Festival on a bill that also featured their heroes, the Sex Pistols.

The band was Suzie and the Banshees, the longest enduring punk band of all. While the Pistols split and Sid followed his own tragic path, Steven and the vocalist, now known as Siouxsie, played on for twenty years. They finally split in '96 to avoid the hype surrounding the Pistols reunion and the so-called 'Punk Revival'.

Siouxsie and her husband Budgie, the Banshees' drummer since '79, focussed on their long-time side-project, the Creatures. Steven, however, has struck out on his own with a new label and a new career as a composer. He described the experience of starting fresh after 20 years, without the Banshees as a safety net, as scary and hard work, but also invigorating. One of the main problems he's likely to have is trying to do something new against the background of his long-standing reputation. He said that it's a double-edged sword.

"But it's nothing I lose sleep over. In fact, I have been afforded a great amount of respect in terms of the 'punk' thing. I quite enjoy being a 'commentator', after all, I was there!"

The Banshees have the dubious honour of being regarded as one of the main bands who spawned Gothic rock. Goth history even credits Siouxsie with coming up with the term 'Gothic'. So, it's ironic that, after ending the Banshees to avoid the Punk revival, the Creatures has returned in the middle of what seems to be a Goth revival. At first Steven was unsure of what that meant.

"Goth revival? Are you talking Alexander McQueen or those sad fucks Bauhaus?"

After pointing out that Bauhaus aren't the only band who've returned, the others including the Sisters of Mercy, the Fields of the Nephilim and Clan of Zymox, along side innumerable new bands following in the wake of Marilyn Manson, he admitted he was happy to miss it.

"I've avoided getting reviews like the one The Cure got today in The Guardian. [Where the "godfathers of goth" were described as ten years out of date and Robert Smith, also a former Banshee, was called "a terrible disappontment".] I'm glad I missed that. All those names! The Glamour! Pass the talcum powder!"

Scenes, fads and 'revivals' are not something that concern Steven Severin at the moment. He has taken full control of his own career, going so far as to set up his own label, 'RE:'.

"I'm a control freak. It's only a 'label' in terms of the fact I will 'RE:lease' CDs. I intend to make available my written work both in a printed form and web form. A recording contract with an indie/major wouldn't be flexible enough. I think a lot of people are going to come to the same conclusion. Eventually."

RE: exists exclusively on the internet, which, for him, is the best environment for some future plans.

"Hypertext fiction it is the ONLY place. Free speech, baby. C'mon, why would I want to EVER speak to an A&R scumbag again?"

Steven is optimistic that the current freedom available on the 'net will last, "you have to be", and isn't one of the punks who turned cynical when they didn't change the world.

"Oh no, that was the Clash's thing. But then again in many ways it did until the accursed Band Aid gang took the easy option and handed everything back to the corporations."

His first release on RE: is based around a soundtrack he wrote in 1989 for the controversial Nigel Wingrove film "Visions of Ecstasy", a short (18 minute) piece with no dialogue. The film is an attempt to interpret the eroticism implied by the well-documented 'visions' of St. Teresa of Avila, a sixteenth century Carmelite nun. The film was denied a certificate in the UK on the grounds of blasphemy and despite an appeal to the European Court, remains banned.

"It isn't the greatest film by any means and some people may say it's salacious, but I felt, on the whole, it was fairly reverential and serious and certainly not something that should be forbidden. My new album 'Visions' takes it's start point from the original soundtrack and expands from it."

He found the legal process surrounding the film fascinating, and described it as a good opportunity to give the establishment a "nudge and a wink.

"The first hearing was in a place called 'The Institute of Hygiene'. It was hilarious. I'd never seen the British establishment at work, up close. All the stereotypes seemed more than likely. You know, transvestite barrister gets a damn good caning in his chambers."

The album also draws inspiration from literary and musical works. The track 'The Baphomet', in particular, is a reference to the book of the same name by Pierre Klossowski (Balthus' brother). St. Teresa is a character in the book. The 'breaths' of the dead Knights meet each year on the anniversary of the Grand Master's execution to commit the atrocities they were falsely accused of and eventually admitted to under pain of torture.

"It's a fantastic flight of the imagination. That's part of the expansion I spoke of."

Musical influences included Steve Reich, Philip Glass, Ryuichi Sakamoto and Eno.

"Music I'd always been into, but it's influence on my work with the Banshees was pretty subliminal." At the moment, Steven Severin is a very busy man. He said that he's very close to the finished "Visions" and that he has more interviews to do. Next week, he's in the studio to finish his next album, "Maldoror", for 'RE:lease' in the new year.

"I'm now starting to canvass for other artists to join RE: bands, singers, writers, web designers. Multimedia is a horrible buzz word, but I guess that's what I do now. I want a digital camera and after this a chatroom!"

"Visions" is officially scheduled for release on the 26 of October.

"If it comes in earlier it will go straight out."

Donnacha DeLong

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TOP OF THE POPS WEB CHAT
 
 
  Steven Severin was the founder member and bassist with Siouxsie and the Banshees. They were formed in 1976, and after a long and successful recording career, which spawned numerous chart hits, the band split amicably in 1996. Since then, Siouxsie and Budgie have returned to their ongoing Creatures project, and Severin has been working on various solo projects and collaborations, including setting up his own online label, RE:. The first release on this label is his first solo instrumental album, "Visions." Originally written as a soundtrack to Nigel Wingrove's unreleased film "Visions of Ecstasy," Steven has extended the initial 18-minute long track into a full-length album, in a radical departure from his previous writing in Siouxsie and The Banshees. The album is released this week and is available exclusively on his label, www.stevenseverin.com

Steven joined us for a live webchat on November 18th 1998.

Steven Severin live on beeb.

Johnny X asks: "How difficult was it to go it alone after the support of the Banshees?"

Steven Severin: "In terms of writing material, not hard at all, much the same way as it had always been. I wrote music and presented it to other members. In a lot of ways it's nice not to have the safety net."

Tin Tin asks: "Did you all agree to splitting up, or was it an unilateral decision by one or two members that in the end split the group up?"

Steven Severin: "Like all major decisions it was basically decided between Siouxsie and myself."

Brian Price asks: "What are you able to do artistically that you couldn't with the Banshees?"

Steven Severin: "I've got more time on my hands to be able to follow through all my ideas. Having my own label means I can collaborate with whoever I decide to and I can also do things apart from just releasing music CDs."

Dom: "Why is Visions only available via the internet?"

Steven Severin: "It was a conscious decision not to approach any record companies because they would have seen it as a niche piece of product. Not dealing with shops means I don't have to worry about the packaging fitting in with everybody else's and I can keep complete control over what goes where and how."

I don't have any particular opinion about whether the internet is going to replace real shops but it's something that's fascinated my from the word go and it's an ongoing, developing medium, unlike the record industry."

Sinead Bloxham asks: "How long have you been interested in the internet, and do you maintain your own site?"

Steven Severin: "I got hooked back in 1983 in the days of Prestel (a precursor to the internet) but I've only been online for a couple of years now. As far as the site goes I design most of the pages but my assistant maintains it."

Hema: "What types of products will be published by the RE: group (music, books...)?"

Steven Severin: "CDs, CD-ROMs, books, possibly even videos, but what I'm getting into now is the idea of things that are exclusive to the web i.e.. hyper-text fiction with music."

I've just finished the second release which is music from a play called Maldoror. I've got somebody working on a CD-ROM, a young composer called Tim Benjamin and I've asked Marisa Carr to write a monologue for a spoken word project and about a million other things."

Adey Gray asks: "What exactly does Marissa Carr do? It sounds incredibly bizarre!"

Steven Severin: "Marisa Carr is a performance artist. She's kind of a modern burlesque queen. I don't know how else to describe her really."

Paul Court asks: "Are there any plans to bring "Maldoror" to the UK?"

Steven Severin: "Maldoror has another run in Curitiba, Brazil in March followed by Sao Paulo in April and May and depending on sponsorship, Os Satyros are hoping to come to Europe possibly for the Edinburgh Festival."

Ce Ce asks: "Any plans to perform Visions live?"

Steven Severin: "Not at present and if it was my idea would be to put together a band to play it for me, i.e. I wouldn't be in it myself. It has been suggested in the past that something might happen on the South Bank."

Julianna Kar asks: "Does it feel strange now being thrust into the spot light after lurking in the background for so long?"

Steven Severin: "Not really. Siouxsie always hated interviews so in that area I'm used to answering all the questions. In a lot of ways, promoting myself, as opposed to a band, feels exactly the same."

Dr Legg asks: "When was the last time you were outraged?"

Steven Severin: "It was quite recently. I think it was M People's single, Testify."

Who would Steven imprison for crimes against music?
Read on to get the scoop!

"Middle America deserves Marilyn Manson"

Dave Walsh asks: "Who would you inprison for crimes against music?"

Steven Severin: "Can we start with M People?"

Juniper Shark asks: "What do you think of performers using shock tactics to push dull music i.e. Marilyn Mansun? Isn't it all a bit passé now?"

Steven Severin: "It's only passé to people who've seen it before. I'm not particularly a fan but Middle America deserves Marilyn Manson."

Mark Ellins asks: "How did the 'hack work' with The Guardian come about? Any more journalistic forays planned for the future?"

Steven Severin: "It came about because the fashion editor of The Guardian asked me for some quotes about an article on black leather. When I saw the published article I realized that I'd pretty much written it so I suggested that next time she wanted something done I would actually write it for her and found that I really enjoyed it."

However, I have total control over the pieces that I write for her and the other times I've written for the papers I've not enjoyed so much editorial control which has put me off. I'm also a bit too busy with the label at present but I will do some more sometime."

Singer: "What is the one piece of criticism that has been leveled at you that sticks in your mind?"

Steven Severin: "Most of it bounces straight back off, however it's more a case of having a mental black book of people get revenge on. But to be honest it doesn't bother me at all. The one thing that does stick in my mind of late is the notion that the last 2 or 3 Banshee albums were substandard which is complete nonsense."

Oleq: "There is a tribute album recorded by goth bands, "tribute to SATB.". did you hear it?"

Steven Severin: "Unfortunately I did. How did they find the ugliest girl goth on the planet to put on the sleeve and why did they reproduce her image a dozen times? Why did every singer sound exactly the same, barring the French bloke who just growled a lot. It's a cash-in by the label Cleopatra who I went to see a couple of years ago and the managing director said to me, "What do you do exactly?""

Danny: "Which song do you wish you had written?"

Steven Severin: "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore by the Walker Brothers."

Martin Jenkings asks: "Do you find the fanbase that the Banshees has slightly disturbing?"

Steven Severin: "No. I imagine most bands get their fair share of nutters and we've certainly had ours."

guest7: "Do you have any plans/desire to work in a band format again?"

Steven Severin: "Not at present. There are people I'd like to work with and maybe that would take a band shape but I doubt very much whether I would be in a band that would play live."

Solda: "If you could collaborate with anyone, who would you choose and why?"

Steven Severin: "I approached Ute Lemper a few years back about a project that involved translating some Russian poets into a song form. She was really into the idea but we both got busy and the project is treading water but I'd still love to do it one day."

valora: "Since the duet between Bowie and Siouxsie turned out to be a false rumour, how about you collaborating with Bowie?"

Steven Severin: "It's an idea. We both went to the same school but wouldn't I have to do that drum n bass thing? I'm not sure I could be so trendy."

Janey: "When was the last time you spoke to any of the ex-Banshee mob?"

Steven Severin: "I had lunch with Siouxsie and Budgie yesterday."

What does Steven want for Christmas?
Find Out!

"The first band I saw was The Nice in 1969."

Winston Holmes asks: "As the original Banshee, how did the various people coming and going affect the morale?"

Steven Severin: "Apart from the obvious departure of John and Kenny everyone else was pretty much sacked. So morale was high."

Net Girl asks: "What is your favourite Banshees song of all time?"

Steven Severin: "It changes all the time. Today it's Christine."

hema: "would you ever consider working with Robert Smith again?"

Steven Severin: "Considering we haven't spoken for 10 years it's highly unlikely. The odd Christmas card doesn't quite do it for me."

Arg Z asks: "You seem to be dabbling with lots of different artistic mediums, is this something you've always done or isn't just as an ex-banshee that you've become interested?"

Steven Severin: "I've always been interested in all sides of the process of making music. Everything spins off of that."

mark Ellins asks: "Was there a time before the eventual split that you wanted out or did you feel the set-up of the band gave you enough space to allow you to do your own satellite projects?"

Steven Severin: "There was never any time when I wanted out. I quite often wanted things to change but really, like always, Siouxsie and I were in tandem on the band's direction. Never more so than when we decided to end it."

John Carr asks: "What was the first gig you went to?"

Steven Severin: "I think the first gig I ever saw was a band called The Nice. They were doing their last ever concert, I guess it must have been 1969."

Oona: "You wrote a chapter for John Lydon's book, "No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs". Any plans for a biog?"

Steven Severin: "People assume that I actually wrote that chapter but it's just ghosted very well. There are certain phrases in there that I would never use and it's got a kind of American slant to it that isn't me either. As far as the biog goes I intend to have a good few more lives before sitting down and writing it. However the magazine Mojo have just commissioned me to write an extremely long article based around 4 or 5 diary entries. Don't hold your breath. They've given me a year to do it. They want me to choose episodes from the Banshees past and elaborate."

Cliff McLenehan asks: "In an interview we did a couple of years back, you said you felt you and Siouxsie had different ways of writing material and that it was one of the contributory factors to the break up of the Banshees. Can you explain?"

Steven Severin: "Hi Cliff. I was moving more towards using the computer as a songwriting tool and Siouxsie always liked to just bash things out in a band situation. I tended to feel that that method could only have so many differing results and I think we'd exhausted most of them. The computer is a delicious can of worms."

lori: "Hi Steven, VISIONS is great! Have you ever written lyrics for a singer other than Siouxsie and if you have did it feel strange?"

Steven Severin: "Yes, in particular for The Glove Project I did with Robert Smith and yes it is very weird."

Elaine Wigley asks: "The thing I remember about the banshees was the striking video imagery, and the music of course, is that something you are keen to continue with in your own projects?"

Steven Severin: "I absolutely hated making videos. I felt that only 50% of our ideas would come across. The reasons are simple: lack of money and time and of course somebody else translating your ideas."

Kimberly Jameson asks: "What do you want for Christmas? I'm buying."

Steven Severin: "A zip drive for my iMac and Tottenham to win the cup. Can you arrange it?"

"Here's something to watch out for. I've just produced a track for a female duo called Jezebel and they are performing it on Eurotrash in early December. "

18/11/98

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