2002 interview with Tara
Isolation. Loneliness. Neglect. Distance.
Such is the emotion of Lycia. Begotten in the barren, desert Southwest, environment has always been a major influence on Mike Van Portfleet, the group's founder. Taking the name of a city in ancient Greece, Lycia evokes the imagery of a long-lost mythological landscape. Now residing in the hills of Ohio, physical surroundings are still a primary inspiration. Whether it's the vast emptiness of the desert or the bleakness of a winter scene, Lycia's dark, soothing sound evokes sadness and release.
Lycia has gained the attention of such diverse sources as New Age Voice, Alternative Press and Peter Steele of Type O Negative. The group's haunting ambience has been described as "throbbing with melancholy and almost subconscious bitterness" (PIT MAGAZINE).
Over seven albums, Lycia's guitar and synthesizer-based cascades of sound and ominous, whispered vocals have evolved, with chilling, yet sensuous results
Early History Mike Vanportfleet was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan to a blue collar working family in the early 1960's. Moved to Tempe, Arizona in 1978. Early musical favorites included The Who, The Sweet, David Bowie, Roxy Music, Alice Cooper, Kiss. Graduated with a degree in Cultural Geography, working various factory and mining jobs. Started listening to Ramones, Sex Pistols, Clash, Wire, Joy Division, Gary Numan. Started playing guitar to relieve the monotony of work. Failed first band audition so started his own. Played about twenty shows and became one of the most unliked bands in the Phoenix area. Went on to join about six more bands in quick succession, most of which were banned from clubs for drunkenness and sneaking in underage fans.
Formative Years In May, 1988, after almost quitting music and going back to school for a Masters degree, Mike bough a second-hand 4-track recorder and began playing music by himself. Recording his guitar experiments and adding friend John Fair, Mike quickly had over 100 songs recorded within six months. John left and was replaced off-and-on with Will Welch. These early demos caught the ear of Projekt's founder Sam Rosenthal and the two remained in touch by mail. In 1990, Lycia was invited to contribute to Projekt's From Across This Gray Land No. 2 compilation; Sam was so impressed by Lycia that he placed their two pieces as the lead tracks on the album.
1991 Response was overwhelmingly positive to Lycia's first two songs, so a full album was begun. Originally this debut was to be called Byzantine, but the album was scrapped because the master tapes were unmixable. By summer Lycia had produced an entirely new album, Ionia; this became their first release in September.
1992 The slow synth/droning guitar style of Ionia was explored more deeply on the follow-up, A Day In The Stark Corner recorded during the summer and fall.
1993 Lycia added David Galas in preparation for the group's first live shows, commencing a short tour later that year in support of the November release of A Day In The Stark Corner.
1994 Material from the Stark Corner tour was later released as Lycia Live. By this time, Lycia was working on new material again in two very different styles. A very "song-oriented" direction based around acoustic guitar and a very dark, distorted, electronic approach. Realizing the dichotomy of these extremes, Mike decided to work on the dark, electronic material under a side-project called Bleak. The dense, harsh Vane album resulted. The other material became the first disc of The Burning Circle and Then Dust. With a wealth of song material, that album grew to be a double CD, adding female vocals from Tara on the second disc.
1995 Having finished recording "The Burning Circle and Then Dust, "Mike and Tara moved east to Ohio. A tour soon followed, with Lycia's first dates in the Midwest, East and South. On several of these shows they opened for Type-O-Negative, at Peter SteeleÕs request. With the new influence of the seasonality of the Midwest, Lycia began recording Cold during the winter. A more electronic, orchestrated style emerged.
1996 After a period of rest and relative inactivity, Cold was released in September.
1997 Lycia's most extensive tour ever, with 27 shows in 30 days. During the tour, Lycia developed new material which became the basis for Estrella.
1998 Lycia came full circle with Estrella, bridging the recent sequenced orchestrations of their last album with the drum and guitar orientation of their very first release. Listening again to the more active drum patterns of his older material and warm from the experience of an intense schedule of live shows, band leader Mike Van Portfleet has infused Lycia's recent wall-of-synth ambient soundscapes with a more rhythmic edge. Escaping into the blackness of a night time sky, finding comfort in isolation, examining feelings of resignation and helplessness, Estrella (which means "star" in Spanish) radiates with burning illumination and glimmering luster.
1999 Lycia remains dormant; Tara & Mike record a maxi-cd, The Time Has Come and Gone, under the side-project name "Estraya." Mike decides to disband Lycia, leaving The Empty Spaces recording sessions unfinished.
2000 ?
Discography: Projekt
LYC00001 / Estraya: The Time Has Come and Gone Maxi-CD (Lycium Music, 2000) PRO00031 Wake - out of print Digital Only (Projekt, 1989) PRO00032 Ionia CD (Projekt, 1991) PRO00040 A Day in the Stark Corner Digital Only (Projekt, 1993) PRO00049 Live CD (Projekt, 1994) PRO00053 / Bleak: Vane side-project CD (Projekt, 1995) PRO00055 The Burning Circle and Then Dust - Out of Print 2-CD (Projekt, 1995) PRO00067 Cold - out of print CD (Projekt, 1996) PRO00081 Estrella - out of print CD (Projekt, 1998) PRO00093. Tara Vanflower's this womb like liquid honey CD (Projekt, 1999) PRO00108 Compilation Appearances Vol. 1 ~ 3 for $20 CD (Projekt, 1990 - 94) PRO00120 Compilation Appearances Vol. 2 CD (PROJEKT, 2001) PRO00134 tripping back into the broken days ~ sale $6.98! CD (Projekt, 2002)
Darkwave
PRO00031a Wake - Memorabilia Paper (Projekt, 1989 / 1993 / 2006) SIL00039 Tara VanFlower's My Little Fire-Filled Heart CD (Silber, 2005) SIL00040 Estrella (reissue) CD (Silber, 1998) SIL00048 The Burning Circle and Then Dust 1-CD Reissue CD (Silber Records, 1995) SIL00053 side project Black Happy Day: In the Garden of Ghostflowers CD (Silber, 2006) SIL00061 Cold re-issue CD (Silber Records, 1996) SIL94912 Empty Space CD (Silber Records, 1999) SIL97322 Mike Vanportfleet : Beyond The Horizon Line CD (Silber, 2004)
Merchandise: none