The Coil of Sihn is the single member industrial / EBM project of Sihn Starr Rossi. His debut album 'Enter' was released last year and two new releases (remix album 'Inside' and new album 'My world') are scheduled for November 2003.

Ric: When did The Coil of Sihn begin?

Sihn: The Coil of Sihn began as a music project a year and a half ago. The inspiration came from my dream journals that I have been keeping since I was very young. They provided the basic 'atmosphere' for the music.

Ric: Did the recording follow soon after writing the songs or has the process been much longer?

Sihn: The recording process happened at the same time of the writing of the songs - I started to gather equipment as I needed it and built a studio in my home. Most of my songs start on either piano or guitar, then I write lyrics for the song as I am coming up with the song itself. The lyrics are inspired directly by my personal experiences mixed with the fictional writing that was inspired by my dream journals.

Ric: Some of your influences are apparent - notably Velvet Acid Christ in your music and Nine Inch Nails in your blunt lyrical presentation of emotion - but others that you mention in your album credits are quite suprising. How are they an influence, and are they all positive influences?

Sihn: All of the music that has influenced me is all connected to how i have survived my past. As you may have read on my website, I suffered a great amount of physical / emotional / sexual abuse from the age of four to about fifteen; those artists helped me through all of those times, Trent, Marilyn and Nick especially... I felt a kindredness in them like no other music i have ever heard. Velvet Acid Christ I admire because the creator of the band also suffered a similar past and uses his music to ward off his daemons.

I can also say that i have been heavily influenced by such classic seventies and eighties metal bands like Judas Priest, Iron Maiden and Metallica. I have given each one of these bands, except for Velvet Acid Christ a copy of my music, all with the words, "I could not have made this without you."

Ric: You have recorded several cover versions of songs that are not at all typical of EBM / industrial music. How did these come about?

Sihn: Those cover songs, The Metro by Berlin, Something going on by Frida, Don't go by Judas Priest, and Hell is for children by Pat Benetar, were songs that I had never heard done for one, and they also were songs that were very personal to me, especially Hell is for children. That was the first song that I ever heard that directly spoke of child abuse, and I knew when I got a chance, I wanted to cover it in my way...

Something going on, Don't go and The Metro deal with breakups and obsession, which are of a very great interest to me, and i wanted to give those songs the quality that would bring out those aspects to the forefront. Plus they sound cool all industrialized! *smiles*

Ric: You have mentioned God of Thunder by KISS and Ain't no sunshine by Bill Withers are songs you have covered for future release. These are two of my favourite songs, so I'm especially interested to hear how these have resulted.

Sihn: I can tell you that God of Thunder is done and will be on the next CD. Ain't no sunshine has been giving me fits but it is coming along. Along with those two, I am also doing Hurt by NIN in a cross between Trent's and Johnny Cash's version.

Ric: Did you pick those for the same reasons?

Sihn: Yes, I totally picked them for the same reasons. God of Thunder has different lyrics than the original, I must say. I made them more personal towards me and my personality, as did Gene Simmons when he wrote the song. His was a deification of his ego, while my lyrics are a destruction of deity. I cannot wait to share it with you...

Ric: You reveal a lot about yourself in your songs, but it seems to be holding back nevertheless and only a single aspect of your personality. Is this fair?

Sihn: Yes, this is fair to say, because more will be revealed when I play live. The songs are just a construct - like an exorcism book of prayers - which will allow me to totally open in my stage performance and share with the audience much more than i reveal in the studio...

I must say though that the next CD is more personal in nature. It is called My world and my intention is to let the listener aurally enter my world in as true a form as I can represent in music. It may not be beautiful and clean but there is a hope there and i want to give that to everyone who crosses my path.

Ric: Are you ever concerned that this openness will prohibit your critical or commercial success?

Sihn: The only critics I am concerned about are the people that my music touches... if my music allows them to glean some kind of hope that there is a life after so much destruction, then I will have fulfilled my purpose. Commercial and popular success has never been a concern of mine. It would help to touch more people and to have that kind of power, but then the message would have to be too watered down to be palatable for the masses.

But, I think that this could all change. People are becoming more tolerant of certain aspects of life. In this country, people have had child abuse flung in their face quite a bit with all of the Catholic Priests being brought up on charges for it. I think that the time is coming that will be right for this message to be spoken about in the light of day, and I want to be there to offer as much gauze and surgical tape as I can to all the victims, for there is no cure from these kinds of experiences. There is just survival, but, learning how to live and not just survive is what i think i can show...

Ric: While I am aware of the existance of your varied artistic output, I only really know your music. Is this the focus of it or do you strive to keep each medium seperate?

Sihn: All my creative paths do intersect and cross: my writing, design and music all came together to make the cd that you have. I create to keep myself alive... my daemons get cast out every time I sit down and create. They all tend to flow seperately, I must say... I get on a writing kick or painting, or making instruments in my basement from metal trash cans and chains to use as a backbeat. They all flow together eventually.