TURBO GOTH Music Review ~ Gothic Girl Art Magazine
It’s All in Your Mind.
(Left to right) Sarah Gaugler & Paolo Peralta Photo used by permission
It’s very late at night and the morning sun is just about to break above the Detroit skyline. The water in the river has that delicious oily black look to it. All the while I have TURBO GOTH’s song Venus Flytrap on repeat, pumping through a refurbished set of Altec Lansing’s Voice of the Theatre speakers that a friend has asked me to store in my home away from home.
“I don’t mind you saving me.”
Before daybreak, with the Altec’s adding some low-end mush to the finesse of Venus Flytrap, I really wouldn’t mind Sarah Gaugler’s voice and Paolo Peralta’s music saving me. That is until I re-read one of Sarah’s & Paolo’s E-mails and realized I still have a lot to learn about TURBO GOTH.
“We are inspired by the invasion of the Roman Empire by the Visigoths. The term ‘goth’ used to be used as a derogatory name for the rebels before. We found that very interesting. The same way we invade everybody’s minds whenever we play live.”
~Sarah Gaugler & Paolo Peralta
It’s worked. I feel like my mind has been invaded by a writer and musician from Manila in the Philippines (Paolo) and a writer and singer from New York (Sarah).
Paolo is being coy when he writes about the meaning of Venus Flytrap~
“It can mean different things to different people. It can be [a] man/woman in search of meaning and submitting to the transition to become more of what or who he/she is. It can also mean taking the leap to jump into the unknown. May it be a certain belief or new perspective or even falling in love with a partner. It can also mean a sudden awakening of consciousness, self-talking to the self. Whatever it means for you, that is it.”
~Sarah Gaugler & Paolo Peralta
“Whatever it means for you, that is it.”
We’ve all heard this statement from writers who are loath to tell others how to interpret their work. In this age when so many want specific explanations and Hollywood endings, I find it refreshing that Sarah and Paolo don’t claim to know what’s in your mind or your translation of their lyrics and music. TURBO GOTH is for thinking people, much like the entire Goth movement.
Yes, there have been musical and vocal comparisons to Muse and Shivaree, but that’s fine company to be a part of when you listen to the multiple meanings of lyrics that Matt Bellamy and Ambrosia Parsley are writing at any particular time. Similar to Bellamy and Parsley, there are layers of meaning and influence to TURBO GOTH’S lyrics and music~
“In addition, we admire gothic architecture from the 12th century which originated when they took the traditional Romanesque arch and pulled it upward, creating a pointed arch which is stretched upward, to be long, tall, and thin. We are attracted to the gothic look of these grand gothic cathedrals and buildings. We also love everything black for its power and aesthetic.”
~Sarah Gaugler & Paolo Peralta
Following their successful performance at the 2017 SXSW, with Sarah’s beautiful singing and Paolo’s crazy antics, my mind is awaiting the next musical collaboration by this artistic couple.