by Eva Dameron
Daily Lobo
Members of the band Nocturne once had to floor their tour bus through a wall of flames shooting out of a semi on a highway at 3 a.m.
"That's the strangest thing that's happened to us on tour, off the top of my head," said Lacey Conner, frontwoman of the goth-industrial band from Los Angeles.
Conner won Best Female Vocalist of 2001 and 2003 from Dallas radio station KEGL. The band has put out its third album, Guide to Extinction.
"With the state of the world, the way that we view things and the way that we operate, it seems like we are slowly leading ourselves to our own demise," Conner said. "So hence the album's name."
She said the album is not quite as industrial as the last one and uses less loops and samples.
"It has an organic rock, metal feel to it that just goes along without changing pace," she said. "As you get older, you like different things, and I think our music reflects that."
In the studio, Nocturne consists of Conner and Chris Telkes laying down all the instruments and vocals. They both write songs for the album. They handle the business and deal with the label.
"But live, we need more people, so we always bring a live drummer and bassist with us," Conner said. "The guitarist lives in Dallas, our bassist in New Orleans, so we don't really practice until we're getting ready to go on tour."
She said the band has a lot of different views about politics, animal rights and the environment.
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"Our songs vary as far as the subject matter and the lyrics go," she said. "But all of our music is very dark, heavy and depressive."
She said the person she presents on stage is only one side of herself.
"It's the aggressive side of me, but that's not all I'm about," she said. "I'm also down-to-earth and compassionate."
She said her main influence was The Cure, but she also likes some pop music and Frank Sinatra.
Her favorite song on Guide to Extinction is "I Lie." She said during the song, one can't tell whether she is saying, "I'm lying to you" or "I'm lying to myself."
"So there's quite a bit you can read into that one," she said.
She said Nocturne fans are usually into bands such as Skinny Puppy, Nine Inch Nails and Ministry, but the group has been attracting a wider audience.
"We're getting to a point where all kinds of people from different backgrounds and musical tastes are able to find enjoyment in our music," she said.
