The Unravelling: “It’s About The Art”

“I met Steve one afternoon stumbling through a forest, covered in blood and frantically trying to escape unseen assailants. We looked at each other and instantly know we were allies,” told Gustavo De Beauville about the onset of what would eventually grow to become progressive rock band The Unravelling. While ensuring that De Beauville’s story holds nothing but truth, Steve Moore, vocalist and second half of the band, filled in a few blanks. “Gus contacted me through a website of one of my former projects,” he said, “I took a listen to his music and was very impressed.”

De Beauville had moved to Canada from Barbados in 2006 looking for an audience that would be more open to the darker music that he makes. He spent about a year creating a slew of solid instrumentals that he brought to the table when he met Moore in 2008. “These days everyone has a MySpace page up as soon as they learn a chord or hack out a 4/4 pattern on Fruity Loops, so I wasn’t expecting it to be that great,” he admitted. But the hesitation must have subsided pretty quickly because those same songs, charged with Moore’s strong lyrics, now make up the band’s upcoming debut full-length album 13 Arcane Hymns. “What I appreciated the most is that Gus’s music is unafraid to really set a strong emotional mood… real or deep emotionality is an unusual, misunderstood rarity,” he said, “Gus understands that and that’s why it worked.”

And from then to now it’s still working, fuelled by the pair’s passion and a need to create. De Beauville said that he’d dreamed of being a band since he was 13. He remembers spending hours as a kid rummaging through all of his father’s records looking for the strangest and most exceptional artwork in the collection which lead him to discover bands like Black Sabbath, Santana, Rush and Pink Floyd. And Moore has had his fair share of experience having worked with bands that delved into a range of different genres. “Music is simply what I do naturally. It’s a language I speak and an emotionality that I can relate to,” said Moore, “We’re both the same way in this regard.”

Drawing from influences of all kind, The Unravelling undoubtedly make music that is creative and unique but also heavy, strong and grounded. On one end, De Beauville infuses into his music moods that encompass the dark, imaginary and mythological. Moore, though, bases much of his lyrics on his own personal experience and also takes influence from politics, philosophy and spirituality. “This band is almost like a digital womb for our ideas and concepts to be given life through. We get to paint these interesting landscapes and populate them with whatever beings we can conjure up,” explained De Beauville.

It’s been about one year since they got together and their first album is almost ready for release, an accomplishment that these boys couldn’t be happier with. “I can say that I feel it’s art,” said Moore, “It’s exactly what I want from an album and I’m happy to offer it to the world.” And after picking through the songs and obsessing over each detail, De Beauville’s happy to say that he’s come out of it with his sanity intact. “You have to remember that we’re revealing a lot of our inner most secrets by putting this thing out there, so it’s human nature for us to want it to be as perfect as possible,” he said.

Respecting the “arcane” in the album’s title, the duo realize that not everyone may get or be interested in what they’re offering. But they know the error in worrying too much about the reception of their work and have tried to just let it be what it is. “I feel if you ignore the status quo and make good art, people will respect you,” said Moore.

“This album is a living organism,” said De Beauville, “We have merely fed it, groomed, and allowed it to grow and evolve into what it has become.” And it has to be a good move their part because, so far, their audience seems to love it.

They’re soon to be holding auditions to fill up their live lineup so that after the release of 13 Arcane Hymns they can take it to the road and play live as much as possible.