Unfortunately, things began to fall apart and the two founding members (Corey Gunderson on guitar and Karen Kardell on vocals) went their separate ways.  Corey relocated to San Francisco and carried on with a new incarnation of TRS, but fate eventually brought the two back together to create their recently-released follow-up, Fade and Sustain.  The crisp production, diverse songwriting and top-notch performances should cement the band's position in the modern goth-rock scene and beyond.

Karen was gracious enough to answer some questions for me recently, with a few comments contributed by Corey via e-mail.

Why did you leave The Razor Skyline?

Karen:  There was a lot of tension and personality conflicts going on at the time and it just wasn't working.

Why did you guys get back together?

Karen:  Well, after some time away from one another and doing our own things, we realized that the chemistry between us was really good and it made us far more appreciative than we had been before.  We both had grown a lot, too, as people.  We started talking again and it led to reforming.

Corey: It became painfully obvious to me that what Karen and I had could not be duplicated.

What did you do during that interval?

Karen:  I got married.  (laughs)  I had toyed a little bit about working with Robin and we had actually had a couple meeting, but things just never really panned out with that.  I also bought a keyboard and learned how do some programming on my own.  Plus, I also got into some other stuff like hiking and camping and just kind of took some different turns with my life, which helped a lot with personal growth.

How did Onyx come into the picture?

Karen:  She and Corey had become friends.  She is actually a DJ down in San Francisco.  When the band was being reformed, she had had drumming experience earlier in her life and we were in the market for a new drummer, so she was asked to step in.  The audition went really well and the important thing is that all three of us clicked really well as people.  Considering that there had been a lot of problems with that in the past, that was really important.  It felt like a union of people, instead of different opposing people coming together and trying to make something work.

In your opinion, how does Fade...and Sustain differ from Journal of Trauma?

Karen:  I think it's a lot more hopeful.  We tried to kind of move out of darkness so much...  I mean, those elements of darkness are still there, but it is more about hope and beauty, feeling-wise and lyric-wise.  The first album was more, "Oh!  Journal of Trauma...." (laughs)  The name pretty much described it.  After what we had been through after the split-up, the title Fade...and Sustain - you know, you go on and hopefully change and there's a lot of hope there.  Also, Corey's programming has grown immensely as well.  He's incorporating some different styles and we just tried to make it a progression from where we were. 

Corey: To me, the big difference between JOT and this album is the maturity of the songwriting. Not to mention, recording JOT was one of the worst experiences of my life whereas recording Fade and Sustain was really quite enjoyable. It was good to be working with Karen and everyone involved in the recording process was positive and supportive.

Is it difficult for the band to work together, with you in Seattle and the other two in San Francisco?

Karen:  No, it has actually worked out really well so far.  San Francisco is close enough and we both have pretty good jobs, so it hasn't been a problem to just hop on a plane whenever necessary to get together, plus of course with e-mail and the web technology, it's not that hard.  Corey would put stuff down on tape, send it up to me, I'd add my parts and put it down onto a 4-track and send it back down to him.  The live part, we'll see how that goes...  (laughs)

Do you have any tour plans for this album?

Karen:  We're gonna wait until it has been out for a while.  We'll start with some initial shows here and in San Francisco, CD release type things, the we'll be touring but not until the end of summer.  We definitely want to tour, though.  Playing live has always been one of our favorite things.

Corey: Not only would I love to tour the whole country, but I would love to do some European and even some Australian shows as well.

What is your take on the local music scene?

Karen:  Well, I don't go out a lot to shows.  It's funny, I don't follow it a lot.  I know there's a few new bands that have cropped up, I've seen names, but as far as seeing a lot of local bands, I don't.  It's active, I just don't follow it too much.  I'll go out more to dance club nights and hang out with friends.  For me to actually go to show shows, they are usually during the week which is hard because I have to work, it generally has to be a band that I really, really want to see.

Could you tell me a bit about some of the lyrics on the new album?  I know you said the album is more hopeful as a whole, but are there any songs that are particularly personal?

Karen:  Hmmm….  This album, for me, was actually far less personal than the first one was.  I mean, it's personal more in a sense of like a reaction to change and things, rather than, 'Oh, this happened to me,' or 'Oh, that happened to me.'  It's more like musings and reflections on things that I see in life.

Where and when do you usually get inspired to write?

Karen: (laughs)  Um, I just have to kind of sit down and do it.  It's kind of there all the time and I really have to have--oh, I have to take that back, there is one song that is really personal on the album, which is "Snowflower," because that is about my cat that I just love, Violet.  She's actually been a great inspiration for me.  Usually, I get inspired by music to write.  I don't sit down and just write poetry, per se, but if I hear music that inspires me in some way, I can write.

Since you got the keyboard, have you written any music yet?

Karen: (laughs)  I am not a good programmer...  I have dabbled around a lot and have a lot of pieces of stuff and maybe one or two things that are finished, but not finished enough to release.  It's a developing skill that I really wanted to have, because I love music so much I need to learn how to do that, too. 

Corey: Actually, some of the stuff Karen has written is really good. If we had had a bit more time to record this CD, I would liked to have used some of it.  The next album will definitely have some
of her stuff on it.

Do you follow any of the on-line discussions, such as r.m.i. or alt.gothic?

Karen:  Occasionally…  I don't really participate, though.  I read them, so I'm more of what I guess you would call a lurker, rather than participate in discussions.  There's a lot of attacking going on back and forth and I just choose not to…  I'm amused by it.  (laughs)  I like reading it, but I just don't want to get involved in it.  It's good for information and interesting to see where the trends are going and what people like.

Have you traveled much?

Karen:  Personally, not that much.  My last trip was Hawaii last summer.  It was amazing.  I went camping on Kauai for a week.  I'm a real nature freak.  I've been all over Washington.  That's what I did all summer last summer - I don't think I was home one weekend.  We camped at various places all over the place, so I really got a chance to see a lot of the beautiful scenery and I just loved it.  Generally, if I'm going to travel, it involves going somewhere where I can camp and kind of seeing the land.

I haven't seen the art for the new album yet. What is it going to be like?

Karen:  It is done and Corey can tell you more about that.  He had an artist down there do it, but I've seen it and it's really nice.

Corey:  Here are some samples: