The music of Sky Cries Mary, an ambient industrial rock band based in Seattle, is meant to be played live, said founder/vocalist Roderick Romero.
"The music began as a college senior thesis," Romero told the Deseret News from his hotel room in Albuquerque. "The music was part of a theatre piece."The original work, which was comprised of two interrelated dramas that featured 45 minutes of Romero screaming and pelting the audience with bacon, was the nucleus of the band. In fact, Anisa - Romero's cello-playing wife with the soaring lead vocals - performed a rising aria during the work.
"Performing has always been a concept of my music," Roderick Romero explained. "When we decided to make albums, we had to make sure the live element was present."
Sky Cries Mary - featuring the Romeros, guitarist Michael Cozzi, drummer Bennett James, keyboardist Gordon Raphael, sampler D.J. Fallout and bassist Juano - will play Spanky's, 45 W. Broadway (300 South), Saturday, March 29. Doors open at 7 p.m. There will be no bacon bits sacrificed for this show.
In the early days, Sky Cries Mary wasn't as melodic as the recent albums have proved. The use of chainsaws and heavy pyrotechnics overshadowed what music Romero and his clan would crank out.
But it was the lack of structure that drew the attention of the Seattle art scene and gained the band a loyal following.
After a couple of albums that sold well in its hometown, Sky Cries Mary shifted its focus to a more psychedelic sound. Thus was the born the band's breakthrough album, "This Timeless Turning."
"That album was recorded track by track," said Romero, who named such diverse artists as Johnny Cash, Coil, Charles Mingus and Pink Floyd as his influences. "We really learned how much we wanted to record the instruments all together. So on the new album, we did."
"Moonbathing on Sleeping Leaves" is the big-label follow-up to "This Timeless Turning," and to Romero, it's more honest than the last.
"We recorded everything together," he said. "It doesn't make sense to us for a live band to isolate its members.
"Music is live theatre," Romero explained. "It's out there to keep your mind open. And with Sky Cries Mary, a live performance is the band's heart and soul."
In keeping with that mission of live concerts, the band also has the recognition of being the first rock band to broadcast a full concert on the Internet.
"There are so many venues out there for us to explore," Romero said. "The stage isn't the only place where music can be played. Music is an ongoing creation that includes dance, art and theatre."