Review Fix Exclusive: C-Wired Talks Career Goals, Influences And More

Review Fix took a moment with the Sage of Song, C. Wired to talk his new EP, Angel Circuit Engaged. We catch up with the free-wheelin’ songwriter about the decidedly heavier tone than his previous EP, his inspirations and the “Omega” phase of his career.

Review Fix: Your success is undeniable, and your struggles are well-illustrated in your songs. What pushed you to return to your “inner creative self” as you have described it in 2013?

C. Wired: Frankly, about 5 years ago I became bored just being an entrepreneur creating companies and making money. I didn’t want my children and grandchildren thinking when I was gone that that was the only thing, I was good at. I was heavy into music during high school and college. I gave it up when I got married and had 4 children rather quickly. My first priority was to provide for and support them. I put the music on hold. I saw a license plate 5 years back that said Beethoven, I looked at my second wife and stated I’m going to get back into music. It’s been a ride ever since…

Review Fix: Your voice definitely carries a unique tone, though you turn away from covers. Is it to focus on your own songwriting and creative freedom?

C. Wired: Yeah, we don’t need another guy singing covers. There are plenty of very talented cover band vocalists out there who are extremely good at that. I was told by a Nashville producer that I have a unique robust voice. It’s different and my phrasing and delivery is definitely not Pop 40. People either like it or they don’t. I am who I am. I’m at a place in my life where I can afford to write and record whatever I want. There’s no financial angle that is ever taken into consideration regarding my music. “Just burned a million- dollar bill, that which I coveted most, Black holds no spell over Angels, when White let’s go of all it owns”. If you write with an objective of needing to be liked or popular and/or financially viable it can place a severe limitation on the creative process. Freeing myself from those rules allows me to create not to attain, but to simply create.

Review Fix: Your songs carry a heavy historical undertone in this album. References to figures such as Nostradamus and Xerxes are sprinkled throughout Angel Circuit Engaged, and you have entered what you call the “Omega” phase of your career. Can we expect more historical symbolism, and does it correlate to the name of this phase of your career?

C. Wired: I LOVE expressing my experience, strength and hope through lyrics.

Angels Are Not Afraid of the Dark is an apocalyptic piece about where we are at – now at this moment on the planet. There are huge spiritual transitions and very risky upheavals that are occurring. Everything is being thrown up into the air and it really could go better or destructively worse. December 20th, 2012 was a marked transition as we entered the Age of Aquarius. We all need to engage our Angel circuit because we find ourselves in perilous times. The old patriarchal order (God as a separate white male with a beard in the sky looking down somewhat disapprovingly) is thankfully being over thrown. But not without severe resistance and pushback. What we need is more healing nurturing feminine energy in control of the planet. We are out of balance because women have historically been severely repressed by all cultures and religions, some more than others. That’s what Persian Woman is all about. “Daughters of Dena please enter the arena”.

Our current time was predicted by Nostradamus. He kind-a freaked out when describing what he was envisioning because he lived during the 16th century and didn’t know what 20th-21st century shit he was looking at. He had to hide behind heavy symbolism as well, so he didn’t get killed.

Review Fix: Revisiting your label of “Omega” as your current phase of your career, was an “Alpha” phase previous to this or is it coming later?

C. Wired: There is no time. There is in reality only the NOW moment. What is the beginning and end are only relevant while we are operating in form (bodies). The quote I am the Alpha and the Omega attributed to an Old Testament God was a statement of eternal being. I am writing in the Now moment all the time – I can’t shut it off, let’s see where it goes – either way it will be interesting, enlightening, and joyous.

Review Fix: Angel Circuit Engaged is a much heavier EP than Omega. While it shows off the versatility of your sound, what inspired you to take this direction with this album?

C. Wired: I am a rocker at heart. It grabs my balls. Grew up in the 70s 80s in the Detroit Metropolitan area. It was a diverse time with hard industrial rock, Motown, and funk. Listening to Bob Seeger, The Eagles, Bootsy Collins, Mark Knopfler, etc. I have all those influences inside me. I feel I can write just about anything I decide I want to. I have acoustic pieces, rock epics, love ballads, grooves, etc. I don’t place any limits on genre which I believe comes through with Cwiredband’s unique sound.

ACE is the formation of the Cwiredband. Addison Smith is my wingman who produces records and smokes the guitars. He is very much responsible for the sound. It’s a joint effort. I write the lyrics, melodies, licks and grooves and he just takes them and runs with it. Daniel Kelly the band’s drummer comes from a jazz background. His different percussive approach applied to my writing is also what gives us our unique flavor. He’s a little like Keith Moon with his off-center approach to what would be considered traditional pocket rockers. Andrew Renner on Bass is very tasteful. He is an amazing progressive jazz guitarist who fortunately decided he wanted to play bass with Cwiredband. I like the rhythm section blend a lot. Addison and I went through mucho drummers and bass players before we found them. Gary Pigg is the consummate Nashville professional who has worked with Neil Young among others. He arranges all the back-up vocals. I use the same vocal personnel on all my tracks. They are Angelic and are the icing on the cake to many of my songs. I completely rely on them when I am writing a piece. I know they will bring it when its time. All together the band members take my music and expand it in ways that I never thought of.

Review Fix: Along with a heavy historical undertone, there is also an overt sensual tone to Angel Circuit Engaged that is a stark contrast from the undertones set in the Omega EP. Was this to match the heavier feel of the album?

C. Wired: The Alpha and Omega for moi are the two poles of existence we experience while in a body here on the planet. There is our spiritual side and our sexual side. Spirit Sex Divine. I have explored both alternative religious philosophies and sexual relationships. You have to be free to explore, to incorporate both of these energies into yourself, be OK with who you are, and eliminate any negative patterns of self-doubt, self- acceptance, guilt or shame. Ultimately if we are doing no harm – consenting adults are free to do whatever they want with whoever they want. This idea is attacked, controlled and limited from both the conservative religious point of view and the ultra-progressive liberal dogma of political correctness. There is more C Wired material coming that pushes traditional thinking regarding relationship structures.

In the end though we are all here to evolve Spiritually, there really isn’t any rules or boundaries – they are simply beliefs held in our minds and we are all free to change them.

Review Fix: Can we expect more of this heavier sound in the future? Or will you continue to experiment with other rock and roll themes?

C. Wired: I am working with a configuration of Cwiredband called Rock Salt. Rock Salt is very much heavier. Moving from the Fender Blackface sound to the Mesa Triple Crowns. Songs titled Whiplash, The Shark and His Whore, Lost Daughter, Angel Dragon, Freedom Rider are forthcoming.

The heavier I go the more freedom I feel to lyrically explore very touchy subject matter. What is truly scary are not songs about being a bad boy or those containing demonic references – those are boogeyman childish manifestations. Not real and laughable. Angels Are Not Afraid of the Dark baby.

Fearlessly looking at our fear-based energies, behavior patterns, and egoic judgmental thoughts – those that we ALL have inside ourselves is very scary territory. Most people don’t want to go there unless they have to (recovering from an addiction, etc). We have to look at ourselves in order to expose those self-defeating thoughts to the light and evolve. The ego will be undone.

Review Fix: With a tone more of acceptance and lessons learned in Angel Circuit Engaged, what is the next stop on the adventure of C. Wired?

C. Wired: It’s a ride that I am not in control of – who knows? Looking at either a European or US-based tour in 2019.

Review Fix: With your experience in technology, do you believe you will ever put an electronic influence into the music of C. Wired?

C. Wired: Daniel Kelly, our percussionist, is working with a synth pad and different patches. It’s his call if he wants to move the new music in that direction. I love the Moog Synth parts Addison put together on Botticelli Baby, Angels Are Not Afraid of the Dark, and Climb the Mountain. Maybe more of that as well. Our keyboard player Wil Houchens uses an authentic 1967 Hammond B3 on many of the tracks. I get a hard-on whenever I hear that traditional Hammond sound being pumped through a Leslie.

Review Fix: When it comes time for the first full-length C. Wired album, what can we expect?

C. Wired: I have more than enough material to record a full-length album, but both my producer Addison Smith and I are really comfortable with more frequent releasees every 3-6 months utilizing the 6 song EP format. It’s more in tune with the way we consume and listen to music today anyway. Most people are not taking the time to listen to an entire album. They select the one or two songs they like and add them to their playlist. I am thinking of a vinyl offering that would contain both Omega and Angel Circuit Engaged if there is interest. What most people don’t realize is how much sound is lost when you reduce a recording down to 16 bits .wav or .mp3 format. We have a very lush multi-track sound. You should hear what the songs sound like in the final mixes through studio monitors before they are bounced.