FRIGHT NIGHT: A conversation with Sibyl Vane

On Halloween night, a hundred odd ghosts and ghouls packed into the basement of the East Village's Berlin to see a lineup for the ages. Among those hard-hitting groups was Sibyl Vane. A New York City outfit, Sibyl Vane is made up of vocalist Ava Alpern, bassist Oliver Gross, guitarist Finn Rossiter, and Marek Usiatynski on the drums.

Masquerading as fellow band Moderate Rock in dress shirts and ties, they delivered a stunning performance under Berlin's blue lights. After their set, we stood out in the biting October chill and talked about their music.

From left to right: Alperin, Gross, Usiatynski, and Rossiter | Photo by Alex Hodor-Lee (@alexhodorlee)

How did you guys meet?

AA: Our friend, Owen [Neaman], told me about this really epic drummer named Marek, and I met him at a gig in Brooklyn -- I think Autumn Rhythm's gig. Oliver was there and said, "Do you need a bassist?" and I said, we do. We had our first practice and our first photoshoot on the same day.

Based on what I heard, you guys had a very Slowdive-esque opening to your set. Where do you guys take your musical inspiration from?

MU: At least for me, it's a lot of Fakemink and Bladee.

OG: A lot of 2hollis.

MU: No, I personally like a lot of Big Thief, but when they get kind of loud and noisy. I think that sound kind of fits us, but we do a lot of stuff.

FR: We're all kind of into different stuff, like hard rock, post-punk, folk, modern, whatever. But we all do the classic rock-adjacent thing, but we pull it from different artists like Big Thief, and Slowdive, and PJ Harvey -- things like that.

OG: In my lifetime, I’ve enjoyed a lot of Ovlov, and that influences me a lot. And PJ Harvey, I love PJ Harvey. 

Okay, so do you guys have any music that’s out streaming?

FR: We have music on Soundcloud, but they’re just demos, and they’re all gonna be in a beautiful album that we’re working on, and we’re gonna release a single soon.

What’s the single called? 

FR: “I’m Leaving You.” In November, hopefully.

So what does this creative process look like?

AA: Well, it mainly starts because Finn will write a riff slash parts of a song, and then we’ll all get together and jam on it. Then I’ll write lyrics slash pick lyrics I’ve written and kind of fit them in. Then we workshop it a bit. Sometimes we’ll play it and then we’ll change it. 

Gross and Alpern | Photo by Maya Emert-Wiggins (@marginwlkr)

FR: I’m lucky enough to start all of the ideas for the songs on my own because it’s easiest to do it on guitar, so I get to put my musical input in the most, but it does become a big collaborative effort. And it’s never just like, I’m starting and then we all add; it’s all a cohesive idea at the end. 

OG: It’s fun because Finn allows us all to say yes and no. We all get to work on it a little bit.

Does your music have a general theme or story to it? Do you draw inspiration from different aspects of your life, or things that you read or see?

AA: It’s a lot of things I read. Like, there’s one song that has a lot of references to art, and to early-modern things. Particularly like, “Book of hours” is an old Catholic thing. I suppose part of it is -- I don’t want to say Catholic guilt, but like, doing things that are insane and then that contrasting with very traditional things. It’s a lot about experiencing [being] a teen in New York. I had a song where the lyrics were all about Allen Street.

FR: My chords have no stories. But, what we used to do, was we used to name every song completely randomly, and they were completely not related to the lyrics. So if you were looking at the title and thinking, “This might mean something,” it doesn’t mean anything. In case you were wondering. 

MU: My drums are how I feel. In the day.

OG: My bass is how Finn feels, in the night.

Where does the name Sibyl Vane come from? 

Photo by Alex Hodor-Lee (@alexhodorlee)

AA: In Dorian Gray, it’s [spoiler alert] the opera singer that gets killed.

Oh, it is!

AA: Because I also sing opera, and I like to be flexible with my voice. Even though we’re rock, I like to have a light sound. 

Do you guys have any pre-show rituals that you follow? 

OG: Hit my cart. Get crunk. Get high on weed. Smoke my weed cart. Today, we just did -- I cosigned and invented -- we all put our hands in and we said, “Teamwork!” 

MU: Fireball shooter. 

AA: Fireball shooter. 

Who’s your favorite president?

MU: Teddy Roosevelt!

FR: Was John Adams a president?

OG: Uh… probably Abe. Probably Abe. 

What’s your favorite animal?

AA: I like ostriches.

MU: Beavers.

FR: Koalas.

OG: Otter.

Who was your top artist on Spotify/Apple Music in 2024?

AA: Elliot Smith.

Me too, I think.

MU: Simon & Garfunkel. 

FR: Big Thief -- honorable mention, Candy Claws.

OG: Wait, I gotta check -- it was Geese. 

Any final words? Anything for your fans, your parents, your families?

AA: Sorry, mom, that I’m always in Bushwick so late. 

MU: Uh, fuck you to the fans. 

FR: I’m also sorry to my mom that I’m getting back late all the time. 

OG: I just got paid so everyone’s getting a high five

Sibyl Vane is a New York based band. Their music is available on Soundcloud, and live on WFMU.

This article can also be found on the writer's personal website, Bea On the Beat.