Beneath the Ether
There came a point in my life as a songwriter and performer, that I gained an appreciation for honesty in my art. By that I don't mean 'truth' - rather, I want what I write/record/perform to be true to it's own spirit. Music impacts people in a way that no other art form can, and it became important to me to represent the concepts I write about in a fashion that was genuine.... pure... To do anything else with this precious connection between performer and audience is irresponsible.
As I evolved as a songwriter, I became increasingly comfortable with the way a writer exposes parts of himself that most people keep private. As this evolution took place, I found myself writing about people I care about (or was at odds with) and the experiences that surrounded us. I felt very hindered by my responsibility to them in some ways... A deep fear of hurting them through my art prevented me from saying what I wanted to say. I wanted total artistic freedom without consequences or regret ever crossing my mind. For art to be pure, it has to be unfiltered.
"Ether" is not just a stage name, nor is it for vanity, attention, shame, drug endorsement, or tax evasion. It is a persona which allows me to become a pure creative being... an artist who is unafraid to say what he wants to say in EXACTLY the fashion he wants to. When I become Ether on stage, I allow myself to boldly embrace my negativity, my hatred- as well as my passion, regret, love, or whatever pure emotion(s) I would normally rationalize to death and subdue. Ether is a skin I step into that allows me to extend my personality to the extreme so I can learn what is out there in the fringes of my mind. I don't look at it as a character I play, but as an exaggeration of who I am, what I feel, and how my mind perceives the world around me. Ether is the chaotic, expressive, outspoken, opinionated, twisted, angry, and sometimes dark side of William that is normally kept on a short leash.
In this sense, much of my lyrics are reactionary emotional works when written and performed through this persona. I try to keep the emotion as real and pure as possible, without visiting other points of view or over thinking it. Admittedly, there are still times when the 'real' me peeks through- but I rather enjoy leaving the listener to figure that out for themselves.
Ether: 1- A volatile, highly flammable liquid derived from the distillation of ethyl alcohol with sulfuric acid and used as a reagent and solvent. It was formerly used as an anesthetic. 2- The regions of space beyond the earth's atmosphere; the heavens. 3- The element believed in ancient and medieval civilizations to fill all space above the sphere of the moon and to compose the stars and planets. 4- Physics An all-pervading, infinitely elastic, massless medium formerly postulated as the medium of propagation of electromagnetic waves. 5- a.k.a. William Lorentz - Singer, songwriter, and bassist for the Minneapolis-based rock band AUTONOMY.