Heaven60

There was never any question that I would post a song from Anything Box.  The only thing I wondered was which song I could possibly choose as representative of them.  A song that could possibly have the emotional weight I would want to share, along with a video that encompassed the artistry and conveyed the personality.  Anything Box has an extensive catalogue (both under the Anything Box moniker and under other names, with a couple side projects worth noting).  Their sound has evolved over time as well.  Many people mistakenly consider them an 80’s band.  Technically, they were around in the 1980’s.  But their initial entry onto the national music stage occurred in 1990, with the release of their album “Peace” on Sony Records.

I suppose you could call them a one-hit wonder, which only serves to illustrate how people who only listen to radio songs deprive themselves of the wealth of amazing music created by artists who get insignificant to no radio play.

“Living In Oblivion,” their “one hit,” is one of those songs that had a profound impact on me; I remember where I was and what I was doing when I first heard it.  I was sixteen, driving in my car up Mercer Street in Seattle, when it came on the radio.  In the manner of all angsty teenagers across generations, I was so cynical at the time.  This song came on the radio, and it was like an antidote to all of that cynicism.

There’s a story to this, but I wound up writing to the band after seeing them live later that year, in June 1990.  This spawned a friendship and several years of correspondence with the creative mind behind the music, Claude Strilio.  Anything Box is primarily the musical work of Claude.

The lineup changes slightly over time, and the name does too.  Anything Box briefly became Animorè when Claude dated a woman named Romina.  A side-project of darker and more punk-oriented music was released under the name The Diary.  Currently Claude releases music under the name Claude.  Claude has no interest in corporate marketing or any of the banal tedium of the music business, hence the lack of continuity in band identity (and the lack of radio airplay, which for mainstream music requires those cultivated corporate connections that Claude eschews).  He lives in the moment (though I suspect he would say he is actually a resident of the future).  And the band is just the face of his musical output, so does it really matter if the designation given to the project changes?  Claude cares purely about the art, and tirelessly generates paintings, sculptures, photography, videos, music…… whatever his mind and muse drive him to create.  This reminds me of something Ray Bradbury said, how he would see the characters from his imagination sitting on his bed at night, demanding that he tell their stories.  And that’s why he wrote stories.  There’s something like that in Claude that won’t let him rest.  I see that in ManSlap too, incidentally.

Claude is from Argentina, but grew up in Paterson, NJ.  He moved to Southern California after signing the record deal with Sony.  Over time, his entire family (brother, sister, mother) also moved to SoCal.  I’ve watched other people get caught up into orbit around him, myself included.  Such is the draw of the artist.  We seek passion and meaning in life, and when we encounter someone who just embodies this, they are like a lode star to the rest of us.  Claude knows his music and art impact people, and I know how much that matters to him.  But I think it’s a consequence of what he creates, not the reason for it.

I don’t remember the exact context of the discussion, but someone posed the question once of what would happen if all musical instruments were taken away, in an effort to stop the creation of music.  Claude replied that that could never make a difference, as he would turn the next metal garbage can he encountered into a percussion instrument.

I don’t stay in touch with him any more, though we are friends on Facebook.  Claude lives his life openly online (he’s always said he wears his heart on his sleeve) and anyone wanting to know what’s going on with him need only glance at his Facebook page.  I don’t feel the same deep emotional connection to his later music, but his earlier music will always be important to me.  While I feel it is impossible for me to settle one song to share in this post, particularly given the stylistic breadth and history of the work, I do no service to readers by asking them to listen to more than one song.   Also, the music I love may not be the music you love.

And so I am choosing “Heaven60” from their fourth album, Elektrodelica.  I think this song is uniquely Anything Box; if there is another band anyone thinks of when listening to this, I’d love to hear it.  I also remember a number of people’s reaction to it from the time it was released twenty years ago.  I think it’s a beautiful song, with an emotional edge that resonates with many people.

“Heaven60” (from “Elektrodelica,” 1997)

Author: Becky

Goth, rivethead, sci-fi junkie, math and computer-science student. AKA "nerd." View all posts by Becky