Paragon Music Magzine: Let’s start off by talking about what your fans can expect from you in the near future. Will it be a new album, a tour, maybe even a book?

Sariah: A new album is definitely in the works. I will be introducing new songs to my fans at shows as a teaser of what is to come. I am playing in L.A. and looking forward to performing in China, Japan, and London on my upcoming abroad tour. I am taking my writing a step further to allow my creations to breathe on a massive scale as a novelist and screen writer, like Rob Zombie has begun in “The Devil’s Rejects” and “House of A Thousand Corpses.” Although my vision is different than that of Mr. Zombie’s, his influence compels me...not allowing myself to sit on words. I am working on a piece that I will put to visuals in early 2006.

PMM: I’ve read in an interview you did with Highwire Daze that you left home at a young age because of overprotective/strict parents. You started living on your own with only a little bit of cash, leading you to sleep at cheap hotels or in your car. From personal experience, I totally relate with the need to run away from an overbearing household. Although your choices led you to become a model and musician, do you have any regrets? Also, while you were out on your own, before you got into modeling, did you ever think you weren’t going to be able to make it alone and did you consider going back home?

Sariah: I left home at a young age, yes, one because of strict parents, but I felt like it would not have mattered if I was there or not. I couldn't do anything right and I stuttered at that time, which increased my withdrawnness. It appeared I was never understood. Before leaving, I got in trouble with my parents for sneaking out of the house one night to hang out with a guy friend. I wasn't allowed to have a boyfriend and somehow my mother knew I wasn't home and locked the windows and doors, so I had to knock on the window and my mother heard it. The door swings open and I'm really getting the one- two- three, and she kept asking why did I do it, and I didn't know why, but that wasn't good enough. So she kept asking and I said, because I wanted to and she flips out, runs in the kitchen to get a knife and I split out the back door running down the alley at 2:30 in the morning. She jumps in the car chasing me and my sister dives on me just in time when the end of the car takes a nip. The one person I knew I could trust and who cared about me the most was me and so I was all alone, and knowing if every day I do something toward where I see myself eventually, I'll get there. I don't have any regrets, although many nights I'd stay up until daylight sitting in my car writing to make sure nothing bad happened to me. I knew I couldn't make it on my own and I had to rise from where I was. I came from a no room for error background--my family lives by this and they are great people--so I had to press forward and see the brighter day and I kept strong. 

PMM: A review of Mute Malevolence in Gothic Beauty claims that the seven tracks on your album each represent one of the seven deadly sins. Is the reviewer correct in making this claim? 

Sariah: Every element of defilement colors Mute Malevolence. I've received character and a strength I would have never possessed if I had not entered the refinery. I've made many, many great mistakes being naive and untrained about the world that lead me down a path that nearly took its toll. My rejection to alcohol and drugs started to weaken. It could've been the "I'm not a little girl anymore" syndrome that was taking affect, maybe the pressure to be thinner and keep the girl next door image wasn't completely me. I was different. I never played by the rules. During my time of modeling and on the verge of suicide, Mr. Reznor and I became friends. The wisdom he shared with me made me see life and things in a different light. I couldn't hold a healthy conversation and my silence was my death. You could ask me about anything, but just don't ask me about me, because I hear the talk and the image of perfect I was not. I noticed the lyrics I'd write had become a diary of woes and I didn't want to keep those demons anymore. I held everything in as a priest would do for a parishioner who confesses a sin, so I started to put my words to music so they'd have a place to live besides in my head. I would not ever consider suicide now, but the thought reminds me of where I was and having Mr. Reznor as my mentor, being the only person to ever say, "I'm proud of you," is enough to make me keep my chin up. SickAmongThePure.com posed a question to me: Why don't I put it out there, the abuse, the victimization, the hurt, the pain, the temptation, the sin, and I realized this is who I was. Being ashamed only kept me confined, speaking in the third person and in code. So the Gothic Beauty's reference to the Seven Deadly Sins and Trent Reznor in their CD review of Mute Malevolence appears all the more surreal. I've lived the seven deadly sins.

PMM: Your music is clearly Gothic and Industrial, but there must be other genres that you’re interested in. Is there any type of music that you enjoy that would surprise your listeners, like for instance, Country?

Sariah: Yeah, there are a few Country artists I enjoy listening to, like George Jones, Johnny Cash, and Patsy Cline. Their lyrics are raw and I understand them at least in there pain. Patsy Cline singing songs about the man she loved that she knew was a wrong choice by the way he abused her; and George Jones pours his heart out in his songs about his addiction to drinking and broken relationships in his life. I haven't had an addiction, but I recognize and well understand what could allure a person into the disease. 

PMM: In addition to your music, writing is very important to you. Are there any particular writers that you look to for inspiration, or whose work you are currently reading?

Sariah: Hands down, and I'll never get tired of saying it, Anne Rice's work is amazing! Maybe because I can relate to the vampire, and the world created is not too much different from my own. But she really introduces the realization of her characters. Bram Stoker, again the romantic of the vampire and the forsaken painted in a blood of beauty. Clive Barker, who introduced pain and pleasure as one in such a torturous way released the boundaries of imagination and allowed me to have freedom to go beyond the reality of expectation in my writing.

PMM: You have a very dark past, full of a lot of heartache and struggles, yet you manage to persevere and be optimistic. In an interview with SickAmongThePure, you stated, “I will not let my past get the best of me. It's a new day, and I want to live.” That’s a great philosophy. Can you give any advice to others in similar situations as yourself, to help them forget the past and move on?

Sariah: Our thoughts of past hurt, things we have done wrong that leads to the carrying of guilt and shame, this will tear a person down. Looking through the rear view mirror blinds one’s vision. So shake it off and break the pattern. Get a vision if you don't already have one and focus, see yourself already in it. Surround yourself with good people, people who want to see you succeed and people who are where you want to be in life. But among all of this, love yourself and don't forget about the moment you're living in.

PMM: In the same interview, you said, “Dreams are given for many reasons: as warnings, messages, and, at times, as deception.” That statement caught my attention because you said that dreams are “given,” as opposed to what most people believe, which is that dreams are simply manifestations of one’s unconscious mind or imagination. Can you elaborate on your idea of what dreams are and where they come from?

Sariah: Wow, this a touchy situation. I say what I say out of experiences. I wish it was that simple for me to say dreams are just simple manifestations of one's unconscious mind or imagination, but then I know better. For as long as man has dreamed there has been an interpreter present, whether they are called angels, familiar spirits, or guardians, the mind is a very powerful thing. This is the ultimate lineage between realms, besides the spirit. The imaginations of a mind can be perceived as reality if you don't cast it down and know the signs. Since the beginning of time, numerous encounters of messages, signs, warnings, and interpretations of dreams, color most of the world’s mysterious great history. It may be the gift of knowing or of prophecy, I don't know, I'm just a girl, I'm not into psychics or any of that craziness, and I don't practice witchcraft. Things in dreams are presented to me at times, and this is how I can say dreams are more than just simple manifestations of one's unconscious mind or imagination.

PMM: If you had the power to change any one thing in this world as it is today, what would it be, and why? For example, would you get rid of terrorism completely, rejuvenate the environment, dispel poverty, etc.?

Sariah: If I had the power to change any one thing in this world, it would be the misinterpreted war of religions (terrorism). This causes poverty, environmental damage, and orphanage. Since the days of old, the same war remains. Why? For something that is supposed to bring the people together, it is tearing the people apart---the fighting, the bloodshed of the innocent with and without weapons, suicide bombers in the name of the Holy as a way to prove loyalty to a God that has named suicide to be the one only unforgivable sin. Everyone has a say and everyone is right. Terrorism is normally always over the same thing when it's dissected: war of religion. Even in America we have it without the terrorist. The Catholics, Christians, Buddhist, Baptist, Muslims, and all the new wave religions all differ, except in the one thing: fighting amongst themselves about whose belief is the true belief. They all say, “We are right.”

PMM: You’re a fairly new artist and you’re beginning to receive increased exposure in the press. Nonetheless, are you already getting tired of doing interviews where the writer asks the same “stock” questions as everyone else? 

Sariah: No, I don't think I'll ever get tired. Being a mute for most of my life has made me grateful and very humble to recognize it's not always about me. When I'm interviewed, it's also for the fans, or that kid on the streets with a hope, who catches an article on Sariah Bishop and presses towards another day, or an abused victim grasping for breath can try again to love oneself. I know the importance of influence, I've been on the other side.

PMM: Is there anything you’d like to say to our readers that wasn’t mentioned in this interview? 

Sariah: Feel free to drop by my website at www.sariahbishop.com and drop me a letter or ask me questions concerning my music, let me know what you think about Sariah Bishop. Keep updated with news and events, and don't forget to pick up a copy of my album Mute Malevolence online at cdbaby.com and amazon.com. Looking forward to seeing all of you soon!