Maxim Faster, aka the Venus In Scorpio, is an electro-pop star in the making. Powered by a battery of synthesizers and a voice thats more rock god than pretty android, VIS is merging the synthetics of the 80s with boisterous rock vocals. Described as the mysterious and moody They next door, the Venus In Scorpios agender queer synth-pop defies the calendar. Hear for yourself below, as Alternative Press is premiering Blissed today.

According to its creator, Blissed is a triumph over the struggles of learning to love yourself. Once you learn to love yourself enough to stop focusing only on yourself, youre able to come together with other people and celebrate under the same sun, experiencing each others joy and being a part of the universal recovery and evolution of humanity. The Venus In Scorpio is bringing an unapologetic message of self-empowerment, liberation and sex positivity in a world where everybody is simply too damned uptight.

Were completely down with VIS ransacking of decades past to color our decidedly dragging 2020. They spoke to us about their influences (likely, unlikely, other), relocating to Berlin and how sometimes getting over ones self is paramount to everything else in life.

Wow, thank you so much! I definitely love all that stuff. I got into Depeche Mode at a really young age, and they were a big influence for me, for sure. In my 20s, I was heavy into groups like Ladytron, Peaches, Ladyhawke, CSS and Goldfrapp. I really dug that electro-pop scene at the time, and my tastes were really defined by it. My style largely has to do with the production at my disposal. For someone who primarily wants to sing, synth patches have always been easiest to work with. I never knew what I was doing when I started playing around with my synthesizers as a kid. I guess this result is just from years of trying to figure out how to make something on my own.

Its funny: I think as humans, we search high and low for this connection with others. We look for love in all these other places and things and people, often before looking inward and finding it within ourselves. Its been quite a journey of finding myself and loving who that person is. But I think once you do, youre able to stop obsessing about whatever it is that youre not, whatever you want to be, and you start connecting with those around you.

I guess Blissed is almost like this sublime feeling you get when youre kind to yourself and you start to attract those around you that amp you up. I think when a person is stoked on whatever their thing is, its contagious. People just cant help but vibe with someone whos high on their own supply, so to speak. As a kid, I was really inspired by Andrew W.K. His whole thing is so positive. He just wants everyone around him to feel empowered and have a good time. Hes like this big puppy you cant help but love. I took a lot of inspiration from him.

I grew up in George W. Bushs America, I was born on 9/11, and the World Trade Center tragedies really set the tone for my generation. Were all so sad and jaded, but I never thought in my wildest nightmares that wed have the shit show we have today with Trump. I really didnt want to stick around to see whats going to come next. I love L.A., but I was starting to feel hopeless there. There are few other places in the country Id feel safe or happy living in. I was talking to my therapist one day, and she was like, Oh, do you know Im moving to Barcelona? She inspired me to seek a similar path.

I have a few friends who have expatriated here from the States, and I loved the few days I got to spend here in 2017. So I just thought, Why not Berlin? Its been really great. I havent had anxiety or been stuck in a car anywhere. Everyone is super-weird, but its so safe. You really feel the peace and the chillness. My mental health has never been this stable, and it doesnt feel like Im working to survive anymore. Theres something special here for me, for sure. And my German sucks, but Ive been trying, and people have been super-sweet about it.

My friend gave me Maxim, and Faster was just my first association after that. I had been making music under the Venus In Scorpio for about two years. But my real name up until about March was Philip Moak. Its a weird and uncommon name itself, and I love it, but I definitely never felt like a Phil. Maxim is a name that my friend thought looked more like me. I was into it.

My Venus is in Scorpio in my personal astrology birth chart, which is where I got the name. Most of my music definitely weaves that dark and mysterious Scorpio energy with the more lighthearted aspects of my personality and chart. Ive always wanted to sound like a full band, so Ive always named my projects like theyre a band instead of going by my name. I want fans to infer that the Venus In Scorpio and Maxim Faster are the same thing, maybe like a persona behind a persona. Because thats the other thing: Ive had a crazy past, but a day in my current life is pretty chill. So with my music, I like to dive fully into this fantasy realm. Im definitely a different person when I hit the stage, someone I wouldnt expect to exist just walking down the street.

Thats whats really fun about it for me, taking these parts of my astrological pattern and mixing them with this space alien energy I feel to create art that personifies my fantasy self. These iconic characters like David Bowie or Grace Jones or Freddie Mercurythey just dont exist anymore. I want to be that for my generation.

I wanna make music that explores the darker depths and lows of life just as much as the highs. At the end of the day, this world is really fucked up, and we have to do our best to stick together and party until it gets better. But I think you can only come down so far before you go back up. I think we have no choice but to have hope and believe that things have to get better. Theres nothing left for us to do but evolve. Blissed happens in a time of revolution, and after it gets this bad, theres only room for evolution.

Check out Blissed below. Pro tip: Add copious amounts of volume.

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The Venus In Scorpio starts an empowering LGBTQIA+ party with Blissed - Alternative Press