Beauty In Chaos, the celebrated gothic collective, stands as a reminder that music can still be timeless and transformative — even in an era where trends rise and fade overnight, leaving little behind. The brainchild of guitarist and producer Michael Ciravolo, Beauty In Chaos is a remarkable force within the dark alternative spectrum, blending gothic atmospheres with elements of post-punk, shoegaze, and even cinematic soundscapes. The band has recently unveiled its new album, “Signs in the Heavens Reality Upside Down,” a release that reimagines and re-records older songs, offering them new depth and emotion. Once again, Beauty In Chaos manages to captivate both the heart and the imagination. Myth of Rock reached out to Michael Ciravolo, who generously shared his thoughts and insights. This is a truly engaging interview — so don’t waste a moment, dive in and enjoy!
by Dimitris Zacharopoulos
First of all, give us a short biography of Beauty in Chaos, please!
Well, our debut release, ‘Finding Beauty In Chaos’ just turned seven years old on September 28th. That is really mind blowing to me. Beauty In Chaos was born out of music frustration and a simple need to prove to myself that I could do this. Michael Rozon was the one to recognize this and said ‘why don’t you do your own record’. That is all it took. BIC was born. Thank God that something that initially was going to be a ‘solo’ album, turned into something truly beautiful and hopefully special. I know it is to me. In seven years, we have released four (4) studio albums, four (4) re-envision albums, along with almost 30 videos and two ‘making of’ mini documentaries. I have been blessed to have created some amazing friendships and collaborated with a lot of amazing and gifted artists, many who make up a big part of my record collection. Zero egos, just the love of the real art of making music. I have also been able to have my wife Tish on the albums and in the videos, but also our daughters, Nicole and Sophia involved. And, we are not done yet.
Which artists influenced you musically while growing up?
All my inspiration to pick up a guitar and ‘be in a band’ came from watching those great late night TV shows like ‘Rock Concert’ and ‘The Midnight Special’ on a little black & white TV. T. Rex, Slade, David Bowie, Alice Cooper and NY Dolls. Seeing Marc Bolan, Mick Ronson and Johnny Thunders sealed it for me.
“Signs in the Heavens Reality Upside Down” is described as a ‘re-envisioned’ companion to “Dancing with Angels”. What made you want to revisit and reshape those songs so quickly after the original release?
The ‘re-envisioned’ model has been something we have been doing from our first album. I really enjoy hearing what other artists would do with the songs, given free reign to use as little or as much of the original parts as they want, while adding any and all elements they create.
It’s a huge project — 29 tracks across two CDs. Did you ever worry about overwhelming listeners, or was that part of the vision from the start?
I can’t think in those terms. I grew up with double albums and long songs. The short attention span of today’s younger listener is simply foreign to me. I guess it’s also bit of a ‘middle finger’ to today’s soundbite world. You want a 30 second tik-tok bit??…. BIC isn’t for you!
What was the most surprising reinterpretation of a song for you — one that felt completely transformed compared to the original?
I appreciate and value everyone that is part of these ‘re-envisions’, putting their talents, heart and soul into their remixes. Personally, I love the more acoustic re-recorded versions … ‘Made Of Rain’ (Almost Acoustic), ‘Hollow’ (Lost Gems), and Julian Shah-Taylor’s French Exit version of ‘Kiss Me Goodbye’! Going back to ‘Beauty Re-Envisioned’, to me, Wayne Hussey’s piano/string version of “The Long Goodbye” might just be the most beautiful BIC song ever. Darkwave lovers don’t worry, there are some stunning dance-club remixes that you can almost smell the clove cigarettes!
You’ve always brought in an all-star lineup of collaborators. How do you balance giving them freedom with keeping a consistent Beauty in Chaos identity?
I think the constant in BIC’s identity is the music that Michael and I create. I don’t know, at least I hope that BIC can’t totally be labeled.. which I absolutely love. The singers always have freedom to go where the music sends them. They write their own lyrics and melodies. In the end, it just seems to work. Like-minded artists doing music for the right reason.
Michael Rozon’s production is a cornerstone of Beauty in Chaos’ sound. What does he bring out of your vision that no one else could?
Michael Rozon is far more than a producer; he is my partner in this thing we do. I do give him full credit (which I hope he doesn’t regret!!!) for convincing me to ‘make my own album’. Thank God, what for a fleeting moment was to be my ‘solo album’, turned into this sonic entity that we guide! He certainly pushes me to be better and to try the things I hear in my head.
With so many remixes, reinterpretations and different styles, how do you avoid the album sounding scattered?
This is bever a concern of mine.. I think fans of BIC have come to expect and hopefully enjoy the stylistic variety in the re-interpretations of the original versions. I think it makes for a far more interesting listen than just adding dance-floor beats to the tracks.
Let’s talk about the bonus tracks — T. Rex’s “Children of the Revolution” and Lords of the New Church’s “Open Your Eyes”. Why did you decide to cover these two songs?
I am adamant about keeping politics out of Beauty In Chaos. However, my country, and the entire world is so divided. Left-Right, Conservative-Liberal, Us-Them …. It is sickening. I hope… no… I pray that we have more that connects us than divides us. I think whoever the fuck pulls the strings in this world; the elites, the ‘powers that be’ , the ‘globalists’, whatever you want to label these fucking evil humans …they love the division and profit off of endless senseless wars. To me, Marc Bolan’s ‘you won’t fool the children of the revolution’ and Stiv’s ‘open your eyes see the lies right in front of you’ are timely, uniting rallying cries.
Having Al Jourgensen on vocals for “Children of the Revolution” is huge. How did that collaboration come together?
I have known Al for a long time through Schecter, and he was featured on our first album ‘Finding Beauty In Chaos’, on another T. Rex song, “20th Century Boy”, including the video! Michael Rozon has co-produced the last three Ministry album, and it just felt right to have Al back on our version of another T. Rex classic!
The videos, directed by Vicente Cordero, always feel cinematic. How important is the visual element in Beauty in Chaos?
I have a fantastic working relationship with Vicente since being introduced to him by Ashton Nyte and MGT in 2018. Since then, his Industrialism Films team has done most of our videos. Since BIC is not a typical band, our videos are the actual visual face of Beauty In Chaos. I think together we have done a rather masterful job of bringing these songs to life, with almost no budget. I strive to make each video we release as visually different from its predecessor as possible. As I answer this question, we are in the planning stage for filming two new videos next weekend with Vicente behind the camera!
Maren Platzhoff’s hand-painted art returns for this release. What does her artwork add to the overall atmosphere of Beauty in Chaos?
‘Signs In The Heavens … Reality Upside Down’ is the sonic counterpart to ‘Dancing With Angels’. Maren’s painted the front and back cover to that album, which to me, was perfect. It actually spurred the title. The cover of an album, in my opinion, is like the cover of a book … it should complete and compliment what’s in between. It was natural that we asked her to create this cover, as too it should be the visual counterpart to ‘Dancing With Angels’. She went above and beyond by surprising us with the angel wing art that adorn both of the physical CDs. To me, there is an innocence and realness in her paintings, that just seemed to fit as opposed to using a photo or something AI generated. We are also talking with her about hopefully lending her art to the next studio album.
Schecter Guitars is a big part of your life outside Beauty in Chaos. Do you find that work influences your music, or do you try to keep them separate worlds?
I do try to keep them separate, but they do have a positive effect on each other. My position at Schecter has certainly allowed me to become friends with a lot of artists; many who have graciously become part of BIC. However, BIC has a very positive influence on my role at Schecter. Being in the studio a lot more, utilizing guitars in a conventional, and many times an unconventional way has certainly kept my interest and excitement at a high level in the guitar. Sometimes when something you grew up as a kid loving… becomes the means to support your family, it is easy to lose that ‘child-like-wonder’ in it. BIC has more than prevented that!
Do you feel Beauty in Chaos is more of a band, a collective, or a creative experiment?
Well, BIC is certainly not a typical ‘band’, but the other two monikers you mentioned are certainly better than ‘project’, which I absolutely despise. My most recent verbal description, which I do think is fitting is ‘evolving revolving world-wide entity’, though it is probably a bit long for a business card J
The sound runs from gothic rock to industrial, post-punk, acoustic and beyond. Do you ever feel pressured to define Beauty in Chaos more narrowly
Absolutely not. I love that BIC has the freedom to do whatever happens when I pick up a guitar and plug into sonic boxes and then Michael Rozon and I see where it takes us. We give each singer the same creative freedom. Then when it comes to the ‘re-envisions’, I encourage the artists to strip down the track and experiment. No rules, no boundaries. I am sure if this was the ‘80s (which I still consider the ‘golden age’ of music), and Beauty In Chaos was on a major record label, I am sure there would be label pressure to recreate our debut album over and over. Those days are long gone, and I do relish the fact that we can do whatever we want. I think the BIC listener is has far more taste and true love of music than most. This is why I have no concern about fitting BIC into any ‘box’.
How have fans responded so far to the idea of these “re-envisioned” companion albums?
With ‘Signs In the Heavens … Reality Upside Down’ being our 4th re-envision follow up to our studio albums, I think our BIC fans have come to expect it from us. I think each listener will find some gems amongst these releases. I know “The Long Goodbye” (Au Revoir) featuring Wayne Hussey and the acoustic version of ‘Storm” featuring Ashton Nyte are certainty fan favorites.
You limited this double-CD to only 100 copies. Do you see that as a way of keeping the physical release special in an era of endless streaming?
Endless streaming … I can’t tell you how much I despise that music is consumed this way based on convenience. I truly wish listeners could hear the albums in our SAINTinLA studio that way it is mixed … not dithered down to digital zeroes and ones. I love the entire art of making a music to be released in a physical format. Everything about it. The front and back covers, the title, the track running order, the liner notes…. all, or at least most of that is lost on Spotify or any of the streaming platforms. To my ears, the sound quality sucks too. But to your question, I do love the idea of the physical packaging being special. I loved we were able to include Maren Platzhoff’s cover art poster, signed by all of the artists, with the first 100 vinyl copies. Also to be totally honest, some of the limited availability is also based in financial reasons. 33.3 Music Collective is a very small independent label, and sadly people are buying fewer physical copies of music. In someways I do understand that. The shipping, customs and assorted duties almost double the cost of a purchase. I am sure if BIC was a live band, that it would be easier for someone to buy a vinyl or CD at a show. I just can’t wrap my head around NOT looking at what we create in terms of an ‘album’.
What’s the biggest thing you hope new listeners take away from “Signs in the Heavens Reality Upside Down”?
I certainly hope new listeners would not only find their ‘gems’ in this long listen, but even more importantly go back and hear the songs in their original form on ‘Dancing With Angels’. This is an album that I think is totally connected. With the front and back covers, and the 8 songs connected sonically by Halo musical interludes. One uninterrupted listening experience please!!!!
If Beauty in Chaos had to be summed up in one emotion or image, what would it be?
That is a good question. I would have to say the cover photo of our debut album, with Tish and I’s daughters’, Nicole and Sophia, encompasses both the beauty and the chaos.
Send your message to the readers!
I think I speak for everyone that has loaned their talents to BIC, when I say we truly appreciate the belief and support of this ever evolving, revolving entity we call Beauty In Chaos.
Michael Rozon and I are now working on music that will become the next BIC album. It is taking a bit longer than I had hoped, however it should be released by mid-2026. I am again hoping for a beautiful mix of BIC alumni along with new members of our BIC family.
We do plan to release two cover songs before the end of the year .. which I think will again expand what listeners expect from Beauty In Chaos.
Lots of our BIC Family members have released new music… Ashton Nytes’ The Awakening, Whitney Tai, Holy Wars, Julian Shah-Tayler, and Curse Mackey to name a few. And as always, I ask that that BIC fans take a deep dive into all of the artists that make up extensive back music catalogues.
