Why The Children of Nyx?

When I was 19, I volunteered with a fundraising group for a women's shelter and crisis line. I thought I was signing up for a feel-good, do-gooder type of thing, but it was a very political group. There was a lot of "consciousness-raising" as they call it. I ended up examining a lot about my identity, beliefs, and behavior. That was years ago, but being critical of myself and the world around me stayed with me. Critical in the sense of knowing more of what I want and being more of who I'd like to be.  The Children of Nyx is a distorted fantasy looking at my own thoughts and behaviors. Each man in the piece is a bit of me, as is maybe every character, even the ones who are only talked about. I hope it's more than that. I also wanted a piece that uses the aesthetic Cock and Bull has been developing over our history, and that was created with this specific cast in mind.

What does the title mean?

In Greek mythology, the Furies are lesser but still powerful deities who oversee things like the keeping of oaths and domestic justice. Like most myths, there are variations of their origin. In some sources, they are born from the Goddess of Night, called Nyx -so they are the children of Night or Nyx.

What was your inspiration?

Cock and Bull decided that ensemble members should submit project ideas. I had nothing but a few free-floating thoughts, so I looked at our members and saw all the unique talent of the people I got to work with, and I wanted to make something that knitted them to my imagination. Around the same time (it's hard to know if it occurred all on its own), I started to really dive into close harmony vocal groups, especially all-female ones. Also, I was very aware of the epidemic of femicide the world over, no less in Canada and the US. These things all mingling together eventually became The Children of Nyx.

What are you favorite crime fiction or mystery books or movies?

There's a book called Jesus' Son by Denis Johnson that's more about the interior life of people who end up breaking the law that I love and wish I had written. Also, there's an excellent film adaptation of it with Billy Crudup. There's an old CBC anthology series called Nightfall (especially their adaptation of the Tell-Tale Heart), and The Truth is a great current anthology series. One of my favorite crime films is Jackie Brown and the Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, I love the narration that no one but the world's biggest movie star could have gotten put into a film... it's amazing.

What do you want people to take away from the podcast?

I really want them to experience it as a narrative, I hope they get caught up in the characters and the world they inhabit. And I hope that story shows the terrain of how men devalue and harm women, and how those personal acts become part of the larger world we live in. I want men to recognize ourselves in the men in this story, even if our actions aren't as extreme. And I hope everyone falls in love with the Furies, even if it is an uneasy love.

What was the most challenging part about recording?

It was a challenge translating written dialogue and images into sonic ones. You just don't know how it will fit together to create the images and story you want, so you have to adapt continuously, and for the success of that, we really have our sound engineer, director, and voice performers to thank.

LISTEN TO THE CHILDREN OF NYX AVAILABLE ON APPLE PODCASTS and your favorite podcast platforms Episode 1-5 out now.