I am sad to announce that your beloved Sharone is now dead. But it is not my fault. She went back on an agreement. But more about that in a moment….

Her ascent in the music world blossomed while I was still within the realm you call Hell. Upon my return, imagine my surprise finding this female mortal swinging a sword on stage at The Oriental and holding an audience spellbound with her enlivening brand of goth metal. A kind of war paint adorned her face. Surprised was I, as I do not often see musician mortals display such a level of credence and emotional connection to their art. While comparisons to Amy Lee would have no doubt been welcomed over the years (Sharone cites her as a definite influence), I witnessed a theatrical respect to the stage, that nodded to early Kate Bush. Either way, I feel Sharone provided much-needed oxygen to the Denver scene.

Which is why I decided to kill her.

Like an emotionless shark within the depths of the dark ocean, I began stalking her, gliding through the dark as I became more and more aware of my newest victim. I was surprised to find that the majestic performance I witnessed that night, was a far cry from her humble beginnings on the stage of Seventh Circle. Almost a decade ago, armed with nothing more than a keyboard and desire to heal herself emotionally, Sharone began playing her songs to a small audience in the legendary venue. But her following quickly grew and eventually she would form a full band, move in a heavier musical direction and ultimately hit the road – where her popularity soared.

In the years she was active, she released one EP, four full-length LPs and shared stages with a lot of big names. She also was extremely prolific in her release of videos.

And so I met with her, explained that only my band can rise to the top and she would perish, should she continue. She agreed her life was worth more and announced her retirement. In fact, I attended what I thought was her final performance at Lost Lake Lounge. After the show, we shared a shot of delicious alcohol. I departed into the night, confident we could be friends.

But it was all a ruse. My minion operatives were to discover that Sharone had planned to make her final act in the scene, slaying me. So, I decided to beat her to it and invited her to a congenial afternoon of ingesting more shots of delicious alcohol. I felt doing so at Seventh Circle would make it a poetic murder. But the grounds of the venue are holy and guarded by the meddling being from the other side, named Aaron Saye. He has the power to resurrect those that die there. Therefore, careful was I to slay the band on the sidewalk outside. When Sharone arrived and discovered the carnage I had caused, she engaged me in warrior combat, managing to corner me within the walls of the holy venue and even wounding me with her sword. In an act of pure self defense, I threw her off and she impaled herself, saving me the task
of ending her life.

But then the meddling Aaron Saye appeared and I’ll just let you see for yourself what happened…

~Maris The Great

THE DEMISE OF SHARONE

SHARONE FINAL INTERVIEW

Tell me how this musical journey began

Sharone: I was hospitalized when I was about 15 (years old) for depression. After I got out, a friend of mine who knew Aaron Saye reached out to him and asked him to book me on a show. He told him I just needed to be on stage. A couple months later, I dragged my little beginners’ keyboard into 7th circle one night and performed in front of 10 people on a weeknight. That was my first show. After about a year, I came back and started playing shows there for what felt like every other week for a while. And shortly after, I began volunteering there as well. 7th Circle was home and Aaron Saye became one of my most cherished friends

You played by yourself?

Sharone: Yeah. When I first started performing, it was just me. And I would switch off between keyboard and guitar.

What was the music style?

Sharone: It was dark pop in the beginning. After I started the band, the music eventually evolved into hard rock.

How did the band come together?

Sharone: In 2017, I was actively looking for musicians to back me on stage. I wanted to write with other people and move into a more “rock” direction.

Have there been different members?

Sharone: There were a lot of members changes. Personal life pulls people away, musical disagreements, lack of communication, etc. But the band I ended up with: Johnny, Spencer, Zach, and Josh was the perfect way to close this chapter.

You are known for your onstage theatrics. How did that evolve?

Sharone: Theatrics on stage were something that began during my album cycle for ‘Enchiridion of Nightmares’. That album was written very theatrically using themes from different horror stories and films that I loved. I wanted to bring some of those visuals to life on stage. At the time, we usually began our sets with “Graveyard”, and I had actually built a 3’x6′ coffin that I came out of at the beginning of the song. I used different props for just about every song, threw in monologues in between songs, etc. Everyone loved it, so I continued to include theatrics in our live shows even following that album. For my album ‘Reflection’, for instance, while performing “Marionette”, I had a “puppet master” dancer on stage with me, and I pretended to be a marionette puppet throughout the entire song. During the ‘Morbid Illusion’ album cycle, I reenacted most of the music videos we did for the album live on stage during those songs. Using similar props from the videos and telling the story on stage. We never did a video for “Project”, but for that one I would do a life painting on stage during that song only, and punch a hole through it. We would sell the paintings after each show, actually.

You also toured. Any harrowing road stories?

Sharone: Well, we were going on a two week tour about three years ago. We got hooked up with a guy who was renting out vans, and he offered us a really good deal. Told us the van was in really good condition. We show up to pick it up, and the back window had been broken in and he was taping it over as we were pulling up. I wish that was the worst of it. Less than a week later, not even halfway through the tour, we make it to Pittsburgh, PA, and notice cords coming out of the tires as we’re loading our gear into the venue that night. We took the van into a dealership in Philly the next morning, only to find out that the tires were the least of our concern. This van required approximately $3,000 worth of repairs just to be safe to drive. The lady helping us at the dealership took us into a conference room, made me call the guy who rented us the van, and started yelling at him over the phone saying “how dare you let these kids drive across the country in this thing!?”. As you’d expect, the rest of the tour was canceled. There wasn’t anything available for rent on that side of the country that was big enough to make the rest of our route feasible. So we rented an SUV, and Zach and our guitarist at the time drove back home with as much gear as we could fit. And the rest of us had to fly home with everything we could, and drive immediately back to pick up the rest of the gear. Not one of my favorite tour experiences, but definitely a great story.

Over the years, what do you feel are your biggest accomplishments?

Sharone: I’m proud of the music I’ve made over the years. However, I have to say what I’m most proud of is completing my final full length album, ‘Morbid Illusion’ entirely on my own. I sat in my room with my computer, piano, and guitar, and wrote the parts for each instrument on that album entirely on my own over the span of six months. I programmed the drums, wrote the bass, both guitars, piano, strings, synths, lyrics, and vocal melodies entirely on my own, and it turned out to be my favorite album I’ve made.

If you were to record it again today, what would you do differently?

Sharone: Over the many shows I played since this album was released, I developed a ton of new harmony and vocal melody ideas that I wish had made it on the album before its release. If I ever were to release an album again, I’ll probably sit on it for at least a year to make sure it’s everything I want and more.

Emulation is usually a key in an artist’s creativity. Who were your inspirations as you put the album together?

Sharone: I’ve always been most musically inspired by Amy Lee and Evanescence. The use of piano, strings, and choirs in their music is gorgeous and always so well put together. I tried to create that same symphony in the background of my own creations.

Looking back over all this time that you’ve been active, what surprised you as being the hardest part?

Sharone: I hate to say it, but getting people out to shows.

And what did you learn over the years that worked best?

Sharone: Being kind.

What does it take to make it in the music business?

Sharone: Money and connections. I hate to say it, but talent and determination has nothing to do with it.

Do you think you’ll return?

Sharone: Nothing is forever. Maybe one day I will, but I doubt it will ever be as serious as I’ve been doing it for the last eight years. I still love music, and I’ll still play it at home with my family and do acoustic sets at bars when I feel like it. If I ever release something again, it will simply be because a song came to me that I really loved and wanted to share with my friends.

And in closing what would you like to say?

Sharone: Thank you to everyone who has supported me all of these years. You’ve given me memories and experiences that I’ll cherish for the rest of my life.

Special thanks to Shudder Speed, Aaron Saye and Sinister Star.