“Suggestion, that is the dream.” ~ Stéphane Mallarmé
AlexS 
Alex has completed composing the poems for the third collection in his Archons trilogy, which began with Seclusion Data, and continued with Time of the Archons. The book is titled Paper Road, and contains 36 dystopian surrealist poems, divided into three sections, in keeping with the structure of the two previous books. The three sections … Read more
Time of the Archons is a book of Symbolist poems written by Alex Staines and published in print by Third Eye Novelty Editions in 2021. Alex refers to his work in this publication as “pure Symbolist poetry” of the type you might find published in a small Parisian journal in the 1890s. The allusive psychosphere … Read more
The first 24 poems in Alex’s poetry book Time of the Archons form the basis of the vocals for the surrealist poetry soundtrack of the same name. The 24 poems are from the first two of three sections in the book. These sections are titled “Anthropophyteia”, and “Flânerie”. The album was finished before the book; … Read more
Composer and keyboardist Steve Wolf, collaborated with guitarist Guy MacGibbon to create a musical “soundtrack” in 2010, based on poems published in my book, Seclusion Data. It was primarily used, sans vocals, as a backing for a series of live performances in Wellington in 2010 to launch the book. The first version of the full … Read more
Seclusion Data is a carnivalesque poetry book containing 36 original poems in three sections. It was published in 2010 by Third Eye Novelty Editions in Wellington, New Zealand. The book was designed by Michael Christoffel at Whirlwind, and printed at Astra Print by Christine Borra. Sample poem MARRIAGE AUTOPSY The road from innocence to self-knowledge, … Read more
Publication history of The Slow Road to Gore The second print edition of The Slow Road to Gore was published in New Zealand by Third Eye Novelty Editions in 2010. This edition, apart from being a re-design of the original design in 2003 by Andrew Aubry (which was excellent) included word and punctuation changes here … Read more
Video short: The Voice of Foxton (2002), “An acid poetry postcard from small-town New Zealand”, was completed thanks to a grant from Motive/Suspect Productions in Wellington. Justine Flanagan at Motive/Suspect expertly edited the video. I produced, wrote and directed the video. The camera and sound gear (very minimal) was expertly wrangled by the irrepressible Johnny … Read more
The music for Time of the Archons – an interview with composers Brad Jenkins and Steve Wolf, by Alex Staines. Steve Wolf – composer, piano As with Seclusion Data, the previous project he worked on with Alex Staines, Steve started with a handful of poems and thought about the approach he would use for composing. … Read more
Alex Staines interviews Steve Wolf, composer (and keyboardist) of the music for Seclusion Data – the album. The discussion winds through sly obscurity, Satie and The Stooges, jazz, guitarist Guy MacGibbon, and the influence of bogan covers bands. Alex: Steve, what’s the style of the music – how would you describe it? Steve: It’s dark … Read more
Seclusion Data marks a significant departure from my two earlier books, in structure, manner of composition, subject matter, and tone. Whereas previous works (Warning, with Mike Eager in 1990, and The Slow Road to Gore, 2003, and second edition in 2010) reflected my preoccupation with a punk ethos, dionysian revelry, and live performance, Seclusion Data … Read more