We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Leslie Benson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Leslie, so excited to have you with us today and we are really interested in hearing your thoughts about how folks can develop their empathy? In our experience, most folks want to be empathic towards others, but in a world where we are often only surrounded by people who are very similar to us, it can sometimes be a challenge to develop empathy for others who might not be as similar to us. Any thoughts or advice?
Empathy comes from experience. You can be born with a kind heart and compassion, but true empathy for the human condition grows from witnessing and experiencing pain, loss, and trauma.
My own trauma stems from surviving domestic abuse, but I’m fortunate to have supportive parents and a loving partner who encourage me to express myself openly and pursue music as a step toward healing.
I feel privileged to have had a good education (with degrees in poetry and journalism) and a supportive creative community to keep me going. I use the tools I have learned from years of writing lyrics and music as a platform to not only share my own stories – in my darkwave band, Mourning Candle – but to connect with others on an emotional level. I hope to empower other survivors through these songs, and I’m grateful when we make a personal connection that way.
One way to show gratitude is by giving back. I’m a volunteer event planner with GOTHBATS Nashville, a charitable group of spooky ghouls who love goth music and aesthetics but also crave a sense of community and philanthropy. Our third annual Goth/Alt Clothing Swap & Sale, held at Cyanide Cider in September, helped raise $1,600 each for the ACLU of Tennessee and The Catio. I also annually volunteer with Second Harvest of Middle Tennessee, making food boxes for the elderly.
Even when times are tough, you can make a difference by expressing empathy and helping others in need, especially in your local community.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I’m excited by having recently held our second live performance as Mourning Candle, Nashville’s newest darkwave band. We opened for ‘90s gothic rock legends SERAPHIM SHOCK, who are based in Atlanta, and Louisville-based solo artist SCARY BLACK, as part of Fascination Street’s Halloween festivities at The East Room in Nashville, TN.
For me, it was a rite of passage to perform for a Fascination Street event. It was a dream of mine since I moved here in 2013, the first year this iconic goth night began in Nashville. (Happy 12 years!!)
Being an elder goth has its perks. I still have a great collection of physical media, including one of my favorite compilation albums, Cleopatra Records’ “Goth Box” 4-CD collection, compiled by Mick Mercer, which was released in 1996. It features classic goth bands like Bauhaus and legends SERAPHIM SHOCK.
Thanks to DJs John Ichabod Anderson and Nathanas T. Birk of Fascination Street and The East Room for inviting us onto this show lineup. And thank you to SERAPHIM SHOCK and SCARY BLACK for making us feel welcome on the stage.
My bandmate, guitarist and synth programmer, Anson Taylor, is a prolific songwriter, so in addition to playing shows, we’ve been working on our debut album, along with our producer Nick McLaren (The Static Architect) of California-based STATIC STUDIOS.
In addition to several successful singles that hit over 9,000 streams on Spotify in just a few months, this past summer, we released our first music video for our single, “Sycophants,” on YouTube, with help from Ray Rose Photography. We used retro Tennessee-designed Goblinhaus Halloween masks to portray what it feels like to hide behind a persona.
Our partners, Aeryn Singletary and Angelica Maddox, and several of our friends portrayed the ghouls in the video. It was the most fun I’ve had on a creative collaboration!
Inspired by a short story I wrote during college, “Sycophants” draws from my experiences in the 2000s Midwest goth club scene. We all wear masks – whether it is to survive, to hide, to escape, or to make up for what we lack or are afraid of, because we all just want to fit in and find our people. But we are all the same deep down. In the void, we find strength in each other. In this turbulent world, we should support each other – especially on the fringes of society.
The track’s narrative is excerpted from my short story “The Divine and the Demonic,” where a young woman sheds her inhibitions on a nightclub dance floor, finding unexpected release in a space of chaos and transformation.
“It was like a rite of passage to learn the movements of the dance floor,” I wrote. “I mimicked their snakelike, sensual bodies like a falcon stretching its wings, a flower-child gypsy in a room full of vampires. Between bodies and blank faces, I felt the sloughing of an ancient skin while my movements became more like theirs.”
“Take my hand—we’ll dance around the sycophants.”
“N0S4A2” has been our other breakout single. It’s the song the local goth scene has been dancing to, with its nod to vampire lore, pop culture, politics, and religion. My bandmate Anson’s “Castlevania: Symphony of the Night” game nights inspired this track, along with his black metal background, bringing a more aggressive energy to our sound.
“I don’t want to live forever if it means I’ll be like you.”
Stay tuned for our fourth single, “Harbinger,” which will be released on Bandcamp, Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and anywhere else you stream music this November. It’s a much heavier anthem, touching on controversial subjects like injustice, authoritarianism, and historical trauma.
Follow Mourning Candle on our socials: https://linktr.ee/mourningcandleband.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Patience – Honing your craft takes time. Sometimes real life gets in the way. Take time to rest and reflect if you need it. Get quiet. Take a gratitude walk. Remember to breathe. The inspiration will come.
Perseverance – Don’t let the “imposter police” live rent-free in your head. Keep going. Keep creating your art, especially on the bad days. You can still achieve your dreams, even in small bites. Be grateful for all you have done and who you have become along the way.
Focus – You don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Look to the artists, musicians, or writers you love for guidance. Their craft will help you learn to focus on your own. Trust your instincts. Be bold. Be different. But be you. You belong here. Your voice matters.
To close, maybe we can chat about your parents and what they did that was particularly impactful for you?
My parents are my biggest supporters. Even if they don’t understand my music genre or lifestyle, they fully support me and allow me to be myself. They love and support my partner and my friends, too. We are on the fringes of society, so having my parents there to listen and have my back when times get tough has made me stronger. I’m forever grateful to my mom and dad for being a positive influence on my life. They helped teach me empathy, and we are still helping each other learn and grow to be better people every day.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/mourningcandleband
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mourningcandle/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mourningcandleband
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@mourningcandleband
- Other: https://mourningcandle.bandcamp.com/
Image Credits
Ray Rose Photography
