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Just in Time for Halloween & Saw 3D: An Interview with the Mysterious, Musical Armen Ra

Armen Ra, via ArmenRa.com. Photo by Tim Palen.

You may know Armen Ra as the the theremin virtuoso who came of age among the glamazons and nightcrawlers of gay New York City's downtown scene, and who's become a globally renowned musical talent. Or maybe you first encountered him week before last in his guest stint on Logo's floral design reality show, The Arrangement, where he appeared as a guest star and judge. For that episode, Armen Ra was on hand to also represent the spooky and ooky Saw 3D film (out this Friday, October 29), as he is perhaps the film franchise's #1 fan.

But either way, Armen Ra is a talent to be reckoned with. I mean, how many people can you name who've taken an obscure instrument like the theremin and turned it into a worldwide phenomenon? All the while, boasting a fiercely individual style that combines classic glamour, androgyny, moody mystery and taste for the sleek and sublime.

Anyway ... We're into him! So, after the jump read up on Ra, his music, his love for the gory Saw films, his experience in reality TV and why androgyny and gender nonconformity truly is the final frontier.

Armen Ra, in a moment from his star turn on Logo's "The Arrangement."

Hi Armen! I enjoyed you on The Arrangement in the Saw 3D episode. I liked seeing you wield the big monster clippers.

Yeah, everyone seems to be getting a real kick out of that. I seemed a little too comfortable with them, I think.

So, you’re in touch with your snippy dark side!

Yeah, very much so.

You were on The Arrangement in relation to the show’s Saw 3D movie challenge. How did you become such a big fan of the Saw movies? What is it about the films that speaks to you?

Well, mostly I guess I find Jigsaw the villain very relatable, and there’s a big lesson and a good sentiment in the film, apart from all the gore. And it’s that you should appreciate your life, and concentrate on the things that are good and the positive aspects of it, as opposed to what you don’t have or what you don’t have access to or don’t have. Don’t be jealous of other people.

Is that why people respond so strongly to the Saw films?

Well, one big element is the very human and relatable and fragile aspect of the villain—and there’s the very graphic horror element, which are two very different things. I think the combination of those two, grab a larger audience and combine those elements in a way that wasn’t done before.

Jigsaw: A killer with a message?

Are you excited about the 3D aspects of the new movie? What do you want shooting out of the screen at you?

Blood and guts, of course. But I’m not particularly fond of one innard over the other. Of course 3D horror films were around in the 50s; The Creature from the Black Lagoon. I remember seeing that in the theatres with old school 3-D glasses and stuff and it just envelops you more into the experience.

If you were gonna trap someone a la Jigsaw, what sort of trap would you set? What would be the lesson you were trying to teach?

I would trap homophobic bullies, read them to filth and break them down until they understood the implications of bullying. I’d make them understand that that kind of behavior is very telling of someone with very low self-esteem and doesn’t feel worthy of existence. Bullies usually are people who don’t feel they can be themselves or are afraid of who they are. As far as how I would do it? Um, I don’t wanna implicate myself!

Ok, about The Arrangement... What was the experience like?

I was impressed and surprised by the cast. It’s somewhat chaotic and fast moving, but it was treated calmly and respectfully. The crew was fantastic. Everyone did their job really well. I was surprised how many cameras there were, these robotic things coming at you from every angle. It was very Mad Max.

The hosts, Gigi and Eric, seem like complete and total fun.

They’re exactly that. Gigi and I loved each other at first sight, you know. We met each other and were like, “OMG you’re so gorgeous” at the same time. We had an immediate connection. She’s so beautiful and very kind. I really enjoyed getting to know her.

Total BFFs: The Arrangement's Gigi Levangie Grazer and Armen Ra.

Do you have any favorites from the contestants? Who will win?

If I had to guess, maybe Guillermo because he really seems to have a flare and technical prowess that was very obvious to me.

Are you a gardening or flower person?

Um, I have a black thumb. I love flowers. I love gardens. However, I do not do gardening. All the plants I’ve ever had have died. But I have an aunt who is an opera singer, and she was a master in Ikebana, the Japanese school of floral design. When I was growing up in Iran, along with piano lessons, she taught weekly classes of Ikebana. I always participated from the age of probably about five and you know, she’s biased, but she said that I was the most spectacular student she ever had, with really unusual and spectacular arrangements.

From what I’ve seen of you, you certainly have a gift for visuals and presentations.

I’m good at tedious work and anything that involves the hand so I guess that it showed itself at an early age.

That’s great. Now how did you get into playing the theremin?

I’d seen a theremin player in a band many years ago when I was teenager, and I was just taken by it. I was just mesmerized and taken by the sound and the fact that it was being created out of nothing because the theremin is played without touching it, and I knew at that moment I had to find this instrument and play it.

However, this was pre-computers so it was very hard to find any information, let alone where to get it. But I got one. Most people discouraged me because it is the hardest instrument in the world to play because you’re playing the air and the notes are very close together and it takes perfect pitch and excellent muscle memory. But I was good enough to know there was a future for me in this instrument. I must say that I finally found something as strange as myself!

Armen Ra in action.

Your success with the theremin has probably helped lots of people to discover what it is.

Yes, the awareness of the instrument is much better now because of myself even though it is the first electronic instrument. Jimmy Page had one. Jean-Michel Jarre has one. You know, it was in many soundtracks of the 50s and 60s of horror films, sci-fi film. So people have heard it, they just didn’t know it. When I play, I always get “Are you really playing that thing?” or “Are there strings?” or “Are you singing?”

You have an album out now: Armen Ra Plays the Theremin. How would you describe the album to someone?

It’s meditative and it’s just beautiful. That’s how I see it, that’s what I wanted to create is something very beautiful very relaxing, and it has spiritual feel to it. Most people write how it helps them relax and writers and artists play the CD because it inspires them as well. It opens doors to their creativity. It’s not really about the theremin itself; it’s about beauty and music and tonal healing.

What other music do you get into, or get inspired by?

I have a very varied taste in music. I’m mostly drawn to classical music, and opera, like Chopin, but I also enjoy some pop music. You know, I like every kind of music really. Anything that has musicality and all kinds of emotional music, but mainly classical music or beautiful singer-songwriters. I love Our Lady J. I have a lot of respect for people who actually can write beautiful words and put them to beautiful music because it’s much more relatable, you know, than just, let’s say, instrumental music.

And you’re gonna be touring I believe soon. Where can people come to see you and hear your music?

In November, I’m on tour, opening for Nick Cave. We start on November 11 in Toronto, and then we’re doing 15 cities all across the country and ending in San Diego. It’s all across the country and I’m excited to play in cities that I’ve never played in like before like Memphis and Chicago and Seattle, Vancouver to Montreal. And I’m doing soundtrack work.

How would you describe your look or your personal style?

I’ve always said the same thing: A chic deco lesbian. Tthat’s my inspiration. Ultimately, I’m myself. I have not altered in any way and I don’t create, like, any kind of mask or you know, or drag. But my look has always been chic deco lesbian.

You also convey a powerful sense of androgyny. Why do people get freaked out by issues of gender and androgyny?

Well, in many ancient cultures, the androgynous was always revered and considered god-like because the androgynous possessed both attributes of sexes emotionally and physically. Now people find it threatening, and I think we’re in a period of evolutionary retardation.

Androgyny threatens people because it brings out homosexual tendencies in everyone since a successful androgynous person, being both male and female, attracts everyone.

And the gay community at large is as discriminatory towards androgynous people as everybody else.

I suppose that makes sense, sadly.

This makes it very difficult for transgendered teens; they’re pressured to go one way or another, to choose a gender role, and by doing that, it’s inevitably suppressing a certain part of themselves one way or another. But again, it’s a gift to be androgynous. It’s the chosen who are androgynous. We’re here for a purpose and this has been distorted and forgotten through the rewriting of history and this social retardation and evolutionary retardation that is plaguing our overcrowded world.

Armen Ra, looking mysteriously fabulous. Photo by Tim Palen.

I think you’re absolutely right. And not to get all shallow here, but I must say you you present yourself fabulously. Where do you shop?

Thank you. I have really good taste. If I had a fashion hero, it would be Christian Dior. Because I really really am drawn to the shape, you know, the classic, the 1940s/50s line and silhouette that Dior created. I’m into lines and cleanliness in presentation so whatever is sleek and modern, I like. The 1920s were the most modern era that we’ve ever had.

It’s not that easy to find pieces because you know, I like to maintain the androgyny, and not go too much to either side and meanwhile, I always know what I like. And, regardless who made the pieces I’m wearing, everything ties in. It’s all very similar. So I’m not very adventurous at all in the way I dress. I think I’m a little conservative in my own mind.

Halloween is this week. Do you look forward to Halloween?

Halloween for me is about magic. So, I love Halloween because I love that time of year and the roots of the holiday, much like I regard the Day of the Dead. It’s a highly charged time of the year, magically speaking.

Opening for The Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black in NYC; photo by Tim Highland.

Do you participate in the more basic mainstream facets of the holiday?

No. I’m usually working on Halloween, and, or, I’m at home casting spells.

What kind of spells?

You know, prosperity spells, and just offerings to the universe and to the elements and just basic pagan rituals and things like that.

Do you ever dress up, put on a costume to go party—or is that just amateur night?

Well yes, there’s a big Amateur night aspect and the chaos that goes on in the streets. People are all out and intoxicated, so I don’t enjoy that at all. I used to really enjoy Halloween as a child because it gave me an excuse to put on lots of makeup. But you know, since I’ve grown into myself, since I always dress and wear what I want, um, I’m not really compelled to. I always say every day is Halloween for me. I have given myself that freedom.

Plus, growing up and having worked in the nightclubs in New York City—I did drag for many years—I really got to express all the theatrical aspects of my personality, so now I just dress like myself. I’ll usually use the opportunity to put on more makeup than necessary though. Ha ha!

Photographed by Todd Oldham for Venus Magazine. Classic downtown NYC!

To learn more about Armen Ra, visit ArmenRa.com.And get full episodes of The Arrangement. And get into Saw 3D. And Happy Halloween!

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