Keith Secola's rock opera

Keith Secola Gets Humble for the Muse

By Christina RoseHow do you see your music crossing into the mainstream?

I think the new album (Life Is Grand) is going to be the quintessential protest album of 2012, only I have to disguise it, like Dickens' Christmas Carol. I have a rock opera called Seeds, and there are marginal creatures and adult fantasy. The heroine was sent by the grandfathers to bring virtues to this earth because she is sick.

So it’s social commentary?

Exactly that.

What was your process in writing the opera?

It took years of writing, and writing is difficult! I started writing it about six, seven years ago. The songs have lyrics and melody, and it’s not some new age, ‘Look at this Indian with the flute’ and the audience fills it in. This has dialogue, long, meaningful, songs, with to-the-point lyrics.

That was the hard part, trying to write without being pretentious about it, because we can’t be so serious, either. You have to write with a sense of humor, and also have to look at the criteria--one, Is it entertaining? Two, is it philosophical? Three, is it spiritual in nature? And four, is it metaphysical in nature, so people can draw their own meaning to it?

The first song is called “Song For The Marginals.” And we say, "Come out, come out marginal creatures! Now is the time to dance under the sun, because we have been dancing under the full moon for a long time, and now it is our time to reclaim the sun!"Comment:  For more on Keith Secola, see Edwards and Secola in NAMA Hall of Fame.