lestat-Grave Desires

Lestat, the band from Cleveland Ohio, had created music for 11 years. The group released two cassettes and one CD. They have also been featured on many compilations such as Jevan Records “One”, and Cleopatra’s “Goth Box”, a 4 CD compilation. Lestat began in the summer of 1989. Jess, Razz and Susan formed a band with Richard and Pete.

The name, Lestat, taken from Anne Rice’s famous vampire novels, was chosen as a common thread between the three founding members. The original idea behind the music was one of release or purging of emotions for the members. The music reaches into the darkest corners of the human psyche. This was achieved on Lestat’s first cassette named “Theatre of the Vampires”, in 1990.

With the success of Lestat’s first release, the band decided to seriously focus on refining the music. Richard and Pete left the band to pursue other interests and Timothy left his current band to join Lestat. He brought with him his expertise in drumming and programming. Thus began the true partnership between members.

Lestat’s second release, “Grave Desires”, released in 1991, takes the original focus of the music and fine tunes it even further. The mood is darker, the edge is sharper and the emotion is terrifying. This second release took the name of Lestat further into the darkest corners of one’s mind.

The band continued to focus on the music. In 1994, the group released their first CD, “Vision of Sorrows”. This release proved to be even more fine tuned in production and recording quality. The music moved away from the razor sharp edge of the first two releases and brought forth a lush yet sad mood. This release brought Lestat out into the spotlight reaching more people than ever. The band toured extensively through the Mid-West and East coast.

Lestat was also featured on many CD compilations and interviewed with various magazines. Since that release in 1994, the members of Lestat have been working on the up coming release, “Once Before I Die…”. The band has announced the addition of Dawn as a second vocalist. The new release, due out Fall 2000, is a metamorphosis of the band and the music. This release is dark and raw like “Grave Desires”. Yet it combines ambient music and trip-hop beats with the lush, smooth sound Lestat is famous for. Dawn’s vocals have added a dimension to the music never head before. “Once Before I Die…” was never released.

The band disolved in the summer of 2000. A four song demo was recorded but never not released to the public. And so the legacy ends. No one knows what might have been…

Lestat - Discography 1989-2000
Theatre of the Vampires - 1990
Grave Desires- 1992
Vision of Sorrows - 1994
Jevan Records Sampler “One”- 1996

Lestat was also featured on “Nosferatunes II” released in 1992 by Nosferatu Productions and on Cleopatra’s “Goth Box”, a 4 CD collection. Lestat also recorded a 4 song demo, as a prelude to their new release,shortly before their break up in 2000.http://www.archive.org/compress/Lestat_Grave_Desires