
Audio By Carbonatix
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Original artwork by Warren Defever.
Because he is a fine multi-disciplinary type artist, and as he is a friend whose first-ever solo art show is called In the Shadow of Your Meow — all very large paintings on wood which feature cats — and it opens tonight at UFO Factory, the other day without warning I threw a barrage of questions over to Warren Defever, whose musical project His Name Is Alive is an exceptional part of Detroit's music heritage. That makes it sound really boring and institutional, but it isn't. HNIA is an ever-changing beast of a musical project, and continues to make better and better sounds all the time.
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Original artwork by Warren Defever.

Original artwork by Warren Defever.
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Warren Defever: Thanks for all the great questions I'm happy for this opportunity to dispel a few rumors about my work. First, I'd like to point out that I'm not actually the first artist to depict cats — there are recently discovered 10,000 year old cave paintings that feature large cats, so yeah the idea is not wholly original.

Original artwork by Warren Defever.
Finally, the paintings are based on photos and historical drawings so they're realistically drawn, no fake cats, mystical beasts or cryptozoology here, although I do occasionally sharpen the ears into points and elongate the legs slightly, for personal reasons.
The thing about cats is that not only are they fearsome nocturnal predators in the physical world but in the spiritual realm as well, a fact not lost on witches, shamans, sorcerers, drug dealers, poets and pimps who have identified with felines as spiritual warriors with majesty and connectedness to the most powerful natural force throughout the ages.

Original artwork by Warren Defever.
As a member of Davin Brainard's Time STEREO crew, I've done tons of installations and performances all over the world, he's been a serious influence and collaborator / mentor for decades now and has provided more help and support hours that can ever be repaid.

Original artwork by Warren Defever.