Interview: Author Domininc Francisco talks about surrealism and nostalgia in Losing the Plot
- Jonathan
- 3 days ago
- 4 min read
Dominic Francisco is an artist from Silverdale, Washington. His recent surrealist horror-fantasy project, Losing the Plot, was released on July 14th for Bandcamp and Spotify.
The album’s Bandcamp description reads:
A lost soul wanders the hillside in a hypnotic daze. Initially guided by an innate yearning, he soon realizes that he doesn't actually know what he is looking for. As he looks for clues in his surroundings, both the hillside and his body begin to warp. Will he find his way or lose himself to this place?
The nine-part series, clocking in at around 17 minutes, uses a combination of environmental imagery, music and narration to tell an ambitious fable.
We recently had the opportunity to speak with Dominic Francisco about his inspiration and efforts that went into Losing the Plot.
This interview was edited slightly for clarity.
The Horror Lounge: You’ve described this project as a cross between an audiobook and an album, which I think is the best way to classify it. How did the idea for the narrative, and such an interesting execution of it, come about?
Dominic: Narratively, Losing the Plot is inspired by the many nights I spent in my adolescence wandering my hometown aimlessly, listening to music and reflecting. Those were tumultuous times and just getting out and being alone with my thoughts helped me learn about myself and appreciate my surroundings.
The reason the score plays a larger role here than it might in a more traditional audiobook
is just me being true to myself and trying to honor a crucial element that made those
walks special.
The Horror Lounge: This project combines photography, music, and narration. Did you collaborate with any artists on the production, or even the writing?
Dominic: Yes, I did. The highly talented James Fixx composed and performed the score for this project, which was mastered on tape by James Meder. My girlfriend, Rachel Herscher, is
an incredible artist and I worked extensively with her on refining the writing of the "In
Good Faith section". C F Sherratt, a fantastic illustrator, drew the cover art.
The Horror Lounge: What was the inspiration behind the titles for each of the nine parts?
Dominic: There’s a tide-like push and pull in the first section, so "Inlet" was both a nod to that and a way to signal the entry point of the world of this project.
For "Carnelian," I thought it was interesting to juxtapose a gloomy/anxious moment in the narrative with a stone often associated with energy and creativity.
The section "Context Clues" has a lot of playful environmental imagery, so I thought naming it that would signal to the audience that perhaps there’s something to be gleaned beyond
the surface level description of a whimsical place.
Regarding "Pleasant Valley," this probably sounds insane, but when I was a kid these ads for Hidden Valley Ranch would show on TV that absolutely unnerved me. They depicted these impossibly gleeful families in a field, ecstatic to dip their vegetables in a communal bowl of ranch dressing. Something about the exaggerated emotions combined with the eating freaked me out every time it came on, and I still think about it from time to time.
My grandmother is from Mount Pleasant, Iowa, which I’ve never been to but have always had a fascination with as a heritage thing. For the name of the track, I wanted to fuse the uncanniness of those ranch commercials with a place I’ve never been to but have a soft spot for.
The section "Back When" deals with a sort of magical, yet unplaced memory, so I wanted a title that underplayed that.
"Interloper" is the end of Side A for the cassette release of Losing the Plot, so I thought
it was a fun bookend to "Inlet," as one is inviting and the other is about unbelonging.
I see everything before the section "In Good Faith" as the world building that supports it. "In Good Faith" is a sort of fable, and certainly more narratively direct than the previous sections. I essentially named it for its message: embrace the world in good faith, and the world becomes a whole lot more radiant.
The Horror Lounge: Are the images and music meant to convey a certain emotion observed while listening/viewing, or is it meant to be interpreted individually?
Dominic: That’s ultimately up to the listeners as individuals, as everyone will have their own emotional associations they’ll bring to the listening experience, but the music is certainly guided by the often-conflicted emotions that inspired my writing. A big part of that was having it be relatively seamless from track to track, like an evolving train of thought. The visuals are meant to evoke the general atmosphere of those night walks, but hopefully with enough room for people to project their own world onto them.
The Horror Lounge: As someone from the Oregon coast, a lot of the images in Losing the Plot evoke some beautiful, if not haunting, familiarity. Being from Washington, has the Pacific Northwest landscape and environment influenced your work?
Dominic: Absolutely! The environment I’m surrounded by was a massive influence on the tone of the project. The moody skies and dense foliage of western Washington, which I find absolutely magical, are in many ways the setting of Losing the Plot.
The Horror Lounge: Do you have plans for other experimental projects that push the envelope?
Dominic: I’m always writing, and am currently working on something promising, but we’ll see what happens. You never know where something will end up. Audio is my first love, but I’m very interested in illustrated novels, so I could see myself doing something in that realm.
Losing the Plot is currently available on Spotify and Bandcamp.
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