Meet Ego Likeness

Ego Likeness is artist Steven Archer, writer Donna Lynch and Justin “Dingo” Sabe. Archer and Lynch met in 1997 when he was a DJ at a goth club in Baltimore and she was “just a person that liked going to the goth club in Baltimore.” They started dating, and soon began writing music together.

“I had been doing music my entire life really, classical music, and he had been in different bands over the years in the DC area,” says Lynch. “So when we got together it just made sense to start writing together.”

They started out with a couple of gothic rock bands that didn’t get very far, and in 1999, Archer and Lynch married, and Ego Likeness was born. The band’s name was taken from Frank Herbert’s classic sci-fi novel “Dune.”

Sabe, whose role in the band has included such diverse duties as “fire, tubas, robots, knitting, obscure knowledge and sub-references” and most recently synths and keytar, joined the band soon after its formation when his unusual activities caught the attention of Archer and Lynch.

“He was one of those people that you meet – you know he played the didgeridoo and he played the tuba and he was always doing something. And it was always something very weird, and we thought that was very cool. So we just started kind of bringing him into the fold, and he’s just stuck around.”

Archer and Lynch can easily be described as workaholics. For one thing, both are involved in a number of other bands and recording projects when they’re not busy working on new material for Ego Likeness or touring.

Instead of being a distraction and making it harder to accomplish goals with the band and their other careers, Lynch says everything they’re involved in actually stimulates the creative process, with touring at the top of the list.

Lynch says even though it’s probably the most taxing thing that the couple is involved in, she wouldn’t even consider not doing it.

“It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life, so far – and I love it. I wouldn’t stop doing it for a second, but it’s some of the most exhausting and challenging work that I’ve ever done.”

As far as ever having to step back from something if one career or the other takes off, Lynch doesn’t see that ever becoming necessary.

“We’re both very comfortable with this becoming a larger entity. I mean that’s what we want. It feels so natural that it’s very hard to imagine a time that we would say ‘Well, I don’t think we’re gonna pay as much attention to this anymore.'”

If Ego Likeness’ presence on the live scene is any indication, the band is likely to keep getting bigger. They’ve toured extensively in the recent past with groups like Voltaire, The Damned, Chris Connely and Rasputina. They also spent some time last year on the road with close friends and label mates The Crüxshadows, who Archer says took them under their wing when they signed to Dancing Ferret and taught them everything they know about touring.

The band has recently ramped up their touring schedule with some help from The Crüxshadows‘ booking agent. Lynch says the help has been invaluable.

“We’ve always been able to book shows for ourselves, but booking a tour is not the same as booking a couple of shows. It’s really, really difficult to do, and very time consuming. So to get some help now has been wonderful. He booked our last tour for us.”

Lynch says that the band sees having a booking agent as a way to land a spot on a festival or two this year, adding, “It’s certainly something we would want to do. It’s just a matter of getting in touch with the right people.”

One thing that can only contribute to the band’s growing popularity is their willingness to go to wherever the fans are. Lynch says that’s a no-brainer.

“We just want to play first of all. And we want to play places that larger bands don’t play because the venues are too small or maybe the crowd isn’t quite what it needs to be to facilitate that. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t people there who don’t want to see some live shows. We will play places where other people won’t necessarily go, not because they don’t want to, but maybe they can’t fit.

“It’s easier to travel with three people, although this last tour we did, we did take a friend of ours with us who helped us roadie and did merch for us. But still, three musicians, three bodies worth of gear is a good amount for us.”

She also thinks of this strategy as a way to build the band’s fan base.

“I would just really love to just be able to take this band as many places as we possibly can and play. We want to keep building and developing our fan base and reaching out into different – you don’t want to be pigeon-holed in one genre. I’m fine with having begun a lot of this in the goth/industrial scene. We love that scene so much, but we really do want to keep pushing out and really reaching – it sounds kind of hokey – but just to reach as many people as we possibly can.”

Ego Likeness is currently touring through the middle of February with The Crüxshadows and Ayria, an up-and-coming band from Canada. The band is planning on hitting the road again in the summer, and they are hoping to release a collection of remixes, rarities, covers and new versions of old songs around the same time.