Contents - Grave Jibes

Transcription

Contents:
2 Ain Soph Aur
6 Frustration
13 Psychoformalina
16 Electric Press Kit
18 The Cemetary Girlz
22 Date At Midnight
27 Les Modules Etranges
32 Human Puppets
37 Agent Side Grinder
41 Jessie Evans
47 Anasazi
50 Lost Tribe
52 Part 1
56 Zombie Saratov High League
59 Reviews
2
Ain Soph Aur
When I was 15, I started to play in
a punk band, like occasional bassist,
and to scream some bullshit in a mike.
Nattsol: How did it happen that you
formed Ain Soph Aur, and how did
it happen that the band turned into
the duo?
ID
http:/
“C
old-wave and postpunk feelings, metal approach,
electro experiments, shaped guitars, lysergic voice and esoteric
questions since 1994” - that’s
how the French duo Ain Soph
Aur describes itself. For many
such coctail may sound really
weird, but it’s not that easy to
find another band which
could sound so organic in its
own style, as it does Ain Soph
Aur. And their latest album
“Des Pierres Blanches” underlines that the band is on
the peak of its creativity.
Aur
AinSoph
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ression
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p://ainso
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Web: htt
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Toy: ASA was created after a jam
between 2 bands at the end of a gig.
The perfect mix between dark lyric
new-wave and lysergic speed metal.
The band started with 6 members,
and life made some of us leave the
board for different reasons (jobs, families, other bands, other artistic activities...). Gio (bass/guitar former
member) was the last one to leave.
Nattsol: You started in 1994, and
the mid 90’s seems the
most underground
and mysterious time
Nattsol: Greetings, Phil and
Toy! To start this interview,
please tell how you started
to play music and what were
your initial references.
Toy: I started playing music with
my father’s guitar when I was 10.
I was in my first band when I was
15. Even if we used to lesson to
different kind of music at home, my
first revelation about dark music
was “17 seconds” by the Cure, I
was 12 years old.
Phil K.: At school first, using flute
and xylophone as every other child.
for the French cold/goth scene with
cult bands, such as Corpus Delicti,
Martyr Whore, Brotherhood of Pagans
etc. So how can you describe that
era, and did you feel yourselves a
part of the “movement”?
Toy: I think everything starded in
France in the 80’s, not in the mid
90’s, with bands playing different
kinds of “dark music”: Nox, Treponem
Pal, Neva, Tanit, Marc Seberg, Jad
Wio, Kas Product, Clair-Obscur, Trouble Fait’, the bands we were playing
in (Francis Massacre, Requiem) and
many many more...
Phil K.: Not really a part of the movement for me. We are inside and outside at the same time. Maybe too
different for most of them.
Nattsol: How can you describe the
1994-2000 period of the band’s
activity?
2
3
Ain Soph Aur
Toy: I was not in the band at this
time, involved in other musical
projects. But I remember well the
rehearsals (we are friends for
decades...) and the gigs, where
metallic chaos, cold shamanism,
tortured feelings were so impressive, mixing a kind of trance with
lyrical energy.
I got involved in the band when the
former drummer left, and I was the
ASA’s drummer for a couple of years.
Phil K.: A very strange period with
lots of misunderstandings with the
musician of my own band. They
wanted to be simple but in only
one way, for fun. When it became
serious, I mean we were ready to
find some real deal with a record
label, they didn’t want to go ahead
in this “job” way.
Nattsol: During the first decade
of the XXI century you released
two albums, which both are soldout now – “Lueur” (2000) and
“HorsemeN Ov MentaliS ApocalypsE” (2004). What can you tell
about these works?
Toy: “Lueur” was made by only 4
of us when I was on drums. I remember well making them work
and work to be ready again to play
gigs and record something quickly.
I have to tell that we used to create
new stuff when one of us left the
band. And some of us in ASA were
able to exchange their instrument
(drums to guitar, guitar to bass,
keys to guitar...). It is for this reason
Ain Soph Aur
that ASA always goes
up to the light.
“HOMA” was the result of three of us,
when I left the drums
to go back to my guitar,
with Gio on bass and Phil
on vocals. And it was also
the return of the computer,
which never left us until now!
(laughters)
Phil K.: The first one LUEUR
was horrible except two songs.
One it's a mix from Toy and
the other in live at the
desk mix commands.
Some songs are very
hard too because I
speak of my "brother in arms" who
died just before. I
realy dislike the
guitars,
they
sound untuned,
and the sound
is too much
clear, very uncomfortable
at my ears!
For HoMA it was make too
much quickly too, in emergency. But I really love some
of songs on this EP.
At that time we were all running after something, but
too much disorder inside
us, and I don’t like the
way that we worked with
our engineer. The sound
was not what we want. But
we work together now again
and it‘s cool because he understood our way of thinking
and the way that we see music!
So times change! It's why we
recorded again 3 old songs
sur "Des pierres blanches»:
"Visage tranquille», and
"Ae panti nam", and "Que
restera t'il" which
were only live
takes on the
first release of
HOMA.
Nattsol: It’s not
that easy to find
much information
about the band on
the web, but according to what I’ve found
you had quite intense
2008, right? Can you
share some memories
about your activity during that year?
Toy: Keeping some
mystery about the
band is a good
thing. In fact, 2008
was the time Phil and I came
back from personal hell after 3
long years of disgust, anger,
sadness and lost minds. It’s all
I want to tell about these times.
Phil K.: Oh my friend, if you
want to know.... That period was
a very bad one. Everything is
in my lyrics. I lost my soul, my
mind , my wife, my job ,my convictions, lots of friens & people
died around me, I had lots of
problems with the justice too...
just like a never ending bad spiral, fucking bloody mess!!!
Nattsol: Could you explain your
passion for playing acoustic
covers and the meanings of
these covers for you?
Toy: The new songs were very
difficult to achieve because of
the feelings we lived, because
we were personaly very troubled as I said.
So we started to play acoustic
covers for pleasure and to reach
some quietness.
And this acoustic way slowly
became a real part of our artistic
expression.
Phil K.: A good way to sing and
play in a simple form, to touch
people with references and to go
at the essential in a simple but
intense and very personal form.
And for my pleasure too!
Nattsol: Your latest album “Des
3
4
Ain Soph Aur
Ain Soph Aur
Pierres Blanches” – could you introduce
it to our readers in your own words?
Nattsol: What can you tell about “Flatliners Corp.”?
So, it naturally became the name of
our autoproduction factory.
Toy: DPB is the end of the black time
in our personal lives, questions about
what we could do to survive it, and it
was also about the time to our new
songs to be what they are now.
Toy: FC was an intellectual way for me
to group all the different projects I do.
Phil K.: Biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiip...................
Took 5 years to end. And the title of
the record came naturally to me, like
if I had closed a chapter of my life,
ready to walk my way again in the light.
Phil K.: It was just like a therapy, a
big vomit! An introspective pain, like
a deliverance in suffering. Shouts
and tears, but inside me. But I’m
very proud that we achieved it.
Nattsol: How could you describe the evolution of Ain Soph
Aur through its studio releases?
Toy: Each time it’s a bit easier,
because we used to work alone
for years, with some help of
friends for technical support,
from the composition to the making of the cover.
I hope someday we could have
the money to use a real studio,
just to know how it feels to work
in good conditions. But maybe the
strange conditions we worked in,
are one of the things that make
this band interesting.
Phil K.: A better comprehension as
with Toy as with the technical staff
in all the ways of talking about artistic and technique.
Flatliners are people doing NDE, going
on the other shore to come back with
a different light in heart and spirit.
And I use it in a metaphoric way, to
keep in mind that from Darkness
comes the Light.
Nattsol: Which subjects in general
do you explore in your lyrics/music?
Toy: I only can speak about music,
which is my main job in the band. I’m
just a multi-instrument mixed with a
sensitive guy. That’s all.
Phil K.: Could you spend 2 more
hours with me? (lol) Well...to say it
shortly, I do like most of the others
authors do: telling things
about my life, about relationships, about love and
death, about the opening of
the mind, about the problems of misunderstanding
with other people....
Nattsol: You deal with esoteric questions – do you adhere to any
theory/conception (like, say, Thelema
or whatever), or you follow your own
way, based just on your experience?
Toy: I’m just a free man with a free
mind. I follow my own way, trying to
keep my eyes and my heart open.
For me, the concept of Ain Soph Aur
is not the end, it is just a part of the
undertsanding. And it is a fine name
for such a band like ours.
Phil K.: I follow my own way, but sometimes I’m the Leader of your mind! Lol.
I take some distances with the order of
thelema, I do it in «solitaire» I don’t
realy like to speak about that , only
4
5
Ain Soph Aur
sometimes with peoples involved Inside
when I’m in «phase», when I have the
feeling with them . But I’m always in
esoteric and spiritual way of life.
Nattsol: When I watched your live
videos on youtube, they much impressed me by the atmosphere, sound
and performance, done by just two
people. So, are you duo by choice
or just because you can’t find musicians who would fit? How far are your
real live shows from the live show of
your dream?
Toy: The shows are just exactly what
we are when we swim in the open
sky, as could say a friend of us….
It reflects all of what we lived - Phil
and I - for the last 7 years, as humans,
as musicians and also as 25 year
old friends. And as I tried to explain,
we are a duet because life brought
us to this. And I love the way we do
that, because we are more sharp
and free now.
And I understood that it’s easier for
us 2 to express ourselves. It’s really
different in a band.
As some friends say, we look like an
old couple, really close in life and
on stage. I didn’t think this osmosis
could happen at this point one day.
And I love that!
About other musicians? Yes, we
would like to experiment a band
again, but people are sometimes feeling outside of our entity, impressed
by the strenght and the depth of our
performances, as you said.
Ain Soph Aur
The future is unwritten….
Phil K.: I agree with Toy, he said
everything. Difficult to make it again
or to be an intensive couple when
you are much more than too! But...
I don’t know really....
Nattsol: Do you feel the band part
of the contemporary post-punk/goth
scene? And do you see your musical
“relatives” within this scene?
Toy: We are, in a way, a part of this
scene since decades, even if we are
not only that. You can see it in our
audience, which is a fine mix of different people, of different minds, and
of different ways of living. We have
some good friends from the old times
and from the new times.
And some others are not.
Phil K.: Now, I’d like to! But we
are out of it for most of the extremist
goth audience. Just because we
don’t have the right clothes. For
the dark music lovers in general,
I think yes.
Nattsol: Many thanks for the interview!
To finish it – do you have any question
to Grave Jibes and its readers?
Toy: You’re welcome, dear. A last
question? Yes! Could you help us to
come to play in your country?
Phil.K: Have you some good “tricks”
for wodka? Thank you very much, Pall.
Questions: Pall “Nattsol” Zarutskiy
“Grave Jibes Fanzine”
5
6
6
Ain Soph Aur
ID
Name: Frustration
Place: Paris, France
Time: 2002 - ?
Close to: post-punk ; coldwave ;
Current Label: Born Bad Records
Web: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Frustration/120387761342462
http://www.myspace.com/_frustration
Ain Soph Aur –
‘Des Pierres
Blanches...’
album review
When a band mixes
different styles in its music, usually the maximum it manages to
achieve is being “interesting”, but sometimes
one particular band of
that kind can create a
new style with a lot of
followers. Ain Soph Aur
with their latest album
“Des Pierres Blanches...” belong neither to
the first kind, nor to the
second. This album definitely doesn’t sound as
“black sheep” of the
dark scene, since its
songs sound very psychical, with much emotion and character to
creep under listeners’
skin. But at the same
time, the music is too
much personal to have
any “followers”. There
could be noticed many
influences – surely
post-punk and cold
wave, but also some
metal, electro... The
whole pattern may as
well remind of dark rock,
but it isn’t the best description for “Des Pierres Blanches...” too
because generally Ain
Soph Aur has nothing
to do with dark rock
bands. Weird, but this
particular album doesn’t
let anyone “dissect” it
and put its components
in a line to explore them
with a microscope. On
the contrary, it sounds
so monolith that it can
be taken and appreciated only as a whole.
And what is even more
amazing with “Des
Pierres Blanches... “ is
how it reflects emotions. It’s definitely an
album exploring suffering. I don’t know what
kind of experience Toy
and Phil K. had, and
how it turned into this
album, but I wouldn’t
wish anyone to experience the same. It is not
only psychotic and obscure, there’s also too
much personality behind “Des Pierres
Blanches...”.
To summarize, “Des
Pierres Blanches...” is
one of the best examples of what maturity
and professional performance can give, accompanied with original
ideas and personal feel.
Unfortunately, people
usually prefer something more definable, so
it is very likely that this
release will remain underestimated. But it
won’t be underestimated by Grave Jibes.
Grade: 10/10
Pall ‘Nattsol’ Zarutskiy
‘Grave Jibes Fanzine’
T
hese days Frustration belongs to one of the very few bands, that are
known not only within the post-punk/coldwave fans, but even within those who’re
hardly familiar with this genre. One of the most successful and the most touring
band in the French independent scene (according to some scene colleagues’
opinions) – how could we not be interested in making an interview with them?!
Nattsol: Greetings! To start with,
please give your own introduction to
this interview.
Nicus: Hello everybody ! Welcome to
Gravejibes for this unbelievable and
RARE interview of Frustration, a
French post-punk band from Paris.
You will discover in these lines that
the members of Frustration are common people. You will be amazed by
the fact that the singer, Fabrice, loves
to speak but hates to write. Reading
this interview, you will see the Eiffel
Tower, you will smell the Sacré Coeur,
you will taste Notre-Dame De Paris.
You will notice here that stupid and
useless answers can be given to
7
Frustration
Frustration
clever and interesting questions
(please, dear reader, don’t pay attention to Junior’s answers and forgive
us for it). In order to make your reading
easier, you have to know that Fabrice
is the singer, Manu is the bass player,
Junior is the keyboard player, Mark
is the drummer (but he couldn’t answer
the questions because he can’t read)
and Nicus is the guitar player.
Junior: You've got so many questions.
I ain't got no answers.
Nattsol: Frustration is the band of experienced musicians, so could you introduce yourselves and your
non-Frustration musical activity?
Fabrice: I’m the singer in a brand
new cold-wave band: “Danger”. I was
the singer in “Les Teckels” and “the
Old Cunts” (street punk), in “Flathead”
(HxC noise) and “Zurück Placenta”.
Nicus: I play the guitar in Frustration
but also in ANTEENAGERS M.C. (a
‘pre-post-punk-garage-fuck-yeah’
band), in WARUM JOE ( a “?” style
band from the 80’s ). I play the drums
in a 60’s French-yé-yé band called
LES TERRIBLES and in a late synthpunk band called OPERATION S.
Junior: I am the eggman. I'm also
lead drummer in Saxarba, a concept
band to come, about playing Santana's Abraxas' songs in reverse.
Nattsol: Fabrice, you were the singer
in the band
Zuruck Placenta
–
could you
briefly tell
what
this
band was?
Fab: In 1985,
I met those guys
looking for a singer.
The band was
called “Foramen”.
I tried it and I loved
it. At the end of
1986, the guitar
player had to leave, so we took another
one: Jean, from “Babel 17”. “Zurück
Placenta” was born. We played together for 5 years and splitted in 1992. But
we all are still close friends.
Nattsol: With Zuruck Placenta you
were a part of coldwave/post-punk
scene of the late 80’s/early 90’s. How
could you describe that era as itself
and comparing to nowadays?
Fab: It was really hard to exist and play
in the late eighties, because nobody
cared about this kind of music in France.
We just gave like 10 gigs in 5 years.
Nattsol: How did it happen that the
ZP album - one the “cursed albums,
recorded in SVO”, as your former bandmate Jean called it, was finally released
by Manic Depression, and what do you
think about this release now?
Fab: We were ready to record and we
wanted it bad! So we put a lot of money
in a super good studio, no matter what
would become this album: we wanted
to have it and we had it! But it was
never released! Then a few years ago,
my girlfriend was listening to my cd’s
and found this copy I had. She asked
“what the fuck is this?! It’s great!”. She
loved it and asked Lionel from “Manic
Depression” to listen to it. He did. And
7
8
Frustration
loved it too. And released it. Now, we
are very happy and proud that this album
exists after all those years in the cellar.
Nattsol: What can you tell about
the Heurts video, its creation and
its destiny?
Fab: Not much: this video was edited
and produced by Momo (“Fraggle Production”). The images were shot near
the Flea Market, in the north of Paris.
Nattsol: Is there something from the
ZP era that plays an important role
for you nowadays?
Fab: If you play with guys who really
love to play live on stage, a lot of
people want to see you again, because they saw you play maybe not
with a big smile but with sincere grin!
Nattsol: Nicus, you also play in the
cult underground punk band Warum
Joe. How did you join them?
Nicus: As a teenager, I was a big fan
Frustration
of this band: they had a really particular sound, with
those rhythm boxes, analog synths, creepy guitars
and uncommon lyrics for
a punk band. I used to
work in a recording and
rehearsal studio in the
early 90’s. That’s where
I met them: they came
one day to mix an album
(‘Aime Le Maudit’ 1993,
New Rose). We fell in
love, during those night
sessions,
recording,
mixing, drinking beers and eating chili
con carne! Ha! Ha! Actually, this studio
is the place where I met all those
guys and girls I’m making music with
nowadays.
Nattsol: The latest Warum Joe album
“Au Milieu De Ta Forme” is considered
as one of its best ones, and at the
same time it was something like a
comeback album. So could you tell
more about this album, its history and
its conception?
Nicus: Warum Joe never
stopped playing: we only
play when people ask us
for it. So it goes for the
albums: when we have
enough songs for an album, we record it. We have
no record company pushing for release, so we are
totally free. Music is our
hobby and our passion. So
we can’t talk about a ‘comeback album’ because we
never left. When I don’t have
anything to say, I shut up…
that’s what we do with W.J.
“Au Milieu De Ta Forme” was recorded
by the countryside, in a friend’s house,
where we built a studio for one week.
It was super fun and exciting to do:
we had an 8 tracks reel to reel analog
recorder, our amps, synths, guitars,
drum boxes, a few mikes and effects.
The place was such a mess: gear
and wires in every room. The kids
from the next village were intrigued
and spied on us: they could hear the
music (really loud!) in this middle of
nowhere, and see those punks, fishing
seriously by the river or playing football in the fields with a beer can in
the hand… When we came back to
Paris, we mixed it by ourselves too,
in the attic of the guitarist’s mother.
Totally D.I.Y. A friend of us (Esteban)
made some ‘electro’ re-mix that
8
9
Frustration
Frustration
sounded really good. Those appear
on the cd version of the album (on
Crash Disques). I was really proud,
because I had been playing with W.J.
for years, and it was the first album
ever I was featuring on, with four of
my songs on it.
Nattsol: Now it’s already 9 years since
the release of the above mentioned
album and during this period not that
many things obviously have happened
with the band, even though it still functions. So what’s happening with
Warum Joe at the moment and what
are its plans for the future?
Nicus: we don’t have any new stuff,
we just rehearse before the gigs, to
set the show and that’s all. WJ is and
stills (like Frustration) an “amateur”
band: music is not our job. Maybe
we’re gonna take time to write new
songs but it’s not planned yet.
Nattsol: So, how did it happen
that you all met each other and
formed Frustration?
Nicus: well, well, well…
“There’s a long long time,
in a galaxy, far far away…
” no, let’s make it short:
some of us met when they
were teenagers, some of
us met in gigs, some of
us met at the bar but I
personally met them all in
the rehearsal studio
where I was working.
Junior: I'm still wondering...
Nattsol: How can you
describe your 20022008 period of activity
with its shows, releases
etc?
Nicus: Fun! We were starting the band
and we quickly could feel that some
people were asking for that kind of
sound. We didn’t invent anything new
but (almost) nobody was playing
and recording that
music anymore in
the years 2000. It
seems that People
re-discovered that a
band could give a
raw, sad but really
cold energy. So we
started touring (when
we could), and we
had fun (when we
could too).
and how far is it from what you’re
doing in 2012?
Fab: This album was a mixture of
all what we did during our first years
of existence with Frustration. It’s little
brother (“Uncivilized”… coming soon)
will be more nervous, weirdest, and
in a same time lighter and more still.
See what I mean?
Junior: It was what we wanted to
record at this time and it's quite 4
years far from what we're doing now.
Junior: We were
young, we ran green,
keep our teeth nice
and clean, saw our
friends, saw the sights,
felt alright.
Nattsol: What are the main subjects
for your song lyrics?
Nattsol: Let’s dedicate
a single question to your only so far
album “Relax”, released in 2008 by
Born Bad records. How can you describe this album and its conception,
Nicus: Frustration! As Fabrice says: ‘frustration is an engine’. It makes you work,
love, hate, fuck, cry, fight, go further.
Fab: Relationships tainted by deep love
or real friendship! What puzzles me too
is the lack of respect, under all it’s frames.
Junior: I don't know, I don't speak English.
9
10
Frustration
Nattsol: The ten years of the existence
of Frustration made you one of the
most known and the most touring
French cold/post-punk bands. So, has
being famous (if it’s possible to say
so) somehow affects on your daily life?
Frustration
Nicus: Absolutely not. I still pay for my
‘french baguette’ at the bakery and I
like it. I really don’t feel like I’m famous
and you know why? Because I’m not!
cupations in being
fathers (3 members
of the band have
children), having a
real job (except for
junior that is unemployed, for instance),
playing in other bands
(Nicus,
Fabrice),
recording other bands
(Nicus),
managing
other projects…. We’d
like to play more, but,
not that much… We believe, that it is important
to take every gig as an
enthusiastic event.
Manu: First, we are not touring as
much as you might think! In 10 years
we must have played about 250 gigs
or a little bit more and that’s all! Because we all have a lot of other oc-
Second, we are not that
“famous”. As Fabrice
likes to say, we are happy
to be one of the famous band from
the underground, and being part of
Junior: I will let my assistant answer
to that question.
Fab: No. Maybe some friendly salutes from
people I don’t know in bars or concerts.
this underground scene.
Since the beginning we
were only expecting the
recognition from our
close friends involved
into music like us, and
bands we love :
cheveu,
magnetix,
feeling of love, jack of
heart,
Pierre
et
Bastien, le Prince Harry, Dick voodoo, intelligence, a frames,
spits, .... . We are not
looking for fame, we
feel important to stay
anonymous to keep
the freedom of saying whatever we
wanted to say, to do what we
want without any explanation to give
to anyone. Anonymity is a key to freedom, here!
Nattsol: What are the weirdest/maddest
things that happened to you on tours?
Fab: I remember a drive one night in
Belgium: back from a gig, Manu was
driving stoned (I was too drunk to
drive) and I was wondering if we
could reach our sleeping place…
how weird, hmm?!
Junior: One night, during a show, I
realized that Fabrice was singing in
english.
Nicus: the Switzerland Skatepark Affair!!! Come on Manu, tell us about it!
Manu: Maybe this gig in Switzerland
5 or 6 years ago, when we played in
an empty skate park with 6/10 very
young people that didn’t give a fuck
for us. The guy who was supposed
to organize forgot all about the gig,
10
11
Frustration
Frustration
Cheveu for example!)… And yes!
When, we play, the audience likes to
pogo sometimes! If you’re afraid of
people in a pogo, I suggest to try another kind of creative activity… what
about patchwork? Seriously, the only
thing is to stay respectful with the people, regardless your position: on stage
or in the audience. We like to have
and give some fun too… Sometimes,
for one song (too many questions),
Nicus jumps in the audience with Fabrice and Junior just to dance what we
call the “caterpillar” in France with the
people. It’s stupid, not aggressive at
all, but fun!!!!
Junior: Of course, I still can't help holding my keyboard very low on my thigh.
and when we arrived, there was nothing organized. The only place he’s got
was this huge indoor skate park! It
was very cold, we played with winter
jackets and gloves (almost!)... but despite the conditions, we had fun anyway!
Nattsol: I know that at least four of
you have had experience of playing
in punk/hardcore/oi etc projects, i.e.
you’ve dealt with quite aggressive music and definitely not calm audience.
Has it affected somehow on your music
and stage behaviour?
Fab: Yes. Anyway, I’m unable to do
anything else: we have always been
into that big rock’n’roll-punk-oi! Family!
But there are so many things and behaviors that disgust me…
Manu: I used to play in a pop band,
a long time ago, and it was not a
good experience. Maybe because I
was not good enough to play this kind
of music, but, on stage, the r’n’r energy
missed me and it was no fun. Even
the audience was not so enjoyable.
To make it simple, we are r’n’r fans
for years. And r’n’r, whatever the genre
you like, has something to do with
simplicity (even if the songs sounds
complicated!), power, compact sound.
It has to do with making music with
a bunch of fellows who have good
tastes but do not necessarily play well.
They only try to have a good sound
and spend good times together. It has
to do with the look of the band, the
behavior of the members on stage,
the look and the behaviour of the audience too. It’s all this, and we feel
comfortable with it, whatever the genre
you’re exploring or creating (think of
Nattsol: Your latest single is called
“Midlife Crisis”, which is something
that people usually face in +/- your
age. Considering this, should your lis-
teners take it serious in your single?
Fab: If they don’t know yet their right
way, they’ll never know, and then, I
don’t care!
Nicus: Oh yes!
Manu: We don’t know. The title speaks
for itself, I guess. It’s about people
trying to face the responsibility of being
an adult and try to keep life in its
funny, fresh, enjoyable way on the
other hand. It’s about us!
Junior: Of course they should! And
then they should listen to the other
side “Sad Face”.
Nattsol: Do you plan to have a new
record out this year or in the nearest
future?
Nicus: We just recorded a new album.
11
12
12
Frustration
You, lucky bastards, should get our
new release for springtime. It should
be called “Uncivilized”. And maybe,
we are going to cook something special for our 10 years birthday before
the end of 2012.
Junior: Next year will it still be the
nearest future?
Fab: As Police sang:”so loooonely…
so looooonely…”. Exept Charles de
Goal and Passions Armées.
Nicus: I don’t really know it. I work
at night, so I don’t go to concerts, except when I play.
Junior: Boring.
Nattsol: Thanks to the unique and
very powerful sound, Frustration can
be called “one of the most modern”
post-punk bands. How do you manage
to achieve this?
Nattsol: And how can you describe
Frustration, using only adjectives?
Nicus: We use different types of production for our records: our first release was recorded in a sound
engineer school (yes: our first record
was homework for a student!). After
that, we used the D.I.Y. solution, with
my 8 tracks reel to reel analog
recorder, which I looooooove: it gives
you a rough and dirty sound. It quiet
limited but it’s easy and fast to record
and mix. And then, Jean-Baptiste Guillot from Born Bad Record sent us in
real, big and good studios, with real
sound engineers. From this point, you
don’t really manage your music… unless you accept to become a real pain
in the ass for the sound guy! You
have to deal with super modern equipment and a guy who knows how it
works when you don’t! So it takes
time get what you want.
Junior: Is Frederic Campo an adjective?
Junior: Talent is a crime.
Nattsol: How can you describe the
contemporary French post-punk/coldwave scene?
Fab: Organic.
Nicus: Tensed.
Nattsol: In your opinion, what makes
post-punk sound so relevant and fresh
nowadays?
Fab: Sorry: ain’t got no answer.
Junior: Frustration.
Nicus: The fact that you don’t hear it
on the radio or on t.v! It makes you feel
special not to be in the mainstream.
Nattsol: Many thanks for the interview! Any final words?
Fab: Thanx. See you!
Nicus: Stay frustrated!
Junior: We are young, we run green,
keep our teeth nice and clean, see
our friends, see the sights, feel alright.
Questions: Pall ‘Nattsol’ Zarutskiy
Zurück Placenta – Zurück Placenta
album review
Label: Manic Depression
Format: CD
Year: 2007
Web: http://babel.17.free.fr/biozuruck.htm
http://www.myspace.com/httpwwwmyspacecomzuruckplacenta
In 2007 Manic Depression
Records released an album, which was
found during an archeological research
and became a sensational proof that
in France tribes existed till the early
90’s! It is so because according to this
release, Zurück Placenta was much
more a tribe than a band. It consisted
of post-punk/coldwave musicians, who
run wild – vocalist Fabrice Gilbert
(who’s now in Frustration), guitar player Jean Franceschi (Babel 17), bassist
Pat Sciberras, keyboardist Christophe
Julien, drummer Olivier Tonus and
primeveal artist Julien. Speaking generally, this album sounds as a pagan
dark ritual, put in obscure punk and
coldwave frames, and it does sound
much closer to British goth punk bands
(like UK Decay, In Excelsis etc) than
to any coldwave band that ever existed.
So it can’t stop amazing how Zurück
Placenta with its obscure tribal sound
could start to exist in cold and decadent
France.
So, the conclusion is simple
– if you love dark punk and punk gothique and you consider yourself more
a punk than a “waver”, - Zurück Placenta is a 100% musthave for you.
So don’t miss it.
Grade: 10/10
13
Psychoformalina
Mi-1: We met on the same stunts
(shows?) and used alcohol heavily, and
when it turned out that we were interested
in similar music, we decided to create
something interesting. So it began.
Nattsol: You took the band’s name
as the combination of songs "Psychocandy" of The Jesus & Mary Chain
and "Adelaide formalina" of 1984.
What were/are these bands and
songs for Psychoformalina, and what
personal meaning you’ve put in the
band’s name?
ID
Name: Psychoformalina
Place: Wroclaw, Poland
Time: 1995 - ?
Close to: post-punk, coldwave, zimna fala
Current Label: Bat-Cave Productions
Web: http://psychoformalina.bandcamp.com/
http://www.myspace.com/psychoformalina
Mi-1: The name had to be something
starting with "Psycho...", because at
that time I was fascinated by the debut
Interview with Miras „Mi-1” Majsiak
T
he Polish coldwave band Psychoformalina was formed in the mid
of the 90’s, but declared about itself on a wider level only in the
late 00’s when the first bands album was released. Now the band
already has two albums in its active, which both surely take their places among
the best coldwave records that came from Poland in recent years. Needless
to say, we felt intrigued with such a powerful, though late, debut and its very
decent continuation!
Nattsol: Hello! Congratulations with
your new album! To start this interview
with, could you introduce yourself in
musical and personal aspects, please.
Mi-1: Hi! We’re called PSYCHOFORMALINA and we are a living legend
of Wroclaw independent cold rock. We
exist since the mid 90's and playwith
the basic line-up: voc. – Mariusz „Marian” Wójcik, guit. – Miras „Mi-1” Majsiak, bass – Piotr „Piter” Bernatowicz,
drums – Łukasz „Lookie” Wójcik.
Nattsol: How did the band members
meet each other?
album of The Jesus And Mary Chain
"Psychocandy". The second part is
the song title of one of our favorite
Polish bands - 1984. But this is only
the deciphering of the name linguistically. We had more musical inspiration: Joy Division, Bauhaus, The
Sisters Of Mercy, The Cure, on the
one hand, and the Stooges, Velvet
Underground, Sonic Youth and Pixies
on the other. With this apparent Genealogy we created our own personal
and unique (:)) sound.
Nattsol: Your music is very much connected to “Zimna Fala” of the 80’s.
So could you describe that scene from
your own viewpoint?
13
14
Psychoformalina
Psychoformalina
purpose (not to mention a professional
recording of the concert at that time
...). We were finally persuaded by
Arnold, our friend from Bete Noire, a
group that is the now defunct, unfortunately. He organized us a studio and
practically forced to record the CD at
least part of our songs. It took us almost two years to record and mix all
songs! Now you understand why we
prefer to play live....
Nattsol: You play with a basic line-up guitar, bass, drums and voice. Have you
ever experimented with other instruments, or, may be, you want to do so?
Mi-1: In those years, during the explosion of grunge music, we have
joined the more depressing interest
in art, evocative of the "cold wave".
I do not know where it came from...?
Perhaps the socio-political situation of
that period. Cold wave on a larger
scale was already history in Poland,
but we decided to keep this form of
artistic expression alive by adding to
it a few other items I have already
mentioned. Hopelessness, depression and lack of opportunities were
no longer trendy, but we never cared
about global trends. We wanted to express our emotional state, regardless
of whether there were recipients of
this message or not.
Nattsol: Phychoformalina isn’t a new
band. Formed in 1995, you released
your debut album only in 2008. So
could you tell me about the period
1995-2008? Shows, some studio
works, situation with your audience etc.
Mi-1: Our band is not obligated to
anything and does not need to create
art under pressure, so for example,
for the 1998-2002 period, nothing happened. Each of us took up his affairs,
and when desire to pursue art returned, we gathered again. So it is.
The first years were mainly the creation of the needs of soul, and only
occasional concerts in our hometown
Wroclaw. Perhaps we then ran out of
motivation to record, because it was
connected with boring work in studio,
and we wanted to record 100% live.
Unfortunately we could not find the
studio with the right equipment for this
M-1: We thought about using keyboards, but nothing happens. We
played a concert with clarinet (!). It
was a really interesting experience.
Clarinetist, however, was taken by
Bete Noire and our experiments were
over. The basic line-up has its advantages, less people in the band means
better and faster understanding.
Sometimes it only takes an exchange
of glances between us to know what
direction to seek in work or live improvisation. But we do not rule out
using other instruments in the band.
You would never guess what is the
final improvisation on the last track of
our new album! This is a set of five
microphones processed sounds with
changing air movements extracted
from the mouthpiece of a saxophone!
Nattsol: You call Psychoformalina
“Psychogeniczna Formacja LiterackoMuzyczna”. Can you explain this term
and its backgrounds?
Mi-1: It is a term matched to the existing forms but the most real. Psychogenic, as having its source in the
psyche, Formation – the band, Music
and Literary – our lyrics are not random
and do not deal with nonsense, they
are closer to a kind of poetry and
are more literary than a simple song.
As for music, I think there is no doubt.
This is how to decipher the band’s
name, its origins and relationship to
art. Our relationship with show business is expressed by our logo:
Nattsol: What’s the situation with independent scene in your hometown,
Wroclaw?
Mi-1: The situation with independent
bands in Wrocław has not changed
since prehistoric times. Maybe there
are more places where you can take
attempts, but concerts are for free due
to lack of interest in art from the majority of clubs that kindly organized
the concerts. For them highest beer
sales (bad taste usually) are more important than the shows...
14
15
Psychoformalina
Psychoformalina
Nattsol: Are there some bands that
you can call your friends? From your
country and from abroad.
Mi-1: When it comes to similar climates,
it's definitely Bete Noire, and when it
comes to our friends, recently I’ve been
spending a lot of time with blues-rock
band Hot Habanero (we like the same
good Czech beer). We do not know
anyone closer from abroad.
Nattsol: What’s the situation in the
band with playing outside of your
town? (other cities/countries).
Mi-1: We rarely play at all, not to mention the trips. We played a couple of
shows outside Wroclaw, but we never
travelled abroad.
Nattsol: Do you prefer studio work,
or live shows? Why?
Mi-1: Definitely concerts!!! In the studio you can hide or improve a lot of
things, live performance itself is true!
This direct contact with the listener is
something magical and unique!
Nattsol: Could you tell me what are
your lyrics about. You sing in your
mother tongue. Why so?
Mi-1: The texts are created as a result
of careful observation of the environment, human attitudes and the vast
expansion of various shades of repairers of the world. What resonates
with it are questions - where we are,
who we are and why we can not see
the forces that are trying to lead us.
Native language is used because it
speaks more to our environment, to
which the texts are addressed.
Nattsol: Your first album consists
mainly of the songs you wrote in the
90’s, and what about the new album?
Mi-1: On the new album there are new
songs that we often play at concerts.
The only exception is "Pierwszy" (“First”),
which was created at the very beginning
of our activity - hence the title.
Nattsol: What are the main common
things and the main differences between the selftitled album and
“Ewakuacja”?
Mi-1: The difference is about a decade
in the process of creation. Musically,
we went probably a bit ahead in terms
of motility, but it seems to me that
"Ewakuacja" is simply a continuation
of the debut, without any major revolution. The text layer is responsible
for more direct phrases that, however,
do not disturb the overall order. It is
still good old Psychoformalina.
Nattsol: Thanks for the interview, and
hope to hear the third album of Psychoformalina soon. And to finish this
interview maybe you’d tell our readers
the band’s plans for future?
Mi-1: Future won’t be planned, because it likes to play various pranks.
But one thing is certain - the material
for the third album is already recorded
and is waiting in the studio to be mixed
and mastered. But knowing our approach to studio work, I think it is
going to take some time again.
Thanks for the interview.
Greetings to all thirsty for truly independent music!
Miras „Mi-1” Majsiak (PSYCHOFORMALINA)
15
16
16
Psychoformalina. Review
Psychoformalina is 100% underground band,
and that's a shame that they are not wide known
even if their music is in my opinion real blast.
(Woodraf of Bat-Cave Productions)
"Polska Nowa Fala", or "Zimna
Fala", was a phenomenon in the 80’s.
The “movement” created by such
bands as Madame, Siekiera, 1984,
Made in Poland and others is still considered as something very outstanding
and mysterious. Now, in XXI century
there is probably only one band that
has the very that “zimna fala” sound
and approach – the band from Wroclaw, called Psychoformalina. Formed
in the mid 90’s, they (self-)released
their debut self-titled album only in
2008, and returned in late 2011 with
its follower, called “Ewakuacja”, this
time released by Bat-Cave Prod.
Weird, but it’s the second case for
this Grave Jibes issue when I review
“albums-brothers” (the first one happened with the band Echoes of Silence), because both albums are
equally (completely) great, with equal
common level of the songs, similar
sound and even the CD design. The
only obvious difference is that
“Ewakuacja” is nothing else but logical
continuation and development of the
debut album, which proves that the
band doesn’t suffer from the “second
album crisis”. Both records attract by
very distinctive “Zimna Fala” cold but
quite aggressive and powerful sound.
Majestic vocals, post-industrial-ish
overdriven guitar and powerful rhythm
section – that’s how it can be described. It is postpunk and coldwave
for sure, but even some punks could
envy the tension and energy that Psychoformalina creates with its sound.
With these albums, which are both
worth listening to, Psychoformalina
proves not only that the Polish coldwave scene is alive and doing well,
but also that not everything had been
said in the 80’s and there’s much room
for self-development within this particular style.
Interview with
ID
Name: ELECTRIC PRESS KIT
Time: 199? - ?
Close to: post-punk, post-industrial
Current Label: Blu-Crush records
Web: http://epkofficial.free.fr/
http://www.reverbnation.com/electricpresskit
Contact: [email protected]
Nattsol: Greetings, Emmanuel and
Jeff! To start with, - how do the things
go with your musical activity?
Emmanuel (Voice and guitar): Very
well! Thank you!
Nattsol: How did you form Electric
Press Kit, and why did you choose
such name for your project?
Emmanuel (Voice and guitar): We
The French duo Electric Press
Kit started its activity in the mid 90’s
and since that its sound evolved into
very individual though referring to postpunk and post-industrial. Last year the
band released the very impressive album, called “Torsions”, which encouraged us to interview the band.
met at the High school in 1988, we
listened to Cold Wave and some Pop
(from labels like Sarah Records, Creation 4AD, Beggars Banquet, Lively
Art) while the tastes of a lot of people
of our age were fan of Hip-hop, Funk,
Metal and other.… This public interest
we in moved closer automatically. We
decided to make a band. The name
of Electric Press Kit evokes the idea
of sample. A representative sample of
all the hatreds, the dishonest compro-
17
Electric Press Kit
Electric Press Kit
mises, the judgments, the cruelties,
the duplicities in which the human nature abounds.
Nattsol: The band started its way in the
90’s, which wasn’t the best time for
wave/post-punk sounds. How can you
describe the atmosphere of the time,
and how did EPK manage to fit it?
Jeff (bass): When we started our band
in the 90's, punk music, goth music
& wave music were always successful.
We come from Paris and in the big
cities exists differents scenes. So it
was possible to make the music who
we expected. The only problem of the
90's was an atmosphere so disenchanted. During this period we made
a music influenced by the late 70's
with a mix of modern style. In fact, it
was the beginning and the 'quest' of
Electric Press Kit.
Nattsol: EPK had a bunch of demo-
records in the late 90’s/early 00’s.
What can you tell about them, and is
there a possibility to find them nowadays?
effectively recorded our first one ep
in 1999 and our second ep in 2002...
These records are sold out since a
long time... But, the Slovak label Black
orchid published a compilation in 2003
(www.blackorchid.host.sk).
Nattsol: In the second half of the 00’s
the band started to gain a wider audience, mostly, thanks to long-awaited
debut album Analogic. What can you
tell about this record and its influence
on the EPK development?
Emmanuel (Voice and guitar): 'Analogic' was an experimental album
recorded according to an exercise
book of very strict loads (of old
recorders with cassette for sound
recordings and vintage effects of 80's,
low microphones...), some people appreciated the authenticity of the approach.... It was a rock music replaced
in an experimental context....
Jeff (bass): 'Analogic' is an important
step in our career. Some peoples start
to support us. And 'Analogic' was a
short of achievement. The first album
for a band is always a special moment.
Nattsol: At the same period you form
side project Electronic Press Kit. Can
you introduce it to our readers?
Emmanuel (Voice and guitar): I always liked electronic music and this
project had for vocation to constitute
an exclusively electronic alternative,
as its name indicates it, to Electric
press kit to be a parallel project at
the same time as an emanation. This
project is in sleep at present for indefinite duration, can be for ever?
Nattsol: Several months ago you released the new Electric Press Kit album Torsions. How could you describe
this work in your own words?
Emmanuel (Voice and guitar): For this
album, we are crossed of a rock music
replaced in an experimental context to,
at present, an experimental music replaced in a rock context. It is difficult to
analyze our present orientation but I believe I can say that we henceforth wish
to get to the point, to aim at the working
drawing and to avoid the "musical gossips". Only the emotion is important.
Play few notes, but play them well.
17
18
18
Electric Press Kit
Jeff (bass): It's so easy to describe
'Torsions': it's the best 2011's album.
More seriously, we are very proud of
this record. The sounds, the tracks
and generally the production are very
quite good.
Nattsol: With the new album we also
can welcome the new label Blu-Crush
records. Can you introduce it to our
readers too?
Jeff (bass): It's a recent label.
Emmanuel (Voice and guitar):
BLU_CRUSH RECORDS is a label
dedicated to post-punk, noise, cold
wave, industrial and deviant styles
...The first signature of the label is
ELECTRIC PRESS KIT (www.myspace.com/blucrushrecords).
Nattsol: EPK is also well known by
the own and very careful approach
to sound. Can you tell how you manage to achieve so special and recognizable one?
wish "to reinvest the rock music with
a contents, a motivation and a risk",
for that reason, guitars are saturated,
the bass is linear, the robotics syncopated drum kit and the whole is rested(supported)
by
samples
strengthening the atmospheres and
the themes of Electric Press Kit's
songs. We subscribe to the principles
and to the musical concept developed
by G.P. Orridge who explained, in an
interview, that his objective, with
Throbbing Gristle was of "knowledge
to where we could transform and stick
the sound, present complex and not
entertaining sounds in a situation of
popular culture to convince and convert ". Electric Press Kit's sound is
minimal, cold, low-fi, raw and bitter,
to re transcribe in a most faithful way
the first, present intention during the
composition of the titles, that is to establish a typology of all the weaknesses, the duplicities, the fears, the
cruelties, the ambitions, let us be of
all the human abnormalities there
which can make of our life a hell.
ID
Name: The Cemetary GirlZ
Time: 2006 - ?
Close to: neo-batcave, deathrock
Current Label: Manic Depression
Web: http://www.thecemetarygirlz.com
Interview with
Nattsol: How could you describe
EPK of the 10’s on stage? What’s
different in comparison with the 90’s
and the 00’s?
Jeff (bass): For stage we've got a
set list more 'speed' and 'noisy' than
the records. Even there is some bigs
'pogos' during our gigs. On stage there
is a good feelings and energy. This
make us a big motivation.
Emmanuel (Voice and guitar): I think
that today our approach is more physical and we try above all to touch people in a direct way with powerful and
fast pieces... We want that people say
themselves that this moment was very
special!
Nattsol: Thanks to Electric Press Kit
for this interview and lets hope to hear
more and more news from the band
in future!
T
he Cemetary GirlZ appeared in the second half of the 00’s and almost immediately became the leaders of “neo-batcave” movement. However, they’ve
been keeping silent for a few recent years, only occasionally performing
live. “What’s happened to them? May be they’re planning something?” – we wondered
and sent the interview request to the band’s leader DJ Alien S Pagan.
Nattsol: Hi, Alien! As far as I know,
you’re involved in the batcave/goth
scene since nearly your childhood,
right? How did it happen?
grow up against the mainstream. Then
I met some friends with the same taste,
and we had lots of fun listening to
music and watching horror movies.
Alien: Hi! I’m in since a long time; I
was not born with a Sisters EP in the
ass but, quite similar! I just need to
thank my cousin (RIP) for being so
different and giving me the tape with
so many great songs, it helped me to
Nattsol: I also know that your artistic
way started not in Paris. Could you
tell about it?
Alien: I started djing in Lyon when I
was 16 years old (but with my style I
19
The Cemetary Girlz
looked older), I went to a goth party,
and the music was electro dark, I didn’t
know it before, I discovered Hocico,
and I loved it! But… the whole night
with this music was quite boring, so I
told the owner of the club, ‘hey, I’m 18
year old, I can organise a ‘batcave’
party if you want??” Then… it started!
Nattsol: How did it happen that the
first lineup of The Cemetary GirlZ
gathered?
Alien: I met Manu Zorch at Frustration
gig, he liked the song we recorded
with Lipa (Castrati) on myspace, contacted me, we talked on the internet,
and then we decided to start the band!
Romeo from Sleeping Children was
quite near, and we both joined our
minds to make this crazy band!
Nattsol: The band’s name is quite unusual, especially due to (let me say)
special manner of writing it. So, could
you tell the story behind this name?
Alien: In fact, there are many different
The Cemetary Girlz
explications for this name - the song
of Penis Flytrap (I love it!), I love cemeteries, every monument of death, charnel house and stuff like that. And, can
I say it? I love girls! Haha! The movie
’Count Dracula’s Great Love’ too… I
don’t really know why this name, but
it came to my mind, and I loved it,
sounds cool to me. The manner of
writing is such because when I type
‘cemetery girls’ in a Google search, I
just find goth porn website, and I don’t
want to be assimilated with it!
Nattsol: The band released very successful web demo with minimal and
cold sound, and then – the debut album
“Smoke My Brain” on Manic Depression records, which, as many people
say, sounds quite “overproduced”. In
your opinion, what things of the album
have become the elements of the
band’s style, and what are the things
you have no intention to repeat in the
next records?
Alien: I was one of the first to say
that ‘Smoke My Brain’ was overpro-
duced, but, you know, I was not alone
in the band, we recorded it really…
quick and I didn’t listen to it after mastering, Spigaou and Romeo like it; personally, I prefer the demo sound.
There’re too many effects, the voice
and the whole sound sound great, but,
there’s no… emotion that comes out,
I think… Now for the new album, everything is different, and it will sound exactly how we want!
Nattsol: These days you’re the only
remaining member of the “Smoke My
Brain” lineup. How did it happen?
And could you introduce the current
members?
Alien: Well, first, Manu left the band
because of his family! He just had a
daughter when we started touring, and
as I know him, he’s a fucking great
composer/player, but I think he prefers
to compose at home and record songs
rather than to play on stage, and it’s
cool! Romeo left the band for professional reason, he studies plastic surgery, and it’s a long time at school,
no time to play anymore. Spigaou left
because of his job, and other reasons,
and at that time, I didn’t want to replace
him, because he was my best friend!
So many deceptions (yes, when a
member’s gone, it‘s like a death!), and
I just bought a guitar and started to
play on my own, to continue the band!
(because anyway, Manu, Romeo and
Spigaou are still Cemetary Girlz members! And forever!)
Elvira and Diva Re joined the band,
just before a support gig for The Meteors, it was really cool! We didn’t rehearse a lot, and it was… amazing!
This lineup is just perfect! We enjoy
what we do, and we love playing together! It’s fantastic!
19
20
The Cemetary Girlz
Nattsol: It’s announced that The
Cemetary GirlZ are working on the
new album, which will be called “Brouillon De Vie”. Could you already tell
something about its conception and
approximate release date?
Alien: We are working on 2 albums
in fact (that’s why it takes so much
time!), ‘Opus Vitae ‘ is the new
Cemetary Girlz album, and ‘Brouillon
De Vie’ is the first album of ‘Les Filles
Du Cimetière’ (a side project of the
Cemetary Girlz, more Dark/Ambient/
Shoegaze).
‘Opus Vitae’ is a book of our life, it’s
a continuation of ‘Smoke My Brain’,
the sound is different because of
the new lineup, and I compose
songs in a different way, cause
now I play an instrument, it’s different from only singing. Elvira
and Diva Re have a really particular way of playing, and altogether we make something really
cool, we enjoy a lot when we
compose and play!
Nattsol: You’ve been touring a
lot with the band - which shows
were the most remarkable for
you? And do you have some
mad/weird memories to share?
Alien: Wave Gothic
Treffen 2011 was
an amazing experience! It
was fantastic
The Cemetary Girlz
to play in front of so many people, and
with many great bands, but, every show
is unique and amazing for us, the maddest memories I had were at The Ratcave party haha! I was in a coma during
the show! People say it was the craziest
show they have ever seen!
Nattsol: Some young bands told me
that you’ve been a great support for
them, and indeed – you release the compilation “Zoundbies”, organize events,
DJ… So, could you tell more about this
side of your activity within the scene?
Alien: I love helping new bands,
there’re so many wonderful little bands
all over the world, and some really deserve close attention, because they’re
great! I mean, for me, a band that does
the best to enjoy what they do, has
its own atmosphere, a DIY band, is
the best. My ‘Zoundbies’ compilation
is one of the things I can be proud of!
Nattsol: Seems you’re very right person
to answer the question about the situation around the French goth/batcave
scene, with its most promising new
bands, events, labels etc, aren’t you?
Alien: First: Alcest! It‘s not a ‘goth‘
band, but I love this project for years,
and it‘s fucking amazing! Les Discrets
too, Soror Dolorosa, I’m in the band
but I will say Elvira And the Bats is
an amazing project! Sex is Dead too,
there’re many new bands in France,
Cheshire Cat, Castrati, Chrysalis
Morass, Blackbats 13, Blue Void, and
many more!
Nattsol: You’re a fan of horror and
B-Movies, - how does it influence your
20
21
21
The Cemetary Girlz
music? And to which of your favourite
horrors you think The Cemetary Girlz
could best fit as a soundtrack?
Alien: I Love B-movies! It influences
my music a lot, I watch a new one
every day, what I love in it is the spirit
of the time, people don’t need thousand of special effects or 3D things,
just a story, a monster, and imagination does the rest. It’s like a child
spirit, you see monsters and crazy
things everywhere, everytime… you
can make your own universe and never come back to reality!
I think the best movie our soundtrack could fit is ‘The Return Of
The Living Dead’!
Nattsol: For you, what makes the
Batcave music sound relevant and
fresh in XXI century?
Alien: For me, it’s the political problems - the earth goes round, wars,
social problems - everything is wrong
now, like in the 80’s, but even worse,
and I think, for a start people just find
a way to escape this situation in music
and art, and now it’s the best time to
explore this world. The technology is
really high today, and we got many
new things, but people are regressing
in their minds. It’s strange.
Nattsol: Thanks for the interview,
Alien! Any final words?
Alien: Yes! Thank you Nattt! Thanks
to all the bands I love which help me
every day to escape this crazy world,
thanks to the people who support the
gothic scene, and a big thanks to
Grave Jibes!!!
Stay Sick Stay True, Stay out of the way!
The Cemetary GirlZ - Smoke My Brain
album review
“Smoke My Brain” was released
in 2009, and now, three years after,
neither band that recorded this album
(it still exists, but with other line-up
and other sound) nor movement within
which this album was recorded exists.
Indeed, now in the 10’s “neo-batcave”
bands that sound like early Cinema
Strange and look like Johnny Slut’s
clones, are less and less able to attract
the audience. So, if to maintain that
the neo-batcave of 00’s is in decline,
then it’s very much likely that “Smoke
My Brain” is the last good record that
came out of that movement. Even
though the music of The Cemetary
GirlZ isn’t original at all, fresh approach in performance and charisma
make the album something special
and remarkable. “Cold” effects on
string instruments, accompanied with
drum machine sound refer the band
not only to Batcave and Deathrock,
but also to Coldwave, and altogether
with a light pronounciation defect of
the vocalist Alien S. Pagan create a
distinctive style that makes the band
bigger than a lot of the similar ones.
The only obvious problem of the album is its overproduction - in comparison with the Demo from 2008
(available at Zorch Factory Records
as free download), numerous effects
seriously harm the songs, making
them less catchy and hit than they
could be, but not managing to ruin
them.
To summarize, this work is already
the history, but it will hardly be a surprise that deathrock revival of the 00’s
will be remembered thanks to such
works as the debut album of Cinema
Strange, “Fallen & Forgotten” by All
Gone Dead and “Smoke My Brain”
by The Cemetary Girlz. At least that
would be honest.
Grade: 7,5/10
22
Date At Midnight
we recorded our first full-length!
Daniele: We had extra commitments,
so we took our time, with tranquillity.
We developed new materials more:
since we had to deal with a full length
we focused more on arrangements,
on details, and on the whole result…
ID
Name: Date At Midnight
Place: Rome, Italy
Time: 2007-?
Close to: deathrock, gothic rock
Current Label: Manic Depression
Web: http://www.dateatmidnight.com/
http://www.myspace.com/dateatmidnight
http://www.facebook.com/dateatmidnightband
Nattsol: Hello! Hard to believe but already almost three years have passed
since our first interview (to be found in
Grave Jibes #6)! So, what’s been happening with the band during this period?
Pasquale: Hi Nattsol! Nice to talk with
you after three years! During this period many things happened, both from
band’s and from personal perspective:
we’ve had an opportunity to play in
new countries; in 2009 we recorded
a 3 songs demo to find a new label,
and finally we found it; Danilo, our
drummer, became father, and it led to
a fading involvement in the band, then
I
n 2009 in the issue #6 Grave Jibes made an
extensive interview with a very promising
modern deathrock band from Rome, called
Date At Midnight. Now in 2012 when we interview the band for the second time it already
can be called not promising but established, especially thanks to the release of their killer debut
album “No Love” by the French label Manic Depression. So, what were these three years for the
band? And what can they say about their new release? The answers are just below.
he was substituted
at
least in live
shows by our
friend Raoul
To n a c h e l l a ;
Daniele got a
new girlfriend,
I gave my support to a couple
of bands as a
live guest; we
were involved in festivals and gigs
both in Italy and Europe; we launched
a new website; and last but not least,
Nattsol: Congratulations with your
new album! Could you represent it to
our readers as itself and in comparison
with the EP?
Daniele: ‘No Love’ covers all aspects
of our sound, the “primal” one and its
further developments. Each song has
its own identity and its own peculiar
aspects. We didn’t want a work that,
as it often happens, has 3 really good
songs while other songs are kind of
ancillary. We spent last 3 years looking
for a full satisfaction in each song.
We think we reached this target, but
of course you have the last word! It’s
like “No Love” contains a greater consciousness of
what Date at
Midnight want
to be.
Pasquale:
First of all,
thank you! ‘No
Love’ is the
best thing that
could happen
to us, and it
represents
well our current mood:
it’s a collection of songs that were developed during the whole life of the
band, in particular last 2 years, and
in comparison with the EP it shows
22
23
Date At Midnight
more complex song writing, more mature sound; being the result of a “slow”
composing and recording process,
maybe it’s less “instinctive” than the
EP, but more adrenal, powerful and
obscure, both concerning music and
lyrics.
Nattsol: The cover picture of the album looks interesting, and talking in
general, Date at Midnight definitely
can be proud of its visual presentation.
Who’s responsible for that?
Pasquale: DaM’s approach to visual
side is always the result of a joint reflection; none of us is really into visual
arts from a technical point of view but
each of us has very interesting suggestions, and the real challenge is to
put them together. Concerning ‘No
Love’s artwork, a fundamental support
was given by Fabio Meschini and his
visual factory, Clockwork Pictures:
Fabio is a great artist, and in a very
short time he managed to understand
our needs, mix them with his experience, expertise and artistic sensitivity,
and finally turn all of this into images,
colours and “no-colours”; we can be
very proud of it all, I definitely agree
with you.
Daniele: We must thank Fabio Meschini (Clockwork Pictures Visual Factory) and his intuition! We worked very
close with him, until the last minute
before the release, and we’re very satisfied with the artwork. Generally
speaking, during last months we refreshed the visual component of DaM,
also launching our brand new website,
on the same day ‘No Love’ was released.
Date At Midnight
Nattsol: With “No Love” you changed
the label from “home of Roman postpunk” In The Night Time to the famous
French deathrock label Manic Depression. How did it happen and what do
you think this change can bring to you?
Daniele: I still don’t know what it will
bring…for sure, we can say that we’re
proud of it, and I consider it an important step. Of course we’re always
talking about underground labels, but
while ITNT is a strictly local one, MD
has a wider international breath. Our
first contact with MD was during the
Apocalyptic factory festival in
Mannheim, 2009.
Pasquale: Well, basically In The Night
Time helped us a lot to spread our
name at the early stage, but due to
personal commitments of Carlo, who
runs the label almost alone, it was
clear that to have a better production
and distribution of the new album we
needed a more structured label,
preferably with a stronger international
presence; in 2009 during a festival in
Germany we gave to MD’s guys a
copy of the aforementioned demo, and
they were impressed by it and decided
to put their trust in us. For sure it’s
a very important step, because MD
is well known in the underground
scene, and will provide a very good
distribution and promotion of the album; last but not least, it’s always a
pleasure to work with people with a
great passion, and this is exactly what
we found in MD management.
Nattsol: On your website I read your
texts, some of which I really loved.
Where do you find inspiration for them?
23
24
Date At Midnight
Date At Midnight
Daniele: From life… from fears… from
nightmares…
Pasquale: It’s great that you appreciated our lyrics, cause we always try
to pay particular attention to them; inspiration can come basically from
everything outside and inside of us:
it can be a concept, a vision, an emotion, a particular situation that we see,
we live, or that we simply imagine;
and I think that irony often plays a
very important role in them.
Nattsol: You write both in English and
Italian - how do you choose the language for the texts?
Daniele: This is not a real “choice”.
It’s determined by musical mood. It
was simply that since the first time
we played them, I spontaneously started to sing “Vanità” and “Idillio e Tenebra” in Italian, and then it was…there
was no discussion about it. We can
say that really it’s not us to choose
the language, but the languages that,
according to music, choose us.
Pasquale: There’s no predetermined
choice of it: it’s simply Daniele following his inspiration while we are composing; at least, this is what happened
with “Idillio e Tenebra” and “Vanità”:
maybe in future we’ll have a different
approach, and maybe also other languages will be used… we’ll see what’s
next on this topic.
Nattsol: Pasquale, in the previous interview you were talking about a promo
video, but still there’s nothing released.
Do you guys have a plan to improve
it with “No Love” album?
Pasquale: Ahahaha you have a very
good memory! Actually the idea still
fascinates me, but nothing concrete is
around the corner yet; I think that for
the moment we have other priorities,
but in this case also we’ll see what’s
next: I’m still convinced that it could
be very cool to release a video, and I
think that songs like “Spirit Dance” or
“Dead Motions” could perfectly fit.
Nattsol: You played a lot of shows in
recent years. Could you share some
random mad or just weird onstage/backstage memories with our readers?
Pasquale: Lot of them: first of all, I
can tell you that every single moment
spent in a backstage with Madre del
Vizio’s Fulvio Tori (and it has happened
many times) is a truly crazy experience!
Having said that, I will never forget the
image of drunken Francesco sleeping
on a sofa while about 50 people around
him were partying hard in a backstage
in Austria, and the standing ovation
that he received when he woke up in
the heart of the night; or walking together with semi-unknown people in
semi-unknown places after a show in
Mannheim, or sharing a huge amount
of food and alcohol with all the main
gothic bands coming from Rome during
the “Trip to the moon” festival held last
year here. We’ve been playing around
extensively, you’re right: sometimes in
front of big audiences, sometimes in
front of few people, but each time it
has been important to us, and brought
images and memories.
Daniele: I think that Pasquale’s answer
is quite exhaustive. I remember with joy
and surprise Leipzig’s gig. We arrived
late in the afternoon for sound check,
24
25
Date At Midnight
Date At Midnight
singing, and a great pogo, like never before… it was amazing! It was
like the audience was looking for
a relevant reason to have fun,
and they definitely found it, while
we brought with us an undeletable memory.
the
backstage was
really comfortable, but it was
like all around there was only silence
and indifference, and organizers were
really silent also… something like a bad
surprise was about to come… a kind
of unreal atmosphere… Then, as soon
as when we came on stage, there was
an amazing crowd, with people dancing,
Nattsol: You have enough of your own
songs to make your live set (reasonably) as big as you want. But you keep
playing covers too. Why do you adhere
to this policy and what do the covers
you play mean personally for you?
Pasquale: Basically we play them because of our passion: it’s a kind of
fun for us, and it’s also a way to pay
respect to the bands that in some way
were important in our personal life;
not least, it happened to us to play
songs of people who are not among
us anymore, such as Ian Curtis, Rozz
Williams, and also Peter Steele: I think
that in this case a more “spiritual” contact with the audience, through the
common memory of these great
artists, can be created. Of course to
play covers is risky too, but so far we
have always received very good feedback for them, and this is something
that makes us truly happy.
Nattsol: Date at Midnight plays an important role in the contemporary Roman
goth scene. Also I know that you keep
in touch with other Roman bands. So,
how could you
describe the Roman postpunk/goth scene of the new decade?
Pasquale: My feeling is that maybe
when we began the Roman scene
was better, nevertheless there are
many musicians that still resist and
insist, and some good newcomers as
well, with a whole quality definitely
above the Italian average for this kind
of music; we can say that in the new
decade goth in Rome is not dead, but
sometimes is sleeping… or maybe
“dead…but dreaming”!
Daniele: Compared to the situation
some years ago, Roman scene is quite
declining, and maybe it’s just a normal
thing. Bands keep on growing and
25
26
Date At Midnight
Date At Midnight
playing, but it seems that there’s less
attention to concerts. When our EP was
released, deathrock was really diffused,
so there was a pogo trend instead of a
dancefloor trend.
Nattsol: One more thing from the past
interview that causes a new question is
that some of your answers (especially
Daniele’s ones) showed your political
awareness and quite uncompromising
position to it, which is more typical for
a dark punk band rather than goth one.
Does it really affect your music? And is
this something you want to express just
for yourselves or for others’ inspiration?
Pasquale: Each of us believes that political awareness is something that, especially in the current years, is needed
for people, to “citizens”: when we think
about the concept of “No Love” we see
it also from a political perspective: social
tension means “no love”, for instance,
and it necessarily deals with politics.
We don’t pretend to send universal messages on this topic, but still this is a
part of our inspiration, so if people manage to catch this aspect also, we can
only be satisfied with it, even if at first
sight it could not seem a typical “goth”
matter.
Daniele: I don’t think that politics can
be ignored, or think that it doesn’t have
a real impact on our lives and actions,
like it or not… so I think that talking
about it and express a point of view on
it can only be a good thing, and let
music feel more “real”. Basically we don’t
have political lyrics, but some of them
let understand our point of view and our
scream against a very poor social management. ‘Panic Public Show’, for in-
stance, is about some depreciable
show about common misery broadcasted by local TV, reality shows and so
on… something which tries to flat people’s brains and lives, while ‘By the
Wall’ is about the story of Peter Fetcher,
a 18 years old boy who died trying to
escape on the other side of Berlin’s
wall, surrounded by indifference and
fear while his body was slowly twisted
to death. Indifference, evil, malice and
fear are the cradle of ‘No Love’…
Date At Midnight - “No Love”
album review
Nattsol: Many thanks for the interview
and hope to hear some great news
from Date at Midnight soon!
Daniele: Thanks again Pall for your
interest to Date at Midnight, we hope
that we can soon wear a hussar fur
hat and come to Russia!
Pasquale: Thank you Nattsol, and
thanks to GJ’s readers: we hope that
a date of Date at Midnight with Mother
Russia will happen someday… for the
moment, enjoy ‘No Love’!
May be it will sound far too subjectively, but this album is a real hell
for reviewer. Everything is perfect
there – very professional performance
of each musician; amazing work with
the sound, which interlaces references
both to bands like Bauhaus and some
modern stuff; “No Love” contains so
many hit songs that even some legendary bands could envy… Technically it’s brilliant in everything;
moreover it’s truly original and obviously sincere and intimate. But this
album hardly will change someone’s
life. It’s not the music that would make
someone start playing an instrument
and form a band. It’s simply not infectious at all.
If you love goth music, “No Love”
will definitely cause your interest. Hard
to say, whether it’s able to take an important place in someone’s life, but
it’s more than likely that “gothly indifferent” will listen to it from time to time,
because it’s a really good release.
Grade: 9/10
Nattsol: Your “motto” is “Stay Crucified”, which sounds very cool. But what
meaning do you put in it?
Daniele: It’s an invitation to be crucified
by our sound!
Pasquale: Basically we like its sound,
and its ironically “blasphemous” attitude, too: as it was said before, irony
is an essential part of DaM’s wor(l)d!
I agree with Daniele: it’s something related to being crucified by our music:
maybe resurrection could come later…
maybe…
26
27
27
ID
F
rench goth rock band Les Modules Etranges truly
deserves attention. Formed relatively recently, they already put out a
bunch of releases, all of which are worthy listening to. However, Les
Modules Etranges have not only creativity by their side, their sound
is also notable for its energy, and the list may go on. Recently the
latest album of the band, “Turmoil” was released, so we asked the
band members, Jenn and Azia, some questions about it and not only.
photo by Emmanuel D’auzon
Name: Les Modules Etranges
Place: Nantes, France
Time: 2007 - ?
Close to: goth rock, coldwave, deathrock
Current Label: Seventh Crow Records
Web: http://lesmodulesetranges.fr
http://www.myspace.com/lesmodulesetranges
Les Modules Etranges
Xie: -Let's start from the beginning.
It's year 2007, the year of band formation and... how did the things go
since that?
Jenn: A couple of days ago we decided (at last) to listen to our second
gig's tape, back in 2008.. The least
we can say is that it's quite good to
persevere... because we were crap,
really, a very awful band, zero presence on stage, loads of jarring notes
and a very boring show. Really it was
painful to listen to this tape but it's
okay, we were looking for our identity,
we since made a lot of gigs in quite
different places. We started the band
to cut the unemployment crap. We
all have to start from nearly nothing, so it's inevitable
to
suck at first.
Now we are, in
our opinion, a
lot more powerful musically
speaking, and
also more self
confident. And
there's no reason to not form
a band anyway,
there has to be bands, even dreadful
bands, that's what makes a musical
scene alive!
Xie: -When I open your discogs.com
profile I see seven (!) your releases,
and it is from 2008 to 2011! Which of
them you find the representatives of
the band’s music, and which on the
contrary you find not the best ones to
start listening to your band? Why? May
be there’re also some which deserve
a specific comment?
Jenn: Depends
on what you
mean by “representative”, in
our opinion the
most representative
thing
we've
ever
recorded was
TURMOIL because it's very
'us'... Obviously it will always
sound kinda
'dark' or 'postpunk' because it's our very
musical and cultural background, but
also with other influences such as electro, punk, dark ambiant, etc.
But if you take a look at the charts
on Last fm or if you pay attention to
the shared files on peer to peers you
will see that the audience is very conservative about the band's production:
most of them have old mp3 files, bad
sound, bad bitrate... I almost said bad
music because we really were -as I
already said- desperately searching for
our own identity.
I think we are infinitely more original
now comparing to the old demo tracks,
but I can't blame people for loving
bands with loads of chorus and echo
on each and every instrument, the lowest sound quality that is possible and
clichés about bats and vampires stories. I think we are more on the 'punk'
side of the “postpunk' thing, we are
too much concerned with the real world
and its problems and crisis to talk about
stupid imaginary worlds or dark fairy
tales if you know what I mean.
Xie: Greetings! At first, the traditional
question - introduce yourself for our
readers as you like it.
Jenn: Les Modules Etranges was
founded in October 2007. Azia sings
and writes the lyrics, she also takes
part in the composition of the music
and production. Jenn is the main composer, he plays guitar and also makes
the drum machine & samples programming. JrM plays bass with us since
October 2009 and decided to stay despite the constant (creative) arguments between the two Azia and me..
We have made two self-edited albums
DAWN and ANOTHER VISION, and
the latest one called TURMOIL was
made with SEVENTH CROW
RECORDS.
We have done about 50 gigs mostly
in France, and once in Switzerland
and Belgium during the last “tour”.
28
28
photo by Hellisa
Delpech
photo by Jean
Xie: -How would you represent your
latest album, "Turmoil"?
Jenn: I think that you have to recall
our two first albums, first one was very
referenced to the 80's and the 90's'
goth sound, really the climax of our
introduction into 'real' music. References and genre inspiration were then
inevitable. The second one was really
like an aggression against all that,
against the nice “pop wave” side of
our music... we really wanted this disembodied cold and industrial sound,
most of the commentators who used
to love the first one were quite disappointed about our change of musical
direction, they probably wanted us to
sound very melancholic and nice when
we wanted to say fuck off to this. It
was then out of question to make
something we had done before. And
also we were back to our good old
noisy influences. We really like this
second album even if virtually nobody
seem to notice its existence.
THEN, we made this TURMOIL thing,
very punky indeed, we were in conflict
with some persons close to us, people
that really sucked our energy, we
made efforts in order to socialize more
but it sounded very shallow, we are
not much of social animals, are we?
Really we were at a point where it
looked like nobody seemed to care
about us or notice we were here, wanting to play everywhere and record
cool stuff. We also lost quite important
bands in our scene at the time... Deadchovsky and Violet Stigmata had decided to disband and we thought
“we're fucked, it's bedtime for the
french goth scene”, but it wasn't, still
it wasn't far for from the truth.
Then TURMOIL was a reaction to this
… we're alive and kicking!
Xie: -Which bands were influences
for you? And, to go wider, what influences you?
Jenn: Our influences are sometimes
not what they seem: Cindytalk is a really huge inspiration to me, a non compromising work of art, something really
deep and extreme. We also dig Swans
and The Ex, we've seen Michael Gira
and his crew on stage in London and
it was really outstanding, really strong
and primitive.
A big influence for the three of us is
PUNISH YOURSELF, and the numerous side projects from the singer
Vx69... PY is very close to Ministry
90's work and we made some demo
tracks for TURMOIL that sounded this
way quite too much... someone in the
band said “ok, that's enough, it's not
us”. Most of our influences are not obviously goth but related to this universe
at the least, power electronics, noise,
photo by Hellisa
29
early industrial and bands like Sonic
Youth and stuff like that.
Xie: -You’re definitely influenced by
the 80’s peace punk (Rubella Ballet,
Hagar The Womb etc), but at the same
time, France had quite interesting underground punk scene of the 80’s with
bands like Killer Ethyl, Warum Joe and
many others? What do you think about
this scene, and does it influence you?
Jenn: HA, Rubella Ballet, we really
love this band, the music but also visually speaking... they are great, but
actually we discovered Rubella Ballet
almost at the same time that we recorded TURMOIL, so they can't have influenced us. But another British band
that did inspire us for sure is INTERNAL AUTONOMY, they released this
color vinyl in the early 90's that I was
lucky to be given by a friend at the
time. I liked this record so much that
29
30
photo by Cecylia Daily Cat
30
I couldn't help listening to it ever since.
Female vocals, strong lyrics and
punk/wave music... yes indeed, these
bands are like parents to our band.
What's the question again ? French
bands, yeah Warum Joe were great,
I think it was more a matter of records
labels like V.i.s.a, the whole catalog
is just stunning, legendary bands like
Clair Obscur, Berurier Noir or Lucrate
Milk (and many others). I think the situation in France was very specific,
we didn't talk about punk nor goth at
the time, it was just 'alternative rock'
with a constellation of influences, from
goth to punk mixed with dub or noise.
It wasn’t a matter of putting labels on
music and bands... at all, and attitude
was really important. Someone who
has seen or heard about what was
going on at the time can be really disappointed about what this whole scene
has become. Now it's the internet
thing, posers and everything. Not very
exciting. But there's still hope.
I really dig Die Bunker, and Laid
Thénardier, but these bands made
only a few records. Norma Loy were
pretty known at the time, I saw them
on local TV, they scared the shit out
of me, really.
Xie: -As I understood, band members
have noise/industrial backgrounds.
Does this somehow affect on songwriting process?
Jenn: Actually only I (and Azia in a
lesser way) had previous musical experience, our first two tracks ever
recorded were heavily influenced by
THROBBING GRISTLE and power
electronics, but it was only a sequel
of our previous project also involving
my long time friend WEHWALT, but
then we decided to go our own way.
The general feedback on our noise
work was very very harsh, people were
bashing the band in a very gruesome
way but we didn't really care because
we weren't looking for any kind of popularity. Looking back to this era
(2006/2007) I think we were more interested in expelling our frustrations
through pure noise than showing our
supposed musical talent. I think now
that we were self-righteous and not
really concerned by music, but the attitude was there. Now that we are, with
LME, more self-confident, we can put
some noise here and there, and anyway my guitar always sounds very distorted, a real bloody mess for live sound
engineers, causing arguments with
them, or for the most clever of them
entire gigs with the guitar sound almost
mute in the mixing desk because of
the feedback on stage. I'm not exactly
good friend with sound engineers anyway, when they come to me and talk
to me about auditive strain I have a
bad feeling about the rest of the gig.
It's hard to make them understand that
I don't give a fuck about auditive strain,
I went to power electronics and punk
gigs (or was it the Swans and My
Bloody Valentine's wall of noise ?) and
it pleased me so much that I nearly
came in my pants, so I'm definitely not
in good terms with these sound guys
who have learned at school how a guitar must sound on stage.
Xie: -I saw you've covered Jefferson
Airplane and (in)famous song "Gloomy
Les Modules Etranges –
Turmoil
album review
Label: 7th
Records
Format: CD
Year: 2011
Crow
Here it is –
the third album by
French band Les
M o d u l e s
Etranges, called
“Turmoil” – and it’s
the case when the name reflects the content
brightly. Ten highly energetic songs, believe
me, you will find no ballad here, sung by desperate voice of Azia, sung?.. or it’s better to
say shouted, because it’s not “singing” as we
mean it. Glimpses of something experimental
are here and there, for example the final “Source
Of All Evil” is easy to divide in two parts – first
will delight the ears of any modern goth fan,
and second will do the same with more avantgarde crowd. “Mental Pop-Up” ends in forty
seconds of noise, and drums in “TNX” make
wonder if they are from d’n’b? Anyway, if we
go for something more traditional – “Suzie’s In
Between” is a good decoration of any goth
party, it’s the most accessible song on the
album and even somehow reminds of… “Jingle
Bells”. Besides, other songs seem just similar
– that’s the main disadvantage of the album.
It’s simply good deathrock, gothrock, with “strangling” sound (at least, for me).
Some words about lyrical themes: consumerism (“A good citizen”, aforementioned
“Mental Pop-Up”), bad relationship (“Ease your
life”), famous murder case (“Black Dahlia”),
etcetera. Why I was wondering about absence
of ballads?..
To sum up: it’s an album hard to “befriend”,
but if you do – you will be delighted, even
despite the fact that these ten songs are ten
bursts of energy and anger, no more, no less.
Anna “Xie” Slascheva
Sunday". Which bands you would like
to cover Les Modules Etranges songs?
Jenn: I'm sorry, I have no idea...
Xie: -You shared stage with such legends as Legendary Pink Dots, Clan
of Xymox, Cindytalk and many other
bands. Do you have any particular
memories of that, maybe some interesting stories?
Jenn: To be honest it was every time
very “professional”, these bands were
here to prepare or make a show and
that's what seem to matter the most.
Every time we had the occasion to
show our admiration to other musicians
it wasn't very 'natural', we're all very
proud persons, the artists on stage.
When it was on gigs we organized
ourselves, it seemed obvious to us
not to disturb the artists we invited to
play, it's serious business; maybe
sometimes it's definitely not a good
idea to sympathize with bands on tour,
they've “seen it all before” a hundred
31
times, most
of the times
they look tired
and dazed,
and
sound
engineers like
to shout at
you if something doesn't
look right...
Maybe
the
bands themselves can act
like arseholes,
I remember a Brownie guy (Roony
"Brownie" Morrings for Xymox) who
was a serious douchebag, evicting all
the other bands in the festival from
the dressing room in the backstage,
we were all forced to go to the backstage's kitchen. Obviously no-one
complains because in the first place
you can't believe that this guy with a
wig on his head and who came with
sunglasses at night in the middle of
nowhere in
France can
make such
nonsense.
You can be a
fan of someone's bands
and
have
strong disappointment
when
you
first see him.
But sometimes you
hear things about such bands, not really fair in business, but still, they are
playing in every fucking goth festival.
I just can't believe it.
Xie: -Les Modules Etranges lyrics are
mostly in English. In fact, many
Russian bands do the same
thing (with varying results, I
should notice!). Some say
that's easier to express themselves on a foreign language,
some say it's much easier to
gain international fame that
way. Do you agree with it, or
perhaps have some reasons of
your own? Is it any message you
want your listeners to get to?
Jenn: Azia's business.
Azia: I just think that English is "singing
language" already so it's easier to write
lyrics in English. You can have a really
direct language that you can't have in
french because in french you have to
be very poetic and litterature-ish in order
to sound good and I'm no writer.
Also I like the idea that people all around
the world can get my message.
Xie: -Jenn, you have several side projects. Could you introduce them to our
readers?
Jenn: I had to put a dramatic end to
these side projects, LME as a project
is very greedy in matters of time because we are such perfectionists, on
every album we had to discard some
songs, not strong enough or not fitting
with the whole track listing. Still, since
the beginning we have released more
or less 60 tracks (in mp3 / on albums
/ compilations) it is obvious that we
have a lot of bad songs in whole that,
tracks we will not play on stage anymore or other tracks we don't wanna
hear about at all (mostly the very early
tracks) . There's only one side project
remaining called Berlin Wall
Lovers, (a threesome)
31
32
32
we play electronic rock, made a few
gigs around... not as successful as
we want it to be, but still we have a
lot of fun.
Xie: -Can you recommend some fellow French bands to our readers?
Jenn: Some bands really matter, not
necessary the most famous ones. It's
clear that CRIMSON MUDDLE is
gonna be the jizz with their next album
to come. Its first one was already really good (Nocturne, on Manic Depression Records), Castrati is also a
good band but they are totally insane
(that's why we make them play in our
hometown in May, 5th), RAPIDO DE
NOIR is also very good on stage and
on recordings (two self edited mp3
EP and an album to come)... there
are other bands but we're in wait for
them to improve themselves on stage.
Xie: -You played gigs mostly in
France, do you have any wish to
somehow expand the tour geography?
Jenn: Yes, during the last series of
concerts for the TURMOIL album
we've made it to Switzerland and Belgium... We have absolutely no idea
if we gonna play anywhere because.
to be honest it's not very easy to find
gigs, in France or else, but we're ALWAYS looking. It's really Azia's business actually, she's really good at
finding gigs, once she had a bite she
won't let the prey go, you know?
Azia: To book us, [email protected]. I answer really fast.
Xie: -What are you future plans? More
recordings and gigs or some rest?
Jenn: We are actually recording our
fourth album, in our home studio from
A to Z, with the very same bunch of
people (we hope so), I can say for
the moment we are doing very angry
stuff, electronic and punk influences
are still there, but we haven't yet get
a rid of echo and chorus effects on
guitars and bass.
We're very excited for this next step
into our own universe, we're looking
forward to see the cover design that
will be based on a collaboration with
the faithful Jean Delpech and his model Janis No (so awesome) maybe it
will be influenced by a voodoo feeling
and/or RUBELLA BALLET fluorescent
dresses and hair , nor can we wait
to listen to Diva/re's work of mixing
and mastering on our songs for this
album that is planned to be a little
extended comparing to the other albums we've made, we also have dark
ambient soundscapes to make a contrast between the speed tunes.
Xie: -And finally, last words are yours.
Thanks for this interview!
Azia: Rock on Russia! Модули Странная к вашим услугам
Maybe at the moment when this interview will be made available we will
have been made our newest free download compilation available, with a lot
of promising recent coldwave/postpunk/industrial/electropunk bands
from 2000/2010.
Questions: Anna ‘Xie’ Slascheva
ID
Name: Human Puppets
Place: Athens/Thessaloniki, Greece
Time: 2004 - ?
Close to: minimal wave; synth wave
Current Label: 5th Floor Entertainment
Web: http://www.myspace.com/humanpuppets
http://www.facebook.com/pages/HumanPuppets/179727618712369
Human Puppets are definitely one of the most remarkable and
talented minimal synth bands of the current century. Each their new release
very quickly becomes a collector’s item, so very soon will do the recently
released fantastic “Sounds of Solituide” LP. But at the same time, the band
members are very modest and usually they don’t give any sort of interviews,
preferring to speak only by their music. However, they fortunately decided to
do an exception for Grave Jibes.
Nattsol: Greetings! Traditional start for
Grave Jibes – please give an introduction
to this interview in any form you like.
Stathis: Hello Nattsol, hello Grave
Jibes’readers! We are Nick K. and
Stathis L. ,we are Greek and we play
minimal synth since 2004.
Nattsol: Could you tell how you met
each other and formed the band? Did
you have any musical experience before Human Puppets?
Stathis: I met Nick at a bar, in Athens,
where he was dj-ing, loved the music
he was playing, I remember I asked
him about a song and we ended up
talking all night about records and music. Some years passed and back in
2004, we’ve decided to do a rehearsal
at Nick’s place. From that night came
our first 7 inch recorded live on one
take! We took the cassette in my car
to listen to it and continued to a club
for a proper celebration. We were really
Human Puppets
Human Puppets
more songs and play several
gigs in our cities and abroad.
On the other hand, this distance
cannot affect our bond, the human puppets can walk in any
path they wish, they often meet,
greed and play their music. The
distance in a way, placed us in
our own, special point in the
continuum of time.
photo by K.Vagias
33
shocked with the result and since that
night we started playing together.
Now about the history, I was involved
in music since 1996. Started as a bass
player in a band called ‘Wasted
Dreams’ (later changed to ‘2 seconds
late’) and also in an other one, called
‘Faded Pictures’. Both bands were a
mix of new wave-dark wave-post punk
thing. That period lasted ‘till
2002.Meanwhile, I bought my first
synths and drum machines, started
experimenting and learn the use of
analogue synthesizers-machines and
analogue recording.
Nick: I was also involved in several
projects before Human Puppets, however the recordings were kept in a
very personal level.
Nattsol: How did it happen that you
got signed by Kernkrach?
Stathis: A friend of ours who knew
Jörg, sent our demo to him. Jörg liked
it and released our first single.
Nattsol: How can you describe your
Kernkrach period of activity?
Nick: It was a brilliant period, indeed!
Human Puppets were doing their baby
steps and Jörg gave us the chance
to play live, to an audience that was
fully aware of what was minimal synth,
all about. We were kinda ’thrown’ into
deep waters, however we managed
not to get drown.
Nattsol: You had a side-project, called
Plexiglas. Could you tell about it?
Stathis: Jörg came to visit us in
Greece, so one day, while me and
Nick were jamming and Jörg was listening, he started writing some lyrics
in German. We told him to sing the
words and the 3 songs of the single,
were born. We had such a great time.
We also managed to do an amazing
(with a great significance to me)live
gig, both as Human Puppets and Plexiglas in Thes/niki ,some years later.
Nick: Yes, it was great. Plexiglas were
the distillation of our friendship with Jorg,
however every tale has an ending and
every ending has a special value.
Nattsol: I know that since 2007 you live
in different cities. How do you manage
to play together in spite of this, and how
does the distance affect on your work?
Nick: Yes, of course the distance really
affects our work. We could have written
Nattsol: Could you tell about
“5th floor ent.” and its conception?
Stathis: With all the distance getting
in our way, there was a point, we wanted
to have the total control of our music.
One of our best friends, Dimitra, had
the idea of self-producing our music
and release anything ourselves, we
loved it and she runs the label since
then. She shares the exact philosophy
as we do, she is always ‘to the point’
,always there, giving her 100%.It was
very important for us to have the freedom, time and space we needed. The
name of the label is literally, where we
live (me and Dimitra).
33
Human Puppets
Nattsol: When I read about the band,
I faced the statement about “very small
and helpless minimal synth scene of
Greece”. However, thanks to Eirkti label, now the whole world knows that
Greece had some truly original and
outstanding synth bands in the 80’s,
and now there’s your “5th floor”, there’s
“Dead Scarlet Records”… so it seems
that “minimal life” goes on in Greece.
Any comment about it?
Stathis: Back in the 80’s,Greece had
a small but wonderful independent
scene which lasted till mid 90’s.Most
of the bands played punk, dark wave
and new wave. Very few bands played
minimal synth, at least in the way I
perceive it. Today, the labels you refer
to (and of course many others), do repressings of released and unreleased
records of that brilliant time. Dead
Scarlet’s sublabel, Fabrika records that
deals with new music, included us in
their ‘Monosynth’ compilation and
Markos from Eirkti has helped us so
much, setting up our label. The interest
and the support exists, however, there
are no minimal synth bands in Greece.
At least this is my opinion.
Human Puppets
photo by K.Vagias
34
Nick: And there was never a minimal
synth scene in Greece, most of the
people involved, hated synths (There
were of course some exceptions, but
were kept in the dark.).
And if you check the discography,
things were worse, reminding us of
the bad era of Front242. Ofcourse,
noone can argue the fact that, Greece
did have a brilliant post punk, new
wave scene in the 80’s.And that sums
it all up for me.
Nattsol: How does your “5th floor”
period differ from Kernkrach period?
Stathis: The main difference in our
lives is the distance, as you mentioned.
This has a massive impact of not doing
live shows (Greece and abroad) and
recording new stuff often. Jorg and
Kernkrach, has never stopped believing in us and supporting us.
Nattsol: And the same way, which
things you share with the German
synth wave scene, and which things
make Human Puppets different?
Nick: I think it’s easy to recognize a
minimal synth/avant garde band from
Germany. The Germans have a unique
way to move between classicism and
forefront but always with a resoursfull,
new feeling.I mean,from Paul Hausmann and Stockhausen to Can,Organisation,kraftwerk,the Kafkaesque cries
of Der Plan or Der Künftige
Musikant,yes,we do have common references,similar ways to approach music circumstances as a band,don’t
forget we use the same synths. However, if we could see behind the mirror
of one’s mental temperament, human
puppets use their influences to approach (even for a minute) the fascination of parthenogenesis. Ofcourse,
this is a difficult task today in the minimal synth/wave scene.
Stathis: We are alike, as far as the
simple structure of a song except, we
are more melodic.
Nattsol: Could you introduce your new
album “Sounds of Solitude” in your
own words?
Nick: I don’t think I am capable of
speaking about “Sounds of Solitude”,
it’s like describing my impulsiveness
and the joy of creation.I cannot find
the proper words.I’d rather ask you,
how could you describe our LP.This
is the real challenge in any form of
expression/art, to leave the artist and
be part of the audience.
Stathis: I agree with Nick, one thing
I can say for sure is that it is more
mature than “Future from the past”.
Nattsol: Human Puppets played with
several drummers. Has it been the occasional experience or you’re planning
to extend your line-up?
Stathis: Well, we only did that once!
We’ve played one live gig with Billias
on the drums, who is also the drummer
of ‘The Exetix’. That went very well and
so, we later recorded the single ‘Television Eye’, again with Billy on the drums.
Being a duo, somehow limits us from
playing other instruments and give us
a hard time when we are performing
live, playing everything in real time,
nothing pre-recorded and with very
fragile analogue equipment. We only
have two hands!
Therefore, when an opportunity comes
for someone else to help us, it is great!
The problem is that, it’s somehow difficult to find musicians who can actually
play live this kind of music and to understand the all-analogue philosophy.
In a few words, we are open to collaborations, as long as it fits to our
standards.
34
Human Puppets
Human Puppets
founding members. And what
about Human Puppets? Do you
deal with these things?
Nick: When art is removed from
real life, having elitist tendencies,
basically ’flirting’ with total infertility of inspiration, then ‘art’ must
be redefined. That’s what the
Dadaists did in 1916.
Art attached to the ghost of Freedom of Expression and Freedom
in general, is the most significant
art movement for me. Also very
relative to D.I.Y. ethos. When
art has no reference to life and
it’s reality(at least the reality we
are capable of understanding
it)then it shall better stay silent.
Art should give the opportunity of expressing to anyone that has an essential statement. That’s what punk
scene did, in the middle 70’s.
photo by K.Vagias
35
Nattsol: Stathis, can you tell about
your side-project The Exetix?
Stathis: It’s a side project involving
three brothers (Billias, Pittas, Semis)
and myself.
We were neighbors and friends since
1996, we share the same passion
and love for music, records and analogue synths.
They are the best musicians I have
ever met (along with Nick) and ‘Exetix’
is a project that I’m very proud of.
It is a pure synth punk band, again
sharing the same philosophy concerning analogue synths, playing everything live and doing it yourself thing.
Our influence is the late 70’s -early
80’s American-European synth punk
movement, with bands like The
Screamers, Nervous Gender, Metal
Urbain, Soft Drinks, Futurisk, etc.
Our L.P (self titled, available on our
label), was recorded live in a rehearsing studio and the amazing thing is
that most of the songs on the record,
were played for the first time there
and were recorded in one take! That
happens
only when
you deal
with talented people who understand
and feel the music like you do.
Check it out and you won’t regret it!
Nattsol: Nick, I know that you do the
artwork for Human Puppets releases.
And since your works are very good
(at least in my opinion), I should ask
you whether it’s possible to learn more
about this side of your activity.
Nick: I always enjoyed painting and
creating so , making the covers for
our band, not only gave me the opportunity to express myself but also
sums up the whole philosophy of ‘doing
it yourself’. Therefore it was very simple and natural for me.
Stathis: I just want to mention that
the cover of our single ‘Television Eye’
is made by Semis (the Exetix).
Nick: Yes, he did a great job.
Nattsol: I think I’m not the only one
who really appreciates artworks by
Nick and Semis, so for all those who’re
interested – is that possible to find
some more Nick’s and Semis’ works
on the web, on other covers or in
some printed issues? Do you keep
painting as hobby or develop it in a
more serious way?
Nick: I do not paint anymore and I
never considered painting as a hobby.It
is one more way of expressing myself.
Occassionally,I tried to approach this
capability,this tendency I have,but I’ve
never met the painter that
might be hidden inside me.
So no,you cannot find anything on the web,I only keep
some scetches for my personal archive.
Nattsol: You both are
heavily inspired by DADA
movement. DADA itself
can’t be imagine without
the famous provocations
and scandals around its
Nattsol: Nick, Stathis, I know that you
both are record collectors. Could you
list few records from your collection
that have played some special roles
in your lives?
Stathis: This is difficult. Hmmm..I will
35
Human Puppets
36
Human Puppets
Nattsol: You’ve always stated that
you’re a DIY act. So, what does the
term DIY mean for you? And in your
opinion, has the DIY culture changed
nowadays?
Nick: D.I.Y. still exists, however it includes loneliness and solidarity. Everyone can be creative without leaving
his/her room, just by using the technology. I don’t know if this actually
serves a human being as we sometimes have the urge of reinventing our
social statuses and we rebel, revolt
through art.
Nattsol: What particulary interests me
is your attitude to your texts. Contradictory to the music, you don’t keep
your texts written, so the lines may
vary from time to time. So could you
explain your approach to it? Is that
because “things change fast”, or some
other reasons exist?
Nick: I don’t believe lyrics should be
photo byTolis Elefantis
from 1983,where I was a little boy
until today.That’s probably related to
my DNA,in a way!
written on the record’s credits.Lyrics
may distract the listener from the immediacy of the song. It’s like while I
am listening to a Russian band, also
trying to translate the lyrics. This will
distract me from the whole point of music creation as the lyrics, therefore the
voice is an individual instrument by itself. I believe,it gives the most significant feeling in the song,whether it’s
words, phrases or just inarticulate cries.
I like to change the lyrics a bit, keeping
ofcourse the main theme, but
just make a few adjustments.
I like the idea of telling the
story of a song in as many
ways as possible. This revives it, evolves it, it becomes multidimentional in a
way. A sterile idea, dies easily. On the other hand, a
good moment of inspiration
can be approached by
many different aspects and
also re-educating your own
self, the secret self power
Elefantis
photo byTolis
name some very basics otherwise this
will take too long! ‘Cabaret VoltaireVoice Of America’ for the experimentation, ‘D.A.F-Alles Ist Gut’ for
understanding the perfect combination between drums and synths,
‘Japan-Gentleman Take Polaroids’
for inspiring me to be a better musician and a Greek one, ‘The ReportersBare Hands’ for realizing that the only
thing that counts is to be true to your
feelings.Of course this list could go
on and on..
Nick:For me is Bryan Eno’s ‘Another
Green world’, David Bowie’s ‘Low’ and
Magazine’s ‘Secondhand daylight’ that
changed my music directions.
And ofcourse the Residents!I’ve
bought some of their 70’s,early 80’s
records,two and three times!They
have such a great influence on me
photo by K.Vagias
36
who created it in the first place.
Stathis: For me too, vocals and lyrics
are just another instrument in the
song.By this, I don’t mean to reduce
the strength of words but also I don’t
like to force someone to read what I
had to say. Maybe it’s important,
maybe not. It’s better for me not to
spoil the magic. Judging by my own
experience as a listener, if I discover
a song and I am really into it, I will
listen to it again and again to get the
full picture and meaning. I won’t need
the whole music score printed to enjoy
it, therefore, I won’t need the lyrics
printed neither.
Nattsol: What are the main subjects
for your lyrics?
Stathis: Personal feelings, thoughts
and fiction scripts about our lives and
the world we live in.
Nattsol: Is Human Puppets a protest
band? And if yes, what do you protest
against?
37
Human Puppets
Nick: The name of the band itself can
be taken as a mean of protest. For
me, it occurs the fact, do I really like
the Human Kind? The fact that in
such a multidimentional world, the Human manages to stay one-dimentional, it really frustrates me. It gives me
a sad feeling that everything was put
together in all the wrong places, from
the ancient times until today. So, we
are all puppets of these Ancient fears
of Existance, that made us invent
gods and demons & other creatures
of power, completely forgetting that
life is just happening.Human Puppets,
totally ignorant of the true colors of
freedom, beyond sociopolitical systems, well yes, maybe we are a
protest band afterall.
Stathis: As a Human Puppet, we sometimes, find the strength to cut our own
ropes, but most of the times, we don’t.
Sometimes we are the puppets, sometimes the puppeteer. It’s all in this sys-
tem we are obliged to live in, the system
created by humans. Ironic?
Nattsol: Human Puppets is a musical
act, but have you ever seen something
very close to Human Puppets in other
forms of Art?
Nick: Andrei Tarkovsky’s “solaris”,
teeter’s between superficial and philosophy with such a magical way, that
could only be expressed musically by
a single tone/sound.To sum up with a
Samuel Beckett’s quote from “The Unnamable”, I prefer the expression of
having nothing to express, with no
means of expressing it, without the
power of expression, nor the urge of
expressing and together the obligation
of expression.
Stathis: I was really influenced by
Slava Tsukerman’s “Liquid Sky”.
And the final words are yours.
Stathis: A big and
sincere thanks to
old
and
new
fans/friends around
the world and ofcourse you and
Grave Jibes for the
hospitality through
the wires. Stay
analogue.
Questions: Pall
‘Nattsol’ Zarutskiy
‘Grave
Jibes
Fanzine’
photo by Tedd Soost
37
ID
A
Name: Agent Side Grinder
Place: Bromma, Sweden
Time: 2005-?
Close to: post-industrial, post-punk, electro
Current Label: Klangarkivet/Headstomp Productions
Web:
http://www.agentsidegrinder.com
http://www.myspace.com/agentsidegrinder
http://www.facebook.com/agentsidegrinder
http://soundcloud.com/agent-side-grinder
gent Side Grinder is one of very few bands that manage to be
modern, having completely vintage approach at the same time. This band is usually
compared to Suicide, Cabaret Voltaire and Joy Division, but with their newest album
“Hardware”, Agent Side Grinder quite evolved towards their own style. We decided
to discuss this and much more with the founders of the band - Peter Fristedt and
Johan Lange.
Nattsol: Greetings! Please, introduce
yourselves for a start.
P: We’re Peter Fristedt and Johan
Lange, the founders of Agent Side
Grinder.
chestra in the early 90’s, called Berliner
6 Bahn.
J: I played in several bands before
ASG and released a solo album. More
pop-oriented stuff.
Nattsol: How have you come into music and what were your pre-Agent Side
Grinder experiences?
P: I was very interested in electronics
and radio from a young age and started
an anarchistic electronic chaos or-
Nattsol: I also know that some of you
have side-projects. Could you tell more
about that?
P: Side project? I don’t have one!
J: We all used to have different projects,
but currently we all focus 100% on ASG.
Agent Side Grinder
Agent Side Grinder
Nattsol: Then, which of your past projects are worth mentioning and why?
P: We don’t talk about the things we
have done before, our focus is Agent
Side Grinder. We all have been in different
bands and been into the music scene
in Stockholm many years before ASG.
I was very interested in the way you
could produce cassettes in an industrial way if you’ve got your own tape
duplicator, which we have.
Nattsol: Now let’s turn to ASG itself.
How did you form the band?
P: We met each other during a recording session back in 2005 and realized
that we shared similar musical visions.
J: We both adored electronic music from
the 70s and 80s, analog stuff. Peter
had the ideas, I had the songwriting experience, that’s how it started.
Nattsol: Do you have a policy in musical formats? I see you have a lot of
cassettes, CDs and vinyls and it seems
that for you the records themselves
tell which format they should be released in. Is it so?
J: We started off by releasing only
vinyl, which really suited the first album.
But as our music grew popular, we
wanted to share it with all listeners.
P: We try to keep our music accessible
for all mediums and generations.
Nattsol: It seems to me quite crucial
for the band that it keeps alive what
many people (fair enough, in my opinion) call “cassette culture”. What is its
importance for you personally?
P: We have released many cassettes,
both live and studio. For me personally,
Nattsol: When I saw ASG live I was
much impressed not only by the music
itself but also by your fantastic work
with sound. How do you achieve that,
what instruments do you use, and how
does it differ from album to album?
P: We are a live band, we practice a
photo by Kristy Sparow
38
lot, and practice makes perfect.
J: We started with a pretty minimalistic
setup, a drum machine, a Yamaha
CS5 syntheziser, tape loops and vocals. But in recent years we’ve expanded both our gear and sound to
almost an arena size.
Nattsol: Peter, in one interview you
told that “industrial beauty” is the term
with which the ASG music can be described. To understand you better –
could you tell what industrial beauty
is visually for you? Is it deserted industrial landscapes, futurist paintings,
something else...?
P: For us, “Industrial Beauty” is a term
that describes how we play our music
live. We want the audience to experience the beauty in the harsh sounds,
the noise and the intensity that is Agent
Side Grinder.
Nattsol: Recently Manic Depression
records released the ASG “best of”
2xCD compilation. How did it happen
that you got signed by this label, and
what do you think about its other releases?
P: We played at Lionels club in Paris
a couple of times and talked about
doing something together.
J: It’s a mutual admiration, they’re releasing some great bands, Frustration
for example.
Nattsol: This compilation represents
both studio albums of ASG plus the
experimental “The Transatlantic Tape
Project” and live tracks. So, what will
people find and will NOT find on this
compilation?
P: For the first time we have live stuff
on a CD, which is very unique for this
record! For the listener it is also interesting to compare live tracks with
studio tracks.
J: It’s a great introduction to ASG.
38
Agent Side Grinder
Unfortunately there are no tracks from
our new killer-record on it.
Nattsol: The third Agent Side Grinder
album “Hardware” is about to be released. What can you tell about it in
comparison with its forerunners?
J: We’re really proud of it. People that
liked the first two albums will definitely
recognize us. But it’s more diverse,
more ambiguous. It’s the album we
always wanted to make.
P: It’s definitely our most ambitious work
up to date. It took us nearly two years
to write it and we worked hard on each
sound detail. We also tried the songs
live to make sure they were really good.
Agent Side Grinder
managed to achieve it! However, you
still keep some retro elements, wich
is obvious even on the album cover.
So, which retro elements do you find
necessary for ASG to remain itself,
and which of them you tend to replace
by some modern ones?
P: We don’t focus on being retro, we
see ourselves rather like a time ma-
Nattsol: The forerunners of “Hardware” sound as conceptional albums
– are they, actually? And does “Hardware” have a conception?
P: We have never had any conceptional ideas when we have been working with our albums. I think it’s more
likely that during that period we enjoyed a certain kind of sound etc that
gave the record a special vibe.
Nattsol: Agent Side Grinder is often
quite obviously compared with Suicide, Joy Division and Cabaret
Voltaire. But are there some less obvious or less known things (not only
musical projects) that inspire you and
influence your music?
J: We love all the bands you mention,
but on this new record, we really wanted
to shake off the retro label and make
something relevant for the 2010’s.
Nattsol: And in my opinion, you really
references some of post-industrial
bands (say, “Play It Again, Sam”
bands), or you “went” from Sheffield
of the late 70’s in completely different
direction?
P: We like Depeche Mode and a lot
of other music from that time. We talk
about all kinds of music in the band,
I think that we are very opend-minded
photo by Ludvig Lindqvist
39
chine and go back to the past and
take out a new direction from there
to make a new sound of today.
Nattsol: Talking a bit more about your
references – you tend to underline
your admiration of Industrial Records
era, but your sound is closer to postindustrial bands. So, can you mark as
about our influences, we like Black
Metal etc!
Nattsol: What do you think about the
contemporary synth wave scene, and
do you consider your band a part of it?
P: We are a part of it, but sometimes
it feels like we’re walking a very
empty road.
Nattsol: Peter, you also work in Lobotom
records – could you tell more about this
label and your role in it? Do you find
this experience helpful for ASG, or label
and band never cross their paths?
P: I started Lobotom Records with a
good friend in 2002 and we were active
until 2010, I learned a lot about the
music business, how to do things and
how not to do things.
Nattsol: Recently you collaborated
with Henric de la Cour on your song
“Wolf Hour”. Could you tell more about
this collaboration? Have you had other
collaborations to tell about or may be
just plans/dreams to share?
J: Henric is such a talented singer
and songwriter. He liked our previous
records. We felt “Wolf Hour” could be
a cool duet for Henric and Kristoffer.
The result turned out to be even better
than we expected. We also got some
other guest on the album, a Swedish
band called Skriet.
Nattsol: Do you plan to change something in your live shows after the release of “Hardware”?
P: We have some more stuff on stage
since there is some new sound on the
album, but the live setup is very much
the same. Some more percussion thing.
J: Hope our touring brings us to Russia
in 2012. We need more fans over there.
39
40
Agent Side Grinder
Agent Side Grinder
Agent Side Grinder
“Industrial Beauty”
compilation review
Agent Side Grinder –
‘Hardware’
album review
“Hardware” is the
fourth (including the experimental “The Transatlantic Project”) album by
the Swedish project
Agent Side Grinder. And
being on the one hand
the logical continuation of
its forerunners, it, on the
other hand, surprisingly
represents the band as
modern as an analog
synth band ever can be.
It already isn’t the classical post-industrial music, and it’s more than
likely that this record will
eventually detach Agent
Side Grinder from the
“vintage” label, for now
Agent Side Grinder is
quite an “out of time”
band, thanks to the balance of old-school equipment/approach
and
modern music. Just as
the previous band’s releases, “Hardware” has
extremely strong songs
and weaker ones. And
among the former there
definitely should be mentioned the opening “Look
Within”,
“Stranger
Stranger” and the track
featuring Henric de la
Cour “Wolf Hour”, on
which quite contrasting
vocals of Henric and the
ASG vocalist Kristoffer
interlace in a very natural
way, creating a strong
and original pattern. To
summarize, “Hardware”
will be an interesting discovery for every synth
lover, no matter if you
heard the previous works
of Agent Side Grinder or
not. And also this album
shows that now Agent
Side Grinder has much
room to go forward, exploring its artistic potential
and becoming one of very
few bands that avoided
the “retro dead end”. So
this band definitely has an
interesting future.
Grade: 9/10
The compilation “Industrial Beauty” by Agent
Side Grinder can surely
be called the best guide
to the band’s universe. It
covers the period of
2008-2010, which resulted for the band in three
studio albums and a
bunch of live records.
Here on the compilation,
the first CD collects most
of the tracks from two
“real ASG” studio albums
– “Untitled” (2008) and
“Irish Recording Tape”
(2009), and the second
CD represents the other
sides of the band’s activity by its live recordings
and the tracks from the
experimental album “The
Transatlantic Tape Project”, which gives a listener the opportunity of
thorough and compre-
hensive exploration of
the band’s music. So,
what is Agent Side
Grinder according to this
compilation? It’s definitely a vintage band, for its
music is based on the admiration for industrial and
post punk music with
roots going directly to Industrial Records, Factory
Records and Mute. But
on the other hand, it’s no
less obvious that Agent
Side Grinder is not a
“copypaste” band, for it’s
much more the matter of
approach than of music
that makes the band
stand shoulder to shoulder with the great acts of
the past, such as Cabaret
Voltaire or Joy Division.
“Industrial Beauty” is the
music of deserted landscapes and abandoned
factories. And it is really
great to understand that
there still exist such
bands as Agent Side
Grinder, that can recreate the atmosphere of the
late 70’s/early 80’s best
industrial and post-punk
bands not because they
want to be similar, but
because they feel the
same things, breathe the
same air… And it’s also
great that this compilation consists of the 20082010 records, because
these few years were the
whole era for the band,
and what they grew up
in for 2012 is completely
different story.
Grade: 9/10
40
GJ: Hello, Jessie! Firstly introduce
yourself in few words, please.
Jessie: Jet-setting mermaid with a big
appetite.
ID
Name: Jessie Evans
Place: Berlin, Germany
Time: 2009 - ?
Close to: No Wave, Free Jazz, Voodoo Cabaret
In groups: The Knives (1998-2000) ;
Subtonix (1998-2003) ;
The Vanishing (2001-2004) ;
Autonervous (2004 - 2006)
Current Label: Fantomette Records
Web: www.jessieevans.net
by Billy und Hells
J
essie Evans became known as a frontwoman of two probably most remarkable
deathrock bands of the early 00’s – Subtonix and The Vanishing. After she moved to Berlin in
the mid 00’s, she surprised listeners with her common project with Bettina Koster (known for
the NDW cult band “Malaria!”). A few years ago she started her solo career with quite an undefinable
sound (check her videos on youtube to get the idea). Her debut solo album “Is It Fire?” saw the
light of day in 2009, and now Jessie is working on its follower. So, this brief foreword is enough
to explain how excited we were approaching Jessie with an interview request.
GJ: How did you get involved in music
and what were your first musical/stage
experiences?
Jessie: Someone was always strumming on a guitar when I was a kid so
it was a natural thing to start playing
music as soon as I could. My mom
was a drummer, my dad played cello
+ banjo. I started playing violin when
I was 4, but left that after a couple
years. Throughout my childhood I studied different music instruments and
played bass drum and flute in the
School Marching Band. When I was
15 my parents bought me a saxophone
and that was the first thing that stuck.
My band was when I was 17 and living
in a squat called the Fox Hotel in Amsterdam. One fatal night after serious
drinking and a rampage through the
streets of Amsterdam with my friend
Esty, which ended in us screaming thru
the streets like maniacs and throwing
a bunch of bicycles into the canal we
came back home and started a band
called “The Antisocials”. It was just us
two singing with guitars and drums.
What an amazing feeling to just do it
! We were really inspired by the punk
rock movement of the 70’s, by bands
like Xray Spex +The Slits. Later I moved
to San Francisco and had my first real
show playing bass in a band called
“Leper Sex Killer on the Loose” at the
infamous Gilman St. in Berkeley. Shortly after that I started playing sax in an
all girl group called “Subtonix”. I was
41
photo by Street Press
Jessie Evans
41
Jessie Evans
Jessie Evans
girls in the crowd. I remember seeing
the writer Michelle Tea there, egging
me on. I also formed a band called
“The Vanishing” in this time and I played
a lot in those times with all groups.
photo by Street Press
also in a band called “The Knives”. One
of our first shows was at a café at
Stanford University. It took a long time
to go on and I ended up getting really
wasted. I was peeing in the garden, I
had no shame. When it came time to
play I got really annoyed
with the singer, a big guy
named Gabe, and I decided to put my bass
down and push him
off the stage in order to take the
mic. It was a
big hit for the
GJ: You played with Subtonix, which
was very remarkable duo of you and
Jessy Panic. Could you tell how you
met her and you formed the band?
Jessie: I met her a few days after arriving in San Francisco. We were both
drunk on the street in the mission one
night and we hit it off, immediately becoming friends. Around the same time
I placed an add in the paper saying I
was a sax player, into The Selector,
Blondie + Xray Spex and
wanted to start an all
girl band. I met Cookie
by Billy & Hells
42
(the drummer from Subtonix ) through
that and we got along great but we
didn’t know any other people yet so
we didn’t start it in that moment. Later
she met Jessy separately and they
started playing together, and I was
sort of jealous, like “what about me??”
but they assured me they would invite
me in as soon as they had some songs
together. Our first rehearsal space was
in an old brick building on 16th st in
the Mission. The room we had was
no bigger than a small bathroom, filled
to the brink with tons of junk that belonged to a bunch of different people.
There was a trunk filled with dildos,
and I stole one, which I still have to
this day. In the beginning we had guitar
and keys, then came down to a 4
piece and left out the guitar. We started
playing shows after a couple months.
It was a really amazing time.
GJ: How did it happen that Subtonix
ceased its activity and you became
the part of Vanishing?
Jessie: I started The Vanishing quite
awhile before Subtonix broke up. The
reasons for Subtonix breaking up were
that we just weren’t getting along. Jessy
had gotten married to this guy we didn’t
like and there was a lot of paranoia ,
distrust and jealousy going around. We
went on a US tour with Glass Candy
for a month which sort of sealed our
death. Although it was an amazing experience to be on tour and playing at
the diviest places, like some sports bar
in Baton Rouge , Louisiana with these
girls really riling up the crowds, and almost having to run for our lives after
the show. It was also really harsh be-
42
Jessie Evans
Jessie Evans
cause it was my first real long tour, and
I knew the band would end soon. From
my experience here is nothing harder
than a breakup with a band you love.
Its way worse than a love affair because
it goes beyond romance: its about sharing a dream. After the breakup Jessy
and I didn’t speak for 8 years, but now
we’re like sisters again. Actually, I just
spent a month sleeping on her couch
here in LA, just like old times being
homeless in San Francisco.
GJ: If a one takes a look at vinyl splits
of Vanishing, it will become obvious
that you were very close to other representatives of the underground deathpunk scene of the 00’s. Could you tell
more about that era and that scene?
Jessie: The scene in San Francsico
was really amazing then, maybe reminiscent of the late 70’s when punk
first began. There was a tremendous
amount of energy coming out of all
the groups happening and we all felt
really connected and supportive of
each other. Bands like The Phantom
Limbs, Sixteens, Deep Throats, The
Agent for Allied, Mutilated Maniquins,
Clone, The Little Deaths + Veronica
Lipgloss and the Evil Eyes were all
part of that. At the same time there
were bands we played with a lot from
other states like the Lost Sounds from
Memphis (RIP Jay Retard ) or Swarm
of Angels from Houston, who were all
kind of in the same vein. I guess it
will probably take about 20 years for
people who were’nt there to discover
the gems of that time, but I’m looking
forward to releasing a book of photography from those days.
43
GJ: Vanishing for sure was one of the
best deathpunk bands of the 00’s. Do
you feel your experience with this band
affects on you and your Art in this new
decade?
Jessie: I feel like I was really feral
then, searching through the darkness
to figure out how to express myself.
The energy I projected on stage was
very cold, raw, aggressive. I guess I
needed to work through my demons.
Being an artist is like opening your
doors for people to look inside you
and see you grow and change as a
human being, which can be insane
sometimes ‘cos things aren’t fully
formed, or you share things you
regret, but in general, I always
need to share what I’m doing so
I enjoy this process.
by Billy & Hells
43
44
Jessie Evans
Jessie Evans
GJ: You have obvious influence of Bettina Koster from the cult “Malaria!” and
you played with her in the project “Autonervous”. Could you tell how it happened that you gathered and formed
this project, and how is it – to play
with Bettina?
Jessie: I met Bettina the first day I
arrived in Berlin. Me and Brian from
The Vanishing we were picked up at
the airport and driven to an interview.
As soon as we walked into the office
Bettina was there, sizing me up in a
real butch sort of way. Though I didn’t
realize at the time who she was, it
was funny, because I had become a
fan of Malaria for a couple years already, and had actually had a dream
the week before that I moved to Berlin
and was hanging out with the girls
from Malaria. It was definitely a premonition, ‘cos a week later Bettina offered for me and Brian to come live
with her. A few months later we invited
Bettina to join Vanishing on a tour in
Italy and France and had a great time.
After the tour, it seemed more interesting to me to pursue playing with
her rather than continuing with The
Vanishing ‘cos that was getting boring.
I had used the name Autonervous as
a project alongside Billy from The Vanishing to release one cassette tape
and 12” and decided it was still a good
name. I feel like she had a lot of advice
to offer me because she had been
through the same things and understood where I was coming from. We
also had a lot in common, both being
sax players and untraditional lead
singers. She told me to not question
the artistic process, and let things come
out, even if they were ugly. She also
told me that to have success you needed to stick with something your whole
life. This in particular really resonated
with me, and it was in that moment
that I realized I really needed to begin
a solo project. Bands come and go,
but you will always have yourself to
count on. We wrote the Autonevous
album in her apartment in Berlin. Basically I wrote the songs on drum machines and bass and keys then she
would cut up what I did and reassemble it, adding sax, more keys, guitar,
etc. It was an interesting process, and
I’m really glad we had the chance to
make something together.
GJ: You started your artistic way in
California, and now you live in Berlin.
Can you say that the place affects on
your Art with its own mystery and spirit?
In other words – has Berlin changed
your music?
Jessie: It’s funny because I started
out making deathrock music in sunny
California, then moved to gloomy Berlin
and got really into Afrobeat and
Cumbia, and singing a lot more about
sex. I think living in a place which is
so cold, both in climate and attitude
of the people, has really lightened me
up a lot. Also, living in Europe I was
able to support myself being a musician
for the first time which eleviated a lot
of stress and gave me a newfound
confidence. To live in a place where
the average people are actually aware
of what’s happening in the world and
can have conversations about things
without it ending in some nationalistic
temper tantrum has been great and
helped me to get past this desperate
stress about the system and society
and find a more positive approach to
my words and message. But I think its
also just a natural process, discovering
what you want to say, how to say it.
GJ: How did you meet Toby Dammit,
and how is it to work with him?
Jessie: Toby lives at the studio where
Bettina and I mixed our album and I
met him at that time. At one point Bettina booked us an acoustic show, which
was ridiculous since we played with a
full backing track, including all her vocals and sax on it. I told her at the
very least we needed to find a drummer
so we asked Toby, and he was happy
to do it since he’d seen us perform
and really loved it. After rehearsing
with him once it was obvious that we
would end up playing for a long time
together, and it was really exciting. He’s
a really great drummer and a great
guy. Sometimes he drives me crazy
because he’s very addicted to buying
drums, and having them sent to different addresses of friends of ours all
over the world, then when we visit he
has to re-pack them, photograph
them… its sort of insane.
GJ: With your solo works you get more
into what was called “voodoo cabaret
show” with the influences not that much
reflected in your past works, such as,
say, afrobeat. So, can you say that
punk and deathrock is your past now?
Jessie: I’ll always consider myself a
punk because I’ve never fit in with
what’s normal or socially acceptable
and I’m sure I never will. I’ve always
44
45
Jessie Evans
Jessie Evans
been an outcast, a misfit and at this
point I’m comfortable being on the outside. I think punk is simply about doing
things your own way, DIY, being free
and fierce, not relying on ‘the man’,
and to hold on to your ideals, speak
the truth, and to help others do the
same. My music is more punk than it
ever was ‘cos the words are more honest and direct than ever before and
the delivery is more in your face ‘cos
I’m aware what I’m doing and what I
want to convey more than ever. Musically, I’m very much rooted in the
punk / new wave/ no wave but I also
grew up listening to reggae and jazz
and as time goes by new things become influences. I’ve never felt like
sticking to one group or being stuck
to one scene. I’ve always had very diverse friends, all ages, all types of
people. It’s the same thing with religion- although I’m interested in many
aspects or rituals from different religions I never felt the need to join anything because I don’t’ feel like I need
to in order to celebrate life or find god.
I basically believe in everything, because I think everything everyone believes is reality, and it all has the same
roots. I do intend on re-doing some
of the songs from The Vanishing still
and I think there will probably be a
Subtonix reunion one of these days,
so we’ll see…
GJ: Can you introduce your solo project with its debut album “Is It Fire?”
in your own words?
Jessie: “Is It Fire?” is my first solo
record that I wrote, arranged and produced myself. It’s sexy and feels like
an orgy of rhythms and styles, from
Afro-Cuban to Mambo to Free jazz
jams to No Wavey Pop. I released it
on my label Fantomette Records in
2009 and have been playing mostly
as a duo with Toby Dammit and sometimes as a trio with a Brazilian percussionist named Debora Saraiva.
GJ: Could you tell more about the
process of recording “Is It Fire”? You
recorded it in Berlin and Mexico and
the list of the involved musicians is
really extensive (how many there were,
by the way? Seems like 50 or so?),
so I assume the work was really hard
and complex, wasn’t it?
Jessie: I wrote the album on bass,
synth and the 808 drum machine in
my lil’ studio in Berlin. It was a revelation for me ‘cos I feel like I created
something rhythmically which was unusual and different from anything I’d
done before. We recorded the drums
with Toby Dammit and Budgie. Then
went to Mexico and recorded the sax
and vocals in hotel rooms in Mexico
City, Tijuana and even John Waynes
old house in Acapulco. Along the way
we got Martin Wenk from Calexico on
trumpet, and a bunch of musicians from
Tijuana to play. My good friend Namosh
was on it too. It wasn’t hard, but it did
take some time to pull it all together.
I guess the hardest part of making an
album is having the patience to see it
through, ‘cos it always ends up taking
way longer than you think it will.
GJ: I know that you're working on your
second album. Could you please give us
any comments about what it will be like?
Jessie: Theres a lot more singing then
on the last album. I have 4 main backing
singers who are ages 8-13. And a lot
of grown up friends too. Some of the
guests are King Khan, Steve Mackay
(Iggy and the Stooges), Jimi Tenor,
Daniel Allen, Jillian Iva, Maya Alban
Zapata, and Namosh. Stylistically it’s
exploring new territories, different tempos, but it feels like a natural evolution.
GJ: You’ve been performing as guest
with many bands. Which shows of this
kind were the most remarkable and
the most special for you?
Jessie: It was exciting opening for Iggy
and The Stooges at L’Olympia in Paris
‘cos that’s such a prestigious old –
school venue. Everyone has played
there from Edith Piaf, to James Brown
to David Bowie.
GJ: Your music is definitely decadent,
but it’s not that sweet and extremely
artificial decadence, it much more reminds, say, decadence of Baudelaire
who wore green wig to provoke the
crowd. So, how much your music deals
with decadence and do you have some
“decadent references”?
Jessie: I like to talk about ugly side
of passion. Maybe it seems decadent
‘cos sometimes when you take too
much of a good thing you get sick and
want to puke. I always thought of decadence as having too much, wanting
too much, + expressing it all, in a hedonistic and beautifully shameless sort
of way. Of course I’m attracted to that
sort of reality, and happy to live it whenever I can. But if you look up the word
in any American dictionary you get the
45
46
Jessie Evans
Jessie Evans
definition along the lines of this:
A process, condition, or period of deterioration or decline, as in morals or
art; decay.
Now this sounds like a load of b.s. to
me. Especially if you think of the artists
or writers who were associated with
the Decadent movement: Oscar Wilde,
Aubrey Beardsley, Edvard Munch. I
don’t see that their work reflects morals
so much as being honest. In general,
balance is key to peace of mind, but
I do think hedonism is essential.
GJ: The question similar to the last
one – how much your music deals with
sexuality, and how strong you see the
connection between Art and sexuality?
Jessie: I see no difference between
music and sex really. They operate on
the same planes. The best shows are
the most raunchiest and rawest, when
you can transfer all the passion into
your body and voice, let it contort you,
let it erupt like a volcano from the
depths of your being. Emotionally, I
have the same reaction to music if not
stronger than I do to a person, and it
can turn you on, turn you off, just like
a person can.
GJ: Does your musical/performance
activity deal with other forms of Art,
like, say, photography or cinema (or
anything else)?
Jessie: I make most my own music
videos, compiling them from video
shoots and things I film on tour. They
take a long time to edit, and sometimes
I wont sleep for a month at a time ‘cos
I get so wrapped up in it. Working on
visuals feels very poetic to me, like
hunting in the landscape of my imagination. I always write very silly plots,
and there’s many ways they can be
interpreted, so as I’m working on them
many different ideas and interpretations come to surface, which is inter-
esting. Its complicated, because there
are so many elements involved :
rhythm, words, textures, images, plots,
etc, and they all have to be collaged
together just right. Each video feels
like a tiny movie, like a haiku. I also
love photography and recently went to
Havana, Cuba for a month and shot
tons of photos there in the barrio where
I was staying. I want to go back this
year and make a documentary.
GJ: The cunning question – is Jessie
Evans a mainstream artist or an underground artist?
Jessie: To quote wikipedia: Mainstream is, generally, the common current thought of the majority. The
mainstream includes all popular culture, typically disseminated by mass
media. Mainstream music denotes music that is familiar and unthreatening
to the masses.
I feel like most mainstream music has
become like a bad drug that has people
paying attention to and believing in
things that have no artistic value just
because its all they’ve been exposed
to. I feel the effects of this whenever
I watch the news or hear a new hit
song, as I often have the desire to listen, to become infatuated with something that isn’t good; it becomes
addictive even if you don’t like it. Everything in the media these days seems
to have an agenda to brainwash us
into thinking in certain ways, to accept
certain realities and to not question
the position we were born into : as
powerless small people who are here
to worship celebrity and uphold the
elite system we’re living in. Think about
how many riot police are in popular
music videos these days for instance.
In the USA its very important right now
to make the police state seem really
glamorous or to make it seem cool to
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47
Jessie Evans
have an r.d.i.f. chip implanted in yr
arm. I also don’t like that the idea of
entertainment implies that we watch
something, not take part, ‘cos this renders people useless. I do love pop
music but I also feel like most pop
stars are pretty much controlled by
their labels, by the media, and therefore pushing another agenda other
than their own, and that’s very sad. It
reminds me of the movie “lily marlene’
by Fassbinder. Do you know it? It’s a
sick culture but it’s sort of like the turning point in humanity. We always have
a decision of how we can interpret reality, and I think the worse things become the more potential for change
and revolution there is. I believe music
and art should shake things up, make
people feel alive, make them want to
live life to the fullest, challenge authority, and do things for themselves.
Because I’m totally independent I definitely don’t feel part of the mainstream,
though of course I would also like to
reach as many people as possible with
my music.
ID
Name: Anasazi
Place: New York, USA
Time: 2011 -?
Close to: deathrock, dark punk
Current Label: none
Web:
http://www.facebook.com/anasazinyc
GJ: Thanks for the interview, Jessie!
Any final words?
Jessie: Never give up the faith, believe
in your dreams and make the world
what you want it to be.
with contribution of
Sloeva Liya & Sloeva Margo
A
by Billy und Hells
47
ncient Pueblo people practiced ritual cannibalism, and
punks Anasazi practice 80’s goth and manage to do it even more
obscure and mysterious than, possibly, dissected remains look
like. Their recently released demo tape reflects everything for
what we love such cults as Christian Death, Part 1, Killing Joke...
And it really starts to seem that, thanks to such bands as Anasazi,
Moral Hex, Cult Of Youth, Spectres etc, the new dark age finally
began, and it will return its fans all the past conquests and erase
the uncertainty of the 00’s. We live in the crisis era of economical
uncertainty, corporate fascism, injustice and outrage. And nowadays, like in the 80’s, the music should be real. So, in the Anasazi
song called “Burn Everything” I hear, though subcultural, but true
hymn of our “dead generation”.
48
Anasazi
Anasazi
GJ: Greetings! To start with, please,
introduce yourselves and the band.
Chi - vocals
Keegan - guitars
Jasper - bass
Brett - drums
Christian - synths
GJ: Could you please explain the
band’s name?
Keegan: Anasazi is Navajo for Enemy
Ancestors/Ancient Enemy. It refers to
the Ancient Pueblo People who once
resided whee the Navajo now do.
There are signs they may have participated in Cannibalism, but it has not
been proven yet.
Chi: I stole it from Keegan’s diary under
his pillow.
GJ: As far as I know, most of you perform
with other bands, say, Jasper is also
the Cult of Youth bass player, and played
with Christian in The Hunt... and there
were also other projects of Anasazi
members, right? (I got completely confused when I tried to find it out!). So,
could you tell about these projects as
themselves, and about their conceptual
differences with Anasazi?
Chi: I was in Zombie Vandals based
out of Queens NY for over 10 years of
punkk rott and Keegan was in a band
called thriller and Bret was in Vultures.
and a lot of UK82 bands. Being from
Queens I do like The Naked and the
Dead, though.
Christian: I don’t usually listen to a
lot that sounds like Anasazi. For some
reason a healthy diet of anarcho punk,
neofolk and Tangerine Dream works
for me in this band.
Jasper: We all came from the punk
scene. I was in the Vigilantes then the
Virus, then started The Hunt with Christian and just recently joined Cult of
Youth. They’ve all been very different
bands, Anasazi has been my first time
playing bass really. And my first time
not being singer. It’s been great. Kind
of the same music I was trying to make
with the Hunt.
Christian: I was in a punk band called
The Contrary back in Boston, then
moved to New York to join The Hunt.
At the moment I also have an analog
synth studio in my tiny apartment where
I’m working on an unnamed project.
GJ: New York is famous with not only
punk and hardcore traditions, but also
with goth-punk and deathrock ones,
and admirers of similar music very
much appreciate such groups of 80,
like The Naked And The Dead, Of A
Mesh, A Red Crescent Sect, Ochrana,
Burning Rome... Do you feel a certain
interrelation with these groups of past
and do you consider yourselves the
ones who keep up what they started?
Jasper: I didn’t know any of those
bands until a few years ago. For me
Anasazi is just the natural progression
of being in punk bands for 15 years.
I come from more of a New Model
Army and Zounds background.
Chi: Being from New York my big influences are Cro Mags and Nausea
GJ: It’s really great to see that such
bands as Anasazi, Lost Tribe, Agnostic
Pray, Arctic Flowers, Belgrado, Moral
Hex, Cross Slitched Eyes, Dekoder,
Geister, LTD, Cemetary, Haldol start to
exist... From outside it looks like one
powerful movement of gothic punk. So,
do you think of it as of a movement and
do you feel yourselves a part of it?
Keegan: I’m not sure if I’d call it a
movement as much as a resurgence.
It’s somewhat of a trend here in America, but a lot of punk bands experimented with it and played alongside
post-punk bands in the 80’s. There
was a lot of great bands that were forgotten, and the sound has reemerged
in a ‘wave’ of bands now, as it has
before. I guess we can be considered
a part of it, though we wouldn’t want
to be associated with any trend.
Jasper: I do, but with an even broader
spectrum of bands like Rosenkopf, Religious To Damn, Crazy Spirit, and
Mauser. There’s an amazing crossover
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49
Anasazi
Anasazi
of punk and synth bands all playing
together right now.
GJ: Tell us, please, how does it feel
to be punk in modern New York? Do
you face chauvinism and xenophobia
from ordinary people? This question is
important and relevant also because in
Russia punks still face the oppression
from the society. And it’s not only about
skirmishes with right football hooligans,
nazis and other pseudo-patriots, who
attack punk and hardcore gigs.
Keegan: Being a Punk in New York
was a lot harder a few years ago than
it is to be a Punk here now. New York
City has always been under attack of
gentrification, and now one of the hardest things is just coming up with enough
money to survive and live here. For
the punks from NYC, it sucks for us
cus people keep moving here and
didn’t have to deal with the troubles
we did. NYC used to be more violent
than it is now, so a lot of people move
here and experience the ‘easy’ life without the hardships we had to face.
Chi: I’m really violent. It’s in my nature.
I live in an all black neighborhood and
walk around with eyeliner on. I get in
fights all the time. I wish I didn’t have
to. There’s usually a lot of gangs
around and I have a hard time keeping
my mouth shut. I used to be in a punk
gang and used to fight thugs and skinheads all the time.
Jasper: The second time I met Chi
he was fighting 4 thugs while drinking
a 40 on Avenue A.
GJ: It’s not hard to find on the web
the collage connected with your band.
It reminds of Rozz Williams' artworks,
only there’s Obama instead of Reagan,
and the anarchy symbol instead of
swastika. Who’s the author of this work?
What do you think about the art of Rozz
Williams? Can you say that there’s
Rozz’s influence on your music?
Chi: I made it. I’m a huge fan and
that’s a big compliment to be compared
to his work but that wasn’t influenced
by him at all. It’s influenced by all the
fascist pigs, rich cocksuckers and dirty
men in office.
GJ: Could you represent your demo
cassette to our readers? What will your
listeners find on it?
Christian: I originally joined the band
just to play on the demo, but ended
up recording it and staying on as full
time synth player. We recorded the
demo almost entirely live in Home
Sweet Home, the same bar Jasper
manages and part owns and the home
of the weekly Wierd Records party. It’s
a good document of the band at that
time. I’m very excited to start working
on a couple new singles that will be
coming out in the near future.
Chi: Nuke York Attic Noisse.
GJ: Very natural question – when
should we expect the Anasazi long
play? And in which musical format
would you like to release it?
Christian: Expect a single on Sacred
Bones records July 24th. No word yet
on a full length but it’ll definitely be on
vinyl. (The mentioned 7” has been released as planned, but before there was
another 3-song 7” on Toxic State Records)
GJ: What do you think about legislation
concerning unlegal downloading on the
web? It seems that it becomes more
and more serious subject for discussions these days.
Keegan: Bullshit. Music is created to be
shared, not locked-up/made for money.
Chi: Bootleg everything. Steal everything.
Jasper: Copy our demo, give a copy
to everyone you know.
GJ: Thanks for the interview, and hope to
hear more of your wonderful music soon!
And now – any final words from you?
Bret: Wolverines!
Questions:
Vadim ‘Bars-Ursula’ Barsov
49
50
Lost Tribe
punk bands over the years. Davey has
played drums in Empty Grave and
Mega Minge, Lost Tribe is the first band
he’s sang in. This is also the first band
Shravan has played bass in, he’s sung
and played guitar in Aghast and was
the guitarist for SSR. Kyle has played
drums in a variety of lesser-known punk
bands, such as Pissheads. JK plays
guitar in Caves Caverns, and I sang
in Helldistort, played bass and guitar
in Syndrome, and recently joined
Aghast as the noise guitarist.
Nattsol: Lost Tribe – why such a name
for the band?
Cory: I came up with the name; it’s
a reference to a late-era Discharge
song “Lost Tribe Rising” off of the Massacre Divine album. It’s also a refer-
How wonderful are the things that are happening in the USA’s dark punk scene
these days! The new decade just started, but already showed us several amazing new bands
that play dark punk not only as it initially was supposed to be, but also in the way that
hardly could be compared with many bands of the 80’s, with strong influences of American
deathrock and British post-punk and peace punk scenes. Lost Tribe is one of the most remarkable bands of this kind – last year they released their debut album, which already
was highly estimated by the listeners all over the world, and its follow-up, the EP “Unsound”.
Cory, the band’s guitar player, kindly accepted our interview request.
Nattsol: Greetings! Lost Tribe is the band
that appeared quite recently, so could
you introduce yourselves and the band?
Cory: I’m Cory and I play guitar, Davey
sings, Shravan plays bass, Kyle plays
drums, and JK is the synth player.
Nattsol: You all also play in other
bands, some of which surely are unknown to many of our readers. So
could you make a brief introduction of
these bands to them?
Cory: We’ve all played in a variety of
ence to The Mob’s “Let The Tribe Increase” LP. Both bands are obviously
a major influence on us.
Nattsol: The band’s influences are
quite diverse – punk gothique, peace
punk, crust etc. They all can easily be
heard in your music, but apart from
only musical thing – do you take anything else from these styles like goth
arty thing, political awareness of anarcho punk etc?
Cory: Our live show, as far as fog and
lights goes, is highly influenced from
80s post punk live shows. The artwork
is done by a friend of ours, Andrew
Scully, who is also a long time punk,
so you’d have to ask him what his influences are. I wouldn’t say that we
take anything politically, we don’t really
ID
Name: Lost Tribe
Place: Richmond, Virginia, USA
Time: 2010 - ?
Close to: deathpunk ; crust goth ; post punk
Current Label: Blind Prophet Records ; Distort Reality
Records
Web: http://losttribe.bandcamp.com/
50
51
Lost Tribe
Lost Tribe
talk about politics, Davey tends to write
more about personal issues.
Nattsol: Recently you released your
debut album and shortly after that –
the new EP “Unsound”. How could
you describe these both records and
the differences between them?
Cory: Both records are actually from
the same recording session, we just
wanted to make them into two separate
releases. I’m not sure what to say
about the records, other than I feel
that they both speak for themselves
and are an honest reflection of our
sound. The only difference I can think
of is that the EP is more of a single…
in the classic sense.
Nattsol: Your debut LP was released
by the Blind Prophet label, run by the
band Cult of Youth. How did you get
in touch with them, and what are the
musical ideas you share?
Cory: I honestly don’t remember how
we met Sean (Cult Of Youth), I think
he came to some of our shows in
NYC. I remember I liked him because
he talked to me about Crucifix and
Exploited, but I didn’t know anything
about his label or band at the time.
Fast forward a few months and Shravan said he wanted to put out our
LP…simple story really. As far as musical ideas we share, we both have a
heavy punk background, like playing
out of town, and just like having fun.
We really like hanging out with Sean
and all the Cult Of Youth people.
Nattsol: Lost Tribe has its own recognizable sound. What are its main
ingredients?
Cory: Generally I’d say our sound is
hardcore punk guitar riffs that lead into
haunting single note runs, over fast,
catchy bass riffs, tribal and punk drumming, droning keyboard, and dark,
shouted vocals. Something like Discharge meets Vex with a healthy
amount of dark Finnish influences. I’ve
heard a dozen people compare us to
a dozen different styles or bands, but
none of them quite seem to match. I
think that’s the beauty of it.
Nattsol: Is Lost Tribe a live or a studio
band? And what are your sound differences between stage and studio?
Cory: It’s definitely a live band, I hate
recording…it’s very boring. We’ve
played dozens of shows, I’d say 50
or more, and only recorded twice. I’d
have to say there are very little sound
differences between live and studio,
aside from the clarity that a studio
recording provides. When we record
we simply record our parts, we don’t
add extras because we want to be
able to recreate it live…theres no need
to go churching it up, because if you
do it’ll always suck live. I mean who
would want to be in a studio band?
That’s so boring, you make way better
stories traveling around the country
drunk with five friends, then you do
sitting in a studio.
Nattsol: Whilst preparing to this interview I faced the comment that you
“play without flash and much personality”. But in your opinion, what of your
personalities can be represented only
with Lost Tribe and nowhere else?
Cory: I think that was probably said
by some indie music nerd who takes
51
52
52
Lost Tribe
the lineup of SXSW too seriously and
expects us to sound like the Killers,
we’re not…we’re a dark punk band…
I’ll take Musta Paraati over hipster bullshit any day. As far as what can only
be represented with Lost Tribe, I’d have
to say that it’s definitely the darkest
band any of us have ever played in,
and it’s our most creative punk outlet.
Nattsol: What can you say about the
American DIY dark punk scene – i.e.
about the bands, the audience, the
events…? Once I watched your video,
where people we just standing watching your set. Not dancing, not pogoing,
not obviously having fun. Is that typical
behaviour?
Cory: The American DIY dark punk
scene is fairly new to the East Coast
(where we live), there aren’t too many
active bands, although we have some
great bands here such as Anasazi, Cult
Of Youth, and SGNLS. The West Coast
also has great bands like Deathcharge
and Moral Hex. It’s sort of a new thing
that’s starting to emerge which makes
it exciting. As a result, the audience
doesn’t have an archetype of what to
expect or do…it’s foreign to them, so
they tend to stand there confused. You
also have to take in account when people see us setup theyre expecting a
raw punk band to play…. we’ve had
people mosh, pogo, and dance to our
set before, but it’s hard for me to give
specifics because generally I can’t see
the crowd, the fog is so thick onstage
that I can barely see my own guitar.
Nattsol: Do you feel and behave different in stage and daily lives?
Cory: No, we’re the same…we don’t
put on costumes or act crazy, we’re
frightening enough.
Nattsol: The result of your activity in
2010-11 is three releases (cassette
and two vinyls) and live appearences.
What next for 2012?
Cory: We’re planning a two week tour
through the Northeast and into Canada
(assuming we can get in), then hoping
to record a new LP. There’s also another label putting our demo tape onto
LP. Touring Europe would be a dream
come true, but I don’t know how realistic that is for 2012...unless some
Europeans want to make it happen.
Other than that, write new songs, play
some out of town shows, and go
through fog juice like alcohol.
Nattsol: Thank you for the interview!
Cory: Thanks for taking an interest,
contact
us
at:
[email protected] and pick up
a record. Some songs are online at
www.losttribe.bandcamp.com
Check out the new killer tracks from
the band’s second cassette which just
recently has been released at their
bandcamp page!
Interview with
Chris Pascoe
ID
Name: Part 1
Place: Milton Keynes, UK
Time: 1981 – 1984 ; 2012 - ?
Close to: post-punk ; deathrock ; anarcho punk ; goth punk
Current Label: none
Web: There’s no web resource dedicated to Part 1 so far, but you can find more
information about the band in “Kill Your Pet Puppy” fanzine
http://killyourpetpuppy.co.uk/news/?p=2395
or through the perfect interviews with the singer Jake Baker and guitar player Mark
Ferelli, done by the Americal journalist Oliver Sheppard
http://nodoves.blogspot.com/2012/01/interview-with-part-1-singer-jake-baker.html
http://www.cvltnation.com/deaths-dream-factory-the-art-and-music-of-part-1s-mark-ferelli-by-oliver-sheppard/#more-36998
British band Part 1 is usually associated with the anarcho punk
scene and especially its “fellow band” Rudimentary Peni. However, in
spite of these traditional references, the band has much more to do with
the early goth punk and deathrock bands, thanks to its obscure sound
and imagery. This band gained much more interest with the so-called
“second deathrock revival”, which, contradictory to the first one, pays attention not to the fashoin, but to the dark DIY punk sound and gloomy
imagery – the things which are perfectly reflected in Part 1.
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Part 1
Part 1
Nattsol: Greetings, Chris! Thanks for
accepting the interview request. And
the first question is - how have you
come into music and met your Part 1
bandmates?
Chris: Well first off I met Mark - saw
him playing in a band at school. Can't
exactly remember how we met but we
did. Even then at about 15 years old
Mark looked a bit out there, on the
edge etc, and when talked something
just clicked, I guess we were just
weirdo's together. Anyway we got this
band together and played in a wet and
dingy old garage, I got a bass from
an old uncle of mine and tried to play
it. I was totally crap, as we all were,
but at least we were doing something.
At the time there was a lot of shit going
down with skinhead and rockers and
punks always fighting, causing trouble
etc.... It was the beginning of the 80's
and everyone seemed to be protesting
at something, - I guess we were protesting at the fact that we were scrawny
kids who didn't really fit into any category of teenage tribalism.
Nattsol: Could you tell more about
that dangerous environment connected with fights and aggression against
punks and goths?
Chris: They were dangerous times
that’s for sure, we were at gigs where
skinheads came in wanting to bash
the crap out of everyone. They didn't
like anything about the punk ethic, the
whole idea of doing something different
to the normal upset there sad boring
mentality, whereas they just wanted
to relive the 60's. Skinheads were total
arseholes who where no better than
football hooligans….. we have been
in some pretty tight situations where
doors have been kicked in and people
attacked by skinheads. To me they
were just interested in mindless violence and having a go at punks was
an easy out for them, as the majority
of punks were more interested in getting wasted than beating the shit out
of someone else.
Nattsol: Listening to the available Part
1 records makes an impression of a
conceptually strong band. But when
you
started
what
were
the
political/artistic etc ideas that you
shared, and how did they evolve
through years?
Chris: Good question. I think at first
when we got together, we tried to emulate what was going on at the time.
There was a lot of political anger and
angst at the time and a few of our first
tunes reflected this. Such tunes as
“Marching Orders” and “Surprise Attack” sounded like we were trying our
best to copy the UK Subs. You gotta
remember we were just kids and it
was going to take a little time for us
to stamp our identity onto our stuff,
but to be honest I really didn't like the
stuff that was around at the time. Crass
were big then, and I hated them. Mark
loved them. Etc, etc…. It was all very
disjointed musically but we all got on
and wanted to do something rather
than go to the pub and get drunk. So
basically all tried to put our influences
into what we were doing and came
up with Part 1. I liked Bauhaus and
PIL, Siouxsie, The Cure etc, Jake loved
the Subs, Mark was into Crass and
The Banshees, we were all over the
place. I have never been into any of
this protest political stuff, just is not
me. I have always disliked conforming
to what is normal, and I guess we all
wanted to not be labelled as this type
of band or that genre etc. The good
thing about the 80's was that punk
gave everyone the idea that it was
possible to do something… we formed
a band. I look at the lyrics on the cover
of Funeral Parade and pretty much
still agree with the sentiment, even 30
years on, we still don't fit in….
Nattsol: However you surely have had
something to do with goth punk bands
like, say, UK Decay, aren't you? Do
you think there're bands that could be
considered as Part 1's "neighbours"
and "relatives"?
Chris: Well, we went to a few gigs
to see UK Decay and Bauhaus, they
were quite well known at the time, we
would have loved to have been spoken
about in the same breath as those
guys. Mark loved UK Decay, Bauhaus
were wicked, I thought Pete Murphy
was terrifying. Jake was a big Killing
Joke fan, and when we replaced Al
with Bob as the drummer, he introduced us to Genesis (lol), who in my
opinion were total shit and still are.
Seriously tho, I think we were far more
influenced by UK Decay and Bauhaus
than we would have liked to admit at
the time. They probably never knew
we existed, but I would have far more
been interested in being associated
with them than as I keep on seeing
Part 1 being associated with Rudimentary Peni. As I remember, we played
53
54
Part 1
few gigs with them and Mark became
friends with Nick, that is about it. You
gotta remember that this is a lifetime
ago and although my memory may be
slipping, it does annoy me a bit to see
us linked with them all the time.
Nattsol: Returning to Part 1 itself,
could you explain the name?
Chris: Yeah sure. Part 1 was a name
that Mark and I came up with. The
name in itself was a protest against
all the mad names that were around
at the time. Part 1 doesn't really mean
anything at all, it was just i think a
new beginning. All the names we had
though of previously sounded a bit pretentious and where we came from in
Milton Keynes there was a lot of pseudo
punk bands with ridiculous names like
Fictitious or Exit Stance (always with
a circle around the A’s) or some other
old bullshit… all bondage trousers and
no substance and we didn't want to
be associated with them. I see a pattern
emerging here - we didn't want to be
associated with anyone.
Nattsol: Before we move towards
discussing the band's releases it
seems quite important to ask you
how the band ended up gigging at
the famous A-Centre with all those
Crass-related bands.
Chris: Can't remember how it happened, I believe Mark was instrumental
in getting us on the bill but we ended
up playing there and it was great, although personally I wasn't a fan of
Crass' music, I was really into their
vibe and most of the guys in those
bands were sound. And as they be-
Part 1
lieved 100% in what they were doing
it would always make for a great night.
Nattsol: You shared the stage with
such bands as The Mob, Zounds, The
Apostoles, Blood & Roses and many
others. How was that? And do you
have a sympathy to some of those
"nearly-anarcho" squat bands?
Chris: I enjoyed some of those bands
very much, I liked The Mob and Blood
and Roses strikes a chord in me, don't
much remember the music of Zounds
or The Apostles. I sort of remember
going to one of the squats but who
was there I couldn't tell you, seemed
like an ok vibe, maybe it is a question
for Mark. He was more involved in the
social aspect of these gatherings and
would have spent time, getting to know
people more than I did. In fact I think
he still knows people from then now,
still speaks with them….
Nattsol: Unfortunately it seems that
there’s no videos of Part 1 shows, so
to give the idea could you describe
the band’s look and behaviour on
stage?
Chris: We always went for something
simple, a couple of spotlights here and
there and usually a strobelight on
stage, Mark was always making a lot
of noise with his guitar and flanger
and swayed about a bit, I don’t think
I moved at all, Jake was at the front
and Bob was at the back bashing the
drums, all very doom and gloom….
Nattsol: May be you also can remember some interesting stories from the
band’s live shows?
Chris: I am sure there were some but
I can’t think of any at the moment…
..
Nattsol: Let's speak about the
band's releases. The first one was
"Funeral Parade" 7" - what's the story behind it?
Chris: Ha ha ha herein lies the controversy, Funeral Parade was the only
record we released as a band…. We
decided on the tunes as they were
what we thought our best, truth is
the recording was a really poor reflection of how we sounded, for some
reason Graveyard Song was really
really fast, Salem was awful, and personally I thought the bass sounded
terrible, to be fair Funeral Parade
was ok and Ghost sounded alright
too, but I was very disappointed with
the release, we did a much much
better version of Graveyard Song at
another studio. It was great to have
a record out, but I just wish it had
sounded a bit morelike we did when
playing live or practising.
Nattsol: And the same question about
Pictures of Pain mini-album - contradictory to Funeral Parade it's a really
mature work, released by the wellknown label from the USA, but, as you
told when there was no band any more.
So could you tell about the songs on
the mini-LP and the story of this release?
Chris: I only found out about this a
few years ago. The tunes were recorded before Funeral Parade at a little
studio called The Crypt in a town called
Stevenage, I am only guessing at this
point as to how it exactly came about,
you will have to ask Mark the same
question, but from what I can gather
is that it was after the band split and
went their different ways, Mark liaised
with this guy from the States who put
these old recordings onto vinyl and
released it as Pictures of Pain. It was
nothing to do with the other band members and came as a bit of a shock.
54
55
Part 1
Nattsol: Could you tell how Jake left
the band?
Chris: From my point of view here
it all gets a bit hazy, I was speaking
with Jake about it and it seems that
the whole situation got a bit nasty
with him needing to sort his head
out and us all being rather obnoxious
to him, after hearing his point of view
I can safely admit to saying, it was
not our finest hour and I am totally
embarrassed by the whole situation,
but like I said earlier we were all just
kids, and teenagers can be horrible
bastards. I mean little boys pull the
wings and legs off insects for no reason. It was around this time that Mark
and Bob started doing some music
project on their own, I had found a
girlfriend and so just met with them
for practice sessions.
Nattsol: How did the band split and
Part 1
what the band members were doing
after?
Chris: I guess I sort of answered this
question in the previous one, like I
said after Jake had moved on, we carried on with Mark doing the vocals,
this went on for a while but I guess
the writing was on the wall, as we
were all moving in different directions.... Mark probably won’t thank me
for this but I am going to say it anyway,
I am sure he will agree now, he became
a totally obnoxious person to be
around, very difficult to communicate
with, it seemed like he had moved on
with a new circle of friends and was
a little too full of his own self importance, it was all me me me…. Only
he could tell you why this happened
but in my mind, he became a total
pain in the ass. And not someone I
wanted to spend time with so I didn't,
we just drifted apart.... After we split,
I carried on making music in bands
and on my own, Bob has been drumming in various bands, Jake has done
lots of poetry and Mark has done lots
of painting.
Nattsol: Could you tell more about
your post-Part 1 projects? (May be
you also could share some links?)
Chris: I played in quite a few bands,
not deathrock or whatever Part 1 had
been described as……. Eventually deciding to go out on my own (the trouble
is with bands is the boring clash of
ego’s all the time) so I learn’t how to
play the guitar, keyboards etc. did the
vocals and programmed the drums and
had my tunes just how I wanted them…
recording a whole library of work, some
of which you have heard, so it wpould
be best to leave you to decide which
genre it lies in…. I have played on
records and did some music for tv, I
then got into the rave scene heavily,
and was fortunate enough to have djed and made friends all over the world,
which was a great time in my life, I
have also released quite a few
dance/house tunes, I uploaded some
mixes, which is poles apart to what I
did with Part 1, not sure if it is what
the punky types of today will like….:)
www.soundcloud.com/chris-pascoe
Nattsol: When and under which circumstances Part 1 returned to your life?
Chris: I was contacted by some guy
from the States, I have no idea how
he found me, and he was asking all
these questions about Part 1, recording
and gigging again etc I said forget it
mate, that is all history, it is not where
I am at anymore, it is a lifetime ago…
wish I could remember his name….
And then out of the blue Mark contacted
me, we talked for hours and hours,
remembering the good times and the
bad and I think both realised that after
how ever many years it is, we both
get on really well with each other and
our original ideas that got us together
are still pretty much the same. After
Part 1, I didn't hang up my bass at
all, I learn't how to play it and went
on to do loads of tunes in all different
genres of music a few of which you
have heard... and have been involved
in music non-stop, so when Mark said
about getting back together I was at
first horrified. To me everything about
the music was just wrong, everything
was out of time or not in tune etc etc.
Not a very punk ideal I grant you but
I was never a punk. anyway, we have
all got together and practised a few
times and it rocks mate. It is really
really tough music and plans are afoot
to do at least one recording of some
of the old tunes. Just so we can say
that is what it should sound like and
not what was recorded and released.
Nattsol: In your opinion, how have
you and your bandmates changed
through the years and how has
changed the band itself?
Chris: Tough question to answer for
all members as I haven't spent any
time with them, personally tho. I believe
I have changed very little, just older
and maybe wiser now than yesteryear…. Musically I have learnt a lot,
to me back even in those heady days
of 1982 etc when generally it wasn't
55
56
56
Part 1
considered important as to how musically gifted you were or weren't, I always wanted to be able to play and
so spent many years learning. So that
along with the fact that Bob has played
non stop in many bands since Part 1,
means that the rhythm section is now
really really tight and as powerful as
fuck, so will be a solid backbone of
any recordings or gigs that we may
do attitude wise, I believe we all have
a lot more respect for each other than
we did when we were little teenage
fuckwits….
differentiate from one to the next, and
Jaz was just a really annoying dick...
all macho posing and staring... all total
bollox. I think for us it was quite interesting just to see what we were all
like after so many years, and I think
we were all a bit blown away by how
good it sounded. Personally I would
like to record some of the tunes again,
and this time do it properly without
having some completely out of touch
hippy engineering our sound and making us sound really shite like on the
Funeral Parade E.P..
Nattsol: Many of the 80's bands keep
up their activity nowadays or reunited
recently. Among such there're Bauhaus
that released their new album in 2008,
UK Decay who're touring and recording
a new album, Killing Joke, The Mob,
Rudimentary Peni and many others.
What do you think of these and other
bands' current activity? Have the reunions suggested you something in
terms of what do use for the reformed
Part 1 and what never to use?
Chris: I haven't heard any of the
Bauhaus new stuff, maybe I should
have a listen, as for UK Decay, The
Mob and Rudimentary Peni, I only liked
them in passing and that was nearly
30 years ago, so would not be really
interested in listening to them again.
But hey, good luck to them all. As for
Killing Joke, I went to see them a few
months ago and walked out after about
30 mins, I was of the belief that they
would be good even though they were
never a favourite of mine back in the
day, and was totally disappointed, all
the songs sounded the same, I couldn't
Nattsol: Ok, and do you have any
artistic expectations connected to the
reformed Part 1 apart from improving
historical injustice with re-recording the
old tunes as they should sound?
Chris: No, not really. Like I said, it
would be good to hear some of these
old tunes recorded properly, but wearing a pair of bondage trousers and
saying fuck everything aint gonna happen for me this time around, it didn't
back then so definitely won't happen
now. I found that I had much more of
an affinity with the rave scene and all
the joys that came with that…..
Nattsol: Thanks, Chris! Hope that me
and those who read the interview will
be able to hear the re-recorded stuff
soon! And to finish this interview, any
final words?
Chris: No problem Pall, will let you know
when we get round to doing the recording, no final words mate, that's it.
Zombie Saratov High League
For me, Saratov always seemed to be
filled with some orange chthonic magic;
the elder I grew up – the more horrible,
more miraculous, more immense it became. Leaving this city, betraying it –
how is that possible? It groans in agony
day and night, splitting juice which
“artists and bleeding hearts” absorb
with rapture. It is half an ancient relict
with its bloody pagan mysteries, half
a dazzling supernova flash of inspiration. Its sound and music are of no
exception: their charm and ennui may
be described by depressive first-wave
post-punk, however, no one plays it
in that city, and that’s why I consider
it my duty to devote this article to the
striking bands of Saratov, which
soaked in its hot autumn blood, inseparable from its streets. Only such music
can sharply, absolutely exactly describe the hideous, crucial and beautiful depths of these places.
So, without discussing some psychofree jazz and noise bands, I’ll start
with the most distinctive one, called
«The Oni Ubili Kenny» (rus: The Они
Убили Кенни, en: ‘the “They Killed
Kenny”. Usually they are compared
with Dolphin and early Sonic Youth,
but these comparisons seem groundless in my opinion: “Kenny” is the weird,
depressive and hysteric mixture of
post-punk, noise rock, grunge and psychedelia, but the very special language
of lyrics and crazy emotional richness
of music with its bareness and utmost
depression make this band unlike any
other, and the main point is that Тhe
ОUK usually played music “with roots”:
I was always stricken by the fact that
majority of their listeners have always
spoken about the same number of associations appearing in their minds.
Namely, about the real Saratov' places
and «seasons», although there were
no hints dropped in lyrics; yards and
alleys in autumn/winter, dark entrances
covered with puke, dirt and scruffy tram
windows – all these mutations of Saratov’s days and streets, well-known to
those “being boiled” in infernal pots
those years. Perhaps not only to them
– just listen to such songs like "Polovaja
zhizn' B.N.Yeltsina" (rus: “Половая
жизнь Б.Н.Ельцина”, en: ‘Sex life of
B.N. Yeltsin”), "Sv. Sophia na dosuge"
57
(rus: “Св. София на досуге”, en: “St.
Sophia’s leisuretime”), “Primitivnye
zvuki” (rus: “Примитив-ные звуки”, en:
“Primitive sounds”) and others; drug
and alcohol trips, grey, bleeding, burning days, ringing nervous nights – their
real and charming songs were soaked
in the surroundings. Or surroundings
were soaked in their songs. Underline
the necessary option. For me, the second was always closer.
The band has been founded long ago,
in 2002, when the vocalist (since the
only permanent member of the group)
Sergey «DJ» Stolyarov (Сергей «Диджей» Столяров), put up at rehearsal
room a notice about recruiting new
members in the band, to which no one
responded. «Диджей»: «the name was
made up randomly, «South Park» was
popular then, I hadn't quite watched
it, but everybody talked about it» - he
recalled two years later, when infamous cartoon “South Park” started
broadcasting on MTV, and band has
already started to perform. The project
started per se from two people: Sergey,
who played guitar and “screamed”, and
the invited drummer from band «Organ» (rus: Орган) - Net Mezhueva (Нэт
Межуева). The band existed for almost
seven years, and the line-up was constantly changing. Arguably, the year
2007 was one of their most fruitful periods, with many concerts, but few studio records; this can be explained by
their principle “it’s better to harness
slowly but then drive fast”, and the
line-up consisted of guitarist Evgeniy
Buravlev (Евгений Буравлев), second
guitarist Roman, bassist Roman Kochetkov (Роман Кочетков), and drummer Vova Startsev (Вова Старцев).
For a long time «Oni Ubili K» were
quite popular in Saratov. Despite the
constant line-up changes, the last one
remained the most remarkable, probably because of Stas Nechaev (Стас
Нечаев), one of the most talented guitarists in the city. It’s owing to him that
the sound of the band became absolutely authentic, sharp and noisy
somehow – the concerts became the
feasts of joy and pain, becoming growing noise terror closer to end and ending with turning the instrument off by
soundmen.
From time to time they recorded
demos, which sunk in the archives of
Saratov’ music lovers and in the Internet (especially on their pages in social networks), but the musicians were
not satisfied with their quality, dependences and tension grew and in January 2009 they recorded their final
demo, with the song «Merelin vne»
(rus: «Мэрелин вне», en: “Merelin
out”, which could be considered their
thick final point.
Soon after this, in winter of 2009, the
band "Torchaschiye Medsestry" (rus:
«Торчащие медсестры», en: “Nurses
on drugs”) temporarily called themselves "Katapul’ta" (rus: Ката-пульта»,
en: “Catapult”) for Saratov’s underground compilation, recorded one of
their best songs called "Mamamamamama" (rus: “Мамамамамама”), and
finally split up, as while as «DJ» and
Vova Startsev, the drummer, start to
record new songs, in noise/electronic
arrangements, becoming more and
more interested in this. Originally this
was intended to be Kenny’s single, a
bit different from others’ band songs,
but this gained momentum: the number
of songs increased, and work became
more interesting, and finally their electronic side-project, got a name “Zombie
Utyosov” (rus:«Зомби Утёсов», en: a
pun based on double meaning of “Утёсов”, either the surname or “cliff” in
the genitive, it may be translated like
“Zombie of cliffs” or “Utyosov-zombie”)
and became the main one.
Nowadays their music seems to remain
unnoticed on principle in Saratov’s music lover circles, but then “Zombie
Utyosov” were just looking exactly like
urban mentally ill people, and I was
always shocked and revolted by this
treatment of them, but all that stuff
seemed not to offend anyway the musicians, and they got deeper and deeper in the dark depths of their sound
discoveries.
Their magical music can change and
dilute the listener’s mind, and the ones
who were present on their rare concerts, will definitely confirm this –
charming, deafening, opiating walls of
sound, depressive penumbrae, wild
and magnificent, and filled with oppressive cries of the surroundings.
«DJ»’s lyrics are the gloomy holidays
of real Saratov (for example, “Tri Akkorda” (rus: "Три Аккорда", en: “Three
chords”), "Khimicheskij opyt” (rus: “Химический опыт", en: “Chemical experiment”), "Mushketerskaja" (rus:
“Мушкетерская”, en: “Musketeerian”)
which take hold of you completely and
never set free. Nights become brighter
with their tracks, amazingly melodic
("Kata" (rus: “Ката”), “Tom” (rus:"Том"),
“Ptitsa” (rus:"Птица", en: “Bird”), “Chuvstva”(rus:"Чувства", en: “Feelings”)
and almost shapeless ones, which
seem like even the simpliest spell of
Saratov’s district to have no beginning,
no end – absolute submersion, the ecstasy of endless illness.
Still ignored by majority of Saratov’s
music scene, but somehow famous in
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58
weird music lovers’ circle among all
Russia, the band of former Тhe ОUК
changes and mutates stylistically, absorbing the elements of dark ambient,
rhythmic noise, post-industrial, psychedelic and dark folk. Despite the unpredictability of eccentric vocalist and
constantly balancing on the edge of
the abyss, “Zombie Utyosov” showed
themselves exceptionally fruitful – 21
albums (!) recorded in course of 4
years, five of which were published by
independent Russian labels like
MNMN Records and [PICPACK] NETLABEL, and joining in creative unions
with such bands as art brut act Mayby
Dao from Barnaul (on the album “Priznaniye Globa”, rus:"Признание Глоба", en: “The confession of Globa”)
and a below-mention Saratov no-wave/
jaja (sic!) /post-punk/ CSIP (illness
name) rock band “Zhyoltye Chulki
Grafa Dzerzhinskogo” (rus: “Жёлтые
Чулки Графа Дзержинского», en:
“The Yellow Stockings of Count Dzerzinsky”) (bootleg from live jam session “Razval Skhozhdeniye” rus:
«Развал Схождение», en: “Toe-out”).
The conscious and principled researchers of direct Saratov's frightening magic, «Chulki» are the only band
described here which (apart from the
others mentioned, who remain unpopular in the city) gained some fame and
have dubious and infamous reputation,
to which weird scenic actions and leaving almost no one indifferent music
are contributing. That's how « Chulki”
are described by one fan of industrial
and noise music from Saratov: “Rawness and wildness. The project of Alexey Katz (Алексея Кац) and his friends:
pushing himself to the limit live and
at the studio guitarist Mityai Konovalov
(Митяй Коновалов), bass player with
diverse tastes and views Roma Savin
(Рома Савин), saxophone player
Katya Vorona (Катя Ворона) who adds
some psychofreejazzity with the sound
of her instrument and some madness
with feminity with her looks on the
stage and the drummer Dmitry Manaev
(Дмитрий Манаев), also a part-time
poet. Their sound is unconventional,
even avant-garde, but absolutely
unique. Ears don’t bleed, but head
shrinks in convulsion while listening to
the hypnotizing texts, zombifying beat
and fuzzy and blurry guitar sound.
Pure no wave. « Zhyoltye Chulki» is
a theatre, is the thoughtfulness, and
is even something like new, fresh music
culture and sort of “scene” with its
fanzine and a bunch of side progects.
Jaja, sort of the neologism, is and ideology of returning in childhood with
heroes of “Pippy Longstocking” and
similar books. Starting on spring of
2009 as severe noise-and-blues duo,
this band soon comes to their second,
one of the “golden” line-ups: – Alexey
Katz (Алексей Кац) (voice, guitar),
Alexander "Sancho Sam" Semeikin
(Александр “Санчо Сэм” Семейкин)
(drums), Alexey Semeikin (Алексей
Семейкин) (harmonica), Roman Kochetkov (Роман Ко-четков) (bass),
records two albums (“Androginnaya
Vakhta “ (rus:“Андрогинная Вахта”,
en: Androgynous watch) и “Dom Pomoyev” (rus: “Дом Помоев”, en: “The
House of Slops”), filled with childish
hysteria of garage post-punk and rockabilly and then turns into depression:
line-ups were changing, drummers left
the band one after another(in course
of band’s existence they worked with
almost a dozen of them), there were
problems with the equipment , the band
was usually turned off and turned out
from concerts.
However, the guys were not depressed
and continued to do their very own
deed. Finally, in 2011 turning to the
line-up I mentioned in the beginning
and with the help of drummer Nataliya
Mezhueva (Наталья Межуева), who
played in the band The Oni Ubili Kenny,
the band have recorded their third album “Da Da Du” (rus: “Да Да Ду”)
discovering the new sides of their opportunities. From passionate sensuality (“ Zapakh Bol’nits” (rus:“Запах
Больниц”, en: “Smell of hospitals”) towards depression (“Ostanovka”, rus:
“Остановка”, en: “Stop”) and unfocused hypnotic shamanism (“Po
mostovoj” rus: “По Мостовой”, en:
“Down the pavement”). Psychedelic
and garage labels took some interest
in the band and some of their songs
were released on tapes and spread
between those interested with underground art among all Russia: in Lipetsk,
Voronezh, Saint-Petersburg, Moscow.
In December of 2011 they recorded
an EP “Zavodskoj rajon blues” (rus:
“Заводской Район Блюз”. en: “Factory
District Blues”, which, according to the
band was the first step towards “autistic
promenade CISP-rock” and released
it on an independent label Vinyl Image.
There is an interest to the band and
they were even invited onto concerts
in the other cities, but in Saratov, the
magic of which is celebrated in bands
music, they get almost no interest or
an open disdain. Again, they’re not allowed in the clubs, but guys don’t worry
and recently they started to rehearse
the songs for a new album, again
drowning in the depths of new, truly
urban folklore”. In conclusion to this
characteristic of the band, we may say
that these guys are a pain in the ass
of so-called “rockers” in Saratov; a
strong slap in a face of the vulgar spirit
of mainstream-rock scene.
However this pain may be helpful to
ones who want to get out of this conformist rock (metal, punk, folk… I don’t
care) swamp and touch something different, only to be found in the most
wonderful, horrible, crazy dreams, déjà
vu or memories. All aforementioned
bands may be called such pains, even
split up The OUK, who are still living
in their few songs. All of them despite
the defiance and irritation of local
“elite”, fans of pop-punk and metal,
keep going discovering something
new. Disregarding their outsider, almost outcast status, they still splash
weird, wonderous and indescribable
colours, in which old Saratov will be
forever painted – the colours of their
nervous, sometimes angry and chillingly sensual music, tinged with fear
and Electric Flash of Love.
O. Lizerginus-Kotofey
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59
Reviews
Reviews
Echoes of Silence “In Vacuum Itinere”
album review
Label: self-released
Format: CD
Year: 2011
Incredible how a band
can be devoted to its
own style. The Roman
post-punk act Echoes of
Silence almost entirely
changed its line-up – the
vocalist Carlo Cassaro
(In The Night Time
Records) and the bass
player Gian Paolo Cesarini (who now plays in
Bohemien) were replaced by bassist/vocalist Paolo Careddu, the
drummer Andrea Iacobelli was replaced by Andrea Orlandi, and only
the guitar player Paolo
Maccaroni still remains
the Echoes of Silence
guitar player Paolo Maccaroni. However, comparing this new album
with its forerunner
(“Echoes of Silence”, released by In The Night
Time in 2006 and reviewed in Grave Jibes
#7), one can’t help
wonering how similar
these works are. “In Vacuum Itinere” is the direct
continuation of the debut
album, starting from the
studio where they were
recorded and minimalistic CD designs and finishing with the music
itself. Only the persons
and the label (this time
it’s a self-release) are
the obvious changes.
Just as before, in the music of “In Vacuum Itinere”
each instrument plays its
active role and does it
perfectly – remarkable
and catchy bass lines
can be followed by powerful and even a bit aggressive guitar with the
distinctive sound, or the
drums can rush forward
and give the most remarkable pattern. The
vocals are very melancholic and thoughtful,
being able, however, to
create tension when
necessary. Referring
once again to my previous review (which actually could fit this album
well if to change names
and song titles), the
same way as Echoes of
Silence can’t be called a
“copypaste” band, “In
Vacuum Itinere” is not a
copy of the debut album.
They’re very similar, like,
probably, brothers could
be, but they have different
personalities and it’s very
much obvious. So if you
enjoy the old stuff by the
band, this album hardly
will disappoint you. And
if you just enjoy melancholic post-punk sounds,
this release is worth
checking out as well.
Grade: 8/10
Popoi Sdioh – Before
And After Party
album review
Label: Brouillard Definitif
Format: CD, digipack
Year: 2012
Web: http://www.popoisdioh.com/
http://www.facebook.co
m/popoisdioh
It’s always a real pleasure to find something as
truly original and passionate as the new album of Popoi Sdioh.
Even though the “ingredients” are quite on the
view – obvious Virgin
Prunes influence is accompanied by early industrial approach and
modern
deathrock
sound - mixed altogether
they give quite a weird
result. Generally “Before
And After Party” sounds
like a soundtrack to mad
primeval party in the
centre of the city, with a
lot of alcohol, ritual human sacrifice and even
cannibalism… real, or
may be it’s just a bad
trip caused by alcohol
and drugs? Pure urban
tribalism on the edge of
reality.
Perhaps the only minus
to be outlined for this album is that being quite
long it doesn’t manage
to capture listeners attention during the whole
work. Probably it’s because “Before And After
Party” is entirely filled
with schizoid tension,
may be it just creates
too weird universe…
Anyway, there’s not
much else to criticize.
Popoi Sdioh don’t afraid
to play their own music
and be weird. It’s not
goth, neither industrial or
any “wave”. But it’s likely
that you’ll love them if
you like the aforementioned genres.
Grade: 9/10
Crimson Muddle –
Русалка
EP review
Label: Self-released
Format: Digital
Year: 2012
The cover and the name
of this EP by french band
Crimson Muddle perhaps will remind Russian
readers (and those who
are interested in all
things Russian by the
way, “русалка” means
“mermaid”) of a poetry
line "mermaid, who sits
on a tree" - but look, she
has legs!.. Following a
rule: "never judge a book
(or an album) by its cover" (wow, something
Pre-Raphaelite in the
design of their bandcamp!), I was no way
prejudiced and chased
away by this folk-goth“the dancing did” vibes
and gave it a listen.
"Basura" (Spanish for
"waste" it seems – yes,
the song is sung in Spanish) is a rather energetic
start. Post-punk\goth revival with violins - nothing more to say - and
the lyrics, if Google
Translate
hasn't
wronged me, are …not
that peaceful we could
expect from folky outfit?
"Dragon" lyrically could
belong to any "beauty
and the beast band" for
it's about a dragon, actually! More violin passages.
Something
medieval creeps - so it's
possible to imagine this
song played in a tavern
in some fantasy movie...
about dragons. "Picket
Fence" is somehow a
mixture of the first two
songs. Perhaps, the
closest one to The Dancing Did - and maybe the
59
60
Reviews
one that is most easy to
remember, and thus more hit one. It's about
a fence, but who knows,
if it's a metaphor? And
final "Toxic lane” is another song with violins,
nor THAT goth, nor THAT
medieval-baroquesomething. The golden
mean.
I'd recommend this EP
to those who are concerned about the decline
of oldschool goth and its
replacement with metal
- in terms of propaganda,
of course. But that doesn’t mean that anyone interested
would
be
disappointed by this EP.
Anna “Xie” Slascheva
Fragments of Dirt –
Second Breath
mini-album review
Label: Lipstick Bottle
Format: CD
Reviews
Year: 2012
Web: http://www.facebook.com/pages/FRAGMENTS-OF-DIRT/2084
30355841655
The French band Eat
Your Make-Up doesn’t
need an introduction for
those who’re familiar
with the deathrock revival scene and for those
who follow Grave Jibes
since its first issue. In
2008 the band broke up
and most of its members
formed
Chrysalis
Morass which as well became known quite fast.
Only the founder of Eat
Your Make-Up, the bass
player Mac Gregor got
lost from the view of the
audience. But now he returns with the new project – Fragments of Dirt.
According to the information from the web,
Second Breath is the
second band’s release
after self-titled demo, but
since it’s the only one
which band is willing to
promote let’s consider it
without a reference to its
forerunner.
From the first brief look
Fragments
of
Dirt
doesn’t offer anything
special – well performed
music with quite soft
sound influenced by
deathrock and indie, with
very naïve and sometimes even silly lyrics,
but if to take time and
to listen to “Second
Breath”, something will
make you play it again…
and again… and again…
and again. Hard to say,
but may be it’s something ephemeral, born
from the alchemy created by professional and
talented
musicians
which don’t take any serious “artistic mission”
(at least nothing in their
music tells that they do)
and play just for pleasure. But these guys certainly have something
that attracts. Hard to say
whether this band will go
far with only ephemeral
strong points, but seems
that it works very well
for the start – catchy
tunes full of charisma
and some childish directness really manage to
charm. I wouldn’t say I
find Fragments of Dirt an
original band. But I find
them extremely charismatic.
Grade: 8,5/10
‘Grave Jibes Fanzine
Manfish
“What is this Manfish”
album review
Year: 2011
Web:
http://manfish.bandcamp.com/
I have no clue what people are guided by when
giving the bands such idiotic names like Manfish.
But one could put up
even with that, as on the
other hand it's so ambiguous, like The Mermaid Man, The Elephant
Man and other cult trash
flicks of that kind, or stories about mutants
caught in Amazon,
though way too weak for
punk rock after some relative forty years. What
really could stop me from
listening to this album is
an absolutely hideous
cover with a grinning fish
in a derby hat à la A
Clockwork Orange (how
original, nobody has
ever hit upon this shit
before you, guys?). But
the light of knowledge in
the person of the chief
editor (who had brought
me this fish on a silver
platter) emphasized in
the first place that this
band comes from Finland, so I had no choice
but have a listen to them,
and better more than
once. Finnish punk rock
has a long and developed history, and if you
are acquainted with the
music of some finnish
bands you'll never forget
them, be it crust or goth,
you will always love their
music tenderly. The only
problem is that in the XXI
century one has a strong
feeling that in Finland
there are mostly popular
such unpretentious subgenres
like
77,
punk’n’roll and bubblegum punk. In case of
Manfish you've got just
the same. Undoubtedly,
they are better even than
Mean Idols, at least because they are not The
Ramones tribute band;
quite possible that they
are even many times
better than the best guys
who play something
quite merry and beery in
your city in the garages,
basements or at lousy
clubs at antifa gigs. What
this Manfish is - it's probably an excursion into
the record collection of
the musicians, here you
see Stooges, there NY
Dolls and Dead Boys,
here Social Distortion
and there “Songs of
Praise” of Adicts, somewhere about «Sick of the
sunshine» the most
reckless will recognize
Adolescents, and on “I
Hate You” grimacing vocalist will make you
imagine to hear The
Cramps or The Gun
Club… But all in all this
sound so backwoods
and unconfident that
even a listener can't be
sure about that, so personally I will rather prefer
to listen again for the
hundredth time to the
above-mentioned
bands, or Kaaos and Pyhät Nuket. Though I
readily believe that Manfish gigs can be real fun.
Grade: 4/10
Vadim
‘Bars-Ursula’
Barsov
60
61
Reviews
Reviews
Cabaret Grey "Stirring"
album review
Year: 2011
Web:
http://www.cabaretgrey.com/
http://www.facebook.co
m/CabaretGrey
http://cabaretgrey.bandcamp.com/album/stirring
Polish band Cabaret
Grey was formed in 2010
шт Legnica. «Stirring» is
the first EP of the band,
Alexey "Nightchild_A"
Nikitchenko (Ukranian
band The Nightchild)
also participated in making of it, having recorded
bass for 4 tracks, as well
as having done mastering and mixing. The album is well got up with
the using of origami, although it's not really
practical. The music is
clearly influenced by
80's bands,p ost-punk
and new wave. Among
the six tracks I'd like to
mark out is the first one,
''Grey Lights', in my opinion it's the brightest and
most memorable. In
common, the album is
quite nice, it's holistic,
everything is done in traditions of the genre with
it's dark atmosphere and
gloomy hypnoticity, the
vocals of magnificent
singer Salome makes
this weirdness even
stronger. All in all, everything is good but...
something is definately
missing, something that
could make this band different from hundreds of
similar modern bands
and make it recognazable. I haven't heard
anything new and at
times it was even boring
to listen to it. Well, it's
just the first album of the
band, and since that the
result is really impressing. Let's hope the band
will develop and surprise
and please it's listeners!
Grade: 6,5/10
Liya Sloeva
Victor Sierra –
«Electric rain»
album review
Current Label: Bandcamp
Format: CD, CD-box
Year: 2011
Web:
http://victorsierra.bandcamp.com/album/electric-rain
http://www.youtube.com
/user/victorsierraband
http://www.myspace.co
m/victorsierra
http://www.reverbnation.com/victorsierra
What does one expect
from steampunk? Is it
heat from coal or cloud
of steam? Or maybe you
want to see the analog
picture of a digital world?
In most cases steampunk objects represents
some kind of redesign of
usual things from our
real electronical world.
To become oblivious of
that real world, it isn’t
necessary to invent
steam-drived television,
it takes only to hide wires
and to build the screen
into the copper with
wood frame decorated
by steam valve.
There is no more suitable word than “steampunk” to describe music
from Victor Sierra album
“Electric Rain”. In the 8th
issue of Grave Jibes
Fanzine Victor Sierra
was already mentioned,
and then Bob Eisenstein
said: “Steampunk aesthetic movement is not
as sectarian as others
and is welcoming many
musical styles. <…> And
we were stunned to see
how much our visual universe has to do with
Steampunk”. And now
it’s clear: the “Electric
rain” from the title to the
last song is musical
steampunk, there postpunk electronical components are craftily
hided under war march
and cabaret motifs, and
newsreels, rumble of
wheels or whistle of the
train may appear on the
background at any moment.
One of the very remarkable features of the album is its multilingual
content. Songs are per-
formed in English,
French, Spanish and
Yiddish. It isn’t best way
to provide perception of
the album sense, because there aren’t many
people who know such
combination of foreign
languages. But on the
other side, each language gives some additional ethnic flavor,
amplified by music, and
thanks to that songs
aquire some individual
directionality. Variety of
languages harmonizes
with general eclecticism
of steampunk, and it
makes songs dissimilar
to each other, and album
sounds multifariously. At
the same time album
sounds very organic and
is perceived like comprehensive whole.
Another very remarkable
feature is the infotainment of the album. “Visual universe” weren’t
empty words: visualization of this album doesn’t
limit itself to the cover
design. The conception
of the album is spectacularly presented in the
release trailer and respective videos and text
content. If you are
missed it up (it’s easy to
find it on the band’s official
MySpace
or
YouTube channel) for
some reasons, it’s recommended to acquaint
yourself with it… and to
listen the album one
more time. Steampunk
universe created by Victor Sierra is the composition of that kind, where
the author’s vision plays
the most important role,
and listener’s conjectures may harm the general idea.
What do you expect from
Steampunk? Is it heat
from coal or cloud of
steam? Or maybe you
want to describe that like
the analog picture of a
digital world? “Electric
rain” is music from our
everyday universe. But
if you can dream, if you
can imagine the steampunk universe of Victor
Sierra, where you are
just a passenger of the
airship named The Hydrogen Queen, entirely
trusted in its crew and
ploughing through the
space of alternate history, this music can take
you there… for a while,
only for a while.
Grade 8/10
Nikolay
‘Tacitus’
Polyakov
61
62
62
Worked on issue:
Pall ‘Nattsol’ Zarutskiy - director, author, translator
Nikolay ‘Tacitus’ Polyakov - editor in chief, technical director, author, translator
Mila Vassilieva - pdf’s layout & artworks, graphic designer
Alice Malice - editor, translator
Anna “Xie” Slascheva - author, translator
Liya Sloeva- author, translator
Margo Sloeva - author, translator
Vadim Barsov - author
O. Lizerginus-Kotofey - author

Contents - Grave Jibes

Transcription

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