Darkness Visible

Darkness Vissable
Melbourne, Australia
Gothic / Alternative / Post punk
Greetings to The Imp from David Black and Darkness Visible

First tell us of the evolution of the bands name and what it signifies to the members of the band?

The name Darkness Visible was taken from the Masonic Third Degree ritual. It signifies that although one might not have been able to find spiritual light, they can at least see what is there in the darkness.

Current members of the band are myself (bass), Cat Attard (keyboards), Alicia Taylor (Vocals) Dani Blood (guitar), Michael Carlisle (Guitar) and Michael Clapham (Vocals)


What is the philosophy behind the music/ lyrics?

The philosophy behind the lyrics and story of the band is Gnostic. We tell a story about a character called Nehemia - the son of Lilith, who has eaten from both the tree of knowlege and the tree of life in the garden of Eden. As such, he has seen through the illusion of mortal existance and become immortal himself.


Where you are from and a little about the goth/punk scene you grew up with.

I've grown up in Melbourne, although originally from Adelaide. I've watched the scene evolve since I was 13 in 1977, although I didnt start going to gigs until 1983. Over that period of time, there have been far too many changes to cover in one short interview.

The scene itself is big enough now to support a number of goth clothing and record shops. We now see international bands coming out regularly too. As a bigger scene, it has lost a fair bit of the old vibe.

I cant say where things are heading in the future, but the present isnt great for local goth bands. We're often competing against clubs and international bands. Some clubs do run bands, such as Vedette and DV8, but most others dont.

Back in the late 1970's to Mid '80's, the scene was band based with records played in between the bands playing. The focus is no longer on the live local bands and it can be a struggle to get the numbers to shows.


What new music are you listening to?

sorry, I'm a bit stuck in the past and still listening to Christian Death, The Cramps, Nosferatu and Sisters of Mercy.


Discography and /or current releases.

In the last year, we release two singles.
Darkness Visible/ Flesh & I Nehemia

Upcoming tour dates

No tours as yet, but we tend to play once a month at local venues. Its best to check our myspace to see where we are playing next.

Darkness Visible Videos

Flesh

I Nehemia

In Review; Big River

In Review is a new thread in the Vault and gives me the opportunity to bring to you my viewpoint on live acts as I see them. Enjoy



I walked passed a dilapidated sign with the weathered plastic slide in marque, crammed between karioke night and a Texas hold ‘em poker night was placed Johnny Cash T, it struck me as a ironic use of minimilism; T was for tribute in case you thought Johnny Cash had come back from the dead to play this lonely island pub. Johnny Cash is an interesting crossover between 1950's country, rockabilly, and the modern punk fascination with the man in black. I decided to come back and check it out.

It was not my usual crowd; there were a baseball team with a skull and crossbones emblem on their backs, white haired couples, young people and mixed through were some kindred spirits in black from another generation. I stood at the bar with my back to the stage to order a drink and was immeadatly taken by the voice of the singer, I had listen countless times to Johnny Cash, my dads favourite artist, the resemblance was spooky.

Big River is a four piece band, fronted by singer and acoustic guitarist David Pittet, backing him up guitarist Robert “RJ” Morrison, on stand up bass Joe Spinelli and Colin Stevenson behind the kit.

The drummer in his bolar hat seemed to be channelling Brian Viglione, of Dresden Doll fame, the guitarist I later found out had played and fronted psychobilly/punk band The Rebels and offered good insights on the old punk scene and the growth of the psychobilly revolution. The bass player was on it engaging the audience and the man is black David Pittet brought Johnny Cash to life. Musically, aesthetically this was turning into an unexpected treat.

From the first song there were people on the dance floor, the old white-haired couple showed us all what it meant to really dance, these old lovers stole the dance floor. Mixed in with them young and old alike danced, revelled and applauded. Twice the band invited patrons to come up and sing June Carter’s part much to the appreciation of the crowd. David and Joe engaged the room and the party was on. The music drove your heal in perfect time, and Big River kept that train rolling all night long. By the smile on the pub owners face he knew he had a winner.

Off stage Big River was friendly and accessible, they turned out to be confident, professional and sober, a rare trinity in the music business. It is rare act that can bring together such a diverse audience together and dancing till last call by the whooping and the applause the crowed showed their appreciation.

Big River is looking forward to touring and playing the bigger venues and I recommend coming out when they play in your town, I was glad I did.

So cheers guys and thanks for a great night out.

Eve Hell and the Razors- Fire It Up!

Eve Hell and the Razors
Calgary, Alberta
Canada

Psychobilly

Greetings "Imp"!

Thanks for introducing yourselves to us and for featuring us this week. I look forward to seeing all the other great bands you'll feature.

First tell us of the evolution of the band's name and what it signifies to the members of the band.

Michael the guitar player was was Nicknamed Mike-Hell by a bassplaying/lead singing friend from college, Cory Michaud. It was right around the year 2000 when Mike started performing as Mike Hell in a band called KillBillies. (TM- Canada) They are featured on Zombie Night in Canada II and Eve is actually a guest singer on the track 'Zombie Love'. She was only ever the bassplayer for that particular band. However, due to the success of that particular project the idea of having Eve sing lead in a secondary project was a no brainer. People were asking for more Eve and Mike gave it to them in the form of Eve Hell and the Razors. The play on words (hell raiser) is intentional.

Current lineup includes Mike Hell- Guitars Richie Ranchero- Drums Eve Hell- Bass and Vocals All members are currently involved with the Razors only. Richie Ranchero used to play in the band Huevos Rancheros (a Surf band on Mint records) Mike and Eve were both involved with KillBillies and other less known projects.

What is the philosophy behind the music/ lyrics?

Naughty, but not over the line. Dark but not suicidal. Heavy when we need to be, but not overdone. Beatroute magazine referred to us as the Ambassadors of Psychobilly. I like that. We try to envelop as many different styles as possible. No consciously though, we just try to do what's best for the song.

Where you are from and a little about the goth/alternative scene you grew up with?

We're from the prairies. Small towns with a small to nonexistent goth scenes- back then. I think there was maybe 1 true goth in my school growing up. Goths, punks, and metal kids all hung out together because otherwise we'd have no one. Haha. - Eve. All this being said, I wouldn't say we, in particular, are known for being Goth. More early 1950s style punk than anything else.

What is the current post punk scene like and where do you see it going in the future?

I think the punk scene in Calgary is really pretty good. Lots of all ages shows, lots of people putting in a big push to keep it alive. The world is in a recession right now, I can see our scene getting more political and angry. We had been sheltered from it for a long while in our isolated little city, but it's catching up.


Discography and /or current releases.

The Zombie night in Canada II Compilation (under the name Killbillies)

Fire It Up (2008) the first release for Eve Hell and the Razors.

Upcoming tour dates;

We do satellite gigs instead. No big tours planned for the next 3- 6 months.

Anything you wish to add?

We are available in Itunes



Eve Hell Video;

Zombie Love

The Vault

Sintético Ministério

Brazil
Synth-Pop .
EBM .
Dark Electro

We are glad to join The Imp Nation.


Sintetico Ministerio was formed in 2007 by Johnny (lyrics, programations) and Snow (vocal and lyrics), both with influences in 80 and 90 years. Bands like Depeche Mode, Beborn Betton, Blutengel, Germany synth. After they started the musical work, Gutisk joined with SM, with him aggressive vocal and performances of vampirism and martial arts.

Sintetico Ministerio uses electronic melodies in high quality, dancing tracks, music to the “dancing floor”, union with bit strong with the female soft vocal and aggressive masculine vocal . The name SINTETICO MINISTERIO is homage to Ministry, 80 years’ band (If the name was in English could be Synth Ministry) and Sintético is just like Synthpop European. SM wants to innovate and be original.

We are here to mark the new moment, the year, the century and open the doors in the musical scene. To rescue the good like of the great music, elaborated and done with passion. SM is here to show the respect to the sonority, to keep all of deep feelings The lyrics are about real people, real facts that seems like fiction. The passage trough the death and ascension, pain and pleasure, vampirism and Power are the themes.

Members

Jhonny Darko Was Born september 21 of 1980, São Paulo Brazil Principal influences: Depeche Mode, New Order, Kraftwerk, Simbolo, Aghast View 80 years, big inspirations.
The passion to the synths, gave him his first Project EBM: um called Grammostola Actaeon, before Sintetico Ministerio



Snow Lacamia Was born August 13 of 1979, São Paulo capital, with Spanish and Germany descends. Since 10 years old, studied arts like theatre, belly dance, oil paint, music and vocal, Influences 80 years, the Mission, The Cure and synths like Wolfsheim, Blutengel Passion to the vampirism, she lived the pain of the death before started in SM, but returned to the death and now she wants to guide all in your hypnotic music’s.

Gutisk Was Born in November 17 of 1983, Medina, MG, and went to São Paulo to live at 18 years old. Influences 80 years the cure, Sisters of Mercy, Depeche Mode, Blutengel, And One, When in Rome. Done martial arts, Karate and Kung Fu. Was Champion in Kung Fu II competition open of Brazil. The passion to the music, martial arts and vampirism formed the perfect combination to esthetic of the band . Innovators and original performances now are indispensable to SM.

Jhonny,Snow e Gutisk; This union is Sintetico Ministerio Great synths, deep and mysterious vocals, hypnotic shows. To make revolution, to break the obstacle in musical scene. To show the best synth to the world and open new doors. To be perfects!!!! This is the way of SM.


Recent Releases

Never Leave







Sintético Ministério Video

Perverse Child - Sintetico Ministerio

Ao Deitar - Sintetico Ministerio

SM promo

Sintetico Ministerio - Nervoso

Never Leave- 2009

Sintético Ministério Sleep Little Child Gothic

The Vault

C. J. Leon and the gothic universe

C. J. Leon
Vancouver, B.C.
Jazz Poet


Hail, The Imp Lord and irascible imp hordes! I come bearing gifts of shadow, horror, and delight!

Bleak as fuck and funnier than Hell, “Clinton John Leon” (or usually just “C. J. Leon”) is the label on the bag of my variety of dark and or beautiful art-storms and, also, the material body I was born to this incarnation. “Jesus’ Bones” is the live-band incarnation of the “gothic jazz” project, a bloodied razor-edged jazz eruption that gets its kicks from misery. The projects takes to its dear dark heart what Percy Shelley once wrote: Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thought.

Tell us who are the band members and any previous/current work with other bands.
For production purposes, I currently work alone, but in live performances I draw on the local talent pool of tribal drummers and jazz guitarists. It has been my joy in haunting awe to sing with the spectre-raising voice of Jess Hill and her fearsome acoustic guitar riffs. We plan to tour Europe together in the coming year. Craig Day, who plays trumpet in the Jesus’ Bones project, is my go-to-guy on musical theories of the intense and stirring. He is an accomplished and intriguing composer for small ensembles who works regularly with the CBC. He effortlessly strangles up my mind with new musical obsessions. For example, the post-Apocalyptic lyrical “Wilting Daisy Waltz”, with all its starvation, pestilence, and flowers dripping blood was composed listening to his “Quantum” for three cellos on repeat. He told me that might not be a healthy thing to do. Well, now there’s proof. He will hopefully be contributing compositions to the upcoming conquest-of-the-alien-Anti-Christ concept album of which “Cold Clay” and ‘WDW’ are part.

What is the philosophy behind the music/ lyrics.
Essentially, I am a creative writer, a composer of words and melodies. I have written four books of poetry in a brutally realistic but often humorous style. I compose intensively for guitar in classical and jazz forms. I am fascinated by marginalized figures, the beauty of despair, the frightening but true observations that appear as cynicism to the blind. The work I do, be it review articles, essays, songs, or poetry is consistent with itself. I write for people’s enjoyment by writing for my own. I play in the trenches. My path of realization and my therapy-to-life is writing, so images that are difficult to deal with in my mind often wave their severed limbs like blades of grass in song. This is definitely the case with songs like “Language of Flowers” and “Hot Stalker”, where scary relationships become haunting Spanish melodies or flippant funny rocknroll.

Where you are from and a little about the goth/alternative scene you grew up with.
I grew up in St. Catharines, in Southern Ontario, Canada. It was depressing. There was high unemployment after GM lay-offs. There’s so much parking space and so few trees. There was a high-profile kidnapping when I was about twelve, Kristen French. Knowing there was a kidnapping, rapist, serial-killing, couple in town... Paul Bernardo, Carla Homolka... I don’t know, the place just bred monsters out of the ground for me. There was more of a metal and grunge thing happening there. 97.7 Hitz FM was the local hard rock station. With the exception of Guns’n’Roses, I didn’t get into it at the time. I was way more into the Doors, Jimi Hendrix, and Bob Dylan, and then, of course, composers of baroque like Bach and sad Spanish guitar like Tarrega. It wasn’t until I moved to Toronto and started working at Le Chateau (a cheap-and-trendy clothing store) that I started wearing eye-liner and skin-tight black everything and met a hot chic who told me I was goth. Thanks to the internet, the statement quickly made sense, and I started to identify with the term. I input-output dark/psychedelic art, and I call it goth. So far, nobody’s complained. Though I would call a lot of things goth that other people might not. Much of Tom Waits and Devendra Banhart, for example, and much of what Bjork does I would call “goth”, or at least very “goth-friendly”. I also appropriate to the term Townes Van Zandt and Leonard Cohen. It is my belief that all history and symbology, as it resides in that-which-is-no-more or in that which is in some sense other-worldly, can be justifiably appropriated to “goth” culture.

On that point I think there continues to emerge the realization that goth-culture has survived in small or even prominent groups throughout human history as occultists or death-cultists, poets, scholars, and media-artists. The future of that which is goth is appropriating even more arts and characters of the gothic past of religion, mysticism, and mythology from the history of human culture; because as soon as something dies to the mainstream of life, it enters the realm of history, of the macabre, of gothic awareness. Look at it this way: If some kid is twelve or thirteen years old and spending his or her afternoons and evenings listening to the Doors or Led Zeppelin and reading writers like Shakespeare, Edgar Allan Poe, and Sylvia Plath, guess what? The kid’s a goth. Even further, the rituals of Christianity, which is essentially a zombie-End of Times-war-cult, have been and will continue to be a source of inspiration and fascination for gothic writers such as myself. Then we have: all Apocalyptic ideologies are gothic, which includes most major religions and, also, contemporary cosmological science insofar as it perceives a final time in the Universe (a time after which time will not make sense),– contemporary cosmological science, stemming from origins in physics, alchemy, and mathematics, is also gothic. So, as a goth, I believe that at some point, perhaps immeasurably distant, but at some point, there will be no hope, and that won’t really matter, because there won’t be anything else either.

Discography and /or current releases.

Disks: Cold Clay
Books: Unfamiliar Streets, Spin the Handle, Breakthrough, Peacock Lepers, Notes from the Silver Lining Café.

Unfortunately, due to ongoing issues with tendinitis, I am focussing now on a less-intensive-than-live recording based musicianship, working on vocals, industrial beatboxing, the writing of the concept album’s poetry, and the deepening of the gothic jazz material. Health issues prevent a full touring schedule, but I am still doing shows with some regularity in Vancouver and Western Canada. The lyrical-guitar work is being low-fi streamed onto youtube, and the over-dubbing dependent industrial beatbox project (e.g. “I Wanna Fuck You”) often finds itself in my myspace player and CBC 3 (Internet Radio).

Feature C. J. Leon YouTube videos;

Wilting Daisy Waltz
Bye-bye, Butterflies
Hot Stalker!
Pretty Little Birds
Cold Clay


C. J. Leon webpages;
www.myspace.com/cjleonspoken

http://www.myspace.com/craigdaycomposer

Landscape Body Machine

Hi my name is Craig Joseph Huxtable from Canadian electronic act Landscape Body Machine and you are checking out the IMP Nation.

The name Landscape Body Machine is meant to represent the musical fusion of equal parts ambient, dance & experimental/Industrial. It's also meant to represent the challenges facing 21st century man, that is to say finding the balance between our world, ourselves and technology. Incidentally, I find creating electronic music in general is a balancing act between these 3 different factors.

The band is and always has been just myself, Craig Joseph Huxtable. I write, program, produce and perform every aspect of LBM. At one time or another I have also been involved in other acts like Stiff Valentine, Noise Unit, Frontline Assembly and have a host of other side projects including Firebomb (electro-punk) and the Alchemical Twins (ambient glitch world music) with my wife Fae Huxtable.

Every song and song title is a framework for the ideas and feelings I want the listener to experience. Most of the time there are no vocals or lyrics and i keep the audible vocal samples sparse so that leaves much more room for the track to be open to listener interpretation. I think it's really important that all of my music has a message in some way, shape or form. More or less, just really getting people to think.

I am from Vancouver, Canada and have lived in British Columbia for my entire life. When i was growing up the term "goth" didn't really exist. At that time the term "alternative" was very widely used but the music was not mainstream the way it is now. I'm talking about the mid to late 80's here. The interesting thing is because Vancouver has had a couple of notable acts in the world of Industrial music come from here, there was always this impression that there was this music scene here but that has never been the case. When i started playing live in the mid 90's, most of my shows were either LBM as the only act or opening for acts touring through Vancouver (Covenant, Gridlock, KMFDM to name a couple). That "scene" as you put it has changed very much over the years and not for the better. The musical scope has narrowed significantly and this has contributed to crippled scene (in North America anyways).

I know a lot of the musicians (Frontline Assenbly, LSD, etc) who are from here and none of us have ever been able to figure out how the music evolved from here like it did here in Vancouver and still does through a few of us. If it wasn't for some really dedicated folks like DJ Pandemonium who has one of the longest running clubnights in Vancouver there would be nothing to speak of.....and Pandemonium's greatest strength has been at trying to have the music remain diversified. Most of my greatest influences were from my childhood friends and listening to college radio in the late 80's. I used to sit up late at night to hear everything from Nitzer Ebb to Altern8 to Severed Heads. But again there was no "scene" like there is now and I think we were the better for that. My friends that listen to Souxsie were black clad n all but there wasn't this rigid idea of culture or the endless facination with gloom or horror movies and the like. The music industry wasn't as corporate either. Everyone I was surrounded by was very open to all scenes and all alternative music then. I think this time period influenced me so greatly because of the openess and the fact that envelopes in music were really being pushed more than they are now.

what is the current goth/alternative scene like and where do you see it going in the future ?

Honestly i am not involved in any kind of scene. I don't really feel that is very important to me as an artist and, if anything, i find the so called goth scene boring and uninspired at the moment. It has been for quite some time. Everyone is wearing gear i used to wear in the late 80's, which is fine for them but.......that was 20 years ago for me. Change is important to evolution and i would be embarrassed to be stuck in the same outfits wearing makeup 20 years later. so fashion wise it definately has not evolved in my opinion. The music is in a simliar state of stagnation though not quite as severe as the fashion aspect. Very little music coming out of the scene in the last 10 years has been forward thinking or cutting edge. Being a fan of electronic music I got involved in all sides....the rave culture, club culture....but primarily my focus has been to create as opposed to being a spectator or scenester. I have always been more interested in electronic music at it's core and alternative music in general......Electronic music in the last 20 years has evolved and changed greatly so i have spent much more of my attention on that and not so much the pretentions of the goth/Industrial scene. As it became more and more pretentious in the late 90's i walked away from being a regular participant in it. It simply did not resonate with me any longer. I don't see it going anywhere unless the people in it are willing to evolve and change.

Discography and /or current releases.
Landscape Body Machine - Structure - released 1996 - label: Interdimensional Industries

Landscape Body Machine - Revolution - released 2002 - label:

Liquid/Interdimensional Industries Noise Unit - Voyeur - released 2005 - label: Metropolis

In May 2009 we will be releasing "Manifest Destiny". This is a 13 track full length album. 10 studio tracsk and 3 live tracks from last last 5 years. Very pleased with the results as this record represents a great leap in progressive electronic music for myself.
Sneak preview new tracks from Manifest Destiny at www.myspace.com/landscapebodymachine All releases are avaiable at www.interdimensional.com

except Noise Unit.

Upcoming tour dates?

Nothing to annouce at the moment.

Anything you wish to add?

As well as LBM, I also have a radio show once a week called Nocturnal Transmissions where we play Canadian electronic and beyond (industiral, house,techno,ambient,glitch, everything)
Teusday nights 9pm PST at www.chly.ca

Fight the power

Craig@LBM http://www.interdimensional.com

Forever Dead

Thunder Bay, Ont
Canada,
Psychobilly/ Punk
Bonjour Imp, This is George Gratz and Chelsea Heart of the Psychobilly/Punk band Forever Dead.


It took us a while to come up with a name, but the one that stuck was from an issue of Tales from the Crypt. The name fit the subject matter that we base most of our songs on. Horror,


Current Band Mebers are Chelsea Heart (vocals) George Gratz (Upright Bass) Tyler Gratz (Drums) Former members are Marc Viherkoski (Guitar)Who is has recently decided to leave. Jessic Hochins (Keyboard) Who moved away for college but still plays from time to time.

Most of our songs are of horror nature. We tend to just go with the flow with our writing style. We usually write the music first, and distinguish what they should be about after. We often work together on lyrics and composing. We have songs about murder and bloodshed, and we have songs about getting off your feet and having a good time.

We're from Thunder Bay, Ontario. For the size of the city, we have a huge music scene, with a lot of really talented bands and musicians. Its a pretty tight knit community, and everyone know everyone. Bands are constantly and have always be coming through.

It may take on different forms or names but as long as there are alternative thinkers there will be an alternative scene.

We listen Trole, The Matadors, The Creepshow, The Gutter Demons, The Brains, The Ferrell Bros. Alot of Canadian Horrobilly and Psychobilly, Ska, Punk, Metal.

Discography and /or current releases.
Rev up The Pinch Nipskies EP (2006)
... Not Quite Dead Yet. (2008)
We are going to be staring recording in a week or two for an upcoming EP.

Upcoming tour dates
Summer 2009 Tour (Canada)

Forever Dead Video

Midnight Hunger
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qf5i___zONI

Drunk Again
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GoEIKM0GcG8

DJ Martin Oldgoth

Colchester,
United Kingdom
goth, post punk, psychobilly

Hi, I'm martin oldgoth, and first off I'd just like to say a thanks to the Imp Nation for giving me the chance to do this interview.

I've been 'oldgoth' for quite a few years now and it's down to the fact that where I live there are three Martins, I'm the one that’s the old goth! First of all this was just a name that people used to signify which one of us they meant, but over time it's morphed into my DJ name as well. It's also become something of a millstone for me since people assume that it refers to a style of DJing, and although I'm known for my rabid hatred of all things EBM and metal my style of DJing does encompass more than just old goth, I'll play a lot of associated styles too, from post punk and death rock, through dark indie/alternative to a little psychobilly, more in the style of old goth clubs than old goth music.

I believe this is the way forward for the goth scene, in the UK now we're breaking away from the more 'generic' night where DJ's play a bit of everything, and from the larger cities a few years ago to a few more smaller ones now the EBM/Industrial scenes are finding their own feet and goth is returning to what it used to be like in the mid eighties, but more up to date. There are so many new bands coming through now that the scene to me is as fresh as it was 25 years ago, there really is no excuse to not embrace the darkside once again!

At the moment I'm preparing for a US trip to LA at Christmas where I'll be spinning at Release the Bats in Long Beach on the 26th December and Bar Sinister in Hollywood on the 27th, I love the scene out there, people are so willing to accept bands they may not have heard of far more than they do in the UK.

I began my 'DJ Career' in Romford (just east of London) in 1985, when a club I used to go to was going to close as the regular promoter was moving away. Three of us decided that we didn't want this to happen and so took it over, and from there it grew.

I've been lucky enough to have worked some of the UK's best clubs, and have DJ'd festivals such as the Whitby Gothic Weekend and Wave Gotik Treffen. This trip to LA will be the fourth time I've DJ'd out there. I kind of drifted into the goth scene when the UK punk scene of the late seventies started to get stale, the fun had left it and the music just wasn't as exciting to me anymore, and the growing post punk scene (as it's now referred to) seemed a lot more interesting, from there it was a natural progression into goth. I've never looked back.

Martin Oldgoth Links:

http://www.insanitorium.co.uk/

http://www.thirteen13.co.uk/

Joey Chaos

Victoria, B.C.,
Canada
Industrial/ New Wave/ Electro

Good tidings to you, The Imp!

First tell us of the evolution of the bands name and what it signifies to the members of the band.

Joey Chaos has been my artistic output device since 2002. It started out as a joke when me and my friends formed a band called The Chaos. We didn't accomplish much aside from a lot of bad photoshop images, but one evening when we were sitting around the kitchen table, I started joking about how I was "Joey Chaos, like Joey Ramone only cooler, and you're Danny Chaos and you can be Kevin Chaos…" and I was the only one that the name stuck to.

Since then I really grew into the name and now it's a huge part of my life. It's a huge confidence booster and a chance to be someone else, to put on a different mask and push a part of your personality to the limit and live through it.

The only other band member is Walker, my guitarist and bass player. We've been working together since 2007 and he's been huge in terms of our live show. He's got this rock solid stage presence that is hard to find, and I don't even have to think about him while I'm singing. Since he started, our live shows have been getting bigger and better and I owe a great deal to him for it.

Most of my songs are based upon personal experiences and the lives of others, as cliché as it sounds. Lyrically I've been trying to get past the post teen angst thing and write music with more substance to it; more thoughtful than reactionary -at least the personal reactionary.

I bitch a lot about politics and I bitch a lot about the scene, for lack of a better term. I don't think I'm saying anything too groundbreaking but I know people are relating to it. At my last show a woman walked up to me and really truly thanked me for playing 'Look At You Now,' a song that deals with prostitution, drug abuse and not being able to help. It really moved me; made me feel like I was doing at least a few things right and hopefully helped someone.

I grew up mainly in Port Alberni and Tofino. The formative years were definitely in PA and that had a huge impact on my life. In my graduating class, I was one of about five "alterative" kids, including punk, metal and LGBT. We stuck together; you have to in that environment. Port Alberni has one of the highest ratios of bars and churches per capita in this country, and you're basically dealing with rednecks, jocks and bible thumpers.

I started organizing shows through an LGBT youth group that my girlfriend helped organize. We put on a few all ages shows and we got a good turnout for such a small community. Just the fact that we did it was huge.

The scene in Victoria is a fair size, but like most dark alternative scenes in North America it's in decline due to the seeming inability to adapt. Where every other genre seams to evolve quite painlessly in terms of style, art and sound, goth and industrial in particular seam to be stuck in the past.

Our style has become commodified and we've become content with purchasing it at the mall. I want to see the boundaries being constantly pushed so we can avoid the pitfalls we commonly fail to miss. If we are to be making a statement and be heard above the noise, how come we settle on what's been done already?


I'm tired of bands sounding like cheap knock offs of 'The Sisters of Mercy' and 'KMFDM'. Artists like Trent Reznor and Nivek Ogre continue to push boundaries and broaden the scope of dark alternative music by including influences outside of their labeled genre. Bands like 'VNV Nation' and every other EBM artist will never get bigger until their notion of progress goes beyond incorporating progressive trance into their music, a genre which lost its innovative qualities by the late 90's.

Don't get me wrong, I love the people in the scene here in Victoria and everyone here puts a lot of good energy into it, but in the end we seam to all be suffering from a collective action problem. It feels as though the status quo is afraid that if we move beyond the borders we so guardedly set up for ourselves then we've 'sold out', we're not 'hardcore' enough, whatever. This sense of elitism is ironic as I find that many people in the scene are somewhat ostracized by society in general, whether by choice or otherwise.

Current releases

We are currently working on a new album tentatively titled "Downfall". It will be released for free and the main focus will be on the live aspect of the music because music as a commodity isn't exactly a viable source for distribution right now.

Upcoming tour dates ?
We're hopefully going to be working with Synthetic Entertainment in the near future so we're keeping our fingers crossed on that.

Best wishes for Imp Nation and all of its many followers!

www.youtube.com/joeychaosfilms

www.joeychaos.com

Rock Soprano PATRIZIA

Toronto, Ont,
Canada
metal /goth

Hi IMP

Imp; First tell us of the evolution of the bands name and what it signifies to the members of the band?


PATRIZIA is my original name (italian origin) and being a solo artist with a band it would the appropriate name. .the name is best articulated this way PAH -tree-tsiah

Imp; Tell us who are the band members and any previous/currant work with other bands?

Because of the complex nature of my music, that is blending opera, classical/rock/metal , my band members are usually top musicians with alot of experience such as guitarists Anesti Karantakis (Sass Jordan, Fefe Dobson), Ron Bechard (Edwin, Sin Dealer) bass players Jeff Jones (Tom Cochrane, Burton Cummings, Randy Bachman) , Stephen Zsirai (David Usher), keys Rob Cooper and drummer Niall Melliors

Imp; What is the philosophy behind the music/ lyrics?

I am very passionate about integrating the old with the new and creating something emotionally powerful and relevant without resorting to gimmicks or following trends but allowing the music to guide me through. I do this by bringing my own personal lyrics to an ancient piece of music and reworking the instrumentation with sounds that evoke the true spirit and emotion of the music. Being a classical trained singer I am known for re inventing the operatic/classical pieces of music but I am equally passionate about taking rock songs and renovating them into mini operatic scenes, that is infusing it with a sense of drama. You can hear this in my latest release "My Beloved" where I take on Radiohead and Cranberries and write original material in the same vein.

Imp; Where you are from and a little about the goth/alternative scene you grew up with.

I am originally from a little town in Italy and there was no goth scene to my knowledge but when I came to Canada I developed a love for powerful metal/alternativel music .. So naturally as an artist I have the two living inside that has resulted in developing my own style.

Imp; What is the current goth/alternative scene like and where do you see it going in the future?

I think goth is going mainstream, you can see goth culture seeping through..You see mainstream acts like Rihanna introducing it with their outfits and look. Goth will be more and more mainstream because people are tiring of the slick, superficial commercial music out there and need something with more depth.

Imp; Upcoming tour dates?

"MY BELOVED" CD Release Show on Wed. Nov 19th at the Tattoo Rock Parlour Club 7 p.m.

I look forward to meeting my fans!
Thank you

Going to be in Toronto on November 19th? pick up your tickets here.


Discography
Defiance EP
The Edge of Emotion
My Beloved - current release

PATRIZIA’s Vidios

Operatic Rock Diva PATRIZIA sings Puccini "Vissi D'arte"

Defiance - Patrizia Live at City hall, with Aaron Kronis

THE BEST QUEEN OF THE NIGHT (Der holle rache) by ROCK SOPRANO PATRIZIA

SEXIEST CARMEN by ROCK SOPRANO PATRIZIA

Patrizia's web sites;

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=36228085

http://www.patriziamusic.com/

The Vault

the Silence Industry

Vancouver, B.C.,

Canada

Goth/Psychedelic

Hello to "The Imp" from the Silence Industry!

The Silence Industry, like most bands, evolved from the dissolving of past projects and the desire to start something new. The name is intended to be a reference to the fact that essentially all of our creative energies are ultimately turned against us by Capital and used to further our dispossession. In this context, "Silence" and "Industry" (while seemingly contradictory) make sense, and unfortunately that's the context that we're operating in. "The Silence Industry" was chosen because, despite being alienated, we are still left with the desire to create and (hopefully) reach people, and thus it seemed suitably ironic.

The band's lineup is somewhat fluid. Certain people come and go depending on what else is going on in their lives at a given moment. Since we're fairly outspoken politically, we choose not to list our lineup, given the growing practice of Employer Googling of new applicants.

We've never decided to really go in a specific direction musically, although obviously like everyone else, we have certain influences. We try to let the musical ideas themselves give us direction as much as possible, although this isn't always an easy process. Beyond that we really just use the tools at our disposal, and having various backgrounds in post-punk, goth rock, noise, early industrial, and an influence (whether we like it or not) of being surrounded by pop music, I guess that's just going to sound a certain way.

The lyrics are sometimes personal, and other times political, and sometimes a blending of the two. Sometimes it's just the existential angst that comes from living in an increasingly atomized Capitalist world.

We are from around Greater Vancouver. There has been an industrial/EBM scene here for a long time, although I never got very deeply involved in it. However, there wasn't much of a scene for goth or post-punk music. I don't want to sound dismissive, but I just wasn't really into dance clubs, and the music always sounded like oontz with scary monster vocals to me. I'm sure there's lots of great music coming out of that scene, but I just haven't really been able to keep up.

As for the goth/alternative scene now, I've heard a lot of fantastic stuff from all over the world. For example, I've heard quite a few fantastic britgoth bands recently with fairly new releases. It is just still pretty difficult to find it all.This is made even more difficult by the fact that the "independent" music boom of the late 90's/early 2000's is, as far as I can tell, quite dead. As a consequence, there really isn't the money to be spent to have yourself heard that there once was.

I personally think that the future for all underground music is going to be primarily (though perhaps not exclusively) in free-content, but for the most part artists and underground media are not yet well organized enough to take advantage of existing technology and networks to make the most of this. We release our music online for free because, quite simply, it's easier for us to reach more people this way than we would pressing cds and mailing them out for reviews etc. ...it would just be nice if it were possible to reach a lot more, and the potential is there, it's just not realized yet.

We are working on a new release, some of the tracks are posted on our myspace: http://www.myspace.com/thesilenceindustry

previous releases:

The Realm of Rust:

"dead words...":

self titled:


Thanks for the interview.

With Love.
the Silence Industry

Listen & Download the Silence Industry

Modern Creatures

Vancouver, B.C.

Canada.

punk/ goth/glam

Hello to 'The Imp' from Modern Creatures!!

The name 'Modern Creatures' refers to all humans being essentially animals at heart but having the ability to call themselves 'modern'. It also has to do with the annihilation (hopefully) of everyone that continues to draw from tradition to slow the progress of all humanity.

The band members are: Nikkie Never (vox, lo bass), Jeremiah Hay (hi bass), Michael Taylor (drums). Nikkie has played in Automatic Fancy, and also currently plays with Terror Bird. Jeremiah has played in Blue Science, Live Girls, A.R.C., Concrete Cutter, White Christians, and currently plays in Terror Bird, Defektors, and Twin Crystals. Michael was in Automatic Fancy, and currently plays in White Owl.

The music wasn't really intended to sound a certain way, but with two basses in a band we're kind of limited as to what we can do...the lyrical content is mostly about celebrity gossip and scandals, thinly veiled under a shroud of pretence.

We're all from smaller communities in British Columbia; there was almost no goth scene in my hometown, maybe just the major things in the nineties like nine inch nails or frontline assembly, skinny puppy, etc. More industrial I guess. It wasn't until years later that I discovered the real greats like Tuxedomoon, Death in June, Bauhaus, SPK, Sisters of Mercy, etc.

Truthfully, I don't really know a whole lot of the goth/alternative scene these days, I like a lot of weirdo underground punk bands from the U.S. that definitely have goth elements to them like Night Wounds. We also just played with a great band from Sacramento, CA called Mental Stagnation; they're an awesome new band that have a darker feel to them. I guess we just get to know new bands from word of mouth or playing shows with them.

Discography: '1981' cd-r (self-released), split cassette w/shearing pinx (isolated now waves), 'Divorce Yrself' cd-r (self-released), 7'' s/t EP (Grotesque Modern), 'East vs. West' compilation (Divorce Records), 'Took Yr Girl/Becoming a Lizard' cassingle (Isolated Now Waves).

FORTHCOMING LP 'MODEL MEMBRANES' EARLY 2009! (Grotesque Modern).

No tour plans at the moment but I would expect a large North American tour by summer '09.

Modern Creatures Links;
www.punkrockers.com/moderncreatures/friend/
www.reverbnation.com/moderncreatures
www.myspace.com/grotesquemodern.com
www.grotesquemodern.com

xoxo modern creatures



the cover art is by Ben Jacques
photo by Steve Louie