Interview with The Sisters Of Mercy biographer Trevor Ristow: ‘I imagine Andrew Eldritch considers Sisters music bigger than the Goth-scene’

Trevor Ristow is the American author, based in New-York, of the Sisters Of Mercy biography: “Waiting For Another War: A History of The Sisters Of Mercy Vol. I: 1980-1985”. He is a television and film producer at GKW Filmworks and was the editor of “Loudquietloud: A Film About the Pixies”.

Ristow has produced and/or edited over one hundred television episodes, documentaries or narrative films for History Channel, National Geographic, PBS, NBC, Discovery Channel, E! Network, and HBO. Series he’s worked on have won six Emmy Awards, three Telly Awards, and multiple festival prizes. The book has now also been released as a numbered limited edition paperback via Rough Trade, including a special stamp and signature and unpublished photo of the band. Side-Line already did a review of his excellent book and had a chance to do a small interview as well!

Q: Is Andrew Eldritch aware of the release of your book? Did you ask him if he was interested to work together on it or was he against it?
Trevor: He is aware of the book but I doubt he knew about it before it was announced. Therefore he did not have an opportunity to be in favor of the book, or opposed to it. It just arrived, rather unexpectedly, out of the sun. At least that is how it feels to most people who have read it.

Q: Why do you think Andrew Eldritch does not like to be associated with the “Goth” scene?
Trevor: I think he finds it limiting. In Germany the goth scene is vibrant and large, but in most of the rest of the world it is a small, somewhat unserious ghetto of mediocre bands. I imagine he considers Sisters music bigger than that scene, and I agree with him.

Q: What do you think of the quality of the current concerts of The Sisters Of Mercy, compared to the old ones? According to many fans, the first line-up would still be the best?
Trevor: Obviously I have a deep love for the early years but I have seen The Sisters many times over many decades and I’ve never walked away disappointed. It’s a whole experience that is larger than simply hearing the songs performed.

Q: What side do you prefer most? Eldritch as lyricist or as composer?
Trevor: This is a very difficult question because he’s a superb lyricist, but most of my favorite songs are his compositions also. This is the man who wrote the entire “Reptile House EP”, “Train”, “Body Electric”, “Blood Money” and “Bury Me Deep”, “On The Wire”, “Floodland”, and many more. For me, personally, it’s hard to overstate his talent as either a lyricist or a composer.

Q: How do you see the future of the band?
Trevor: Mostly on YouTube, sadly.

Since you’re here …

… we have a small favour to ask. More people are reading Side-Line Magazine than ever but advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. And unlike many news organisations, we haven’t put up a paywall – we want to keep our journalism as open as we can. So you can see why we need to ask for your help.

Side-Line’s independent journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce. But we do it because we want to push the artists we like and who are equally fighting to survive.

If everyone who reads our reporting, who likes it, helps fund it, our future would be much more secure. For as little as 5 US$, you can support Side-Line Magazine – and it only takes a minute. Thank you.

The donations are safely powered by Paypal.