Legendary goth club ‘The Church’ featured in documentary film – crowdfund
“Dark Sanctuary: The Story Of The Church” will be a feature-length documentary about the historic Dallas goth club The Church. The documentary will explore the history and stories of one of the longest running goth clubs in the U.S..
Through interviews with music artists (including Paul Oakenfold, Bill Leeb, Aurelio Voltiare, and RubberDoll), local bands, and patrons, the film will tell the story of the transgressive community of misfits that formed in the nearly three decades of the legendary club’s existence.
The film will center on the club’s DJ in residence, Joe Virus, and follow his journey from aspiring musician to DJ’ing the main stage for over 20 years. The film will also narrate the events of 2019 and 2020 as a multimillion-dollar real estate company bought up the neighborhood, and the pandemic claimed the community’s beloved building at 2424 Swiss Avenue. Now, their home of nearly three decades stands on the brink of being lost forever.
They plan to seek more interviews with many of the world-famous artists who performed there over years such as cEvin Key, Front 242, Front Line Assembly, Combichrist, Clan of Xymox, VNV Nation, Dita Von Teese, and many more. The additional plan is to explore many of the stories and personalities intertwined with The Church’s history including such Marylin Manson, The Cure, Trent Reznor, Joan Jett, and even Madonna.
In tandem with the story of The Church, the film will talk about the Friday and Saturday EDM nights known as The Lizard Lounge where legends of electronic music performed: Paul Oakenfold, Paul Van Dyk, Moby, Tiesto, The Prodigy and more.
To complete the documentary Dallas, Texas-based Spectrograph Films has launched an IndieGoGo campaign to fund their film. You can check out the Indiegogo campaign right here.
Music by cEvin Key of Skinny Puppy
cEvin Key of Skinny Puppy will co-compose the title music track along with resident DJ of The Church, Joe Virus. Artist Ashley Thorpe known for the Shudder Exclusive film Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched will do illustrations and animations as well as design the movie poster.
The goal is to collect $70,000 in funds. The perks for the backers include DVD’s, signed posters, 45 rpm records, and even actual ceiling tiles from 2424 Swiss Ave.
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Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!
