Alphaville &#8211; SIDE-LINE

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

A Projection – In A Different Light (Album – Metropolis Records)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Wed, 15 Feb 2023 08:00:00 +0000

Genre/Influences: Wave-Pop.

Format: Digital, CD, Vinyl.

Background/Info: After having released their two first albums on Tapete Records, at the end of 2022, Swedish formation A Projection released their second album on Metropolis Records.

Content: A Projection remains strongly influenced by good-old 80s New-Wave music although this album also appears to be a new start. While previous works were mainly driven by guitar, “In A Different Light” features a clear and mainly electronic sound. Effects, arrangements, deep bass lines, melody lines, drums and production of the vocals are bringing us back to the 80s.

+ + + : One could say A Projection is just one of the numerous 80s emulations I think this band also has a true 80s spirit. It comes through in nearly every little detail. They carefully listened to 80s productions and I immediately thought of bands like Alphaville and Camouflage. “Paris Stockholm” and “Regenerate” both are true contemporary Wave-Pop jewels.

– – – : The work is rather different than its predecessor; the influences are still 100% 80s like but it all sounds different.

Conclusion: “In A Different” sounds as a cool flashback.

Best songs: “Paris Stockholm”, “Regenerate”, “Careless”, “Anywhere”, “Confession”.

Rate: 8.

Artist: www.aprojection.com / www.facebook.com/aprojectionband

Label: www.metropolis-records.com / www.facebook.com/MetropolisRecords

She Hates Emotions – Happy Pop Music (Album – Out Of Line)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Thu, 02 Feb 2023 08:00:00 +0000

Genre/Influences: Electro-Pop, Wave-Pop.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: “Happy Pop Music” was released two years after the debut album “Melancholic Maniac” (2020). This German solo-project driven by Blutengel front man Chris Pohl brings us an album featuring eleven songs plus 3 alternative versions.

Content: She Hates Emotions remain totally devoted and inspired by the 80s Electro/New-Wave music the artist was listening to through his childhood. The songs evoke numerous famous artists like Alphaville, Camouflage, Gary Numan, The Human League and even Michael Cretu. All songs have been sung in English revealing typical 80s effects and arrangements -which are mainly coming through in the drum sections. The songs are full of catchy and melodic parts.

+ + + : Blutengel of course remains Chris Pohl’s leading project but we have to recognize all the other projects he has been involved with -think of Terminal Choice, Miss Construction, Tumor… were pretty successful as well. She Hates Emotions sounds like pure fun but with a very precise and judicious 80s emulation. Chris Pohl transposed the New-Wave legacy into an alluring, contemporary, production. The already familiar singles “Space & Time” and “This Ain’t Good” both remain excellent tracks featuring great melody lines, superb effects and refined arrangements. But I also have to mention “Meant To Be Alone” which is more reminding me of Gary Numan and “No Time To Waste” which is one of the catchiest cuts.

– – – : Originality is hard to find but who cares when the result is fully enjoyable.

Conclusion: The 80s remain a very inspiring period for genius artists like Chris Pohl.

Best songs: “This Ain’t Good”, “No Time To Waste”, “Space & Time”, “Meant To Be Alone”, “Ich Will Hier Weg”, “She Takes Control”.

Rate: 8½.

Artist: www.facebook.com/SheHatesEmotions

Label: www.outofline.de / www.facebook.com/outoflinelabel

Alphaville’s ‘Big In Japan’ was once covered by Sandra… and sold only 125 copies

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Fri, 05 Aug 2022 14:43:43 +0000

In April 1984 Sandra and Michael Cretu, romantically involved, released a first single together, “Japan ist weit”, a German cover of the Alphaville song “Big in Japan” which had been released in January of that year and which was equally the debut single for the German synth-pop band. If you listen closely you’ll hear that the timing of the song was influenced by “The Safety Dance” by Men Without Hats, but that’s another story. While the Alphaville original sold over 250.000 copies in Germany, the German cover by Sandra failed to chart with only a miserable 125 copies sold.

The duo understood that they should do things differently and by 1985 Sandra gained international success with the song “(I’ll Never Be) Maria Magdalena” and the follow-up singles, “In the Heat of the Night” and “Little Girl”. Also the next album sparked a string of successful singles such as “Innocent Love”, “Hi! Hi! Hi!”, “Loreen” and “Midnight Man”. In 1987, the duo released a cover version of “Everlasting Love” which became a major success. The rest is history. Sandra sold over thirty million records in the 1980’s and topped the charts in twenty one countries in a career that began for her at the age of thirteen.

Here’s Sandra’s “Japan ist weit”, which remained quite loyal, musically then, to the original.

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!

The 10 best synthpop / electropop albums of all times (and 5 more)

Eldrina Mich — Tue, 25 Jan 2022 14:38:36 +0000

Electropop is a hybrid music genre combining elements of electronic and pop genres. During the late 1970s bands such as the Human League, Kraftwerk, and later on Gary Numan, Soft Cell and John Foxx helped pioneer a new synth-pop style that drew more heavily from electronic music and emphasized primary usage of synthesizers. Developed in the late 1970s it has seen several revival periods up until now.

We picked out the best synthpop albums from the past 4 decades (!!!). Here’s our list.

The Human League – “Dare” (1981)

The Human League are ‘oldies’ when it comes to synthpop. Formed in Sheffield in 1977 and initially an experimental electronic outfit, the group attained widespread commercial success with their third album “Dare” in 1981. The album contained four hit singles, including the UK/US number one hit “Don’t You Want Me”. The band’s third studio album, it was recorded between March and September 1981 following the departure of founding members Martyn Ware and Ian Craig Marsh, and saw the band shift direction from their prior avant-garde electronic style toward a more pop-friendly, commercial sound led by frontman Philip Oakey. A remix album based on “Dare”, “Love and Dancing”, was released in 1982.

Talk Talk – “It’s My Life” (1984)

Talk Talk were an English band formed in 1981, led by Mark Hollis (vocals, guitar, piano), Lee Harris (drums), and Paul Webb (bass). The group achieved early chart success with the synth-pop singles “Talk Talk” (1982), “It’s My Life”, and “Such a Shame” (both 1984) before moving towards a more experimental approach in the mid-1980s. Not surprisingly that our next pick is “It’s My Life”, the second studio album by Talk Talk, released in 1984. The album enjoyed an enormous succes thanks to the big international success of its singles (notably “Such a Shame”). We have a soft spot for the tracks “Dum Dum Girl”, “Such a Shame”, “Renée”, “It’s My Life” and “It’s You” although the entire album is just extremely enjoyable.

Alphaville – “Forever Young” (1984)

The German synth-pop band Alphaville, which formed in Münster in 1982, achieved chart success with the singles “Forever Young”, “Big in Japan”, “Sounds Like a Melody”. All these were taken from their 1984 debut album “Forever Young” which was produced by Colin Pearson, Wolfgang Loos and Andreas Budde. Despite the success of the album and its singles, the band did not tour as they felt more like ‘studio rats’. It remains the band’s best output to date.

a-ha – “Scoundrel Days” (1986)

The Norwegian synth-pop band a-ha was formed in Oslo in 1982 by Paul Waaktaar-Savoy (guitars), Magne Furuholmen (keyboards and guitars), and Morten Harket (vocals). “Scoundrel Days” is the second studio album by the trio and offered a more mature sound compared to their debut “Hunting High and Low” (1985). “Scoundrel Days”, recorded in England in early 1986 and produced by Alan Tarney, sported such singles as “I’ve Been Losing You”, “Cry Wolf” and “Maybe, Maybe” which was released solely in Bolivia. “Manhattan Skyline” was the forth and final single released from the long-player.

Erasure – “Wonderland” (1986)

“Wonderland” is the debut studio album by the English synth-pop duo Erasure and was released in 1986. Although it was not an immediate success, the three singles released from it did become cult tracks overtime: “Who Needs Love Like That”, “Oh L’amour” and “Heavenly Action”. Although “Wonderland” was considered a failure, especially when comparing it to Clarke’s prior successes with Depeche Mode and Yazoo, the album became an all time favourite that laid the fundament of what was to follow in 1987 with the release of “The Circus”. The album was produced by Flood who would become a long-time collaborator.

Pet Shop Boys – “Actually” (1987)

Pet Shop Boys, the English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1981, broke all records when they released “Actually”, their second studio album, in 1987. It was pushed forward by such great tracks as “One More Chance”, “What Have I Done to Deserve This?” (with Dusty Springfield), “Shopping”, “Rent”, “It Couldn’t Happen Here”, “It’s a Sin”, “Heart” and the majestic “King’s Cross”. In short an album filled with hits.

New Order – “Technique” (1989)

New Order was formed in 1980 by vocalist and guitarist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris. The band formed after the demise of Joy Division, following the suicide of lead singer Ian Curtis and were joined by Gillian Gilbert on keyboards later that year. Their experience of the early 1980s New York club scene saw them increasingly incorporate dance rhythms and electronic instrumentation into their work which resulted in their 1983 hit “Blue Monday” becoming and absolute monster hit. However, we picked out “Technique”, their fifth studio album. Released in 1989 by Factory Records, the album incorporates Balearic beat and acid house influences into the group’s dance-rock sound. “Technique” was the first New Order album to reach the number one spot on the UK charts and had such excellent singles as “Fine Time”, “Round and Round” and “Run 2”.

Depeche Mode – “Violator” (1990)

“Violator” is the seventh studio album by England’s Depeche Mode. It was first released on 19 March 1990 through Mute Records internationally, and through Sire and Reprise Records in the United States. Preceded by the singles “Personal Jesus” and “Enjoy the Silence” (a top-10 entry in both the United Kingdom and the United States), the album propelled the band into international stardom, and also yielded the singles “Policy of Truth” and “World in My Eyes”. The album is generally considered as their most accomplisched electropop album before they encorporated more rock elements in the next album, “Songs of Faith and Devotion”. The role of Alan Wilder was crucial in “Violator”, you only have to compare the first and final version of “Enjoy The Silence” to notice the huge difference.

Bel Canto – “Birds of Passage” (1990)

Bel Canto is a Norwegian music duo, originally a trio, fronted by vocalist Anneli Drecker and musically powered by Geir Jenssen and Nils Johansen. Signed originally to Crammed Discs, their second album “Birds of Passage” is considered as an absolute pearl holding an excellent production (aided by Giles Martin) and a long list of guest musicians who added acoustic elements to the cold nordic synths Jenssen and multi-instrumentalist Johansen. It was also the last album featuring Geir Jenssen. It holds the hits “Intravenous”, “Birds of Passage”, “A Shoulder to the Wheel”, “Time Without End”, “Continuum” and “The Suffering”. The band remains an often well-hidden pearl in electropopland.

De/Vision – “Fairyland?” (1996)

De/Vision, a German synthpop act formed in 1988, was at the peak of its electropop stardom around the mid-nineties culiminating in the outstanding “Fairyland?” album which had such great tracks as “I Regret”, “Sweet Life”, “Today’s Life” or “Bleed Me White”. The band was fronting a new wave of electropop bands in Germany but was generally considered to be the most consistent one as far as quality and output. Sadly enough the release, and also the band’s earlier material, are no longer available on Spotify.

Wolfsheim – “Spectators” (1999)

Wolfsheim was a synthpop duo from Hamburg, Germany, that consisted of Markus Reinhardt and Peter Heppner. Their fourth studio album was “Spectators” (1999) preceeded by two ‘pre-release’ singles from the album. “Once in a Lifetime” was released on October 16, 1998 and “It’s Hurting For The First Time” followed on November 30th. The LP was produced by Wolfsheim and José Alvarez-Brill and held 11 new songs. To this day, “Spectators” is the best-selling album by Wolfsheim with over 250,000 copies sold. The third single, “Künstliche Welten”, was released in 1999.

Iris – “Disconnect” (2000)

“Disconnect” is the debut album by the electropop group Iris. Released in 2000 via the US label A Different Drum, the synthpop label by excellence, its success was guaranteed by the now cult synthpop jewels “Annie, Would I Lie to You?”, “Lose In Wanting” and “Danger Is The Shame”. Originally formed by Reagan Jones and Mat Morris in 1993, after the release of their first album “Disconnect”, Matthew Morris was replaced with Andrew Sega, who pushed the band’s sound in a more experimental electronic direction. Sadly enough the release, and also the band’s earlier material, are no longer available on Spotify.

Elegant Machinery – “A Soft Exchange” (2008)

The Swedish synthpop band Elegant Machinery defined the Swedish synthpop movement along with such bands as Page, S.P.O.C.K, Sista Mannen På Jorden and Kiethevez. Heavily influenced by acts like Yazoo, The Human League, Depeche Mode and Rational Youth, the trio Robert Enforsen, Richard Jomshof and Leslie Bayne started the band in 1988 under the name Pole Position. The band was very successful in Sweden, with a number of successful singles and various awards. But it is their 2008 album “A Soft Exchange” that earned them a place in our list. The album was extremely mature yet very melodic and features such pearls a “With Grace”, “Do You Know”, “Feel The Silence”, “Bleeding Words” and “Is This The Way”.

Electro Spectre – “Dangerous Game” (2012)

The Norwegian electronic music duo Electro Spectre fronts the 3rd electropop wave. Isak Rypdal (writer-producer) and Alexander Björneboe (writer-singer) debuted in 2009 with the album “Watch It All Turn” (which was later reproduced and re-released in 2010). The duo has secured us from a steady and consistent output ever since. In our list we picked the band’s 2012 release, which is their second studio album entitled “Dangerous Game”. Included are such pearls as “Love Thief”, “Dancing Girl”, “World Keeps Turning” and “Tokyo Shuffle”.

Mondträume – “Empty” (2014)

Mondträume is the creative outlet of 2 Spanish talented artists Pikotto Vond Mond and Damasius Venys. In only a few years, the duo rapidly caught the attention of concert organizers, released several songs on compilations, and secured a label contract with Belgium’s electronic label Alfa Matrix where they debuted with the album “Empty”. The hits “Life Is Short”, “Parasite” and especially the synth pop pearl “Far From Pain” showcase why this band became one of the strongholders in the 3rd electropop wave together with such bands as Electro Spectre, and more.

Eldrina Mich

As Eldrina Mich I work as a go-between and a devil’s advocate when it comes to Side-Line. If our own staff needs to be interviewed then ask the questions no one else dares to ask.

https://www.bluefactoriz.com/transmission

‘Click Interview’ with Transmission: ‘I Think That There Will Be More And More Female Electronic Underground Artists’

Inferno Sound Diaries — Tue, 17 Aug 2021 17:00:00 +0000

By the end of 2020 Transmission unleashed the debut album “Cosmos” on Wave Records. The French solo-project is driven by Sandrine Deville. She’s dealing with a rather Minimal-Electro/Wave style with some violin tunes on top. It’s a fascinating- and accomplished experiment revealing an artist with a very own and creative approach. Here’s what Sandrine has to say about Transmission.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: How did you get contaminated by the music virus and finally come to set up your own music project?

Sandrine: I began to learn how to play violin at the Ferney-Voltaire regional conservatorium of music, in France, when I was ten years old, during four years. And, this was the time I listened to bands like A-Ha, Alphaville, U2, Pink Floyd, The Cure at the junior high school of my city, and, maybe one of the most influent band that led me to practice guitar, Dire Straits and the song “Money For Nothing”, for which I recorded a tape with this same only track, that I listened to for hours, showing me the power of music to immerse myself in a very special universe, at a high noise levels of my headphones.

I could define for Dire Straits a word that I will use to define my own music project: ‘soundscape’, when you discover landscapes from beautiful sounds. There also was Depeche Mode with the track “Never Let Me Down Again”, and, of course, Joy Division with the incredible bassline of “She’s Lost Control” were offering beautiful soundscapes to my ears when I was a teenager. Today I feel the same, but with other bands like Massive Attack, Bauhaus, Bowie, Linea Aspera, The Soft Moon, Kraftwerk, PJ Harvey, Nine Inch Nails, Kas Product.

On one hand, I wanted to play guitar in a band when I was teenager, but on the other hand, there were a lot of excellent guitarists and I was not, so, I decided to learn playing bass guitar. First, I was a bass player in a Funk/Folk /Psyche band called Hopupu and later on in between 2011 and 2016 in a Cold-Wave duo called Rive Droite Rive Gauche.

Then, I wanted to create my own music project and, after a few years of involvement with various bands, from Post-Punk to Punk, I decided to create the Electro/Dark-Wave solo-project called Transmission, recording first the track “Cosmos”.

Q: The name of your project is clearly reminding one of Joy Division’s legendary songs. Is it just a coincidence or clearly a link with some of your main sources of inspiration? What kind of sound did you’ve in mind when setting up Transmission?

Sandrine: Joy Division is one of my favorite bands. I adore all their songs and the atmosphere of “Shadowplay” gives me goosebumps each time I listen to this track. As I passed my bachelor in design in Toulouse (France) in 2018, I presented “Transmission”, the all white 3D printed Electro-Acoustic violin I created, inspired by pulsars shape, those mysterious white lines that we can see on the artwork of the LP “Unknown Pleasures” from Joy Division, and designed by Peter Saville. So, in this way, I could say that the name of my project is inspired by Joy Division, but mainly the white lines of the artwork of “Unknown Pleasures”. We can discover more about my violin called ‘Transmission’ on my own artist website here:

And we can discover more about my violin too, from pages 277 to 286 of the book of Pedro Peñas y Robles called “Joy Division, Paroles De Fans”, Editions Camion Blanc, 2018, here:

http://www.camionblanc.com/detail-livre-joy-division-paroles-de-fans-1216.php

Regarding the sound of my project, the effects are allusion to any effects used by the brilliant Martin Hanett for the soundscape of Joy Division, but, the kind of sound, the essence of the sound, come from a lot of references, as Kraftwerk, Nitzer Ebb, Covenant, Nine Inch Nails, Massive Attack, Linea Aspera, Boy Harsher, Buzz Kull, Minuit Machine, Years Of Denial, Kas Product.

Q: You last year released your debut album “Cosmos”. Tell us a bit more about the writing- and production process of this opus and what did you try to express lyrical wise?

Sandrine:The process of the composition was the same for all the tracks; I switched on my Korg Minilogue, synchronized with the little Korg Volca Sampler for the drums, and I tried to play live with this set up, recording a bass line using the Minilogue when I thought I could have something interesting. Then, recording this on my PC using Ableton software, I began to look for a structure, and sing the violin line, and the melody, or writing the words for the future track. Many times, I wasn’t able to record the exact bassline I wanted on the synth, and then, I tried to do my best with this new sound. Tracks like “Cosmos” and “Désuétude” both are like soflty spoken words; tracks like “De Stijl” or “Echouées” both are using punchy spoken words. As a reference, I could say that “Désuétude” is inspired by the way Anne Clark is ‘screaming’; “Cloud 9” and “Illusion” are both mixing spoken words, and a melodic chorus. I was very happy, too, in the way I used different languages: French, English, German, and Spanish too. For the lyrics, sometimes, first, I wrote them, and sometimes, they came after the soundscape, it depended of the feeling I had at the moment of the creation phase.

Q: I’m always wondered why there’re no more female artists composing Electronic underground music? Do you’ve an explanation and what have been your experiences as female artist in this scene so far?

Sandrine: I really don’t know why there are no more female artists composing Electronic underground music. Well, one of the most iconic is Anne Clarke, but today, we have the excellent solo-project of Alison Lewis called Zanias who’s also involved with the excellent duo Linea Aspera and Keluar. In France we have the excellent female duo from Paris, called Oktober Lieber. And there is also the excellent female solo-project called Hante from Hélène De Thoury who’s also member of the female duo Minuit Machine. In the USA, even if it is a mixed duo, there is the excellent Boy Harsher. And I recently discovered the solo-undergound artist from New-York called Ani Klang. I also think to the excellent first LP “Push” from the L.A based Iranian producer and DJ Maral. In Germany there is in a dark, clubby style Ellen Allien.

So even if there are less female artists involved, I think that there will be more and more female Electronic underground artists. As I am beginning in this scene, I don’t have yet a lot of experience, the only thing I could write, is that I think that maybe women have to forget their shyness (if they are), and to prove by themselves that they can make Electronic underground music as well as male artists.

Q: Transmission has been introduced as a solo-project although you got some help to achieve “Cosmos”. Tell us a bit more about this collaboration and what has been the impact and bonus on the final result?

Sandrine: At the beginning of the year of 2019, I had a first demo of the track “Cosmos”, and I was wondering how to go on with this project. Thanks to my duo Rive Droite Rive Gauche I met a lot of people of the Gothic scene of Bordeaux who became good friends. In January, I went with two friends to the Nitzer Ebb gig in Bordeaux, and, then, we met a lot of friends of the Gothic scene of the city like Jean-Philippe Torres who has his Drone Studio. He is also one of the musicians of the excellent duo Dark Line Spectrum; Speaking with him, it became to me an evidence that he could be the most appropriate friend to achieve “Cosmos”. I sent him the demo of “Cosmos”, “Désuétude” and “Echouées” in order to know if this project could have an interest for him, and, as he was enthusiastic about this, then, we began a very friendly and productive collaboration.

The process was for each track the same; I sent to Jean-Philippe the ‘pre-mixed tracks’ by wetransfer, and then, he added his additional synths and old-school rhythm box, made the sound design and the arrangements, and the mix and mastering. It was perfect! I am used to comparing him to Martin Hanett. Martin Hanett defined the special soundscape of Joy Division, and Jean-Philippe defined the special soundscape of “Cosmos” and I think that he made my dream come true: having my debut LP realized on a good label.

Q: It’s probably a bit risky and also a true challenge to release a debut album during the ongoing pandemic. How do you –and Wave Records, manage this aspect and how do you expect things evolving considering live performances, further releases and plans?

Sandrine: I really thanks so much Alex from Wave Records. I know that, in this special context of this long pandemic, the action of releasing albums for new artists, is a very risky business for the labels, moreover, for independents labels, as they don’t know how they can sell the albums and if people will buy or not a debut work. Alex is doing his best for the promotion of the album with a large number of contacts, with an effective sharing on the social network, on Youtube too for the videoclips of various tracks I realized myself.

I gave my first gig on the 2^nd of July, thanks to the association Distopia Mutante of San Sebastian in Spain, and it was an unbelievable good moment as there was a good interaction between the public and me. It is since January that Distopia Mutante tried to organize a gig for my project. But finally we did it, at the beginning of July, and we hope that there will be others. I hope I will be able to perform at other places and in other countries, even if we don’t know what the future will be.

Thinking about the second album of Transmission, I will not change the way I am using to create the sounds, and I am thinking about around ten tracks that could explain a lot of feelings that we are facing to in a whole life, using various BPM’s.

Pole returns with new 2-track 12 inch on Mute records in August – check out the first track already

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Wed, 23 Jun 2021 15:45:15 +0000

(Photo by Ben de Biel) Pole (aka Stefan Betke) has shared “Rost”, a brand new track and the first to be shared from “Tanzboden”, a 2-track 12” due out on Mute on 13 August 2021 on vinyl and digitally.

The new track originates from a series of loops created during the recording sessions for his first new album for Mute in over 15 years, “Fading”, which was released in November 2020. Fading was about loss of memory and how memory disappears over the years as we grow older, and these loops were discovered when Betke had returned to the original recordings.

He explains: “I began working in my Berlin Studio, doing research and listening to the single recording sessions of Fading to remember what I did exactly and to find out what I think about the recording months after finishing it. Tanzboden is an old fashioned word for a dancefloor constructed during the harvest time, mostly outdoors, and Rost is the German word for rust which is an interesting connection to Tanzboden. If the dancefloor is not really used for a long time anymore it starts to rust, and as the screws and metal plates which are holding the wooden parts together disappear slowly over the years, so does the Tanzboden itself.”

You can listen to the track below.

About Pole

Pole is the artistic name of Stefan Betke, a German electronic music artist commonly associated with the glitch genre as well as dubtronica. Born in Düsseldorf, Pole took his name from a Waldorf 4-Pole filter, which he accidentally dropped and broke in 1996. Betke found the strange hissing and popping noises the filter now made interesting sounds. He then began using the broken filter to create music, launching his musical career.

Betke’s first four albums, titled “1”, “2”, “3”, and “R” (an intentional trilogy of albums, followed by a collection of remixes of Pole’s 1998 debut EP “Raum”), were all based around this filter, with songs usually taking the form of dub bass-lines and rhythms with percussion provided by the eponymous filter.

In 2003 Betke departed from this style for the album “Pole” (a combination of tracks from two EPs, “45/45” and “90/90”), which utilized more traditionally electronics.

Pole has been distributed on several different labels, including Matador Records and Mute Records, and in 1999 Betke co-founded (with Barbara Preisinger) the label ~scape, also known for publishing Jan Jelinek. On September 1, 2011, Betke founded a new artist label named Pole.

For the synthpoppers out there, Betke oversaw the 2021 re-master of Alphaville’s 1989 album “The Breathtaking Blue” alongside Bernhard Lloyd.

‘Click Interview’ with Dimitri Berzerk: ‘The Strange Journey Of Consciousness That Seeks The Transmutation Of Darkness Into Light’

Inferno Sound Diaries — Tue, 22 Jun 2021 17:00:00 +0000

Dimitri Loyo better known as Dimitri Berzerk is a Mexican DJ, producer, remixer and label owner. His artist name ‘Berzerk’ is inspired by various sources. Some of you maybe remember that Atari video game with the same name, which was particularly important to the artist as it was his first experience with vocoders in a video game. So Dimitri seeks to express the influence of the Retro-Pop culture within his music. But his artist name is also a wink to Apoptygma Berzerk, which is a band Dimitri particularly like. After numerous remixes for other artists, Dimitri Berzerk started releasing his own music. Three EP’s have been released thus far on his own label Sector Industrial Producciones. The songs clearly reflect the above mentioned influences and are worthy of examination.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: You are active as a DJ, producer and remixer, artist, record label owner… but how did you get in touch with Electronic music? Can you tell us something more briefly about all your activities?

Dimitri: I’ve always been in love with music and in one way or another throughout my life I have sought to get involved with it. Everything started to flow better since I started as a DJ 16 years ago. From then on it has only been to continue advancing on this path. Electronic music, particularly everything related to Industrial and Synth-Pop, was one way that I was able to define myself better as a teenager. They are styles that caught me immediately and sounds that I later decided to work with. On the other hand, for approximately seven years I have been teaching DJ classes with very good results for both myself and my students.

Q: How did you finally come to compose your own music? What are the main sources of inspiration and what kind of sound did you have in mind?

Dimitri: With such a love for music it was only a matter of time before I started to compose my own music. I first tried to set up some bands and after several unsuccessful attempts I decided that it would be better working alone. In 2009 I started working on remix productions. This was a first step to later be able to compose my own songs.

Inspiration comes from everywhere, cinema, literature, video games, music, travel, philosophy, people and even in my dreams I have been able to come up with important ideas. The great challenge has been to find a way to abstract those ideas and translate them into something that can work without leaving the sound I am trying to present.

My main influences could be found between EBM, Synth-Pop, Industrial and New-Wave however I am always looking for and listening to music from other styles and scenes.

Q: You’ve already released some EPs where you collaborated with guest singers -like Claus Larsen. Tell us a little more about the writing of the EPs and the choice of the guest singers.

Dimitri: To be honest with you it has been a somewhat complicated task to be able releasing these EP’s especially because I have released them under my own label Sector Industrial. In one hand I have better control of what happens, but on the other hand the work intensifies since I have to take charge of the whole process behind a release. I think the real difficult thing is to dare taking the first step. After that, things start to flow and settle down step by step.

Collaborating with guest vocalists is a somewhat arduous task since many times everything has to be done remotely, however the result is always wonderful. I see it as a way to complement my work since I have always seen myself behind the machines programming music as a DJ or playing it live and having a guest on the vocals is always an extra element that helps to expand and fill the final sound of a song or in a presentation.

As you mentioned, Claus Larsen has been one of the people with whom I have had the opportunity to collaborate and I can only say that it has been an honour. Working with a person that I admire and respect for his musical work as well as his human quality is a dream come true.

Q: Your last EP “A.I.C.Q.T.I.L. has something conceptual and is an ode to the French film director Jean Luc Godard and his film “Alphaville”. What fascinates you about Godard’s work, who was a true innovator in film history?

Dimitri:

‘-Quel est le privilège du mort?

-Ne plus mourir

-Savez-vous ce qui transforme la nuit en lumière?

-La poesie’

Dialogues like this have made me love “Alphaville”. Godard’s work on this film is fascinating. Despite having received a lot of criticism for his ‘attempt of science fiction’ lacking special effects and images in space as was common at the time, I believe that he managed to capture his idea very well. Few would dare to produce a sci-fi film in a Film Noire style. Add to this poetry by Paul Éluard and “The New Refutation Of Time” by Jorge Luis Borges and you have a masterpiece, at least from my perspective.

When I saw the film translated into Spanish, I realized that the dialogues underwent slight changes in order to adapt them to the language. The same thing that apparently happened when Godard adapted “Borges”’s original text (written in Spanish) to the French language for the inclusion of the “Alpha 60” dialogues. My curiosity increased and I took on the task of looking for the film in as many languages as I could and the result was fascinating. Each version had slight changes, omissions and variations that adapt it to the cultural context of each country. Hence it is that I decide to title the song under an acrostic in Latin, in order to work from a slightly more ‘neutral’ point. The title could be understood as “The Strange Journey Of Consciousness That Seeks The Transmutation Of Darkness Into Light”.

Musically I sought to work with somewhat darker and colder sounds that were in turn warmed by being processed through an open reel tape. In short, this is a conceptual launch that seeks to narrow different worlds, the digital with the analog, the literary with the cinematographic and also the musical, the one that each language creates, etc.

Q: You have remixed an impressive list of international artists and you also like to see your own songs remixed by others. Tell us a little more about this fascination and how do you see yourself as a remixer? What are your favorite remixes? How do you work / proceed when remixing other artists?

Dimitri: As of today I have in my catalog just over 100 remixes produced under my signature DMT BERZERK. From the DJ’s perspective, remixing is a fundamental tool since in it you can find the style that best suits you in a given song. As a producer I love hearing the way others perceive and work on my compositions adjusting them to their own style. In addition, I think it is a very interesting way to interact between musicians and to finish exploiting the potential that a song may have hidden.

One of my favorite remixes is “Into Darkness” by the Mexican Post-Punk band Dramatic. I connected very quickly with the song and things just flowed. Regarding my production process, I usually listen to the song to be remixed a couple of times to find the way to work it. Once the way is found, I don’t listen to the song again to try to get away from its original sound as necessary. First of all, I want the remix to be useful in structure to be able to play it as a DJ and therefore to work musically on the dance floor. everything else is adapting under the infinity of existing possibilities 🙂

Q: How do you see yourself as a DJ and what influence do your DJ activities have on the songs you compose? What are the additional plans? Maybe an album?

Dimitri: My career as a DJ has helped me definitely a lot to work on issues related to music production since the experience on the dance floor has allowed me to delve into and understand a little more the reactions and sensations that each melody can provoke. On the other hand, being a DJ becomes a permanent responsibility so that the flow of music continues in motion since if we do not make an effort to promote new music we can be participants in a generational fracture within independent scenes.

Right now I have in preorder my new release entitled “The Liquid Path”, which I hope will see the light before the end of Summer. This is the third and last release that will be released from my debut album that will be presented in 2022.

But before that happens comes my eighth album of remixes for the second half of this year so there is still a lot of work and a lot music to share with all of you 🙂

Dimitri Berzerk – A.I.C.Q.T.I.L. (EP – Sector Industrial Producciones)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Sun, 16 May 2021 18:30:00 +0000

Genre/Influences: Minimal-Electro, Ambient-Electro.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Next to the great “Resist”-EP Mexican DJ/producer/label owner, Dimitri Berzerk also released this EP during 2020. The EP is accompanied by the visual work of the Mexican artist Cristina Ramírez. We can speak about a conceptual album, ‘The voices are in charge of the various dubbing applied to Jean Luc Godard’s cinematographic work “Alphaville”.

Content: The title song is an instrumental piece mixing Ambient atmospheres together with Minimal-Electro treatments while a slow cadence is running through the song. We next get 8 bonus tracks, which are characterized by vocal samplings from the film by Jean Luc Godard. The specificity of the different edits is you each time get another language: Spanish, English, Russian, German, Hungarian, Italian, Polish and of course French.

+ + + : “A.I.C.Q.T.I.L.” has less in common with the “Resist”-EP, but it reveals another side of Dimitri Berzerk. If “Resist” clearly sounds as a dancefloor cut, we here discover a more dreamy song accomplished with great minimal sound treatments while the downtempo of the song makes it pretty accessible. From a pure commercial point of view the idea to inject the same spoken samples from the Godard movie in different languages is just great. It’s an original idea and I can’t remember if an artist already did such an approach. The EP also is a great ode to the genius of the ‘Nouvelle Vague’ film director Jean Luc Godard.

– – – : The only minus is that after a while you get a bit bored of the song, which is repeating itself. So you better choose the language you prefer. A Swedish edit would have been cool as well as there’s a great Swedish Electro scene.

Conclusion: Dimitri Berzerk didn’t repeat himself, but reveals another side of his creativity.

Best songs: “A.I.C.Q.T.I.L. – Interprétation En Français”.

Rate: (7½).

Artist: www.facebook.com/dimitri.berzerk

Label: www.sector-industrial.com / www.facebook.com/sector.industrial.producciones

Blutengel – Fountain Of Destiny (Album – Out Of Line)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Mon, 10 May 2021 18:00:00 +0000

Genre/Influences: Electro, Electro-Wave.

Format: Digital, CD, Vinyl.

Background/Info: While Chris Pohl last year released the debut album of his side-project She Hates Emotions, which was devoted to the 80s, he now strikes back with this new Blutengel album featuring cover versions of legendary 80s songs. The album is available in different formats, but I here review the classical CD version featuring ten covers plus two extra songs.

Content: Blutengel transposed the original Electro-Wave/Pop songs into a very personal interpretation. You always recognize the original songs, but also the typical –and rougher, but melodic Blutengel touch. Chris Pohl remains the lead singer while Ulrike Godmann sings a few songs as well.

The bands that were covered include Duran Duran, Alphaville, Ultravox, Gary Numan, Steinberg & Kelly, Mike & The Mechanics, Yazoo, Propaganda, A-Ha and Erasure. Last, but not least we also get two extra songs written by Blutengel featuring the instrumental “Journey To The Edge Of The Night”.

+ + + : Covering legendary songs such as “Wild Boys”, “Forever Young”, “Nobody’s Diary”, “Dr. Mabuse”, “The Sun Always Shines On TV” or yet “Ship Of Fools” remain a tricky business. It’s an exercise, which is often more efficient when the songs are played live instead than releasing a ‘special’ album. But there’s a reason if Blutengel is recognized as one of the absolute leading formations from this scene and that probably explains why these interpretations have been accomplished with passion and knowledge. It sometimes feels like Blutengel is the original writer of the songs, this way realizing a sonic bridge between the 80s and Blutengel’s sound. The production of the vocals is absolutely great. We probably all have our favorites, but the way Duran Duran’s “Wild Boys” has been reworked is brilliant. I also have to mention Yazoo’s “Nobody’s Diary sung by Ulrike Goldmann. Blutengel takes their fans by surprise by this new opus. And as a little bonus you get a great song entitled “Unsere Zeit”, which is a typical, but efficient Blutengel piece.

– – – : I definitely prefer original albums, but I can live with this one.

Conclusion: I think this album has been a way to bring homage to legendary 80s artists, who probably inspired the work of Chris Pohl.

Best songs: “Nobody’s Diary”, “Wild Boys”, “Dr. Mabuse”, “Alone” + Unsere Zeit”.

Rate: (8).

Artist: www.blutengel.de / www.facebook.com/BlutengelOfficial

Label: www.outofline.de / www.facebook.com/outoflinelabel

Wolfsheim founder releases new lyric video for Renard project: ‘Heresy (feat. Sarah Blackwood)’

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Wed, 17 Feb 2021 13:03:03 +0000

Available now is a new lyric video for Wolfsheim founder Markus Reinhardt’s project Renard. The video is for “Heresy” which features Sarah Blackwood (Client, Dubstar) on vocals and which is taken from Renard’s debut solo album “Waking Up In A Different World”.

Markus Reinhardt is the founder of the Hamburg based hit-making synth pop duo Wolfsheim. His band lit up the German charts with album releases such as “Spectators” (1999) and “Casting Shadows” (2003).

Following a well-publicised anachronistic break-up of the band, Reinhardt returned in October 2020 with Renard and the release of a debut solo album on which he collaborated with producers Oliver Blair (Ladytron, Client, Kelli Ali of Sneaker Pimps, etc) and the Hamburg based Chaos Compressor Club (Moddi, Love A, etc).

Vocal duties on the album were executed by Sarah Blackwood (Client, Dubstar), Pascal Finkenauer, Urban-folk singer Joseh brings, Greek vocalist/composer Marietta Fafouti, Berlin based Australian Eliza Hiscox (royalchord) and German singer Marian Gold, the co-founder of legendary fellow hit-makers Alphaville.

Here’s the lyric video for “Heresy”.

Blutengel covers 80s hits on ‘Fountain of Destiny’

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Tue, 02 Feb 2021 19:06:32 +0000

Out on March 12 is a brand new Blutengel album: “Fountain of Destiny”. The album holds ten iconic songs from the 80s. The CD version also includes two brand new Blutengel tracks: the instrumental “Journey to the Edge of the World” and “Unsere Zeit”.

The cover songs were of course handpicked by Chris Pohl and Ulrike Goldmann. Check out the tracklist below, including of course Duran Duran, a-ha, Gary Numan, Propaganda, Alphaville, Yazoo, Erasure and so on.

The Wild Boys
Forever Young
Hymn
Down in the Park
Alone
Silent Running
Nobody’s Diary
Dr. Mabuse
The Sun Always Shines on TV (Blutengel Version)
Ship of Fools
Unsere Zeit
Journey to the Edge of the Night (Instrumental)

‘Click Interview’ with Renard: ‘I Hope That My Album Can Comfort The Listeners’

Inferno Sound Diaries — Fri, 01 Jan 2021 18:00:00 +0000

Markus Reinhardt together with Peter Heppner will be always linked to WOLFSHEIM. The successful German Electro/Wave-Pop duo split after their last –and probably best, album “Casting Shadows. Seventeen years after this brilliant opus, Markus Reinhardt is back on track unleashing the debut album “Waking Up In A Different World” (released by Metropolis Records) under the name RENARD. The project name is directly linked to Markus name; Reinhardt being basically the German name for ‘Renard’. But Markus Reinhardt also explained that he likes the French author Jules Renard. He even used his quote ‘Paradise does not exist, but we must nonetheless strive to be worthy of it’ to promote his album. The album is a fully accomplished piece of Electro-Pop with some extra Indie influences. Markus Reinhardt got the help of guest singers Joseh, Marietta Fafouti, Pascal Finkenauer (JAW), Sarah Blackwood (CLIENT), Marian Gold (ALPHAVILLE) and Elisa Hizcox (ROYALCHORD). This is what Markus had to say about RENARD.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: I think it’s impossible to start this interview without getting back to WOLFSHEIM. A lot of things have been said about the split, but I’m more interested to know how difficult it was to leave this band behind you and especially after the last album “Casting Shadows”? How do you look back at the accomplishment of WOLFSHEIM?

Markus: The end of WOLFSHEIM came as a surprise to me at the time. I was shocked because I assumed that WOLFSHEIM would be with me until the end of my life. So first I was a little lost, but if life has other plans for you, then you have to accept it. And sometimes you don’t understand why it happened until many years later. When I founded WOLFSHEIM at the time, I quickly realized that I didn’t want to be a musician to achieve a short-term success. I had the hope of being able to write music with some shelf life. Even if nothing is eternal, it seems to me to have succeeded to a certain extent.

Q: I can easily imagine as a musician/composer you felt the need to compose new songs. What have you been doing all over the years and how did you finally come to set up RENARD?

Markus: Sure, I felt the need to compose most the time and I guess it will never end. But often I felt a kind of void, even while WOLFSHEIM was quite successful. I was puzzled and for a while I thought I’m not thankful enough, but soon I realized I had to find out why I felt this way. So it was a time of self-reflection and I ended up writing scripts for TV-shows among other things. Music and writing is a great combination!

Q: What can you tell us about the writing and production of “Waking Up In A Different World”? Did you had specific ideas in mind about the sound and its production?

Markus: Some of the songs on the album I’d composed for WOLFSHEIM, so they are a bit older. But that’s never a problem if a song has a certain quality. Around 2005 I finally managed to work only on a laptop without external devices. I’d dreamed about it back in the early 90s. And I believe that this technical development is one of the reasons why compositions became bit more organic. And ultimately, I wanted to get to the core of every song in the studio. My songs have a certain fragile mood that not everyone knows how to deal with. A wrong sound or beat can ruin everything. So it took a long time to find the right producers.

Q: I now and then recognize some specific WOLFSHEIM arrangements, but globally speaking I get the impression you ‘renewed’ yourself revealing another side of Markus Reinhardt. How would you define yourself as composer and how did you see yourself evolving throughout the years?

Markus: Such questions make interviews interesting, because I’m forced to think about my own work and that’s doesn’t come easy. On the whole, I believe that I can now cater the needs of my songs even better, if you can say so; which singer could fit perfectly and which instrumentation would then best to emphasize the mood? And I guess I think even less about a commercial success during the whole production. Only the songs are important.

Q: You decided to work with guest singers and especially the collaboration with Marian Gold from ALPHAVILLE and Sarah Blackwood from CLIENT caught my attention. Tell us a bit more about the different singers? Did you’d specific criteria in mind about the choice of the singers and how did the collaboration happened (lyrical- and production wise)?

Markus: Marian is definitely one of the best singers in the world and I couldn’t imagine that one day he would sing for me. But it soon turned out that he is a WOLFSHEIM fan and that’s how we started working together. And of course, I’d a certain idea of, which song could be a perfect match. I gave him probably 10 and only 2 of them worked out though.

Sarah I met through a label guy. I knew her voice from DUBSTAR and CLIENT and I was surprised that she knew my work too. I’m thankful to her because she was the third to join RENARD, at a time not many people believed in the project.

Q: Because of the pandemic 2020 became a rather strange and terrific year to release a new album, but at the other side, music and arts generally speaking, have the power to make forget all bad things around us. How do you look back at 2020 and what means music to you –especially in hard times?

Markus: It was shocking to see how quickly the world around you can change and what is possible when people act out of a certain fear. Of course music can be like a safe haven and I hope that my album can comfort the listeners. Now and in the future.

‘Click Interview’ with Navigator Project: ‘We Started With The Abyss To Reach, In The End, The Light’

Inferno Sound Diaries — Sat, 12 Dec 2020 18:00:00 +0000

NAVIGATOR PROJECT is an Italian band based in Naples. The band was set up by Amir Sabljaković and joined by his son Daniel and Caroline Darko. They this year released the debut album “Follow The Light” on ScentAir Records, which is a successful mix between EBM, Electro-Pop and Electro-Wave music. The album features nine songs and will appeal for 80s lovers. NAVIGATOR PROJECT is a promising formation and I’m really wondering to see how this band will evolve.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: I think for most of the readers NAVIGATOR PROJECT will be a new name so can you briefly tell us a bit more about your music background and how this project saw the daylight?

AMIR: Navigator Project was born about 2 years ago. After several collaborations I decided to put something together that would totally reflect myself. I’m very inspired by the 80’s New-Wave, (Depeche Mode, Sisters of Mercy, Joy Division, Alphaville), but also some contemporary bands like Editors and White Lies.

Q: Amir, you’ve been involved with other music projects so what makes NAVIGATOR PROJECT different and maybe special to you? Did you’ve a specific sound in mind you wanted to accomplish?

AMIR: Surely the thing that makes this project special is the presence of my son Daniel who took care of the rhythmic part. I have never used schemes in composing, I have always been inspired by the reference bands trying to produce something original (which is very difficult these days).

Q: How did this debut album “Follow The Light” finally took shape? What did you keep in mind from the writing- and production process and what have been the main difficulties and challenges in the accomplishment of the album?

AMIR: In the realization of “Follow The Light” the decisive part were the special people who helped me. There were many difficulties. I have always had problems writing the lyrics and this time Caroline Darko (an integral part of the project now) came to my rescue. She immediately understood what I needed.

Dragan from X-MOUTH SYNDROME helped me with guitar arrangements and more. Last but not least, Mika Rossi put the final mark on the production.

Q: I experienced the songs as very diversified; from EBM influences to Dark-Wave arrangements to retro Electro-Pop. How do you explain this diversity and is there any specific genre you feel more comfortable with? Do you’ve already ideas in mind about the next album/work?

AMIR: Some songs were composed several years ago while I completed others during lockdown. That’s why each song seems to be in a different style. I prefer Electronics, but I don’t disdain guitars. We are already working on the second album. There is a lot of material to work on, but with the times we are living, we will have a lot of time working on it.

Q: You already mentioned Mika Rossi who co-produced the album? What has been his true impact in the production process and what did you eventually learn from him?

AMIR: I owe everything to Mika. In all honesty, everything I have learned over the years is thanks to him. Without his help and support I would never have been able to release this album. In addition to the musical collaboration we have a ten-year friendship.

Q: Reading the lyrics of the songs I got the impression the lyrical themes –which are mainly dark and existential, are really important. Can you tell us a bit more about it? What did you try to accentuate, maybe exorcize?

Caroline: Well, you’ve just got the point. My lyrics are so focused on an intimate perspective of the world, a sort of consideration on how the world is changed, and how much we’ve been influenced by this root-and-branch changing. How much this affected us. So, our interiority is in flux as well, and sometimes it is really difficult to accept it, and not being eaten by bitterness, distress and ourselves. It’s very hard to survive and ‘follow the light’ when we live in a darkened era and we would only change the timescale, but yet we can try; that’s the main core of our record. I tried to accentuate the existentialism of the human being.

At the beginning, Amir provided me some suggestions, and I just listened. The tracks spoke to me since the very first moment, and came out so naturally! I gave them life, sometimes through metaphorical- and dark keys. For example: “Spellbound” is based on the character of Susie Bannion in Luca Guadagnino’s “Suspiria”, which has an allegorical function in the song. “An Angel” is nearly related to a biblical and fantastical imagery to talk about inner struggles (the Shadows we feed on), or “Imago Noctis” -a poem of mine performed by me”, which is an ode to the Death (as opposed to the regained will to live in the last track, “Follow The Light”). The same dark existentialism attends in “What’s Left Of Us?” (the one track with melodies and lyrics wholly by my friend Amir), a more obsessive, psychedelic song written during the quarantine. The most existential and spiritual song is, without doubt, “In The Spiral”; deals with the fact that we should open our eyes, comprehend the sense of our life and enjoy it as long as we can because, no matter what we do, we live in a hurt, fake world, and we’ll keep being trapped in the illusion of hope (the ”Cemetery Of Despair”), as a limbo: a dog devouring its tail. So it is better to embrace and be brave to be Humans. We started with the abyss to reach, in the end, the light.

Renard – Waking up In A Different World (Album – Metropolis Records)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Thu, 03 Dec 2020 19:30:28 +0000

Genre/Influences: Electro-Pop.

Format: Digital, CD, Vinyl.

Background/Info: Markus Reinhardt will be forever linked with Wolfsheim. After the band’s split we didn’t hear that much from Reinhardt who finally resurrected as Renard. This is the first chapter from a new project on which Markus Reinhardt joined hands together with different singers. Joseh, Marietta Fafouti, Pascal Finkenauer (Jaw), Sarah Blackwood (Client), Marian Gold (Alphaville) and Elisa Hizcox (Royalchord) have been his guests.

Content: Soundwise you’ll rapidly recognize typical arrangements reminding you of Wolfsheim, but the album also is the beginning of a new adventure. And this sound remains for sure Electro-Pop driven, but it also has something Indie-like. Electronics and guitar playing are complementary, becoming melodic and sometimes reminding me of the universe of Moby. But Renard is for sure more melancholic although some of the singers inject a delicious, sensual touch to the composition. Joseh and Marian Gold each sang on 2 tracks. The last song is an instrumental.

+ + + : We first of all have to welcome the comeback of Markus Reinhardt. But more than a comeback, this is a true resurrection of great Electro-Pop made in Germany. It’s not really comparable, it has something unique. That’s maybe why some songs remind me of the genius of Moby like the outstanding “Hotel” featuring Marian Gold. The music is accomplished, revealing brilliant sound treatments and empowered by judicious guitar playing. But the contribution and input of the vocalists is also part of this successful work. I already mentioned Marian Gold who probably never sang on a better song than on the legendary Alphaville hits. But there’s also something to say about the passion injected in “Restless” by Marietta Fafouti and the sensuality emerging from “Eliza Hiscox” and “My Heart’s Still Shaking”. I also have to mention Sarah Blakwood singing on the sad sounding “Heresy”. The opening cut “The Meissen Figurine ” featuring Joseh will for sure remind you of Wolfsheim.

– – – : I can’t see real minus points about this work, but the final track “Intelligent Design”, which also is an instrumental edit, is a rather disappointing end of a great work.

Conclusion: Markus Reinhardt hasn’t lost his genius to write a very unique kind of Electro/Wave-Pop music and this Renard’s debut is a refreshing release in the world of Electro-Pop music.

Best songs: “Hotel”, “My Heart’s Still Shaking”, “The Meissen Figurine”, “Travel In Time”, “Damn Happy”.

Rate: (8½).

Artist: www.renard-official.com / www.facebook.com/renardofficial2020

Label: www.metropolis-records.com / www.facebook.com/MetropolisRecords

Predatorial Right by Strikkland Levitate by Strikkland Dance like a God by Strikkland A gift of Solitude by Strikkland

Strikkland interview: ‘Here we are, seven months, three singles and one EP later.’

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Thu, 12 Nov 2020 06:52:15 +0000

(Interview by Simon Helm / photo by Krichan Wihlborg) Sweden’s love affair with EBM goes back a long way. Bands like Pouppée Fabrikk, Container 90, Kropp, Sturm Café and Spetsnaz have carried the torch for body music for many years.

The next generation of Swedish artists influenced by the sound has included Rein, Circumpolar and Strikkland. These acts have built on the beats of their predecessors by adding elements of electronic pop.

The last of these has started to release a series of singles and an EP independently in 2020. A duo composed of Henric Ceder (keyboards and computers) and Henrik Johansson (vocals), Strikkland has combined EBM and pop influences to striking effect. They have also leveraged Johannson’s skills as a videographer to ensure that their visuals are as dramatic as their sound.

We asked Ceder to tell us about Strikkland’s work and plans in the time of corona.

SL: How did you come together as Strikkland?

S: Strikkland was started in Trollhättan, Sweden, in 2015.

Henrik and I had been friends for a long time, and we shared a passion for electronic music. We had often talked about starting a band, since he had a background as a singer in a metal band and I had been mucking about with synthesizers since the mid 1980’s. In 2015, we actually sat down to make something, and the result was “Predatorial Right.”

Unfortunately, Life™ intervened. I got divorced, moved to Gothenburg, and Predatorial Right ended up in a drawer until the summer of 2019, when it was played at a private Subkult Festival pre-party in Trollhättan.

The feedback we got was amazing, and in April 2020 it became our first single, released on all major streaming platforms. To our surprise, the single was nominated as a newcomer at the German Electronic Web Charts (GEWC.de) and aired at several Web radio stations across Europe and even in South America. That was like a vitamin injection for us that really sparked our creativity. So, here we are, seven months, three singles and one EP later.

The “Dance Like a God” video.

SL: How important is the visual element to you?

S: The visual element is pretty important. A reason for that is probably the fact that Henrik is a photographer by trade. The cover art of our releases are all photos taken by him. Our first (and, so far, only) music video (“Dance like a God”) is shot by his film production company and directed by his wife Sofie.

The obvious thing to do would be to go to a closed-down factory and take pictures in black-and-white, posing in combat boots in front of chimneys, rubble and cog wheels, and use that as cover art; but the visuals are an equally important part of our art (if we may call it art without sounding like pretentious wankers). So, we do our thing just like we do with our music.

SL: Your style is based on old school EBM, but you have acknowledged influences ranging from metal to Depeche Mode. What do you draw upon to create your music?

S: We both love old school EBM, and it has had a huge impact on us in terms of influence, but we can never become another DAF, Nitzer Ebb or Front 242, even if we wanted to. We also have to confess that we love synth-pop, lush pads and solid melodies. I mean, I grew up in the 1980’s with Human League, Depeche Mode, Ultravox, Alphaville, Yazoo and all the other great artists like Vangelis and Jarre – that was the soundtrack to my youth. So, of course, that all sits in the back of my brain when I write the music.

I also took classical piano lessons for more than a decade when I was young, so that probably has an impact, as well. I usually sit down with the intention to make a raw bassline on an analog hardware synth, but a few hours later there are pads and melodies added. That is our workflow, by the way: I write the music and Henrik writes the lyrics and does the vocals.

SL: What is next for Strikkland? There seem to be remixes on the way?

S: There is another single in the making, which will hopefully be released in November. We will also be releasing some remixes of our music that other bands are working on right now. No ETA on those yet, though. We are also working on a remix for the amazing Swedish band Octolab, and we are making a cover song for a German compilation that will be out before Xmas.

There is a small Covid-safe live performance together with our good friends Peter and Robert of Dpoint scheduled for December 18^th. Hopefully, we can pull that one off, but of course nobody knows these days. Last but not least, we are looking for a label to help us to the next level – to release a full album on physical media.

SL: Are you happy with how your material has been received?

S: We are extremely happy and thankful for the amazing support and positive feedback we have received. Strikkland wouldn’t exist without it, and that is what sparks us to continue. With that said, we did expect some of the songs on the A Gift to Solitude EP to attract more streams and attention. I mean, “Kinky Sophisticated Gentleman” deserves to be a floor-filler, and “Truth Will Unfold,” where my wife Cecilia contributes with some vocals, is a pretty solid track with a 80’s vibe to it.

But, all in all, we are extremely happy with the reception of our music and we really want to thank everyone who helps making this journey possible for two fifty year olds!

Released so far…

Wolfsheim founder Markus Reinhardt releases ‘Travel In Time’ video for single from upcoming debut solo album under the Renard moniker – watch it here

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Fri, 28 Aug 2020 09:42:31 +0000

(Photo by Sven Emme) Renard is the brand new project by Wolfsheim founder Markus Reinhardt. Out now is the “Travel In Time” video shot for a single from his upcoming debut solo album “Waking up in a different world”. The track itself features the German singer Pascal Finkenauer (known from JAW, The Black Cherries, etc.).

It’s not the first time that the duo works together, in 2010 they formed Comfortable Cave Goodbye and released the rather great single…. “Travel in Time”. That track now gets picked up again for another project. The album was recorded with producers Oliver Blair (Ladytron, Client, Kelli Ali of Sneaker Pimps, etc) and the Hamburg based Chaos Compressor Club (Moddi, Love A, etc).

“The end of Wolfsheim motivated me to reinvent myself. A process that was urgently needed. With Renard, I’m more with myself,” he states. “My album combines the sound and mood of the 80’s with the stylistic devices of today.”

Here’s the Renard version.

The original version as released by Comfortable Cave Goodbye in 2010.

Guest vocalists from Client, Alphaville, …

Besides Pascal Finkenauer the project has several other singers, including urban-folk artist Joseh, Sarah Blackwood (Client, Dubstar), Greek vocalist/composer Marietta Fafouti, Eliza Hiscox (royalchord) and German singer Marian Gold (Alphaville). The two hold a long-held mutual admiration for each other’s work.

Tracklist:

The Meissen Figurine (feat Joseh)
Restless (feat Marietta Fafouti)
Travel In Time (feat Pascal Finkenauer)
Heresy (feat Sarah Blackwood)
Hotel (feat Marian Gold)
My Heart’s Still Shaking (feat Eilza Hiscox)
Damn Happy (feat Marian Gold)
Junkyards (feat Pascal Finkenauer)
Intelligent Design

Silence after Wolfsheim

For those who are unknown with Wolfsheim, this was a highly popular synthpop duo from Hamburg, Germany, that consisted of Markus Reinhardt and Peter Heppner. They are best known for their singles “The Sparrows and the Nightingales” (1991), “Once in a Lifetime” (1998) and “Kein Zurück” (2003).

Although never officially disbanded, Wolfsheim has been inactive since 2005 due to a dispute between the two members, which even led to trials in 2007 and 2008 that forbade either member to continue Wolfsheim without the other. Heppner has since shown interest to reform the band, or at least start recording again with Reinhardt.

Markus Reinhardt has since the split been rather silent, let’s hope that this new project is the beginning of a new era for the musician.

She Hates Emotions – Melancholic Maniac (Album – Out Of Line)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Sat, 01 Aug 2020 19:30:59 +0000

Genre/Influences: Wave-pop, electro-pop.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: With She Hates Emotions, the Blutengel front man Chris Pohl wanted to pay homage to the 80s, a decade he has known as teenager and which has inspired him throughout bands such as Depeche Mode, Camouflage, Human League, Alphaville ao. It also is a new project set up by Christina Pohl who next to Blutengel got renowned for being involved with Terminal Choice, Tumor, Miss Construction, Seelenkrank ao.

Content: She Hates Emotions has nothing in common with Blutengel expect it is the same artist and operator so you for sure will recognize similar elements, but globally speaking this indeed is something completely different. Chris Pohl injected typical 80s elements, which you’ll hear emerging from some effects, snare drums and of course the melody lines, but there also is something more personal. This artist has been never a copyist so the songs rather sound as a personal interpretation of 80s influences or the transposition of new-wave elements into a contemporary version.

All songs –except the last ‘bonus’ track, have been sung in English revealing lyrics about love, loss and some rather familiar pop- and 80s subjects. The songs are danceable and definitely melodic, which is one of Chris Pohl’s trademarks.

+ + + : We already knew the EP-title song “See The Light”, but there’re clearly other potential singles featured. What I like in this artist is his ability to invent new projects with a different focus. The 80s inspiration is something he had never done before and he accomplished with a real devotion. I especially like the songs with explicit 80s aspects, “The Final Dance” being a little jewel. But I also have to mention “Turn Back The Time”, which is somewhat different for its melody line reminding to Kraftwerk. The production of the album is also an essential element. There’s a great sound based upon well-crafted songs with the right melody line and catchy choruses.

– – – : Blutengel definitely remains the artist’s best project ever! It all sounds like his other projects are just living in the shadow of Blutengel…

Conclusion: This debut is refreshing tribute to the 80s new/electro wave style!

Best songs: “The Final Dance”, “Don’t Leave Me”, “Turn Back The Time”, “Cry Wolf”, “See The Light”.

Rate: (8).

Artist: www.facebook.com/SheHatesEmotions

Label: www.outofline.de / www.facebook.com/outoflinelabel

Exclusive – Alan Wilder talks about the PPG: It Was A Sensitive, Delicate And Bloody Difficult Beast!

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Thu, 19 Mar 2020 15:08:40 +0000

Palm Products GmbH, a highly regarded manufacturer of audio synthesizers which was founded and owned by Wolfgang Palm, has been acquired by the software company Plugin Alliance. PPG is located in Hamburg, Germany and, for 12 years from around 1975 to 1987, manufactured a range of electronic musical instruments, all designed by Palm. We asked Alan Wilder (ex-Depeche Mode, Recoil) for some feedback on the PPG as you can see further in this article.

It is Plugin Alliance’s founding member Brainworx which acquired the assets of Wolfgang Palm’s PPG brand. PPG’s synth products will join Plugin Alliance, updated by Brainworx in close cooperation with founder Wolfgang Palm.

From keyboardist to keyplayer in audio synthesizer market

Wolfgang Palm was active as a keyboardist in bands in the Hamburg area before starting his company in 1975 which focussed on the developing synthesizer market. His first commercially available synthesizer was a modular synthesizer, the 300 Series, which failed to sell in large quantities. Inspired by the design of the Minimoog, Palm introduced the 1002 and 1020 synthesizers which were portable, analog, monophonic, and relatively compact. In 1979, PPG introduced the 340/380 System, a complex digital synthesizer which consisted of the 340 Processor Unit, the 340 Generator Unit, and the 380 Event Generator (a 16-track sequencer). Itt was used by Tangerine Dream and Thomas Dolby during the early 1980s.

But the big breakthrough only happened in 1980, when Palm introduced the “wavetable synthesis”. These digital synthesizers expanded upon the capabilities of Palm’s earlier synthesizers by expanding the sound creation tools with limited samples, which were compiled together in lists called wavetables. The first PPG synthesizer to implement this algorithm was the Wavecomputer 360, released in 1980 in two versions. But it was with the release of the Wave 2, which debuted in 1981, that the ball started rolling. In total, around 1,000 Waves were manufactured between 1981 and 1987, making it the most successful product PPG manufactured.

From a-ha to Depeche Mode’s Alan Wilder

The PPG Wave was used by artists such as A-ha, Alphaville, David Bowie, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Depeche Mode, Propaganda, Jean Michel Jarre, Level 42, Gary Numan, Robert Palmer, The Stranglers, Talk Talk, Tangerine Dream, Tears For Fears, Ultravox, and many others.

We asked Alan Wilder (ex-Depeche Mode, Recoil) for some feedback on the PPG.

Exclusive: Alan Wilder Talks The PPG: It Was A Sensitive, Delicate And Bloody Difficult Beast!

Alan Wilder: “Depeche used a PPG Wave 2 (+ subsequent 2.2) mainly in the studio for the second album (‘A Broken Frame’, 1982) and onwards for a couple of years. Its unique and distinctive sounds are unmistakable on that record. The single ‘See You’ features the very recognisable choir sound, plus the bell riff and other parts, while that release’s B-side ‘Now This Is Fun’ also has PPG’s hallmark stamped all over it. The gratifying array of rich preset sounds it produced were not so easy to improve upon, although Dan Miller would have a go. Complex synthesis produced bell-like overtones that, until that time, had never really been heard to such an extent electronically – later to be resurrected, via equally confusing algorithms, in Yamaha’s DX7 but not nearly with comparable depth or character in my view.

The PPG was a sensitive, delicate & bloody difficult beast however – trying to use it in a live environment proved to be disastrous and the band soon jettisoned that idea following endless embarrassing breakdowns. When it failed, just to let you know how unhappy it was, a massive ‘clunk’ would be accompanied by a loud piercing siren-type noise. Only a re-boot would sort it out – sadly an all too short-lived fix. No, it needed caressing & cajoling and I guess when sampling came along, coupled with Dan Miller’s beast of a Synclavier featuring heavily on DM’s next album ‘Construction Time Again’, the forlorn-looking PPG got relegated and ignored somewhat. A real gem of its time.”

PPG officially ceased business operations and closed its doors in 1987 after shelving the Realizer project. The Realizer was an all-in-one studio machine which combined production, recording, sequencing, and mixing tools into one machine in addition to a sophisticated sampling and synthesis system.

Wolfgang Palm after PPG

After the decline of PPG, Wolfgang Palm continued to be an active innovator in the area of synthesizer technology. For Waldorf Music for example he designed the digital ASIC for the first Waldorf product Microwave (1989) which basically contained the complete sound engine of the PPG wave 2.2. In 2002, Steinberg from its side released PLEX, a software synthesizer designed by Palm.

Today, nearly every digital synthesizer implements wavetable synthesis in some form, and the Wave’s unique integration of analogue and digital circuitry influenced synthesizers such as the Monowave and the E-mu Emulator.

www.facebook.com/jrstange

Alphaville live in Norway – concert and interview: ‘The most bizarre show? Lebanon, we saw a toy shop, with a Mickey Mouse figure outside, full of bullet holes’

Jan Ronald Stange — Wed, 11 Dec 2019 20:44:47 +0000

(By our Norwegian correspondent Jan Ronald Stange)

November 30th we were a gang of friends going to Sundvolden Hotel, 45 mins out of Oslo, spending the night at the hotel, having both a classic Norwegian xmas party (“julebord”) AND an Alphaville concert! As we were all teenagers at the time Alphaville started, we all had a connection to their first hits like ‘Big in Japan’, ‘Sounds like a melody’, ‘Summer in Berlin’, ‘A victory of love’ etc., and was really looking forward to seeing them live for the first time.

The concert started with Marian Gold (singer) jumping around, eager to get started, kicking off with ‘The jet set’. Early highlights were ‘Dance with me’ and of course ‘Big in Japan’, but personally I think they started getting better during ‘I die for you today’. After the ‘The flame’, ‘Summer in Berlin’ and ‘To Germany with love’, the song ‘Nevermore’ from their latest album (surprisingly to many that hadn’t heard it before) really kicked the whole ambience up a notch. From then on a hit parade stretch with ‘A victory of love’, ‘Sounds like a melody’ and ending the main set with all of the audience singing along on ‘Forever young’ – best moment of the show!
Extras were ‘The Rose’ and ‘Beyond the laughing sky’ before exiting the arena and start looking for the hotel suite for the interview. Arriving there I found the whole band and others were present, but my interview appointment was with Marian.

S-L: First of all; the gig tonight – how was it? Did you like playing here?
Marian Gold: Yeah, it was OK. Hotels gigs can be kind of mixed emotions, can’t be compared to a regular gig. People have paid for a xmas dinner party, maybe hotel, we’re part of that package for many of the guests, but we had a great time. And since we came straight from Moscow, so anything else is better than that! Moscow was a bit grey and depressing this time, and when we landed in Oslo it was all sunshine and snow!

S-L: You usually play clubs and concert arenas – and a xmas party at little Sundvolden?
MG: We’re been a touring band since 1995, playing 40-50 gigs every year, and our tour manager gets lots of offers from all over. It’s not that important where it is, as long as it fits our schedule we don’t need much other details. If we haven’t been there before, let’s go there! And this was a really nice place too.

S-L: Yep, it’s kind of winter wonderland here now, with the frozen trees and snow.
MG: It’s was really interesting as we came driving here on the highway, looking into the valley, having the clouds beyond with the light of the sunset – it was really beautiful!

S-L: What’s the strangest place you’ve played?
MG: Beirut. Just after the civil war in 1993, we had an invitation from the German embassy, and played in the northern part for local audience and Americans, in the Christian part. When we landed at the airport that was in the southern Muslim part, and we were escorted by heavy armored military car the whole way – three in front and three behind us. Some of the areas we drove through were completely destroyed. I especially remember a toy shop, with a Mickey Mouse figure outside, full of bullet holes. It’s was an absolutely bizarre trip, both heartbreaking playing for people who had been through the hardships of the war, but also one of the most fulfilling gigs we’ve ever done.

S-L: You’ve been touring for decades now – have the songs or the way you perform them changed through the years?
MG: Yes, we’ve been touring for almost 25 years now, and it feels like the songs change every time we play them. At this tour we’d been celebrating the earlier albums by trying to get the songs closer to the originals, but with more guitars etc. it’ll be a bit different anyway.

SL: Any future plans or releases? I read something about being in the studio recording “Thunderbaby”?
MG: That’s the working title of our upcoming album that we’re in the middle of doing, still collecting material for that one. I’m also in a collaboration with the Prague Symphony Orchestra, new versions of songs with a full orchestra.

S-L: Highlight of your career? A place, time, event?
MG: First time we played in South America we were able to visit Machu Piccu. We had a concert in Lima, and went there afterwards. We’ve had many highlights, playing in Trinidad and Tobago was also one of them. We’re basically a travelling band, oscillating between the studio and the stage. That’s our life, being introvert in the studio and extrovert on the stage, and we’re very happy with the differences between these two realities.

Thanx for an excellent evening, Alphaville, Jorunn, Beate and Finn, Kristin and Arne, Line and Roger, Line and Jan Kåre, Magnhild and Bjørn Agnar, Vibeke and Jan, Jostein and Vicky, Yvonne and Erik!

Jan Ronald Stange

Sometimes – when I’m not cooking, biking, listening to music or attending concerts, I write stuff for Side-Line.com. Mostly about Norwegian bands, but it’s been some Swedish, English, American, Danish, German and others too… 😉

Swedish darkwave project Sjöblom covers Alphaville on new EP ‘A victory of love’

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Mon, 07 Oct 2019 18:17:58 +0000

Out now on the German label Reptile Music is the brand new EP by the Swedish darkwave project Sjöblom. The title track is a cover version of the Alphaville classic which was the opener of their hit album “Forever Young“ in 1984. In addition to the second fresh track “Seconds“ the EP comes up with brand new remixes by Vive La Fête, Ash Code and Luc Stargazer.

Sjöblom is the solo project of Johan Sjöblom, and formed in 2016 in Stockholm. Johan is also the singer in the Swedish post-punk band The Exploding Boy, and played earlier in the indie pop band Prune and the indie rock band Fake Moss.

You can watch the video for “A victory of love” below.

Interview with Erasure ‘s Vince Clarke, Mark Saunders and Gareth Jones on re-release ‘Wild!’ LP

János Janurik — Thu, 28 Mar 2019 09:02:29 +0000

(Interview © Janos Janurik) 2019 is a year full of anniversaries and anniversary releases and tours, just think of bands and records or special concerts such as Alphaville (“Forever Young” (Super-Deluxe-Box)), the anniversary tour to A-ha`s debut album “Hunting High And Low”, special live performances of The Cure to their legendary “Disintegration” album – just to name a few…

This series is complemented by the re-release of Erasure’s “Wild!” LP. The album was originally released in October 1989 and put the duo of Vince Clarke and Andy Bell on the top of the charts. According to Erasure’s fan base this record is still one of their best and contains timeless classics like “Drama!”, “You Surround Me”, or “Blue Savannah”, which are still part of their concerts.

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of “Wild!”, our contributor, Janos Janurik, invited three people involved in that project for an interview: the unique and unrepeatable Vince Clarke and his right hands, who also have a good reputation among Depeche Mode fans: the two producers, Gareth Jones and Mark Saunders.

They were all ready for a discussion and answered the questions of our colleague as follows.

(Erasure press photo by David Scheinmann (1989))

Vince Clarke

SL: In the series of the Mute album re-releases the last Erasure LP of the eighties, “Wild! ” will be published on the occasion of its thirtieth anniversary. Which (not only musical) memories of the autumn of 1989 are still awake in you?

VC: – I remember the music was recorded in my very first home studio in London. Mark Saunders worked with me whilst Andy recorded with Gareth Jones at the ‘Church’ studio.

SL: The producer of this album was Gareth Jones, a long-time studio employee of Mute Records artists like Depeche Mode, Wire, and Nick Cave. His partner in the production team was the legendary mix master Mark Saunders. You worked together with Gareth on other Erasure albums. Which cooperation do you remember best? Do you have a favourite remix of Mark’s Erasure catalogue?

VC: – Mark did a fantastic remix of ‘You Surround Me’. He was/is very easy going and we got on well. At that point I didn’t really know Gareth.

SL: The single releases “Drama!” and “Blue Savannah” are still fix parts of your live setlists. On the Violet Flame Tour you performed remixes of the rarely played “Wild! ” singles “Star” and “You Surround Me”. Except “2000 Miles” you actually played all album songs at your previous concerts. Are you still satisfied with this material? How do you rate this album after 30 years of time?

VC: – Not bad. 🙂

SL: The “Wild! Tour” has perhaps been the biggest of your tours so far. You toured the world with a gigantic stage set. For the first time you had dancers on stage besides the background singers and there were also several costume changes and two different setlists. During this tour you also played live behind the iron curtain in Prague and then in exotic places like South America, Japan and Australia for the first time. Not to mention the legendary finale at the Milton Keynes Bowl. Do you have any special souvenirs from this tour that will bring back good memories?

VC: – I don’t have any souvenirs, but I remember that the tour was very exciting, especially play to such big crowds.

SL: The second disc of the forthcoming re-release will feature 14 bonus B-sides, remixes, rarities and live recordings, five of which are previously unreleased, including a brand-new remix of “Drama!” by Richard Norris and a recently discovered unreleased mix of “How Many Times?”. This song is my favourite song from the album and which one is yours?

VC: – “Blue Savannah”.

SL: But Erasure is not a nostalgia band of the 80s, because in the meantime you have released more than a dozen albums that have all been received positively – by fans as well as critics. What does the band-future of Erasure look like? Are there any plans for new material yet?

VC: – We hope to be writing for a new album in 2019.

SL: What would your message be for your fan base?

VC: – THANK YOU!

(Gareth Jones photo by GJ)

Gareth Jones

SL: Gareth, you’re supposed to be the in-house producer for Mute Records. Before working with Erasure, you’ve worked with renowned Mute artists such as Depeche Mode, Wire and Nick Cave. How do you remember the first meeting with label boss Daniel Miller and the studio work in Berlin with Depeche Mode on their „Construction Time Again” album?

GJ: – I have told this story many times, so I will keep it brief.

I was introduced to Daniel Miller and Depeche Mode by my friend and mentor John Foxx. He owned a studio called “The Garden” in Shoreditch in East London, and Daniel and Depeche Mode were interested in recording there. I was working for John at the time and he sent me over to the MUTE Records office, which at that time was in Kensington Gardens Square in West London, to meet the whole team. I was a bit nervous, but they were all super nice and normal people, and agreeably weird. Luckily for me they felt good about me too, and offered me the job.

SL: How did the request to produce Erasure’s „Wild!” album come about? Have you had contact with Vince Clarke and Andy Bell before?

GJ: – Before we started working on the “Wild” album I didn’t know Vince or Andy very well at all. For this record they had decided to make sure that there was plenty of time for Andy to work on his vocals. They were looking for someone to engineer and produce the vocals. I had already been working in Berlin with the incredibly talented Diamanda Galas. She had met Andy a couple of times I believe (I don’t know where) and she was kind enough to recommend my vocal production skills to him. So that is how I join the team.

SL: How was it working with them compared to Depeche Mode?

GJ: – This was a very different process from working with Depeche Mode. Initially I was hired to record and produce Andy’s vocals. Vince was in another studio with the other co-producer of the record, Mark Saunders. We were in the church studio and I think Mark and Vince were in Swing Studios.

The studios were both in North London so we were able to have meetings often, and we were continually exchanging musical and vocal ideas.

When it came to mixing it was decided that Mark and I would both mix the album. I was mixing in the Church and Mark was mixing in Konk. We were all determined to get the best out of the songs, so we all pushed each other to do our best like a Sound System contest.

I remember the first single “Drama!” went back and forth between our two studios a few times! Eventually we were all happy.

SL: Are there any favourites from this album that you are still proud of today?

GJ: – The whole record was an amazing experience. Vince and Andy are such strong song writers, talented musicians and all around wonderful people that it was a real pleasure and privilege to be a part of this great record.

I loved the whole process and I have a special affection for “Drama!” and” Blue Savannah”.

SL: You were not only involved in the „Wild!” project as a producer, but also as a remixer, for example the „Syrinx Mix” from „You Surround Me”, which is one of my favourites. Do you have a favourite remix from Erasure`s discography that you particularly enjoyed working on?

GJ: – I did 2 remixes of “Blue Savannah” (“Der Deutsche Mix 1 & 2”) in Berlin with my friends Sun Electric – Stephan Fisher, Max Loderbauer and Tom Thiel. I really enjoyed this – they are all so musical, creative and professional. It was truly a fantastic experience.

SL: After the „Wild!” album you had numerous co-productions with Erasure – among them you worked on one of my favourite albums from them, on the self-titled „Erasure”. And how about you? Do you have a favourite album from Erasure?

GJ: – The first album, “Wild!”, is dear to my heart. I also love the “Erasure” album. It was such a pleasure to work with my friend Thomas Fehlmann as a co-producer on the album and he bought so much to the table. I was so happy that Diamanda agreed to do a guest vocal on the record. We also had the pleasure of an amazing LP mix by Francois Kevorkian.

– The „Wild!” album also included an extensive world tour. Did you see Erasure live back then? If so, where? What did you think of them as a live act?

GJ: – I saw the Wild tour in Hamburg I think. I invited my parents to come along. The show was incredible. I am always impressed by Erasure live shows. The love between the band and the audience is so tangible and touching. Andy is an outrageously talented frontperson, and Vince is always Mr Cool. What a great combination!

SL: What are you currently working on and what are your plans for the future?

GJ: – I am currently writing and recording a solo electronic music project and a new collaboration that I am very excited about.

This year I will also be writing and releasing a new LP for the “Spiritual Friendship” project – an ongoing collaboration with the amazing Nick Hook.

I am also producing an exciting and enjoyably weird electronic pop album with American and European musicians for a new project called “Of Love And Lust”.

I will be back in Yann Tiersen’s fantastic new studio on the island of Ushant (Ouessant) later in the year, helping out with a new recording.

(Mark Saunders photo by MS)

Mark Saunders

SL: Among your early outstanding works is the engineering of some of David Bowie’s songs from 1985 and 1986, who was the idol of several generations of musicians, including Erasure’s Vince Clarke. How do you remember this studio work?

MS: – I feel incredibly lucky to have been in a studio to witness the true legend, David Bowie at work. It was just under a year from starting at West Side Studios in London when Bowie first came in to work on songs for the movie that he was also acting in – „Absolute Beginners”. Before that, I’d been making demos on a Tascam 8-Track tape machine in a dilapidated cow shed on my dad’s farm. Working with Bowie was an unfathomable step up! When the Bowie sessions started, I was transitioning from assistant engineer to house engineer. My bosses, producers Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley (Madness, China Crisis, Elvis Costello, Bush, Bowie & Jagger), were constantly throwing me in the deep end on sessions. There were quite a lot of jazz songs that we recorded for the Absolute Beginners soundtrack were and there would often be drums, bass, piano, guitar, and sometimes up to 9 brass players all playing together in the studio. It was intense as a newbie engineer to get thrown in on those sessions. I remember one session feeling somewhat overwhelmed and turning around to my boss Alan to get some confirmation that I was doing ok and he was asleep on the sofa behind me! For Bowie’s songs for the soundtrack, when the band were laying down the backing track for Bowie to sing on, Bowie would always sing along a ‘rough’ vocal to keep the band inspired. His vocals were always brilliant and as far as I was concerned, nearly every one could have been the master vocal take. But surprisingly, when Bowie was happy with the backing track, he would approach singing lead vocals in quite a clinical way. He would often sing one line, stop, and listen back to it before moving on to the next line. He would also quite regularly check his vocal on the demo version of the song to during this process. His vocals always sounded fantastic though. The pinnacle of those Bowie sessions was when on one day, we recorded the epic title track „Absolute Beginners” and then late in the afternoon, Mick Jagger came in to record „Dancing In The Street” for Live Aid! This was incredible for me – this was a year and one day from starting in a professional studio – and I was working with Bowie & Jagger! This being before cellphones and frustratingly, I had no way to text friends and say – „You’ll never guess who I’m working with today!”. „Dancing In The Street” was one of the first records I ever got an engineering credit on.

SL:Erasure are part of the success story of Mute Records. Your first commissions with the record company included remixes of Depeche Mode`s „Strangelove” and „Everything Counts”. These tracks are – after 30 years – still firm parts of the Depeche Mode club evenings. Did you like making them (with Tim Simenon)?

MS: – I think that these remixes occurred just after or around the time that I worked with Tim on Neneh Cherry’s brilliant debut album „Raw Like Sushi”. Tim was great to work with, he was young and came from the DJ-ing aspect of music rather than being a studio musician or an engineer and he had a naive (in a good way) approach to making records that kept things moving along and fresh sounding – particularly noticeable on „Buffalo Stance” by Neneh Cherry – her first hit. The „Everything Counts” Depeche remix was a pretty simple affair. I seemed to remember hiring in a Roland SH-01 for that session which was definitely used for the bass. Personally I would have preferred to have made the remix more musical – but Tim was happy to keep it more of a hardcore club track. Our Strangelove remix was much more complicated and fraught with technical difficulties.

In those days I was syncing my Atari 1040st computer, running Cubase, to a timecode track (SMPTE) which was recorded on one track of the multitrack tape that contained the song.

This quite often lead to difficulties because after hours or playing and rewinding the tape, the tape would start to wear out. Usually the code track was on the edge of the tape and the edges wore out faster.

So as it go late into the night, we had real problems syncing the computer to the tape machine. And the computer was running all the new parts and samples that Tim and I were adding for the remix. I think this one turned out pretty well though!

SL: Before the release of “Wild!” you also made remixes for Erasure songs like „A Little Respect”, „Stop!” and „Knocking On Your Door”. Did you follow the band`s history from the very beginning?

MS: – I’d been a fan of Vince since the early Depeche days and the Yazoo era but I missed the early Erasure days. My first Erasure work was a remix of „A Little Respect”. I’m sure this came about because of my work for Tim Simenon who was signed to Rhythm King records which was based out of Mute’s offices. I didn’t meet the band though until I mixed the „Crackers International EP” which included the songs „Stop!”, „Knocking On Your Door”, „God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman” and – my favourite – „The Hardest Part”. I mixed „The Hardest Part” first and that was the first time I met Vince – when he came in to check the mix. I was nervous and nobody had warned me about his very dry, deadpan sense of humour. For one thing, when he listened to the mix, he barely moved. He barely even seemed to blink! He didn’t tap his feet, smile or turn around to me to give me an assuring look – nothing! He sat like a robot with his head between the speakers. I took this as a sign that he must absolutely hate the mix – I was literally pacing back and forth behind him wondering how I’d got the mix so horribly wrong! Eventually the song finished, Vince stopped the tape and then paused for what felt like an eternity before turning around and saying „I love it!” And then with a dead straight face he said – „Just one thing… Did you not like like the kick drum?” My heart nearly stopped! Had I really missed out the entire kick drum track on an Erasure record! But before I had a chance to respond, he said „Just kidding… there’s no kick drum on this song!”

SL: In 1989, Erasure`s „Wild!” album was released that still belongs to the fans’ favourites and includes such classics as „Drama!” and „Blue Savannah”. What memories can you recall of these studio works with Erasure?

MS: – As Erasure had time constraints for the making of „Wild!”, I was hired to co-produce the tracks with Vince Clark and Gareth Jones (Depeche Mode, Wire, Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds, Interpol) was hired to work on vocals with Andy. When Vince and I finished a track in his basement studio in his house in Notting Hill, London, the multitrack would be whisked off to The Church studios in Crouch End in the north end of London for Andy to sing on. On the first day of the recording, Vince sat me down and said – in his deadpan way, „Do you want to know how much money you’re going to make from this album?” Before I could utter much more than „Oh… well… err”, he’d tapped away on a calculator for a few seconds and was holding up the resulting calculation to show me and said „How’s that?” To which I gulped and said „Err… that looks just fine… thanks.” Vince’s basement studio contained nearly every great synth known to man and it was beautifully laid out, with a mixing board against one wall facing the window, and the other three walls had floor to ceiling racks laden with all the synths. One thing completely stunned me on day one though. We decided on what song to start with and Vince then proceeded to expertly get a kick drum sound from one of his synths – an ARP 2500 I think. When he was happy with it, he said, „OK let’s print that to tape (an Otari 24 track 2in Tape machine)”. I said „Are you sure you want to record it now?” He frowned and said „Why not?”.

I said, „Well, wouldn’t you prefer to hear the kick drum in context with a bass and maybe a couple of synths before you commit it to tape?” He still looked completely baffled – like I was asking him to pilot a space craft to the moon or something else outside of his comfort zone.

He replied „But this is the way I’ve always done it.” – which is a fair response from someone whose already produced a shed load of mega hits! „OK”, I said, „but surely, you have more than enough excellent gear here to have all the parts running live from your sequencer and refine all the sounds in context with each other before we need to commit to tape – right?” Long pause and more deep frowning – followed by „I’ve never thought about doing it like that”. This blew me away! This was Vince Clarke, the guy that I watched on Tomorrow’s World many years before I got into the music biz explaining how the Fairlight could sample sounds and play them musically on a keyboard and then sequence them to create a song – all inside a massive computer. Ground breaking stuff! And yet here was the same guy who hadn’t thought of running multiple parts on his sequencer before! Anyway, luckily, rather than kick me out of his studio, Vince gave my suggestion a go and after a couple of hours he said „I like this way of doing it…” and so that’s how we worked from then on. Vince is a musical genius and I loved working with him. He was all about keeping stuff dead simple and keeping songs short… He would quite often say „That’ll do”, like a builder who’s just skimped on the bolts holding some majorly important steel beams together. An example of the Vince Clark genius was the rising and descending piano riffs in „Blue Savannah”. Vince, during the programming/recording said „This needs a piano riff”. Then he just seemed to sit there and stare into space. After a while, I said „Why don’t you just try and play something?” He said… „Sshh… I’m thinking!” After what seemed like an eternity, he started furiously typing numbers into his ancient BBC UMi computer. Minutes later, he sat back and said „Right, let’s have a listen then.”… and my jaw dropped when the brilliant piano riffs popped out of the speakers. He had worked it all out in his head and then had typed in – numerically – each note, the position of the note, the note length and the velocity. Bloody brilliant! At the beginning of the record, Daniel Miller, the Mute Records boss, said to me „I want you to try and get Vince to try some new sounds on this record – experiment a bit more. He’s been using the same sounds for years.” So I tried, but I didn’t push the idea with Vince because I loved all his tried and trust analog synth sounds. We did use some samples from my Akai S1000 sampler a few times, like the acoustic guitar sample on „Star” – although Vince had no interest in using a sampler, as far as I remember. When the recording was finished, both Gareth and I started mixing the songs. I can’t remember if we both mixed all of the songs or not – and I can’t remember exactly who’s mixes ended up on the record – but I think it was a fairly even split between Gareth’s and mine. I mixed in Konk Studios, just up the road from The Church where Gareth was mixing. Konk, owned by The Kinks, had a great big room with a full size snooker table in it which was fab. Vince drove up from Notting Hill one day during the mixing and said „Come on, take a break… Let’s have a game of snooker!” So that’s what we did – we played at least two games and then I said, „OK, let me play you some mixes then”, to which he replied ‘nah, I only came up here for a game of snooker’. I assumed he was joking because, for one thing, the drive from his house to Konk was a fairly arduous journey across a big chunk of London. He told me he was deadly serious though and it took a great deal of effort to persuade him to stay and listen to a mix. I decided to play him „Blue Savannah”. Now, if you’ve ever heard the acoustic slide guitar samples in my 12” remix of this song… well, I had originally put them in the album version. I found the samples in my library while I was working on the song and when I loaded them into the Akai S1000, I loved them! They fit the key of the song perfectly. But somehow I had a feeling that I might be on shaky ground when Vince heard them. My instinct was right. When I played him my album mix, he assumed his normal position… stone faced, and dead still in front of the speakers. But when the first slide guitar riff came in, he positively flinched… like someone had slapped him around the face! But amazingly he kept listening without moving again until the end of the song.

Then he turned to me and said „Yeah, it’s good… but… I would never, ever, have a slide guitar in any of my songs… ever!” So that was the end to the slide guitar in the album mix. And now I think about it… how did I ever get away with putting them in the 12” version?!

Vince had an unerring confidence in what he was doing. If Daniel Miller, the Mute Records boss, had any doubts about anything to do with the record, Vince would say „Don’t worry Daniel, it’s going to go to number 1” – which of course it did, in it’s first week of release!

SL: A remix of „You Surround Me” also bears your name. You made a danceable club hit out of that original ballad. Erasure even played this version live on their Violet Flame Tour 2014. Please tell us a little about it! Which song, by the way, is your favourite from the „Wild!” album?

MS: – I was in Mayfair studios in London for this remix. I remember getting depressed because for quite a long time I couldn’t get anything going that I liked – mainly because of the tempo of the track I think. Then I tried playing double tempo drums along with the song and all of a sudden I was up and running and excited about the mix! I’m pretty sure I was thinking Billy Idol when I did this version. I was pretty happy with the result and was very flattered to learn that the band played my version live. My favourite song from „Wild!” is definitely „Blue Savannah”. My next favourite song that I worked on with Erasure was „All This Time Still Falling Out Of Love” from the album „Nightbird”.

SL: Not only for Erasure, but also for Yazoo you made a remix for their hit „Situation”. Did you see the duo live during their reunion 10 years ago?

MS: – Working on the remix of „Situation” with Daniel Miller was a great honour. What an absolutely perfect pop song… and less than 2 minutes and 30 seconds long! On my website is an extended edit of the song that never got released… actually, I don’t think I ever played it to the band or Mute. I was lucky enough to see them in New York during their reunion tour. They sounded great. Alison Moyet is awesome… I got to work with her too a couple of times and she, like Vince, has a very dry sense of humour and is very down to earth.

SL: What future plans and current works in progress do you have?

MS: – I moved back from the States in 2017 which was a big deal after 21 years of living there. I feel much more inspired musically in the UK. I’m in love with the BBC 6 Music radio station… best radio station I’ve ever heard. They play the most eclectic range of music that you could possibly imagine but they somehow nearly always play stuff that appeals to me! I have two young boys and for a few years now life has been more about family life than pursuing my career but I feel that as they are getting older there is going to be room for both – hopefully soon!

P.S.: A short info for all those who have missed a conversation on the topic with Andy Bell, he is currently very busy with his new solo project “Torsten in Queereteria” (release date: 12 April 2019) and therefore unfortunately could not be at our disposal.

“Erasure – Wild! – 30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition”, is out Friday, 29th March 2019 via BMG / Mute Records.

CD1 Track Listing:

Piano Song – Instrumental
Blue Savannah
Drama!
How Many Times?
Star
La Gloria
You Surround Me
Brother and Sister
2000 Miles
Crown Of Thorns
Piano Song

CD2 Track Listing:

Sweet, Sweet Baby – The Moo Moo Mix
Drama! – Richard Norris Mix (unreleased)
Blue Savannah – Mark Saunders 12″ Mix
Piano Song – Live at the London Arena (unreleased)
Runaround On The Underground – Remix
How Many Times? – Alternative Mix (unreleased)
Supernature – Daniel Miller & Phil Legg Remix
Star – Soul Mix
No GDM. – Unfinished Mix
Drama! – Act 2
Brother and Sister – Live at the London Arena (unreleased)
Dreamlike State – 7″ A Cappella Mix (unreleased)
You Surround Me – Gareth Jones Mix
91 Steps – 6 Pianos Mix

János Janurik

I began my career in online music journalism in 2001, writing about artists I had followed since the late ’80s and early ’90s, including Depeche Mode, Erasure and The Cure. I later edited the Hungarian Mute microsite for EMI Music Hungary. This led to interviews with Erasure, Nitzer Ebb and Alan Wilder, and some of those collaborations developed into lasting friendships. Since 2014, I have been part of the editorial team of depechemode.de. I also contribute interviews to Reflections of Darkness, Peek-A-Boo Magazine and Kaput Mag. I maintain a close connection to Mute Records artists and have also supported releases on Very Records. I am proud to collaborate with Side-Line Magazine, where I regularly publish interviews and features.

Antoine Panaché – Pleasures (Cassette EP – Barreuh Records)

Inferno Sound Diaries — Wed, 31 Oct 2018 20:30:51 +0000

Genre/Influences: Experimental.

Background/Info: Antoine Panaché is a nickname for Lilia Scheerder. Hailing from The Netherlands he already released a few productions in his homeland on Barreuh Records. “Pleasures” features 2 songs, which are cover versions.

Content: We first get a cover version from Alphaville’s “Forever Young” and next from Echo & The Bunnymen’s “Nocturnal Me”. Cover versions is a quite common procedure, but Antoine Panaché’s approach is completely different. You indeed recognize the songs through the lyrics while the composition is totally different from the original versions. Ghost-like voices and atmospheres plus a great arsenal of noises and experimental treatments create a truly abstract format.

+ + + : Antoine Panaché is transforming both great 80s songs into something totally different. It’s hard to recognize the original versions, and that must have been for sure the goal. The songs seem to have been a basis to experiment and create some weird, but fascinating ‘new’ edits. It’s definitely an original release.

– – – : I was less convinced by the cover of “Nocturnal Me”, which sounds less inspired.

Conclusion: No doubt about it, these cover versions will not become ‘hits’ like it happened for the original edits, but it’s a creative experimental process.

Best songs: “Forever Young”.

Rate: (6).

Artist: www .facebook .com /antoinepanache

Label: www .facebook .com /barreuh

A Tribe Of My Own EP by LEDERMAN / DE MEYER

Front 242 side-project Lederman / De Meyer launches debut download EP ‘A Tribe Of My Own’

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Mon, 26 Mar 2018 16:57:36 +0000

The first release from Lederman / De Meyer is a fact! Out now – and available only on Bandcamp for now – is the debut EP “A Tribe Of My Own”.

The project is the union of 2 legendary musicians from the electro movement in Belgium: Jean-Marc Lederman (The Weathermen, Fad Gadget, …) and Jean-Luc De Meyer (Front 242, Underviewer, 32CRASH, …) who offer dark and danceable material on their debut EP “A Tribe Of My Own”.

On the EP you’ll get the title track in an album edit plus also a remix by Sebastian Komor (Icon Of Coil, Komor Kommando, …).

But that’s not all. Also included is the duo’s own cover version of the Fad Gadget cult hit “Back To Nature” which got a very nice future pop remake by Edge Of Dawn. Coldkill from their side turned the track into a darkwave industrial mix.

Last but not least, you’ll also get a 3rd song with “Dots, Circles And Lines”, a more sarcastic introspective song in a remix version by Rob Dust known for his cult remix work for bands like Camouflage, Alphaville, Joachim Witt, etc..

A very promising 5-track EP which you can download right now from Bandcamp.

Matrix Downloaded 006 by IMJUDAS

Who is behind the brand new dark wave project ImJudas? Here’s your answer… and interview!

Bernard - Side-Line Staff — Wed, 07 Dec 2016 17:30:50 +0000

Whilst checking out the recent free Alfa Matrix download compilation “Matrix Downloaded 006“, one new name popped up: ImJudas with “People Of The Blame (Alfa Edit)”, a dark wave track that already caught the attention of many especially thanks to it references to bands like early Alphaville, Deine Lakaien and related acts. Well, we can now reveal that ImJudas is in fact the brand new electro dark wave solo-project from maXX of the Italian dark/gothic electro metal duo Helalyn Flowers!

We contacted maXX a few days ago to give us some info on this well hidden project from him. But first, here’s the track (which you can download for free from bandcamp now).

SL: I had expected a guitar-powered project from you, but you totally went synth/electropop with ImJudas, talking of a real surprise!

M: Actually nobody was expecting this! You know, many figure me as a rude guy attached to his guitar but the truth is that I simply live my life as a manifesto of self-expression. Why Synth Pop? I didn’t wake up one day and sat at the studio trying to do something different. I don’t plan my projects that way. They all come from a voice within and that voice is the singing in my head. It happened that I was touring with Helalyn Flowers and on the road back to home I had in my mind two of the ImJudas songs. When I started working at the studio I simply followed my instinct and sang my lyrics on a synthesizer and a drum machine. It worked so I stuck that line. It’s a part of me that still I hadn’t time or a chance to let come out.

The main focus is on my voice and on the rhythm as well. There are almost no guitars on purpose because they would saturate the sound too much and these songs need more room within, a sort of something untold. Secondly, I already have other projects that unleash me as a guitarist, like Helalyn Flowers, that all you already know, and Black Shine Fever (formerly known as BlackCore) that is my other solo-project which EP is going to be released this Winter and that sounds like a blend of Post-Punk, Heavy Metal and Goth Rock.

I don’t know if the ‘synth pop’ label is appropriate for describing ImJudas, at least on my personal level, because there is this current tendency to have everything so polish, so clean, with clinic productions that all sound the same and that I keep my distance from. What I love in the early works in this genre was just the dirt, the slight defects, the image of the machines replacing traditional electric instruments and not humans. When I put ‘play’ on albums like ‘The Art of Falling Apart’ of Soft Cell or ‘Dark Star’ by Deine Lakaien I can feel that Rock n’Roll element that was typical to the genre. I am still in that mood, that’s the way I like it (sorry K.C.). I’d like that people accept the fact that ImJudas is not a ‘nice’ act’ and that there is a bloodline of Rock music within it. Well, sonically ImJudas may have all the rules of Synth Pop but I wish that everyone will catch the dark/wavey blood of ImJudas too.

SL: Any special references next to the aforementioned acts?

M: I like to think that ImJudas is some kind of ‘double’ that I exhaled when I was a kid and watched at the ‘Silence of the Lambs’ movie. That’s when I heard for the first time that dark and dancy stuff from Colin Newman and Q Lazzarus. I started searching for those records so I ran into Depeche Mode, Pet Shop Boys, Dead Or Alive, Visage, Talk Talk and all that great 80s stuff before I went deeper and deeper with acts like Coil, Deine Lakaien and Virgin Prunes. The common source of all these acts were always icons of the 70s like Bowie and Roxy Music that I love so much. Also the new-romantics were influenced by that stuff and in fact they inspire me as well.

ImJudas is now the face of that ‘double’, it’s the voice of that child ravished by a beautiful underworld of black and white shapes.

SL: You have been working in total secret on this project, I guess Noemi was aware of your tendencies? 😉

M: How couldn’t she? Eheh… She is aware of all of my tendencies as well as of all the music that I write and that still is imprisoned in hard-disks and CD-R’s! Simply, my ‘secret’ is based on my belief that if I have to unleash something then that something must be ready for me. I can wake up tomorrow and put all of my unreleased music on Bandcamp just for a compulsive share-thing but it wouldn’t be true to myself.

A project of mine should live its own life in the dark before being launched. It must have its own story. Noemi has been my muse, my advisor and always pushed me to bring this to the light of day. I was in the studio listening to these songs over and over again with other music trying to come out of my mind… so at a point, it’s been healthy to me to unleash everything. It’s like freeing a flock of wildened birds imprisoned in the house. And Noemi was always there at my side telling me wise words. I thank her everyday. She’s a part of ImJudas, she takes care of the whole visual and she is my vocal trainer too!

SL: How does it feel to finally come out of the closet?

M: Hah! I feel like I’m still in the closet! Jokes apart, I always try to not think at this kind of things. I learned to feel detached. I ain’t the kind of emotional guy, I want to turn emotions into feelings. But… How good is the human circle of emotions when it allows you to lose yourself in the tide, even just for a while? ?

SL: what’s in the pipeline for ImJudas?

M: My next song to be released after “People Of The Blame (Alfa Edit)” is going to be a cover version of the Front 242 classic ‘Don’t Crash’ on an Alfa Matrix tribute 2CD out next 16 December. I want to release my debut album next year because this stuff is tired to be played among these four walls and I can’t afford to get insane, at least not now! ;-))

You can find ImJudas right here on Facebook.