The Midgardsblot festival, held at Borrehaugene (old viking grave mounds), outside the city of Horten, Norway, is mostly known for hosting acts within the metal genre in addition to some folk and viking inspired music.

This year, the festival first caught our attention with the announcement of Bel Canto as one of the headliners, followed by Gåte, Seigmen, Karin Park, Ledfoot, and others—definitely worth reporting on for Side-Line Magazine. And who knows, we might even discover some new bands. We headed there in mid-August to check it out!

(By our Norwegian correspondent, Jan Ronald Stange. Photos by Einar Låker and Jan Ronald Stange. Additional Dwaal photos by Jon Julius Sandal @ helvetesindrekretser and Birgit Fostervold @ knipselyst)

Side-Line’s chief editor, Bernard Van Isacker, was supposed to join me for the festival, but couldn’t make it due to a family emergency. His replacement, Einar Låker, brought his cameras and joined me instead. Since we had to attend meetings and handle some work during the day, we skipped the tenting area and set up base at a nearby campsite in a mobile home borrowed from my parents (thanks, Sigrid and Carl Edvard!).

After settling in, it was time to head to the festival grounds, which required a short hike through historic Viking graves. We collected our passes and entered the blót, an ancient Norwegian/Norse sacrificial feast.

The first act we saw was Kalandra, a UK/Norwegian band blending Celtic and Norse folk with modern arrangements. They’ve been around for over a decade, gaining recognition with their cover of Wardruna’s “Helvegen”. Since then, they’ve released several albums and composed scores for TV shows and video games.

After Kalandra, we explored the rest of the area, visiting the trade section Kaupanger, the Viking tent area Folkvangr, and the indoor stage Gildehallen (the “Feast Hall”). It was a sight to see people fully embracing the chance to step back in time.

We wrapped up the first day by watching the Swedish Viking rockers Amon Amarth, who had their fans completely enthralled—even getting hundreds to sit down and row in the middle of a song! 😊

Thursday was a rainy day, so boots and jackets were a must. We caught a bit of the Norwegian thrash band Inculter and the Polish death metal band Vader before heading inside Gildehallen for something entirely different: Trio Oro, a Norwegian world-folk fusion group featuring flutes, guitars, and percussion. They delivered a diverse set with tunes from Irish, Bulgarian, Norwegian, and other traditions. It was original and unexpectedly entertaining!

One of the main attractions, Gåte, had to cancel due to a band member’s illness and was quickly replaced by Hindarfjäll & Peter Franzen, a Swedish project that uses modern instruments to recreate the ancient sounds and atmospheres of Scandinavian/Nordic folk music.

Next, we escaped the rain by heading back into Gildehallen, catching the last few songs from local thrash band Mortal Fear—three teenagers with the drummer’s father on vocals. It was very entertaining!

The day ended with thrash metal titans Testament from California, USA, closing out the main stage at Heiheim.

Day 3 was special, with two bands from my hometown, Tønsberg, performing. Seigmen headlined the Helheim stage, while newcomers Fabbrica 82 were about to play their first-ever show in Gildehallen. We spent an hour there beforehand, chatting with the band members, Knut Ove Hansen and Lars Anders Berg, before their soundcheck and concert.

S-L: How did you come up with the band name?

Knut Ove Hansen: We started high school in 1982, and we chose Fabbrica because we wanted a name that could be associated with new wave. We went with the Italian version because “factory” was already overused in English, and I have a personal connection to Italy.

S-L: What were your first attempts at releasing music?

KOH: One of my early bands made our first demo tape at the local radio station in Tønsberg in 1985—it was actually the first synth-related demo recorded in Tønsberg! We played three gigs the following year as the band Some Bizzare, named after the famous compilation album where Depeche Mode, among others, had their first track on vinyl. We also had a third member, Bjørn Arnesen, who now lives in Peru. Lars reached out to me several times, in 2020 and again in 2023, asking if we should give it another try. I was hesitant at first, but then we made “Darkness,” and we were back at it.

Lars Anders Berg: Over the years, I’ve composed hundreds of songs, and I always wanted someone to sing to my tunes. After years of talking about it, we finally made it happen. It’s been a lot of fun, and we’ve quickly released several singles!

S-L: Any album in the making?

KOH: Yes, it’s what we’re working on. We also got another gig in October in Tønsberg. This is not where we thought we would be just six months after our first release – feels quite surreal! All because of the word of mouth in Tønsberg’s small “synth underground”, and it also spread to Oslo where we’ve gotten good feedback.

S-L: What’s your inspiration?

Lars Anders Berg: I listen to a lot of music, not just old synth, but many electronic genres. So, the process of creating themes, melodies, and tweaking knobs is an inspiration in itself.

As the hall filled with people, we noticed at least a dozen audience members already wearing fan T-shirts, and the band was thrilled after their first show.

As we left Gildehallen, we caught a few songs from Nytt Land on the Valhalla stage—a Siberian shamanic act that blends the vocal traditions of Northern Europe with traditional Siberian throat singing. It was a stark contrast after a synth gig and truly highlighted the diversity of the festival!

The last show we attended on Thursday was Seigmen at the Helheim stage. It was a fantastic performance, featuring a new song with guest Espen Winther from the medieval/folk band Eldrim, playing his harp. It was magical—a gig that later received well-deserved praise in reviews!

The last day of the festival started off relaxed, with a stroll around, soaking in the sights and atmosphere under the sun. Then Ledfoot (Tim Scott McConnell) took the Valhalla stage. This goth-blues phenomenon was someone I’d been wanting to see live for a while, and he didn’t disappoint. He delivered a set full of raw emotion—soreness, anger, longing—and impressive guitar playing.

I had been in touch with him before the festival, and we agreed to try for an interview. However, due to his soundman’s tight schedule, they had to leave the area minutes after the show, so we exchanged a few words via Messenger a few days later instead.

S-L: How was your gig at Midgardsblot?

Ledfoot: The audience was great, and there was such a good vibe there 🙏

S-L: Did the show or audience differ much from your solo gigs?

Ledfoot: No, it’s the same everywhere—I do my best and hope the audience appreciates it.

S-L: More music in the works?

Ledfoot: I’ve started on my new record, and hopefully it’ll be out by the end of the year.
And I’d like to say a big thank you to the audience and all the people working behind the scenes.
Hugs!

Next, we went to see Bel Canto, the pioneering Norwegian electronica band, performing a set that spanned their entire career, including a few new tracks from their latest album Radiant Green. As always, they delivered a top-notch performance, and Anneli’s voice remains as impressive as ever!

Making Bernard envious by sending him live photos was an obligatory part of attending Bel Canto 😉

I also managed to spend a few minutes in Gildehallen to check out another band with a Tønsberg connection, though mostly from Oslo—the doom-sludge-ultra-heavy Dwaal. The hall was packed, with a queue outside, clearly hitting their target audience perfectly. I later caught up with lead singer Bjørnar Kristansen to ask about their experience.

S-L: How did Midgardsblot treat you?

Bjørnar Kristansen: Midgardsblot was amazing. Right after the show, we said it was one of our favorite gigs, if not our favorite. The crowd’s energy from the first riff to the last deeply affected us. I asked for a ritual, and we got a ritual for sure. A true catharsis, both on and off stage.

S-L: How does playing at a festival like this compare to club gigs?

BK: Festivals are different from club gigs because the crowd is a more varied mix of people—those who already know Dwaal and those giving us a chance for the first time. Not to say anything bad about the Norwegian audience, but it seems like international music lovers are more open to discovering new music. They come from far away and want to engage with as much as they can, even if they’ve never heard us before. It makes for an intense experience in the best way.

S-L: Did you explore the festival area, try the Viking activities or food?

BK: Our drummer Anders went on Friday and had a great time at the Blot. The rest of Dwaal arrived on Saturday, and we had some time to explore the festival. It’s an incredible event. Everyone makes you feel so welcome and included. A huge recommendation from Dwaal!

S-L: Any upcoming releases, albums, gigs, or other news?

BK: As 2024 winds down, we’re hard at work on new music, with some exciting projects that push us out of our comfort zone, which we love. Our last regular concert of the year will be at Apollon Tønsberg on October 11th, with Uaar as support. On December 14th, we’re playing the Caliban Sessions, a yearly mini-festival hosted by Ole Petter Andreassen of Black Debbath, Thulsa Doom, and Cumshots fame. It will be a fantastic end to a great year for Dwaal, marking our tenth year as a band. There are plans for a gig in Oslo in 2025, so stay tuned for that announcement.

We’re also in talks for more live shows in Europe, though nothing we can confirm just yet. And of course, if Midgardsblot invites us back, we’d love to play again!

The last show in Gildehallen this time around was the one that probably impressed me the most—Karin Park from Sweden. Alone on stage, standing between two tables covered with synths, computers, and modular gear, she sounded and performed like a full band, delivering an incredibly energetic set. Crown her the Queen of Synth already! (go to https://www.facebook.com/748210539/videos/1540166493571503/ for videos, several in the comments!)

The Norwegian band Emperor, regarded as pioneers of extreme black metal, closed the festival on the main stage, Helheim, in front of a devoted audience.

To sum it all up: a festival well worth visiting! As they’ve expanded the musical genres in their lineup, there’s now something for everyone without losing their core purpose or audience. This approach also increases the chance to discover something new, which is always a plus!

A big shoutout to Runa Strindin, the driving force behind the festival, and her entire crew for making it such a success! Hopefully, they’ll continue for years to come, and perhaps the 10th anniversary next year will be even more special?!

PS: As a food enthusiast, I must mention the excellent variety of food, ranging from handmade hot dogs to Thai, Mexican, elk burgers, and elk kebabs! Most impressive was the food from the Norwegian Chefs National Association, Vestfold branch (Norske kokkers Landsforening, avdeling Vestfold)—their hot-smoked halibut dish was to die for! 😊

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… 😉

www.facebook.com/jrstange

Out now is the new Gothica Magazine, issue 47 already of this fine Ukrainian magazine. You can download it straight from the magazine’s website in English for free.

This new issue features a whopping 108 pages and holds for instance an article celebrating the magazine’s 18th anniversary, extensive coverage and backstage photos from the Within Temptation feat. Alex Yarmak video shoot in Kyiv and so on. It also includes a report on Gothica Fest 2023, enriched with comments from participants like Kaelte, Hyperhate, Violet Raymoor, and Spokusy. There are also interviews with Sidus Atrum, Meat Beat Manifesto, and Dawn of Ashes.

Highlighted in this issue as well is our most recent free download compilation, “Electronic Bodies – Nightside Sessions”, which brought together over 20 artists to support Ukraine. In the article you get a double interview with DJ Shane Aungst and our chief editor Bernard Van Isacker.

Additionally, the issue presents the traditional annual Top-13 best LPs from the Gothica Magazine Music Awards 2023.

About Gothica Magazine

Gothica Magazine was established by Andrey Featon in 2006 as a print publication in partnership with the Ukrainian Gothic Portal. It explores the aesthetics of Gothic, avant-garde, and dark romantic art. The magazine comprehensively covers the diversity of Gothic and dark culture, including music genres such as gothic rock, gothic metal, industrial, EBM, dark folk, dark ambient, neoclassical, love metal, darkwave, dark electro, synth pop, folk metal, future pop, dark trance, ritual, and noise.

It also delves into literature and cinema across various styles including modern, post-modern, avant-garde, dark romance, fantasy, non-standard, thriller, suspense, apocalyptic, decadence, psycho, and existential themes. Additionally, it features photography (including dark erotic and fetish), industrial images, painting, architecture, and more. Renowned for showcasing the most famous and unusual bands, notable and provocative figures, exquisite art, and intellectual literature, all these elements are vividly presented on the pages of this magazine.

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.

www.side-line.com

Referring to the events that unfolded globally, 2023 has again been a bloody, terrible year. Music continues to be a true therapy for soothing pain and suffering, though it seems to have a diminishing impact on the ongoing horror. Therefore, I’m once again wrapping up the year with a personal selection of my very own ‘best of’ albums.

Throughout the year, over 700 productions were selected, and 450 reviews were conducted. Some productions were declined because the style of music didn’t fit, others weren’t reviewed for not being ‘good enough’, while a final portion of reviews will be postponed to early 2024. I am immensely grateful to all the labels, bands, and promoters for considering my work, and I look forward to collaborating again in 2024.

I extend my deepest gratitude and thanks to Rich Bova (NEIKKA RPM), who has been reading, correcting, and improving the reviews for many years. Without Rich, these reviews would not exist. I also want to thank Bernard Van Isacker, chief editor of Side-Line Music Magazine, for our ongoing, successful collaboration. Last but not least, I thank my lovely wife, Katja, for giving me the time and freedom to pursue my passion.

However…

Looking ahead to 2024, I’ve been scaling back my activities for a few years and plan to reduce them further. Having started with my first reviews and interviews back in 1991, I feel the end drawing near. My aim is to reach 2025, but nothing is certain. I’ve grown a bit tired and disillusioned with how things are evolving.

That’s why I want to express a big ‘F*** you’ to so-called ‘artists’ and label owners who fail to realize or appreciate the work I do in creating reviews and preparing interviews to spotlight them. Guys, I do this for free and in my free time! The attitude and lack of respect shown by some – fortunately a very few – is very, very sad. But, I’m afraid it reflects the world we live in. Behind a genius artist doesn’t always stand a great person. It’s odd realizing that the ‘biggest’ and long-established artists in this scene are often the most accessible.

Writing reviews remains highly subjective and a source of discussion. Remember, it’s always the reviewer’s perception. I assure you, I always strive to substantiate my reviews as best as possible. A review is subjective but must be honest!

Like every year, I’ve selected the best albums of the year 2023. This ‘TOP 25’ encompasses various styles like EBM, Dark-Electro, IDM, Synth-Pop, Ethereal, Dark-Ambient, Industrial, Ritual, Cinematic, Gothic, Post-Punk, Cold/Dark-Wave, Dark-Techno, and a few related genres. It’s always an exciting yet challenging task.

This ‘TOP 25’ is based on the promotional material I received, excluding compilations, ‘best of’ productions, EPs, and singles. So, here’s my ‘TOP 25’ from 2023, and don’t forget to share it with your friends…

Stéphane Froidcoeur (for Inferno Sound Diaries/Side-Line Reviews)

Top 25 albums of the year 2023

1. CERULEAN VEINS “Black” Cold Transmission Music
2. LIEBKNECHT “Fabrikat” Ant-Zen
3. FRONTIER GUARDS “Colony” Aliens Production
4. SOPOR AETERNUS & THE ENSEMBLE OF SHADOWS “Alone At Sam’s – An Evening With…” Apocalyptic Vision / Trisol
5. WAVESHARD “Waveshard” Corvus Records
6. THE EMPATH “Black Hole” Audiophob
7. VNV NATION “Electric Sun” Metropolis Records
8. EFF DST “Incarnate” Ant-Zen
9. ENZO KREFT “XL” Enzo Kreft
10. DELEYAMAN “The Sudbury Inn” TTO Records
11. GIRLS UNDER GLASS “Backdraft” Dependent Records
12. ALIEN VAMPIRES “Return Me To Hell” Alfa Matrix
13. SUN’S SPECTRUM “The Silence After The Fall” Cold Transmission Music
14. DANIEL MYER “Hingab” Sonic Groove
15. SHROUDS “Shrouds” Hands
16. DIARY OF DREAMS “Melancholin” Accession Records
17. MONO INC “Ravenblack” NoCut / SPV
18. ROME “Gates Of Europe” Trisol
19. OHNE NOMEN “The S-Witch” Cold Transmission Music
20. THE SEVEN WHORES OF THE APOCALYPSE “All Through The Waste” Scanner / Dark Dimensions
21. SPANKTHENUN “The Bunker Tapes Vol.3” SpankTheNun
22. BLACKCARBURNING “Watching Sleepers” COP International
23. GOD BODY DISCONNECT “The Weight Of Regression” Cryo Chamber
24. MILDREDA “Blue-Devilled” Dependent Records
25. PASCAL SAVY “Simulacra” Cyclic Law

Inferno Sound Diaries

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.

www.side-line.com

Every time Side-Line releases a new compilation, I seize the chance to interview Bernard Van Isacker, the chief compiler for Side-Line and our editor-in-chief. This time around, he has curated the comprehensive 88-track “Electronic Bodies” compilation, predominantly focusing on EBM with a hint of New Beat. I must say, I’m perpetually amazed at how he juggles his time. Not only does he supervise Side-Line, but he’s also engaged with Alfa Matrix, holds a full-time role in online marketing with an international firm, and has recently founded the digital marketing agency, Fox DS.

SL: With such a packed schedule, how do you find the time for these compilation projects?

BVI: Honestly, I often ponder how I muster the time and enthusiasm to initiate and oversee projects of this magnitude, given their time-consuming nature. The motivation largely stems from the Side-Line community; I sometimes feel I owe them my time (laughs). I genuinely enjoy these projects; I’m a person who thinks in terms of projects and concepts rather than daily routines. This mindset is evident even in my day job, where I’m known to favour large-scale, impactful projects over short-term tasks. This approach ensures consistency in my endeavours. As I age, I notice this trait becoming more pronounced.

SL: Merely 12 hours post-release, the “Electronic Bodies” compilation has already clinched the top position on the industrial charts. How do you maintain such consistency?

BVI: The credit goes entirely to our audience. Time and again, I observe the active engagement of the Side-Line community. The volume of personal emails from readers is staggering, and I make it a point to respond to each one, even the occasional critiques regarding our editorial decisions. A prime example is our decision to remove ads from Side-Line, a move purely based on reader feedback. In hindsight, it was probably our best decision, eliminating those intrusive Adsense ads that marred our magazine for years.

Returning to your question, we can now engage tens of thousands of fans with a single click. I always strive for transparency in our communication. For instance, if a project gets shelved (which has happened once in the past two decades), I explain the reasons behind the decision. Honest communication is paramount in everything we do at Side-Line. I’m fortunate to run this magazine alongside one of the most principled individuals I know, Stephane Froidcoeur. I highly regard his opinions, and despite our occasional disagreements, we remain an inseparable duo, frequently deliberating on our future direction. This long-term planning is crucial to our operations.

SL: What drove your decision to spotlight EBM and a bit of New Beat?

BVI: The idea dates back a few years. Sven Lauwers, Andy De Decker (Ionic Vision / Metroland), and Franky Deblomme (Cubic, Darkmen) once suggested that Side-Line should explore EBM and New Beat. This concept lingered in my mind, but with the “Electronic Resistance” projects consuming a significant portion of my time over the past 18 months, it took a backseat. However, a recent conversation with Sven reignited this dormant idea. A brief poll on Side-Line’s Facebook page indicated the potential success of this project. While the popularity of our compilations has been on an upward trajectory, I’m acutely aware that success shouldn’t be taken for granted. It’s imperative to consistently deliver value.

SL: On that note, I was surprised to discover the new Ionic Vision track “Deathrow” in the compilation. How did that inclusion come about?

BVI: When I informed Sven about this upcoming project, I inquired if he had any unreleased tracks to contribute. He mentioned their unreleased album and promptly sent over a track. Ionic Vision has been a staple in my EBM mix from the outset, so it’s gratifying to feature this iconic Belgian act in the compilation. Additionally, Andy contributed a track from his project, Him+He, which leans more towards New Beat.

SL: ELM, which kicks off the compilation, is widely regarded as a trailblazer in today’s EBM scene. Would you concur?

BVI: Absolutely. Musically and in terms of production, Peter is top-tier. Had ELM been active in the 80s, he’d undoubtedly be a superstar. I recently discussed ELM during an interview for Canada’s DJ Moose’s The Gothic Moose podcast. Fabrício Viscardi from Aesthetische was also a guest, and we delved into the production quality of various releases. Fabrício (just like Peter), in my opinion, possesses exceptional production skills. Both ELM and Aesthetische consistently deliver top-notch productions.

SL: Not surprisingly that I also see Aesthetische featured on this compilation.

BVI: Indeed. Upon hearing the masters for “Boiling Over (Celsius Version)”, I was convinced it deserved a spot on the compilation. I sought Seba Dolimont’s (Alfa Matrix) opinion, and his response echoed my sentiments. This track epitomises the evolution of EBM in 2023, infusing a contemporary touch while preserving its roots. Coupled with superior production, it’s undeniably a gem.

SL: I’ve observed that only a handful of bands in the compilation are established names in the scene. Are other labels hesitant to collaborate?

BVI: I never pressurise scene labels to contribute. They receive an invitation, and their participation is entirely voluntary. Our compilation series has always been independent of label contributions, although a few labels consistently support our vision and concept. The majority of submissions are from emerging bands eager to expand their audience. Our primary objective remains to nurture and promote new talent. We’re always open to collaborations, and labels willing to contribute are always welcome.

SL: Do you maintain communication with all these numerous bands post-release?

BVI: I consistently encourage bands involved to keep me informed about their subsequent activities once the release is out. Many do, and this way we ensure to track their progress and share updates when there’s noteworthy news. Our approach isn’t just a one-off; it’s only fitting that these bands know they can rely on our continued support.

SL: Was the process of selecting bands for this compilation straightforward?

BVI: The response we receive when we issue a call for submissions is always overwhelming. Sifting through the plethora of material is a weeks-long endeavour. Once I’ve shortlisted the bands, the next step involves securing contracts, which proved challenging this time around due to the sunny weather. Chasing contracts during the summer holiday season is far from ideal, that I knew and know now even more. One contract eluded us, resulting in 88 bands on the compilation instead of the initially announced 89. So, for those fixated on the number 88, the missing 89th slot isn’t our oversight but a consequence of the band’s oversight (laughs).

SL: What inspired your focus on Ukrainian victims of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)?

BVI: I recently came across an article detailing the psychological toll of the war initiated by Russia against Ukraine. The repercussions are devastating, with families torn apart and a surge in divorces and suicides. Many are grappling with PTSD, a condition that arises after experiencing traumatic events. Symptoms disrupt daily life, manifesting as flashbacks, avoidance behaviours, and a host of other issues. If we’re in a position to assist, we should.

SL: Doesn’t immersing yourself in such grim realities depress you?

BVI: While it’s undeniably sombre, it’s essential to recognise our privileged position compared to their plight. Rather than symbolic gestures, I advocate for tangible action. The West should be doing more. The disparity between resources squandered on frivolities and the valiant efforts of the Ukrainian populace defending their homeland infuriates me.

SL: I’ve noticed a decline in the presence of Russian bands in this scene. Have you observed this trend?

BVI: They haven’t vanished; they’ve chosen to either keep a low profile or relocate from Russia. In a few instances, some even openly support the controversial regime led by Putin. For example, Side-Line has a policy not to feature bands that align with Putin’s views. I’m in regular contact with many Russians. A majority express their dismay at the current situation, foreseeing significant repercussions as their nation faces increasing isolation, contrary to what some media outlets suggest. Do you think the BRICS nations appreciate having such an outlier in their midst? A few others I converse with remain reserved, but their sentiments suggest they don’t necessarily disagree with their nation’s actions in Ukraine. It’s disheartening, but I believe in maintaining open communication, hoping they’ll recognize the gravity of the situation. Decades of propaganda have left a profound impact.

The future of Russia’s dark music scene remains uncertain. I hope they recognize the extensive damage their nation has inflicted. With a death toll exceeding 300,000, there’s no room for national pride. The current oppressive environment will likely stifle these bands’ voices, leading me to anticipate a decline in activist lyrics and public positions in their work. This shift should serve as a stark indicator for those still questioning the integrity of their government and its societal constraints.

SL: Why hasn’t Side-Line ventured into establishing a full-fledged label? Given the magazine’s dedicated readership, it seems like a logical progression, doesn’t it? I remember discussing this with you before.

BVI: Yes you did, and my stance hasn’t changed (laughs). Side-Line collaborates with thousands of bands. Focusing on a select few could compromise our credibility. I’m meticulous about ensuring my involvement with Alfa Matrix doesn’t influence Side-Line’s operations. Managing bands under the Side-Line banner would blur these lines further. While I frequently receive proposals to release albums, I remain committed to Side-Line’s vision of being a platform for all bands within our genre. Our audience’s trust and respect are paramount. Their unwavering support is the lifeblood of Side-Line. Without them, there’s no magazine, and consequently, no compilations.

SL: During this project, were there any bands that particularly resonated with you?

BVI: Conditions Extrm and their side-project Balsab, both hailing from Bordeaux, intrigued me with their raw EBM sound. Their music evokes memories of the tape demos Side-Line received in the early 90s. They encapsulate Side-Line’s ethos of amplifying young bands’ voices. Numerous other bands contributed, but these two immediately come to mind due to their interconnectedness, despite submitting their tracks separately.

SL: What’s on the horizon for Side-Line? I’ve heard whispers of a potential Turkish compilation. Can you shed some light on this?

BVI: Those aren’t mere whispers; I’ve alluded to it occasionally. I’m liaising with Turkish partners to assess its feasibility. I often encounter criticism for not featuring bands from the Muslim world in our compilations. While I’m open to the idea, the scene in these countries isn’t as expansive. However, the prospect intrigues me, and I’ve initiated preliminary research. No promises, but the groundwork has begun. For now, enjoy the current compilation, it holds plenty of good stuff!

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.

www.side-line.com

Available now from Bandcamp is our brand new 88-track strong EBM charity compilation “Electronic Bodies”.

This collection dives deep into the rhythms of EBM (Electronic Body Music), New Beat, and their contemporary offshoots. The compilation features artists from countries spanning from Germany to Australia, the United States to Estonia, and many more. It’s clear: EBM still resonates worldwide and this after the genre was established more than 40 years ago!

The compilation features known and completely new bands.

Bernard Van Isacker who compiled the release explains: “Our commitment to showcasing a blend of emerging talents and seasoned bands remains unwavering. We remain a platform to launch new talents after all. And while not every artist boasts high-end studio equipment, a special shoutout to Erlend Eilertsen (Lights A.M, Essence Of Mind) for masterfully enhancing some of the tracks when needed.”

The compilation is a tale of two halves: the first immerses you in old-school vibes, while the latter offered the bands some extra freedom as far as sound is concerned.

All donations this time will go to psychological support for Ukraine soldiers and citizens suffering from PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder). Van Isacker: “We have to realize really well that these traumatized people will need to return to society, and they will need all the help possible to fight their demons and become part of the daily life again. Hence why this time we are going to support some NGO’s that work on this specific topic. They have a huge task ahead of them, so every help we can provide, we will provide.”

Tracklist

Merchandise

For those who love a tangible connection to the music, we offer an exclusive ‘Electronic Bodies’ T-shirt (for men and women) and, in true EBM spirit, you can get a combo package holding also a limited edition, hand-numbered Electronic Bodies flask. Each merchandise order also includes a download of the compilation, ensuring the beats never stop.

Shipping takes places in the first week of October. Please make sure to place your order as soon as possible so we know what stock we need to order.

Thanks for your continued support!

Our previous compilations

• Various Artists – The Insane Vaults
• Various Artists – Face The Beat: Session 1
• Various Artists – Face The Beat: Session 2
• Various Artists – Face The Beat: Session 3
• Various Artists – Face The Beat: Session 4
• Various Artists – Face The Beat: Session 5
• Various Artists – Shane Aungst vs Face The Beat 5 – Megamix
• Various Artists – Face The Beat: Session 6
• Various Artists – Shane Aungst vs Face The Beat 6 – Megamix
• Various Artists – Post-Punk (Genesis)
• Various Artists – Face The Beat: Session 7
• Various Artists – Electronic Resistance – A Darkwave / Post​-​Punk Compilation From The Ukrainian Underground
• Various Artists – Electronic Resistance – Reconstruction
• Iwan Lovynsky & KingSMarine – Ukraina EP
• Various Artists – Electronic Bodies: session 1

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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!

side-line.com

The time has come to start up a brand new charity compilation series at Side-Line, which will be titled “Electronic Bodies”. This time, and you might have guessed already, we will focus solely on (oldschool) EBM per request of our readers during an internet poll on our social media. Musically we direct our attention to the Electronic Body Music (EBM) as it sounded like in the early 1980s in Belgium plus on its earliest counterparts in Scandinavia, Spain and Germany.

Additionally – and this will also please many – we will also accept New Beat tracks as long as they fit the EBM sound pallet. Back to the golden age of the beats so to speak!

This call for submissions is open to new bands, unsigned bands and signed bands. The compilation will again be powered by Side-Line, released via our Bandcamp page only, and promoted to a whole range of magazines and DJ’s. And, he again doesn’t know it yet, but we will again invite Shane Aungst – now he knows – to do his magic work on the upcoming volume for an extra remix album.

For those bands who don’t produce EBM itself (anymore), we invite you to make an exception and just for the sake of this charity compilation create a true oldschool EBM track.

How can you take part in the compilation?

There are a couple of rules to respect in order to make it easier for everyone, especially for our chief editor Bernard Van Isacker who has been compiling every compilation since the start of our series.

1. Send 1 (!!!) mastered track in WAV format (GEMA free material and preferably previously unreleased) via wetransfer.com to info@side-line.com . We stress the fact that you can only send 1 track. Your best one that is. The reason is simple, there are thousands of submissions to go through.
2. Do NOT send files via email, such submissions will not be accepted! Only use Wetransfer.com.
3. We will contact you upon selection to send you some paperwork to complete.
4. The deadline for submission is March 27th 2023.

For the younger readers and musicians born after 1990, Electronic Body Music (EBM) originated in the early 1980s, primarily in Belgium and Germany. It emerged as a subgenre of electronic music, incorporating elements of industrial, synthpop, and new wave music. EBM is characterized by its heavy use of electronic instruments, repetitive beats, and political or socially conscious lyrics. New Beat evolved a bit later on and also involved repetitive and hypnotic beats. Thus the link is clear.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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!

side-line.com

(By Stéphane Froidcoeur for Inferno Sound Diaries/Side-Line Reviews) 2022 has been once again a sad, bloody and terrible year. Living in a mad world music once more remains a true therapy to appease pain and frustration. Concerts and festivals came back; the perfect place to meet friends again. Artists remain prolific releasing great studio work. So I’m once more closing the year by a personal selection of my very own ‘best of’-albums of the year.

Over 700 productions have been selected while 540  reviews have been made all over the year. Some productions have been refused because the style of music didn’t fit, while other reviews will be postponed to 2023. I’m really grateful to all labels, bands and promoters considering my work and efforts and I hope you’ll go on providing me new promos next year.

I one again have to express my deepest gratitude to Rich Bova (NEIKKA RPM) who for years and years now is reading, correcting and improving my reviews. Without Rich there would be no reviews. I also want to thank Bernard Van Isacker – chief redactor Side-Line Music Magazine – for the successful collaboration. 

Up now to 2023. I already reduced my activities this year and will move on reducing it in 2023. I made my first reviews and interviews back in 1991 (!). Some of the readers and artists weren’t even born when I wrote my first review for Side-Line. So after more than 30 years non-stop activities I think it’s not that strange to move on slowly.

I also want to express a big ‘F*** you’ to so-called ‘artists’ and label owners who don’t realise and appreciate the work I’m doing by making reviews and preparing interviews to get them in the spotlights. The attitude and less of respect shown by those people – luckily a very few number – is just unacceptable… but I’m afraid it reflects the world we’re living in… Behind a genius artist is not always hiding a great person… It’s quite strange to realise the ’biggest’- and long-time established artists from this scene often are the most accessible ones.

Writing reviews remains very ‘subjective’ and always a source of discussion, but keep in mind it will be always the perception of the reviewer. I can assure you I’m always trying to argue my reviews the best as possible. A review will be never objective, but has to be honest!

Like every year I’ve made a selection from the best albums of the year. This ‘TOP 25’ covers different styles like EBM, Dark-Electro, IDM, Synth-Pop, Ethereal, Dark-Ambient, Industrial, Cinematographic, Gothic, Post-Punk, Cold/Dark-Wave, Dark-Techno and a few related genres. It remains an exciting but tough exercise.

This ‘TOP 25’ is taken from the promotional material I got while compilations, ‘best of’-productions, EP’s and singles were not considered.

So, here’s my ‘TOP 25’ from 2022 and don’t forget to share it with your friends….

Top 25 albums 2022

1. IVARDENSPHERE: “Ragemaker” – Metropolis Records
2. DIE ROBO SAPIENS : “Robo Sapien Race” – Alfa Matrix
3. EBE04 : “Inrush – Give/Take
4. CALDON GLOVER: “Labyrintia” – Cyclic Law
5. ROME: “Hegemonikon” – Trisol
6. NEIKKA RPM: “Scorpio In The Hourglass – Alfa Matrix
7. VANGUARD: “Spectrum” – Infacted Recordings
8. SUICIDE COMMANDO: “Goddestructor” – Out Of Line
9. ELM: “Penetrator” – Alfa Matrix
10. OBERER TOTPUNKT: “Totentanz” – Danse Macabre Records
11. THE BIRTHDAY MASSACRE: “Fascination” – Metropolis Records
12. BLACKBOOK: “Confessions Of The Innocent” – DarkTunes Music Group
13. BEYOND THE GHOST: “Sundown” – Cryo Chamber
14. THEN COMES SILENCE: “Hunger” – Metropolis Records
15. PRINCIPE VALLIENTE: “Barricades” – Metropolis Records
16. DAWN OF ASHES: “Scars Of The Broken” – Artoffact Records
17. MONSTERGOD: “Ozymandias” – Space Race Records
18. STATIQBLOOM: “Threat” – Sonic Groove Records
19. AXIOME: “Field Guide To Alien Planets And Other Disco Balls – Audiophob
20. REICHSFEIND: “Darken” – Alfa Matrix
21. FIRST AID 4 SOULS: “I Am The Night” – Alfa Matrix
22. ORDO ROSARIUS EQUILIBRIO: “Nihilist Notes And The Perputual Quest 4 Meaning In Nothing” – Out Of Line
23. KILL SHELTER: “Asylum” – Manic Depression Records / Metropolis Records
24. JAGATH: “Svapna” – Cold Spring Records
25. KILL YOUR BOYFRIEND: “Voodoo” – Shyrec

Inferno Sound Diaries

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.

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In order to raise extra funds for our Ukrainian charity cause at Side-Line, we have released the single “Ukraina” which acts as a bridge between the two “Electronic Resistance” compilations released by Side-Line. This 5-track single – available right now for free download via Bandcamp – features the original track “Ukraina” by Iwan Lovynsky & KingSMarine augmented with 4 remixes by Aesthetische, Acylum, Kant Kino and Cubic who each bring their own sound in the mix.

Our chief editor Bernard Van Isacker explains: “The track perfectly explains what the people in Ukraine are going through, their anxieties, their anger. This is Ukraine as people live it today. You could call it an anthem which the other 4 remixers have personalized to their own taste.”

The single comes right after the release of the free “Electronic Resistance – Reconstruction” charity compilation and a new line of EBM Day T-shirts (which also include a free download of this compilation”).

EBM Day T-shirts

Via a special EBM Day T-shirt line we also decided to both remember Ukraine’s resistance and EBM-day in one, all revenue from this T-shirt line will go to Ukrainian aid.

On top we have produced special handmade steel medaillons, limited to 180 copies, representing the electronic resistance logo. You can use it as an amulet, or as a keychain. It is sold in combination with the EBM-day T-shirt (including an Electronic Resistance patch).

Shipping takes places end of December so you are sure to get your merchandise before the 24th of February. We do advise to place your order as soon as possible as the post is not always so fast.

Side-Line also covered Aesthetische’s ‘Boiling Over’.

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.

www.side-line.com

Out now via the Side-Line Bandcamp page is the 2nd volume in our Ukrainian charity compilation series. “Electronic Resistance – Reconstruction” is the follow-up to our previous 55-track strong compilation “Electronic Resistance” which was released earlier this year.

The new release holds 58 tracks, including 4 remixes of the Iwan Lovynsky & KingSMarine track “Ukraina” by Aesthetische, Cubic, Acylum and Kant Kino.

Bernard Van Isacker explains: “The war is still far from being over and what the Russians started on February 24th 2022 already has had a huge impact on all of our lives, but way more on those of the Ukrainian people. It’s clear that this topic is very touchy to many. Since the release hit Bandcamp yesterday evening, my mailbox is inundated by ‘proza’ from Russians who don’t agree with the concept of this compilation. But I also get a lot of feedback from Russian readers who appologize for what is happening, which is actually a good thing.”

The concept of this new volume is all about reconstruction, reconstruction of people’s lives, but also reconstruction of a nation which is still being brutalized by Russian aggression. The release holds again more than 50 darkwave / post-punk acts from the Ukrainian underground scene only including a lot of new names.

The compilation is now occupying the number 1 spot on Bandcamp’s industrial charts.

Bernard explains the difficulties to get this new volume on the road: “Just like with the first volume, we were again confronted with difficult conditions to get hold of the necessary files as some disks were in occupied territories, other files were lost and so we sometimes worked with very raw source material to reconstruct the tracks. Add to that that this time electronic contact was made extremely difficult due to the many electricity outages caused by Russian rocket attacks. Many track titles again refer to the current situation as you will notice. We again had the honor to have music from musicians active on the frontline, from soldiers to medics, and from people who continue to help out where possible. Heroes as far as I am concerned.”

All donations this time will go to United24, a global initiative to support Ukraine.

EBM Day Merchandise

But that’s not all. “We refuse to let Putin and his companions hijack what used to be a joyful EBM day, so we decided to both remember Ukraine’s resistance and EBM-day in one go by launching a special T-shirt line. Also the revenue from this T-shirt line will go to Ukrainian aid,” Van Isacker adds

A second T-shirt line comes accompanied with a special handmade steel medaillon, limited to 180 copies, representing the electronic resistance logo. You can use it as an amulet, or as a keychain. It is sold in combination with the EBM-day T-shirt (including an Electronic Resistance badge).

Both items hold the download of the “Electronic Resistance – Reconstruction” compilation.

Shipping takes places end of December so you are sure to get your merchandise before the 24th of February. We do advise to place your order as soon as possible as the post is not always so fast and shipping costs will go up after December so the post told us.

You can order the ‘EBM Day T-shirt’ right here and the ‘EBM Day T-shirt + medallion + badge’ right here.

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.

www.side-line.com

Out now is the re-release of Faust’s 3rd album “The Faust Tapes”. It’s far from sure that this re-released krautrock album will sell as much as the initial original release back in 1973 which ended up selling between 50 to 100.000 copies. All thanks to the clever marketing strategy of Virgin Records boss Richard Branson.

Back at the time Virgin Records wanted to cash in on the rush for German music and it was Virgin’s Richard Branson who wanted the UK to get to know Faust. Although, honestly speaking, Virgin Records’ boss did have a preference for very alternative bands. After all, he signed Mike Oldfield, Gong, Public Image Ltd., DAF, and so on.

As for Faust’s first album on Virgin Records, Branson’s marketing strategy was very simple, selling the LP for 49 pence, the price of a single at that time. But by selling the album for the extremely cheap price, the album was quickly declared ineligible for chart placement. By then, the ‘damage’ was done as they say and the album was available to thousands of households. Nevertheless, the sales of the album put Virgin at a £2,000 loss.

There’s a crypto-terrorist in the house named Nettelbeck

Our chief editor Bernard Van Isacker talks about “quite a weird achievement for this band which was powered by producer and crypto-terrorist Uwe Nettelbeck.” Bernard: “I clearly add crypto-terrorist because Nettelbeck was an associate of the Baader-Meinhof terrorist organization and as an editor of the underground magazine Konkret, he gave a platform to the very cute but communist nutcase Ulrike Meinhof, the founding member of the Red Army Faction (RAF). In short, Nettelbeck didn’t have any problem selling thousands of records and at the same time being a die-hard communist who adored Mao and supported extreme left wing terrorism. Orwell’s “Animal Farm” comes to mind indeed. Note that over the years several bands and artists would glorify Ulrike Meinhof in their music such as Marianne Faithfull and Doris Days to name just two. A kind of very misplaced idolatry you can say.”

Musically not a real album according to the band

The music on this album, drawn from Faust’s own library of private tapes, was recorded informally and not originally intended for release. There was literally no post-production work done and the band itself never referred to it as their 3rd album but considered it more as a bonus release to mark their signing with Virgin Records. That was also what the band communicated.

The album had 2 tracks, both called untitled, and the album had a running time of a bit more than 43 minutes.

You would think that Faust’s next album “Faust IV” would be a hit after all this ‘Branson’ work. Allas, the band, who was used to live in a Hamburg based commune, didn’t like the music industry enough to make that happen. They in the end broke up in 1975 after Virgin rejected their fifth album.

The band would reform in 1994 to release “Rien”, their fifth album.

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.

www.side-line.com

Two charity releases to help Ukraine have taken the Bandcamp charts by storm in the past few weeks. There is the Side-Line powered “Electronic Resistance” compilation (and book and T-shirt) featuring 55 Ukrainian bands, and there’s the COP International powered 3-track single “Come Together” featuring members of bands including Faith No More, Stabbing Westward, Rammstein, Black Needle Noise and others.

The two releases have three things in common, they come from the indie scene, they have been created and released in record time, and both people behind the release are actually longtime friends. We decided to talk with both initiative takers, our very own chief editor Bernard Van Isacker and producer and musician John Fryer who both invested their time in creating two extremely successful charity projects.

SL: John and Bernard, you were the very first people to launch a charity project in the metal/rock and darkwave scene to help the Ukrainian people and also the ones that made it a huge success. What was the decisive moment when you said, ok, let’s do this?

John: It was late one Sunday evening and I was talking to Christian from COP International records on the phone and as always we were discussing many thing that are happening to us and the world and we got talking about the invasion and all the people suffering the effects it was having on them. So we decided to do a song to raise money. We were like yeah let’s do a song get it recorded and out by Friday of that week.

We were totally nuts to think it could have been done in such a short time. It took as 3 weeks and working around the clock not just on the music side of things but calling, emailing and texting people to get them involved in the project.

Bernard: The moment I saw the first images of the bombing, the dead civilians, I was like, I have to do something, and I have to do it right now. It took roughly 2,5 weeks to get everything done as far as the compilation goes, because I’m still working on the photo book itself which is also going to be released.

I honestly never thought Putin would actually invade Ukraine… who on earth can be so sick? It came as a big blow in my face when I heard the news. I was like, WTF, we are in the year 2022 and some lunatic still thinks it is OK to just invade another country. Looking back, we should have known this was going to happen, all the signals were there for years, especially after he invaded the Crimean with his ‘green’ men. Putin has a track record which is just plain wrong in all its facets and that was just one of the examples that should have made us realize far worse was bound to happen. Add to that that Europe acts like a junkie when it comes to oil and gas…

SL: I know you know each other rather well, it’s like same minds think alike?

John: I have known Bernard for many a moon now and he has a big heart also. Even though we didn’t discuss this with each other we have both come to the same conclusion of what a terrible thing that is happening in Ukraine and want to help in some way.

Bernard: I appreciate John a lot as well and I know he has the heart at the right place. It didn’t surprise me that he ended up with a similar idea. I think we both are very much affected by what is happening so it came as a natural thing to help in the way we know best, John by making music, me by setting up a project and use the Side-Line promo machinery to turn the project into a success.

SL: Can you both describe how you set up your projects?

Bernard: Within 3 days most of the tracks were delivered by the participating bands, some even recorded new material during those 3 days. I then had to literally chase for the necessary paperwork, because the last thing these Ukrainian bands are busy with or need now is bureaucracy, which I totally understand, but it is and was a necessary evil which took me around 2 extra weeks. In the meantime I had contacted Erlend Eilertsen (Lights A.M, Essence Of Mind) in Norway if he could make sure the sound would be ok because some of the sourced material literally was recorded while the bombs were falling like I said. Other bands had nothing left but rough demos, so there was some work needed to get everything polished.

John: Christian and I had done a similar thing before but on a smaller scale. This time we wanted to reach a much bigger audience so we decided to reach for the stars. I’ve known some of the artists for a long time but we also got a lot of help from people we asked like Geno Lenardo, Marija Buljeta, Rod Saez Chavez who also joined in asking people to join our project and we thank them and everyone else who has helped along the way and the people who have donated money to the project.

Side-Line: Bernard, you decided to get to work with Ukrainian bands only. How on earth did you get hold of 55 bands in such a record time?

Bernard: Ah yes, I forgot to tell that. Very simple, I contacted a few bands in direct, but most were actually triggered by a Facebook message I spread in Ukraine. People there reacted very quickly from allover Ukraine, also fans contacted bands after seeing the message. That’s one of the few times when I thought that Facebook did a proper constructive job.

Side-Line: John, you chose to work on a cover of John Lennon’s “Come Together”…

John: John Lennon wrote “Come Together” and we re-imagined it and added Queens [we will rock you]. It is a cover of the Beatles song mixed with a Queen song and we changed the words to [we will stop you]. As in the name, we wanted people to come together to help. This kind of invasion should not be happening. It’s horrifying to think that things like this can still happen in this day and age.

Side-Line: John, you made a supergroup – à la Bruderschaft – but this time from the metal scene featuring members of Faith No More, Stabbing Westward, Rammstein, and a lot more bands. How did this process technically work?

John: I wouldn’t say Metal Scene I would say Alternative Music Scene.

Doing this kind of thing these days is much easier I would say as you have the internet and that’s how we got everyone from around the world on the track. We would email, text or call and if they were willing to be involved we would send them the track and they would record their parts as most people these days have the ability to record at home. I ended up with about 200 tracks of audio and it was like fitting a jigsaw puzzle together and everyone is super happy with the end result.

Bernard: Now that you mention Bruderschaft, I worked on that charity project when it was released on Alfa Matrix back in 2003. You know, working on projects like these makes you realize that you can indeed help people, you just have to use your talents and network. And if everyone would do this, the world would be a much better place anyhow.

Side-Line: If I’m not wrong, this is the first time that 2 band scene players, COP International and Side-Line took the number 2 and 3 spot at the same time on Bandcamp. Kinda huge. What is your feedback on this?

John: In fact “Come Together [we will stop you] reached number 1 on Bandcamp and we have raised around 10,000$ and the artists that are involved with us in this have donated 100% from the money raised but unfortunately Bandcamp have taken their % from the donated sales and we are probably going to have to pay the publishers too even though it’s a god damn charity record to raise money for those who are suffering from this horrific and despicable war.

Bernard: Bandcamp and Paypal indeed take a big chunk. Luckily Bandcamp Friday helped a lot to recoup some of the costs that were involved.

As of this morning, Side-Line has already donated over 8000 EURO (8674,96 US$) to Ukrainian aid. Our compilation is still doing very well and I foresee to be sending hundreds of parcels with merchandise by mid-May as well.

As far as Bandcamp goes, it does make sense that we both stormed the charts there. You don’t find an artist like Rihanna on Bandcamp do you, I think she doesn’t even know it exists. Bandcamp mainly is a platform for the indie crowd, whether it is darkwave, metal, folk, jazz, blues or any other alternative (sub)style that often is not captured by the mainstream charts. So, we charted right in the indie scene, and that’s a very good thing.

Side-Line: Bernard, Side-Line is not a label, but a magazine, why was this project not released via a label?

Bernard: Good question but very easy to answer as well. These kind of projects need a very short roadmap from idea to execution, and since I worked with 55 bands things needed to be done quickly. In short you can not wait for months to get the ball rolling with these kind of projects, you need to act fast and thus instead of having this project go through various hands with different views and ideas, I decided to do it myself and handle everything from A until Z. Luckily Benoit Blanchart (Alfa Matrix, Aiboforcen) quickly volunteered to work on the book layout when I told him about the idea late February this year. Lots of work, which basically happened during long nights after my daytime job and all other work I have. But since I’m also responsible for the ‘Face The Beat’ compilation series, compiling it was not really different as far as the approach goes, just a lot faster when it came to releasing it.

The major difference however was the multitude of charities that had to be funded this time. I usually donate towards 2 or 3 charities per release. But here I spent a whole morning wiring money to all kind of Ukrainian organizations and also to bands who then did local charity. Lots of work, but I guess it’s more than worth it.

Side-Line: How do you both see things evolve in Ukraine?

John: We are hoping this ends now and the killing must stop and Ukraine can be re-built and bring back the misplaced people to their land and rebuild their lives. It’s amazing to see the resolve of these people through this tragedy.

Bernard: I’m personally not really optimistic as far as the length of this full blown war goes. If I see the increasing aggressive tone from all parts in the Russian society – just look how they have set up this huge Z-propaganda – I don’t think this will be over pretty soon. Hence why we need to support the population right now and continue to do so. The country is under heavy shelling in the east since a few days now and there is more happening. Putin started to roll a snowball downhill that is increasing in velocity and size.

I would not be surprised they’ll do sabotage acts inside Finland and Sweden to disrupt the society there since those countries clearly will choose to adhere to the NATO. Railway sabotage, massive hacking of public service networks, etc., they have done it in the past in the Baltic states so I see them returning to that modus operandi with Finland and Sweden especially. This is just the beginning. And we haven’t talked about how China is behaving in all of this.

But, one thing is quite clear, Putin seriously miscalculated what a courageous people the Ukrainians are. And especially because of that we have to start thinking of how to help Ukrainians to rebuild their country after this mad war is over and done.

Side-Line: Bernard, you are still in contact with all the band’s on a weekly basis, how are they?

Bernard: At least once a week they receive an update on the compilation, and I usually get a lot of messages back from the bands telling me how they are, where they are, where they have fled to this week, etc.. I wouldn’t say it is depressing, but it’s not really uplifting either. Having said that, I’m here, safe in my attic, they are there, unsure what will come next. So who am I to complain? I’m proud of every single one of those bands.

Side-Line: Is this the final word or do you plan to continue with this?

Bernard: I don’t know for you John, but I will most probably work on another project in the near future to help and collect funds for Ukraine. The first plans are on the table as we speak. Honestly, I am very positively surprised how our scene has been showing that they really care for the idea and purpose behind these 2 releases. A BIG thank you to all those who donated and who made these projects big successes.

John: We hope the song will continue to keep raising money. So if you have read this and want a way to help please head over to Bandcamp and buy the songs as every little bit will help in the long run. A big thank you again for everyone involved and those who have donated and to those who be donating in the future.

Below are the two charity releases.

Side-Line also covered John Fryer’s ‘Not Another Vampire Song’.

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.

www.side-line.com

This weekend Side-Line released “Electronic Resistance“, a 55-track compilation featuring darkwave / post​-​punk acts from the Ukrainian underground scene only on Bandcamp. Compiled in the past few weeks in – extremely – difficult conditions it offers you an insight into the Ukrainian dark underground and also reflects what all of them are going through. It suffices to see some of the titles on this compilation to understand what we mean.

All donations will go to the bands involved and/or a humanitarian project of their choice. Although this is a free compilation, we do encourage everyone to be very generous.

The release goes hand in hand with a photo book which will act as a testimonial of every band participating in this compilation. The release of this book is planned for early May as we are still working on getting all the material secured.

Also, everyone pre-ordering the photo book by mid-April will be added in the credits as sponsor. Benoit Blanchart from Alfa Matrix / Aiboforcen will take care of the design of the book.

And there’s more, the famous graphic artist Dirk Stallaert (Belgium) made a drawing which will be featured in the preface of the book. Compiler Bernard Van Isacker explains: “I know Dirk for years and have always appreciated his work whether it was for Nino, Nero or any other material he worked on, I also have various originals from him. In early March I asked him if he would be up for making a drawing. He succeeded in delivering a drawing which perfectly showcases the idea behind this compilation and the struggle the Ukrainian people, in this case musicians, are undergoing. And there’s more, but I will reveal that in a later stage.”

Besides this you can also support the artists by getting your ‘Electronic Resistance’ T-shirt, or a packet holding both the photo book and the T-shirt. For the big fans, you can also sponsor a band in direct via a special perk.

Let’s act, not just talk

The 55 bands reacted in record time on a call spread by Side-Line via social media in Ukraine and Ukrainian darkwave fans were themselves contacting bands to participate. The bands on the compilation represent a good example from the dark scene in the country covering post-punk, industrial, darkwave, dark folk, dark rock, noise and dark ambient and this from allover Ukraine, from Odesa, Kyiv, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Mariupol, and many other cities.

When we say that the release happened in extremely difficult conditions we refer to the fact that many of the artists are right now in the frontline, or help in all kind of services from the fire departement to field hospitals. Others are distributing food, others have been forced out of their destroyed homes.

Bernard Van Isacker adds: “Within the first 48 hours after that call for submissions went live in Ukraine, I received the largest bulk of the submissions, with some bands even using their phones to transfer files from the frontline. To not loose time Erlend Eilertsen (Lights A.M, Essence Of Mind) immediately started work on the sound in his studio in Norway the moment all material had arrived. Within 4 days we had the material ready for upload. In the meantime the biggest challenge was to set up a communication line with every band to secure the paperwork as well, not easy when you know you are trying to contact people who are on the run, or in metro stations seeking refuge or who are on combat missions. But in the end all got arranged. I must say that this is probably the most rewarding release I have worked on in years despite the long nights, little sleep and in-between all my other work which also needed to be done. But the feedback I got from the participating bands was very heartwarming.”

As we speak, the compilation has reached the number 1 spot in the industrial charts on Bandcamp, thanks to you, our readers who are very supportive once again.

Bernard Van Isacker: “I must say that this is probably the most rewarding release I have worked on in years. I have been completing this project every evening after all my day job and evening work was done, so it have been very short nights for me the past few weeks. But the feedback I got from the participating bands was very heartwarming.”

Van Isacker also plans to head for Ukraine: “I promised that the participating artists would also get their merchandise and books, so I’ll stick to my word and I will personally hand it over to them. I have already assembled a team around me who wants to go with me as part of a humanitarian convoy to deliver goods there. That will be organized by another action here locally in Belgium for which I have already laid the contacts. This is an ongoing story…”

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.

www.side-line.com

Buy the digital album (name your price)

Price: Free – Name Your Price

Catalogue number: SLER1

Style: EBM / Darkwave / Post-Punk

Today Side-Line presents you “Electronic Resistance”, a 55-track compilation featuring darkwave / post​-​punk acts from the Ukrainian underground scene only. Compiled in the past few weeks in – extremely – difficult conditions it offers you an insight into the Ukrainian dark underground and also reflects what all of them are going through. It suffices to see some of the titles to understand what we mean.

The compilation – available on Bandcamp – features artists from allover Ukraine, from Odesa, Kyiv, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Mariupol, etc.. Many of them are right now in the frontline, or help in all kind of services from the fire departement to field hospitals. Others are distributing food, others have been forced out of their destroyed homes.

All donations will go to the bands involved and/or a humanitarian project of their choice. Now it is up to us to support them. Although this is a free compilation, we do encourage everyone to be very generous.

The release goes hand in hand with a photo book which will act as a testimonial of every band participating in this compilation. The release of this book is planned for early May as everyone pre-ordering the photo book by mid-April will be added in the credits as sponsor. You can also support the artists by getting your ‘Electronic Resistance’ T-shirt, or a packet holding both the photo book and the T-shirt.

Bernard Van Isacker: “It has been a very confronting job to compile this release. Here I was sitting at home replying to messages from musicians who were at the frontline … I knew things were bad, but being confronted in direct with this horror is a punch in the face. We all complain about high prices at the gas station, me included, but that’s really nothing compared to what the Ukrainian people are going through right now.

The book that we will publish will even be a bigger confrontation for many. There you will see the musicians whose music you listen to. You will see how they are just like you and me. With this difference, they live in a country invaded by an agressor and they live in constant fear.

Some of the material has been recorded in pretty hefty conditions, including at least one during bombardments on Kiev. Other musicians lost all of their gear and files and only had rough material left which Erlend Eilertsen (Lights A.M, Essence Of Mind) worked on to restore to the best sound possible.”

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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!

side-line.com

Our free download compilation “Face The Beat: session 7” has stormed the Bandcamp industrial music charts in no time reaching the number 1 spot overnight. That’s faster than ever before. This ‘mastodont’ release, as someone put it on Twitter, features no less than 135 tracks featuring the broad spectrum of subgenres in the darkwave music scene and coming from bands from allover the world.

Just like last time Side-Line received a huge amount of submissions hence why it also took a while to complete it. We were at the same time also helped out by several labels who offered material to be included on this compilation including but not limited to darkTunes Music Group, Insane Records, SkyQode, Dungeon Recordings and Alfa Matrix. It thus became again a collection of new and established acts.

The release itself was compiled by our chief editor Bernard Van Isacker in Winter of 2021 during long listening sessions in an Istanbul hotel, an attic in Ypres and a holiday house in Eupen. The mastering & sound adjustment was executed by Erlend Eilertsen (Lights A.M, Essence Of Mind) in Norway. And as it happens, Shane Aungst from Seattle is already working on a next promotional surprise.

All proceedings will again go to the various charities we support and this time we will also donate to humanitarian aid for refugees in Eastern Europe due to the ongoing war there which we truly hope will end soon.

You can download the release right below. Enjoy and thanks to all bands involved!

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.

www.side-line.com

Major news from Bandcamp. Ethan Diamond, Bandcamp co-founder and CEO has just announced that Bandcamp is joining Epic Games, who you may know as the makers of Fortnite and Unreal Engine, and as it happens also champions for a fair and open Internet as you might have noticed in recent press coverage.

In a message sent out roughly 20 minutes ago Diamond says that Bandcamp will keep operating as a standalone marketplace and music community, and he will continue to lead the team.

Diamond: “The products and services you depend on aren’t going anywhere, we’ll continue to build Bandcamp around our artists-first revenue model, you’ll still have the same control over how you offer your music, Bandcamp Fridays will continue as planned, and the Daily will keep highlighting the diverse, amazing music on the site. However, behind the scenes we’re working with Epic to expand internationally and push development forward across Bandcamp, from basics like our album pages, mobile apps, merch tools, payment system, and search and discovery features, to newer initiatives like our vinyl pressing and live streaming services.”

Since their founding in 2008 Bandcamp has paid artists and labels close to $1 billion USD.

What does the future bring?

Diamond wants a collaboration to also offer a lot more benefit to the artists, labels, and fans who use the site: “We share a vision of building the most open, artist-friendly ecosystem in the world, and together we’ll be able to create even more opportunities for artists to be compensated fairly for their work.”

Our chief editor Bernard Van Isacker also received the press message and we quickly pinged him for a first reaction: “There a few things which I think of that could well become part of Bandcamp in the near future. I would not be surprised they embrace cryptocurrencies in the near future. Epic Games is not currently using the tech or cryptocurrencies in its own games, but I wouldn’t be surprised they will implement it sooner or later. Epic Games has already confirmed it is open to selling video games that use blockchain and NFTs through its store. It could become a big revolution in how music is paid for especially with a volatile currency like cryptocurrency. I know the demand to pay or get paid with cryptocurrencies is big, just do a query on Google and you’ll notice that a lot of people want to use cryptocurrencies on Bandcamp.”

And what about the music itself? Bernard: “I could and would imagine they will also try to use the vaste Bandcamp catalogue to use in their games as well, for instance it would be cool you could choose or buy tracks from the Bandcamp catalogue to play whilst gaming. And that is just the start of what could be happening. Who knows they might also become a full blown aggregator. There is a lot of symbiosis possible when you get two companies like Bandcamp and Epic Games together. It could become epic alright.”

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.

www.side-line.com

This will interest artists and labels active in Europe. Facebook parent company Meta Platforms is considering leaving Europe if the group is no longer allowed to exchange data from European users with the United States. This message – which you can consider a pure threat – was included in a document that it has filed with the US stock market regulator SEC.

It is not the first time that the company behind, among others, Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram has been pulling that ‘stunt’. The threats are a reaction to what happened in 2020 when Facebook was told by privacy regulators in Ireland that it could no longer use standard contractual clauses to comply with privacy rules when sending data to the US, the so-called Privacy Shield. According to the European Court of Justice personal data is less well protected in the US than in Europe. Facebook immediately warned that stopping transatlantic data transfers could have a devastating impact on the company. The company relies on the processing of user data in order to provide targeted online advertisements.

An investigation is currently still being carried out by the Irish data regulator. Meta is therefore still waiting for a final decision in the case. That may come in the first half of this year. In that context, the US company is now warning that if a good solution is not found, “we probably won’t be able to offer some of our core products and services, including Facebook and Instagram, in Europe.”

The case started several years ago with a complaint from the Austrian privacy activist Maximilian Schrems about Facebook Ireland, the company’s European headquarters. Schrems had complained to the Irish data protection authority about Facebook Ireland’s transfer of personal data to its parent company in the US. He wondered whether they were sufficiently protected in the US.

Consequences for EU bands, labels and magazines

If Facebook were to quit the European market (which we frankly don’t believe they would do, it’s worth 21 Billion US dollars and their second biggest market) this could mean quite a blow to all those bands, labels and magazines who rely solely or heavily on Facebook for their promotional activities.

Our chief editor Bernard Van Isacker has been following the whole affair: “It basically is what I have warned about for years, namely not to put all your eggs in the Facebook basket. You simply do NOT own the data there, you rent it and each time you have to pay to reach your followers unless you get a post viral, which does not happen a lot. We have also seen it with the way they have been intentionally cutting the reach on Facebook and Instagram so that bands, labels and magazines have to pay in order to get their message across to their own fans, which often were bought in the first place via Facebook (which was an idiot decision in the first place). It’s like you would have to buy the same CD over and over again if you would like to listen to it. Bonkers. This problem does for example not exist with multinationals who sell goods that cost a bit more than a vinyl or CD. For those companies who are selling goods with a much higher value, the marketing spent on Facebook is actually quite ROI friendly so to speak. But, the ROI on Facebook is in most cases not really profitable for the music scene, unless you sell higher end goods where your spent is more balanced by the pricing of your products, I think of mega limited releases for instance or big boxsets.”

So what will happen if Meta really leaves Europe? Bernard: “Then it’s very simple, everyone who has only relied on the Meta platforms to spread their message will have a major problem if they don’t own their own data and websites. I see that most intelligent labels work on their own data, but all those who don’t, well, it will be game over I’m afraid. The same for magazines who heavily rely on Facebook to get the bulk of their traffic, it will be difficult to continue to be relevant. Anyhow, Facebook has already heavily cut down on the reach and outbound traffic for years so I think that should have been a big alarm signal to begin with for all those who have been sleeping over the years. For Side-Line I don’t see any problems, we have worked for years on our own channels which we own to get the word out. So far so good. But it will be very interesting to see if Zuckerberg has the balls to actually do it. On a side-note, apart from the music business, if it happens I think you can be 100% sure that all hell will break loose as Meta has made sure it became the most important platform for the majority of people to connect. Imagine you suddenly loose all the contact details of your friends on Facebook… now that I think of it, maybe it would be a good thing for many people (laughs). I’m sure the pubs will have more clients then.”

So that’s it then? Bernard: “Not really. Other platforms will take over and the European Commission has been working for years on its own search engine away from Google, so why not an own social media platform though I doubt those EC members are intelligent enough to understand the mechanics behind it. You should have seen the meetings regarding GDPR… rather funny. Some were completely clueless.”

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.

www.side-line.com

Over the past 12 months Inferno Sound Diaries‘ Stéphane Froidcoeur selected nearly 750 productions of which 600 also got a review on Side-Line. Some productions have been refused because the style of music didn’t fit, while a lot of reviews are still to be published in 2022.

Stéphane: “I’m really grateful to all labels, bands and promoters considering my work and efforts and I hope they’ll keep on providing me new promos next year. My greatest gratitude and thank goes once again to Rich Bova (NEIKKA RPM) who for years and years now is reading, correcting and improving the reviews. I don’t have enough words to express my gratitude and without Rich I simply would have to stop this job. No need to say I’ve been once again disappointed by a few so-called ‘artists’ and label owners. The attitude and lack of respect shown by those people -luckily a very few number, is just disgusting… but I’m afraid it reflects the world we’re living in… Behind a genius artist is not always hiding a great person…”

2021 has been also a very special year for Stéphane as he celebrated his 30th anniversary of journalism with an impressive series of interviews featuring very different people from this scene. Stéphane : “Big thanks to Séba Dolimont, Suicide Commando, Juno Reactor, Raison D’Être, Jürgen Vanvlasselaer, Rich Bova, Armageddon Dildos and Bernard Van Isacker who kindly accepted to contribute to this celebration.”

Here are the interviews conducted:

• Celebration Interview with Bernard Van Isacker (Side-Line & Alfa Matrix)
• Celebration Interview’ with Uwe Kanka / Armageddon Dildos
• Celebration Interview’ with ‘Music Lover’ Jürgen Vanvlasselaer
• Celebration Interview’ with Rich Bova / Neikka RPM
• Celebration Interview’ with Peter Andersson / Raison D’Être
• Celebration Interview’ with Ben Watkins aka Juno Reactor
• Celebration Interview’ with Johan Van Roy (Suicide Commando)
• Celebration Interview’ with Seba Dolimont (Alfa Matrix)

Like every year Stéphane has made a selection from the best albums of the year. This Top 25 covers different styles like EBM, Dark-Electro, IDM, Synth-Pop, Ethereal, Dark-Ambient, Industrial, Cinematographic, Gothic, Post-Punk, Dark-Techno and a few related genres and is taken from the promotional material we got while compilations, ‘best of’-productions, EP’s and singles were not considered for this ‘best of’.

But now, here are the 25 best albums!

1. Rome – “Parlez-Vous Hate?” – Trisol
2. Circumpolar – “Awaiting The Dawn” – Alfa Matrix
3. Clicks – “Goth” – Dependent Records
4. Of The Wand And The Moon – “Your Love Can’t Hold This Wrath Of Sorrow” – Heidrunar Mykrunar
5. Crystal Geometry – “Distressing Visions” – Sonic Groove
6. Mechanimal – “Θόρυβος” – Inner Ear Records
7. Raison D’être – “Demonum“ – Cyclic Law
8. Zwaremachine – “Conquest 3000” – Phage Tapes
9. Eclipsed – “Holyiens” – Electro Frequent
10. Nattskiftet – “Stamplar In” – Progress Productions
11. Nnhmn – “Deception Island 2” – Zoharum
12. This Morn’omina – “The Roots Of Saraswati” – Dependent Records
13. Skrika – “Fifth Nature” – Cryo Chamber
14. Llumen – “Polygon Heart” – Alfa Matrix
15. Not My God – “Simulacra” – Metropolis
16. Seasurfer – “Metropolis” – Reptile Music
17. Ps Stamps Back – “Au Bout De La Nuit” – Ant-Zen
18. The Illusion Of Silence – “Gardens In The Dark” – Shadowplay
19. She Spread Sorrow – “Huntress” – Cold Spring Records
20. Blutengel – “Fountain Of Destiny” – Out Of Line
21. Agonoize – “Revelation Six Six Sick” – Reporecords
22. The Force Dimension – “Mortal Cable” – Sonic Groove Experiments
23. Cubic – “The Cubic Alphabet” – Alfa Matrix
24. Pyrroline – “Struggling” – Electro Aggression Records
25. Beckahesten – “Tydor” – Cyclic Law

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.

www.side-line.com

Back in 1991 I started writing my first reviews for Side-Line magazine. I would have never thought to go on writing reviews and making interviews non-stop for 30 years. So 2021 is a special year to me, a kind of ‘celebration year’. I got the idea to celebrate this special event by interviewing people from the scene who all have a special meaning to me. The last interview in this series is one with Bernard Van Isacker. I definitely had to close the circle with this interview. Being active as Side-Line’s chief redactor and as one of the Alfa Matrix label owners, Bernard and I became close friends. We didn’t always agree on some topics, which finally brought me to leave Side-Line as staff member in 2016. We remained in touch and decided to move on working together, but in a different format. A lot of things have been said and written about Bernard -not always kind things – but I got the privilege and opportunity to see how he’s working and all what he’s doing. I can only, but deeply respect his involvement. Time to ask him some questions.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: Lots of people from this scene know who you are, but how would you introduce yourself and how did you get in touch with the Electro/Industrial/Gothic scene? 

Bernard: My name is Bernard Van Isacker, 47 years old, and I have 2 kids. Magnus, 4 years old, and Sebastian, 16 years old, from my first marriage. I work currently as a social media manager, web developer and CRM admin for a multinational. I also run 2 holiday houses, but for the past 2 years they have been empty due to the corona pandemic. That was a big blow to our budget, so I had to take extra work to keep on paying our bills. But we survive.

I sleep basically 5 hours per night, take a small breakfast and lots of coffee at 6 in the local Panos –both the owners Mario and Hannelore are sweethearts -before I start work at 7:30 until, 10, 11 at night. I’ll probably die working (laughs).

I first got introduced to the Dark-Wave scene when I was 14 years old and was sitting next to a guy in class who said he had heard a really sick tape. That was Nitzer Ebb’s “That Total Age”. But you have to know that I was already heavily into Depeche Mode and New-Beat (yes!) so the ‘move’ to more industrial sounds was not really a surprise. Anyhow, Nitzer Ebb had more or less the same BPM as new beat so that was easy (laughs). By the time I was fifteen I was listening to Cat Rapes Dog. Their “Maximum Overdrive” remains legendary as far as I am concerned. And after that I got hooked to Inside Treatment, Pouppée Fabrikk, and other bands from Scandinavia. I only started to listen to German acts when I went to university, and that included bands such as Fortification 55, Project Pitchfork, Psychic Force, Trial, etc..  

As we speak I’m in the middle of compiling our newest volume in the “Face The Beat”-series for Side-Line. The 7^th so far. But shoot with the questions Stephane!

Q: I guess less people know you graduated in journalism so what did you try to add/change when joining Side-Line? And how did you happen to join Side-Line magazine? 

Bernard: That’s correct, I graduated in journalism and worked at a couple of newspapers before diving into the startup world of ecommerce. That was pre-Google so SEO was still something very rudimentary and traffic was basically created via price comparison sites and massive mailings, you can call it pure spam (laughs). 

But I worked for 4 years as a journalist, was able to write a lot of solid articles, but I got fed up with the easy way things were covered (while we all knew it were lies) and the easy way things were NOT covered (because some bishop threatened to sue the newspaper –and me, for defamation). I left that world disgusted. Add to that it is one of the worst paid jobs ever. 

I got fed up with the easy way things were covered in the press

Anyhow, whilst studying one of my friends, Yves Van De Veken, told me there was this magazine that was going to be published with an attached CD compilation full of Dark-Wave music and that they would have the first issue with the sampler later that week in the Metrophone cellar, in Antwerp that is, where I studied. I got the magazine, which was in a very stylish layout, liked the CD sampler and was hooked on the review section to read about new bands. I was at that time already working part-time as journalist whilst studying, and I got access to bigger bands which I thought could fit Side-Line pretty well, so I sent a mail to Seba (who I thought was a girl) and told ‘her’ that I could arrange bigger interviews for them. Seba wanted to test the waters I guess, and I told that I could do Hooverphonic, but could also check with Dirk Da Davo  in the next week to show what I was capable of. Apparently ‘she’ really liked what I wrote and asked for more. Paradise Lost, Marc Almond, Bel Canto, … the list of interviews I did for Side-Line grew by the day.  

But I had never met any of the team. The first time I met someone from the Side-Line team back then was actually you, but I can’t recall where that was, I think it was in Brussels, but for what exactly?

A few weeks later I met Seba –who you told was NOT a girl, at a Die Form concert in Ghent I think. If I’m not wrong Cédric and Benoit were also there. Since then we were like a band of brothers who went to concerts, either together or with one or two others. Sweet times I must say, we were all very young, had not yet lived ‘real’ life with all its hurdles and accidents.

Q: Early 2008 was a turning point in the magazine’s history. Former chief-redactor Séba Dolimont decided to stop his involvement so you became the new chief-redactor. The printed magazine definitely stopped and Side-Line remained only active as online magazine. How do you look back at the loss of the printed magazine and how did the transition happen? 

Bernard: I basically had always pushed to keep the magazine alive as a print magazine, but at the same time I had launched www.side-line.com in 1999 because the initial Side-Line website –on a different url, was basically just a page, looked bloody awful and served no purpose –no offense Ronan Harris. So when Seba told me that he had decided to stop with the printed magazine, my mental switch was fast and I decided to focus on the online magazine which by then was attracting a tenfold of the printed magazine anyhow. It was a no-brainer.

Going online only? It was a no-brainer.

With Seba stopping, we also lost most of the external contributors, which is logical since a print magazine has a more loose team whereas a news website has to work with a very productive small team, as Side-Line.com was by then already producing daily news updates. A small team is always easier to work with, and I had seen that with the print version of Side-Line I was already doing most of the interviews, delivering 99% of the news, while you already did most of the reviews. So, we had a winning team anyhow, why change that?

In short, yes, it had an emotional impact, but not a practical one. We had a good run, but the times were changing. And I for sure was not planning to miss the online train as you know.

Q: I think there’re significant differences between a printed magazine and an online page. Can you give us the pros and cons especially from your perspective? 

Bernard: Yes, the differences are there for sure and I think you will agree with me, but tell me if you don’t! I will give you the pros and cons as far as online is concerned, the cons will largely cover the pros for print.

Pros: 

• Write, enter it in the CMS, add a picture and post. Simple. In short: it’s fast.
• The news goes out instantly via a wide array of tools. One post on Side-Line reaches around 5000 people in the next few minutes via our different channels, above and under the hood. By the end of the day –when syndication and newsletters have kicked in, we have a 10.000 reach per item. This doesn’t mean people have read it, it means that they have at least seen the picture and title.
• The articles can be as long or as short as you want.
• We can add multimedia, which is a good way to add metadata to your articles. This was limited back in 1999 when we went online though.
• A small team can move mountains.

Cons: 

• There is a strict daily deadline to maintain each day.
• The rapidness also gives room to errors you might not have noticed or simply wrong info (although we only had a few incidents with that).
• Getting decent daily news is sometimes difficult, other times you get inundated by news,
• Some labels and bands have no clue how to write press texts and fill it with promo blabla. If there are no 4 lines of good solid facts, I usually do not publish it.
• In our case I have to be technically savy, have seo skills and have IT skills. And I know how to write. That’s a lot if something goes wrong, and we have had times when it really went wrong.
• Online income generation as a news website is not easy. Most of the labels still have no clue what online means and still think in an old school way. 
• A small team means problems when one leaves or falls sick.
• A magazine accept slow reading, a website not.

Q: Do you’ve an idea who’s reading Side-Line and is there a kind of reader’s profile? 

Bernard: Actually I do, thanks to a combination of datasets, which are limited as I hate being followed myself. The last dataset of November shows that 31% is female, 67% is male and 2% identifies not as male or female. Most readers come from the USA, followed by the UK, Canada, Germany, France, Australia, Mexico, Sweden, Norway, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Brazil, Poland, Holland, Greece and Denmark. We got data from 45 countries in total once we filtered out the accidental and spam traffic.

When it comes to the profiles, we have data of a survey that happened a few months ago on our website. 8200+ respondents later we see that half (51%) has an office job, 36% has an outside or factory job and 11% is unemployed and 2% is enjoying their pension. 

The same survey also showed us info regarding age and it goes synchronically with the data from our Facebook page: 4% is between 18-24, 34% is between 25-34, 25% is between 35-44, 27% is between 45-54, 5% is between 56-64 and 3% is older than 64. That info again corresponds more or less with the survey we did.

It shows we have mostly a very active public between 25 and 54 years old.

Q: Back in time the Side-Line forum was quite ‘popular’, but unfortunately also a place for bullshit and conflicts. Did you expect this evolution and was it the main reason to stop the forum? 

Bernard: The Side-Line forum was indeed very popular and at times had 20 to 50.000 visits a day. It was so popular that it had become a full time task to keep the spammers out, to keep things civilized, etc.. The discussion there were legendary. Some were in it for the fun, others to learn something new, and others just to anonymously troll. It was the graveyard of subtleness though (laughs).

The Side-Line forum was the graveyard of subtleness…

It ran its course, but I was so glad I could kill that baby. Just with one click: bye bye! By the end it had become uncontrollable and we had to delete 90% of all posts because the trolling really went overboard. No loss, it’s part of history, but I still have to laugh when I think of the silliness of it all.

Do you know that we once launched a T-shirt line where you could have your nickname printed on it? We sold a few hundred of those… really fun times!

Q: In the meantime, you also became one of the owners of Alfa Matrix, which became one of the leading labels of underground Electro music. What’s your input and impact in the label activities? 

Bernard: I take care of the IT, web dev, communication and digital distribution. I leave the A&R to Seba, as we each have our own department. But we do have to agree all 3 for signing a band or not. I also often am abroad and try to hook up with the bands in real life.

Q: Let’s go on with a rather tricky question. I think it’s very confusing for a lot of people to understand you’re chief-editor of Side-Line and still one of the Alfa Matrix owners. That sounds pretty incestuous, don’t you think? How do you manage both activities without too much conflict of interest?  

Bernard: Nothing tricky at all. I have never hidden the fact that I’m also behind Alfa Matrix and I am proud of it. Actually, I am not the only label guy behind a magazine, check Blabbermouth for instance, it is also successfully run by label people, possible because we have intel on both sides of the medal.

As far as conflict of interest is concerned: there is none. I don’t intervene in the reviews at all, and that’s where there could be a conflict of interest because reviews are subjective an sich. When it comes to news articles, Alfa Matrix gets as much attention as for instance Metropolis, and I bring it as dry as I do with all the other articles: facts, facts, facts and no promo speech.. Actually, sometimes Alfa Matrix bands complain because they have not gotten a good score on Side-Line. I then have to explain that reviews are completely out of my control to keep a healthy balance in the magazine.

I have a very clean conscience.

That other people claim otherwise on Facebook or so is their problem. I have a very clean conscience regarding this. 

Q: It’s also interesting to see next to Alfa Matrix, Side-Line is actually releasing digital compilations; the magazine also became a kind of label! The “Face The Beat”-series became a real success story. What’s the main goal of this compilation series and how do you select the artists? 

Bernard: Well, the move is not so strange I must say. In the early days there was Side-Line Records, some kind of precursor to Alfa Matrix. Then Side-Line produced compilations to go with the magazines. I just brought it to the 21^st century when I took over and compiled and launched the first “Face The Beat” as a Facebook compilation, hence the name, 10 years ago. 

The main goal is reflected by what Side-Line has all been about even when Seba first launched it: get people to know music from established and new bands. It’s a vision I embraced since the start. I added an extra touch and that is that all revenue goes to charity. 

The compilations are compiled like this: I do a call for submissions on all channels we have, there is one reminder and then I lock myself up for weeks with the material that I have received, usually thousands of demos and completed tracks. Once a first selection is made, I go through the material again that is selected and do an extra selection to make sure the best tracks are included. After that I send out the necessary paperwork and then usually almost everyone responds quickly. There are usually only 2 or 4 bands that are too late or never respond. It’s always a race to meet the deadline I have in my mind, but I usually make it on time. In the meantime, I usually have worked on the artwork and worked through the material with Erlend Eilertsen from Essence Of Mind and Lights A.M to make sure the tracks get the best possible sound on the compilation.

After that I launch it on Bandcamp basically and the platform does its work, with some help of me (laughs). It’s all a very intuitive process where clear communication is king. 

A lot of labels and bands still haven’t learned from ecommerce.

Q: You definitely were one of the first from this scene to have understood the impact streaming platforms would have. I remember you got a lot of hard reactions about it, but today you can tell to all of your critics you were right! How do you look back at this period and how do you expect things evolving during the next few years? 

Bernard: Yes, I must say that the short sight of a lot of people in the record business was reflected in the harsh attacks I got in interviews, on radio programs and on social media. Some even went so far to send me mails accusing me of killing the industry, that I was a traitor. One of my biggest critics in the end contacted me back years later saying that he was wrong and that I was right. I still appreciate him till the day of today. Only great people can apologize and say they were wrong.

The thing is, it’s not that I like this or that evolution, it is that I just can see what is going to happen and where our music industry is heading towards. Some new techniques will never take off, but it is my job at Alfa Matrix to keep an eye on what is happening in the industry and what is going to happen and see if we should invest time and money in it.

My hunch that propriety was going to be over and done with except for a solid and loyal base has proven to be correct. The success of both Spotify and Bandcamp show that my theory on mixed digital music consumption was spot on and that my critics didn’t have a clue what was going to happen.

It’s actually not the first time that I have had a conflict with my colleagues in the music sector. Back when I worked at an ecommerce startup, some shop owners said that we were killing their business. But when I once worked together with such a critical shop owner annex distributor he was unable to deliver the goods… because we sold tenfold of what he was able to get (laughs). One of the biggest channels of sales for that ecommerce shop was actually Side-Line. To give you an idea, when Depeche Mode released their single boxes, Side-Line single handedly sold all, but literally all of the stock available in Belgium in just a few days. They had to restock with copies from all over Europe because they were in limited supply. The same for the Erasure single boxes. And as far as the Covenant boxset “Synergy: Live In Europe” is concerned. That is the release we sold 10 times what the Belgian distributor had promised he was able to get… (laughs). And still we were the bad guys (laughs even louder).

I have to thank Warren Harrison from Hungry Lucy for that way of forward thinking. He opened my eyes as far as digital music is concerned and taught me to dissociate my own wishes from that of a public’s wish, and to open my eyes for new technologies. I doubt he realizes the impact he had on me. Now he knows (smiles). A good guy he is, a pity we lost contact a bit.

And the future will continue, but more in the propriety field where things are moving rapidly, think of NFT’s. Len Lemeire planted that seed in my head actually. Add to that that we will sooner or later be faced with cryptocurrency payments on a larger scale. I have a few other new technologies in mind that might be big in the near future.

One thing though that will remain key, is data. A lot of labels and bands still haven’t learned from ecommerce –namely that it is an opportunity to know who your fans are, and  they are now again missing the boat as they have put all their money on Facebook and other platforms that lock their fans into their platform without offering you any way to communicate except via their own platform. Deadly on the long run.

There is a story to this actually. I was approached by at least 2 major Indie labels in the past few years asking if I would be willing to –listen well, sell all of Side-Line’s data in order to set up an own label of Electro-Pop music. And these are indies who have had BIG artists on their roster. But they have never ever gathered data, never had a decent newsletter, in short they were flying blind once things went sour. 

Having said that, I also see bad evolutions, the platforms work more and more via AI to push releases to people in order to keep them as much as possible on their platforms. It unfortunately also leads to tracks, which are made to trigger these AI powered algorithms. The first automatically generated tracks are very ‘promising’ and they have been released for quite some time now. I personally am not happy with this evolution, as it removes the human genius from it, but like I said, we risk to see this more and more.

Q: It all looks like ‘younger’ people show less interest to write for a magazine. Why is it and how do you expect things evolving? 

Bernard: If we look across the board, most print magazines from our scene are gone, and when we look to the online press, most online magazines from our scene are gone or are unable to keep up with the daily news pace like we do for instance. I often get requests from people if they can start writing for us, but their mail always ends with this question: ‘How much do you pay?’ Knowing that we have never received any money, it’s rather cynic that people who have never proven a thing think they can ask money… So I will repeat it again, THERE IS NO MONEY TO MAKE with an online magazine about Dark-Wave. 

As far as contributors is concerned, I am happy with the team I work with now. I can count on you and Jan-Ronald, basically the main contributors next to me. You both have a very professional attitude and we are friends most and first of all.

The evolution will depend on the fact if there will be more people willing to invest money and time in these kind of projects like running a magazine. We all know that nowadays you will not earn a living from it, on the contrary, you need some financial backup to keep a website up and running, pay the licences for plugings, data storage, and so on. And that’s without the hours of unpaid work on top each day.

Q: I already had discussions with people –including label owners, who no longer belief in the real impact of magazines today because of streaming platforms and other channels like YouTube. What’s your point of view and do you think magazines are enough taking care to adapt and renew themselves? 

Bernard: Well, this is not a problem for us honestly. Side-Line online is still about kickstarting new and young bands. And that’s mainly why people check Side-Line as we have the finger on the pulse to know what might become hot and what not. Remember Suicide Commando, Apoptygma Berzerk, etc..? They got pushed by Side-Line back in the days when they were largely unknown. Once we give these small bands an initial push they have to continue and work from their side as well and that’s when they get in the flow of things with the streaming platforms for instance nowadays.

Side-Line online is still about kickstarting new and young bands.

Take a magazine like Side-Line away and many small bands will never ever get a platform to develop. The same goes for our compilations, they serve to push smaller bands to a wider public. Consider us as an incubator for talents.

Know that I also regularly get contacted by the biggest bands in the scene directly with news, because they know we will publish it and they know we have a very good reach on a daily basis.

The AI used by streaming companies is a very big part in the music consumption and trying to trigger it is not something that is easily done especially with smaller bands on indie labels like I said earlier. The streaming Ais therefore still leave a lot of pearls untouched. Roughly 5 to 7 million songs on Spotify have never been played you know… That is HUGE.

That’s where magazines enter. Take me for instance, I basically have no time to start looking for new music, and I always look into our own review section for new material. So as a gatekeeper a magazine still has its purpose, at least from my point of view. I once did a test and played a few tracks and checked what the services would deliver as suggestions. They didn’t offer anything extra that interested me compared to what I got from your reviews, but instead offered a lot of junk extra so that I would have to weed out anyhow. It kinda proves that these Ais are still not capable of matching the human ear and feeling. Maybe that will happen in the future, I think so, or I would be really disappointed in our human genius (laughs).

That is of course as far as my own consumption goes. 

Now, I talked about the gate keeping function which has been the purpose of a good magazine. It’s my belief that a niche magazine which has a steady output of well selected news and articles will keep that gatekeepers function intact. Let me explain, most music magazines have over the years changed their focus on more popular bands, new music styles, added games, clothes, TV and showbiz in their mix just to get traffic. Look at NME for instance that is now ruled by clickbait articles and rubbish content. It has nothing left that reminds of the good old NME. All of its roots have been removed for the sake of clicks.

Another example is Techcrunch. This online tech magazine was the best back in time, but then it got taken over, and suddenly they started to pour out tons of clickbait articles, which had nothing to do with what the magazine was about in its early days and that was: talking about startups. I used to be a daily reader, I stopped simply because I couldn’t keep up with all the extra news being posted that was way out of the scope they had in the past. 

Less is often more, also for magazines. 

It comes to this, stick to your roots and make sure you have a continuous and regular number of articles posted.

From a label’s point of view, I have always worked on both. Now, since I usually work with new bands, it’s not always easy to have them launched rapidly like we could in the past. It now takes time. And I also understand the labels when they no longer see clear. There are roughly 1500 journalists out there that claim to have a magazine that handles Dark-Wave. 80% of which basically has a blog that has 10 visitors a day. Good for them, but I don’t believe in them. Basically, and we have to be very honest, there are close to no magazines left in this scene with a wacky team like ours that is day in day out constantly working to get a certain number of articles online.  

Those left still reach around 50.000 people daily on their websites and socials combined per day. And that’s a rough estimate but I’m very close, I think. Not exactly peanuts in a scene this small like ours. And quite a good crowd to for instance push smaller, unknown bands to.

In short, yes, I do believe in our future, as long as we stay loyal to our vision and mission. The numbers show it, we are reaching more people than ever, and not thanks to Facebook, but thanks to our daily newsletter, push notifications and all the other channels combined.

Q: Next to Side-Line and Alfa Matrix you’ve been also involved as organizer -and later as organizer ad hoc, of the now defunct famous Belgian underground festival ‘Eurorock’. A lot of things have been said about that festival. How do you look back at this event(s) with hindsight? 

Bernard: A bit like SABENA, such a bad experience never again (laughs). 

I’m still unable to talk about the first 2 editions I invested money in, due to some legal matters, but suffice to say you always have to look out who to trust. I lost a lot of money there, and evicted myself right on time from that very toxic situation. The 3^rd time, I was contracted – as I never wanted to be an investor again- but never got paid. In the end I had to solve most of the shit together with the stage managers who just like me were contracted and never paid. The shit thrown at us afterwards by people who have no clue is  exemplary yet not exceptional in this or any other scene. 

I made sure that every single band I had placed there was paid correctly. Most were grateful I made this happen, others cashed in and badmouthed me in public. So far for the thanks (grins). But I never forget… nor forgive (laughs).

Q: I know you prefer avoiding the question, but next to music you’re also politically engaged. What can you tell us about the subject?

Bernard: I’m not really trying to avoid it, I just think it’s not part of my work for Side-Line or Alfa Matrix, period. I always have tried to never mix it with both although some people are trying to frame me one way or another, usually because they don’t get my sarcasm. But now that you ask about it, yes I’m politically active in one of the biggest elected and ruling parties here in Flanders. That has been an excuse from extremists and activists to attack me in public, call my employer and frame me as ultra conservative, ultra catholic or even a pur-sang fascist. Well, sorry for those lunatics, but I’m as much a nationalist as any Norwegian hanging the Norwegian flag in their garden (that’s roughly every Norwegian with a garden) and as catholic as Macron. And as far as the other words used by ‘my’ critics, I don’t like the woke culture that is being pushed in our faces. Period.  

For the rest I’m happily married with a Mexicana, one of my best friend is a Turkish Muslim, one of my closest friends is transgender, and in my scarce free time I help people with learning disabilities to learn social skills. That should say enough. For the rest, I keep politics out of Side-Line and far away from Alfa Matrix because it’s basically not music. I don’t ask our readers about their political ideas either and I frankly don’t care.

However, I must say that over the years we never had remarks from readers when we post reviews or news from hardcore communist bands, but that we always get harassed by a very tiny group when a more conservative band is being covered. That’s a pure fact. I never discriminate, but I see some others discriminating people because they don’t agree with the ideas of this or that band. Rather disturbing…

I have a very good story actually regarding this. I once got an email from a guy, who started a rant because we had posted a review of a certain band on Side-Line. He called them fascists, racists, etc, etc.. But when I went checking his Facebook profile, I immediately understood why he was specifically attacking that band. His Facebook was filled with anti-semitic and anti-Israel rants… and the band he talked shit about had a Jewish singer. Shocking, but reality. 

The same for some BLM activists who have been attacking Side-Line in the past because we talk about –and I quote: ‘White men bands’. It is the same as attacking Motown Records because they have a  black repertoire. Most of the criticism can be explained by checking who is saying what about whom.

I know 2 famous bands in this scene who have made anti-semitic rants behind closed doors, I was shocked and told them this was really not right. One band member –member himself of a communist party, has since then been talking shit about me whenever and wherever he can, I guess in order to cover himself in case I make his name and emails with rants public. I also know bands who are very homophobic, but for the sake of things pretend they are pro LGTB-rights. In short, if I would write a book about the dirty wash I have witnessed over the years I think I would have a bestseller (grins). 

I personally don’t believe in left or right. I believe in doing good or doing bad.

Anyhow, I personally don’t believe in left or right. I believe in doing good or doing bad. I prefer doing good, under what political umbrella that may be. I also believe in taking responsibility for your own actions, and hard work. Locally I’m quite appreciated because I talk and listen to everyone, what their skin color, political belief or sexual orientation may be. And if they have a legitimate claim or need, I will try to help.

Q: Quite recently the Side-Line server crashed and you started a crowd funding to pay the costs. Your action was quite successful and Side-Line has been reactivated, which seems to prove Side-Line still means a lot to labels/artists and readers. How do you look back at this stressed period? 

Bernard: I was like ‘NOT AGAIN!’ when I realized it was not just an issue of rebooting the server when the server didn’t fire up as planned. We already had lost our previous site years ago due to a server issue and lost years and years of data… so you can imagine I was kinda stressed (laughs). But luckily enough, I had been working with this software engineer (editor’s note: Martin Rosselle) in another IT project. He is working for some of the biggest companies I know and he literally has made a name as being somebody who solves problems, a Winston Wolf in the software sector as you wish. I contacted him and told him we really needed the site back operational pretty fast and if he could help out. He canceled all his freelance work he had planned and asked me to come over so I could follow closely and help with the work. The error we had, was even for the engineers at our hosting company quite a real conundrum. Hell, they even asked us to please keep them informed as to how we would solve it because they had run out of options.

I took a 5 days unpaid leave, jumped in my car at 5 in the morning and drove 3,5 hours to set up shop at Martin’s place. In the car I was thinking of how to finance this endeavor… I’m already pumping thousands of Euros into Side-Line each year, but corona made that a lot of my income had completely vaporized so an extra financial blow like this was just very, very difficult. 

Then while I was having a coffee at a motorway restaurant, somebody sent me a WhatsApp message saying: ‘Hey Bernard, I saw your message that the site is down and that you guys are working on it. If you set up a crowdfund, I’ll gladly help!’ I was like, ‘really would people help out?’ So whilst doing the last hundred kilometers I was thinking ‘why not, if it gathers enough to pay half of the bill then that would already help a lot ‘. 

But it turned out to be really overwhelming… I’m still emotional when I think of it really… I saw the donations pouring in, from readers, bands, small labels, small PR companies, artists. I was actually very positively surprised that it were the smaller labels and bands next to lots of readers that came forward to support this crowdfund. I haven’t heard a word from the big labels… One of the biggest label bosses in this scene did send me an email… asking when their news would be up… no help, no question, nothing. It strengthens me in my vision that we have to stay an incubator for new talents and new and smaller labels, as they are definitely more connected with us… 

I did learn another lesson from this though, and that is that I need to delegate more. Jan-Ronald Stange has been helping with design, and I contracted Martin for our server maintenance and security so that we can intervene directly with the right people when needed. 

Q: What have been the best and worst memories from all the years you’ve been involved with Side-Line? 

Bernard: The worst: seeing others suffer. You know what I mean. 

The best: it is wonderful to stay friends for all these years with people with such different characters inside the team. And Side-Line also opened the gate towards other people I respect, I got in contact with Jan-Ronald Stange thanks to a lunatic groupie, so that ended well (laughs). And I shouldn’t forget Anne-Laure, Erlend, Marianne, Leydi, Simon and so many other people who have become close and reliable friends thanks to Side-Line.

Basically, working at and with Side-Line is the proof for me that one doesn’t need to stay in his/her own echo chamber to respect and be respected. You know that as well, I have told you that in a recent text message remember?

Q: Are you sometimes thinking about the end of Side-Line and also the end of Alfa Matrix? What should be the best way to say goodbye? 

Bernard: I have a pretty compulsive character, however, Side-Line has been a constant element in my life for the past 30 years. I always dedicate 2-3 hours per day to the magazine, writing articles, working on the site’s cms and machinery behind it, answering a ton of emails… It survived 2 marriages so far as well (laughs)! So no, it’s a part of me, and I haven’t really thought about stopping although there have been moments that I think, who the hell am I doing this for… But then you get a big thank you mail from a band or reader or label and that’s enough to kill off those negative feelings.

But if we would close shop, I guess it will be with a big bang (smiles). But so far so good.

If we would close shop, I guess it will be with a big bang.

The same goes for Alfa Matrix, as long as we can find good bands to push, we’ll continue.

Q: You and I have had some personal issues, but I think that thanks to Side-Line, we became and still are good friends. Any specific souvenir or anecdote you want to share? 

Bernard: Ah yes, we have gone through some turmoil you and me. I guess that is just part of good friendships, it’s like a marriage I guess, either you make up or you go to a lawyer (laughs). I guess we both learned from our private wars and have learned to respect each other. And that is what counts, we learned to see what unites us, not what divides us. And we never had to hire a lawyer (laughs)!

But speaking about the special moments… Well, racing on a German motorway at 200 km/h in a BMW to get home in time to drop of some equipment and then realize we could have delivered it 2 days later as well…. That was quite a memorable and especially dangerous moment we shared (laughs). Honestly, it was completely irresponsible, and I would never do it again, whatever the reason. Had we crashed, a magazine would have disappeared, a label and a few bands would never have seen the light of day and my sons would for sure never have existed and most importantly this: some others could have been injured or killed. I never drive fast nowadays, if I’m too late for a meeting so be it, but usually I start on time, it also avoids unnecessary stress and gives me the option to also have a coffee underway.

I also remember some sectarian veggie restaurant somewhere in Brussels where we ended up via John Sellekaers I think? That was quite weird for me… the food was ok though, but I’m not really into sects (laughs). But aside from that, I kinda miss sitting in a restaurant with all of us, you, Seba, Benoit, Cedric, and a few others which are still part of my inner circle, but who I don’t see enough. Luckily at least you and me did a good restaurant now !

Inferno Sound Diaries

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.

www.side-line.com

Out now for immediate download is the free compilation “matriXX – 20 Years of Alfa Matrix (Best of Electro, Synthpop, EBM, Darkwave)”, out via the Belgian label Alfa Matrix which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. The release offers a collection of some 60 songs from the label’s 20 year long repertoire selected by the three label owners (Benoît Blanchart, Bernard Van Isacker and Seba Dolimont).

On this free download – or pay what you want – you will find work by such bands like Aiboforcen, Bruderschaft, Nebula-H, Male Or Female, Dunkelwerk, Unter Null, ELM, Kant Kino, Tantrum and a long list of other bands active via the label. You can check out the full tracklist right below, and download it via Bandcamp.

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.

www.side-line.com

This is a final call for submissions. We will extend with 5 days, until October 26th. After that we close the submissions and start compiling the actual release. So be fast, this is your last chance.

We are one year after the release of “Face The Beat 6”, which means it’s time to start work on the 7th volume of our popular download compilation series. Our 6th volume was again more popular than the record downloads we had with “Face The Beat 5”, let’s see if our 7th volume will break records again.

On “Face The Beat: Session 7” – scheduled for release this Winter – we will again be focusing on new/known talents from the industrial/electronic scene which will get a large platform to showcase their material. Just like with the previous volumes, we continue to support charity projects around the globe.

We plan to release this new volume by the end of December 2021 or early January 2022 depending on the work involved.

How can you take part in the compilation?

There are a couple of rules to respect in order to make it easier for everyone, especially for our chief editor Bernard Van Isacker who has been compiling every volume since the start of this series.

• Send 1 (!!!) mastered track in WAV format (GEMA free material and preferably previously unreleased) via wetransfer.com to info@side-line.com . We stress the fact that you can only send 1 track. Your best one that is. The reason is simple, there are thousands of submissions to go through.
• Do NOT send files via email, such submissions will not be accepted! Only use Wetransfer.com.
• We will contact you upon selection to send you some paperwork to complete.
• The deadline for submission is October 21st 26th 2021.
• We are open to all kind of dark styles as you can hear on the previous compilations that are available for free download on https://sidelinemag.bandcamp.com although we like to keep all New Wave and Post-Punk for our other compilation series which started earlier this Summer with “Post-Punk (Genesis)“.
• We are an eclectic magazine, so we bring an eclectic selection as well since we started with the compilation series.

This compilation will again be powered by Side-Line and promoted to a whole range of magazines and DJ’s. In other news, we will again invite Shane Aungst – Shane now you know – to do his magic work on the upcoming 7th volume as well… cross your fingers!

So far we released the following ‘Face The Beat’ compilations

Below are the 6 previous compilations (and 2 mega mixes) for you to check out:

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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!

side-line.com

As you will have noticed Side-Line looks completely different since this noon. The change was not scheduled, on the contrary, it was a very unwelcome surprise that popped up last night.

We asked our chief editor for some feedback on what happened.

Bernard explains: “It’s Monday October 5th, 08:15 PM when I start to notice that the website is acting up, the loading goes extremely slowly for those logged in in the admin side. It works ok for the web visitors at that moment. The search on the website however seems to take forever, which is a bad sign. I check the server data (CPU and Bandwidth) and the firewall data to make sure that we are not being attacked in an unforeseen way, but aside from the 1800 usual attacks in the last 10 minutes, nothing is causing trouble on our servers (a good caching and web/serversecurity is worth gold these days). Meanwhile my IT-guy – Martin Rosselle aka Winston for the friends – also started looking into it but basically saw that from the server side there were no issues at all.”

In short, the machinery behind the website seemed to work well. Bernard: “Then you instinctively start to go over the list of possible problems, I check the caching and decide to clean the cache entirely on the front end to see if the website itself is really working normal when not being logged in. So I flush the caching and check older articles which would surely not be re-cached immediately. The same slow loading time appears… That’s when the alarm starts to go off and I look into the direction of the template.”

The template is deactivated for a few seconds and indeed, the culprit is found, the template is causing errors.

Bernard: “At that point you don’t have many choices really, either you debug the template, which is actually quite a tedious job and not really my speciality, or you immediately start from scratch. The only problem, I usually take a week or two to work on this, starting from a mother template, but I didn’t really have two weeks. So… I decided not to sleep and work on a solution to make sure that the next day we have something to get us back on normal speed. By 5 AM, I had most of it ready, knew what it would look like, went to sleep for an hour, got back up, drove to work and in the meantime informed Jan Ronald en Stephane that a new template would be installed to go live by 12 in the morning during my break and that we would have to work on it during the 30 minutes break I had. I also had time to add some extra tools and make sure that the reviews are more visible.”

The new site went live at noon today while Bernard in Belgium and Jan Ronald in Norway started to work on extra CSS and make sure there were no more bugs left. By the end of the break everything was ready. Bernard: “Mission accomplished in record time and a BIG thank you to Jan Ronald for jumping on board so quickly!”

A very nice team effort and executed in an absolute record time!

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.

www.side-line.com

Over the past 10 years Side-Line has released various free download compilations in the Face The Beat series which are amongst the most popular in today’s darkwave scene each time getting a ton of downloads from listeners worldwide.

Yesterday night we launched the free Post Punk Bandcamp download compilation “Post Punk – Genesis”, uniting 44 Post Punk artists from allover the world. You can expect an eclectic collection of all of the colors you can find inside the Post Punk scene, from pure New Wave to contemporary mixes of Post Punk and electronics. There will be something for everyone!

The release spurted towards the number 2 spot on the charts today across all releases on Bandcamp, and that in 24 hours. That was fast…

Compiler Bernard Van Isacker: “We received material from 47 countries in total, a good part of those is also present on this new compilation, so you can say it’s quite a worldwide collaboration effort. As such it doesn’t really differ a lot from what I see when working on the Face the Beat series for instance. But I was kinda surprised though to get that many Post-Punk only tracks. It’s a scene that is rapidly growing and I’m proud Side-Line can offer a good platform for these emerging bands.”

The release is available for free or as a pay-what-you-want download release on Bandcamp.

All proceedings will again go to the various charities Side-Line supports.

You can check out the release below and download it from Bandcamp.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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!

side-line.com

Side-Line.com is back online. After almost 5 nerve wrecking days (and nights) everything is back online, on a brand new configuration with a lot of extra stability and safety under the hood. “Side-Line Next Gen” as the rescue teamleader put it so eloquently this afternoon.

We are still performing extra modifications and double checks in the background for increased security, better backup options, revising the caching as there were troubles there as well as we saw when scrutinizing everything. We should be 100% operational by tomorrow morning. So one more late evening (with a well deserved bottle of wine for the guys) and we will be in the clear.

In order to prevent such an ordeal from happening again, we contracted the teamleader Winston Wolf aka this excellent IT guy now for regular server maintenance. Conclusion: “IT is definitely harder than it looks”.

Thanks to the Side-Line community

When we set up a crowdfund on Monday midday, we never expected that it would have such a huge success in such a short time, in 24 hours we reached our aimed minimum goal. Our chief editor Bernard Van Isacker: “It exploded in just an hour when I started getting messages from allover the world from people who had donated or who had send us PayPal donations directly. I informed Stephane who does the majority of the reviews and he couldn’t believe his ears when I told him the good news.”

All extra donations will be used to push Side-Line’s charity initiatives: “I believe in good karma, we have for years now been doing charity initiatives, and now that we needed some much needed karma it came multiple fold back to us in the form of donations from the community that has gathered around our magazine. The Side-Line community is one of the best I can imagine. Even the IT guys were under the impression of the speed this crowdfund took.”

Thanks from the entire Side-Line staff to everyone who has helped us out so quickly.

Stephane, Jan Ronald, Bernard

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.

www.side-line.com

Alfa Matrix has been set up in 2001 by three friends. Séba Dolimont, Benoît Blanchart and Bernard Van Isacker were all involved with Side-Line magazine, but decided to start an Electronic label. The label became a home for artists dealing with EBM, Dark-Electro and Electro-Pop, but throughout the years the label welcomed other genres like Gothic, Ambient and Industrial. Front 242, Ayria, Pouppée Fabrikk, Plastic Noise Experience, Armageddon Dildos, Unter Null, Acylum, Implant, Metroland,  Zombie Girl, Helalyn Flowers, I:Scintilla, Mentallo And The Fixer, Leather Strip, Star Industry, Alien Vampires and many others joined the ‘matrix’. And I nearly forget to mention Aiboforcen which was set up by Benoît Blanchart and Séba Dolimont.

(Stéphane Froidcoeur / Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: Was there a kind of ‘philosophy’ when you set up your label and did it evolve over the years? How would you define your label activities today?

Seba. Alfa Matrix was created in 2001 with 2 key values: running the label from an artist perspective in our collaboration approach, and focusing on a direct servicing of our customers. All this with the aim to support and market underground Electronic music with attitude with an eclectic approach. Twenty years later, and although the music market situation has drastically changed, we are still active on the same Indie music scene, we still dare signing newcomers and our repertoire confirms our quite open-minded sound range of interest. We do run the label in mutual respect and care with our roster of artists and developed a quite strong direct sales approach for both digital and physical releases.

So we quite sticked to our original mission and simply adapted our operational mode to the constantly evolving music consumption habits and we keep anticipating new trends in order to stay relevant and future proof.

Q: I can imagine you must have specific and explicit criteria to sign an artist/band. Can you give us more details about this aspect and how important is it for you to know the person(s) hiding behind the ‘artist(s)’?

Seba: Through the years, it has become harder and harder to open the gate of the ‘matrix’ simply because we want to stick to a certain maximum number of bands, but also because any new signing to the label should bring something new to the label family, add a new color to our sound/artistic palette. Also important for us is that any new addition to the label must get the green light form the 3 members of the label management team.

The art must touch us for sure, but personally, in my role of artists manager, I pay a lot of attention to the personalities of the artists, probably more today than 20 years ago! Simply because we believe in long term collaborations and to achieve such goal we better construct our relationship on solid foundations and values. So that personal click is also something I need to give my vote…

Bernard: Nowadays it takes time to launch a new unknown artist, and we work slowly, but steadily to get their music heard to the public. There is no magic formula to create instant success, it’s continuous work both by the label and the band. The first has to use the best channels to create the best value for the band while the bands have to work on social presence, and the interaction with fans on several platforms. It’s also why we have started releasing lots of singles, so bit by bit we reach a bigger audience this way via all platforms.

When we started the music market was already in decline so we had to start early on with a new model to get the word out. Know that there are many bands out there and if you actually look at it, too few labels to manage all those great talents.

Q: You are already active for numerous years now so you must have seen a lot of things changing and evolving; think about social media, streaming platforms, Youtube channels… but also economic crisis etc. What are the pros and cons of these changes/evolutions and in, which way did you had to adapt/change your strategy and activities?

Seba: As owners of a company several dozens of artists gave their trust to, the least we can do is running this company professionally through a strong overall financial management and anticipating business and market evolutions to remain future proof. This is why Alfa Matrix was one of the first labels from our scene to be on digital platforms, and I even remember some were laughing about us, especially when we decided to invest a lot in streaming that is still seen as a danger by some today. Like other labels we also went through some tough economic challenges when we faced several bankruptcies from big CD distributors in Germany or in America. But with our strategy of focusing on an international market rather than putting all eggs in one or two baskets, it was easier for us going through all this, and especially with the unmatchable force of having a strong fanbase buying in direct from our e-shops and giving us more financial independence.  So the decisions we make are more guided to the way we adapt our ‘go to market’ strategy: changing distribution channels, deciding how we spread our budgets and investments, etc…

Bernard: In respect to that, we have been continuously checking out new platforms to vet if they were adding value to our media mix or not. For instance Facebook was quickly used by us, but we also knew that this free ride would not continue and that at some point Facebook would close the open gates and restrict the organic reach from their pages. That happened, a bit later than we anticipated, but it did happen. The same for Instagram for example. The free rides are over and done and you can no longer count on getting free unpaid reach for every communication you do. During that process we continued to work on a direct relation with customers. So while some bands and labels have gone that far to only have Facebook as their window we never neglected the own properties we can manage for the full 100%: an own e-shop, a very active Bandcamp page which both have given that what we are looking for, namely a direct link with the fans. So, suppose that Facebook or any other social media platforms stops their activities, we won’t feel any impact as we have a direct link with customers. This under the hood approach has been working very well for us and is something we will continue to do. Social media for us are a nice extra, but nothing more than that, the real value lays elsewhere for us.

I also strongly believe in the streaming market for the future, it’s how most of the music will be digested by music fans alongside HQ audio which people will find on Bandcamp and via physical products. As far as YouTube is concerned, I share the same comment and idea which Dave Heckman made earlier this week to you. This Google moloch pays really peanuts, 10 times less than Spotify, it also offers poor audio, but surprise surprise… everybody wants to be on it. It’s maybe good for the image but not so good for your wallet in the end if you consider the production cost of a video versus the extremely low return you get from it. It doesn’t mean we don’t have to be present there, but I seriously doubt that a lot of money should be thrown at it, it’s not our preferred medium.

Q: The ongoing pandemic has affected all artistic life and activities so what’s the true impact on your label activities and do you think it will also affect your long term objectives?

Seba: First of all the pandemic affected every person behind our Alfa Matrix bands and the label staff itself, most probably first on a personal level, cos they themselves struggled against Covid-19 or lost loved ones around them. What obviously hurts the most is the recurrent cancellation of tours, festivals, shows… this is hard for all bands. The stage remains the ultimate place of communion between artist and fans. The duration of the pandemic crisis also makes it more and more complex for artists releasing new albums and not being able to perform the new songs live.

Economically, so far we have been working hard and increased our promotional efforts to support the bands. As a result we actually managed increasing our label turnover between 2019 and 2020 with over 15% although the lockdown hit us all heavily. It was a combination of efforts: we continued to deliver CD’s to shops in direct -when some of our distributors were obliged to keep doors closed for example, but also from our bands who released more digital music to also bring some nice entertaining moments to their fans in these difficult moments, but also from our fans who continued supporting us massively.

Now unfortunately we all know that the economic crisis that will follow will hurt at all levels, but we will only start experiencing the real impacts in the second half of this year. It’s then that more and more people will continue loosing their jobs, loosing a portion of budgets they usually put into art and leisure. I also hope that this sanitary crisis will lead more people to pay more attention to their health in general. So yes, the world will change for sure, and we will all need to adopt and adapt at some point.

Q: Do you think media (magazines, online platforms etc…) still have an impact and a role to play today? What’s your relationship with ‘journalists’ and how important is their work?

Seba: Media changed a lot in 20 years indeed! Print magazines have been going through tough times. The major challenge is remaining relevant as a print magazine coming out monthly while online news get published instantly and spread a few clicks further. Combining digital with print is not easy. Integrating social medias, streaming platforms, etc… in the overall journalistic equation is tricky.

It’s just like for music, the new generations tend to consider that art and information should be free of access. As a label, of course journalists still play an important role for a certain portion of music fans who still enjoy turning pages while reading and enjoying the pleasure of holding a magazine or a book in your hands. They then also reach out to the digital audience via their blogs and other websites. But the readers tend to identify themselves less than before to some specialized journalists, but will rather trust and follow the advise of some friends posting on social medias, other buyers leaving comments on webstores or other influencers. They also tend to trust themselves more and more and believe in algorithms recommending them the next music to play on their own music radar.

Bernard: Many online magazines do not publish news daily or even regularly which makes it difficult for them to stay relevant in these days of social media. In the past we were able to work with a lot of great web magazines, but these days we have to work with hundreds and most really have a very very small readership, while others have been smart enough to evolve, develop, stay relevant. Those online magazines from the past who did not evolve have seen their visitors go to Facebook and never have seen them back. Most also ceased all activity. It shows clearly that Facebook for instance is not the booster that most had hoped, on the contrary, and it also explains why many magazines are increasingly negative towards Facebook because they have now largely decided what you get to see, what you discuss about etc..  

As a label we must combine all these elements to reach out to our customers/fans and make choices based on gathered experience and acquired know-how, while exploring new grounds… 

Q: What do you consider as your biggest accomplishment(s)? Do you have specific goals/dreams you want to achieve and how do you prepare and see the future of the label(s)? And what are your biggest regret(s)?

Seba: I think our biggest accomplishment is to be talking with you today and celebrating 20 years of Alfa Matrix, each release from our music repertoire between 2001 and now each contributed to this success, from newcomer acts to living legends from our beloved music scene.

The only regrets I might have are first of all not to have 10 days in a week to do all I’d like to do, and maybe having put a couple of friendships in danger by starting a label collaboration with friends without having been enough aligned and synched together on strategic elements. As far as the future, I hope we will still be able supporting talents as long as possible and having the chance to release the great work from our artists, and working with experienced music supporters like you…

Bernard: I personally never expected that this story that started as an idea amongst friends would turn out to be that successful and long-lasting. Seba had the basic idea and then pitched it to Benoit and me. Since I knew Seba as a very trustworthy guy (you introduced him to me remember!) it didn’t take long for me to decide to get on board and invest in it.

As far as the future for the label, or any label, I guess that the love for what we and the bands do will be the biggest power behind it all. I still discover great music in this scene so we are not in desert modus. The biggest challenge will be to keep on making new people warm for this scene’s music. Not a simple task, but we’ll manage alright I think.

My biggest regret… we all know it’s very time consuming and it’s not always easy to find a good balance between family life and work. As far as my two colleagues is concerned, I know how to separate my private life from work, so even if we have some catfights about certain things (we have to agree all 3 on something or it doesn’t happen), we remain loyal friends above all. And as far as how we function together, you can say that the structured thinking of Seba combined with the fuzzy logic style of thinking of Benoit and myself is an ideal breeding platform for great adventures!

Inferno Sound Diaries

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.

www.side-line.com

We all have to admit a lot of things have changed in the music industry during the past years. The evolution of social media and the increasing importance of streaming platforms just are a few, but essential elements, which had a serious impact on our habits and the way of listening to music.

I think it’s not simply a coincidence if sales of physical releases –but especially the CD format, are progressively going downwards. I was already thinking for a while to get in touch with label owners to hear what they think about it all. The ongoing pandemic has touched all artistic activities; no more live performances and no big festivals for a while now. It definitely has its impact as well.

I decided to contact some of the leading labels from the Electro scene and ask them about a reaction. Most of the label owners kindly accepted to contribute to this massive interview.

During the next six days, you’ll get an interview with one of them every day. They all got the same questions to answer, which makes it interesting to compare their points of view. It’s also an opportunity to discover who’s hiding behind these legendary labels.

This interview series took me a lot of time, but my efforts got rewarded by the detailed and informative answers I got. I want to thank Torny Gottberg (Progress Productions), Dave Heckman (Metropolis Records), Séba Dolimont and Bernard Van Isacker (Alfa Matrix), Stefan Herwig (Dependent Records), Alex Storm (Trisol) and Torben Schmidt (Infacted Recordings) for their input.

I’m also planning a similar interview later on this year with other- and smaller labels.

(Stéphane Froidcoeur / Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Inferno Sound Diaries

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.

www.side-line.com

Back in 1991 I started writing my first reviews for Side-Line magazine. I would have never thought to go on writing reviews and making interviews non-stop for 30 years. So 2021 is a special year to me, a kind of ‘celebration year’. I got the idea to celebrate this special event by interviewing people from the scene who all have a special meaning to me. The first interview I made in this series is with Séba Dolimont. He was Side-Line chief-redactor till the end of 2007. He’s now running Alfa Matrix for 20 years and got also involved as singer with AIBOFORCEN and [IN]TERNAL. But above all we’re best friends. We no longer need music to meet and speak about a lot of things although this interview is only about music…

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries; Stéphane Froidcoeur)

Q: We met more than thirty (!) years ago now. Back in time you were busy with Side-Line, which was a kind of ‘fanzine’. How do you look back at these ‘early’ years and what was your motivation to get involved with a magazine?

Séba: Time flies doesn’t it?! Well, the crazy idea of doing our own ‘zine’ was thrown on the table by my friend David Noiret back in the days, one of these nights at university when we were having fun, listening to music, having some drinks and reinventing the world… But the next day when we met again at school, the idea was stuck on our respective minds. Side-Line was born! With the aim to have a true fanzine devoted to dark underground music cos the only mag we had then in Belgium was getting more & more mainstream… We wanted to defend and promote the music from the side-line. We were then carried away by the unexpected positive response on our first issues.

A bunch of friends rapidly joined the team including my all-time friend & partner in crime Benoit Blanchart, Lol Chevaux from France… and YOU!

Q: Side-Line finally became one of the most renowned- and leading Electro/Industrial/Gothic magazines from the scene. What made it that special and maybe different from others?

Séba: Looking back at it, I think our true devotion to the scene and the quite wide musical culture of the editorial staff made the difference. We were also lucky to be one of the few first mags written in English (and this way accessible to a much wider audience) while at that time this scene was mostly covered by German mags. Once we had the opportunity of getting published on professional glossy format (by a German label (Celtic Circle Prod) and later by Claus Müller of Orkus!) magazine before becoming fully independent, powered by the unique design touch of Didier Delhez and with the challenging concept of having a CD attached to the magazine, we instantly got the massive support from all record labels, bands and the fans!

By then we had also started embracing the internet, many many years before everyone, thanks to the initiative of Ronan Harris (VNV NATION) and later the arrival of the one and only one Bernard Van Isacker who came and reinforced the digital and commercial strategy of the magazine, but also enlarged our journalistic approach thanks to his many connections with bigger bands and major labels. We were on orbit!

Q: You finally left Side-Line in 2007 because of some health troubles, but still to focalize on Alfa Matrix. As a label owner, what’s your perception of media/magazines today? What’s their impact and importance for a label?

Séba: This is still one of the most difficult decisions that I made in my ‘music’ life. But when as a father of 2 young boys you are stuck by a virus that abruptly attacks your heart and almost kills you, the long days and nights you spend at hospital allow you questioning your priorities in life. To find a more appropriate balance between family, your main job and your music passion, there was just one too much in the equation. I felt I still had much more to learn and experience for the label rather than for a magazine. I could also inject more flexibility in the label planning than for the magazine which had a strict release date planning and always imposed us long sleepless nights before the closure of each issue.

Since then I have unfortunately seen so many scene magazines falling apart one after the other because of a general disinterest from readers and a lack of support from labels and other potential advertisers. The difficulty of being active on a shrinking underground scene, in a fast evolving world where social media’s and internet sites rapidly challenge the relevance of your articles or the freshness of your news bits. And too many invested way too late in a combined complementary offer mixing on-line and print, or just did not. I am still very admirable and respectful though for the job and activities run by the few surviving print mags like Sonic Seducer or yet Orkus!. Their longevity is exemplary. Today as a label you need to mix various medias to reach your audience cos more than ever, the consumer today is king and decides his/her own information modes. Tough tough… but congrats to all journalists still investing time and energy in defending and supporting our beloved dark music scene. Without people like you Stef, who would we be?

Q: You set up Alfa Matrix while you still remained involved as chief editor of Side-Line. That sounds rather incestuous, don’t you think? How do you look back at it? 

Séba: I hear you. It’s a point we discussed at creation of the label actually. I rapidly decided to be only publisher of the magazine and stopped my editorial activities. I focused only on the coordination and business side of the job, selling adverts, etc. And we always gave journalistic freedom to our editorial staff: no censorship, even for advertised releases… But our experience with the magazine and its related website was also one of the leverages that were there to put Alfa Matrix on orbit. We knew exactly the impact that Side-Line could have to help us launching new talents and new releases… So yes, you can describe it as incestuous, but in all magazines you can see clear financing by specific record labels and you see many band members or even label staff in editorial staff of several magazines. I see it more as expertise sharing. And if the connections and affinities help, this is what business is all about isn’t it?

My past work at Side-Line definitely helped me signing many artists to the label cos I had built a strong contact or friendship with them through the years…

Q: Alfa Matrix this year celebrates its 20^th anniversary. What does that mean and how did you see things and the scene evolving over the years?

Séba: Honestly, I would have never thought that 2 decades later, we would still be up & running, and especially with such an impressive repertoire and diversified constellation of artists around us. It’s been an amazing adventure. With lots of exceptional moments. Lots of ups and downs also of course. Several bankruptcies from big distributors which each time put our finances at risk. Also a radically changing and constantly evolving music market on which you need to challenge yourself continuously to remain relevant and future proof. 

If I were telling you that the future is bright and beautiful I would be lying to you. It’s obvious that there is no way back at this point. The dark underground scene keeps shrinking and losing ground. The several economic crisis, without mentioning the current pandemic and the changing music consumption habits all have heavy impact on sales potential. So I expect the physical format to be more and more limited and eventually get replaced by streaming. This is it! But with the right knowledge, it’s always possible to adapt your business model and move ahead. If you don’t try to anticipate the future, then it will get you.

Q: Physical sales are going backwards for years now. What do you expect during the next years and what will be the impact on the scene?

Séba: Bigger bands will still have some limited physical releases. Smaller newcomers will be available on streaming platforms. Once streaming gets generalized, the notion of albums will vanish and get replaced by one-song releases, getting published the next day they get recorded and mastered. Time to market will get zeroed and release radars will feed us proactively…   and here again the underground world will loose more & more visibility against the algorithms. So yes, when  people do not react timely and invest more in supporting younger acts, this will smother our indie art slowly but surely. But at Alfa Matrix, as long as we will have the energy to do all this, we’ will be there for you and for our artists.

Q: FRONT 242, this year celebrating their 40^th anniversary, has been for sure your biggest signing; like a serious accomplishment for an underground label! How did you convince them to join the ‘matrix’ and how is it working with such a legendary formation?

Séba: The arrival of this cult Belgian band to the Matrix was indeed an amazing boost in our ascension in our very first months of existence. Years of friendships and mutual respect brought us together and it’s been a very great, fruitful and inspiring collaboration with them in all simplicity. Things flow and are obvious. We now released their ’91 live albums and managed selling out before release date, with over 50% of the pressings sold in direct by ourselves via our own webstore thanks to our amazing staunch fanbase. This is something we are very proud of. 

The official collaboration started with the MALE OR FEMALE trilogy. Patrick and Daniel asked me back then helping them finding the right label for this new project cos they had been very deceived by labels from their past experiences. Back then Alfa Matrix was a tiny label with 5 bands, so I did not even consider making them an offer. I rapidly brought them a handful of contractual offers. And then they asked us why there was no offer from Alfa Matrix cos trust was very important for them! The rest is history. Respect to them and thank for the eternal trust.

Now when you say it’s our biggest signing, they are indeed a true legend. But it does not mean we don’t have other artists selling more than FRONT 242 actually! You could be surprised sometimes of the potential of our eclectic roster of artists…

Q: Some artists and their ego… you for sure know what I’m talking about! How do you manage this situation as label owner?

Séba: Well… it’s a tough one indeed. Now of course to be an artist and have an own creative concept, having an ego and a very own vision helps and makes you more pertinent. The main problem is when artists with a strong ego don’t have both feet on the ground and have no realistic grasp or knowledge of the market’s reality.  Then things can turn wrong cos they can have unrealistic expectations. Sometimes also the ego is so strong that they turn into control freaks and prove not to be able to efficiently collaborate. We have been there a few times…

Being myself artists manager, through the years I started putting more and more attention to the persons themselves and not only the music. I need that click, that trustful gut feeling that tells me ‘yes we can’… Before signing anyone we take the time to talk, explain who we are, how we work. This way I try building a collaboration on solid grounds.  Cos we really believe in long term collaborations in our label management concept. And when you check the longevity of the collaboration we have with a large majority of our way I wish I could do, I’m proud of the many friendships we built thanks to music…

Q: You’ve been an ‘artist’ yourself as you also were the singer of AIBOFORCEN and [IN]TERNAL. What did you keep in mind from both bands and why did you finally quit?

Séba: Yes indeed. It’s funny cos we actually started the label to self-release our 3^rd album of AIBOFORCEN. We had several nice offers from big German labels but were so much deceived by our previous record deals that we made the decision to launch Alfa Matrix. But in the end through times the label activities prevented me from being in studio and at the end, the decision became obvious. I’m so happy Benoit continues injecting life into the project. I still of course help him from distance, making connections for new collaborations, giving him tips from demos he shares with me, etc.  He’s currently working on his next album and what I heard so far is once again amazing! But here again, it was a deliberate choice, keeping the balance between family, my time demanding job and my music passion. 

While [IN]TERNAL was more of a one-shot project with friends without constraints. We were all free at the right place at the same right moment, all wanting to do something new outside our respective main projects. I am still very proud of that album we released on Zoth Ommog back in the days…

Q: Thanks to music, you and I became very close friends. Any specific souvenir or anecdote you want to share?

Séba: So many memories that it’s too hard to pick a specific one. But chronologically, I will surely mention receiving your ‘Deranged Psyche’-compilation tapes on which I was each time discovering new bands… I had found my master ;-)! Bringing you massive orders of CD’s from my travels to Germany. Our exceptional adventures on the road driving from one festival to the other across Europe with some special souvenirs of preparing you the craziest sandwishes I could up to sleeping on soccer fields… Memorable after party nights with our Spanish DJ friends of Girona. The first days of FUZE BOX MACHINE up to NEBULA-H. Without mentioning the amazing editorial moments within the Side-Line teams and nowadays your honest, neutral and objective support to our Alfa Matrix label. But above all the unique friendship we both constructed that is today above all this music adventure and even makes that we can meet and talk hours long without even talking ‘music’…

Inferno Sound Diaries

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.

www.side-line.com

Over the past few years social media platforms have been taking over the largest chunk of internet traffic. This also caused that many publishers were no longer able to maintain their readership on their own website as lots of people are mostly using social media for their news consumption. Combine that with the heavy restriction on organic reach on those same social media platforms and you will quickly see that it’s mainly Facebook who is deciding what you see and what you don’t.

We talked with our chief editor regarding our most recent (technological) answer to Facebook.

“Facebook really is an awful platform for unknown or smaller bands”

Bernard Van Isacker during the indie press roundtable talk in Brussels (BE) in Summer 2020.

Chief editor Bernard Van Isacker explains: “The fluctuation is mostly visible on Facebook which is really an awful platform for unknown or smaller bands. Since we offer a lot of news from starting and smaller bands we have noticed early on that those items are not being picked up by Facebook’s algorithms unlike news from other more popular bands. This deliberate limit of reach was something I did predict would happen back when Facebook was still a complete free ride. I remember very well that I have been ridiculed by some calling it bullshit. Well, we are the year 2021 and see, things turned out to be exactly as I had predicted.”

Small bands, and actually most of the industrial scene are virtually being censored by Facebook if you think it through. That’s why Side-Line decided from the start never to rely too heavily on just the social media platforms.

Bernard Van Isacker: “So while Facebook – to name the biggest one – has become a big problem as far as reach is concerned, Side-Line has been making sure not to be dependent from that platform – and others – in order to be able to reach out and touch the fans (pun intended). We have been using a lot of other tools to make sure that those readers who really want to stay informed (and not just newsjunkies) get serviced correctly, hence why we are also active on Whatsapp and Telegram in order to make sure that readers (and not just newsjunkies) get the news 100% sure. But the real pearl and innovation was under the hood…”

Comes in web push notifications

Web push notifications are notifications that can be sent to a user via desktop web (and mobile web). These are alert style messages that slide in at the top or bottom right hand corner of a desktop screen, depending on the operating system, or appear on a mobile device in a manner nearly identical to push notifications delivered from apps. Web push notifications are delivered on a user’s desktop or mobile screen anytime they have their browser open — regardless of whether or not the user is on the website.

Note that the best experience will be with Google’s Chrome webbrowser.

Over the past 2 years Side-Line has been experimenting with various platforms to see what was the best solution for us in order to implement this rather new technology and since early 2021 Side-Line has launched this piece of technology in stealth mode. The focus was from day 1 on pushing the news items and not the other content we produce in order not to overload your user experience. As such a maximum of 4-5 notifications are being sent per day.

Bernard Van Isacker explains: “This new technology gives a better visibility, especially to young and unknown acts, but also makes sure that everybody gets to see the most important news as well. When taking over the online hub of Side-Line in 1999, I have always been focussed on getting the news out to as many interested people as possible. Side-Line is one of the few magazines to actually have a massively spread daily newsletter, we embraced Bandcamp very quickly and have a following on there of over 34.000 people, a figure some labels would kill for I think (laughs). And now we also have hit the 5000 users milestone for web push notifications. But don’t make the mistake thinking it’s about traffic generation only. The main idea is: if you see something you want to read more about, then just click through. Secondly, it will make sure you don’t miss important news.” And this is where Side-Line found a very interesting case.

Project Pitchfork split-up news shows the growing importance of web push notifications

The news of the departure of Dirk Scheuber from Project Pitchfork became an interesting case for Side-Line. The band initially announced it online, on Facebook that is, but a lot of people still didn’t know about it one month later. When Side-Line (re)published the news, it got read over 82.000 times on Side-Line. The traffic mainly came from our daily newsletter but surprise surprise, on the second spot we found that the source was the push notification that had been sent out, which had a clickthrough of 81%.

Bernard Van Isacker: “I found this to be quite amazing and surprising, and to me it showed again that relying just on Facebook for news info is a very bad idea, both for users and publishers, bands etc.. It’s a pity that so many great magazines gave up in the past few years because of that very bad impact Facebook had on their website with huge drops in visitors, interest due to the very unproductive (and expensive) way Facebook is handling news updates nowadays where you either get a hit or a big miss.”

So, if interested to be part of the new generation of Side-Line news followers, make sure you enable our push notifications. And as said earlier, the best experience will be with Google’s Chrome webbrowser both on Mac and Windows.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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!

side-line.com

Yesterday Side-Line released session 6 in the by now famous free ‘Face The Beat’ compilation series focussing on the darker side of the music world. The compilation is available on Bandcamp for immediate download. For free or as a pay-what-you-want. This time our magazine’s chief editor Bernard Van Isacker selected 139 bands to participate after a submission round was launched in Summer of 2020.

Just like last time, we took the time to sit down with our chief editor to talk about the compilation but of course also about other things including the unavoidable corona pandemic. Instead of traveling to far away Ypres in Belgium, we set up a Zoom conference call and fired some questions at him while we hear his 3-year old son Magnus shouting ‘Dinosaurs!’.

SL: Dinos?

BVI: Ha yes, he is besotted with dinosaurs and just two days ago we went to see Dinopolis, which was the most exciting event for him this year! I literally had to drag him out of the park after we had done the tour 7 times in a row, which was more than enough for us but Magnus stayed excited until the very last second!

It was the first time out for us to be honest, since we have been in and out quarantine for the past couple of months.

SL: Speaking of which, has the current corona pandemic affected you in any way?

BVI: Besides from contracting the virus and being miserably ill just like some relatives, friends and acquaintances? It has damaged a lot of people and families I notice and some close friends have been hit particularly hard… It’s something that will pass once we all get vaccinated, but it is leaving lots of scars which often go unnoticed these days. The press prefers to focus on TV-stars who get depressed, stars who get caught in sex scandals, etc. but they pay a lot less attention to those who are going bankrupt and see their livelihoods go up in thin corona air.

If you ask me what preoccupied me the most, it was keeping my mum safe at any cost. We phone a lot and zoom every week, luckily enough she has a very strong personality which prevented her from breaking so to speak. I often wondered how my late father would have reacted if he were still alive today, I don’t think it would have been a pleasant trip for him at all.

A lot of people have difficulties coping with the stress of this and they develop psychological problems, including several friends of mine… I would guess that we as a society really have to work on getting people more resilient when we get confronted with stress situations. I’m not sure how to do this, but governments should really look into this.

So on the whole, yes, it has affected me directly, but I’m quite a positive person so I’m pretty sure we’ll survive it despite the hardships endured the past few months. I’m also very fortunate to have a couple of excellent friends with whom I often talk about life in general. I guess it’s key to keep you in good spirits and motivate each other. One of them, Nico, is also part of my ‘unique social bubble’ as we call it so I was able going to exhibitions – such as the Will Eisner one in Brussels – and comic fairs with him when it was allowed.

SL: What is the first thing you will do when you are vaccinated?

BVI: Visit my mum and brothers the moment I can. And when the restaurants open, to go out to dinner with Stephane from Side-Line and Seba and Benoit from Alfa Matrix. They have been very close friends for over 20 years with whom I’ve shared quite a lot of history, the good and the bad as it should be. Next to that I’ll start planning trips to Bulgaria, Norway, Mexico, Italy, France, Germany, the UK, Turkey to visit my friends and family over there in case they haven’t been here first.

SL: Was there any fun for you in 2020?

BVI: Sure! Seeing how my two sons are growing up was pure joy. Magnus is 3 years old now and is very much into dinosaurs… I’d even say kinda obsessed (laughs)! He is being raised in Spanish and Dutch so I hear him speaking both languages which is kinda cool. My oldest son Sebastian is 15 now, and the perfect company to spend time with. We enjoy the same morbid humor and love Southpark. You get the idea I think!

Musically speaking I was very much positively surprised of how so many bands took the opportunity to reinvent themselves as far as studio work or in communication forced by the situation. I have seen lots of great experiments taking place, and I’m sure that those bands learned a lot along the way. In a way this pandemic forced many to think out of the box, so let’s hope this trend remains alive!

SL: Let’s talk about the new volume of “Face The Beat”. There were a lot more tracks included in this 6th volume I see? Over 130!

BVI: ‘Blame’ that on the bands who have been hyperactive being confined at home! I actually never put any limit on the number of tracks that are featured on the compilation. If a track is good it will get on there. If they deliver their wav-files on time that is which is not always the case unfortunately, but that’s part of the compiling process. But the corona pandemic definitely did have a huge influence on the number of submissions, there is no doubt about that. Several bands also tackle 2020 in their songs, which makes it even more visible and audible.

Time-wise my agenda was fully packed, as I work in an essential sector so I really had my hands full with work in order to redirect all marketing efforts from the company I work for towards digital communication in the broad sense of it. So when I realized that this new compilation was becoming bigger and bigger I spent most of my day offs to complete it. It had to be ready by the end of this year as was promised to our readers and to the bands that participated and who also spent lots of time on their tracks. Respect goes both ways, and all the bands and labels that helped out of course deserved that respect!

SL: How is the compilation doing?

BVI: I must say that our readers again did an excellent job in pushing the compilation forward in record time. Number 1 in the industrial charts on Bandcamp, number 2 in the alternative charts on Bandcamp and number 7 in the overal charts on Bandcamp and this just a couple of hours after it was released. Pretty good in other words! So thank you very much all of you for supporting this release!

It shows that the ‘Face The Beat’ crowd really is a true powerhouse and unique in its sort because we keep on focusing on young bands. I guess being genuine does work, I also see it in the reactions from the participating bands and labels, they do appreciate the work we put into it.

SL: The series is often being labeled as ‘cult’ or ‘legendary’, surprised?

BVI: I’m kinda modest in these things. But it’s undeniable that what once started in an obscure corner of the internet quickly has evolved into a musical mastodon with a real traction connecting ten thousands of people worldwide. It’s starting to become a very important legacy indeed if you look at it this way. Despite Facebook I must say.

SL: What do you mean ‘despite Facebook’?

BVI: Well, it all started 10 years ago as a download on Facebook, hence the title of the series. Since then the platform has only become a real money grabbing machine – no problem for me, but it has lost 99% of its original attraction. Facebook is no longer the friend of bands as the organic reach is abysmal nowadays. We do indeed promote posts on Facebook, but it’s the only way to get a decent reach there unless you get a viral post, but for that we don’t add enough kittens in the pictures. So, the data is there, you just don’t get access to it without paying. For me they have exaggerated the business model behind it, and I guess I can talk for the bands as well. Especially bands who don’t tour (2020 anyone?) find it financially unsustainable to promote their posts on the platform. The ROI is close to zero unless you can sell merchandise or tickets.

SL: So what platform should bands and labels use in order to keep in touch with their fanbase?

BVI: Facebook remains part of a band’s or label’s communication plan of course, but I would really recommend bands start getting a presence on Bandcamp as well if only to sell downloads, merchandise or offer videos for instance. The interesting thing about it is that it works particularly well for those bands and labels who have been smart enough to invest in and keep data in-house instead of focussing on an external platforms like Facebook for instance. On Facebook you do NOT posses the data at all, and that’s to be taken literally. On Bandcamp you have direct access to the data.

As far as Facebook is concerned, unless you pay you can not contact the major part of your followers. You can still count the number of bands who have worked on a good mailinglist on both your hands so to speak. I keep on recommending it to bands when they ask me what they should do first. It’s the data. No doubt about it.

Side-Line has been very data driven since the start, so we were able to drive loads of traffic to Bandcamp once we started there. As a result the number of people connected to the Side-Line Bandcamp page and getting our notifications is just enormous. Add to that that they offer a very good targeting tool within their internal messaging and you have a very good combination to get things rolling pretty fast.

Bandcamp is also a platform that keeps on developing, just look at the features they have launched the past few years like subscriptions, live streaming, merchandise etc.. It’s an allround music service platform with an own community if you want. You could argue that it’s rather weird that mainstream labels still haven’t fully embraced it, then again there are (too?) many ties between those labels and other ‘competing’ services which blocks them I guess.

It’s not the only platform, but if you want to stay in control of your data and have a direct impact on the moment you want to communicate it’s a must have. Add to this that the people behind Bandcamp are very band centered, I have had the occasion to speak with them on various occasion regarding new features and it’s quite delightful to see how they think and work. Bandcamp Fridays for example are something a ‘normal’ company would never do, but Bandcamp did. So yes, highly and warmly recommended.

SL: What is the last track you played if I may ask?

BVI: Apart from the current compilation I’m addicted to “Summer 2” from the album “Recomposed by Max Richter: Vivaldi – The Four Seasons”. Just wonderful. I have it on repeat since last week when I heard it in the “L’Amica Geniale”, an Italian- and Neapolitan-language coming-of-age drama television series created by Saverio Costanzo. Alan Wilder should do a rendition of it, that could be truly epic… I think I’ll text him later today about that (smiles). Time we get a new Recoil album too, no?

SL: Any wishes for 2021?

BVI: A good health to everyone, lots of love and understanding (people shouldn’t always attack one another just because they have different opinions) and let’s hope we can hug each other pretty soon again. I think that is the most important stuff today. The rest we can manage with hard work!

I invite you all to check out the new compilation of course. Enjoy!

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.

www.side-line.com

UPDATE: We are prolonging the deadline with 1 week. Deadline is September 8th.

The wait is over. After being probed for a new volume by a ton of artists and labels, Side-Line Magazine has now started to accept submissions for “Face The Beat: Session 6” to be released via the popular Side-Line Bandcamp page.

The compilation series continues to grow in strength as the previous volume, the 5th, was the most ever downloaded volume, again. It reached ten of thousands of music fans worldwide and even was the most downloaded release during almost an entire week on Bandcamp – which in itself is quite an achievement since the compilation series is famous for featuring a lot of unknown bands as well.

On “Face The Beat: Session 6” – scheduled for release this Winter – we will again be focusing on new/known talents from the industrial/electronic scene which will get a large platform to showcase their material. Just like with the previous volumes, we continue to support charity projects around the globe.

We plan to release this new volume by December 2020.

How can you take part in the compilation?

There are a couple of rules to respect in order to make it easier for everyone, especially for our chief editor Bernard Van Isacker who has been compiling every volume since the start of this series.

• Send 1 (!!!) track in MP3 format (GEMA free material and preferably previously unreleased) via wetransfer.com to info@side-line.com . We stress the fact that you can only send 1 track. Your best one that is.
• Do NOT send files via email, such submissions will not be accepted!
• We will contact you upon selection to request an unmastered WAV file and will also send you some paperwork to complete.
• The deadline for submission is September 1st 8th 2020.

We are open to all kind of dark styles as you can hear on the previous compilations that are available for free download on https://sidelinemag.bandcamp.com . In the past we have featured cold wave, ebm, electro,dark techno, heavenly voices, ethnic electro, idm, dark dubstep, … Basically you can take this rule: if you see a style featured in the Side-Line news coverage, then you can be pretty sure the style will also be accepted for this compilation.

This compilation will again be powered by Side-Line and promoted to a whole range of magazines and DJ’s.

So far released are…

Below are the 5 previous compilations (and 1 mega mix) for you to check out:

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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!

side-line.com

(Interview / photo by Eldrina Mich) While the charity download compilation “Face The Beat: Session 5” is still reigning the charts on Bandcamp, we decided it was time again to speak with Bernard Van Isacker, the brain behind this compilation. He is also Side-Line’s chief editor and resides with his family (and 2 cats) in Ypres, a small town nearby the French border in what’s called the Westhoek or Maritime Flanders. During the First World War, Ypres (or “Wipers” as it was commonly known by the British troops) was the centre of the Battles of Ypres between German and Allied forces, nowadays it’s a bit calmer.

I meet Bernard on a cold Friday evening at The Times, a small pub on the border of the Ypres market square.

SL: The previous interview was in June of 2015 when the 2nd volume of “Face The Beat” had just been released. It’s like yesterday!

B: Time flies very fast indeed. Good to see you are still looking great (laughs)!

SL: The compilation has been doing quite well since its launch, it went straight to the number 1 spots on Bandcamp in the alternative, industrial and goth charts.

B: Yeps, and it even was the 2nd most downloaded release on Bandcamp the day of its release, so yes, quite spectacular. It’s not really a surprise though, all of the volumes kept on being downloaded ever since the project started and I kept getting questions when the new volume would be released. But most importantly, I think we have a very strong list of tracks on this volume.

Next to that, the power of Bandcamp has become very clear here. The moment the new volume was launched Bandcamp’s notification system sent out a huge blast to a massive amount of people informing them and as a result you saw the release climbing very fast in the charts.

SL: I don’t know of any other scene compilation which has succeeded charting that fast and so high on Bandcamp?

B: Me neither (smiles). I have already been asked by a lot of people from inside the music industry how this is possible with a compilation that doesn’t feature the biggest names from this scene like Front 242, VNV Nation, etc.. But it’s especially the fact they can discover new and less wellknown bands that makes people wanting to get hold of it. Speaking of which, I especially want to thank Raphael Beck (darkTunes), Andy Skyqode (Skyqode) and Seba Dolimont (Alfa Matrix) who have been good allies in the past few years – and again this time – in getting the series up and running. They have valued the series since day 1 and I really appreciate that.

SL: Was the start so difficult?

B: When I started with this series a few years ago, in 2011 that is, not many labels believed in the concept, some did like the ones I mentioned earlier. The hesitation was mainly because I decided to feature a lot of smaller and starting bands. For me that was THE reason to do it that way because this is actually the core idea behind Side-Line since day one: being an indie magazine that is a platform for bands to get noticed, unknown and known, starters and established acts. Since the start of the series, the influx of submissions for the compilation never stopped, a lot of bands want to be on it and especially those who stand behind the charity causes that we support.

SL: It took you a while to come up with this 5th volume, I think I have seen some preliminary cover artwork some 2 years ago already?

B: Yes (smiles). It would initially have been released in early 2018, but something came up in mid-2017 that jeopardized the whole project. Let’s say that some mainstream label thought they could just harass us in taking over the concept. It kept on causing problems till mid-2018. I won’t say more about this, suffices to say, we won, they lost (smiles). The first cover artwork you refer too (Editor’s note: you can see it below) was made in November 2017 during a stay in France, at Le Mont Saint-Michel, together with my wife and newborn son Magnus.

SL: The cover artwork produced at that occasion had ‘the final side-line’ as subline? What was the meaning of that?

B: Back then I was really doubting if I would go on with the magazine or not. So that artwork would have been my final word on the matter.

Sorry I didn’t inform the rest of the team, but it was really on my mind to pull the plug. It isn’t all that unlogical, it takes lots of time to keep this doing and with a new baby in the family, I wasn’t sure to be able to handle this all. My other ‘companion de route’, Stef, also has had his fair share of not so pleasant news, so the toxic mix was there and it played around for a while…

I think we all have those difficult moments when there’s too much going on. Plus, and that’s on a personal level, often you don’t really get any ‘thank you’ back for all of the work that you do, and I’m not only talking about Side-Line or so. When you do a lot of (mostly unpaid) work for very little return on several levels, it starts nagging.

Then in February 2018 I was in Oslo with my wife and I visited Jan Ronald Stange, our local correspondent there. We have gotten along really well since meeting I think in 2010 and when I’m in the Nordics I always try to pay him a visit. And believe it or not, his enthusiasm is kinda infectious (laughs). My wife also noticed that, and said something like: “It’s time you get the same enthusiasm like Jan in your work again”. That made me thinking… Anyhow, here we are (smiles).

As a result I binned the first cover artwork idea and went for a completely new approach. But it was only last month after visiting Maastricht in The Netherlands together with my oldest son Sebastian that I found the perfect artwork idea. I saw this great bronze lion face on a big door, watched it closely, took a picture and in the hotel I started playing with some ideas. I sent those to Simon Helm from Cold War Night Life to ask his opinion and we picked the final one.

SL: Why Simon?

B: Long story cut really short. I knew Simon was behind Cold War Night Life, and one thing led to another and I got to meet him a few months ago when he was in Brussels. Jean-Marc Lederman told me he was a decent guy so the more reason to meet up. We ended up talking for hours in a small restaurant, the Arcadi in case you wonder, about all kind of things. And Simon got to learn to eat Stoemp with saussage, a typical dish from Brussels (laughs)! Cool intelligent guy he is with a clear view on a lot of things. I like straightforward people and he for sure is one. On top we kinda share the same humor, something really important. Simon also has been writing some stuff for Side-Line since then. I trust him and value his feedback, hence why I asked for his feedback.

SL: In the press release for this compilation it’s noted that the release is by far the darkest you ever compiled. I tend to agree with this. Personally, it reminded me of “040 Hamburg Strikes Back!”, the compilation released by the defunct label Hypnobeat in 1992.

B: I love that compilation! For me it was the first time I got to hear from Fortification 55, the band formed by Björn Petersen and Jan Kruse. They made some great albums back in the days. Thanks for the compliment, it was really that feeling that I had when going through the selection here!

SL: I noticed you also had a megamix prepared to promote this release, how did that come about?

B: I actually hadn’t prepared this at all. It was pure coïncidence. Shane Aungst, who made the megamix, contacted me a few days after the release was out saying he had picked 20 something tracks of the compilation to create a megamix. It turned out to be one that was 1 hour, 33 minutes and 21 seconds in length featuring 23 tracks and the quality was excellent! After mailing back and forth I created a cover for the megamix and Shane edited the megamix into 2 because Bandcamp was unable to feature the full length in one cut. Perhaps they should increase the 600 MB limit when you want to release a megamix (smiles).

It’s a nice extra on which Shane has been working for hours. We plan an interview with him in the next days actually.

SL: Something else. You informed us a few weeks ago that Side-Line had opened a channel on the mobile app Telegram?

B: Yes, that’s correct. The reason behind this is that Facebook is more and more becoming a no-go for indie news discovery. I for instance use Twitter a lot more for my news digestion, because Facebook really is rubbish at getting decent news in my feed even though I follow some really good sources. At Side-Line we could easily write clickbait articles that would get spread a lot. But that’s not what I want, and on top the team really wants to continue bringing news about smaller bands. But that’s not what Facebook wants, so it deliberately doesn’t push those newsitems to our readers since the ‘engagement’ is lower.

Facebook is really becoming a graveyard as far as non-commercial news is concerned. Unless you pay and even then. I don’t expect Facebook to get any better, on the contrary, it will get worse, because the shareholders will want more and more. Facebook can only deliver this by squeezing more and more money out of our pocket. And with their Libra project becoming a nightmare, you can be sure we the publishers all will have to pay for it (laughs)!

You know, Facebook has censored a ton of our articles because they didn’t like the artwork used by the band’s featured. Rammstein, Apoptygma Berzerk, Siva Six, Alien Vampires, Combichrist, articles from all of these bands and many more were simply censored and banned from the network … pretty frustrating.

SL: So Telegram is the way to go?

B: Yes. The service offers you the possibility to send out newsupdates to an unlimited number of people in one go without it being stopped, hidden away or censored even. I prefer this kind of news updates where I chose what I want to get.

People can join us on Telegram via this link https://t.me/sidelinemag (install the app as well, on desktop or mobile) and they will get our news first before it gets posted on Facebook. The good thing is that the channel is ad free. You just get our news and you can leave a like or dislike, and that’s where the comparison with Facebook ends. I’m personally also using Telegram a lot more to connect with people instead of Whatsapp. If you haven’t got an account yet, make sure to sign up!

SL: What’s coming up next?

B: As far as Side-Line is concerned I’m working on a few projects, but it’s too early to announce anything yet.

SL: Last question, what keeps you busy besides Side-Line?

B: Ha, a lot of things, too many things really. Besides my daytime job as a social media marketeer and CRM responsible at the Belgian branch of a multinational, and running 2 small holiday houses, I’m still heavily involved in Alfa Matrix, Bob De Moor, collecting original drawings by comic masters and a lot of local ‘policy work’, the latter is often draining a lot of my patience (laughs). I also have started running to stay fit. Every 2 days I try to do my 5 kilometers, early in the morning before having a breakfast at the local Panos, which opens at around 5.30 AM. It’s a perfect way to start the day with fresh energy I must say.

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.

www.side-line.com

Almost exactly 3 years ago we launched the 4th volume in the Side-Line powered charity compilation series “Face The Beat” offering electro-industrial tracks by a long list of different bands. It was the most downloaded volume ever and stayed for weeks in the TOP 10 on Bandcamp. And… it also raised an absolute record in donations!

Out now is the 5th volume and this time it raced immediately into the Top 3 of most popular releases on Bandcamp, and landed even on number 2 for most popular digital releases.

The 5th volume is also the darkest volume

“Face The Beat: Session 5” is probably the darkest of all “Face The Beat” compilations we released so far as you will notice. You get 87 tracks from a lot of new bands, very young bands, several unsigned bands and also some more established bands from all over the world.

Many thanks to all of the bands that have sent material, and congratulations to all those that have made the selection! United we can show that we have our heart at the right place!

A charity compilation

Just like the previous time, the Side-Line team will again donate 500 Euro as well, just to show you how much we care about this project. All proceedings this time will be going towards our Plan International cause (which finances the education of young kids in 3rd world countries). You can also support this project with recurrent donations if you wish to, or simply donate here on Bandcamp when you download the compilation.

The compilation was compiled by Side-Line Chief Editor Bernard Van Isacker while the mastering was executed by Erlend Eilertsen (Essence Of Mind, Lights A.M.).

Previous volumes in the ‘Face The Beat’ series

• Various Artists – Face The Beat: Session 1
• Various Artists – Face The Beat: Session 2
• Various Artists – Face The Beat: Session 3
• Various Artists – Face The Beat: Session 4

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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!

side-line.com

The people behind the Belgina label Alfa Matrix have been pretty busy the past few months, not only are they preparing new releases, but they have also pimped their e-shop. The store has now re-opened and for the occasion the label has launched a massive 7-day long 50% discount sales in both their e-shop and on Bandcamp. It suffices to use the discount code backtraxx on Bandcamp or in the e-shop and you’ll get the 50% discount. Note that for the e-shop that code is valid on all products released before june 2018 while it’s valid on all releases on Bandcamp.

Speaking of which, the label’s new store has a way better integration with Bandcamp: “That’s correct,” says Bernard Van Isacker, webdeveloper at Alfa Matrix, “we wanted to limit the friction people have when they visit our store, so from now on all bandcamp-only products are clearly visible and people will be directed instantly to the correct page on bandcamp to get the release.” The change didn’t go without a few hurdles so Bernard explains: “There is a lot going on under the hood of the e-shop and we have been debugging for the past weeks in order to be ready before Christmas, and luckily we were ready a few days earlier than expected. Christmas is usually a pretty hectic period for us as we then get an avalanche of orders.”

The store is furthermore fully mobile friendly: “I personally always shop via mobile and rarely use my laptop for e-commerce, so it only made sense to make this a reality for our label’s online store too.” The store itself remains free of clutter: “That’s on purpose, I hate those sites and stores filled with all kind of buttons. Just keep it simple and make sure people find what they are looking for and make sure that they can have a swift purchase experience, that was the aim and I think we succeeded. There are still a few extra things which will be implemented, but that’s more for the administration side of things.”

Alfa Matrix was one of the first labels (if not the very first) in the industrial music scene to focus on direct sales and have a one on one communication with its fanbase.

We’ll have another interview coming up in the next days with Sebastien Dolimont from Alfa Matrix as well.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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!

side-line.com

This morning IKEA Ghent (Belgium) was the place to be for bands wanting to know something more on the future of the music business and how to make the best of it. More precisely, the Belgian electronic music label Alfa Matrix was presenting a workshop at IKEA to the musicians behind the bands Llumen, ELM, Psy’Aviah and Mildreda (Diskonnekted), respectively Pieter Coussement, Peter Elm, Yves Schelpe and Jan Dewulf. For the label it’s the first time it has organised a joined workshop with other bands inside Belgium, but it surely won’t be the last.

Side-Line talked with Alfa Matrix’s promo manager Bernard Van Isacker who gave the workshop.

SL: First of all, you also work as an online marketeer during your daytime job?

B: Yes, I’m the online marketeer for a major seed company (number 5 in the world) for whom I develop the social media strategy, and in that role I have been giving several trainings regarding social media tricks in Belgium and in the Netherlands, but also regarding CRM since one doesn’t go without the other. For those who don’t know, CRM stands for customer relationship management and is an approach to managing a company’s interaction with current and potential future customers. We then analyse this data to improve business relationships with customers. But that’s another story.

SL: Why did Alfa Matrix decide to do this workshop?

B: This is not the first time we do this, in the past I have organised a couple of such workshops with Alfa Matrix bands but then more face to face, so one band at the time. I did several in Belgium, in Scandinavia and in Greece (where I had sessions with Siva Six and Virgins O.R. Pigeons).

But the idea to get a few bands together only started a year or 2 ago when I had a very interesting networking diner in Oslo (Norway) where several of the Alfa Matrix bands were joined by such people as John Fryer, Paul Kendall and the Electro Spectre duo. You immediately could sense there was an energy that you don’t often see.

I also know that there is a need for bands to discuss about the topics we talked about today such as marketing, communication and an insight on how the algorithms work for such companies as Spotify, Apple Music and so on.

Anyhow, when I was at an intimate event at the Club 52 here in Belgium a few weeks ago, I talked with the people behind Llumen, Psy’Aviah and Mildreda who were playing there and suggested them a joined workshop in the near future. They all agreed, so a few days later we decided upon a precise date, a location and I prepped the workshop itself. In the meantime I had invited a few other bands over too, so that’s how Peter (ELM) also joined us, the others will be joining me during a future workshop that fits their agenda.

I also plan a few of these workshops outside Belgium with the next one being in Oslo where Kant Kino, Essence Of Mind and a few other acts will be joining.

SL: What was the purpose of this meeting?

B: It’s always good to meet the artists from time to time, so that is already a good plus. But the main purpose of the workshop is to help the participating bands with their communication, their online presence, and explain them a few things which the general public and most bands are not aware of (because often their label doesn’t know either). Today for instance I presented them my future vision on the (online) press and club scene.

SL: And that is?

B: That’s classified, but it’s safe to say that my vision is quite radical. Back in the days (let’s say 10 years ago) people told me I was mad to start investing in digital distribution at such a fast pace. 10 years late I’m not so mad anymore so it seems, at least what that aspect is considered :). You have to know that I talk a lot with people from inside the business (digital distributors, major promo companies, …) to know the ins and outs of what happens and what is going to happen. I also have a few trusted people from within the scene (distributors, musicians such as Yves Schelpe, other label owners) with whom I discuss quite often about what directions the music industry might take. From that input and my own knowledge and intuition I distill a vision for Alfa Matrix which I then share with my 2 other colleagues in the label.

SL: How did you come up with the idea to do this workshop at IKEA?

B: I’m an IKEA addict basically… :). Ghent is in the centre of the Belgian cities where our bands come from, so it was kinda logical to choose this city as the central place. And since it isn’t the first time I do meetings at IKEA, it kinda was logical to keep it here. Plenty of coffee and plenty of space, I only asked the bands to be here at 10 AM so we were sure to have the space we wanted.

SL: What came out of this workshop?

B: Well, besides the content of my presentation which gave these bands a nice insight in how the business works these days, there were also a few new and exiting things that have come out of our interaction, which we hope to materialise soon. Add to this that a few really nice surprises appeared which opened opportunities. I personally strongly believe in the 1+1=3 setting if you have people sit together who are all very driven by the desire to learn. That was the case here.

SL: Do you plan to publish this guide on the net?

B: No, nice try though! This presentation and its explanation is strictly restricted to the bands signed to Alfa Matrix and is not for external distribution. In the past I have worked for labels on consultancy basis giving them ‘intel’ on a few things, but that’s only because they contracted me for this. Since I’m now only busy with Alfa Matrix, it will remain for the Alfa Matrix eyes only :).

SL: Can we expect some more of these workshops taking place in Belgium?

B: Sure, we plan one in Brussels as well in the near future, probably at IKEA Zaventem :). Next we also plan one in the Netherlands and in Mexico where we also have a few bands under contract.

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.

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Side-Line Magazine has launched the 4th volume in the popular free ‘Face The Beat’ series: “Face The Beat: Session 4” via the official Side-Line Magazine Bandcamp page. “Face The Beat: Session 4” features no less than 90 tracks (!) from the worldwide industrial underground.

During the past few months Side-Line Magazine has been completing this brand new volume again focusing on getting as many unsigned bands as possible on board. And what a ride it has been… as we have again been inundated with thousands of submissions. The quality was so high this time that we have increased the number of bands that could participate this time.

Like has been the case in the past with our previous volumes, we are again supporting a charity work with donations received for this new volume. More precisely we will help build a sanitary installation for a public hospital (based in the Mexican state of Veracruz).

Why Mexico? Our chief editor Bernard Van Isacker explains: “When I was in Mexico to get wedded earlier this year, I was rushed to a public hospital (where usually the poor people go) with a serious back injury. I was so incredibly well-received and helped out even though it was very clear that the hospital was very much underfunded. The doctors, the nurses, they have done a splendid job in caring for me. But one thing struck me during this period and that was that the poor people waiting outside (sometimes for hours) had no toilet facilities or a place where they could take care of their babies. The hospital had no funds to build this, so I decided to help them out financially. But what I gave isn’t sufficient to finish the construction and complete the sanitary facilities. That’s when I realised that the charity project to be supported this time by Face The Beat should be this. You know, we are so damn lucky with our public health service here in Europe. So, if you want to help out, then please donate, you’ll make the life of so many people a lot easier and comfortable.”

“Face The Beat: Session 4” – available via Bandcamp – features lots of new talents, and several familiar ‘faces’, from the electro, wave, industrial, dubstep, dark folk scene who wanted to put their shoulders under this release. You’ll find well known acts such as The Psychic Force, Kant Kino, Antibody, and many more next to a huge lot of new talents which caught our attention in the past few months, many of these bands don’t have a label contract or have just been signed recently.

The material was carefully mastered by Erlend Eilertsen (Essence Of Mind) for your best audio pleasure. You can preview the 90-track release below.

Many thanks to all of the bands and labels that have sent material, too many to name (over 2400 this time), and congratulations to all the bands that have made our selection! United we can show that we have our heart at the right place!

The other 3 free charity download compilations are still available:
– Various Artists – Face The Beat: Session 1
– Various Artists – Face The Beat: Session 2
– Various Artists – Face The Beat: Session 3

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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!

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It was known that legendary dark troubadour Leonard Cohen had health issues, but the news that broke this morning still remains very sad. Leonard Cohen is no more, he passed away at his home in Los Angeles at the age of 82. The sad news was announced on the singer’s Facebook page and confirmed by his son Adam Cohen.

Despite his health issues Cohen did finish a new (and excellent) album, “You want it darker”, which offered some of his darkest work ever. It was also why Side-Line reported about it, despite some less eclectic readers wondering ‘what this old guy’ was doing in our news. It goes without saying that many artists from this scene are very familiar with Cohen’s work as his lyrics and musical atmospheres did inspire many despite being from a completely different background.

Martin Gore for instance made an excellent cover of “Coming back to you” for the 1995 tribute album “Tower of song – the songs of Leonard Cohen”, an appropriate song to celebrate the genius of Cohen.

Side-Line chief editor Bernard Van Isacker had a special bond with his music: “Ever since my parents introduced me to Leonard Cohen at a very young age, I have always felt that he was my musical companion in life. I’ve seen him live a couple of times, have a whole range of bootlegs from him, all of his records too of course, and I basically can’t get enough of his work which is so intense yet so relaxing to listen to. What many people don’t know is that next to music, Cohen was also a writer. He published the poetry collection “Flowers for Hitler” in 1964 and the novels “The Favourite Game” (1963) and “Beautiful Losers” (1966). I have all the first editions at home. His work as a writer is quite enjoyable but the sales were apparently very poor (not that that ever stopped me from buying something). Although I ended up in this electronic scene, I still feel that his songwriting and lyrics writing are unmatched. His death shocks me although I knew he was not well. I hope that my other hero Clint Eastwood will still live for a couple of years because I get the same warm feeling when I see Clint acting or Leonard playing live… A truly sad day which has the same effect on as when the comic authors Bob De Moor, POM and Hergé died. I see my companions de route dying one by one.”

Enjoy Cohen’s latest album below, a “chef-d’oeuvre” according to Van Isacker:

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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!

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Officially out on December 26th, but available right here for the quick ones, is the 3rd volume in the Side-Line powered charity compilation series “Face The Beat”.

“Face The Beat: Session 3” counts 63 tracks from electro / industrial / experimental bands based allover the world. They have one thing in common, they all are supporting our charity work, which this time will go to supporting O Allos Anthropos (A Different Person), a mobile kitchen in Greece, Athens which is supporting the poorest citizens there with daily warm meals.

“Face The Beat: Session 3” was compiled by Elise Din and Bernard Van Isacker and features lots of new talents, and several familiar ‘faces’, from the electro, wave, industrial, dubstep, dark folk scene who wanted to put their shoulders under the release. You’ll find well known acts such as Kant Kino, IIOIOIOII, Essence Of Mind, Empusa, and many more next to a lot of new talents which caught our attention and which often haven’t got a label contract or have just been signed recently.

The material was carefully mastered by Kenneth Fredstie (Kant Kino) for your best audio pleasure.

Here’s a bit more info on O Allos Anthropos, the charity project we will be supporting this time. The people behind O Allos Anthropos don’t just cook healthy meals for the poorest residents, they also sit together with those people in an effort to combat the shame of receiving a free cooked meal. Another purpose of this community kitchen is to distribute any left over funds to the unemployed people who help them on a daily basis. We came aware of their work when being in Greece last year and seeing the tremendous work they have been doing, we decided to help them out.

Being in the middle of the Christmas and New Year’s festivities we count on you to be generous with your donations – it’s no obligation of course, but you’ll make sure that other people will be able enjoying a decent meal with what you donate. Good to know, there will be no middleman to transfer the donations. We’ll wire it directly to O Allos Anthropos and the Side-Line team will already be donating 500 Euro directly, just to show you how much we care about this project. You can also support this project with recurrent donations if you wish to.

You can download the compilation right here.

Many thanks to all of the bands and labels that have sent material, too many to name (over 3000 this time), and congratulations to all the bands that have made our selection! United we can show that we have our heart at the right place!

Do not forget to also get our 2 other charity download compilations, “Face The Beat: Session 1” and “Face The Beat: Session 2“.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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!

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