The UK mourns the loss of Brian Griffin, a trailblazing British photographer who passed away peacefully in his sleep on January 29, 2024, at the age of 75. Born on April 13, 1948, Griffin carved a niche in photography with his distinctive portraits of 1980s pop musicians, earning him the title of “photographer of the decade” from The Guardian in 1989. His influential work now graces the permanent collections of esteemed institutions like the Arts Council, British Council, Victoria and Albert Museum, and National Portrait Gallery in London.

Griffin’s lens captured iconic images of music legends including Siouxsie Sioux, Kate Bush, Depeche Mode, Ultravox, R.E.M., Billy Idol, Iggy Pop, Ringo Starr, Queen, and Peter Gabriel. His collaboration with Depeche Mode notably shaped their visual identity in the early 1980s. He created compelling record covers that captivated audiences even before they listened to the music.

One of his most celebrated works is a record cover for Depeche Mode’s “A Broken Frame”, which, at the decisive moment, he captured with precision. This iconic photo was later acclaimed as the best photo of the 1980s by LIFE magazine. Griffin also ventured into video production, directing the mystical music video for Depeche Mode’s “Only When I Lose Myself”. His artistic contributions were recently compiled in the Depeche Mode book “Mode”.

Our readers will particularly remember Griffin for his significant impact on Depeche Mode’s image and style. Last year, we had the privilege of interviewing Brian Griffin, where he shared insights into his illustrious career.

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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The Swedish gothic rock act Scheitan has recorded a cover of the Billy Idol track “White Wedding”.

Scheitan have recently returned following a 24-year hiatus, and will release a new album “Songs for the Gothic People” in Spring 2024 via the Greek independent label The Circle Music. The new album further explores the gothic vibe that was present on their ”Nemesis” album, released by Century Media Records in 1999.

Check out the lyric video below.

Guitarist, multiinstrumentalist & vocalist Pierre Törnkvist comments on the new recording: “Billy Idol has always been one of my favourite artists. It was the same for Oscar, Scheitan’s drummer who tragically passed away some years ago. And I think Oscar would have approved of this version of “White Wedding”. We talked many times about recording “Rebel Yell” with our other band Helltrain but I think this one will do equally good. I tried to go for a bit more “goth” than “rock” in the soundscape and vocals. Billy is an excellent singer so it would just have been stupid to try to replicate some of the stuff he does in the track. I know my place and capabilities. I’ve spent a lot of time with his newer material like “Bitter Taste” and “Running from the Ghost” and have to say it´s equally good as the tracks he delivered as a young artist. I will now keep working on the upcoming album and perhaps throw in one or two more cover tracks along the way.”

Listen to the singles “Fire at Dawn” and “Lost in Time” which were released earlier this year.

About Scheitan

Scheitan was formed in 1996 by Pierre Törnkvist (guitar/bass/vocals) together with Oscar Karlsson (drums). The duo started out as a black metal band but transformed during the musical journey into the fields of gothic/ambient rock. Both members had previous musical experience mainly from death and black metal such as The Moaning, Defleshed, The Everdawn and Gates of Ishtar to name a few.

Scheitan released its first album “Travelling in Ancient Times” on Invasion Records in 1996. The album was an 8-track black metal album except for the last track “Portals of Might” which was the first indication of Scheitan wanting to explore other musical realms. The second album “Berzerk 2000”, also released on Invasion Records in 1998, was divided into different styles. The first four tracks show a gothic/ambient Scheitan while the last three saw Scheitan bid a final farewell to its black metal roots. The first four tracks of “Berzerk 2000” saw a digital re-release in 2021 as the “Deathgoth” EP.

Century Media signed the band after the contract with Invasion was finished and in 1999 the band recorded and released “Nemesis”. The musical style was now completely devoted to the gothic/ambient/dark domain except for the vocals of Pierre Törnkvist who were still kept in the harsh style present on earlier albums. When it was time to write new Scheitan material after “Nemesis” both Pierre and Oscar felt that it did not fit into the project and therefore Helltrain was started, which is a completely different story.

Scheitan went on a 24-year hiatus but was brought back to life in 2023 with the single “Lost In Time”, a gothic rock track in the veins of Sisters of Mercy, Fields of The Nephilim and The 69 Eyes. A few weeks prior to the release of the single “Lost in Time” Scheitan signed to Greek label The Circle Music and is set to release a full-length album in 2024.

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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The Prague-based gothic rock band, Cathedral In Flames is back with a cover of Billy Idol’s classic, “Rebel Yell”.

In their version of the song, Cathedral In Flames toyed with tempos, added strings and flirted with blast-beats for the first time in their history. The track was produced by John Fryer and comes hand in hand with a comic book video.

Singer Phil Lee Fall says, “The songs were basically made to order. And we had a lot of arguments over it, we couldn’t figure it out for a long time, but when Gatsby threw in the tempo changes, everything clicked. And John added the blast beats symbolically at the very end.”

And Gatsby adds, “I’ve never liked this song, so I approached it in the end in the style of seeing if something interesting could be made out of a thousand times stale little ditty. How it turned out, judge for yourself. I’m washing my hands!”

Here’s the comic book video.

And here is the track for download on 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!

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(Photos by Brian Griffin, Interview by Janos Janurik for Side-Line) Brian Griffin was responsible for the visual perception of Depeche Mode for a while in the early eighties. He made record covers so interesting, you wanted to own them before you even heard the music. He also photographed one of the most famous record covers from pop history for our favourite group. He waited with his finger on the shutter release – then the perfect moment had come. The final result was then voted the best photo of the 1980s by LIFE magazine. Several years later, the music of “Only When I Lose Myself” was accompanied by his mystical video clip. And now his unforgettable artwork is being collected for Depeche Mode and these pictures, which are actually beautiful impressions of a wonderful journey through time, deserve to be immortalised in an album forever.

Brian Griffin book on Depeche Mode

The photo book is called “MODE” and made by one of the most important British photographers of his generation, who is also a poet and performance artist, Brian Griffin. I was very honoured when he responded positively to my contact request. In 2009, I had the opportunity to interview Anton Corbijn on the occasion of his exhibition opening in Budapest and now I was privileged to have the interview below with Mr Griffin, whose work I have admired since my teenage years. I asked him about his years with Depeche Mode and about this elaborate photographic book project. Enjoy the read!

SL: For more than 35 years, Anton Corbijn’s name has been closely associated with Depeche Mode as the band’s artistic director. From image photos to video production to stage design, he has done everything for the visuals and for the strong band branding. He took over this role in 1986, in the “Black Celebration” era, when you were last responsible for the cover design. Did you meet him back then, did you exchange ideas?

BG: I have never met Anton. Maybe after more than 35 years of Anton, Depeche Mode needs a change to freshen up. What ideas could I exchange with Anton…?

SL: Your work with Depeche Mode began in 1981 when you created the album cover for their debut album. How long had you been in the pop biz? Which famous artists have you worked with?

BG: I had been in the Pop business for only 2 years. It was only a small part of my photographic output when I shot “Speak And Spell”. In fact it remained that way throughout the 80’s. I worked with Iggy Pop, Queen, OMD, Echo & The Bunnymen, Kate Bush. Elvis Costello, John Foxx, Billy Idol, Devo, Ultravox and the list goes on and on. I think something like 200 to 300 record covers.

SL: Ultravox – a musical role model for Vince, Martin & Co – released their masterpiece “Vienna” even before your collaboration with the newly established Depeche Mode, who were signed by Daniel Miller to his recently created Mute label. The record sleeve for “Vienna” was also your work and it shows – at least for me – a bit of similarities to Depeche Mode’s “Speak And Spell” album cover. With Ultravox you used wrapping paper for the cover photo and with Depeche Mode a plastic foil. The difference is that with “Vienna” you wrapped the band Ultravox itself with wrapping paper and with “Speak And Spell” a swan was wrapped in a plastic bag. Did you want to visualise the “cool” synthesizer sound – described by some critics as “plastic pop” – of these two bands?

BG: I really loved the sound of the synthesiser from when I first heard Krautrock, and still do. However with “Speak And Spell” and “Vienna” I was not influenced in any way that can be connected with my use of wrapping paper or plasticated foil.I just did what I felt would be a good idea at the time.

SL: The album cover with the swan is perhaps not your most famous and most recognised work. But the subsequent album cover of “A Broken Frame”, which you photographed for Depeche Mode in 1982, has already stood the test of time. Almost everyone knows the story behind this breathtaking photo of the woman in the wheat field with the sickle in her hand, but maybe there are still “little stories about this big subject” that you have rarely told… So what would be your personal story in connection with this record cover?

BG: “A Broken Frame” is probably one of the most famous photographs on earth. I am so proud that I had the talent to produce that photograph. The secret being is there is something or someone watching over me. I have always felt that.

SL: The next time you were commissioned to do a Depeche Mode album cover, you had to go to Switzerland, to the Alps. The once again socialist realism photo was shot on top of the famous Matterhorn. By the way, my favourite photo of you would be the cover photo for the single “Love In Itself” from that era. It was 40 years ago. Looking back, how strong do you find this artistic period?

BG: I never listened to Depeche Mode’s music prior to photographing the covers for them. This period was certainly one of my most creative, especially with my ability in employing artificial light.

SL: The next chapter of Depeche Mode’s adventure in the world of “Industrial Pop” was the “Some Great Reward” album, to which they also owe their world fame. A young married couple in the middle of an industrial estate, perfectly fitting the album motto “The world we live in and life in general”. Romantic-dark, like Martin Gore’s lyrics. Most of the songs were about love, but not in the style of traditional pop music. They were self-experienced love and life stories of Martin Gore, in which thousands of fans could define themselves. Depeche Mode has been using this magical recipe for pop songs ever since, with great success. If you could just name one favorite song of Depeche Mode, which song would it be?

BG: “Somebody”

SL; Another milestone in the band’s history was the “Black Celebration” album. The main songwriter, Martin Gore, has repeatedly emphasized that he counts the most important and significant period of the band from the release of this record. Most fans also count this “black and gloomy” album among their personal favourites. You came up with your last cover design idea for Depeche Mode for this record. If I’m not mistaken, the final cover art wasn’t exactly the same as your concept art. Please tell us a bit about this cover story!

BG: All is revealed in my new book MODE.

SL: And now a few words about your band portraits of Depeche Mode. Were the boys – from a photographer’s point of view – treatable? Anton Corbijn once said that Alan Wilder showed the most interest in his work as a photographer/director at that time, the others almost didn’t care what he wanted to get out of a clip or a photo. And how did the band behave in front of your camera?

BG: Their attitude towards me was very similar to what Anton experienced. I preferred that attitude believe it or not, and found it most inspiring.

SL: You also shot a clip for Depeche Mode, the music video for “Only When I Lose Myself”. At that time the band was experimenting with other directors, because they had only worked with Anton Corbijn for more than 10 years and wanted to change the routine a bit. How did you get into the picture? Did you get a free hand in the production? What memories do you have of the shooting?

BG: It was wonderful in every way. I gave up photography for film making from 1991 to 2003. “Only when I lose Myself” is one of the best tracks by DM, it is also one of my best films by far. Daniel Miller freaked out when he saw the rough edit, as he had left me to let the creative juices flow. He made us cut the film drastically, but its strengths still shine through!

SL: Speaking of Anton, he has already released two photo albums (“Strangers”, “Depeche Mode by Anton Corbijn”) about Depeche Mode, the latter shortly before Andy Fletcher’s death. Why did you wait so long with your photo album (“MODE”)? You were part of the band growing up and also contributed to their image.

BG: My friend Vaughn George inspired and encouraged it to happen.

SL: This beautifully designed photo book of yours is the result of a huge fundraiser from the fans. I don’t think you could ask for more recognition as an artist. Please tell us about this project!

BG: This book “MODE” has been made with very little financial reward, and financed by the generosity of the fans. They have not been exploited, but have been rewarded with a beautiful book.

SL: According to your info mail, the photo album “MODE” will eventually be available in stores. Where can the book be ordered by those who did not participate in the fundraising?

BG: This book is self published and distributed by me and will not be available to be purchased in bookshops. For people who did not pledge to the Kickstarter of “MODE”, you can buy the book by visiting the the shop section of my website.

SL: Depeche Mode are currently on tour with their latest album, “Memento Mori”, which – albeit unintentionally – is heavily affected by Fletch’s death. When did you last meet the band – with or without Fletch? How will you keep them in your memory?

BG: I met Martin at the Olympic Stadium gig in London before lockdown. I will remember Depeche Mode as the band that inspired me to produce some of my finest album cover photographs.

János Janurik

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

Genre/Influences: Industrial, Synth-Rock.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Hailing from Washington D.C (USA) 51 Peg released their first production in 2000. They don’t exactly release new stuff on a regular basis and now strike back with this new opus featuring seven songs.

Content: It’s not that easy defining the sound of the band but it clearly covers different influences. I’m not surprised they claim to be inspired by bands like Depeche Mode and NIN. The music is mixing aggressive electronic sequences and Industrial guitar playing while you’ll notice melody lines now and then. The last song is a surprising cover of Billy Idol’s “Eyes Without A Face”.

+ + + : The main strength of the work is the complementary production between guitar and electronics. I’m more into the aggressive parts of the work like featured at “Roots Into Sand”. Billy Idol’s cover sounds fun and well sung.

– – – : Music which is hard to label and without a true climax.

Conclusion: I was not really impressed by this record.

Best songs: “Roots Into Sand”.

Rate: 6.

Artist: www.51peg.com / www.facebook.com/51peg

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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Featured, the project by Julian Beeston, has teamed up with KMFDM vocalist Lucia Cifarelli for a new single, titled “Medusa”. The single will be out on July 28th.

Written by Julian Beeston and Lucia Cifarelli, the two are joined by Steve White (KMFDM,PIG) and Dean Garcia (Curve, SPC_ECO) on the new release along with remixes by Marc Heal, INHALT, Blush Response, Mark Pistel, Giuseppe Morena and Metroglow.

A video will accompany the release which utilizes extensive facial capture technology and integration with the Unreal Engine.

The single is taken from the forthcoming Featured album, “All Mouth and No Trousers”, due in September 2023, which features further collaborations with Lucia Cifarelli as well as Mari Kattman, Bara Hari, Rose Berlin, Mia FluxXx, Christine Hanlon, Lis van den Akker, Jayelle Gerber and Livvy Holland.

Julian Beeston is an English musician, mainly noted for his time in the electronic groups Nitzer Ebb and Cubanate. He has spent time as a remixing engineer working on artists such as Bob Marley and Billy Idol. More recently, he has worked as a composer and producer, making music for TV commercials for companies such as Mitsubishi and Ford and has produced trailers for Universal, Miramax and 20th Century Fox.

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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Out now is “Dicks Incorporated”, the new single from Featured, the alternative rock industrial project from Julian Beeston (Nitzer Ebb, Cubanate).

English born Julian Beeston is best known for his time in Nitzer Ebb (1989–1992) and Cubanate (1993-2016). He has spent time as a remixing engineer working on artists such as Bob Marley and Billy Idol and more recently has worked as a composer and producer, making music for TV commercials for companies such as Mitsubishi and Ford. Next to this he has also produced trailers for Universal, Miramax and 20th Century Fox.

“Dicks Incorporated” has Steve White (PIG, KMFDM) on guitar and Dean Garcia (Curve, SPC-ECO) on bass and features Chelsea Dawn on vocals.

Taken from the forthcoming album, “All Mouth and No Trousers” which has vocal appearances from Lucia Cifarelli (KMFDM), Rose Garcia (SPC-ECO) and Mari Kattman (Helix) amongst others, “Dicks Incorporated” is a tongue in cheek poke at modern society and has remixes by MESH, Marc Heal and Cyanotic.

Here’s the video for the single.

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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In November we announced that the UK new wave act Into A Circle had been recording what looked like their first album of original material since their 1988’s debut album “Assassins”. The band which features Paul ‘Bee’ Hampshire and Barry Jepson were last seen live in 1989 before splitting in the autumn of that year.

Into A Circle have now released “Mercenaries”, a track originally penned in the mid-80s.

“”Mercenaries” is about the power of the word and how books can shape a person, and their ideals, in both constructive ways and destructive ways,” says Bee. The single finds Bee unearthing memories of his childhood at a faith school and reflecting on how those experiences would ultimately influence his rebellious later years.

As Bee adds: “As a young child, I attended a very religious school where each kid was given a personal bible. In the beginning, was the word! In my mid-teens, I put down the bible and picked up books by Brion Gysin and William Burroughs, whose mission was to cut up, rub out the word, lift the veil and explore the power and message behind the word.”

The release of “Mercenaries” is accompanied with a video directed by Mark Jordan.

Here’s the video.

About Into A Circle

Into A Circle (also known as In2a0) was founded by members Paul “Bee” Hampshire and Barry Jepson in 1985. Barry, who was also a member of Southern Death Cult (a band that featured vocalist Ian Astbury and later went on to become The Cult) was later introduced to Bee in the legendary post/punk band Getting The Fear.

Into A Circle issued their debut single “Rise” in 1985. It featured Rose McDowall, formerly one-half of the pop-punk outfit Strawberry Switchblade. While never a full-time member, the single’s success saw McDowall become something of a regular feature with Into A Circle, with her vocals appearing on all of the band’s subsequent singles and often as a part of the band’s live set-up whenever commitments permitted too.

Signing to Abstract Records in July 1986, Into A Circle released the “Inside Out” EP which featured input from Billy Morrison, who would later play with acts as diverse as Robbie Williams to Black Sabbath and Billy Idol.

The band’s debut album “Assassins” was preceded by the single “Forever”. Co-produced by Larry Steinbachek of Bronski Beat, “Assasins” found the band in experimental mood and exploring a more electronic/dance oriented sound.

From there, Into A Circle would cut just one more single from the record, “Evergreen”.

The completion of the tour at the end of 1989, would also draw a line in the sand for the band. As a series of unplanned twists in their personal lives unfolded, along with Bee’s decision to relocate to Thailand, plans for the release of a second album fell apart.

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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The UK new wave act Into A Circle have been recording what will be their first album of original material since their 1988’s debut album “Assassins”. The band which features Paul “Bee” Hampshire and Barry Jepson were last seen live in 1989 before splitting in the autumn of that year.

Into A Circle have also confirmed they will do a very limited and exclusive series of reunion shows in 2022, with first dates due to be announced imminently.

About Into A Circle

Into A Circle (also known as In2a0) was founded by members Paul “Bee” Hampshire and Barry Jepson in 1985. Barry, who was also a member of Southern Death Cult (a band that featured vocalist Ian Astbury and later went on to become The Cult) was later introduced to Bee in the legendary post/punk band Getting The Fear.

Into A Circle issued their debut single “Rise” in 1985. It featured Rose McDowall, formerly one-half of the pop-punk outfit Strawberry Switchblade. While never a full-time member, the single’s success saw McDowall become something of a regular feature with Into A Circle, with her vocals appearing on all of the band’s subsequent singles and often as a part of the band’s live set-up whenever commitments permitted too.

Signing to Abstract Records in July 1986, Into A Circle released the “Inside Out” EP which featured input from Billy Morrison, who would later play with acts as diverse as Robbie Williams to Black Sabbath and Billy Idol.

The band’s debut album “Assassins” was preceded by the single “Forever”. Co-produced by Larry Steinbachek of Bronski Beat, “Assasins” found the band in experimental mood and exploring a more electronic/dance oriented sound.

From there, Into A Circle would cut just one more single from the record, “Evergreen”.

The completion of the tour at the end of 1989, would also draw a line in the sand for the band. As a series of unplanned twists in their personal lives unfolded, along with Bee’s decision to relocate to Thailand, plans for the release of a second In2a0 album fell apart.

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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(Photo by Derick Smith) Ministry has released the music video for the new track “Search And Destroy” from the upcoming Ministry album “Moral Hygiene”, out October 1 via Nuclear Blast Records. The inspiration for the song, a take on The Stooges’ hit, is explained by Jourgensen in a new video featuring Billy Morrison (Billy Idol, Royal Machines) who worked on the cover.

Hear Al Jourgensen discuss “Search And Destroy” in detail in the new interview video right below. And you can see the music video for “Search And Destroy” (directed by Dean Karr) right after this.

“Moral Hygiene” was recorded with engineer Michael Rozon (also behind the boards on AmeriKKKant) at Scheisse Dog Studio, Jourgensen’s self-built home studio and creative lab. As with all Ministry albums, all songs are written and performed by Al Jourgensen. Additional contributions come from Billy Morrison (Billy Idol, Royal Machines), Cesar Soto (Man The Mute), John Bechdel (Killing Joke, Fear Factory), Roy Mayorga (Stonesour, Soulfly, Nausea), Paul D’Amour (Tool, Feersum Ennjin), Arabian Prince (N.W.A.), Jello Biafra (Dead Kennedys) and sitar player Flash.

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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(Photo by Derick Smith) “Moral Hygiene”, the 15th studio album by industrial act Mnistry will be released October 1 via Nuclear Blast Records. As a teaser a new single and video is released for “Good Trouble”. The song is inspired by late Congressman John Lewis and the BLM protests. The new video includes sampling from last year’s demonstrations in Los Angeles as captured by Jourgensen and his partner Liz Walton.

The 10-track album is a follow-up to 2018’s “AmeriKKKant” which their first release on Nuclear Blast, and marked the longest gap between studio albums in the group’s entire career; at five years, following “From Beer to Eternity” (2013).

The upcoming release includes a collaboration with Jello Biafra on “Sabotage Is Sex” and on the cover of The Stooges’ “Search And Destroy” that features guitarist Billy Morrison (Billy Idol/Royal Machines). Morrison is also featured on a number of other songs on the album. Additional contributions come from Cesar Soto (Man The Mute), John Bechdel (Killing Joke, Fear Factory), Roy Mayorga (Stone Sour, Soulfly, Nausea), Paul D’Amour (Tool, Feersum Ennjin), Arabian Prince (N.W.A.) and sitar player Flash.

“Moral Hygiene” was recorded with engineer Michael Rozon (also behind the boards on “AmeriKKKant”) at Scheisse Dog Studio, Jourgensen’s self-built home studio.

See the video for “Good Trouble” below.

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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Set for December 4 on 2LP/2CD is the reissue of The Gun Club’s 1982 album “Miami”. Both the LP and CD editions come with a disc of previously unreleased demos.

“Miami” is the second studio album by The Gun Club and was released on Blondie guitarist Chris Stein’s label, Animal Records. Stein also produced the album. Debbie Harry appears as a backing singer on various tracks on the album under the pseudonym “D.H. Laurence Jr.” Note that the album front cover photograph doesn’t include Rob Ritter who had already left the band. Before leaving, Ritter first taught all the bass-lines to his ex-Bags bandmate Patricia Morrison.

Both the double-CD and double-vinyl editions will contain a digitally remastered version of the original 12-track album, as well as demos of every track. In addition, the CD version will contain a second disc jam-packed with a total of 18 previously unreleased demos, including 6 tracks exclusive to the CD release.

The double-vinyl version will be released as a two-LP set packaged in a gatefold cover with extensive liner notes by drummer Terry James Graham and journalist Craig Rosen, as well as rare photos and ephemera. The CD version is a two-disc set, also with liner notes, photos and ephemera.

Post-punk from LA

The Gun Club was an American post-punk band from Los Angeles, California, United States, that existed from 1979 to 1996.

Created and led by singer-songwriter and guitarist Jeffrey Lee Pierce, they were notable as one of the first bands in the punk rock subculture to incorporate influences from blues, rockabilly, and country music.

An interesting detail from this early period of the band: Billy Idol had met up with Pierce in an L.A. bar around the time of “Miami” and later revealed his commercial hit “White Wedding” had been an attempt to emulate the Gun Club’s “Mother of Earth” from the Miami album.

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

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

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

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

Vince Clarke

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

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

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

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

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

VC: – Not bad. 🙂

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

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

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

VC: – “Blue Savannah”.

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

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

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

VC: – THANK YOU!

Gareth Jones

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Mark Saunders

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

CD1 Track Listing:

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

CD2 Track Listing:

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

János Janurik

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

Strvngers announce the release of their new EP “Exhumed Vol 2”. The new EP features a previously unreleased song by the band along with remixes of tracks from their previous album “Amor/Noir”. “Exhumed Vol 2” also features covers of classic songs such as “Dancing With Myself” (Billy Idol/Gen-X), “Party All The Time” (Eddie Murphy), “Cry Little Sister” (Gerard McMahon) “Closer” (Nine Inch Nails) and “A.D.I.D.A.S.” (Korn).

“Exhumed Vol 2” will be available as a free download on October 13th through Negative Gain.

Strvngers is a dark Canadian duo with an electronic seedy sound. Maria Joaquin and KC blend gothic undertones with catchy dance music to create a sonic-erotica of synths, guitar and EBM. Formed in 2015, Strvngers so far released a self-titled album released in 2016 via Negative Gain Productions, as well as a follow-up full length LP “Amor/Noir”.

Here’s a video of the band live at work:

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

Genre/Influences: Rock-wave, punk-rock.

Background/Info: French formation Joy/Disaster is already active since 2005 and has released several productions since then. “Resurrection” is their second album released on Manic Depression Records.

Content: The songs reveal a powerful approach in sound merging different elements together. I got the impression to get back in the 80s and reminding the rock-punk style of Billy Idol. The sound is pretty dark, but constantly bringing different influences together. Some songs have been empowered by solid choruses.

+ + + : The main strength of this album is its diversity, which might appeal for a wider range of music freaks. I especially like the cold flavor recovering the songs. From punk to rock to cold-wave Joy/Disaster brings them all together while driven by a talented vocalist. The artistic digipak is a nice, little bonus to this album.

– – – : “Resurrection” is the kind of easy listening and even entertaining work although without real potential hits. It rather sounds average-like while the ‘softer’ songs can’t convince me at any single moment.

Conclusion: Joy/Disaster is active for more than 10 years now, but didn’t get a real consecration. I’m afraid “Resurrection” will not change this situation. It’s not bad, but definitely not groundbreaking!

Best songs: “Evolution”, “New Generation”.

Rate: (6).

Artist: www.joydisaster.com / www.facebook.com/joydisasterofficial

Label: www.manicdepressionrecords.com / www.facebook.com/manicdepressionrecords

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

Genre/Influences: Electro-pop.

Background/Info: Am Tierpark is back on track with a surprising EP, which has been released on the brand-new label ‘Læbel’ set up by John Mirland and Claus Larsen.

Content: “April Fool’s” was logically released on the first of April and features 5 surprising cover versions. It’s interesting to know that the first songs Am Tierpark ever worked on were cover songs. Mirland and Larsen have covered songs from David Bowie, Pet Shop Boys, Judas Priest, Billy Idol and The Cult.

It’s a fascinating and especially creative approach to rework original rock songs like these from Bowie, Judas Priest, Billy Idol and the new-wave cult-hit from The Cult into the electro-pop style of Am Tierpark. It remains a minimal and somewhat vintage experience.

+ + + : Covering songs from a totally different music genre is more than a challenge and a real creative work. Am Tierpark did it with a somewhat surprising elegance and efficiency. It feels like the songs were originally written by themselves and I’m especially referring to “Turbo Lover” from Judas Priest and “She Sells Sanctuary” from The Cult. It even sounds –apart from their “Cherry Blossom” masterpiece, as their most accomplished work to date. Claus Larsen is once more singing a great way on this pop-electronic production.

– – – : I can imagine the fans of Bowie, Judas Priest and even The Cult will be somewhat shocked hearing this kind of cover concept, but speaking for myself I think a cover version is a way to reach a different audience like giving a second life to a song.

Conclusion: I didn’t laugh with the “April Fool’s” from Am Tierpark, I simply enjoyed the work.

Best songs: “She Sells Sanctuary”, “Turbo Lover”.

Rate: (8).

Band: www.facebook.com/pg/amtierparkofficial

Label: www.facebook.com/laebelmusic

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

Genre/Influences: Electro-pop, electro-wave, electro-rock.

Background/Info: Cygnets is an American trio from Edmonton. After a few self-released albums they joined hands together with Negative Gain Productions releasing their official debut album “Sleepwalkers” in 2014. They now strike back with a new opus featuring 15 songs.

Content: “Alone/Together” sounds like a versatile composition. The album is moving in between electro-pop/new-wave songs on one side and a more rock-electro approach on the other. The pop-influenced songs are quite vintage sounding and might remind you of OMD on a few cuts while the somewhat feminine-like vocals vaguely evoke Chris Corner (IAMX).

The ‘rock’ driven songs are mainly carried by guitar although accomplished with electronic arrangements. It sometimes makes me think of Billy Idol going pop.

+ + + : Some of the vintage sound treatments are absolutely phenomenal and I especially refer to the great lead running throughout the opening song “A Dark Chapter In Our History”. The OMD fans will possibly be convinced by “Callie” while I also have to mention the noticeable final cut “Living In A Coma”. Cygnets also features a talented vocalist with a very personal timbre of voice.  

– – – : Some of the ‘rock’-driven songs can’t really convince me. The main strength of this band definitely appears to be their retro-electro approach, which get a bit lost when it becomes more rock-minded. I would have preferred an album with fewer songs, but only the best ones.

Conclusion: This album is characterized by a few outstanding cuts, but unfortunately still features some forgettable tracks.

Best songs: “Living In A Coma”, “Callie”, “A Dark Chapter In Our History”, “I’m Sorry (So Sorry)”.

Rate: (6½).

Band: www.facebook.com/cygnetsnotswans

Label: www.negativegain.com / www.facebook.com/pages/Negative–Gain/212061438836984

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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Genre/Influences: Gothic, post-punk.

Content: Phantom Vision has resurrected after a 10 year hibernation. The Portuguese gothic formation got some recognition right after the millennium by releasing their debut-album at the now gone gothic label Nightbreed Recordings. The next 3 albums got released by COP International, but the last 10 years nothing new happened in the studio.

“Ghosts” is maybe not a new start, but it’s clear that after all these years they’ll again have to conquer the audience. The work is not exactly what I would call a typical gothic release but rather a mixture of gothic and rock elements with some extra electronic arrangements on top.

There’s a well-crafted balance between all the elements, but the main strength of this work is the vocals by singer Pedro Morcego. He can sing in different ways, which inject some diversity into the work. His deep and somewhat sensual timbre of voice at “Behind The Scenes” reminds me of Leonard Cohen while the more nasal and theatrical style at “Human” is more like Gary Numan meeting Anna-Varney Cantodea. Last, but not least some of the last songs, which are like into a post-punk spirit might remind me of Billy Idol. Morcego is a real talented singer and he clearly injects a real true spirit into this album.

Phantom Vision is not reinventing gothic music, but their new work clearly reveals a will to do it a different way. It’s not exactly the dark and depressive gothic sound, but a more open-minded vision, which is still touching other grounds. The electronic passages are absolutely great and essential, like illustrated at “Fairy Tales And Broken Dreams”, but still other songs like “Behind The Scenes” and the brilliant “Naked Machine” reveal great sequences.

I already mentioned the some more post-punkish approach, which sounds a bit into rock as well. It makes me think of a contemporary version of Billy Idol and I even dare to say that this is probably the best part of this release. “No Limits”, “Right City, Wrong Time” and “Millionaire” are pretty cool songs in the genre. Those songs still feature an electronic touch, but it’s less explicit now.

“Ghosts” features 15 new songs, which is a nice gift for the fans who had to wait for years since the “Instinct”-album (2005).

Conclusion: The new Phantom Vision work sounds more diverse in sound and even into some modernism. I’m just missing a potential hit at this album to speak about a fully successful comeback.

Best songs: “Naked Machine”, “Behind The Scenes”, “Right City, Wrong Time”, “Millionaire”.

Rate: (Elise Din:7)Elise Din.

Band: www.facebook.com/pv2000.band

Label: www.copint.com / www.facebook.com/copint

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