Electronic duo Rohn-Lederman will release their new album “Volcano” on March 6, 2026 via Les Disques de la Pantoufle, with CD and digital editions available through Bandcamp and pre-orders starting today, February 18, 2026.

“Volcano” is a 12-track album with a running time of 43 minutes. The band presents the record as a pressure-release for listeners “at their boiling point and ready to explode,” describing it as a cathartic response to destructive times. On this album, they move away from the more purely electronic sound of their early work and foreground guitar-driven arrangements while keeping their atmospheric electronic production intact.

The lineup remains the same, and consists of Emileigh Rohn (Chiasm) on vocals and lyrics, and Jean-Marc Lederman (The Weathermen, Ghost & Writer, Jean-Marc Lederman Experience, Lederman / De Meyer, etc.) on music and production.

Artwork for “Volcano” was executed by Erica Hinyot, who has worked on multiple Jean-Marc Lederman-related releases.

About Rohn-Lederman

Rohn-Lederman is an electronic duo based around Detroit, Michigan (United States) and Belgium, uniting American vocalist and producer Emileigh Rohn, known for her long-running industrial/darkwave project Chiasm, with Belgian keyboard player and composer Jean-Marc Lederman, recognised for his work with The Weathermen, Front 242, Fad Gadget, The The and other projects.

The collaboration under the name Rohn-Lederman began releasing music in 2021. Their first EP “Watch Out!” appeared in August 2021 via COP International and featured remixes by Leaether Strip, Assemblage 23, Mark Hockings and a Rohn-Lederman rework, offering a hybrid of electropop, industrial and dark electronic.

Later in 2021, Rohn-Lederman released their debut full-length album “Venus Chariot“, issued on CD and digital formats via COP International.

In 2022, the band followed up with “RAGE!“, again on COP International, and a series of EPs and companion releases including material around “All The Things Left For Dead Go Unsaid (aka ‘The River’)” and other tracks.

From 2024 onward, Rohn-Lederman increasingly worked with Les Disques de la Pantoufle, the boutique label founded by Jean-Marc Lederman himself in partnership with COP International. The double album “Black And Bleu” appeared in May 2024 on Les Disques de la Pantoufle as their fourth full-length release, followed in early 2025 by “Steal The Light” (EP) and the album “Forbidden Planet“, which received a limited vinyl edition.

Do also read our interview with Rohn-Lederman to find out more about the band.

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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Rohn-Lederman began in 2019, when Jean-Marc Lederman (known for his work with The Weathermen, Ghost & Writer, Lederman/De Meyer, among others) invited Emileigh Rohn (of Chiasm) to contribute vocals to his album “Letters To Gods And Fallen Angels”. Their collaboration sparked a creative connection, and—further encouraged by the global lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic—they launched a joint project under the simple yet fitting name Rohn-Lederman. Now, four years later, the Belgian-American duo has released their fifth album, “Forbidden Planet”, on Jean-Marc’s own label, Les Disques De La Pantoufle. Undoubtedly their most adventurous work to date, the album sees them freely exploring new sonic territory. The tone is darker, yet the experimentation remains surprisingly accessible, delivering a set of powerful and compelling tracks Electro songs. In my opinion, this is their most creative and accomplished release so far—one that naturally led me to reach out and ask them a few questions. (Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: Your newest album, “Forbidden Planet”, has a distinctive atmosphere. How did this project come to life, and in what ways did the production process evolve compared to your previous releases?

Jean-Marc: We had grown quite comfortable (too comfortable?) with our usual software based musical set-up and wanted to introduce something that would oblige us to reconsider our process. And at that time I had decided to go back to my roots which were working with early analog synthesizers and analog sequencers. So, we thought, hey, this can be fun.  And omg, it was a brutal change.

From being able to modify anything on the spot or call an entire song back within seconds to having to painfully record track per track and have absolutely no means to go back to either the sequence or the sounds, we were indeed in a different world. And the process was very slow and very definitive: we started to work with songs that basically were the Modulatron (my modular setup made of analog only modules) recorded live and Emileigh would record her lines on very raw and rough material we couldn’t really, nor wanted to, change.

Emileigh: I think our process has evolved over the last several albums in part because of our comfort level with each other expanding, but also the level of honesty in our music overall that we’re willing to expose.  “Forbidden Planet” in particular had a more abrasive instrumental starting point, so it allowed me to be inspired by a more primal instinct and the ability to express that, knowing it would probably turn out really interesting in the end!

Q: So I understand this album presented significant challenges, particularly in the way the analog parts were recorded. What drives your willingness to take creative risks, and to what extent does the final result surprise even you?

Jean-Marc:Usually, I always send a skeleton track to Emileigh, a 3 mins something which has verses and chorus but no arrangement or heavy production. And when Emileigh sings and sends me stems and lyrics, it gives me new ideas and, more time than not, the song below Emileigh moves. Sometimes very deeply and it’s a new song, sometimes it’s just production and arrangements but basically, when the song comes back with Emileigh voice(s), it’s all bound to be destroyed and entirely reshaped.

If the end results doesn’t surprise me, it means it’s not good enough and it needs to go back to the drawing board.

Q: The title “Forbidden Planet” evokes a wide range of interpretations and fantasies. What’s the real story behind it? How do the lyrics, which often feel deeply personal, connect with this theme? Some passages come across as particularly dark and even hopeless so was that intentional?

Emileigh: Dark and Hopeless!!:) It’s true that the lyrics are personal, and I find my purpose in allowing myself to observe and report my daily life through my songs.  This platform is truly the only place that allows me to show that side of myself, which often is just full of more reality than most want to take in.  I actually find freedom in it, and I think there’re listeners that find some comradery and hope through hearing it too.  I sing the songs I want to hear and find joy in many things yet need to inherently show I’m a witness to our world, so there it is.

Q: The album’s darkness is not only present in the lyrics but also in the music itself. It feels like your sound has progressively become even darker over time. Is this a deliberate choice, or more of a natural evolution? What inspired the mood and themes of this record?

Jean-Marc: The roughness of the Modulatron pushed me in a direction that was more abrasive. And in recent years I have found out that one of the real musical challenge for me was to have a harsher and darker sound. I can make whimsical but can I make hard beats? So, it is deliberate, I’m pushing myself. 

Emileigh:I can admit for sure that for the previous albums, the skeletons Jean-Marc sent me were more pleasant and beautiful and possibly intended for a wider audience, so my writing aim was there. I know that we have the talent and even completed the task of creating some incredible music for acceptance, but inside of us we both have had that underground angst that wanted something more raw to be heard. I’m from Michigan, and am going to go ahead and quote a great film, “Escanaba In Da Moonlight”, and say, ‘When you don’t know where to start, go back to the beginning’!   So that’s what we did, inspired well by Jean-Marc’s beginning with the actual start of synth ingenuity to be found in the Modulatron.

Q: “Forbidden Planet” marks the fifth album from Rohn-Lederman. At this point, your collaboration feels almost like that of an ‘old couple,’ yet the chemistry remains strong. What makes you such a complementary duo—especially considering that you’ve never physically worked together in a studio? What qualities & aspects do you most admire in each other?

Jean-Marc: I think we both are open to whatever musical experiments, we are ready to try new ways and new sounds and we complement each other well in how open minded we are about exposing ourselves in music.
I admire Emileigh’s total commitment to try new things.

Emileigh: I love how we’re like an old musical couple when we just met about 6 years ago, but I suppose that’s what a Covid-19 lockdown and the political climate does to people! I think we’ve been through a lot both musically and globally together, and Jean-Marc’s persistence that music is what we’re here for has motivated me not only for our work together, but for Chiasm as well. We’ve learned that our ingenuity is something we need to express and that we are the right people to leave that legacy behind.

Q: Both of you are involved in various other musical projects. What sets this collaboration apart? What can you express through Rohn-Lederman that you can’t in your other work?

Emileigh: I know that I can be absolutely as wild as possible in what I desire to write or sing or record!  I am so grateful and happy to have this venue to share myself and truly be part of this!

Jean-Marc: Rohn-Lederman is a project where everything can happen and does. We went from whimsical music on “Venus Chariot” to RAGE! where more guitars and anger came and showed up. Then there was “Black And Bleu” were Mister Dark lives next door to Mister Calm. And now this which is more Experimental.
Rohn-Lederman is like a swimming pool where you are not blocked by any lanes.

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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Out today is the all new EP by Rohn-Lederman, “Steal The Light”. The EP comes with remixes by Stefan Netschio (Beborn Beton), Noemi Aurora, Aiboforcen and the Mexican performance artist and singer Sarmen Almond.

Rohn-Lederman is an electronic project that features the Detroit-based vocalist Emileigh Rohn (Chiasm) along with composer Jean-Marc Lederman (The Weathermen/ Fad Gadget / Front 242 / Ghost & Writer). They debuted with the album “Venus Chariot” in 2021, followed by “RAGE!” in 2022 and a double album entitled “Black And Bleu” in 2024.

“Steal The Light” also holds an unreleased track from Rohn-Lederman’s forthcoming full-length album entitled “Forbidden Planet”, set for a digital release on March 4th 2025 along with a limited edition vinyl edition. The new EP “Steal The Light” is available now on all digital and streaming outlets including 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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“Black And Blue” is the fourth instalment between Emileigh Rohn (Chiasm) and Jean-Marc Lederman (The Weathermen, Ghost & Writer, Lederman / De Meyer ao). “Black” brings a more danceable side of Electro/Industrial-Pop with the sensual vocals of Emileigh on top. There are also minimal passages and bombastic arrangements that you can hear in this original and atypical Electro-Pop style. “Blue” completely breaks with the danceable character of “Black” and brings an atmospheric, refined, and Cinematic approach with still sexy vocals. I personally prefer “Black” instead of “Blue”. (Rate: 7½).

Listen to “Faces Pretend”:

About Rohn – Lederman

Rohn-Lederman began in 2019, when Jean-Marc Lederman invited Emileigh Rohn of Chiasm to contribute vocals to his album “Letters To Gods And Fallen Angels.” The collaboration, encouraged further by the COVID-19 lockdowns, grew into the Belgian-American duo’s own project, releasing albums on Lederman’s own label, Les Disques De La Pantoufle, with “Black And Blue” continuing that partnership.

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

Les disques de la pantoufle (the label run by Jean-Marc Lederman) releases the Rohn-Lederman 2CD album “Black And Bleu” this Friday May 3rd 2024.

The album holds 20 tracks (10 black, 10 bleu) that focus on the artists’ devotion to emotional content and creativity over predictability and security: “Each color presents different thematic focus, with the Black symbolizing the chaos and tension of the world, while Bleu represents calmer resolve in the face of uncertainty.”

The release holds a 44 pages digital booklet with drawings and pictures by Emileigh Rohn and Jean-Marc Lederman, while the CD paintings and artwork were executed by Erica Hinyot.

This 2CD set comes in a limited edition of 100 copies which you can order now.

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

With the Long Beach, California-based synth punk duo Intrusive Pinky, Les Disques De La Pantoufle announces its vey first signing. Out on April 5 is the duo’s “I Hate You, Patriarch Fuck!” EP.

Les Disques De La Pantoufle is a partnership between Jean-Marc Lederman and Christian Petke’s COP International label.

Christian Petke explains the collaboration as follows: “Running an indie label has always been a labor of love, especially in today’s challenging environment. Now, more than ever, we need individuals willing to support and nurture artists. It is with immense pride that we unveil Jean-Marc Lederman’s venture into the world of boutique labels with Les Disques De La Pantoufle. Few individuals are as well-equipped for this endeavor as Jean-Marc Lederman, who has dedicated a lifetime to the music industry. He collaborated with some of the most iconic figures in electronic music history: Fad Gadget, The The, Gene Loves Jezebel, The Weathermen, Front 242, Karl Bartos, Rohn – Lederman and many more. His extensive experience provides him with an intimate understanding of the intricacies of our industry, having navigated both sides of the table.”

Cop International will provide A&R and logistical support to the new label.

Jean-Marc Lederman adds: “I’m very happy Christian has understood my need to be able to release my works sooner than it could on a label with more acts and Les Disques De La Pantoufle being partnered with COP will provide me with the guerilla-label tactics that could work well with my relentless schedule. We have a busy year ahead as we are releasing “Intrusive Pinky” in April the brand new Rohn-Lederman double CD album “Black And Bleu” in May and, who knows, some exciting bands whose songs I love so much that LDP will release them within weeks.”

Here’s the first release which you can already pre-order 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!

side-line.com

Jean-Marc Lederman, known for his work with Fad Gadget, The The, Gene Loves Jezebel, The Weathermen, Ghost & Writer (with Frank Spinath from Seabound), and Rohn-Lederman with Emileigh from Chiasm, presents an audiobook of short sci-fi tales, “Sci-Fi Revisited”. The book is narrated by various singers and musicians, and it is accompanied by a computer puzzle game. The package also includes a 12-page micro book with 11 pulp covers.

Released under the The Jean-Marc Lederman Experience moniker, “Sci-Fi Revisited” features Tom Shear (Assemblage 23), Christina Z, Jim Semonik (Red Lokust), Mari Kattman, Emileigh Rohn (Chiasm), Ken Magerman, Daz Sharp, Julianne Regan, Jim Marcus (Die Warzau), and Sapphira Vee.

This release is a co-production between Les Disques De La Pantoufle and COP International. It was produced, arranged, and played by Jean-Marc Lederman. The images for the website and cover were prompted by Kevin B. Lederman. The lab/vault website and video game were developed by Kevin B. Lederman, courtesy of https://blackfoot.io/.

The album is available through COP International and on their Bandcamp page. Note that the CD version comes in a limited edition of just 100 hand numbered copies. It holds a 12-page micro book on 230 gram paper. You also get access to a puzzle game to unlock the tracks.

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

(Photos from the personal archives of Jean-Marc Lederman) This article draws from various updates posted by Jean-Marc Lederman (The Weathermen, Kid Montana, Jules et Jim, Ghost & Writer, Lederman / De Meyer, Rohn-Lederman…) on his Facebook profile, which we’ve consolidated into a comprehensive piece. This compilation offers a profound understanding of the workings of the indie music industry during its ‘golden era’. Additionally, it provides specific insights into Mute Records, the label of Daniel Miller, as numerous individuals, including Fad Gadget, mentioned in this article have significant associations with the iconic UK label.

Digital Dance (1978-1979) / Daniel Miller

The year was 1979 and I had just quit, well I was sacked tbh, from Digital Dance , the first band I was in.

We were doing post punk/cold wave/new wave stuff and it was really exciting. I started doing bass with them on a..ARP 2600 whci I had bought working on building sites, yeah, far too much of an overkill I agree. We were rehearsing here and there but did a time at the famous Plan K where we supported Joy Division. Actually, that day I went to pick up Ian and Bernard Summers at the very seedy hotel they were in and I drove them to the gig.

They were laughing like kids, you know, young musicians being happy to play abroad. It was such a cold day, everyone was freezing and Ian even came close to Stefan Barbery (Digital Dance guitar player) who was close to an electric heater to tell him “Well, I guess this is why they call it Cold Wave…”

We also opened to Magazine and Fisher-Z and it was becoming too much of a routine for me: the Brussels band that does all the new wave support slots but hasn’t even got a decent recording contract…

Oh, we had one, and they made us record our very fast cover version of Kraftwerk’s “RadioActivity”. At the end of the session, they made me do some terrible sound effects, hoping to catch on the fad of the moment, and it just ruined the whole song. Tells you that if a thing sounds bad and contrived and cheesy on monday, still sounds the same the day after and 40 years later. Sorry Stefan, my fault.

Then Phil Wauquaire (whom I had met from Streets, the punk band he was in and I actually played with them live on a couple of songs with a…AKS, another overkill) joined us and I played synth with a Korg MS20 then with a Yamaha CS50M who weighted like half an olifant after a drinking binge.

Anyway, after a couple of gigs with Digital Dance at the Gibus in Paris, i was let go (which was fine, really). Two days later, I call Daniel Miller whom I had met in London a few months ago. Digital Dance had been foolish and crazy enough to believe that if you go to London you can pretty much be sure you’ll find a gig. All we did was rehearsing (below Beggar’s Banquet where I met Peter Kent from the future 4AD label) and waiting in our hotel off Kings Road. Anyway, we were trying to get Geoff Travis from Rough Trade to listen to our demo and he stopped it 20 seconds in and tell us: if you go to “Better Badges” now, you’ll see a man called Daniel Miller (from label MUTE RECORDS) and maybe he’ll like your stuff….

So, off we went to Better Badges and there we met Daniel, with a green basket full of The Normal badges.

Daniel and I hit directly like if it was an “International Conference Of Synths Fanatics”. I mean: synths weren’t as known or popular then as they were then. It was still a relatively rare sight on stage or in gigs or in bands that weren’t poppy or progrock. No, we’re talking new industrial scene in the UK: noisy and determined, not minimoogs played by long haired musos…

So, Daniel and I exchanged phone numbers and we traded letters and phone calls here and there. So, remember, I’m sacked from Digital Dance and I then realize that if I wanted to really go anywhere in music, Brussels isn’t the place to be and I must move to where things are happening. At that time, London was THE center of music in Europe and I decide that I want to try my luck and the two major chords I know there. I pick up the phone and call Daniel, asking him if he knew any musician that would be interested in moi ?

Yeah, I know someone, he’s on my label now, he’s looking for musicians, call him… His name is Frank Tovey….

Frank Tovey / Fad Gadget #1 (part 1)

The audition was simple: we didn’t even play a note or try to do a song, we just sat and drank coffee and laughed a lot. But there was no try-out, no keyboard or synths tickering… And that’s how Philippe Wauquaire and I became members of Fad Gadget #1 for a few months in 1980: a simple coffee cup meeting and an unmistakable good chemical feeling between us. Frank had played a few gigs on his own but wanted musicians around him so he could concentrate a bit more on being a little bit less concentrated if you know what I mean.

There was Frank: clever, astute, open, funny, with a lot of wit doubled with a good dose of sarcasm: totally my alley. But he knew what he wanted musically, there was no doubt about what he wanted to sound like. The plan was: rehearse at my place in Brussels, a first gig here, then play a few gigs as support for Deutsche Amerikanische Freundschaft in Germany and going to tour the UK as support for The Monochrome Set.

So, we start rehearsing in my attic: Frank on vocals, Pearl Syncussion and distorted electric piano, Phil on Fender bass and Korg MS 20 and myself on handling the cassette player (each song had its drums/rhythmic parts on a single cassette and I would feed the machine with a new cassette every song) and my 4 notes polyphonic, Yamaha CS 50M. Again, an overkill.

After a few hours of rehearsals, we have our first gig: support-act for Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark. We are all extremely nervous but the gig goes well: Frank doesn’t go into the mad behaviours he’s known for yet but you can see he’s holding up something big inside, something is boiling there. After the gig, we proceed to the German border and sleep in a motel there. In the morning, I’m being handed an envelope with my per diem (every day allowance a musician gets when on tour): it is the first time someone hands me money for doing something I love doing: playing music. I couldn’t believe it and I took a second piece of bacon and refilled my coffee cup. We are about to go to Dusseldorf to play The Ratinger Off as support for Deutsche Amerikanische Freundschaft.

Something started to happen at the Ratinger Hof: maybe it was the roughness of the place, the German lager (naaaaah) or the history of the place but this thing Frank had inside him but it slightly came out at that gig. See, there was an animal inside Frank, and that animal was as extrovert as Frank was introvert: Frank was then frontal and loud and, yes, obnoxious but in a gentle and friendly way but he wasn’t the shy Frank. In response to Frank’s changing live attitudes, Phil and I started to play loser and noisier and wilder (and there were far more bump notes on my part) but the band started to make sense.

The crowd wasn’t there for us, they were there for what would later become DAF, but the reaction was good and people liked us. I recall Frank and I going out in front of the place and that guy comes out dressed as a mod, full parka mode with a patch “Remember Brighton” which made Frank laughed a lot, people were out there with their beer and… Omg what am I saying: IT JUST FELT GREAT.

Deutsche Amerikanische Freundschaft at the time was a five piece band and they were fun and chaotic. You couldn’t miss Chris Haas, the synth guy, who was classy and special. He had a very specific body language when playing live: he would stand back, have a smile and just come here and there to play a few notes…He is the real grandfather of EBM as he introduced the famous 1/16th bass line (Korg MS 20 and SQ 10 sequencer) that will be the bone of so many records later on.

The morning after, we went out to the next gig. Daniel, Phil, Chris and myself embarked in my mum’s yellow Civic and we went down the motorway, singing loudly “Fahn Fahn Fahn Auf Der Autobahn” laughing and laughing… I guess Chris must have done that thousand of times before but, for Daniel, Phil and I it meant something different: we were doing it. We were travelling in Kraftwerk’s motherland and going to play electronic music there: it was immense.

We only played one more gig in Germany and then the whole tour was somehow cancelled… Roland Beelen: I saw the animal in Frank I guess a few months later at the Paasfestival in Koninfshooikt (organized by my friend Guy Vanwoensel) I was a stagehand there. Frank smashed a crucifix that was hanging above stage in the hall (parochiezaal)with his magic stick. The whole village was in shock when the news spread the next morning. The vicar organized a special service the next day to please the smashed fallen Christ ! they say he resurrected a few weeks later! All end, good end !

Frank Tovey / Fad Gadget 1980 (part 2)

Something had clicked in Frank after a few gigs: it’s like he had been showed by practice that it could work, that the songs were good, the voice was good but even more than that his FG personnae and ideas had an impact on the crowd. He would go out, do his thing, see people respond to his songs, lyrics and theatrics and then he would retrieve after the gig in the gentle and shy Frank Tovey. Phil and I were providing a background that wasn’t perfect but for Frank it was a great practice for FG future.

When we toured as support for The Monochrome Set, we were sometimes in fire and I could really feel people’s amazement at that born-to-be showman. He would play with the crowd and slowly take them into the show. Our sound might not have been very sophisticated but with Frank’s distorted piano, the CS50 brutal in and out sounds, Phil’s impeccable swirling bass, we were like The Stooges with synths and Frank was a perfect bionic Iggy Pop….I began to be very proud of us, we were quite something indeed and I was going on stage with a mission: to show people the songs and to let them fall in Frank’s performance.

I also remember that after the last show of the tour, possibly at the YMCA gig, one of the roadie came at the CS 50 and started to play some Bach’s prelude. I was stunned and shameful of the snobiness i may have shown the roadies on that tour, or before tbh. I learned a lesson that night and never again would I be feeling above anyone on a stage, or in studio, be them multiple charts success artists or simple roadie.

Something wild happened after our gig at the 100 club. Jock Mac Donalds (from the future Bollock Brothers) was very drunk and he started to look for a fight with us and being extremely aggressive, a bottle in his hand, waving it at us. Phil, FG’s bass player, was a karate black belt and he was looking very calm, coming closer to Jock inch by inch. Suddenly he jumped at Jock, put two fingers on his Adam’s apple and said with a slow voice: “OK, let’s kill”, his eyes deep into Mac Donald’s eyes.

The bottle instantly fell on the ground and the guy just ran out the club swearing loud and clear… Phil and I were sleeping at Daniel’s mom place for a few days and we were making music late at night. One of these nights, Daniel was on Phil’s MS 20, I was trying Daniel’s infamous Korg 700S (the one that was on TVOD and Warm Leatherette) and Phil was on the CS 50M but it was visibly too loud and too late as Daniel’s mum came down and asked us to PLEASE STOP !

Next gig to come was going to be the Clarendon, but we were told this would be our last gig with Frank as he wanted a full band behind him to totally free him from any other duties but vocals. I was devastated…

Frank Tovey / Fad Gadget #1 (part 3)

So, we were invited to headline Stevo’s kinda festival at the Clarendon, on June 27 1980. Stevo was a very colourful character who will make himself known later when managing bands like Soft Cell and The The. The bill was very symptomatic of the time: DAF, Naked Lunch, B.Movie, Vice Versa, Clock DVA,…

So, Fad Gadget #1 had started touring as a relative unknown a few months ago and we were by now talk of the town and headline this festival. It felt good and it felt also important and I was nervous. Everybody was. Frank had a song by Georges Folmby playing before we would go on. Folmby was a Lancarshire working class comedian and he was famous for playing double entendre ukulélé songs. It was a known and safe thing for British people and Frank used it as contrast as chaos would start when we would cut Folmby and go straight into “State Of The Nation” and follow that with most of what is on the album Fireside Favourites.

• State Of The Nation
• Back To Nature
• The Box
• Fireside Favourite
• Newsreel
• Pedestrian
• Coitus Interruptus
• Ricky’s Hand
• Back To Nature

Yes, Frank wanted shock and chaos, and he got that except that at the Clarendon it went a bit further than expected. During one of the early songs, Fad had already taken over Frank, he smashed up his face with one of the two Syncussion drums and it started pouring blood. Phil and I looked at him and he made us understand it was fine and let’s continue…So we continued until someone took Frank off stage as it was just like a fountain of blood by now. The gig was stopped.

We went backstage and Frank was adamant he was fine but Babra (his wife) disinfected the wound and placed a cloth on it. We went back on stage.

The crowd went MAD. Frank was standing there, his white clothes with red blood all over it, singing to the public that was all won. It was an incredible sight, and being on stage, playing the songs with a singer that went beyond the call of duty was something unexplainable. After the gig, we had to take the 5 am ferry. I was sitting on the stairs of the Clarendon and, yes, I was crying, letting all the tension, the fears of the gig off my system but also the sadness I felt after having lived some incredible times with
Frank, as synth player in Fad Gadget. I saw Frank playing with Fad Gadget #2 a few months later and he invited me to play in the encore: we were cool.

Still, I wasn’t done with London and would come back later…

Side-Line also covered Jean-Marc Lederman’s ‘Sci-Fi Revisited’.

About Fad Gadget

Frank Tovey (8 September 1956 – 3 April 2002), an English electronic musician and performance artist, recorded as Fad Gadget, becoming the first artist signed to Daniel Miller’s Mute Records after the two met at the Rough Trade shop in London. His recorded work combined synthesizers with found-object sounds and dark, comic lyrics. Studio albums as Fad Gadget include “Fireside Favourites” (1980), “Incontinent” (1981), “Under the Flag” (1982) and “Gag” (1984), after which he continued recording under his own name, releasing six further albums on Mute between 1985 and 1992. He died of a heart attack at his London home in 2002.

Belgian musician Jean-Marc Lederman played with Fad Gadget in the band’s touring lineup during the early-to-mid 1980s and has recounted memories of touring with Tovey, Daniel Miller and DAF’s Chrislo Haas in interviews, describing Tovey as bringing something unheard in electronic music at the time. Lederman has credited Daniel Miller and Fad Gadget’s early-1980s touring band, including Chrislo Haas of DAF, as formative to his own 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!

side-line.com

On August 8th the German conzoom Records label will celebrate its 15th anniversary. Especially for the occasion two new “electropop.” compilations will be released on that same date: “electropop.25” and “electropop.depeche mode”. Both can be ordered via Conzoom Records.

Side-Line hereby send its congratulations to both Ingo Möller and Annet Möller for their work in the past 15 years!

“electropop.25” will again carry 13 tracks by 13 artists who have not yet appeared on an official compilation. As usual, there will also be a strictly limited “electropop.25 (Super Deluxe Fan Bundle)” with 4 promotional bonus CD-Rs.

“electropop.depeche mode” holds cover versions of Depeche Mode tracks by new bands from the electropop field. The three promotional bonus CD-Rs of the “electropop. depeche mode (Super Deluxe Fan Bundle)” include a remix collection of the latest “Nature Of Wire Remixes Volume 5”, a ten-song retrospective of the work of the Swedish synthpop band Climate Zombies and an exclusive remix album by Birmingham Electric with previously unpublished tracks.

Tracklisting of “electropop.25”:

1. Aeon Rings – Slow Choke (Full Length Version)
2. Blackcarburning – All About You (Olaf Wollschläger Remix)
3. Code 64 – Soundwave (Extended)
4. Eckotrigger – Collide (Extended)
5. Helalyn Flowers – Halos (People Theatre’s Fireball Mix)
6. Jetlag Junction – Hope & Bravery (Dance Remix)
7. Main – End This Game (Full Length Version)
8. Mari Kattman – Is It Really That Bad (Neuroticfish Remix)
9. Neon Space Men – Twisted Mind (Rob #Dust Remix)
10. Rohn-Lederman – We Need A Plan (Mark Hockings Remix)
11. The Grab Society – Outsider (Oren Amram Remix Edit)
12. The Nordic Act – Give Me The Power (Remix 2022)
13. Voltron2 – Catwalk Madness (Extended Mix)

Tracklisting of “electropop.depeche mode”

1. Alphamay – Everything Counts
2. Bt47 – Master & Servant
3. Demokratie – And Then
4. Egoamp – New Dress (Edit)
5. Engraved Garden – Lie To Me (Extended)
6. Kellertechnik Feat. Shelter – Now This Is Fun
7. Maschinengeist – Wrong
8. Neon Space Men – Leave In Silence (Extended)
9. Parralox – Ghosts Again (Extended)
10. Platronic – The Things You Said
11. Royal Visionaries – The Sun And The Rainfall
12. Split Vision – A Photograph Of You
13. Supercraft – My Secret Garden
14. Tycho Brahe – Suffer Well
15. Vainerz – Two Minute Warning (Extended)

Side-Line also covered Depeche Mode’s ‘s ’.

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

Jean-Marc Lederman (The Weathermen, Ghost & Writer, Lederman/ De Meyer ao) and Emileigh Rohn (Chiasm) got in touch for Jean-Marc’s conceptual album “Letters To Gods And Fallen Angels” (2019). It became a praised album and a successful collaboration inciting the Belgian-American duo to move on working together. Rohn-Lederman was born and a first album “Venus Chariot” was released in 2021. One year later the duo strikes back unleashing “Rage!”. Both albums released by COP International reveal a very own approach in sound, mixing different styles resulting in an atypical Electro-Pop production. “Rage!” sounds darker and harsher than its predecessor but also is a sophisticated piece of music. This is what both artists have to say about their common project.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: What motivated you to work together on a full length album and what makes the chemistry between both of you?

Jean-Marc: We kinda hooked up really from the beginning. I had provided Emileigh a song but ended up having to recreate the entire instrumental part beyond her voice. And she loved it. And I was so surprised as usually singers hate that, they’ll often get very self-conscious when the music changes too much. And I think Emileigh liked that I went as far as redoing a whole new music backing behind her. So we kind of got impressed by how each other was ready to alter course for making the end song shine through: commitment to the art.

Emileigh:  We began in 2019 with a song featured at Jean-Marc’s album “Letters To Gods And Fallen Angels” and realized the potential of continuing to try more.  So, we created an EP which eventually became an album and really haven’t stopped since. I think at last count, we have over 50 tracks released together at this point.  It’s been an incredibly dynamic partnership.

Q: Was there something like a consensus about the music, lyrical themes and global approach when setting up the project?

Jean-Marc: We just went straight in and got to discover things happening when they did and follow the rabbit down the music hole…

Emileigh:I recall, when we first began, having a discussion around Tom Waits quote regarding beautiful music saying terrible things. I think that intense emotional edge, especially with our recent “Rage!”-album, has only continued to sharpen. We knew well from our individual projects that our mindsets were similar and wanted to create music that continues to move and hold interest. I think we both have a fiery opposition to stagnancy.

Q: Jean-Marc, you already worked with numerous singers and artists so what makes the experience with Emileigh Rohn maybe different or that particular? What did she brought you never experienced before and in which way did she stimulates your artistic creativity and –skills in the production of this work?

Jean-Marc: I have been lucky enough to share a great music experience with amazing singers like Bruce Geduldig with The Weathermen and Frank Spinath with Ghost & Writer. Here, Emileigh brings in her amazing lyrical talent, her great voice, her ability to embrace changes and a genuine curiosity for bold and new things. The differences are multiples but I think it is also her natural attitude towards musical experiments.

Q: I often get the feeling Jean-Marc is one of the very few artists active at this scene who’s able to write the right music for the singers he’s working with… the singers becoming his muse? Do you recognize it or is it totally different? What’s your experience about it? 

Emileigh: I write from my own interpretations, but there’s no question that we inspire each other. Our tracks begin with a skeleton composed by Jean-Marc, and I create my songs around that.  Then he arranges the sounds around what I’ve provided, so there is indeed a chance for each of us to adjust what we’ve created.  It’s been an incredibly creative experience overall.

Q: Sound-wise Rohn-Lederman sounds driven by Electro-Pop influences and yet it sounds to me as an antidote to ‘classical’ Electro-Pop standards which are only but repeating themselves. What makes the inspiration for Rohn-Lederman and what’s your perception of Electro-Pop productions who nearly all sound the same?

Jean-Marc: We are both very open to many different music styles and we aren’t afraid of trying mixing things we’ve heard, be it in a Top Ten hit or an obscure sound in a song penned by an unknown Moldavian band from the seventies (lol). So, no real influences but many of them. Luckily enough, they get draft in and mix themselves with all the others and it makes up for something rather different. Electro-pop productions are most often amazing sound wise and terrible inspiration and novelty wise.

Q: I guess you didn’t record the album together in studio but did everything over the net. Don’t you think working together in the same room/studio would result in a different production? What’s your opinion about it? And what’s the next step now for this project?

Jean-Marc: Sure it would sound different: what we get today is the result of that studio isolation and geographical distance. Being together in the studio would allow us to refine certain parts for sure but still we would go in the same area: putting together elements that aren’t supposed to be seen together.
It would be amazing to record in the same studio and very probably would lead to even more research and musical melting pot.

Next step? We have already kinda define where we want Rohn-Lederman 3 to go and lazily get going lol. But first Emileigh gets to work on her own Chiasm album and then we’ll regroup for our next one.

Emileigh: I’ve always preferred to work alone in my studio because it allows me to experiment with different sounds and techniques without the fear of judgement, the opportunity to self-edit in my own space. I think although we are comfortable sharing with each other mid-progress, we’re still giving ourselves this chance to branch out and create content that’s extra memorable for the listeners. As far as what’s next, yes, I’m constructing my new Chiasm-album and I’m sure that will have some influence on how we approach our next ROHN-LEDERMAN-album together.  It’s going to be wild!! 🙂

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

On May 26th, 2022 Andrew Fletcher, founding member of Depeche Mode, died, aged 60. Out via Timezone on November 25th is the Depeche Mode tribute compilation “6122 (To Andrew Fletcher of Depeche Mode)”. The compilation’s title contains the year Andrew Fletcher was born and the year he died.

The aim was to bring together different artists from different decades, old musical companions of “Fletch” as well as known artists across different genres and promising new bands who were influenced by Depeche Mode’s sound.

The 2CD set features artists from all kind of musical genres and 50% of all profits will be donated to a charity organisation for children in UK, and the Children’s Cancer Trust in Germany, who officially partners to the project. Behind this project we find Daniel Gierke of the act The Brute.

Here’s an idea what to get.

Here’s is the complete tracklist:

CD1

1. A Question of Time – The Brute :
2. Never Let Me Down Again – Watershed
3. In Your Room – Nightnight
4. Ice Machine – Renard feat. Mary Ann
5. Broken – Redeem
6. Stripped – Starlights Live
7. Little 15 – Atlantic Popes
8. The Sun And The Rainfall – Apsürde feat. Manoya
9. My Secret Garden – Cold Connection
10. It’s No Good – Oxic Inc. feat. De La Morte
11. Dream On – Roy Jones & Red Beat
12. Should Be Higher – The Rude Awakening
13. Somebody – Toal, The Brute, People Theatre
14. In Sympathy – Bon Harris
15. Heaven – Zentrum Ost 71

CD2

1. Enjoy The Silence – LeBen
2. Personal Jesus – Polly Scattergood
3. Wrong – Kirlian Camera
4. Policy of Truth – Rohn-Lederman
5. To Have and to Hold – Page Of Quire
6. Angel – Tom Meeloo
7. Somebody – Peter Rainman
8. The Sun And The Rainfall – Northern Kind
9. Photographic – Shelter
10. A Barrel of a Gun (El Presidente Peron Yeah John) – Carlos Peron
11. I Feel You – Tin Gun
12. I Feel Loved – Daniel Hall feat. Stephen Newton
13. Oberkorn (It’s a Small Town) – Electrogenetic by Gareth Jones
14. Clean – Neocoma
15. Breathe – The Brute feat. Rachel Delgado

For more on Depeche Mode, see Sonic Seducer goes Depeche Mode in two dedicated issues of the magazine on Side-Line.

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:  

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: One year after the “Venus Chariot”-album the duo Emileigh Rohn (Chiams) – Jean-Marc Lederman (The Weatherman, Lederman-De Meyer, Mari & The Ghost ao) strikes back with their second opus entitled “Rage”.

Content: Jean-Marc Lederman composed a dark and somewhat atypical Electro-Pop style driven by menacing bass lines, Industrial sound treatments and uplifting choruses. Rohn’s fragile timbre of voice injects a sensitive touch to the ‘machines’.

+ + + : This albums sounds pretty different to its predecessor. It’s darker and more diversified. Lederman feels comfortable experimenting with different influences and styles. His album is an antithesis to ‘classical’ and ‘uninspired’ Electro-Pop productions. Don’t expect catchy melodies but a sophisticated production filled with numerous sound effects and aggressive bass lines. There even is a track sounding as Electronic Rockabilly (cf. “I Am Not A Drone”). This duo isn’t exactly dealing with Electro-Pop, but delivers a kind of ‘free-style’. I like the darkness and rough sound production creating a duality with the delicate vocals.  The already familiar “It Hurts” remains a great piece, but my favorite is the uplifting “Not Your Place To Hide”. I also want to mention “Raging Like Me” which is one of the single cuts with a different -and more spoken like, approach in the vocals.

– – – : The work isn’t maybe the most accessible one in its genre… although it sounds a bit like a genre on its own! I like Emileigh’s vocals but I’m missing a bit more diversity in the singing.

Conclusion: Rohn-Lederman clearly is a successful duo; the clash between different generations creating a ground for further generations.

Best songs: “Not Your Place To Hide”, “It Hurts”, “Raging Like Me”, “Touch And Go”.

Rate: 8.

Artist: www.facebook.com/Rohnlederman

Label: www.facebook.com/copint Read the news on ‘Rage’.

About Rohn-Lederman

Rohn-Lederman is the Belgian-American duo of Emileigh Rohn (Chiasm) and Jean-Marc Lederman (The Weathermen, Ghost & Writer, Lederman/De Meyer). The project began in 2019 after Lederman invited Rohn to contribute vocals to his album “Letters To Gods And Fallen Angels”. Their collaboration continued with the debut album “Venus Chariot”, followed by “Rage” as the duo’s second opus. Rohn-Lederman went on to release the 2CD album “Black And Bleu” in April 2024 and the fifth album, “Forbidden Planet”, in 2025, all through Jean-Marc Lederman’s own label, Les Disques De La Pantoufle.

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

After her work with Chiasm and John Fryer’s album ” Missed the Noise”, Emileigh Rohn has jumped right into her next adventure with Jean-Marc Lederman (The Weathermen / Fad Gadget / Front242 / Ghost & Writer with Frank Spinath from Seabound) to launch a new band: Rohn-Lederman.

Their first offering is an EP named “Watch Out!” Which comes in 4 reworked versions on the EP. Remixers on duty include Claus Larsen (Leaether Strip), Tom Shear (Assemblage 23), Mark Hockings (Mesh, Black Car Burning) and an own Rohn-Lederman remix. Also Krischan Jan-Eric Wesenberg (Rotersand) made a remix which will be released later this year.

Here’s the video for the remixed version of “Watch 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