Simon Carter isn’t the most familiar and successful name from the underground Electro scene although you should know him from his great collaborative productions together with Studio-X and his solo-project SD-KRTR. The British producer is now back on track unleashing a new album he released together with the German female singer Fabsi. The self-released “The Bitches Potion” is a solid and merciless piece of Industrial-Techno music featuring the sensual, half-spoken like vocals of Fabsi on top.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: What can you tell us about your artistic/musical background and what incited you to get involved with music projects?

Simon: I’ve always had a big love of music and in truth it’s dominated most of my adult life. I have a real eclectic taste and something I’ve always said to myself is that no matter what the genre is, there will be something, some fine detail contained within that I can appreciate and learn from.  I’ve been making Electronic music since the age of 12, so without giving my exact age away, that’s well over 20+ years of experience in this game. Something that not a lot of people know is that I actually started out by making happy Hardcore! I’ve since experimented with many different genres, styles and yes I’m still learning each and every day.

Q: How do you perceive yourself as an artist/musician and producer? Do you’ve specific criteria and references when working on new songs and/or album?

Simon: I’ve been doing this a long time now and I still don’t have all the answers, I think I never will! As with all things in life, as we get older we do change, I’ve learnt so much, I’ve improved so much and I’ve had both some wonderful and not so wonderful experiences. One thing I have changed in this last year though is to take myself and my music even less seriously. I originally started making music as a hobby for fun and somewhere along the way it became less fun and more business oriented. I took a step back from it all but thankfully this project has really put a spring back in my step and reintroduced the fun element. I’m enjoying making music again.

Q: I think most people know you from your work together with Studio-X so what makes this chemistry?   How did you start this new collaborative project together with Fabsi and who is she?

Simon: That’s right, myself and Studio-X released 3 albums, 6 EP’s and 1 single, all on the Belgian record label Alfa Matrix and we both had respective solo projects on that label too, although by my own admission my SD-KRTR solo-project was far too heavily focused on a more commercial Electronic/Pop sound which didn’t really suit the scene and I learnt from that.

Having said that, “Rise” and “Judgement Day” are 2 of my most requested tracks people want to hear me play. The Studio-X collaborations were crazy days when I think back, we were so young and we both had so much free time to dedicate to music. The creativity was just flowing like a waterfall. We always worked really well together and I think the proof of that is in the sheer volume of tracks we made together. Studio-X has a great dance floor sound that compliments my own and I’ve always been a big lyric writer so we gelled together perfectly. We’re still good friends and who knows if they’ll be more from us in the future, I am certainly one to never say never!

Fabsi is a German diva who I met online during lockdown, bonding over music streams. We both have a varied taste in music but it quickly became apparent we should collaborate together on a project. I was really quite taken with the sound of her voice and I knew I could make good use of her soft, sultry spoken vocals in tracks.

Q: Did you’d something like a plan and/or sound in mind when setting up this project? What can you tell us about the writing of the album and how did the cooperation happened?

Simon: Over a year ago we released an EP called “Beautiful Destruction” which was really supposed to be just an amusing challenge. The idea behind it was as follows ‘Using Fabsi’s Beautiful Destruction vocal, attempt to make as many conceivably different versions before going insane!’ I think I made 10 or so different versions of that track and the EP was surprisingly well received and I did go a bit insane! 

The collaboration work happened remotely as Fabsi resides in German and I live in the UK. We toiled closely together on the lyrics and I helped with a few suggestions on vocal recording techniques but Fabsi was a natural which allowed me time to focus on producing the music. We both wanted the musical direction to be heavily influenced by Techno and Industrial, that was the sound we were aiming for and it was nice for me to come out of my hard danceable Technoid comfort zone and try something new. I think we surprised a few people with the amount of Industrial elements included in this project.

Q: What did you try to express by the album title “The Bitches Potion”? And what’s the importance of the lyrical content?

Simon: So this was also something new for me, creating an entire album/project based around a very specific concept. Fabsi had the idea that the concept/theme should be related to witches/witchcraft.

The title of the album was also Fabsi’s idea, she had the thought that the tracks are individual ingredients and together they make up the potion. Then to make it a bit more unique we changed ‘witch’ to ‘bitch’. I think the title is matching perfectly to the sound, the theme and to the both of us!  I was also excited to work with Fabsi’s native German vocals which you can hear on the track “Hex Hex (Wir Sind Die Hexen)”, so even when we switch from English to German the witchy theme remains.

Q: While all works together with Studio-X have been released by Alfa-Matrix, you self-released “The Bitches Potion”. Is there any reason for this? Might we expect new work from Simon Carter  & Fabsi?

Simon: I am enjoying making music again and also enjoying having 100% ownership of my music. The record label discussion is an interesting one. Since releasing the “The Bitches Potion” a few record label offers have come in for this project. I know a record label would give this project greater exposure and more respect among promotors but the world is a very different, constantly evolving place these days and I feel happy in the knowledge that I have complete control in regards to every specific aspect of this project, its distribution and its future.  I thoroughly enjoyed my time on Alfa Matrix and I still contribute remixes for their roster of awesome artists.  They are a fantastic label and I can only say good things about them but I am also enjoying learning the business of being my own label / manager / distributor / promoter etc.

Is there more life in this project? Absolutely! We have plans to release a new EP before Halloween. It will essentially be 3 dancefloor, DJ-friendly singles in 1. The release will include some fantastic remixes from personal musician friends whom I’ve been close with for 10+ years.  It would be nice to play some of these tracks out live too.

I also have a new Humans Can’t Reboot album coming out this year which is going to be full-on Synth-Pop and I am also working on a vocal Trance album under my Narconic name. So, I’m extremely busy but I am glad to be back and to be enjoying producing and releasing music again. 

Thank you for having me and thank you for giving independent artists their fair chance to contribute to this dynamic scene.

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: Industrial-Techno.

Format: Digital.

Background/Info: British producer/singer/DJ Simon Carter -who released multiple collaborative releases together with Studio-X and German singer Fabsi last year released the EP “Beautiful Destruction”. Here’s now the album featuring eleven songs plus seven remixes.

Content: This production is clearly driven by solid Techno music which has been empowered by Industrial components. It creates a hard-banging production featuring Fabsi’s sensual vocals on top. The production of the vocals is mainly half spoken while the lyrics are in German.

Remixes have been accomplished by a diversified list of artists featuring Teknovore, Moaan Exis, Matt Hart, Ruinizer, SD-KRTR, Humans Can’t Reboot and Narconic. Notice the last 3 projects are still projects Simon Carter is involved with.

+ + + : I’m used to hearing Simon Carter together with Studio-X composing hard-danceable Technoid stuff, but this work moves far beyond all expectations. This project sounds harder and tougher. There’s a strong Industrial input getting this Techno sound evil and dirty. The cold sound treatments -especially right at the beginning of the album, are irresistible. I also noticed mind-blowing sound blasts. Together with the hot vocal parts this work stands for pure dance-sensation. I also have to say a word about great remix contributions from Teknovore injecting EBM vibes into “Hex Hex” and Moaan Exis getting “The Witching Hour” pretty raw.

– – – : Simon Carter took me by surprise except by the remixes from his other side-projects which don’t really add a bonus compared to the original versions. I regret that this album hasn’t been released like most of his other works by Alfa Matrix. This album deserves to be released as a physical format!

Conclusion: Industrial-Dance terror made by Simon Carter and sexy vocals by Fabsi. This work is an absolute must have.

Best songs: “Hex Hex – Wir Sind Die Hexen”, “Beautiful Destruction – Album Version”, “The Witching Hour”, “Nanobots – Are You My Mummy?”, “Manifestation
Spell”, “Hex Hew – Wir Sind Die Hexen – Teknovore Remix”, “The Witching Hour – Moaan Exis Remix”.

Rate: 8½.

Artist: www.facebook.com/HumansCantReboot

Simon Carter released “The Bitches Potion” himself on 20 March 2022, in digital format only. The eleven album tracks are “The Witching Hour”, “Hex Hex (Wir Sind Die Hexen)”, “Beautiful Destruction (Album Version)”, “Pink Queen”, “We Are The Witches”, “Manifestation Spell”, “Musik Makers”, “The Wiccan Dance”, “Nanobots (Are You My Mummy?)”, “This Is Only A Test” and “Get Out Of Here”.

The seven remixes come from Teknovore, Moaan Exis, Matt Hart, Ruinizer, SD-KRTR, Humans Can’t Reboot and Narconic.

Listen to “The Bitches Potion”:

About Simon Carter and Fabsi

Simon Carter is a British producer, singer and DJ who also records as Humans Can’t Reboot and Narconic. Much of his earlier catalogue appeared through Alfa Matrix, including collaborations with the Australian techno-industrial project Studio-X such as the “Our Promise” EP in June 2020. Fabsi is a German singer who performs in German.

The pair first released the single “Beautiful Destruction” in 2021. “The Bitches Potion” followed in March 2022 as their first full album, and was released without label backing. They continued with the EP “Witch But Not Famous” later in 2022 and the album “Hex, Herbs ‘N’ Techno” in 2023.

Carter discussed his return to writing in the Click Interview with Simon Carter published in June 2022.

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, ambient-pop.

Background/Info: “Soul Searching” is the seventh official album for Belgian Yves Schelpe aka Psy’Aviah. The composer again invited an impressive list of ‘guest singers’ to put their voice on his compositions.

Content: Psy’Aviah is a project in constant move. “Soul Searching” features typical influences and arrangements, which are into the Psy’Aviah sound, but compared to the previous album –which was more into some dance-electronics, this work reflects maturity and impressive vocal performances. The opening cut featuring one of the most famous and ‘popular’ psychiatrists from the Flemish part of Belgium (aka Dirk De Wachter) you’ll also get songs with Roeland van der Velde, Mari Kattman, Mark Bebb, Alicia May, Kyoko Baertsoen, Saydi Driggers, Marieke Lightband, Addie Nicole, Lis van den Akker and Ellia Bisker.

Sound-wise Yves Schelpe has achieved a work, which sounds like a sonic bridge between electro-pop and ambient-electronics. It might appeal for lovers of Delerium, Conjure One, Lunascape and related bands.

The limited edition features an extra disc with remixes by SD-KRTR, Metroland, Rob Dust, 11 Grams, Mind.Divided, SNVFF, J. Wolf, The Gothsicles, Studio-X, Cosmic Armchair, Noire Antidote, Maarten Pels, Tom Bro, People Theatre, KGProject and French Skies. 

+ + + : Psy’Aviah is back with great stuff and has probably accomplished his most achieved work to date. After a rather disappointing “Lightflare”-album on which Yves Schelpe fall in the trap of easy electro-dance music, this work reflects a more intelligent approach and still a challenge in the fusion between electro-pop and atmospheric passages. The songs have been accomplished by alluring, deep sounding bass lines, elevating leads, down-tempo rhythms and a few Eastern sound treatments on a couple of songs. Yves Schelpe also selected an impressive list of talented singers (featuring some familiar Psy’Aviah guests next to newcomers).

One of my favorite cuts is the more club-friendly “New Times” feat. Alicia May (who already sang on a song of Benjamin’s Plague) while the already familiar “Voodoo Love” feat. Roeland van der Velde is a dreamy, beautiful piece of music. Among the vocalists I also want to mention Kyoko Baertsoen, Saydi Driggers and Ellia Bisker (reminding me of Lana Del Rey).

Among the remixes I recommend the 80s driven “Hold On” remixed by Metroland, “New Times” remixed by SNVFF, the wafting “Dream Fever” remixed by Tom Bro and the trance-orientated “Searching” remixed by French Skies.

– – – : The main difficulty for Psy’Aviah remains the style, which is hard to define for mixing different influences; it remains often too ‘indie’-like for underground music and too ‘dark’ for the indie-stream. It’s not exactly an album for the clubs although it sounds danceable!

Conclusion: Psy’Aviah has accomplished its opus magnum, which however remains an album hard to label and a pure challenge when it comes to ‘sales’.

Best songs: “New Times”, “Voodoo Love”, “Dream Fever”, “Searching”, “City In Flames” + “Hold On – Metroland 7” Remix”, “News Times – SNVFF Remix”, “Dream Fever – Tom Bro After Club Remix”, “Searching – French Skies Club Remix”.

Rate: (8½).

Artist: www.psyaviah.com / www.facebook.com/psyaviah

Label: www.alfa–matrix.com / www.facebook.com/Alfa.Matrix Read the news on ‘Soul Searching’.

About Psy’Aviah

Psy’Aviah is an industrial rock, electroclash and dark EBM project driven by Belgian musician Yves Schelpe, formed in Antwerp in 2004 and initially focused on live performances. The project won the Studio Brussel Demopoll that same year with “The Future Of The Sun”, then teamed up with Len Lemeire (Implant, 32Crash) in 2007 to record its first album. On stage, Schelpe has been joined by singer Marieke Lightband and guitarist Ben Van de Cruys. “Soul Searching”, the seventh full-length Psy’Aviah album, continues the project’s practice of working with a rotating cast of guest vocalists and remixers.

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

Belgium’s cult dark electro act Aiboforcen is back among the living. A teaser was already released online a few days ago, but it’s now official, there is a brand new Aiboforcen EP out via Bandcamp: “In My Arms”.

The 13-track (!!) extended EP focuses on Benoit Blanchart’s collaboration with Mari Kattman. Both “In My Arms” and “Tears” are taken from the band’s recent 6th full length album “Sense & Nonsense”. The title track also got the remix treatment by label mates Mondträume, Mental Exile and Jean-Marc Lederman who each plunged the song in totally different moods. “Tears” on the other hand got re-discovered by the other Alfa Matrix companions Aesthetische, SD-KRTR and Psy’Aviah.

This new 13-track EP (available now from Bandcamp) also reveals some 4 new exclusive songs: “Therapy Through Violence”, “Abysses” (featuring Patrice Synthea of Regenerator fame) and 2 radically different cover versions of New Order’s “True Faith” and DAF’s “Als Wars Das Letzte Mal” (featuring Uwe Kanka of Armageddon Dildos on vocals).

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 8th edition of their now classic free “Matrix Downloaded” label digital compilation, Belgium’s Alfa Matrix label presents a selection of 55 songs via Bandcamp.

The 55 songs represent the label’s most recent singles and albums while giving a preview of some promising forthcoming 2019 productions including announced new releases by Helalyn Flowers, Synapsyche, Avarice In Audio, H.O.W., Llumen, Mental Exile, SD-KRTR, Diffuzion, Reactor7X, Aesthetische, Armageddon Dildos, Die Robo Sapiens, Junksista, Imjudas, Alien Vampires, Mondträume, Aiboforcen, Dunkelwerk, Komor Kommando, Neikka RPM, Acylum, etc.

You can download it for free or as a what-you-want-to-pay from Bandcamp.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

side-line.com

Background/Info:

Read the news on ‘Looking For The Sun’.

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

Background/Info:

Read the news on ‘Lightflare’.

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: Dance, techno, electro-pop.

Background/Info: Behind this new name reinforcing the Alfa Matrix roster is hiding Simon D Carter. This British DJ and producer was already involved with several projects, but got some fame as part of Studio-X (feat. Simon Carter). “Lost In Time” is a solo-album and yet not totally solo as he asked several female guest singers to join in. We earlier this year already discovered the “Rise”-EP featuring Noemi Aurora (Helalyn Flowers) while a previous album “Retro Electro Wave/The Remixes” got released as well.

Content: I honestly didn’t know what to expect and got really surprised by the dance-stuff approach. Simon Carter clearly deals with techno and dance music while he also experiments with some d’b’n patterns and a few electro-pop influences. He got the help of seven female singers. Most of them are totally unknown, but the most noticeable names are Noemi Aurora (singing on “Rise”) and Lis Van Den Akker (who already sung on Psy’Aviah songs).

+ + + : All I can say is that this is a professional and high tech production, which will appeal to lovers of dance music and other commercial techno productions. The contribution of most vocalist is one of the main strengths of the work. Simon Carter clearly has a nose to find talented singers. It remains pretty surprising to hear Noemi Aurora singing on more ‘commercial’ music, but all the vocalists are absolutely fabulous. Sound-wise “The Girl From The Station” is one of the single cuts with some pop approach and I would have liked to hear more from this.

– – – : This album is a real challenge and especially as being released on an ‘underground’ label. This work has nothing in common with underground music and even sounds miles away from traditional electro-pop fields. This work is a great production, but maybe not on the right label.

Conclusion: I’ve been quite surprised discovering this album, which is clearly meant to conquer dance and techno clubs. I guess if Simon Carter wouldn’t have been familiar with Alfa Matrix, this album would have never been released on this label.

Best songs: “The Girl From The Station”, “Naphill Atrebas (Part III) – Starry Nights”, “Rise”.

Rate: (6).

Band: www.facebook.com/SimonCarter.AlfaMatrix.Records

Label: www.alfa–matrix.com / www.facebook.com/Alfa.Matrix

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

Read the review of ‘Lightflare’.

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

Back in March 2017, UK techno/breakbeat DJ Simon D. Carter formed SD-KRTR via which he launched the “Rise” EP. Out now and available here for ordering is “Lost In Time”, his debut album. For those who prefer downloads, go straight to Bandcamp to get yours.

For the full length album Carter teamed up with half-a-dozen female vocalists taking you from catchy upbeat synthpop songs to slower tracks with some breakbeat elements and of course the signature club-friendly dance-floor slammers.

The guestvocalists include Katie J., Patricia, Noemi Aurora (Helalyn Flowers), Gemma Macleod, Lis Van Den Akker, C.L. and Charmae. You can discover the complete album 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!

side-line.com

Since the release of their – now sold out – debut album “Neo-Futurism”, Studio-X’s producer Lawrie Bayldon has been involved in various side-projects including a series of somewhat darker and poppier vocal albums and EP’s with UK DJ Simon Carter (SD-KRTR) while also becoming an active member of the modern EBM industrial Avarice In Audio gang.

But out in a few weeks will be “Neural Torment”, the follow-up to ”Neo-Futurism”, counting 13 tracks. This time Bayldon decided to collaborate with the Florence based Italian electronic artist Roberto Ricci aka Technoid. Ricci is a well known Italian DJ/music producer versed in various genres including Hard Dance, Hard Trance, Hard NRG and Industrial who transitioned as a DJ from 1996 to music producer in 2012.

The album is available on CD (via the Alfa Matrix webstore) and via Bandcamp.

Below are 2 tracks you can already listen to. Closer to the release you can expect an exclusive music stream on Side-Line.

And if you want to hear some more, watch the below YouTube trailer.

For those who missed the debut album “Neo-Futurism” by Studio-X, check 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!

side-line.com

After a bunch of strong hardbeat releases together with his Australian pal of Studio-X, UK techno/breakbeat DJ Simon D. Carter has launched a first EP of his new solo-project SD-KRTR. With SD-KRTR Carter is teaming up with several female vocalists.

The “Rise” single holds the title-song (featuring vocals courtesy of Helalyn Flowers frontwoman n0emi Aurora) in 3 versions, the single edit plus 2 reworks by Aesthetische and Helalyn Flowers (who offered a great retro electropop version). We also get an almost 9 minute long instrumental “Judgement Day” next to the synthpop track “The Only One” (featuring Patricia on vocals).

You download the single right now via Bandcamp and other download platforms or stream it on Spotify.

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