Australian duo Avarice In Audio returns with their sixth studio album, “Tear Heaven In half”, continuing their tradition of releasing a new record every two years. Comprising 17 tracks, the album presents a dynamic and genre-defying soundscape. Avarice In Audio featuring Gerry Hawkins and Lawrie Bayldon, blend a variety of influences, making their music both intriguing and hard to categorize. At its core, the album leans heavily on Dark-Electro elements, complemented by an Industrial-Pop edge. There are moments of Electro-Punk energy interspersed with contemporary, ‘hip’ influences reminiscent of acts like The Chemical Brothers. The driving force of the album lies in its aggressive, harsh vocals, supported by ethereal female backing vocals that add depth and texture. Several tracks feature collaborations with notable artists, including Static Logic, Virtual Terrorist, and Studio-X, the latter being another of Gerry Hawkins’ well-known projects. With its blend of raw energy and stylistic versatility, “Tear Heaven In Half” solidifies Avarice In Audio’s place as an innovative force in the alternative Electronic scene. (Rating:8).

Listen to “I Want All The Smoke”:

Read the news on ‘Tear Heaven In Half’.

About Avarice In Audio

Avarice In Audio is the Australian dark electro duo of Gerry Hawkins and Lawrie Bayldon. The duo released the album “Our Idols Are Filth” in October 2022 and the EP “Drowning One” in September 2024.

“Tear Heaven In Half”, the sixth Avarice In Audio studio album, was released in October 2024 on Alfa Matrix as a 17-track download release with collaborations including Static Logic, Virtual Terrorist, and Studio-X. In 2025 the duo talked to Side-Line in the Avarice In Audio interview on dark beats, creative risks and blowing genre lines apart.

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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The LatinX San Diego based industrial/darkwave trio Matte Blvck will have a new single out on May 31st, “Pupula Duplex”. In this track Matte Blvck draws inspiration from the 90s’ big beat’ era acts like The Chemical Brothers, Aphex Twin, and The Prodigy updated with a modern, aggressive production.

The song is off of their upcoming album “Vows”. “Vows” is about the trio’s continuing creatively despite inner band turmoil and personal hardships including member health issues and loss of loved ones while keeping their friendship of 27 years as a band intact.

Matte Blvck collaborated with a 3-piece production team alongside Aaron Short and Matt Mcjunkins on various occasions throughout the album.

Matte Blvck tour dates

• 06/06/24 – Los Angeles, CA| Resident
• 07/19/24 – Portland, OR | COFFIN CLUB
• 07/20/24 – Seattle, WA | EL CORAZON
• 07/23/24 – San Francisco, CA | DNA LOUNGE
• 08/03/24 – San Diego, CA| QUARTYARD
• 08/17/24 – Los Angeles, CA| Bar Sinister
• 09/06/24 – Leipzig, Germany | NCN FESTIVAL
• 10/04/24 – Guadalajara, MEXICO
• 10/05/24 – Mexico City, MEXICO
• 10/09/24 – Medellin, COLOMBIA
• 10/11/24 – Bogota, COLOMBIA
• 10/12/24 – Lima, PERU
• 10/16/24 – Santiago, CHILE
• 11/07/24 – Houston, TX | ETRO NC
• 11/08/24 – Denton, TX | ANDY’S
• 11/09/24 – San Antonio, TX | DE LA NOCHE FEST

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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“Unbreakable” is the new industrial rock video and remix EP from New Zealand’s Robots In Love, led by Elenor Rayner. Elenor Rayner explains the meaning of teh single as follows: “‘Unbreakable’ is about how we feel the minute we walk on stage. It’s about being in the place where you feel at your strongest, and connecting with other people to increase that strength.”

The three-track EP release also includes an EBM remix by Elenor and a dance remix by drummer Alex Burchell. Below is the video.

Musically speaking Robots In Love bring a mix of electro rock fusing the raw energy of live drums, bass and guitar with electronics. They incorporate everything from moody, sensuous grooves to rock, techno, EBM, jungle, punk, industrial, alt pop, goth and electro.

Elenor Rayner (vocalist/producer) has credits on more than 70 releases as producer, vocalist or remixer and has toured throughout Europe, USA, Japan, Australia and New Zealand. On this release she is joined by Alex Burchell (drums) who is a multi-instrumentalist, producer and vocalist. As part of a symphonic orchestra, he recently played to a crowd of 20,000 in Christchurch, supporting The Chemical Brothers. Also part of the band is Tony Lumsden (bass), a highly regarded session musician who has toured with a plethora of musicians including Hello Sailor, Shona Laing and Rikki Morris. Last but not least there is Brett Lemmon (guitar), a former London-based guitarist/songwriter. He has worked with world renowned producers Hugh Padgham, Mike Chapman and Adrian Bushby and artists including Ellie Goulding and F.K.A. Twigs.

Robots In Love have released three EPs and tracks on several compilations, and routinely play live around New Zealand and Australia.

The new EP is available 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!

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The Chemical Brothers have released a new single called “No Reason”. The track, featured in their recent live shows and DJ sets, is composed of a cascading melody, and a very acid riff driven instrumental line with a military brassband sounding like drum. Old school all the way.

The single is accompanied by a “Neon Marching Band” video directed by Smith and Lyall, with choreography and performance by Gecko Theatre, which was showcased during the band’s 2022 festival performances.

“No Reason” has been mastered in Dolby ATMOS by Giles Martin at Abbey Road Studios, who has also worked on remastering The Beatles’ back catalog.

The single will be available as a limited edition red vinyl 12-inch, which includes a previously unreleased B-side track, “All Of A Sudden.” Pre-orders begin on March 17th, and the single will be available on April 28th, 2023.

“No Reason” is the first new music from The Chemical Brothers since their 2021 release, “The Darkness That You Fear.” They are presently working on their next album, following their 2019 release, “No Geography.”

The Chemical Brothers are scheduled to perform as headliners at various festivals around the world this year. Their live show can be experienced at:

• Sat 25th Estéreo Picnic, Bogotá, Colombia
• Fri 14th Coachella, Indio, USA
• Sun 16th Santa Barbara Bowl, Santa Barbara, USA
• Tue 18th WAMU Theater, Seattle, USA
• Fri 21st Coachella, Indio, USA
• Sat 20th Mallorca Live Festival, Mallorca, Spain
• Fri 2nd NorthSide, Aarhus, Denmark
• Fri 9th Best Kept Secret, Hilvarenbeek, Netherlands
• Sat 17th Isle of Wight Festival, UK
• Wed 21st Musgrave Park Cork, Ireland
• Thu 29th Provinssirock Festival, Seinäjoki, Finland
• Thu 6th Bilbao BBK Live, Bilbao, Spain
• Sat 8th AMA Music Festival, Romano D‘Ezzelino, Italy
• Fri 21th Electric Castle, Cluj, Romania
• Sun 23th Lucca Summer Festival, Lucca, Italy
• Fri 4th Wilderness Festival, Oxfordshire, UK
• Sat 12th FEST Festival, Chorzów, Poland
• Fri 18th Cabaret Vert, Charleville-Mézières, France
• Sat 26th Rock En Seine, Saint-Cloud, France
• Sat 9th The Bay Series, Cardiff, UK

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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Genre/Influences: EBM, Dark-Electro.

Format: Digital.

Background/Info: Hungarian project First Aid 4 Souls driven by István Gazdag started a series of ‘reworked’ albums. The first one “Beyond The Galaxy” was originally released in 2013 by Electro-Arc. The artist completely reworked the songs.

Content: I can’t compare with the original album -which I can’t remember to have ever heard and which seems not available on digital platforms, but you rapidly recognize the elaborated EBM format of the project. It’s a sophisticated and detailed composition evoking Frontline Assembly, but still reminding me of Neuroactive. Guest singers were invited for the vocal parts. It brings a diversity of mainly male- and female vocals while István Gazdag is doing backings.

+ + + : Being re-released on Alfa Matrix this album will definitely get more exposure than its original edit, but it also is a way to re-discover a great piece of music. First Aid 4 Souls remains a talented project with an open-minded EBM spectrum. The work reveals great songs like the opening piece “The Thirteenth Floor” (there’s also another version of the song), which sounds a bit minimal-like. “Alien Implant” is the most surprising ‘rework’ reminding me a bit of the energy of The Chemical Brothers. I also recommend “Chaos Cultist”” for its overwhelming production mixed with minimal sound treatments. “Gemini”, “Visitors” and “Nebula” sounds like hard-bouncing EBM cuts for FLA fans.

– – – : I’m always a bit reticent with bands revisiting their back catalogue, but I’ve to admit this is a cool production.

Conclusion: Definitely an album for the fans of First Aid 4 Souls while it’s also an opportunity to (re)discover a somewhat forgotten opus.

Best songs: “The Thirteenth Floor”, “Alien Implant”,  “Chaos Cultist”, “Gemini”, “Visitors”, “Nebula”.

Rate: 8.

Listen to “Beyond The Galaxy (Rework)”:

Artist: www.facebook.com/First-Aid-4-Souls-180876236297

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

About First Aid 4 Souls

First Aid 4 Souls is an electronic and industrial project from Budapest, Hungary, started in 2007 by István Gazdag. Gyorgy Turoczy has since joined the line-up. The project mixes noise, acid and trance elements with new wave melodies and industrial metal.

The 2CD “My Favourite Pain With Some Bizzare Remix Package” appeared on Some Bizzare in 2008. Electro Arc then released “Deathstep” in 2011, four volumes of the “Selected Electro Works” series between 2011 and 2012, and the CD album “Beyond The Galaxy” in 2013.

Alfa Matrix signed the project for the EP “Dreambox” in 2020 and the album “Stainless Steel Eyes” in 2021. The reworked edition of the 2013 album followed in December 2021, which Side-Line covered in First Aid 4 Souls re-release 2013 break-through album ‘Beyond The Galaxy’ in a reworked version.

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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Something nice arrived this afternoon from the Warsaw Recordings HQ, namely the new single from The Ghost Of Helags: “Night Summer Waiting”. The track is taken from the band’s new album which will be released later on in 2021.

On this track the Berlin-based duo again offers crispy female vocals mixed with layers of dreamy atmospheric synthesisers and piano motifs. The song, just like many songs these days, born from a sense of isolation, claustrophobia and paranoia.

Singer Teresa Woischiski comments: “The song was written in the heat of this small mountain village on top of a hill in Italy. Completely isolated from society, only reachable via heavy serpentines, almost dangerous to drive in the rain, as the narrow streets get flooded. The only contact with people was the local bar, but everyone wore masks and human contact was almost impossible. There were no visitors, only a few locals who live there. Between Espressos, red wine and the almost unbearable heat of the South, this track emerged. As an outcry. In a feeling of vertigo, isolation, exhilaration and haziness from the heat. From the pain of being denied human touch and belonging.”

The Ghost of Helags are singer-songwriter and producer duo Teresa Woischiski and John Alexander Ericson. Hailing from Sweden and now located in Berlin, the pair combines dream pop sounds of their Scandinavian roots with electronic nuances inspired by their newfound home.The new track follows the recent 2020 singles including the Chemical Brothers-inspired “Parallel” and the synth-pop single “Chemistry”.

“Night Summer Waiting” is out today on all streaming platforms, you can listen to it 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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(Photo & Text by UK correspondent Simon Helm) If you are curating an exhibition on electronic music and design, how do you choose what to leave out?

You need to acknowledge the path from the theremin and experimental devices made by pioneering tinkerers to today’s digital synthesisers. You can’t drop Daphne Oram and early adopters of the Moog.

Subtitling the show, “From Kraftwerk to the Chemical Brothers,“ risks excluding essential artists working outside of those brackets.

Have some sympathy, therefore, for London’s Design Museum in their attempt to select materials for their new show, Electronic. After all, they did obtain a laser harp and build Jean-Michel Jarre’s dream studio. They also collected some awesome hardware, from the Korg MS20 to the Quadrantid Swarm. There is a lot of artwork for fans of Designers Republic and Peter Saville Associates.

The main focus of the show, however, is hinted at in the subtitle. What really lies between Kraftwerk (represented here by a 3D film) and the Chemical Brothers (who appear to have contributed an epilepsy test) is the story of Detroit techno and Chicago house.

“Say nice things about Detroit!” reads a slogan on a wall. By all means, let’s celebrate the Motor City personalities who built its influential techno scene – but for every Depeche Mode record cover there are three objects from DJ Jeff Mills. Better make that four.

First the US, then the UK

In the town where Mute Records was founded, there are only passing signs of the legacy the label’s founder, Daniel Miller, who was just as inspired by the Kling Klang sound as the Detroit/Windsor pioneers. There is part of a Synclavier – as used by Miller on many early Mute releases – in the hardware section, and there are smatterings of Mute artists included in the show; but, in Electronic, the UK’s main innovators play second fiddle to the US club scenes.

That just highlights the challenge of curating a show on electronic music. There is so much of it about, and pulling on any thread leads to another. Anyway, Mute has Kraftwerk and New Order, these days, and they feature prominently. The Chemicals presented Bernard Sumner with a lifetime achievement award a few months ago, so everything converges in the end.

The design elements have been organized to coincide with the sounds. Richie Hawtin (Plastikman) appears in a video. Underworld have a significant display of their cover art. Flyers, club membership cards, fashion and dance performances inspired by the music are carefully set out to capture the feelings of different scenes. The masks used in Aphex Twin’s “Window Licker” video are there behind glass.

There is less to look at for fans of Fad Gadget, Silicon Teens, Laurie Anderson or OMD. Stock, Aitken & Waterman, Front 242, Rational Youth, Skinny Puppy and a small army of influential disco producers could have used more attention, too. But, if the beats of underground techno are your thing, then there is Philip Topolovac’s scale model of Berghain, along with plenty of record covers and photographs, to look at. There are also dramatic light works to draw your attention and induce grand mal seizures.

Luckily there’s the gift shop

The balance is restored slightly in the gift shop. Merchandise includes books on Mute’s visual history, Kraftwerk (with Uwe Schütte’sexcellent book on prominent display), and the story of rave culture. In the vinyl record section, New Order are represented by Movement – their least club-friendly album, but also the launching pad for their turn towards dance music.

It is just a reminder that, as fascinating as many of the exhibits are at the Design Museum, the best story of electronic music is always going to be the one that is told by your own record collection.

What to expect visually?

Event details

• Electronic: from Kraftwerk to The Chemical Brothers
• Where: Design Museum, London
• When: On from 31 July 2020 to 14 February 2021 (advance booking essential)

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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(By our Norwegian correspondent Jan Ronald Stange)
The Norwegian synth-pop trio Schnodig * just released their follow-up “Et rop om hjelp” (“A call for help”), much in the same genre and spirit as their 2015 debut album “Nerver i en bunt” (“Nerves in a bundle”). Yes, it’s all in Norwegian, but that’s what language courses are for, aren’t they? Cause these guys got a lot on their mind! The music produced by Per-Christian Nielsen, the songs mostly sung by Christer Eriksen and the words (mostly by Tollef Ladehaug, but one song by Christer) shows a band both progressing and keeping up their signature. Funny and serious at the same time, with tight beats and melodies – and still evolving in all aspects.
This we had to find out more about!

SideLine: The new album – what’s to tell about the release and feedbacks so far?
Tollef Ladehaug: Finishing an album is often quite heavy. As was the final run on ‘Et rop om hjelp’, especially for Per-Chirstian, who does the heavy production work. Releasing the album, on the other hand, has really been a delight this far. The release party was sold out, and what a reception! If we didn’t play our best gig ever, the crowd sure made us feel like we did. Our last album didn’t make us pop stars, this album isn’t going to make us pop stars either, but some of our fans really do their best to make us feel like we are.

We got a glowing review on Stjernepose (radio show) on Norways national radio NRK as well. Not to mention Sweden’s Radio Virus, who referred to our debut album as fantastic, and the title track from that album as a cult song, before introducing and praising our new album. As our vocals are in Norwegian, we don’t expect too much attention from Sweden, so this was very nice.

S-L: Any plans ahead?
TL: Releasing the album was honestly as far as we planned. As that worked out well, I guess we got to keep up. Nothing official, but we are almost certainly getting a good outdoor gig as part of the Oslo Pride. Good stage, good PA, no cover charge and the magic atmosphere of the rainbow crowd, especially the Bear Club. It’ll be our third year, and it’s always awesome. We’re happy to be part of that.

S-L: There’s a design style change this time…?
TL: The album cover is somehow diverging from what we’ve done before. No Lego’s. This time Per-Christian had an idea for a cover design, and wanted to make it himself, without assistance from a designer. Christer and I didn’t dare oppose that. Not that we had any reason to – the megaphone gives the vibe of both old school synth and some of the naivety we try to express. The way he made it gives even more vibes than we were counting on. We’ve heard references to both The Chemical Brothers and The Prodigy. Not bands we sound like, but we like them, so we’re happy.

* Schnodig: a somewhat drunk pronunciation of the Norwegian word “snodig”, or “whimsical” in English 😀

Get your dose of whimsical, naïve’ish and sparkling synth-pop below here or right at their home page @ https://schnodig.no/hjelp/ – download, or choose your players or stores. And donate if you like it!

Jan Ronald Stange

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

www.facebook.com/jrstange

Genre/Influences: Dark-electronics, metal.

Background/Info: Pre.Emptive Strike 01 has left Infacted Recordings where they released 5 full lengths in between 2006 and 2015. “Eternal Masters” is an EP comparable to their metal experiment revealed on the EP “Pierce The Husk” released in 2014 on Sonic Hell Records.

Content: Is Pre.Emptive Strike 01 evolving towards pure crossover dominated by metal-sounding guitar riffs? The band is actually working on a new full length so the answer will be given within a few months.

“Eternal Masters” is a little less metal orientated than “Pierce The Husk” although it remains driven by furious guitar riffs. The main particularity of the work is that all the songs have been accomplished together with other artists, mainly active in the metal scene. Bands like Borgne, Wolfheart, Dominanz, Ered Wethrin, Eibon La Furies and Iperyt aren’t ringing a bell, but are probably more familiar and renowned artists in the metal scene. The songs remain however carried by dark-electronic arrangements so in the end we rather might speak about a fusion between two genres.

+ + + : Pre.Emptive Strike 01 is not repeating themselves, but simply exposes their fans to a new direction in sound. All the songs can’t convince me, but “Merciless Tyrant” for example is driven by a great electronic bass line reminding me of the Chemical Brothers. “Planet Eradicated” is another more electro-inspired cut and sounds pretty cool as well. The guitar playing is more reinforcing the global power of the production instead of moving into pure metal music.

– – – : I can’t get away from the idea that the best work of Pre.Emptive Strike 01 remains the pure dark-electro and EBM minded work. This EP rather sounds like an exorcism of metal influences they wanted to merge with their own electronic sound.

Conclusion: Pre.Emptive Strike 01 goes metal again! It’s not bad at all, but it’s not my favorite side of the band so I can only, but encourage them to hold on their dark-electronic style.

Best songs: “Merciless Tyrant”, “Planet Eradicated”.

Rate: (6½).

Band: www.preemptivestrike01.com / www.facebook.com/PreEmptiveStrike0.1

Label: www.digitalworld.audio /   www.facebook.com/DigitalWorldAudio

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

Set up and driven by the creative spirit of Yves Schelpe, Psy’Aviah is already active since 2004. The band has been inspired by numerous influences becoming a kind of sonic chameleon or simply a pure sonic ‘pop’ enigma. Electro-pop has been often the basis of their work while multiple influences like electro-clash, trance, electro-rock, trip-hop and even dance have been explored. The new opus “Seven Sorrows, Seven Stars” again is a new sonic exorcism of new influences while featuring multiple and talented guest singers. Time for a chat with Yves Schelpe.

(by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: What were the main ideas and purposes when starting the writing of the new album “Seven Sorrows, Seven Stars”?

Yves: After writing the 6^th album “The Xenogamous Endeavour”, which came out in 2014, I was suffering from ‘blank-paper-syndrome’ or commonly known as writer’s block. I did make music, but I just had no connection emotionally to it. The turning point came after watching the movie “Interstellar”, the atmosphere really inspired me and kickstarted the first song “Alcubierre Drive” (look at our video), in which both the music and lyrics are my personal soundtrack for the movie. After that the process shifted gears, most of the other tracks are also loosely based on the movie, yet, if you don’t know it you won’t notice it – as every lyric can be translated to the ‘real world’. I like it that they have this double meaning.

Q: So what is this new album dealing with and what’s the deeper meaning behind the title?

Yves: The title refers to several things. The most obvious is that this is my seventh studio album. “Sorrows vs Stars” alludes to the fact that the songs are sometimes positive, and sometimes totally depressing, just like life. The album itself is of course inspired by the events and atmosphere of the movie “Interstellar” as I mentioned before – but each and every track can be interpreted as if it would happen in the ‘real world’.

“Alcubierre Drive” for example deals with lovers, people, friends, slowly growing apart – whilst “Stronger” is a song about rising again after a deep fall. Every song has each own unique story to share.

Q: You again worked with multiple guest singers (and a lot of male vocalists this time). I can’t imagine it’s possible to get a similar connection with a guest singer instead of a band singer so how did it happen and how did the recording and production of the vocals happened?

Yves: You’d think it isn’t easy to connect, but when recording and preparing to record I always have lengthy mails or sometimes skype or telephone calls with the vocalists so that we connect and understand each other. As I write most of the lyrics myself I do also explain what’s behind it, record a demo guide vocal for them to interpret.

This makes it so that the sound stays true to my songwriting ideas. It’s actually the very same way I worked before with a ‘fixed’ singer, the only upside now is that I have a lot more creative freedom and a range of talented vocalists who each have their unique strengths.

Q: I got the impression every new album by Psy’Aviah sounds like a new sonic travel where you explore different influences. How do you see this evolution as composer and master mind of the band?

Yves: It’s a deliberate choice from the inception of the band. I always wanted to incorporate styles and not pin myself down to just one genre, as it limits my songwriting and storytelling. I think it’s because of listening to bands like Faithless, Moby, The Chemical Brothers, Praga Khan and Soulwax – who showed that you don’t have to keep to just one genre. A mix of ambient, trip-hop, dance anthems, aggressive tunes is possible and keeps it fresh and more interesting for me as well. Whilst I do mix up the genres, I always try to keep that certain ‘Psy’Aviah’-sound though.

Q: You once posted an interesting quote about the reason(s) you stopped playing live with Psy’Aviah. I think it’s an interesting point to share with us and what’s your opinion about the subject right now?

Yves: I still think it’s true, there’s a lot of promoters that don’t take their job seriously. In the end it then always reflects on the band when the sound is off, the lights don’t work, the soundcheck settings weren’t recorded, or the PA just walks out… And there’s a lot more. You might argue it’s part of the job, but in all honesty, I loathe that part and it lacks of professionalism.

Mind, I’m not talking about all promoters, but it’s always a gamble what you’ll be facing. Hence we’re always double prepared with our own mixing engineer, etc… Part of the reason might also have been a lack of motivation of the previous ‘live band vocalist’ to continue to push and go for it.

But, surprise, surprise, after three years (our last gig was with Praga Khan at ‘Anciennce Belgique’), we’ll be back on stage on September 9^th, 2016 at ‘Kinky Star’ Ghent with a new live band: Marieke Lightband on vocals (winner of several singer/songwriter awards, and has massive experience outside the ‘scene’ as well), my favorite live guitarist Ben Van de Cruys and me behind the keys. Very much looking forward to this new journey! And bookings are open at http://www.psyaviah.com/contact/live-bookings/.

Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

You can now listen to Erol Alkan’s extended rework of “Singularity” taken from New Order’s forthcoming single, out on March 25, 2016 and available right here on vinyl. The new single, available on 12” and download, features remixes from Erol Alkan, Liars, Tom Rowlands of The Chemical Brothers and JS Zeiter, and is available now for pre-order in different versions.

The video for the original track (which you can see here) is a fast-paced collage of footage taken from “B-Movie: Lust & Sound in West-Berlin 1979-1989”, the story of Mark Reeder’s life in 1980s West-Berlin. Damian Hale, the man responsible for the visuals that make up New Order’s stage show, edited the video. “Singularity” features scenes of a city divided by the Wall showing a cultural inter-zone in which everything and anything seemed possible.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

side-line.com