It all began in 1983 under the name Xymox, a musical project founded and spearheaded by Ronny Moorings. Shortly after, the project evolved into Clan Of Xymox, marking the birth of a band destined to leave an indelible mark on the Dark-Wave scene. Signed by the legendary British label 4AD, the band released two seminal albums that would become classics in the genre. While they briefly returned to the original name, since 1997, they have been known exclusively as Clan Of Xymox. What makes Clan Of Xymox truly special is not only their pioneering role in the New/Dark-Wave movement but their unwavering ability to create valuable and impactful music over the decades.

Unlike many of their contemporaries, who often rely on the nostalgia of 80s hits, Clan Of Xymox has consistently released strong, fresh material, proving that their creative spirit remains as vibrant as ever. With a career spanning over 40 years, Clan Of Xymox has firmly established themselves as one of the most influential forces in Dark-Wave. Ronny Moorings has remained true to the essence of his sound while allowing it to evolve, ensuring a timeless yet contemporary edge. Their latest and 18th studio album, “Exodus”, released via Trisol (Germany) and Metropolis (USA), is a testament to this balance. Featuring a collection of masterful tracks, the album combines melancholic, dark, atmospheres with Pop-infused arrangements that are both haunting and danceable.

I felt it was the perfect time to take a retrospective look at Clan Of Xymox’s incredible journey. In this interview, Ronny Moorings graciously shared his insights, reflecting on the band’s beginnings, their evolution, and their current work. I am deeply thankful for his enthusiastic cooperation and for taking the time to answer in such detail. His dedication to crafting inspired music over such a long period is remarkable, as is the man behind the artist. Respect! (Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

‘I Wanted To Be A Part Of Things Which Were Happening In Front Of My Eyes’

Q: Getting back to the early 1980s which marked the rise of New-Wave music and subgenres like Dark-Wave, Cold-Wave, and Post-Punk. How do you reflect on those formative years and what do you recall from the very beginning of your career? Specifically, what events or circumstances led to the formation of Xymox and, later, Clan Of Xymox and what was your original dream when you first started making music?

Ronny: I will make this a short story because there is so much to say about how it came to be. I was in bands from on my childhood in my birth town Roosendaal (NL) where I already played live at the age of 11 with older 15 year old friends. When it was time for me to study, I first moved to The Hague, deciding after a year of Social Academy that I’d rather do a Sociology study in Nijmegen.

In the early 80’s there was a lot going on. Musically we had the Deutsche Welle and from the U.K. came New-Wave. This appealed a lot to me and DJed (what I also already did in Roosendaal as a teenager) this type of music in the local venue Doornroosje. It was volunteers work, but I got to see all the cool bands coming in.
The alternative scene was thriving in the whole of The Netherlands. Naturally many British bands were on the fore front of innovation. The Goth / Wave movement came also to Doornroosje. I remember especially Bauhaus and The Virgin Prunes making a big impression on me because they sounded and looked visually stunning. The Virgin Prunes making a complete theatre out of their show; it looked like genuine madness with a lot of stuff flying about on stage. With Bauhaus, Peter Murphy just looked the ideal part, a new ‘thin white duke’ with white light shining under his chin and the rest of the band in fluorescent colours, exposed with a black light.

Every week there was a brilliant band to be seen in Paradiso (Amsterdam) or in Doornroosje, like Echo And The Bunnymen In an army outfit with camouflage nets hanging over the stage, The Sound, Dance Society, The Birthday Party with Nick Cave swinging like a monkey from left to right from the light supports, giving it a high energetic performance, Siouxie And The Banshees, The Cure ( they played in a circus tent) and later seeing Robert Smith playing guitar with Siouxie in Rotterdam , Theatre Of Hate, Eyeless In Gaza, Black Flag, The Comsat Angels, Sisters Of Mercy, in the Milkyway Amsterdam,  of course with Wayne Hussey,  Further The Slits, Liaison Dangereuses, U2 ( played in Arnhem for 400 people) who was pretty unknown still etc. Too many to mention!

All bands not jet known by the majority of people but making a big impact on everyone alternative seeing them live. New-Wave, Deutsche Welle, Punk, Synth-Pop and New-Romantics was now a major alternative movement perfectly fitting the times we were living in.

Also the Netherlands produced influential bands who made quite an impression on me, like I already mentioned Mecano & Minimal Compact from Amsterdam, Nasmak from Eindhoven, Coitus Interruptus from Utrecht, and ‘famous’ local bands from Nijmegen like Mechanic Commando and Vice.

By seeing all these brilliant international and national bands I knew there and then that I had to start something new and interesting too. I wanted to make music like these bands. I was totally inspired. I wanted to be a part of things which were happening in front of my eyes. I wanted a band instead of just making things late at night on my own on a 4 track for no one else to hear.I wasn’t the only one feeling this way. It seemed that nearly anyone in the local scene started a band. In every squat people started a band and rehearsing was no problem in these industrial buildings we all occupied. Music was becoming a way of life, a means to express your views. There were enough opportunities for bands to play. There were always some old factories freshly squatted. One of the first shows I did was on a festival in De Plu Fabriek, a desolate disused umbrella factory. The festival had a social awareness theme about ‘Acid Rain’ of which maybe a handful had heard about. It was not taken very serious yet by the general public. It was the first ever show of Xymox there.

Round the same time at the University we had to do a video project. We had to film something about a socially significant social subject, so I started filming and interviewing the squatters local bands I knew. I still have the V2000 video tape but because of its backdated discontinued format, I haven’t been able to see it since the presentation at the University of Nijmegen.

In the beginning of 1980 in Nijmegen I had no real serious relationship with anyone. I was fairly new in town and most people I found quite uninteresting. The typical jeans and long hair student types, freshly coming from their cosy parental homes, with only one aim in life and that is to study, graduate and getting a job. Also most people were just coming out of the seventies and their clothes reflected that, very colourful shirts, a lot of blue jeans and mostly having long hair. In Rotterdam long hair in the back and short in the front was accompanied by a little moustache was the local fashion there.

Anyway, just after my initiation weeks of the University back in Nijmegen, one night I went out, going to a bar where I would normally not come with my fellow student friends. I was standing there drinking beer with my mates until I spotted this girl in the distance. She had the same kind of image as me. Out of place I thought. I simply had to talk to her and soon we were engaged in conversation and ended up spending the night together in her basement flat.. She told me she came from Nuenen, a small village close to Eindhoven but very famous for the house of Vincent Van Gogh. Her name was Anke.

In this period I wanted to start a Live band with the name I already had:  Xymox.  One day I showed her my songs I had recorded and asked if she would want to be in my ‘band’ which was just me at the time 😉 I said it would not matter that it was only the two of us because a lot of bands played with a drum machine and it would be a cool thing to do; she agreed. The songs were most of the time two or three chords so it was not too difficult for her to learn the tracks. I released this tape at the time, sold it for cheap (some people still have it). She liked the songs and decided to learn and play the bass guitar so she could play live. We started rehearsing together in 1982. I started sending my old Xymox demos to various venues and to my surprise a dozen clubs or so liked it.

Soon we played live with the two of us in various alternative clubs. I was singing, playing guitar and the synth plus operating the rhythm box. She played the bass by now and did some backing vocals . The songs were all mine, if you could call them songs 😉 For transportation I had my old cheap orange Renault 4 with a shift stick. All the equipment fitted in beautifully. Because we were just with the two of us and the fuel was very cheap, the money earned was very reasonable for those days.

Later we got asked by the locally known band Vice to support them. We did so and managed to play quite a bit of shows in the South of the Netherlands again. We felt we were getting somewhere.

Later a few friends to join our ‘band’ live. They were hitting metal pieces or doing backing vocals etc. Inspired of course by Einstürtzenden Neubauten. We started rehearsing in the empty vaults of a squatted bank building. Soundproof and safe it luckily was 😉

Anke wanted to move to Amsterdam in 1983, when she changed her study. She wanted to study Psychology and since I finished my Sociology ‘Candidates’ phase holding an official diploma. I was looking for a relevant Masters study so I decided to go to Amsterdam as well, I chose for  ‘Media Studies’ at the ‘University of Amsterdam’. Apparently you would have a lot of freedom with this study as well.

In Amsterdam I was asked by a friend in 1983, if I wanted to DJ for a local pirate radio station WHS. The show; ‘De Lege Huls’, translated ‘The Empty Shell’, would be late at night which of course I gladly accepted. I did this for quite some time well into 1985 until I got too busy with Clan Of Xymox and its many obligations.

As I already said I saved for a while every penny in order to buy my much desired object, a Teac 4 track multi tape recorder. I bought it in Antwerp, Belgium, November 1982. After many recordings of songs and ideas in Nijmegen I started a new In April 1983, frantically starting to record some new songs; the old ones were already more than a year old and I wanted to have new ones. With the help of the Teac 4 track recorder I could be more creative with writing and recording, bouncing previous recordings and build on that.

The instruments I had access to were: a Yamaha synth, Korg Poly 6 Synthesiser, Korg MS10 and MS 20, a rhythm box K500 , an electric Framus guitar, Welson Keyboard, a standard Shure 58 mike of course, my fantastic vintage space echo, melodica, guitar pedal effects and a bass guitar. A later valuable asset was later a Solina Strings but this one was borrowed once and a while.

All instruments were played in real time on tape. No sequencer used. That was too expensive.
These were the days computers were only academic and hardly used by anyone at all. Computers were just those big main frames standing in a government building or only portrayed in science fiction. Today our ears are completely trained to sequenced patterns, then it was something new, the ear was untrained to these sounds and pattern uses.

Soon things were ready. I asked Anke if she wanted to sing one song on the track I already prepared for her. It ended up with the title “Call It Weird “, so now  all tracks were done and everything was set up to bring these recordings to a mastering plant near Amsterdam called  Dureco. This was a vinyl factory specialised in producing Dutch product, the type like ‘Dutch Schlager’ like Vader Abraham known internationally for his “Smurf” songs. He was prominent on the wall everywhere in the factory offices. The main earner. Newer versions of this first EP exist: “Muscoviet Musquito” ( deliberately spelled this way) and “Going Round”. Both have various versions over the years.

‘I Felt That The Xymox Days Were Not The Right Way To Go’

Q: Xymox became Clan Of Xymox when you signed to 4AD, but later you reverted to Xymox before ultimately returning to Clan Of Xymox in the late ’90s. How do you view these shifts in retrospect? What, in your opinion, distinguishes Xymox from Clan Of Xymox?

Ronny: I started with the name Xymox and released my first EP “Subsequent Pleasures“ under this name. When Xymox got signed by 4 AD and the first debut album was called “Clan Of Xymox” I decided it was a slightly better name also because I had found people to play the songs live, so hence the ‘Clan’. I considered Xymox as my Pseudonym.

When Clan Of Xymox got signed by Wing / PolyGram USA I felt this was a significant change and wanted to underline this with shortening the name and perhaps with the reasoning that it would be easier for people in general to remember our name when it was shorter.

After 4 albums under the name Xymox, with the album “Phoenix” it had gotten too commercial in my opinion. With the 2 UK releases “Metamorphosis“ and “Headclouds” which were too Experimental and nothing much to do with the early material on 4 AD I decided in 1997 it was time to reintroduce Clan Of Xymox again with the same approach and attitude as in the earl 80’s. I felt that the Xymox days were not the right way to go and that it was better to stick to my own opinion instead of letting people influence me in one way or the other.

The result was the album “Hidden Faces” released worldwide on Tess Records and Pandaimonium Records in Germany in 1997. This was the start of Clan Of Xymox again. Since Phoenix I didn’t tour anymore. Had actually no live band anymore. I started to find again people who could play live with me and soon I had a live band ready to start promoting “Hidden Faces” and the older works on 4AD. Mojca my partner was there already since 1991 with me learning to play an instrument, keys and bass. She already designed the artwork from on 1992. In 1995 I decided to play in The Netherlands and promote “Metamorphosis” and “Headclouds”. The old live members from the 80’s Frank Weyzig and Will Anvers joined me on stage together with Mojca on Keyboards. This tour made me realise I missed playing live and soon since 1997 Clan Of Xymox played live each and every year till now and will keep on playing live.

I have a steady crew for more than a decade now with Mojca from on 1991 (of course), Mario ( more than 20 years), Sean and Daniel. I stay with the labels Metropolis (USA ) and Trisol (Germany ) as well as I run my own label Xymox Control now for decades a steady course with Clan Of Xymox, only expanding with my band, slowly but gradually. It manifests in the vast amount of sold out shows we are having each year.

‘We Were In Our Extravaganza’

Q: You were closely associated with 4AD, one of the most groundbreaking labels of the early New-Wave era. How did an unknown band from the Netherlands find its way onto such an iconic label? And how did your time with 4AD influence your evolution as an artist?

Ronny: Back in 1983 I felt that my former town Nijmegen ‘deserved’ a few copies of “Subsequent Pleasures” too. I was doing all the distribution myself. I sold 150 through Rough Trade UK, 150 in New Waves France and 150 export to Essen in Germany. Anyway, so I went to Nijmegen the night of the ‘Day of the Dead’, 1st of November.
I decided to visit a friend but he was not at home so not knowing what was going on that evening  I soon found out The Cocteau Twins were playing in Doornroosje that night, so I had to see them. There was still plenty of time left so I decided to have something  to eat in my favourite eating cafe De Plak. Whilst having dinner I heard English was spoken on another table, so my interest was aroused. Maybe this couple were The Cocteau Twins? Had to be! An English male and female.  Without any hesitation I went to their table and asked them all sorts of questions about their band The Cocteau Twins. They informed me politely that they were not The Cocteau Twins but were their supporting act called Dead Can Dance and if I wanted they could put me on the guest list; which I naturally did not decline since I was no longer active in Doornroosje anymore. In return I gave them a copy of “Subsequent Pleasures” for them to listen to.

Having seen Dead Can Dance they blew me away, just like of course The Cocteau Twins. After the show I went boldly to the dressing room and drank some beer with both the bands as they were sharing the dressing room and already established that we were all like-minded, talking to each other, or trying to, because Robin Guthrie of the Cocteau’s had a very heavy Scottish accent. Difficult to understand for a  Dutchman who knew and spoke only ‘school’ English. That night I learned then that Brendan was Irish, lived in New-Zealand, moved to Australia, met Lisa in Melbourne and moved to London to work on their musical career. A similar story was true for The Cocteau Twins who moved from Scotland to London to work on their career. All was very interesting and at the end of the night we swore to keep in contact and said our goodbyes.

During that time I kept in contact with Brendan and Lisa who lived together on the Isle Of Dogs. They invited me to their London home and I stayed at their place quite a few times. In those days I had to travel by ferry to the UK, a long journey. They lived on the 11th floor with a fantastic view over London. The flats were those typical council flats, ashen grey and reeking of urine in the elevators. They had a staggering amount of locks installed on their front door. With all their equipment at home I could understand their mistrust of their surroundings. It was all very depressing but very exciting for me. Brendan worked the same way as I did. We ended up with almost the same equipment in 1986. Brendan and Lisa were then still living together and were really dedicated to music. Every day they recorded or rehearsed. Lisa mainly singing and playing the Yang Ching. I slept in the living room and later on some visits they had a closet, like the one of “Harry Potter”. I slept there and was pretty cosy;)

Xymox started playing live in 1984 again. One day Brendan Perry called me up and asked me if we wanted to support them on a tour in the UK.  Without any hesitation I agreed to do it and almost a week later we were in London. Unfortunately when we arrived nearly all the dates of Dead Can Dance got cancelled and there were only three dates left:  one in London, Huddersfield and one in Dudley. We stayed with Brendan and Lisa, sleeping all on the floor in the living room, which I knew already too well.

During our first concert In London I nearly disappeared through the hole in the stage, I had to walk very carefully  because they did not manage to cover all the holes under the stained carpet. The father of Brendan was I believe the tour manager and his mother made sandwiches for Dead Can Dance when we went on the road to Dudley. The town looked nothing much and the bar we had to play likewise.. our dressing room was between beer barrels and if we wanted to have a drink we had to buy it at the bar said the promoter resembling “Dell Boy” of “Only Fools And Horses”. Still we had a great time hanging out with Brendan and Lisa, who were very generous to give us some money for covering our ferry expenses, which I know for sure they were paying out of their own pockets. After that we did more shows all over The Netherlands till summer.

Brendan Perry was the first one who told me about 4AD.  Before that I only paid attention to bands and not too much to record labels strangely enough.  He said he gave “Subsequent Pleasures” to Ivo Watts Russell , the label boss of 4AD, and so I followed up with sending a demo to 4AD with some newer additional tracks in July 1984, recorded in the Amsterdam Octopus 8 track studio. The demo I had sent 4AD after our shows in Paris’ old theatre La Seballe Club, several Dutch and the 2 UK dates. I was getting impatient as always. I gave Ivo Watts Russell a phone call. I was complaining about how the Dutch music industry sucked and that his label was the only independent label appealing to me. A week before that,  I had a meeting with the Dutch division label EMI but this meeting reminded me of all the cliches I ever heard about Major labels. To my absolute delight and surprise Ivo told me he liked what he had heard from the demo so far and wanted to meet, to see us in person and talk about it.

Ivo wanted to meet the band, so arriving in London, me and Anke  were heading to the private home of Ivo Watts Russell and his girlfriend Debby who also worked for 4AD as their press agent. They lived together in a residential SW12 London area. We stayed in their house for a week.

Anke and I had placed these long extra hair extensions in our hair so we looked a bit like ‘Uber Goths’ with a lot of make-up and special clothing we had designed for us by a friend who was handy with the sewing machine and wanted to become a fashion designer. I saw the surprise on Ivo’s face when he saw us for the first time. We were obviously not looking the way he expected us to look. Most of his bands on the label looked actually quite normal with no real image to speak of; so here we were in our extravaganza.

Luckily Ivo and Debby liked us or the music enough to offer Xymox a record deal and with that great news we went back home. The news had spread that we were the first band 4AD signed since two years of their last signing of Dead Can Dance. After this published fact my phone started to ring frequently and offers for radio and new Dutch live shows offers came in by the plenty.

When the self-titled album “Clan Of Xymox”’ was released funny enough nearly all the journalist thought we were Scottish by origin judging by their reviews. An Englishman is always very sensitive to accents. I saw it as a compliment though. Of course ‘Clan Of’ was suggestive enough 😉 . Most reviews were ecstatic, full of praise with five star ratings, the highest you could get. I guess we got lucky with my intention not to advertise we were Dutch. Having no names on the artwork and let the album speak for itself.

The British can be real chauvinists regarding their music industry, they didn’t take foreigners making music too seriously in those days. Of course the weekly music magazines Sounds, Melody Maker, New Music Express etcetera made up their ‘mistake’ in the eye to eye interviews, clearly pointing out us being Dutch and using the usual stereotype references, with headlines like ‘Dutch Bake’, ‘Dutch Courage’, ‘Going Dutch’, ‘Hollandaise Sauce’ and any phrase relating to the war between the Dutch and the Brits a few centuries ago. Anyway it did not matter anymore because we got the attention;  had a proper selling debut album. We did a lot of photo shoots with an English photographer using drapes in the back ground giving us a more Gothic image. This was used as our promo picture.The Music Maker and Sounds were giving us regular features and interviews afterwards, which gave us finally an international standing. Soon 4AD set up a few shows in Croydon and the University of London plus a John Peel session, which was very important to establish up and coming bands.

‘We Had To Prove Ourselves Time And Time Again’

Q: You’ve already mentioned several legendary British bands that were prominent in the 1980s and shared strong connections and camaraderie. What was your experience of the Dutch music scene during that time? How do you reflect on it now?

Ronny: I only had French, British and Scottish bands as friends. I could not get along with any band in The Netherlands in the mid-eighties. In the Netherlands there was a very strong Rock culture with no space for bands like us. We had to prove ourselves time and time again. I didn’t understand the provincial attitude towards synths coming from the Dutch critics. In a very first review the national music magazine Oor reviewed synths as magic boxes which made them nervous listening to them. When our first album came out we finally got greeted by the more alternative media which just got a foot in the door and were played on radio and TV, MTV and the like. Suddenly we were part of a movement to be reckoned with. Sometimes we even played live twice on a day in The Netherlands.

‘The Only Disappointment For Me Was That I Actually Never Got To Meet John Peel’

Q: During that period, you worked with or crossed paths with notable figures like the aforementioned Brendan Perry. But what about John Fryer, David M. Allen and John Peel? What can you share about those interactions and their impact on your journey?

Ronny: Our first John Peel session was in the beginning of  November 1985. It was pretty stressful for me. We had to record 4 to 5 songs with the live band in one working ‘BBC’ day of 6 hours or so. It didn’t occur to me that I should have taken adaptors for English power plugs with me.  Because it is the BBC, no one is allowed to change a power plug without the assistance of a fully qualified engineer, so it took them already one hour to find such a person as labour union regulations dictated that the technician supposed to have his tea break of an hour. We were already losing valuable time! We didn’t have computers in those days. My first Commodore computer with TV monitor I got in 1988 when I wrote the “ Twist Of Shadows“ album.  The Macintosh 128K a normal mortal could not afford. Clan Of Xymox did however use an 8 track recorder for the backing tracks, like Depeche Mode or The Cocteau Twins used as well. It consisted of individual drum tracks, sequenced bass triggers and strings. This made life a bit easier.  We could thanks to the ‘eight track’ finish within the timeframe of the BBC.

The only disappointment for me was that I actually never got to meet John Peel. Even then he was a legend, especially to me, because it was the best program for discovering new exciting bands. I only got to call him from the 4AD office, thanking him for the opportunity he gave us. He declared in his program that we were the pioneers of Dark-Wave. That was a huge compliment and recognition for Clan Of Xymox. Soon Dutch radios started to follow suit. We got to record a live show for Radio Veronica in Hilversum. Several TV shows invited us for music programs like the VARA. MTV picked us up too. We felt we were on a roll!

John Fryer I instantly liked as a person and sound engineer. He was the in house sound engineer of 4AD and knew what he was doing. He was not afraid to experiment with sampling sounds and replacing them. The AMS delay was his secret weapon. I remember sitting evenings together with John mixing tracks by hand. So I had to pull and push knobs on my side and he on his side. It was a lot of fun and very educational. Later in live John made me a remix for “Big Brother“ from the album “Limbo” (2021).

I worked with David M. Allen on tracks like “Out Of The Rain” and “Sing A Song” together with Jools of Nitzer Ebb. It was in Leamington Spa in John Rivers’s studio. I worked with John Rivers already on the “Blind Hearts”-EP for 4AD and several B-sides for later PolyGram. Now I was working with John on the “Hidden Faces”-album (1997) and we thought it would be very cool to have Dave M. Allen involved. This certainly worked. I wished we had the budget to work on all the songs but I was already glad these two songs worked out fantastically. Dave is a very likeable person with an air of mystique around him. He gives suggestions for you to try and they always make sense. He taught me to delve deeper when needed.

‘Without Me There Is No Clan Of Xymox’

Q: Both Xymox and Clan Of Xymox included founding members Anke Wolbert and Pieter Nooten. What role did they play in shaping the band’s identity, and how do you reflect on the line-up changes over the years?

Ronny: They were both not founding members. They joined me in the beginning of the Xymox period. First Anke as I told you and later in 1985 Pieter. Because they were the first ones joining they are seen as founding members but I am sorry to say; it was always my thing. I was and still am the driving force behind the band and it’s musical direction. No one else. They concentrated mainly on their own songs like “Masquerade” or “Stumble” and “Fall” back in the days. The bulk I wrote. I participated also on their songs as well.

Regarding the songs it is true we worked more together like a band should. In the beginning we rehearsed the songs for live shows and many got changed during this process. This was only sustainable for a short while as nobody liked to rehearse together.

We ended up as 3 individuals writers with different taste and musical directions so it was inevitable it wouldn’t work out long because we were all to egocentric to begin with. When I officially broke up with Anke it was also the end of working together as a collective. We all went our own way.

Indeed we had many changes but maybe the irony is in the word ‘Clan’, a group of close knitted people. So in the end there were many LIVE musicians joining the band for a short or longer period. Joining ‘the Clan’. The red line was and is simple: without me there is no Clan Of Xymox.

All happened really fast in those days. It was a learning process for all involved. Books about the music industry and bands hardly existed. Everyone was left to do whatever with their experiences, positive or negative.
I never knew or expected that just making music could make me enemies but also gaining a lot of friends of course. Jalousie and spite can make people really vicious and vindictive and yet equally so many fans or friends treat you with the utmost respect or even adoration. To me it is just music but soon you realise it is something more than that. 

Former friends or partners turning into your personal enemy. It is the worst thing that can happen, because they know your weaknesses and irritation points and will not shy away from using this against you if they have no pride, dignity or integrity.

Thinking back on this short period between 1985 and 1989 stir more negative emotions then positive ones in me. It wasn’t all bad of course but I can’t remember real long good periods. I realise looking back that I am only happy with the band since the beginning of the  mid 90’s to now, at least 33 years so far:)

Q: How does the young Ronny Moorings compare to the musician you are today? What traits have endured, and which aspects of your younger self do you miss in your music or approach to life?

Ronny: I was definitely very naive in the beginning. When I wrote a song for example I just split the rights between the band members because I thought it would motivate my band to pull more their weight in the band and…. after all I was a socialist and not a capitalist 😉

Soon I discovered that when people sense they don’t have to do too much and can simply lay back whilst I do the heavy lifting because they get paid anyway.

I started to get annoyed with this uneven situation and learned from this that I should not give away my rights that easily just to please band members or partner. So I ended this naive approach and never looked back.
Equally I used to work with bigger crews, managers, tour managers, lawyers and all the professional people they told you would need to have in order to make it as a band.

After many annoyances about the enormous bills I decided I could do most jobs way better. I know I am a control freak. You have to be. You have to understand the way things work. Now I have a lean machine and I like it a lot. Later I also learned to delegate things and that is also very rewarding. I guess ‘live and learn’ is true in my opinion.

‘Dark-Wave Has A Strong Hold All Over The World Like In The 80’s’

Q: Many legendary New/Dark-Wave bands achieved their greatest success in the ’80s. Why do you think those years were so special and unique for the genre? How do you see the evolution of New/Dark-Wave music from its origins to today, particularly in terms of its spirit and cultural significance?

Ronny: Yes, it was a new style taking over with fashion unseen before, It was against the Hippy culture, the jeans wearing long haired pot smokers. It was a clean break from all of this, plus the ‘no future’ feeling with all the political turmoil and nuclear threats hanging over our heads. Remember Thatchers England. Ronald Reagan as president.

These bands made the sound track of our lives and guess what? It is happening again. Dark-Wave has a strong hold all over the world like in the 80’s. Yes, it’s not on the dying radio or TV stations as we know it but streaming like crazy, this time on internet radios, YouTube, Spotify It feels a bit like maybe the pirates in the 80’s.

It feels the same to me and also we have the same nuclear threats back again. In a way it feels coming ‘full circle’.

Q: Over the decades, the music industry has undergone tremendous changes -rising social media, streaming platforms, declining physical album sales, advances in technology, and shifts in performance venues from intimate gigs to massive festivals. How have you navigated these transformations, and what are your thoughts on the (r)evolution of the industry?

Ronny: I navigate these changes just fine I think. I always welcomed change and will ever do. We need to improve. We need to move forward and not backward. When for the very first time in the 80’s I could get my hands on a computer I embraced it as a big help with sequencing and programming. It made endless rehearsing patterns on keyboards so much easier. Later it became my entire virtual studio platform. Streaming is now the most important thing now in the music industry and some artists do not like it, but remember when music was pirated and artists would get nothing from it financially and no insight how many like to listen to your music etc. I love Spotify and as an artist you have access to all date regarding what your fans are listening to.
Most music I listen to these days is from platforms, on my phone with airpods. This gives me more time to listen to music when I am on the move or outside. Everything in one device is just brilliant I think. Of course I have at home all old media devices still in place. I do play vinyl as well when I am in the mood. I still love vinyl and the looks of it. The best format for the artwork to shine.

Q: While it’s difficult for any musician to choose a single album or song as their best, is there a particular piece in your discography that holds special significance for you? Or do you believe that your most recent work is always your finest?

Ronny: I have to agree with my fellow musicians. My recent is indeed the best so far as I can see and feel 😉 It is simply because new songs are for the one who wrote and recorded it the most exciting, the most fresh and recent to your current experiences. You have to play them live which you haven’t done before and in the end they will sound different then when it came out. If you don’t have that feeling the artist should not release the album in the first place 😉

‘I Let The Listener Feel What I Feel’

Q: Your lyrics often feel deeply expressive, sometimes addressing social and political themes, other times delving into introspection. Do you see your lyrics as a reflection of your true self? What value and purpose do they hold for you?

Ronny: Sometimes yes and sometimes no. It’s complicated 😉 I definitely sing about emotions I feel or felt. Say I sing about Evelyn, Louise or Michelle. That doesn’t mean I know a person with that name or sing about a real person. All these names are fictional but the feelings and thoughts what went into these songs are real. Sometimes more than one person I think about finds its place into a song lyric. It all depends. Political themes are the ones which affected me like in the Lockdown periods in the early 20’s. It comes home, becomes personal and I describe more the situation than anything else. I let the listener feel what I feel.
Sometimes I write a song to blow off steam and feel good afterwards. Most of the time it’s about a person who doesn’t want to leave me alone almost my entire life 😉 I can keep going on like that. I always delve the lyrics out of the depths of my mind where it lay buried until I get it out through some type of instrumentation deciding for me what the topic is going to be. A new to be written song has most of the time its own will and direction.

Q: Clan Of Xymox has consistently attracted new fans over the years. What do your fans mean to you, and how does it feel to have a lasting influence on the Dark-Wave scene?

Ronny: Fans are the most important to me. Without a doubt. We meet so many dedicated fans, traveling to all of our shows they can reach within reason. We always talk to anyone after the show who’s interested, have selfies taken, give autographs, give something a fan would like to experience, a closeness you can’t give onstage. A hand shake, a look in the eye.

I am honoured to contribute to the Dark-Wave scene as it is today. All bands who are now big I met when they were still beginning and were our support one time or the other. I know that we had an influence on them but now they are an influence on me the same. So it works in the end both ways. To me this scene is the best scene ever for me.

Q: Looking back on your career, what do you consider to be your biggest milestones? And what were the most significant disappointments?

Ronny: I am still working on my biggest milestone 🙂 My quest is to see how long I can still play live with the band. That is my ultimate quest in life. Disappointments enough, especially in people, but to me that is also an inspiration to write songs about so in the end all turns out for the best. I am lucky I have many good friends in my life to compensate for the negative. Unfortunately I am a person who has to be on the darker side of things in order to feel inspired. So I don’t mind 😉

Q: How have you managed to keep finding fresh ideas and challenges over the years? Were there periods where inspiration waned, and if so, how did you overcome those creative blocks?

Ronny: I think in the beginning it was harder to write as it is now. To me writing comes very natural I think. Maybe because I have more to say now than when I was in my twenties. In that time I read a lot of books in order to get lyrically inspired. For a long time now I just write from what comes up in my mind and put it into lyrics. Way easier I think and less time consuming 😉 The music was never a problem. Finding words to it is a harder nut to crack sometimes.

A creative block I handle very easy: I put the song away and start with something else. Sometimes its years later that I have a look at it again, if I can do something with it and often that’s the case. So for me I don’t like to force a song if it doesn’t present it by itself.

‘Joy Division, The Sisters Of Mercy And The Cure Were Very Important To Me’

Q: One of the most surprising entries in your discography is “Kindred Spirits” (2012), a cover album featuring renowned songs and artists. How did you choose the tracks, and what connection do you have to those songs? Would you consider them key sources of inspiration?

Ronny: When I was young, the only means of getting to know music was the radio or “Top of the Pops” later in the 70s. In the Netherlands we had bands like Shocking Blue, Brainbox, Earth And Fire, Focus, The Golden Earring and such, which appealed to me a lot. These were the bands I was interested in. On TV we grew up with The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and of course The Monkees especially grouped for US TV. These bands made me want to play an instrument at a very young age. After that I always stayed on the alternative side of music. On my album “Kindred Spirits“ you can see and hear which artist influenced me in the direction I was going. Bands for example like Joy Division, The Sisters Of Mercy and The Cure were very important to me.

I gave or restricted myself to make a choice for ten songs of bands who had in one way or the other an impact on my musical taste. I wanted to give an ode to these bands and revive these songs in my memory to keep and make them as my own. In the end I did 11 tracks of my all-time favourite bands or songs.

Too many bands like to hide their influences or deny them. I decided to give them my own pedestal.

Q: This year marks the release of Clan Of Xymox’s 18th album, “Exodus”. What does this album represent within your extensive discography? Can you share insights into its creation?

Ronny: I finished and released the album “Limbo” in 2021 and I wrote the “Exodus” album after writing “Save Our Souls” in 2022 in 2023. The last song I wrote for this album was in January 2024 and here we are. In a way keeping the tradition of one album release in every two or three years.

We toured an awful lot so the little time I had, I spend in the studio taking my mind of things. The late general developments in the world I felt writing about. Instead of introspective lyrics I felt more like describing our current times we live in. After “Save Our Souls” I wrote “Fear For A World At War”, especially after all the rhetoric of Putin threatening Europe or the world with nuclear strikes. Because the world is massively gearing up for war.

When I was born there was the biggest world crisis between the Soviet Union and the USA about the missiles in Cuba.

It is ironic that now we are living with almost the exact conditions but this time closer to home, having a nuclear missile threat. History repeats itself . I certainly hope this is not getting out of hand but the signs are that we seem to step up our war talk more and more. SOS indeed. The world is at turmoil and nothing good will come out of this. Exodus for me as well when it gets out of hand. Anyway, this is the back ground for writing all these songs for “Exodus”.

Q: Talking about “Save Our Souls”, there clearly is a sense of commentary on the state of the world. Do you see music and this album as a unifying force in troubled times? How do you perceive its broader impact on society?

Ronny: “Save Our Souls” was specific about the invasion of the Russians into the Ukraine. It was a shocker for me. Especially after just having toured there in September 2021. I see music in troubled times more as a safety blanket you can wrap yourself in. It gives comfort and soothes your mind and well-being. An escape as it were from the daily sorrows we get bombarded with each and every minute. So far music can change or influence politics when masses cry out for social change. I don’t see that happen with this album or any of my albums;) Never intended for it either.

Q: Authenticity seems to be a hallmark of your music. Many fans describe a sense of genuine emotion and connection in your work. How do you experience this dynamic and interaction with your audience? How powerful or influential do you think music can be in bridging gaps and inspiring change?

Ronny: Wow, if you talk about the grand scale of things you might have a chance to do so but in the cult circuit we are maybe just the inspiring factor. That which might work on a small scale. I should certainly hope that our fans and other listeners get the music of Clan Of Xymox and feel the emotions I feel when I perform these songs with my band. Live you notice this the best. During the show I always look at people and there are so many various expressions on people faces, you feel that you are almost privileged to see an expression of someone when they sink into the song with mind and body. I love it!

‘Contrast Works Always The Best In A Way’

Q: Your music often combines dark, melancholic themes with an energy that makes people dance and feel alive. How do you reconcile these contrasting elements?

Ronny: Contrast works always the best in a way. I defines, it outlines. I have a lot of slow songs with equally dark lyrics but playing live I want to entertain people, want to make them move inside and out. I have luckily lots and lots of songs to choose from and during the years it taught me a lot about which songs people like to hear when they go to our concert. That means the classics are always included and never ignored.

Q: Finally, let’s end with a few rapid-fire questions:

• ‘Sex, Drugs, and Rock ‘N’ Roll’: does this resonate with you?

Ronny: During my long career all certainly resonates at one time or the other. Experimenting with drugs I steered away long time ago. It was perhaps hip in the 80’s or attractive to experiment but the same goes for smoking or anything else unhealthy. I value a healthy life style with perhaps an alternativee: Sex, Wine and Wave 😉

• Is there a band or artist you would have loved to collaborate with?

Ronny: It’s a shame I never got to work with David Bowie. I met him once in LA when he came to see our concert in the Palace. I was too starstruck to even think of asking him. What a missed chance !

• Do you feel a spiritual connection with any particular artist or band?

Ronny: Yes, plenty! I have got so many great friends in the current scene who make great music. Backstage is always fun when we meet.

• In a world without music, what do you think you’d be doing?

Ronny: Not breathe.

• Which Clan Of Xymox song would you recommend to someone who has never heard your music before?

Ronny: “A Day”, “She” or “Loneliness” as a starter.

• How many albums has Clan Of Xymox sold, and which remains the most successful?

Ronny:  Wouldn’t you like to know 😉 “Twist Of Shadows” was still the most successful in terms of hard record-CD/Cassettes sales because it was at the time people could only buy that and did. There was no piracy then, apart from the classic copying on a blank cassette. In terms of streaming and overall impact I have to point to my later works.

• What is the ultimate dream for Clan Of Xymox?

Ronny: To carry on like the last two years.

• What would you want written on your epitaph and that of Clan Of Xymox?

Ronny:  

See you on the other side.

I am the sunlight on ripened grain.

I am the gentle autumn rain.

Do not stand at my grave and weep.

I am a thousand winds that blow.

I am not there, I didn’t go.

I didn’t die, so you know. 

See you on the other side.

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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Gothic Rock / Darkwave act The Awakening presents “Mirror Midnight”, the first taste of the self-titled album (their 12th to date, out October 18).

The single is about “humans’ tendency towards self-obsession and the media’s recurring manipulation of self-perception” so the band’s founding member Ashton Nyte says. And he adds: “Mirror Midnight is about the obsession of the self, as guided and fed and manipulated by mass media, social media and the endless flood of information and disinformation we all deal with constantly. It’s the juxtaposition of succumbing to insidious and divisive marketing while the world goes up in flames. And how that cycle feeds itself. It’s a story almost as old as time, like the fairy tale it alludes to.”

Here’s the video for “Mirror Midnight” shot by Ashton Nyte created the video, shot in black-and-white format, with a gothic noir film treatment.

Now based in the USA, The Awakening formed in South Africa in the late ’90s as the project of Ashton Nyte.

Coming up as well is an EU and UK solo acoustic tour – Nyte’s first post-Covid tour following his 36-date tour with Wayne Hussey back in 2019. The EU-UK tour kicks off September 28.

The “The Awakening” album is out October 18 via Intervention Arts and follows Nyte’s second book and eighth solo album “Autumn’s Children”. It will be released on vinyl, CD, digitally and various limited-edition formats.

The Awakening tour dates

• Sept 28 Ilmenau, Germany – Campus Noir Festival
• Sept 29 London, Uk – The Water Rats
• Oct 02 York, Uk – Fulford Arms
• Oct 03 Edinburgh, Uk – Cabaret Voltaire
• Oct 04 Sheffield, Uk – Record Junkee
• Oct 25 Karlsruhe, Germany – Kohi Kulturraum
• Oct 26 Dortmund, Germany – Pauluskirche
• Oct 27 Retie, Belgium – Cafe Foli-A
• Nov 01 Hamburg, Germany – Maria’s Ballroom
• Nov 02 Apeldoorn, The Netherlands – Brainstorm Festival (Sold 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!

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LA-based collective Beauty In Chaos has released their fourth album, “Dancing With Angels”, via 33.3 Music Collective. The album, featuring eight tracks, comes hand in hand with the video for “Holy Ground“, featuring Patrik Mata of Kommunity FK.

Formed in 2018 by guitarist Michael Ciravolo and Grammy-nominated producer Michael Rozon, Beauty In Chaos is a revolving collective of artists. The new album features contributions from returning members and new collaborators, including Wayne Hussey (The Mission), Ashton Nyte (The Awakening), Kat Leon (Holy Wars), Cinthya Hussey, William and Sarah Faith (The Bellwether Syndicate), Leo Luganskiy (Strangelove), Julian Shah-Tayler (The Singularity), Cynthia Isabella, and Patrik Mata (Kommunity FK).

Ciravolo describes the album as both a “sonic regression and a sonic progression,” blending elements from their previous works with new influences. The album includes unique interludes, or “Halos”, that connect the tracks.

The lead track, “Diving For Pearls“, features Wayne and Cinthya Hussey, with a single version mixed by Tim Palmer. As of July 24, ‘Dancing With Angels’ is available on limited edition multi-color vinyl and CD from the Beauty In Chaos store, where the ‘Diving For Pearls’ limited edition CD single is also available. Digitally, the album can be found on Bandcamp, Apple Music and Spotify. The first 100 vinyl copies come with two posters signed by the artists. Vinyl and CD purchases also include the full digital version of the album (with Halos and two bonus tracks).

Track List:

1. Present Tense ft. William Faith and Sarah Rose Faith
2. The Devil You Know ft. Kat Leon
3. Diving For Pearls ft. Wayne Hussey and Cinthya Hussey
4. Echoes and The Angels ft. Leo Luganskiy
5. Kiss Me (Goodbye) ft. Julian Shah Tayler
6. Hollow ft. Cynthia Isabella
7. Holy Ground ft. Patrik Mata
8. Made of Rain ft. Ashton Nyte

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

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(Photo by Kevin Estrada) Los Angeles-based collective Beauty In Chaos has released the music video for “Holy Ground” featuring Patrik Mata of Kommunity FK. This track is part of their upcoming fourth album, “Dancing With Angels”, set to be released on July 24, 2024. “Holy Ground” showcases a departure from BIC’s usual goth rock/post-punk sound, diving into the darkwave genre.

Here’s the video for “Holy Ground” featuring Patrik Mata of Kommunity FK.

“Dancing With Angels” includes contributions from artists such as Wayne Hussey of The Mission, Kat Leon of Holy Wars, Ashton Nyte of The Awakening, and more. The record follows the release of the single “Diving For Pearls”, which also features Wayne Hussey.

Beauty In Chaos was formed in 2018 by guitarist Michael Ciravolo, known for his work with Human Drama and Gene Loves Jezebel, alongside producer Michael Rozon. The collective has involved various prominent musicians from bands like The Cure, Ministry, and Nine Inch Nails.

Track Listing

1. Present Tense ft. William Faith and Sarah Rose Faith
2. The Devil You Know ft. Kat Leon
3. Diving For Pearls ft. Wayne Hussey and Cinthya Hussey
4. Echoes and The Angels ft. Leo Luganskiy
5. Kiss Me (Goodbye) ft. Julian Shah Tayler
6. Hollow ft. Cynthia Isabella
7. Holy Ground ft. Patrik Mata
8. Made of Rain ft. Ashton Nyte

The album will be available on limited edition multi-color vinyl, CD, and digital formats. The first 100 vinyl copies include two signed posters.

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

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(Photo by Kevin Estrada) Beauty In Chaos has teamed up with The Mission’s Wayne Hussey and Cinthya Hussey on the “Diving For Pearls” single. Cinthya is Wayne’s wife and partner in Archeometre. This is the fourth song Wayne Hussey has fronted with Beauty In Chaos.

The new single goes accompanied by a video which you can view below. This is the first offering from the forthcoming record by Beauty In Chaos, formed in 2018 by guitarist Michael Ciravolo. Entitled “Dancing With Angels”, the full-length album is set for world-wide release on July 24.

The ‘single version’ was mixed by Tim Palmer, whose production and mixing credits include The Cure, U2, David Bowie, Robert Plant, HIM and The Mission, among many other artists.

“When Michael first sent me the music track, I was on tour with The Mission. I had a few listens and thought, yes, this is good, I can find something to sing to this easy enough. And then nothing. For months, I’d listen, and I would come up with melodies aplenty, but no words. More time passed and Michael would ask how I was getting on and each time I’d reply, “I’ve got vocal melodies but no lyrics, absolutely nothing is coming”. I must confess that I was getting worried that I’d never be able to write another song – ever,” recalls Wayne Hussey.

“I was raking over all my old lyric notebooks and various word documents on old hard drives and still nada. I was bemoaning my situation to Cinthya one evening and she suggested I write about a personal situation I’d found myself in a few years back. I got my mind focused in the right direction, and while in the studio singing along to the track, I soon got the first line, with the rest following fairly easily…and quickly. It was a huge relief to have the elusive muse visit me again. I played it to Cin and she suggested a couple of small changes and voila, here you have it! I won’t explain what or who the song is about, there’s no need for that, I’ll just leave the listener to make up their own mind, and take from it what they will”.

Cinthya Hussey adds “When I first heard the instrumental track for this song I immediately fell in love with Michael’s guitars. It’s the kind of song that embraces you… and I could listen to it all day long. Wayne was a bit stuck for ideas so I threw an idea at him that was relevant and would be good to get out of his system… And off he went… majestically so! This is probably one of my favourite Beauty In Chaos songs!”

As of June 4, “Diving For Pearls” will be available a limited edition CD single and also digitally everywhere, including Bandcamp, Apple Music and Spotify via 33.3 Music Collective.

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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English vocalist and violinist Erica Nockalls releases the official video for cover of Roxy Music’s “In Every Dream Home a Heartache”. The video follows her recent single, “Build Me a Ship”, which was released in September to celebrate the announcement of Erica’s UK tour supporting Echo and the Bunnymen.

“In Every Dream Home a Heartache” was originally penned by Bryan Ferry, and initially featured on Roxy Music’s second album, “For Your Pleasure”.

Erica Nockalls is an English violinist, vocalist, songwriter, and visual artist. She is best known as the violinist in The Wonder Stuff, one-half of acoustic duo Miles Hunt & Erica Nockalls, and as a live fiddle player for The Proclaimers. Nockalls is also the lead vocalist, violinist, and guitarist in her self-titled art-rock band. Her solo work has explored a dark, intense style of alternative-pop embracing electro, synth and industrial elements into her unique approach.

“In Every Dream Home a Heartache”, also featuring Parisian studio producer and artist Jean-Charles Versari, is a twisted duet between the main protagonists where Erica takes on the role of the doll with Jean-Charles her male counter-point. A bleak, dystopian interpretation of Roxy Music’s original, “In Every Dream Home a Heartache” showcases Erica Nockalls’ sound perfectly.

Here’s the video for the track.

About Erica Nockalls’ solo career

Erica Nockalls unveiled her maiden solo album, “Imminent Room”, under the banner of Independent Records in 2013, offering a collection of eleven original tracks penned and rendered by her, rooted in the realms of art-rock and alternative genre.

Nockalls candidly shared that her journey towards solo creation matured at 27, spurred by a blend of boredom and disappointment stemming from the prevailing musical landscape. As elucidated in the artwork of “Imminent Room”, she transitioned from a mere critic to a creator, embracing her intrinsic musical leanings that transcended her classical violinist training.

“Imminent Room” boasted collaborations with notable artists like Jeff Walker (Carcass) on “Neon Crucifix”, and Wayne Hussey (The Mission) along with Mark Thwaite (Tricky/Peter Murphy/Mob Research) on “I Am Me, This Is Now”.

The album’s mixing and co-production were helmed by TV composer George Taylor (Fratelli Brothers), with whom Nockalls initially crossed paths in 2008. Taylor enlisted Nockalls to lend her string expertise for his diverse TV endeavors, encompassing BBC Arena documentaries such as “The Dreams of William Golding” (2012) and “The Hunt for Moby Dick” (2009), among others.

Post the release of “Imminent Room”, Nockalls assembled a live band, embarking on a UK tour as a supporting act for The Wonder Stuff, and further shared stages with artists like Toyah, Public Image Ltd, Pop Will Eat Itself, and Miyavi, while her live performances showcased her artistic flair with personal artwork adorning the stage.

Her sophomore solo album, “EN2” (2014), encapsulates eleven original compositions, with Nockalls orchestrating every aspect from writing to releasing. January 2014 marked the onset of a new musical chapter as she produced and self-released an album within the one year. “EN2” was funded entirely by sales of her artwork and album pre-sales through her website.

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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London’s Cadiz Music label in conjunction with Merciful Release has announced that a re-mastered version of the “Gift” album by The Sisterhood, the musical project formed by Andrew Eldritch after the demise of The Sisters of Mercy, will be re-issued on the 26th of May 2023. Originally put out on Eldritch’s own Merciful Release label in 1986, the album will now be available digitally, on CD, cassette and limited clear vinyl and features five tracks including the extended mix of the band’s first single ‘Giving Ground’.

Track listing:

1. ‘Jihad’
2. ‘Colours’
3. ‘Giving Ground’
4. ‘Finland Red, Egypt White’
5. ‘Rain From Heaven’

Controversy

In 1985, after the release of the first Sisters of Mercy album “First and Last and Always,” the band prepared for a follow-up. Singer Andrew Eldritch saw it as an opportunity for a change of direction, wanting to explore recording songs without typical rock structures and guitars. However, the band’s musical differences grew, ultimately leading to guitarist Wayne Hussey and bassist Craig Adams leaving the band.

The pair had expressed their intentions to form a new band and use the name “The Sisterhood.” In an attempt to prevent them from capitalizing on The Sisters of Mercy’s success, Eldritch swiftly formed his own band under the same name, effectively blocking Hussey and Adams from using it.

The formation of The Sisterhood caused a rift among the members of The Sisters of Mercy, ultimately leading to the departure of Hussey and Adams. They went on to form the successful gothic rock band The Mission. The controversy surrounding The Sisterhood’s formation led to speculation that the project was an act of revenge by Eldritch. However, Eldritch has downplayed these claims, stating that The Sisterhood was a creative response to the situation and a way to protect the legacy of The Sisters of Mercy.

Gift: The Sisterhood’s Only Album

The Sisterhood’s sound was a departure from the typical gothic rock sound of The Sisters of Mercy, incorporating electronic elements and a more experimental approach. Next to Eldritch the band’s lineup included Alan Vega (Suicide), Lucas Fox (Motorhead), Patricia Morrison (Sisters Of Mercy), James Ray (Gangwar) and Doktor Avalanche (the Sisters’ drum machine).

“Gift,” The Sisterhood’s sole album, was released in 1986. The album features a mix of gothic rock, electronic, and experimental music, with lyrics that touch on themes of religion, love, and betrayal. The album was not a commercial success and received mixed reviews from critics. However, it has since gained a cult following among fans of The Sisters of Mercy and the gothic rock genre. Some notable tracks from “Gift” include “Giving Ground,” “Dance on Glass,” and “Jihad.” “Giving Ground” features a driving bassline and dark, atmospheric synthesizers, while “Dance on Glass” is an uptempo electronic track with a catchy melody. “Jihad” stands out for its haunting and atmospheric sound, featuring spoken-word vocals and Middle Eastern-influenced instrumentation.

Merciful Release announced the single’s release with a press statement: “From among the forces allied to Merciful Release we bring you the Sisterhood. capturing (in this instance) the musical bile of Andrew Eldritch, and introducing James Ray and the Performance … of whom more soon.”

The original “Giving Ground” version is expanded to a seven minute long take here while the lyrics of “Finland Red Egypt White” are taken from the manual of the AK-47 machine gun and a version of “Colours” was later included as a bonus track on CD versions The Sisters of Mercy album “Floodland” in 1987 only this time sung by Andrew Eldritch.

Aftermath and Legacy

Following the release of “Gift,” The Sisterhood disbanded, and Andrew Eldritch returned his focus to The Sisters of Mercy. The band underwent significant lineup changes, with Patricia Morrison joining as bassist. Eldritch has been relatively quiet about The Sisterhood project in interviews, stating that it served its purpose and that he has moved on from that chapter of his career.

Despite its short-lived existence and limited output, The Sisterhood remains an interesting and controversial part of gothic rock history. The band’s formation, the tension between Eldritch and his former bandmates, and the release of “Gift” have all contributed to a mythology surrounding The Sisterhood that continues to fascinate fans and music historians alike.

Reflecting on The Sisterhood later, Eldritch stated: “The Sisterhood album was a weapon in this corporate war. That’s why I called it Gift (in German: poison) But I still like the record. It’s weird but it’s fine. I see it as a techno record. Or what I thought to be techno at the time. The Sisterhood project was born out of a certain period of upheaval and conflict within the band. It was a way to assert control over the situation and protect the legacy of The Sisters of Mercy. It’s interesting how The Sisterhood has developed its own mythology over the years. People have their own interpretations and theories about it, which is something that has always fascinated me. The Sisterhood was a response to a particular moment in time. It served its purpose, and then we moved on. I don’t spend much time thinking about it these days.”

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: Dark-Wave, Gothic.

Format: Digital, CD, Vinyl.

Background/Info: Portuguese artist Pedro Code is involved in different projects like the familiar Iamtheshadow but also Rainy Days Factory and The Dream Collision. Early in 2021 he started a new solo-project called The Ending Nights.

Content: This album totally fits the label roster of Cold Transmission Music. It’s a Dark-Wave driven production with a poppy touch on top of a few songs but still more Gothic orientated on harder cuts. The vocals are now whispering and then charismatic, reminding me of Wayne Hussey.

+ + + : This is an enjoyable debut album with a right balance between guitar and electronics. There’s a great match between all related influences with captivating vocals on top. “Sit And Wait” sounds to me as the absolute highlight. The vocals are somewhat whispering which together with the music resulted in a cold and sexy song. I also want to say a word about the great artwork of the album.

– – – : I regret the work only features 9 songs. I’m also convinced Pedro Code can still do better on the next album of this project.

Conclusion: “A Landscape To Die” is a pretty cool debut album for this new Dark-Wave orientated project made in Portugal.

Best songs: “Sit And Wait”, “Fleshless”, “Enjoy The Ride”, “A Landscape To Die”.

Rate: 7½.

Artist: www.facebook.com/TheEndingNights

Label: www.coldtransmission.com / www.facebook.com/coldtransmissionmusic

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: New Wave, Gothic Rock.

Format: Book (paperback) – also available as kindle.

Background/Info: The Sisters Of Mercy are still a cult-band nowadays, although they officially only released 3 studio-albums and started their career back in 1980. They are worldwide seen as one of the founders of the gothic rock genre and are also one of the most bootlegged bands ever. The American author Trevor Ristow was already a huge fan of the band in his teenage years and released a Sisters’ fanzine in the ’80s. He collected lots of press articles, stories from close friends of the bandmembers and his own live experiences to write this book.

Content: First we learned to know the importance of certain people in the beginning period of the band as Claire Shearsby (dj, keyboard-player, sound-mixer and ex-girlfriend of Andrew Eldritch), Ruth Polsky (booker, tourguide, fixer, photographer), Kenny Giles (sound-engineer, studio-owner), Jon Langford (Mekons, The Three Jons) and many others. But most of all we experienced mastermind Andrew as the control freak inside the band which caused lots of conflicts with other people. The stories that are being told are not only about frontman Andrew Eldritch, but also about the other (former) band members Wayne Hussey, Craig Adams, Gary Marx and Ben Gunn.

Many other topics are covered such as The God Squad and The Sisterhood, the very strong Sisters-fanbases, the first American tour (September 1983) and the tough negotiations between Andrew and some major record-companies. The start and rise of the band is very well clarified, starting from the first gig on February 16th, 1981 (Alciun College – York) until the “final” concert at the Royal Albert Hall on June 18th, 1985. Here, the legendary video “Wake” was recorded and it was also the final concert for founding member Mark Pearman alias Gary Marx. Later the split with Wayne Hussey and Craig Adams would also follow, deciding them to continue as The Mission.

+ + + : We get a deeper look into parts of the private life of the band members at that time, as well as interesting stories of what sometimes happened backstage, the tension between the band members and also the relationships of the band members at that time with their girlfriends. About 50 rare pictures, very detailed information on gigs, special anecdotes, explanation of the deeper meaning of the lyrics, the founding of the Merciful Release label … it’s all there.

– – – : Most of the covered topics are about the genius Andrew Eldritch, always driven on amphetamines and not too shy to say how much he hates being labelled as “goth-band”. Some parts of the book are written from the own perceptions of the author, which can of course be different from your own point of view.

Conclusion: Every old-school Sisters-fan should own this 270 pages entertaining masterpiece for sure! The added context that the author provides to song-texts and many other topics is amazing! We are already looking forward for the release of volume II that will cover the ’90’s era.

Artist: www.thesistersofmercy.com
Label: www.gkwfilmworks.com/sisters – www.facebook.com/waitingforanotherwar

Genre/Influences: Gothic, Dark-Wave, Goth-Rock.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Belgian Your Life On Hold last year released its third full length album. The title of the album wants to be ‘a metaphor for the main idea behind Your Life On Hold. It’s the in-between world, that no-man’s-land between different stages in your life, between relationships, between darker days and better days. It’s the very core of what Your Life On Hold is all about’. Driven by the creative spirit of ‘John Wolf’ (aka Jan Dewulf), 2020 has been a real prolific year for this musician. Next to this work he also signed to Dependent where he’ll release a new Mildreda-album and he also composed the music for the newest Dive-album.

Content: This album moves on where “My Name Is Legion for We Are Many” stopped. You get a similar mix of powerful guitar playing mixed with Electronic arrangements and the deep, growling vocals of John Wolf, which once again reminds me of Wayne Hussey. Most of the songs have something melodic (let’s not forget Jan Dewulf was active for years with his Electro-Pop project Diskonnekted), but there’s still a part of rage emerging from this opus. The work also features a few softer cuts, the long-during “I Can Feel Every Part” being for sure the most noticeable one. Notice one of the songs is featuring vocals by Artaud Seth.

+ + + : Your Life On Hold doesn’t innovate, but simply seems to compose the music they like. It’s an entertaining work alternating powerful passages –and even true speed rhythms (cf. “Let’s Start A War”) together with softer, dark-dreamy songs. I prefer the hardest cuts, “Erase Me”, “Save Me From The Void” and “Anywhere Out There” being the most noticeable songs. I already mentioned “I Can Feel Every Part”, which is an interesting piece for the way it has been built up while featuring some Gregorian chants in the background. The last point I want to mention is the great lyrical writing from some songs.

– – – : This album is absolutely pleasant and entertaining and you can hear some passion emerging at the surface, but the main point that hurts is that the songs are somewhat predictable after a while. John Wolf is a great vocalist, but I sometimes miss a more spontaneous way of singing.

Conclusion: This work is a pleasant listening, but I’m convinced this artist can do better.

Best songs: “Erase Me”, “Save Me From The Void”,  “Anywhere Out There”, “I Can Feel Every Part”, “Nowhere Train”.

Rate: (7).

Artist: www.yourlifeonhold.com / www.facebook.com/yourlifeonhold

Label: www.solarlodge.de / www.facebook.com/SolarLodgeRecords

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

Wayne Hussey, frontman of The Mission, will soon have a new single out in support of key workers dealing with Covid-19 globally. He has remade the classic Mission anthem “Tower Of Strength”, joined by members of The Cure, Siouxsie & The Banshees, Slowdive, Bauhaus / Love and Rockets, The Smiths, The Twilight Sad, Depeche Mode, The Cult, The Wonder Stuff, Gary Numan, Evi Vine, Midge Ure (Ultravox), Spear of Destiny / Theatre Of Hate, Beauty In Chaos, The Soft Cavalry, All About Eve, Guns N’ Roses, Nine Inch Nails and Gene Loves Jezebel.

The actual collaborators include: Andy Rourke, Billy Duffy, Budgie, Evi Vine, Gary Numan, James Alexander Graham, Jay Aston, Julianne Regan, Kevin Haskins, Kirk Brandon, Lol Tolhurst, Martin Gore, Michael Aston, Michael Ciravolo, Midge Ure, Miles Hunt, Rachel Goswell, Richard Fortus, Robin Finck, Steve Clarke, Tim Palmer, Trentemøller

Produced by Wayne Hussey, this release features mixes by Tim Palmer and Trentemöller. This is also the first time brothers Jay and Michael Aston (of Gene Loves Jezebel) have recorded anything together since parting ways many years ago.

Here’s a preview of the song featuring for instance Martin Gore.

The single itself will be out on August 28 on all digital platforms followed by a 12” vinyl and CD on October 2.

Wayne Hussey: “When Covid-19 hit I started receiving messages asking ‘why don’t you re-issue Tower Of Strength for the front line workers?’ The song had apparently been adopted as an anthem by some NHS workers, and it got me thinking that I would like to contribute something to the greater cause at this unprecedented time and the only thing I could really contribute is music. So in conjunction with my good friend Michael Ciravolo, I came up with the idea of recording a new version of Tower Of Strength for charity by enlisting the help of musician friends and acquaintances. Tower Of Strength was first released by The Mission as single in 1988 and then again in 1994. It charted twice in the UK top 40 and has proved to be probably our biggest song and the one we generally close our shows with. It is anthemic. I wondered if recording a more well known song might have a greater reach but neither Michael or I could come up with any suggestions that seemed to fit lyrically without getting too corny. So Tower Of Strength it was then.

Usually I detest things that are done for charity that are also self-serving, but I came up with a plan that satisfied my conscience. I spoke with my fellow Mission band members who co-wrote the song – Craig Adams, Mick Brown and Simon Hinkler – and we agreed to give up any publishing income generated by the new version to nominated charities, including mechanical and performance royalties and 100% of any revenue raised by sales. TOS2020 has been renamed to divert funds from the original version, and the charities will all be personally nominated by the people involved in its recording and release. Because the musical contributions are global our idea is that the proceeds will be divided and distributed equally among all the beneficiaries.”

Tracklist for the vinyl:

Vinyl Side A

1. TOS2020 (Beholden To The Front Line Workers Of The World mix)
2. TOS2020 (single)

Vinyl Side B

1. TOS2020 (Trentemøller remix)*
2. TOS2020 (Albie Mischenzingerzen remix)**

Tracklist for the CD:

1. TOS2020 (Beholden To The Front Line Workers Of The World mix)
2. TOS2020 (Trentemøller remix)*
3. TOS2020 (Albie Mischenzingerzen remix)**
4. TOS2020 (single)

Tracklist for the digital bundle:

1. TOS2020 (single)
2. TOS2020 (Beholden To The Front Line Workers Of The World mix)
3. TOS2020 (Trentemøller remix)*
4. TOS2020 (Albie Mischenzingerzen remix)**
5. Tower Of Strength (original new remaster) – The Mission (free bonus track with bundle only)

Side-Line also covered Depeche Mode’s ‘s Martin Gore launches new solo track ’.

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: Gothic, dark-wave.

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Set up in 1995, On The Floor went into hibernation for several years, but struck back unleashing a new album in 2017, “Made Of Scars”, followed in 2018 by “Lifetime”. At the end of 2019 they’re back on track unleashing this new opus.

Content: The influences haven’t really changed, On The floor is still injected by the dark-wave virus from the 80s. The songs have been composed with guitar and bass, but still feature electronic arrangements. This album  now and then reminds me of The Mission. Notice by the way Thomas Lücke (Girls Under Glass) did some guest vocals on 2 tracks while another song is featuring Johan Sjöblom.

+ + + : This album is definitely the most accomplished work from the German formation. It reflects the good-old and dark 80s, but the production sounds more mature and accomplished. The addition of Thomas Lücke who was completely disappeared from the radars is a nice little extra. Even if this band is first of all driven by 80s guitar parts, they also added some cool electronic sequences. I like Helge Jungmann’s vocals, which reminds me a bit to the passion of Wayne Hussey. “Gimme” and “Lights Give In” both are brilliant exposures of this new work.

– – – : This album is fully enjoyable although it doesn’t bring that much new; I mean you rapidly get the impression to have already heard hundreds of similar albums so even if there are excellent songs featured there’s not an absolute hit!

Conclusion: From a very personal point of view, this is without a shadow of a doubt the darkest and most accomplished work from On The Floor thus far!

Best songs: “Gimme”, “Lights Give In”, “Chain”, “We Love The World”.

Rate: (7½).

Artist: www.onthefloor.de / www.facebook.com/floorification

Label: www.darkdimensions.de /  www.facebook.com/pages/Dark–Dimensions–Label–Group/486014725206

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: Cinematographic, ambient, psychedelic.

Format: Digital, CD, vinyl.

Background/Info: This is the debut album of a so-called enigmatic solo-artist, who achieved a conceptual album as a kind of imaginary soundtrack ‘based around the end of the world and a zombie takeover’. However it has been introduced as a solo-work, some famous artists like Wayne Hussey (The Mission), Simon Hinkler (The Mission), Julianne Reagan (All About Eve) ao contributed to this work.

Content: The dystopian and somewhat SI/FI theme of the work resulted in a deeply, cinematic inspired work. From vintage electronic sounds to psychedelic guitar play, this work sounds a bit like the offspring between Tangerine Dream and Pink Floyd. There are numerous, noticeable piano arrangements. While most of the songs are instrumentals edits, you also will notice a few tracks with vocals and/or chants.

+ + + : The music has been conceived as a soundtrack and it clearly sounds that way. I like the vintage electronics and multiple effects while the psychedelic passages inject an exciting 60’/70’ touch. One of my favorite cuts is the extra elaborated “Don’t Look Now”. This song is more melodic as well. The contribution of all the guest musicians for sure is an extra attention grabber.

– – – : The album is easily enjoyable, but there’s no truly climax. It’s an ambitious work, but without becoming a real soundtrack it might get lost in anonymity.

Conclusion: This album will appeal for lovers of dark soundtrack music and psychedelic experiences.

Best songs: “Don’t Look Now”, “Inferno”.

Rate: (6½).

Artist: www.lecygnenoir.co.uk / www.facebook.com/lecygnenoirmusic

Label: www.cherryred.co.uk / www.facebook.com/CherryRedRecords

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

Iconic UK post-punk/alt act The Membranes release an EP featuring two remixes of their song “Nocturnal” by goth rock/darkwave Goth DJ Kitty Lectro.

“Nocturnal” was originally released on The Membranes new album “What Natures Gives… Nature Takes Away” on June 7th this year. Having remixed artists such as Kommunity FK, Andi Sex Gang, Beauty In Chaos (Wayne Hussey, Simon Gallup and Michael Ciravolo) and more, Kitty Lectro adds a dance floor spin to “Nocturnal”.

Frontman and The Membranes founder John Robb explains why they chose to remix the song: “‘Nocturnal’ is our death disco dance with Pan, or our dark Dionysian dislocation of the senses that has been remixed to shadowy dance floor brilliance by Kitty Lectro. It is from our new double album “What Nature Gives… Nature Takes Away” and examines the beauty and violence of nature, in which we took our bass-driven post-punk and added choirs to it to create an epic brooding soundtrack to the theme of nature itself and its desperate struggle to survive the human race’s hell bent determination to destroy it.”

The Nocturnal EP will be available for streaming on all major platforms. You can here it right below.

Tracklist of the EP:

• Nocturnal (KITTY LECTRO Remix)
• Nocturnal (KITTY LECTRO Meow Meow Money Mix)
• Nocturnal (Album Version)

The Membranes will be on tour in Europe with Mark Lanegan Band in November/December.

About The Membranes

Formed in 1978 in Blackpool, England, The Membranes played classic bass-driven northern post-punk and were part of the same world as bands like Joy Division, Bauhaus, The Fall, Sisters Of Mercy, and Cabaret Voltaire, all inspired by the punk explosion of 1977 to launch their own idiosyncratic journeys. The band released a remarkable series of records throughout the ‘80s that combined their small town frustration with a love of heavy bass and distortion. This ultimately became a prime influence on such American noiseniks as Steve Albini, Swans and Sonic Youth.

The group reformed in 2010 at the request of My Bloody Valentine to play the All Tomorrow’s Parties festival, and have since made two albums, inspired by newer bands like Godspeed You Black Emperor, Mogwai, Ulver and Wardruna.

Membranes frontman/bassist John Robb is an acclaimed British musician/author/publisher and TV/radio commentator. He is the editor-in-chief of British music monthly Louder Than War and the author of the celebrated non-fiction work “Punk Rock: An Oral History”.

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

To mark the halfway point of the 36 date European tour, Ashton Nyte from The Awakening has released live video footage from the band on the road. The video captures Ashton performing an acoustic version of The Awakening’s “Upon The Water” at the Limburg Theater in Heerlen, The Netherlands last week.

Watch the video below.

Singer and guitarist Ashton says: “The tour has been a magical experience. Working with Wayne and our fabulous tour manager Tim Parsons has been a joy and the audiences have been wonderfully responsive. I’ve enjoyed seeing many familiar faces and many new ones, as the tour winds back and forth through Europe. I’m looking forward to the second half and all that lies ahead. Considering we have very few days off, I am also very grateful for the delight that is European coffee.”

If you want to see both acts live at work, check these dates.

• 26.09.2019 FR, Paris – Le Bus Palladium
• 27.09.2019 FR, Brest – Cabaret Vauban
• 28.09.2019 FR, Angers – The Joker´s Club
• 29.09.2019 FR, Sortie 13 – Pessac, Bordeaux
• 30.09.2019 FR, Montpellier – Secret Place
• 01.10.2019 ES, Barcelona – Sala Upload
• 02.10.2019 ES, Valencia – 16 Tonelados
• 03.10.2019 ES, Madrid – Khitai
• 05.10.2019 PT – Lisbon – RCA Club
• 06.10.2019 PT, Porto – Hard Club
• 08.10.2019 FR, Lyon – Le Rock ’n Eat
• 09.10.2019 IT, Milano – Ligeria
• 10.10.2019 IT, Bologna – Freakout
• 11.10.2019 IT, Pisa – Caracol
• 13.10.2019 HU, Budapest – Robot
• 15.10.2019 AT, Vienna – Chelsea
• 16.10.2019 DE, Nürnberg – Der Cult

Bernard - Side-Line Staff

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

side-line.com

The Awakening will be supporting Wayne Hussey (The Mission) on the European dates of his upcoming Salad Daze Tour! The Awakening will be playing over 30 shows across Europe from 3 September – 16 October 2019.

The Awakening is a musical gothic / dark rock project founded in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1995 by vocalist, songwriter, guitarist and producer Ashton Nyte. As of 2008 The Awakening has been based in the United States.

Wayne Hussey: “I met Ashton and that beautiful baritone voice of his a few years back and we have since remained friends and supporters of each other’s work. Of course we both also continue to be heavily involved with Michael Ciravolo’s ‘Beauty In Chaos’ project. So it is with huge pleasure I can confirm that Ashton will be supporting me on the mainland Europe (except Greece & Sweden) leg of my ‘Salad Daze’ tour. It’ll be great to have him along for the ride. Bring your driving license, Ashton, you can share the driving, there’s an awful lot of it.”

Here are the tour dates:

• 3 SEP – KULTURFABRIK – KREFELD, GERMANY
• 4 SEP – MTC – COLOGNE, GERMANY
• 5 SEP – MUK – GIESSEN, GERMANY
• 7 SEP – SING SING – PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC
• 8 SEP – OLD MONASTRY – WROCLAW, POLAND
• 9 SEP – POGLOS – WARSAW, POLAND
• 11 SEP – BINUU – BERLIN, GERMANY
• 12 SEP – MUZ – HANNOVER, GERMANY
• 13 SEP – KULTUURKELLER – FULDA, GERMANY
• 14 SEP – MONKEY’S MUSIC CLUB – HAMBURG, GERMANY
• 15 SEP – MOVIE – BIELEFELD, GERMANY
• 17 SEP – VICTORIE – ALKMAAR, NETHERLANDS
• 18 SEP – PAARD – DEN HAAG, NETHERLANDS
• 19 SEP – LIMBURG THEATRE – HEERLEN, NETHERLANDS
• 20 SEP – JK2470 – RETIE – BELGIUM
• 21 SEP – ENTREPOT – ARLON, BELGIUM
• 22 SEP – B53 – EERNEGEM, BELGIUM
• 23 SEP – GARAGE CLUB – SAARBRUCKEN, GERMANY
• 24 SEP – KOHI – KARLSRUHE, GERMANY
• 26 SEP – LE BUS PALLADIUM – PARIS, FRANCE
• 27 SEP – CABARET VAUBAN – BREST, FRANCE
• 28 SEP – THE JOKER’S CLUB – ANGERS, FRANCE
• 29 SEP – VENUE TBC – BORDEAUX, FRANCE
• 30 SEP – SECRET PLACE – MONTPELLIER, FRANCE
• 1 OCT – LA NAU – BARCELONA, SPAIN
• 2 OCT – TONELADOS – VALENCIA, SPAIN
• 3 OCT – STAGESOUND – MADRID, SPAIN
• 5 OCT – RCA CLUB – LISBON, PORTUGAL
• 6 OCT – HARD CLUB – PORTO, PORTUGAL
• 8 OCT – LE ROCK ‘N EAT – LYON, FRANCE
• 9 OCT – LIGERIA – MILANO, ITALY
• 10 OCT – FREAKOUT – BOLOGNA, ITALY
• 11 OCT – CARACOL – PISA, ITALY
• 13 OCT – ROBOT – BUDAPEST, HUNGARY
• 15 OCT – CHELSEA – VIENNA, AUSTRIA
• 16 OCT – DER CULT – NUREMBERG , GERMANY

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: Goth-rock.

Background/Info: Jan Dewulf is a Belgian artist who’ll be always linked to the electro-pop project Diskonnekted and the electro-industrial project Mildreda. It’s already seven years ago now that the last Diskonnekted album has been released and in the meantime Jan Dewulf became ‘John Wolf’ to start a new and totally different project. We now welcome the second full length by his new band.

Content: This band has nothing in common with their frontman’s aforementioned projects. This is good-old gothic music with some extra rock and even garage-rock elements on top. John Wolf has a perfect timbre of voice for this kind of dark music while he sometimes reminds me a bit of Wayne Hussey. The songs are carried by strong guitar, dark bass lines and electro-melodic arrangements. From softer, melancholic pieces to harder cuts there’s a perfect balance between the songs.

+ + + : Your Life On Hold is clearly inspired by good-old 80s productions in the genre, but I can’t say it’s a cheap copy from an established formation. There’s something personal running through the work and especially the hardest cuts (cf. “Tension” and “Cold Fever”) are little sonic jewels. “Cold Fever” is an accomplished song, which also evokes shoegaze and garage-rock influences. This album reveals the right harmony between cool guitar playing and electronic arrangements while I also like the vocals of the singer.

– – – : Next to some outstanding cuts the album also features a few ‘softer’ and a bit disappointing cuts. I especially refer to the more melancholic final parts such as “System Failure” and “Dead Tree”.

Conclusion: Jan Dewulf has accomplished a successful metamorphosis as John Wolf. Even if all of the tracks can’t totally convince me, it however is a band I highly recommend.  

Best songs: “Cold Fever”, “Tension”, “Bruised”.

Rate: (7).

Artist: www.yourlifeonhold.com / www.facebook.com/yourlifeonhold

Label: www.solarlodge.de / www.facebook.com/SolarLodgeRecords

Inferno Sound Diaries

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

www.side-line.com

Out in May as a 2CD/DVD set is the concert film “Live at Rockpalast” by The Mission. Both recordings featured on this set have been available before on soundboard recorded bootlegs and as TV captures.

You can order this complete 2CD/DVD set right now. The format of the region free DVD is NTSC – DVD9 with a running time of approximately 128 minutes.

Recorded on November 24, 1990 and April 16, 1995 at the Philipshalle Düsseldorf aka Rockpalast, it features the near original line-up consisting of Wayne Hussey, Craig Adams, Mick Brown, David Wolfenden and Paul Etchells during the 1990 show. The 1995 recording has the trimmed down line-up featuring only the drummer Mick Brown from the original line-up augmented by guitarist Mark Gemini Thwaite (Tricky, Peter Murphy), keyboard player Rik Carter and bass player Andy Cousin (of All About Eve).

The first CD has 14 tracks, while CD 2 has 10 tracks. Recommended if you want to hear/see the band at work during what were there best years.

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 ‘Another Fall From Grace’.

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 ‘Another Fall From Grace’.

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

Here’s a release which should please many gothic rock fans. Out in Summer, but available in pre-order now is the solo debut album of Mark Gemini Thwaite. That name will ring a bell with many readers as Mark Gemini Thwaite (aka MGT) has recorded and performed with a large variety of goth rock acts over the years.

The list includes a long tenure with UK gothic rock act The Mission, Peter Murphy (Bauhaus), 3 albums and various tours with trip hop musician Tricky and Gary Numan next to collaborations with Ministry, P.J. Harvey, Combichrist, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Revolting Co*ks, Young Gods, Prong, Primitive Race, etc..

On “Volumes” you’ll find a bunch of collaborations including Ville Valo of Finnish Love Metallers HIM (on cover-version of the Abba Hit “Knowing Me Knowing You” – see the video below), Wayne Hussey (The Mission), Miles Hunt & Erica Nockalls (The Wonderstuff), Ricky Warwick (Thin Lizzy), Raymond Watts (PIG/KMFDM), Saffron (Republica), Julianne Regan (All About Eve) and goth legend Andi Sex Gang, Ashton Nyte (The Awakening), Carlo Van Putten (Dead Guitars).

In short it features the who-is-who from the gothic rock scene. The CD can now be ordered right here.

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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Wayne Hussey is planning a new limited edition double A side 7″ featuring a re-working of the classic Sisters Of Mercy song, “Marian”, a song originally co-written by Wayne with Andrew Eldritch. The limited edition double A side 7″ vinyl single is being released in conjunction with Record Store Day on April 22nd. You can pre-order the 7″ right now from Amazon.

The other A side is a brand new song entitled “My Love Will Protect You”, a song that was co-written by Wayne with Rebeca Y. Casanova as part of the “Canciones De Cuna” benefit album. The lyrics for the album are all written by homeless children in Buenos Aires, Argentina, which were then worked into songs by national and international artists and recorded as an album of lullabies, with all proceeds going to help finance culture centres in Buenos Aires that offer art, music, theatre, and photography classes to homeless children.

“Marian” was featured on the Sisters Of Mercy album “First and Last and Always”, the debut studio album by the band. It was released on 11 March 1985, through record labels Merciful Release and WEA. The lyrics for “Marian” were actually inspired by Gary Marx’s original lyrics to “First and Last and Always”, originally called “The Scottish One”. Marian referred to the name of a friend of the band’s from Hamburg: Marianne.

Here’s the original:

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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2016 sees The Mission celebrating 30 years since they first set foot on the stage at the Alice In Wonderland club in London on January 20th 1986. To coincide they will launch a new tour and release a brand new studio album (the first album since 2013’s “The Brightest Light”). The 30th anniversary tour starts in Dublin on October 1st and includes O2 Shepherds Bush Empire in London on October 8th. The Mission will also play the Whitby Goth Weekend on November 5th.

In a message Wayne Hussey says: “Who would’ve thought it, eh? As we were well renowned for our, ahem, lifestyle choices, shall we say, I remember Melody Maker ran an office pool betting which member of The Mission would die first. I seem to remember Mick was the favourite with yours truly running a close 2nd. Well, we’re still here, alive and well and still going strong. It seems to me that anyone who survives past the age of 50 in this business these days is given honorary legendary status. It’s cheaply given, in my opinion, but we’ll take it. I seriously never thought I’d see this day but 30 years is a remarkable achievement. Not one we could have achieved without the support and patronage of our brilliant audience. This celebration is for them as much as it is for our retirement funds.”

The original members Wayne Hussey, Craig Adams and Simon Hinkler will be joined by drummer Mike Kelly. The Mission (known as The Mission UK in the United States) were formed in 1986 by former members of The Sisters of Mercy.

Here’s the band live in 1986 with “1969” live at The Aylesbury Friars.

The Mission UK and Ireland Tour dates

October

• Sat 1st – Dublin O2 Academy
• Sun 2nd – Belfast Limelight
• Mon 3th – Glasgow O2 ABC
• Wed 5th – Manchester O2 Ritz
• Thu 6th – Nottingham Rock City
• Fri 7th – Bristol O2 Academy
• Sat 8th – London O2 Shepherds Bush Empire

November

• Sat 5th – Whitby Goth Weekend

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 first two classic All About Eve Albums will be released as double CDs on September 29th. Both “All About Eve” and “Scarlet And Other Stories” will hold 12″ singles, B-sides and extended mixes, the Wayne Hussey session from 1990, 2 previously unreleased acoustic BBC radio sessions plus a host of live recordings from Glastonbury and headline shows in 1989.

All About Eve were an English rock band powered by the Coventry-born Julianne Regan (vocals) and the Huddersfield-born Andy Cousin (bass guitar). Their biggest commercial success was “Martha’s Harbour” (1988).

Soon available on Amazon.

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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