For the last few years,  New Jersey, US, for a few days,  increases their population of goth types dramatically, as the Sheraton in Parsippany hosts the Dark Force Fest. This festival was created by the people who bought you the social platform, Vampirefreaks, and the lineup of bands for 2025 have been announced.

There are thirty-five bands on show with a mixture of both overseas and local talent ranging from the synth-industrial of Sweden’s Covenant to TRAITRS from Canada with their dark post-punk, through to US industrial-metal artists Orgy. We spoke to Jet VF to find out what drives him to host these gothic/industrial events and who is playing in 2025.

You are the founder of VampireFreaks, which I believe was a social forum online and evolved into a business. I am going to admit that I am older and missed out on the VF phenomenon, so can you tell me a bit more about how this all came about?

VampireFreaks was a social networking site from the years 2004 – 2020. In addition we’ve been running our online clothing store since 2001 which is still up and running. We currently ship out about 7,000 orders a month around the world from our warehouse in Pennsylvania!

Do you think the dark scene has changed much from the late 90s and do you think it is for the better, worse or just different in your experience?

There’s definitely been some big changes. I grew up as part of the nyc goth club scene in the 90s – 2000’s and at that time there was an event to go to every day of the week and we had more alternative shops to visit, the nyc scene was really thriving.

Nowadays there doesn’t seem to be as many events, but I do appreciate the events we do have. Dark Force Fest has grown to be the largest event in the area, and we look forward to it all year. Goth/industrial music has also really progressed throughout the years, there’s some great new bands, so it’s an exciting time for music.

Jet, you have been described to me as the impresario of Dark Force Fest, which kind of looks like a holiday for goths, including a lot of bands. What inspired you to start this particular festival, and how hard was it getting it off the ground?

I’ve been doing events since 2000, starting off with small club events that would only get a handful of people. Over the years there’s been a lot of ups and downs, a lot of successes, and a lot of failures. Event promotions can be tough. For the first few years, I would consider an event a success if we didn’t lose money. I’ve done events that lost so much money it would make a grown man cry.

Doing events for over 20 years has really just been a growth process and a learning process. I’ve done a ton of club events and concerts, as well as a few other festivals / conventions. Dark Force Fest has indeed been a learning process and built upon the lessons learned from previous events.

There are 35 bands on the 2025 line up but could this number grow?

The lineup is currently finalized but we will be announcing 2 bands for the Thursday night pre-party.

Tell us about who is headlining the festival?

Friday, we have The Birthday Massacre from Toronto, CA. They’re a favorite among our crowd, and we’ve had the pleasure of working with them on a few occasions they’re really great talented people

Saturday, we have Orgy, the superstar industrial-rock band, who reached platinum status in the 90s. Their cover of ‘Blue Monday’ was all over the radio in the 90s.

Sunday, we have Covenant from Sweden, with their huge catalog of industrial club hits.

There are a lot of electronic bands such as Covenant, Suicide Commando, and [SITD], to name a few. Do you think this style of music is very popular due to the party/dance like atmosphere?

We do a good amount of electronic / EBM bands, yes I think the high-energy electronic music is great for a live performance. We do mix up the musical styles though so there is a pretty good range of dark styles we are representing.

You also champion smaller acts and bring them to new audiences. Who are some of these smaller bands?

A few of the newer bands include:
Dancing Plague- Their sound is super catchy and different, the bass in these songs just vibrates your bones and the guy has a super deep baritone voice.
Occults – These guys are pretty new but their music is really good and super professional sounding, I think they’ve got a lot of great potential.
Panic Priest – Awesome synthpop band from Chicago, some of his songs sound super familiar and infectious
Circuit Preacher – gritty industrial music that reminds me of some of my favorite industrial sounds from the 90s but with an original modern twist to it
Corbeau Hangs – amazing post-punk band that is really gaining momentum
Contracult – heavy industrial rock band from California with nice production on it. Fun fact – the guitarist is Travis Bacon, who is Kevin Bacon’s son.

Held at the huge Sheraton Hotel in Parsippany, New Jersey, how many stages are there on-site, and how much easier is it to run everything at the one venue, including rooming patrons?

It’s 2 stages with alternating schedules. We also have over 100 vendors and 2 other rooms where we host panels, presentations, drag shows and sideshow performances. It is nice having everything in one building so that attendees can easily bounce between different areas.

It isn’t just bands, though. There are also stalls selling all sorts of gothic wares. What can people expect in the market?

We have a really good variety of vendors including taxidermy, oddities, clothing, jewelry, art, housewares, skull bowls, coffin furniture and more.

You are obviously a huge music fan, so which bands really excite you that they are coming and who do you absolutely need to catch, even with your overseeing the running of the festival?

I’m really excited for all of the bands on the lineup. I’ll be running all over the place during the festival, but I always make it a point to at least catch 1-2 songs of each band, so that’s the goal! Most of the bands playing next year have never played the festival before, and I haven’t seen a lot of them before, so I’m definitely looking forward to seeing some new stuff!
Some bands off the top of my head that I’m looking forward to include:

TRAITRS – these guys have really been gaining popularity lately, and they have some songs that sound just like a modern version of The Cure, which is amazing.

Calabrese – they’ve got a unique horror-punk type style, which I think will bring some fun energy to the event.

Razed In Black – industrial legends from Hawaii, I haven’t seen them perform in so long, and these guys are just the best.k

Haujobb – This band was really influential for me in the early 90s when I was just really getting into industrial music, and Daniel Myer is so talented.

The Birthday Massacre – These guys were the #1 band on the Vampirefreaks social network back in the day, so we’ve really had a cool history with these guys.

Aesthetic Perfection – We’ve worked with these guys a few times, and it’s just always been a pleasure. It’s been awesome to see Daniel grow over the years.

Klutae – This is Claus from Leaetherstrip’s other band, everyone loved Leaetherstrip so much last time, and we had a bunch of requests for him to come back.

What do you think it is about the gothic/industrial scene that keeps you co-ordinating these events year in and out?

I’ve had a realy love for the goth/industrial scene as a young teenager. The music, the fashion, and most importantly the people who are so welcoming and friendly. We’ve really built an amazing community and I just love bringing people together.

I am rather curious as the description on your website says you are helped by your weird wifey for lifey, but also your black cat. What is the name of this god-like creature, and how much say do they have?

My cat is named Skelly, she’s the queen of the universe and she gets treated like royalty. She’s very majestic and loves to grace me with cuddles.

When do you start planning the next Dark Force Fest?

Basically a few weeks after the last one is over. I spend the whole year planning this event out to get everything right, there’s a lot of moving parts involved.

If you could have any act perform at DFF (alive or resurrected with necromancy), who would you pursue?

My all time wishlist band would be The Cure but I was also thinking it would be cool to get Marilyn Manson!

What will you folks from VampireFreaks be doing next to top all this?!

Dark Force Fest gets bigger and better each year so we’re always looking to top previous years by improving the lineup and adding fun new things to the event!

Thanks for your time and see you at Dark Force Fest