Howard Gardner, Max Rael and Daniel Vincent are some very British men who are also in Decommissioned Forests and their mission is to create interesting and inventive industrial music. To this end, April the 1st is the release date for the new album, Industry, a curiously befitting title, as the previous debut was called Forestry.
From the first time you listen to any Decommissioned Forest track, you get the sense that this is definitely part of something bigger than just the music. It is electronica painting pictures, with Rael’s vocals and lyrics breathing life into them, in spoken word. The single “Ants Part 1 – Our Last Summer” is, and to quote myself, like dissonant journey that seems pleasant, yet the lyrics are the disembodied oddities of strange and disturbing sequences. Though this is not as dark as “Triggers” that drones and eats at your frailty. without a by your leave, while “Ants Part 2 – Every Trauma Ever After” is a slower refrain in a twilight, that is dimming quickly as life seemingly slips away from us. The organ style music as if is a church of pointless sadness.
Quite frankly, I love the name and concept of “Spectral Kleptomania” as it amazing to think that a spirit can be blamed for nicking everything you can’t find or seems to be missing. Another single, “Drop Brick” could be a mantra to an old Frankenstein movie, with the disturbing and repeating synths while the monster seethes from being unable to be accepted into the world. There is the space and time warping, “Dust Ashes And OtherUnimportant Ephemera” as it slowly engulfs your being. When these guys created a short movie, “AComforting Uncertainty” was the track used. A slow realisation that nothing ever turns out exactly as thought out and you feel disappointment trying to stalk the inevitable misfortune. The final track is “Ants Part 3 – TheUniverse Is Unaware” and the ants are feigning indifference.
We will keep coming back to the whole Coil thing as it is uncanny how much Max Rael sounds like JohnBalance.Howard and Vincent have created musical scores that pay homage to an older style of British industrial music, while experimenting to see how they can keep pushing this avant garde genre. Industry is like looking at a polished stone but inside you can see all the jagged, geometric structures within, that contain their own beauty. forged by immense primal forces.
It is an interesting thing to watch musicians take on traits or characteristics of other acts that they admire, however not imitating but rather building on those aspects they love, growing their own sound and introducing others to what inspires them. Decommissioned Forests is very much one of these groups, bring to life an earlier era of British industrial music, whilst creating their own niche of sombre electronica. So we bailed up lead vocalist, Max Rael, to get the cold hard facts and in his genteel London way, he said, yes. Time for tea on the grass and ants in boob tubes……
Welcome Max Rael of Decommissioned Forests, to the pointy end of Onyx, where we like to use black crayons to create our own black-holes.
Thank you for having me. It’s nice to be here. I have already broken my crayon, and managed to somehow get it all over my face and clothes without trying. Good job I’m wearing black.
Can you tell us how you joined forces to become Decommissioned Forests?
Daniel (Vincent of ‘The Resonance Association’) and Howard (Gardner of ‘Non-Bio’ and ‘Pillars of Golden Misery’) were making some fine menacing instrumental music together, and then asked me if I’d like to contribute vocals to a couple of tracks on their first album, ‘Forestry’.
I’d recently written some lyrics called ‘Three Black Holes’ to help me process something that happened to me years ago that I’d kind of buried and never really consciously thought about, and it felt important to get the words out into the universe somehow. I’ve never really done vocals in any of the other bands I’m in or have been in, so although it felt like a strange and scary request, it was also one I couldn’t resist. In addition to ‘Three Black Holes’ (which became just, ‘Black Holes’ on the album), the guys gave me two titles, ‘Asleep Under the Leaves’ and ‘Dead Air’ and I found just listening to the music they’d provided, words came easily spilling out on to the page.
We were happy with the results, got some good feedback from people and enjoyed the process, which led to me joining the band and thus we became an official threesome for this new album, ‘Industry’. I like working in a three, I like the creative energy of triangles.
You all come from a background of experimental noise and/or post punk music. What were you looking to create with this alliance?
I’d be interested to hear Daniel and Howard’s answer to this, but for me, in History Of Guns and all the projects I’ve been involved with, I try and open myself to authentic expression in the moment and to avoid ‘lust of result’ as Crowley put it. It’s enough to set up some things, or people, and just see what happens naturally, how the energy flows and how things pull together or apart. Which is just a fancy way of saying whenever I try and plan anything it never works out how I planned, (which is the basis of the lyrics for the track, ‘A Comforting Uncertainty’). That said, I’m a firm believer that it’s often the bits that go wrong that is where the magic is. It’s also a great way for avoiding those creative poisons doubt and insecurity, as there’s no right or wrong about anything, everything is just as it is.
From your vocals to the avant-guard tone of the music, Coil seems to big influence on the band. What does Coil mean to you and what impact have the had on your music?
I was due to see Coil for the first time at an abandoned tube station in London in November 2004, but the gig was cancelled on the day due to health and safety concerns and I was gutted. Then the day afterwards Jhonn Balance died. It was hard to process. I went a bit wrong and became semi-convinced that that Jhonn was sending some kind of astral message directly to me. Then ‘…And the Ambulance Died in His Arms’ came out and I was full-on obsessed. I bought copies and gave them to all my friends. It was an interesting split, people either absolutely hated it or absolutely loved it. Daniel was one of the people I gave it to, and fortunately he loved it and went on his own path with it, but I’d say it’s directly led us to where we are now and the music we’re creating. Howard also happens to be a massive Coil fan. Otherwise, we’re all into a wide range of very different things, but our shared love of Coil is the magnetic charge that attracts the three of us together creatively.
As Decommissioned Forests, you released your first full length album Forestry in 2019 and now in 2022, your second album, Industry Is there a link between these two albums?
They definitely feel like companion pieces. For, ‘Forestry’ there’s a sense of decay, rotting vegetation, rusting sheets of corrugating iron, overseen by an all-powerful and yet indifferent goddess. The ‘Ants’ suite on the new album can be seen as journey from that place, to where we’ve arrived on ‘Industry’, which feels more like scratchy polyester, poorly designed technology, broken society, broken relationships…
How do you go about writing music between the three of you for Industry and has covid changed how you did the writing process from 2019?
The usual process is that Daniel and Howard exchange audio files of noises and textures, which Daniel shapes into pieces and sends on to me, then I record a vocal and send it back. Daniel then puts in hundreds of hours of mixing it all into a finished thing. Sometimes I just record vocals without any music backing and send them over. Fortunately for us Covid didn’t have any impact on the process as we were already all working remotely. We had talked about getting together and jamming in the same room which obviously couldn’t happen, so that could’ve maybe taken things in a different direction.
Is it me or does there feel lika lot of pent up trauma in Industry?
Yes I think so… I think I consciously try to avoid too much of that in the lyrics, but then I’m a trauma person and mostly write from the subconscious so it can’t help come through either overtly or covertly. A friend of mine suggested ‘traumacore’ as a genre which I quite like. It’s difficult because there’s a danger of romanticising trauma, or feeding, rather than healing wounds. I’m always on the side of trying to move towards healing, even if the final goal is impossible, though I think focused anger and rage is often more appropriate than mute acceptance and forgiveness.
Is there a particular track off the album that is a favourite or you feel epitomises what DF is all about?
Tough question! At this point in an album’s lifecycle, we’ve heard it through so many times it’s impossible to have any objectivity. It’ll be interesting in a few years’ time to come back and listen again and see what stands out. The ‘Ants’ suite is pretty key… It changes all the time, but right now, today, I’d choose ‘Triggers’, and ‘Dust, Ashes and Other Pointless Ephemera’ as my favourites.
What does DF mean for you personally?
It’s a world out of sync or out of step with reality, a parallel universe which has tendrils into this universe where most of us find ourselves day to day for most of our lives. From this position of remove the Decommissioned Forests universe is free and able to respond and reflect un-defensively on what’s happening here but through a tangential almost dream-like connection. Hopefully as we go further in, we might be able to explore that universe in its own right, rather than just using it as a place to view here from.
I would like to ask about the short film, A Comforting Uncertainty, of which the title is a 9 minute track on the album and the score to the film, you all played roles in, that was written/directed and with special effects by Howard, all based on a dream by someone called Rick Matthews. Can you tell us about this slightly dystopian film?
Howard’s an amazing director and video graphics master with a twisted creative brain who has made a lot of interesting and unsettling films over the years. We were very lucky that he already had the idea for this short film bubbling away for a couple of years and put it forward that it could go with one of the tracks on the album, so that the music is a soundtrack to the film, and the film is a music video for the track. Both Daniel and I were enthusiastic from the start, and when we saw the shooting script, even more so. I’ve had a few discussions with people recently about how the film narrative can be interpreted, and whilst I have my own theories, only Howard knows his true intentions, and I think he’d like there being different individual interpretations out there, each no less valid than his. It’s great that thanks to YouTube, anyone, anywhere can see it easily.
Will there be more films in the future?
Yes. Well, I do dearly hope so. It’s easy for me to say when I just get turn up for the fun part of shooting it and don’t have to spend hours over a hot editing suite. We’re all keen to make more, it feels an integral part of the band, so it’s a question of Howard’s capacity, and I know he’s involved in a lot of other exciting projects. Hopefully we’ll start planning the next one soon.
DF kind of reaches back into that late 70s, early 80s British industrial sound which was often political or very raw ie Clock DVA. What are the musical influences that formed your taste in music?
Again this would no doubt be very different for Howard and Daniel, and I’ve always been pretty genre-blind and get obsessed over a disparate range of individuals and bands but other than Coil, I guess the most important bands for me relevant to this project would be things like: Killing Joke, Throbbing Gristle, Depeche Mode, Peter Gabriel, CRASS, Joy Division/New Order etc. from the UK, but also Tangerine Dream and SWANS… and I guess it’s hard for me to contextualise things that formed my taste and things that I got into afterwards retrospectively because they accorded to my taste. I was 16 when Head Like a Hole by NIN came out and used to love stamping about to it at The Catacombs nightclub in Manor House in London, and that and bands like PWEI were really when I grew from my existing rock and pop foundation into a more industrial direction, which led me eventually to Coil.
What you find yourself drawn to now?
I spent a few years sealed hermetically in my music collection and am just getting back into actively seeking out and enjoying new music. LIOC have released a series of compilations by bands that love or are influenced by Coil and (apart from the things I’ve contributed obvs!), there’s been some astonishing things on them… Recently I’ve been exploring the ambient work of Felicia Atkinson and Grouper, oh and also the new Paul Draper solo album, ‘Cult Leader Tactics’.
If you could time travel once, anywhere, where would you go and why?
March 17th, 1942, Pomona, USA. To watch one the preview screening of Orson Welles’ ‘The Magnificent Ambersons’ before the studio destroyed it.
So what is in the future for Decommissioned Forests?
We already have various tracks lined up for potential inclusion on the next album. There’s an evolution in sound from the ambient soundscapes of ‘Industry’ as the new stuff has drum tracks and maybe an increased sense vitality and urgency. Lyrically, I’m thinking about how brains and minds work and potentially change in response to environments and stimuli. Our big dream is to put on a live show. This presents a number of challenges, from how to recreate the sound in a live environment to the fact that I don’t live particularly near Daniel and Howard for regular rehearsals, and everyone’s busy with work, family and other creative projects, but we’re hopeful we shall find a way. We’re definite that we want to be creating unique pieces with each performance rather than just recreating tracks
Thank you for your time Max. Red pills are on the right, blue pills on the left and the white ones are a very nice mint flavour!
A big thank you to you Adele and for your (seemingly) tireless work to support the underground. We salute you!
We here at Onyx, decided that since Brisbane band, Daylight Ghosts, have released their first length album, Urban Umbra, that if might be prudent to talk to Karl O’Shea and Adam Dawe about the album and things that have brought them to this moment. No vorpal bunnies were hurt in the asking of any questions.
Welcome to the dark side of Onyx, which may or may not be as dark as my soul.
Karl O’Shea: Not my first dalliance with the dark side, I can assure you of that.
Adam Dawe: Hello darkness my old friend…
The new album, Urban Umbra, is your debut full release and before that, you had brought out 5 singles, two remixes by the talented Matt Dodds and a live recording. Was it a natural progression to bring out the album? What impact has COVID had on all this?
Karl O’Shea: I annoyingly kept changing my mind on how we were going to do this. The original idea was to release all the songs as singles and compile them as a playlist but then decided that was probably not super smart for a very small band so we decided to make this group of songs an album instead. COVID has definitely slowed things down but it did afford me a lot of time to work on the rough demo arrangements. The main impact for us was we didn’t end up doing a live “in person” gig until the tail end of 2020 and a few postponements and cancellations in 2021. That being said, that lovely folk at Live On Mars helped facilitate our first performance as a livestream. To help with the nerves, we had a few friends (COVID-distanced of course) in my living room to help it feel a little bit more “normal”. And it was pretty nerve-wracking for me as that was the first time I had played guitar live! I think I did okay.
What is the meaning behind calling the album Urban Umbra, as an umbra isa shadow or darkness?
Karl O’Shea: Put simply – moody, melancholic music made from the perspective of people who live in cities and have experienced the darker side of city living (as well as the good). Where you live definitely has an influence on the art you create, whether that’s overt or subtle. The acoustic elements mixed with the synthetic and electronic in our music are a vague reflection of the cultural melting pot that is city living.
Adam Dawe: And we also thought it would be really hard for people to say the phrase “album Urban Umbra” quickly without falling over their words.
I particularly like Before The Fall. What is the significance of this song as I am intrigued by the last line about going back into the sea where you left her buried?
Adam Dawe: Thank you. That song is a personal favourite of mine and seems to be one that a lot of people are taking a liking to, which is great. I don’t really want to go into the lyrics too much due to the personal nature of them, but I will say the “buried” part is more metaphorical than literal. I haven’t buried any women at any beaches yet. It’s really about how certain places can invoke certain memories of certain people, and I chose the sea because of its metaphorical relation to emotions and wild, untamed spirit. A powerful force of nature under the right circumstances, or also a quiet, contemplative place of tranquility and peace.
Both of you are in or have been in a number of bands in the Brisbane scene. Adam in Lunar Seasons & Novus Wild and Karl in Balloons Kill Babies, inovo, Sarah Stockholm & Ghostwoods. How did you both end up playing together?
Karl O’Shea: Nothing too exciting to be honest. I posted an ad on a Facebook music group looking for a vocalist/collaborator for a little dark-folk project I was working on and Adam was the only person that I felt projected fragility and melancholy with his voice and actually got the brief. The dude’s got a great work ethic and is up for anything which are excellent qualities in a collaborator. Plus, he’s a really lovely guy and that’s an especially important quality in a human being, creative or not.
Adam Dawe: After the initial contact on Facebook, Karl sent me 4 or 5 of his song ideas. Once I heard the caliber of the music Karl was coming up with, I was hooked. I’d been wanting to create music in this style for a very long time and felt like I had something I could add to these songs. When we met up in real life, we bonded over shared musical tastes and a love of all things that take a turn off the beaten path. It also doesn’t hurt that Karl is an absolute champion of a person too.
The other bands you are involved in are a lot heavier or noisier for want of a better word, whilst Daylight Ghosts is far more organic and folky in feel. Was this the sound you were striving for or is this how the project has evolved naturally?
Karl O’Shea: My original vision for Daylight Ghosts was to create more intimate dark-folk in the vein of artists like Death In June, Chelsea Wolfe, King Dude among others. It was only when we started work on After The Flood with Matt and introduced drum loops and more synthetic sounds that I was inspired to push the music in a more “dark-folktronica” direction and incorporate other styles like indie music, post-punk, goth, hip-hop and electronica. We’ve basically been working this out as we go along and honestly, it’s much more exciting to me to try and blend a lot of these styles together than just ape the artists that originally inspired the project.
Adam Dawe: As Karl said, the original idea was simply an acoustic duo. But once we started introducing other instruments in our recordings the project evolved into what it is now. Which I think is something even more interesting.
Both of you are involved in the writing of songs, so who comes up with what?
Karl O’Shea: I generally compose and arrange the musical side of things. The process normally is: I write a really basic structure on acoustic guitar, send a demo to Adam, then slowly come up with an arrangement, go back and forth with Adam to refine the structure and arrangement and then work with Matt to record and get the right sounds.
Adam Dawe: I’m the lyrics guy and it’s my job to translate the mood of the music into stories. The only standard I set for myself is that the lyrics and vocal parts need to complement and potentially elevate the music.
A lot of the imagery for Daylight Ghost has to do with nature, even the original images you sent with your singles In The Glow and Golden Hour could be you but all filmy and light distorted outside. What influences your artwork for the band?
Karl O’Shea: This isn’t a very artistic answer. I have, over the course of the last 5 or so years, taken various “artistic” (or pretentious) photos on my iPhone and messed around with them with never much of a plan for using them. I’ve always wanted Daylight Ghosts to be as DIY as possible and when we started to require imagery for releases, I decided to go through these images and there was a decent handful that I felt matched the vibe of the music. Even though a lot of these images are from nature, the images are distorted and doctored which kinda works with our whole “acoustic-mixed-with-electronic” style.
Do you sometimes feel like ghosts that walk in the daylight hours?
Karl O’Shea: Not really a proper answer to your question but the inspiration for the band name comes from the book “Junky” by William S. Burroughs. The line is talking about drug addicts who had metaphorically withdrawn from the world but still walked around in daylight as a former shadow of themselves. Without going into my history too much, I do have a past with substance abuse, bad relationships and have generally struggled to feel like I fit in with most groups of people. Something about that line resonated with me and I felt it fit the band.
Adam Dawe: I’m a night person by nature, so any time I’m awake during the day I feel a bit ghost-like. Or maybe more zombie-like? Daylight Zombies doesn’t quite have the same ring to it though.
There seems to be a certain amount of darkness in the lyrics and music. Which one of you is this coming from?
Karl O’Shea: I think we’re both responsible for the darkness. I bring it to the music and Adam brings it to the lyrics. I’m not especially interested in writing happy music and if I did, it wouldn’t be genuine.
Adam Dawe: The lyrics are 9 times out of 10 a reflection of what I’m getting from the music. So we’re definitely both responsible for it.
Will there be live shows to support the album, especially with venues being allowed to open to full capacity again?
Karl O’Shea: We are planning a launch at It’s Still A Secret on the 6th of May with Reverb Springs (more details to be announced). This will also be the first show where we FINALLY incorporate the rest of the sounds that you hear on the recordings. Outside of that, we’re just going to see what happens. I’m a big believer in doing a handful of decent shows instead of plenty of middling ones and I’m personally not too interested in wasting thousands of dollars on touring. If something decent comes along in another city, I’ll definitely make the time and effort to travel. But touring up and down the coast off our own backs with such a small fanbase to possibly play to 5-10 people a night? There are much easier ways to waste money and a lot of them are more fun too.
Adam Dawe: There certainly will, and it will be our first show in nearly six months and with our new instrumentation set up. Previously we’ve played only as an acoustic duo so it will be great to play the songs in a manner much closer to their recorded counterparts.
What bands and music did you grow up with that influenced your tastes?
Karl O’Shea: There’s quite a lot of music I love but I would say that bands that most influenced my current tastes whilst growing up were Something For Kate, The Cure, Joy Division, New Order, Nine Inch Nails, Porcupine Tree, David Bowie, Radiohead, Helmet….the list keeps going.
Adam Dawe: Definitely David Bowie, The Cure, Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails for me as well. Then also singer/songwriters like Leonard Cohen, Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young and Nick Cave.
Who or what do you listen to now?
Karl O’Shea: I’m always all over the place but the artists I’m currently listening to the most are GGGOLDDD, Nilüfer Yanya, The Body, Ethel Cain, Bring Me The Horizon, Enter Shikari, Julia Jacklin, Soccer Mommy, Einstürzende Neubauten and probably dozens more. I’m also currently obsessed with a couple of podcasts which are Not Another D&D Podcast and Tanis.
Adam Dawe: I’ve been getting into Jack Ladder and the Dreamlanders and Beth Hart of late. And a lot of the Rolling Stones. On the heavier end of the spectrum, Zeal and Ardor and The Ocean Collective are getting a pretty solid spin too.
As the reincarnation of Wizard Tim, I will ask what is your quest, favourite colour and what will be happening in the future with Daylight Ghosts?
Karl O’Shea: I’ll go for the basic goth answer and say black is my favourite colour though I’m quite partial to grey, red and blue. As for the future of Daylight Ghosts? Simple – keep creating and releasing music. We’ll figure out the rest as we go along.
Adam Dawe: I seek the holy grail. My favourite colour is blue. And I hope Daylight Ghosts continues to soar with the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow!
Thanks heaps for playing and congratulations on the album Urban Umbra!
Anchorage, Alaska, is the home to gothic duo, Cliff And Ivy who released the single, “Bloody Ghost” on March 10th, 2022. Cliff Monk (guitars, drum programming, songwriting, production) and Ivy Silence (vocals, lyrics, percussion, piano) are the musicians that make up the band
The very start seems a little off kilter, only for the guitars to come booming through with Ivy’s staccato vocals about the bloody ghost. There is a psychedelic quality to this track the way the guitar swirls in the mix and it could be the spectre at the end trying to join in. The message is that there may be liars, nay-sayers and things might not be easy but you should believe in the good of others and actions speak louder than words.
This track was inspired by someone Cliff And Ivy had known and now have passed beyond the vale plus their own life experiences. “Bloody Ghost” is both verbose and quirky, and actually very fun to listen to. I am still in awe how Ivy manages to get all those lyrics out so quickly. So enjoy this life and live it to the full because we are only here for a short time.
The post-punk/goth single, “Heartvine” was released in March 2022 by the New Mexico project, Blood Relations. E. K. Wimmer is the man behind Blood Relations, as he plays all the instruments, vocals and even created the video for the single.
Between the gentle guitar and the delicate synths, there is a light touch here. The vocals are actually a slight surprise as Wimmer’s voice is melodic and graceful as it sits above the music. Plaintive and sorrowful without being suffocatingly heavy.
The track is name your price on Bandcamp but I digress. This is a song of what is meant to be love eternal, though death will eventually slow and stop all hearts. Sweet and darkwave candy. April sees the release of the second single, so it will be really interesting to see how this sound develops for Blood Relations.
нашим друзям (For Our Friends) based in Hamburg, Germany, have putting together compilations to raise awareness and funds for the people of Ukraine. So far three compilations have been put together by them and we would like to draw your attention to the latest which is For OurFriends Vol III, There are 42 artists in this edition who all fall under the electro/industrial theme.
Of course with 42 acts on one compilation, so I am not going to review every song but I am proud to say I know some of the people that have donated tracks. From my hometown of Brisbane, the wonderful DirtFactory with their nihilistic cyber industrial track, “Violence” and RogerMenso’s Nyteshayde, whom I have known since I was about 19 with his slow burn, borne of war trauma number, “WhispersAndShouting“.
There is also Dogmachine, who I knew in the 90s, with their fantastic, angst ridden “Headwound” which was often heard at nightclubs, with KraigDurden as the lead singer, who went onto create Replikant and his track “Anaesthetic” appears, full of wandering synths as if in an induced dream.
But there are bands from all over the world such as the German maestro of crunchy rhythmic power noise, SebastianSünkler’sSTAHLSCHLAG, with “ShundeNull” along with another big, rhythmic noise act KiEw with “Mariupol, Ukraine“. In other words there are all sorts of goodies here. Transponder featuring LeætherStrip, Sven Phalanx with MissKitty and I could go on.
If this was put together as a regular compilation, it would be well worth buying, however what it stands for makes it much more valuable. Not only are you getting music you are going to enjoy and find new artists you never knew about but you are supporting a cause, helping those who, currently, are in dire straits, in the middle of a illogical and terrible war. Remember this is For Our Friends.
What happens when you mix New Zealand’s Robots In Love with Sweden’s JA/VI? You get a dancefloor remix of the single “Good Cocaine“. Elenor Rayner is Robots In Love and formerly, half of Australian act, The CrystallineEffect with Pete Crane (Shiv-r) as well as performing in Snog and Soulscraper. JA/VI is an emo/pop singer as well as producer who has molded “Good Cocaine“.
The track is catchy with the beats and synths that erupt with fire going into the chorus. An undercurrent of raw sexuality, oozes through, with JA/VI’s vocals in a most pleasing manner. It is an interesting premise that love is like cocaine, addictive and that is great, thought the other side of the coin is cocaine is addictive…..so will love kill you? What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger, so they say. What is addictive is this song, so you might want to heart Robots In Love.
Suburban Spell is Melbourne based, Peter Endall. He released his second album, Split Levels, in February, 2022. He creates 80s inspired, synth music with sparkling electronics and lyrics that points to a far more murky depth to everyday ordinary life. There is a sincerity within each song covering aging, beliefs and living in the modern era. So with that in mind, Peter graciously spoke to us about things that create a Suburban Spell.
Onyx welcomes you to the dark side of crazy, Peter Endall of Suburban Spell. Make sure your seat is in the upright position and trays away for take-off please.
We like to ask the hard questions. You are from Melbourne but we have no information on any previous bands you might have been involved in other than Schizo Scherzo in the 80s (although I did find a Peter Endall in a group called The Spinners and their thing was sea shanties). Musically what were you doing before Suburban Spell?
Hiya. I was keeping my hand in musically, and played lots of piano for the enjoyment of my dog and son for many years! Immediately after Schizo Scherzo, I played in another incarnation of the band called Love and Dr Forrest: a new wave pop band, really good fun. We didn’t release anything, but had a blast playing live. Following that, I got sick of lugging around loads of keyboards and decided to play guitar, so played in a band called Dive, and did a few gigs, demos, and appeared on some promotional compilation albums. I’m not a very good guitarist. I also did some songwriting with local cinematic writers John Bartholomeusz and Colin Swan, in an outfit called The Candle Makers. Following that, I decided to learn the Double Bass and played it for a number of years. The highlight from that was a stint with local Bluegrass band The Stetsons.
Your second album, Split Levels, came out only a year after your self-titled debut. That is a rather quick turnaround in writing. So, do you find writing music easy?
I find musical ideas do come relatively easy. The work comes in trying to refine those ideas into a cohesive and interesting song. I was never really into lyrics that much, but since I’ve pushed myself into that space, I’ve really enjoyed the process, and find it quite cathartic. Writing lyrics has crystallised my thinking. Previously, I’d had lots of loose butterfly concepts that didn’t amount to anything. Having to create a narrative around those concepts has been a revelation; it has helped me articulate who I am, and I love it.
Both albums are kind of like your covid babies, aren’t they?
I must admit Covid did give me the time to conceive the baby. But now the baby is growing up, and turning out be quite a formidable force that is now wonderfully consuming me.
Split Levels refers to the architectural style of house, so what convinced you to name the album this?
The term Split Levels resonated with me on a couple of… levels. The initial thought was its link to the veneer of suburban life, and how if you have the opportunity to look deeper into the everyday, there will always be multiple layers there. And quite often those layers that are revealed are dark and sinister. Every day there is an awful story on the news of domestic violence, alcoholism, drug abuse, depression, suicide and I suppose I wanted to write about that. I find it really interesting to understand what motivates and drives people to do the things they do. There is no one size fits all here, but I’m a bit of a bower bird, as I’ll observe, look, and listen to people on public transport, at the market, at concerts, political rallies, TV etc, etc… there are so many stories… and most of these people go home into their suburban life at the end of day. We all go home at some time.
Peter, your music is rooted in the late 70s and early 80s electronic style which of course was before the onset of fast computers and mobile phones and most musicians wrote about life and what was around them. Do you feel that simplicity in a way has shaped the way you see things and write?
Without question it has. I’ve always loved the bravery of un-cluttered and direct music; that style of songwriting is a constant battle for me, as I think it requires great confidence to write in that beautifully simple way. I’m learning to trust myself more and more as I develop my taste and musical confidence. As a musician / songwriter who has probably had the benefit of many years of life experience, it surprises me how much more “complete” I’ve recently become as result of this process.
Do you find it easier being a solo artist or are there disadvantages as well?
At the moment, I’m really enjoying being a solo artist. There are disadvantages, of course, as it’s good to be challenged and to be pushed by working with others. But right now, I’m enjoying the indulgence. If I met a fellow musician who I felt I could work with, I would certainly be interested in following through with that. But I’m not going to push the issue. If it happens, then that would be great.
The synths are often bright and mesmerizing while the lyric content can be a little dark. It this intentional?
YES, it ties back the to the suburban life, and how what is presented to you isn’t always what it seems. And I’ve always been attracted to grand melodies (sometimes not to the greater good though). My wife is a great sounding board for this, as she was (and is) a hardcore punk who is often reminding me to toughen it up a bit… and I listen to her.
Being in the Australian music industry since the 80s, you would have seen a lot of changes. Has it changed for the better or worse in your opinion?
I don’t want to sound like every other old fart by saying “oooo you know things were so much better in the old days”, ‘cos it’s not true!! There is a lot of rubbish out there but there is a lot of good stuff too, you just gotta search it out. I’m really enjoying this band called Plague Pits atm, they’re wonderful.
Can you tell us about all the bands that influenced you to take up keyboards and play?
The old faves really; Klaus Schultz going way back, Jean-Michel Jarre, Kraftwerk, YMO… then leading into Ultravox, Human League and Depeche Mode. My first ever band was called The Underjives, who were a bluesy guitar band – not sure why I joined them… I just wanted to play in a band. I was 17 and they let me join ‘cos I had good equipment!!
Who do you listen to now?
Bandcamp is my friend, so as noted before Plague Pits, Fragrance, Verdaine, Solar Fake, Solitary Experience to name a few, I could go on and on…
You have a great voice. Originally the first album was not going to have any vocals… WHY?!!
To be honest, I didn’t think my voice was worthy when I first started. But I’m getting better and more confident with my vocals every time I record, and I love that, so am going to keep going (thanks btw).
Are there any intentions of playing live?
Yes, there are, insofar as I have a concept in mind of what the Suburban Spell live experience would look like. I would need to commit to a show before it would happen though. If I could find likeminded people and I created the time, I would definitely be into it.
The next question is very important. Who do you choose – John Foxx’s Ultravox! or Midge Ure’s Ultravox?
The last international act I saw live before Covid locked everything down was Midge Ure.
What is in the future for Suburban Spell and Peter Endall?
World domination and a nice cup of tea. Seriously though, I’m very, very excited about my musical journey. I have so many musical thoughts and concepts that I want to explore, so I just want to keep creating. Having UTM on board as my promoter has been critical in the inspiration too: having my music pushed out into the world is a dream come true.
Thank you Peter for flying with Onyx airlines. We hope you enjoyed it even with the lack of snacks and fluid delights. I won’t hold it against you for choosing Midge Ure………or will I?!
In a very short amount of time, George Klontzas’ solo project, Teknovore has come a long way. George has been a part of industrial acts such as Croona, the new Neon Decay and Cynical Existence which means he has a wealth of experience behind him, not to mention a tonne of talent and an ear for the good stuff. Seeing as the new album, The Theseus Paradox was out, we spoke to George about ancient history, mythical heroes and music.
Welcome George Klontzas to the ancient darkness that is Onyx. We have the Moirai in a corner doing their thing and we can just shoot the breeze like the Oracles of Delphi.
How did you originally get into the electro scene?
In my teens I was mainly into Metal but I was also interested in electronic music to a lesser degree. Eurodance was huge at that time, and that was obviously a major influence on the Aggrotech sound. In fact one of the first albums I bought was 2 Unlimited’s No Limits. The real gateway albums for me though have to be the Mortal Kombat soundtrack which introduced me to Fear Factory, KMFDM, Juno Reactor, and the Quake soundtrack which introduced me to NIN. Of course, living on a Greek island before the advent of the Internet not much was available to me and I was just skimming the surface. It was as a student living in Edinburgh, attending Goth and Industrial club nights that I really got into the scene.
There are a lot of goth/industrial/metal acts from Greece, so what is the scene like there in Athens especially and has it changed over the years?
I’m still living on an island (Crete) literally and I suppose metaphorically too in a sense. Sometimes I feel a bit removed from the Greek scene, looking in, so I don’t really feel like an authority that can speak on it. What I can say with confidence is that we are surely blessed to have many talented and multi-faceted artist s and bands here in Greece. Just off the top of my head I need to mention Siva Six whose latest album is excellent as always. I was happy to see recently that Cygnosic are back recording new stuff. Technolorgy are releasing something in April I believe. I’ve been listening to ΦΩΝΟΠΤΙΚΟΝ a lot recently too and a young artist that I think deserves more attention is Saint – I encourage you to check out their album Erga Omnes. Again though, I feel bad because there are so many others I could and should mention and I have to give you props for reviewing and shining a spotlight on many Greek artists recently!
You have been in a few fairly big name industrial acts What prompted you to start Teknovore?
Mostly it was a desire to try my hand at various different styles that I love like Goa and Psytrance, Techno and the EBSM sound that’s emerged out of France in recent years. I wasn’t even sure if I was going to make an album when I started. I was just making all these tracks in different styles, seeing what I could do with them, what worked for me and what didn’t. After I had made the decision that I was indeed making an album I started the process of reworking the tracks so they could have some cohesion as a whole. Many of the tracks on the album are the 3rd or 4th vastly different versions of what I had originally made. Teknovore basically became about not playing it safe and in the end what I found is that the tracks that caused me the most frustration in making are my favorites on the album.
How different has it been for you doing a solo project from being in a collective?
It’s given me a lot of freedom creatively. No rules to follow or guidelines to adhere to other than those I set for myself. Especially not having a singer has allowed me to be much more creative with song structures. Many of the genres I love are instrumental and it makes a lot of sense to me to work with guest vocalists when needed, at least from an artistic point of view. However, from a commercial viewpoint, vocals and lyrics can help the music connect with an audience so bringing in someone on a more permanent basis or even doing taking on that role myself is something I may consider. I’m not leaning in the direction currently but you never know.
Let’s talk about The Theseus Paradox album. The paradox is that if you replace everything is it the same object/human when you first started. Is there a particular significance in the title for you?
I certainly saw the parallels in my own life. I went through a period of introspection a couple of years ago when I decided to leave some parts of my life behind. I’m not the same person I was 10 years ago and yet I am. Would my younger self recognize me now and vice versa? This was also reflected in how I felt about the music I was making. What expectations, if any, would there be based on what I had done in the past? How much should I hold on to and how much should I reject or replace? This whole thought process took over in the early stages of making The Theseus Paradox and became the main concept behind the album.
The album is amazing. Where did you even start in creating this debut monster?
Thank you for saying so! I guess I’ve already inadvertently answered this question. I’ll also mention that I invested in a brand new setup before getting started and much of the experimentation in the early stages came from learning the new plugins. That’s also how the cover of Dark Soho’s Save Me God was born which was on the Anachronist single with vocals by Z from Siva Six. A made a couple of covers as a training exercise when I started. There’s a cover of FLA’s Plasticity sitting on my hard drive somewhere. I focused a lot on some aspects that I felt I was weak at in the past like sound design. The right or wrong sounds will make or break a track.
You are on Infacted Recordings with j:dead and you have mixed tracks for Jay Taylor plus he appears on two of your tracks. So when did you ask Jay to do vocals?
Funnily enough the first track Jay and I worked on together, Tearing Me Apart, was originally supposed to be a track for Croona. Fredrik and I then decided to put Croona on ice so it became the J:dead vs Teknovore single you may have heard and the collaborations on my album happened as a result of that. Really I have Fredrik to thank for putting me in touch with Jay as he is a great guy and I really enjoyed working with him. Hopefully there’ll be more Teknovore x J:dead stuff happening in the future.
Jay Ruin or RNZR also does an amazing job as well as Neon Decay which is another non de plume for Fredrik Croona. How fortunate do you feel having all these amazing vocalists contribute to your album?
Very fortunate indeed. Fredrik and I have worked on various projects together over the last decade and he’s a great friend. Neon Decay is a new project we’ve been working on that’s a continuation of what we did with Croona mixed with synthwave… so nothing like the track we made together on my album!
I’ve been following Jay’s work since he was CeDigest, you know, the glory days of Noitekk! I agree he did an amazing job and he’s also just released a new RNZR single called Chaotic Erotica. Check it out, it’s gloriously filthy!
The artwork is stunning for the cover. Nikos Stavridakis is the man that created it. Are you still amazed by it?
Nikos and I go back a long way. He’s one of the first people to support me as a musician. When I started putting together The Theseus Paradox it was important to me that I work with people I can trust. When I explained the concept he loved it and was really excited to work on it and that is reflected in the end result. It’s such a powerful and striking image. Just perfect.
What gets your blood pumping now?
Other than making and listening to music, I watch A LOT of movies. Talk to me about horror movies – I can go all day! And I love re-watching my favorite movies with my daughter and introducing her to them so I can hear her comments. It’s like seeing them again with fresh eyes. That’s one of my favourite aspects of parenting – re-experiencing things through her. I’m into gaming too, though I kind of gave it up over the last year so I could focus on music. If The Theseus Paradox sells well I’ll reward myself with a PS5!
If you could be a mythical Greek Hero for a day, who would you be?
This feels like a trick question because almost all of them had tragic ends…but if it’s just for a day I suppose I’d avoid those. I won’t say Theseus as it is too obvious and I’m tempted to say Orpheus because of his legendary musical ability. I’m going to go with an out-of-the-box answer though and say Diomedes, one of the main characters in the Iliad. He is the most valiant hero of the Trojan War who while possessing great fighting ability also displays great wisdom. He fights and injures both Ares and Aphrodite in a single day yet shows humility thus avoiding committing hubris.
What is next for you and Teknovore?
I’ve just finished working on the Neon Decay album so now I can turn my focus back to Teknovore. I’ve got a few ideas about where I’m going with the next release but nothing solid yet. I’d like to get an EP and single ready to release by the end of 2022. Finally, I’ve had some initial discussions regarding some live shows. We’ll see what happens!
Thank you George for running this gauntlet…luckily no sirens were hurt in the asking of these questions!
Thank you for having me and keep up the good work! Calling back to your mention of the Oracle of Delphi earlier I’ll leave you with some Ancient Greek wisdom in the form of the three maxims inscribed outside the temple of Delphi: Know thyself; Nothing to excess; Surety brings ruin
I think there is a lesson in that for all of us……..
Faux is French for false or fake and so we have the band, Faux Fear. They are based in Reading, PA, they have a double single called “Uncharted“/”Legacy” released on the 26th of March and they seem really cool….. yep that’s it. I have nothing else about them, so I guess we have to wait for them to give us clues. Oh and it is out on Death March Records!!
From the beginning of “Uncharted“, there is someone playing bass that sounds like it comes straight off the original DuranDuran album, circa 1981, which may I say was a very good year. There is the scratchy slide guitar sound which was a hallmark in Bauhaus tracks as Faux Fear lead us down this post-punk path. The female vocals hold you in a trance. “Legacy” is a far more fast paced track and there is something very bouncy about the chorus which would be very fun to dance to or yell out I didn’t need us at a live gig.
Okay I like these a lot and especially “Uncharted“. It is charmingly retro in some ways but still modern in flavour and it tastes like something a little forbidden and a secret to be hidden from those who won’t understand. Alright Faux Fear, keep your mysteries for now but I am sure we will see more from you soon!
Onyx Music Reviews 