eng - Grave Jibes

Contents: 

2 Ain Soph Aur 

6 Frustration 

13 Psychoformalina 

16 Electric Press Kit 

18 The Cemetary Girlz 

22 Date At Midnight 

27 Les Modules Etranges 

32 Human Puppets 

37 Agent Side Grinder 

41 Jessie Evans 

47 Anasazi 

50 Lost Tribe 

52 Part 1 

56 Zombie Saratov High League 

59 

Reviews


2 

“Cold-wave and postpunk 

feelings, metal approach, 

electro experiments, shaped guitars, 

lysergic voice and esoteric 

questions since 1994” - that’s 

how the French duo Ain Soph 

Aur describes itself. For many 

such coctail may sound really 

weird, but it’s not that easy to 

find another band which 

could sound so organic in its 

own style, as it does Ain Soph 

Aur. And their latest album 

“Des Pierres Blanches” underlines 

that the band is on 

the peak of its creativity. 

ID 

Name: AinSophAur 

Place: Paris, France 

Time: 1994 - ? 

Close to: post-punk ; coldwave ; dark rock 

Current Label: Manic Depression 

Web: http://ainsophaur.free.fr/ 

http://www.facebook.com/pages/AinSophAur/285537499566 

Nattsol: Greetings, Phil and 

Toy! To start this interview, 

please tell how you started 

to play music and what were 

your initial references. 

Toy: I started playing music with 

my father’s guitar when I was 10. 

I was in my first band when I was 

15. Even if we used to lesson to 

different kind of music at home, my 

first revelation about dark music 

was “17 seconds” by the Cure, I 

was 12 years old. 

Phil K.: At school first, using flute 

and xylophone as every other child. 

When I was 15, I started to play in 

a punk band, like occasional bassist, 

and to scream some bullshit in a mike. 

Nattsol: How did it happen that you 

formed Ain Soph Aur, and how did 

it happen that the band turned into 

the duo? 

Toy: ASA was created after a jam 

between 2 bands at the end of a gig. 

The perfect mix between dark lyric 

new-wave and lysergic speed metal. 

The band started with 6 members, 

and life made some of us leave the 

board for different reasons (jobs, families, 

other bands, other artistic activities...). 

Gio (bass/guitar former 

member) was the last one to leave. 

Nattsol: You started in 1994, and 

the mid 90’s seems the 

most underground 

and mysterious 

time 

for the French cold/goth scene with 

cult bands, such as Corpus Delicti, 

Martyr Whore, Brotherhood of Pagans 

etc. So how can you describe that 

era, and did you feel yourselves a 

part of the “movement”? 

Toy: I think everything starded in 

France in the 80’s, not in the mid 

90’s, with bands playing different 

kinds of “dark music”: Nox, Treponem 

Pal, Neva, Tanit, Marc Seberg, Jad 

Wio, Kas Product, Clair-Obscur, Trouble 

Fait’, the bands we were playing 

in (Francis Massacre, Requiem) and 

many many more... 

Phil K.: Not really a part of the movement 

for me. We are inside and outside 

at the same time. Maybe too 

different for most of them. 

Nattsol: How can you describe the 

1994-2000 period of the band’s 

activity?


Ain Soph Aur 

3 

Toy: I was not in the band at this 

time, involved in other musical 

projects. But I remember well the 

rehearsals (we are friends for 

decades...) and the gigs, where 

metallic chaos, cold shamanism, 

tortured feelings were so impressive, 

mixing a kind of trance with 

lyrical energy. 

I got involved in the band when the 

former drummer left, and I was the 

ASA’s drummer for a couple of years. 

Phil K.: A very strange period with 

lots of misunderstandings with the 

musician of my own band. They 

wanted to be simple but in only 

one way, for fun. When it became 

serious, I mean we were ready to 

find some real deal with a record 

label, they didn’t want to go ahead 

in this “job” way. 

Nattsol: During the first decade 

of the XXI century you released 

two albums, which both are soldout 

now – “Lueur” (2000) and 

“HorsemeN Ov MentaliS ApocalypsE” 

(2004). What can you tell 

about these works? 

Toy: “Lueur” was made by only 4 

of us when I was on drums. I remember 

well making them work 

and work to be ready again to play 

gigs and record something quickly. 

I have to tell that we used to create 

new stuff when one of us left the 

band. And some of us in ASA were 

able to exchange their instrument 

(drums to guitar, guitar to bass, 

keys to guitar...). It is for this reason 

that ASA always goes 

up to the light. 

“HOMA” was the result 

of three of us, 

when I left the drums 

to go back to my guitar, 

with Gio on bass and Phil 

on vocals. And it was also 

the return of the computer, 

which never left us until now! 

(laughters) 

Phil K.: The first one LUEUR 

was horrible except two songs. 

One it's a mix from Toy and 

the other in live at the 

desk mix commands. 

Some songs are very 

hard too because I 

speak of my "brother 

in arms" who 

died just before. I 

realy dislike the 

guitars, they 

sound untuned, 

and the sound 

is too much 

clear, very uncomfortable 

at my ears! 

For HoMA it was make too 

much quickly too, in emergency. 

But I really love some 

of songs on this EP. 

At that time we were all running 

after something, but 

too much disorder inside 

us, and I don’t like the 

way that we worked with 

our engineer. The sound 

was not what we want. But 

we work together now again 

and it‘s cool because he understood 

our way of thinking 

and the way that we see music! 

So times change! It's why we 

recorded again 3 old songs 

sur "Des pierres blanches»: 

"Visage tranquille», and 

"Ae panti nam", and "Que 

restera t'il" which 

were only live 

takes on the 

first release of 

HOMA. 

Nattsol: It’s not 

that easy to find 

much information 

about the band on 

the web, but according 

to what I’ve found 

you had quite intense 

2008, right? Can you 

share some memories 

about your activity during 

that year? 

Toy: Keeping some 

mystery about the 

band is a good 

thing. In fact, 2008 

was the time Phil and I came 

back from personal hell after 3 

long years of disgust, anger, 

sadness and lost minds. It’s all 

I want to tell about these times. 

Phil K.: Oh my friend, if you 

want to know.... That period was 

a very bad one. Everything is 

in my lyrics. I lost my soul, my 

mind , my wife, my job ,my convictions, 

lots of friens & people 

died around me, I had lots of 

problems with the justice too... 

just like a never ending bad spiral, 

fucking bloody mess!!! 

Nattsol: Could you explain your 

passion for playing acoustic 

covers and the meanings of 

these covers for you? 

Toy: The new songs were very 

difficult to achieve because of 

the feelings we lived, because 

we were personaly very troubled 

as I said. 

So we started to play acoustic 

covers for pleasure and to reach 

some quietness. 

And this acoustic way slowly 

became a real part of our artistic 

expression. 

Phil K.: A good way to sing and 

play in a simple form, to touch 

people with references and to go 

at the essential in a simple but 

intense and very personal form. 

And for my pleasure too! 

Nattsol: Your latest album “Des

4 Ain Soph Aur Ain Soph Aur 

4 

Pierres Blanches” – could you introduce 

it to our readers in your own words? 

Toy: DPB is the end of the black time 

in our personal lives, questions about 

what we could do to survive it, and it 

was also about the time to our new 

songs to be what they are now. 

Took 5 years to end. And the title of 

the record came naturally to me, like 

if I had closed a chapter of my life, 

ready to walk my way again in the light. 

Phil K.: It was just like a therapy, a 

big vomit! An introspective pain, like 

a deliverance in suffering. Shouts 

and tears, but inside me. But I’m 

very proud that we achieved it. 

Nattsol: How could you describe 

the evolution of Ain Soph 

Aur through its studio releases? 

Toy: Each time it’s a bit easier, 

because we used to work alone 

for years, with some help of 

friends for technical support, 

from the composition to the making 

of the cover. 

I hope someday we could have 

the money to use a real studio, 

just to know how it feels to work 

in good conditions. But maybe the 

strange conditions we worked in, 

are one of the things that make 

this band interesting. 

Phil K.: A better comprehension as 

with Toy as with the technical staff 

in all the ways of talking about artistic 

and technique. 

Nattsol: What can you tell about “Flatliners 

Corp.”? 

Toy: FC was an intellectual way for me 

to group all the different projects I do. 

Flatliners are people doing NDE, going 

on the other shore to come back with 

a different light in heart and spirit. 

And I use it in a metaphoric way, to 

keep in mind that from Darkness 

comes the Light. 

So, it naturally became the name of 

our autoproduction factory. 

Phil K.: Biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiip................... 

Nattsol: Which subjects in general 

do you explore in your lyrics/music? 

Toy: I only can speak about music, 

which is my main job in the band. I’m 

just a multi-instrument mixed with a 

sensitive guy. That’s all. 

Phil K.: Could you spend 2 more 

hours with me? (lol) Well...to say it 

shortly, I do like most of the others 

authors do: telling things 

about my life, about relationships, 

about love and 

death, about the opening of 

the mind, about the problems 

of misunderstanding 

with other people.... 

Nattsol: You deal with esoteric questions 

– do you adhere to any 

theory/conception (like, say, Thelema 

or whatever), or you follow your own 

way, based just on your experience? 

Toy: I’m just a free man with a free 

mind. I follow my own way, trying to 

keep my eyes and my heart open. 

For me, the concept of Ain Soph Aur 

is not the end, it is just a part of the 

undertsanding. And it is a fine name 

for such a band like ours. 

Phil K.: I follow my own way, but sometimes 

I’m the Leader of your mind! Lol. 

I take some distances with the order of 

thelema, I do it in «solitaire» I don’t 

realy like to speak about that , only

5 Ain Soph Aur Ain Soph Aur 

5 

sometimes with peoples involved Inside 

when I’m in «phase», when I have the 

feeling with them . But I’m always in 

esoteric and spiritual way of life. 

Nattsol: When I watched your live 

videos on youtube, they much impressed 

me by the atmosphere, sound 

and performance, done by just two 

people. So, are you duo by choice 

or just because you can’t find musicians 

who would fit? How far are your 

real live shows from the live show of 

your dream? 

Toy: The shows are just exactly what 

we are when we swim in the open 

sky, as could say a friend of us…. 

It reflects all of what we lived - Phil 

and I - for the last 7 years, as humans, 

as musicians and also as 25 year 

old friends. And as I tried to explain, 

we are a duet because life brought 

us to this. And I love the way we do 

that, because we are more sharp 

and free now. 

And I understood that it’s easier for 

us 2 to express ourselves. It’s really 

different in a band. 

As some friends say, we look like an 

old couple, really close in life and 

on stage. I didn’t think this osmosis 

could happen at this point one day. 

And I love that! 

About other musicians? Yes, we 

would like to experiment a band 

again, but people are sometimes feeling 

outside of our entity, impressed 

by the strenght and the depth of our 

performances, as you said. 

The future is unwritten…. 

Phil K.: I agree with Toy, he said 

everything. Difficult to make it again 

or to be an intensive couple when 

you are much more than too! But... 

I don’t know really.... 

Nattsol: Do you feel the band part 

of the contemporary post-punk/goth 

scene? And do you see your musical 

“relatives” within this scene? 

Toy: We are, in a way, a part of this 

scene since decades, even if we are 

not only that. You can see it in our 

audience, which is a fine mix of different 

people, of different minds, and 

of different ways of living. We have 

some good friends from the old times 

and from the new times. 

And some others are not. 

Phil K.: Now, I’d like to! But we 

are out of it for most of the extremist 

goth audience. Just because we 

don’t have the right clothes. For 

the dark music lovers in general, 

I think yes. 

Nattsol: Many thanks for the interview! 

To finish it – do you have any question 

to Grave Jibes and its readers? 

Toy: You’re welcome, dear. A last 

question? Yes! Could you help us to 

come to play in your country? 

Phil.K: Have you some good “tricks” 

for wodka? Thank you very much, Pall. 

Questions: Pall “Nattsol” Zarutskiy 

“Grave Jibes Fanzine”


6 

Ain Soph Aur – 

‘Des Pierres 

Blanches...’ 

album review 

When a band mixes 

different styles in its music, 

usually the maximum 

it manages to 

achieve is being “interesting”, 

but sometimes 

one particular band of 

that kind can create a 

new style with a lot of 

followers. Ain Soph Aur 

with their latest album 

“Des Pierres Blanches...” 

belong neither to 

the first kind, nor to the 

second. This album definitely 

doesn’t sound as 

“black sheep” of the 

dark scene, since its 

songs sound very psychical, 

with much emotion 

and character to 

creep under listeners’ 

skin. But at the same 

time, the music is too 

much personal to have 

any “followers”. There 

could be noticed many 

influences – surely 

post-punk and cold 

wave, but also some 

metal, electro... The 

whole pattern may as 

well remind of dark rock, 

but it isn’t the best description 

for “Des Pierres 

Blanches...” too 

because generally Ain 

Soph Aur has nothing 

to do with dark rock 

bands. Weird, but this 

particular album doesn’t 

let anyone “dissect” it 

and put its components 

in a line to explore them 

with a microscope. On 

the contrary, it sounds 

so monolith that it can 

be taken and appreciated 

only as a whole. 

And what is even more 

amazing with “Des 

Pierres Blanches... “ is 

how it reflects emotions. 

It’s definitely an 

album exploring suffering. 

I don’t know what 

kind of experience Toy 

and Phil K. had, and 

how it turned into this 

album, but I wouldn’t 

wish anyone to experience 

the same. It is not 

only psychotic and obscure, 

there’s also too 

much personality behind 

“Des Pierres 

Blanches...”. 

To summarize, “Des 

Pierres Blanches...” is 

one of the best examples 

of what maturity 

and professional performance 

can give, accompanied 

with original 

ideas and personal feel. 

Unfortunately, people 

usually prefer something 

more definable, so 

it is very likely that this 

release will remain underestimated. 

But it 

won’t be underestimated 

by Grave Jibes. 

Grade: 10/10 

Pall ‘Nattsol’ Zarutskiy 

‘Grave Jibes Fanzine’ 

ID 

Name: Frustration 


Time: 2002 - ? 

Close to: post-punk ; coldwave ; 

Current Label: Born Bad Records 

Web: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Frustration/120387761342462 

http://www.myspace.com/_frustration 

These days Frustration belongs to one of the very few bands, that are 

known not only within the post-punk/coldwave fans, but even within those who’re 

hardly familiar with this genre. One of the most successful and the most touring 

band in the French independent scene (according to some scene colleagues’ 

opinions) – how could we not be interested in making an interview with them?! 

Nattsol: Greetings! To start with, 

please give your own introduction to 

this interview. 

Nicus: Hello everybody ! Welcome to 

Gravejibes for this unbelievable and 

RARE interview of Frustration, a 

French post-punk band from Paris. 

You will discover in these lines that 

the members of Frustration are common 

people. You will be amazed by 

the fact that the singer, Fabrice, loves 

to speak but hates to write. Reading 

this interview, you will see the Eiffel 

Tower, you will smell the Sacré Coeur, 

you will taste Notre-Dame De Paris. 

You will notice here that stupid and 

useless answers can be given to

7 Frustration 

Frustration 7 

clever and interesting questions 

(please, dear reader, don’t pay attention 

to Junior’s answers and forgive 

us for it). In order to make your reading 

easier, you have to know that Fabrice 

is the singer, Manu is the bass player, 

Junior is the keyboard player, Mark 

is the drummer (but he couldn’t answer 

the questions because he can’t read) 

and Nicus is the guitar player. 

Junior: You've got so many questions. 

I ain't got no answers. 

Nattsol: Frustration is the band of experienced 

musicians, so could you introduce 

yourselves and your 

non-Frustration musical activity? 

Fabrice: I’m the singer in a brand 

new cold-wave band: “Danger”. I was 

the singer in “Les Teckels” and “the 

Old Cunts” (street punk), in “Flathead” 

(HxC noise) and “Zurück Placenta”. 

Nicus: I play the guitar in Frustration 

but also in ANTEENAGERS M.C. (a 

‘pre-post-punk-garage-fuck-yeah’ 

band), in WARUM JOE ( a “?” style 

band from the 80’s ). I play the drums 

in a 60’s French-yé-yé band called 

LES TERRIBLES and in a late synthpunk 

band called OPERATION S. 

Junior: I am the eggman. I'm also 

lead drummer in Saxarba, a concept 

band to come, about playing Santana's 

Abraxas' songs in reverse. 

Nattsol: Fabrice, you were the singer 

in the band 

Zuruck Placenta 

– 

could you 

briefly tell 

what this 

band was? 

Fab: In 1985, 

I met those guys 

looking for a singer. 

The band was 

called “Foramen”. 

I tried it and I loved 

it. At the end of 

1986, the guitar 

player had to leave, so we took another 

one: Jean, from “Babel 17”. “Zurück 

Placenta” was born. We played together 

for 5 years and splitted in 1992. But 

we all are still close friends. 

Nattsol: With Zuruck Placenta you 

were a part of coldwave/post-punk 

scene of the late 80’s/early 90’s. How 

could you describe that era as itself 

and comparing to nowadays? 

Fab: It was really hard to exist and play 

in the late eighties, because nobody 

cared about this kind of music in France. 

We just gave like 10 gigs in 5 years. 

Nattsol: How did it happen that the 

ZP album - one the “cursed albums, 

recorded in SVO”, as your former bandmate 

Jean called it, was finally released 

by Manic Depression, and what do you 

think about this release now? 

Fab: We were ready to record and we 

wanted it bad! So we put a lot of money 

in a super good studio, no matter what 

would become this album: we wanted 

to have it and we had it! But it was 

never released! Then a few years ago, 

my girlfriend was listening to my cd’s 

and found this copy I had. She asked 

“what the fuck is this?! It’s great!”. She 

loved it and asked Lionel from “Manic 

Depression” to listen to it. He did. And

8 Frustration Frustration 8 

loved it too. And released it. Now, we 

are very happy and proud that this album 

exists after all those years in the cellar. 

Nattsol: What can you tell about 

the Heurts video, its creation and 

its destiny? 

Fab: Not much: this video was edited 

and produced by Momo (“Fraggle Production”). 

The images were shot near 

the Flea Market, in the north of Paris. 

Nattsol: Is there something from the 

ZP era that plays an important role 

for you nowadays? 

Fab: If you play with guys who really 

love to play live on stage, a lot of 

people want to see you again, because 

they saw you play maybe not 

with a big smile but with sincere grin! 

Nattsol: Nicus, you also play in the 

cult underground punk band Warum 

Joe. How did you join them? 

Nicus: As a teenager, I was a big fan 

of this band: they had a really 

particular sound, with 

those rhythm boxes, analog 

synths, creepy guitars 

and uncommon lyrics for 

a punk band. I used to 

work in a recording and 

rehearsal studio in the 

early 90’s. That’s where 

I met them: they came 

one day to mix an album 

(‘Aime Le Maudit’ 1993, 

New Rose). We fell in 

love, during those night 

sessions, recording, 

mixing, drinking beers and eating chili 

con carne! Ha! Ha! Actually, this studio 

is the place where I met all those 

guys and girls I’m making music with 

nowadays. 

Nattsol: The latest Warum Joe album 

“Au Milieu De Ta Forme” is considered 

as one of its best ones, and at the 

same time it was something like a 

comeback album. So could you tell 

more about this album, its history and 

its conception? 

Nicus: Warum Joe never 

stopped playing: we only 

play when people ask us 

for it. So it goes for the 

albums: when we have 

enough songs for an album, 

we record it. We have 

no record company pushing 

for release, so we are 

totally free. Music is our 

hobby and our passion. So 

we can’t talk about a ‘comeback 

album’ because we 

never left. When I don’t have 

anything to say, I shut up… 

that’s what we do with W.J. 

“Au Milieu De Ta Forme” was recorded 

by the countryside, in a friend’s house, 

where we built a studio for one week. 

It was super fun and exciting to do: 

we had an 8 tracks reel to reel analog 

recorder, our amps, synths, guitars, 

drum boxes, a few mikes and effects. 

The place was such a mess: gear 

and wires in every room. The kids 

from the next village were intrigued 

and spied on us: they could hear the 

music (really loud!) in this middle of 

nowhere, and see those punks, fishing 

seriously by the river or playing football 

in the fields with a beer can in 

the hand… When we came back to 

Paris, we mixed it by ourselves too, 

in the attic of the guitarist’s mother. 

Totally D.I.Y. A friend of us (Esteban) 

made some ‘electro’ re-mix that

9 Frustration 

Frustration 

9 

sounded really good. Those appear 

on the cd version of the album (on 

Crash Disques). I was really proud, 

because I had been playing with W.J. 

for years, and it was the first album 

ever I was featuring on, with four of 

my songs on it. 

Nattsol: Now it’s already 9 years since 

the release of the above mentioned 

album and during this period not that 

many things obviously have happened 

with the band, even though it still functions. 

So what’s happening with 

Warum Joe at the moment and what 

are its plans for the future? 

Nicus: we don’t have any new stuff, 

we just rehearse before the gigs, to 

set the show and that’s all. WJ is and 

stills (like Frustration) an “amateur” 

band: music is not our job. Maybe 

we’re gonna take time to write new 

songs but it’s not planned yet. 

Nattsol: So, how did it happen 

that you all met each other and 

formed Frustration? 

Nicus: well, well, well… 

“There’s a long long time, 

in a galaxy, far far away… 

” no, let’s make it short: 

some of us met when they 

were teenagers, some of 

us met in gigs, some of 

us met at the bar but I 

personally met them all in 

the rehearsal studio 

where I was working. 

Junior: I'm still wondering... 

Nattsol: How can you 

describe your 2002- 

2008 period of activity 

with its shows, releases 

etc? 

Nicus: Fun! We were starting the band 

and we quickly could feel that some 

people were asking for that kind of 

sound. We didn’t invent anything new 

but (almost) nobody 

was playing 

and recording that 

music anymore in 

the years 2000. It 

seems that People 

re-discovered that a 

band could give a 

raw, sad but really 

cold energy. So we 

started touring (when 

we could), and we 

had fun (when we 

could too). 

Junior: We were 

young, we ran green, 

keep our teeth nice 

and clean, saw our 

friends, saw the sights, 

felt alright. 

Nattsol: Let’s dedicate 

a single question to your only so far 

album “Relax”, released in 2008 by 

Born Bad records. How can you describe 

this album and its conception, 

and how far is it from what you’re 

doing in 2012? 

Fab: This album was a mixture of 

all what we did during our first years 

of existence with Frustration. It’s little 

brother (“Uncivilized”… coming soon) 

will be more nervous, weirdest, and 

in a same time lighter and more still. 

See what I mean? 

Junior: It was what we wanted to 

record at this time and it's quite 4 

years far from what we're doing now. 

Nattsol: What are the main subjects 

for your song lyrics? 

Fab: Relationships tainted by deep love 

or real friendship! What puzzles me too 

is the lack of respect, under all it’s frames. 

Nicus:Frustration! As Fabrice says: ‘frustration 

is an engine’. It makes you work, 

love, hate, fuck, cry, fight, go further. 

Junior: I don't know, I don't speak English.

10 Frustration Frustration 

10 

Nattsol: The ten years of the existence 

of Frustration made you one of the 

most known and the most touring 

French cold/post-punk bands. So, has 

being famous (if it’s possible to say 

so) somehow affects on your daily life? 

Junior: I will let my assistant answer 

to that question. 

Fab: No. Maybe some friendly salutes from 

people I don’t know in bars or concerts. 

Nicus: Absolutely not. I still pay for my 

‘french baguette’ at the bakery and I 

like it. I really don’t feel like I’m famous 

and you know why? Because I’m not! 

Manu: First, we are not touring as 

much as you might think! In 10 years 

we must have played about 250 gigs 

or a little bit more and that’s all! Because 

we all have a lot of other oc- 

cupations in being 

fathers (3 members 

of the band have 

children), having a 

real job (except for 

junior that is unemployed, 

for instance), 

playing in other bands 

(Nicus, Fabrice), 

recording other bands 

(Nicus), managing 

other projects…. We’d 

like to play more, but, 

not that much… We believe, 

that it is important 

to take every gig as an 

enthusiastic event. 

Second, we are not that 

“famous”. As Fabrice 

likes to say, we are happy 

to be one of the famous band from 

the underground, and being part of 

this underground scene. 

Since the beginning we 

were only expecting the 

recognition from our 

close friends involved 

into music like us, and 

bands we love : 

cheveu, magnetix, 

feeling of love, jack of 

heart, Pierre et 

Bastien, le Prince Harry, 

Dick voodoo, intelligence, 

a frames, 

spits, .... . We are not 

looking for fame, we 

feel important to stay 

anonymous to keep 

the freedom of saying 

whatever we 

wanted to say, to do what we 

want without any explanation to give 

to anyone. Anonymity is a key to freedom, 

here! 

Nattsol: What are the weirdest/maddest 

things that happened to you on tours? 

Fab: I remember a drive one night in 

Belgium: back from a gig, Manu was 

driving stoned (I was too drunk to 

drive) and I was wondering if we 

could reach our sleeping place… 

how weird, hmm?! 

Junior: One night, during a show, I 

realized that Fabrice was singing in 

english. 

Nicus: the Switzerland Skatepark Affair!!! 

Come on Manu, tell us about it! 

Manu: Maybe this gig in Switzerland 

5 or 6 years ago, when we played in 

an empty skate park with 6/10 very 

young people that didn’t give a fuck 

for us. The guy who was supposed 

to organize forgot all about the gig,

11 Frustration Frustration 

11 

and when we arrived, there was nothing 

organized. The only place he’s got 

was this huge indoor skate park! It 

was very cold, we played with winter 

jackets and gloves (almost!)... but despite 

the conditions, we had fun anyway! 

Nattsol: I know that at least four of 

you have had experience of playing 

in punk/hardcore/oi etc projects, i.e. 

you’ve dealt with quite aggressive music 

and definitely not calm audience. 

Has it affected somehow on your music 

and stage behaviour? 

Fab: Yes. Anyway, I’m unable to do 

anything else: we have always been 

into that big rock’n’roll-punk-oi! Family! 

But there are so many things and behaviors 

that disgust me… 

Manu: I used to play in a pop band, 

a long time ago, and it was not a 

good experience. Maybe because I 

was not good enough to play this kind 

of music, but, on stage, the r’n’r energy 

missed me and it was no fun. Even 

the audience was not so enjoyable. 

To make it simple, we are r’n’r fans 

for years. And r’n’r, whatever the genre 

you like, has something to do with 

simplicity (even if the songs sounds 

complicated!), power, compact sound. 

It has to do with making music with 

a bunch of fellows who have good 

tastes but do not necessarily play well. 

They only try to have a good sound 

and spend good times together. It has 

to do with the look of the band, the 

behavior of the members on stage, 

the look and the behaviour of the audience 

too. It’s all this, and we feel 

comfortable with it, whatever the genre 

you’re exploring or creating (think of 

Cheveu for example!)… And yes! 

When, we play, the audience likes to 

pogo sometimes! If you’re afraid of 

people in a pogo, I suggest to try another 

kind of creative activity… what 

about patchwork? Seriously, the only 

thing is to stay respectful with the people, 

regardless your position: on stage 

or in the audience. We like to have 

and give some fun too… Sometimes, 

for one song (too many questions), 

Nicus jumps in the audience with Fabrice 

and Junior just to dance what we 

call the “caterpillar” in France with the 

people. It’s stupid, not aggressive at 

all, but fun!!!! 

Junior: Of course, I still can't help holding 

my keyboard very low on my thigh. 

Nattsol: Your latest single is called 

“Midlife Crisis”, which is something 

that people usually face in +/- your 

age. Considering this, should your lis- 

teners take it serious in your single? 

Fab: If they don’t know yet their right 

way, they’ll never know, and then, I 

don’t care! 

Nicus: Oh yes! 

Manu: We don’t know. The title speaks 

for itself, I guess. It’s about people 

trying to face the responsibility of being 

an adult and try to keep life in its 

funny, fresh, enjoyable way on the 

other hand. It’s about us! 

Junior: Of course they should! And 

then they should listen to the other 

side “Sad Face”. 

Nattsol: Do you plan to have a new 

record out this year or in the nearest 

future? 

Nicus: We just recorded a new album.

12 Frustration 

12 

You, lucky bastards, should get our 

new release for springtime. It should 

be called “Uncivilized”. And maybe, 

we are going to cook something special 

for our 10 years birthday before 

the end of 2012. 

Junior: Next year will it still be the 

nearest future? 

Nattsol: Thanks to the unique and 

very powerful sound, Frustration can 

be called “one of the most modern” 

post-punk bands. How do you manage 

to achieve this? 

Nicus: We use different types of production 

for our records: our first release 

was recorded in a sound 

engineer school (yes: our first record 

was homework for a student!). After 

that, we used the D.I.Y. solution, with 

my 8 tracks reel to reel analog 

recorder, which I looooooove: it gives 

you a rough and dirty sound. It quiet 

limited but it’s easy and fast to record 

and mix. And then, Jean-Baptiste Guillot 

from Born Bad Record sent us in 

real, big and good studios, with real 

sound engineers. From this point, you 

don’t really manage your music… unless 

you accept to become a real pain 

in the ass for the sound guy! You 

have to deal with super modern equipment 

and a guy who knows how it 

works when you don’t! So it takes 

time get what you want. 

Junior: Talent is a crime. 

Nattsol: How can you describe the 

contemporary French post-punk/coldwave 

scene? 

Fab: As Police sang:”so loooonely… 

so looooonely…”. Exept Charles de 

Goal and Passions Armées. 

Nicus: I don’t really know it. I work 

at night, so I don’t go to concerts, except 

when I play. 

Junior: Boring. 

Nattsol: And how can you describe 

Frustration, using only adjectives? 

Fab: Organic. 

Nicus: Tensed. 

Junior: Is Frederic Campo an adjective? 

Nattsol: In your opinion, what makes 

post-punk sound so relevant and fresh 

nowadays? 

Fab: Sorry: ain’t got no answer. 

Junior: Frustration. 

Nicus: The fact that you don’t hear it 

on the radio or on t.v! It makes you feel 

special not to be in the mainstream. 


Any final words? 

Fab: Thanx. See you! 

Nicus: Stay frustrated! 

Junior: We are young, we run green, 

keep our teeth nice and clean, see 

our friends, see the sights, feel alright. 

Questions: Pall ‘Nattsol’ Zarutskiy 


Zurück Placenta – Zurück Placenta 

album review 

Label: Manic Depression 

Format: CD 

Year: 2007 

Web: http://babel.17.free.fr/biozuruck.htm 

http://www.myspace.com/httpwwwmyspacecomzuruckplacenta 

In 2007 Manic Depression 

Records released an album, which was 

found during an archeological research 

and became a sensational proof that 

in France tribes existed till the early 

90’s! It is so because according to this 

release, Zurück Placenta was much 

more a tribe than a band. It consisted 

of post-punk/coldwave musicians, who 

run wild – vocalist Fabrice Gilbert 

(who’s now in Frustration), guitar player 

Jean Franceschi (Babel 17), bassist 

Pat Sciberras, keyboardist Christophe 

Julien, drummer Olivier Tonus and 

primeveal artist Julien. Speaking generally, 

this album sounds as a pagan 

dark ritual, put in obscure punk and 

coldwave frames, and it does sound 

much closer to British goth punk bands 

(like UK Decay, In Excelsis etc) than 

to any coldwave band that ever existed. 

So it can’t stop amazing how Zurück 

Placenta with its obscure tribal sound 

could start to exist in cold and decadent 

France. 

So, the conclusion is simple 

– if you love dark punk and punk gothique 

and you consider yourself more 

a punk than a “waver”, - Zurück Placenta 

is a 100% musthave for you. 

So don’t miss it. 

Grade: 10/10 


‘Grave Jibes Fanzine’

13 Psychoformalina 

13 

ID 

Name: Psychoformalina 

Place: Wroclaw, Poland 

Time: 1995 - ? 

Close to: post-punk, coldwave, zimna fala 

Current Label: Bat-Cave Productions 

Web: http://psychoformalina.bandcamp.com/ 

http://www.myspace.com/psychoformalina 

Interview with Miras „Mi-1” Majsiak 

T 

he Polish coldwave band Psychoformalina was formed in the mid 

of the 90’s, but declared about itself on a wider level only in the 

late 00’s when the first bands album was released. Now the band 

already has two albums in its active, which both surely take their places among 

the best coldwave records that came from Poland in recent years. Needless 

to say, we felt intrigued with such a powerful, though late, debut and its very 

decent continuation! 

Nattsol: Hello! Congratulations with 

your new album! To start this interview 

with, could you introduce yourself in 

musical and personal aspects, please. 

Mi-1: Hi! We’re called PSYCHOFOR- 

MALINA and we are a living legend 

of Wroclaw independent cold rock. We 

exist since the mid 90's and playwith 

the basic line-up: voc. – Mariusz „Marian” 

Wójcik, guit. – Miras „Mi-1” Majsiak, 

bass – Piotr „Piter” Bernatowicz, 

drums – Łukasz „Lookie” Wójcik. 

Nattsol: How did the band members 

meet each other? 

Mi-1: We met on the same stunts 

(shows?) and used alcohol heavily, and 

when it turned out that we were interested 

in similar music, we decided to create 

something interesting. So it began. 

Nattsol: You took the band’s name 

as the combination of songs "Psychocandy" 

of The Jesus & Mary Chain 

and "Adelaide formalina" of 1984. 

What were/are these bands and 

songs for Psychoformalina, and what 

personal meaning you’ve put in the 

band’s name? 

Mi-1: The name had to be something 

starting with "Psycho...", because at 

that time I was fascinated by the debut 

album of The Jesus And Mary Chain 

"Psychocandy". The second part is 

the song title of one of our favorite 

Polish bands - 1984. But this is only 

the deciphering of the name linguistically. 

We had more musical inspiration: 

Joy Division, Bauhaus, The 

Sisters Of Mercy, The Cure, on the 

one hand, and the Stooges, Velvet 

Underground, Sonic Youth and Pixies 

on the other. With this apparent Genealogy 

we created our own personal 

and unique (:)) sound. 

Nattsol: Your music is very much connected 

to “Zimna Fala” of the 80’s. 

So could you describe that scene from 

your own viewpoint?

14 Psychoformalina Psychoformalina 

14 

Mi-1: In those years, during the explosion 

of grunge music, we have 

joined the more depressing interest 

in art, evocative of the "cold wave". 

I do not know where it came from...? 

Perhaps the socio-political situation of 

that period. Cold wave on a larger 

scale was already history in Poland, 

but we decided to keep this form of 

artistic expression alive by adding to 

it a few other items I have already 

mentioned. Hopelessness, depression 

and lack of opportunities were 

no longer trendy, but we never cared 

about global trends. We wanted to express 

our emotional state, regardless 

of whether there were recipients of 

this message or not. 

Nattsol: Phychoformalina isn’t a new 

band. Formed in 1995, you released 

your debut album only in 2008. So 

could you tell me about the period 

1995-2008? Shows, some studio 

works, situation with your audience etc. 

Mi-1: Our band is not obligated to 

anything and does not need to create 

art under pressure, so for example, 

for the 1998-2002 period, nothing happened. 

Each of us took up his affairs, 

and when desire to pursue art returned, 

we gathered again. So it is. 

The first years were mainly the creation 

of the needs of soul, and only 

occasional concerts in our hometown 

Wroclaw. Perhaps we then ran out of 

motivation to record, because it was 

connected with boring work in studio, 

and we wanted to record 100% live. 

Unfortunately we could not find the 

studio with the right equipment for this 

purpose (not to mention a professional 

recording of the concert at that time 

...). We were finally persuaded by 

Arnold, our friend from Bete Noire, a 

group that is the now defunct, unfortunately. 

He organized us a studio and 

practically forced to record the CD at 

least part of our songs. It took us almost 

two years to record and mix all 

songs! Now you understand why we 

prefer to play live.... 

Nattsol: You play with a basic line-up - 

guitar, bass, drums and voice. Have you 

ever experimented with other instruments, 

or, may be, you want to do so? 

M-1: We thought about using keyboards, 

but nothing happens. We 

played a concert with clarinet (!). It 

was a really interesting experience. 

Clarinetist, however, was taken by 

Bete Noire and our experiments were 

over. The basic line-up has its advantages, 

less people in the band means 

better and faster understanding. 

Sometimes it only takes an exchange 

of glances between us to know what 

direction to seek in work or live improvisation. 

But we do not rule out 

using other instruments in the band. 

You would never guess what is the 

final improvisation on the last track of 

our new album! This is a set of five 

microphones processed sounds with 

changing air movements extracted 

from the mouthpiece of a saxophone! 

Nattsol: You call Psychoformalina 

“Psychogeniczna Formacja Literacko- 

Muzyczna”. Can you explain this term 

and its backgrounds? 

Mi-1: It is a term matched to the existing 

forms but the most real. Psychogenic, 

as having its source in the 

psyche, Formation – the band, Music 

and Literary – our lyrics are not random 

and do not deal with nonsense, they 

are closer to a kind of poetry and 

are more literary than a simple song. 

As for music, I think there is no doubt. 

This is how to decipher the band’s 

name, its origins and relationship to 

art. Our relationship with show business 

is expressed by our logo: 

Nattsol: What’s the situation with independent 

scene in your hometown, 

Wroclaw? 

Mi-1: The situation with independent 

bands in Wrocław has not changed 

since prehistoric times. Maybe there 

are more places where you can take 

attempts, but concerts are for free due 

to lack of interest in art from the majority 

of clubs that kindly organized 

the concerts. For them highest beer 

sales (bad taste usually) are more important 

than the shows...

15 15 

Psychoformalina 

Psychoformalina 

Nattsol: Are there some bands that 

you can call your friends? From your 

country and from abroad. 

Mi-1: When it comes to similar climates, 

it's definitely Bete Noire, and when it 

comes to our friends, recently I’ve been 

spending a lot of time with blues-rock 

band Hot Habanero (we like the same 

good Czech beer). We do not know 

anyone closer from abroad. 

Nattsol: What’s the situation in the 

band with playing outside of your 

town? (other cities/countries). 

Mi-1: We rarely play at all, not to mention 

the trips. We played a couple of 

shows outside Wroclaw, but we never 

travelled abroad. 

Nattsol: Do you prefer studio work, 

or live shows? Why? 

Mi-1: Definitely concerts!!! In the studio 

you can hide or improve a lot of 

things, live performance itself is true! 

This direct contact with the listener is 

something magical and unique! 

Nattsol: Could you tell me what are 

your lyrics about. You sing in your 

mother tongue. Why so? 

Mi-1: The texts are created as a result 

of careful observation of the environment, 

human attitudes and the vast 

expansion of various shades of repairers 

of the world. What resonates 

with it are questions - where we are, 

who we are and why we can not see 

the forces that are trying to lead us. 

Native language is used because it 

speaks more to our environment, to 

which the texts are addressed. 

Nattsol: Your first album consists 

mainly of the songs you wrote in the 

90’s, and what about the new album? 

Mi-1: On the new album there are new 

songs that we often play at concerts. 

The only exception is "Pierwszy" (“First”), 

which was created at the very beginning 

of our activity - hence the title. 

Nattsol: What are the main common 

things and the main differences between 

the selftitled album and 

“Ewakuacja”? 

Mi-1: The difference is about a decade 

in the process of creation. Musically, 

we went probably a bit ahead in terms 

of motility, but it seems to me that 

"Ewakuacja" is simply a continuation 

of the debut, without any major revolution. 

The text layer is responsible 

for more direct phrases that, however, 

do not disturb the overall order. It is 

still good old Psychoformalina. 

Nattsol: Thanks for the interview, and 

hope to hear the third album of Psychoformalina 

soon. And to finish this 

interview maybe you’d tell our readers 

the band’s plans for future? 

Mi-1: Future won’t be planned, because 

it likes to play various pranks. 

But one thing is certain - the material 

for the third album is already recorded 

and is waiting in the studio to be mixed 

and mastered. But knowing our approach 

to studio work, I think it is 

going to take some time again. 

Thanks for the interview. 

Greetings to all thirsty for truly independent 

music! 

Miras „Mi-1” Majsiak (PSYCHOFOR- 

MALINA) 



16 16 

Psychoformalina. Review 

"Polska Nowa Fala", or "Zimna 

Fala", was a phenomenon in the 80’s. 

The “movement” created by such 

bands as Madame, Siekiera, 1984, 

Made in Poland and others is still considered 

as something very outstanding 

and mysterious. Now, in XXI century 

there is probably only one band that 

has the very that “zimna fala” sound 

and approach – the band from Wroclaw, 

called Psychoformalina. Formed 

in the mid 90’s, they (self-)released 

their debut self-titled album only in 

2008, and returned in late 2011 with 

its follower, called “Ewakuacja”, this 

time released by Bat-Cave Prod. 

Weird, but it’s the second case for 

this Grave Jibes issue when I review 

“albums-brothers” (the first one happened 

with the band Echoes of Silence), 

because both albums are 

equally (completely) great, with equal 

common level of the songs, similar 

sound and even the CD design. The 

only obvious difference is that 

Psychoformalina is 100% underground band, 

and that's a shame that they are not wide known 

even if their music is in my opinion real blast. 

(Woodraf of Bat-Cave Productions) 

“Ewakuacja” is nothing else but logical 

continuation and development of the 

debut album, which proves that the 

band doesn’t suffer from the “second 

album crisis”. Both records attract by 

very distinctive “Zimna Fala” cold but 

quite aggressive and powerful sound. 

Majestic vocals, post-industrial-ish 

overdriven guitar and powerful rhythm 

section – that’s how it can be described. 

It is postpunk and coldwave 

for sure, but even some punks could 

envy the tension and energy that Psychoformalina 

creates with its sound. 

With these albums, which are both 

worth listening to, Psychoformalina 

proves not only that the Polish coldwave 

scene is alive and doing well, 

but also that not everything had been 

said in the 80’s and there’s much room 

for self-development within this particular 

style. 



Interview with 

ID 

Name: ELECTRIC PRESS KIT 


Time: 199? - ? 

Close to: post-punk, post-industrial 

Current Label: Blu-Crush records 

Web: http://epkofficial.free.fr/ 

http://www.reverbnation.com/electricpresskit 

Contact: epk@aliceadsl.fr 

Nattsol: Greetings, Emmanuel and 

Jeff! To start with, - how do the things 

go with your musical activity? 

Emmanuel (Voice and guitar): Very 

well! Thank you! 

Nattsol: How did you form Electric 

Press Kit, and why did you choose 

such name for your project? 

Emmanuel (Voice and guitar): We 

The French duo Electric Press 

Kit started its activity in the mid 90’s 

and since that its sound evolved into 

very individual though referring to postpunk 

and post-industrial. Last year the 

band released the very impressive album, 

called “Torsions”, which encouraged 

us to interview the band. 

met at the High school in 1988, we 

listened to Cold Wave and some Pop 

(from labels like Sarah Records, Creation 

4AD, Beggars Banquet, Lively 

Art) while the tastes of a lot of people 

of our age were fan of Hip-hop, Funk, 

Metal and other.… This public interest 

we in moved closer automatically. We 

decided to make a band. The name 

of Electric Press Kit evokes the idea 

of sample. A representative sample of 

all the hatreds, the dishonest compro-


Electric Press Kit 17 

mises, the judgments, the cruelties, 

the duplicities in which the human nature 

abounds. 

Nattsol: The band started its way in the 

90’s, which wasn’t the best time for 

wave/post-punk sounds. How can you 

describe the atmosphere of the time, 

and how did EPK manage to fit it? 

Jeff (bass): When we started our band 

in the 90's, punk music, goth music 

& wave music were always successful. 

We come from Paris and in the big 

cities exists differents scenes. So it 

was possible to make the music who 

we expected. The only problem of the 

90's was an atmosphere so disenchanted. 

During this period we made 

a music influenced by the late 70's 

with a mix of modern style. In fact, it 

was the beginning and the 'quest' of 

Electric Press Kit. 

Nattsol: EPK had a bunch of demo- 

records in the late 90’s/early 00’s. 

What can you tell about them, and is 

there a possibility to find them nowadays? 


effectively recorded our first one ep 

in 1999 and our second ep in 2002... 

These records are sold out since a 

long time... But, the Slovak label Black 

orchid published a compilation in 2003 

(www.blackorchid.host.sk). 

Nattsol: In the second half of the 00’s 

the band started to gain a wider audience, 

mostly, thanks to long-awaited 

debut album Analogic. What can you 

tell about this record and its influence 

on the EPK development? 

Emmanuel (Voice and guitar): 'Analogic' 

was an experimental album 

recorded according to an exercise 

book of very strict loads (of old 

recorders with cassette for sound 

recordings and vintage effects of 80's, 

low microphones...), some people appreciated 

the authenticity of the approach.... 

It was a rock music replaced 

in an experimental context.... 

Jeff (bass): 'Analogic' is an important 

step in our career. Some peoples start 

to support us. And 'Analogic' was a 

short of achievement. The first album 

for a band is always a special moment. 

Nattsol: At the same period you form 

side project Electronic Press Kit. Can 

you introduce it to our readers? 

Emmanuel (Voice and guitar): I always 

liked electronic music and this 

project had for vocation to constitute 

an exclusively electronic alternative, 

as its name indicates it, to Electric 

press kit to be a parallel project at 

the same time as an emanation. This 

project is in sleep at present for indefinite 

duration, can be for ever? 

Nattsol: Several months ago you released 

the new Electric Press Kit album 

Torsions. How could you describe 

this work in your own words? 

Emmanuel (Voice and guitar): For this 

album, we are crossed of a rock music 

replaced in an experimental context to, 

at present, an experimental music replaced 

in a rock context. It is difficult to 

analyze our present orientation but I believe 

I can say that we henceforth wish 

to get to the point, to aim at the working 

drawing and to avoid the "musical gossips". 

Only the emotion is important. 

Play few notes, but play them well.


18 

Jeff (bass): It's so easy to describe 

'Torsions': it's the best 2011's album. 

More seriously, we are very proud of 

this record. The sounds, the tracks 

and generally the production are very 

quite good. 

Nattsol: With the new album we also 

can welcome the new label Blu-Crush 

records. Can you introduce it to our 

readers too? 

Jeff (bass): It's a recent label. 

Emmanuel (Voice and guitar): 

BLU_CRUSH RECORDS is a label 

dedicated to post-punk, noise, cold 

wave, industrial and deviant styles 

...The first signature of the label is 

ELECTRIC PRESS KIT (www.myspace.com/blucrushrecords). 

Nattsol: EPK is also well known by 

the own and very careful approach 

to sound. Can you tell how you manage 

to achieve so special and recognizable 

one? 


wish "to reinvest the rock music with 

a contents, a motivation and a risk", 

for that reason, guitars are saturated, 

the bass is linear, the robotics syncopated 

drum kit and the whole is rested(supported) 

by samples 

strengthening the atmospheres and 

the themes of Electric Press Kit's 

songs. We subscribe to the principles 

and to the musical concept developed 

by G.P. Orridge who explained, in an 

interview, that his objective, with 

Throbbing Gristle was of "knowledge 

to where we could transform and stick 

the sound, present complex and not 

entertaining sounds in a situation of 

popular culture to convince and convert 

". Electric Press Kit's sound is 

minimal, cold, low-fi, raw and bitter, 

to re transcribe in a most faithful way 

the first, present intention during the 

composition of the titles, that is to establish 

a typology of all the weaknesses, 

the duplicities, the fears, the 

cruelties, the ambitions, let us be of 

all the human abnormalities there 

which can make of our life a hell. 

Nattsol: How could you describe 

EPK of the 10’s on stage? What’s 

different in comparison with the 90’s 

and the 00’s? 

Jeff (bass): For stage we've got a 

set list more 'speed' and 'noisy' than 

the records. Even there is some bigs 

'pogos' during our gigs. On stage there 

is a good feelings and energy. This 

make us a big motivation. 

Emmanuel (Voice and guitar): I think 

that today our approach is more physical 

and we try above all to touch people 

in a direct way with powerful and 

fast pieces... We want that people say 

themselves that this moment was very 

special! 

Nattsol: Thanks to Electric Press Kit 

for this interview and lets hope to hear 

more and more news from the band 

in future! 



ID 

Name: The Cemetary GirlZ 


Time: 2006 - ? 

Close to: neo-batcave, deathrock 


Web: http://www.thecemetarygirlz.com 

The Cemetary GirlZ appeared in the second half of the 00’s and almost immediately 

became the leaders of “neo-batcave” movement. However, they’ve 

been keeping silent for a few recent years, only occasionally performing 

live. “What’s happened to them? May be they’re planning something?” – we wondered 

and sent the interview request to the band’s leader DJ Alien S Pagan. 

Nattsol: Hi, Alien! As far as I know, 

you’re involved in the batcave/goth 

scene since nearly your childhood, 

right? How did it happen? 

Alien: Hi! I’m in since a long time; I 

was not born with a Sisters EP in the 

ass but, quite similar! I just need to 

thank my cousin (RIP) for being so 

different and giving me the tape with 

so many great songs, it helped me to 


grow up against the mainstream. Then 

I met some friends with the same taste, 

and we had lots of fun listening to 

music and watching horror movies. 

Nattsol: I also know that your artistic 

way started not in Paris. Could you 

tell about it? 

Alien: I started djing in Lyon when I 

was 16 years old (but with my style I

19 The Cemetary Girlz The Cemetary Girlz 

19 

looked older), I went to a goth party, 

and the music was electro dark, I didn’t 

know it before, I discovered Hocico, 

and I loved it! But… the whole night 

with this music was quite boring, so I 

told the owner of the club, ‘hey, I’m 18 

year old, I can organise a ‘batcave’ 

party if you want??” Then… it started! 

Nattsol: How did it happen that the 

first lineup of The Cemetary GirlZ 

gathered? 

Alien: I met Manu Zorch at Frustration 

gig, he liked the song we recorded 

with Lipa (Castrati) on myspace, contacted 

me, we talked on the internet, 

and then we decided to start the band! 

Romeo from Sleeping Children was 

quite near, and we both joined our 

minds to make this crazy band! 

Nattsol: The band’s name is quite unusual, 

especially due to (let me say) 

special manner of writing it. So, could 

you tell the story behind this name? 

Alien: In fact, there are many different 

explications for this name - the song 

of Penis Flytrap (I love it!), I love cemeteries, 

every monument of death, charnel 

house and stuff like that. And, can 

I say it? I love girls! Haha! The movie 

’Count Dracula’s Great Love’ too… I 

don’t really know why this name, but 

it came to my mind, and I loved it, 

sounds cool to me. The manner of 

writing is such because when I type 

‘cemetery girls’ in a Google search, I 

just find goth porn website, and I don’t 

want to be assimilated with it! 

Nattsol: The band released very successful 

web demo with minimal and 

cold sound, and then – the debut album 

“Smoke My Brain” on Manic Depression 

records, which, as many people 

say, sounds quite “overproduced”. In 

your opinion, what things of the album 

have become the elements of the 

band’s style, and what are the things 

you have no intention to repeat in the 

next records? 

Alien: I was one of the first to say 

that ‘Smoke My Brain’ was overpro- 

duced, but, you know, I was not alone 

in the band, we recorded it really… 

quick and I didn’t listen to it after mastering, 

Spigaou and Romeo like it; personally, 

I prefer the demo sound. 

There’re too many effects, the voice 

and the whole sound sound great, but, 

there’s no… emotion that comes out, 

I think… Now for the new album, everything 

is different, and it will sound exactly 

how we want! 

Nattsol: These days you’re the only 

remaining member of the “Smoke My 

Brain” lineup. How did it happen? 

And could you introduce the current 

members? 

Alien: Well, first, Manu left the band 

because of his family! He just had a 

daughter when we started touring, and 

as I know him, he’s a fucking great 

composer/player, but I think he prefers 

to compose at home and record songs 

rather than to play on stage, and it’s 

cool! Romeo left the band for professional 

reason, he studies plastic surgery, 

and it’s a long time at school, 

no time to play anymore. Spigaou left 

because of his job, and other reasons, 

and at that time, I didn’t want to replace 

him, because he was my best friend! 

So many deceptions (yes, when a 

member’s gone, it‘s like a death!), and 

I just bought a guitar and started to 

play on my own, to continue the band! 

(because anyway, Manu, Romeo and 

Spigaou are still Cemetary Girlz members! 

And forever!) 

Elvira and Diva Re joined the band, 

just before a support gig for The Meteors, 

it was really cool! We didn’t rehearse 

a lot, and it was… amazing! 

This lineup is just perfect! We enjoy 

what we do, and we love playing together! 

It’s fantastic!

20 The Cemetary Girlz The Cemetary Girlz 

20 

Nattsol: It’s announced that The 

Cemetary GirlZ are working on the 

new album, which will be called “Brouillon 

De Vie”. Could you already tell 

something about its conception and 

approximate release date? 

Alien: We are working on 2 albums 

in fact (that’s why it takes so much 

time!), ‘Opus Vitae ‘ is the new 

Cemetary Girlz album, and ‘Brouillon 

De Vie’ is the first album of ‘Les Filles 

Du Cimetière’ (a side project of the 

Cemetary Girlz, more Dark/Ambient/ 

Shoegaze). 

‘Opus Vitae’ is a book of our life, it’s 

a continuation of ‘Smoke My Brain’, 

the sound is different because of 

the new lineup, and I compose 

songs in a different way, cause 

now I play an instrument, it’s different 

from only singing. Elvira 

and Diva Re have a really particular 

way of playing, and altogether 

we make something really 

cool, we enjoy a lot when we 

compose and play! 

Nattsol: You’ve been touring a 

lot with the band - which shows 

were the most remarkable for 

you? And do you have some 

mad/weird memories to share? 

Alien: Wave Gothic 

Treffen 2011 was 

an amazing experience! 

It 

was fantastic 

to play in front of so many people, and 

with many great bands, but, every show 

is unique and amazing for us, the maddest 

memories I had were at The Ratcave 

party haha! I was in a coma during 

the show! People say it was the craziest 

show they have ever seen! 

Nattsol: Some young bands told me 

that you’ve been a great support for 

them, and indeed – you release the compilation 

“Zoundbies”, organize events, 

DJ… So, could you tell more about this 

side of your activity within the scene? 

Alien: I love helping new bands, 

there’re so many wonderful little bands 

all over the world, and some really deserve 

close attention, because they’re 

great! I mean, for me, a band that does 

the best to enjoy what they do, has 

its own atmosphere, a DIY band, is 

the best. My ‘Zoundbies’ compilation 

is one of the things I can be proud of! 

Nattsol: Seems you’re very right person 

to answer the question about the situation 

around the French goth/batcave 

scene, with its most promising new 

bands, events, labels etc, aren’t you? 

Alien: First: Alcest! It‘s not a ‘goth‘ 

band, but I love this project for years, 

and it‘s fucking amazing! Les Discrets 

too, Soror Dolorosa, I’m in the band 

but I will say Elvira And the Bats is 

an amazing project! Sex is Dead too, 

there’re many new bands in France, 

Cheshire Cat, Castrati, Chrysalis 

Morass, Blackbats 13, Blue Void, and 

many more! 

Nattsol: You’re a fan of horror and 

B-Movies, - how does it influence your

21 The Cemetary Girlz 

21 

music? And to which of your favourite 

horrors you think The Cemetary Girlz 

could best fit as a soundtrack? 

Alien: I Love B-movies! It influences 

my music a lot, I watch a new one 

every day, what I love in it is the spirit 

of the time, people don’t need thousand 

of special effects or 3D things, 

just a story, a monster, and imagination 

does the rest. It’s like a child 

spirit, you see monsters and crazy 

things everywhere, everytime… you 

can make your own universe and never 

come back to reality! 

I think the best movie our soundtrack 

could fit is ‘The Return Of 

The Living Dead’! 

Nattsol: For you, what makes the 

Batcave music sound relevant and 

fresh in XXI century? 

Alien: For me, it’s the political problems 

- the earth goes round, wars, 

social problems - everything is wrong 

now, like in the 80’s, but even worse, 

and I think, for a start people just find 

a way to escape this situation in music 

and art, and now it’s the best time to 

explore this world. The technology is 

really high today, and we got many 

new things, but people are regressing 

in their minds. It’s strange. 

Nattsol: Thanks for the interview, 

Alien! Any final words? 

Alien: Yes! Thank you Nattt! Thanks 

to all the bands I love which help me 

every day to escape this crazy world, 

thanks to the people who support the 

gothic scene, and a big thanks to 

Grave Jibes!!! 

Stay Sick Stay True, Stay out of the way! 



The Cemetary GirlZ - Smoke My Brain 

album review 

“Smoke My Brain” was released 

in 2009, and now, three years after, 

neither band that recorded this album 

(it still exists, but with other line-up 

and other sound) nor movement within 

which this album was recorded exists. 

Indeed, now in the 10’s “neo-batcave” 

bands that sound like early Cinema 

Strange and look like Johnny Slut’s 

clones, are less and less able to attract 

the audience. So, if to maintain that 

the neo-batcave of 00’s is in decline, 

then it’s very much likely that “Smoke 

My Brain” is the last good record that 

came out of that movement. Even 

though the music of The Cemetary 

GirlZ isn’t original at all, fresh approach 

in performance and charisma 

make the album something special 

and remarkable. “Cold” effects on 

string instruments, accompanied with 

drum machine sound refer the band 

not only to Batcave and Deathrock, 

but also to Coldwave, and altogether 

with a light pronounciation defect of 

the vocalist Alien S. Pagan create a 

distinctive style that makes the band 

bigger than a lot of the similar ones. 

The only obvious problem of the album 

is its overproduction - in comparison 

with the Demo from 2008 

(available at Zorch Factory Records 

as free download), numerous effects 

seriously harm the songs, making 

them less catchy and hit than they 

could be, but not managing to ruin 

them. 

To summarize, this work is already 

the history, but it will hardly be a surprise 

that deathrock revival of the 00’s 

will be remembered thanks to such 

works as the debut album of Cinema 

Strange, “Fallen & Forgotten” by All 

Gone Dead and “Smoke My Brain” 

by The Cemetary Girlz. At least that 

would be honest. 

Grade: 7,5/10 




22 

ID 

Name: Date At Midnight 

Place: Rome, Italy 

Time: 2007-? 

Close to: deathrock, gothic rock 


Web: http://www.dateatmidnight.com/ 

http://www.myspace.com/dateatmidnight 

http://www.facebook.com/dateatmidnightband 

Nattsol: Hello! Hard to believe but already 

almost three years have passed 

since our first interview (to be found in 

Grave Jibes #6)! So, what’s been happening 

with the band during this period? 

Pasquale: Hi Nattsol! Nice to talk with 

you after three years! During this period 

many things happened, both from 

band’s and from personal perspective: 

we’ve had an opportunity to play in 

new countries; in 2009 we recorded 

a 3 songs demo to find a new label, 

and finally we found it; Danilo, our 

drummer, became father, and it led to 

a fading involvement in the band, then 

In 2009 in the issue #6 Grave Jibes made an 

extensive interview with a very promising 

modern deathrock band from Rome, called 

Date At Midnight. Now in 2012 when we interview 

the band for the second time it already 

can be called not promising but established, especially 

thanks to the release of their killer debut 

album “No Love” by the French label Manic Depression. 

So, what were these three years for the 

band? And what can they say about their new release? 

The answers are just below. 

he was substituted 

at 

least in live 

shows by our 

friend Raoul 

To n a c h e l l a ; 

Daniele got a 

new girlfriend, 

I gave my support 

to a couple 

of bands as a 

live guest; we 

were involved in festivals and gigs 

both in Italy and Europe; we launched 

a new website; and last but not least, 

we recorded our first full-length! 

Daniele: We had extra commitments, 

so we took our time, with tranquillity. 

We developed new materials more: 

since we had to deal with a full length 

we focused more on arrangements, 

on details, and on the whole result… 

Nattsol: Congratulations with your 

new album! Could you represent it to 

our readers as itself and in comparison 

with the EP? 

Daniele: ‘No Love’ covers all aspects 

of our sound, the “primal” one and its 

further developments. Each song has 

its own identity and its own peculiar 

aspects. We didn’t want a work that, 

as it often happens, has 3 really good 

songs while other songs are kind of 

ancillary. We spent last 3 years looking 

for a full satisfaction in each song. 

We think we reached this target, but 

of course you have the last word! It’s 

like “No Love” contains a greater consciousness 

of 

what Date at 

Midnight want 

to be. 

P a s q u a l e : 

First of all, 

thank you! ‘No 

Love’ is the 

best thing that 

could happen 

to us, and it 

r e p r e s e n t s 

well our current 

mood: 

it’s a collection of songs that were developed 

during the whole life of the 

band, in particular last 2 years, and 

in comparison with the EP it shows


Date At Midnight 

23 

more complex song writing, more mature 

sound; being the result of a “slow” 

composing and recording process, 

maybe it’s less “instinctive” than the 

EP, but more adrenal, powerful and 

obscure, both concerning music and 

lyrics. 

Nattsol: The cover picture of the album 

looks interesting, and talking in 

general, Date at Midnight definitely 

can be proud of its visual presentation. 

Who’s responsible for that? 

Pasquale: DaM’s approach to visual 

side is always the result of a joint reflection; 

none of us is really into visual 

arts from a technical point of view but 

each of us has very interesting suggestions, 

and the real challenge is to 

put them together. Concerning ‘No 

Love’s artwork, a fundamental support 

was given by Fabio Meschini and his 

visual factory, Clockwork Pictures: 

Fabio is a great artist, and in a very 

short time he managed to understand 

our needs, mix them with his experience, 

expertise and artistic sensitivity, 

and finally turn all of this into images, 

colours and “no-colours”; we can be 

very proud of it all, I definitely agree 

with you. 

Daniele: We must thank Fabio Meschini 

(Clockwork Pictures Visual Factory) 

and his intuition! We worked very 

close with him, until the last minute 

before the release, and we’re very satisfied 

with the artwork. Generally 

speaking, during last months we refreshed 

the visual component of DaM, 

also launching our brand new website, 

on the same day ‘No Love’ was released. 

Nattsol: With “No Love” you changed 

the label from “home of Roman postpunk” 

In The Night Time to the famous 

French deathrock label Manic Depression. 

How did it happen and what do 

you think this change can bring to you? 

Daniele: I still don’t know what it will 

bring…for sure, we can say that we’re 

proud of it, and I consider it an important 

step. Of course we’re always 

talking about underground labels, but 

while ITNT is a strictly local one, MD 

has a wider international breath. Our 

first contact with MD was during the 

Apocalyptic factory festival in 

Mannheim, 2009. 

Pasquale: Well, basically In The Night 

Time helped us a lot to spread our 

name at the early stage, but due to 

personal commitments of Carlo, who 

runs the label almost alone, it was 

clear that to have a better production 

and distribution of the new album we 

needed a more structured label, 

preferably with a stronger international 

presence; in 2009 during a festival in 

Germany we gave to MD’s guys a 

copy of the aforementioned demo, and 

they were impressed by it and decided 

to put their trust in us. For sure it’s 

a very important step, because MD 

is well known in the underground 

scene, and will provide a very good 

distribution and promotion of the album; 

last but not least, it’s always a 

pleasure to work with people with a 

great passion, and this is exactly what 

we found in MD management. 

Nattsol: On your website I read your 

texts, some of which I really loved. 

Where do you find inspiration for them?

24 Date At Midnight Date At Midnight 

24 

Daniele: From life… from fears… from 

nightmares… 

Pasquale: It’s great that you appreciated 

our lyrics, cause we always try 

to pay particular attention to them; inspiration 

can come basically from 

everything outside and inside of us: 

it can be a concept, a vision, an emotion, 

a particular situation that we see, 

we live, or that we simply imagine; 

and I think that irony often plays a 

very important role in them. 

Nattsol: You write both in English and 

Italian - how do you choose the language 

for the texts? 

Daniele: This is not a real “choice”. 

It’s determined by musical mood. It 

was simply that since the first time 

we played them, I spontaneously started 

to sing “Vanità” and “Idillio e Tenebra” 

in Italian, and then it was…there 

was no discussion about it. We can 

say that really it’s not us to choose 

the language, but the languages that, 

according to music, choose us. 

Pasquale: There’s no predetermined 

choice of it: it’s simply Daniele following 

his inspiration while we are composing; 

at least, this is what happened 

with “Idillio e Tenebra” and “Vanità”: 

maybe in future we’ll have a different 

approach, and maybe also other languages 

will be used… we’ll see what’s 

next on this topic. 

Nattsol: Pasquale, in the previous interview 

you were talking about a promo 

video, but still there’s nothing released. 

Do you guys have a plan to improve 

it with “No Love” album? 

Pasquale: Ahahaha you have a very 

good memory! Actually the idea still 

fascinates me, but nothing concrete is 

around the corner yet; I think that for 

the moment we have other priorities, 

but in this case also we’ll see what’s 

next: I’m still convinced that it could 

be very cool to release a video, and I 

think that songs like “Spirit Dance” or 

“Dead Motions” could perfectly fit. 

Nattsol: You played a lot of shows in 

recent years. Could you share some 

random mad or just weird onstage/backstage 

memories with our readers? 

Pasquale: Lot of them: first of all, I 

can tell you that every single moment 

spent in a backstage with Madre del 

Vizio’s Fulvio Tori (and it has happened 

many times) is a truly crazy experience! 

Having said that, I will never forget the 

image of drunken Francesco sleeping 

on a sofa while about 50 people around 

him were partying hard in a backstage 

in Austria, and the standing ovation 

that he received when he woke up in 

the heart of the night; or walking together 

with semi-unknown people in 

semi-unknown places after a show in 

Mannheim, or sharing a huge amount 

of food and alcohol with all the main 

gothic bands coming from Rome during 

the “Trip to the moon” festival held last 

year here. We’ve been playing around 

extensively, you’re right: sometimes in 

front of big audiences, sometimes in 

front of few people, but each time it 

has been important to us, and brought 

images and memories. 

Daniele: I think that Pasquale’s answer 

is quite exhaustive. I remember with joy 

and surprise Leipzig’s gig. We arrived 

late in the afternoon for sound check,

25 Date At Midnight Date At Midnight 

25 

the 

backstage was 

really comfortable, but it was 

like all around there was only silence 

and indifference, and organizers were 

really silent also… something like a bad 

surprise was about to come… a kind 

of unreal atmosphere… Then, as soon 

as when we came on stage, there was 

an amazing crowd, with people dancing, 

singing, and a great pogo, like never 

before… it was amazing! It was 

like the audience was looking for 

a relevant reason to have fun, 

and they definitely found it, while 

we brought with us an undeletable 

memory. 

Nattsol: You have enough of your own 

songs to make your live set (reasonably) 

as big as you want. But you keep 

playing covers too. Why do you adhere 

to this policy and what do the covers 

you play mean personally for you? 

Pasquale: Basically we play them because 

of our passion: it’s a kind of 

fun for us, and it’s also a way to pay 

respect to the bands that in some way 

were important in our personal life; 

not least, it happened to us to play 

songs of people who are not among 

us anymore, such as Ian Curtis, Rozz 

Williams, and also Peter Steele: I think 

that in this case a more “spiritual” contact 

with the audience, through the 

common memory of these great 

artists, can be created. Of course to 

play covers is risky too, but so far we 

have always received very good feedback 

for them, and this is something 

that makes us truly happy. 

Nattsol: Date at Midnight plays an important 

role in the contemporary Roman 

goth scene. Also I know that you keep 

in touch with other Roman bands. So, 

how could you 

describe the Roman postpunk/goth 

scene of the new decade? 

Pasquale: My feeling is that maybe 

when we began the Roman scene 

was better, nevertheless there are 

many musicians that still resist and 

insist, and some good newcomers as 

well, with a whole quality definitely 

above the Italian average for this kind 

of music; we can say that in the new 

decade goth in Rome is not dead, but 

sometimes is sleeping… or maybe 

“dead…but dreaming”! 

Daniele: Compared to the situation 

some years ago, Roman scene is quite 

declining, and maybe it’s just a normal 

thing. Bands keep on growing and


Date At Midnight 

26 

playing, but it seems that there’s less 

attention to concerts. When our EP was 

released, deathrock was really diffused, 

so there was a pogo trend instead of a 

dancefloor trend. 

Nattsol: One more thing from the past 

interview that causes a new question is 

that some of your answers (especially 

Daniele’s ones) showed your political 

awareness and quite uncompromising 

position to it, which is more typical for 

a dark punk band rather than goth one. 

Does it really affect your music? And is 

this something you want to express just 

for yourselves or for others’ inspiration? 

Pasquale: Each of us believes that political 

awareness is something that, especially 

in the current years, is needed 

for people, to “citizens”: when we think 

about the concept of “No Love” we see 

it also from a political perspective: social 

tension means “no love”, for instance, 

and it necessarily deals with politics. 

We don’t pretend to send universal messages 

on this topic, but still this is a 

part of our inspiration, so if people manage 

to catch this aspect also, we can 

only be satisfied with it, even if at first 

sight it could not seem a typical “goth” 

matter. 

Daniele: I don’t think that politics can 

be ignored, or think that it doesn’t have 

a real impact on our lives and actions, 

like it or not… so I think that talking 

about it and express a point of view on 

it can only be a good thing, and let 

music feel more “real”. Basically we don’t 

have political lyrics, but some of them 

let understand our point of view and our 

scream against a very poor social management. 

‘Panic Public Show’, for in- 

stance, is about some depreciable 

show about common misery broadcasted 

by local TV, reality shows and so 

on… something which tries to flat people’s 

brains and lives, while ‘By the 

Wall’ is about the story of Peter Fetcher, 

a 18 years old boy who died trying to 

escape on the other side of Berlin’s 

wall, surrounded by indifference and 

fear while his body was slowly twisted 

to death. Indifference, evil, malice and 

fear are the cradle of ‘No Love’… 

Nattsol: Your “motto” is “Stay Crucified”, 

which sounds very cool. But what 

meaning do you put in it? 

Daniele: It’s an invitation to be crucified 

by our sound! 

Pasquale: Basically we like its sound, 

and its ironically “blasphemous” attitude, 

too: as it was said before, irony 

is an essential part of DaM’s wor(l)d! 

I agree with Daniele: it’s something related 

to being crucified by our music: 

maybe resurrection could come later… 

maybe… 

Nattsol: Many thanks for the interview 

and hope to hear some great news 

from Date at Midnight soon! 

Daniele: Thanks again Pall for your 

interest to Date at Midnight, we hope 

that we can soon wear a hussar fur 

hat and come to Russia! 

Pasquale: Thank you Nattsol, and 

thanks to GJ’s readers: we hope that 

a date of Date at Midnight with Mother 

Russia will happen someday… for the 

moment, enjoy ‘No Love’! 



Date At Midnight - “No Love” 

album review 

May be it will sound far too subjectively, 

but this album is a real hell 

for reviewer. Everything is perfect 

there – very professional performance 

of each musician; amazing work with 

the sound, which interlaces references 

both to bands like Bauhaus and some 

modern stuff; “No Love” contains so 

many hit songs that even some legendary 

bands could envy… Technically 

it’s brilliant in everything; 

moreover it’s truly original and obviously 

sincere and intimate. But this 

album hardly will change someone’s 

life. It’s not the music that would make 

someone start playing an instrument 

and form a band. It’s simply not infectious 

at all. 

If you love goth music, “No Love” 

will definitely cause your interest. Hard 

to say, whether it’s able to take an important 

place in someone’s life, but 

it’s more than likely that “gothly indifferent” 

will listen to it from time to time, 

because it’s a really good release. 

Grade: 9/10 



27 27 

ID 

Name: Les Modules Etranges 

Place: Nantes, France 

Time: 2007 - ? 

Close to: goth rock, coldwave, deathrock 

Current Label: Seventh Crow Records 

Web: http://lesmodulesetranges.fr 

http://www.myspace.com/lesmodulesetranges 

French 

goth rock band Les Modules Etranges truly 

deserves attention. Formed relatively recently, they already put out a 

bunch of releases, all of which are worthy listening to. However, Les 

Modules Etranges have not only creativity by their side, their sound 

is also notable for its energy, and the list may go on. Recently the 

latest album of the band, “Turmoil” was released, so we asked the 

band members, Jenn and Azia, some questions about it and not only. 

photo by Emmanuel D’auzon

28 Les Modules Etranges Les Modules Etranges 

28 

Xie: Greetings! At first, the traditional 

question - introduce yourself for our 

readers as you like it. 

Jenn: Les Modules Etranges was 

founded in October 2007. Azia sings 

and writes the lyrics, she also takes 

part in the composition of the music 

and production. Jenn is the main composer, 

he plays guitar and also makes 

the drum machine & samples programming. 

JrM plays bass with us since 

October 2009 and decided to stay despite 

the constant (creative) arguments 

between the two Azia and me.. 

We have made two self-edited albums 

DAWN and ANOTHER VISION, and 

the latest one called TURMOIL was 

made with SEVENTH CROW 

RECORDS. 

We have done about 50 gigs mostly 

in France, and once in Switzerland 

and Belgium during the last “tour”. 

Xie: -Let's start from the beginning. 

It's year 2007, the year of band formation 

and... how did the things go 

since that? 

Jenn: A couple of days ago we decided 

(at last) to listen to our second 

gig's tape, back in 2008.. The least 

we can say is that it's quite good to 

persevere... because we were crap, 

really, a very awful band, zero presence 

on stage, loads of jarring notes 

and a very boring show. Really it was 

painful to listen to this tape but it's 

okay, we were looking for our identity, 

we since made a lot of gigs in quite 

different places. We started the band 

to cut the unemployment crap. We 

all have to start from nearly nothing, 

so it's inevitable 

to 

suck at first. 

Now we are, in 

our opinion, a 

lot more powerful 

musically 

speaking, and 

also more self 

confident. And 

there's no reason 

to not form 

a band anyway, 

photo by Emmanuel D’auzon 

there has to be bands, even dreadful 

bands, that's what makes a musical 

scene alive! 

Xie: -When I open your discogs.com 

profile I see seven (!) your releases, 

and it is from 2008 to 2011! Which of 

them you find the representatives of 

the band’s music, and which on the 

contrary you find not the best ones to 

start listening to your band? Why? May 

be there’re also some which deserve 

a specific comment? 

Jenn: Depends 

on what you 

mean by “representative”, 

in 

our opinion the 

most representative 

thing 

we've ever 

recorded was 

TURMOIL because 

it's very 

'us'... Obviously 

it will always 

sound kinda 

'dark' or 'postpunk' because it's our very 

musical and cultural background, but 

also with other influences such as electro, 

punk, dark ambiant, etc. 

But if you take a look at the charts 

on Last fm or if you pay attention to 

the shared files on peer to peers you 

will see that the audience is very conservative 

about the band's production: 

most of them have old mp3 files, bad 

sound, bad bitrate... I almost said bad 

music because we really were -as I 

already said- desperately searching for 

our own identity. 

I think we are infinitely more original 

now comparing to the old demo tracks, 

but I can't blame people for loving 

bands with loads of chorus and echo 

on each and every instrument, the lowest 

sound quality that is possible and 

clichés about bats and vampires stories. 

I think we are more on the 'punk' 

side of the “postpunk' thing, we are 

too much concerned with the real world 

and its problems and crisis to talk about 

stupid imaginary worlds or dark fairy 

tales if you know what I mean. 



Les Modules Etranges 29 

photo by Hellisa 

Xie: -How would you represent your 

latest album, "Turmoil"? 

Jenn: I think that you have to recall 

our two first albums, first one was very 

referenced to the 80's and the 90's' 

goth sound, really the climax of our 

introduction into 'real' music. References 

and genre inspiration were then 

inevitable. The second one was really 

like an aggression against all that, 

against the nice “pop wave” side of 

our music... we really wanted this disembodied 

cold and industrial sound, 

most of the commentators who used 

to love the first one were quite disappointed 

about our change of musical 

direction, they probably wanted us to 

sound very melancholic and nice when 

we wanted to say fuck off to this. It 

was then out of question to make 

something we had done before. And 

also we were back to our good old 

noisy influences. We really like this 

second album even if virtually nobody 

seem to notice its existence. 

THEN, we made this TURMOIL thing, 

very punky indeed, we were in conflict 

with some persons close to us, people 

that really sucked our energy, we 

made efforts in order to socialize more 

but it sounded very shallow, we are 

not much of social animals, are we? 

Really we were at a point where it 

looked like nobody seemed to care 

about us or notice we were here, wanting 

to play everywhere and record 

cool stuff. We also lost quite important 

bands in our scene at the time... Deadchovsky 

and Violet Stigmata had decided 

to disband and we thought 

“we're fucked, it's bedtime for the 

french goth scene”, but it wasn't, still 

it wasn't far for from the truth. 

Then TURMOIL was a reaction to this 

… we're alive and kicking! 

Xie: -Which bands were influences 

for you? And, to go wider, what influences 

you? 

Jenn: Our influences are sometimes 

not what they seem: Cindytalk is a really 

huge inspiration to me, a non compromising 

work of art, something really 

deep and extreme. We also dig Swans 

and The Ex, we've seen Michael Gira 

and his crew on stage in London and 

it was really outstanding, really strong 

and primitive. 

A big influence for the three of us is 

PUNISH YOURSELF, and the numerous 

side projects from the singer 

Vx69... PY is very close to Ministry 

90's work and we made some demo 

tracks for TURMOIL that sounded this 

way quite too much... someone in the 

band said “ok, that's enough, it's not 

us”. Most of our influences are not obviously 

goth but related to this universe 

at the least, power electronics, noise, 

photo by Jean Delpech 

photo by Hellisa 

early industrial and bands like Sonic 

Youth and stuff like that. 

Xie: -You’re definitely influenced by 

the 80’s peace punk (Rubella Ballet, 

Hagar The Womb etc), but at the same 

time, France had quite interesting underground 

punk scene of the 80’s with 

bands like Killer Ethyl, Warum Joe and 

many others? What do you think about 

this scene, and does it influence you? 

Jenn: HA, Rubella Ballet, we really 

love this band, the music but also visually 

speaking... they are great, but 

actually we discovered Rubella Ballet 

almost at the same time that we recorded 

TURMOIL, so they can't have influenced 

us. But another British band 

that did inspire us for sure is INTER- 

NAL AUTONOMY, they released this 

color vinyl in the early 90's that I was 

lucky to be given by a friend at the 

time. I liked this record so much that


30 

photo by Emmanuel D’auzon photo by Cecylia Daily Cat 

I couldn't help listening to it ever since. 

Female vocals, strong lyrics and 

punk/wave music... yes indeed, these 

bands are like parents to our band. 

What's the question again ? French 

bands, yeah Warum Joe were great, 

I think it was more a matter of records 

labels like V.i.s.a, the whole catalog 

is just stunning, legendary bands like 

Clair Obscur, Berurier Noir or Lucrate 

Milk (and many others). I think the situation 

in France was very specific, 

we didn't talk about punk nor goth at 

the time, it was just 'alternative rock' 

with a constellation of influences, from 

goth to punk mixed with dub or noise. 

It wasn’t a matter of putting labels on 

music and bands... at all, and attitude 

was really important. Someone who 

has seen or heard about what was 

going on at the time can be really disappointed 

about what this whole scene 

has become. Now it's the internet 

thing, posers and everything. Not very 

exciting. But there's still hope. 

I really dig Die Bunker, and Laid 

Thénardier, but these bands made 

only a few records. Norma Loy were 

pretty known at the time, I saw them 

on local TV, they scared the shit out 

of me, really. 

Xie: -As I understood, band members 

have noise/industrial backgrounds. 

Does this somehow affect on songwriting 

process? 

Jenn: Actually only I (and Azia in a 

lesser way) had previous musical experience, 

our first two tracks ever 

recorded were heavily influenced by 

THROBBING GRISTLE and power 

electronics, but it was only a sequel 

of our previous project also involving 

my long time friend WEHWALT, but 

then we decided to go our own way. 

The general feedback on our noise 

work was very very harsh, people were 

bashing the band in a very gruesome 

way but we didn't really care because 

we weren't looking for any kind of popularity. 

Looking back to this era 

(2006/2007) I think we were more interested 

in expelling our frustrations 

through pure noise than showing our 

supposed musical talent. I think now 

that we were self-righteous and not 

really concerned by music, but the attitude 

was there. Now that we are, with 

LME, more self-confident, we can put 

some noise here and there, and anyway 

my guitar always sounds very distorted, 

a real bloody mess for live sound 

engineers, causing arguments with 

them, or for the most clever of them 

entire gigs with the guitar sound almost 

mute in the mixing desk because of 

the feedback on stage. I'm not exactly 

good friend with sound engineers anyway, 

when they come to me and talk 

to me about auditive strain I have a 

bad feeling about the rest of the gig. 

It's hard to make them understand that 

I don't give a fuck about auditive strain, 

I went to power electronics and punk 

gigs (or was it the Swans and My 

Bloody Valentine's wall of noise ?) and 

it pleased me so much that I nearly 

came in my pants, so I'm definitely not 

in good terms with these sound guys 

who have learned at school how a guitar 

must sound on stage. 

Xie: -I saw you've covered Jefferson 

Airplane and (in)famous song "Gloomy 

Les Modules Etranges – 

Turmoil 

album review 

Label: 7th Crow 

Records 

Format: CD 

Year: 2011 

Here it is – 

the third album by 

French band Les 

M o d u l e s 

Etranges, called 

“Turmoil” – and it’s 

the case when the name reflects the content 

brightly. Ten highly energetic songs, believe 

me, you will find no ballad here, sung by desperate 

voice of Azia, sung?.. or it’s better to 

say shouted, because it’s not “singing” as we 

mean it. Glimpses of something experimental 

are here and there, for example the final “Source 

Of All Evil” is easy to divide in two parts – first 

will delight the ears of any modern goth fan, 

and second will do the same with more avantgarde 

crowd. “Mental Pop-Up” ends in forty 

seconds of noise, and drums in “TNX” make 

wonder if they are from d’n’b? Anyway, if we 

go for something more traditional – “Suzie’s In 

Between” is a good decoration of any goth 

party, it’s the most accessible song on the 

album and even somehow reminds of… “Jingle 

Bells”. Besides, other songs seem just similar 

– that’s the main disadvantage of the album. 

It’s simply good deathrock, gothrock, with “strangling” 

sound (at least, for me). 

Some words about lyrical themes: consumerism 

(“A good citizen”, aforementioned 

“Mental Pop-Up”), bad relationship (“Ease your 

life”), famous murder case (“Black Dahlia”), 

etcetera. Why I was wondering about absence 

of ballads?.. 

To sum up: it’s an album hard to “befriend”, 

but if you do – you will be delighted, even 

despite the fact that these ten songs are ten 

bursts of energy and anger, no more, no less. 

Anna “Xie” Slascheva 



31 

Sunday". Which bands you would like 

to cover Les Modules Etranges songs? 

Jenn: I'm sorry, I have no idea... 

Xie: -You shared stage with such legends 

as Legendary Pink Dots, Clan 

of Xymox, Cindytalk and many other 

bands. Do you have any particular 

memories of that, maybe some interesting 

stories? 

Jenn: To be honest it was every time 

very “professional”, these bands were 

here to prepare or make a show and 

that's what seem to matter the most. 

Every time we had the occasion to 

show our admiration to other musicians 

it wasn't very 'natural', we're all very 

proud persons, the artists on stage. 

When it was on gigs we organized 

ourselves, it seemed obvious to us 

not to disturb the artists we invited to 

play, it's serious business; maybe 

sometimes it's definitely not a good 

idea to sympathize with bands on tour, 

they've “seen it all before” a hundred 

times, most 

of the times 

they look tired 

and dazed, 

and sound 

engineers like 

to shout at 

you if something 

doesn't 

look right... 

Maybe the 

bands themselves 

can act 

like arseholes, 

I remember a Brownie guy (Roony 

"Brownie" Morrings for Xymox) who 

was a serious douchebag, evicting all 

the other bands in the festival from 

the dressing room in the backstage, 

we were all forced to go to the backstage's 

kitchen. Obviously no-one 

complains because in the first place 

you can't believe that this guy with a 

wig on his head and who came with 

sunglasses at night in the middle of 

nowhere in 

France can 

make such 

n o n s e n s e . 

You can be a 

fan of someone's 

bands 

and have 

strong disapp 

o i n t m e n t 

when you 

first see him. 

But sometimes 

you 

hear things about such bands, not really 

fair in business, but still, they are 

playing in every fucking goth festival. 

I just can't believe it. 

Xie: -Les Modules Etranges lyrics are 

mostly in English. In fact, many 

Russian bands do the same 

thing (with varying results, I 

should notice!). Some say 

that's easier to express themselves 

on a foreign language, 

some say it's much easier to 

gain international fame that 

way. Do you agree with it, or 

perhaps have some reasons of 

your own? Is it any message you 

want your listeners to get to? 

Jenn: Azia's business. 

Azia: I just think that English is "singing 

language" already so it's easier to write 

lyrics in English. You can have a really 

direct language that you can't have in 

french because in french you have to 

be very poetic and litterature-ish in order 

to sound good and I'm no writer. 

Also I like the idea that people all around 

the world can get my message. 

Xie: -Jenn, you have several side projects. 

Could you introduce them to our 

readers? 

Jenn: I had to put a dramatic end to 

these side projects, LME as a project 

is very greedy in matters of time because 

we are such perfectionists, on 

every album we had to discard some 

songs, not strong enough or not fitting 

with the whole track listing. Still, since 

the beginning we have released more 

or less 60 tracks (in mp3 / on albums 

/ compilations) it is obvious that we 

have a lot of bad songs in whole that, 

tracks we will not play on stage anymore 

or other tracks we don't wanna 

hear about at all (mostly the very early 

tracks) . There's only one side project 

remaining called Berlin Wall 

Lovers, (a threesome) 



32 

we play electronic rock, made a few 

gigs around... not as successful as 

we want it to be, but still we have a 

lot of fun. 

Xie: -Can you recommend some fellow 

French bands to our readers? 

Jenn: Some bands really matter, not 

necessary the most famous ones. It's 

clear that CRIMSON MUDDLE is 

gonna be the jizz with their next album 

to come. Its first one was already really 

good (Nocturne, on Manic Depression 

Records), Castrati is also a 

good band but they are totally insane 

(that's why we make them play in our 

hometown in May, 5th), RAPIDO DE 

NOIR is also very good on stage and 

on recordings (two self edited mp3 

EP and an album to come)... there 

are other bands but we're in wait for 

them to improve themselves on stage. 

Xie: -You played gigs mostly in 

France, do you have any wish to 

somehow expand the tour geography? 

Jenn: Yes, during the last series of 

concerts for the TURMOIL album 

we've made it to Switzerland and Belgium... 

We have absolutely no idea 

if we gonna play anywhere because. 

to be honest it's not very easy to find 

gigs, in France or else, but we're AL- 

WAYS looking. It's really Azia's business 

actually, she's really good at 

finding gigs, once she had a bite she 

won't let the prey go, you know? 

Azia: To book us, lesmodulesetranges@live.fr. 

I answer really fast. 

Xie: -What are you future plans? More 

recordings and gigs or some rest? 

Jenn: We are actually recording our 

fourth album, in our home studio from 

A to Z, with the very same bunch of 

people (we hope so), I can say for 

the moment we are doing very angry 

stuff, electronic and punk influences 

are still there, but we haven't yet get 

a rid of echo and chorus effects on 

guitars and bass. 

We're very excited for this next step 

into our own universe, we're looking 

forward to see the cover design that 

will be based on a collaboration with 

the faithful Jean Delpech and his model 

Janis No (so awesome) maybe it 

will be influenced by a voodoo feeling 

and/or RUBELLA BALLET fluorescent 

dresses and hair , nor can we wait 

to listen to Diva/re's work of mixing 

and mastering on our songs for this 

album that is planned to be a little 

extended comparing to the other albums 

we've made, we also have dark 

ambient soundscapes to make a contrast 

between the speed tunes. 

Xie: -And finally, last words are yours. 

Thanks for this interview! 

Azia: Rock on Russia! Модули Странная 

к вашим услугам 

Maybe at the moment when this interview 

will be made available we will 

have been made our newest free download 

compilation available, with a lot 

of promising recent coldwave/postpunk/industrial/electropunk 

bands 

from 2000/2010. 

Questions: Anna ‘Xie’ Slascheva 


ID 

Name: Human Puppets 

Place: Athens/Thessaloniki, Greece 

Time: 2004 - ? 

Close to: minimal wave; synth wave 

Current Label: 5th Floor Entertainment 

Web: http://www.myspace.com/humanpuppets 

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Human- 

Puppets/179727618712369 

Human Puppets are definitely one of the most remarkable and 

talented minimal synth bands of the current century. Each their new release 

very quickly becomes a collector’s item, so very soon will do the recently 

released fantastic “Sounds of Solituide” LP. But at the same time, the band 

members are very modest and usually they don’t give any sort of interviews, 

preferring to speak only by their music. However, they fortunately decided to 

do an exception for Grave Jibes. 

Nattsol: Greetings! Traditional start for 

Grave Jibes – please give an introduction 

to this interview in any form you like. 

Stathis: Hello Nattsol, hello Grave 

Jibes’readers! We are Nick K. and 

Stathis L. ,we are Greek and we play 

minimal synth since 2004. 

Nattsol: Could you tell how you met 

each other and formed the band? Did 

you have any musical experience before 

Human Puppets? 

Stathis: I met Nick at a bar, in Athens, 

where he was dj-ing, loved the music 

he was playing, I remember I asked 

him about a song and we ended up 

talking all night about records and music. 

Some years passed and back in 

2004, we’ve decided to do a rehearsal 

at Nick’s place. From that night came 

our first 7 inch recorded live on one 

take! We took the cassette in my car 

to listen to it and continued to a club 

for a proper celebration. We were really


Human Puppets 

33 

shocked with the result and since that 

night we started playing together. 

Now about the history, I was involved 

in music since 1996. Started as a bass 

player in a band called ‘Wasted 

Dreams’ (later changed to ‘2 seconds 

late’) and also in an other one, called 

‘Faded Pictures’. Both bands were a 

mix of new wave-dark wave-post punk 

thing. That period lasted ‘till 

2002.Meanwhile, I bought my first 

synths and drum machines, started 

experimenting and learn the use of 

analogue synthesizers-machines and 

analogue recording. 

Nick: I was also involved in several 

projects before Human Puppets, however 

the recordings were kept in a 

very personal level. 

Nattsol: How did it happen that you 

got signed by Kernkrach? 

Stathis: A friend of ours who knew 

Jörg, sent our demo to him. Jörg liked 

it and released our first single. 

Nattsol: How can you describe your 

Kernkrach period of activity? 

Nick: It was a brilliant period, indeed! 

Human Puppets were doing their baby 

steps and Jörg gave us the chance 

to play live, to an audience that was 

fully aware of what was minimal synth, 

all about. We were kinda ’thrown’ into 

deep waters, however we managed 

not to get drown. 

Nattsol: You had a side-project, called 

Plexiglas. Could you tell about it? 

Stathis: Jörg came to visit us in 

Greece, so one day, while me and 

Nick were jamming and Jörg was listening, 

he started writing some lyrics 

in German. We told him to sing the 

words and the 3 songs of the single, 

were born. We had such a great time. 

photo by K.Vagias 

We also managed to do an amazing 

(with a great significance to me)live 

gig, both as Human Puppets and Plexiglas 

in Thes/niki ,some years later. 

Nick: Yes, it was great. Plexiglas were 

the distillation of our friendship with Jorg, 

however every tale has an ending and 

every ending has a special value. 

Nattsol: I know that since 2007 you live 

in different cities. How do you manage 

to play together in spite of this, and how 

does the distance affect on your work? 

Nick: Yes, of course the distance really 

affects our work. We could have written 

more songs and play several 

gigs in our cities and abroad. 

On the other hand, this distance 

cannot affect our bond, the human 

puppets can walk in any 

path they wish, they often meet, 

greed and play their music. The 

distance in a way, placed us in 

our own, special point in the 

continuum of time. 

Nattsol: Could you tell about 

“5th floor ent.” and its conception? 

Stathis: With all the distance getting 

in our way, there was a point, we wanted 

to have the total control of our music. 

One of our best friends, Dimitra, had 

the idea of self-producing our music 

and release anything ourselves, we 

loved it and she runs the label since 

then. She shares the exact philosophy 

as we do, she is always ‘to the point’ 

,always there, giving her 100%.It was 

very important for us to have the freedom, 

time and space we needed. The 

name of the label is literally, where we 

live (me and Dimitra).

34 Human Puppets Human Puppets 

34 

Nattsol: When I read about the band, 

I faced the statement about “very small 

and helpless minimal synth scene of 

Greece”. However, thanks to Eirkti label, 

now the whole world knows that 

Greece had some truly original and 

outstanding synth bands in the 80’s, 

and now there’s your “5th floor”, there’s 

“Dead Scarlet Records”… so it seems 

that “minimal life” goes on in Greece. 

Any comment about it? 

Stathis: Back in the 80’s,Greece had 

a small but wonderful independent 

scene which lasted till mid 90’s.Most 

of the bands played punk, dark wave 

and new wave. Very few bands played 

minimal synth, at least in the way I 

perceive it. Today, the labels you refer 

to (and of course many others), do repressings 

of released and unreleased 

records of that brilliant time. Dead 

Scarlet’s sublabel, Fabrika records that 

deals with new music, included us in 

their ‘Monosynth’ compilation and 

Markos from Eirkti has helped us so 

much, setting up our label. The interest 

and the support exists, however, there 

are no minimal synth bands in Greece. 

At least this is my opinion. 

Nick: And there was never a minimal 

synth scene in Greece, most of the 

people involved, hated synths (There 

were of course some exceptions, but 

were kept in the dark.). 

And if you check the discography, 

things were worse, reminding us of 

the bad era of Front242. Ofcourse, 

noone can argue the fact that, Greece 

did have a brilliant post punk, new 

wave scene in the 80’s.And that sums 

it all up for me. 

Nattsol: How does your “5th floor” 

period differ from Kernkrach period? 

Stathis: The main difference in our 

lives is the distance, as you mentioned. 

This has a massive impact of not doing 

live shows (Greece and abroad) and 

recording new stuff often. Jorg and 

Kernkrach, has never stopped believing 

in us and supporting us. 

Nattsol: And the same way, which 

things you share with the German 


synth wave scene, and which things 

make Human Puppets different? 

Nick: I think it’s easy to recognize a 

minimal synth/avant garde band from 

Germany. The Germans have a unique 

way to move between classicism and 

forefront but always with a resoursfull, 

new feeling.I mean,from Paul Hausmann 

and Stockhausen to Can,Organisation,kraftwerk,the 

Kafkaesque cries 

of Der Plan or Der Künftige 

Musikant,yes,we do have common references,similar 

ways to approach music 

circumstances as a band,don’t 

forget we use the same synths. However, 

if we could see behind the mirror 

of one’s mental temperament, human 

puppets use their influences to approach 

(even for a minute) the fascination 

of parthenogenesis. Ofcourse, 

this is a difficult task today in the minimal 

synth/wave scene. 

Stathis: We are alike, as far as the 

simple structure of a song except, we 

are more melodic. 

Nattsol: Could you introduce your new 

album “Sounds of Solitude” in your 

own words? 

Nick: I don’t think I am capable of 

speaking about “Sounds of Solitude”, 

it’s like describing my impulsiveness 

and the joy of creation.I cannot find 

the proper words.I’d rather ask you, 

how could you describe our LP.This 

is the real challenge in any form of 

expression/art, to leave the artist and 

be part of the audience. 

Stathis: I agree with Nick, one thing 

I can say for sure is that it is more 

mature than “Future from the past”. 

Nattsol: Human Puppets played with 

several drummers. Has it been the occasional 

experience or you’re planning 

to extend your line-up? 

Stathis: Well, we only did that once! 

We’ve played one live gig with Billias 

on the drums, who is also the drummer 

of ‘The Exetix’. That went very well and 

so, we later recorded the single ‘Television 

Eye’, again with Billy on the drums. 

Being a duo, somehow limits us from 

playing other instruments and give us 

a hard time when we are performing 

live, playing everything in real time, 

nothing pre-recorded and with very 

fragile analogue equipment. We only 

have two hands! 

Therefore, when an opportunity comes 

for someone else to help us, it is great! 

The problem is that, it’s somehow difficult 

to find musicians who can actually 

play live this kind of music and to understand 

the all-analogue philosophy. 

In a few words, we are open to collaborations, 

as long as it fits to our 

standards.

35 Human Puppets Human Puppets 

35 

Nattsol: Stathis, can you tell about 

your side-project The Exetix? 

Stathis: It’s a side project involving 

three brothers (Billias, Pittas, Semis) 

and myself. 

We were neighbors and friends since 

1996, we share the same passion 

and love for music, records and analogue 

synths. 

They are the best musicians I have 

ever met (along with Nick) and ‘Exetix’ 

is a project that I’m very proud of. 

It is a pure synth punk band, again 

sharing the same philosophy concerning 

analogue synths, playing everything 

live and doing it yourself thing. 

Our influence is the late 70’s -early 

80’s American-European synth punk 

movement, with bands like The 

Screamers, Nervous Gender, Metal 

Urbain, Soft Drinks, Futurisk, etc. 

Our L.P (self titled, available on our 

label), was recorded live in a rehearsing 

studio and the amazing thing is 

that most of the songs on the record, 

were played for the first time there 

and were recorded in one take! That 

h a p p e n s 

only when 

you deal 

with talented people who understand 

and feel the music like you do. 

Check it out and you won’t regret it! 

Nattsol: Nick, I know that you do the 

artwork for Human Puppets releases. 

And since your works are very good 

(at least in my opinion), I should ask 

you whether it’s possible to learn more 

about this side of your activity. 

Nick: I always enjoyed painting and 

creating so , making the covers for 

our band, not only gave me the opportunity 

to express myself but also 

sums up the whole philosophy of ‘doing 

it yourself’. Therefore it was very simple 

and natural for me. 

Stathis: I just want to mention that 

the cover of our single ‘Television Eye’ 

is made by Semis (the Exetix). 

Nick: Yes, he did a great job. 

Nattsol: I think I’m not the only one 

who really appreciates artworks by 

Nick and Semis, so for all those who’re 

interested – is that possible to find 

some more Nick’s and Semis’ works 

on the web, on other covers or in 

some printed issues? Do you keep 

painting as hobby or develop it in a 

more serious way? 

Nick: I do not paint anymore and I 

never considered painting as a hobby.It 

is one more way of expressing myself. 

Occassionally,I tried to approach this 

capability,this tendency I have,but I’ve 

never met the painter that 

might be hidden inside me. 

So no,you cannot find anything 

on the web,I only keep 

some scetches for my personal 

archive. 

Nattsol: You both are 

heavily inspired by DADA 

movement. DADA itself 

can’t be imagine without 

the famous provocations 

and scandals around its 

founding members. And what 

about Human Puppets? Do you 

deal with these things? 

Nick: When art is removed from 

real life, having elitist tendencies, 

basically ’flirting’ with total infertility 

of inspiration, then ‘art’ must 

be redefined. That’s what the 

Dadaists did in 1916. 

Art attached to the ghost of Freedom 

of Expression and Freedom 

in general, is the most significant 

art movement for me. Also very 

relative to D.I.Y. ethos. When 

art has no reference to life and 

it’s reality(at least the reality we 

are capable of understanding 

it)then it shall better stay silent. 

Art should give the opportunity of expressing 

to anyone that has an essential 

statement. That’s what punk 

scene did, in the middle 70’s. 


Nattsol: Nick, Stathis, I know that you 

both are record collectors. Could you 

list few records from your collection 

that have played some special roles 

in your lives? 

Stathis: This is difficult. Hmmm..I will


Human Puppets 

36 

name some very basics otherwise this 

will take too long! ‘Cabaret Voltaire- 

Voice Of America’ for the experimentation, 

‘D.A.F-Alles Ist Gut’ for 

understanding the perfect combination 

between drums and synths, 

‘Japan-Gentleman Take Polaroids’ 

for inspiring me to be a better musician 

and a Greek one, ‘The Reporters- 

Bare Hands’ for realizing that the only 

thing that counts is to be true to your 

feelings.Of course this list could go 

on and on.. 

Nick:For me is Bryan Eno’s ‘Another 

Green world’, David Bowie’s ‘Low’ and 

Magazine’s ‘Secondhand daylight’ that 

changed my music directions. 

And ofcourse the Residents!I’ve 

bought some of their 70’s,early 80’s 

records,two and three times!They 

have such a great influence on me 


from 1983,where I was a little boy 

until today.That’s probably related to 

my DNA,in a way! 

Nattsol: You’ve always stated that 

you’re a DIY act. So, what does the 

term DIY mean for you? And in your 

opinion, has the DIY culture changed 

nowadays? 

Nick: D.I.Y. still exists, however it includes 

loneliness and solidarity. Everyone 

can be creative without leaving 

his/her room, just by using the technology. 

I don’t know if this actually 

serves a human being as we sometimes 

have the urge of reinventing our 

social statuses and we rebel, revolt 

through art. 

Nattsol: What particulary interests me 

is your attitude to your texts. Contradictory 

to the music, you don’t keep 

your texts written, so the lines may 

vary from time to time. So could you 

explain your approach to it? Is that 

because “things change fast”, or some 

other reasons exist? 

Nick: I don’t believe lyrics should be 

written on the record’s credits.Lyrics 

may distract the listener from the immediacy 

of the song. It’s like while I 

am listening to a Russian band, also 

trying to translate the lyrics. This will 

distract me from the whole point of music 

creation as the lyrics, therefore the 

voice is an individual instrument by itself. 

I believe,it gives the most significant 

feeling in the song,whether it’s 

words, phrases or just inarticulate cries. 

I like to change the lyrics a bit, keeping 

ofcourse the main theme, but 

just make a few adjustments. 

I like the idea of telling the 

story of a song in as many 

ways as possible. This revives 

it, evolves it, it becomes 

multidimentional in a 

way. A sterile idea, dies easily. 

On the other hand, a 

good moment of inspiration 

can be approached by 

many different aspects and 

also re-educating your own 

self, the secret self power 

photo byTolis Elefantis 

who created it in the first place. 

Stathis: For me too, vocals and lyrics 

are just another instrument in the 

song.By this, I don’t mean to reduce 

the strength of words but also I don’t 

like to force someone to read what I 

had to say. Maybe it’s important, 

maybe not. It’s better for me not to 

spoil the magic. Judging by my own 

experience as a listener, if I discover 

a song and I am really into it, I will 

listen to it again and again to get the 

full picture and meaning. I won’t need 

the whole music score printed to enjoy 

it, therefore, I won’t need the lyrics 

printed neither. 

Nattsol: What are the main subjects 

for your lyrics? 

Stathis: Personal feelings, thoughts 

and fiction scripts about our lives and 

the world we live in. 

Nattsol: Is Human Puppets a protest 

band? And if yes, what do you protest 

against? 

photo byTolis Elefantis


37 

Nick: The name of the band itself can 

be taken as a mean of protest. For 

me, it occurs the fact, do I really like 

the Human Kind? The fact that in 

such a multidimentional world, the Human 

manages to stay one-dimentional, 

it really frustrates me. It gives me 

a sad feeling that everything was put 

together in all the wrong places, from 

the ancient times until today. So, we 

are all puppets of these Ancient fears 

of Existance, that made us invent 

gods and demons & other creatures 

of power, completely forgetting that 

life is just happening.Human Puppets, 

totally ignorant of the true colors of 

freedom, beyond sociopolitical systems, 

well yes, maybe we are a 

protest band afterall. 

Stathis:As a Human Puppet, we sometimes, 

find the strength to cut our own 

ropes, but most of the times, we don’t. 

Sometimes we are the puppets, sometimes 

the puppeteer. It’s all in this sys- 

tem we are obliged to live in, the system 

created by humans. Ironic? 

Nattsol: Human Puppets is a musical 

act, but have you ever seen something 

very close to Human Puppets in other 

forms of Art? 

Nick: Andrei Tarkovsky’s “solaris”, 

teeter’s between superficial and philosophy 

with such a magical way, that 

could only be expressed musically by 

a single tone/sound.To sum up with a 

Samuel Beckett’s quote from “The Unnamable”, 

I prefer the expression of 

having nothing to express, with no 

means of expressing it, without the 

power of expression, nor the urge of 

expressing and together the obligation 

of expression. 

Stathis: I was really influenced by 

Slava Tsukerman’s “Liquid Sky”. 


And the final words are yours. 

Stathis: A big and 

sincere thanks to 

old and new 

fans/friends around 

the world and ofcourse 

you and 

Grave Jibes for the 

hospitality through 

the wires. Stay 

analogue. 

Questions: Pall 

‘Nattsol’ Zarutskiy 

‘Grave Jibes 

Fanzine’ 

ID 

Name: Agent Side Grinder 

Place: Bromma, Sweden 

Time: 2005-? 

Close to: post-industrial, post-punk, electro 

Current Label: Klangarkivet/Headstomp Productions 

Web: 

http://www.agentsidegrinder.com 

http://www.myspace.com/agentsidegrinder 

http://www.facebook.com/agentsidegrinder 

A 

http://soundcloud.com/agent-side-grinder 

gent Side Grinder is one of very few bands that manage to be 

modern, having completely vintage approach at the same time. This band is usually 

compared to Suicide, Cabaret Voltaire and Joy Division, but with their newest album 

“Hardware”, Agent Side Grinder quite evolved towards their own style. We decided 

to discuss this and much more with the founders of the band - Peter Fristedt and 

Johan Lange. 

Nattsol: Greetings! Please, introduce 

yourselves for a start. 

P: We’re Peter Fristedt and Johan 

Lange, the founders of Agent Side 

Grinder. 

Nattsol: How have you come into music 

and what were your pre-Agent Side 

Grinder experiences? 

P: I was very interested in electronics 

and radio from a young age and started 

an anarchistic electronic chaos or- 

chestra in the early 90’s, called Berliner 

6 Bahn. 

J: I played in several bands before 

ASG and released a solo album. More 

pop-oriented stuff. 

Nattsol: I also know that some of you 

have side-projects. Could you tell more 

about that? 

P: Side project? I don’t have one! 

J: We all used to have different projects, 

but currently we all focus 100% on ASG. 

photo by Tedd Soost

38 Agent Side Grinder 

Agent Side Grinder 

38 

Nattsol: Then, which of your past projects 

are worth mentioning and why? 

P: We don’t talk about the things we 

have done before, our focus is Agent 

Side Grinder. We all have been in different 

bands and been into the music scene 

in Stockholm many years before ASG. 

Nattsol: Now let’s turn to ASG itself. 

How did you form the band? 

P: We met each other during a recording 

session back in 2005 and realized 

that we shared similar musical visions. 

J: We both adored electronic music from 

the 70s and 80s, analog stuff. Peter 

had the ideas, I had the songwriting experience, 

that’s how it started. 

Nattsol: It seems to me quite crucial 

for the band that it keeps alive what 

many people (fair enough, in my opinion) 

call “cassette culture”. What is its 

importance for you personally? 

P: We have released many cassettes, 

both live and studio. For me personally, 

I was very interested in the way you 

could produce cassettes in an industrial 

way if you’ve got your own tape 

duplicator, which we have. 

Nattsol: Do you have a policy in musical 

formats? I see you have a lot of 

cassettes, CDs and vinyls and it seems 

that for you the records themselves 

tell which format they should be released 

in. Is it so? 

J: We started off by releasing only 

vinyl, which really suited the first album. 

But as our music grew popular, we 

wanted to share it with all listeners. 

P: We try to keep our music accessible 

for all mediums and generations. 

Nattsol: When I saw ASG live I was 

much impressed not only by the music 

itself but also by your fantastic work 

with sound. How do you achieve that, 

what instruments do you use, and how 

does it differ from album to album? 

P: We are a live band, we practice a 

lot, and practice makes perfect. 

J: We started with a pretty minimalistic 

setup, a drum machine, a Yamaha 

CS5 syntheziser, tape loops and vocals. 

But in recent years we’ve expanded 

both our gear and sound to 

almost an arena size. 

Nattsol: Peter, in one interview you 

told that “industrial beauty” is the term 

with which the ASG music can be described. 

To understand you better – 

could you tell what industrial beauty 

is visually for you? Is it deserted industrial 

landscapes, futurist paintings, 

something else...? 

P: For us, “Industrial Beauty” is a term 

that describes how we play our music 

live. We want the audience to experience 

the beauty in the harsh sounds, 

the noise and the intensity that is Agent 

Side Grinder. 

Nattsol: Recently Manic Depression 

photo by Kristy Sparow 

records released the ASG “best of” 

2xCD compilation. How did it happen 

that you got signed by this label, and 

what do you think about its other releases? 

P: We played at Lionels club in Paris 

a couple of times and talked about 

doing something together. 

J: It’s a mutual admiration, they’re releasing 

some great bands, Frustration 

for example. 

Nattsol: This compilation represents 

both studio albums of ASG plus the 

experimental “The Transatlantic Tape 

Project” and live tracks. So, what will 

people find and will NOT find on this 

compilation? 

P: For the first time we have live stuff 

on a CD, which is very unique for this 

record! For the listener it is also interesting 

to compare live tracks with 

studio tracks. 

J: It’s a great introduction to ASG.

39 Agent Side Grinder Agent Side Grinder 

39 

Unfortunately there are no tracks from 

our new killer-record on it. 

Nattsol: The third Agent Side Grinder 

album “Hardware” is about to be released. 

What can you tell about it in 

comparison with its forerunners? 

J: We’re really proud of it. People that 

liked the first two albums will definitely 

recognize us. But it’s more diverse, 

more ambiguous. It’s the album we 

always wanted to make. 

P: It’s definitely our most ambitious work 

up to date. It took us nearly two years 

to write it and we worked hard on each 

sound detail. We also tried the songs 

live to make sure they were really good. 

Nattsol: The forerunners of “Hardware” 

sound as conceptional albums 

– are they, actually? And does “Hardware” 

have a conception? 

P: We have never had any conceptional 

ideas when we have been working 

with our albums. I think it’s more 

likely that during that period we enjoyed 

a certain kind of sound etc that 

gave the record a special vibe. 

Nattsol: Agent Side Grinder is often 

quite obviously compared with Suicide, 

Joy Division and Cabaret 

Voltaire. But are there some less obvious 

or less known things (not only 

musical projects) that inspire you and 

influence your music? 

J: We love all the bands you mention, 

but on this new record, we really wanted 

to shake off the retro label and make 

something relevant for the 2010’s. 

Nattsol: And in my opinion, you really 

managed to achieve it! However, you 

still keep some retro elements, wich 

is obvious even on the album cover. 

So, which retro elements do you find 

necessary for ASG to remain itself, 

and which of them you tend to replace 

by some modern ones? 

P: We don’t focus on being retro, we 

see ourselves rather like a time ma- 

chine and go back to the past and 

take out a new direction from there 

to make a new sound of today. 

Nattsol: Talking a bit more about your 

references – you tend to underline 

your admiration of Industrial Records 

era, but your sound is closer to postindustrial 

bands. So, can you mark as 

references some of post-industrial 

bands (say, “Play It Again, Sam” 

bands), or you “went” from Sheffield 

of the late 70’s in completely different 

direction? 

P: We like Depeche Mode and a lot 

of other music from that time. We talk 

about all kinds of music in the band, 

I think that we are very opend-minded 

about our influences, we like Black 

Metal etc! 

photo by Ludvig Lindqvist 

Nattsol: What do you think about the 

contemporary synth wave scene, and 

do you consider your band a part of it? 

P: We are a part of it, but sometimes 

it feels like we’re walking a very 

empty road. 

Nattsol: Peter, you also work in Lobotom 

records – could you tell more about this 

label and your role in it? Do you find 

this experience helpful for ASG, or label 

and band never cross their paths? 

P: I started Lobotom Records with a 

good friend in 2002 and we were active 

until 2010, I learned a lot about the 

music business, how to do things and 

how not to do things. 

Nattsol: Recently you collaborated 

with Henric de la Cour on your song 

“Wolf Hour”. Could you tell more about 

this collaboration? Have you had other 

collaborations to tell about or may be 

just plans/dreams to share? 

J: Henric is such a talented singer 

and songwriter. He liked our previous 

records. We felt “Wolf Hour” could be 

a cool duet for Henric and Kristoffer. 

The result turned out to be even better 

than we expected. We also got some 

other guest on the album, a Swedish 

band called Skriet. 

Nattsol: Do you plan to change something 

in your live shows after the release 

of “Hardware”? 

P: We have some more stuff on stage 

since there is some new sound on the 

album, but the live setup is very much 

the same. Some more percussion thing. 



J: Hope our touring brings us to Russia 

in 2012. We need more fans over there. 



40 Agent Side Grinder Agent Side Grinder 

40 

“Hardware” is the 

fourth (including the experimental 

“The Transatlantic 

Project”) album by 

the Swedish project 

Agent Side Grinder. And 

being on the one hand 

the logical continuation of 

its forerunners, it, on the 

other hand, surprisingly 

represents the band as 

modern as an analog 

synth band ever can be. 

It already isn’t the classical 

post-industrial music, 

and it’s more than 

likely that this record will 

eventually detach Agent 

Side Grinder from the 

“vintage” label, for now 

Agent Side Grinder is 

Agent Side Grinder – 

‘Hardware’ 

album review 

quite an “out of time” 

band, thanks to the balance 

of old-school equipment/approach 

and 

modern music. Just as 

the previous band’s releases, 

“Hardware” has 

extremely strong songs 

and weaker ones. And 

among the former there 

definitely should be mentioned 

the opening “Look 

Within”, “Stranger 

Stranger” and the track 

featuring Henric de la 

Cour “Wolf Hour”, on 

which quite contrasting 

vocals of Henric and the 

ASG vocalist Kristoffer 

interlace in a very natural 

way, creating a strong 

and original pattern. To 

summarize, “Hardware” 

will be an interesting discovery 

for every synth 

lover, no matter if you 

heard the previous works 

of Agent Side Grinder or 

not. And also this album 

shows that now Agent 

Side Grinder has much 

room to go forward, exploring 

its artistic potential 

and becoming one of very 

few bands that avoided 

the “retro dead end”. So 

this band definitely has an 

interesting future. 

Grade: 9/10 



The compilation “Industrial 

Beauty” by Agent 

Side Grinder can surely 

be called the best guide 

to the band’s universe. It 

covers the period of 

2008-2010, which resulted 

for the band in three 

studio albums and a 

bunch of live records. 

Here on the compilation, 

the first CD collects most 

of the tracks from two 

“real ASG” studio albums 

– “Untitled” (2008) and 

“Irish Recording Tape” 

(2009), and the second 

CD represents the other 

sides of the band’s activity 

by its live recordings 

and the tracks from the 

experimental album “The 

Transatlantic Tape Project”, 

which gives a listener 

the opportunity of 

thorough and compre- 

Agent Side Grinder 

“Industrial Beauty” 

compilation review 

hensive exploration of 

the band’s music. So, 

what is Agent Side 

Grinder according to this 

compilation? It’s definitely 

a vintage band, for its 

music is based on the admiration 

for industrial and 

post punk music with 

roots going directly to Industrial 

Records, Factory 

Records and Mute. But 

on the other hand, it’s no 

less obvious that Agent 

Side Grinder is not a 

“copypaste” band, for it’s 

much more the matter of 

approach than of music 

that makes the band 

stand shoulder to shoulder 

with the great acts of 

the past, such as Cabaret 

Voltaire or Joy Division. 

“Industrial Beauty” is the 

music of deserted landscapes 

and abandoned 

factories. And it is really 

great to understand that 

there still exist such 

bands as Agent Side 

Grinder, that can recreate 

the atmosphere of the 

late 70’s/early 80’s best 

industrial and post-punk 

bands not because they 

want to be similar, but 

because they feel the 

same things, breathe the 

same air… And it’s also 

great that this compilation 

consists of the 2008- 

2010 records, because 

these few years were the 

whole era for the band, 

and what they grew up 

in for 2012 is completely 

different story. 

Grade: 9/10 



y Billy und Hells 


41 

J 

ID 

Name: Jessie Evans 

Place: Berlin, Germany 

Time: 2009 - ? 

Close to: No Wave, Free Jazz, Voodoo Cabaret 

In groups: The Knives (1998-2000) ; 

Subtonix (1998-2003) ; 

The Vanishing (2001-2004) ; 

Autonervous (2004 - 2006) 

Current Label: Fantomette Records 

Web: www.jessieevans.net 

essie Evans became known as a frontwoman of two probably most remarkable 

deathrock bands of the early 00’s – Subtonix and The Vanishing. After she moved to Berlin in 

the mid 00’s, she surprised listeners with her common project with Bettina Koster (known for 

the NDW cult band “Malaria!”). A few years ago she started her solo career with quite an undefinable 

sound (check her videos on youtube to get the idea). Her debut solo album “Is It Fire?” saw the 

light of day in 2009, and now Jessie is working on its follower. So, this brief foreword is enough 

to explain how excited we were approaching Jessie with an interview request. 

GJ: Hello, Jessie! Firstly introduce 

yourself in few words, please. 

Jessie: Jet-setting mermaid with a big 

appetite. 

GJ: How did you get involved in music 

and what were your first musical/stage 

experiences? 

Jessie: Someone was always strumming 

on a guitar when I was a kid so 

it was a natural thing to start playing 

music as soon as I could. My mom 

was a drummer, my dad played cello 

+ banjo. I started playing violin when 

I was 4, but left that after a couple 

years. Throughout my childhood I studied 

different music instruments and 

played bass drum and flute in the 

School Marching Band. When I was 

15 my parents bought me a saxophone 

and that was the first thing that stuck. 

My band was when I was 17 and living 

in a squat called the Fox Hotel in Amsterdam. 

One fatal night after serious 

drinking and a rampage through the 

streets of Amsterdam with my friend 

Esty, which ended in us screaming thru 

the streets like maniacs and throwing 

a bunch of bicycles into the canal we 

came back home and started a band 

called “The Antisocials”. It was just us 

two singing with guitars and drums. 

What an amazing feeling to just do it 

! We were really inspired by the punk 

rock movement of the 70’s, by bands 

like Xray Spex +The Slits. Later I moved 

to San Francisco and had my first real 

show playing bass in a band called 

“Leper Sex Killer on the Loose” at the 

infamous Gilman St. in Berkeley. Shortly 

after that I started playing sax in an 

all girl group called “Subtonix”. I was 

photo by Street Press


Jessie Evans 

42 

also in a band called “The Knives”. One 

of our first shows was at a café at 

Stanford University. It took a long time 

to go on and I ended up getting really 

wasted. I was peeing in the garden, I 

had no shame. When it came time to 

play I got really annoyed 

with the singer, a big guy 

named Gabe, and I decided 

to put my bass 

down and push him 

off the stage in order 

to take the 

mic. It was a 

big hit for the 

girls in the crowd. I remember seeing 

the writer Michelle Tea there, egging 

me on. I also formed a band called 

“The Vanishing” in this time and I played 

a lot in those times with all groups. 

GJ: You played with Subtonix, which 

was very remarkable duo of you and 

Jessy Panic. Could you tell how you 

met her and you formed the band? 

Jessie: I met her a few days after arriving 

in San Francisco. We were both 

drunk on the street in the mission one 

night and we hit it off, immediately becoming 

friends. Around the same time 

I placed an add in the paper saying I 

was a sax player, into The Selector, 

Blondie + Xray Spex and 

wanted to start an all 

girl band. I met Cookie 

by Billy & Hells 

photo by Street Press 

(the drummer from Subtonix ) through 

that and we got along great but we 

didn’t know any other people yet so 

we didn’t start it in that moment. Later 

she met Jessy separately and they 

started playing together, and I was 

sort of jealous, like “what about me??” 

but they assured me they would invite 

me in as soon as they had some songs 

together. Our first rehearsal space was 

in an old brick building on 16th st in 

the Mission. The room we had was 

no bigger than a small bathroom, filled 

to the brink with tons of junk that belonged 

to a bunch of different people. 

There was a trunk filled with dildos, 

and I stole one, which I still have to 

this day. In the beginning we had guitar 

and keys, then came down to a 4 

piece and left out the guitar. We started 

playing shows after a couple months. 

It was a really amazing time. 

GJ: How did it happen that Subtonix 

ceased its activity and you became 

the part of Vanishing? 

Jessie: I started The Vanishing quite 

awhile before Subtonix broke up. The 

reasons for Subtonix breaking up were 

that we just weren’t getting along. Jessy 

had gotten married to this guy we didn’t 

like and there was a lot of paranoia , 

distrust and jealousy going around. We 

went on a US tour with Glass Candy 

for a month which sort of sealed our 

death. Although it was an amazing experience 

to be on tour and playing at 

the diviest places, like some sports bar 

in Baton Rouge , Louisiana with these 

girls really riling up the crowds, and almost 

having to run for our lives after 

the show. It was also really harsh be

43 Jessie Evans Jessie Evans 

43 

cause it was my first real long tour, and 

I knew the band would end soon. From 

my experience here is nothing harder 

than a breakup with a band you love. 

Its way worse than a love affair because 

it goes beyond romance: its about sharing 

a dream. After the breakup Jessy 

and I didn’t speak for 8 years, but now 

we’re like sisters again. Actually, I just 

spent a month sleeping on her couch 

here in LA, just like old times being 

homeless in San Francisco. 

GJ: If a one takes a look at vinyl splits 

of Vanishing, it will become obvious 

that you were very close to other representatives 

of the underground deathpunk 

scene of the 00’s. Could you tell 

more about that era and that scene? 

Jessie: The scene in San Francsico 

was really amazing then, maybe reminiscent 

of the late 70’s when punk 

first began. There was a tremendous 

amount of energy coming out of all 

the groups happening and we all felt 

really connected and supportive of 

each other. Bands like The Phantom 

Limbs, Sixteens, Deep Throats, The 

Agent for Allied, Mutilated Maniquins, 

Clone, The Little Deaths + Veronica 

Lipgloss and the Evil Eyes were all 

part of that. At the same time there 

were bands we played with a lot from 

other states like the Lost Sounds from 

Memphis (RIP Jay Retard ) or Swarm 

of Angels from Houston, who were all 

kind of in the same vein. I guess it 

will probably take about 20 years for 

people who were’nt there to discover 

the gems of that time, but I’m looking 

forward to releasing a book of photography 

from those days. 

GJ: Vanishing for sure was one of the 

best deathpunk bands of the 00’s. Do 

you feel your experience with this band 

affects on you and your Art in this new 

decade? 

Jessie: I feel like I was really feral 

then, searching through the darkness 

to figure out how to express myself. 

The energy I projected on stage was 

very cold, raw, aggressive. I guess I 

needed to work through my demons. 

Being an artist is like opening your 

doors for people to look inside you 

and see you grow and change as a 

human being, which can be insane 

sometimes ‘cos things aren’t fully 

formed, or you share things you 

regret, but in general, I always 

need to share what I’m doing so 

I enjoy this process. 

by Billy & Hells


44 

GJ: You have obvious influence of Bettina 

Koster from the cult “Malaria!” and 

you played with her in the project “Autonervous”. 

Could you tell how it happened 

that you gathered and formed 

this project, and how is it – to play 

with Bettina? 

Jessie: I met Bettina the first day I 

arrived in Berlin. Me and Brian from 

The Vanishing we were picked up at 

the airport and driven to an interview. 

As soon as we walked into the office 

Bettina was there, sizing me up in a 

real butch sort of way. Though I didn’t 

realize at the time who she was, it 

was funny, because I had become a 

fan of Malaria for a couple years already, 

and had actually had a dream 

the week before that I moved to Berlin 

and was hanging out with the girls 

from Malaria. It was definitely a premonition, 

‘cos a week later Bettina offered 

for me and Brian to come live 

with her. A few months later we invited 

Bettina to join Vanishing on a tour in 

Italy and France and had a great time. 

After the tour, it seemed more interesting 

to me to pursue playing with 

her rather than continuing with The 

Vanishing ‘cos that was getting boring. 

I had used the name Autonervous as 

a project alongside Billy from The Vanishing 

to release one cassette tape 

and 12” and decided it was still a good 

name. I feel like she had a lot of advice 

to offer me because she had been 

through the same things and understood 

where I was coming from. We 

also had a lot in common, both being 

sax players and untraditional lead 

singers. She told me to not question 

the artistic process, and let things come 

out, even if they were ugly. She also 

told me that to have success you needed 

to stick with something your whole 

life. This in particular really resonated 

with me, and it was in that moment 

that I realized I really needed to begin 

a solo project. Bands come and go, 

but you will always have yourself to 

count on. We wrote the Autonevous 

album in her apartment in Berlin. Basically 

I wrote the songs on drum machines 

and bass and keys then she 

would cut up what I did and reassemble 

it, adding sax, more keys, guitar, 

etc. It was an interesting process, and 

I’m really glad we had the chance to 

make something together. 

GJ: You started your artistic way in 

California, and now you live in Berlin. 

Can you say that the place affects on 

your Art with its own mystery and spirit? 

In other words – has Berlin changed 

your music? 

Jessie: It’s funny because I started 

out making deathrock music in sunny 

California, then moved to gloomy Berlin 

and got really into Afrobeat and 

Cumbia, and singing a lot more about 

sex. I think living in a place which is 

so cold, both in climate and attitude 

of the people, has really lightened me 

up a lot. Also, living in Europe I was 

able to support myself being a musician 

for the first time which eleviated a lot 

of stress and gave me a newfound 

confidence. To live in a place where 

the average people are actually aware 

of what’s happening in the world and 

can have conversations about things 

without it ending in some nationalistic 

temper tantrum has been great and 

helped me to get past this desperate 

stress about the system and society 

and find a more positive approach to 

my words and message. But I think its 

also just a natural process, discovering 

what you want to say, how to say it. 

GJ: How did you meet Toby Dammit, 

and how is it to work with him? 

Jessie: Toby lives at the studio where 

Bettina and I mixed our album and I 

met him at that time. At one point Bettina 

booked us an acoustic show, which 

was ridiculous since we played with a 

full backing track, including all her vocals 

and sax on it. I told her at the 

very least we needed to find a drummer 

so we asked Toby, and he was happy 

to do it since he’d seen us perform 

and really loved it. After rehearsing 

with him once it was obvious that we 

would end up playing for a long time 

together, and it was really exciting. He’s 

a really great drummer and a great 

guy. Sometimes he drives me crazy 

because he’s very addicted to buying 

drums, and having them sent to different 

addresses of friends of ours all 

over the world, then when we visit he 

has to re-pack them, photograph 

them… its sort of insane. 

GJ: With your solo works you get more 

into what was called “voodoo cabaret 

show” with the influences not that much 

reflected in your past works, such as, 

say, afrobeat. So, can you say that 

punk and deathrock is your past now? 

Jessie: I’ll always consider myself a 

punk because I’ve never fit in with 

what’s normal or socially acceptable 

and I’m sure I never will. I’ve always


45 

been an outcast, a misfit and at this 

point I’m comfortable being on the outside. 

I think punk is simply about doing 

things your own way, DIY, being free 

and fierce, not relying on ‘the man’, 

and to hold on to your ideals, speak 

the truth, and to help others do the 

same. My music is more punk than it 

ever was ‘cos the words are more honest 

and direct than ever before and 

the delivery is more in your face ‘cos 

I’m aware what I’m doing and what I 

want to convey more than ever. Musically, 

I’m very much rooted in the 

punk / new wave/ no wave but I also 

grew up listening to reggae and jazz 

and as time goes by new things become 

influences. I’ve never felt like 

sticking to one group or being stuck 

to one scene. I’ve always had very diverse 

friends, all ages, all types of 

people. It’s the same thing with religion- 

although I’m interested in many 

aspects or rituals from different religions 

I never felt the need to join anything 

because I don’t’ feel like I need 

to in order to celebrate life or find god. 

I basically believe in everything, because 

I think everything everyone believes 

is reality, and it all has the same 

roots. I do intend on re-doing some 

of the songs from The Vanishing still 

and I think there will probably be a 

Subtonix reunion one of these days, 

so we’ll see… 

GJ: Can you introduce your solo project 

with its debut album “Is It Fire?” 

in your own words? 

Jessie: “Is It Fire?” is my first solo 

record that I wrote, arranged and produced 

myself. It’s sexy and feels like 

an orgy of rhythms and styles, from 

Afro-Cuban to Mambo to Free jazz 

jams to No Wavey Pop. I released it 

on my label Fantomette Records in 

2009 and have been playing mostly 

as a duo with Toby Dammit and sometimes 

as a trio with a Brazilian percussionist 

named Debora Saraiva. 

GJ: Could you tell more about the 

process of recording “Is It Fire”? You 

recorded it in Berlin and Mexico and 

the list of the involved musicians is 

really extensive (how many there were, 

by the way? Seems like 50 or so?), 

so I assume the work was really hard 

and complex, wasn’t it? 

Jessie: I wrote the album on bass, 

synth and the 808 drum machine in 

my lil’ studio in Berlin. It was a revelation 

for me ‘cos I feel like I created 

something rhythmically which was unusual 

and different from anything I’d 

done before. We recorded the drums 

with Toby Dammit and Budgie. Then 

went to Mexico and recorded the sax 

and vocals in hotel rooms in Mexico 

City, Tijuana and even John Waynes 

old house in Acapulco. Along the way 

we got Martin Wenk from Calexico on 

trumpet, and a bunch of musicians from 

Tijuana to play. My good friend Namosh 

was on it too. It wasn’t hard, but it did 

take some time to pull it all together. 

I guess the hardest part of making an 

album is having the patience to see it 

through, ‘cos it always ends up taking 

way longer than you think it will. 

GJ: I know that you're working on your 

second album. Could you please give us 

any comments about what it will be like? 

Jessie: Theres a lot more singing then 

on the last album. I have 4 main backing 

singers who are ages 8-13. And a lot 

of grown up friends too. Some of the 

guests are King Khan, Steve Mackay 

(Iggy and the Stooges), Jimi Tenor, 

Daniel Allen, Jillian Iva, Maya Alban 

Zapata, and Namosh. Stylistically it’s 

exploring new territories, different tempos, 

but it feels like a natural evolution. 

GJ: You’ve been performing as guest 

with many bands. Which shows of this 

kind were the most remarkable and 

the most special for you? 

Jessie: It was exciting opening for Iggy 

and The Stooges at L’Olympia in Paris 

‘cos that’s such a prestigious old – 

school venue. Everyone has played 

there from Edith Piaf, to James Brown 

to David Bowie. 

GJ: Your music is definitely decadent, 

but it’s not that sweet and extremely 

artificial decadence, it much more reminds, 

say, decadence of Baudelaire 

who wore green wig to provoke the 

crowd. So, how much your music deals 

with decadence and do you have some 

“decadent references”? 

Jessie: I like to talk about ugly side 

of passion. Maybe it seems decadent 

‘cos sometimes when you take too 

much of a good thing you get sick and 

want to puke. I always thought of decadence 

as having too much, wanting 

too much, + expressing it all, in a hedonistic 

and beautifully shameless sort 

of way. Of course I’m attracted to that 

sort of reality, and happy to live it whenever 

I can. But if you look up the word 

in any American dictionary you get the


Jessie Evans 

46 

definition along the lines of this: 

A process, condition, or period of deterioration 

or decline, as in morals or 

art; decay. 

Now this sounds like a load of b.s. to 

me. Especially if you think of the artists 

or writers who were associated with 

the Decadent movement: Oscar Wilde, 

Aubrey Beardsley, Edvard Munch. I 

don’t see that their work reflects morals 

so much as being honest. In general, 

balance is key to peace of mind, but 

I do think hedonism is essential. 

GJ: The question similar to the last 

one – how much your music deals with 

sexuality, and how strong you see the 

connection between Art and sexuality? 

Jessie: I see no difference between 

music and sex really. They operate on 

the same planes. The best shows are 

the most raunchiest and rawest, when 

you can transfer all the passion into 

your body and voice, let it contort you, 

let it erupt like a volcano from the 

depths of your being. Emotionally, I 

have the same reaction to music if not 

stronger than I do to a person, and it 

can turn you on, turn you off, just like 

a person can. 

GJ: Does your musical/performance 

activity deal with other forms of Art, 

like, say, photography or cinema (or 

anything else)? 

Jessie: I make most my own music 

videos, compiling them from video 

shoots and things I film on tour. They 

take a long time to edit, and sometimes 

I wont sleep for a month at a time ‘cos 

I get so wrapped up in it. Working on 

visuals feels very poetic to me, like 

hunting in the landscape of my imagination. 

I always write very silly plots, 

and there’s many ways they can be 

interpreted, so as I’m working on them 

many different ideas and interpretations 

come to surface, which is inter- 

esting. Its complicated, because there 

are so many elements involved : 

rhythm, words, textures, images, plots, 

etc, and they all have to be collaged 

together just right. Each video feels 

like a tiny movie, like a haiku. I also 

love photography and recently went to 

Havana, Cuba for a month and shot 

tons of photos there in the barrio where 

I was staying. I want to go back this 

year and make a documentary. 

GJ: The cunning question – is Jessie 

Evans a mainstream artist or an underground 

artist? 

Jessie: To quote wikipedia: Mainstream 

is, generally, the common current 

thought of the majority. The 

mainstream includes all popular culture, 

typically disseminated by mass 

media. Mainstream music denotes music 

that is familiar and unthreatening 

to the masses. 

I feel like most mainstream music has 

become like a bad drug that has people 

paying attention to and believing in 

things that have no artistic value just 

because its all they’ve been exposed 

to. I feel the effects of this whenever 

I watch the news or hear a new hit 

song, as I often have the desire to listen, 

to become infatuated with something 

that isn’t good; it becomes 

addictive even if you don’t like it. Everything 

in the media these days seems 

to have an agenda to brainwash us 

into thinking in certain ways, to accept 

certain realities and to not question 

the position we were born into : as 

powerless small people who are here 

to worship celebrity and uphold the 

elite system we’re living in. Think about 

how many riot police are in popular 

music videos these days for instance. 

In the USA its very important right now 

to make the police state seem really 

glamorous or to make it seem cool to


47 

have an r.d.i.f. chip implanted in yr 

arm. I also don’t like that the idea of 

entertainment implies that we watch 

something, not take part, ‘cos this renders 

people useless. I do love pop 

music but I also feel like most pop 

stars are pretty much controlled by 

their labels, by the media, and therefore 

pushing another agenda other 

than their own, and that’s very sad. It 

reminds me of the movie “lily marlene’ 

by Fassbinder. Do you know it? It’s a 

sick culture but it’s sort of like the turning 

point in humanity. We always have 

a decision of how we can interpret reality, 

and I think the worse things become 

the more potential for change 

and revolution there is. I believe music 

and art should shake things up, make 

people feel alive, make them want to 

live life to the fullest, challenge authority, 

and do things for themselves. 

Because I’m totally independent I definitely 

don’t feel part of the mainstream, 

though of course I would also like to 

reach as many people as possible with 

my music. 

GJ: Thanks for the interview, Jessie! 

Any final words? 

Jessie: Never give up the faith, believe 

in your dreams and make the world 

what you want it to be. 


with contribution of 

Sloeva Liya & Sloeva Margo 


by Billy und Hells 

ID 

Name: Anasazi 

Place: New York, USA 

Time: 2011 -? 

Close to: deathrock, dark punk 

Current Label: none 

Web: 

http://www.facebook.com/anasazinyc 

Ancient Pueblo people practiced ritual cannibalism, and 

punks Anasazi practice 80’s goth and manage to do it even more 

obscure and mysterious than, possibly, dissected remains look 

like. Their recently released demo tape reflects everything for 

what we love such cults as Christian Death, Part 1, Killing Joke... 

And it really starts to seem that, thanks to such bands as Anasazi, 

Moral Hex, Cult Of Youth, Spectres etc, the new dark age finally 

began, and it will return its fans all the past conquests and erase 

the uncertainty of the 00’s. We live in the crisis era of economical 

uncertainty, corporate fascism, injustice and outrage. And nowadays, 

like in the 80’s, the music should be real. So, in the Anasazi 

song called “Burn Everything” I hear, though subcultural, but true 

hymn of our “dead generation”.

48 Anasazi Anasazi 

48 

GJ: Greetings! To start with, please, 

introduce yourselves and the band. 

Chi - vocals 

Keegan - guitars 

Jasper - bass 

Brett - drums 

Christian - synths 

GJ: Could you please explain the 

band’s name? 

Keegan: Anasazi is Navajo for Enemy 

Ancestors/Ancient Enemy. It refers to 

the Ancient Pueblo People who once 

resided whee the Navajo now do. 

There are signs they may have participated 

in Cannibalism, but it has not 

been proven yet. 

Chi: I stole it from Keegan’s diary under 

his pillow. 

GJ: As far as I know, most of you perform 

with other bands, say, Jasper is also 

the Cult of Youth bass player, and played 

with Christian in The Hunt... and there 

were also other projects of Anasazi 

members, right? (I got completely confused 

when I tried to find it out!). So, 

could you tell about these projects as 

themselves, and about their conceptual 

differences with Anasazi? 

Chi: I was in Zombie Vandals based 

out of Queens NY for over 10 years of 

punkk rott and Keegan was in a band 

called thriller and Bret was in Vultures. 

Jasper: We all came from the punk 

scene. I was in the Vigilantes then the 

Virus, then started The Hunt with Christian 

and just recently joined Cult of 

Youth. They’ve all been very different 

bands, Anasazi has been my first time 

playing bass really. And my first time 

not being singer. It’s been great. Kind 

of the same music I was trying to make 

with the Hunt. 

Christian: I was in a punk band called 

The Contrary back in Boston, then 

moved to New York to join The Hunt. 

At the moment I also have an analog 

synth studio in my tiny apartment where 

I’m working on an unnamed project. 

GJ: New York is famous with not only 

punk and hardcore traditions, but also 

with goth-punk and deathrock ones, 

and admirers of similar music very 

much appreciate such groups of 80, 

like The Naked And The Dead, Of A 

Mesh, A Red Crescent Sect, Ochrana, 

Burning Rome... Do you feel a certain 

interrelation with these groups of past 

and do you consider yourselves the 

ones who keep up what they started? 

Jasper: I didn’t know any of those 

bands until a few years ago. For me 

Anasazi is just the natural progression 

of being in punk bands for 15 years. 

I come from more of a New Model 

Army and Zounds background. 

Chi: Being from New York my big influences 

are Cro Mags and Nausea 

and a lot of UK82 bands. Being from 

Queens I do like The Naked and the 

Dead, though. 

Christian: I don’t usually listen to a 

lot that sounds like Anasazi. For some 

reason a healthy diet of anarcho punk, 

neofolk and Tangerine Dream works 

for me in this band. 

GJ: It’s really great to see that such 

bands as Anasazi, Lost Tribe, Agnostic 

Pray, Arctic Flowers, Belgrado, Moral 

Hex, Cross Slitched Eyes, Dekoder, 

Geister, LTD, Cemetary, Haldol start to 

exist... From outside it looks like one 

powerful movement of gothic punk. So, 

do you think of it as of a movement and 

do you feel yourselves a part of it? 

Keegan: I’m not sure if I’d call it a 

movement as much as a resurgence. 

It’s somewhat of a trend here in America, 

but a lot of punk bands experimented 

with it and played alongside 

post-punk bands in the 80’s. There 

was a lot of great bands that were forgotten, 

and the sound has reemerged 

in a ‘wave’ of bands now, as it has 

before. I guess we can be considered 

a part of it, though we wouldn’t want 

to be associated with any trend. 

Jasper: I do, but with an even broader 

spectrum of bands like Rosenkopf, Religious 

To Damn, Crazy Spirit, and 

Mauser. There’s an amazing crossover

49 Anasazi Anasazi 

49 

of punk and synth bands all playing 

together right now. 

GJ: Tell us, please, how does it feel 

to be punk in modern New York? Do 

you face chauvinism and xenophobia 

from ordinary people? This question is 

important and relevant also because in 

Russia punks still face the oppression 

from the society. And it’s not only about 

skirmishes with right football hooligans, 

nazis and other pseudo-patriots, who 

attack punk and hardcore gigs. 

Keegan: Being a Punk in New York 

was a lot harder a few years ago than 

it is to be a Punk here now. New York 

City has always been under attack of 

gentrification, and now one of the hardest 

things is just coming up with enough 

money to survive and live here. For 

the punks from NYC, it sucks for us 

cus people keep moving here and 

didn’t have to deal with the troubles 

we did. NYC used to be more violent 

than it is now, so a lot of people move 

here and experience the ‘easy’ life without 

the hardships we had to face. 

Chi: I’m really violent. It’s in my nature. 

I live in an all black neighborhood and 

walk around with eyeliner on. I get in 

fights all the time. I wish I didn’t have 

to. There’s usually a lot of gangs 

around and I have a hard time keeping 

my mouth shut. I used to be in a punk 

gang and used to fight thugs and skinheads 

all the time. 

Jasper: The second time I met Chi 

he was fighting 4 thugs while drinking 

a 40 on Avenue A. 

GJ: It’s not hard to find on the web 

the collage connected with your band. 

It reminds of Rozz Williams' artworks, 

only there’s Obama instead of Reagan, 

and the anarchy symbol instead of 

swastika. Who’s the author of this work? 

What do you think about the art of Rozz 

Williams? Can you say that there’s 

Rozz’s influence on your music? 

Chi: I made it. I’m a huge fan and 

that’s a big compliment to be compared 

to his work but that wasn’t influenced 

by him at all. It’s influenced by all the 

fascist pigs, rich cocksuckers and dirty 

men in office. 

GJ: Could you represent your demo 

cassette to our readers? What will your 

listeners find on it? 

Christian: I originally joined the band 

just to play on the demo, but ended 

up recording it and staying on as full 

time synth player. We recorded the 

demo almost entirely live in Home 

Sweet Home, the same bar Jasper 

manages and part owns and the home 

of the weekly Wierd Records party. It’s 

a good document of the band at that 

time. I’m very excited to start working 

on a couple new singles that will be 

coming out in the near future. 

Chi: Nuke York Attic Noisse. 

GJ: Very natural question – when 

should we expect the Anasazi long 

play? And in which musical format 

would you like to release it? 

Christian: Expect a single on Sacred 

Bones records July 24th. No word yet 

on a full length but it’ll definitely be on 

vinyl. (The mentioned 7” has been released 

as planned, but before there was 

another 3-song 7” on Toxic State Records) 

GJ: What do you think about legislation 

concerning unlegal downloading on the 

web? It seems that it becomes more 

and more serious subject for discussions 

these days. 

Keegan: Bullshit. Music is created to be 

shared, not locked-up/made for money. 

Chi: Bootleg everything. Steal everything. 

Jasper: Copy our demo, give a copy 

to everyone you know. 

GJ: Thanks for the interview, and hope to 

hear more of your wonderful music soon! 

And now – any final words from you? 

Bret: Wolverines! 

Questions: 

Vadim ‘Bars-Ursula’ Barsov 



50 Lost Tribe 

50 

How wonderful are the things that are happening in the USA’s dark punk scene 

these days! The new decade just started, but already showed us several amazing new bands 

that play dark punk not only as it initially was supposed to be, but also in the way that 

hardly could be compared with many bands of the 80’s, with strong influences of American 

deathrock and British post-punk and peace punk scenes. Lost Tribe is one of the most remarkable 

bands of this kind – last year they released their debut album, which already 

was highly estimated by the listeners all over the world, and its follow-up, the EP “Unsound”. 

Cory, the band’s guitar player, kindly accepted our interview request. 

Nattsol: Greetings! Lost Tribe is the band 

that appeared quite recently, so could 

you introduce yourselves and the band? 

Cory: I’m Cory and I play guitar, Davey 

sings, Shravan plays bass, Kyle plays 

drums, and JK is the synth player. 

Nattsol: You all also play in other 

bands, some of which surely are unknown 

to many of our readers. So 

could you make a brief introduction of 

these bands to them? 

Cory: We’ve all played in a variety of 

punk bands over the years. Davey has 

played drums in Empty Grave and 

Mega Minge, Lost Tribe is the first band 

he’s sang in. This is also the first band 

Shravan has played bass in, he’s sung 

and played guitar in Aghast and was 

the guitarist for SSR. Kyle has played 

drums in a variety of lesser-known punk 

bands, such as Pissheads. JK plays 

guitar in Caves Caverns, and I sang 

in Helldistort, played bass and guitar 

in Syndrome, and recently joined 

Aghast as the noise guitarist. 

Nattsol: Lost Tribe – why such a name 

for the band? 

Cory: I came up with the name; it’s 

a reference to a late-era Discharge 

song “Lost Tribe Rising” off of the Massacre 

Divine album. It’s also a refer- 

ence to The Mob’s “Let The Tribe Increase” 

LP. Both bands are obviously 

a major influence on us. 

Nattsol: The band’s influences are 

quite diverse – punk gothique, peace 

punk, crust etc. They all can easily be 

heard in your music, but apart from 

only musical thing – do you take anything 

else from these styles like goth 

arty thing, political awareness of anarcho 

punk etc? 

Cory: Our live show, as far as fog and 

lights goes, is highly influenced from 

80s post punk live shows. The artwork 

is done by a friend of ours, Andrew 

Scully, who is also a long time punk, 

so you’d have to ask him what his influences 

are. I wouldn’t say that we 

take anything politically, we don’t really 

ID 

Name: Lost Tribe 

Place: Richmond, Virginia, USA 

Time: 2010 - ? 

Close to: deathpunk ; crust goth ; post punk 

Current Label: Blind Prophet Records ; Distort Reality 

Records 

Web: http://losttribe.bandcamp.com/

51 Lost Tribe 

Lost Tribe 51 

talk about politics, Davey tends to write 

more about personal issues. 

Nattsol: Recently you released your 

debut album and shortly after that – 

the new EP “Unsound”. How could 

you describe these both records and 

the differences between them? 

Cory: Both records are actually from 

the same recording session, we just 

wanted to make them into two separate 

releases. I’m not sure what to say 

about the records, other than I feel 

that they both speak for themselves 

and are an honest reflection of our 

sound. The only difference I can think 

of is that the EP is more of a single… 

in the classic sense. 

Nattsol: Your debut LP was released 

by the Blind Prophet label, run by the 

band Cult of Youth. How did you get 

in touch with them, and what are the 

musical ideas you share? 

Cory: I honestly don’t remember how 

we met Sean (Cult Of Youth), I think 

he came to some of our shows in 

NYC. I remember I liked him because 

he talked to me about Crucifix and 

Exploited, but I didn’t know anything 

about his label or band at the time. 

Fast forward a few months and Shravan 

said he wanted to put out our 

LP…simple story really. As far as musical 

ideas we share, we both have a 

heavy punk background, like playing 

out of town, and just like having fun. 

We really like hanging out with Sean 

and all the Cult Of Youth people. 

Nattsol: Lost Tribe has its own recognizable 

sound. What are its main 

ingredients? 

Cory: Generally I’d say our sound is 

hardcore punk guitar riffs that lead into 

haunting single note runs, over fast, 

catchy bass riffs, tribal and punk drumming, 

droning keyboard, and dark, 

shouted vocals. Something like Discharge 

meets Vex with a healthy 

amount of dark Finnish influences. I’ve 

heard a dozen people compare us to 

a dozen different styles or bands, but 

none of them quite seem to match. I 

think that’s the beauty of it. 

Nattsol: Is Lost Tribe a live or a studio 

band? And what are your sound differences 

between stage and studio? 

Cory: It’s definitely a live band, I hate 

recording…it’s very boring. We’ve 

played dozens of shows, I’d say 50 

or more, and only recorded twice. I’d 

have to say there are very little sound 

differences between live and studio, 

aside from the clarity that a studio 

recording provides. When we record 

we simply record our parts, we don’t 

add extras because we want to be 

able to recreate it live…theres no need 

to go churching it up, because if you 

do it’ll always suck live. I mean who 

would want to be in a studio band? 

That’s so boring, you make way better 

stories traveling around the country 

drunk with five friends, then you do 

sitting in a studio. 

Nattsol: Whilst preparing to this interview 

I faced the comment that you 

“play without flash and much personality”. 

But in your opinion, what of your 

personalities can be represented only 

with Lost Tribe and nowhere else? 

Cory: I think that was probably said 

by some indie music nerd who takes

52 Lost Tribe 

52 

the lineup of SXSW too seriously and 

expects us to sound like the Killers, 

we’re not…we’re a dark punk band… 

I’ll take Musta Paraati over hipster bullshit 

any day. As far as what can only 

be represented with Lost Tribe, I’d have 

to say that it’s definitely the darkest 

band any of us have ever played in, 

and it’s our most creative punk outlet. 

Nattsol: What can you say about the 

American DIY dark punk scene – i.e. 

about the bands, the audience, the 

events…? Once I watched your video, 

where people we just standing watching 

your set. Not dancing, not pogoing, 

not obviously having fun. Is that typical 

behaviour? 

Cory: The American DIY dark punk 

scene is fairly new to the East Coast 

(where we live), there aren’t too many 

active bands, although we have some 

great bands here such as Anasazi, Cult 

Of Youth, and SGNLS. The West Coast 

also has great bands like Deathcharge 

and Moral Hex. It’s sort of a new thing 

that’s starting to emerge which makes 

it exciting. As a result, the audience 

doesn’t have an archetype of what to 

expect or do…it’s foreign to them, so 

they tend to stand there confused. You 

also have to take in account when people 

see us setup theyre expecting a 

raw punk band to play…. we’ve had 

people mosh, pogo, and dance to our 

set before, but it’s hard for me to give 

specifics because generally I can’t see 

the crowd, the fog is so thick onstage 

that I can barely see my own guitar. 

Nattsol: Do you feel and behave different 

in stage and daily lives? 

Cory: No, we’re the same…we don’t 

put on costumes or act crazy, we’re 

frightening enough. 

Nattsol: The result of your activity in 

2010-11 is three releases (cassette 

and two vinyls) and live appearences. 

What next for 2012? 

Cory: We’re planning a two week tour 

through the Northeast and into Canada 

(assuming we can get in), then hoping 

to record a new LP. There’s also another 

label putting our demo tape onto 

LP. Touring Europe would be a dream 

come true, but I don’t know how realistic 

that is for 2012...unless some 

Europeans want to make it happen. 

Other than that, write new songs, play 

some out of town shows, and go 

through fog juice like alcohol. 

Nattsol: Thank you for the interview! 


Cory: Thanks for taking an interest, 

contact us at: 

losttribepunx@gmail.com and pick up 

a record. Some songs are online at 

www.losttribe.bandcamp.com 

Check out the new killer tracks from 

the band’s second cassette which just 

recently has been released at their 

bandcamp page! 




Chris Pascoe 

ID 

Name: Part 1 

Place: Milton Keynes, UK 

Time: 1981 – 1984 ; 2012 - ? 

Close to: post-punk ; deathrock ; anarcho punk ; goth punk 

Current Label: none 

Web: There’s no web resource dedicated to Part 1 so far, but you can find more 

information about the band in “Kill Your Pet Puppy” fanzine 

http://killyourpetpuppy.co.uk/news/?p=2395 

or through the perfect interviews with the singer Jake Baker and guitar player Mark 

Ferelli, done by the Americal journalist Oliver Sheppard 

http://nodoves.blogspot.com/2012/01/interview-with-part-1-singer-jake-baker.html 

http://www.cvltnation.com/deaths-dream-factory-the-art-and-music-of-part-1s-mark-ferelli-by-oliver-sheppard/#more-36998 

British band Part 1 is usually associated with the anarcho punk 

scene and especially its “fellow band” Rudimentary Peni. However, in 

spite of these traditional references, the band has much more to do with 

the early goth punk and deathrock bands, thanks to its obscure sound 

and imagery. This band gained much more interest with the so-called 

“second deathrock revival”, which, contradictory to the first one, pays attention 

not to the fashoin, but to the dark DIY punk sound and gloomy 

imagery – the things which are perfectly reflected in Part 1.

53 Part 1 Part 1 

53 

Nattsol: Greetings, Chris! Thanks for 

accepting the interview request. And 

the first question is - how have you 

come into music and met your Part 1 

bandmates? 

Chris: Well first off I met Mark - saw 

him playing in a band at school. Can't 

exactly remember how we met but we 

did. Even then at about 15 years old 

Mark looked a bit out there, on the 

edge etc, and when talked something 

just clicked, I guess we were just 

weirdo's together. Anyway we got this 

band together and played in a wet and 

dingy old garage, I got a bass from 

an old uncle of mine and tried to play 

it. I was totally crap, as we all were, 

but at least we were doing something. 

At the time there was a lot of shit going 

down with skinhead and rockers and 

punks always fighting, causing trouble 

etc.... It was the beginning of the 80's 

and everyone seemed to be protesting 

at something, - I guess we were protesting 

at the fact that we were scrawny 

kids who didn't really fit into any category 

of teenage tribalism. 

Nattsol: Could you tell more about 

that dangerous environment connected 

with fights and aggression against 

punks and goths? 

Chris: They were dangerous times 

that’s for sure, we were at gigs where 

skinheads came in wanting to bash 

the crap out of everyone. They didn't 

like anything about the punk ethic, the 

whole idea of doing something different 

to the normal upset there sad boring 

mentality, whereas they just wanted 

to relive the 60's. Skinheads were total 

arseholes who where no better than 

football hooligans….. we have been 

in some pretty tight situations where 

doors have been kicked in and people 

attacked by skinheads. To me they 

were just interested in mindless violence 

and having a go at punks was 

an easy out for them, as the majority 

of punks were more interested in getting 

wasted than beating the shit out 

of someone else. 

Nattsol: Listening to the available Part 

1 records makes an impression of a 

conceptually strong band. But when 

you started what were the 

political/artistic etc ideas that you 

shared, and how did they evolve 

through years? 

Chris: Good question. I think at first 

when we got together, we tried to emulate 

what was going on at the time. 

There was a lot of political anger and 

angst at the time and a few of our first 

tunes reflected this. Such tunes as 

“Marching Orders” and “Surprise Attack” 

sounded like we were trying our 

best to copy the UK Subs. You gotta 

remember we were just kids and it 

was going to take a little time for us 

to stamp our identity onto our stuff, 

but to be honest I really didn't like the 

stuff that was around at the time. Crass 

were big then, and I hated them. Mark 

loved them. Etc, etc…. It was all very 

disjointed musically but we all got on 

and wanted to do something rather 

than go to the pub and get drunk. So 

basically all tried to put our influences 

into what we were doing and came 

up with Part 1. I liked Bauhaus and 

PIL, Siouxsie, The Cure etc, Jake loved 

the Subs, Mark was into Crass and 

The Banshees, we were all over the 

place. I have never been into any of 

this protest political stuff, just is not 

me. I have always disliked conforming 

to what is normal, and I guess we all 

wanted to not be labelled as this type 

of band or that genre etc. The good 

thing about the 80's was that punk 

gave everyone the idea that it was 

possible to do something… we formed 

a band. I look at the lyrics on the cover 

of Funeral Parade and pretty much 

still agree with the sentiment, even 30 

years on, we still don't fit in…. 

Nattsol: However you surely have had 

something to do with goth punk bands 

like, say, UK Decay, aren't you? Do 

you think there're bands that could be 

considered as Part 1's "neighbours" 

and "relatives"? 

Chris: Well, we went to a few gigs 

to see UK Decay and Bauhaus, they 

were quite well known at the time, we 

would have loved to have been spoken 

about in the same breath as those 

guys. Mark loved UK Decay, Bauhaus 

were wicked, I thought Pete Murphy 

was terrifying. Jake was a big Killing 

Joke fan, and when we replaced Al 

with Bob as the drummer, he introduced 

us to Genesis (lol), who in my 

opinion were total shit and still are. 

Seriously tho, I think we were far more 

influenced by UK Decay and Bauhaus 

than we would have liked to admit at 

the time. They probably never knew 

we existed, but I would have far more 

been interested in being associated 

with them than as I keep on seeing 

Part 1 being associated with Rudimentary 

Peni. As I remember, we played


54 

few gigs with them and Mark became 

friends with Nick, that is about it. You 

gotta remember that this is a lifetime 

ago and although my memory may be 

slipping, it does annoy me a bit to see 

us linked with them all the time. 

Nattsol: Returning to Part 1 itself, 

could you explain the name? 

Chris: Yeah sure. Part 1 was a name 

that Mark and I came up with. The 

name in itself was a protest against 

all the mad names that were around 

at the time. Part 1 doesn't really mean 

anything at all, it was just i think a 

new beginning. All the names we had 

though of previously sounded a bit pretentious 

and where we came from in 

Milton Keynes there was a lot of pseudo 

punk bands with ridiculous names like 

Fictitious or Exit Stance (always with 

a circle around the A’s) or some other 

old bullshit… all bondage trousers and 

no substance and we didn't want to 

be associated with them. I see a pattern 

emerging here - we didn't want to be 

associated with anyone. 

Nattsol: Before we move towards 

discussing the band's releases it 

seems quite important to ask you 

how the band ended up gigging at 

the famous A-Centre with all those 

Crass-related bands. 

Chris: Can't remember how it happened, 

I believe Mark was instrumental 

in getting us on the bill but we ended 

up playing there and it was great, although 

personally I wasn't a fan of 

Crass' music, I was really into their 

vibe and most of the guys in those 

bands were sound. And as they be- 

lieved 100% in what they were doing 

it would always make for a great night. 

Nattsol: You shared the stage with 

such bands as The Mob, Zounds, The 

Apostoles, Blood & Roses and many 

others. How was that? And do you 

have a sympathy to some of those 

"nearly-anarcho" squat bands? 

Chris: I enjoyed some of those bands 

very much, I liked The Mob and Blood 

and Roses strikes a chord in me, don't 

much remember the music of Zounds 

or The Apostles. I sort of remember 

going to one of the squats but who 

was there I couldn't tell you, seemed 

like an ok vibe, maybe it is a question 

for Mark. He was more involved in the 

social aspect of these gatherings and 

would have spent time, getting to know 

people more than I did. In fact I think 

he still knows people from then now, 

still speaks with them…. 

Nattsol: Unfortunately it seems that 

there’s no videos of Part 1 shows, so 

to give the idea could you describe 

the band’s look and behaviour on 

stage? 

Chris: We always went for something 

simple, a couple of spotlights here and 

there and usually a strobelight on 

stage, Mark was always making a lot 

of noise with his guitar and flanger 

and swayed about a bit, I don’t think 

I moved at all, Jake was at the front 

and Bob was at the back bashing the 

drums, all very doom and gloom…. 

Nattsol: May be you also can remember 

some interesting stories from the 

band’s live shows? 

Chris: I am sure there were some but 

I can’t think of any at the moment… 

.. 

Nattsol: Let's speak about the 

band's releases. The first one was 

"Funeral Parade" 7" - what's the story 

behind it? 

Chris: Ha ha ha herein lies the controversy, 

Funeral Parade was the only 

record we released as a band…. We 

decided on the tunes as they were 

what we thought our best, truth is 

the recording was a really poor reflection 

of how we sounded, for some 

reason Graveyard Song was really 

really fast, Salem was awful, and personally 

I thought the bass sounded 

terrible, to be fair Funeral Parade 

was ok and Ghost sounded alright 

too, but I was very disappointed with 

the release, we did a much much 

better version of Graveyard Song at 

another studio. It was great to have 

a record out, but I just wish it had 

sounded a bit morelike we did when 

playing live or practising. 

Nattsol: And the same question about 

Pictures of Pain mini-album - contradictory 

to Funeral Parade it's a really 

mature work, released by the wellknown 

label from the USA, but, as you 

told when there was no band any more. 

So could you tell about the songs on 

the mini-LP and the story of this release? 

Chris: I only found out about this a 

few years ago. The tunes were recorded 

before Funeral Parade at a little 

studio called The Crypt in a town called 

Stevenage, I am only guessing at this 

point as to how it exactly came about, 

you will have to ask Mark the same 

question, but from what I can gather 

is that it was after the band split and 

went their different ways, Mark liaised 

with this guy from the States who put 

these old recordings onto vinyl and 

released it as Pictures of Pain. It was 

nothing to do with the other band members 

and came as a bit of a shock.


55 

Nattsol: Could you tell how Jake left 

the band? 

Chris: From my point of view here 

it all gets a bit hazy, I was speaking 

with Jake about it and it seems that 

the whole situation got a bit nasty 

with him needing to sort his head 

out and us all being rather obnoxious 

to him, after hearing his point of view 

I can safely admit to saying, it was 

not our finest hour and I am totally 

embarrassed by the whole situation, 

but like I said earlier we were all just 

kids, and teenagers can be horrible 

bastards. I mean little boys pull the 

wings and legs off insects for no reason. 

It was around this time that Mark 

and Bob started doing some music 

project on their own, I had found a 

girlfriend and so just met with them 

for practice sessions. 

Nattsol: How did the band split and 

what the band members were doing 

after? 

Chris: I guess I sort of answered this 

question in the previous one, like I 

said after Jake had moved on, we carried 

on with Mark doing the vocals, 

this went on for a while but I guess 

the writing was on the wall, as we 

were all moving in different directions.... 

Mark probably won’t thank me 

for this but I am going to say it anyway, 

I am sure he will agree now, he became 

a totally obnoxious person to be 

around, very difficult to communicate 

with, it seemed like he had moved on 

with a new circle of friends and was 

a little too full of his own self importance, 

it was all me me me…. Only 

he could tell you why this happened 

but in my mind, he became a total 

pain in the ass. And not someone I 

wanted to spend time with so I didn't, 

we just drifted apart.... After we split, 

I carried on making music in bands 

and on my own, Bob has been drumming 

in various bands, Jake has done 

lots of poetry and Mark has done lots 

of painting. 

Nattsol: Could you tell more about 

your post-Part 1 projects? (May be 

you also could share some links?) 

Chris: I played in quite a few bands, 

not deathrock or whatever Part 1 had 

been described as……. Eventually deciding 

to go out on my own (the trouble 

is with bands is the boring clash of 

ego’s all the time) so I learn’t how to 

play the guitar, keyboards etc. did the 

vocals and programmed the drums and 

had my tunes just how I wanted them… 

recording a whole library of work, some 

of which you have heard, so it wpould 

be best to leave you to decide which 

genre it lies in…. I have played on 

records and did some music for tv, I 

then got into the rave scene heavily, 

and was fortunate enough to have djed 

and made friends all over the world, 

which was a great time in my life, I 

have also released quite a few 

dance/house tunes, I uploaded some 

mixes, which is poles apart to what I 

did with Part 1, not sure if it is what 

the punky types of today will like….:) 

www.soundcloud.com/chris-pascoe 

Nattsol: When and under which circumstances 

Part 1 returned to your life? 

Chris: I was contacted by some guy 

from the States, I have no idea how 

he found me, and he was asking all 

these questions about Part 1, recording 

and gigging again etc I said forget it 

mate, that is all history, it is not where 

I am at anymore, it is a lifetime ago… 

wish I could remember his name…. 

And then out of the blue Mark contacted 

me, we talked for hours and hours, 

remembering the good times and the 

bad and I think both realised that after 

how ever many years it is, we both 

get on really well with each other and 

our original ideas that got us together 

are still pretty much the same. After 

Part 1, I didn't hang up my bass at 

all, I learn't how to play it and went 

on to do loads of tunes in all different 

genres of music a few of which you 

have heard... and have been involved 

in music non-stop, so when Mark said 

about getting back together I was at 

first horrified. To me everything about 

the music was just wrong, everything 

was out of time or not in tune etc etc. 

Not a very punk ideal I grant you but 

I was never a punk. anyway, we have 

all got together and practised a few 

times and it rocks mate. It is really 

really tough music and plans are afoot 

to do at least one recording of some 

of the old tunes. Just so we can say 

that is what it should sound like and 

not what was recorded and released. 

Nattsol: In your opinion, how have 

you and your bandmates changed 

through the years and how has 

changed the band itself? 

Chris: Tough question to answer for 

all members as I haven't spent any 

time with them, personally tho. I believe 

I have changed very little, just older 

and maybe wiser now than yesteryear…. 

Musically I have learnt a lot, 

to me back even in those heady days 

of 1982 etc when generally it wasn't

56 Part 1 

56 

considered important as to how musically 

gifted you were or weren't, I always 

wanted to be able to play and 

so spent many years learning. So that 

along with the fact that Bob has played 

non stop in many bands since Part 1, 

means that the rhythm section is now 

really really tight and as powerful as 

fuck, so will be a solid backbone of 

any recordings or gigs that we may 

do attitude wise, I believe we all have 

a lot more respect for each other than 

we did when we were little teenage 

fuckwits…. 

Nattsol: Many of the 80's bands keep 

up their activity nowadays or reunited 

recently. Among such there're Bauhaus 

that released their new album in 2008, 

UK Decay who're touring and recording 

a new album, Killing Joke, The Mob, 

Rudimentary Peni and many others. 

What do you think of these and other 

bands' current activity? Have the reunions 

suggested you something in 

terms of what do use for the reformed 

Part 1 and what never to use? 

Chris: I haven't heard any of the 

Bauhaus new stuff, maybe I should 

have a listen, as for UK Decay, The 

Mob and Rudimentary Peni, I only liked 

them in passing and that was nearly 

30 years ago, so would not be really 

interested in listening to them again. 

But hey, good luck to them all. As for 

Killing Joke, I went to see them a few 

months ago and walked out after about 

30 mins, I was of the belief that they 

would be good even though they were 

never a favourite of mine back in the 

day, and was totally disappointed, all 

the songs sounded the same, I couldn't 

differentiate from one to the next, and 

Jaz was just a really annoying dick... 

all macho posing and staring... all total 

bollox. I think for us it was quite interesting 

just to see what we were all 

like after so many years, and I think 

we were all a bit blown away by how 

good it sounded. Personally I would 

like to record some of the tunes again, 

and this time do it properly without 

having some completely out of touch 

hippy engineering our sound and making 

us sound really shite like on the 

Funeral Parade E.P.. 

Nattsol: Ok, and do you have any 

artistic expectations connected to the 

reformed Part 1 apart from improving 

historical injustice with re-recording the 

old tunes as they should sound? 

Chris: No, not really. Like I said, it 

would be good to hear some of these 

old tunes recorded properly, but wearing 

a pair of bondage trousers and 

saying fuck everything aint gonna happen 

for me this time around, it didn't 

back then so definitely won't happen 

now. I found that I had much more of 

an affinity with the rave scene and all 

the joys that came with that….. 

Nattsol: Thanks, Chris! Hope that me 

and those who read the interview will 

be able to hear the re-recorded stuff 

soon! And to finish this interview, any 

final words? 

Chris: No problem Pall, will let you know 

when we get round to doing the recording, 

no final words mate, that's it. 



Zombie Saratov High League 

For me, Saratov always seemed to be 

filled with some orange chthonic magic; 

the elder I grew up – the more horrible, 

more miraculous, more immense it became. 

Leaving this city, betraying it – 

how is that possible? It groans in agony 

day and night, splitting juice which 

“artists and bleeding hearts” absorb 

with rapture. It is half an ancient relict 

with its bloody pagan mysteries, half 

a dazzling supernova flash of inspiration. 

Its sound and music are of no 

exception: their charm and ennui may 

be described by depressive first-wave 

post-punk, however, no one plays it 

in that city, and that’s why I consider 

it my duty to devote this article to the 

striking bands of Saratov, which 

soaked in its hot autumn blood, inseparable 

from its streets. Only such music 

can sharply, absolutely exactly describe 

the hideous, crucial and beautiful 

depths of these places. 

So, without discussing some psychofree 

jazz and noise bands, I’ll start 

with the most distinctive one, called 

«The Oni Ubili Kenny» (rus: The Они 

Убили Кенни, en: ‘the “They Killed 

Kenny”. Usually they are compared 

with Dolphin and early Sonic Youth, 

but these comparisons seem groundless 

in my opinion: “Kenny” is the weird, 

depressive and hysteric mixture of 

post-punk, noise rock, grunge and psychedelia, 

but the very special language 

of lyrics and crazy emotional richness 

of music with its bareness and utmost 

depression make this band unlike any 

other, and the main point is that Тhe 

ОUK usually played music “with roots”: 

I was always stricken by the fact that 

majority of their listeners have always 

spoken about the same number of associations 

appearing in their minds. 

Namely, about the real Saratov' places 

and «seasons», although there were 

no hints dropped in lyrics; yards and 

alleys in autumn/winter, dark entrances 

covered with puke, dirt and scruffy tram 

windows – all these mutations of Saratov’s 

days and streets, well-known to 

those “being boiled” in infernal pots 

those years. Perhaps not only to them 

– just listen to such songs like "Polovaja 

zhizn' B.N.Yeltsina" (rus: “Половая 

жизнь Б.Н.Ельцина”, en: ‘Sex life of 

B.N. Yeltsin”), "Sv. Sophia na dosuge"

57 Zombie Saratov High League Zombie Saratov High League 

57 

(rus: “Св. София на досуге”, en: “St. 

Sophia’s leisuretime”), “Primitivnye 

zvuki” (rus: “Примитив-ные звуки”, en: 

“Primitive sounds”) and others; drug 

and alcohol trips, grey, bleeding, burning 

days, ringing nervous nights – their 

real and charming songs were soaked 

in the surroundings. Or surroundings 

were soaked in their songs. Underline 

the necessary option. For me, the second 

was always closer. 

The band has been founded long ago, 

in 2002, when the vocalist (since the 

only permanent member of the group) 

Sergey «DJ» Stolyarov (Сергей «Диджей» 

Столяров), put up at rehearsal 

room a notice about recruiting new 

members in the band, to which no one 

responded. «Диджей»: «the name was 

made up randomly, «South Park» was 

popular then, I hadn't quite watched 

it, but everybody talked about it» - he 

recalled two years later, when infamous 

cartoon “South Park” started 

broadcasting on MTV, and band has 

already started to perform. The project 

started per se from two people: Sergey, 

who played guitar and “screamed”, and 

the invited drummer from band «Organ» 

(rus: Орган) - Net Mezhueva (Нэт 

Межуева). The band existed for almost 

seven years, and the line-up was constantly 

changing. Arguably, the year 

2007 was one of their most fruitful periods, 

with many concerts, but few studio 

records; this can be explained by 

their principle “it’s better to harness 

slowly but then drive fast”, and the 

line-up consisted of guitarist Evgeniy 

Buravlev (Евгений Буравлев), second 

guitarist Roman, bassist Roman Kochetkov 

(Роман Кочетков), and drummer 

Vova Startsev (Вова Старцев). 

For a long time «Oni Ubili K» were 

quite popular in Saratov. Despite the 

constant line-up changes, the last one 

remained the most remarkable, probably 

because of Stas Nechaev (Стас 

Нечаев), one of the most talented guitarists 

in the city. It’s owing to him that 

the sound of the band became absolutely 

authentic, sharp and noisy 

somehow – the concerts became the 

feasts of joy and pain, becoming growing 

noise terror closer to end and ending 

with turning the instrument off by 

soundmen. 

From time to time they recorded 

demos, which sunk in the archives of 

Saratov’ music lovers and in the Internet 

(especially on their pages in social 

networks), but the musicians were 

not satisfied with their quality, dependences 

and tension grew and in January 

2009 they recorded their final 

demo, with the song «Merelin vne» 

(rus: «Мэрелин вне», en: “Merelin 

out”, which could be considered their 

thick final point. 

Soon after this, in winter of 2009, the 

band "Torchaschiye Medsestry" (rus: 

«Торчащие медсестры», en: “Nurses 

on drugs”) temporarily called themselves 

"Katapul’ta" (rus: Ката-пульта», 

en: “Catapult”) for Saratov’s underground 

compilation, recorded one of 

their best songs called "Mamamamamama" 

(rus: “Мамамамамама”), and 

finally split up, as while as «DJ» and 

Vova Startsev, the drummer, start to 

record new songs, in noise/electronic 

arrangements, becoming more and 

more interested in this. Originally this 

was intended to be Kenny’s single, a 

bit different from others’ band songs, 

but this gained momentum: the number 

of songs increased, and work became 

more interesting, and finally their electronic 

side-project, got a name “Zombie 

Utyosov” (rus:«Зомби Утёсов», en: a 

pun based on double meaning of “Утёсов”, 

either the surname or “cliff” in 

the genitive, it may be translated like 

“Zombie of cliffs” or “Utyosov-zombie”) 

and became the main one. 

Nowadays their music seems to remain 

unnoticed on principle in Saratov’s music 

lover circles, but then “Zombie 

Utyosov” were just looking exactly like 

urban mentally ill people, and I was 

always shocked and revolted by this 

treatment of them, but all that stuff 

seemed not to offend anyway the musicians, 

and they got deeper and deeper 

in the dark depths of their sound 

discoveries. 

Their magical music can change and 

dilute the listener’s mind, and the ones 

who were present on their rare concerts, 

will definitely confirm this – 

charming, deafening, opiating walls of 

sound, depressive penumbrae, wild 

and magnificent, and filled with oppressive 

cries of the surroundings. 

«DJ»’s lyrics are the gloomy holidays 

of real Saratov (for example, “Tri Akkorda” 

(rus: "Три Аккорда", en: “Three 

chords”), "Khimicheskij opyt” (rus: “Химический 

опыт", en: “Chemical experiment”), 

"Mushketerskaja" (rus: 

“Мушкетерская”, en: “Musketeerian”) 

which take hold of you completely and 

never set free. Nights become brighter 

with their tracks, amazingly melodic 

("Kata" (rus: “Ката”), “Tom” (rus:"Том"), 

“Ptitsa” (rus:"Птица", en: “Bird”), “Chuvstva”(rus:"Чувства", 

en: “Feelings”) 

and almost shapeless ones, which 

seem like even the simpliest spell of 

Saratov’s district to have no beginning, 

no end – absolute submersion, the ecstasy 

of endless illness. 

Still ignored by majority of Saratov’s 

music scene, but somehow famous in

58 Zombie Saratov High League Zombie Saratov High League 

58 

weird music lovers’ circle among all 

Russia, the band of former Тhe ОUК 

changes and mutates stylistically, absorbing 

the elements of dark ambient, 

rhythmic noise, post-industrial, psychedelic 

and dark folk. Despite the unpredictability 

of eccentric vocalist and 

constantly balancing on the edge of 

the abyss, “Zombie Utyosov” showed 

themselves exceptionally fruitful – 21 

albums (!) recorded in course of 4 

years, five of which were published by 

independent Russian labels like 

MNMN Records and [PICPACK] NET- 

LABEL, and joining in creative unions 

with such bands as art brut act Mayby 

Dao from Barnaul (on the album “Priznaniye 

Globa”, rus:"Признание Глоба", 

en: “The confession of Globa”) 

and a below-mention Saratov no-wave/ 

jaja (sic!) /post-punk/ CSIP (illness 

name) rock band “Zhyoltye Chulki 

Grafa Dzerzhinskogo” (rus: “Жёлтые 

Чулки Графа Дзержинского», en: 

“The Yellow Stockings of Count Dzerzinsky”) 

(bootleg from live jam session 

“Razval Skhozhdeniye” rus: 

«Развал Схождение», en: “Toe-out”). 

The conscious and principled researchers 

of direct Saratov's frightening 

magic, «Chulki» are the only band 

described here which (apart from the 

others mentioned, who remain unpopular 

in the city) gained some fame and 

have dubious and infamous reputation, 

to which weird scenic actions and leaving 

almost no one indifferent music 

are contributing. That's how « Chulki” 

are described by one fan of industrial 

and noise music from Saratov: “Rawness 

and wildness. The project of Alexey 

Katz (Алексея Кац) and his friends: 

pushing himself to the limit live and 

at the studio guitarist Mityai Konovalov 

(Митяй Коновалов), bass player with 

diverse tastes and views Roma Savin 

(Рома Савин), saxophone player 

Katya Vorona (Катя Ворона) who adds 

some psychofreejazzity with the sound 

of her instrument and some madness 

with feminity with her looks on the 

stage and the drummer Dmitry Manaev 

(Дмитрий Манаев), also a part-time 

poet. Their sound is unconventional, 

even avant-garde, but absolutely 

unique. Ears don’t bleed, but head 

shrinks in convulsion while listening to 

the hypnotizing texts, zombifying beat 

and fuzzy and blurry guitar sound. 

Pure no wave. « Zhyoltye Chulki» is 

a theatre, is the thoughtfulness, and 

is even something like new, fresh music 

culture and sort of “scene” with its 

fanzine and a bunch of side progects. 

Jaja, sort of the neologism, is and ideology 

of returning in childhood with 

heroes of “Pippy Longstocking” and 

similar books. Starting on spring of 

2009 as severe noise-and-blues duo, 

this band soon comes to their second, 

one of the “golden” line-ups: – Alexey 

Katz (Алексей Кац) (voice, guitar), 

Alexander "Sancho Sam" Semeikin 

(Александр “Санчо Сэм” Семейкин) 

(drums), Alexey Semeikin (Алексей 

Семейкин) (harmonica), Roman Kochetkov 

(Роман Ко-четков) (bass), 

records two albums (“Androginnaya 

Vakhta “ (rus:“Андрогинная Вахта”, 

en: Androgynous watch) и “Dom Pomoyev” 

(rus: “Дом Помоев”, en: “The 

House of Slops”), filled with childish 

hysteria of garage post-punk and rockabilly 

and then turns into depression: 

line-ups were changing, drummers left 

the band one after another(in course 

of band’s existence they worked with 

almost a dozen of them), there were 

problems with the equipment , the band 

was usually turned off and turned out 

from concerts. 

However, the guys were not depressed 

and continued to do their very own 

deed. Finally, in 2011 turning to the 

line-up I mentioned in the beginning 

and with the help of drummer Nataliya 

Mezhueva (Наталья Межуева), who 

played in the band The Oni Ubili Kenny, 

the band have recorded their third album 

“Da Da Du” (rus: “Да Да Ду”) 

discovering the new sides of their opportunities. 

From passionate sensuality 

(“ Zapakh Bol’nits” (rus:“Запах 

Больниц”, en: “Smell of hospitals”) towards 

depression (“Ostanovka”, rus: 

“Остановка”, en: “Stop”) and unfocused 

hypnotic shamanism (“Po 

mostovoj” rus: “По Мостовой”, en: 

“Down the pavement”). Psychedelic 

and garage labels took some interest 

in the band and some of their songs 

were released on tapes and spread 

between those interested with underground 

art among all Russia: in Lipetsk, 

Voronezh, Saint-Petersburg, Moscow. 

In December of 2011 they recorded 

an EP “Zavodskoj rajon blues” (rus: 

“Заводской Район Блюз”. en: “Factory 

District Blues”, which, according to the 

band was the first step towards “autistic 

promenade CISP-rock” and released 

it on an independent label Vinyl Image. 

There is an interest to the band and 

they were even invited onto concerts 

in the other cities, but in Saratov, the 

magic of which is celebrated in bands 

music, they get almost no interest or 

an open disdain. Again, they’re not allowed 

in the clubs, but guys don’t worry 

and recently they started to rehearse 

the songs for a new album, again 

drowning in the depths of new, truly 

urban folklore”. In conclusion to this 

characteristic of the band, we may say 

that these guys are a pain in the ass 

of so-called “rockers” in Saratov; a 

strong slap in a face of the vulgar spirit 

of mainstream-rock scene. 

However this pain may be helpful to 

ones who want to get out of this conformist 

rock (metal, punk, folk… I don’t 

care) swamp and touch something different, 

only to be found in the most 

wonderful, horrible, crazy dreams, déjà 

vu or memories. All aforementioned 

bands may be called such pains, even 

split up The OUK, who are still living 

in their few songs. All of them despite 

the defiance and irritation of local 

“elite”, fans of pop-punk and metal, 

keep going discovering something 

new. Disregarding their outsider, almost 

outcast status, they still splash 

weird, wonderous and indescribable 

colours, in which old Saratov will be 

forever painted – the colours of their 

nervous, sometimes angry and chillingly 

sensual music, tinged with fear 

and Electric Flash of Love. 

O. Lizerginus-Kotofey

59 Reviews Reviews 

59 

Echoes of Silence - 

“In Vacuum Itinere” 

album review 

Label: self-released 

Format: CD 

Year: 2011 

Incredible how a band 

can be devoted to its 

own style. The Roman 

post-punk act Echoes of 

Silence almost entirely 

changed its line-up – the 

vocalist Carlo Cassaro 

(In The Night Time 

Records) and the bass 

player Gian Paolo Cesarini 

(who now plays in 

Bohemien) were replaced 

by bassist/vocalist 

Paolo Careddu, the 

drummer Andrea Iacobelli 

was replaced by Andrea 

Orlandi, and only 

the guitar player Paolo 

Maccaroni still remains 

the Echoes of Silence 

guitar player Paolo Maccaroni. 

However, comparing 

this new album 

with its forerunner 

(“Echoes of Silence”, released 

by In The Night 

Time in 2006 and reviewed 

in Grave Jibes 

#7), one can’t help 

wonering how similar 

these works are. “In Vacuum 

Itinere” is the direct 

continuation of the debut 

album, starting from the 

studio where they were 

recorded and minimalistic 

CD designs and finishing 

with the music 

itself. Only the persons 

and the label (this time 

it’s a self-release) are 

the obvious changes. 

Just as before, in the music 

of “In Vacuum Itinere” 

each instrument plays its 

active role and does it 

perfectly – remarkable 

and catchy bass lines 

can be followed by powerful 

and even a bit aggressive 

guitar with the 

distinctive sound, or the 

drums can rush forward 

and give the most remarkable 

pattern. The 

vocals are very melancholic 

and thoughtful, 

being able, however, to 

create tension when 

necessary. Referring 

once again to my previous 

review (which actually 

could fit this album 

well if to change names 

and song titles), the 

same way as Echoes of 

Silence can’t be called a 

“copypaste” band, “In 

Vacuum Itinere” is not a 

copy of the debut album. 

They’re very similar, like, 

probably, brothers could 

be, but they have different 

personalities and it’s very 

much obvious. So if you 

enjoy the old stuff by the 

band, this album hardly 

will disappoint you. And 

if you just enjoy melancholic 

post-punk sounds, 

this release is worth 

checking out as well. 

Grade: 8/10 



Popoi Sdioh – Before 

And After Party 

album review 

Label: Brouillard Definitif 

Format: CD, digipack 

Year: 2012 

Web: http://www.popoisdioh.com/ 

http://www.facebook.co 

m/popoisdioh 

It’s always a real pleasure 

to find something as 

truly original and passionate 

as the new album 

of Popoi Sdioh. 

Even though the “ingredients” 

are quite on the 

view – obvious Virgin 

Prunes influence is accompanied 

by early industrial 

approach and 

modern deathrock 

sound - mixed altogether 

they give quite a weird 

result. Generally “Before 

And After Party” sounds 

like a soundtrack to mad 

primeval party in the 

centre of the city, with a 

lot of alcohol, ritual human 

sacrifice and even 

cannibalism… real, or 

may be it’s just a bad 

trip caused by alcohol 

and drugs? Pure urban 

tribalism on the edge of 

reality. 

Perhaps the only minus 

to be outlined for this album 

is that being quite 

long it doesn’t manage 

to capture listeners attention 

during the whole 

work. Probably it’s because 

“Before And After 

Party” is entirely filled 

with schizoid tension, 

may be it just creates 

too weird universe… 

Anyway, there’s not 

much else to criticize. 

Popoi Sdioh don’t afraid 

to play their own music 

and be weird. It’s not 

goth, neither industrial or 

any “wave”. But it’s likely 

that you’ll love them if 

you like the aforementioned 

genres. 

Grade: 9/10 



Crimson Muddle – 

Русалка 

EP review 

Label: Self-released 

Format: Digital 

Year: 2012 

The cover and the name 

of this EP by french band 

Crimson Muddle perhaps 

will remind Russian 

readers (and those who 

are interested in all 

things Russian by the 

way, “русалка” means 

“mermaid”) of a poetry 

line "mermaid, who sits 

on a tree" - but look, she 

has legs!.. Following a 

rule: "never judge a book 

(or an album) by its cover" 

(wow, something 

Pre-Raphaelite in the 

design of their bandcamp!), 

I was no way 

prejudiced and chased 

away by this folk-goth- 

“the dancing did” vibes 

and gave it a listen. 

"Basura" (Spanish for 

"waste" it seems – yes, 

the song is sung in Spanish) 

is a rather energetic 

start. Post-punk\goth revival 

with violins - nothing 

more to say - and 

the lyrics, if Google 

Translate hasn't 

wronged me, are …not 

that peaceful we could 

expect from folky outfit? 

"Dragon" lyrically could 

belong to any "beauty 

and the beast band" for 

it's about a dragon, actually! 

More violin passages. 

Something 

medieval creeps - so it's 

possible to imagine this 

song played in a tavern 

in some fantasy movie... 

about dragons. "Picket 

Fence" is somehow a 

mixture of the first two 

songs. Perhaps, the 

closest one to The Dancing 

Did - and maybe the

60 Reviews 

Reviews 60 

one that is most easy to 

remember, and thus - 

more hit one. It's about 

a fence, but who knows, 

if it's a metaphor? And 

final "Toxic lane” is another 

song with violins, 

nor THAT goth, nor THAT 

m e d i e v a l - b a r o q u e - 

something. The golden 

mean. 

I'd recommend this EP 

to those who are concerned 

about the decline 

of oldschool goth and its 

replacement with metal 

- in terms of propaganda, 

of course. But that doesn’t 

mean that anyone interested 

would be 

disappointed by this EP. 

Anna “Xie” Slascheva 


Fragments of Dirt – 

Second Breath 

mini-album review 

Label: Lipstick Bottle 

Format: CD 

Year: 2012 

Web: http://www.facebook.com/pages/FRAG- 

MENTS-OF-DIRT/2084 

30355841655 

The French band Eat 

Your Make-Up doesn’t 

need an introduction for 

those who’re familiar 

with the deathrock revival 

scene and for those 

who follow Grave Jibes 

since its first issue. In 

2008 the band broke up 

and most of its members 

formed Chrysalis 

Morass which as well became 

known quite fast. 

Only the founder of Eat 

Your Make-Up, the bass 

player Mac Gregor got 

lost from the view of the 

audience. But now he returns 

with the new project 

– Fragments of Dirt. 

According to the information 

from the web, 

Second Breath is the 

second band’s release 

after self-titled demo, but 

since it’s the only one 

which band is willing to 

promote let’s consider it 

without a reference to its 

forerunner. 

From the first brief look 

Fragments of Dirt 

doesn’t offer anything 

special – well performed 

music with quite soft 

sound influenced by 

deathrock and indie, with 

very naïve and sometimes 

even silly lyrics, 

but if to take time and 

to listen to “Second 

Breath”, something will 

make you play it again… 

and again… and again… 

and again. Hard to say, 

but may be it’s something 

ephemeral, born 

from the alchemy created 

by professional and 

talented musicians 

which don’t take any serious 

“artistic mission” 

(at least nothing in their 

music tells that they do) 

and play just for pleasure. 

But these guys certainly 

have something 

that attracts. Hard to say 

whether this band will go 

far with only ephemeral 

strong points, but seems 

that it works very well 

for the start – catchy 

tunes full of charisma 

and some childish directness 

really manage to 

charm. I wouldn’t say I 

find Fragments of Dirt an 

original band. But I find 

them extremely charismatic. 

Grade: 8,5/10 


‘Grave Jibes Fanzine 

Manfish 

“What is this Manfish” 

album review 



Year: 2011 

Web: 

http://manfish.bandcamp.com/ 

I have no clue what people 

are guided by when 

giving the bands such idiotic 

names like Manfish. 

But one could put up 

even with that, as on the 

other hand it's so ambiguous, 

like The Mermaid 

Man, The Elephant 

Man and other cult trash 

flicks of that kind, or stories 

about mutants 

caught in Amazon, 

though way too weak for 

punk rock after some relative 

forty years. What 

really could stop me from 

listening to this album is 

an absolutely hideous 

cover with a grinning fish 

in a derby hat à la A 

Clockwork Orange (how 

original, nobody has 

ever hit upon this shit 

before you, guys?). But 

the light of knowledge in 

the person of the chief 

editor (who had brought 

me this fish on a silver 

platter) emphasized in 

the first place that this 

band comes from Finland, 

so I had no choice 

but have a listen to them, 

and better more than 

once. Finnish punk rock 

has a long and developed 

history, and if you 

are acquainted with the 

music of some finnish 

bands you'll never forget 

them, be it crust or goth, 

you will always love their 

music tenderly. The only 

problem is that in the XXI 

century one has a strong 

feeling that in Finland 

there are mostly popular 

such unpretentious subgenres 

like 77, 

punk’n’roll and bubblegum 

punk. In case of 

Manfish you've got just 

the same. Undoubtedly, 

they are better even than 

Mean Idols, at least because 

they are not The 

Ramones tribute band; 

quite possible that they 

are even many times 

better than the best guys 

who play something 

quite merry and beery in 

your city in the garages, 

basements or at lousy 

clubs at antifa gigs. What 

this Manfish is - it's probably 

an excursion into 

the record collection of 

the musicians, here you 

see Stooges, there NY 

Dolls and Dead Boys, 

here Social Distortion 

and there “Songs of 

Praise” of Adicts, somewhere 

about «Sick of the 

sunshine» the most 

reckless will recognize 

Adolescents, and on “I 

Hate You” grimacing vocalist 

will make you 

imagine to hear The 

Cramps or The Gun 

Club… But all in all this 

sound so backwoods 

and unconfident that 

even a listener can't be 

sure about that, so personally 

I will rather prefer 

to listen again for the 

hundredth time to the 

a b o v e - m e n t i o n e d 

bands, or Kaaos and Pyhät 

Nuket. Though I 

readily believe that Manfish 

gigs can be real fun. 

Grade: 4/10 

Vadim ‘Bars-Ursula’ 

Barsov 


61 Reviews 

Reviews 61 

Cabaret Grey - 

"Stirring" 

album review 



Year: 2011 

Web: 

http://www.cabaretgrey.com/ 

http://www.facebook.co 

m/CabaretGrey 

http://cabaretgrey.bandcamp.com/album/stirring 

Polish band Cabaret 

Grey was formed in 2010 

шт Legnica. «Stirring» is 

the first EP of the band, 

Alexey "Nightchild_A" 

Nikitchenko (Ukranian 

band The Nightchild) 

also participated in making 

of it, having recorded 

bass for 4 tracks, as well 

as having done mastering 

and mixing. The album 

is well got up with 

the using of origami, although 

it's not really 

practical. The music is 

clearly influenced by 

80's bands,p ost-punk 

and new wave. Among 

the six tracks I'd like to 

mark out is the first one, 

''Grey Lights', in my opinion 

it's the brightest and 

most memorable. In 

common, the album is 

quite nice, it's holistic, 

everything is done in traditions 

of the genre with 

it's dark atmosphere and 

gloomy hypnoticity, the 

vocals of magnificent 

singer Salome makes 

this weirdness even 

stronger. All in all, everything 

is good but... 

something is definately 

missing, something that 

could make this band different 

from hundreds of 

similar modern bands 

and make it recognazable. 

I haven't heard 

anything new and at 

times it was even boring 

to listen to it. Well, it's 

just the first album of the 

band, and since that the 

result is really impressing. 

Let's hope the band 

will develop and surprise 

and please it's listeners! 

Grade: 6,5/10 

Liya Sloeva 


Victor Sierra – 

«Electric rain» 

album review 

Current Label: Bandcamp 

Format: CD, CD-box 

Year: 2011 

Web: 

http://victorsierra.bandcamp.com/album/electric-rain 

http://www.youtube.com 

/user/victorsierraband 

http://www.myspace.co 

m/victorsierra 

http://www.reverbnation.com/victorsierra 

What does one expect 

from steampunk? Is it 

heat from coal or cloud 

of steam? Or maybe you 

want to see the analog 

picture of a digital world? 

In most cases steampunk 

objects represents 

some kind of redesign of 

usual things from our 

real electronical world. 

To become oblivious of 

that real world, it isn’t 

necessary to invent 

steam-drived television, 

it takes only to hide wires 

and to build the screen 

into the copper with 

wood frame decorated 

by steam valve. 

There is no more suitable 

word than “steampunk” 

to describe music 

from Victor Sierra album 

“Electric Rain”. In the 8th 

issue of Grave Jibes 

Fanzine Victor Sierra 

was already mentioned, 

and then Bob Eisenstein 

said: “Steampunk aesthetic 

movement is not 

as sectarian as others 

and is welcoming many 

musical styles. And 

we were stunned to see 

how much our visual universe 

has to do with 

Steampunk”. And now 

it’s clear: the “Electric 

rain” from the title to the 

last song is musical 

steampunk, there postpunk 

electronical components 

are craftily 

hided under war march 

and cabaret motifs, and 

newsreels, rumble of 

wheels or whistle of the 

train may appear on the 

background at any moment. 

One of the very remarkable 

features of the album 

is its multilingual 

content. Songs are per- 

formed in English, 

French, Spanish and 

Yiddish. It isn’t best way 

to provide perception of 

the album sense, because 

there aren’t many 

people who know such 

combination of foreign 

languages. But on the 

other side, each language 

gives some additional 

ethnic flavor, 

amplified by music, and 

thanks to that songs 

aquire some individual 

directionality. Variety of 

languages harmonizes 

with general eclecticism 

of steampunk, and it 

makes songs dissimilar 

to each other, and album 

sounds multifariously. At 

the same time album 

sounds very organic and 

is perceived like comprehensive 

whole. 

Another very remarkable 

feature is the infotainment 

of the album. “Visual 

universe” weren’t 

empty words: visualization 

of this album doesn’t 

limit itself to the cover 

design. The conception 

of the album is spectacularly 

presented in the 

release trailer and respective 

videos and text 

content. If you are 

missed it up (it’s easy to 

find it on the band’s official 

MySpace or 

YouTube channel) for 

some reasons, it’s recommended 

to acquaint 

yourself with it… and to 

listen the album one 

more time. Steampunk 

universe created by Victor 

Sierra is the composition 

of that kind, where 

the author’s vision plays 

the most important role, 

and listener’s conjectures 

may harm the general 

idea. 

What do you expect from 

Steampunk? Is it heat 

from coal or cloud of 

steam? Or maybe you 

want to describe that like 

the analog picture of a 

digital world? “Electric 

rain” is music from our 

everyday universe. But 

if you can dream, if you 

can imagine the steampunk 

universe of Victor 

Sierra, where you are 

just a passenger of the 

airship named The Hydrogen 

Queen, entirely 

trusted in its crew and 

ploughing through the 

space of alternate history, 

this music can take 

you there… for a while, 

only for a while. 

Grade 8/10 

Nikolay ‘Tacitus’ 

Polyakov 


62 62 

Worked on issue: 

Pall ‘Nattsol’ Zarutskiy - director, author, translator 

Nikolay ‘Tacitus’ Polyakov - editor in chief, technical director, author, translator 

Mila Vassilieva - pdf’s layout & artworks, graphic designer 

Alice Malice - editor, translator 

Anna “Xie” Slascheva - author, translator 

Liya Sloeva- author, translator 

Margo Sloeva - author, translator 

Vadim Barsov - author 

O. Lizerginus-Kotofey - author

eng - Grave Jibes

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