DEADFILMSTAR

Interview with 'Deadfilmstar', 14 Mar 2010...
Deadicated, to 'Rachel Carter', for her class groundwork.

When did you first form, and what were the first initial goals ?

Deadfilmstar was formed in 2001. Our first initial goals were to get into 'Kerrang' magazine. We did,eight times.The metal scene soon became entrenched so,we turned our attention on the Gothic world with an intention to appear at Whitby Gothic Weekend. Again,we did. By 2006 we had toured with Mortiis and Gothminister.

When you first rehearsed, was the music similar to you debut LP, and were any demo's made and released ?

The album we are working on now is from an original demo CD titled 'The Inevitable Rise & Fall Of Fake White & The III Fated Tour'. It's a concept album that will hopefully be out at some point late this year. For the first time it will be a true representation of the deadfilmstar sound. I don't think 'A.rtistic I.ntegrity' was any way near a true reflection of that.

What made you approach the 'Nightbreed' label, or did 'Trevor', hear you first ?

It was through Kev (at that time) of the band 'Pro-jekt'.

How would you describe your brand of music, its far different from conventional 'Gothic Rock', 'Industrial'. For me it at times reminds me of variants of 'Black Metal', due to its harshness and extreme heavyness, plus also the look ?

Ha,we've been called all sorts 'Thrash Goth', 'Trash Goth'..? I actually don't consider us as a very heavy band at all to be honest.

Do your lyrics themselves follow a particular, set path or niche ?

Yes, their all built around the concept of the next album..

What made you choose your, particular 'Demoniacal' stage look, is this based around any particular person or theme. More is it simply individual, and to create a reaction ?

Again, it's a portrayal of the character from the next album..

Who would you say are your major influences, music and visual wise ?

Now that would be telling..

If you could resurrect any past two bands, who would they be (any era, and genre) ?

There are allot of late 70's and early 80's bands that I was too young to witness live... That would be the area I'd have to chose from.

Your stunning debut 'A.rtistic I.ntegrity', how was its creation, and did you find any strong learning curves ?

Stunning?, I really dislike it.. I think the title encapsulates it perfectly. Seriously, I deviated away from what we are. OK, you can argue that you need to experiment but,no, I don't like it.Yes, I did find a strong learning curve - Don't rush anything and stay true to who you are. I must just say though, 'Trevor' remastered the track 'Replace' from A.I. for 'The Gothic Sounds Of Nightbreed 5' compilation and as an individual song I like it.

Would you say it follows any particular set theme, i.e: Concept album ?

The new album definitely but, A.I. not so much..

I recently saw you live in 'London', at the 'Electrowerkz', your set was just amazing. Yet things were cut short, what happened. The whole show set up went a little pear shaped, any ideas what happened ?

Thank you. We couldn't hear anything through the on stage monitor's so it was kinda to keep it together. Nothing was cut short though? We never do anymore than a half hour set.. Ever.

Can you remember your first ever live show, and what was the first reactions like ?

Yeah, it went very well actually. At that time all the drums and bass were on a computer backing so, it was a case of 'if it all crashes now,we're done for!'

Lastly how has the initial, LP feedback been and are you happy with it ?

I think people know 'A.rtistic I.ntegrity' is not a scratch on what's coming and I can happily inform them - Their right! I'm afraid I've put A.I. to bed.

Plus also what can we expect from you in 2010, any more 'London' dates ?

I don't know about London but,in the Midlands we're opening for KMFDM , Die So Fluid & Toyah Willcox. We've got more dates coming up but, Mum's the word at the moment!


....Any last words ?

Thanks for having us round...


For further info and contact:

deadfilmstar.co.uk
http://www.myspace.com/deadfilmstar

GREENHAUS

Interview with 'Greenhaus', 08 Mar 2010.
Deadicated to my beloved, 'Rachel'. My Naughty Angel...


When did 'Greenhaus', actually form, and what can you remember from the first days ?

In 1998 I think! It came about out of a remix for Gary Numan that we did – we needed a name at that time, and that how we started! Prior to that we had done shows in other bands, and had a few releases on different dance and techno labels – but not in a band environment as it were.

Before the debut LP, were there any 'Demos', made. Did you have a initial masterplan. ?

There was 100’s of demo tracks, but no real demo album as such. We basically went through the demo’s for the first album and re-recorded parts or the whole tracks in order to put it together. That’s why the first album is very diverse.

Your stunning debut 'The Unmistakable Sound Of Sloth', what more can you tell me about it's creation. Does it follow any particular themes, the music itself differs strongly ?

As I mentioned, we had a lot of material, ranging from electronic, to a more experimental post rock vibe. I think the album was a bit rushed in the end, as we had to have it ready prior to our tour with Mesh. It would have been nice to carry the post-rock electronica theme of ‘stoned’ and ‘dioxide’ over a few more tracks, and to have more time to make it a longer album. That said, it’s nice that it is varied so maybe the timing was just right.Generally it went down well although it was a bit of a struggle to put of live, especially in Germany where a singer was expected! We wheeled in a DVD backdrop which helped matters – and made things a bit more

Who would you say are your major influences?

We are fans of the Cocteau twins, Sigur Ros, Massive attack, Talk Talk and New Order – to name a few – Along with a lot of post rock bands. These have definitely influenced the material over the years.

Within all your works, do you have a particular method of working. Each LP, is very different in sound and form, is this intentional ?

It is very intentional. It keeps it interesting for us, as well as (we hope!) the listener.There is so much to explore, it would be a massive shame to stick to a formula, and not search out these other avenues of sound.We write the music first, and then the vocals will be added, and then the whole thing rearranged ‘till it all works together which can take months!

'Another Life', soon followed, again a great shift from the more ambient debut, how did you become involved with 'Sandrine' and 'Lahannya'. This was certainly a great change and move, how has the feedback been, certainly still my favourite ?

Yes, we got good reviews for this album. We wanted to introduce vocals for this album, so as well as Sandrine and Lahannya, we had contributions from Roi from Mechanical Caberet and Liz from swarf – all of which did a fantastic job, and all a pleasure to work with. There are still a couple of instrumentals, as we enjoy those.

Then came the third 'Your Not Alone', similar in pattern, yet different. Sporting 'Phoenix', now on vocal duties. Can we see her now as a permanent fixture, and doe's she sing on the forthcoming material?

Phoenix is a permanent fixture, along with Anthony Neale who sang on ‘You’re not alone’ as well. On this album we moved away from the electronics to a degree. We introduced live drums and percussion, as well as violins, flutes and violas, which was something that I have always wanted to do. There were many guest musicians on this release – it took ages!

How do you find, your material translates into the live, arena?

Now, we are very happy with the live sound. The live drums compliment the electronics very well. Phoenix has a great voice live, and all round we are happy with the sound. The last few gigs have been extremely enjoyable.

Lastly what can we expect from the forthcoming 'Fools Paradise', a DCD I'm lead to believe. Like all your creations, can we expect a shift in musical styling, or lyrical approach? Plus are there any excepts available ?

‘A fools paradise’ is a lot darker than all previous releases. It is a lot more electronic than ‘You’re not alone’, and I guess similar to ‘Another life’. It has taken a while, but now its finished (relief!!), and we are all very happy with the outcome. Clark, our bass player has coined a new genre called ‘trip-goth’ as a description for its style!! We were going to do a double CD, but we have decided to release a separate album called ‘instrumental’ which is self described! This is a much more ambient offering with a lot of soundscapes – more akin to ‘you’re not alone’. The feeling was to have 2 different albums rather than trying to make the different attitudes of the sound fit together. The 2 albums will be available in the early summer.

For more information and contact:

http://www.greenhaus.co.uk/
http://www.myspace.com/greenhausuk
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greenhaus/161303015786

Lastly catch them live at 'Gotham II', along side 'CLAN OF XYMOX'.

SAT 10th APRIL
O2 ACADEMY (18+)
ISLINGTON NI
LONDON

3 PM - 10PM
£14...Adv

Ticket Purchase:

www.stargreen.com
www.ticketweb.co.uk/
http://www.musicnonstop.co.uk/
http://www.resurrectionmusic.com/

LIVE 2010

VENDEMMIAN

Interview with 'Vendemmian', 03 Mar 2010

You first formed way back in '92, what were the first days like, and how does the material differ from the present ?

Like I can remember, eh it’s hard to say really, me and Mark started it and I suppose we didn’t really have a definite plan as to what we wanted to do. We sort of evolved in public really, obviously the scene was bigger then so it had its advantages but we did take time to work out what direction we wanted to go in.We went through a few different lineups and break ups before we got to where we are today.

You released a self titled demo in the same year, is this still available. Plus what was the first initial feedback like , and how did you feel ?

No, thankfully, in my opinion it’s shit anyway. I think the feedback was pretty good at the time, but I was never happy with how we sounded in that period, we were a group of individuals all going in different musical directions. It was a starting point which is the only positive thing I can think to say about it.

Where did you play your first ever live show, and what can you remember from it ?

Absolutely no idea where it was, maybe the Marquee, I have a terrible memory for detail.

In '93 your debut 'Between Two Worlds' was released, what was its initial creation like, did you enjoy the experience, and what did you learn from it at the time ?

At the time it was interesting I suppose, having a Cd was a much bigger deal then than it is now. What did I learn .. get a new singer maybe, not much else.

How would you best describe your music style, and do you're lyrics follow any particular path, or niche ?

I believe we fall into a category called TradGoth, who else is in that category .. I’m not too sure.There are so many sub genres now we change all the time. I did read something recently stating that TradGoth does not exist but it had been invented especially to categorise us …. were some sort of Goth band! .Marks lyrics are just about people he knows or stuff that’s happening him, usual song type subjects.

Who would you say were your major influences?

If you mean as a guitarist – Dave Fielding, Reg Smithies, Simon Hinkler, Wayne Hussey, Steve Green,Paul Nash, Paul Wright, Billy Duffy(up to a point). Other random stuff, beer, whiskey, smiling, laughing, driving too fast, general excess.

If you could resurrect any band from the past, who would it be ?

Long Past - Play Dead...

Just Past – The Mission...

You use the terminology 'Drunk and stupid goth', how did this come about the music itself certainly doesn't reflect it ?

It has followed us around for years, it started as a rip off of an advertising slogan in the 90’s.We used it as a T-Shirt slogan and our sales doubled overnight. I think we are on about version ten of the shirt now, we have sold thousands of em. Maybe the music doesn’t reflect it, we’re not The Pogues or whatever (although I am Irish)but maybe you have never seen us live, or maybe you don’t know us. Our l I've shows are really drunken affairs with lots of encouraged audience participation. I play better when I’ve had a few beers. We’ve drunk our way across the world and had a blast doing it. Maybe were a bit less Stupid now .. but actually I don’t think so.

How has the re-formation been for you so far, and are you glad to be back re-addressing old material ?

Really, really good, we’ve done about 20 shows now and the reaction has been great. We’ve still got a lot of our old following around Europe and we’ve managed to attract a whole load of new fans too. It has been such fun doing it again.There is no pressure, not constant touring like the old days, we just do what we want when we want. We have had some really great gigs.

What can we expect from the new LP, and any dramatic changes, or will it be your usual straight edged Goth rock with humour ?

Ah, do you mean “One More Time”, it been out a while now, we are really happy with that. I think its our best album to date and its rapidly heading towards been the most successful for us. We just got the live album out too and that has been really well received too. We recorded it on some of the festival shows last year. Or do you mean the new, new album? We’re working on the next album at the moment, we’ve got a few tracks nearly finished and we expect it to be out about July, We’re not so bothered about any dramatic changes, we do what we do, We’d rather concentrate on songwriting. We ‘re just trying to write good songs.

Lastly what can we expect from you in 2010 ?

More of the same, we got four festivals lined up already and we’ll continue to spread ourselves across Europe.Hopefully we get the album done on schedule and a few beers along the way. We are enjoying what we are doing at the moment .. until that changes, we are Vendemmian and all that that entails.

.......Any Last Words ?

Thanks for your interest, thanks for your time, see you at the bar sometime soon.


For more drunken debauchery, contact and purchase, this stonking UK band:

http://www.myspace.com/vendemmianofficial
http://vendemmianofficial.mybigcommerce.com/