In 1982 Essex boys Bon Harris and Douglas McCarthy formed Nitzer Ebb with a focus on vocals, bass, and beats. Through simple teenage rage and the influence of punk rock they formed their own sound in the developing EBM scene. After several acclaimed singles, the band signed with Mute Records in 1986. With Mute they released the major body of their work and became friends with label mates, Depeche Mode, with whom they’ve toured and occasionally collaborated. 1995 saw the release of the bands fifth studio album, Big Hit, followed by them splitting up to walk different paths. After time involved in their own projects, they came together for a reunion tour in 2006 which lead to new Nitzer Ebb material. The result is a new album, Industrial Complex, which the band is now on the road promoting with shows both as headliners and as the supporting act for Depeche Mode’s “Tour of the Universe”.
interview by Aaron Andrews
You both went off to do your own things with various projects after 1995’s Big Hit. Why the decision to get back to making music as Nitzer Ebb?
Douglas McCarthy : It came about after we re-united for what was initially just a few festival shows in Europe. That actually turned into a world tour of not just Europe, but North and South America, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand! During that time we had a few breaks in LA and we thought it would be interesting to see where we were at creatively with the band. As it turned out we were in great shape and we went on to write over thirty songs!
Bon Harris : There was a demand for it. Doug had been doing shows with FM, and the were a lot of fans asking for a return. So we came back.
What do you think you’ve each brought back to the band that’s new and/or exciting?
DM : I think we actually brought back a lot of what was there in the very start of the band, mixed with our own personal and creative development as individuals.
BH : Years of individual experience. We all went off and learned new things. We grew and developed as individuals. It makes for a much richer experience working in NE now.
Warning : This CD may get you beat up just for listening to it.
Dragging back out of the shadows uber-nerdy cold synths and icy drum machines fed through a ring modulator, the folks at Minimal Wave have brought back a sound lost over the decades as better technology shadowed its predecessors. Presented here are not classic recordings, but ultra-rare items from the early 80s industrial/synth/post-punk era such as limited edition cassettes and small press vinyl that were probably never meant to be heard by anyone other than die-hard fans and friends. Minimal and lo-fi, it’s the kind of music only geeks, freaks, and Germans in black turtlenecks with monkeys on their shoulders could love, created by art-school drop outs and/or kids that could manage to plunk down the cash for top of the line electronics but had no idea what to do with it. The end result is an amazing time capsule which seems to explain the missing links between the likes of Cabaret Voltaire, Gary Numan, Joy Division, Devo, Kraftwerk and modern EBM/industrial. Highly recommended as both a history lesson for newbies and a surprisingly obscure collection for seasoned veterans.
I am getting very excited for the upcoming release by Mind.In.A.Box due out March 9th. Mind.In.A.Box is one of my favorites (as it is for some of the other Auxiliary editors as well) and I can’t wait to hear some new music from them! This album will be a little different…
As it says on Metropolis Record’s website…
Mind.In.A.Box’s previous three albums garnered them a lot of respect with fans and critics alike with their hard to categorize style of electronic music. For 2010, their newest album, R.E.T.R.O., takes a slightly different approach to their songwriting. An homage to the era of the Commodore 64 and 1980s video games, the album even includes a few cover versions of cult classics – all done in MIAB’s signature style. However, do not take these adaptations lightly. This is not just another cut and paste cover album. This is Mind.In.A.Box re-inventing the past for an advanced future.
Since Rasc, Gun, and Krischan formed Rotersand in 2002, they have become a very well respected and highly popular band, known for their catchy melodies, great basslines, and intelligent vocals. With the release of their new album Random Is Resistance, Rotersand prove they can and will continue to make albums that can dominate the clubs and alternative charts but also remain true to their unique sound and artistic vision.
How does a Rotersand album come into existence? How long did Random Is Resistance take to create, where did you work on it, and how did it vary, if at all, in process from past albums?
It starts with a first sketch of a bassline or a vocal line or an inspiring chord progression, or sometimes just a slogan or one word. And from there we shape it step by step, note by note, beat by beat, as long as it still gives us that kind of unmistakable Rotersand feeling we need to keep going. All three of us have some sort of personal studio equipment to record guitars or vocals and do some programming with. For the final production we mostly meet in Krischan´s Studio 600.
You have stated before that Rotersand draws off many different styles of music. And each band member has a different background in electronic music. What styles in particular did you draw from for Random Is Resistance?
In a German review somebody described our new album, Random Is Resistance, as a kind of time travel through different music styles of the last decade, and we can definitely relate to that. That is owed a great deal to the fact that all three of us draw from different musical backgrounds. In collaborating as a band, we are privileged to be able to combine ideas and influences from a large pool of rather diverse personal taste and know how. It is that combination of musical personalities that shapes our sound; much more than certain styles we could be trying to implement. It goes from Pink Floyd and Queen to contemporary techno music (mainly Detroit provenience), has audible roots in EBM and a bit of euro-trance, but than again also in 70s glamrock and classical and pop music. That’s us.
This is the sound test that goes along with my article, WAV, AIFF, MP3, FLAC… WTF? The original audio file I used was is a song name “How I Learned to Love the Bomb” from one of my favorite Buffalo punk bands, To Be Announced, off of their Posthumous album.
The first thing I would like to compare is the difference between MP3 and AAC. To keep things fair I used LameXP, which has the best MP3 converter, for the MP3s and iTunes for the AACs. Both programs have the most recent updates. At the higher bit rates both programs seem to have about the same audio quality, if there is a difference it must be subtle because I don’t hear it. As you move down to the lower bit rates, the AAC files have a brighter cleaner sound and the MP3s have a dullness to them. Even though AAC files have a better quality about them, MP3s are the industry norm, so if you want your files to play on everything stick with them.
Industrial/EBM musicians Gary Dassing and Dwayne Dassing better known as Mentello & the Fixer are offering up parts of their back catalog for free. Along with their side projects Mainesthai and Benestrophe. Their website says that more are to come… let’s hope so.
Mainesthai – Out to Lunch – 1994
Mainesthai – Mentallo & The Fixer Meets Mainesthai – 1994
Mentallo & The Fixer – Revelations 23 – 1993
Mentallo & The Fixer – Where Angels Fear to Tread – 1994
Benestrophe – Sensory Deprivation – 1994
Benestrophe – Auric Fires – 1997
Read our music contributor’s, our editor’s, and a few guest contributor’s, such as DJ Jet the mastermind behind Vampire Freaks, picks for the most notable albums of the last ten years in the December 09 issue. Then share your picks by answering the questions below and posting them in the comments!
best album
album you liked from the first 5 years that you wouldn’t be caught listening to now
album you played the most
most disappointing album
most influential album
album you loved that everyone else hated
album you hated that everyone loved
album you told your friends about the most
album you heard the most (club, radio, etc.)
album you will still be listening to in 2020
bonus : band that is still around that you didn’t expect to be
Daniel Ash, reluctant goth icon, motorcycle enthusiast, DJ, and man of fashion, certainly has an infamous name and reputation in alternative music. The recent release of a Love and Rockets tribute album is evidence of that. Ash started out playing in cover bands with the Haskins brothers before all three joined with acquaintance Peter Murphy to form Bauhaus. At the end of that iconic band, he went on to front Tones on Tail and its follow up Love and Rockets with one and then both of the Haskins brothers. It’s an impressive list of bands and an impressive body of work. Despite having a ton to get a swelled head about, Daniel Ash has to be one of the most pleasant people I’ve ever talked to. He’s forthcoming, friendly and gracious. Talking to him over the phone was like chatting with a new friend, and he made it seem like he’d love to talk about music or motorcycles whether there was a project to promote or not.
However, he is currently doing press for New Tales to Tell the aforementioned tribute album, put together by friend Christopher “The Minister”. Christopher is a DJ for Sirius XM radio, a fact that escaped me for a few seconds as Daniel repeated over and over to me that he was a “serious” DJ and I thought, “of course, why do it if you’re not serious?” Of course, it dawned on me what he meant and I, still kind of shy, meekly suggested, “the satellite?” With the misunderstanding resolved, we moved on to the album itself that Ash had no hand in but evidently his friend The Minister has made a pet project.
