TOM RADAR of RADARFIELD And Dylan Phoenix Interview

 

 

Hi TOM RADAR of Radarfield and Dylan Phoenix, thank you for the interview!

We are happy for having us and thank you for the invitation.

Hi TOM RADAR, please give me a short introduction:

I am a group member of the music band RADARFIELD (vocals, guitar). The band name RADARFIELD comes from the vision of exploring the visible and invisible world (RADAR) and of conveying information from the tangible, intangible and fantastic acoustically and/or visually in the songs/videos (FIELD). RADARFIELD (Voc/Git, Bass, Synth, Drums) was founded in 2010 in Berlin, transitioned to a drum machine and a electronic bass in 2011. We (Tom and Marcus) are offering a unique blend of Darkwave, Electronica, Synthpop and New Wave. RADARFIELD has published a number of songs on Bandcamp, Spotify etc, like „Vampire Diary“, „Hypnotized“ and Metropolitan Area“ and more than 10 videos on YouTube. Some songs were played on local radio stations but also around the world (UK, USA, Canada, Australia, Peru, Italy, France, Belgium, Greece, Cyprus, …). RADARFIELD`s songs are also on a number of CD compilations, e.g. Sonic Seducer, Orkus!, Dark Spy Magazine, EBM Nation Vol. 4 and 7 and on EBM International Day 24.2 of DSBP Records. „The Man With White Wings“ is the first side project of TOM RADAR (lyrics, vocals and guitar) and DYLAN PHOENIX (music, choir).

 

About DYLAN PHOENIX (aka Kabal Apokalyse):

DYLAN PHOENIX (aka Kabal Apokalyse, Vocalist/Composer/Producer), and project leader of Funeral Records Autoproduction from Pietrasanta/Italy. TOXIC INDUSTRY is the other project of DYLAN PHOENIX which was born in 2008. DYLAN PHOENIX published several songs and albums on Bandcamp and Spotify, e.g. „A Different View“, „Like Shadows In The Rain“ or the „Endless Night“

 

 

 

 

  

When did the first projects started?

DYLAN: In 2022, Funeral Records Autoproduction published the compilation „E.B.M. Nation Vol. 4“ (13 tracks) on bandcamp with RADARFIELD on first place with the song „VAMPIRE DIARY“.

TOM: In December 2022, DYLAN aka Kabal Apokalyse asked RADARFIELD, if we would like to make a song together with TOXIC INDUSTRY with german lyrics. His vision was that the lyrics are about the topic „Schmerzen“ („Pain“ in English, see single cover). We were pleased for asking and we liked the idea of having a new project. He sent us the first version of the song and asked us if we were happy with the music. The track was really good and within 1-2 hours the lyrics were written. DYLAN optimized the music of the song. In the end, RADARFIELD added some special synthesizer effects and the song was finished. On the 9th January 2023, the track was published on bandcamp and in other digital music stores. This song became RADARFIELD´s first song which is sung in german.

 

 

Please tell me more about your new joint project „The Man With White Wings“

TOM: In Spring 2024, I wrote the music and the first lyrics to „The Man With White Wings“. I send a guitar version and the lyrics to Marcus (Keys, RADARFIELD). Unfortunately, the lyrics did not fit very well to the music, he composed. Luckily, I have a stock of lyrics/songs in my drawer and I tried the lyrics of „MEMORY IMPAIRMENTS“. They fit quite good to the music and a new song was born.

Over the year 2024, I optimized the lyrics of „The Man With White Wings“ for better singing. I still wanted to make a dark song with the chords I wrote. Then, I heard the dark song „Like Shadows in the Rain“ of DYLAN PHOENIX and so I asked DYLAN PHOENIX at the end of 2024, if he would like to make another joint-project with RADARFIELD. I sent the improved guitar version to DYLAN PHOENIX and he agreed to join this project. I was very pleased to have DYLAN PHOENIX, as a great composer of dark music, on bord. In the end, „The Man With White Wings“ is a little bit different from the music of RADARFIELD. Therefore, this song was published under the brand „TOM RADAR“ and „DYLAN PHOENIX“.

Background: “The Man with the White Wings” is a modern allegory. I used an allegory to convey complex meanings through symbolic figures, actions, images or more abstract concepts such as „beauty”, „independence“, „vulnerability“, „decay” or “death”. The man in the song is a synonym for planet Earth and the creatures that live on it. Both have suffered a lot in recent years and time has left its mark. In the end, the god of death, Thatanos, takes the man into his kingdom and the man surrenders to his fate.

Note: On March 6th, “THE MAN WITH WHITE WINGS” was chosen as “Video Of The Day” on the “WHITELIGHT-WHITEHEAT” website. A review of the song/video was also written.

https://www.whitelight-whiteheat.com/wl-wh-video-of-the-day-tom-radar-dylan-phoenix-the-man-with-white-wings-official-music-video

 

 

 

How different is the song writing process when you collaborate with someone? The chemistry changes I'd assume?

TOM: I guess, it was not easy for DYLAN to transfer my guitar playing on his synthesizers. I send him some tracks of other bands like DEAD CAN DANCE to give him an idea in which direction the song should go. At the beginning, I was not sure, if we can combine the guitar and the synthesizers. In the end, the guitar (solo) is only at the front of the song, but it makes the song more interesting and more complex right from the beginning. This song that had a lot of back and forth with ideas, and we went through multiple composing sessions to get it right. In the end, the song has a cool, dark style, and a deep gothic feel with a lot of emotions.

DYLAN: Starting from the first ideas, I did a lot of tests in search for the best sound. Every time I made changes, I sent the material directly to TOM. At the same time, I was also busy working on several projects with other artists, putting in the effort, and not caring what I wanted. We had a kind of spiritual connection to the music. We have a lot in common between me and TOM. I'm also a very versatile person when it comes to genres. Working remotely hasn't been difficult for me. So, it doesn't change whether I'm working directly with a music artist or miles away. Everyone brings a part of themselves, and I always try to highlight the qualities of both in the melody. I find it stimulating and I am happy to learn something new every time.

What are the best parts in collaborating with other artists? You can learn from the other artist a new way of looking or doing things?

TOM: The best part of the collaboration is the final song itself. I think, we could combine the best ideas of both of us. Usually, I am using a vocal performer effect device (delay, reverb) gives me a better feeling while I am singing. Dylan convinced me to sing the song without digital effects, which was a new experience to me. In contrast, I played the guitar without effects but DYLAN added a cool effect on the guitar.

DYLAN: I enjoy collaborating with different artists; they teach me, and I give them a part of myself. It is a wonderful experience to repeat it over and over again, always trying to improve myself for best results. Always staying locked in the same status doesn't teach me things. There's always something to learn also at every age. By collaborating with other music artists, you learn to understand more and to progress in composing. I don't want to limit myself, but I love to improve my knowledge, and that helps me a lot.

What is the next project?

TOM: RADARFIELD is currently working on two new songs. The song „Death & Beauty“ is full of poetry and like „The Man with White Wings“ a modern allegory. In contrast to RADARFIELD´s other songs, this song belongs to the music genre gothic rock. The song and the video willl be published in April 2025. The other song will be pure dark wave and has a futuristic theme.

DYLAN: I'm working on my new album "A Different View," of which I only have four demo tracks left in the studio version, and I'm about to enter the "International Contest Awards 2025," which will take place on April 15th in Los Angeles.

 

 

Check TOM RADAR out!

https://tomradar.bandcamp.com/

https://youtu.be/hbHcD8aoGrc

https://www.facebook.com/tom.radar.1

https://www.n1m.com/tomradar

https://radarfield.com/

 

 

 

Check DYLAN PHOENIX out!

https://dylanphoenix.bandcamp.com/

https://open.spotify.com/artist/2nfwTaA7mNOLHjYNx9l931?si=B0qPdD1ZRzW6_bbrRWh0xQ

https://www.instagram.com/dylan_phoenix_official?igsh=cW8zZWdvM2QzMjh5

https://youtube.com/channel/UCeutcNQTLrqtTv0lEE_9jqA?si=Fdiwh0_s4JhLQTtE

https://www.facebook.com/share/15oqEiVUcm/

https://www.deezer.com/it/album/688370481

https://music.apple.com/us/artist/dylan-phoenix/1710805596

https://www.tiktok.com/@dylan_phoenix_official?_t=ZN-8u5ERIRJdeo&_r=1

 

Radarfield Interview

 Hello there!

Finally back once again. I had family tragedy (my dad passed away) and other stuff to deal before returning to the wonderful world of blogging. And what would be better way to return than offer you a Radarfield interview!

            

Hi Radarfield, thank you for the interview!

Thank you for having us.

What would be your early inspirations?

Tom:

I was inspired by a school friend who played guitar. My school friend gave me some guitar lessons and after 3 days I was able to play some songs. A little later, I bought an E-guitar and played the E-guitar in a school band. Then I founded a Punk Rock Band. Over the years, I played the guitar in different music bands. The first songs ideas were inspired by Punk Rock bands like UK Subs, G.B.H. or Discharge but also from e.g. Killing Joke, Sisters of Mercy or Christian Death.

In 2010, Marcus joined the rockband I was playing at that time to give the music a more modern touch. In the end, the rockband broke up and Marcus and me founded RADARFIELD in 2010 - together with Olli (Bass), also from Berlin and Roman (drums), a guy from Paris.

Marcus:

I believe that even the first perception of music influences the whole musical life but the passion to create music by myself began when I was a teenager - so I would start with bands like Nirvana. The whole thing then developed further towards Metallica and Iron Maiden through to Death and Black Metal of Obituary and Satyricon.

In my early 20´s I crossed the „no-go line“ to Electronic Music. Especially, DrumNBass from artists like Technical Itch, Noisia and Teebee brought me to the „electronic side of the force“.

What made you become a musician and why dark electronic beats?

Tom:

Since I was a teen, making music is one of my hobbies and I enjoy it very much. It is always a creative process. It starts from writing the lyrics or writing the music. When Marcus provide the music, I am inspired by the tunes and the beats and start writing the lyrics to the music (e.g. Hypnotized). The sound and lyrics are sometimes dark, because I am very much influenced by gothic music bands such as Christian Death or Bauhaus. The dark electronic music gives me a special feeling.

Marcus:

Because music evokes strong emotions in me. That's why the urge to express my emotions through my own music was very strong. Melancholic dark feelings touch me the most.

 

 

 

Where do you get inspiration for your songs? My bet would be scifi and cyberpunk.

You are right by mentioning „Scifi“. The song „Hadron Factories“ was inspired after reading a book about elementary particles and the song „Tomorrow`s World“ and „Element Girls“ are also future related. But I am also interested in mystic themes or fantasy. Currently, I am writing on songs with these topics.

Your debut album was released 2022 (Black Planet). How was the writing process? You obviously had a clear vision what you wanted it to be.

The album „Black Planet“ is a collection of songs we made over the last years. The writing process of each song was individual and not planned or a result of a concept. „Black Planet“ is a mixture of songs we made and recorded in the rehearsal room and of songs we made on the computer.

And if I compare it to Cyber Homeland, there is clear evolution and progression.

Cyber Homeland, was a result when we practised in the rehearsal room. Since we are producing the songs on the computer, the making of new songs became a little more different. In addition, we got a better music equipment than before.

How would you describe your sound to new listeners?

That`s a good question. In contrast to some other bands, which are using the same synthesizer or guitar sounds as a brand, Marcus uses different sounds in every new song to make the song more unique. As a consquence, the music style is difficult to explain. But regarding the lyrics and sounds, we would describe the music as Darkwave or Synthwave (with a special touch).

I like very much how you take elements from synth pop and darkwave and mix them up to a sweet mixture.

Thank you for the compliment. Very appreciated.

To me songs remind quite a lot of dystopian scifi and cyberpunk in a way. As does the artwork.

Yes, some songs are dystopian. They are a reflextion of the world, we are living in and how we see the future.

As an artist what would be your ultimate goal?

We would be happy, when the audience like our music or videos and the number of subcribers and followers is increasing.

Goth scene is so different from rest of electronic scene. In other scenes DJs are big players, but in goth scene it is the bands. Why do you think djs never took over in a sense?

In Berlin, we got some Music Clubs where DJs are playing Goth, Darkwave, New Wave and Synthwave songs and where people are dancing to the music. But in general, Electronic Music provides more songs with beats to dance. When we ask DJs to play our music on their radio stations, „Hypnotized“ was selected, mostly. The song got a hypnotic beat and is good to dance.

What are you future plans?

Currently, we are working on a new song, called „Metropolitan Area“. We hope that we can finalize the song soon. A video is already made by using the draft song.

In addition, a video of the song „Caterpillars“ is also ready to be published. The video got a lot of special effects.

At the beginning of next year, we are looking forward having an interview on Radio Hazzard of Darkness.

In Spring, we plan to take some new photos of RADARFIELD.

Check Radarfield out!

https://radarfield.com/

https://radarfield.bandcamp.com

https://open.spotify.com/intl-de/artist/2iQSJb7abLKfQUDlSo2jFO

https://www.youtube.com/@radarfield8742

https://soundcloud.com/radarfield

https://www.facebook.com/radar.field.3

https://x.com/The_RADARFIELD

https://www.instagram.com/radarfield/

https://www.tumblr.com/blog/radarfieldberlin

https://www.n1m.com/radarfield

https://bandliste.de/Bands/Radarfield/16423/

https://marjorie-wiki.de/wiki/Radarfield

NovaKill interview

 Hi!

 

 I'm finally back from unforseen hiatus and will try to be active from now on. And what would be better way to make a comeback than an interview with NovaKill!

Hello NovaKill and thank you for this interview! Lets go back to the beginning, how did you form the band and what made you want to be a musician?

B: I had only a passing interest in music growing up. It wasn't until I heard a bit of Punk, back in 1979 or so, that I found music I could really connect with. Ultimately, it completely changed the course of my life.

Sik and I had been running a club night for a couple of years, having been doing our own projects, when we decided to collaborate. It came together very easily, he and I have very similar tastes in music. I honestly can't think of anyone else I would want to work with, it works so well for us.

S.  I did music at high school, and played in one of the school bands, but it wasn't until Art School that I started composing and making my own music and sound scapes as soundtracks for my films and installations and playing with tape, synths and sequencing, and it was possible to make the sort of music I was interested in. Art School was a great way to discover new sounds and ideas.

What were your musical influences?

B: For me it is very much Punk, New Wave, Post Punk and what came out of that. Old school Industrial music doesn't do anything for me but when Cabaret Voltaire released The Crackdown, that was a type of Industrial Music I could definitely get into.

I was never much into purely electronic music. When I started performing solo, as Deathly Quiet!, my aim was to sound like a proper rock band, using only synths. At the time I worked solo because I didn't know anyone else who had any interest in the same music I did. Almost 40 years later, I still don't really know more than a handful of people who do.

Living on the other side of the world, I'd never heard of EBM. I had some Skinny Puppy albums but that was really all I'd heard. I think it all crystallised for us in the early 90s, when we first heard Leather Strip and got some insight into the existence and extent of the EBM scene in the Northern Hemisphere. Solitary Confinement was something of a revelation and it opened up a whole new world of possibilities for us.

S. It wasn't until I was in my mid to late teens I started listening to “pop” music but was drawn to the overtly electronic sounding songs, but was also listening to film music, and then through  alternative radio and art school I was exposed to weirder and stranger music, what the independent record stores labelled as “AVANT-GARDE”.  

Where do you get inspiration for the songs?

B: Musically, most of my inspiration comes from the tools we use to create it, Playing around with our software instruments and effects, coming up with something that interests me. If you look at Rage, for example, that came about because I had recently bought a synth plugin called Thorn and I discovered it had this thing called a Glitch Sequencer that made these mad riffs and sequences. I found one I liked and layered a couple of others with it and started playing around with different progressions. The main part of the song came together in a couple of hours, although it was probably a year later that I added the last part, which was what finally turned it into a NOVAkILL song.

Inspiration for lyrics comes from all over the place. Sometimes it comes from the voice samples we put into our songs. Other times, Sik will have given me something he's started with a working title and that will serve as a theme for the lyrics.

S. Cyberpunk, sci-fi, etc and all that stuff that “holds a mirror” up to society etc. - movies, books, philosophy are great for ideas, but the inpiration for the sound just comes from listening to other music, and then playing around with synths and DAWS to see what starts to emerge as something worth pursuing and turning into a track.

How would you describe your sound to new listeners?

B: It's usually a difficult thing because most of my friends and work colleagues have no frame of reference for what we do. To those people I usually explain it as being like Techno with Heavy Metal vocals, which is not a very accurate description, really, but it gets them thinking in the right ball park.

I really like what Sik put up on our Bandcamp page - "dark post-punk tinged electro-industrial". I think that pretty much covers it.

S. I have heard the term “dystopian” from people outside the “scene” and unfamiliar with the genre, but it is quite vague.  "dark post-punk tinged electro-industrial" seemed a better “tag”

What did you listen to when growing up?

B: Mostly it was whatever was on the radio. I liked The Beatles and The Monkees as a teenager because that's all I'd been exposed to. I was three years out of high school before I got to hear The Stranglers or Buzzcocks and that's when it all changed for me.

S. Growing up my parents didn't listen to top 40 music and always had classical music playing,  and from that I had an appreciation for film music.

Congrats on new album Artifice, how was the writing process of the album and what inspired the album?

B: Thanks. This album actually came together quite easily. It had been a couple of years since Iconoclast, we hadn't played live for a few years (thanks to Covid) and we hadn't really thought much about what we'd do next. Then we had a proper band meeting (something we never do) at Sik's place, made a list of things we'd been working on separately and chose a few to get serious about. Pretty much the whole album came out of that list, except Darkness, which I wrote while we were working on the other things.

Unusually, we settled on a title quite early on. Often we have a few different ideas and don't pick one until the album is in some kind of shape but we both liked the sound and feel of "Artifice" so that's what we called it. It reflects our attitude towards society, the artificial nature of so much of it and the way it is used to maintain control. We like to think we can encourage people to pull back the curtain and see beyond the artifice to the reality of the way we all live our lives.

 

It's been almost 21 years since your debut album, what keeps you going after this time? How has the scene changed during this time and has it gone to better or worse?

B: Honestly, I can't imagine not doing this. I went through a period of 4 or 5 years, between I Hate God and (D)Anger, where I found it hard to get motivated but that passed and I can't see it happening again. I'm 65 now and it seems ridiculous ot me that I am still doing this, still just as passionate and angry with the world as I was 40 years ago. The world is so broken and the fact that no-one seems to see that, or care about it, keeps me fired up.

Here in Australia, the scene barely exists any more. In the mid-90s there were three or four club nights a week in Sydney and they all got a decent turnout. Today there are one or two clubs that run a few times a year and get a fraction of the audience from back in the 90s. The live music scene is a joke here, so it's hard to find gigs, although we are determined to play as often as we can this year and beyond.

 

To me it's always interesting in darker scene how artists make such a long careers compared to other genres, where long careers seem to be very seldom.

B: I think that is largely because we don't have the same expectations as artists working in other genres might. For us, in particular, it is a hobby. We both have careers outside of music and we've always known that what we do could never be commercially viable. We also keep getting better at this and while we keep improving, it just makes sense to keep going.

S. Yeah, we aren't doing it for fame and fortune. It is something to keep us “sane”, or at least insane in the right way, or something,  but it feels like something I just gotta do.

B: To further my point, I think a lot of people get into rock and pop and dance music to get personal recognition. They want to be pop-stars and when the reality of their situation finally bites, they lose heart and move on. OTOH, we've only ever been in it for the music. I'd be perfectly happy never to see my name or photo anywhere, for people to be focussed only on the music. Of course, that's not how people are so we do what we must but I am generally deeply uncomfortable with shamelss self-promotion.

As an artist what would be your ultimate goal?

B: It would be nice to get to a point where we could play live on a regular basis without having to beg for venues and organise everything ourselves. It doesn't sound like much to ask but it is something we have never really managed to achieve. I'd love to do a proper tour of Europe and/or the US, even as a support act, but I can't ever see that happening.

S. Doing a large or long tour would be great, though it seems very unlikey. My “ultimate” goal is, I guess, to have a body of work that I am proud of, and that I have improved and grown and challenged myself as an artist and as a “human”, (and maybe to work out just what that means).

 

What are you future plans?

B: As I said, we want to play live more often this year and beyond so we are rehearsing every week and looking for opportunities. We'll probably start looking at our next album later this year, or early next, but we haven't really discussed anything yet. There are still songs from our last two albums we haven't had a chance ot play live, so we're not in a hurry to write any more, at least for the moment.

S. Keep making noise.

Matt Hart interview

 

Hi everybody!

Hope you are all well and enjoying the summer. Time to grab a coffee/tea/drink, get into good position and enjoy latest interview. I proudly present Matt Hart!

 

Hi Matt and thank you for this interview!

 What would be your early inspirations?

Genre wise my early inspirations fall within the towers of early industrial music, industrial metal and EBM – think of the industrial scene around the early 2000s. That’s probably the closest to what inspired me when I first started writing music but it’s certainly evolved a lot since then.

What made you become a musician and why this style?

I’ve actually been a musician since I was about six years old! I grew up playing a violin and viola plus the trumpet (so guess that’s my parents doing!), and then I got into playing guitar and bass guitar in my late teens (all me). The guitar interest really feed into my discovery and love of industrial metal, with the likes of Fear Factory and similar bands. Over the course of time, I moved away from the idea of heavy-metal and gravitated towards sounds that were more electronic / dance floor orientated and found that I wanted to write something within that style. Being a DJ (since 2013) that focuses on new music as well, means that I constantly have cutting edge sounds filling my ears, and it’s definitely added inspiration to the sound I create in my own writing. I’m the last person to say the scene is dead, quite the opposite actually, it’s a really exciting and creative time for music and there is a hell of a lot of new and awesome stuff out there!

 

 

 

Where do you get inspiration for your songs?

I get a lot of inspiration from sci-fi movies (yep, I’m a geek that way) – have always been fascinated with a machine world and that 100% comes across in my music. Of course, everyone is a product of their environment as well and that includes music I listen to, so I’m sure that filters into what I do as well in some fashion. I also find I’m influenced by current affairs and I tend to loosely link it into the fictional world I created as the narrative of my music, the future year of 3808.

How would you describe your sound to new listeners?

My current sound is very dark and electronically heavy, its draws inspiration from metal and dark electro and even new genres like industrial bass so if you like stompy, heavy kickdrums, layered synthesises, guitars, heavy gritty vocals then we’ll get on well.  My tracks fit well to a dance floor too, so get ready with your boots!

 

What did you listen to when growing up?

In my early teens I was listening to a lot of new metal / dnb / happy hardcore / heavy techno and then a friend of mine lent me Remanufacture by Fear Factory and I instantaneously fell in love with it. It was that kind of moment where you think, everything else I had been listening to was just a holding place, till I found the sound that resonated with me. I remember asking him what the original record sounded like, and if I could borrow that too.  Needless to say, mind blown! Those teenage years of dipping into lots of different genres was exciting, growing up in a small village town meant it was readily accessible – just out there to listen too.  All roads though ultimately lead me to what I’m into now, so I still get a little bit of a heart-string tug when I hear Limp Bizkit J

 

These tracks I heard sound fresh to me and well done. There are some echoes of psy trance sound in Decimate.

Thank you, I’d never thought of there being psy-trance elements to my music, but that’s the awesome thing about sound – it can be subjective, it is art afterall.  I think the way one person hears something can be different to another, because our experiences influence our interpretations.  Might have to go and listen to some psy-trance now to see if I can pick up what you hear!

 

Your songs are pretty diverse and I like it.

Cheers, music is a progression.  There’s often a common thread that links songs on an album together, an artist sound if you will – but ya, I don’t feel the need to necessarily stick with a certain sound.  If I feel a track would benefit from something a bit different then I’ll take it there.  Stay tuned, cowbell coming soon – LOL, nope (well maybe).

 

As an artist what would be your ultimate goal?

Wow, that’s a big one! I guess my ultimate goal, and oddly was just thinking about this topic the other day, would be to headline a big German and/or USA international festival… WGT being the holy grail of festivals. It’s good to dream big, while still managing your personal goals that you don’t feel discouraged.  Even where I am today, I feel I’ve made a mark on the scene and while that’s not a driving force to create, it comes with some good feelings of accomplishment.  Inspiring others to create and put themselves out there is also great reward. It’s amazing how just a few words of encouragement can make such a difference – that’s how I started, with a “kick” from Joss of Grendel, basically saying “just put it out there, let it become what it will be” – best advise ever.

 

Goth scene is so different from rest of electronic scene. In other scenes djs are big players, but in goth scene it is the bands. Why do you think djs never took over in a sense?

I’d say that’s a pretty fair assessment before Covid, that certainly the bands were the biggest thing and that the DJs were just the people that were tucked away in a booth in a dark club.  I think under the goth/alternative banner, maybe that’s because goths like the shadows? The other scenes are maybe more rooted in social presence, popularity? Whereas goth culture is very unique and conformable without being in a spotlight?  It’s a good topic to debate! Though DJs are the ones who get the music out there to the public, so it really is a cooperative relationship. During Covid however, with platforms like Twitch and YouTube, DJs really stepped up and into the spotlight and become players in their own right. Putting shows out, getting artist’s music heard. I too took to Twitch to DJ and being a band as well, it offered me a two-fold benefit, as I got to spin my music and talk to viewers about new things I was releasing. It definitely provided an audience that I wouldn’t have otherwise had.  So many bands/artists just had to sit and wait it all out. Because of Twitch there are some mega huge dark DJs now and the networking and teamwork that has come out of it, is wow – I’m pleased to be a part of it.

 

 

How is the scene in UK? Did Brexit affect it?

The UK scene is actually pretty good and obviously, like the rest of the world, we had a slowdown of everything with no gigs/festivals because of the pandemic, but I think we’re moving forward pretty strongly. Historically the UK saw band tours coming through, definitely to London, and often to the other major towns: Glasgow, Manchester etc. There are also 2 long standing internationally attended festivals: Resistanz and Infest (both of which I’ve performed and DJ’d at).  Even outside the primary cities, it seems every smaller town has some sort of alternative scene – there’s always a rock bar or a once a month club night to cater for the interest.  So I think it’s alive and well in the UK. As for Brexit, it undoubtedly has made things more difficult for ease of travel for international artists, but maybe that also creates opportunity for home-grown talent too.  Hopefully promotors here, don’t encounter too much red-tape to bring bands/artists/DJs to the UK – as I don’t want to miss out on going to great gigs! Certainly since restrictions eased, there have already been a number of international artists/bands here, so maybe that indicates that Brexit won’t hinder as we thought… we can at least hope!

 

 

What are you future plans?

Future plans… well, after the release of my sophomore album BELOW THE TERRA PT.1 on 15^th March, 2022, the 1^st delivery of remixes will be coming: ABSOLUTE ZERO (Rotersand classic ride rework) out 26^th July, 2022. It will just be digital for now, but as more remixes come out, I’m thinking to compile them all onto a physical CD – we’ll see.

I also released some music videos and have ideas floating around for another! So give my YouTube channel a follow.

In addition to working on my own new music, I’ve been kept busy with doing remixes for other artists too and there are some big ones coming out soon, can’t say more on that though!  There’s a page on my Bandcamp where I list all the remixes I’ve done, it’s quite the accomplishment of artist names and proud to have worked with them.  Definitely excited about what’s to come as well! There’s no such thing as a slow down here for me it’s so it’s all guns blazing and keeping that momentum flowing.  Live show wise, have had a number of big gigs in the last months: Electro Vox festival Resistanz festival, opening for Leaether Strip and the last one…. Road 2 Ruin post-apocalypse festival (totally fitting for me!). At the moment no summer gigs planned, I really want to take a little break and re-focus on writing new material for the next album (aim is early ish 2023)…. Stay tuned!

 

Go check MATT out!

https://matthart.bandcamp.com

https://www.facebook.com/djmatthartuk/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1VrlDE2gaDJJJfMjGqo4UQ/videos