- voice of a failed species -
In what is slowly turning out to be some sick joke, we have returned for another installement of Embryo: a magazine put together by Natural Sciences. Lots has happened since the first issue arrived in April 2022. The UK Government has collapsed, gas and electricity prices have risen to the point that neighbours are sharing extension leads through bedroom windows, sewage is getting pumped out into the street and we’re on the brink of nuclear war, but what’s new? In our corner of this so-called underground, we keep doing what we’re doing, using these insignifcant pages to keep shining a torch down into the gutter of the underground and picking out those foolish to put their words to print. In light of the above, the natural and perhaps reasonable response would be to curl up behind the gutterings and await the bomb-blast, hypothermia or measels, but failing that, perhaps there’s something within this issue that’ll act as a temporary tourniquet against the incroaching hell. So within this issue, you’ll find a feature from Shane English who alongside recording his own music as Corporate Park (with Beau Wanzer and XXX) is a collector of all things weird and obscure in the underground tape scene. Here he picks favourite’s from the racks scoping out XXX to XXX. One of our favourite hip-hop labels Tape House U.S.A goes deep into his origins in Chicago’s punk scene and the trials of releasing obscure 90’s Memphis rap. Then the first ever interview with NYC’s Tower 7, who’s hardcore of biological beatdown and conspiratorial sludge have been responsible for two of the mags favourite releases of the last few years. Valentina Magaletti (Holy Tongue, Vanishing Twin) takes a snap of what records are hanging around her pad and there’s an interview with Genesse P Orridge; daughter of Genesis, who’s keeping the legacy of the psychic cross alive with a new memoir and ongoing exhibitions. The Mix comes from DJ Warzone and there’s an accompanying album from Black Zone Myth Chant, who’ll be playing at our launch party here in Manchester. Thanks everyone for gripping and Alex
keep riding the lightning,
ISSUE #2
- CONTENTS CARDINAL & NUN shane english tape house usa TOWER 7 GABRIELLE K. BROWN VALENTINA MAGALETTI GENESSE P. ORRIDGE black zone myth chant SIN OF THE FATHER DOOMLODE Embryo would like to dedicate this issue to Ki Jeal. embryo.mag.mcr@gmail.com Credits Cover Art: Final Dead DJ Warzone Embryo Mix photo: Transki CD album by BZMC Words and Layout by Alex Hall
Embryo #002 comes with a mix from DJ Warzone - a long time friend of Embryo and Natural Sciences who doesn’t let pleasantaries get in the way, with a heavy hittin’ mix that moves through the gnarlier sides of dnb and left-field club cuts. Not for the weak!! < Scan the QR code >
cardinal & nun
DANCING IN THE DEVIL
Could you introduce Cardinal & Nun. When you started and what got you into this messed up industry? I don’t like to introduce me cause I don’t know how to do that haha, but this project is a part of me I studied art (cause I draw since I was a child) and even during my studies music had already an important place. I am very influenced by painting and the dada, expressionist and surrealist movements. And one of my reference artist is Egon Schiele.Therefore cardinal & nun is a nod to a painting with the same name by this artist.
Have you had projects before this. Sounds like you may have come out the hardcore / punk scenes, what did we miss? Yes indeed I had other projects before, basically I started to play vinyl with Hardcore Tribe and Electronic Tracks while listening to a lot of old punk Cold wave band
You’re based in Marseille right? How’s life down there and is it a good spot for doing your thing?
Yes I’m from Marseille, and actually I don’t know if my music belongs here but I try to do my things, I don’t care, (Maybe in France it’s complicated to find yourself musically it just my opinion) I try to do something that comes from deep inside me and be the least influenced by what’s going on around.
Dancing in the Devil came out last year on L.I.E.S which feels like a natural fit. How did you get hooked up with Ron? I was able to meet Ron 2/3 times before in France.He is one of the purest, most natural and authentic people I have met in the industry so I guess things just came together naturally. I guess he could feel me through my music. Then there is the first release “I met the devil”.
Is there much difference between you’re live set and the album? The record has this sick plug-in and let rip vibe to it. I don’t know, I’d say there’s always a little difference between albums and concerts. Because they are not produced in the same atmosphere. Albums are done in the studio where I am alone...In concerts I let myself be totally taken by the energy of the crowd, I love to be in the pit with the audience, it is essential that we live the experience together.
What have you got coming up? Any shows or records to shout about?
Yes some great collaborations should arrive soon I hope. One of them is a project called LAST GASP with Ron morelli Sofiane and myself,Otherwise I personally prepare a next release on LIES Records record still and always. My next show Is IFM festival at the haag Netherland I’m really looking forward to it Lot of great artist will be there. What makes you sick? Last three records you grabbed?
I’m hypersensitive so lot of things can hurts me, But I always keep the good vib. Last 3 records are from Orphx / psychic tv & jack the tab / Korn
SHANE ENGLISH Fringe Of The Fringe - self released tapes from the gray zone
I’ve been collecting music in the experimental/industrial/non-ordinary ambient field obsessively for quite a while now, but the pandemic and lockdown shifted me into an even more steadfast gear. Here’s a few standouts from the last couple years- little moments of solace waiting at my doorstep. Carsten B. Rasmussen + Henrik G.H. - Evocation Of The Will (mid 80s, Denmark) This was a blind buy based on the allure of the title and sigil on the cover- figured it had to be interesting at the least. After popping it in the deck, my jaw dropped and a lost masterpiece of ritual dark ambient was coming out of the speakers. These nearly un-google-able Danish artists created something here that stands proudly in the same caliber as other masters of this style such as Ain Soph, Capricorni Pneumatici, or anything on Nekrophile. For me, listening to this tape goes beyond being merely dark- it feels as if you have foolishly opened a meta physical door without permission.
Belt - S/HE (1991,USA)
This one was put to tape not even a mile away from where I live (Austin, Texas) in a totally normal looking house on the south side of town. A promo blurb from the Factsheet Five zine included in the insert sums it up well: “Imagine dragging your head in gravel while being shouted at in a deep guttural voice that demands you comply to a request that you can’t decipher, this is BELT.” A comparison to Cop-era Swans with a considerably higher depravity level wouldn’t be far off. Brenda Leer - Hue Hue Tenango (1987, Canada)
Darren Copeland - The Three Faces (1986, Canada)
Another blind buy with a nice payoff. We go up north once again with Ontario’s Way off in the distance dread ambience Darren Copeland, an accomplished elecand circular rhythmic machinations troacoustic composer and sound designfrom this Montréal mystery unit. This er. As a teenager in the mid 80s with moves through some stoic heavy elec- no previous musical training, he develtronics zones that would fit right in oped a fascination with early digital on a label like Loki Foundation half sampling technology/synthesizers and started creating audio works. In The a decade later. Three Faces, one of his earliest pieces, he serves up a vivid fever dream miasma with PPG Wave synthesizer and anguished sampled human voice. The whole tape has an almost Black Light District-y (Coil) dimly lit smoky cafe feel.
Natural Disasters - S/T (1986,Hungary) Cut-up radio snippets and primitive blackbox electronics conjure hypnotic post-industrial rhythm cadences. Short-lived group with sounds led by Hungarian artist, György Árvai. Never fully distributed, this is a promo copy I bought from one of the founders of the Divergences/Divisions Festival in Bordeaux, France - who hosted one of their very rare live performances in 1987.
Proletkult - Una Linea Es Una Fuerza (1986, Spain) A fine example of the exceptional things happening in the DIY electronic movement of 80’s Spain. The label Discos Proceso Uvegraf put out a small but very solid group of releases that are all worth your attention. Clearly they were all acolytes of the teachings of Esplendor Geométrico, but here Proletkult goes further and scrawls out something that sounds like Damon Edge and Helios Creed attempting IDM. This also features one of my favorite Jcards of all time. Each one has a gorgeous little hand-painted abstract.
Ras.Al.Ghul - The Experimental Absorption Spectrum (mid 90s, Portugal) Moving on from cult tribal industrial group Croniamantal, members reinvented themselves as Ras.Al.Ghul. The roots and fidelity of their cassette culture beginnings are still present, but you can hear the influence of rave bleeding in. What we end up with is a tape of unique downtempo electronics with an Artificial Intelligence meets late period Muslimgauze presence. This one is just begging to be widely rediscovered.
King Felix - Owl Plane Crash (1988,USA) Difficult to categorize late 80s digital synth + woodwind sonatas from a Florida outsider. Cinematic and ambient at times, but it also somehow shows off some harsh Autechrean post-Confield AI fangs. Photos do not properly capture the wild lenticular Jcard art. Added bonus points are in order for the project name being a reference to a key plotpoint in Philip K. Dick’s gnostic sci-fi masterwork, VALIS.
tape house usa
subversive rap from the midwest What’s up, could you introduce yourself and Tape House USA? I’m Colin Feely. Sometimes go by Crypt when I’m rapping with The Inner Depthz and Graveyard Family. I run THU which is really just my outlet for sharing the music that I love. It’s hard to pin down exactly what I do because it’s super flexible. I really try to reflect in the releases what I’m currently excited about rather than trying to produce something coherent across the board. There have been some strong themes throughout, 90s hip hop and revival genres have been big for sure. We’re about to go into a phase of releasing a lot of Chicago punk. It’ll always be changing I hope.
You’re based in Chicago, right? Yeah that’s right. Grew up in the burbs, but I’ve been living here maybe 8 years. Great city, fucked up city, couldn’t imagine myself anywhere else tho. What made you start the label in the first place? I’ve been running or working as part of a record label pretty much continuously with a few little breaks for about 10 years. My first iteration in 2012 was called Bad Waves Records. The first thing I did was make zines with writings and art from my friends with a cassette companion that had other homies from school playing their original songs or reading short stories or poems. I handed that out at school to whoever would take it. Let’s just say there was a very small overlap between people who had tape players and people who were interested in what I was doing. After I realized that wasn’t going anywhere I started to release DIY punk from around the country. My first tape release was an album called Lancaster Market by Massachusetts emo group Shakusky. It was a mix of twinkling emo and poetry which was being borrowed form Steve Roggenbuck in the concurrent Alt-lit scene, in which I was also heavily active. Sadly that album isn’t online anymore and my tape quality was so shit back then you probably wouldn’t want
to listen to a rip lol. When I discovered a band I had really dug, Best Witches, who came to be one of my all time favorites, were local I started to hit every show I could. That was my first real introduction to DIY spaces outside of the internet and I absolutely fell in love. The scene in Chicago at the time was really active with a lot of variety of bands, styles, and underground venues. Emo was really big here at that time, when fourth wave was going crazy. Through participating in that I came to meet my buddy Olin who ran a label called Friendly Otter records which is currently not active but has been off and on through the last 15 years, releasing some of the highest tier skramz, emo, harsh noise, power electronics and free jazz with some of the most detailed and truly artistic packaging of any label I’ve ever seen. He really inspired me to push what I was doing creatively and take it more seriously. For a while he and I collaborated on a few releases, including the only vinyl I’ve ever released. A single sided 12 inch split between two Texas bands. Cara Neir, a black metal band and Flesh Born who were putting out some of the hottest skramz/powerviolence at the time. After that I focused more on releasing local records from people I was meeting in the community here in Chicago. Artists like Leor Miller and Mormon toasterhead. Eventually the momentum of the scene in Chicago died down quite a bit, a bunch of big bands that were holding things together broke up as well as the group I was playing with. Beyond that a bunch of the houses that were hosting shows in their basements or garages either got shut down or simply moved out.
For 2015 I didn’t release anything and was focused on working and going to school. Sometime that year though, a friend at work party was blasting Tommy Wright out of their phone speakers. I was instantly hooked, wrote down Tommy’s name, and fell down that deep deep rabbit hole of Memphis rap music which I’m sure you and a lot of your listeners are familiar with. Once I really began to fall in love with the scene I knew that it was some thing I wanted to participate in and share but didn’t really have any plans. Mostly I would just shoot the shit with some Memphis rap OG‘s on Facebook and try to learn more about the elusive history of the music. Through Facebook I became pretty tight with a couple artists from Memphis particularly Z-dog and Mac Ramsey, who people might know best as Lil Ramsey from his days with Tommy Wright. One day in 2016 I suggested to Z-dog that we reissue his solo tape with skinny pimp‘s brother AK. By pure coincidence he told me that someone else in Germany had suggested to him the same thing. So the three of us got onto a conference call and decided to start working on the project (it never did come out). But we did release Z-dog’s new album King of the Underground. That was under the newly formed banner of Tape House Group. That partnership came to produce some dope releases like MC Holocaust - Concentration Camp and Tinimaine - Thinkin Out Loud. After a few more releases, my focus wained again as I’d finished school and was working overtime as a bartender most of the time for a few years. When Covid hit that gig was pretty much done for, so I had to refocus and figure out some thing I could do with it being impossible to find a new job in the industry in the newly locked down environment. So I went back to what I always loved doing most. Making tapes and sharing music. .
I reformed as Tape House USA, maintaining the connection to the Memphis rap roots of THG without the connection to the German wing. This was the first time I really conceptualized the label as being a kind of career (hate that word) rather than just a hobby. I’ve been very lucky since then that people have appreciated my vision and I’ve been able to maintain myself and to support more and more artists overtime What’s it like running a label in the Midwest? Is there a supportive scene around what you’re doing? Honestly it’s hard to say because even though I’m based in Chicago it was only within the last couple months that I became involved with local music again. I wouldn’t say that the community is unsupportive but I do feel a huge difference between the communities of 10 years ago and the communities of today. DIY punk etc. used to have a network from coast to coast with something going on and almost every major city and communication happening between all of them. Today it feels much more disjointed, there’s a lot less activity and a lot less centralization of communication. The scene has also just become a lot less DIY with more and more shows happening at clubs than private spaces which I feel effects the whole cultural attitude about the music and takes a bit of the sense of community ownership and agency away.
Describe the day-to-day operations behind running the label: What makes it worth it and the things that grind you the most? Most of my time revolves around shipping and packing whatever orders there are, preparing one or two tapes a week for pressing, exploring new music and keeping in touch with artists and friends in nearly every time zone. Recently I’ve been much more active going to shows here in Chicago to meet bands, sell distro and support groups like Midwestlust behind the merch table. For the most part it’s all great. I really couldn’t ask for better. I’m pretty much doing exactly what I’ve always wanted. The only thing that really gets to me about the work is keeping track of everything. I’m just a totally scatterbrained and unorganized dude so often times if I’m not taking detailed notes I can forget about some customer service request or to respond to an artist who is asking for an update or just wanting to check in. I really hate to be the guy who ignores people or doesn’t follow through on a promise so I’m trying to get better about managing that shit.
Tape House largely releases underground hip-hop but has dipped into dub is that a fair reflection of the musical backbone of the label and your own upbringing? What do you look for in a release? At first, when I was working as THG that idea was to keep things strictly from Memphis rappers or people were inspired by that. I knew that I wanted to keep that as the backbone of what I was doing. Because it’s still a lot of what I listen to. But over the last year or so I’ve been trying to just released whatever I’m interested in or listening to at the time and want to share without much thought of what the audience will think. I’d really just like THU to be a space where I can do my thing without too many rules and people who trust me and my taste can follow along. I think a lot of labels make the mistake of pigeonholing themselves and thinking that their fans will only respond to one thing. Me and most music fans I know have fairly broad interests. In an interview I did with bandcamp a few months ago I said that THU was for anything extreme. Not necessarily to say that it’s all harsh or aggressive but that it comes from the extremities. DIY communities, teenagers producing in their bedrooms, lost dusty tapes from a record store bin.
If it wasn’t obvious from the name, the label puts out cassettes. What draws you to the format? I think I’m drawn to it for the same reason a lot of people are drawn to vinyl. The idea of actually having to interact with the music physically and also the importance of the packaging and design as part of the voice and experience. I just think there are some huge advantages from tape to vinyl. There are almost never any manufacturing errors, tapes will never skip. You can never scratch a tape, so if my absolute favorite records has some small skip or scratch which absolutely drives me crazy and I will never put them on. But, I think what drew me to tapes first was the accessibility. I could get all the materials to make a run of tapes online and I could copy them in my bedroom. I’ve always been really fascinated with all different kinds of music and my favorite thing to do was to share with people and show them something they never experienced before. I remember some of my biggest social satisfactions when I was young being that I had turned some people onto what became their favorite bands. I was constantly through LimeWire, internet playlists, and download blogs just exploring. So when I could start making tapes at home and sharing music with people around the country it was just an extension of that original joy. Still, after all this time it gets me incredibly hyped to see some of my work in peoples collections.
You keep a heavy release schedule and from what I gather, also distro other labels. Is that right and how do you keep sane? I don’t do a ton of distro but I’ve tried to grab copies from some US groups that I support since the scene here is so sparse. I feel like I’ve gotta show love for everyone holding down that Memphis style shit over here. I see it as almost a bit of a responsibility to try and bring all these groups closer. For the most part the stuff that I’ve had has been from J da unknown’s level one records and Crucified Click. As far as the release schedule goes, I don’t know how I do it really. I’m not a very organized guy but there is just so much music I wanna share with the world I’ve had to come to the point where I’m dropping one or more tapes a week. I really don’t want to overwhelm people with all the stuff coming out but there’s so much variety of styles it doesn’t feel like too much of any one thing. How do I stay sane? Really just by not overthinking it, letting things happen when they happen. that’s part of what’s so nice about having so many irons in the fire, things just get released as they come. We really don’t do any pre-adverting or announcements I think that’s what keeps it fun, you never know what you’re going to get so it never gets boring and it’s always worth checking what’s new.
There’s a strong community around this style of hip-hop and it reaches across a number of fringe scenes including Eastern Europe. Would you say the underground is looking healthy right now? Oh for sure. The scene is super active right now and like you said Eastern Europe and Russia are really starting to push stuff forward kind of like Germany has for the last 6-8 years. Right now it seems that there are more artists, labels, collectors, and listeners than ever before. Sadly most of this is limited to Europe, at least in that particular genre. Asbfar as the US scene goes it’s fairly bleak. Really the only labels putting on heavy for that style are Tha Inner Depthz and Criminaliatic Records. Even the markets here aren’t that great. More than 50% of all the tapes order from my website come from overseas.
What have you got coming up? We are also planning to continue the trend of re-issuing some 90s gangsta rap. A few things from Memphis are in the pipeline but I’m trying to refocus a little bit on midwestern in Chicago rap which is super super slept on. I’ve been collaborating with my homie ChiCity1 entertainment Who has the deepest archive of Chicago in Midwest rap tapes and CDs anywhere in the world. Will be picking through, choosing our favorites, and bringing them out over the next couple years. We already dropped one album of this series, Tha War Zone - Incogneat. Next up is gonna be Midwest Madstyle by Ensain James from St. Louis with many more planned. Of course, we’ll continue to be releasing new albums from the crews were closest to the inner depths records an Graveyard family. The last thing to keep watch for is it gonna be a lot more current releases from Chicago hardcore bands. The scene is really popping here rn and there tons of bands I wanna give some exposure too.
If you could release any tape under the label what would it be? For sure it would be the early 90s releases of The Mountain Goats. Any one of them, but especially Hot Garden Stomp. TMG is one of my favorite artists ever and the sound and aesthetic of his early releases, which were recorded on a janky boom box and released with hand drawn covers were probably the first thing that got me interested in the medium. What those albums recording/release sensibilities created was a more direct sense of connection between artist and listener.
Finally, three releases you picked up that are non THUSA affiliated I’ll just hit you with my last three purchases: I’m always picking up what’s new from Criminaliatic Records, so I got that Shogun - Killa and Dexgod - Hounds ov Anubis They’re one of the few other US based labels holding it down for the new school dirty south/Memphis revival sound. Payasa from here in Chicago has been on a come up lately and just released their first EP on tape.Super dope HxC punk I also recently grabbed the last three releases from Eisenfell records. This label has been absolutely crucial to the dungeon rap scene and one of the last surviving “OGs” in Germany after the shutdown of Land ov da Ocean.
TOWER 7
ENTRANCE TO A LIVING ORGANISM
Tower 7 make cruel hardcore from the gutter of New York City. Made up of members of Kaleidoscope, the band blasted onto the scene with their first tape ‘Entrance to a Living Organism’ and their debut LP …Peace on Earth? coming out via their own DMT Labs imprint and Roachleg. It’s a kick to the gut of 90’s hardcore, crust anarcho punk, building collapse, societal breakdown, failings of the military and class struggle. Embryo had the first interview with the band. Dig it!!
There’s not much about you online, so let’s go from the top? What’s your background, how and when you formed the band? Warts ‘n all. O: We’ve all been creating shit together for years going back to our band Kaleidoscope. We decided we wanted to make something that was more in line with our interest in crust and cruel sounding hardcore punk. Something more aggressive and streamlined than what we’d done before, I think. The band name predated the band, Joe had it in his pocket for a rainy day… J: Shiva and I have actually been playing music together since like middle school with shitty 77 punk cover bands, our first real band was Deformity, a dbeat band with some demos and a few 7”s floating around. Tower 7 probably formed mostly out of Owen and Kevin working together and listening to Crude SS and Deviated Instinct all day, got together with shiva with all that pent up energy and came up with some insane riffs that I was super stoked on and happy to be able to yell over.
Is there an underlying idea behind the band? The artwork and song titles bring to mind some dystopian, almost sci-fi undertones? How did things get so messed up? O: I don’t feel like there is an underlying idea behind the band. It’s more a product of being obsessed with playing more and more intense music and having fun writing in an angry, political vein. The dystopia is here in New York…
J: The underlying idea is probably just anger, and general bad feelings. Just another outlet to try to articulate what makes us so unhappy in the world. Things have always been messed up.. capitalism is definitely to blame.
You’re based in New York, right? How is it being a band out there? Positives, what makes you mad, let it all out… O: New York is the best city in the world with the worst nihilistic attitude towards itself. Everything that’s cool about new york is also the first thing that the new york real estate behemoth would also scrub away about itself. As far as being a band, it’s been great to play outdoor shows and have fun in the city with the band itself. Certain gigs have had an “autonomous zone” vibe that has been really refreshing. There are so many talented and driven people here so it feels like we play to peers and to people who care. J: New York is the worst city in the world (just kidding.) Ny does have so much to offer and really can feel like the center of the world, but it’s also so congested, both with people and buildings, and can feel really claustrophobic. There is a severe lack of public space, it’s hard just to find a spot to sit down and eat some food and drink a coffee without being shoved in with a thousand other people. It also feels so over saturated with whatever it is you might be looking for, both in a good way and a bad way. Sometimes it feels like anything is possible and other times it makes everything feel impossible. But right now punk and diy in New York City feels cooler and more inclusive than ever, it seems like there’s so many more people getting involved and is almost dominated by young people where it once felt like there were none except me and shiva. Definitely seems like a good time to be here for punk.
Is D4mt labs your label? When did you get started with that?
O: Yeah we are d4mt labs, it’s just a title we can slap on stuff we do and want to make happen! It’s us playing business. D4mt labs “inc” drives that home. J: Yeah shiva came up with the idea to punk it on our first Kaleidoscope tape as just something to sell it under or something. We tried for a while to avoid the title “label” but it kind of became undeniable after having put out some records with that name. It’s kind of just an umbrella term for whatever we’re doing from our small circle. Can you run us through making the new record? Do you all come into the studio and thrash it out or have ideas in mind? Imagine getting affordable studio space in NYC is a bit of a problem? Lyrically, could you go into it a bit.
O: Well we recorded the demo the first lockdown week of the pandemic since we thought, shit, when else are we gonna have all this time. So after that, with some lockdown still happening, we started putting together the LP. We weren’t necessarily sure what the format or outcome would be, but the idea was to update the sound to what we were listening to more— 90’s crust, south american metal. Bands like Battle of Disarm, Sepultura, Mutilator. In short, the goal was to up the intensity and atmosphere of the demo. Our studio is in the basement of our house so we would just go downstairs, record a bit, come up for a smoke, etc. We’ve been lucky to record all our projects at D4MT Labs because we get to go at our own pace, structure things how we’d like, and do as many or as little overdubs as we want. It’s pretty freeing. The album was fully practiced/ written before recording, with the song “Peace on Earth” coming about in the practice or two before we got down to tracking. J: Lyrically I pretty much was just trying to think of things that really bothered me, made me angry or feel despair, things that I felt like I maybe had something to say about; the various ways the armed forces are total bullshit, capitalistic hell, class war, the “education” system, and general feelings of misanthropy. I tried to make the lyrics as self-explanatory as I could so hopefully they don’t need too much explaining. I wrote about half the lyrics, shiva wrote two songs, and Kevin and Owen each wrote one.
What do the band have cooking in the future? Any plans to tour the UK? If not, why not? J: Hysteric Polemix, TAZ, Abism, Mirage, Narcotic Void, Phantom from New Jersey, Salvaje Punk, Fairytale, XX Rosa, Sordid, Flower
O: Yes to the above. I’ll add Ulna, Manat, Church Clothes, Orc Boiler, Mad Disgusting, Dynoperus Grout, Fertile Crescent, and Bioscare. Finally, fire out some bands from the NYC area we should be checking out O: No idea—we’re just sticking around in NYC for now because Shiva’s got a baby on the way! J: yeah nothin right now, hopefully we can get back on it when shivas kid is a little older and he’s more comfortable with the parent life.
GABRIELLE K. BROWN
canvas, darkness & inner spiritualism Gabrielle K. Brown is a newcomer to the art scene of East Canada. Using a variety of mediums from sheets of wood, traditional canvas and towering sculptures, her work dials into a style of work that feels like it outdates even mankind itself, but bringing the subject-matter through a modern lense. A collaborator on Natural Sciences Recs release with Dalibor Cruz, we caught up with her in studio and went deep into the process and thinking behind her work. Hi Gabrielle, for a total stranger to your work, could you introduce youself and how you got started? Hello, My name is Gabrielle K Brown, I was born in 1994 and I am from the east coast of Canada. I have been making things since I was little and never stopped. I’ve always loved painting and have done it continuously throughout my life and then in 2012 I decided to do it for a living.
You’re based in Canada right? Might be wrong here, but your work seems to draw more on the wilderness than city living. How was it growing up there and how would it say it’s influenced your work? Yes that’s right, I’ve always felt a deep connection to nature. Growing up along the river and mountains has always played a key role in my life and work, I feel they have this power and have freed me in many ways. I’m always drawn to incorporating this feeling in my work as it has personally given me balance and presence
Would you associate yourself with a wider scene of artists? I definitely am grateful to be connected to so many talented artists. I have done a few collaborations which was a good experience each time. But ya, I’m happy to know so many incredible folk artists, contemporary artists and tattoo artists.
Online it mentions how you started out on canvas before moving onto wood and scupltures. What is it about those mediums that appeal to you over ‘traditional’ canavas work? I really have discovered such a deep love for woodcarving and the physical work it takes in creating a piece. So to me it provides a nice balance in between painting. They both are challenging in different ways and going between both mediums keeps me excited.
What’s your daily routine like - do you have studio and just create or is it more considered than that? Well I have a son that is 7 and goes to school so I usually paint weekdays from morning until he’s done and also a few nights a week. I don’t necessarily have a routine I like to keep things open and not have to much expectation. I do have a studio so when I get home from dropping him off I get my paints out or if I’m wood carving I get my tools out and I get things moving. All your work appears to have strong themes running throughout it. Imagine you don’t want to pick your work apart, but broadly speaking, are there some themes you’re keen to explore? I’m most intrigued by the human condition and what it means to be alive. I use my own experience but I like to use my imagination drawing in experiences from others as well. Im fascinated by religion and what it means to be connected to God or Gods or to be a spiritual being. And I don’t shy away from the darkness that exists within us all, I find having a balance in my work between both aspects of life is important to me
What would you say are the main problems facing artists nowdays. Are there any positives? I would say its needing gratification and acknowledgment online, specifically on social media platforms. I just see people creating things that sometimes comes across trendy or is made just to appeal to people online. Also everything is so fast paced now so there is just art being made too quickly and not always done well. The positives are that there is a growing community of artists and collectors supporting and lifting each other up through social media, I am very grateful for it in this perspective.
Valentina Magaletti
to the beat of the drum
I guess the pic speaks itself, this is what I have been listening (and probably will keep listening) until the end of this sweet summer. Martina lussi, Valentina Goncharova,Ennio Morricone, Nuova Compagnia di Canto Popolare, Nina Simone,Sunny Murray,John Hassel,Het Jakoba Priel, Orfeu Negro….
GENESSE P. ORRIDGE TEMPLE OV PSYCHIC YOUTH
Genesse P. Orridge is the daughter of Genesis P. Orridge - the founder of Throbbing Gristle, Psychic TV, COUM Transmissions and once described by the UK tabloids as a ‘wrecker of civilisation’. Sadly now deceased, their daughter carries on the legacy of the psychic cross through a new memoir, clothing range and exhibitions. Hello Genesse - thanks for doing this. How are you doing and what’s on the cards for today? I’m doing reasonably well considering the persistent level of universal mayhem that seems to be ever rattling our psyches on a daily basis. I’d say let’s start from the top, but the work and life of your dad is heavily documented online andin the excellent memoir Nonbinary that you co-edited, so we won’t go into that in much detail,but I wanted to ask, do you have a story when you realised that your upbringing may have been a little different (or not) from others around you? Absolutely, I’d have to say that I had that realization when I started school in the states after our family’s exile from the UK. I hadn’t really spent much time in public school before that because my parents took me and mysister on tour with Psychic TV most of the time. And when we weren’t on tour, we traveled quite a lot. Plus, in the UK, we were surrounded by our community of friends,members of T.O.P.Y, lots of similarly alternative types. But when I started school in the states at age seven in a quaint country town called Occidental in Northern California, I realized full-on. We were very different from the kids at school and the people who lived there. Luckily for us though, people were accepting and more intrigued and interested, especially in my dad – of course, rather than threatened.
Your father has been described as the creator of industrial music, transgender icon and ‘wrecker of civilisation’. For you, what is your fathers legacy? This is something I could probably go on about so I’ll try to keep it short and sweet. My father’s legacy has so many different facets – music, artistry, philosophy, breaking the status quo, trying to wake people thefu*% up...to name a few. But for me, my father’s legacy is about love: radical self-love and self-expression, uncovering and / or knowing who we are as individuals and loving ourselves, loving others for themselves not what you think they ought to be or society says they should be, allowing for differences, growth, and accepting it. Hope that makes sense, it’s a hard one to pin down I guess.
One of the many striking stories of the memoir was your house being raided for occult andsatanic artifacts. Did they ever give a reasoning for that or was it rooted in your father’s notorietyin the press at the time? How did it make you feel? Reasoning yes, but based in reality or factual evidence, not in the slightest. My father’s notoriety was definitely a huge part in how it unfolded but the catalyst was a fabricated videotape that aired on national television at the time claiming to be real footage of satanic rituals committed by my dad and “cult followers.” It was also the early 1990’s and satanic panic was still a strong fear amongst the general public so this story gained traction from that also. How did it make me feel... traumatized. I left my home, my country of origin, my extended family and friends to go on holiday at age six and couldn’t safely return until age twelve for my grandad’s funeral. We were forced to rely on the kindness of others to start a new life in a new country because of a lack of civil rights, hatred of what is different, fear of people leading alternative lifestyles, and prejudice. It was really difficult. I still struggle with the fall out to this day. Mostly the sadness of not knowing my extended family better. Luckily I forged an incredible community for myself in California but I always miss and feel connected to England.
You hit the road and studio with Psychic TV. How old were you at the time and was it as fun as itsounds? Bit different from what other kids must have been up to! How do you look back on the whole period? I was on tour with Psychic TV by age two. My parents and the band would typically stay with friends or TOPY members on tour and leave me to be looked after but also, oftentimes, I was at the shows. I remember those years very fondly and had a great time. To this day I have the super talent of sleeping through loud noises because I would inevitably end up passed out next to a big subwoofer or something like that before the shows ended. And I’m pretty sure being around for the acid house Psychic TV tours directly led to my rave phase in the Bay Area, CA U.S. during my early teens.
The imagery around Throbbing Gristile, COUM and Psychic TV is so iconic and you can see theinfluence everywhere (this magazine included) and feels like every other band logo nowadayshas some similarity to the psychic cross. Can you remember your father creating some of this work and what their process was like? Oh definitely, I completely agree. I was very interested in my dad’s art process. We would make collages together and my dad wouldshow me how to cut around pictures very precisely with haircutting shears. Everything my dad gave to someone or made and gave away always had a Psychic Cross, or “23”, ora signature phase, something like that; branding everything with special symbols and signifiers of the origin. My dad just had a knack for that kind of thing and really liked making emblems as if to elicit curiosity and create a network with them.
When we met in London you said you were busy going through your fathers archive of artworkand memorabilia. Could you talk us through the sort of things they kept and what the processwas like? Imagine it was a bit of an emotional rollercoaster. Ha, yes and the project continues.My dad kept so much stuff! There are letters from W.S. Burroughs and Brion Gysin, little bits of paper with poems and lyrics written on them, rare books, mail art from artists all over the world that they sent back and forth to one another, kind of everything you’d expect really - a treasure trove of culturally significant artifacts from my dad’s life andexperiences. The project has been an emotional rollercoaster at times, of course. I’ve wished to hear stories of found items first hand or just been overwhelmed being amongst all those personal belongings that used to all be in my dad’s home. But, the goal is to catalog everything meticulously and hopefully get the archive into an institution so it can used for research and other things. It really is too fascinating to be kept private.
The exhibition “Breyer P-Orridge: We Are But One” recently debuted in Brooklyn. Can you talkus through the exhibit - what you wanted to evoke through the work, favourite work in thecollection, challenges faced and are there plans to take it to other cities? This exhibition was really special to be a part of and share with the public. It was the first institutional exhibit showcasing the journey and evolution of BREYER P-ORRIDGE, the singular entity taken on by my father and he/r wife, Lady Jaye. The exhibit focuses on the artwork they made together becoming one, known as the Pandrogyne project, and documents their transformation process. The aim was to shed a light on their artistic process but also the love story and philosophy behind it. My favorite piece was my own contribution to the exhibit. And I say this only because the experience in creating it was so cathartic for me. I felt so deeply connected to my dad making it and given that my father passed in March 2020, we had virtually no true memorial or proper space for grief or reflection. I left the funeral and went home to living alone during lockdown. Building my temporary temple, Altared State, gave me the opportunity to honor my father and everything s/he taught me. I’m so grateful I could do something like that and it was a precious experience. And yes, the hope is to travel the exhibition to other cities and countries. We are currently discussing touring it with several institutions.
The rolling back of abortion rights in the U.S and wider shifts to farright / conservative politicsand giving up control of your body is something your father resisted their whole life. How did things get so messed up? This has been a staggering time in the U.S. and I know my fatherwould be as fired up about the state of things as I am. Truly, it’s been a very foreseeable event. Apathy is the culprit here as it is with so many of the issues we are facing. Apathy and corruption but the corruption of the system is what has led to such systemic apathyin this country. My dad said wanted people to wake up and that’s what we need to do tosurvive as a species and for the earth itself to survive. I know a lot of people who aren’t bothered to vote because they don’t think it counts, and true its hard to trust the system,but the far-right vote and so even though more than half this country is pro-abortion theconservatives are managing to chip away at human rights unchecked.
Your father’s life and perspective on gender identity is more relevant now than ever. Clearlywe’re still far away from this being widely accepted, but was curious on what this was likegrowing up in even more conservative times and how it molded you into adulthood? My father was surrounded by very dynamic, alternative, accepting people as much as possible so I was lucky not to experience much first hand prejudice regarding he/r gender identityuntil adulthood where I have dealt with bigotry and trolls. One memory dealing with itwas visiting my dad in Queens, NY when s/he was starting to present in a way typically presumed to be female, I was approximately seventeen. My dad cautioned me when I got there before going out that if I could, it would be better to refrain from calling he/r “dad” so as not to confuse anyone (strangers) in public. S/he said to me that people assume that s/he is a female and when people get confused, they can get angry and sometimes that leads to violence so best to be careful. The logic made sense and I knew it was true, especially in the area we were living at the time
Are you involved in music yourself? Are there any bands you’re particularly feeling at the moment? I’ve written songs before but nothing I’d sing myself. And I don’t play any instruments though I always wanted to play electric violin like my dad. I’ve been listening to Drab Majesty and Cold Cave a lot recently. They both have a style of sound I really like. What’s the future looking like for you? Anyone you want to shout-out? I’m working hard to create more visibility for my father’s legacy. I feel really strongly about that. There’s so many important lessons and values that I believe could inspire a lot of people. I’ve got some cool things in the works, TBA soon! And, I’m currently working on getting some translation deals for Nonbinary: A Memoir into different languages as well as an audiobook version.
Black zone myth chant shadows of the monolith
Black Zone Myth Chant’s “Bad Decisions” accompanies the second issue of Embryo Magazine. With previous releases on Editions Gravats and his own label, Maxime’s music spans industrial dub, spiritual jazz, cosmic awakenings and his own version of hip-hop grind which makes up the sounds found within the record you’ll find on the accompanying CD. Ahead of our launch party we got down and attempted to peel back the ritual. Introduce yourself and how you got wrapped up in this messed up industry? Hey, my name is Maxime and I’m from France. I guess I never thought it through but I started to make electronic music as a teenager and I never stopped, and thanks to the internet I could share my stuff and get a bit of interest which resulted in releasing albums and playing live shows, which is all I always wanted without really consciously realizing it. You’re based in Marseille. How was it growing up there and what (if any) influence did the city have on your musical outlook? I’m based in Rennes, kinda the opposite of Marseille (where I was last week), geographically speaking, but very similar in terms of spirit. There was a cool electronic music scene in Rennes while I was growing up (both a nerdy laptop electronica scene, which I was very into, and a strong breakcore scene, that I didn’t enjoy much back then). IDK how it did influence me, but of course it was the background I was living in with my friends together in high school and we started to share music and do stuff together.
What’s the general scene like there - do you feel connected to a group of musicians or artists? It’s a rather small city, too small to have lots of different scenes, so interestingly enough there’s a scene that relies more on spirit (DIY culture basically) rather than on style or genre. There’s still a gap between the experimental and the club scene and I’m one of the very few to be part of both worlds, and my goal for the near future is to connect those. That’s why I started a night with a friend of mine (a young and very talented DJ named Rinemax) which purpose is to organize experimental parties, with both live shows and Dj’s. For a long time I was away a lot, touring a lot, and I had no energy (and little interest) to do things locally but it has changed for a couple of years and now I want to do stuff here, and use my experience and connections for the benefit of the scene here.
You also release under High Wolf. What’s the sonic or aesthetic difference between these two monikers? Not sure if I’ll do it ever again. I think it’s an aesthetic I’m done with, and a way of doing things too, that I grew past. There was a naive approach and a kinda primitive set up, due to a lack of means and gear, that I could not recreate today. High Wolf is what, or who I was in my twenties I guess. Now I long for more precise and designed sounds, I mean it’s all very different, and I guess it might grow soon into something new that will maybe, eventually, leave BZMC behind in the same way…?
In terms of releases, you haven’t released anything for quite a while then had a recent 12’ out. What prompted this move and what were you doing in the interim? Well, it’s kind of a long story but it started from a conversation we had with my friends over at the Editions Gravats label, basically we were wondering how I could recreate the impact of my live shows back then on a record, mainly an EP. We realized that my way of doing things was too messy in a way, which was cool for atmospheric and mysterious track but not so much for powerful beats. So I decided to go back to making music with a computer (which I left behind wayyy back, long before even starting High Wolf). So I did start to re-learn Ableton, bought better speakers and it took a bit of time to do that EP. I still produce a LOT of music but I’m more and more super very picky with what I wanna release. It was so different when I started, I could do 5 or 6 albums a year, I didn’t care. Now I want to give something new and different (for me) with each release, and wait as long as I need to. There’s also a lack of patience probably, as I have some very good stuff in there, imo, that I don’t record properly or finish, and can leave at a 90% done state for months and months…the older I get the more I want to do the fun part (create) and the more I procrastinate for the annoying stuff (editing, mixing etc). So there is a lot of music in an incomplete and unfinished state. Winged Sun is your own label right? What made you get started with that? What you got coming on the label? Well it’s a label I started in 2008, back in the High Wolf days, and that I was using to release tapes of my own. Now when this EP I made couldn’t happen on Editions Gravats, as it was originally supposed to, I talked with a bunch of friends and the general consensus was that the best idea was to release it myself. Little did I know that plant would be 9 months behind… Paint a picture of how you work in the studio - are the tracks improvised or more labor intensive? What equipment do you turn to? Well nowadays it’s a bit of both. I learnt Max MSP during covid and now I spend time working on patches, see where it leads me, work on some options for live manipulations, work on sound design and then I improvise with this tool. It’s kinda each track starts with a specific patch that becomes an instrument and almost like a score too, in a sense. Unless I work on some more “club oriented” tracks, kinda like the EP I self released, then the process is a bit different. I kinda go from one method to the other, depending on my mood. I think the more experimental approach is best for me, because it’s less frustrating and more spontaneous, so I frequently “decide” that I’ll only do that from now on, but I still want to do some cool beats sometimes so I come back to it every time even if I’m sure I gave up on that for good lol.
Describe the process behind the new record on Natural Sciences. Was there a particular sound / feel you were aiming for and how is it different / or not from your previous project? I did it in a very short period of time, I was a bit fed up with making beats in a very focus way (see above) so the idea was to make short tracks, not to overthink structure or that kind of thing. We decided on doing something together you and me a while ago and it kinda influenced me to use some of my rap / trap / drill influences and use it in a slight experimental, kinda like what I wish cloud rap would be.
You’re going on the road across September with a show in Manchester on the 16th. What’s your approach to this and how is it different from your studio recordings? It’s very different and that’s why I gave up on the idea of releasing music from my live shows (unless it’s recorded live). Basically I create music specifically for it, and the idea is to have sequences and sound design for each track and work on some Max patches or effects and a bunch of stuff so that it’s different every time I play. Also I almost don’t rehearse as I became more and more phobic of the idea of getting bored and repeat myself. On tour each show is very different than the previous one and that’s what I want. That’s why I did switch my live set up to computer a few months ago (I did stick to machines a bit longer after I went back to using Ableton in the studio). It’s the most flexible tool. I just started a new process for a 100% improvised live show, with a monster patch that allows me to improvise sequences in a cool way (took me a while to figure it out, as I didn’t want to improvise with a step sequencer, because I’m so fed up with that very limited approach). I recently did play one live show with it, although it is still a work in progress, and I was very satisfied with the feeling it gave me. The thing is that I’m not sure it really fits with BZMC so I’m thinking of using a new name for this, which will probably be the name I gave to the system / patch, X:COM . Although it’s written in a different style that I don’t know how to do with a computer keyboard…I can draw it for you. Something else I wanna add is that I don’t think live performances’ main aim should be to please people (the audience), at least not directly. Performers should do what they really want to do and trust the audience, trust that they can focus or understand something a bit challenging. It shouldn’t be too easy for the audience. I see a lot of electronic music live performances that sound great, playing some very well structured tunes but it’s kinda like playing an album at this point, nothing bad happens because nothing bad can happen, the whole thing is locked and secure, and that’s boring, and that defeats the purpose of live music. I know club pressure is enormous and you don’t have a choice really, when you perform live in there, but it’s absurd to ask for a live act to be similar to a dj set. It shouldn’t be. During lockdown I listened to a lot of the Autechre live onesix files, that just came out back then, and I was so impressed with how they don’t give a fuck, they just do their thing, and while doing that they respect their audience as much as possible, because they are true to themselves. I find it so inspiring.
SIN OF THE FATHER
iconoclasm & subversive body art
Introduce yourself and what got you into art? I am originally from Worcestershire but recently moved into abandoned Book Shop squat in North London with some close friends and artists. My introduction to art was at an early age but through the influences of fashion. I became obsessed from an early age in contemporary designers, photographers and artists such as Helmet Land, McQueen and Goya , artists that take a subversive approach to design and execution.
Did you do art formally at college or something? If so, do you think these experiences have a positive influence? I self taught myself fashion history for a long time but then went onto pursue a college degree in which I realised I was awful at making actual garments and this wasn’t really my field for a career. Failing my college degree twice i decided to take time off to discover how to express myself artistically on my own germs which took a long time, a ton of procrastination and failed projects. At the start of lockdown I decided to indulge in making graphics on my mobile phone just for fun, making trashy, vulgar images using elements of religion, iconoclasm, and gore which eventually gave way for the name Sin Of The Father, which felt very fitting and for the ethos of what I wanted to present in the long run.
Could you describe what your work practices are like - paint a picture of your studio and techniques My methods have developed since I began. Now I always incorporate photography as much as possible, collage technique, printing and scanning, plus pre and post editing, so it feels like everything isn’t too digital and soulless.
What are the main influences behind your work? Art, music or otherwise? The biggest influence has always been music, family and iconoclasm. Each piece is always born from an idea that is part of a catalyst creates by one of these 3 things, like the trinity of creating. I think this why I focus mainly on working with music artists, I try and seek these elements in their sounds and bring to life theirs and my vision to create unique pieces that speak for themselves and the music.
You’re based in London, right? Does that feed into what you do? What’s it like being an artist there? Is there a scene or a collective you see yourself as being a part of? London has been the best opportunity and part of my journey so far, I have a lot to thank for Judgement Hall, Chronic Illness and Under My Feet which are 3 London based collectives which gave me opportunities to present my work and vision from very early on with tons of support and trust. A special thanks to Fung Neo and Trojanovskx for all of their help and inspiration they have provided.
What would you say are the main issues facing artists at the moment? Let it rip.. what really pisses you off I think the main issue concerning artists is for one, knowing your worth, never selling yourself short and being resilient in choosing how much to charge for the shit you’ve created and put time into. A simple thing like tagging the artists name once the work is presented is something that is constantly missed and is a fuckin piss take as its as simple as tagging a name, takes 2 seconds and helps the artists massively, sometimes more than money, basic shit that shouldn’t even have to be spoken about. Any projects you’ve got coming that you want to shout about? Future projects im working on currently include an ep with my close friend Trojanovskx which will include live sets to be presented towards the end of the year under our project name Hands of Providence. I’ll be Djing in Greece for close label associate osm tapes and hope to play some more dates in Europe in the winter. Some future exhibitions around London within the coming months and a performance with the Chronic Illness gang in Lisbon on the 10th of December which include a shit ton of live performances, exhibitions, visceral Body performance art and DJ sets.
Last three records you bought or any artists work want to big up Last 3 records I brought were E Sagilla - Corporate Cross on Hospital Productions Misery Engine - Eyes of the state Wvaalam Klous - CrimeTime Special Recommendations would be Death Kneel, Knifedoutofexististence, misery engine, Junta Cadre, Trojanovskx, Wvaalam Klous, Phage Tapes, Choke Chain
doomlode
THE NUCLEAR LAUNDRY
Doomlode is new to Embryo but the music is an echo which has run through the ages and endemic of the times - a creeping paranoia of industrial holocaust, factory pollution and human rot that lurks behind all television broadcast and is deep set behind the cortex of humanity. Sonically channelling the essence of minimal wave and one-off private press recordings, the nuclear laundry first appeared as a tape before a limited vinyl reissue - we broadcast live from the shadows of the pleasure beach and got behind the root of the rot.
Hi Neil, there’s next to no info about you out there, so start at the top -introduce yourself, what got you up to this point? Is Doomlode your first project or have you had other projects? Well, I’ve been making music for quite a long time, since the ‘90s, although I only started releasing music in 2013 when I put out a couple of tapes on Skam Records (under the names Meatbingo and Phono Ghosts). Since then, I started my own label (Fonolith) and have been steadily releasing music both under my own name and a variety of aliases. As well as the ones previously mentioned I also record as The Night Monitor (a project dedicated to soundtracking alleged paranormal events with synths), and Doomlode is my latest incarnation.
You’re based in Blackpool right? It’s not a city you normally associate with music or a particularly thriving underground scene. Is this totally wrong? Did the city have any bearing on the forming of your music? You’re not wrong! There isn’t really a scene as such here. I know a few friends locally who make electronic music, but it’s always felt quite isolated musically here and so there hasn’t really been the kind of community build up that you might find in a bigger city. I wouldn’t say that being from Blackpool has had any particular impact on the way I make music. I am a bit of a recluse so I don’t really soak up influences from my surroundings as such! The Nuclear Laundry has just come out via Fonolith. Talk us through the process of making the record? What equipment do you turn to? I actually started recording the album in 2018. I deliberately wanted to do something away from computers and software, and focus on the creative limitations of using just a few limited bits of hardware gear. So I set up a little Fostex cassette four-track as the basic recorder, and started sketching ideas using a few simple devices like the Korg Volca Bass & Keys - very cheap and basic little synths, but they sound good and cover just enough sonic ground to allow creativity without getting bogged down in limitless options. Then I gradually added a few things like the Yamaha VSS-30 sampling keyboard, which became an essential key part of The Nuclear Laundry sound, with its crunchy 8-bit lo-fi character appearing all over the album. I sampled a lot of dialogue from a few old TV documentaries about Windscale/Sellafield, and one of those also gave the album its title. The whole thing came together over a few months, just letting each piece build up in a very spontaneous way, avoiding too many overdubs and keeping first takes whenever possible. It was a conscious decision to not spend time overly refining and editing things, and I’d say 99% of everything I recorded got used on the final album. I’m not really sure why it took so long to release the album. I was (and still am) very happy with how it turned out. I guess I became side-tracked with other projects and this one just happened to fall by the wayside until now. I’m really pleased with the positive reactions I’ve received, so maybe now was the right time for it.
Through the samples and imagery, the record has an apocalyptic / nuclear fallout atmosphere to it, which feels particularly poignant at the moment. Is this something on your mind? Do you think we’re moving towards a disaster scenario? It certainly feels like the world is heading in a very dark direction lately. Whether that will ultimately take a nuclear form, who knows? I very much hope not! Whichever way things go in the next few years, we’re unquestionably in a dark period in history. This is a factor in exploring the Doomlode project. Even though the subject matter of The Nuclear Laundry is a historical one, it still feels relevant to the current world, I think.
I went to Chernobyl before the pandemic and the atmosphere you get just being there is really striking. Is there an environment that you’ve been to that has triggered a similar emotion? I can imagine Chernobyl having an incredibly potent atmosphere. No, I haven’t personally visited anywhere like that although it would be fascinating to do so. My Dad did take me as a kid to visit local nuclear plants (Heysham, Sellafield) in the 1980s, and I was aware of a certain ominous vibe, even at that young age. Of course, that decade was drenched in nuclear fear, and it was inevitable that some of that would seep into my consciousnes
Sonically, what are the inspirations for the record? A main inspiration was a lot of the ‘80s DIY tape scene. Not necessarily any particular artists, but just in general how bedroom artists from that period were often necessarily working with very basic setups - maybe just one monosynth and a four-track (or maybe even just bouncing between two tracks on a stereo machine), maybe a delay pedal and a simple drum machine if they were lucky - and how those limitations (at least what we’d judge today as being limitations) actually seemed to enhance the creativity of the resulting music. It’s rough-hewn, unpolished, but you can almost hear the direct connection between thought and sound somehow. Maybe because it’s harder to self-censor and edit with a basic setup. It’s much more difficult to fully place yourself in that same kind of limited creative head space now that music production tools are so ubiquitous with computers and software. So I was trying to channel something of that approach with this record.
What’s in the pipe-line for Doomlode? Any future projects you can share? I am planning to return to Doomlode at some point in the future and hope to make another album or at least an EP. I have made a few tentative steps in recording but as of right now there is nothing concrete lined up. In the meantime though, there is a very limited (100 copies) vinyl edition of The Nuclear Laundry coming out on the Feral Child label in the not too distant future.
Finally, the last three records / tapes etc that have restored some faith in humanity? That’s a difficult one, as I rarely listen to music nowadays. When I’m not working on my own music I’m more likely to be listening to podcasts such as The Saucer Life and Our Strange Skies - both concerned with the weird stories and history of the UFO scene, which is one of my obsessions! Musically in recent years I enjoyed a lot of what the 0PR (Zero Point Research) tape label put out, in particular the Cosmic Call album.