An interview with Pretty Lightning - Feedback Fever - A Fuzz Club Festival In Lisbon

Next weekend Sabotage Club will host a special event; Feedback Fever - A Fuzz Club Festival In Lisbon.

Two nights dedicated to six bands, unfortunately, Nonn won't be here, but we will have the Portuguese band Summer of Hate instead. 10 000 Russos and Dreamweapon are the two other portuguese bands playing, both representing Fuzz Club, as well as the italian duo Throw Down Bones and the french SerVo.

Pretty Lightning, the German duo of Christian Berghoff and Sebastian Haas will be one of the acts sealing this so very special collaboration ( my favorite club and my favorite label ), and that's the main reason for this interview. It was one of the bands I had on my "things to do list", and this was the perfect time. Listen to their music and read what they have to say about it, let yourselves go on these two perfect summer nights.

Songs to Nowhere - Could you introduce Pretty Lightning to our readers and perhaps talk about how you guys met and how the band started?

Pretty Lightning - Hi! We were small town kids/teens from the southwest of germany who were strung out on garage punkrock. Starting a band just seemed likely.

STN - Is there a story behind the name of the band? Could you share it with our readers?

Pretty Lightning - Yes, it´s the story of 80000 Volt:

As a Dragon Eye Morrison undergoes electro-shock treatment for his aggressive behavior. The levels of sheer energy absorbed by his body over the years allow him to channel and conduct electricity. Now an adult, Morrison works in the city as a reptile investigator and has learned to channel his rage through the performance of aggressive guitar-based noise. Meanwhile, Thunderbolt Buddha, a TV repair man turned vigilante, who has the same electro-conductive powers after a childhood accident, goes after crime bosses and gangsters. When both men learn of each other's existence, Thunderbolt Buddha challenges Morrison to a final showdown on the rooftops of Tokyo.

STN - Could tell us a bit more about a couple of songs? I would like to suggest Mantra de Morte.
 

Pretty Lightning - Mantra de Morte was recorded to celebrate 10 years of MeuDiaDeMorte Rec. MDDM is run by a founding member of Datashock, a collective of friends playing improvised free-folk-spook-kraut music.Both of us are also part of Datashock, it works like a base, as all (loose) members have also different bands and projects that are connected through the collective. And there are quite a few: Schrein, Flamingo Creatures, Yagow, Bunte Truppe, Phantom Horse... When MDDM and Datashock turned 10, a 10 disc lathe cut box set was released, which features most of these acts.

Feedback Fever - A Fuzz Club Festival In Lisbon June 28th and 29th

STN - How was the music scene while you were growing up? Was that something that influenced you to start a band?

Pretty Lightning - There was a little punk scene and that´s where most of the Datashock members know each other from and we´ve been all playing together in different bands ever since. So yes, it all started back then.

STN - In this time, what were the biggest challenges the band had to face?

Pretty Lightning - I don´t remember any real challenge, and it should never be. I mean, recording an album for example is always a lot of work if you do it mainly by yourself and this can be challenging. Figuring out news skills, long recording nights, exhausting rides on one side / shows that don´t get confirmed on the other side... this can all be challenging of course, but that´s also what it´s all about, somehow, isn´t it?

STN - Where did you learn to play? Did you have lessons or anything like that?

Pretty Lightning - We both had a few lessons, but that´s a long long time ago, it was before we even met.

STN - How did you buy your first gear?

Pretty Lightning - It was bought by our parents. Thanks again!

STN - Can you tell us how was your first rehearsal?

Pretty Lightning - No clue, I seriously don´t remember.

STN - And the first show?

Pretty Lightning - I remember that exactly. We were lucky because we had the chance to open for Quintron and Miss Pussycat. We were really overanxious and we could barely play our instruments. Well, not much has changed since then, but we´re getting used to it.

Pretty Lightning - This Machine is Running -  The Rythm of Ooze, 2017

STN - How did you got acquainted with Fuzz Club??

Pretty Lightning - Of course we were aware of Fuzz Club before they even knew about us. The first time we actually met was at Eindhoven Psych Lab, but we only had a brief chat. About a year later they invited us to contribute to one of their Reverb Conspiracy releases. When Fuzz Club got in touch again around a year later, we had just finished a new record, it was a good timing. And it was the first time we didn´t have to send out our stuff out to different labels, it just worked out straight away, lucky us! But even before Fuzz Club we were very lucky having the opportunity to work with amazing record labels. Fonal Rec., Cardinal Fuzz and Sound Effect Rec. were all really great, not only musicwise.

STN - What can we expect from your show at Feedback Fever - A Fuzz Club Festival In Lisbon, where you’ll be sharing stages with your label mates, Nonn, Dreamweapon, 10000 Russos, Throw Down Bones and SerVo?

Pretty Lightning - As we´ll come by plane, our gear will be a limited, so maybe it´s gonna be a bit more stripped-down, but still cool. Hopefully ;)

 Pretty Lightning - Marble Moon - ( A Magic Lane of Light and Rain, 2015 )

STN - If you could time travel, were would you like to go see a show or play?

Pretty Lightning - 2200, it would be interesting to hear what music sounds like in a few hundred years.

STN - What song or band is currently blowing your brains out?

Pretty Lightning - 75 Dollar Bill, they are about to release a new record this (or next) month and we´re both excited!

STN - The last word is yours!

Pretty Lightning - Thanks for your questions, see you soon. Looking forward!

Mais Info

https://prettylightning.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/prettylightning/

https://fuzzclub.com/portfolio/pretty-lightning/

https://www.facebook.com/events/415374599195412/

https://open.spotify.com/artist/7cxUlm72bVm4fGkmWWjzkG?autoplay=true&v=A

the Italian Job - An interview with Crimen

This is a piece about Italian bands, Italian bands I like, some of them I recently learned about.  A couple of months ago while researching I found my self listening to more than half a dozen bands that I could rout back to Italy. I dig a bit more and some more awesome bands came into the light, at least into my light. I don't usually pay that much attention to that kind of details such as the origin of the band but this time it seemed to be the perfect excuse to do something else. 

Crimen by Irene de Marco 

Crimen is a band from Rome, a trio with the traditional formation of rock; drums, guitar, and bass but they're sound should not enter only on this category, this for those of you who like keeping every band on every predetermined space and stuff like that. For me, it's rock and something else. They released their debut album Silent Animals last year through Fuzz Club and rest of the story you can read about just below. My favorite song was for more than a couple of months Batida but Silent Animals has much more than one song to offer, so read, listen and share because anyone here lives only from thin air, but everyone here breathes music. 

STN - I read that at the beginning Crimen was a duo, and after 3 or 4 years you became a trio, and that was probably the big change in everything, because I was digging up stuff about you, and let me say it was not that easy, and a few songs on SoundCloud sounded a bit different than what we find in Silent Animals… I would like to know it from you, how it all happened.

We had quite a non linear path. We have always been a trio, but we've had two other drummers before Peppe. Our first works (a demo and an EP titled Lies and produced by Kramer) were more focused on a post-rock/shoegaze sound. When Peppe joined us, we started working on different rhythms and a more accessible and positive mood, though our music can't be considered easy or sunny. 

STN - To Google for Crimen is not that easy. In several languages means Crime and stuff related to. I was more successful once I memorized that álbum is called Silent Animals. Why this name for the álbum?

Yes, from a marketing point of view it's a suicide, we are often tagged on facebook on crime articles from Mexico or South America and it's pretty funny, it's the kind of shit we love. The album title was proposed by Patrizio (guitar) and we liked it. "Silent Animals" could be both because we feel a bit that way, being some kind of outsiders, and because we like that image. After all, we wanted a title that sounded clean and easy, especially to memorize: it's very "open" to every interpretation, so we are glad when someone give us his or her own view.

Crimen - Six Weeks

STN - I really love the cover of the álbum, especially for the colors, The palm trees are the vegetation were your Silent Animals are hidden?

Exactly! We just had a clear idea about which colors we would use, then came the idea of the palms, because we love tropical stuff like coconuts and pineapples, and we added a touch of psychedelia with the colors. The cover represents an attempt to explain our will to make loud music with a new mindset and an easy writing: from our point of view, a palm tree can remind both a Wham album cover...or a Gun Club one!  We like to have the control over every step of the production (the album was recorded and mixed by Simone - bass and vocals - at his studio), so also the cover has been made by ourselves. Though, for the next work we'll change a bit this approach.

STN - The first of your songs I listened to was Batida. I’m always seeking things and Batida came up in one of those moments I’m almost like just browsing. It Was immediate. Listened to it 4 or 5 times, it’s a bit addictive, isn’t it? But tell, what does it talk actually about?

Batida has a funny story. In the beginning the title was Meloni (melons) but Patrizio didn't like it and convinced us to change it (but Simone and Peppe still call it Meloni). It's about people loving other people which unfortunately love other people, and when it's all said and done nobody is satisfied. Every time we play it live, we introduce it as "a desperate love song", and it's true and funny at the same time, cause people expects a ballad instead it's a punch on the face.

Crimen by Irene De Marco

STN - I’m also curious about Above the trees, it was on SoundCloud much before the rest of the songs of Silent Animals.

Hey! You definitely did your homeworks! It's the first time someone notices this. Above the trees was ready much before we even thought to Silent Animals. It can be considered the link between our present and our past, the track of the change. There's a beautiful videoclip of the song on Youtube, directed by Lorenzo Castelli. A little fun fact, is that the version on the videoclip is not the same on the album, it has a different mix and mastering, and a different intro timing.

STN - Silent Animals is very diverse in rhythm and ambients, almost like if you were telling a story, without letting us know the title or the theme. Could you please explain a bit how it was to create Silent Animals ?

Silent Animals can actually tell a story, which is our story in the last years. It gathers a lot of different moments of our evolution, and it contains songs written in a long range of time. It's a bit like a diary, that's why some songs can sound very different from the others. Creating this album has been difficult and reckless but, eventually, pretty surprising, because we really wanted to do something different, without forcing ourselves: the ending verse of Hit Mania Death is not only a reference to 90s dance music, but a wish and a statement of what we did: "This time, everything I want is the rhythm of the night": ease and clear about our new intents.

Crimen - Above the threes

STN - Where did you all learned to play? Did you had lessons or something like that?

We are all self-taught, except Peppe who took a few drums lessons many years ago. Simone started playing bass with Crimen in 2007 (he HAD a bass, but he had never played it before), Patrizio has played guitar since he was 12 or 13. 

STN - How did you buy your first gear? 

We were quite young, so we bought it by collecting money as every teenager from the working class. When we grew up and started working, we could afford some more expensive gear and a little recording studio, which is not Abbey Road, but let us be completely independent over production.

STN - Can you tell us how was your first rehearsal?

A complete disaster! Simone came with the abovementioned bass he owned (an old malfunctioning Vester) with no case, just keeping it with a hand like a chicken. We didn't know each other very well, so it was a bit weird. The first thing he did, was plugging the bass into the guitar amplifier. Patrizio standed in the room staring at him with an interrogatory expression on his face. Then he told "ehm, I guess that's the guitar amplifier".

STN - How was it your first tour in italy?

Over the years we played mostly in Rome, our city, and a bit around Italy, but we never did a continuative tour. We tried to organize one in the last year, after Silent Animals was out, but in Italy, if you don't play pop shit, it's not easy to find a booking. Also in the underground circuit, often it's not easy to find dates if you don't know the promoter personally. It's a big pain in the ass, and it gets you down sometimes, but we hold on as we've always done.

STN - How the local music scene for you? Are there venues that were anyway crucial for you?

We have a couple venues of the heart, in Rome. One is Alvarado Street, which is a great brew pub with a stage in the basement where they host mostly local bands. The other one is Trenta Formiche, which is the best place in Rome for everything about rock'n roll, garage and psych stuff. Once there was a place called Sinister Noise, which we loved and where we played many times, but it closed a few years ago and we miss it a lot. There, we once supported Cave (from Chicago) and we had some kind of epiphany. We started searching for a more "krautish" sound, and that was probably the day we switched from the "old" Crimen to the new ones. The music scene in Rome is quite self-referential, it's always the same people recycling themselves. Rome is a huge city, but actually in the underground it's always the same people. We don't feel part of a scene, and we probably aren't, we feel like aliens, or Silent Animals. We rather feel part of an international psych community, which we feel healthier and closer to our feelings and our way of thinking. 

STN - How’s the interaction between bands?

We actually don't have a big interaction with other bands. We obviously have friends playing and organizing gigs, but we can't say there are bands we feel somehow twinned with. One reason can be probably found in the fact that we play a genre which is not very common in Italy, but it's not the only reason. We don't like the fact that often music seems to be the last thing that matters even when you talk about music. We don't like poses, so we just think to our music and try to do our best to make it arrive to the largest number of people. All that public relation stuff is not for us, though Simone doas a lot in that direction, but working every morning and having a "normal" life, we can't be out every night making "contacts", and this keeps us a bit outside the game sometimes.

Crimen - Batida

STN - What Italian bands most influenced you?

There are several italian bands we admire. Among them, we can mention for sure our labelmates Juju and Sonic Jesus, besides Julie's Haicut, the Lay Llamas, Mamuthones. We feel somehow part of this bunch of exportable italian bands. We also like One Dimensional Man, which we supported last year. They had somehow a key role in our path, though their sound is quite different from ours.

 STN - Could do us a short resume for dummies of italian music in your perspective ?   

There's a lot of good music in Italy (and a lot of shit as well), but talking about underground music, it's not very easy to find it, cause for alternative bands it's very difficult to find space. We spent months contacting dozens of venues all over Italy who never replied, then we did the same with something like twenty bookings, with no better results: they were full, or not interested, or just didn't reply. It's not an encouraging environment, and in the last years it got worse and worse, with this ridiculous government which is making it's best to obstruct subculture.

STN - How are the radio and press in Italy? I mean regarding the underground scene…

It's quite the same that happens with gigs, but there are also some good webzine and web-radios which do a good job with almost no money. They usually survive only thanks to people passion, but this should never be an alibi to make things sloppily: a few months ago an italian webzine asked us an interview, but they changed all the words of our answers and we asked why they did it and told we couldn't accept that (otherwise, why interviewing someone?). They never released it, and we have just lost time. When this happens one, two, five, ten times, in the end you start thinking that there's something wrong. Talking about FM radio, a speaker who really makes a great job is Gianluca Polverari, who is one of the few authentic people in the game, and that's why we like him.  Magazines are in the middle of a big crisis, and those who still survive give the impression they have to please the larger audience possible, with more manistream oriented content than in the past. 

STN - How did you got acquainted with Fuzz Club?

It was a surprise. We sent them the album, they liked it, they published it. That's it. Smooth as nothing else. It was a big thing for us, and it let us spread our music all over the world, as we wanted to do, and that's why you probably know us! 

STN - If you could time travel, were would you like to go see a show or play?

Probably each one of us would give you a different reply, but if we had to choose the same ticket, we'd probably go to see Joy Division.

Crimen - Supermarket

Songs to Nowhere – Silent Animals was out in 2018, pretty fresh yet, but do you already have new songs?

Yes, we have a new album we'll start recording this summer and we hope will be out on the first half of 2020. It will be more percussive and wild than Silent Animals, a bit more complicated and quite spacey. The songs came out in a shorter time, so it will sound also more compact. We can't wait to start recording it.

STN - When can we expect a show from Crimen in Portugal?

We hope as soon as possible! We recently joined the roster of Inkfish Booking, a recently born agency run by our friend Timotheus Schuller, which organizes gigs in Benelux, so that will probably be our next stop.

STN – Last word is yours! 

We'd like to thank you for your passion Isabel, it was the most complete interview we did so far, and your effort is very appreciated! People often don't even imagine all the love and commitment that a project like yours or ours needs to go on. We hope to see you in Portugal one day!

More info

Spotify - Crimen
Bandcamp - 
Fuzz Club - Crimen - Silent Animals
Facebook - Crimen
Soundcloud - Crimen
Irene De Marco

Interview with The Vacant Lots

Jared Artaud (guitars, vocals, lyrics) and Brian MacFadyen (electronics, vocals, drums)

By Samuel Quinn

Vacant Lots are back on tour, best of all they are back in Portugal.
They are as complex as a five-piece band could be, except they're a duo with very special skills able to produce noisy, dark dancing rock, chaotic atmospheres as dual as themselves, with powerful beats and great riffs. They've worked with some amazing musicians like Sonic Boom or Anthon Newcombe, or even Alan Vega, and that is not exactly a coincidence or something that happened by chance, it's somehow the universe recognizing they're ability to create and opening up to them and by consequence to all of us. So if you like to dance to the sound of guitars and powerful drums, don't even think of missing this.

It will be next Friday evening, the 14th of June, in Lisbon, at Sabotage Club, don't miss it for all the sardines in the world, but before that take a peek at the interview with Jared and Brian, discover what else they've been up too, and specially go and discover all the great songs from The Vacant Lots. 

THE VACANT LOTS - "Suicide Note" (Vocals by Alan Vega) OFFICIAL VIDEO

Songs to Nowhere – How did the two of you knew each other and assembled Vacant Lots?

Jared - We met in Burlington, Vermont when we both used to live there.

Songs to Nowhere – Why this name, Vacant Lots?

Jared - To fill a void. And I like the duality of it.

Songs to Nowhere - “Endless Night” is a reference to New York? If so in which way do you feel influenced by New York? I ask this specifically because as I look to your artwork it makes so much sense, knowing you're from New York...it evokes the skyscrapers but at the same time all the loneliness that comes within being surrounded by strangers…

Jared - I like that but it isn't that direct.  It runs deeper than one city. There is no doubt that NYC inspires me, but Endless Night is about something more universal and infinite.

 Mad Mary Jones  - Departure - 2014

Songs to Nowhere – You’ve got some very cool participations, do you enjoy giving your own vision and sense to songs of others?  like the one in Psych-Out Christmas with “No More Christmas Blues” a Suicide cover, Why did you choose this song?

Jared - We didn't know what other song to do and we discovered the ZE Christmas LP and that Suicide song was on there, so we said let's do that one. It's a great song and we wanted to reinterpretat it and rev it up. We send that song to Alan Vega after it was released and that was how we met him. He liked our version and invited us over to his apartment to meet us. 

Songs to Nowhere - Another great version you have is She Smiled Sweetly on the compilation Stoned – Psych Versions of the Rolling Stones, Why did you choose this song to feature here?

Jared -We were asked to be on this Stones cover album and we didn't know which song to do. So I asked Sonic Boom which song and he said "You should do a Vacant Lots version of "She Smilled Sweetly". The money we got from doing this song we used to record our second album.  

No More Christmas Blues - Vacant Lots, Suicide cover for Psych-Out Christmas - 2015

Songs to Nowhere – All your artwork seems to take us into a parallel universe, do you try to  reproduce this optical illusion in your shows?

Jared - Yeah, through the music. 

Songs To Nowhere – Your EP Berlin from 2016 had a very close collaboration of Anton Newcombe, Could tell us a bit more about it? 

Jared - It came about spontaneously. A week before we left for tour I knew we had a couple days off in Berlin so I invited Anton out to dinner and he said "Fuck that, let's make a record, come ready with your ideas." So we hustled to writte some songs and ideas for that recording session. That was one of my favorite recording sessions ever. 

Songs To Nowhere – You’ve been having great collaborations since the beginning like Peter Kember (aka Spacemen 3’s Sonic Boom). He mixed and mastered “Departure”  – what was it like working with him?

Jared - Educational and inspiring, Sonic's an architect of sound. We learned so much from working with him.  He continues to be a mentor to us wich we are really grateful for. I think something we share artistically is the idea of minimalism in music and making the most out of the fewest elements possible.

Verschwinden - Berlin EP - 2016

Songs To Nowhere – You are returning now to Europe after a few months away, do you notice differences between the audiences in the US and Europe, or even the rest of the world?

Jared - People dance more in Europe.

Songs to Nowhere – I read that Jared has a poetry book, Empty Space and that Brian has his own signature TVL Fuzz Pedal, can you both tell us a bit about these other parts of your creativity becoming something concrete? 

Jared - I started writting poetry before I picked up the guittar. I got into rock n'roll from the idea of combining poetry with music and things started to form from there. I have two books out "Empty Space" and "Tomorrow". I just finished writing my third book.

Brian - I got into electronics in my late teens and fell in love with analog circuitry. What began as a hobby turned into a degree and I've continued to work on new audio circuits that are informed by the past but incorporate new configurations. I plan to have a few new pedals built for the upcoming european tour.

Songs To Nowhere – Your third album is also having the magical touch of Anton Newcomb, what boundaries did you try to push this time? Ask this because I read that one of the things you enjoyed about working with Anton was that he always pushes you a bit further….

Jared -  It's not our third album, It's our second EP we made with Anton. Anton pushes you to take risks to take your music further. It's almost like he has this endless creative energy he taps into. You want to work with a producer that can bring things out of you you can't do on your own. When Brian and I work on music we are always working within the limitations of what two people can do with sound. Anton brings his own vision to the mix and it adds a new element to the Vacant Lots that only Anton can bring.

Jared Artaud 

Songs to Nowhere  - Where did you learn to play? Did you have lessons or anything like that?

Jared - I taught myself  how to play guitar. I had a couple guitar lessons were I asked to learn the chords of "I'm Waiting For the Man" by The Velvet Underground and "Satisfaction" by The Rolling Stones. They both share that Bo Diddley E chord that I love. I never wanted to learn music academically, I just wanted to follow my intuition and instincts. I learned the theory later on, but it's the patterns I'm after.

Brian - There was an older guy who lived across the street from me growing up who was an excellent drummer and taught me a lot. He showed me a lot of latin grooves that I really internalized. I love the power and syncopation that they are known for - qualities that would seem to work at cross purposes but in fact reinforce each other.

Songs to Nowhere  - How did you buy your first gear?

Jared - When I was 18 I sold my truck to buy a Gretsch Country Gentleman. That's when shit got real & it all started for me.

Brian - Most things I just got second hand at local shops or through friends. I started it to get into building gear because I got sick of paying for it.

Songs to Nowhere  - Can you tell us how was your first rehearsal?

Brian - It was in my parents basement, I was still in high scholl and we first played with a third musician. It took only an hour or two to determine the real connection was between the two of us. It was a duo from then on.

The Vacant Lots - Never Satisfied (Anton Newcombe Remix)

Songs to Nowhere  - How did you got acquainted with your current label?

Jared - Anton has his own label A Recordings and he releases the albuns that he produces.

Songs to Nowhere  - If you could time travel, were would you like to go see a show or play?

Jared - Detroit to see the Stooges in the late 60's or New York City to see Albert Ayler.

Songs To Nowhere – You’ve played in Portugal before, what’s your best recollection from it?

Jared - I always enjoy coming to Portugal, the cities are built to wander through and you're never far from excellent food and wine. We tend to meet a lot of inspiring people there and the shows are always special because of it. 

Bells - Exit EP

Songs to Nowhere – You have new songs, Bells was released May 6th, can we expect to listen some more of your new songs on the upcoming shows? 

Jared - Yes, it's the first song from our new Exit EP with Anton Newcombe out soon.

Brian - We will be playing a few songs from the EP, as well as a slightly reworked versions of a couple setlist standbys.

Songs to Nowhere – The last word is yours!

Jared - Obrigado!


Interview by Isabel Maria

More Info 

Vacant Lots at Sabotage Club

Vacant Lots Spotify

The VAcant Lots Facebook

The Vacant Lots Bandcamp

An Interview with The Underground Youth

Thursday, June 6th, The Underground Youth will be playing at Music Box, downtown Lisbon. If I'm not mistaken it will be the fifth time I see them live, and every single time has been different, and this is one of the main reasons to attend this show.
It all started a bit more than ten years ago in Manchester, with Craig writing and recording all by himself, all from his mind, all from his body.
12 years have passed since then, Olya Dyer has been in the live band from the beginning, Max James plays bass and has done it for a few years now, Leonard Kaage plays guitar and along with Craig Dyer are now the four pieces of the puzzle from which came out Montage Images Of Lust & Fear that was actually the first record to be done from scratch with the whole band evolved in the creation process.
Heavily influenced by cinema and literature The Underground Youth have always given us a dark perspective, very close to reality, too close perhaps, but that dark look, that heavy and unusual way of sensing the world is actually what draws us to The Underground Youth.
One more curious fact to add; The Underground Youth was actually one of the starter points for Fuzz Club, that remains their label. Check out the Fuzz Club Session of The Underground Youth and get yourself dazzled with the amazing stuff they did.

 So, for those who for any other reason didn't notice that The Underground Youth are in town here's a head's up with some extra info, to tease you a bit more.

  The Underground Youth during the show in Warsaw, Poland 2018.

Photo by Itokyl

Songs To Nowhere – You are The Underground Youth, because of a poem you  transformed into a song that features Morally Barren, which I if I’m not mistaken was your first release. Can you talk a bit about that poem that later grew into a song?

Craig Dyer - It was really my first attempt to write anything, a sort of Bob Dylan influenced narrative that I later sang with a few chords. That’s where everything started really. I didn’t put much thought into naming the project The Underground Youth because I never thought it would go anywhere, but here we are.

Songs To Nowhere – What’s behind the name of this latest álbum, Montage Images of Lust & Fear?

Craig Dyer - In the same way the media assaults us with scene after scene of sex and violence I wanted to create an album that delivered the same song by song. So as an album it works as a montage in itself.

Amerika - What Kind of Dystopian Hellhole Is This - 2017

Songs To Nowhere – How did you choose the singles to be released, Last Exit To Nowhere and I Can’t Resist?

Craig Dyer - It’s always a hard decision, the track has to stand out and also encapsulate in a way the sound of the whole album. I think Last Exit To Nowhere does that. To be honest I didn’t even know I Can’t Resist was a single.

Songs To Nowhere - You played Come Together in The Magical Mystery Psy-Out, A Tribute to The Beatles. How did that collaboration happened and why that song?

Craig Dyer - The label who put the compilation together asked us to take part and I thought it could be interesting to reinterpret a song by The Beatles as it’s not a band I’d ever think of covering. It was interesting, I guess it worked.

Songs To Nowhere – You began playing and composing and recording by yourself, the band came later when The Underground Youth began touring. Olya has been the drummer since the beginning and for some time other musicians played with you on tour. Since 2015, I think, The Underground Youth actually became a band. How was it to deal with these changes at the level of creation and development of the songs?

Craig Dyer - This last record was the first time really that we’ve gone into the studio as a band and wrote and arranged the songs together. We recorded it live as well which gives the album the sound of our live performance, it’s never been captured that way before so I think it’s important we did that. As an artist it’s important to change the way your approach writing and recording, I’ll always continue to do that.

Fill The Void - Fill The Void - 2018

Songs to Nowhere - How was it your first tour and how different are they now?

Craig Dyer - Hah, you learn from experience. If I could go back and talk to myself all those years ago I’d have a lot of touring advice to give.

Songs to Nowhere - You’re from Manchester, but are now based in Berlin, how’s the local music scene for you? Do you identify yourselves with it?

Craig Dyer - There’s a really great scene in Berlin and it’s a pleasure to be a part of it. It’s completely different to what we left behind in Manchester, as a band I don’t think we ever felt at home there.

Songs To Nowhere – Can you tell us a bit more about a couple of songs from Montage Images of Lust & Fear? I would like to suggest/request The Death of The Author and Blind II.

Craig Dyer - The Death of the Author started life as my desire to make an industrial sounding ballad, the lyrical story was inspired by a few things, one of which was the Soviet film ‘The Needle’ starring Viktor Tsoi. Blind II was originally a part of the song Blind I but we split the two tracks, we’ve been very influenced by Suicide and their sound, that song was born out of that influence I think.

Delirium - Delirium - 2016

Songs to Nowhere - If you could time travel, were would you like to go see a show or play?

Craig Dyer - That’s tough, some original blues in the Deep South, New York in the seventies, Berlin in the eighties… It would take a while to pin down one exact moment in time.

Songs to Nowhere – Montage Images of Lust & Fear was out in March, but looking at your path, it’s very clear that it won’t be that long until you show up with new songs, do you already have anything new?

Craig Dyer - I’ve been working on some lyrical ideas, we’ll start the writing process when we return to Berlin for sure. I have the strong urge to make a country record.

Songs to Nowhere - You’ve played in Portugal more than a couple of times, what’s your best recollection from Portugal?

Craig Dyer - Oh the people in Portugal are great and we always have amazing crowds there! It’s a pleasure to play, also obviously the scenery, the food, the wine, we’re always treated very well there.

Songs To Nowhere - What can we expect from this show in Lisbon?

Craig Dyer - We always deliver the best performance we can, no matter when and where… But mainly we play off the audience, so if they give us a lot, they’ll receive it back.

Hope & Pray - Fuzz Club Sessions - 2017

Thank You! And see you soon!


Interview by Isabel Maria


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