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The Bansheesdrew heavilyfrom HammerHorror films. with SiouxieSioux reinventingherself as a haughtypin-up. WhileJohn McKay delivered some angular chops on Hong Kong Garden,their finest momentswere with John McGeoch,who alsoserved time with Magazineand PiL, and died in March2004.'l lovedthe fact "l that I couldsay, want this to soundlike a horsefalling off a cliff", and he would know exactlywhat I meant,'Siouxie said. Armedwith a YamahaSG'1000, an MXR flangerand a YamahaE1005 Analog Delay,John McGeochset the tone for goth soundscaping. Barrellingin from anotherdimension altogetherwere Melbourneanchaos merchantsThe BirthdayParty. Their guitarist,Rowland Howard, was pliantin the midstof the onstagehurricane, coolly flickingout icy licksas frontman Nick Caveand derangedcowboy-basslst Tracy Pewattacked the audienceand each other in a drug-fuelledfrenzy. 'When we movedto Londonwe had 'The gUitars is you two recordsthat we playedall the time,' beauty of electric saysRowland, safely entrenched in original putpose to Melbourneagain. 'One was PiLsMetal Gandefeat their Box and the other was by The a hugpextent'- RourlandHoward Contortions.I always loathed bands like KillingJoke that were regardedas our peers,but I loved RichardLloyd from couldn't cope with the idea of Tracy to distort it without everythingturning to Television,and RobertQuine. They playinga baritoneguitar at all,which isa mush,and youjust couldn'tbe in the weren't obsessedwith techniques- they shame.because the resultswould have room, it was so unbelievablyoffensive. 'l were far more interestedin the sounds beenquite interesting.' think the beautyof electricAuitars is theywere producing.' Despitethis friction, the bandwere you can defeattheir originalpurpose to a 'They're Rowlandwas producingsome unitedin their missionto let all hellbreak huge extent,' he reflects. very otherworldlysounds himself, even loosein the studio. mechanical,so you can get all thesekind 'lt though the onlyguitar he everused was seemedthat everynew song we of soundsby doingthings that were "l - a'63 FenderJaguar. learned,Nick would sayto me want neverintended to be doneon them 'My basicset-up was my FenderTwin you to playa reallyhorrible sound here, whereasyou can'tjust puncha pedalon with full reverb,an MXRDistortion Plus but it hasto be completelydifferent to all the sideand makea weird noise. and an MXRBlue Box, which is likean the other horriblesounds you've done",' Particularlywith FenderJaguars; they've 'Junkyard octavedivider that doesn't track properly Howard remembers. was a got bits of metal everywhere,so you can so you get all these reallystrange flawed experimentin that we were get a lot of soundsout of hittingthem on harmonics.That's how I kept my sustain looking for extremesof sound, but it just the strings,above the neck,below the going for so long; if you've got a lot of turnedinto this white noise.Just as on bridge,all that sort of stuff.' treble it's got a reallystrongly gated Re/easeThe Bats,we surroundedmy amp Theresulting cacophony certainly made effect that adds deep sustainto a note, with a tunnelof corrugatediron and then an impacton the Britishgoth scene.Nick 'peers' beforeending dead. Neil Young used it attachedcontact mics to it. I was running Cavewrote an appraisalof their in 'paper for the sofo in On Broadway.' the guitarthrough a 24-bandgraphic EQ the NME,labelling them tigersall'. Insteadof usinghis bootslike his bandmates,Howard would punishthe audiencefor its blankethostility by combiningsqualling feedback with whammy-barabuse - something drummer(and surrogate dad) Mick Harveywas none too pleasedabout. 'Mickwas appalledwhen I got a guitar with a whammy bar,' Howard chuckles. 'Hewas alwaystrying to laydown the law but in thosedays he didn't havethe creativeauthority to backit up, so Nick and Tracyand I were likethe naughty boysand Mickwould try and keepus in line. He went absolutelyspare when Tracy got a FenderBass Vl, and told him it was to be gotten rid of immediately - he just 'On a collegecampus in Leedsthere wasa big duelarranged by the students. Theyhad adjudicatorsand propergear, and it was heldin a big courtyardon the Sisters'home turf. Roccoended up whippingAndrew's arse - we didn't get any soundchecksafter that because Andrew'ssuch a bad loser...' Husseyobviously thought so,too, as afteran acrimonioussplit with Eldritchhe startedThe Mission, a nameallegedly pinchedfrom Andrew'sforthcoming album.Their 1986 debut, God's Own Medicine,was recordedwith the help of 'Pete a hefty dose of amphetamines. Burns put all the gilitars 'There'smore guitar orchestration on that recordthan on any of the others; through a sequencer,$o I became lotsand lotsof guitaroverdubs,' Hussey 'l - sayswryly. also usedto slow the tape redundant' I[/a5meHussey down to half soeeda lot so that when I put it backat the normalspeed it was an The SistersOf Mercywere particularly discoveredthat if you rana guitar octavehigher. You can't get the same crushedafter getting a dismissive throughit you get a gated"duh-duh- effect with any modern box or computer.' receptionfrom The BirthdayParty when duh" effect. Peteloved it. but insteadof Wayneand leadguitarist Simon Hinkler theysupported them. usingit sparinglyhe went the whole hog were using the staplegoth effects- Formedin Leedsby the dark lord of and from then on all the guitarparts phaser,chorus and distortion- for a don't-call-me-goth,Andrew Eldritch, The endedup beingput in a sequencer,so I grand,doomy effect. Around that time I Sistersdrew from the theatricsof The becameredundant.' got a RolandGP8 rack, which was Damned,adding a dirty,distorted bass. The Sistersoffered WayneHussey a basicallyeight Bosspedals that you could GuitaristWayne Hussey came onboard in chanceto experimentguitar-wise, and for program.l've tried manythings over the 1984.and endowedthe bandwith more a whilethey coulddo no wrong - to years,but I alwaysgo backto that for live textures,including his trademark 12- most people,at least. music,'declares Wayne. stringacoustic. Thoroughly neglected 'We toured with the Sistersand I The band adopted a spaghettiwestern duringthe punkyears, acoustics were rememberWayne and Craigas beinga imageand addeda touch of Ennio makinga dramaticcomeback, with Gene coupleof basicnorthern lads,' Flesh For Morriconeto the windsweptguitars, LovesJezebel, All About Eve,Psychedelic Lulu'sNick Marsh wheezes. 'They'd sit quicklyaped by TheBolshoi and FieldsOf Fursand TheAlarm all introducinqthem thereand takethe mickeyfor halfan TheNephilim. They hit the stadiumtrail into the mix. hour:"Give us a go on your lipstick,then! with U2,and TheEdge's innovative style Priorto the Sisters,Hussey had drifted Lookat you - you looklike a right girlie!" rubbed off'on Wayne. 'l from bandto band beforehooking up Thenthat tour finishedand Wayne was listeningIo Joshualree a lot at with PeteBurns' rather'flamboyant' startedadopting the full look. the time,and I thought I wouldn't mind a project,Dead Or Alive.'When ljoined 'Our guitaristRocco Barker was a bit of that myself. I love With Or Without them theywere a goth band into The championfencer at school,'he continues, You, and Butterfly Wheel was my 'We Doors,'Hussey assures us. 'Then they on a roll.'He found out that Andrew emulationof that song,'he admits. startedlistening to a lot of gay disco Eldritchalso fenced, so he walked weremaking a bit more moneyby then, musicand it evolvedthat way.The onstageduring their soundcheckwith a so Simonwas usinga custom-built catalystwas I had a littleSH-101 synth I leatherglove, slapped it aroundAndrew's Zemaitisand I was usingGretsches, usedto playaround with, and I faceand threw it down, Starcasters,Les Pauls, 1 2-string acoustics,
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and of coursemy old Vox Teardropand GretschWhite Falcon... 'l had a guitarfrom FleshFor Lulu once,'he addsdarkly. 'They toured with us and I borrowedthis reallybeat-up, cheapthing, and they borroweda Telecasterfrom me. Duringthe courseof the tour I trashedtheir guitarso I ended up havingto let them keepthe Telecaster in returnfor this olankof wood.' Anotherband pioneering acoustics wereThe Alarm. Guitarist Dave Sharo was heavilyinto Woodstockfolk and British rockmusic. but it was hiscombination of electricand acousticguitars that gaveThe Alarmtheir organic,yet anthemicsound. Sharpripped the componentsout of a LesPaul and installedthem into his Epiphoneacoustic for a gnarliersound, and soupedup frontmanMike Peters' instrumentin a similarway Live,they'd use a hot-roddedMarshall, gettinginside the chassisand messing 'ln with the components the earlystages we useda lot of outboardequalisers, but eventuallyI found that reallygetting insidethe chassiswas the way to go,' he 'l says. wasworking with a greatamp It's not at all surprisingthat he was Marshfreely admits to owningthe doctor calledPeter Hartley, who'd been relieved- you candistinctly hear shades obligatoryBoss delay, flanger and chorus, modifyingamps since the earlydays of gf Cult'sclassic She Se//s Sanctua4u in The aswell as somemore curious beasts. Marshall.More or lessall throughThe Aarm's earliertrack. The Stand. 'Roccoused to havea Melostaoe echo AlarmI was usingmaster-volume 'l wasn'ttoo awareof them,' says with a littletape insideit that kept Marshallsconverted back to the same Sharp,'but we were rehearsingat a breaking,so he'd get a secondhand specsof the model1959 amp. lt studioat one pointand I happenedto cassettefrom Oxfamand take the taoe exploitedthe rhythmicstyle I playedwith, heara soundcoming from nextdoor. I from that. so there'dbe ZorbaThe Greek and gaveme a measureof fluiditywhen poppedmy headaround to havea look comingthrough like an old ghost.He'd movingover to playinglead guitar.' and there'sUncle Billy. lt was interesting churnout loadsof caterwaulingfeedback Overthe years,Sharp also used a Tele, becausehe was doingthings that l'd just with a lot of echoon a doublecutaway 'and a Stratand a Zemaitis. I had a flutter begunto do, likerunning multiple amps White Falconthat he boughtfrom with an E-Bowon Howling Wind, just as within the samerig. Matthew Ashmanfrom Bow Wow Wow. a texturalthing.' 'The majorityof peopleseemed to be but it got stolenby a roadie,so then Billy Despitelegions of loyalfans and listeningcarefully to eachother at that Duffysold him a singlecutaway version. faultlessproduction on all theiralbums, time. l'd heardwhat TheEdge was doing, We usedto callit 'the wardrobe'because TheAlarm were winning no fansat the and afterthat beganto understandhow it's so enormouslt's likestrapping a piece '80s. musicinkies during the TheCult's to usethe delayin a dynamicsense, to of lkeafurniture to your stomach.' '62 BillyDuffy once admitted at a time of createdifferent depthsof perspective.A Nickhas owned his Fender criticalunacclaim that if it wasn'tfor The lot of bandsstarted to usethat heavily Jazzmaster,'Hank' (once owned by Elvis Alarm.he would havecommitted suicide. chorussound as well, but I wasthinking Costello),for 25 years.'lt's the onlyguitar backto HankMarvin and Pete with a whammybar that you can useto Townshend,and the purityof theirtone.' slackenthe stringsright off or bendthem GOTII'S At the oppositeend of the sonic almostto breakingpoint upwards,and it NOTDEAD spectrumwere the raucous,atom bomb- will alwaysspring straight back into hairedFlesh For Lulu, influenced by Marc tune,' he purrs.'l'll neverforget Brian No, it's just morphed into new genres. Bolanand TheNew York Dolls, corrupted from TheDamned getting up on stage For doomy metal, check out'darkwave' by TheDamned and TheCramps. with us onceand borrowingit. We played 'Bands bands like Die So Fluid, Lacuna Coil and likeus and AlienSex Fiend and a coverof 1970by TheStooges and he Switchblade Symphony. Industrial Specimenand SouthernDeath Cult were took my guitaroff at the end,swirled it music is perhaps the strongest alwaysrubbing shoulders at the Batcave,' aroundby its strapand sentit sailing descendant of guitar-based goth, with saysNick Marsh, who virtuallylived at the acrossthe stage.lt flew throughthe air 'l Ministry Murderdolls, Marilyn Manson infamousLondon club. neverfelt there about 60 feet and this heroicroadie just and Nine Inch Nails all taking the music was comoetitionat all.There was moreof madea divefor it and caughtit when it and imagery to extremes. Eighties a competitionto seewho coulddo the was aboutto land- thiswas my beloved Matchbox B-Line Disaster do a grand longestprojectile vomiting or wearthe Hank- what a wanker.I wouldn't have job of channelling The Damned and The moreridiculous haircut.' donethat to hisSG.' Cramps, while bands like Interpol, FleshFor Lulu were signed to Polydor FleshFor Lulu hit the big time in Queen Adreena and The Rasmus on the strengthof a demo ('thatwould Americawhen cult teen moviedirector uphold the poppier end. neverhappen now!') and wound up John Hughesused their track I Go Crazy releasingsix albums on variouslabels in the film SomeKind Of Wonderful
57 Mammothtours with PiLand GeneLove Jezebelfollowed, before the band implodedafter recordinga new albumin Australia."We went overthere to havea fabulousadventure but Roccostole the bassplayer's girlfrrend and it all went tits 'Doesn't up,' recallsNrck. it saythat in the historybooks? Well, that's what actuallyhappened !' Anotherband that got the John Hughestreatment was The Psychedelic Furs,whose earlytrack Prettyln Pink was reworkedfor the hit film of the same name.Guitarist John Ashton had beenon the fringesof the goth scenesince its inception,and hadplayed on an early Sisterssingle, Alice. He broughta LesPaul and a JohnBirch guitar to ThePsychedelic Furs,the latterprocured from The Banshees'JohnMcKay. 'l went to the LondonSynthesiser Centreand got an ARPAvatar, which lookedlike a Moog and had a setting calledHex Fuzz that I liked,'he remembers.'lt camewith a oickuothat 'f would go into my guitar,and I ran it was always into effectedsounds, througha littletelephone extension speakeror my FenderTwin I got a lot of with textures and volumeswells the ambient soundsfor lndia off that. and the solofor Fal/.I learnedhow to do and harmonics'- JohnAshton the samething with gainand distortion in the end- it'sa lot lesshassle!' babyVox and a PignosePedalwise, I was Overin Melbourne,meanwhile, Ashtonwas alsoa big fan of traditional usingan MXRflanger, a Rat,a Roland RowlandHoward is working on a new valveamps and interestingdistortion SpaceEcho, delays and wah I was always soloalbum with localband The boxes.'l spenta lot of time doing much more into effected-soundinglines Devastations,and up in Manchester,Dave overdubson our secondalbum TalkTalk than straightones, and I alsoused a lot Sharpcontinues to playwith hisnew Talk,and I alwayshad four guitarparts of texturesand volumepedal swells, as bandSoul Co WayneHussey is living the ' for quitesome time afterthat. ln Dumb wellas some harmonics lifeof a glamorousexpat in Brazil,but WaitersI did someelephantine feedbTf ThePsychedelic Furs recently reformed will be touringextensively once The on someof the solos,and some and are recordinga new album,as are Mission'snew album is releasednext atmosphericslide on the outro We got FleshFor Lulu, who planto releasetheir year,and plansto collaborateonce more bigger,more ambient sounding and future recordsover the internet Lookout with on-off Missionguitarist Simon reverby,but it was stillvery in yourface. for Roccoin the forthcomingreality TV Hinkler,as well as Echo& The F1 'l playedacoustic for the firsttime - a seriesA Placeln Spain:Rocco And Dawn. Bunnymen'sWill Sergeant. \l/ J-200on the intro and outro of All Of 'l thinkall these TV bigwigs were sitting ThisAnd Nothing- but my mainguitar aroundand someone said, "Wouldn't it wasa MusicMan Sabrell. I out a LesPaul be greatif we had a crossbetween A GOTHBI':TNOT oickuoin the neckand a BillLawrence in Placeln TheSun and fhe Osbournes?"' FORGOTTEN the bridge,and cranked it up througha offersa laughingNick Marsh Lack of space means we can't properly TberAlaJ:m, doffa cap to all the greats, However, we wltbDavo recommend that you also check out... Stba,r9,left, arrd MltroPot6rs, farrfdlt Daniel Ash Bauhaus. Love And Rockets Billy Duffy The Cult Blaxa Bargeld Bad Seeds, Einstiirzende Neubauten Brian lames The Damned, Lords Of The New Church lames Stevenson Generation X, Gene Loves fezebel Tim Bricheno All About Eve. Sisters Of Mercy Kirk Brandon Theatre Of Hate. Spear Of Destiny Geordie Walker Killing toke Steve Stevens Billy ldol
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