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David Kerekes Interview
This year saw the fine folks at Headpress releasing Cannibal Error by David Kerekes & David Slater- the truly definitive and wholly fascinating chronicling of the so-called ‘video nasties’ phenomena/era. The book is a revised, reworked and expanded edition of the year 2000 book See No Evil — pushing the original page count up from four hundred to nearly six hundred pages. I tracked down one of the book’s authors David Kerekes for an email interview —discussing the book, and his personal history with the video nasties.
Tim Ritter Interview
Tim Ritter is one the key/ important figures in the Shot-On-Video/ultra-low-budget horror genre. He was behind titles such as Truth Or Dare (1985), Killing Spree (1987), and Day Of The Reaper(1985). His work often features creative/ interventive gore/ kills, shifts in tone between unsettlement & humour, and darkly quirky touches. Late last year the fine folks at SRS Cinema released The Tim Ritter Collection- a four Blu-ray set, taking six of his SOV releases- these move between the classic low-budget horror anthology Twisted Illusion (1985), deranged & demented Escape from Prison Killer film Creep (1995), and Reconciled Through The Christ (2004) a Christianity-focused mix of horror, drama, and thriller. Tim kindly agreed to do an email interview, and below we’ll find our in-depth/ lengthy interview.
Radiance Films Interview
Set up at the start of 2023 Radiance Films is one of the more recently formed boutique labels, though to date it’s released over a hundred titles. These move all over the film genre map- with a general focus on great & fascinating cinema. Each release- be they single films, or boxsets feature wonderful new scans and a great selection of the most worthy/interesting extras. Behind the company is Francesco Simeoni, the former director of content for Arrow Video. Below is an email interview with Francesco.
Interview With Renaldo M/ Brian Poole
Appearing towards the end of 2023, They Blessed The Body Breadcrumbed was the first solo album from Renaldo M- one-half of the British avant-pop/(off) world music duo Renaldo and the Loaf- who have been peddling their strange sonic wares since the late ’70s. The album stands as one of the late highlights of last year being a wonderful varied & unpredictable thirteen-track affair - which moves between urgent & ethnically odd, through to the percussive & quirky, onto the manic and unsettling, though to the charming & tuneful, to sinisterly disquieting. I managed to get an email interview with Renaldo M- aka Portsmouth-based Brian Poole.
The Wall Noise Of Hana Haruna
The Hana Haruna project started in 2018- initially making crude and brutal walled noise, but as it’s progressed it’s moved more towards layered, detail, and often progressive wall craft with an ambient undercurrent. To date, it’s released over two hundred releases. Behind the project is Ken Jamison from Portland, Oregon who also runs the internet-based noise label Basement Corner Emissions( which we discuss later in the interview), as well as been behind a few other projects. Ken kindly agreed to give us an email interview.
The Music of Clay Ruby & Burial Hex
Over the last couple of decades Wisconsin native, Clay Ruby has been creating some of the world’s finest dark electronic music under the Burial Hex moniker. These shadowy horror soundscapes form the basis of what has come to be known as “horror electronics”, the genre named by Ruby himself. It was a tremendous pleasure when Musique Machine were invited to sit down and chat to this prolific creative genius about Burial Hex, his creative processes, his other projects and what the future might look like for him and his projects.
Sutcliffe No More
Sutcliffe No More are a British two-piece bringing together Kevin Tomkins & Paul Taylor. Formed in 2021, it’s the spin-off project/ next sonic step from those behind infamous-yet-often creatively distinct PE project Sutcliffe Jugend. To date, it’s released three albums Domestic(2021), Consulting Adult (2022), and last year’s Normal on Austrias Klanggalerie. Kevin Tomkins kindly agreed to give us an email interview- moving from his sonic influences, the controversial early years of Sutcliffe Jügend, and of course Sutcliffe No More.
Occlusion
Over the years the French wall noise underground has produced more than a few projects with interesting themes/ concepts, behind their ‘walls’. One of the lesser known/ publicise of these is Alès based Occlusion. Since 2015 the project has slowly but surely released sixty releases via their bandcamp. The project’s theme is medical operations- with each release utilizing a picture of a real operation. Their sound has always been effective, and at times subtly creative. I tracked down David the man behind the project for his first-ever interview. With big thanks to Juilan Skrobek for help with the translation!
Best Of 2023
As the end of the year rolls to the end. Here are our writer's best-of lists for 2023, and as always, it’s a highly genre-varied mixed selection of titles- highlighting the sites mission statement.
Powerhouse Films
Between the late 1960s and mid 2010’s UK Portsmouth-based filmmaker Michael J Murphy helmed thirty one micro low-budget productions- these moved through genres such as costume drama, fantasy, horror, and Sci-fi. His work had largely fallen under the wider cult cinema radar - with only really his 1982 slasher Invitation to Hell being known- mainly due to its addition to the Video Nasty list. Early on this year saw the release of Magic, Myth, & Mutilation - A ten Blu-Ray set from Powerhouse - taking in twenty-nine of Mr Murphy’s feature-length films, a large selection of elements of uncompleted/ short films, a new three-part documentary, commentary tracks, and much more. Sam Dunn from Powerhouse- who put together & oversaw this huge release- was kind enough to give us an email interview regarding this truly epic & definitive boxset looking at the film work of this lesser-known, but highly prolific British genre filmmaker.
IO
IO is a Brazilian visual artist, scenographer, fashion designer, performer and electronic music producer from Porto Alegre. Sonically her works move between dark ambience and noise- having been active since the year 2020. She also runs/ manages five netlabels. We tracked down the very busy lady for an email interview.
Lucky Cerruti
New York-based Lucky Cerruti is one of the up-and-coming directors in the underground horror scene. Since 2019 the theatre actor turned director/ writer/producer/editor has helmed three (near) features. The staying-in-someone-else’s horror of Kindness Of Strangers, slasher-meets-deranged creature feature of Freak, and most recently 2022’s Uncle Sleazo's Toxic and Terrifying T.V. Hour- which stands as one of the better and varied horror anthologies I’ve seen in recent years. Lucky kindly agreed to give us an email interview- talking about how he first got into film, each of his films, and what’s next for this talented horror filmmaker.
The Residents
Though it’s just over a year since I last interviewed Homer Flynn- The Residents's key graphic designer, spokesman & manager. The project has been mighty busy- following up their 50th anniversary with a European & US tour Faceless Forever (subtitled 50th Anniversary Dog Stab Tour). Two new Resident books have been released- Faceless Forever – A Residents Encyclopaedia- a three-hundred-page text encyclopaedia, and most recently The Residents: A Sight for Sore Eyes Vol 2- a chunky coffee page book- looking at the visual side of the band between 1983 and the late 1990’s. They released their first feature film Triple Trouble, as well as a DVD/Blu-Ray release of their stage adaptation of their 1988 album God In 3 Persons…busy bees indeed!. Below is my email interview with Homer, and we cover a fair bit of ground.
Yotzeret Sheydim Interview
Active since 2021- Yotzeret Sheydim stands as one of the more creative & inventive projects within the wider noise genre. It started off as a straighter wall noise project, but with each new release, it’s pushing its sonic boundaries more & more- mixing general noise genre-blending, with elements such as traditional Jewish chants, synth ‘n’ subtle beat craft, and guttural-to-wailing vocal elements. The project has around ten releases to its name thus far. Behind Yotzeret Sheydim is Pittsburgh-based Alyx ILL- a trans-gender noise creator and jewellery maker. Alyx ILL kindly agreed to give me an email interview- where we discuss her influences, Yotzeret Sheydim, her jewellery work, and other projects.
TenHornedBeast
Forming in the early 2000’s TenHornedBeast is a British project that creates a rather distinctive blend of black ambience, doom, dark soundtracking elements, ritual and military percussion touches. It’s all the work of Christopher Walton, who during the mid-to-late 90’s was part of the infamous occultic dark ambient, neo-classical & ritual percussion duo Endvra. We interviewed the project back in 2010, and for this new interview, we discuss what TenHornedBeast has released/ been up to since, including its most recent release The Lamp Of No Light (Hymns For The York Doom Stone) on Cold Spring Records- which sees it’s sound stripped down to it’s sound at its most bare-bones/ sparse.
Bill Morroni
After thirty-four-years of languishing in censored & low-grade release obscurity, Little Corey Gorey finally got a DVD/Blu-Ray release this year from those resurrectors of low-budget/ SOV horror SRS Cinema. The neatly titled picture is a dark teen comedy-drama-come-splattered-edged horror. I was rather taken by the film, so I decided to track down its American creator/ director Bill Morroni for an email interview- discussing how/ why he got into film, and why Little Corey Gorey- his debut film has spent so long without it’s very much deserved proper release.
Magnus Granberg
Stockholm-based Magnus Granberg stands as one of the more talented and compelling artists working within the modern composition world today. His sparse, yet often detailed long-form compositions span both the worlds of modern chamber music & gentle improvision, with many nods towards more conventional genres weaved into his work. I first became aware of his work in 2018 after hearing & been very much taken by Early To Late- a split release he did with Swiss composer and clarinettist Jürg Frey. His track on the split How Vain Are All Our Frail Delights a just shy of the forty-two-minute composition, which is constructed around gently unfurling & cautiously building, then receding haze of acoustic and electronic textures. Ever since hearing this split, I’ve keenly followed Magnus's work, and his output has remained wholly consistent- with each new work finding him presenting his distinctively sparse-yet-micro detailed style in a subtly different manner. So, I was thrilled when he kindly agreed to give me an email interview.
Trou Aux Rats
Long-running French experimental sound maker Romain Perrot is a man with more than a few sonic projects- he’s probably most known for Vomir, his crude ‘n’ unchanging Harsh Noise Wall venture. He makes wonky and deranged folk music under the Roro Perrot banner, as well as being involved in a few other projects/collaborations. But the focus of this interview is Trou Aux Rats- his self-proclaimed 'funeral listening' project- it started in 2017, with eleven releases to its name to date. I was rather taken by this project's last full-length Le Cloaque Apres La Romance, which was released by At War With False Noise in 2022. It’s a two-CD set that focuses on a decidedly grimmer and wavering lo-fi sound pallet, shifting through genres such as hazed noise matter, murky ambience, guitar drone crafting, and beyond. So, I tracked down Romain to his dusty and web-covered crypt for an email chat.
The Residents & Support
On the 31st of January 2023, The Residents played the fourth date in their Faceless Forever / Dog Stab! Tour at the Union Chapel. It was all part of the project's fiftieth anniversary which took place in 2022, and gave this long-term fan of the project to see this most distinctive and one-off project in a live setting once again.
Worship
Appearing early on in 2022 Worship, has been one of the more consistent, at times creative projects to appear from the walled-noise scene in recent memory. To date, it has just over forty releases to its name- these take in both stand-alone releases and splits. All of Worship’s work is themed around the celebration of the female form, with their release featuring often arty nude pictures of women throughout the ages- though these are never smutty or sleazy- purely celebrate the beauty, shape, power, and grace of womankind. It also stands as one of the most mysterious projects on the scene- with no one knowing who is behind it, or where they are from. I reached out via email for this rare interview with Worship
Blood Chalice
Blood Chalice play a brand of brutal satanic blacked death metal. The band four-piece were formed in 2015 in Pori, Satakunta on the western coast of Finland. The line-up features T-P.I.-Bass,VP.L. Drums H.V.-Guitars, Vocals,P.H.-Vocals. I was rather taken by their second full The Blasphemous Psalms of Cannibalism, which appeared on Werewolf Records this year- as it embraced seared intensity, but also moments of prime-evil atmospherics. I tracked down the band’s vocalist/ guitarist H.V for an email interview.
Best Of 2022
As Covid has lessened its grip on the world in the last year- so creativity in music, sound and film has once more flourished. Below you’ll find our writers best-of lists for 2022- and as always it’s a highly genre-varied mixed selection of titles- highlighting the mission of our site.
Dr Tom Whittaker
Late last year Severin released Eloy de la Iglesia’s Quinqui Collection- a two Blu-ray set bringing together three brutal and provocative Quinqui (delinquent films)- Avajeros (1980), El Pico (1983), and El Pico 2 (1984)- all directed by Basque writer/director Eloy de la Iglesia (video nasty The Cannibal Man). The Spanish Quinqui genre was popular between the late ’70s and mid 80’s- it focused on youth gangs, juvenile crime, and inner-city poverty- with the films featuring liberal (often real) drug use, violence, and sexual content. The pictures often starred non-professional actors picked off the street with a real criminal background. After being intrigued and taken by the set films and its extras- I reached out to Dr Tom Whittaker for an interview- he contributed to the excellent documentary on the set Blood in The Streets: The Quinqui Film Phenomenon. He’s an Associate Professor in Film and Spanish cultural studies at Warwick University, and also wrote the first English book on the genre The Spanish Quinqui Film- Delinquency, Sound, Sensation. The below email interview found us discussing the genre in general, as well as how music & sound is an important part of the genre's makeup.
Hastings of Malawi
Formed in the early 1980s, after the member's sonic dabbling’s on the early Nurse With Wound records, Hastings Of Malawi took a decidedly busy and detailed take on sonic dadaism. The project's first 1981 album Vibrant Stapler Obscures Characteristic Growth, has recently seen a CD reissued on Klanggalerie- and boy it’s one dense, virile, and often surprising ride of a record. The Hastings Of Malawi collective kindly answered my question below- moving from their formation, the creation of their debut album, later work, and beyond