Really Digging System Syn Right Now

Not sure why, but I'm really digging System Syn right now, not only their recent album "Once Upon A Second Act...", but also their older stuff too! I'm really enjoying the production values on each album, and the sound design! For some reason the music is really resonating with me right now, maybe not even the lyrical content so much... but I just love the way everything sounds, and the way the songs are constructed... the music seems to be helping me get through this period right now... and I'm actually finding it really inspirational! I feel the majority of his music, is very clear sounding... like there's a level of clarity in the mixing on the albums... and everything, all the different sounds and instruments really stand out!  

I will be honest, the first time I came across System Syn was at a gig here in Calgary, at a now long lost club from the days of yore... they played that night, as well as Imperative Reaction... I actually really liked Clint's performance... and it wasn't until many years later, that I actually ended up seeing a video of them performing their song "Abrasion Collar"... and I think out of all the stuff that they've put out, that has to be one of my most favorite songs by them... but, a little while later, I ended up finding out about Clint's side-project Fake... and I really dug the only album that came out from that project, and I think if I remember correctly... I actually purchased the Fake album, before I picked up System Syn's debut release "Premeditated"! A short while later I did end up picking up System Syn's debut album and I've picked up every subsequent album after that! I'm pretty sure I have every System Syn album and release (outside of compilations, and remixes they've done for other artists)... although, I don't think I have all of them in physical form...

(Clint Carney of System Syn)

...I know I mentioned this in the blog about System Syn's new album "Once Upon A Second Act..." here, that I think the production team of Ted Phelps and Clint Carney... have really made these albums stand out... I think Ted has had production credits on every System Syn release if I'm not mistaken... and I think that they make an amazing team... every System Syn album has been solid!

I know Clint doesn't really reveal too much about his lyrical content on the albums, in interviews he typically let's the listener decide what it means to them... but I am curious what his lyrics are truly about, and too be honest, I would kinda like to get into his mind to understand what he sings about... I honestly think it would be really cool to have a chat with him about his inspirations and even his other creative and artistic endeavors!

To me it's really interesting hearing the directions an artist or musician goes on their albums, and to be honest, when I listen to albums... I listen to the sound design and the sampling and the way things have been produced, cause I'm quite interested in what were the artists/musician thinking when they were writing these albums. What are they trying to evoke in their expressions on these songs... sound-wise and even lyrically. The thing that I get from Clint's albums is that... there is a level of maybe, well... I would call it experimentation... cause his songs tend to be dancey, in some instances, but in others some of the way things are sequenced and programmed they certainly seem to be in an experimental fashion, cause they may not be entirely dancey in their production.

I guess the important thing, is that these albums and songs are really getting me through the whole situation right now... and I'm finding them inspiring... maybe not so much in the musical style aspect of my own endeavor, but definitely they are keeping me going and motivated in my own endeavor!

I hope this blog finds you folks doing well, and I hope that you may find inspiration in this stuff too!

Stay positive,

Shayne "Daemon_w60" Lawrence | Twitch | Trippingonacable Records

System Syn: Once Upon a Second Act...

(System Syn "Once Upon a Second Act...")

We were surprised and excited to receive this in the mail not too long ago! We did a bit of an unboxing video here! Yes, we like System Syn! When this album was announced to be released... there was a video teaser of all the tracks on the album... so I took a listen to that. It sounded great! So, I decided to hold off for a little bit to actually pick it up. After it had been released online (Bandcamp) in digital format, I took a closer listen... still sounds great! So... after ordering the Chris Connelly CD's from Wax Trax! Records, that same night I ordered the this System Syn album! Being that we are in a pandemic, it took a bit for it to get here, but... it arrived a few day's ago, and I'm currently listening to it!

(CD Artwork)

This album certainly does not disappoint!! It was actually better than what I thought it was gonna be! The production, the mixing, the mastering... all excellent, and very pristine, if I say so! Everything is fairly clear in the mixes, and is audible! System Syn's main songwriter is Clint Carney, and as with past releases (if I'm not mistaken, all of them), his production partner is Ted Phelps of the electro-industrial project Imperative Reaction! I'm not sure to what level Ted contributes to the System Syn releases, but he does do some production, as well as some programming on the releases as well!

(Tray card artwork)

I do think Clint has found his producer life partner... every System Syn release has always been solid, and the production, mixing and mastering are always excellent! There is definitely a consistent mix on all the tracks... and there is a certain production quality to each track... 

...As far as the tracks go... I would say the ones that stand out to me are: "The Wreckage", "Promise", "Once Upon a Second Act..", "We Had Time", and "Weightless"! And, my favorite track being "We Had Time"... As I stated above, the album is solid all the way through!

(Back cover artwork)

Clint has done something different this time around, rather than having the support from a record label behind him, he's gone totally independent, and has put this release out himself! From what I can tell he's started to self-release under the label name of Second Act Records! So, on that note... I would highly recommend checking this album out, and consider supporting them directly, by either purchasing this album, or any of their past albums on their site here! Or, purchasing digital copy of the album on Bandcamp here!

Hope you folks are well!

Industrial Accident: The Story of Wax Trax! Records CD

("Industrial Accident: The Story of Wax Trax! Records" Compilation)

Well, I went and purchased a new CD at a store here in Calgary called SAN K JTURI BUKS! Great little spot for books, comics, industrial music (If I'm not mistaken, they are official Wax Trax! Records dealers), all kinds of movies... and just rare stuff (they are in Eau Claire Mall, if you a curious to go check them out)! I initially went to this store to hang out with a friend who works there and just chat for a little bit, but I ended up picking up this "Industrial Accident: The Story of Wax Trax! Records" compilation CD! I had already ordered the Documentary, and I figured being that I had done that, I might as well pick up the compilation CD that goes along with the film! So, what is on this CD... My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult, Revolting Cocks, Ministry, KMFDM, Front 242, Chris Connelly... and a bunch of other stuff!

(Interior)

Being that I wasn't old enough to really appreciate what was on the Wax Trax! roster when I was younger and when these songs and bands were coming out (I was waaaay too young, and industrial music wasn't really on my periphery at this point in time), I will say for what is on this compilation, and knowing the bands now, I would say this is an excellent collection of songs and definitely displays the major bands and some of their pioneering and most iconic sounds that were on the label!! This also reminds me of my baby bat or young years as a goth... and being at events in my young adult years in my home city, and being exposed to these bands for the first time... and really loving this stuff!

(Tray Art)

It wasn't until many, many years later that I really started to appreciate what came off this label, and even really start to dig into some of the music off this label! If you watched this video here, you would know that... I would say, yes all the bands definitely sound different, but I will also say, a lot of the bands that came off this label... there was a similarity in the sound quality of the music, maybe not so much in sound design, but definitely in the way it was mixed and mastered! I also think another reason why there was a similarity in that aspect, was because Al Jourgensen had a big hand in a lot of the bands that rolled off that label, and quite frankly, a lot of the bands were side-projects of Al (Revolting Cocks, Pailhead, 1000 Homo DJ's, etc)...

(Back Cover)

So, yeah... listening to this CD, there is definitely almost a nostalgia, when hearing this kind of stuff in my early baby bat days and being at goth/industrial events in my home city, but there's also appreciation for this stuff that I hadn't had in the past, because I was too young to really appreciate it! There's also a lot of inspiration, and a lot of almost "wonder", as too be honest, some of this stuff... this is the first time hearing it! So, yes!! If you are into industrial music and don't know who Wax Trax! Records is or know of the bands on this label, or just haven't heard these particular tracks that are on this compilation... pick it up! There is a lot of history here... and if you have watched my video regarding the documentary "Industrial Accident: The Story of Wax Trax! Records" I will say it again here... watch the documentary!! You will not regret it, you will learn more about this transgressive genre and where it came from, and you will learn about this pioneering record label that spawned the careers of many of today's well known industrial bands!!

It's 2020... No excuses! Time to start your Industrial Music Project!

(Skinny Puppy in the early days)

Yep, I think that title says it all! It's 2020, matter of fact we are just about halfway through the year... and there should be no excuse! It's time to start your industrial music project!! First of all, let's get into the mentality of it... This year has definitely been rough, we are seeing a pandemic that has essentially stopped the world. Everyone around the world is experiencing a lockdown, or a period of self-isolation of some sorts. I personally have been in self-isolation here in my province in Canada for 2 months... so, what does that mean... First of all, if you were working, and are now not, now is the perfect time to start on your endeavor! Second, time is very short, if we are lucky we might live till we are 100... that actually isn't a lot of time if you think about it... so what better reason do you need to start!

I know some of you folks may not even have the option of purchasing gear right now, as there is no delivery service, or even curbside service. So, what does that mean for musicians, or people who are just starting out, or are considering starting an industrial music project. If you can't order gear, or go pick it up... look at all the options, and resources we have online! I mean, if you have a computer and an internet connection, you are already ahead of the game! There's some software out there, that is capable with the soundcard that already comes with your computer... so, here's a couple that I suggest to get started with, first is:

Jeskola Buzz Tracker: this is a tracker based program and it is Windows based. I personally have used Jeskola Buzz, and have written a couple of albums with it. It comes with built in synths and a tracker style sequencer and all kinds of other stuff! Here's a video about Jeskola Buzz Tracker (*Just a quick note this is an older video from an older version of Jeskola Buzz, but it gives you a general idea of what it is about! This video is also quite comedic!)

You can find a download of the latest version of Jeskola Buzz here! There are all kinds of YouTube tutorials to help you get started with this software or any other music software out there! So if you are stuck, or just want to see more of what these pieces of software are about, YouTube is the resource to find that kind of stuff!!

Audacity: now I personally haven't used Audacity in my own endeavor, but it is another option for at least recording audio and editing or modifying that audio! If you are using Jeskola Buzz Tracker, and you need to do vocals for your tracks... Audacity would be the way to do it! Here's a video about Audacity:

You can download the latest version of Audacity here!

Garageband: now I've only used Garageband very briefly, but if you are a Mac user and looking for something to get you started in your industrial music project, this is the free option that I do believe most Mac's if not all have already loaded onto it. This is basically band in a box, everything is included to get you started, and if you are looking for a relatively affordable upgrade from Garageband for your Mac, Logic Pro is the answer (when it is time to upgrade, and you feel a little more serious about your musical endeavor)! Here's a video about Garageband:

You can find Garageband on most, if not all Mac's, and if you do not have it on your Mac, then go to the App Store and download it (I think even in the App Store it's absolutely free)!


There are also demo versions of some of the pay-for Digital Audio Workstation software out there, but they are usually limited in what they can do... but I'll list a couple that you may find useful:

FL Studio: this is the current software I've been using to write most of my albums these days (although, I have a fully featured version), and I think it is quite excellent software and would recommend eventually getting a full version of it (if you feel this is the right software for you)! You can find a demo trial of it here!

Cockos Reaper: This software I've been using these last few years for running my backing tracks for live shows. This software is fully featured, you can record and sequence and all that kind of shit with it! You can find a demo of it here!

Ableton Live Lite: I've played with the trial version of this software, that's about it! However, Ableton is a great piece of software, and even though it is made for live performance, it is and can be used for recording and sequencing and all that kind of shit! You can find Ableton Live Lite here!


I figured for this blog, I would just suggest the "Free, don't need anything else to get started recording and sequencing software" out there, cause I know some of you folks may not have mail or delivery or really anything available to you... So, I hope that this was helpful and you are now on your way to becoming that underground industrial music artist!

(Twitch: August 26/2016 @ Lord Nelson's Pub, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.)

If you are already an established or even smaller industrial music artist, and you have suggestions as to other free options out there, please leave them in the comments! Anyway, thank you for reading and I may make a small series out of these blogs... we'll see!!

*Note: Just want to make a quick note here, I'm sure you're wondering how to do vocals when you have no way of getting the vocals into the computer, or you don't have a microphone to properly record your vocals. I think I want to stress here, be resourceful. When I wrote my first song, I had no way of recording vocals, I didn't have a mic, but I had these really old pair of headphones, and I thought "Why not plug this into my computer soundcard, and sing through them..?", I didn't know if it would work (these were really old like 1970s headphones), but I plugged them into the back of the soundcard, and sang through the headpieces... and, it fuckin worked, course my vocals came out all distorted and shit, but at least I got them, and it worked for what I was doing! So, nowadays... you might be able to use a shitty pair of headphones, or the headphone mic on your earbuds or whatever... be resourceful. I mean, if your computer has a mic on it, or you have a webcam with a mic, that might be another way of doing it! So... if there is a will, there is a way!!

A Twitch Story: Halloween 1999 London, England

Here's a Twitch story for you... a loooong time ago, around Halloween 1999, I was living in London, England, and there was an industrial event happening that I figured would be great to go to and check out some amazing bands, as well as celebrate Halloween too! So, I ended up at this show:

This was my first time seeing several of these bands... I think out of all of them Das Ich couldn't make the show for some reason, but every other band on this bill I did see... The most obvious one I saw once and only once was C-Tec... it was also my first time seeing them, as well as Covenant! C-Tec show was off the hook, I wasn't too sure if they were fucked on drugs or alcohol or a combination of them, but if I remember correctly every member of the band had these hand held strobe lights, that they would fucking pick up and stare at... it was interesting! 

Covenant was good as well (this was my first time seeing them), it's kinda funny cause seeing them here in Calgary at Terminus (many, many, many, years later) Eskil was doing similar things and saying things that he said at this Halloween Festival in 1999, while on stage... interesting and funny! 

Leech Woman was great! They set up all these metal objects on stage for the drummer (I think one of them was a propane tank)... there was a bassist and one other dude if I'm not mistaken... they also set up these projector units that showed images of war and violence and shit on the screens... their music was kind of a mix between Einsturzende Neubauten, mixed with industrial metal/punk... definitely excellent!! 

Chaos Engine... well... their set was excellent, although I barely recall what they sounded like (although, after doing a search for them on the internets, I found some soundcloud playlists; which I'll include here)!

The last two bands The Borg and Man(i)kin didn't really stand out for me... (I had actually seen both of them at other shows previous to this Halloween show, and wasn't really interested in them), so I will not be including their stuff in this blog, but yeah... overall the night was excellent, lots of excellent music that night, and I figure I would tell you folks about my experience there (or well, at least this part of it), and a little bit about the Twitch Story...long story short, I went out there to kinda see what the music scene is/was like and to determine whether or not it would be a place for me to really have a life-long music career, but that is a story for another time! The reason why I include this particular memory in the Twitch Story, is cause there was a lot of inspiration that night, a lot of realizations when it came to my music career... and this show and these bands were a part of it!

Stay safe, stay positive!

Are you going to sit by and watch it fall apart..? Or are you gonna get up and do something about it..?

I'm listening to this track by the band Darker Days Tomorrow... from my understanding their philosophy on life and society was that they would rather not participate in the world, and would rather watch it fall apart. The track, I love the way it sounds from a musical and sound design aspect, but I never really understood why they believe in that philosophy of not participating in society, and just letting things fall apart. I mean, if you are not participating, and trying to make things better for everyone... at least, I think, you are a part of the problem. We already have enough obstacles in life, why not be a part of the solution? Life really is too short, and I think if we can make it better for everyone, why the fuck not?? I mean sure it takes energy and time to help others, but if your position is, that you'd rather sit and watch it fall apart, and not participate, I mean truthfully, you've already made your decision, and don't value human life or society... and if that is the reasoning, why even bother doing anything, including music... I mean even that act, creating music, truthfully you are already bringing value to society and your communities... cause music and art is a necessity for our psychology. I guess ultimately, whether they know it or not, they've already created value by creating music and art. So in a way they are being hypocritical, but once again, unknowingly doing something positive.

Anyway, what are your thoughts on this?

Book: Electri_City by Rudi Esch

Finished reading the book "Electri_City" by Rudi Esch... took me a while to get through it, I've been slowly reading it since well... quite some time! "Electri_City" is about the history and birth of electronic music... where it all started and how it shaped future music including techno, electronic music and maybe even industrial, and pop. The book primarily centers around the city Dusseldorf... where Kraftwerk and other bands were birthed, like Neu!, La Dusseldorf, OMD, Propaganda... and all sort of other bands, including a very well known industrial band Die Krupps... which, one of the members (Rudi Esch) actually put together this book! It was very interesting reading it... to find out where electronic music was birthed... and how it evolved... the story is also slightly sad... even though electronic music was birthed in Dusseldorf... it seemed very bleak, and there were a lot of missteps by the bands involved. Granted they came to shape the beginnings of electronic music... but too be quite honest, the impression I got was, there actually wasn't a lot going on in the city... like, yes, very well known bands had came out of that city, but I kinda felt like it was one stumble to the next. I will say though, it was very interesting reading about the gear that these bands had been utilizing, and actually creating on their own, because what was out there, wasn't meeting their needs, so typically bands like Kraftwerk created their own instruments and pieces, or they and other bands modified commercial gear to work with other pieces of gear, so they could get the result they wanted! The book is written in interview style... Rudi Esch recorded interviews with various artists to tell the story of Dusseldorf and how electronic music came to be... then transcribed the audio into text and there you have it. You get to see the story through the eyes of each artist, that was a pioneer in the scene... and it is very conversational! I highly recommend picking up this book to read the history of electronic music, and if you read through to the end, they get into some of the key gear that was used to make the sounds and music of these pioneers! Anyway, as I said... I highly recommend this book! It's interesting to see bands that have had an influence on pop, synthpop, techno... and even industrial!!

The Magic that is Ohgr

Yeah, I remember purchasing the first Ohgr release waaay back in what I think was 2001. If I'm not mistaken an old friend introduced me to the project while I was visiting my home town for the holidays or something like that. Now if you are unfamiliar with Ohgr, Ohgr is a collaboration between Nivek Ogre (of Skinny Puppy), and Mark Walk. Here's the wiki's if you are interested on Ogre and Ohgr!

My interest in Ohgr initially was that a friend of mine thought my second release had similarities to Ohgr's album "Welt". At the time I could hear some of the similarities... and after hearing Ohgr for the first time, I thought that it was a great project! I think the one thing that attracted me to actually purchase the album, was there was a lot of pop structure in the songs, while still having a bit of the Skinny Puppy sound. It sounded "lighter" but still had that industrial stream of thought vocal play that Ogre was known for in Skinny Puppy. If you did take a look at the above wiki's you would know that Ogre structured the music around the lyrics when creating the songs on "Welt"... which I think makes Ohgr, Ohgr. There is a "magic" to it... the way the words are strung together... when listening to it, it's like opening a gift or watching a magician perform an illusion, or sleight-of-hand trick. Everything is strung together in such a way, that it is like magic. You wonder how the music fits so well with the lyrics, but they do!

I remember purchasing it and opening up to find the weird artwork... what was the inspiration for this album... there were no lyrics in the CD booklet, just artwork and credits... It's only as of recently that I've looked up some of the lyrics for the songs... is he telling a story..? are these life events..? I don't know, and can't seem to find any interpretation of what they are online! Still excellent lyrics though!

Over the years I've picked up the various albums "SunnyPsyOp", "Devils In My Details", "Undeveloped", and "Tricks"... each of them having their own characteristics, I will say as time has gone on, the albums seem to have gotten darker, and maybe more aggressive. I love each album, but if I were to pick one, I think "Welt" is probably my favorite!

So, what is it about Ohgr, what makes the project sooo captivating... is it his vocal delivery..? the pop elements..? the way the songs are structured around his lyrics..? the orchestration of the whole thing, and how each song is constructed..? the sound design and programming..? Is it the way Ogre presents the project in the live spectrum..? I will say, I was fortunate to see Ohgr perform a show here in our city, and it was an amazing show (although, I will say, it wasn't very well attended... odd being that it's fucking Ogre, as well as Lead Into Gold, and Omniflux on the bill, but maybe not enough people in our city know of Ohgr [or Ogre], or of the history of Lead Into Gold, and that whole era of industrial music). The funny thing about all of this, when Ogre was younger, he wanted to be a magician, apparently he wasn't very good at it, but he went on to create the magic that is Ohgr... with his wordplay in his lyrics and the amazing music. The one thing about magicians is, we always ask... how do they do it? Often times, we are left with no answers... all that we are left with is awe and amazement... and that my friends is magic!

So, what do you think of Ohgr? Do you think the music and lyricism are magic? Have you seen the project perform live? What were your thought's on the performance?



P.S.: ...and if you are curious what we sounded like in our early days (around the "Welt" era)... check out our second album "We Are Here To Dance!"



... maybe you hear similarities..?

Assemblage 23 and Their Influence on Twitch

Here we are listening to Assemblage 23, and I thought why not write something about how they influenced us in the early days of Twitch. So, back sometime in 2002 I started to write Twitch's 3rd album "TCP/IP", and it was heavily inspired and influenced by Futurepop and EBM... it was definitely a departure from what Twitch normally does (quite frankly after releasing it in 2003, I thought it was a mistake), but while writing the album, I had been listening to Assemblage 23 around the time, and I really loved Tom Shear's lyrical and vocal style, and the rhyming schemes... I loved the way the lyrics rolled out of his mouth in the songs 'Anthem' and 'Sun' off the album "Contempt", I would almost say they were hypnotic.

(Anthem)

(Sun)

(If you don't know who Assemblage 23 is, here is the wiki)

So, I started to write my lyrics a little differently, with similar rhyming structures. I would also say, some of Tom's programming is excellent, and some of that has influenced us a little tiny bit as well... especially some of the drum patterns and such, how they are sequenced and such. Granted, not all of our songs are influenced by Assemblage 23, but I will say, they definitely have had their influence on us!

Here's a couple of songs off of the album "TCP/IP" by Twitch:






After I released this album, it wasn't truly the direction that I wanted to go, and I kinda felt like I was wandering off the beaten path at least for Twitch, but... Assemblage 23 has continued to influence us over the years... and I won't be surprised if they continue to influence us!

Skinny Puppy: The Process

Well, I'm listening to an older Skinny Puppy album called "The Process" today, and I absolutely love this album! I started listening to again recently, and I just love the way this album sounds... not just musically, but the production and sound design that went into it. This album certainly sounds different than all their previous efforts... If you haven't followed Skinny Puppy for very long and you're interested in their history, you can find the wiki here! I will touch a little upon this album... Ogre and Cevin Key, and Dwayne Goettel were fighting with each other, Ogre was trying to stay clean, and get off drugs, and from my understanding Cevin Key and Dwayne were using drugs excessively, which made the process recording it very long... which in turn their label at the time, reduced their contract of three albums to only one. A lot of the process of recording was plagued with fires, and floods as well. Ogre moved to L.A. in this period and was finishing up "The Process"... then eventually Goettel and Key went back to Vancouver with the master tapes... and Ogre quit the band... it was a couple months later that Dwayne Goettel died of a heroin overdose. Eventually, the album would be released... and dedicated in the memory of Dwayne Goettel. The circumstances surrounding the album are very sad, this would be Skinny Puppy's last album, until they rejoined forces in Dresden a few years later... I do love this album, just for the sheer fact that it sounded soo different than their previous efforts... the production and song structures, it is definitely more accessible than their previous efforts, and probably their most "poppy" endeavour to date! This was either the second Skinny Puppy album I picked up or the third... I remember popping it into the disc player and listening to it for the very first time and being surprised by the way it sounded... it sounded soo much different than "Brap 3 + 4"... at first I wasn't sure what to make of it... but listening to it now, I realized I really do love this album, it may not be my favorite Skinny Puppy album, but, if I haven't said this enough, it sounds soo different than their previous efforts, that it really stands out as something different for me!

Here's "Hardset Heat" off of "The Process":

and here's "Jahya" off of "The Process"

What do you think of "The Process"?

Industrial Bands That I Wish Were Still Doing Stuff

Alright, today's blog is all about bands that are no longer doing stuff, or have been inactive for a long time that I wish would become active again!

The first band that had a very short life, that I thought their music was excellent was; ERROR. This band was a project of Atticus Ross (now a member of Nine Inch Nails)... it was quite short lived, they put out one EP, and it was kind of in the vein of digital hardcore mixed with industrial. The lyrics were quite nihilistic too. I wasn't really a fan of the lyrics and the subject matter, but I thought the music was excellent, and when I first heard it, I was hoping for more releases. Unfortunately, it didn't make it past the first EP, and I think they could have released more material cause it was quite good!

Here's ERROR's "Nothing's Working":

The second band I wish was still active is Wumpscut! Now, we all know who Rudy Ratzinger is, and his endeavour Wumpscut (if you don't know, here's the wikipedia). I'm not entirely sure why Rudy ended Wumpscut, from what I understand, as time went on, his project started to not do as well commercially (at least in the goth/industrial scene), and he felt the project was dying. So, he decided to cut his losses and fold it. Wumpscut for me was, at least in the earlier days, was highly influential, and inspirational for my own endeavour... and I feel like Rudy could have continued.

Here's Wumpscut's "Soilent Green":

The third band I wish was still active, or has been silent for a very long time is; Necro Facility. Now this band, kinda started off sounding like Skinny Puppy, and from my understand they were highly inspired by Skinny Puppy. Their earlier music I wasn't too keen on, but their last release called "Wintermute" took their music in a more poppy direction... and was quite excellent! It is my favorite album by them, and I thought they could have continued, cause I thought this album really set them outside of what they were doing previously, and they really were starting to create their own sound!

Here's Necro Facility's "You Want It":

Obviously there are a lot of other bands that I wish were still active, but I would say, these are the three that really stand out for me!

What bands do you wish were still active?

Record Labels That I'm a Big Fan of:

There are a lot of record labels that I'm fan of, but are my three top labels that I'm a really big fan of... So, let's just get to it... here are three labels I'm a really big fan of:

1. Metropolis Records:

Now I've been a fan of Metropolis since the early 2000's I think my first purchase of a band on their roster was Covenant "Dreams of A Cryotank"... now there is sooo many memories associated with this particular album (I first saw them when I was living in London, England), and after I had returned to Canada from England, it was shortly afterward that I picked up their album! Love that album, it's probably one of my favorite Covenant albums! After Covenant it was, if I'm not mistaken Assemblage 23 "[contempt]" still love that album, then Wumpscut's "The Dried Blood of Gomorrah"... and then it just spiraled after that... first of all, there are sooo many great bands on Metropolis... and Metropolis broke a lot of new bands or picked up bands right when they were breaking into the scene! Metropolis's roster is massive... not only do they have a lot of the major modern electro/industrial/ebm bands on their roster, they also had or still have some of the major bands that pioneered the scene way back in the day, that they eventually signed to their label, including: KMFDM, Skinny Puppy, Front Line Assembly... and countless other acts! 

If you'd like to know more about the history of Metropolis Records, here's the Wikipedia article!

Here's Covenant's "Theremin":

 2. Wax Trax! Records:

If you've read any of my blogs lately, you would know, I'm a huge fan of Wax Trax! Records, simply for the fact that sooo many industrial bands that were pioneers in the industrial scene came off this label; KMFDM, Revolting Cocks (and countless other side-projects of Al Jourgensen), Chris Connelly, Front 242, VNV Nation, Front Line Assembly, Chris & Cosey, Lead Into Gold... sooo fuckin many bands! Now, Wax Trax! Records sort of has an afterlife, Julia Nash (daughter of Jim Nash), has made a documentary about the label and her father (Jim Nash) and fathers partner (Dannie Flesher), and they've had a couple of one off releases (Cocksure 12-inch single, as well as a Front 242 7-inch), and they've done a pop-up store and such... but as far as activity goes, not a whole lot... but that is ok, I still expect there to be stuff coming in the future, just kinda... here or there!

If you'd like to know more about the history of Wax Trax! Records... here is the Wikipedia article!

Here's is 1000 Homo DJ's "Supernaut":

3. Null Corporation:

Now this isn't a label per se, but it is what Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails has been releasing stuff under for his various endeavors. As far as I know, he hasn't released any other bands on this new imprint, but it's Nine Inch Nails...soo, being that they are my favorite band of all time... that's why it makes it on this list!

If you would like to know a little bit more about the Null Corporation... here is the NINWiki!

Here's Nine Inch Nails "Less Than":

That's it... these are the three core labels that I'm a fan of... obviously there's a lot of other labels that I do enjoy, but I thought I would list the top three, what are your folks favorite labels? Leave them in the comments, and maybe a little bit as to why they are your favorite label!

Resources for Industrial Music Production, Recording, Writing!

(Trippingonacable Studios)

These days there really isn’t a lot of Industrial music production forums and blogs anymore, so I thought I would share the resources from as many sites I could find, that have been archived or are still around to help anyone who is interested in getting started in writing, producing, recording, or performing industrial music. I figured I would try and compile all the resources I could from places that I frequented on the internet, and various sites and such, from when I was younger... I hope you find these helpful!

New York Industrial Front: this site is now archived... but I found this site very helpful when I was getting started, and to kinda get perspective when doing industrial music, and performing live and all that stuff. Here is the site: https://www.oocities.org/sunsetstrip/studio/4696/

Here is a couple of resources from that site:

How to make industrial for free: https://www.oocities.org/sunsetstrip/studio/4696/howto.html

How to make industrial for next to nothing (You’re all spoiled): https://www.oocities.org/sunsetstrip/studio/4696/howto2.html

Advice for Industrial bands playing out: https://www.oocities.org/sunsetstrip/studio/4696/howto3.html

Note: I do realize the content from these links are a little dated, but the advice is still solid, so take a read and apply this to a modern industrial band.

Knobs & Sliders: This blog is/was run by Michael Arthur Holloway, you probably better know him as Dead When I Found Her. You can find tips and info regarding industrial music production, especially when creating sounds that are reminiscent of older Skinny Puppy: http://knobsandsliders.blogspot.com/

Koney-Industrial Blog: now this blog was a little more geared to industrial techno, and industrial hardcore, but they listed a lot of cool VSTs (software synthesizers for you noobs), and the odd production technique and such: http://koney-industrial.blogspot.com/

Gearslutz (Charlie Clouser forum): I’m sure some of you are aware of this but, Charlie Clouser of Nine Inch Nails fame (The Downward Spiral, and The Fragile Era’s) participated in a very long discussion regarding gear and such that was used for the various eras of Nine Inch Nails… the forum posting is quite massive, but there’s a lot of good stuff there if you are patient and curious… you can find it here: https://www.gearslutz.com/board/electronic-music-instruments-and-electronic-music-production/605445-nine-inch-nails-synths.html

WaveFormless Blog: This blog was run by Tom Shear of Assemblage 23... there's gear reviews as well as reviews of VSTs and stuff like that, all stuff pertaining to the electronic/industrial/ebm type scenes, you can find it here: http://waveformless.blogspot.com/

There are also Reddit forum topics discussing this as well, but I am not too familiar with Reddit, and have only used it a couple of times (but not for industrial music production itself)... so, I'll leave it up to you to find those specific posts!

Here are a couple of Reddit posts that I found about Industrial Music Production:
https://www.reddit.com/r/industrialmusic/comments/2eexk3/anybody_else_starting_to_make_industrial_music/

https://www.reddit.com/r/industrialmusic/comments/9wih9w/industrial_music_makers_how_do_you_make_your_music/

https://www.reddit.com/r/IndustrialMusicians/

Note: There are also a ton of resources out there on Youtube and such, when it comes to general knowledge in music production, mixing, and mastering! There are not a lot of resources for industrial music production specifically, but there are tips and tricks for general music production.

One word of caution; if you are new to industrial music writing/recording/production/etc... don't get too caught up in who used what gear to achieve what sound for what album type shit. In the end, it really doesn't matter what gear you have or don't have, be resourceful and create those sounds with what you have. I find too many people get caught up in the "What gear should I buy to achieve 'x' sound?" syndrome... nowadays it really doesn't fuckin matter (if you read through the New York Industrial Front stuff above, you will understand where I'm coming from)... get creative, and maybe you'll create a sound that sounds like you, rather than someone else!

Anyway, let me know if you find these links helpful! And, if you have any other resources that should be added to this list, please leave those sites in the comments… I would like to make an exhaustive list of all the available resources online that we have today!

Record Labels I Wish Still Existed...

There is so much good music out there these days! Some of it independent, some of it signed to labels. As in the present, the same holds true for past music releases, but some of those excellent record labels that existed in the past, don't exist today... today's blog is all about past, now defunct record labels that I wish were still around... the first one is:



Gashed! Records:

Gashed! Records started in 1998, as a way for Eric Deegan to promote quality electro-industrial bands that were often overlooked and unappreciated by larger industrial labels... some of the bands that were signed to Gashed! were: Assemblage 23, Aghast View, Negative Format, Abscess, NCC, . I really liked Gashed! They had some pretty cool bands signed to the label... and they helped in the success of some of the more well known bands in the scene now, specifically Assemblage 23. The other thing about Gashed! is that they were a local label out of Calgary, Alberta, Canada... and it was really cool having a label of their status based out of this city! I found sooo many cool bands because of them! My first purchase from the label was a budget compilation called "Virion Sequences", there were a whole shitload of cool bands on that compilation... I still have it actually... the artwork for that release was pretty cool too! I think it's amazing that the local scene here had such an amazing label, and I think it really put Calgary on the map as far as the industrial scene in Canada goes. You know, now that I think about it, I guess it's not so much that I miss the label, it's that the city had enough of a scene that it could support a label like that!


The second label I wish still existed is:

Wax Trax! Records:

We all know why I wish this label was still around, I'm sure a lot of you folks feel the same way! Wax Trax! was an iconic and pioneering label when it comes to industrial music... if it wasn't for them, EBM band Front 242 would not have made the impact it did, KMFDM wouldn't have made the impact they did, Al Jourgensen wouldn't be as successful as he was, I mean Front Line Assembly wouldn't be where they are today without Wax Trax!, fuck... VNV Nation, My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult, Meat Beat Manifesto, Revolting Cocks, Chris Connelly, sooo many bands and artists in the goth/industrial scene would not be where they are today without this label... It's really too bad the way things ended (TVT takeover)... I mean it would be awesome to see more bands pour out of this label, if it could carry on! I'm glad that Julie Nash is keeping the memory of her father Jim Nash and his partner Dannie Flesher alive with the recent documentary "Industrial Accident: The Story of Wax Trax! Records" as well as the pop-up shop she did... I'm hoping there'll be more of that kind of stuff in the near and into the far future as well!


The third label I wish still existed is:

NOTHING Records:

Now this label was Trent Reznor's (Nine Inch Nails) personal label... and there were sooo many bands that came off this, first of all Marilyn Manson was signed to it for I do think three albums ("Portrait of An American Family", "Antichrist Superstar", and "Mechanical Animals"), he is a shock rock icon now... Pop Will Eat Itself was also signed to it for their most popular release in the States "Dos Dedos Mis Amigos" (as well as several singles off the album), which was probably one of their most popular records of all time, and the track that kind of made it for them was "Ich Bin Ein Auslander". Another band signed to the label was Prick... sooo many good bands were a part of NOTHING Records... I kinda wish Trent didn't dissolve the label after he ended up suing his business partner for hoarding profits or whatever... Granted NOTHING was a vanity label, but it did very well, and broke some awesome bands... Trent started NOTHING Records so that he could keep the artistic vision of Nine Inch Nails out of the control of major labels... and he could do whatever the fuck he wanted to artistically speaking! Granted even though NOTHING Records is gone now, he still retains control of his releases, and if I'm not mistaken, he releases NIN stuff under The Null Corporation banner now... and I think it is strictly reserved for his projects and not for any other band. Although, I would say, despite the NOTHING banner being gone now, his various musical endeavors are still high-quality, and none of his artistic vision is being compromised! I guess I felt like that NOTHING Records was him, and bands he believed in and helped get them out there in the world, and I felt like it was a very strong label... and anything that was associated with it, tended to be very good... and now we don't get to see, or discover bands like the ones he supported with his label. Also, I always thought that NOTHING Records was Trent and when it came out that he was dissolving the label, I felt like we lost a major part of the whole identity of Trent and Nine Inch Nails. I mean... I run a personal underground label, currently releasing my own stuff... and a large part of the inspiration for doing that was the same reason Trent ran NOTHING... creative control.

I think these are the three top labels I wish were still around! What are your thoughts? Are there goth/industrial labels that are non-existent that you wish were still around..? Let me know in the comments!!

Skinny Puppy: Rabies Turns 30!

Apparently, this is 30 years old now... I was too young to appreciate it when it came out (I was 11, lol), but this is a great album! I will say it is probably not my favorite album of theirs, but it is good! "Rodent", "Worlock", and "Choralone" are probably my favorites off of this album ("Tin Omen" might be in there too)! I remember I bought this particular album when I went on a Skinny Puppy spending spree and found this at the A&B Sound in downtown Calgary! If I remember correctly I got several of their albums on sale... got me Skinny Puppy fix in one go! I think for me, what I really enjoy is figuring out how they created these songs (or any of their songs for that matter), it is highly inspiring to try to figure out how they went about in writing these songs and figure out the "sound design" that went into creating the different tracks and such! I will tell you another memory regarding Skinny Puppy and some random goth I never had the chance to meet... long story short, before I was a babybat... when I was starting to discover myself... and figure out what I like, I remember being on the bus... can't remember if I was going to school or what exactly I was doing on the bus... but, I remember we passed a bus stop close to the "arty" area in Saskatoon (Broadway Ave.) and there was this dude sitting at the Bus stop, his hair was all done up kind of like old school Skinny Puppy (deathrock) style (Leeb era), with tons of hairspray and dyed black, he was wearing a black trench coat... and yeah... I wasn't quite a babybat then, but I will tell you, I loved his look, I loved the clothing, just the general darkness that surrounded him... pretty sure he had make-up on too... Then not entirely sure when I had seen that look again when I encountered Skinny Puppy for the first or second time (maybe I saw an interview on TV, or maybe after I purchased "Back & Forth: 3 + 4" and checked out the digital content that was included on the two discs)... but yeah... if that guy hadn't been sitting at the bus stop, I probably wouldn't have been interested in discovering what the scene was about... when I saw him, I was attracted to the darkness... I was curious what the darkness inside of me was...

Yeah, memories...

Curious what attracted you to the goth scene? (I get Skinny Puppy aren't exactly a goth band, but if it wasn't for that dude dressing the way he did, I wouldn't be doing what I do now... I wouldn't have discovered myself, or the scene).

Skinny Puppy and My Current Obsession

Well, I’ve moved on from Wax Trax! Records artists and trying to find as much of that as I can, to Skinny Puppy. Now, I have quite a few of their releases and albums already, but there is a treasure trove of albums and their “Back & Forth” series on YouTube... and I’ve been really enjoying listening to that stuff and finding stuff that I haven’t heard of theirs! I’ve been really interested in the “Back & Forth” stuff that they’ve released over the years, cause typically it’s all old demos, rough versions, live cuts, or unreleased stuff... I love hearing that stuff, cause it’s really inspiring to hear it, and try to figure out how they did it with all the old synth gear they had at the time, and it’s also really cool cause, once again, like the Wax Trax! Records back catalogue, there is a time and place associated with it... and it’s interesting to hear where some of the songs started and then also hearing the final product that was released! If you've read my blog (here) about Skinny Puppy's "Back and Forth: Vol: 3 & 4" you would know that it is my favorite Skinny Puppy release, and you would know that the reason is cause it has this bleak sound to it... there is a certain quality to it that they don't have on the other albums and releases (probably due to tape saturation). A lot of this back-catalogue and the various "Back and Forth" volumes upon listening to for the first time have a certain quality to them, each release has a sound character to them, and they are different from each other... which I really enjoy and they evoke visions, and highly inspire me in the musical sense (for my own project)! I don't know why Skinny Puppy inspires me... I remember seeing one of their tour videos waaay back in 1996 or 97 or something like that, at an all ages goth event in Saskatoon... and I loved it! It seemed so fuckin industrial, and so visceral... Ogre looked all fucked up, I'm sure he was drunk or on drugs of some kind, he had blood all over him... there's all these props and shit, his voice... Cevin Key is in the back surrounded by synths, a drum kit and other shit... If I'm not mistaken Mr. Goettel was in the back somewhere as well... I don't think at the time I owned a piece of Skinny Puppy music...  but just being in that environment (the club), with the goth/industrial community, I loved it... It made me want to dig further in the scene, find more music and really explore what all this industrial was! It was inspiring... some point afterwards I picked up "Back and Forth: Vol: 3 & 4"... and then eventually picked up "The Process" which I think is excellent, I would put that album up there in my top Skinny Puppy albums! Anyway, yes... gushing here, but I find this shit sooo inspiring, and every time I listen to it, I try and decipher their mental state (I'm sure a lot of drugs were involved, I mean they invented the term "Brap", which is to get fucked up, and write music... not that I would do drugs anymore [gave that up a long time ago], but I find that idea inspiring [although, I've found when I've written music when I was drunk, and I come back to it a day later after I'm sober, it's garbage... So, I don't do that anymore])... trying to decipher their lyrics is also fun too... what the fuck are they talking about, when Ogre strings his words together, it's quite abstract... Yeah, inspiring!

If you are new to industrial music, or are unfamiliar with Skinny Puppy, check this stuff out! Maybe you hear what I hear! OR... If you are not new, then maybe you have some thoughts regarding your musical listening or musical writing journey that you might want to share here!

Listen to Cevin Key's latest Back & Forth Volume "Brap and Forth: Vol:8"... excellent!!

What's your favorite Skinny Puppy album? And if you are a musician, what music inspired you to dig deeper and really discover what kind of bands are in the goth/industrial scene?

And hey, if you wanna hear some of our shit, you can listen to our "20 Years of Twitch" Retrospective here! 

Brap on fuckers!!

Wax Trax! Records and My Current Obsession

Well, lately I've been really digging the Wax Trax! back-catalog... I've been trying to listen to as much of it as possible lately, scouring YouTube and various other sites for playlists of old Wax Trax! era albums and bands signed to that label. I'm not even sure why I've been sooo obsessed with finding that stuff... I think it might be because I was too young to appreciate the music that came off that label, and now when I find stuff (in particular the industrial music related stuff), I love listening to it and can't seem to get enough... it evokes a certain feeling in me, like I'm almost living in that time and experiencing the music that was being put out in that time... but with the added aspect of also appreciating the bands that were on that label, that still exist today... and really enjoying it, cause a lot of them were my heroes (Al Jourgenson; Ministry and Revolting Cocks, Chris Connelly, Front Line Assembly, C-Tec, KMFDM, Cubanate... and others). I think the other thing is, being that the Wax Trax! documentary came out... it is really interesting to see how that label brought industrial to the Westerner (American) masses, and also helped spawn countless industrial side-projects (a lot of them with Al Jourgenson), and brought the "Ultra-Heavy Beat" (KMFDM) here, as well as several others (EBM pioneers Front 242, anyone?)! If it wasn't for Wax Trax! a lot of the music in the goth/industrial scene wouldn't exist, and industrial wouldn't have evolved the way it did... they were truly pioneers when it came to bringing that kind of music here! I will also say it's really great to see these bands nowadays, and seeing these fucking legends in industrial music... Like when Paul Barker (Lead Into Gold) rolled through here... it was sooo amazing! I got to see a part of industrial music history that, I never thought I would experience... seeing this legend and pioneer! I've also seen Ministry roll through here a couple of times as well, as well as Cubanate, and KMFDM... and also saw Chris Connelly in his project Cocksure (I realize that's not Wax Trax!, but just seeing him is fuckin amazing... as I never thought I would see one of the legends of industrial music history)! Yeah, I don't know how much more I can gush here... but it's just amazing to hear and see these legends and really appreciate the history that they created and the music that is associated with that... I love industrial music, and the scene... and I love digging into the history, and listening and reading about it... I really can't get enough... I'm sure as time passes I'll move onto something else that will interest me musically... like Skinny Puppy's back catalogue or even recent releases... I find that fascinating as well... same time, different place!

Here's some videos for you to enjoy!!

What industrial music are you obsessing over right now? I would like to hear your thoughts... there's sooo much good shit out there!