Cabaret Nocturne
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Cabaret Nocturne

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Hendry describes electronic body music as “dance music with a new romantic twist rather than a flat-out dance track without vocals. EBM usually has romanticised vocal melodies, then there is the industrial side of it,” he explains. “It’s an international thing. There are a number of local producers but in the main, the players are from Europe. The Australian scene is much, much smaller. Our biggest challenge when the bands come to Australia is getting the numbers. Velvet Acid Christ played to concerts of 10,000 people in Denver Colorado; they’ll come here and there might be up to 500 people. They do it for the love of it. They’ll get a holiday, get to see a different country, they get to play to their adoring fans. But it’s not as if they’re going to sell bucket loads of merchandise. The scene here just can’t support that.”

Who are the biggest Australian EBM makers? “TANKT, from a few years back. David Thrussell of Snog, he’s very well-known. None of these bands are particularly fond of being pigeon-holed…” Hendry muses. “There’s a whole list – Pete Crane, EBM/related genres. David Thrussell, who is performing as Black Lung before Velvet Acid Christ, is arguably our most prolific producer. Their debut album, Silent Weapons for Quiet Wars is an almost unrivalled masterpiece of disquiet ambient music and spawned some big club hits in the 90s with SNOG. You also have Sirus (our first support band), Tankt, Shiv-r, Angelspit, Parralox, Voltera, Sobriquet, Angel Theory, and Tycho Brae, who have made waves locally and overseas. Bands such as The Presets, Midnight Juggernauts and Cut Copy have taken synth pop and EBM influences and made it huge in the indie/dance scene.” 

Where does Hendry see EBM moving – in any direction in particular? “I actually think it’s peaked,” he observes. “Its heyday was in the early 2000s, the late ’90s. d’n’b nation, Combichrist produced a lot of quality albums. A lot of clubs played them…with the goth scene there’s no single genre or sub-genre that tends to dominate; there are so many different little factions. There’s a whole other side to the movement, cross-over with the hipster scene, with the analogue-synthetic fans…there has been a strong resurgence in synth-driven music locally in recent years, with bands like Heirs, Forces (they’re a fantastic new breed, a 2014 accessible version of formative industrial music), NUN, The Night Terrors, Diamond, and HTRK and IMH, among others, leading the way.”

“I started out with Cabaret Nocturne 11 years ago as a way of providing counter music,” continues Hendry. “At the time the scene was dominated by industrial/electric alternative; I wanted to go back to the old school, the more traditional early goth music from the ’70s and ’80s, like Siousxie and the Banshees and Joy Division.” Hendry admits to being swayed by popular demand, though, when it comes to the music he promotes. “I’ve got two rooms, one playing the more traditional goth music and the other is a zone dedicated to the electrical. Goths are the biggest consumers of EBM but the local goth scene is an apathetic bunch. The challenge is getting people out of their houses and into the venue.” 

What does Hendry listens to at home? “I’m a big fan of indie stuff. My taste in music is so diversified – more indie, hipster stuff. I’ve never been a huge fan of the music part of it; I’m drawn to the goth scene for other aspects, like the vibe of the thing. Despite common misconceptions, the goth scene is incredibly friendly, non- judgmental and beautifully diverse. Most of all, our events thrive on respect for your fellow punter. People look out for one another, and it’s extremely rare for venue security to attend any incidents. Women, men and transgendered individuals dress as provocatively as they desire without fear of being disrespected, leered at, ridiculed, or groped. Venue managers love us because they typically have lower security costs due to the easygoing nature of our crowd. Among them you’ll find some of the most creative, inspired, thoughtful and open minded folk as you could hope to meet anywhere. We’re not all about moping to Morrissey by moonlight in graveyards; on the contrary we know how to throw exceptional parties and have a brilliantly good time.”

BY LIZA DEZFOULI

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