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Nightbreed |
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A lot has been happening in the Nightbreed camp of late, and to get the latest update, Keith Elcombe catches up with Nightbreed main man, Trevor. (August 2003)
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1.So Trev’, what’s been happening on the Nightbreed front over the past year? Over the last 12 months we have been re grouping, so to speak, after the ending of the old version of the company. Chasing up debts and planning the future. Essentially re inventing Nightbreed for the 21st century, rebuilding the Nightbreed studio, and putting it to work!2. Has it been easier now that you don’t run the Nightbreed store anymore, and has it freed up more time to concentrate on the label side of the business. Oh absolutely! The old company was a massive organisation which required almost your very soul to keep it running. Push came to shove when we saw the down turn in sales due to Cd copying and Internet thievery and we HAD to make some tough decisions regarding the future. Now I can just concentrate on the most interesting side of Nightbreed, namely the label and am very happy with things. 3.Do you miss the store? Sometimes, when I think of all the years of hard work I had to put in to create it, and all the money that was sunk. But in all honesty, it was an albatross around my neck and I am glad to be free of it. 4. Gothic Sounds of Nightbreed 4 – can you explain the decision to have Midnight Configuration’s cover of Madonna’s ‘Into The Groove’ as the opening track? What’s with the track order on this release anyway? Well, wearing my band "hat" for a moment. Occasionally the strangest ideas come into your head at the strangest times. I heard the song whilst I was having a bath! I remembered reading years ago that it was a favourite song of one of my favourite bands, "Play Dead", so I just started thinking about doing it. After a while I began to "hear" what would become my version of the song in my head, and felt compelled to record it. I feel that the song has an underline sinister quality which was brought out by my version.I also felt that it fitted in well with the first part of the "Sepulchre Rose" album I was working on at that time (namely "The Disco at the end of the Earth" section). So when the decision to compile GFSONB4. I decided to bang this onto it as I knew it would confuse a few people and get them clacking a bit. Which is always part of what MC is about. "Expect the unexpected!" The full answer to this question can be found on our forthcoming album "Sepulchre Rose" available 29.9.03. As for the running order, I thought that I would concentrate on bands actually on the label, or distributed by us to start with, then to fan out to our good friends in the scene. 5. What new acts (or material) can we expect from Nightbreed in the near future, and how would you rate them? Well, as above, a new MC album in September, then another budget priced comp CD called "Sick and Twisted" at the end of October which concentrates on the more "Rocky" side of the Gothic Underground. As for full scale releases by other bands. There is nothing new in the pipeline in the immediate future as nothing really new or exiting has come though. This is actually one of the reasons for GFSONB4. (For a full version of the "manifesto" check out the sleeve notes AND go to the NB website for the "Directors Cut" of the notes too "hot" to be put on the sleeve) However, I am confident that something new and great will come our way, and when it does we will put it out. The next most exiting thing is that "Pro Jekt" have been working on their 2nd album. More news on that as it happens! 6. How would you rate the quality of new Goth acts in the UK today, and do you feel that the UK Goth scene still has a future in it’s current form? I think things have reached a period of stagnation. When this happens there is ALWAYS a shock coming round the corner. How long we have to wait, I don't know. But there is something new on it's way, if only we recognise it for such and accept it when it comes. For me the UK Gothic scene will always endure in one way or another, it's just weather we accept things or not and roll with the changes. You see, the Goth scene's great strength is that it is not just a "yoof" based music culture, it is so,so,so much more. And it is that quality which will and does allow the scene to carry on. We can see at the moment that there are more and more "Gothic" reference points occurring all round in the media and our culture. I have ALWAYS said that: "The Gothic Scene is always what the majority of the scene think it is, regardless what the minority think". This was the first lesson I learnt when I started Nightbreed way back in the early 90's and it is as true today. 7. Out of all the acts you’ve signed, are there some that you maybe wish you hadn’t? Financially speaking, the biggest mistake we made was to sign non UK based bands. This was not due to the quality of the acts, but the sheer fact that they could not play the UK enough to generate a buzz. These days our policy is not to sign non UK based bands unless they have a good track record here. 8. Is there any band out there today that you would have loved to have signed up, but couldn’t? No not really. There are a few bands who I would love to work with but I am not gagging to have "missed" anyone. 9. In your own words, describe how you see the UK Goth scene today. Does it look good? I think I have sort of answered this one in Q6. But yes, things always look good if you are looking in the right way and not lamenting over the past too much. 10. How hard would you say music sharing via the ‘net has hit the niche genre music labels. I think it has killed it almost stone dead and it is the biggest threat to all underground music genre's. In a nutshell the sort of people who like our kind of music are more likely to be computer literate enough to be active in this way. And so they do this because they can! Not thinking that they are taking the money out of the band's pockets! One of the problems is that most people, in the scene or out of it, think that just because you have a label or are in a band, you must be "rolling in it" because you are making "so" much money because of the mark up on CD's. What they don't release is that genre markets only just get by at best. We pay more proportionally for the CD's and we get less sales. Consider: If a small label looses say 300 sales due to bootlegging, that's a loss of about £1000 wholesale and £3000 retail. If the usual sales of that particular band are about 1000/2000 CD's with the break even point being about 1500. It doesn't take a genius to work out that £1000 lost will have an effect which will eventually cause the end of the band/label. Shops are less likely to take slow moving releases and labels, even the bigger ones, just play safe. Welcome to how things are in the market today! Finally, just ask yourself how many Gothic labels are there still around compared to the early 90's? ( PS also go and check out the "Directors Cut sleeve notes from GFSONB4 on the Nightbreed website) 11. How would you as a label deal with this (in an ideal world)? You can't de-invent technology. In an ideal world this cheap bootlegging tech would not exist. But it does and the torpor of the music scene at the moment is the result.  12. In your mind, what makes a good Goth band? (Or, “What qualities do you look for when signing a band?”)ORIGINALITY! Along with drive, energy, direction, meaningful songs and a philosophy. An attitude but not an ego and a willingness to put in 110% as well as a strong image and direction. 13. Where do you see Nightbreed in 5 or so years time? I hope to be doing what we are doing now, not going "Gentle into this good night". Putting out stuff whenever we feel like it and kicking over a few apple carts (with our Zimmer frames). 14. When not running the show at Nightbreed, what gives you the most pleasure (nothing smutty here!). OK apart from anything smutty (which is a large part of my being) I get the greatest pleasure from seeing everything work and click well at both an event and a release. I love quality organisation. 15. If Nightbreed had not come about, what do you see yourself doing instead? I would have become a Philosophy Professor somewhere. 16. If you could have one wish come true, what would it be? To see the scene and it's music fairly represented in the massmedia. I.E. TV, mainstream radio. |