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Ascension Magazine (formerly Ascension) (Publisher: Alex Daniele, Cres-centino, Italy): "The publication started in the summer of 1998. During the nineties I wrote reviews and articles for various Italian alternative gothic magazines. I always loved gothic magazines from the UK, USA and Germany—more open-minded than in Italy. My former working partner said, 'Hey, you just bought a PC. Why don't we start a new goth magazine?' Ascension was born! I took it over in 2002 and renamed the publication Ascension Magazine.
"Initially I just wanted to try to put out something new and, hopefully,

complete, in Italy. Now, the main focus of my work is to become less underground and easier to find by everybody in Italy. Using just one word, I wish and work for a larger distribution. All over my country. I'll never become rich with Ascension Magazine. It would be great if one day it becomes my work. Now it's just my hobby and my passion, but. . . argh! ... it takes eighty percent of my free time!"
Comatose Rose magazine (Publisher: Azriel J. Knight, Calgary, Alberta, Canada): "I started this magazine on my own, first as a rant zine online in 1999, then it switched mainly to music in 2000. The name changed to Side-stream, then Pandemonium. The print version came out 2002. I've always been a big fan of music of one kind or another, and figured doing reviews would be a good way to express how I feel about the artists, and to give them exposure.
"You give a thousand people a Web site, maybe forty will really go through a lot of it. But give a thousand people a paper magazine, and the rate of people reading it is much higher. We still have a few things online, a rant here and there, coverage of events. Currently, we are the only Canadian gothic Industrial print magazine in existence, and we are trying to live up to that title."
Elegy (Editor: Alyz Tale, Boulogne, France): "Several musical magazines are edited by the musical Press Group CPES Editions. Nathalie Noguera-Vera, editor of the group, decided they should create a gothic mag in France at the national level. Elegy was created in 1998 simply because there was no national magazine for the 'dark' scene in France. The magazine is sold with a free CD sampler. It was black and white at the beginning but soon became color.
"We fill the need of a dark mag in France. Our purpose is to inform people about bands, classic and famous ones, but also new bands, and artists, both known and less known, all in the dark scene. It's difficult to maintain a magazine like this, because the market is small. Everybody knows that we are living in a difficult period—terrorism, wars, etc.—a time when spare-time activities are far from being part of people's priorities. On the other hand, people need to survive, and to dream, and music and art can be a good refuge. I see more and more 'dark' people in the streets and at gothic clubs."
Copyright by Comatose Rose magazine
Copyright by C.P.E.S.; image copyright Gloom Cookie, Sererta Valentino; artwork by Breehnjohn Burns

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Photo by www.newgra.ve.com
GOTHIC magazine (Publisher: Martin Sprissler, Sigmaringen, Germany): "I started the magazine in 1993.1 got to know Jorg, who had been publishing, or rather photocopying, a fanzine under that name. He had nineteen issues out and was about to end his achievements. I was there, already DJing for five years, with a hobby interest in taking over GOTHIC-Magaiine (yes, the title is in English). I'd convinced A.M. Music (who released my first CD) to publish the magazine, which they did. I added the concept of releasing a CD compilation along with each issue in order to present the bands interviewed with their music. It's pretty common nowadays but was new back then. At first we were available exclusively in train stations and airports in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria. Since issue 24 we include 8 postcards inside the mag as a bonus.
"It's fun to do and readers get their kicks too—they wouldn't buy GOTHIC if they didn't, would they? We exist to inform, to entertain. It hasn't been awfully hard for the magazine to survive, but you cannot ride a dead horse. If you start a goth publication with the priority of spreading your personal opinion and that has no basis within your readers, then it surely won't exist for too long."
Newgrave (Publisher: Matt Riser, Hollywood, California, USA): "I started this magazine in 2000 because all other magazines sucked hard. There was absolutely no support or coverage for the underground and obscure bands. All the gothic magazines at the time (and still some currently being produced) were just embarrassing to be associated with. They were reporting on a scene that was so different from mine, so different from what got me into the gothic scene in the first place. They made the gothic movement seem like a total dorkfest full of wannabe vampires and Renaissance Faire rejects. If these publications had been my first exposure to this subculture, I would never have given it a second thought. I couldn't stand it any longer, so I created my own magazine that would feature articles on things that were of interest to me. Apparently other people also wanted the same thing, because the magazine has been successful.
"There are a lot of hard-working bands getting absolutely no respect or media coverage by other magazines. Also, I wanted to make the gothic scene appealing to a new generation. When I was a teen, my first exposure to the gothic scene was through Propaganda magazine. It totally blew my mind. I guess I wanted my magazine to have the same effect on some un-
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suspecting youth. A print magazine is expensive to produce, so there needs to be some kind of funding—advertising—outside the magazine's sales. Unfortunately, you only get advertising from companies if you promise to interview or feature their band or product. With only a few exceptions, I refuse to work this way. I think the magazine loses all credibility and becomes run and controlled by advertising money. Next time you look at a gothic magazine and wonder why they decided to interview the lame-ass bands they do, just keep flipping the pages and you'll see the nice full-page ad that ultimately paid for that interview. Also, it's hard as fuck to get the distribution deals."
n>by go on... ?
Ascension Magazine: "We fill the simple need for 'information' that the Italian goth community needs. We don't care if something is popular or not, if something sells or not. I'm very open-minded. Even the smallest grain of sand is part of a desert. And we are just a little little bit of sand!"
Comatose Rose magazine: "We're a missing piece of the puzzle, really. The average large city has at least one goth night, a few bands, some Web sites, but no magazine. Not in Canada, anyway. I like a challenge. I took a road trip to Vancouver to see a Frontline Assembly concert. I brought seventy-five copies of the mag and handed them all out within an hour. Everywhere I looked there was someone sifting through a copy, two or three people huddled together in a corner with a lighter ... It was overwhelming to see so many people holding something you worked so hard on. Intimate."
Elegy: "The need we fill is the same for all underground communities—to inform about music and artistic events. I mean, you cannot find information about the dark scene on TV, in the newspapers, or in the mainstream mags, and the goth community wants to know about the last record of this or that band, wants to read interviews with their favorite writers, wants to know about the next goth festival or concert in their town. I think the needs of the gothic community are simply the needs of passionate people. We provide people, gothic or not, information in the newspaper kiosks, even in the small towns, about the dark scene. We help to develop this culture. The goth culture often has a bad image in the mainstream; there are a
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Copyright by Darkmedta GmbH, photo by Peter Schilling
50 Ft Queenie
Photo by Nicole Aucoin
lot of cliches, and many stupid things are said. I hope that people who are not part of the community but who read Elegy change their mind and see it for what it is. That is to say a real, beautiful and interesting musical and artistic movement."
GOTHIC magazine: "We make people aware that there's life inside the scene. If you had just the possibility to go to your same old club on weekends to dance a little and gossip about the same issues over and over, the day would come a lot sooner when you're just fed up with it all, and you'd turn your back on the sad old goth scene. My mag keeps readers updated, and provides opportunity for them to make up their own minds about what's going on in the scene itself, especially on a larger scale than that of the home club."
Newgrave: "I think the goth community has lost sight of what makes it great. You go to a club and you hear synth pop music. Most of the clothes have become so uniform and off-the-rack boring. The scene as a whole seems to be just a watered-down, middle-ground version of what it could be. I think with Newgrave I give the scene that burst of fresh air that it truly needs. I never take the safe or predictable route. I support the underdog, and the obscure. With Newgrave, you never know what you'll get. I go to great lengths to obtain articles and interviews, and take many of the photos myself to maintain a level of quality and ensure my content is exclusive. For instance, Newgrave is the first US publication to report on the Japanese visual kei movement in a positive light."
gotbs concerging
For goths, forming the tiny percentage of the population that they do, plus being spread out all over the world, the need to meet and greet those such as oneself under a full moon can become painfully paramount. Goth Meetup Days have become popular events around the world, set up on the Internet by locals so that those in the same city can put a face to the Internet handle. It's a start.
Corporations, and like-minded groups convene; why not dark brothers and sisters? The Internet has become the lifeblood for many goths, especially for those who are isolated by geography, or in contact virtually but in reality live worlds apart. The Net provides lists for information ex-
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change, and announcements, making it an invaluable tool for goth promotions. It also provides forums for interaction, from serious discussions to silly chatter to bitch sessions, aka flame wars. Goths around the world can communicate with one another.
Darkness, free to face
Goth convention organizer Macross Ascendent discusses two annual North American Goth gatherings, Convergence and Gothcon.
"Convergence is an annual reunion of extended family. Friends from all over the world make the pilgrimage to whatever place in North America the event is taking place in and spend the weekend—and in many cases longer—partying, drinking, talking, attending tours and seminars, shopping, drinking some more, and having the time of their lives indulging in sweet debauchery.
"At its best, Convergences are truly magical events. The addition of bands, DJs, and other scene celebrity entertainment is icing on the cake, but in no way the central focus of the event [Goths meeting Goths]. The themed Masquerade Ball on Sunday night began with C5 and is a popular regular event. Attendance on average is around the 800-person mark. Convergence was created for and by the users of the alt.gothic news-groups—it's basically alt.gothic's party, but everyone is welcome.
"Gothcon is a band- and music-focused event, run entirely by a single promoter and her volunteers. The first Gothcon was held in Atlanta, Georgia, in 2000. The next two were held in New Orleans, with about 600 attendees each year. Events included numerous live performances and DJ nights, a vendors' room, and discussion panels. Gothcon was advertised as a nonprofit event dedicated to raising money for charities. Within the last year several volunteer and company sponsors requested proof for tax purposes and clarification and verification that donations had been made to the charities they claimed they were sponsoring. To date, an investigation into the event and its promoter, Snow Elizabeth, continues amid rumors that a fourth Gothcon is being planned."
Probably the largest regular gothy event in the United States is Dracu-la's Ball, run by Patrick Rodgers of Dancing Ferret Concerts. The group—around for eight years—produces Nocturne, which might be the biggest weekly gothic/Industrial night in the United States, held in Philadelphia. They also run a retail store, and the record label Dancing
MiStORJf OF
(With thanks to Siobhan and Eilis Corum-Peale)
Cl - Chicago 1995 While many
people talked about organizing an
international gathering of netgoths, it
took Chicago goths Gothpat (now a
London, UK goth) and Heather Spear to
finally do it. Held in the back of a sports
bar, where Convergences had to make
their way past rowdy sports fans, C1
featured: Arcanta, The Machine in the
Garden, Seraphim Gothique, Sunshine
Blind, The Wake, Garden of Dreams,
Trance to the Sun, Lestat, Mephisto Walz,
and Lycia. This was the first opportunity
for many netgoths to meet one another
in real life, and the general consensus
was, let's do it again!
C2 - Boston 1996 Cusraque took the ball and kept it rolling. This swashbuckling club promoter organized three nights of dancing and bands at Boston's Man Ray club, featuring acts Johnny Indovina of Human Drama, Switchblade
Symphony, Sunshine Blind, Valor's
Christian Death (who turned out to be
more trouble than they were worth), You
Shriek, and One of Us. A buffet dinner
at the Middle East, a fashion show
featuring designs by altgothic's Lady
Bathory, and a tour of Boston's lovely
cemeteries rounded out the activities.
C3 - San JrAticisco 1997 Midwest to New England, it seemed only appropriate that C3 be held on the West
Coast, and what better place than
beautiful San Francisco. For two nights,
the sounds of Battery, This Ascension,
Sub Version, Kill Sister Kill, Darkling

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Thrush, Seraphim Gothique, the Razor
Skyline, and Wench filled the gorgeous
Maritime Hall. Other events included
dancing at the Trocadero, a Mad Hatter's
tea party, comic book signings by the
beloved Jhonen Vasquez, creator of
Johnny the Homicidal Maniac, and a
cemetery tour that led to hell.
Ferret Discs, home to goth bands the Cruxshadows, Nosferatu, Neurotic-fish, The Dreamside, Paralysed Age, and others.
Patrick says, "Dracula's Ball is sometimes billed as 'the largest regular gothic/Industrial event in the country,' although the promoter's earlier tagline, 'largest event of its kind in America,' is perhaps more appropriate. Music is provided by two guest DJs, and two guest bands, which have included such (inter)national acts like the Cruxshadows, Neuroticfish, the Dreamside, Seraphim Shock, Rasputina, and Godhead. Vendors hawk gothy wares such as veils, leather goods, chainmail, and original dark art.
"The crowd, typically up to two thousand strong, is a refreshingly diverse mix of hardcore goth club veterans, vampire subculture enthusiasts, fetishists, horror fans, strippers, SCA members, and some folks who are just genuinely curious, many of whom wind up becoming regulars at their local goth clubs. Besides coming from varying backgrounds, the crowd is racially diverse to a degree not often seen in goth clubs, and as the Ball is an all-ages event, there is variety from Kindergoth to Elder goth as well. New faces are always in abundant supply, in large part due to the fact that most patrons aren't actually from Philadelphia (around half the crowd drives two-plus hours to reach the Ball). While some goth elitists turn their noses up at the amount of 'new blood,' most people find Dracula's Ball to be a major social event, and the bar is always packed with the East Coast's A-list of promoters, DJs, and band members.
"Dracula's Ball takes place four times a year in Philadelphia. Our twentieth anniversary celebration was held on Halloween 2002, and one lucky attendee won the big prize: a trip for two to Transylvania!"
In Europe, goths meet at music festivals. Sizewise, there is nothing in North America comparable to the mega Euro goth festivals. Music writer Pee Wee Vignold provides a behind-the-scenes peek at one of Germany's biggest annual goth events, the M'Era Luna Festival:
"Once a year the airfield of Hildesheim-Drispenstedt in the very heart of Germany becomes the center of attention for gothic and goth-affiliated people from all over the world. That's when Sonic Seducer's M'Era Luna Festival calls the black-hearted to celebrate themselves for two days and two nights.
"Friday afternoon at four P.M. the first festival visitors enter the camping site to set up their home for the weekend, a weekend of forty bands on two stages, two endless party nights at the aircraft hangar getting hundreds and
C4 - Toronto 1998 The C4 ball
was first started rolling by Matt Ardill
and Siani Evans, then picked up by the
C4 committee, consisting of Sheryl Kirby,
Greg Clow, Siobhan NiLoughlin, and
Charlotte Ashley. Performances from
tactoic Mpi, htth w& k tee,
Rhea's Obsession, the Changelings, My
Scarlet Life, and An April March as well
as dance music spun by DJs Greg Glow,
Michael Salo, Todd Marylace, Lady
Bathory, Lord Pale, Antithesis, and
Tapestry. Highlights included a reading
at Savage Garden by vampire writers
Nancy Baker and Nancy Kilpatrick, a
tour of Castle Loma, dinner at the
Movenpick Marche and shopping tours
through Toronto's immense downtown
retail districts.
CS - Hero Orleans 1999 Heather
Spear teamed up with G.E. Addams
of Mere Mortal Productions, Misha
Sand, Harry Konidisiotis, and Connor
Preciado to bring us C5 to the beautiful
city of New Orleans. By all accounts the
most widely attended Convergence to
date, it featured the bands New Dawn
Fades, Falling Janus, Cut.Rate.Box, Ex
Vote, The Cruxshadows, Mentallo and the
Fixer, and Clan of Xymox, as well as a
bazaar and art show, an elder-goth
cocktail hour and the Rougaroux's
Costume Ball.

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hundreds of goths into the groove, shopping sprees of the third kind, and meeting with the 'stars' that have grown out of the underground scene.
"While some might still think the twelve-year-old Wave Gotik Tref-fen, which paints Leipzig black for five days every May, is the event that best reflects the current state of the European goth movement in all its variations, within only four years more and more people feel that M'Era Luna has become the place to be.
"Unlike Leipzig, where the attractions are splattered all over the city and a huge amount of organization, logistics, infrastructure, and endurance is needed to get to the right place at the right time in order to join all the events you don't want to miss, M'era Luna concentrates on one spot—a spot big enough to hold the more than 20,000 visitors who come every year to see the hottest bands in the gothic world. The forty bands that come here from all over the world each year define the present range, and the three generations of goth.
"First there are the Elders, to which belong well-known UK legends remaining from the eighties, such as the Mission, Fields of the Nephilim, Gary Numan, and even though obviously trying to rid themselves of the everlasting goth label sticking to them, the Sisters of Mercy. They share two venues—the huge, outdoor main stage, and the smaller indoor stage, set up in the adjacent aircraft hangar—with acts of the 'second generation' that emerged during the nineties, such as Project Pitchfork (Germany), Covenant (Denmark), VNV Nation (UK), Suicide Commando (Belgium), or Das Ich (Germany), HIM (Finland), the 69 Eyes (Finland), Oomph! (Germany), and Marilyn Manson (USA), acts that all began in the underground and have become mainstream chart players without losing their credibility by selling out—they're just becoming more and more popular. Of course most of the music of the second generation still happens outside the mainstream attention. Berlin-based Blutengel and the Mexican maniacs Hocico are just too weird ever to become part of 'the outside world,' no matter how hard the fashion scouts of H&M are trying to milk the scene, and that's exactly what they are most appreciated for. And even if the bigger-selling acts like Belgian Johan van Roy's Suicide Commando ever sell enough units to become 'pop' one day, they will be viewed in a similar fashion to how the Sex Pistols are seen now.
"The last third belongs to the newbies, who often have to face big expectations from the audience and always do their best to prove worthy of
C6 - Seattle 2000 The CB team
of Jilli, Professor Pan Satyricon, Vomvamuse, Luna, violet weary, Fluke, Midnyte, Cerberus, the Mysterious Voice, and wendolen created an itinerary that included a meet'n'greet, a visit to the Kiva Man coffeehouse, a tour of underground Seattle, a cruise, fashion and art shows, and of course, the bands. Music was provided by Attrition, Trance to the Sun, Unto Ashes, Faith & Disease, Voltaire, and surprise guest Peter Fucking Murphy! and by the DJs Slowdive, Hana Solo, Mistress Catherinna, Scary Lady Sarah, Fross, Batty, Arcanus, and Macross.
C7-nen> York City 2001 New York City received the winning vote,
and organizers Angel Butts, Batty,
Bloodlotus, Bob Westphal, Carrie Carolin,
Carrie Laben, Carrin Welch, Claire
Archer, Clifford Low, Daednu, David
Hogan, Dragon Edward Garou, Joseph
Max, Lainie Peterson, Miguel Femandez,
Todd Zino, and Trystan L Bass presented
The Unseelie Court on the weekend of
August 17-19. Music was provided by
Coil, Clair Voyant, Snog, Deep Red, and
Neurepublik. Additional events included
an absinthe party, meet 'n' greet,
discussion panels, cloisters picnic,
merchant bazaar, swap meet, fashion
show, and museum tour.
C8 - CDontreal, Quebec 2002
Siobhan NiLoughlin took the helm once
again with coconspirator Casper Von
Bittergoff and a small army of dedicated
volunteers. Features included a haunted
dinner theater, fashion workshop, writers
panel with Nancy Kilpatrick, Sephera
Giron, Edo VanBelkom, Michael Rowe,

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their slot on the festival bill—for example, Norwegian Industrial rock love machine Zeromancer, who opened the hangar stage of the first ever M'Era Luna Festival in 2000 and returned one year later to do an afternoon show on the main stage because they gained a reputation as a dynamic and sexy live act that knows how to thrill their audience, male as well as female. In 2002 the newcomer most talked about was Sulpher (UK), the four-piece band gathering around Rob Holliday and Momi, who gained their first credit for co-producing the defining Gary Numan Y2K comeback, Pure, and shook the sleepy UK scene with the release of their stunning debut, Spray, a lean, mean Industrial metal machine that creeps along then hits you 'harder than a prison fuck' (as the band's shirt-backs state). And then there's Pzycho Bitch, whose hard-edged and noisy electro-Industrial brings fresh aspects to 'Future Pop' (as Ronan Harris of VNV Nation likes to call it). They dominate the electro scene, not only by the appearance of their enticingly beautiful but rather evil-looking redheaded female singer S.I.N.A., who gives that musically rather violent genre a little bit more sex appeal.
"One of the traditions as well as the main attractions of the still-young festival is the signing sessions at the Sonic Seducer music magazine booth, where the festival audience has a chance for personal contact with their favorite bands, such as VNV Nation, Paradise Lost (UK), Wolfsheim (Germany), or even platinum sellers HIM and their charismatic androgynous singer, Ville Valo, whose appearance at the booth gives a strong impression of what it was like back when the Beatles ruled the world. They too appeared here on an afternoon slot two years ago, right after their breakthrough number one single "Join Me," which as a part of the The 13th Floor soundtrack made them famous overnight in Germany. In 2002 they returned as celebrated headliners with not so many hearts left to conquer anymore.
"In the end each and every one of the bands has a history worth telling, and they all connect here at the M'Era Luna Festival, where it's not only about playing, but also meeting and greeting the fans as well as their 'colleagues.' This is typical: watching backstage L'Ame Immortelle singer Thomas Rainer hurrying from his dressing room followed by Flux and Dero from heavy rocking Oomph! to watch the show of their old heroes Soft Cell, who a minute later receive a standing ovation as they are guided onto the stage.
Stephanie Bedwell-Grime, and screening
of Daniel Richler's Reach for the Crypt. Also, tours of Montreal including the cemeteries, and the second biggest
in-joke in convergence history, Captain
Mart's Armada featuring Axel. Live
performances by Mara's Torment,
CMAFA, Bella Morte, This Ascension,
Cinema Strange, the Chaos Engine,
Bordello, and Swarf. DJs Fross, Macross,
Doc Pain, Mr. Black, Todd Clayton,
Sexbat, and Scary Lady Sarah kept
the throngs dancing throughout
the weekend.
C9 - Has Vegas 2003 800 goths descended on Sin City and the Flamingo Hotel for a weekend of debauchery and reunions. Mandalay Bay's rumjungle and Red Square were taken over. Daytime: exploring Vegas's Strip, getting married (there were five known C9 weddings'), a goth-clothing swap, visiting the Jackpot Bazaar, which features 50+ merchants. Plus an open mic with spoken word poet Clint Catalyst. Evening: Entertainment at the historic Huntridge Theater; a fashion show; music by Reverb TV, Babylonian Tiles, and bootle. Well-known DJs from the US and UK spun everything from Apoptygma Berzerk to Lionel Richie at Saturday's Area 51 dance party. Sunday night: Performances by Frankenstein, Android Lust, and the Last Dance, and the now infamous after-hours party-attendees took over the hotel's two large hot tubs for insane fun.
C10 - Chicago 2004

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Ill
"Sonic Seducer music magazine publishes regular editorial announcements beforehand, and also brings out the official festival schedule— 100,000 copies are given away free each year. But the highlight is always the filmed documentary of the festival for a covermount video CD that Sonic Seducer sticks to the inside of the magazine's Christmas issue each year. It features live footage from the shows as well as behind-the-scenes shots and vivid interviews, which often show a whole different side of the artists.
"Many visitors use the festival itself as a shopping occasion. A market fair carries nearly every goth need, from stickers to jewelry, books to boots, records and CDs to bondage equipment, from mead to absinthe. Whatever the black heart desires, one of the traders who come from all over Germany is sure to have it. As long as the music plays, you'll find the market crowded with creatures of the night.
"The nights belong to the hangar parties, where several DJs keep people dancing until dawn. The festival opens with the first party, which takes place on Friday night. You'll spot the faces you've seen in the crowd as well as those of the artists, journalists and managers who worked behind the scenes or onstage during the day. Bands like the 69 Eyes, Clan of Xymox (Netherlands), or Project Pitchfork are always seen partying until the morning hours, but even after the bands return to their hotel rooms, the party continues at the camping site.
"And the bottom line is, that's what M'Era Luna Festival is all about: partying. Enjoying yourself. And music, of course, goth music, that is. And all that that involves."
{uncing the ghost
It's undoubtedly the nature of goth music that encourages goth dance styles, styles recognizable everywhere you go. Anything this familiar is up for satire, which Kai MacTane and Ann Killpack manage very well on the hilarious Web page How to Dance Gothic, which includes illustrations and a rating system.
clubbing the night anuy
Goths dance in clubs, and London's Slimelight is one of the oldest goth clubs in the world, extant since the 1980s. The closest tube stop is the appropriately named Angel station.
Photographer Stephane Lord gives a camera-eye view of Slimelight.
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Types of Movements for Goth
Dancing from the How to Dance
Gothic Web page
With tanks to Kai Mac Tane and Anne Killpack
Hand and Arm Movements
Washing the Windows
Changing the Light Bulb
Sweeping the Floor
Stuck in my Coffin
Washing tin WmioKt
Foot Maneuvers
With Catlike Tread
My Artificial Hip Joint
Testing the Scratching Post
Which Way is the Exit?
"Ow! I Cut my Wrists!"
"It's down an alleyway, no, not even an alley, in a very industrial-looking building with no sign at all. Well, the sign says ELECTROWERKZ; it's a paintball club during the week. If you don't already know where it is, you probably won't find it unless you see goths gathered outside. Most of the time there's a small waiting line.
"You can't get in unless you're a member, and Slimelight boasts about 10,000 members worldwide. If you're not a member, you have to ask a member to sign you in—each member can sign in two people. If you want to become a member you need to fill in a form, pay your money, and have two members endorse the form.
"The building is an old warehouse with cement walls. There are three floors, and you enter at street level. The second floor plays Industrial and Techno, and the crowd there is more Cyber. Goth music is played on the top floor, but they also now do synthpop. A large part of the clientele travels from floor to floor. Sometimes there are shows on the Industrial floor. There is not much in the way of decoration, but they do use a bit of lighting for effect.
"What makes Slimelight special is the people, and they come from different parts of Europe; it's easy for people from France and Germany to get there for the weekend. You see plenty of Cyber goths, but also old-fashioned Victorian goths, and a few of the old Batcave goths are still visible. There is more variation than at most goth clubs.
"What is especially British about the club is that people seem to talk to each other. They are friendly, not so timid with strangers, and I find that quite interesting. One of the oddest people I have seen at the club was a lady in her forties, directly from the New Wave era, but whose look incorporated funky science fiction elements. Peculiar, and I liked it.
"Slimelight is always trying new things. Because they are open till around seven A.M., a few years ago you could order breakfast at the end of the night at the club."
Not all goths are happy with shifts in music. Gossips club in Soho now features Malice Underground nights. Stephane says, "Two guys started it because they were pissed that Slimelight moved a bit away from pure goth music. The bar has a gothic event once a month and draws older goths, not much of the Cyber crowd. It's very Old School goth. One of their special events was named 'London After the Slimelight.' Then, recently, Slimelight decided to rededicate the 3rd floor to gothic music. It's been well received."
son OF music OF THE
the gotb father speaks
One of the great contributions to goth music, to goth in general, has come not from a band, but from the incredible Mick Mercer. His groundbreaking books, which include Hex Files and the more recent 21st Century Goth, have expanded goth awareness. Goth is now an international and in-tergenerational phenomenon.
Mick, from the UK, is a terrific music fan, and it is his knowledge and love of dark music that has inspired much of his writing. But oddly enough, Mick does not see himself as goth. "Nope, never in the accepted sense. I have never had any interest in fashionable things, so never got into the fashion, and having been a 'Punk' before 'goth' started, there is a gap there . . . but when people attack goth or laugh at it, something inside of me instinctively rears up angrily, because this is something I love that is being derided. I don't care about the scene element of goth or the bitchi-ness, I care about the music and the ideas."
Mick explains what enticed him into the goth music world in the first place. "It's what all my other interests have always been about, since I was a child, so when it came along it made sense, basically, and that's a positive effect for something to have. Growing up near a weird church with a cute graveyard, preferring horror mags and ghost stories to traditional books when I was small, and then being hugely disinterested in everything other than horror and comics while at school, where the only literary works that interested me were King Lear and Joseph Conrad's The Secret Agent, it was that world, and the themes of death and the outsider, which were the only things to directly appeal. A teacher who understood why I was so bored at school then plonked a copy of'The Rime of the Ancient Mariner' in front of me, not for the words, but for the illustrations, which were by Mervyn Peake, and that led to Titus Groan, whereupon I was immediately inspired to become serious about being a writer, when before I had only dabbled!
"Musically, the vast majority of stuff around was dross, then Punk happened. This was incredibly direct and exciting but after a few months lacked substance, for me, and I was looking for something else, which manifested itself in bands like Gloria Mundi, early Ultravox (when John Foxx was on vocals), and Adam and the Ants, then began expanding from there. This music was both cerebral and violent, which I liked.
"A load of bands naturally started creating a more developed, emotion-
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al form of Punk, with their own preferred ideals and inspirations, and those naturally started to be noticed for their darker style. This was perfect, just what I was waiting for."
Hex Files was Mick's third book, following close on the heels of Gothic Rock. "I'd started a Punk fanzine in 1976 called Panache. By 1978 I was freelancing for a music paper, and in 1980 for a magazine called Zigzag, which was run by a total idiot. That folded, but I'd been able to cover lots of the early goth bands in that. By now I'd given up temporary work doing crap jobs, and was making my living, such as it was, by being a writer, and mainly concentrating on Punk, New Wave, and any element of goth that was emerging. I went on to Melody Maker, but a new publisher asked to start ZigZag up again as a national monthly magazine, and I was editor, ensuring that all goth material was covered. When the real goth era mushroomed, with the rockier bands to the fore, it was very big in this country [the UK], and that's how, and why, I did the Gothic Rock Black Book in the eighties, which was a fairly straightforward music-publisher book. They saw that goth was big, wanted a book on it, and so asked the only journalist who was writing in Britain about the subject as though it mattered. That did well, and was noticed by a guy called Sheldon Bayley at Pegasus, a publisher in Birmingham. He lured me up there to edit a monthly mag called Siren and wanted to do a book, Gothic Rock, which also ended up having an American print, via Cleopatra. That's the one that spawned several CD compilations of the same name on Jungle/ Cleopatra, which people always assume I get royalties for! (Maybe I've been a bit dim with business, but I got paid for doing sleeve notes, and nothing else.)
"Anyway, Pegasus went bust, so no royalties there, but it had been fun doing a book about goth that was riddled with humor, even though that pissed lots of goths off who had become seriously po-faced by that time ('91—'92), and the bands appearing included chronic Sisters and Nephilim copycats, so I was pretty bored by that. The experience of then working for a couple of other publishers of music titles left me so disenchanted with all things musical that I even stopped my fanzine in 1992.1 still wrote, but mainly for goth fanzines, while doing work for a record company, which was unspeakably dull.
"Then I asked a publisher if I could do a bigger, better goth book, which would become Hex Files. This was Batsford, a traditional publisher,
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Courtesy of Mick Mercer; Hex Files photo by Andy Cameron; 21st Century Goth photo by Stephane Lord

who normally did books on history, social matters, embroidery, chess . . . any number of rather serious subjects. They did a great job with Hex Files, but also went bust. I was in talks with them about other books but nothing came of it."
It took Mick years to produce Hex Files, and its predecessor, Gothic Rock; both were compiled prior to the full-scale Internet. "[I was] reliant on the post back in '93—'95 to start contacting people, and build up a general awareness of what was going on internationally. And then halfway through '95 I got the [publishing] deal [for Hex Files] and started on it proper, and eventually it came out at the end of '96. It was, looking back, positively archaic, because trying to keep up to date with addresses and details of bands was pretty difficult, especially as you couldn't keep writing to people to check up on them. The costs were prohibitive! If I hadn't been prepared to spend everything I had doing it, I couldn't have finished the thing at all. There was no real databank of info anywhere to refer to, and having agreed to also include sections on vampires, fetish, and pagan elements—because so many people were expressing an interest in those—meant I was then having to find as many publications that were leaders in their fields that also included details of other fanzines for that genre."
Mick's books have been labors of love. "It's only the people. I have made friends from that time who I am still in contact with. Now and again you also meet people who say that that book \Hex Files], or Gothic Rock, helped introduce them into the music because they lived somewhere that had no scene whatsoever. That is always one of the overriding factors that keeps me going, apart from my own interest in the subject. When people are so honest and quite emotional about it at times it just makes you feel humble to the point of queasiness!"
His early books are now out of print, but he plans on printing revised and redesigned versions on CD-ROM. Fortunately, Mick's newest book is still available, with a wonderful cover photo by Quebec photographer Stephane Lord. "21st Century Goth is a review of over 6,000 Web sites of bands, clothes businesses, goth people, goth sites, zines, resources, regional
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guides, visual rock, webrings, sites of interest etc. It looks for quality and for new things, and works as a far more instructive aid to people than any of the biggest Web site resources because they put nothing in context, only lists. There may be a compilation CD to accompany it, as there always has been before—that isn't settled yet. Goth books will, providing 21st Century Goth succeeds, be every two years from now, plus I have a series of books, including goth material from the eighties that most goths will never have seen, which I will release on CD, and will only be available via my Web site. I also have a few books on CD on other subjects coming."
Because Mick has had such a long-standing love of and in-depth knowledge on the subject of goth music, he also has a strong opinion about its future. "If it doesn't change in certain ways it could die, especially in Britain. To change, it needs to change, fundamentally, in how it reaches people.
"The scene in the eighties twice reached such heights (first indie, then mainstream) that it was easily twenty times the size it currently is in the UK, probably more. The idea of a large band selling 50,000 albums is a pipe dream these days. Goth bands were the staple diet of any indie label, they were the most popular form of live bands during the early to mid-eighties, but all that has gone.
"Most forums rarely discuss music to any great degree, so I don't really visit them on anything approaching a regular basis. You can flip back though a month's postings and find hardly anything beyond social discourse, which is how the Net obviously benefited goth in the first place, and remains its saving grace. The communication aspect helped goth stabilize when it could have gone under, due to the general media ignorance and avoidance of anything goth, but I think it must be time for it to move on.
"Ironically, it is envy which eats into the goth scene more than anything, with elitists holding court, and people being branded not fit to be in one clique or another. Considering how small the scene is, outside of Germany, or how scattered, even in the biggest potential territory, America, it's a wonder anything ever gets done at all. Quite why this parsimonious approach should exist and still flourish seems positively weird to me, but once a source of tension arises within any part of a scene in a noticeable way, it balloons up, flourishes, and is never forgotten. I have never got involved with any of that and try and look for the best in people and developments, and that distance, I believe, makes my detached observations more worthwhile and pertinent, and sensibly so, and with
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my wide range of experience in the media and with labels, indie promoters ... I see where the possibilities lie and in how easily things can be effectively manipulated in ways that those who have always concentrated on how the business machinations of goth grind very carefully along cannot sometimes even believe. To many it seems there is an insurmountable hurdle to overcome for goth to become popular on a large scale again, which is rubbish.
"We have big problems in the UK because the ignorance and self-obsession of music journalists meant they turned readers off, leaving titles to fold, which wasn't a result of the Net flourishing, where no natural focus on music exists, just a myriad of smaller opinions. Music journalists on paper could have saved themselves by writing about goth and the more credible forms of rock, such as all the post-death-speed-thrash-nu metal. If, to give a perfect example, Melody Maker had covered that during the nineties and had simply put on an extra five to ten thousand readers a week (quite simple when Kerrang was fortnightly), that would have represented a huge increase of approximately 25 percent and the publishers would never have folded the title. As it is we have only one paper, which still doesn't have the sense to go down this line and covers brain-dead pop manufactured by major labels with an audience under fourteen in mind, who aren't going to buy music papers anyway! Those who don't learn the history of the past (the demise of Record Mirror, Sounds, and then their stable-mate Melody Maker) are doomed for unemployment within two years.
"It leaves our music scene with no way back once it goes. The radio and TV don't bother, and people will withdraw into regional interests, which is bizarre, but stupidity is at the root of it all, because the magazines which succeed are the metal, music, plus the dreary monthlies like Q and Mojo, which concentrate on big established names, but get a readership because fans are interested in music, not in music journalists.
"It also astonishes me how apologetic the UK goth scene is—whereas during the nineties, goth bands played goth gigs, and that was pretty much that. They never slugged it out on the indie circuit the way indie bands do. To get a deal, an indie band will routinely be doing gig after gig every month in the hope of attracting passing A&R attention from individuals too dopey to listen to demo tapes. It means goth bands get a tiny audience when the majority of indie music is duller than it has been since the mid-
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eighties, and yet goth isn't there to present a viable alternative, while forms of rock are.
"Curiously most bands seem happy with sporadic gigging, suspicious of advice, as though this hobby-horse of theirs is only a hobby. Hopefully people will set their sights higher now, and I want to give as many hints as I can through my Web site on ways in which the music business can be manipulated, but that's all in the future. For the time being I'll just cover what I find exciting and hopefully convey just why I believe other people will also."
One particular bone for Mick is just how much both goths and goth music are not appreciated by the world at large. "It still amazes me that people don't get it: that goth is unique. It remains the only musical form that articulates many different areas of your life, of things that interest you, affect you, and shape you. And as your interests change there are then new areas of goth which can also become naturally relevant to that. It is for life, because it always adapts. If you look for new things, new forms, you will succeed.
"Other genres of music tend to be about something, with the link generally being something you feel, but that's all—yet if you are interested in literature, film, art, visual stimuli of various forms, goth has a relevance that wouldn't appear within other forms, exhibiting such broad, welcoming facets. They really are all inextricably linked, and it's all down to which particular elements you mix and match.
"Also, assuming they aren't put off by the petty-minded superiority of the minority, then newcomers should find it all-encompassing to the point where they need to make certain decisions. You naturally enjoy it the more you get older, as you learn from mistakes, or you're merely one of the fashionable types, which has the highest dropout factor, where once the clubbing ends so does any serious contemplation.
"To me the music comes first. These are bands who don't expect to make it, in the expected sense, and create their music purely for the love of it, and that still hasn't even penetrated the ludicrous skulls of UK music journalists, or in most other countries I imagine. This music is far more exciting than anything indie currently offers, or has for years, and yet goth bands haven't even begun flaunting themselves.

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