This "interview" was conducted with Darrin from Psyche on 26-Aug-2010 Thanks Darrin
we are happy to get the chance to ask you a few questions For the first question will be Thanks Darrin that you have found time to give answers to these questions,
From which country / town do you come from?
Psyche is from Canada. We officially started in Edmonton, Alberta. "Insomnia Theatre" - our first album was released when our family moved to Waterloo, Ontario.
how are you doing? Where are you currently?
Doing fine. I now live in Germany, and after several locations in Europe, as well as many cities in Germany, I am currently at the Baltic Sea near Lübeck City.
Could you briefly summarize Psyche and what you guys are about?
Our original intention was to make Horror Movie like soundtracks to my lyrics, and songs about society and human relationships.
We loved the weird sounds synthesizers made, and hoped to continue discovering new ways to make songs with these sounds.
Psyche has continues that tradition whether we become more danceable or Pop oriented, there is still the experimentation to surprise people with our sounds, and song ideas.
Darrin tell me about your debut album insomnia theatre 1985?
Well, it was very exciting for us to have produced our very first album on our own, and finally have recorded versions of Brain Collapses, Maggots and our other favourite titles.And that was just the beginning! Getting a deal with New Rose Records in France, and having our debut released in Europe was even more thrilling. We were inspired by people like Fad Gadget, Alien Sex Fiend (with whom we performed in Canada 1984!) as well as Gary Numan, John Carpenter's Film Soundtracks, and now we felt a part of the electronic scene that we loved and admired.
How's the start of 2010 been for you thus far?
Times are stranger than ever, and I am grateful to have started in the 80s, and had some independent success with my music as being a newcomer now with Psyche would be really challenging.In 2012, it will be 30 years of Psyche, so at the moment we've started re-releasing older material and clearing out the archives. So far this year has been good, but we haven't done as much outside of Germany as in the last two years.
Other incoming projects?
I've done a fair amount of guest vocals in the last while. One of the main appearances is "My Victory" on the album from RED INDUSTRIE that came out in May. In September we have a special release for early Psyche and Skinny Puppy fans with "Re-Membering Dwayne" which includes for the first time all the recordings we did in the beginning with Dwayne Goettel as a member of Psyche, as well as a few remixes, and tributes to him to complete the profile.
If people don't know what you and your music are about where have they been!?,how would you describe yourself?
Psyche is the "outsider band" of the industry, even the scene today somehow. I feel like we're comparable to Fad Gadget. The weird cult band that's revered, and understood by a certain amount of people, but other than the big club hit of "Unveiling The Secret", and later our version of "Goodbye Horses" we never reached mass appeal. I think however this helps us stay fresh, and makes our early music timeless, as we still have a special sound that stands on its own.
If you could play a show anywhere in the world where would it be?
That's a very interesting question because we have managed to play some places I never thought we would, such as Cape Town in South Africa, or in Australia, Greece, and even Mexico. I am very interested to play in South America one day, Peru would be interesting.
What day jobs did you guys have while you were putting the band together?
The band was pretty much always together considering my brother and I started it when we were still in school. The only jobs I ever had were in a grocery store, and also at a cinema for awhile, but that was before Psyche really started.
What is your music background? Who are you and your bandmembers? Tell your story
My brother Stephen and I started with various band names, later Dwayne Goettel was in the band for awhile, and then it was my brother and I again when we released "Insomnia Theatre" in 1985."The Influence" was recorded in 1989 by David Kristian, replacing my brother for one Psyche album, and later Psyche continued starting in 1995 with Per-Anders Kurenbach as composer, Remi Szyszska took over from 2000-2005, and there have been various members for live performances since then.
What do you do when you're not partaking in band activities?
Surf the net, listen to music, and watch alot of movies.
Back to your roots, how did you first come to music?
It started with me listening and singing along to the Carpenters! Later my brother and I were into Kiss, but the real Psyche influences were Gary Numan, Cabaret Voltaire, and DAF when we started making our stuff. Also Chris & Cosey and Fad Gadget. Later came Soft Cell, and Eurythmics. My parents encouraged us to learn instruments. My brother took guitar lessons, so I also learned bass, but when I started singing that was my main interest afterwards. Our synths and drum machines took over the rest.
you have 18 cd`s tel me about this?
Well, 11 are official albums, then there's EPs and compilations etc. I never actually added all those together. The actual albums are what I count as full length pieces of work.The represent a complete musical journey from 1985 to 2005.
What are your top ten favorite Alternative / Electro / Pop Club Songs of all time?
Soft Cell - Torch
Jah Wobble - How Much Are They?
Cabaret Voltaire - Seconds Too Late
Eurythmics - Here Comes The Rain Again
Gary Numan - Cars / This Wreckage
Chrome - Inner Vacume
Chris & Cosey - October Love Song
Gina X Performance - No GDM
Nash The Slash - Dance After Curfew
Grauzone - Film 2
John Foxx - Underpass
Fad Gadget - Lady Shave
well, that's 12, and they're not all typical known "anthems", but I like them. Of course there's more like Visage's "Fade To Grey" and so on.
Do you keep up with how the record has been selling? Is that really important to you?
Yes, I am always interested how my music is doing, and I am also interested in which titles are most popular in digital sales.
Who is your favorite band at the moment?
Pretty much still Blondie, from all the bands I liked in the 80s, they are the only ones who haven't made a completely crap record in their repertoire. Even "The Hunter" has a few good tunes.As far as new artists go, I pretty much only like The XX, most new bands bore me.
What band or bands would you like to tour with and why?
Blondie would be nice because I respect their musical repertoire, and I prefer not to compete with another male vocalist, ha ha. Actually we are doing a number of shows together with No More and I find that a very nice mix as well. Otherwise my wish would be something like OMD, or if they were still together Eurythmics.
Is touring a pleasure or a necessary evil?
I actually prefer singing live than recording albums, so touring is a pleasure, and I like travelling to other countries, so I'm glad that I do this. At the same time, it is in fact also a necessary evil because you make more money from concerts than selling albums these days. I like the direct contact with the audience so it's ok with me.
What would you be doing right now if you weren't in Psyche?
Yeah, that's something I ask myself every few years, as I'm getting older. I figure if I knew, then I'd be retired, ha haha. But seriously, maybe running a bed & breakfast, or I'd be a scientist trying to crack the codes of our DNA.
And that's how you came up with the name of the band? How did you come up with the name Psyche?
We were briefly called "Youthenics" but I thought having the word youth in the name was not good if we wanted to be timeless, and I liked the word Psyche, and it's psychological meaning as that's what we were trying to represent with our music and lyrics, so we chose that word as our name. It was also the b-side of a Killing Joke's "Wardance" single which I quite liked the sound of at the time.
If people don't know what you and your music are about, how would you describe Psyche?
I always say to people who really know nothing about independent music that we're like the Pet Shop Boys, only darker, weirder, and not so glossy. Or I say if they know Soft Cell's "Tainted Love" then they have the basic idea of what Psyche sounds like.
How did you come up with the title "the 11th hour" (Psyche latest CD)
Yeah, ironically that was just before there was this film about the environment with Leonardo DiCaprio. I chose it because I was pretty sure it might be the final Psyche album, which so far it still is.I wanted to make a moody dark album about nearing the end, then end of life, the end of the world, of success, love, and everything. Maybe it has to do with my 40th birthday, it seemed to fit with this feeling. So I've been living this "near the end" feeling for 5 years now, and I hope I will find a new beginning soon. At the moment everything is like nostalgia.
All right. You guys toured heavily after "the 11th hour" came out. How did the whole touring, to support that record, turn out?
We were opening for Diary Of Dreams for most of the album support. Other than making our debut in Italy, I am not really happy with the way things went. Maybe the album was like a prophecy.I'm starting to think that even though we received much acclaim for the album, that most people would prefer a slightly poppier Psyche.
How do you feel to hold the finished cd in your hands?
I was always concerned about the dead bird on the cover, but I was quite proud of the bleakness and the production of the songs at the time. I really felt like I had made a consummate artistic statement.
What are you currently listening to on your mp3 player? What artists have you been listening to these days?
Oh I am always changing my mood every three days on that. Sometimes I stay in complete silence, and other times I will dwell in sorrow with Nina Simone, or be in an aggressive mood and listen to Plasmatics, and some punk tunes. When i travel, I like hearing all the old electronic dance stuff of the 80s, with a few modern things thrown in. My main listening is usually loungey trip hop stuff
like Morcheeba's first album, and jazz like Melody Gardot and Jamie Cullum. I'm quite outside the EBM, Hellectro, Future Pop scene. I find it very repetetive. I like to go on Last.FM and discover underground artists I've never heard of before like Skream! or recently I found a French band that have been around since the 80s called Complot Brunswick. I guess I've always been bored by the mainstream, and even hyped bands of the indie scene often disappoint me. I started listening to alot of 70s rock songs I never knew because of the Supernatural TV series soundtracks, and I also still listen to the dance mixes of old Yoko Ono songs, seems like every year there's a new one. I will never tire of listening to "Walking On Thin Ice", the original was truly a masterpiece.
Do you spend a lot of time on remixing other artists tracks or is it something you do when you have some time over?
I originally never wanted to do remixes, but every now and then some people ask me, and if I really like the song, and think I can change it in a way that makes it even more interesting, then I will do it.Mostly I like to take an electro club track and change it into a melancholy ballad. Pretty much the opposite of what most DJs and remixers usually do! I just find that the true emotion of certain lyrics comes out more strongly in a ballad instrumentation.
Is your family pretty impressed with what you've done?
Yeah, I think they're proud that I've made a living from it, even if I never charted, or won a Grammy he hehee. I wish I had more money, but I'm still happy that there's enough people who like what I do.
This page,and all contents,are © 2003 / 2010 permission by ebm-industrial.nl
