Category: Interviews (Page 1 of 116)

LOCAL SUICIDE Interview

30 January 2026 /

Dina Pascal and her husband Max Brudi are the Berlin based-duo LOCAL SUICIDE who are also two thirds of the disco goth trio DINA SUMMER with Jakob Häglsperger aka Kalipo.

Having issued two acclaimed DINA SUMMER albums ‘Rimini’ and ‘Girls Gang’ as well as an EP ‘Hide & Seek’, Dina and Max returned as LOCAL SUICIDE at the end of 2025 with the ‘Houdini’ EP, their darkest and boldest work yet on their own label Iptamenos Discos.

With their industrialised bass lines, ghostly vintage synths, haunting distorted vocal chants and thumping energy, opening track ‘Obsessions’ bridges darkwave and techno. A collaboration with fellow Berlin resident Skelesys, ‘Submission’ is a declaration of defiance as the call for “Resistance, no submission” runs true in the current political climate. Meanwhile the ‘Houdini’ title song pays homage to the legendary illusionist with an accessible theatrical edge despite the haunting shadowy atmosphere.

Dina and Max chatted to ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK about the return of LOCAL SUICIDE, the creative process of ‘Houdini’ and their plans for the year.

You’ve had busy a few years with DINA SUMMER and Iptamenos Discos, how has it been for you?

Dina: It’s been really busy but also really exciting. We focused a lot on our second DINA SUMMER album, released a lot of music on Iptamenos Discos and toured extensively. It’s been amazing to reach new audiences and see how people connect with the music – we’re very happy with how it’s all turned out.

How did you decide that it was time to make some new LOCAL SUICIDE music?

Dina: We had very few LOCAL SUICIDE releases recently because the DINA SUMMER album took most of our attention and time. We also didn’t want to overwhelm anyone with too many releases under different projects. Production-wise, it’s been a quiet year – touring, day jobs, and album work left little studio time. The tracks on this most recent EP were actually created during the pandemic, but now it felt like the right moment to finally share them with the world.

So when does DINA SUMMER stop and LOCAL SUICIDE begin, how do the creative processes differ? Some might say a track like ‘In Space We Roam’ could be mistaken for DINA SUMMER?

Dina: There are definitely a lot of common points, since we are two thirds of DINA SUMMER. But in DINA SUMMER, Kalipo plays a defining role in shaping the sound, so his influence is obviously a huge part of that project.

Max: DINA SUMMER was initially planned as a regular collaboration like we’ve done countless times over the years but then it quickly turned into a band after we realised that we are very compatible with Kalipo and get along personally very well. Also DINA SUMMER’s sound is generally more accessible and not as raw/rough as most of our LOCAL SUICIDE releases. I think you can hear our distinctive style out of almost all of our 200+ tracks but as our taste changes over the years you will surely hear a musical development as well. Most of the tracks of the first DINA SUMMER album were written inbetween 2019-2021, which is about the same time that our new ‘Houdini’ EP was produced and all songs of the ‘In Space We Roam’ EP as well!

The ‘Houdini’ EP is a much darker proposition than anything you have done recently? Does the title have any wider significance?

Dina: It is darker indeed. The EP was created during the pandemic, when everything felt a bit dystopian. We’ve always enjoyed dark sounds, but during that time it came very naturally. As a child, I was very fascinated by the story of Houdini and always wanted to make a song about him, so the title also comes from that long-standing fascination.

Max: We had written about 8 tracks with Skelesys in the same time period. The more lighter tracks went onto our ‘In Space We Roam’ EP and our LOCAL SUICIDE album and the dark ones are on the ‘Houdini’ EP. We still got two more clubby ones. We’ll probably release those ones next year.

So “The great Houdini, the big escape”? The title track is a bit more accessible but musically, what were the subtle melodies inspired by?

Dina: We draw inspiration from everything around us – our surroundings, life experiences, and of course other artists. The 80s remain a big influence for us, shaping many of the melodic choices and textures.

Max: Not sure what the melodies were inspired by to be honest. I think we added the lyrics after we had the structure and all musical elements were written already. We were looking for a nice pleasant pad for the break to find a contrast as the track was quite aggressive overall and then found this beautiful organ sound on our Roland D50.

Why did you opt for a three track EP as opposed to an album, was this for conceptual reasons or due to time availability constraints?

Dina: The tracks were already half-finished for a few years, and we just needed the time to complete them. With everything else going on, there wasn’t space to make more. But we’re definitely planning to start working on a second LOCAL SUICIDE album next year.

Max: This EP felt like it’s a round bundle as it was, we are still figuring out in which musical direction our next album will be going. We’ve started a lot of nice tracks alone and with old and new friends but are still waiting for a superior topic that excites us enough to fully dive into the matter.

So what are your ‘Obsessions’ right now and how have they contributed to the track’s deep and heavy mantric sound?

Dina: Oh, there are too many to list, and they’re always changing! Sometimes it’s a track I can’t stop listening to – lately I’ve been revisiting ‘Vienna’ by ULTRAVOX. I also keep returning to AIR, who have been a long-time obsession of mine; their music is something I play on repeat whenever I want to relax. I get absorbed by films too. This year I didn’t have much time to watch films, but on a flight I finally watched the new ‘Beetlejuice’ and it was so inspiring – I even found myself watching certain scenes over and over for weeks after, like the wedding sequence. All of these obsessions, whether music, film, or otherwise, naturally feed into the atmosphere and intensity of our music.

‘Submission’ is a collaboration with Skelesys that has this looming percussive tension to it, what was its genesis?

Dina: We’re very close friends with Skelesys and he’s one of our most frequent collaborators. We really love each other’s energy in the studio, so the process is very open – we just let loose and see what happens. With this track, we initially wanted to do a Nine Inch Nails rework just for fun, but it quickly took a completely different direction.

Max: I think this track – just like the two originals on this EP – is showcasing our darkest and most dystopian side with spooky melodies, repetitive hard bass lines and distorted punkish vocals.

There are reworkings from French electroclash pioneer David Carretta of ‘Obessions’ and Alpha Sect from Greece of ‘Submission’; how do you select remixers and do you set them a brief or does that defeat the objective?

Dina: We’ve been huge fans of David Carretta since we started DJing, so receiving such an amazing remix from him feels like a dream come true. We actually got a remix request for his label and asked if he’d be up for an exchange. We also met him a few times over the past years – he’s incredibly sweet, kind and a true musical genius.

Alpha Sect is a very close friend of ours. We met him years ago when he was still living in Thessaloniki, and since I’m from there, we would often see him when visiting family. Nowadays, we catch up in Berlin or Thessaloniki whenever we’re in the same city. We love him as a person and truly believe in his talent. We had already done a remix for him, so this was also a remix exchange.

In general, we don’t give any briefs – the whole point is to let remixers fully interpret the track in their own way.

What is next for you, in whatever guise?

Dina: Next year, we will release more music as DINA SUMMER, tracks that didn’t fit on the album musically, plus some new material. We’re planning an EP that will come out gradually as singles, and we are also part of CURSES’ ‘Next Wave Acid Punx’ with a collaboration with our buddy Phunkadelica.

As LOCAL SUICIDE, we are working on some exciting collabs with artists like Zimmer, Nick Hanzo, Andre VII, Italo Brutalo, Oh!, Facets, Wiener Planquadrat, Hard Ton, Mike Sacchetti, Silenzi, Bobby Nourmand, OPS, Franz Matthews and NiKiT.

Gig-wise, we’re ending the year with a small Colombia / Mexico tour with two DINA SUMMER live gigs and a few LOCAL SUICIDE DJ sets. In the summer we’ll play Amphi Festival in Cologne, the Out Of Line Weekender in Berlin plus some more that aren’t announced yet and we’ve just confirmed a very special Halloween show in London for 2026!

Max: Also it’s the 5 year anniversary of our label Iptamenos Discos next year so we are planning a vinyl compilation, reissues, label parties all over Europe and got a bunch of EPs and singles by ourselves and friends in the making.

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its sincerest thanks to LOCAL SUICIDE

Special thanks to Carina Cheung at Eclectica

‘Houdini’ is released as a 12” vinyl EP by Iptamenos Discos, further information via https://localsuicide.bfan.link/houdini

https://localsuicide.com/

https://www.facebook.com/localsuicide

https://www.instagram.com/localsuicide/

https://www.tiktok.com/@localscd

https://soundcloud.com/localsuicide

https://www.youtube.com/@LocalSuicide

https://open.spotify.com/artist/0oRegIGGmJDXVaVfgWuoz0?si=A8O4YLQnQg2SVZ2wP2RRag

https://iptamenosdiscos.com/

https://www.instagram.com/iptamenosdiscos

https://iptamenosdiscos.bandcamp.com/

Text and Interview by Chi Ming Lai
Photos by Omar Luis Choomare
30th January 2026

A THOUSAND MAD THINGS Interview

26 January 2026 /

Photo by Romy Caton-Jones

While the music of A THOUSAND MAD THINGS may evoke feelings of nostalgia, William Barradale is no tribute act or one for novelty or pastiche.

Emerging as the best new act of 2025, the debut EP ‘Cry & Dance’ was an impressive statement. Growing up gay and vulnerable in suburban England, William Barradale found he could relate to the voices and music of classic acts like BRONSKI BEAT, SOFT CELL and ASSOCIATES as a tortured outsider navigating young manhood.

Augmented for gigs by James Foulsham-Rogers on synths, A THOUSAND MAD THINGS are a compelling live act with William Barradale tidily dressed and expressing himself physically in a manner recalling Ian Curtis, Andy McCluskey and James New of MIRRORS while delivering his emotionally rich vocals.

Co-produced by Mike Peden who first made his name as a member of THE CHIMES, the new single ‘Promises’ comes ahead of the second EP from A THOUSAND MAD THINGS due out later in 2026 to continue Barradale’s shadowy journey through adolescent memories, doomed romances and loneliness. He kindly spoke to ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK about his creative approaches…

You only have one chance to make a first impression and you did it well. What does ‘Cry & Dance’ mean to you personally, was making the EP cathartic at all?

‘Cry & Dance’ will always be special for me. I feel when making music, it’s important to encourage yourself into a vulnerable place, and feel that the best music is honest. I went into the writing process with my producer wanting to create music that was raw and upfront about what it was. ‘Cry & Dance’ does what it says on the tin in that respect. It’s obvious where it comes from musically and I didn’t want to hide away from that. The songs will always hold deep meaning because they come from a place of such vulnerability. But balancing that pain with pleasure is what it’s all about. As a first body of work, I’m happy.

How did you become immersed in classic synthpop, was it something introduced to you by your parents or was it the teenager thing of discovering a passion of your own?

My dad brought me up on TEARS FOR FEARS, more than any of the other 80s bands. ‘Songs From The Big Chair’ was absolutely huge for me and no-one else was listening to that music when I was a kid. And I remember how uniform and predictable pop music could be when I was at school of course with a few exceptions (we’re talking 2010-15 when I was in secondary school). I was quite a depressive kid but found solace in that genre and time period. Something about the performances and the social commentary liberated me from boredom and hurt and they always do. I think of songs like ‘The Downtown Lights’ by THE BLUE NILE, ‘The Working Hour’ by TEARS FOR FEARS and ‘Smalltown Boy’ by BRONSKI BEAT, which growing up a gay boy I didn’t even figure out the context of until later on in my teenage years but the message penetrated nonetheless.

Photo by Romy Caton-Jones

You’ve talked about nostalgia on a few occasions, some say today’s pop music is not as good as in the past, do you see any argument for that? What is the attraction of the past?

I think in a world determined to accelerate forward at such a relentless pace, it is important to have things to look back to, even if it’s predicated on a fantasy vintage zeitgeist. To me, the future is absolutely terrifying and seemingly more out of our hands than we even know. I don’t like to use the word naive because I know how considered and detailed the producers and artists were back in the 80s synthpop-era but there is something about the direct approach to sounds and performances that always resonated with me, I feel no-one was hiding behind anything. The rawness, honesty and weirdness in some of the records and shown in the wider culture is remarkable. It’s human. And stuff being more ‘human’ is about to be a bigger virtue than anyone realises.

What was the genesis of ‘Wide Awake’? You really get to play with your vocal range there, do you have any favourite singers?

My favourite singers are Sarah Vaughan and Billy MacKenzie. On ‘Wide Awake’ in particular, Billy’s approach to range was a huge inspiration, it’s a f*cking nightmare to sing and I love it. I wanna hear someone cover it.

In a time when the darkwave sub-genre has become prevalent in alternative electronic music but lacking in quality on the song, vocal and production front, what stands out about ‘Cry & Dance’ is your songwriting, how did you nurture your craft, what sort of bands had you been in before?

I’ve always been a solo artist even though I always thought being in a band was cool. And I always felt very without a home genre / scene. Even now, I think it’s convenient to categorise my music as darkwave synthpop but I think it goes deeper than that. Sometimes I long to just play the piano, I love listening to jazz and classical music. Sometimes I don’t even like listening to music at all. My outlook on writing is that a good song is sort of universal and can translate across genre and setup so my aspiration is to always just to try and nail the song and make good pop music. Then as we produce it, that’s where you often find the colour and the scene and the genre. Not saying I don’t have sounds and references I like and rely on, but sometimes I’ll write a song and the demo will be completely different to the finished piece. Lyrically and contextually, my writing almost always comes from personal experience, I love stories but I’ve always been crap at writing them, it gets too weird.

You posted a selfie on your socials next to an ARP 2600, Roland SH2 and a Dave Smith Prophet, are they yours? Where do you stand on the hardware versus software debate?

They are unfortunately not mine. I use a lot of software just cos I can’t afford the proper synths right now, but I have a list and will one day build a studio full of my favourites. I think it depends on the application, especially for bass parts something like the Pro-One is just impossible to recreate digitally and have it as good. I find it incredible how close developers have gotten when making recreations though, some of them are great. I also use Serum by Xfer Records a lot and I think that thing sounds fantastic.

Was ‘Local Guys’ autobiographical? Do you hope your music may help those navigating adulthood in the way acts like SOFT CELL and BRONSKI BEAT did?

Yes it is. If my music could make another person feel the way BRONSKI BEAT made me feel as a teenage boy I’d die happy.

You have mentioned that one of your favourite bands is RADIOHEAD, is there anything in their approach that influences the way you make music with synths?

I think in general the musicality and emotional nature of RADIOHEAD just really resonates with me. ‘In Rainbows’ is my favourite album.

‘My Car’ has this emotive expression of longing and appears to be about unrequited love, what’s the furthest you have ever driven for someone?

The worst journey I can think of is driving across Central London in rush hour. I have only done that for people I really love.

The new single ‘Promises’ heralds a new EP coming in 2026 and has more of rhythmic bounce compared with what was on ‘Cry & Dance’, where are you taking your sound next?

Although all these songs were made at a similar time, EP2 has more energy in its production and tone. I picked the songs I felt had more to say for themselves to go second. ‘Cry & Dance’ was about establishing the project and EP2 feels more expressive and darker in tone. I have a whole concept about what it is to be a flawed person and each song represents a different part of that person (the thoughts, the feelings, the body, the needs etc). I wanted to hold back these songs for EP2 because I wanted to wait until I had some attention to share them. The sound is similar though and it’s a lot of the same synths and production style.

Do you have a title for the second EP and are there any of the songs you would like to talk about?

The title will be ‘Hate It’, I’ve taken that name from the 5th track of the EP.

What are your plans for playing live in 2026?

Hopefully we will play as much as possible, UK and EU. We’re playing with PIXEL GRIP in February for a few nights in London, Bristol and Manchester and I think that’s going to be fantastic. Myself and Jim have developed the show over the new year so I’m excited to show people new material and a bigger and bolder set than we’ve done before. I love to travel and play so I hope to see as many cities as possible and a few festivals in summer would put the cherry on top.

What are your hopes and fears as A THOUSAND MAD THINGS gains momentum?

I don’t really have fears except creative stagnation. My hopes are to be an artist people find refreshing and unique but also make songs they find infectious. Selling out a headline show is my personal target for this year.

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its warmest thanks to A THOUSAND MAD THINGS

Special thanks to James Crosley at Nettwerk Music Group

A THOUSAND MAD THINGS 2026 live dates opening for PIXEL GRIP include:
London The Lexington (12th February), Bristol The Croft (13th February), Manchester YES Basement (14th February)

The single ‘Promises’ and the ‘Cry & Dance’ EP are available via the usual online platforms including https://athousandmadthings.bandcamp.com/

https://athousandmadthings.ffm.to/bio

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61574810537242

https://www.instagram.com/athousandmadthings/

https://www.tiktok.com/@athousandmadthings

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiH0XGmfKMWzM_VsizMgP8A

https://open.spotify.com/artist/7pcAieoVahaJkAvKzWG2xS

Text and Interview by Chi Ming Lai
26th January 2026

Missing In Action: SHARK VEGAS

2 January 2026 /

Photo by Jurgen Wellhausen

They were DIE UNBEKANNTEN but in 1984, they were no longer “unknown” as they changed their name to SHARK VEGAS ahead of a European tour opening for NEW ORDER.

Founded by Berlin-based Englanders Mark Reeder and Alistair Gray, SHARK VEGAS moved towards a more electronic HI-NRG disco direction after the doom-laden post-punk excursions of DIE UNBEKANNTEN, freshly influenced by Die Mauerstadt’s domestic club scene.

Adding Leo Walter and Helmut Wittler from the German band SOIF DE LA VIE to the line-up, the one and only SHARK VEGAS single ‘You Hurt Me’ was released on DIE TOTEN HOSEN’s label Totenkopf in 1984 before being remixed by Bernard Sumner for release by Factory Records in 1986.

The very immediate ‘Love Habit’ was premiered with a special video in 1985 on Berlin’s Glienicke Brücke which had a checkpoint that divided East and West; the occasion was to launch the new British cable music channel Music Box, but the song itself would remain unavailable until the soundtrack to Reeder’s documentary film ‘B-Movie (Lust & Sound in West Berlin 79-89)’ was issued in 2015.

SHARK VEGAS material has been scarce until now… the Japanese label Suezan Studio has issued an albums worth of material on CD as a tie in with their release of DIE UNBEKANNTEN’s ‘Don’t Tell Me Stories’ packaged in a 7” x 7” 130 page full-colour book; the SHARK VEGAS CD ‘You Hurt Me’ contains live tracks and original demos of songs, some of which were most recently re-recorded by Reeder with Lithuanian singer Alanas Chosnau and solo for the soundtrack to Hermann Vaske’s documentary film ‘Can Creativity Save the World?’; both available separately, if ordered together as a bundle, there is a bonus CD-R gathering further mixes of ‘You Hurt Me’ included.

Having previously discussed DIE UNBEKANNTEN in 2023 as part of the ‘Missing In Action’ series, Mark Reeder chatted to ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK about swimming the turbulent waters with SHARK VEGAS in his role as The Mancunian Candidate…

How does it finally feel to get a SHARK VEGAS long form release? there’s 11 songs and a KISS cover, but was there much material in your archives?

It was a lovely surprise and a great honour to be asked by Kaoru of Suezan Studio if I would allow him to release DIE UNBEKANNTEN and SHARK VEGAS in Japan on CD. Initially, he thought it would be just one CD album of our 12” inch singles, coupled with a few live tracks, but I had some demos, and I had already written an extensive booklet about our Cold War escapades of trying to be a band and our activities playing in the Eastern Bloc.

So, I suggested that he make a special edition 100-page booklet, with photos and text to accompany the CD. This has become the limited deluxe edition of ‘Don’t Tell Me Stories’, which had only been previously released by Vinyl-on-Demand in 2007 as an LP, and because I now had more room, I could expand the track-list on the CD to include upgraded versions and demos. That also meant that SHARK VEGAS would also get its own CD release.

Although, apart from the two 12” inch Singles and one compilation track, we didn’t have that much SHARK VEGAS material to be honest, we did have plenty of dodgy demo tapes, and a few live sets on cassettes, and generally their quality varied from bad to worse. A lot of restoration work was required.

Photo by Irmgard Schmitz

How did the Japanese Suezan label become interested in releasing it?

I had been performing in Osaka as the opening DJ for NEW ORDER, and was scheduled to DJ in Alffo Record Shop… naturally being a vinyl junkie, I also went around to as many record shops as I could find, and I was browsing in the amazing Forever Records in the Shinsaibashi-Namba area of downtown Osaka, when the owner Satoru Higashiseto politely asked me if I was Mark Reeder, and then said, his friend had a label called Suezan Studio (who I actually knew about from his CD releases of other Berlin artists like DIE TÖDLICHER DORIS or DIN-A-TESTBILD). He said his pal was interested in licensing DIE UNBEKANNTEN and SHARK VEGAS for Japan.

The label owner Kaoru was apparently very proud to have original copies of all our EPs. He contacted me, and we discovered we had many mutual friends. He definitely knew his stuff and it just felt like Suezan Studio was the right home for my records.

When do you consider the moment that SHARK VEGAS became an actual entity?

Well, we changed our band name from DIE UNBEKANNTEN to SHARK VEGAS specifically for the NEW ORDER European Tour in 1984, so I guess our inception was March 1984. We also acquired two new members for that tour in Leo Walter and Helmut Wittler, both formerly of SOIF DE LA VIE, who had previously released their Hi-NRG song ‘Goddess of Love’, which had become a club hit, but they got stitched-up by their singer and she took all the credit, which deflated their hit-seeking ego somewhat. Joining SHARK VEGAS was a welcome escape for them.

I thought being a foursome would make for a better live presentation. Leo had performed the percussion on our original studio demo of ‘You Hurt Me’ and it seemed natural to ask him if he wanted to accompany us on tour. Helmut could play bass and keyboards, and he looked good with his shirt off, and he was the only one of us who had a driving license.

The collection contains numerous versions of the only official SHARK VEGAS single ‘You Hurt Me’, why was that chosen to be recorded? It has a story on its own which involves Conny Plank and then Bernard Sumner?

Yes. We had already recorded a studio demo of ‘You Hurt Me’ as DIE UNBEKANNTEN with Leo on percussion, that was a few months before we were asked to go on tour with NEW ORDER. I sent this fresh studio demo to Bernard Sumner, who really liked it and he offered to produce it, and said maybe Factory Records would release it. It all sounded promising. Rob Gretton suggested we could do the mixdown during the few days break we had on the tour, and he booked us into Conny Plank’s legendary studio near Cologne. We were all so excited. All my favourite Krautrock artists had recorded something with Conny Plank and I was secretly hoping he would spread some of his magic over our music.

The session was a painful nightmare, and in the end, Bernard spent most of the time trying to get his mix to sound like our demo. We made about six mixes and none were what we really wanted. It was very frustrating. I always wanted the song to sound more like our original “Unbekannten” first draft, which we recorded in our practice room. It had lashings of Korg Poly6 arpeggiator sequencers and synths, but by the time we got it into Musiclab studio, we had a new synth and 808 drum machine, and the song had become more professional – which is the studio demo mix which was eventually released on the Factory version 12” Single.

In the end, after the disastrous Conny Plank experience, we made the final mixdown in Strawberry Studio in Stockport, Manchester with Bernard and Donald Johnson from A CERTAIN RATIO. All the mix versions were then split between Totenkopf Records and Factory. While compiling tracks for these CDs, I discovered our original practice-room demo version, which I included on DIE UNBEKANNTEN ‘Don’t Tell Me Stories’ CD.

Would ‘Love Habit’ not have been a better choice as a debut single as that was more immediate or did you not think in commercial terms? How close did ‘Love Habit’ come to getting an official release at the time?

Probably, but we hadn’t finished writing ‘Love Habit’ by that point. After the NEW ORDER tour, we recorded a very shoddy demo of ‘Love Habit’ at Musiclab studio, which we used for the Musicbox video performance on the Glienicke Brücke (Bridge of Spies), but by then Leo and Helmut were already planning on leaving the band. The song would only be properly recorded and produced after Michael Schamberg asked us to contribute a song to his forthcoming FACTUS compilation ‘Young Popular & Sexy’.

When you were asked to tour with NEW ORDER, do you think you were ready? The live recordings included on the album indicate that you sounded ok at the time?

I suppose we were as ready as we were ever going to be, given the amount of time we had to prepare. We acquired our two new members in Leo and Helmut only a few weeks before the tour and we wrote a few new songs with them and practiced every day. I recorded all our drum machine sounds and sequencers onto 4 track tape, as the MC202 sequencer was far too temperamental to take on tour. As we didn’t really have that many new songs, we padded out our set with a couple of reworks of DIE UNBEKANNTEN’s old songs like ‘Perfect Love’ and ‘Don’t Tell Me Stories’. After our first gig on this tour, Karl Bartos told us, he thought we were better than the main act, he might have just been sarcastic, but it encouraged us immensely.

Photo by Wayne Arents

What synths and things were you using in SHARK VEGAS? Was the technology was enabling you to get more sophisticated sounds and ideas down quicker?

Not really. Preset sound synths were becoming more and more popular and I wasn’t a fan. It was fashionable to have a DX7 or Korg Poly800, but I liked to discover or create my own synth sounds by fiddling about. We had gone from just having the Roland 606, an MS20, a Moog and a Transcendent 2000, to more polyphonic synths like Korg Poly 6, Roland 106, MC202 and SH9 but we also had a Korg Poly800, a Casio and a Roland 808 drum machine and clap trap. Later, we had a proper Korg sequencer and a Roland 707 + 727, but we didn’t use them live, Leo used a Simmons kit with a click track, I played the Poly6, or Roland 106 and Helmut played the Poly800.

The “disco time” of ‘Undercover Lover’ showed a lot of potential, how did that come together and why the “006” reference?

We lived in the ultimate Cold War city. Berlin was the spy capital of the World. The place where the Third World War was supposedly, going to start. Our lives were constantly running against this narrative. Being Brits in Berlin and not in the Army, we were shrouded in suspicion and constantly aware that people considered us agents of some sort, and they didn’t know what the hell to make of us, especially in the East half of the city, where we spent a lot of time.

The East German Stasi thought my agenda was to subvert the youth of East Germany. ‘Undercover Lover’ is about falling victim to the honey-trap. Which we had personally encountered. 006 is a play on words. In German it is pronounced “Oh-Oh-Sex”. It is a hidden warning!

We were also regulars at the Metropol, Europe’s biggest gay disco at the time. We went every Friday and Saturday night. It was a very inspiring place. I had taken Bernard Sumner there in the early 80s and a while later, ‘Blue Monday’ was born. We too were inspired by the emerging Hi-NRG scene and we wanted to upgrade our sound and style, to make it more amusing and not as depressive as DIE UNBEKANNTEN.

Whose idea was it to do ‘I Was Made For Loving You’, what was the process of arranging it?

Well, I must confess that was my idea. I had seen KISS perform in Manchester in 1976, which was the first time they had ever played in the UK, and from that moment I was hooked. My fascination stopped after their ‘Dynasty’ album though, as I thought that was their pinnacle.

I loved ‘I Was Made for Loving You’ and I still think it is their best song. I thought it might be a laugh to make a high-energy-DEAD-OR-ALIVEy version for our live sets, as we had always had a cover version of something in our sets as DIE UNBEKANNTEN. We unleashed our corrupted cover versions of songs like; ‘When You’re Young and In Love’, or ‘Diamonds Are Forever’ and with SHARK VEGAS, we either performed our version of ‘Heaven’s in the Back Seat of My Cadillac’ or… ‘I Was Made for Loving You’; No live version of ‘Heaven’s in the Back Seat…’ has survived.

We first performed ‘I Was Made for Loving You’ at the Weisse Rose in Berlin as an encore, and the audience went completely bonkers, thereafter it became a permanent fixture in our live sets. Sadly, that first Weisse Rose recording was far too poor to restore, maybe one day AI will be able to dissect it enough and I will be able to reconstruct it to sound presentable. We recorded a studio demo of ‘I Was Made…’ just to see if it would work as a cover version. It was nowhere near where I really wanted to take it, as my ability was compromised by my lack of producer knowledge. It was basically our live version, recorded.

Photo by Irmgard Schmitz

‘Pretenders Of Love’ was the only other SHARK VEGAS track that got officially released back in the day? How did that come to be fully formed and included on that Factory US compilation ‘Young, Popular & Sexy’?

To present the Factory US label in America, Michael Schamberg was putting a compilation together of new or lesser-known Factory artists like; THE HAPPY MONDAYS, DURUTTI COLUMN, ACR or STOCKHOLM MONSTERS, and after the positive reception of ‘You Hurt Me’ in the USA, he wanted something new and unreleased from us for ‘Young, Popular & Sexy’.

We produced two songs in the studio, and he had the choice between ‘Pretenders Of Love’ or ‘Love Habit’, and he chose ‘Pretenders’. I guess he thought American audiences would be able to identify with it easier; ‘Love Habit’ was far too Hi-NRG for his tastes.

Of the previously unreleased tracks included, which ones have stood up in your opinion after 40 years?

Probably ‘Love Habit’, ‘Undercover Lover’ and ‘Ice’, but also other songs that initially never left the practice demo stage like ‘I Can’t Share This Feeling’ and ‘Lovers of the World’ have seemingly stood the test of time, which I recorded recently for the albums ‘Children of Nature’ or ‘Can Creativity Save the World?’.

How was the reconstruction aspect for you and your studio partner Micha Adam, were there any rules you set yourselves or did you let a few modern-day tweaks come in like artificial intelligence?

Micha and I just wanted to try and get it to sound as good as we could from the sources we had to use. We only had the cassette tapes to work from, as all the original 16 track and 2 track master tapes had been destroyed in 1990. Although I had kept the cassettes in fairly favourable conditions, they still had never been played for 40 years, and when the tapes are degraded and riddled with blips, breaks and drop-outs, it is very time consuming trying to find ways to reconstruct the sound. We didn’t use any AI on any of the restoration work though, everything was done by hand.

Was SHARK VEGAS more challenging than DIE UNBEKANNTEN with 4 people involved? When and how did it all come to an end?

It was more of a collaboration effort to write songs like ‘Undercover Lover’ or ‘Heartbeat’ and there were a lot of compromises involved. I don’t mind making compromises if it is to the benefit of the song, but to be honest, I personally wasn’t too happy with the sound direction we were heading, especially after Helmut and Leo wanted a sax solo on ‘Heartbeat’. It was far too Kenny G conventional and coffee-table for my musical tastes.

We were already drifting away from the synth-rock-disco sound that I thought gave us a particular individual sound-style. I didn’t mind being poppy, but Leo and Helmut desperately wanted a hit, and they thought we could create one by making that compromise. They seemed prepared to do anything in the hope of being accepted by the radio stations. I thought it was like clutching at straws. I liked being in our synth-rock-disco niche.

This naturally caused a rift between us and what is usually described as so-called “musical differences” ended up dismembering the band. Helmut and Leo were still members of SOIF DE LA VIE and they wanted to pursue their own musical agenda. So, they left the week after we controversially won the Berlin Senat’s Rock Wettbewerb (rock competition). Alistair stuck it out for a while longer in Berlin, but after the release of ‘Young Popular & Sexy’, he too, eventually decided to return to the UK. After which, I started ALIEN NATION with Leo in 1987 to make Acid House.

If you had a time machine, how might you have approached SHARK VEGAS differently?

If I would be able to take the insight and knowledge as a producer from today with me, I would definitely want SHARK VEGAS to be more sequencer-synth driven, with dramatic disco-drums, and arpeggiators. In fact, just like the sound and style of the music I make today.

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its warmest thanks to Mark Reeder

‘You Hurt Me’ by SHARK VEGAS is released by Suezan Studio and available in the EU as a super deluxe bundle with ‘Don’t Tell Me Stories’ by DIE UNBEKANNTEN + a bonus CD-R from https://me-shop.net/produkt/die-unbekannten-shark-vegas-package-2cdbuchbonus-cd-r/

The SHARK VEGAS ‘You Hurt Me’ CD is available separately from
https://me-shop.net/produkt/shark-vegas-you-hurt-me-remastered-2025-lim-500/

‘You Hurt Me’ is also available digitally from https://markreedermfs1.bandcamp.com/album/you-hurt-me

DIE UNBEKANNTEN ‘Don’t Tell Me Stories’ CD and 7” x 7” 130 page book package is available separately from https://me-shop.net/produkt/die-unbekannten-dont-tell-me-stories-cdbuch-remastered-2025-lim-500/

Mark Reeder will be DJing with Gudrun Gutat as part of ‘David Bowie in Time: Just a Cabaret’, a special celebratory event at The British Library in London on Saturday 17th January 2026, also appearing will be Blixa Bargeld, Nikko Weidemann, Daniel Brandt and Jehnny Beth – tickets are available from https://events.bl.uk/events/david-bowie-in-time-just-a-cabaret

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Text and Interview by Chi Ming Lai
2nd January 2026

KNIGHT$: The Supernatural Interview

5 December 2025 /

With one album ‘Dollars & Cents’ to his name, KNIGHT$ is the electrifying solo venture of James Knights.

He built his reputation with cult favourites SCARLET SOHO and also serves as one half of the current incarnation of BOYTRONIC with original front man Holger Wobker. Known as a charming but frenetic live performer who combines classic Italo, HI-NRG, synthpop and new wave like a fine flavour of gelato, KNIGHT$ has opened for DRAB MAJESTY, A FLOCK OF SEAGULLS, CHINA CRISIS and most recently Andy Bell of ERASURE, as well as headlining his own shows across Europe.

The start of 2026 sees the release of the second KNIGHT$ album ‘Supernatural Lover’; featuring the title song which was released as a single earlier in the year and ‘I Die For This Love’ (a collaboration with Bjarne Sund), there is also a cover of YAZOO’s ‘Goodbye 70s’ as well as five other new tracks, several of them venturing into previously uncharted territory for our shades donning hero.

An intimate document of struggle and survival, obsession and loss, turbulence and change, set mostly to uptempo dance rhythms, England’s very own “Disco Rampensau” chatted to ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK about the making of ‘Supernatural Lover’.

How was the Andy Bell tour in Germany? How did his audience respond to you?

It was an incredible experience — so many great memories and new faces in the crowd singing along.

Did you have an idea of what you were trying to achieve with this second album? How was the writing and production process?

My first album, ‘Dollars & Cents’, was pure instinct — no expectations, and no real pressure after SCARLET SOHO ended. The second one came from a different place entirely. I’d lived more, and I knew some of that was going to surface in the writing whether I wanted it to or not. It’s a darker record, but I still wanted it to sound like KNIGHT$ — not weighed down by the themes.

While I was writing, I started revisiting albums I hadn’t played in a while — ‘Join Hands’ by SIOUXSIE & THE BANSHEES, ‘Secondhand Daylight’ by MAGAZINE — and then switching gears completely with THE ROCK STEADY CREW. That weird mix of moods and energy ended up shaping the album in unexpected ways. I probably overthought things at times — reworking vocals, tweaking mixes, questioning small details — but that focus helped me get closer to what I was really trying to do.

While side one is co-produced by your regular collaborator Martin Dubka, the second half features a whole side of outliers where you take some risks?

I saw side two as a chance to experiment a bit and step outside my usual setup. Working with Martin Dubka on side one gave the record its core identity, but I wanted the flip side to feel looser — a space to try new ideas and collaborate with different people. It’s more exploratory for sure, and in some ways, it hints at where things might head next.

You opted not to include songs from the previously issued ‘$auna Mu$ik’ EP or ‘Boom Bang Boom!’?

At first, I thought some of the ‘$auna Mu$ik’ and ‘Boom Bang Boom!’ tracks might make the cut, but as the album came together, I realised they didn’t quite fit the mood. That said, a few of them will appear as bonus tracks on the CD version, so fans will still get to hear them there.

On the opening song ‘Knightmares’, you adapted your vocal style slightly, how did it come about?

I hadn’t really noticed at the time, but it turns out I don’t have many songs in A minor. Singing in that key brought out a part of my voice I hadn’t explored much before, which gave the track a slightly different feel.

You channel your inner Patrick Cowley on the ‘Supernatural Lover’ title song, what was its genesis?

I always imagined the live show having a moment of pure euphoria, and this song became that. Lyrically, I’m drawn to the things we can’t fully grasp spiritually, and touching even a fraction of that feels incredibly powerful. Getting older has made me appreciate the idea that we’re part of something bigger — that there’s a connection beyond just ourselves.

You enter New York electro territory on ‘Bite The Nite’?

I’d been wanting to try a freestyle-style track for a while, and it’s definitely trickier than it seems. ‘Bite The Nite’ went through a lot of different versions before we landed on the final arrangement and vocal melody. We played it live in London recently, and it really came alive — it sounded massive!

‘Light The Fuse’ goes full Europop, were there any key influences on this?

For a while, I’d been hooked on ‘Pretty Face’ by the Italian band STYLOO, and I wanted ‘Light The Fuse’ to have that relentless, no-nonsense rhythm section that just keeps driving forward, similar to what they did. It wasn’t planned, but listening back now, I notice some held vocal notes in the chorus that oddly remind me of ELO. or even ‘Ulysses’, the 80s kids’ TV show theme — I’m not exactly sure why! Martin also filtered the synths in a way that echoes ALPHAVILLE’s ‘Forever Young’, which was his idea, and it really added to that Europop vibe.

There’s a HI-NRG cover of YAZOO’s ‘Goodbye 70s’, why did you choose to do this?

Growing up, my mum and I used to blast YAZOO in the car, so revisiting those songs is a nostalgic joyride. The idea for this HI-NRG take came from Gary Daly of CHINA CRISIS — he told me on tour in Derby that I sounded a bit like Alison Moyet, and it stuck with me. I worked with Swedish producer RetroTeque for this one-off version, and it brings a dynamic to the record.

‘I Die For This Love’ was not written by you and is a guest appearance on a solo track by Bjarne Sund of CRED, how did this come about and end up on the album?

Bjarne is a fantastic writer, and this experience reminded me that no matter how much you plan, you have to stay open to change when making an album. ‘I Die For This Love’ was released early in 2025, and the public’s response convinced me it deserved a place on the record. Once I found a natural spot for it, including it was a no-brainer.

‘DGD’ is very unusual, it’s sort of an experimental spoken word dance piece, so how did you get the idea?

Earlier this year, I got a Korg Prologue 8 and started experimenting with its arpeggiators. Tweaking a few things, I landed on a DAF-esque pulse that became the foundation for ‘DGD’. It gave me a solid sonic platform to explore something I’d been noticing lately — so-called politically left-leaning people casting judgment on others and wishing them harm, almost sounding right-wing all of a sudden. I found this deeply unnerving, and the track became my way of processing that.

Some will be surprised at the piano ballad ‘Can’t Cry Any Longer’ which closes the album?

Every batch of songs I write usually has one or two slower ideas, but I’m more drawn to tracks with pace, so I avoid crowding an album with too many slow songs. ‘Can’t Cry Any Longer’ was the perfect way to close this record — a softer moment that balances all the energy leading up to it.

The album is short and sharp, you’ve not stuffed it with 18 overlong tracks like some people have done, how do you sum up its making?

The idea was to keep it tight and meaningful — no filler, no overlong tracks. Each song has its own purpose, and together they make a record that’s concise but still rich in ideas.

What are your hopes and fears for the album?

The public will decide which songs endure, but I’m happy with what I’ve created. I see this album as a perfect bridge between the first record and what’s coming next.

What is next for you?

Next up is a tour of Germany in January with six headline shows in Berlin, Bochum, Leipzig, Erfurt, Frankfurt and Hamburg, followed by a one-off Paris date on February 12th. I’m sure there will be a London show in the spring, maybe some festivals, definitely a remixed version of the new album. Look out for my Andy Bell remix on ‘The Crown Jewels’ release on the 12th of December too!

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its special thanks to James Knights

The album ‘Supernatural Lover’ is released by Specchio Uomo on 5th February 2025 as a vinyl LP, CD and digital release, pre-order now from  https://knights101.bandcamp.com/

KNIGHT$ opens for THEN JERICO at Oxford O2 Academy on 19th December 2025

European live dates at the start of 2026 include: Rüsselsheim Das Rind (23rd January – with DELTA KOMPLEX), Erfurt Stadtgarten (24th January – with DJ set from Marcus Meyn from CAMOUFLAGE), Hamburg Maria’s Ballroom (30th January – with IN CONTACT), Berlin DarkNights Festival (31st January – with BLUTENGEL, SOLAR FAKE, EISFABRIK + many more), Paris Atomic Cat (12th February), Leverkusen Shadow (20th February), Leipzig Darkflower (21st February)

http://knights101.com/

https://www.facebook.com/Knights101/

https://www.instagram.com/knights101/

Text and Interview by Chi Ming Lai
Photos by Ekaterina Yakyamseva
5th December 2025

CHINA CRISIS: The Autumn Extras Interview

28 November 2025 /

The most recent CHINA CRISIS album ‘Autumn In The Neighbourhood’ may be 10 years old but the background to its genesis now makes it seem like it has come from another era.

The follow-up to 1994’s ‘Warped By Success’, when it finally went public in 2015, it was only available as a CD or download via the now defunct crowdfunding platform Pledge Music and subsequently at CHINA CRISIS shows.

Curiosity was piqued by the light chamber recital that introduced opener ‘Smile’ before a fuzzy bass synth interjected while ‘Because My Heart’ showcased a Merseyside take on countrified Americana. A CHINA CRISIS album would not have been complete without a wistful number about ‘Being In Love’ but keener fans wanted to know how Howard Jones came to be playing on ‘Bernard’ and asked what happened to ‘Everyone You Know’, a sprightly pop tune gifted as a free download to all Pledgers when the campaign began in 2013.

A charming compendium of “adult contemporary soulful art pop…” that has grown in stature over recent years, as songs such as ‘Fool’, ‘Down Here On Earth’ and ‘My Sweet Delight’ became live favourites, interest was reignited in ‘Autumn In The Neighbourhood’. The album got a limited self-reissue in 2020 with ‘Everyone You Know’ appended to a new vinyl edition, but that sold out a while ago.

Having reissued the debut CHINA CRISIS album ‘Difficult Shapes & Passive Rhythms – Some People Think It’s Fun To Entertain’ as well as the collections ‘China Greatness’ and ‘The Complete Sessions 1982-1983’, the ethically minded Independent record label Last Night From Glasgow has released an expanded version of ‘Autumn In The Neighbourhood’ as a forest green double vinyl LP and CD, both containing 10 bonus tracks, as well as a single cloudy blue vinyl version for the more cautious consumer.

With the CHINA CRISIS nucleus of Gary Daly and Eddie Lundon now as busy on the live circuit as they were in their commercial heyday when their third album ‘Flaunt The Imperfection’ became their biggest seller, album number seven ‘Autumn In The Neighbourhood’ can be yours to own and is available at gigs, in shops and online via the usual retail outlets.

Taking a short break from their live schedule, Gary Daly looked back at 10 years of ‘Autumn In The Neighbourhood’ with ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK and chatted about the bonus tracks that are now on offer as part of this new 10th anniversary edition.

Even though ‘Autumn In The Neighbourhood’ is now 10 years old, it’s still a bit of a best kept secret even among CHINA CRISIS fans, but now they are getting to find out?

Autumn was never “released”, not in the traditional way of a record company being involved… manufacturing and distribution, basically putting the album in shops around the world. ‘Autumn In The Neighbourhood’ was one of the last great Pledge Music / fan funded albums, made and distributed by us, the band. It was thrilling and super exciting to be so involved but having said that, we are sooooo happy ‘Autumn’ is now going to be available again courtesy of Last Night From Glasgow record label…

‘Everyone You Know’ was the download only gift to Pledgers when you first crowdfunded the album in 2013, have you been able to find a place for it on this reissue, is this now an album track or an extra?

‘Everyone You Know’ is now both an album track and extra track, depending on what format you choose. The song itself was initially left off the CD, we felt it was, sonically, a little bit “stand alone”… of course we are now of a mind it’s a fantastic addition…

How did the idea for a deluxe edition with bonus tracks come about, are they all tracks from the original sessions or are there newly curated pieces?

Curated and very very relatable. Some of the songs are home demos and a couple are live in the studio piano / vocal performances. With it being the 10th anniversary, we saw it as a great opportunity to do an extended edition and make more ‘Autumn’ music available…

Are you yourself a fan of demos and alternative takes in the deluxe boxed sets of your favourite albums?

No, I’m not really but I must admit, I absolutely “love” our China demos…

The demo version of ‘Being In Love’ sounds like something that could have gone on your 2019 solo album ‘Gone From Here’?

Yeah, that was done with a buddy of mine Christopher Barlow in his home studio, we’ve worked a lot together these past 10 years. Chris is a real Bowie and vintage synths guy, he contributed to both ‘Autumn’ and ‘GFH’.

There are two versions of ‘Fool’, Eddie’s acoustic demo and an electronic instrumental “KRAFTWERK meets STEELY DAN” version which is fantastic. It shows where you can take a song… could you see the potential of ‘Fool’ almost as soon as the demo was presented to you?

‘Fool’ is very much an Eddie song, it was Brian McNeill who fashioned its feel, he realised its ‘Flaunt’ arrangement potential. And it was a colleague of Eddie’s, Paul Mitchell Davidson what did the fantastic brass and wind arrangement.

Two tracks ‘My Sweet Delight’ and ‘Bernard’ appear as live recordings made in North Wales but in solo piano-centric arrangements?

Bryn Derwen studio, Bethesda, North Wales… Andy Steele (of MUDDYHEAD) on piano and myself, lead vocal. These recordings are from sessions over the last few years, I would have just recorded them as songs in progress and would have been curious to hear them in a singer / songwriter setting.

‘Fall’ is like the theme to ‘Autumn In The Neighbourhood – The Musical’ if one existed, was this overture a retrospective idea or something you had already considered when the album was being made?

‘Fall’ is basically Chloe Mullet’s wind and brass arrangement with additional soundscaping by engineer / producer Carl Brown. When Carl and Mark (Pythian, mix engineer) were mixing the track ‘Autumn In The Neighbourhood’, they soloed Chloe’s arrangement and it was completely a work of some considerable sonic / melodic achievement. Worthy of a presentation as is, they sent it to me and I was blown away. It was always my intention to include in any re-release.

What’s the meaning behind the “Dutch Master” of ‘Down Here’?

‘Down Here’ / Dutch Master is Brian McNeill’s initial mix and was mixed in Holland… at this point, we was of a mind maybes it was time to mix the album. But after living with some of the initial mixes for a little while, we decided there was still work to be done…

Is there a story behind ‘How To Live & Love?’

The story behind the inclusion of ‘How To Live & Love’ is the song itself features Kevin Wilkinson, Gary ‘Gazza’ Johnson and myself on piano / vocal. It’s a live performance and very much from a time when it had the potential to make it to the album but then things change and… a version did make it to my solo Polite Postcard CD box set ‘How To Live & Love Your Life’ from 2008. I was deffo of a mind fans would enjoy hearing Kev and Gaz again, hence the inclusion.

As well as appearing as ‘Because Because Because’ which is a not-so-country version of ‘Because My Heart’, the ‘Autumn In The Neighbourhood’ version had been given a new Mark Saunders single mix which plays on its New Country vibes… its interesting how this song has developed as it first appeared in 2007 as part of ‘The Visionary Mindset Experience’ solo EP you did?

‘Because My Heart’ deserves wholeheartedly to be known the whole world over, it’s soooo beautiful. We have been working once again with Carl Brown (‘Autumn’ producer) and Mark Saunders; we decided to ask Mark would he like to remix ‘Because My Heart’; I think he’s added some new country music energy and radio friendly vibes. It’s definitely on a journey, from my ‘Visionary Mindset…’ EP to this re-release… songs do indeed have a life of their own!

How would you sum up ‘Autumn In The Neighbourhood’ and why anyone interested in quality music should have it in their home?

Well firstly… if it is already in your home, let me on behalf of everyone involved in the making of and now promoting of ‘Autumn’, thank you thank you thank you. And for everyone yet to hear / own ‘Autumn’, take a minute, a chance and immerse yourself in what is now considered to be one of our finest recordings… you will not be disappointed.

ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its warmest thanks to Gary Daly

The 10th Anniversary edition of ‘Autumn In The Neighbourhood’ is released by Last Night From Glasgow as a forest green double vinyl LP and expanded CD each with 10 bonus tracks plus a cloudy blue single vinyl LP, all available now from https://shop.lastnightfromglasgow.com/products/china-crisis-autumn-in-the-neighbourhood-10th-anniversary

For information on CHINA CRISIS live dates in the UK and internationally throughout 2026, please go to https://linktr.ee/chinacrisismusic

https://www.facebook.com/chinacrisisofficial

https://www.instagram.com/chinacrisismusic/

https://www.threads.net/@chinacrisismusic

Text and Interview by Chi Ming Lai
28th November 2025

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