continued from page 23

to watch . I thought the other day about starting to watch the whole of Gundam , but I don ’ t think I ’ ve got that many years left in me .

IE : Book-wise , what have you been into ? AE : I really like the Ibis trilogy by Amitav Ghosh . I liked the first one a lot , the others not so much . And during lockdown , I read all the Michael Chabon books , and I loved it , I loved it all , and I read all the ones that I hadn ’ t got around to reading . And that was nice .

IE : I really enjoyed Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica . It felt very pandemic-appropriate , as it imagines a Dystopian world where disease has killed all livestock , everywhere , so there is no more meat . But then , suddenly , there ’ s meat . AE : Ah . I sense where this is going . It ’ s almost a Never Let Me Go – Ishiguro scenario .

IE : Or , Charlton Heston screaming , “ It ’ s people ! Soylent Green is people ! AE : Oh yeah ! And I ' ve watched Soylent Green again recently , and it really does hold up . And pretty much every year , if not more often , I make sure to watch the Holy Trifecta of ‘ 70s science fiction films , which are Soylent Green , Silent Running , and Rollerball . Rollerball is one of my favorite films , ever . I don ’ t think it ’ s the best film , ever – my best film , ever is a film called Bunraku , which nobody ’ s ever heard of . But it ’ s got Woody Harrelson , Josh Hartnett , Demi Moore , and Ron Perlman , and it ’ s like a very updated Batman , but the 1966 version .

IE : Who do you actually socialize with on that level in Leeds ? Just hang out with and talk ? AE : When he ’ s not busy , and he does keep himself busy , I talk to Chris May , who doesn ’ t live far from where I am in Leeds at the moment – he used to be our guitar player , and we ’ re still friends . Otherwise , a lot of my friends from Leeds , somewhere between five and ten years ago , died . I haven ’ t been to a funeral for a while , but there was a period where I seemed to be flying in a lot for funerals . And we lost two tour managers in the space of a year , and that wasn ’ t good , because you know how the tour manager is like the father figure of any outfit on the road .

IE : And Jim Steinman died , too , the Meat Loaf producer who built your majestic " This Corrosion ." AE : Yeah , but he was trying to sue me because he was obviously completely broke . So , uh , I don ’ t miss the idea of that . But that ’ s not really my world anymore . Although a couple of years ago , I did the music for Paris Fashion Week , and the fella I was doing it for said , “ So – where do you want to sit ?” And I said , “ I ’ m not coming ! That ’ s not my world !”

IE : Talk to me like I ’ m five . How did you put the music together ? Did you write it , curate it , what ?

24 illinoisentertainer . com april 2023

AE : Well , the crazy woman ( mentioned above ) used to work in the fashion industry , and this particular fella – who is still , I believe , the chief designer at Balenciaga – is a friend of hers , and we just met over coffee one day , and he wanted me to do a range of clothes for him , which I may or may not get around to . Because , like I say , the fashion industry is really not my world . So how did I approach the music ? Well , I know what they want – they want something that ’ s constantly loud , and in this case uptempo . Another designer recently approached me , off the back of the Balenciaga thing , and wanted something morosely slow . But the Balenciaga people wanted something uptempo and constantly loud , so I gave them some constantly loud , uptempo electronica . And I never have to worry about the quality of my guitar playing if I stick to electronica . Because , although I played all the guitars on Floodland , apart from one solo , that ’ s the last time I played guitar in anger . I ’ ve left that up to other people because after Floodland the duration of the band has been a touring band , so I ’ ve always had guitar players around , so I ’ ve gotta give them something to do or they get deviant .

IE : There ’ s a moment after the “ heel to haunch ” spoken-word bridge on “ This Corrosion ” where the huge chorus kicks in , and it ’ s probably one of the greatest moments in rock and roll .

photo by Christian Wojtysiak

AE : Well you should hear the demo version ! In fact , not only you , but I should hear the demo version , but I ’ ve got no idea where it is . In Yorkshire , before we went to New York to do the actual version that you ’ ve heard , I did a demo version at a small eight-track place which had a completely different vibe to it . I mean , it was still monstrous , but the underpinnings of the track – particularly the acoustic guitar – had a lot of swing to it , and it really slid back and forth in a really swingy fashion . And I was disappointed when that got ignored when we came to make the actual record in New York . Because Steinman didn ’ t care about underpinnings – he only cared about the stuff on top , like the choirs and the pianos and that ’ s it .

IE : And be careful what you wish for . In “ Dominion / Mother Russia ” you intone , “ Mother Russia rain down .” And sure enough , Mother Russia is raining down , as we speak . A : Didn ’ t Trump say this week that 1 ) He could

continues on page 37

blooming confidence as a songwriter and Gore ' s unlikely songwriting assist from Richard Butler ( of Psychedelic Furs ). Lead single " Ghosts Again " is as melodically haunting and infectious as anything they ' ve ever written . Their mortality hangs in the electronic balance as Gahan sings , " We know they ' ll be ghosts again ." The influence of Kraftwerk is obvious on " Wagging Tongues ," with its musical nod to " Europe Endless ." " Never Let Me Go " and " Speak to Me " wrap up Memento Mori , their best music in twenty years .

– John Vernon Appearing 4 / 5 at United Center , Chicago .

8

MIIRRORS Motion and Picture

( Pravda )

Makes sense . Chicago " buzzband " Miirrors has hooked up with storied Chicago label Pravada to release their longawaited debut . After early pandemic delays killed any momentum the band had to go , they sauntered forward with an impressive EP ( Nightwalk ) while recording at Chicago ' s Electrical Audio with studios in Nashville and LA ." " We really care a lot about aesthetic ," Shawn Rios told the Daily Herald , and it shows . This was no Pro Tools in Mom and

good reminder to have a few CDs or vinyl here and there or a couple of books . We should have enough of the survivalist in us .

IE : What was it like working on the Neon Noir songs essentially on your own and just being in the studio without the other HIM guys and getting their input ? VV : I thought it was great . 99 % of the time when

working with HIM I got the skeletal structure of a song together by myself ; I do that work at home . Then I take the ideas to the rehearsal space , and we start to flesh it out . This time around because I didn ' t have that I started recording . I didn ' t have to show the ideas to anybody . I was able to start recording at that very instant when the inspiration hit me . It was a weird situation and every interesting and great lesson learned . I was sort of producing , engineering , and writing the songs at the same time which made it kind of intoxicating . It was very meditative . I was really lost in the woods , which I thought was great because it was such a pure state since there was no noise . There was no communication with any other human beings . There was no communication with the record label because this album came out on Heartagram records . It was purely art for art ' s sake , and I thought it was a nice experience .

IE : When you were gearing up to release Neon Noir

Dad ' s basement affair , Miirrors production values are top-notch on Motion and Picture . Influences are heavy from Jeff Buckley ( the band tackled a " completed " version of Buckley ' s rare 1997 four-track demo " Gunshot Glitter " in 2019 ), and shoegazers Ride and My Bloody Valentine . The band sounds best when they rock out (" Sinistry ," " Gunshot Glitter ," " Knockoff "), where vocalist and co-founder Brian McSweeney uses his considerable vocal chops to his advantage . His bandmates Shawn Rios ' s staccato rhythms slot themselves with Andre Miller , Patrick Riley , and Dmitri Rakhuba ' s aggressively pushing their rhythms along . Miirrors debut is good first step in what we hope is a long musical journey .

– Davd Gedge Appearing 4 / 8 at

The Hideout , Chicago .

7

and weeks leading up to the album , were you nervous at all about being out on your own or fan response , or were you all in ? VV : I think there was this sense of calm because I knew that I ' d already shit the pants , you know . That sort of thing that nothing else can be done . Right at Christmastime , I got the first vinyl in print , so I knew the thing looked right and sounded good , which surprisingly takes a lot of time to make sure it turns

out the way you want it . After that , it felt surreal . It still feels surreal after all that ' s done because the pandemic made all of us more or less agoraphobic . Everybody went into this weird black hole of solitude , so getting out there and having new music and still having a whiff of HIM about it is quite a special feeling . I ' m proud of the album . There ' s quite a few people close to me as well who have said nice things about it . It seems to resonate . It has a sense of tenderness about it even though it ' s a rock album . It ' s not aggressive . It has this sort of flow to it and a sense of adventure . It goes into weird places at times . I think an album should be like that .

Appearing 4 / 9 and 4 / 10 at House of Blues , Chicago .

Ashley Perez - Hollingsworth