ghettoazzwitch wrote:I think the biggest issue is the whole “goth” scene that dominates the alternative clubs. In my opinion, a lot of people who identify with the whole goth scene are really set in to the whole “THIS IS GOTH AND THIS IS WHAT IS NOT” thing. I mean, have you ever spent time around a group of Goths? They love debating the nature gothiness ad nauseum. What bands are considered Goth. What outfits are consider goth. What beer is gothiest. (Who cares? Wasn’t the whole scene originally about not being labeled?) However when anything new arives it automatically becomes some kind of social taboo. I remember when the whole cyber Goth thing was new and they were all up in arms about people wearing neon colors and listening to EBM. The irony is that is the kind of stuff that these alternative clubs love now. So here we are as this emerging new genre of music (and I do think we are still growing) with people who have a dark aesthetic taste both in the music and the visuals that accompany it. Some call it Witch house, or triangle core, drag, rape-gaze, whatever. We understand that names and labels are kind of a joke, I mean why else are most of the band names alt- keyboard functions? It doesn’t matter what it’s called I know what I like when I hear it. It’s got that wonderful dark, ambient sound, but the beats are still fresh and danceable, and the musicians put an immense amount of thought into their creations. You’d think it would be the perfect type of music for the alternative club scene. I would much rather go to a club and dance to White Ring’s IxC999 than whatever Cruxshadow’s shit they play. However these alternative clubs do not want to try out anything progressive. Its more profitable to do another steampunk night not only because playing GVCCHI HVCCHI in the venue might cause a heart attack, but what the Witch House genre also represents; something that can not be easily classified. That mentality of “Goth is this and this and this” does not jive with our freedom to draw influence from everywhere.
So this genre and its fans don’t get a lot of respect because it is still new and since we don’t have a clear defined set of rules, but I think the longer it sticks around and the more people the music reaches, the more Witch House is going to become a name that people recognize.
Haha, reading this Im like "did I get drunk and create a second account and forgot about it"
When I first got into the goth/industrial subculture and music almost 20 years ago, the musical palette was EXTREMELY
diverse. Coil, Dead Can Dance, Ministry, Skinny Puppy, Nitzer Ebb, Switchblade Symphony, Klinik, Cocteau Twins, Christian Death, Joy Division, Swans, Death In June, Depeche Mode, GGFH, Front 242, Front Line Assembly, Siouxsie and the Banshees, KMFDM, Einsterzunde Neubauten, Xymox, the Sisters of Mercy, Nine Inch Nails, X Marks The Pedwalk, X Mal Duetchland, and on and on. So many bands, so many styles.
In 2012, when you go to a goth club(and it's not specifically geriatric dinosaur night where it's all 45 year olds pretending it's 1989) it's almost exclusively going to be this shit
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkOF0t0lpdA
With this style
There's many debates what "goth" is. When Manson got popular, "goth" got perverted and became a household name. To the point where any kid wearing a Slipknot or Hot Topic emo screamo rock band was now "goth".
But to me what goth ISNT is fucking Mortal Kombat candy raver crap.
The goth culture music...no matter if it was light, dark, fast, super slow, ethereal, harsh, melodic, etc was
mysterious and always elicited a sense of wonder and took you places. Cyber-aggrotech-00ntz is just generic
Dance Dance Revolution music with bad distorted vocals.
A few months ago I got wind of some night, finally managed to find the place in San Francisco. Didnt even reach the top of the steps, and thick fog was rolling down with trippy lights/strobe effects and cryptic French noir manipulated film footage projected on the walls with ICX99 blaring being mixed into some slow trap and ethereal. It sure as heck wasnt a goth club, as that Balam Acab kid was about to take stage followed by oOoOO. And while witchhouse is pretty much mostly an indie hipster culture subset, with a lot of the people dressed like urban outfitters catalog kids...Im glad they at least have an appreciation for the music the goth culture SHOULD be embracing but find too scary or jarring.
Imagine a goth in 1992 saying Skinny Puppy was "too scary and unnerving". So for now, "goth clubs" will be VNV Nation, Combichrist and the "Pong" song played ad nauseum.
Btw, I notice the "first class"(2010 era) of 'witch house' bands have really flown the coup and seem to have evolved/distanced themselves. Grimes, oOoOO, Balam Acab, etc now appeal to an entirely new/different audience
and have reached a really bigger plateau. I know a lot of trendy business type people who love oOoOO. Grimes is just huge now, even playing on NBC's Jimmy Fallon recently. Even Ritualz, Funerals and Fostercare have changed their sound going in a more EBM/trance techhouse direction(just, in a really cool way)
I often describe witch house as ranging from trip hop influence, to southern trap hip hop meets early industrial experimentation with Alice Glass singing over it.
I DON'T want to see "witch house" and the overall dark indie scene get bogged down and caught up/stuck in the 2010
WH tropes. I think a lot of people new to it/influenced by it are grabbing for the original obvious cliches instead of giving themselves freedom to explore any and all genres. I myself am interested in middle eastern layers, some 80's new wave sounds and pre modern industrial.