DROP DEAD JOURNAL | The Cutting Edge of the Underground Sound

Feature: The Legendary Pink Dots

As promised we are beginning to preview some of the material from the upcoming Drop Dead Magazine Issue 5. Bellow is part of the interview with excellent The Legendary Pink Dots. To get more photos and the complete interview please refer to the Issue 5 out soon.

The Legendary Pink Dots

Interview by Atrocious Lyre
Photography by Bill Ellison

Drop Dead Magazine - You’ve just released your twenty fist album, Plutonium Blonde. What struck me about it was that since you seem to be a poetic band it’s interesting that the in-sleeve doesn’t have all of the songs listed nor are the lyrics of all the songs printed. Is there a mysterious reason for that?
Edward - I would have personally quite liked to have all the lyrics there. The label didn’t have the kind of budget to make the booklet we would liked to have seen. That happens quite often. I just chose the most significant lyrics. I’m a bit sad that Torchsong wasn’t there, but that’s sometimes how it goes really.

Drop Dead Magazine - Does everyone in the band live in Amsterdam or The Netherlands?
Phil - We all live in The Netherlands. Actually it’s around a town called Nijmegen that most people live, and Edward lives further south in Holland.

Drop Dead Magazine - Do you have a Pink Dots studio that you all share?
Phil - We have multiple studios. We all have a studio in our own houses, and we put our works together in a variety of those studios. Recording comes from working in a combination of them.

Drop Dead Magazine - It sounds like you’ve reached a sweet spot with your music. Does that resonate with you?
Phil - Well, there is a great cohesion between the members at the moment. Edward and I have been at the top of our song writing skills at the moment. Work has been great. Everyone’s input has been excellent in this record.
Drop Dead Magazine - Does Raymond record The Dots as well as do the mixing and live sound, or is he doing the post production and the sound exclusively?
Phil - Obviously he’s our live engineer, he’s the recording engineer at times and most of the post production and mixing.
Edward - Together…
Phil - Together with actually Edward and I mainly.

Drop Dead Magazine - How did the two of you first meet?
Edward - It was actually a ways back in the end of the seventies. Through a mutual friend of ours, Tony Stringer. I was going to college with him and we shared very similar tastes in music. In particular Van der Graaf Generator. Phil was his friend and he introduced the two of us together. There was this passion basically for the same music really. Sort of like pulled us together, and you know, were the foundations of a friendship which you see endures right through all of these years.
Phil - I used to drive over to his house once in awhile. We’d both play our new records and new music we’d found to each other. Edward’s mother would make us endless cups of tea. We were very young then but it started a passion in music that has lasted all our lives really till now yeah.

Drop Dead Magazine - Is My First Zonee about a cell phone?
Edward - Yep.
Drop Dead Magazine - Have you ever gotten scabby hands from cell phone use?
Edward- I watch which cell phones I touch.

Drop Dead Magazine - Most keyboard bands are anti guitar and LPD seems to be anti drums on the whole.
Edward - That’s not true. You know I think drums can add a really great side to music. I’m not anti any instrument actually. I think all sounds are equal. It’s just the band that we are, and we chose the line up that really works for us. But it certainly doesn’t exclude drums. I mean for a long time we worked with Ryan who is a really fine drummer, and we miss him without a doubt. But you know when he wanted to go his own way…you could replace a drummer but you could not replace Ryan and that’s why we decided on the course after he left that we have done. But we can’t be anti drums. If you’re interested in music you shouldn’t be anti bagpipes, you shouldn’t be anti guitar or anything.
Phil - Drums are rhythm and it’s always in our music. Sometimes from computerized drums, hand drums or naturally in the music rather than from any specific drum sound. But it’s all rhythm and it’s always in music.

Drop Dead Magazine - Do you have an agreement as to the percentage each musician contributes creatively?

LPD Photo by Tom Surber

For the answer and a lot more  please check out Drop Dead Magazine Issue 5 coming in Spring 2009

MP3: Torchsong

Official LPD sites:
Prominent fan site:

News Flash: Drop Dead Magazine Issue 5

Overwhelmingly reader mail demands to know the release date of the next print issue of the Drop Dead Magazine. Well cats and dolls what have we possibly been so busy with as to wait for such a long time between publications?  Well there was the Drop Dead and Mutant Transmissions Festivals, myriad of shows and DJ gigs, we put the Drop Dead Music blog online with print magazine archives, our label Mutant Transmissions released 2 CDs with more to come and Dan started another music blog Better than Sex. Well all that well and good you will say but what about the Drop Dead Magazine, I want to know about all the cool new music and events and have new posters for my walls, and actually hold the thing in my hands, being a tactile fiend that I am .You, my dear reader are absolutely correct and we have been sufficiently shamed by you. We are happy to report that issue 5 is on its way and will be out before end of spring. We have so many new bands to tell you about! We also have a few excellent interviews with veteran bands and we will start to preview some of the content here beginning with Legendary Pink Dots interview coming up later today. Don’t worry we wont give it all away, new issue will be overflowing with new interviews, previously unpublished eye candy, and enough excitement to kick start a fresh obsession with music. We love you dear reader and we have never left, now go set up a show, learn how to dj, make a mixed cd and share it with your friends or just go to an awesome show. Don’ forget to e-mail us and comet on this blog once in a while, it will be too depressing not to hear from you. Now go! Life awaits!

News: Drop Dead Joins Fangoria online

Drop Dead Magazine has been invited by the worlds oldest Horror magazine Fangoria to do a horror music blog.  We are bloody delighted to bring you the Drop Dead Chronicles , The Cutting Edge. You can find this blog on the Fangoria official website . As our first order of business we have uploaded the full first album by our favorite Spanish horror fiends Los Carniceros Del Norte and did an interview with Thorsten of the Fiendforce Records. Presented for your ghoulish pleasure are 3 songs from the Fiendforce Records. We would love to hear what you think about our Horror Music  blog and what you would like up to cover. Please go to directly to Fangoria and make your comments there. Happy Ghoulidays every one!

Fiendforce MP3
Rezurex - Die De Los Muerto
The Other - Lovers Lane
Blitzkid - Terror In The Haunted House

New Releases: Schwefelgelb, Alt Und Neu

Album Review : Schwefelgelb, Alt Und Neu
Tapete Records 2008

Finally here the new full official album from Berlins electro band Schwefelgelb. This is 11 tracks that you are guaranteed to keep in your player on repeat. Sound undeniably rooted in old school industrial and NDW, the band incorporates the new generation of electro and 8 bit sounds to make sure this album is not just a nostalgic perfect moment but a statement of new and now. If you like original NDW and early industrial bands like DAF and Cabaret Voltaire you will surely be happy wit this album. If you like the first and second wave of NDW you will love this album. If your into new electro and chip tune music that’s innovative and dancy go out and buy this right now. Plain and simple this shit will make you dance, this will make you happy, and this will make you grateful that music likes this is still coming out of Berlin. Buy it Here, directly from the band.

MP3s
Schwefelgelb - Zehn Schuss, Kein Treffer
Schwefelgelb-Dann ist das gut

Upcoming Shows: NY Eye & Ear Music Festival

Next weekends NY Eye and Ear Festival is totally non genre specific, with the only unifying factor being proximity to NYC and the Do It Your Self attitude. Much like me you might be looking at this line up and not recognize most of the bands or labels so why should you care enough to attend? I’ll give you 4 easy  reasons: discovering new music, supporting independent music and labels, there is surely quality underground darker stuff on the bill you will like, and its a damn cheap ticket (15$ for 2 day festival, am I right?). It’s really a kind of noon brainier but let me illustrate the point about darker or weirder bands of immediate interest to the Drop Dead audience. .On Friday Magick Report, Hells Hills and Realax are experimental electronics,  each interesting its own way, Taigaa! are girl synth wave. Wierd Label and Tesco are both participating with a DJ set from both 1:30 till you fall asleep , so you know that’s going to be good. Saturday is a crazy day with over 20 bands. There is more experimental electronics from  Ben Miller/Degeneration, minimal from Silk Flowers and Xeno & Oaklander, punk Michael Jordan, experimental weirdness of Necking and Zs ambient Infinity Window,  cool laid back  Excepter, and of course post apocalyptic folk Cult of Youth (think Death in June). All these bands and a wholle lota new music you never heard before. See you there punks!

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8-Bit Mayhem: Yip Yip

Reprint from DDM Issue 4 (Subscribe HERE)

An excellent Indy music blog Better Than Sex run by one of our long time contributors has just reprinted an updated Yip Yip interview from DDM Issue 4. With Blip Fest underway in NYC this weekend what better time to showcase one of our favorite 8-bit bands. Enjoy the video and check out the full interview in print Drop Dead Magazine Issue 4 or on line Here.

Upcoming Events: 8 Bit Madness, The Blip Fest

Don’t Forget this weekend the mega 8-Bit Blip Festival is back December 4—7, 2008 at The Bell House.

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Upcoming Festival: Mutant Transmissions 2

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Great news for art punks and weird wave fiends it has just been announced that the second annual Mutant Transmissions Festival will take place in NYC on April 5th and 6th, 2009.

Last years MTF took place in LA and spotlighted a slew of excellent west coast bands as well as some interlopers. This year mutant Transmissions hits NYC which will give a an opportunity for the east coast weirdos to join in the fun. MT is a DIY event and invites local art and music community to get involved in planning and production. The younger crowd is also not excluded since the festival is traditionally an all ages event and every one is embraced with equal id not all together sane enthusiasm. Watch for the line up and updates on Mutant Transmissions Myspace. To join in the fun email mutanttransmissions at gmail dot com.

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Love affair with the Gadget: Our pick

Our love affair with technology runs deep. Not only are we obsessed with mp3 players and ways to store or music, but we are a modern DIY culture with all techie accouterments that come with it. Not that long ago starting your own magazine was out of the question and to see a bands video, well if it wasn’t a big band with a budget, forget it! Not only did the technology revolution make things more accessible, but now if your not making stuff happen yourself, well your just plain lazy. Here we give you creative and ultra sophisticated ways to promote, record and share music and technology in a low budget DIY way.

In the gadget picks we will spotlight technology for the do it your self independent music enthusiast and musician. This column is not meant for professionals and you will not find multi thousand ultra specialized items here. We will bring you sexy little items to help you heard the most music, create the slickest posters, get the most outrageous photos and videos. Bottom line, this is shit you can actually use.

USBCELL AA Rechargeable Battery

The Awesome: Its batteries you can charge via any USB slot so they are portable with no battery charger required and they save you money on multiple battery purchases.. They are totally green friendly and will probably impress girls.
The Kind of Lame: They take longer to charge then standard rechargeables and contain about half the power.
Price: $ 19.99 from Amazon or related.
Link: http://www.usbcell.com/

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HyperDrive COLORSPACE UDMA

The Awesome: Billed as the newest and fastest memory card back up this does for photography what an mp3 player does for music. Is this a glorified hard drive with a screen, card readers and a bit of software? Maybe so but it is perfect for concert and festival photography and super handy when you travel and don’t have your laptop for backups. Full color 3.2 ” built i screen shows you photos in high res.  Has 14 different built in memory card slots and super fast information transfer  of 2 GB per minute as well as a good battery life(250 GB per charge). The size is also convenient for traveling: 298g and 5.25″ x 2.95″ x 1″
The Kind of Lame: Its really expensive because of all the specialized photography extras like screen and card readers. Limited functionality, its great for photos but would it kill them to throw in an mp3 player?
Price: $559-500 GB, $ 379-120 GB
Link: http://www.hyperdrive.com/

Full Album Download: Los Carniceros Del Norte