Big Nick B

I arrived in Manchester in 1989 with a pocketful of dreams; one was to introduce the city to Industrial / EBM music as few seemed to know about it. I came up with the title Rubberclad Battlefield! It seemed appropriate because I had read about nights like Torture Garden and I could see how fitting it would be, alongside the militaristic, post apocalyptic image of EBM.

I started out in pubs; The Eagle, Hulme; the Boatman’s home, Castlefield, a few illegal flat parties in the notorious Hulme Crescents and then I decided to record a live mix to showcase the largely unknown bands like Skinny Puppy, Nitzer Ebb and Front 242. The tapes with all my own artwork were distributed and well received.

A chance meeting landed me the upstairs room at the Banshee club for Exit 80’s, this was a turning point for the scene. Up until then I was seen as “That quiet lad who dressed like a soldier and listened to that Violent music” but once Nine Inch Nails appeared, things would never be the same. As a result, some of the small crowd attending would go on to do great things like Underworld and Infest,which I have played at twice now with humbling reviews.

I came away from the scene due to a long term relationship, but soon returned to find it all a bit different. Using my past experience I landed guest slots at Sin City, Analogue Trash, Club Lash and in time would co-create Black Planet,a regular night at Legends. But sadly, like most great venues in Manchester, resale and demolition removed them from the map…

…Undeterred, I have tried to keep my hand in to get slots at similar nights and have the odd side project like Witch House and Experimental. I now have a residency at ArA; a Goth / Industrial / Alt. 80.s night in a church, where I continue to entertain with material from the early pioneering days of the Industrial / EBM genre to more current bands. My most recent residency is Delete Yourself; it’s primarily Dark Techno and Hard Dance but my Darker Industrial / Early EBM fits right in. And I get to work alongside Slimelight residents, which suits me just fine!

Links:
ArA – Delete Yourself – Nick’s Photos

Gareth Angel

I’ve done all sorts; djed at Whitby twice, at gigs like Laibach & Karl Bartos in Poland, Sheep on Drugs twice, Inertia loads of gigs, various alternative clubs mainly in London [Kerrang, Dark Disco, Dead & Buried, Slimelight, Electric Ballroom, Ashes to Ashes],even in sunny Doncaster and had a radio show for years.

…probably forgot lots of things I’ve done…

You could add singer of industrial dance band Angelbomb a London based Punk/Industrial band with dance beats and were around from 1999 to 2003, pioneering the Cyber/Punk sound including playing Dark Jubilee with VNV Nation and The Scala with Sulpher. The band were played on a number of radio stations around the world including XFM in London & 5FM in South Africa. They also appeared in Rocksound magazine. Angelbomb have played with ChameleonsVox + The Dogbones , Alabama 3, Sheep on Drugs, Angelspit, Cold in Berlin, Obsessive Compulsive, Uberbyte, Andi Sexgang AND Ultraviolence, member of Post-Punk band Sister Suicide, oh and promoter of Post-Punk Club.

[Ed:] …been around the block a few times then eh, Gareth? See you in August!

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