Interview with english cybergoth band ILLUMINA

Something magical atmosphere is creating in England: was born some interesting bands not like anyone which is making their new musical mind. 

Young and selfstyle band Illumina from Nottinghem released debut CD “Chameleon” this year for Nighbtreed. Music of the band is musical format of Nightbreed if you remember about classic releases from Nightbreed you will find the same way to Faithful Dawn. Illumina mixed cyber musical fashion, old school goth and unusually female vocale for cybergoth they created something unique, called this brilliant “Chameleon”. Illumina members Steve (Music) and Amanda-Claire (Vocals) answered to these questions. 
(hier UGP stands for Ukrainian Gothic Portal – Alexey Shamardin, ILM – ILLUMINA, Steve and Amanda-Clair – remark by editor)

UGP: Hi! Please tell us about the band, about formation ideas and purposes. 
ILM: We met in a nightclub in late 1994 and then sometime in ’97 or thereabouts, we decided we ought to form a band, as we’d both had musical experience and missed not doing it – I had played in rock bands in the early 90’s and Amanda-Claire had done some singing – and we both felt a need to express ourselves through words and music. We spent the next 2 or 3 years writing songs for ‘Chameleon’, and then a year recording them. It all happened very slowly as we were both busy with work or studying and also because we wanted to go straight to a CD album, without putting out lohe obvious person to approach. We didn’t want to deal with someone we didn’t know who we might not see regularly. We recorded a four track tape and took it to Trev. Trev said we could use their studio to record something properly and see what came out of it. We recorded ‘Chameleon’ at the Nightbreed studios and he agreed to distribute it for us.

UGP: Tell us about first Illumina CD, about mood and feels in music and lyrics. 
ILM: ‘Chameleon’, as the title suggests, is about a number of different ideas, moods and feelings, all put together into what we think is a coherent album. There are fast songs such as ‘Night Chameleon’ and ‘Awakening’ which are intended to be fairly straightforward upbeat dance tracks and there are slower, moodier songs such as ‘Destiny’, ‘Fade’ and ‘Fate of an Anti-Hero’. Then there are other tracks which fall somewhere in-between – ‘No Disintegrations’, ‘I Draw Blood’, ‘Lamia’ and so on. When Amanda-Claire writes lyrics, she writes about things that move her or are important to her and tries to express those feelings. Lots of the lyrics tell a story.

UGP: Nightbreed is cool label with chief Trev (Midnight Configuration). What do you think about this label and the bands (Intra-Venus, Faithful Dawn, Athamay, Midnight Configuration, Katscan…) from this place? 
ILM: Nightbreed has been around a long time, now – at least 10 years and that is a testament to its success. Trev has always been interested in nurturing the roots of the scene and takes an interest in getting involved with young or new bands. The list you mention above represents a diversity of ‘dark’ music and that is important – to recognise all the different strands that make up the modern scene. We like some of the bands more than others, but recognise that they all have an individual approach to creating interesting music. There are loads of small independent labels that specialise in goth and industrial music and I think this is one of the main strengths of the scene (in the UK, anyway).

UGP: What do you think about modern Dark culture in England, Germany, Russia, Ukraine? 
ILM: I can’t really comment upon Germany or Russia (having never been to either) although there does seem to be a very strong ‘dark culture’ scene. What I like about the UK is that there is a very participative attitude; some people dj, some promote live music, some make or sell clothing and so on. There is a willingness on the part of the music fans to take a part in constructing the alternative scene rather than passively sucking it up. 

UGP: Ethereal/neo-classic/medieval and goth rock styles release less than cyber goth, darkwave and EBM styles nowadays. Can you tell us your opinion about cyber goth culture? 
ILM: In the UK, the club scene has taken off in a big way – there are lots of nights which place an emphasis on electro, EBM and cyber and these styles are breaking down the boundaries between goth, rock, electro and dance music which is probably a healthy thing. There is no longer a clearly defined goth scene or industrial scene, but rather a heterogeneous collective for people who are into all sorts of different things. One downside to this is that there aren’t so many purely goth/rock nights and, as a result, there is a smaller live music scene. Having said that, I much prefer to go places where a mix of music is played. I want to hear cyber, goth, synthpop, industrial, rock and dance and now you get all of that in one place. Also, the crossover enables artists who don’t fit one particular genre to get heard.

UGP: What kind of music (musical bands) do you listen to? What is your favorite CD? 
ILM: Amanda-Claire likes Delerium, Apoptygma Berzerk, Moby and Garbage and listens to just about anything including goth, trance, rock and classical. Her favourite CD at the moment is PJ Harvey‘s ‘Stories From the City, Stories from the Sea’. I like listening to Covenant, Rammstein, Panacea, Current93, Apoptygma Berzerk, VNV Nation, the Sisters, Metallica, Julian Cope, Aphex Twin, Underworld and many more. I’m currently listening to The Misfits‘ Box Set. In terms of a favourite CD – that’s a hard question to answer, but at the moment it’s probably ‘Mutter’ by Rammstein – it’s a fantastic album.

UGP: What kind of books and films do you like? What kind of art and fashion do you prefer? What book do you read nowadays? 
ILM: We both read quite a lot. Amanda-Claire likes ‘Harry Potter’, the ‘Sandman’ comic, ‘Oh! My Goddess’ and reading about animals. I like old sci-fi and cyberpunk books, particularly the works of Robert Heinlein, Philip K. Dick, Michael Marshall Smith, Neal Stephenson, Jeff Noon and Ken Macleod. I also read cognitive science books and a number of fantasy and horror comics like ‘Sandman’, ‘Hellblazer’, ‘The Books Of Magic’ and ‘Preacher’. As regards films, Amanda-Claire is much more interested in films than me, but we both like ‘Bladerunner’, all five ‘Star Wars’ films, ‘The Matrix’, ‘Gladiator’ and ‘Lord of the Rings’. Again, we’re both into art and try and get out to galleries occasionally. Amanda-Claire is into the Pre-Raphaelite movement, Aubrey Beardsley and abstract art; I like Van Gogh and Escher. Fashionwise, I suppose you’d say we both dress in a cybergothic style.

UGP: What do you do except music? 
ILM: Work, mostly. I’ve just written my thesis and Amanda-Claire is busy with her artwork – she’s been taking sculpture classes recently. She also spends a lot of time playing computer games.

UGP: What are Illumina plans? 
ILM: We’re working on an EP which we have previously said would be released in 2002, but time has caught up with so I’m just going to say ‘sometime next year’ and not be any more specific! This EP will feature some remixes of ‘No Disintegrations’ and some other tracks. 

UGP: Do you want to say something special to our readers? 
ILM: We’re very happy to be getting interest from Russia, so thanks to all the websites who have mentioned ‘Chameleon’ and thanks to those of you who’ve bought the CD. Those of you who haven’t heard our music, why not visit our website (http://www.illumina.org.uk ) and listen to some of it.

UGP: Thanks and take care.

Illumina web-page – http://www.illumina.org.uk 
Contact – illumina@illumina.org.uk

The interview has been taken by Alexey Shamardin.

Debut CD review 
Illumina “Chameleon” (p) 2002 Nightbreed

Very opportunely friendship with Libitina; necessary influences and support. 
The nearest analogies can be lead with music of Faithful Dawn, Obsc(y)re and but Illumina is darker, is more romantically and is more and melodious than the last one.  
Alexey Shamardin