{"id":6315,"date":"2024-12-31T08:15:33","date_gmt":"2024-12-31T08:15:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/?p=6315"},"modified":"2024-12-31T08:15:33","modified_gmt":"2024-12-31T08:15:33","slug":"interview-ben-christo-sisters-mercy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newssoccer.uk\/?p=6315","title":{"rendered":"INTERVIEW: Ben Christo \u2013 Sisters of Mercy"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Propelled from the obsession with electronica but still a far distance from the machinations of the mainstream music of the time, the signature sound of The Sisters Of Mercy cultivated a powerful mystique, creating some of the most influential rock music of the 1980s.\u00a0 They return to Australia and New Zealand this week for their first headline shows in over 7 years so we caught up with guitarist Ben Christo ahead of the tour to find out what fans can expect and more.<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

HelvaTion \u2013 At the moment I understand you\u2019ve been on the European leg of your tour since late September. Has the tour been going well so far?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ben Christo \u2013 Yeah! In fact, I can say without any doubt that it\u2019s the best tour that we\u2019ve done since I\u2019ve been in the band. In terms of the reception we\u2019ve been getting, in terms of how good I think the shows are, lights, sound, set list, the performances and just the response we\u2019ve been having from people. Because this is quite a difficult band sometimes and I have been doing tours before and in the past people have be saying \u201cLook. It was OK, but there was this and this\u201d. Whereas this time people are coming up to us afterwards, because myself, the guitarist and Dave who\u2019s the\u00a0 Nurse Doctor for Avalanche, we tend to always go out now afterwards to meet people and the response we\u2019ve had has been so positive and so excited. It\u2019s not even people necessarily going \u201cOh my God! That was so good\u201d it\u2019s an instantaneous \u201cPlease can you sign this? Can you sign this? Can I get a photo?\u201d which really speaks volumes because it\u2019s a test to the fact people have had such an amazing time that they want to somehow create a momento of that evening to keep. So it\u2019s been going really well and we\u2019ve been really enjoying it. There\u2019s been a lot of positivity.<\/p>\n

HT \u2013 Have you had much in the way of time off since you\u2019ve been there?<\/strong><\/p>\n

BC \u2013 In Europe we tend to have a fairly sensible schedule. Maybe two or three shows on, then a day off\u00a0 so rather than it being a relentless tour like so other bands I\u2019ve been in where you\u2019re just playing every single day. I don\u2019t mind playing every single day, but when you\u2019re in that environment it\u2019s really useful for everyone to get their own space for 24 hours for your metal state. It\u2019s been alright, but what tends to happen with days off is that we just tend to chill out really instead of sightseeing or anything like that because it\u2019s that sacred time that you\u2019ve actually finally got some space. It\u2019s been OK, but it\u2019ll get a lot more silly once we get to Australia and New Zealand because I think it\u2019s just\u00a0 relentless. Flying into a show day, doing a show and then flying to another one, which is kind of disappointing in some ways because Australia and New Zealand are such awesome places it would just be really nice to have some more time.<\/p>\n

HT \u2013 That\u2019s really excellent. You\u2019ve been with the band since 2006. So was it a scenario that you were with them when they came to Australia last time for the Soundwave Tour back in 2012?<\/strong><\/p>\n

BC \u2013 I was.<\/p>\n

HT \u2013 How did you find that?<\/strong><\/p>\n

BC \u2013 It was a great experience. I remember it being a whirlwind of shows and bands and what I do remember is it was really surreal that you\u2019d be travelling from one show to the next and because there was only a certain flights you be getting on the plane and there\u2019s Fred Durst and there\u2019s the guys from Blink 182 and it just like \u201cOK. Cool. Wicked\u201d and that was that was really exciting. What was interesting was at the end of end of tour party that we had, which I think we in Adelaide, we were meeting all these bands afterwards like Machine Head and the guys from Limp Bizkit. And it turns out they\u2019re all massive Sisters of Mercy fans because they\u2019re of that age where they grew up in the 80s and they were listening to Flatland and Vision Thing. So it was quite bizarre having these quite heavy bands going \u201cOh my God man! I\u2019m a Sister\u2019s fan! Totally love you guys so much, it means so much to me.\u201d And even though it\u2019s not literally me but it\u2019s being part of something that\u2019s so important to these bands I actually grew up listening to and conversing with them was quite surreal.<\/p>\n

HT \u2013 That\u2019s really great. One question I\u2019d like to know from you is given the fact that The Sisters of Mercy are an established act and they haven\u2019t recorded any new material for quite some time, how do you find being part of the band at this particular point because obviously you\u2019re only doing the live shows?<\/strong><\/p>\n

BC \u2013 Yeah it\u2019s quite a curious thing because when I joined the band, I was a fan of the band, but I hadn\u2019t followed them that closely. I had the classic albums and I listened to them a lot, but I was going online everyday see what they were doing. And so I just presumed that they must have some other albums I hadn\u2019t heard and we\u2019d probably record some new stuff and then it became quite obvious that we weren\u2019t going to do that even though there has been a lot of new songs written. So in some ways, I\u2019ll be honest, it can be quite frustrating because I\u2019d love to be part of the new record for this band. I think it\u2019s an incredible band and to be part of it would be an absolute honour. But at the same time we have been writing new songs and we are showcasing new songs on this tour, which for the first time I\u2019ve actually been a part of the writing process and it\u2019s been really amazing to be playing these songs in a band I grew up listening to. And then the response from the fans to these two or three new songs has been really positive. So that\u2019s it\u2019s quite an honour and it\u2019s quite affirmative for me to have that validation of a band that I really like I\u2019ve be writing for and then people really liking it too.<\/p>\n

HT \u2013 That\u2019s fabulous. I know that you\u2019ve had a few other projects over the years and I\u2019ve even noticed that you\u2019ve done some work with Pig. So has there been any other artists that you\u2019ve collaborated with or worked with in the past through your recording or session work that you\u2019re really proud of the fact that you\u2019ve worked with those particular individuals?<\/strong><\/p>\n

BC \u2013 Yeah absolutely and in the last couple of years a lot of things have come about. You\u2019re right about Pig. In fact we wrote and recorded quite a lot of the songs on the Revelation album that came out a few years ago and one of those was then used in a big American TV sci-fi thing and that was really exciting for me to have my music that I\u2019d written with the singer as part of this big DC comics TV show which was awesome. There\u2019s also a guy the band called Boy Sets Fire that I don\u2019t know if you\u2019ve heard of but they\u2019re quite famous American sort of melodic hardcore punk band and the singer of that I ended up working with him now on a couple of records and we\u2019ve been touring together and that\u2019s been really good. I also got a chance to play with Michael Therapy. Who were a big influence on me. So when I look back there has been quite a lot of things that maybe aren\u2019t bands or artists, but on a personal level, these are bands and artists that I would listen to relentlessly as a teenager. You know there are those bands where there\u2019s a time when you won\u2019t listen to anything else but that band cause it\u2019s like nothing else will do it. I\u2019ve been lucky enough to work with some of the bands with whom I\u2019ve had that kind of profound relationship growing up and then suddenly it\u2019s like amazing I\u2019m actually writing with them recording with them. As for the Sisters, I dunno. It\u2019s like never say never really about it. I\u2019ve never heard anyone ever say \u201cRight we\u2019re never going to record an album ever again\u201d, but it hasn\u2019t happened yet. But there are new songs being written so who can say.<\/p>\n

HT \u2013 Absolutely. And it\u2019s those of those obscure acts that you know that were really meaningful to you, and to me as well. I saw one of them live here in Perth and this is like \u201cOh my God it\u2019s just like the most amazing experience ever\u201d. But getting back to your work, obviously last time you here in Australia you were doing like the festival circuit, which is obviously different from doing the solo shows like you\u2019re doing now. Are you happier with the fact that you\u2019re doing these you\u2019re doing these solo shows or would you more prefer to do the festival circuit?<\/strong><\/p>\n

BC \u2013 Always going to prefer to do your own shows because it\u2019s going to be a dedicated audience who really know a lot of the stuff and are there specifically to see you. So if you go out thinking \u201cThis is great, we\u2019ve sold out all the shows\u201d, we know it\u2019s going to be good because there\u2019s going to be X amount people who are there specifically to see us rather than we\u2019re playing a festival at a certain times on a certain stage and it kind of depends on who\u2019s around at the time. I think we\u2019re doing that festival circuit was really important for the band because it would have gotten us some new fans and following and a presence of planting some flags over there for us to then go back and be able to do this tour. So I\u2019m really excited about the fact that we are going to get to play these shows. We did a couple of side shows in Melbourne.<\/p>\n

HT \u2013 I think you played at the Corner Hotel twice during that festival.<\/strong><\/p>\n

BC \u2013 That\u2019s right. Yeah. It\u2019s really bizarre. We did Tuesday and Thursday in the week which is kind of cool, but it was quite a small venue. As I remember it, it holds maybe 800 or something.<\/p>\n

HT \u2013 It is a bit of a small venue. I was actually there the other week for a gig and because I\u2019m not from Melbourne, I just flew over there for the gig. It was close and somewhat intimate, but it\u2019s a rather small venue.<\/strong><\/p>\n

BC \u2013 Yeah. And sometimes there\u2019s a massive pole in the front of the stage. I don\u2019t know if that\u2019s still there. It\u2019s like a big pillar, but that was cool venue and it was a cool kind of thing to do in the week between the festivals.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Sisters<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

HT \u2013 It kind of reminds you of those seedy bars, but\u00a0 sometimes those seedy underground clubs are some of the best to play. So what actually is has been your favourite venue to play out in the past?<\/strong><\/p>\n

BC \u2013 There are certain ones on this tour that spring to mind immediately just because I\u2019ve just done them. There\u2019s a great venue in Berlin called Columbiahalle which is about 3,000. It\u2019s just got the right kind of feel for Sister\u2019s music. It\u2019s got a slightly industrial, post-apocalyptic sort of vibe to it and that kind of German factory, industrial feel that just seems to fit really well with songs like Lucretia and Dominion. Sometimes being in a certain environment can really fit, whereas other venues that are very kind of corporate are \u201cHey, here\u2019s a music venue and tomorrow we\u2019ll have a pop band and then the next day we\u2019ll have a conference\u201d and they still don\u2019t have so much personality to them and they don\u2019t fit well with the aesthetics. But I remember that we were playing a couple of days ago in Munich and it was this long hall that used to be a slaughterhouse with these massive metal pillars and all this industrial like roof and it\u2019s like this is so perfect for this show. I think it really sometimes can add an element to the enjoyment of the gig for the crowd and the band to feel that you\u2019re in the right sort of an environment that that matches with the aesthetic of the music.<\/p>\n

So are you going to be going to be at the Perth Show?<\/p>\n

HT \u2013 Yeah. I\u2019m definitely going to be at the show. I\u2019m looking forward to it because I prefer that personal touch that you get with an individual show. It\u2019ll be really good because it\u2019s events like this that bring out the old crew. The amount of inspiration that Sisters of Mercy has had for people within the Gothic and alternative scenes over the years has just been immense.<\/strong><\/p>\n

BC \u2013 Yeah absolutely. Sometimes it\u2019s hard to understand exactly what it is about (and what it was about) this band that had such a big influence. If I was to try and figure out a list of reasons as to why this band has done so well whereas others haven\u2019t, it would be things like the lyrics are really good. They\u2019re really ambiguous and they\u2019re really enigmatic. There\u2019s a lot of intellect behind the words, whereas a lot of 80s pop and rock bands maybe not so much. Also, I think they\u2019re very memorable melodies and choruses. Thinking about the Floodland album, it\u2019s like a movie. It\u2019s so cinematic and I think that really captures people\u2019s imagination and I think that in a way the Sisters can be said to have played a large part in creating industrial music and dance music because of the repetition. Take a song like Lucretia or Dominion or More and it\u2019s really just the same three chords round and round and round, but it builds in a way that is very compelling.<\/p>\n

HT \u2013 Also the earlier uses of drum machines as opposed to drummers.<\/strong><\/p>\n

BC \u2013 Absolutely, yeah. And that\u2019s now part of the aesthetic and very occasionally people still, like newer people, come to the gig and go \u201cWhy haven\u2019t you got a drummer?\u201d But most people do really understand that that\u2019s part of what this band is about. That relentless machine like nature of the sound.<\/p>\n

HT \u2013 And there\u2019s been several of the bands over time that have done a similar thing. Like Big Black for example. A band shouldn\u2019t have to fit into a certain slot. You don\u2019t need to have a drummer. Well, why not you have two drummers? Have a drum machine. Who cares. Don\u2019t even have drums going at all. If that just works for your sound.<\/strong><\/p>\n

BC \u2013 Well it was a happy accident because it came out of necessity. Andrew was telling me that when he started the band, they couldn\u2019t have a drummer because they were just practicing at home and the noise would be too loud, so they had to be like \u201cWell, OK. We\u2019ll just do it with a drum machine\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 and somehow that just became a thing.<\/p>\n

HT \u2013 I know you\u2019re doing a lot of touring with the Sisters and I know you\u2019ve got a few other acts that you\u2019re associated with like Night by Night and Diamond Black. When it comes to yourself do you prefer the live performances or are you the sort of individual that prefers the recording process?<\/strong><\/p>\n

BC \u2013 It\u2019s a really good question. I used to I used to prefer recording cause I like nerding out a bit and geeking out about being in the studio. But things have changed now. Often the recording process, because of the limitations financially that we have these days, for most bands it becomes a bit more of a panic. \u201cRight! So we\u2019ve got two hours to do this. Go and do it.\u201d You can\u2019t really leisurely spend hours and hours in the studio on the record company\u2019s money. You just get it done. I still like recording and I actually prefer singing than guitar playing when it comes to recording. I love singing backing vocals but ultimately the greatest buzz is to playing live and seeing people sing along with your songs and seeing the pleasure that you\u2019ve brought to them and see how you\u2019ve connected with them. We had a single release party from my band Diamond Black a couple of months ago in London and it was brilliant cause people actually flew in from Sweden, Germany, Scotland and all over just to come to this one show. And getting to play to a full room, nothing huge, about 300 people or something, who really loved what we\u2019d done and the lyrics I\u2019d written. It was just so meaningful and that is always going to be a very profound experience. Being someone who loves to create things, seeing that affirmation of \u201cYes, you\u2019re connecting\u00a0 with people\u201d and \u201cYes, people care enough to spend X amount of money flying from wherever it is\u201d. And time. People\u2019s time. Time is so valuable that people want to spend it because you made an emotional connection with them. I think that\u2019s really amazing. So ultimately, I think I do prefer playing live now to recording.<\/p>\n

HT \u2013 And obviously by doing it live you\u2019re seeing that connection and you\u2019re feeling that energy coming at you right there and then. It\u2019s not like something you\u2019re putting down and just seeing what the results would be further down the track.<\/strong><\/p>\n

BC \u2013 Yeah totally. And often people can write you an e-mail that goes \u201cHey! This song was amazing! I really love this, this and this\u201d, but it\u2019s never the same as actually seeing their response and it really is without words. It\u2019s something so spontaneous and so raw and real.<\/p>\n

HT \u2013 So I know you\u2019re a busy man and have things to do, so thank you very much for your time and I\u2019m looking forward to seeing you in Australia.<\/strong><\/p>\n

BC \u2013 Well come on say hi afterwards because we all will be coming out after the gig and just meeting people, so please, like 15 minutes afterwards. I don\u2019t know if it\u2019s the kind of venue that kicks everyone out straight away or whatever, but we\u2019ll try to get out as soon as we can. It\u2019d be great to meet you and the other fans.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Propelled from the obsession with electronica but still a far distance from the machinations of the mainstream music of the time, the signature sound of The Sisters Of Mercy cultivated a powerful mystique, creating some of the most influential rock music of the 1980s.\u00a0 They return to Australia and New Zealand this week for their 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