Exclusive Interview with GOLEM DANCE CULT

Golem Dance Cult is a “Industrial Heavy Rock Dance/Electro Goth Rock” music project founded by old pals Charles Why (Lost A Noise/Nexus/L-DOPA…) and Laur (Sparkling Bombs/Kevin K Band/Vague Scare/Other-ed…) In fact, Charles and Laur had formed their first band as teens eons ago… They each took their own musical path and are now reuniting (Laur is based in France and Charles is in the United Kingdom) for a new musical journey under the name “Golem Dancing Cult”. Laur was the drummer in their first band together; he is now the lead vocalist, sharing vocal duties with Charles Why, who is playing bass, guitar, cigar box, harmonica, various traditional instruments (such as Shamanic Drums, Shruti Box, Tibetan bowl, Gong), programming, sampling, and overseeing the production. Klaus Karloff, a strange misanthropic German Shaman in charge of the mastering dubbed “Sonic Seance,” joins them. The sound is heavy (both Laur and Charles are “sons of the mighty guitar congregation”) but danceable: a mechanical, ritualistic beat with grit and soul. One of the primary requirements was that the purpose must remain spontaneous, instinct must be followed, and mistakes must be enlarged. A rock-based approach devoid of the genre’s formal framework and incorporating an electronic approach to track layering.

The Industrial Dance Rock group GOLEM DANCE CULT has just released a new track titled “Dalek Rhetoric” as a follow-up to their debut EP, “Grotesque Radio” (described by Melody Maker in 2021 as “a magnificent and visceral sonic journey”) (Jan 2023). Check out the song and the exclusive interview with Golem Dance Cult below:

1. Can you tell us a bit about where you come from and how it all got started?

GOLEM DANCE CULT:

Charles Why: Laur and I are both from a small French town. We met as teenagers and started our first band together. Then life separated us musically but we kept in touch as friends. Fast forward to 2021, during the lock-down, I was in the UK and Laur in France, I sent him some idea I had for a new musical project, the ball started rolling and Golem Dance Cult was born.

2. Did you have any formal training or are you self-taught?

GOLEM DANCE CULT:

Charles Why: when I was 8 years old i studied saxophone formally for a few years. However, I’m self-taught on guitar and bass, which is my main instrument. As per the producing aspect, during my tenure with all my previous band, I was the one staying behind in the studio working with producers, assimilating and learning while watching. I was lucky enough to befriended an amazing sound engineer from the “Maison de la Radio” (main French radio) who took me under his wings and teach me how to navigate a recording facility.

Laur : I took drum lessons for a few years when I was a teenager since I’m originally a drummer. I’ve always written lyrics though and one day about 13 years ago my Vague Scare bandmate Frederic told me I should try and sing my lyrics instead of having other people singing them… I started home recording with Frederic in 2014, self-taught as well.

3. Who were your first and strongest musical influences and why the name ‘GOLEM DANCE CULT’?

GOLEM DANCE CULT:

Charles Why: Laur and I have a lot in common in terms of musical influences. We met as we were the only Motley Crue fans in our small town, Belfort. Our first band, “Sleazy Dolls”, was a by-product of this, an L.A. type thing. Afterward we broadened our horizon with bands such as Faith No More and the whole Noise and Punk Rock scene. As kids, we were always making mix tape for each other.

For Golem Dance Cult, we try not to let anything interfere with our creative process. However, as we don’t live in a vacuum, there is still influences of course, bands like Bauhaus, Nine Inch Nails, Killing Joke, The Cult, David Bowie (with a touch of hip-hop and electro).

As per the name, this is a reference to the myth of this man-made creature, the Golem, that protect the oppressed then goes out of control. Kind of a precursor of Frankenstein. We like that it is open to interpretation.

Laur: Glam, punk and old-school hard rock were my first influences. The first band that fascinated me was KISS when I was 8. They opened the door for me…

4. What do you feel are the key elements in your music that should resonate with listeners, and how would you personally describe your sound?

GOLEM DANCE CULT:

Charles Why: Our sound is heavy but danceable, rock based without the formal structure of the genre with electronic approach in layering different sounds and rhythm. The main approach to our composition is that we favour vibe over perfection. During composition and recording phase, the intention are kept spontaneous and mistakes expanded upon in order to never feel safe with our material. Experimental but with hooks.

To my mind, it can resonate with people due to the fact that it is original in its approach and content and it is a true reflection of ourselves. So many songs now are almost mechanic and perfect, you lose the human factor, the roll to the rock. I think that music should breath and not being perfect, like human. In our songs there is no auto-tune or things like this. Plus we are totally DIY. We started the band to please ourselves and you can hear this in our songs. I think that some people relate to this.

Laur: It’s not easy to describe ourselves and it’s interesting to see that people have different perceptions of our music. We might sound 90s alternative rock for someone and goth rock for somebody else! I have noticed that our listeners often share one or more music influences with us.

5. For most artists, originality is first preceded by a phase of learning and, often, emulating others. What was this like for you? How would you describe your own development as an artist and music maker, and the transition towards your own style, which is known as Industrial Dance Rock?

GOLEM DANCE CULT:

Charles Why: At the beginning, it was difficult to find an appropriate definition of our music. I hate that our sound could be pigeonholed or restricted by a genre but you need to give indication to listener about what you are about. Hence we chose the “Industrial Dance Rock” tag which gives you an idea of what we’re about but is still open to interpretation. As per our own evolution, Laur and I are not “spring chicken” and we know and feel strongly about what we want to hear or rather, what we hear in our head and how it should be transcribed in songs. Hence there is not so much an emulation of others but rather trying to find our own way with sometimes a tip of the hat to other artists in a coda or a musical motif.

Laur: We both played in a lot of rock bands in the past and that probably helped to build our musical identity. I think our first EP “Grotesque Radio” was experimental in a way, we tried different things without really thinking about how it should sound. I think that our upcoming debut album “Legend of the Bleeding Heart” will have a stronger identity.

6. What’s your view on the role and function of music as political, cultural, spiritual, and/or social vehicles – and do you try and affront any of these themes in your work, or are you purely interested in music as an expression of technical artistry, personal narrative, and entertainment?

GOLEM DANCE CULT:

Charles Why: To my mind, music should come from the inside, a particular expression of an individual as a coping mechanism to deal with life and a way to understand more about yourself.

Laur: I think music is a mix of personal, cultural, political and spiritual. If you look carefully you might find a political background in some of our songs like “Capitol Blues” or “Dalek Rhetoric” but this is not a main theme in Golem Dance Cult. I do express my political views more obviously in my industrial synthpop solo project Other-ed though.

7. Do you feel that your music is giving you back just as much fulfillment as the amount of work you are putting into it or are you expecting something more, or different in the future?

GOLEM DANCE CULT:

Charles Why: When we started this band, all we wanted was a vehicle for our creativity. Having just 10 peoples outside interested in our music was already a satisfaction. Now I have to admit that it feels great to know that there is a few thousands people following us, giving us their precious time to listen to our songs or check our video.

We also keep in mind that music business has recently become more and more a game number: how many followers, how many subscribers, Spotify list, Youtube… This can become a spiral of self-absorption. So while we really appreciate the fact that our base of followers is organically growing and feel grateful for it, at the same time we try to stay focus on what matters: writing, performing and producing the better songs we can.

Laur : The first thing for us is to enjoy our own songs, then if more people do too, that’s even better! When you’re a small band, each time you sell a record is a kind of fulfillment!

8. Could you describe your creative processes? How do usually start, and go about shaping ideas into a completed song? Do you usually start with a tune, a beat, or a narrative in your head? And do you collaborate with others in this process?

GOLEM DANCE CULT:

Charles Why: a song usually starts with a motif: it can be a riff, a lyrical idea, a rhythm. This is the starting point. Afterwards, it is how it is transcribed from your head to the outside and that in itself is part of the creative process too. A song will definitely be different if it is created with a bass, a guitar a synth or a cigar-box…

Making a long story short, once the musical bed is ready, I send it to Laur for him to live with it a little and be inspired by it. When his vocal lines are recorded he send them back to me. The song as it is will make a few rounds between him and I until we are satisfied with the outcome. We feed of each other creatively so sometimes while Laur is working on his vocals I will create a new musical part that could lend the song a slightly different vibe, or his vocals will open a new door musically…So in a nutshell, this creative process is not cast in stone.

As per the collaboration, we will have the great Inga Liljestrom lending us her voice again on our new album (as she did for the E.P.). We did another collaboration with an amazing cello player, Jean-Philippe Feiss from Brussels, for the track “Feel like Tuesday (Deja-Vue)”. We have David Cawse on acoustic guitar for the intro of the song “Demi-Monde” and Sam Wimmer, another extremely talented friend, who throat sings on another track “Dead-Breakers (Sky Burials)”.

9. What has been the most difficult thing you’ve had to endure in your life or music career so far?

GOLEM DANCE CULT:

Charles Why: For a time, when I was living in Paris, I became a “professional musician” which means that you get financial support from government if you play a certain number of “official” gigs (concert that are declared, where you are paid and need to pay tax on them) in a year. It was such a race against time to get those gigs that you could only focus on this and kind of forget about creativity. Plus if you wanted to get there, you had sometimes to compromise such as playing some cover or being an hired gun for bands that tour more. After a while I took the conscious decision to have a day to day job that will support me and allow me to create whatever I was feeling like.

Laur: Gig cancellations, bad promotion from record labels or distributors, not being able to get on a last minute US tour proposal opening for bands you like because you’re in L.A. and some of your bandmates have to go back to France on the next day…

10. On the contrary, what would you consider a successful, proud or significant point in your life or music career so far?

GOLEM DANCE CULT:

Charles Why: I did a few massive concerts (festivals and the likes) with my previous band and I have great memory of opening for bands that had influenced me (Brant Bjork and No One Is Innocent to name a few) but that was in the past. I will say that currently the most significant point for me is to play music with my best friend and enjoying so much what we do!

Laur : Quite the same as Charles, being able to play all around Europe and in the US (West Coast), meeting lots of people and opening for some of my favourite bands (New York Dolls, Lords Of The New Church…) and now playing with Charles again more than 30 years after we started playing music together in my parents’ garage despite our different geographical locations.

11. Creative work in a studio or home environment, or interaction with a live audience? Which of these two options excites you most, and why?

GOLEM DANCE CULT:

Charles Why: Golem Dance Cult still have to play live. We are trying to organise a tour after the release of our new album “Legend if the Bleeding Heart” in spring.

Laur : I like playing live much better but the creation process is very interesting too and I like it much better now than I did in the past. We don’t really know how and when exactly Golem Dance Cult will be able to play live but it will be interesting for sure.

12. Do you think is it important for fans of your music to understand the real story and message driving each of your songs, or do you think everyone should be free to interpret your songs in their own personal way?

GOLEM DANCE CULT:

Charles Why: For our first EP “Grotesque Radio” we included an explanation of the meaning of each song on our website (www.golemdancecult.com)

We did this as it was a new project and with a band name including “Cult” we wanted to provide a context to our audience. For our next album “Legend of the Bleeding Heart” I’m not sure we will do this again as I feel it is better to let people making their own idea about the songs.

Funny story, when I was a kid I did no speak a word of English and I was listening to a lot of music. So I was making my own interpretation. When I finally get an understanding of the language I was often disappointed by the content;-)

Laur: I don’t like it much when the explanations are too clear. Music and lyrics are always better with a bit of mystery to me and as Bowie once said, the Internet has killed a lot of it… Moreover, I think it’s great when someone have their own interpretation of a song, it means you really touched them. As Charles said, remember when we were kids, not understanding the lyrics of the songs and making our own videos in our head. It all meant something to us.