BLACK&WHITE
12.10.2004., utorak
Daklem, ovo je post za moj gusht only:-). Zapravo i nije post...samo dio biografije jednog benda koji...a ne znam...najezi me svaki put! I vidim neki dan da izdaju novi album...pa se razveselim k'o bebac... Eto, to ja njima dugujem jer...jebga...puno mi znace...a ujedno su i najcitiraniji na ovom mom blogu (i zasluzni za onaj moj 'Zashto pishem' sastrane..:-) ). Pa evo... "London After Midnight was formed in the 1990s by Sean Brennan and has gained a large and loyal following all over the world, from the USA to Europe to Latin America (where they have toured extensively) and beyond. The band has headlined and co-headlined concerts and major festivals with bands like The Cure, Green Day, HIM (HIM has cited LAM a favorite artist), Rammstein, Soft Cell, and many more. Still, the band maintains a strong underground and independent "personality" despite being top sellers (charting in the top 10 European DAC charts) and a major draw at music festivals year after year. Songwriter and founder Sean Brennan is known for his strong stances in favor of animal rights, pro-environmental and human rights issues, anti-corporate control of media, and progressive, liberal politics. Despite these "weighty" sounding interests, the music Sean Brennan writes can range from the intensely personal, to simply emotional and romantic, to the much deeper subjects more reflective of society as a whole (listen to the new music!). Whatever the approach or subject matter, the music of London After Midnight is deeply touching, powerful, romantic and emotional, disturbing, haunting, danceable, even morbidly funny (listen to "Your Best Nightmare" and try not to think of an Edward Gorey cartoon), all while appealing to a wide variety of people. There really is no classification that fits London After Midnight (despite the band's image) because the music is so varied, and the lyrical content (and even the band's personality and "causes") are fairly unique and uncommon in today's music scene, often breaking boundaries- much to the outrage of people who live and die by genre labels. LAM shuns all labels (as any artist worth their salt will do) and the music can really only be classified as "London After Midnight". the band includes Tamlyn (keyboard) and Michael Areklett (bass). These members have been in the band since 1990 (Sean and Tamlyn) to early 1992 (Michael). In 2001 LAM reunited with their original guitarist Edward Hawkins and was joined by new drummer, Joe S. LAM began performing in Los Angeles in 1990 at the legendary LA club Helter Skelter. LAM immediately began to draw large crowds and always had elaborate stage settings including several TVs playing bizarre video clips and stage props that could have come from the Universal Studios backlot, all made by Sean Brennan with help from Tamlyn and guitarist Eddie Hawkins. Needless to say the extreme stage settings (some of which included a huge 30 by 40 foot realistic spiders web hung above the stage made by Brennan and Hawkins- not pictured) attracted as much attention as the band's music which soon grew in popularity. So much so that the original 4 song demo cassette tape released in 1991-1992 was the hottest selling item in Hollywood's trendy Melrose ave indie record stores, even beating out new releases from Duran Duran and other major bands. For 2 years the most sought after item LA area club kids searched for in record stores was the LAM cassette tape. Signs hung in record store windows proclaiming "yes we have LAMs tape IN STOCK". Stores from as far away as Australia ordered repeated shipments of the tape each month to meet demand. The band released "Selected Scenes from the End of the World" in 1992, creating as much mania as the first demo release. The band began to sell out clubs like Helter Skelter and began more frequent performances at The Whisky a Go Go and Roxy club, where the Sunset strip "rocker" scene saw LAM's success and sold out concerts, and began to emulate London After Midnight, helping to turn the mostly rock and glam Sunset scene into a darker more alternative scene. Several bands which a few months earlier were glam and rock suddenly became LAM clones overnight after seeing how well the band was received.  In 1996 the band released "Psycho Magnet" with Apocalyptic Vision. The album, in part a reflection of the insanity and jealousy LAM's popularity generated in some LA area club kids, while also a very personal piece of work, went on to become even more popular than the previous releases and led to the band being booked for several tours which took them all over Europe and the UK, Mexico and select major cities in the USA performing to tens of thousands of people. The band also headlined major German festivals like the well known Zillo Magazine Festival which had Siouxsie and the Banshess headlining the previous year. The band also found themselves in all the major European music magazines, on glossy covers in every European newsstand with the likes of Nine Inch Nails and Metalica. LAM has been known as a band of "firsts." Always trying something different and new, and never content to be just another band. Often classified by the press as an industrial, deathrock or gothic band, they break all the "rules" of those scenes and create their own strong identity and sound, and reject any label put upon them. Songwriter Sean Brennan's influences and musical passions range from big band to T-Rex,Iggy Pop, the Doors, pre 1980s David Bowie, to trance and Drum & Bass, old NY punk, composers like Bernard Herrmann and everything in between. He takes pride in the fact that London After Midnight does not fit into any category, saying "I don't want LAM to be clones of someone else. We shun labeling. We are artists, and the whole thing about creating is bringing something into existence that was not there before. So when you create something and put a label on it, it defeats the purpose and takes away the uniqueness of the art." (Sean Brennan- excerpt from German radio interview) LAM is not goth, they aren't dark wave, they aren't industrial... they are simply London After Midnight, and that seems enough for their very devoted fans. LAM is recording the 4th CD which is scheduled for release soon. The tremendous response the new material received when performed at recent concerts shows the new CD will be warmly welcomed by new and old fans alike." ...I am thunder I am rain I am pleasure I am pain Only in darkness can there be light Tell me angel have you prayed tonight? Burning darkness red ecstasy Pull me closer and make me bleed... |
