Strange and Delicious: regretamine

Devyn Saturnus of Esomoprhic records rematerializes this friday 6/16 with his curated Machina night “a multi-sensory night of esotronic//dungeon acid//industrial tech//modular synth and evilutionary visuals”. This is the second one that he has curated and involves musicians from his own label as well as musicians from the bay-area based electronic collectives Katabatik and 5lowershop. Devyn tells us about the featured artists, his musings on our Oakland scene and remembering Obscura Machina. Listen to this teaser track while you read!

********* In this interview the events of Dec. 2 2016 that took place in Oakland are mentioned. I am still very sensitive to this subject and wanted to let you know what to expect before reading*******

So Machina #2 is underway! Tell me more about musicalfungus as he is on your label Esomorphic records.

I met Chris (musicalfungus) in passing at “that one thing in the desert”, many a past life ago. At the time, all I really knew of him was his affiliations with certain crews in the west coast bass culture. Essentially I found through social media he started collecting and building modular synths, which always piques my interest, and its been fun watching him explore these machines, getting to a point where he was ready to explore this in an album. I forget the initial communication we made (the sea of faces on social media can do that..) but he shot me what is now DEMON CORE. Instantly I fell in love, threw it up on Esomorphic Records and booked him a show. You can also consider this Machina as MFungus’ cassette debut show. Be sure to pick it up! He’s from Santa Cruz, so catch him while he’s in town! I’m confident his modular magickal conjurings will be quite the treat, improvised through real circuits and currents, experienced and released into the aether, audio spore frequencies settling into the fertile dirt of our senses .

You've also got some guys from 5lowershop and Katabatik that night as well.

Yes, not to be missed is Hakuin, the pseudonym from Justin Rafferty from 5lowershop who will be starting the night off with his signature brand of psychedelic hardcore IDM, an alchemy of styles and aesthetics revealing machine whispers and warnings from beyond.. He is an absolute genius and I’m very excited to see what he has in store for us.

Hakuin

And if this doesn’t already sound like the show of the summer, we have Scarford. It felt like a long shot asking a Veteran from Katabatik to perform at this very new event, but the timing was apparently perfect for Scott Arford to deliver unto us a new beast, Scarford. Recently released is an EP under the newly formed Katabatik record label. "Who You Are" is a funky, dark, and fresh approach to EBM and industrial. He's definitely standing out from a style that is easy to rely on "what has been done". It's obvious that Scarford is a beast that only Scott can tame with hard beats, stabbing bass lines in a sinister mid tempo range that personally grips my rib cage and shakes me....I can't wait to hear it on the system at The Night Light and if anyone had an second thoughts on attending Machina the chance to see this new entity should change your mind.

Scarford

I love the "dark disco" notes that Scarford is doing, plus I haven't seen any 5lowershop sets in awhile so this should be pretty interesting.

Yes, quite the variety show. ((((((******TRIGGER WARNING********)))))) It goes without saying that our rather tight-knit community took a blow half a year ago and i’m doing my best to fill in the void we now face from the comrades we lost. Im extremely inspired by my band mate and good friend Micah Danemeyer. He pretty much paved the way as I worked with him under his label Discarded and as a semi-regular performer at his monthly Obscura Machina shows, where, in case you were wondering, is a direct nod and tribute to his energy before us, not stealing, but reminding us who brought our “scenes” together under his mutant vision. My intention is to continue the platform for all of us weirdos to get our stuff out there and have it be heard, guided as a new label and collective entity. The unofficial “theme” of Esomorphic is “””bringing the underground... above ground”””, considering our DIY spaces are all at risk right now. Our options from my observations are very small house shows or trying to convince venues that people will actually come to these shows to subject themselves to such challenging outsider electronics. I have to thank Jason Kick over at The Night Light for his continued support and understanding and for giving us weekend dates. I knew that Micah had been booking and promoting shows for years and it took him so long for him to finally break even. I have to thank him for his tireless effort doing the good work for all of us, a gift that we should never take for granted. He set the stage for us to pick it up and to keep the legacy and tradition alive.

That was everything I would have wanted to have said about this situation, and you worded it so eloquently. It's still hard for me to write the right words about all that has happened. I'm so happy that this is still going on. It really carries an essence of him.

Everything everywhere is different now as far as what our culture is like. There is a time before the event in question and there is the time afterwards. Everything was different before and now its different after it. We have to somehow find it in ourselves to manage the harsh realities that we have before us and try to make the best of the situation.

Red Cellar

I think that is all we can do at this point.

We got a lot of very mixed attention to the event that happened a year ago. So many media outlets from corporate media to small personal blogs. To some it was a tragedy and to some it was a bunch of stupid ravers that got what was coming to them. Although I can spend time just feeling absolutely SICK about that I want to transmute that energy and push it further into the mainstream attention and show them we aren’t just a bunch of stupid raver kids. We are doing something unique and special and we have the ability to transform culture. Such as Wax Trax! ...Some of the artists on there looked like a bunch of rag tag junkie criminals and you wouldn't think they would create a whole subculture and make an impact world wide. If you did, you probably would have been laughed at. But now you have Ministry, My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult, KMFDM all these bands which have defied all mainstream logic and have gotten to tour world wide and ultimately transformed peoples’ lives. I think that the culture that we have here in Oakland has the ability to achieve similar things. I’m going to try my best to make that a reality and I invite anyone to join me on this potentially crazy ride. Make some thing real and impacting happen,together, and see where it takes us.

You've got the drive and the spirit. So this is your first self promoted show as Red Cellar. Are you still doing Regretamine?

Yes, I have a pattern of splintering projects. Regretamine started off as an outlet for underground hard acid techno, ultimately dance music. Something I had never tried to do. But after moving to Oakland and going to Katabatik parties I realized how much of an impact electronic music can have and of course putting you down dark spin on it to reflect the very strange times we live in- yes, even techno can be social commentary!

There’s definitely a place for it!

Red Cellar happened was a collaboration with Micah. So then I had two outsider “dance” music projects going- of course the term “dance” music is used very loosely here hahah! Give the noise a damn beat basically! So I got inspired to do electronic music songwriting with more tradtional song structures. At this point I’m working on a full length album for Regretamine, which is me doing synth and keyboard and vocals. That’s being cooked up in my Regretamine lab! 12-13 tracks in progress but I'm going to keep it a secret until I can unleash it. I also have the noise outlet Neural Eunuch in the Esomorphic catalog. That’s a much looser project with the intention of having revolving artists- whoever wants to come in and make some noise. I have hours and hours of music to sift through. I probably have enough for four or five EP’s right now but of course I have other things that are more pressing with deadlines.

How Does Red Cellar compare to Regretamine?

Red Cellar's mutant vibe is undoubtedly the mark of Micah’s work. It’s less improvised than it used to be with the two of us jamming out, but my approach is to collect an arsenal of sound to appease whatever spirits I happen to conjure during the live performance ritual. The circle will be cast beyond the cellar door and I invite you all for these incantations and ecstatic dances that follow.......

The Original Red Cellar Line up- Devyn Saturnus and Micah Danemeyer

Transport yourself over to Machina this Friday 6/16 !!!!
The Night Light at 311 Broadway St. in Oakland

Dj Sailor Saturn will be spinning in between sets too!

Visuals by Sinest

When you get invited to a "Mysterious Mansion of Enchantment" in which "..every shade of dungeon dweller will be present. From sparkle goths, to gutter goths and everything in between. Lots of bands, lots of art, lots of crafts, zines and books for sale.." you'll probably want to go. Created by Sasha Ravitch and her event organizing project "Strange Bird Spectacles," I graciously accepted the invitation.

As I walked to the Enchanted Mansion I was wondering how I was going to tell which house it was yet when I saw the mannequin heads on stakes poking up over the fence and above the neighboring rose garden I figured I had found the location. I smirked at how apropos of the weather for the clouds to roll in on what would have been a usually warm Oakland Sunday. I walked up past the open gate into the front yard that was full of head stones, inverted crosses and a sign welcoming you to the "Summer Goth Jamboree". It was an excellent excuse to bring the goth punks, friendly demons, lunar goddesses and dark wave queers out in the open during the light of day. Walking in to the backyard, DJ Benzowave was already playing some of the all familiar and unfamiliar slithery techno tracks.

Spankings!! --photo courtesy L. Herrada Rios

Regretamine playing the dark tunes- photo courtesy L. Herrada Rios

There was a "face transformation booth" just in case you didn't powder your nose or get a chance to apply some black metal eyeliner before you arrived. Next to that was a leather vault and a vintage coat rack holding a red leather jacket and a cat o' nines for a spanking station suggesting "5$" or until it hurts" by Domina Cielo.

Stick n' Poke!--photo courtesy L. Herrada Rios

A tarot booth by Alese Osborn under a canope was set with a formation of crystals on the table. A stick n' poke table offering all the alchemical symbols for your flesh was next door to the stand to buy gin infused cocktails. There was also a table of books for sale ranging from vintage sci-fi, wiccan ritual work and some of the classics. I decided to throw a bottle of Cabernet Franc in my bag to sip on for the event, figuring it was BYOB and I wanted to drink something sexy in homage to what I would imagine would be a most memorable occasion.

Baphomet!! and Henry from Night Work--Photo courtesy L. Herrada Rios

A baphomet mural painted by Creighton Geigle set at the furthest end of the yard over looked the Luciferian Soiree. There was art for sale by many, including Becasmisssteak featuring BDSM inspired mask portraits and even a Divine art poster done in ink on paper and a little booth set up with stones and crystals for the conjuring. It was startling and revealing to experience this scene in literally "another light" as it normally lives in the bottom of a basement nocturnally.

Parasol Party! Photo courtesy L. Herrada Rios

The bands were to go on just past 5pm inside the Mansion. The small living room was papered in plastic starry night sky sheaths complete with disco ball and a cartoon Dracula figure blocking the window. Some of the bands of note that night, all hailing from Oakland were: Decanter with his eight noise boxes of sonic manipulations taking you through space after you just took a touch of acid ( just a touch though). Regretamine, often a regular at the secretive Obscura Machina night, brought more hard hitting,aggressive techno industrial via synth and banging beats. Paralycyst zoning into his noisey, stoic brand of dungeon acid (he also curates the Obscura Machina night). Zanna Nera (solo project of Beca Irizary from Crimson Scarlet) in all her domina reigning over the keys and throwing down some deep mood and edge, at one point going into the crowd and certainly with out getting moshed over. The duo Night Work appealing at times to those who like some of NON's work and more performance art in an industrial setting, bringing in some serious depth and darkness with Henry laying on the floor screaming and Jamile on the drum machine/synth/percussion lifting up a cymbal with theatrical rage, threatening to throw it in to the audience. At one point a character, shirtless, yet in a cropped jacket walks on stage almost setting up a more macabre sketch from Kids in the Hall regarding a the oppressive nature of the business world. ( "You're not filling out your forms correctly, your overtime hours are being moved to next week, do not work those hours again" ..etc).

Forbidden colors, another local resident of the mutoid community, deploys his arsenal of "power electronics" vacillating between robotic soundscapes and jarring, beating head banging moments. Headlining that night was Red Sails. This quartet features more of the sounds of post punk sensibilities a la Love and Rockets and Bauhaus but with a hint more garage influence in the vocals.

Photo courtesy L. Herrada Rios

An after party moved on with Dirty Coyote spinning all of the devilish electro jams. For me it was time to go since I had been there from the beginning of the Jamboree. However, I imbibed in a musical night cap, some decompression. It was nearing the last set at the Golden Bull and I had to catch the ending of DJ Demise's session at "An Aural history of Femme Punk Vol 3", in which Blatz, Vice Squad, Bikini Kill and Siouxsie were revered over vinyl. I sat smiling as I heard the familiar voice of Beki Bondage screaming through the bar hall. What a treasure. Catch that on the next.

If you put your ear to the ground in Oakland long enough you can be sure to find many a sparkley-darkley productions going on. Curated by the passionate freaks for the passionate freaks. The bay area offers some specific, tightly- knit groups to participate in and it's not to be taken for granted. Support your local freaks. We need each other!

If SGJ sounds like a good time to you check out the next show Sasha Ravitch is putting out -Anarcho PUNK show at the ABCO

ALSO-- Here's some more goodies from Summer Goth Jamboree--a huge thanks to our photographic contributor L. Herrada Rios!!!!!