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| Arcane Winter |
| Arcane Winter are a post-punk/goth band from Nottingham featuring members and former members of Every New Dead Ghost, The Realm and Midnight Configuration. With influences as diverse as Chrome, The Doors and Hawkwind to Killing Joke, The Sisters of Mercy and Siouxsie and The Banshees the band's sound is a different take on early gothic rock. |
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| Nightbreed Recordings |
| Designs on the infinite |
 Back in the early eighties a gothic band, ‘Every New Dead Ghost’ emerged, producing hard, dark gothic music. The band continued struggling for success, performing numerous live performances over the UK and Europe. Unfortunately, partly due to differences in musical direction, and financial difficulties, on December 8th 1992 Every New Dead Ghost played live to over 900 fans, for the final time.
The founding member of the band, Trevor Bamford, not content on leaving the scene, moved forward forming his own band the Midnight Configuration. This was to be his project, producing and writing the songs he wanted to write, the way he wanted to do them.
Midnights first project was the Cd maxi Gothtec, a mixture of dark gothic and industrial influences, with dark terrifying vocals and a mixture of samples from old horror and Sci-Fi movies.
As the band progressed a direction started to form, and a strong visual image started to emerge. Along with the Gothtec Cd was a series of videos. These provided Trev with the final insight into the visual direction he wanted the Midnight Configuration to follow. one of the strongest songs on the Gothtec Cd was Dark Desires, a mixture of dark gothic music and strong fetish lyrics. The unseen video which accompanied the song portrayed, gothically dressed women and some strong fetish/S & M imagery mixed in with the band playing.
After Gothtec the imagery started to become more important, and Trev refused to play live until he could produce a live set which was visually distinct and memorable. On October 31st 1994 at the first Carnival of Souls, midnight Configuration took the stage. Trev was accompanied by a Nick on guitar and two female dancers, Teressa and Lisa. This was the start of the distinct visual performance that was to follow the success of the band. |
| The second release from the band was Spectral Dance, a mixture of gothic and dance music. One of the best remembered songs from the Cd was the cover version of 2 Unlimited’s No Limits. This led to a number of small performances throughout the UK, where the stage show started to take form. Unfortunately Teressa was unable to continue her association with the band. This left Lisa to continue and to become an integral part of the imagery of the band. |
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| Finally in 1995 the debut album by the band appeared, Th e Kissing Skull. The Cd was accompanied by a twenty eight page booklet filled with photos of fetish and gothic imagery, of scantially clad women mixed with a touch of the supernatural. From this Cd the imagery flowed out into the stage show, producing a hard hitting performance with the use of whips, handcuffs and a straight jacket. |
| The visual imagery became a strong forefront of the band, standing them apart from many others. Shocking and yet tasteful, always leaving the imagination wanting more. The stage show was accompanied by TV monitors running video clips of fetish and erotic imagery mixed with classic imagery from old horror and Sci-Fi movies. Lisa appears on stage dressed in a long cape hiding behind a white mask, as the performance continues her cape disappears and eventually her skirt is dramatically removed leaving her wearing a black rubber leotard and corset. During one part of the performance she appears in a nurses uniform to handcuff Trev. She plays the dominating role throughout the performance and brings to life a part of Trev’s visual dream. |
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| As things progress so does the imagery, there are already plans being made for the follow up album, and rest assured the imagery will either shock or delight his followers. |
| What follows is like an explanation by Trev of his ideas and views about the Kissing Skull; |
| The world is indeed a cruel and heartless place, thousands die needlessly every day, be it via natural disasters, or as is usually the case, from the hand of another person or persons linked in some way as a rule, to an ideology. Be it religious, racial, political, cultural, spiritual e.t.c. People need something to believe in, something to give their transient lives meaning in a seemingly meaningless and random universe. From the time that the first cro magnon man looked up to the sky in fear and dread at the coming thunderstorm, metaphysical theories (purporting themselves as not only contingent explanations, but as the truth!) have dominated the development of human culture. Once digested and believed, other views cannot be tolerated because their existence threatens the whole mind state and life values of the individual concerned, and the whole stability of a particular society. “We are right, and you are wrong! You are a heretic, and we all know what happens to them!” This simple but depressing scenario is played out time and time again throughout human history. Then the nastiness really starts! Torture, mutilation, staggering and unimaginable cruelty on a colossal scale seems to be the order of the day once this particular “Pandora’s Box” is opened. Little Jesus meek and mild has been responsible for more deaths and misery than there are grains of sand on a beach! But he is not alone, or really to blame, the message of the western Christian religion is innocuous enough and seemingly altruistic. It is just the use it is put to by society and people make up a society! The message of this paragraph is simple, people are capable of incredible ugliness! |
 But in our pitifully short lifespan, there are moments of great joy and beauty, also times of love and kindness. Amazing works of art tumble from our minds and fingers as well as the blood of murder and destruction. A question comes to our minds. “Is this all we are, alive for three score year and ten, then gone as dust in the wind, our achievements, struggles, loves and lives, as if nothing had ever existed”? But, hell we’ve got to have a laugh anyway, haven’t we! The TV dominates our lives, and in turn it is dominated by those who dominate. Most of us have bittersweet memories of running behind the sofa hiding from a television monster, or from sneaking downstairs after bedtime to watch a late night horror film. It was all good fun, but for better or worse it has affected us all in one way or another. I used to call television “The Morality Zone”, as it was without doubt the most powerful way of planting subtle ideas, or for giving us the hard sell for everything from consumer durables to making us support a war! But with all this aside, it is the horror and Science Fiction side which interests me the most as it connects up in a mass media sort of way with the “unbearable weight of existence”, as already touched upon earlier. This sort of fantasy is a great way of kicking ideas and fears around. It’s a great way of exposing our most hidden of fears and desires, and to come to terms with, ironically, reality! |
| The power of erotica/sensuality is something that has been both a mystery to me as well as a great pleasure. I cannot understand the mentality of anyone who objects to beauty in anyway, but there are many who are so fundamentally “offended” by a woman in a short skirt or wearing a pair of stockings and stilettoes or a basque, that I am sure this CD will be considered “Persona Non Grata” by many people and organisations. The problem seems to be one of a shaky belief system at work once again. In other times we who have put this album together would possibly be fined, or imprisoned, or put to the stake. These days erotica/sensuality seems to have essentially two main sets of enemies: On the right we have the conservative/christian set. Their main argument is that erotica is “corrupt” and “disgusting” and that it is against the “Christian” code. (Yeah right, read your bible and do a body count!)., but what they really mean is that “they” don’t like anyone to express themselves sexually as it frightens them and challenges their belief system! On the left we have the so called “politically correct right-on brigade”. Their argument is that erotica is “sexist” and “degrading” to women. (How degrading is it for a person to suppress their sexual feelings and artistic desires their whole life in order to “fit in”!), but what they really mean is that it challenges their belief system as well! |
| It takes a lot of courage for a woman to assert themselves in every way in our society, particularly in a sexual sense. Most women get browbeaten into line by comments and bitchiness, or from the beerboy lout in the street who thinks that just because the woman has chosen to dress in a particular way, then she must be “easy”. Also there is the pressure for everyone to stay young and beautiful, particularly for women. The nagging fear, the line watching, the self doubt and criticism which destroys the confidence and eventually leads to apathy. I say that there is nothing degrading about wanting to look attractive, or from wanting to make the best of ones self whilst we all can. Anyone who wants to bring that down must examine their own motivations for wanting to do so! |
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