Three of Australasia’s foremost international names in dark post-punk and gothic rock – IKON (Melbourne, Aus), Disjecta Membra (Wellington, NZ) and Sounds Like Winter (Sydney, Aus) – play two New Zealand tour dates together this coming Waitangi Weekend.
Alongside these tour dates, IKON, Disjecta Membra and Sounds Like Winter have also announced a new CD album to coincide with the New Zealand tour. Songs to Scattered Symbols is a nine-song split release, featuring three new, exclusive tracks from each of the bands and is only available from the shows or with advance ticket sales.
The trio’s Waitangi Weekend NZ Tour kicks off at Wellington’s Valhalla Tavern on Friday, February 3rd, with local support from AMY_cin, and RadioActive.fm’s DJ Nightmare 666.
Finishing off the long weekend at Whammy! Bar in Auckland on Sunday February 5th, special guests are Stars and the Underground, and DJ Pennie Raven Black of 95bFM.
IKON, Disjecta Membra & Sounds Like Winter
Waitangi Weekend New Zealand Tour
3rd February – Valhalla Tavern, Wellington
5th February – Whammy! Bar, Auckland
Tickets available from UTR or at the door.
Press Release:
World-renowned as one of the pioneers of goth’s “third wave”, from their formation in 1991, IKON’s sound through the early-mid nineties was initially likened to Joy Divison and The Sisters of Mercy. Their first two albums and multiple singles, EPs and compilation appearances quickly gained an international fanbase, especially in Europe and North America, where they signed with labels Appollyon and Metropolis. 1997 brought key line-up changes that would also see the band change gears musically; ultimately developing a distinctive style recognisably their own. The IKON sound today deftly weaves together the dark post-punk roots of their past with elements of propulsive synthpop, moody folk and more powerful rock moments.
The band’s recorded output has been both prolific and widely sought after, spanning ten studio albums; more than thirty singles and EPs; countless one-off compilation tracks and a growing number of retrospectives and special edition vinyl and box-set reissues of archival material. Some of IKON’s most identifiable songs include the popular singles ‘Echoes of Silence’ (1994), ‘Subversion’ (1998), ‘Psychic Vampire’ (2004), ‘A Line on a Dark Day’ (2010) and ‘Stolen’ (2014) to name a handful.
IKON have toured Europe several times, including three appearances at the legendary German festival, Wave-Gotik-Treffen, and have shared both international and Australian stages with the likes of H.I.M., Soft Cell, Peter Murphy (Bauhaus), Death In June, London After Midnight, Leæther Strip and Christian Death among others.
This will be IKON’s first return to New Zealand in more than a decade, since an extremely well received appearance at Wellington’s annual Darkness (Gathering) festival in 2006. The current band consists of co-founders Chris McCarter (vocals, guitar, keyboards) and Dino Molinaro (bass), alongside long-time collaborators Clifford Ennis (vocals, guitar) and David Burns (drums).
Formed in 1993, Disjecta Membra gained international acclaim as New Zealand’s leaders in the gothic genre following the release of their 1997 debut album, Achromaticia. The album also gave an early signal of the trans-Tasman link with IKON: both Clifford Ennis and Chris McCarter were involved with Melbourne’s Heartland Records, who released Achromaticia. In common with their Australian counterparts, over the years that followed, Disjecta Membra would also seek out broader musical horizons, notwithstanding their inescapable ‘goth’ credentials.
The band’s latter-day releases have proven their strongest yet. The scathing goth’n’roll of 2013’s ‘Death by Discothèque’ stands as their most popular single to date; while the most recent EP, The Infancy Gospels, has been widely praised for its diversity, incorporating the influence of blues, folk, noise, synthpop, post-punk, no wave and traditional Māori elements.
Disjecta Membra have toured with UK goth legends The Mission and Peter Murphy, and played support to post-punk icons including Peter Hook (Joy Division/New Order), Mick Harvey (Nick Cave/The Birthday Party, PJ Harvey) and Death In June. Their singles have meanwhile received remix treatments from the likes of Peter Murphy guitarist Andee Blacksugar (Black Sugar Transmission), Rich Witherspoon (Tempest Xii) of US goth outfit The Wake, and European electro- industrial giants Leæther Strip.
In 2017, Disjecta Membra comprises founder/mainstay Michel Rowland (vocals, guitar, programming), and long-time members Kane Davey (guitars, vocals) and Jaz Murphy (bass).
Sounds Like Winter formed in 2013, led by vocalist and electronic musician Ant Banister, whose involvement in music, production and creative media stems back to Australia’s post-punk and new wave scene of the mid eighties. Following the project’s first two synth-driven melodic darkwave singles and a revolving cast of early personnel, the nucleus of SLW was cemented with guitar duo Andi Lennon and Tommy Webster; both ex-Sydney deathrock/dark punk band Howl.
By 2015 the band’s sound was taking an inevitable shift towards dark, angular, guitar-driven post-punk, with singles ‘Sanity Is Calling’ and ‘Ishmael’s Bones’ introducing Sounds Like Winter to a wider international audience. 2015 also saw the band make their first visit to New Zealand while also touring extensively around Australia, adding bassist Jamie Pajuczok and drummer Leticia Olhaberry along the way.
The band’s debut album, Initiate, was released in January 2016, showcasing their progression through ‘80s-inspired synth, post-punk, gothic rock and coldwave influences. Six Noises (NZ) called Initiate “an engrossing debut”, adding that although Sounds Like Winter were clearly “inspired by a raft of post-punk and dark synth from the ’80s, they’re still able to reinterpret and reimagine their influences to create entirely fresh and enthralling music.”
Continuing their busy gigging regime throughout 2016, the band recently signed with Fundamental Illness Records, whose founder Matt Judge has now replaced Pajuczok on bass. New and forthcoming material continues further along the serrated edge of post-punk, owing less to the retro synth of their earliest efforts. Sounds Like Winter and IKON kicked off 2017 with a bang, playing together for the first time at The Raven’s Ball in Sydney on January 14th.