Synical is the US darkwave project led by Brian Haught. The band’s criminally overlooked album, This Will All Happen Again was released in the middle of 2023. We wanted to touch bases with Brian and talk about the band and the album. We’re grateful he took some time to talk with us today.
Thanks for joining us today… We’ve done interviews with some artists so we sometimes like to ask about their tattoos and what they mean/why they chose them. Do you have any you can tell us about? Any you regret?
David Black – bassist and co-songwriter is the resident tattooed love boy in Synical. His first tattoo was a pyramid with an all-seeing eye that is always watching. He has back tattoos featuring angel wings, halos, and a devils tail. His biggest regret was the lips of a past girlfriend tattooed on his right wrist that he plans to cover up sometime in the near future.
Have you ever released a track that you wished you hadn’t and what if anything did you do about it?
There is the last track on Synical. s second album in 1997 called “NOMF” and it was an inside tongue in cheek joke regarding a famous band that moved to New Orleans. It seemed very funny at the time but the humor and music haven’t aged very well. The track will be deleted from the reissue.
Take us to the newest album, ‘This Will All Happen Again”. There’s a pretty eclectic array of sounds. How were they shaped by guest artists?
Great question. Synical. uses many older hardware synths and samplers like the Nord Lead, Korg Radius, Emulator 4X, Minimoog, etc., both analog and digital, combined with the latest computer plugins like Omnisphere, Surge, Vital, Cherry Audio, Arturia, etc. to create a rich soundscape with lots of character. On the new album, we feature Groovie Mann – singer from My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult – on lead vocals for one song, Kevin and David J Haskins from Bauhaus play drums and bass on a song, and James Hall from Mary My Hope on trumpet. The entire album was mixed by the legendary John Fryer (NIN, Depeche Mode, Love & Rockets). Synical combines the old school classic goth with a modern darkwave edge. It’s truly the best of both worlds.
Does the latest release follow a certain concept or theme?
When Brian Haught – founder and singer of Synical – was on tour in Germany, he got to see a WW2 death camp. The horror that humans have done to each other was unspeakable but the idea that if the past is forgotten, history has shown that “this will all happen again”. The concept of the new album is humans are doomed unless they can change their basic nature. This album might very well be the soundtrack to the downfall of civilization. Let’s hope it’s not too late.
Were there any parts of your musical upbringing that have stayed with you and some that perhaps have fallen by the wayside over time?
Another great question. The fascination with electronic music has always been there and the band has many different influences that are still useful. However the endless practicing has slowed down over the years and replaced with more musical exploration. Perhaps the return to practicing will be the key in preparing for a US/Canada tour in the fall of 2024.
Have you ever written a track that came from such a place of emotional pain or distress that you decided to not release it or perform it live?
Synical has been in Los Angeles since 1997 and the band called the Dragonfly nightclub on Santa Monica Blvd its official home. When one of the owners and champion of our band J.D. Terziu was killed in an automobile accident, Synical wrote a song entitled “Tragedy Trip” which was performed once live in 2005 but it was too emotionally painful to include on the 2012 album release “Quit While You’re Behind”.
In the new album, aside from the title, there are some lyrical references to things happening “again”. Does this reference come from a place of looking inward or externally toward society?
As stated earlier, there are many in society that don’t like or agree with the past history and want to erase or rewrite it for various reasons. This is such a dangerous situation. Past history only happened one way. If you forget or try to change it, humans will eventually repeat the same bad mistakes. This will all happen again. You can’t move forward without first remembering the past.
What musical influence of yours do you think we would find most surprising?
Synical has many influences but the stranger ones are the bands Cabaret Voltaire, Nitzer Ebb, Crash Worship, Laibach, and early Prince. We are also proud to be signed to Cleopatra Records – the premier goth and darkwave music label – and we have many label mates influencing us as well like Spawn Ranch, Christian Death, and Laetherstrip.
For More Synical Information:
https://cleopatrarecords.bandcamp.com/album/this-will-all-happen-again
https://www.facebook.com/CleopatraRecords
https://www.instagram.com/cleopatrarecords/
