Ten Questions to... Suffering For Kisses' Tony D'Oporto

Some Hurt More Than Others is the new EP out this week by Suffering For Kisses, available via their Bandcamp site. SFK is the latest project by Seattle based Tony D’Oporto, and his 2018 debut album of songs of lost love, Forever Waiting, was an instant word-of-mouth success amongst the global darkwave diaspora, with hauntingly effective songs made all the more fragile by minimalist arrangements and D’Oporto’s distinctively naked vocal, creating a “beautifully dark” aesthetic (to quote one of the song titles. Follow-up EP Love, Loss and Regret was released in 2019, “the sounds of a drowning romantic”, and like all SFK offerings was available only as a “name your price” download on Bandcamp.

The new EP out this week starts with Done, whic hbegins with an echoing drum beat and reverb guitar which is more prominent than usual. before D’Oporto’s familiar baritone intones a typically melancholic opening verse “Well I’m done with you, I was nothing but nice to you, but you’re rude and you're mean, you’re as cold as ice can be” over an understated chugging backing that wouldn’t be out of place on Floodland. Culture a previous single, continues in a The Sisters of Mercy vein with a No Time To Cry style bass line, and a repeated guitar riff in the style of Antipole’s Karl Morten Dahl, whilst D’Oporto warms to his theme: “Culture is dangerous, culture is violent.” Following track Maybe begins with a surprisingly plinky plonky synth sound which is quickly interrupted by a descending bass riff and twang guitar Ritual Howls style. “Maybe it was all just a fantasy” muses the misanthropic D’Oporto whilst Fuchsia Angel of Bella Lune on backing vocals gives the track a darkgaze dreampop vibe, a juxtaposition that works particularly well.

The following two tracks are pure poetry, literally: another previous single Invictus features a sequenced bass and synth intro with a familiar descending pattern reminiscent of Foghorn Lonesome before D’Oporto begins to recite the familiar Victorian poem in his trademark deadpan lugubrious baritone, whilst Summer List harks back to D’Oporto’s previous project Gnome and Spybey with a beat-free lush minor chord synth and piano soundscape, over which former regular collaborator Mark Spybey recites a descriptive spoken word piece in which, in a Geordie lilt, he reflects nostalgically on summers past.

Final track War reverts to more familiar territory, with a simple spoken vocal “War, this is war” over a typical SFK backbeat.  D’Oporto’s lyric rages against a human race which is both the culprit and victim of the impending environmental catastrophe. “Nature’s revenge will come our greed” is the melancholy conclusion to a noteworthy EP which reveals an artist at the top of his game.

Eager to find out more, I approached Tony to see if he would be willing to feature as the second guest in this blog’s “Ten Questions to…” feature, and to my delight he responded with even greater alacrity than my previous victim Brandon Pybus, no mean feat.

I am grateful to Tony for his insightful responses and can heartily recommend the new Suffering For Kisses EP and the back catalogue which is available via Bandcamp. His ambient collaboration with Mark Spybey can be found on Facebook, and his EBM project with David Trussell, Crisis Actor, is also on Bandcamp.

1.

Suffering For Kisses is one of the few bands on the current darkwave scene that has an instantly recognisable sound, with your deadpan semi-spoken vocals and spartan keyboard/guitar over a minimalist bass and drum machine backing. How did that signature sound develop?

I get inspired and just write what comes out. No real plan or anything. A lot of it I develop in my head as I am walking around. I will take things I am thinking about and kind of put it with music in my head, then implement it in the studio.

2.

The band name, the lyric themes, the music and the visuals – everything about SFK seems to represent a certain wallowing in misery yet many people somehow find your music thoroughly uplifting. Did that come as a surprise or was it the effect which you hope that your music will have on people?

This is probably the most personal music I have ever written. All the lyrics are something I am thinking about, emotions I am feeling or things I am going through at the moment. I think perhaps a lot of other people are feeling the same thing and can relate. They find comfort in knowing others are going through the same issues. 

3.

You said in a recent interview that your first musical attempts in the late 80’s were in the goth genre. Were any of these ever released?

No, nothing ever released. Just random projects or bands I played in when I was a teenager.

4.

Most of your recorded output until Suffering for Kisses began a couple of years ago was on the more ambient, experimental side of music. What at that point influenced you to move in a darker, more lyrical direction?

I have always been somewhat involved in this scene on some level, but at the time I was dating someone that showed me several newer “post-punk” bands I was unfamiliar with…but I really liked them. I thought, I can do this and it sounds fun. The first few songs I wrote where actually just for her. But I ended up putting them online and they immediately received a really good response. It just kept going from there…When we parted ways, I was quite upset and it became an outlet to express those emotions.

5.

You combined with ex-Zoviet France musician Mark Spybey for many years on the project The Gnome and Spybey, and he appears on a track on the new Suffering For Kisses EP which is very different to your normal style. How did that come about?

I always loved those little ambient bits Depeche Mode had in between songs on their albums. I was working on one for this release and could just hear Mark’s voice in it. I sent it to him and asked if he would do a vocal for it and he agreed. I think it turned out quite lovely! Reminiscent of old Coil in my opinion. 

6.

You’ve had guest musicians on most SFK releases so far, such as Su Eko of Velvet Kills on Culture and Natasha Taylor on one track on the first album. Are there any other artists who you’d love to collaborate with on future projects? Which other current darkwave acts do you particularly enjoy?

I would love to work on something with Shannon from Actors. Her own project Leathers is outstanding. I love her voice and she is extremely talented. And a very nice person as well! Ally from Bootblacks guitar playing is phenomenal. My favorite style of guitar playing. I definitely would love to have her play on one of my songs. Bootblacks are also an excellent band. I have seen them play 3 times now and enjoyed it each time. And also really nice people! 

7.

What was it about the famous poem Invictus that made you want to set it to music, as featured on the new EP?

It’s a very inspirational poem. I suggest people look it up and read about the different situations it has been used by various people to survive some very hard times.

8.

Ricky Hart plays guitar in your live shows and you’ve had him, Harris Iveson (Velvet Kills), your producer Nick Brennan and Mark Hjorthoy help out in the studio. Do you think that using a variety of guitarists helps to broaden the project’s musical palette, as was the case with Siouxsie and the Banshees who kept things fresh by bringing in a different innovative guitarist every couple of albums? Or is just a question of circumstance?

It really just depends…different people enter my life at different times. I pull resources from whomever I happen to be close with at the time.

Rickie and Nick have been the most consistent and are pretty much my main guys.

9.

None of your releases is available in a physical format, although you will clearly have had many offers of product distribution. Why is that?

I do not believe in physical product anymore. I think it’s wasteful and outdated. 

10.

What are the next steps for Suffering For Kisses. Will we ever see you play live in Europe, for example?

No idea! I just take it as it comes…I like to just mainly play local shows and just every so often. It’s a lot of work putting the live band together.