Mark E Moon is a project which plays “Dystopian
post-punk/wave” music and was formed on the Isle of Man in the Autumn of 2018,
bringing together long-term musical collaborators Mark Sayle (vocals and
guitars) and Phil Reynolds (everything else) to give an outlet to songs which
didn’t fit the style of their other main project, the band Slow Decay.
Despite having a population of only 85,000, the Isle of Man is a self-governing British Crown dependency in the Irish Sea which has its own parliament, language and culture, but it is more famous for its rugged coastline and beautiful mountain scenery than for its contribution to the alternative music scene. All this changed however with the release of Mark E Moon’s debut album Refer on Cold Transmission Records in November 2019 and the teaser single Into The Arms Of Entropy which preceded it. A baritone vocal, swirling synths and a strong beat achieved the rare achievement of drawing in scene followers from the various sub-genres (coldwave, darkwave, post-punk, synthpop etc), with other album tracks which nodded to some of the greats of the original 80’s scene also appealing to any passing elder goths.
After a remix album REFER:REMIX (as well as a couple
of new songs released on Cold Transmission compilations) helped to spread the
growing word-of-mouth success of the band in 2020, Mark E Moon return in 2021 with a sophomore
album which promises to be “bigger, brasher, darker and angrier”, according to
the band, with one track, Animals, advance released at the end of January
to whet the collective appetite.
Having been a fan of the band since Refer came out, and
particularly the track Abandon which was clearly inspired by the track
Valentine on one of my personal all-time favourite releases, The Sisters of
Mercy’s 1983 The Reptile House EP, I jumped at the chance of interviewing Mark E
Moon’s lead singer Mark Sayle, to find out more about the band’s genesis,
motivations and future plans. A huge thank you to Mark for giving up his time
and patiently explaining the band’s evolution to me.
Mark E Moon’s music is available
on Bandcamp.
As indeed is the recorded output of Slow Decay.
1. Both you and Phil are also in another band
named Slow Decay, which plays a “sweatier”, more up-tempo goth rock, a bit like
a beefed-up Ghost Dance. Do you intend to continue with both bands or is Mark E
Moon using up all of your time and creativity now?
Slow Decay has been on hiatus for about a year
now. Our second guitarist and our drummer both left to pursue other
interests and effectively halted our ability to play as a gigging band.
Mark E Moon has taken up a lot of my time while writing and recording Old
Blood but now we've sent the files off for pressing I have more time for other
projects. I'm currently juggling a few commitments, not least among them being
a father of four, but I'm happy that the projects I'm involved in presently all
have enough time dedicated to them. I hope something happens again with Slow
Decay, maybe later in the year, but that obviously depends on the
availability of Sabina and being able to find suitable replacements for the
missing members.
2. You started Mark E Moon when you’d written
some songs which you didn’t feel were right for Slow Decay. Were there any
other Slow Decay songs – or tracks from any of your previous projects - which
you were tempted to try in a more “wave” style? I would imagine that Pre-Dawn Light
(Slow Decay) or Demons (Circus world) would work really well with a slowed-down
beat and a croonier vocal, for example.
As it happens, the songs Delta Of Venus and
Abandon were initially written for Slow Decay. I was originally the singer and
Sabina was the rhythm guitarist. Then we decided that Sabina was a better fit
as the singer in Slow Decay and the songs I had been singing fell by the
wayside. I repurposed them when Mark E Moon became a real endeavour. As for
Circus worlD, that's a largely collaborative writing partnership with my friend
and multi-instrumentalist Mikie Daugherty. I don't honestly know how he'd feel
about me pinching one of our songs for Mark E Moon. He's a cool guy though so
maybe? At the minute my intention is to move forward rather than look back but
I never say never.
3. Slow Decay are of course female-fronted and
you just play guitar in that project. Did you always intend to be the singer
for project which became Mark E Moon? Did you deliberately choose to sing in a
deeper register than on previous projects (Circus WorlD for example) or did
that come about through studio experimentation?
Yes, Mark E Moon was always envisaged as having
me as the lead singer. I don't honestly think that I changed my vocal style all
that much when doing MEM compared to some of my earlier work. I've used a low
baritone while singing in previous local bands like Black River Falls and
Draglamps. I also grew up singing along to the Reptile House ep so it's a
natural continuation of that for me.
I guess with Circus worlD the music called for a
raw rock style vocal so I just did that. I'm a lot happier singing in my
natural baritone that screaming though. That said, there's a track called The
Exodus Of The New Work by the band Gogo Yubari where you can hear me attempting
to imitate a Blackie Lawless style vocal. Hahaha. I think it actually works for
the song but it is ridiculous.
4. Having been involved in other bands in other
genres, what made you move back to a more goth sound with first Slow Decay and
now Mark E Moon?
I guess its because it's where I feel most
comfortable, making other people feel happily miserable. Its going back to the
very first songs I wrote and the first recordings I made with Phil twenty odd
years ago. I'm not in any way religious, but dark music is my spiritual home.
Even when writing for Circus worlD the material is more often than not very
deep and intentionally disturbing. So I don't necessarily see it as a
move back as a natural continuation on a dark path.
5. Mark E Moon made a real impression with the
debut LP Refer, and when I first heard it I was struck by the similarity of Out
In the Dark to Bauhaus’ In The Flat Field and Abandon to The Sisters of Mercy’s
Valentine. Were these deliberate homages?
Abandon was definitely a homage stylistically to
the Reptile House ep as a whole i think. It's one of the references the title
of the album alludes to. I wanted to make the darkest, most goth song I could
and that record is the obvious source of inspiration. As for Out In The Dark,
that was a happy accident. It was written and recorded and someone pointed out
the similarity (probably Phil) and I had to laugh. Yes it's VERY much like In
The Flat Field but in no way by design. It wasn't 'ripped-off' on purpose,
although I could see how some might make that assertion. Once we noticed the
similarity we decided it was just different enough to get away with it and it's
become a reference to one of our most well loved songs.
6. You were clearly a fan of goth when growing
up. As a fellow The Sisters of Mercy obsessive, I was wondering what first
attracted you to the band, and why you think that The Sisters’ music still
seems to be relevant today?
I had heard The Sisters when I was younger
(probably on the John Peel or Janice Long radio shows) but never really paid
that much attention. I was still heavily into synth pop and heavy metal (weird
combination I know but hey, there are great songs in both genres) and old new
wave bands. Then I caught the Sisters doing Dominion on either TOTP or The
Roxy. My little mind was blown. The sound, the groove, the synths, the lyrics,
the swagger, everything about it was dripping with hyper focused cool and an
almost acerbic disdain for the audience at the same time. It was huge,
pompously so, and just a bit silly. All things I've tried to emulate on certain
songs on Old Blood. I'm painfully aware that was part of the 'joke' from Von's
point of view and plenty of bands have attempted to copy that formula in all
seriousness through the years. Mark E Moon have always had our tongue tucked
firmly in our cheek though. We're well aware just how preposterous we sound
sometimes. It makes us smile. That it makes other people smile just makes us
smile more. I think that brash, bold, embrace of the theatre that is darker
music is something you can lay right at the feet of the Sisters Of Mercy, for
all that Von eschews the g-word.
7. Mark E Moon has just released a new single,
Animals (Version), which like the two tracks you’ve released on compilations
since Refer, Dancing (with the lights on) and The Return are lighter, with more
synths and a more danceable vibe than most of the first album. Does this signal
a change in direction for Mark E Moon and give an indication of what we can
expect on new album Old Blood?
Absolutely not. You can expect synth pop, post
punk, ridiculously pompous nonsense and sombre reflection in equal measure. We
like making music you can dance to but we're not changing lanes into a purely
pop band just yet.
8. For the new album you’ve become a trio. Can
you tell us a bit about new member Kieran? Has he contributed to song-writing
for the new album or were the tracks already written? Did I hear that you’ve
also employed a fourth musician, a drummer, for some tracks on the new album?
Kieran Ball is a fantastic guitarist and a great
song writer in his own right. He has contributed to some of the music on the
album but we really need to utilise him more on our next (already in the works)
album. He's a massive fan of The Cure and has a natural flare for picking up
guitar lines with ease. We hope he'll be able to join us live on stage later
this year.
And yes, you heard correctly, we have a
drummer that has been working with us on some of the tracks for the new album.
His name is Steve Leach and he's a great multi-instrumentalist. He was
actually the drummer in my old punk band Poison Hearts many years ago. He is
also a very welcome addition to the team.
9. From the start you’ve been signed to Cold
Transmission records. Do you think that this helped to raise your profile?
Which other artists on the label do you particularly admire?
Cold Transmission have helped us immensely.
Without them we'd just be two idiots writing music in a box room. To be honest,
we're still just two idiots writing music in a box room, but now lots of people
get to hear that music. Not only hear it, but hold a physical, tangible product
in their hands. Andreas and Suzy are wonderful human beings too. They welcome
their acts into this family atmosphere where there is a freedom to evolve
naturally and without the horror stories you hear about big label oversight and
micro managing. They're like the mum and dad of the CT family .
I admire all the artists on the label but I
really like some of the newest releases. Bands like Mary, The Secret French
Postcards, Bedless Bones and Dead Astronauts are so diverse yet all absolutely
brilliant.
10. You put out an album of remixes of some
tracks from Refer last year. How did that come about, and would you intend to
do the same for Old Blood?
Refer:Remix came about because we though
"wouldn't it be fun to ask some mates to do remixes of songs and see what
we get back." That, I think, was pretty much the entire rationale behind
it. We didn't know what to expect. I think it worked out pretty well but I
would've liked more tracks. I don't know if we will do a remix album for this
one but if we end up doing something similar for Old Blood, I think we'll
outsource the remixing to our new brothers and sisters in the CT family and see
what they come up with.
