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Conceived and currently residing in an old knocking shop in the heart of London, Mechanical Cabaret is a synth/punk/electro group featuring the music and lyrics of Roi Robertson. With influences ranging from Fad Gadget, Depeche Mode, and Kraftwerk, to Iggy Pop, Sex Pistols, and Killing Joke, Mechanical Cabaret is a heady mix of industrial strength electro with memorable melodies, slamming beats, and acid-tinged throbbing bass, along with Roi’s lyrical observations of the darker side to life in general, all delivered with a deadpan dose of sardonic punk attitude and a healthy dollop of good old British black humour. Mechanical Cabaret have been making records and touring for more than 11 years, releasing three albums and six EPs since they began in 1999, and are currently signed to the Hamburg based record label Major Records. Roi has produced Mechanical Cabaret remixes of tracks by artists including Nitzer Ebb, Komputer, Client, Mesh, Kunt and the Gang, and Helalyn Flowers for labels like Mute Records, Major Records, SPV, Alfa Matrix, and Disco Minge.
Reviews and Opinions:
MECHANICAL CABARET’S ‘DAMAGED GOODS’ features the words/poetry/lyrics of Roi Robertson. Robertson dispenses swift justice re capitalist greed, weird pills to do various things to physical appearance, sexuality as a predictor of behavior, a quick reassurance to the last diva drama queen in his chronology of affairs, the drug encounters are dispatched with eloquent verse and so the name of the band becomes REAL. It is a clipped and tidy universe in a MECHANICAL CABARET. “We choose the night life!”
‘Great words. More dark and dangerously romantic threats!’
‘Take a dash of Punk ethic, chuck in a substantial measure of odd pop glamour, a sprinkling of bleeping electronics and shake vigorously in the style of the late Fad Gadget and the resulting saucy cocktail is called Mechanical Cabaret... Mechanical Cabaret are not the ideal first date to take home to meet your Mum... a thrilling and passionate songwriter with a range beyond the reach of many of his contemporaries... the similarities with Depeche Mode's Martin Gore are startling... there's a lot more to Mechanical Cabaret than immediately meets the eye... The thumping bass synths and cracking higher melodies have all the qualities of early Mute 7" but there is a weightier sound to many of their tracks... this is never at the expense of the characteristic Mechanical Cabaret style or wit... One suspects a proud Fad Gadget is looking down on Robertson with knowing affection.’
'Surly, savvy, viciously spikey synth-pop; really rather good'
'I don't want to go to far in possible comparisons with Depeche Mode - but it remains a reference in the style - and Mechanical Cabaret brings a harder and definitely more brutal version of this kind of synth-pop... (though) Mechanical Cabaret will always remain a kind of alien in synth-pop land, this sounds original and well conceived'
‘Superb, very British-sounding... mixes dark synthpop and electro with a unique approach to music-making that ultimately defies accurate labeling.’
‘Dark synthpop with an edgy sound, though not necessarily "industrial". The vocals are dramatic, and the synths stand out as a sharp, dark element in the music. There seems to be a somewhat retro tint to the flavour of the songs, though Mechanical Cabaret definitely appeals to the modern audience, as if Gary Numan or Marc Almond were to push into a more danceable modern sound.’
Mechanical Cabaret: A Hysterical History* *Book coming at some point - when I'm finished. 2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
1999 - 2001
Those inevitable 'Early Years'
'Before I started using the name Mechanical Cabaret I began writing and rehearsing electronic music in my teens at the start of the 90s in Cardiff with my friend Mark Lawrence under the name Dekolette Erotika. Mark and I used to rehearse in his Mum's kitchen or, if we had some spare money, in rehearsal studios - which happened to be the same studios that the Manic Street Preachers used, and we bumped into them once or twice at the local Indie club called Metros, where I sometimes DJ'd. Some of the songs which came to be released as Mechanical Cabaret songs started life around this period! We were joined by our friend Dave Colley on synth duties, around 1991/92, and eventually another friend Nick joined too, also on synths. Around this point, we progressed to rehearsing in Marks lock-up garage he'd started renting, where he also stored various domestic electrical appliances for some reason - I think he was buying and flogging refridgerators and such like to people! It was a good space for us to be able to make a racket without disturbing the neighbours though, and the old dishwashers and fridges made pretty good synth stands. We played live only once during this time however, mainly due to none of us being very confident singers , prefering to stick with playing synths really - and then, once I'd eventually admitted defeat and stepped up to the mic, discovering I was initially painfully shy and could only just about cope with standing in the corner and singing with my face to to the wall. Ah well, you've got to start somewhere... This lone gig was in Cardiff in October 1993 at the Electro-Industrial club called Scream Inc which I DJ'd at and co-ran with my friends Andy Edwards and Tim Dil-Peterson (now living in Florida) at Clwb Ifor Bach. It went pretty well mind you, there were a few hundred people, and lots of our mates of course - but for some reason we just drifted apart really after this. Then I moved away to Shrewsbury in Autumn 1994 and that was that (God knows why I chose this quiet English market town to move to, but anyway...)'
1994-98: Nekromantik 'After moving to Shrewsbury, although I was still writing my own songs with a view to finding a band to play with, I met vocalist Martin Katscan (Martin White) and guitarist Chris Salter, and we formed a very Cure-like band called Deadboy Craved. Martin and Chris, I must say, did lean perhaps more than a wee bit toward the 'Goth' side of things musically and fashionably speaking than I did, but I was happy to join in the fun, seeing as I mainly wore black or stripey clothes and had spiky black hair - I kind of fitted the bill really. We played a lot of gigs in Birmingham at The Toreador, drank many cups of tea and coffee and smoked a lot of cigarettes whilst rehearsing, and it was all jolly good fun while it lasted. I then decided to move to London in 1996 - Martin moved down too shortly after, but Chris didn't want to move so he stayed behind. Martin and I decided to continue doing music together without Chris, and from then on the music was totally electronic - back to what I knew, and loved, most... We changed our name to Nekromantik - we played many live shows, and released quite a lot of Demo tapes (not too many CD burners available at that time). We recorded a track called Laid Out On Lillies which was released on a compilation CD called The Hex Files. After receiving a pretty good reaction from people for this song, we got offered the chance to record an album for 'Dark Beat Records'. This we did, and the album was called 'Fairycatcher' - although our relative ignorance in the studio as well as the engineer/producer's insistence on using us as guinea pigs for his newly purchased recording software called Cubase VST meant it lacked something in the sound quality department unfortunately. After this debacle, we recorded an EP ourselves with the help and assistance of our friends - namely, computer whizz Viktor Kolomiets, and synth boffins Robert Tittensor and Daniel Davies. It was much better than the album, and we called it Dress it up in Monochrome and tell us that it's Art. We also recorded various compilation album tracks too. We were together from 1996 to 1998, until after playing a show in Brussels, I decided that I really wanted to get my own music properly 'underway' somehow instead. I had been writing more and more of my songs as well as doing Nekromantik, and they were really starting to pile up... Mechanical Cabaret was subsequently 'born' during early 1999 when I recorded my first demo tracks. So, there you have it - a rather potted history, or is it a chequered past?' X Roi
Some interviews The P.i.X. February 2009 Londonist December 2007
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