PSYCHE Pioneers of the dark wave, Psyche is one of the most interesting bands coming from Canada. Getting over all difficulties, theymanaged to publish eleven records where lies hidden among synths. Darrin Huss accepted to answer our questions without noticing that when your band is called Psyche you can’t expect a normal interview but a psychological test. We will enjoy their music at DarkMad Festival that will take place on the 29th and 30th ofApril. Your first album from 1985 is called Insomnia Theatre. Is it your Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret? At that time you sounded more like the very first Soft Cell, the one we can see in songs like “The Girl With the Patent Leather Face” and “Memorabilia.” That’s pretty cool, no one ever said that to me, the Soft Cell comparisons, yes, but not specifically both theirs and our debut album. Insomnia Theatre is much darker, though, and there’s no “Tainted Love” on it, but “Brain Collapses” was probably our first “hit” in Europe. Soft Cell, of course, was always mymain influence, but there is also Fad Gadget,Gary Numan,Visage,DAF,The Cure,and Bauhaus happening in my world of inspiration at the time. I also read that thanks to Skinny Puppy, you changed your style,more industrial, as it can be seen in your compilation Tales from the Darkside from 1990. Anyway, you returned to this sound for the project Vanishing Heat, right? You are well informed! Skinny Puppy and Psyche prettymuch started this style of music in Canada at the same time, and both bands were approached by Nettwerk Records.As Skinny Puppy ended up being signed and building a following for their style,I realised that I was actuallymore a singer,andmy brother and I wanted to do more with synths than to be trapped in a limited industrial mode.We wanted to develop our Horror Synth sound differently. With Unveiling The Secret recorded in Paris for the New Rose record label, we began to carve out our path advancing forward from the labels of EBM, and Industrial towards our own blend. Vanishing Heat was actually started just for fun as everyone seemed to have to have a side project, and Psyche had just released our Synthpop masterpiece Mystery Hotel, so I felt like fooling around with the kind ofmusic we might’ve made if we stayed industrial. It was an experiment, and I enjoyed it, but I didn’t take it as seriously as I do Psyche. Could you describe your concerts in the eighties? You were famous for performing nude covered in cream, right? Did you have any problems with law? How was your music received back in the eighties in Canada? Well, I covered myself in shaving cream because I saw that www.peek-a-boo-magazine.be - 18 - Fad Gadget did that at a concert for his song “Lady Shave.” I just decided not to wear underwear. I was well covered, though, until at one show I slipped on the floor! ha ha. I was also inspired by Wendy O.Williams from the Plasmatics, but obviously she had more trouble with her antics being a woman. We were not that famous yet so I figure the alternative audience wouldn’t call the police on us.However, we were banned for 6 months of playing concerts in Edmonton because we showed an artsy horror film at a festival sponsored by our university radio station in there. Several people complained about our film, so we learned early on about the price you may pay for being provocative or controversial.We often were proud of having people leave at our concerts. We felt honoured if they couldn’t take our show. Mainly it was because we were the only synth act in our region.Alberta is like Canada’s Texas.The cowboys didn’t like New Wave or Synth Music. The only people who liked and supported us were also fans of music coming out of the UK like Cabaret Voltaire, and Throbbing Gristle at the time. Also, the French part of Canada, Montréal and Quebec City was more progressive, and that was our springboard to Europe basically. Your second album, Unveiling the Secret (1986), is seen as your masterpiece. What can you tell us about the recording? I think the first 4 albums are each masterpiece for different reasons, but yes Unveiling The Secret set a new standard for what defines the Psyche sound. It has a range of EBM, early Techno, and even a Synthpop ballad all on one album. The album was recorded in Paris at Garage Studio near Père Lachaise Cemetery where Jim Morrison lies. “The Saint Became A Lush” is a combination of our love for Horror film soundtracks, and me doing my best Ian Curtis style vocal reciting a poem over this epic story of Lovecraftian magnitude. Most of the songs including that one had actually been performed live before we even got in the studio. “Black Panther” was very popular as well. “Unveiling The Secret” was actually written while we were in Paris and was the first new song of that period in the studio. I had to record my lyrics in one take because it was the last day before the budget from New Rose Records allowed before the mix down! You said that “The Saint Became a Lush” sounds a bit like “Tubular Bells”. Did you like prog rock? Some of those bands were pioneers in the use of synths. And do you like “The Secret”, the tune that took inspiration in yours, made by Joris Voorn? The only prog rock we were aware of at the time was Goblin because of the Dario Argento film soundtracks. Unless you
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