Haven't had a lot of time lately...
HISTORY:
1) How old are you, where were you born, and where do you live now, website (if you have one)?
-- Older than Dirt (Passport says I'm 39)
-- Born in Bethlehem
-- Live in Gainesville now
-- My last personal website hasn't been updated since Convergence 7, so I guess This will have to do.
2) What is your day job, or what would you like to be when you grow up(dream job)?
-- Chief Financial Officer of Ramtech Industries, Inc. One of the largest developers and suppliers of stageboxes, cables/multi-pin snakes, controllers and other road gear for the music industry.
3) Please tell us about your personal history with the Goth Scene: What sort of child were you? When did you first identify yourself as Goth? How did you discover the subculture, and what kept you in it?
--I was an obnoxious child with an insatiable curiosity. I became obsessed with the concept of "Death" at the age of 6 (mainly due to the fact that no 'adult' could explain it to me, everyone had a different story). I was the kid that set traps in his closet to trap 'monsters' because I wanted to capture and 'study' them with my little junior science kit. As I grew up I was always obsessed with the things that scared people, because I just didn't get it. Read a story about a Unicorn - EVERYONE wants to see a Unicorn, they dream about them. But why didn't anyone want to find the vampire, or the werewolf? I just couldn't understand. If there was something out there that could, gasp, shape shift, I wanted to see it. When my family moved to Florida we moved into an old haunted house on the coast. I never questioned it - it was just Fact. I LOVED that house! My parents couldn't wait to sell it. I used to watch all the old B/W horror films, and giggle with glee when the monster ate the stupid humans (that's what you get for being a retard and opening that door, moron).
-- My 2 older step-sisters got me into music very early on (and thanks to them I know more about the early 70's than I could ever want to know). Fortunately in the late 70's some good music started to come along. I've been on-board ever since.
-- As for the sub-culture, I didn't really ever 'discover' it, it just kept getting pointed out to me that I was in it. I never see the forest for the trees. I LIKE black, this music sounds good, I'd prefer to NOT have that light on, thank you. "Gothic" What the hell are you talking about, why are identifying me a style of architecture - I'm not pointy, and I certainly don't have any flying buttresses?!? I may be an old German man, but I didn't sack Rome. I finally caught on when I realised that I was surrounded by some of the most intelligent creatures and they all had such good taste in music. Leaving this lifestyle would be like trying to learn how to breath underwater. Not happening.
4) How long have you been an active part of the Goth Scene, and in what way(s) have you contributed to it (example: DJing, exhibiting art, live performance, fashion design, volunteering for festivals, creating online communities/forums, etc.)?
-- I've been fully immersed in the scene since sometime between 1979 and 1981 (like I said, it happened to ME, I didn't find it).
-- I was a drummer in several bands for just over a decade, at which point I grew tired of the incredible amount of effort it took to get a band together for rehearsal, to travel with said band, and most of all, to keep the lead guitarist out of jail.
During my time as a drummer I was always the one to take over control of the music at parties. I couldn't sit by and watch someone let an entire album play. I got inventive. I plugged the turntables in the mixer - What, this is what a DJ is?
Since then I've been a full time DJ, going on year 12 (of paying gigs), playing at multiple venues, and doing a weekly radio show on the FM. I don't count the early house party years.
-- I've got several hundred hours of recorded live shows, as well as some of my own musical compositions available here
-- I am also a Board Member of a Non-Profit Organisation called Heart of Darkness (yes, named after the Conrad novel). You can read about us at the link. We're basically the Elder Goths in the local community that are trying to have Social events outside of just the Night Club scene.
CULTURE:
5) Other than through your music tastes and/or fashion sense, in what other ways do you incorporate Goth culture into your lifestyle?
-- In my photography, in my daily life (my flat is 100% spooky), and in the clients I deal with in my day job. I'm the CFO of a major Corporation and I have a Dead Can Dance poster in my office.
6) Give an example of one thing that is not generally considered Gothic, but that you feel should be - please explain why.
-- This is a bugger of a question. I really don't like to label things.
-- How about Chess. My best chess partner used to tell me that I only liked to play the game because I got to chase her into a corner and force her to submit.
7) Share one poignant moment from your past, specifically related to being in the Goth scene (could be amusing, touching, irritating, etc.).
-- Hanging out with Sascha K. from KMFDM after a show and not being able to speak either German or English, partly from alcohol, and partly from meeting one of my idols and realising what an unbelievably nice guy he was/is.
9) Please describe the Gothic Community, as you would/do to someone outside the community.
-- Please see "Heart of Darkness" above. That's basically why we formed the Corp. Social events, and to get the rest of the community to stop being afraid of the little gothlings.
10) What do you hate about the Goth Scene or wish you could change?
-- The negative stereotyping that comes with being involved in it.
11) Where do you see the scene going, or what do you predict for the Future of Goth in 5-10-15 years?
-- 5 years, hopefully OUT of the mainstream media and back into the shadows where we belong.
-- 10 years: Every Network and Systems Admin in the world, more than half of the Chairs of the Colleges across the planet, and the heads of most Corporations.
-- 15 It's OUR world now, people!
(spookymonkey <-- has a tendency towards long rants, and incoherent thought. Allergies = Poetry).
FAVORITES:
12) Please recommend a favorite or two in each these categories, and briefly explain WHY they make your list:
Bands:
-- Skinny Puppy, KMFDM, Siouxsie & the Banshees, And Also The Trees, My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult, Coil, Dead Can Dance, Sisters of Mercy, X-Mal Deutchland, The Cure, Specimen... this could go on all night...
Movies:
-- Master & the Commander, Hamlet (Mel Gibson), Fall of the House of Usher (any old B/W horror films), Dune (both the movie, and the Sci-Fi miniseries, Mirrormask... again, could go on.
Books/Authors:
This list would probably beat them all. I am usually reading more than one book at a time, but here's a few: The Chronicles of Dune, Anything by Frank Herbert, Neal Stephenson, William Gibson, Neil Gaiman. Everything Stephen Hawking has every produced, Kip Thorne, Dr. Richard Feynman. I read a lot of published scientific articles on Quantum Physics, it's actually a hobby of mine. Mum was a Librarian for 30 years, any book I wanted I got.
Fashion Style:
I usually tend toward the 20 eyed tall leather boots, military fatigue pants, and an over sized shirt. Think Robert Smith meets GI Joe on a drunken night in the French Quarter.
E-mail: Spookymonkey {at} gmail {dot} com or raven@ramtech.net
PHOTOS:
Last Week
Hippodrome State Theatre
At JetSet Nightclub
Yes, they DO make Gothic wetsuits. I've been the DJ at several "Gothic Beach Parties." You haven't lived until you've been to one.
At Plasma Nightclub
Caught on the Air on 100.5FM Hosting the Sunday Night Resurrection, a 4 hour long commercial free Gothic / Industrial radio show.
...and yes, the Mic scares me.