Underneath Richmond’s well-known and well-documented punk rock and metal scenes, there is an upsurge in the gothic influence which has started to gain more momentum and attention.
Goth is defined as a style of rock music derived from punk, typically with apocalyptic or mystical lyrics. Up until recently, goth representation has been scarce in the Richmond scene, with most modern goth bands falling into the punk or metal subgenres.
Founded by multi-instrumentalist Andrew Devin during the pandemic, TORTURE TWINN is a goth influenced bands who have shed labels all together. Devin is at a place where he does not consider his band to be just one genre, like goth.
“I think I’m kind of realizing that where I’m at currently I am not in any one genre. I have influences that are definitely from like the 80s goth era. Bands like The Cure, Sisters of Mercy, any of those bands from that time period,” Devin said. “I have always wanted to do 80’s sounding music, whether it is goth, post-punk, or pop scene.”
Devin considers goth to be described as dark, and he shares what it means to him.
“When I think of goth, just off the top of my head being descriptive-adjectives I just think dark,” Devin said. “Everyone has their own definition when it comes to big terms like punk, emo, or goth, but for me it has always been dark. Everybody is for the most part wearing black clothes, dark makeup, and the lyricism is dark. That word goes hand in hand with goth.”
Devin’s most recommended TORTURE TWINN song is “THE SADDENING” because he thinks it is the band’s best recorded song in terms of production.
“I feel like people can relate to it more across the board,” Devin said.
Just like TORTURE TWINN, Circuit Preacher is another band under the subgenre of goth founded by musician Tyler Matthews. He views Circuit Preacher as a non-traditional goth band, influenced by a variety of styles and subgenres within the broader goth music label.
(Tyler Matthews)
“[Circuit Preacher] is sort of a subgenre of goth music. Goth is largely post punk influenced, so your typical bands that are traditional goth are more like Siouxsie and the Banshees and The Cure. Then there are ones [goth bands] that are kind of blurred out of that line like Gary Newman. I think goth just becomes an overall umbrella for all these things [bands],” Matthews said.
Matthews defines goth as music based compared to gothic influences in fashion that more people are familiar with.
“To me [goth] is not just fashion. I think it has a lot of cool fashion that has come out of different dark subcultures, but really, I think it would be the themes of immortalism, you know life and death,” Matthews said. “With that comes a lot of strong emotions with relationships with other people, yourself. Obviously you have all the scary dark typical things like Edgar Allen Poe inspired, victorian gothic architecture, but I guess it means a little different to everyone, but to me and a lot of people it is a music based subculture.”
Matthews has played at a lot of venues, but he says that the Moritzbastei in Germany and Fallout in Richmond are the best.
“I do not want this to sound like a flex but it [Moritzbastei] really was awesome. The Moritzbastei in Germany turns into a club from 10 o’clock in the evening to 5 o’clock in the morning and it turns into a room for only bands and it just looks like an underground bunker/cellar. Fallout is also really fun to play in Richmond,” Matthews said. “Fallout I really like because it is intimate, you are on the floor as a performer, so you’re not up on a stage and I think that’s really cool for alternative music. Because a lot of the time the songs are communal and not really a performance piece.”
The definition of goth has always been debated, but everyone agrees in some way that music makes the subgenre with lyricism and dark themes. Devin conveys this in his message as a musician.
“My idea is to preach to people to be good human beings,” he said. “Care about yourself and care about people that you interact with on every level. All of the interactions we have as people really matter. You have probably heard this before, but you never know what someone else is going through and what you say and do in that moment could make or break their day. I just want to challenge people to be better.”
