COSMIC ROUNDUP: DARREN KASKIE OF DEATH OF MONEY AND GOD SPEED YOU PETER ANDRE
Darren is a lovely human being and I hope one day that he moves back to Cardiff. It was a pleasure to put on Death of Money a few weeks ago. Here's what he had to say for himself
Hi Darren, how are you?
Noswaith dda! That's good evening in Welsh (according to google translate), I'm pretty decent, having a glass (bottle) of wine to do this.
Tell us about The Death of Money How did you meet and how long have you been going etc. You’ve been around fucking ages haven’t you?
We first started properly in 2004, we'd met in Rhymney comprehensive school when we were literally children, me and our drummer Ian have been friends since nursery. Our original bassist Nicky taught me how to play a power chord and handed me a distortion pedal when we were all 15/16 years old and thats exactly how it all started circa 1998. So yeah, fucking ages.
****Around 2008 Alex Morgan joined us on bass and toured with us many times over the years, though he has recently left us and hung up his sludge boots to explore more natural highs like flying (paragliding), he’s still coming to all our gigs boasting that it’s more fun watching. On bass duties now we have the godfather of our band in Jimbob from legendary South Welsh bands Taint and HARK. If it wasn’t for Taint this conversation probably wouldn’t be happening.
Do you have any new releases planned?
We've just recorded our fourth album which I'm currently mixing at my home studio, that's all I can say right now. No final song title's, no labels, no release dates nothing, just old familiar TDOM noise that YOU WILL LOVE.
Tell us about God Speed You Peter Andre. I saw you play and wasn’t sure if I was joyous or terrified. Is that what you’re looking for?
HAHA! You were right to be terrified! You’re lucky to be alive man. ;) GY!PA is me and Emer Thompson who is an iconic Manchester promoter and curator under the titles Fat Out and Samarbeta, TDOM played one of the very first Fat Out gigs in Manchester like 2008ish so we go way back, and like TDOM, GY!PA began in a very organic way, just best of friends having fun making music, back in the Islington Mill days when anyone would drop into my studio and get on it we would be jamming all night doing exactly what we were mean’t to be doing. GY!PA rose from those wonderful times. No one has a clue who came up with the name but it gave Lauren Laverne and right belly laugh live on 6music once.
You’ve been described as a true stalwart of the Manchester scene. Tell us more about the Manchester scene, what’s great about it and what it means to you.
Have I? That’s nice to hear, I think everyone in the Manchester scene is a stalwart of the Manchester scene, and that’s why it means so much to everyone. I think for me personally when I first moved to Manchester about 5 years ago I was excited to be surrounded by so many powerful female musicians and artists than I had been in the South Wales scene. So most of my collaborations since I’ve lived here have naturally been with female vocalists, performance artists and poets, , and I guess the reason for that is they bring something to a sound or composition that is genuinely impossible for me to bring.
I think there has always been a feminine element to my music even when its at its most masculine sounding, I guess that’s why TDOM have never really fitted into the long standing post metal/post hardcore/post goal posts boys club. Too morbid for most, too heavy for metal.
What was the best gig you played in 2019?
Mine and Emer’s GY!PA set at Supernormal Festival was truly special, I’d been travelling America for a while before so we hadn’t rehearsed at all and Emer was seriously nervous but we clicked straight back together and we killed it! Everyone was joyous and terrified in equal measure.
Best gig you attended?
Best musical experience I had was TOOL at Download festival, not a gig but nothing even came close to the transcendence I experienced watching those pretentious old farts.
Best festival you attended?
Easily Supernormal Festival, that’s my festival family, there are some people I know who I only ever see at this festival, we don’t contact each other I just know I’ll see them in August at Supernormal and everything’s put in it’s right place. But especially I have to applaud the amazing crew, programming, building, the amount of work put in, just true magic, it was sorely missed when they took a year out in 2018.
What are your favourite releases from 2019?
Can’t stop listening to the new Swans album, DIIV’s album is great, constantly banging new Giant Swan, Gum Takes Tooth, That incredible Daughters album, (might’ve been 2018)
Girl Band’s album is sick! Drab Majesty, HIDE, Boy Harsher, Tropical Fuck Storm, there’s so many more my head will explode. Music is annoyingly healthy.
What the hell are you up to next year?
Gonna get this TDOM album finished and released, got a few shows with our new friends Dystopian Future Movies and Grave Lines, more touring with GY!PA and AJA for sure, GY!PA have something pretty special in the pipeline.
Photo taken at The Moon Cardiff by Jose Caamano