ATTRITION: ‘Darker Music Has Become Accepted Much More, Which Is A Good Thing In My Book’

British darkwave, post-punk, and all-around gothic electronic music pioneers ATTRITION are heading to Australia for the first time this month, celebrating the spooky season with a huge collection of shows.

The band’s co-founder, Martin Bowes, has long wanted to visit Australia, and with this tour, over 40 years into their storied career, ATTRITION are pulling out all the stops, plotting eight shows across the country.

Opening at Perth’s Four5nine on Thursday, 24 October, ATTRITION’s tour continues at Adelaide’s Hotel Metro, Frankston’s Singing Bird, Hobart’s Altar, and Melbourne’s The Gasometer (on Halloween!).

Those shows are followed by a string of gigs in November, beginning at Sydney’s Darling Nikki’s, Brisbane’s The Cave Inn, and closing at Nambour’s Black Box Theatre. From there, ATTRITION continue into New Zealand, playing at Christchurch’s Embankment Tavern, Wellington’s Valhalla Tavern, and close the highly anticipated run at Auckland’s Tuning Fork.

It’s a hell of a tour, and to celebrate the band’s first-ever Australian tour, The Music had an eerie chat with ATTRITION’s Martin Bowes. Read on to discover Bowes’ thoughts on the influence of darker music on dance music, their first album in nine years, The Black Maria, and more. Check out the interview below.

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We can’t believe that ATTRITION are finally coming to Australia. What a thrill for longtime fans, especially as the team are playing eight dates. What went into the behind-the-scenes booking for this tour?

Martin Bowes (ATTRITION): Well, I had been trying to get over to Australia for years – we almost made it in 2018 but only got to New Zealand that time. We just never hooked up with the right booking agent until now, when we started working with Michel at UTM Music Group. He had been doing a wonderful job promoting the new ATTRITION album and offered to set this up for us. It worked, and we will be in Australia for shows from 24 October until 3 November. We are really looking forward to it.

ATTRITION and Australia’s own Schkeuditzer Kreuz will be performing in Melbourne on Halloween night at the Gasometer. With foreboding electronic meets industrial music and a spooky new album under your belts, how should fans embrace the Halloween energy that night?

Martin: I love Halloween. It’s the only traditional holiday I celebrate, so I am excited about the Melbourne show. Dressing up is allowed! It is also Alia [Synesthesia] from ATTRITION’s birthday, and Kieren [Hills] from Schkeuditzer Kreuz, too (I have to wait ‘til November for mine). It is going to be a dark evening indeed.

Speaking of Halloween, the tour takes place in the last weeks of October/early November. How will the spooky energy permeate throughout all the dates? Should fans anticipate an eerie atmosphere and contribute to it on all dates?

Martin: I think ATTRITION shows have that atmosphere all year round, but this is the perfect time for it. Yes, it will be with us on the whole tour… every tour! And as is tradition, I will be giving away a free download of our dark soundtrack works as a Halloween gift (just go to our official Bandcamp page, and you can grab three albums for nothing at all!) http://attritionuk.bandcamp.com/

The Black Maria, ATTRITION’s first studio album in eight years (excluding compilations and live albums), was released earlier this year.

You described the title as referring to a “menacing Nineteenth Century figure, who would come to take away our outcasts and miscreants; later used as a slang term for UK police vans. Nothing much has changed.” Can you elaborate on how you view The Black Maria in the modern day?

Martin: I think there has always been a state-controlled fear of anything different… I first experienced it back in my punk rock days in the late ‘70s. We definitely got picked on in the same way minority groups always are.

More recently, and the inspiration for The Black Maria, my ex-wife Kerri suffered at the hands of a rather corrupt local Police force. It contributed to a deterioration in her mental health. She passed away in 2022, and the album is dedicated to her memory. The Black Maria is always waiting.

As pioneers of darkwave and likely hearing offshoots of the ATTRITION sound everywhere, how does this music continue to stand out, resonate with so many, and connect with the spooky season?

Martin: When we started at the end of 1980, the term didn’t exist. We were heavily anarchist punk/post-punk influenced, beginning with a traditional guitar/bass/drums/vocals lineup, which quickly changed with our discovery of electronics, and bands such as Cabaret Voltaire, Joy Division, early Human League, The Normal, Magazine and so many others… It was a wonderful time to be around music here in England.

The early ATTRITION records were very experimental; the debut album being called a “Punk Floyd” by UK music press at the time… We just did our own thing and still do. Genres have formed around us, but I wouldn’t want to be reliant on that.

I think, in a lot of ways, darker music has become accepted much more now, even creeping into dance music styles, which is a good thing in my book. It deals with an important part of the human experience and will always resonate far beyond a spooky season!

ATTRITION are heading to Australia in a few weeks’ time. You can buy tickets to the tour here. You can follow ATTRITION on their website, Facebook, YouTube, Spotify, and Bandcamp.