Clan Of Xymox
von san anno 2011
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Ronny Moorings, who founded the music project Clan Of Xymox in 1984, is a sympathetic musician, who writes an exciting history of life especially in the area of the alternative, black subculture. Grown up in The Netherlands, nowadays he lives in Leipzig and took himself some time for CrossOver to answer some questions about his artistic creations.
Would you like to introduce you for all our readers of CrossOver, who don't know your music, please?
Hi, I am Ronny Moorings, the founder of Clan Of Xymox. I started the band some time ago in the Netherlands, released over a dozen albums, lived in London and now live happily in Germany.
Clan Of Xymox - or Xymox at the time of your founding in 1984 - are a part of sub cultural music history since this time. How do you feel the subculture and fans in the past and nowadays?
The sub culture was a big alternative scene with known bands like the Cure, Echo & the Bunnymen, Sisters of Mercy and New Order in the charts. A lot of kids mirrored themselves to these newfound alternative heroes. The same you still have with M. Manson in the 90's and now there are no real style heroes apart from GAGA but more a very wide internet spread network of alternative bands.
The subculture is still controlled by the media as we know it simply because people do not look for themselves through the millions of offered track ready to be discovered. There are a lot of special interest groups kids can join so there bands can be picked up as well.
Ronny, in the part of your biography in the book "Gothic II" by Peter Matzke and Tobias Seeliger [page 30-63] you describe an exciting past with living in squatting houses in your home - the Netherlands, often changing places, giving up your studies in sociology and sciences of media, large touring and impressions in foreign countries and your experiences with the different labels. How do you think that all these experiences would have created your personality nowadays? Are there any things you would have made in another way nowadays than you did in the past?
Of course everything you did in the past and every road you took is in the end the sum of your personality. I wished of course I would have done a lot of things differently, wished I would have never let certain people in my live etc. etc. The only thing I can do is laugh about it or write a song like "Delete" about it ;-) In the end the only conclusion I can make is that I don't regret the paths I chose and I guess my past is part of that equation.
The extract of your biography ends with your words: "Now, there's no more reason for us to complain. Maybe the scene will be as big as it was, when I began. And maybe this time I will be a bit responsible for that." How do you feel about these words nowadays and how did the work as a musician in the scene change through the time of the last ten years?
I think I was talking about our GothAM festival in Amsterdam, held in Paradiso. That was most definitely a new impulse for the Gothic movement in the Netherlands in the beginning of the millennium.
I do feel there is a kind of wax and wane model in the scene over the years. One time it is more exiting then the other time but in general the scene stays alive and active. I think the tendency is going towards festivals as the main attraction for the bands to perform. In a way it is ironic as that is what G. Orwell in "1984" predicted: give them soma ;-)
On May, 20th, your birthday, was the release of your 13th studio album entitled "Darkest Hour". This one and the last album "In Love We Trust" and also the report of your concert on August 6th at Moritzbastei in Leipzig, we've reviewed for our readers. Are you satisfied with the resonance of the new album and what do you plan for the future, especially with your own label Xymox Control?
I am pleased that the albums got so much positive feedback. Unfortunately I did not sell millions of copies, but who does? I am glad I am still in the position to release albums and keep my fans on their toes. These two albums came out on our new label Trisol released in a beautiful digi-pack.
Ronny, you're the founding-member and so-called mastermind of Clan Of Xymox. A lot of your artist colleagues founded some other music projects to live up some special musical experiences. Were there any thoughts of you to do the same or does the clan satisfy all your musical experiences and possibilities?
Clan Of Xymox was always my thing so I never felt the need to do "something else" because all the things I want to do I can do so under this banner. Maybe that is why sometimes some tracks are pretty diverse but still would have the hallmark of Clan Of Xymox.
You're living in Leipzig since 2006. After you've seen so many places and cities around the world, what's the charming of Leipzig and the reason of settling down here?
Yes, I have seen and still see lots of places but I think with Leipzig it was love on first sight. It is just the ideal city for me, the right size and its beauty unsurpassed. I did live a very long time in Amsterdam and London, but never felt there what I feel here. I do however still like London but not to live in.
The guestbook on your homepage shows many international entries of your fans, for example from Russia, Italy, Brazil, Bolivia, United States, Georgia and so on. The most of your concerts take places in foreign countries than in Germany or the Netherlands. What's the reason for that? Is your fanbase in Germany so "weak"?)
The USA and UK were always our most important markets, together with the whole of Europe. When you talk about one or the other particular country you can say that the sum is more important for the band. That way we are never pressed to work on our popularity in one country and are not too dependent on that country.
When you ask me about Germany I can say that I am reasonably happy with our standing there. I have some footnotes which I can place, like with most countries but I think by what I have seen in Germany is that if you are Depeche Mode or a clone of Depeche Mode you do well. I noticed that with DJing as well, alternative Germans are pretty conservative or simply stick to their musical taste. I have a niche in the German market with a fan base but nothing as big as a band like Depeche Mode or Placebo.
I also noticed that even in the alternative scene not too many people speak that much English and they like to listen to German songs, like Unheilig managed to get a huge following by singing in German.
We of course as a band were always closer to the UK than Germany but this doesn't mean we do not do our best to please also our German fans. Last we played on Amphi festival and it was full up to the hilt, the same goes for all the festivals in Germany where we play like WGT or M'era Luna, so there is a lot of potential for our band but somehow the mechanisms to push this further fails somehow in my opinion, but having said that, it is nobody's fault because I do not wish to be a "THAT well know of an act", never did.
In an interview in 2009 I read that Mojca and you secured the rights of a system, which directly cashes up the music download through the internet provider. This sounds really interesting and also simple and would be easier for both sides. Did your get some positive resonance in the meantime?
It was indeed an idea of us. Unfortunately this will never happen I think, or when they do it is already too late. Most music professionals find it a good idea when you tell how simple it all is to make the provider part of the music industry, but I guess doing something like this would be revolutionary in the industry and therefore always halted by the ignorant shareholders or aging presidents whose only solution is merge and slim companies and fire people.
Thank you for taking the time to answer all our questions. We wish you all the best for your private and musical future.
Thank you, too.
URLs
http://www.clanofxymox.com
http://www.myspace.com/clanofxymox
http://www.facebook.com/people/Ronny-Moorings/1088991751
http://www.facebook.com/pages/clan-of-xymox/111769160178
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