Want to hear Dr.Sanders and Cameron cover the entirety of The Sisters of Mercy’s career? Well now you can in both parts of this retrospective. It is also available on pretty much anywhere you listen to podcasts.
We covered the singles, albums, and behind the scenes shenanigans of one of the most famous bands synonymous with goth music.
Category: Uncategorized
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I often get questions and concerns about my seemingly random extended absences from the internet. This is something that I usually want to address, but create a video or song instead and reappear that way. I guess this post is a way to tackle that question more directly
I love creating and find so much enjoyment in the process of making videos and music, but try to strike a balance with the life behind the spectacle. It’s been over 10 years since I started GothCast and even longer for making music and I’m not often a retrospective type of individual, but I’ll put that aside to reflect here. It’s been quite a decade, filled with great moments and some creative work that I am truly proud of, but there have been many moments of sadness as well. Several deaths, health issues, mental and physical struggles. I don’t tend to “pull back the curtain” for content creation, but have a small bit from time to time. I never had the most stable life situation growing up and unfortunately I did carry a huge part of that into my own continued life, but the great thing about life is we often have the opportunity to recognize these things and find what works best for us as we forge a better life for ourselves.I’ve had several intense periods of doubt during my time making the show, music, or really anything creative. A few times to the point where I thought I would never make new content again. Really just getting way into my own head combined with intense stress. I’m not saying I’ve completely resolved any of these particular barriers, but I am at least more aware of what causes them than I previously was and how I can address them as they appear. It sounds crazy to me because there is so much positivity that has sprung up from all over the world. I read every email and comment and so many times people share how much the show means to them. Like many an artist, I have trouble looking beyond my own eyes to see as I hone in on what I see as flaws and struggle to see the bigger picture. I’ve tried to be better about that and I’m always appreciative of anyone who’s ever been a fan. In fact, the sheer amount of positivity is astounding to me. That’s not even bringing up the amazing people I’ve collaborated with over the years who have made some absolutely great content.
This is all to say that I am working on a few things that should be released soon, but I’ve been focusing on mostly behind the scenes work on myself. It’s something I’ve done several times over the years, but approached very differently in recent times and actually discovered a whole new side to explore. That doesn’t mean I’ve been completely off the grid with the new Dr.Sanders EP Gremlins being released on Halloween and a plethora of videos I’ve been picking at during the last year.
This is becoming even more of ramble than usual, so I’ll wrap this up. The world is full of both light and shadows in the same way our minds can be, but in many ways that’s what makes life and people what we are. I don’t know if this is supposed to be motivating or not, but it’s really just what I’ve experienced over a decade behind the scenes. Stay Spooky.
-Dr.Sanders -
That’s right. My band Dr.Sanders (Yes, I know, I go by Dr.Sanders and my band is called Dr.Sanders. Think of it like how David Bowie had lots of different band members) has just released a new full-length album. It’s not stereotypical goth sounding music, but it does incorporate some of my favorite elements of the genre while blending it with a ton of other stuff. I would say it’s closest to alternative rock, but I’m not necessarily trying to make it align with any particular sound, just what feels right to me. Here’s a little blurb I wrote about the creation of the album.
Patch Overlap is the first Dr.Sanders album in 6 years. We started working on many of the songs in 2015, but I (Donny) began suffering from a very serious illness related to infected tissue. Robert Gaar, Chase Hawkins and myself recorded the rhythm tracks together and began fleshing out the songs until I became too ill to play. It was a horrible experience and I became incredibly depressed as my physical state made it almost impossible to hold a guitar for extended periods of time. I spent so much time in hospitals until I underwent a surgery in 2017 and finally began to feel like myself again in 2018.
After essentially learning to play guitar again, I jammed with some musicians in late 2019 and after some difficulties I decided to revisit some of the older material we had started and complete my vision for Patch Overlap. I wanted to push myself really hard as a songwriter and spent a large amount of time working on melodies. I’ve worked with Robert and Chase many times over the last decade and they always make every song that much better. When the three of us play together it just seems to click and we always make material that I feel very passionate about.
The album really evolved from the three of us just jamming together. I usually brought an idea or a guitar riff and we would just play until we found the right groove for the rhythm. If we needed an additional part for a bridge or chorus then Robert would almost immediately pull the perfect piece out of thin air which is exactly what he did when we recorded Blush Response. The best thing about recording these songs was that I think we really captured the feeling of our jam sessions. We chose the takes that felt right rather than if they were technically perfect, but felt stiff. Chase really seemed to just capture the mood I wanted in just a few takes and songs like “Blue Anatomy” and “Flamingo” captured exactly what I wanted out of each track. We really bond over the heavier side of music so we started adding faster songs like “Invader” and “The Hunger” along with heavier parts to “Grey Matter Trial” and “Feldspar”.
I saw the previous album Blush Response as a test to see if I could write delicate material and something a little more experimental. Lyrically it dealt with my insecurities and my health that I was beginning to struggle with (to me it almost feels like a diary of that time period). Patch Overlap really came out of the frustration dealing with illness and with the three of us working together pushed it into a very aggressive place. The lyrics deal with a lot of the feelings I experienced while I was sick and many of the regrets I have from that time in my life. There are definitely some sections dedicated to a few less-than-pleasant people I interacted with in the last few years. I tend to interpret my experiences in a somewhat surreal way, but every lyric is always relaying my own life in some way.
If you’re interested in purchasing some band merchandise which includes an audio cassette release then you can find them here:
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MP3 DOWNLOAD [Right-Click and Save As]
On this deathrock-filled episode of GothCast, Dr.Sanders and Just Bryan take a look into the Rozz Williams and Eva O project called Shadow Project. It encompassed a large amount of genres, but do their albums still hold up today?
Timestamps:
7:02 Shadow Project [Debut Album Released in 1991]
23:12 Random Interesting Goth Stuff [AKA RIGS]
40:17 Dreams for the Dying [1991]
55:07 In Tuned Out [1997] & And Then There Was Death [2005]
1:12:18 From the Heart [1998] -
Today I’m taking a look at a book about creatures that suck all the time, but don’t suck at all.
If you want to pick up a copy of this book, you can find them here (give an old used copy some love, it will appreciate it):
GothCast 