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“OLIVER CHESLER (THE HORRORIST) is regarded as the leader of the underground electronic music scene. Styles on this disc can be called anything from hard techno (to) goth-industrial electro.”
Though German magazine Raveline’s latest description of Oliver Chesler as the ‘leader of the underground electronic music scene’ is stretching the New Yorker’s reputation just a little bit too far, he’s certainly adored by some in Germany as well as by other fiercely committed fans in virtually every other country where hardcore/ techno (goth) ravers are to be found. In London recently, he played live at a party offering ‘terrorcore, doomscore, speedcore and gabber’ though to the wider clubbing world he remains best known for ‘One Night in New York City’, his seminal tale of an ecstasy fuelled one night stand. “Hello, my name is Oliver and I'm going to tell you a story,” he begins, going on to describe a girl’s romantic encounter with an NYU student (‘And then...he fucked her all night, fucked her all night, Fucked her all night, fucked her all night...’, the song concludes).
Sex talk aside though, he remains prolifically busy, running his own highly successful label Things To Come, while still performing and producing a wide range of electronic styles, ranging from new beat, electro to techno and pure hardcore. His biggest influence however, remains Depeche Mode.
“When I was growing up in New York in the early 80s attending High School, every kid used to listen to old skool hip hop and I used to own (stereo) that was the size of a wall,” he recalls. “But then as soon as I hit puberty, I was in a friend’s car and Depeche Modes’ Black Salvation was playing and I was like ‘Oh wait, this was about chicks and that kind of stuff’. And from then on I was hooked; it was totally different. Within a month I’d bought all the Depeche Mode records and I became their biggest fan.”
So much so in fact, that by the time he was 17, he’d grown an immaculate bleached blonde Mohican and found himself auditioning to appear in the band’s tour rockumentary Depeche Mode 101.
“There a bunch of people with cameras in a night club and they had a screen test,” he recalls.
“They asked me and my girlfriend why we liked them and we were like; ‘Depeche Mode are the greatest band of all time’. I didn’t expect to win and my girlfriend didn’t either but we got phone calls separately two days later, saying we’d won. ”
14 years later, he’s lost his blonde Mohican while building a career that’s allowed him to tour the world himself, while retaining artistic independence and financial freedom that few artists can even dream about. All without becoming a DJ.
“I figure that I’m going to wait until turntables are completely gone, then I’m going to sneak in,” he admits. “. I’ve actually tried it a few times, but I think part of the reason why I’m a musician is because I’m actually slightly deaf, so when I’m DJing I can never hear, it’s just too much. That’s my excuse anyway, maybe I’m just lazy.”
Skrufff (Jonty Skrufff): Musically you’re most associated with techno, though have also been exploring electro for a good few years, do you align yourself to any particular style?
The Horrorist: “Maybe because I’m old skool, I don’t think there’s much difference when you change the speed on the sequencer or distort a kick drum. All these subgenres that everyone gets so excited about are nothing but subgenres. I also get bored easily and and with the faster computers that are around these days that means I can really do the vocals well. Certain vocals go better with a hardcore song while others sounds better with electro. And being honest, I still make a lot of money playing hardcore shows and maybe I otherwise wouldn’t do so much of that. I can admit that.”
Skrufff: Why do you think you remain more popular in places like Holland or Germany rather than your home town of New York?
The Horrorist: “New York is into different types of music, whereas I grew up listening to Belgium new beat, aggressive music and that’s where my heart lies. Everybody here knows who I am here and when I play I usually fill a club. When Limelight was open for example, I played there maybe twenty two times and it was always full, but since that club’s closed, I don’t happen to know the promoters of the new clubs like Crobar. They’re from Miami It’s just a different situation, though I’m sure if I met them and started building a rapport I’d start getting more shows but that’s just the way it goes. You always make alliances when you meet people.”
fSkrufff: Did you go through that whole Michael Alig, club kid scene of the 90s?
The Horrorist: “Funnily enough I did, but I was never really a part of it. I never really drank or took anything else (drugs). I was seventeen years old and living in New York, so yeah, I went out. I remember once being in Michael Alig’s apartment when he was dating Keoki, which is funny because I see Keoki sometimes now and I’ve shot some of his music videos, but he doesn’t remember that I met him before. They used to live directly opposite the biggest used instrument place in New York. I remember Keoki saying ‘Oh what’s that sound?’ when he heard a 303 and me saying ‘you can get one right across there’. I went across with him and we both bought one for $250 each. ”
Skrufff: How do you see the vibe in New York City today?
The Horrorist: “The truth is that the city is a nice, great place for the wealthy. I was just talking to a friend about Broadway and how all the record stores and clothes shops like Unique have gone, everything has gone. Nightclubs are al about bottle service, it’s not that exciting anymore. Maybe it’s because I’ve been here for 35 years but that’s part of the reason we want to move to Berlin. When I was living in the city before my rent on my apartment was $600 and my music studio was $400. Now my rent is $1200 for my apartment and for my studio it’s $1000. The cost of living here is huge. Just to eat for a week for me and my girlfriend is $300. It’s like they’re pricing out a lot of the artists. I see it happening all the time and the problem is that even parts of Brooklyn and Queens are getting like that. You don’t want to live in New Jersey and you don’t want to live in the suburbs so I think it’s time to move. New York is still a really nice place. I’ll keep my apartmrent forever and just sub let it. It’s like Disneyworld, but it doesn’t have the dirt. All the after hours clubs that I used to go to and party at have all gone. Every single one of them has closed down. There’s nothing new.”
Skrufff: Do you know a lot of people in Berlin already?
The Horrorist: “Yeah, I actually have a lot of friends there who aren’t in the music business, but I also know all the people at Tresor. The thing about Berlin and the reason we picked it is because we wanted to live somewhere where I could fly from easily, and Berlin’s the easiest. We also wanted somewhere cheap, and in Berlin for 500 Euros (US$450) you can rent a 3 bedroom place with a terrace. Studios there are really cheap as well and I’m a big swimming fanatic and there’s tons of indoor water parks. I think our quality of life will be a lot better there than in New York. Right now I’m making a ton of money but I’m spending it all and it’s not relaxing, you know.”
Skrufff: So where are you making most of your money?
The Horrorist: “I have a new publishing deal and every few years they advance me a very decent amount. I’m also pretty lucky with my record deals. I have a very good business manager and what we did was, we‘ve never signed any exclusive deals for anywhere, instead we’ve done different deals for each territory. We’ve also been lucky with sales. Slowly, but steadily kids are continually buying the old records. I have a press and distribution deal with a company who repress the back catalogue every six months. I’m very lucky that way. I think maybe because of the vocals the songs don’t get dated and the kids still want them which is very good for me. I’m very happy. I’m getting a new G5 next week, and with the move to Berlin, I think I’ll be able to write a couple more really good ones that I want on there.”
The Horrorist’s (newly extended) double CD album Manic Panic is out now.
http://www.thingstocome.com
Interview by: Jonty Skrufff (Skrufff.com)
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