Goteki
Encyclopedia
Goteki are a British
electro band with roots in the UK ebm and industrial scenes, the musical brainchild of composer Ross Tregenza (a.k.a. "Sneaky"). They were heavily involved in the development of UK ebm and cybergoth genres circa 2000-2003, and now reformed as a three piece live act expanded from Tregenza's solo studio creations. They refer to their new musical style as 'Death Electro': a mix of alternative electro pop and industrial combined with influences from film and video game scores.
, ended. The group took their name from one of the teams in the PlayStation
game Wip3out
(eventually securing Sony
's blessing to use the name).
The original Goteki line-up consisted of ex-SBM members Sneaky on vocals, Crash 303 (real name Clive Lewis) on synths, and newcomer Doktor A (real name Bruce Attley) on synthesizers and samples.
This album was released in 2002 under the name Goteki O/S. It contains 17 tracks and is something of a concept album
, divided into "phases" separated by instrumental tracks. For example, Signal One - Nihon is followed by the tracks Geisha Deconstruct and Ninjagrrl, which are inspired by Japanese culture. The album itself is rather eclectic
in its style, songs range from ambient electronica to harsh drum and bass
. All music on the album was, written and arranged by Sneaky, but there are also several guest appearances by other famous EBM
musicians, such as Sebastian Komor
of Icon of Coil
and Jared Louche of Chemlab
. It received rave reviews - Future Music Magazine called it a "Synthpop Happy Hardcore Melange that somehow works", and Kerrang Magazine lovingly called the band "Futuristic Nutjobs". For a selection of Goteki O/S reviews, visit http://www.wasp-factory.com/waspfactory/press-go.htm#os and increased the band's popularity within the cyber
scene. The band played at Whitby Gothic Weekend
's 10th Anniversary Festival.
, Icon of Coil
and Sigue Sigue Sputnik
.
In late 2003, the band announced that they were taking a new direction, concentrating on live performance aspects and utilising a human drummer for the first time. With this shift in direction singer Sneaky dropped the pseudonym
Sneaky in favour of his real name, Ross Tregenza. A radical shake-up of the band's line up followed in 2004, Doktor A left the band and was replaced by Ali Star (real name Alastair Power) on bass and Yan-Yan (real name Lilian Cheung) on percussion.
Goteki played at the 10th goth festival Convergence
in 2004; this marked their US debut. At this point, the band were without a label, so Goteki's second album Revolution was an Internet-only download release. In 2005, the band also reached an international audience when some of their music was used on the soundtrack of Timesplitters Future Perfect
.
Due to heavy demand for a CD to be released, Goteki re-released Revolution with their own label, Alphastar Records, in late 2005. The album featured 17 tracks spanning a production time that overlapped Goteki O/S: Corrupted Files. The album included the track Shinjuku Lullaby which would feature on Xbox game 'Project Gotham Racing 3'. It also featured a second remix by Graeme Norgate
( under the alias Vi Rez ) reprising his role as remixer on the Corrupted Files album.
By this stage, band members were becoming tied up in other activities. Yan-Yan left the band in 2006 to pursue a career in modeling and fashion photography, and was replaced by Tregenza's long-time friend Rosie Harris. Tregenza himself joined the newly reformed Visage
, playing guitar for their comeback tour. Sales of Revolution were disappointing, and Tregenza was frustrated that the band did not get the attention he felt they deserved. Goteki disbanded in March 2006. Their last performance took place at Electrofest on the 30th of April 2006.
2008 saw Tregenza & Power starting a new electro project Lamorna, as which they played a few UK dates and began plans for an album. Summer 2008 saw them play a charity reunion gig, playing Goteki and Sneaky Bat Machine songs at Elektrowerkz in London, with former members Yan Yan, Crash and Sneaky Bat Machine's Maxislag. In August 2008, the fact that Lamorna sounded ever more like Goteki combined with the nostalgia that the charity gig evoked prompted Ross Tregenza to announce the reformation of Goteki. Their first act as a reformed band was to compile their material to date as a 'best of' album. It was released digitally in January 2009 under the name 'ROBOTS NINJAS PORNSTARS WARFARE: The Best of Goteki 2000-2008'
Shows in Bristol
, Oxford
and London
in May/June 2008 saw the return of Goteki with the new full line up. Tregenza and Ali Star are rejoined by long time member Clive 'Crash' Lewis and new female vocalist Banda. Banda is also slated to appear as co-singer on a number of 5 track EPs the band advertised as coming out throughout the Summer of 2009. Promoting the release schedule as 'The Summer of Santa Muerte', the band have announced the first of the four EPs to be 'Shoot Me Dead' to be released 4 July, followed by 'Journey To Storyville' on July 25. These were followed in August by 'Atlantic Pacific' and 'Take Me To Your Lover'. A full album 'Santa Muerte' is slated for release in the winter. Promotional flyers claimed the album will be a 'tornado of sex, death, sand & neon'.
'Santa Muerte' is finally released in January 2011 after some production delays, and met woth acclaim from fans and press. The band began work on a remix album slated for release in Dec 11 or Jan 12. In the meantime, Tregenza decides to move the entire band's back catalog to Creative Commons, and releases everything from Fight The Saucermen through to the Summer of Santa Muerte EPs for free from the website.
video game series, notably TimeSplitters 2
and TimeSplitters Future Perfect
. Their track "Shinjuku Lullaby" was used as an in-game track for Project Gotham Racing 3
. Tregenza also worked as a Sound Designer on the videogames Haze
and Rogue Warrior
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
electro band with roots in the UK ebm and industrial scenes, the musical brainchild of composer Ross Tregenza (a.k.a. "Sneaky"). They were heavily involved in the development of UK ebm and cybergoth genres circa 2000-2003, and now reformed as a three piece live act expanded from Tregenza's solo studio creations. They refer to their new musical style as 'Death Electro': a mix of alternative electro pop and industrial combined with influences from film and video game scores.
Current activity
Goteki's surprise reformation in August 2008 saw them return as a two-piece (Ross Tregenza and Alastair Power, performing under the names of Tregenza and Ali-Star). They were re-joined in 2009 by Crash. They returned with a more mature sound, but with recognizable qualities from their older material.Formation
The group was formed after Sneaky's former band, Sneaky Bat MachineSneaky Bat Machine
Sneaky Bat Machine were a Bristol, UK based Cybergoth band who gigged heavily and released one album in the late 1990s. The band consisted of Sneakybat , Crash , and Maxislag...
, ended. The group took their name from one of the teams in the PlayStation
PlayStation
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000...
game Wip3out
Wipeout 3
Wipeout 3, released as Wip3out in Europe and Japan, is a futuristic racing video game developed and published by Psygnosis exclusively for the Sony PlayStation. The title is the fourth game in the Wipeout series, and was released in Europe and North America in September 1999. The game was...
(eventually securing Sony
Sony
, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....
's blessing to use the name).
The original Goteki line-up consisted of ex-SBM members Sneaky on vocals, Crash 303 (real name Clive Lewis) on synths, and newcomer Doktor A (real name Bruce Attley) on synthesizers and samples.
Fight the Saucermen & Goteki O/S
The bands first release was the Fight the Saucermen EP which was released in early 2000 on Wasp Factory Records. The EP received encouraging reviews. After touring extensively the band started working on their first full-length album.This album was released in 2002 under the name Goteki O/S. It contains 17 tracks and is something of a concept album
Concept album
In music, a concept album is an album that is "unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical." Commonly, concept albums tend to incorporate preconceived musical or lyrical ideas rather than being improvised or composed in the studio, with all songs contributing...
, divided into "phases" separated by instrumental tracks. For example, Signal One - Nihon is followed by the tracks Geisha Deconstruct and Ninjagrrl, which are inspired by Japanese culture. The album itself is rather eclectic
Eclecticism in music
Eclecticism is used to describe a composer's conscious use of styles alien to his nature, or from one or more historical styles. The term is also used pejoratively to describe music whose composer, thought to be lacking originality, appears to have freely drawn on other models .-Sources:* Kennedy,...
in its style, songs range from ambient electronica to harsh drum and bass
Drum and bass
Drum and bass is a type of electronic music which emerged in the late 1980s. The genre is characterized by fast breakbeats , with heavy bass and sub-bass lines...
. All music on the album was, written and arranged by Sneaky, but there are also several guest appearances by other famous EBM
Electronic body music
Electronic body music or industrial dance is a music genre that combines elements of industrial music and electronic dance music...
musicians, such as Sebastian Komor
Sebastian Komor
Sebastian R. Komor is a Polish born, Norwegian raised EBM/Industrial musician, best known for his collaborative work in Icon of Coil and Zombie Girl...
of Icon of Coil
Icon of Coil
Icon of Coil is a Norwegian electronic music band. The band was established as a solo project in 1997 by Andy LaPlegua who was joined by former Sector 9 bandmate Sebastian Komor to perform live. With the release of Shallow Nation, the band's first single, Komor joined full-time. In 2000, Christian...
and Jared Louche of Chemlab
Chemlab
Chemlab is a coldwave and industrial rock band formed in Washington D.C., USA, in 1989 by Dylan Thomas More, Joe Frank , and Jared Louche . Influenced by the pioneers of the industrial genre, such as Throbbing Gristle, Chemlab mixed experimental sounds with rock and metal, which they dubbed...
. It received rave reviews - Future Music Magazine called it a "Synthpop Happy Hardcore Melange that somehow works", and Kerrang Magazine lovingly called the band "Futuristic Nutjobs". For a selection of Goteki O/S reviews, visit http://www.wasp-factory.com/waspfactory/press-go.htm#os and increased the band's popularity within the cyber
Cyber
Cyber may refer to:* Cyber-, a common prefix* Cybergoth* CDC Cyber, a range of mainframe computers* Cyber Acoustics, a brand of computer hardware* Cyber Missionary* Cybersex * Cyberitis * Cyber...
scene. The band played at Whitby Gothic Weekend
Whitby Gothic Weekend
Whitby Gothic Weekend, often abbreviated to WGW or simply referred to by attendees as Whitby, is a twice-yearly festival for goths, in Whitby, North Yorkshire, England, organised by Jo Hampshire who runs Top Mum Promotions.-Event history:...
's 10th Anniversary Festival.
Goteki O/S : Corrupted Files
The album Goteki O/S was followed by Goteki O/S : Corrupted Files, a remix album which contained remixes from bands such as DeathBoyDeathBoy
DeathBoy is the pseudonym of Midlands-born musician Scott Lamb, and also the name of his band.-Scott Lamb:Lamb started making music at the age of thirteen, creating music in the breakbeat and rave genres using OctaMED on the Amiga...
, Icon of Coil
Icon of Coil
Icon of Coil is a Norwegian electronic music band. The band was established as a solo project in 1997 by Andy LaPlegua who was joined by former Sector 9 bandmate Sebastian Komor to perform live. With the release of Shallow Nation, the band's first single, Komor joined full-time. In 2000, Christian...
and Sigue Sigue Sputnik
Sigue Sigue Sputnik
Sigue Sigue Sputnik were a British new wave band created in 1982 by the former Generation X bassist Tony James. The band had three UK Top 40 hit singles, including the song "Love Missile F1-11".-Early years:...
.
In late 2003, the band announced that they were taking a new direction, concentrating on live performance aspects and utilising a human drummer for the first time. With this shift in direction singer Sneaky dropped the pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
Sneaky in favour of his real name, Ross Tregenza. A radical shake-up of the band's line up followed in 2004, Doktor A left the band and was replaced by Ali Star (real name Alastair Power) on bass and Yan-Yan (real name Lilian Cheung) on percussion.
Goteki played at the 10th goth festival Convergence
Convergence (goth festival)
Convergence is the annual net.goth party run by and for members of the alt.gothic and alt.gothic.fashion newsgroup, and other related Usenet newsgroups. Started in 1995, it is a chance for net.goths and others who normally only meet on the Internet to come together in real life...
in 2004; this marked their US debut. At this point, the band were without a label, so Goteki's second album Revolution was an Internet-only download release. In 2005, the band also reached an international audience when some of their music was used on the soundtrack of Timesplitters Future Perfect
TimeSplitters Future Perfect
TimeSplitters: Future Perfect is a 2005 first-person shooter video game developed by Free Radical Design and published by EA Games for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and GameCube video game consoles....
.
Revolution
Late-2005 Clive 'Crash' Lewis left the band and was replaced by Edy Green on lead guitar.Due to heavy demand for a CD to be released, Goteki re-released Revolution with their own label, Alphastar Records, in late 2005. The album featured 17 tracks spanning a production time that overlapped Goteki O/S: Corrupted Files. The album included the track Shinjuku Lullaby which would feature on Xbox game 'Project Gotham Racing 3'. It also featured a second remix by Graeme Norgate
Graeme Norgate
Graeme Norgate is an English video game music composer, who has composed music for a variety of video games developed by Rare. His first project at Rare was writing the music for the Game Boy game, Donkey Kong Land. He also contributed to the soundtracks of Blast Corps and GoldenEye 007...
( under the alias Vi Rez ) reprising his role as remixer on the Corrupted Files album.
By this stage, band members were becoming tied up in other activities. Yan-Yan left the band in 2006 to pursue a career in modeling and fashion photography, and was replaced by Tregenza's long-time friend Rosie Harris. Tregenza himself joined the newly reformed Visage
Visage
Visage are a British New Wave rock band. Formed in 1978, the band became closely linked to the burgeoning New Romantic fashion movement of the early 1980s, and are best known for their 1980 hit "Fade to Grey".-New Wave years :...
, playing guitar for their comeback tour. Sales of Revolution were disappointing, and Tregenza was frustrated that the band did not get the attention he felt they deserved. Goteki disbanded in March 2006. Their last performance took place at Electrofest on the 30th of April 2006.
Present ( 2008 Reformation )
After disbanding Goteki, Ross announced work on a new project named Jetstream Lovers with members Edy and Ali Star. The group's original name, The Radio Stars, had to be changed for copyright reasons. In 2007, Tregenza surprised fans by announcing a new Goteki album would be released in 2008, containing previously unreleased Goteki tracks, as well as new compositions.2008 saw Tregenza & Power starting a new electro project Lamorna, as which they played a few UK dates and began plans for an album. Summer 2008 saw them play a charity reunion gig, playing Goteki and Sneaky Bat Machine songs at Elektrowerkz in London, with former members Yan Yan, Crash and Sneaky Bat Machine's Maxislag. In August 2008, the fact that Lamorna sounded ever more like Goteki combined with the nostalgia that the charity gig evoked prompted Ross Tregenza to announce the reformation of Goteki. Their first act as a reformed band was to compile their material to date as a 'best of' album. It was released digitally in January 2009 under the name 'ROBOTS NINJAS PORNSTARS WARFARE: The Best of Goteki 2000-2008'
Shows in Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
, Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
and London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in May/June 2008 saw the return of Goteki with the new full line up. Tregenza and Ali Star are rejoined by long time member Clive 'Crash' Lewis and new female vocalist Banda. Banda is also slated to appear as co-singer on a number of 5 track EPs the band advertised as coming out throughout the Summer of 2009. Promoting the release schedule as 'The Summer of Santa Muerte', the band have announced the first of the four EPs to be 'Shoot Me Dead' to be released 4 July, followed by 'Journey To Storyville' on July 25. These were followed in August by 'Atlantic Pacific' and 'Take Me To Your Lover'. A full album 'Santa Muerte' is slated for release in the winter. Promotional flyers claimed the album will be a 'tornado of sex, death, sand & neon'.
'Santa Muerte' is finally released in January 2011 after some production delays, and met woth acclaim from fans and press. The band began work on a remix album slated for release in Dec 11 or Jan 12. In the meantime, Tregenza decides to move the entire band's back catalog to Creative Commons, and releases everything from Fight The Saucermen through to the Summer of Santa Muerte EPs for free from the website.
Current members
- Ross Tregenza ("Sneaky") - vocals, programming
- Clive 'Crash' Lewis ("Evil C"/"Crash 303") - synth, backing vocals
- Ali Star - bass
Former members
- Banda - vocals
- Yan-Yan - percussion, synths, backing vocals
- Bruce Attley ("Doktor A") - samples & fx, backing vocals
- Edy Green - lead guitar
- Rosie Harris - synths, vocals
As "Sneaky Bat Machine"
- Disco 4 the Dead (1998) (Darkbeat Records)
- Boneshaker (1999) (Darkbeat Records)
- Disco 4 the Dead 2: Another Dementia (2005) (self-released)
As "Goteki"
- Fight the Saucermen EP (2000) (Wasp Factory Recordings)
- Goteki O/S (2002) (Wasp Factory Recordings)
- Goteki O/S: Corrupted Files (2003) (Wasp Factory Recordings)
- Revolution (2005) (Alphastar Records)
As "Goteki ( reformed )"
- Robots Ninjas Pornstars Warfare: The Best of Goteki VOl 1 ( 2000–2008 ) (2008) (Alphastar Digital)
- Shoot Me Dead aka Santa Muerte Session 1: Shoot Me Dead (2009) (Alphastar Digital)
- Journey To Storyville aka Santa Muerte Session 2: Journey To Storyville (2009) (Alphastar Digital)
- Atlantic Pacific aka Santa Muerte Session 3: Atlantic Pacific (2009) (Alphastar Digital)
- Take Me To Your Lover aka Santa Muerte Session 4: Take Me To Your Lover (2009) (Alphastar Digital)
- Santa Muerte aka The Melancholy Death of Nevada Dawn (2010) (RebCo Records / Alphastar Digital)
- Disco Muerte - Part 1 aka Dying Under Desert Stars (2011) (Alphastar Digital)
- Disco Muerte - Part 2 aka Death Exodus (2011) (Alphastar Digital)
Other
Goteki have also written material for the TimeSplittersTimeSplitters
TimeSplitters is a series of first-person shooter video games created by Free Radical Design. The games are often compared to Rare's shooters GoldenEye 007 and Perfect Dark since Free Radical Design was founded by a group of ex-Rare employees who developed these games...
video game series, notably TimeSplitters 2
TimeSplitters 2
TimeSplitters 2 is a first-person shooter video game available for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and Nintendo GameCube game consoles. The game was published by Eidos and developed by Free Radical Design. The game was first released in October 2002 in North America and Europe, and later in Japan...
and TimeSplitters Future Perfect
TimeSplitters Future Perfect
TimeSplitters: Future Perfect is a 2005 first-person shooter video game developed by Free Radical Design and published by EA Games for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and GameCube video game consoles....
. Their track "Shinjuku Lullaby" was used as an in-game track for Project Gotham Racing 3
Project Gotham Racing 3
Project Gotham Racing 3 is an arcade-style racing game that was released with the launch of the Xbox 360 on November 22, 2005 for the US market and December 2, 2005 in Europe, and was released on January 12, 2006 in Japan. Developed by Bizarre Creations, it is the third installment in the Project...
. Tregenza also worked as a Sound Designer on the videogames Haze
Haze
Haze is traditionally an atmospheric phenomenon where dust, smoke and other dry particles obscure the clarity of the sky. The World Meteorological Organization manual of codes includes a classification of horizontal obscuration into categories of fog, ice fog, steam fog, mist, haze, smoke, volcanic...
and Rogue Warrior
Rogue Warrior
Rogue Warrior may refer to:* Richard Marcinko , former Navy SEAL and best-selling author, nicknamed "Rogue Warrior"* Rogue Warrior , a book by Richard Marcinko...