The Sisters Of Mercy’s 40th Anniversary Shows – interview

2021 is the 40th anniversary of The Sisters Of Mercy and to celebrate the band are playing three nights at the Camden Roundhouse on 10, 11 & 12 September 2021.

I recently caught up with Sisters’ guitarist Ben Christo for a chat about the forthcoming shows.

40 years is a major achievement for a band – congratulations! What do you have planned for the 40th-anniversary shows?

We’re going to put together a really great set of classics, old songs and new. We’ve been writing loads of new stuff – about the only positive thing to come out of lockdown was that it allowed us to get ridiculously prolific and so we’ve written loads of new songs. The pandemic meant we were curtailed on our tour but we still had this huge creative energy so we just kept writing over the internet and we’ve got a deluge of new songs. It’s now just a question of working out which ones we’re going to play. We’re so lucky now that we can file share over the internet and so we just kept working in 2020. Then there was a window in late summer 2020 when got together and worked on these ideas in the studio for 10 days and it all came together really well. We’ve been rehearsing for the past few weeks and it’s been going amazingly.

Coincidentally I was looking at your website earlier and there seem to be loads of new songs added dated 2020. You’ve definitely been busy!

These new songs are really exciting – they seem to cross the three albums; First And Last And Always, Floodland and Vision Thing. With the new material, there’s a perfect marriage of that classic vibe of the band but it’s also looking forward and energised by the present contemporary sound. We’re evolving but we definitely want to retain that original core appeal.

Andrew Eldritch said that if Trump got to power he’d release a new record. So…Trump has been and gone. Does this mean the new songs might get released as an album?

There’s no immediate plan to record or release anything but we’re feeling really excited by this creative spell. Andrew’s written loads of lyrics over the past year and suddenly we have all this new material.

The current line-up gels really well. Andrew said it’s the most excited he’s felt about the band’s dynamic in years.

2025 marks the anniversary of First And Last And Always. Is there anything special planned to commemorate that?

Not really – the band does respect the past but we look forward too. There’s no need to do a nostalgic cash-in. It works with lots of bands but not us.

The Sisters Of Mercy had two hardcore bases of fans in the 80’s called the God Squad and also The Sisterhood. Do any of them still follow you around?

There are definitely the same people who turn up in the front row for all shows – since I’ve been with the band in 2005. One time when I was up on the balcony at a show and I saw all these people running across the arena when the doors opened because they had to be in the front row. For them, it’s a part of who they are. They see their friends and they travel together. I have huge respect and appreciation because it must cost so much to follow a band around.

In the current line-up there is still no live bass guitarist, right?

Yeah, I believe that since 1994 it’s been all down to Doktor Avalanche. I love what the Doktor does – he gives the songs more of a pop feel due to the intricacies and nuances of the percussion, basslines, and rhythms.

How long have you been with the band now?

I’m the longest-serving guitarist – I’ve been a member since December 2005.
I received a phone call one day from a bloke who wouldn’t tell me who he was or which band he was in but he said was looking for a guitar player and invited me to an audition because they were about to do an American tour. I was very skeptical because they wouldn’t say anything about which band it was but I thought, “What the hell!”.

At the audition was a guy with a mohawk, a guy with a laptop, and another guy on the sofa with a can of Tenants, a woolly hat, and a pair of shades obviously! I was asked to play some guitar and the riffs were new Sisters tracks. I had a hunch it was the Sisters because they had that Sisters feel about them. So I thought I’d play one of my favorites, Dr. Jeep, and the guy on the sofa in the woolly hat (Andrew Eldtrtich) said, “That’s one of our songs!”. My hands were shaking but I got the job.

I went from working in an off-licence in Kentish Town to being on a tour bus in Death Valley in a few months!

Who do you listen to these days?

I don’t listen to that much new music, to be honest, but thanks to Spotify it’s much easier now. I recently discovered Drab Majesty who I love. He’s this guy who takes a lot of alternative post-punk aesthetics from the 80’s and gives them a new sound.

I’ve also been listening to Jesus Jones who are supporting us on Friday night at the Roundhouse. That’s a bit of a dream come true in itself because I used to listen to them religiously as a teenager – particularly the Perverse album. I think they appeal to a similar type of person as The Sisters. They’re forward-thinking, boundary-pushing and had great lyrics. So it’s a bit mad playing in a band I grew up listening to and being supported by a band I grew up listening to.

The Sisters Of mercy Play the London Roundhouse on 10, 11 & 12 September 2021.
Tickets available here: https://myticket.co.uk/artists/the-sisters-of-mercy

Keep up to date with The Sisters Of Mercy online: http://www.the-sisters-of-mercy.com/

Source: louderthanwar.com