Oops!

It looks like you don't have flash player 6 installed. Click here to go to Macromedia download page.

An Interview with Sean Brennan of London After Midnight
Posted: Sunday, January 27, 2008
By: Stefan Davey

London After Midnight is the brainchild of multi-instrumentalist Sean Brennan, who writes all the music and lyrics. With Brennan's strong views and opinion on social justice, liberal politics and animal rights, London After Midnight has retained and taken on the meanings and inspirations that drove the original punk and goth movements in the late '70s and early '80s. London After Midnight has been on the scene since the early '90s and survived the ebb and flows of changing trends in gothic and alternative music in that time to remain a relevant and strong entity. That being said, Brennan has made it known that he dislikes not just being labeled "goth" but being categorized in any label or genre. The band has attracted and retained a large worldwide fanatical fan-base not just in places like Europe, but also in South America and Australia. Having headlined many major festivals, including Wave Gotik Treffen in Germany in 2001, they are booked to play the festival for the second time this year, and have toured extensively throughout the world. The song "Kiss," featured on the album Psycho Magnet, which was originally released in 1996, is still on rotation in many of the world's dark and dank nightclubs. Metropolis Records recently re-released the remastered albums Selected Scenes from the End of the Word and Psycho Magnet as well as the Oddities collection of rarities and B-sides, and in 2007 London After Midnight released the new album, Violent Acts of Beauty, which is a more politically charged affair than previous outings, as evidenced by the songs "Slavery," "American Is a Fucking Disease," and "Be All You Can Be." The artwork accompanying the album, which features Soviet-style artwork on the front cover, also evokes that sense of politicization. ReGen recently spoke to Brennan about the new album and his political views, among other things.

You have been going since the early '90s. How do you think your music has changed in that time?

Brennan: I really don't know; I think each CD has evolved in some way, musically and lyrically, but it's not really that conscious a thing. It's something that happens as you write, I guess The main thing for me is that I notice on a technical level I am able to produce how I want to produce.

You're a multi-instrumentalist, what instruments do you most enjoy working with and why?

Brennan: It depends. If I'm playing live, it would be guitar; if I'm recording or writing, it would be the keyboard, mainly. I started playing piano when I was a little kid. That was my first exposure to music, then it was the guitar. The guitar then took priority; essentially I was a guitar player for a long time after that. That's how I started London After Midnight, as a guitar player looking for other people, but I could never find a singer, so that's why I became a singer as well. But playing guitar live is just fun, because it is just a very expressive instrument. In the studio or writing, I like keyboards, because you can just build and create lots of different textures.

You have stated that you are very politically-minded and a passionate supporter of animal rights and progressive liberal politics. How do you work those themes and messages into your music?

Brennan: It's always either been present in some way implied or going side by side with the music. For example, if the live band played a concert, I would make up flyers with animal rights literature that would be handed out to the fans. This new CD is a little more in your face, as far as the social and political messages. In the past it has been implied or has gone hand in hand with the music.

The artwork accompanying your latest release, Violent Acts of Beauty, is in the style of old Soviet-era propaganda posters. What's the story behind the artwork, and in what ways does it connect to the theme running throughout the album?

Brennan: As far as the cover goes, it's the theme, I guess, of the album, especially for the song 'Feeling Fascist.' It's set up to illustrate the current atmosphere in the world, especially in the States. I use that as a way of contrasting the socialist view of the world and the opposite, which is what we are dealing with now, which is more of a fascist world. The booklet art...that's a different thing; that's all photographs. Each lyric page has something to do directly with the song, some kind of relationship. Maybe by reading the lyrics, the words, you don't necessarily know what it's referring to unless you are really tuned into it. There are obvious ones like 'Slavery' or 'Be All You Can Be,' the slogan for the army in America; it's about the nation or people supporting that mindset. The picture in the booklet for that song shows a helmet on the ground with the belt of bullets around it, with the lyrics printed on the outside of the helmet, obviously implying someone had been shot in the helmet, the aftermath of something.

In the past, you have stated in answer to questions regarding fashion that 'it was conformity.' Can you explain this statement, given the fact that you have such a strong and identifiable image?

Brennan: I don't know if anyone really looks at my stage persona; it doesn't seem all that drastic. It's not like I take tons of time and effort in making that a focal point. In fact, everything I have is torn and ripped. Essentially, people make the image the most important thing, which unfortunately the goth scene has now done. You can be completely and utterly talentless, but if you look great, you will be seen. That goes for the pop world, too. It's unfortunate that the goth world has also been corrupted by that corporate mentality. Image is the most important thing, and the original image in goth and punk meant something different. There was a reason for it at the time. Times change, and now there is not necessarily a reason for it being the way it is. However, that is just the thing that has become so attractive to people; that's why so much of the new music is carbon copies of older bands, because it is a secondary or even lower priority to a lot of people. You've got bands copying death rock bands, you've got Sisters of Mercy clone bands, electric bands that were fairly lifeless, then the death rock fad, and now it's the '80s retro. Goth was supposed to be counterculture; there is nothing counterculture about it anymore.

You've stated that people live and die by genre labels. Would you like to elaborate?

Brennan: There is the mainstream corruption that has infiltrated the counterculture, and I think rather than being independent, people see something as trendy, and they think, 'Oh that's what's cool now, so that is what I'm going to be.' You go back to a time when there were no genres, when there was just music, all kinds of music, and there was so much more attached to it. Like in the '60s and '70s, when there were no genres as far as audiences were really concerned, there was a lot of social and political activism. There was so much attached to youth culture, whereas now it's just, 'I want to be cool, I want to be liked, I want to think of myself as on the cutting edge' or whatever. There is the element in all the scenes where people just adhere to the implied rules and can't sit outside of that, and that's unfortunate, because people like that are usually loud and drive away people who are more independent, and it's essentially watering down the scene.

The current trend in goth and alternative music is synth and electro/industrial, yet you have managed to carve yourself a niche and keep a large worldwide loyal fan-base. How do you think you have achieved this and survived the changing trends?

Brennan: As far as the fans go and a lot of the people in the scene, they do want something different. They are educated and sophisticated enough to realize that, well, maybe what is out there and what is being offered isn't all that innovative. I'm not saying that my music is the answer to everything. Maybe they just see something different in it and appreciate it, and that is the reason for the continued support. There is only so much of the repetitive stompy industrial that you can listen to. A lot of those people that I run across, some of the bands are very elitist and think what they are doing is cool; it's embarrassing, almost! There are people out there that are open-minded. That's why I always play songs for the fans and the kids at the concerts, because if you give them the opportunity to hear something which has a little more substance to it, they will respond. There is that element that has been conditioned to value a fad or an image; it's like, 'OK, this week I want to be a goth, so what are goths into? Stompy industrial stuff and death rock is popular!'

You have headlined festivals and toured extensively throughout your career. I'd be interested to hear your most treasured memory of performing live.

Brennan: I don't know; that is difficult. I just got back the day before yesterday from Europe, and I did another interview with someone who asked me the same thing, but it was specifically for this tour, and I couldn't even answer that. Every single show, there was something really amazing about it. It's really the people. I don't really like being on stage. I started the band as a guitar player, and it wasn't my goal to be a front man. I never thought about necessarily being on stage from whatever comes of my music, but when you are on stage and people come up to you and tell you how much the art that that you have created has affected them or what it means to them, or how something you have said has helped them in some way, it's very humbling and makes me feel for these people. Every single show is like that, where you meet people like that. All of them have that magical quality.

Who are you supporting for the upcoming U.S. presidential election and how have you been political active, if you have been?

Brennan: In America, there are only two parties, and the same people fund them with corporate interests, and the media is extremely unfair and extremely right wing here, so the people on the left have to pander to the right in order to even get exposure, so you're not left with a lot of choice. I've supported Ralph Nader in the last two presidential campaigns, but I don't think he is going to run again. Dennis Kucinich is a democrat, but he's really great; he's progressive and anti-war. He's smart. Basically he is pro-worker, everything that George Bush and the conservatives are not. That is who would be getting my vote if he were lucky enough to be nominated, but he is painted over here as a crazy person and he is marginalized. Unfortunately, someone like Clinton will become the candidate.

You mentioned earlier your disdain about the machinations of the mass media. Would like to expand upon those thoughts?

Brennan: Having just gotten back from Europe, there is more thought going on there than in the USA. People are so willing to be told what to do. It's like I said, all the media is owned by about six corporations who are controlled by conservatives, so all the news outlets have that slant. Essentially, at the end of it, it's about making money; it's all about consumption and that is what's sold, worshiping and valuing wealth. Your life isn't good enough unless you look this way or you have this amount of money, so you have to strive for that, and the only way to do that is to work three jobs. Essentially, that is the message that has been brought to the people, and they have embraced that. When I first used to go to Europe some years ago, it was a little different, but I've noticed more lately that it's getting similar to America as far as consumerism and what is sold to youth. Yesterday, I was watching BBC America, and there was some story about the strikes that are going on, I think it was in France. They were taking about the workers who were demanding more fair pay, and they started taking about like, 'In America, garbage workers and sanitation workers get so much compensation.' But the way they were saying it was that these are sanitation workers and they are receiving these great benefits, like it was something extravagant. Why be fairly compensated because you're a sanitation worker? Why is that a bad thing? So you're saying that sanitation workers should get unfair pay just because they are sanitation workers, yet CEOs can make insane amounts of money, hundreds and hundreds of times more than the salaries of their highest-paid employees? As far as the news, it's all financially-orientated and reporting on wealth. This company is acquiring this company, and the stock market...that's not news to the average person, but that is what is sold, and so the average person thinks that is what is important.