Spectre No. 6
"Gitane Demone... Of Decadence and Dominas"
1996
by: Jennifer Chen

Her soulful, sensual vocals pack a power and intensity that is not easily forgotten amidst the gale of dark, crooning melodies. Over a decade has passed and the ex-diva of Christian Death is still at her finest…Since her departure from the band in 1989, Gitane has now gone solo with a bundle of new, enigmatic works, as well as her most recent offering “Dream Home Heartache” featuring Rozz Williams alongside her. Incorporating interests such as love, sex, death, and dreams into her music, she has successfully spanned the scope of creativity with everything from ballads to experimental sounds and performance. At times hard edged and shocking but always unmistakably passionate, Gitane’s music is a darkly lit journey int the inner realms of emotive feeling. The following interview was conducted some time in July of ’95…

Spectre: Okay, I guess we can get started…You’ve been pretty active since your departure from Christian Death; can you give me a short discography of what you’ve released so far?

Gitane: The first thing I did was a kind of a house-y, electronic single called “A Heavenly Melancholy”, and it had kind of a commercial track on it which is the title track but there’s also a really nice track on it called “Lover” which saves it for me…I kind of complied with the record company over there, and after I’d done it, I like, stopped, because they wanted everything to be so commercial…So, it was kind of an experiment. After that came “Lullabies for a Troubled World” which was a four song single-a maxi-single, I guess…

Spectre: I thought I read somewhere that you had released “A Heavenly Melancholy” just as a single?

Gitane: Yeah, that’s right-at first it came out like that.

Spectre: So was “Facets of Blue” just a compilation?

Gitane: It was a compilation of these singles and of three live tracks that I did on a radio show so those first two singles were kind of a limited edition…My boyfriend started a record company up; Cult Music, and we kind of did it together because nobody was that interested (laughs) after Christian Death, and I was experimenting a lot as well…but yeah, “A Heavenly Melancholy” was a single, “Lullabies for a Troubled World”, then there’s “Love For Sale”, the live CD, and then after that we did the compilation with “Facets of Blue” , and put it all together because the singles sold out.

Spectre: So did you want to make it available to more fans?

Gitane: Yeah, um…and also we could do it on Cleopatra in the States. They were interested in doing something, but we had to have enough-they didn’t want to do a single or a couple singles, so we put the whole package together and therefore, could get something available over here in the States.

Spectre: I read somewhere that you also worked as a jazz singer in Holland for awhile?

Gitane: Well, I got some education while I was still in Christian Death, and a friend took me to this really weird jazz bar-it was really wild in there! They had a DJ mixing all kinds of strange jazz music I’d never heard, - free jazz mixed with opera and all kinds of really weird stuff, and it was in a theatre with an active stage going on…The PA was always set up, and there were always different musicians dropping in doing concerts there-once a week there were concerts there of famous jazz people. It was also possible to just get on stage with local musicians, or sometimes famous people and sing or play whatever you did.

Spectre: So you would just improvise right there…

Gitane: Yeah, I learned all about free-jazz and improvisation and kind of being on the spot at the moment and having to just you know, come up with things, and make a song out of nothing…

Spectre: Did you ever an interest in jazz before you had discovered that?

Gitane: Oh, yeah…I’ve loved the voice of Billie Holiday ever since I was around 17 years old, and always thought she was like one of them…there’s about five singers for me that hit the epitome of emotion,-and I’ve always thought she was pretty hard to beat…Jazz music itself can become very stale and traditional because it just doesn’t seem to break out of the format very easily. When I first started doing my solo stuff, I was making kind of a weird amalgamation of a mixture of very dark jazzy stuff, with a little bit of pop mixed in. The jazz people, -I’d sometimes go to these sessions in Amsterdam, and they just thought I was a complete suicidal kind of person bringing this mixture in there…and they actually started calling it a name over there-they started calling it “Punk-Jazz”. For awhile there was this Punk-Jazz label going on, and people actually started trying to do it,-so it was what I first started doing and you hear that on “Love For Sale” actually…I kind of like to avoid being forced into a category-it wasn’t really my intention to be so jazzy so I moved out of that, I got rid of my sax player because she wasn’t really cooperating properly. I’ve been in the process of change after “Love For Sale” then came in the “Demonix” CD-I don’t know if you’ve heard it?

Spectre: I heard about it somewhere-what’s that like?

Gitane: It’s all electronic, and it’s a mixture…um, each song is really different, I don’t know how to explain it-one’s got eastern and a couple of them are very industrial, but it all fits together,-it’s all of the same blood, the entire theme is around alternative sex, S&M, fetishes…

Spectre: Speaking of S&M-I’ve seen you in quite enthralling ‘outfits’ yourself-are you yourself involved in the scene?

Gitane: I have been musically, but you know, it was my intention before Madonna did, that was this “Heavenly Melancholy” thing-the original single cover is completely a ‘rebel’ cover,-you know the photo is all in a whole “rebel world” atmosphere and they made a video with it which was before anybody was doing anything with the really real fetish, and its got all people in the real hardcore leather masks and rubber masks, and the video is just like a real fetish video and that was meant to accompany the single, but it didn’t do much so, there was no reason for that. I’ve been actively performing at big fetish parties over there in Europe. My live show has always had a fetish part to it, but I’m talking that out of it now because I’ve done it for awhile, and I did a tour with Rozz opening for Rozz this last November, and my shows started out with ballads and different things and then it evolved into some of the material on “Demonix”…and it was too much for a lot of people-they weren’t into it, -they dressed like they were fetishists,…they’re probably too young to have gone much into much alternative sexual experimenting themselves, it’s different culture for one thing, -a lot of them still live at home…

Spectre: Yeah, they’re probably more used to the ways they’ve been brought up…

Gitane: Yeah, and the fetish part anyways, my bass player, is quite masochistic and he really enjoys the part during the night when I lay into him with the whip (laughs)..and you know, different things are going on-I was wearing a dildo for one, this song called “Perv” which is about the man and the woman and the woman and the man, and accepting that, and so I would wear this large harness with a dildo and I had a large “man-handler”, which is a fake dildo with a grip on it… (pauses). They just didn’t understand it all! I made a mistake because I thought they were more used to that kind of thing and open, but it wasn’t the case, so…like some promoters thought they had booked some sex show, and it wasn’t like that at all, you know, it was just a completely different interpretation.

Spectre: Yeah, it was probably too much for them to stomach at one time because they weren’t expecting it!

Gitane: Yeah…so ANYWAY (laughs)

Spectre: So what was the main reason for leaving Christian Death-was it just the need to pursue your solo work that you’d been doing?

Gitane: I’ve been struggling with that for probably the last three years and I’ve been trying to get some things together to do a solo work, and it wasn’t working out well-along with that ever growing need, there was a lot of “business” between Valor and myself. I had to take off, you know, get the hell out of there.

Spectre: SO it was just a whole new change for you that needed to be done?

Gitane: Yeah, I’ve talked to some different women and I don’t know if it happens to men, but sometimes you’re working towards something for a long time, and it’s very hard to let go of…and I had a lot of involvement with Valor, and you know, we had children together and stuff…

Spectre: And stuff…!?

Gitane: (Laughs) yeah…I try not to go into too much detail…that was a big part of me hanging on to the whole Christian Death thing, and my favorite time was when it was towards the beginning years.

Spectre: You’ve got this new album out now. It’s called “Dream Home Heartache” with you and Rozz I guess, for the first time since…?

Gitane: Yes, since he took off…

Spectre: So do you consider this a reunion of sorts?

Gitane: No, our reunion started on this tour last November and we both had always wanted to get back to each other, and actually we did on this tour and then went on the radio live and did some improvising, and then my boyfriend Nico started Cult Music and he helps me with managing and stuff. He said, “Don’t you guys want to do something together”, and I said, “Well, yeah we’re thinking about it” and he got Triple X and then the company in Germany together and arranged the whole thing and we were just really, really happy to do it-we did some gigs after the CD was made and we really enjoyed it. That’s why we wanted to continue.

Spectre: You’re solo works are quite a contrast in comparison to your previous work with Christian Death. Are you trying to steer clear of the “Gothic” stigma that is associated with the group?

Gitane: No, it’s just that I’m kind of interested in a lot of areas…so I’m kind of one by one-I’ve already done that kind of area of music and I love it very much…

Spectre: So do you consider your music “Gothic”?

Gitane: Well, its’ dark music, and I think that dark music is encompassing a lot of areas and that’s my main attraction in music and writing. I’ve always come up with these dark songs, and that’s natural to me attractive to me, and you know, I’m just kind of one by one going through different areas. I’ve done electronic, and I like certain parts of that a lot and I may continue and do another “Demonix” CD…I’m interested in getting guitar and a cello into my next work, so more than anything it’s just that I don’t like to sit in one area of music. There’s something that is repelling to me, in fact my first CD “A Heavenly Melancholy” was-I could appreciate certain things about it, but it repels me now…the track “Lover” I still adore very much-I was kind of experimenting with it but it does repel me. I’ve never listened to something like that … (laughs). I don’t believe I did it!

Spectre: So do you consider yourself pretty erratic with music-always experimenting with different stuff, never staying with one thing for one time?

Gitane: Well, it’s all the same body in a way ‘cause it’s my voice-it’s my lyrical interest, and I think there’s a line, aside from the house-piece which I worked with other people with that too, after that I had written all the music. It was very technique oriented, very musical-technique, some is electronic, some is with piano and voice, some is all acoustic and some is with different sounds. I wouldn’t say it’s erratic, it’s more just expressing in a different way, and I think it comes back…those kinds of forms I’ll come back to and continue to work with.

Spectre: There’s a couple of cover songs on the new album, -the Hendrix song and of course the reference to Roxy Music are these some of your influences or inspirations?

Gitane: Rozz is especially into Roxy Music, and for me Hendrix..that was the first album I ever bought, “Band of Gypsies”. That Hendrix song is entirely rearranged, it was something that I did after I left Christian Death…there was an underground program on this national radio in Holland, and it was for people who did covers of Hendrix songs who wanted to submit one, and I thought it would be kind of funny to send in a Hendrix song with no guitar on it, so we did this version of “Manic Depression” that was REALLY depressing, and in fact, it won like sixth prize out of 10 out of tons of contestants…so I played it to Rozz (an earlier version of it) and he really liked it a lot-he thought it belonged on the CD. Its’ kind of a heavy slightly depressive CD, but I think it’s very honest also.

Spectre: Yes, it struck me as very melancholic-a lot more mellow, sort of like a smoky, night-club type of thing…

Gitane: Yes, some people say its’ very cabaret…We didn’t have very many musicians to work with and had a very limited budget, and Rozz came over from America and we just kind of put it together with a couple of my musicians; two of them in fact. My drummer wasn’t even available and there was never time available, so we did what we felt like and we had available to us.

Spectre: It’s really fabulous by the way…Really refreshing to hear something new that other people aren’t doing.

Gitane: Oh, great! I was kind of unsure of how people would take it, but I’m really proud of it and I think it’s got some of my best singing to date on it. When I came in with my solo, that’s the most difficult thing I’ve ever done vocally and I’ve had complete nightmares about coming up to that spot in the music!

Spectre: There’s that one song, “Moon Without a Tear” –you did that totally acapella? Was that difficult for you?

Gitane: No, not at all. In fact, our producer was really great, I did a few different takes and then he said, “Okay, now this time sing it the way you would if you were singing to your children, -and that was the take we got…

Spectre: So it came naturally…cool!

Gitane: (Laughs) Well, you just have to picture their little faces…

Spectre: I wanted to ask you, why did you choose to include “Golden Age” on “Facets of Blue”? Was that meant to be nostalgic?

Gitane: I was performing it live at the time. At that time, it was the end of my first live gig, and it was a special track for me-I liked it, with the piano and voice, and I did performing it live because I liked the song,-it’s kind of a memoir of past-years…so that’s why we put it out there…

Spectre: Speaking of memoirs, I’ve heard that you’re planning to put out a live show for each performance that you do, to document your growth/change?

Gitane: Well, Cleopatra just put out the live CD “With Love and Dementia” which is actually of the tour I did with Rozz this last November. The thing is that every year I’m doing something different from the year before-it usually is a big change from every year so far…and we put out this live CD because it’s so different from “Love For Sale”-the only thing that’s the same is my voice, the instrumentation is very different, -the jazz is gone…We’re not sure how it will work out, if people will want to get it but, there’s usually some unreleased tracks-there’s a lot of rearranging going on like “Gloomy Sunday” is on this one, same as “Love For Sale” but it’s an entirely different arrangement and “I Only Have Eyes for You” is now with a sequence, a program, rather than a jazz improvisation. So, if I keep changing, offering a lot of different things each year, then we’ll do it…I wouldn’t do it unless it was something different.

Spectre: Yeah, well I like that unpredictability-it keeps a person in anticipation of something new that’s in store for them.

Gitane: Good…Some say it’s kind of indulgent, like for instance just getting bookingsm-some of the promoters have heard “Love For Sale” and they said, “Well, you can’t come here and do that in this club…you know, we don’t like jazz-influence here. So we thought, fuck we better do something about it and let them know that there’s other stuff going on-that was two years ago! So I like it-I’ll do a tour, and then I’ll do the same kind of show with maybe different material for one year, and then the next time I go out, it will be entirely different.

Spectre: So is this tour coming up going to be this July/August?

Gitane: No! The tour’s going to be in October, mid-October… and we’re going to be going all across the states, - I don’t know if we’ll be playing near you or not…

Spectre: I’m from Lexington, Kentucky by the way. Yeah, we’re right in the heart of the Bible belt.

Gitane: Well, we must get somewhere near there!

Spectre: Are you doing to make a general sweep of the major cities?

Gitane: Yes, it’s going to be like 15 states, -but we must be coming somewhere near there-please introduce yourself to me if you do come!

Spectre: Oh Definitely!

Gitane: I really like to meet people at gigs that I’ve spoken to or written to-I’m very shy, -in person I’m quite shy…unless I’ve had some drinks (Laughs) but sometimes people are shy too…please introduce yourself.

Spectre: Yes, just to fill you in more, Spectre is a small Gothic zine that I’ve done for awhile as a hobby.

Gitane: So you do it yourself?

Spectre: Yeah…it’s kind of a burden sometimes!

Gitane: That’s great. I really admire the way that you can do that. There’s some people who CAN do that, and I love these zines…they’re really very hard to find in Europe, when I came over here I go to as many bookshops as I can to just look for these special zines ‘cause they’re really hard to find’.

Spectre: Well I figure that if you do something out of love for it and simply because you want to then that’s all that matters…

Gitane: That’s my sentiment exactly. It’s really great to hear you say that.

Spectre: Yeah, I think that whatever focus you have as far as creative things go, you should really try to avoid selling yourself short…

Gitane: Try not to be swayed by the other things that are going on…You know, when I was first telling you about this first experience with the record company, it was like they wanted to make me into some kind of “thing”. As soon as I saw what was going on, that was the end of it, because it’s so empty! I think Love is the most important thing…we can pursue in life or offer in life…it’s the most important thing, and it’s been abused so much and submerged and deflated and made to feel unimportant…and you know that’s really what my work is all about…but it’s great to hear you say that.

Spectre: Well, I’ve always been a firm believer in that. You do what you have to do, so do it for the right reasons…keep your focus in tact as far as what you want to express…but back to you…what are your future goals in the meantime?

Gitane: I’m working on a new CD-I’ve been in the process of it for quit a while , and I want it to be a pretty complete statement about what were just talking about-you know about “love” and life, and compassion and loneliness in a very intense way. I’ve got about three CDS worth of material I’ve had on the burner for quite a long time. I’m trying to make the right decisions with what songs-I want it to be good, and I’ve got to go to the studio to record it. I want it to be a big picture-for me it’s really the first solo CD, complete one, because “Facets of Blue” was a compilation, “Love For Sale” and With Love and Dementia” were live CDs, and “Demonix” was a project with somebody else…This is really a statement on a long-playing form. So I’m not in a hurry about it, I want it to be good-be like “arms open” in a way, coming from like a said, a very focused point-of-view. I’m taking my time with it.

Spectre: Well it sounds great!

Gitane: I hope so…

Spectre: Any last words?

Gitane: No…I think we covered everything…I really liked this interview…

Spectre: Cool.