Formed by friends Charles Why (Lost A Noise/Nexus/L-DOPA) and Laur (Sparkling Bombs/Kevin K Band/Vague Scare), Golem Dance Cult are a self-described “Industrial Dance Rock” project. At once heavy and danceable, they’ve a sound that has an effortless crossover appeal who draw admires from a broad sonic spectrum and unite various musical tribes who were once at war. 2026 promises to be a busy year for this dynamic, do-it-yourself duo, so we had to catch up with Charles Why and Laur. Here’s what they had to say:
Can you tell us about the band’s origins. Where did you meet etc.
Laur: We met in our teenage years when we both were huge Mötley Crüe fans in Belfort, France. We started playing together, Charles on bass and me on drums. Our influences were mainly glam/sleaze and punk rock. A few years ago, during pandemic, Charles sent me some music and asked if I’d like to add some vocals. That’s how Golem Dance Cult started…
What are the musical influences of each band member and how do you forge them into a cohesive whole?
Laur: We have a lot of common influences and know each other very well so I guess it really helps when it comes to forging a cohesive whole.
Charles Why: yes, we have this common ground of musical influences and some that are specific to each other, for example Laur is a big fan of Manic Street Preachers, while I’m really into Queens of the Stone Age.
Can you tell us about your local music scene. Is it supportive? Are there many places to play?
Laur: We both live very far away from each other. I’m in France and Charles is in Australia so that’s a bit difficult to say. I tend to think that Australia is more supportive though.
Charles Why: yes, there is a really thriving club scene both in Victoria and New South Wales.
What’s the best and worst thing about your local scene?
Laur: The best thing here is that the local scene is quite active but the worst thing is that it is not very much into dark rock, post-punk, etc.
Can you tell us about the band’s discography (demos, singles, albums).
Charles Why: in May 2021 we released our first EP, “Grotesque Radio” which allow us to get our name out there. In May 2023 we released our first long format CD “Legend of the Bleeding Heart” and on Friday the 13th of June, we released “Shamanic Faultlines”, this time on vinyl too (Splatter limited edition and black). For “Shamanic Faultlines” we invited several of our musicians friends to collaborate: Dick Dens from “The Irradiates” played guitar on two tracks, Loki Lockwood (from Velatine and founder of Spooky Records) played synth on one, Boris Boublil (Mu and Emilie Loizeau) Moog and organ, Jean-Philippe Feiss played Cello, Inga Liljestrom lent us her amazing voice on a few songs, Peter Miller played Theremin, Blair Manie Oud, Alex Zillon on vocals…. All talented musicians, each bringing their own sensibility to the song they collaborate on.
How do you feel you’ve evolved musically throughout your career?
Laur: I guess you tend to be more relaxed with age and just appreciate the good things instead of giving too much importance to the negative ones. We are more experienced now and we just hope we don’t become boring! Haha
Charles Why: totally! Another aspect is the production that is evolving due to more experience.
Can you tell us about tours you’ve completed. Any war stories you’d like to share?
Laur: Golem Dance Cut haven’t played live yet because of distance so we’re quite peaceful! Haha The bands I toured the most with in the past were Sparkling Bombs, Kevin K and the Ricky Rat Pack. We played in most Europe from squats to festivals, dirty floors to nice hotels. The rock’n’roll life I guess… I was the drummer of Kevin and Ricky’s backing bands. The funny thing is that on the first Kevin tour, he didn’t even want to practice before the first date. I managed to book an afternoon at a rehearsing place but even there, Kevin wouldn’t even play the songs in full stopping right in the middle of the songs and saying “that sounds fine! Anyway, everybody will be drunk and enjoy it!” He was quite right!… We had a lot of stories with Sparkling Bombs like when we opened for The Offspring, our biggest show ever and of course our guitars player’s amp blew up after two songs! The Offspring guys were nice enough to bring us an amp on stage but that was quite a Spinal Tap moment!
Will we see you on the road anytime soon?
Laur: You never know! 🙂
What’s next for the band?
Charles Why: We are already composing and working on new songs. Our next album will be made available in an “original” format. In this period of AI frenzy we tend to go the other way or go back to the roots and to the spirit of DIY.
Finally, what’s the one question (and answer) interviewers never ask but you wish they
would?>>What are you doing at the moment?
Charles Why: Promoting “Shamanic Faultlines”, our album which. In this regard, we just released a video for the song “Pretty at Dawn”, which is a collaboration with Inga Lilejstrom on vocals and Jean-Philippe Feiss on Cello. The video has been created by Milan Bruneau.
At the same time, we are already working on a follow-up, but that will be for later.
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