In a special online exclusive, Vive Le Rock's Lee Powell talks to ROSETTA STONE's Porl King...
AN EYE FOR A MAIN CHANCE
FOR the first half of the decade, Rosetta Stone looked as if they were heading towards a serious crossover from the '90s underground to the more mainstream alternative rock that found bands like the Sisters Of Mercy and The Mission inhabiting. They captured the zeitgeist of the times perfectly, both musically and visually, with their debut album 'An Eye For A Main Chance' seemingly following the same footpath as their forefathers. However the lack of mainstream press and its dismissal of the genre as a whole, proved itself to be a huge hindrance and by the time their second album arrived in 1995, their sound had progressed into a more industrial edge and ultimately they all but left the UK scene and focused on the US’ where they are seen as the archetypal UK goth band and gained a sizeable following, yet they disbanded in 1998. However, Porl King reactivated the band in 2019, signed to Cleopatra Records in the US and have remained prolific ever since.
Quite early on, you supported The Mission. How did you feel about the support slot? How useful was it in getting your music heard within the scene?
“To his credit, I think that Wayne was the only influential figure to ever give us a real ‘break’. He at least seemed to have the ability to acknowledge ‘goth’ in some sense without fear of losing credibility or something. We played alongside The Mission was a huge step forward for us, there’s no denying that.”
As the '80s progressed, did you feel at that time the genre was starting to become more formulaic and less individualised, unlike the early '80s scene?
“I think there were the proto-goth bands, the Leeds scene for one, but the word ‘goth’ was applied retrospectively and not something that was embraced even then. We were an ‘aspect’ of those hopeful musicians who were influenced by those bands, but with the ‘clubbing’ scene, we naturally embraced the ‘tropes’ and identifiers of what had become established as ‘being’ a goth. In that sense, I suppose collectively we were all influenced by the ‘better’ bands with the ‘better’ songs. We were never particularly innovative, we were creating exactly the ‘thing’ that we enjoyed, and we ‘wanted’ to be a ‘goth’ band. So yeah, I think we in particular were ‘formulaic’ as no doubt many were. No different in that respect to rock-n-roll bands who all follow the ‘rules’ in what is deemed appropriate for that sound and audience.”
'An Eye For A Main Chance,” your debut album, released in 1991, is often seen as an album that perfectly helped the genre cross over from the '80s to the '90s, while increasing the band's following. What can you recall from this period?
“The music press at this time was actively dismissive of goth and seen as not something to be taken seriously, particularly as part of a ‘second-wave’. I felt that we were seen as something of a ‘joke’ as we could rarely get reviews and certainly didn’t easily attain any press in the way that many indie bands at the time did, even those with far smaller audiences and sales. The press simply ignored us; we weren’t cool or creating anything new, and worse still, we actively embraced the term ‘goth’.”
Were there any bands with which you felt camaraderie during this phase of the band?
“Not really, we genuinely tried to give a ‘break’ to bands we believed had something to offer, as pitifully small as Rosetta's influence was. But everyone becomes an arsehole at some point, including me, as I was a stoner and loved drugs. I was always going to let someone down at some point, so most relationships musically broke down. People had too high an expectation of me and what I could ultimately do.”
The 'Adrenaline' single hinted at a more industrial beat-driven approach to the band’s sound, yet this was reverted back to a more contemporary goth with the following single 'The Witch'. Was the band going through a flux in directional change?
“I’ve never really thought of that, but you are right, and I’m not sure why that happened. We weren’t really listening to goth by the time AEFTMC was completed - I think it was more NIN and U2’s 'Achtung Baby'. So yeah, we probably didn’t quite know where we were going in some sense.”
By the time your second album came out in 'The Tyranny Of Inaction' in 1995, the band’s sound had incorporated a more industrial sound. What was the reasoning for this? Was goth becoming something you were trying to distance yourself from?
“We weren’t consciously moving away from ‘goth’, just our personal musical preference musically was once more influencing what we wanted to do. We ended up in a bad position as the label at that time was defunct, and the label we went with was less than useless. It was a crucial time for us, and there was no real support or interest to get us through. I often refer to 'TTOI' as a great idea badly executed, but we were very limited in our options.”
How did you see the goth genre changing as the '90s progressed? Why do you think the genre moved back into the underground during the '90s?
“I’m not sure if it moved back underground, as it was never really that ‘romantic’. It was more a case of the first wave bands, the smaller yet well-known ones, annihilating themselves by creating indie pop, of which there were a significant few, thus fizzling out. Leaving just us second-wavers, and most of us were tired of the lack of opportunity to progress.”
Why do you think the genre lost mainstream music overage on the whole and moved to fanzines as the way to spread word of what was happening?
“If you’re referring to ’now’ - Most of the ‘good’ goth bands are ‘old’ - the mainstream music press are always looking for the ‘next-thing’, so it stands to reason that ‘fans’ are those who will continue to maintain the scene to keep it alive. I often come across bands who have huge fanbases heavily influenced by goth, and even the press are accepting of it, mentioning it in fact, but there is a ‘disconnect’ in the sense that there doesn’t appear to be a ‘movement’ connecting them all.”
Now with Rosetta back in full swing, what are your thoughts on the '80s and '90s scenes and how Rosetta Stone manoeuvred through them?
“We tried our best - musically we never innovated - but I think we were hugely influential on the ‘identity’, our t-shirts, artwork, slogans - for good or bad, we helped establish the culture. If I could do it all again, I wouldn’t.”
How do you feel about the band being so revered in the '80s and '90s and becoming a seminal band in the '90s scene? Are there any other bands you feel perfectly captured the zeitgeist of 90s goth?
“Were we though? I’m not certain - this isn’t me being humble by the way - I know we made our ‘mark’ at certain points, but it never felt like success on any level. Looking back, Altered States had the strongest debut album. But this question got me thinking, and I tried searching for a band I had a cassette of - I think they were called ‘Jude’ - they were very far removed from the ‘goth’ we were doing at the time, but they were great yet appear to have come to nothing.”
Dose Makes The Poison is out now on Cleopatra Records
For loads more Goth, check out the new issue of Vive Le Rock! Available here and from all good magazine stores!
