An Explanation Seemed Appropriate… There has been a lot of confusion in the goth world as to why there are two bands under the same name..’The Nosferatu’ and ‘Nosferatu’.. Chris Clark shares his story and his version of events that have led to this outcome.
I have been asked by a large number of people to explain my part in ‘ The Nosferatu ‘ and my brief history in ‘ Nosferatu ‘, something l had taken great delight in keeping to myself! However, as it seems, the world of Goth requires an explanation of pedigree before you are taken seriously!! In the summer of 1994, ‘ The Prophecy ‘ album had been recorded and a U.K. tour was booked! I was contacted discreetly and asked if l would be available to sing for Nosferatu on the upcoming tour because the availability of their singer was in question! As a long-standing friend of both Vlad and Damian and having gigged in support of Nosferatu with my band ‘ Kamasutra ‘ as well as dj’ing for them at events they had staged l seemed like a logical choice! After spending several weeks learning songs, both new and old, l was then contacted by a very apologetic Vlad and told that their singer Niall was going to be available for the tour after all! I was then asked if l would be l available to play drums instead as they wanted to go out this time with a live drummer! So, l became the drummer on the ill-fated ‘ Prophecy ‘ tour. A U.K tour that was to make its way from the south coast of England to Scotland and back down to end up at the Marquee in London. With the single ‘ Savage Kiss ‘ entering the independent charts at No14 and the album doing equally well things were looking good. Several dates into the tour the two main members had a disagreement that resulted in the band having to continue the tour with a stand in guitarist. Two dates later we were informed that the guitarist that had left mid-tour had phoned ahead of us and cancelled the remainder of the tour, including the Marquee. Vlad had already been contacted by the two largest music papers back then, pre-Facebook etc, to inform us they were sending journalists and photographers to the Marquee. A big fucking deal back then! So, upon return, deflated and pissed off we found out that Damian intended on taking the name and even contacted me asking if I would play drums for him. (off course I refused). A meeting was called at my flat to discuss what we could do about keeping the name. With a wife and new-born baby next to me I could not justify the financial commitment for legal action to a band I had just joined! The situation sucked!! This guy was going to get away with this! Louis DeWray has a similar story I think only he should tell!! As a caveat to this small explanation of a spinal tap style band implosion, myself and Vlad formed ‘ The Shadowmaker ‘. We played the second Whitby Goth Fest, the Marquee and the Hippodrome before family commitments meant we had to call it a day..( find attached a previously unreleased track from ‘The Shadowmaker ‘ and who knows this stuff may see the light of day one day ‘) The present day…Life changes, hindsight and wisdom now tells us that all those years ago someone ran off with a few of my biscuits, a lot Of Louis DeWray’s biscuits and Vlad Janicek’s entire biscuit tin!!! The decision has been made to form The Nosferatu to rectify this, and I give my wholehearted backing to Vlad and Louis in this venture! For the record. This is my story!
~ Chris Clark
