BOY HARSHER / Amsterdam, August 2022
Since I was 5 years old when my dad showed to me Marilyn Manson, I had an inner goth hiding in me that sometimes would come out in an exaggerated way. E.g.: when I was 13, I took pictures with red liquid aka fake blood made with watercolor and ketchup. But growing older these Mansonesque shenanigans did stop being goth to me. Getting more into Nine Inch Nails, Spotify suggested Boy Harsher, specifically "Pain" that appeared in my discover weekly, and since then the industrial and goth world has been a never-tiring landscape to explore. The latest discovery - a revelation if you will - appeared after the gig of Boy Harsher (Jae Matthews and Augustus Muller synth/EBM duo): the stereotypical "pain" that is associated with these genres does not only mean "pain onto others/self" which conclusively leads to BDSM likings. BH might be singing about following you tonight "all the way home" which is terrifyingly kinky, but what if that's the pain that is gonna stalk you and the only way to escape is by dancing to the music that simultaneously disturbs and liberates you? That's what BH and Kris Baha's shows are all about.
First time I heard of Kris Baha's name was half a year ago when a remix of my female icon Patriarchy came out "Lock Jaw - Kris Baha Dance Remix". Therefore seeing him live was like getting an inch closer to Patriarchy who I have a legit crush on. However, this isn't about Patriarchy (about her some time soon hopefully). When Kris Baha appeared on stage I felt like in a dream where I was seeing Trent Reznor who didn't really look like Reznor (you get what I mean?). Kris Baha continues to bring out a rage and angst expressed through machines counting only on himself and no one else. As it is noted on his bio on Resident Advisor, Baha's native Australian warmth has been devoured by the cold Berlin brutalism and industrial zeitgeist.
Kris Baha performing “Defied”
Kris' set didn't take long - ca. 30min - but it was a well-chosen support for Boy Harsher for whom he made a remix of "Electric". It was a quick and punchy set that reminded me of the most known names of industrial music, such as Nine Inch Nails, Nitzer Ebb or Front 242. Undoubtedly, it sounds aggressive, but as I was standing there surrounded by people who rarely took out their phones to film and were in the moment, it felt that next to stereotypical industrial music cliches like BDSM and pain, this music was a solution to dance off our personal pains away.
This calls to speak of a new genre that is coined to describe music of Boy Harsher: emotional body music. When I saw this name on one of Boy Harsher's t-shirts in the merch stand before the gig, I thought "huh, nice joke, but - also - makes sense". I did also try to look up the genre, but I got exposed to music of spirituality, zen, meditation etc. However, in Boy Harsher's sense - or in industrial music area in general - emotional body music is a spin-off of electronic body music (EBM). While EBM was used to categorize industrial music that was more danceable (hence, body), emotional body music marries body together with emotions. Rob Shepyer in his review from April 26 on Boy Harsher's gig in at the Belasco in LA has flawlessly put it as:
"To become a total extension of your emotions, to let your body lose control for the sake of release and resurrection by the end of a set, it’s hard not to care how you appear but if you can start moving incrementally harder, you may be able to redefine yourself as the person thats surpassed your previous self’s problems."
While I did feel content that at the age of 28 I could finally let my inner goth out, as a part of audience of Boy Harsher I understood that it didn't matter who was the most goth - it was letting go of any issue that you had at that point and your ego, and just moving/screaming in your own way together with the music. I think that's why I also felt 100% safe - everyone came to feel what Boy Harsher has been making them feel.
Boy Harsher performing “Modulations”
The video above is one of the three videos that I took of Boy Harsher, mainly because 1) I feel rude pointing my phone into an artist face especially if I am a touch away from the artist (like this time), 2) I danced myself to the point where I got soaked. However, even though I love this track - "Modulations" - I took the video because BH said that it was their last song and if I had to show to someone what BH was like, I'd definitely choose this song. And this excerpt perfectly sums up how the gig went too - attack of flickering lights, non-stop stomping feet, unspoken bond between each person in the audience and feeling lighter on the inside with each earsplitting scream.
