Art of Darkness: John Robb on Siouxsie, Bauhaus and the history of Goth
John Robb: author, Louder than War head honcho, and member of UK post-punks The Membranes.
By complete coincidence, my interview with music journalist and musician John Robb occurs on World Goth Day. As the author of the mighty new tome, The Art of Darkness: A History of Goth, Robb approves of the designation. “Anything that puts a spotlight on a great culture is worth celebrating,” he says.
Given the connotations around Goth of the gloomy and brooding one might wonder if it’s a waste of a day as the adherents of this subculture style themselves very much as creatures of the night. However, this is the kind of mild mockery and cartoonish stereotyping that Robb resists in his book. To many, Goth conjures up images of black-clad, crestfallen-looking individuals, who may on occasion exhibit a sartorial flamboyance but whose musical tastes are casually dismissed as unfashionable.
