Encyclopedia Gothica (16 page)

LUNCH, LYDIA
American singer, writer, poet, actress, photographer and all-around agent provocateur (née Lydia Koch, b. June 2, 1959) best known to punk music historians as part of New York City’s No Wave scene with her band Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, or to art students and perverts as star of Richard Kern’s explicit films like
Fingered
, or to women’s studies types as author of the unflinching confessional
Paradoxia
or to fans of
NICK CAVE
and the
BIRTHDAY PARTY
as regular co-conspirator. But for Goths, more than for her diverse credits, she is best known for simply being Lydia: confrontational, disturbed and disturbing; a walking, sneering, screeching manifesto for DIY art and sexual liberation (including the really dark, violent sort) who made a career out of being fucked up, fucking and fucking shit up, and looking bad-ass in leather and red lips doing it. Too seedy for some but an important role model for many.

LYCIA
American
DARKWAVE
band formed in Tempe, Arizona, in 1988 by vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Mike VanPortfleet, now a duo featuring vocalist Tara VanFlower. Architects of the American
ETHEREAL
sound: minimalist, melancholy, drenched in dizzying guitar effects and menaced by lurching drum machine rhythms, as epitomized on the 1993 release
A Day in the Stark Corner
, which
TYPE O NEGATIVE
’s
PETER STEELE
once called “the most depressing thing” he’d ever heard. Latest release is 2010’s slightly sunnier EP
Fifth Sun
. Best moment may have been spoof of
AMERICAN GOTHIC
painting for publicity photos.

MALL GOTH
A Goth teenager who hangs out in malls, usually those containing a
HOT TOPIC
store or derivations thereof. A derogatory term for young people who make a big deal of dressing up Goth but don’t know much (if anything) about the music or subculture and thus come off as
POSEUR
s. Used more by non-Goths with a grudge than Goths themselves.

MANA
Japanese rock star and fashion designer of shadowy origins. As leader of the bands Malice Mizer (1992–2001) and Moi dix Mois (2002–present) he has dressed in
ANDROGYNOUS
clothing and make-up, refused to give interviews, and engaged in dramatic live performances that mix classical baroque, heavy metal and Goth sounds with historical, often
VICTORIAN
-style costuming. In 1999, formed the clothing company Moi-même-Moitié, establishing the Elegant
GOTHIC LOLITA
style and further cementing his status as an icon for
Goth Lolis
in Japan and the West. If he ever decides to switch to acting, would make a great Vampire
LESTAT
.

MANIC PANIC
Gothdom’s most famous hair dye. Created by sisters Tish and Snooky Bellomo, who started importing cosmetics and hair colour into their punk clothing store in New York’s East Village in 1977. Later, concocted their own brand of semi-permanent hair dye in outrageous colours: Purple Haze,
VAMPIRE
Red, Green Envy, etc. These plastic jars of goo have been slathered on the heads of
FREAK
s ever since. (
CYBERGOTH
s and other clubbers love their glow-in-the-dark neon DyeHard hair gels.) Also a cosmetics line, which includes such handy items as Goth White face make-up.

MANSONITE
MARILYN MANSON
fan, as referred to by non-Manson fans. Derogatory.
Compare:
Spooky kids

MANSON, MARILYN
American singer (né Brian Warner, b. January 5, 1969) and leader of the band of the same name he founded in 1989, who took his stage moniker from mashing up Marilyn Monroe and Charles Manson then proceeded to spend ten years pissing off parents and religious authorities all across America. You know this of course — Manson is a bona fide household-name rock star. But can he also be Goth? Of course he can. He is. He dresses it: ghastly,
ANDROGYNOUS
make-up;
LATEX
and
CORSET
s on stage; couture mourning
CLOAKS
on the red carpet. He lives it: exploring the occult, embracing perversion and decadence, collecting skulls and bones, hanging out with
FREAK
s. He draws weird shit. He produced a brand of
ABSINTHE
(“Mansinthe”). He married
DITA VON TEESE
, the Gothiest of pin-up girls. And he likes nothing more than to take the dark stuff most people bury and shove it right in the face of the public until they squirm. It’s gotten him arrested, banned and scapegoated and still he pushed the boundaries and stood up for misfits everywhere. So why is “Is Marilyn Manson Goth?” such a hot topic? Because his band plays rock ’n’ roll, not
GOTHIC ROCK
, and has had major mainstream success doing it. And some Goths think when the kid at the mall and the football jock who doesn’t know what Goth is start wearing all black and painting themselves up like Manson it’s somehow a blight on our society. Those haters might want to go watch the videos for songs like “Nobodies,” “The Beautiful People” and “mOBSCENE” and think about how Manson has made some of the most gloriously Gothic pop art ever.

MARCH VIOLETS, THE
British
GOTHIC ROCK
band, formed in
LEEDS
in 1981 by Tom Ashton (guitar), Loz Elliot (bass), Simon Denbigh (vocals) and Rosie Garland (vocals). Goth from the get-go: debut 7" single “Religious as Hell” was issued on
THE SISTERS
’ label
MERCIFUL RELEASE
, all stern drum machine and dual ghastly vocals. Sadly, grew less and less Goth, unless you count sounding like a second-rate
MISSION
for a while. Key tracks: 1984’s semi-hit “Snake Dance” and a rather limp cover of the Rolling Stones’ “Miss Amanda Jones” for 1987’s
Some Kind of Wonderful
soundtrack.

MARSDEN, SIMON
British photographer (b. December 1, 1948) specializing in the supernatural. His black-and-white photography of cemeteries, churches, haunted houses and the like features in museums and galleries worldwide, and in book form on the shelf of many a Goth.

MARY JANE
Shoe style for girls, distinguished by a rounded toe and one ankle strap, traditionally flat or with a low heel as worn by youth but also produced with heels or platforms. Popular with
GOTHIC LOLITA
s and
GOTHABILLY
ladies seeking the schoolgirl or retro look, respectively. Often worn with knee-high socks or striped tights.

MASKS
Masquerade style masks are popular for
HALLOWEEN
, of course, but for the rest of the year there are surgical masks and gasmasks, available in all kinds of gothy material like
PVC
, for those who fetishize biohazards and other medical disasters. Like
GOGGLES
, introduced by the
CYBERGOTH
s, probably under the influence of anime/manga, and customized to sexy, sinister extremes. Laugh now, but if SARS comes back, you’ll wish you had one.

MASOCHISTIC RELIGION
Canadian capital-G Goth group formed and led by singer/guitarist Mitch Krol in Toronto in the late 1980s. A diabolical sonic concoction of blasphemy, poetry,
s/m
and nihilism over minimalist beats and grinding guitars,
mr
was often compared to
CHRISTIAN DEATH
but had a much better sense of humour about it all. Their first record was called . . .
And From This Broken Cross . . . Our Misery
; 1997 album
The Litanies of Satan
was based on the writings of
CHARLES BAUDELAIRE
; their performance at
CONVERGENCE
in Toronto saw Krol emerge from a
COFFIN
and set a Bible on fire. Most shocking: the guy moved to Montreal, bleached his hair blond and started a country music project.

MATRIX, THE
Trilogy of science fiction films beginning with
The Matrix
in 1999, directed by brothers Andy and Larry Wachowski and starring Keanu Reeves as Neo, a computer programmer/hacker who discovers he is “The One,” with superhuman powers that can end a war between humans and machines. A mainstream blockbuster success with some truly disturbing dystopian themes, this hybrid of
Blade Runner
,
NEUROMANCER
, anime and action certainly looked Goth: blue and grey tones, black
PVC
costumes and a bar (Club Hel in
The Matrix Revolutions
) based on a typical fetish club. If every Goth geek wasn’t already wearing dark shades and a trenchcoat beforehand, they certainly were afterwards.
See also:
Morpheus
,
Trinity

MCGOWAN, ROSE
American actress (b. September 5, 1973) and object of envy: not for being engaged to
MARILYN MANSON
for a time, but for the kind of high-end, haute Goth couture she got to wear to attend fancy events on his arm. Acclaimed on her own merits, of course: co-star of the TV series
Charmed
, in which she played a telekinetic witch; co-star of
The Doom Generation
, in which she played a red-lipped, black-haired, bad-ass punk rock girl on the run; star of
Grindhouse
, in which she played both a amputee stripper named Cherry and a car crash victim. A dream date for Goth Boys (and some Goth Girls too).

MEDIEVAL
There wouldn’t be Goth without the Middle Ages. Or at least, there wouldn’t be Gothic. That period in Europe, from fifth to fifteenth centuries, where Gothic art and architecture was born. Oh, the flying buttresses and arched vaults! The castles and cathedrals! The stained glass and courtly love poems! The knights and the maidens! Many are the Goths drawn to this time in history — the ones who wear long
VELVET
dresses or carry swords to the
REN FAIR
, or furnish their homes with replicas of the Notre Dame
GARGOYLE
s, while listening to
GREGORIAN CHANT
CDs. They might even romanticize the Black Death. Then you remind them of the feudal system, and the Inquisition, and how if born in Medieval times they’d probably be starving and burned at the stake rather than clad in finery, leisurely reading, and they have to admit it wasn’t the best of times. But it sure was Gothic.

MEDIÆVAL BÆBES
British classical singing group headed by Katharine Blake, ex–
MIRANDA SEX GARDEN
. Begun as a gang of girlfriends singing traditional songs from the Middle Ages in a cemetery in “flowing white gowns and crowns of ivy”; became a chart-topping, global sensation after release of their 1997 debut
Salva Nos
. As sassy as they were sexy, the revolving cast of six to twelve Babes brought a dark mystical sensibility to their songs and poetry, sung in Latin, Gaelic and other languages of yore. Contributed not only to the general public’s hunger for new classical artists (well, at least the pretty ones) but also to Goth’s renewed interest in all things
MEDIEVAL
. One doesn’t need to like Christmas to pull out their album
Mistletoe and Wine
, one just needs to be
TRAD GOTH
or
ROMANTIGOTH
.

MELTDOWN
British magazine published quarterly from 2000 to 2004, founded and edited by Natasha Scharf. Taking a high-quality glossy approach, it aimed to present dark alternative music, fashion and culture in a serious, professional light, and earned a place on major newsstands as a result, becoming the bestselling mag of its kind. Coverage varied from
SIOUXSIE
and Peter to J. Rock/Lolita to
GOTHIC METAL
. Since folding the print mag, and its spin-off TV show, Scharf has continued to bring Goth to the masses contributing to radio, TV and magazines such as
Metal Hammer
, as well as her 2011 book,
Worldwide Gothic
.

MEMENTO MORI
Latin phrase meaning “remember you must die,” and the art or artifacts to remind one of it. From skeletons on funereal tombs to skull jewelry and the like, the history of surrounding oneself with depictions of Death goes back in time well before modern heavy metal and Goths adopted it. Which is something you can drop when your parents tell you you’re wearing one too many skulls. Or ten.

M’ERA LUNA
Music festival held annually in a field outside Heldesheim,
GERMANY
, since 2000, featuring live performances, DJs and camping. Attracting more than 20,000 people by mixing classic
DEATH ROCK
and
EBM
bands with metal and “dark” artists. Issues “yellow cards” for bad behaviour, including crowd surfing.

MERCER, MICK
British journalist, photographer and Goth music historian, author of several very important tomes:
Gothic Rock
,
Hex Files
,
21st Century Goth
and
Music to Die For
, all authoritative, comprehensive reference tools one should own, even if some information is now out of date. Probably the world’s leading expert on this genre, who got his start in the trenches doing a punk fanzine,
Panache
, in 1976 and continues to cover new music for his blog while self-publishing books of rare photographs from his vaults. Full of enthusiasm but not blinded by it, you can always count on Mercer to tell it like it is: even if he believes
THE CURE
is not Goth, which is, of course, pure poppycock.

MERCIFUL RELEASE
British independent record label formed by
ANDREW ELDRITCH
to release material from
THE SISTERS OF MERCY
, debuting with the 7" vinyl single for “The Damage Done” in 1980. Other bands on the label are generally Sisters-related: The Sisterhood, James Ray, MK Ultra, etc. Unless the band ever does put out that long overdue new recording, seems to be defunct.

MESH
The holiest of Goth fabrics, used to make gloves and
GAUNTLETS
and also tight-fitting T-shirts for boys and the kind of girls who show off their bras, or more. DIY way to a mesh shirt is to take a pair of
FISHNETS
, rip the crotch out, cut off the feet and wear them upside down over your head. Not to be confused with sports uniform jersey mesh, and remember the golden rule (especially you drummers out there): mesh shirt or fingerless gloves, never both.