Lacking Goth-minded peers to draw inspiration from in school, my relationship to the Goth culture never was particularly immersive. Other than my own personal interests and imagination, most of my contact came through the internet and occasional forays to downtown stores. Even a move to Los Angeles didn’t necessarily provide a sense of Goth society, a result that arguably stems as much from my own sense of independence as any particular quality of the scene. And so: Other than a long-defunct Wednesday night club and a few rebel stores on a Melrose Avenue determined to yuppify itself, the prospect of engaging a larger sense of community never became realized. Yet throughout the years one connection remained steadfast: Morbid Outlook, a venerable ezine that began life as a joyously cobbled paper entity and successfully transitioned to an online-only format in 1996. First as a reader and, later, as a contributor, I found in Morbid Outlook an appealing and satisfying encapsulation of Goth culture – art, fashion, music, the works – that surpassed other Goth publications in both longevity and quality.
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On the occasion of its 20th anniversary, I interviewed the zine’s multi-talented creator and editor, Laura (Mistress) McCutchan, whose creativity extends beyond Morbid Outlook to her bellydancing troupe, Serpentina North, and other notable endeavours. Here is the result of an interview carried out via email.
Morbid Outlook is turning 20…looking back on the highs and lows, what events and/or encounters stand out most? How would you describe the relationship you forged with the Goth community through Morbid Outlook?
Overall, I’ve had the very good fortune to meet a lot of talented people who have written for the magazine, been interviewed, or created original art. I’ve also gotten opportunities to connect with musicians in promoting their work and then being able to play it out and about when I DJ. It’s also very satisfying in hearing how I’ve influenced others in a variety of ways, from the younger generation being able to be themselves confidently or others who got turned on to a certain topic or album being featured. I think Morbid Outlook has helped folks who walk a lesser travelled, darker path know that there are more of us than the average Joe would think. I feel a little like a gothic Auntie.
Surveying the zine netscape, riddled as it is with the archived corpses of long-dead zines, it strikes me that there are few active Goth publications remaining. Do you ever feel pressure to keep the torch burning through Morbid Outlook? Where do you hope to take Morbid Outlook once you relaunch it this year?
Sometimes I do! I feel like it’s been going this long, why wouldn’t I keep it up? It’s just been in dire need of a revamp. Plenty of readers are disappointed it isn’t updated more frequently. I needed the means to do that. Coding by hand stopped being effective ages ago. The last big redesign was in November 2001.
I’d only like it to expand and be the go-to magazine online to read, and to continue producing quality content. Morbid Outlook is genuinely “me” if you look at the topics covered. I’m just glad to be in tune with others, too, especially as we all get older.
You recently talked with The Grid TO about a seeming Goth revival in Toronto. Do you think it's merely a local act of resuscitation or is there more to it than that? It certainly appears to me that, generally speaking, Goth has been at least partially displaced by, among other things, newer “movements” such as steampunk and emo. Then, loathe as I am to bring it up, there are the concerns of anti-fascist watchdogs like Who Makes the Nazis? They see alternative cultures as highly vulnerable to extreme right-wing infiltration through neo-folk and industrial. It's debatable, of course, to what extent this just is an old canard about Goths that always seems to pop up whenever the mainstream culture gets nervous about an incident and needs to string up a scapegoat. But it does raise the question as to whether mainstream perceptions, along with the inevitable generational changes, are challenging Goth culture's ability to endure. As an influential figure in the scene, what's your perspective on the state of Goth culture today? Have we entered a post-Goth era?
I believe we exist in a very cyclical scene. It fades and comes back on each round, and things have hybridized. Toronto was definitely in the forefront of being an EBM kind of town, and I think 15-plus years of oontz-oontz music has grown tiresome. There are younger people in the scene who are deathrock fans who wish they could have been born before their favourite bands broke up, and there’s an older generation who listen to their old Bauhaus albums alongside newer music like Zola Jesus. Goth is truly an undead entity and can easily continue on and on in various forms; interest in a darker, more underground alternative to the every day will always be there. And every October, every dumb weekly free paper will publish some story about goth in time for Halloween.
As far as being a scapegoat for some incident or another (Columbine, etc.), the media is so quick to sensationalize and sell their story. There are stereotypes out there with a ring of truth to them, but you can’t be quick to judge. You can’t believe every goth type you see walking around is out sacrificing animals, a drug addict, or a Suicide Girl or a dominatrix/fetish model or or a vandal of cemeteries. People just want a label, something tangible to blame.
Talking about Toronto, you've been quite busy beyond Morbid Outlook with efforts like Salon Noir, which recently featured the inimitable David J. Can you talk about how Salon Noir came to be and how it has evolved over the years? How do you think events like Salon Noir can go beyond sustaining Goth culture to revitalizing it?
Salon Noir came about as the event we wanted to attend. My partner, Justin, and I thought it would be amazing to have a party where you could dress up, have dinner and a bunch of great live music and dance acts. I was really inspired by parties I’ve been to at Mother, back in the mid-to-late ‘90s, while I was living in New York City. They were magical. There were amazing themes, all sorts of crazy talent, as curated by impressario Chi Chi Valenti and her amazing team, The Jackie Factory. Currently, there are the Dances of Vice parties in New York, thrown by Shien Lee, with various period themes in lush venues. I thought, why can’t we do that here?
In Toronto, there have been so many bands/acts that don’t often come through because of the hassle of the border and work visas. We wanted to bring in just the right elements for our themes. The David J show we hosted was a part of our Surreal Speakeasy theme; David himself remarked it was the best looking crowd he’d ever seen. The audience donned gorgeous 1920s gear. We had a barbershop quartet open, burlesque dancers as well as a troupe of flappers doing a vintage number. David and his band never thought a barbershop quartet would ever open for them, and Expressions is the most charming bunch of gentlemen you’d hope to meet!
The funny thing with Salon Noir is, its very nature is goth because of the people producing it, but it’s not just a goth party. Our crowd is so varied in age and scene, depending on our themes from 1920s to Victorian bohemian cabaret to our next one – a Medieval Masquerade. We’ll have a magician from the Ren Fair circuit, Zoltan the Adequate, alongside a fashion show, a reunion set from Toronto’s own Rhea’s Obsession, and our headliner is Jarboe.
We’ve garnered interest from the steampunk crowd, the lolita scene, the burners, the tribal bellydancers. We welcome all our like-minded creatures of the night to come party with us.
If running a magazine and promoting Salon Noir aren't enough, you've been growing your dance troupe Serpentina North. What is it about belly/tribal dance that enticed you into taking a tribal dance workshop in 2004? Did you have any background in dance before taking the workshop?
I started bellydance classes in 2000 with my teacher, Safiya, as a way to keep moving. After sitting in front of a computer for hours a day, I needed something to make me move so I didn’t feel like a bowl of oatmeal. The gym was so boring. I started ballet initially, because I had taken several years of ballet classes as a wee lass. But as an adult, I felt like the comic relief of the class. Bellydance was just the right fit. I fell madly in love with the art after that first class. The music was great, the costuming was great, and it made me less self-conscious about my body. Granted, this was American Cabaret, not tribal, but I got a brilliant foundation to work upon.
Tribal fusion hit New York City in a big way. Lots of dancers were following this wave. At four years in, I hit a creative plateau and decided to give it a try. While bellydance gave me confidence, tribal gave me community. The style felt right for me. I always joked I was not a sparkly cabaret dancer; this felt more authentically me: earthy, strong and powerful. The hair, the tattoos and piercings, lush ethnic textiles and 12-yard skirts were far more aesthetically pleasing to me. I loved the idea of dancing in groups. I partnered with Joanna, whom I met at that first set of tribal workshops, which was named something like “Introduction to Tribal for the Cabaret Dancer.”
It all just happened at the right time in my life, too. I was going through a breakup, moving out, pulling myself together and planning to emigrate to Canada. I just needed to dance.
The Serpentina North Ensemble evolved considerably since you and Joanna took that workshop together and performed as a duet. Can you give us an overview of that evolution and how you've come to incorporate other dance style,s like kathak and Bollywood, into the ensemble's style?
Joanna and I parted amicably when I moved to Toronto. I had already decided I wanted to start a troupe. Toronto is saturated with bellydance, mostly Egyptian, and a little bit of tribal, a la American Tribal Style (ATS), via a troupe called Shades of Araby, and modern bellydance, as exhibited by a dance company called Lavish.
My vision of ATS incorporated not just the originator’s format (Carolena Nerricio of Fat Chance Belly Dance), but other combinations from Gypsy Caravan, Domba and our own unique movements. Because I’m really drawn to Indian culture, I wanted to incorporate that Indian flavour to what we do. I think the best way to describe our ensemble is we’re like a falafel sandwich with a side of samosas and a glass of Merlot.
I call us an Ensemble because my goal has always been to integrate a live band with our act. As a matter of fact, I was initially introduced to my partner by Karen O’Keeffe, the singer of Amy’s Arms, with the intention to dance with their band. We made a choreography to a Dead Can Dance cover, and we performed it at the first Salon Noir. Every now and then Justin comes and drums for us when we dance in a lot of outdoor settings, either on doumbek, frame drum or djembe. I’d like to add more to that and make our own band. And I really want a saw player!
Do you make a connection between dancing with Serpentina North and your efforts in the Goth scene? Given your success and the success of artists like Ariellah, along with DVD compilations of “Gothic” bellydance DVDs, how do you think the intersection between Goth culture and various art forms can enhance both?
I’ve heard various people describe me as a gothic bellydancer, but that’s not quite accurate. I’m active in the gothic scene and I bellydance. But what I express in dance is just authentically me. I do like having a darker flavour to our music, as opposed to the heavy electronic/dubstep that a lot of tribal fusionists tend to favour. Overall, there is a darker flavour to my fusion, music choices, and costuming, but because I’m well-versed in ATS (American Tribal Style, as created by Carolena Nerricio) and other ITS (Improv Tribal Style) formats, that is my foundational vocabulary of dance. We generally do a lot of really uptempo stuff to get the crowd excited. When you’re dancing in a street festival, the slower, dark dramatic stuff doesn’t work as well as it does in a theatre setting.
Where does that intersect with the goth scene? I think after viewing the general public at a goth club dancing to something like Dead Can Dance or Delirium or Cocteau Twins, there’s this natural swirly style that looks like it could be incorporated into bellydance. A lot of non-Western instrumentation fits in really well where seams can be blended.
Finally, let's look towards the future. What's in store for Serpentina North and your other endeavours?
Right now I have a regular 9-to-5 day job, designing web sites, which tethers me to a schedule and a desk. I’d love to have more flexibility to work from home and/or travel and even work from the road. I’d love to be able to make Morbid Outlook profitable and pay contributors. I’d love to expand the tribal ensemble with musicians and teach more classes. I’d love Salon Noir parties to get bigger and move it into a really luxurious setting like Casa Loma, the castle in Toronto. I’d love to open my own venue/restaurant and make it vegan-based. I’d love to design some clothes for a goth fashion line, especially for men, because men have so few options. They need to take some fashion risks. I’d love to nurture bands and other projects. I manage Amy’s Arms to a degree, and I want to expose them to the States and beyond.
I believe in going big and dreaming big or going home.
See
Morbid Outlook – www.morbidoutlook.com
Serpentina North Ensemble – www.serpentinatribal.com
Frédérik Sisa is the resident art commentator and assistant editor of The Front Page Online.
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web: www.thefrontpageonline.com
email: fsisa@thefrontpageonline.com
blog: www.inkandashes.net
…and also fashion with TFPO's The Fashionoclast at www.fashionoclast.com
