Kabarette Obscura

Genre-defying hot new London 3-piece, fusing Electro beats, orchestral arrangements and cabaret vocals to create an eclectic, haunting style all their own...

Imagine the Weimar Era never ended; imagine the artists of yesterday lived on to the present and embraced the modern electro-sleaze sound while keeping their wry tounge-in-cheek style and outlandish performances. Imagine the bastard offspring of a Diva-like vocalist, Rasputina and Aphex Twin.

Imagine Ute Lemper singing over dirty electro beats combined with a blend of traditional and experimental accompaniment...

Imagine Kabarette Obscura!

They are decadent, degenerate, young and beautiful.

In a world that values Style over Substance, we could go far...

Kabarette Obscura formed in London in the Summer of 2005 when the Guitarist (Divine) grew tired of seeing a lot of bands with no life or personality on the London live music scene. After a marathon session of watching Cabaret and Salon Kitty, he formed the idea for an Electro-sleaze band that took the spirit of Berlin Cabaret, with its larger than life performance and poignant lyrics and combined it with 21st Century music to create Cabaret for the Digital Generation. After advertising for fellow souls who shared his vision, he met Zeibura and Sammm - the rest, as they say, is history...

We seek not only to play our music but to really put on a show! Too many artists view a gig as just an extended jam session and you might as well put their CD on in front of some cardboard cut-outs.

We intend no one who sees our shows should forget us.

We will strut, we will preen, we will perform, we will camp-it-up. We are both the artist and the subject - larger than life, yet contained within life.

We will hold a mirror up to the world, then check our make-up in it...

Kabarette Obscura are:

Sammm (Vocals and Performance)

Divine (Guitar/Bass/Drum Programming Lyrics & Vocals)

Zeibura (Synths/Samples/Drum Programming/Lyrics)

Kabarette Obscura formed in London in the Summer of 2005 when the Guitarist (Divine) grew tired of seeing a lot of bands with no life or personality on the London live music scene. After a marathon session of watching Cabaret and Salon Kitty, he formed the idea for an Electro-sleaze band that took the spirit of Berlin Cabaret, with its larger than life performance and poignant lyrics and combined it with 21st Century music to create Cabaret for the Digital Generation. After advertising for fellow souls who shared his vision, he met Zeibura and Sammm - the rest, as they say, is history...

Divine:

24, Male, Lives in North London - though in common with most Londoners who rent seems to move round every siix to twelve months

Consumate Performer, Visionary, Trendsetter, The New Voice of a Generation - these are just some of the words that have yet to be applied to Divine.

Guitarist and Bassist (Not simultaneously until he gets his cybernetic 3rd and Fourth arms), as well as drum programming, song writing and lyrical construction - also colaborates in giving creative direction, and writes things like this. The phrase Jack of all trades was invented for Divine, as was the kicker 'and master of none' some would say...

Divine has been involved in music since he was 7 years old and was forced to learn the violin. Subsequently, he learnt the Double Bass and loved it - from then on a passion has burnt inside him. He has played in such diverse groups as a full symphonic Orchestra, 50s Big Band, Brass Band, Wind Band, a Jazz Quintet and has played in the pit for several productions including the Rocky Horror Show and Little Shop of Horrors. Formerly of Abyss, Lacerda and Dead Star Brides, he can play guitar, bass guitar, double bass, violin, synthezisers, tuba and trombone - drums if pushed and can just about hold a tune when singing. He hopes one day to learn the saxaphone.

When not performing feats of musical skill, enjoys collecting anything related to the Cold War, reading about dictatorships of the 20th Century, arguing about the nature of the universe and prophesying the doom of mankind - possibly possesses the largest collection of movies related to armageddon in the world. Has a penchant for military uniforms, ridiculously high shoes and big hair - sometimes all three together.

Tall, Thin and really, honestly, does look like this every day. Evidently has far too much free time... often an insomniac...

Zeibura:

Zeibura, 18 male from Crystal Palace. Music Technology Student.

Zeibura can play any instrument with a keyboard unless it has the words "roland" or "casio" on it, as these are likely to fuel homicidal rage.

Zeibura was introduced to music through chiptune, has had a bond with general midi for many years and is still discovering its wonders. His other musical pasttimes include sampling room ambience, experimenting with obscure vocal technique and attempting to create new hybrid styles of electronic music. He also believes that vocoders are the best invention since sliced bread.

Not quite as tall as Divine, but equally thin and with roughly the same amount of free time, especially in August. Zeibura has been producing solo work under the name of DeaD PersoN since 2001.

Sammm:

Sammm is the vocalist in Kabarette Obscura. She is 20 and lives in North London. She is a talented and unique vocalist and performer who, previous to joining Kabarette Obscura, was a solo cabaret artiste. In joining this group she brings the experience she has of classical cabaret and looks to fuse it with modern electronica to create a unique hybrid. Sammm has the voice that Marlene Dietrich would have, had she lived as a hooker for 15 years in Kings Cross - sleazy and powerful, which will take you by surprise.

Sammm has always looked to find an outlet for her inate creativity and seeks to explore and augment the human form through the medium of make up and fashion design. When not performing, Sammm is a voracious reader, taking in such diverse literitury subjects as Philosophy, Psychology and Art. Artistically, she draws particular influence from the work of Franz Marc, Nan Goldin, Pablo Picasso, Greer Lancton, Gustav Klimt and Wassily Kandinsky among others.

Sammm has a fondness for the letter 'm', and has collected three over the years that she wears on the end of her name. She often wears incredibly tight corsets and ridiculously high shoes which make her difficult to spot in a crowd - she is a lot more friendly and approachable than her looks might first suggest. Her perfectly drawn eyebrows create awe and wonder wherever she goes.

We will play live when we feel we are ready. We seek not only to play our music but to develop a performance. Too many artists just view a gig as an extended jam session.

We intend no one who comes to our shows will be bored. We will strut, we will preen, we will perform, we will camp-it-up. We are both the artist and the subject - larger than life yet containing life within itself.

We will hold a mirror up to the world, then check our make-up in it...

Ute Lemper, Tom Waits, Marlene Dietrich, Rasputina, Soft Cell, Depeche Mode, Aphex Twin, Atari Teenage Riot, Ladytron, Pride and Fall, The Dresden Dolls, Mechanical Cabaret, Cabaret Voltaire

Fruityloops Studio v3

Cubase SX VST

Audition

Yamaha CS1X

Blueburst Les Paul

Classic T-Bird IV Bass

Digitech Death Metal Distortion pedal

Korg Pandora DX1

Many softsynths including Moog Modular/Korg Legacy/Virus Cube

Modular VST Effects

We hope one day to be considered a moral outrage by the reactionary blue-rinse set of middle England...

(Album artwork by FX80 http://www.fx80.com/, other artwork by Divine )