Winter Soul

Biography: Winter Soul Distorted digitized souls hardwired to the sound of radiation-soaked machinery, Winter Soul leads the revolution in South African Industrial music. Members: Dave, Suzanne and Philbrey Dave has been making electronic music since 1998, experimenting with the darker side of trance and hard trance music, before moving into EBM in 2005. A mechanical engineer by trade, he draws inspiration from technology and its interaction with humanity. The powerful drum patterns of the industrial sound are combined with lush and intricate synth riffs, resulting in an extremely layered sound, often using twice the number of instruments as other EBM acts. The Winter Soul sound is achieved by the intense manipulation of sound generators, samples and effects in the digital realm, ripping sounds apart and re-assembling them with other components, before doing it all over again. Emphasis is placed on melodic content, as a means to convey emotion with power intrinsic to EBM, avoiding typical minimalistic orchestration. In 2006 the song “Stargazer” was uploaded onto a local Gothic community website, and received a good response, attracting the interest of Paul Baumgartener, the musician behind Garten der Asche, a Johannesburg based Industrial band. A 5 track demo was compiled in 2006 and expertly mixed & mastered by Philbrey Botha from Garten der Asche. The song “Black Widow” packed the Goth dancefloor at Zepplins nightclub in Pretoria on its first play. This song was also included on the virtual disc of the compilation “When Angels Die” In early 2007, Suzanne added her considerable musical talent to the Winter Soul lineup, and this marked the start of the transformation from recording project to live act. Suzanne has been receiving musical training from the age of four. An accomplished classical pianist and flautist, her credentials include advanced music theory and performance qualifications from the University of South Africa (UNISA). She has been a member of a variety of orchestras and ensembles and is currently a flautist in the Free State Youth Symphony Orchestra. A choral singer from an early age, she received more than five years of professional vocal training. As a member of the internationally acclaimed Bloemfontein Children’s Choir (1998-2003) she has traveled across Europe and has performed with numerous local and international celebrities. Her musical interests cover a broad spectrum of genres, including classical, jazz, rock and industrial influences. In 2007 the song “Reactor” was included in the compilation “Noise Terror Volume 2” along with tracks by Suicide Commando, Grendel, Noisuf-X and others. In 2008, producer and vocalist Philbrey joined Winter Soul Philbrey holds a qualification in sound engineering, studying under Mark Williams and Ankha. He is an experienced performer, having vocalled for Garten der Asche (Industrial), Forhekset (Black Metal ) and Tears Of Ignorance (EBM/Industrial). He has been DJing since 2002 across SA and in Germany, playing mainly industrial, but also dabbling in Goth and Metal. He prefers industrial rock and industrial metal, however it was black metal which inspired him to start vocalling. Eternal misanthrope, the personification of aggression and the industrial mindset, Philbrey is a powerful new component of the Winter Soul machine. Winter Soul played its first live show at the 2007 Goth Industrial Gathering in Cape Town and was very well supported, playing encores at that show as well as the following day’s Empyrean Fest in Stellenbosch. 2008 saw Winter Soul headlining Fracture Fest in Bloemfontein, introducing harsh electronic music to a predominantly metal driven scene, and in August they opened for supergroupVNV Nation in Cape Town. The revolution continues, comrades For more info, visit www.myspace.com/wintersoulebm. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.