DKA readies various artists compilation, shares new Tifaret track

• Courtesy DKA

Atlanta's DKA collective has no interest in resting on its laurels. The label and events organizer, operated by James Andrew (Tifaret), Matt Weiner (TWINS, Pyramid Club, Featureless Ghost), and Chris Daresta (Anticipation, Pyramid Club), has led a fervent campaign to celebrate and cultivate dark electronic music rooted in post-industrial, experimental, goth, and EBM modes. The label's recent output includes dark sets of sounds by artists both local (Fit of Body, Women's Work, TWINS, Warning Light, Anticipation) and from beyond (High-Functioning Flesh, Profligate, Dylan Ettinger, Goldendust) while purveying local goth danse parties and spiritually-akin live shows. The label now returns with Strategies Against The Body, a seven-song compilation that features new and exclusive sounds by label alumni (H-FF, TWINS, Tifaret) and newcomers (Tannhäuser Gate, Xander Harris, RedRedRed) as well as a means to facilitate the "dramatic resurgence of industrial music and culture that has been sweeping the globe the past few years."

After releasing Tifaret's "The Red Dress (Parts I/II), Andrew took a few moments to talk about the compilation's harrowing, driving closing track.

Strategies Against The Body by DKA Records

Strategies Against the Body is the perfect aural synopsis of the music with which DKA associates itself. How did the compilation fall into place?
Andrew: The compilation was organized over the period of over a year, the idea for it predates all of DKA's 2014 projects. Originally High-Functioning Flesh (who's debut LP we released last year) were supposed to just be doing their song on the compilation with us when the idea came up for their LP, so it's been in the works for quite a while. We wanted something that paid tribute to the exciting developments in the underground synth/industrial scene of the past few years that really dug in and showed the depth and span of the genre. The name of the comp, Strategies Against The Body, is really derived from that, obviously it pays lip service to Einstürzende Neubauten's seminal Strategies Against Architecture" series, but is also meant to show that these bands are not just '80s/'90s body music bands reborn, but bring their own takes and twists on the form for the modern era, as well as being a slight play on the consistent industrial theme of body horror.

How did "The Red Dress (Parts I/II)" come together?
The track started out as two separate songs, the second half was a song I was writing for the comp, the first half was a demo I'd had sitting around waiting to be finished for a few months. I wanted to do something that was spiritually reminiscent of something like This Mortal Coil's version of "Sixteen Days/Gathering Dust," as well as DJ mixes — that idea of pulling disparate tracks together and subverting the way you expect a song to unfold, so I came up with the idea of pushing them together and they fit surprisingly well.

What's next for Tifaret?
I'm currently planning a vinyl 12-inch inch split with TWINS which will be my next project (hopefully out either in the spring or summer), and I've started work on a LP which I'm hoping to get out sometime later this year.

Strategies Against the Body drops Feb. 17, but is available to pre-order now directly via DKA's Bandcamp.