Séba Dolimont started up Side-Line in the previous era (we are talking about before the year 2000) and is still going on. He launched and helped out a lot of bands and is lately working on a great compilation, signed Belgian bands like Front 242, Implant, The Breath of Life ... He was one of the people who set a mark and helped me creating some good memories, so time for an interview: looking back, talking about the present and ending with a look at the future!
When did you get into the world of music as a fan? First gig? First CD bought?
My brother was very much into David Bowie, Blondie, Queen… but as a teenager I discovered new wave music at some point and I went my own way playing The Cure, Fad Gadget, Siouxsie, Sisters, Ghost Dance… I think the first Tape (yes I’m from that time! laugh) I bought were the single collection of THE CURE because that version was also holding B-sides! When I got my first turn-table, the 2 first records I bought were “Under The Flag” by FAD GADGET and a double-LP of THE CURE… While my first Compact Discs were a FRONT 242 single (“Headhunter”) because I wanted to test my new stereo system’s bass! As well as a live album of BERURIER NOIR as I also went through French punk stuff period at some point… Nice memories.
You started up Side-Line. When was the very first edition, who was in it? What was your role?
I was 18 years old at university. A friend I met there David Noiret wanted to create his own fanzine because we were all missing the right magazine promoting the underground scene and not being sold to the more mainstream pop stuff. He came up with the name Side-Line. The first edition was photocopied and sold in selected record stores across Belgium and also eventually in France thanks to Lol Chevaux (Ombre Sonore) and the boys of Sampler & Sans Reproches in Lille. We were then rapidly joined by my good old friend Benoit Blanchart… Stef Froidcoeur joined later as a true walking encyclopedia. Ronan Harris (VNV Nation) brought Side-Line on internet. Later Bernard Van Isacker took over, enlarged our scope and reinforced our web presence. Cédric Wattergniaux also joined just like many other friends around us. Since the very beginning I coordinated activities as chief editor. But it has always been a true team effort triggered by passion.
Pretty fast you launched next to the magazine also a free CD. Was it easy to get it done?
The most impacting choice we made was daring releasing the magazine in English although we were all non-native speakers. It opened us to the world and a way larger audience because we were filling a gap on the dark scene. At our 17th issue, rising German label Celtic Circle Prod offered us a publishing deal on glossy colour paper with professional distribution across Europe and we were one of the first mags on our scene to get a CD attached to the mag. Later on we changed publisher and joined hands with Orkus! Bringing us North American distribution and a US office run by my good old friend Patrice Synthea of Regenerator. In the end, we decided to self-release the mag ourselves to feel fully independent and enjoy journalistic freedom. Financially then we could not afford adding a CD any more but our fans continued following us for many years… I’m very proud of all we did and all these great people music allowed me to meet across the years. Fantastic!
Am I right to say you had a good relationship with Claus (P.N.E.)? How did it grow?
Claus always had a special connection with Belgium. We had the opportunity of helping PNE getting discovered outside Germany. And with time a real sincere friendship got constructed. When I started the Alfa Matrix label, Claus was one of the first bands joining us without hesitation and I helped him recovering his rights from past labels, etc. He’s a very nice person. He also helped us when we were building our early studio for our band Aiboforcen back in the days… Mutual care and trust is what unite us I think.
On a personal note: do you remember when and how we got in touch in the past?
Indeed Filip, you are one of these nice persons that music allowed me to meet. Back then it’s more for your work as photographer that we started working together. And talking about PNE, I remember you also shooting the press pitures for his first release on Alfa Matrix! Oh man, it’s crazy how time flies!
You also where part of another project (in the past, if I got it good), together with Benoît (Aiboforcen). But somehow I don’t see you in the actual credits anymore. Can you say something about that (next to your vision about the 7th studio album, who just got launched)?
Yes indeed; Benoît & myself created Aiboforcen. We did 4 releases together. Aiboforcen was actually the reason of creating our own label Alfa Matrix to release our 3rd studio album after some bad experiences with German labels. Also with my side-project (IN)TERNAL that was signed to Zoth Ommog and also featured Len Lemeire as male vocalist next to Cara Lithgo who sang on Aiboforcen’s “Kafarnaüm” album. But the crazy part is that the work for the label, plus the magazine and having become the father of 2 young sons, I had to make choices in my priorities. I never felt like being a good singer - it just happened… so we started lining-up more & more guest singers as we loved contributions since day one. And eventually I ended up in a more guiding role for Benoît, giving him tips & tricks to upgrade song structures and his production work, recommending him singers, etc. But it’s also great that we kept releasing each of his albums ever since. And his recent new album “Between Noise & Silence” is for me one of the best dark synth pop / EBM album ever. Sharp production, elaborate song writing, addictive melodies and an amazing work on vocal production with the perfect voices on each song male and female. The list of guest speaks for itself. He’s a very talented artist and I’m proud to have been friend with him since I was 14 or something when he was making noise on a cheap distorted guitar (laugh)!
At some point you decided to leave Side-Line and start up a label: Alfa Matrix. Why this transition and why did you choose this name?
I actually remained publisher of the magazine for several years after having created the Alfa Matrix label in 2001! But I indeed decided to step back as chief editor for editorial neutrality, managing the operational and business side of the magazine (finances, selling adverts, subscriptions, etc.). Totally leaving Side-Line is still for me one of the most difficult decisions that I made in my ‘music’ life. But when as a father of 2 young boys you are stuck by a virus that abruptly attacks your heart and almost kills you, the long days and nights you spend at hospital allow you questioning your priorities in life. To find a more appropriate balance between family, your main job and your music passion, there was just one too much in the equation. I felt I still had much more to learn and experience for the label rather than for a magazine. I could also inject more flexibility in the label planning than for the magazine which had a strict release date planning and always imposed us long sleepless nights before the closure of each issue. The name “Alfa Matrix” is a mix of elite/top quality (the alfa label) we were aiming for and the mother matrix offering a cocoon to our artists to grow with maximum artistic freedom and without having to worry about the operational side of the music scene. And maybe also an obvious hint to the cult “Matrix”’ movie that was for me back in the days a true revolution in many ways.
Can I also say there is still a synergy between Side-Line and Alfa Matrix? Like one is helping out the other and vice versa?
Well, our experience with the magazine and its related website was also one of the leverages that were there to put Alfa Matrix on orbit. I will never hide this! We knew exactly the impact that Side-Line could have to help us launching new talents and new releases… So yes, you can describe it as a synergy, but in all magazines you can see clear financing by specific record labels and you see many band members or even label staff in editorial staff of several magazines. I see it more as expertise sharing. And if the connections and affinities help, this is what business is all about isn’t it? And yes my past work at Side-Line definitely helped me signing many artists to the label cos I had built a strong contact or friendship with them through the years…
I remember Purple Moon doing the same thing in the past (and on top having a physical shop). How do you look back at that era?
Alain is still for me one of the few first persons who dared organizing big festivals for our scenes and attracting new bands from the German scene to little Belgium. Expanding his activities to a record store, etc. was also clever. We even organized a side-line festival together back in the days inviting for the first time on Belgian soil bands like OOMPH!, PLACEBO EFFECT or yet PSYCHIC FORCE! These were the golden years of the Belgian scene definitely.
One of the biggest bands that signed was Front 242. How did you manage to get that done?
The arrival of this cult Belgian band to the Matrix was indeed an amazing boost in our ascension in our very first months of existence. Years of friendships and mutual respect brought us together and it’s been a very great, fruitful and inspiring collaboration with them in all simplicity. Things flow and are obvious. This year we re-released the vintage series of their early work on crystal clear vinyl with original artwork design and all. We managed selling over 50% of the pressings in direct by ourselves via our own webstore thanks to our amazing staunch fanbase. This is something we are very proud of. The official collaboration actually started with the MALE OR FEMALE trilogy. Patrick and Daniel asked me back then helping them finding the right label for this new project as they had been very deceived by labels from their past experiences. Back then Alfa Matrix was a tiny label with 5 bands, so I did not even consider making them an offer. I rapidly brought them a handful of contractual offers. And then they asked us why there was no offer from Alfa Matrix as trust was very important for them! The rest is history. Respect to them and thank for the eternal trust. Now when you say it’s our biggest signing, they are indeed a true legend. But it does not mean we don’t have other artists selling more than FRONT 242 actually! You could be surprised sometimes of the potential of our eclectic roster of artists…
What other artist are you proud off that you signed and why?
At Alfa Matrix we conceptually sign any artist joining the label at unanimity. It’s not always easy of course but it makes that we are always 300% behind every release and artist on the label. So my answer is here VERY simple: we are proud of every single release we had the honour to add to our label repertoire! Of course working with so many artists allows you building strong friendship and collaboration with some of them, bringing us closer and also outside of the music. Think of Len Lemeire of IMPLANT who I know since his very early demo and who has been with us since day one and who is also handling mastering for many of our releases. Seeing Sven Lauwers and Andy Dedecker joining us with their new METROLAND project was also a special moment after I had helped them a lot with their early work and tape releases as IONIC VISION. A wonderful encounter is also with NEIKKA RPM who were one of the first band to join the matrix. He has been a key protagonist supporting the Alfa Matrix label since day one in many aspects! Same also for Losttrooper of DUNKELWERK… He was our first dark electro act joining the label back then! He helps us a lot also for the German market. And there are many other great eternal friendships in the house but I don’t want to list all bands signed to us!!! But I definitely think of ACYLUM, HELALYN FLOWERS, AESTHETISCHE, PNE, KOMOR KOMMANDO…. So many. But a special thing was of course also releasing the new projects of my personal best friend Stephane Froidcoeur when he launched NEBULA-H with Mika. I’m so grateful that all these bands gave us their trust and allowed us releasing their artistic work…
Next to launching CD’s, you also give away a free compilation when you actually buy something from the label, has this strategy worked well over the years (stepping stone wise)?
You put here the finger on a key element of our label concept and strategy. We always used the slogan “together stronger”. These FREE Sounds From The Matrix CD compilations, but also the FREE digital “Matrix Downloaded” series have helped many of our fans discovering new music they liked and attracting new pairs of ears to the music of other artist on the label in all its sonic diversity. And when we get an order placed of somebody buying STAR INDUSTRY, C-LEKKTOR and MONDTRÄUME in one same package, I feel happy and proud that we also have staunch fans with very eclectic music tastes just like us . Our label strategy has always been to interact in direct with our fanbase, it’s a lot of work doing all these packages, but it allows us understanding their needs and expectations, capturing their feedback and taking it into account when possible. I think this strategy also allowed us surviving so many years cos it allowed us having less direct dependencies from our distributors as we saw too many going bankrupt through the years and many label collapsed with them several times. This is also something special we can offer to our artists actually! A true staunch fanbase in direct touch with us. So offering CDs with any new order placed on our own e-shop is part of the game! We also add goodies when we can…
Over the years you must have collected some nice memories, but also some nasty fights?
What I always found sad is that competition spirit on a scene that is such a small and tiny niche market. When Alfa Matrix arrived on, the market it really disturbed label colleagues who saw us as invaders on their German dominated market. Positive thing though is that some labels embraced our arrival and were very helpful in our early days. Alex Storm from Trisol is surely one of them! Bankruptcies of some big distributors were quite scary too like EFA in Germany or yet KGD Media in the USA. Pretty tough times. Amongst other nice moments I will for sure remember Bernard pushing us to join hands with a tiny Swedish start-up called Spotify at a time when all other labels were calling us names because we had dared selling our music on digital platforms. We were already one step ahead and exploring streaming… We also had some deceiving experiences with some bands and I learned though this that sometimes you better stay a fan of a band but you don’t put that at risk by working with them at any prize as you eventually deceive them because their expectations are unrealistic. So yes I then learnt to say NO to big and bands I love. But I prefer buying their records and remaining a fan in some cases. Egos are sometimes tricky and in my role of artist manager we need that special click to get things happening smoothly and nicely!
As a label owner it’s always great to have good people on board who know how to get a great studio job done. One of them is Len Lemeire. How do you look back at all this work getting done and hearing the difference from the early steps until a finished product.
This is what the Matrix is all about! We favour and promote collaborations within the family, within the matrix! So for mastering, having some of our bands handling masterings in their studios we definitely support their work. Let it be Len Lemeire but also Seb Komor or yet Maxx of Imjudas/Helalyn Flowers… We also work this way for design where Tomoki Hayasaka of Sheerheart in Japan has been a long term partner for our label and our bands… But Benoit Blanchart from the label also works on design for some of our bands. It’s another dimension of his creative mind outside Aiboforcen.
Is it thanks to all you connections that Len managed to work with Jean-Luc (Front 242), Anne Clark, …? Can I say he’s somehow part of your family?
Len is definitely a close family member. He’s a talented musician and author. And he never ever made any compromise in any of his work. He’s doing his own thing and that’s what makes his work so special album after album. The label probably help with some connections, but it’s his talent and commitment that really made such collaborations possible. But yes I probably arranged some remix duties for bands like Nitzer Ebb or yet Apoptygma Berzerk for him. But HE made the difference not me.
Next to Alfa Matrix you also launched Spleen+. Why this extra label and why going for another genre?
We proudly launched the Spleen+ label division of Alfa Matrix last year! A new adventure that allows us supporting and contributing to that continuous resurgence of the cold wave / post punk / minimal synth scene and offering it some structured and more targeted approach. Although Alfa Matrix always defended a quite eclectic attitude for its music repertoire, this focused approach should allow us better supporting artists playing this kind of sound and reaching out to a boiling sub-scene, enlarging our scope of activities and bringing complementary fanbases together… The very active Belgian act THE ULTIMATE DREAMERS was our first new signing in the genre while some current Alfa Matrix artists were potential candidates for a next release on spleen+ including IMJUDAS, NOEMI AURORA or yet STAR INDUSTRY. Together with Frédéric Cotton (known for decades of activities as concert & party promotor in Brussels behind the famous “Fantastique Nights” but also as lead singer of THE ULTIMATE DREAMERS) we also worked on a mega compilation “Resurgence” devoted to the cold wave/post punk genre that comes out this December as a wonderful pre-x-mas present! 7CD comp in a deluxe vinyl sized box including a book with testimonials from key scene protagonists. HANGING FREUD and cult Belgian acts THE BREATH OF LIFE and THE NAMES also joined the family!
One of the biggest Belgian bands within the scene launched a new album and a compilation after 39 years of existing via Spleen+, was it a huge thing for you to finally sign The Breath of Life? What’s your favourite track from them, btw and why?
I’m still wondering why we didn’t work together earlier. But sometimes we just need to get things fully aligned to get them happening. Funny is that the collaboration eventually seemed so obvious and natural for all of us. It’s a true honour and pleasure working with them. In my early years on the music scene, when I was still student, I was part of the event team at university and we actually organized a concert of THE BREATH OF LIFE in a cellar under the university. They were unsigned back then. Today we are releasing their new songs. Life is amazing sometimes isn’t it! With a huge repertoire like theirs, I would have too many songs to mention. So I’ll take the easy road and mention their brand new song we feature on our “Resurgence” compilation: “Slowly Crashing” – check it out! https://spleenplus.bandcamp.com/track/slowly-crashing
What is the ratio between selling CD’s/LP’s and digital tracks? How have you seen it evolving?
Well… The music market keeps shifting and we are facing very worrying times for the underground music scene. When I was working for German labels back in the days, I would sign any unknown band playing dark music in their garage and we would surely sell at least 1000 copies of their CD without too much effort. That was already quite different when we started Alfa Matrix. Then came digital sales and later streaming. Progressively, and accelerated by the various economic crisis we all went through the last decades, many fans started buying digital and eventually streaming music. Having restricted budgets for music and only buying CD’s or vinyl from a few bands and consuming the rest in digital format. Sadly enough many buy music from the bigger bands and sacrifice the newer talents, leaving almost to no chance to the new blood to grow and expand. So while digital sales initially brought some butter in the artists plates, today it’s their main revenue! As a label, we keep trying to release physical products including vinyl, because since our early days we always tried marketing quality and special limited items allying music and visuals. but in all honesty, I don’t think that the physical format for this tiny music scene will still last that long. People simply stopped buying music and there is no newer generation coming to compensate. The teenagers born in the new century are streamers and they consider that art is directly accessible and for free. This is killing underground art. No I won’t complain, we are lucky at Alfa Matrix to have so many staunch fand and followers who keep supporting us and our bands to the max. But one thing is certain, I would definitely not launch a new record label from scratch today. And it really hurts saying this Filip! But that’s our reality.
Was it always easy to keep things rolling whilst having a family, a full-time job with high responsibility?
Certainly not. And I’m glad we are 3 in the label with clearly defined roles and get support from other people. But sometimes it’s pretty tough because life is never easy and usually it brings you peak moments on all fronts at the very same moment. You actually no longer have any free minute for anything. So you kind of sacrifice a part of your social life to manage aligning all. But by keeping a full time job next to the label, always gave us the luxury position of having full artistic freedom and being able to run the label simply out of passion and not to bring bread on the table if you see what I mean. Other labels must struggle to recover their investments. On our side we can afford signing a band we like without caring too much if it will be a commercial success or not. But still, running the job, the label responsibilities and trying to be there for your family is like playing the acrobat too many times… I’m lucky to be a very organized person otherwise it would simply not be possible.
You recently launched one of the biggest compilations ever, with an amazing booklet and some other goodies on top. What is the story behind it?
Well, the Resurgence concept was part of the launch of the Spleen+ division. But the project simply evolved with time and took such an unexpected proportion that we ended up with 133 bands on the compilation, but also so many interviews and after all writing a sort of essay out of it all. And the quality was so obvious that we decided to do it in a luxury vinyl sized box. I hope you’ll like it! I’m quite confident knowing your tastes
Of what bands are you proud you got them included? What is according to you the biggest discovery within the compilation?
Like for any of the compilation projects I made through my career, I like any song I selected so I’m kind of proud of all of them of course! I indeed discovered a bunch of bands I had not heard before and that’s really the aim too of such a compilation. I love putting great artists in the spotlight and attracting new pairs of ears to their work. What I also enjoyed a lot what getting in touch again with many good old friends I sometimes had not talked to for way too long. And spontaneously they were part of the comp and / or accepted the interview request in no time. Let it be label managers I know for decades like Gero Herrde, Bruno Kramm, Sam Rosenthal, Alex Twin, Artaud Seth or yet the Negative Gain boys, but also bands like Clan Of Xymox, Skeletal Family, John Freyer, William Faith, Attrition, No More, etc., etc.
If you look back: what gave you the most satisfaction: something from the magazine, the label, meeting people and talking about creative things?
That’s a tough one Filip! For the magazine, probably the first big packages full of promo material we received from various labels we were fan of when we announced we were launching our magazine. And then obviously holding in my hands our first glossy edition with attached CD compilation. We had reached another massive level! For Alfa Matrix… Holding our first AM1001CD in hands, the debut album of the great US duo HUNGRY LUCY who inaugurated our repertoire. And thanks to my perseverance getting Claus Larsen of LEAETHER STRIP out of his never ending depression and reactivating his fountain of creativeness. And on a creative side besides releasing my own song with AIBOFORCEN, it’s probably plotting with Bernard on new creative campaigns or working on new design together with Benoit.
What’s your opinion about the new The Cure album (after 16 years of silence)?
We’re still in countdown for this release so I so far only heard 2 songs. I really like the second single, makes me think if the 1987 era. It’s great to see and hear Roberth Smith and the gang still active and bringing new tunes to their fans. Although an 8-track album might sound short, kind of. THE CURE evoke special moments of my youth and I still now and then play their records. I also coordinated 2 tribute compilations with our label artists in the “a strange play” series… Check them definitely! Really nice covers on there! So I just say MERCI for still being there in 2024. A bit like INDOCHINE that I’ll be very happy to see again next year in April …
What will the future bring for you? More concrete plans?
For Alfa Matrix we have a bunch of nice new releases in the pipeline! Besides what we already have in presales for the moment including DARKNESS ON DEMAND’s new album, I would certainly mention new stuff from ELEKTROSTAUB with some nice guest vocalists, the much anticipated new MONDTRÄUME or yet the last chapter in IMPLANT’s “chaos machines” trilogy. And if you are a FRONT 242 fan, please make sure to check the 22-track album of FIRST AID TECH. This is 90’s EBM Re:booted! While Spleen+ prepares new albums by THE ULTIMATE DREAMERS, THE NAMES and the debut of NOEMI AUROA, solo project of the HELALYN FLOWERS frontgirl!
Is there a question I should have asked? Or a matter we should have talked about, to close this interview?
Thanks for this interview and the long term friendship and all you did and do to support our music scene. We maybe did not talk much about the future of our music scene? I don’t see the future to be that bright unfortunately for the alternative underground scene. I see too many scene activists giving up and stopping activities while the fanbase is ageing and sees its budget for music shrinking constantly. Survival of the fittest will not be sufficient much longer… So all of you, please keep supporting the young and less known talents, they are the ones who are injecting a new breath of life into our dark scene.
Thank you for this well elaborated interview and thank you for the great time! May you live long and prosper!
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