In 1986 I played drums in the Johannisthal punk band Morticians. The band practised in a cellar on Fritz Heckert Straße in Berlin’s Mitte district. Across the street, the cobblestone paving was bordered directly by the Wall. Behind it was where the music was at, while at the same time East Berlin’s live music scene was also exploding. Undeterred by odysseys on the S-Bahn and tram, goths and leather jackets made their way to gigs, from Volkshaus Bohnsdorf near Schönefeld all the way up to the north-east, to Rotkamp in Hohenschönhausen. Gig dates were a reliable indicator of where I could be found; on Tuesdays at Club 29, on Fridays at Fritz Schmenkel, during the weekend on the Insel der Jugend or at Am Tierpark. Thus, Danilo Steinert found me in September ’86 at one of the music venues and spoke to me…
(from the liner notes by Henning Rabe. translation: Stefan Widdess)
The East Berlin dark wave band Nontoxic was initially known as Mildernde Umstände. In 1988 the state-run artists’ agency issued an ultimatum: Name change, or no more gigs! The band continued as Nontoxic, in a squatted practice room right by the Berlin Mitte police station, which some goths had also been “introduced” to. Nontoxic gigged a lot, sharing the stage with bands such as Zorn, Herbst In Peking or the Fellini Prostitutes. In 1989, Nontoxic played at the East Berlin HdjT. Intoxication is based on a recording of this show. In 1990, the members of Nontoxic went on to play with bands such as Torpedo Mahlsdorf, Iron Henning, Edge of Silence and Calyx of Rose.
(tapetopia)