Goth Fight Cage Releases Essential Acoustic Double A-Side (Irish Bedroom Indie)
They’ say over time you make a band name its own, newly imbued with the intent, sound and message of the music resulting in the original meaning of the word being completely transformed and transcended. This is especially true of the solo project from Mark Holloway, Goth Fight Cage. From the fuzzy pop of debut single ‘Optimism’ to the vulnerability laid bare on new acoustic based double a-side single ‘I’m Going Out’ and ‘Stop + See’. Mark is bringing whatever meaning he chooses to Goth Fight Cage.
With Mark as the sole member, right at the core of Goth Fight Cage is a strong DIY ethic. Writing, recording, producing and engineering each track while simultaneously being the creative force behind videos, photos and artwork all comes from Mark. This makes Goth Fight Cage an intensely personal project. This is felt more and more the longer the project goes on, with the new double a-side Mark pulls the back the curtain even more. Both tracks were written and recorded in his bedroom, a space that seems to offer solace from the world as much as it is antagonistic.
Place is particularly intrinsic to the first track of the pair ‘I’m Going Out’ opening, and punctuated throughout, with persistent pitter patter dance of the Irish rain against the skylight. From the outset it already feels intimate and personal, almost like were privy to something we weren’t ever meant to hear. A quiet moment that wasn’t meant for anyone else, luckily, we’ve been allowed to be a part of it. Starting off life as a finger picking exercise that gave way to a melody. The guitar at the start of the track is played on a hollow body played acoustically giving the part a unique sound. Lyrically Mark speaks of a restlessness felt in himself, where he was living and the direction his life was taking coupled with an intense desire to flee, burdened with the knowledge that was unlikely to happen. The sample that comes in and acts as a foil to Marks affected vocals is a nod to some time he spent in France and when asked about simply states, ‘if you know, you know’. Theres an oppressive melancholy that runs through the track, a partial reflection of the Irish winter forcing us inside. This is carried through into the video shot entirely on Mark’s street, capturing the futile attempts to flee but never making it further than the car.
‘Stop + See’ while still in the downbeat acoustic arena has a discernible pop lilt to it, helped in no small part by an old organ synth ran through an old undated Peavey amp. It brings a little of French band Air feeling to the post chorus, a sliver of respite to the melancholia. Lyrically the track searches for a way through some past digressions, the brutal self-reflections that raise their ugly heads in the dark of night and how we deal with those. Mark talks about how the final lines in each song were the threads that tie them together, ‘just laying low’ and ‘life being a long and winding road’, feels almost beat-poet-esque.
Both tracks were initially conceived for a different project with bigger productions but stripping them back and giving the music and sentiment the space pulled them together. The intimate nature of the tracks and the recording don’t concern Mark, but he talks of nerves when the performs them live, no wall of fuzzy reverbs to hide behind. The songs, in this case, are all the better for it.