Over the past few years, Years of Denial has emerged as one of the most fascinating projects throughout the realms of synth, wave, body, noise and industrial music. The duo of Barkosina Hanusova and Jerome Tcherneyan have released a spectrum of some of the most exciting tracks and EPs on labels like Khemia, Death and Leisure, Pinkman and more. Further, their live shows have garnered acclaim across Europe for their ritualistic performances and infectious rhythms, hurling crowds into a frenzy. On November 4th, the duo will release Suicide Disco, their debut full length album and 2xLP on Brvtalist favorite Veyl records. To mark the release, today we premiere one of our favorite tracks from the album, “In Pain I Meditate” and talk to the duo about the release, their influences and of course our much anticipated record release party, taking place at OHM Berlin on November 14th. (see below)

Years of Denial - Suicide Disco (Veyl, 2019)

The Brvtalist: Tell us about the meaning of Suicide Disco and the concept of the album.

Years of Denial: Suicide Disco is the cherry on the cake of our 3 year long collaboration. The concept came together more fully, when we left the hectic city behind and went to write and create in a solitary environment. We suddenly had time to slow down and look at our work and our life with clear eyes. The title and the meaning of the album came out quite organically along the way. It is purely the combination of our sound and its poetic narrative. The music fuses upbeat repetitive grooves, pulsating arpeggios with catchy hooks, aggressive at times yet emotional and melancholic. As our dear friend Oliver Ho said after one of our gigs, “It sounded like Chris & Cosey meets Eurythmics, fucked up disco.”

The poetic narrative attributes to the human experience with subjects of death/suicide, addiction, mental health and paradigmatic states of mind. It’s an introverted journey that is often hard to see from the outside. There is an absence to those issues in our society. People don’t like to talk about it, but many suffer from it…

TB: This is project's first full length release. What was your approach like for the LP vs. EPs you've released?

YOD: Straight from the beginning of working together, we were writing a lot of music, not thinking so much about releases but rather material to play live. Then we would choose and finalize tracks in the studio, which were picked by various labels. So in a way this was quite a random process. On the other hand for the LP, we started from zero, knowing we will be collaborating with Veyl Records and it will lead to solid 2xLP. The purpose of the process was to create a substantial piece of work. We could finally re-define our sound with more awareness, choosing the direction of the project. You really think about the journey as a whole, the order of the tracks, the sound and the narrative as a unity. Like for any artist, having your first album out is an important moment and so you really take time and enormous love to treat it that way.

TB: Your music and performance have a very ritualistic element. What are a few things you're inspired by?

YOD: We both come from different backgrounds and are inspired by different art mediums, which is great, because that’s what really shapes the project.

Barkosina: My main inspiration comes from performance art, punk, literature/poetry and rave culture. All those art forms, I believe, are interconnected and have very strong social and political movement behind them. An edgy, expressive, liberal, raw, honest, authentic and most importantly, an open dialogue in between everyday life and Art. Musically, people like Lydia Lunch, Patti Smith, Nina Hagen, Nico… Well, all the femme fatal figures, who have been amplifying their soul using a mic, in their very own way, is extremely powerful and inspiring. As much as I am into electronic music production, the vocal side of it, is definitely crucial. Having a female voice is not a cliché. If you have things to say, it’s an absolute game changer. Don’t treat your voice as a sample, treat it as a lead! And beloved Einstürzenden Neubauten and Suicide, all have been large influences.

Every performance is a ritual, and it has repetitive element to it, yet each time the experience will vary. As in performance art, you set up your narrative/material, yet you don’t know where exactly it will take you to. Depending on the environment, culture, country, people and places... those are extra ingredients. The audience plays a major role and I like to have direct contact with them if that’s possible. There is always an intense vibration and energy exchange in between the performer and the audience and it creates frequencies, exactly as sound does. Sometimes it works out perfectly, sometimes it doesn’t. All this is material to work with while performing. Even having technical issues can burst into totally new material to work with.

Jerome: For the past 3 years, my influence has been Barkosina :). We create and also live together, as dangerous and difficult as it sounds, it is also a beautiful experience. There is not much distinction in between everyday life and creative time anymore. There was no master plan from the beginning and still isn't, we don’t try to sound like people we listen to or write words of others. In the most honest way, we simply document our poetic life; we became the process and as the result, the tool reshapes his creators in an infinite loop… The first band I fell in love with was The Cure, I saw them live in 89 and it had a massive impact on me. That same year I started to play drums and 30 years after I’m still into patterns and emotional melodies. In the nineties I met OCCULT 69, who ended up becoming one of my best friends, but also had a big influence on me. He introduced me to the sound of Basic Channel and Disko B but also Mille Plateaux and Panasonic. At that time I started to buy more and more electronic music and got into music production. Wordsound Records / Scorn / Techno Animal were my main influences but also the experiments of Pete Kember (Spacemen 3) with his project E.AR. Since then I keep my ears open expecting the unexpected.

TB: We'll be celebrating the release on November 14th at OHM. What can we expect from the show and how do you think the live has evolved over the past couple years?

YOD: You can expect some Suicide Disco :) the rest… we wouldn't spoil it.

The show definitely evolved a lot since we started. We’ve been changing gear, our set up has been different for every show but at the moment we finally found the perfect match. We also became much more innovative, having moments where we really jam and leave it open for improvisation, take a bit of risk and adventure and see what happens. Our communication and the way we work together on the stage also became more fluid, dynamic and less stressful, just like at home :)

TB: What's coming up next for the project?

YOD: We have some exciting upcoming gigs, so the focus will go mainly towards spreading the Suicide Disco and rock it on the stage We want to let the record breath a bit. Alongside our dance floor oriented sound, we’re also always creating more experimental noise music, and so we finally look forward to put this material together.

Suicide Disco, 2xLP is out November 4th on Veyl. Pick up the record here now: https://smarturl.it/VEYL012

For more info and to RSVP for the record release party on November 14th in Berlin visit RA.

-JRS