Spark. Well, if I am going to start sharing some thoughts with you motherfuckers then I should at least give you an introduction. When did industrial spark for me? What brought me to this dark, barren but rhythmic wasteland? I would have to say the bass-laden seed was planted at an early age. It was planted before I knew what industrial music was, during a time when I was only looking for a direction for my anger, a target for my displeasure, a method for my madness. My family was beyond broken and I never did fit when it was whole. I was asking too many questions and biting the hand that fed me. I was a little black girl who just couldn’t get with the stereotypical program. And soon, my classmates would introduce me to this wicked aural journey...spark. 

“It's something wrong inside dimensional uncivilized
to search for attitudes being absolute
to search for enemies in your space without a room
totally disguised afraid of your might
Building up a sanity you're unable to criticize
stand up and fight - wake up inside.” – Overgod – Steril

Spark. It began to grow within me. I listened night and day. I was driven to study it’s rhythm, it’s teachers. With industrial behind me, I felt more able, more powerful, and unapologetic about questioning society’s norms. I packed my bags and moved out of the family home. I was beginning to “wake up inside”. Spark. Eventually, I was inspired to move away, far away. It brought me pain, loneliness, and so much strength. I could hear Pankow whispering in my ear…”gimme, gimme, gimme more, much more”. I wanted that and I wanted to be a part of that. That was the industrial scene and its artists and its fans. My desire to dwell within the genre’s black wings made me fearless. I would go to any club, near or far, by myself. I would volunteer for anything I could to help the sickness spread. Industrial music had made a home inside of me. 

And I come here, still dedicated to you, my scene. Carrying the flag for bands like 16volt, Chemlab, Birmingham 6, Steinkind, Leatherstrip, Psyclon Nine, Sheep On Drugs, Klangstabil, Skinny Puppy, C.A.T., Modulate, Caustic, and the pounding list goes on and on.  Welcome to my world and my love of industrial music. 

“No one is allowed
to stand out from the crowd
today is the day
to move a step ahead

to show them what we can do
to show them where to go
we can do it right now
we found something to die for.” – Long Live EBM, Klutae


-Toya Holliday

Summer of 2007 on a drive back to Seattle from Chico California Seth, Brain, and I were listening to [S.I.T.D] in the car. We began complaining about never being able to hear NEW Industrial music in Seattle. Why is it that Seattle supposedly being such a "city for music", you go to clubs and hear songs and bands from 10 to 15 years ago? Now granted I love the "classics" as much as the next rivet head but when there are so many bands, labels, and DJ's out there struggling to keep the music alive by putting out new material that is not just as good but sometimes even better than the older materials WHY the HELL does it not get any club play?? Why isn't there a night out there that focuses on new music?

A few weeks later in late August of 2007, I decided that what we spoke about in the car ride back from Chico was something worth pursuing. We bitch and moan about a lack of movement in the Seattle rivet head scene all the time, why not actually do something about it? Why not have a night focused on progressing the music? A night where people can still hear the classics but be exposed to new music. Thus the conversations between Seth and I started. What would we call the night? Where would we do it? HOW do we do it?? We met on a regular basis, at bars taking shots of Vodka, to decide how this seemingly impossible endeavor was going to work out. We needed a name and a location. We consulted a good German friend of ours to come up with a name for the night. The original name was NEU MECHANISMUS, meaning "New Machinery" but shortly later we changed it to MECHANISMUS as the "NEU" part would be too hard to pronounce and didn't exactly roll off the tongue right.

Next came the location…we found the now defunct Capitol Hill Arts Center for our base of operations. A small venue located in the heart of Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood. Our first show was February 8th, 2008. 30 people showed up. Seth and I were the only acts as we DJ'ed. Me for my first time ever. The turnout was something we considered a success and thus decided we were on to something…

To be continued...