A Year in Music – 2022 – Trevor Ristow (Author)

Trevor Ristow has written a book, Waiting for Another War, covering the early days of seminal 80s indie band, the Sisters of Mercy.

How was music for you in 2022?

Most of it was garbage, some of it was great, same as every year. We got a lot of new Sisters Of Mercy live songs, which has made the year a success as far as I’m concerned.

What was your main musical highlight of 2022?

The March Violets box set. I’m listening to it this moment so I suppose it’s top of my mind. It’s a really beautifully designed box set by Jungle Records with a thick booklet done with band participation, and the amount of material spread across five CDs is impressive. There’s a lot I haven’t heard before. I’m always happy when someone collects demos, outtakes, radio sessions, alternative versions of almost any obscure band, because otherwise these things get lost in time. The fact that I happen to love The Violets makes this act of archival dedication all the more pleasing to me.

Have you gone to any gigs this year? How do you feel about live music?

I’ve been to a lot of them, although I moved out of New York City since the beginning of Covid and it’s a bit different trying to find a great gig in New Hampshire. There’s probably nowhere in the world like New York for just stumbling into an outstanding, sleeper gig and I miss that about the city. That
said, I’ve seen some great ones around here, including Opeth, Mastodon, Nick Cave, Backworld, The Infinity Ring, Bright Eyes, and Mono, to name a few.
There’s a band out of Concord, NH, called Cradle Of Judah. The guy, Gabriel, started putting on gigs in a small venue there. I’ve only been to one so far but it has a vibe a bit like St. Vitus in New York: metal, experimental, a bit industrial, just what I like. So I was happy to find that little scene there.

Living outside of a major city for the first time in my life has made me realize how important it is to have people in your community, or even a single person, making an effort to put on gigs and get people together.

Can you recommend an album that doesn’t get the credit it deserves?

Sure. Everything from the Damon Edge Paris years of Chrome, especially the album Another World, Motherhead Bug’s Zambodia, and Pink Mountaintops’ Outside Love. All great albums that hardly ever come up in conversation with people who love music.

Do you still listen to lots of music? How do you listen these days?

I listen to a ton of music, as always. At my desk out of iTunes is probably the most common but I also have a record player downstairs that gets heavy use.

What sort of year have you had yourself?

A very good one. My whole family got Covid in January or February, which was a relief. We got it, we recovered, we stopped worrying about it. We’re all very lucky to be healthy people. If you live with vulnerable people, or if you’re at risk yourself, then you have a different calculation to make. But I was sick to death of masking and fear. So yeah, it’s been a great year after a couple difficult ones.

Any projects?

I always have a list of projects on the boil. I’m working on the second volume of my Sisters Of Mercy book, and I have made some progress on it. Also, probably 20 years ago, I filmed some great interviews with the central characters of the Cinema Of Transgression, including my friend Nick Zedd, who recently died (RIP). So I think I will do something with those tapes, probably edit them together into an easily digestible mini-documentary on this very poorly understood movement in the history of cinema. I have an idea for a novel and another for a TV series, and another for a reference book on a subject entirely unrelated to music. I also have small kids, who are my priority, and a job.

So let’s just say that these projects won’t be done next week. But I will do them.