Founded in 1990, the pioneering outfit London After Midnight has gifted the music world with some of the most rewarding offerings imaginable. Although LAM has a live lineup, this revered entity remains the one-man project of the genius of vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Sean Brennan. Transcending categorization, London After Midnight mesmerizes listeners with their thoroughly individualistic brand of dark magic, haunting to the core yet utterly meaningful. LAM’s atmospheres are unsurpassed in terms of their intoxicating and inspiring powers, wielding a timeless charm that only strengthens its grip with each play. LAM is internationally beloved for masterpieces like Selected Scenes from the End of the World, which premiered on cassette in 1991; 1996’s Psycho Magnet; 1998’s Oddities; 2007’s Violent Acts of Beauty; and so forth. In 2019, Brennan founded Darkride Records, which has unleashed the 2019 deluxe edition of LAM’s Selected Scenes from the End of the World: 9119; Live from Isolation in 2021; and then Oddities Too in 2022.

We were thrilled to have the opportunity to send our questions to Mr. Brennan, who kindly provided us with beautiful and highly informative replies. Please enjoy the results of our discussion with the master himself below. LAM is certainly one of my favorite artists, and I trust that many of those reading this can say the same.

Hi Mr. Brennan! Thank you very much for agreeing to this interview! Is there anything new going on with London After Midnight at the moment, or do you have any plans that you can tell us about? If I may ask: How is your next album coming along?

SEAN BRENNAN: I am currently recording the all new London After Midnight album. I started recording it a few years ago. But then I started my record label, Darkride Records, re-released a few older albums that were remixed from the original multi-track tapes, moved across the country before the pandemic shut everything down, and released a live album on the new label. So everything was kind of delayed with this new album, but it’s finally getting completed now.

It seems that we can count 2025 as London After Midnight’s 35th anniversary. It will also mark 30 years since the release of the classic “Kiss” as a single. Do you intend to celebrate these occasions?


SEAN: No celebrations planned at this time, but you never know.

As you’ve clarified, “Kiss” is about sexual abuse by figures within the Catholic Church, though listeners sometimes don’t realize that. Of course, part of the brilliance of that song, however, is that it lends itself to various interpretations. How do you feel about the Dope Stars Inc. covers of “Kiss” and “Untitled”? I really like both and find the band’s energy to be refreshing.

SEAN: As far as the music goes, ‘Kiss’ started very differently and that’s where the lyrics started. Then I changed the song, musically, but carried over the lyrics and it worked better due to the contrast, in my mind, of the subject matter and the sound. The song was mainly about abuse by those in power in settings like schools or churches. Of course it’s been interpreted differently by listeners, and that’s fine because the abuse or religious aspects weren’t really overt, it was meant to be a bit hidden. That song was always a little abstract. I have heard both covers, Victor is a talented producer.

You’ve covered “Hot Stuff,” “Scary Monsters,” and “Sally’s Song.” In a discussion with Side-Line, you stated that the writer of “Hot Stuff,” Pete Bellotte, sent you a message conveying how much he loved your rendition. Are there any other songs that you hope to reimagine in the future that you would be willing to name here? I just assume that you want to keep the one that is supposed to be featured on your record in progress a secret.

SEAN: Yes, getting an email from Pete Bellotte out of the blue was quite surprising, saying it was his favorite cover of the song. Really an honor. There will be a cover song on the new album as well. It was a song that was always a bit special to me since childhood since I used it in a home movie I made that eventually won some awards. It’s a very well-known song, but I think my version takes it somewhere different that makes it worthwhile.

While you’ve likened Psycho Magnet, for example, to “an intensely personal journal,” you’ve described Violent Acts of Beauty as “more reflective of the world and more observational of emotions.” The latter album, in a sense, represents a critique of hypocrisy. There and elsewhere, you apply psychology, which you’ve studied: Take “Love You to Death,” which is told from a stalker’s point of view. Violent Acts of Beauty does include “Pure,” a sonic existential crisis that differs from the other tracks but still fits. To me, that is one of the most heartrending and beautiful songs in existence, and it provides an incredibly cathartic experience. What have been the struggles of mixing intimate and socially conscious facets of your texts over the years? Also, speaking of the expansion of your lyrical content, how do you personally view the evolution of London After Midnight?

SEAN: It is a struggle because some people aren’t particularly open minded to subject matter outside of what they imagine might be the standard subject matter for their scene. Like when “Violent Acts of Beauty” (2007) was released there was some blowback, not about the quality of the music, but about what people wrongly assumed was a 100% “political album”, which they thought was a departure from my earlier work. “Violent Acts…” did have some politics and social issues in it, but it’s also intensely personal. There is one overtly political song on the album, all the other songs can be interpreted in any way the listener wants. And my earlier work had blatantly political songs. ‘Revenge’ from “Selected Scenes from the End of the World” (1991) for example, is a very anti-fascist, anti-racism song. “Violent Acts of Beauty” combines the intimate with the more reflective and observational, sometimes blurring the line. Most fans understood “Violent Acts…”, but there was some weird right-wing and conservative condemnation initially. Which was surprising to me, being that the genre LAM is most associated with is an extension of punk, which was pretty much founded on rebellion against right-wing conservatism. But to some degree I think the socially conscious aspects intertwine with the intimate. If we’re the type of person who understands and cares how larger issues impact others then I think that goes hand in hand with the more personal struggles we deal with — relationships, stresses — it’s about giving and hoping for empathy, I guess, the value of empathy. If we’re the type of person who doesn’t care what happens to others, or ignores and doesn’t value the larger things, then I think that whining about your own experiences in a song rings a little hollow. That’s a story I’m really not interested in hearing — someone complaining about their lives while ignoring the world burning down around them.

I love the front cover of Violent Acts of Beauty, which you, of course, designed. It resembles a Soviet propaganda poster. Are there any Soviet artists or poets whose creations you admire? I spent quite a bit of time in Russia, so I’m very interested in such things. I think it’s fascinating that, whether meant to serve or rebel against the Soviet regime, much of the art from that era still manages to speak for itself and have value, therefore reasserting the power of the individual, exactly what the state tried to muffle.


SEAN: I’ve always been inspired by political art. From street art to overt political art, it’s all very powerful to me. I have books on Cuban revolutionary art, Haitian political art, soviet propaganda art, American propaganda art. In regard to the cover artwork specifically, “Violent Acts…” was created largely in response to the right-wing take over in the US with Bush Jr and conservative media in the years after the 9/11 attacks. It was saying we’re in a war against fascism, with the growing influence of right-wing extremism. I think that most artists from that time who were doing so accurately pointed out that what was happening then was leading us towards fascism and self destruction. Critics complained we were “extreme” and dismissed us, but it was accurate. Here we are now, days before the 2024 election, choosing between an overt fascist, rapist, racist who doesn’t believe in science, Trump, and Kamala Harris, who isn’t perfect but is the obvious better choice of the two if we want a livable world. Political art is a barometer for society, you look back a couple of decades to the early 2000s and can see that the art wasn’t hyperbolic at all and society should have paid more attention. So the artists and activists were correct despite all the critics and the mainstream shouting that we were being “extreme”, or calling us “communists” because we pointed out that fascism is a bad thing.

What have been the biggest challenges when it comes to keeping LAM going through the years?


SEAN: LAM faced a lot of changes in its life. From the internet being born to file sharing and now streaming, the collapse of the music industry as a result, the inability to reach fans or a wider potential fan base due to the collapse of indie print media, the list goes on. These are all things that greatly changed how art is manufactured, distributed, consumed and even interpreted. So it’s been a challenge dealing with all that, and remains one.

You’ve had a long list of live members pass through your ranks. Your current live bandmates are Michael Areklett, Pete Pace, and Jeremy Kohnmann. What would you like to share about what they, or any of your other associates through the years, have brought to the table thus far?

SEAN: Considering the band started in 1990 it’s not surprising there have been changes in the live line up. Plus it’s mainly my project, though I never intended it to be that way in the beginning. I started London After Midnight, but I meant to be just the guitar player. Then I searched for other people to perform. Then I had to move to vocalist because I couldn’t find a singer. Then move to song writer because no one wrote music. Then had to make all the decisions and shape the band because no one else would. So someone had to actually do all this stuff or there would have been no LAM. That’s why it became my project. But the members who perform in LAM now, Michael, Pete and Jeremy each have a long list of credentials and have been around the band through the most active part of its history — Pete Pace has recorded with several major artists and is the best drummer I ever worked with. Michael Areklett has been with the band since nearly the very beginning, and was around the band prior to that too, he writes his own music and plays in another project he created. He’s been a good friend and is a great musician. Jeremy Kohnmann is an established writer and player, touring with several artists over the years. Others have come and gone but the guys I work with now are all great and nice people.

Is there anything you would like readers to know about your late member, Tamlyn, who joined you at the start?


SEAN: Tamlyn was a great classically trained pianist. While I wrote the keyboard parts to my songs and sequenced them for albums, Tamlyn wrote their own music, too, and contributed two songs to LAM albums (‘Theme from the Film Love and Affliction’, so named by me for its intended use in a short film I was making before the release of “Psycho Magnet” (1995), and ‘Ice’ from “Oddities” (1998), re-released on “Oddities Too” (2022). But they played keyboard at live concerts for many years. Tamlyn was a great artist too, having worked in the animation industry for several years on extremely popular projects ranging from the Ren and Stimpy show to music videos for major artists like Björk. Tamlyn was a great person but had issues later in life that caused them a lot of conflicts. LAM parted ways with Tamlyn in 2006. Sadly, Tamlyn died in 2021.

You founded Darkride Records in 2019 and have released three titles on the label since then. Obviously, having your own label allows increased artistic freedom. You have noted that labels can be greatly limiting. I see that incompetence, laziness, corruption, money-hungry antics, and poor decision-making are frequent problems, though there are some decent labels, in my opinion, mostly those formed by other artists and located in Europe. In any case, running a label is clearly a huge commitment. Please tell us how your journey with Darkride has been to date and about operating your international merch shops. What should other musicians looking to go their own way keep in mind?

SEAN: I started Darkride Records mainly as a means to release LAM music under my own power, my own banner or masthead. And all physical product was sold out but people still wanted it. So I wanted to re-release my albums but didn’t want to just release what people had already heard, I wanted it to be special. So I decided to re-release my first 3 albums completely remixed from the original multi-track tapes. In process I could restore the songs — adding original audio I couldn’t include the first time, fix problems with the original mixes, add unreleased songs, etc. This was quite expensive and laborious but worth it, in my opinion. All my distribution deals with other labels had expired and I didn’t want to renew them under the terms that were being offered — the environment today, post filesharing and streaming, is such that labels will claim your digital distribution rights, taking royalties while not doing the work required to be entitled to them. For example, a label will claim royalties well after they stop publicizing an album, or well after they stop distributing physical product. And since there are so few places to actually release physical product today, and physical distribution was all I needed, I decided to just start my own label and cut out the middle man who would just be siphoning off any earnings that could fund future projects. I think the whole collapse of the music industry, due to file sharing and now streaming, has been a largely negative thing — because artists have no power now, even less than they had pre-file sharing. People used to justify filesharing by saying that they were attacking the labels, but that wasn’t what happened. The “greedy labels” bogeyman has now just been replaced by Spotify and all the other streaming services that offer even worse deals to the artists. But people support them without thought… I’m not sure what happened to all that “righteous indignation” on behalf of marginalized artists who may have been taken advantage of by labels in the past. Now that listeners can listen to music for free without filesharing while the artists are being taken advantage of by streaming companies it seems no one cares anymore. So nothing was accomplished, except consolidating power over artists into the hands of a very few hugely wealthy companies rather than thousands and thousands of independent record labels that could have done much better by the artists.

Without fail, London After Midnight conquers the Deutsche Alternative Charts and other charts. Would you care to reflect upon the fact that this has been so despite, or perhaps because of, your uncompromising approach? One could claim that not selling out often sells, to put it a bit crudely but optimistically.

SEAN: I think LAM is a very weird example of a band in today’s world. It’s more an art project than a conventional band, with bands seeming to operate more as businesses today. I think that my approach is a little more underground. So it’s nice to see LAM chart on the various European charts with each release because, to me, it is so underground, so it’s unexpected.

On the topic of the DAC, it appears that Germany is one of the countries with the most London After Midnight fans. I’ve noticed that other non-German outfits I respect seem to be especially beloved there. If I may make a generalization, why do you think it is that Germans have such good taste in music?


SEAN: It’s similar in other parts of Europe and a big contrast to the USA. But the underground alternative music scenes there always seemed to have widespread recognition. This starts with the people, the fans, who are supportive and positive and who have a sophistication that leads them to seek out and appreciate original art. This leads to press and concert organizations taking the bands and their related genres/scenes seriously, providing coverage and exposure, which helps the artists be viewed more legitimately in the mainstream as well. This makes for an all around healthier music scene than corporatized scenes like in the USA. But it starts with the people. They have the power. If only the USA was like this too, it would be great, but the US is kind of the opposite — shunning and marginalizing anything that doesn’t have power and mainstream support behind it. The USA is very corporate minded, very negative in its approach to independent art and music. And the truly alternative scenes are too small to make a significant impact here.

You have gone back and revisited your old material not only by way of re-recordings, but you’ve also remixed original content from the multi-track audio tapes, added missing parts, had remastering done, updated the artwork, and so forth. As you’ve explained, you had no budget back in the ’90s and only had access to very limited and broken equipment. Recording was done under circumstances that were far from optimal. Furthermore, your live associates messed up certain things like the keyboard programming. What were the biggest takeaways and difficulties encountered during the process of giving your compositions new life?


SEAN: The biggest issues were fixing any recording problems at the time. Fixing poorly mixed instrumentation (keyboards for example) is easy when working with the original multi-track tapes. Trying to make poorly recorded or poorly performed drums sound right is harder. “Selected Scenes from the End of the World” (1991) had problems with drums that make the original mixes sound unprofessional, amateurish. With today’s technology we were able to clean up the recordings, fix parts that were performed poorly, and EQ things much better. So the new mix released in 2019 on Darkride Records, “Selected Scenes from the End of the World: 9119”, sounds like it always should have, while using only all the original audio. Also an issue was the mixer I had at the time, who wasn’t that experienced and just couldn’t get certain things to fit right, sonically, hence some original tracks were never used. On the new release I have been able to make these parts work, so original, never before heard audio is finally incorporated into the songs as it always should have been. Same thing with “Oddities Too” (2022), which was intended to be a follow up to the 1998 “Oddities” album with all its own songs. But for “Oddities Too” I ultimately decided to include the entire “Oddities” album as well — also remixed from the original tapes — making it a double album and getting that 1998 album off my list of deluxe remixes to release.

Obviously, when it comes to engineering, technology has changed a ton, greatly simplifying editing and whatnot. I’ve read that you usually compose on your computer, so that must have become easier as well. Can you comment on the expanded possibilities permitted and their impact on your music?

SEAN: I think you can more quickly get a professional result with today’s technology and without jumping through so many hoops. In the past I had to make 4 track and 8 track demo tapes, and then translate that to a 24 track recording to tape, under time pressure for a rented studio. This 24 track recording process required so much gear and tech help that it was just out of reach of many people. Today with digital recording it bypasses that whole barrier we had just a couple decades ago. There’s good and bad aspects to that, too, it’s not all positive. The ease of production has also allowed a lot of bad art, a lot of derivative and copy-cat art to be easily and cheaply unleashed onto the world.

Concerning the old versions of your songs, as you’ve recognized, the authenticity and emotion are completely there. Those are two of the many reasons why they’re classics. The updated versions of your tracks are magnificent, but, at the same time, I still think your originals are no less great and even perfect in a way. We see something similar with black metal: A good portion of the movement’s pioneers used what one would typically define as improper equipment, and yet their albums are still regarded as milestones. The sounds captured are viewed as having additional character due to their DIY charm. Perhaps this comparison will also make sense: Filmmakers have pointed out that sometimes when you shoot with poorer quality options, then, for some inexplicable reason, the feeling comes across even more powerfully. A grainy horror film can be even more frightening than one shot digitally. How do you explain the fact that you’ve created some of the most magical atmospheres while facing such grand obstacles?

SEAN: Thanks for saying that, but for many artists there’s probably always going to be an unachieved goal that they originally had. If you’re fine with something as is, that’s great. But to me, my first 3 albums, with no budget, just weren’t presented properly and needed to be fixed (I’m also in the process of doing this with my second album “Psycho Magnet”). Sure, you can get a good song across with an inferior recording, it’s been done a million times, but when possible it’s nice to take that small lens that is available to the listener of a bad mix and open it up more widely so they get a bigger, grander picture of what was possible with a song. With my songs being remixed on the new Darkride Records deluxe editions of the albums, they aren’t changing in a massive way, they are being clarified and restored. The difference, while profound and positive, doesn’t in any way take away from or contrast with the old mixes. It just gives you a better view of the songs. It’s like looking at a blurry photo of something you cherished for years, but then being presented with a clear version of the photo that reveals even more details that just adds to the experience.

I’ve spoken with Pytten, who produced a lot of seminal black metal offerings, and the Grammy-winning Sylvia Massy, who has worked with everyone from Tool to Johnny Cash. Despite having access to top-notch gear, they have both strategically used broken equipment to achieve certain effects. Sylvia finds a lot of cool and unlikely pieces at thrift shops and experiments in all sorts of crazy ways, whether recording through a pickle (yes, for real), underwater, with a German spy watch that doubles as a microphone, or at a nuclear power plant. When it comes to the production of your albums, what are some of the things that you experiment with?

SEAN: My work is more about the songwriting rather than production. But, as detailed earlier, this led me to rely on people, like mixers, when recording my songs. And sometimes these people did not understand what I wanted. So now that I am doing that myself I’ve gotten more tuned into that production aspect. But still, my main concern is good songwriting. I’m not an industrial band, trying to get a weird sound from some piece of obscure gear or working on the “perfect” kick drum sound, or trying to write a song to fit into a genre — I’m trying to write a good song.

I really enjoy the alternative versions of “The Bondage Song” — the “Unchained Mix” and the “Tiamat Remix.” I’ve always thought it was interesting that Tiamat began in the vein of black/death, by the way. How did their remix come to be?


SEAN: I don’t know how that came about. I wasn’t approached about it. I still don’t know anything about it, though I have heard their mix.

How did you come up with the idea to reinterpret “Sacrifice” with a string quartet behind you?

SEAN: I’d always wanted to do that from the very beginning. It just seemed a natural option for the song. To me it’s a sort of Baroque, gothic tragedy and seemed to be aching for a stylized dramatic interpretation.

In 2022, you unleashed the video for “Better Off Dead (Be My Guest),” which you edited. I had known previously that you studied film, and you told ReGen Music Magazine that you grew up making films with your father’s camera. You revealed: “I do have several short film ideas I hope to get to one day.” Is there any more you can say about that?


SEAN: Those videos are just promotional clips for the songs and not something that really represents my film making ‘mind’. But yeah, I have several short film ideas I would love to concentrate on. I don’t want to reveal too much about them though at this point, but most are not related to LAM or music. One idea, however, was to restart the old film project I had that I wanted to release when “Psycho Magnet” was released in 1995/96, called “Love and Affliction.”

London After Midnight boasts a mesmerizing cinematic quality, and you take your name from the Tod Browning film. You contributed “Fear” to the soundtrack of Saw II, and I hope to hear LAM in other movies. As far as guesting with other musical artists goes, you’ve collaborated with Lore and L’Âme Immortelle, for instance. Are there any filmmakers and/or musicians with whom you wish to collaborate in the future?


SEAN: I would welcome any collaborations. There are so many really talented people out there, so it would be fun. But my take on writing music is really personal, I can more easily do that on my own. So it’s not something high on my priority list.

You’ve appeared at festivals with absolutely huge acts: Guns N’ Roses, Green Day, Slipknot, Soft Cell, Rammstein, Blondie, Bauhaus, etc. You’ve likewise shared the stage with HIM, and I’m an especially big fan of Ville Valo — I consider the two of you to be among my very favorite artists. About two decades ago, you participated in an especially memorable photo shoot together for Orkus. In the magazine, Ville mentioned that he listened to your work even before releasing his first EP, and that “Spider and the Fly” has been influential to him. Last year, London After Midnight and Ville, who has obviously gone solo, performed at Sick New World Festival and Hell and Heaven Festival. Were you able to catch up with him?


SEAN: No, I didn’t see him at either event, I was really busy and I’m sure he was, too, and we were there at different times. The Hell and Heaven festival in Mexico was kind of a mess because the promoters were criminals — over 30 bands cancelled prior to the festival because they weren’t paid or given enough information, many bands played but weren’t paid, there were warnings about violence, too. So it was kind of a worrying time, just hoping everything went smoothly. It was cool performing there — huge massive crowd, huge stages, but on the back side, the production side and business wise, they really screwed over the bands. So that festival was a little hard to do anything apart from worry because of the chaos.

London After Midnight receives invites to other important events like M’era Luna, which you played at this year. Are there any festival memories or fan interactions that you would like to discuss here? Are you planning any tours? I know that Covid interfered with exciting plans, but you were instead able to present fans with Live from Isolation, which you recorded in 2020.


SEAN: There have been several festival offers from Europe for 2025.

Although, I admit, they can be a necessary evil for communication purposes, neither of us is particularly fond of attaching labels to music. People frequently inaccurately group London After Midnight in with the so-called goth scene, a fact that doesn’t delight you. Nonetheless, I’ve read that you are happy to appeal to people of all musical leanings, and that you enjoy all kinds of genres from punk to classical. So, how does it feel that you are inevitably referred to as one of the best “goth” bands?

SEAN: Labels are impossible to avoid, but I resist being classified as one thing, musically. Working within the confines of a genre is antithetical to most artists’ nature. I don’t have a problem with people labeling you in their heads, but if someone says you have to be one thing and if you step outside of it then you’ve “changed” or something, well that isn’t healthy and doesn’t allow for growth. Also, media who classify art in such a way are being lazy. For critics or reviewers to default to assigning genre labels rather than describing or analyzing a musician’s art shows a journalistic laziness, or maybe an artistic immaturity.

Where do you mine inspiration from these days? Have any new and surprising influences popped up lately?


SEAN: Just life.

You were born in Connecticut and moved to California early on. How did living in those two places affect you musically? In addition, I’m curious: Has leaving Los Angeles for Virginia helped your creativity?

SEAN: The places didn’t really impact me so much in regard to music, but growing up in CT was great. But maybe I was exposed to the New York punk and underground scenes more due to my location in CT — with college radio playing that sort of music. I was very influenced by film music as a child, later classical music, and eventually rock, punk, post punk, gothic. This was the first music I really thought combined all these things I loved. Bands like Velvet Underground, for example, had a feel that no other popular music seemed to offer. But I loved all music. I could find something amazing in almost anything.

Your image is iconic, yet you expressed in conversation with Gothic Beauty Magazine that you’re not really interested in fashion — that you make your tops yourself or just go through your closet before photo shoots. Please tell me about making your own clothes. We interviewed “Stan Dark Art,” Stanislav Krawczyk, and for his sketches, he often uses locally made lipsticks by the brands of his friends, such as Justin Mayfield. Do your friends ever help you out in similar ways?


SEAN: I don’t know any clothing designers, but I’d welcome them.

Is there anything you consider worth clearing up here? I know that there have been many frustrating misunderstandings and slanderous rumors about LAM through the years that you’ve sought to correct. Ultimately, however, all of the dirt that might have been slung falls away at the end of the day, and the truth remains.

SEAN: Oh there’s probably so much, it wouldn’t all fit in this space. There’s a page on the LAM website dedicated to some of this insanity, but I assure you that the LAM album “Psycho Magnet” (1996) was written for a reason.

Now, I’m going to prod you a bit. You’ve made clear that you hate the ’80s. While I understand your point, that decade gave us plenty of nice things like Withnail & I (1987), the rise of Boy George, Die Ärzte, and some fabulous Russian bands. Okay… you did concede that some of the music is alright. Anyway, in your opinion, what were the best aspects of the ’80s?

SEAN: Some of the music wasn’t helpful and was superficial, but I think the 80s offered some great music and much needed recognition of underground scenes. It was mostly the societal leanings I despised — corporatization of art, quick and empty fads and trends, the rise of short term profit (but long term detriment), valuing image over substance, the rise of the modern conservative movement, etc. I mean, a lot of that negativity has always been there to a degree but the 80s really epitomized it and marked a time where it all started getting out of control to the point of destruction. There was some push back from the punk scenes, even up to early 90s, but that seemed short lived.

Thank you so much for this interview and also for your art — it’s been a constant companion to me. Before we conclude, are there any topics that we didn’t touch upon that you would like to cover?

SEAN: Thank you very much! Well, I’d just like to point people to the LAM website and social media for updates.

(Readers can visit LAM’s website here, their Instagram page here, their Facebook account here, and Sean Brennan’s Facebook here.)