https://rollingstone.com.br/musica/the-sisters-of-mercy-ben-christo-centrevista-2025/

Invited by Rolling Stone Brazil to reflect on your excitement for the coming show of the Sisters of Mercy In Brazil, the guitarist Ben Christo He made use of an interesting word to define the local audience. In his view, Brazilian fans are “loyal”.

Such a feature can even be highlighted in cases such as the English Group of Gothic Rock, today composed of Christo, the original leader and member Andrew Eldritch (voice and guitar), Kai (guitar) and Chris Catalyst (Doktor Avalanche electronic battery operator). Brazil is the eighth country where the band most performed in its 45 years of career: in all, they performed 20 shows here, distributed in seven tours, since the first visit, in 1990. The national audience tends to value artists who come to us often. Reciprocity is the keyword of the relationship.

And a new chapter of this story will be written next September 26, a Friday, when the Sisters of Mercy plays at Tokio Marine Hall in Sao Paulo (tickets at Ticketmaster). This is the smallest range since the previous visit, as they were present here for the last time just over two years, in June 2023.

Why is there so much connection between Sisters and Brazil, to the point of justifying constant national tours? Member since 2006, Ben Christo has no exact answer, but shares his impression from reports he heard:

“What I discovered talking to Brazilian fans, journalists and friends is: I was told that, historically, there is a certain level of suffering and daily struggle in Brazil, so music is a great healing force for people – particularly alternative music, where you express itself in the appearance, way of dressing, being part of a group that is out of the mainstream. A safe space to express yourself, to feel different and to feel strong in your difference. ”

As in 2023, Sisters will only play in Sao Paulo in the coming tour. There is also no accurate explanation of this: Christo mentions “agenda, logistics, costs and other types of aspects”, but reinforces that this escapes his knowledge. Another point whose response was pending is in relation to the setlist, to be defined only very close to the performance date. But it anticipates the concept:

“Based on recent shows, I can say that we like to balance the recorded catalog and the recent songs we made together together [mas não foram lançadas em gravações]especially from the last five or six years. I think the look will also be different: a little more dramatic, with extremes of light and darkness. ”

A recent repertoire played in Bulgaria last Sunday, 14, included the following tracks:

1. Don’t Drive On Ice
2. Crash and burn
3. Ribbons
4. Doctor Jeep / Detonation Boulevard
5. Moire
6. I Will Call You
7. Alice
8. Dominion / Mother Russia
9. Summer
10. Giving Ground (The Sisterhood)
11. Marian
12. But Genevieve
13. Eyes of Caligula
14. Here
15. Quantum baby
16. On the Beach
17. When I’m on fire
18. Temple of Love

Bis:

19. Never Land (a fragment)
20. Lucretia my reflection
21. This corrosion

Note something interesting: “In the to Cry team”recently included in the series soundtrack Wandinhait is not present. It was not even possible to ask Ben about the track, as the interview took place before the debut of the new season of the show.

The new member

Since creating in 1980, Sisters of Mercy has undergone almost 20 training changes. Three bedrooms of the formation remain stable: Andrew Eldritch has been there from the beginning, while Chris Catalyst entered 2005 and Ben Christo the following year. The most recent change took place in 2023, shortly after the show in Brazil, when the guitarist Dylan Smith He had a serious disagreement with the group and ended up giving way to Kai.

According to Christo, Kai’s arrival was determinant in more than one aspect. In addition to being very proficient on guitar, the 32-year-old British-Japanese musician is a great singer.

“I love to sing and Kai is an amazing singer: he goes from high to serious and goes through everything between these two. He improved me, because he wanted to level up to correspond to his ability. Before, I sang things more rock, but Kai guided me towards what is a more true reflection of the sisters of Mercy’s vocal palette.”

The constant member

Kai’s recent arrival aside, the stability that Ben Christo and Chris Catalyst offers the Sisters of Mercy should be highlighted. What did Ben’s partnership with Andrew Eldritch did so well? The guitarist mentions, at first, reasons beyond music:

“I think Andrew and I have a good balance between similarities and differences. We like to read and watch movies and discuss them long, beyond the superficial value: about historical significance, symbolism and psychological and philosophical relevance of the issues raised by these movies and books. And it’s great not to talk about music. We talked a lot more about movies than about music.”

Ben, now 45, was born in the year when the Sisters of Mercy was founded. Therefore, the musician highlights the enormous learning obtained with the group leader over the nearly two decades of work together.

“He taught me a lot about moderation when it comes to performance and composition. When I joined the band, I was one of those guitarists who wants to play all the notes all the time. Andrew taught me that, in fact, it is much more effective to play only three notes, look at the audience and dominate the stage, instead of playing a lot and just looking at the guitar arm. Nothing but the important thing is what you don’t play.

There are not always agreements, however. However, the partnership between Andrew and Ben is lasting because of the balance.

“There are differences in our approaches, sometimes well polarized opinions, but we find a very good middle ground.”

Ben Christo Beyond the Sisters of Mercy

Apart from the Sisters of Mercy, Ben Christo built a robust catalog. Worked with artists and bands like Ako, Night by Night, ANZI DESTRATION, Pig, The 69 Eyes and Ricky Warwickeither as a member or guest.

When not with Andrew Eldritch and company, however, his focus is Dark Rock Diamond Black that he created in 2016. After a series of singles released, the idea is to make the first full album available next year. The guitarist, who in this initiative assumes vocals, elaborates:

“Sleedily, I think it’s a mix of hard rock and Dark Wave, with synthesizers combined with great riffs. We have a very positive message about anxiety, depression and addiction fights, based on solutions. We built a modest but strong community of fans on our disad and networks, a safe space for people around the world that may have gone through some difficulty and can find some consolation in this connection.”

The birthday albums

Finally, Ben Christo was invited to comment on two classic Sisters of Mercy albums that complete launch birthdays: First and Last and Alway (1985) and Vision Thing (1990), who reach their 40 and 35 years, respectively. Christo, of course, did not participate in the recordings of these records, but knew them as a fan and performs them live to this day.

First and Last and Alway (1985) | Some of the best known songs: “Black Planet”, “Marian”, “In Team To Cry”, “Nine While Nine”

BC: “Strangely, I just went to listen to this album in 2002. It was one of the band’s last works I heard. I worked at a wine store at the time and my boss lent me the album. I found it very special and unique, with a palpable atmosphere. Many bands tried to copy this sound. Some of them in the 1990s, they sounded like trying to recreate him in a heavier way. People, because when we play tracks from him, you see people’s eyes shine. ”

Vision Thing (1990) | Some of the best known songs: “More”, “Vision Thing”, “Doctor Jeep”, “Detonation Boulevard”

BC: “It was the first material from the Sisters of Mercy I heard. My uncle lent me the cassette tape and was positioned already on side B, which I had to hear first, otherwise I would have to go back to the beginning. The first song I heard was ‘WHEN YOU DON’T SEE ME’ And she immediately captured my imagination, my excitement and my attention. It was a high production hard rock, but with a very different vocal from the other songs I heard at the time. My favorite bands were DEF Leppard, AC/DC and Judas Priestwith sharper voices, while this vocal was very serious, enigmatic, almost spoken, with very kind, intriguing and esoteric lyrics. I really connected with that. I wonder if I would be so involved with the band if I had not heard that album and that song at that specific time. There are other great songs. I always loved ‘I WAS WRONG’it is very special in the shows. I get a little thrilled to touch her, because I remember listening to her on the bus to school. Also has ‘Ribbons’which I put in a collection of favorite songs when I was 15 years old. ‘More’ It’s a fantastic song, also exciting to play live. ”

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• Andrew Eldritch

• Ben Christo

• Interviews Igor Miranda

• The Sisters of Mercy