Side Effects was founded 1976 by members of the group SPK as an outlet for their own work, and quickly became established as one of the pioneering labels of what was then referred to as the "industrial" movement of the late nineteen seventies.

B (Lustmord) was involved with the label as well as SPK behind the scenes, and in 1985 control of the label was handed over to B when it became apparent that it could be an asset to other, like-minded artists and that as such it needed full-time attention.

Three years latter, in 1988, B became sole proprietor of the label.

During the heights of the label's artistic and financial success in the late eighties, the distributor Rough Trade (England) went into receivership, leaving it's very large debts unpaid, including a large percentage of Side Effects sales profit. The severe financial loss incurred forced the label into a period of inactivity for three years.
In the early nineteen nineties, the gradual process of re-birth was initiated, and a few releases were issued with the help and support of World Serpent Distribution until 1993, when B and the label re-located to the USA, with new distribution via Soleilmoon.

The late nineties became a turning point for independent labels and distributors alike, with many closing their doors as a result of increasing music downloads, eroding distribution channels and diminishing coverage in the press and radio as a results of buy-outs in the respective industries by major corporations. In addition to that, it just wasn't fun anymore, and accordingly Side Effects ceased operations effective April 1999.

As each form of popular music devolves and dissolves into countless permutations of what has gone before, it is self-evident there is a very real need to continuously diversify in order to forge an ever new vocabulary of sound, and to widen each new horizon.
Over the last two decades terms such as "industrial" and "ambient" amongst many others have been applied to an ever increasing and ever more bewildering array of musicians, creating the illusion of a coherent and unified musical movement, while their only true connection has been that, at one stage or another an observer considered their work challenging or different, - based on limited experience or reference.
Such terms are merely convenient labels, and quickly become quite meaningless when applied to any and every music that has even the slightest variation on the standard structure of popular music.
It is appropriate to attribute the actual origin of modern sonic experimentation to the writing of the Futurist manifesto "The Art of Noises" by Luigi Russolo on March 11 1913, in which he proposed that:
"we break out of this limited circle of sounds and conquer the infinite variety of noise-sounds".
 
His suggestion that music embrace all form of sound, from that of nature to that of a modern industrial society, with sirens and metal scraping, of dishes breaking or even the sounds of warfare, was considered to audacious by many.
In the same year Russolo wrote "Awaking of a City". The best known and most influential Futurist anti-music, this work, along with that of his collaborator Filippo Tommaso Marinetti evolved into the "machine music" of the nineteen twenties, from which was born the true twentieth century music, with it's manipulation of pure sound and the use of synthetic sound shaping processes, both of which were impossible before the advent of electronics.
 
While the likes of Stravinsky's re-evaluation made significant changes to the evolution of classical music, and the avant-garde where wholeheartedly embracing modern technology, there was very little impact outside the exclusive and comfortable circles of intellectuals and academics.
It wasn't until the late nineteen-sixties that the promise of a new music began to take popular hold, when a new breed of musician was evolving, born out of the post war generation with it's thirst for the new.
From backgrounds as diverse as rock, jazz and classical, they where not afraid to break from the past and adopt the new electronic instrumentation, and used them to fashion their own musical heritage.
The possibilities then hinted at, have been broadened even further with computer assisted sound manipulation and the use of the studio itself as an instrument.
Those who embrace these and other possibilities are united in a quest to forge the new, as opposed to reconstructing the past, to independently evolve their own sonic language founded on a rapprochement between avant-garde aesthetics, radical politics, and popular culture.
It seems inevitable that individuals with integrity are the only ones willing and able to pursue their own vision, whatever the outcome.
Here are represented such individuals, who are at very heart of a true alternative to the mundane, a worldwide deep network of friends, allies and co-conspirators, who are both directly and indirectly influential on a more overtly commercial underground scene.
These lone voices, united within common goals and means, should not be confused with any scene or movement. These are the voices of the individual.

B.

February 1996