Communion After Dark is an Internet radio show that serves as a companion to the weekly Friday and Saturday dance nights at Ybor City’s The Castle (Tampa, Florida). It features the latest and best alternative-electronic music — EBM, dark electro, synth pop, goth, power noise. Europe spearheads these styles, which unfortunately receive little exposure in the United States. We are here to help counter that sad reality. However, you can assist far more effectively; buy CDs and legal downloads from the artists, and make sure you see these bands when concerts come to the area. It makes all the difference!
The show — airing first in February 2008 — is hosted every Monday by DJ Mark Paradise of The Castle, DJ Bryant Griffin of the band Ien Oblique, DJ Maus and DJ Tom Gold , who is the Resident DJ of The Castle, which has operated continuously since 1997 with weekly scene nights. It proudly stands as the premier dance club spinning these genres in the United States.
Communion After Dark can be found in the iTunes store where it frequents the Top 100 Music Podcast chart and is featured in the What’s Hot list. It's the dominate podcast covering these genres in the world. Shows are also available on YouTube (with some episodes attracting more than 330,000 views) and Mixcloud.(often ranking No. 1 in five different charts).
"Our primary goal from the beginning was to expose people to this genres's remarkable music, which is backed by an impressively large, diverse group of artists and labels," DJ Griffin said. "For electronic music fans, this music scene -- traditionally and tragically receiving little wide exposure -- represents an addicting treasure trove to explore."
Several special shows are featured each year too, which include guest DJs, interviews with bands and special themes such as covers, genre classics and Halloween.
Along with producing weekly shows, Communion After Dark also hosts several Tampa concerts and a music festival each year, and it has brought in such acts as VNV Nation, Suicide Commando, Velvet Acid Christ, Leaether Strip, Covenant, God Module, Tactical Sekt, Grendel. Its DJs also guest-spin at clubs and festivals.
For our usual format, the show features 15 tracks. What set belongs to what DJ? Though together we announce each others songs just heard, the set belongs to who starts and ends that announcement. Also, an introduction by "Promo Cyber-Girl" is fixed before the set, except the first, indicating who is up next.
If you have ever wondered why a show sounds harder or softer than the previous week it's usually because our goal is to expose listeners to the latest music; as a result, we're at the mercy of the labels and what is hitting stores at any particular time. Sometimes that means a show leaning toward hard stuff, other times toward soft stuff or an equal mix. Ideally, we would like a balance of it all each week, but that is not always possible. If there is a particular style you favor, just hang in there, it's simply a cycle normal for release schedules.
You can email the DJs at communionafterdark@yahoo.com.
And join us on Twitter and Facebook!