Cabaret Voltaire - Micro-Phonies
I stumbled upon Cabaret Voltaire as I was an Altern-8 fan, and the Cabs' Western Re-Works 92 album featured a pair of Altern-8 remixes. These remixes were far from Altern-8's best work, but at least I listened to the rest of the CD and a lifelong love of Cabaret Voltaire began. They are a band that went through so many sounds and styles, but the Micro-Phonies and Crackdown era is my favourite. Stephen Mallinder is a hero to me, and years ago I stupidly contacted him about doing vocals on a track of mine, which musically I was completely unready for at the time. The vocal idea never happened, but we did meet for a few pints in a pub in Angel. For him to take time out from his life to spend two hours with a dribbling fan boy like me meant everything.