Tarik Al-Kadhim (Vocals, guitar, songwriting), live performance musicians vary.
Influences
Ministry, The Cult, Fields of the Nephilim, Rammstein, Iron Maiden, The Sisters of Mercy, Lush, Duran Duran, Hanzel und Gretyl, The Cure, Danzig, Das Ich, My Bloody Valentine, Curve, I:Scintilla, 16Volt, Eisbrecher, Slowdive, Stereolab, Monster Magnet, Ride, Iggy and the Stooges, The Smiths, Morrissey, MC5, Led Zeppelin, Bauhaus, The Doors, Jimi Hendrix, Black Sabbath, Joy Division, David Bowie, Alice Cooper, Samhain, Misfits, Black Flag, Dead Kennedys, Revolting Cocks, HIM, Nitzer Ebb, Front 242, The Human League, The Faint, Interpol, Jesus and Mary Chain, The Psychedelic Furs, Pixies, Ecova, Frank Zappa, Cabaret Voltaire, Truly, Soundgarden, Slayer, Mozart, Verdi, Smetana, Mogwai, Deep Purple, KISS, Motorhead, T-Rex, The Who, Cream, Ladytron, The Killers, Roxy Music, Parliament Funkadelic, James Brown, Rick James, Al Green, Marvin Gaye, Tom Jones, Engelbert Humperdinck, Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, George Jones, Buck Owens, Jethro Tull, Ricky King, Buddy Guy, B.B. King, AC/DC, Bikini Kill, Magazine, Kyuss, Ramones, Sing-Sing, Cocteau Twins, Sloan, The Pursuit of Happiness, KMFDM, Dead or Alive, Massive Attack, Sonic Youth, Pere Ubu, Atari Teenage Riot, Hamza El Din, Munir Bachir, Ali Jihad Racy, Hossam Ramzy, Michael Hedges, ABC, Gary Numan, Miles Davis, Thelonious Monk, Charles Mingus, Talk Talk, Arcadia, Powerstation, Simple Minds, Adam Ant, A Flock of Seagulls, Sigue Sigue Sputnik, Siouxie and the Banshees, Robin Trower, Kraftwerk, The Cramps, Japan...
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Max Horkheimer, Friedrich Schiller, Soren Kierkegaard, Max Muller, Theodor Adorno, Albert Camus, Antar Ibn Shaddad, Salvador Dali, Albrecht Durer, David Lynch, Akira Kurosawa, Odd Nerdrum, Stanley Kubrick, Samuel Beckett, Antonin Artaud, Ingmar Bergman, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Eiji Tsuburaya, Ray Harryhausen, Lon Chaney, Wilhelm Busch, Hieronymus Bosch, Andrew Michael Melms, Robert & Shana ParkeHarrison, William Blake, W.H. Auden, T.S. Eliot.
Sounds Like
Ministry, The Sisters of Mercy, The Cult, Rammstein, Fields of the Nephilim, Joy Division, Danzig
In the summer of 1982, at the age of 11, Tarik Al-Kadhim and friends formed what would soon become one of Ann Arbor's finest electronic/synth-pop bands to date. The band, Neo Vogue, was a staple in the greater Detroit area music scene and recorded with popular techno producer, Art Forest in 1988. Forest's studio spawned recordings for Kevin Saunderson's Inner City and techno legend, Derrick May. Recording contracts were offered from both Forest's own label and from Virgin Records subsidiary, Paragon Records. In the summer of 1989, Tarik and band relocated to Las Vegas in order to be in closer proximity to West coast record labels. In the fall of 1989, Neo Vogue was flown back to Detroit to discuss and, ultimately, sign a record contract with Paragon. Sharing management with the Romantics, having a tour supporting Minneapolis band Information Society in the works and their first music video in development, the future seemed promising. However, frustrated by the band's disproportionate amount of extracurricular activities over writing and performing, Tarik left the band in 1990.
Numerous musical side projects and a University degree later, Tarik created Compact Deity with volumes of fresh material in 1997. Shrugging off undesirable recording offers, Compact Deity records under Tarik's own independent label, Sanctum Records. The band's first 3 song EP and a full length record was done with producer Tony Hamera at Detroit's award winning Tempermill. Compact Deity's sound is best described as a hybrid of Industrial, Shoe-gazer, and New-wave rock. It ranges from swirling, layered, atmospheric sounds to full on blazing guitar. Fans of The Cult, Ministry, The Cure, The Sisters of Mercy, My Bloody Valentine, Lush, and Fields of the Nephilim should be delighted.
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