A LONG TIME AGO, IN STUDIO FAR FAR AWAY...

Goteki started life as a very different beast - the infamous Sneaky Bat Machine. It all began in a broken down apartment in Bristol in the mid nineties, with Sneaky writing crap-fi spacegoth tracks with an 8 bit tracker on an archaic mac (which is now being used to rest beers .. a lot of plotting, planning and eeeeevil laughter he decided to inflict these tunes on the world. Tapes were assembled and shoved into the hands of unsuspecting victims across the UK. As time passed the idea of performing live seemed sensible, regardless of Sneaky's massive public speaking phobia. Sneaky drafted in two suitably decadent friends to play synth - Maxislag and Evil C - and off they went.

2-3 bat throwing, alien dancing, keyboard losing years passed and Sneaky pulled an album together (Disco 4 the Dead) along with a single for the ubiquitous 'Boneshaker'. Changes were afoot however, Maxi wanted to leave ( and did, later joining Katskan), Evil C became Crash 303, and a new member was drafted in, in the form of the glowing fingered, mismatched pupilled, Vincent Price impersonating Doktor A. Forward wind six months and the boys decide the idea of spending the next twenty years of their life singing about dead stuff doesn't *actually* sound that appealing. After much debate the band changes it's name to GOTEKI ( a name of a hovercar racing team from the game WIPEOUT ). Sony cleared the use of the name and so it all started.

In early 2000, FIGHT THE SAUCERMEN is released on Wasp Factory records. Now championing the UK 'cyber' movement, the boys head back to the stage around the UK and Europe. 2 more years of losing keyboards, crashing cars, and forgetting lyrics and Sneaky brings out GOTEKI O/S - A 17 track monster album that involved a lot of blood, sweat and tears. Literally. More time is spent gigging, remixing etc possibly with less loss of keyboards and less forgotten lyrics. To much acclaim, the remix album 'GOTEKI O/S:Corrupted Files' is released, twisting the O/S tracks into scary new forms, involving space guitars and trumpets. Late in 2003, Sneaky becomes disillusioned with the direction of the band and decides it's time for a sharp turn off the plotted course. Line-up changes ensue. After 3 years of evil shenanigans and wolverine claws, the mighty Doktor A finishes his tour of duty. New members Ali_Star and Yan Yan are drafted in. Crash takes the role of Synth Lead, Ali_Star takes Synth Bass, Yan Yan on electro-pads, and Sneaky still at the helm on vox. The new band heads across the ocean and finally gives the US it's first taste of Goteki, headlining Chicago's Convergence X festival. They drank all the beer in North America and pointed guns at each other.

2004, Sneaky begins work on the dirtier, funkier, more aggressive new direction. More changes are afoot though, with the EBM scene that Goteki frequent featuring far too many bands with a load of bored looking electrogeeks frowning at their knobs. To avoid this, and to show some respect for the audience, the decision is made to drop the synths, in favour of live bass and guitar, plus a much heftier dollop of live drumming. Yanyan's drumming roll is upgraded, Ali switches to electric bass and Crash's long long tour of duty ends after many a year of synth mangling, beer destroying synth n roll fun, to be replaced with new live guitarist/ladyboy Edy Green, Sneaky drops the nickname, in favour of real name Ross Tregenza. Sounds like a fake name anyway. And he's weirdly proud of being Cornish.

The band hit the ground running in 2005, with an armoury of unreleased material clamouring for fame. The band decide to take a calculated risk and release their new album REVOLUTION online only, in mp3 format. The process of finding a new label was taking too long and the new songs were too cool to sit in the dark for another six months. March also sees the release of Timesplitters 3, with an even more prominent role for Goteki - the new game featuring original goteki tracks as actual level music as well as deathmatch mode songs ( plus a very odd song about monkeys ). Things get even more surreal in March as singer Ross takes on the role of guitarist for freshly reformed 80's superstars VISAGE, taking to the stage with them for their first two performances of their much hyped comeback.

After a lot of arm twisting by Goteki fans, the band concede and release "Revolution" on CD, on Alphastar Records. The CD version ( released 18th Nov 05 ) features 2 extra tracks and comes as a super sexy 8 page foldout digipak. The beginning of 06 sees the end of YanYan's your of duty as she heads off to focus on her excellent work as a photographer and model. Rosie Harris, Ross's bandmate from Visage, takes the synth role for the band's final gigs.

But as the Hagakure says, "A good end is important in all things" March 2006, after six crazy years, Ross retires Goteki, and the band's twisted, joyous journey comes to an end. Their final performance at KoKo is the band's swan song, with Crash and YanYan in the audience to bid farewell. Ross's new project JETSTREAM LOVERS begins May 1 st 2006, mixing retro rock with electropop. The band also features Edy and Ali in the same roles as Goteki. Bristolian terror Elisha Bogle and drummer Nathan Pottecary join, but the new indie twist doesn't ever really lift off, and the band eventually collapses in on itself mid-2007. Early 2008 and a charity/memorial gig in London pulls the band out of retirement, playing a mixed Sneaky Bat Machine / Goteki gig for delighted London fans. The event featured the entire original SBM lineup plus Ali & YanYan, and was a night to be remembered.

August 2008 sees another crazy twist in the tale. After playing the charity reunion gig, Ross & Ali remember how much they love playing Goteki songs. On top of this Ross & Ali's new project begins to sound more and more like Goteki material, so the merge of projects makes sense.

Winter 2008, Goteki REFORM.

2009 is a year of reconstruction for the band, with a lot of time spent refining a new style of live performance, focusing more on playing good songs, and less on falling over and losing synths. The band are joined breifly by the multi-talented Banda, who joins them for a run of gigs and contributes to the bands collections of digital EPs "The Summer of Santa Muerte'. The EPs showcase the new sound and act as a preamble to 'SANTA MUERTE' the third full album that goes into production in July.

2010 sees the band fully recharged and ready to roll. They play a series of gigs around the UK, to test the new material and ramp up production of SANTA MUERTE, a 16 track concept odessy that fuses electro, murder ballads and tales of sex and death in Nevada Desert.

 

SANTA MUERTE is born, and released in 2011 on RebCo records. The band follow it up with a video for SHURIKEN, involving ridiculous masks and over 400 shots in a 4 minute video.The album reviews well and solidifies the DEATH ELECTRO subgenre the band are now championing. It manifests as a mix of electro, industrial, ebm, orchestral film music, video game music, outlaw country and blues. Still on a music buzz from work on Santa Muerte, Tregenza released a 5 track collection of cover version - the first of many - under the name 'Stolen Thunder One'. It hits the ground running and shoots to the top of fan favourite charts across the net. Into the summer of 2011, Tregenza takes on board a number of articles and the evolving trends in music and decides to release all past Goteki releases for free as well as all future releases, barring he flagship albums. It was never about the money, only the music and as Dylon once said, "Times they are a changin'". Let's see what happens next.