Edinburgh DJ turns city's dark history into a gothic electronic album set for Halloween release
Blackhall-based musician proud of her “passion project”
An Edinburgh DJ’s “passion project” has turned the city's dark history into a gothic electronic album, set for a Halloween release.
Natasha Kitty Kat, 35, from Blackhall, will release her debut album under her dark electronic ‘Auld Reekie Nocturne’ guise, with ‘The Stone Tape Confessions’ an eight-track album built around stories including the Edinburgh Maiden, the South Bridge Vaults, the witch trials, Deacon Brodie and Burke and Hare.
The Blackhall musician has created dark electronic music with gothic and new-wave edges, synths, vocals and electric guitar.
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The album is rooted in the places that shaped it, from Greyfriars and the Royal Mile to the South Bridge vaults, where Natasha filmed an interview with Jamie Corstorphine of City of the Dead for a documentary to accompany the album.
That connection between music and place continues in East Lothian and North Berwick, where ‘Dance with Devils’, featuring Hettie Noir and Basavriuk, draws on Scotland’s witch-trial history.
For ‘Meet The Maiden’, filming with the Edinburgh Maiden at the National Museum of Scotland and inside the Banshee Labyrinth brings the track directly into the spaces connected to its subject.
The Edinburgh-born DJ, producer and label owner has been disappearing down research rabbit holes around Edinburgh’s darker history for the past year and a half to make this album, out on October 31.
Natasha said: “I have always been fascinated by Edinburgh’s history. Growing up, my mother ran a bed and breakfast which would get all the flyers for the Edinburgh ghost tours. My mum and dad took me on those tours, so I have always been interested in it.
“The fact that I live here still, means I have been able to look into the city’s dark history. So now I have written tracks about different dark Edinburgh tales and turned it into an album which I’m very proud of.
“It’s a brilliant concept I think, and I have loved doing it. I got the idea while on a tour of Mary King’s Close, and I just thought ‘what would a song about this place would sound like?’
“It’s nerve-wracking but exciting as well to have this album coming out.”
The album also features songs about Deacon Brodie ‘Deacon by Day Devil by Night’, ‘Buried Close’ about Mary King’s Close, as well as tracks about Burke and Hare and the Edinburgh Vaults, with the tracks in chronological order, taking the listener through Edinburgh’s dark history.
Natasha has been supported on this multi-media project by Creative Scotland, following an online fundraiser, with a planned documentary and immersive experience about the tales behind the songs to accompany the album expected early next year, and music videos for some of the tracks currently in production.
She added: “I’m excited to be getting this album out there shortly. Halloween was the natural release date, it’s my favourite time of the year and I am not going to get a better date to release it.
“For me this has been a passion project. Just getting the chance to release something like this is a blessing. Any success from it would be a bonus.
“Just getting to tell these stories is amazing. I feel particularly strongly about the song on the witch trials, it’s important to hear that story. I’m just fascinated by the darker stories from Edinburgh’s history, and I’m delighted to be getting these stories out there.”
‘The Stone Tape Confessions’ by Auld Reekie Nocturne, is released on October 31 by Shadowrunner Recording.