Cheerful fearful

>> NYC's happy-go-horrifying hardcore hero Oliver Chesler

by RUPERT BOTTENBERG

It's hard to accept NYC DJ/producer Oliver Chesler's nom-de-plume "the Horrorist" when you meet the guy. Not so much because he's so friendly and good-natured, but because he finds the silver lining to the darkest of clouds, from drug damage to brutal violence to (gasp! shudder!) '80s fashion disasters.

The Horrorist tag comes from his penchant for adding--get this--actual spoken storylines to his midtempo, post-hardcore electro creepers. "When I got into techno," Chesler tells me, "I really missed the vocals. I always knew that vocals mixed with that stuff could be perfect. After doing straight-up dance music for six or seven years, you realize that there's only so much you can do with it. I didn't want to do drugs so much anymore, and I wanted to tell the stories, especially about ecstasy. I knew I wasn't going to do it ever again, so I had to tell the stories of what I went through. They sounded like horror stories when I told them, so: the Horrorist."

A high school proto-Goth, Chesler was raised on the likes of Front 242, Nitzer Ebb and Skinny Puppy. His college days saw the rise of "rave," and he hooked up with John Selway of the Direct Drive and Industrial Strength labels. "Then I got into the harder stuff," Chesler recalls, "and I had a few big records in Holland. When I started doing the vocal stuff, Selway didn't like it, so I started my label Things to Come. The second record I put out, a slow hardcore track with vocals, became a Top Ten hit in Holland, and that's what really put me on the map."

The agony of the ecstasy

The Horrorist only really differentiated himself from the hardcore techno pack when he began to curtail the tempo of his tracks (many producers, stunned by the effectiveness of this move, followed suit) and began spinning yarns of drug episodes gone wrong atop, homing in on ecstasy as a main offender. Does this make him a judgmental puritan in wraparounds and phat-pants? "Not at all!" he says.

"I just can't do it anymore because it makes me nervous. I think it's good when you're younger, but I do everything to excess. That's something, when you've done it too much, it's not fun anymore. When you stop, you don't ever do it again. But it was worth it. I had some of the best times of my life on drugs.

"In general, drugs are bad. The problem is the adults don't really have any way of telling you that. You have to learn it firsthand. I mean, 'Just Say No' is the stupidest reason not to do drugs."

Chesler can offer a few good reasons, seen firsthand on his home turf. "Sometimes New York parties get a lot of hooligans, scumbags, people smoking dust. That's kinda scary and freaky, and it smells awful. They're really seedy and shifty-eyed, sometimes getting violent.

"We've had parties with fights, overdoses, robberies, everything you can imagine. At the time it was all a big deal, but you learn! I got in a fight once, punched in the face, stitches and everything. Before that, I was always very fearful... 'It must be awful.' But when it happened, it was no big deal. Maybe it's just because I'm an optimist and I need to turn these things around--and I was pretty drunk, too. These things are funny! It makes you part of everybody, because everybody goes through bad things."

Synths of the forefathers

Chesler adds, quite enthusiastically, that a photo of the crime scene can be found on his label's Website, www.thingstocome.com. You can also get updates on the label's forthcoming flood of releases--five 12"s, a Horrorist CD and a record by Acrosome. That last one is in fact his brother Alexander, who joins him and NYC techno bigshot--"goombah" is Chesler's term--Alan Sax at the Loud party this weekend.

"He's actually getting his Phd at Columbia in neuroscience," says Chesler of his sibling, "and he's working on the genome--really smart, genius guy. He only has to figure out one or two more things and he'll be a millionaire. He's only doing music on the side, but it's actually turned out to be a lot better than anyone expected."

Acrosome's sound is a little more rooted in the late-'80s dark wave/industrial thing, which brings us back to that much-maligned decade. "The '80s were cool because of bizarre songwriting," Chesler muses. "Not good, just weird and out there. I think the '80s will go down in history as soooo interesting. Nobody's ever going to spray their hair up and colour it and wear makeup and dress all in white, ever again, ever ever ever. Nobody's gonna spend the time!" :

At Loud with Acrosome, DJ Nikadeemas, Alan Sax, Iznogood and Indica on Friday, April 14. Location and price info at 205-4489