I recently spoke with Stephen “Mal” Mallinder of Cabaret Voltaire, the Sheffield group that helped invent the sound of British electronic and industrial music.
Formed in 1973 with Chris Watson and the late Richard H. Kirk, Cabaret Voltaire stands alongside Throbbing Gristle and Clock DVA as a pioneer of the late-’70s and ’80s experimental underground, fusing tape manipulation, found sound, early synthesizers, and confrontational visuals into something no one had heard before. Records like the 1979 single “Nag Nag Nag” and 1980’s “Three Mantras” drew from Dadaist provocation and post-industrial Britain, rejecting rock orthodoxy in favor of pure experimentation and, in doing so, shaped industrial music, post-punk, EDM, and club culture itself.
Across five decades Mallinder has carried that vision forward, through the band’s own Western Works studio and Doublevision video label, through collaborations with producers like Adrian Sherwood and Marshall Jefferson, and into his own work as an artist, writer, and academic.
Cabaret Voltaire recently announced the long-awaited remastered reissue of Code, their 1987 eighth album and most commercially successful record, out of print for years and newly remastered from the original tapes by Denis Blackham. The reissue was begun in 2019 with Richard H. Kirk before his death and completed from his notes, a fitting tribute to his legacy.
Code arrives October 9th on Mute, on limited “CODIFIED” marble vinyl, deluxe triple CD with two bonus discs of remastered and unreleased remixes, and digitally, led by the John Robie dub mix of “Thank You America.”
In 2025 Mallinder and Chris Watson marked 50 years since the band’s first live performance, and that run continues into 2026 with their final tour. You can catch Cabaret Voltaire on their final UK Tour, starting October 10th at Birmingham Town Hall and finishing October 25th at the Sheffield Octagon, with Gazelle Twin as special guest.
They’ve also recently released a live album, But What Time is it Really?, recorded during the first leg of the current tour in the UK which can be found exclusively through the band’s BandCamp and their own imprint. So, if you miss a show on this current tour (do not recommend) you can still enjoy the sounds via this exclusive release (recommend).
Radar features discussions with artists and industry leaders who are creators and devotees of music and is produced by Dylan Hundley and The Vinyl District. Dylan Hundley is an artist and performer, and the co-creator and lead singer of Lulu Lewis and all things at Darling Black. She co-curates and hosts Salon Lulu which is a New York based multidisciplinary performance series. She is also a cast member of the iconic New York film Metropolitan.
