< PreviousMore than 30 years ago, British blackened extreme metallers Cradle Of Filth released what is probably still the most controversial band shirt in music history. Yes, the one that calls Jesus something starting with a “C”, the one with the nun on the front. Dani Filth explains how that came about and how the world reacted. Plus he has some things to say about why he is looking forward to playing the W:O:A for a fourth time. Nowadays it is much easier to offend peopleBy Sabrina Boller 677, $1500, $2100 – if you are looking for the famous “Jesus is a Cunt” shirt on eBay by Cradle of Filth, you will find exor- bitant prices. No wonder! Hardly any shirt in the histo- ry of band merchandising has caused as much discussion, anger and protest. Frontman Dani Filth remains relaxed and still stands by the 1993 design. Dani, can you tell us the story of the “Jesus is a Cunt” Shirt? Dani Filth: I do remember the origins of that because it was around the time that we were preparing material to go out on tour with Emperor. It was the first tour they’d ever done, way back in ’93. We were sitting on the lawn of our record company executives mom’s house because he still lived with his mom. It was a very sunny day, we were joking around about suitable designs, and I mentioned the slogan. We were laughing so hard about it! Then we looked at each other: “We wouldn’t really, would we?” And then: “Why not?” Were there problems to get it printed? Dani Filth: It was a bit complicated to get it printed, even though my ex–wife used to work at a shirt printing place in the village. The guy who owned the company took considerable offence – and he was a bit of a wanker. So we took it to another place that I found online. The owner said: “Yeah, I can print these, but I’ll come to you, park in the parking lot and won’t get out of the car. You just give me the money, and I’ll give you the shirts. And never mention it again!” Did you ever regret the design? Dani Filth: No, it still stands the test of time! It’s more of an anarchic than a satanic statement. The image of the nun on the front just gave it a little bit of that added blasphemy, but it’s equally fun. We have a shirt with Jesus on it, and he’s wearing a shirt that says “Dani Filth Is A Cunt” – so yeah, I still stand by it! Do you think that shirt raised the bar for every design that followed? Dani Filth: Back in the day a lot of those images were all done in photoshoots, and they were very expensive. We worked with horror movie Dani Filth in full stage outfit: His corpse paint, by the way, is not just an aesthetic choice but also a part of the performance and the band’s identitydirector Nigel Wingrove and photographer Chris Bell. I suppose it was like a visual choreography: We came up with the ideas, they drafted the models, we set up these exact elaborate scenes. A photoshoot cost anything between three and five–thousand pounds! The work was very fantastical, and people now still look back on the classic designs and ask why we don’t do more of that. Do you think the need to offend people with shirts is gone? Dani Filth: Nowadays it is much easier to offend people! I put up a picture on social media of Kanye West the other day wearing one of our shirts – because he did! It wasn’t photoshopped. You won’t believe the amount of shit I got for it, and I lost about 200 followers. They accused me of being a nazi, racist, an antisemitic, when in fact I just posted this picture of a guy in a shirt. Other artists also wear Cradle of Filth shirts. How do you feel about that? Dani Filth: I saw that, and I don’t see anything bad in it if somebody wants to wear my shirt. When we recorded with Ed Sheeran, he turned up at the studio on his own wearing the “Nymphetamine” hoodie, and he told us about how he grew up listening to “Nymphetamine” and the first Slipknot! He actually likes the bands, that was the reason why the whole collaboration came to be! I should imagine Kanye West and Kim Kardashian probably have some stylist or costume designer, and they get them a shirt for 600 pounds because they want to look a bit runky today. 600 pounds is actually cheap. There are Cradle of Filth shirts for 2500 out there! Do you have a secret stash to secure your retirement? Dani Filth: I do have a load of shirts, and it does sound like a good thing (laughs)! I remember being on tour with Jyrki, one of my good friends from The 69 Eyes. We were in Vancouver, and he took me to a vintage shirt shop at which he bought a very expensive Rolling Stone shirt for his then girlfriend. But the whole shop just smelled of mothballs! I am not too much into wearing mothy things. Makes my nipples fall off. But I do agree with people spending a lot of money on it – it’s history, isn’t it? Do you have a favorite Cradle of Filth shirt? Dani Filth: I really like the Lady Bathory designs. How important is art in your life? Dani Filth: Art is very important to me and my girlfriend. She is a renowned tattooist, and she’s always sketching and drawing and creating stuff. We try and go to galleries together. I love everything that has a creative aspect: Painting, music, film, literature… As a band we’re very visual, very theatrical, and I think having theatrical music as well as a theatrical image, it needs theatrical artwork! Does your girlfriend tattoo you as well? Dani Filth: She just just started on my second leg two weeks ago, and I got another appointment this weekend which happens to be our anniversary! So she’s gonna cause me a lot of pain on our anniversary! (laughs) You’ll always have something to remember her by. But what if you ever break up? Dani Filth: I have to live with this face, I’m sure I can live with the tattoo! (laughs) How do you feel about returning to Wacken? Dani Filth: Always legendary, isn’t it? If you haven’t played Wacken then you’re nobody! We always have great experiences at Wacken. Let me take that back. We had great experiences: The venue is great, people are great, but the last time we played there was a storm, and they literally relocated 70,000 people to go and sit in their cars while the storm raged overhead. So we rearranged our show and played in the tent instead. But because of that we couldn’t use all the pyros we brought with us. Still it was a a good compromise! And I just love the backstage. It is awesome, I could live there! If every festival’s backstage was like the one in Wacken, that’s all we would do: just play festivals! Credits: Napalm Records Filth in an interesting interpretation of an Ed Sheeran fan shirt. Cradle Of Filth has recorded a song with the British singerCredits: Napalm RecordsGiselle van der Star gives old Wacken shirts a new life Turning merchandise into more-chandiseBy Andrea Leim nyone who has ever lounged on a Mediter- ranean beach and spotted another vacationer sporting a Wacken Open Air shirt knows: this festival shirt is much more than just the most coveted ac- cessory on the Holy Ground. It’s a badge of identity and connection. No wonder most fans head straight to the mer- ch stand upon arrival to grab the latest W:O:A shirt. Since sustainability has played a significant role at Wacken Open Air for many years, mer- chandise is always pre– ordered with caution. This is partly possible because Art Worx from Dortmund – W:O:A’s trusted textile print- ing partner for over 20 years – can deliver 5000 new T–shirts within just 24 hours if needed. So, if fans miss out on their first attempt, they usually triumph on their second try. Despite careful planning, a few items remain unsold each year, end- ing up in the online shop but not always being sold. In a year like 2023, where the weath- er disrupted all predictions, far more items were left over than usual. But what to do with this surplus? “Throwing away unsold or returned clothes is our absolute last resort,” says W:O:A merchandising chief Jasper Ahrendt. “Besides do- nating clothes to, for example, homeless people, recycling pro- grams are a very appealing op- tion for us.” A few years ago, a new oppor- tunity arose when Ahrendt met Giselle van der Star from The Hague through Dutch industry colleagues. “She found a way to sustainably and environ- mentally friendly process old clothes into new blanks, even if they are as heavily printed as our Wacken T–shirts”, Ahrendt explains. Giselle van der Star comes from the fashion indus- try, previously working as a buyer for major international brands, where she saw firsthand the conditions many people in devel- oping countries endure during production. “I no longer wanted to be part of this system but be part of the change and improvement,” she says in our interview. Her Atelier Jun- gles teamed up with other companies to develop a process of upcycling all kinds of items. Unsold clothing undergo the following pro- cessing: “Wacken sends us the shirts, sometimes a few jackets and vests too. We clean each item in our atelier before it goes into the ma- chine,” explains Giselle van der Star in her Atelier Jungles in The Hague The merchandising stands at the festival are always well frequented. Nevertheless, not everything is soldCredits: Atelier Jungles, W:O:A van der Star. “This means all zippers, buttons, and labels are removed before the garment is mechanically shredded by our partner company. It becomes a very fine mass. This is then sent to the next partner, who washes and dyes it. Since most of the shirts we receive are dark, we dye them black. This works best.” The fibers are then spun into yarn, to which organic cot- ton is added, as the quality after shredding, washing and dyeing wouldn’t be sufficient to pro- duce merchandise of the usual quality. In van der Star’s Atelier Jun- gles, located in the heart of The Hague, the fabric is then turned into new shirts. The studio is a social employer, exclusive- ly employing people who are harder to integrate into the job market. “We try to offer them a sheltered space here where they can restart their career from scratch. Almost none of our employees are formally trained in what they do here. They are all tailors but often come from countries where they didn’t re- ceive formal training for this job. We try to provide them with what they need for a fresh start in their professional future.” Wacken and other festi- vals provide a good founda- tion for this. Festival part- ners account for about 25 percent of the annual work for Atelier Jungles. “That’s why we would be very happy if our collaboration with Wacken Open Air continues,” affirms Giselle van der Star. The current figures look promising: 12,000 shirts from the past year have been fun- nelled into the upcycling proj- ect due to the rain. Just as many will then return to the W:O:A merch sales. Appropriately, the finished T–shirts feature the GreenWacken logo with the addition “made from recycled materials.” Recycling doesn’t get much more rocking than this, does it? An employee of the Atelier sews tags with the words „made from recycled merchandise“ onto the new T–shirts, which are then taken to Dortmund for printingMPS HANSEATIC PROUDLY PRESENTSCanadian band Spiritbox are among metal’s current shooting stars. Guitar player Mike Stringer, who founded the group in 2017 with his wife and singer Courtney LaPlante, talks to The Bullhead about his expectations for their W:O:A premiere, tour life as a married couple and James Hetfield’s right hand. by Stefan Reuter hanks to their single “Holy Roller”, Spir- itbox experienced a hype during the pandemic that continues to this day. Cur- rently they are working on their second full length album – and are in the midst of the preparations for their big Eu- ropean tour with Korn, which will also take them to Wacken for the first time. Despite having that much to do, the band’s guitarist and co–leader Mike Stringer (32) finds time for an in–depth talk. Mike, who made you pick up your first guitar? Mike Stringer: My dad played finger style acoustic, and I loved listening to him.My older brother on the other hand was always blaring Their time has come Singer Courtney loves metal. But she also finds role models elsewhere. Her biggest idol: R’n’B superstar Beyoncémetal music in the house, so my ear caught on to that.That formed my obsession with the guitar, and I begged my dad to let me learn it. My earliest influences were definitely Metallica. I was absolutely obsessed with them and tried to emulate James Hetfield’s right hand which I don’t think is really possible because he has the tightest right hand of all time. In July, you’ll be embarking on a tour throughout Europe supporting Korn. How influential were they on you? Mike Stringer: I feel like they’re one of the few nu–metal era bands that have kept going in such an honest, modern way and have really been at the forefront of interesting songwriting and creative guitar work.That really appealed to me when I was younger and definitely formed my melodic sensibility. It’s just crazy to think that those records from the late 90s, early 2000s still sound like they were made not too long ago. They stand the test of time. This tour will also take you to Wacken Open Air. What are your expectations on playing there? Mike Stringer: This festival is one that I have always wanted to play. I’ve seen all the videos, they’re so iconic. I’m just ecstatic that we finally go there, and it feels like it’s the right time for that. We’re so thankful and appreciative because this is a huge deal for us, it’s been a bucket list item for ages. At European festivals you can feel the appreciation from the audience, and I’m certain it’s going to be like that but on steroids. Why do you consider this year being the right time to play W:O:A? Mike Stringer: I’m very happy that we’ve reserved this festival for this time in our career. We have so much touring under our belt and so much experience now that I think we’re going to put on that much better of a show doing it this year versus last year or even the one before. Spiritbox was an internet band for quite a while, we started gaining momentum during COVID. So to come out of this four years later and to get this opportunity to play Wacken, I’m happy that I feel like we’ll be able to deliver a really great show for all those amazing people there. Let’s talk about your career in general. It’s been skyrocketing since you released “Holy Roller” with your debut album “Eternal Blue” receiving praise from fans and critics alike as well as being nominated for a Grammy with “Jaded”. What is it about Spiritbox that clicks with so many people? Mike Stringer: My gut feeling is that there’s a lot of honesty within it, and that there are no gimmicks. What you get is what you get. Our material is not manufactured in any way.Whenever me and Courtney go to write a song, it’s literally what we want to hear. If something resonates with us, we move forward with it.We’re not sitting there trying to manufacture this or that.This is rare nowadays, which is sad to say. This authenticity is also found in the way Courtney delivers her messaging. It is absolutely honest. You’re in the middle of recording the second Spiritbox album. What we can expect? Mike Stringer: I think that it’s really different in the sense that we have taken what we do and pushed it as far as we can. The heavier songs are definitely a lot heavier and there’s more extremes on the record for sure. It is a tidbit early to share more, but I’m really excited for everybody to hear it. Before forming Spiritbox, Mike (back right) and Courtney (front right) played together in the metalcore band Iwrestledabearonce Mike was given his first guitar when he was eight years oldNext >