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The Tenth Stage

A combination of various electronic styles and influences, unlike anything you’ve heard before.
From gothic-inspired murder ballads, darkwave blues rhythms and reggae infused electronica, this album covers a wide range of styles.
Various artists from around the globe have performed on this album,
including Ian Burden (The Human League), Angelspit, IKON, Suspiria, Opera Macabre, Rowena Martin and many more.
Check out these websites for more information
www.thetenthstage.com
www.myspace.com/thetenthstage

THE TENTH STAGE (formed in January 2006) is a band that arose from a common interest in the darker side of mainstream culture and music. Members are Roberto Massaglia (vocalist and lyricist for Melbourne industrial dance band Tankt) and John Von Ahlen (owner of Subterrane Studio, which has produced Belinda Emmett’s album—Top Ten in the ARIA Charts, Delta Goodrem, Gina G, Big Brother, Rove Live, Nova - Dance act). Roberto writes lyrics and is the main vocalist while John plays bass guitar and piano and is the band’s engineer,
producer and all-round studio wiz.

GENRE
THE TENTH STAGE’s music can be defined as dark, theatrical pop with an enigmatic blend of synthetic and acoustic instruments. Their sound is an eclectic mix of electronica, dub, reggae and classical music blended together to create twisted pop tales from the darkside – an ironic fist in a velvet glove.

FORMATION
Roberto and John met, and began a friendship which led to THE TENTH STAGE long before Roberto recorded vocals for Tankt at Subterrane Studio in 2005. The pair met while attending kickboxing classes and their friendship spans many years (and a few black eyes and bruises). While Roberto sang in Tankt, John had been busy in the studio producing and programming and was looking for a creative outlet for his own musical productions. When Tankt recorded at Subterrane, the pair found that they shared many similar tastes in music. After this collaboration the pair decided to record a song together. That song was “The Hangman Retribution” and once completed the pair discovered that they had created something which they both were very excited about, and decided to pursue it further. Roberto and John are the band’s core members, but THE TENTH STAGE has an expanded musical vision, and incorporates a range of musicians and singers, both on stage and in their recorded work – they see the project as being more like a theatre performance than a straight-up rock band and they recruit cast members to bring their dark ditties to life. Listening to their album or watching one of their shows is like a cross between pop and vaudeville – each song has been deliberately developed as a tale, a morality play, a circus of performers and freaks living comedy and tragedy through sound and vision. They appeal to your heart and imagination while sating the senses with an intriguing musical mélange.

ALBUM
Their debut self titled LP was written in early 2006 and is based around the ideas of Murder Ballads, Australian Colonial History and the darker side of humanity. To bring this project to life they recruited an impressive array of musicians including, in an amazing musical coup, Ian Burden (Ex - The Human League)
who they knew from John’s stint as webmaster of the unofficial Human League website. The album also features performances from the crème de la crème of Melbourne’s dark alternative artists including several members of the Crash Frequency collective, of which THE TENTH STAGE is also a member.
There have been several high-profile names that have contributed to the forthcoming album, both musically and vocally, including :
Ian Burden (Ex The Human League)
Mark Tansley (Suspiria, Intra Venus)
zOO:g (Angelspit)
Angel Theory
The Baroness (Opera Macabre)

FUTURE PLANS
The Tenth Stage are headlining act for the Under The Blue Moon Festival’s DARK ELECTRO Event. The band will perform in late September in Sydney, with supports from fellow CFC band, EMPTY.
Also, the band will be taking part in the prestigious Melbourne Fringe Festival, and will be performing at Toff In Town.
In 2007 they plan to release their second album Grand Guignol and are developing a series of theatrical performances where they will bring to life the dark tales within the first LP with a cast of musicians and performers in an unforgettable and lavishly presented pop cabaret.
They are being published in an American biography about Peter Godwin, co-writer of the song “Criminal World” which is covered on their debut self-titled album.
They have completed a fully animated promotional video clip for their gothic ballad “Francois Martin” released in July 2007 and available for viewing from The Tenth Stage website and myspace, with guaranteed airplay on major video shows.

For booking & media enquiries please email:
Nic Toupee — nictoupee@yahoo.com

For more information, reviews and interviews visit::
www.thetenthstage.com
www.myspace.com/thetenthstage

“THE TENTH STAGE is a CD that will
amaze you. And if you are open to new
ideas you’ll appreciate their style as
much as I did...”
Review by Maurizio Pustianaz, CHAIN D.L.K, Germany

“An entirely unusual work,
..one that you can love…”
Review by Teryal for LD50, Hungary

www.thetenthstage.com