The Senior Staff horsing around on some vintage Puppy shit.

Ten years of this nonsense. What started as an excuse to interview Dan Gatto of Continues has grown into such an integral part of our lives that we couldn’t even begin to talk about how our own lives have changed over the past decade without also talking about how I Die: You Die has changed. It’s helped to take us to parts of the world we’d never have anticipated, introduced us to countless people we’d never have met, bands we’d never have heard, and so much more.

When we sat down on June 30th 2011 to co-write the website’s introductory posts we hadn’t even considered the possibility that I Die: You Die might last a decade. We had collaborated on previous blogs and websites that had fizzled out quickly due to inattention and disinterest, and we were well aware that even well-tended review and commentary websites generally only a last few years anyway. Flash forward to today, as we try to figure out how to summarize 10 years of writing (and nearly as long a period of podcasting) about Our Thing. We’ve seen plenty in that time; the collapse and rebirth of the North American goth/industrial club scene, the reification of old favourites and the establishment of a new dark alternative canon, and the emergence of so many amazing artists and bands that have become staples in our listening, DJing and writing about this music.

At its core the website has always been an extension of the conversations about industrial, goth, EBM, and darkwave that birthed and sustained our friendship, and the greatest thing that I Die: You Die has done for us is to give us a venue to share that passion with others who feel similarly about those genres. The list of friends we made because of ID:UD is long and no accounting of what the last decade could omit how much meeting and getting to know so many of you has meant to us. It’s not an exaggeration to say that our lives are significantly different from what they would have been had we never founded the site, and that enrichment has been a motivator to keep writing, podcasting, DJing and thinking about this music every single day.

Obviously, this anniversary isn’t happening under the most ideal of conditions. For years we’d brainstormed possible live events or club nights we might be able to run to mark our tenth full year. While nothing of that sort is happening, we’re very proud to be releasing the fourth volume of our ongoing Telekompilation series to Bandcamp today. Like their predecessors, the twenty-three tracks featured on this pay-what-you-want comp have been created by the awesome folks within our Telekon Slack community, and are all upon-release exclusives. We’re especially proud of the range of styles these compilations have come to encompass over the years, dovetailing with the sort of music you’ll find discussed on both our website and podcast: EBM, synthpop, darkwave, electro-industrial, neo-folk, noise, downtempo, and all the rest.

In addition, we’ve put together some t-shirts to celebrate a decade of our industrial bullshit, as one of the designs notes. Yep, if you’re the sort of person who needs those around you to know that you have better taste in Front 242 side-projects than they do, we have you covered. Our first design’s been created by Susan Subtract of Physical Wash and High-Functioning Flesh, featuring a nod to our namesake, and is also available in a long-sleeve variant. Up next, from Alec Hugill of Dragon Sleeper we have a lucha remix of a classic kling klang produkt, for those who actually enjoy our detours into pro wrestling talk. Last but not least, our Death To False EBM tee is back by popular demand, now in a “Ten Years Of Darker Alternatives” version. Another bonus design will drop soon, keep an eye on these pages for more info!

On a very personal level, I Die: You Die hitting the 10 year mark is something we think is worth celebrating. We wish that we could do it in person with all of you, but until we next have the opportunity to speak with you in the real world again, whether at a show here in Vancouver, a festival or an online space, we offer our humblest thanks. As cliché as it sounds, if I Die: You Die made our lives better, than it was only because you read, listened, shared, commented and interacted with us through it. It’s been an amazing decade for us, and we hope we can continue to do work that interests and engages you for the next ten years.

With love and gratitude,

Bruce and Alex