A Reprobate Exclusive: Nikolas Schreck’s funky new space pop song and his album The Illusionist.
You might think that you know what to expect from Nikolas Schreck, but you really shouldn’t. If anyone is an unpredictable polymath, it’s Schreck – occultist turned Buddhist, horror film critic and philosophical writer, a man who has worked with Charles Manson and Christopher Lee (sadly not at the same time) and the twisted genius behind the death industrialism of the infamous Radio Werewolf – and he’s an official Friend of The Reprobate too.
His new LP – his first solo project – is The Illusionist, from Records Ad Nauseum, and as a taste of what you might expect, the new video for the song The Futura Model is here to view – a Reprobate exclusive debut, no less. Those of you who know Radio Werewolf should put all expectations aside, as this is a psychedelic slice of space pop, awash with funky grooves and trippy vibes that should be filling the dancefloors of the more discerning nightspots. it’s a pumping slice of electro heaven and incessantly catchy. We like it very much.
The Illusionist made its way to Records Ad Nauseum via an unexpected source. As label co-founder Manuel Vee explains:
“Not long after I released Charles Manson’s vinyl LP Just Fucking Around in 2012, Charlie started bringing up Nikolas Schreck. For some reason Charlie assumed me and N.S. were already friends, he spoke like we HAD to know each other already just because we were both from LA! Like it must have been in the underground half a century earlier. Anyway, the way he spoke of Schreck seemed liked he almost looked up to him. Which come to think of it he might be one of the only people about whom Charlie didn’t have a bad thing to say. Sometimes he mentioned him as his manager, his biographer, his publisher, or his Buddhist teacher. Much of the time I had to ask who the hell he was speaking about: ‘Schreck, Man, Schreck…you gotta work with the dude. Put out some of HIS music. He makes some real far out stuff. I‘ll put you 2 together’.”
Following the video releases, Schreck will be taking The Illusionist on the road, performing both the new material and classic Radio Werewolf tracks. More details on those essential shows as we get them. Meanwhile, you can buy the album on CD or digital download at https://nikolasschreck.bandcamp.com and pick up The Futura Model vinyl or digital EP here: https://epicureanescapism.bandcamp.com/album/the-futura-model.
And read an extensive career interview with Schreck in our book Satan Superstar.
