Music journalist and The Membranes frontman, John Robb, will bring conversation and a book signing to The Depozitory in Nelson Street, Ryde on Saturday, September 30.

John says we should expect some hanging out, drinking tea and talking about music. 

Organised by Newport's AAA Records, his trip across the Solent will see him speak about the likes of The Cure, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Siouxsie and the Banshees - bands that defined the goth genre.

  • Competition time! The Isle of Wight County Press and AAA Records have a pair of tickets and a copy of John Robb's The Art of Darkness: The History of Goth. Scroll down for how to enter...

Isle of Wight County Press: John Robb (right) will be at Ryde's The Depozitory on Saturday, September 30.John Robb (right) will be at Ryde's The Depozitory on Saturday, September 30. (Image: Google/AAA Records/John Robb.)Ahead of his visit, John caught up with the Isle of Wight County Press about his latest book, The Art of Darkness: The History of Goth. 

“The interesting thing about goth is all the icons would never say they were goth. If you told Siouxsie [Sioux] she was goth she’d probably kill you with her ice cold stare,” John laughs.

“Goth has become part of the pantheon of culture, it’s not some weird underground scene.”

So, what's it like to have access to music greats?

“It’s a curious thing interviewing someone. Some older bands don’t do interviews. They think the journalist is trying to catch them out," he says.

“The Fall was always a difficult interview, because they would make a little game of being rude to the journalists.”

Praised by Grace Dent and Johnny Marr, The Art of Darkness: The History of Goth is big and readable and we 'don’t have to know the subject to get captivated by it.' 

John wants his readers to discover new bands because, he says, “the greatest accolade you could get is turning people onto a band they have never heard of.

“At the end of the day, the people creating the music are the most important people in the story. 

“Without their soundtrack none of this would be interesting."

How to be in with a chance of winning

  • For a chance to win a pair of tickets to Saturday's event and a copy of The Art of Darkness: The History of Goth, answer this question...
  • John's interviewed the greats...including The Cure. Complete the title of their 1989 song: Pictures of ??
  • Email your answer to competition@iwcp.co.uk by midday on Thursday, September 28.

A keen fan of live music, John recently saw Grade 2 when they supported supergroup, Generation Sex.

When the County Press told him the punk duo were home grown on the Isle of Wight, John was full of praise, saying the Islanders had 'a really tight sound'.

As a journalist, John has interviewed Nirvana, Patti Smith and Pete Shelley.

He is also good friends with Chris Packham - in fact they are same-day birthday buddies.

"Chris is famously into his post-punk, so he's a fan of a lot of the bands I wrote about in the book," said John.

“I’m really into nature, so we have really good conversations.”

  • John Robb will be at The Depozitory in Ryde on Saturday, September 30.