In this bonus episode, we hear from Martin Oldgoth, cofounder of World Goth Day, in conversation with Sharlese, host of Mechanical Breakdown, about the holiday’s origin in 2009. What started as a sort of joke on BBC Radio 6 Music rapidly spread across the world as a celebration of goth culture, which is constantly evolving. And, no, you don’t have to wear black.

“The goth scene is very inclusive,” Oldgoth says in the interview. “There are no rules. If someone tells you, ‘You’ve got to listen to this band’ or ‘You’ve got to dress like that,’ they’re wrong. It’s as simple as that. It’s gone from being an offshoot of the post-punk scene in the early 80s to being a global family of misfits.”

Oldgoth’s music recommendations as heard in the episode:

Harsh Symmetry (Los Angeles, California)
Night in Athens (United Kingdom)
CORIN (United Kingdom)
Bambara (Brooklyn, New York)
HAPAX (Italy)
Octavian Winters (San Francisco, California)
KĀVE (Poland)
Soft Scent (Italy)

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