MackintoshвЂ¦ I believe we need to talk about Black No. I walked into The WorldвЂ™s End, the pub above the venue and he was there at the bar with a big train-driverвЂ™s cap on. He wouldnвЂ™t do interviews with anyone on their team but would speak to me, but it was the first time that I ever met him in person. That was the first time we started talking, then I was asked by Vanessa Warwick of HeadbangerвЂ™s Ball to go down to their show at The Underworld and interview him. We were both interested in the goth-meets-metal thing and knew some of the same people, so he sent me a copy of Bloody Kisses and I sent him Icon. About six months after that tour I ended up somehow writing to Pete and we would exchange letters, in a pen-pal type thing. She was the very stereotypical goth exactly the kind of person who went for me back then because people would say I looked like from The Crow. I couldnвЂ™t believe it, so I asked why she hadnвЂ™t told me before and she told me they were on and off, but heвЂ™d written a song about her called Black No. We later went to America with Morbid Angel and Kreator in early 1993 and I ended up getting off with this girl in New York, as we were leaving she says вЂIвЂ™ve got to tell you something вЂ“ my boyfriend is Peter SteeleвЂ™. I loved it so I asked for a copy, then later the first album came out and I liked that too. We took Cathedral out on their first-ever tour and we were in Holland somewhere and I hear this music playing, monk chants and stuff coming out the speakers, so I opened the door and it was Lee Dorrian, who told me heвЂ™d got this new demo by a band called Type O Negative, a band by one of the guys from Carnivore. I was a big fan of Carnivore anyway Retaliation was my Saturday night вЂgoing outвЂ™ album. вЂњI can tell you the exact moment I first heard Type O Negative. He would only speak with Greg of Paradise Lost! IвЂ™ve known the PL guys for ages, so we managed to sneak into the dressing rooms with Greg and he interviewed Peter there. After that gig we hopped back on a plane and went home and that was it until around a year later вЂ“ Pete was having a bit of a to-do with the record label, so the band played this small show in London but he refused to do any press for it. Heavy metal audiences tend to be predominantly male, but not a Type O gig вЂ“ there were a lot of women there. When Type O came out the roar was incredible and they absolutely tore the place apart. I thought IвЂ™d spotted Pete at one point but it could just have been a massive shadow!ДЄfterwards we had a few drinks and watched the show, but what was mad for us was people kept coming up to get us to sign autographs weвЂ™d never really had that before. Even considering weвЂ™d just been out with Iron Maiden, you expect it with them but for three doomy/goth bands? Not so much! We were pleasantly surprised we could go wherever we wanted and it was a good, healthy crowd that we played to. Moonspell went on, then we were on and it was a huge stage. He was sound as a pound, a really nice guy. He thought about everything he said before he said it, so he didnвЂ™t look foolish. We got to speaking to Peter at the show he spoke tremendously deeply and would often speak quite slow I donвЂ™t think he was ever the kind of guy that would rush into a conversation and put his foot in his mouth.

Gothic metal girl