Alien Sex Fiend

Alien Sex Fiend are a London-based gothic rock group formed in 1982 in the Batcave club scene. The line-up centres on Nik Fiend and Mrs Fiend, with later members including Yaxi Highriser, Johnnie Ha Ha, Rat Fink, Doc Milton, Matt Rowlands and others listed in the group’s history. Their sound combines gothic rock, deathrock, electro, industrial and punk rock, and is marked by heavy use of samples, loops, dub remixes and manic vocals.

Formation and early releases

The group forms in late 1982 around Nik Wade, Christine Wade, David James and Johnny Freshwater. Nik Fiend works at the Batcave club in London, where the band forms. Before Alien Sex Fiend, Christine Wade performs in the Alice Cooper-influenced bands the Earwigs and Mr & Mrs Demeanour, and later in the punk group Demon Preacher, later called the Demons.

Alien Sex Fiend first attract attention with a cassette recording made with Youth of Killing Joke, and with the track “R.I.P.” appearing on the Batcave compilation The Batcave: Young Limbs and Numb Hymns 1983. They sign to Anagram Records, a Cherry Red sub-label, and release their debut single “Ignore the Machine” in 1983. The single reaches No. 6 on the UK Independent Chart. Their first album, Who’s Been Sleeping in My Brain, follows later that year, with Acid Bath arriving in 1984.

Chart success and touring

By 1987, five of the band’s albums and 12 singles reach the UK indie top 20. Their singles “Dead and Buried” and the reissued “Ignore the Machine” also enter the UK singles chart, reaching No. 91 and No. 99 respectively. Maximum Security reaches No. 100 on the UK Albums Chart in 1985.

They record two BBC Peel Sessions in 1984, and their performance at the time includes songs such as “Attack!!!”, “Dead and Buried”, “Ignore the Machine”, “Hee Haw”, “In God We Trust”, “E.S.T. (Trip to the Moon)” and “Boneshaker Baby”. The band also becomes popular in Japan and release the live album Liquid Head in Tokyo in 1985. In 1986 they support Alice Cooper on The Nightmare Returns tour.

Line-up changes and later albums

Freshwater leaves in 1985, after which the group continues as a trio. David James leaves after Here Cum Germs in 1987, reducing the band to Nik and Christine Wade. In early 1988, they record the one-off 12-inch single “Batman Theme” with recording and live engineer Len Davies under the name the Dynamic Duo, before continuing as Alien Sex Fiend.

They expand their use of electronics and sampling on Another Planet in 1988. In 1989, the band becomes a four-piece again with the addition of Andrew Wilson, also known as Rat Fink Jr., and Simon “Doc” Milton, both of whom had previously appeared as guest collaborators. They make their official debut on the double live album Too Much Acid?.

Their seventh studio album, Curse, appears in 1990. Fink and Milton leave in 1992 after Open Head Surgery and the tour that follows, which is documented on The Altered States of America. The Wades then return to duo form and provide the soundtrack for the Digital Image Design game Inferno in 1994.

Independent label work and later activity

In 1996, the Wades launch their own 13th Moon label. Through it they issue Nocturnal Emissions in 1997, Information Overload in 2004 and Death Trip in 2010. In the mid-1990s, the video for “Zombified” appears on MTV’s Beavis and Butthead.

Alien Sex Fiend release Possessed on Cherry Red in 2018. Their catalogue includes the albums Who’s Been Sleeping in My Brain, Acid Bath, Maximum Security, “It” the Album, Here Cum Germs, Another Planet, Curse, Open Head Surgery, Inferno, Nocturnal Emissions, Information Overload, Death Trip and Possessed.

Influence and related projects

The band’s echoing and sonorous sound influences some of the mixing on recordings by Samhain, as noted by Glenn Danzig. Nik Fiend later publishes Once Upon a Fiend in 2000, reflecting on his time in the group. Andrew Wilson later drummed for United States of Mind and Dog Food before joining Uncle Fester, later renamed UFX, in 2006. He also fronts Vince Ripper and the Rodent Show with Vince “Ripper” Cornwall; the duo perform Alien Sex Fiend and the Cramps material and release It’s Fun to Be a Monster and Boneyard a Go Go!!!.