The Bauhaus and Love and Rockets co-founder on a new album of fourteen songs about connection, loss and transition
Transmission 437: Interview with David J
David J has spent more than four decades moving between the bass guitar, the page and the stage. Born David John Haskins in Northampton and now based in Los Angeles, he co-founded Bauhaus in 1978 as their bassist and co-writer. When the band split in 1983, he formed Love and Rockets with two of his former bandmates, and between 1985 and 1998 he made seven albums with them as bassist, co-vocalist and co-writer. A solo career had already begun alongside all this, and for two years before Love and Rockets he played bass and co-produced for The Jazz Butcher, the alias of the late Pat Fish. He has released sixteen solo albums, along with film and theatre work, collaborations and the memoir Who Killed Mister Moonlight?, published in 2014.
Artist: David J Haskins
Release Date: 2026-10-27
Genres: Alternative Rock, Art Rock, Post-punk
Label: Label 51 Recordings
Description: Interview with David J on Postcards From The Afterlife, out 27 Nov 2026 via Label 51 Recordings: Prague strings, loss and a trio tour.
When we last interviewed him, in 2025, he had two releases outside the song form on the table: the spoken word album The Mother Tree and the poetry collection Rhapsody, Threnody & Prayer, which gathers texts written from the late 1970s onward. With Postcards From The Afterlife, out on 27 November 2026 through Label 51 Recordings as a double LP, CD and digital release, he returns to songs: fourteen of them, preceded on 8 October by the single Requiem For The Rose Garden. Among those featured are his partner, ex-wife, Pat Fish himself, Jobriath, Jackie Kennedy, and the current US president. Julian Shah-Tayler, a multi-instrumentalist, co-wrote three songs.
The record moves from soul to 1960s orchestral pop, from European chanson in the manner of Leonard Cohen to rock. The closing track, Walking With The Angels, was recorded in Prague with two dozen musicians from the city’s Symphony and Philharmonic Orchestras, and it is an orchestral farewell of rare scale, the kind of piece that leaves the listener sitting in silence after the last note. The cover is a painting by Stefan Prince of a large owl, a psychopomp in myth, a guide between life and the afterlife.
The way I process these things is through music and lyrics. I usually go into a song, and through a song, in order to take the experience on board and process it.”
—David J
What specific experience inspired the album’s theme of “connection in life or death”?
Living. Just the experience of living. But being of a certain age, I’m now sadly starting to witness the passing of friends, close friends. The way I process these things is through music and lyrics. I usually go into a song, and through a song, in order to take the experience on board and process it. That’s part of this record, but it’s also about continuing relationships, and it concerns schisms and the parting of ways. So it’s all of that. It’s life experience in one’s golden years, you could say.
How did you select the guest musicians for this record?
It’s the same process for me always. It comes from what is suggested by the song, and it’s quite obvious. I’m fortunate enough to have a great pool of excellent musicians at my disposal. Quite a lot of them are here in LA; I have a core group here. But I also have musician friends all over the world, so if it occurs to me that they would be apropos for the track, I can always send them files. That’s the beauty of working in this age. You can send files anywhere, and it’s immediate. You usually get an immediate response. So it’s whatever is suggested by the song.
What led you to explore so many different genres across these 14 songs?
That’s reflective of my very eclectic tastes. The more I continue in music, the broader my tastes become, because I’m always exploring. I’m very curious about different forms of music, different genres, and very open to receiving new musical influences. It’s just the way I am. My record collection is very broad, very eclectic. I don’t decide that this will have a bit of a soul feel to it, or that this will have a little bit of reggae in there. It all comes very organically and naturally from the song. I don’t overthink it. It just evolves musically. It’s very natural.
It’s seriously about losing democracy, which is at the core of the American way of being. I believe we’re going to get it back.”
—David J
What was it like recording the album’s finale with members of the Prague Symphony?
I’ve always wanted to work with an orchestra. I love strings on records. It was the circumstances I found myself in, in Prague. I had an orchestra at my disposal, which was intended for a record that I was producing, and that session fell apart. It was very frustrating, and I vented my frustration. I processed it the way I always do, which is by writing a song. As I was writing this one, I thought, my God, this would really suit a full orchestra, and I have a wonderful one ready, willing to go and at my disposal. So I used the same arranger. I had some ideas for parts, and I literally hummed them into my phone and sent these phone messages to the arranger, because I don’t write music. But I have ideas for melodies and parts. That came together pretty much literally overnight. Then I went in and recorded the vocal in one take. It’s a song called Walking with the Angels.
How has your connection to Requiem For The Rose Garden evolved since you first wrote it during Trump’s first term?
It’s essentially the same song. I just added a couple of lines about the loss of democracy and the challenge that we face here in America. It’s seriously about losing democracy, which is at the core of the American way of being. I believe we’re going to get it back, but it was a very specific reference to that, the loss of democracy, or the danger of losing it. It was important that I put those lines in. That’s the only thing. But the music is different. When I was working on the song, I was on tour, in Detroit, and I was fortunate to have the band Duende, a local Detroit band, a great band, who I’ve worked with extensively in the past. I recorded it on a day off, along with a few other songs. We had an incredibly productive session, and we recorded some other tracks that are going to come out as an EP. So it’s an evolution lyrically and musically, and it couldn’t be more crucially timed, because we are in the midst of all of this political upheaval and the midterm elections are coming up very soon. A rather timely release, I think.
How does viewing US politics as a British artist living in LA affect your perspective?
You draw from your experience. I’ve been in America since 1998, so a long time, but prior to that I was living in England, and my reference points there were British politics. I lived through the horrors of the Thatcher years, so I can see some similarities with what’s going on here in the States, although it’s quite a lot worse, which is saying something. It’s fascist. Thatcherism was also touching on fascism, but not to the degree that this current administration is. But I’m very encouraged by the wave that is apparently going on in Serbia and Brazil very recently. I think the tide is changing.
I literally hummed them into my phone and sent these phone messages to the arranger, because I don’t write music. But I have ideas for melodies and parts.”
—David J
Did specific writers, artists or art movements influence the imagery on this record?
On a couple of tracks, especially the ones where I’ve used strings, what I had in mind was the early solo recordings of Scott Walker in the late 60s, when he recorded with a full orchestra, very fully produced tracks. That was definitely a reference point for me. Aside from Walking with the Angels, there’s a track called Her Name Was Yesterday, and that is definitely alluding to the work of Scott Walker. Aside from that, nothing specific. It’s such a broad range of influences that I draw from all the time, and they’re all in there, from The Velvet Underground to The Beatles. But the Scott Walker reference is a very specific one.
Which role dominated your process on this album: songwriter, vocalist, or producer?
All of the above, in equal measure. But it all goes back to the song. The song is the core of the thing. If I had to pick one, it would be songwriter. As soon as the song is written, the other roles come into play: musician, arranger, and finally producer. So it’s a process.
Do you plan to tour this album with a live band or string ensemble?
I’m going out as a trio, stripped down. There are economic constraints in play here. I couldn’t afford to go out with a full band, and I certainly couldn’t afford to go out with a full orchestra, although that would be wonderful. Having said that, I might be venturing out on a very limited scale next year with some string players. That’s in process at the moment; I’m talking about it with some promoters. For now, I’m going out with a keyboardist, the wonderful pianist Paul Wallfisch from Swans (read our interview with Michael Gira), and on violin Fiona Brice, who is also an incredible musician. I’ve known Fiona since she was 14, and now she’s a very respected arranger and player. She’s played with a lot of people: John Cale, Placebo, even Elton John. I’m very much looking forward to playing with them. It’s also the first time I’ve brought these two musicians together, and that’s a very exciting prospect, because I think they will have a vibe and play off each other. That’s for this run that’s coming up in Europe and the UK.
I don’t decide that this will have a bit of a soul feel to it, or that this will have a little bit of reggae in there. It all comes very organically and naturally from the song.”
—David J
Has your view on past relationships changed when writing about “love found and love lost”?
How you relate to past relationships does change over time. It’s an evolution of feelings, and to a degree the way you feel about past relationships is coloured by your current relationships. So I think that’s my answer to that. It’s a complicated question.
Are there visual art or film projects planned to accompany the release?
I do have a cinematic feeling with music. I see my vision of what’s created with a song, very often, in filming terms. I suppose I’m subconsciously drawing from all the movies I’ve seen and loved in the past, and my taste in that area is very broad. Of late, I’ve been doing some soundtrack work for films, early grand guignol films, and doing some live scores. I’m about to leave for Detroit tomorrow to do one of these. I’m working with a great production company, Severin Films, and they are putting out a box set of these. These are very early films, some from the late 19th century, and others from the 1900s and 1920s, early horror films, which I’m scoring. I’m going off on a bit of a tangent here, but because I’ve been involved in that work, I was doing the prep work while making this album, so I think that comes into it as well. There’s a certain kind of atmosphere that is apparent in these scores. It’s moody, with a kind of melancholic undertone. As far as visual art, that’s always there, humming away in my subconscious, from the surrealists to contemporary artists, but nothing specifically influenced the songs or the music from visual art.
Are you currently working on any new books or theatrical pieces?
Yes, I am. For some time I’ve been working on a sequel to the book about the story of Bauhaus, because that ended in 2006. I thought it was done, but it carried on until 2022, and there’s a lot to tell, so I’m writing that. I’m also writing another one that is tangentially connected to Love and Rockets, but it goes off on all sorts of weird avenues. These books are very much on the back burner, because I’m focused on music at the moment.
Photos courtesy of David J
Matteo Damiani is an Italian photographer and author. Curator of the sites Retrofuturista.com; weirditaly.com; china-underground.com and others
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