“We were still trying to press buttons”: Cabaret Voltaire on ‘Code’, industrial music and saying goodbye

Cabaret Voltaire’s Stephen Mallinder and Chris Watson have returned to the band’s catalogue for a farewell tour, revisiting decades of work after co-founder Richard H Kirk died. Mallinder says performing across the group’s history has given him and the others a broader view of its changing sound, while a remastered edition of 1987’s *Code* has brought renewed attention to a transitional record.

*Code* captured the band as analogue equipment met emerging digital technology, and as Cabaret Voltaire moved towards club-oriented electronic music and industrial funk. Sessions used familiar Roland synths alongside a Yamaha DX7 and E-mu SP-1200, with improved studio facilities and dub producer Adrian Sherwood contributing; the group’s live set now places tracks such as ‘Sex, Money, Freaks’ alongside earlier songs including ‘Nag Nag Nag’.