On Friday, May 22nd, KEXP celebrated World Goth Day — a day for the goth scene to honor its own culture and make its presence known to the world. It’s a shadowy global gathering you won’t want to miss.
Summon your inner goth and listen on-demand using our two-week Streaming Archive below.
Back in 2025, we heard from Martin Oldgoth, co-founder 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.”
DJ Transmitter returns with some choice music video selections for Goth Day 2024.
KEXP’s Janice Headley had the chance to speak with Japanese darkwave artist Nao Katafuchi about how moving to New York City helped him connect with music from his homeland, and led him to a mysterious obscure ‘80s synth artist.
In conversation with Larry Mizell Jr., the Mechanical Breakdown host shares her experience with goth culture and how anyone can be goth.
Polish blogger Szymon Gołąb aka DJ Transmitter shares clips from Black Marble, Schiller, Shortparis, Szaio, Whispering Sons and Clavvs.
For World Goth Day, KEXP's DJ Sharlese has assembled a video roundup featuring pioneers of the genre alongside the darkwave acts who continue to carry the torch.
