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The Vinyl Guide - Artist Interviews for Record Collectors and Music Nerds

Ep543: Remembering Rozz Williams & Christian Death

The Vinyl Guide - Artist Interviews for Record Collectors and Music Nerds

Nate Goyer

Music, Music History, Music Interviews

4.7 • 579 Ratings

🗓️ 7 April 2026

⏱️ 49 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Rikk Agnew, James McGearty, and David Glass share stories about Rozz Williams & Christian Death, the making of Only Theater of Pain, and completing his final recorded wish with the new song Flowers.

Tickets for April 18 movie premiere and music reunion event

Topics Include:

  • Rikk Agnew, James McGearty, and David Glass remember Rozz Williams together.
  • Rozz described as mysterious, enigmatic, and a deeply misunderstood artist.
  • Rozz excelled across poetry, music, visual art, and assemblage work.
  • He scratched images into 8mm film cells as experimental art.
  • Rozz was a chameleon, constantly reinventing his look and sound.
  • Christian Death began as a punk band before Rikk joined.
  • Rikk's arrival catapulted Rozz's darker, more mystical artistic vision.
  • Much of Only Theater of Pain was created spontaneously in-studio.
  • Rozz unveiled his poetry to the band for the first time recording.
  • A violent storm set an eerie tone during the vocal sessions.
  • Rozz recorded in a candlelit booth — a truly otherworldly performance.
  • The vocal track was lost; nobody could explain why it didn't record.
  • The released vocals paled against what was actually performed that night.
  • The entire album artwork and layout was hand-drawn by Rozz himself.
  • Lisa Fancher of Frontier financed the record; the band were teenagers.
  • Catastrophe Ballet launched in Europe first; Death Wish emerged mysteriously unauthorised.
  • Only Theater of Pain's influence grew gradually, now considered truly seminal.
  • Rozz's final wish was a full-band studio recording of Flowers.
  • Rikk, James, and David completed Flowers separately, finding it deeply emotional.
  • Romeo's Distress documentary premieres April 18th with a live reunion performance.

High resolution version of this podcast is available at: www.Patreon.com/VinylGuide

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Welcome to the Vinyl Guide, the podcast for record collectors and music nerds.

0:10.1

Here's your host, the biggest record nerd of them all, Nate Goyer.

0:13.5

Oh, well, hey, everyone, it's Nate.

0:15.5

Welcome to episode 543 of the Vinyl Guide, the podcast for record collectors and music nerds. And today, dear people,

0:24.1

we are remembering Roz Williams, founder of Christian Death and very dedicated poet, artist, and

0:30.9

lyricist. Today on the show, we're getting stories of that early period from Christian Death

0:36.6

alumni Rick Agnew, James McGirtie, and David Glass.

0:40.7

We dive deep into the only theater of pain era with the various demos they make.

0:46.4

We get the memories of making that album, creating the new track flowers around the vocals of

0:52.3

Ross Williams, and also to hear a bit about the upcoming live

0:56.8

performance of Christian Death alumni taking place April 18th at the United Theater in Los Angeles.

1:04.1

I put a link to that show in this episode page.

1:07.1

Various members of Christian Death from the past will be joining in for a reunion of sorts,

1:12.4

playing those songs in homage to Ros Williams, and of course the premiere of the new

1:17.6

Ross Williams documentary, Romeo's Distress. Now, I haven't seen the movie yet, but it does look

1:24.1

interesting, and with a Christian death reunion that night, I reckon April 18th will be a hell of an event.

1:30.7

And by the way, I should let you know Rick Agnew participating in today's interview.

1:35.7

He does have some health issues.

1:37.2

So his verbal participation is a bit limited.

1:40.5

Rick's had some rough years as of late, but we certainly hope he bounces back soon.

1:46.0

So, again, this event on April 18th, a celebration of the music of Christian death,

1:51.3

especially around that early period that most people tend to recognize as their most impactful.

...

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