Darrin Huss

Psyche are a Canadian dark synth-pop band, now based in Germany.

They are centered on singer Darrin Huss, who has been the only constant member, with various line-ups including his brother Stephen Huss, later followed by David Kristian, Per-Anders Kurenbach, and Remi Szyszka, all recording albums with Darrin under the name Psyche.

Psyche was formed by brothers Darrin and Stephen Huss in Edmonton, Alberta, named after the B-Side of Killing Joke's Wardance single as well as being chosen for the meaning of the word.

The band's debut performance was on December 13, 1982, with Dwayne Goettel on additional keyboards.

During this period, Psyche performed bizarre live shows wherein Darrin performed nude (except for being covered in shaving cream) while talk-singing and shouting over the music.

The performance idea was prompted by pictures seen of Fad Gadget in British Music magazines.

The release of Misguided Angels contained material from 1983 through 2000 as a re-introduction of Psyche back on their original continent.

It contained the last material from Per-Anders Kurenbach, and Darrin as well as some lesser-known mixes.

By this point the partnership was dissolved, and Darrin began the next decade of music with Remi Szyszka as his collaborator in Psyche.

It contains music videos and performances beginning with "The Crawler" on an Edmonton TV station in 1983 through to 2005, an audio commentary track, and a backstage interview with the Huss brothers in Sweden after their debut concert in Gothenburg in 1988.

While demos were recorded during the collaboration with Dwayne Goettel, no albums were released until 1985's Insomnia Theatre, after Goettel's departure.

After Insomnia Theatre achieved moderate success in Europe, Psyche signed with New Rose Records in Paris.

They released two singles followed by a studio album, Unveiling the Secret, in 1986.

To promote the record, Psyche performed as the opening act for Suicide, at Élysée Montmartre in Paris, then as headliners on their own European tour.

After the release of their third studio album, Mystery Hotel, Stephen Huss was diagnosed with schizophrenia and took a hiatus from the group.

During this period Darrin began collaborating with David Kristian, leading to a new album, The Influence, in 1989.

This album introduced new elements to Psyche's sound, with samples created by Kristian, and being performed entirely on the Casio FZ1.

The songs "Misery", and "Haunted" began Psyche's shift to the dark wave music scene.

A visit home to Waterloo in 1991 reunited the Huss brothers and, the subsequent recording sessions produced 1991's Daydream Avenue.

Though Psyche returned to tour Europe with German keyboardist Johannes Haeusler in support of English poetic artist Anne Clark, Stephen Huss stayed behind in Canada because of his illness.

In 1994, the album Intimacy, produced in collaboration with Joseph Watt (of Razormaid) was released, along with a companion EP of dance numbers, Private Desires, which featured a cover of Soft Cell's classic Sex Dwarf.

The group embarked on a small German tour, but Stephen Huss remained in Canada, leaving Darrin to find new collaborators in Germany.

After another hiatus while Darrin took part in side projects, Psyche resumed activities in 1996 with Per-Anders Kurenbach joining as a new member.

The first single release was "You Ran Away" with a cover version of "Goodbye Horses" by Q Lazzarus as the B-side.

This cover version became a permanent staple in Psyche's live repertoire, as well as being included on the album Strange Romance, which took a musical shift toward an accessible, upbeat pop sound.

After playing for the first time in Oslo, Norway and a return to Sweden, Psyche released a live video featuring highlights from their Strange Romance Tour.

In 1998 the group signed with the StrangeWays label out of Hamburg, Germany, and released their eighth album, Love Among the Ruined, which included some experimental pop music.

At the beginning of 2000, Psyche signed to Artoffact Records of Toronto, Canada.

The new line-up made its debut on Accession Records with the single, Sanctuary, released in April 2001.

After a series of concerts in both Europe and North America, a ninth studio album The Hiding Place was released and well-received, charting at fourth place in the year-end Top 100 of the German Alternative Charts.

To capitalize on this success, a remix album entitled Endangered Species was released mid-2002.

A series of live performances followed in 2003, along with the release of Babylon Deluxe, which appeared in the German Alternative Top Ten.

The album topped the German Alternative Charts (DAC), ranking #1 for 7 weeks on the DAC Top 10 Albums of March, 2005.

and Nr.

11 on the overall chart of that year.

In 2006, as the band neared its 25-year mark, a DVD collection documenting Psyche's appearances in every incarnation from 1983 to 2005 was released.

Titled Imaginary Life, its 23 tracks included at least one song from each of the previous albums released.

The 11th Hour, Psyche's 11th album, featured the return of previous collaborator Per-Anders Kurenbach, but including a farewell track with Remi Szyszka, and a guest appearance by Christian Wirsig.

The 11th Hour was released through Accession Records in Europe, Metropolis Records in North America, and Irond Records in Russia making it the widest release in the band's history.

Following The 11th Hour, Psyche shifted their focus to touring rather than recording, playing shows and festivals across Europe, North and South America, and South Africa.