Coil's concert at the packed DK Gorbunova Saturday night was a dark avant-garde performance, an unusual sight even for this veteran venue. The audience all kept to their seats for the hour-and-a-half gig, most moving from side to side in a trancelike state.

At first even renowned musicians seemed lost at the sight of alien-clad Coil founder John Balance evoking sounds out of the void and convulsively rolling about the stage while beating his head against a steel wall, but soon all became totally absorbed. Afterwards people from the disparate crowd were all expressing the same feelings of an indefinable and enlightening mystic experience.

The cult British group has had a steady following here in Moscow and is widely considered to be the most influential underground electronic-gothic-noise creators of the past two decades.

Prior to the concert, 39-year-old John Balance answered some questions online with a Coil mode: preferring "Musick" to "Music" and referring to mystical teachers such as Aleister Crowley.

Could you explain the idea behind the special two-CD compilation made especially for Russia?

We found out there was a large body of interest for Coil Musick in Russia, and we wanted to provide our Russian fans with a well-produced, quality release, which was hand-chosen and hand-designed by us. This is a good chance for us to provide a comprehensive guide to the conflicting but also complementary elements in our history. The themes of the two collections show the polar opposites that make Coil spin around dynamically – the dynamics contained within us. We are genuinely plural.

What guides you and what do you believe in?

We believe in ourselves and we trust to instinct. "There is no such thing as coincidence," as William Burroughs said. We research into breaking down and reforming the fabric of reality and peoples' perception of it. We believe in the potential of the audience. We are re-transmitting what we have been given by our teachers.

The ticket prices for your concert here in Moscow were set at 666 rubles. In another currency the symbolism would be lost. But what do numbers and symbols in general mean to you?

Nothing! Numbers and symbols can mean anything or nothing to anybody, but we have made a specific study of them and have found nothing. As for the price of the tickets – it could have been 418 or 777.

Does Russian culture have some specific importance for you?

We have an element in our Musick of the "dark soul" that transcends borders and nations, but seems to have a particular resonance in the Russian people – passionate extremity and brutal poetry that seems to have deep roots in the history of the land.

Time magazine put you up in their list of most-influential figures. Why do you think that is and what does that mean for you?

Time? There is no Time.

What is the reason for Coil's rare live appearances, and how do you choose what part of the world to play a gig in?

Until a few years ago we used to say we were waiting for technology to catch up with our ideas. This, combined with an intense dislike of normal live rock-'n'-roll concerts, made the idea of playing live impossible for us. But then we gave up on waiting for the technology and decided to leap into the void. Thighpaulsandra, our newest member, convinced us to perform live.

People have been waiting for us to play all around the world, but we only choose to play where spiritual density and intense sexual energy form a whirlwind.

Do you plan your live performances ahead of time or are they spontaneous?

We have been thinking about this for 20 years. We make detailed plans to be spontaneous. Each concert is different because each place is different. There is a mutual exchange of energy – in the best situations the energy magnifies itself to create a profound mystical or sexual experience.

The motto of the performances we have been playing recently is

"Constant Shallowness Leads to Evil." Russia has a strong cultural affinity with its diverse and often violent history and in that context, it feels right.