MK Magazine Interviews

DEVILDRIVER / DEZ Interview

By Sara Josephine

The Machinehead/Devil Driver show at House of Blues in Chicago began with many twists and turns and my interview with Dez was looking more and more difficult to come by. My tickets for the show never made it to will call so I had roadies and managers telling me I could only do the interview then I would be “escorted out”. But my night in shining armor, wearing a Motorhead shirt, sporting long black hair and a tribal tattoo on his chin came to my rescue. Dez is what every interviewer hopes for when trying to get truthful information about a band or music in general. Dez turned my whole night around by being open and honest about himself, his band, and the tour. He- and only he- pulled strings allowing me to sit and enjoy the sold out rock show after the interview. Dez proved himself as a real person in a world where ego precedes human compassion, and I’m proud to call him my friend.

DEZ: (talking to manager) Hey, dim those lights over there. Thank you.

SJ: Alright, I want to start talking about the new album first.

DEZ: Cool.

SJ: It seems with this album that musically you guys have gotten to know each other better. I mean, it sounds tighter…. Do you agree with that?

DEZ: DEFINITLY. Definitely. I think any band should have a growth, ya know what I mean? And I think we definitely grew on this one. Plus we had a member change. And since the conception of Devil Driver there’ve been so many member changes because dudes don’t really know if they can tour like we tour. I think right now the whole band- with this album-- this is solidified without a doubt. Everybody’s got their sea-legs on.

SJ: Who was your producer for this album?

DEZ: We used Colin Richardson- who is amazing. I mean, he’s done so many things. I think the stamp of a great producer is that he can put his mark on your album without making you sound like him. He further defined us. He took the guitar sound and he took the drum sound and he just defined what we’ve got now. And we just said we wanted to be different man-- we wanted to step it up- and he really helped with that.

SJ: Why are you always touring with Machinehead? Isn’t this your 6th or 7th tour with them?

DEZ: (laughs) Well, Devil Driver has never toured with Machinehead

SJ: Well, how about you personally….

DEZ: Well, we’re on the same label and we like each other. But, in the beginning Machinehead took Coal Chamber over to Europe and subsequently broke Coal Chamber in Europe because of it. And then over here (the States) Coal Chamber took Machinehead out, and now Machinehead is taking Devil Driver out. I mean, it’s a good time when you know people and you know what their about. I just think it’s a good tour- a good package- so we keep getting together.

SJ: What was the writing process for this new album, The Fury of our Maker’s Hand? Are you a part of writing the music, or do you write the lyrics only?

DEZ: I write all the lyrics- but I do a lot of the arrangement. And I definitely have a say so in the music. I mean, they can bring me 30 songs, and I may narrow it down to only 9 or 10- that we really want to work on, so I have a big hand in that. I also say, ‘hey, this riff in this song is way better than this, let’s get it together.’ But my boys got a handle on that- they work really hard on that. If they need any help arranging then it’s just salt and pepper that I’ll give them.

SJ: Well, the arrangement was absolutely beautiful. It’s really technical. Who are your major influences?

DEZ: I think you’d have to ask these guys. Jeff! (Dez has guitar player come over) This is my lead guitar player, Jeff. Jeff, who are your major influences guitar-wise?

JEFF: Just anything from old school Metallica to Slayer to Sepultura, to Lamb of God and Machinehead. Just a bunch of bands- Pantera, obviously- Superjoint… so much stuff. You just listen to everything and then subconsciously take it in or shut it out.

DEZ: I mean the thing with this band is that there are so many varied influences. I mean I listen to everything from Johnny Cash to Satyricon, so you’re just thrown into a world of that. Same thing with these guys (points to other D.D. members). What I think this band has that’s really cool is everybody plays guitar. So on the record, my drummer and my bass player laid a lot of the guitar work. So everybody was in their doing their thing, so you’re getting a lot of different flavors. Because one guy doesn’t play the same riff the same way. These guys, what they do is pick who can play the best riff the best way and they let that person lay it down- which I think is so so cool—that it’s democratic like that.

SJ: How are the new songs live? How is the response to them?

DEZ: Good. We do ‘Hold back the Day’ and a song called ‘Driving Down the Darkness’ and we’ve also been doing an ‘Ace of Spades’ as well. Phil from Machinehead has been getting up every night jamming it with us- it’s been a good time.

SJ: Lyrically, what’s the new album about?

DEZ: Determination.

SJ: Who are your vocal influences? Because you have such a unique vocal style.

DEZ: Style-wise, obviously I love Lemmy from Motorhead. And an old band from New York called the Crumb Suckers- who was a massive influence on me vocally and if you listen to it, you can hear it. And then lyrically, it’s the blues. I’m like attached to the blues- I listen to the blues all day long… it’s the devil’s music. Johnny Cash, stuff like that- all the story tellers.

SJ: So, are you having fun on tour?

DEZ: I’m having a GREAT time. I’m getting ready to dive into a bottle of wine right now! I can’t believe your boy didn’t show up!! I’m gonna fuckin’ strangle him! (He means the illusive Alex Zander, an old friend of Dez) Sold out and he’s not even here!!

EINSTURZENDE NEUBAUTENPHASE 3

- by JAMES BOEHLER

In the late spring, early summer of 1991, I walked into one of my favourite record stores, Atomic Records, in Milwaukee. From the moment I walked in the door, a song later known to me as "Vanadium-I-Ching", struck me in a way that no other music had at that time. It was also a very heavy psycho-delicate time, in the aftermath of Gulf War Part One. What's different now from then? A lot and nothing. Many of bands the bands that I had been into at the time had been together for maybe 10 years, or were broken up or dead. The German and truly orchestrated noise group, EINSTURZENDE NEUBAUTEN, had just released a "greatest hits vol. 2" package entitled, "Strategies Against Architecture 2". It contained material from 1984-90 and disc/side 2 was playing. For the duration of my weekly visit, I had transcended into a different consciousness. I couldn't translate the language of my heritage, but oddly enough it felt very familiar to me. I was hooked, so I approached the music pusher who was going to get me straight on my latest fix. The Cooler-than-thou Record Store Clerk had to tell me at least 10 times how to pronounce their name. "EIN-STUR-ZENDE...NEU-BAU-TEN!" I had never heard anything on that level which had surpassed anything considered "industrial" at the time. If there was a true term for that word, E.N. would apply if not on the basis of the own instruments that they create or incorporate into their performances, then on the translation of their name alone: "Collapsing New Buildings!" On the 30th of April, 2004, I arrived a the Metro for what I would later learn was going to be their last show in Chicago, or the last tour of America for that matter. I still wasn't sure who I would be interviewing, though I requested to interview Blixa Bargeld, since the he was the mainline towards the group's existence. Whatever he says goes. I was bit nervous of the possibility of ever meeting him. He's a very educated and well traveled man that has no time for bullshit of any kind. He also is responsible for 2 of the more influential groups of the last 20 years. The Bad Seeds and, of course, Einsturzende Neubauten. Once lead into the bus, I the first face I saw was that of Professor Bargeld. I properly introduced myself and thank him for the opportunity to speak, or more or less, listen to him. He seemed more interested in talking any way. He reminisced about the last time they played the Metro (July 2000), but doesn't remember much because they toured so consistently. He remembers a lot of obnoxiousness in the audience during his monologues and how he feels about it.

BB: People having a conversation in front of the stage...there's 2 ways I can feel about it...cuz I feel that what I'm doing there on stage is not strong enough that I can hold enough (laughs) attention there. Then I should be perfectly correct of saying "Do I interrupt you conversation?" or they're just plain...dumb. I wouldn't say rude cuz I don't think rude is a bad thing.

He remains optimistic about the show and comments on the rain.

BB: It's raining. A lot of people are not going to come that are in doubt about going to the show, so we're probably going to have a thin, quintessential audience. [The shows] We're closing up on 3 hours. We are getting older, but we're getting closer to James Brown proportions...It's a nice life...It's fun life. It is really demanding on your strings.

I mention how EN has become more accessible to their supporters.

BB: We came up with that name, now we have supporters. I don't want to call them fans. It's logical root is in fanatic. We have supporters and that is a good thing, it's nice to have that means of communication. That we we would actually be able to get feedback to get the possibility of seeing what people think about what we're doing. Usually you would make a record. You would mix a record. You would do the promotion. Then you would do the press. You would do all the interview. You would read all the stuff that's going to get written and done about you and then you would wait for this record to be released and you would see how people actually react to that. Nowadays, the way we work, is we do get the feedback immediately when we start playing it and we attempt to record something, we all ready get the feedback and through the whole process of refining that we get the feedback and can easily react to that. Not that it is necessary for us to like modify the particular ideas to...in attempt to please anyone. That is certainly not the idea, but it certainly helps in a sense of gaining any kind of momentum to see that there is potential and see what people see and what we're doing there. So there are things we're doing and there are reactions immediately and they help. That is really nice. I'm definitely in the making of the music and the music has. I think the band are certainly more interested in whatever social impact it can make. I'm much more interested in the production of the music, of what it is more possible to do within the group. What the group dynamic is doing and what the social ideas are working within a group of people in opposite to working in a circuit of the producer, artist, composer and sitting in front of the computer screen. Which is the normal way of making music nowadays. I don't want to criticize technology in that sense...what is accepted as being a band is not really a band because the way music is produced doesn't have anything to do with a social interaction any more. And I'm more interested that and I'm certainly much more interested in creating a particular kind of theatre. I'm much more interested in the fact to make whole movements happen and things happen in sense, as we doing now with Neubauten.org, but see that we can create for whole new types of events and whole new...

Blixia's attention is briefly diverted, but he continues.

BB: The next piece that we're doing with Neubauten.org is [with] the participation of supporters and it's probably going to be about a 10 day long event and that's gonna happen in Berlin and it's gonna end up in the creation of one piece and it's completely outside. The format you couldn't normally sell to a record company...and they're not going to be around much longer. It's not cutting out the middle man. The whole concept, copyright concept, is gonna fail and go to hell.

One of my next topic of conversation are political nature. With the current state of affairs with the rest of the world being pissed off at the U.S., I wondered what Blixia felt about the war in Iraq.

BB: I'm not happy enough to ventilate my political thoughts, thank you. I'm happy to talk about music and joining territories. I can just say that tomorrow's the 1st of May. The International Day of the Fighting Proletarians. Something that Americans tend to forget.

Switching the subject back to music, I ask him about future projects or the possibility of putting out something of his own.

BB: No, we're just doing this. We're doing Phase 2 with Neubauten.org...in Phase 1, we ended up making 1 and a half records. 1 record was only for supporters [and sent out to them.] Then we split up the whole material of into a supporters album and the public album. The public album had about 70% overlap. With the next supporter's album is probably have no overlap. It is only to be for the supporters. Unless you subscribe to Neubauten.org, you're not going to be able to purchase it. Not even purchase it later. We're going to do a DVD as well, which is basically filmed by now, but a lot of editing to do...and we're going to do a performance, only to open to supporters as well. Which is going to be a supporters participation performance that will be recorded and filmed as well. All that is going to make the stash that out of which is gonna form the product that comes out of Phase 2. Also there will be several performances outside of Neubauten, cuz we're turning the whole thing into a veritable television station. The quality, as technology moves on, will rival television quality soon. And we are taking more accent on actually developing a particular broadcast that are gonna be television shows. They're are not gonna be on cable television. (Laughs.) They're just gonna be on Neubauten.org.

Sitting across from me, as he sips some wine, Blixa looks bored and asks if there's anything else I would like to know. One of the 7 questions I had come up with was why he had left the Bad Seeds after being such a prominent force. (Imagine Keith Richards quitting the Rolling Stones...ever?!)

JB: Why after 20...

BB: I was bored. Next question.

Completely derailed, I get back up on the track and discuss his appearances in films. There was this film "Dandy" that was shot in 5 different countries. It starred Blixa, along with Nick Cave, Nina Hagen, Lene Lovich and a few others. I didn't get a chance to tell him that the "video" for EN's "Morning Dew" in the film was great and also one of my favourite covers. There's this scene in the deserts of Cairo in between the pyramids and the Sphinx, sniffing up "Sand", (which is also a cool cover), through a straw. "I was fortunate enough to see a screening of "Dandy", where the director, Peter Sempel, spoke at a college campus in Milwaukee. I started to rave about the film, but Blixa felt differently.

BB: I disagree completely. The best thing about "Dandy" was there was this scene where I'm meant to roll dice(s) and I'm meant to roll 3 sixes...or 2 sixes. I ask how do you want to film that? Do you just want to continuing doing this and you film until there are 2 sixes or are you gonna trick that later? [Peter says] "No, no, just roll...should I show you how to do it?" And he takes the dice and does it! Then I just thought this is weird. This guy could really do it. He took the the dice and he rolled 2 sixes. He was, of course, happy himself that he could show me how to do that. That's bizarre. I don't know how he did it in the end i was really impressed he was able to do that. But he's not a normal director and that was not acting.

A few years back I had read an article where Blixa raved about a German Progressive Rock band called Can. That was all I need to start with "Soundtracks" and work my way through their catalog, up until the late 70s and 80s material.

BB: Music still plays a very important role in the formative years of your youth. It's a soundtrack. When I went to school there was probably 4 or 5 people in my class that i took seriously in what they were listening to. And there were about 26 that I did not take serious in what they were listening to. There was a lot of communication in a small group. It was all very important role in my life and my formative years...my first record was "Atom Heart Mother' and then I moved very quickly away from Pink Floyd to, basically, the German Progressive Rock of the time. There was Can, Kraftwerk, Neu...I had more to do, certainly, with the Clogne side of it than the Berlin cosmic side of it. Ash Ra Templ was not really my cup of tea. I really like the hypnotic and telepathic quality of Can, for example. And I still do and still adore that way of playing. And on the other side of what was influential to me and probably Neubauten, in general, was there was onlu one German rock band that sang in German. Kraftwerk at the times I'm talking about, did not sing...there was no vocals. They were purely instrumental. Can always parked sideways around it by having a black guy singing, that mumbled some kind of English. Or a Japanese guy that faked English. He did. but he employed a lot of techniques of singing without singing, which I always adored as well. The singing in these bands was absolutely unimportant. There was one band that sang in German, which was very unusual in Germany, that a band sang in German. It's hard to believe and hard to understand. but everybody tried to make you believe, in Germany, that rock music was not made to be sang in German. You can't employ that language to this type of music. There was only one band very political, very successful, very influential and also the only and first independent band. They produced, recorded, distributed their own records. They pressed them. They had their own publishing company. All that long before punk. They even had these wonderful sayings on their records. "Tell us about shops that sell this record for more than 50 marks." I saw them play live several times, because something in between The Riot and the great MC5 concert and in between that, Oscillation Field, is what drove me towards making music. Singing...and the contents of vocals and the aspect I love about improvisational quality and experimental quality of German Progressive Rock of the times. That is very comprehensive. Late other things came, but I was preoccupied already that time.

Speaking of which, it is getting closer to show time, when he suddenly drops a bomb.

BB: This is the last tour we're doing in America. We simply cannot afford it any more. It's not getting better. The dollar's not worth anything. Ticketmaster is eating it up all. Next year this is all gonna be Clear Channel. So, what the hell? We're not going on tour here no more. We're going to China next year. we're doing a nice extended China tour. Which is probably going to be really nice and successful, but we're not going to play here any more. It was very difficult for a band that was called, translated, "collapsing new buildings" to go on tour or make records after [9-11]. The record company refused releasing the record. They should not release records by the Byrds, probably.

The rest of the group passes through. Alexander Hacke is one of them. Earlier, before the interview, he did a double take on me, because we had met the last time they played. It was outside the Metro and he was the first to demonstrate the "lighter-as-a-beer-bottle-opener" maneuver and how it worked. That explanation would have taken to long to go into, so a pleasant "hello' suited me fine. They had 20 minutes until they had to be on stage. Anticipating their last show in America, I was satisfied with our discussion, or rather, former Professor Bargeld's lecture. I thanked him once again for his time and said for him to have a good time with tonight's performance. Then I sent into the venue to claim my spot.

Later EN took the stage, with much applause and Blixa opening up with his monologues. As usual, people still chatted and yelled out unintelligible things. Undaunted, he continued:

BB: Tomorrow is the 1st of May, that is the International Fighting Day of the Proletarians and the United States of America is the only country in the world that does not make that a national holiday.

The crowd is struck with indifference or laughter. They came to see a group of men making some noise. Most of them are not interested in politics, they came for a show. It's Friday night and some of them probably have the weekends off and want to have a good time.

BB: We always have a very good time playing in Chicago. We played here from the very beginning of Metro, I believe the first time was 1986. We've played many time and we played many other places here in Chicago even before that. So...this is a farewell. This is the last time we play here.

The supporters of tonight's show are vastly upset.

BB: We simply cannot afford to play the United States of America any longer. It's not getting any better. Not even for the International Fighting Day for the Proletarians. We can't. So, please enjoy this show...as much as we will try our best.

He has one last promise:

BB: The first song will be very low in volume, don't be afraid, we're gonna raise it up to a more admirable volume before the end of the night.

After almost 3 hours of a still transcending show, Einsturzende Neubauten always fail to disappoint. Much of their performances absorb so much of my attention that I find my senses overwhelmed. Very few groups can hold you in one spot for any great length of time. Not a lot of today's music can really doing that any more. With EN, there is so much going on at one time, it's hard to even think about the possibility of being bored. If they played any less than "James Brown Proportions", it wouldn't be as captivating. You're not forced, as so much as a willing participant. Even if all you can do is stand there and look interested in what they are doing. That's all they want. A reaction. To a touch a nerve in "Central Nervous System" and never tire of developing new strategies for and against all types of architecture.

Perhaps I'm wrong in thinking I know how they try to reach people, but it is my belief that they are perfectionists in the vein that King Crimson is. Robert Fripp is not going to put out anything that he is not happy with. Blixa Bargeld and the rest of EN are the same way. Different, but related in the structure of their material, improvisational and experimental performances. Not that I want to compare EN to KC, but both bands fit the definition of what Progressive Rock is all about. It surpasses any other type of "rock" music out there, if even in name alone. You can go back through either band's history and trace the evolution. All bands, and the human artists that are a part of them, get tired and burn out after awhile. Very few of them age well like vintage wine. Einsturzende Neubauten will be one of those groups that only a selected few will understand and appreciate whatever changes they decide to take. As they creep up on a third decade of existence, one will still be wondering what's in store for Phase 3. I've supported them for almost 15 years and I would continue to do so for longer.

Lamb of God Interview with Randy Blythe

By Sara Josephine

Lamb of God has proven themselves once again on the fierce metal tour with Fear Factory, playing to packed venues in every city. Lamb of God’s release of Ashes of the Wake provides listeners with some of the most brutal metal combining, speed, death, and hardcore into one delectable mix. My interview with Randy Blythe was interrupted several times due to the bands recent popularity and soaring album sales. My in person interview was shifted to 3 different time slots, and then I finally got bumped down to a phone interview. Nevertheless, Randy delivered and answered questions about the recent tour, and Ashes of the Wake.

SJ- You have a very strong message of thinking for yourself in the lyrics on the album—was this a theme for the album at all?

RB- I think that’s thematically what I write about in general. The album wasn’t really a concept album or anything, but yeah, it’s definitely basically what I try to get across.

SJ- There’s also a lot of talk about war on the album is this literally a war, or a war with others, or a war within… or a little bit of both?

RB- Well, some of it is literally physical consecration that is going on in various parts of the world and some of it is also, like you were saying, thinking for yourself—the struggle against mediocrity and the apathy that most people in society immerse themselves in. So, it’s literal and metaphoric.

SJ- In the song with the soldier talking about being in Baghdad…

RB- Yeah, that’s the title track

SJ- Right, Ashes of the Wake. Is that an actual soldier—how did you get that?

RB- Yep. Um, our drummer got that somehow through, I think, a news service. We had to pay to use the sample, but yeah, it’s a real Marine.

SJ- Wow. That’s really cool. The album seems to me to be a real drum showcasing album more so than Palaces. Was this intended?

RB- I think it’s maybe just that the drum sound was better and the production brought them out more. I think the bass definitely came out more on this rather than Palaces.

SJ- definitely

RB- … which made me very happy.

SJ- That goes into my next question. I love the new improved sound, but, I was a little bit disappointed to hear that you’re not working with Devin (Townsend) anymore… but how did you like working with Machine?

RB- I loved it. I loved working with Devin and I loved working with Steve Austin. Machine, so far, has been my favorite producer vocally because… that’s his deal. He really loves producing vocals—he gets really excited. Whoever we use to do our next record, whether it be Machine or not, I’m certainly going to fight for him to come in and produce the vocals.

SJ- Cool, so you could have him just produce vocals and someone else come in and produce the album.

RB- Well, that would be my intent, producers are a weird breed. Some of them might be like, “No.� But, we’ll have to see what happens. We still have a long ways to go on the touring cycle of this record, so I’m not even worried about it.

SJ- Right. So, how did you find out about Machine, because I know he does a lot of other types of music besides metal.

RB- Our manager let it be known through whatever industry channels there are that we were looking for a producer for the next record. We were wanting to branch out and try something different. And I guess Machine sent him his reel. It was a management deal I suppose.

SI- How do you feel about getting all this radio airplay in the last month or two. Because you guys have just exploded. We are getting you on our local hard rock radio station which would have never played you a year ago. Would you rather remain underground or do you like all this radio airplay you are getting?

RB- Well, I don’t ever listen to the radio. (Laughs) EVER. So, I don’t know—it’s interesting. It doesn’t bother me. As long as whoever is making the music makes it with integrity and stays true to their intent as it were then you could play it on TRL for all I give a fuck. (Laughs)

SJ- Right (laughs)

RB- I don’t care. Maybe if it gets played on the radio and opens some kids’ minds to more brutal metal, more real stuff, then I suppose that’s a good thing. But really, I don’t really care because I don’t listen to the radio.

SJ- Yeah. Last question. Who are 3 bands who influence the Lamb of God sound?

RB- Top 3. Jesus. That’s kind of an interesting question because we all listen to so much different stuff—I’ll answer for myself.

SJ- Ok.

RB- I Hate God, Napalm Death, and Lynyrd Skynyrd

Shadows Fall VS Chicago (Round One)

Interview by Sara Josephine

“Power Ballads are far from dead, my friends� was one of the final statements Brian Fair, lead singer of Shadows Fall, made to the crowd at the Bottom Lounge. Shadows Fall is a refreshing mix of old school squeals and solos combined with new varieties of riffs and vocals. The band’s heaviness can hang with the best of ‘em, especially when it comes to their live shows. The live force of the band is incredible complete with Brian doing the windmill at every opportunity he can! They remind me a lot of pre-black Metallica meets Testament. And their new album, The War Within is no exception delivering raw power of metal fused with rock n’ roll.

SI: What different influences helped you create The War Within and how do these influences differ from the influences responsible for Art of Balance?

BF: Um, well a lot of our common influences the five of us share is definitely like a lot of the traditional metal bands – Maiden, Judas Priest, the other rock bands like old Aerosmith and things like that– ya know, Sabbath and shit. And on this record we definitely kinda went more the rock n’ roll vibe than say the thrash vibe that was there on Art of Balance. Art of Balance– I mean there’s a whole lot of Testament and shit goin’ on.

SI: yeah...

BF: (laughs) and there’s definitely that on the new record but I don’t think it’s as dominant. I think kinda the slower, heavier, kinda rock riffs are a little more predominant.– Which is funny because then you have a song like Eternity Within which is the thrashiest song we’ve ever done! So it is kinda back and forth. But I’d say that’s the main difference that I notice is just a little more of the rock n’ roll tip.

SI: In Those Who Cannot Speak, is there a story behind that song?

BF: Sort of. It’s just about children dealing with autism or..

SI: --That’s what I thought! that’s crazy....

BF: Yeah, It’s something I’ve dealt with with my niece and nephew who’ve had different forms and mild learning disabilities when it comes to speech– associating objects with language and things like that. And I also read a lot of Faulkner and he always seemed to have characters that kinda had that amazing poetry in there internal monologue but couldn’t speak. And that always intrigued me. The English language in general is pretty limited as far as it’s descriptive powers anyways, ya know, you’re never gonna always get your point across, but to not even be able to pull words to describe something– it’s gotta be so frustrating. And most of the time, these kids are usually very artistic and very poetic in their own way. It’s just that it’s not gonna be in the normal speech patterns and things.

SI: Right, that’s awesome.

SI: The thing that I’ve always noticed about you guys, especially on Art of Balance, because that’s the CD I know back and forth...
BF (laughs) yeah, the new one just came out.

SI: yeah, just came out so I’m still getting to know it. But all the music is at the exact same volume with your voice. Is that something that you really try to do? Because I noticed it on this album to– everything is so clear and crisp and nothing overshadows anything else.

BF Yeah, that’s one thing that Zeuss is really on top of production-wise, when we’re in the studio we want it all to have just that unified sound– you don’t want anything floating out on top. Which is weird because we mix up a lot of different vocal styles but you want them to all have the same amount of impact. We want them to all be at that same level– which is cool though because you have to find a way to make that acoustic break as powerful as the blast-beat part with screams so, yeah, it’s definitely a conscious thing.

SI So, just tell me a little more about Zeuss and why you worked with him again.

BF Zeuss has been involved since our demo days. He was good friend of ours for years– Paul was in a band with him for years before he was in Shadows Fall called Push Button Warfare which also had the old drummer for Hatebreed who played on their records and stuff so we’ve known them forever and he started recording bands with like a little 4-track and shit! And now he’s got as high tech of a studio as you could have! That’s another thing with the way technology is today, you can kinda grow your own studio in a very small space. He’s just a great producer, he gets amazing performances out of people because he really knows how to push you in that way. We’ll probably be working with Zeuss in some capacity FOREVER.

SI Cool. So is this your first time playing here [Bottom Lounge]? Because this space is great.

BF Is it? Cool. No, we’ve played a few other places like, Metro, the Vic, House of Blues, but no, we’ve never played here. It seems like it’s gonna be a fun, in-your-face kinda show! Nice and packed! That’s the way last night was in Cleveland too. It was a good time, no barricade bullshit

SI Are you guys talking to MTV2 again? Because you guys had so many videos off of Art of Balance.

BF We got one in rotation right now for power of eye and eye and we already finished the video for What Drives the Weak. Actually I just got off the phone with MTV News a minute ago, I gotta call them back. For some reason my cell phone fuckin’ WILL NOT work around here to save my life!

SI (Laughs) Yeah, it sucks in this area

BF Yeah, it’s just weird! All of us were having weird.... I would look and I have full bars, but it won’t work!

SI So why are you talking to MTV News?

BF Oh, just an interview.

DANZIG- From This Day Forward…

By Cindi Loftus photos by SuZn Murawaski

Dark, Deep, Hypnotic,

Aloof, Intense, Erotic,

Mysterious, Poetic,

Memorizing, Magnetic.

These words describe the man and the music that is Danzig. Glenn Danzig is the man and his newest CD, Circle of Snakes, is the music. You are all familiar with Glenn’s colorful twenty-five plus year history in the music business. We take it from here into the future with this exclusive interview.

Cindi Loftus: Hi Glenn. I love Circle Of Snakes. How did you prepare to write all these songs? Do you have a ritual you do or a place you go?

Glenn Danzig: Nope. I write them riding in the car or sitting at my desk. Or just laying in bed or where ever. There was never really a set way to do it.

CL: You don’t have to get into a certain mindset? It’s just there

GD: No. At least for me I don’t have to do that.

CL: How long did it take you to write all the songs on this CD?

GD: Uh. I start writing songs as soon as I am done with the last record. And actually even when all the stuff is recorded for a record I’m writing songs, ya know. I just bring ‘em down and show ‘em to everybody.

CL: Do you struggle with lyrics or does it come pouring out of you?

GD: Nothing comes pouring out of me. Sometimes writing a song can be a pain in the ass and sometimes it comes real easy. Sometimes I get the ideas and write it down in five minutes and it’s done. Other times it takes weeks from the time you initiate the arrangement and write the lyrics and rearranging it

CL: I think when people hear the words to a song they tend to apply it to their experience and how it fits their lives.

GD: That’s great. I love when people do that with my stuff. That’s great.

CL: My favorite song on this record is When We Were Dead and when I hear the words, it makes me think of someone trapped in an addiction. Now I have no idea what you were actually thinking when you wrote it…

GD: I wasn’t thinking that. But that’s good that you were. Ya know, of course I am writing a song and you can take it all different ways, you can take it the way I wrote it or you can apply it to yourself and I think it’s great. I love talking to people that buy my records and they tell me what a certain thing means to them. They make it more personal to themselves. That’s the best compliment you can get.

CL: I would love to know what you were thinking about when you wrote it.

GD: Oh God, a million things.

CL: Was it about zombies?

GD: No, no, no, no, no.

CL: It’s not about Purgatory?

GD: Well, in some ways, some of the lines in there are metaphors for Purgatory.

CL: I have to ask this very naïve questions, but how do you make it sound like the instruments are saying When We Were Dead?

GD: I don’t know. (laughs)

CL: Fine. (laughs) In the song Black Angel White Angel are you writing about the classic struggle between good and evil or is there a lot deeper story to it?

GD: It’s a little deeper then that. It’s not so much a struggle as a co-existence. There are a lot of questions in there. Which people can either listen to or not, ya know, you can just listen to the melody and dig it, or they can hear what is actually being said.

CL: I think your words are so amazing. I can’t imagine anyone not listening to them, and I am so glad that you put the words in the liner notes.

GD: We always try to put the words in there. And if we occasionally leave one out, people just go nuts.

CL: You hear about it. For the CD Circle Of Snakes and the tour you have changed one member. Bevin Davies played drums on the CD, but for the tour…

GD: We replaced him.

CL: So Johnny Kelly will be the drummer on the tour.

GD: Johnny has played with Danzig before so it’s kinda like we are bringing him back.

CL: Tommy Victor plays on the CD and on the tour.

GD: That’s correct.

CL: And Jerry Montano plays on the CD and on the tour.

GD: That’s correct.

CL: You are touring for a month in the US, then you are going to Europe?

GD: We take off a couple weeks (between the two) and then we go to Europe. I didn’t really want to go out on tour. But I pushed my other tour back, The Blackest of the Black until next fall. The label wanted me to do a tour for the new record because we hadn’t done one yet. Although I didn’t want to commit to a long tour, I said okay I said I would do a month in American and we will just hit a few of the major cities and that’s it.

CL: Well I’m in Miami, and unfortunately I’m not on your tour.

GD: It’s not really a major city for us anymore, it’s more disco and rap and that kind of shit.

CL: So you are not going to extend your US tour at all? There are a lot of fans that want to see you.

GD: No. Ya know, I don’t know what to tell you.

CL: Can you do a live DVD of this concert? Then we could all see it.

GD: I don’t know.

CL: Who is the hot naked blonde chick in the CD liner?

GD: That’s a model.

CL: I was hoping it was someone’s love interest…

GD: Why were you hoping that?

CL: Just to get some juicy gossip.

GD: Oh (laughs)

CL: So I guess you wouldn’t tell me if it was.

GD: That’s right.

CL: What are the best and worst things about being on tour.

GD: The best thing is the hour and a half, two hours up on stage. The worst part is bouncing around on the bus and not being home.

CL: Do you like all the traveling?

GD: I’m over it. I’ve been doing it my whole life. I see other people who are not sick of it. I’m really over it.

CL: How was it to perform with Doyle?

GD: When he came up for the shows it was really great. Doyle is a really nice guy.

CL: So is he is going to do some of your tour with you?

GD: No, he’s not scheduled to. He might next year in Blackest of the Black. And maybe we’ll come to Miami then, who knows.

CL: Great! Will I offend you if I talk about sex?

GD: No.

CL: The pervert that I am, when I listened to the song Circle of Snakes, there is a line that says, “ writhe around your face like a circle of snakes.� The imagery I was getting was not snakes…

GD: What was it?

CL: It was like a girl sitting on the floor and a bunch of guys around her doing like a bukkake.

GD: (cracks up) Wow, you are telling me a lot about yourself.

CL: Uh oh.

GD: That’s one of the other things I like when people tell me what a song meant to them. I don’t usually do a psychological profile of them. (laughs)

CL: Thank God.

GD: That’s cool cause I never would of thought of that. You can ask your readers if they would have thought of that and let me know. It’s your interpretation. It’s America. You are allowed to do that.

CL: Luckily I am also the one that types the interview, so I don’t have to put any stupid things I say in it! Anyway, you have so many other things going on, so the big question is- Is this officially the last tour for Danzig?

GD: I don’t know. I know that I will do Blackest of the Black this fall. But I don’t know if I’ll do it next year. They want to have it as a yearly thing, and I don’t know if I will do it next year. I do know that I want a break. I finally took a little break and I was able to do Black Aria Part 2. Now I am finishing up the screenplay for this movie I’m going to direct, so it does help finding time to do all this kind of stuff, by taking little breaks.

CL: I think you deserve one after all this hard work.

GD: Yeah I deserve one, I think so too.

CL: Black Aria 2 is classical music?

GD: The first one was like a classical horror sound track style. This one is along the same vein.

CL: When is it coming out?

GD: It’s supposed to come out early summer.

CL: Do you like working without your band?

GD: Yeah. (laughs)

CL: So you are not touring with Black Aria 2?

GD: No, I’d have to get a whole orchestra and I don’t think that’s feasible.

CL: Can I talk you into doing a live DVD for Black Aria 2? You’d just have to get the orchestra for one day.

GD: Oh no. I don’t know about that.

CL: I’m having no influence here.

GD: Actually I might do a music video for one of the songs on Black Aria 2. It is about Lilith, the first wife of Adam so it would have girls being dark and seductive.

CL: Well I know some girls who like to be naked and dark and seductive. If you’d like any of them let me know.

GD: Yeah sure, send me the pictures! (laughs)

CL: The name of your comic book company, I want to make sure I am saying this correctly VER-O-TIK? Like erotic with a “V�

GD: Yes, “very erotic� is what it is short for.

CL: So you write all the stories for your Verotik comic book line?

GD: In the beginning I had lots of different writers writing with me. Like they would they would do their stories I would do mine. Eventually we honed it down. Pretty much we just publish how we want to now. When ever we have a story to tell. So I write all the stuff now.

CL: And you are also writing the screenplay for Gerouge. You are adapting it from a comic book you wrote?

GD: Yeah. I wrote this story along time ago about turn of the Century in New Orleans in 1904. I adapted it into comic book form around 1997 or so. And we were talking to a production company who really dug our stuff and wanted to produce some of our stuff. So we gave them the books. And we decided this was something we really wanted to do and it was Gerouge.

CL: Does Gerouge mean something in French?

GD: The Angry Red Eye. So I’ve been adapting the screenplay for it and it’s almost done.

CL: Is the movie going to be done with computer animation or real people?

GD: Real people doing real crazy things.

CL: Is it going to be a full-length feature film?

GD: Yeah.

CL: And you have to write the sound track for it?

GD: I’m pretty sure I’ll write the sound track.

CL: I know there are so many things about you that fans want to know. Can I ask some crazy questions?

GD: Yeah. Whether I answer them or not is a totally different story.

CL: Who did you vote for President?

GD: I don’t vote.

CL: How do you feel about the war in Iraq.

GD: War is war. I think if you are going to go to war you should kill everybody; otherwise don’t go to war. I don’t like when people pretend that war is like this little game and there are rules and everything. There are no rules. It’s war. You are sending people over to kill and don’t complain when they kill.

CL: How do you feel about organized religion?

GD: Usually that’s what fucks up religion. I guess religion in itself is for people that are weaker and they need something to bolster them and make them feel like it’s all worth something. I guess (for them) religion is a good thing. But when people come in and make it like a business, which is organizing it, that’s usually when it gets all fucked up.

CL: What is your philosophy on life?

GD: Have fun before you die! Accomplish the things you want to accomplish. Be creative and enjoy everything in life that there is to enjoy.

CL: What is the worst thing that anyone ever said about you?

GD: I don’t know, but I am sure there are tons of them. But people can say whatever the fuck they want. I don’t give two shits.

CL: Do you have any pets?

GD: Yeah, I have a bunch of cats.

CL: Cats?

GD: Yeah. Meow, cats.

CL: Of course I picture you having snakes.

GD: No I don’t like snakes. I mean as pets. When I was a kid I had snakes. But a big snake like a boa, even though you think it’s your friend, it would never be your friend. And if it could it would eat you.

CL: Aren’t there a lot of people like that too?

GD: Yeah, that’s what I’m saying and I don’t have them staying at my house. I mean I know a lot of people who like snakes. I don’t hate snakes. They actually taste good. (laughs) But a snake is not an animal like a wolf or a cat that will bond to you. The only reason a snake comes near you is for your body warmth.

CL: No love.

GD: It’s not going to love you. It possibly could eat you if you are small enough and if it gets big enough it will eat you. So I don’t hate them. I just wouldn’t have them as a pet.

CL: Okay for your ten-bonus point question…

GD: What do I get for the bonus points?

CL: What ever you want! Tell me where this quote comes from“ Artists are very sensitive not like journalists who have elephant skin.�

GD: Well it’s not from me….

CL: No. It’s from a movie I watched today in your honor. I know you love the movies directed by Dario Argento and I found one of them called Deep Red.

GD: Oh Deep Red. Yeah. I have it. Another really good one if you like those kind of movies is Bird with Crystal Plummage.

CL: I’ll check it out. I know you like horror movies.

GD: I don’t like all horror movies. I like good horror movies.

CL: What’s your favorite horror movie of all time?

GD: I don’t know because horror is defined differently by different people. So it could be anything.

CL: Have you watched any recent horror movies that you thought were good?

GD: I like a lot Japanese horror movies because they are much scarier then American horror movies. The last cool American horror I saw was Darkness Falls.

CL: I didn’t see that

GD: They take the legend of the tooth fairy and make her this evil being that scares children.

CL: That sounds cool. Speaking of Evil, how is Evil Live, your indie label going?

GD: It’s going good.

CL: Have you signed anyone yet?

GD: No, I’d like to, but the label that distributes us says they are only interested in established talent. So if I do it I have to find another distributor to do it. There are a couple bands that I want to sign.

CL: So do you think you will just do your own thing and sign some bands?

GD: Yeah, I think I might go somewhere else to do distribution for those that I sign on my own.

CL: I went on the Internet and found some of your fans. I asked them to send me the one question that they would ask you if they could. I got a lot of responses. Do you want to hear a couple?

GD: Not really. (laughs) Fans that are on the internet are out of their minds. They are not normal fans.

CL: Okay how about just two- Here let me read you what one guy said, “Glenn Danzig will die never getting the credit he deserves. He’s a genius, far ahead of his time. Ask him about his blues project he's trying to launch with Jerry Cantrell.�

GD: Jerry and I worked together on Danzig 5 and he’s a really great guitar player. He’d be perfect for this project so we’ve been talking about doing it and trying to make room in our schedules to make it happen.

CL: Next one- “Ask him about his best groupie experience?�

GD: My best groupie experience. Oh wow. I don’t know really.

CL: There’s too many?

GD: Yeah that could be.

CL: You are so non-committal! Is there anything we didn’t talk about that you want to publicize?

GD: No not really. I hate talking about myself.

CL: But you have so much experience in the music world you have no choice!

GD: I guess.

CL: Alex Zander, the Publisher of MK Magazine, says that he’s been to the AVN awards and conventions for the last two years and he’s been surprised he hasn’t seen you there. You don’t attend?

GD: No I don’t attend. Is he the guy whose uncle is Anton LeVay?

CL: Sorry I don’t know. Do you have friends within the adult industry?

GD: I do. Yes.

CL: Who?

GD: A whole lot of them. Of course I know a lot of those people.

CL: Your not naming names. One last question. One song on Circle of Snakes is called Night, BeSodom. What does BeSodom mean? Is it the girl’s name?

GD: (laughs) I’ll just leave it for you to figure out.

CL: Come on!

GD: (laughs) You’ve got a pretty active imagination.

CL: Well I can break it apart and kinda figure out what it might mean. But is it her name?

GD: No.

CL: Is it something you are doing to her?

GD: It’s something that gets done.

CL: Okay. Well, we’ll get this done, with one more question. Do you have a message for your fans?

GD: Yeah. Thanks! I appreciate the support. Hopefully you like the stuff I do. I’m not going to change.

Interview with Jerry Montano Bass Player For DANZIG 2005

Jerry Montano is the extremely talented bass player on the Circle of Snakes record and currently on tour in the US and Europe with Danzig. I got the chance to ask him a couple quick questions....

How much time did you spend in the studio to record COS? We spent some time in our rehearsal studio in Hollywood writing before our European run. It was a good time. Working with Glenn is always cool, but being there through the whole process of a new album and being a part of his vision was the shit. I would say within a few months it was being tracked.

Tell me about When We Were Dead.

When We Were Dead was one the first songs written for C.O.S. It’s one of my favs, I wrote a really cool dark Sabbath type bass line for the verses. Glenn’s writing is amazing. Being there as it all came together is something that raises the hair on the back of your neck. Once the man sings it’s all over.

What is your favorite song on COS and why?

My favorite song on the record is all of ‘em! But I would have to say Black Angel, White Angel, NetherBound, My Darkness, 1000 Devils Reign....

What is the best thing about being on tour with Danzig?

The best thing about touring with G.D. and the band is we are ALL friends. We always have a crazy time. The fans screaming their guts out and losing they’re fucking minds is the shit too. STAY DEAD.

My Ruin - Tairrie B. Bad Interview

by Alex Zander
Photos from www.myruin.loudside.com

My initial encounter with the focus of this article was in 1996 when I was hanging out w/ Life of Agony and Type O Negative at the Vic Theater in Chicago. Joey from LOA took me down front to watch what he told me would be a band he knew I'd dig. The band was Manhole. The singer was a killer red headed super vixen dressed in skintight black leather pants and a T-shirt. She had great pipes and screamed with agony as she sang the chorus to her songs and the band had a nice groove. Her songs were angry and I thought the name of the band was an equally bold statement. Unfortunately the only release by the band I ever got my hands on was the single for "Victim" a song addressing the horror of rape, which also included "Clean "and "Kiss or Kill."

Tairrie B has previously worked as a solo artist a white protege of rap producer/svengali Eazy-E and her first album, 'Power Of A Woman' is now highly collectable. In 1990 her solo debut stalled and she elected to concentrate instead on music with a similar thematic ethos but a more aggressive bent, Manhole a hard rock group from Los Angeles, California. (Who changed their name to Tura Satana for legal reasons) With Scott Ueda (guitar), Rico Villasenor (bass) and Marcelo Palomino (drums), worked in territory widely analogized as 'post-hardcore metal'. Tairrie B continued to rap as well as sing over the backdrop, which also contains trace elements of hip-hop rhythms, but it is doubtful whether those unacquainted with the singer's past confused Manhole with anything other than a ferocious hard rock group. The group split-up in late 1998, allowing Tairrie B to concentrate on a solo career recording as My Ruin. With My Ruin, Miss B remains one of the more influential members of the female metal scene. Tairrie B will be bringing out a book pretty soon in which she will document her life, her experiences together with new photos, titled "God Wants a Piece of My Ass".

After receiving My Ruins Speak and Destroy CD last fall I was thrilled to rediscover the woman who 5 years prior had perked up my ears was still out there making music. To my dismay, she enjoys greater exposure across the sea than she does in her native country. But isn't that how shitty our media exposure is stateside. I immediately dove into the record and till this day it remains in my top 3 as what I love to listen to. The songs are brutally honest and from a female perspective. But at the same time very human and it's the very human emotion that speaks to me. In fact in many ways I identify with her feelings, and raw emotion, anger and pure unrelenting energy. I just flip flop the gender. I took the CD into the WJKL studio (where we were broadcasting from at that time) and we played her take on the Soft Cell classic "Tainted Love". Only because of it's electronic relation to our show and because it was just about the only radio friendly cut on the record. (I think it only had one F word.)

Now with the long awaited US release of A PRAYER UNDER PRESSURE OF VIOLENT ANGUISH we anxiously await the second chapter of My Ruin.
In her own words - A PRAYER UNDER PRESSURE OF VIOLENT ANGUISH is 14 songs strong with two short spoken words segments, which appear at both the beginning and end of the album. SELECTED PRAYERS include BEAUTY FIEND, STICK IT TO ME, LETTER TO THE EDITOR and POST NOISE REVELATION which confronts the critics and media head on and straight up. Speaking of which, we have recorded our own tribute song called ROCKSTAR (dedicated to the late LYNN STRAIT of the band SNOT). There are tracks that deal with my own love / hate dichotomy of religion and relationships such as HEARTSICK, SANCTUARY, HEMORRHAGE, LET IT RAIN and MASOCHRIST (which will be released on the single only). It also boasts a long overdue duet featuring JESSICKA from JACK OFF JILL appropriately titled MISS ANN THROPE as well as covers of DO YOU LOVE ME? by NICK CAVE and the classic BLACK FLAG song MY WAR (which features Mick on duet vocals). We decide on these particular songs to cover because they were very inspirational to us while writing the album. Tairrie B from the website www.myruin.loudside.com

Also available from My Ruin is the live recording "To Britain with Love and Bruises". Which includes 11songs from both albums of material.

Be it the Old Testament, the Live Testament or the New Testament. Tairrie B remains a True Testament of one thing about the entertainment industry in the United States. We're no longer trendsetters, the masses buying the music that is being promoted by the labels here are sheep being spoon-fed bullshit. That's right Middle America is eating shit, when what they should be eating are her words. Bitter as they can be, Miss B speaks the truth. She's an amazing singer, messenger, poet, a fun interview and excuse me for saying, is pretty easy on the eyes. (Photos are a testament to that.)

Alex Zander - I just got done looking at your site.

Tairrie B - Oh, really? We haven't updated the My Ruin one We've got all our old stuff we haven't updated it with the new. We have a new record coming out in September and like a whole new band and all this new shit.

AZ Something different than what I have? I just got the "Speak and Destroy".

TB -Oh, you did? Yeahhh!

A.Z. So, there's something different coming out?

T.B. Yeah, I'm not supposed to talk about it I was told but we have another record coming out in Europe! (laughs) on the 4th of September.

A.Z. Okay, I'll go find some way to get that out of somebody.

T.B. Oh we got to get it to you cause it's like the fucking bomb, it's the real deal.

A.Z. Well, I was thrilled when I got this in the mail on Monday, "Speak and Destroy.", I saw Manhole open for Type O.

T.B. You saw Manhole open for Type O!

A.Z. Yeah, and I got one of your band members to give me a CD single (Victim) and I tried to track you down through the label after that and wanted full length and couldn't find it.

T.B. Ucchh, Let me tell you, Noise Records the fucking pit of my stomach!

A.Z. Really? Are they still around or something?

T.B. The worst fucking label in the world! We were on tour with Type O Negative and the label couldn't get the record into stores to save our lives and we could have sold so many records.

A.Z. Yeah, that tour was high profile.

T.B. It was a joke, we have to order our own records and sell them at shows. We would pull into a town and I'd see an ad in the paper for our record at Tower Records and I'd go in there and say " Hi, I just want to invite you guys to the show tonight and thanks for working the record". They'd be like "We don't even have any of your records." There's this ad in the paper and people are coming in and I'm like "WHAT?!?" Oh, it wasjust so fucked up.

A.Z. Well, that explains it because I couldn't find it anywhere either.

T.B. No one could, we couldn't find our own record. We were so irate, it was such a nightmare.

A.Z. I bet, so what happened with Manhole?

T.B. The story was, Manhole went to record our second record "Relief to Release" and we ended up getting sued for the name. There was a band in Texas called Manhole, that we met actually for a brief drama filled second when I was on stage with Type O Negative, too and they sent some people down to, like, give us shit and of course it turned into a horrible girl fight and we were slapped with a lawsuit and they owned the name. We thought we owned the name and we had a record coming out and no name we thought oh fuck what are we going to do? I was watching Faster Pussycat, Kill Kill one night and I thought Tura Satana that's a pretty rad name, Let's use that! So, we just ended up using that and we got it copyrighted she never copy wrote the name and we did it and we put the record out and then after we recorded it, which was like pulling teeth with our ex-guitar player. We had just had a lot of problems with our guitar player Scott it was just not cool at all, especially touring and we finally got to the point where either I'm leaving or he's leaving, one of us is going. We had our first headlining tour booked in Europe, it was a really huge deal for us, we were gonna headline for our first ever time and he pulled some bullshit and I was just like, "I can't deal with this anymore, you all wonder why we're not making it like we should because no one cares."

I said he's gotta' go or me and we let him go and within two weeks we had this new guy in, Brian, from this band called Spitkiss that were up in San Jose. He came down, met us, knew the shit we brought him in and he went on the road, toured with us everything was great. We did a couple of tours, we did the states, it was really fun it wasn't like some big tour, but it was really fun. Then we did Europe twice and we played all the festivals and everything. Toward the end of it things were just really weird in our band, I mean not cool, some things happened and I just one day had enough and I quit. I said I'm over it and I felt really bad for Brian because he had changed his whole life and moved down here and came in. But you know, it's like having three husbands. It's hard, and it's really hard when certain people don't respect you at all.

A.Z. So you just reformed with My Ruin as an all-new band?

T.B. No, I didn't reform what I did was I quit the band and I just kinda' was like, well, I'm not sure what I want to do at this point. I know I don't want to be in another band right now, you know, I don't want to get into that. People were calling me saying why don't you sing for our band? I was like "Awww, it's not what I want to do.". The funny thing is, right after that I got invited to the Kerrang! Awards, as a presenter, and we actually won an award for best independent band. I'm like, standing there going "Great, I just quit the band." No one knew it yet, and I didn't want the press to know, we didn't want anyone to know, we kept it really quiet. I came home and after that a big scene went down at the awards because my label Noise Records were there, but they wouldn't even fly me out to accept this award and they knew about it. It was unbelievable shit, a big huge scene from the stage to Noise Records to Green Day starting the standing ovation because I dissed my record company and I guess they thought that was very punk. It was kind of funny and somebody happened to be there from a label out in Europe called Snapper and called my manager and said, "Let's do a deal, let's give her a record, let's let her do whatever she wants." I couldn't believe it, because I was speaking to different people like at Roadrunner who were saying "well why don't you demo us this?" and I thought you know, I just don't feel like going and finding a band. I'm just not in that head frame right now, I just got out of a band, it's like breaking up with someone. So, I basically met with a lot of people, the guys in Downset, I used three of the songs we had written towards the end of Tura Satana with Brian that were hit songs and I had met these guys in England, this crew called Bushak (the do remixes)? We had a lot of fun and did some weird kind of different, I don't know, industrial kind of weird spoken word stuff. I met this girl Melanie who was a guitar player through a friend and I thought her stuff was really cool so I ended up doing a little collage record that I thought was really killer. I thought, this represents who I am right now, I'm feeling a lot of things, it's all my influences packed into one. My band would never see doing something like "Close Your Eyes". They would never even want to even touch something like that, I just thought this is my experimental project right now and it's hard you know and I talk about it in the past tense because of the fact that I just did a new record and so it's kind of hard to do all of the U.S. interviews because it's a year later.

A.Z. Right, I just noticed that, this thing was recorded in March of 1999.

T.B. Yeah, and we changed it, we took two songs off and put two songs on, "Fever of Mass Christ?" we re-mixed "Tainted Love" and we did a live version of "Preacher" so we put a couple extra things on there. It is really difficult for me because it is a year later and my head is in the new record and I've got a new band that wrote an entire record with me as a band. Now I am actually in a band.

A.Z. So, is it going to have a different name?

T.B. No, it's My Ruin, it's actually now a band. I don't know if you got press photos, but...did you get photos?

A.Z. I got two, one of you and one with three.

T.B. The one with three, the guy next to me is my guitar player, he wrote the new record and the girl, Megan, is our bass player and she toured with me on My Ruin last year off that record and we kept her and we use Chris from Downset - he actually drummed on the new record because Marcela, my old drummer, had come on the road with me for My Ruin last year in Europe and played. It's very difficult to explain to people, I'm having a lot of trouble with it just getting around my headspace of where I'm at, you know?

A.Z. Will it be as emotional as this one, as personal?

T.B. The other record is completely amazing, it sounds like a Southern..it sounds heavy very Pantera-ish. It's all really heavy. Definitely got to get you a copy of it, check it out.

A.Z. I was happy to get this in the mail, I had no idea what you were doing I guess I tried to get the Manhole record from Noise and I couldn't get anything from their publicity and I couldn't find it the stores. Then I read about the name change to Tura Satana, which was cool, then I just didn't know where you went, I didn't know you were touring and had another record out.

T.B. Yeah, it's been pretty crazy, we've done all the festivals in Europe, the band is pretty big, My Ruin is pretty fucking big in Europe and Tura Satana got really big over there too. That was the problem, we stayed we could support ourselves touring over there, we had big, huge crowds and it was like a completely different world for us, you know they got the record in the stores over there and no one ever did shit for us in The States. This record even, I mean I went back with this and our first show as My Ruin and we played the Reading and Leeds festival and it was just amazing and completely different. I'm hoping it's going to get a good reception in The States, but it's really hard for me because there's some electronic stuff on there and I don't do any of that at all right now. We brought out a keyboard player and we had a lot of crazy things go on when we toured that record in Europe but we didn't have a deal in The States until just recently. I was like, I wasn't even sure I wanted this record to come out here just because I'm onto the new one and I was like, it's a year later, how am I gonna do interviews without talking about the new record? I mean, you know, that's where my head's at. So, it's kinda' weird, I've gotta' have my band that just did this one come and tour in The States with me now and do songs off this one. It's such a confusing little thing, but it probably be all good, so…

A.Z. So that comes out you said in September and that's in Europe?

T.B. Yeah, It's called "Prayer Under Pressure of Violent Anguish". If you look at the Snapper site, you can hear some of it and download some of it, it's www.snappermusic.com and go to the My Ruin part and you can see some of the stuff and download some of it on there.

A.Z. Do you feel like talking about any of the lyrics on there?

T.B. Absolutely.

A.Z. I've only had it for two days, but I've been playing it and playing it to friends and I actually sat down today and read some of it. "June 10th" what's that about, who is that about?

T.B. "June 10th", why did you pick that song?

A.Z. That's the kind of stuff I like, I like Type O Negative kind of stuff where stuff is really personal. That's the first one I wanted to ask you about.

T.B. What do you think it's about?

A.Z. It kinda' sound like somebody led you on and fucked you over.

T.B. (Clears throat) Yeah, he sings for a very prominent rock band, (laughs) it's the same thing that "Blasphemous Girl" and "Absolution" are about.

A.Z. Same situation, and same person?

T.B. Yeah, it's definitely done, I think that "Speak and Destroy" has a lot of different... everybody that kind of knows me knows that I'm not quite the hidden agenda girl, I kinda' just say it. In "Blasphemous Girl" I say dry lung vocal martyr" and anyone who knows the metal scene will know exactly who that is.

June 10th is sort of the tribute to the person in a good way, "Blasphemous Girl" is kinda' my…. I use a lot of religious imagery in my writing you know I like to, sort of, people will take it the way they want, but I like to kind of talk about God as someone I know, maybe and even the Devil at times. I sort of use myself in many aspects as The Mary Magdalene/Virgin Whore thing, I like to use certain connotations in certain ways and "Blasphemous Girl" is more of my attack against this person, I'm being blasphemous against this person who taught me about this or that and saying God wants a piece of my ass, meaning I know what you want from me and I'm coming out against you and against this in this relationship. Then June 10th is sort of the okay now I 'm going to look at it and I'm going to be loving toward it and I'm gonna be a little more.... the end part that I'm saying is actually letters that were written to me, excerpts from letters that were written to me, people think that it's something I'm saying to someone. All the artwork on the record sort of goes around the song "June 10th".

A.Z. Yeah, I saw the one line from it twice in there, so.

T.B. The hotel on the back, the girl on the cover ËœMiss June 10th and There's a note in the record from the person from that day and it's kind of the most strongest emotional song on there but yet in a different way. I guess "Absolution" is dealing with the purgatory aspect of it the love/hate with it and I don't know, it's kind of weird, my lyrics are always very personal.

A.Z. The two songs I was going to ask you about you answered in the same question so that's great. I didn't realize they were tied together, but to me it seems like the whole album just ties together. What about "Cosmetic?".

T.B. "Cosmetic" is kind of a way I was feeling one night looking at a fashion magazine. I don't know, I mean people make so many comments about the whole issue, back where I started from, Ëœwhy aren't you doing anything like you were doing when you were in Manhole? Speaking out for women's rights or talking about how the media portrays women or abortion or all the issues I had touched on in Manhole, and I think if you don't grow, you become stale. Now I still support everything I've ever written about and ever talked about, you know what I mean, that's how I feel and I always will. "Cosmetic" I think was me growing up a little bit and looking in the mirror and talking about how I felt blessed are we among women, and it's kinda' like hey you know what, I'm not some model, I'm not some beauty queen, I am who I am and every girl should feel that way when she looks in the mirror, you know and be happy for what you have and be proud of who you are, no matter if you're 10 pounds overweight or 100 pounds overweight. Be beautiful to yourself first and everyone will think you're beautiful. It's just everything is so cosmetic and fake, there are bands that think that you need to put a fucking mask on to get up there and be whatever, I'm, like I don't really need to have anything on to do it. "Sycophant" is definitely about those bands, I'm not dissing Korn in any way, I'm dissing the bands that have come up trying to be Korn, trying to be all those things like children of the Korn-fed styles. Throw on a pair of Adidas and all that crap and jump on the bandwagon. I just find it repulsive and I find it kind of sad. I've grown up with most of these bands out of L.A. and one minute I see them playing one way and the next minute they're in a magazine wearing tons of makeup and fucking body makeup, talking about they're crazy and posing like they're lunatics, and I'm like gimme' a fucking break.

A.Z. (Laughs)

T.B. That's some weak shit and kids shouldn't buy into that, they should see through that, they need to see that those people don't give a damn they're just writing bullshit lyrics that aren't....you know I wanna' say something. I don't care if I sell a million records or make a million dollars, but I do care about when a girl comes up to me at a show and says ËœWow, when I heard a song you sang it made me feel like this because I can relate to this or whatever, that makes me feel good. That's how I feel when I hear Nick Cave or P.J. Harvey, they're not fucking superstars, but they're superstars to me because they've inspired me.

A.Z. Great! Why did you pick "Tainted Love" of all songs to cover?

T.B. The truth is, I wanted to cover a Nick Cave song, which we do on the new album by ironic chance, but I wanted to and I just couldn't figure out what I wanted to do at the time, I wasn't with the right people I needed to be with to cover it . I was in England and I wasn't feeling right, we were driving to the studio somebody had this 80's tape and "Tainted Love" came on and I go God, I love this song! I love that line "sorry I don't pray that way" and I was thinking, that is so me. It just hit me, and I thought this fucking song sums up saying to someone exactly how I feel " It's time you leave, it's time I leave, it's fucking...your love has been tainted, you've tainted me." I know what it's about but you interpret lyrics to your own interpretation.

A.Z. Exactly.

T.B. That's what I think is so cool and a lot of people have given me shit for covering that song , believe me.

A.Z. I've played that on the radio already. It was the first song last week on our syndicated radio show MK ULTRASOUND. That will be playing actually on Loud Radio out there around 9:00 next
Sunday, they syndicate it out West. I talked a little bit about your history With Manhole and Turf Satan, it was a kicking song to play something New, for us anyway.

TB Cool thank you for playing it!

A.Z. Oh, my pleasure.

T.B. It's a weird thing, because I was like everyone's going Ëœokay she's jumping on the bandwagon-"Cars ","Blue Monday"' the vibe, whatever, I'm not doing a duet with the singer from Soft Cell, and I don't think I'm trying to completely recreate "Tainted Love" the way it was, you know?"

A.Z. I don't think you did at all, I liked your take on it.

T.B. I wanted it to be a little different, a lot of people are like well you fucking ruined the song. That's the whole purpose of doing a cover, you cover it the way you would cover it, people don't realize that. I'm not trying to dog them but like when I hear "Cars" by Fear Factory , I'm like Gary Numan's on there.

A.Z. It sounds just like it.

T.B. What's the point, I don't really get it, you know what I mean, it's like okay great, I want to hear you do a cover of how you would do it.

A.Z. At least you didn't do "Spin Me Round" like everyone else is.

T.B. Oh, Jesus are you kidding?

A.Z. I can't believe how many versions of that came out this year.

T.B. Oh, yuck. On the new record we have a hidden track, we covered Black Flag- "My War" and "Do You Love Me" by Nick Cave. That song is so beautiful.

A.Z. I can't wait to hear that. I love Nick Cave.

T.B. So do I.

A.Z. That's good stuff. I didn't know anything about the Easy E stuff and one day I was sitting with- do you know Thomas Thorn from The Electric Hellfire Club?

T.B. Yeah.

A.Z. We were talking about Manhole, and he had mentioned that you were- he's like that's one of Easy E's girls...

T.B. Whaaaat?

A.Z. referring that you did something on that label, not the other way.

T.B. I was like, wait a minute.

A.Z. This is when they were opening for Godflesh and I actually didn't get to read any press on it until now until this thing that you wrote, your own bio/ press kit, which is good it's more personal.

T.B. There's a thing on the website all about it with pictures of him it's under Stigmata and there's all that rap stuff under there.

A.Z. I'll look for it. I didn't ever hear any of the rap stuff that you did.

T.B. Well, the album was called "Power of a Woman" and it was released on his label and Easy is on it Everlast is on it, Dr. Dre is on it, the D.O.C there are a lot of people that are on it. Then I ended up writing a second record and I worked with Salt N Pepa I did a lot of great shit, and at the end of it and I had a band come in called Sugartooth who were on Geffen and I did a song called "Running with the Devil" we covered the Van Halen thing and did a crazy rock version of it and I sort of decided, you know what, I need to be with a band. This world, a lot of shit went down with me in that world that was pretty heavy duty and I just didn't feel right anymore there and so I stole all my tapes from my label and locked them up and I wouldn't let them release the second record. They wouldn't let me out of the contract, and about a month before Easy died he called me for a meeting and gave me the money he owed me. He told me he was very sorry for keeping me under contract, he said a lot of things to me and I didn't know in his mind what was going on. I didn't realize he had AIDS and he was gonna die, I didn't realize anything, I thought it was just really strange how I hadn't had anything to do with anybody at the label for a really long time. I formed Manhole, but couldn't really do anything, it was in the early stages. He handed me my contract and he said, "You're free to go, here's the money I owe you and I hope you have a great life." He told me he thought I was kickass, I always stood up to everybody, I never took any shit and I wasn't some ho on the label and he respected for that. A month later, I'm driving down the street and I hear a letter being read on the radio station rapper Easy E has issued saying he has AIDS and a week later he was dead. I was like oh my God, It just all blew me away. That guy definitely gave me my start, he signed me and he taught me how to stand up for myself, I mean, Jesus Christ, the N.W.A. camp that's not the easiest group of people. Being a little white girl on that label you better stand up for your shit or your gonna get fucked over big time, a lot of crazy shit happened on that label.

A.Z. What year was that?

T.B. It was 89 and the record came out in 90. It was funny because it had two videos on MTV I hosted Yo MTV Raps with Dre and Ed Lover .I did all that, I'm wearing like a track suit, It was really funny I was blonde, platinum blond, I looked like what Korn looks like when they do this thing now.

A.Z (Laughs)

T.B. That's totally my past and it's hard to even relate to that now. I'm putting together a book right now, I've been working on for about a year and it's a book from 1990-2000 a girl's sort of journal through music. It's journal entries, collages, art, letters from people, stories, I'm having a writer, from Metal Hammer, actually do a thing with me through the whole book and it's going to be called "God Wants a Piece of My Ass". A photo journal of a blasphemous girl and it's got very religious overtones through it and sacrilegious overtones it's very crazy but it's very truthful and it tells a lot of stories in it too.

A.Z. Do you ever get any shit over some of the imagery and some of the lyrics that you use on the religion front?

T.B. I get more shit over, like, pictures I've taken if I've posed in a magazine and I'm wearing something I get more shit like "why is Tairrie B…." I'm like oh please, it's not like I'm in Playboy gimme' a fucking break.The clothes don't make the woman; the woman makes the clothes.

A.Z. Right.

T.B. I think people are a little bit confused about my religious "thing". I think they don't know if I'm a Jesus freak or a Devil worshiper from one minute to the next, and if you walk in my house you wouldn't know either because there's tons of both and I 'm just very drawn to the spiritual side and the dark side sort of somewhere in between. I find both fascinating. I find the Bible fascinating and I find the Satanic Bible fascinating. There's something you can get in each, to say that you can't get something from every religion is crazy, there are so many religions out there. If people have a problem with it, that's their problem, I think Jesus is way more scary than the Devil, all this Satan shit is funny.

A.Z .( Laughs)

T.B. Tura Satana is not... oh is that what that's about you're Satan worshipers now? That wasn't what we were about, look, I can use that imagery and not be a Cradle of Filth chick, okay? I think Marilyn Manson did the whole Devil thing there are so many bands out there that are all neato. If I do a shirt that says Jesus is a rock star, I'm gonna get more shit from that than something about Satan because it's scarier to people. An Evangelist is scarier to people. That terrifies people way more for some reason.

A.Z. More threatening, yeah. You talked a little bit about bands like Korn and that, do you think there's too much of that rap/metal thing flooding...

T.B. Honey, when I was doing rap/metal years ago, I was being told "this will never work". I mean, Cypress Hill guys even told me "this thing will never Work" I look at them now doing that song they have going oh, really? Its funny I just see all these bands popping up out of nowhere jumping on that same thing and I don't want to be a part of it; I don't feel a kinship with it at all. I felt a kinship with certain bands in my town like Snot and Human Waste Project and certain people were around when we were around and Downset .I really love Downset and I think they do the rap/rock thing the best and they've gotten the least amount of publicity, respect, or acknowledgement and I think they definitely do it the best. When I look at someone in a red baseball cap flipped backwards talking about "I'm gonna break, gimme' something to break" Give me a break, I think it's complete crap.

A.Z. There's too much of it, it was good at first, but when that's all you hear and it's all you get to see on MTV.....

T.B. Every band, there is just so much more music out there! I mean gimme' a fucking break, the new "Bomb Pop" record is amazing and why isn't that on MTV? Why isn't there a video for them on MTV? There are so many bands out there that are so incredible and there is just no vehicle for them, they have to remain underground. I can't turn on MTV and watch Papa Roach and Static X, I can't do it; I just can't stomach it. I'm not dissing the people, I'm just saying I can't watch it.

A.Z. Oh yeah, they're nice guys, I think that Static X is funny actually.

T.B. I think it's very hysterical because I grew up with all these people- well I grew up a little bit before them in the scene and then they all kinda' came along and it was like okay, ya' know everyone sounds exactly the same to me, it's like one big long record, I don't understand does no one else see this, that they're buying into the one long record concept? The people that are different they just don't seem to fit into that anywhere.

A.Z. Did you ever get a chance to do any video stuff?

T.B. Mmm hmm...Manhole had a video, Tura Satana had a video, and My Ruin had a video that came out last year.

A.Z. Are these available at all?

T.B. I'm not sure, Manhole had a video for "Kiss or Kill", Tura Satana had one for "Luna" and Tura has a video coming out it's really weird, it's spoken word kinda' tripped out little thing.

A.Z. When we played "Tainted Love" on the radio it was the the only radio friendly song on Speak. We'd love a video we could play on our cable show. But, we'll dig a few more out of here as long as there's not too many fuck words on it.

T.B. I say the "f" word here and there, Ya'know.

A.Z. My engineer was sitting there trying to lay on the dump button, we have no delay. (Laughs)

T.B. Oh, man, sorry about that.

A.Z. That's okay. (Laughs) Personally I dig that vibe.

T.B. A girl's gotta' be a girl. (Laughs)

A.Z. Is there anything else you can talk about the new album then?

T.B. I'm really happy that I did get a chance to do this and it was a nice refreshing break out of doing what I was doing before and kind of come clean in a lot of ways do a lot of different sides of myself, everyone has different sides and just like my new record is really, really heavy, I don't know what the next one will be, ya' know what I mean? You can never tell, I think that represents a big part of me, I guess I wish the one thing that would have happened is that I would have stayed in one place with one producer so it would all sounded more cohesive, but in the other sense it's more like a collage and it's a collage of a lot of feelings and emotions. I hope that people can dig it and have an open mind and not be like what the fuck is this and when they hear "Tainted Love" she's like electronica queen now, what's going on? Get to "Blasphemous Girl".

A.Z. The album that's coming out in September, if we can't get it here do people go to your website or the label's site and order it?

T.B. No, we're going to be able to get it out, it's definitely coming out in September and I definitely have faith they're going to have it out here and Spitfire will definitely get it in stores, I am not afraid of that. The Noise thing was the whole problem with that.

What do you listen to?

A.Z. I like all over the place, I mentioned Type O to you, and I like Switchblade Symphony a lot, Nick Cave, I love, Leonard Cohen .....

T.B. Right on!

A.Z. I like anything personal and emotional. I love Danzig stuff, I like his old stuff not his new stuff.

T.B. Yeah, his old stuff was really great.

A.Z. The Doors are my favorite band of all time so I'm like everywhere, I don't like the rap/metal thing anymore it was fun at first but there's just too much of it for me. It's played out.

T.B. Played out definitely.

A.Z. I like emotional, honest music that's why I like your album a lot because you're talking about how you feel or how you felt at the time and I think that's awesome.

T.B. I think a lot of people find offense at that sometimes because they're like Ëœshe's too personal and she spills it all out; but isn't that what music is supposed to be, instead of candy-coated and pop I don't just sit down and go okay I have to write a catchy hook, oh my God! I have to write something that can be played on the radio. I write something from my heart and I think that's a little more important.

A.Z. I like how you speak your mind and that's why I like Lydia Lunch.

T.B. She's awesome.

A.Z. I love Lydia Lunch and I see her and I'm in awe and I'm one of like five guys in the whole place and a bunch of women want to kick our asses but I really like where she's coming from.

T.B. I don't know if you're familiar with Jessica from Jack Off Jill?

A.Z. Yeah, oh, yeah.

T.B. She did a duet with us on the new record that is coming out in Europe, she is fucking just awesome. I really believe, Jessica is, like my as corny
as this could sound, my sort of attached, detached sister. Her new album is very similar to our new album and we write from like the same place there's just like we the same sort of mindset and I really dig her, man and I really respect her. I think she's a huge star and that nobody's figured this out yet. Well, they broke up. She's doing another project now, it's sad because her record just came out and her record is brilliant.

At this point the tape cuts off and we just continue talking. But rest assured brave reader there will be more conversation to follow as we follow up on "A PRAYER UNDER PRESSURE OF VIOLENT ANGUISH" and our love affair w/ the Divine Miss B.

My Ruin

My Ruin has been one of this publication’s favorite bands since their inception. SPEAK & DESTROY, the band’s debut wasn't released in the USA until a year after it hit the UK, where the band has since been darlings of the music press. Until this day, it is an album of material which is played regularly in the MK ULTRA office and at outings. Full of emotion, energy and in your face tunes. Yet, the powers that be in the music business in our free countryhave not been able to book any shows for the band here in the States until the recent tour opening for Kittie. For MK ULTRA the day finally came when the tour stopped in Chicago at the HOUSE OF BLUES. All previous commitments were broken in order to take in a short set of My Ruin energy and emotion. The set was followed by an interview in one of the Prayer Rooms at the HOB Foundation Room. (See the initial interview w/ Tairrie B on our website www.mkultramag.com)

Tairrie B, or Miss B. as she is often referred to has previously worked as a solo artist (a white protégé of rap producer/svengali Eazy-E) and her first album, 'Power Of A Woman' is now highly collectable. In 1990 her solo debut stalled and she elected to concentrate on music with a similar thematic ethos but a more aggressive bent: Manhole, a hard rock group from Los Angeles, California. (Who changed their name to Tura Satana for legal reasons) With Scott Ueda (guitar), Rico Villasenor (bass) and Marcelo Palomino (drums), Manhole worked in territory widely analogized as 'post-hardcore metal.� Tairrie B continued to rap as well as sing over the backdrop, which also contained trace elements of hip-hop rhythms. But it is doubtful whether those unacquainted with the singer's past confused Manhole with anything other than a ferocious hard rock group. The group split-up in late 1998, allowing Tairrie B to concentrate on a solo career recording as My Ruin. With My Ruin, Miss B remains one of the more influential members of the female metal scene. Tairrie B will be bringing out a book soon, where she will document her life amd her experiences together with new photos, titled "God Wants a Piece of My Ass".

Upon the long awaited US release of A PRAYER UNDER PRESSURE OF VIOLENT ANGUISH were permitted to witness the second chapter of My Ruin.

In her own words - A PRAYER UNDER PRESSURE OF VIOLENT ANGUISH is 14 songs strong with two short spoken words segments, which appear at both the beginning and end of the album. SELECTED PRAYERS include BEAUTY FIEND, STICK IT TO ME, LETTER TO THE EDITOR and POST NOISE REVELATION which confronts the critics and media head on and straight up. Speaking of which, we have recorded our own tribute song called ROCKSTAR (dedicated to the late LYNN STRAIT of the band SNOT). There are tracks that deal with my own love / hate dichotomy of religion and relationships such as HEARTSICK, SANCTUARY, HEMORRHAGE, LET IT RAIN and MASOCHRIST (which will be released on the single only). It also boasts a long overdue duet featuring JESSICKA from JACK OFF JILL appropriately titled MISS ANN THROPE as well as covers of DO YOU LOVE ME? by NICK CAVE and the classic BLACK FLAG song MY WAR (which features Mick on duet vocals). We decide on these particular songs to cover because they were very inspirational to us while writing the album. -Tairrie B from the website www.myruin.com

Also available from My Ruin is the live recording "To Britain with Love and Bruises.� Which includes 11 songs from both albums of material.

Be it the Old Testament, the Live Testament or the New Testament. Tairrie B remains a true testament of one thing about the entertainment industry in the United States. She says, “We're no longer trendsetters; the masses buying the music that is being promoted by the labels here are sheep being spoon-fed bullshit. That's right Middle America is eating shit.� What they should be eating are her words. Bitter as they can be, Miss B speaks the truth. She's an amazing singer, messenger, poet, a fun interview and excuse me for saying, is pretty easy on the eyes.

The band is MICK MURPHY guitar, MEGHAN MATTOX on bass, YAEL drums, and Tairrie B out front with pipes that rival any band on the circuit. They all joined in for the following interview that offers quotes that pull no punches. It is straight from the heart, simply put, the truth. Something a lot of people in the industry can't seem to handle in the age of using pop music as a way to sell sneakers, Playstations and zit cream.

Alex Zander: So what took so long to get here to Chicago for My Ruin to play?

Tairrie B: A band needed to invite us out. We needed to be invited on a real tour so we were unable to play. So we were unable to do it. It's hard when you have no label.

AZ: So no support from Spitfire now?

TB: “Shitfire!� is not our label. They never were. They licensed a record without our permission from a U.K. label called Snapper, both records, behind our backs. When we tried to make it cool with them we said, "well we're on your label let's do something." We got offered Tattoo the Earth, we got offered a lot of stuff. They were like "nope, we're not gonna support you. We're just going to put your record out there and whatever copies we feel like putting out and see what happens." They didn't give a shit about us. So that's why we wrote a song called "Spitfire" about it which will be on our next record.

AZ: As far as a new record, other than the live My Ruin record, when is that gonna happen?

TB: When we find a label. We have the record written. We have about 18 songs written. We're planning on doing a couple of real cool covers and Morgan may appear on the record, from Kittie. We got the whole concept down, we know what we're calling it. We know what we're doing, we're ready to go! It's called The Horror of Beauty. It's just a lot of things we've been going through the past couple of years.

Mick Murphy: It's going to be a killer rock album, too. Rock, not "nu-metal." It's super-heavy rock.

TB: True metal, that's what it's going to be. See, we have a guitar player in our band that doesn't sound like the same five guitar players in the same other five bands that copied the same five guitar players (laughs). He can do solos.

MM: Actually, this is music before 1990, you know what I mean? So I think that makes us a little different.

AZ: When we did an interview with you a year and a half ago that was on Speak and Destroy, which was new domestically but it had been around in Europe before on Snapper?

TB: Yeah, and actually this band did not do that. A lot of people don't understand, they're like "well you change your name every other year, what's going on?" So I'll just give a quick recap. I used to be a rapper back in the day on Eazy-E's label, Ruthless, like 12 years ago. I put together a band called Manhole, which was a rap/rock, kind of like Body Count, Downset, Rage. But a female front. We did a record called "All is Not Well." We did a second record after we toured the world off that and did great, but we got sued for our name by a band out of Texas called Manhole, a punk rock band. They wouldn't let us buy it from them so we had to change our name as our new record was coming out. So we released Relief the Release under the name Tura Satana. So a lot of people got confused like what the hell? What is this? Then we ended up touring the world off of that and I ended up wanting to do something completely different. I was a little bit tired of the rap/rock thing. I wanted to branch out and do something a little bit different. The guys in my band were really not up to it, but we were on the same wavelength, though, on a lot of things. So I left the band and I did this solo record called Speak and Destroy. I named the project My Ruin because I didn't want to call it Tairrie B. I worked with a lot of different artists and producers and put together a touring band. That's where I met Meghan. She came out with me and toured with me first in Europe and England. I came back and decided it might be fun to put a new band together again. Everybody's like, “every other year she has a new band name," it's crazy! It kind of became a joke, but now it's pretty serious. We met Mick, Mick stepped in and he used to front his own band. Mick actually plays drums, sings, plays guitar. He pretty much does it all. He's the frontman for his band called Movement. He played me all the stuff he had written and I was just blown away. It was amazing so it was like maybe we should do some work together.

MM: Yeah, I was looking for something to do. My band had broken up and I had songs. I played her my songs and she was interested. It sparked up a romance and band all at the same time.

AZ: Did you play on Speak and Destroy?

MM: I played on the remix of "Tainted Love" on the American release.

AZ: Which was why he was on the promo shots.

TB: See, Spitfire was just a joke. Spitfire really jacked our band up. They waited a year to release one, then we were going to have a video for "Tainted Love" and then they pulled that. We were going to do Tattoo the Earth and then they pulled that. Spitfire Records just really tried to sabotage our career, big time. They wouldn't let us do any press in the States. They were afraid we were going to tell what was really going on, which we were.

MM: When we questioned them at all they got totally offended.

TB: We're a real band. We're not some fake garage band that's like "take our record and fuck us." They didn't give a shit and we were working really hard. "Speak" was a good record and "Prayer" was a fucking great record, and I can say that it's a great record.

MM: And our next record is going to be even better.

TB: Yeah, we really worked hard. We've been writing this record for a couple of years. There's a lot of subjects that I think our band relates to kids on a completely different level because it's more of an emotion. We're like an emo-metal band. Kids come to our shows and we have kids in the front row crying. It's like a completely different thing, girls throwing themselves onstage. It's very dramatic, they really relate to the lyrics and they really feel the music. It's something really cool, I think it's really different. It makes me really proud to be in a band that can set a standard for something new instead of following a trend. I don't think there's anyone that My Ruin can be compared to and I love that fact. It's what makes original bands.

AZ: So do you blame the lack of press in the United States on Spitfire?

TB: Oh fuck yeah. With our press kit in Europe you'd think we were Marilyn Manson. You'd think this band is huge.

AZ: If you look on your Web Site, (www.myruin.com) all the press that's there is amazing.

TB: Yeah, Spitfire was just "own up, cut them off. Cut them off from everything. Can't do this, can't do that." Finally we got out of all the contracts and legalities.

MM: They were afraid the truth might come out about how lame they are.

TB: Really, just lame, shady dealing. Really, I thought "oh it's a baby label." We were like ok, they think we want a break. Let's get this band out there, get them on Ozzfest, Tattoo the Earth, get out there and get their name out. Have something to break besides the old shit their still pumping. The guy's a dinosaur. He's just an idiot. I hate badmouthing someone like that, but this guy's a real fucker.

AZ: What's on the live album, who's on it, what's it called, who put it out and when was it done?

MM: We did it on our tour of the U.K. the first thing we did when we got to England was went to this barhouse in the middle of nowhere.

AZ: That tour was on the new record, right? Because I don't have that.

MM: It was a mixture between the two records. It gave this lineup a chance to do our versions of the songs off Speak and Destroy. We kind of changed them a little bit, made them more of what we do. And to do live versions of the songs off "Prayer" with Yael, because Yael didn't play on the "Prayer" record. She got into the band after we made that record.

TB: I really love that record. I think it's very raw and like they said, they did the record before Yael came into the band. They did the record at 4 in the morning and we had just gotten off a ten-hour flight. I got up at 9am and did all the vocals in and hour and a half-two hours.

MM: It's like a live studio album.
TB: It' crazy. It was awesome and I think it's great because it's really raw and it's everything from the music to the vocals to the artwork on it is pictures from the tour. It's really us. It really represents what My Ruin is. I think kids love that. They felt like we called it To Britain with Love and Bruises, because it was our little gift to Britain. For all the kids being so kind to us it really meant a lot to us to do it.

AZ: So the best way for somebody to find your music is?...

TB: Amazon.com, Hot Topic, they're now carrying it. They just took us in to the family. It's a shame, I feel really sad that we come out here every night and we play for all these kids and we go to our merch booth and our merch girl says "200 kids came up tonight asking for your album." We're like "what?!" We sell out. I mean we're doing more merch than any other tour. We're selling out, we're doing great. That's how we're surviving. But we have no record out here and we can't get them out here. So we're like we just need a label. We need a label to get behind this band and say I get it, I'm not afraid of it. Let's get you guys on the road, let's get you guys out there, let's make this fucking record and let's do it! That's all we need. We're not looking for a million dollars. We're looking for some real people who aren't liars.

MM: Who don't want to change us into some formulated band.

TB: Yeah! Who don't want to turn us into something we're not. I'm not that little, melodic singer girl. I'm not going to be Linkin Park. That's not gonna happen. But what I am is what I am and I can relate to a lot of people. This band can relate to a lot of people. People tell us that every night, we loved you, you're not that typical thing out there. It's different. Someone's gotta take a chance. Someone will believe in us and that person will step up when the time is right, and we know that. Until then we're gonna bust our ass and do what we gotta do. We'll play for everybody as long as people will bring us out, like Kittie.

AZ: Are you still writing your book?

TB: Been working on it for years, for a few years now. It's insane.

YAEL: It's a novel.

TB: It's not really a novel anymore, it's like a...

MEGHAN MATTOX: Encyclopedia.

TB: (laughs) It's like 1,000 pages now. I took it to a book publisher and he's like "oh my god, there's like 8 books here." It's insane. So I may have to break it down.

AZ: Tell us about it. What's it about and what are you putting into it?

TB: Well, basically it's about one girl's life in music. It's going through my rap days, Manhole, Tura Satana, to My Ruin. It's road stories, it's tour journals, it's diary entries, poetry, song lyrics, private pictures, letters from kids, letters to magazines I've written that were published and not published, letters from people, all sorts of crazy shit. Someone who didn't even like us or like the band could pick up the book, say oh my god and read it for days. It's insane, it's really crazy and when it gets published it'll be the same as the record, it finds it's home with the right person.

AZ: The Web Site's extremely detailed as well, there's a whole lot in there. Does it address some of the same themes? Is some of the artwork the same? It's of the best sites I've ever seen.

TB: Some of it. It mean it would be getting ahead of me for the book and then I started thinking about it and I said hmm, you know that's kind of what it really all is, like the artist screaming. In one way or another that's all I've been doing for the past how many years, I've been screaming. Add this to this, with this, for this in all these different ways. From the early days when I was involved in the "Rock for Choice" pro-choice movement, helping battered women and working in all those causes, all the way to screaming for women, standing on stage and saying get up here! You can come up; you don't have to be the girlfriend. You can be the girl onstage. I think a lot of girls relate to that. That's why I go in the audience and put my mic down and say sing with me. The show is with me. I love that. I love it that a lot of times we do shows, we don't have the giant reaction but we have people just looking at us in this intense way.

MEGHAN: More of a connection.

AZ: That was obvious from watching tonight. Do you get that everywhere?

MEGHAN: I think you get it more when it's a smaller venue and you're right there with everybody.

TB: Personally I've played festivals for 120,000 people and be like 25 feet away from stage with photographers below and I just sit up there thinking, I'm freaking out. I can't relate to that. So I have to jump down and go through them to get to the kids. Everyone's like "you can't jump down there, you're not allowed." I'm like I can't do a show up here. I have to be touching someone.

YAEL: You may as well be in your rehearsal room. You're not connected with anything because you're so far from everybody. Some of the shows on this tour have been like you walk off, take off your shirt and drench the water right the hell out of it because it gets amazing. It's energy, that's all. They give it, you give it and you can feel it just building and building and building. It's really dynamic. Like mellow stuff where she's just talking to a crowd and enticing everybody and they're like "what the fuck is she saying?" Then it's like well this is what I'm saying! So you can feel that. You can see them moving in a certain way, at least I can, because I'm in the middle. So I can just see the whole thing happening whether it's up here or down there and just work with everybody.
TB: We did a little documentary, we filmed it. We have a lot of home videos and we're going to put them all available on our site pretty soon. But we document everything we do and we have a lot of crazy, crazy stuff on tape. But it's awesome. Every night kids say to us you should have been higher on the bill, and we're like, our time will come, we'll get there.

MM: The coolest part is the kids that have never heard of the band before, they come up to us and say. "oh my god, where have you been?! You guys are amazing!" It just feels really good. Of course the kids who sing every lyric and have the records, that's awesome. But to turn some new heads, that's what it's all about, as many people as possible.

TB: To turn the disbeliever into a believer. You see the guys and girls who stand there when we walk out like "you can't impress me." They have that look like "I'm not here for you." I'll walk right up to those people and grab their faces, you know, right in their faces look at them, hold their hand…

MM: And they're converted.

TB: It's crazy! They'll come up to you after the show and say I heard shit about you, you know, everybody has a story afterwards.

MM: Yeah, there have been people who will say "I heard really bad things about you guys, but you guys are really cool." So hopefully that's what this tour is going to do and that's open some eyes.

TB: We're not fucking rock stars. People think because you're on the cover of a magazine or other shit that you live in mansions, you're rock stars, and we're like come on now! We're in a van, we're ghetto fabulous!

MM: In a van down by the river.

TB: Exactly! We're out here Black Flaggin' it. For real. When we do "My War," I really feel like I relate to this. I understand this shit. The people that I respect in the business, the people that I think are amazing are not the people on MTV. They are not the people that are all over MTV. I don't want to be this big -for me, I'm speaking for me only- I don't want to be Gwen Stefani and I don't want to be Madonna. But I want to be what I am, whatever that's going to be. I want to live my life, be happy, do my music, tour and have kids get it and sell records. I actually have records available. We're playing for how many kids tonight? How many of these kids are actually going to be able to find our fucking record? That's what scares me.

AZ: You had that same problem with Noise Records.

TB: Yeah, exactly!

AZ: I remember seeing you for the first time opening for Type O and one of your band members gave me a sampler and for months I couldn't get Noise to send me any. They sent me 8x10's but no records.

TB: Nope. We would get out there and play for 2,000 kids a night. There'd be an ad in Tower Records and I'd go in the store that day and say "I wanna invite the staff to the show," because we didn't know anybody and they'd say "well we have one record." I'm like "what?!" We had to start getting our records on the road and selling them. But we sold them all out. At least Noise gave us records to sell on the road.

MEGHAN: You got 8x10's because it goes with the territory of being a woman in this business. They're selling a hot face to you and they're not looking at the substance behind it.

TB: This is not a hot face, this band is not a hot face. That's why we do songs like "Beauty Fiend" and "Get Pretty." We have lyrics so please forgive me for not being pretty or sexy. That's not what I'm here for. I'm not here to be your little doll up on stage with my fake tits and fakeness. I'm up here just to give it to you, if you don't like it get the fuck out. You know what? Someone else is here that will. If you want some bimbo up on stage yeah I can get one in this band. But that's not coming to this band. That's not what we're about. If that's what we've gotta be to be on MTV then fuck it. I don't need it, we don't need it.

AZ: Now Eazy-E's label...How did you get into rap and then involved with that label.

TB: I was a street dancer, I was really into graffiti art and breakdancing way back in the day. I know KoRn made it really cool to wear Adidas and track suits. Well back when I was wearing it, it wasn't cool for a white girl to be wearing that shit. I was just really into it and I met Eazy-E's manager at a N.W.A. concert with a friend of mine and he's (manager) like, "oh you're a rapper?" I was like "oh yeah." He asked if I had anything and I said "well Quincy Jones's son had did a song with me, Jimi Hendrix's "Foxy Lady,"" on a little demo. So I went down to N.W.A.'s studio all by myself, with nobody. I walked in and played them all my shit and they're all sitting there, Ice Cube and everybody. So he handed it back to me and was like, "oh cool." So I said thanks and went to walk out and he said "do you want a record deal?" As quick as that. It just kinda steamrolled, but then it got really crazy. It got a little much. I was in love with rap music, I loved graffiti, I loved DJ'ing, breakdancing, everything about the culture. And all my friends were into punk. But something was really alluring to me about this culture. It was really straight and really scary. I think it prepared me. I think being down with N.W.A. in those days prepared me to be in this world. They were like the Slayer of rap. I think that a little white girl walking around going "fuck you" to these people was like "what? Wait a minute!" It got to the point where you were told to carry a gun with you to your own record company for protection, there's something wrong there, you gotta go. I'm into music because I love music. The day I don't love what I'm doing is the day I'm going to leave it. I left that world. I wasn't jumping on the bandwagon, I just wanted to do something harder. I knew my voice was something different.

AZ: You told me before something that's just amazing and honest, is that you got paid before he passed away. He took care of you.

TB: Yeah, he paid me all the money he owed me. Eazy kept me under contract for a long time. He wouldn't let me go when I was in Manhole, the early days. Everybody knows he died of AIDS. You live a lifestyle and whatever that lifestyle is you talk about it, you brag about it, just like 2Pac. You live a lifestyle and you sometimes die that lifestyle. Kurt Cobain died a lifestyle and so did Layne Staley. Certain people die the lifestyle they live. It's sad.

MM: He let you out of your contract.

TB: He let me go before he died. He said "I want you to go." Two days later I heard on the radio someone reading a letter. It was like I looked at him, I sat right next to him, I had no idea! He did not look sick at all. He died less than a week after that. I was sent a letter saying "do you want to sue Ruthless?" Along with a list of people I knew for money. But he took care of me. He gave me money. I was free to go, he let me out. Thank god, or I might still be under contract to this day as some gangster mafia shit. I'm pretty happy about that. So I have nothing bad to say.

AZ: Then you were sued over the name Manhole...

TB: But we really didn't get sued, though. Noise Records got sued and they changed their name to F.A.D. and we were just told change your name. They wanted like $300,000. We're like we'll give you $40,000 for the name and they wouldn't take it. Then after we changed our name, two months later that band broke up. It was like oh my god! It was ridiculous. Put us through drama for nothing. Noise changed their name because they didn't want to get sued and they had to re-issue all the All is Not Well records and call them Tura Satana.

AZ: So Tura Satana didn't have a copyright on her name?

TB: No, and the funny thing was, she started getting letters addressed to us. I ended up getting in touch with her through the Internet. I said, this is who I am, this is why we named our band this, because one night before we had to name our record we went through 30 million names, I was watching Faster Pussycat and watching her I just thought, wow! She's just everything that I want to embody on this record, and who I want to embody as a persona. I thought, that's a great fucking name. It sounds kind of Spanish and scary, kind of evil. I brought it to the band and they were like "that's killer!" There was no copyright on it. Later, I started talking to her, and another part in my book is with her as well. I'm interviewing her because of why we took the name and who she is and why she inspired. I think that's really cool.

AZ: We've talked to her before.

TB: Yeah, she's hot. She was very flattered that we did that, so I thought that was really cool.
AZ: Do your videos get played in Europe at all?

TB: Yeah, the old videos for Tura Satana did, there's a My Ruin video for "Terror." We haven't done the video.

MM: This band isn't represented in a video yet. We have tons of tour videos at home.

AZ: That stuff is great, just seeing (the show) tonight.

TB: I gotta send you some home videos.

MM: It's very punk rock-style videos, but there's a lot of heart and it's very honest.

YAEL: And we have the two VCR editing.

MEGHAN: I think we're staying ghetto though. Regardless of whatever happens. It's the flavor of the band. I wouldn't mind having a driver…
MM: Yeah, it would be cool to have somebody drive the van.

YAEL: Yeah, we'd be a little less tired.

AZ: Who's driving?

MM: Me and Yael do most of the driving.

TB: A lot of people want to see us fail out here. A lot of people are very "oh fuck My Ruin. They'll never make it. They're trouble, they're a nightmare." But everybody's been happy with us. Everybody's been kind. It's cool.

AZ: What about at home? I know you did a Whiskey show. It was talked about a lot on the Internet.

TB: We did a couple. Our shows in LA are crazy. We're doing one when we get back. We're actually up for an award right now. LA Weekly, which is like the village voice, they're doing a big award show. They do their yearly awards and we're up for best rock band. Chili Peppers have won it before us, and System of a Down. We're up for it. We just got asked to perform with Tenacious D and Concrete Blonde. Somebody we really respect is gonna be on the show. A few people, very underground and very cool. I mean it's very cool for us to do things like that. I'd rather play with Concrete Blonde than fucking Coal Chamber any day. That shit doesn't mean shit.
AZ: So you don't have a problem getting a chance to come back out by yourselves and playing a couple of smaller clubs, then?

TB: We're gonna make it happen. After we do all this, we're gonna make it happen. People are telling us, "you know if you guys don't get signed off this then something's wrong." If we don't get signed, we're just gonna come back out and do it again.

MEGHAN: We could do this again, that's not a problem. There were bands on this tour that have asked us to go out with them.

TB: American Head Charge rocks.

MM: They're really good (rest of band agrees). I'm not going to lump them in with the bands with a shtick. I think Slipknot's cool but too many bands have ripped them off. But Head Charge is really good. They've got great songs and a great singer, too.

TB: They're actually talented and nice guys. I wanna say one thing about American Head Charge, they are the stinkiest band. They know that, I say this to them. I spray them all with vanilla. They put dead pig heads backstage with us and we were spraying them with vanilla.

AZ: You're a happier crew than I expected to meet because the music is so emotional. Is the new album that you already recorded as emotional?

MM: When we play a show it's a whole different story. After we play we're a lot happier.

AZ: I love that emotion, it provokes a feeling. Music should be like that.

TB: I think it should be. You gotta have tension in order to also have release. There's gotta be some pain to have something. I gotta be honest, with me, I'm in a relationship and a lot of my records have been relationships. What's your religion Tairrie? You talk about the religious aesthetic of everything, and I'm like, my religion is relationships. That's what I address on every record. Most of the time it's painful stories. Right now I'm in a happy relationship so you gotta dig deeper into other subjects besides just this. We have to go through a lot of the other things. We have a song called "Weightless," that's gonna be out on our next record that to me, is going to be the next Beauty Fiend. It's a really important song to me personally, because it deals with when we showcased for a record label in New York City a few months back. The funniest was - and I'm not gonna say who it was - big label, big person, called me up and was really into us and we sent him a package. He called me up and said, "I'm blown away. The music is incredible, the lyrics are incredible, the The band is incredible, your photo, Tairrie, you're beautiful, you can be on magazine covers, but do you have a weight problem? I need to be honest with you, are you a little heavy there? Because rock stars have to be thin, I'm afraid." And those are the lines that just violated me. I was like what a fucking thing to say to me. Who is gonna say that to like Pantera?! Know what I mean? Go tell Phil that! That was such a disgusting, derogatory, misogynistic comment towards me, gimmie a break. He said this shit and we showcased for him anyway. It was worthless, it was not worth our time. Idiot.

MM: It's getting really bad in the music industry.

TB: Are you going to appeal to the Britney Spears girls? NO! We're not!

AZ: Universal dropped the ball on Garbage. They didn't do 100,000 in the States.

TB: That's sad. That's really sad.

MEGHAN: That's ridiculous.

YAEL: That's a joke.

MM: Who?

Rest of band in unison: Garbage!!

TB: Shirley Manson, I'll tell you what I think about her. I think Shirley Manson is kind of like me in the way that - it might sound weird - she's a singer and all that, but she writes really dark, creepy lyrics about subjects that are very intensive. People don't really hear that because it's so poppy. But if you really listen to those lyrics she's got some shit going on! I love that.

AZ: The first record is dark and the new one is dark.

TB: She's awesome. She is not afraid to talk shit. I love her. So, she's bad. But I think the new album deals with a lot of topics that are really important. It needs to be brought out to the forefront. Girls need someone to tell them it's ok to look like this, to do that. You don't have to look like this to be that. You don't have to do this. Get pretty in here, don't get pretty out here.

MM: But as a guy in the band, it's not just about chicks. This band appeals to guys, too. It's not a riot grrl band. It's not a riot grrl band that excludes guys. And this isn't just the chicks with some side guy. This is the four of us in a band together.

TB: I hate it that we're a great chick band. We're not a chick band, because without Mick Murphy there is no My Ruin, straight up. People might go "oh, Tairrie B is leader of this band." I put the band together, yes. I'm the frontwoman. But if this man was gone, there'd be no fucking music. We're all partners in this band, but this is my soulmate partner as far as music. He brought what I really needed to do to the forefront . I've never had a musical partner like that.

MM: Thank you very much.

TB: You're welcome, baby.

MARTIN ATKINS

Interview by Alex Zander

The Atkins Diet: Easy Listening For Difficult Fuckheads

Since appearing on the scene in 1980, English-born Martin Atkins has become one of the leading lights in the world of industrial metal. His label, Invisible Records, has been home to some of the most important acts of the genre. Born on August 3, 1959, in Coventry, England, Atkins took up drumming at an early age and soon displayed a notable proficiency. Martin joined John Lydon’s Public Image Ltd. He then concentrated on his industrial fuel/inspired collective, Pigface. Throughout the 1980’s and early ‘90s, Atkins played with a large number of bands, including Ministry, Nine Inch Nails and Killing Joke. Since then, Atkins has put most of his efforts into maintaining Pigface and Invisible Records, occasionally joining other bands on a temporary basis. His most significant recent project, the Damage Manual, involved contributions from Jah Wobble, Killing Joke’s Geordie and Chris Connelly. An EP and an eponymous album were released to critical acclaim. Atkins was on a (drum) roll.

As founder of Chicago’s own Invisible Records, producer extraordinaire and the driving force behind Pigface, he had appeared in MK ULTRA’s pilgrim issue. Since then, he made 2 other covers and appeared on our nationally syndicated radio show MK ULTRASOUND. The bands on Martins’ imprint Invisible Records have been the topic of many interviews with some of our favorites, who just happen to be thee most innovative and creative bands over the past decade. The bands include Ohgr, Evil Mothers, ChemLab, Killing Joke, Psychic TV, Lick, Ashtrayhead and of course Pigface. Also there are some of the most enjoyable compilations, including Nine Inch Elvis, Opium Jukebox, 2 Ministry tributes, a great Alice Cooper comp and some great double-discs of trippy delights called Drug Test.

2001 opened the door for a revolving lineup of bands plugged into Atkins’ latest brainstorm, an indie-music fire starter he’s dubbed Underground, Inc. Inspired by the energy he finds flowing through the underground music scene, devoted to realizing his vision for indie music’s future, he’s completely committed to the bands he has embraced. He is not only in it for the cash, he loves doing what he does, and his track record is a true testement to that.

I joined Martin to chew the fat at his new office, studio and home, where I was greeted by his wife, kids and the family dog, Porridge. This is his third space in Chicago since 1998, and how they find the energy to move so much gear and product would baffle most. But I know Martin well enough now that he IS energy and is not lacking motivation. With the motivation this man exudes, he could literally move a mountain, or at least blow it up. For the first time the focus of our conversation was not Pigface or Invisible. I wanted to know why he was getting buried in another mountain of work, a mountain called Underground Inc.

Alex Zander: Why Underground Inc. when you have Invisible?

Martin Atkins: I formed Invisible before I joined Killing Joke. I had a label before that. It’s something I always dug. But it seemed to me there was such an identity to Invisible. I know the guys in Thrill Kill didn’t want to sign to Invisible. They were on Wax Trax! And fuck knows what other labels they’ve been on. Why not just keep Invisible to be the label for Pigface and everybody that’s on Invisible, but open things up. We’ve got 15 years of experience with dealing with a large distribution machine, selling to the mom and pops, working this county. Fuck, it’s huge, it’s great, wonderful, it’s so much fucking work. By creating Underground Inc., it’s a great place for small/medium-sized labels to be. If I’m not happy with the leverage I have at the distribution level, with the attention I get from a national distributor, then it’s fucked for everybody else. If I have 5 titles, even if they’re selling 10,000 units a piece, it’s fucked. I’ve got 260 titles on Underground Inc.

AZ: What’s the benefit or a small label like Cracknation, Jason and Jamie, doing their thing through Underground Inc.?

MA: Well, an easy thing to look at is Alternative Press, left to their own devices, they’d probably take out a quarter-page ad. Well, it’s just cheaper for them to take have 3 cuts in a 12-cut, full page ad that we do, 12 titles. You see those ads that we do. So that’s the gist of the really boring part of it. But, we’re all doing those ads together. We use that ad to then say to a group of 17 independent stores, “hey, we’ve taken out this ad, have you ordered the stuff?� We’ll bounce it to our distributors and say, “hey look!� Do more with an ad than simply take out an ad. So, when I call my distributor, I’m the guy who has called them about Thrill Kill Kult, I’m the guy who’s called them about Pigface, Einsturzende Neubauten, or Meg Lee Chin. Whatever. And I’m the guy calling about Cracknation. It just has to do with leverage. It’s gross. It’s gross in both ways of gross. We’ve done 60 titles this year, so we have their attention. so if I say to them, “I really need you to put My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult album on the front cover of your book that goes to every store in the country, they’ll listen. Once that stuff happened I knew that this was a good place for all those people to be. It’s still tough because I don’t think a lot of the labels we’re dealing with understand how tough America is, or how bands call and say, “hey, we’ll do our own posters and that’s gonna help!� I’m like, “well, what is the reason that the store is going to put up your poster? In fact, you need to tell me why you think this envelope is going to get opened? Nevermind the poster getting up on the wall.� People look at me like I’m crazy, but it’s worth that.

AZ: Anybody who’s worked in a record store knows that a lot of that stuff just goes out in the trash bin.

MA: Yeah, I mean, I’ve paid $10,000 to marketing companies to call record stores across the country and go, “Hey, what do you think of that promo we sent you of the new Meg Lee Chin?... oh you haven’t seen it...alright, we’ll send you another one.� So you send another, and you know it’s sitting there; they just can’t be bothered to look. So you send them another and you pay someone to make the phonecall to say, “Ok, do you have an envelope with a donkey on it?� This one company had a donkey sticker... “You do have that envelope, that’s the Meg Lee Chin album. Can you open the envelope? Alright, could you put the CD on? Could you listen to it? Thanks a lot.� That was a few years ago. It’s really tough.

AZ: What gave you the idea to do this?

MA: I think that I wanted to use our experience, what is it, fucking 16 years? And our machinery to help labels that didn’t necessarily want to sign to Invisible. I also wanted to, not necessarily, produce and engineer every single record that came out through the machinery. It has to do with me changing my focus. I don’t play drums very much anymore, I don’t engineer very much anymore, I’m producing the new Pigface album and I’m running my company. I’m trying to do a better and better job of doing that. It’s very complicated because I’m still an artist and I still have feelings for bands whose music I like. But I’m doing a better job of running my company.

AZ: And that comes from just the experience?

MA: It comes from the experience and it also comes from, I think, I know people who run really tight ships, who don’t have as much empathy for an artist for a band that’s on the road, whatever I can do to help. I think at certain times in my life I’ve been very, very helpful to bands that maybe I was harder working on their band than they were. Lab Report for instance, we did over 2 and half-thousand promos. We took them out and had them do a half-hour opening slot for Pigface. They didn’t do anything on their own. I did four albums with them and I should have just told them to fuck off. You’ve had this opportunity and you’ve done nothing with it. we were getting phonecalls from all over the country, people prepared to pay $300 for a Lab Report show, $400, for just two guys and a couple of instruments in the back of a pickup truck - they’re going to be making money every night of the week. I think now I’m doing an alright job of saying I work as hard on anything as the band themselves are working. I’ll match your efforts, but I’m not going to work twice as hard on your music as you are.

AZ: I think bands like Thrill Kill, Chris Connelly will always play. Meg seems like she’s never taken a break. Then you’ve got bands that won’t do anything. What’s it take for, say some guy from Davenport, Iowa says I’ve got this little label, and I want to get under Underground Inc. What do you want to see from them?

MA: Well, first you’ve got to call me. Who are the bands that don’t do anything?

AZ: Let’s say someone like MACE, a band like that. They want their name to do all their work for them. They did this five years ago and now they want to come back and do something. What would it take for a band like that?

MA: An act of God. Someone winning the lottery. For MACE? There are bands who’ve called and wanted to do stuff. You know what? Pay all the bills and I’ll be there for you. There are bands now I wouldn’t fucking go near. The fact is that a mediocre band that works their balls off is always going to do better than a fantastic band that’s lazy. That’s just a fact. I think that the major label machinery, the press, has fostered the belief, the fantasy, that it’s not about hard work, it’s not about diligent follow through, it’s not about doing 250 shows a year, it’s not about starving in a band and not showering for 4 days, it’s about something else that cannot be defined. The reason everybody’s done that is 1, the press on the major labels want people to believe it’s magic. Imagine the headline in MK Ultra: “Here’s another band that’s worked really hard, day-in and day-out!� It’s not very sexy. The bands want to believe it because if you’re faced with the alternative - sit around, talking about it, fantasizing about how I could be, if this, if that, if only this, if, if, if... That’s a lot easier than actually doing it, rolling up your sleeves, going and playing to 9 people on a Tuesday night in Boise. Because you’ve got to play in Boise to get to Seattle. Or playing the wrong venue on the wrong night, with the wrong opening band with horrible diarrhea on a fucking Sunday afternoon, all-ages show in San Antonio, TX. You do that because you have to. You’re running the business of your band; you need to know what’s going on across the country. These days I’ll work with a hard-working band and I can help them present their music. I don’t know how to help a band that doesn’t get it. If you don’t understand what’s involved or you won’t listen, then I don’t know what to do.

AZ: To the audience it looks great. It looks like, let’s say a Pigface show, you’ve got 15 people on stage, 13 drummers in the last case, to the audience looks great. These guys are having the best time. They don’t see what it takes to put something together like that. They don’t see what happens afterwards when everybody tears down their own shit.

MA: Well, we do have a good time. There’s no amount of money that would make me got through all of that: printing all these posters and doing all the insanity if we didn’t have a good time. And if we weren’t having a good time I don’t think people would go because that energy comes off the stage.

AZ: I think that some people have the impression it’s a three-hour job. Some bands think that they’re going to go in, say a band that wants to get signed, they’re gonna come in, do an hour and a half show, do some press and that’s it. What do you say to somebody like that?

MA: Fuck off. Fuck OFF. Give up. Two years ago I had a flight delayed from San Francisco to LA. I called 75 radio stations from a pay phone while I was waiting for my flight. It’s doing an extra interview after the show because the guy wasn’t around before, even though your knees are swollen, you haven’t had a shower and you can hardly talk because you’ve been screaming at the promoter because the PA wasn’t big enough. It’s 500 little tiny things and I think people want to believe it’s one big thing. Bands want to believe there’s a guy in LA or New York in a big office with a penthouse view. And behind a velvet curtain there’s this big green button, and that guy may or may not decide to press the big green button that means superstardom. It’s just so not about that. The reality is everybody’s future is in their own hands. You can make a massive difference to your own career. It’s not sexy. You can call the venue and make sure they have posters; you can call the local stores. Sometimes a band will come in and say, “Well, we’ve just finished our four-week long tour and here’s a list of 10 stores that didn’t have our CD.� Well why didn’t you call me while you were at the store? This is fantastic information, this is market research that you did on your own behalf. Actually this store won’t do this because of that, but these five stores should have had your CD’s, let me make a call. I think some bands want to believe it’s not about the largest amount of work that I’ve ever encountered in my life. It’s just not sexy. You want to think it’s about a fucking four-foot long rail of coke, a limousine and the major label exploit bands who believe that. Once you buy into that, you’re fucked. You’re waiting for the major label to tell you when your next album’s gonna come out. You want to work hard like the people we work with now like Krztoff from Bile, holy fucking shit. Look out. How powerful to have a group of people like that, the guys from Sleezebox, running their own business, understanding what’s going on, getting it out there. They have taken the power and they’re running with it. Now, we’re organizing ourselves, all the labels that are doing this stuff. They’re working hard on their own, but they see if we do this together, that hard work will equal ten times the benefit together. Everybody watching out for everybody else. Meg Lee Chin and Chris Connelly handing out postcards for the Thrill Kill Kult tour, Thrill Kill Kult handing out postcards for the Pigface tour, everybody handing out postcards for the new Chris Connelly album. It’s great. It’s all of those communist propaganda posters come to life: unity is strength, all of that stuff.

AZ: Do you want it to be, five years from now I don’t want to have drama, I don’t want to do Pigface and I just want to sit back and run this thing? Or, I want to do both and just not worry as much?

MA: Well you see what’s going on here. I love working on music. Last week I was chopping the heads off ceramic nuns with a wet saw and photographing my nuns with Newcastle Brown Ale collage, bottle tops and flowers, I mean I want to do all of that all the time, use my abilities and the machinery we have here to help a band like Voodou I am so proud of what we’ve done with them and for them. I don’t say what we’ve done with them like we’ve put them in plaid outfits. I mean in conjunction with their efforts, together with them. A year ago they were on the first Notes compilation, they opened for Pigface, we saw them, they were here in the studio in January, now they’re on the road with Thrill Kill and Michelle is singing on the new Pigface album. I want to be able to help bands like that more and I want to help more bands like that. I want to have quicker, easier, better accounting machinery. many times when a band’s on the road, we’re on the telephones making sure the packages have gone out to the venues, the radio knows about it, the stores have got the posters, etc. sometimes what we need to have is somebody sitting here churning out progress reports for the bands. That’s a personal goal for me because a lot of bands we deal with, I’m probably between 10 and 80,000 dollars worse off for dealing with them. But, they have an idea of that. They might think I put maybe 30 or 40 grand into them. Robert (Hyman) is doing a brilliant job of getting things sorted out. Whether a band is supposed to get a statement once a year or twice a year, four times a fucking year, hey, look at where this is at now. So that the bands can understand where we’re at, where their business is at, how far they’re going in a certain direction. That’s a goal of mine and I think we’re close to achieving that. Just carrying on what we’re doing. The way things are in America right now, I need to not forget the goal of simply just being around because a lot of labels aren’t. Wax Trax! isn’t, Reconstruction, Fifth Column, Slipdisc, none of those labels are around. Two years ago people would say, “How are things going?� Well, we’re still here. This year the curve is exponentially upwards, which is a result of all the time and effort everyone’s put in.

AZ: I’m impressed that you stress that you care about the bands and the music because a lot of labels only care about the bank account.

MA: I need to care about the overall financial picture, because with the way things are growing, Bile, Nocturne, Thrill Kill, Cherrie Blue, Voodou, out on the road right now. Every one of those bands need a little bit of help. Four or five other bands are in the studio. We have 8 new releases this month and we just signed a deal with Einsturzende Neubauten in December. I mean all these little things. The next thing you know we’re fucked. We just got $100,000 that flies out the door. We need to stay on top of that. We need to stay on top of where each individual band is for their own progress. But I think that we have the tools to help the band, whether it’s relationships with agents, relationships with venues, you know I just talked to a promoter in Portland and Seattle, we’ve been working with them for 15 years. There’s a club in Minneapolis I go back to 1981 with. But it’s not a goal of mine to be sitting behind a desk. I want to play my drums whenever I feel like it, do artwork whenever I feel like it, produce music whenever I feel like it and oversee everything that’s going on.

AZ: That brings to Pigface. The new album is January, you’ve got 33-34 people on it. What’s this album about? The last was the Best of Pigface, which was a great collection for the fan. It’s nice to have something like that. But is this a departure from anything you’ve done in the past?

MA: It’s similar in that you can hear Curse, Jared, you can hear Charles Levi, you can hear Frankie Thrill Kill, you can hear everybody. That’s the great thing about Pigface. It’s not like, “Well who’s that?� Everybody is themselves within Pigface. I think the difference is, the closest album to this for me would be Notes From Thee Underground, there’s only like 16 people on there. Look at Jello Biafra, what did he say? “Mental illness is the road to freedom.� Well great. But Penn Gillette, for instance, took all of the fucklists from my fucklist and the Preaching tour. Some guy in Denver wrote to fuck cute, skateboarding chicks who turn out to be lesbians. Everybody writes fuck the police, fuck this, fuck that. But Gilette read all of those out and interrupted a voice-over for a Disney movie to do that. They sent me photographs of him with tape wrapped around his head to keep the headphones on. There’s much more interaction with all of the people. Fallon was here for three days working on stuff. Michelle from Voodou was here. Frankie was down here. A few people have mailed in their contributions. But, to me, it’s the record I’m already proudest of.

AZ: What’s the title of it?

MA: Easy Listening for Difficult Fuckheads. For me, to be working with Edsel, Fallon, etc, that feels good to me because they weren’t fucking born when I was in Public Image Limited or when I did American Bandstand. But at the same time, to be working with Keith Levine, who I haven’t spoken to in 20 years, he was the guitarist for PiL, co-founder of The Clash, to have Chris Connelly working on Pigface again and En Esch, it’s all of the spirit of when Pigface first began. But I think the major difference is there’s ten times the input a’la producing the record. Whereas I think that possibly Notes, definitely Gub, definitely Fook and probably Notes From Thee Underground, things just existed. Here’s this song that’s 7 minutes long, fuck off. Whereas, this album, here’s this song that’s 7 minutes long, god, I like the chorus, but if Chris Connelly was singing in the chorus it would be fucking great. So I asked Chris to come in and sing – OK. Then I take I verse out, why don’t I fuck with that, put the middle bit at the beginning, and producing and arranging the songs so isn’t it cool that there’s 14 people on the song. Isn’t this a cool song. It’s not a cool song because so many people are involved. To me a lot of the songs succeed in and of themselves. It’s the most diverse, but it’s also the most focused and I’m really pleased with that. There’s a track, to me, that reminds me of the stuff I did with Nine Inch Nails on “Wish,� there’s bits of Ministry in there, there’s bits of Ruby and psychedelia and trip-hop. Of course the sitar and those nasty guitars, layered vocals and bullshit, obscenity and it’s fucking cool.

AZ: Now how do you pull off something like 13 drummers on a stage without rehearsing? From the balcony it looked and sounded great.

MA: It was pretty wild. Once again, that probably had more to do with the help and support of our crew than it had to do with any kind of magic. It was magic, it was a magic moment, but I think that you reach a point with an exhausted crew on a tour like that and you better hope that if you have an opportunity in Iowa four weeks before the 13 drummer show to buy your crew pizza at midnight because the venue hasn’t done their job and everybody’s exhausted, or you can make somebody a sandwich, anytime you can show your crew that fucking care about them, you better do it. Because the last night of a tour nobody wants to be thinking about 13 fucking drumkits. The tour manager doesn’t need 13 people, “Where’s the dressing room? When’s that song? When do we come on again? Do you have any more drumsticks? Who’s got the snare drum?� The lighting person, everybody thinking, “I’m gonna be home tomorrow, I’m gonna have a shower, shag the girlfriend. No one’s thinking about, fuck (laughs) 13 drumkits. The soundman doesn’t need to deal with it, the lighting person doesn’t need to deal with it. We called a band in Columbus, Ohio and said, we really like you guys, you can come and hang out, jump onstage with us? OK! I’m like ok, how many drumkits do I have kicking about? You think of something and you hope that there are enough people who care around you who can help you realize that.

AZ: I’ve seen you drum with a lot of people, but LeAnn (Dickless from The Beer Nuts), she really kept up.

MA: She’s a great drummer, but she’s just really nice. She’s pretty stunningly talented at pop songs, singing pop songs in the back of the bus, and then before the next line of the pop song, asking a question where that line of the pop song is the answer to. It’s a stunning party-game ability.

AZ: You know, she gets through 3-4 times a year, Beer Nuts shows, but a 90-minute grueling set of Pigface could tear anybody up.

MA: Yeah, I remember when Danny from Tool came out with us. When was that 1998? Yeah, he came out for the last 10 days of the tour. Me and Joe Trump were playing and we had the third, black Pearl drumkit, hey he’s fucking playing in Tool. I looked along the line and I liked that camera angle of three drummers in a line. It looks good from the front. But, it’s good from the side, and I see Danny like “ooohhh, fuck,� there’s bits of tape just coming off of his hands where he’s taped his fingers up. It is tough. There’s times we’ve played 4 hours. There’s an energy level that fuels all of that. But once you get caught up in that energy level, you’re not exhausted. You’re just caught up in it. But LeAnn was great. I’ll tell you who was really good as well, Krztoff was great. I really like him. Matt Walker is fucking solid. He’d never rehearsed with us, he’s just really solid.

At this point we wrapped up, talked shop for about another hour and then I let Martin free to watch the soccer game with his Brit visitors who were still nursing a hangover from a night out on the town. It was our 5th interview w/ Mr. Atkins in 7 years, a man who knows nothing of the word exhaustion, who works tirelessly for the bands you love and continues to still make the most creative music this side of the corporate machine. And Underground Inc. is showcasing and developing the newest and true cutting-edge sonic art. For one reason, and that’s the same reason we’re still around. Do the math.

www.invisiblerecords.com

I LOVE RICH

I LOVE RICH By Alex Zander

Declaring themselves "The Worlds Sexiest Band,� I LOVE RICH have been rocking their hometown Chicago and the Midwest with their over-the-top rock show since 1995. As 2000 was coming to a close ILR decided it was time to follow up their critically acclaimed 1997 release "Live, Wet, Drippin' With Sexx.� So they decided to record what would be called the "Greatest Rock N Roll Album Of All Time!� Led by singer/bassist Rich, a 247-pound package of red-haired, spandex clad, sex appeal, ILR marched into Attica Studios to record their masterpiece. The result, 12 tracks of pure rock n roll laid down by a trio that was completed with Drew Blood on drums and Eider Ferrari on guitar. The album and coinciding club tour, (they wanted to get closer to the fans) sent women and girls into a sexual frenzy. And it did the same to a lot of men too. ILR are now on a mission to bring their big rock n’ roll show to the world that wants it and even to some places that don't.

What makes you the sexiest band in the world? I would really hope the day will come when I can get past this whole "RICH as a sex symbol" or a "RICH the sex GOD" talk and people would just talk about me as the brilliant artist/musician that I am. But I am cursed with my overwhelming sex appeal.

It's strange that your debut record was recorded live, what's with that? Our debut full length record was recorded after a bootleg demo of ours was released over in Cambodia (which is where our first disc was recorded). That bootleg went on to be the biggest selling cassette in the history of the third world (which isn't all that many, since very few people over there have electricity let alone stereos) , and we recorded the disc at the height of "ILR Mania" over there. We are considered just like the Beatles over there, only we don't suck.

Is ILR a novelty act or do you really like 80's rock that much? We're NOT a novelty act! There is obviously a lot of humor in what we're doing, but you can put on our album and dig it without being ironic or funny. Just because there's humor involved in what we're doing doesn't mean we're a comedy act. And I want to be too cool and tell you that I don't really listen to 80's rock/metal that much, but as I sit here I'm listening to Black and Blue's "In Heat" album and I know every word to "Get Wise to the Rise" I can't exactly deny it, can I? But to be honest I actually see us more along the lines of the early 70's New York rock bands like the the Dictators and KISS than I see us like sounding like Bon Jovi or Night Ranger, but maybe that's just my opinion.

How much of an influence is KISS? Who? KISS? Never heard of them. Just kidding. I've heard of them. Weren't they Vinnie Vincent's first band? The Invasion ruled...

Sum up your punk rock past. It's not like I used to be in Fear or anything (although that would be a great lie to tell). But when I Love Rich started we were musically a lot closer to the Ramones pop punk thing than we are now, though the Ramones are still a huge influence on us. When we saw that the Lookout Records / pop-punk trend was starting to wane, we decided to go for the over the top metal-punk thing in a last ditch attempt to sell out and get signed to a major label contract, which may or may not pan out like I had hoped.

Why do you write so many songs about yourself? I want our music to celebrate the life and times of arguably the most important person in the world, me! A wise man once told me to" leave modesty for those who deserve to be modest", so I do. Humility is a very over rated quality.

Who/what is Hot Chocolate? (The bands biggest hit is Hot Chocolate) Hot Chocolate is a drink which main ingredients consist of a mix of milk and coco. It is best served hot and most people enjoy either whipped cream or some marshmallows with it. All kidding aside, please let the record show that I do indeed dig black girls.

What is your favorite past time? Well, my friends and I like to get together and play chess while we discuss Shakespeare and the history of the Catholic Church in Guatemala. And if you get Drew and Danny involved in a game of "Hungry-Hungry Hippos" they'll be occupied for hours.

What are your thoughts on "Nu metal" I don't really dig a lot of it. I hate the bands with blonde white kids trying to act like they're from the ghetto. I want to note that Limp Bizkit are the 2nd worst band ever (System of a Down are easily the worst - there's just no fucking excuse).

Who loves Rich? Everyone with good taste. Probably even a few people with bad taste too...

RON MARKS SUBSONIC/CELTIC FROST

RON MARKS SUBSONIC/CELTIC FROST by Alex Zander

Subsonic Frontman Ron Marks is a third generation musician. His grandfather, an Italian immigrant, was a band conductor from the 1920s- to the mid 1980’s. Ron’s uncle attended Julliard and founded Marks Music. His parents were both music teachers in rural Pennsylvania. His father’s influence passed the gift onto a young Ron. He began playing drums at 5, and like the rest of us, his initial introduction into rock n roll was KISS at age 14. His tastes naturally evolved into heavy music and his favorite band became Celtic Frost. Sometime thereafter the band announced they desired a second guitarist, so Ron sent the Swiss band a demo on cassette.

Ron Marks joined the Celtic Frost line-up in May of 1987, after the release of “Into the Pandemonium.� He became CF’s lead guitarist, thus fulfilling a long-planned goal of CF’s - to have two guitar players in the band in order to create a fuller sound in live performances. Ron’s presence within the band was heavily overshadowed due to the hardships CF was facing at that time. Although Ron was only in the band for a few months, his contributions turned out to be quite immense. He was a key element which influenced and helped change the band’s sound. Ron left CF in December of 1987. He was to actually have been a part of the follow-up to “Pandemonium� in 1988 (what eventually became “Cold Lake�) but ultimately declined to rejoin the band. In 1989 he returned to Frost unofficially to help record “Vanity/Nemesis� in Berlin. Ron’s tenure with Celtic Frost at that point would only be the recording of the “Vanity/Nemesis� album.

His presence in CF was massively underrated. His influences, technical versatility and philosophy were a major factor during 1987, and therefore for the rest of the band’s existence.

Earlier this year, Subsonic announced it’s signing with Outlaw Entertainment International. After negotiations with president Tommy Floyd, the project was signed to an exclusive management and record deal with the Vancouver, B.C. company. The band’s current CD, Super-Vel, was released in Canada on July 7th, 2002. Outlaw is perusing various options (in the U.S. and Europe) in hopes of augmenting Subtonic’s exposure to the world market. Super-Vel is receiving favorable reviews and promises no lack of identity. The first single released is a cover of Billy Preston’s, “Will It Go ‘Round In Circles.�

Celtic Frost frontman Tom Fischer calls Subsonic, “unusual and almost heavier version of Zappa.� When commenting on the much anticipated CF reunion, Tom volunteers, “When people approach me about one day doing a reformation of the original CF, it means to me: Reed, Martin, Ron and myself. That, to me, is “the original CF.�

I first became aware of Ron when he filled in as guitarist for a band that went through more lineup changes than Spinal Tap drummers and KISS guitarists. The band that could have been a contender, the band once called MACE, a Pittsburgh-grounded industrial band that fell victim to bad management and larger-than-life egos. In MACE, Ron looked and sounded out of place. The bands image was one of glamorizing S&M and the guitarist played live over a DAT dominated live show. But it was his guitar playing that made an impression on me years after the show when I saw MACE open for GWAR and Chem Lab. Fast forward five years later and I read he finally embarked on a solo outing. I immediately got in touch with him, and brushed up on his resume by reading the Celtic Frost book, (Are You Morbid?) Into The Pandemonium, a book where Ron Marks is more-or-less praised as “god’s gift to the guitar,� though not exactly in those words.

Alex Zander: You’re highly regarded as a great session player. Who are bands that you’ve worked with and some of what you’ve done?

Ron Marks: Obviously I’m known for my work with Celtic Frost which was back a few years from 1987-90. I was recording and touring with them. Another band I’ve worked with was a band called MACE, (now-defunct Industrial Band) which was in Pittsburgh. Same thing, I did some touring and recording with them as well.

AZ: Now that’s two different kinds of music.

RM: Yeah, you bet. Well, Frost was my favorite band when they were out. That’s how that came about. With MACE, it was just a referral from somebody I knew and that’s how we ended up hooking up. But I’m very diverse. I’ve always done a lot of different styles of music. I’m always in search of a new challenge and a new adventure. I’m game for anything.

AZ: In the book, “Are You Morbid?� the author and voice of the band, Tom Fischer, had some really nice things to say about you. With as many members as he’s gone through, it should be an honor.

RM: Oh, it was a big honor. It remains a big honor. I’m very proud of Celtic Frost. We went through some rough stuff and we went through some great stuff. It still remains my favorite band. Tom was very gracious in the book and had very complimentary things to say about my playing and our friendship, and that remains. I certainly hope I’m entitled to play on this reunion CD. So we’ll see how that goes.

AZ: Okay, we’ll talk more about that at the end. It’s kind of hard to believe, though, that with your background in music and your family’s background in music, that of all bands you’d pick a heavy band like Frost to like the most. What was it that made them your favorite band?

RM: Prior to that, what I thought was heavy, really wasn’t heavy. I always liked heavy music, but that for me meant Judas Priest, KISS, Aerosmith, bands like that. It was just this new wave of metal that I’d never heard before. Out of all the bands that were on that new thing, Slayer and Megadeth, Metallica and all that, I liked all those bands. But a friend turned me onto Frost and to me it was just a cut above, lyrically and instrumentally. It blew me away. I just listened to it nonstop for probably a good year before I even submitted my demo.

AZ: With your current project Subsonic, you have two releases out. The first one was Mindbomb, which we dubbed one of the top 10 records of 2001.

RM: Yeah, actually there was one before that as well, but these were just pretty much demos that I was shopping. There’s really only one release and that’s Super Vel.

AZ: And that was released on Outlaw Entertainment in Canada. Let’s talk about that one. We just did a review on it. Again I quoted Tom, that what lifts you above any other contender is your extraordinary guitar playing is the feel of someone who has a god-given talent for his instrument. You sure show off those skills on Super Vel. In this day and age nobody seems to concentrate on soloing anymore. What made you want to go exercise those skills and show them off again?

RM: Thank you. It’s something I think I do well, and something I think still belongs in music. When you use good taste with it. Not all of the songs on Super Vel have solos. The ones that do, yeah, there’s certainly indulgence, but if you’re gonna go —go. If you’re going to do it, then do it big time. It’s something I love to do, it’s something I’ve worked on for years and get a lot of gratification out of. I have a little feeling with things I’m hearing that it might be coming back a little bit. So just because it happened to be less than fashionable at this particular time, didn’t mean it was something I was willing to leave out of my music forever.

AZ: Tell me what you think the highlights on the album are as far as you’re concerned.

RM: Oh boy, this is tough. I hate when this happens. (laughs) Okay, my favorite, it’s so hard to look from the outside because I’m involved in it, I think “A Day Late� is a great song. It might not be heavy, but I think it’s a good song. That song was written about a friend of mine, that I knew well through high school and even afterwards. That was one that fell out of my head in about 10 minutes. That was an easy one. The cover thing, the Billy Preston cover, I think that’s a cool song. I think “Jane� is a great song. I think it has a really great story behind it.

AZ: That is a suicide themed tune, is there a story there?

RM: Well, that was a heavy one. I had an old girlfriend phone me some time ago who was quite suicidal. I basically almost literally talked her in off the ledge

AZ: I take it she’s still around then?

RM: Yeah, it didn’t happen, and I’m not saying it didn’t happen because of me. But, fortunately she woke up a little bit and everything’s cool.

AZ: If it did happen do you think you’d still have been able to write about it?

RM: Oh God, I don’t know. That would have to have happened and I would have had to react at the time. It would have been a lot more difficult, yeah.

AZ: The album kicks off with “Lick The Lie� pretty guitar heavy, with a lot of really good lead guitar work. The song after that, “Just Hit Pomona� kicks into high gear, like Rob Zombie type of stuff.

RM: That’s funny you mention that. That’s one of Tom Fischer’s favorite tracks. When we met in New York a couple of years ago he mentioned that if we ever had the chance he’d like to do that one. So quite a few people that love the heavy stuff really mention that song.

AZ: Then you go all over the place. You do your acoustic guitar piece, “Together Alone.� Why do you think it’s important to combine so many different types of music on one record? In this day and age people seem to focus on centering one entire album around one sound.

RM: Well, I like a lot of different styles of music. Believe it or not, it was difficult for me to narrow it down as far as I did. I have to credit my management, Tommy Floyd and Outlaw Entertainment were quite helpful in saying, “Hey Ron, you can do all this stuff but that doesn’t mean you necessarily should.� They kind of drew the reigns in a little bit, which I think was a wise choice because the album makes a lot more sense this way. But to me that’s not going that far outside. I’m a Zappa fan, so there’s no rules as far as styles. But I had to cool it down a little bit to make some kind of record that had a direction.

AZ: I really, really liked Mindbomb because it danced around just about every music genre, even country.

RM: Yeah. (laughs) The country thing, it’s not like I do legit country. I do satirical country because those people give you a lot of reasons to make fun of them. A lot of times you use styles of music to get your point across and to deliver a message. A certain sound delivers that message, more so than I’m going, hey I’m a country guy and a heavy guy and an acoustic guy. I’m not trying to be all these different people stylistically just to show off or all this stuff. It’s like here’s the story and here’s what the story’s about. I can tell a better story if I use this style to tell it. So that’s basically the motivation behind doing some thing.

AZ: You mentioned Tommy Floyd and Outlaw Entertainment, other than owning the label, he’s also your manager at this time?

RM: Yeah, he’s the President of Outlaw.

AZ: Now are you tied into this contract for a few albums with this label?

RM: No, the way it’s going Super Vel is licensed to them and they’ve distributing it. It’s released in Canada right now and there’s distribution set up for Europe and Japan and I believe Australia. Then we’re taking it from there. We have no multi-album deal. They’re shopping the CD to bigger labels and we’re hoping to expand on that deal. Right now it’s just a wait-and-see position.

AZ: Now what are you looking to do? What is your aim?

RM: Well I’m looking to be successful, obviously. That’s a hard thing in this business. There’s a million bands going for very few spots. Not only that, doing this as long as I have, I realize that just getting signed to a label is one thing, but getting signed to a label that’s going to make you a priority is quite a different thing. We’re very adamant about that. There’s no point in getting signed and tying up your options if they’re not going to make you a priority and just shelf you or make you number ten on the list. We need to find someone that believes in Subsonic and is going to make it important.

AZ: So I take it you learned a lot from the guys in Frost.

RM: Oh yeah.

AZ: That book is, if anything, and even if you’re not into the band, a bible for kids getting into the music business.

RM: Yeah, it’s brutal, but it’s the truth. Once again, a lot of credit goes to Tom. He told exactly what happened. We were all hungry as possible and those guys did a mountain of work for years before I ever showed up. So man, they know it even more so than myself. But yeah, it is a bible and any kid that wants to get into it should buy it and read it for that reason alone.

AZ: So you do have your options out there. You can go with a different deal if you want to.

RM: Yeah, we’re looking for the best possible thing. I’m very, extremely hungry to get this going and get this off the ground. I’ve started writing for the next CD now. Whoever believes in us and wants to make a go of it, I am definitely ready to go.

AZ: Say, somebody reads this article in management somewhere and says, “Whoa, this guy from Frost, he’s available. We never knew what happened to him?� What should they know about you and in what you’re looking for in a deal?

RM: Let’s get paid this time. (laughs) Like I said, I want to do it internationally. I want to do it to high level. I want someone that likes this band. I don’t just want to be a part of their accounting statement. They gotta believe in it, they gotta push it and they have to make it a priority. Like I said, we need to do this on a global level because even with all these things in place, the music business is extremely brutal and unpredictable. So we need all guns blazing, whoever would want to pick up the band.

AZ: Does living in Pennsylvania keep you isolated from what’s going on in, say in New York, Chicago or LA? Or are you willing and able to relocate if you need to?

RM: Absolutely, I’m willing to go anywhere. Music is number one for me. It always has been. Should the situation present itself, yeah you bet, I’m gone. I’m living in PA, yeah it’s a little isolated, but it also allows me the freedom to write and spend a lot of time doing what I want to do. There’s a lot of friends and people I know that have moved elsewhere because that’s where it’s at. They’re so busy playing their electric bill they don’t have time to work on their music. So it’s a two-sided thing.

AZ: Speaking of friends, a good friend of yours in now in Prong.

RM: That’s right, Dan Laudo, he’s my very best friend in the world. He’s doing great with them.

AZ: He sure is. I’ve seen them a couple of times. He seems happy. Did he live out there until he joined Prong?

RM: Yeah, Dan’s been out in LA for quite awhile. When I was with MACE, we were getting ready to tour and Prong was also going out with us and they needed a drummer. They said do you know any drummers in LA? I said, yeah I sure do, my best friend Dan and on and on. He went and auditioned and got the gig.

AZ: The funny thing is Dan mentioned to me that you guys grew up with Trent Reznor. Or did he know Trent, or did all of you know him?

RM: Yeah sure, Trent grew up about ten minutes from where Dan and I grew up. We all in a little basement band together in high school.

AZ: Did you have the feeling about him back then, that he would go on to do Nails like he did?

RM: Yeah, sure. Trent was always there. He always had a vision. You knew he was thinking big, as we all were. But it was no surprise to me that Trent went on to do what he did. I have a lot of respect for Trent. He writes great music.

AZ: Now what about putting a band together? How’s that coming for Subsonic?

RM: Well it can happen. But right now there’s not much of a reason for it to happen because there’s no tours scheduled and you’ve got to give They’re gonna say, to do what? And for how much? Unfortunately, these are some of the things a bandleader has to deal with. Everybody thinks it’s rock n’ roll all night and stuff. It is, but there’s also the practical aspect of it. You have to be able to offer a guy something. Right now, until there’s a major signing and a major influx of money to make some things happen it’s pretty hard to get that going.

AZ: Can you give me any insight to the next chapter, the next record?

RM: A little bit, but not much. (laughs) I’ve only written two songs so far. It’s gonna be the same thing but bigger, I guess. There’s going to be a lot more percussion going on, there’s gonna be a lot more real drums on this one combined with program drums that I’m going to be playing myself. I’ve played drums for quite a few years and I recently acquired a new drum kit. So I’m going to be doing a little bit of that. There’s one tune cut already and a few on the board. There’s going to be a few surprises as well. I think that’s always going to be the case with Subsonic.

AZ: What’s the fascination with engines or cars?

RM: Oh man, I’ve been a motor head since I was a little, little kid. That started when I was about five or six years old and my father’s teaching friend, they both taught school together. His name’s Gary Franco, he pulled up in a ‘66 Corvette Convertible and I looked out the window and that was the end of that. I go to drag races, and rallies. And I’ve had multiple muscle cars. Right now I’ve got a black ‘67 Cadillac. I just love cars. I love old cars, man.

AZ: That’s just one thing you can afford to have living in Pennsylvania.

RM: Yeah, exactly. That’s one of the luxuries I have here.

AZ: With something like that in the city you’re not going to get very far.

RM: No, I don’t think so! (laughs)

AZ: You’re either gonna overheat or run out of gas. Okay now, let me ask about all the rumors about the Frost reunion. On/off, you hear one thing and all the momentum builds up and then you get a newsflash it’s not gonna happen, don’t believe it. But they say that it is and if they tour you will be involved.

RM: Well here’s what I do know. What I do know is that there will be a CD. There will be a new Celtic Frost album. I know Tom and Martin are working on that right now. I don’t know exactly about what deal they put together or with whom, but I understand that they’re moving forward either way in trying to put something together. As far as myself being involved, Tom and I have talked about it and I think something’s going to happen, but I can’t really say for sure because until that phone call happens I can’t say.

AZ: But that’s something that you’re open to?

RM: Oh man! In a second. I still love Celtic Frost and I love all the guys in it. For me, even though I got to do Vanity Nemesis with the band, which I’m very grateful and very proud of, I’d like to do a record with Tom, Martin and Reed St. Mark who I’ve toured with after Into the Pandemonium. To me, that’s the classic Celtic Frost lineup and it would be a dream come true for me to be able to record with them.

AZ: I bet they’re very selective when it comes to a label now.

RM: Yeah, we got beat up pretty badly for years. Tom’s been down the road, and there’s no reason to repeat that again. So, it’s not just the matter of not getting screwed or getting paid. It’s not just about money; it’s about cooperation with the band. That was another major downfall with Noise Records. They didn’t believe in Into the Pandemonium and communication broke down. They quit giving us tour support and they quit believing in the band. As I said with Subsonic, it holds true with every band, including Frost, whoever’s involved in has to believe in it and has to love it.

AZ: At one point in the book, Tom mentioned that as good as everything worked out, you weren’t about to get involved in contracts and he knew, sadly, that you would have to depart the project at one point. To still stay in touch with them and be willing to work with them, and them wanting to work with you, has got to be flattering.

RM: Extremely so.

AZ: OK, so if people need to look up information on you on the Internet, to learn more about you, how to buy your product or how to book you, or how to approach you about possible management or getting you signed, how should they do that?

RM: Well, right now they can check out www.celticfrost.com and on the main page there’s an icon for the Subsonic site. Also they can check out www.outlawentertainment.com where they can buy the CD, Super-Vel, on that site and get a little background. Also, we would be open to some booking agencies to do some touring right now. So anybody looking, we’re here.

DISTURBED

DISTURBED – by Nikki Neil

When Dan Donegan (guitarist), Mike Wengren (drummer), and Fuzz (bassist) were sick and tired of auditions with people who just didn't have the vibe that they were looking for, they finally discovered David Draiman (vocalist). He also brought along a name for their band. And that name was Disturbed... We first met them in a small Chicago club called Delilah's and drank with them at Liars Club, Shortly after opening for MINISTRY they became one of the biggest bands on the circuit. It took us two years to get this interview. After they entered number 1 on the Billboard charts with their latest album, "Believe" an interview reality was becoming un-believable. So "down" and out, we "sicked" Nikki Neil from LA to track down the current taste of the metal world, and it was nearly, I-M-P-O-S-S-I-B-L-E. Finally after putting off the deadline and not getting Dave, she got a founder of the band. It too was bumped. But two months was shorter than two years. So now, finally, we give to you, their fan, our interview with Disturbed.

Nikki Neil: How have the fans reacted to the new material?

Dan Donegan: Great. As each week goes by they get more and more familiar with the new songs. We have noticed a big difference from when we first started touring for this new album.

NN: Where were you when you got the news that Believe debut at #1 on the Billboard chart?

D: We actually flew back home for a day. We were getting together with our management and with our families and friends. We kind of had a heads up that there was a pretty good shot of debuting at #1.

NN: Did you worry about how fans might react to Believe being that the songs are more melodic than those off the last album?

D: Musically there is still a lot of aggression and syncopation with the double bass drumming and the guitar riffs. David’s vocals have continued to improve, as has the whole band. We wanted this album to show an evolution of the band. I don’t really worry about what other people’s expectations are. We have to do what comes naturally to us and hopefully enough people will connect with it and will be more interested in the message of the songs.

NN: What was going on within the band when you guys started to write the material for Believe?

D: We had just finished twenty-two months of touring in support of The Sickness and I had a bunch of riffs that I had recorded and saved. We didn’t really write a whole lot on the road because it was just too difficult. I needed to come home and be back in the environment that I was comfortable with and doing it the way it’s always been done, which is just sitting in my bedroom with my guitar and just working out ideas. So we came home last December and I sat home for a month. I worked on some ideas, and we got together right after January 1st. Mike and Fuzz came to my house and I showed them the ideas that I had. As we recorded the music I burned a copy to a CD for David and he worked on some melodies and then I collaborated with him to finalize the structure. The album just came together quickly. The writing process went a lot quicker than it had before.

NN: Did the band expect to spend that much time on the road in support of The Sickness?

D: We had no idea what to expect. We didn’t see any reason to stop touring because of the success of [The Sickness] and because things were continuing to heat up for us. We had a lot of great opportunities. We played Ozzfest 2000 and then came back for 2001. Then we went on a lot of great tours with bands like Stone Temple Pilots and Godsmack and we were able to have two successful headlining tours. Things were still going well. The singles were going strong, and the album sales were going strong. But, it finally came to the point to where even though it wasn’t dying down for us it was time for new material. We’d go to a city and someone would say, “Hey this is my sixth or seventh time seeing you guys,� and we we’re like “Okay, well….� Not that they were complaining about it, but we don’t want to bore them either. We figured it was time for something new.

NN: We’re you surprised to find that as you continued to tour the band’s popularity kept increasing?

D: Yeah. This whole thing is just overwhelming to us. What I like the most and I appreciate the most is the fact that it wasn’t an overnight thing for us. It was a steady growth. We had not played any shows outside of Chicago until after The Sickness was released. We had so many good touring opportunities. We were playing in front of thousands of people thanks to Ozzfest and the other tours that we had done. So we saw it grow. Each time we came back to a city we would see a bigger turn. I just think that by knowing we had that connection live we realized that we have a pretty solid fanbase. I much rather obtain a fanbase through hard work and being on the road touring. Because of that a majority of these people are fans for hopefully the length of the band’s career. I’ve seen it happen where a band may have one big radio hit and some of their fans are only fans of that one song and not so much of the band. So knowing that we had to really work to get our fans and to get to the point where radio has embraced us is something that we really appreciate because we know we had to work for it.

NN: I noticed that a number of different religions are represented in the symbol that is one the cover of Believe. What is the significance of the symbol?

D: We’re not a religious band. It is more of a spiritual symbol. We wanted to take the four religious symbols and intertwine them and mesh them together to symbolize unity. It’s more about a belief in one. This album is very positive and that is the message that we were trying to send this time.

NN: Obviously the symbol on the cover correlates with the album’s title.

D: Yeah. It’s about a belief in yourself – a belief in humanity. We wanted something that would shed a little bit of light into such a dark world. A lot of the messages on this album are done in a positive way to try to instill a little bit of hope. I believe that there is a God. I don’t practice a specific religion. I was born and raised Catholic, but I don’t really follow it or go to church. I don’t believe in organized religion. It’s more of a business than a religion.

NN: At what point in your life did you start playing guitar?

D: I probably got my first guitar when I was about ten. I didn’t actually take it seriously until I met a few friends in high school who were getting serious about music. And, then I started playing with other guys and we kind of learned from each other. When we finally played our first show, I remember being scared to death and nervous and when the show was over I remember just wanting more. It just became an addiction at that point. I couldn’t imagine not doing it anymore.

NN: Do you ever get stage fright?

D: Not ever since that first show. During that first show I probably didn’t even move two feet. But, as the show went on I got caught up in the excitement and the adrenaline and the crowd’s response when it was over. It was just a rush. The last time I had any kind of…I wouldn’t say stage fright but I was just really star struck when Ozzy Osbourne came out to watch our set. That is probably the last time I felt a little bit of nervousness because to us he is the godfather of heavy metal and in the two years that we played Ozzfest I’ve never seen him come out and watch any band. After the first show we were moved from headlining the second stage over to the main stage because of the chaos and the turn out that came to the second stage. Sharon Osbourne and the rest of the Ozzfest camp had asked us, mainly for safety reasons, to move to the main stage. So that very next show, which was in Alpine Valley, Wisconsin, Ozzy and a few other bands came out to watch the set because everybody was curious as to why we got moved to the main stage after one show.

NN: Are there any guitar players out there right now that have impressed you with their style?

D: Tom Morello from Rage Against The Machine, actually Audioslave now. I ran into him the other day in Los Angeles. I think he is an amazing guitar player. I also think that Adam Jones from Tool is incredible. He’s probably one of my favorite guitar players out there today.

NN: Does it give you a rush when you have the opportunity to play with the musicians that you grew up listening to?

D: Definitely. It’s still hard to swallow it all knowing that these bands have become friends of ours. Like the guys from Pantera. We just played a show on Halloween night in Dallas, their hometown, and Vinnie Paul and Dimebag [Darrell] came onstage and played with us. We played one of their songs as a tribute to them because we’ve always been big Pantera fans. I don’t get stage fright from walking out on stage in front of 25,000 – 50,000 people, but when we share the stage with some of the musicians that we respect and who have respect for us it is pretty overwhelming.

NN: What was MTV’s reason for banning the video for “Prayer�?

D: They weren’t too specific about exactly what it was that they were offended by because if we decided to go back and change those things and then they still probably wouldn’t have played. It would be like, “Well, you said this was the problem.� We can only assume that they were sensitive to the earthquake scene with the building crumbling, and when it came down to it we chose not to re-edit it. We felt that there was a very positive message in the lyrics and in the visual aspects and if we were to change it then we would be admitting that we felt the message was wrong. I think it is kind of hypocritical that they had a problem with the message that we were sending, but whenever you turn on the television, every day, some channel is showing scenes from 9/11 including MTV. When we submitted the video to MTV it was near the one-year anniversary and, at the time, MTV and pretty much every channel was showing those exact images. They are the ones putting those images in people’s heads. The message that we had was about going through life with its trials and tribulations and struggles and trying to give people hope by showing that you can find the strength within yourself to make it through the difficult times. We wanted something big and we chose to go with an earthquake scene. And, after the building crumbles we come out on top of the ruble and finish the song as a band coming together as one and showing that we made it though a difficult time and by doing so we were trying to give people a little more hope.

NN: Obviously you all had to make a lot of sacrifices in order to get to the point where the band is today. Would you say that those sacrifices paid off in the end?

D: Definitely. We still continue to make sacrifices. It is difficult to have a normal life when we are on the road. It’s hard to have relationships. We’ve all been through that. We’ve all been through pretty big break-ups and it is something that we all continue to struggle with at times. It’s not easy to have a girlfriend when you’re 1,000/2,000 miles away from home all the time. It is difficult to do. Some people can do it. We’re very involved in the business of this band, and we have a hard time trusting other people or giving them the ball to run with.

NN: What is your biggest non-musical influence?

D: Probably my family. My brother and everybody that has believed in me and pushed me to prove that I can do this. There were struggles early on because there was a time when my parents said, “Okay Dan you’re going to have to grow up and get a real job. This is a nice hobby you have.� In a way that was an inspiration to me to have to prove my father wrong and show him that I can do this. Every time I was told that I needed a plan B and something to fall back on that inspired me to work harder at this to prove that I never even thought of a plan B.

NN: Being that Disturbed is part of the Ozzfest family, how did Dave Williams’ (Drowning Pool) death affect you?

D: I was very shocked. We were very close to him and all the guys from Drowning Pool. We spent most of 2001 with those guys because we were both on Ozzfest that year. We immediately became really good friends with them at the start of Ozzfest. A few days before Dave’s death the band was in Chicago for Ozzfest and we were at home working on our set and rehearsing for the tour. We had gone out to see the show and right before I left that night I hugged him and said, “I’ll see you soon.� If anything, I’m glad that my last memory of him was leaving like that.

NN: If something happened to David, aside from him leaving the band on his own accord, do you think Disturbed would continue?

D: I really don’t know if that is possible. I couldn’t even imagine that happening. There is certain chemistry within this band that works. Each guy brings something to the table here. If something happened to any one of us I don’t know if it could continue as Disturbed. I couldn’t even imagine that happening.

NN: If you had to describe various aspects of who you are what would they be?

D: I’m very down-to-earth. I’m the same guy. I have to be that way. I was raised that way. My mother has a very good heart, and I couldn’t let her down if any of this ever changed me. I think she is more excited about the fact that somebody comes up to her at one of our shows and tells her how down-to-earth her son is. That makes her more proud than just being a fan of the music. I’m just a normal guy. I love music. I love to hang out and be on the road with my best friends and perform. I’m very confident in what I do without being arrogant in any way. I just believe that anything I want to accomplish happens from hard work and dedication. I don’t know if I’m giving you exactly five words, but I’d say, dedication, motivation, confidence, and down-to-earth. Those words pretty much sum up who I feel I am.

NN: A major music magazine recently did a poll where they asked their readers if they thought musicians should have an expiration date. What do you think?

D: No. I think music is a way to express oneself. There is no better way to express your feelings and your emotions than through music and lyrics. I think that it is a good way to vent and release.

NN: I hear ya. If you had the opportunity to do this all over again what would you do differently, if anything?

D: Nothing. I think it is all a learning process. I think that we’ve all paid our dues and we’ve done it in other local bands and there is a reason why we all came together. It was all part of the game plan. I’ve known Mike and Fuzz for many years and we’ve played in different local bands on the South side of Chicago. And through those times I’ve seen them shine in their bands knowing that they shared the same hunger that I did and they had the same drive and the same motivation that I had and that is what brought us together. We quit our projects in order to start a band together, and we searched for that final piece of the puzzle, which we got immediately when we found David. This will probably be another long run for us. As long as people want it and if things continue to succeed for us we’ll probably spend another 22 months on the road. Whatever it takes. If things are going good we will stay on the road. We want to continue to make music and put it out there. Our passion is the stage and in order to do that we’ll just keep on putting out music so we can keep on performing.

ZEROMANCER

ZEROMANCER by Moe Wyoming

Combining flashy music and style just as sharp, Zeromancer rose from the ashes of the Norwegian band, Seigmen. With Cleopatra Records behind them, they’re ready to storm the US underground. Bands trying to produce electro-rock are a dime a dozen. But Zeromancer are that rare breed of musicians who have the musical chemistry to set the standards for the genre.

Moe Wyoming: I’d like to start out talking about the name of the band, Zeromancer. It sounds like a cross between necromancer and neuromancer, is there anything special behind the name of the band?

Kim Ljung: When we started this band in ‘99, here in Los Angeles, we started looking for a name that you could have a “dot-com� to it. We wanted to have a special name that wasn’t out there already because it’s kind of hard these days to come up with something original. So the way we did it, the way we do lyrics too, we mixed words together to create a new meaning. “Zero� came out of Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis. and “mancer� came out of Neuromancer by William Gibson. We just put words together. We have an apartment where we stuck pieces of paper on the wall and for weeks just came up with different names and word structures and tried to figure out what looked cool. That was one of the ones that stuck on the wall for the longest time.

MW:What genre of music is Zeromancer?

KL: It’s kind of hard. You can’t really just sit down and say well “this music is that.� We just call it electronic rock. It’s not industrial, I think, but it’s got a lot of industrial stuff in there. Definitely rock, there’s pop and a little touch of EBM, even.

MW: So this is the second Zeromancer album, right?

KL: Yeah, our first album Clone Your Lover is not released in the States yet. It will be, I think a little later this year. Probably later this month I would think.

MW: Is that through Cleopatra Records, too?

KL: Yeah, they have the rights to those two albums. We’re really happy about that. Like I said, we formed this band here in Los Angeles three years ago and we tried hard to get the first album released here, but we didn’t make it. Now we have the second album and that’s getting put out first here. But I think there’s a big difference in the two albums.

MW: Now you said you formed in LA, but aren’t most of you from Oslo, Norway?

KL: Yeah, we’re a mixed breed. We’re four Norwegians. One member has a Swedish passport, but that doesn’t change anything. We have this thing going between Norwegians and Swedes, we’re neighbors. So we’re four Norwegians, we like to say, and one American. So the four of us, Norwegian guys, we used to play in another band and we know each other pretty well form the past. When that band broke up we moved here to Los Angeles and wanted to come up with something really fresh and we started looking around for guitar players. We stayed here for a year and recorded the first album here. We met Chris when we saw the kidneythieves play and got in contact with him.

MW: So you knew each other from your previous band, Seigmen. I’ve read some things about that band and from what I’d heard, you guys were doing pretty well.

KL: We did really well in Norway. That was our main objective back in those days. We played in that band for 10 years. It was the kind of band that hadn’t happened in Norway before, because our first three albums we had Norwegian lyrics. We were kind of a dark, underground band. The third album went gold, we had platinum singles, two number 1 albums and we won the Norwegian Grammy for rock. It was a good period for us. It was a special band. We made some really good albums, too. Too bad they’re not released in the States. Two of them I think are released in Europe. But I think with some success with Zeromancer people are going to pick up on that band, also. Zeromancer’s been influenced from that band, too.

MW: Were you scared to end Seigmen and start over?

KL: Yeah (laughs).

MW: So what was the point that made you say for sure, I’m ending the old project and going with something new?

KL: It was a really weird time. I was kind of depressed at the time. That band quit because the guitar player didn’t want to be in it anymore. We had this rule that if one member quit the band, we’d all quit. I think I stayed home in Norway for a week and we just came here. Actually we started off in Portland, Oregon; we have some friends up there. They had a studio in their basement. So we’d write, just me and Eric, the programmer. When we started Zeromancer we all wanted to do something really new, and we’re not going to sound like Seigmen, for sure. The whole structure, the whole way of thinking was different, the way we were making songs. We were thinking the total opposite. It was a really good thing, though. It was like starting from scratch again.

MW: Now this might be an old subject and old news, but back in the 1990’s in Norway, you had the whole black metal movement, Burzum, Mayhem, stuff like that. Did that have any effect on you personally or the way you were making music at the time?

KL: No, not really. I didn’t like those bands at all. But it was kind of weird because back in those days we were playing really dark music, ourselves. In one way or another we were kind of seen as being in the same genre. But we didn’t play black metal at all. We’re more metal now. But musically it didn’t affect us. It’s funny because the black metal bands have a lot of respect for Seigmen in Norway. It’s kind of cool. That’s because the Norwegian black metal is very traditional, they use Norwegian lyrics a lot and with Seigmen, we did that in a very dark way. We were kind of ahead of our time in a way. Black metal picked up on us. We were a little pop, so some of them had a hard time saying that they were our fans. It’s funny (laughs).

MW: I’d never have guessed. So what’s the music like out there in Europe as opposed to here these days?

KL: Well it’s always kind of the same thing. In America rock is always happening. I think one of the things happening in both Europe and the States is basic rock. You know, back to like the Rolling Stones, the very basic rock n’roll. I think it’s doing very well in Norway as well as Europe. It’s more of a stripped down rock n’roll thing. You’ve got The Strokes, Queens of the Stone Age, The Hives from Sweden, that kind of thing. I don’t think it’s gonna last, though.

MW: You think it’s just going to come and go?

KL: Yeah, as it always does. You always have the electronic stuff and I think a band from Norway that’s going to do well in the States right now I called Røyksopp. It’s more of like electronic/ambient stuff, but it’s really cool. It’s all over Europe and it’s just in LA Weekly this week that they’re released over here. It’s kind of weird because it’s a bedroom album. But I think it’ll do well here.

MW: Now going back to your latest CD, you covered “Send Me an Angel,� by Real Life, how did that come about?

KL: That’s right. It was just a joke, actually (laughs).

MW: I think you pulled it off pretty good, though!

KL: I think so too, that’s why we put it on the album. But it wasn’t intended to, at all. We were fucking around in the studio and I think heard it on the radio and played a guitar riff to it. I think that triggered the whole thing. But like I said, it wasn’t intended to be put on the album, but it worked out very well. Real Life’s never been our favorite band at all.

MW: I think that’s the biggest song they had.

KL: Yeah, they’re totally a one-hit wonder band (laughs).

MW: Do you know if they’ve heard your version?

KL: I don’t know. It’s kind of funny because our manager, he’s Norwegian, he’s stayed in Los Angeles here for six years and he was in a band here that was signed to a major label – the same label as Real Life. So he knows those guys. He hasn’t talked to them in a long time, but the only drag is the lyrics are so cheesy.

MW: Also, I have to say my favorite track from the new album is “Need You Like a Drug,� what was the inspiration for that song?

KL: I remember how it started, a line from Achtung Baby, U2. I was driving around in LA when I heard the song and it just started from there. It was the first song written on the Eurotrash album. We did the first album, Clone Your Lover, here in the States, then we moved back to Europe and started touring. We toured for two years and when we first went over there we just had those ten songs from the first album. We were really pushing the writing for the next album. So we were in a rush and that was the first song to come up after the period of recording the first album.

MW: Now have you guys done any touring here in the States prior to the release of Eurotrash?

KL: No, we did one show at the Whiskey here in LA before we went home to Europe. So this is going to be a first, it’s not a tour, but its five shows here on the west coast. It’s always been our dream, we’re dying to play for you guys.

MW: I know you did the Cleopatra 10th Anniversary show, how did that come about?

KL: It’s through Cleopatra, they signed us. So we heard about this 10th Anniversary thing and they really wanted to have us on. So we said, “you know it’s going to be really expensive to fly us over.� But they did it, because they really wanted to show people what we’re good for. Zeromancer is very much a live band, we enjoy playing live. I think that’s when people really get to know us. We’re planning a North American tour in the spring.

MW: How did your deal with Cleopatra come together?

KL: They made contact with us, actually. Before we did Eurotrash we’d send out CD’s to labels and we didn’t hear anything and time just went by. Then suddenly, there were three labels at the same time. We must have been playing venues here because suddenly there were all these labels. Cleopatra seemed really nice and they’ve worked their asses off.

MW: Awesome. Have you done any new writing for the next album yet?

KL: Oh yeah, totally! We wrote all of the songs already and we programmed the whole album. I don’t know, we might do it a little different this time, we’re planning on doing it as more of a band album. I think when we come back from this trip we’re gonna go straight back into the rehearsal studio and try to strip it down a bit more, play more as a rock band. Right now it sounds like a mix between the first two albums. The material is very strong, stronger than those two albums. I think we’re going to release it next fall, so look for it.

MW: Now I was looking around on your Website a bit, and I found a page where you guys have a bunch of personal links to different Websites set up under each of your names, you guys have some interesting stuff up there.

KL: (laughs)

MW: Alex (Maklebust), your singer, has a lot of porn links

KL: Just porno, yeah (laughs). That’s kind of what he does. It’s just for fun, though.

MW: Any you’d really recommend?

KL: What’s up there? There’s one “Hot or Not?� I like that one. You can send in a picture of a friend of yours, or yourself even and people rate it – are you hot or not. It’s kind of fun, though, because our programmer did that with Alex, our singer, he’s supposed to be sexy (laughs). He put Alex’s picture up there and he got “not".

MINISTRY

Paul Barker and Al Jourgensen make a Ministry Sandwich for MK Magazine’s Gail Worley

Walking into the dimly-lit lobby of the W Hotel in Midtown Manhattan as the sun sets on a rainy Monday, is about as disorienting an experience as walking into the Stanley Kubrick film, Eyes Wide Shut, just after the orgy scene: basically, you have no idea what the hell is going on. A seemingly endless number of mirrored hallways sprout off the main lobby like the tentacles of a huge, chrome plated squid, and after wandering the maze for several confusing minutes, I somehow wind up in the bar, where a representative of Sanctuary Records recognizes me and brings me over to the two men I am there to meet: Ministry’s Al Jourgenson and Paul Barker. I have met Paul Barker before, when I interviewed him in April of 1999 for the Dark Side of the Spoon album. Barker is everything I remember him to be; Very tall, handsome, charming, professional and charismatic. But Jourgenson, who bowed out of our previous interview due to physical ailments associated with a recently abandoned “habit� (which we will not speak of here) takes me by surprise. Lucid and bubbling with excitement, Jourgenson is disarmingly friendly, animated and clear eyed (this is actually the first time I have even seen his eyes, as they are almost always masked by dark shades). Paul makes reference to Jourgenson as “the new improved Al.�

In many ways, these two men could not be more different, but as Ministry, they share a musical alchemy that cannot be denied. Without their far reaching influence, guys like Trent Reznor and Rob Zombie would surely be doing something else for a living these days.

Paul and Al are in New York to promote the upcoming release of their latest record, Animositisomina. Said aloud, the title sounds like some kind of latin prayer or incantation, but it is in fact a palindrome — a word that reads the same backwards as forwards. As cryptic as the written word looks, Animositisomina is simply the word “Animosity� with the final “y� removed. It is a very Ministry title. The recording of Animositisomina was completed in under five months, quite a feat considering it’s been known to take over two years to complete a Ministry album. “Actually it only took about two days to record and the rest of the time we just partied,�

Barker jokes. “It’s by far the fastest record we’ve ever made.� Both Paul and Al laugh uproariously at this statement, but when pressed for an answer, Jourgenson gives it up. “What was different? Well, try going out in the middle of the fucking desert with nothing but coyotes and cactus for friends, and no town anywhere in site. I mean, the beer depot, where people drink out of troughs, was the town bar. [The studio] was in Torneo, Texas, 40 miles from the Mexican border. In the middle of the fucking desert.� Paul has one small correction, “[The studio was] 40 miles from El Paso and, like, a quarter of a mile from the Rio Grande river, which is the border to Mexico.�

How and why, exactly, the band chose to record in such a remote location all falls in line with the desire for isolation. Al laughs, “It was good [because] there were no distractions... except for the border patrol coming to pick up and sweep for illegal aliens through the pecan orchard that we had there. Other than that, there were no distractions... maybe two or three rounds of a 9MM going off every night to scare people away from the main compound, if they’d just crossed the border. There’s no cell phone service, there’s nothing there, man. But they had a maid and a cook and everything was taken care of for you, so all you had to do was worry about what you were doing, which was kind of nice.� All the comforts of home, with none of the distractions.

In order to capture their voices on my tape recorder above the din of the very fine rock mix tape blaring at near-deafening levels, I suggest that I take a seat between Al and Paul and hold the recorder, rather than setting in on the table in front of us. Both agree that this is a great idea, and Paul refers to our seating arrangement as a “Ministry Sandwich.� I’m just going to let that one sit there.

In the following in-depth interview, Paul and Al discussed the making of Animositisomina, Real Life Spinal Tap moments, the band’s appearance in the Steven Spielberg film, AI, and things that piss them off, in general.

GAIL: Did you have all the songs written when you went into the studio to record Animositisomina, or did you also do some spontaneous writing?

AL: Ask Paul (laughs).

PAUL: About half and half, actually, we worked on a bunch of ideas at my place [in Austin] and then took those to Torneo, to the studio there and fucked with them.

AL: Fucked with them hard.

PAUL: And I have to tell you that you’re the last interview today, so we’re kind of interview-burnt, right now. We’re going to come up with new stuff to tell you. (He and Al laugh).

GAIL: What inspired the name of the record? What’s with all this Animosity in the Ministry camp?

AL: Oh, well that’s easy, we’ll show you the cover art work ...

PAUL: We will? Do you have it?

AL: Yeah, yeah, I brought it. Why? Well, let’s see, Serbs, Croats, Muslims... Jews, Arabs, Christians...I mean “Where’s the love people?� Anyway, wasn’t there some incident here with some towers coming down and shit?

GAIL: I recall that, yes.

AL: Yeah, exactly. Well, there’s a lot of animosity going around. I mean, it’s pretty obvious, it’s not real cerebral or anything. It’s pretty straight forward.

PAUL: Unlike any of our previous work, this one...you know, we want to kind of poke fun at the (laughs)...

AL: Notice he’s rubbing his chin...something really clever’s about to come out...(laughs)

PAUL: (Laughing) Anyway, unlike those previous records, we decided that we wanted to poke fun at the society we live in. (Pause, laughs).

AL: Unlike the other records...(laughs)

GAIL: Which were just basically meaningless pop records...

PAUL: Yeah, right exactly.

GAIL: To someone who hasn’t heard the CD yet, how would you describe the mood or themes of the songs?

PAUL: Hear that music? (Referring to the “chill mix� pumping through the bar’s sound system). That’s...nice...yeah, alright! (Laughs)

GAIL: And we’re Chillin’ with Ministry...Al, field this question for me, baby.

AL: What was the question? (Paul reads the question aloud to Al from my list of questions). Well, it’s something we had never done before, we were really pissed off. (Paul laughs uproariously).

GAIL: I have a feeling this question will get answered as we move along. Okay, Al, you once said, “I use what it takes to get the atmosphere I want on a song.� How do you know what it’s going to take?

AL: Oh, well, when you get there, you know. I don’t mean to be difficult, but it’s true. When you get there, you know. I’ll elaborate okay? I’ll expound upon that later.

GAIL: You’ve always had a policy of not explaining the lyrics to your songs, yet this is the first Ministry album that comes with lyrics printed in the liner notes. Why the decision to do that?

AL: Because we have stock in magnifying glass companies (Paul laughs) and - no, seriously, good luck trying to read them — but this is a compromise, a compromise situation. This record...why we have lyrics..because they’re good lyrics. I like the lyrics on this record, and I haven’t always been satisfied before.

GAIL: Another thing is, and Alex actually pointed this out to me, this is the first record where you can actually understand what you’re saying.

AL: Oh, yeah, yeah! This is a whole newfound upcoming tradition for us, (laughs) where the singer is actually singing and stuff and...at Paul’s prodding. I mean, basically, I was threatened. [It was a] “sing or die� kind of thing.

PAUL: Yeah, that’s true. That’s all true.

GAIL: Well, Paul is a pretty intimidating presence

PAUL: Yeah, there you go. (To Al) Did you answer the question about why the lyrics are going to be printed on the record? I’ll tell you why. Because no one’s going to make heads or tails out of them anyway, so, why not?

GAIL: I guess you want people to be able to sing along. Ministry Karaoke!

PAUL: (Laughing) Exactly!

AL: Around the campfire with Ministry!

PAUL: Did you hear about the Nazi experiment that went awry? It’s a campfire joke. You know, when you’re at summer camp or something that would scare the shit out of you, that sort of thing.

GAIL: Like the escaped serial killer on the loose who’s only got one arm or whatever?

AL: YEAH!

PAUL: Exactly, he comes and he carries an axe with his other arm and he’s looking for somebody to...yeah!

AL: “Where’s my golden arm?� (general pandemonium breaks out as we all distract ourselves from the interview by discussing campfire folklore for several minutes)

GAIL: Not that you’re at all concerned with genre classifications, but this record sounds like a metal record to me. Do you think this record fits in with the current genre of aggressive “Nu Metal� that’s so popular?

AL: We don’t give a shit about that.

PAUL: We don’t know.

AL: It’s out of our hands. Once the tape leaves our hands it’s anybody’s guess. We don’t care.

GAIL: I’m really intrigued by the very faithful cover of Magazine’s “The Light Pours Out of Me,� which I know you’ve done as part of your live show for years now. What first attracted you to that song and how did you decide to finally record it properly?

AL: I’ll take this one. (Paul says ok). What attracted me to the song is that it’s a fucking god damn excellent song. And Howard Devoto’s a god damn excellent songwriter, He rules! We did that song live and a lot of people really said (adopting appropriate voice), “You guys sound good on that one.� So, I bought a bootleg (laughs) of Ministry at a store one time, because there was me, on the cover, and this bald cinder block-head fucking guy on this bootleg. I bought it, because it said my name and they said that that was Nivek Ogre from Skinny Puppy, right? (Laughs) It’s not Ogre. It’s not human, basically.

So this was a Cinder block on legs and I thought it was [Henry] Rollins at first, but whatever. So I bought this just to give Ogre shit and show him, like, “Hey! This is you!� Instead I listened to it and, yeah it sucked. Our live version of “This Light Pours Out of Me,� at the time. We’d done it good almost every night, this was probably the one night, one night out of 100...

PAUL: That was bootlegged. The crappy version.

AL: So...we got pissed off and we said, “We can do this better.� So, we did it.

GAIL: I think Al’s vocals really come close to emulating Howard Devoto’s, good job Al! It sounds just like the original version, to me.

AL: Except for it’s much punchier, according to Howard Devoto.

GAIL: It’s crunchier! You should cover, maybe, “Rhythm of Cruelty� next.

AL: Or “Song From Under The Floorboards.� I like that one too. But we’re not going to make a career out of covering Magazine songs. I didn’t know the lyrics to the song, I’d forgotten it, because we hadn’t done it in so long. We hadn’t done it live in, what, seven years or something like that? Eight years..

PAUL: Oh yeah.

AL: At least. Oh god, I’m old... So, we tried to download the lyrics and we go on the website and the only way we could find that song was...it was listed under Ministry, from that bootleg that bought! They didn’t even credit to Magazine, so that was really weird. I was another Omen. Weird. I give nothing but kudos to Howard Devoto and Barry Adamson (Magazine Bassist) and John McGeoch (guitarist), who plays with Siouxsie now, and — who was the drummer though, man? Dave Formula was the keyboard player.

PAUL: I don’t remember who the drummer was.

GAIL: I’ll look him up and give him his props (Note: Magazine’s drummer was a guy named John Doyle). Anyway, good on ya.

AL: Thank you.

PAUL: You thought that [our version of the song] sounded fairly accurate?

GAIL: Yeah, I really did. And I’m a pretty big Magazine fan, so it fooled me. The Bass intro really gives it away.

PAUL: Ahhh! Yes.

GAIL: I’d like to give myself credit for being so awesome that I knew that was a Magazine song.

AL: That is good.

PAUL: (laughing) Can you do that in your article?

GAIL: Yes, I rule!

AL: Should we vote on that?

PAUL: Yeah! We should vote on it.

AL: So anyway, “Aye!�

PAUL: Aye!

AL: You have a complete UN Counsel, unanimous decision, you do rule. Easier than Bush getting through his bullshit. But if you’ve noticed, our covers are usually fucked up.

GAIL: Yeah! Like, Bob Dylan’s “Lay Lady Lay� I have to really worship you for that one. That was the best thing on Filth Pig. The first time I heard that song on the radio I thought it was just the most fucked up shit I’d ever heard. It was awesome.

PAUL: Awesome.

AL: Well, that’s good.

PAUL: But that’s odd, that song got played on the radio? (laughs)

GAIL: Yeah, I think they played in on K-Rock here.

AL: If you’ve noticed, Revolting Cocks have done “Do You Think I’m Sexy?� and “Let’s Get Physical� and we usually fuck them up, but Howard Devoto is such a Titan to us...

GAIL: He’s a God.

AL: So we decided to do it straight and true, just straight ahead, and he likes it.

GAIL: Who participated in the recording of the album and who is in the touring ensemble of Ministry now?

AL: (To Paul) You can answer the first part and I’ll answer the second part.

PAUL: What was the question?

GAIL: Were there any guest musicians on the album?

PAUL: No. Well, Al and I, primarily. We had our drummer, Max Brody out in Torneo with us for three months or something. Adam Grossman worked on one of the songs, he played guitar on “Animosity.�

GAIL: Is Adam from another band?

PAUL: He played in the band Screw. He lives in Austin, he’s a friend of ours. We had two women do back up vocals on two of the songs, Pat Kinslow and...

AL: Angelina Lucason-Jourgenson!

PAUL: I remember her. That’s the extent of the people who participated in this record.

GAIL: Because, really, what else do you need?

PAUL: No, that’s not true...well, yeah that is true. What am I saying?

GAIL: And who will be touring with you?

AL: Okay! Adam Grossman on guitar, Louis Svitek on guitar — who’s been with us for eight years — myself and Paul and, on keyboards, Pat Kinslow and Angie Lucason-Jourgenson...

GAIL: Two chick keyboard players! How Prince!

AL: Wait, it gets better. We also have a girl drummer: Tia Sprocket from Luscious Jackson is playing with us, on drums, and Max Brody. So, two drummers, two keyboard players, a bass player and three guitarists.

GAIL: It’ll be a full bore onslaught.

AL: There will be a lot of wilted mohawks up front, yes. It’s going to be quite the set.

GAIL: When are you planning on taking the show on the road?

AL: March. February in Europe. March, April, May in the States and then back to Europe for June and July, then back to the States for August and September, then to Australia for October. I mean, it’s weird knowing what you’re going to be doing, like, nine months from now.

PAUL: A year’s worth of touring.

GAIL: Is the any part of the movie “This is Spinal Tap� that reminds you of something that happened in Ministry?

PAUL: (Laughs hard) Like, ninety percent of it.

AL: Our drummers blow up.

PAUL: We’ve gotten lost underneath an arena, we’ve played on army bases...

AL: We started a riot on an army base, Pearl Harbor! We were on the 10 O’Clock news. There was a riot at Peal Harbor because we were three hours late to get on stage. But we weren’t late, they just wouldn’t pay us. It wasn’t anything, like, from abuse or anything...

PAUL: We were there, ready to play but we wouldn’t play until we got paid, you see.

AL: The guy wouldn’t pay us. He was very shifty kind of guy. The problem was, our sound man played Hank Williams’ “Your Cheatin’ Heart� for three hours straight, over and over, before we went on, which kind of got the Samoans riled. When we came on there was quite a lot of fireworks thrown at us.

GAIL: They were Angry Samoans, ha ha ha.

AL: Yeah, right exactly. There was a lot of fireworks thrown at us. It was, like, my glorious moment in dodging projectiles. I think [for] that show was more dodging going on, I mean, I was light on my feet that night. They were throwing M 80’s and shit at us. Then the Navy decided to shut us down because we were so late coming on that they only wanted us to play for 40 minutes. Our tour manager kind of bamboozled them and said, “Oh, I don’t know how to turn it off,� that kind of shit. He went on as long as he could before they finally pulled the plug, in between our last song and the first encore. First, the lights went out for the last two songs. We were playing in the dark, we just kept playing, fuck it.

GAIL: That’s awesome.

PAUL: And there were noise complaints from, like, a mile away or something (laughs).

AL: Yeah, a mile away, we were at 127 db, which...a 747 taking off is at 123 db. So, yeah, they were kind of pissed off. Then, when they finally shut us off, the Samoans — we’d won them over by then! — they’d stopped throwing M80’s at us and started throwing them at each other, which is much preferable, I think...for us anyways. (Laughs) It was more fun per burn. So, we didn’t come back on and they started rioting. We actually came back on, but it was like Ministry Unplugged...only not as good at MTV because it was just guitars, unplugged. So, the crowd got mad and started storming the jeeps and HUMV’s and started turning them over and throwing all the fucking fireworks right and left. Oh it was awesome, yeah! We were whisked away in a car, back to the hotel just in time to see it on the 10 O’Clock news. There was smoke pouring out of the area of Pearl Harbor, where we’d played. We don’t play many Navy bases anymore, for some reason.

PAUL: That’s fairly similar to Spinal Tap. Right?

AL: We wound up getting ripped off, but we played for the kids! (Shouts) It was for the kids!

GAIL: How did Ministry get the part in A.I.? You guys were definitely the best thing in the movie.

AL: Oh yeah, that movie sucked. Here we go, Okay, I’m into the snappy repartee now. Stanley Kubrick liked us. I don’t know why. I liked him up until Eyes Wide Shut. But he liked us and before he died, he wanted to make sure we were the band in there. That’s cool, isn’t it?

GAIL: I can’t think of anything cooler, he directed my favorite movie of all time, “A Clockwork Orange.�

AL: A Clockwork Orange ...what about Dr. Strangelove? That’s my favorite. And Lolita’s pretty good too.

PAUL: A Clockwork Orange is pretty awesome.

AL: Anyway, he wanted us on there, so we got dumped in Spielberg’s lap, which leads us to another anecdote, another story. You want to hear a story?

GAIL: I sure do, and I also want to find out what the Steven Spielberg experience was like.

AL: Well, that’s the story, see? This is a great segue, you’re just rolling, right now.

GAIL: We’re in the groove.

AL: We’re in sync. We’re like a fucking 808 box. We met Spielberg and he was kind of like, he didn’t know what to make of us for a couple of days. Him and his handlers kind of stayed away. Finally it came time for the introduction, OK? I got a little bit of the devil in me, or something in me, and decided to tell him, after the basic, “Steven Spielberg, this is Al Jourgenson. Hi how, ya doin’?� I was like, “Look Mr. Spielberg, we can’t do this movie. We were under the impression that this AI was a porno movie and it’s short for “Anal Intruder� and...we can’t do this.� He didn’t get the joke at first. He went running off with his handlers like, pretty fast, with me chasing after him going “Joke! Joke! Just a joke...� We got along better after that, so, that was good. But everyday there was a new [thing that] AI [stood for], like, “Anal Incest� or “Animal Indecency.� AI became many things to us.

PAUL: We actually had body doubles, or stunt doubles, for the film, for really long shots or in case we didn’t want to be on stage during explosions. In other words, when they had long shots — where there was a shot, say, from here to the other side of the street — they would tell us, “If you guys don’t want to be on stage, we can use your doubles because you’re just going to be in the farthest distance.�

AL: But we live for entertainment, man, so we were there. We were there for all the explosions and shit too, which was kind of unsettling.

GAIL: How many days did it actually take you to film that scene?

AL: Two weeks.

PAUL: 12 days. (Laughs)

GAIL: Well if they had 12 days of footage why didn’t they at least put the whole song in the movie?

PAUL: Well, since we didn’t have shit to do with the final movie, believe me, we were just thrilled that we got to go out there. It was really awesome. We stayed on the Queen Mary! That scene was shot in the Spruce Goose hangar right next to the Queen Mary in Long Beach. It was super cool!

GAIL: Did you write “What About Us� specifically for the movie?

AL: Just, exclusive, it was exclusive for the movie, right Paul? That was our crowning (makes gagging sound) moment (makes gagging sound again) musically.

GAIL: It is a great song.

AL: No it’s not, get over it. You were on a roll until just now. Let’s call a spade a spade. Does fur ball ring a bell?

GAIL: Well, it was the best thing in the movie, which, in many ways, was just so horrible.

AL: I’ve completely destroyed my teddy bear since then. And not only that, it [Al refers to the Teddy Bear Super Toy from the movie] was a constant pain in the ass on the set. “The bear is down! The bear is down!�

GAIL: Did you meet any of the actors in the film?

AL: Oh yeah, they were great. What’s his name!? Donny Joel Osmond [Al refers to child actor, Haley Joel Osment], he was a fan. And Jude Law, he was not a fan, but he’s a fan, because we threatened to...

PAUL: We threatened to kick his ass and take his tickets to go see Radiohead. They played like two shows in the United States, and LA was one of them. He had tickets to the show.

AL: He was cool...

PAUL: He was totally cool.

AL: He wouldn’t hang with us, which I think made him cool.

GAIL: He’s a good actor, I think.

AL: He acted his was out of hanging with us a couple of nights. (Both Al and Paul laugh). Ba-dum-bum! I tell you, we’re on a roll! Let’s keep it going.

GAIL: When you were sitting through the film, what did you think of the finished product?

PAUL: What is the question? (I repeat the question in a variety of different ways). What I liked about the movie? What did I like about the movie? Ahhhhh...I liked the aspect that (laughs) I didn’t get any fuckin’ free popcorn, fuck you...

(Note: At this point, I notice Al is on his knees on the carpet in front of me)

GAIL: Why are you on your knees Al?

PAUL: (Laughs uncontrollably) Mammy! He’s going into his Al Jolson routine right about now!

GAIL: No one has ever gotten on their knees in front of me during an interview before. Anyway, you liked the aspect of what? What was happening?

PAUL: Fuck. The concept that the consciousness of mankind was embodied by these cheeseball...

AL: Oh, shut up!

PAUL: You shut up! She asked me what I liked about the movie!

GAIL: Embodied by cheeseball what?

PAUL: Well, robots. At the end of the movie, the fucking 2 million years later, or whatever...

AL: The climate changes were great! Like, with the sky going by real fast! And lots of years going by...kind of like our career!

PAUL: No...the last 20 minutes of the movie, I thought, was the most interesting part of the movie. That fact that there was pseudo-sentient robots commiserating with this one...what do you call it?...um...

AL: I’ll be back. (Al exits)

PAUL: Okay, goodbye. What do they call those things? Prototype robot, in that it had actually lived during the time of humans. I thought that was fairly interesting. Do you see what I’m saying?

GAIL: Yeah, I liked the dark aspects of the film. Little parts were great, but then it got too Spielberg/Disney.

PAUL: Well, sure it was horrifying to me as well. But then, after the fact, I remember I was reading about it and, in fact, Kubrick wanted to hire Spielberg to do that movie, specifically. He had asked him to do it because he wanted it to be a huge production, something that, I guess, Kubrick felt that he couldn’t do [himself]. So, I mean, it seems odd that, yes, you and I agree that there was too much cutesy bullshit in the movie, however, that’s what Kubrick wanted. It seems...ridiculous, because who are we to doubt what Kubrick wanted?

GAIL: And that’s his legacy, or swan song, isn’t it? Isn’t that the last thing he did? Or was it Eyes Wide Shut? (At this point, Al returns from his trip to the bathroom with an interesting story and this conversation went elsewhere until I was able to reign it back in.) Did the appearance in “AI� help revive interest in the band, because wasn’t that about the same time that you guys got dropped from Warner Bros?

AL: Absolutely none. It must have been our Academy Award winning performance.

GAIL: Were you supposed to be a cyborg robot also?

AL: Yes, some kind of a genre like that, yeah, with the King Diamond fucking make up on, underneath. That was an hour and a half every morning, at 5:30 in the morning, getting King Diamond put on me, which was not really fun. I told them I wanted a Lemmy look, and then they came up with this huge talking mole, but I nixed that.

GAIL: Also, in the video for “What About Us,� you played a pretty cool guitar that had a TV screen on the body showing an image of your face. Was that just an illusion done in post production or was that a real guitar?

AL: That was the way the guitar was. You know that harmonica thing I had on? Which was also a post-apocalyptic type look...

PAUL: Hahaha!

AL: Fur ball. Okay, that had a little fiber-optic camera in the harmonica, which ran down into the guitar, which had an LED screen in the middle of the guitar, so the camera was on me — “I’m ready for my close-up, Mr. Demil,� you know, Sunset Blvd. — and then just went right to the guitar. In case they didn’t have LED screens up top, which they did, people could focus on me. Because it’s all about me.

GAIL: Did you get to keep that guitar?

AL: I tried to steal it, but I couldn’t even get the mask. It all goes to a Steven Spielberg Museum, believe it or not.

GAIL: That’s pretty gay. (Paul and Al laugh hysterically).

PAUL: I can’t even think, this music is so fucking loud.

GAIL: A couple of days ago, I was going back into my collection and playing a bunch of Ministry records, just to immerse myself in the whole Ministry vibe...

PAUL: I think that was two fur balls, that one right there.

AL: Two and half fur balls.

GAIL: What does that mean?

(Paul and Al stick their fingers in their mouths and make fake gagging motions).

GAIL: Anyway, I was looking at the cover of Filth Pig the other day and it struck me how that’s a pretty timely image, the guy standing there with the flag and wearing the button that says “Don’t Blame Me.� Some pretty scary shit is going down in this country right now and I wondered if you guys are at all frightened by or concerned with the increasingly conservative yet war-mongering political environment? And will that affect your music at all?

PAUL: It will affect our music, because we’re leaving the country. You have to. I mean, you have to be an ex-patriot. This is absolutely disgusting. These fucking Right Wing Assholes...

AL: We’re moving to Sun City.

PAUL: Exactly.

AL: Joke joke.

GAIL: Fur ball

AL: Thank you!

PAUL: They’re so self-serving and so hypocritical. It’s like, now that they have control of every branch of the fuckin’ government...

GAIL: Another reason to be angry, right Al?

AL: Yeah, of course.

PAUL: The point is, once again, it so hypocritical, now (sighs heavily) they’re all gloating and saying, “Now we have the responsibility of the American people to do the right thing...� You know (laughs), it’s like, give me a fucking break! You just want to summarily shoot them, that’s all there is to it.

GAIL: It’s like the song says, “Save me from the people who would save me from myself.� Do you know what that’s from?

AL: Jello Biafra?

GAIL: Gang of Four. Oh, speaking of Jello, are you guys still doing stuff with him, is there still a Lard project going on?

AL: Jello will not agree to ride in a horse trailer behind the tour bus. Otherwise we’d do a Lard tour. (Paul and Al laugh). We love Jello. There’s always room for Jello.

GAIL: Did either of you see the film, Bowling for Columbine?

PAUL: No, I have not.

AL: No, I have not.

PAUL: So I understand, I saw a review of it, actually. When I first heard about it, I thought for sure that it would be this completely Left Wing kind of, “Well, obviously, people who have guns, they are the problem and all guns should be registered,� and all this kind of thing. But then I came to realize that, in fact, Michael Moore is a member of the NRA, so he’s not going to completely make fun of that whole...

AL: Because there’s nothing better in the world than taking old Bryan Adams CDs and going Skeet shooting. We have to have guns, if for no other reason, to eliminate old promotional copies of very bad CDs. And I got really good at nailing these CDs in Texas, seriously. Because, in Texas, they hand out guns at the border, when you cross from Oklahoma. You are given a gun, whether you want it or not.

PAUL: And that hits on this whole thing the [DC-area] sniper, and his cohort. They were kind of like Batman and Robin, you know what I’m saying.

GAIL: Ammo Boy and Sniper Man!

PAUL: (Laughing) Sniper Man...yeah that’s right. What’s great about that is I read in the paper the other day, something about, some NRA people, fearing that there’s going to be some huge backlash because, once again, people were going to demand that all guns get registered and be licensed and all this sort of thing. And the person was going on to say, “Well, if they didn’t have weapons they could just (laughing) use bows and arrows or knives or something.� And I was thinking, no way! Those people are such chickenshits, there’s no way that those people would chose to do exactly what they did with a bow and arrow or go up with knives (laughs heartily until he is gasping for air.)

GAIL: Wasn’t the whole thing behind being a sniper, perhaps, the element of surprise, and maybe not getting caught?

PAUL: Ya think? I mean, come on!

GAIL: If you run up and attack someone with a knife, I mean, maybe there might be a witness.

PAUL: Ya think so?

AL: Unless you were a Super Hero with regular LL Bean shoes or regular Dockers. (All laugh).

GAIL: Al, What do you think of the current Chicago scene?

AL: You mean the Chicago Blackhawks? (Paul starts laughing) Because that’s what I know about it, I follow my hockey team, that’s about it. I know nothing about it...isn’t there a band called Fucked Up Pumpkin or something? I have no idea what goes on there, except for my team.

(Just then, Lenny Kravitz’ “Fly Away� comes blaring out of the sound system, prompting me to ask Al...)

GAIL: What do you think of Lenny Kravitz?

AL: I think he’s really short, man. It was really great, when I saw him the first time, I played in that band P, with Johnny Depp for awhile, right? We were there [at the Viper Room in LA] the night that what’s-his-name, the River Runs Through It kid died?

GAIL: River Phoenix.

AL: River Phoenix, thank you. We were opening for Lenny Kravitz that night and the only thing I remember is that I was on stage when that kid died.

GAIL: This is a great story!

AL: Oh my god, here we go! The real inside gossip. But, before the show I got thrown out of the dressing room because I was kind of inebriated, at sound check, ‘cause I decided I wanted to play pedal steel that night, in the band, instead of guitar and there was no part for pedal steel, but I said, “I’ll make one!� So, I see Lenny Kravitz in the dressing room and the “secret room� at the Viper Room — you know, the one with the one-way glass - and he was 5’1� when I met him and then he’s my height, like, an hour later. I started stomping on his boot and he had steel toed platforms, that fucker. I couldn’t get to his toes, but anyway, he grew nine inches — NINE INCH platforms. I mean, this is like Sylvester Stallone times four or five, something like that. Then I got escorted out by his posse, and they used my head as a battering ram on the door. So, that’s what I think about Lenny Kravitz. He’s very short. Other than that, I have no comment. (Al makes gagging sound.)

GAIL: Fur ball.

AL: Fur ball.

PAUL: An infinite fur ball on that guy.

GAIL: So, if you’re not into the Chicago scene anymore what’s your stock in Chicago Trax these days? Or does R. Kelly own the studio now?

PAUL: No, no, no, R. Kelly doesn’t own it, no. He did have some interest in the studio, but I don’t think [he does] anymore. But we’re still partners in that studio, yeah.

GAIL: And I guess you didn’t want to record there because there would have been too many distractions?

AL: In a BIG way.

PAUL: That’s a good guess.

AL: Ad nauseam infinitum.

GAIL: How did you meet your wife?

AL: Fourteen years ago in Toronto, at a Ministry show. That’s it. I saw her and I said, believe it or not, my first words to her were “Here’s my room key.� Because she’s gorgeous and she’s great and she keeps me on the straight and narrow.

GAIL: The love of a good woman can be a powerful thing.

AL: Who said that? Jello Biafra?

GAIL: I think I heard it in a song.

PAUL: It was in a Spielberg movie, I’m sure of it! Yeah! That was the moral of the story.

GAIL: If it’s cool to ask you this, what was your impetus for cleaning up?

AL: I found a new drug, and the drug is senility. When you get to my age it’s the ultimate freedom. I can go out in my Depends at 6 in the morning and walk down the rain soaked street and say hello to my neighbors wearing nothing but that and combat boots, and it’s chalked up to senility. And you can’t do that with drugs. Senility is much cooler...and it’s legal. It’s a legal high.

GAIL: How long have you been senile now?

AL: Four months. Four months with nothing. Life’s a bowl of cherries now, not a bowl of pits. It’s good.

GAIL: You look healthier.

AL: Thank you, I’ve been working out, too, because this set means everything to us. This upcoming tour, man, it’s like, I hate to say this because it’s so cliche, but I really feel sorry for the band that follows us, if there is such a thing. I’ll tell you this, the guy that did the AI sets for the Flesh Fair thing? He’s doing our sets for Ministry, plus eight people and we’re doing a two hour set, too.

GAIL: Al, do you still have an interest in car racing and monster trucks and stuff like that?

AL: (Laughs) I have an interest in avoiding speeding tickets these days. It’s in my best interest. Other than that, yeah, I have an interest, but as a spectator. I was so fed up, I was going to quit [the band] for awhile and just go to Skip Barber Formula One school and do that routine for awhile. But things didn’t work out, because the law and me are like oil and water. [Note: Al is wearing a black t-shirt with the word “Police� emblazoned across the chest.]

(Epilogue: After this interview came to a close, Al and Paul and I were in such a love-fest that Al invited me out to dinner with them and their tightly knit entourage. We all had a great time, but that’s another story).

MURDERDOLLS

By Gail Worley

The most important lesson I learned from conducting the following interview with Murderdolls guitarist, Joey Jordison is to never, ever do an interview in a conference room that has no ceiling, especially when the floor outside said conference room is polished wood. Because here's what happens whenever someone walks by the room: not only does your tape recorder pick up the clomp-clomp-clomping of their shoes as they walk the hallway, but the echo from their clomping footsteps rises up over the walls of the room in which you're trying to do the interview, creating an echo chamber. Wherein, upon playback of the recorded tape, every single one of my questions and every single one of his answers sounds like the chorus to a Morbid Angel song. Live and learn.

Best known as the diminutive, Kabuki-masked, powerhouse drummer for multi-platinum selling extreme metal band, Slipknot, the 27 year old Jordison is, in person, about as far removed from his perceived Slipknot persona as you can possibly imagine. In fact, it's difficult to reconcile the striking images of his impenetrable Slipknot mask or ghoulish Murderdolls make-up with Jordison's adorable baby face, that's relatively unmarked, save for two bar piercings where his now-shaved left eyebrow once was and a small ring through his nostril.

Appearances, it is said, can be deceiving. Nevertheless, image is important to Joey. "I can't find a happy medium as far as make-up for the Murderdolls," he tells me. "Sometimes I go on stage with hardly any, and a lot of people like that. Then other people go, Oh man, you need more. You need to look like a freak, a scary guy.' Then I'll put all the really weird stuff on." For Jordison and his Murderdolls band mates (Singer Wednesday 13, bassist Eric Griffin, drummer Ben "The Ghoul" Graves, and second guitarist Acey Slade, who recently replaced Tripp Eisen) the "Less is more" philosophy has no meaning. "Less than one percent of the whole population of the world gets to do what we do, and have success at it," he emphasizes, "So we've just got to go for [the extreme look]."

Murderdolls was spawned from Jordison's attempt to reform The Rejects, a trash-rock band he had before Slipknot. "The Rejects was already in full-swing, basically, when I brought Wednesday into the band," Joey explains. "He and I started writing songs, [because] I wrote all the songs in the Rejects and I wanted a songwriting partner. When I brought him in, our sound started to change a little bit, because he had a lot of songs that I really liked." Since Joey was a fan of Frankenstein Drag Queens, Wednesday's former band, the decision was made to take the best from both worlds. Merging what the Rejects were doing with the glam/goth essence of Frankenstein Drag Queens, Murderdolls was born, and what a beautiful, dark, ass-kicking rock creation it is.

Beyond the Valley of the Murderdolls, the band's phenomenal debut album, is surely destined to stand out amid the overwhelming glut of mind-numbing idiot rock and false metal plaguing "modern rock" radio and print media in the year 2002. From an enthralling first spin, the Murderdolls album inspires one to wonder what Marilyn Manson might have been capable of, based on Portrait of an American Family, if he hadn't started to take himself so seriously. Infused with a slightly camp, goth version of 80's metal, like what Taime Downe did when he cross-bred his industrial band, Newlydeads, with a revamped Faster Pussycat. Song titles like "Grave Robbing, U.S.A." and "She was a Teenage Zombie" of course, will conjure images of Rob Zombie's tongue-in-cheek horror flick obsession. Jordison would agree with those observations.

"Faster Pussycat was the whole reason I went to see KISS on the Hot In The Shade Tour," he enthuses. "As far as the 80's scene, I wasn't into a lot of the hair bands.' I really didn't like the fact that it was so much about fashion, but Faster Pussycat was more dirty, more funky, more sleazy than a lot of other bands, and their songs were really catchy. "Also, we get a lot of comparisons, as far as the record that we just put out, to the La Sexorcista record from White Zombie - before they went industrial, back when it was still more rock & roll." And anything that's rock & roll is all-good with Joey.

In this exclusive interview for MK Magazine, Joey Jordison spoke candidly about his fellow Murderdolls and what they bring to the band's sound, why he thinks Nu Metal may be on the way out, horror movies as creative inspiration, and how the Murderdolls rocked an episode of Dawson's Creek. Check it out; there's nothing to be afraid of.

Gail Worley: Wednesday did an awesome 20 Questions interview with Metal-Sludge.com and revealed that he dug all this obscure and cheesy 80's glam hair metal. He seems like a pretty cool guy.

Joey Jordison: Wednesday is awesome. He's an encyclopedia of the 80's scene. I mean, that's what he grew up on, ya know? "If they didn't fucking look cool, I wouldn't buy it." That's his thing, but he's younger than me, too. He names bands - he knows everything about them - and comes up with shit that I've never even heard of. That dude, he knows his shit, that's for sure. I was more into the thrash and the speed metal, though there are definitely specific 80's bands that I like.

GW: Since Tripp left the band and was replaced by Acey from Dope are you gradually taking all of Dope's guitarists?

JJ: No, I mean, yeah I know it does sound weird and I'll tell you what, I like Dope. Their drummer, Racci (Shay) who used to play in the Genitorturers, used to be in The Rejects, which evolved into the Murderdolls. So Racci used to play with me as well, before he joined Dope. It's not intentional that I'm [after guys in] Dope, but I thought they were a really good band. Acey and Wednesday have been friends forever. Wednesday actually kept in touch with Acey more than he did with Tripp, even when Tripp was in the band. Plus, Acey and I got along so well, and we like a lot of the same bands, so it's a mutual thing. When we were out on the Dope tour, every morning I had a different rock shirt on and he didn't expect that from me, playing in a bludgeoning heavy metal band [like Slipknot], so we hit it off. When it became obvious that Tripp could no longer be in the band, he was the only guy that I thought of [as a replacement].

GW: He's got the image, that's for sure.

JJ: He fucking rules dude! He's got great energy on stage and he's just so nice, such a polite guy. Acey rules!

GW: Is there any truth to the rumor that you picked your bassist, Eric Griffin, not on his bass playing talent, but on the fact his hair looked like Nikki Sixx?

JJ: (Laughs) Noooo! I did say that I hired him on the fact that he looked cool, but people take that too seriously. He did send an audition tape, him and Ben. I did think he looked cool as fuck but it's not a Nikki Sixx thing at all, and he didn't really look like that when I met him. But I made a joke about that and now obviously everyone really thinks that's the case.

GW: I was actually just kidding, but I love Nikki Sixx.

JJ: Yeah, and Eric's a good-looking kid.

GW: Here's a good quote from another interview you did: "I think a lot of kids will be medicated by this record, because it's not just another record with depressing lyrics...everything can't be so heavy and depressed all the time." Would you like to elaborate on that?

JJ: Yeah, well, as you know - and everyone knows, and people who try and deny it, that's bullshit - I hate this term "Nu Metal," [but in that] scene, most of the lyrics are about alienation, trauma, personal problems, you know what I mean? All of this depressing childhood stuff and that's cool, there's nothing wrong with that. But with this record, and with there being so much of that out there - just that sound of nu metal and those lyrics and that formula - I was like, man, let's put some fun back into this. Let's fuck shit up again. I think [nu metal]'s almost gotten to the point where it's really stale. Once a scene gets really big, it usually starts to die. Not that I'm dissing that scene or whatever, because of what I'm doing with Slipknot... though I don't consider Slipknot to be nu metal because we are so extreme. [The point is] it's okay to come to our show and - we get this all the time from kids - say, "Oh, I had fun at this show!" It's cool to see kids slamming and singing along with "Grave Robbing USA." Our lyrics are, like, funny. The song usually makes us laugh or has a really dark twisted sense of humor to it. That's the way we write our songs.

GW: How collaborative is your song writing?

JJ: Wednesday and I write all the music. Like, "People Hate Me" I wrote that whole song myself, but then there's songs, like "Twist My Sister," that Wednesday wrote. Songs like "Dead In Hollywood" or "Slit My Wrists" we collaborated 50/50 on, but we write all of the stuff ourselves.

GW: Speaking of the song "Dawn of The Dead," you did much more justice to that movie than the Misfits. How influential are various films on your songwriting?

JJ: Granted, we do carry that element, for sure, but I don't want people to think that we're like the Misfits, where every song has a horror movie title and is specifically about horror. We're not like that. Songs like "Slit My Wrists," "People Hate Me," "Let's Go To War," "Motherfucker I Don't Care" - those aggro songs have nothing to do with horror movies. I don't want people to think that every one of our songs has to do with that, but songs like "Dawn of the Dead" or "Dead in Hollywood" do have to do with...well, "Dawn of the Dead" is straight up about the (George) Romero film. That whole chorus, "When there's no more room in Hell/The dead will walk the earth..."

GW: Is from the movie poster.

JJ: That's from the poster, yeah. How cool is that? We've got the Quiet Riot breakdown in the middle, where it's just the drums and it's just that chorus, and kids will sing along to it live, and they kind of catch themselves - like "What am I singing along to here?" - and it's funny!

GW: It's very anthemic.

JJ: Exactly! It's hokey and it's infectious. It's like when you listen to a Ramones album, you don't have to sit there and dissect it and feel like it's hard to get into. It's a fun record and it never gets old! It's like, timeless. That's how we try and write our songs. Humor goes a long way, a lot of people forget that.

GW: Yeah, and as long as a song isn't too topical, as long as there's some humor or romance infused in it, it'll last.

JJ: Yeah, sure absolutely.

GW: Like that song "Die My Bride," some people might think it's offensive or anti -woman or something, but it's fucking funny, and if you keep it in context, it's a love song.

JJ: Sure, "I'd rather cut you than the wedding cake..." I love that song, that's one of my favorite ones.

GW: I saw a picture of you in Kerrang wearing a Mercyful Fate shirt. Are you a big fan of that band?

JJ: Fuuuck! Huge huge fan. I have a bunch of Mercyful Fate shirts and I bring them with me on the road. I'm a huge King Diamond fan.

GW: Would you consider Melissa and Don't Break The Oath to be two metal masterpieces?

JJ: Absolutely, hands down! But my favorite Merciful Fate song is "Doomed By The Living Dead," and that's not on either one of those albums. It's on Beginnings, which is like a compilation, a best of. I'm a huge, huge Mercyful Fate fan.

GW: You're a pretty young guy. Did you have an older brother or sister who turned you on to all this good music you're into?

JJ: No, I'm the oldest in my family, so my parents got me into music. Instead of sitting me in front of the TV when I was young, they would sit me in front of the record player and play Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Alice Cooper, Rolling Stones, Mott The Hoople, all those bands. From the time I was five years old, I was rockin' it. My parents rocked. Oh fuck, it if wasn't for them I wouldn't be doing this. [Note: at this point in the interview, Joey's lunch arrives, and some of his answers are obscured by the sound of chewing.]

GW: And you've played guitar since you were ten?

JJ: I started playing with a guitar I had at my grandpa's house at about age six or seven...no, five. I have pictures of me at four years old, holding a guitar, at my grandpa's house, with him playing piano. He was a big piano player, an awesome piano player. I was really just drawn to [becoming a musician] because there was so much music around my family.

GW: Who are some guitarists you admired when you were started to play?

JJ: See, the players I like, it's not necessarily about if they could really shred, it's not about that, to me. It's more like guys who hit a chord, and you can feel it. Like, Ace Frehley, Johnny Thunder or Steve Jones, they're all big influences on me. Maybe they're not the greatest guitar players, but their attitude that they project through the guitar is fucking phenomenal, and they're legends for it. Tracii Guns was a big influence, as far as my guitar playing. He was one of the guys that shunned that whole hair metal thing, first. When everyone was doing the big hair, when it was at its peak, he was the first guy to shave a mohawk and cut his hair short and not wear make-up. I thought that was cool.

GW: Well, Tracii Guns is actually quite an accomplished musician.

JJ: Fuck, he is! He can do it all! He's amazing, that guy.

GW: I understand the band just filmed an episode of Dawson's Creek; what was that like?

JJ: It was cool, you know. We're on their Halloween special, and we're the band, basically, at this Goth club that everyone goes to. We played three songs: "Dead In Hollywood," "Love at First Fright" and "197666." We really fit the part for it, and we definitely changed the atmosphere of that show, at least for one episode. People are like, "Dawson's Creek, what the fuck?" I've never seen the show but if people don't understand that we're trying to spread our music out to a wider audience, then maybe they're not a fan in the first place. We're just trying to get exposed to as many people as possible. Like I said, I've never seen the show, none of us have, but I hear it's really, like, a big show. (Looking at his Subway Spicy Italian foot-long sandwich) I can't eat all this.

GW: Well, how can you refuse to do a nationally syndicated TV show? You'd have to be nuts to turn that down.

JJ: Exactly. Amen.

GW: Did people in the cast come up to you and ask for autographs?

JJ: The extras did, cause there were a lot of extras that were fans of the band, but not really the cast. Actually, all the producers did as well, but I didn't even see Katie Holmes. That James Van DerBeek guy, I saw him. He was digging it.

GW: Is Murderdolls going to continue to be something you work on to the exclusion of Slipknot, given the fact that Stone Sour, Corey's new band, has also released a CD and is touring?

JJ: Yeah, absolutely. When I do something, I don't really do it half-assed. I do it all the way and I'm in it for the long haul, "In it to win it," so to speak. The Stone Sour stuff is like more the nu metal thing - but with ballads that are more melodic - but we're like "Die My Bride," "Twist My Sister," "Slit My Wrists"...we're not like that, you know? I don't even have to say it; we're just completely different bands. I wish Corey all the luck and I'm glad he's doing well, but as far as going for it and staying with Murderdolls, we're going to put out another album and try and take it as far as possible, while I have time.

GW: I heard you might also be doing a side project with Killjoy from Necrophagia?

JJ: Yeah, well, Killjoy and I were talking about me playing drums on the new Necrophagia album, but I couldn't work that into my schedule because of what I was doing with Murderdolls, because I was already way committed. We talked about doing this project called Hell Pig, but I really can't give you any specific information because we haven't talked about any sort of dates or anything like that. But I'd really like to work with Killjoy in the future and we're definitely going to try and do something, that's for sure. Right now, I have other plans.

GW: What is your favorite movie and what is the scariest film you've ever seen?

JJ: Probably my favorite movie, and this is just because my Dad took me to see it when I was five years old, is Star Wars. But as far as horror movies, it's not necessarily that it's the scariest movie, but, man, when it came out it really turned the scene upside down, and this also would be the equivalent as far as my favorite horror film, that was definitely The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, the first one. That movie is like, so sick and, hands down, my favorite horror movie, for sure. I was maybe eight when I saw it for the first time. It freaked me out! I was really attracted to anything evil and wrong [at that age]. I loved it.

GW: And you're the older brother, so you had an influence on your younger siblings.

JJ: Yeah, I've got two younger sisters, and they rule! I didn't have a brother and my parents were separated, so I lived with three females and I was the only guy in the house. So, I know what you guys are up to, I know your deal (laughs). I know the score.

GW: You mentioned earlier that Murderdolls often draws comparisons to White Zombie, and with Rob Zombie being another artist who's inspired by horror films, what do you think of Rob's work?

JJ: Honestly, not to take anything away from the guy, but I'm not a big White Zombie fan. My favorite album by them is La Sexorcista, I really did like that album, but as far as an influence, it hasn't [had any affect] on the way I play. I do respect the guy though, he is very talented.

GW: You're on your way to Europe tomorrow, right?

JJ: Tomorrow night, yeah. We'll be on tour with Papa Roach. We are going everywhere with them. All the way through Europe - you name the country; we'll be there. We start in Helsinki, Finland and then go everywhere and end in London, England. It'll be a cool tour. We actually just got back from Europe about two weeks ago, we were doing our own tour. We're getting a buzz in England and all of Europe, it's really big. It's great over there. Slipknot's fucking massive over there as well.

DANIEL ASH

Daniel Ash has one of the most impressive resumes in rock history. With Love And Rockets, he fashioned such alternative staples as "No New Tail to Tell," "Ball of Confusion" and the 1989 Top Five smash "So Alive." "Go," the massive 1984 club hit by his Tones On Tail project, has been featured in such movies as Grosse Pointe Blank, and is currently showcased in a massive TV and radio ad campaign for Starburst candies. Let’s not forget his role in influential band Bauhaus, and the immortal 1979 single "Bela Legosi's Dead."

But that was then, and this is now. In the wake of the final Love And Rockets full-length, and more significantly Bauhaus' massive 1998 reunion tour, Daniel was determined to make a clean break from his past and test his creative faculties. "I'm taking a big chance here, because everybody else wanted to continue doing Bauhaus and I stuck it out. I didn't want to be in a band any longer," he explains. "It was time to move on and work with different people. Or on my own. Anything apart from working with the same guys one more time."

The creative foundation for this self-titled album lay in his inventive approach to beats and rhythm. Sounding contemporary, without swapping one set of clichés for another, posed unique challenges. He confesses. "I love techno and electronica and obviously I'm influenced by that music, but there's other people like Deep Dish who can do that better than me. But the way it's worked out, it's got my character all over it; it's quite eclectic."

Indeed, the results on Daniel Ash are as diverse and variegated as all the previous undertakings in its namesake's career. Although work on the album began two years ago, when Daniel was sharing a house in Los Angeles with DJ Keoki (the two recently collaborated on the title track of Keoki's album Jealousy), the bulk of the recording was completed during a seven-month period after he set up his own studio, secreted away in his new digs north of LA. Once again, independence was a key factor in building his own recording space. "I wanted something where I didn't have to share with anybody else." Aside from contributions by multi-instrumentalist/singer Patina Crèm, and engineer Reb, the vast majority of sounds on Daniel Ash were produced by the master himself.

After 20+ years making music, with three of the world's most influential bands, Daniel Ash is starting once more from scratch. Crazy? Perhaps. But he wouldn't have it any other way. "I'd rather clean windows than do stuff that I didn't want to do." For now, the world will have to make due with one less window-washer and savor Daniel Ash instead.

On the onset of the tour, Friday March 1 2002, Daniel Ash was involved in a horrific automobile accident on the 405 freeway just outside of El Segundo, CA. Ash was starting off on tour with band mates when his SUV was struck by another vehicle in a chain-reaction accident, causing Ash's SUV to flip and roll several times before coming to a stop on its side in the incoming traffic lane.

Suffering the most serious injuries in the crash was bassist Patina, who ended up getting pinned underneath the vehicle. Thanks to Ash, Christopher The Minister, Josh the tour manager and a good-samaritan passerby, they were able to lift the vehicle and remove Patina from underneath it. She was immediately taken to the hospital, where she was diagnosed with a broken arm, broken ribs, collapsed lung, internal bleeding, a broken jaw and numerous facial cuts. She subsequently had to be replaced on the tour. Daniel, meanwhile, suffered numerous cuts from broken glass, for which he's been treated. Christopher The Minister, Daniel's manager, came through the ordeal with a lot less skin on his right arm due to a severe case of road rash incurred.

I had the pleasure of receiving a phone call from Daniel Ash, one of my premier influences, for an interview just prior to the accident. (Note I've inserted the replacement bass player in place of Patina in the interview)

Alex Zander: I got an advance of your record a couple weeks ago and it's a lot of fun.

Daniel Ash: Right, that's what I thought.

AZ:: Now, you're already getting airplay here in Chicago with "Spooky." They've been playing it for about a month

DA: Oh really! Well, that's good. Wow.

AZ:: It's actually on the adult contemporary station, which was a surprise for me.

DA: Well what did you think it would be on then?

AZ: I was expecting it to pop up on the big alternative station here.

DA: Right, well it's pure pop though, isn't it? Know what I mean? It is pop. I'm not ashamed of being pop.

AZ: What took so long to make it?

DA: Oh, the usual, things like record companies not giving me a deal, record companies dicking me around with money, this sort of stuff. Yeah, it took me a long time. I had about four or five tracks recorded. I was shopping them around and everyone thought they were great until it came to signing the dotted line and then I had to get the finances to get it together. So in the end I got a publishing deal with Psychobaby. There was a delay of about two and a half years to make it.

AZ: So you were working on this right about the same time you were still touring on Lift?

DA: Yeah, just after that. I recorded some stuff before the Bauhaus reunion. I recorded like four or five tracks.

AZ: This is completely different from your last two solo records.

DA: Yeah, the big part of that is the fact that it's been nine years. Since those times things have evolved a lot as far as music technology and production. You know, instead of just using one loop, use three or four mixed together to get a good sound. So that sort of evolved, the whole production side of it.

AZ: So you built your own studio out there?

DA: Yeah, most of it. The other half, basically my own studio with a guy called Reb. Anyway, Reb and I worked on tracks together. I finally got my own gear. But you can get a really good working studio for not a lot of money these days, you know, how we've progressed as far as technology is concerned. I've been gearing up for the new tour with the new band, and working out the set which will include many "treats" from my Bauhaus, Tones On Tail, Love and Rocket's days.

AZ: Now who do you have in your touring band, anyone that we know of?

DA: Johnny Servo on Drums and Mike People on Bass, both from 16 Volt.

AZ: John Sevro worked with KMFDM before, right?

DA: That's right. And Rachel. You'll find out who Rachel is when you see us live.

AZ: Okay, when I spoke with Kevin a couple years ago at the end of that tour he mentioned that you were doing some DJ-ing. Are you still doing that out in LA?

DA: Yeah, I did something for about a month on Sunset in Hollywood. I just do it for fun. I didn't get paid, I just got a lot of champagne and rude for the night.

AZ: So when you were doing work at Goldfingers was that a gig that you had before?

DA: Yeah, that's something I did for a couple of years, two years back. That was a regular thing every Friday or Saturday night. Again, that was fun.

AZ: What kind of influence did that have with what you're doing now with your music?

DA: Well I like dance music more than anything these days. It starts with a drum loop and a bassline, rather than the guitar. That's been going on for quite awhile, starting with the bass and slowly structuring the song.

AZ: Well I'm pleased that you still have a psychedelic feel to your music.

DA: I've never really thought of it as psychedelic at all, but yeah. okay.

AZ: Did you consider your previous music to be psychedelic with Love and Rockets?
DA: No, not at all. That was probably Dave's influence because he was into that.

AZ: Because it's always came through as...

DA: Yeah, but there again in terms of trippy stuff, he's very strange about that. The music sounds like it's from another planet. This one I find is not too heavy or too slow. It's not a goth album.

AZ: Oh, absolutely. I wanted to mention I used to DJ at Crazy Mama's in Columbus.

DA: Oh really?! Crazy Mama's on High Street. Oh yeah, yeah, I went there because you probably know I'm married to someone from that town. Many years ago, yeah, I've gone down there.

AZ: Yeah, they still talk a lot about that.

DA: (laughs) Really, why? What did I do? There's a song called "Mirror People," which was all about people in that town. She told me about these people who were just obsessed with their appearance and looked in the mirror all the time...

AZ: Yeah, that was the popular rumor, so I'm glad you confirmed that.

DA: Yeah, it's true. That's where I'm calling now, is it?

AZ: No, I'm in Chicago now.

DA: Right, of course you are. Yeah.

AZ: They closed that bar down. The whole scene in Columbus is completely different now. That whole strip of bars is gone. It's all corporate

DA: Yuppiesville now, then?

AZ: Oh yeah.

DA: Wow.

AZ: It's crazy now. It's like The Limited. The whole campus scene is nothing but a strip mall.

DA: Really!

AZ: It's pretty sad.

DA: It's seedy, then?

AZ: I remember when you guys played at the Wexner Center in 1988 in the auditorium there, the first time I saw yo,u and that was when things started to change. But I just wanted to bring Crazy Mama's up because the Mirror People story still goes around.

DA: That's funny.

AZ: What made you decide to cover "Spooky?"

DA: You know what, I think I was driving or something and I heard it on the radio. It was the Dusty Springfield version and I loved it. I really related to it at the time and I think it's very mysterious. Right up my street. I just completely related to it at that moment in time. I recorded that two years ago, that's way back. It took a day to record it. It just sort of fit completely where I was at in my head. I related to it that way.

AZ: That's the single they're playing on the radio here, is that the first single from the record?

DA: Yeah, that's right. I mean it was, when I recorded it, the way it turned out I had it in mind to be the single particularly after the way it turned out. I think it's just got that feel-good factor to it. It's funny because it's released now and I do find, to me, it's a summer song. Hopefully it cheers people up.

AZ: I read in the press kit that I was sent that there's a story behind the vocal by your nephew on "Kid 2000?" Was that something from a movie or something you found?

DA: No, I was working with Adrian from Portishead he made another version of it for the soundtrack of American Psycho. I went for a walk and I found a flyer on the floor with a kids handwriting. Later on I had this instrumental track that was called something else. I got him (Allister Ash) to speak into a microphone to get the words down, laid down on the track. It was just a flyer and I found out from somebody's mother that it was their kid. I found out where she was. She worked at an art school, she was a secretary there or something. She didn't return my calls or anything so I couldn't really clear it up or anything. So I don't know who wrote it, as far as the lyrics go. But Allister talks into a mic and then we laid it down on the track.

AZ: Yeah I wanted to know if that was true because that's a very, very fun story.

DA: Yeah, that's what happened.

AZ: I was watching a PBS program last night about some censorship issues coming up with pornography and they had a Los Angeles porno star in there named Danni Ash.

DA: Yeah, she has the biggest selling Website or whatever in the world. She's a multi-millionaire because of her Website. I know about that because one thing we were going to do, going back about five years and they were going to hook it up for me and her to interview each other. Which would have been hilarious. We have the same name and she happens to be a fan of Love and Rockets anyway. I didn't know her or anything, I didn't know nothing about nothing. But my girlfriend at the time wasn't ok with it.

AZ: Yeah, I wasn't aware of her till last night, I found that very interesting. I mentioned it to your publicist, he thought it was funny.

DA: Yeah, I dunno what she does, live web cams, sending photos out or something. She just sells photos, cooking breakfast or something with nothing on. Stuff like that, real innocent stuff, no heavy duty porn, that is funny, I remember once when we were rehearsing this guy came in with a porn magazine. I think her name was spelled differently and was like mine at the time. She changed it, I think "a" double-"n," i." But yeah, that is hysterical.

AZ: Yeah, on the Internet, there'd be some people who could find you who don't know about your music and vice-versa.

DA: I don't know if that's really going to happen because the spelling is totally different.

AZ: Now, it's on the back of the record, the end of the press release and on your Website, and I can't figure out what "Jesus flies when you're having fun" is all about?

DA: Well I got that line from the William Burroughs idea of cutting stuff up, sentences and everything, and then making new sentences from all the ones that are cut up completely unrelated to that. That process of working with words, have you heard of that before? I've got lots of those like that. You take a magazine and you cut sentences and cut them in half and create new sentences. So I got that line from that and I just loved the way it sounded. For me it's just an optimistic comment on the Catholic Church. Which, you know, we've all heard stories about how the guilt trip is very true. And what I'm trying to say with that line is it's cool to have fun, you're not being bad if you're enjoying yourself. That's what I'm trying to get at with that.

AZ: So who are you listening to now? What does Daniel Ash listen to when he's not playing his stuff?

DA: I like dance.

AZ: Like the trance stuff, or do you like digital hardcore?

DA: I'm not crazy on jungle, or drum and bass so much as say, trance. I like the Chemical Brothers.

AZ: The new Chemical Brothers video with the train is nice.

DA: Yeah, you know I haven't heard the new album yet. I haven't gotten it yet.

AZ: Speaking of videos, any chance of something coming out for "Spooky?"

DA: Well, absolutely, if it's successful but if it isn't you're just wasting that much money. That's the way it works these days. So if it becomes a hit, yeah.

AZ: As far as having Lennon on your opening act, it seems that she's opening for everybody these days. Was that a choice of yours?

DA: It was a choice of somebody who thought she was on the same page as me. It wasn't my idea, I wasn't familiar with Lennon. It is something that is sort of inconvenient. I've seen one video of theirs and it's a different area of music compared to what I'm doing. But I don't know how that's going to work. I'm hoping that it's going to draw a section of the public that wouldn't necessarily come to one of my gigs. I think it's a case where we're hoping to help each other out. But their band are complete road warriors. She told me that she did 125 gigs last year.

PRONG

Unfinished Business: Tommy Victor of PRONG
Interview By Nikki Neil

Since the release of Primitive Origins in 1987, Prong has blasted its way across America making friends with fans and peers alike. Over the years Prong created an uncompromising style of music that influenced many with its provocative mix of thrash, metal, techno and hardcore. During the course of its lifetime the group released six albums and two EPs, and with each release Prong's loyal cult following, ranging from metal devotees to techno freaks, grew.

In 1997 Prong unofficially disbanded and Tommy Victor seemingly disappeared from the music world without a word or trace. People began to ask, "What happened to Prong?" Friends inquired, "Have you seen Tommy?" But devoted fans never lost faith that one day their beloved band would return and, in time, their loyalty paid off.

After a five-year absence the pioneering industrial rock act is back with Victor at the helm. The group is tighter and harder than ever and, once again, is poised to turn the underground upside down. Those who have witnessed the newly reformed Prong-also featuring Brian Perry (bass), Dan Laudo (drums), Monte Pittman (tour guitarist)-attest that this is the best line-up ever.

Nikki Neil: I haven't spoke to you since Rude Awakening came out. How ya been?

Tommy Victor: I've been well. How about you?

NN: No complaints. Welcome back.

TV: Thank you hun.

NN: It's definitely nice to know that Prong is back.

TV: (laughs) Cool.

NN: So obviously the big question is…what have you been doing for the past couple of years?

TV: I moved out to L.A. and I sort of lost track of the seasons. I just wasted a whole bunch of time. It took a really long time to get this thing going again. I had a lot of obstacles to overcome. I was trying to get out of quicksand for a while. I played with Danzig for a year, and then I played with Rob Zombie for six months. After that, I tried to get Prong together because it just seems to be what I'm supposed to be doing in the interim. I sort of just fell into a whole bunch of potholes and quicksand and sort of screwed up my life a little bit and then…You can fill in the blanks. Actually, the last couple of years I've been trying to get this thing going. Monte plays with Madonna, and he had to go do that. So then I got another guy in, Pat Lachman from Diesel Machine and from Halford's band, and he helped me to finally finish this demo. Then I hooked up with a manager and got thrown on the road. Things have been going really well ever since I finally finished the demo.

NN: What exactly happened to Prong after the release of Rude Awakening?

TV: I was getting really disgusted and bitter and full of self-pity about a lot of things that were totally in my head. Epic dropped us and I just didn't want to have anything to do with Prong and the guys. There were just too many disappointments. I spent a lot of time on the Rude Awakening record and it was only out for three weeks and Epic dropped us. And, actually, I was planning on getting a regular job - just throw in the towel - then Glenn Danzig called me up and I went out and played with him for about a year, so that took away from Prong for quite awhile. Then I went to work for Rob Zombie for six months. But, none of those projects seemed to work for me. I finally, god willing, figured out that Prong was the thing I was supposed to be doing. Initially, I was going to form a new project under a different name. I did make a couple of other demos and the response wasn't that great. People said it was too electronic, blah, blah, blah. So, for some reason or another I was weaned into the direction of doing the Prong project and people are really excited about it. There are a lot of fans out there. This tour is going great. I'm quite surprised. I was really down on myself and everything for quite awhile and it took awhile to get out of that whole frame of mind. It was just really bad.

NN: You mentioned that you were thinking of getting a regular job. What would you have done?

TV: Believe it or not, it was going to be fast food oriented. I do have some other talents like sound mixing. I worked at CBGB's for five years as a sound engineer, but the music business just really got to me. I just fell into this really bad rut and, at that point, I would have done anything as long as it wasn't music business oriented. My self-esteem was shot to hell, but somehow that has been lifted.

NN: After all the crap that you went through with Epic, and now that Prong is back together, did you ever consider releasing future Prong albums on your own and just cut out the record company all together?

TV: Yeah, we did. I've sort of been leaving all of those types of decisions up to my manager and our lawyer because I really don't know what is right for me. I've made so many mistakes in my life and so many bad decisions that I'm willing to follow now and be led. We are just going to go with an independent contract. We have a live record that is going to be coming out in October and then a follow up studio record. The actual label hasn't been solidified so I'm not going to say what label, but it is a pretty good deal. We're happy about it. I'm trying to limit my duties these days. I go up and I do what I do. I know Monte is going to be participating and so will Pat in regards to writing the next record. I'm just trying to spread it around a little bit and trust other people to guide me a little bit. Especially with decisions like that. I'm no expert. I'm not a lawyer. I'm not a manager. I'm a guitar player, singer, and a songwriter.
NN: So, your fans will be able to buy new Prong material by the end of the year?

TV: Absolutely.

NN: Did your fans play a big role in your decision to bring Prong back?

TV: No, actually, I didn't know that there were any fans out there. I had not gone on the Internet. I didn't have a Website up. Now that the Website has been up, which is www.prong-23.com, I've been getting a slew of e-mails with people saying, "Thank God you are back. We were waiting." The response has been amazing since we've been on the road. Just all these people from the past coming back and saying, "Where the hell have you been? You fell off the face of the earth." People have just been waiting and now it's time to get a new audience since the band has been gone for five years. I'm overwhelmed that people have been waiting. I'm really grateful.

NN: I bet it feels great to receive such a warm welcome from your fans after being gone for so long.

TV: Yeah. I've been seeing it every night. It's incredible. Every show on this tour has been really good. The response has been amazing. I'm only getting positive feedback from everyone.

NN: Which song do you get the most requests to play live?

TV: Most people would think it's "Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck," but people know that song is going to be played. They can take that for granted. We've been getting a lot of requests for really old Prong songs that go back to the days of Primitive Origins and Force Fed, which aren't even on Epic. We've had so many different stages of our career - of my career really - that the style has changed with each record. There's a big coalition of different fans that are at the shows for some reason. I guess mainly because there has been a revival of New York hardcore. There have been a lot of requests for the early songs, which, unfortunately, the rest of the band doesn't even know because they go so far back.

NN: Did you have to refresh yourself on some of the older songs?

TV: I hadn't listened to Primitive Origins for so long, and I didn't have a copy of it. I had to hook up with the guy who ran our fan club for many years and he made me a copy. I'm going to burn that. I enjoy listening to the old stuff. It's pretty funny.

NN: It's funny that you have to burn a copy of your own album.

TV: I don't have any of the stuff because I wasn't living anywhere for a while. I was doing the whole rock thing for a while-living out of my suitcase, crashing on couches, staying in a hotel room for so long. All my stuff is scattered about, stolen…

NN: Are you still living in Los Angeles?
TV: Yeah.

NN: Being that you live in L.A. have you seen Monte play in the band that performs at Club Make-Up?

TV: No I haven't. But I've seen him with Madonna. I know he does a lot of different stuff. He's been really amazing. He's a great guy to have around, and he's an amazing guitar player. He's a blessing.

NN: Will Pat ever come on board as a permanent member or is he just going to collaborate with you on future material?

TV: I don't know. I just take things one day at a time these days. We were working with Monte and then he got the Madonna gig, so that sort of put us on hiatus for a while. Then Pat got involved, and Pat helped me out a great deal with finishing the demo. We wrote a couple of songs together, so I firmly believe that he is going to be at least playing on the album along with Monte. We are going to have three guitar players on the record. We're hoping to get some other special guests as well. Some other guys that are willing to support us and give us a hand.

NN: How does the new sound differ from the past?

TV: It's hard to say. These guys are amazing musicians. If you go on some of the message boards you will see that people are saying that this is the best line-up ever. Jonathan Phillips, the guy who runs our fan club, said, "This is the best line-up Prong has ever had. It sounds better than ever." I think just the quality of playing is really good. We have some songs written and we're working on more. I just think the confidence level is really high and it shows through. I've learned the hard way to just rid myself of all the nonsense that doesn't have anything to do with what I am doing and just focus on what I'm doing for the moment and disregard my place in the rock world. I just have a lot more faith in what is going on these days. I think it really shows through and it has been great. I try not to try too hard and that philosophy has been helping me out a lot.

NN: Are you glad that you have a second chance?

TV: I'm very grateful for that because that is a gift that doesn't necessarily happen to many people. When I was approached to do a tour my first reaction was, "No one is going to come to see Prong. No one even knows we exist any more. Everyone is probably on social security or something." But that was so far removed from the truth. And, that just proved to me how diluted my own thoughts were and how I could stray into negativity and go from believing that I'm the best to the worst in just a matter of minutes. So I try to completely drain myself of all my perceptions of the way things are. It's just the best way to go about it.

NN: So, based on your past experiences what do you plan on doing differently this time around?

TV: Take it easy on myself and everybody else and enjoy each show for what it is, regardless of if there are 20 people or 2,000 or 200,000 people out there. Also, I try to just be really grateful and appreciate everything. Again, the whole thing is a gift. It was just thrown in my lap. All I did was finally finish up a Prong demo, and I've been thrown all these blessings. It's just amazing.

NN: What has been the hardest thing that you've had to deal with so far?

TV: The only thing that is hard to deal with is the fact that I screwed around for four or five years, but I needed to learn a couple of things. I needed to find out a lot of things about human nature. I'm from New York City but I was really naïve when I moved out to Los Angeles. I learned a lot from being in L.A. and dealing with the shenanigans that go out there. It really hit me on the top of the head, but I survived.

NN: L.A. is quite different from New York even though there are similarities. It's a whole different mindset.

TV: Yeah, enough said.

NN: What advice do you have for musicians who are just starting out in their careers?

TV: That is a really good question. I think you have to trust your own higher power and do what you do. It's okay to be a fan, but I think it is best not to be a carbon copy of your favorite band. Don't try to mimic whatever groups are making it right now. Prong has never been the biggest band in the world. It's ironic because most records we come out with get a lot of scathing reviews…"That's a lot different than the last one. This one sucks," or whatever and then five years later, for instance, with the Rude Awakening album people are now saying, "Oh that record was great!" Where were you when it came out? Everyone was blasting it. I didn't get that much positive feedback on it when it came out, so sometimes longevity is good. It depends on what you want to do. Longevity comes when you are just being yourself and you give yourself some time. Relax and don't expect everything overnight. Sometimes it takes time before you get established. It has taken me a really long time to get to the point where Prong can go out and headline a tour. It has taken a really long time to do that.

NN: When I spoke to back in '96, you mentioned that you were working with Trent Reznor on the Tapeworm project. What is going on with that?

TV: I have no idea. I've gotten several e-mails about that issue and for some reason, god willing, whatever it is, when I get involved with a project that is dictated by a bigger name than me I sort of get…I don't know. I don't want to say, 'dicked' on it but… I even went down there and worked on the Manson record. I didn't get any credit. I worked on stuff with Danzig and Rob Zombie and I didn't get any recognition for that, so I don't know. I go and play on these records and then people use my stuff and I never hear anything back from them. I don't have a clue. I did a lot of recording with that project and laid down a lot of tracks and ideas. I haven't been really up on what Nine Inch Nails has been doing or Manson or even Rob Zombie or Danzig for that matter. I don't know how much they've used. I'd love to do something with Trent Reznor and see what happens with it, but I keep my expectations really low because of my past experiences. I volunteer my efforts and it just winds up becoming some kind of resentment or something. But I've freed myself from all that. If I can contribute to the music world I am happy. I don't need to make a gang of cash. If I can stay on this level and do this and just be of service to others in the same way, whether it's playing guitar or hanging out, that is fine with me. That is a reward in itself.

NN: What are you doing to keep yourself in a stable frame of mind?

TV: Staying clean and sober. And, I'm trying not to step on anybody's toes.

NN: Is hard to stay clean and sober now that you are back on the road?

TV: No, actually, it's easier than when I'm hanging around in L.A. where I tend to get a little antsy and restless. Out here I see what jackasses people make of themselves and that sort of deters me. It's just a matter of being responsible. I'm sort of the elder statesman of the whole project, and I'm grateful for being in this position. I have to take responsibility for it, so I can't do a lot of the things that I used to do.

NN: Did you happen to know Layne Staley?

TV: I did. Actually, Ted [Parsons] knew him a little better than I did. Jerry Cantrell hung out with us when we were doing the Cleansing album. It's a shame. It's easy to get into that whole thing. First you have Kurt Cobain and now Layne Staley. I know the vile. I completely understand how you get into that world of ego gratification and it's just never satisfied and you just have to turn it over somehow. What happened to him is a shame.

NN: It really is. Hopefully more people will learn from this. What are some of your favorite places to hang out in L.A.?

TV: I really don't have any. It wouldn't be a club because I never go out to clubs. I try to stay away from everything in L.A. I try to protect myself because it is so easy to get into trouble out there. I think Ralphs (grocery store) is probably my favorite place to hang out.

NN: Are you taking any specific bands out on the road with you or are you playing with local acts?

TV: It is all local support. There were a few shows where we did have support. For the Detroit, Grand Rapids, and Madison shows we had this band called Brand New Sin with us.

NN: Are you listening to anything that is current?

TV: Oh yeah. I don't want to sound completely mainstream but I heard the new KoRn record and I think it is brilliant. I got an early copy of it, so I heard the whole thing. I really love System of a Down. I still listen to a lot of hard stuff like Meshuggah. I also listen to a lot of R&B too. I have to admit that I listen to what is on the radio because I've been sleeping on floors and have been a bum for so long that a lot of my CD's are lost. I haven't been buying that much stuff because I've been really broke too. I'm really satisfied with what is on the radio. Don't crucify me for that. I listen to KROQ (Mainstream Rock) or Power 103 (Top 40 Rock) in L.A.

NN: How do you occupy your time on the road when traveling between shows?

TV: I do a lot of reading. I go on the Internet. Since I'm such a cheapskate I didn't get a laptop, so I'm actually carrying my full tower Gateway PC around and setting it up in hotel rooms. I also go on-line and chat and answer e-mails. I try to keep it simple. I just relax and watch sports, talk to fans, chat it up with the ladies. You know typical stuff.

NN: You mentioned how you used to work at CBGB's. What was probably the most memorable show you have seen there?

TV: Well, I'm not trying to blow my own horn but the most memorable show was when Prong opened up for White Zombie, and War Zone went on before us. We got signed from that show. Unfortunately, there were a million fights that night. It was really crazy. It was pandemonium from start to finish. I was involved in that show, so it wasn't actually a show I saw. As far as one of the shows I've seen, the most memorable was when Agnostic Front did their live album there. I worked on that record. That was an amazing show.

NN: How would you define success?

TV: That is a really good question. I think the definition of success is losing your ambitions and realizing the vanity of self-gratification.

NN: That is one of the best answers I've heard so far. Is there anything else that you would like to add?

TV: Anyone who is willing to chat or listen to the new Prong music we have a song available for deep download on www.prong-23.com. You can also e-mail me through that site, download some new songs, and see some pictures of some really handsome young men.

CRADLE OF FILTH

An Interview with Cradle of Filth's Dani Filth by Moe Wyoming

From the minute you hear the voice, there's no question who it is: Dani Filth. The only man who possesses a shrill enough voice that's harsh enough to send even Satan running scared with his tail between his legs. Talking with Dani, he shows he's got a sense of humor as sharp as the style of music he makes.

Cradle of Filth has risen among the ranks of black metal's elite, and upon signing with record big boys, Sony, found themselves clearly on top. But certainly they deserve it, their prior works are testament to it. From the assault that was Principles of Evil Made Flesh, CoF moved to the more dark and sinister Vempire, an album that prophesized the impending mayhem their coming albums would bring forth. That sweet carnage would be clearly seen on the eloquently crafted Dusk and Her Embrace. From there they ventured towards a concept album of sorts, Cruelty and the Beast, an ode to Countess Elizabeth Bathory, and of course, Midian, inspired by a Clive Barker tale of the Tribes of the Moon. Throw in two EP's, a DVD and a new double best-of CD, CoF boasts quite an impressive resume.

CoF has battled through constant lineup changes, but there's been no loss of blood for these creatures of the night. It continues to flow into fresh ideas and new projects. Dani enjoyed making his first movie, Cradle of Fear, with director Alex Chandon, a twisted, gore-fest of brutality. With an upcoming album, CoF may well just leave some Sony folks with shaky knees, wondering just what the hell just bit them.

Moe Wyoming: From the times I’ve seen you live in concert and on video I’ve noticed you’re a very aggressive entertainer. Where does that come from?

Dani Filth: Wow…I’m now adrift to think (laughs). Well, I think when you walk onto a stage and the adrenaline kicks in I think it kind of takes over your personality. The more aggressive side of a person comes out. Not to say that there’s two different sides, like there’s Dani Filth and then me as a person normally. But, I think it just goes the same with anybody put into that position. We are an aggressive band and I think that you have to give it your all. Especially when people are coming to see you play the music they’ve come to like or maybe even love. I think you have to put it across in a way that is deserving of their attention.

MW: You also like to interact with the audience a lot and get them pumped up and into the show. Have there been instances where the crowd isn’t as into it as you would have liked them to be, so you have to push them a little more?

DF: Yeah, sure. Not so much in our own shows, but on festivals, sometimes that kind of backfires. One prior instance in Greece supporting Judas Priest, because they’re massive over there, it was about 50,000 people, it was huge! It was really hot as well, some of the hottest days of the year. Greece is on epic, olympian proportions and to try and excite them I stupidly mentioned the football result. Somebody threw something, as they’re prone to do, something whizzed past my head and I said something about no wonder England had beaten them at football because their aim was that bad. Instantly, there was a hailstorm of bottles, plastic water bottles being hurled at the stage. Hundreds upon hundreds of them and it injured our guitarist. It fractured his wrist, and our drummer, they did something to him as well. They weren’t able to move out of the way. It was amusing, if not dangerous. But it was funny to find out that after we performed there was a record amount of dehydration casualties, people being rushed to the hospital because they chucked away their only source of substance! (laughs)

MW: I remember the first time you guys played here in Chicago, back in 1997 or 1998. I was at that show and for some reason the crowd was really dead there, and you let them know! I remember when the band came back for the encore you said, “You’re all still here? This room stinks of rotting Christian flesh!� But I liked that (laughs).

DF: I think people, especially now that they’re seeing the DVD, realize that there’s a lot of sarcasm (laughs). If things like that are said it’s not aimed at any one person in particular. Because music isn’t tongue-in-cheek, but sometimes I feel that the performance can be in regards to interaction.

MW: Your voice is very unique. I’ve never heard a voice like that before. Is it ever a strain on your vocal chords? How do you take care of it?

DF: No, it’s not. It’s not as sore now because I went for training. Not to sing, but to not lose it. It’s just a lot of warming up and watching what you smoke. I’m actually on my fourth mission to stop smoking. I think I’m on day 11. Definitely, I know I’m on day 11 (laughs).

MW: On your DVD you have the “Scorched Earth Erotica� and the “Born In a Burial Gown� videos, I thought both of those were really cool. But, “Born In a Burial Gown� was filmed on haunted circus grounds?
DF: Yeah, a deserted one that was apparently haunted.

MW: Why did you pick there?

DF: Why? Well, the people that shot the video, the production crew, had done their homework and found this place. The reason being is because it was kind of locale and they knew the people that owned it. The guy who produced it was actually sort of a vermin-y, gypsy type, himself, and was in that sort of business. So his family knew their family. Also, because the floor of the circus could be lowered and raised to fill water. Which was kind of unique and something we wanted to do for the scene, well we did it backwards, where the room fills up with water.

MW: Was there anything weird going on there?

DF: Lots of weird things going on, but it think it’s mainly due to nights of debauchery, getting drunk after the shooting, throwing ourselves in the sea in our clothes and stuff…

MW: (laughs) and the video from “Scorched Earth Erotica� had clips of you from Cradle of Fear in it. How was it for you, making a movie for the first time?

DF: Oh, it was great fun. It was a project between myself and Alex Chandon, the guy responsible for it. In fact there’s talk at the moment, he’s going to Cannes next week, to see if somebody can finance the second one.

MW: Oh, so there’s going to be a sequel?

DF: Well that’s the plan, yeah. We’ve got pretty much the ideas for it. We’re going to shoot in England and Italy. We have friends out there who have perfect locations and stuff like that and put things at our disposal that we need. So he’s just going to see if he can raise some money, or raise something at least when he goes over there to the film festival. But it was great. It started off as a little project and turned into something far bigger. It was just good fun. I think when you watch it you’ll realize that everybody had a great time doing it.

MW: You also had some of your other band members in there?

DF: That’s right, yeah; in various gruesome and grisly cameos. It’s a brutal film, definitely one of the goriest films ever made. They actually passed it uncut here in England…

MW: Oh, very cool!

DF: Well, yes and no. Yes, in the fact that great, everybody can see it in full glory. But no in the fact that it seems like somewhere along the line someone failed dismally (laughs).

MW: So you can you give us a bit about the storyline? What’s it about?

DF: It’s almost like a homage to those 80’s horror affairs where you get an anthology of small stories like Pulp Fiction, Tales From the Crypt, something like that. So you have a main tale of a serial killer who is incarcerated at an asylum in London and he’s using his man on the outside, who is me, to reap revenge against the people who put him in prison. Subsequently, that involves all four stories. It’s good. It’s quite psychologically disturbing as well as graphic. And it’s funny as well. There’s a lot of humor in there. Perhaps that’s why the BBFC, which is the censorship board here, decided to pass it uncut because it’s much in the vain of Peter Jackson’s Brain Dead or Bad Taste. It’s just got an element of black humor to it.

MW: Also on the DVD you have your “Blair Twit Project�…

DF: (laughs) Yeah, that wasn’t our choice of putting that on there. It was labeled that, obviously, because of the way it looked. It was actually discovered by the guy when we gave him our tapes. At the time I believe we were on tour, either in America or the Slayer tour we did with them whatever it was called, Tattoo the Planet. And he came back and he proudly showed us this and I was like, “Oh no! this is the worst thing I’ve ever seen and if anybody else sees it I might as well just hang myself.� We sort of consented to it in the end because we realized we looked complete idiots. But it wasn’t up to us to decide who should see us the complete idiots.

MW: Yeah, but that was a lot of fun. As well as your documentary, or “Shlockumentary� as you called it.

DF: Yeah, that’s my favorite thing just because it was kind of lovingly put together. The thing was, none of it was contrived which I like as well. There’s a lot of drunken stuff. The people, ok, they’re not particularly acting how they should be. But it hasn’t got that sort of playing up to the camera that “In Bed with Madonna� would have. Where people know they’re on film so they’re just turning it all on. All of it is sort of just circumstantial stuff, or stuff where all sort of apathy towards the camera is gone completely out the window. You don’t care if it’s there or not. That’s why it stands up as a different side of the band. It’s humorous, again. If it was all (makes evil, low-pitched grumble noises) talk and blah-blah this and blah-blah that, I don’t think it would hold interest, but it does.

MW: Who came up with the initial idea for the video, to put everything together?

DF: I can’t remember. It was one of those things where it was just suggestive. We took out five months. When we left our previous record company, because our term of contract was over, we decided to be free agents for a little while whilst we were looking for another one. Since then we’ve signed to Sony Records, well Epic here in England. It was quite a major deal and we took a while to shop around. In the meantime we put out this sort of extra-length EP called Bitter Suites to Succubi, and the DVD was part of that package. Which was good because we weren’t under real pressure from anyone. It was sort of an open contract, do this, do that, do it any bloody which way you want to. So it was kind of fun. Like all things it started as a small idea and it stretches from there. Our guitarist, Paul, was actually responsible for the title sequences as well, the sort of stop motion when you go to the menu and you get the whole loop of DVD action. Yeah, that was all our guitarist that did that. As with everything, we just wanted to provide the audience with something that was well worth every penny. It comes in at about two and three-quarter hours.

MW: Yeah, I was surprised it was that long. That’s a good thing, though. But I’m curious as to how you’ve seen the band evolve from Principles of Evil Made Flesh up till now? You have the elaborate shows, the DVD, was this a goal you wanted to work towards?

DF: Obviously, yeah of course it was. But how can anyone foresee the arrival of DVD anyway? But of course there was something we wanted to strive towards. Back then it was hard, we didn’t have any money and the same ‘ol, same ‘ol where you have to stick at something. Now it’s a lot easier, but in some respects more difficult because we put ourselves in a position where we have to deliver. When you’ve got no expectations you can surprise people. Now the expectations are piled on. So you’ve got to be that much more, not only sincere, but clever with it. I think now that we have a kind of freedom and budget to do stuff it’s more enjoyable in a way, because you can’t fully realize the ideas that we would have had back then. I mean we had loads of ideas back then, we wanted to do this and we wanted to do that. But it’s about financial predicaments and such. I’m hoping this deal with Sony will provide us with the means to move onwards and upwards. We have plans. We always have lots of plans. At time it seems like it’s a race to fully realize them before, I don’t know, Armageddon happens or our last fan slips away.

MW: Since you mentioned the deal with Sony, I heard that the deal was only in Europe?

DF: No, that’s not true, it’s a worldwide deal. It’s Epic Records who we signed to in Europe, but it translates as Sony worldwide. We’re very pleased about it. We’ve actually been signed to them now since last June (laughs). As it stands at the moment, we play the Ozzfest at Donington in about three weeks at the end of this month. About the beginning of July is when we go in and start recording the new album. It’s a little frightening because we haven’t completed everything. We’re about 80% there.

MW: I don’t know how much you know about the Ozzfests that go on over here in the States but they seem so different. I’d love to see one in Europe because the ones over here kind of suck.

DF: Well we were offered one before Christmas. We were offered one for the summer as well. But unfortunately that’s not how things are going to be. We were prone to agree but the record label just said “no we can’t put the money up for you.� These are 10-week stints, and as I mentioned we’ve been signed since last June and they want an album and that’s it. Album, album, don’t want to hear anything else. It was hard enough to get them to allow us to do Donington. But I really didn’t have much to the say. But I can see their point, putting us on 10 weeks, when in that 10 weeks we could’ve written half the album.

MW: Well I know you do a lot of festivals…

DF: None this year! (laughs)

MW: You’ve done the Milwaukee Metalfest up here, twice. I saw you both times, the first with Venom and the second…

DF: The second, the sound was bloody awful. I watched The Misfits the night before and spoke with them and they had the same problem. It was just a shitty, shitty PA. Jock Koshick changed the venue, I don’t believe it was his fault. It was something to do with some prat governor of Wisconsin. So if you were going to say it was terrible, (laughs) I was just trying to explain it away quickly.

MW: No, I just recall you saying that you were not doing any more Metalfests. Did you have a bad experience or just tired of it?

DF: That’s not necessarily true. Not being demeaning to the guy, because you’ve got someone who puts on such a legendary festival year in and year out. People would moan, but then people would moan more if it didn’t happen. My only gripe is that it’s like quantity over quality. There’s so many bands playing, but it’s a bit of confusion and people don’t know what’s going on. I don’t think enough attention is provided, not to how the bands are treated because bands are pretty resilient people, I’m talking about things like i.e. the PA and the venue. I remember the Venom show, I remember watching Venom thinking, “what the fuck’s going on?� because it just echoed and I thought, “this is such a shitty venue.�

MW: Over the years your band had a lot of lineup changes, with Nick, Damien and Lecter leaving. How confident are you in the lineup now that you guys have a really good thing going?

DF: Well, we just know so. For example when Robin left we thought, “well what was that about?� There really was no reason, he just got to a stage where he felt he wanted to change. No, it was more reasons than that, but none of them were band orientated. So who knows? In a years time somebody might turn around say, “you know what? I want to be an accountant.� So you just don’t know. As much as music goes, it’s a very strong lineup, extremely strong. The new album will be testament to that fact.

MW: Excellent! I’ll look forward to it. Now, how do you feel Cradle of Filth has contributed to the metal and black metal scene?

DF: I don’t know. I don’t know if I’m qualified to talk on that subject. It’s very hard to take a step back and then analyze your stuff. That’s when things become a bit conceited. I don’t like talking about stuff like that. If I was pushed…(laughs) A few people have already had gripes with the fact that we’ve signed to a major. You know, “sell out,� or “the next album is going to sound like Oasis.� I think, and this just is just an example, the next album is obviously on a major, but what it’s going to do is not only allow us to fulfill and further our creativity. But it’s going to further the whole scene. It’s much in the way the trash boom happened. I’m making it sound like the baby-boomer 50’s here, the “trash boom.� But people were signed up like Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax, you had the forerunners of the scene. They were signed up by bigger labels

Slayer is a prime example on Def jam. When all the other labels are interested, “oh wow, so-and-so signed this and this,� other bands rise and the scene kind of gets pulled up a gear. What I’m trying to get at is I think this little move to Sony will improve the scene, because other bands will make it with opportunity. There’ll be more money there, more shows, more bands. It can only be a good thing, unless of course you are one of those people living on the mountainside in the middle of Norway growling at things.

MW: So do you have any insight as to why metal is so much bigger in Europe than it is in the States?

DF: I don’t know. I was always under the impression that America had this massive rock scene, but it seems to be this massive divide! You’ve got your stadium rock, which Metallica have become a part of, and the Kid Rock’s and Limp Bizkit’s, it was always like that. Then you have bands like Deicide and that, and you’d have this massive gulf in between, no middle ground. Perhaps bands like Slipknot have sort of filled that middle ground in a little bit. But it’s such a vast country, that’s one of the things, you know? A lot of Europe has got very, very poor taste (laughs). You’ll find that a festival still pays some place to host Doro Pesch and Manowar and stuff that you thought was dead. But it’s a good thing. It is a good thing. If it wasn’t for the bad taste of the Europeans (laughs) we wouldn’t be on the subject that we are.

MW: But it seems that the corporates here are intimidated, or they think it’s too dangerous to mass market metal, yet they have no problem with rap music, which can have very violent lyrics. I don’t get it.

DF: I’ve got no idea. I wish I had the answers to that so then I could help. I could help the whole scene out as kind of a musical messiah (laughs). But I don’t know. It’s obvious that’s part of the problem.

MW: Cool, is there anything else you’d like to add, Dani?

DF: Well, I mentioned that we’ve got a “best of� coming out. Which is a lot of Music for Nations years. So it’s from Dusk and Her Embrace, Cruelty and the Beast, From the Cradle to Enslave and Midian, as a double CD. It’s got really lavish packaging, a pullout poster, double CD like I said and the artwork is unreal. Obviously, the first CD is just an amount of stuff from those aforementioned albums. But disc 2 is like remixes and stuff that’s been on import CD’s, rehearsal stuff. Disc 2 is the stuff that collectors will want. There’s good stuff that I know hasn’t been released in America and there’s 3 tracks that I know haven’t been released anywhere. There’s remixes of some tracks, I think “Amor E Morte,� which is about another 30 seconds longer than the one that is on the album because it’s got the original big, spooky middle piece. “13 Autumns� with the proper drum sound on it sounds really vicious. Then, “Of Dark Blood and Fucking,� as well has a stripped down, beefier mix. So that’s good. Each disc is about 75 minutes, I think. But that’s just coming out anyway. It was inevitable with the record company once we left them would do something like this. But we just made sure we had a hand in doing it. It was an interesting package. It wasn’t something that was just thrown together for the sake of making money.

MW: Cool, I’ll look forward to that as well! Thanks for your time.

GARBAGE

An Interview with Garbage by AZ

Using real live grinding guitars and all the samples, loops and studio tricks at their disposal, Garbage tossed off the most imaginative hit album of 1995. With front woman Shirley Manson focusing the sound and lyrics, star producer Butch Vig and his studio-rat buddies, Steve Marker and Duke Erikson, casually stepped out of the shadows into the pop spotlight.

Garbage was immediately heralded in the press as a producers' super group--their self-titled debut was full of eclectic production touches, dark lyrics and vicious pop hooks centered by Manson's tough, icy vocals. The astonishingly solid album played like a smash single. The band wound up doing hundreds of live shows. The band's unexpected global success (especially in America) delayed the recording of their follow-up as they committed themselves to a relentless touring schedule. While the world breathlessly awaited a follow-up, Garbage surfaced with another hit and continued to be a fascinating fixture on modern rock radio and MTV, appearing on the Romeo and Juliet soundtrack in 1996 with a B-side, "Number One Crush." The song topped the alternative charts, and the band earned three Grammy nominations. When Version 2.0 finally appeared, the band gained further praise for their compelling blend of slick electronic pop featuring Manson's emotive vocals. The album topped the UK charts in May 1998. The following year the band was commissioned to write the theme tune to the new James Bond movie, The World Is Not Enough.

It seemed like forever but after a couple of legal disputes were resolved their third offering beautifulgarbage was released. Hailed by several of MK ULTRAs critics as the #1 album of 2001, as well as being acclaimed by critics worldwide, it failed to muster up the success in the USA that the 2 previous collections had, despite performing with U2 for a month last fall. In the UK they were releasing single after single, thus making diehard fans feel cheated by the bands US label.

After the U2 shows a European Tour was scheduled, however, Butch Vig was diagnosed with Hepatitis A. He would go on to complete recovery and catch up on some well-needed rest. However, under doctor's orders, he would be unable to play with the band during their European shows. Not wanting to disappoint their fans and after much deliberation, Garbage decided not to cancel. Matt Chamberlain, who played on some songs from beautifulgarbage joined the band for the shows.

In the Spring of 2002, with Vig back in place, Garbage set out on an overdue US tour that began in Cleveland last April, selling out venue after venue. The fan base was still there, but the label seemed reluctant to promote the band in a normal fashion. On Sunday, April 7th Garbage's "Behind The Music" premiered on VH1, cementing their already legendary story forever on the video collections of much of the music loving populous.

MK ULTRA's support and praise for Garbage has also been cemented within numerous features and photos for over 1/2 a decade. (See photo gallery at www.mkultramag.com) It only seemed natural that we make a third installment of the trilogy of the band thus far. If for nothing else to find out what happened onstage during their second Chicago show with U2.

Alex Zander: I just saw on the Internet a few days ago that Shirley’s been really run down or tired lately and the doctor told her to slow down? Is that going to affect the tour at all?

Duke Erikson: No, she’s just got a bit of bronchitis. She’s had a bit of trouble with that. We all came to the realization on the last tour where we were on the road for twenty months after Version 2.0 that we had to be a bit more sane about this. We’re trying to take more breaks and be wiser about everything from getting enough sleep to eating the right foods. It’s really come down to that. She is a bit under the weather right now but about half of our crew is as well (laughs).

AZ: Yeah, road burn right?

DE: Well that flu or whatever it is going around right now. It seems to be everywhere.

AZ: Now I can’t wait to ask you this question. I was at the U2 concert in Chicago. What happened to your amp?

DE: (laughs) It just burnt up. It went berserk, some weird short-circuit, some spark and the next thing you know there’s smoke and nastiness going on back there.

AZ: I thought you handled it well.

DE: I handled it the only way I could and that was to wait for somebody to figure out how to fix it.

AZ: Right! I saw the smoke and as many times as I’ve seen you live that’s the first time I’ve seen anything like that happen. It was funny.

DE: It doesn’t feel funny at the time but in retrospect it’s hilarious.

AZ: That didn’t get on tape or video did it? That would be a good one to throw on a compilation.

DE: Yeah, our first foray in pyro.

AZ: Of all places a U2 show. The place was packed.

DE: That was a great tour, that was really a great experience for us. I mean hanging with those guys, they invited us to fly on their plane and hang with them after a couple of the shows from gig-to-gig. So we kinda got to know them a little bit; Great guys. We played Madison Square Garden with them on that tour and that was an amazing experience given what had just taken place there. It took on a whole new level of an experience because people were coming to share something other than just a rock show.

AZ: Yeah, that was a big production. I couldn’t believe that stage (shaped like) with the heart. I’ve never seen anything like that and I’ve seen a lot of shows. Is there is a reason why you did the European tour first and it’s taken so many months to do a stateside tour?

DE: There are any number of reasons why we do what we do as far as touring goes. We’re lucky on one hand that we have fans all over the world. But it makes it difficult to get everywhere we want to go. So it just happened that to turn out this way with what’s going on in Europe and the release of the record. We wanted to come sooner to the states but there were other things going on in Europe. You’ve gotta juggle things, you have to go where it makes the most sense at the time. It’s a logistical nightmare sometimes but you have to just deal with it. We’re playing like 32 shows in the states over the next six weeks.

AZ: Almost every night, right?

DE: Yeah, I was looking at that myself. So much for our new outlook on touring. We’re doing the same thing we did last time.

AZ: You sold out Chicago pretty fast.

DE: We sold out Toronto last night too. I guess the tickets went really fast there and we had an amazing show. The crowd was unbelievable.

AZ: I feel a little cheated that I’ve seen on your site and on music sites that the United Kingdom gets the videos and the singles and a lot more airplay right now than the exposure you’re getting here on MTV or VH1. Is that a label strategy or a difference between your label here and there?

DE: Well obviously it has to do with labels, markets, different places, people’s perceptions, radio and everything else. There is a difference between the two, of course, but you can’t attribute it to any one thing. The records have a little tougher of a go over here. But that’s why we’re here and we’re not worried about it. We’ve never done this to sell a certain number of records, we’ve done it just to do the work and then follow where the record goes. We’re really happy with it. It’s been number one in Australia, it’s doing really well in Japan, France, Italy and in the U.K. It’s doing fairly well. Our records always take awhile to seep in the public’s consciousness. Last time we were on tour for twenty months and that record did extremely well. We’re not really worried about it.

AZ: I haven’t seen a “Cherry Lips� or “Breaking the Girl� videos yet.

DE: I’m not sure that “Cherry Lips� will be a single in the States.

AZ: That’s a catchy tune. We did a top ten of 2001and did reviews of each album. Three of our ten writers listed the album as number one, the best of 2001. I enjoy it a lot. It went somewhere different. The last album did too, but I can’t quit playing it, nonstop.

DE: Thank you! That’s great to hear. We went down some different paths that we’ve been curious about and we felt a bit liberated about what we were able to try on this record. It turned out to be quite a varied set of songs but somehow it all kind of fits together.

AZ: Is it safe to call Garbage one of the bands that use the studio as an instrument?

DE: We’ve kind of done that in all the different bands we’ve been in, Butch and I. A band called Spooner years ago, not so much Firetown but in Spooner we experimented in the studio a bit. But not obviously to the length that we do in Garbage. It’s just incorporating technology into the whole. Using it more as a musical tool, rather than just a place you go to record. It allows whatever happens in the studio to seep into the writing. I think it comes from us being fans of bands like The Beatles, Roxy Music and even the R&B artists, Dr. Dre who use the studio to create music as part of the band. Rather than just a place to record it.

AZ: Now I just read also, I think it was on your site, that you did a cover of “Wild Horses� by The Stones? Was that for a TV show?

DE: Yeah, there’s a show over in London called “Recover.� They wanted us to do one of our songs, and I guess they have every band do this: an original and a cover. We wanted to do a Velvet Underground song, “Candy Says� which we recorded as a B-side. But they deemed that too obscure, so we had to look at something more on the level of a bit more popular. It’s such a great song, though.

AZ: Any chance that’ll pop up on a B-side?

DE: Well we’ve talked about it, yeah. We’re doing it live. We did it last night as part of the encore. So maybe we’ll do it again tonight, I’m not sure.

AZ: Now is the B-sides collection still on the backburner or is that out? Somebody sent me a bootleg of one called G-Sides.

DE: (laughs) Yeah, there’s plenty of bootlegs of Garbage out there. But we haven’t officially done that yet. We were going to between the last record and this one but it didn’t work out that way for one reason or another. But we’ve got such a backlog of B-sides. A lot of the B-sides are better than stuff that has ended up on the records in my mind.

AZ: Now you’ve had your share of legal turmoil over the last year. I’m not exactly sure where it started, but you stuck by your guns on something that was going on between you and Universal –as far someone who signed you with ALMO. Is that still ongoing?

DE: We were signed to ALMO and we just got licensed without taking part in the decision to Interscope. We wanted a little more autonomy. We’ve worked it out now where everybody’s happy. That’s over.

AZ: Is the lawsuit from Radioactive over with?

DE: Well, that hasn’t been cleared up but we’ve made three records without that being cleared up. So we don’t worry about that too much, either. It’s everybody trying to get what they think they deserve.

AZ: All that comes with success.

DE: Yeah, they wouldn’t give a shit if we hadn’t sold 8million records.

FRI 2 FEB 2001 GARBAGE LAWSUIT BLASTED

http://www.dotmusic.com/news/February2001/news17750.asp

The rock foursome, fronted by Shirley Manson, filed a lawsuit against UMG and its associated labels at LA’s Superior Court earlier this week.

The band claim that the label are holding Manson to “ransom� because they want to keep the successful, chart-topping band on their roster and have accused them of “wrongful, monopolistic and strong-arm tactics�.

UMG told an American website that the case is without merit but offered no other information on the specifics of the suit.

Garbage have alleged that they have wanted to leave Universal since October 2000 after the man who brought them to the label, Jerry Moss, retired.

They originally signed to Almo Records in 1994, which was subsequently swallowed up by UMG, and they claim that a “key man� clause meant that once Moss left they were free to terminate the contract if they wished.

The company countered the band’s request and told them that Moss was still on the payroll.

The suit also states that UMG stated that the Scottish singer is bound to the label because of a contract she signed with imprint Radioactive back in 1993.

Manson was in the band Angelfish at the time and when Garbage took off Radioactive allowed Shirley to perform with them, but only after they had negotiated a royalty share.

AZ: What about a second video compilation? There are some great videos from the last album.

DE: That kind of went by the wayside. We still want to put together something like that. We just really haven’t had time. There were such great videos from the last record, we’d like to get everything on there.

AZ: I like the James Bond video for “The World Is Not Enough.� It’s a fantastic song, too.

DE: Better than the movie (laughs).

AZ: Was the process of recording beautifulgarbage the usual way it’s done? Do you guys take that much time or did you take some time out and take a break?

DE: We took a little break after Version 2.0. We definitely needed one and probably could’ve used a longer one. But we just got excited about going back in the studio and over the course of touring we recorded two of the songs that ended up on beautifulbarbage in a real spontaneous way. “Silence is Golden� and “Until the Day I Die� were written on the road basically, and we went into the studio for four or five days and did all the recording and writing and pretty much had them all completed in that space of time. So we got excited about that and how they were written. They were written with us improvising. So we wanted to take that new process so to speak, in the studio and make a new record.

AZ: Was “Behind the Music’ something you wanted to do or is that what you would call a necessary evil at this time?

DE: I don’t know. To tell you the truth we didn’t really think about too much until after we had done it. Then we wondered why we had. Simply because you never know how it’s going to turn out, how things will be portrayed an all that. But they were very nice folks that we talked to there and the Behind the Music people are music fans.

AZ: That’s an addictive series.

DE: I enjoy it because it’s fascinating sometimes. I think ours is one of the least fascinating. But it’s an amazing show and I think their whole approach is because they’re music fans. it doesn’t feel like you’re being misportrayed.For the most part they do it because they’re fans as well.

AZ: What are the advantages of calling Madison home and not L.A?

DE: Well, still calling Madison home? Well, because my house is there. Madison’s a beautiful city, it’s quiet and it’s clean. I have family and friends there. Of course having the studio there certainly is a reason that we record there and spend so much time there. I don’t know if the next Garbage record will be made there or not. We’re talking about doing it somewhere else or at least part of it somewhere else. But it’s a beautiful city.

AZ: Are there any disadvantages?

DE: Oh of course. There’s not as much to do in Madison as there is in New York and LA. You’re kind of out of touch with what’s going on but that’s a blessing and a curse. There are advantages to living anywhere.

AZ: Here’s a redundant question probably, but one I feel I need to ask you. If you could just share your feelings about what’s going on with our war on terrorism, the attacks on the WTC 9/11 and how you feel about what’s going on in the world?

DE: Well I think the world’s finally come to America, really. This has been happening all over the world for years now and now it came right to our front door. I think terrorism needs to be fought, obviously. There are wacko’s out there. But I think the question that needs to be asked that isn’t being asked is “why is this all happening?� I think even Powell in Israel told Sharon they could fight terror all they want but it’s still going to be there and he should take his own advice. Sharon could go and blow up all the Palestinians but they’re still going to want a homeland. They still want what they think they deserve and until that’s worked out it’s always gonna happen.

AZ: Well, I’m glad you guys are coming back, it’s going to be good to have you guys in Chicago again.

DE: Well I think we’re playing really well right now. I think you’ll like it.

AZ: I enjoyed the United Center show with the mishap and all. You really handled that well. A lot of bands would have just given up at that point and walked off.

DE: We’ve never done that, ever.

AZ: That was a lot of fun watching Shirley tell jokes and stumble with words and watching the drum and bass solo. Although it wasn’t perfect it’s great to see you that way because I’ve never seen a mistake.

DE: Yea, it’s funny. I know when I’ve gone to concerts and I see some band I admire and they have some sort of trouble to see how they deal with it, it kind of humanizes them, I suppose. It’s kind of endearing in a way. That is of course unless they storm off!

MY RUIN

by Alex Zander

My Ruin has been one of this publication’s favorite bands since their inception. SPEAK & DESTROY, the band’s debut wasn't released in the USA until a year after it hit the UK, where the band has since been darlings of the music press. Until this day, it is an album of material which is played regularly in the MK Magazine office and at outings. Full of emotion, energy and in your face tunes. Yet, the powers that be in the music business in our free countryhave not been able to book any shows for the band here in the States until the recent tour opening for Kittie. For MK Magazine the day finally came when the tour stopped in Chicago at the HOUSE OF BLUES. All previous commitments were broken in order to take in a short set of My Ruin energy and emotion. The set was followed by an interview in one of the Prayer Rooms at the HOB Foundation Room. (See the initial interview w/ Tairrie B on our website www.mk-magazine.com)

Tairrie B, or Miss B. as she is often referred to has previously worked as a solo artist (a white protégé of rap producer/svengali Eazy-E) and her first album, 'Power Of A Woman' is now highly collectable. In 1990 her solo debut stalled and she elected to concentrate on music with a similar thematic ethos but a more aggressive bent: Manhole, a hard rock group from Los Angeles, California. (Who changed their name to Tura Satana for legal reasons) With Scott Ueda (guitar), Rico Villasenor (bass) and Marcelo Palomino (drums), Manhole worked in territory widely analogized as 'post-hardcore metal.� Tairrie B continued to rap as well as sing over the backdrop, which also contained trace elements of hip-hop rhythms. But it is doubtful whether those unacquainted with the singer's past confused Manhole with anything other than a ferocious hard rock group. The group split-up in late 1998, allowing Tairrie B to concentrate on a solo career recording as My Ruin. With My Ruin, Miss B remains one of the more influential members of the female metal scene. Tairrie B will be bringing out a book soon, where she will document her life amd her experiences together with new photos, titled "God Wants a Piece of My Ass".

Upon the long awaited US release of A PRAYER UNDER PRESSURE OF VIOLENT ANGUISH were permitted to witness the second chapter of My Ruin.

In her own words - A PRAYER UNDER PRESSURE OF VIOLENT ANGUISH is 14 songs strong with two short spoken words segments, which appear at both the beginning and end of the album. SELECTED PRAYERS include BEAUTY FIEND, STICK IT TO ME, LETTER TO THE EDITOR and POST NOISE REVELATION which confronts the critics and media head on and straight up. Speaking of which, we have recorded our own tribute song called ROCKSTAR (dedicated to the late LYNN STRAIT of the band SNOT). There are tracks that deal with my own love / hate dichotomy of religion and relationships such as HEARTSICK, SANCTUARY, HEMORRHAGE, LET IT RAIN and MASOCHRIST (which will be released on the single only). It also boasts a long overdue duet featuring JESSICKA from JACK OFF JILL appropriately titled MISS ANN THROPE as well as covers of DO YOU LOVE ME? by NICK CAVE and the classic BLACK FLAG song MY WAR (which features Mick on duet vocals). We decide on these particular songs to cover because they were very inspirational to us while writing the album. -Tairrie B from the website www.myruin.com

Also available from My Ruin is the live recording "To Britain with Love and Bruises.� Which includes 11 songs from both albums of material.

Be it the Old Testament, the Live Testament or the New Testament. Tairrie B remains a true testament of one thing about the entertainment industry in the United States. She says, “We're no longer trendsetters; the masses buying the music that is being promoted by the labels here are sheep being spoon-fed bullshit. That's right Middle America is eating shit.� What they should be eating are her words. Bitter as they can be, Miss B speaks the truth. She's an amazing singer, messenger, poet, a fun interview and excuse me for saying, is pretty easy on the eyes.

The band is MICK MURPHY guitar, MEGHAN MATTOX on bass, YAEL drums, and Tairrie B out front with pipes that rival any band on the circuit. They all joined in for the following interview that offers quotes that pull no punches. It is straight from the heart, simply put, the truth. Something a lot of people in the industry can't seem to handle in the age of using pop music as a way to sell sneakers, Playstations and zit cream.

Alex Zander: So what took so long to get here to Chicago for My Ruin to play?

Tairrie B: A band needed to invite us out. We needed to be invited on a real tour so we were unable to play. So we were unable to do it. It's hard when you have no label.

AZ: So no support from Spitfire now?

TB: “Shitfire!� is not our label. They never were. They licensed a record without our permission from a U.K. label called Snapper, both records, behind our backs. When we tried to make it cool with them we said, "well we're on your label let's do something." We got offered Tattoo the Earth, we got offered a lot of stuff. They were like "nope, we're not gonna support you. We're just going to put your record out there and whatever copies we feel like putting out and see what happens." They didn't give a shit about us. So that's why we wrote a song called "Spitfire" about it which will be on our next record.

AZ: As far as a new record, other than the live My Ruin record, when is that gonna happen?

TB: When we find a label. We have the record written. We have about 18 songs written. We're planning on doing a couple of real cool covers and Morgan may appear on the record, from Kittie. We got the whole concept down, we know what we're calling it. We know what we're doing, we're ready to go! It's called The Horror of Beauty. It's just a lot of things we've been going through the past couple of years.

Mick Murphy: It's going to be a killer rock album, too. Rock, not "nu-metal." It's super-heavy rock.

TB: True metal, that's what it's going to be. See, we have a guitar player in our band that doesn't sound like the same five guitar players in the same other five bands that copied the same five guitar players (laughs). He can do solos.

MM: Actually, this is music before 1990, you know what I mean? So I think that makes us a little different.

AZ: When we did an interview with you a year and a half ago that was on Speak and Destroy, which was new domestically but it had been around in Europe before on Snapper?

TB: Yeah, and actually this band did not do that. A lot of people don't understand, they're like "well you change your name every other year, what's going on?" So I'll just give a quick recap. I used to be a rapper back in the day on Eazy-E's label, Ruthless, like 12 years ago. I put together a band called Manhole, which was a rap/rock, kind of like Body Count, Downset, Rage. But a female front. We did a record called "All is Not Well." We did a second record after we toured the world off that and did great, but we got sued for our name by a band out of Texas called Manhole, a punk rock band. They wouldn't let us buy it from them so we had to change our name as our new record was coming out. So we released Relief the Release under the name Tura Satana. So a lot of people got confused like what the hell? What is this? Then we ended up touring the world off of that and I ended up wanting to do something completely different. I was a little bit tired of the rap/rock thing. I wanted to branch out and do something a little bit different. The guys in my band were really not up to it, but we were on the same wavelength, though, on a lot of things. So I left the band and I did this solo record called Speak and Destroy. I named the project My Ruin because I didn't want to call it Tairrie B. I worked with a lot of different artists and producers and put together a touring band. That's where I met Meghan. She came out with me and toured with me first in Europe and England. I came back and decided it might be fun to put a new band together again. Everybody's like, “every other year she has a new band name," it's crazy! It kind of became a joke, but now it's pretty serious. We met Mick, Mick stepped in and he used to front his own band. Mick actually plays drums, sings, plays guitar. He pretty much does it all. He's the frontman for his band called Movement. He played me all the stuff he had written and I was just blown away. It was amazing so it was like maybe we should do some work together.

MM: Yeah, I was looking for something to do. My band had broken up and I had songs. I played her my songs and she was interested. It sparked up a romance and band all at the same time.

AZ: Did you play on Speak and Destroy?

MM: I played on the remix of "Tainted Love" on the American release.

AZ: Which was why he was on the promo shots.

TB: See, Spitfire was just a joke. Spitfire really jacked our band up. They waited a year to release one, then we were going to have a video for "Tainted Love" and then they pulled that. We were going to do Tattoo the Earth and then they pulled that. Spitfire Records just really tried to sabotage our career, big time. They wouldn't let us do any press in the States. They were afraid we were going to tell what was really going on, which we were.

MM: When we questioned them at all they got totally offended.

TB: We're a real band. We're not some fake garage band that's like "take our record and fuck us." They didn't give a shit and we were working really hard. "Speak" was a good record and "Prayer" was a fucking great record, and I can say that it's a great record.

MM: And our next record is going to be even better.

TB: Yeah, we really worked hard. We've been writing this record for a couple of years. There's a lot of subjects that I think our band relates to kids on a completely different level because it's more of an emotion. We're like an emo-metal band. Kids come to our shows and we have kids in the front row crying. It's like a completely different thing, girls throwing themselves onstage. It's very dramatic, they really relate to the lyrics and they really feel the music. It's something really cool, I think it's really different. It makes me really proud to be in a band that can set a standard for something new instead of following a trend. I don't think there's anyone that My Ruin can be compared to and I love that fact. It's what makes original bands.

AZ: So do you blame the lack of press in the United States on Spitfire?

TB: Oh fuck yeah. With our press kit in Europe you'd think we were Marilyn Manson. You'd think this band is huge.

AZ: If you look on your Web Site, (www.myruin.com) all the press that's there is amazing.

TB: Yeah, Spitfire was just "own up, cut them off. Cut them off from everything. Can't do this, can't do that." Finally we got out of all the contracts and legalities.

MM: They were afraid the truth might come out about how lame they are.

TB: Really, just lame, shady dealing. Really, I thought "oh it's a baby label." We were like ok, they think we want a break. Let's get this band out there, get them on Ozzfest, Tattoo the Earth, get out there and get their name out. Have something to break besides the old shit their still pumping. The guy's a dinosaur. He's just an idiot. I hate badmouthing someone like that, but this guy's a real fucker.

AZ: What's on the live album, who's on it, what's it called, who put it out and when was it done?

MM: We did it on our tour of the U.K. the first thing we did when we got to England was went to this barhouse in the middle of nowhere.

AZ: That tour was on the new record, right? Because I don't have that.

MM: It was a mixture between the two records. It gave this lineup a chance to do our versions of the songs off Speak and Destroy. We kind of changed them a little bit, made them more of what we do. And to do live versions of the songs off "Prayer" with Yael, because Yael didn't play on the "Prayer" record. She got into the band after we made that record.

TB: I really love that record. I think it's very raw and like they said, they did the record before Yael came into the band. They did the record at 4 in the morning and we had just gotten off a ten-hour flight. I got up at 9am and did all the vocals in and hour and a half-two hours.

MM: It's like a live studio album.
TB: It' crazy. It was awesome and I think it's great because it's really raw and it's everything from the music to the vocals to the artwork on it is pictures from the tour. It's really us. It really represents what My Ruin is. I think kids love that. They felt like we called it To Britain with Love and Bruises, because it was our little gift to Britain. For all the kids being so kind to us it really meant a lot to us to do it.

AZ: So the best way for somebody to find your music is?...

TB: Amazon.com, Hot Topic, they're now carrying it. They just took us in to the family. It's a shame, I feel really sad that we come out here every night and we play for all these kids and we go to our merch booth and our merch girl says "200 kids came up tonight asking for your album." We're like "what?!" We sell out. I mean we're doing more merch than any other tour. We're selling out, we're doing great. That's how we're surviving. But we have no record out here and we can't get them out here. So we're like we just need a label. We need a label to get behind this band and say I get it, I'm not afraid of it. Let's get you guys on the road, let's get you guys out there, let's make this fucking record and let's do it! That's all we need. We're not looking for a million dollars. We're looking for some real people who aren't liars.

MM: Who don't want to change us into some formulated band.

TB: Yeah! Who don't want to turn us into something we're not. I'm not that little, melodic singer girl. I'm not going to be Linkin Park. That's not gonna happen. But what I am is what I am and I can relate to a lot of people. This band can relate to a lot of people. People tell us that every night, we loved you, you're not that typical thing out there. It's different. Someone's gotta take a chance. Someone will believe in us and that person will step up when the time is right, and we know that. Until then we're gonna bust our ass and do what we gotta do. We'll play for everybody as long as people will bring us out, like Kittie.

AZ: Are you still writing your book?

TB: Been working on it for years, for a few years now. It's insane.

YAEL: It's a novel.

TB: It's not really a novel anymore, it's like a...

MEGHAN MATTOX: Encyclopedia.

TB: (laughs) It's like 1,000 pages now. I took it to a book publisher and he's like "oh my god, there's like 8 books here." It's insane. So I may have to break it down.

AZ: Tell us about it. What's it about and what are you putting into it?

TB: Well, basically it's about one girl's life in music. It's going through my rap days, Manhole, Tura Satana, to My Ruin. It's road stories, it's tour journals, it's diary entries, poetry, song lyrics, private pictures, letters from kids, letters to magazines I've written that were published and not published, letters from people, all sorts of crazy shit. Someone who didn't even like us or like the band could pick up the book, say oh my god and read it for days. It's insane, it's really crazy and when it gets published it'll be the same as the record, it finds it's home with the right person.

AZ: The Web Site's extremely detailed as well, there's a whole lot in there. Does it address some of the same themes? Is some of the artwork the same? It's of the best sites I've ever seen.

TB: Some of it. It mean it would be getting ahead of me for the book and then I started thinking about it and I said hmm, you know that's kind of what it really all is, like the artist screaming. In one way or another that's all I've been doing for the past how many years, I've been screaming. Add this to this, with this, for this in all these different ways. From the early days when I was involved in the "Rock for Choice" pro-choice movement, helping battered women and working in all those causes, all the way to screaming for women, standing on stage and saying get up here! You can come up; you don't have to be the girlfriend. You can be the girl onstage. I think a lot of girls relate to that. That's why I go in the audience and put my mic down and say sing with me. The show is with me. I love that. I love it that a lot of times we do shows, we don't have the giant reaction but we have people just looking at us in this intense way.

MEGHAN: More of a connection.

AZ: That was obvious from watching tonight. Do you get that everywhere?

MEGHAN: I think you get it more when it's a smaller venue and you're right there with everybody.

TB: Personally I've played festivals for 120,000 people and be like 25 feet away from stage with photographers below and I just sit up there thinking, I'm freaking out. I can't relate to that. So I have to jump down and go through them to get to the kids. Everyone's like "you can't jump down there, you're not allowed." I'm like I can't do a show up here. I have to be touching someone.

YAEL: You may as well be in your rehearsal room. You're not connected with anything because you're so far from everybody. Some of the shows on this tour have been like you walk off, take off your shirt and drench the water right the hell out of it because it gets amazing. It's energy, that's all. They give it, you give it and you can feel it just building and building and building. It's really dynamic. Like mellow stuff where she's just talking to a crowd and enticing everybody and they're like "what the fuck is she saying?" Then it's like well this is what I'm saying! So you can feel that. You can see them moving in a certain way, at least I can, because I'm in the middle. So I can just see the whole thing happening whether it's up here or down there and just work with everybody.
TB: We did a little documentary, we filmed it. We have a lot of home videos and we're going to put them all available on our site pretty soon. But we document everything we do and we have a lot of crazy, crazy stuff on tape. But it's awesome. Every night kids say to us you should have been higher on the bill, and we're like, our time will come, we'll get there.

MM: The coolest part is the kids that have never heard of the band before, they come up to us and say. "oh my god, where have you been?! You guys are amazing!" It just feels really good. Of course the kids who sing every lyric and have the records, that's awesome. But to turn some new heads, that's what it's all about, as many people as possible.

TB: To turn the disbeliever into a believer. You see the guys and girls who stand there when we walk out like "you can't impress me." They have that look like "I'm not here for you." I'll walk right up to those people and grab their faces, you know, right in their faces look at them, hold their hand…

MM: And they're converted.

TB: It's crazy! They'll come up to you after the show and say I heard shit about you, you know, everybody has a story afterwards.

MM: Yeah, there have been people who will say "I heard really bad things about you guys, but you guys are really cool." So hopefully that's what this tour is going to do and that's open some eyes.

TB: We're not fucking rock stars. People think because you're on the cover of a magazine or other shit that you live in mansions, you're rock stars, and we're like come on now! We're in a van, we're ghetto fabulous!

MM: In a van down by the river.

TB: Exactly! We're out here Black Flaggin' it. For real. When we do "My War," I really feel like I relate to this. I understand this shit. The people that I respect in the business, the people that I think are amazing are not the people on MTV. They are not the people that are all over MTV. I don't want to be this big -for me, I'm speaking for me only- I don't want to be Gwen Stefani and I don't want to be Madonna. But I want to be what I am, whatever that's going to be. I want to live my life, be happy, do my music, tour and have kids get it and sell records. I actually have records available. We're playing for how many kids tonight? How many of these kids are actually going to be able to find our fucking record? That's what scares me.

AZ: You had that same problem with Noise Records.

TB: Yeah, exactly!

AZ: I remember seeing you for the first time opening for Type O and one of your band members gave me a sampler and for months I couldn't get Noise to send me any. They sent me 8x10's but no records.

TB: Nope. We would get out there and play for 2,000 kids a night. There'd be an ad in Tower Records and I'd go in the store that day and say "I wanna invite the staff to the show," because we didn't know anybody and they'd say "well we have one record." I'm like "what?!" We had to start getting our records on the road and selling them. But we sold them all out. At least Noise gave us records to sell on the road.

MEGHAN: You got 8x10's because it goes with the territory of being a woman in this business. They're selling a hot face to you and they're not looking at the substance behind it.

TB: This is not a hot face, this band is not a hot face. That's why we do songs like "Beauty Fiend" and "Get Pretty." We have lyrics so please forgive me for not being pretty or sexy. That's not what I'm here for. I'm not here to be your little doll up on stage with my fake tits and fakeness. I'm up here just to give it to you, if you don't like it get the fuck out. You know what? Someone else is here that will. If you want some bimbo up on stage yeah I can get one in this band. But that's not coming to this band. That's not what we're about. If that's what we've gotta be to be on MTV then fuck it. I don't need it, we don't need it.

AZ: Now Eazy-E's label...How did you get into rap and then involved with that label.

TB: I was a street dancer, I was really into graffiti art and breakdancing way back in the day. I know KoRn made it really cool to wear Adidas and track suits. Well back when I was wearing it, it wasn't cool for a white girl to be wearing that shit. I was just really into it and I met Eazy-E's manager at a N.W.A. concert with a friend of mine and he's (manager) like, "oh you're a rapper?" I was like "oh yeah." He asked if I had anything and I said "well Quincy Jones's son had did a song with me, Jimi Hendrix's "Foxy Lady,"" on a little demo. So I went down to N.W.A.'s studio all by myself, with nobody. I walked in and played them all my shit and they're all sitting there, Ice Cube and everybody. So he handed it back to me and was like, "oh cool." So I said thanks and went to walk out and he said "do you want a record deal?" As quick as that. It just kinda steamrolled, but then it got really crazy. It got a little much. I was in love with rap music, I loved graffiti, I loved DJ'ing, breakdancing, everything about the culture. And all my friends were into punk. But something was really alluring to me about this culture. It was really straight and really scary. I think it prepared me. I think being down with N.W.A. in those days prepared me to be in this world. They were like the Slayer of rap. I think that a little white girl walking around going "fuck you" to these people was like "what? Wait a minute!" It got to the point where you were told to carry a gun with you to your own record company for protection, there's something wrong there, you gotta go. I'm into music because I love music. The day I don't love what I'm doing is the day I'm going to leave it. I left that world. I wasn't jumping on the bandwagon, I just wanted to do something harder. I knew my voice was something different.

AZ: You told me before something that's just amazing and honest, is that you got paid before he passed away. He took care of you.

TB: Yeah, he paid me all the money he owed me. Eazy kept me under contract for a long time. He wouldn't let me go when I was in Manhole, the early days. Everybody knows he died of AIDS. You live a lifestyle and whatever that lifestyle is you talk about it, you brag about it, just like 2Pac. You live a lifestyle and you sometimes die that lifestyle. Kurt Cobain died a lifestyle and so did Layne Staley. Certain people die the lifestyle they live. It's sad.

MM: He let you out of your contract.

TB: He let me go before he died. He said "I want you to go." Two days later I heard on the radio someone reading a letter. It was like I looked at him, I sat right next to him, I had no idea! He did not look sick at all. He died less than a week after that. I was sent a letter saying "do you want to sue Ruthless?" Along with a list of people I knew for money. But he took care of me. He gave me money. I was free to go, he let me out. Thank god, or I might still be under contract to this day as some gangster mafia shit. I'm pretty happy about that. So I have nothing bad to say.

AZ: Then you were sued over the name Manhole...

TB: But we really didn't get sued, though. Noise Records got sued and they changed their name to F.A.D. and we were just told change your name. They wanted like $300,000. We're like we'll give you $40,000 for the name and they wouldn't take it. Then after we changed our name, two months later that band broke up. It was like oh my god! It was ridiculous. Put us through drama for nothing. Noise changed their name because they didn't want to get sued and they had to re-issue all the All is Not Well records and call them Tura Satana.

AZ: So Tura Satana didn't have a copyright on her name?

TB: No, and the funny thing was, she started getting letters addressed to us. I ended up getting in touch with her through the Internet. I said, this is who I am, this is why we named our band this, because one night before we had to name our record we went through 30 million names, I was watching Faster Pussycat and watching her I just thought, wow! She's just everything that I want to embody on this record, and who I want to embody as a persona. I thought, that's a great fucking name. It sounds kind of Spanish and scary, kind of evil. I brought it to the band and they were like "that's killer!" There was no copyright on it. Later, I started talking to her, and another part in my book is with her as well. I'm interviewing her because of why we took the name and who she is and why she inspired. I think that's really cool.

AZ: We've talked to her before.

TB: Yeah, she's hot. She was very flattered that we did that, so I thought that was really cool.
AZ: Do your videos get played in Europe at all?

TB: Yeah, the old videos for Tura Satana did, there's a My Ruin video for "Terror." We haven't done the video.

MM: This band isn't represented in a video yet. We have tons of tour videos at home.

AZ: That stuff is great, just seeing (the show) tonight.

TB: I gotta send you some home videos.

MM: It's very punk rock-style videos, but there's a lot of heart and it's very honest.

YAEL: And we have the two VCR editing.

MEGHAN: I think we're staying ghetto though. Regardless of whatever happens. It's the flavor of the band. I wouldn't mind having a driver…
MM: Yeah, it would be cool to have somebody drive the van.

YAEL: Yeah, we'd be a little less tired.

AZ: Who's driving?

MM: Me and Yael do most of the driving.

TB: A lot of people want to see us fail out here. A lot of people are very "oh fuck My Ruin. They'll never make it. They're trouble, they're a nightmare." But everybody's been happy with us. Everybody's been kind. It's cool.

AZ: What about at home? I know you did a Whiskey show. It was talked about a lot on the Internet.

TB: We did a couple. Our shows in LA are crazy. We're doing one when we get back. We're actually up for an award right now. LA Weekly, which is like the village voice, they're doing a big award show. They do their yearly awards and we're up for best rock band. Chili Peppers have won it before us, and System of a Down. We're up for it. We just got asked to perform with Tenacious D and Concrete Blonde. Somebody we really respect is gonna be on the show. A few people, very underground and very cool. I mean it's very cool for us to do things like that. I'd rather play with Concrete Blonde than fucking Coal Chamber any day. That shit doesn't mean shit.
AZ: So you don't have a problem getting a chance to come back out by yourselves and playing a couple of smaller clubs, then?

TB: We're gonna make it happen. After we do all this, we're gonna make it happen. People are telling us, "you know if you guys don't get signed off this then something's wrong." If we don't get signed, we're just gonna come back out and do it again.

MEGHAN: We could do this again, that's not a problem. There were bands on this tour that have asked us to go out with them.

TB: American Head Charge rocks.

MM: They're really good (rest of band agrees). I'm not going to lump them in with the bands with a shtick. I think Slipknot's cool but too many bands have ripped them off. But Head Charge is really good. They've got great songs and a great singer, too.

TB: They're actually talented and nice guys. I wanna say one thing about American Head Charge, they are the stinkiest band. They know that, I say this to them. I spray them all with vanilla. They put dead pig heads backstage with us and we were spraying them with vanilla.

AZ: You're a happier crew than I expected to meet because the music is so emotional. Is the new album that you already recorded as emotional?

MM: When we play a show it's a whole different story. After we play we're a lot happier.

AZ: I love that emotion, it provokes a feeling. Music should be like that.

TB: I think it should be. You gotta have tension in order to also have release. There's gotta be some pain to have something. I gotta be honest, with me, I'm in a relationship and a lot of my records have been relationships. What's your religion Tairrie? You talk about the religious aesthetic of everything, and I'm like, my religion is relationships. That's what I address on every record. Most of the time it's painful stories. Right now I'm in a happy relationship so you gotta dig deeper into other subjects besides just this. We have to go through a lot of the other things. We have a song called "Weightless," that's gonna be out on our next record that to me, is going to be the next Beauty Fiend. It's a really important song to me personally, because it deals with when we showcased for a record label in New York City a few months back. The funniest was - and I'm not gonna say who it was - big label, big person, called me up and was really into us and we sent him a package. He called me up and said, "I'm blown away. The music is incredible, the lyrics are incredible, the The band is incredible, your photo, Tairrie, you're beautiful, you can be on magazine covers, but do you have a weight problem? I need to be honest with you, are you a little heavy there? Because rock stars have to be thin, I'm afraid." And those are the lines that just violated me. I was like what a fucking thing to say to me. Who is gonna say that to like Pantera?! Know what I mean? Go tell Phil that! That was such a disgusting, derogatory, misogynistic comment towards me, gimmie a break. He said this shit and we showcased for him anyway. It was worthless, it was not worth our time. Idiot.

MM: It's getting really bad in the music industry.

TB: Are you going to appeal to the Britney Spears girls? NO! We're not!

AZ: Universal dropped the ball on Garbage. They didn't do 100,000 in the States.

TB: That's sad. That's really sad.

MEGHAN: That's ridiculous.

YAEL: That's a joke.

MM: Who?

Rest of band in unison: Garbage!!

TB: Shirley Manson, I'll tell you what I think about her. I think Shirley Manson is kind of like me in the way that - it might sound weird - she's a singer and all that, but she writes really dark, creepy lyrics about subjects that are very intensive. People don't really hear that because it's so poppy. But if you really listen to those lyrics she's got some shit going on! I love that.

AZ: The first record is dark and the new one is dark.

TB: She's awesome. She is not afraid to talk shit. I love her. So, she's bad. But I think the new album deals with a lot of topics that are really important. It needs to be brought out to the forefront. Girls need someone to tell them it's ok to look like this, to do that. You don't have to look like this to be that. You don't have to do this. Get pretty in here, don't get pretty out here.

MM: But as a guy in the band, it's not just about chicks. This band appeals to guys, too. It's not a riot grrl band. It's not a riot grrl band that excludes guys. And this isn't just the chicks with some side guy. This is the four of us in a band together.

TB: I hate it that we're a great chick band. We're not a chick band, because without Mick Murphy there is no My Ruin, straight up. People might go "oh, Tairrie B is leader of this band." I put the band together, yes. I'm the frontwoman. But if this man was gone, there'd be no fucking music. We're all partners in this band, but this is my soulmate partner as far as music. He brought what I really needed to do to the forefront . I've never had a musical partner like that.

MM: Thank you very much.

TB: You're welcome, baby.

MOTORHEAD

by AZ and Bob Hoeksema

Motorhead's persistence and longevity can be attributed to the determination of its frontman, bassist Lemmy Kilmister. He formed the group in 1975, after being kicked out of Hawkwind because of a Canadian drug bust. He wanted to call the band Bastard, but eventually settled on Motorhead, slang for speedfreak. Despite initial criticism from the media, the band was considered authentic rock dinosaurs from the start, specializing in uncompromising rock'n'roll and restricting their stage show - unaffected by fashionable frills - to the bare essentials. Their brief solos were just long enough "… to open another bottle of beer" (New Musical Express), and the public was delighted with their straightforward audio-visual presentation that thumbed its nose at the showy glam rock acts of those days. "They know they're like animals, and they don't want to appear any other way. In view of the many ugly frogs in heavy metal who think they are God's gift to womankind these Quasimodos even seem charming in their own way," commented Stereo Review in 1997. And indeed: Lemmy & Co. hammer out their musical vision relentlessly from the stage, leaving any notion of pomp or glitter aside.

Lemmy and Phil Campbell have been supported by ex-King Diamond and Don Dokken drummer Mikkey Dee since 1992. Their album, 1916, was a chart success in the early 1990’s, and even earned the group a Grammy nomination. March Ör Die (1992), Bastards (1993), Overnight Sensation (1996), Snake Bite Love (1998) and the impressive live album Everything Louder Than Everyone Else (1999) followed and were all praised by media and fans alike. As the German ´Musik Express` commented aptly on the release of Snake Bite Love in spring 1998: "Lemmy is the best. Nobody roars with such abandon. Nobody has the history of rock music written all over his face like he does. No trend has affected him; no breakfast whiskey has ever knocked this man down. Plus: Mr. Kilmister has turned into a giant since Motörhead have dwindled down to a trio. His guitarist Phil Campbell snorts like Angus Young used to, pretty boy drummer Mickey Dee has a punch like Cassius Clay. That's the way rock'n'roll was made thirty years ago, and it's still going to work like that in 2063. Lemmy is like a good wine: the old rogue from Britain gets better with every year."

This latest invasion of the United States via tour was promotion for the release of 'Hammered' on Metal-Is Records, a division of the Sanctuary Records Group.

Released on April 9, the first single "Shut Your Mouth," is accompanied by other in your face tracks which include "Walk a Crooked Mile," "Brave New World," "Kill the World" and "Serial Killer," a disturbing spoken-word piece featuring guest vocals by superstar professional wrestler Triple H of the WWE.

In an age when not many bands manage to make it to their 25th birthday, even less have the level of influence on the world of rock that Motorhead have exerted. Some of the world's biggest bands continually give a nod to Lemmy and the boys, citing them as the reason they first picked up a guitar.

It seems only fitting that Motorhead would celebrate their 25th Anniversary in real style. Going back to their roots, the band played a special show at London's famous Brixton Academy. With special guests like Brian May (QUEEN), Fast Eddie Clark (ex-Motorhead), Whitfield Crane (UGLY KID JOE) and Doro Pesch (DORO, WARLOCK), the stage was set for a very special evening.

The entire event was captured on film and is now presented as Boneshaker in DVD format. The DVD also features plenty of behind the scenes and backstage material as well as interviews unique to this release. It is the definitive Motorhead concert.

The past 25 years have contained glorious highs and dastardly lows, but absolutely nothing can stop Motorhead.

Alex Zander and Bob Hoeksema caught up w/ Mikkey Dee in the Foundation Room prior to their show at The House Of Blues for this interview.

AZ: We are here at the House of Blues in Chicago for the third time in two years, twice with Nashville Pussy.

Mikkey: That show was MAGIC! You know you walk on stage some nights and everything is just perfect, the crowd, the equipment, the whole thing. It was just magic. I think it was the best show on the tour. It might not have been the best show out there, but for us it was just Bam, amazing. Chicago is one of the best cities, with King Diamond, Dokken, Motorhead whenever I have been touring, Chicago is one of the best. I do miss the Aragon Ballroom, it is a nicer venue , a big theatre. This is one of my favorites.

AZ: I bumped into you briefly and I posted a story where you had gotten into some trouble at a hotel where you were banging on doors and I was so glad that there was still a rowdy rock and roller out there.

Mikkey: Fuckin’ drunk Swede in Denver!

AZ: Oh, what a terrible place to be in trouble!

Mikkey: To tell you the truth, it was quite innocent and what came out of that was I became really good friends with two cops out there that were super Mikky Dee “freaks�. I was in jail down there and they would stick thier heads in and say “Oh my god, it’s Mikky Dee� They were great to me, they said “we’ve got tickets for tonight, we’ll get you out of here� it was a real mess, our bus driver was a real drunk, and you know... .

AZ: What is your Rock and Roll history and how did you get into Motorhead?

Mikkey: I joined Motorhead eleven years ago, I actually helped Lemmy on the 1916 album. You see, Lemmy asked me since 1986 to join the band. I wasn’t ready at that time but I know now that I look back I can see that I was not ready to join Motorhead. I never dropped off a band for a bigger band. I stay where I am happy. At that time, I was with King Diamond and we did super, we did two fucking nights - sold out nights at the Aragon Ballroom. We were a bunch of friends from Sweden and Denmark and in 1988, I was very unhappy after that and I said to King, “I am out of here, we are running the band down to the shit. I left the band and hooked up with Don Dokken right away. It was great, John Norrum, another “Swede� so we had a blast and Lemmy asked me again, I turned him down because fuck, I had just joined Don and that was a band, it was not a rented musician thing, Peter Baltes from Accept, John Norum from Europe, Billy White from Watchtower, Don and myself on drums. After a year of touring I knew this thing was going to fall apart, and I knew that and told Lemmy. Then, he asked me again and I said “OK Lem let’s go.� We have some touring left with Don and I did not want to jump ship. Grunge was coming out, all the bands got killed and I helped out on 1916, I was arranging drums. Philthy Taylor couldn’t really play and Lemmy was unhappy with him, so we kept going. Today Phil and I write the music and Lemmy writes the words, we have been working that way for 8 albums.

Bob: The new album Hammered, “Voices of War� is a very powerful song, did what happened Sept. 11 help you write that song?

Mikkey: We did press for about five weeks before we started this tour. And that question has popped up. Me and Phil flew in Sept 10. And I did everything I could to fly out the eleventh but our manager said Mik, if you fly out the eleventh you will be in coach, the tenth you will be in business class. And I said fuck it or I would be stuck in Canada. It was a mess. Sept 11 happened and that was the five or six weeks that we wrote the songs after that, and a lot of people ask because this album is moodier, more melodic and a bit darker. A lot of it might have had something to do with it, but I think more the vibe of what was happening in California and LA and for the whole U.S. I mean just to go to buy a six-pack or something, and people were watching each other, it was a vibe, you guys know…

AZ: Here they attacked cab drivers and anybody that looked like that.

Mikkey: The U.S. thought L.A. was next, the East coast was done and next was hot flashy money-making California. Hollywood-BAM flattened, you know. Maybe that has something to do with this album, a small, small factor.

AZ: One thing I findvery interesting is just because the thing I hate about the music business is that it is a business, why is it that metal bands and heavy rock music is still so much more popular in Europe than it is in the U.S.

Mikkey: Well that is a very simple explanation actually, because well number one the business, Lemmy hates the business. He hates this part of the occupation, by being a musician, he don’t want to know about it. I think that is wrong, you can make it into your friend or your enemy. You can walk around pissing and moaning about it, or you can become more involved in it, that is the road I choose. So the thing is, Europe, or you have to say the rest of the world other than America is unique with this. I used to say “the flavor of the year� with bands, now you have to say “the flavor of the quarter.� Here is what’s happening – its campus, if your’re not a campus band your not going to fucking do it. If a record company, whatever style is the flavor of the quarter, that is all you can hear, the radio ain’t going to play it, you ain’t going to be signed, you’re not going to do shit. This is a conspiracy with the high-rollers, the ones that actually sign bands, the record companies, the radio stations, the media. You can’t even get in the fucking local paper unless you’re the flavor of the quarter, I am not going to say “flavor of the year� because some bands do one record, and they are gone. Understand that if the record company signs up twenty bands, they pay them, they put them up in a Holiday Inn for three weeks and pay them a couple grand without any exposure, they have a world-wide net of distribution, they are going to make their money back 10 or 15 times. So if you sign 20 or 40 bands that sell on its own, then you have bands like Motorhead or Dokken that wants half a million dollars for an advance on an album. They can sign 100 bands for that money. So it’s all money, money, money. Here kids have no chance to like other bands, they don’t have a choice. You ain’t going to read or hear about them. You’re not going to hear them on radio. If you have a band playing they are not going to have a shot at getting signed if you play anything else that what is a campus band or what is in right now. In Europe Motorhead, Marilyn Manson, Slipknot, DIO, Saxon, Deep Purple, I’m never going to give those guys up. It’s OK to like a lot of bands. Here they want you to like one band that is happening today. A couple of months from know I can come back and a popular band now, sounds like shit then.

AZ: We did an interview with DORO, her album was a good hard rocking album. As good as that album was it didn’t do shit here.

Mikkey: Why doesn’t Motorhead sell, this album has sold more in most European countries in the first two weeks than any of the other albums all year.

AZ: It entered the European charts at number 17.

Mikkey: This album has gone through the roof in a Motorhead way, it is not going to be a Kid Rock or Limp Bizkit with eleven million sales, but it is selling really good for Motorhead. It is selling good here, better that the other albums, we’re not a campus band. The only ones buying albums today are the kids in high school or colleges. They phone MTV, the radio stations and the magazines. That’s where the money is that’s where the focus is for these big guys. People were laughing at Metallica before they became a campus band. All of a sudden Enter Sandman, I was dating a girl when they really hit from ASU, a snobby little bitch. Then Metallica hit and everybody was walking around with Metallica T-shirts on. I don’t blame the kids here because you don’t have a choice. It is easy for me to sit here and say this, some European bands ask me what would you tell a new young band. I tell them to “Stick to your fucking guns,� write your own music, don’t be polluted by what the record company says. It is easy for me to say. In Europe that still works. I know people that turn down offers from record because they got too much involved. The record company says we want two radio songs, do this. The band tells them we don’t want your contract, we are five friends, and they go well you’ve got to get rid of your bass player, he’s not happening. I have four or five bands in Europe that turned down their first record deal. Here in the U.S. I can’t say that the kids are in a different situation, you don’t get a second shot. You don’t get the first shot unless you play what the media and industry want you to play. I feel real sorry for them. Sometimes Lemmy might bitch on stage, “OH THAT FUCKING RAP MUSIC IS SHIT.� The kids don’t have a choice, you can’t flip the radio station and listen to 747 from SAXON, and next might be Thin Lizzy. Everything out there is flavor of the quarter. In defense of all of the shit that has been exploding in the U.S. over the last five years, I hear bands today that sound really, really good I can hear melodies again, I hear musicianship. All of the one finger solo stuff or the clown acting like a fucking circus is faded away. I hear some great new bands today.

AZ: Ozzfest, I want to talk about festivals but what about Ozzfest?

Mikkey: Nightmare, Nightmare!!!!!!!!!!

AZ: In what way?

Mikkey: Every way shape or form, everything with Ozzfest should be boycotted by every fucking kid that gets the offer to play it. That’s all Sharon and her fucking money. We were beer entertainment on the second stage. You don’t know the shit we went through. We went through that because Ozzy is a friend, that doesn’t mean that Sharon is, she hates me to begin with. The first show we did, I think it was out in New Jersey, we had laminates and we did our show, we went on at 7:30 and then we walked up to the main stage to see TOOL and OZZY and no, no we weren’t allowed anywhere. All of the bands, when you are done playing, pack up your shit and get the fuck out of here, don’t mess around, don’t hang about. I mean bam, bam, bam business, this is a joke.

AZ: When I got to hang out with Lemmy at OZZfest, I had to go on the bus!

Bob: Did you do the whole tour?

Mikkey: Yeah, eventually, but we said ,this is a joke. Eventually we got universal laminates so we could walk. We were supposed to be thankful to Sharon for that. There were no lights, eight cans like that, no monitors, so before we got to the stage where we could do a decent 35 minutes of Motorhead, not unplugged, not in total darkness, and you know, be able to have a fucking drink on stage, you don’t know what we went through. We left 10 times over the first two weeks and then it smoothed out about.

AZ: Ozzfest is getting more expensive for a ticket, I look at some of the European festivals and see two days, great bands about $30 American dollars for two days. Here I see the same show for about $250. How was touring with Nashville Pussy?

Mikkey: It was great, musically we go hand in hand. We would like to tour with them again, but we can’t now.

AZ: What about Sanctuary (record label)?

Mikkey: Tom and the boys are doing a good job for us now, really. I said this other night, if I had more cash I would start a label and only sign real fucking bands. Tom had the right idea to sign some of these old bands and the minute one of these bands hits again, all of these labels are going to come running. This is the best tour we’ve done, Motorhead is on an upswing. When we write, we write for ourselves! Otherwise we would be a bad copy of ourselves!

KMFDM

by Chris Curry

I was working in a record shop in Orlando, Florida during my second wave of college. One day I peered over the counter at an orange and black promo poster that was as alluring and curious, as it was superficial and silly. I went about my day. I went about my weeks. I gazed at the Skinny Puppy t-shirts and the Revolting Cocks CD’s. I questioned whether or not I should check out Psychic T.V's Temple of the Psychic Youth or gamble on the latest Thrill Kill Kult 12" and still I looked at that silly promo poster. It was 1990 and electro-industrial music was making a transition from the absurd to the most serious. Ministry had dumped The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste on us and it seemed that everyone was gonna follow suit. Yet that orange and black poster harkened back to my comic book days of old while strangely ushering in a bold look at cynicism and sarcasm. It was a thin line between the cartoonish and reality. It was a step away from my day-to-day life with a strong foothold on fiction. I soon found out that it was a vibrant form of electro-industrial music and it was called KMFDM.

The poster in question was for KMFDM's break-thru album, Naïve and the artwork was a pure juxtaposition to the music within. I'd like to say that they were a 'True American Original' but that would be an untruth. The origins of the group can quickly be traced from Germany to Chicago over the sea to England and back to the States (Seattle, Washington to be exact). Perhaps it's this melting pot of musical misfits that serves as a catalyst for the mastermind and mad hatter of the most prolific industrial rock project in history. Perhaps not, perhaps Sascha Konietzko just is and KMFDM just are and we've been put here to enjoy what they have to give. And they gave us a lot. From 1984 to the present the project has continued to unfurl a cavalcade of full-length releases and singles while maintaining their very own sound and style. That sound and style has been honed finely by the group's leader and its revolving roster of members.

In the following conversation Sascha reveals the low-down on their new record Attak, Universal Records, his short stint as MDFMK, past and present members, their upcoming tour and his feelings about the future of music.

Christopher Curry: Attak is a great record. How do you feel about the final product?

Sascha Konietzko: Well, I feel really good about it or else I wouldn't have put it out.

CC: Right, and while that does sound like a silly question, I do specifically remember you being unhappy with the outcome of Angst and yet you released it.

SK: Yes, but that was a different situation in a different era where we made some compromises. Lots of people were tugging at us in different directions and so we conceded. That was the 'reality' of that record which isn't at all the case with Attak. All in all, the hiatus and break-up of KMFDM in 1998 with the announcement in 1999 definitely lightened the load in terms of unnecessary baggage. All that was tossed overboard and the new record sounds really fresh to me.

CC: While on the subject of the KMFDM split, do you mind talking a little about MDFMK and your relationship with Universal Records?

SK: No not at all, what do you want to know?

CC: First up, I noticed that the programming on that album was really dense and involved whereas KMFDM's programming was more stark and 'in your face'. Was that a conscious effort on your part in an attempt to make the 2 projects differ or was it a decision that came down from the 'brass' at Universal?

SK: Well, it was a different approach and with that came a different outcome. That record was less of a group effort than our previous recordings. This was just basically Tim (Skold) and I holed up in a

studio together for months and then Lucia came in and helped out towards the end. I think that if MDFMK had been a KMFDM album no one would've objected to the change. That record is as different to Adios as Xtort is to Symbols. It's just part of the KMFDM evolution.

CC: I personally found very little different with MDFMK verses KMFDM. Do you feel the MDFMK release to be a 'dark horse' of sorts? I mean do you consider it a valid addition to the KMFDM catalogue?

SK: Absolutely, it may as well have been released as a KMFDM record. Really all we wanted to do was get away from all these people who had all these different opinions about us and what we should be doing. We did that (MDFMK) and we really enjoyed the peace and solitude of just the two of us working on the record. We had sufficient funding from Universal and so we wanted to make a record that was absolutely to the maximum in terms of programming. It was something that we wanted to do at the time and now we've gotten that out of our systems and so, as I said before, Attak sounds really fresh and new to me. I must add though, I listened to MDFMK the other day and I thought that it still sounded fucking cool.

CC: I'd heard that you kinda sat back and allowed Tim Skold to steer that record. Is there any truth to that?

SK: No, not at all. I'm not surprised that you read that though. Tim's very prolific in the industry right now and he seems to be catching a lot of heat lately.

CC: Again, while on the subject…tell me about Tim Skold. When he was on the Symbols album / tour we could only guess that he'd just pass through the revolving KMFDM door as so many others have in the past. However at present he's been with you for 4 albums. How'd all this come about?

SK: Tim and I have a very similar work ethic and that's not something you find very often in this business. So many people are just out there to fuck you over but Tim's a good guy. He's a very gifted programmer and a talented musician and I get along with him very well.

CC: Do you guys split the writing and / or programming chores in any specific way?

SK: No, actually we do exactly the same things and we also have a lot of similar tastes. So we just basically swap out stuff and that way it doesn't get boring for anyone.

CC: Recently you've compared your new label, Metropolis Records to your happier days with Wax Trax in terms of musical freedom and label support and encouragement. I figured that Universal would be exactly the opposite yet it doesn't appear that they stifled your creativity at all.

SK: No they didn't stifle the creativity, but they just didn't have the right kind of understanding about us. We delivered the MDFMK record to them and they were pretty speechless. They just sat there and didn't know what to say. So we all sat in this huge conference room listening to the record and one guy stood up after it was finished and said, "Um, I don't hear anything on here that's gonna fit the 'modern rock' radio format."

CC: Well, I guess you were thrilled with that! So what do you say to some inane remark like that?

SK: (laughs) Well, I was like, "What are you talking about?" So he said, "Well, that's what we do. We take a single to 'modern rock' radio but there's no single on this one." They were never successful at explaining to us just what the hell 'modern rock' radio was supposed to be. That's just the way that they operate.

CC: It doesn't appear as though they've misunderstood Rammstein and they've done a good job of promoting them.

SK: Well, according to Rammstein they didn't push them. I'm really good friends with Richard (Z. Kruspe-Berstein) and according to him, Universal made the wrong choice in terms of their first single from the Mutter album which was 'Sonne'. This wrong choice has caused them problems. It's the same thing that happened to us and to a lot of other artists on Universal.

CC: Were there any singles from the MDFMK record other than 'Torpedoes'?

SK: We had three of them; 'Get Outta My Head', 'Rabble Rouser' and 'Torpedoes'.

CC: Were those released as remix singles? If so I never saw them.

SK: No and Universal isn't the type of label to put out remix singles unless there's a lot of money in it. In the end the MDFMK record sold around 120,000 copies, which is right where Adios and Nihil and most of our others are. So in terms of sales there were no set backs but when you look at the amount of money that they pumped into the thing along with the difficult angle on promotion and radio air play it just didn't work out the way that they wanted it to. They wanted it to sell like 500,000 copies. So when that didn't happen they just didn't know what to do. So, I simply went up to them and said, "Look you guys have an option on another record. Is there any chance that you want to let us go or do you want to pick up that option?" And they said, "Well, we'll pick up the option if there's a consensus on the creativity, which means we want to choose a producer for you." So, I said, "Forget it. That isn't gonna fly."

CC: Thankfully they gave you the option to leave; most artists don't get that.

SK: Yea, I did get the option to leave and you're right not everybody gets that. However, I'm not like everybody else. I'm pretty outspoken and I usually get my way. Of course there are some bands out there that are frozen into some sorta contract and I don't wanna get fucked like that. So I made my points. They agreed and we signed my release papers that day and I was free to go without any further obligations to them. So then I was like, "Who's gonna be my next label home?" I called up Metropolis Records and asked if they'd be interested in taking on KMFDM. They said, "Absolutely. Who's gonna be in the band?" I said, "I don't know other than myself." And they said, "Fine. Let's do it."

CC: A couple more questions about MDFMK. The track 'Missing Time' from the Heavy Metal 2000 soundtrack - was that recorded specifically for the film or was it a leftover?

SK: It was for the movie and it was written at a time when KMFDM wasn't quite dead and the MDFMK idea hadn't really spawned yet, but by the time it came out we were MDFMK. Actually it was gonna be part of the video game soundtrack for The Prey, but the finances for that project fell through and it never happened.

CC: You're gearing up for a tour, will we be hearing any tunes from the MDFMK album?

SK: Um, I doubt it because Tim Skold is not gonna be on this tour. He's taking time off to co-produce Marilyn Manson's new album. It's perfectly legit and it's happened in the past where somebody would be on a record but not on the tour.

CC: Exactly and I've always considered you to be like a techno-industrial P-Funk cause you just never know who's gonna be on the stage.

SK: (laughs) Yea, you're right.

CC: You've worked with Ogre in the past. Exactly what does he contribute?

SK: Mainly just vocals and lyrics.

CC: Really? The tunes that he does with KMFDM seem really abstract in comparison to the rest. I'm really surprised that he didn't help out in the programming or arranging department.

SK: Well here's the thing. We'd pass all the songs around and when we'd come across one that nobody knew what to do with we'd give it to Ogre and he was always able to make them work. He's definitely very talented and he does deliver.

CC: You have a new DVD out. Did Wax Trax just throw that out there or were you involved in any way?
SK: Here's the deal. I was talking to my manager and I told him that I thought we should put Beat By Beat on the DVD format and he said, "Funny you should mention that cause I just got a call from TVT and they were wondering about it as well." So I went to work for about a week compiling around 2 and a half hours of additional material to pile on top of the already 60 minutes long video. It's basically a couple of bootleg shows from the Money tour and a show from the tour we did with Ministry. All in all the DVD runs around 3 and half hours now.

CC: Yea, I was really shocked at how much stuff was on there. I'm also surprised that TVT contacted you about it in the first place. I figured they'd put it out without your consent.

SK: No, I had a big hand in it. I actually didn't have anything to do with the authoring of it and I wish that I had because there's a couple of glitches and flaws. It just didn't turn out looking as good as I thought is should. In regards to them contacting me, they have to. TVT cannot do a thing involving KMFDM without my consent. That was one of the things that I inherited from the Wax Trax days. I mean I have a contract with Wax Trax that is pretty much unparalleled to any other in the industry. Actually in a few years all rights will revert back to me and I will own all my masters.

CC: What do you think about some of the newer music that is coming out these days?

SK: You know, there are more bands than ever before out there and it seems that I'm finding less and less that I want to listen to. Actually I think music is pretty boring right now.

CC: I agree. It's certainly seen better times and right now it's simply in the gutter.

SK: Yep but I'll tell you this, KMFDM still have a shit-load of energy left in them.

CC: Boots was the first single from Attak and yet it's not on the album. What was the reasoning behind that?

SK: Well, it's more like an E.P. and with the recession and all I figured it would go for like 6 bucks and it would be easy on everyone's pockets. KMFDM doing a cover tune is kinda prankish and even more so with that song. Also Attak has 11 songs whereas most of our releases have only 10. It was like our "Recession Special.� (laughs)

CC: Speaking of 'pranks', I'm glad that the KMFDM sense of humor is back. As much as I enjoyed MDFMK I did miss the 'winking' quality that you guys have.
SK: That record (MDFMK) was made while the Columbine shooting was still fresh on everyone's minds and so the record company didn't want any overtly political stuff on there. Hence, "American Dream" only got released in Japan. Also, Adios came out the day of the Columbine shooting and with all of that Universal opted to hold onto the MDFMK record. They just told us to continue working. So we did and there's a whole bunch of material that has yet to see the light of day. Unfortunately we got wrapped up in the 'eye of storm' kinda thing.

CC: Is this stuff gonna be released?

SK: Yea, I think so. I think it's gonna be released as MDFMK #2. Right now Universal owns it and so far they've opted to sit on it.

CC: With that in mind, if Universal decides to not release it, will the rights ever revert back to where you can put it out?

SK: Yes, absolutely but that's a while down the road though.

CC: While we're talking about hard to find and unreleased stuff tell us about Opium. Will this actually document the vacuum cleaner days?

SK: This is what it is. It's one session where we recorded some stuff in a few days as a trio. It was myself, Raymond (Watts) and Ton Geist and it's out now and being well received.

CC: Really? I've yet to see it on the shelves.

SK: It's not in stores. It's only available on KMFDM.com. It's a no bar code limited edition.

CC: So this is stuff prior to What Do You Know Deutschland?

SK: Right and it was recorded in the summer of 1984.

CC: And the vacuum cleaners…?

SK:Yes, there is one track where we used vacuum cleaners. (laughs)

CC: Can't wait! Speaking of Raymond, I'm glad to see him back in the fold, and En Esch?

SK: Well what can I say? I really miss En Esch.

CC: Any chance of him returning to KMFDM?

SK: It's possible.

CC: I have to say that I miss his presence on stage he really is quite enigmatic. He's like some sorta monster or something up there.

SK: Yea, he is a wonderful live performer.

CC: Have you heard Slick Idiot?

SK: Yea, but not enough to state an honest opinion on it.

CC: Discuss some of the gear that was used in the making of Attak.
SK: Let's see, Pro Tools with Pro Controls was the centerpiece for all the recording and sound design. Interestingly very few synthesizers were used on Attak besides some analogue stuff like a Pro One and an SH 101. Midway through the MDFMK record I switched from Logic to Pro Tools and in comparison to other KMFDM releases Attak is virtually midi-free. We simply decided not to work the record to death. I wasn't as concerned about the 'perfect take' as I'd been in the past.

CC: Attak does seem to have a certain spontaneity about it.

SK: Right and I came to the conclusion that this was just 1 record in a long line of others that we'd done and will do.

CC: Most everyone in the know is aware that KMFDM stands for Kein Mehrheit Fur Die Mitleid, which translates into 'No Pity for the Majority' but what is the origin of that? Was it from a movie or a book?

SK: O.K. here's the deal with that. On the morning of February 29th, 1984 I woke up and went down to breakfast at a hotel in Paris. We had a show that night opening for an exhibition for young European artists. Actually I was the only musician at this event and I was surrounded by painters and sculptors. Anyhow we needed a motto for the night so that we could make up some fliers and post them around. There was a German newspaper on the table and so I started cutting out words and threw them all into a cap. We picked a few of them out and it read "Kein Mehrheit Fur Die Mitleid. It's kinda improper German in regards to its translation but in the DA-DA-esque mindset of the early morning it made perfect sense. So when I was on my way back to Hamburg I'd mentioned it to Raymond. He liked it but he was having difficulty pronouncing it correctly. So finally he said, "Why don't you just call it KMFDM?" So that was it. We were KMFDM.

CC: Well it's made one helluva catch phrase for you.

SK: (laughs) Sure did.

CC: One more for you. If someone had 5 minutes to live and they wanted to hear KMFDM, what song would you play for them?

SK: “Attak/Reload.�

KIDNEY THIEVES

by Chris Curry

A bona fide bombshell of a concert took place on Thursday June 20th at the legendary 9:30 Club in Washington D.C. It was a sweltering summer day and the evening’s festivities included electro-industrial’s most prestigious KMFDM, up and comers 16 Volt and a newly re-charged Kidney Thieves.

16 Volt were slated to open the show but due to a schedule change quickly shifted to the middle slot. An otherwise moving set was plagued by guitar and guitar rig technical difficulties that seemed to zap the life right out of the band’s energy and projection level.

The 9:30 Club was thick with cigarette smoke, black eyeliner, an endless array of Lip Service goodies and over-priced beer. The scene was standard for a show helmed by trailblazers KMFDM who were dealing with their very own technical difficulty in the form of an inebriated Raymond Watts. However KMFDM are KMFDM and Kidney Thieves are not. Be that as it may this fledgling project opened the show and hit the stage appearing well rehearsed, slick and eager to make a lasting impact on the good folks of D.C.

Before the show I was awarded the opportunity to speak with 4 of the group’s 5 members. We discussed the state of the music industry, their new album ZeroSpace and even how to properly stage dive during a KMFDM performance.

Chris Curry: So the project is originally from Cleveland, Ohio, correct?

Bruce Somers: Not unless you consider me the project. I’m from Cleveland but Kidney Thieves are from L.A.

CC: That’s interesting because most of your press leads one to believe that KT are from Ohio, and then they try and tie that in with Nine Inch Nails.

Bruce: Right, but we’re setting the record straight this time.

CC: While in Cleveland was your project supported by the area?

Bruce: Well the area is certainly not supportive but we were able to play the scene and the people within that scene were very responsive to what we were doing. I have to admit though; we were always looking to get out of Ohio. I think most bands in small towns look to escape. I have to add that our stuff was pretty poppy in the beginning but Reznor came along and helped pave a way for the heavier stuff.

CC: O.K. so now you’re in L.A. How does this differ? Is it a more difficult market to tap into?

Free Dominguez: Yea it is. It’s a really concentrated industry town. It’s very stressful trying to be creative when so many people concerned about commerce and product surround you, but we’ve really stuck to what we wanted to do artistically.

Bruce: Well a lot of times it depends on what you’re trying to do. I mean Austin, Texas is a great town for music if you’re doing blues or something grassroots, and other places have support for different types of music and art, but L.A. is just a fight, period. It’s a fight to see just how many people we can play to and expose ourselves to.

Sean Sellers: There’s a different band playing every single night.

CC: A different one born every night for that matter.

Sean: Right. So with that in mind you can go out anytime and hear and see live music.
CC: I noticed that you are distributed by Warner Brothers. Have they stifled your creativity in any way?

Bruce: Hell Yea! (Laughs)

Free: No, and we pretty much wouldn’t do it if that were the case. We handed in the new record and they said, “Cool.�

CC: So did you guys sit in a conference room listening to ZeroSpace with a bunch of suits?

Free: Um, no actually they just came by the studio and were very supportive of what we were doing.

Bruce: Well first off we’re not on Warner we’re on Xstacy Records, which is basically owned by one person. It’s an indie label and that really opened a door of trust for us. If we were on Warner exclusively and they hired the “big� producer and the “big� studio then yes, we’d have them crawling up our backs about things but as it was we did exactly what we wanted to do musically.

Sean: Does it even say Warner on our cd?

Bruce: Yea, it says, “Distributed by Warner Brothers.�

Sean: Oh, O.K. Distribution is kinda different.

CC: Yes it is, but anytime that an act is attached to a major label one has to wonder what it was that they had to sacrifice in order to get the job done.

Bruce: Right and a lot of acts do sell themselves off, but we didn’t have to.

CC: What do you consider the most distinct difference between your debut Trickster and ZeroSpace?

Free: Well we’ve grown in so many ways as songwriters and sonically we were able to build a bigger and better studio.

Bruce: We basically did the first one in a 10X10 bedroom and with that we were unable to listen to playbacks properly, but Zerospace has no excuses. We really had the opportunity to make sure that this one had the right amount of impact.

CC: I did notice that Zerospace had a lot more depth than your previous outing, not only aurally but the songs seemed to be better crafted this time around.

Bruce: Yea and chicks dig it too! (Laughs)

CC: You recently did a short road trek with Biohazard; was that as frightening as you were anticipating?

Free: At first it was cause we just didn’t know what to expect.

Bruce: Sean wasn’t surprised. Of all of us he’s toured the most and he’s the most experienced at that type of thing.

Sean: It was cool. It’s just a matter of getting up there and rocking.

CC: I’d read that you made a conscious effort to play the heavier songs from your catalog. Did you follow through with that or were you ever comfortable enough to pull out some of the lighter stuff?

Free: No, we stuck with the harder stuff. We just went with the idea that we needed to try and blend in with the other bands on the bill.

Bruce: Yea, and Free even pumped up quite a bit for the tour. (Laughs)

Sean: Lot’s of ‘roids!

Free: ‘Roids!?

Bruce: Hemorrhoids!

Sean: No, steroids. Not hemorrhoids. (All laugh)

CC: Well it just goes to show that music is meant for the stage. Like when I get a new cd and then go to the show I always wonder how the band whittles the new songs down to what’s gonna be played live. I figure if I’m gonna write a song then I wanna play it in front of an audience.

Sean: Playing live is definitely half the fun.

Free: Well a lot of that comes from the live translation. Obviously we want it to sound good as a song whether it’s on the cd or live. So certain modifications have to occur in order for the song to be suitable for a live performance.

CC: Billboard magazine stated that, “Kidney Thieves don’t fit modern rock standards because they don’t appeal to typical chain-wallet banality.� While I felt that to be quite apt, I was wondering how you felt about it. Do you feel that that type of attitude could alienate some of your fans?

Bruce: I don’t know I but I love that statement. I think it was Larry Fleck who wrote that and he’s just been great.

Free: We should make t-shirts outta that.

CC: I repeatedly read comparisons between Kidney Thieves and Snake River Conspiracy. How does this strike you?

Free: I think people just wanna be able to connect something to something else and their singer happens to be a female. I don’t really see much of a connection. It’s a different sound and a different energy.

Sean: I actually like the song ‘Vulcan’ and the video is really cool, too.

CC: Yea that is a cool song but that album seemed contrived for radio whereas Zerospace appears to be a much more honest approach to this type of music.

Bruce: It’s interesting on that end because there’s so much pressure with a band’s 2nd release. From every angle it’s a battle. We really had to fight the radio thing and just do what we do.

CC: Most contrived records or acts just don’t have any longevity. Sometimes they’re good but the output is generally very limited.

Bruce: For the most part I hate those types of acts or records but I do like Linkin Park and that thing is really geared towards radio. It’s just the thing with this type of music you’ve got to be honest with it.

CC: Do you feel that having a female as a front person and lead vocalist is advantageous to the group or is it a hindrance?

Christian “Fidget� Dorris: It definitely helps. We really stand out by having Free fronting us.

Sean: It gives us a lot more room and allows us the opportunity to explore certain dynamics that wouldn’t always be possible with a male vocalist.

Bruce: It’s a great balancing. We can do these full-throttle testosterone scratchy guitar riffs and then Free will come in and sing this beautiful lyric over it. It’s really cool plus she’s one powerful bitch live.

CC: Any interesting anecdotes from the tour this time around?

Free: Ha! Well Fidget stage dove in Tampa during KMFDM and no one caught him. (All laugh)

Fidget: I’m not real happy with Tampa right now, so catch me next time will ya?

Bruce: The tour has been great. The crew is very cool and we’ve been treated exceptionally well. We just wish that the tour was going to go on a lot longer.

CC: Yea and while it may be cool to have a connection to Nine Inch Nails, KMFDM are altogether different. I mean even Reznor was weaned on that stuff, as all of us were. So it must be a real buzz to be touring with them.

Bruce: It’s amazing. Sascha has been doing this for so long and to be a part of it has just been great. Plus to be able to play to that crowd has been especially cool too.

Free: Right and the crowd vary so much too. You really get an expansive audience when you play with KMFDM. You get the goth kids and tech-geeks and normal people and so on. It’s just a great mix of people.

Bruce: Even she-males! (Laughs)

Free: It’s a crowd that searches for music. It’s a crowd that doesn’t just swallow the flavor of the week. So as you can imagine it’s been really great for us.

Bruce: We get a strong feeling that we’re reaching people. Reaching people much more on this tour than any other tour we’ve been on.

CC: You covered the Patsy Cline/Willie Nelson tune “Crazy�. Do you sight her as a vocal influence at all?

Free: No. We were actually asked to do that song for the Bride of Chucky soundtrack. We then felt that it fit the context of this record so we included it.

CC: Lastly, my stock question. If someone only had 10 minutes to live and they wanted to hear Kidney Thieves what song would you play for them?

Free: I can’t believe you just asked that question after what happened last night. I had a mother come up with her 2 sons after the show and she said, “I just have to tell you that I’m here because my daughter listened to Trickster for like 3 1/2 years and she died in a car wreck a week before your new one came out. When we got the car back Trickster was still in the cd player. So we’re here for her. She loved the record and she loved Kidney Thieves.� It was a really intense situation. So like I said before it’s really strange of you to ask that.

CC: Very intense. Let’s rephrase that. What’s the definitive Kidney Thieves tune?

Bruce: I don’t know I guess I’d have to leave it up to the listener. Whichever song touches them the most I suppose. Personally I really dig ‘Arsenal’.

Free: I like ‘Placebo’.

Fidget: I’m leaning towards ‘Before I die’.

Sean: I’m gonna go with ‘Glitter Girl’. That always gets a great crowd reaction.

CC: ‘Glitter Girl’ is my personal fave.

Bruce: Bingo! There’s the correct answer. ‘Glitter Girl’ it is!

NASHVILLE PUSSY

by Niki D'Andrea and Sharon Linsenbach.

Take a little Southern Rock, throw in some relentless punk energy, top it off with a pool of spit and sweat, and you've got Nashville Pussy, an Atlanta-based rock riot that's the most intoxicating shot around. The band's high-energy, no-frills live shows and pure, raunchy records reinforce their "sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll" mantra. Founded by the husband and wife team of Blaine Cartwright (lead vocals/guitar) and Ruyter Suys (lead guitar), Nashville Pussy combines their classic rock influences with a rude, in-your-face punk sensibility that's as pure as the pissed-in southern snow. Having endured the switch from record label to record label (Mercury, TVT, and now Artemis) and the departure of the band's fire-breathing bassist Corey Parks, Nashville Pussy are right back on their ball-busting path to greatness. The band is just wrapping up a tour with the Reverend Horton Heat and preparing to unleash their third, full-length album, Say Something Nasty, on May 23rd. We recently had the opportunity to talk to Nashville Pussy. Blaine, Ruyter, drummer Jeremy Thompson, and new bassist KatieLynn Campbell gave us the low-down on the new record, crazy European festivals, the "Madonna rumor", and the annihilation of crappy bands.

Niki: What can you tell us about the new album, "Say Something Nasty?"

Ruyter: Basically, we've been saying that this album is going to make the last album sound like the first album. It's more rockin'. It's more AC/DC inspired, and all-around kinda more rock 'n' roll. There's some fast punk stuff on there too. It's pretty cool.

Niki: Who produced it?

Ruyter: A guy by the name of David Barrick, at a little studio in a dry county in Kentucky--Glasgow, Kentucky. It's a super cool place. It's a town of like, 16,000. There's nothing there but a Dairy Queen and an Auto Zone. There's nothing to do. We went to Wal-Mart like twice a day--whoo hoo! And there's no food. There's just nothing to do but sit in the studio the whole time and just rock. We had a bootlegger who would bring us cold beer from a local town. At the end of the night after he got off work, he'd drive by--like 20 miles--and the beer was still cold, and cheaper than you can get in the fuckin' store. And he'd bring us weed. It was fucking excellent. It was a really nice place to focus. Dave produced and engineered the whole album with us. It was just like, really mellow, fun and easy.

Sharon: How'd you hook up with Artemis Records?

Ruyter: The guy who runs the label, Danny Goldberg, his name is all over the Led Zeppelin book, Hammer of the Gods. He was like, 21 when he was Zeppelin's publicist. Twenty years after that, he was Nirvana's manager, and five years after that he was the president of Mercury Records. When our first record came out on a major label--it was bought by Mercury--Danny signed us. When Mercury Records went through their big merger, they gave him like a billion dollars relief, and he started Artemis. And he'd given us such a good contract there (at Mercury) that he wanted to take us with him, but he couldn't buy us out. So we wound up going to TVT, and TVT was okay for a little while, and then they started doing nothing, basically. So they let us go, and we called up Danny and said, "Hey, can we work for you?"

Niki: How did you hook up with your new bass player, KatieLynn?

Ruyter: With Katie? We were blessed by the gods. The gods of rock shined their glowing light on us, and there was Katie.

Katie: With a bass in one hand and a beer in the other!

Ruyter: Basically, we met her through Supergroup. She's been married to the bass player, and we were just asking if they knew anybody, because Tracy, our second bass player, quit. And we only had three weeks to find someone. We had someone flying in from L.A. to try out, and then we asked them if they knew anybody by any chance, and by the end of the night, everybody was really getting drunk, and we were like "Oh man, Katie's perfect!"

Katie: I came up like, a week later, I was there for two and a half days, went back to New Orleans, packed up all my stuff in two days, and within a week of them telling me I was in the band, we were on the road. It was all, "Wham, bam, get in the van!"

Ruyter: It was fast, yeah. She learned the whole set, plus about an hour and a half of material in five days. It was really close. Thank god. We love our Katie. She's always in a good mood. She's in a good mood in the morning! (To Katie) You're the first person I've ever met like that. I didn't know you could be like that.

Niki: You guys have been touring pretty much non-stop since 1996. What are some of the more memorable shows that you've played?

Ruyter: We had one show at this weird European Festival in a town called Everaux. It was the Euro Kings Festival, and there was nothing even remotely resembling us on the bill. It was all like, techno bands--you know, three stages, a big crazy festival on a peninsula surrounded by water, and it was right when they were having all these crazy storms in Europe. A bunch of trees had come crashing down and killed some people at festivals. It was kind of freaky, (this festival) was like, the day after that. It was storming, and we went out and played, and we were like, "Man, people are gonna hate us! Listen to this crap people have been listening to all day--what the hell are we doing at these festivals?" You don't know what the hell kind of audience you're gonna get--it's like, you're playing a death metal festival, then you're playing and Alanis Morrisette goes on after you, and this time Robbie Williams is going on after you, and you just don't know what the hell. And Europeans are like "Oh, you play music? We love music!" They don't give a shit, right? So we're playing this festival, and these people knew our songs, they knew the words to our songs. There were 12,000 people in the pouring-down rain, all shouting along together--"GO TO HELL!" They're French, and they knew the words! That (show) stands out, for sure.

Sharon: Is it true Madonna wanted to play bass for you guys?

Ruyter: (laughs) No. But it's a good rumor.

Katie: Yeah, I read that and I was like, "Oh, they picked me over Madonna! I'm better than Madonna!"

Ruyter: We were on National Enquirer TV one time, and we were bitching about Madonna ripping off our style. 'Cause we played Irving Plaza in New York, and then she played Irving Plaza, and you know she was at our fucking show. I don't know what the deal was, but like a week later, she's got a cowboy shirt on and she's doing the whole hip-grinding thing. It just pissed me off. And we started bitching about it enough that it got picked up by AP that Madonna's coppin' our licks and that she wanted to be in the band. It wound up being on National Enquirer TV, and they showed a picture of me in my black cowboy shirt, and then a picture of Madonna in her black cowboy shirt--it was fuckin' great! And all these people saw it. Ross the Boss from The Dictators saw it, and he called me, "I saw you on TV with Madonna!" Completely unsubstantiated--they didn't phone anybody to ask about anything, they just threw it on TV, which was great. We wouldn't let Madonna in the band. Ever.

Niki: What bands influenced you guys?

Ruyter: AC/DC.

Blaine: Motorhead.

Ruyter: Led Zeppelin. ZZ Top. I always liked classic rock bands. And a lot of obscure shit too--we listen to Funkadelic and James Brown. Soul. Dwight Yoakum. We're pretty much all over the place. We don't listen to the radio much, except for classic rock, and even then it's like, Aerosmith. We don't listen to much from the last fifteen years.

Sharon: So is there anybody out right now that you particularly care for?

Ruyter: I liked The Black Crowes when they were out.

Blaine: Overall, there's cool bands, but we know all of them. If there's a cool band, we're usually friends with them or something. But as far as getting excited about some band that's out that really kicks ass and having to get everything they have--not really. I've always liked old stuff.

Niki: What did you guys think when you were nominated for a Grammy?

Blaine: We thought it was a mistake, like, "somebody's playing a trick on us." I had to verify it through three different sources.

Niki: Jethro Tull wasn't in the running that year or something.

Blaine: It was us, Rammstein, Judas Priest, Rage Against the Machine...

Ruyter: So we thought for sure we'd win (laughs).

Jeremy: Jethro Tull beat Metallica, and then Metallica beat us. We'll have to beat Jethro Tull next.

Sharon: (to Blaine) So, you're in a movie? (Run Bonnie Run)

Blaine: Yeah. I don't know if they've released it or what. These guys who do this comedy thing on HBO called Mr. Show, Bob and Dave, they did a movie and I don't know--something went wrong somewhere. I haven't seen it yet.

Ruyter: Jeremy saw it twice.

Jeremy: I laughed both times.

Blaine: I have no idea when it's coming out, probably in about six months or so.
Sharon: Do you want to do anything more, movie-wise?

Blaine: If I get paid as well for doing a half an hour of work like that. I got 500 bucks for just saying like, five lines.

Ruyter: He basically played himself. It was almost a cameo, except they gave him a (character) name.

Blaine: Yeah, I didn't do shit. I didn't do anything, I just ran out and screamed.

Ruyter: Yeah, he just screamed like a fucking maniac, and they were like, "Oh, that was great!" They thought (the rest of the band) were extras when we came on, because they were casting all these people to look like rednecks. They had to make everybody else look like rednecks, like "Okay, we'll take you and put this shirt on you, and now you're a redneck!" So we came on, and they asked, "Are you guys extras?" We said no, and they said, "You're not here for the redneck role?" (laughs)

Niki: What's everyone's drink of choice?

Jeremy: I'm never drinking again (with beer in hand).

Blaine: Dr. Pepper.

Katie: I like Miller High Life, Jim Beam, and Kamikaze shots.

Jeremy: I've learned to appreciate all the forms of alcohol and alcoholism.

Ruyter: I like a triple shot mochachino.

Niki: If you had the power to wipe any three musical acts off the face of the Earth and bring three more back to life, who would you choose?

Blaine: The ones I don't like already broke up, like I hate Smashing Pumpkins. And I hate Rage Against the Machine with a fucking passion. I saw this thing in Vegas, and they put all these revolutionaries on their little posters, like Angela Davis and Che Guevarra--they're a bunch of middle-class, suburban, fucking California guys, yelling about capitalism and shit. Gimme a fuckin' break.

Katie: I would get rid of Creed. (everyone in the room roars with agreement)

Blaine: Creed's so bad they're not even fun to hate. I want 'em gone. If I hear them on the radio, it doesn't make me mad, it makes me want to puke.

Jeremy: I wanna see Led Zeppelin back.

Blaine: Skynyrd. The original Lynyrd Skynyrd should come back to life. And also the imposters--the imposters that robots are playing like they're Aerosmith--should be wiped out, and we should get the original guys back from the 70s. The same thing with the Stones.

Jeremy: Just give 'em some beer and some drugs.

Niki: Yeah, they lost that heroin edge.

Blaine: Yeah. Whatever pod creature's playing Mick Jagger right now should go too.

Ruyter: His album sold 900 copies in England. His latest solo album.

Blaine: The first week. That's really bad. I think when (the new album) gets released, we're gonna fucking beat that.

Sharon: Would you guys want to be like, arena rock stars?

Blaine: If the arenas were full, yeah. That'd be great. We played arenas with Marilyn Manson. I gotta admit it was very fucking cool. We had between 5 and 15 thousand people a night coming to see us and going fucking crazy. It was great. Arenas sound really weird, though. That's the only thing.

Ruyter: But we could get used to it.

Niki: You guys did the "Tattoo the Earth" tour too. How was that?

Blaine: The shows were alright. A bunch of kids that don't normally get to see us got to see us. But we played during the day, for half an hour.

Ruyter: We were the only chicks on the tour, which made us stand out like sore thumbs. We were the only band that had like, a four-string bass, and the only band that played regular tuning. We were just totally so different from every fuckin' band on there. Us and Slayer were the rock 'n' roll bands. Everyone else was like the angst-boy band metal.

Katie: All of the other boys had on more makeup than you.

Ruyter: (laughs) Yeah! They totally had on more makeup than me. Hatebreed, Mudvayne, and all that shit. Guys with hair extensions--it's like, whoa man, you're working hard for this shit. But it was pretty good. We had a good time hanging out with Slayer.

Niki: So, what "words of wisdom" do you have for the nation?

Blaine: Keep on fuckin'!

Jeremy: Buy our record.

Ruyter: Keep on fucking buying our records.

Katie: Buy our record and fuck to it.

1208

By Andrew Gordon

AG-Andrew (interviewer)
M-Manny (Drums)
N-Neshawn (Guitar)
S-Steve (Guitar)
B-Brian-(Bass)
A- Alex (Lead Vocals)

AG: When did you guys start playing your instruments, and who influenced you when you started?

B: I started playing guitar when I was twelve, and I didn’t start playing bass until I was in the band, so about 4 or 5 years. I listened to any thing, and tried to play it, like Guns ‘N Roses, That’s pretty much how I started.

M: I’ve been playing drums for 7years. I guess I was influenced most by like Nirvana.

S. (I’ve been playing for) like 7 years, [and with out hesitation] Kurt Cobain.

N. I’ve been playing for 9 or 10 years. The first song I ever learned was Pennywise’s Bro Hymn. I was into those hard bands like Metallica and Slayer, but those guys are too good at guitar, to even mess around with that, but then I got into Nirvana, so…

AG: When you were children did you dream of being musicians, or did you have other plans for the future?

B: I wanted to do it. So I started playing guitar, but I never thought it would happen. It’s kinda like a dream you want to do it, but realistically it is like being a major league baseball player, not pretty, the odds aren’t in your favor, so I feel very fortunate.

AG: How did you meet each other, and were you friends before you started the band?

M: Alex and Neshawn started the band, and they needed a new drummer and they recruited me [Manny] from San Diego.

A: Both these guys are from San Diego [Manny and Brian], and I knew them, I had previously lived there, and I went to high school with them, and he played drums (Manny), and he played guitar (Brian) and I thought well if you can play guitar, then you can play bass, so he doesn’t play guitar any more cause we made him play bass. Steve we knew, and we needed someone to fill in for this tour so...

AG: What made you want to form a band?

A: It’s just fun to write songs, ya know like, me and Neshawn just started writing just a bunch of corny songs at the beginning, just having fun, and then all of the sudden it got serious, like whoa, we started getting a response from where we are from, like it was all good, and then it became from fun to fun and serious.
N: Yea it didn’t get real serious until about a year ago, yea but if it’s too serious it’s not fun.

AG: How long had you been a band when Epitaph signed you?

N: Well, as this line up, since ’98, so 4 years, but Alex and I were messing around since ‘95

AG: What was the hardest thing about starting the band?

M: It’s real hard when you’re like struggling and unsigned, and you’re doin all this work, and getting little benefits, it’ hard to keep on going you know, your not sure if it’s going to pan out at all, if its going to work, you know.

AG: And once you signed to Epitaph what is the hardest thing?

M: Actually they make it a lot easier, cause they get your record out there, and you don’t have to distribute your record by yourself.

N: Probably the hardest part is that you have to give up the rest of your life.

M: Yea, cause you have to pretty much dedicate it everything. Everything you can imagine, it’s more of a commitment.

AG: How often do you guys practice when not on tour?

M: We practice pretty frequently, about 4 or 5 times a week.

AG: When you were invited to play at the Warped Tour, and Punk O’ Rama Tour what were you feeling, were you excited about it?

M: Whenever we have a chance to get out of our home town, and go out, of course we are going to be excited.

B: Some of us handle it better than others.

AG: Do you guys have a tour planned where you can headline, and if not, when do you plan on scheduling such a tour?

M: Not any time soon.

A: We are taking it one step at a time, and are lucky to be where we’re at right now.

B: yea, (jokingly) we are working on the 2005 1208 tour.

A: It’s more beneficial now playing and opening for bigger bands, and pretty much no one knows who we are, so we are working on getting our name out there, you start out small and work your way to the top.

AG: At Warped Tour it looked like very few people saw you. How did you feel about that?

M: We didn’t expect a huge crowd, you know.

N: Like as long as we get to at least one person, it’s all good.

AG: What major goals do you wish to accomplish next as a band?

B: To go on tour with Gob [laughs, sarcastically]
[Note: 1208 is on tour with Gob at the time of the interview]

M: Touring, and promotion

N: Work as hard as possible to get new material.

1208 was the first band to play at this years’ Punk O Rama Tour. Sadly, the metro was more than half empty for this bands’ powerful and energetic set. Some of the highlights of the set were their new “single� called “Scared Away�, and the powerful yet melodic “Jimmy.� For those of you that haven’t heard of 1208 don’t feel left out, they are still an up and coming band, just remember to check them out.

For more 1208 info you can go to http://www.1208music.com
For 2 free mp3s go to http://www.epitaph.com/bands/index.php?id=262

LYCIA

With Angela Creel-Erb

Lycia has long been producing music that transcends the terrestrial andscape. The music is vast, expansive, and larger than life itself. Lycia's sound picks you up, carries you along for a beautiful, emotional ride, then gently brings you back to earth. Their new tracks follow this same path of exaltation and release, although the sound has evolved into a more simple stripped-down form. Lycia, as always, reaches into the darkest area of our soul and yet inevitably shows us hope. Lycia is a bright light, illuminating the darkness of the music world.
Tara VanFlower of Lycia spoke with me recently about their new release.

You've got a very dedicated fan base that extends even internationally. You've been voted Projekt's #1 band, are #1 in sales right now for "tripping back into broken days" and were voted on of the top 100 bands of Phoenix to name a few instances in which you've been highly praised. What do you think your listeners take from your music? How do you feel about that and what would you like them to connect to in your music?

TV: I think people just feel the honesty in the music. Mike and I have never tried to be anything other than who and what we are, and I think most people can see that in our music and the way we present ourselves. I don't know that there's anything specific I want people to take from our music....I just want people to take it for what it is and maybe somehow get something out of it that they can relate to. Really, our music means different things to every person who hears it.You've stripped down your musical style a bit on the last two
releases, "The Time Has Come and Gone" and "tripping back into broken days." What prompted Lycia to go in that direction and what kind of response have you had?

TV: I'm not sure what exactly caused it. It wasn't like we said "hey, let's strip everything back". Mike wanted to write the way he did when he first started...on his guitar. The more we continue, the more alienated we've gotten by all the technology and studio gadgets. We just wanted the album to be simple, raw and heartfelt.

A fair share of your music seems to draw some inspiration from your natural surroundings. Do you see "tripping back into broken days" as being influenced by nature or rather more personal experiences?

TV: Absolutely both. Something Mike has always done well is absorb his surroundings and somehow capture them musically. There was a lot of thought put into the songs on Tripping... everything was natural... but every note and every word has a very specific meaning to us and for us. It's no secret we've gone through a lot of difficult things in the last few years, so it's only natural these things would come through in the music.

Is making music something that you and Mike "have" to do, as in something that needs to be expressed/released? Is it something that you've always known you'd be involved in?

TV: I think it's so engrained in Mike to write music he will always have to do it in one way or another. He's been writing songs for over twenty years now and I don't see him ever being completely away from music. I never knew what I wanted to do. Nothing ever really sparked much interest for me until I discovered music. I know that there will always be a desire to create - but I'm not sure exactly what will happen in the future. I mean, at this point in my life, doing simple, easy things is very appealing...and music has never really been easy for either of us.

I know is previous interviews you've spoken about being "blamed", albeit unjustly in my opinion, for changing Lycia's sound. Now, having eight albums released with you as a part of the band, do you feel you are more accepted?

TV: I'm sure there is and always will be a contingent of people who really dislike the fact that I came into the band. That's fine. Jarboe went through the same thing when M. Gira asked her to join Swans. Most of the time people are very positive though...and the positive comments far outweigh the negative ones. People are entitled to their opinions.....I've got thick skin.....I can handle it.

What is your most memorable musical experience as a member of Lycia? Most memorable musical experience, not as a band member, but as a listener?

TV: I think one of my most memorable music memories was our last show in NYC. It was so strange standing on stage knowing it was all over......and the crowd was so perfect that night...everything was perfect. The very first time I heard Ionia.....and the very first time I met Mike face to face are my favourite memories as a listener. (And maybe the first time I heard my voice on a Lycia song)

Lycia brings up many different feelings in people. My favorite time to listen to Lycia is when I am driving across the desert- most of your releases provide a perfect soundtrack to the landscape. What is your favorite music to listen to when driving across this stark landscape?

TV: Swans - The Burning World. Not only is it perfect....but it brings back great memories. I think pretty much any ambient record will do nicely.....and some Yellowman if I'm tired of being serious. (and I have to say there are some pretty funny tapes BJM made on the Cold Tour that were good listening as well!)

Finally, is there anything you'd like your listeners to know about you or Lycia that hasn't been said?

TV: Mike and I are conservative. We love baseball. (I'm a somewhat obsessed Diamondbacks fan) I like bluegrass music. Mike likes to study maps. I once twirled baton to Styx's Mr. Roboto in music class. Is that enough?

MYKE HIDEOUS

With Moe Wyoming

He's a man of many faces, the king of an Empire and a hip Spy. He's even been a devilocked Misfit; but all his faces are undeniably Hideous. I had the opportunity to chat with Myke at length about the many projects he is/has been involved in. He sports a casual, cool, demeanor but his character ignites with passion when it comes to his music. After a long hiatus, Myke has decided to reawaken the beast that is the Empire Hideous and unleash it back into the music world. He's also involved in a band called Spy Society 99, as well as the Bronx Casket Co. Aside from that, he's working on having his mammoth 365-page autobiography published. It was an honor to chat with Myke. His drive is undeniable, and that very drive will no doubt lead him to whatever ghoulish destination he so desires.
-MW

Moe Wyoming: Why don't we start with talking about the Empire Hideous…

Myke Hideous: Alright. MW: Last time we talked you told me you're doing their first show in four years? MH: Yes, technically it would be four years February 15th. MW: So why now? Why not two years from now, or a year ago? MH: Well, I actually did start trying to do it two years ago. Somewhere in late 1999, the idea was posed to me. Someone said to me, "let's do it." In fact, that someone was my old drummer, Rafael. I said alright, I'll do it. But I want everything to go right. And of course that's like Murphy's Law, nothing goes right. Unfortunately, there were a lot of dilemmas and problems that took place between the initial posing of the question up until right now. Everything from myself having to go into the hospital, my drummer quitting, three guitarists coming in-and-out of the band…It's been nothing but chaos. Which is one of the reasons I quit the band in the first place. There was just too much bullshit going on. But, I chose to take on the challenge of re-doing HIDEOUS again and I suppose I'll just have to deal with the pressure. I try to keep my word when it comes to doing things I say I'm going to do. I really do. Provided, it's not financial burden and there isn't clumps of money that need to go into it. But here we are, three months after the Trade Center catastrophe that took place and I feel there is not a better time than to bring it back than now. The EMPIRE HIDEOUS is all about the destruction of the world - bringing down of picket fence that has protected for so long. That's always been the view of EMPIRE HIDEOUS, bringing forth the truth from what lies behind closed doors.

MW: Now you said you were in the hospital. I did not know about that, what happened?

MH: Yeah, in December last year I had to go in for surgery on my chest. I had what they call a nerve tumor and fortunately (for me) it was benign. I was lucky enough that it didn't cause any serious problems. But it did catch me off-guard and laid me out for a couple of months. I wasn't allowed to sing or exert myself in any way.

MW: Now the show you have coming up. What venue is it gonna be at?

MH: It's on January 19th and it's gonna be at a club in NYC called The Batcave.

MW: So anything special planned for it? MH: Well it's the first sonic show that HIDEOUS is doing in four years. I've done a couple of acoustic gigs since I got the band going again, but the acoustic gigs are nothing compared to the live, sonic gigs and the concerts we used to perform. As far as what I have planned for the shows, I'm not really sure just yet. There's a couple of things I'd like to do, but I'm kind of limited due to the fact this club is not as big as say, The Limelight or a venue of that size. In order to do large and spectacular performances I need a large stage. I need room. This club only holds about 350 people, it's a rather small club. But I've chosen it because it's something we can get started with.

MW: Now are you planning on doing a large-scale tour? Across different states…

MH: You know, anything's possible at this point. I'm not really sure. I deal all the business for EMPIRE HIDEOUS. I always have. With the exception of when I had managers working, but even then the decision always came down to me. My point being is that anything can happen. I don't really know. I'd like to get it going again. It seems there's people that want to see EMPIRE HIDEOUS.

MW: Yeah, I've never seen you guys I'd love to see you. I know you guys were in Chicago before.

MH: We were there twice. It's all about finances. We came out there and all of us had full-time jobs. We all had to take off from those jobs in order to get out there. Now, my primary function has been to get myself to a level where performing is my full-time job. It just doesn't seem to come to that final level. It's a bit of a fucking hassle, you know?

MW: I'd imagine so!

MH: It's always something!

MW: So how come Empire was never signed to a major label?

MH: That's a good question, I've often asked that myself. Labels have always felt that we were too much. And that's a quote from a very well known label out here.

MW: Not naming any names?

MH: Well, I'll just say it. Roadrunner Records said we were too much. I don't understand why. We were. As I was doing my own bit of outrageousness, so was Marilyn Manson who was doing his thing and breaking bottles on his chest and cutting himself up… That's all been done before too. It's just an ongoing thing. I've never broken bottles on my chest, but I've been whipped. I've worn crowns of thorns. I've had hypodermic needles stuck in my head. I've had imitation babies brought up on stage and I've sucked the blood out of them. It's all performance. It's all part of the art and I respect anybody that does it. But for a record label to say to me, "You're too much," well, they can go fuck themselves. People like Marilyn Manson brought it to a whole new level…

MW: Of course he toned it down over time, too.

MH: Right, but I still respect him for what he's done. I still give him lots of credibility to the actions and controversy he has created over the years. I must give him that. I can't say I was very happy with Mechanical Animals when it came out, but Antichrist Superstar was the biggest middle finger that somebody could put up to the world since Ozzy Ozbourne's Black Sabbath. It's just a kick in the face and I love that. I think that's great. It makes people think. It's freedom of speech and freedom of expression and your own actions. On the other hand, when people say to you it's just too much. I don't know what they mean. I think we [HIDEOUS] were ahead of our time maybe. I don't know. Maybe they just didn't understand what we were doing. I don't know. I've been personally asked by Peter Steele from Type O Negative to go on tour with his band twice. And twice I was rejected by Roadrunner Records and a few of record labels that knew we could have had the gig all set up. All these bands who know who I am; know what I've done; have my CD's, they're like, "Oh wow, this is pretty cool." With proper financing, EMPIRE HIDEOUS could be what some of these bands are now. I'm not taking anything away from or saying that I'm better than anyone else. It's just a whole different cup of tea. There's only so much I can do with my finances. I can't tour if I don't have a road crew and someone to drive a bus. It's gotta be done right, or it's not done at all. I'm sick of fucking going state-to-state in a fucking van that I had to drive. I mean it sucked. I mean I drove across this whole fucking country in my van. It cost me lots of money. We weren't getting the guarantees that some of these bigger bands were getting, and it's all part of the game. So after fourteen fucking years, I'm tired of it. I want it done the right way or I don't want it done at all.

MW: I totally agree with you there. So are you guys working on any new material for the show?

MH: The important thing right now is to get EMPIRE HIDEOUS back on the scene. So what I'm doing is I'm utilizing all the old material. We've been practicing fourteen or fifteen songs. EMPIRE HIDEOUS songs are not short; anywhere from four to ten minutes long. We've been practicing as opposed to creating new music, which I would love to do. I'd love to start coming up with new music. But again, just to do new music for the sake of doing new music and not releasing it, is kind of a waste of time. If I don't have somebody say to me, "Here's your contract. Go into the studio and release a new EP," or something like that. I'd love to do it, but there's no way at this point in my life, being in three bands right now, that I'm going to be able to finance my own next record. I can not do it. I did it for ten fucking years with EMPIRE HIDEOUS and I can no longer carry on alone. I think I proved myself, not only with EMPIRE HIDEOUS and being in an unsigned band and pulling in crowds of up to 1,000 people, but I've also proved myself by being a performer for the Misfits and being appreciated by those who appreciated what I do.

MW: Now in the liner notes on Victim Destroys Assailant, there was mentioning to the fact that you guys had gone into the studio and did this huge recording session. Now wasn't there some covers that you guys did during that time?

MH: Yeah, we always did a cover of the Cure's "All I Want," from the Kiss Me, Kiss Me record. We also used to cover Alien Sex Fiend's "Gurl At The End Of My Gun." We also used to cover Paul Ankah's "My Way," a-la Sid Vicious style. We did them in the January sessions, which is what I call Victim Destroys Assailant. We recorded Victim January 1st, 1998. We recorded just about every song we had ever done. Both new and old. I think we recorded "God of Thunder" from KISS too.

MW: Really, I'd love to hear that.

MH: Yeah, I'd love to hear it too. I hope to actually release it someday. Off the top of my head I can't think of any other covers that we did. That session was the longest, most tedious live recording we had ever done. Eight hours, nonstop. I mean everybody was on edge. The band was like, "Hey you're playing that note wrong, Fuck you! Fuck you and your mother!" It really got bad. It was a trial. It was tough things like that that broke up EMPIRE HIDEOUS. No one was as motivated anymore as I still was, except for Jeff maybe. Jeff was the only one who wanted to see it go on. But the others were missing rehearsals, too tired to play. It just got to the point where it was like I don't even want to deal with this anymore. I don't want to deal with babies.

MW: Now, have your lineups been pretty consistent over the years?

MH: God, no.

MW: I've read in an old interview with you, I believe 1998 or 99, that you said in the past you used to be really hard to work with?

MH: Yeah, in the early years of HIDEOUS I was a real tyrant. Very dictative. But that's how I got where I am. I wanted things done properly and I had a vision. Those who did not see that vision were just not meant to be in the band. It's nothing personal against them, they knew that when they stepped into HIDEOUS that it was my dream.

MW: So they should know what to expect.

MH: Right. Let's say you're a guitar player and you come to me and want to audition for the band. Okay, you get the part and I say 'this is what you need to learn-this way-in this manner-how it was recorded, so that's duplicated. Now if they started slinging solos in there, that's not what I wanted. So I would get really aggravated and pissed off. But I've calmed down a lot since then, I really have. I'm working with new people now and those people are very headstrong individuals and we've had plenty of conflicts, but I respect them, they're good musicians and as long they're dedicated, that's all I care about.

MW: You said Jeff has stuck with you most of the time?

MH: Jeff is back with me, Jeff was out for two years I think. Just recently we lost another guitar player in HIDEOUS so I asked him to join both HIDEOUS and SS99.

MW: Very cool, so who else is going to be in the lineup at the upcoming show?

MH: Well, basically everybody who is in HIDEOUS is in SpySociety. It's Byron Barberi on drums, Daniel Esser on bass, J-Sin Trioxin from Mister Monster is also on guitar and Jeff Austin on lead guitar.

MW: Have you ever had any vocal training?

MH: Yes I have. I studied vocal lessons in '91 or '92 for a short time. I also did some reading on vocal warm-ups around the same time to '93-'94, and then I was trained by Don Lawrence. He's trained Joey Ramone, the guy from Skid Row and I think Bon Jovi, as well as others.

MW: Looking back at your time with the HIDEOUS from when it started till when it ended, how did that experience help you mature as a businessman and as a musician, and how did that help you take on the SpySociety project?

MH: With HIDEOUS, I started printing my first T-shirt's. Then I did another T-shirt, then I had voodoo dolls I had made, Then eventually I did a record, then a cassette, then a video and all this stuff just started to emerge, so I opened up my own business called Horrible Artwork. Horrible Artwork basically financed everything that I did for HIDEOUS. I didn't have to pay for anything. I didn't make any money out of it either. Almost anything I had to do for HIDEOUS was financed through Horrible Artwork. Eventually I came up with eight or nine designs for HIDEOUS T-shirts. I had cassettes, records, all this other stuff. I registered the name and started a mail order. It got to the point though, that I couldn't handle it in '95. It became very tedious, you know? I'm trying to run a band, book shows, write songs and deal with all this other shit. Plus I gotta send out tons of merchandise to people who want to buy my stuff, plus I'm printing all the shirts. BTW, I print every T-shirt of Empire Hideous. I tried to do that, and it was too much. I couldn't do it all. So I turned over my business to Kevin of Middle Pillar distributors. And that's that. I feel strongly that it's time for someone help me out here. I needed to focus solely on being the musician, rehearsing/recording/playing out. For example, SpySociety its still a very small band compared to HIDEOUS. Nevertheless, I love SpySociety. I think it's a great idea. I mean the whole spy vs. spy thing. I think it's like "now man." What else could it possibly be? Even though it's totally different from HIDEOUS (a dark, brooding, heavy gothic rock band) it's nothing like pussy goth. It's something very strong and powerful. There's bands like the Fields of The Nephilim, Sisters of Mercy, Star Industry, or Lost Paradise who have a little bit more substance to them than just some band that's coming out with a drum machine and is trying to be the Sisters of Mercy. There's just no comparison. With SS99, it's just a different piece of pie for me.

MW: Is it more like a side project, then?

MH: No. I think SS99 is the most radio-friendly, ear friendly, listenable music I've ever created, far more than HIDEOUS. But being radio friendly doesn't make difference. You can have a band with a name like Christian Death who has released plenty of records and still not get commercial airplay. Yet, they were around, whether it was with Rozz Williams or with Valor. Let's take it back even further to the 1970's. Black Sabbath. Led Zeppelin. The critics tore them apart and they never got airplay. Look at them. They're icons of rock n'roll! SpySociety is not commercial, yet I think SpySociety can fall into the veins of Reverend Horton Heat, Social Distortion, or anything in that rock n'roll era type of music. Obviously it's not pop, but it's more modern. It's something that's very listenable, and I'm not bragging when I say this, not one person has listened to SpySociety and given me a negative response. Whereas when you listen to HIDEOUS you really have to have a taste for hard, heavy, driving music. I mean that's like a Type O Negative/Christian Death kind of sound, or a Marilyn Manson meets Sisters of Mercy kind of thing, or a Fields Of The Nephilim meets Bauhaus deal. HIDEOUS didn't cross the boundaries of heavy metal, but definitely has a cutting-edge to it with a lot of heavy drums and a lot of cutting guitar. So obviously you've got to have a taste for that. With SpySociety, we've got heavy guitar and we've got the heavy drums, but it's a shuffle beat. It's like swing or lounge mixed with death rock and punk rock, psychobilly and stuff like that.

MW: Have you tried shopping it to any labels?

MH: I don't give a fuck what they think! They can go fuck themselves anyway. None of them want to give me the time of day for some reason.

MW: So are you comfortable then with the status that you've achieved with Empire Hideous?

MH: Yeah, HIDEOUS was probably, one of the most popular, underground, heavy, gothic rock unsigned bands in the metropolitan area of NYC and NJ. There wasn't anybody who was doing what I was doing. There were plenty of gothic bands out here and still are, but none of them were pulling in 800 to 1,000 people a show.

MW: Now we touched on this last time, but I wanted to know more about your book. What's the whole concept behind it?

MH: When I went on tour with The Misfits, I kept a journal. In fact, I've kept a journal since I was 18. While on tour, I had a lot of personal issues dealing with the band members of The Misfits, so I kept a journal to keep my sanity, or I would have gone insane. I wrote everything down several times a day. Every time someone turned around I was writing in my journal. When I came back from the European tour, I decided I was going to write a book of my experiences in the music industry. Shortly after I returned from the South America tour The Misfits gig was over as quickly as it started. So I made arrangements to start writing. This book is a very important thing to me. I want to let people know what I dealt with as an individual going from point A, to point B, and back to point A again. I also wanted to let people know what it was like dealing with a legendary punk band that every new kid in the "scene" seems to bow down and worship. In September of '98, I began typing the first pages of what would be titled King Of An Empire To The Shoes Of A Misfit. It took me about two years to complete. It's some of my deepest, personal writing entries ever. I've never written a book before, but I've written interviews/reviews and had an idea of what I wanted to see as a final product. However I'm still looking for a publishing deal.

MW: Poetry or verse, anything like that?

MH: Well not really, I can't stand poetry to tell the truth. I never got into poetry at all. I don't even feel like I'm a writer. A lot of what I write is from true-life experience. There was a local music magazine out here that I used to write for, yet I never had any experience in writing. With all the interviews I used to do for HIDEOUS, I knew what had to be done. That's how I got the job. But anyway, so I started typing the book and it eventually became an obsession to complete. Now that it's done, a very limited amount of people have actually read the book. In fact, only five individuals. I want people to see it in a finished edition. I've had people tell me to sell it online, but I could just picture putting it up and it getting spread all over the place without me ever getting any retribution whatsoever, after it took two years to write. You know, I don't wanna sound like a miser, just wanting to collect money left and right. What I'm saying is that it's time for retro return to keep me afloat. For example, the Victim Destroys Assailant CD was on Napster. Do you know how much that burned me up? That's like…stealing. Fuck. Maybe just samples of the songs would have been OK and you could say, "I like that. Let me buy the record," and support the band in that sense. That would have been great. But those people who went and downloaded every single one of my songs and didn't buy the CD…those people are not supporting their musical scene. My whole point…- I get a little excited about this subject. It's just not right. I don't think I can put my book online. I'd love for everyone to read my book, I think I have a lot to say in it. Hopefully it will not sound like I'm an idiot. My book is a guideline for those who are on the same path that I've been on for years now. I would at least like to see it as a soft cover print. I have all these ideas. I have all these pictures I want to put in it. I got classic pictures that I want to have published. It's a 365 page book and it's packed full of information and grit. I got stuff that will blow your mind. If you know anything about The Misfits…. It'll make you stop and think. I think it's important stuff. Let people read what I went through with The Misfits. Pure hell. I'd love to get this book out but I'm not putting it out half-assed.

MW: Now last we talked you said you were having some problems with your publisher?

MH: They sent it back to me and they want me to make some changes which I'm not really too sure of. I don't know, I've got to mull this over and if I can't really accommodate their needs I have to find another publisher, unfortunately, and I've been looking way too long.

MW: But since you were talking about The Misfits, and I'm sure you've been asked this question 800 times and I'm going to make it 801. In short, what happened?

MH: (laughs)

MW: I'm sure you could go on for a day…

MH: Read the book! It is a very long, complicated story to explain. In short I will try to answer your question best I can. Okay, Michale Graves gets into the band, doesn't know anything about the band. He's eighteen-years-old and you got these two guys in there 30's looking to get a singer who they can manipulate in every way possible. Now this kid is starstruck, he's like "yeah, okay great, let's do this. I'll be your singer. I'll do whatever you say." Essentially that's what he did. Whatever they said, he did. So Graves steps out of the band in 1998 and I step in. Now here comes me; a free-thinking, spirited individual in my thirties, well-set in my ways, experienced, ten years of music with my own band. I've got my own way of thinking and I walk into the band knowing about the Misfits. I knew what they were about. I knew what the whole thing was about. However, with all due respect to Graves, I have nothing against him, I was a Glenn Danzig fan, as were pretty much everybody who knows the Misfits was. Again, not to put Graves down, I have nothing against him. I want that perfectly clear. But, what happened was that I wanted to give back the ghoulish style that I felt The Misfits could have had if I was their singer. I wanted to bring back some of the traits of Danzig and also bring the traits and characteristics of Myke Hideous in as well. So I looked at Graves and he wasn't imitating Danzig. He was himself. Which is fine. I just didn't like it. It wasn't to my taste and my standards. So, I get into the band and I've got my look and I've got my idea of what I wanted to do with the band. You know, you look at the Misfits and you say these guys are creepy. They're really ghoulish…..Nah. They're a bunch of jocks. I was the truest thing they could have ever had to a real life ghoul. I lived my life everyday the way I appeared on stage; the way you may have seen me in pictures. That was me. You come to my studio where I live and you'll see my collection of gargoyles, tombstones, skulls, bones, rosary beads, candles and shellacked cats and other various dead things. You go to Jerry's house and you see posters of the Giants. You see football and wrestling on TV. You get to hang out with him while he's wearing his sweat pants and his sneakers. Now, far be it from me to judge anyone, but after living with these guys on a bus for almost forty days while on tour, I have every right to speak my mind, because I was put through hell. I tried to give them what they needed and that was a boost. They needed to get a boost back again. They had a couple of good tours with Graves. They did Japan and Europe a couple of times, all of America and all of a sudden Graves is gone. Half the audience didn't even know he had left when we went on tour to Europe. It was literally ten days that I had to get ready from when Michale quit to where I joined and had to learn 35 songs to go on tour and be ready to go for the shows. It was a lot of stress man. People wanted to kick my ass. People were cursing me out from the audience. Threatening me, throwing shit at me. Every fucking show I did, there was some son-of-a-bitch in the audience that was throwing their drink at me, giving me the finger and saying, "Fuck you. Jump into the audience so I can kick your ass." What did I do to upset this person?! Nothing! It was the same for Graves because he wasn't Glenn Danzig.

MW: Of course, he got that really, really bad. I remember going to the show and overhearing people saying "if this guy doesn't sound like Glenn Danzig we're gonna kick his ass."

MH: Yeah, well that just shows you the mentality of some of their audience. Like I said, each show I did there was some dumb son-of-a-bitch who wanted to kick my ass, but you know what? I didn't have to do a damn thing. All I had to do was look at Doyle and Doyle would walk over and say "You wanna kick his ass, you gotta get through me." I'll tell you, I would not step in front of Doyle, he's a living monster! I've seen videos of him stomping on people's heads. I wouldn't get near him. I'm frightened of the man. But anyway, I got know Jerry very well and I got to see him in his true colors and I didn't like them, because they weren't true. He contradicted himself constantly in interviews and a lot of stuff that I saw him doing made me very disappointed. Then he'd start telling me what to do like I was a kid and I said, "Look man, no disrespect, but I know you guys. I know who you are. If you guys are a ghoul/horror rock band, then great. I'm what you need. But if you're gonna sit and claim to be this great band that should be selling out arenas to 80,000 people a night, well you're not all that. You're certainly no ghoul when you sit around in your white jumpsuit and watch football. Nothing against people who are in sports, but this is not what you're portraying to your audience. Your audience thinks you're a bunch of skull-crushing ghouls. You're not. You're family guys who want to be with their families. (At least Doyle did.) And they were raking in some dough. They all bought their houses from their tours… Except for me. I was the only one that got stiffed on the whole fucking thing. Yeah I got decent money, but they never gave me a contract, they never let me know when I was getting paid. It was a fucking guess every time I got a paycheck. So all these things added up and I got very, very agitated about the whole thing and I withdrew from them. I guess it was pretty obvious, because I was really sick and tired of dealing with Jerry, as he was being an ass to me. All of them were just being complete asses to me. I don't know what they would say about me; what their story was, but this is my side. I was not having fun with them. We would play these festivals and hang out with bands like the Deftones, Primus and Coal Chamber I'd be asking myself if these bands have the same problem I do? They seemed perfectly happy. Bands like NOFX would be sitting there and having a great time. Me, I'm burning up inside because I have to get back on the bus and have Jerry's sweatpants hanging in front of my bunk because he has no regard for anyone else. Every morning I'd have to wake up at the next concert and hear him yelling, "Alright boys, everybody up! We've gotta show these guys how we do it back in Lodi!" I was like, "What the fuck are you talking about?! What is this, a battle of the bands!?"

MW: It sounds like a pep talk!

MH: That's exactly what it was! I was disgusted by it. I was really disgusted by it. We were there to have fun and support each other in this thing we call music. Not battle them and show them who's better. One thing I learned for sure is that we were no better than anyone else. Eventually, Doyle and Chud copped an attitude with me. As much as Jerry said he wanted me to stay in the band when Doyle put his foot down and said, "I want Graves back," Jerry bowed down to him and gave him what he wanted. I was like, "Whoah! Wait a minute! You're the one who's always making the decisions for this band and you said you wanted me as singer. Now, just because your brother, who doesn't even want to be in this band, says he wants Graves back, you're just gonna take him back." He said, "My hands are tied." I guess they are. He's tried to play it off so well and said, "Well, even though you're out of the band you're going to come up and rehearse with us, right?" Now why would I do that? Why would I waste my time and go out of my way to come and assist you when you just fucked me up the ass for three fucking months. Fuck you! And that's it in a nutshell.

MW: Now were you under the impression that you were going to be in the band and on studio albums?

MH: Jerry said to me personally, the day I called him up, "Yeah, definitely, as far as I'm concerned you're the man. I have no doubt in my mind. You proved yourself on the European tour. You're the new singer." Even though I had a few vocal problems, I wasn't used to singing 35 songs in an hour nonstop. So I went a little hoarse. But after awhile my voice strengthened itself like a weight lifter. But as I tried to explain to them, like a weight lifter, you can't just bench 150 pounds if you weight 150 pounds. You've got to build up your stamina. You have to build yourself up and get to the point where you can accomplish that. So you can't just jump on tour after just ten days of rehearsal, doing 32 concerts that are an hour to an hour and a half long and do 30 to 40 songs. You' can't just do that. He just didn't understand it. He didn't realize the sacrifice that I had put into the band; moving out of my house, quitting my job, having all my stuff in storage, having no place to live, no job when I came back, no band. How dare he? Who the fuck did he think he was? When I got into the band they thought that all I did for the past 10 years was study Misfit songs. They were like, "What do you mean you don't know Horror Business?" The fact is, I didn't study their music for the past 10 years. I was doing my own band, and doing pretty good thank you.

MW: Didn't you cut off over two feet of hair?

MH: Yeah. 30 inches of my hair got cut off. I had my head completely shaved at one point. It took me 8 years to grow back. From '90 to '98, I was growing my hair and it was a trophy for me. They didn't care. "Ah, it's just hair." They didn't quite understand, and I'm not going to go into detail as to why, but when the book comes out you'll understand the real reason of why it was such a loss to me. But I said to Jerry "I'm gonna cut my hair today. I want to know for sure, am I, or am I not the guy?" "Yeah you're definitely the guy. You are the new singer for The Misfits." Then I cut my hair. I still had the longest devilock in Misfits history. I had more hair than all three of them put together. I sacrificed so much for them that when they did finally boot me I was very, bitter and I still am.

MW: So what do you think of them now?

MH: I think they suck now. I think they sucked immediately after Famous Monsters came out. There's absolutely no originality to their music, everything is a rip-off from a horror movie. Although Danzig did kind of prompt it, but he wasn't naming songs after their previous records like "Walk Among Us!" I don't even know some of the names of their silly titles. Danzig was the brains behind the band. Jerry had this vendetta against Danzig. To get back at him and be the best thing he ever could. I've spoken with Danzig directly and Danzig has said, "I don't know what he wants." Danzig was the brains behind The Misfits and he always will be. Jerry just has this vendetta, and what I think what Jerry has turned into, is the villain that he claimed Danzig to be to him. All Jerry did was sit and bitch to me for 10 fucking years from when I met him about how Danzig screwed him over. As far as what Jerry does now, I don't give a shit. Jerry is proving himself to his audience and the people around him. I don't even have to say anything anymore because. People say to me, "Did you see that? Did you hear that? What's that about?" My story is just another notch on the events that have taken place in Jerry Only's life. I'm over it. I don't even care what he does. I have no concern in my life. What they did when I was with them I will talk about freely because they screwed me over and that's the truth.

MW: Most of that is gonna be talked about in the book?

MH: Yeah, 3 chapters are dedicated to my tours. One chapter is dedicated to the European tour. Another to the South American tour and the final chapter explains the devastation that I had gone through after getting out of the band. It was very hard for me. Think about it, you come back after singing to crowds of over 10,000 people, not having a place to live, not having a job, not having money, not having a band, everything you own is in storage. It was a traumatic blow to my ego, my confidence and my identity. I didn't even know who I was anymore. I ended up having to deal with some very serious crises in my life.

MW: But you got back on your feet.

MH: Yeah, I wouldn't say fully though. I'm still struggling. I'm still doing the grind. Working again and doing what I have to do to survive.

MW: Well best of luck to you with everything. Anything else you'd like to add?

MH: Check out my Web site's, join the email list through the contact mail. www.empirehideous.com - www.premise.com/ss99 - www.bronxcasketco.com

MW: Great, thanks Myke.

RONAN HARRIS OF VNV NATION

By Justin Schneider/ Kat Toronto 

In a world fast becoming a toxic hell there is a lack of positivism from a world of individuals and Ronan Harris isn’t in that majority. Ronan is the mastermind behind the successful “Future Pop� band VNV Nation. “Future Pop� is the term that Ronan uses to describe the bands captivating melodies on top of hard dance rhythms. While promoting the new VNV Nation release I caught up with Ronan to discuss his new album, views and future.

Justin Schneider: So how long did it take to complete “Future Perfect�?
Ronan: All in all if I had to think about it, which I had to think about it this time around I would say two years not the writing or recording process but just stewing up all my ideas. I was totally computer oriented on this album. The whole album was done with one PC, nothing else was used and I love that because people will say, “I got to see your studio� and I’ll say alright and they’ll come up to the studio and there’s like one computer, a screen, a mouse, an audio interface, amplifier and two speakers and that was it. I just packed everything away and said that’s what I’m going to concentrate on. You focus your ideas. I wanted to make a focused album, drawing as many ideas and influences together but kind of organizing them all. I used the thought processing program called The BRAIN which I was introduced to years ago. Where you draw your thoughts out like molecules and it’s the most incredible program. Go check it out on the internet, it’s called the The BRAIN and it’! s a program by Matt Artificial.

JS: as far as technology is this an easy program to use?

Ronan: as far as technology, you can never write down all your ideas on a sheet of paper in a straight line, this is just like saying here’s my album, I want lyrics, and you just spawn off thoughts and notes for each thought.

JS: so it’s easy to use?
Ronan: Incredibly, cause it works like your brain. So when you work it like your brain you can take pretty much whatever you can work with. When you touch on a thought it spins around like a molecule so it looks awesome too. It gives you the feeling that I’m using the future. (laughs) But I used this technology on this record. I write a’ lot of songs in my head. I write the vibe and feel of the song and I jam a’ lot. I just sit there and write a song with how feel with a certain sound and I’m just like “It’s written for me� and then it just gets turned into a song and put on an album I suppose, Aeroships was like that. I just sat there writing a song, the last song on the album. I was writing the song in my head and I was haunted by this melody and I broke the whole thing down as I wanted it, like this big buildup of an eight and a half minute epic. It’s giving me liberation. As a musician I want to write my own music. I used to play with other musicians and bands in the pas! t and you know you’re always fighting, but if I have a concept in my head the way I view it it’s like my own symphony. I setup my studio and I had been playing around with melodies and different ideas and different things and I just had the whole thing worked out and I said nope I’m saving it until I get to Hamburg. I got to Hamburg, Frank gave me a room and studio and I basically setup all of my equipment and I did it and it worked. JS: would you consider “Future Perfect� the best VNV Nation album? Ronan: I think they’re all important. They’re all parts of my life; they’re thoughts and feelings that are very important and personal to me. In some ways yeah it is because it’s more focused, it’s reached more people, and the whole point of what we’re doing is to reach as many people as possible but without being superficial about it. There’s a certain amount of intelligence to it. There is a’ lot of intelligence and emotion of the lyrics in the music. I wanted it to be a more sort of wide ranging electronic album. Future Perfect does sound a lot better, it doesn’t sound like it was recorded in a garage anymore and on those levels and things it still gets the point across, but for me it was really important because a lot of bands have this problem where they do one album and everybody likes it and then they try to do this second album and it falls on its face. The album was ready just about the time the tour was last year so it didn’t take to long to get it all ready and finally recorded out. I was thrilled to take care of all my vocals and mixing and everything like that myself. I just worked alone till about five in the morning.

JS: working till five in the morning, I love that.
Ronan: yeah but after awhile you kind of get this lack of sunlight thing (laughs) and you do get down.

JS: yeah, you become a hermit Ronan: yeah I was a hermit for five months, you get really down and you began to lack social skills after awhile. JS: was there anything that greatly influenced the album?
Ronan: I’ll tell you the main thing was basically I wanted to draw a lot of influences in together from times in our past. In our collective past there was an inspiration for self betterment of the future and I wanted to point out that the world we’re living in at the moment isn’t the most perfect world. One hundred years ago there was this big drive which motivated people to come up with things like futurism and modernism. I’m not talking about the movements themselves but I’m talking about the drive. Youth were responsible for all of that. They were the ones who came up with the great ideas that we could build a fantastic world for everybody and etc. The world for us and not us for the world, which I think is actually how it turned out, we ended up having to fit the world. I drew a lot of influences in like the Futurism. The Chicago Worlds Fair was the inspiration for the album cover. There is an advert poster for it that has a kinship it, and also there was a Soviet futur! ism expo, because there were like two isms at the time of a past before the world went mad. I also took influence from a lot of 70’s electronic music. There were a lot of bands that said “oh the future is going to be all psychedelic, brilliant and beautiful and it’s all going to be wonderful� and I took influence from that because they’re kind of elements of optimism, and yet it’s cynical optimism because the world is not fantastic, and Future Perfect is just an introspective album. I took influence from a lot of different styles of music. I listen to a huge variety of music, everything from new metal to classical opera and really heavy electronic stuff and trance to you name it and I listen to it. I think vocally I would like to sing like the vocalist I like. I would even say this, someone pointed out to me who knew I liked the band TOOL, and he said it’s amazing because you actually sing so much more varied on some of your songs and that if some of the songs were done on g! uitar they would have been TOOL songs. But I’m not a metal head and I never was, it’s just this is the type of music and I have an open mind to a lot of stuff. So a lot of influences from books and films to etc.

JS: what kind of films would you say influenced it?
Ronan: One film I would say influenced it is “Dark City�. Because it painted a city and it was like a futuristic twilight zone. One of my favorite films of all time is a film by the name of “Wings of Desire�. In one and a half hours it sums up humanity. It’s a German film done by Wim Wenders with English subtitles. It was intended for an English audience and all it is about is two angels in Berlin who hear the thoughts of everybody as they walk past them so people never move their lips in the film, you just hear their thoughts in the overdubs. It’s the most incredible sum of what we are as a species. This film has always kind of inspired me to write about humanity and human spirit. People always ask me if I’m religious and my reply to them is that I’m spiritual. I found my own truth because I view religions as just a mechanism to understanding the workings of the universe. I don’t think that they’re going to give me all the fantastic answers. You will find your own truth if ! you want it or need it. I just want to convey how it is to be the human spirit in a world that seems to try to dehumanize us.

JS: Have you seen that film La Jetée? actually “12 Monkeys� is based on this French film. The whole thing is black and white and it’s all still photographs and yet it progresses and it’s like a regular film. Ronan: no I haven’t, I’m going to check that one out.

JS: what music do you find yourself listening to?
Ronan: I’ve always been interested in European club culture like the get up in the air and wave your hands in the air type of stuff. I want to hear anything new and anything different. I still listen to a lot of classical music and strange weird stuff. I started to listen to a lot of dark ambience, I don’t know why; it just struck a chord with me again. I stopped listening to it five years ago and now there’s a whole new wave of it. I like listening to things that have a whole a totally different vibe then what I’m doing. I can’t say there’s one particular thing.

JS: so every type of music?
Ronan: not Britney Spears (laughs) Mark loves Britney Spears I don’t know why (laughs). I just despise it.

JS: Do you have any side-projects and what are your future plans?
Ronan: We’re going to be doing a live DVD, and we’re going to finish editing to that. I want to do something different with it then what other people have done. What we do is special and I want to orient it that way. I’m also working on a soundtrack for something that isn’t a film and isn’t a book and I’m going to start working on that in June. It’s not going to be VNV. It’s going to be a soundtrack with live artist and real instruments, which I love saying that (laughs) It’s going to be something that is quite big and epic and I’m going to work on that for about a year. I’ll usually start on something and stop and go off on something else then come back to it and everything will cross pollinate. Then of course I’ll work and put out a new VNV Nation album in the future.

VNV Nation—FUTURE PERFECT is now available www.vnvnation.com www.vnvnation.de

ALICE COOPER

by Gail "Desperado" Worley

Interview was previously available at www.ink19.com
reproduced by permission of the author.
photo courtesy of www.alicecoopershow.com

The first time I saw Alice Cooper -- the legendary godfather of theatrical
rock -- in concert, I was eighteen years old. That seems like such an
appropriate age to see Alice, you know, because of that song he does. But
because so many of my memories are not really available to me anymore (and
taking into consideration the fact that, at the time, I was in high school
-- which is hands-down the period of my life I would like most to delete
from my history), I had completely forgotten all about seeing Alice at
Anaheim Stadium in front of 55,000 people (no shit) until maybe a week ago.
Memories are weird like that. Anyway, a couple of decades actually had time
to pass between the first and second time I saw Alice Cooper perform live,
and the second time he was playing for a considerably smaller crowd, but
that's the way the rock show business is. It ain't like it used to be.

I don't often really say things like this unless I'm talking about members
of The Beatles or Led Zeppelin, but Alice Cooper is like a God to me. Just
the other day I was listening to the School's Out and Billion Dollar Babies
albums (records which are now over 25 years old) and lamenting the sad fact
that there are so few, if any, rock stars left who can do what Alice Cooper
did back in the '70s. Jesus God, where did all the Rock Stars go?

Sigh.

Anyhoo, the past couple of Halloween's, I've managed to whore my way into
Alice's show at the Roseland Ballroom here in New York City, which isn't as
easy as you'd think, even for an über-journalist/fan like me. But where
there's a will, there's a way. For Halloween 2000, Alice brought the
post-Apocalyptic vibe of Brutal Planet to town, while this Halloween, he
debuted the very scary rock & roll sequel to his fall of Rome-style vision
of the future; a Chinatown meets Escape From New York kinda place called
Dragontown. To say that both shows fucking rocked is an epic understatement.

In a deal that nearly involved me selling my soul to Satan, I was granted
an interview with Alice Cooper, which was scheduled to take place on the
phone late one Saturday afternoon. At the start of the call, I was told I
would "Have to wrap this up in ten minutes," but because Alice is such a
cool guy, he stayed on the phone with me for nearly 18 minutes before one
of his handlers started picking up the extension and harassing to him to
hang up. As you can see, Alice likes to talk, and we got a lot of ground
covered as the minutes ticked away.

Rock On, Alice.

Gail Worley: I'm a big fan for years and years, and I think Dragontown is
such a great rock record.

Alice Cooper: Thank you. It's tough to find good rock records anymore.

GW: And I saw your Halloween show this year and the one last year...

AC: Well, you know this is a continuation of last year's show. We went into
the show and tried to change all the songs around, to give them different
theatrics and all kinds of different things. The idea -- and this was done
on purpose -- was to take [the set design] toward more of a Chinatown look
and away from the "Ground Zero" look of Brutal Planet, because we knew we
were coming into NYC. There's nothing in there that's, I think, too
sensitive. Still, you don't want to remind everyone about all the destruction.

GW: Since you were in New York, did you get a chance to go down to Ground
Zero?

AC: I think all the guys did, but I had interviews and stuff so I really
didn't get down there. Everybody that I talked to that saw it said it's
very hard to put into perspective what you see on TV and what you actually
see, especially if you've lived in New York [before this happened]. It
gives you an idea of what a big deal this thing is. To me it was a little
too close. When I wrote Brutal Planet, I was thinking [this might happen]
fifty years from now. I really didn't think America was going to get
dragged into the sewer of terrorism, but we really got de-virginized in a
big way.

GW: I read the interview you did with KNAC.com, where you spoke about the
material you've been writing and feeling almost somewhat prescient about
the events of September 11th.

AC: Yeah, but at the same time, I'm not going to write twelve boy-girl
songs. I think I'm at that position now, in my career, where I should be
writing things that are a bit more pointed -- either more cynical or things
that Alice sees. I guess I think I get to be a bit of a senior statesman
for rock and roll. I think it's silly for Alice to be writing... ditties.

GW: Both Brutal Planet and Dragontown follow the same kind of
post-apocalyptic story line. How did you get interested in writing about
that subject matter?

AC: I think from just looking around and asking myself what scared me. When
I wrote Brutal Planet I was saying, "you know we are really apathetic in
America. We are [either] really sheltered or we're like a bunch of spoiled
kids, because there's seventy-two wars going on out there and we only know
about one: the one we're in. This whole world is at each other's throat. If
it keeps going on like this, this is what I see happening; here's Brutal
Planet. Here's where we are, we're basically the cockroaches that live
through it all, we're the survivors." Then the question that's asked is,
"do we really want to go there?"
I've still got to make it entertaining. I've still got to make it a really
good rock album that [makes] people go, "Oh, that really rocks!" but I
think the underlying story of this [should] also make people go for a
secondary thing, be a little bit more intellectual, and make them think. I
don't like to let my audience off that easy.

GW: I think Dragontown is the best album you've done in 15 or 20 years.

AC: Dragontown has a little bit more color and texture than Brutal Planet.
I love [the song] "Fantasy Man." If "Fantasy Man" were out fifteen years
ago during hair rock, it would have been an absolute smash.

GW: I could see Poison covering it.

AC: It's such a snotty rock song.

GW: Thinking about the record and the theme of Dragontown that ties all of
the songs together, "Disgraceland" is a bit of a departure in that it
references a real person. How did you get the idea for that song?

AC: It's not even about [Elvis Presley] the person as much as it is
[looking at how] certain people go past being a person and go into being an
American object or an American piece of pop culture. Even Alice Cooper
sometimes is not a person anymore. I think Alice Cooper is a piece of the
Americana itself. Elvis went to a point of being not really a person. I
mean, yeah, there was Elvis, the person that nobody really knew, except the
people around him. But all we knew was the persona and the character. When
I knew him, he was tall, he was slender, he was snotty, he was Elvis. He
had a sneer on his face and he was the coolest guy in he world. For that
guy to die, fat, bloated on a toilet in Las Vegas got him a one-way ticket
to Dragontown.

GW: I love the line in the song, "he died on the throne." That is so
brilliant.

AC: Elvis should have died in a Ferrari going 200 miles an hour with a
blonde at his side. That's the way Elvis should have died. Not drugged-out
on a toilet. The ironic thing about that applies to Jim Morrison, too. The
fact is, here's a guy who anybody who knew him knew he never took a bath.
And he died in a bathtub, probably with the leather pants on. That may be
the first bath he took since I knew him [laughs], you know?

GW: How did your daughter, Calico, come to be a part of your stage show?

AC: I was going to hire an actress to do all the parts, because I need the
bodies up there, and I especially need the girl -- l need the nurse, the
Britney Spears character, the Warrior girl -- and Calico does all those
parts. The Britney Spears thing of course works great. My audience loves to
see Britney get her head cut off. And, again, it's not Britney; it's her
personae. Britney represents everything that my audience hates. She
represents the softening of rock and roll. She represents the sweetness of
it. Every reason why rock and roll is not on the radio is because of
Britney and that kind of music. I think she's very easy to look at. I think
that she does what she does great. But her personae, and Alice's personae,
is oil and water: they just don't mix. So, when she shows up on my stage,
my audience just cannot stand it. And just the fact that [the song playing
is] "hit me baby one more time," and then she's staring me in the face. The
audience is going "DO IT!" It's a good laugh.
>From what I understand, somebody told her the other day at a press
conference about the whole thing. They said "Did you know that Alice Cooper
assaults you and cuts your head off on stage?" and she was like [adopting
little girl voice] "I didn't know that. I'd like to see that!" But it's
great having my daughter out with us. If I didn't know her, and she came in
and auditioned, I would have picked her. I mean, she's really good at it,
and she milks the whole thing.

GW: A lot of musicians who've played with you have gone on to do other
things on their own -- like Kip Winger -- or have come in from other
well-known bands, like Eric Singer with Kiss. How did you bring this band
that you tour with now together?

AC: There's a bit of a musical connection, an underground circuit, around
LA and New York. Everybody kind of knows everybody. When we did the
auditions, I listened to fifteen or twenty guitar players that day. When
Ryan Roxie came in, he played "Eighteen," "No More Mr. Nice Guy," and
"Under My Wheels." Not only did he understand the feel of those songs, his
guitar and amp even sounded like the early stuff. I could tell right away
that he had the sensitivity and that he really was into this kind of music
-- this '70s stuff. I looked at him and I said, "Yeah, this is a great
look. This guy, right here, is a rock star." He's a pure rock star. Then,
when I met Eric Dover, I said, "How rock star can you get?" And, on top of
it, you can't teach stage to people. They either have it or they don't have
it. I've had guys that are great players that just don't understand what
the stage is. Whereas, these two guys, they just get it, they understand
what the role it. They're in an Alice Cooper show and when Alice moves
left, they go right. I don't teach them that, they just do it naturally.
So, I love that. And I've had other bands that just never understood that.
And then, as far as Eric Singer goes, you can't find a better hard rock
drummer than Eric. Eric doesn't drum, he drives the band. He's like a truck
driver, and there are very few of those guys around. There are a lot of
great drummers; there are very few that actually take the reins and push
the band. That's what Eric does, and that's why he's so good.

GW: So you've got a great hard rock band to support you, and you can still
rock yourself. You've still got it. It's a great show.

AC: That's the thing, I always tell these guys, first thing, more than
anything else, this show is one that people have got to walk away from
saying "This show rocks harder than anything else out there!" I want it to
rock as hard as AC/DC, as Aerosmith, and have the theatrics, all together
-- both things going at the same time.

GW: Your fans, old and new, will likely keep supporting your act -- going
to see your live shows and buying back catalog -- regardless of whether you
have a new album out. With that in mind, and considering that the market
for recorded music is so saturated, do you see yourself coming to a point
where you no longer feel a compelling need to come out with albums of new
material?

AC: Well, you can always fall back into the career and say, "I've done
twenty-six records. Fans really only want to hear the old records
anyway..." It's very hard for classic artists to get played in the radio,
if a new band comes out, if a Weezer comes out or this band or that band,
all the new bands will always get played before the classic artists will.
The way the music industry is, they really feel that, well, "This is your
time back here. Even if you write the best album you've ever written, and
it's as up-to-date and better than what's out there, we're still not going
to play it." To me, that's tragic, because I think I'm making better
records than I did [during] that period back in the '70s, I made great
records for that time, but I think that I'm making records now that are
better than records that are getting played on the radio. I can't believe
that I cannot get airplay. It just kills me. But, at the same time, I'm
going to make those same records for my fans. I may write a song and throw
a lyric in there, and know that the only people who are going to get this
lyric are the sick things [a name for hardcore Alice Cooper fans], you
know? But I'll do that, just for them, because I understand that they enjoy
that.
You know, I'll make records for as long as I've got something to say.
There'll come a time when I'll probably go "Ah, I'm tired of this, I have
nothing else to say." And then I'll start acting, or I'll start writing
screenplays or something like that. But I mean, at least I'll have thirty
albums under my belt.
GW: Everyone is talking about your commercials for Marriott Hotels...

AC: [Laughs] It's unbelievable, the mileage were getting from this thing. I
mean, people wanted to start manufacturing jump ropes now, Alice Cooper
Jump Ropes [laughs].

GW: Did you freestyle that "My Name is Alice, I live in a palace..." thing?

AC: Yeah! It went on and on. It says, "I live in Phoenix, not in Dallas."
There were three or four verses of it. Uh, something like... "I stay at
Marriott because I care a lot..." [Laughs] Bryan's yelling for me to get
off the phone now.

gODHEAD

by Alex Zander and Moe Wyoming

It was mid-summer when M.K.Ultra guru Alex Zander graciously extended an invitation to me to accompany him to the wretched land known as Merrillville, Indiana, to see and interview Godhead. We had to trudge through Chicago’s highway traffic on Interstate 94 until we reached the Skyway , where we had to pay a hefty $2.00 toll to gain access to road that would lead us into the wonderful land of Indiana, the land where mullets reign supreme.

Why anyone would pay that much to go there is beyond me. But Godhead beckoned and we had to answer.

Tootling along the highway over the best of Chicago’s fine east side, we stopped at a McDonald’s oasis located right smack-dab in the middle of the fucking highway. What kind of backward-ass moron builds an oasis in the middle is beyond me. Expecting the oasis to be on the right, we swerved across last-minute traffic and caught the ramp for McDonald’s where Alex had to “drain some fluid,� so to speak. Taking care of business, he was accosted in the men’s room by yuppies, no doubt heading into Indiana themselves, as to what band he was in. Evasive, yet amused, we were back on the highway with an empty Alex bladder. Eventually, we passed by another fine area known as Gary.

Alex, perhaps described it the best when he exclaimed “Look at all the Hoosiers!� But it wasn’t long before we had to make another stop. Highway 65 brings you the very best of the nothingin Indiana. So we pulled over to the side of the road where Alex strolled down a hill and christened the roadside land with a streak of piss.

The Star Plaza Theater wasn’t far ahead. The staff there seemed completely bewildered by the fact that someone was there to interview a band. After straightening things out and enlightening (if this is possible) the locals, our interview was set. The poor bastard who worked behind the bar with the umbrella mustache, who looked like he walked off the set of a bad Western was a good source of comic relief.

After Godhead tore it up on stage we tracked down someone who attempted to point us in the right direction. This was apparently very hard to do. After a bit of a runaround, we found Jason Miller, Godhead’s singer, who sported a calm reserve, and eventually led us upstairs where the following took place.

-Moe Wyoming

Alex Zander: Well Jason, the last time we talked on the radio you wouldn't talk about who was interested in you as a showcase. Has it been a very interesting year?

Jason Miller: Yeah, well I guess you figured out who it was.

AZ: How was the Manson tour for you, for Godhead?

JM: Oh, it was amazing, it was great! We got to go all around the country and even Europe, which was amazing. We went all over Europe.

AZ: Up to that point what did you do? You were known in the States underground, but to go from that and then Manson takes you under his wing.

JM: Yea, it was a real fortunate opportunity, what else can I say? It's awesome.

AZ: You know, he obviously recognizes talent and he wanted to exploit it to the world. His album was a very artistic album, I loved Holy Wood; great, great, incredible album. But this guy picked you up, how did it happen?

JM: Well we were on tour with Christian Death and when we played in Hollywood we had just picked up a new lawyer and she sorta let the message be known throughout the industry that we were looking for a new label deal. Manson's people came out to see us play.

AZ: How'd that feel?

JM: It felt good, but at that point we had showcased for so many different labels we didn't know what to expect. We didn't know if it was really gonna happen or not, and when it finally did we were ecstatic!

So Manson's manager saw us play, who is now actually our manager as well, which is really cool. I kept in contact with him and then he let me know that Manson was going to be calling me. So Manson calls me on the phone and we had a really good conversation and he's like, "we should meet." So he flies me out to California and we hang out for a couple of days, and we talk about what he wants to do with his label and everything else. It seemed like the perfect match. We had showcased for Atlantic, Epic, Columbia, Capitol, you know, everybody.

Moe Wyoming: When he first told you guys that you were the first band he wanted on his label, how did you initially react when he made that offer?

JM: Well it happened really gradually. We just reacted with caution, because you know that anything could make it go sour at any time. I mean stuff like that happens all the time in the business, like something seems like it’s gonna happen and then it goes sour. But from the time that we hung out until the time we actually signed on the dotted line was like another three months. Things were slowly coming together. We were initially really excited and then it was like a wait and see period. Actually I would never, ever want to relive that moment in my life again because it seemed like three months of agony. Just waiting…you know, fly out to California, hang out with Marilyn Manson, you go to his house, you do all this stuff and then it’s like, “we want you to be the first band on our label,� but they didn’t have their contract ready yet with their parent label. So that took a couple months to get that straight before we actually got the offer on the table, so it was just like…

AZ: How’d it feel?

JM: It fuckin felt like shit, dude. I couldn’t sleep, I was just waiting, waiting for it to happen and then it finally did.

AZ: When it happened was it good?

JM: Oh yeah, Hell yeah.

MW: How much did he help you, like guide you down the path with your album? Or did he say you know, just do your own thing?

JM: He helped out a lot, he was the executive producer on the album. He helped a lot with sound arrangements and how to handle different things. But ultimately he said the decision was up to us on everything that we do.

AZ: Are you the signature band for PostHuman?

JM: Right now we're the only band on PostHuman.

AZ: Like when he was on Nothing. Does that hold weight? I mean you already had your reputation built before.

JM: Yeah, I think it helps. But you've gotta be a good band though, no matter what. There's a lot of other bands that Trent signed that never went anywhere. So you've gotta be good to really make an impact.

AZ: Do you ever think you're too good? Like you don't provoke a reaction? You're tight, I've seen you guys three times now, House of Blues, here and with Manson last winter in December. Do you ever think that you're too good?

JM: In what way?

AZ: As far as playing your music you guys are fucking perfect. Every time I've seen you in whatever venue you played, you've sounded great. Whereas other bands may be too loud, fuckup or do shitty.

What does Godhead say to the Marilyn Manson crowd? I play the shit out of your stuff on the radio, but I mean talking to the crowd?

MW: Pretty much, what is it about your music that can speak to fans of Marilyn Manson that will turn them on to your music?

JM: Well I think that if you're gonna go that route then you've gotta go lyrically, if that's what you're talking about. My lyrics are split up into a combination of sort of my view, my social commentary on how I view the world and sort of introspective feelings when I get really depressed, that's when I write. I take life experiences that have happened to me that have probably happened to a lot of people at one point or another. Like the song “Sinking,� that's just about feeling like no matter what you do you're just constantly going backwards. I mea