Agent Side Grinder Interview

I meet Agent Side Grinder in Paris when they made a gig with Charles de Goal a month before this post where I was really impressed by their live performance. Before attending to this show, I had only heard some album teasers published by Enfant Terrible and yet I was completely mad about this band.

You can also read the Original Swedish interview.

XWave – What is the significance of your name?

Peter – Our band name may make allusion to an angry man grinding throughout the power as a grinder would do.

XWave – What other projects have you been involved with and how did you meet the other members?

Peter – During the 90′s, I have been playing with my band Berliner 6 Bahn that had continuously changed of forms to experiment with new approaches. The best way to describe it would be some kind of circus and synthesis music. In the early 2000 years, i started to collaborate with my colleague Mattias Leidebjer AB from the independent label Lobotom Records. From 2000 to 2005, Lobotom really was at the heart of the Stockholm music scene.

In 2004, I started to think about starting up a new band, when I meet Johan Lange, during a recording session with the Thomas crew. I have been impressed by Johan’s talent, and Johan has been impressed with my instrument collection and this is how it started. We started to meet once a week and experiment until we could put together some song fragments. Only 6 months later, we got in contact with Kristoffer Grip when his girlfriend, that I already knew, convinced us that Christopher was the singer we were looking for.

During 2005 and mid 2006, we tried to find the sound we were looking for. In the summer of 2006, we had our sound set and we made a concert in Amsterdam at the Hex club were we meet Martijn (Enfant Terrible label) who asked us right after the concert if he could release a 7″ single with us!

By the end of 2007, Johan went in the U.S. for almost 19 months, this is when we were working on our recording techniques that we decided Henrik Sunbring and Alexander Blomqvist would join the band. Since everything was working good, we wanted Henrik and Alexander to become full time members, and when Johan got back from the U.S. we were 5 members instead of a trio.

XWave – After listening to the upcoming album teasers released by Enfant Terrible, when I compared it to first LP, I had the impression Henrik and Alexander brought a new dimension to the band. How do you explain this evolution towards a more upbeat and aggressive sound?

Peter – ASG is always doing this, even when we produced the album it was an objective to get our music more dynamic, our interaction is one of the principal pillar of our music. Now that Henrik and Alex are with us Johan and Henrik can focus on the hard and solid play to concentrate on the melodic layers while Alex is following their bass lead, and I play with my tape loops, pedals and other sound machines and Kristoffer are all in the show! All this probably means that we can now be more brutal than before. But there is the dynamic that we are which is our focus!

XWave – I know Kristoffer is writing the lyrics but how do you work out composing together? With so many machines, doesn’t it become hard to bring all the elements as a whole?

Peter – The most common way we are working is me and Johan meet together to experiment with a keyboard and tape loop and find the simple drum line that runs on a synthesizer sound. It could be Johan, which imagined a tune up during the week or else it can be me which thought about building something with a tape loop. Then are coming the other members into the song that is growing up while Johan is working on the arrangements.

Life In Advance started up when I made a tape loop from a keyboard envelope and then I wired the loop into the back of a tape echo when we had found something fatidic; a melancholic noise that reminds riding on the highway under the rain. Because the song was built around this sound.

A couple of the songs on the new LP were born during repetitions with the whole band. Then, it just happened for one song to get all the elements to come out just right. It happens sometimes. But there is always Johan who does the arrangement of the song.

XWave – Enfant Terrible just announced 2 Agent Side Grinder releases coming out together. How did you come out with 2 albums at the same time?

Peter – In 2008, as Johann lived in the U.S. Henrik and Alex joined the band so that we could continue to play live in 2008, I and Johan started a small experiment when Johan went in the U.S. so that Johann could be involved in ASG even though he was in the U.S..

In 1989, I read an article about how the band Klinic had worked togheter where Marc Verhagen said they were sending the tapes to each others, instead of meeting to make music together and I kept thinking about it to know if whether or not it would be possible because we wanted to see if it could work. I bought 2 Tascam portable studio of the same model, and I sent one in the U.S. and we started to send each others tapes between Sweden and the states by mail. I made a few sound collages and I sent the tape to Johan who added synth on top of it. Since, we got Henrik and Alex who finished the production. From this came out the name album (The Transatlantic Tape Project).

Martijn from Enfant Terrible thought it was a musical masterpiece and want to release these recordings on LP. Because we have worked this way these recordings are also available on cassette in the limited edition of 100 copies of the cassette Swedish company “Hästen Och Korset”.

XWave – Which artists do you think had inspired your music and your personal life the most since your childhood?

Peter – Now I will speak only for myself and what I had contributed to my part of ASG. Everyone in the group has such diverse musical influences that it’s easiest if I just talk about my influences.

I can not mention only an artist but I know very clearly how the chain of my musical inspirations have come up.

When I was 14-15 around 1988-89, I received a cassette with Front 242 Geography, I was blown away listening constantly to this cassette. It was the atmosphere of the music that caught me directly, I still think the album is a masterpiece. Then I bought DAF Alles Ist Gut and the disc made me sit and read in music dictionaries at the library (I was a geek) and where I found lot of information about the Berlin scene and began to gather at Mania D and other bands from the same crowd, etc. Then I went to Berlin in the early 90′s and I found the ABWÄRTS AMOK KOMA record. Since that time this has been one of my main influences, absolutely amazing disc atmosphere and excitement in the sound of music frustration, entirely.

XWave – I’ve heard about the Swedish electronic music scene that was already very active even in the 90′s before the new wave revival and the big electroclash hype phenomenon. Can you tell us a little about how the Swedish scene has been evolving in Stockholm for the past few years? Is it still has big as it used to be?

Peter – When I started my first band in the early 90′s we were playing some sort of Berlin 80′s total chaos electronic music and we were the only band in Stockholm, who were doing this kind of music. All of the other bands were busy trying to sound like Frontline Assembly and other bands that came there. Then a few years into the 90′s came the big synth pop wave and I had a really hard time with everything around it in Sweden, both the band formations and the audience I thought it was ridiculous and really not my thing. So we were a little bunch of people who kept alive a small electro-punk scene in Stockholm around 93 and 95. But since 2000 it happened that a whole new synth scene is going on in Stockholm, who came from more indie pop directions from 2000-2005 really a lot of interesting things happened in Stockholm.

The bars during gigs were crowded and there was definitely something cool that happened then. There were many concerts every week with many different bands.

XWave – Is there any other local artists from Sweden that you appreciate and would like to mention?

Peter – When I saw a band called Naked Ape playing in Stockholm a Wednesday evening in 2001 or 2002, all the pieces got together in my mind, they were really the answer to all my thoughts about music. On stage they had a dirty sound that was made with a sequencer, a synthesizer and a singer with sunglasses who screamed in Swedish.

XWave – Are you planning to cross the ocean to play gigs in the states or in Canada anytime soon?

Peter – If enough people want to organize concerts for us, so that it becomes financially possible for us to get over to the U.S. we would go. Actually, the biggest problem we are facing with lowest fees is that it makes a little less for everyone in the band.We hope this will become possible in the upcoming years.

Original Swedish Interview

XWave – Vad är innebörden av erat namn.

Peter – Man kan likna vårat band namn med en man som är fylld av en maskinell gnagande frustration som gnager sig genom allt likt en slipmaskin.

XWave – Vilka andra projekt har du varit inblandad i och hur träffade du dom andra medlemmarna?

Peter – Under hela 90talet spelade jag med mitt band Berliner 6 Bahn ett band som ständigt bytte skepnad och provade nya inriktningar. Vi gjorde någon form av syntetisk cirkus musik är nog bästa beskrivningen. I början på 2000 talet startade jag tillsammans med min kollega Mattias Leidebjer independent skivbolaget Lobotom Records AB från 2000-2005 var Lobotom verkligen i centrum av stockholms musik scen.

2004 började jag fundera på att starta ett nytt band, ungefär samtidigt träffade jag Johan Lange under en inspelnings session med bandet Tomas! Jag blev imponerad av Johans talang och Johan blev imponerad av min instrument samling det var så vi startade. Vi började ses en gång i veckan och sitta och laborera fram låt fragment. Först ett halvår senare kom vi i kontakt med Kristoffer Grip då hans dåvarande flickvän som jag kände sedan tidigare hade övertygat oss om att Kristoffer var sångaren vi sökte!

Sedan under hela 2005 och halva 2006 försökte vi hitta formen på det sound vi var ute efter. Sommaren 2006 hade vi hittat formen och spelade i Amsterdam på Martijns klubb Hex. Martijn frågade oss direkt efter spelningen om han kunde få ge ut en 7″ singel med oss!

I slutet på 2007 åkte Johan till USA i nästan 19 månaders tid , det var då vi bestämde oss för att våran inspelnings tekniker Henrik Sunbring och Alexander Blomqvist skulle bli live medlemmar i bandet. Sedan tycte vi alla att allt fungerade så bra att vi ville ha Henrik och Alexander som ordinarie medlemmar så när Johan kom tillbaka från USA så blev vi ett 5 mannaband istället för som tidigare en en trio.

XWave – Efter att ha lyssnat på ljudklippen som Enfant Terrible har släppt, När jag jämför dessa med den första skivan, får jag en känsla av att Henrik och Alexander tog in en ny dimension till bandet. hur förklarar du denna utveckling i riktning mot ett uptempo aggressivt sound?

Peter – För ASG har det hela tiden även på föra skivan varit ett mål att jobba mot att göra musiken mera dynamisk, vårat samspel är en av det viktigaste grundpelarna i våran musik. Nu när Henrik och Alex är med så kan Johan ha focus på att spela hårt och taktfast och Henrik kan lägga focus på sina melodier och ljudmattor och Alex håller uppe drivet med sin elbas och jag spelar med mina bandloopar och pedaler och mina andra olika ljud maskiner och Kristoffer håller i showen! Allt detta gör att vi nog nu låter mera brutalare nu än tidigare. Men det är dynamiken som vi är vårat focus!

XWave – Jag vet att Kristoffer skriver alla sång texter, men hur jobbar ni med komposition tillsammans ? Med så många maskiner, blir det inte svårt att få ihop alla instrument till en helhet?

Peter – Det vanligaste sättet vi jobbar på är att jag och johan träffas och laborerar med någon bandloop och piano och hittar på någon enkel trumtakt vrider fram ett ljud på en synth. Det kan vara Johan som har funderat ut en melodi under veckan eller så kan det vara jag som har funderat ut något att bygga en bandloop av. Sedan kommer dom andra in och då växer låten fram och Johan håller i själva arrangemanget av låten.

Life In Advance började med att jag gjorde en bandloop av ett anslag på piano sedan körde jag den loopen baklänges genom ett bandeko då hittade vi något ödesmättat vemodigt ljud som påminner om att åka på en motorväg i regn. Sedan byggdes låten upp runt det ljudet.

Ett par av låtarna på den nya LPn födes fram under repeditioner med hela bandet. Då råkar bara en låt bli till alla element bara stämmer. Det händer ibland. Men det är alltid Johan som står för arrangemanget av låten.

XWave – Enfant Terrible har just spridit nyheten att det släpps två LP skivor med Agent Side Grinder samtidigt. Hur kommer det sig att ni kommer ut med två album samtidigt?

Peter – Under 2008 så bodde Johan i USA det var då Henrik och Alex värvades till Gruppen så att vi skulle kunna fortsätta att spela live under 2008. Jag och Johan drog igång ett litet ljudexpriment då när Johan bode i USA så att Johan skulle vara delaktig i ASG trots att han var i USA.

1989 läste jag en artikel om hur gruppen Klinik arbetade , I artiklen berättade Mark Verhagen att dom endast skickade kassetter till varandra istället för att träffas och göra musik tillsammans jag har alltid tänk på det om det var möjligt eller inte därför ville vi testa och se ifall det var möjligt. Jag köpte två Tascam portastudios av samma modell och skickade den ena till USA sedan började vi att utväxla kassettband mellan Sverige och USA via vanlig post. Jag gjorde några ljud collage sedan skickade jag kassetten till Johan som lade på en synth. Sedan postade vi allt till Henrik och Alex som slutförde produktionen. Där av namnet på skivan.

Martijn på Enfant Terrible tyckte att det var ett musikaliskt mästerverk och vill släppa dessa inspelningar på LP. Just för att vi har jobbat med kasseter så finns dessa inspelningar även att köpa på kassett i den limiterade upplagan av 100 exemplar av det svenska kassett bolaget “Hästen Och Korset”.

XWave – Vilken artist tror du har inspirerat din musik och ditt liv mest sedan du var ung?

Peter – Nu talar jag bara om mig själv och vad som har bidragit till min del av ASG. Alla i gruppen har så skilda musikaliska influenser att det är enklast om jag bara berättar om mina influenser.

Jag har svårt att säga bara en artist men jag vet väldigt tydligt hur kedjan av mina musikaliska inspirationskällor har upp kommit.

När jag var 14-15 ca 1988-89 fick jag en kassett med Front 242 geography, jag blev helt tagen lyssnade konstant på denna kassett. Den var atmosfären i musiken som fångade mig direkt jag tycker fortfarande den skivan är ett mästerverk. Sedan köpte jag DAF Ales Is Gut och den skivan fick mig att sitta och läsa i Musik lexikonen i biblioteket ( jag var en Nörd ) och där hittade jag massa information om Berlin scenen och började samla på Mania D och andra band från samma bolag etc. Sedan åkte jag till berlin på tidigt 90tal och hittade på en skivmarknad ABWÄRTS AMOK KOMA den skivan
har sedan den stunden varit en av mina viktigaste influenser , Helt otrolig skiva stämningen och spänningen i musiken frustrationen i ljudet, allt.

XWave – Jag har hört talas om den svenska electroniska musik scenen som redan var aktiv på 90talet innan New Wave revival och den stora Electroclash hypen fenomenet. Kan du berätta lite hur dens svenska scenen har utvecklats i Stockholm de senaste åren. Är den lika stor som den har varit?

Peter – När jag på tidigt 90tal startade mitt första band som spelade en form av Berlin 80tal kaos elektronisk musik så var vi det ända bandet i Stockholm som höll på med denna typ av musik. Alla andra band var fullt upptagna med att försöka låta som Frontline asembly och andra band som var inne då. Sedan en bit in på 90talet kom den stora syntpop vågen och jag hade verkligen svårt med allt runt detta i Sverige både banden som bildades och publiken jag tyckte det var löjligt verkligen inte min grej. Så vi var ett litet gäng som fortsatte att hålla liv i en elektropunk scen i Stockholm runt 93-95. Men sedan år 2000 så hände det något det dök upp en helt ny syntscen i Stockholm som kom från mera indepop hållet från 2000-2005 hände det verkligen massor intressanta saker i Stockholm. Det började arrangeras spelningar på barer mindre ställen det var helt klart något coolt som hände då. Det var flera spelningar varje vecka med olika band.

XWave – Är det någon annan lokal artist från sverige som du ser upp till och vill nämna?

Peter – När jag såg ett band som heter Naked Ape spela på ett ställe i Stockholm en onsdagskväll 2001 eller 2002 så föll alla bitar på plats dom var verkligen svaret på alla mina tankar om musik. Det var live det var dåligt ljud det var en sequencer och en synt och en sångare med solglasögon som skrek på svenska.

XWave – Planerar ASG att korsa oceanen för att göra spelningar i USA eller Canada någon gång inom snar framtid?

Peter – Om tillräckligt många vill arrangera spelningar åt oss så att det blir en ekonomi som gör att vi kan åka över till USA så kommer vi att göra det. Just nu är vårat största problem att vi får för låga gager som gör att varje spelning vi gör går lite minus för alla i bandet. Vi hoppas att det ska bli en ändring på det de närmsta året.

Sickdoll Interview

I made this interview with Sickdoll through an email conversation. I must admit this is the interview I had the most fun with. Just read it for yourself if you want to figure out why.

If you speak German, you can read the Deutsch original interview as well.

Even though I can’t speak German, I asked Sickdoll to answer every questions in his native language that is Deutsch. This was quite an experience because a lot of German slang was used and I got to learn quite a few things about this language in the process of the translation. Also thanks a lot to the other folks who helped me out.

XWave – You released the first Sickdoll 7″, Sohn Geht Ab! in 2006. Did you ever worked any other musical project in the past? When did you started composing music?

Sickdoll – Yes that’s right, 2006, the first EP came out. Before that, a 7″ and two CD compilation samplers were released.

As a child, I learned a few years of electric organ at a music school. But then puberty hit me like an hammer, I worked a lot next to the school and bought myself an outrageously expensive electric guitar at that time. A Fender Squire Fat Strat protons in a fairly hot black paint and silver pearl. So I became one of the worst guitar player the world had ever heard and started with a few equally talented players in my school to form a grunge punk band.

We were so poor that it was stripping the walls with our sounds. But of course we did not realized it at the time, and found ourselves quite a toll. At some point, the whole thing got lost in the sand and we did split apart…

Then I had some large debts and I had to sell the hardly earned guitar for a mere pittance. From that day on, I vowed to NEVER AGAIN take a guitar in my hands (and the world was probably a little better off this way). But I did not say I would never do music again, in the attic I played the organ from time to time. Later on, I moved aimlessly out into the world with a thousand ideas in my head, any instrument, a lot of anger in the belly and a lot of potential in the ass.

So after a while, I started to write lyrics again and collected everything that was cheap to get. Joined medium shot guitar effects at cheap keyboards and such a trash. That saved me over the crazy times and brought me back to life. It became a passion. I then made some demos to survive has I had no job… Well then came a couple of live appearances. I collected a couple of synthesizers and other stuff. Eventually, I no longer wanted to play alone, but nobody wanted to join my moronic borderline project. Well understandable, but somehow tiring…

But at some point a guy told me that because he knows a guitarist … she would like to live an experience and wanted to get involved in a project. Well – we met and it went from Sickdoll to Sickdoll & The Nuclear Shades. Anyway, I wanted some change. At first I did not want Alex to integrate because of the coolness factor – that is the guitar, but I got with a guitar again because you can play something different and can create other sonorities. I just wanted more.

Now I want still more. I want to expand the project to create more bandwidth. Today nobody wants to play with us. But – who cares – the Katzenbölzer must go on…

XWave – How did you meet with Kaptain boredom and Bert to form GmbHoffnung?

Sickdoll – I’ve known Captain Boredom for longer. I met him at a concert where I was really bad and Bert was also present. Then we thought it would be fun to try to play together, only with hardware. Only an old synth, a drum machine from the 60s (some say even 50′s) and Bert’s slippers of course, his futuristic sleeping bag all in wonder. Bert somehow seems even years ahead, and dominating the timeless, motionless moving into his slippers.

XWave – Did you have some unrealesed songs with GmbHoffnung other than the one that appeared on the Minimal Baby compilation of the SkullLine label?

Sickdoll – Yes, we have a track – “backpacking” but we did not find it good enough to finish it completely. We are living far away and we aren’t seeing each others that often.

XWave – What is going on with GmbHoffnung at the moment? Is it still active and are you planning to release more material anytime soon?

Sickdoll – Yes, we are planning to meet up soon again, to fill ourselves with beer and Pfeffi liquor and improvise new songs as far we are still able to do so. We also take care of our physical well-being – Captain Boredom told me “you cook as a mummy”.

XWave – For Sickdoll & The Nuclear Shades, I’ve heard (from my German connection) that your guitar player Alex is now studying in Scotland. Will you still manage to keep working on the projects and do some gigs while she is gone away?

Sickdoll – Oh, that’s not an issue. First she was recently over my place in my music room and we have added the guitar over several days for about 6 songs. In Scotland, she moved into the neighborhood of a separate low-cost airline to be more flexible – and today is much cheaper to fly than drive train. So I see no problems with concerts.

By working together – yes, that is even better when we meet to record, but a remote cooperation during the Internet connectivity era is not a problem (even if it annoys). She brought her guitar and effect pedal with her.

Alexandra will indeed be back in a year on the German lands to our happiness. But only in fact, as she says, if she doesn’t find a rich Scotsman who a owns castle, with who she would have to get married.

XWave – Do you get a good support from the fans in Hannover? In which German city do you think the scene is bigger for the kind of music you are doing?

Sickdoll – Ah! This is a very sensitive topic and I should say: if I say something wrong at this point, I totally don’t care.

First of all, I should say that I have to Hannover no reference. Even though I have been there for two years. It is only a half an hour of driving from where I came from. I am originally from Münsterland and somehow the Lower Saxony (except the northern Lower Saxony) and the Munster countries do not really want to get along.

I do not know how many listeners we have in Hannover, but I think the core of our audience came mostly from other Goodheart and even more from abroad to 60%. We already have some nice listeners from Hannover, but there it is rather as already mentioned not our territory.

There are some musicians scattered all over Germany fabricating into this type of music. As for the party people, I think the best place is Berlin. The beautiful thing is simply that over there I meet people from various cities and other countries who are not necessarily dependent on the discretion of a local elite.

XWave – You mentioned that you used to play guitar in a punk rock band in the past. Which punk bands do you think had the biggest influence in your life?

Sickdoll – Argh argh! This is a story. My best childhood friend and I came from very religious families. Very early, we were strangely interested in something like this, even though we did not understand entirely.

When we used to play with Lego blocks, we then often heard The Ramones. That was about the limit for us, because for us, to listen to The Ramones then was totally forbidden. To disguise the songs, we had written ABBA on the tapes or we had recorded over old tapes. Until 2 years later, we didn’t know what is Punk – that was also banned.

So we cut ourselves as we were still little boys, strangely enough (for whatever reason) we took our sleeveless jackets and draw an emblem with a permanent marker on the back, with german studs into it and we stole from his father an expensive aftershave bottle and flipped it up over our head… It naturally adapted with our blond boy hairstyles divinely. Later, we got our ass spanked because of the aftershave bottle. It was fun anyways.

A bit later during my childhood, I then discovered the music of “Die Ärzte” when I was in another kid’s children bedroom… because even these cuddly German rock artists were absolutly forbidden in our parents houses. Then came up two bands from the German area, and then I was interested in grunge. During this period, when I was in fifth grade, it was totally hip. This was just the MTV generation.

Then I got into the strangest aberrations with music no one even speak about, again until much later and then I started again Punk, Gothic, EBM, New Wave, and rock n ‘roll and to hear such a rotten business. Since then bands like Dead Kennedys, Fehlfarben, Abwärts, Screamers, Spizz Energy, Grauzone, Bauhaus, etc. They were very important for me, until I eventually could no longer hear them. I have always been looking for new music in this area – particularly for bands, albums, but not much are well known. I desperately needed new input.

XWave – What is pisssing you off the most about the actual social and political situation in Germany and/or Europe right now?

Sickdoll – That sounds like a question to Miss Universe.

So the first thing I do not like is our chancellor, I get cramps downright in the stomach when I hear her speaking on television. The have succeeded to be so popular because they NEVER say anything concrete.

She almost never fix anything down and she knows how to dance around the actual theme with a vague rethoric, which actually ends up into a void content.

She has also spoken out against blanket minimum wages. It truly pisses me off, because the people have from their shitty job the toughest and longest working hours. They should at least be able to live fairly decently. I worked in a company where the father of a family with 2 children, who worked 6 days a week, about 10 hours a day and could not even feed his family properly. He wrote anonymously to a newspaper and it was printed. The company, however, it found out and announced it. This is Germany.

The argument of our chancellor was that the jobs would not otherwise be viable for the company in Germany, where the minimum wage would be introduced in all walks of life in which they will not.

This means that it is a damn what happens to the workers … the main thing is they work – even if they have little life and no money. But the bill does not go on in many cases, I think … because I believe that guest workers, such as Romanians and Russians will make this job for the money and the German unemployment statistics will not benefit from the most good-looking democratic ideas.

What I do not understand is that our democracy is a lobbyist dictatorship, but democracy should continue to complain. In fact, citizenship in Germany has been disenfranchised for a long time. These policies is on us a business that has not much to do with reality. Politics quasi-exist alongside the reality… now and then we meet for tea so we can beat it up.

There is still much much more than that affecting me, such as temporary work and I could go on and on, but I would need to write a book and I’m getting too tired.

XWave – Who is your hero/heroine?

Sickdoll – I have no hero and I do not need any. Of course one looks into his childhood heroes and role models, but that is it but a few years ago.

I think hero worship is irrelevant. There are many people who have done amazing things in my eyes, in different ways. But one should not ignore that even normal unknown people are/were just as loved and have been living like everyone else, with weaknesses and strengths.

The best-known historical figures and enjoying themselves, either at the suffering of others, to the destructive, in pronounced sexual preferences, drug excesses or any things else – even if they were casually known mainly for other achievements (or in many cases only for the acts to be regarded negatively).

Even Einstein was an absolute womanizer … Goethe a blind beggar – and they are still cute examples. Heroes do not exist – just as annoying self-proclaimed heroes.

But when I get to think of it, everyone is a hero to me directly says what he means, even if the other is uncomfortable (and I mean from the bottom up), which is far from trivial influences built his own world of thoughts. Each of the inappropriate at the time and even though it is detrimental to one’s own mouth to make is – this is a hero and anyone can be.

XWave – Which active bands out there in Germany do you enjoy the most?

Sickdoll – Oh, that’s a really difficult question. Since I do a lot of music myself, I rather rarely look at the current music scene around me lately and I mostly listen to music from earlier times.

Unfortunately, there are not many active bands from Germany, I think well – that of which I know, but there are some. They are indeed mainly as small and isolated as me, and are rather unpopular.

I also know of many if not at that are still active. Yes we have noticed – I do not want to answer that question specifically. But this must be said – for my taste, it is not necessarily better with the music culture here in Germany (hey – at least I’m honest!).

XWave – When are you planning to release the next album of Sickdoll & the Nuclear Shades?

Sickdoll – If everything works as planned, the album should be finished by late autumn or early December on our side. However, it is likely we probably won’t even deal with the pressure.

We hope to find a new record label, all optimistic with our new album, which will be willing to cooperate with us on fair terms. Well, it would then allow to offer our listeners the album by the end of the year, but that is still science fiction…

Deutsch Original Interview

XWave – 2006 wurde das erste Sickdoll 7″, Sohn Geht Ab!, produziert (sage es mir mal, wenn es nicht stimmt!). Hast Du schon mal an einem anderen Projekt frueher teilgenommen? Wann hast Du angefangen, Musik zu komponieren?

Sickdoll – Ahoi da draußen…
ja das ist richtig, 2006 kam die erste EP raus.. vorher war ich mit diesem Projekt bereits vertreten auf einem 7″ Sampler und zwei CD-Samplern…
Als Kind habe ich einige Jahre E-Orgel an einer Musikschule gelernt…
doch dann traf mich die Pubertät wie ein Hammer… ich arbeitete viel neben der Schule und kaufte mir eine für damalige Verhältnisse sündhaft teure E-Gitarre (Fender Squire FatStrat Protone in ziemlich heißer schwarzer Lackierung und silbernem Perlmutt..).
So wurde ich einer der schlechtesten Gitarristen die die Welt je hören mußte und gründete mit ein paar ebenso begabten Spielern meiner Schule eine GrungePunkband… wir waren so schlecht, dass man mit unseren Tönen die Wände abbeizen konnte.. aber das merkten wir zu dem Zeitpunkt natürlich nicht und fanden uns ganz schön toll.
Irgendwann verlief sich aber das Ganze im Sande und wir trennten uns…
Dann hatte ich irgendwann große Schulden und mußte die mühsam zusammengearbeitete Gitarre für einen Spottpreis verkaufen. Von dem Tag an schwor ich mir, NIE WIEDER eine Gitarre in die Hand zu nehmen… (und die Welt war bestimmt ein wenig besser geworden dadurch).
Doch ich sagte nicht ich würde nie wieder Musik machen… auf dem Dachboden spielte ich weiter Orgel von Zeit zu Zeit… später zog ich dann ziellos in die Welt hinaus.. mit tausend Ideen im Kopf, keinem Instrument und viel Wut im Bauch und einer Menge Potential im Hintern…
Also fing ich nach einer ganzen Weile an wieder Texte zu schreiben und alles zu sammeln was billig zu bekommen ist… halbtote Gitarreneffekte an billige Keyboards anzuschließen und so einen Trash.. das rettete mich über verrückte Zeiten hinweg und brachte Lebensqualität zurück… es wurde zur Passion…. ich vertickte Demos damals um zu überleben wenn ich keinen Job hatte…
Naja dann kamen ein paar Auftritte… ich sammelte ein paar Synthesizer… und anderes Zeug.
Irgendwann wollte ich nicht mehr alleine spielen… aber niemand wollte sich meinem grenzdebilen Endzeitprojekt anschließen. Naja verständlich, aber schon irgendwie ermüdend…

Doch irgendwann sagte mir ein Kamerad, dass er da eine Gitarristin kennt… sie hätte Liveerfahrung und will wieder in einem aktiven Projekt mitarbeiten.
Naja – wir trafen uns und so wurde dann aus SICKDOLL – SICKDOLL & The Nuclear Shades.
Ich wollte sowiso eine Veränderung… ich wollte Alex nicht integrieren um den Coolnessfaktor wegen – sprich der Gitarre, sondern weil man mit einer Gitarre wieder Anderes vermitteln kann und anders spielen kann und andere Sounds kreieren kann. Ich wollte einfach MEHR.
Jetzt will ich immernoch MEHR. Ich will das Projekt erweitern um mehr Bandbreite zu schaffen. Heute will auch niemand mit uns spielen.. aber – who cares – the Katzenbölzer must go on.

XWave – Wie trafen Sie sich mit der Kaptain boredom und Bert, um GmbHoffnung zu bilden?

Sickdoll – Also den Käptn Langeweile kenne ich schon länger. Ich habe ihn auf einem Konzert kennengelernt auf dem ich richtig schlecht war. Bert war auch dabei. Dann haben wir uns gedacht mal einfach so versuchen was zusammen aufzunehmen… nur mit Hardware… nur alte Synth und eine Drummachine aus den 60ern (manche behaupten auch 50ern) und Berts Hausschuhe natürlich und sein futuristischer Schlafsack der alle in Staunen versetzte. Irgendwie scheint Bert uns schon Jahre voraus zu sein und beherrscht den zeitlosen, bewegungslosen Einzug in seine Hausschuhe.

XWave – Hatten Sie einige unrealeased Lieder mit GmbHoffnung anders als derjenige der erschien auf der Minimalen Baby-Kompilation des SkullLine-Label?

Sickdoll – Ja wir haben einen Track – “Rucksacktourismus” aber wir fanden ihn nicht gut genug um ihn komplett fertig zu machen.
Wir leben halt weiter entfernt voneinander und können uns nicht so oft in natura sehen.

XWave – Was macht mit GmbHoffnung im Moment weiter? Ist das noch aktiv, und planen Sie, mehr Material jederzeit bald zu veröffentlichen?

Sickdoll – Ja wir streben an uns bald mal wieder zu treffen, uns mit Bier und Pfeffi zu füllen und neues Liedgut zu improvisieren so weit man noch in der Lage dazu ist. Für das leibliche Wohl ist auch gesorgt – Käptn Langeweile sagte zu mir “du kochst wie ne Mutti”.

XWave – Für Sickdoll & The Nuclear Shades habe ich gehört (von meiner deutschen Verbindung), den Ihr Gitarre-Spieler Alex jetzt in Schottland studiert.

Sickdoll – Werden Sie noch schaffen fortzusetzen, an den Projekten zu arbeiten und einige Rauhmaschinen zu tun, während sie weggegangen wird?
Oh das ist garkein Problem. Ersteinmal war sie noch vor kurzem bei mir zuhause in meinem Musikzimmer und wir haben über mehrere Tage noch die Gitarren für ca. 6 Lieder neu aufgenommen. In Schottland ist sie extra in die nähe einer Billigairline gezogen um flexibler zu sein – und heutzutage ist fliegen viel billiger als Zug fahren.
Von daher sehe ich keine Probleme mit Konzerten. Mit dem Zusammenarbeiten – ja das ist schon schöner wenn man sich trifft um aufzunehmen, aber eine Zusammenarbeit auf Distanz ist in Zeiten des Internetzes ja auch nicht so das Problem (auch wenn es nervt). Sie hat ja Gitarre und Effektgerät alles dann mit rübergenommen.
Alexandra wird ja in einem Jahr wieder in deutschen Landen sein zum Glück. Aber nur, wenn sie laut eigener Aussage keinen reichen Schotten mit dazugehöriger Burg findet den sie dann zum heiraten zwingt.

XWave – Bekommen Sie eine gute Unterstützung von den Anhängern in Hannover? In der welchen deutschen Stadt denken Sie, dass die Szene für die Art der Musik größer ist, die Sie tun?

Sickdoll – Oh das ist ein ganz heikles Thema und ich möchte schonmal sagen: Falls ich an dieser Stelle etwas falsches sagen sollte… dann ist es mir vollkommen egal.
Ich sollte ersteinmal sagen, dass ich zu Hannover garkeinen Bezug habe… auch wenn ich jetzt seit zwei Jahren nur eine halbe Autobahnstunde davon entfernt lebe. Ich komme aus dem Münsterland ursprünglich und irgendwie sind die  Niedersachsen (außer die nördlichen Niedersachsen) und die Münsterländer nicht wirklich paarungswillig.
Ich weiß nicht wieviele Zuhörer wir in Hannover haben… aber ich denke der Kern unserer Zuhörerschaft kommt eher aus anderen Gefielden und auch eher aus dem Ausland zu 60%. Wir haben schon ein paar nette Zuhörer aus Hannover, aber dort ist es eher wie schon erwähnt nicht so unser Gebiet.
Es gibt einige Musiker verstreut über ganz Deutschland die solche Musik fabrizieren.
Was das Partyvolk angeht denke ich, ist man immernoch in Berlin am besten aufgehoben. Das schöne ist einfach dass sich dort ebend die Leute aus den verschiedensten Städten und teilweise Ländern treffen und man nicht unbedingt auf das Gutdünken einer lokalen Elite angewiesen ist.

XWave – Sie erwähnten, dass Sie pflegten, Gitarre in einem Punkrock-Band in der Vergangenheit zu spielen. Welche Punkrock-Bänder denken Sie, den größten Einfluss in Ihrem Leben hatten?

Sickdoll – Arrr arrr das ist auch so eine Geschichte… mein bester Kindheitsfreund und ich kamen aus sehr religiösen Familien. Wir haben uns seltsamerweise schon recht früh für soetwas interessiert, auch wenn wir es absolut nicht verstanden haben.
Beim spielen mit Legosteinen haben wir dann immer Ramones gehört. Das war für uns der absolute Hammer, denn bei uns war das hören der Ramones damals total verboten. Zur Tarnung des Liedgutes haben wir ABBA auf die Kassetten geschrieben oder alte Hörspielkasstetten überspielt. ein zwei Jahre später wußten wir imme noch nicht was Punk ist – war ja auch verboten und so.
Also haben wir uns als immernoch kleine Jungs unsere Jeanswesten zerschnitten, seltsamerweise (warum auch immer) irgendwelche Wappen mit Edding hinten draufgemalt, Sicherheitsnadeln in die Jacke gehauen und uns von seinem Vater eine Flasche Rasierwasser geklaut und sie uns über den Kopf gekippt… unsere blonden Bübchenfrisuren passten natürlich göttlich dazu. Später haben wir wegen der Rasierwasserflasche den Arsch versolt bekommen. Lustig wars trotzdem.
Ein bisschen später gabs dann auch die Musik von “Die Ärzte” im Kinderzimmer durch einen anderen Kindheitsfreund… denn auch dieser Kuscheldeutschrock war bei uns durch unsere Elternhäuser verboten und somit ein absolutes MUSS – klar. Es kamen dann noch ein zwei Bands aus dem deutschen Bereich hinzu… und dann interessierte ich mich erstmal für Grunge.. war in der fünften Klasse total angesagt. Das war gerade die MTV Generation.  They are then mainly as shortened types and Typinnen like me, are rather unpopular.
Dann hatte ich noch die seltsamsten Musikverirrungen über die man ja nicht spricht und erst wieder viel später fing ich dann an wieder Punk, Gothic, EBM, NewWave, und rock n’ roll und so einen Kram zu hören. Da wurden dann Bands wie Dead Kennedys, Fehlfarben, Abwärts, Screamers, Spizz Energy, Grauzone,  Bauhaus etc. sehr wichtig für mich, bis ich die irgendwann nicht mehr so hören konnte und immer neue Musik gesucht habe aus den Bereichen – besonders die Bands die nicht so namenhaft und bekannt sind. Ich brauchte unbedingt neuen Input.

XWave – Was ärgert Sie meist über die wirkliche soziale und politische Situation in Deutschland und/oder Europa in diesem Augenblick?

Sickdoll – Das klingt wie eine Frage bei der Wahl zur Miss Universum.
Also als erstes mag ich meine Kanzlerin nicht, ich bekomme regelrecht Magenkrämpfe wenn ich sie im Fernsehen sprechen höre. Sie hat es nur deshalb geschafft beim Volk so beliebt zu sein, weil sie NIE etwas Konkretes sagt.
Sie legt sich fast nie wirklich fest und versteht es wunderbar um das eigentliche Thema mit eher allgemein gehaltenen, inhaltlich leeren Äußerungen herum zu tanzen.
Außerdem hat sie sich gegen flächendeckende Mindestlöhne ausgesprochen. Das pisst mich RICHTIG an, denn die Leute aus den Brangen die ohnehin die härtesten Mistjobs und längsten Arbeitszeiten haben, sollten zumindest einigermaßen anständig leben können. Ich habe in einer Firma gearbeitet, in der ein Familienvater mit 2 Kindern, der 6 Tage die Woche ca 10 Stunden am Tag arbeitete und seine Familie nichtmal richtig ernähren konnte. Er schrieb anonym an eine Zeitung und es wurde gedruckt. Die Firma aber fand es raus und kündigte ihn. DAS ist Deutschland.
Das Argument unserer Kanzlerin war, dass die Arbeitsplätze sonst nicht tragbar wären für die Firmen in Deutschland wenn der Mindestlohn eingeführt würde in allen Brangen und das will sie nicht.
Das bedeutet also, dass es scheißegal ist wie es den Arbeitern geht… hauptsache sie arbeiten – auch wenn sie kaum Lebensqualität haben und kein Geld. Aber die Rechnung geht nicht auf in vielen Fällen denke ich… denn ich glaube dass dadurch immer mehr Gastarbeiter wie Rumänen und Russen diese Jobs machen werden für das Geld und die deutsche Arbeitslosenstatistik wohl nicht vom merklischem Gedankengut profitieren wird.
Was ich auch nicht verstehe ist, das unsere Demokratie eine Lobbyistische Diktatur ist, aber sich weiter Demokratie schimpfen darf. Der Bürger in Deutschland ist längst entmündigt.
Politik ist bei uns auch nurnoch ein Business und hat mit der Realität nicht mehr viel zu tun. Politik existiert quasi neben der Realität… ab und zu trifft man sich dann zum Tee und lässt sich verprügeln.
Da gibt es noch viel viel mehr was mich stöhrt (wie zum Beispiel Zeitarbeit und und und), aber das ist ein Buch dass zu schreiben ich müde bin.

XWave – Wer ist Ihr Held / Heldin?

Sickdoll – Ich habe keinen Held und brauche keinen. Natuürlich sucht man sich in der Kindheit seine Helden und Vorbilder, doch das ist dann doch schon einige Jahre her.
Ich finde Heldenverehrung nicht gerade sehr ansehenswert. Es gibt viele Menschen die in meinen Augen Erstaunliches vollbracht haben, auf unterschiedlichste Art und Weise… doch man sollte nicht außer Acht lassen, dass auch sie privat normale Menschen sind/waren, und genau so geliebt und gelebt haben wie alle anderen auch, mit Schwächen und Stärken. Die bekanntesten Persönlichkeiten der Geschichte labten sich entweder am Leid anderer, an der Zerstöhrung, an ausgeprägten sexuellen Vorlieben, Drogenexzessen oder sonst irgendwelchen Dingen – auch wenn sie nebenbei hauptsächlich für andere Erungenschaften bekannt waren… (oder in vielen Fällen auch nur für die negativ aufzufassenden Taten)
Selbst Einstein war ein absoluter Weiberheld… und Goethe ein Schnorrersack – und das sind ja noch niedliche Beispiele.
Helden gibt es nicht – und selbsternannte Helden nerven.
Doch wenn ich es mir recht überlege, ist jeder für mich ein Held der direkt sagt was er meint, auch wenn es anderen unbequem ist (und das meine ich von unten nach oben), der sich fern von trivialen Einflüssen seine eigene Gedankenwelt erbaut. Jeder der auch im unpassenden Zeitpunkt und auch wenn es zum eigenen Nachteil ist den Mund auf macht – das ist ein Held… und jeder kann es sein.

XWave – Welche aktive Bänder dort in Deutschland genießen Sie meist?

Oh das ist wirklich einmal eine schwierige Frage. Da ich selber viel Musik mache, beobachte ich das aktuelle Musikgeschehen um mich herum eher wenig in letzter Zeit und höre vorwiegend Musik aus früheren Zeiten.
Leider gibt es nicht sehr viele aktuelle Bands aus Deutschland die ich gut finde – also von denen die ich kenne, aber es gibt welche. Das sind dann hauptsächlich so verkautzte Typen und Typinnen wie ich, die eher unpopulär sind.
Von vielen weiß ich auch garnicht ob die noch aktiv sind. Ja man merkt schon – ich möchte diese Frage nicht konkret beantworten.
Aber so viel sei gesagt – für meinen Geschmack wird es nicht unbedingt besser mit der Musikkultur hier in Deutschland (hey – wenigstens bin ich ehrlich!).

XWave – Wann planen Sie, das folgende Album von Sickdoll & the Nuclear Shades zu veröffentlichen?

Sickdoll – Wenn alles so funktioniert wie geplant, müßte das Album bis Ende Herbst oder Anfang Dezember fertig sein von unserer Seite aus. Allerdings können wir die Pressung wahrscheinlich nicht selbst bezahlen.
Wir hoffen dann also, dass wir im Bestfall mit dem neuen Album unter den optimistischen Achselhöhlen ein neues Label finden, dass bereit ist mit uns zu fairen Konditionen zusammenzuarbeiten. Schön wäre es dann, unseren Zuhörern das Album Bis Ende des Jahres anbieten zu können, doch das ist alles noch Science Fiction…

P.S.: Ringo müffelt

Sickdoll on MySpace

Automelodi Interview

Here’s a French interview I conducted with Xavier from Automelodi before a Blackout Musique party where he was mixing.

Please keep in mind it is almost an ad verbatim (word for word) transcript from an audio recording to preserve its authenticity.

XWave – Comment as-tu rencontré les deux autres membres de ton groupe?

Xavier – C’est particulier, parce qu’en ce moment même il y a des changements. La structure a été assez mobile. Le fait est que le concert qu’on donne le 12 la semaine prochaine est le dernier avec Patrick Gosselin que j’avais rencontré via Guillaume. Guillaume, je l’ai rencontré en mixant pour le premier album de Plaza Musique en 2006. Avec les membres de Plaza Musique s’est développé une amitié au travers la collaboration. Il y a donc un rapprochement qui s’est fait. Puis, durant l’été 2006, je me suis retrouvé dans une phase de réflexion par rapport à Echo Kitty (mon projet de l’époque). J’ai senti le besoin de repenser le concept et de repartir à neuf. Je commençais à collaborer avec Guillaume à ce moment là et Guillaume a accepté de venir jouer dans Automelodi, pour ce qui est de la batterie, des percussions et des synthés.

Mauricio était le guitariste au début d’Automelodi parce qu’il avait rejoint Echo Kitty sur la fin et c’était mon voisin d’en bas. Il était venu me voir dans l’escalier “Hey man I heard you are looking for a guitar player”. Ça a bien adonné et ça a bien connecté. Il a été notre premier guitariste, jusqu’à Novembre 2007, et ensuite il est parti faire des contrats à l’étranger. Par l’entremise de Guillaume j’avais connu Patrick Gosselin qui est aussi dans un groupe qui s’appelle Le Couleur qui est son projet principal. Donc Patrick a remplacé Mauricio de façon permanente à ce moment là.

Très récemment, Patrick s’est aperçu que ça débordait un petit peu dans sa vie et qu’il avait différentes priorités. Patrick va donc plus se concentrer sur Le Couleur. Ça coïncide aussi avec le retour de Mauricio qui était revenu de ses contrats. On s’apprête à faire le dernier concert avec Patrick au sein de Automelodi et ensuite ce sera le retour de Mauricio.

XWave – Est-ce que vous travaillez ensemble pour les compositions?

Xavier – Notre structure est essentiellement celle d’un auteur compositeur entouré de collaborateurs créatifs. J’ai tendance à développer de façon assez rapprochée les paroles et la musique pour les apporter, par exemple, sous la forme d’un démo ayant une base mélodico-rythmique assez nette qui peut être présentée à d’autres collaborateurs. Ensuite, on développe par rapport à ça. Que ce soit avec Patrick, Guillaume ou Mauricio, il y a un travail créatif qui a été fait en studio.

Donc oui, jusqu’à un certain niveau nous travaillons ensemble, mais c’est plus au niveau des raffinements et des arrangements, ou au niveau de la performance des musiciens pour développer par exemple des mélodies de guitare… bref, pas nécessairement la structure de base de la chanson, mais tout de même une foule d’éléments et de détails qui, je l’espère, rendent le son d’Automelodi unique.

XWave – Depuis tes débuts, as-tu trouvé difficile d’évoluer sur la scène Montréalaise? C’est à dire, as-tu toujours eu un bon support des fans durant les concerts où il y a parfois eu des moments décourageants?

Xavier – Oui, il y a eu des moments décourageants. Le fait est que lorsque j’ai commencé à jouer à Montréal à l’époque de Echo Kitty il y avait un côté presque “commando-suicide” à ce qu’on faisait. Je me souviens qu’il y avait vraiment très peu de groupes vers 2000-2001 qui montaient sur la scène avec des synthés pour faire autre chose que du techno à tendance post-house. Faire une musique avec des racines un peu rock (dans notre cas, plutôt post-punk) et mélanger ça avec de l’électronique, c’était très rare à l’époque et encore plus rare à voir sur une scène.

Ça a créé une dynamique un peu étrange mais ça a beaucoup attiré l’attention. Ça ne s’est pas passé dans des grandes salles mais il y avait vraiment une attention assez spéciale, assez surprenante, cela dit, maintenant que je vois ça un peu en rétrospective on était un peu un phénomène de cirque. C’est devenu frustrant à la longue. Durant les dernières années de Echo Kitty je réalisais que oui, certaines de nos pièces avaient une pointe d’humour mais qu’il y avait aussi des pièces plus sérieuses dans lesquelles je m’étais beaucoup impliqué au niveau émotionnel.

Oui on était conscient de notre côté burlesque et de la dimension de confrontation dans ce qu’on faisait mais à un certain point, il y a peut-être des gens qui ont un peu limité leur perception de Echo Kitty à ça. Vers la fin, je commençais à m’ennuyer du côté plus cérébral de ce que je faisais avant avec Arnaud Lazlaud, qui avait un côté pop aussi mais qui était peut-être plus introspectif et où le côté sombre était un peu moins voilé.

…Alors j’ai eu envie de quelque chose de plus équilibré… Vers 2006 j’ai vraiment senti le besoin de faire des changements et de repartir à neuf.

XWave – Pourquoi avoir passé du nom Arnaud Lazlaud à Echo Kitty pour finalement Automelodi?

Xavier – C’est pour plusieurs raisons à la fois et c’est un peu étrange. Arnaud Lazlaud était un projet que j’avais entrepris avant de déménager de Québec à Montréal vers la fin des années 90. J’ai commencé à travailler sur ça vers 96-97 et les enregistrements sont sortis en 98, 99 et 2000. À l’époque, il n’y avait pas Myspace et au niveau de l’Internet c’était peu développé. Je ne voyais pas, dans ce qui se faisait musicalement au Québec, avec quoi, ou avec qui je pouvais établir des liens. Pas de label ou quoi ce soit. Aussi j’avais assez peu de collaborateurs et je me sentais plutôt isolé dans ce que je faisais.

Je me souviens qu’à l’époque j’avais envoyé quelques démos en Suède. C’est drôle parce qu’avec le temps il y a eu un effet boomerang. La réception avait été assez positive quand même, je me souviens que quelqu’un faisait des soirées là bas qui étaient assez ouvertes aux styles new-wave, post punk et électro-pop. Il y avait une grosse scène électro-pop en Suède dans les années 90, avant même que les gens se mettent à utiliser des termes comme electroclash. À Göteborg surtout, il y avait vraiment une grosse scène. Donc mon geste était un peu comme tirer une bouteille à la mer, mais ça avait tout de même bien été reçu. Par contre, au niveau local, je me retrouvais vraiment coincé dans un sous-sol à ne pas trop savoir comment présenter ma musique.

En déménageant à Montréal j’ai rencontré des nouvelles personnes, notamment Serge et Sabio, avec qui je me suis mis à produire sous le nom d’Echo Kitty. Un peu plus tôt à Québec j’avais rencontré Jeff et Hans qui ont formé Chernobyl Cha Cha et aussi déménagé à Montréal par la suite. On avait donné ensemble quelques concerts à la limite “stunt” et un peu conceptuels sous le nom de Echo Kitty. Ce nom était un peu un clin d’œil à la culture Japonaise Kawai. J’ai dû penser à Hello Kitty en regardant ma Space Echo (chambre d’écho à ruban) et ça a donné Echo Kitty. …Enfin, c’est le genre de nom qui était un peu comme un clin d’œil absurde et ça collait bien à notre aspect burlesque des débuts, mais à la fin ça n’était plus très représentatif.

Echo Kitty est donc né à un moment où je n’avais pas fait de scène depuis longtemps et où je ressentais le besoin de confronter le public d’une certaine manière. Avec Serge et Sabio, nous étions assez passionnés, non seulement de ce qui était post-punk, new-wave et électro-pop, mais aussi du glam à la  David Bowie etc. On avait envie de monter sur scène et le côté provocateur nous amusait beaucoup là-dedans. Donc on s’est mis à monter des concerts à Montréal sous le nom de Echo Kitty.

En fait, nous sommes passés à deux doigts de continuer sous le nom d’Arnaud Lazlaud mais on voulait faire quelque chose d’un peu plus glam et extravagant au niveau de la scène. Étrangement, pour nous cette approche était presque un réflexe punk en réaction au contexte post-grunge fatigué et très “oatmeal” de l’époque. La fin des années 90 – début 2000, c’était très “brun-beige” à nos yeux …et puis au niveau de la musique électronique il y avait une certaine culture post-house dominante qui était devenue super embourgeoisée, avec des gens qui payaient hyper cher pour aller voir des shows de laptop donnés par des DJ qui se promenaient d’un ville à l’autre en jet privé. Ça n’avait plus du tout l’aspect underground et culturellement stimulant que ça avait pu avoir au début du mouvement rave de la fin des années 80, début 90. On avait donc vraiment envie de rentrer là dedans assez violemment, à notre façon.

XWave – D’où retiens-tu cet accent dans tes chansons? As-tu des origines étrangères, déjà vécu à l’étranger ou c’est plutôt pour la sonorité?

Xavier – C’est drôle mais je n’aime pas définir ça comme l’accent précis d’une certaine région. Oui, on peut dire que mon français sonne plus européen ou “Radio-Canadien”. Je crois qu’à moins d’être né (ou avoir vécu longtemps) à un endroit précis on ne peut pas nécessairement prétendre avoir un accent vraiment représentatif de cet endroit. Bref, il n’est pas vraiment question pour moi d’imiter les Français (ou les Belges, ou les Suisses Romands, etc.)

C’est plutôt, en effet, un choix musical (et sonore). En fait, ça a commencé avec mon premier groupe, vers l’âge de 15 ans quand je me suis mis à chanter. Au début, quand tu chantes dans un micro pour la première fois, tu sens devant toi comme un “écran de Saran Wrap (pellicule plastique) psychologique”, qu’il faut arriver à percer…et puis au départ évidemment, ayant passé ma jeune adolescence à écouter Joy Division, The Cure et d’autres trucs dans le genre, c’est clair que j’avais beaucoup d’influences anglophones, alors j’ai d’abord chanté en anglais.

J’avais aussi des influences francophones comme les premiers albums des Rita Mitsouko… pas nécessairement des trucs très obscurs mais du moins des choses que j’écoutais à la fin des années 80 alors que je n’avais pas encore accès à une grande collection de disques.  J’écoutais pas mal de groupes issus de cette vague new-wave française et qui avaient un peu flirté avec la pop. Il y a quand même des trucs qui ont bien vieilli là-dedans… Comme Alain Bashung, tiens, qui avait fait certains albums new-wave à la fois pop et sombres, avec beaucoup de sonorités électroniques. On parle très peu de cette époque de Bashung et c’est dommage. Il est plutôt généralement connu comme un chanteur pop-rock. Il est mort cette année, d’ailleurs (R.I.P.)

Enfin, je digresse un peu… je disais donc qu’en commençant à chanter, j’ai eu initialement le réflexe de chanter en anglais. Par contre, j’ai rapidement eu la sensation qu’il y avait quelque chose d’un peu absurde à devoir systématiquement traduire mes paroles et mes pensées. J’avais besoin d’être plus fidèle à mon écriture alors graduellement, je me suis mis à chanter en français. Évidemment, au début les paroles venaient carrément de mes premiers poèmes d’adolescent… J’avais 1-2 amis un peu nerds comme moi et on écrivait en s’inspirant de Beaudelaire, Voltaire et Rimbaud avec toute la prétention et la naïveté qu’on peut avoir à 14 ans. En même temps, je commençais aussi à m’intéresser à un style un peu plus “millésimé” de chanson française, comme Serge Gainsbourg , etc.

Donc, mon style vocal s’est développé assez spontanément, à la fois pour la sonorité et parce que ça fonctionnait mieux avec les vers que j’écrivais. Dès le premier jour où je me suis mis à chanter en français j’ai découvert que ça allait peut-être plus sonner comme Catherine Ringer au masculin que comme Hochelaga-Maisonneuve (quartier populaire de Montréal). Je ne crois pas non plus que ça soit une question de limiter un style de musique à certaines sonorités mais oui, à la limite on pourrait aussi demander pourquoi les chanteurs d’opéra apprennent presque systématiquement l’Italien ou l’Allemand. Chaque langue est en quelque sorte un instrument de musique et l’accent contribue fortement à définir la couleur sonore cet instrument. Il est donc clair pour moi que mon “accent” est essentiellement un choix musical. Ça ne veut pas dire que j’ai quelque chose contre ceux qui chantent en joual… il y en a qui le font très bien…j’ai juste choisi de mon côté d’utiliser un autre “instrument”, si je peux m’exprimer ainsi.

XWave – Est-ce que la musique occupe tout ton temps?

Xavier – En ce moment, oui. C’est pas très lucratif (!). J’ai eu jusqu’à cet été quelques contrats de production, mais récemment il y a eu certains développements qui favorisent un projet d’album alors je tiens à me concentrer pour faire avancer ça le plus possible. Sinon, je travaille un peu comme DJ, notamment pour ce soir, mais ma priorité, du moins pour les mois qui viennent, c’est d’essayer d’accélérer le processus qui a été entrepris avec le EP afin d’en faire un album. Je me retrouve avec un bagage encore un peu flou de 10 à 15 chansons et j’essaie d’aller chercher ce qu’il y a de mieux là dedans.

XWave – Qu’elles sont tes influences musicales?

Xavier – Il y en a trop!

XWave – Je crois que tu aimes beaucoup Elli et Jacno entre autre?

Xavier – Une des raisons qui font que je suis autant attaché à ce groupe, c’est que je crois qu’ils représentent plus d’une facette de mes goûts musicaux. Pour moi, Elli et Jacno faisaient un lien intéressant entre une sorte de légèreté yéyé 60′s et une certaine énergie punk, new-wave, ou presque “proto-new wave”, parce qu’ils ont quand même été parmi les premiers en France dans leur genre. Il faut savoir qu’avant Elli et Jacno, ils avaient aussi été dans les Stinky Toys, un des premiers groupes punk parisiens, de la vague 75-76. Ils étaient déjà là, à Paris, à faire des covers un peu bordéliques des Stooges, avant même que Malcom McLaren ne décide d’organiser le “premier festival punk” au 100 Club à Londres (où les Stinky Toys étaient d’ailleurs invités).

Bref, il y a toute une espèce de genèse qui tourne autour de Jacno. J’aime aussi beaucoup son style mélodique, je trouve qu’il avait une façon géniale de faire beaucoup avec peu.  Son minimalisme avait une puissance lyrique unique et intéressante.

XWave – Mais à part ça, qu’est-ce qui t’as aussi (sans nécessairement inspiré ta musique) inspiré dans la vie?

Xavier – Bon, évidement, il y a les clichés habituels du gamin de la fin des années 80 qui achète des cassettes avec son argent de camelot. Joy Division, etc. …Je me souviens aussi que quand j’habitais encore à Québec j’avais passé des années à chercher le premier album de Suicide… quand je l’ai enfin trouvé ça a été un évènement national. À l’époque il n’y avait pas de réédition en CD alors il fallait chercher les rares vinyles d’époque. Mais ça, c’est qu’un exemple, il y en a tellement…

Deutsch-Amerikanische Freundschaft, m’avait beaucoup marqué aussi. Bien sûr, c’est un des groupes les plus connus  de la vague Neue Deutsche Welle, mais c’est dans ce qui se trouvait de mieux  chez les disquaires de ma ville natale. DAF ont été assez déterminants dans ma façon de voir le rapport avec les instruments électroniques. J’aimais leur côté un peu nu, je sentais une certaine énergie brute, une sorte de tension émanant de leurs  pièces qui étaient presque toutes construites avec seulement la batterie, un synthé et la voix.

Il n’y a pas que ça mais c’est quelque chose qui m’a marqué.

XWave – As-tu un héros/héroïne?

Xavier – J’admire plusieurs personnes à gauche et à droite mais j’ai du mal à polariser. Marcello Mastroianni [rires]. C’était un acteur Italien.

XWave – Quel sont tes projets futurs?

Xavier – Je vois plutôt dans un futur rapproché… comme je me retrouve par défaut à être aussi le gérant d’Automelodi, je dois penser à trop de choses à la fois pour me permettre de lancer des idées super loin dans le futur, même si j’aimerais pouvoir le faire. Pour l’instant je vois plutôt les priorités, comme compléter l’album, par exemple.

Pour ce qui est de donner des concerts à l’étranger, ça a commencé un petit peu mais j’aimerais que ça puisse se développer plus. Évidemment à Montréal il y a quelques personnes qui aiment notre style musical, mais je suis conscient qu’Automelodi est tout de même quelque chose de spécialisé qui gagne à être exporté.

XWave – Je crois que tu n’as pas encore eu la chance de jouer en Europe?

Xavier – Non, mais je reçois de plus en plus de courriels à ce sujet de la part d’amis européens. Cela dit, pour y arriver je vais avoir besoin d’un certain support logistique et financier. Ça n’est pas quelque chose qui se fait sur un coup de tête, à moins de se faire offrir des garanties énormes. Même au niveau local, j’ai des vieux amis qui me demandent pourquoi je ne vais pas jouer à Québec plus souvent… j’aimerais bien mais il nous faut une certaine garantie. Pour aller à Québec sans nous ruiner, il nous faut au moins 200$…  Pour aller en Europe, ça prend les billets d’avions pour tout le monde, et il y a aussi l’hébergement, etc.

…Mais oui, ça me plairait. De plus en plus je crée des liens, je vois des endroits où le groupe pourrait jouer mais c’est de faire d’abord le “grand bond” vraiment, de foutre le groupe dans l’avion qui est stratégiquement lourd.

XWave – Aimerais-tu mentionner des artistes qui mériteraient plus d’attention sur la scène locale?

Xavier – Fade to Grey… c’est tout neuf mais j’espère qu’on va avoir l’occasion de les voir et les entendre plus.

Il y a Le Couleur dont j’ai mixé et co-produit le premier EP avec Dominique de Plaza Musique.

Il y a aussi Postcards, je trouve qu’il n’y a jamais assez de gens à leurs concerts. Ils font dans un style post punk un peu désincarné avec la voix perdue loin dans le reverb et j’adore ça

Velvet Chrome… J’aime beaucoup Velvet Chrome. C’est dans un genre plus noise, plus expérimental…on pourrait dire dans un style post-Throbbing Gristle.

Il y a aussi Sick Friend, que je viens de découvrir et avec qui on doit faire un concert le 12 septembre. J’ai été assez positivement surpris par l’originalité de leurs sonorités en écoutant leurs pièces.

Erleen Interview

XWave – Can you give me a quick history of your project since day 1?

Erleen – This particular project started about four years ago.  I was very interested in working solo, and I wanted to learn all the new technology available today for composing music, such as Cubase and Logic.  These programs give a person the ability to easily to create in depth and layered music completely independent of anyone else.   A good friend of mine, Bryan Erickson, of Velvet Acid Christ, worked with me, he built my computer- my music making machine, as it were, which I used for some time to compose the majority of my work.  Since then I’ve moved to California and performed for the likes of Don Bolles (formally of 45 Grave and The Germs) and I’ve opened for Gitane Demone (formally of Christian Death) to name a few.

XWave – Who’s composing the arrangements and who’s writing the lyrics?

Erleen – I’m doing both.  “Erleen” is essentially a “one woman band.”  I have a back up vocalist and guitarist (Jacqueline) who I use specifically for live performance, but when it comes to actually composing the music I do it all myself.

XWave – What instruments are you using for the electronic part?

Erleen – In the beginning I was using primarily Cubase and Reason (computer programs) in combination with my keyboard.  Although currently I am in the process of transitioning into Logic and Reason (more computer programs), its a taken some time because I’ve essentially had to re-learn everything, all of these computer programs are complex and take some time to get used to.  Although I have to say, the technology I’m using now makes Cubase seem archaic, I think my listers will find that my new material far surpasses my old work in sound quality.

XWave – Who have you been collaborating with?

Erleen – I have had several offers from other musicians to collaborate, but at the moment I am interested in only working solo.   So, to answer your question, right now- no one.  I find that I work the best on my own.  I have no inhibitions when I’m in my room alone trying to come with vocals or compose music.  In my room I feel free to sound, act, compose, etc. however I want.  It much more difficult to have that sort of freedom when your working with someone else.  Also, I find when I work with someone else there has to be a lot of compromise.  I don’t like compromise.  I want my music to sound exactly the way I envision it to be.

XWave – I’ve heard that you have been DJ’ing in the past. What type of music did you spin? Where at?

Erleen – Ahhh, yes I started out as “Dj Harlot” several years ago doing mostly deathrock/industrial club nights in Denver, Colorado.  When I moved to California I started Djing at a variety of night clubs and quickly grew in popularity as a Dj among the goth/industrial scene.  So I was Djin’g at several different clubs at once, including Sabbat and 80′s night in San Diego.

In addition to Dj’ing at clubs, I also co-hosted a radio show on 88.9 FM KUCI out of Irvine California.   Our show was called “Closed Caskets for the Living Impaired.”  I still co-host on that show from time to time. It airs every Saturday from 10pm – 12pm PST.

Right now I feel like its time for me to move past Dj’ing at clubs, I had been djing for so long, I just want to focus on writing music.

I will say though- one of my old club fliers, for a night I did called Subversion in Denver, was recently published in a book titled “The Art of Modern Rock” Edition 2 – Poster Girls.  …So there, I left my “Dj’ing” mark on the world.  Heh, heh.

XWave – Living in the United-States, are you going to vote in the upcomming election?

Erleen – Yes, I’ll be voting for the lesser of the two evils.  But I have to say, after Bush got elected, ehem… twice, I’m starting to believe the whole thing is rigged.

XWave – Who are your heroines/heroes?

Erleen – Nina Hagen, Danielle Dax, Elizabeth Fraser (of the Cocteau Twins), need I say more?…

XWave – Has anyone ever told you you look like looks like Christina Applegate from Married… with Children (when your hair is down of course)?

Erleen – Yes I have actually, I get that on a very rare occasion, when my hair is blond.

XWave – What are some of your favorite concerts you have saw?

Erleen – That’s a tough one… My first concert, ever, was Iggy Pop when I was 13 years old, I got to go on stage, and Iggy put his arm around me while he sang “The Passenger.”   Being a kid, that was pretty cool experience.

…I have to say Laibach put on an amazing show.  Nick Cave also left me with a lasting impression.  Oh, Oh… Erasure was one of my all time favorite live performances too.

Most recently, I went to see the Psychic TV, who put on a wonderful show, as well as 20th anniversary tour of My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult.  MLWTKK played all their old classics, and I have to say that was the best $10 I ever spent.  Really, I could go on and on, but I won’t bore you anymore with this…

XWave – Are you planning on touring anytime soon?

Erleen – My goal is to do some “mini-tours” here and there, over the next year.  But no definitive plans as of yet.

XWave – Have you been to Europe? If so, where did you go?

Erleen – I really want to go to Europe!  But no, I’ve never crossed the pond.  I’d like to do a tour there in the near distant future.

XWave – Are you planning to release new material any time soon?

Erleen – Yes, I have several things in the works right now that I will start to release over the next several months.  It’s going to blow away everything else I’ve released so far!

BUZZ Interview

XWave – Could you give a quick history of the band and line up changes since day one?

J-C – I’m afraid there have been too many to mention over the years, that was then but this is now, and no one really cares anymore now ; plus, it’s all on nordwaves.info anyway… Most of all, BUZZ was originally, and still is, a solo-project operating with various collaborators. All the lyrics and compositions are mine. Needless to say, singing in French wasn’t well accepted then around 1985-89 and using a rudimentary drum-machine even less so; so we did!

A good drum-machine sure is better than a bad drummer but the sight of a half-naked person sweating and grunting at the back of a stage does comfort a couple of perverts and voyeurs so we had an efficient drummer for a while around 1986 who was more into drumming than into BUZZ, adding silly jazz-breaks behind your back now and then, so that was it and he’s still out there searching for the blue note and conceiving beats that will keep you off dancing for the rest of your life. Most important of all BUZZ was a very flexible structure that could welcome any kind of line-up from an additional bass player to a guitarist, backing vocalists, dancers, strip-teasers (as in Madrid in 1988), and slides.

BUZZ supported Anne Clark twice, in Belgium and in Paris. The biggest shock was when we were introduced to her backstage and she opened up her suitcase and joyfully showed us the “See You Sioux” BUZZ demo-tape I’d sent her record company a couple of weeks earlier and that she was now listening to on end. Her asking about the project every time we’ve met
ever since was one of the reasons I re-launched it confidently last year… We also had a great time supporting Taxi-Girl, the Neon Judgement, Minimal Compact, label-mates The Grief, or Kiem and The Essence… BUZZ  ended its mischiefs in mid-1989 : it was then a steady nucleus of three but guitar-player Vincent suddenly packed it in, mostly because he was anxious to get a “proper” job. Bass player Sylvestre was rather disheartened and did likewise… by then the record company — Dancetaria — had almost dropped me, was using the money from our sales to produce other bands, wouldn’t re-press our 12″, wouldn’t fork out the money to finish the album (we’d paid for most of it but couldn’t afford to pay for the guitar-takes and the vocals), and wasn’t supporting us anymore because they thought we were too “commercial”. So I decided to er… pack it in ? … and start new projects. Teaming up the former Excés Nocturne guitar player, opting for a rockier approach under the name Sister Friction… lotsa gigs and festivals, lotsa projects — with the guys from La Muerte among others —lotsa line-up changes… until 1996… a nasty  accident , 10 days in a coma, and off music for a while for the obvious reason. I then got hold of softwares, worked on quieter numbers for a start, mostly dub, couldn’t find anyone serious to work with, couldn’t be bothered in fact, and finally decided to ressuscitate BUZZ. The feedback and responses have never been so enthusiastic and I insist on playing exclusively new versions of already-existing songs or totally brand new numbers, unwilling as I am to cash in on the past Sex Pistols-wise!!! This is BUZZ mk2.

My collaborator these days is Jean Sailly on keyboards, kaos-pad and ambient noises and I also work with Jim from the Traumabikini video-collective for the visual side as well as Philippe Delhaies; our sound–engineer being Mike Black, from the Unkle Fabrik team…

XWave – What happened with the other original members, what have they become?

J-C – Most of them are still alive — but not necessarily kicking — and have dropped music ages ago, around 1989 or 1993 mostly, to follow professional careers and become serious blokes with a family et al… We’ve don’t see much of each others anyway to be perfectly honest with you… but we seem to have buried the hatchet, which is good…  and had good laughs the last time we met remembering the “aulde daies of yore”… Sylvestre came to the Aliénord festival with Neon Electronics, Implant, T21 and BUZZ on October 7th at the Aéronef and thoroughly enjoyed our set.

XWave – Who worked with you on the 84-89 compilation?

J-C – Owing all the original studio tapes I collected, selected and planified the track-order. The live material we got from our former sound-engineer Bernard of Son DB. Then all this had to be remastered which was the job of Bruno Delemarle, a long-standing friend who didn’t feel like playing full-time in BUZZ but agreed to help remaster the original vinyl tracks and the so-far unreleased live and studio demos together with his mate Laurent Bergman, who remixed Visage’s “Fade to Grey” a couple of years ago…. Nordwaves webmaster Emmanuel helped me computerize my sleeve-designing. I had most of the ideas in my head but can do fuck all with a computer so he was very helpful…

When I met him again in March 2006 Daniel Darc, formerly of Taxi-Girl, agreed to let me release part of a bootleg from a 1986 gig in which, at the closure of our set and two encores he walks on stage to dedicate an improvised song to BUZZ… that features on the compilation CD as un-numbered bonus-track 18… needless to say I was really pleased…

XWave – How did you made up your mind to ressurect the BUZZ project 15 years later?

J-C – I guess I still had things to say, it was either that or shoot a couple of people… And our former sound-engineer once brought me a tape I’d never heard from a 1989 concert, recorded from the mixing-desk and I thought it wasn’t that bad and started pondering… then fellow musicians listened to it and thought it was “fucking good”… so I started reworking on some original tracks, 8 in all, the others I’ve dropped for the moment, but also wrote about 35 new ones in less than a year which I like even better. The funny thing is that there is no rupture between the two batches of songs… they come from the same brain-cells after all (or what’s left of them anyway !!!)

XWave – How come the song La Ville didn’t appear on the last compilation?

J-C – Well, simply because it’s a brand new track, boyo, so it had nothing to do there. I composed it in late 2005… The version you own is a final mix  by Jeff dsg and DJ UGLI. It features on the forthcoming “MOVEMENT ONE” compilation issued these days by Str8line, next to Charles de Goal, No Tears, Family of Pagans and many other French indie bands in the same vein, no hip-hop acts, no thanx…
My own version of the song will appear on the “Vaudou électrique” CD while the song has also been remixed by Bertrand Siffert, from the Young Gods, and it will be included to “Bougre de Sons !” which will exclusively contain remixes of BUZZ tracks by various musicians I’ve always respected immensely…

XWave – I heard lots remixes of your songs. Can you mention the latest ones that came out during last year?

J-C – The remixes were all made in 2006 incidentally, starting in February,  and some still have to come in, like LUC VAN ACKER’s or DANNY BRIOTTET’s, of RENEGADE SOUNDWAVE fame, whereas I have now received those of DAVID HARROW (aka JAMES HARDWAY) who also once worked with ANNE CLARK, as well as ALEC EMPIRE or LEE SCRATCH PERRY, GARY CLAIL or JAH WOBBLE, to name but a few… I’ve also got one from the aforementioned LAURENT BERGMAN, another by BERTRAND SIFFERT of the YOUNG GODS and LEN LEMEIRE from Belgian electro-hardcore band IMPLANT, and yet another by SEVERIN 24, formerly of GARLIC FROG DIET. BRUNO DELEMARLE should be bringing me one in the near future,  and so will JEAN SAILLY… and DJ UNKNOWN from New York’s EAST VILLAGE RADIO… That concerns lots of different songs, both vintage and new, and BUZZ also has two vocal collaborations via the Net with VERONICA VASICKA from 2VM and KIKA from Columbian band ATOMIC BRAINS…

XWave – It seems like you follow that DIY way of doing things religiously. Would you sign up a major label if you ever get an offer?

J-C – … depends… I don’t wanna lose control for a fistful of dollars!!!

I’m not making any money with BUZZ but at least there isn’t any swine or synthpop-svengali feeding off my back! Once bitten twice shy… I’ve learnt the lessons from the Dancetaria experience. They helped us greatly in the early stages but totally ripped us off and slagged us off in the later ones.

XWave – Who is your hottest female artist ever?

J-C – I’m not certain about that and it depends what you mean by “hottest” but you the runners-up include ANNE CLARK, LESLIE WINER, SIOUXSIE SIOUX, Dutch singer MATHILDE SANTIG, Fado singer AMALIA RODRIGUES, as well as Bossa-Nova star ASTRUD GILBERTO; book-wise I’d say ZADIE SMITH and FLANNERY O’CONNOR (not Sinead !)… There was a time when I was really into PATTI SMITH and then I saw her live around 2000 in Brussels and God did I get bored, from Punk godmother she’d turned to old hippie hag and apart from the “Piss Factory” intro I didn’t get what I was looking for… plenty of boy-scoutish campfire songs of the greatest interest and we almost ended up all chanting “‘Stop the War”, if not “Peace in Viet Nam”… that was embarrassing to be perfectly honest with you…

XWave – Who are your heroes/heroines?

J-C – General Moshe Daian, Chet Baker, WilliamBlake, Anne Frank, the Italian Futurists, Renegade Soundwave, my parents and grandparents, Thomas Coraghessan Boyle (met him in 1996), Adam and the Ants circa 1979 (I saw them then and never recovered), and Pedro el perrito feliz…

XWave – What would be your desert island number one record?

J-C – Tough one this one, Jérôme; it could well either be something by ADRIAN BORLAND or THE SOUND, The YOUNG GOD’s TV SKY, RENEGADE SOUNDWAVE’s Soundclash, CABARET VOLTAIRE or RICHARD H. KIRK’s solo work, some cool CHET BAKER stuff (“Let’s get lost” and the likes) or AMALIA RODRIGUES’s “Segredo”, makes me wanna cry every time I play  it… or MAX’s (Kevin Mooney’s band with Matthew Ashman) LP or… now that I come to think of it anything from Italian composer FRANCO BATTIATO… or yet again “La nau dels argonauts” by Pep Llopis, a Spanish composer from Valencia…

XWave - What is your best movie of all time?

J-C – It must be BRAZIL or that Russian film by Serguei Bundartchuk called — in Russian — “When storks fly by” — or something approaching; I also greatly enjoyed De La Iglesia’s ‘ACTION MUTANTE” (produced by Pedro Almodovar as far as I can remember) in a very different register though… and “THE DRAUGHTSMAN’s CONTRACT” by Peter GREENAWAY… To me, “MAGNOLIA” is brilliant stuff as well. And… since you ask… Wim Wenders, Ingmar Bergman, Doillon and Rohmer are pseudo-intellectual tossers, just like their Guru Roland Barthes. To me, their productions are a bloody waste of time and money and they should have been confiscated their cameras and prevented from filming long ago so that they should get back to grips with what real life is… and, yesss, I do believe Depardieu is a much over-rated feeble and hardly credible actor… and the French film industry is in a sorry state. I went for a lot of Ken Loach until he became some second-hand Michael Moore, another helpless twat.
Give me the Monthy Python any time !!!

XWave – Been living in France for now about 6 months, I had time to realize about the political issues going on right now. What are your future hopes for this beautiful country?

J-C – France is in its last throes, it’s a terminal case. We’re heading straight for civil war — say, before ten years — and then we’ll call Uncle Sam for help as we always do… it will take longuer to start than in The Lebanon or the former Yugoslavia but we’ll get it all the same, and just as bad…

France is a nation of loud-mouthed infa(r)tuated cowards… they know fuck all about the outside world but — hey, look! — we’ve brought the world that Jean-Jacques Rousseau loony and le Camembert !!! and the country has been going to the dogs for the last 20 years or so, well 25 actually since Mitterrand and his gang got elected way back in 1981… I know, since I voted for him… God was I gullible !!!

Mind you, I still feel very European as I did in 1985-89, singing in French but also in Italian, Russian  and Spanish… I’d much rather move to Portugal, speaking a bit of the language helps, where the vibe is much more positive and the country is still preserved and authentic ; just like Italy and Spain were 20 and 10 years ago and now they’ve been kind of contaminated and are bound for the same fate and downfall…

France is an example of what shouldn’t be done education-wise, immigration-wise and culture-wise; it’s lost all sense of direction, hijacked as it is by various pressure-groups, active minorities, lobbies and a despicable politically correct attitude inhereted from the Socialist years.

The last anti-CPE strikes and university blockades — you must have heard of that being in Paris for a while now — last Spring in France were good proof that the so-called left-wing is a bunch of proto-Red Khmer fascists and would-be dictators. Two of my new songs deal with that : one is called “Nouvelle pensée unique”, implying that if they were given power they’d be no better than Bush and his clique  and they’d all line us up against the wall if they could have their say .  The other is “Le nazi en dreadlocks” vilipending altermondialist do-gooders ; they’re the new 21st century Jesuits wanting to convert the whole planet, their icons are Che Guevara, Manu Chao and Bob Marley, they think it’s become fashionable to  hate the Jews and Israel while supporting Ezbollah and Palestine: it’s oh so trendy ; just like systematically opposing the Americans and advocating that Michael Moore is the new messiah while Tony Blair is “Bush’s poodle”… They rave about democracy but the only form of action they could come up with when on strike was oppressing their fellow-citizens from day one : by blocking trains and occupying universities and preventing other people from studying or working for 2 bleeding months instead of making efforts to gain their sympathies, and if you disagree in the slightest that means to them that you’re “against them” and must be eliminated, so much for credibility and democracy. There are some countries in which people would fight and die to have the right to education and the first thing these goatee-bearded brainless gits on government grants have managed to do is divide the country. To top it all they’ve also indirectly been feeding the interests of a now stronger extreme right-wing party. I’m shit-scared for the next presidential elections now that the shadow of Le Pen is looming large over the country… A beautiful country  it sure was, once… but not anymore my lad. Just walk down our streets and you’ll enjoy the tension.

On a more international level, the general attitude in France is one of pure cowardice. It has now become a national sport and that’s the only the very reason why Al’ Quaida bombs haven’t started blowing up here as they have in Madrid and London… simply because we do not scare anyone anymore and are ripe for invasion and submission. We never confront reality but would much rather talk and talk and talk about it, negociate and compromise. And some of us do think that compromise will preserve us and it won’t, it will only make us weaker and more isolated… and I don’t want to be part of that. Oh no, sorry sireee, I’m not politically correct and I can think for myself.

XWave – Are  there any local bands out there you’d like to point out?

J-C – Now that I’m a regular myspace  addict I’d hotly recommend MACH FOX from Minneapolis, 2VM from New York, BANISTER and DEADBOY from Lisbon, GARY ASQUITH’s and KEVIN MOONEY’s new project THE LAVENDER PILL MOB, with some extra help from ANDREW GRAY of the WOLFGANG PRESS. BLUE SUN I discovered on myspace and greatly enjoyed… and, locally, fellow-Lille denizens BIRTHDAY PONEY — a crossover between MC5 and Oasis —, UNDOO, and the mythical GUERRE FROIDE who’re back as well with both vintage, revisited and brand new tracks… something well worth checking out…

XWave – Any  european tour for BUZZ coming anytime soon?

J-C – Not that I know of yet… but there’ll be a couple of maverick raidings of various European towns planned in the future according to the contacts we’ve got there… but we’re gonna concentrate on the release of “Vaudou électrique” and “Bougres de sons !” right now… BUZZ’ll get back to Lisbon next Summer, there’s also Germany  in the Spring, a couple of dates in Belgium and France now and again… and I’d love to do the Eastern Countries… VERONICA VASICKA might be able to get us something in the US sometime next year… I’m more into one-off gigs and concerts when you actually meet people and get the feeling of their city for a couple of days at least instead of rushing off to the next one…  that’s what I did in Madrid in 1986, preparing the gig at the YA’STA with local artists for a whole week before playing there… and that’s what I did in Lisbon last September… and that was great.

BUZZ  on MySpace

ADULT. Interview

XWave – It’s pretty unusual to see a couple forming a band. How and when did it start?

ADULT. – We started writing music together in 1997. We wanted to start a band that
people would have extreme reactions to, like of either love or hate. We felt
that techno, house, etc. had become mainstream. Every TV commercial and even
the BBC news used electronica. And we felt that most indie rock was based
either too much in hard rock or folk at that time for our tastes. We wanted
to make something with passion that made people listen because it was
different, even if they didn’t like it.

We think there are a lot of benefits to being a couple and in a band
together. When we want to work on music, we don’t have to schedule band
practice, so if we feel like working on a song at midnight, we can just do
it. And when we go on tour we get to see the world together, it is very,
very nice. And yes, we do talk about work all the time, but we love our
work. It is nicer than 2 people who hate their jobs and they come home from
their separate jobs and complain about how much they hate their jobs, eat
dinner and then watch TV because they have nothing else interesting to say.

XWave – What is the significance of your name?

ADULT. – It was a reaction to the way MTV culture makes anything young “cool” – so we
thought ADULT. would be the most un-cool name we could think of, because it
was the opposite of YOUTH.

XWave – Tell me a little about the scene in Detroit and the area.

ADULT. – It’s a horrible place to visit, but a great place to live!

XWave – I’ve read that you are now working on a new album. How do you feel the band is now evolving?

ADULT. – We feel like we are finally getting to the sound we want and have been
working towards.  We have put less limitations on ourselves from in the
past.  It’s too the point were anything goes.

XWave – I saw that you started your own label, ERSATZ AUDIO. Can you discuss this DIY work that the band seems to do successfully.

ADULT. – We started Ersatz Audio in 1995.  We are very into controlling everything
that happens with the label and our band Adult.  I think the only reason we
are somewhat successful at what we do is because we work ALL the time!

XWave – You’ve been the first electro band to give me the same feeling as angry punk rock. Do you have any punk influence? Into what kind of music did you grew up?

ADULT. – We do have those feelings.  We just use different gear than a typical “punk”
band.

Both of use grew up on punk/new wave/straight edge.  And our tastes really
haven’t change too much over the years.

XWave – Not to bother you with political shit but how does it feel to live in the states today?

ADULT. – Irritating and somewhat scary that the “narrow” majority of the population voted for Bush.

XWave – Who are your  heroines/heroes?

NMK: Jello Biafra, Cosey Fanni Tutti, Lux Interior, Helmut Newton, Alfred
Hitchcock
ALM: David Bowie, Lydia Lunch, George A. Romero, Bettina Richards

XWave – What music have you been listening to lastly?

ADULT. – Ours – because we’re working on our album for the past 2 months so we don’t
listen to much else.

XWave – What are your best bands/albums ever?

ADULT. – Devo “Freedom of Choice”, PIL “Second Edition”, The Cramps “Bad Music for Bad People”

XWave – When are you planning to make a tour? Do you plan to come in Canada?

ADULT. – We will be in Toronto on May 5th.  Hopefully we will tour more extensively
in the fall.

ADULT. Website