An excerpt of this interview appeared in Assume Power
Focus issue #4, and the full version will appear in issue #7.
How long have you been involved with the industrial
/ power electronics / noise / freak music scene?
As a listener of this music an origin would be
my purchase of: "Industrial Records Story" V/A Lp in Tampa, FL,
1986. It has all the heavy hitters, TG, SPK, Cabaret Voltaire, Cazazza,
& other lesser known artists, i.e. Elizabeth Welch, Dorothy, Rental/Leer.
But it goes back even further to my punk rock / new wave / hardcore days
when I listened to bands / personalities such as Gary Numan, The Flying
Lizards ("Money"), UHoavox ("The Thin Wall"), or even
Mission of Burma (Martin Swopes tape manipulation has always been a great
influence.) Suicides record on ZE was a godsend of sorts. Purchased for
$3.99 in a cutout bin at Music Factory in the good ol' Staten Island Mall.
As someone who produces sounds (I don't dare say musician / performer!)...
Towards the end of '88 I did tape manipulation / reel to reel / prerecorded
ambient sounds and synths for an alternative / experimental band: Beg For
Eden. A true output of pure noise didn't happen until Final Solution formed
towards the end of 1989. Intentionally modeled on Whitehouse, Grey Wolves,
Con-dom. So that's about 17 years as a listener, and 10 years in bands.
Far too long to be considered normal. A word of advice to your readers:
"Don't do it!" or "Just say no!"
How do think your relationship to the scene has changed
since you've initially became part of it?
I don't think I'm part of a scene really. I'm just
a screwed up individual who listens to what he likes. If it is a scene it's
not like the "punk rawk" scene where you can at least get drunk
and/or laid. Definitely drunk, in my case. It's only a small group of individuals/bands:
Slogun, Woe Is Me, Mangled Clit, Hydra in New York, and a handfull of other
bands from the U.S. If anybody was responsible for a scene, it was Mark
from Intrinsic Action / Bloodyminded! He put on good showcases for local
groups, and other notable talents from Japan and Europe, such as: Atrax
Morgue, Killer Bug, SShe Retina Stimulants. Unfortunately a lot of elitist
assholes couldn't see the point of listening to anything with a trace of
rock / metal. It was beneath them to see the connection between, say, SShe
Retina Stimulants & Luigi Nono, or Deathpile and Suicide, or Atrax Morgue
and M.B. Needless to say attendance at these shows could have been better.
Why do you do what you do? By this I mean, what do you
hope to actualize through the creative process of Hydra?
I do, and listen to this music simply because I
enjoy it. It's fun. That's all. What I hope to "actualize" as
you put it is simply ideas which I hope are an extension of the work done
by people I admire. Taint, Death Squad, Ingula Thor, are some of the others
using their interests in strong subject matter as a means to extend the
concept of sound. There are others, and they know who they are.
What has Hydra released? How much of it is still availible?
A split C-30 with Death Squad, out of print, a
C-60 called "Power" on Bloodlust! almost o.o.p. A soon to be released
C-4 in a 4 C-4 set called C-4 Explosives. A single track on the V/A CD "The
Sound of Sadism," as yet unavailable. Thats it. Also, Hydra is currently
working on a 7" record for Xu Recordings of Italy.
How do you feel about the rather prolific release rate
of most other noise bands?
I feel that the sense of quality is abysmal. In
theory I like the idea of creating audio garbage. The Haters have taken
this concept very far. But at the same time it makes a fool of the consumer.
Which is why I only listen to a few selected groups. It puts a collector
in a catch-22 because they are always trying to keep up with every release
out there. Its impossible to listen to this number of releases, and be influenced
in any profound way. Somebody like Merzbow, or even Cock ESP (I realize
its an exercise in absurdity) are at the point where they should simply
be a concept, or a theory. To turn it into a business is a joke. It becomes
on big circle jerk, which is OK if thats what gets you off. Personally I
think it's better to pace releases. This idea of soliciting is bullshit.
If you're not invited to do it, release it yourself. It's tacky to send
a complete recording with packaging to a label and then have to balls to
ask them to release it. If you're so desperate to put something out: D.I.Y.!
Don'tbecome obsessed with building a resume. Thats for serious artistes.
(Sarcasm intended) Not noise freaks. On a positive note, the Japanese, although
productive, keep the quality high. U.S. artists are realistically rebelling
against Japanese gloss by keeping the packaging much more raw. "Hunting
For Tounge" by Taint is a good example.
How did you hook up with Death Squad?
I first connected with Mike in 1991. He traded
some Misfits material for Whitehouse with EJ (the lead singer of Final Solution).
This led to his offering to release a Final Solution tape, (which was never
released). I soon visited San Fransisco, which led to a very long and interesting
correspondence, which continues to this day. Definitely one of the good
guys. Sick, but good.
There is a tour in the works, care to discuss?
We're currently toying with the idea of a Death
Squad / Hydra / Chapter 23 tour of Europe. It's our way of celebrating the
march of destruction towards the end of the millenium. A cheerfull all-star
salute to 2000.
How do you feel about the tradition of "extreme"
imagery in noise which has often involved morally ambiguous use of Nazism,
serial killers and the like, as well as the rampant misogynist element in
much of power electronics (like pretty much everything Whitehouse has done),
and evolved into the glorification of depravity (Deathpile, for example),
or the proclaimed social darwinism / Nazism of popular bands like Boyd Rice/NON?
I have mixed feelings at this point. It is a tradition,
but it's a tradition that's valid because its a forceful rejection and magnification
of the current pop music scene. Noise is an intense culmination of many
different music scenes. As a participant I find it fun to use the imagery.
But as a consumer I find it boring, because sometimes it's used improperly.
I mean that in an aesthetic sense.
I have a hard time labeling artists (ie Boyd Rice, Whitehouse) as right
or wrong, bad or good, right or left. If you don't like it don't buy it,
or don't listen to it. To think that you're (or anybody) is being an activist
promoting the proper political agenda by rejecting the above groups, shows
me that the individual or group has a very small, limited, microcosmic view
of life. It goes back to older arguements like Crass vs. Skrewdriver. They
both are just equally valid, they're just opposite sides of the same coin.
You could like both, and not be a petrol bomber or a brownshirt. The other
thing is to communicate & learn, don't become (unsure of the what was
writen here - Anthony). Peace, man.
(Later) An extension of my answer, a lot of this imagery that is extreme
is used in a fetishistic / fantasy / libertine fashion. Very rarely if at
all does a participant in this scene ever align themselves with a political
movement of any kind. For the most part, its just individuals taking an
interest and sucking out what they feel can be used as material in their
project. That is they use what is most compelling.
If these people (groups) belong to political groups (which I think they
don't) (althought Boyd Rice was the founder of an American Nazi organization-ed.),
they're not going to realistically be able to form a connection between
the group they endorse and their creative output. It's just not gonna happen.
And if it does, their political beliefs are of such an individual / personal
nature. It might not even seem relevant to the listener. They'll probably
just be indifferent to it, and think the artist is a nutcase.
There is a hysterical reaction of sorts which comes from the right but is
disguised as left wing PCism. That is labelism. If someone steals, or rapes,
or kills, or votes incorrectly, we label that person. If you eat the wrong
thing, you get labeled. If you wear something, you get labeled. And unfortunately,
it's a gross generalization. One act gets you branded for life if someone
doesn't agree with what you did. This answer is way too long, I should get
a life.
The roots of industrial lie in the arts, like Throbbing
Gristle's formation by four performance artists. What relationship do you
feel that the scene has with the arts these days?
I think that the arts are closely linked with noise.
Unfortunately (or not) a lot of noise groups don't usually want to discuss
it for fear of seeming too soft. They'd rather say they killed somebody
last week than admiting to admiring an artist. But a lot of noise projects
are presented like art, i.e.: limited numbered editions, focused graphics,
packaging, etc. There's a game going on as to who is heavier than the next
guy. So I guess who ever winds up in jail, or killed, wins. Hopefully, they
get killed.
What art movements are you most interested in?
I'm interested in a lot of art movements; and I
still like groups like the Dadaists, Surrealists, Soviet Konstraktivism,
Supremists, Futurists, performance artists (early 60's to 70's), body artists
(Chris Burden), action artists. For the most part, 20th century movements.
But underground film is equally if not more important. If it seems pretentious,
I don't care. These interests are just the tip of the iceburg.
This interview, being conducted by mail, is still in
progress. In the mean time you can reach Greg at:
HYDRA
690 Castleton Ave. 4B
SI, NY
10310 |
