Chaos Control issue #4

Subject: Chaos4.ChemLab

      The name Chem Lab has been floating around for some time now as the
next big electronic band. Unfortunately, their music hasn't been the easiest
thing to find and  didn't reach all of the potential listeners. But now the
group has improved distribution and  released their first full-length album,
"Burn Out At The Hydrogen Bar." Chem Lab performed extensively this past
summer to support the LP, and prior the tour's second date (at Cambridge's
Manray) took the time to talk about the group.
    Chem Lab had its beginning three and a half years ago. The core of the
group is comprised of Jared Hendrickson and Dylan More, filled out by a group
of musicians that has rotated more than the duo would like. Dylan originally
started up the first version of the band and found Jared by asking around for
a vocalist.  He had been doing more soundtrack oriented music before starting
up Chem Lab and says that the music got more aggressive after Jared came on
board.
     The debut EP, "Ten Ton Pressure", came on Fifth Colvmn in 1991 and got
Chem Lab recognized as one of the most promising new electronic bands,
despite the fact that poor distribution made it very difficult to find. The
group was able to showcase themselves to large audiences by supporting Nine
Inch Nails at the request of Trent Reznor.
     "It took of, comparatively, for a completely unknown band on a
completely unknown label that had nobody working for it and no organization
and just had money to throw around, it was amazing that it sold 10,000
copies," says Jared on the EP, adding that he became General Manager of Fifth
Colvmn to help out with the organization.
     Small pieces of that first EP appear on the new album in the form of
"sutres", sound collages  that connect some of the tracks. The group took a
vinyl copy of "Ten Ton Pressure," recorded small segments with various
scratch effects and ran it through a harmonizer.
    "Burn Out At The Hydrogen Bar" was recorded last summer and released
earlier this year. Chem Lab originally intended to put the album out in
October or November of last year but wanted to first solidify a better
distribution deal. They wanted to go through Relativity but Fifth Colvmn was
too small of a label, so they ended up going through Metal Blade to get to
the distributor. It took the group a year and a half to actually get into the
studio to record it, but Chem Lab feel that this made the end result even
better.
     "The material matured and had we done in at the original time it
wouldn't have been nearly as strong," says Jared.  "There's a lot more
frustration that went into it and personal self-destruction we were going
through and surrounded with was an inspiration."
     Finding a steady line-up for live shows has been tough for Chem Lab,
especially when it comes to drummers. A live drummer is one of the more
important, and difficult elements Jared and Dylan have had to contend with.
     "You've got to be a really good drummer to play along with the backing
tracks and if you're not it's going to be because what we're trying to do
really is to pit two major forces against each other; the strict digital
draconian precision of the computer that shows no mercy whatsoever and the
chaos embodied by the guitar, the rock chaos," says Jared. "Putting those
together is what creates, I think, a tremendous dynamic quality. But as a
drummer, if you're not right on with the backing tracks you're going to be
flailing, people are going to notice."
    Chem Lab use ADATs to supply the additional keyboard and percussion parts
heard in the background of the lives shows. Those, along with a click track,
are put  through the monitors so that the band can follow along. Most of the
sound, however, comes from the live keyboard, percussion and guitars.
    "It's a pain being slaves to a machine," says Jared on the use of backing
tape. "And I'm sure that all the other bands that play this kind of music
will tell you. But it's going to be a while before we can come forward,
financially, to get away from that. Each time we go out, we're getting
farther and farther away from it. A lot of the bigger bands that do this kind
of music have more elaborate systems, we'll reach that stage."
    When going into the studio to record "Burn Out At The Hydrogen Bar," Chem
Lab set out to add more live elements to the music. But adding live guitars
was done more for a better sound than an easier adaption to the live setting.

     "The difference is you're in a studio for a month and can do whatever
you want, but remembering how you did everything is a different story," says
Jared. "It's a weird thing because once you're in the writing process, you're
going to run with the ball regardless of what goes on. If there's something
that's really moving you you're not gonna think about 'oh, I ought to head
this in another direction because it's not gonna be good live or it's not
going to work in the studio. You've just gotta led it ride, flow with it."
     Chem Lab have many ideas for future sounds they would like to experiment
with. They would like to deconstruct the overly perfect electronic sound
prevalent in todays music, possible trying out raw, low-fi sounds, cold,
technical compositions and even incorporating more blues elements into the
music. Jared and Dylan don't see their group as an "industrial band," even
though that label is often applied to them.
    "In terms of what's going on on stage, to me it's much more akin to an
updated version of Iggy of the Stooges. I'm not trying to categorize what's
going on. If other people want to call it something, that's fine. But once
you label something, you know what it is. When you know what it is, you can
see it. When you can see it, you can sight it with a target. When you sight
it with a target, you can s
hoot it and it's dead. A moving target is a lot harder to hit."


From rsgour@aol.com Fri Oct 29 01:40:09 1993
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Date: Fri, 29 Oct 93 00:15:03 EDT
Subject: Chaos4.DigitalPoodle

>From the forthcoming 
For Crying Out Loud issue #4
by Bobby Silver


Assembled in the late eighties as first the lone project of Mouth 392(Heiki
Sillaste)  Digital Poodle later enlisted the aid of Pupka Frey (Jean-Claude
Cutz) &  Redukt (Dave Faris ), thus gradually expanding  their ground from
industrial experimentations to the mighty wave of hard-beated elektro.
Encompassing the keys to mass appeal, Digital Poodle churn their rigid
formula of sheer energy  with expressive power unlocking  the temple of
elektronic purification. As Digital Poodle now prepare to release two CD's
simultaneously, Heiki Sillaste  describes the technical process to Digital
Poodle's  inescapable presence to the elektro realm.

How would you summarize the history of Digital  Poodle?
   
Digital Poodle began as a solo project for myself in late 1987. Using
available equipment, a few keyboards, a primitive drum-machine and various
tape machines. I began piecing together "songs" or sound pieces, which
eventually were released on the first D.P. cassette "....Pay Attention".
    Between 1987 and 1990, a total of five D.P. cassettes were released on
our own Shadow Canada label. These tapes were distributed worldwide through
the tape trading network, as well as at local concerts.
    Since 1991, we have been releasing music in the CD format exclusively.
The band line-up has also expanded to a five piece for live concerts.

Since the beginning of Digital Poodle, the conceptualized visions have
changed along the years?
   
Yes, quite definitely! The first few Digital poodle cassettes were more sound
experiments, while trying to establish some sort of clearer vision. By the
time our last two cassettes, 'Live Death' and 'Baltic Work Force!' were
released, the music had become predominantly  rhythm oriented and lyrically,
the themes became more focused. Since my ethnic background is Estonian, many
of the concepts centered around the illegal annexation of the Estonian state
by the U.S.S.R.  during the Second World War. These themes carried through to
the first D.P. compact disc 'Soul Crush', and the subsequent German only
'Work Terminal' remix album.
     Our 'Elektronik Espionage' CD5 and the new 'Division!' album
thematically deal with the break up of the Soviet Union and especially the
new found freedom in the Baltic States.

Have there been frustrations going along as a group or for you individually
as an artist?
   
Frustrations...Well they've been fewer than the accomplishments and the
rewards gained. It is somewhat frustrating not being able to record new
material regularly, but we all have our outside careers to occupy our time. A
lot of the material that we record is scrapped...I've got a strong aversion
to repeating ideas or structures that we've previously used in a track.
     
Due to the advent of two new albums about to be released simultaneously, what
can you relate about them?
     
I guess releasing two albums around the same time has been sort of a rock and
roll fantasy of mine... It's a very 70's bozo-rock, Kiss kind of thing to do!
     'Division!' is the 'main' album, continuing our explorations of hard
beat disko beat structures. 'Noisea', the second album, is all instrumental
music, quite self-indulgent for the most part, I guess.

What brought on the idea of doing two albums with separate musical concepts?
     
Due to the large amount of music that we've recorded, as well as the wide
diversity of music that we listen to! Actually, Gerald Belanger, the
president of our main label, DOVe (Death Of Vinyl), suggested re-releasing
some of our older cassettes in CD format. After listening to much of the
older material, it was decided that many of the noisier tracks could work
well together compiled onto one disc, hence 'Noisea'. Hey, if Controlled
Bleeding can release seven albums of completely diverse music, so can we!

Do you think that someone listening to both albums would get a general sense
of what both genres Digital Poodle present forth are about?
   
Well, a pretty good idea, I suppose. We've began branching out into other
types of 'sounds'  as well. 'Ninja Tune U.K. , a label run by 'Coldcut' will
be releasing a 12" e.p. by us entitled 'Crack', featuring  a twenty-odd
minute acid-trance piece.
     Digital Poodle have always explored the possibilities of combing tekno
house rhythms with hard-industrial dance. We did it with 'Free Men' on the
'Soul Crush' album, "Solid State" on the 'Work Terminal' CD and with "Red
Star" on the 'Espionage' e.p. Maybe the only difference with 'Crack' and
several newer pieces that we've been working on , is that we've thrown out a
lot of the cliched  "dog brained" industrial motifs, and concentrated more on
pure trance-inducing rhythms.

How long has the recording process been for these albums?
   
While  developing new systems, exploring new structures and learning to use
new equipment, the 'Division!' recording took almost a full year to complete.
We released the 'Espionage e.p. to break up the long break between our last
album.

How do you feel about the more electronic aspects of Digital Poodle's music
these days? Are you coming up with any new edges or angles?
     
We've employed a lot more sampling in our music and in fact, the entire new
album is recorded in a virtual digital environment. None of the music hit
traditional analogue tape. All of the music, including the vocals , were
sliced, diced and edited on a digital hard drive system, existing only as
data on a computer screen.
       A couple of the tracks employ 'guitar-type' sounds, mostly generated
by distorting the  fuck out of old analogue gear. Too many bands, and it
seems mainly American ones, have taken the safe route of producing
Ministry-like guitar rock, while ending up sounding like second rate Def
Leppard party rock. Send them back to the adolescent suburban basement party!
The year is 1993, not 1974!

What would be your expectations for these albums?
     
Well we're negotiating a U.S. deal at the moment, so that the albums will
receive better North American  coverage. Look for Digital Poodle in your
local K-Mart. The Europeans are only now seeing the release of the
'Espionage' e.p. to closer coincide with the release of the new albums.
Hyperium Records will be pressing for most of Europe, and Ninja Tune will be
releasing for the U.K....on vinyl too! Obviously we'd like for more people to
hear the music!

Is Digital Poodle looking to a tour in support of the albums?  Whats a
representative Digital Poodle performance like on stage?
     
The Digital Poodle live shows are far removed from the studio setting. We
hardly, if ever rehearse for live gigs, preferring to keep each show somewhat
spontaneous and different from the last. As I mentioned earlier, we employ
two live drummers so the shows are quite high in adrenaline levels.
       We've been talking of doing a limited tour in support of the new
discs. We are not the type of people who would undertake anything longer than
that really. Only the major cities in Canada and the U.S.

Aside from Digital Poodle, numerous other projects have been develop from
collaborations and individually such as Din & Parade. Could you update these
projects and any further new projects? 
     
Din is the solo disko-fantasy project of Pupka Frey. The new album is pretty
much complete, and is awaiting final mixes. Musically, it doesn't stray too
far off from the debut CD 'Fantastic Planet'. A four track 12" is out in the
U.K., featuring the brand new  tracks "Mellon Balls" And "Water Sports".
Parade is not a side-project, but a completely separate band from Digital
Poodle. Their CD 'Icarus' was released a few months back and I believe is in
it's third pressing now. Under the Command Co. name, which is a collaboration
between myself and the members of Mona Lisa Mescaline, we'll be releasing  a
12" single in Europe, as well as appearing on several compilation CD's as
well...

You also run you own label 'Shadow Canada'. Tell us about that & what the
future looks like for the label?
     
Shadow Canada has slowed down it's role as a label, though the occasional
release will continue to appear, when appropriate. Over the years we put out
thirty two full-length cassettes of predominantly
electronic-ambient-industrial music, as well as three twelve inch singles.
Dave Faris, of the band Parade, has compiled a new tape of instrumental/
industrial soundtracks, featuring musicians from around the world. D.P.'s
live drummer Kris, will be releasing a tape of his ambient-house material
under the name 'Trafalgar Project' soon. For the most part, I feel that the
tape trading scene has stagnated somewhat in the last few years. The initial
excitement is gone. The entire 'Shadow' back catalogue is still available via
mail order.

What types of music & bands do you generally listen to when your not  in the
process of making your own music?
     
Lately I've been listening to a lot of the new acid-trance of C.J. Bolland,
Sven Vath, Source and Underground Resistance. The new Numb album is quite
amazing...very brutal.

There does seem to be a good number of electro realmed bands up & around
Canada? Am I correct or does it just seem like there more happening then
there really is?
        It does seem so doesn't it... Toronto, where we are based in, has
it's fair share of groups who have releases on various labels. Dogpile and
Masochistic Religion are both signed to KK records. Malhavoc are on Metal
Blade in the U.S.  !Bang Elektronika are on DOVe as well...
        I can see why there are more electro groups from Canada, since we
have always had a strong European influence, as well as the American one.
Alot of the early new wave/alternative groups found popularity in Canada LONG
before they were ever noticed in the U.S. The States have always been far
more rock influenced. It definitely reflects in a lot of the 'cock-rock' U.S.
industrial type groups.

Now how do you foresee the future for Digital Poodle? where would you like to
go?
       
Well, in the near future, we will be recording some new tracks for a
mini-album. We're going to try some songs with the full live band, including
our two drummers. Something along the lines of early D.A.F. or Die Krupps,
where 'live' percussion is integrated with programmed sequences. As long as
we continue releasing new products on a semi-regular basis, I'm satisfied...

What's  been  your reaction to the success of Digital poodle? Did you ever
expect to be known world wide as one of the premier electro generated bands?
       
Well no, not really, but since the beginning we immediately thrust ourselves
and our music into the global network. Digital Poodle will always continue to
retain elektronik purity...
 
Contact: Shadow Canada, 5 Admiral Road, Toronto, Ontario, M5R 2L4 Fax:
416-923-8989
              DOVe Inc., 2 Bloor St. W., Suite 100-159, Toronto, Ontario, M4W
3E2   Tel:416-533-7887


From rsgour@aol.com Tue Oct 26 23:54:00 1993
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Date: Tue, 26 Oct 93 18:51:02 EDT
Subject: Chaos4.EBN

    With their off-beat sense of humor and elaborate multimedia stage show,
Providence's Emergency Broadcast Network can truly be called one of the most
innovative new bands anywhere. The group, formed by RISD graduates Josh
Pearson and Gardner Post, uses a collection of 500+ hours of video taped off
the television to create compositions with equal emphasis put on the music
and visuals. EBN scan the airwaves and splice together what catches their
interest, bouncing things off one another and turning it into a song.
      One of EBN's clips, their George Bush "We Will Rock You" video,
attracted the attention of U2, who used it to open their "ZOO TV" tour. U2
also used another one of their compositions, the Dan Quayle "Watch TV" video
and hired EBN to do a clip for their song "Numb" (included on their new home
video collection).
       Pearson and Post had been working together on installation art and
started up EBN about two years ago. The duo quickly made a name for
themselves with their off-beat , high tech performances. At their shows, they
use a replica of the presidential podium as the focal point. This
contraption, which dates back to their days doing installation art, has video
screens on each side which flip up to reveal banks of lights. The whole
device, which front man Pearson stands upon, rotates around and is
accompanied by larger video screens.
     EBN is currently rounded out by a third member, Ron O'Donnell. A club DJ
in Providence, O'Donnell helps select the audio samples used in the music and
is EBN's resident DJ for the live shows.
     EBN's audio/visual compositions are made by creatively splicing together
sound bites from a wide variety of sources. The duo works in their home
studio, where a massive wall of video cassettes provides them with the raw
material they use.
     "We catalogue all the footage, we have 500 hours that we catalogued by
tape number and counter number and once we catalogue a tape, we find certain
things that catch our attention and sample audio and then construct the
music," explains Pearson. "We lay the music on a video tape, finished song,
and edit all of the visuals back into place. So it's kind of a painstaking,
round about process, which hopefully will be eliminated in the next few years
as digital desktop editing becomes more widely available, higher quality and
lower priced."
     Although the current $30-40,000 price tag is out of their range, the
group did get to use digital systems when they went to Ireland to work with
U2. Post explains that with the faster chips and other technical innovations
happening now, the field is about to advance to the next level and it will
only be a matter of a few years before EBN get their own digital editing
system.
      Another realm that EBN are getting involved with is CD ROM. They are
working on a project that will allow people to put together their own EBN
like videos. In addition, this will let the group manipulate their images in
real time at the live shows.
     EBN have managed to experiment with interactive live video by using more
primitive means. They have a controller that lets them manipulate the image
and sound coming from a VCR- speeding it up, slowing it down and playing it
in reverse. The group has put together loops of their favorite guitar
players. "You you can play your favorite guitar player, and see the image and
hear the sound," explains Pearson.
     Pearson says that the motivation in starting up the band was to "reach
mass audiences and fuck with people's heads." The group's approach was
inspired by the display and marketing techniques of major corporations. With
their installation art, they had been influenced by trade show exhibits, and
this carried over into EBN.
     Now that they have a record deal, the group is faced with the challenge
of adapting their songs to audio-only form. "We are definitely ready," says
Pearson. "We of course would like the video to be the main product, but it
may take several years to figure out how to get away with it. It may also
take a couple of years to straighten out our blatant disregard for all
copyright laws."
     EBN currently have one single out on TVT ("Behaviour Modification/We
Will Rock You") and will have a full length album out later this year. The
group says that the single, along with a longform video of previously
completed videos, was put out in an effort to ride the wave of recognition
brought to the band through the ZOO TV tour. For the album, EBN are working
with Jack Dangers of Meat Beat Manifesto.
       Last year, EBN have found themselves part of a growing techno scene in
their native Providence, and though that has died down quite a bit, they are
sill much in demand by local rave promoters. The group has performed at many
raves and supplies visuals to even more. "We are psyched about introducing
the video aspect and having that be a very important part, as it has been for
our music," explains Pearson. "We think it should be the same with the techno
scene, since the whole idea of the rave is to create this incredible
environment with lots of visual stimulation as well as the music."
      Now, EBN are getting away from the techno sound and once more
experienting with all styles of music. "We're getting more back to being
influenced by everything; industrial, alternative, pop, techno, jazz," says
Person.
     Post adds that "every week we want to go in another direction, so
probably this album is going to be very eclectic, there will be something for
everyone."
       When asked what kind of samples will be used on the new album and who
we can expect to make an appearance through the miracles of editing, Pearson
and Post laugh, saying "we can't release that kind of information!"
       Now that they are on a label and their material is getting out to a
wider audience, EBN are starting to have to think about getting clearance for
the audio/visual samples they use. The group says that they have not had any
problems in the past, though when asked if they got clearance for the old
videos they respond with another "we cannot release that kind of
information."
      "We are beginning to get into the realm of clearing our samples," says
Person. "Musically, we're not working as much with recognizable musical
samples as much as we did the with the Queen thing. Having that be
recognizable was part of the song, obviously. It's really more video
clearance that looms on the horizon as being a problem just because we use so
many that it's hard to research them all."
      EBN's choice of samples is another thing that will be different on the
new album. Politics are out, while entertainment is in. The group currently
has about a dozen songs nearly finished for the album and is working with
Dangers complete the production. Dangers had met the band on during Meat
Beat's last visit to Providence earlier in the year and brought over samples
>from his own personnel collection that he thought would fit in with the EBN
sound.


From rsgour@aol.com Sun Nov 14 22:06:37 1993
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Date: Sun, 14 Nov 93 21:49:47 EST
Subject: Chaos4.Eon

     Techno music, with its emphasis of intense beats and weird electronic
noises over traditional song structure creates a slight problem for its
followers. Just how do you describe that great new track you heard at a club
when there is no melody of chorus? Oddly enough, people tend to identify the
songs by what they have stolen, whether it be a sampled vocal part or pieces
of dialogue from a movie. On "Void Dweller," his debut album on Vinyl
Solutions/ Columbia, Britain's Ian Loveday, AKA EON, proves how successful a
little sampled speech can be at giving a track some identity.
     On "Spice," EON's first state side club hit, Loveday snatched some
dialogue from "Dune," a source he also uses on "Fear: The Mind Killer." By
using samples from the film of the same name, Loveday manages to inject a
warped sense of humor into "Basket Case." But unlike much of today's techno
music, EON's music doesn't sound as these samples were added as an
afterthought; they really do fit in with the mood of the music.
     Loveday chose to use movies as his source for these samples in an effort
to get away from what has become common practice in techno and house -- using
the "A Cappella Anonymous" series of records. These collections are filled
with vocals isolated and just waiting to be sampled. "I thought that by using
bits from my favorite films it would be different and could work in the same
way as vocals lifted from an old disco track," he says.
     Loveday, age 34, began making music back in 1985 with a primitive set up
consisting of a basic drum machine, non-MIDI keyboard and a reel to reel
deck, which he used with tape loops in place of a sampler. Always an
electronics fanatic, Loveday continually added to his home studio and put out
his first Eon record in 1986. His first release under the name EON was
"Light, Color and Sound" in 1988.
     "It's always been kind of experimental, it was just kind of 'do it and
see what happens,'" says Loveday. "When I first started, I used to just make
rough, demo-like tracks on cassette. I was working with Colin Favor at the
time, who was on Kiss FM when it was a pirate station before it went legal.
He used to play my tracks and that's more or less how it started."
     EON's music tends to be more diverse than a lot of the current techno
fare. Loveday emerged at the height of the acid house craze that gave birth
to rave culture in 1987-88, and this carries over into the music. Like most
electronic dance music, Eon's music is repetitive, but there is enough going
on to keep the listener's attention when they're not hearing it on the dance
floor.
     In creating his music, Loveday tends to lean towards the sounds of old
analog synths, such as those made by Roland and Moog, rather then newer
digital sounds. He also admits to sampling other peoples music on occasion
but has strong feelings on how this should be done. "If you're just going to
sample someone's record and use it in the same way and have it sound the
same, then I don't really agree with that because it's not really adding
anything," Loveday explains. "I just use a fraction of a second of something,
or I may use a long piece and change it around so it sounds completely
different."
     Loveday is in no hurry to adapt EON to the live setting, prefering
instead to do studio work and DJing. He does the occasional one-off gig but
feels that playing shows night after night would get too repetitive and may
be more trouble than it's worth to put together. "With the way I work, the
equipment isn't that portable," explains Loveday. "It could be done, but it
would be very complicated. I don't agree with the way a lot of people do it,
which is just miming over a DAT. It's cheating the public because they think
you're actually playing."
     Another thing Loveday is in no hurry to do is enter the main stream pop
charts, as he feels that makes people get stuck with a formula and become
"mechanical hits producers." Loveday says that he can "survive and have money
to buy new equipment" by just continuing with what he's been doing.
     Electronic music has always come under fire by traditional rock
musicians for not being "real music," but Loveday feels that this is
unjustified. "Rock is a formula and I don't think it's really progressed that
music,  no where near as fast as dance stuff," he says. "It hasn't really
moved in the past 20 years; it's just kept recycling itself. But it's not how
the music's made; house and techno is made with machines, but it still needs
to be played by a person."

Copyright 1993 Bob Gourley. This article may only be reproduced
electronically and for non-profit purposes. Contact rsgour@aol.com


From rsgour@aol.com Sun Nov 14 22:15:33 1993
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Date: Sun, 14 Nov 93 21:52:30 EST
Subject: Chaos4.Front242

     Although they weren't the first band to create dark, robotic sounding
electronic music, Front 242 are probably the most influential group on
today's scene. Beginning in the mid to late 80's, an onslaught of new bands
have emerged that play aggressive electronic music with often distorted
vocals and pounding dance beats. But Front 242 were ahead of their time,
making this style of music way back in 1982.
     Front 242 was started up in 1981 by keyboardist/ programmer/ producer
Daniel B, who rarely appears publicly with the band despite being the
founder. A year later keyboardist Patrick Codenys and vocalist Jean-Luc De
Meyer came on board, with vocalist/live performer Richard JK (also known as
Richard 23) joining a year after that. Over the years Front 242 have
consistently put out high quality material that has grown even more
aggressive, particularly with their US major label debut, "Tyranny (For
You)"(1991). This year, the group put out two new albums. The first,
"06:21:03:11 UP EVIL" is the logical follow-up to "Tyranny," while the new
"05:22:09:12 OFF" is much more experimental and features vocals  by 99
Kowalski and the Eran Westwood (of NYC band Spill).The following interview
was conducted with Codenys
  during the Lollapalooza tour.

What was it like going out as the only electronic band on
 this year's Lollapalooza tour?

We had a lot of struggles at the beginning because we had to fine-tune with
the rest of the sets, because we definitely have a different type of music
and we had a different way of presenting it. So it was quite difficult. I
think we've reached a point where we can present something very complex. It's
still very, very different. A lot of people don't get it, or are quite cur
ious or surprised.

In terms of the selection of what songs you performed, did try to tail
or you set at all to the mass audiences?

I don't think there's any way to make the songs where people would be
comfortable when you're Front 242. When you address your music to 20,000
people; I think our fans are people who have already made the effort to
listen to that kind of music and that's nice. I think it's more like we've
prepared a sample and are happy to have the big exposure and we just hope
that people will open up their mind, that they are curious, that they will
just open their ears to something
 different than American rock.

Is it difficult adapting Front 242 to the live setting?

This year it's very close to that we have in the studio; it's almost like a
portable studio on the road because Daniel is at the mixing desk with a bunch
of machines and working with a portable computer, a Powerbook, to run the
sequences. And the guys on stage are adding sounds and different things on
the music. It's very flexible this year. We can really work on the material;
we can cut and switch sounds, cancel sequences that are not going through
because they're too complicated, so it's very flexible.

How do the members of Front 242 work together to create the music?

This year it has been more directed by two persons. Generally the other
people have helped on the music, especially Richard because he's got a
library of samples. This is just because I think the formula for the 90's is
more oriented on one or two person projects. When you see Nine Inch Nails,
it's one person. Ministry in two
 people. But it didn't bring any frustration, everybody's pretty
self-sufficient.

It's
unusal for an electronic band to have two vocalists. What was the reason for
bringing in Richard?

We have two vocalists, but we have one lead singer. Richard is more the
second singer but the entertainer. The first singer concentrates on the
lyrics, and the role of Richard is more like a kind of random kind of singing
that's just supposed to go with the feeling and the audience. He's really
free. He's got some lines he's supposed to say, but in generally his role is
to make it more alive by repeating some li
nes and provoking the audience. That's really his role.

Andy Wallace, who mixed "06:21:03:11 Up Evil" is primarily known for his work
with guitar bands. Why did Front 242 choose to work with hi
m?

Especially on this campaign, which is two albums, we really wanted to implode
or explode the concept of the band. We were tired of the same formula all the
time, we really wanted to reach other directions. So the only way to do that
is to challenge yourself. Andy Wallace was probably the biggest risk we could
take; he's really not into electronic music. The only reason we chose him was
because he's also somebody who's a sort of 'wise man' in terms of audio
mixing. He must be in his late 40's and he knows about music and when you
have good ears like he does, dealing with 40 tracks of traditional rock or 40
tracks or electronic music, he's got a maturity to do that. We just have to
tell him 'this is the atm
osphere we want to create, this is the idea behind the song.' He could do it
very well.

How w
ould you compare "05:22:09:12 OFF" with "06:21:03:11 UP EVIL"?

"It's the opposite of the first one. The two albums are based on a duality,
like good and evil. The first one is very dark, a lot of distortion and
guitars. The second album is pure electronic, we mixed it ourselves. It's
dance, ambiance, a female vocalist on it; it goes a total opposite direction.
For us, we felt that electronic music was going toward an end. It is really
like a guitar period now and the only way for us to find solutions is to
exploit the band and try to go all directions. It's dangerous because you
don't have a very obvious commercial album, but your only chance is to go for
extremes because it might open up more ways of doing
music. So the second album is more on the synthesizer/electronic field.

What was it like
to emerge as one of the first bands doing aggressive electronic music band in
the 80's?

It was like you were a freak at the time, really, especially with the press.
We still have a lot of problems with the press because we're not using
guitars and we don't go for a traditional rock base. At the time it was very
difficult, you know how music is. If you take the cinema industry, it's way
more open minded. Mu
sic is a very traditional branch.

How did you cope with the reactions?

It's just being stubborn; it's the only way. You make yourself very strong.
You build shields, you have to be self-sufficient, you produce yourself,
because nobody wants to do it. You keep on working on the project with the
ideas you have at the beginning. One of our powers I think was to be able to
translate out music live to the audience in a very physical way. Most
electronic bands are studio bands who are very cold on stage and not very
exciting. We have the power to express ourselves directly to our audience.
It's very important
 for us.

Technology in music has evolved a great deal since Front 242 started, but do
you fin
d yourselves limited at all by the current equipment available?

No, because we're not computer freaks or slaves to our technology. Technology
has always been a tool for us. It's true that we work a lot with ideas first
so we talk a lot and we work with feeling and ideas and emotions. It's true
that in the early 80's there were not so many ways to express what you had in
mind because the technology wasn't that flexible as it is now. But at the
same time, the effort you had to put in what you were doing wa
s more break through at the end. So it was always a tool for us.

Are you comfortable with the term "industrial" in describing the music of
Front 242? If not, what label would you prefer?

The best thing to say is that Front 242 is doing Front 242, but I know people
won't go for that. To me, I would say I like the term 'alternative' and I
like the term 'industrial' also only because 'industrial' is a movement that
started in the early 70's in Germany and moved to England and Belgium and now
is reaching the States. And I think that it's ok because it's a very big
movement and it's always moving. It's not something that's a fashion. There's
been 'industrial' bands since almost ever. So that's ok to me.

Are any members of Front 242 involved in any side projects?

That's going to be the near-future for Front 242. I think we will keep the
band but we're probably all going to work on side projects.

Did you have any goals in mind in going out on the Lollapalooza tour?

For us, it's giving a sample of that type of music and spread it because we
have a big exposure. We don't pretend we're going to convince people with
what we're doing, we're just proposing a type of music. It's day time, and
generally we like to have a very cinematograph  show with a lot of elements
on stage and lights. But we cannot bring that, so it's Front without the
image. It's almost like switching a TV on but not havi
ng the screen.

Will you be returning to do shows on your own?

We'll come back in November or December for a headline tour. I'm aware that a
lot of fans, and a lot of people have said so, they wouldn't come for
Lollapalooza.


Copyright 1993 Bob Gourley. This article may only be reproduced electron
ically and for non-profit purposes. Contact rsgour@aol.com


From rsgour@aol.com Tue Oct 26 23:53:56 1993
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Date: Tue, 26 Oct 93 18:50:09 EDT
Subject: Chaos4.HavocMusic

For the past several years, Havoc Music has been on the forefront of
underground electronic music. Run by 22 year old Taylor D., the label started
out just releasing cassettes before recently starting to also put out CD
compilations. Most of Havoc's output could be classified as "cyberpunk" but
cannot be categorized further, as it includes a wide variety of electronic
styles. In addition, some of Taylor's own music is now being put out on
Instinct. The following interview was conducted with Taylor over the
internet.


How  has Havoc music and its goals grown and changed over the years?

the goals have always
remained pretty much the same.  i'm not going to promise myself anything.  i
just want to se
e it get as far as it can.  i KNOW it will take time (and money) and i'm
prepared to wait and work o
n it, because it's something that i love doing.

the goal, in the long run, is to have havoc turn
 into a "real" ..."thing"....  i suppose by that i mean, i'd like to get to
the point where i can release 10 albums a year (or more)... have a larger
budget, advertise, etc...

i now work for Instinct records, and i see how a larger label is run.  and, i
see that it takes a LOT of money.  mo
ney and time are the major factors for havoc's success right now.  the talent
is there.  i'
ve acquired great talent from around the states and there are a lot of
talented kids sending me music, and cool stuff.  the music will never be hard
to come by.. the money will.  but, when it does.. havoc
can bloom.
               
Could you describe your own projects?

well, i'm currently active in two projects, but have about 6 or 7 going.  the
two main ones now are HUMAN MESH DANCE, a solo project, and PROTOTYPE 909, a
project with dietrich from X-OUT and jason from BPMF.  i also work with jason
in a project called DECAMRON as well as do some other solo projects... SLAVE
TO EXTERNAL, TOXIC BEATBOX, PULSE CODE...

HUMAN MESH DANCE and P909 are both signed to Instinct Records, and TOXIC
BEATBOX belongs to Rhino for a few more months.

HUMAN MESH DANCE is a trance project.  trance.. acid... some ambient.
whatever i feel like working on really.  instinct  is working on developing
me as an artist, so they like a wide spectrum of sound on each album.  P-909
is an all analog, no MIDI, acid house project.  totall
y live, spontaneous... dripping with acid.  it's a LOT of fun. 

both of these albums are d
ue out in mid september.  they'll be out by the time this interview runs, i
suppose.


Have you been able to successfully balance running the label and creating you
own music? Do you ever find the business side of things bogging you down
creatively?

i always found it easy to balance the two.  havoc is not a
 big label, and doesn't require every second of my time.  however, i suppose
if i DIDN"T do music, i could spend ALL of my time on the business side of
things, and do BETTER.. however, i will
never stop doing music, and i'm happy with the way things are.  i've always
done a  number of things.. instead of concentrate on just one.  the business
never gets in the way of creativity.. if som
ething has to be sacrificed, it's always business first.. or rather,
creativity last.  although, at times certain things become priority and i
learn to juggle what i need to do.

Do you use other metho
ds of distribution than mail order now?

it's mostly mail order, because i haven't much of an
 overhead to mass produce a lot of merchandise at once.  i don't mind it
being mail order only, but one day better distribution would be nice.  i have
started getting business and interest from people aro
und the internet too.. that's been the main advance... i will be able to take
orders over the net
 and contact people that way... maybe get a catalog to go out... or
newsletters..it's just a great w
ay to meet and talk.  i've started putting my email address on all of my
releases.. to get people aware.

The "Galaxies" compilation was very techno/rave oriented. Is Havoc itself
leading in this direction or are you to include a variety of electronic
styles?

havoc is going more techno/trance, simply becaus
e that's where MY interests lie.  however, i will never turn down truly
creative electronic music.  to me, the industrial scene went pretty sour,
with everyone trying to go metal, like ministry. 
i've ALWAYS liked the dancier industrial music better, since i got into it..
like manufacture and severed heads.  so, it was a natural progression towards
techno and acid house.  to me that kind of music is much more soulful, let
alone gives off a much better vibe than the usual industrial violence.  there
's enough violence and shit around.  no need to recreate it in the studio, it
doesn't make me feel good.  but, like i said, i will never turn down
innovation... or really geeky cyber stuff..

also, there is such a bashing of techno and "rave" music from the industrial
scene.  this rea
lly bothers me.. and i find it incredibly unnecessary... that's part of the
reason i'm moving aw
ay form the industrial scene.  i don't want to associate myself with that
kind of attitude.  it's
 all electronic.. it's all cutting edge.. it's all weird and technological.
i see no reason
 for the industrial crowd to bash techno...i think it's because industrial is
loosing many fans to techno...so the crowd feels weakened...threatened...
and, instead of looking, and understanding (or le
arning) they lash out...which only turns around to hurt the scene more.
techno wasn't born to bury industrial... and the industrial posse has to
realize that.


Have you had a lot of interest from ban
ds wanting to be on Havoc? How do you chose which artists to put in the
catalog?

there's been a
fair amount, yes... and, like i said above.. i look for innovation.  stuff
that's truly unique, that
 i haven't heard before.. THAT is most important.  you know, really
innovative sounds.. use of sounds...arrangements.. messages... i like bands
to have confidence, and direction.  and i like bands that
 have groove.. and that have soul.  there's never been a greater quote than
the Anarchic's...
 "spirituality thru technology"... i live by that.

What got you interested in electronic music in the first place?

howard jones.  really!  i used to be a drummer.. then i started listening to
new


From rsgour@aol.com Fri Oct 29 01:39:36 1993
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Date: Fri, 29 Oct 93 00:13:31 EDT
Subject: Chaos4.IO

Artist Profile - IO

     With the release of a new EP, "Land of Forms" (Havoc Music), IO
continues to explore the fusion of electronic and orchestral sounds that
technology makes possible. IO is basically the solo project of Andre Roman,
who collaborated with vocalist Juanita Charter for the new six song EP. On
the debut IO release, "Locust on the Vine," Roman had done all the vocals
himself, so Charter's presence makes for a big change in the music.
      "That really affects the sound dramatically," says Roman about
Charter's vocals. "It's something I've always wanted to incorporate, I've
always just dreamed of doing really pretty music with pretty vocals."
     Now based in Colorado, Roman got involved with Havoc music when he was
living in Massachusetts and met up with Taylor D. Roman says that at the time
he was "lost" because there was no scene and no one else that he knew was
electronic music. He met some people at an art gallery who directed him to
Taylor.
     "We just hit it off right away," says Roman.  "He came over with his
sampler to my loft and we just hooked up our sequencers and just started
writing music."
     The two were roommates in New York and recorded music under the name
Architettura. That groups "Somersaults in the Blind Room" was one of Havoc's
first releases. Musically, Architettura was much more in the industrial vein
than IO.            "I still had that songwriting background so I was able to
come up with the songs but Taylor contributed a lot of really interesting
percussion," explains Roman on the collaboration. "He's a percussion genius I
think."
     Roman has no formal musical training and says that his talents of
composition come from "just listening very intently for years and years." He
started out with acoustic guitar, switching over to bass before getting into
electronic music and realizing the endless possibilities it makes possible.
Beyond the control it gives the composer, Roman sees electronic music as a
powerful means of expression.
     "I'm at a point where I'm absolutely fascinated by how the mind works,"
he says.  "Basically, there's a lot of electronic impulses running around our
brains and triggering all kinds of responces and emotions and imagery and I
feel that electronic music stimulates the brain in a way that it can help to
create imagery in the brain. I like to call it 'painting on the brain"
because that's what it does. Music stimulates people to create their own
images in their brain."
     What makes IO's sound so unique is it's ability to fuse many styles.
There is a very electronic feel, with synths and machine like drum patterns,
but also a very warm, orchestral side to the music. Because it doesn't ever
get stuck too far on the spectrum either way, the music is very hard to
classify.
    "I tried coming up with a term to define it and the closest I could was
'organic-electro'," explains Roman. "It's because part of me feels that even
though it's important to really explore and go forward with new sounds, I
feel it's also important to remember where you come from too. So it gives
more of an idea of like a big picture, rather than splintering off into a
bunch of new sounds. I try to combine what I think of as almost classical
songwriting and sounds, taking styles going all the way back, and bringing
that feel into the modern realm. So it's a combination of a timeless feeling
with very new sounds."
    In terms of the actuall sounds used in the music, Roman used to just take
"found" sounds and use them way out of context, but now he's taking that one
step further. By using sampled wave forms and then synthesizing them (as
opposed to simply treating them with effects) he is able to create and even
wider array of instrumental noises.
    Being responsible for all of IO's music gives Roman a great deal of
control. This sometimes gets in the way because it opens up too many
possibilities and makes him over critical simply because there are so many
things that can be altered in the music.
     "It kind of drives you a little crazy sometimes but in a way it also
lets me set, what I think, higher standards for the music," he explains."
That's something that I'm constantly battling - being very very critical."
       Roman says that on the next IO release there will be a wider variety
of styles present. There will be songs like those on "Land Of Forms," as well
as instrumentals and more experimental compositions. Playing live is not part
of IO right now, though Roman says that his system is now capable or
reproducing the music in a live setting. Roman would rather wait until the
ideal situation comes along, as he wants to avoid night clubs. In addition to
IO, Roman has a more orchestral side project called Blind Arcade. Sometime in
the future, Roman wold also like to work with Taylor again, as he calls the
work the did together "the best collaboration I was ever involved with."


Copyright 1993 Bob Gourley. This article may only be reproduced
electronically and for non-profit purposes. Contact rsgour@aol.com


From rsgour@aol.com Sun Nov 14 22:16:58 1993
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Date: Sun, 14 Nov 93 21:51:26 EST
Subject: Chaos4.InstinctRecords

Ever since the current wave of techno first hit America, Instinct Records has
been probably the most prolific supplier of the music in this country. While
they have put out many outstanding compilations, the label is best known for
launching the career of techno's first superstar, Moby. Released in 1991, the
"Instinct Dance" compilation was actually just Moby under four different
names. Shortly after its release, Moby hit the road with the Shamen on a tour
that introduced rave music many more fans and officially brought it up from
the underground.  Moby may have left the label for Elektra, but Instinct is
still putting out strong compilations and has an exciting new roster of
artists. Such acts as The Irresistible Force, Prototype 909, Omicron, Evolve
Now, and Human Mesh Dance are taking electronic dance music to the next
level. In addition, Instinct is now releasing material by Cabaret Voltaire.
The following interview with Instinct president Jared Hoffman was conducted
by Lila Lieberman and Bob Gourley in the label's New York office.

How did you come to start up Instinct?

Instinct started about 4 1/2 - 5 years ago out of the notion that as a DJ I
was hearing all kinds of cool records coming in from overseas that were never
being released here. I figured 'well, they should be released here why don't
I start a record company'. That's how it started. We've learned a lot since
then but we're still here.

Was it difficult starting out?

It wasn't easy at first because we had the idea to be a record company but we
did not have any artists or any music or a lot of experience. The first thing
we did was travel to Europe and basically went to every record label that I
ever had records from that I really liked and just tried to meet everyone and
said 'we'd really like to put your music out. We're new, but take a chance
with us.' Fortunately, a couple of people decided to take a chance with us.
That worked, we originally worked with Low Spirit records very, very early
on. That's Westbam's label in Germany. From there, we put out a few singles.
Because I was  DJ in New York, I had a lot of friends in the music community
and people knew I was looking for music and wanted to start a label. So a
mutual friend who knew Moby suggested to Moby that he should get a tape to
us. We worked with Moby and up until now he has been our most successful
artist.

It seems that the success of Moby and Instinct go hand and hand. Can you
describe the label's relationship with him?

It's kind of one of those wild stories, where for whatever reason everything
seems to be in the right place at the right time. It just took off. He's
certainly an incredibly talented, very uniquely talented producer. I don't
think he ever set out to be a techno artist per say as much as just someone
doing very much his own thing. It was always very cool and he seemed to have
become adopted by the techno movement because there were elements in the
sounds that meshed and it just seemed to be a fusion that really worked. The
way in which his career took of was absolutely phenomenal.

What effect will Moby's departure to Elektra have on Instinct?

Actually, it's quite exciting for us since we've put out three Moby albums to
date. The more success he has now with a large label, hopefully that will
make some real value in the back catalogue. And I think the music in his back
catalogue, the original Moby album, his recently released ambient works
album, are fantastic albums. So the more he does with Elektra, the more
people who'll get to hear these records as well.

Why have you geared Instinct towards techno?

I don't think we ever meant to become involved in techno as much as just
being involved in underground dance. As a  DJ I had always been involved with
dance music and as sounds and trends evolved, I like to be one of the first
people in playing newer music, so techno became the newer sound that was
emerging so we found ourselves there.

Do you think it's good that techno has evolved into many sub-catagories, like
trance, ambient and tribal?

I think those are all much better words than 'techno' because that doesn't
really say anything, and techno has become such a pop word at this point. You
hear the word 'techno' and you think of bands like T99 or Human Resource or
Quadrophonia which are sort of that really early noisy phase of techno.
Trance, ambient, tribal, break beat, that allows for a lot more breath of
expression in describing what's going on. It says more about the music so I'm
glad there are now more nuances. Post techno electronic music I prefer as a
label because what we're listening to now, I don't think it's really techno
anymore. It's just sort new electronic alternative. I think it's just like
when New Wave started, at first it was just a couple of bands who all sounded
one way, and then it went into so many different directions within a few
years that the word 'new wave' no longer meant anything. The same with
techno, it's spread out into every possible direction.

As a DJ who' sbeen involved with techno music since the beginning, what do
you feel are it's origins?

I don't know. The evolution of techno is something that's been rehashed so
much and argued about so much that I don't know if I really care to
participate in the debate. I mean, did it start in Chicago? Did it start in
London? I don't care. I mean, there's bit of it drawn from all over, from
industrial, from house, from acid house, from Detroit techno.

What attracted you, personally, to the music?

I just liked always hearing things that were new or different and had some
energy, often a bit of anger or drive. The underground is always about what's
new, what's different, what hasn't been done before. It's explorative and
that's what attracted me to techno as it began to evolve, the same things
that attracted me to punk and New wave back then. I didn't always like dance
music back in the disco days, I was heavily against.

It seems that the media suddenly latched onto techno and rave culture,
starting about a year and a half ago. What effect has this had on the scene?

The media latching onto a scene always has its good aspects and its bad
aspects. The good aspect is that it makes a much larger part of the public
aware that there is something new going on that maybe they should pay
attention to. The bad part of it is that when the media doesn't fully educate
the public and the public goes 'oh there's a new sound we should go hear it'
then they're susceptible to being misled by anything that slaps that label
on. In other words, everyone knows now that they should go hear this wild new
thing called techno but they have no way of knowing what is real techno
versus that is crass, rip-off commercialized techno. So that's the two sides
of it.

How do you characterize the "crass, rip-off commercialized stuff"?

Crass commercial exploitative stuff tends to be bands and labels slapping
things together to ride the name, to ride the trend, to ride the banner.
Either it's bands who don't really fit the genre trying to take 'oh this
sound is a techno sound and if we put it in the song it's a techno song.'
Things like that. I think we all know what that music sounds like and who
those bands are.

Do you think this has made those in the underground scene stay on their toes
and try to keep techno constantly evolving?

Commercialization is not driving the breath of techno. The emerging breath of
techno is an outgrowth of the maturity and the growth of the artists
themselves. Originally, it was fun to take these few sounds and do the stuff
that all sounds the same. Everyone started from there but then they thought
'well what if I do this?' or 'actually I kind of like this kind of music what
is I used it with that?' So the growth and breath has come from the artists.
Commercialization would like everything to remain the same and easily
categorically.

What problems do you see in the media's coverage of techno and rave?

The main problems with the media in the US is that it's geared towards
writing about things that are already very successful. In Europe and the UK,
there are so many music magazines, weekly, monthly, and they're all busy out
there trying to get the scoop and beat everyone else to hearing like the
wildest new white labels or new music. In the UK, everyone wants to discover
the newest music. Here in the US, you have two or three monthly magazines and
none of them want to risk putting something that isn't proven already on the
cover. So here it's the other way around. I don't think media here is doing
enough to shape the techno scene.

Do you think the media putting too much of an emphasis on the negative
aspects, like the drugs?

I think it's a tempest in a tea pot, it's happened about every kind of new
music. Rock and roll, Elvis Presley's the devil's music. Punk, disco, every
time there's a new form of entertainment and groups of youth getting together
in a place, it just raises concern. I don't think a lot of people are too
concerned or crazy about it.

Does the fact that rave culture has its own drug, ecstasy, make the situation
worse?

People are always scared by what they don't know. Yeah, the fact is that in
the public's eye rave and this particular music scene was at least by the
media so extensively linked to a particular drug. It causes a lot of concern.
I don't know if that concern isn't right, and yes to everyone involved it all
seemed harmless but then there's the older, more mature generation, our
parents, and they're concerned about it.

Do you see any parallels between Shamanism and the role the DJs play at the
rave?

Wow. I don't know if the DJ's are really the shamen, because I think the DJ
culture and the hype of DJs is more between the DJs and the industry than in
the eyes of a lot of the kids. In Europe, it's a bit different. In Europe,
there really is a lot of attention that's paid to the DJs and everyone knows
the big names and they're stars. But in the US, I don't think that there's a
DJ oriented culture. Not in the same way. Because dance music has never been
afforded the same respectability in the US that it is overseas. The US is
still very much the land of rock and roll and has not and still is not
changing. Rave is still a very small undercurrent and I think the people who
go are focusing on the music, focusing on what they're experiencing. I don't
really think it revolves around the DJ that much.

But many people see raves as almost a religious expereince. Do you see the
connection?

It can be, and especially I think if you're young you might be able to
mistake it for that, especially if you're indulging in something like X. I
mean, anytime you're doing something when you're tripping and it's a
hallucinogenic experience it's not a very real experience. The whole thing
about religion is religion is supposed to be other worldy anyway so I can see
where people hopefully don't confuse the two things but there is a certain
fantasy element and escapist element to it all. There is for the first time
in your life realizing that everything may not just, can be perceived in ways
other than what it seems to be.


Do you think that more people knowing about the rave scene has changed it?

There's probably some of that. Initially any movement contains just the real
diehards and devotees and as more people find out about it, people jump in
and want to be involved for other reasons who may not be of the same
motivation as the original people. There's a certain amount of that and
there's a certain amount of 'oh remember the old days' by people who were
there first. They always want to remember what they were doing as it being
better back then. It can be hard to filter the two out. Do I think raves are
better or worse now? I think now there are good raves and bad raves, this
year. 3 or 4 years ago I'd been to good raves and bad raves.

How do current raves differ from the original ones?

Well, I've never participated in the European side of it, so that's difficult
for me to answer and I'm probably not the best one to ask that question
because it goes back a few years further there and frankly I wasn't there.

Do you think the fact that you often need to be "in the know" to find out
about rave events makes it more attractive to people?

I think there's some fun to that. People enjoy the adventure involved in it
not being just a regular club with a known address and location and you have
to know the passwords and things to go to those kind of parties. I wish there
were more of those actually at this point that a lot of it is getting very
codified and oriented to specific clubs. A lot of that was also circumvental
legalities of having to have the space but they have become part of the
climate. I can use the term 'mysticism' but also 'quasi - elitism' as well.
It makes it difficult for others to be involved, that shroud of mysticism.

Do you think that there is tension between the new generation of rave kids
and those who have been with it from the beginning?

I think a lot of people involved in the beginning will lose interest, because
they mature and move beyond it and you can't keep doing the same thing over
and over again. So it may not even be that the culture is declining but if
you've been doing the same thing for two or three years you grow and want to
move on. And there's people who are now discovering it and for them it's
incredibly fresh. They may be having just as intense an experience right now
as the person who had that experienced it  two years ago. But the person two
years later will think it's horrible, that it's not like it used to be
because they're not a new initiate anymore.

Do you see Instinct heading in a more commercial direction?

We hope to have some records that are massive, massive successes so that we
can keep continuing to diversify and presenting music as out there and
unusual as what you hearing now. I hope to keep things as explorative and
adventuresome as possible. That takes money, unfortunately. So you'll hear
some of, hopefully not crash commercialized music but we've got to keep the
public happy as well if we're going to be able to keep the underground
happy.You have to do both.

A lot of people have drawn parallels between 60's culture and today's rave
culture. Do you see a comparison?

I can't speak because I wasn't active in the 60's culture, I was being born.
But it seems to be fairly similar. But I think that's because the people
involved are all young. It's a sincere outgrowth of youth who are somewhat
detached from the prevailing pop culture and that seems to have a recurring
pattern in nature when it does occur. That happened in the 60's and it
appeared to be happening again now. I could guess the participants are being
driven by similar reasons because yes there is a parallel.

Copyright 1993 Bob Gourley. This article may only be reproduced
electronically and for non-profit purposes. Contact rsgour@aol.com


From rsgour@aol.com Fri Oct 29 01:40:18 1993
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Date: Fri, 29 Oct 93 00:17:57 EDT
Subject: Chaos4.MachinesofLovingGrace

Artist Profile - Machine of Loving Grace


    When Machine of Loving Grace spent $1000 to put together a demo, they did
it so well that they ended up getting stuck with it as their debut album.
Much to the bands surprise, it not only attracted the attention of Mammoth,
but the label decided to release it. Vocalist Scott Benzell says that it
"stung a little bit" getting what was only ever intended as a demo being
presented to the public as a debut album. But now the group has followed it
up with "Concentration," their first proper release as a label entity and an
album they are much more happy with.
      Machines of Loving Grace first got together about 4 years ago.
Originally a trio of vocalist Scott Benzell, keyboardist Mike Fisher and
guitar/bassist Stuart Kupars, drummer Brad Kemp came on board for live shows
after the self-titled debut came out and has stayed with the group. Because
the band members come from different music backgrounds, the group has always
strived to bring together electronics and traditional rock instrumentation.
     Benzell says that early on the group did a lot of experimenting and as a
result many of the songs tended to lean toward one side, either being very
electronic or very rock-oriented. Now the Machines of Loving Grace feel they
have found a synthesis of the two.
     Unlike many other bands that fuse the two styles, Machines of Loving
Grace have a very uncluttered sound. Traditional bass sounds figure
prominently, which give it a very natural feel. The electronic percussion
noises, samples and vocal effects blend in perfectly with the other
instruments rather than overpower them.
     The bands first LP was self-produced on a home 8 track studio. When
Mammoth expressed interest, the group wanted to re-record it, but the label
chose to put it out as-is.
      "We were sort of formulating the idea for the band while we wrote it,
and that's one of the reasons I feel the first album came out sounding a
little skewed," says Benzell. "It's pretty eclectic, sometimes not in a good
way."
     This time around, the Machines of Loving Grace still did all the
pre-production at home but then went into a local 48 track studio and then a
studio in LA to finish it off. However, the group used a slightly different
approach than most bands do.
     "It was an interesting process," explains Benzell. "We would go in and
lay down some tracks, and then we'd re-sample some of that, take it back home
and manipulate it from there and lay it back in later."
      This process causes "a real nightmare" when the group tries to prepare
their material for live shows. Benzell says that the group is finally at the
stage where they feel comfortable with the translation, through they still
find if to be a time consuming and arduous task going through and re-working
the music. For one-off and local shows, the group has added additional
musicians, but bringing too many people on the road just causes more
problems. Despite the difficulties, Machines of Loving Grace have grown to
like playing out.
     "We started off as a studio project exclusively, and the first shows
that we played were sort of grudging, we were not interested in playing
live," says Benzell. "But after we toured last year, we really learned that
you can learn a lot about the music and about the way the people are
interacting with it. As a result, we're learned a lot about what worked
within our music and what didn't work."
      When Mammoth released the first album, a lot of people compared
Machines of Loving Grace to Nine Inch Nails. Some of the more narrow-minded
critics even went so far as to say that when a band copied NIN it showed that
music had reached an all-time low. But the group was not really bothered by
the comparisons.
     "In a way, it's sort of the obvious comparison, especially for those who
aren't really familiar with the genre," explains Benzell ."That was the thing
the people initially leapt towards."
     The comparison was fueled even more when Trent Reznor worked on a
Machines of Loving Grace remix. But Benzell is quick to point out that most
of that first album was recorded before NIN's "Pretty Hate Machine" came out
and released well before NIN became huge. But by the time Mammoth put it out,
everyone was already familiar with the NIN sound and jumped in with the
comparisons. The release of "Concentration" should put the comparisons to
rest once and for all, as it shows the group managed to craft its own unique
style.

Copyright 1993 Bob Gourley. This article may only be reproduced
electronically and for non-profit purposes. Contact rsgour@aol.com



From rsgour@aol.com Fri Oct 29 01:39:52 1993
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Date: Fri, 29 Oct 93 00:15:44 EDT
Subject: Chaos4.Orbital

Artist Profile - Orbital

    The proliferation of rave and techno over the past few years has managed
to revolutionize the way people think about music. Not long ago, instrumental
electronic music was thought to have little appeal beyond the avant-garde,
experimental set. But bands like Orbital have changed that by striking a
balance between man and machine and aiming it straight for the dance floor.
     Orbital, comprised of brothers Phil and Paul Hartnoll, have recently
released their second album, "Orbital 2". The most striking thing about the
duo is their emphasis on anonymity. The new CD looks just like the first one,
and includes no pictures of the band on the cover. Live, the group likes play
right on the dance floor and would rather have the audience go off and dance
then look at them.
    Late last year, Orbital embarked on their first American tour, performing
as part of a package with Ultramarine and Meat Beat Manifesto that was a
traveling version of the Limelight's "Communion" nights. While on the road,
the group tested out bits and pieces that would later be incorporated into
the second album. The track "Walk Now" particularly came out of material from
the live show.
     "The approach to it was just going into the studio," says Phil on the
making of the LP. "We didn't have a concept or anything like that. We just
went into the little space that we've got and recorded a load of things that
we'd wanted to get out of our system for a while. It's the same sort of
approach as the last one, with no overall concept. The only thing we did do
on this one was that we wanted to try out the mixing of the tracks, like we
did in the first section, mixing one track into another."
     On one of the albums tracks, "Halcyon," Orbital do stray away from the
formula of instrumental songs with the occasional spoken word sample by using
an actual vocal hook. But that is actually sampled from Opus 3's "It's a Fine
Day" and was originally done just for fun.
     "Before she did this project with Opus III we had met Kirsty at these
parties and were always saying 'oh, you have to come down and sing'," says
Phil.
     That never happened and when the Opus III record came out and it had ac
cappella vocals on the B-side, Orbital couldn't resist sampling it. Phil
doesn't rule out the possibility of Orbital collaborating with Kirsty, if
they both manage to find the time in their busy schedules.
     Live, Orbital create an experience not really tried before. Most of the
music is pre-programmed, but the whole set is interactive. While many techno
band use baking DATs, Orbital run everything off sequencers and have their
equipment set up so they can always manipulate it. So while they may not
actually play very much, they are constantly starting and stopping loops,
bringing up and removing tracks and creating a truly live remix of every
song. Orbital prefer to actually play on the dance floor rather than on
stage, as they hear exactly what their audience hears.
     "We're in this sort of unexplored area where you're playing music that's
like what you hear on records but we're actually doing it and improvising
with the structure as we're going along," says Phil. "The closer we are to
the audience, the better we feel because we can react to them or play with
them a lot more."
     Orbital's current set-up allows them to perform an entirely different
show each night if they choose. In the future, they would like to make their
show even more interactive by using MIDI to also control the lights and
visuals.
     Orbital are about to go out on road with another travelling club package
tour. This time, they're part of NASA's "See The Light" tour, performing on a
bill with Vapourspace, Moby, and Aphex Twin. The show is more dance oriented
than the Communion tour, as that had been geared towards bringing rock and
dance together. Phil says that in the future Orbital will always seek new and
different touring situations.
     "I find it very frustrating because we're over in the UK and I'd like to
contact all the people in the local areas and sort out a sort of club night
and be more interactive with the local people and get the DJs and maybe a
local electronic band," he explains. "But consequently, it never really
happens exactly the way we want to do it because we are across the water and
it seems a lot more difficult because of the finances of budgeting a tour. So
you have to compromise on a few things."


Copyright 1993 Bob Gourley. This article may only be reproduced
electronically and for non-profit purposes. Contact rsgour@aol.com


From rsgour@aol.com Sun Nov 14 22:06:44 1993
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Date: Sun, 14 Nov 93 21:49:14 EST
Subject: Chaos4.Sunscreem

     Sunscreem have become known as one of the strongest live dance acts,
thanks to the heavy gigging they've done around their native England. But
this past summer, they put their performance skills to the test by doing four
American dates with New Order. It's a big jump from clubs to large seated
venues, but Sunscreem managed to pull it off impressively. After the band's
performance at Great Woods, which was the last date on the tour, members
Lucia Holm and Paul Carnell took the time to discuss what Sunscreem is all
about.
     "It's been a really pleasant surprise, because we thought that maybe
everyone would just sit in their seats," explains Paul. "But every night
we've gotten a great reception, particularly last night [at the Meadowlands]
which was a big arena with everyone standing. That was like 'wow'"
     "We didn't think it was quite possible that we'd come over  supporting a
band like New Order and getting up in an arena,"  says Lucia, adding how it
is strange seeing 40 year olds in the audience.
      Sunsreem's line-up is rounded out by Darren Woodford (guitar) Rob
Fricker (bass) and Sean Wright (drums). In concert, they are very much a
"live" band, with the instruments working with the sequencers to back up
Lucia's vocals. But even though they don't completely rely on it, the
electronics can cause problems, like tonight when Rob's keyboard somehow got
routed to the drum machine and a bunch of sound modules were not coming
through.
    "Tonight we had a little bit of a problem with MIDI. It's the first time
we've ever had to stop a show, it was just so bad," says Lucia.
     But when the problems occurred, the band's DJ  took over by spinning
some rave music. Sunscreem come from a background of playing events that
featured a mix of both DJs and live acts on the bill. Eventually, the group
would like to take this kind of event on the road in America, as the Shamen
and a few other acts have done.
    Sunscreem formed in 1990 when the members started going out to clubs and
experiencing the changes that were going on in dance music.
     "It was bizarre, we were just sort of messing around with the idea of
trying to mix DJs with guitar," says Paul. "It wasn't really planned because
Darren, the guitarist, is also a studio engineer who left school at 14 and
went to work in the studios, and built a studio. So the three of us were
really just enthusiasts messing around. When the whole acid house thing hit
we were really intrigued, because we were into sequencers and stuff. We felt
a bit like 'at last our music is here' because we'd been doing that for
years."
     As the group started seeing how the acts did PAs to promote their music,
they realized that they could do something different. "It is a response,"
explains Lucia. "We're not good at miming; we find it uncomfortable. It's so
much more of a buzz when you know what you're doing is actually making the
sound"
     Live, the group mixes everything on stage, feeding only left and right
channels to the PA, so they are able to keep total control of their music and
make it consistent from night to night. The group uses sequencers mainly to
control all the MIDI gear; changing the sounds and keyboard splits for each
song automatically. Of course, they are also responsible for taking over the
mind- numbingly repetitive synth parts no one would ever want to actually
play, for as Paul says, "That's what they're there for!"
      Once they started playing out, Sunscreem soon attracted label interest,
as they were spotted by EMI after only five gigs. They ended up signing with
Sony in early 1991, after about a dozen shows. Sunscreem quickly learned
about what life was like on a major label, though they have been fairly lucky
in terms of getting things their way.
     "We really kind of like carried on with what we intended to do, play
clubs and raves, though the record company wasn't quite so impressed with
that because they wanted us to make records," says Paul. "We said no, it's
got to stick to what we were doing"
    But there have been some record companies' actions that the band does not
approve of. One was the decision by Columbia Records in America to put a
photo on the cover of the debut album, "O3."
   "I don't particularly see why music has to have a face attached to it,"
says Paul. "I mean we're lucky Lucia is a nice face, great, but one of the
interesting things about club music is that it's taken away all the
marketing, all the labels, all the packaging. If you like it you're like 'oh,
this is good' it's as simple as that. So I think the anonymity that people
have criticized about techno is actually a good thing"
      "Oh yes, I'm dead against that," agrees Lucia having the band's photo
on the cover, adding that it is good to get live photos of the bands in
magazines but not to put their faces on sleeves.
      Another problem that came from getting signed was being forced to use
producers, as the band says that it slowed down the recording process
considerably. Most of "O3" is comprised of material they had been crafting in
their live shows, so they were capable of recording the songs quickly in
their own studio. The label, however, insisted that they not produce
themselves.
     As a band that emerged out of the rave scene, Sunscreem don't like the
way it has become blown out of proportion. They refer to "rave" as a "four
letter word" and are happy to see it going back underground.
    "It's got much smaller," say Lucia. "The big raves are too
commercialized, no one cares really what happens. they're not as exciting as
they used to be. I tend to go to small clubs."
     Paul adds that "it's not as if people are turning off the music,"
explaining that the idealistic feeling that was evident when acid house first
hit has died down and people are generally going out less now. There is also
an interesting new law in Britain that makes raving even more difficult.
      "They had passed a law to stop gatherings of more than 500 people
without a license, and then they got quite extreme, I think passing something
to stop the gathering of more than 5 people with intent to have a party, "
says Paul.


Copyright 1993 Bob Gourley. This article may only be reproduced
electronically and for non-profit purposes. Contact rsgour@aol.com


From rsgour@aol.com Fri Oct 29 01:40:31 1993
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Date: Fri, 29 Oct 93 00:17:25 EDT
Subject: Chaos4.YouShriek

Artist Profile - You Shriek


Being a primariy electronic band with heavy gothic influences, You Shriek are
kind of an oddity in their home city of Boston. But thanks to a strong live
show, the group has managed to make a name for itself in a city dominated by
guitars. Acceptance on the local level isn't really a concern to the band,
who have set their sights on the bigger picture since the beginning. They
currently have two tracks on the third volume of "For Crying Out Loud," and
their cover of "Bela Lugosi's Dead" is included on the "Oxygen Denial"
vinyl/cassette compilation. In true cyberpunk spirit, the following interview
was conducted with founder Raziel Panic (aka Marq Free) by computer.


1.How and when did Y
ou Shriek begin?

  This band started out as my personal outlet for songwriting. I was in a
couple of groups that fell apart at the same time, and I decided the only way
to have a reliable music situation was to create one.  I had just bought a
synth-drum-sequencer-effects with a disk drive kind of keyboard for the death
rock band I had been in, so when that one ended I had already begun writing
some songs. That was a few years ago, and at that time Jason was helping me
out as a roadie/guitar tech, so he kind of graduated with me into this new
performing group.  He fit very well what the band required, keys, bass,
percussion, vocal skills, a good musical background, and as it turned out, a
charged stage personality, too.


2.While some good groups have emerged in the past few years, there weren't
many electronic bands in Boston when You Shriek first started. Did this make
it difficult for the band to get establ
ished?


 I don't think we had any trouble getting started... it was actually good
that there were only a few electronic bands.  The problem is that after we
attracted the fans of this type of music, it was difficult to draw a wider
audience in Boston.  I don't think we are very established in Boston, and I
don't care if we ever are.  Enough people who run the clubs here have treated
us like shit to kill any "local band" spirit I might have had.  I really
appreciate our fans in the area, obviously, and a small segment of the press
has been VERY good to us, also some DJ's and dance clubs, but FUCK the narrow
minded rock and roll idiots who book small-time shows without regard for the
art, and churn as many ignorant beer drinkers through their doors as they can
.  I guess when you are on a salary working from 3pm 'till 4am you don't much
care or know about what it is like to be on the musical end of things, and
that tends to spawn an attitude of contention toward those of us who don't
have a set of drums and a denim
 jacket. 
 We haven't had a rough time at all with the people of the east coast's
electronic music scene, and I am happy with the response we are getting from
all over the world, but this has NOTHING to do with the way we are treated in
the myopic puddle of Boston rock.
   
3. Why did you chose the
 name You Shriek?

 I wanted the word "shriek" in there somewhere, and i didn't much like having
a "the" at the beginning of the name, so it fell into place like that.
(I am convinced, however that it really doesn't matter what you call your
band.)


4. Who would you say the bands major influences ar
e?

 It's always tough to cite influences, but there are many musix that changed
the way I write, or gave me ideas for textures or chord progressions, or drum
programs. I loved Xymox.  Peter Murphy... Sisters of Mercy...  White
Zombie... Tribe After Tribe.  Trent Reznor, The KLF, Orb...  Siouxsie and the
Banshees,  Einsturzende Neubauten. nothing that would be of any surprise,
really, but those artists have had some influence on the band's direction.

5. How has the group changed and evolved since its fo
rming?

 At first I thought we were a death rock band, but people soon had us
convinced that we were in the industrial genre... now I think we have some
elements of industrial dance, some from goth rock and some cyber tech parts,
too.  I guess the main shift- musically, was away from using typical
industrial dance conventions (yes they are already conventions.)  I've only
been writing these songs for a few years, so I expect that there will be many
more changes.
 The band remains just Jason and I, but he has been playing a much greater
role in what I thought was going to be a one man writing venture.  I li
ke that.
 We have learned a lot about how the music world works, we've gained
management, lost management, recorded in big studios, recorded in our own
studio... learned that it is a lot more cost effective to record at home.
Our latest advances have led us onto records and into successful merchandi
se campaigns.
  Our synth gear has grown into bigger racks,  and we run a lot more MIDI
wires around the stage, now.  Things have grown into a pretty close version
of how we planned right from
 the start.



6.How does the band work together in terms of songwriting?

-Lyrics, song concepts
, sequencing, ego trips, posturing: me
-Divine intervention, samples, critical adjustment to shoddy song ideas:
Jason
I'm the stupid robot with a headache from staring at those phosphor dots all
night.  For the live show, Jason makes the midi wires carry data to the
correct machines. I just plug in my guitar.


7.Do you have live performance in mind when you compose the songs or does
adapting them to the live
 setting pose a problem?

 I try to stay away from letting our logistic restraints dictate song
arrangement, but I can't help knowing what is and what isn't possible for two
people to pull off live.  Sometimes I will end up settling on a 5 note melody
since one of our MIDI stations has 5 triggers to pound on, for example, but I
like to just go ahead and do whatever it takes to get the song to live.  It
grows where it must... figure out what the humans can play later.

8. Do you use sequencers or DATs to
play the parts that you can't reproduce live?

 It might be fun to use a computer sequencer on stage, but for this music it
would be a nightmare.  Each song has different drum sounds (we don't have a
drum machine- just samplers), rhythm loops, speech samples, effects,
equalization, compression, gates... mix- all different for each song.  We
just throw the work on DAT.  The only other way would be to alter the songs
to lose all the variety,  plus add a couple more musicians to tend the
sequencers... we'd rather not.  I will get a time code DAT machine at some
point to synchronize events on other media.

9.D
o you prefer to use sampling or programming sounds from scratch on synths?

 I do both. I do not have a preference, I find both to be somewhat tedious
parts of the songwriting process.  I do like to go out with the portable DAT
machine and sample.  I think it's funny how a sound can be mildly interesting
or pleasing in it's original environment, with all the visual cues, but turn
out to be "AMAZING!" or "SPECTACULAR!", and make us all excited when we play
it back in the studio. It's nifty what a little boost below 100 Hz and a few
hundred watts will do for the world outside.


10.What equipment do you use
?

 My guitar is fed through the distortion/preamp in my rack into a stereo
chorus pedal, then to two stereo volume pedals. One goes directly to a 4 ch
mixer as L/R, the other goes into a Roland DEP-5  for effects processing,
then to the mixer. This way I have control over the effects mix, separate
>from the dry guitar sound.  The 4 channels are sent to the L/R inputs on a
power amp, and from there into a pair of 4x12 Celestion cabs. There is a MIDI
controller on the floor for the effects,  but live, the control comes from
Jason's side.  His bass goes through a phase shifter into a big Peavey drum
amp.

 The main keyboard controller is a DPM-3.  Drum triggers are from a Simmons
SDS9, and from Jason's machine shop.  The trigger-to-MIDI units are a Roland
PAD-80 and a PM16.  All three MIDI sources go into a JL Cooper interface,
then to an Akai S-950, an Ensoniq ESQ-M, Yamaha TX16W, E-mu Vintage Keys,
and a Roland DEP-3.  It also goes to my side of the stage for my JX-3p synth,
and my MIDI pedal.
(Yes, kind reader, you can feel happy now, 'cause your new piece of gear is
better...)


The audio goes from all synth/sampler modules in the rack into a Mackie
CR-1604 for effects and eq.  Our vocals go through a Yamaha dual gate/comp
unit, and into a Korg DRV-2000, an Ensoniq DP-4 and a ZOOM
 9002.  The keyboard synths and DAT( Tascam DA-30) just go right to the
house.

 That's the live setup. In my studio, I have a collection of interesting
compressors, delays, distortions, a Sony reel-to-reel for tape effects,  a
Macintosh SE/30 and a Quadra 900 for digital editing, sequencing, and gr
aphics.



11. What made you cover "Bela Lugosi's Dead"?

 The reason we cover songs at all is for both the instant appeal to the
audience, and for our enjoyment of the material. I always look for a song
that already has our style in it somewhere, maybe buried a little, and would
be easy to translat
e into You Shriek conventions. 
 "Bela" already had that standard four- kicks- to-the-bar bass drum pattern
that is so often found in dance music, and I thought it would be interesting
to bring the rhythm up to the front, make it kick a little. The tempo was
already right in the range for club-mixes, so the only real changes we made
were instrumental: synths.  Some of the Goth purists tend to leave the dance
floor during this abomination of a sacred icon, but I meant it as a sincere
homage to a music legend; I've been a Bauhaus fan for a long time, and to
poor Bela... I don't think I changed the spirit of
 the song.
 So far it has proved to be a very good choice, people from as far as Germany
and Canada have asked for it, and the compilation record that the song
appears on hasn't even gone into distribution, yet.

12. What's in the future for the band?

 We are working very hard to organize enough people and material to have a
strong multi-media performance without bringing in a for-hire company.  We
have computer animators, film manipulators, laserists, and device control
technicians prepped for the crew, but it will take some time to get it all in
working order, and convince these independent artists that they should align
forces with a music group. 

CD... real soon... or else!



Copyright 1993 Bob Gourley. This article may only be reproduced
electronically and for non-profit purposes. Contact rsgour@aol.com