dvmusic.ru (russIan) INTERVIEW
FULL INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT - DATED 30/03/2006
Russian Text Intro: С представителями британского инди-лейбла "WASP Factory" (www.wasp-factory.com) я познакомился несколько лет назад, когда вел на хабаровских радиостанциях "Олимп" и (после погребения первой) "101,8 FM" авторскую программу "Ритмы планеты". Их заинтересовала концепцией моей программы – non-hamburger sound, и мы стали сотрудничать. В числе прочих независимых экспертов (радиоджедаи, критики, программные директоры и др.) я тестировал присылаемые рабочие муз.сэмплеры, по ряду показателей оценивая демо-версии песен исполнителей, записывающихся на "WASP Factory" - "Tarantella Serpentine", "DUST", "Freudstein", "Swarf", "Deathboy", "Arcam Asylum", "Interlock" и др.
Затем, после исчезновения "Ритмов планеты" из эфира (зомби победили), многие мои вирт.контакты прекратились. Но недавно на меня вышли участники "Freudstein" (www.freudstein.co.uk) Выпущенный ими в этом году новый альбом "Mass market misery", эффектно соединяющий гнетущую атмосферу классических фильмов ужаса с гипнотическим электронным битом, по сути, является бескомпромиссной атакой талантливого музыкального дуэта из Брайтона на современный бездушный мир. Предлагаю вашему вниманию интервью с участниками этого проекта (David Else and Andrew Bridge).
English Translation: I met representatives of the British indie label "WASP Factory" (www.wasp-factory.com) several years ago, when I hosted the author's program "Rhythms of the Planet" on the Khabarovsk radio stations "Olymp" and (after the first burial) "101.8 FM" ". They became interested in the concept of my program - non-hamburger sound, and we began to cooperate. Among other independent experts (radio jedi, critics, program directors, etc.), I tested the working music samplers that were sent in, evaluating by a number of indicators the demo versions of the songs of the performers recording at the "WASP Factory" - "Tarantella Serpentine", "DUST", "Freudstein", "Swarf", "Deathboy", "Arcam Asylum", "Interlock", etc.
Then, after the disappearance of "Rhythms of the Planet" from the air (the zombies won), many of my virtual contacts stopped. But I was recently contacted by the members of "Freudstein" (www.freudstein.co.uk) Their new album "Mass market misery" released this year, effectively combining the oppressive atmosphere of classic horror films with a hypnotic electronic beat, in fact, is an uncompromising attack on the talented a musical duet from Brighton to the modern soulless world. I bring to your attention an interview with the participants of this project (David Else and Andrew Bridge).
- please, tell me about SPUNK musical movement. What is it? New incarnation of classic British punk rock (Sex Pistols, UK subs, The Exploited, Damned, etc) or the part of industrial underground?
David: I am afraid I have never heard of the spunk musical movement.
Andrew: Musically, Freudstein doesn"t really have anything to do with the punk movement but we do share the politics and DIY ethos that came out of it. We write and produce all our own music and don"t make it for money or fashion. Our sound is more avant-garde industrial electronic horror, mixing dance beats with heavy guitars and politics. No one song is the same. So we are our own masters, so in that sense we"re punks at heart.
- "Freudstein" combines the atmosphere of classic horror soundtracks with modern electronic music. Is it your conceptual mind way or intuitional studio experiment? And…What your favorite films?
David: Freudstein"s sound is the sound I have always wanted to hear and never did, so I had to make it myself. I am a huge fan of 70"s and 80"s horror film retro sounds, but also of very modern sounds. Freudstein is part experiment, and part the sound in our heads escaping to your ears.
Film wise, I can recommend your readers whole heartedly the following classics:
Men Behind The Sun - Hideous tale of human experiments on the Chinese by The Japanese in WW2. Very graphic and grim.
The House By The Cemetery - Gothic horror with amazing visuals and atmosphere. Features the source of our band name.
The Beyond - Maybe the best, and certainly the most avant-garde Italian zombie film
Dawn Of The Dead - The classic zombie film that all are measured up to
Guts Of A Beauty - A very sick minded Japanese exploitation film that pushes all boundaries of taste
Cannibal Holocaust - Amazing and important film of great beauty with the best soundtrack of all time
The Untold Story (aka Bun Man) - Action packed Asian tale of a man who cooks people into buns... very full on
Suspiria - Argento"s masterpiece of witchery with a pounding Goblin sound track
...I could go on for a very long time here. I am assuming these titles are available in Russia, if you were an evil copyright infringer and enemy of society you might find them on certain p2p networks in MPEG4 format.
Andrew: Freudstein has always been profoundly influenced by horror films and their soundtracks. This is a great lost art form when bands used to score film soundtracks and experiment with sound outside of the usual rock aesthetics. All of a sudden new instruments and styles began to emerge with 1970"s bands like the Goblin using synthesizers, hammer dulcimers and guitar zithers. We"re embracing that same kind of creativity and hopefully adding something new.
- You prefer sound of Goblin, Depeche Mode, Isao Tomita, Boards of Canada and other modern electronic artists. Also – surprise! – Slayer. And what"s about masters of black scene: In Slaughter Natives, Sleep Chamber, Coil, NON, Lustmord, Blood Axis, Inade, etc?
David: I love Lustmord, cool that the name translates as "sex death" too. Sometimes I find his trick of sounds creeping up on you a bit annoying. Just when you are relaxing into your morbid death dream some disturbing sound monster leaps out of the speakers and makes you fall off your seat! Another artist in the dark ambient field, Mind Spawn, is more of a favorite of mine.
Coil has been one of my favourite bands for over 10 years! My favourite album is "Stolen and Contaminated Songs". It was very limited until it was recently re-released. It was made from the music they recorded for "Love"s Secret Domain" but didn"t include. It"s the most drugged up album of all time... really weird and original. Coil were the most consistently challenging
and original band ever. Tragic it had to end with one of them getting pissed and falling down the stairs... even so, they had a long and magnificent career in music.
Andrew: I guess we"re into anything that"s dark and heavy that isn"t cliched. A lot of black metal just tries too hard to be dark, it just doesn"t sound authentic and ends up sounding comical. But you"re right in mentioning Coil, they are a major dark inspiration and never fail to freak me out with their songs about rats and suicide. We"ve both been listening to them since we were at school and they probably had more influence over us than our teachers!
- Do you know original electronic acts from Far East of Russia? For example – Zamza, Park Modern, Orkestrovaya Yama…Is it exotica for you? News from parallel world?
David: I have never heard them, but i would LOVE to! I do have some Edward Artemiev early electronica that is great... I have encountered very few Russian bands in the UK. It is a great shame, I hope things will change with the Internet and mp3. Having sites like www.dvmusic.ru that have a "translate me" button is a brilliant idea.
Andrew: We"re not really aware of any Russian electronic acts over here, we just never get to hear about them which is a shame because I think a lot of British people are open minded towards other cultures. We have heard some of the original electronic Russian pioneers such as Edward Artemiev, and I have seen Gogol Bordello live on TV quite recently, so we"re not completely ignorant.
- Are you atheist? Is God a fiction? Some people say that fundamental religions bring us blood and tears…
David: I hate all organised religion. It is easy to see through the manipulation and lies if you are not indoctrinated from childhood. I would say it draws with greed and ignorance as the cause of most worldwide suffering and murder. The whole concept of "faith" is a bit alien to me, I have been a bit more open minded since i started to challenge the concept of reality a bit more. The sad fact is people believe what suits their needs at the time, you can talk yourself into anything if you are not careful. It"s not a surprise that people get religion when they get very old. Who wants to accept the reality of death when the fantasy of eternal life is so popular? Who is to say what is real... my ideas on God may be wrong, there is no way I can prove it either way. It is good practice to never be more than 99% sure of anything, this helps you to avoid becoming a fanatic in any subject.
Andrew: It"s hard to say. How can anyone say? I liked Freud"s theory that God was the ultimate psychological father figure, and believe that humans develop this need early on and so fashion him into this archetypal bearded old man. But they forget that if God is so perfect and we are all made in his image, then why are we so fallible. Surely Christians are the most hypocritical of all, crucifying their messiah and then saying, oh, it was all part of God"s great plan. And if it was all his great plan and he is so forgiving then why should we be punished? I"m part sceptic, part atheist. I do agree that religion is probably man"s greatest folly and along with imperialism it is one the greatest, destructive, divisive scourges on this planet.
- Your political orientation? All members of all parties are pigs? Welcome to FIGHT CLUB?
David: Politicians are either pigs or naive. It"s time for humans to evolve from their need of a "pack leader" or "silverback" to tell them what to do. You can"t change a fucked up system by putting a new person in control of it! You have to smash it down and start again. It is an infinitely complex debate... I have spent so many nights arguing with people of different views. What everyone agrees on is that free market capitalism is pure exploitation built on lies.
Our album "Mass Market Misery" deals a lot with the virtual reality of modern life. The mainstream media"s main job is to normalise the absurd existence we are living. It is there to create a false framed debate. For example, on a political show in England there are the 2 main parties passionately arguing about a small detail of the accepted system. This is called a debate. The idea of a free thinker entering the debate and suggesting the system is fucked and to try something else would be impossible. This vital point is not considered by the majority of the population, they are fooled by a simple propaganda technique. All mass media is 100% biased towards the current system of world economics, their existence depends on it.
Andrew: Politically, we"re on the left, but have little faith left in the whole political system. Politics has become a byword for corruption and deception and is now one big gravy train for corporations and lobbyists. Governments have a lot to answer for, they don"t care about the people, just controlling them for their own power games and interests. The next ten years are going to be a revelation to a lot of people when their way of life is threatened and ended by the impending energy crisis and environmental collapse because politicians have let these things happen. Hopefully, politics as we know it will be abandoned altogether.
- "Robots", "zombies" – central images of "Mass Market Misery". Do you hate modern society, dreaming to destroy new world order? "Return to the old forest"? But computers, equipment, buildings, level of civilization?
David: I disagree with the politics of "green anarchism" in the idea of technology being somehow evil and the cause of oppression. I think technology is neutral and can be used for whatever people choose. It can be a CCTV camera spying on you for the police, or a groovy hacker using his PC to crash the FBI web site. Using technology to liberate instead of enslave is a political decision.
I do hate a lot about modern society, mainly the greed, ignorance and injustice. Not having lived in any other society I cannot confirm another in particular would be better, but i can certainly hope it couldn"t be much worse. Without hope there is no point in living.
Andrew: Modern society is becoming ever more totalitarian. Technology was supposed to free up our lives but has always been used against us. Identification cards are planned in the UK and already you cannot walk down the street without being identified by CCTV. It"s going to get a lot worse and pervasive, and people are willing to put up with it. Fortunately, we now have the Internet which is hugely empowering for the individual and for forming like minded groups. So, I would say that technology is neither good nor evil, rather it is a question of how it is used. Humanity tends to use it to foster social robots and forms of control. I seem to remember IBM being implicated in supplying the Nazis with the first ever indexing machine/computer to identify and label concentration camp victims in World War II, so ultimately the responsibility lies with humanity.
- Who"s an enemy of human race?
David: All power and authority. Without this, the greed and lust within man can"t harm people on a huge scale like it is now. The monstrous machine we live in was constructed to imprison us by the powerful to maintain their power. It"s main tool is lies, if that fails it will use violence against us. Violence can be starving in the street having been unable to pay your rent, doesn"t have to be the army or police murdering you.
It would be a bit of a clique to say George Bush and the US empire. They are an enemy to all that is decent, but when they fall someone else will replace them if we allow it to happen. There are many theories of the "hidden hand" behind everything such as illuminati and NWO... this may or may not be true, but the way to dispose of them is still the same :)
Andrew: Humanity"s greatest enemy is itself. Our capacity and craving for destruction and greed will ultimately destroy us all. Millions have died in wars over the centuries, and however we justify it politically or religiously, it still comes down to the fact that humans have this innate primal desire to kill and conquer. We just have a pretense of civility. We"re not civilised. We"re going to wipe ourselves out, I"m just surprised it hasn"t happened sooner.
- I think, your new album is the strong manifestation of non-hamburger art. What inspirited you? Did you use drugs, alcohol, meditations, secret rituals of ancient cults or other special means?
David: I love your phrase "non hamburger art". I don"t use any of the above methods when writing music, definitely no hamburgers being a vegetarian!I usually just hum the tune and try to work out the notes on the keyboard. It just grows from there in a very slow process until a song is made. I can also play the guitar, so often songs come from that.
Andrew: Yes, we"re against corporate culture and what the music industry currently stands for. This album refuses to tow the line and to follow fashions and is musically very eclectic. For too long we"ve been told that music is only successful in terms of how much it has sold - taking in dance music, industrial, death metal, dark ambient. It"s pretty unique. Besides, what has sales got to do with good music? Nothing. Surely it"s more about the inexpressible, the language that cannot be communicated by words alone. It can have a powerful effect on people and their lives. It can soundtrack your entire existence and has been proven to trigger memories.
Despite the rock and roll mythology, it"s pretty hard to make music when you"re drunk or high. But we do our best! Mostly we"re inspired by the world around us, our personal lives and the fight against reigning western ideologies and cultural indoctrination.
- "Kill your television" (Maybe, Ned"s Atomic Dustbin…) What do you think about pandemonium (BESTiarium?) of mass media? "Porno for masses","All for sale", "Billion dollars baby" are slogans of our rotten time. There is brainfuck domination of incubative artists on radio and TV. How to save wings of soul? How stopped endless (s)hit-conveyer?
David: I think about it all the time, the "Robot"s" trilogy on the album deals with many of these ideas. The problem is complex. On a simple level, people should not be lazy and just consume what they see/hear on TV/Radio. If they care about music they must look hard and discover. Music is very important for me, and many more people, I think. It can change your life as well as merely entertain. I feel sorry for someone who only knows pop music because that is all they have been exposed too, BUT the media is also to blame. It is not in their interest to promote certain things. They have no love or understanding of music, only money. They are just a cheap vending machine with bright flashing colours to attract the un-weary shopper. Is it the shopper"s fault, or should the machine be tipped over to protect them?
As a surprise, I will say that I actually love some pop music, and ABBA are one of my favorite bands. Not all pop music is bad.
Andrew: Capitalism is evil. It fosters and creates false wants and needs, ultimately denying man his freedom of choice, his right to think for himself. As people, we don"t need to be surrounded by luxury. Sure, we all have basic human needs of love, food and shelter but we need to recognise
that fulfillment does not come from some great shiny external force. Freedom does not come with a no interest money back guarantee! Buy nothing. Make something. Be creative yourself.
- So, scenario of "Matrix" is real? End of freedom? Happiness in slavery? Cooperation with living dead? Or we have a chance?
David: The war on terror is the biggest lie that world governments are trying to sell at the moment. There is a world wide crackdown on freedom in the name of "fighting terrorism". The fact is that the governments are the biggest terrorists on the planet. The idea of these bastards "protecting" you from the bogey man terrorist by war, introducing id cards, increasing police power and destroying civil liberties is a joke. It is so painfully obvious what they are up to. The world is in crisis and they won"t give up their insane grip on power. It"s all very 1984... remember Oceania is always at war with Eastasia, that"s us and the "terrorists" now. Goldstein = Bin Laden. The problem is not how many people know this, it"s how many people do something about it!
We do have a chance of liberation from worldwide injustice and oppression, but it"s slipping away. Maybe the world running out of oil will be either the start of a new golden age, or the destruction of humanity. Don"t sit around and wait for the system to self destruct, give it a good kicking now!
Andrew: I believe we"re heading for a huge cataclysmic event in the next 5 to 10 years which is going to send shockwaves across the planet as civilisation realises it is no longer sustainable - it never was. Even Darwin realised and foretold us of this impending energy crisis in the 1950"s and no-one listened! Ultimately, earth will survive and recover within the next 100,00 year but I think humans will have to make a clear conscious choice of whether to work together for survival or continue down the road we"re on today. Currently, nations are already beginning to square up to each other and fight over the remaining scraps of carbon fuels, citing false reasoning for war when really it"s all down to pure national economical survival. If democracy truly exists, then we are going to have to be told the truth and decide our own fate.
Russian Outro Text : …я включаю альбом "Mass Market Misery" (заказать диск можно напрямую на официальном сайте проекта – www.freudstein.co.uk), слушаю "Return to the old forest", "Filthy little whore", "Robots", "Wings of death" (Cannibal Corps встречается с Depeche Mode), "Come with me", "Laura" и другие треки и вспоминаю сон, который часто мне снится. Кромешная мгла кругом и – стены (подземелье, андерграунд, катакомбы?). Никого не видно, но я чувствую присутствие других, также замурованных в своих камерах. Каждый пробивается в одиночку и – одновременно – все вместе: только вместо кирок, ломиков и лопат используются внутренние способности, которые у каждого различны, но, тем не менее, их можно активизировать. Словно каждый реализованный творческий акт – еще одна вывороченная глыба (плита?) из стены отчуждения (The wall), воздвигнутой между нами. Кто-то, обессиленный, падает или, скрючившись в углу, прекращает всякую попытку найти выход, но вместо него, отшатнувшись от нашей реальности, появляются другие. И – неужели это не галлюцинация? – бьющий сквозь трещины свет другого мира...©Дальневосточная музыка
English Translation: I turn on the album "Mass Market Misery" (you can order the disc directly on the official website of the project - www.freudstein.co.uk), listen to "Return to the old forest", "Filthy little whore", "Robots", "Wings of death "(Cannibal Corps meets Depeche Mode)," Come with me "," Laura "and other tracks and I remember a dream that I often have. A huge haze all around and - walls (dungeon, underground, catacombs?). No one is visible, but I feel the presence of others, also walled up in their cells. Everyone makes his way alone and - at the same time - all together: only instead of picks, crowbars and shovels, internal abilities are used, which are different for everyone, but, nevertheless, they can be activated.It is as if each realized creative act is one more lump (slab?) From the wall of alienation (The wall) erected between us. Someone, exhausted, falls or, crouching in a corner, stops any attempt to find a way out, but instead of him, recoiling from our reality, others appear. And - is this not a hallucination? - the light of another world beating through the cracks ...© Far Eastern music
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