Overload Magazine

01. State your case and what you do. Be specific as possible.

Boy+Girl doesnÕt have a general mission other than to create out of necessity. Creating is what we do, and we do it because we have to.

02. What brought you to dtrash records?

We were attracted to dtrash based upon what other artists had already contributed to the label. Not that we felt that we could be pigeonholed into any one sound or genre, but we sensed there was an underlying feeling there; a definite direction the label was going in that we wanted to tap into.

03. What musical equipment do you use?

In general we use basic rock equipment for pre-processing: guitar, bass, drums, drum machine, synthesizer and vocals. I then heavily edit recordings using computers and samplers.

04. How did your project start?

Boy+Girl started as a quick fix for frustration and malaise.

05. What inspires you to create?

Shitty bands

06. What is your favorite musical project and why?

I donÕt really have a favorite music project. OlÕ Dirty Bastard is the shit though.

07. What is your favorite author and book and why?

Raymond RousselÕs Impressions Of AfricaÉthis is one of my favorites; itÕs influence can be detected in later surrealistic writings as well as in JoyceÕs Ulysses and other avant-garde writings (besides being a damn good read and not an impenetrable bore).

08. What do you do with your spare time?

Drink and read.

09. What is the meaning of life?

Fuck if I know.

10. Does your music have a political agenda?

Absolutely not. NEVER.

11. What do you believe in?

Silence

12. Who is your favorite Digital Hardcore artist?

I donÕt really have one.

13. If you could have anything in the world what would it be?

Another beer.

14. List your top ten albums worth listening to.

1-Arrigo Barnabe ÒClara CrocodiloÓ
2-Francois Bayle ÒErosphereÓ
3-Ilhan Mimaroglu ÒCoucou BazarÓ
4-Ruth White ÒFlowers of EvilÓ
5-Gerogerigegege ÒTokyo Anal DynamiteÓ
6-Karlheinz Stockhausen ÒMomenteÓ
7-Dub Taylor ÒLumiereÓ
8-To Live and Shave In L.A. Ò30 Minuten MannercremeÓ
9-Cecil Taylor ÒUnit StructuresÓ
10-anything by Rudimentary Peni

15. Anything you’d like to add to this interview?

——–

01. State your case and what you do. Be specific as possible.

The music industry gives people what they deserve on the radio and TV. They are apathetic and so get served easy listening. Even hip-hop has become safe and cuddly. I am Hyperdriver. I am the anti-music. I eat babies (they taste like pork) and shit grenades. Hate me. Noise, breakcore (whatever that is), gabba, distortion and fuck off if you want to dance.

02. What brought you to dtrash records?

Love the attitude.

03. What musical equipment do you use?

Computer, microphone, samples, synths, pianos, guitars, effects etc, etc, etc.

04. How did your project start?

Hyperdriver started in about 1998 as a result of getting sick of the guitar/bass/drums/vocals setup and the constant bickering that goes on in a band situation, although I do collaborate on other projects again. I started messing around with tape and computer editing and making noise and so the ‘driver was born.

05. What inspires you to create?

I don’t think of it as a inspiration, more a need; a drive.

06. What is your favorite musical project and why?

I like all my music projects as they are so diverse.
www.myspace.com/stevehyperdriver
www.myspace.com/hyperexmachina
www.myspace.com/hypergrinder
www.myspace.com/entityimprov
www.myspace.com/cultofashand

07. What is your favorite author and book and why?

George Orwell, Coming up for Air. It is about not looking back and trying to relive the past.

08. What do you do with your spare time?

Masturbate

09. What is the meaning of life?

42. Everybody knows that.

10. Does your music have a political agenda?

I don’t think any aspect of Western life can be divorced from politics, so yes.

11. What do you believe in?

Fairies and pink elephants.

12. Who is your favorite Digital Hardcore artist?

Alec Empire

13. If you could have anything in the world what would it be?

A smaller penis

14. List your top ten albums worth listening to.

Difficult one this as it constantly changes. So my “top ten” (in no particular order) on 15 October 2008 is:-

Christoph de Babylon – If You’re Into It, I’m Out of It
Enslaved – Vertebrae
Belphegor – Bondage Goat Zombie
The Pink Fairies – What A Bunch Of Sweeties
Mussorgsky – Pictures at an Exhibition
Rotator – Devil Inside
FFF – Smiles are Evil ep
4m33s – Live 08
Boris – Smile
Annal Nathrakh – Hell is Empty and the Devils are Here

15. Anything you’d like to add to this interview?

A pinch of salt

01. State your case and what you do. Be specific as possible.

We are a French duet doing “industrial punk”…of course these words are wrong and right at the same time. Pepe plays guitar and screams. Irene plays synthesizer, sampler, rythmbox, sequencer…We compose everything together.

02. What brought you to dtrash records?

We met a good french band called DKdance and they are actually on Dtrash. We went on Dtrash site and we like what we read and listened to…and then Schizo•d was ok about issuing us on the label: halleluyah!

03. What musical equipment do you use?

Pepe: I use very old stratocaster guitar, old marshall amp like ACDC or Lynyrd Skynyrd – :- – and distortions, and an FX pedal for my crappy voice.

Irene: Nordmodular synthesizer, 505 Roland, Emu sampler…Midi controller….

04. How did your project start?

A machine is never late!…well once upon a time, eons ago we used to play with a human drummer ( actually 3 of them one after the other ).cAfter the 3rd one, we remembered we were both of us in love with bands using machines as Suicide, DAF, Ministry, Kraftwerk, etc…and then we started our engine.

05. What inspires you to create?

Pepe and Irene: the incredible sleazy state of our societies and this bird stuck in the chemney on fire…

06. What is your favorite musical project and why?

Pepe and Irene: we cannot talk about ONE favorite musical project. The point is that we have many favorite widgets, including black music, like Stax or motown stuff haha, like Public Enemy or NWA… and Ministry, Drumcorps, Aphex Twin, Alien Sex Fiend, J Hendrix, Stooges, Suicide, No Wave from NY, Pansonic, ATR…

07. What is your favorite author and book and why?

Irene: impossible to say……at this moment….feminist book like Simone de Beauvoir, Virginia Woolf, Virginie Despentes…..also in different style!!…Celine…Dostoievski…JP manchette………political or historical book….Chomsky….Edward B Sa•d……

Pepe: i do the same answer like to the question before, but i can say words like “James Ellroy”, “Clive Barker”. Why? Maybe ’cause it’s real, tough, unselfish and…yes yes…humble!…and political newspapers with a lot of reliable infos( “monde diplomatique” ).

08. What do you do with your spare time?

Pepe and Irene: we go in bars.

09. What is the meaning of life?

uh??? ¡+¡ listening the BeeGees’song…”HA HA HA HA staying alive, staying alive…

10. Does your music have a political agenda?

What does the word “agenda” mean in the question? Talking about politics, this is totally included in our way of making music… everything in life has a political resonance, even very private items.

11. What do you believe in?

No gods, no dogs, no masters? And, of course, nothing is simple like this, isn’it?

12. Who is your favorite Digital Hardcore artist?

Irene: Thelenious Monk

Pepe: Stockhausen

13. If you could have anything in the world what would it be?

Irene:
1/ Destroy capitalism
2/ I don’t want to be able to have anything in this world like

this kind of asshole called Bill Gates, Liz Taylor…..Nicolas Sarkozy…can do!!

Pepe: so do I.

14. List your top ten albums worth listening to.

Sorry we can’t, too lazy we are….and it’s not working like this sorry!!…..more complicate!

15. Anything you’d like to add to this interview?

Grrzzzly kisses to you all!

01. Tell the readers what exactly what DTRASH means and what kind of music the record label represents please.

D-TRASH is a record label operating out of Canada, that specializes in extreme electronic music, that mixes blends of genres such as digital hardcore, glitch, industrial, noise, and punk/metal. We’ve been doing this since 1998, and have hosted releases from almost 50 different bands that are internationally based. Some of our releases are pressed CDs that are sold in distros and stores. Other releases we take from the electronic underground and release through our website, and give as a full free mp3 download, with accompanying artwork. Some of our music is very political, others is very absurd and apolitical, but there are many core themes shared amidst the roster of our lineup. We don’t release soft House or EBM music, a lot of us are originally metalheads and want to see the tide of electronic music take a more abraisive edge. Having said that, some of our music is very accessible, while satisfying the base parts of what a DTRASH band sounds like. I’ve run D-TRASH since 2001, before that it was ran by a collective of the first generation of DTRASH bands, and my band SCHIZOID records for D-TRASH, as well as some other projects. In the past years, there’s been points where we’ve laid low and kept more in the underground, and other more high profile years, where say in 2002 we were given a distribution deal with German Label DIGITAL HARDCORE Recordings, who release Alec Empire and ATR music. Or in 2004 there was a bunch of times that D-TRASH Records was featured in the nation wide Canadian radio show BRAVE NEW WAVES

02. So you’re releasing a new tribute cd to Atari Teenage Riot soon?

Yes, many of the bands on the label have ATR there somewhere in their influences, and it was something we were always thinking might be cool just to try. Years ago (I think) it would have been so wrong to do something like this, I think it’s great that we’ve got our there into the world and done our thing and gotten the DTRASH Records name out there in our own way despite our influences, and now at this point it’s more just about the fact we thought it’d be fun for a bunch of largely digital hardcore or digital hardcore influenced bands to do covers of ATR, one of the if not the founders of the genre. I’ve always wanted SCHIZOID to cover “The Future of War” and just do a balls out fucking harsh version of it and that’s whats’ there. It’s out May 1st 2007 (May Day!) and you can order it through our site at www.dtrashrecords.com

03. What do you think about the War on Terrorism and 911? Justified?

Which side are we talking about? The Western world for the war against terrorism (aka T.W.A.T.!) or the terrorists for 9/11? Both were wrong. The western world conducts their own kind of special operations under the curtain of the intelligence community and has for atleast 50 years been actively engaging in it’s own kind of home-grown “Terrorism” in the name of the national interest. NYC is one fucking cool town and I hate to see thousands of people die over nothing, but I think that the whole situation could have been avoided with a different approach to North American foreign policy. The facts of history speak for themselves, the USA and USSR’s cold war, which spread into Afghanistan in the 1980′s, bred the Mujudhadeen (spelling?), who radicalized and trained many of the same people who are now attacking us. A lot of these people, Osama, Saddam, whoever the scapegoat of the week is, always turns out to be people that the USA dealt with in past times, funny enough, like Saddam having business relationship with Donald Rumsfield or George W Bush’s involvement with Bin Laden via the Carlyle group. Getting back to TWAT, I think it’s unreasonable and an unjust encroachment into the American civil liberties, that must be resisted at any cost, before many of the basic rights that citizens worked and fought for, will be taken away if we are pacifistic about the situation which requires our full attention. Read up and become aware about what is going on and formulate an opinion of your own, the facts will prove whos right or wrong.

04. I understand you, J. Schizoid has quite a few musical projects yourself? What are they and what styles of music do you cover? Can we expect anything new from you in the near future?

I’ve done quite a few differnet types of styles over the years, personally. In MOLOTOV CHILDREN and SPUN, my first two bands, they were pretty much crust/hardcore punk. Next I was in a project called TWITCH that played thrash metal music, like Megadeth or Slayer. Late 90′s I started getting into a lot of electronic music and ended up starting up SCHIZOID which has always been kind of my main project amidst all the others. I would describe it as a mixture between extreme metal genres such as grindcore/black metal, and with the electronic genres of digital hardcore/noise/industrial. Amongst that , I’ve performed in bands EXIST, EMERGENCY INSTRUCTIONS, PERMANENT FROST, REFUZER VS SCHIZOID. From 2000 up til this year 2007 I was playing with a strictly black metal band DEAD OF WINTER. Now that DEAD OF WINTER is defunct, I’m kind of going to combine my songwriting with DEAD OF WINTER with SCHIZOID and produce music as THE SCHIZOID this year, with a full length of strictly black metal music as well, while continuing to release electronic through DTRASH.

05. What instruments/software do you use on a regular basis?

Sequencing: Sonic Foundry Acid v2.0
Editing/sound effects: Cool Edit Pro v1.2
Percussion/loops: Fruity Loops v3.4
Instruments: microphones, BC Rich beast guitar, Mansfield bass
Pedals: Boss Delay pedal, Boss bass overdrive pedal
Amps: Marshall guitar amp, Peavy bass practice amp
Electronics: Stanton turntable, Korg Kaoss pad
Vocals: Myself screaming, sometimes using the Line 6 Pod for FX

06. What inspires you to create music? And your political nature behind the music? What inspires that raw punk ethic in your stuff?

Just I guess having creative impulses and a huge interest in music I suppose would be why I create music. Some of my music has different kinds of moods and as an artist I want to express this to an audience, if not just my own audience of myself. Some of my stuff has a message, and other times it is more about the vibe of the music, which is usually in an extreme style of performance, whether with SCHIZOID and the guitars and noise, or DEAD OF WINTER or REFUZER VS SCHIZOID just for the sheer fucking screaming my face off in anger. As far as the punk approach I’d say there is a big level of DIY do it yourself kind of element involved. It’s about getting your music out there, not sitting your ass and being a spectator, getting your music or scene or whatever you wanna do with yourself and making it a reality. I like music a lot, specifically loud crazy angry fucking electronic or metal music and I want to make it myself. Because there is a lot of good music that inspires me, as much as there is a lot of shitty fucking music out there, that needs to be destroyed by something I think is much better.

07. It’d be nice to see a DTRASH Records tour? Any chance we’ll ever get to see something like that? Even a remote possibility?

I’d love that, I’d be the biggest fan of something like that, but with how spread out we are across the world I don’t think it would happen. Even if a good chunk of our artists are CAnadian, remember Canada is the world’s 2nd biggest country so it would be so hard to swing something like that. Plus honestly a lot of Canada is just frozen places worhtless of spending time touring. Most of the events happen in Toronto or Montreal, some in Vancouver BC. We did a Toronto Digital Hardcore Festival last year and got DTRASH bands HANSEL from Boston USA and PHALLUS UBER ALLES from Detroit to come up for the show to headline, and my thing SCHIZOID and Toronto’s UNITUS both played the show. SCHIZOID HANSEL UNITUS all did some of the really important core DTRASH releases, the ones that are not mp3, they are CDs in stores, and that was pretty significant as far as DTRASH tours. We’ll see if we can do something again like that. Like half of us are in US/Canada and half spread throughout Western and Eastern Europe for the most part. Haha maybe we could have two simultaneous tours at once.

08. What new releases can we look forward to from your record label soon?

Right now we’re focusing all our attention on the ATARI TEENAGE RIOT tribute album. We’ve done releases earlier this year from BABYLON DISCO from Sweden, HEARTWORM from USA, DK DANCE from Poland, and also when the ATR album comes out next month (May 2007) we’ll release a CD of THE GIGGLIN DILDAS from Belgium who have some great guy/girl screaming over industrial beats style going down. VENOM8888′s “The Balkan Tea Party” that came out on SICK MODE Recordings will get a re-release through D-TRASH this year, that’ll come later on.

09. What is Contra Recordings? Tell us about that.

E. Coli aka CONTRA approached me about the idea about doing kind of a sublabel idea, with a different approach to the ‘net label’ type of thing, where it was basically a lot of his material that wasn’t really right for D-TRASH, but was worth releasing. CONTRA is one of our core artists, and I totally respect his work ethic as an artist, he’s producing a ton of stuff, crazy avantgarde industrial breakcore noise art, and want to help him release his music. We’d done his “Enter the Winter” disc as a pressed CD in stores, released that in 2004, and next we did this. I don’t think I would take this kind of open ended approach from many other D-TRASH artists, not that I’m knocking anyone. CONTRA makes a lot of good music under a lot of different projects, and the majority of it is really good music and we’re putting it out there under the CONTRA RECORDINGS moniker. You can visit the page at http://contra.dtrashrecords.com. Latley there has been some D-TRASH/CONTRA affiliated releases from artists other than E.Coli such as myself and VENOM8888. We’re already at 1-2 dozen what not releases, good stuff. Where DTRASH is more abrasive and in your face, a lot of this stuff has a very hazy subdued atmosphere to it, kind of like a digital bad acid outer space type feel. Check it out

10. Anything you’d like to add to this interview? Anything you need to say to your fans or the public or anything like that?

Check out our disc THE VIRUS HAS BEEN SPREAD – A DTRASH RECORDS TRIBUTE TO ATARI TEENAGE RIOT, which is being released in May 2007. You can hear samples on our site (3 full songs for free download) or preorder (Before may1st) /order (after release) the disc from anywhere in the world via our STORE seciton of our site. Keep watching D-TRASH at www.dtrashrecords.com for more, we continue on doing this for a long time. For those that know us and enjoy our music we value your support and interest in this type of music, and being a part of something that is the opposite of what the mainstream is trying to shove in your face. Our stuff is unique, crazy and interesting and there is a lot of great CDs you can buy through our website, and now almost approaching 100 different releases, that we’ve done that you can download and sample and check out yourself. Cheers.

-SCHIZOID
www.dtrashrecords.com
www.myspace.com/dtrash

www.schizoid.org
www.myspace.com/schizoid

www.deadofwinter.ca
www.myspace.com/deadofwinter666

01. New album coming out soon. Tell us all about it.

Well, the new album, due on June 12th of 2007, is called “Point Of No Return”. It’s quite a departure from our previous material – both stylistically and thematically. We’ve cleaned up the sound a little and have added vocals to the music – whereas before we were writing strictly instrumental ‘power noise’ styled tracks. Thematically, this album reflects the last two years of my life – a period of time that found me moving around the U.S., learning who my friends really were and going through a lot of personal growth and change. I really feel this album is the start of a “new era” for C/A/T.

02. What is the central theme of the new album?

Taking control of your life, cherishing the good times and not looking back. No regrets – forge ahead!

03. What are some of your favorite bands? Some of the harder to find, more underground ones.

Lately I’ve been obsessed with the new Nine Inch Nails “Year Zero” material. I guess they’re not really ‘underground’… but I do respect the theme and marketing behind this album. I guess going more ‘underground’ I’d say a current short list would include: SAM, Caustic, Noisuf-X, Reaper, Modulate, Dawn Of Ashes and Tactical Sekt. I listen to a lot of different kinds of music, but those would probably be the current favorites in the “industrial” genre at least.

04. So you’ve brought in two females inside of your musical project of CAT. What’s that like working beside them? Is it strange being the outsider sine there’s only one of you in the mix?

Kat has been working with me since mid-2005 so I’m pretty comfortable working with her. We’ve been in a relationship since late 2001 and have lived together for quite some time so it was kind of natural to have her involved. I met Malice through the internet as she was a fan of our music. We met in person at a nightclub here in Sacramento where I was guest-DJing and then again when she road-tripped with me to Das Bunker in Los Angeles to see Haujobb perform. She joined the live line-up when I was in a pinch for a second member on stage for a gig in Seattle. It was at that performance where I saw the future of C/A/T with her involved as a full time band member. We recently made that official in early 2007 as Kat will be unable to make many of our upcoming performances due to her work scheduling. I’ve always been more comfortable around the opposite sex, so collaborating with women has come very easily.

05. What are your thoughts on people illegally downloading your music?

There isn’t anything I can really do about it. I definitely don’t condone it and don’t do it myself, as I’d rather support the artists and can afford to. I guess potentially it could lead to more exposure and, hopefully, live show attendance. Obviously, the “release a CD” business model is changing… but to what? Nothing has taken over as the “new, big thing” and I don’t think iTunes and DRM is the “catch-all” solution to the illegal downloading “problem”.

05. Are you presently on tour or plan to be? When can we see you live this year?

Yes, we’ll be doing a short tour in late June and early July which will take us through the mid-western U.S. and part of the East Coast. We’ll also be heading to Florida in September and arecurrently planning a more extensive tour, potentially with another act ‘to be named’ for the fall/winter of this year. We post all of our confirmed tour dates on our MySpace page [www.myspace.com/cat] so it’s currently the best place to keep track of where we’re playing and when.

06. I understand you’re a very pollitcal person. Go into detail about this and also, tell us what your opinions on the “war on terror” are as well as with what happened on 911?

I was far more political a few years ago. I kind of reached a ‘burn out’ point with all of that where it just seemed pointless to be worried about all of the time. I still find reading about the various conspiracy theories regarding 9/11 and the War on Terror to be interesting. I don’t really have a strong opinion about any political issues anymore because, I guess, I feel the whole thing is just a big charade and over-produced “TV show” with actors [politicians] I don’t care about.

07. How did Cruchpod records start and why did it begin?

I researched starting a record label for a school project while in college and then decided to just go ahead and do it. The label eventually grew to add a distribution catalog as well. The main focus was originally going to be a way to release C/A/T, while it was still very experimental, raw and political – without running into any roadblocks from labels disagreeing with, or rejecting the material. It sort of grew out from there as I met artists and wanted to assist them in getting their music released. Things really started taking off for the label in 2005 when we signed Manufactura for his third album, and we got another huge boost by having Caustic fall into our lap when his previous label shut down.

08. Is there any chance Crunchpod records will have more new exciting bands to release albums from in the near future?

We’ll be releasing the new C/A/T album and then taking a break until 2008. We had a really big run in late ’06 and early ’07 releasing music from Caustic, Endif, The Operative, Black Lung, The Operative, Autoclav1.1 and Cervello Elettronico. We were putting out almost one album a month and it became hard to manage by myself. Seeing as how Malice and I will be out on the road a lot this Fall/Winter I didn’t feel it would be fair to go signing any acts and either skimp on promotion due to being out on the road or force them to wait until 2008 for their debut release. And who knows, by early 2008 the landscape could have changed and we’ll find another great band at just the right time. I’m an eternal optimist with the label and always feel things will work out for us in the end – the next great band or album is just around the corner!

09. What’s your stance on the p2p community? Is it really sharing or is it actually stealing? And how important is it that record labels start releasing full mp3 albums for purchase in the future?

I think mp3s obviously have their share of the market. We’ve been getting a lot of our back catalog items on the various ‘legit’ download sites for purchase and have started getting the new releases listed on them as they’re coming out. Unless an artist completely objects to having their material released digitally, we intend to have all future Crunch Pod releases available in an online digital format for purchase as well as a more traditional CD. I’ve never really used a p2p community so, beyond the fact that people are trading copyrighted material, which is technically ‘illegal’, I don’t have much of an opinion on it. It’s impossible to stop, at least the way things are run right now… but I also don’t have any solutions to help the problem.

10. Are we ever going to have a chance to purchase the older cdrs of C/A/T… or are they gone forever?

The CDRs are all gone. It’s possible we could offer those up online, either for free or for purchase. I’d definitely want to go in and have them properly mastered and mixed before doing that though, especially if we decided to sell them.

11. How important of a role do you think industrial/gothic clubs play on your success with C/A/T? Anything off the new album that shall win the hearts of the movers and dancers there?

DJs and clubs have played a key role in helping the band grow. We definitely geared “Point Of No Return” to be “dance floor material” than some of the earlier material. Seeing people dance during recent live performances to new material is always a good sign too. We tested out a few instrumental demo mixes at a local night here in Sacramento without telling anyone who the band was and got a positive response… so I guess we’ll have to see how the rest of the world responds.

12. What inspired you in the early goings to make C/A/T and has, over time, that motive changed?

C/A/T began as just experimenting with sound with no specific direction. I then took the project in the more political based direction. Now, we’re writing from a more internal, personal place. Whether that be going out dancing and having a good time or looking within at personal relationships and life in general. While Kat always took a more “technically” role in the project, mainly giving advice on mixing and sampling… I’ll be working extensively on the future C/A/T material with Malice involved in the recording process. So, that will definitely add a new input to the sound and direction of the project. We’ll likely start on that either in between touring in Summer and Fall or late this year when we’re done with our run of performances for 2007.

13. Anything you’d like to add to this interview? Anything you need to say to your fans or the public or anything like that?

Well, a big THANK YOU to everyone who has supported C/A/T and/or all of the Crunch Pod artists by downloading a song LEGALLY, buying a CD, a t-shirt or attending a show. We appreciate each and every one of you and look forward to meeting you on the road soon. And thank you for the interview!

01. I understand you’re going to be having a new album coming out soon. Let’s get the details on all of that.

Actually, it’s out! It’s out on Crunch Pod and called BOOZE UP AND RIOT. It’s a bunch of lullabies and slow jams for lovers. Titles include “Spaff Injection” (“spaff” is British slang for ejaculate) and “The Reason I Broke Up With You is a Million Reasons You Psychotic Wang”.

I guarantee it’ll get you über-laid. Or at least help you masturbate. Caustic is romantic music for shitheads.

02. What started your fascination, and ultimately, later, your creation of electronic music?

Because I can’t play any real instruments? I don’t know. I got into synthpop and industrial in high school and always enjoyed the energy and anger of it. I listen to all sorts of stuff, but for some reason industrial just felt badass and I was able to learn a few tricks and start making it myself. Early Nitzer Ebb, Nine Inch Nails, Ministry, and Skinny Puppy got me hooked. So, yeah, lame answer and I just namechecked the bands everybody does but it’s true.

03. Name a few of your favorite bands.

Currently I’ve been on a punk rock kick, so old Stooges and New York Dolls. A lot of 90s grebo too– Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine and Pop Will Eat Itself. Current artists I’m digging right now are W.A.S.T.E., Keef Baker, The Operative, and Cervello Elettronico. The new Assemblage 23 stuff is kicking massive ass, too.

04. What instruments do you use to make music?

I’ve always used the “less is more” way of dealing with stuff– I’m strictly a software guy and basically mess with stuff until my processor can’t take it any more. I have lots of pals who are total gearheads and get new toys to mess with all the time– Jason Hollis from Endif and Josev from CTRLSHFT are prime and lovely examples– but I generally just sample, warp, molest, and fuck with stuff til it sounds interesting to me. I’ve been getting into a lot of goofy VSTs and Plug-ins recently and some of them came up on the new disc. It’s allowed for me to have a decent learning curve as with the first disc it was more about making noise and with the new disc there’s some actual songwriting in there too. Not MUCH, mind you, but some.

05. What do you think about the current war on terrorism we’re having?

Other than it being ridiculous? Our government has opened a can of fucking worms that the decent, innocent citizens of this country will have to deal with for a very long time, and good people on both sides are getting killed because of it. Even worse– innocent people whose lives have been ripped apart for bullshit reasons are now becoming “terrorists”. And why the hell wouldn’t they? If our country was invaded and thousands of innocent citizens were maimed and killed by bombs wouldn’t YOU be a bit pissed off and want to do something about it, too?

And the fact that our soldiers over there, the majority of which I think are good and noble for helping (or trying to), are just becoming cannon fodder for the lies and deceipts of a massively corrupt government.

The U.S. government plays upon the American people’s fear of the unknown with all this bullshit is just terrible, but that’s the game. I don’t feel any more that a “terrorist” is going to kill me than a lightning bolt. Why? The likelihood of it happening where I am, or for MOST places, is pretty damn nonexistent. It’s not that there isn’t a danger. Of course there is. But I’m not going to go buy an arsenal and spy on my neighbors if there’s no rational reason to do it.

Anyway, back to the dick jokes.

06. Have you had a chance to see the Borat movie? Any thoughts on that?

I have profound respect for the balls that people like Sascha Baron Cohen have. I’ve never been a prank type of guy– I don’t have it in me. I’d just feel guilty fucking with unsuspecting people like that. I watch things like Borat (or Da Ali G Show) and his commitment is nothing short of brilliant. I’ve performed for years doing improv, so that may give me an extra appreciation for how good he is.

07. How involved is your wife in Caustic. I heard she was sighted on stage with you at a concert recently?

Ahahaa, she’s not. My wife is incredibly tolerant of Caustic and what I do, but she’s not really a part of the music outside of a sounding board for my good and bad ideas. She does pretty much all the photography for me tho, because she does incredible work, but as for being a part of the whole thing she just tries not to roll her eyes too much when I do really stupid shit.

08. With song titles such as “This Track Will Get Skipped Alot” and “Drag Show Gone Wrong” how much does comedy play a part in what you’re doing?

I try to make the titles fun. I guess it could be considered shtick, but the way I figure it there’s a million songs out there, and a million titles that are fine but not memorable. I try to make mine memorable. I’ve got a fond little place in my heart for musicians like Anal Cunt or Stunt Rock who just don’t give a shit and name their songs whatever and that’s partially inspired me to do the same. Most of my stuff is instrumental, so why just call it “Anger” or “Grumpy” or whatever when I can call it something that pops more like “Warrior Needs Food…Badly” or something? I do it to amuse myself, but it amuses other people sometimes too so it’s win-win.

09. What are your thoughts on people illegally downloading your music?

Well, I understand why people do it. I think I’ve resigned myself to the fact that it’s going to happen regardless of anything I do or say. I could be a fucker and go after every username that has my shit on their hard drive, or I could just have the attitude of “Hey, I hope this is just for you to preview the disc. If you like it please buy it, and if you don’t then please delete it.”

I don’t feel like wasting more energy than possible on it, and I think it’s counterproductive to treat downloaders like criminals. They just want to listen to and enjoy the music. I try to have a dialogue with fans about it and understand that most of them don’t have much money but in a lot of cases I know they’ve eventually bought the discs or intend to. What’s most important to me is that people know what actually goes into getting this music out and how important it is to support it with actual money if you’re into it. Nobody’s getting rich off this, but we also don’t want to lose money, so people should know how negatively downloading can affect labels who do stuff to make you happy and dance.

10. I understand you’re currently on tour? Where can we find you this year?

Oh hell, I don’t “tour” officially. I do lots of one-offs all over the place. In May I’m playing San Francisco again, Madison (my hometown) and Chicago. I’ll be playing all over the country this year if it works out, coast to coast. Caustic is also playing the 10th Infest Festival in the UK with VNV, Apop, and tons of other awesome bands. I’ve never played overseas before so I’m really stoked about it.

11. Any such thing as Caustic side-project? Will there ever be one?

Actually, a few are in the works. One is Parasite Twin, which I’m doing with my pal Brian Schuh and we’ll be debuting it at this year’s Reverence Festival. It’s more of a wacked out synthpop/elektro project. We’ve both got sick senses of humor so I assume we’ll be alternately pissing people off and/or entertaining the hell out of them. We’ve just started collaborating on it so it’s still new, but we’re having a lot of fun. There’s another more “high-profile” one that is in the works as well, but I can’t really talk about it yet. The thought of collaborating with artists I respect is a gorgeous thing, so I’m enjoying it immensely.

I don’t think I’d ever be like Daniel Myer and do a bunch of projects with different names that are all me. I’ve tried to make Caustic something that is defined but can grow. I have a lot of ideas and Caustic is how I get them out. Eventually I’ll probably write some more “serious” music, but I have to have something to say that I think is worth hearing and that doesn’t sound like most of the other “angry” bands out there ranting about the same old shit, but it’ll still be “Caustic” in name I think. The seeds have been planted though, so we’ll see where it takes me.

12. How did you get to be signed to Crunchpod records?

I was originally signed to Static Sky Records, which unfortunately went out of business. Ben Arp from Crunch Pod was kind enough to take on my first (and now second) release and it’s been a great experience. He’s willing to take chances and let me run with my weird ideas. Luckily it’s been paying off and the label’s roster is incredible. It’s nice being a part of a cool family like CP.

13. Was David Icke right? Is the world actually being run by a race of reptilian aliens from another planet here to indoctrinate and slave us?

Are you drunk?

14. Anything you’d like to add to this interview? Anything you need to say to your fans or the public or anything like that?

No. Seriously, are you drunk?

01. How did FGFC820 form? Give us all the juicy details please.

Rexx: Dräcos and I used to co-headline a big weekly fetish party in NYC called Funhouse, which is where we met. I liked a lot of the custom remixes he was making, so I invited him to remix Bruderschaft. After that, we worked together on a remix for KiEw and found that we worked well together, so everything sort of followed from there.

02. Will there ever be any side-projects of FGFC820 or are you both going to keep FGFC820 you’re sole priority?

Rexx: From my perspective, Bruderschaft and FGFC820 are more than enough to keep me busy, musically. Dräcos has a few other solo projects that he uses to represent other different styles of music that he’s interested in.

Dräcos: Yeah, I’ve got a few solo projects that I hope to have finished by the end of the summer. The music for one of those projects is about 90% done, now I just need to write some lyrics. And then I’m also trying to finish the music for a couple of the new Bruderschaft tracks as well as working on material for the next two FGFC820 releases, so it’s just a matter of budgeting time for each project.

03. What sort of instruments/software do you use? Has it changed over the years?

Dräcos: Back in the 90′s I used to do everything with hardware (keyboards, drum machines, samplers, etc.). But that took alot of time, using the internal sequencers to program and edit everything. Now I use the computer for most everything, being that it’s so much easier to sample one of my old records into SoundForge and being able to edit the sample so easily. Software has sped up the process a great deal, so more time can be focused on the actual songwriting process rather than troubleshooting gear and trying to make everything work together. As far as what software we use, everything is put together in Cakewalk Pro Audio 6 which is a fairly old program compared to today’s standards. I may upgrade our setup eventually, but for now it’s working for us just fine.

04. There’s a distinct difference in the sound of your first release compared to ‘Urban Audio Warfare’. What do you think brought that on?

Rexx: I wrote “World of God” with Mika from This Morn Omina when I was staying with him in Belgium for a couple days during my last European DJ tour. So we already had that track done. Then one day I sort of just decided that I wanted to do a cover of “The Hanging Garden.” We got a lot of great feedback whenever either of us spun that track in the clubs, so we wanted to release it quickly. We had a couple of other finished instrumentals and resolution tracks, but other tracks — which would ultimately end up on Urban Audio Warfare — hadn’t been completed yet. I think (and it’s been pointed out enough times in reviews to substantiate my beliefs) that even within the album itself there is a lot of variation in sound. “Society,” for example, sounds nothing like “Existence” or “Anthem.” I suppose we just have a lot of varied influences and so our music tends to fit our moods on whatever day we’re in the studio.

Dräcos: I’m on a hardstyle/darkstyle kick at the moment, so you may hear some of that influence on future tracks. We’ve got some breakbeats going in one of our new tracks as well. But generally, the primary sound we’re after is aggressive club music which has been influenced by the decades of our combined experience as DJs.

05. I know ‘Urban Audio Warfare’ was just released. But have you any plans for a new album? Personally, I can’t wait to hear more from you guys.

Rexx: We’ve completed a new track, “Momentum,” that is intended to appear on the United Volume 2 compilation from NoiTekk, but that release has been delayed so we’re unsure of when it’ll actually be released. We’re also pretty far along on at least three or four other tracks for the new album and have the framework for half a dozen others. We’re hoping to release an EP within the next few months that will have one or two new tracks on it, along with a few new “Resolution” tracks and a slew of remixes of tracks from the first album. Then our second album should arrive shortly after that.

06. Any plans of touring America or Europe anytime soon? Or are you currently on tour right now?

Rexx: There’s been some discussion about trying to do a short European tour after the new EP is released, but it’s just talk right now. We also are trying to line up a few shows for the summer here in the States, particularly the East Coast and the Midwest.

07. How much does the role of politics fit into your band’s scheme?

Rexx: I think that lyrically our stuff is about 80% political, but that includes personal politics, not necessarily global politics. We are very much concerned with the state of the world, but we absolutely are not trying to paint the world as black and white. There’s a lot of gray involved, which many people seem to be incapable of recognizing. Anyone whose 100% conservative or 100% liberal, who just blindly accepts partisan politics in totality, scares me.

08. What are your feelings on this “war of terrorism” we’re having?

Rexx: I think “terrorism” is a weighted word. It conjures up certain images and thoughts in people’s minds that may not be truthful in actuality. People tend to quantify Palestinians as terrorists, for example, but not Israelis…perception changes dramatically depending upon which side of the fence (literally, in some cases) you’re on. The “war on terrorism” to me meant something completely different when we retaliated against Al Queda in the wake of the acts of September 11th than it does when it’s applied to Iraq or Iran or North Korea or any other regime. Yet, as I said before, there’s a lot of gray area. I think about the degradation of detainees at Abu Gharaib and then I think about journalists and non-combatants being beheaded, and the videos of such being broadcast on television, and I tend to think I’d prefer a dog collar to my neck to a machete. I see a lot of corruption and exploitation surrounding leaders on both sides of these wars and ultimately wish they would all be held equally accountable.

Dräcos: I’d appreciate it if the media was more objective. One news groups reports a story, and then another news group will spin the same story in a completely opposite way. In the end, you don’t know if the real facts are being reported or if it’s propaganda for one side or the other. My feelings on this war would be more accurate if I could read the actual non-partisan facts.

09. ‘Pray’ is my favorite song off the new album. What are the lyrics about?

Rexx: “Pray” sort of ties into my previous train of thought…both sides of the argument are only too willing and happy to use religion to justify what are very much man-made agendas and I think it’s bullshit. I was raised Catholic and taught that it wasn’t necessary for me to understand God’s plan, only to have faith in it, but it’s hard to rationalize a lot of what’s happening in this world or what purpose would be served by an omnipotent deity failing to do anything to stop it.

10. When is the ‘visuals’ section of your website going to be up and running? And if could I’d like to read all the other interviews you’ve done with other magazines from your site too!

Rexx: Yeah, we’d like to get those sections up to full capacity, but we’re having some problems with the programming. So if any programmers or web designers out there want to come to our rescue, by all means….

Dräcos: For some reason the sitebuilder I’m using isn’t accepting the same code that I used on the first 820 website, and I haven’t had the time as of recent to sit down and figure out why it’s not working. But it’s just a bunch of pictures of us anyway, and I’m guessing that most of our fans already know what we look like, so it’s not really a priority right now compared to finishing new material.

11. I heard that INDUSTRIARTS studio helped in the creation of your website. His work is really top notch for industrial bands, don’t you think?

Rexx: I’m a huge fan of Nate’s work. Even more so after the job he did for us.

Dräcos: The first time I saw the graphics layout he did, I thought “Wow, this imagery fits us perfectly”.

12. Are we going to hear more ‘resolutions’ (instrumental pieces) on the future albums?

Rexx: Absolutely. It’s the only way sometimes for us to express some of the styles that we want to compose under.

13. Anything you’d like to add to this interview? Anything you need to say to your fans or the public or anything like that?

Rexx: I would just like to thank everyone who’s rallied around us so far. We don’t write music for other people, but that doesn’t mean that we don’t enjoy hearing from them or appreciate their support.

Dräcos: Stop pronouncing my name ‘dray-kose’. It’s pronounced ‘drah-kose’, and some sort of violence may ensue if someone mispronounces my name again.

01. Tell us how Endif started?

Endif started as me experimenting for hours on end in a makeshift music studio. Over the last 15 years that studio has become less and less pawnshop-and-yardsale, but that core facet remains the same and always will. The name itself came from the end-of-loop command in many programming languages, such as c++ or xml. If blah blah, then blah blah, end if.

02. What does music, in its entirety, mean to you?

Music is life. It allows emotional and artistic and conceptual expression in an extremely dense package. It contextualizes everything, and is itself informed at the same time. The energy interchange between artist and audience is almost sexual.

03. What do you use for equipment? Computers, keyboards? What specifically do you use?

I’ve got this studio-as-instrument gestalt thing going on.

I currently do all my editing and assembly and mixing on an Intel-based MacBookPro, which I dual boot between OSX and Windows XP. This dual boot approach allows me to use the broad palette of effects and instruments I require, plus once I’m done in XP I can reboot and do the rest of my work in a modern, stable, and secure OS on the mac side.

I currently edit and multitrack in Cool Edit Pro2, but do all my construction and most of the mixing in FruityLoops7, which I use as a sequencing environment for a few of its built in instruments (sampler, granulator, slicer) and for third party VST plug ins (Korg Legacy, Vanguard, Reaktor, etc.).

I plan on reinforcing (or replacing?) Fruit7 with Ableton Live soon, which will run on both OSX and XP. Eventually I’d like to add MAX/MSP and Jitter to the arsenal.

Away from the computer, I also have a few remaining bits of hardware; Emu e6400 rack sampler, Rhodes Chroma Polaris (last thing ARP ever designed), Simmons SDSV, Roland SPD-11, Kawaii and Future Retro sequencers, Moog Taurus II. Just recently sold my trusty old Korg Mono/Poly to Prophei. Lately I’ve been lusting after some of the new modular stuff – Cwejman and Cyndustries and Bananalogue, oh my!

And lastly, over the years I’ve owned and recorded a wide variety of other equipment that now manifest as a gigantic self generated sample library; tb303, Oberheim OBX-A and DMX, DR660/110/55, Mirage, EPS16+, tr909, w-30, ASR10, Prophet 600, etc etc. I frequently dig into my sample library, its the thirty-gigabyte-and-counting backbone Endif is built around, so in my mind and ears they live on.

04. Have you ever thought about making a side-project?

I’ve never seen the point. Waste of good marketing time. I make what I make. If that means Endif’s sound swings wildly from one song to the next, so be it.

The only possible reason I can see for a ‘side project’ is if I were to collaborate with someone else for an extended period and the output was too good to ignore and distinct enough in and of itself to warrant that kind of effort. Otherwise I’d just fold it back into Endif.

Sometimes I think that people get so wrapped up in spraying the genre-spectrum with sound in the hopes of finding something that will stick that they lose sight of what matters – making the music they love, and getting it out there.

05. What are some of your favorite Rythmic Noise projects?

I actually dont listen to that much, but some of my favorite projects in that realm so far are: W.A.S.T.E, Cacophony, Terrorfakt, Victo Ecret, Converter, 1000 blumen, Hazing Ritual, The Operative, Manufactura, S.K.E.T., Greyhound, Winterkalte, Mono No Aware, S.I.N.A. .

In that same vein, but outside that genre, I really like artists like Haujobb, Download, CTRLSHFT, Aphex Twin, Kobold, old MBM, AZ Rotator, Nerve Filter..

As you can see, I like stuff that goes beyond merely some dude running a groovebox through a distortion pedal. Thought and effort, not mere sound and fury. Hypercontext wins every time.

06. What inspires to keep pumping out your sounds?

Honestly, I don’t know that I can stop. This is what keeps me something like sane.

07. What’s your favorite book and author?

Douglas Copeland, Ray Kurzweil, Chuck Palahniuk, Philip K Dick, Frank Herbert, William Burroughs, Stephen King, Margaret Atwood, David Brin, William Gibson, Octavia Butler, Charles Bukowski, Greg Bear, Bruce Sterling, Neal Stephenson..

08. Is there a new album in the works?

Yes! Carbon. It came together pretty quickly too. Some cut-offs that didn’t fit on Meta, one or two older pre-millenium tracks, but mostly shiny new tracks from the last year. I have yet to sign any deals to put it out, but I know I have several takers already to release it. Crunch Pod, of course, gets first crack, but I also need European/Rest of World distro, so I go from there.

09. What do you do with your spare or free time?

This IS my free time! Well, not all of it, heh. When I’m not working a full time IT job, running a small business, or working on music, I like to ride my bike, walk my little dogs (a yorkie and a shih tzu), pet my 5 cats, cook, hang out with my girlfriend, go to the gym, read, watch movies, go to restaurants, drink beer, surf the intarwebs, somtimes a little camping or volunteer work for animals or biofuels.

11. What bands have you remixed?

Terrorfakt, Y-Luk-O, E-Craft, Unter Null, Nachtmahr, W.A.S.T.E. , Divider, ClarkKent, Hypofixx, Marching Dynamics, Prometheus Burning, Brainclaw, The Operative, Crystalline Effect, Diverje vs. Soul Circuit, C/A/T, Caustic, Wraith, CTRLSHFT, Cervello Elettronico, Paraclude, UV.

In the pipe are Controlled Collapse, Assemblage 23, Kobold, Free Death, To Mega Therion, Alter Der Ruine, RAM.. I need to slow down, heheh. Or speed up. Something.

12. How did you get signed to Crunchpod records?

I just went to Ben and said ‘I have this stuff and I’d like to release it on Crunch Pod, take a listen and get back to me.’ I had footprinted all the other prospective labels and none fit where Endif was at the time and where it needed to go better than Crunch Pod, so once Ben showed interest I didnt even shop it around. And the deal was exactly what I wanted, so Crunch Pod was just a natural fit.

13. Anything you’d like to add to this interview?

Live like there’s no tomorrow – you may be right. Oh, and stop stealing music, ya pissants; if you liked it, buy it, whatever it was. Also, DEATHKEY.

01.Tell us how Cervello Elettronico started?

I guess CE really started during the end of my involvement as a lead guitarst in a local New York goth/rock band back in early 2000. I had no creative input in the music I was composing and playing so I needed some sort of outlet for that. I was listening to a whole variety of music at the time. Everything from Black Sabbath to Orbital to Hardcore Punk. Things really didn’t start to come together until I made my first remix of a Terrorfakt song called Ausland . I really think Terrorfakt and my involvement with that act had a pivitol role in the shape of my music after that.

02. What does music, in its entirety, mean to you?

It is very special to me and is my life. It’s a form of communication and expression. Without that in my life in some shape or form I would be doing crack and babbling incoherently.

03. What do you use for equipment? Computers, keyboards? What specifically do you use?

I will soon be updating everything after this next release. I have a Toshiba laptop that’s running Windows XP. I use a modular synth program called BUZZ that anyone can download for free from their website. I also use Sound Forge for editing and Acid Pro 2.0. I will also use anything that may help a particular part or sound that I need. I love to sample and change the shape of language and make ordinary sounds extraordinary.

04. Have you ever thought about forming a side-project. Or have you already?

I think the music I want to create for CE is so varied that it wouldn’t make sense for me to do another project with similar band member/setup. CE for me is all about being open to different genres of music and mixing it with synthesized sounds. If I am involved with any other project it would have to be drastically different than what I’m doing now.

05. What are some of your favorite Rhythmic Noise projects?

I try not to label things but what I consider to be rhythmic noise that I really enjoy might be Sonar and Monolith. I really can’t get enough of that. It’s like music crack for me. I’m not sure if you would consider The Operative or Terrorfakt Rhythmic Noise but there are some elements in there that sound similar which I really enjoy hearing.

06. What inspired you to keep pumping out your sounds?

People, my travelling experiences, relationships. Also my friends in other bands/acts. I’m lucky enough to have supportive friends who encourage me. It’s a shame that so many people want to knock “amateur” musicians. Everyone should at least try to be creative somehow in a way they are most comfortable with. We can only gain from this. And if it goes nowhere at least you aquire an appreciation for the art.

07. What’s your favorite book and author?

I’ve always liked Farenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. I can read that book over and over.

08. Is there a new album in the works?

I am polishing up material for an upcoming release or accompaniment to the album I just realeased, Negate The Instigater, on CrunchPod. It’s going to be titled Electrophobia and will be released online through filesharing networks. It’s sort of an act of appreciation to everyone who has or will buy the NTI album.

After this I’ll be updating my gear and working from scratch probably in the fall/winter for another release on CrunchPod before 2007 is over.

09. What do you do with your spare or free time?

I travel a lot. Most of the time it’s to support my music but I meet so many cool people and have such a wonderful time it doesn’t feel like work to me. It can be grueling though flying out west for a day to dj a record release party or a gig then coming right back to go to work my day job. I like what I’m doing though so I don’t mind putting in the effort.

11. What bands have you remixed?

I’ve remixed a few Terrorfakt songs, Northborne, Combichrist(but who hasn’t), Hypofixx, Architect, Caustic, and several more. I’m still not happy with remixing other artists. I don’t think it’s my strongest skill but I’m working on it. Recently a remix made it to the last Dependent Septic Compilation which I thought would be great exposure but the mastering engineer screwed up and the song on the disc was considerably slower than how it was supposed to sound so I was very disapoined. Remixes aren’t high on my priority and I hate meeting deadlines but I will get to them usually.

12. How did you get signed to Crunchpod records?

I played a show in New York City with Caustic and C/A/T. That night I made sure Ben(crunchpod) was drunk off Red Devils and then took him out on the balcony Shug Knight style. He then signed me. Actually I think he signed me because I am the Phil Collins of Industrial and he has a weird Phil Collins fetish.

13. Anything you’d like to add to this interview?

YES Thank you for interviewing me. It is my first interview since my debut release. Also I’m a Christian and your website offends me!

01. Tell us how Manufactura started?

I got sick; very I’ll in 1998. I had to go to the hospital for emergency open head surgery. The doctors told me they would have to remove bone and parts of my skull with a drill. They said I would have a 50/50 chance of my face being paralyzed and disfigured. They said I would most likely loose my hearing. As I sat on the bed in the hospital listening to Aghast View, while the doctor shoved a 12-inch needle in the back of my head. I felt pain like I have never felt before or since, as tears of misery and pain and complete utter despair ran down my face I prayed, I begged that if I were to make it out of this fucking situation without paralysis and with partial hearing that I would fully work on music until I go deaf. That no longer would I just push music and experimentation of sound aside like a hobby, but that I would use it to release all the shit I have stored in my fucking mind, body and soul for so many years. I would honestly find a way to let go. As of right now my hearing is at 70%. I think I still have at least 10 more years before I’m completely deaf and in that case dead.

02. What does music, in its entirety, mean to you?

Music is the voice of our soul, our inner selves. It is in my opinion one of the key essentials for living. Without it we would die. It is as necessary to us as water. No tribe, no society, no group of people, NO INDIVIDUAL…ANYWHERE on earth is without it. It brings us together, it inspires us, it moves us, it nurtures us, and it terrifies us. It is a gift, perhaps the only thing worth living for. From a simple humming sound, to a flute, to a drum, to a piano, to a guitar, to a computer….to everything around us, everything has a harmony, a melody a rhythm. Every living species and organism on earth and beyond has music in them. Close your eyes and no matter where you are, you will hear the sounds of life, sometimes loudly, sometimes muffled, but you will hear music, it will come to you, a song from childhood, or a recent radio hit, or a tune you love. Imagine what life would be without music. The thought alone makes me want to kill my self.

03. What do you use for equipment? Computers, keyboards? What specifically do you use?

I cant get into specifics, it impossible, well not impossible but ridiculous to list here. I use my self first, I use my mind, my brain, my heart, my hands, my cock, my legs, my arms, my fucking soul. I use machines, computer chips, in plastic cases, in metal cases, tone generators, sound design programs, processors and mixers. I use American, German and Japanese machines to express my Colombian spirit. I use hatred, anger, misery, love, sadness, envy, lust, sin, and blood as my tools to compose the disturbing thoughts that go through my head, the uneasy feelings that challenge my heart, I use them to score the madness in my unforgiving dreams.

04. What’s your side-projects Broken Fabiola, Karloz Manufactura, and Karloz.M like? Same style of music? What brought on these offshoots?

Well for starters Karloz.M is just my name not a project, although in recent years I guess I’ve become a project to some people, but I’m not exactly sure what kind of project I am as a human being, it’s all very complicated.

Karloz Manufactura (aka CLOSR) – is a spoken word project. Its experimental, dark sound escapes, sometimes rhythmic sometimes ambient always fucked up. I use this project as a way to express my self through some of my poetry, short stories and insane, maybe childish or immature rants, but rants none the less… it is sick and twisted.

Broken Fabiola – is my pride and joy, it is the project that gets the best of me, it is my most personal work as a composer. To classify it would be as simple as to listen to it. IDM-Jazz-Trip Hop-Indie rock-glitch-shoe gaze-noise-ambient-experimental-lounge-electro a touch of reggae and Latin flavor… it is beauty in imperfections

05. What are some of your favorite Rhythmic Noise projects?

Things change with me, but I like people that bring originality to the table, I don’t like clones and there are a lot of clones.

Esplendor Geometrico – ranks very high on my list.
P.A.L. – has been a favorite for many years.
Sonar – are the kings of groove.
Converter – is the ultimate in power.
Haus Arafna – are the keepers of the tones.
The Operative – is the master of the funck.

There’s a great deal more, but these guys know what’s fucking good or at least what I like, its about bass, it’s about true and real rhythm, its about real madness, not math.

I suggest you go out and get some.

06. What inspired to keep pumping out your sounds?

Life, my friend…..LIFE! I only write about what I know. My mind is on fire with memories and moments from so long ago, things that have come to pass, and things that will become reality. My dreams are a big part of it as well. The human condition, the knowledge of misery it’s as classic as the blues. The very nature of ourselves, only I tend to show what many are afraid to hear or admit. I write for myself, I try to only please myself with my music, because in the end, other people will come and go, some people will stay for a long time, but the music will always be mine.

Years after people have forgotten who I am or what it is that I did, I will till enjoy my creations. I am selfish with my own music.

07. What’s your favorite book and author?

The book is called “Love is a dog from hell” and His name is Charles Bukowski, he is my teacher. He has taught me the real value of people, how to truly see them for what they are. He inspired me to live again when the world has turned its back on me when my friends have all betrayed me, when my enemies have perished, he will always be there for me, he guides me. His words and ideas have been filtered through me and showcased as such through my music. That particular book was pivotal and remains as a turning point in my life. It was an awakening. I woke the fuck up, it was the fist in my face that I needed.

08. Is there a new album in the works?

My mind is always working, my albums and individual tracks are being written everyday, in my head. There are some very special releases that are planned for the near future, like I said earlier things change with me, so the plans change like seasons. I’m not into writing “tracks” or “cuts” I work on full albums, everything in it them is very methodical. There is meaning in the artwork, the layout, the words, the sounds and the music everything in its entirety has an underlining meaning, to me. Any new material will always be different. SO the next release will take to other places and other worlds. It’s the nature of the beast.

09. What do you do with your spare or free time?

I fight myself, the name and the myth a music project I created has become, and the bullshit people throw at me because of it. I ache that the very thing I created as a form of expression and art, as a way to release my demons and somehow better my self psychologically, is turned against me, it is perverted and distorted by the sickest minds, the most twisted individuals and the whores in that linger. I struggle to keep insanity and drama out of my life everyday. Aside from that I work on music, I write poems and short stories, I work on graphics and I paint. I drink, I like to have a good time, but I’m considered a sort of troublemaker because I play hard. I like to explore restaurants and try new foods from different locations. I watch movies and enjoy intelligent conversations and some stupid conversations but only with smart people. I like to chill the fuck out. I also love to see live music performed and this year promises to be a good one for that sort of thing.

11. What bands have you remixed?

I’ve remixed a great deal of varied acts, some are interesting others are unique, they all have special talents. I remix for different reasons some remixes I select to work on are based on the individual track, or the words of the song, or the nature of the sound. It’s not really remixing as much as using an idea crated by another artist and create a new vision. 90% of my “remixes” contain about 2% of the original track I basically create new almost original tracks from scratch. I intentionally didn’t list a bunch of names cause I really don’t want to sit here and think of all the bands and/or acts I’ve worked with, it would give me a headache. There are many of them.

12. How did you get signed to Crunchpod records?

I got fucked over by Hive Records. They basically used the money I would have earned from my 2nd release (the only one on hive) to fund the mistakes made by the label, their mismanagement, their ignorance about the nature of selling or distribution for this kind of music and their personal drug use. To this day they owe me $$$. In any case, after that fucking fiasco with the asshole who runs that fucking operation. I decided to look for yet again a small house for Manufactura, a place I could have free range with my ideas and not pushed into selling “club hits” like the bigger labels in this “genre” tend to do. I had know of crunch pod as a distribution house, however after a conversation with Ben Arp founder and owner of Crunch Pod, he had expressed branching off into an actual label outside of the CD-r releases and singles they had done in the past. With the information I had gathered from running my own label the two of us set up a plan of attack for the 3rd album. Crunch Pod and manufactura have grown through 2 more releases and collaborative work with other artists and labels, I’m very proud and have tremendous respect for the work he has done. Ben has proven to be dedicated and honest with his work and word. He is a great partner in this field and a great friend. The label is growing and a great deal of good things can be expected from it in the future.

13. Anything you’d like to add to this interview?

I will leave you with one of my poems. Thanks for the interview.

The Gypsy and The Hermit
by Karloz.M

There are things
in life
that we reluctantly,
and sometimes
by choice,
must experience.
Some of these
experiences
are not very
attractive
others are simply
ecstatic.
We have to go through them
in order to better
comprehend
who we are
and what were capable of.
I know
what it is,
that lingers inside you.
I know
what your
hunger
is made of,
desire.
I know your
passion.
I know it
very well.
More
then you could imagine.
In time, you will see it,
my way.
I am not a devil.
I am neither the prey
nor the predator.
I am not trouble.
I am not danger.
I am a voice of reason.
One
you’ve never heard
before.
Don’t regret
the things you’ve done.
Don’t deny
yourself.
You are alive.
Don’t suppress it.
Open
yourself, to
the possibilities.
Allow them
to enfold you.
If you release
your mind
before
you let go of
the ledge,
you will never
hit the ground
below.
Take the plunge.
It’s one
hell
of a ride.

I am the Gypsy and The Hermit.

-KM