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01 : FEB : 07
You’re re-releasing your album "Krankhaus" as limited edition which includes remixes by Combichrist, Stromkern, Ego Likeness and Mercy Cage. How did those artists choices come up? Any remix you’d like to mention specially? ZooG: Dancing Ferret (our label) organised many of the bands and we got many of our friends on board. We love the music of all of the bands who remixed us. It was a good opportunity to put Crash Frequency bands on the CD with international artists. All the remixes rock, it’s amazing what other people do with your music. It’s a very diverse CD which we hope our fans will enjoy.
Prior to the deal with dancing Ferret, you pretty much released "Krankhaus" on your own (and the help of Crash Frequency). Where do you see the advantages/disadvantages with regard to the DIY method? How important is the DIY thing for bands in your opinion? Destroyx: Krankhaus was entirely created and funded by us, including music production and artwork. The DIY approach is definitely a lot of work, but it means that ultimately you have control over every aspect of the album. You don’t have to make any artistic compromises for commercial viability. ZooG: Crash Frequency is not a label, and did not help us with things like distribution which a traditionally a record label would do. Instead, it’s a band collective which forms a support network, where we shared information about DIY techniques etc. for example we might help each other find good deals for CD pressing and getting T-shirts made. We also spur each other on musically, to create a high standard of music. We couldn’t have done the album without the wisdom, experience and expertise of the bands Tankt, IKON and the Tenth Stage. Destroyx: After we got signed to Dancing Ferret things have not really changed significantly for us, as we still have the same DIY ethos behind our creativity. Being signed to a label means you are exposed to many more opportunities, being involved in tours and compilations for example. Such opportunities would have been much harder to come by on our own, as it is quite difficult to make many contacts as a small band in a short period of time. ZooG: It’s also nice to work with someone else on the band, as before it was just myself and Destroyx. Overall however, it’s not going to change the ideology behind the band, it just means that more people can get in touch with our music. Something we’ve learnt from our DIY background is that you always have to work hard to achieve things, as you can’t rely on anyone else to get it done. You can do whatever you want, provided you are willing to work hard for it. We’re both total workaholics!
On the album, you manage to let two different worlds collide and cooperate...on one side there’s variety and a lot and going on in the songs, on the other hand there’s a certain monotony that accompanies the songs/the atmosphere. Was this intended when you started working on the album? ZooG: Overall, we wanted to make good music that we liked. We didn’t intend to consciously impose a formula or feel onto it. I think the overarching musical themes are influenced by the context of the album’s creation. We were going through some tough times and our anger at the situation is quite evident in the music. Destroyx: We’re both pretty angry and frustrated people and you can hear such attitude in the music and lyrics especially. We wanted to write good songs that had a touch of pop sensibility, yet were sonically dense and interesting, so that upon subsequent listenings you would be able to appreciate the details in the music. It’s a pretty dark album that tries to take listeners on a journey that has a lot of high energy and also some low reflective moments.
You stated, that "Krankhaus" is about taking beauty to a grotesque extreme. It's about crossing the line between entertainment and torture, pushing the boundaries of body modification until it becomes fetishised medical experimentation. How did the idea for this concept come up? Destroyx: We’re very interested in the 1920’s period in Europe and how many cities such as Berlin and Paris became quite depraved after World War I. The Weimar period of Berlin was especially interesting as people indulged in extreme entertainments of every sort, including drug taking, prostitution and even cannibalism. Human life became very cheap, and this is the notion which we extrapolated in our concept. ZooG: The concept for ‘Krankhaus’ is also inspired by the modern day world around us as well. People are just becoming more self centered, vain and consumeristic. We’re toying with the idea if people had no limits how far would they go to pleasure themselves?
Your visuals/imagery support the concept in an intense way. How’s the response (from media & listeners) been on your image/artwork by now? I guess it’s controversial and they’re either loving it or hating it, there’s no inbetween? ZooG: People seem to either love us or hate us. I think some people see us as a threat…they perceive us as two fashion victims who use music purely for the purposes of pimping our look. I honestly don’t care…I’m so tired of jaded old musicians with a faded black late 80s Industrial band T-shirts pointing at us calling us the devil or claim that we aren’t original and are replacing real music for commercially constructed tripe. Times are changing. This scene is changing. That glorious 80s formula doesn’t work anymore…
We’re artists…it’s our job to piss off the previous generation. Destroyx: Many people have mentioned we’re all look and no substance, in relation to our artwork, but obviously they aren’t looking close enough into its concept. On the other hand we have had quite a good response to the artwork from fans and the media, but generally the response has been in relation to the clothes, hair and boots. What I would like to know is what people think of the content and message behind the imagery? Perhaps people don’t want to look deeper into the grotesque nature behind beauty.
Would you state the visual part as important as the musical part of Angelspit? Destroyx: Definitely. ZooG and I are both designers and are addicted to visual culture, so the imagery behind Angelspit comes quite naturally. The music and the visuals both stem from a central concept. ZooG works more on the music and I work on the visuals. We both collaborate together to polish everything to a finished state. ZooG: Images become music in silence. Combine music and images together and you get an enhanced meaning.
How should we imagine Angelspit on stage? ZooG: People say we go out of control on stage, and I would say this is because we are honest, sincere performers that give everything we have in a live performance. Destroyx: If we have the chance we try to decorate the stage and the venue with medical imagery, installation art and props, but when on tour it is much more difficult to do so. I’m currently working on backing visuals for our upcoming USA tour.
Could you please tell me some words about your platform Surgeon-x.com? ZooG: Surgeon-x has been open for about 6 months, and is a store for Angelspit Cds, merch and fashion designs. All of the profits from the web store go back into the band, as we are currently saving to go on tour and work on our next album.
What do you plan on/ hope for in Europe? ZooG: 2007 is going to be a crazy and exciting year for us, as we are making huge touring plans. In February we’re going to the USA to tour with Cruxshadows and Ayria. Our European plans are not finalised yet, but check ourwebsite (http://www.angelspit.net) for upcoming tour dates. |
