Since
its formation in 1983 the Canadian band Skinny Puppy developed into one of the
driving forces of the Industrial/Electro genre, which did not even exist at
this time under that name and would look in the today's form without the
relevant influence from Vancouver probably quite differently. Bill Leeb,
heading of the band Front Line Assembly and Delirium, earned itself deeply in
the 80’s there also its first success. Besides Front 242, Skinny Puppy probably
rank among most influential Industrial/Electro bands of the eighties, and apart
from their charter sequences in North America they inspired a whole generation
of musicians in the whole world to more or less independent advancements of the
typical Vancouver Industrial/Electro genre. The early drug death of band member
Dwayne Goettel, annoyance with the record label at that time, American Records
as well as internal problems began five years before and finally the end of the
Electro legend, and the remaining initial members Nivek Ogre and cEVIN key
dedicated themselves from now on to own, far fewer successful projects, which
heard on names such as Download, platEAU, Tear Garden and Rx-Ritalin. For many
fans it had to sound like a bad joke that after all the years just on a Festival
in Dresden a new section in history Skinny Puppy was to be broken open. It is
remarkable at the venture not only that it concerns the first Skinny Puppy
concert in Germany for twelve years, but that it is to serve at the same time
as musical basis for an Live album, which as "Back and Forth Volume 5,
Doomsday " the fifth part of the "historical" "Bake and
Forth" series will place. Dresden in the focus of Industrial/Electro
history? The following interview might let so some question mark over the
headings of old and new Skinny Puppy young in air resolve...
Orkus: Why are you reforming and why just for a festival
appearance in Germany? Many fans
thought the announcement by the organizers was a bad joke.
cEvin Key: The relation between Ogre and myself has
become better lately, and first of all it also was because of the enthusiasm of
the Promoter, which asked us every year if we would like to reunite. The idea
was to make from this Reunion something special by playing only one show.
Therefore we regard the appearance rather as party and with less obligation. We
found this aspect particularly exciting at the time.
O: It is true then there is no real reunion in the
sense that as a band you will co-operate and write new songs?
c: To be honest, we have not yet
thought about it. For the moment we regard this show as our last big function,
because we will record it for a live album. We operate very intensively for the
Show and on associated release, almost, as if we would operate on a new album
and a new live show. For us that is a large step forward, if one considers that
Skinny Puppy did not exist as a band for the last five years at all. From this
point we must be waiting easily, how the thing developed and how much fun we
have. I cannot say for myself yet, how it will continue afterwards. It is very
important to us that it is only one Show so we can concentrate fully on it. We
put a large quantity of energy into this project, and we will see how it works
out before we talk about working together again. A principal reason, why I
think that we should do this show, is that, when we were last in Europe, the
Eastern Bloc still existed. Even if it is only a single show, it feels good to
me that we can play in front of the former Eastern Bloc people, who could not see
us for themselves at that time.
O:
How do you
feel, after five years, to be suddenly again part of Skinny Puppy?
c:
We will
see. I will gladly speak again with Ogre, but there is naturally this hole,
which the death of Dwayne tore into the band. His important position can be
never again completely replaced. Therefore we decided for the concert to go
into the studio and to integrate his original material directly into our set,
so that we can build his portions live. I will take over his musical proportion
of that band. I think, that in a good way, it even within the Show the
necessary tribute to zollen... It feels somehow good to be with Skinny Puppy
again. Nevertheless Skinny Puppy is a large part of my life for 14 years. If I
write music now, then I must tear myself apart almost, because what I would
write spontaneously, it would sound like typical Skinny Puppy. It is really
strange, but it is substantially more arduous for me to write a song which does
not sound like Skinny Puppy.
O:
Many fans
will ask themselves whether the original live songs will be used or will the
songs be updated for the show?
c:
It will not
be so far changed that it would not represent anymore the original music. We
will insert not Jungle loops or similar things. We do not want to develop our
self further in a new direction, which the people would not like. Our old hard
core fans would like us to sound like Skinny Puppy. They do not want
1999/2000-Skinny Puppy Remix album, where some songs would sound like Prodigy.
On the stage we would like to be authentic as possible for our last appearance.
It will be everything it was, very theatrical and very well planned out, and we
feel very strongly that we are not only a music experience, but also a
psychedelic experience. Everything that Skinny Puppy was in former times live
will be again present with these Show. We will pick up exactly where we left
off. There will even be the same engineer accompanied us on our last tour of
Europe. There are even the same keyboard stands... I find it very exciting that
we continue practically, where we stopped 1992.
O:
Will only
you and Ogre be onstage during the show?
c:
Yes, only
the two of us. Since it’s only one appearance, we thought it best to leave
Dwayne’s station empty. Everyone knows that we make electronic music and that
you can let a sequencer automatically run the music. And there is the
possibility to have another, but we wanted to leave his station empty. We spent
a lot of time on the musical production, so that we can make sure that all of
the material is used with the show.
O:
Will there
be a Multimedia-Show this time? To what extent will this show differ from your
last stage show in Europe?
c:
We were in
Europe the last time in 1988, and at that time we had still at all no means available.
We could not bring the advancement and modifications in our Show between 1988
and 1992 to Europe. The current stage show will be based on the "Last
Rights" tour of 1992, with special effects, Multimedia projections and
special interactive objects.
O: And how will the notorious
Splatter effects be taken out?
c:
I think,
it’s become a institution and an indispensable part of what Skinny Puppy
became. I believe, I can guarantee, these effects will not be missing (laughs).
O:
When did
you decide to do a live album?
c:
A lot of
production in advance was necessary in order to prepare the sound, because of
the missing band member. We had to take up some first live. The interest of the
record company was very large whether the show was now live or not. And not
least was there the unbelievable excitement, which released the announcement of
the concert world-wide. We got e-mails from fans from around the whole world,
which special because people want to travel to the concert from Africa, South
America or China. It is touching.
O: You would like to increase
your and the bands profile by performing at the show?
c:
Many will
not be able to be at this event in East Germany. Therefore we hope that the
whole work, which we put into this project, becomes comprehensible for these
people who weren’t there by releasing a live album also. Those, which will
locally be, can be pleased exactly the same about because they see the event
live and by the accommodation to a part of the Show become. I as a fan find
such a thing also exciting. I waited, for example, 23 years to see to Kraftwerk
live once. That was at that time a very solemn moment for me. I felt like a
child at that time. I would like to enable this experience, for which Skinny
Puppy perhaps take a similarly important position to those people.
O:
The concert
is perhaps a attempt, to capture the spirit, of the past and the modern element
of the band?
c:
In one
case. Since our start in the early days we try to represent the respective
musical trends in our musical society and we hope that each TRACK, which we
will play, which can catch the flavor of its time. That is my challenge.
Alexander Maciol