Skug.at Interview With Sleazy
Source
'Reprinted' from a facebook post by Nick Soulsby.
Introduction
I came across this German language interview with Peter Christopherson earlier and gave it a quick run through a translator so people can, mostly, follow it. Thought it might be of interest to people:
https://skug.at/pop-in-seiner-duestersten-schattierung-peter-sleazy-christopherson-r-i-p/
-Nick Soulsby
Q&A
Klaus Totzler: Does what you do have anything to do with pop at all?
Peter Christopherson: I find it difficult to categorise my music into a genre. In the past, especially in the sixties, pop music surfed on a certain wave. Back then, pop music was the language of the generation that embodied rebellion and change. But since then, pop has been increasingly corrupted and thus destroyed. What people like me are doing today is more in the realm of art than in the music scene. Emotional, passionate and, if you like, even spiritual. But our art has never made an impression on the art scene. Nor is it aimed at the art gallery market. Our art is simply placed in the public sphere, in the room, and anyone who feels addressed should pick it there.
KT: Did you always want to provoke in order to make a difference?
PC: It was never about provocation, it was always about content that has meaning for us. Some of it is serious, deep and dark. But to equate dark with evil is wrong anyway. People who like our music like it because we deal in truth. Things that are true for us are important for us and probably for our audience too. Just making love songs - what kind of meaning does that have?
KT: You've been critical of the new media from time to time recently.
PC: You have to take a differentiated view. But in principle, I think the internet is good, especially for starting something. The most important thing is to establish contact with people first. Of course, the internet has now become such an important part of our lives. If you're a bit consistent, you'll become better known anyway, with or without the internet. I also have the great advantage of having been around for so long. Then there are also fans all over the world who are curious about what we do, who search the Internet for sites that deal with our work, with Coil or TG. Analogue or digital, it's always easier for us to communicate than if we had to start from scratch. If you have good ideas, a vision and passion, then you can still be successful today without allying yourself with the music industry. The music industry is an anachronism, a dinosaur that should have been buried many years ago. About 20 years ago there were only a handful of artists involved in experimental art, today there are a few hundred working on it? If you keep control of your creative work, you can still create something that is good and different. Will it reach anyone? You don't make music for the market anyway, you make music for yourself. But on the other hand, I usually make music that I like to listen to and that depends on what I'm listening to at the time. If I listen to all of Autechre's albums, then my next album will certainly sound a bit like them. In that sense, I'm also influenced by the market. But in my opinion, you can't create music by trying to copy something or with the intention of serving the market. If you want to find your niche, you have to listen to your heart.
KT: Douglas P alias Death in June was once excluded from a festival because he obviously uses fascist symbols but refuses to distance himself from the ideology. What's your opinion on this?
PC: I don't want to go into detail about Death in June right now. I'm neither a fan of their music nor of the people behind it. But it's OK the way they operate. They have been with the same distributor as us. I'm not Douglas' lawyer and I don't want to speak on his behalf. On the other hand, media people in particular always confuse the use of symbols and their meaning. If I may give you an example: music critics argue that it would be fine to refer to the attack on the World Trade Center in the news. But that wouldn't work in a song. But that doesn't make sense. If things have social or historical significance, there has to be access to them for everyone. Whether they are symbols or ideologies. And it must be allowed to comment on it artistically. That has nothing to do with approval or disapproval. Anyone who knows my work knows that I am an extremely political person. And we (Coil) have strict views on what behaviour is appropriate. They are positive and absolutely life-affirming. Doing good is important. And we have always rejected hate. Especially those that are directed against certain groups. It doesn't matter whether they are homosexuals, Americans or Germans. We also treat nature, the planet and animals with love and respect. But there are groups who think it's a good idea or particularly clever to identify with fascist imagery. And they totally overlook the damage they are doing by encouraging people with truly fascist ideas to act inhumanely. So, to be clear, if a band uses Nazi imagery and doesn't make it clear what stance they're actually supporting, they can expect a lot of people to react very dismissively and angrily. We want people to always take responsibility for how they act. If other people misinterpret these artistic representations and use them as encouragement for their own hateful criminal behaviour, then the artist must come out and make that clear. He must say that he distances himself from it.
KT:Does that also apply to shrill glam rockers like Marilyn Manson or Rammstein?
PC: Rammstein and Marilyn Manson are, to a certain extent, cartoon characters. I hardly think that an intelligent listener or viewer takes them literally and completely seriously. But I'm afraid many people, especially in America, are not smart enough to tell the difference. They can't tell the difference between the real devil and a comic figure. I find that kind of disappointing, but that's the problem with Americans. Marilyn in particular is certainly relatable and extremely intelligent. He's clever enough to manipulate the media and abuse it for his commercial interests. I actually have a lot of respect for him, but would personally choose a different path. But he knows exactly what he's doing.
KT: Church and religion. What role do these terms play for you?
PC: I have a special relationship with the church. It's also good that it works for me (laughs). That was silly, I know. But I can't talk about what I believe in because it's always difficult. I just know that nothing happens by chance and the end is not the end. I have no idea why I believe that. It's kind of ‘ritualistic’. Almost everyone believes that all these things that are difficult to understand are out there somewhere. The church is up there on the hill. And so you have to do what they tell you. But that's not true. It's all inside you. You just have to listen to yourself. Then suddenly everything becomes obvious.
KT: So where does your faith come from? What is the basis?
PC: There is probably no chance of making the world a better place. However, you have to fight for it and act accordingly, but - well, that's a philosophical topic. On the one hand, I am extremely pessimistic about the fate of the human race, but you must never give up trying to improve it. Because that's the obligation you have as a human being. As a teenager, we/had many heroes who influenced me: William Burroughs, Brion Gysin, John Giorno. And they greatly improved my life when I was 11, 12 or 13. Because I had read her work, I knew that the bad things I had been through were not inevitable. This knowledge has changed my life. And as a creative person, I feel that it is my duty to pass this awareness on to others. And the more people who think this way, the better our quality of life can be. Does that sound pretentious? I believe that it's my job to show people that it's possible to live differently from the masses and still act morally right and lead a great life.
KT: Just recently there was a reunion of TG.
PC: I have nothing to say about that. The fact is that it somehow became necessary for the four of us to live on different continents. I live in Asia, Genesis P-Orridge in the United States and Chris and Cosey in England. Perhaps our tolerance has decreased over the last 30 years. More tolerant of humanity, but perhaps more intolerant of our own faults and weaknesses. On the other hand, I believe that today more than ever the world needs the ideas and feelings represented by Throbbing Gristle. Even more than when we started. The music business has collapsed so much in the last 30 years. And people are so overloaded by the flood of information that it seems impossible to react to it in an appropriate way without ulterior motives. Our hope is that we'll shake people up enough to make them question: Hey, why am I listening to this all day long, and why am I doing this job and not another one? And why am I living in a way that doesn't make me happy? If this question can be asked, it will certainly lead to a number of other questions. (Genesis P-Orridge on this: ‘It's about destroying consumerism for the good of consumerism and making people aware of this content.’) We can't give a right answer. The important thing is that people ask themselves the right questions individually. I hope that the concerts will also be provocative. A concert like this should not necessarily be a comfortable experience. But we hope it is a useful one. Sometimes a gig like this is also uncomfortable for us.
KT: Genesis has probably drawn the most radical conclusions from his vision as an artist. After periods of life as a cult leader, attacks for pedophilia and other borderline experiences, he now lives as a man/woman/hermaphrodite with golden teeth. How far does art have to be consistent?
PC: With TG, Genesis was always the person who stood at the front. The person at the front is always particularly exposed. He often puts himself out there, makes his wealth of ideas available to the public. He has always done this more than the other three of us. John Balance always had a similar role with Coil. And this role is totally demanding. It's not like you just go up there and sing. People like that reveal their innermost selves. Over and over again. Something like that can cost you your sanity, it can kill you. I mean, it's not the same approach to art as Jim Morrison or Kurt Cobain. But they went through something similar. Often people like that have very personal problems on top of that, and that makes it even harder for them to fulfil this ‘job’. It would be easier to get through it if you worked in a factory or at a petrol station, because then you wouldn't be so exposed to the public. That's probably why there are only a few artists or groups who do what we do. Because it's just too stressful. Boyd Rice sometimes does something similar, maybe a few others from this genre. But otherwise? Well, I personally believe that Nina Simone made herself more vulnerable and revealed more of her innermost self than Nick Cave.