by Morgan Y. Evans
2009 is a big year for Skold. This year marks the 25th anniversary of
KMFDM, a band he has played a large role in over the years. To celebrate,
Skold has collaborated with KMFDM mastermind Sascha Konietzko on not one,
but two great new albums. Blitz is KMFDM's sixteenth album, a
great, charging, guitar-heavy dance with the devil that features some
of the venerable "Ultra-Heavy Beat" maker’s best songs
in years. (“Bait And Switch”, in particular, gets this Crusher
writer’s nod.) Throughout the new Blitz release for Metropolis
records, KMFDM make excellent use of Skold's programming skills, while
the new artist-released SKOLD vs. KMFDM album also adds to both
Skold and Sascha's legacies. SKOLD vs. KMFDM is more experimental
than BLITZ, offering even more new songs plus shorter remix “interludes”
of each track creatively re-designed by either Skold or Konietzko. For
KMFDM fans or rock and electronic fans in general, all of this should
be reason for much grim rejoicing on the dancefloor.
Tim Skold is one of those artists whose rebellion matters. If for all
performers’ rock acts, at some point, as simple ego repair, reflecting
back to the world what they feel in a raw (often damaged) sense, Skold
seems to have become transcendent at times. While his newest music is
genuine and human even at it's most electronic, it is less concerned with
a narrow tunnel-vision than with examining roles and learning to advance
beyond and above struggles, while still waving a middle finger in the
right directions. It's not about being a victim. Stand up for yourself
but don't be knee-jerk reactive. If resistance becomes a cliche and you
can't see your own flaws in the face of others, then you have no leg to
stand on. As the new song "Why Me" from SKOLD vs. KMFDM
points out, good or bad things can happen to anyone. It's just a part
of life. Having this clarity at times allows you to say, as philosopher
Eckhart Tolle explains in his The Power Of Now lectures, “A
high quality No”. Refusals and resistance carry more weight with
objectivity.
That said, if you know all this stuff, what's the harm in poking a little
black humored fun too? Songs like “Porn, Kitsch and Firearms”
or much of The Golden Age Of Grotesque are certainly not without
a certain slanted, mirthful perspective. Skold is theatrical and over
the top but also a high caliber satirist, the kind society shouldn't ever
forsake, lest we lose the ability to see all aspects of ourselves, ugly
and beautiful. If we'd rather not be shown that reflection, perhaps it
is more familiar than we'd like to admit.
MORGAN Y. EVANS: I think it was around the time of Antichrist
Superstar and Marilyn said
something to the effect that he couldn't relate to people who hadn't been
through what he had. It was more like he was explaining how it was hard
having normal conversations because life had become such a carnival than
forgetting what it was like before he was famous. Do you ever experience
anything like that, where your life perspective feels so shaped by how
different it is than most people's?
TIM SKOLD: To be completely honest, I've always had a
fairly hard time relating to other people, but recently I have started
to realize that this is practically normal. The real difference is that
some people put a lot of effort into denying it and stay busy going about
their lives as if they actually do. The concepts of “different”
and “normal” are very subjective and yes, for better or for
worse, my perspective is from experience, somewhat unique.
MYE: KMFDM has arrived at their 25th anniversary and
this year there is SKOLD vs. KMFDM and the new album Blitz
that you also worked on. You have been a big part of that group's history
whether as collaborator or as a full member. With the anniversary in mind,
how did you and Sascha brainstorm to keep each record unique while adding
to your own personal accomplishments and aesthetic? The idea of having
short, interlude remixes of each main song on SKOLD vs. KMFDM
is fresh.
TS: I think it is all comes down to imagination. At the
end of the day we're not really doing this for anyone but ourselves. Keeping
ourselves amused. The “interlude” / “mutated sibling”
concept is intended to show how easily something can be taken in a very
different direction. How what we consider real and true is really only
hanging on by a really thin string. Some of the most heartfelt conversations
I have ever overheard have been by homeless people talking to someone
imaginary. Not exactly sure what that has got to do with anything but
it is true.
MYE: I'm reading William Gibson's Spook Country
and in it there are "locative artists" who hack into the GPS
grid and install art at real locations you can only see with special visors
that reveal the work at the precise latitude and longitude. Like one guy
recreates River Phoenix' death outside the Viper Room but you can only
see it if you are there and have the right gear. If we look at music remixes
as a more basic form of William S. Burrough's "cut ups" and
all the advances of technology in our lives, the lines blur more every
day and contexts are always manipulated, like in your music. How do you
think in the future things will be as we develop art and technology at
an ever-increasing rate?
TS: By the time I'm done answering that I could have
written half a song... Time and funding are very important when it comes
to art. When it comes to time and funding, art is not so much. Everything
has been copied and pasted before...
MYE: Can you talk about the shift in your perspective
from Shotgun Messiah until now, whether it be musical approaches or how
you view the music industry? Obviously, a lot has changed about the music
business.
TS: I never
really had a chance to get comfortable in the old version of the “music
industry” so as much as things change they really stay the same
for me. The new version is the same as the old version because to me the
old version was new to me. It's been said a million times before, if you
are looking for stability and security, being a musician is probably not
the way to go. And there you have it, about 30 seconds of me talking about
the “career” aspect of things and my head hurts...
MYE: [laughing] Working with KMFDM again, what do you
think you may have brought to the table that reflects any changes or growth
as a musician since when you left the group and worked with Marilyn Manson?
TS: That is way too introverted of an analysis for me
to do in public. It has been many years since Sascha and I worked together
and we both have a lot of experience to draw from.
MYE: "Why Me" from SKOLD vs. KMFDM almost
reminds me of something off of KMFDM's Money record,with a great
melodic feel and the satire through the roof! I like the call and response
in that song of "Why me" and your voice answering "Why
not?". It could be cynical, like, why shouldn't bad things happen
to you, or it could mean why shouldn't it be you who seizes the day, carpe
diem and all that noise. Care to comment?
TS: I'd say you have a very good impression of the original intent
there. Things can get good, things can get bad. The duality of man. When
I first had the idea to answer Sascha's “Why me” it was really
just the concept of flipping things over, turn it all around. It is called
SKOLD vs. KMFDM after all.
MYE: I love the lyric "illusion is sacred, truth
is profane". Do you feel like people are too simple or caught up
in their lives to realize how much media and corporations erode or work
their way into our every day choices and routines?
TS: That line is Sascha's, but yes I do and I also think
most people realize this but choose not to do anything about it because
they are much too comfortable as is.
MYE: How did you decide to go with the cover art for
SKOLD vs. KMFDM by Kevin Marburg, besides his connection to the
earlier SKOLD band project? It is a cool cover image of a blind-folded
girl smoking and kind of reminds me of the Grant Morrison comic Kill
Your Boyfriend.
TS: Kevin is an old friend of both of ours. As you know
he played bass on the SKOLD tour and also did the promo version of the
sleeve for that album (Skold RCA 1996). I have kept in contact with Kevin
ever since and I was very happy that he agreed to do the album art for
this album.
MYE: "Alkhohol" is another cool song. The interlude
version is pretty and almost sad or bittersweet, like euphoria crashing,
and the original version is really pushy and aggressive about going out
and getting shit-faced. I think you guys really captured the two sides
of drinking!
TS: Lowered inhibitions and the remorse it brings, a
bottomless topic!
MYE: One of the themes on SKOLD vs. KMFDM that
resurfaces is an examination of violence. "Bloodsport" reminds
me of that movie The Running Man where people fight on a game
show for their lives. Or "Porn, Kitsch and Firearms", that song
underlines the issues of frayed nerves in society and how we kind of are
always on edge and settle for not the best outlets for it. What are
your thoughts on gun control these days?
TS: Lyrically, violent scenarios come in very handy to
make strong impressions. I only use violence to tell a story and only
condone it as such. Let's use the song “Gromky!” as an example:
When I in the chorus sing, "After all is said and done I will cut
out your Mothers tongue. Pooshka to the gulliver. Gromky! Gromky!"
I am not being literal. The '”Mothers tongue” means the language
you are born into speaking and the “cutting” is done by something
along the lines of Imperialism, call it what you want. To drive the point
home the rest is done in NADSAT, so "put that in your Googles kids".
The United States Constitution is pretty clear on gun control and as a
permanent resident alien I'm comfortable with that. If I wasn't, I would
leave.
MYE: If you don't mind a political question quick, with
the Bush administration out of office and the impending withdrawal from
Iraq, what do you think the world stage is going to be like and the threats
we will face?
TS: Yeah, that and a bottle of wine would have us busy
for a few hours so I'm going to have to plead something along the lines
of the 5th (Amendment of the United States Constitution), but it is interesting
seeing people excited about the concept of "change".
MYE: You have worked with many people and created lots
of great art and even movie soundtracks. Besides just continuing to follow
your creative whims, what future accomplishments do you still hope to
reach as personal goals?
TS: Thank you. I used to think that my personal goal
was to be able to follow my creative whims, but now I know that it is
all one and the same thing. The goal and the whim is like the chicken
and the egg. From what I can tell at this point, thinking about it too
much is not a good thing.