Canadian born Kevin Ogilvie is best known Nivek Ogre of the band Skinny Puppy. Skinny Puppy is the revolutionary industrial band that began back in the early 1980s and through turmoil and multiple breakups are still blowing people out of the water today. Their latest project is the DVD The Greater Wrong Of The Right which has a live show filmed in 2004, anti-Iraq War documentary called Information Warfare and the most wild thing of all is that Ogre took Dwayne Goettels footage from the Puppy on tour through Europe in 1988 and edited it down to a half hour called Eurotrama.
Buy the DVD of Skinny Puppys Greater Wrong Of The Right
Daniel Robert Epstein: Do you often wake up at 9 am?
Ogre: I always wake up this early. I pop the Rubicon of drugs every morning and thats switched me over into this place where I usually wake up early. Plus with all the animals I have require feeding certain early hours of the morning.
DRE: Do you have any kids?
Ogre: No, just dogs and cats. No kids in this lifetime.
DRE: D you do real drugs anymore?
Ogre: I would never say that Im completely free of drugs. I smoke weed and will occasionally do something. But I think Ive found in my lifetime that you reach the point of saturation and it becomes less fun with more hassle and no real awareness gained from certain substances. Not much forward momentum in a way. Thats become something thats less important at this point.
DRE: Ive spoken to Al Jourgensen and he likes being off drugs. He says he can now enjoy the live shows because before he wasnt even aware what the hell was going on half the time.
Ogre: I would have to say the opposite in a sense. I was always very aware of what was going on. The one thing was that I was able to keep one part of me lucid and on top, watching over the chaos. I never really had a problem that way. But I have to say the enjoyment comes more from the fact of being able to do the same things and manifest the same things without the use of something that would distract you and take you out of yourself. Maybe thats what Al is talking about. The Last Rights tour was when I initially got out of treatment and it was really hard for me. There was a night and day difference. Over the last ten years theres been this slow equilibrium compensation thats brought me to a place where I can really enjoy being on stage. Back with our first tour we did the Futurama Festival and the headliner was Nick Cave and then we found ourselves doing it again this past summer and the headliner was Nick Cave too. We ended up playing the third or second slot and it was just an incredible show. I think experiences like that can have more lucidity and even though drugs take away a lot of the apprehension, they pile it on in the long run. That incredible show was an epiphany for me.
DRE: The new DVD is really packed full of stuff. How involved were you with it?
Ogre: Plenty but Bill Morris was the one who really was producing and directing the video and did all of the editing for the live show. I helped him out just with going through Dwaynes footage from 1988 and I edited it down from 80 hours to 35 minutes. Bill cut the video for Last Rights, shot the documentary and did all the interviews.
DRE: What do you think the Bush documentary on the DVD?
Ogre: Ive always wanted to explore that aspect of war. The documentary doesnt really point fingers at the soldiers, which is one of the most crucial elements at this point. Obviously the war is against our soldiers and our soldiers are being used as your soldiers.
The important thing to get across is that what increases nationalism or extremism are the very things we have been doing for the last ten years in Iraq. The idea of embargoes and blocking oil and food and all of this stuff only really hurts people, much in the same way the British embargoed Germany after the first Word War. It increased the need for nationalism and allowed Hitler to rise up and take power.
DRE: Are you an American citizen?
Ogre: No, Im a green card holder and I pay my taxes. I love a lot of people here and I fucking hate the politics. Its funny because it just seems like there was a time when it was just America Love It or Leave It and its interesting how even that is on thin ice now. If you really loved this country you wouldnt allow the things to happen that are happening in the world today. If you really believed all the things and all the ethics that come along with what the founding fathers framed you would know that dissent is part of freedom.
DRE: Was it important for you to do this show for the DVD in a Canadian venue?
Ogre: We had originally intended on filming all over the country in as many venues as we could, but the object lesson of finances came into play. We had to basically take what was the best situation, because the production company that was involved was Canadian it became a logistical question of Do we want to fly in a crew and a bunch of equipment down to a US city? which would just complicate things so we did it in Montreal and Toronto basically. We did two nights in a row and we had the crew come out and do pickup shots in Montreal. For the Toronto show we had a much more serious set up with a boom and some other stuff.
DRE: Ive only seen a couple of shows live which were filmed for live albums and DVDs and it always seems that the band tries extra hard. Is that true or do you feel like you do the same at every show?
Ogre: You always try and do the same at every show, but you are trying to hit all your marks and I definitely didnt. Its not like youre singing the song in a studio, its going to be memorialized. Though in a recording situation, you really have to be critical of every syllable and every fluid enunciation that may be let out of your mouth. In that sense, I think theres definitely that attention going into something like that where youre trying to do the best that you can. But we basically did the same show with us maybe pushing ourselves harder.
DRE: How was it looking at all the video footage that ended up being Eurotrama?
Ogre: The interesting thing was being able to objectively look at myself in a different light. I have a very distinct memory of that tour and of how I felt. To make a long story short, I got to look at myself and see Oh, yeah. I was a prick back then. Well maybe not a prick, but I was really pretty insecure. In 1988 we had just started doing this and that tour was a ball buster in the sense that it really made me have to address audiences that didnt really understand the language. It opened up a whole bunch of things for me. But I remember being pretty insecure and not really at the top of my game. Now I look back at the video and its interesting because youre perceiving yourself as other people were seeing you then. It was a bit of an eye opening experience.
DRE: Since you had been around a relatively short time and were becoming really popular, were you insecure because you were nervous or anxious?
Ogre: With that tour I switched over from being a bit more introverted with the stage persona to finding my feet and finding some ground within it all. It was right after that after that tour I started hanging out with Al Jourgensen and doing Pigface. A lot of things were happening for me that were allowing me to grow and become who I was. It just comes down to how I see myself in a group.
DRE: Whose idea was it to edit Eurotrauma?
Ogre: It was literally lying around for a long time. Dwayne had done one edit that was just on a VHS tape. When I looked at all the footage I saw a linear story that could be told with some interesting insights into the band. Also there is this desire by both Key and myself to have somebody come and memorialize Dwayne a little bit more and put a bit more of a face to him. Unfortunately I think hes been passed down into the realm, not by loyal fans, of somebody that had just died of a heroin overdose. think that this puts a bit of light to him and closes a chapter for us. Dwayne had painstakingly taken the studio camera with us everywhere on that tour and now it would give light to a certain time in the bands history.
DRE: I read that Skinny Puppy started out as an experiment with film, is that right?
Ogre: More of a music trading thing. We were in touch with a lot of people overseas in the early 80s who were making music and sending tapes around to people. It was this industrial, completely abstracted, non-music and there was a bunch of people into it. We wouldnt send money to one another we would just send tapes. So Skinny Puppy started like that. We were sending to people like Nocturnal Emissions and bunch of bands from that period. We tapped into it that way, kept making music and sending out tapes of it. We did one show after an Alien Sex Fiend gig in Vancouver at a small underground club and started from there. Its always been very visual. That comes back to my insecurities back them. I was in an electronic band which seemed very sterile to me so out of fear, it pushed me into being more theatrical, which was probably one of the best decisions.
DRE: Do you have any desire to make films?
Ogre: Yeah, I have a great deal of desire, but I have a huge amount of respect of what it actually takes to make a film that blows me away. I would go Wow. Thats the music to me. There are certain directors like that. Have you seen Oldboy?
DRE: I love Oldboy and I just talked Park Chan-Wook.
Ogre: His films are like an orchestra. Theres so much thought put into everything. People that can do that blow me away because it makes you feel like a little kid again. Would I like to make films? Yes. Would I make a good film? I dont know. Probably not. If Park Chan-Wook did a film in America I would love to be a part of it.
DRE: Your music appears on so many horror film soundtracks, Are those the kinds of films you like as well?
Ogre: Yeah. To be honest with you, the last horror movie that I remotely liked was High Tension and that was done by a European director. Im not trying to dis on America here, but Western filmmaking to me is in a real doldrums right now. When you watch Asian filmmaking, you see this care that vibrantly affects you. Im not getting that from American cinema right now, which sucks because Im still waiting for a really good horror film.
DRE: How did Danny Carey end up on the new Skinny Puppy album?
Ogre: Ive known Danny since we toured with Pigface. He would always come up to the Skinny Puppy shows and Id see him afterwards. Hes a really good friend of Kevins. They bowl together.
DRE: Do you bowl?
Ogre: I dont. I have nothing against bowling, dont get me wrong. I just dont do it all the time. I need to find hobbies though. Maybe that would be a good thing for me to do.
DRE: Whats an Ogre day like?
Ogre: Right now Ogre is in a bit of a downtime because we just finished this tour and were about to start recording. Ogre is now looking for a new place to live.
I live downtown in a loft and weve been here a year and a half about and my roommates girlfriend is probably pregnant. So Im dealing with that right now, which is a drag because I didnt want to move again so soon. Now Ive got a bit of downtime so Im doing a lot of reading.
DRE: What do you read?
Ogre: I read a lot of fiction, but right now Im reading a non-fiction book by Haruki Murakami the Japanese writer. He wrote A Wild Sheep Chase and Dance, Dance, Dance.
DRE: I havent heard of those.
Ogre: Theyre incredible. If you like Oldboy and stuff like that, thats what these books are exactly like. Basically theyre all connected. Theres a sheep man that runs throughout all the books and its this weird entity that comes into his life. Its all dealing with psychic detectives, psychic prostitutes. This guy loses his girlfriend and decides to go and try and to find himself. Theyre odd concepts and theyre all over the place. Its incredible writing though.
DRE: Im sure youre aware that Go Ask Ogre came out.
Ogre: Yes.
DRE: Was it a surprise when you found those letters that you sent back to Jolene Siana?
Ogre: When she sent me those letters I told her I was always going to keep them. I did diligently keep them in boxes for a number of years when I was living in Vancouver. Then I was having a serious problem with drugs and I eventually had to leave that apartment. I left basically the day that the new tenant was supposed to move in. I woke up that day with three weeks of dishes in my sink and nothing packed, so I had to move out really quickly. One of the few things I grabbed were those letters in a box. Over the years I had received fan mail and responded to some, but most of it just didnt respond to, if you watch the Simpsons, I was no Ringo. Then after all those years I followed up and gave them back to her.
DRE: Of course you remember what happened with Judas Priest about 15 years ago and the kids that committed suicide. Im sure things like that have been connected to Skinny Puppy but seeing how Jolene got through it really puts to rest silly beliefs like that.
Ogre: I totally agree. It should open up a dialogue and sometimes its a distant sharing of ideas. Also Im sure it is a pressure release for a lot of kids in the same way that that certain music was to me. When I first listened to Joy Division, it changed my life and not in the sense that I wanted to kill myself but more in the sense that, Wow. Somebody else feels this way and can still create things and express themselves. But I guess hes a bad example because he did ultimately kill himself.
DRE: He had more going on than Judas Priest at least.
Ogre: Exactly. With most of those cases ultimately you look at them and the underlying issues surrounding the individual are far more malicious and malignant than the actual music theyre listening to and trying to find some comfort in. Though I think I draw the line when it comes down to racist bands and things like that. Theres an element to that that I would definitely speak out against if I had to, but something thats dealing with feelings of abandonment, feelings of sadness and stuff like that is crucial for kids to be able to attach to that stuff.
DRE: When did you realize you were really getting to young people like that? Was it immediate or a few years in?
Ogre: I think the big kick to me was when we were doing theater stuff, showing certain ways of slaughtering animals that were negative and tying that in with fast food. That changed a lot of people. We did a bit with a cow being slaughtered and its throat being cut. I was hanging out over the audience with a big McDonalds Quarter Pounder with a huge blood bag inside of it. The blood bag would just go off all over people with this meat and sometimes I would throw up because the blood bag would shoot back into my throat. With every night of doing that and I got pretty good at making it more and more disgusting. That had affect on people and a large group of kids came and told me that they decided to change the way they look at what theyre eating and how they chose what theyre eating. That was great. I always knew in my heart that my idea of doing this was to find a way out for myself and I hoped that that would be the way that kids would see it and thats the way they generally do. More times than not during my career, we took chances with our shows and they were quite dangerous at times. But in a way it was a false kick, though there was the idea that if you create that tension in an audience to where they feel a performer could hurt himself, it creates this positive kick back in that they start hoping the person wont kill themselves. Much in the same way when I was young I was watching the rodeo in Calgary and watching the chuckwagon races. Even though you wanted to watch something trashy, you were really hoping it wouldnt happen. I definitely saw that in a lot of the kids that were watching, even to the point where I was doing my worst with stabbing myself on stage. One night in Tampa I stuck my knife more than an inch into my arm and it shocked me to where I didnt know if I could pull it out. Then some kids found my room number afterwards and left me multiple messages saying You dont have to do that for us. That opened my eyes up.
DRE: But do you still hate the posers?
Ogre: I dont know. Sometimes I think Im a big poser.
DRE: Did you guys break up and get back together in 2000 or was it you just werent together for awhile?
Ogre: No, we actually broke up on our last record. I had left the band in 1995 when we finished The Process. We just reached a point I think were we needed to take a step back. The unfortunate thing was that in that cusp of time, Dwayne died and that made the separation even deeper between Key and I. We were like, Theres no reason to go on. Then we did that show in Dresden and got offstage and looked at each other and just smiled and went back on and had an incredible show. We were at a point in our lives where we grew out of the things that at one point pushed us apart. We were smart enough to look at that and see what the good things were. We ultimately shared a lot of time in our life together and to throw that away over bad times was just ridiculous. With the times being what they are, it seems theres a lot of inspiration for what Skinny Puppy stands for.
DRE: Do you have another solo album in you?
Ogre: Totally but Im not going to do it for a little while. Were focusing on this new record write now. Ive been writing some stuff on the side for it and just puttering around with it. I think Spitfire [Records] is interested in doing something. I also have a bunch of tracks that were never really put on the records. We might release some of those.
DRE: What do you think of SuicideGirls?
Ogre: I think its amazing. It seems like there are some really attractive women on there and it seems like a great meeting place for like-minded people. Plus sex sells, right?
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
Buy the DVD of Skinny Puppys Greater Wrong Of The Right
Daniel Robert Epstein: Do you often wake up at 9 am?
Ogre: I always wake up this early. I pop the Rubicon of drugs every morning and thats switched me over into this place where I usually wake up early. Plus with all the animals I have require feeding certain early hours of the morning.
DRE: Do you have any kids?
Ogre: No, just dogs and cats. No kids in this lifetime.
DRE: D you do real drugs anymore?
Ogre: I would never say that Im completely free of drugs. I smoke weed and will occasionally do something. But I think Ive found in my lifetime that you reach the point of saturation and it becomes less fun with more hassle and no real awareness gained from certain substances. Not much forward momentum in a way. Thats become something thats less important at this point.
DRE: Ive spoken to Al Jourgensen and he likes being off drugs. He says he can now enjoy the live shows because before he wasnt even aware what the hell was going on half the time.
Ogre: I would have to say the opposite in a sense. I was always very aware of what was going on. The one thing was that I was able to keep one part of me lucid and on top, watching over the chaos. I never really had a problem that way. But I have to say the enjoyment comes more from the fact of being able to do the same things and manifest the same things without the use of something that would distract you and take you out of yourself. Maybe thats what Al is talking about. The Last Rights tour was when I initially got out of treatment and it was really hard for me. There was a night and day difference. Over the last ten years theres been this slow equilibrium compensation thats brought me to a place where I can really enjoy being on stage. Back with our first tour we did the Futurama Festival and the headliner was Nick Cave and then we found ourselves doing it again this past summer and the headliner was Nick Cave too. We ended up playing the third or second slot and it was just an incredible show. I think experiences like that can have more lucidity and even though drugs take away a lot of the apprehension, they pile it on in the long run. That incredible show was an epiphany for me.
DRE: The new DVD is really packed full of stuff. How involved were you with it?
Ogre: Plenty but Bill Morris was the one who really was producing and directing the video and did all of the editing for the live show. I helped him out just with going through Dwaynes footage from 1988 and I edited it down from 80 hours to 35 minutes. Bill cut the video for Last Rights, shot the documentary and did all the interviews.
DRE: What do you think the Bush documentary on the DVD?
Ogre: Ive always wanted to explore that aspect of war. The documentary doesnt really point fingers at the soldiers, which is one of the most crucial elements at this point. Obviously the war is against our soldiers and our soldiers are being used as your soldiers.
The important thing to get across is that what increases nationalism or extremism are the very things we have been doing for the last ten years in Iraq. The idea of embargoes and blocking oil and food and all of this stuff only really hurts people, much in the same way the British embargoed Germany after the first Word War. It increased the need for nationalism and allowed Hitler to rise up and take power.
DRE: Are you an American citizen?
Ogre: No, Im a green card holder and I pay my taxes. I love a lot of people here and I fucking hate the politics. Its funny because it just seems like there was a time when it was just America Love It or Leave It and its interesting how even that is on thin ice now. If you really loved this country you wouldnt allow the things to happen that are happening in the world today. If you really believed all the things and all the ethics that come along with what the founding fathers framed you would know that dissent is part of freedom.
DRE: Was it important for you to do this show for the DVD in a Canadian venue?
Ogre: We had originally intended on filming all over the country in as many venues as we could, but the object lesson of finances came into play. We had to basically take what was the best situation, because the production company that was involved was Canadian it became a logistical question of Do we want to fly in a crew and a bunch of equipment down to a US city? which would just complicate things so we did it in Montreal and Toronto basically. We did two nights in a row and we had the crew come out and do pickup shots in Montreal. For the Toronto show we had a much more serious set up with a boom and some other stuff.
DRE: Ive only seen a couple of shows live which were filmed for live albums and DVDs and it always seems that the band tries extra hard. Is that true or do you feel like you do the same at every show?
Ogre: You always try and do the same at every show, but you are trying to hit all your marks and I definitely didnt. Its not like youre singing the song in a studio, its going to be memorialized. Though in a recording situation, you really have to be critical of every syllable and every fluid enunciation that may be let out of your mouth. In that sense, I think theres definitely that attention going into something like that where youre trying to do the best that you can. But we basically did the same show with us maybe pushing ourselves harder.
DRE: How was it looking at all the video footage that ended up being Eurotrama?
Ogre: The interesting thing was being able to objectively look at myself in a different light. I have a very distinct memory of that tour and of how I felt. To make a long story short, I got to look at myself and see Oh, yeah. I was a prick back then. Well maybe not a prick, but I was really pretty insecure. In 1988 we had just started doing this and that tour was a ball buster in the sense that it really made me have to address audiences that didnt really understand the language. It opened up a whole bunch of things for me. But I remember being pretty insecure and not really at the top of my game. Now I look back at the video and its interesting because youre perceiving yourself as other people were seeing you then. It was a bit of an eye opening experience.
DRE: Since you had been around a relatively short time and were becoming really popular, were you insecure because you were nervous or anxious?
Ogre: With that tour I switched over from being a bit more introverted with the stage persona to finding my feet and finding some ground within it all. It was right after that after that tour I started hanging out with Al Jourgensen and doing Pigface. A lot of things were happening for me that were allowing me to grow and become who I was. It just comes down to how I see myself in a group.
DRE: Whose idea was it to edit Eurotrauma?
Ogre: It was literally lying around for a long time. Dwayne had done one edit that was just on a VHS tape. When I looked at all the footage I saw a linear story that could be told with some interesting insights into the band. Also there is this desire by both Key and myself to have somebody come and memorialize Dwayne a little bit more and put a bit more of a face to him. Unfortunately I think hes been passed down into the realm, not by loyal fans, of somebody that had just died of a heroin overdose. think that this puts a bit of light to him and closes a chapter for us. Dwayne had painstakingly taken the studio camera with us everywhere on that tour and now it would give light to a certain time in the bands history.
DRE: I read that Skinny Puppy started out as an experiment with film, is that right?
Ogre: More of a music trading thing. We were in touch with a lot of people overseas in the early 80s who were making music and sending tapes around to people. It was this industrial, completely abstracted, non-music and there was a bunch of people into it. We wouldnt send money to one another we would just send tapes. So Skinny Puppy started like that. We were sending to people like Nocturnal Emissions and bunch of bands from that period. We tapped into it that way, kept making music and sending out tapes of it. We did one show after an Alien Sex Fiend gig in Vancouver at a small underground club and started from there. Its always been very visual. That comes back to my insecurities back them. I was in an electronic band which seemed very sterile to me so out of fear, it pushed me into being more theatrical, which was probably one of the best decisions.
DRE: Do you have any desire to make films?
Ogre: Yeah, I have a great deal of desire, but I have a huge amount of respect of what it actually takes to make a film that blows me away. I would go Wow. Thats the music to me. There are certain directors like that. Have you seen Oldboy?
DRE: I love Oldboy and I just talked Park Chan-Wook.
Ogre: His films are like an orchestra. Theres so much thought put into everything. People that can do that blow me away because it makes you feel like a little kid again. Would I like to make films? Yes. Would I make a good film? I dont know. Probably not. If Park Chan-Wook did a film in America I would love to be a part of it.
DRE: Your music appears on so many horror film soundtracks, Are those the kinds of films you like as well?
Ogre: Yeah. To be honest with you, the last horror movie that I remotely liked was High Tension and that was done by a European director. Im not trying to dis on America here, but Western filmmaking to me is in a real doldrums right now. When you watch Asian filmmaking, you see this care that vibrantly affects you. Im not getting that from American cinema right now, which sucks because Im still waiting for a really good horror film.
DRE: How did Danny Carey end up on the new Skinny Puppy album?
Ogre: Ive known Danny since we toured with Pigface. He would always come up to the Skinny Puppy shows and Id see him afterwards. Hes a really good friend of Kevins. They bowl together.
DRE: Do you bowl?
Ogre: I dont. I have nothing against bowling, dont get me wrong. I just dont do it all the time. I need to find hobbies though. Maybe that would be a good thing for me to do.
DRE: Whats an Ogre day like?
Ogre: Right now Ogre is in a bit of a downtime because we just finished this tour and were about to start recording. Ogre is now looking for a new place to live.
I live downtown in a loft and weve been here a year and a half about and my roommates girlfriend is probably pregnant. So Im dealing with that right now, which is a drag because I didnt want to move again so soon. Now Ive got a bit of downtime so Im doing a lot of reading.
DRE: What do you read?
Ogre: I read a lot of fiction, but right now Im reading a non-fiction book by Haruki Murakami the Japanese writer. He wrote A Wild Sheep Chase and Dance, Dance, Dance.
DRE: I havent heard of those.
Ogre: Theyre incredible. If you like Oldboy and stuff like that, thats what these books are exactly like. Basically theyre all connected. Theres a sheep man that runs throughout all the books and its this weird entity that comes into his life. Its all dealing with psychic detectives, psychic prostitutes. This guy loses his girlfriend and decides to go and try and to find himself. Theyre odd concepts and theyre all over the place. Its incredible writing though.
DRE: Im sure youre aware that Go Ask Ogre came out.
Ogre: Yes.
DRE: Was it a surprise when you found those letters that you sent back to Jolene Siana?
Ogre: When she sent me those letters I told her I was always going to keep them. I did diligently keep them in boxes for a number of years when I was living in Vancouver. Then I was having a serious problem with drugs and I eventually had to leave that apartment. I left basically the day that the new tenant was supposed to move in. I woke up that day with three weeks of dishes in my sink and nothing packed, so I had to move out really quickly. One of the few things I grabbed were those letters in a box. Over the years I had received fan mail and responded to some, but most of it just didnt respond to, if you watch the Simpsons, I was no Ringo. Then after all those years I followed up and gave them back to her.
DRE: Of course you remember what happened with Judas Priest about 15 years ago and the kids that committed suicide. Im sure things like that have been connected to Skinny Puppy but seeing how Jolene got through it really puts to rest silly beliefs like that.
Ogre: I totally agree. It should open up a dialogue and sometimes its a distant sharing of ideas. Also Im sure it is a pressure release for a lot of kids in the same way that that certain music was to me. When I first listened to Joy Division, it changed my life and not in the sense that I wanted to kill myself but more in the sense that, Wow. Somebody else feels this way and can still create things and express themselves. But I guess hes a bad example because he did ultimately kill himself.
DRE: He had more going on than Judas Priest at least.
Ogre: Exactly. With most of those cases ultimately you look at them and the underlying issues surrounding the individual are far more malicious and malignant than the actual music theyre listening to and trying to find some comfort in. Though I think I draw the line when it comes down to racist bands and things like that. Theres an element to that that I would definitely speak out against if I had to, but something thats dealing with feelings of abandonment, feelings of sadness and stuff like that is crucial for kids to be able to attach to that stuff.
DRE: When did you realize you were really getting to young people like that? Was it immediate or a few years in?
Ogre: I think the big kick to me was when we were doing theater stuff, showing certain ways of slaughtering animals that were negative and tying that in with fast food. That changed a lot of people. We did a bit with a cow being slaughtered and its throat being cut. I was hanging out over the audience with a big McDonalds Quarter Pounder with a huge blood bag inside of it. The blood bag would just go off all over people with this meat and sometimes I would throw up because the blood bag would shoot back into my throat. With every night of doing that and I got pretty good at making it more and more disgusting. That had affect on people and a large group of kids came and told me that they decided to change the way they look at what theyre eating and how they chose what theyre eating. That was great. I always knew in my heart that my idea of doing this was to find a way out for myself and I hoped that that would be the way that kids would see it and thats the way they generally do. More times than not during my career, we took chances with our shows and they were quite dangerous at times. But in a way it was a false kick, though there was the idea that if you create that tension in an audience to where they feel a performer could hurt himself, it creates this positive kick back in that they start hoping the person wont kill themselves. Much in the same way when I was young I was watching the rodeo in Calgary and watching the chuckwagon races. Even though you wanted to watch something trashy, you were really hoping it wouldnt happen. I definitely saw that in a lot of the kids that were watching, even to the point where I was doing my worst with stabbing myself on stage. One night in Tampa I stuck my knife more than an inch into my arm and it shocked me to where I didnt know if I could pull it out. Then some kids found my room number afterwards and left me multiple messages saying You dont have to do that for us. That opened my eyes up.
DRE: But do you still hate the posers?
Ogre: I dont know. Sometimes I think Im a big poser.
DRE: Did you guys break up and get back together in 2000 or was it you just werent together for awhile?
Ogre: No, we actually broke up on our last record. I had left the band in 1995 when we finished The Process. We just reached a point I think were we needed to take a step back. The unfortunate thing was that in that cusp of time, Dwayne died and that made the separation even deeper between Key and I. We were like, Theres no reason to go on. Then we did that show in Dresden and got offstage and looked at each other and just smiled and went back on and had an incredible show. We were at a point in our lives where we grew out of the things that at one point pushed us apart. We were smart enough to look at that and see what the good things were. We ultimately shared a lot of time in our life together and to throw that away over bad times was just ridiculous. With the times being what they are, it seems theres a lot of inspiration for what Skinny Puppy stands for.
DRE: Do you have another solo album in you?
Ogre: Totally but Im not going to do it for a little while. Were focusing on this new record write now. Ive been writing some stuff on the side for it and just puttering around with it. I think Spitfire [Records] is interested in doing something. I also have a bunch of tracks that were never really put on the records. We might release some of those.
DRE: What do you think of SuicideGirls?
Ogre: I think its amazing. It seems like there are some really attractive women on there and it seems like a great meeting place for like-minded people. Plus sex sells, right?
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
VIEW 21 of 21 COMMENTS
stellae:
My favourite band, absolutely!
halo_ov_fire:
Eff'n Awesom. Gotta love em.