My conversation with Gary Dassing from Mentallo & the Fixer... Well I thought it was interesting.
Hey Gary I wanted to get your thoughts, what do you think of Industrial music today? Has it become too dance-floor-friendly? Has the production value gone down the toilet? Me and my friends were talking about this after one of them brought up that Laetherstrip was coming out with a new album. I think it's a bad thing because I don't think it will play well with the current scene, One I don't think it's a singles oriented project and two I think that Metropolis has a way of making all there releases sound the same anymore. It's too sterile sounding, and seeing as how you working on a new record and have dealt with Metropolis if you had any thoughts on it? How well do you think your new album will be recieved?
Leo
hey leo-
hmmm my thoughts on industrial music- well thats a tough call. ive seen the scene go through many many changes over the years- over the past 25 years i would say- so things are in a constat state of change or regurgitation in some form or another- and also to a degree industrial music / & the labels that support the scene- backed the music in a corner, so it seems what ever fresh is coming out is not heard or better yet is done by some other genera of music-
i dont get out much- so as to what is out there musically for industrial, well i either here through friends or when i get out which is about once every 4 months. i burned out on clubs about 96. we can blame these so called industrial labels as well for giving us rehash. there is no risk taking like the old days of wax trax when Jim Nash was alive and he was a very ordinary individual when i met him back in 84. even in the old days there was dance music for the underground - but what i have heard as of late either sounds dated to some degree, mainly 90's -
as for the production value- listen to the beatles sgt. peppers album hell that was done on 4 tracks and its phenomenal and much more trippy than anything ive heard lately. most of the mind expanding stuff isnt even coming out of electronic music these days but more along the lines of bands like The Mars Volta, now to me thats fuckin industrial-
as for leatherstrip- i hope the best for the guy but as soon as he signs to a label he will have legal matters coming his way and thats all i can say about that.
do i think its a bad thing - well no, most of what you hear today as far as some of the hard acts dont realise that clause was one of the forefathers of the ebm genera so i have to give him some kudos .
he may come out with something that may be a breath of fresh air for the scene, but i highly doubt a saving grace- i can even say that for myself- even if i release the most killer cd, its not going to make waves-
simply because the underground is no longer the underground- to me, its a couple of steps away from being commercial- or acceptable mainstream. does that mean its no longer cool? no, its just not underground.
by god some of it is almost pop but there is nothing wrong with that its just not industrial.
i rememeber the days when as ridiculous as this sounds, SENARIO "yeah i do industrial music-" is that like the SMITHS? uhhh yeah- LOL
plus i just think alot of people are in the scene for a fad, they will fall away eventually, because people change in some form or another as their likes and tastes in music- or people are sorta burnt on the themes & styles that run throughout the genera, its like they cant think for themselves- i use to think industrial was original and it was, at the time, but now to me it seems very conformist.
really hell take COIL for instance- if they walked in a club today- no one would know who they were. or better yet care to meet them because they have always looked like your typical run of the mill guy walking down the street who you wouldnt give a second glance too. people would only want to meet them once they found out they were coil- true forefathers in their right, but even they have never been appricaited by the "industrial club scene" they dont have the image and their music for the most part is very demanding- it beckons the listener to pay attention, something most people today dont take time to do- because as sad as this may sound music can be rather disposable even though its the sound track to our lives and whatever we choose to listen to.
as far as metro goes- things have changed for them as well- its not all about the music but numbers and sales, and who can blame them, they are a buisness. only 1 out of every 20 acts signed to metro only breaks selling 2000 copies, so that should tell you the state of the scene. and i can guarantee you those 1 in 20 arent making "industrial dance music" they are making some form of trance which doed out a while back-
another thing as far as metro goes is they somewhat have a monopoly on the scene, and when you have people running the label who are out of touch with the scene and have grown tired of the music, they only care about sales while the real underground suffers- but who can blame them money pays the bills- so its really a double edge sword.
as far as production goes, either they have hearing loss- or there could be a number of reasons- most stuff sounds similar because everyone is using the same fuckin gear and i have a hard time believing when ive read interviews when specific bands say they dont use presets, its just hard to swallow, because most digital electronics today all seem to have this autopiolot feature built into them- its mainly for people who want to feel like musicians. its like look ma no hands. but who doesnt want to feel like an automatic rockstar- learning to be a good programmer/songwritter/guitarplayer takes time and practice.
ya know being inspired by a band is one thing, wanting to be them is another- and from what i find most msuicians in this scene are in a pipe dream, thinking they will hit it big- your chances are slim to none- then i hear the addage, if i wanted to make money i would be doing britney spears or rap music- well what they fail to realise is its not all to far a cry from what they are doing already-
sheesh some rap music i have heard sounds more inventive sad to say - this may sound odd but the older i get for myself, i find there is more to life than music- dont get me wrong i will always compose- but i decided about 4 years ago i would only put out music that really inspired me in some way-
shit people may hate what im going to put out- do i really care? no, what i do care about is my label breaking even but other than that - i honestly couldnt give a flying fuck- now thats industrial. im not out there to cater to anyone or attempt to write a single or hit, but i was never out to make a single -
like i didnt know with 2 of my past releases mainly algorythum and love is the law that i was going to get a backlash from people- shit i can tell you a short story- when i finished love is- a friend and i listened to the master all the way through and laughed our asses off, i honestly dont care- i lost my pride and ego a long time ago-
then with ALGORYTHUM- hell i wanted to rely on as little sequencing as possible- even if mistakes were in there-
but even then - its just music. theraputic? yeah but i cant think of one song that has changed the world-
or even a song that has really changed shit for the scene take Skinny Puppy for example, and all the animal rights songs they did---- uhhh animals are still being tortured- you would think its really expanded the consciousness of animal rights- but really how can you do that to a bunch of teenages who are more concerned about their hair colour and cool threads.
and how do i think my new album will be recieved? sheesh uhhh let me call my psychic--- that was a joke- but really im hyped about what im goingm that doesnt mean other people will be. its a real mindbender- totally electronic- totally programmed- very artistic, epic
but i dont expect people to digest it on the first listen either. its not a tounge in cheeck release. for lack of better words without me going into the whole shebang- the title of the release says it all.
read my one and only blog at myspace- it sums up every question i could think a fan would want to ask-
keep in touch
gary
Hey Gary I wanted to get your thoughts, what do you think of Industrial music today? Has it become too dance-floor-friendly? Has the production value gone down the toilet? Me and my friends were talking about this after one of them brought up that Laetherstrip was coming out with a new album. I think it's a bad thing because I don't think it will play well with the current scene, One I don't think it's a singles oriented project and two I think that Metropolis has a way of making all there releases sound the same anymore. It's too sterile sounding, and seeing as how you working on a new record and have dealt with Metropolis if you had any thoughts on it? How well do you think your new album will be recieved?
Leo
hey leo-
hmmm my thoughts on industrial music- well thats a tough call. ive seen the scene go through many many changes over the years- over the past 25 years i would say- so things are in a constat state of change or regurgitation in some form or another- and also to a degree industrial music / & the labels that support the scene- backed the music in a corner, so it seems what ever fresh is coming out is not heard or better yet is done by some other genera of music-
i dont get out much- so as to what is out there musically for industrial, well i either here through friends or when i get out which is about once every 4 months. i burned out on clubs about 96. we can blame these so called industrial labels as well for giving us rehash. there is no risk taking like the old days of wax trax when Jim Nash was alive and he was a very ordinary individual when i met him back in 84. even in the old days there was dance music for the underground - but what i have heard as of late either sounds dated to some degree, mainly 90's -
as for the production value- listen to the beatles sgt. peppers album hell that was done on 4 tracks and its phenomenal and much more trippy than anything ive heard lately. most of the mind expanding stuff isnt even coming out of electronic music these days but more along the lines of bands like The Mars Volta, now to me thats fuckin industrial-
as for leatherstrip- i hope the best for the guy but as soon as he signs to a label he will have legal matters coming his way and thats all i can say about that.
do i think its a bad thing - well no, most of what you hear today as far as some of the hard acts dont realise that clause was one of the forefathers of the ebm genera so i have to give him some kudos .
he may come out with something that may be a breath of fresh air for the scene, but i highly doubt a saving grace- i can even say that for myself- even if i release the most killer cd, its not going to make waves-
simply because the underground is no longer the underground- to me, its a couple of steps away from being commercial- or acceptable mainstream. does that mean its no longer cool? no, its just not underground.
by god some of it is almost pop but there is nothing wrong with that its just not industrial.
i rememeber the days when as ridiculous as this sounds, SENARIO "yeah i do industrial music-" is that like the SMITHS? uhhh yeah- LOL
plus i just think alot of people are in the scene for a fad, they will fall away eventually, because people change in some form or another as their likes and tastes in music- or people are sorta burnt on the themes & styles that run throughout the genera, its like they cant think for themselves- i use to think industrial was original and it was, at the time, but now to me it seems very conformist.
really hell take COIL for instance- if they walked in a club today- no one would know who they were. or better yet care to meet them because they have always looked like your typical run of the mill guy walking down the street who you wouldnt give a second glance too. people would only want to meet them once they found out they were coil- true forefathers in their right, but even they have never been appricaited by the "industrial club scene" they dont have the image and their music for the most part is very demanding- it beckons the listener to pay attention, something most people today dont take time to do- because as sad as this may sound music can be rather disposable even though its the sound track to our lives and whatever we choose to listen to.
as far as metro goes- things have changed for them as well- its not all about the music but numbers and sales, and who can blame them, they are a buisness. only 1 out of every 20 acts signed to metro only breaks selling 2000 copies, so that should tell you the state of the scene. and i can guarantee you those 1 in 20 arent making "industrial dance music" they are making some form of trance which doed out a while back-
another thing as far as metro goes is they somewhat have a monopoly on the scene, and when you have people running the label who are out of touch with the scene and have grown tired of the music, they only care about sales while the real underground suffers- but who can blame them money pays the bills- so its really a double edge sword.
as far as production goes, either they have hearing loss- or there could be a number of reasons- most stuff sounds similar because everyone is using the same fuckin gear and i have a hard time believing when ive read interviews when specific bands say they dont use presets, its just hard to swallow, because most digital electronics today all seem to have this autopiolot feature built into them- its mainly for people who want to feel like musicians. its like look ma no hands. but who doesnt want to feel like an automatic rockstar- learning to be a good programmer/songwritter/guitarplayer takes time and practice.
ya know being inspired by a band is one thing, wanting to be them is another- and from what i find most msuicians in this scene are in a pipe dream, thinking they will hit it big- your chances are slim to none- then i hear the addage, if i wanted to make money i would be doing britney spears or rap music- well what they fail to realise is its not all to far a cry from what they are doing already-
sheesh some rap music i have heard sounds more inventive sad to say - this may sound odd but the older i get for myself, i find there is more to life than music- dont get me wrong i will always compose- but i decided about 4 years ago i would only put out music that really inspired me in some way-
shit people may hate what im going to put out- do i really care? no, what i do care about is my label breaking even but other than that - i honestly couldnt give a flying fuck- now thats industrial. im not out there to cater to anyone or attempt to write a single or hit, but i was never out to make a single -
like i didnt know with 2 of my past releases mainly algorythum and love is the law that i was going to get a backlash from people- shit i can tell you a short story- when i finished love is- a friend and i listened to the master all the way through and laughed our asses off, i honestly dont care- i lost my pride and ego a long time ago-
then with ALGORYTHUM- hell i wanted to rely on as little sequencing as possible- even if mistakes were in there-
but even then - its just music. theraputic? yeah but i cant think of one song that has changed the world-
or even a song that has really changed shit for the scene take Skinny Puppy for example, and all the animal rights songs they did---- uhhh animals are still being tortured- you would think its really expanded the consciousness of animal rights- but really how can you do that to a bunch of teenages who are more concerned about their hair colour and cool threads.
and how do i think my new album will be recieved? sheesh uhhh let me call my psychic--- that was a joke- but really im hyped about what im goingm that doesnt mean other people will be. its a real mindbender- totally electronic- totally programmed- very artistic, epic
but i dont expect people to digest it on the first listen either. its not a tounge in cheeck release. for lack of better words without me going into the whole shebang- the title of the release says it all.
read my one and only blog at myspace- it sums up every question i could think a fan would want to ask-
keep in touch
gary