Einstuerzende Neubauten – “This is only the beginning”
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With Mute records cleaning the vaults at fast speed (the label is also to release "Kalte Sterne - Early Recordings", a collection of material recorded between 1980-1982 by the then Neubauten line up of Blixa Bargeld, F.M. Einheit, Andrew Chudy, Alexander Hacke and Marc Chung), you’d almost forget that Einstuerzende Neubauten just released "Perpetuum Mobile". Being the first album release since 2000's "Silence Is Sexy" it was first conceived as a fan CD release, distributed via their website neubauten.org. Mute records in the end released the album as well, though overlapping only 30% of the fan release. When we met with Blixa in a Brussels hotel, we witnessed a musician that seemed to be very much into developing a new kind of economical model for artists. Some excerpts... (By Bernard Van Isacker)
SL. "Perpetuum Mobil" is available in two different versions, the second being only available to registered paying members of the band's website…
B. Correction, these are two different albums as they only overlap 30%, so for me they are two different releases.
SL. I agree, but at first "Perpetuum Mobil" was supposed to be a web only release funded by your loyal fanbase.
B. Initially we wanted to make a record for the online supporters only. It was also our plan to release a record somehow because otherwise it would have been a very uneconomical idea anyhow. Originally we wanted to release a record independently without any record label involved, but it simply turned out that in the face of an international tour it would have been impossible to do so. Nobody in the band wanted to take up that responsibility and go shopping for 10 different distributors and licensees that would take it up. The easiest was to do things via a record company that we would trust than doing it all ourselves… Ideally it still would have been the better idea, but okay this is not going to be our last record and we are still going to be working on the idea. The best would be that record companies disappear completely and that the CD completely disappear, but although things are still not ideal, I think we are working in the right direction.
SL. The supporters were in fact playing the role of a producer, something you never had in the past...
B. In a certain way they surely worked like producers would, though I’m not entirely sure since we never had a real producer anyhow (laughs).
SL. All in all did you think that Phase 1 was a step you learned a lot from?
B. Phase 1 was fabulous for the band, apart from the fact that we had for the very first time a much closer contact to our audience, it gave the band a momentum as we worked under the surveillance conditions that you normally can’t gain in studio circumstances. All was recorded in a semi-live situation and that semi-live situation had that extra kick that a normal studio situation could never have created. We now also see that what we do is important to the people and that gave us a lot of enthusiasm and courage.
SL. You were quoted saying that shopping for a contract, was surprisingly difficult. But you ended up with Mute, not really such a surprise is it?
B. Maybe our demands were a bit too unmodern too, such as a simultaneous release around the world… not easy so it seemed. In the end we knew we could trust Mute, although being a major label since it was sold to EMI. We knew Daniel Miller still had the control, so we knew nothing unforeseeable could happen. Other record companies pushed in funny situations you know. Like, we approached Sony in Germany you know, and they first needed the “ok” from Mark Chung, our first bassplayer. And Mark Chung, as professional as he is, asked for a demo tape… (laughs). In the end the record was for 90% produced by the supporters and for 10% only by Mute Records which says a lot about the significance of the record company in this deal!
SL. These days record labels are loosing their power towards established bands anyhow…
B. Totally correct. You know, I just read that EMI is to drop 20% of the artists signed to it, well, we are going to be one of them. Next round most of the Mute bands will be dropped for sure. Only the few big ones will be left, all the rest will be dropped.
SL. Mute Records apparently boycotted your idea of picturing recycled material holding their logos, a bit weird no?
B. Well, … we have concert posters with these logos on it all over Europe and nobody said anything about it. Sissies they are… There is one thing I have to say that I didn’t really like about it and that’s that they had the design for the record sleeve for 6 months already before they said anything. I’m pretty sure that it’s Mute America that was against it. For Christ sake it was an instrument that NU Unruh built, it’s a piece of art!
SL. You quit the Bad Seeds because I understood that you were no longer challenged by it. Now everybody focuses on that but you quit more than just the Bad Seeds in order to offer all your time to EN, no?
B. I quit smoking but apart from that I decided to drop following all these theater performances and just to concentrate on EN. I’m fine with playing in films but I needed some more concentration. I now take energy from people and give back what I’m able to give back.
(…)
To read the complete interview, be sure to buy Side-Line issue 48!
Side-Line issue 48 at Side-Line shop
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Posted by: alien2me on Sep 30, 04 | 7:21 am i saw blixa in krakow poland durin his t(h)e(a)trical action named Execution of Treasurous Remembrances...i met him and suposed that he is boring unnatural person...the myth bout him and his art felt down...aber....fuck E.N...only FM Einheit rules...but actually he is out.... |
Posted by: on Aug 10, 04 | 5:07 am the Bad Seeds will continue to be - even moreso with the absence of Blixa - far more ironic seeing how (un)bad they've contorted themselves to be since those initial days. my opinion. |
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