DEATHPILE : Exclusive interview

DEATHPILE Webpage Exclusive interview by Xavier Laradji (TIMELESS Magazine).

Many thanks to Xavier for taking the time to send me these questions.

Judging your last CD "G.R." it seems to be in the same vein as "Back on the Prowl." Is that the definitive Deathpile style?

Yes, although I think the DEATHPILE sound has evolved in subtle ways since "Back on the Prowl." The lyrics are better, the vocals are more up front and we mix up the sonic intensity more than ever before. Some of the tracks on "G.R." border on dark ambient at times. We tried to make "G.R." have a flow from quiet to really harsh and back to keep the listener interested. A constant barrage of harsh songs tends to become tedious even to me.

How did you find the inspiration for your new CD? Why focus on the Green River killer?

Dominick from Hospital Productions specifically asked me to do the entire album on the Green River case. He mentioned that no other power electronics release had been done on the subject so I agreed to do it. If I would have known how difficult the subject would be I would have passed on the project. It was a nightmare. I almost gave up several times because of the amount of work involved.

Strange coincidence between your CD release (many weeks ago) and the brand new revelations from Ridgway. Is this a stroke of fate?

It is a nice coincidence. However, I never expected him to confess even with the death penalty looming over his head. I figured if the man had kept his mouth shut for over twenty years he would never admit to the murders. I was wrong about that but I think I was pretty dead on about everything else.

One thing that's for sure... his confession was a big relief to me. There was always the possibility that he wasn't the killer. Once I got through all my research on the case I was reasonably certain he was guilty but it's nice to know for sure. If he would have been set free it would have negated all my work on the CD.

Did you have any feed back concerning this last CD work and in general what kind of reaction you provoke?

I've read a few positive reviews and received several very glowing comments from "fans" and friends from other power electronics groups. This is definitely the most positive response I've ever gotten for a DEATHPILE release.

The reactions to DEATHPILE run the gamut from "typical and stupid, blatant WHITEHOUSE rip off etc." to "one of the greatest power electronics projects." My own feelings about it fall somewhere in the middle but it is encouraging that more and more people are becoming fans as time goes on.

Why did you chose to be involved in such violent and pretty anti-commercial music? You could have follow up your metal/industrial band (Dead World) and probably had more success.

I've always been dissapointed with every kind of music I've tried to do outside of the experimental realm. I've attempted damn-near every other style of "alternative" music there is and I've never been happy with the result. DEATHPILE (along with my experimental side projects) is the only time I've been mostly pleased (I'm never 100% happy about anything I do).

Are there any bands excepted from the power electonic scene you consider close enough to what you're doing?

BRAINBOMBS. For the readers that have never heard of them - BRAINBOMBS are a Swedish band that does ultra-noisy and raw rock with lyrics very akin to early WHITEHOUSE. They are easily the guitar / drums / bass / vocal version of power electronics. I fucking love BRAINBOMBS - I have pretty much everything they've ever released. It's a pity that they broke up this year. I would have loved to see them live.

For those that are interested the CD "Brainbombs (Singles Compilation)" (Load Records) from 2001 is damn good one but you pretty much can't go wrong with any of their CDs. You can read a little about them and get free MP3s at the Load Records page.

Dealing with deviant subjects means that you're interested in reporting them for their provocative and morbid obsessive content or because of a personal involvment?

It's mostly just an expression of the most extreme end of my interests. I've been fascinated with deviant subject matter for as long as I can remember. There is also a level of personal involvement but it stays on the right side of the law.

Can you give your own interpretation of pornography? What's your personal relation with it?

I've been a fan of pornography for my entire life. I'm not a large consumer of it these days because it tends to disappoint or annoy me. However I will always prefer magazines and video/DVD to internet pornography - that's for sure.

I'm a big fan of the "Roughie" porn of the 70's and 80's. They aren't really the kind of thing that I would feel the need to jerk off to but they're damn entertianing. Some of my personal favorites off the top of my head are: The Taming of Rebecca, Prisoner of Pleasure, and Tales of the Bizarre.

Can you define me what could be for you the perfect sound of sadism?

The sound of David Tibet singing folk songs is the most sadistic thing ever. I wouldn't subject anyone to that kind of torture.