EIC is very happy/proud to share an exclusive interview with none other than:
Peter Christopherson
(Throbbing Gristle/Psychic TV/Coil/Threshholdhouse Boys Choir)
The Father of Industrial music.
SLEAZY BIO
Peter Martin Christopherson, a.k.a. Sleazy (born February 27, 1955) is a musician, video director and designer, and former member of the influential British design agency Hipgnosis. He was one of the original members of the infamous Industrial Records band, Throbbing Gristle. After Throbbing Gristle he participated in the foundation of Psychic TV along with Geoffrey Rushton, aka John Balance. After his short time in Psychic TV, Christopherson formed Coil along with Balance, which lasted just under 23 years, until Balance died of a fall in their London home. Christopherson has participated in the reuniting of Throbbing Gristle as well as composed an album for his current solo endeavour The Threshold HouseBoys Choir.
Hello, how are you?
I'm pretty good today thank you, although it does unfortunately seem to depend, even now, whether I spent the previous night doing something good for me, or bad for me - both can be fun, so it is a question - annoyingly enough - of having "the wisdom to know the difference". (And my answer is NOT necessarily always the one Alcoholics Anonymous implies)
What’s a day in the Life of “Sleazy” like these days?
Pretty good in so far as, where I live it's almost always sunny and 70-80 degrees; pretty tough in so far as I generally start replying to emails around 8am, start real work around 10am and often don't finish things to my satisfaction till after midnight...As you know being a "maestro" doesn't come easy or without a lot of hard work ,-) made more so by being in at least 3 bands all with different agendas who are all planning shows this year.
What are you currently listening to?
Today I listened to Late Junction, a very eclectic show on the BBC’s “Radio 3“, available via the web, and some of the soundtrack to “The Spirit” movie, which was surprisingly cool.
When you first began Throbbing Gristle did you ever think your brand of “noise terrorism” would develop into the scene it is today? What are your thoughts on today’s “Industrial” scene?
Is there an Industrial scene today? - A few years ago, when the major labels still meant something, I would have said there WAS a pigeon-hole called Industrial which was mostly overflowing with junk mail from companies selling trash bins and junk yard rubbish (which was absolutely nothing to do with what we set out to do back in the 70s).
Now I'm not sure it even exists as a distinct genre.
There's just a million bands out there - many using the same tools because it's easy - all trying to get noticed, some because they love sound, and how it makes them feel... Feel in their hearts and feel in their asses - Others just because their girlfriend wants a Ferrari. Obviously I'm happy I'm still in the "love sound" section! :)
Growing up as a boy, do you remember the first sound/noise you heard that inspired you to write the music that you write today?
I was lucky enough to go to a school that had a music practice wing with little rooms each with its own upright piano, (many pretty messed up) that anyone could go to play with during free time. Although I didn't take piano lessons there (thank god) it didn't take long to figure out that some keys sounded good when pressed together, and others boring, and almost all sounded better with thumb tacks (drawing pins) stuck in the hammers or paper between the strings. I was Preparing Pianos in the 60s not long after John Cage, and certainly before I had heard of him (I can't say if he ever heard of me :)
Who are your main influences?
William S Burroughs was the first writer to show me how different the world was, from what I'd been told as a kid. This taught me that it was okay to publicly admit that boys (and drugs) could be sexy, and also revolting...
Captain Beefheart was the first musician I ever heard, who played purely by his own rules, which taught me that the other rules didn't really matter.
Although with the music I make now, I try not to have obvious influences, I generally enjoy music that sounds light-on-its-feet, weather-beaten and happy.
Is there a reason you put your Coil albums out in such limited/hard to find quantity’s? I think I paid at least forty dollars for “Ape Of Naples”. I would’ve paid ten times that amount.
If you go to http://www.thresholdhouse.greedbag.com/ you can buy all the Coil cd’s currently in print (and all my recent work), at a MUCH more reasonable price, and even cheaper downloads of those not in print. You just have to hunt a little harder than the bloody Genius Bar.
It's true it's harder to find Coil cd’s cheaply in stores than before, but these days it's harder to find the stores themselves.
Your newest project, “The Threshhold HouseBoys Choir” is more “worldsy”/ambient than Coil. Is this the general direction you plan on taking with this project?
Since THBC is a solo project (though using many of the voices of my friends and houseboys) it most closely reflects my true personality, which is becoming more relaxed and, since I live in Thailand, I guess more 'worldsy'.
My recent show at the Brainwaves Festival even included me, not singing but at least 'entertaining' the audience with a few insights into My Sleazy Life. Unfortunately I don't have much hair left to 'let down', but if I did, that would be a THBC show! :-)
Should we ever expect a full US tour anytime soon?
My friend Andrew suggested I should promote a solo US tour as "An Uneasy Evening with Unkle Sleazy" which would be a mixture of music, stories, video, and conversation, but I'm not sure the US Moral Majority, or even the American Rifle Association, are quite ready for that kind of a show :)
Best tour story?
I expect you mean about misbehaving with Mars Bars or tender young flesh or something, but that's not what I do on tour - that's my HOME life! :)
What was Jhonn Balance like on a personal level?
That's too hard a question! - what are YOU like on a personal level?
I can tell you that we had NO secrets from one another. It's not often you can say that about another human being.
“Part Two: The Endless Not” is one of the best pieces of art that my ear canals have ever digested, Thank you!
You're welcome! :)
What was writing that album like? Did you expect it to turn out the way it did?
I never know how something is going to turn out beforehand - I never really know if its finished until suddenly (if you're lucky) you realize "I can't make this any better".
With the Endless Not (as with SoiSong in fact) much of the brilliance of the arrangement was not down to me. With TG its generally Chris who is in charge of that part, and with SoiSong I only write the most basic melodies, and make a few vocal parts, and Ivan Pavlov turns it into genius!
Please check out the SoiSong album when it comes out in a month or so. Its called "xAj3z" - see http://www.soisong.com/, and myspace.com/soisong. I think I may be more proud of it, than anything else so far.
I hear you’re remaking NICO’s “Desert Shore” album with Throbbing Gristle…is this true? How is that process coming along? Is there a tentative release date?
It's true. It was an idea I had a few years back, and recorded some rough backing tracks, that all four members of TG elaborated on last year at London's Institute of Contemporary Art. Originally I had thought of inviting a bunch of guest vocalists but not only did Genesis do an excellent job with the vocals, but also vocal manipulation software has come on in leaps and bounds in the last few years, so perhaps we'll keep it "All In the Family".
It'll come out when we all four of us find the sounds moving our hearts, and our asses!
That could be in the Fall - It could be in 2012, or beyond, if the Mayans allow us to live that long.
Are you living your dream?
Actually my dreams are usually about missing planes, forgetting houses, not buying Christmas presents till after the stores close on Christmas Eve, getting lost on a city subway system that has re-arranged itself, etc. so the answer to that question is NO.
What I'm living day-by-day, even at work, is my every whim, my deepest fantasy, my personal Yellow Brick Road -How few people can really say that, and believe it?
I am truly blessed!I will be delighted if even a little of my joy and intensity gets through to those who listen....I may not quite have reached the Emerald City just yet, but you know, it's just over the next hill...
THANK YOU SLEAZY!
Throbbing Gristle are about to embark on a mini US tour..be prepared;)
No comments:
Post a Comment