׉?4ׁB!בCטu׉׉ 7cassandra://sbF7mXjumIkCYEr8jBuKVi61cv9nnvS5Y9oPagDXjeI`׉ 7cassandra://bBkyvs1nMdlHmsUboeZCgqi1UYKiop927eYiIa55-aQc`U׉ 7cassandra://KwfYpa5UPLql3rBF9DQVn_j6C_1OJzAgqyDnkPIijMI&`̶e]kh@טu׈U׈Ee]kh@׉Eedition October/November/December 2023 free ofcharge, not for sale quarterly publishedmusic magazine 44 PLACEBO EFFECT PUBLIC IMAGE LTD (PIL) CHOKE CHAIN - LAVVI EBBEL LINEARMOVEMENT - DER KLINKE ALEXANDER NYM (NSK STATE INTIME) SUCHBEAUTIFUL FLOWERS ׉ 7cassandra://KwfYpa5UPLql3rBF9DQVn_j6C_1OJzAgqyDnkPIijMI&`̶e]kh@e]kh@בCטu׉׉ 7cassandra://j_o9a0p2AWWHJp6su7PxbtIXeUDkea3I_Z83slQJEEc7`׉ 7cassandra://RC69liamQN1Q77k-i7j1-7ykg5jgMvRuX9mv_j2oi1w>`׉ 7cassandra://_CHsrOOLfjjzJRG4wnXH_Byir5ulXOlBqkogPH984aQOz`ke]kh@נe]kh@E9ׁH!http://www.peek-a-boo-magazine.beׁ ׁ Јנe]kh@ia9ׁH#mailto:promo@peek-a-boo-magazine.beׁ ׁ Јנe]kh@c9ׁH%mailto:contact@peek-a-boo-magazine.beׁ ׁ Јנe]kh@=tQ 9ׁHhttp://www.PortaNigra.euׁ ׁ Јנe]kh@=[D9ׁHhttp://www.infrarot.deׁ ׁ Јנe]kh@=BQ 9ׁHhttp://www.gothville.comׁ ׁ Јנe]kh@=(T9ׁHhttp://www.darkentries.beׁ ׁ Јנe]kh@=X9ׁHhttp://www.bunkerleute.beׁ ׁ Јנe]kh@=W9ׁHhttp://www.darkballoon.beׁ ׁ Јנe]kh@ =݁P 9ׁHhttp://www.BodyBeats.beׁ ׁ Јנe]kh@  ^̏ 9ׁH%mailto:contact@peek-a-boo-magazine.beׁ ׁ Јנe]kh@  b 9ׁHhttp://www.LeFantastique.netׁ ׁ Јנe]kh@  Q 9ׁHhttp://www.PortaNigra.euׁ ׁ Јנe]kh@  P 9ׁHhttp://www.BodyBeats.beׁ ׁ Јנe]kh@ہ̚ 9ׁH%mailto:contact@peek-a-boo-magazine.beׁ ׁ Ј׉E!www.peek-a-boo-magazine.be - 2 - ׉ 7cassandra://_CHsrOOLfjjzJRG4wnXH_Byir5ulXOlBqkogPH984aQOz`ke]kh@׉EYpeek aboo contents music &moviemagazine 01 Cover PLACEBO EFFECT © Petr Vones 04 Interview CHOKE CHAIN 05 Reviews 08 Interview LAVVI EBBEL 12 Interview LINEAR MOVEMENT 15 Reviews 16 Interview DER KLINKE 18 Interview PLACEBO EFFECT 21 Reviews 20 Interview SUCH BEAUTIFUL FLOWERS 24 Interview PIL 28 Interview ALEXANDER NYM 31 Calendar Want contribute to our magazine? In English, Dutch, French, German … It’s all good! Come and join us! Please send an to e-mail contact@peek-a-boo-magazine.be peek aboo music &moviemagazine ORGANISATION BODYBEATS PRODUCTIONS Marleen MASTBOOMS www.BodyBeats.be PORTA NIGRA Peter Verreycken www.PortaNigra.eu LE FANTASTIQUE Frédéric COTTON www.LeFantastique.net YOUR ORGANISATION HERE? Join us & support (y)our scene! WE NEEDYOU! Peek-a-Boo is always looking for new partners, distributors, writers, editors and translators. contact@peek-a-boo-magazine.be LAYOUT Fred GADGET Veerle DE BLOCK EDITORS / TRANSLATORS Leanne AITKEN Kevin BURKE Michael BOGHE Tine SWAENEPOEL Gea STAPELVOORT PHOTOGRAPHERS Elke BREDENBRUCH Luc LUYTEN Yvo Moeys WRITERS Jurgen BRAECKEVELT Dimi BRANDS Jan DENO Peter DOLPHEN Fred GADGET Hamis HIREK Kurt INGELS Xavier KRUTH Lena DAUTEL Tom PLOVIE Dany QUETIN Britta TABRIT - 3 - colophon WRITERS (continued) Karolina KRATOCHWIL Henk VEREECKEN Dan VOLOHOV Chris WHEATLEY William ZIMMERMAN François ZAPPA PARTNERS & DISTRIBUTION BODYBEATS PROD. (Antwerp) www.BodyBeats.be DARK BALLOON (Retie) www.darkballoon.be BUNKERLEUTE (Leuven) www.bunkerleute.be DARK ENTRIES MAGAZINE (B) www.darkentries.be GOTHVILLE (Hasselt) www.gothville.com INFRAROT (Germany) www.infrarot.de PORTA NIGRA (Aarschot) www.PortaNigra.eu WEBSITE Ward DE PRINS (RIP) Peek-A-Boo Magazine • Heilig Geesthoek 87A • BE-2070 • Zwijndrecht • Contact: contact@peek-a-boo-magazine.be / Promo: promo@peek-a-boo-magazine.be www.peek-a-boo-magazine.be e]kh@e]kh@בCטu׉׉ 7cassandra://pYEhOKIccG_ing8uZg5scqBRLhTkuzVmYrJraWpay3E "N`׉ 7cassandra://drJns_qWYb_ZLbKXkfdoYZ8QjEiPq4CB-15Zk0lNKGQD `׉ 7cassandra://3FGKORgZYjMlIdcItxEvKovu2M5Jbkf-BA2b_phjQdcU`ke]qh@נe]rh@#E9ׁH!http://www.peek-a-boo-magazine.beׁ ׁ Јנe]rh@"=̊9ׁH-http://www.peek-a-boo-magazine.be/en/reviews/ׁ ׁ Јנe]rh@!kx 9ׁHhttp://track.Asׁ ׁ Јנe]rh@ Ё8 9ׁHhttp://attack.Paׁ ׁ Јנe]rh@̷/ 9ׁHhttp://around.Paׁ ׁ Јנe]rh@6̟P 9ׁHhttp://eighties.Anׁ ׁ Јנe]rh@bY# 9ׁHhttp://song.Thׁ ׁ Ј׉ECHOKE CHAIN anxious, distressed sound that I aim for. Also, the political aspect of punk is something that I try and bring into my music from time to time, as the anxieties I deal with are caused by the people in power. Governments across the world are only in it for themselves, to preserve their own power, and they will go to any length to maintain it, its insanity. With only three EPs released, Choke Chain is already considered one of the names to follow of the EBM/dark electro scene. In those works, he has managed to transmit the anguish and problematics of modern society, as he delivers raw and direct music.He is releasing his first full album on the 22nd of September, entitled Mortality. Choke Chain is also coming to Europe for a tour that will stop at Praga, Budapest, Munich,Paris and Berlin among other cities. Why did you choose a name like Choke Chain for your project? Did you want to give a sense of oppression/ anguish? I guess so, I am a very anxious person and one of my symptoms is feeling like I can’t breathe or as if I am choking. A lot of my music has to do with my anxieties so I felt like it fit. You are a follower of punk and hardcore and you have confessed that bands like Rudimentary Peni, Wasted Youth or Sacrilege have influenced your work. What inspires you from this genre: the rawness, the aggressiveness…? For sure the rawness of the production style. I try to pay homage to punk in a way by always making sure to keep my music as raw as possible. I’m a big fan of music that feels very real and visceral and the production can play a big part in that. My vocal style is very influenced by punk bands, specifically by acts like Rudimentary Peni and Dystopia, both bands that capture the same sort of www.peek-a-boo-magazine.be - 4 - When did you get into industrial/EBM? How did you do the transition from punk to industrial? I’ve sort of always been aware of industrial in general from an early age as well as punk. My older brother played in both goth and punk bands as I was growing up and was constantly introducing me to new music. I discovered Skinny Puppy in 2011 or so and quickly fell in love with them and then saw them in 2014 with Youth Code. Seeing Youth Code was incredibly eye opening to me, seeing that punks were making old school industrial.As far as the transition from playing in punk bands to doing industrial music, it was very natural to me.The way I think of Choke Chain is that I’m just doing punk with synthesizers. You said that one of your main influences is mid-90s Front Line Assembly and records like Caustic Grip or Tactical Neural Implant. What have you learned from these albums? I’m very influenced by FLA’s sampling style, the sort of erratic way they would incorporate samples into their music. Also, they kind of gave me a template as to what an EBM record should sound like I guess, Caustic Grip is a very intense and energetic record and Tactical Neural Implant has some slower elements in some of the songs that have inspired me. I was actually able to tour with them a year or so ago on a leg of their 2022 US tour, which was incredible. I never in my life thought this music would enable me to tour with one of my biggest influences in industrial music You have named Spike Hellis as a band that motivates you. As we should try to interview them in the near future, can you please tell us what do you find interesting in their music? Before I even mention their music, I want to stress how great they are as human beings. They truly care about making connections with people just for the sake of it, not to further some sort of goal or image. I’m the same way, and when we met I think we mutually sensed that from each other. I’ve had some really good times with them and they have also been there for me when I needed friends and that is something so important that ׉ 7cassandra://3FGKORgZYjMlIdcItxEvKovu2M5Jbkf-BA2b_phjQdcU`ke]kh@׉EABSTRACKT BLACK - Unheimlich (CD) (DarkDevil Productions) Sidney Stoffels' solo project throws Unheimlicht into our world.A disc with 8 very nice, inviting songs that lie between EBM, dark-wave and synth-wave. Both eighties and contemporary electro sounds throughout this record. ‘Night Owls’ is an instant and potential dance floor filler. It starts excruciatingly slow and dragging but when the beats get involved,we get a blast of a danceable darkwave song.The melody is angular and catchy and cuts to the bone. ‘Can't Contain Myself’ continues with the same momentum. Sidney's voice is an absolute and overall added value. At times firm, then soft, screaming, then constricted again. In any case, a voice that determines the atmosphere. Like a time machine this release, back to the prehistoric times of synthwave, with an eighties vibe. ‘I Am The Beast’ sounds so cool and retro. The synths and rhythm section evoke images of the golden,yet musical,eighties.And what to say about the more electro-punk-oriented ‘A Mind Like Mine’. The machinery seems to be neurotically thrashing around.Pace upwards,wildly beating around,danceable all along the line.“Nothing can be clear in a mind like mine…”Or when you will realize that your brain does not get things clear anymore.…We want more.'nuff said! … [JB] PARTIKUL - Having Gone (Vinyl / Digital) (Exit does not exist records) The Brussels post-punk duo Partikul is well on its way to gaining a stronger following in the post-punk scene with their second full-length ‘Having Gone’.The ingredients are quite austere: a guitar twisted in some distortions, some basic synths that provide enjoyable basslines and a drum machine that does not even bother with complicated compositions. ‘Genocide’ spits out a sequence, which, supported by a psychedelic-like drum part, ditto synth melody and shoegaze guitar work, sends shivers deeply throughout your body.“If it works well, do it more”… is a quote from solution oriented therapeutic work. Well, it also works in music! ‘Straight White Line’ gets going with bone dry drums and a razor sharp bass,while Aly takes on the vocals.‘Take Your Hands Off Me' presents itself with more minimal vibes but is so nice and danceable. Halfway through it becomes a bit more Darkwave when the guitar takes on a roaring role.‘Stay’ is a primal post-punk song with a sound that could belong to the great masters a la Joy Division. Which is a compliment both ways on this one. We don't need to add many words to ‘Sex Me’. The song sounds like its title. Vocally, Aly takes it in every direction. Even screaming, which also sounds a bit more piercing coming from Aly than from anyone else. Blessed! Again some Darkwave with ‘Nothing Good In Me’. Nice groovy song. ‘Fascist Sons’ is a strong lash out at the type of sons who are not really loved. ‘X.T.C’. is the closing song.Here again a different sound.Howling, howling synths in the front,the guitars threateningly on the attack.Partikul does not surprise with this album. They confirm! [JB] BHPL - II (Cassette / Digital) (Self-released) “II” is ear candy for fans of the harder electronic side of the gothic world. With the opening track ‘Terminal’ they immediately strike hard. Atmospheric synths, a heavy repetitive bassline and sneering drumming. EBM with a cool industrial edge. since we are really going wild,we are staying in the strong rhythmwith ‘Traitor’.Cut out from the same sturdy EBM log. I tend to recognize the better Schwefelgelb in this track and you know that it useless to resist dancing. ‘Mass Control’ proves that sometimes a track which is more relaxed in terms of beats per minute can also sound heavy.Here the duo uses real old-school newbeat sounds that swarm through the song like a virus.‘Sex and Perversion’.A7minute long dark techno beat that is just deep and dark enough to make the people dressed in black dance themselves completely crazy. There is something magical and enchanting about the repetitive character of this track.As a bonus trackwe get a remix of the song ‘Terminal’ by Crystal Geometry. Well, as far as I'm concerned, these gentlemen can keep their electro adventure alive for many years to follow. [JB] Read full reviews on http://www.peek-a-boo-magazine.be/en/reviews/ - 5 - www.peek-a-boo-magazine.be e]kh@e]kh@בCטu׉׉ 7cassandra://3JXtQUfOaw2CP_05YlTMLKVL37x0bNMEI1e5nh55LXc8`׉ 7cassandra://QxJTpeLp9hhzdbEHVlmGq_lIOAY_5WE14xQIfbeHkQQ`׉ 7cassandra://73kt7O9pEYoWh-iCH34v69d1bMmFsVg1u-rYpazFJdgS`ke]xh@$נe]yh@,E9ׁH!http://www.peek-a-boo-magazine.beׁ ׁ Ј׉ECHOKECHAIN people don’t do enough. Compared to punk, the modern dark music scene is incredibly narcissistic and egotistical and it is very depressing. Meeting Spike sort of restored my faith in the scene and I love both of them dearly. As for their music, I really find the way that they use tension and anxiety in their music interesting because it is in a different way than I use both of those things. Their music is more dynamic than mine and they know how to use restraint in their compositions very well, which makes everything feel sort of unnerving. Your first single Chain Tactics, has a very classic EBM sound. What kind of gear do you use? Do you want a retro analogue sound for your music? My first record is definitely my most stripped down, for sure. The style of that record is something I’ve always been working to refine. The minimal style of that record is kind of the basis for all of my other stuff. For gear I currently use an MPC Live, Elektron Digitone, Waldorf Blofeld, Behringer MS-1, Behringer Neutron, Behringer Pro-1, Roland D-110, Korg Volca FM and various synth plugins. Yes, I suppose I want to keep a retro sound, everything in my songs is run through a sampler before it gets recorded to give it added grittiness and bite. The artwork of your releases reminds me of early industrial stuff from the late seventies. Do you want the keep the DIYphilosophy that was inherent also to punk? Absolutely. A lot of aspects of my work are still DIY and being involved with DIY has taught me a lot about myself and about life, it’s made me who I am.There’s no way I could turn my back on it, some aspect of my work will always be DIY no matter what. Where do you find inspiration for your lyrics? Do you prefer to focus on more personal things or social problems? My inspiration comes from real life, which in many ways is objectively awful. I don’t pretend like it isn’t. I try to not hold back and be very blunt in my lyrics. I feel like people need to hear some of these things so they stop being fucking terrible to other people and themselves. The vast majority of the population of our planet are very unkind and uncaring, which causes most of the issues we face. My lyrics are often my emotional reactions to social problems. Different from punk in the way that a punk band might just write about the problems themselves more directly, I write about how those things make me feel personally. www.peek-a-boo-magazine.be - 6 - Does music work for you as a way of escaping from reality or diary problems? You talk a lot about anxiety, is music your way of escaping it? My music is not an escape from anything. I can’t escape my anxieties, it’s awful. My music at least gives me an outlet to talk about it, its pure catharsis. You said that you want to sound like a horror movie soundtrack, really scary. Do you think that you manage to do that with Invoking Shadows? Partially, yes. On that record, I was still sort of finding that sound, as with my previous records before that. How do you think your music has evolved in these years? When you hear the tracks in your compilation The EPs of CC, how do you see the evolution? My music has become less minimal and I’ve tried to incorporate more Electro-Industrial and Dark Electro influence. Over the years I’ve realised that instead of just a strict EBM project, it was my destiny to have a lot of 90s Dark Electro and Electro-Industrial sounding stuff as well. I feel like as the years have gone on I’ve gotten better at combining all three. You have also collaborated on a track with The Gothsicles, right? Yes! I did a track with Brian. If you know anything about The Gothsicles, you know it’s completely different from my own work, very light hearted and fun. Our vocal styles are sort of similar, so he thought I would make a great guest vocalist on a track. It was sort of out of my comfort zone to do something like what we did but I’m glad I did it. We are good friends and he is originally from Wisconsin, where I am based, so it felt like a good fit for a collaboration. We have performed it live only once but I’m sure that we will do it again. What can you advance us of your forthcoming album Mortality? It’s my best work by far, definitely the most intense stuff I’ve written. It’s what I always knew I would be able to write eventually. www.chokechainebm.com/ François Zappa © Published by the kind permission of El Garaje de Frank www.elgarajedefrank.es Read full interview on https://elgarajedefrank.es/en/interview-test-dept/ ׉ 7cassandra://73kt7O9pEYoWh-iCH34v69d1bMmFsVg1u-rYpazFJdgS`ke]kh@׉E!- 7 - www.peek-a-boo-magazine.be e]kh@e]kh@בCטu׉׉ 7cassandra://9e2By11SWR6fONkGnhJJXXJ-YmBd1cGj4qA8sYPovyg`׉ 7cassandra://_67qj14HwGPX38bc0vAy26d3k9DEz8q87S5iHZa-dkU4s`׉ 7cassandra://VDiMZz9HcZAW1ANZXOg5pXx6B3XeuBezWOnPCsEdJdE_C`ke]~h@-נe]~h@2E9ׁH!http://www.peek-a-boo-magazine.beׁ ׁ Ј׉ELAVVI EBBEL Before Britpop there was BelPop, the Belgian equivalent of the punk and newwave rebellion from the late 70s and early 80s. Lavvi Ebbel was one of the most important bands of the scene, debuting in the classic compilation Get Sprouts and recorded some of the hymns of the time. We have talked with Luckas Vander Taelen, singer and frontman of the classic band that reveals some details from the band career and his own too. Honestly, I did not realize until last week when my wife said it, that the name of the band sounds like La Vie est belle. Maybe because I am not French. Why did you choose such a name for the band? When I was talking with the guitarist about starting a band, I noticed there was an ashtray where, in French, was written “La Vie est Belle”. It gave me the idea for the band’s name, written in a phonetic way. It made some people think we were a group of Jewish Sicilian folk! Although you are from Aalst, most of you met at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel.Howwas the atmosphere there at the time? A few other bands came out of there, didn’t they? We met in Aalst, not at the VUB. I studied there and met with JanWeuts,who played trumpet and Eric Michiels,who changed his name to Eric Sleimich and played saxophone. They became Lavvi Ebbel’s horn-section and also played with Allez-Allez. The band formed in 1977. How were the first years before the release of the first single? We played a lot all over Flanders and composed many good songs. There were so many that we only played the new ones and forgot the older ones.Now,in 2023,listening to old tapes,we discovered these treasures and play them again! What were your influences back then? The obvious: Sex Pistols, The Clash but also Devo and Talking Heads. Short songs, played fast, punk but with organ and horns! Do you consider Lavvi Ebbel as pioneers of the BelPop “scene”? Do you like the term? We were part of a wave of very creative groups, like Luna Twist and Arno’s TC Matic, with whom we toured a lot. There was certainly a Belgian spirit, so BelPop is a very good term. I guess the compilation Get Sprouts, where Lavvi Ebbel appeared for the first time, was important for the band. The Kids said that it had a distribution of 80 000 copies. www.peek-a-boo-magazine.be You recorded a special song for the album. How do you remember the recording and what happened after? It was the first time we worked with Jean-Marie Aerts as a producer. He was then TC Matic’s guitar player. He gave us a very original sound. We worked with him after this session on the single with our “hit”Victoria. Do you think that the band shared the sense of paranoia/ restlessness of the time in its music? Give me a gun and its first sentence could be an example: it’s 1981, and the world is getting worse every day. I studied history and was very involved with politics. We read several newspapers a day and many books. So, the injustice in the world seemed enormous in my eyes. That what “Give me a gun” is about, although the text of the chorus came to me after a friend killed himself and it’s more about the ‘sense of life’. I tell his story also in “No Place to Go” on Get Sprouts. What happened in Belgium in 1981 that Lavvi Ebbel and AllezAllez released their first single meanwhile TCMatic published their first album?Were you friends with them? Did the record companies open their arms to newbands? We all knew each other; we shared the same energy. The record companies began to see the commercial possibilities.We drew a huge audience. But there were no rock radios and TV did not talk about the BelPop. That put a terrible break on record sales. It would lead to the end of the first BelPop-wave… Talking again about TCMatic, J-MAerts was the producer ofmost ofyour works.You just said that he gave the band - 8 - ׉ 7cassandra://VDiMZz9HcZAW1ANZXOg5pXx6B3XeuBezWOnPCsEdJdE_C`ke]kh@׉E!- 9 - www.peek-a-boo-magazine.be e]kh@e]kh@בCטu׉׉ 7cassandra://4ePiIJdPAA-SRJSqDalGmyzA0DITiPXEMOT_JHkaB90`׉ 7cassandra://RbobceNy9JLwGZQ4P37AFSo6L3yXF4WHOA8oLQoKvko/`׉ 7cassandra://K8DhRlyvxVyxhbC7xn8c7rUBfFhNogiWMlS3-wcjUT0Z\`ke]؄h@3נe]؅h@<E9ׁH!http://www.peek-a-boo-magazine.beׁ ׁ Ј׉ELAVVI EBBEL a very original sound. Do you think that he added anything else to Lavvi Ebbel? He was a very good musician and a magical guitarist; he still is.We were very creative but not really good musicians. He put our energy in a very authentic and new sound. What happened after the release of the album Kiss Me Kate? We were supposed to play at theWerchter festival and that would have been the perfect promotion and breakthrough. But a few weeks before the concert, we were cancelled by the festival. Our record company was furious. Why did you record a song in Mexican Spanish called “Telepatia”? Can you please tell us more about this? I had made a trip to Central America and tried to speak Spanish. The lyrics are partly taken from a book I used to study Spanish. What happened that the band split? A lot of reasons but mostly the fact that it seemed impossible to make a career with a Belgian rock band. There was no industry and no rock-media; the radios did not play our music. This explained the reason why all the groups split: TC Matic, Luna Twist… After the split of the band, you were part of La Cosa Nostra, a band a bit more funk.What can you please tell us about this project? The difference with Lavvi Ebbel was that the musicians were really very good but the band never had Lavvi Ebbel’s joyful creativity.And again : La Cosa Nostra started at a very bad moment,when the BelPop wave was over and out. I want to ask you about a couple of things that I think I got from a Kloot Per W’s interview translated with the translator of Google: there was a kind of supergroup called LSP, there you played with him some Lavvi Ebbel songs, right? This led to more collaborations with him according to what I understood. Can you please tell us more of this? There was something similar called the BelPop Basterds,wasn’t it? I played a few times with LSP; Kloot never did.We formed together The BelPop Bastards with a lot of musicians from the early BelPop. I performed some Lavvi Ebbel songs. Apart from working as a journalist, you have worked in the film industry, directing but also acting. Do you think that your time with Lavvi Ebbel has influence your posterior career in other arts? www.peek-a-boo-magazine.be - 10 - Sure. I worked a lot with Kloot Per W as a musician. Lavvi Ebbel even performed a song in my last monologue. You have been in politics and part of the European Parliament. Did your colleagues know that you were a singer? Some Flemish knew but politics are a very different world. A lot of European politicians have a very different and sometimes artistic past but that remains mostly hidden. In 2013, the band came back, thanks to CC De Werf. Did you feel like playing again with the others? How did you feel during the first rehearsals? We had not met for thirty years! But we all felt like playing again.The first rehearsals were pretty complicated after so many years but our performance at De Werf was as good as ever. Kloot PerWwas the substitute for the late Francis Gheys. He is quite famous in Belgium, right? He was with the The Employees, another classic band of the period, right? Kloot does not play with us anymore.There were about 12 different bass-players with the band. They all had their influence. Wir Schaffen Das! was your last single. Why did you choose some ofAngela Merkel’s words as a title? It was just funny to use some soundbites and make it look like the song was about Merkel and a political statement, which it was not. Just playing with words… How did you develop your way of performing? Did you have any artist as a reference? I think I was very much influenced by David Byrne, who I admire a lot. What can you advance of the future of the band? When are we going to have a new album? I think we will record some of the punk songs we unearthed. I would love to performmore, so we will stream songs to tell everybody we are still around! www.facebook.com/LavviEbbel François Zappa © Published by the kind permission of El Garaje de Frank www.elgarajedefrank.es ׉ 7cassandra://K8DhRlyvxVyxhbC7xn8c7rUBfFhNogiWMlS3-wcjUT0Z\`ke]kh@׉E"- 11 - www.peek-a-boo-magazine.be e]kh@e]kh@בCטu׉׉ 7cassandra://ytDPCNdAGqzhPMgeUrPU7IoXpGtEjQafe-XBxf_kCMo `׉ 7cassandra://v06RggcyzeWMx6KeWYJi3As_lQ9KtwGeAYouzshHXT0c`׉ 7cassandra://rwjxzzFjhDNZcizIawjdIBYfxYsZUgf2SZPUFa_BLII^=`ke]ؒh@>נe]ؓh@DE9ׁH!http://www.peek-a-boo-magazine.beׁ ׁ Јנe]ؓh@C݁ 9ׁHhttp://one.Toׁ ׁ Ј׉EXLINEARMOVEMENT Undoubtedly, the Autumn/Linear Movement/Twilight Ritual saga, was one of the most interesting and prolific adventures ofwhat we call minimal synth today.As nexus of the three projects, we can find Peter Bonne, who was also part of the most creative period ofA Split-Second. How did you become interested in the music of Klaus Schulze, Ashra Temple and Tangerine Dream? How did these artists influence your way of doing music? It was the late 70s and the use of synths created the most innovative and inspirational music style of the time (other than hard rock and disco). The ones you mention are the most known but there were many great artists working in the shadows. It was a sport to track them down, find their albums, go to their concerts when it was possible. Underground magazines, even on cassette, spread the word. I listened to them all day and even had a 3-hour night show on the local radio. You met Geert Coppens and created Autumn. You were going to school together, right? Did you become friends because of a shared interest in electronic music? That might very well be the case. We shared a classroom for a few years. I played a bit of guitar, he got access to an electric bass guitar, my brother played an organ…All that was quite a thing in that time. So,we started jamming and sharing albums and it took off. Howdid the evolution of gear change the music that you were doing at the time? Was it a limitation for you? At the beginning you had to rent the equipment, right? You were one of the first bands to get a Roland TR 808, weren’t you? We were lucky to live at the time where every year or so some revolutionary new instrument was released. Stunning but also frustrating as they were so expensive. Buying one today meant it was old the following year and as young guys, we did not have that money of course. I remember visiting the music shop after school just to freak out on the newest synths – Polymoog, ARP 2600 -, I was dreaming away. Our real first recording was “She Says”,Geert and myself on guitars and vocals, recording on a 2-track tape in my bedroom. No synths yet. That was modern and hip, can you imagine? Later on, we would lay our hands on a small synth, the Yamaha CS30, that you can hear in all the early recordings with its sharp sequencer and monophonic solo sounds. From there on, we grew a bit but mainly got things done through renting and borrowing stuff, still recording on a 2-track tape with its 2 little mikes. Then, later on, I was able to make a good purchase and that indeed included the first TR808 (in my www.peek-a-boo-magazine.be - 12 - country, of course) which I lent out to Marvin Gaye for a while in return for a favourable purchase at the shop. (PS –the shop also delivered to Marvin Gaye,who was living in Belgium at that time to prep for his next release Sexual Healing) You have been building your own studios during your long career. Can you please tell us more about this? In the first studios we rather improvised the setups, where gear was organised so we could jam and record easily. From the third studio on, it was a proper studio with 12-channel mixing and 4-track recording. That setup stayed while we added synths and other stuff in and out, until I moved to the Top Studio in Ghent, which was a proper studio. From there on I moved up in professionalism. How did you experience the cassette culture of the 80s? Were you in contact with other musicians? Oh yes, there was very active communication across the globe between fans, cassette labels, other bands etc. I had a very lively communication during the early 80s. That brought our music onto many compilation cassettes. Your most ambitious event of that timewithAutumnwas Hard Breakfast, can you please tell us more about it? It was ambitious as it was a 3-day concert (3 locations) with 12 participants and a bunch of hardware synths we never saw before. 1981. 17 years old. Crazy. The first night, we could count on tracks we wrote before and tried to play with a little extra using the new stuff. The second day, the new stuff took over and that performance was fully recorded. It helped that we could rehearse all day before the show. The best parts (most improvised) are on that album.We had video projection, jazz dancers, flute, and a f*** delay!!! One of the interesting aspects of Autumn was the capability of improvising between you and Geert. Something that’s not so common nowadays in electronic music. Were you rehearsing a lot or was it just something natural between the two of you? Everytime Geert and I met, we wrote and recorded several songs a day, for sure. There was no production, editing or arrangement involved, we just started playing and if we agreed on something good, we continued with that idea until we said: -OK, let’s record it. I’ve got piles of 2-track tapes and cassettes that are filled with recordings like these.Over time, the best recordings were ׉ 7cassandra://rwjxzzFjhDNZcizIawjdIBYfxYsZUgf2SZPUFa_BLII^=`ke]kh@׉E selected and put on cassette, later on CD and now on albums online. It’s indeed problematic today to do that kind of interaction as all is concentrated on one computer, one track at the time. It’s c o u n t e r - i n t u i t i v e unfortunately. We try to fix that by using 2 computers, so we can create ideas on our own, and transfer them to the main computer when suitable. In those days you meet Peter Koutstaal who became part of Linear Movement.Was it him who added a more pop sensibility to the projects? Not necessarily. We had the Autumn and Twilight Ritual projects and Peter was already involved in Autumn, the later part of it. He was also a school mate and a good keyboard player and added his part to the tracks. But it was really me that wanted to do something more poppy, as Autumn was very cosmic / experimental, and Twilight Ritual had a big sense of art and culture in its veins. As a matter of fact, the Not Afraid To Die album, released as Autumn, is a bit schizophrenic: if you check most tracks, it should have been a Linear Movement release. It kind of showed the way in 82, whereas most of the other LMO‘s works are from 83. Another curious project was “Meditation Of The Lost”, released under theAutumn namewhere you played only accompanied by a jazz dancer on stage and the music was more “new age”. Can you please tell us more about the concept behind this new idea? Not much of a concept I’m afraid. I felt a bit lost as a girl dumped me, what else would an 18-year-old feel? So, in my case, I expressed that playing music and I created a bunch of tracks that eventually resulted in a live performance of two parts of 45 minutes and indeed accompanied only by a lady jazz dancer that was present at our Hard Breakfast shows. 2 CDs came out of it, the original ‘short’ tracks and the melted-together live versions. According to you, was Experiments With Environments the masterpiece, the summation of what Autumn was? It might be, as it’s a collection of tracks recorded over quite a year or so and it does present Autumn in its variety of faces – experimental, very melodic, synths and guitars - 13 - alike. It’s the only album that is not associated with a specific event. But it's tough to say that it’s the summation of what we did. You also started a project called Twilight Ritual (and played with it last year at Ombra). You said that the music of TR has more spirit and personality. Can you please explain this? Twilight Ritual was Geert’s idea. He and I make music without any effort at all. But Autumn had a style and he wanted to bring on board more art, culture and alternative stuff as his interests laid very much in that direction. Geert was an art historian, which fits very well. So TWR is indeed only him and me and has a special twist around it. Whereas other projects have less “engagement” and are free to interpret, TWR looks for a character and personality that is more present in its work. After a hiatus when you focused on A Split-Second you came back to TR. Did you see it as your best way of expressing your musical ideas? Things changed for practical reasons. Geert went to university in one town, I went to another one.To continue was a bit difficult after that. I also had to move my‘studio’ once again. Hence, I landed in Ghent’s Top Studio, where TWR made some recordings. But I was also engaged already with another classmate of mine which finally resulted in A Split-Second. That became so successful that it ate much of the time. Geert was still involved as he made most of the cover artwork. In 90-91 I found a way to build a brand-new studio, this time with proper material such as a 32-track inline mixing desk and a 1-inch 16-track recorder. Having my own place again allowed TWR to come back. I told Geert: “It’s been a while but let’s try if we can still do it.” And it went great. We started working on new tracks that resulted in a whole new Twilight Ritual album called Organic, an album with a spot-on title. TWR guarantees artistic freedom, but lyrics and melodies remain always www.peek-a-boo-magazine.be e]kh@e]kh@בCטu׉׉ 7cassandra://Ki8Y-6jGVvOeU5F-9oReclX0fm0KFrvANEk9x7e0_dAE`׉ 7cassandra://9nlFaNEQJN2PQ_c_UY_I3hdlwfIqdl8r0dre7DsK4-4<`׉ 7cassandra://IoyucaRtEcFYBHCmimuXx-QjU2CBrGGlNq4L8TtxlbY\~`ke]ؙh@Eנe]ؚh@ME9ׁH!http://www.peek-a-boo-magazine.beׁ ׁ Ј׉ELINEARMOVEMENT important. Freedom can also result in total mess, which is not TWR at all. It has to be good. Linear Movement was first called Pulse Music, right? Why did you change the name? With that name you released the only cassette in 1982, right? Pulse Music was the title of the first cassette, a C30, so 15 minutes each side.That’s all we had at that time. I kept the title for the later album. Linear Movement was your more song-oriented/pop project. Did you enjoy more composing experimental music or pop songs? I personally enjoyed all projects I did,why else would I do it? But here’s the thing: synths are all around. Creating sounds is still challenging but the bigger challenge is to do something valuable with it. That what I wanted to improve with LMO: song writing, production, arrangements, those were the next things I needed to learn. Not that we didn’t do that earlier but I wanted to put more focus on it for myself. Just look at the complexity of ‘Way Out Of Living”.That’s quite different from the early Autumn work, isn’t it? You recovered the music of Linear Movement in 2003 with a compilation released on Micrart, just a couple of years before the interest in all the minimal wave movement. Did you ever think that your music was going to be trendy again? Not at all, I just wanted to keep my old stuff a little bit alive. I needed to update the format on which music was shared. Vinyl albums were always very difficult, but now ad-hoc CDs became available, so that was the way to go.A pity you can’t do that anymore today. But I do believe it paved the way for more people to find the music, eventually being picked up by major labels or initiatives. Never thought that would happen though. Going back to other of your projects, in the mideighties you focused on A Split-Second. Was it too demanding or did you think that you had enough of the other three projects? Well, at that time, the other projects were dead. Especially since Geert was too far away for his studies. And also, A Split-Second took all of my energy, but also allowed a fast growth in professionalism. I did the co-writing, engineered a pro studio, did the arrangements, recording, production, mixing and remixing. We experimented with the newest samplers (brand new tech at that time) and effects tomake damn interesting tracks for the dancefloors.And we did it! I brought all that to the later works ofTWR andWasteland. www.peek-a-boo-magazine.be - 14 - Do you think that Flesh was an important release for the development of New Beat? People told us it was. I don’t think it’s up to me to judge that, but hey, if you’re considered to be one of the founders of the only musical hype from this country,who am I to say no? So yes, it left a mark but I have double feelings about it. Only now, A Split-Second is being recognised for its true value, away from the New Beat hype from those days. Do you think that your other project Wasteland deserved better luck? Are you going to have these tracks released again? Ah yes,we almost hit the top with Wasteland. By missing a big deal, we kind of let it go and that ended it. Unfortunately, because there were still many options. And yes, I plan to release all the tracks sometime. I’ve got all the rights and I’ve got the opportunity to remix them too. I believe that’s required as the old recording really start to sound old. And as a tribute to my old friend that died last year, great singer and songwriter Alain Allaeys. Another side project is Chayell Zen,where,as you said, you have combined your first love for cosmic music and your aim of making your children sleep. What can you please tell us more about this? Well, that’s something different. You know, I’ve heard so many times that much of the music I’ve made is ‘visual,’ belongs in a ‘movie’ of some sort. D(ayd)reaming is also visual, so why not? On the other hand, it may not be ‘gratuitous.’ Anyone can buy a Mac, launch Logic, and create a dreamy track. But that is not good enough. I like to put a twist in it, e.g. a totally distorted echo on a smooth piano. What can we expect of Peter Bonne in the future? Maybe a tour playing the Autumn material? Maybe next year at Ombra? Linear Movement is planned for OMBRA this year, December 2023. I’ve found Lieve (who did a lot of the singing back then) willing to join in again and that’s going to be really unique as we haven’t played together for 40 years!! After that, who knows! www.linear-movement.bandcamp.com/ François Zappa © Published by the kind permission of El Garaje de Frank www.elgarajedefrank.es ׉ 7cassandra://IoyucaRtEcFYBHCmimuXx-QjU2CBrGGlNq4L8TtxlbY\~`ke]kh@׉E"- 15 - www.peek-a-boo-magazine.be e]kh@e]kh@בCטu׉׉ 7cassandra://kjlWYisX1Sl2MyQBX6c1WmUKnF1TwpRM17wfbUQHSVk a`׉ 7cassandra://2DbCGUnMCpmtsU0nvjZaIZIPtGnLADPzthu66rQYEKEQ`׉ 7cassandra://xJhrg2ZMo4gqq_D_BC7a0sQ6yOGRQUgiZ3KpgHihaRYZ`ke]ئh@Nנe]اh@\E9ׁH!http://www.peek-a-boo-magazine.beׁ ׁ Јנe]اh@[bk 9ׁH"http://www.facebook.com/DER.KLINKEׁ ׁ Јנe]اh@Zh 9ׁH#http://derklinke.bandcamp.com/musicׁ ׁ Јנe]اh@YR{ 9ׁH*http://contact34503.wixsite.com/derklinke?ׁ ׁ Јנe]اh@XaOl 9ׁH"http://wwww.peek-a-boo-magazine.beׁ ׁ Јנe]اh@W5!9ׁHhttp://later.Thׁ ׁ Јנe]اh@V0 9ׁHhttp://center.Doׁ ׁ Јנe]اh@U5M6 9ׁHhttp://anyway.Thׁ ׁ Ј׉E_DER KLINKE We have grown into a very strong band live, which means that the demand for performances also grows. Der Klinke has released a new album: ‘Facing Fate’. We have been following the group for a long time but especially since the masterpiece ‘The Unexpected’ from 2017, followed by the strong compilation ‘Decade’ that was to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the formation in 2019.We always looking forward to what Der Klinke does. And yes, ‘Facing Fate’ is also an excellent record, which we wanted to knowmore about. Let's go back to 2019,when you celebrated Der Klinke’s tenth anniversary. You thought then about stopping the band.Nowyou are backwith a verystrong album:‘Facing Fate’.Tell me,why did you want to stop then and why did you decide to continue? Oh, the thought of quitting only occurred for a brief moment. It was more of a thought to change the band name. That would then become … ‘Facing Fate’ but then we ultimately mutually decided not to do that and to use that title as the new album title. ‘Facing Fate’has become a verydark record,even though it contains several danceable and energetic songs. I feel like grief and isolation are important topics. Is there an overarching theme on the record? No, there is no overarching theme but we do ensure that all the songs fit together.We like variety in our music. I find a record where every song sounds the same boring, not to mention groups where every record sounds the same. (laughs) But we think it is very important that everything forms a whole. Songs and ideas that ultimately do not fit may appear on a later release. In 2019, the single‘WhoTo Deny’was released on limited edition vinyl.What was the idea behind this single? And whywas the JohnWolf remixof‘WhoToDeny’included on the newCD, albeit not on the vinyl edition? ‘Who To Deny’ is a song that was finished shortly after the release of‘Decade’.As a vinyl lover,I alsowanted to release a real vinyl single. That’s why it was released as a single. There was no point in putting this or the B-side of that single on the new LP because vinyl lovers already have it. When pressing a vinyl record, you also have to take the time duration of each side into account. On CD, it's a different story. Those who only buy CDs didn't have ‘Who To Deny’ yet. I thought the regular version didn't fit in as well with the whole of ‘Facing Fate’ but the John Wolf Remix fitted perfectly. www.peek-a-boo-magazine.be - 16 - ‘The Shallow Shadow’, a song about saying goodbye to a friend, is also an older song that had already been released to theworld.That also fitted on the newrecord? It’s not really old. It was recorded in 2021.For us, it was the first song for the new record anyway. We announced this to the world with a video clip, in the run-up to a new album. It's always more fun if several songs are already known when the album is released. We work on a new album for an average of two years anyway. The song ‘Dark Night March’ was inspired by a poem by Baudelaire.What made you drawyour inspiration here? The musical basis, the demo, of that song was recorded ten years ago.I rediscovered it by going through old hard drives again. I don't remember how I ended up with that poem by Baudelaire but I do read a lot of poetry. It must have automatically come back to me when I heard the music. I understand that ‘Dance of Liberty’ is about the corona pandemic. Does it describe the yearning for freedom during the tough months of lockdown? No, that's a misunderstanding. I didn't even make that song until October last year. It's more about the feeling that when you dance, go to a party or gig, you are momentarily freed from the maelstrom, from the incessant whirlpool of thoughts and emotions that often dominate me and probably many others as well. I see that the albumhas beenmastered byMartin Bowes of Attrition again. He also recorded some lyrics on ‘Closing In’.You’ve had a long relationship with the man, if I'm not mistaken. How has that collaboration evolved over the years? Indeed, I have personally been friends with him for a long time. I even went to his wedding – in 2011, I think – in Coventry. He married Kerri, who died on 8th January last year. They have both been at my house often, and I have been at theirs too. The story of our friendship could be a book... It started when Der Klinke was on a bill with Attrition at a festival in Portugal, around 2010 or so. The festival turned out to be a scam, orchestrated by someone from a mental institution. ‘The Great Goth'n Roll Swindle’, we called it. Together with the other bands, we started a group on Facebook to share our doubts and do some research. That ‘organizer’ had supposedly released a compilation LP a few months earlier but no one had ever seen it. People who bought these never received them either. Anyway, that's how Martin and I became closer. The ׉ 7cassandra://xJhrg2ZMo4gqq_D_BC7a0sQ6yOGRQUgiZ3KpgHihaRYZ`ke]kh@׉E song ‘Closing In’ is about an unrealistic longing and loss. It was very emotional for Martin to record these sentences shortly after Kerri’s death but he did it for us with great pleasure.He had also previously done a guest vocal for ‘The Game’on 2012’s ‘The Second Sun’.When you see that music video, filmed in Ostend, you see both Martin and Kerri. The song‘You're Looking Good InAn Elevator’has become a modest hit. It was played on Radio Willy in Flanders. In the video, we see different personalities appearing: Marcel Vanthilt, Dirk Ivens, Sam Louwyck, Nel Mertens... Howwere you able to involve those people in the clip? They’re all friends too, and that actually helps. For Dirk Ivens and Marcel Vanthilt, it was ideal to go to a performance by Arbeid Adelt in De Casino van SintNiklaas, where Dirk Ivens was the support act with Motor!k. There is an elevator there, and Nel was also present there. (laughs) The friendship with Sam Louwyck became even closer after our kiss at the end of the clip. (laughs) But he had been friends with Dominique, the wife of Marco, our guitarist, for some time. She has asked his cooperation for this video. The lyrics of ‘All The Right Wrongs’were written by Filip Heylens from Wegsfeer. It deals with a very sensitive subject: suicide. Is it about Filip’s personal experience? Was the song written with‘Facing Fate’ in mind? Once we start working on a new album, all the songs are written for it anyway.There are always many songs that do not make it onto the final album but we can then take them with us for the next album. Initially, I just asked Filip to sing the chorus. I had a different text for it at the time but Filip kept playing the instrumental demo in his car, and then came up with the idea for that completely different text and extra guitars. I would like to let Filip himself tell you about the text... - 17 - Filip Heylens : It's not literally about suicide but about choices and the confusion that those choices entail. It's about the impossibility of some decisions. About how every choice you make opens a door but also irrevocably closes a door.About how rationality sometimes takes over emotionality and vice versa... How you sometimes know that what you are going to do or decide is wrong but you do it anyway... You wrote 'Absolutely Nothing' for your mother who suffers from dementia. In 2008 you moved back in with her to care for her and she now lives in a residential care center.Does this situation weigh heavily on you? It means constant switching and having to accept each new stage of dementia. I visit her every day but it is especially those visits that weigh heavily because she no longer recognizes me and all that. The song ‘Facing Fate’, the seven-minute closing track of the record, reminds me a lot of ‘Faith’ by The Cure. Was that a deliberate reference? No, absolutely not.We already had the title of the record in 2020. The final title track was created by a jam session during a rehearsal in which Sam played that bass line and Marco found a suitable guitar line for it. That was recorded with a mobile phone and then properly recorded in our studio later.The final result is indeed the closest to The Cure we've ever done, but it just grewwithout prior intention. (Read more on wwww.peek-a-boo-magazine.be) Xavier Kruth contact34503.wixsite.com/derklinke? derklinke.bandcamp.com/music • www.facebook.com/DER.KLINKE www.peek-a-boo-magazine.be Photo © Luc Luyten / Who Cares e]kh@e]kh@בCטu׉׉ 7cassandra://phb3Ht7MoY-KEVE8po9yHZAb0Ltr3xqOuKjmOQPH0hQH`׉ 7cassandra://cDzBxlPX22Z6KzQQuJJXFHLz2zhKvIrAhuEaZNUTM5EV`׉ 7cassandra://gIWWAtPreiF_bkUe7-bArjuxPb1UIXt9nC3gvTVrqhgZh`ke]زh@]נe]سh@kE9ׁH!http://www.peek-a-boo-magazine.beׁ ׁ Јנe]سh@jh& 9ׁHhttp://music.Myׁ ׁ Јנe]سh@i<+9ׁHhttp://album.Thׁ ׁ Јנe]سh@hRB 9ׁHhttp://ttingen.Thׁ ׁ Ј׉E0PLACEBO EFFECT And being able to be a part of that is wonderful.And we feel a great respect to play in Belgium.All of our musical roots come from the Belgium Artist. We're a bit excited, I have to say! Your band has been actively creating music since 1980,a journey that surpasses the duration of myown existence. I realize there were some hiatus points until 2014 to finally return in 2018. What sustains your passion for music over such an extended period, and how do you continue to find inspiration for creation and performance? It doesn't feel like that long to us. There is always something new to discover.New sounds,new tracks,new bands, new technology. Or simple: A day of life. It's been over 30 years, but the feeling of having Placebo Effect for very long has never occurred. Placebo Effect, a German Dark Electro trio originally formed in March 1989.After disbanding in April 1999, they made a brief comeback in 2014 and subsequently reformed once more in 2018, albeit without Achim Windel, who sadly passed away in 2016. With exceptional albums on their account such as “Shattered Souls” or “Galleries of Pain” they are one of the most recognized bands within the genre. The project is set to perform at the 2023 edition of BIM Fest, marking their first appearance at the event in over 28 years. Having this I mind I decided to ask them a few questions and so we delve into the origins of their sound, cooperation with Dirk Ivens, the death of a band member, and successful WGT concerts as pivotal moments in their artistic journey. About Art, which, for them, is a language that transcends boundaries, brings people together, and allows for individual interpretation, but also future plans and more with Placebo Effect. You're set to take the stage at the 2023 edition of BIM Fest. Is this will be your first performance at this event? Yes, that's right after over 28 years we're playing with you again and for the first time at the BIM Fest. Thank’s Bodybeats.They was very patient and persistent with us. Whenever we talked about playing at Bim, something came up. But now it worked and we are really happy.The festival has become a well-known institution for years. www.peek-a-boo-magazine.be - 18 - If you were to identify a pivotal moment or turning point in your artistic trajectory, what would that be? At the beginning of our career, Dirk Ivens (Dive, The Klinik) called Achim whether we would like to release a track on one of his first vinyl compilations. This was the first step to something more serious. Dirk Ivens.. oh god.the one from The Klink. has become aware of us. Wow! Personally, I see the two WGT concerts in 2004 and 2014 as a turning point. After the concerts we received incredible attention and so much positive feedback. Even the german television took notice of us. And unfortunately the death of Achim drove us, Christoph and me, to make the album Shattered Souls. "Galleries of Pain," released in 1992, is now regarded as a classic in its own right. In hindsight, reflecting on your discography, do you ever experience the desire to revisit certain creative choices? How does it feel to be recognized as a "classic" within your genre? As a musician and especially in the electronic music we are in, which certainly always has a certain technical perspective on something, I wouldn't want to change anything. Our music has become what it is. It's a nice feeling to be able to look at something finished. We're also not fans of remixes of our songs. And so they are, somehow Polaroids, snapshots of a time in our lives. It would be terrible if albums like Galleries or Slashed were to be changed again and again. A "classic" within our genre? Always an outside perspective, just like we look at other people's work.We ourselves have no connection whatsoever to the words cult or classic. We just see ourselves as normal © Petr Vones ׉ 7cassandra://gIWWAtPreiF_bkUe7-bArjuxPb1UIXt9nC3gvTVrqhgZh`ke]kh@׉E(musicians who played these albums. But we are happy when these words are spoken. A feeling of the cult band? I think..we are certainly not that in terms of personality Building upon the previous question, if you were to pinpoint the most personal or significant album or song within your catalog, which one would that be? It's hard to say something different depends on each track. Poison Tree for the Galleries of pain e.g. where a track was missing and Christoph and I made the track in Bruno Kramm's kitchen with an synthesizer on our knees. When we mixed the Slashed Open in a small basement studio in Göttingen.There are so many things that cannot be listed. Often these are things that are nostalgic from the past. In a few years we might be talking about Shattered Souls where all the data was suddenly deleted and we were desperately looking for a backup. Thank God all the bands we were friends with told us "that's happened to us too" :-) A pice of us. As if someone pressed "start" and it just started again. I think we carry this within us, I don't mean just ourselves but in the scene in which we grew up.We don't lose the identification with the thing, no matter how much time has passed or how "old" we are now. What does art mean? Something that we humans carry within us. An unexplored spot that may never be properly clarified “scientifically” Upon releasing "Shattered Souls," your first studio album in 26 years, what emotions were stirred? Does creating music bear any resemblance to riding a bicycle, in that you never truly forget once you've learned? Shattered Souls has left behind everything that had prevented us from continuing with Manipulated Mind Control or Past and Present.We always found each other as friends, and we were able to find great people like Arnte from PYROLINE as producers. In retrospect, Shattered Souls reminds us of our first album.The tracks were able to be created over the years without any pressure or deadline and since we weren't signed to any label, we enjoy the freedom we have. Surely it's something little bit like riding a bike, only somehow more adventurous. Placebo Effect allows us a large sound space that we can re-enter again and again. When the number 26 years appears,we realize how long a “break” can be. Placebo Effect feels completely normal. - 19 - "Slashed Open" stands out to me as a particular favorite. What served as the inspiration behind this composition? What typically ignites your creative process,prompting you to sit down and craft music and lyrics, as well as conceptualize your stage presence? I'm very happy that you like it. Thank you! I would now like to write that the Slashed Open is a particularly consistent concept,but that would mean that something comes from the head. We were and never have been. Maybe I'm subconsciously trying to build our strength in music even more? Maybe also a technical aspect,we had started to use a lot more sampling from horror films. I think with these “snippets of sound” and our penchant for dense, atmospheric, cinematic moments. This is how our Material came about. Lyrics, music and performance all these things do not follow a script. It can be an interesting passage in a book, a picture or a symbol, a scene in a movie, noise all of these have an influence. But everything happens unconsciously. It just happens. It's undeniable that your live shows possess a captivating and symbolic quality. They are marked by theatricality, emotional depth, aggression, and intense audience interactions. How do you personally perceive your live performances? Do they hold a cathartic element for you? I often think in hindsight that it wasn't me who was standing there. Someone else. I can't tell you exactly, then it would be conscious of what it never was. I was certainly influenced by the old black and white scary films that fascinated me as a child. These had a certain theatricality to them - the monster was somehow never really evil. More..Theatrical creatures. Today there are many real things that move us, money, power, faith, weapons, that could be the headlines for a show. Your music encompasses a wide spectrum, ranging from harsh and aggressive to hypnotic and ethereal. Is this complexity of tones and emotions an inherent part of your artistic fabric? We are very influenced by film music.My first albums, for www.peek-a-boo-magazine.be e]kh@e]kh@בCטu׉׉ 7cassandra://tNQWZyExQXyK044GqYEoVVipOQ-p7MiDqRwBfPXxdYc`׉ 7cassandra://D06AGGu06UWcHBhEZAHwdolStMeKUD21J4fUSQbLQ4IF`׉ 7cassandra://5DxMRxYV_U0K_aqkHQCrBwYAPWVo-JoLgNdNWrcAPIcZM`ke]ظh@lנe]عh@uE9ׁH!http://www.peek-a-boo-magazine.beׁ ׁ Јנe]عh@t=̊9ׁH-http://www.peek-a-boo-magazine.be/en/reviews/ׁ ׁ Јנe]عh@sC4 9ׁHhttp://PIAS.Inׁ ׁ Јנe]عh@rpp8 9ׁHhttp://2023.Beׁ ׁ Ј׉E PLACEBOEFFECT example, for which I gigged in a record store when I was 14/15, were soundtracks like Escape from New York, Bladerunner or Apokalypse now. These spherical, strange sound sculptures have fascinated us from the start. And at some point, after New Wave, you discover bands like The Neon Judgment, Front 242 and all those who are practically the blueprint for the style of music we make now. Danceable but atmospheric. I can't help but sense that the visual and dramatic aspects play a significant role in your artistry. How do various forms of art intersect in your creative process, and what impact do you hope to achieve through both your music and your stage performances? Maybe it's a kind of musical influence combined with a passion for Visuals? As an influence on our style of music and its history? When we started to notice music and its artists, e.g. Fad Gadget, they had a huge influence on us. Musically and visually. Til today. Personally, I find contrasts exciting and like in films and in art in general, when something is only hinted at and I am given enough freedom of interpretation as an observer without already assuming the result. The show emerges “suddenly” from the moment.There are central elements that have developed into the tracks as an overall picture, such as the mannequin. They are in fact the key image to the piece of music. They wouldn't be replaceable at the moment either. Music, light, performance and stage design... all of that is the placebo effect. An “imaginary active ingredient” In a broader sense, what do you believe is the overarching purpose of art? And personally, what does art mean to each of you? An exciting question! What does art mean? Something that we humans carry within us.An unexplored spot that may never be properly clarified “scientifically”. A need to express our personality? Whether you are a participant or a creator of art? An individual language regardless of origin and nationality? For us it is important that art should not be subject to any dictates. It's wonderful to have an argument with friends after a concert, film or visit to a gallery when opinions differ. In our eyes Art also brings people together. A language that I can interpret and understand individually for myself. A picture, words, music doesn't matter. The artists can have a completely different idea of their work, but we still have the possibility that it speaks to us how we feel. Fascinating and beautiful. Aside from your appearance at BIM Fest in December, what can we anticipate from you in the upcoming months? We don't have any specific goals yet. A performance in May 2024 in Oberhausen (DE) is certain, but after that we'll see. Last question – tell me about the x-ray experience in Madrid? Madrid was a great experience. Blanca,who organized it, is a wonderful person and so is everyone there. The scene there is much smaller than here in Germany but the atmosphere at the concert was great. The departure was quite exciting because we were suddenly surrounded by federal police with machine guns with the show equipment, but that was quickly cleared up and the officers were even nice and informed their colleagues in Spain that we were a band and not a group of terrorists. We really hope that we can play again in Spain. (Read more on wwww.peek-a-boo-magazine.be) Karolina Kratochwil Placebo Effect performs @BIMFEST - St-Niklaas - B on Friday 1 December 2023 with Lords On Acid &more! www.peek-a-boo-magazine.be - 20 - © Petr Vones © Petr Vones ׉ 7cassandra://5DxMRxYV_U0K_aqkHQCrBwYAPWVo-JoLgNdNWrcAPIcZM`ke]kh@׉EmTHE NEON JUDGEMENT - Blue Screens 1995 -2009 (12 inch) (JE M'EN FISH) The band found it important to introduce our listeners to the later years of the band.“At Devil's Fork”(1995,Synthetic Symphony),“Daszoo”(1998,KKRecords) and“Smack”(2009 on Dirk Dadavo's own DanceDelic-D label), these three albums form the content of this compilation album. The first side starts with the remix version of “A Nicer Person” , the hit from “At Devil's Fork”. “Smack” proves once again with 4 strong songs in its own slightly refined sound that The Neon Judgment were still going strong. “Leash” became a hit but songs like “Shiny Happiness”, “We are Confused” and especially “The Great Consumer” are also great, danceable electro wave track. A compilation that shows that The Neon Judgment was more than their well known music from the 80s, especially in our scene, and a more than interesting addition to any collection of he/she/x alternative (Belgian) music enthusiast or just a fan of this duo. [KI] SKINNY PUPPY - PIAS 40 (12 inch) (PIAS) You may wonder how these legendary Canadians ended up in a collection series celebrating 40 years of PIAS? Well quite simple: Scarface, a now discontinued sub-label of Play It Again Sam!, brought the first Skinny Puppy albums to the Benelux/EU. The four featured songs, which in my opinion could and especially should have been many more, on this release are the brilliant “Smothered Hope”, the equally brilliant “Addiction (first dose)”, the again brilliant “Dig It” and the more than brilliant and widely known “Assimilate” (Skinny Puppy's monster hit in the alternative circuit with good taste, so to speak). Couldn't this vinyl be genius? Indeed it is! The electro industrial and even gothic slant of their music was slightly different from what we were used to here on the Europeanmainland in those years but that does not make it any less good.Go get it! Once more! So that you may never lose your good taste. [KI] THE CASSANDRA COMPLEX - PIAS 40 (12 inch) (PIAS) The Cassandra Complex! A band that is still alive and kicking in 2023.Between 1987 and 1993 they delivered 7 albums,which is like one every year one the label, and of course a number of singles. Some of them gave them name and fame. For example, the hit “One Millionth Happy Costumer” became a most wanted track at many dark dance parties and even in 2023, you can sometimes still hear it blasting from the speakers. But The Cassandra Complex was of course more than that one, hypnotic and dragging song. Each album contained a hit or two and these songs are present here on this anniversary vinyl from the PIAS40 series. With this collection of six very carefully chosen songs, even “Moscow Idahow”in not there (while still a hit),PIAS once again presents a very enjoyable vinyl that you can make your own, for nostalgic reasons, but can also make new fans of a group who still regularly tours through alternative Europe. THE WEATHERMEN - PIAS 40 (CD) (PIAS) The story goes The Weatherman's music was put together by two Americans and those same musicians sent their music many Belgian labels with the message of hoping to break through in the Belgian music scene.A fact is PIAS, responded,because since 1985 there have been quite a few releases by Jean-Marc Lederman (once a live member of Fad Gadget) and Bruce Geduldig (RIP,indeed also known for Tuxedomoon) by PIAS.Including their hit “Poison!”,probably the best knownTheWeathermen song among our readers. The opening words are legendary: 'Hello? My name is Suzanna Stammer.You remember me, don't you? I used to go out with your drummer. I made his life miserable,and now I'll start on you! Oh,by the way you can call me Poison!'Satire and surrealism were never far away. This six-track vinyl compilation focuses on their magical 80s, where they were an outsider in the EBM scene, but one that was appreciated and with “Poison!” left a lasting mark on this Belgian story. So it's time to get something from The Weathermen with this compilation if you haven't already! Read full reviews on http://www.peek-a-boo-magazine.be/en/reviews/ - 21 - [KI] www.peek-a-boo-magazine.be [KI] e]kh@e]kh@בCטu׉׉ 7cassandra://4ZDW7kfA6NYYSOFllVDUo3ccvzqHCRhvHeY4-8vRGOI Rd`׉ 7cassandra://UxrBQgrbk5oBxLFrWc3jmSsHYtOC_av1YBvfVFjAb6YW4`׉ 7cassandra://PVqh348mBjkcywbgOXRYJFWn_w38cFDuBhaSOQeSHsQX`ke]h@wנe]h@}! 9ׁHhttp://way.Thׁ ׁ Јנe]h@|̹1 9ׁHhttp://positive.Thׁ ׁ Ј׉ESUCH BEAUTIFUL FLOWERS Such Beautiful Flowers is a relatively new Flemish electro project that is both melancholic and danceable. However, the man behind the one-man project has a long history. In a previous life, he sang in the handcore group Midnight Souls. He will soon perform at BIMfest and at the Dark Entries Nights. Donny Woestenborghs does everything DIY, on his own, and told us more about his project in the following conversation. Hello Donny. You have a musical project called Such Beautiful Flowers. I'm intrigued to know why you chose that name. What does the name Such Beautiful Flowers mean? Every child deserves a name and so does every new project you start.You then look for something that, firstly, has not already been occupied by ten other artists, and, secondly, encompasses the entirety of what you want to say, but still leaves sufficient room for growth. Such Beautiful Flowers was a concept I had in my head for a long time.Actually, the term comes from the 1922 silent film 'Nosferatu'. The first sentences ‘spoken’ in the film are ‘Such beautiful flowers, why did you kill them?’, although this depends on the version you watch. All the tragic romance and romantic tragedy that arises from Bram Stoker’s book is hidden in those two sentences. A story of love, lust, desire, duality, loneliness, isolation... I could agree with that. You now make quite poetic electro, while you used to be the singer of the much heavier hardcore group Midnight Souls. That is quite a transition, even though you are not the only one making this evolution. What attracted you to electro? Is that quite a transition? Don't know. For me there was never much difference between The Sex Pistols and Fad Gadget or Front 242. They're both punk, just with different instruments. Midnight Souls was often the outsider in the hardcore scene, as we did not really participate in the typical clichés of the genre. In our tour bus, you could hear My Bloody Valentine and New Order more often than Minor Threat or Black Flag. The first music that really touched me was on ‘borrowed’ New Beat tapes from older brothers that we exchanged in primary school. MTV exposed me to The Cure, Depeche Mode, and a whole host of artists that had a major impact on a child of the 80s.So I'm actually not surprised that Such Beautiful Flowers sounds the way it does. - 22 - How and why did you decide to create a solo electro project? The end of Midnight Souls was prefaced by two things. The feeling that the story had been told and the fact that not everyone had the time or motivation to fully commit to it.We were at that fragile tipping point where jobs and relationships might have to shift in order to continue to grow. But an artist doesn't stop creating, so after a while, ideas started to bubble up and I started looking for people to start something new with. However, once you reach a certain age you quickly realise that it is difficult to find people with the same vision and commitment. After a few false starts with other individuals, I decided to interpret the DIY concept literally. I also noticed that I wanted to make music more than ever, free from compromises or concessions, in a new environment, separate from everything that came before. I feel like you put a lot of thought into your lyrics. Can you tell us a little more about what you're trying to convey and the topics you like to cover in your writing? In Midnight Souls I was the singer, so the pen has always been my first instrument. I find it difficult to point out themes in this context, because I always feel like I'm writing about everything and nothing at the same time. Words appear and lead to sentences and often the meaning is only clarified at the end of the process. Even ׉ 7cassandra://PVqh348mBjkcywbgOXRYJFWn_w38cFDuBhaSOQeSHsQX`ke]kh@׉ESUCHBEAUTIFUL FLOWERS after that, the meaning can change. Ultimately, it's much more interesting to look at what it means to the person listening to it. In essence, it will keep coming back to the existential questions we all ask ourselves. Who am I? What do I want? Why am I? It's about my past, present and our future. In 2019 you released your debut EP ‘Neon Gloom’ on the now much-lamented Wool-E Tapes label. What were the reactions to this release? I think the reactions were generally positive.The reviews seemed to reflect that. The tracks did receive some airplay on niche radio stations online. But you quickly realize that it can be difficult to get your music to the right people in a world of algorithms that prefer quantity over quality.Without a publishing machine, your creation will quickly be overwhelmed by everything else. The EP was also released just before the first wave of corona, so everything fell apart just when the ball started rolling and a number of performances were scheduled to promote the release. As a new act, you notice that the live circuit is very important to promote your music. The EPwas released on cassette,on Cassette Store Day. Do you have a special preference for the medium? We released the EP with the consent of Dimi fromWoolE Tapes. Vinyl was a too expensive gamble for a first release, so we opted for a CD and tape release. A CD is a fairly emotionless and not really sexy medium, so I was happy with the cassette. It was a nod to the days when I discovered music by buying tapes at the market, or sat for hours in front of the radio with my finger on the record button, hoping that my favourite track of the moment would come through. Tape also has a kind of natural saturation that also gives the whole thing more character when you listen to it. After the ‘Neon Gloom’ EP, you released a few more single songs. You stood out with covers of Slow Crush (‘Drift’) and The Stooges (‘Now I Wanna Be Your Dog’). Why did you choose to work on these songs? Slow Crush is a band with members I have known for years. I’ve followed them from their first appearance to where they deservedly are now. In a conversation with Jelle, the guitarist, the possibility of doing a remix was discussed. I saw it as a fun challenge and for them at that moment it might also be a way to break out of that typical box of ‘shoegaze’. It was also a good exercise to sharpen my skills as an engineer. The Stooges cover was a way to be creative in a different way.The Stooges were the cradle of so many things that I saw it as a kind of - 23 - tribute. It may also have been because Iggy had spoken very disparagingly about electronic music in the past. Your last release on bandcamp was in 2020. Are you planning to release anything new soon? What are your future plans? It has been (too) quiet around Such Beautiful Flowers for a while, which I fully realise. The advantage of a solo project is that you can do everything yourself but that also means that you have to do everything yourself. The EP was made completely 'in the box', and I wanted to avoid that on subsequent releases. Tim from MuchLuvStudio & AmenRa did a great job mixing those first songs but I also wanted to have more control in that process. A period followed of setting up a studio with hardware synths, compressors, EQs...which also have the necessary learning curve. Combine this with a busy job and a private life besides music and it is sometimes difficult to find enough time to work on something. I also moved last summer,which meant I had to tear down and redecorate my entire studio. But I'm in the final stages of finishing a full length that will hopefully be released late this year or early next year. If the world listens, that's great, but if I only reach a small group of people with this, that's okay too. I especially want to continue making music that I want to hear myself and possibly perform live. Everything else is secondary. Life has taught me that the less you want, the happier you will be. I really enjoyed watching your performances on Sinner's Day or in Het Groot Ongelijk. In December, you will be playing at BIMfest in Sint-Niklaas, and at the Dark Entries Nights in Ghent. What makes a Such Beautiful Flowers performance special? That is of course a question you should have asked yourself or the people around you. I just do what I do, without thinking about it for too long. It is not an act or a show that needs to be performed. It is an interplay of music, artist, audience and environment at that moment, and the interaction between those elements determines whether something is special or not. Maybe the energy I brought from the punk scene is something not everyone is used to. In the years that I have been on stage, I have seen people dance, fight, cry and leave disappointed. I just hope it doesn't leave anyone untouched. Xavier Kruth Such Beautiful Flowers performs @BIMFEST - St-Niklaas on Friday 1 December 2023 with D.A.F, SA42 &more! e]kh@e]kh@בCטu׉׉ 7cassandra://drA7Y0YtZiMaPO9H00t8Z-0XXxdp8O_A8kbHS0tCgG8 `׉ 7cassandra://JOrvj3wFOBEv2uPZ6qnUm5rMQ7_n5DVD8m4L5YURDR4N`׉ 7cassandra://lh91eE2ZFAlSEIBUL83lXBeEMN3cLnnHvYtNZlbBSr0W`ke]h@~נe]h@A 9ׁHhttp://am.Thׁ ׁ Јנe]h@* 9ׁHhttp://things.Anׁ ׁ Јנe]h@1 9ׁHhttp://vanished.Soׁ ׁ Јנe]h@̾' 9ׁHhttp://wine.Thׁ ׁ Јנe]h@;, 9ׁHhttp://albums.Doׁ ׁ Ј׉ENPIL Our interviewwith John Lydon was quite accidental as our seven-months baby woke up in the middle and we had to take care of him.At least, this made John said some words that really changed our way of seeing him and that, I think, are a perfect introduction for this interview: -“It’s absolutely fine because that little baby is our future, right? And babies come first. I understand that.You know, people don’t expect Mr. Rotten to be talking family values, but I cherish the young.I’mone of the veryfewpeople in life that don’t mind children screaming on an aeroplane because when I was young,I remember howthe air pressure used to hurt my ears.And so, I feel for them. I have that immediate connection”. How did you go from something more “basic”,“more rock n roll” to the experimentation of PIL? It´s something that people are still discussing how the first punk generation moved to different styles. I’d never, ever thought the Sex Pistols as rock and roll.Oh, no, no, no. In fact, what I stated when we first started in that band, it’s that we were the death of rock and roll.We absorbed the ideology of Do It Yourself. Rock and roll had become, and probably always was, a very, very, business structure and one that people like us would naturally feel alien to. Being working class,my natural instinct is to not work for a corporation. The voice of true rebellion. The music may sound like rock and roll at times, that’s a good thing, but it’s not rock and roll in its approach. This is not to hoodwink you into believing the world is a better place. This is music to tell you exactly howwe feel about things, and it’s very nice if you agree with that,and it’s even better if you don’t. I come from a universe where some of my best friends completely disagree with everything I have to say, and I love them for that because life should be a learning experience.And what we must never do as human beings is allowourselves to be divided. It’s not us versus them, it’s us. And we have to work this out and stop being manipulated. Be no one’s cannon fodder. You have said repeatedly that you wanted to showyour emotions with PIL. Let´s talk about some of them: Pain. I guess that was the main one in your song “Death Disco”, that was composed thinking on your mother. In this moving track you sing “Words Cannot express”. Do you think that you managed to express your pain with the song? I guess the situation has repeated with “Hawaii”. I tried to and yes, it’s a similar approach.There was a band called Tears for Fears and they put out a record called www.peek-a-boo-magazine.be - 24 - Shout. I was really pleased for them and very glad to have met thembecause that’s a philosophy I adhere to,that you cannot hide emotions.You need to express them.Not in a violent or volatile way, but in an open and honest one, because many a time you might find out that what you’re feeling is wrong, but it can also be right. Yes. It’s a song about the death ofmymother,which as the years evolved, performing it live also had to include the death of a few of my friends from silly heroin overdoses the music industry is rife with, and also the death of my father. And now, sadly enough, the death of my wife. It’s a song that will permanently evolve.But I’ve got a special place in my heart forever for my lovely Nora. And that’s hence the song “Hawaii”. Fear. You have talked about how tough was school and later all the problems and fights that you have during your Sex Pistols period. Do you think there is a sense of fear or uneasiness in your music? Yes, I would hope so, because these are valid experiences I’ve had to endure and I expect the same from other songwriters, to tell the truth of what it is they’re going through. That’s why I love books. I love authors that share their truthwith you.Youmight not agree with them,but it’s ׉ 7cassandra://lh91eE2ZFAlSEIBUL83lXBeEMN3cLnnHvYtNZlbBSr0W`ke]kh@׉Ethrilling the insight into how human beings work and how different we all are, yet similar in our needs and dislikes and likes. You have to bare your heart. And live performance is sometimes like “Death disco”, extremely hard to do because I will be in full tears. I can’t help it. I can’t hold back those emotions. They become very real for that moment on stage. And I see that very seriously in the audience’se eyes. I love to be able to see who’s in the crowd and I share eyeball to eyeball contact with them. It adds. It’s the audience as a fifth member of the band, sharing their tragedies and their joys with us. So, in this respect, yes, Public Image is a bit like a church without religion. You sing “Anger is an energy”, even called one of your books with that sentence. In the song “Public Image” is there a bit of anger against the way people see you? or just disgust? No,it’s just factual that,transitioning from the Pistols into Public Image, there was an awful lot of very negative journalism telling me that I had no right to be different or to advance myself, that I had to stay in this neat little pocket that they’d decided to put me into. And so, I expressed that in a song. And yeah, anger is an energy is a concept that comes back to when I was seven years old. I had meningitis and I was hospitalized for a year. I lost mymemory,etcetera,etcetera and the doctors advised my parents to keep me angry and said that that would give me the energy to bring back my memories. It worked. So, the concept “anger is an energy” has always been with me and the chance to use it in a song, years and years later,was wonderful.You must have patience as a songwriter.You can’t throw it all out at once. You have to wait for the right moment, the right tone, the right rhythm, the right beat where it fits its purpose most. Happiness. When would you say that John Lydon has been happier in life? You can’t come at me like that. I’m generally a happy, go lucky person. I’m not one to wallow in self-pity or misery or any of that nonsense. I have to get on with things. I have to endure the pain. And in an odd way, sometimes being able to do that, to conquer tragedy is happiness in itself. I’m happy to be alive, frankly, and the gift of life I love more than anything. I don’t know where life comes - 25 - from, but I’m eternally respectful for it. It’s a wonderful, amazing thing and often ignored.What a pity, silly people. Let’s talk about one ofmy favourite PIL’s albums.Do you think that Flowers ofRomance has been an influence for Goth music? with all these tribal drums and all the darkness? I don’t know. I’m sure there was Goth going on around us at that time. It’s not about those things at all. It’s actually about a school journey that I had to endure when I was young. We went on a geography expedition to Box Hill, which is near Guildford, a part of England, and we had to study map making. But I much rather went and found the local pub and drank ale rather than study where the Romans used to plant vines to grow for wine.That was the basis of that song. And then it shapeshifted into other things about dictatorship, Nero and how easy it could be to confuse myself and believe that just because I’m a singer in a rock band, I’m better than anybody else. So, it’s self-depreciating. It’s self-criticism of a song. Especially important that every now and again you check your ego. I’mblessed because I have family and friends that will not let me get away with anything. Do you think that your time in jail was an influence for that record? Being locked up and facing a sentence of years of prison was an influence, yes. As soon as I won that case, I immediately flew straight back to London from Ireland and went into the studio. It was exceedingly difficult because I couldn’t get my band to be involved. The drummer had to go on his own solo tour and everybody else had vanished.So, it’s practically a solo record.But that wasn’t a choice. But it was good for me to mess about with saxophones and violins and drum loops and just reinvent things.And of course,my favourite sound of all is discordancy: harmonics, sonorous rhythms and all of these things I thought I could achieve by simply putting metal ashtrays on piano strings. I’m chaotic at heart. And so, it’s in all those drones and tones where I really am.The actual notes you hear, they’re fine. But I’m up there. I know where heaven is. And it’s in those glorious unheard notes or mostly felt. ”FrancisMassacre”was inspired on that,right?Mountjoy was the name of the jail, if I am not wrong. There were a few prisoners there that considered themselves innocent, and they wanted me to somehow get the message out. And so, I used that song as the means. It’s basically a letter of “I’m here for life, please helpme”.And I thought the screaming and the volatility in it, the ridiculously fast-paced beat were perfect for the tension that I was feeling myself while into Mountjoy. © Andrés Poveda e]kh@e]kh@בCטu׉׉ 7cassandra://8vg5EUdWUL2RzXOeK3YsRC0R-zb2qXi4OlTSXhvjD2U`׉ 7cassandra://2KZERUr4sBmjVu1wwuEK7nrVvIqFsdQBj4iS-sDBYTQ?`׉ 7cassandra://BHJop7nfwky7YGNkuePEqSNsdpo2YmZWxgbWPY7P90UZ`ke]h@נe]h@P̎9ׁH'https://elgarajedefrank.es/en/interviewׁ ׁ Јנe]h@Z 9ׁHhttp://www.elgarajedefrank.esׁ ׁ Јנe]h@`I 9ׁHhttp://www.pilofficial.comׁ ׁ Јנe]h@ā& 9ׁHhttp://know.Anׁ ׁ Јנe]h@" 9ׁHhttp://that.Anׁ ׁ Јנe]h@C 9ׁHhttp://do.Anׁ ׁ Јנe]h@( 9ׁHhttp://home.Anׁ ׁ Јנe]h@u+ 9ׁHhttp://himself.Soׁ ׁ Јנe]h@n>7 9ׁHhttp://angle.Anׁ ׁ Јנe]h@c+ 9ׁHhttp://human.Thׁ ׁ Јנe]h@- 9ׁHhttp://way.Alׁ ׁ Ј׉EPIL In Album you had Steve Vai playing. Why him? Do you think that it worked on the album? Was an idea of Bill Laswell to collaborate with him? Steve Vai,he is rather an absurd guitarist.A thousand notes a minute. But he was around and so there it goes. He changed his style a lot on Album. He’s featured very, very predominantly, and he came up with some wonderful twists. I think he learnt really how to play rhythm guitar on Album. My original band for the record, they were too young. It was a nice idea to work with them, but they couldn’t cope with the pressures of a recording studio, let alone the endurance course of having to rehearse the songs before you go into a project like that. It was lack of experience and I know they learnt from it.We’re still friends, by the way.All of us. Lately you have been doing also some spoken word tours,what can you please tell us about them? I love them. It’s like going to a strange pub where people sort of knowyou and they’re all inquisitive and they all have questions and you answer correctly, and it’s extremely good fun. It’s very chaotic, it’s disorganized,and everybody’s happy. I mean, sometimes I can break out in karaoke, and anything is possible. I have to be completely unscripted when I do it. And I love that knife edge of this could collapse and be terrible. It makes you work harder for other people. Just a wonderful thing to be able to do. Yes, I love it. It’s hilarious. Sometimes the public just break out in song themselves. It’s all unexpected. Nothing planned. Nothing scripted. Lovely. Human beings being human.The greatest gift. You have been drawing the covers of your albums, what´s your inspiration? I’ve had a finger in the artwork since the very beginning of my career because I like painting. You’ve got the element of sound and words, and that used to be enough for me, but not now. I think it’s nice to have a visual interpretation as well. The album cover is very much seriously a part of everything that’s inside. I’m using basically the colours and textures and schematics through colour to explain what the songs really mean, because colour does have an emotional effect on people just like words and just like sounds. It’s just another angle.Another thing we love to do now is our own videos, which are very much like your dad bought a new camera and he wants to film everything. It’s very home video. You got a lovely little baby there, and of course, you’re going to be filming it, right? Well, that’s the vibe. And that’s an approach I don’t think anyone in the music industry has ever thought about it. It’s where the real true emotions lay. We don’t need expensive productions. Everything is for real, no stagecraft. - 26 - Anything that you can tell us about the new album? At the time of the interview, we have known only three singles. It’s 13 songs. We got through it very, very fast, like two months at most. We had to use several different studios because after the Covid lockdown ended, everybody was running to recording studios. So that was difficult. But being Public Image, we liked the faults and the different sounds of the different places, so it all paid to our advantage. As I said, there were 19 ideas which we bounced down into 13 songs,enjoyed everything of it. I’ve dealt with my personal tragedy with Nora, but that’s not all of the universe, so I had to consider many other concepts too. There’s a song called “Car Chase”, that’s about a friend of ours. The authorities in Britain decided he was incapable of looking after himself.So, they put him in a home.And of course,he escaped,you know,verymuch like what I would do.And I love him very dear for that.And so “Car Chase” is a song and an adoration of his free spirit. That was one of the first singles, right? I don’t know.Any order you like.What we’ve done is issue snippets of songs so that people get an advance warning of just how varied this album is.“Penge” is, I think, the first sound bite we released. That’s about an imminent Viking raiding party that it’s going to slaughter and kill everyone in a seaside village. And the alternative the children are offered for safety is to follow a Druid priest off into another harbour where they’d be safe.But the Druid priest turns out to be a child molester. Just because position A is bad, don’t jump to position B. Look for C, D, etcetera. Find more than one alternative in life and make your own decisions.Otherwise, you won’t survive. www.pilofficial.com François Zappa © Published by the kind permission of El Garaje de Frank www.elgarajedefrank.es Read full interview on https://elgarajedefrank.es/en/interview-john-lydon/ ׉ 7cassandra://BHJop7nfwky7YGNkuePEqSNsdpo2YmZWxgbWPY7P90UZ`ke]kh@׉E- 27 - e]kh@e]kh@בCטu׉׉ 7cassandra://xrN3yo25PVpH7vsM8q8SgLo-ww7kSNMGM9WOwaMj-aI`׉ 7cassandra://6l0FtSRKg2fxGqmdm45oDAr02VraUlIPd38E6I4k7HEI[`׉ 7cassandra://DqIImwxPD9v3hI4hxYATpZUjLCiSRUm0dMut_H1MavEV`ke]h@נe]h@E9ׁH!http://www.peek-a-boo-magazine.beׁ ׁ Јנe]h@F 9ׁHhttps://nskstate.com/ׁ ׁ Јנe]h@al 9ׁH"http://wwww.peek-a-boo-magazine.beׁ ׁ Ј׉EALEXANDERNYM (NSKSTATEINTIME) Hi Alexander. You have just released the book ‘Weapons Of Mass Instruction. Speeches, Reports & Documents From NSK State In Time’. What was your motivation for releasing this book? Starting with the Citizens’ Congress in Berlin in 2010, NSK State has taken on a life of its own, even more so than before. Numerous citizen activities have taken place since, starting with the NSK Rendez-vous in France, to various exhibitions and other gatherings in the UK, the US and elsewhere, culminating in the series of impressive NSK Folk Art Biennales in Leipzig, Ireland and Trbovlje in Slovenia, where it all began in 1981 (the town where Laibach originated from, xk). Since due to the spatial distances involved, attendance was not possible for all interested citizens around the world, I figured that a collection of the speeches given and the documents involved in these activities, would provide interested citizens with the opportunity to read up on these events and developments. Thus, I began expanding my archive and started collecting those bits and pieces to present them in an appealing and informative fashion, not only for citizens of NSK State but also as a documentation of the State as such. able gain a reputation outside of Yugoslavia, while they were struggling for recognition at the home front. The mere structure and appearance of the NSK movement or school suggested a state-like penchant for organization, which effectively superseded that of the slowly fading mothership Yugoslavia. In a period when Tito’s multinational state was disintegrating, NSK presented Slovenian culture as both an amalgamation of centuries of cultural and political interpellation, as well as a (future) independent country. By juxtaposing Slovene national symbols with totalitarian imagery,NSK effectively coopted iconography which might otherwise have been adopted by the Slovene nationalist far right. In retrospect, this may have effected a far less aggressive nationalism in Slovenia than in other Yugoslav federal states, preventing Slovenia from joining in the slaughter that was to follow. If you’re marching towards annihilation, you should at least do it with a happy song. To understand the NSK State In Time, we should go back in time.Neue Slowenische Kunst–abbreviated to NSK – was founded as a multidisciplinary art movement in 1984, as a consequence of the banning of the industrial band Laibach in Slovenia, then a part of Yugoslavia. What was the context and the resonance of the founding of this artistic movement? A complex question! For anyone interested in the painstaking details of NSK’s history, I recommend Alexei Monroe’s book ‘Interrogation Machine’. In short, when NSK started out, it functioned as a beacon for subversive artists in Slovenia and overall Yugoslavia at the time, effectively providing a platform that would soon provide international exposure. It thus produced the bizarre effect that Laibach, Irwin etc, were www.peek-a-boo-magazine.be - 28 - NSK State In Time discusses several important issues. Migration, perhaps the most sensitive political topic nowadays, was often debated since the founding of the state, and was even the main subject of the NSK State Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2017, which is extensively quoted in your book. What can the NSK state teach us about migration? What can a state that knows no territorial borders teach about migration? A state that issues passports to anyone, regardless of their geographical location or place of birth, thus welcoming immigration as a means to grow and expand? Having prefigured the emergence of the digital domain and the global connectivity it provided, which is basically a means for corporate capital to create new markets, NSK State may as well have prefigured the way we’ll have to think about migration in the future. Humanity is all living in the same house, planet Earth. You cannot have one part of the family live on the sun terrace upstairs, having barbeques and partying away, while another part is locked in the basement, drowning from floods and rising sea levels. That’s not only immoral, it is also unwise and impractical, as those floods will destroy the entire house eventually. Only in collaboration lies the key to human survival in the face of our own demise. ׉ 7cassandra://DqIImwxPD9v3hI4hxYATpZUjLCiSRUm0dMut_H1MavEV`ke]kh@׉ENSK is controversial because of the use of totalitarian imagery in art. Even if this method – often labelled as ‘over-identification’with totalitarianism–is used since 1980 by Laibach and NSK, it can still cause scandals. You told me about an artist in Bavaria who was sentenced before court for allegedly portraying the Bavarian Minister-President in a uniform resembling an SS-uniform.What is the trouble is about? As you may know, Germany has introduced laws after WW2 to prevent Nazi symbols from being used to reinvigorate the politics of the German ‘Reich’ of the 1930s and 40s. On the other hand, Bavaria introduced laws providing police with means to arrest people on the basis that they MAY commit crimes – pre-crime, if you recall “Minority Report” from 2002 – in order to prevent supposed Islamist terrorism. Yet like any proper powergrasping state, this was first used in practice to jail climate protesters without charge, for weeks, since they are much worse than fundamentalist mass bombings, obviously. Also, the mere act of passivity towards police arresting you is no more simple resistance but counts as an attack on officers – with the unsurprising steep rise in statistics recording such supposed ‘attacks’. We are witnessing the slow transformation of Bavaria and other German federal states following this authoritarianmodel into police states. The artist in question, Fabian Zolar, created a large openair graffiti – legally, I should add! – of police brutality. It - 29 - was a reaction to him and his brother having been beat up and abused by officers. Remember: don’t even defend yourself or you’ll be declared an attacker! The graffiti was crowned by a portrait of a uniform-wearing, halfdecomposed head (partly a skull, xk) that reminded certain people of the Bavarian prime minister. Upon this, the Bavarian chancellery in Munich, by order of the prime minister, charged Fabian with defamation and use of anticonstitutional symbols, punishable by the aforementioned anti-Nazi-law. The scandal here is not that a politician was supposedly portrayed as smiling at the scenes of police brutality – currently, investigations are being led against the officers in question, but rest assured that there will be no legal consequences for them -- , but that the court denied that the work is actually a piece of art! A state where judges decide whether or not something is art has definitely left the grounds of the German constitution, even if Bavaria does indeed have an individual constitution. Fabian will have to defend himself through all instances until a federal court takes up the case,as chances are slim to find a judge in Bavaria with the guts to tell Herr Söder and the Munich chancellory to fuck off and behave like professionals, instead of conjuring up the Streisand effect by abusing the judicial system in order to satisfy Herr Söder’s vanity and fragile ego. They are turning a formerly anti-Nazi-law expressly disregarding artworks into a tool to suppress justified artistic criticism on a flimsy legal basis. If the court’s rule stands, ALL depictions of skulls in Bavaria must therefore be regarded as SS death’s heads. Every depiction that Herr Söder doesn’t like can thus be denied the status of artwork. These are assets of dictatorial regimes but certainly not of liberal democracies. Bavaria, Saxony and a number of other German federal states headed by the prime ministers dreaming about becoming some mini-Orbàn, are on a steep and very slippery slope regarding the validity of our constitutional rights; a trend I’ve termed ‘soft totalitarianism’ in the 90s. (Read more on wwww.peek-a-boo-magazine.be) Xavier Kruth https://nskstate.com/ article/weapons-massinstruction/ www.peek-a-boo-magazine.be e]kh@e]kh@בCטu׉׉ 7cassandra://so5a9lblkrcfpsg7XXhqFF8-SPl-k_hi7V3Rj6-2AWw`׉ 7cassandra://acG2NRhDbAjARMSkNaeBXCsvTRN6Tp0fu45Sxr5chxk3`׉ 7cassandra://1TME1woQjnsrfQrmz2xzh6yijd4-xWVcyYMZxkwxzqc`0`ke]h@נe]h@E9ׁH!http://www.peek-a-boo-magazine.beׁ ׁ Јנe]h@FU?9ׁHhttp://Wroclaw.Ciׁ ׁ Ј׉E"www.peek-a-boo-magazine.be - 30 - ׉ 7cassandra://1TME1woQjnsrfQrmz2xzh6yijd4-xWVcyYMZxkwxzqc`0`ke]kh@׉Epeek aboo calendar music &moviemagazine 02.11 WROCLAW INDUSTRIAL FESTIVAL XXII - DAY 1 @ Sala Gotycka / Gotic Hall, Wroclaw.Citizen (pl) Cult Of Youth (usa) Dave Phillips (ch) Deutsch Nepal (se) Fm Einheit (einsturzende Neubauten) , (de) Grim (jap) Hackedepiccioto (einsturzende Neubauten) , (de) Harmony Of Struggle (pl) Hiroshimabend (usa) Orphx (old School Set) (can) Puce Mary (dk) Sardh (de) Sect7 (pl) Te/dis (d) Templer (f) Thighpaulsandra (coil) (uk) That’s How I Fight (pl) Triode (sk) The Rorschach Garden (de) Vonsechsundachtzig (pl) Zero Kama (at) 03.11 WROCLAW INDUSTRIAL FESTIVAL XXII - DAY 2 @ Sala Gotycka / Gotic Hall, Wroclaw [PL] 03.11 THE BOLLOCKS BROTHERS @ Studio Canal 10, 7334 Hautrage [BE] + Kezdown Super 8° Open Door 20h 03.11 MONAGI (EP RELEASE) @ Djingel Djangel, 2000 Antwerp [BE] French Dreampop Inspired By Gainsbourg, Bowie, Warhaus And Others. 04.11 THE ESSENCE WITH SUPPORT WHITE ROSE TRANSMISSION @ Soundville, Rotterdam [NL] 04.11 DAYS OF SORROW, DEAD CRUSH @ Filousophe, Brussels [BE] D Post-punk / Cold Wave 04.11 WROCLAW INDUSTRIAL FESTIVAL XXII - DAY 3 @ Sala Gotycka / Gotic Hall, Wroclaw [PL] 09.11 AGENT SIDE GRINDER, THE ULTIMATE DREAMERS @ Kultura, 4000 Liege [BE] Post-punk / Cold Wave 10.11 BUNKERLEUTE - DARK UNDERGROUND PARTY @Musicafé, Leuven [BE] Dj The Darker Angel & Catacombkitten 11.11 PORTA NIGRA, AUTUMN PASSAGE @ De Klinker, Aarschot, Aarschot [BE] :of The Wand And The Moon: Rome Apoptose Witch Of None 12.11 DAS ICH @ La Ruche Verrière, 6042 Charleroi [BE] + The Breath Of Life + DMP + AWeek In Dogge Doggerland 14.11 PETER HOOK & THE LIGHT @ Het Depot, Leuven [BE] 18.11 DE PROFUNDIS II @ Le Garage Creative Music, 4000 Liège [BE] Tc75 + Frontal -+ Tension Control + Dj Blackwaver 25.11 DOWNHILL - XVI - THE FINAL CHAPTER (IN LOVING MEMORY OF JOHAN VAN MULKEN) @ Poppodium Nieuwe Nor, Heerlen [NL] Suicide Commando + Underviewer + Fïxed:Sëd8 25.11 NEW-WAVE-CLASSIX PARTY @ Vooruit (balzaal), Gent [BE] Dj’s: Dj Filip Delie (resident Nwc) And Guests. 28.11 ANTIMATTER (ACOUSTIC SHOW) @ Djingel Djangel, 2000 Antwerp [BE] by Mick Moss 01.12 BIMFEST XXI - DAY 1 @ De Casino, St-Niklaas [BE] Lords Of Acid, Placebo Effect, Qual, 2nd Face, The Ultimate Dreamers + afterpary by DJ BORG 02.12 BIMFEST XXI - DAY 2 @ De Casino, St-Niklaas [BE] Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft (robert Görl & Daf), Signal Aout '42, This Morn' Omina Mangelexemplar, Lifeless Past, Schickshal, Ner/orgis, Such Beautiful Flowers + Afterpart Dj BORG 01.12 KORINTHIANS + SPIRAL OF SILENCE @ Djingel Djangel, 2000 Antwerp [BE] post-wave / cold - wave. 15.12 THE BOLLOCK BROTHERS @ Djingel Djangel, Antwerpen [BE] 16.12 SHADOWPLAY - 80'S NEWWAVE (AND BEYOND) DANCEPARTY @Walhalla, Deventer [NL] Presented By Dj Sl!m 16.12 OH HIROSHIMA (SWE) + TöRSZ (HUN) @ Djingel Djangel, 2000 Antwerp [BE] The Better European Post-rock. 23.12 LORDS OF ACID (TRY OUT SHOW) + X-MAS ELECTRO WAVE PARTY @ CC D'engis, Hermalle Sous Huy [BE] 12.01 RADIO CLASH (TRIBUTE TO THE CLASH) @ Djingel Djangel, 2000 Antwerp [BE] All Star Tribute Band. 13.01 MIXED VISIONS' 20TH ELECTRO INDUSTRIAL TOP 100 @Aalmoezenier, Antwerpen [BE] 19.01 THE OBSCURE (THE CURE TRIBUTE) @ Djingel Djangel, 2000 Antwerp [BE] 03.02 MOTOR!K + VOETVOLK / LISBETH GRUWEZ @ De Warande Turnhout, Turnhout [BE] 17.02 NEW-WAVE-CLASSIX PARTY @ Vooruit (404), Gent [BE] Belgiums Finest Black Celebration With Djs Filip Delie 24.02 INTERNATIONAL EBM DAY 2024 @ De Casino, 9100 St- Niklaas [BE] Cat Rapes dog, Mildreda, Human Steel, Zynik 14 + 1TBA + EBM afterparty with DJ BORG. 01.03 PORTA NIGRA: FRONT 242, NITZER EBB, THE JUGGERNAUTS & MIRREXX @ Stadsfeestzaal, Aarschot [BE] 02.03 E-TROPOLIS FESTIVAL @ Turbinenhalle, Oberhausen [DE] Suicide Commando, Nachtmahr, Kite, Frozen Plasma, Empathy Test, Rroyce And Accessory. 24.03 BODIES & BEATS XIV WITH RUE OBERKAMPF + DARK MINIMAL PROJECT @ Fetish Café, Antwerpen [BE] 20.04 DARKEST NIGHT 2024 @ Jk2470, Retie [BE] 04.05 NEW-WAVE-CLASSIX PARTY @ Vooruit (404), Gent [BE] With Djs Filip Delie (resident) And Guests Tbc 10.05 TOPOGRAPHIES (US) @ Djingel Djangel, 2000 Antwerp [BE] American Postpunk With Gray Tolhurst (yes, Son Of...) 27.07 + 28.07 AMPHI FESTIVAL @Amphi Eventpark / Tanzbrunnen Köln [D] with And One * Project Pitchfork * Blutengel * Front Line Assembly * Solar Fake * Hocico * Kirlian Camera * Neuroticfish * Heldmaschine * Ost+front * Schattenmann * The Beauty Of Gemina * Then Comes Silence * Agent Side Grinder * Minuit Machine * Girls Under Glass * Merciful Nuns * Principe Valiente * A Projection * Henric De La Cour * T.o.y. * Ultra Sunn * Dark * Manntra * Die Selektion * Soulbound * Alienare * Bloody Dead And Sexy * Auger * Blackbook + more TBA! >>>> IF YOUR EVENT IS NOT LISTED HERE, YOU FAILED TO ADD IT TO OUR FREE ONLINE CALENDAR <<<< - 31 - www.peek-a-boo-magazine.be e]kh@e]kh@בCטu׉׉ 7cassandra://0EqnCKLVZGfO_Xw2RpirZDEXfQF7tXpvQg6NnaYm7m0`׉ 7cassandra://ATRharRe1ZbV7e0uKm4tI3VFMP-G8ejwEcNp8TAkf0I͞`U׉ 7cassandra://QsMpC-Jhn47Ygl_VrjENcDnPNzqOngY_OvqWEXIQUdc8`̶e]h@׉E׉ 7cassandra://QsMpC-Jhn47Ygl_VrjENcDnPNzqOngY_OvqWEXIQUdc8`̶e]kh@׈Ee]kh@e]kh@,Peek-a-Boo Magazine # 44OFree printed subculture & Music Magazine Issue #44 (October/November/December)e]UU