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Hi, and thank you for
your time. First of all, you may introduce your band to
the readers over here.
We’re Punish Yourself, and we’re probably the dumbest
cyberpunk band ever. We play it bad, we play it loud,
and we generally act like retarded rockers on dope. If
you have a problem with that, you probably won’t like
our stuff...
The name Punish Yourself really fits to the music and
the image. Who came up with the name? And what was
developed first, the name or the image?
Actually « punish yourself » was the title for one of
our first songs, before the band had any name. And it
turned to be pretty cool a band name, so we chose it...
At that point, we had absolutely no idea of what we were
going to be, we didn’t even know how to play any
instrument at all... All the music and image stuff
developed later, gradually through the years, we had no
pre-established concept. Except we wanted to become a
cult band.
Talking about image, how important is image for
Punish Yourself? And why did you choose this one?
When we play live, the way we appear and act is quite
essential, but nothing is really set. I mean, this is
not a Broadway musical ! But yeah, from the day we were
born, we’ve been feeding on images and visual stuff,
Jack Kirby, The Rocky Horror Show, Z-movies... That’s
what we wanted to translate into music, at first, but it
was soooooooooo easier with some visual stuff !
Basically, the image was an help to convey the feelings
we wanted to put in the music. Debauchery and
apocalypse, mainly.
Every member has its own image, but also its own
personality. Can you describe each member within one
word?
We don’t really play roles onstage, we’re no Gwar or
Slipknot... It’s just we let everything loose. Miss Z is
a cheerful lesbian who loves shouting, drinking and
dope, I’m a cheerful bisexual who loves shouting,
drinking, dope and hurting myself with anything, pierlox
is a cheerful heterosexual who loves shouting, drink,
dope. And X.av, well, he’s a drummer, that sums it up.
That’s what we are onstage, that’s what we are when we
are off the stage. The only difference is paint. Anyone
who has seen us at any party can testify.
Shock rock aint a new thing; Alice Cooper started it,
and nowadays Marilyn Manson is very popular. Do you
consider yourself as a shock rock band? And why (not)?
What do you think that a shock rock band must require?
If shock rock is Alice Cooper, we’re probably
shock-rockers, in a way. But we owe much more to White
Zombie, Alien Sex Fiend or The Cramps - well, you might
say there are shock rockers too, probably. One thing is
sure, we never really listened to that Marylin Manson
guy... I think we’re more glam-rock than shock-rock. A
quite twisted version of glam-rock, but glam rock still.
We don’t want to shock and scare people, we want them to
follow us in our world.... The aim is to be sexy, not
scary !
Lets talk about the music now, hehe. How would you
describe the music you make yourself, and what are your
influences?
Basically, we’re playing machine-rock in a punk way. Or
maybe playing punk in an industrial way... Or maybe just
rock’n’roll mixed with heavy machinery.... We’re not
very good at defining ourselves. The only thing I’m sure
is we’re not a reggae band ha ha... Influences are quite
clear, I think : Ministry, Foetus, Skinny Puppy, Iggy
Pop, Sheep On Drugs, The Lords Of Acid... But we listen
to a lot of stuff, from digital hardcore to
garage-surf-psychobilly, jazz, dark-ambient stuff,
soundtracks... And it can be heard in our music,
sometimes.
You released a live cd on D-Trash records. This label
is known for placing complete albums online. This is
pretty unique in this "all against Napster-era". Why did
you decide to release an album on D-Trash records,
knowing that it shall be able for download? And how can
a label like D-Trash records survive?
Well, they survive because there’s no money involved !
They make no money, and people ask no money. D-Trash is
basically just J Schizoid, he works on the label when
coming back from his daily job, that’s all about pasion.
Releasing a record on d-trash was a way to participate
of this no-profit/no-money thing. It’s sometimes fucking
annoying to be part of the system - and we are part of
the system, cos’ we release records and get paid for
that and so on. Working with D-Trash records was a way
to escape all this shit for a while. And I hope we’ll be
working with this label again !
The latest album is called Sexplosive Locomotive. It
recieved 76/100 from me, and I found none but good other
reviews as well. Do you consider this as a
'break-through' album? And what do you think of the
record yourself?
I just can’t listen to this record again... Spent too
much time working on it. But yeah, that’s true, we only
got good reviews (apart from one or two stupid
trueblackmetalheads), so I guess it’s probably rather
good. In France, we were already known, but for sure,
this album helped us to establish definetely our
reputation here - and opened international doors, at
last. Even if we are a deeply underground act - I mean,
you won’t ever see us on MTV, this album was really the
beginning for a worldwide following. Not because it’s
well distributed (it’s not), but because the songs in
the record seem to please people all over this planet...
I mean, it’s easy to download it on e-mule or soulseek,
and that’s the only way most people can get their hand
on it. But still, they send us mails from the deepest
reaches of this planet, so I guess they like us...
With Sexplosive Locomotive, this band doesnt bring
something new, but they definitely bring something
exciting." This is a quote out of my review. Do you
agree with this, or do you think that you bring
something new in the music industry? And if yes, can you
explain why?
There’s absolutely nothing new in our music, and we
don’t give a fuck about that ! We’re just trying to
follow the warpath of rock’n’roll... So you’re probably
right. We didn’t create anything, we’re just mixing all
the stuff we like and trying to deliver it with maximum
energy...
Talking about live shows, according to the live
visuals I found your show must be extremely powerful.
What can a stranger expect when he visits a Punish
Yourself gig?
Black UV lights, bodypaints, background images, video,
dancers, sometimes a cage , plastic guns, chains,
anything ! A lot of noise, too, sweat, blood sometimes,
some nakedness if we’re in high spirits, vodka...
Basically, a Punish Yourself gig is a rock’n’roll
performance, we never know how it’s gonna turn but we
know we’re gonna spend all our energy in one hour of
full-blasting. And, really, anything can happen...
Unknown girls from the audience stripping, thirty people
jumping on the stage, me vomiting on the drums because
I’m too stoned... that’s the kind of incidental
happenings you can witness ata PY gig.
France is not wellknown for its industrial bands, but
these days bands like Division Alpha, Malmonde, Dagoba
and Crack ov Dawn managed to get signed and became
wellknown in Europe. Also in the underground, bands like
A.N.A.E.L. are doing their industrial thing. What can be
the declaration of this spontanious explosion of
industrial bands in France? Something new in the wine or
something, hehe?
There’s always been a lot of industrial acts here in
France, but it seems like the scene is now exploding.
From the older generation, Kill The Thrill are still
there and greatly kick ass, and there’s a whole new
scene these last years, Muckrakers, Dexy Corp,
Polytrauma... Some very interesting stuff emerged from
the electroclash scene too, The Dead Sexy Inc, Shane
Cough, Waks, Jabberwock... I guess you can expect some
very good records to come ! Especially since it’s like
one big family, bands are quite united... As an exemple,
on our new record, Oilid from A.NA.E.L. plays a guitar
solo, among many other guests...
A country can have 1.000 good bands, but without
local underground support there aint a chance to grow.
How is the underground scene in France, and how to they
reply to local industrial acts?
Well, that’s the trouble. I sometimes feel there are
more bands than people willing to get to the gigs or buy
records ! At some concerts, most people in the audience
are in a band too. When musicians get to play for
musicians only, it’s like a vicious circle... I’m maybe
a bit too sarcastic, there is a definite underground
scene and underground supporters - but as a matter of
fact, they tend to concentrate on the fields of pure
metal, pure punk or pure goth. Sometimes it’s harsh to
attract them if you’re not a true metal band or a true
punk band or a true anything... That sucks. We somewhat
manage to break these boundaries, but it’s really hard
sometimes for other bands.
France is a country of some wellknown record labels
like Osmose Productions, Listenable Records and Seasons
of Mist to name a few. Sometimes they sign some young
local bands, but they are more focused on foreign bands.
And, they hardly sign industrial. Isn't it time for a
French label, to sign only industrial bands? Or is there
already a good indus label in France I don't know about?
There are industrial/electronica labels in France,
Parametric, M-Tronic, but they focus on pure
electronic/techno acts like Mlada Fronta. There’s no
label specializing in crossover/electro-rock/etc.,
probably because there’s no real audience to by the
records, in France... I mean, we do sell quite a lot of
records, but most of our fans don’t especially care
about « industrial », they listen to punk or metal or
goth or whatever... That’s really a shame, cos’ we have
tons of good bands with no one caring about them. Things
must change !
A live DVD will be released very soon, and you just
finished making some remixes for other bands. What else
can we expect in the (near) future of Punish Yourself?
Actually we’ve just finished our new album, Gore Baby
Gore, which will be released in May - the DVD will come
as companion to this new record. It will feature some
well-known guests - JL De Meyer of Front 242, Candice of
the french cult band Eths, Richard from Mind
Disruption...The album will be quite surprising, much
quieter than most of our previous stuff. Much sicker
too.. We’re also working on some remixes for US bands,
Unter Null, Helltrash... And we’re trying to set up a US
tour for next summer.
Well, the interview ends here. Thanks again for your
valuable time. If you have some final words to say, add
them here.
We generally choose something stupid to end the
interviews... Like saying « fridge » or « motorbike »,
anything that doesn’t make sense... But let’s try making
some : both industrial music and rock’n’roll are dead -
so let’s be all happy zombies !
Interview by: Gerardo (March 2006) |
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