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First of all - can you introduce yourself and your band to us?
We are DeathMaschine, an industrial band from southcentral PA in the US. We came out of goth/industrial scene vets Suture Seven and Advent Sleep. Our subject matter tends toward political ranting and human bashing. We are actually excited to do this interview, because we deliberately invoke a totalitarian vibe in our stage gear as sort of an anti-statement. It is easy enough for people to assume we’re Nazis, though that is not the case. Not even close, really.
Could you describe your opinion and/or views on racism within 1-5 words?
Racism = Moronic Ideology
What are your views on your own country when it comes to racism? Bad? Worse? Not thát bad? Please explain.
Heh, you should probably ask a minority representative to get a real answer. Our experience would be totally that of outsiders. That being said: Not as bad as it has been historically, but not good enough? We finally elected someone besides an old white guy to the Presidency, and that is a good thing. That makes it hard to say that it is worse… but as there is no doubt racism still exists, one might say that the change is large but not large enough. We think you will always have your “Rednecks” to carry the racist flag in a mainstream sort of way, as well as the neo-Nazis and such to make sure there is an undercurrent for the disenfranchised to dip from. Humanity will never be so enlightened that they disappear entirely, especially in an age where every fringe lunatic with a computer can find like minded people. We also feel that there is a backlash of sorts, with the former victims hating the former oppressors, reverse racism as it were (however non politically correct it is to mention it). A guy N_Maschine used to go to class with was beat up for being white in the wrong neighborhood. That is as repulsive, and for the same reasons, as any other sort of racism. Hell, we are people who are willing to accept you for you, and you write us off because we are white? While at the same time getting in someone else’s face about how you are being oppressed? How is that any different? At any rate, we seem to see it far less in the younger people than in the older ones. Racism has not washed out of the system yet, so to speak, but the younger generations seem to be handling “interracial” relations in an increasingly casual, day-to-day sort of way.
It seems some kind of sick ´trend´ these days to bring racism into alternative music, referring to terms such as 'nazi-punk', 'NSBM' and 'right-winged electro'. What are your views on this? Do you think it will become dangerous?
They’re like Britney Spears with Swastikas? In other words, we don’t like what they write, find it massively distasteful, but they have a right to write it? There has been a Nazi punk scene for a long time, it is not a surprise that it is branching out. It may also be that there is always an element of music that is the edge, and this must be the edge now. Consider that, as subject matter, sex, death, politics, drugs, alcohol and violence have been done to death. As a band we are really opposed to censorship, so they can say whatever they want, however repulsive it may be. We won’t buy their music, pay to see them play, etc. As we said earlier, you will not be able to silence them even if we advocated that choice, and you sure don’t want to turn them into martyrs. It is worth paying attention to them to make sure the words never get to the action stage, but go ahead, say what you like… then accept the responsibility when someone reacts negatively to it. Is it really any more dangerous than any other music? If the “Emo Revolution” hasn’t turned us into a nation of pathetic, soul-searching, punk wanna-be emotional layabouts, lol… In seriousness, there are enough of us that would oppose some sort of “global racist revolution” that we don’t see the trend inspiring such a thing. Will the music sway some people? Probably. There are always an impressionable few that take the music too literally, but we don’t think you can fault the music alone for it (if you recall the Ozzy Osbourne “Suicide Solution” mess so many years back). We’re just voices that tap into something that already exists inside, if we do our job right. They choose to tap something that we do not. We can all lead by example. That doesn’t mean that you should force yourself on a culture that has no interest in you, or that may resent your intrusion. Rather, the example can be set simply by how clearly and consistently you deal with people across the spectrum.
Did you witness any racist things during local gigs, festivals, etc? Would you reject an offer to play a show together with an outspoken right-winged band?
A while back N_Maschine was in a (pretty crappy) punk-ish band. They played a show at a local all age hotspot, and about halfway through we noticed these two guys giving us the old Sieg Heil. This was a bit of a shock, as the stuff was not even suggestively racist. Next show at that venue, the bass player hung a big picture of Anne Frank on his bass rig. It was all the funnier because the dumbass Nazis didn’t get it. We would not accept such a gig, with the caveat that we don’t read every lyric of every band we have played with so theoretically it could happen. There is no way we would play a right wing festival (DeathMaschine for McCain… oh HELL no), or any event supporting that sort of ideology. They have a right to say what they like, but we are not obligated to support them or provide a forum for them. Besides, they will only ever go away if the market for them dries up, so we would (again) rather not be a part of them getting their message out.
Since the 'War on Terror' - lots of hatecrimes against Muslims were reported in the U.S.A., but on the other hand, a black president was elected recently. What are your views on all of this?
The Good: There are plenty of folks (yes, stating the obvious) who view Obama as a man instead of a color. Those of us that care are happy to have Obama as our president. Who cares what color he is, what religion he follows, and all that. He presented well, and seemed to have put thought into what needed to be done to make the USA the kind of place people want to be, and that is what mattered. That is not to downplay the significance of the election… it would have been a special moment to see the look on the face of someone that marched with Rev Martin Luther King when they declared Obama the winner. It was a good day.
The Bad: But then, there are those who view him as the right color and elected him for that reason alone, same as people voted for McCain because he had boobs on the ballot. We worry about anyone that distills choosing a leader down to color or sex... There were these two nazi fuckwads that concocted some half assed plan to kill a bunch of black luminaries, including Obama... There is the fact that N_ and D_ listened to Obama’s acceptance speech because they were half convinced some racist whacko was going to take a shot at him before he could get in office. The cynic in us all can’t help but think that he won’t make it all four years, because Obama’s election is the sort of thing that will trigger one of the more deranged racists to take matters into their own hands... There is the fact that a work aquantiance is proud of the fact that his young (5 or so) daughter thinks their old neighborhood was “too dark”.
The Ugly: The dim and unenlightened will exist even as we grow more “civilized”, and will never learn… and will pass it on to their offspring.
Is there a lot of racism in the local metal scene over there?
The people we tend to hang with seem pretty cool, but… well, the local area has a high redneck quotient. There is probably more racism in there than we actually see. Then again, we tend to be down on the locals too. Never really thought about it before, but this area is pretty heavily segregated. White suburbs and colorful city. Not unusual to be sure, just more visible when looking at it on a smaller scale than NYC or Philadelphia.
Got any final words?
1- People suck. For every one of the Maschines, there is some Neanderthal moron who gets his jollies beating the hell out of people different from him. We get so tired of people that are too afraid to accept someone’s differences, or who use race as an excuse for something (i.e. “I didn’t get that job because they gave it to a black man. Quotas, you know…”). At the same time, we loathe people that think they should be given a free pass because their ancestors were treated badly (says a guy with American Indian heritage). Yet in a perverse sort of way, society may need both to maintain balance, and keep the rest of us in check.
2-Think for yourself, question authority (thank you Timothy Leary), and judge your fellow man on the caliber of his character, not the color of his skin.
3-We are rather interested to see how the non-US bands answer these questions.
Interview by: Gerardo
Answered by: N_Maschine (vocals, programming)
Listen to DeathMaschine at www.myspace.com/deathmaschine
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