[kj] KJ for MTV: Before and.....

Thu May 4 07:43:53 EDT 2006

Good Morning;

Any word on US tour dates for KJ, particluarly in NYC?

Thanks from a KJ fan from a long time ago. . .

John Friedlander
917-826-4413
jfriedlander at nyc.rr.com

On Thursday, May 4, 2006, at 07:04 AM, Alexander Smith wrote:

>
> Well, folks, here it is.... the edit wasn't *TOO* bad, all things  
> considered.
>
> http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1530113/20060503/ 
> index.jhtml?headlines=true
>
> Do me a fave and hit it repeatedly. Multiple page clicks ensure that  
> the story "does well". 
>
> Cheers,
> Alex in NYC
>
>
>
>
> On May 3, 2006, at 5:50 PM, Alex Smith wrote:
>
> Indulge me for a moment, my siblings....
>
> So, I handed in my Killing Joke piece (which is set to publish on  
> MTVNews.Com tomorrow at 6am), and was summarily told to cut it down by  
> several hundred words. In any case, I begrudgingly did so and have  
> since handed it back in (and the editor will invariably CONTINUE to  
> make cuts to it). Not that it really matters, but here's my story IN  
> ITS ORIGINAL, UNEDITED GLORY for that elite smattering of you tolerant  
> enough to sift through my overwritten fluff. When the finished piece  
> goes up, I'll let you know --- and ask you to kindly hit it and KEEP  
> hitting it so that it "does well."  Thanks! - Alex in NYC
>
> Here's what it might have been:
>
> Their music has amassed disciples ranging from Nine Inch Nails and  
> Soundgarden through Kate Bush and the LCD Soundsystem. Their songs  
> have been covered by everyone from Metallica to Sarah McLachlan, and  
> there was even a mash-up of one of their singles with Christina  
> Aguilera’s "Make Over" making the rounds not too long ago. Despite  
> this, Killing Joke, one of the more notorious bands to have risen from  
> the smoldering pyre of late 70’s British Punk, is not a household name  
> here in the States. Lead singer Jaz Coleman, laughing down the phone  
> from Cologne, Germany, where the band are currently touring to promote  
> their latest album, Hosannas from the Basements of Hell, isn't  
> bothered. "I get a fucking CD every week with a Killing Joke cover  
> song --- and they all go in the bin."
>
> "We don’t have anything to do with fucking fashion! We’re a sound and  
> a lifestyle. HAHAHAHA!" Coleman, the self-christened "Black Jester,"  
> has a disconcerting tendency to punctuate his frequent declarations  
> with a robust laugh that suggests a tenuous grasp on sanity. For  
> nearly three decades, Coleman, along with guitarist Geordie Walker,  
> has been preoccupied with musically defining the malaise of the atomic  
> age. Fusing the stealth and aggression of punk to the weighty wallop  
> of heavy metal and a relentless tribal beat, Killing Joke has managed  
> to elude classification over twelve studio albums in their quest to  
> emulate, in the words of original drummer, Big Paul Ferguson, "the  
> sound of the earth vomiting."
>
> For Hosannas..., Killing Joke converged in Prague to break things down  
> to their rudimentary elements. "This album, for me, is really  
> special," explains Jaz, "because we all went collectively to Prague  
> and hammered out loads of demons and had a great time with the  
> beautiful excesses that a beautiful city like Prague provides. We  
> recorded at will in an inferior studio with a wine cellar below it,  
> where we actually put the drums down…. I think it was probably one of  
> the most honest Killing Joke albums, if you’re looking at the band’s  
> collective input. Everyone hammered out their demons. It was a huge  
> pressure on everyone. HAHAHAHA!"
>
> The end result is collection of music that finds the band in feral  
> form, anchored by Geordie Walker’s signature guitar maelstrom.  
> "Killing Joke’s never been better," Jaz enthuses. "Working with  
> Geordie Walker – he’s a magic player. He’s one of those guitarists who  
> sound like fucking eight guitarists. There’ll never be anyone like  
> him. It’s my deepest pleasure to have spent more years with him and  
> more time with him than my own blood brother." Coleman’s foil  
> throughout all of the band’s incarnations, Geordie provides an  
> inimitable style, with an emphasis on chugging riffs and harmonics  
> rather than masturbatory soloing. The rhythm section, however, has  
> taken on a rate of attrition comparable to vintage Spinal Tap. Since  
> afore-mentioned original drummer, Ferguson, left the band in 1987,  
> their drum stool has fleetingly played host to Martin Atkins ( Public  
> Image Ltd., Ministry , Pigface), Ted Parsons (Swans, Prong) and even  
> former Nirvana sticksman, erstwhile Foo Fighter and Killing Joke  
> superfan, Dave Grohl. Grohl leant his talents to their eponymous 2003  
> album, putting to rest the simmering hostility between Killing Joke  
> and Nirvana following a lawsuit over the similarity between Nirvana’s  
> "Come As You Are" to Killing Joke’s "Eighties" that was dropped after  
> Kurt Cobain’s death.
>
> Boasting a history fraught with bouts of madness, violent in-fighting,  
> flirtations with the occult, multiple changes in line-up and flights  
> to the far corners of the earth (Coleman, who currently resides on an  
> undisclosed island somewhere in the South Pacific, once infamously  
> jumped ship from the band in the early 80’s, retreating to Iceland  
> when he became convinced that the world was about to end), Killing  
> Joke may not have achieved global dominance, but their songs appear on  
> countless punk, goth and industrial compilations, and last year, they  
> won popular British heavy metal magazine, Kerrang’s "Lifetime  
> Achievement" award. "I was only 45 when I got it," laughs Coleman.  
> "That’s probably the youngest lifetime achievement award you’re going  
> to get. And we never expected gongs or shit like that. Everyone knows  
> who we are. Everyone knows from Jimmy Page right on through the rest  
> of’em. You don’t have to shout out about it."
>
> The latest development in the band’s soap opera, meanwhile, is the  
> departure of bassist Paul Raven, who fled the nest just prior to the  
> album’s release in April to tour with Ministry. "Paul is always part  
> of our family," counters Coleman. "Always, right? To be perfectly  
> frank, what we have here is geographical differences. Paul has got  
> commitments to his children and his gorgeous lady [in the States] and  
> we’re completely at peace with him working with "our Al," Al  
> Jourgensen, who I’ve known for years since he was a young lad at our  
> early gigs. I’m very happy for them. It’s the extended family. The  
> only thing I really regret about it is not smoking some cigars with my  
> old mate, Raven, at the moment, but that’ll come later. HAHAHAHAHA!"
>
> A study in contradiction, Jaz Coleman thrives on polarity. When not  
> onstage with the band, exhorting as a war-painted harbinger of doom,  
> he’s an accomplished composer who has worked with some of the world’s  
> most revered symphony orchestras, revised the national anthem of New  
> Zealand and scored films for Walt Disney. But it’s his work with the  
> `Joke that gives him balance. "For me, Killing Joke will always be how  
> I deal with my anger," he says gravely, "…how I deal with waking up to  
> this world where we’re just basically destroying everything. It’s how  
> I deal with my sleep deprivation, because I can’t fucking ever seem to  
> sleep without sedatives. It’s how I deal with these things. I guess,  
> for me, it has a social function. It’s my exorcism, it’s my catharsis  
> and it is a tradition, and not just for me. There’s actually quite a  
> lot of people out there who love the ceremony of it also."
>
> To celebrate that love of ceremony, Killing Joke embarked on an  
> anniversary tour last year, culminating with the release of a live  
> album and DVD, XXV Gathering. "Well, actually, this is our 28th year,"  
> asserts Jaz, "and we actually did three recordings before that 25th  
> Anniversary [one], so someone’s cheating me out of fucking two years  
> of my life, -- and it I think it was the promoter." Fuzzy math  
> notwithstanding, Jaz acknowledges the band’s longevity. "Twenty-five  
> years sounds like a marriage, doesn’t it? HAHAHAHA! It’s harder than  
> fucking marriage. .HAHAHAHA. And I should know. I just got my last  
> divorce last year, and now I’m back with her. Do I get my money back?  
> HAHAHAHA!"
>
> With the intent of always looking forward, Coleman is currently  
> plotting both a summer tour of the States and another album, but looks  
> beyond that as well. "There are so many things I want to do," he  
> gushes. "I’d like to do one year working for the Green party in New  
> Zealand, and possibly the experience of a political career. Because,  
> I’m a Green. Even Bill Clinton’s a Green these days. Slick Willie – ya  
> gotta love him, haven’t ya? HAHAHAHA! We’ve got to do something about  
> this fucking planet. My response is to get rid of fan clubs and start  
> eco-villages with sustainable resources. There’s a Killing Joke movie  
> coming out. We’ve got one scene left to shoot on it, and it’s done.  
> It’s taken eight years of my life to put it together, but that’s good  
> fun. I’m working on a big Hollywood movie soundtrack at the end of the  
> year, and then I’m moving to Sydney and working with a great  
> Australian orchestra. Life’s colorful, what can I say? Get the  
> barbecue out. Let’s go fishing! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
>
> For a man who has made his name predicting the apocalypse, Jaz Coleman  
> is incongruously optimistic. "Watching the world go nuts," laughs Jaz,  
> "that's important because it reminds you to eat, drink and be merry  
> with the people you love, because sometimes that's the only way out of  
> this madness!"
>
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