Interview with Andi Sex Gang
www.myspace.com/andisexgang
www.myspace.com/sexgangchildren
www.myspace.com/dirtyroseanne
www.andisexgang.com
www.sexgangchildren.com
www.songandlegend.com
Nattsol: First of all, could you tell me, how did you come into the music? And how did you catch the idea of the creation of the band?
ASG: Music was always important for me..and I just kind of.. fell into it . After one life was over for me, it was time to start another and music became my new weapon of choice..so to speak. First..let’s get one thing clear..my strongest drive and inspiration for my life in music was the love of music itself..how I conducted myself within that world..no matter how unconventional.. was down to the person I am.. whatever my intentions and actions..they were motivated by my love and respect for music.
I used to go and see many bands..and learnt more about what not to do than anything else. I was disgusted at how so many bands had regressed back to mundane, cliched rock ‘n roll..as if Punk had never happened! I also quickly realised how the music industry had a vice like grip over most of the bands..and I couldn’t understand why they didn’t fight it..they had become no more than performing monkeys..eager to please the major labels with their archaic, bland idea of music. I also saw first hand how the music industry boasted about the control they wielded over bands and the music loving public alike..how they controlled the whole market place. So..I was not only motivated to make music for the sake of my own self expression, I also developed an incredibly strong desire to teach this over confident, smug ‘Industry’ a lesson in showing respect for the art of Music itself.
On the plus side, there were a few lights on the horizon that did inspire me..early Adam and the Ants..Siouxsie and the Banshees..Joy Division..Bauhaus..Death In June..Theatre Of Hate..all of them pushing the boundaries of music in their own inimitable style.. and this was also a great and truly inspiring driving force for me..as for many others at the time. However, by the time I was starting in music, things had become bland and stale once more. I wanted to create a band that would push music to it’s limits.. with a sound that knew no boundaries..and with a definite philosophy of non compromise.
Nattsol: There’s a popular theory of the ‘goth’ origins by Ian Astbury of ‘The Cult’, who said ‘So he was the little Gothic Goblin and his followers were Goths. That’s where goth came from.’. What can you say about it?
ASG: As has been clearly stated in my biography synopsis on myspace..it is something I so far have declined to comment on as I believe in the originality of music..not in the convenience of it’s categorisation.
Nattsol: What can you say in common about that so-called ‘goth’ movement? Was it called ‘goth’ for that time, or it was marked so later? Was it unified? What ideas and interests did you share?
ASG: No..in the early days of that period, Goth was not really used as a generic term. So far as I was concerned, as in any period..there are two camps..those who use music for self serving reasons..money, celebrity status etc..and the Artists. Most of the good people all liked similar things..the avant garde..the left field..as for unity..the true Artists were united in a bid for change..shake things up. As for the others..they didn’t really have a cause outside of their own self ambition. As for me ..well, I believed in revolutionising the whole fucking system.
Nattsol: What were the breaking points of the band’s development in first years of its existence?
ASG: When I had finalised a solid line-up for the band and before we had started playing shows….I had a very definite plan for the first 12 months..at the end of which we would have our first album topping the UK Independent Charts and be playing a headlining show at London’s prestigious Lyceum Theatre. Everyone said I was mad..it was impossible to achieve.. I believed where there was a will, there was a way..and when you have a cause, you can achieve what others deem impossible..and with an unshakable belief in our music and strict discipline, we achieved that first goal, despite all the obstacles laid before us.
The first single..’Beasts’ established a strong grass roots fan base in the UK to begin with.. Live show..I would say the first biggest turning point was the Futurama Festival in Leeds. It was a major event and exposed us to a lot of people and the UK’s music press. By the time the first album..’Song and Legend’ came out, I suppose one could say that the band had truly arrived. It got heavy press coverage in the UK..a lot of it outraged and derogatory.. even personally insulting..they just didn’t get it…but I was smiling!
Nattsol: There’s the article by Vince Corkadel in the re-release of ‘Blind!’ by Cherry Red Records, where he wrote that the director of the label suggested you to release it as ‘Andi Sex Gang’ album. But he didn’t explain what the reasons of this suggestion were.
ASG: I’d just had a major line up change in the band.. the head of Illuminated Records suggestion to release Blind as an ASG album was.. accordingly.. based upon it’s musical content and my standing in the eyes of the music community at the time. In retrospect, I think other reasons and influences were at hand..as that CEO had a strong working and personal relationship with one of my original band members..so..music politics perhaps..but that guy would never have admitted it to my face.. and I will never know the whole truth on that one.
Nattsol: The next few questions will be about the ‘Dirty Roseanne’ project. Tell me please, how this project was born.
ASG: I met Piero Balleggi in Bologna (Italy) in the mid ’80s. One evening I heard him playing something beautiful on the piano..we just took it from there really.
Nattsol: There was released just one EP, and the demo stayed unreleased. Do you have a plan to release this demo? Are there some more unknown recordings?
ASG: Actually..the demo version of Ghost Of Tomorrow was released on my collections album..’Perception In The Heart Of Darkness’. Piero and I talked recently about getting the ‘Ghost Of Tomorrow’ vinyl EP released on cd..there are one or two other demo tracks which we would also include.
Nattsol: Why the project was ‘frozen’? Is that possible to see a new birth of the ‘Dirty Roseanne’?
ASG: We both had other projects to continue with..however, if you check the Dirty Roseanne myspace site..then you’ll see that we have already started recording new material (Death Mask Mussolini and Boom Boom Boys) in Morphing Studios, Bologna.. two weeks ago. As for the rest of the album..well I am back in London now to re-mix some of the tracks from the new band album..then I have to return to Berlin to finish off the new solo album ‘The Devil’s Cabaret’ with Ragnar, who worked with me on Inventing New Destruction.
Nattsol: There were done three video clips in the period from 1988 to 1991. You said in recent interview to Nick Drivas that you didn’t have too much money for that period. So how had it happen that those videos were done in such professional way? And why these three videos stayed the only ‘official’ video clips during the whole your musical career?
ASG: Imagination, focus and an eye for a good shot. I also happened to work with young artistic film directors who were sympathetic to my music and cause and believed in my vision, rather than ‘pop video guns for hire’, so they were absolutely brilliant at making a small budget go a long way. Peter Webber who directed the ’7 Ways To Kill A Man’ video, went on to make ‘Girl With a Pearl Earring’ and ‘Hannibal Rising’..these guys were deadly serious about film making! There were other videos made before..but the masters for those went missing a long time ago…and somewhere out there..is a rather good video of the first SGC single, Beasts.
Nattsol: One more question about videos. There’re two rather famous Sex Gang Children videos of ‘Sebastiane’ and ‘Oh funny man’ by ‘Riverside’. But they’re not mentioned in any official sources. Can you tell me their history? How and when were they shot? What’s the line-up there? Etc….
ASG: It was a music and culture T.V. show called Riverside, filmed in late 1982 or early 83..but you know I think that info is out there on the internet somewhere. The line-up?.. Nigel Preston on drums..Terry Macleay on guitar..Dave Roberts on bass and Ginni Hewes on violin.
Nattsol: Now I’d love to ask you about the spoken word album ‘God on a Rope’. The chaotic labyrinth of visions where Genet’s hero layers on militaristic delicacy, history mixes with fiction and slang words combine with old fashioned. But these visions draw beautiful, but frightening picture. I’d never ask for explanation of Art, but I’d love to ask about the destinies of these poems. I won’t ask what are they about, but I want to ask, what they are.
ASG: I can’t really answer that question! It just came out of my Soul via my head..like everything else in me! The explanation is not important..that it can draw you in to the world it has created..is!
Nattsol: My next question is about your and Mick Rossi’s dedication ‘to the memory and spirit of Mick Ronson’, the album ‘Gabriel and Golden Horn’. What can you tell me about your work with Mick and about the history of the album’s creation?
ASG: Which ‘Mick’ do you mean? I presume Mick Ronson..not Rossi..right? Well, Ronson was one of the most talented and heart felt musicians I have ever worked with. That man had such a great feel for music, and would interpret that complex and multi dimensional language with such ease and simplicity. Awesome!
Rossi had also worked with Ronson in his musical past, and was living in Hollywood as was I. We had been introduced to each other back in London, so we decided to do an album together and dedicate it to the great man.
Nattsol: Now I want to ask you about your relations with ‘Dressed to Kill’. Could you make clear, what was the history with ‘Medea’ and ‘The Wrath of God’?
ASG: I signed a license deal with that company for several of my older albums, which had previously been unreleased in the UK, and some new ones. Wrath Of God was done as a side project of mine..’Barbarossa’, where I basically played just about everything myself..but the company released it as a SGC album.. without my knowledge! They turned out to be an unscrupulous label..changing the original covers of my re-issued albums without my knowledge or permission..and owing lots of monies on royalties..enough said. As for Medea. that was originally released in the USA..1993.. through Cleopatra Records, I just licensed it here in the UK to Dressed To Kill. That particular album was started in London, and finished off in Los Angeles.
Nattsol: Except your own projects which are mentioned in ASG and SGC discographies, you collaborated with many people, and some of your collaborations are not mentioned in your discography. So could you call some bands/songs where you took a part? And what were those collaborations for you?
ASG: In the early ’80s I produced singles for UK bands Sunglasses After Dark and Ausgang..and over the years collaberated with various people.. Tony James, Marc Almond, Lucas Lanthier (Cinema Strange/Dead Fly Ensemble)..and guested on various bands cds, The Cold, My Own Gravity, plus some film and documentary pieces I was asked to do music for, my favourite of those was Dario Argento’s ‘Phenomena’.
I do what feels right at the time and in my own way.
Nattsol: One more question about video then. The ‘Live at Ocean’ DVD has very strange destiny. The stuff was shot in 2002, the DVD was done in 2005 and was out only in Dec of 2007. In spite of wonderful sound, the camera jumps and mostly we can see only pieces of bodies. So what is its worth for you? Tell me its history.
ASG: Personally I think it has a good raw and tense feel to it ..but you should really ask Vince Corkadel any questions you might have about that dvd.. it’s his baby.
Nattsol: You founded recently ‘Song&Legend’ web label. You explained the reasons of its creation. But what were the reasons to upload the 128 quality mp3s? Does the label mean that there won’t be any more real pressed CDs of Andi Sex Gang projects?
ASG: More indepence and an extra outlet for the many pieces I have..old and new. I will still release material on cd..but the online label offers another choice.
Nattsol: Is ‘Song&Legend’ the label only for Andi Sex Gang projects, or there’s a plan to involve other musicians? And can you tell me what other release should be expected from the label?
ASG: For now it stays solely for all things Sex Gang, but in future..who knows. Vince Corkadel (label manager) and I have plans to release further ASG and SGC material, old and new.
Nattsol: You mentioned in an interview that your next album ‘Viva Vigilante’ was underway. So when should we wait for it? And what will it be in comparison with two previous works?
ASG: Almost finished mixing that album. It will be out a little later this year. This album has a different flavour from the last two, as it has the whole band on most of it….mind you, I would say that the last two albums were also quite different to each other..for sure.
Nattsol: And what will be the name of your new solo work? ‘The Devil’s Cabaret’ or Viva Vigilante’? Or these are two different albums?
ASG: ‘The Devil’s Cabaret’ is the title of the new album I am presently working on with Ragnar in Berlin. ‘Viva Vigilante!’ is the title for the new Band album.
Nattsol: So correct me if I’m wrong, but your fans can see now or expect in the nearest future the new SGC EP, the new Dirty Roseanne album, two your new solo albums, the biographical DVD and the biographical book? Right?
ASG: Yes, the new SGC ep is available on songandlegend.com
There is a documentary dvd coming soon..titled ‘Bastard Art’.
Piero and I are working on the new Dirty Roseanne album..plus I will go back to Berlin soon to finish recordind my new solo album ‘The Devil’s Cabaret’ with Ragnar, who worked on ‘Inventing New Destruction’
I am mixing the new band album here in London..titled..’Viva Vigilante!’..plus am working on new songs also.
Nattsol: You had a show on the Batcave’s 25th birthday. Was there something that reminded the beginning, or it was the contemporary show without any nostalgia? Did you feel Sex Gang Children a part of Batcave (not only the club)?
ASG: No..it wasn’t really nostalgia as such..but we wanted to help highlite and help remind people how important that club had been for many musicians who used to frequent it back in the early 80′s..when it had fast become an oasis of good music and interesting people. We knew the 25th anniversary show would be a glamourous Arthouse event..it always had been. However..SGC had never used the club as a launch pad. The club kind of took off a bit later when The Batcave was picked up on by the media..and quite rightly so..but bands like SGC..Virgin Prunes and Southern Death Cult had stood on their own..and came from nowhere..relying only on the strength of their music, sound and vision.
Nattsol: How can you introduce or characterize your music in few words?
ASG: Bastard Art! ..but names alone are not important..the true validity of all Art is how effective it is as a mirror in reflective the world around it.
Nattsol: What aspects of Art except music and poetry are you involved in? And who are you apart from Art?
ASG: I still paint sometimes..especially when I’m in Berlin. I used to paint when I was a child. It was my first chosen medium of expression. Outside of my Art .. I’m just a man filled with English charm..Greek resolve..and a terrible Irish temper.
Nattsol: There’re the words in your last solo album ‘Forever happy in the face of deformity’. So what is beauty and what is deformity for you?
ASG: Beauty is natural… Deformity is manipulated.
Nattsol: You mentioned your opinion about church and other institutions. But what can you say about God(s) apart from it? You used this word (God) in many lyrics, but I suppose that were just different visions designated as God, and they were always different. So is that something real or it was image?
ASG: God is a colour..a well known shade that is heavily present in the tapestry of most people’s lives..and just as with my paintings..I use words and music as colours and highlights, in order to create light and shade..and let’s face it..whether we like it or not, God is a dominating colour in most people’s lives.
Nattsol: Well, I can’t ignore the next question, partly because of being Russian. You mentioned Russia in several songs, like ‘And now the Russians are happy, white with happiness, they shall have photos wherever they go’ (‘Heartless Harvey’), you said ‘Russian test a stern defence’ (‘Black Widow Trail’). So what do you think about Russia? These quotes don’t seem too flattering for this country.
ASG: ..Then you have misunderstood those words Sir.
Nattsol: Huge thanks for your answers. And the final words are yours.
ASG: Be a warrior..not a slave!
Questions: Pall ‘Nattsol’ Zarutskiy
‘Grave Jibes Fanzine’
