Interview with Peter Christopherson (Coil) – Part 1/2

you have the same chance to stay with you another world I think we would them the main thing would be that to make the initial spread of contact with people and nowadays the Internet is so much a part of everyone's life that it's possible to if you're if you're a little bit persistent I think it's possible to get your name spread around a bit it's hard but it's meanest coil have a big advantage that we have been going for such a long time and we have fans all over the world you know who who follow what we do and who check out internet sites that are based on our work so it's obviously easier for us than for someone starting but I think it is possible now for someone who for someone who has ideas and who has vision and that kind of a passion for what they do to to be successful as far as oil is successful without any connection whatsoever with the music industry the music industry is a it's a dinosaur you know and it's it should have been buried many years ago this is very different in terms of you know there's so many so many people were making music in the kind of in the experimental music films as well you know everything's saturated because it's so easy to do now you know it's easy to get equipment and record master your music at home you know we're kind of alternative experimental sections maybe 10 years ago may have only been you know maybe like 20 30 different artists now there's a hundred yeah but it's I still think that it's possible to you know if you if you exercise editorial control and and imagination I think it's possible to do something that's good and different the market is saturated but do you work your music for tea market no idea I don't think you do I think you should just do your music totally for yourself but part of doing it for yourself is doing something that you know that that that I myself would like to hear and in a way that's dependent on other records that I've already heard I mean you know if I've heard all of the Autechre releases then the things I would like to hear now for myself may be influenced by that so it's influenced in a way by the market for example but I don't think you can make music because you want to sound like a particular thing or you want to copy a particular thing or you want to try and find a particular niche you have to do it comes from the heart begins or projects like called are summarized in the pop market even if it's not the center of this yeah you know it it's difficult to to find the gem rather because there is no genre you know and there is in the past pop music you know like in the 60s pop music served a very particular it was a voice of a kind of a you know the generation of rebellion and change and since then it's become corrupted and destroyed so you know the people like us what we do is artistic and I think what we do is you know emotional and passionate and spiritual if you like but it doesn't appeal it's not directed at an art gallery market and it's also not directed particularly you know at you know kids who it's just directed into the public into the air and anybody anybody is able to pick it up and to fine if they want to God is in a way provoking and maybe it's just provoking because it's reflecting so many people are hurt I think they didn't want to see you did not realize maybe I think I think if you're creating from the heart then you know some then there's gonna be a truce even if it's your truth and some sometimes that hurts yeah I'm just trying to generate something that is uncontrived it's a more intuitive it's not kind of there to be provocative it's just there to be truthful to yourself and if people can react with that and relate to that then you're doing something good it's important to us that we deal with issues that have meaning for us and so sometimes those issues are you know the ones that are serious or deep or dark you know but darkness is that doesn't necessarily mean anything bad you know the people people who like coil like coil because they know that we're talking the truth that we're telling the truth and we're speaking about things that are important for us and often those things are important for our audience as well you know it's if you just make someone's about you know love and it's not very interesting I think a lot of artists would wink or let's call it strange well I'm not very good at discussing it the hour singing at John balances as a person he discusses it usually but I think he's he's past the point of discussion right now and I don't mind talking about it but it is quite often in interviews especially with the kind of student newspapers and magazines and stuff people start asking questions about the meaning of life and philosophy and things like that and it's kind of difficult to to know how to answer those questions because the people have to find that stuff out for themselves and there are a lot of things about Coyle that really have to be discovered individually by the listener you know at home in the dark with a CD or a DVD or whatever needs listeners response is going to vary you know you can't control how someone's going to react to what you do you know we have our own personal way of relating to what we do and you can't expect other people to to react to it in the same way they might get something completely different from a few artists were these symbols a lot of different signals and most of them don't want to explain what it is but some of these artwork is audience mm-hm and for me interesting was that for example doesn't sure I don't know believe me mister God but it was forbidden for him to go on stage in Germany so who did the mistake he didn't want to explain anything he didn't want to say I'm no Nazi III mean I don't particularly want to start talking about death in June because I am NOT a great fan of their music or of them personally but some people you know think they're okay and we they used to be on the same distribution company as us but they're no longer not at all I wouldn't be interested to know for him I think people people especially people in the media get confused between the the use of a symbol and its meaning and they like for example it's okay normally for people that you know they say that it's okay for people to refer to the World Trade Center you know attack in an in a news item but it's not okay to refer to it in a song but that to me that makes no sense you know it's if if you're going to write songs about things are important you need to have access to the same images or symbols or ideas so that you can comment on them and it doesn't necessarily mean approval or disapproval anybody that knows coils work will know that we are quite political people and we have very strong views about you know behavior that's you know positive and life-affirming and does good things in the world and and different kinds of behavior that encourages you know hate and of particular sections whether it's gay people or Americans or Germans or any other kind of you know denomination of people we Coyle are very have a very positive and life-affirming and and loving if you like standpoint towards nature and the planet and to our fellow animals now other groups you know think that it's a good idea or think that it's clever to associate with so-called fascist imagery and to me they don't see the harm that they do by encouraging and to encourage that kind of behavior does that make sense I don't know if that's if that's clear I think you know people if somebody if a band uses like Nazi imagery for example and doesn't qualify or doesn't explain the fact you know what what they mean or what what behavior or what beliefs they're encouraging then they must expect people to be angry about it but they don't get upset if people get angry now you know we we would always want people to be responsible for them their own actions and their own activities and so it's you know we you just have to be careful and you have to explain what it is you mean I think you do because if people accidentally well if people accidentally miss miss understand what you're doing and use that as an excuse for for hate crimes or something then certainly you need to explain or you need to be responsible make sure people understand what it is that you're meaning Marilyn Manson Rammstein little it depends what your intentions are if your intention is just to literally shocked and upset people you know to some extent though both Rammstein and Marilyn Manson are kind of cartoon characters you know and I don't think that an intelligent listener or vo would take them but seriously but many people in America are not sittin seemingly intelligent enough to be able to distinguish between real Satan and somebody you know in a thong and to me that's you know it's disappointing that Americans shouldn't be able to just make that distinction but but that's kind of their problem if I you know and Marilyn is very adept and very intelligent guy and his it's clever enough to to you know manipulate the press for his own you know commercial interests I have a lot of respect for the guy I personally wouldn't want to do it that way but that but you know he knows what he's doing you're talking about the patient's chance to change society I think there probably isn't a chance but you still have to fight you know to do so because this is like this is a philosophy question I don't know if the you know if in one way I'm pessimistic about the future of the world about the future of of the human part of the world but at the same time I feel that you always have to try and make things better because it's your responsibility so you know that we have many influences or heroes or you know people who influenced us when we were teenagers like William Burroughs or Brion Gysin jeonju or know these kind of people and they made my life much better when I was 11 12 13 14 years old because I was able to read those books or hear their their words and I and I understand that what I was going through was not you know unique to me it was a common experience that I shared with these creative people that made that changed my life and as a creative person I feel it's my responsibility to do that or provide that possibility for others and the more people that do that you know the more the actual quality of life for everyone will improve I hope that sounds pretentious but not but it's that you know that's what that's what the important thing about being a creative person

Channel: Sevores

Views: 50,784

Rating: 4.9350181 out of 5

Keywords: peter, christopherson, coil, interview, 2002

Id: YbscWq0W66g

Length: 14min 57sec (897 seconds)

Published: Thu Aug 12 2010

Reddit Comments

[u/illspitony0urgrave]

Mentor?