They've been around for eleven or so years now, still KMFDM is going strong and getting
better with each new endeavor.
They are Sascha Konietzko (vocals, percussion, programming, bass), En Esch (vocals,
guitar, percussion), Gunter Schulz (guitar, bass),
Mark Durantula (guitar, steel guitar) and Raymond Watts (vocals, bass) and they are
definitely doing something right. They pride
themselves upon the inability of their friends and critics to label their creations. It's
kind of dance, kind of industrial, kind of heavy metal,
sort of hard rock with maybe some alternative tendencies. You have to hear them to even
attempt to figure out what the hell they are
made of.
Their latest album, Nihil, gives fans every ounce of what the last record, Angst, forgot
to. Last Friday, Sascha had the chance to chat
with the Inferno. He talked about his feelings on the new release, "I love Nihil, of
course. I like it better than Angst for sure," Sascha
said.
That will probably be the case with most people who listen to both of the discs, each is
brilliant in its own way, still, Nihil goes further
and deeper into the masterminds of KMFDM and spits out substances that leave listeners
begging for more.
Just now have KMFDM begun to enter the realm of the corporate created
"alternaworld." Just now is their music being recognized as it
full well should. Sascha explains, thouroughly, that this increased popularity is
"not a concern of ours. We're not shooting for the big
times success, a la Nine Inch Nails. We don't want to be part of this music industry
circus." They aren't the first to claim they don't care
about fame, fortune and the big bucks and certainly they aren't the last. Still, for some
reason you
want to believe them. Look at their loyalty to Wax Trax records, for instance.
"We stayed with Wax Trax throughout the whole bankruptcy. You just value your work,
you get reluctant about easily compromising
yourself for the mighty dollar." Sascha said.
He has a way of convincing you that KMFDM is genuinely in this biz to make good music and
not necessarily to make big bucks. An
attitude which is ever so rare these days.
Nihil isn't the only project that KMFDM has been working on. Sascha has helped other up
and coming bands with endeavors, giving
them the benefit of his seasoned technological genius. He aided both the Young Gods and
Dink on their last efforts. Sascha has also been
associated with bands such as Front 242, White Zombie, Megadeth, Living Colour, Die
Warzau, My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult,
Sister Machine Gun and many others.
So what is the criteria for sharing the genius with other bands? "When people
approach me to do mixes, I go by my gut feeling," Sascha
said. " If I hate the stuff and they offer me a lot of money, I still won't do it.
I'd rather not, again, it's the mighty dollar." Sascha said.
The band can also be found on the soundtrack for "Hideaway". They agreed to
appear before they really had a chance to check the flick
out. Sascha had a slight problem with the film, though. "Had I known that before, we
certainly would not have done it. Apparently that's
not our audience, so we don't even care."
Chicago is where Sascha has just relocated to, from Seattle. He did this because Seattle
just wasn't cutting it from him. "I couldn't stand
it in Seattle, it was too boring. I need a creative community thing happening,"
Sascha said "[In Chicago] You can call someone up,
brainstorm and meet in half an hour. There was one studio in the city [Seattle] I could
use. In Chicago I have
a choice. This was just not happening out there."
KMFDM doesn't need to worry about becoming obsolete, they have a pretty decent following,
to put it lightly. "We have a dedicated,
loyal, broadminded, educated following and that's something I'm happy about," Sascha
said. "It's more than just brain moshers. We
really value our support." The fans should really check out Nihil, so should the
daring and open minded.