VOT - So what’s been going on as of late the last I heard of you was of the ULTRAVIOLENCE Psycho Drama” CD and of your ?
JOHNNY VIOLENT - I’m doing another ULTRAVIOLENCE album at the moment. I have five and a half tracks at the moment.

VOT - Is this going to be a theme going on, just like in Psycho Drama?
J.V. - Less so. There are common themes in it but it’s not really a concept album like Psycho Drama was. It’s called Killing Gods, and it’s about various ways that people protect their existence. It’s using God figuratively as opposed to a literal figure.

VOT - Since Psycho Drama have you done any touring or shows for it?
J.V. - I toured Britain with MOBY at the end of last year and in Jan of this year I toured Germany with TEMPER TANTRUM and DELTA9 from Industrial Strength Records, we did a couple of dates in Britain as well. Then in Feb I toured with THE EXPLOITED, that was quite different.

VOT - Yeah, I was just wondering how that came about.
J.V. - It turned out that Wattie, the singer of the band goes to a lot of Raves in Notterdam and Amsterdam in Holland, and he didn’t want a stright forward Punk tour, he wanted a different type of music for the support band. It was pretty cool touring with them cus I grew up listening to their , I’ll probably remix one of their old tracks, should be quite interesting.

VOT - On your touring, how do you accomplish this, is it a one man thing or are there session musicians?
J.V. -I don't bring musicians, I tend to have performance artists, most of the time I have a guy doing metal grinding that has sparks flying everywhere and someone doing lights, you know, something that’s in your face and pretty aggressive. It use to be sort of a one man thing but I found it better to have other people around to make it more of a show these days. I use to like to do it on my own cus it was quite confrontational, but I got bored with that after awhile. I'll be touring in Britian to support the new album and I'll probably get more people on stage, but I don't want to get more musicians, becasue I kind of like the music how it is cus I don't like people putting in any extra expression into it. Electronic music should always be should always be on time.

VOT - On time and singular, to the person who is doing it.
J.V. -Yeah, and I like working on my own anyway, so I suppose I'd be lying to people if I had other people 'twanging' all over or something!

VOT - Yeah, that's what I noticed in the Shocker and Psycho Drama CD's, that you put a lot of emotions into them, wether it be the love, the anger, the hatred, mainly with the lyrics. Especially in Psycho Drama, the concept of it. 
J.V.- I thionk Psychodrama is still my best work. Shocker I didn't get emotionally involved with it, I just had fun with it, which  is why we put it out under a different name.
 
VOT -Yes, to ump back for the readers out there, what is the difference between ULTRAVIOLENCE and JOHNNY VIOLENT music?
J.V.- I'd say the JOHNNY VIOLENT material is more humerous and the style of music is more with the Hardcore sound that's going on in Holland and to a certain extend Germany. And the Industrial scene that's going on in New York. The ULTRAVIOLENCE is a more variety of styles in music. With ULTRAVIOLENCE I usually think of a concept first and then do the music, and with JOHNNY VIOLENT  is doing music just for the sake of it, for fun. JOHNNY VIOLENT is for fun and ULTRAVIOLENCE is for cathartic emotionalism.

VOT - On Psychodrama, how long did you spend on the script?
J.V.-While I was finishing off my first album, Life Of Destructor, I sort of had the idea around the Summer of 94. I was chatting with people who had experiences that I could use in the album. And then I carried on the story in my mind without doing any music or writing any music down until Nov. of that year. Then I got down to finally writing that script. Then I got the actors in to read it and the singers, that took up till March, and then it took another five months to produce it and put it all together.

VOT- How did you get into the whole computer realm of music and stuff?
J.V.- It's nothing elaborate, I really didn't have any aspiration to be a musician. I wasn't intirested in music, part that of Punk and Metal, until I was 16. For fun I bought a music software program for my computer and I enjoyed playing around with that. After that I bought a synthesiser then bought a computer to ru the systhesiser and it kept building from that until 1991. Then I went into studio with all my little samples and made a record for about 100Pounds ($150 US) called Shout. That did quite well and so I got signed to a big major record label over here. They wanted me to comprimise my music  so they got rid of me and I ended up with Earache.

VOT- Yeah that other label didn't care for the heavier stuff, they wanted a more commercial feel.
J.V. - Yeah, I really didn't want to do that. I took the money that they gave me and bought my own studio so I could record at home. The money would have been nice there but artistically I think iit's a lot better being on Earache. They've been supportive to my music and show respect.

VOT - So it's been pretty positive with Earache so far!
J.V. - Yeah, I just stay home, write and do all my music, then I take it to them when its finished and they seem really pleased with it.

VOT - Ok, lets get to the last release from both bands, ULTRAVIOLENCE and JOHNNY VIOLENT. What's the response been to them?
J.V.-The people over here in Europe seem to find the JOHNNY VIOLENT stuff more easier to understand, because a lot of people don't understand the Hardcore Techno anyway. In 1995, with Psycho Drama, the ULTRAVIOLENCE we tried to take it a step further,  to make it more pain full and about emotional issues, as with JOHNNY VIOLENT people find that more easier to understand cus its straight forward and with a sense of humor.

VOT- On Psycho Drama I found it very interesting with the music and the concept, and how it was all visual inside your head...
J.V.-Yeah, that was the whole idea behind it. It's really pleasing when people understand it, cus it took me so long to do it. So I hope more people in the future will listen to it and be able to understand it.

VOT - You mentioned earlier a bit on the Life Of Destructor, there seems to be a concept there in one of the songs off of Shocker called "Destructor Lives."
J.V.-Yeah, that was sort of a concept about a robot that dies and I decided to resurrect the character, which I kind of that would be funny.

VOT-Looking into the music and lyrics, it seems that you have a fasination with destruction, war, annihilation. You seem to feed off the ignorance and selfess abuse of humanity to make your music.
J.V.-That's something that really attracts me. The way the people in Western civilizations don't have any contact with it, perceive it. Basically how people perceive war, cruelty, and such are forms of entertainment on the television. That form of cruelty, war, and death are reduced to that base level. I don't think the masses of people understand that that's what I'm saying, I just want people to enjoy my music.

VOT- I see two types of people that would enjoy your music, those that just listen for the music, and those that listen for deeper meanings, for lyrical content. I liked how, on Shocker, you wrote a brief description of what the songs are about and it gives more feel to what their about.
J.V. - I think that's the type of idea behind Techno, to have each track about something, besides banging away for no reason.

VOT-Earler you mentioned about working on the next ULTRAVIOLENCE CD, exactly is when there a tentative date for that to come out?
J.V.-I hpefully going to finish it in a month or two and have it out around Aug.or Sept. I haven't been hurring it, I've been taking it quite slow.

VOT- I heard in the past you did remixes for a couple of bands, you still do that right?
J.V.-Yeah, I just finished one for a band called LEECHWOMAN, their on Invisible Records, in Chicago. I did a mix for them.

VOT - What are your feelings on religion?
J.V.-I'm not religious. I think it's a bit of a ridiculous notion of a divine being. But the danger is that without religion people look to other things. Without religion it's very easy for people to find there own Gods/Devils to exist in the real world. But I mean religion has been quite dangerous as well, a lot of hatred with that. I just think people seem to have something missing in their lives and they need something to fill the gap, and most people choose religion. I would consider myself an atheist.

VOT -Besides working on the next album for ULTRAVIOLENCE, what's next for you?
J.V.-I really have to finish that before anything else. But then it would be more tours, I have no specific plans. I might do another JOHNNY VIOLENT album before the end of the year.

VOT - Well, I have to cut this short, I just wanted to ask a few questions cus I enjoy your music and stuff. Is there anything else you'd like to mention?
J.V.-I have a joke for you.

VOT-Ok.
J.V.-It's set after War World III.

VOT-OK
J.V.- It goes - Knock, Knock!

VOT-Who's there?
(Silence)

VOT-Exactly! There's nobody there!
J.V.-I think that just about covers it.

VOT-Thanks very much for this interview.
J.V.-Thank you.

Go to http://www.earache.com/ultravio.html for more info on Johnny Violent.

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Top Logo and Photo from Earache records
Both Album Covers scanned by me
Bottom Photo from Earach Records, scaned by me