Interviewed by Hell
Xorcist is very big here on brazil. would
you play here? tell us a little about the places you have already
played.
I would love to play in Brazil if I could find the means to make
it there. My biggest fan base is from Brazil. This is probably
because of the exposure through Cru Di Chat which has put a few
Xorcist songs out on their compilations.
Some
time ago, in '93, Xorcist was one of the biggest and most known
electro bands here on Brazil. Interviews for good zines, lots of
CDs sold on import stores, and even a track on the "Absolute
Control Compilation". Did you know that? How did it affect
you? How did your contact with brazil begin?
It's so long ago but I somehow got in touch with the Cru Di Chat
label who wanted to release Xorcist on one of their compilations.
After talking with them, I realized that they were pretty damn
cool - I started to talk to other musicians in the scene there
and realized that music in Brazil is
much more 'from the heart of the artist' rather then just
somebody making music for profit which is unfortunately, so
common here in the states.
I know you have a
lot of activities in the scene, besides Xorcist, such as The
House of Usher. Tell us a bit more about them.
House Of Usher was a nightclub I ran along with my friends Shawni
and X from Malign and Don Blanchard from 21st Circuitry Records.
It was one of the largest gothic/industrial nightclubs probably
in the world while it was around. At one time we were three
stories of a very large building yet we were never smaller then
two very large rooms.
Unfortunately,
in 1995 we had to close due to the laws in San Francisco
regarding clubs becomming stricter. The age limits went from 18
and over the 21 and over and that made it too hard for us to
continue with our clientelle being 50% under 21.
I also run The CyberDen, once the largest FirstClass BBS of it's
kind, now an Internet web site: (http://www.cyberden.com/). It's a site dedicated to the helping
bands and artists in the scene with various resources plus it
helps the fans find new releases from labels such as Cleopatra,
21st Circuitry and some bands directly by providing online sound
previews off of their releases plus the ability to order them
online.
I've also done CD-ROM sound work. I've done the music and sound
effects for The Iron Helix and Bad Mojo. I'm now starting on a
new project, Space Bunnies Must Die.
I know a lot o
people should have asked you that, but why did you cover
"Smells like teen Spirit"?
I was sitting at home one day thinking about covering a song for
some reason. I wasn't too sure why. At the time, the biggest song
that had a cool enough title was "Smells like teen
spirit". While I wasn't even serious about it, I thought it
would be funny to do.
A week
goes by and out of the blue, a few people mention to me that I
should cover "Smells" for the hell of it. I basically
just shrugged it off.
Another week goes by and Chase from Re-Constriction calls me
telling me he's putting out a compilation of covers called
"Shut Up Kitty" and he wants Xorcist on it. Oddly
enough, HE suggests the song "Smells Like Teen Spirit".
Well, obviously I was meant to cover this song... so I did.
Why did you choose
the name "Xorcist"? 
Xorcist was chosen for the basic meaning of the need to
"exorcise" various demons through the music. Since our
world today is much more perverted in many ways, I wanted to
stress that the music Xorcist was writing was to exorcise those
things that would conceivably get an "X" rating in our
society, be it sex, violence, extremely disturbing situations,
etc. Therefore, I dropped the E and kept it as Xorcist. Music for
exorcising our deepest fears.
Talk a little about
"Scorched Blood", your new release.
It is now the second latest release. Soul Reflection is our
latest and it contains the song "Scorched Blood" along
with CD-ROM data which includes two videos in Quicktime format.
The entire CD-ROM is html based so your basic web browser will
read it.
Both Scorched Blood and Soul Reflection are another step in the
evolution of Xorcist and what we believe are important points to
think about on earth at the moment.
From "Damned Souls" to
"Scorched Blood": What do you think that changed in
xorcist sound?
Equipment changes along with emotional life changes effect the
sound of Xorcist.
A big problem for electro bands
are the live shows. How are yours?
Well, from what we've been told after our National tour through
the US and Canada, our 
show is the most busy show for a 2 man
band around. I incorporate large screen video projections, live
keyboards, live drum pads and my odd guitar-like midi control
called the Rhythm Stick (no longer made). You can see pictures of
it on the Xorcist web site: (http://www.cyberden.com/xorcist).
Between the two of us, we're always playing something. It's a
pretty energetic show.
You say Xorcist is
"CyberDustrial". Anyway, it may be filed under
"EBM". In my opinion, there are just a little few EBM
bands making something good at these times. The rest just repeats
ad nauseum the old Skinny Puppy and Front242 cliches. What do you
think of that? Which electro bands are still making good things?
Yes, there are a lot of bands that sound like each other - it's a
simple process of elimination. Some people don't understand where
music comes from, only what it represents on the immediate plane
- clubs, smoke, sex, drugs, etc. - perhaps they feel it's the
only way that they can experience these things. It's pretty sad.
Over the years, bands that I've heard sound as if they're
definately on their own track have been the likes of Mentallo and
the Fixer, Psychopomps, Soma/Snog, NAP, Scar Tissue, Gridlock,
Malign, and some others that I'm sure I'm missing.
You should listen to a lot of new bands.
Would you tell us one or two new bands that you think are really
great?
Personally, some of the stuff I like that's "new" per
se may not necessarily be in the scene. I actually don't get a
lot of time to listen to a lot of new stuff believe it or not.
What I have really liked lately
has been the new Soma stuff, the newest Paul Hasslinger (World
Without Rules), and perhaps some of the harder Autechre.
What do you think about the
techno fever? do you like it? What do you think will be the
future of the electronic music?
Techno is slowly morphing into this big ball that industrial,
gothic and alternative music is morphing into - I think things
will become pretty diverse over the next few years yet it will
then sound all the same - until something new happens which will
be pretty diverse... don't know exactly what that will sound like
though...
Thanx a lot!!! Any message to your
brazilian fans? We are waiting for you!!!
Thanks for all your support and mail. We would love to tour down
there during a period when it is possible. Perhaps if there were
enough venues that showed interest, we could look into it - feel
free to contact us via email or regular mail.
Bat
bat@cyberden.com
po box 150465
san rafael, CA 94915
Thanks again!
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