VIRB

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Interview - Ritual magazine
sept. 2005

R: Socialist Realism contains an inherent contradiction: the task of this movement, born during the Stalinism, was to spread the concepts of the spirit of the common working classes, the folk soul and the ideal of practicality. But like every form of art controlled by a government, it forbad the writers to go away from the standard models, under pain of repression and censorship. You proclaim yourself as spreader of this form of art in the industrial music. The irony lies in the fact that you are
actually breaking the rules, thanks to your industrial rhythmic noise which is fresh, dynamic and inclined to explore many soundscapes, from industrial destruction filled with epic harmonies and melancholic pads, to patriotic hymns to crunchy deep techno. Can we consider that a kind of
provocation? Or is it an ironic answer to those who take themselves too seriously? Or both
of them?

S: Art is always a mirror of the society in which it is created. Censored or not doesn't play a part. With the socialist realism this reflection becomes rather even clearer by the censorship. We like what the socialist realism expresses. The strength, the confidence, joy at the achieved, the trust in own abilities, of the common people, the masses. These are things which we might allow to flow in onto our music. So we don't breaking rules, we create our own. If we provoke with it, is it only right to us.

R: Also your graphic image shows clearly your link to a particular imagery/historical period. How can be linked to industrial music?

S: We have grown up in a region which was a Russian occupied zone till 1991 (GDR). There you come necessarily with Russian history and culture in contact. I think the atmosphere which goes out from Russia, is very strong, archaic, rough. This endless width of the land and the circumstances under those the people live there (nothing has to act with the political background of the land). If somebody asked me which land I would associate with Industrial-music, it would be definitively Russia, because of the sum of history, culture and mentality.

R: ´The Revoultion Of The Pigs´ is a clear hint to George Orwell´s "Animal Farm", which refers to the Russian Revolution in 1917, and where we can find a link to the contemporary history: the war against terrorism led by the US, the samples of George Bush and Blair, who are depicted as tyrants
"supplier of terrorism" and "fucking liar". I think your special Socialist Realism wants to be a
"political aggression" to this corrupted system through music, not too serious because
of the irony which lies in politic matters. Can you tell us about this?

S: I think you mean also the "Center Of Evil" track. We want to remind people about who profits from the combat in the Near East and who plays the truly "evil" part in the chess game around the last oil
resources. Thats why we chose those samples and those titles. A massive Danger goes out from the global Americanization, we may not forget this. Its so expansionistic and aggressive and there is no freedom or democracy in the political structure of the U.S..

R: As "activists", do you have a mission to carry out with S.K.E.T. ?

S: An "aktivist" is a person who does everything in their power to make life easier in a society without looking for personal profit. That's our definition of modern human being. And we try to live like an aktivist.

R: Your nicknames are UNIT-298-09 and UNIT-299-09, a kind of dehumanization. Do you mean you are part of a system or can we consider this choice as a glorification of technology? Do you think technology can be the "weapon" of the new working classes to face the oppression?

S: We are only a part of a whole. Together with our instruments we form a unity, therefore, the unit-names. We are the less rational part of this unity which brings feelings, dreams and images into the "s.k.e.t.- sound". Of course we also take influence in what the other, "not human" units does. We, unit299_09 and unit298_09, form the head of the creature called S.K.E.T.

R: From Rostock to the court of HANDS, from the sounds of shipyards to live gigs with Winterkälte and festivals like Maschinenfest: was it a tortuous path?

S: Yes, and a long one. We started to make music in 1993/ 94 so it took ten years to the contract with HANDS. We needed this time to develop a good product. HANDS was also our first choice for a contract, we like the concept of HANDS and the way as Nikola and Udo lead the label. However, it was rather a chance as it has come to the contract with Hands. That happened finally through Leif from mono no aware. He had found our websites and he liked our sound. He wrote us an e-mail and we sent him some promo-material. So Leif gave it to Udo from HANDS. That's the whole story, not very romantic. Joining HANDS was the best thing that ever happened to us. We have always liked the sound and the artwork that HANDS puts out. And we are quite proud that our sound persuaded the HANDS team.

R: I was totally hypnotized during your live show in Altenburg, at Elektoanschlag 06, where I was assailed by a deep energy. Unlike some acts which are powerful on stage but weak on the album, I could find the same strength on your new release ´Aktivist´. How can you explain that?

S: Oh thank you, i'm glad that you liked it. thx. We try to have the same preasure, we have on our album, on stage. Thats it, there is no miracle ;). we like powerful beats you can dance on stage and of course on the album.

R: ´Phreax In Intoxication Of Life´ shows a "nocturnal" feeling thanks to the deep beat and the classy atmospheres, together with the interference of distorted rhythmic patterns. By the way it seems to hide a different "essence" if compared to the whole album. Can you tell us something about this track?

S: This track was planned as the final track for the album. While the beginning of the album is very sudden and harsh, we wanted to let the album end slowly. The track should reflect the feeling that you have if you return from a festival or a similarly impressive event into normality or allday life. We call it "after hype-melancholy" and i believe that everybody knows about that feeling.

R: You have been involved in many music styles, among which ska and neo classical. When and how did you discover the world of industrial rhythmic noise?

S: The mechanisms in industrial music are regulated less strictly than in other music styles. There you have, in my opinion, more creative freedom. Nevertheless, we have made our first musical steps in the EBM, Dark electro and were influenced, beyond it, by many other music styles. The projects in ska or neo-classic happened either before S.K.E.T. or in parallel in addition to make experiences or from interest in the music.

R: Which kind of revolution would you like to be the leaders of? Who would be your trustworthy companions?

S: We dont want to be leaders of an revolutionary movement. We like to be the ones behind the leader, its a more important part I think. The leader should be a very charismatic one, like J.Sudan from
'Mimetic'. Somebody whose bare presence is sufficient to pull the attention on himself. We arent so charismatic and so we are not a good choice for leadership. I think, a cultural and sociopolitical coup would be worthwhile, at least in Germany. That would be a good destination for a revolution, to break with the old and old-fashioned structures which the citizens incapacitate and limit in their development. To formulate this closer, however, would sprinkle the frame of the interview. Good and trustworthy companions would be Karl Marx for ideas and ideological bases, Sun Tzu for tactics and strategy, Dr. Markus Wolff for information and spying. He has built up the department of Auslandsspionage of the ministry of state security of the GDR and has set it up as third-best worldwide behind Mossad and KGB. He was called for a long time by the western Secret Services and the press "the man without face" because it did not succeed to take photos of him. I think that will be a dream-team.

R: What does S.K.E.T. mean?

S: S.K.E.T. was the biggest manufacturer of heavy machinery in the GDR, similar to Krupp or Thyssen in West-Germany. It was a so-called "Kombinat," which is an aggregation of different factories that produced everything from stoves or refrigerators to big generators for hydroelectric power plants. It was closed after Germany's reunification and a lot of people lost their jobs. Thus, S.K.E.T. is a good example of how the Eastern part of Germany was sold out by West-German profit-seekers.

by Elda di Matteo