INTERVIEW - industry.ee
21 Apr 2006

- Hello, unit299_09!
Hello der5pezialist!
- How are You?
Fine.-.- and you??? ;)
- Are You ready for a little interview for Schwerindustrie?
Yes I am

- First, could You tell us about the acronym of S.K.E.T. , what does it mean, where does it come from and why did You chose it to represent this project?

S.K.E.T. was the biggest manufacturer of heavy machinery in the DDR, 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.

- What about You and Your teammate's artist names? Why "units" and do the numbers behind it have any specific meaning?

We are only a part of a whole. Together with our instruments we form a unity, therefore, the unit-names. Our instruments have unit-names too. 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, "non-human" units do. We, unit299_09 and unit298_09, form the head of the machine called S.K.E.T.

- I know You are a great admirer of Red Art / Socialist Realism, what appeals You most in it?

Art is always a mirror of the society in which it is created. Socialist Realism strongly reflected the censorship which tried to take the freedom of thinking away, you can see it because the art seems very unreal! What we like in Socialist Realism are the ideals it expresses. The strength, the confidence, joy of achievements, the trust in one's own abilities, of the common people, the masses. These are some things which we might allow to flow in onto our music.

- What is the most impressive Lenin quote in Your opinion?

"Tell me who praises you and I'll tell you what your mistake is."

- You grew up in DDR, what do You miss most of all from those days? Any special item or product?

Oh, the most of the products you can buy again.
Though, most of all, I miss the solidarity between the people.
That is gone completely. Now, people are only focused on their own things.. and that's sad..

- Coming back to S.K.E.T. , how did it happen that you became a part of Hands-family?

We became a part of the HANDS family through Leif, from Mono no Aware. He found our website and he liked our sound, so he wrote us an e-mail and we sent him some promo- tracks and he gave it to Udo from HANDS. 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.

- "Aktivist" was a real success, it has got only praising comments and reviews, when will your next album will be released? And could You tell us about its concept a little?

Was it???

The next album will be released between middle of may and beginning of June. (i hope so;))
The title is Baikonur.
I guess it's more linear and atmospheric than "Aktivist".
Its something like a tribute to our heroes from childhood - like Gagarin, Tereshkova and Jähn; and what is possible in a non profit- and consumption- based society..

- I've heard there's going be a track called "Soljaris" on your next album; Were You more inspired by the book by Stanislaw Lem or Andrei Tarkovski's film from 1972?

I adore Lem and Tarkovski. Their work is very impressive,
but at this point Soljaris is more meant as a metaphor...
It's the last track of the album so it is more meant as the 'future'-part...
It is very hymn-like, so it doesn't really match the book or the movie...
Of course we can find a small connection to Lem's book (he didn't like technology much) and Tarkovski's movie..
It should make us reflect that we should pay attention, so that the technology which we create remains controllable for us and that it should help us to solve problems we have and not to cause new problems instead. But we should look hopefully into the future because it is in our strength how the future will look...

- Have You seen the American version of "Solaris" with George Clooney in leading role? What do You think of that?

It's crap...

- What are Your other passions besides music?

Music is my life!
Maybe cooking, graphix and photography are some of my other passions..
Architecture is a big passion, definitely!
It's interesting how much influence a room can have on our feelings..
And not only in a good way...
If it's important to have a favourite drug (even though I hate them), then mine would be architecture..
A well designed building could make you feel euphoric, fearful, secure, or even dizzy. Still it does not make you addicted and if it is to much for you, you can easily leave the building ;)
My favourite architects are COOP Himmelblau, Zaha Hadid, Libeskind and of course Makoto Sei Watanabe

- What is Your favourite free-time activity?

Look above :D

- What fascinates You in rhythmic noise?

The freedom of sound..
The possibilities are so varied that it is generally difficult to grasp them all.
The possibilities to abstract sounds and to transform these subjects in a new order is very interesting.
In addition, the concept of 'Music' is reduced to a clear, essential minimum, which allows you to be open to new paths, and different ways of following them.
It's a perfect environment for me...

- What kind of other music You like to listen to and why?

I like music that is passionate. And to understand music, one must understand its history, its structures, and the reasons of its existence. So I listen to a lot of different kinds of music.I love music from native people from all over the world, especially from West-Africa, Australia, South-East Asia, Russia and Scandinavia. I also like classical music because of its perfectionism in sound and arrangement; music from the late sixties like Jefferson Airplane, because it is so full of weird metaphors and hidden statements...

- Are You involved in some other projects besides S.K.E.T.?

S.K.E.T. is one third of s?x only, which is an experimental collaboration project, uniting three HANDS bands: Heimstatt Yipotash, Greyhound and S.K.E.T. We performed under s?x only just few weeks ago at Elektroanschlag 7 in Altenburg, and it was quite exciting for ourselves, as well for the audience, thus we have some thoughts to continue with it.
Besides that I'm working on one other project, but it's a lil early to talk about that at the moment ;)

- Who's Your favourite HANDS project at the moment?

Hmm that's difficult..
Most of them, I think..
Egdey has created a very interesting album
Heimstatt Yipotash also..
But my favourite is 5F-X, I guess...

- When and where are you performing in the nearest future?

With Ambassador21 in Kopenhagen (April 21),
at WGT in Leipzig (June 02-05),
and at INFEST in the UK (August 25-27)

- What are Your plans for the future?

Hmmm making a new S.K.E.T.- album..
And then we plan to make a soundtrack for a book by Nikolai Ostrovski.
Further on, I'll push my side-project a little

- Thank You for the interview!
We wish you lots of luck and great success!

No problem...
Thank you!

by der5pezialist