COIL Interview Collection

Though I posted this a few months ago, I recently discovered a treasure trove of links on Brainwashed. I highly recommend reading as many of these as you can. There is a wealth of information here; come get it while the links still work.
Text
Sleazy Peter Christopherson unedited (2009)
Benevolent Outsider (2008)
Tiny Mix Tapes, November (2008)
The Million Dollar Altar (2006)
Live Continues in Asia (2006)
Thighpaulsandra interview: The Vile Receipt (2006)
Sleazy interview (2005)
Allerseelen Interview Herz und Geist(English, 2005)
Absolute Elsewhere (2004)
The Stylus Interview Series (2004)
Strangers In The Night (2003)
Marc Almond Hat Uns Fast Umgebracht! (German, 2002)
Interview, (2002)
Constant Shallowness Leads to Evil (2001)
Coil Fucks Our American Minds for the First Time and for Good (2001)
Sounds of Blackness (2001)
England's Dreaming (2000)
What A Wind-Up? (2000)
interview transcript, The Wire (1998)
Brainwashed (1997)
Beyond the Eskaton (1996)
Obscure Mechanics (1995)
In the Temple of Abomination, Auf Abwegen (1995)
Zillo (1995)
Queer Noises (1995)
Distorted Loop (1995)
Fist (1993)
Compulsion (1992)
Human Rites: Coil's Agony and Ecstasy (1992)
Convulsion (1992)
Melody Maker (1992)
Uncoiled (1992)
Entering a More Pleasant Domain (1991)
Propaganda (1991)
Black Sheep And Black Suns (1991)
John Balance & Peter Christopherson’s Top 10 (1991)
Lust's Dark Exit (1990
Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1987)
The Darker Side of Sampling (1987)
Tape Delay (1987)
Datacide (1986)
Stator (1986)
The Feverish, #4 (1985)
AbrAhAdAbrA issue #1 (1985)
Unsound, Vol.1, No.5 (1984)
Interchange 2 (1984)
The Fetish For Shit, Abstract Magazine (1984)
They Are Going To Take Me Away Ha Ha (1984)
The Feverish, #1 (1984)
Grok, #6 (1983)
Coil Manifesto (1983)
A Key to an Unlockable LockA Coil Magazine
Eyeless in Gaza

Video
COIL on "Hello Culture"
Jhonn Balance and Stephen Thrower 1988 Interview

Audio
Mutek 5/16/2003
United Kingdom 2000
Supersonic Festival 7/12/2003
VPRO Radio 1985
VPRO Radio 3/11/1987
Radio Inferno 6/20/2001
Dublin Rattlebag 10/22/2004
The Hour of the Apocalypse
Sleazy Live on WZBC

If you know of any others post a link. Also if anyone has a copy of England's Hidden Reverse please let me know.

Updates.

Brainwashed and Threshold House have been updated. Here's the good news.

-There's a new shirt available at the SoiSong store.

-Peter has done a lengthy interview for Invisible Jukebox.

-This Immortal Coil, an acoustic cover of several COIL songs is now available in the TH store.

-Color Sound Oblivion will be release in DVD format (though memory sticks may be available by order only).

-The last day to submit the Missing Child photos is August 31st.

-Throbbing Gristle will be releasing something new and exciting soon.

-THBC will be uploading Form Grows Rampant as a digital download as well as a new release in due time. All music to my ears.

-And lastly, Sleazy's blogspot has been updated.

Holy Shit, Free T-Shirts and Backstage Passes!

From SoiSong's Blog,
"MISSING CHILD FLYER CAMPAIGN CLOSING
Current mood:  determined
Category: Friends

The earlier announced Missing Child Flyer campaign is coming to an end. It is only a matter of few days before we should be able to start rehearsing with the missing performer and therefore the Reunion Tour 2009 will take place as planned in October/November. The schedule of the tour will be published as soon as we have all dates confirmed.

In the course of the search we encountered several other notions of and even publications related to the missing 'singer'. These made us anxious at first, however now that we know our friend's whereabouts, we are confident these had no factual substance into them [see examlpe below]



Once again, SOISONG feel prviledged to have received enthusiastic help from about 50 individuals around the world. We sincerely hope you found participation in the campaign exciting and entertaining. The edition of 50 T-shirts will soon be manufactured and sent out, but we also decided to meet in person those who have been supporting us so sincerely, and to celebrate our connection. Therefore, during the Soisong Reunion Tour 2009 these Missing Child T-shirts can be used as a backstage pass of sorts, entitling the owner to an after-show drink with the band.. and may our glasses be full to the brink! "

De:Bug Interview with SoiSong

From SoiSong's blog,

"NEW SOISONG INTERVIEW
Current mood: busy
Category: Music
Ivan Pavlov & Peter Christopherson interviewed by Tim Caspar Boehme for an article in De:Bug [September 2009 issue]– How did your collaboration as Soisong come about?

We have known each other since 1997 and established an increasingly close friendship in the years since then, especially as Coil were glad to have COH and Ivan as part of their forays into Russia, which turned out to be both exciting and fruitful.

During that time we also did some collaborative work - on COH's Vox Tinnitus and Love Uncut releases - which probably reflects certain mutual interest in other's work. But the idea of forming a proper band together didn't come up until some 3 years ago, when we were on the same bill for a few shows in Japan. The music Peter has been recording in Thailand felt as a properly charged contrast to what Ivan was doing at the time, at the same time the emotional intensity, even if of dramatically different type, was very close.. So we decided to give it a try. As a matter of fact, the first work we did together in the Bangkok studio was the material that will serve as a basis for our next album. That very first joint work is, just like xAj3z, based on voice and language. We believe language can be a trap than detains the mind within the conscious world - so by fragmenting and re-assembling music sung in languages neither of us are fluent in, a different perception is possible. Some people find it absurd and threatening to listen to, others accept the emotion and passion without requiring complete conscious understanding.


– Do you meet for working together or do you exchange files most of the time?

Both, we use every chance of being at the same place. Peter comes to Stockholm when he is in Europe and Ivan flies to Bangkok at least twice a year. Working in the studio together is incomparably more effective and exciting, and that's how we make the essential part of the work, the first sketches.. In between these visits to each other we also do some file exchange, but that's only when developing the already conceived pieces and polishing their production..

We never had a chance to work in the same space for more than a few weeks in a row, in fact we don't even know what would happen if we could - it would certainly be dangerous for the equipment, most likely the building, and probably everyone in the neighborhood as well!


– The atmosphere of the album struck me as mildly disturbing. Is it something you intended as the direction of Soisong?
We do not have much of a specific musical intention, Soisong to us is more about enjoying variuos kinds of freedom. That goes for ideas and concepts related to music, but also for what reaches beyond the now common forms of music perception. We try to communicate these freedoms to our audience. Generally, we both feel quite playful about what we do in the band, however that playfullness is very sincere - so perhaps the "mildly disturbing" part comes as a natural outcome of the past we both have, in musical and personal terms.

Also, any creative endeavor should attempt to engage the viewer or listener, deeply enough to cause new feelings, emotions in, or experiences for them. It seems a pity to us that we live in a world where people find any new things disturbing, per se. In fact we believe an undercurrent of fear of the new has been encouraged by controlling institutions, who are too lazy or dishonest to want the status quo to change, but it has to, if we are to progress as a species.


– What is the purpose of the computer voices and their "arbitrary transient appearance"? Will they be part of the Soisong sound?
Toying with advanced technology is part of the play. xAj3z might sound somewhat natural and classical, but it has all been made in computers and most of the technology on the album has been used with the purpose of disguising that technology itself. That's what the "Pentium Jazz Processing" is about - making the high-tech inaudible. As for the artificial vocalists we have created and used, they have not only been an amusing technical experiment, but it felt interesting to develop a certain half-human character of the "singer". Again, these are the freedoms one can not possibly have with a real singer - singing in front of an audience is an intensely personal and exposing activity, which almost invariably takes its toll on the psychology and personality of the singer. Neither of us are willing to expose ourself to that risk at the moment, nevertheless we both love the sonic qualities of the voice [human or otherwise], especially at its most vulnerable. Therefore we invented a machine or operating technique, rather as bomb disposal experts have invented robots to operate in life-threatening situations, to sing for us, without regard for its own safety. Only in this way were we able to achieve the sonic results we were looking for.


– What was the idea behind the "strange object" design concept of the CD? Is it a purely "(anti-) aesthetic" decision or also an answer to the crisis of the music industry due to dwindling sales?
Soisong design concepts reflect our interest in transcending the general conventions of music consumption. Both the first EP and xAj3z CD are quite radical in their packaging. The first release was following the "disposable design" concept, where one has to destroy the package in order to hear the music. xAj3z packaging is PIANO STEALTH [tm] technology - this reflect what we have been doing with the sound - that "disguising of high-tech in classical forms". Further, PIANO STEALTH will be expanding into other lines of products we plan to make in connection with the album..

At a different level, one can also notice that in recent years the desirability of an album, particularly in the cd format, has shifted more and more from its audio content, to its nature as an object. We try to make albums with an emotional effect on the listener that begins the first moment they are faced with opening the package.

How much richer is the experience of a child who has been gazing at an intriguingly-wrapped present sitting under the Tree for days when they finally get to open it on Christmas Day, compared with the spoiled brat, who just sees something in the toy store, screams for it on a whim, forcing his mother to buy it for him with One-Click, and hand it to him instantly at the checkout?

This second "spoiled brat" experience [devaluing of everybody, and everything] is how the conventional music industry [apple and i-tunes included] would have us receive the most artistic and creative works currently available. Is it any wonder that few people care about albums any more? SoiSong packages aim to reverse this process.


– Are there plans for future releases yet?
Yes, we are still working on the release of our first live recording in Japan, which should hopefully be ready by the end of the year.. As said, we already have the base material for another studio album, but before that we plan to develop xAj3z further.. so there should be at least another xAj3z related release in the future which should take some shape after we finish the Soisong Reunion Tour in October/November.


– In an earlier statement you rejected the majority of the current music as "banal and meaningless". What would be required of music to regain meaning?
We would like to see more artists and musicians being independently imaginative, more playful in their work as opposed to being preoccupied with expectations from trends, from the media, from their record labels, from their fans.. and most of all, from their own desire for the trappings of celebrity and success, which are endlessly promoted as the single and only thing we should all aspire to.

The idea that it could be worthwhile spending your entire life, just making beautiful, or mysterious, or thoughtful music that in some way improves, or makes more bearable, the lives of those who hear it, never even occurs to most people.

We understand it might not be easy for young musicians to realize what matters, and what not - today's music is almost entirely driven by market and its interests - however this is the utopia we try to pursue with Soisong.

[July 24th, 2009]

"

Betty May and Raoul Loveday

I made an interesting discovering after watching In Search of the Beast 666, a documentary on Aleister Crowley. Whilst Crowley was staying at the Abbey of Thelema, a man named Raoul Loveday and his wife Betty May came to stay with him, Raoul eager to become Crowley's disciple. Betty May, however, was cautious of Crowley and was not enjoying her time at the Abbey. Raoul become obsessed with Crowley's teaching and, according to the documentary, cut himself with a razor every time he used the word "I"--at Crowley's suggestion. Despite May's attempts to help him, Raoul eventually fell ill and died. May claims it was from the drugs and "the incident of the cat's blood," which he drank during a ritual. I am told by a reliable source, however, that Raoul actually died of typhoid after drinking from the well--at Crowley's disgression.

If you listen to Ether, on Musick to Play in the Dark vol. 2, there is a part where Jhonn chants "Betty May and Raoul Loveday." I remember singing this to myself before, completely naive to what it really meant. You can hear it in YouTube video at 4:33.

All of the lyrics posted online either leave this bit out, or describe it as "?????" I'm posting a near-completed version at the end of this post. Strange that Jhonn would include this in the song, I wonder what the relevance is? There's still one part of the song I cannot figure out, "Memories of (?) slipping away into ether." If anyone has any insight into this I urge you to comment.



It's either ether or the other
My mind is back to front
And sometimes absent
And slip the cup
I've taken a sip from the cup that slips into ether

It's either ether or the other

I press my window to the glass
The glass turns to gas
I breathe out ether, a glass of ether
Ether is a thief
It's stolen my belief

Slip through the ether
We both slip through the ether
Slipstreams of memory slipping away
It's ether

Betty May and Raoul Loveday
Betty May and Raoul Loveday
Berry May and Raoul Loveday
Slip through the ether
Sip the ether
Sip the ether
Slipstreams of memories slipping away
Slipstreams of memories slipping away
Memories of ??? slipping away into ether
Into ether

I've changed my mind
It's what it's there for
I've changed my mind
It's what it's there for
For therefore
Full of ether
Full of ether
Full of ether
Full of ether
Full of ether

I'm going upstairs now
To take my mind off
I'm going upstairs now
To turn my mind off
(repeated)

lyrics taken from equ.in/ox

All the Pretty Little Horses

"Hush-a-bye, don't you cry,
Go to sleep you little baby.
Go to sleep you little baby.
When you wake, you shall have,
All the pretty little horses.
All the pretty little horses.
Blacks and bays, dapples and grays,
All the pretty little horses
Way down yonder, in the meadow,
Lies a poor little lamby.
Bees and butterflies, flitter 'round his eyes,
Poor little thing is crying mommy.
Poor little thing is crying mommy.
Go to sleep, don't you cry,
Lay your head upon the clover.
Lay your head upon the clover.
In your dreams, you shall ride,
While your mommy watches over.
Blacks and bays, and dapples and grays,
All the pretty little horses.
All the pretty little horses.
All the pretty little horses.

An Evening with Unkle Sleaz

...or the closest thing I'll get to it, without having been there. Special thanks to wassonii for this one.







Some excellent photos here, courtesy of Mr. Push.

COIL Song Meanings

I recommend this website to anyone interested in COIL's lyrics. Not many have people posted on it, but there is still some great insight into the meaning behind the songs. I was surprised to learn that much of Jhonn's lyrics are borrowed from other artists, most notably William Blake. I encourage you to contribute your lyrical interpretations.

The Sick Rose by William Blake

O rose, thou art sick!
The invisible worm
That flies in the night
In the howling storm

Has found out thy bed
Of crimson joy,
And his dark secret love
Does thy life destroy.

Missing Child

From SoiSong's Blog,

"WE MISS YOU!
Current mood:  anxious
Category: Goals, Plans, Hopes

In the view of the forthcoming Reunion Tour, SOISONG are eager to locate the owner of the voice used on the album, who has vanished since the studio recordings were made. Recently we have been unable to reach the "singer" by any method known to us, nor to locate his present position. Therefore we need urgent help in finding the missing performer.

Hereby we kindly ask you to participate in the search by doing the following:

1. Download the PDF file from by clicking on the image below or here.
2. Print it out on A4 paper in as many copies as you like.
3. Cut with scissors along the dotted lines where the tear-off phone numbers would normally appear
[for the reasons we can not disclose in public, please do not enter any phone numbers - leave the tags blank].
4. Place the poster in an appropriate location in your city or in places you visit.

[Note 1: Please post responsibly, and only in the areas where flyers would normally be found - i.e. avoiding illegal locations such as public buildings, transport, sculptures etc.]

[Note 2: As we originally found the singer by following flyers posted in rather desolate areas, it would be also appreciated if your A4 posters are placed not only in the lively city spots, but also in remote locations - do not hesitate to take a few with you on any possible vacation, or business trip].

Since the matter is of utter importance to SOISONG, we have decided to encourage the effort by rewarding your actions. Therefore, please take photographs of the flyers you post.

By sending to us photos of the flyers you may qualify for a free SOISONG T-shirt [free shipping included] with a new design featuring the missing performer's face, made exclusively for the first 100 participants of this action. All photographs should be sent to contact@soisong.com.

For you to be entitled to receive the new SOISONG T-shirt we require that:

a. the photographed flyers are displayed in at least 3 different locations;
b. the images are of high resolution - 700-800 kB size in JPEG format, as minimum;
c. street address and date of each poster placement are provided with each photo;
d. your own postal address and the preferred T-shirt size are specified in the message;

Last but not least: photos of flyers posted in illegal locations will not be admissible.

Naturally, You are welcome to send in more than three images if you like. We also encourage you to upload the photographs to your flickr account, and further submit to the Missing Child Flyer Pool on flickr. All photographs you send to us will be also published on our websites at greedbag.com and soisong.com

SOISONG need your help. However, please see this not only as an opportunity to help us, but also as a unique chance to be a part of SOISONG's history.


"

Alas, something to do. Unfortunately I ended up buying a pack of cigarettes during my photo shoot...each beat feeds the heartworms...

You're Welcome

From SoiSong's Blog,

"WE THANK YOU
Current mood:  imaginative
Category: Travel and Places

SOISONG appreciate the effort of everyone who is helping us with the flyer campaign. There is a steady flow of incoming images, and this alone already makes us happy if only by indicating that your interest in our activities transcends today's "average consumer" levels. We feel we are priviledged to have such a strong and dedicated audience and we would like to thank you for supporting us in these difficult times.

Here is the link to the Flickr group which contains images posted to us or directly to the image pool:
Missing Child Flyer Pool

We found out, however, that images in this group will only star showing to non-members in a few days, according to Flickr's policy of verification. Therefore in the mean time we have set up a simple gallery on our own website - follow the portrait sign from soisong.com [no password required].

We still do encourage people to post photographs to the Flicker group too, and kindly ask to place them on the geographical Map in their own accounts - just like the images posted there by us.

Most of the flyers appear to have been placed in good spots, however one can easily notice a few which appear to be slightly on the border of "littering" - therefore SOISONG ask you once again: please show respect to the envinronment.

PS: we hav ealso noticed in some photographs the image appears within a frame which only belongs to the small image in our blog, not to the actual PDF file. For a better quality printout please do click on the image, as opposed to saving it and/or printing it out. The image is a link to the PDF file which is of considerably better quality and fomatted for printing on a whole A4 sheet."