KMFDM – LET GO

By starrymag | February 2, 2024

By: Kelly Kearney

 

 

 

Q) Congrats on the band’s upcoming 23rd album release! Twenty-three albums of music fans love. What is the secret to KMFDM’s longevity?

A) It’s exactly that: the love and support that our fans give us.

KMFDM is 100% DIY. We’re a very unique part of the music biz, we’re not directed by anyone, free to go and do whatever we want, we owe nobody any explanations and have no binding ties to any corporate structures. We’ve never let ourselves be pigeon-holed and are the sole masters of our own fate. Industrial, techno, metal and what have you all have their own little footprint whereas KMFDM is neither of it all. We’re the ULTRA HEAVY BEAT, which lets us move freely, crisscrossing genre boundaries and reinvent ourselves each time and always over and over again. The constellations of players have changed many times throughout the years but that doesn’t matter at all, what counts in the end is that it sounds and looks and feels like KMFDM!

Q) The band has twenty-three albums under their belts, and KMFDM has been making music for four decades. What motivates you to keep going into the studio and back on the road?

A) It’s what I love to do, and I wouldn’t know what else to do with myself. My passion has become my profession and I’ve learned to be good at what I’m doing. Making records without touring for them and vice versa would be lacking intensity and fun. Having a good time both in the studio and on the road is very important and substantial to everything in my life.

Q) It is said that “what is old will be new again.” So, do you find yourself listening to your older albums and finding inspiration in the past for future tracks, or once you’ve moved on from that project you don’t look back?

A) I never listen to older stuff. It’s about always moving forward. There’s no end-goal, the path is the inspiration and the end all – be all. Once an album is released I am done with it. There’s no postpartum, no nitpicking at all, it is what it is, a snapshot of the path.

Q) Has your writing process changed over the years? Do you still follow your gut and just know what works and what will fall flat with fans, or do you have the wisdom of time-fueled new techniques?

A) The writing process is never the same, never has been. Each new approach feels different than any other before. I think not so much in terms of inspiration, rather more it’s a matter of a certain discipline, a perseverance if you want. Everything is possible and latching on to spark may result in a fire. Of course, over time one becomes proficient in certain techniques but that is the process of going from an embryonic song idea to a full-fledged mix that not only sounds satisfying in a club or on stage but also in a tiny earpod or over a car stereo.

Q) Evolution is the inspiration of art, and this album is proof KMFDM has taken its long history on the scene and grown from it. From the band’s politically charged lyrics, and techno-industrial heavy beats fans recognize, to dipping into some spaghetti western guitar, a bit of girl riot thanks to Lucia Cifarelli and her heavy injection of melodic Americana, a new KMFDM sound is born. What was the inspiration behind these genre detours and experiments on LET GO?

A) Don’t let riot grll fool you, Lucia [Cifarelli] is so much more than that. She is a multi-faceted force in her own right, writing a plethora of material both for KMFDM and her own projects. That goes actually for all of us in the current line-up. Andy Selway is a drummer and producer working with many projects that are very different from KMFDM. Andee Blacksugar not only plays guitar in KMFDM but also for BLONDIE as well as dozens of other outfits, besides teaching and releasing his own stuff frequently.

For many years I’ve been producing and remixing other bands amongst many others for instance METALLICA, ROB ZOMBIE, FRONT242, MEGADETH and LIVING COLOUR to name just a few.

Q) Fans have been itching for some new music and you delivered with the first single from the album, “Let Go” sharing the same name.  The single sets the mood for the tracks that follow but Airhead turns that mood upside down and drives home a sense of nostalgia for a time long gone. What imagery was floating around your mind when writing that song?

A) Fans couldn’t have itched very much seeing that the last album was released only in September of 2022. It is quite normal that there’ll be a new KMFDM album every eighteen months or so, more or less. And I disagree with saying that the title track sets the mood – every song on the album is very different from the one before or after it. It’s a trip, a journey if you want.

Far from wanting to explain KMFDM’s art I think it’s fair to say that “PUSH!” and “LET GO” share no common denominator. “NEXT MOVE” travels from KRAFTWERK-ian beats and vocoders into what resembles West African dance music via a brief rap interlude by on-and-off contributor MC OCELOT. “AIRHEAD” is Lucia’s somewhat fun and ironic take on a moody shoe-gazer track if you want or have to categorize.

And so on. It’s a bit tiring to see that some reviewers are often so unfamiliar with what they’re talking about. It seems like a waste of everyone’s time. Who really needs/wants pre-chewed opinions when one could just as well make up one’s own?

Q) Out of the 11 tracks featured on the album, is there a song you are particularly proud of and hope it makes a connection with your fans?

A) Each and every one of them, yes. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be on the album. Wait – an album to us is an album. It’s a story, a snapshot of the timeframe in which it was created. An album isn’t meant to listen to on shuffle. It has a beginning and an end. Every track, every part of every song has its’ place and its’ integrity. Otherwise, we’d release singles only.

Q) The band will often collaborate with new talents and include them on their albums and tours. Is there anyone on the music scene right now who has captured your attention, and you would like to work with on future projects? 

A) Not at this point, really. These collaborations happen somehow, they are never pre-meditated. Much as what stands true for KMFDM’s success over the years, there’s a lot of coincidence, some sheer luck and being at the “right” place at the right time.

Q) The video for “AIRHEAD” out now was produced by 210 Media and is full of these flashes of images that summon the past. Did you have any say in what late ‘70s-early ‘80s images were used, or was that all up to the creatives at 210 Media?

A) 210 Media is Pedro Rodriguez Jr, a member of (amongst others) KMFDM’s touring crew and a dear, dear friend of ours as well as a very talented music producer and media artist in his own right. We’re on the same wavelength and very little input was required to arrive at the final version of “AIRHEAD.” It was spontaneously done and once I saw it, decided to release “AIRHEAD” as the second single of LET GO.

Q) Do you enjoy making videos or are they a necessary evil to get your work out to the fans?

A) KMFDM have not made very many videos compared to other musical outfits. There was a time when making videos was quite expensive and therefore somewhat forbidding unless record labels would pump astronomical sums into that process. For instance, the animated 1993 video for “A DRUG AGAINST WAR” cost well over $100,000 to make. Nowadays with go-pro cams and home editing capabilities making videos has become much cheaper but, unfortunately, for the most part it shows. So, we’re picky when it comes to deciding whether or not to make and release videos.

Q) Let’s talk about KMFDM fans. The band has toured the world and has fans listening on every continent, but Europe seems to embrace your music as the strongest. What are some of the differences you’ve noticed between fans in the U.S. and abroad, and is that something you consider when planning tours?

A) You’ve got it exactly wrong! It’s the US where 95% of KMFDM’s fans are, Europe is hopeless, and we’ve decided to not even attempt to tour there anymore because all we do is pay to play and that doesn’t make any sense at all. In the US we often play to sold out venues where, for instance in my hometown of Hamburg, Germany, there’ll maybe fifty people show up, at best.

When I moved to the US in 1990, I neglected Europe for too long and we missed the train so to speak over here. Another sad fact is that European audiences are used to over-categorize their musical genres, for instance people have said to me that they would really like KMFDM if it weren’t for the guitars and shit like that.

Q) Speaking of going back on tour, this veteran band is very familiar with that part of the industry – you’ve been on the road for decades and even I saw you first in the early 90’s. Is there any spot on this upcoming tour you can’t wait to visit or revisit?

A) Since the routing and venues are entirely handpicked, there isn’t a spot on this upcoming tour that I don’t look forward to. It’ll be great to revisit all those familiar places and everybody in the band has made plans already of what to do where whenever we get there. The only stop on this tour that I have never had the pleasure to visit is actually Harrisburg, PA. So, I am looking forward to that one in particular.  An interesting fact that folks unfamiliar with the routine of being on the road may not realize is that (unless one has carefully laid plans made in advance), twenty-two hours of each day consists merely of waiting around. Waiting for the tour bus to arrive at the destination, waiting for the bus to wake up, waiting for “real” coffee, waiting for a toilet, waiting for load-in, waiting for a shower, waiting for soundcheck, for doors to open, for stage time, for load-out and for the bus to depart. Repeat.

Q) Decades of work have gathered a group of dedicated fans and listeners. What would you like to say to them?

A) There’s nothing that I haven’t said before that they don’t already know. We most likely are one of the most easily approachable bands out there; it is very common that we hang out before and after our shows talking and taking pictures with people. They know that we love them, and they love us back for all the right reasons. From the earliest days of being on tour I’ve realized that without the audiences KMFDM is nothing at all. It’s a symbiotic relationship, human to human. We thrive on our audiences’ energy, and they know that.

 

 

 

All Questions Answered By Sascha “Käpt’n K” Konietzko

 

 

 

Watch The Video For “LET GO”

 

 

Watch The Video For “AIRHEAD”