EN ESCH

of

This interview was conducted via telephone two days after the Pontiac Michigan venue November 12
KMFDM and PIG concert by Adrian Kaylor.

Transcribed by:
Kim Alexander
Michael C. Lund

Adrian:  First of all, do you mind if we put this on the internet in real audio?

En Esch:  If you write it down it will be better.

Adrian:  Ok. Just checking. What would you like us to call you?

En Esch:  Say: En Esch.

Adrian:  To start out with...I know it's been a few years since your solo project and I was wondering if you're going to be doing anything else or if that was for a break or..

En Esch:  I'm doing another solo album yeah... I' m almost prepared to put it out but you know...I'm not finished with the final production. It's going to be out sooner or later, hopefully next year...summer... so...

Adrian: ...and its been quite a long time since KMFDM toured...

En Esch: The tour is eh... very good because people seem to like the album you know... We haven't been out for two years, ok, maybe that is the reason people are rather...looking forward to seeing us again...But you know we playing mostly...we playing a lot of the same places...some of the places are even bigger than last time...but you know... a lot of shows are sold out. So...it's pretty good.

Adrian:  By the way...it was a great show.
Another question...Are you guys saying what you're calling the new album is yourself or?

En Esch:  No we don't say anything. No, I mean we say... maybe we say the new album or the last album or eh....it's the curse out of the comic book you know?   You know like, "Asterix and Obeliks",  whatever you call that? How do you call that anyway here?  The comic I'm talking about...

Adrian: I don't know what comic....

En Esch: Ok Ok Ok.....Whatever.....So...the whole thing is like a curse out of a comic book...

Adrian: Ok Ok...I see what you mean....

En Esch: You know...

Adrian:  So what happened to the Tutu? (Laughs) Cuz I heard the last couple of tours you were kind of famous for coming out in your Tutu and everything. Did it just.....you  found something better or...?

En Esch:  I guess.....I never had a Tutu...again...it was...it was more like Mini-skirts and stuff like that...

Adrian:  Oh! Ok....Well....Nice dress!

En Esch:  Oh... Thanks....!

Adrian:  You're welcome....
You know the Paris show that ended up being cancelled....for the next tour do you think you guys would be giving the guy another chance or is it kind of tough luck for him....any hard feelings?

En Esch:  Eh..... yeah, it depends...I mean you know...Sony France, [was] supposed to... prepare the show--the venue was extremely small and the  production was bad prepared--It was hard...and we had a hard time to park the bus in the city of Paris--So...it was really hard and...and there were other obstacles of course we couldn't make it I am saying. It was not too easy--But eh...I wish I would translate it but you know it was not possible.

Adrian:  Is there any chance of a special show in Paris after the tour or?

En Esch:  There might be a chance to back to Europe...yeah, in March or so...approximately in March go do a little...do a few Japan gigs and go to Europe...that's what we're thinking about it at the moment because Sony wants us back in Europe and do like our own little club tour so...you  know--Sony covers like err...this person we have, who covers actually the whole entire central Europe area and that's pretty good--so finally...we might sell a few records because so far we didn't really hardly sell any...

Adrian:  Is there any other one album you would hold up to being particularly successful from an individual standpoint of yours or KMFDM or anything you've been involved with?

En Esch:  You mean historically?

Adrian:  Historically, personally?

En Esch:  I think Pigface "Fook" was quite a good album I was involved with...the mix didn't turn out 100% of certain things.  I wasn't around, I wasn't supposed to go there.  So..eh...I offered myself to go and mix the shit with Martin but you know... he rather wanted to do it himself so...
Ehh...Yeah...there are certain things that are really good I mean...the song I am talking about I don't like the mix too much, it's CORE???...you know what I mean?  It's the song with Ogre--'cause there's major parts missing you know...they didn't use them...whatever, but actually where Ogre and myself and Ogre and I where singing German together, and it was kind of fun.

Adrian:  Speaking of Ogre or the guests more particularly, do you think that KMFDM is using their guests or is it more the guests are using KMFDM, just as a musical outlet?

En Esch:  Well...in the moment I would say it's mutual. I mean you know, I mean...we like to have Ogre around.  He's an old Pal of ours so to speak.   He's probably glad to be out with us, 'cause you know...it's something else.   He hasn't toured for a long time himself...I'm sayin'...so its mutual.  Same with Tim and of  John DeSalvo...who hasn't been on a tour better than this one after he toured with Chemlab in a van and the group fell apart.  And...it was kind of chaotic...

Adrian:  Fell apart just being so close or was there anything....?

En Esch:  I mean Chemlab...I'm talking about Chemlab...John DeSalvo, the drummer is in Chemlab, or was in Chemlab, Chemlab somehow...you know it's not existing anymore in their old way....and now he is happy to be on the KMFDM tour...so relaxing...so nice...and so professional, ahh?...so to speak...

Adrian:  You have said you are not *Industrial*, the whole classification thing...on I believe it was Extort...I don't remember what song you said as lyrics...the "Industrial Soundtrack of the Holy Wars"...so are you giving up the fight of...people classifying you or was it just a lyric?

En Esch:  What song is that again?

Adrian:  I can't remember off hand...it was off Extort.

En Esch:  I know what you're saying but I can't remember which song it was either...

[all laugh...]

Adrian:  Oh...Power!!

En Esch:  Oh Power...Got 'cha...I haven't done anything on Power so it would be a question you ask of Sasha.  So I wasnt really involved in this Power.   I wasn't really involved in this Power production.

Adrian:  How exactly did KMFDM come about -- and your role in the group?

En Esch:  You mean, like historical again?

Adrian:  Yeah, historically, ...

En Esch:  You know, I mean...we're talking about 1984, there was a time when  I moved from Frankfort to Hamburg...in Germany, you know what I'm saying, and it turned out that Sasha used to live and hang in this apartment, where I was going to move...and, he was hanging with this guy from New York -- [Peter Missing] -- who was in Hamburg to do a gig as Missing Foundation, you know...that was the name he used to go on stage...and it turned out that they were looking for a drummer, and I was a drummer as well...I was a drummer and a singer in [two different bands]...so I had two careers established, you know, I was a drummer, and I was a singer, but in totally different music so, whatever...so Sasha back then was playing bass so, I joined this Peter Missing crew, so to speak.  Sasha was playing bass, I was playing drums, some other friends of ours in Hamburg played some other instruments, Peter was singing, you know.  It was quite interesting, so we got together actually 'cause he was looking for a drummer, and he was actually moving out of the apartment.  I was moving in, and, you know, heard from his neighbors that I'm going to be a drummer...there's going to be a drumer moving in...so, it was totally coincidence.  And after that, I mean, we ended up by ourselves, and...did a lot of [P-funk] parties and stuff like that, and one of the friends of ours just played whatever six songs a night, every song thirty minutes, a theme, and totally improvised, but with the [P-funk] idea that the beat never stops really, so I was pretty much druming through the whole set, you know...
some kind of disco-ish kind of dance...rhythm, you know what I'm saying...It was pretty interesting...after that we got some machines, a new sampler...I used drum machines, and had a [Pro-1] synthesizer in the early 80s.  So, you know, when you grow up in Germany, you have of course a different attachment to machines, 'cause you're more used to it from the late 70s, early 80s music, you know like D.A.F. or Kraftwerk, for example.
          I mean, to use the really old example, you know what I'm saying.  So machines are more established, more regular...I don't really play drums anymore, rather Sasha plays drums on stage, percussion and stuff like that, you know what I'm saying?

Adrian:  So have you guys ever thought of going back and just kinda of start another group, and do some more of that experimental kind of P-Funk, or whatever you guys are into now?

En Esch:  You know...we do it nowadays, but we call that KMFDM.   That's the result of the whole first band, you know what I'm saying, of the whole experience.

Adrian:  So, who played the vacuum cleaners, I've heard, I don't remember if it was Opium or Deutschland...

En Esch:  It was a bunch of neighbors from  Sasha, he went to Paris, and you know, did some jam-sessions with some friends of his...

Adrian:  So, was it planned, or was someone just happening to be cleaning, and he thought...

En Esch:  I wasn't around at that point...

Adrian:  Oh, okay...

En Esch:  You know...it was the first time they came up with this KMFDM idea...by using tabloids, newspapers or whatever, and cut out headlines and put it together...

Adrian:  Is there anyone else that you...well, getting back to like Ogre and some of the other people that were touring with you, that you've done projects with...is there anyone else you'd try to get a hold of to do the next album with, or...

En Esch:  Yeah, at the moment it is not clear, I mean, see, we basically...the core is Gunther, Sasha and I, you know what I'm saying...who do most of the stuff, and you knowl, guests are mostly singers and stuff...so, it's hard to tell at the moment, you know, we'll see...

Adrian:  Then, there's nothing you want to announce until it is finalized or...

En Esch:  No, not at this point, no...

Adrian:  Okay.  What other musicians do you feel best working together with, you know, guests on your records?

En Esch:  It's an old-fashioned dream of mine to work with Peter Murphy.  But it would be more like for a solo project, 'cause I think...he's quite a good singer, but his solo stuff is a little too lame...so, I would like to give him some support for his music, you know...

Adrian:  I know Brute does a lot of your cover art...is that something that is more Sasha's side, or is it something that you are doing a lot of, I am   wondering if you worked with him on anything or...

En Esch:  You're talking about the covers?

Adrian:  Well, the cover art...and, I know a couple of videos have his animation...but I watched the video last night, and noticed that you did a lot of the directing, and I just wondered if you have worked with Brute or if...

En Esch:  You know, this Brute thing came together, and it was supposed to be like...a demonstration, or like and advertizing, rather, or like...a sequence out of our entire back catalog, you know what I'm saying...where we introduced our back cataglo, back again...to make this "Drug Against War" video...
And yeah, Brute became our partner really in 1986 or so, you know, when our first record, we actually produced ourselves basically, was licensed by this British company, and you know, change the cover art, and let Brute do the cover, and so Brute ended to be the cover of the first KMFDM record in England...it was the same music and everthing, but the cover was different...and so, it was the first time we hooked up with him.

Adrian:  What is KMFDM trying to achieve with their music?  I know you got a couple of messages that kind of repeat themselves, is there anything that stands out most, or is it actually...I'm not going by the German, is it actally: KMFDM?

En Esch:  To achieve your music, we wanna be happy, you know what I'm saying...if a record is done, we wanna listen to it and say: "That is a great record," you know what I'm saying?

Adrian:  But I mean are there any messages in the lyrics that you think stand out more than others?

En Esch:  We reflect scenarious, we don't preach them...

Adrian:  Right, right...

En Esch:  So, so...I don't know, it's up to everyone else, I mean, this is a wuestion I got asked a lot, you know what I'm saying...it is really twisted to answer that.  But you know, what I said before, I  mean, the first achievement should be that we are happy with our own stuff, and that's all there, so...

Adrian:  Have you guys ever thought of trying any other medium...to work with, I don't know, enhanced CDs or that kind of thing, or anything...do you do any painting or....

En Esch:  Oh yeah, you know we have different interests and stuff...I mean in the moment we don't use it for the band, basically, you see one of these videos I did, like a long time ago...I am interested in film and stuff like that...but, I didn't really have a chance to ...do more stuff, you know...that's what I would like to do in the future...and Gunther Schultz, for example, is an excellent photographer, you know what I'm saying, he has his camera loaded and around all the time...

Adrian:  In closing, where do you see KMFDM going in the future...is there anything else you'd like to explore, any other way you want to see the music head towards...anything, for that matter, you'd just like to say?

En Esch:  We're just on tour now...it's sometimes hard to think about anything else...I'm pretty sure that we are going to be creative...and we have a good future is what I'm saying, and I'm not sure how it looks at the moment, but you know, I'm pretty sure we'll never run out of creativity or ideas, that's for sure...

Adrian:  Was there anything you'd like to say to anyone out there in Netland or whatever...any [gripes] or anything, you just want to get off your chest?

En Esch:  Just one thing...my over-all rule, "Honesty is the key."

[Editor's Note:  I took the phone and thanked En Esch for calling and giving us an interview.  I hope you enjoyed reading it.]

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