Boyd Kant: I've heard the new album (Pornographic Messiah) has different artwork on the American version than the imported versions…

Valor: Yes, different artwork, different arrangements, it's been mastered differently, different edits. There's a Mexican/south American version that actually has different performances on it…bits in Spanish, and again, a different cover on that one. There have been three different European versions since it was first released, available on Trinity records. The first version sold out in Germany after the first pressing, and in the middle of that pressing, the album was banned, there was a four month hiatus before they could get it back out again, this time with a different cover, and a box packaging. Since then, they have come up with another configuration, which I don't like at all.

B: Was it censored quite a lot?

V: Well, it was censored at two different inceptions, it was censored before it was even released in that the Dutch pressing plant - and the Dutch, as you know, are very liberal when it comes to prostitution and drugs, and that sort of thing. Yet, when it came time to print the albums, the pressing plant took one look at the artwork and refused to press the albums. So then, there was this mad dash to find a new manufacturer, but word had gotten around from the Dutch plant about the album, and no other plants would touch it with a ten-foot pole. Finally, we got the label that did Sex And Drugs And Jesus Christ, Jungle records (U.K.), to press it for us. The next ban was after the release. The album actually sold out after about a week, but a lot of stores began to boycott it; then in Germany, a certain bishop called together a meeting with the state censorship board, and the album was banned. Then Holland followed suit, and it was banned there, as well. It was available for awhile in France, but since the album was being manufactured in England through a German company, it turned into this big political problem, due to the German ban, so the album was not available anywhere for about four months- after it initially sold out. Then we finally bypassed the censorship by releasing the album with a mellower cover.

B: That's surprising, you'd expect that sort of thing more from the U.S. than over there.

V: Well, we didn't even attempt to release the original album cover in the U.S.; we used an alternative version of the artwork that we gave to the German label. The Germans didn't particularly like the original back cover of the album, so we used that piece for the front cover, and we sent an alternative version of the back cover, which we really liked, to Cleopatra. That became the front cover in the U.S. version, and inside the album we managed to sneak the original banned cover, which is the picture of Jesus Christ doing it doggie-style. And we haven't had any problems with that one yet, I suppose because it isn't directly on the cover. That's what really gets people, what they immediately see- the front cover, that's what got everyone all wound up in the first place- the front cover.

B: So, the European version is actually the tamest?

V: Yes, and, believe it or not, the South American version is the most explicit, go figure.

B: Yeah, that's strange- seeing how it's such a Catholic region.

V: Exactly. You know, in this country, it's not really the Catholics that have been giving us a hard time, it's mostly the newer religions, such as the born-again Christians.

B: You seem to be very interested in religion.

V: Yes, I am.

B: Why is that?

V: I'm interested in religion, because I'm interested in man. Because I'm interested in myself. So… in order to better understand myself, I study the species that I am part of, and what brings mankind together. I've delved into anthropology, and archaeology and really anything that might help me find the answers to my questions about man.

B: How did you get involved with Cleopatra? Wasn't Prophecies your first album with them?

V: Yes, the first "official" Christian Death album with Cleopatra was Prophesies.

B: Wasn't there an album previous to that one, a mostly live one, with a few tracks featuring Rozz Williams' vocals- Tales of Innocence?

V: That was something I had nothing to do with, it was released completely without my approval, and when I found out about it, there was a bit of a dispute. I have since gotten control of it, but initially I had to take action concerning that album. The end result was that I allowed Cleopatra to continue releasing it, provided I did have control over it, but I really wasn't really thrilled about that album. It's junk! (Laughs)

B: It didn't have very good sound quality.

V: No, it didn't, I would never release something like that.
(Apparently Valor has forgotten about All the Love and All the Hate, both very unfortunate.)

B: Did that spark the deal with Cleopatra?

V: Well, they're very well known for paying out royalties pretty regularly, which is not that common of an occurrence for most record companies, and that really impressed me. But, initially we had a problem with them putting out records under the name Christian Death that were legally not supposed to be released as such, so our relationship really started in a negative way.

B: What was the legal stuff about?

V: They (Cleopatra) were releasing albums with Rozz Williams, claiming to be Christian Death, several years after he had left the band, and he didn't have any legal right to the name. He also caused them problems, because he had already previously signed a contract with Triple X records, and then he signed a multiple-deal contract with Cleopatra. Then Triple X sued Cleopatra, so, between the legal fees, and the money Cleopatra lost with the useless contract, they (Cleopatra) ended up never paying Rozz Williams any money for the albums he recorded under the name Christian Death. And Cleopatra was also going to fight to the death with us over Tales, because they felt it was simply another means of getting their money back, they felt Rozz had stiffed them. To this very day they are making money from those recordings, nothing has ever been paid to his family, or estate, or anything. Actually, he didn't really even have an estate, because he died a pauper. I'm fairly certain he was poor, because he really didn't have very good business sense, you know. He just loved life. He wanted to have fun, and "live today, die tomorrow" was his attitude.

B: Did you get a chance to talk to him before his death?

V: No. (Pause) No, not within that time period, I hadn't spoken to him for a long period of time… and I think that's why his death really bothered me. You know, there are a bunch of people out there who are total morons and say we were enemies- we were never enemies, the last time we spoke to each other, we were friends. I was very angry when he did what he did, but…you know. We only ever spoke once afterward- he did a show as Christian Death long before he started using the name with Cleopatra, we got a call from someone asking us if we were really playing that night, and I was like "No, that's impossible…". So I called the venue and asked the owners what was going on, if they were trying to pull some sort of bogus advertising, and the guy is telling me that he just spoke with the lead singer! So I finally got Rozz on the phone, and I said to him "What are you doing?" and he starts telling me "Look, I needed the money, I was persuaded to do this, and you know, I really don't even want to do this Christian Death shit. And I won't do it again." Those were his exact words. So I said to him "Look, you're messing with my livelihood. When you left the band you left us in a very bad situation, and we carried on and worked very hard for this and I don't need you to do this kind of shit." And he said he understood, and unfortunately I think he was persuaded yet again by other people in the end, I don't think it was all his doing, I think certain people were leeching off his name and his reputation…and his potential to exploit the situation. And so he signed the contracts and did the albums and they weren't very good quality. That's what really upset me the most, that and the fact that he had no consideration for the rest of us whatsoever. He wanted to assume that he retained some rights to the band after he left, but that wasn't the case, we had all explained to him that we put a lot of time and money into this, I personally had sunk my entire college savings into our first European tour, which was a huge investment that I never got back, and he decided to split right before the second tour. Back then we were only well known in Paris and LA, but we had managed to scrape together enough money for the second tour to promote the (Ashes) album.

The record companies were giving us ridiculous advances of like, $1,000.00 to set up an entire tour, which was nearly impossible! Nevertheless, after Rozz left we continued to work very hard to build ourselves an international reputation, and later on all these people started capitalizing on the fact that they were in the "original" Christian Death. The fact was the name was irrelevant unless we'd made it a valuable commodity, and we had already copyrighted the name anyway. And yes, Rozz had his stories of how he just misunderstood the situation, and this and that, but the fact of the matter is that Gitane, David, and myself were the band at the time. Rozz was invited into our band Pompeii 99, and some French guy who liked the "Theatre Of Pain" album persuaded us to use the name Christian Death. There was a lot of debate among us about the move, and even Rozz didn't really want to use the name, but we decided to use it and decided that if anyone leaves they forfeit their right to such.

Now Gitane is slagging me to the press, saying that I persuaded Rozz into this and that, which is a total lie, she's never done this up until now, now that I suppose she's realized the value of her involvement with Christian Death after a failed career in jazz. She's gotten together with people like William Faith, who was in the bogus version of Christian Death… and by the way, I've never even met most of these people, I've never met William Faith or Eva O., yet they insist on wringing me out to the press and calling me an asshole! And to continue in this trend, Gitane has found it rather convenient to accuse me of ruining Rozz Williams and picking on him, when she had just as much to do with it as I did! No one seems to have a problem with either David or Gitane, I'm the last one holding the name Christian Death so it would seem that I'm the scapegoat and it's really unfair.

B: But at least you can say you never turned your back on Christian Death…

V: It's been my life since day one. I gave up everything that I ever possibly wanted to do because I decided that this band was going to be everything for me.

At this point, the conversation winds back to the subject of his former bandmates, and, of course, Rozz Williams. He tells me of an occasion shortly before the singer's death when Williams expressed interest in meeting with Valor through a close mutual friend, but then shied away for some unknown reason. He also admits regret over not seeing the man he considered "his friend up until the end" for one last time. And then the interview is abruptly ended by the arrival of an ill-intended tow truck driver- it seems the tour bus is blocking the alley and must be moved or removed, and so off Valor sprints in search of the tour driver. After all, the show must go on…

Boyd Kant