[kj] Time Out

[jpwhkj at aol.com]

I've been meaning to post this since, er, February, when it appeared.  
Anyway, for non-London gatherers, Time Out is a London entertainment 
magazine, and way back in February, they featured "10 things... you 
might not know about Killing Joke".

Not much that's new (except the implication that Killing Joke were 
pro-CND!) but for what it's worth...


10 things...
You might not know about Killing Joke. By John Lewis

1. Singer Jaz Coleman was born in Cheltenham to a high-caste Bengali 
mother and an English father. He was a distinguished violinist and 
choirboy as a child.

2. Jaz fled to Iceland in 1982, believing that the apocalypse was 
imminent. He has since lived in Leipzig, Cairo, Tahiti, Budapest, 
Switzerland, and New Zealand. He claims to hold four passports.

3. Killing Joke bassist Youth once tried to start a fight with 
journalist Paul Morley after a bad review. 'Luckily he was so drunk 
that he slipped on some beer and fell to the floor,' says Morley.

4. Youth's baffling list of credits as a producer includes Marilyn 
Manson, Tom Jones, Bananarama, Blue Nile, James, Crowded House, PJ 
Harvey, The Verve, Nick Cave, U2, Axl Rose and Paul McCartney.

5. After noting similarities between Killing Joke's 'Eighties' and 
Nirvana's 'Come As You Are', KJ started legal action, but dropped it 
after Kurt Cobain's death. Jaz has since guested with the Foo Fighters, 
while Dave Grohl was drummer on KJ's eponymous 2003 album, which was 
produced by Gang Of Four's Andy Gill.

6. Other bands who've cited KJ as an influence include The Cult, Pearl 
Jam, Faith No More, Nine Inch Nails, Ministry, Skinny Puppy, Metallica, 
Soundgarden and even Kate Bush. The Darkness attended a recent KJ show 
in Camden, KLF's Bill Drummond tried to join KJ after Jaz fled to 
Iceland, and The Orb's Alex Paterson was a KJ roadie.

7. KJ used to be joined on stage by a fire-eater. His name was Dave The 
Wizard. 'Fire is symbolic of the will to power,' declared Jaz.

8. Legendary East German conductor Klaus Tennstedt described Jaz 
Coleman as 'the new Mahler'. Jaz was composer-in-residence for the New 
Zealand Symphony Orchestra, and has written for the LSO, the Budapest 
Symphony Orchestra and the Czech Philharmonic, as well as working with 
Nigel Kennedy, Anne Dudley and Sarah Brightman.

9. Jaz's brother Piers is a professor of theoretical physics at Rutgers 
University in New Jersey. In 2003 Piers and Jaz were commissioned to 
write 'Music Of The Quantum', a piece uniting art, mysticism and 
science.

10. KJ played CND benefits in the '80s, and Jaz is a fierce opponent of 
the current Iraq war, but he also likes guns, collects Nazi and Vietnam 
militaria, and is heavily into survivalism.

Killing Joke play the Shepherd's Bush Empire on Thur and Fri.