[kj] KJ for MTV: Before and.....

[Alexander Smith]

Well, folks, here it is.... the edit wasn't *TOO* bad, all things  
considered.

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1530113/20060503/index.jhtml? 
headlines=true

Do me a fave and hit it repeatedly. Multiple page clicks ensure that  
the story "does well".

Cheers,
Alex in NYC




On May 3, 2006, at 5:50 PM, Alex Smith wrote:

> Indulge me for a moment, my siblings....
>
> So, I handed in my Killing Joke piece (which is set to publish on  
> MTVNews.Com tomorrow at 6am), and was summarily told to cut it down  
> by several hundred words. In any case, I begrudgingly did so and  
> have since handed it back in (and the editor will invariably  
> CONTINUE to make cuts to it). Not that it really matters, but  
> here's my story IN ITS ORIGINAL, UNEDITED GLORY for that elite  
> smattering of you tolerant enough to sift through my overwritten  
> fluff. When the finished piece goes up, I'll let you know --- and  
> ask you to kindly hit it and KEEP hitting it so that it "does  
> well."  Thanks! - Alex in NYC
>
> Here's what it might have been:
>
> Their music has amassed disciples ranging from Nine Inch Nails and  
> Soundgarden through Kate Bush and the LCD Soundsystem. Their songs  
> have been covered by everyone from Metallica to Sarah McLachlan,  
> and there was even a mash-up of one of their singles with Christina  
> Aguilera’s "Make Over" making the rounds not too long ago. Despite  
> this, Killing Joke, one of the more notorious bands to have risen  
> from the smoldering pyre of late 70’s British Punk, is not a  
> household name here in the States. Lead singer Jaz Coleman,  
> laughing down the phone from Cologne, Germany, where the band are  
> currently touring to promote their latest album, Hosannas from the  
> Basements of Hell, isn't bothered. "I get a fucking CD every week  
> with a Killing Joke cover song --- and they all go in the bin."
>
> "We don’t have anything to do with fucking fashion! We’re a sound  
> and a lifestyle. HAHAHAHA!" Coleman, the self-christened "Black  
> Jester," has a disconcerting tendency to punctuate his frequent  
> declarations with a robust laugh that suggests a tenuous grasp on  
> sanity. For nearly three decades, Coleman, along with guitarist  
> Geordie Walker, has been preoccupied with musically defining the  
> malaise of the atomic age. Fusing the stealth and aggression of  
> punk to the weighty wallop of heavy metal and a relentless tribal  
> beat, Killing Joke has managed to elude classification over twelve  
> studio albums in their quest to emulate, in the words of original  
> drummer, Big Paul Ferguson, "the sound of the earth vomiting."
>
> For Hosannas..., Killing Joke converged in Prague to break things  
> down to their rudimentary elements. "This album, for me, is really  
> special," explains Jaz, "because we all went collectively to Prague  
> and hammered out loads of demons and had a great time with the  
> beautiful excesses that a beautiful city like Prague provides. We  
> recorded at will in an inferior studio with a wine cellar below it,  
> where we actually put the drums down…. I think it was probably one  
> of the most honest Killing Joke albums, if you’re looking at the  
> band’s collective input. Everyone hammered out their demons. It was  
> a huge pressure on everyone. HAHAHAHA!"
>
> The end result is collection of music that finds the band in feral  
> form, anchored by Geordie Walker’s signature guitar maelstrom.  
> "Killing Joke’s never been better," Jaz enthuses. "Working with  
> Geordie Walker – he’s a magic player. He’s one of those guitarists  
> who sound like fucking eight guitarists. There’ll never be anyone  
> like him. It’s my deepest pleasure to have spent more years with  
> him and more time with him than my own blood brother." Coleman’s  
> foil throughout all of the band’s incarnations, Geordie provides an  
> inimitable style, with an emphasis on chugging riffs and harmonics  
> rather than masturbatory soloing. The rhythm section, however, has  
> taken on a rate of attrition comparable to vintage Spinal Tap.  
> Since afore-mentioned original drummer, Ferguson, left the band in  
> 1987, their drum stool has fleetingly played host to Martin Atkins  
> ( Public Image Ltd., Ministry , Pigface), Ted Parsons (Swans,  
> Prong) and even former Nirvana sticksman, erstwhile Foo Fighter and  
> Killing Joke superfan, Dave Grohl. Grohl leant his talents to their  
> eponymous 2003 album, putting to rest the simmering hostility  
> between Killing Joke and Nirvana following a lawsuit over the  
> similarity between Nirvana’s "Come As You Are" to Killing Joke’s  
> "Eighties" that was dropped after Kurt Cobain’s death.
>
> Boasting a history fraught with bouts of madness, violent in- 
> fighting, flirtations with the occult, multiple changes in line-up  
> and flights to the far corners of the earth (Coleman, who currently  
> resides on an undisclosed island somewhere in the South Pacific,  
> once infamously jumped ship from the band in the early 80’s,  
> retreating to Iceland when he became convinced that the world was  
> about to end), Killing Joke may not have achieved global dominance,  
> but their songs appear on countless punk, goth and industrial  
> compilations, and last year, they won popular British heavy metal  
> magazine, Kerrang’s "Lifetime Achievement" award. "I was only 45  
> when I got it," laughs Coleman. "That’s probably the youngest  
> lifetime achievement award you’re going to get. And we never  
> expected gongs or shit like that. Everyone knows who we are.  
> Everyone knows from Jimmy Page right on through the rest of’em. You  
> don’t have to shout out about it."
>
> The latest development in the band’s soap opera, meanwhile, is the  
> departure of bassist Paul Raven, who fled the nest just prior to  
> the album’s release in April to tour with Ministry. "Paul is always  
> part of our family," counters Coleman. "Always, right? To be  
> perfectly frank, what we have here is geographical differences.  
> Paul has got commitments to his children and his gorgeous lady [in  
> the States] and we’re completely at peace with him working with  
> "our Al," Al Jourgensen, who I’ve known for years since he was a  
> young lad at our early gigs. I’m very happy for them. It’s the  
> extended family. The only thing I really regret about it is not  
> smoking some cigars with my old mate, Raven, at the moment, but  
> that’ll come later. HAHAHAHAHA!"
>
> A study in contradiction, Jaz Coleman thrives on polarity. When not  
> onstage with the band, exhorting as a war-painted harbinger of  
> doom, he’s an accomplished composer who has worked with some of the  
> world’s most revered symphony orchestras, revised the national  
> anthem of New Zealand and scored films for Walt Disney. But it’s  
> his work with the `Joke that gives him balance. "For me, Killing  
> Joke will always be how I deal with my anger," he says gravely, "… 
> how I deal with waking up to this world where we’re just basically  
> destroying everything. It’s how I deal with my sleep deprivation,  
> because I can’t fucking ever seem to sleep without sedatives. It’s  
> how I deal with these things. I guess, for me, it has a social  
> function. It’s my exorcism, it’s my catharsis and it is a  
> tradition, and not just for me. There’s actually quite a lot of  
> people out there who love the ceremony of it also."
>
> To celebrate that love of ceremony, Killing Joke embarked on an  
> anniversary tour last year, culminating with the release of a live  
> album and DVD, XXV Gathering. "Well, actually, this is our 28th  
> year," asserts Jaz, "and we actually did three recordings before  
> that 25th Anniversary [one], so someone’s cheating me out of  
> fucking two years of my life, -- and it I think it was the  
> promoter." Fuzzy math notwithstanding, Jaz acknowledges the band’s  
> longevity. "Twenty-five years sounds like a marriage, doesn’t it?  
> HAHAHAHA! It’s harder than fucking marriage. .HAHAHAHA. And I  
> should know. I just got my last divorce last year, and now I’m back  
> with her. Do I get my money back? HAHAHAHA!"
>
> With the intent of always looking forward, Coleman is currently  
> plotting both a summer tour of the States and another album, but  
> looks beyond that as well. "There are so many things I want to do,"  
> he gushes. "I’d like to do one year working for the Green party in  
> New Zealand, and possibly the experience of a political career.  
> Because, I’m a Green. Even Bill Clinton’s a Green these days. Slick  
> Willie – ya gotta love him, haven’t ya? HAHAHAHA! We’ve got to do  
> something about this fucking planet. My response is to get rid of  
> fan clubs and start eco-villages with sustainable resources.  
> There’s a Killing Joke movie coming out. We’ve got one scene left  
> to shoot on it, and it’s done. It’s taken eight years of my life to  
> put it together, but that’s good fun. I’m working on a big  
> Hollywood movie soundtrack at the end of the year, and then I’m  
> moving to Sydney and working with a great Australian orchestra.  
> Life’s colorful, what can I say? Get the barbecue out. Let’s go  
> fishing! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
>
> For a man who has made his name predicting the apocalypse, Jaz  
> Coleman is incongruously optimistic. "Watching the world go nuts,"  
> laughs Jaz, "that's important because it reminds you to eat, drink  
> and be merry with the people you love, because sometimes that's the  
> only way out of this madness!"
>
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