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Current 93
Discorder Magazine September 1986

The first time I heard Current '93 was a bit like having every nightmare I'd ever had made manifest. Here at last was music which made no attempt to entertain or distract from all that which is horrible in our lives. Using tape loops, strident voices that shriek from every dark corner of the human psyche, repetition that becomes a giant wheel that slowly turns and turns and turns each time a little more off balance, a little more febrile-the music is a relentless statement of power and hopelessness.

The idea of predicting the end of the world through music is not a new one. Recently there have been a number of bands who tell of the imminent collapse through their album liner notes and their lyrics and their dance hits-they don't convince. By comparison they are revealed for what they are not: prophets of doom? Never.

I had to know more so I wrote to David Tibet 93, enclosing a blank cassette to record his reply. The return letter began most inauspiciously:

"Dear Brethren:
We very much dislike doing interviews; for what reason, to what end? To relieve ignorance? To provide fun? To be approachable? To have our ideas stolen?"

I held little hope for the cassette, but happily all my posed questions were answered. The following are extracts from the tape and the letter.

The Current's music seems to involve different people from project to project. Do you have a core of artists to which you add or subtract? How does it all work?

DAVID TIBET 93: What happens is that the Current partakes of a specific nucleus, which is myself and Steven Stapleton. There have always been other people that I have used as much as possible, but it depends on their projects because they are all in groups as well-so really Current 93 is made up of myself, Steve Stapleton from Nurse With Wound, John Balance from Coil, Rose McDowall from Strawberry Switchblade, Dru McDowall, Hilmar Örn Hilmarsson, formerly of Psychic TV... so what I'm able to do depends largely on their availability to partake in a particular recording session. That having been said, Steve Stapleton has been involved in everything, and I hope will continue to be, because I would find it impossible to do any of it without Steve. There is a lot of collaboration between the people I use because we all tend to be friends and see each other socially as well as having similar ideas or similar interests-which doesn't necessarily mean that the music is similar.

What kinds of instruments and equipment do you use?

Heavy electronic effects-we don't use emulators, we don't use synthesizers, we do use guitar quite a lot, bass, drums, fairly conventional setup in a sense; but we do use a lot of electronic vocal effects and devices: harmonizers, special reverb units, special sorts of echo. Current 93's music has always been based on the pre-eminence of a vocal quality. My music can be easy or not; but the music has always come to me easily. I never found it a long process-a frustrating process, perhaps, but not painful, because it's always a result of pain that's gone before-so it's a way of exorcizing the pain. The Current has always been my means of hearing externally those things that I don't like to keep inside of me. if you keep to much inside, you go fucking crazy-so better out than in, don't you think?

Who do you listen to?

I'll give you an idea, but obviously the music I listen to will depend on what mood I'm in: Gregorian Chants-especially Armenian, Tibetan Ritual Music, piano music by Erik Satie, Billie Holiday, myself, Crass, 13th Floor Elevators. Seeds, Death in June, some classical music-the Faure Requiem which I used a loop of on 'the Mystical Body of Christ in Choraziam', early Alice Cooper, Carl Orff-but not Carmina Burana-dear God-not Carmina Burana, Black Sabbath when Ozzy Osbourne was with them, Prince, Metallica, Love, Wagner, Nick Drake, Boyd Rice (aka NON).

There seems to be a dramatic change from the early single 'Lashtal' to Nature Unveiled, was there an event or change in your approach which might account for that?

The first thing that's probably worth mentioning is that a very close friend mine and I were both about to have children about three years ago. Both children died before they were born. One of them was aborted because of the involvement of Paul's wife in a motorcycle accident-the other one was aborted because the person involved obviously didn't like me very much and didn't like the idea of carrying on the carrion of this earth. Both Paul and I had planned separately to call them Maldoror. neither, needless to say, eventually got the name because both were flushed down various toilets in various parts of the world. This is when the song 'Maldoror is Dead' came about. Nature Unveiled was the first project after I left Psychic TV and parted ways with 23 Skidoo. I was now following my own direction without having to agree or change even slightly according to other people's views. It was a project based on things that came to obsess me more and more: the imminence of the apocalypse, the imminence of the final conflict, the imminence of the fucking end...and that's something i still feel now-that we are coming to the end...whether you look at it in religious terms, political terms or in nuclear terms, it doesn't matter a fuck. I think people have got to prepare themselves for this conflict, for this finality. If they don't, they're dead. They're probably dead already, and maybe they don't care. Maybe they'd rather not live in the word that's to come. But whatever the truth is, they should start thinking about it now...that's immediately-because there isn't much time left and there's no hiding from the black bird.

What about Dog's Blood Rising? There seems to be a variety of styles here.

Dog's Blood Rising was different because there were various periods coming together in that. 'Christus Christus' and 'Jesus wept' were both carryovers from the Nature Unveiled feeling. "Falling Back in the Fields of Rape' was were my interests and mood were starting to change slightly- it wasn't that I was leaving the old mood behind; but I was getting more involved with the ideas of the modern apocalypse, so that track was heavily based on the German attack on Russia and the general idea of violence committed toward women in a magical sense. There was also a heavy influence of the ideals of the threshing floors, harvesting, reaping, the corn being taken in, connecting again with fertility rites, the earth, the earth goddess, the horned god. The last piece, Simon & Garfunkle's 'the Sounds of Silence,' was a song I always wanted to do because it always depressed me a lot and those are my favorite sorts of songs.

Current 93 had nor released a picture disc entitled On Menstrual Night. what's it like?

On Menstrual Night is based on nightmares, on little girl's voices, on acid, on wondering where dreams go when they die. it should be listened to at 2:00 in the morning for optimum effect. It's the work that I'm most happy with so far.

I read a piece of literature from L.A.Y.L.A.H, which said, among other things that Nurse with Wound were a Christian group who meet once a week. Critics seem to have thrown you in the same bag, as it were. Other seem to be skeptical.

The Nurse with Wound piece about Christians was based on a press release which I sent out which was a total mistake. Steve Stapleton told me to withdraw, which I did. Steve doesn't have any interest whatsoever in religion or magick, so he was a bit pissed off. Other reviewers may well lump us into the same bag; but they are obviously wrong-because Nurse With Wound aren't Christians, nor am I. Christian apocalypse has always obsessed me, but so do other things.

I read an interview with Steve Stapleton in Unsounds in which he totally condemned the idea of playing in public. How do you feel about live gigs?

Steve Stapleton has always hated live performances-always will. I think it's highly unlikely that he will ever play in any sort of live scenario again, unless he's mixing a Current 93 show. I quite like the idea of live performances under very special, very definite circumstances; but it's difficult to get people who are ready to put out the time and money to ensure that these circumstances are as correct as possible. Add to that, that fact is the average Current 93 set is about 13 minutes long, which puts promoters off even more, and the fact that we will all never play in London again-apart perhaps from a farewell concert at Bar Maldoror. Why exactly are you going to do a live concert? Is it because you want to impress people with a piece of power or emotionally, or is it because you want to get up on stage for reasons of vanity? If it's the latter, it's a way of getting lost. There are more important things to do with your time.

Where is Current 93 going? What plans do you have taking shape in the way of future releases, etc?

The single which was going to be On Menstrual Night will now probably be called "Happy Birthday Pigface Christus' (so it won't be confused with the picture disc...and we won't lose sales...ahahahahahahaha) It's the Current 93 pop single. Every group must do a pop single=this one's ours. I'm in Brussels at the moment working on an LP for L.A.Y.L.A.H. which we're cutting next month along with the 'Happy Birthday Pigface Christus.' We're not too sure of the title of the LP; but it will not be by Current 93. We're thinking of calling ourselves Aryan Aquayans. should be good for the hippies and the surf-nazies.

We think that in view of the impending End there is very little hope for any of you. It is suggested that in view of this approaching situation, that all of you start considering the methods of survival and victory over those who threaten you. If you love, love selectively or not at all. Are those recipients of your affection worthy of it? Are they using you? Are they your crutch? That which is falling should also be pushed. That which is crawling should also be crushed. There is no hiding from the blackbird...which side are you on? It doesn't matter if they're big or small. There is only one answer-kill them all.

Lots of love
93 Current 93

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