BABES IN BOYLAND INTERVIEW: This is an hour in the life of artist renegate, electro-feminist, uncompromising activist.... DIESEL. (or was it Remi who answered?) of course, we could have named her band first, it would have summed it all up. You would have got the sincerity, the integrity, the political and artistic perspective, the criticism, the refernce... and the humour: PHALLUS UBER ALLES. An hour and no time to waste, if you don't know this band, check them out as soon as possible, but now you're here, you can read this interview first, thanks for your time, dear reader and you, DIESEL (and your work). We hope you'll enjoy the talk: Babes in Boyland : Where and when did you meet? Phallus Über Alles: We (Diesel and Remy) actually met ten years ago in high school in Memphis, TN Babes in Boyland : What is Slave Industries? Can you tell us a little bit more about this artist/activist collective? What do you fight against/for? Are there some feminists in it? Phallus Über Alles: Slave Indvstries is an artist collective that we formed in college with Jayson of Infec+ek, Mason of Exclipsect, and Jeremy of NYX. We all had a communal attitude and shared so much between one another that SI came to reflect that level of camaraderie and kinship. We are most interested in the free exchange of ideas, challenging and questioning everything that we see around us in every arena from politics to music to living. We love to see a multimedia approach and count the painters and clothing designers and graphic designers among us of equal importance with the musicians. In addition, we want to see a total DIY attitude in everything we do and we love the independent spirit that rules the music industry these days. Generally speaking, Slave Indvstries is a leftist collective, but we represent a broad spectrum of political beliefs. There is usually a lot of talk on our forums about issues of politics both domestic and international, military, women’s rights, civil rights and, of course, music and so those are perhaps most broadly the things we fight for and against. As far as we know, men outnumber women in the forums-- something we would like to change-- but among the men, there are quite a few with honorary vaginas. Babes in Boyland : Do you feel strong in a wider, supportive activist community or do you feel isolated, ignored? Phallus Über Alles: It’s a little of both. Activists can be quite clique-ish, as with all identifiable groups, and there have been times when we have felt the burn of a snub because our politics do not perfectly match. On the other hand, the recent US election proved that large bodies of somewhat disparate people can unite under a common objective and, when that happens, it feels so powerful and moving that being a part of it is electrifying. We would love to see more openness among people, less hostility in the sharing of ideas, and we generally want to be a part of a great activist community. Babes in Boyland : Is the collective PUA from driven by a Do It Yourself spirit or not? How/when/why did you manage to create it? Phallus Über Alles: Definitely! That DIY drive most likely stems from our personalities more than anything else, but it has come to be a cornerstone of Slave Indvstries. Particularly in the midst of the Wal-Mart age where quality is sacrificed for affordability, we have come to cherish those things hand-crafted and artisan-made, and we celebrate the creativity and beauty that springs from limited means. We have among us people who have always made their own clothing or fashioned furniture from found objects, built their own musical instruments, or spent fruitful evenings diving in dumpsters for useful items other people have discarded and so, when approaching creating CDs for distribution or promotion of our bands, we tend to do so from a very DIY perspective: what recycled materials can we use for the packaging, where can we paint stencils that would catch people’s eyes, how can we augment our stage shows to make them more memorable for the audience? When we need technology or need an instrument to perform a certain function, we also tend to teach ourselves how to modify it to our own needs. We hope our DIY spirit never dies. Babes in Boyland : What and who influences/-d you as musicians or as lyricists? Phallus Über Alles: We find our influences from sometimes bizarre, sometimes obvious places. Other musicians and genres of music play a prominent role, but they may not always be the kinds of music that one would initially think of... For PÜA, most people recognize the digital hardcore influence, but what they probably don’t hear is how much sound exploration and noise have influenced us or how much video game themes and old blues songs influence us. There is music in everything, and it is our goal to find it. Babes in Boyland : Who does what in the band? Phallus Über Alles: Currently we have three members: Sinderella is our newest addition to our live show, and she plays bass and does second vocals. Remy and Diesel write all of the music. For performances, Remy handles all of the electronics live and Diesel does lead vocals. Depending on the show, either Remy or Diesel also plays the guitar. Babes in Boyland : Do you have specialties, how do you share the different tasks? How do you build up these complex structures, crossing genre boundaries between drum'n'bass, punk, digital Hardcore...? Is it talked about before or do you create by jamming all together? Phallus Über Alles: First off, Sindy is great at getting us gigs and promoting the band… she really is the Queen of Networking. Remy is the production wizard and labors over the minute aural details in the studio, while Diesel usually gets the broad strokes of the song down and then hands it over when she wants outside input or when the computer starts crashing. Usually one of us will get an idea for the way that a song should sound or we hear something elsewhere that really inspires us (a sound, a rhythm, a style of music) so we start working it out on the computer. We keep a running list of song subjects, things that really infuriate or tickle us, and we’ll decide one which one should be the theme of the lyrics. So, we listen to the song and eventually Diesel works out a delivery and lyrics, often times in a matter of minutes. The live instruments are often developed after the song is written, but sometimes we’ll record those instruments directly into the computer if we hear a line that would suit the song. As for the cross-genre sound, it is in some ways deliberate as we are aware that we have a distinctive sound and try to keep that in mind while writing. In other ways, it is spontaneous and seems to be the result of our love of many kinds of music. Babes in Boyland : Are you still in touch with the ones that have left the band? What do they do? Is the band in perpetual mutation? Phallus Über Alles: We do keep in touch with them. All three of the former members are in school at the moment. If at any time any of them wanted to return to the band, we would be more than happy to have them because they all lent so many wonderful talents to PÜA. The band is in many ways in perpetual motion. Diesel and Remy will always remain the core members, but our live line-up seems to change quite a bit as we continue in our nomadic course around the world. That’s often good for us, as it keeps our perspective fresh. Babes in Boyland : Do you feel the recorded part can be limiting on stage as far as improvisation is concerned, or do you feel like it's a rich layer from which you can create a more complex chaotic outlet in the performance? Phallus Über Alles: Having the beats on playback does make the set more rigid than many bands would normally find but we can consult with the laptop just as we could a live drummer to change the track order, at least. We are working on being able to manipulate the beats live (we need a more powerful laptop) so that we do have more flexibility for improvisation, of which we are very big fans. The benefit to having some of the electronic elements as a backing track is that anything we do live only serves to create a fuller, harder sound. We would love to add a live drummer who could augment the electronic beats. Babes in Boyland : What does Phallus Über Alles mean to you? Where is the feminism in that statement? Can you explain a bit more? Phallus Über Alles: Phallus Über Alles is a very tongue-in-cheek statement about the way that the world operates, that the penis is supreme. It was less than a century ago that women were given equal rights to men and so there are many ideas about women that still persist to this day that are summed up in the statement “Phallus Über Alles.” The penis is still over everything, the penis trumps the vagina in the social mind. There is also a certain level of militancy to the name as it is borrowed from “Deutschland Über Alles” by way of “California Über Alles.” Babes in Boyland : The band's name is referring to the nazi nationalist Deutschland Über Alles, and the sickle to communism both being condemned as the repressive male ideologies they are/were by this woman, sitting as she would on a swing. Would you then say that "Iron Woman" refers both to the iron curtain (she could have torn down would it still be up) and to Margaret Thatcher, the Iron Lady... thus widening your criticism of oppressive behaviour to women as well? or should I stop using illegal substances? Phallus Über Alles: We do widen our criticism to women, not so as to bring our fellow women down but to acknowledge that we sometimes help perpetuate the beliefs that oppress us. For instance, whenever a woman blames a legitimate emotional response on her hormones, she is pandering to the perception that we are ruled by our womb, that we are not capable of making the same rational decisions as a non-womb-having man. We sell ourselves short by legitimizing modern day concepts of “hysteria." Babes in Boyland : What did you want to say in the song called ‘the future homemakers of America’? Phallus Über Alles: Those lyrics at the beginning of the song are the actual pledge for the American women’s club Future Homemakers of America. In the middle 20 th century, when home economics and going to college to meet a husband were the paths available to women, the Future Homemakers flourished. We were astonished to read that the pledge still exists to this day and wanted to turn it on its ear and write a more realistic anthem of what it means to be a housewife in America. Babes in Boyland : Is it a reference to Republican Motherhood and the whole "go go to the kitchen, woman" theme of the Cult of Domesticity? Do you feel this is still used in the media to a certain degree? Phallus Über Alles: Very much so! The ideals of this “Cult of Domesticity” (which is a great name, by the way) crop up in discussions of women in the workplace and the belief that a mother should stay at home to raise her children, or in the perception that a woman should have children at all. The ownership of media in America is largely Republican, although I hear most right-wing proponents claim it belongs to the left, and so it stands to reason that, even unconsciously, they would advance outdated perceptions of women’s roles. Babes in Boyland : Was it written before or after Bush’s re-election? What are your views about this re-election? Do you agree with all the Americans that apologized publicly? Phallus Über Alles: Future Homemakers was written before his re-election. We were violently opposed to his re-election, President Bush is not our president and never has been. We firmly believe that the people of the United States did not honestly elect him, nor re-elect him. To that end, we understood why so many Americans apologized to the rest of the world. He and his government are doing irreparable damage and are putting the entire population of the country and the globe in serious danger, not to mention the gross violations of human and civil rights that he, as executive chief, is responsible for. Many Americans feel helpless to do anything about his policies or actions, and a solid half of the nation has no voice and is fearful of repercussions that could arise from speaking out. So they apologized, hoping that the rest of the world would understand that it was out of our hands, that Bush was not representative of his nation. I thought that it was a very moving gesture and we do feel sorry, ourselves, that we were not stronger, that we were not smarter, that we were not able to keep this from happening. Babes in Boyland : How do you see the world’s future? What are your views about its globalization? Phallus Über Alles: Generally speaking, we are fairly optimistic of the future of the world in the long run. The world has always hung in peril from some threat or another and this, too, shall pass. Immediately, however, we are quite apprehensive about the future and worry when the nations that the US has hurt and oppressed will finally retaliate. It is very difficult to see the train coming while being tied to the tracks. We also worry about the impact that globalization will have on the diversity of the planet: environmentally, socially and culturally. Babes in Boyland : In your opinion, in what way can/should individuals get involved in crucial political issues? How can sarcastic apathy be turned into positive action, in other words? Phallus Über Alles: We hear many people, particularly around the election, talk about their disinterest in politics because of the frustration they feel as a result of being unrepresented. We would love to see more people run for local offices, as that is where the real changes in government, policy and social perception can be made. More than anything else, however, open and honest communication is the best way to propagate change. Babes in Boyland : What is your own definition of feminism? Question to Diesel :do you consider yourself a riotgrrrrrrrrrl? Was this movement important to you? Would you please tell us about people (either male or female) who inspired you and empowered you? Phallus Über Alles: Feminism is simply, to us, the belief that women are equal to men. The word has such a negative connotation and we're maybe too young to know precisely how (militant 70's feminists, maybe?) it came to be known as such except that it is a threatening concept to those that celebrate the status quo. It belies a person's insecurities when they feelresentful toward or threatened by the equality of another human. Diesel: I do consider myself a riotgrrl in many ways but I have to admit that it has only been recently that I've come to identify with that movement. I was oblivious to its existence at its height, but I'm enamoured with their spirit and message and think of riotgrrl as a suitable home for me. It's amazing that so many young--14 and 15 year old--girls are joining the movement, it's inspiring and exciting to see a resurgence. I'd love to be on top of it. As for inspiration, everyone names their mother, don't they? My mother is a pretty subservient housewife but she encouraged me, fed me literature and art and music by women with strong female messages. It was through her influence that I became introduced to the women that I count as heroes like Phoolan Devi and Marietta Holley and Gertrude Bell. Babes in Boyland : Do you find it easy to play as a female musician/singer in the States? Phallus Über Alles: Very rarely do we ever encounter hostility because of our gender(s) when we perform. We've found that a fairly large percentage of our audiences really get into the fact that we have a feminist message, only every once in a while have we had to deal with a negative reaction and it always seems to come from the same type of person. We do find that it's difficult to be given respect from fellow musicians where it is readily given to male musicians, particularly in the electronic scenes. Diesel is constantly frustrated when other musicians speak only to Remy or assume that he writes all of the music. Is this different outside of the States? Babes in Boyland : Do you feel like sexism is an issue that is being taken more and more seriously (though still not as serious as racism for example.... for some patriarchal brainwashing reason, in my opinion) or do you feel like we are in a backlash period where women are told "they never had it so good"? Phallus Über Alles: We are definitely in a backlash period. We hear frequently in casual conversations that women, if they want to be considered equal, shouldn't ask for handouts--in the workplace, for instance. The same things are said about race in America and there is often a perception among a certain subset of society that their jobs or their freedoms are being "given" to someone else. Many Americans believe that, because we ourselves did not live through the fight for equality, it must already have been delivered-- which is very much not the case! Prejudice against women and against minorities took untold centuries to develop, and it will take just as long to undo. Overt prejudice is, granted, not nearly as common as it once was but the institutional aspect of it, the all-pervasive social conditioning that causes us to perceive women as inherently weaker than men, that makes us believe in motherhood as the pinnacle of female achievement, that causes us to perceive a hard-nosed, ambitious woman as a bitch are aspects of our cultural prejudice that act to continue to keep women underpaid and unrecognized. Just because the finish line is in sight is not reason enough to stop running the race. Babes in Boyland : Any good shows or difficult ones that you could tell us about? Have you noticed any differences between Europe and the States with the audience? If yes what are they? Phallus Über Alles: Our worst show happened just the other day, actually. It was a last minute gig in a suburb of Detroit. We thought that it would be sparsely attended because of how rushed it was so we were completely surprised to find the parking lot and surrounding streets filled with cars. As we approached the bar, we read a "No Motorcycle Colors Allowed" sign and realized we were playing a biker bar. Then we entered the venue and found an incredibly hostile environment, a table with skinheads right inside the door probably the most frightening sight. As it turned out, we were to be playing with a bunch of metal bands, all with huge gleaming drum sets equipped with double bass pedals, often two guitarists. We weren't even sure that they would know how to run sound for us because we have all of these electronic instruments. We were still willing to play but we were concerned that the audience, which went wild over the Sabbath cover band, would rip us to shreds over any number of things. That was perhaps the most terrifying 4 hours in recent memory and, as fate would have it, we never even got to play! We're looking forward to playing to European audiences in August! We've no experience with it so we can't compare the two continents, but we're very excited to come over. END Visit babesinboyland.info GO BACK