A Dirty Dozen with ERIK H from SPANKTHENUN – August 2019

According to a recent press release: “USA electro/industrial artist SPANKTHENUN proudly announces the release of their digital EP, Mind Control.  The EP features remixes by Leaether Strip and iVardensphere.   Also revealed is the new visualizer clip for the Leaether Strip remix of the song, “Rotting Meat.” SPANKTHENUN is an electro/industrial group focused on bringing big catchy beats, hooky synth lines and catchy lyrics to dark music. Sometimes you will get pulsing EBM designed to shake the club, like the collaboration with legendary EBM band Leæther Strip, “Rotting Meat (Mind Control).” Or you will get an old-school Industrial beat programmed like a trap/hip hop beat with a vocal track reminiscent of early goth and industrial records from decades past, like “The Clock” off of their initial release Regression Complex now on Spotify and iTunes.” We get SPANKTHENUN to discuss new music, influences, and much more…

1. Tell us a little about your latest release.  What might a fan or listener not grab the first or second time they listen through?  Are there any hidden nuggets the band put in the material or that only diehard fans might find?

Our latest release is the second single/EP leading up to our full length release later in the year. This one is focused on exploring different constructs of the same song in very different ways. Our fans know to expect the unexpected. This new single “ROTTING MEAT” has two amazing club re-interpretations by masters of the industrial EBM game. First up we have the Leather Strip mix which is destined to a staple in clubs everywhere… the refrain “Mind Control” should be ubiquitous with this release within weeks. The next club interpretation is from iVArdenpshere, who really have taken it up a notch… were Leather Strip focused on the refrain of “Mind Control,” just a bridge in the original… iVardensphere has gone all in with the “Rotting Meat” chant at the end of the song, making it a worthy chorus through out this mix. Another great contender for a favorite in the clubs. Long time fans will immediately recognize the deep cut of “Spiderbaby” on this release, this is a new reinterpretation that has modernized a classic live show gem. A fun song with lots of glitchy and broken bits added in to give it an incredible energy.

2. What got you into music, and can you tell us about the moment you realized you wanted to be a musician?

It was really an escape to get away from “real life”, a way to hide away and do something besides video games and talking to people you would rather ignore. I can’t say I ever wanted to be a musician, making music is just something that I started doing as a joke and then for fun.

3. Building on that, is there a specific song, album, performer, or live show that guided your musical taste?

For this latest work it was really about creating big hooky beats for the club scene… that would also be fun to play live. It was a chance to get back to what I felt has been missing in the industrial darkwave scene for a long time… energy and creativity. A lot of bands from the 90’s have been resurfacing some are killing it, like PIG, one of my favorites out there. The new energy and creativity he has is next level… he is doing some of his best stuff right now. I reached out to Claus Larsen who I had met a year or so ago for this one, because I knew I had a song he would love and do something magical too… I like to sync up the right songs with the right musicians so they are inspired as well.

4. Who would be your main five musical influences?

I tend to look to producers rather than bands. Timberland is one of my favorite producers of all time, the stuff he does really pushes the pop envelope into the territory I more accustomed to… he and Pharrell keep doing cool stuff to really cross over the lines of what is acceptable in everyday music. Atticus Ross is another long time favorite, even though I feel like he has settled in a groove the last few years that I don’t like. Everyone in Bauhaus has been a major influence on everything we do, you can hear some Peter Murphy in The Clock off of the last release. You can hear Danny and David on several cuts here and there. In fact it was David J that actually inspired me to get out and make a go of this the last couple of years. We spent some good quality time just talking music and life and how he too has really found a new emergence of creativity in the last few years… again doing some of his best stuff now.

5. If you could call in any one collaborator to do a song with, who would it be, and why?

Right now, I really want to work with Sascha Konietzko of KMFDM, I feel like he is ripe for his re-emergence. The mid-90’s were his best work, and I think he has a couple more in him that could be his best and I want to be there when it happens. I want to help drive it. I would also love to sit in a studio for a few weeks with the guys from Front Line Assembly or any of the Ministry alumni and do some cool shit.

6. How would you describe your music to someone who’d never listened to you before? What is the one comparison a reviewer or fan has made that made you cringe or you disagreed with?

Most non-industrial dark wave fans, immediately go to Nine Inch Nails, but there is nothing except a few bars in a remix of “Rotting Meat” that even compares sonically at all. Our fans tend to hear bits and pieces of our influences and call them out… like, that sounds like Nitzerebb or Bi-god 20 but our style is unique and every evolving.

7. What’s the best thing about being a musician?

Creating stuff. I think it was Prince who said he made more songs for himself just to listen to in the car by himself than he did for the public. Also, I have heard stories about how different that music he made was from what we are used to from him. So, making music is the best part, something that lives forever. Seeing someone like Prince, who is a master of his craft, put his touch on a classic Radiohead song, that is what makes we want to create.

8. When the band are all hanging out together, who cooks; who gets the drinks in; and who is first to crack out the acoustic guitars for a singalong?

We hate that acoustic guitar hippy dippy bullshit, plus I suck at playing guitar. We drink, show up at other peoples houses and generally procrastinate before we sit down and start creating. I am the organizer, if I don’t plan it out, it doesn’t happen at all. But, it’s a bonus being a good cook to and having a great bar at home… it makes it easier to get everyone over to jam.

9. When was the last time you were star struck and who was it?

I generally don’t get star struck. Its more of an opportunity moment for me… like what can I do with this moment right now to add value to what we are both all about. But when I had a chance to meet Peter Murphy last year, it was tough to focus and talk because it was just so surreal.

10. If you weren’t a musician, what would be your dream job?

As long as I am creating, I am happy. In fact when I do find other creative outlets it severely effects my music production level negatively.

11. Looking back over your career, is there a single moment or situation you feel was a misstep or you would like to have a “do over”, even if it didn’t change your current situation?

I love where the music is now… but I wish I had made the leap to make it real and share it earlier. I don’t know if I would be able to start with the caliber I am putting out today, but I should’ve just done it.

12. If you could magically go back in time and be a part of the recording sessions for any one record in history, which would you choose – and what does that record mean to you?

Metallica’s Black album, their sound changed so much at that time and there were so many personal things going on, it would have been amazing to be a fly on the wall. Although it would have been challenging since it took months in different places tracking people down to get it done… but it would have been life changing. But, any Bowie album from the late 70s through mid 80s would be magical.

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Category: Interviews