Rob Robinson is what can be called a veteran of the industrial and electronic music scenes, being member of legendary industrial acts BOL, Kevorkian Death Cycle and having participated in Hate Dept. However, in the mid-90’s, his musical output was greatly reduced and he pretty much vanished from sight. He resurfaced in 2005 with the release of the experimental/ambient “Mescaline”, the first album of his solo project Sergeant Sawtooth. Recently, Rob is keeping busy developing Compuwhore, based on synthpop/electroclash instrumentations with rather explicit lyrical content.
C.B. – To get this one sorted from the beginning… What happened between the last Kevorvian Death Cycle album and the release of your solo album “Mescaline”? Why this apparent silence and were you involved in other musical projects in the meantime?
There was a point shortly after BOL stopped playing shows to support “Hate Breeds Hate” (1996) where I couldn’t even listen to other people’s music. I was made completely disinterested by all the constant work, the business side of promoting my projects. Music did nothing for me anymore, no emotional reaction to it at all for years. Finally there were some new projects and styles around 2002-03 that peaked my interest, mainly IDM/electroclash and I slowly began to listen again. I made a couple of uninspired attempts at writing when my good friend Cyrus Rex (IDM solo artist, Annodalleb, Skinny Puppy) encouraged me to get back into it. He was a BOL enthusiast since our ‘hate breeds hate’ release and liked some of the new stuff I was working on. He got me up to date on current technology, I purchased a minimal collection of gear and went to work… the result was ‘mescaline’ that was released on his label.
C.B. – “Mescaline” comes across as rather personal album. How did Sergeant Sawtooth concept develop and what were the main influences behind its genesis?
From the early nineties to mid nineties I enjoyed dark, angry, torture-tech EBM. When getting back into music after my hiatus I preferred dark electro – really into Portishead and had a renewed interest in analog new age like Jean-Michel Jarre. My own music reflected that. at the time of writing ‘mescaline’ I had very intense emotions about a lot of things – unsure of myself, my direction in life, my tolerance to what I considered to be a very unhappy and confining lifestyle. ‘Sergeant Sawtooth’ was by genesis a self therapeutic project. I often didn’t enjoy the process of writing it but did so anyway for reasons outside of the music. Very emotionally charged finally the music seemed to always reflect that in a sombre energy, not dancey at all but a maze of random thoughts trying hard to piece themselves together. Very unlike what I had created in the past but I had no choice but to follow it.
C.B. – Why the drug theme? Perhaps best in the form of a quote, “I think it’s time to discuss your philosophy of drug use as it relates to artistic endeavours”.
Narcotics, addiction, the affect of drugs on the body, the physical reasons for taking drugs, the emotional or intellectual reasons for taking drugs, the ability of someone to override self preservation to voluntarily become altered at one’s own physical expense – all that fascinates me. A friend mentioned the drug mescaline to me, described its effects and it was obvious at that point to create a concept album based on that concept. I had these instrumental compositions I intentionally didn’t name to leave the door open for just that… made sense to me. Drug use as it relates to artistic endeavours – I’ve never been able to write music while altered. I think the people who can do that can create beautiful things, though. I am not against drug use and support freedom of choice in that area as long as it doesn’t cause others harm. It’s a victimless crime (yes I know it can be argued that the user is the victim) not unlike prostitution and should be loosely regulated. Using drugs to inspire music isn’t for me but I support the choice of others to participate in that.
C.B. – You referred to Sergeant Sawtooth as a ‘therapeutic project’ (cathartic, mayhaps?). Being the result and part of the process of acquiring a new taste for music and dealing with personal issues, what will now happen to Sergeant Sawtooth? Will you ‘discard’ it, explore it further in the foreseeable future or store it and pick it up if it’s needed again?
Definitely cathartic. I’m comfortable viewing sergeant Sawtooth on a ‘as needed’ basis. Instead of boxing it into any category I’d prefer to use it to write music that I’m personally interested in at the time. As there is pleasure in writing with a specific intent in mind there is also pleasure in writing just to write. That is what I see sergeant Sawtooth as being – an outlet to explore whatever emotions are being experienced. Before Compuwhore I envisioned another Sawtooth release as being more up-beat with vocals, but now CW has filled that void for me.
C.B. – Now that you’re “back on active status”, what projects are you working on? Any chances of a Kevorkian Death Cycle return of sorts?
Compuwhore is taking all my time at the moment, several hours a day. I talked to roger (Kevorkian death cycle) a couple of nights ago and discussed KDC plans. We’re still very into writing more material and putting out another album, we project work to start on it again in a few months. we’ve been saying that for a couple of years now but I don’t think anybody has lost hope… in fact roger had so much material intended for KDC that never got past his own personal studio that he created another project to release it. He called it Hexrx, teamed up with a new vocalist and they have a full album already with a release date on the horizon. They put the whole thing together in a few months, amazing stuff.
C.B. – One of your most recent projects is Compuwhore. What can you tell us about it?
Compuwhore is Jack Boughner (Contagion, Pinch Point) and I. I’ve always been a fan of Jack’s and when he suggested we start a project together after his own eight year hiatus of not writing anything I jumped at the chance. I was a huge fan of contagion and pinch point back in the day and remain one now, it’s brilliant stuff and the live shows were even better. He and I have been friends for ages, always got along well and the energy we have as a team is driving and wonderful. Compuwhore is my current obsession. If I’m not physically working on it writing or promoting it’s still what I think about constantly, I dream about it. We agree completely on what direction to take – pop structured music, danceable, a little gritty, no guitar, very electronic sounding with fucked up lyrics over the top. We want to grab attention from all sub-cultures, there is a reason to like Compuwhore’s music no matter what you’re into. Our first song ‘sick bitch’ has been online only a couple of weeks and has received a huge response. Two new songs are in the works and the pressure is on to make them as great as the first. Once the three tracks are complete we’ll team them up with some of the remixes being done for us and look at finding representation.
C.B. – Synthpop instrumentations and XXX-rated graphical explicit lyrics. Porn-pop?
The description “porn-pop” is fucking brilliant – thank you sir! Jack and I agree we should use that in describing our music. Releasing a test promotional song has it’s disadvantages – we wanted to see what the response would be to what we were creating. If it didn’t stick we’d re-think things. However it did stick, in a big way, so now we’re a little boxed in, we almost have to follow that path now. At risk of being labelled a one-trick pony we’re keeping the original vibe in mind for future work. Here’s to hoping for future success…
C.B. – What would you refer as influences (musical and otherwise) in the development of Compuwhore? And seeing that we’re at it, what have you been listening to as of late?
Jack and I are both influenced by early 90’s to mid-90’s EBM such as Nitzer Ebb and front 242. We wanted to create something that was club friendly but also interesting enough to play in your car, for example. We shied away from current industrial or power noise trends in favour of a dark and aggressive electronic with manageable song structures. The regained popularity of the club scene as a whole is a really great thing and we think the most heard bands are incredible, we just wanted to take a different angle by creating something that wasn’t the current norm. Bands like Depeche Mode, air, Fischerspooner and Kraftwerk are definitely influences, even early cheesy electronic like Berlin, soft cell which I listen to constantly. As far as content we are inspired by slutty club whores, the drug abusing masses, perverted sex and obscurity of any kind. We don’t concern ourselves with anything that isn’t completely superficial or self-destructive.
C.B. – Considering the contents of Compuwhore, would you say it has (or will have) a purpose of some kind (i.e., a message for example) in the future? That is, beyond being a ‘simple’ musical endeavour.
What are you trying to say? Are you implying that we’re not tackling serious issues? is not prison rape by an inmate named “Hector” or getting a blowjob by Satan qualify as thought provoking subject matter? Actually I’m glad you brought this up – we’re not trying to change the world here. We’re not painting a Picasso. If every possible surface-level nook and cranny is completely exhausted, we may be forced to change gears by incorporating a less than offensive song or two… but we hope the evil of the world will continue to grow for our own personal inspiration.
C.B. – What are your views on the ‘sex industry’ (in America in particular but also in other countries if you feel like it), in particular pornography?
I can’t say I’m very familiar with the business end of pornography – it seems to me a flooded market with lots of hands trying to get a piece of the pie. But that opinion in uninformed… perhaps there is enough money to go around. I personally have no moral objections to it – if a beautiful girl wants to make money getting gang banged by three dudes at the same time but has to get doped up beforehand to tolerate it, I think that’s her choice to make. This seems obvious but anything having to do with a minor or unwilling participant should of course be targeted by law enforcement. Prostitution involving legal age, willing and health conscious individuals should be allowed like any other capitalistic activity.
C.B. – Related to the previous question: the Internet, which, in addition to porn, can also be used as a tool for musician to work and promote themselves. As a musician that has been active before the explosion of the Internet, how useful has this ‘tool’ proven to be? What about the potential drawbacks (file-sharing, piracy)?
“Sick Bitch” has over 3500 plays on Compuwhore’s MySpace in just a couple of weeks – the internet makes it easier to promote, market worldwide and target the ears that enjoy this type of music. Although radio is still integral to promotion it was even more so before, that and magazine ads or direct mail were kind of the only options, cyberspace has changed the rules completely. DJs are still as important as they ever were. The file-sharing issue is a losing battle and not worth fighting – musicians need to find other ways to make money it seems. Tool’s most recent CD has incredible packaging and artwork – were I a Tool fan I would buy the CD simply for that reason. The music industry as a whole needs to adapt and formulate creative solutions to stay alive. The Internet has taken a lot of the responsibility from the hands of record companies and put them in the hands of the artists themselves.
C.B. – The increasingly easy access to music-making software and DYI self-promotion means that potentially anyone can make music. Looking towards the future, what is your perspective on the development of electronic music scenes?
My personal set-up is better than a very well stocked and expensive professional studio that may have existed ten years ago – for less than a thousand dollars. I believe this to be a very good thing – it enables talented musicians that couldn’t express themselves before to now have an outlet. Just like any other entertainment genre the best of the best will always rise to the top – I’m not worried about it becoming too difficult to find good artists in a sea of bad ones simply because ‘anyone can do it’. I’ll admit when prices started to really change I worried initially that it would be harder to make an impression – not so. It still takes the same amount of talent it did before to make good music, better tools notwithstanding.
C.B. – Closing up, thanks for taking the time to answer this interview. Any final comments or requests?
I’m more excited about music now than I have been in well over a decade – it’s a good place to be and at the right time. If I succeed in not alienating every person I know because I’m obsessively working on various musical endeavours I’ll be lucky – so far I’m pissing a lot of people off. But in the twilight of my life when I sit all alone at least I’ll have some MP3s to keep me company. Thank you for all your hard work and helping musicians have a voice, this was a lot of fun.
Relevant links
BOL
Compuwhore
Kevorkian Death Cycle
Sergeant Sawtooth
— interview by Miguel de Sousa, photos and logos used with permission of Rob Robinson (June 2006)