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Interview conducted
in June 2004
LATEST RELEASE:
"Between the Devil..." |
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| |  | |    | | By Christophe Labussière | | Photos all rights reserved |
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Leader of the muscled wing of the EBM of the end of the 80s, Nitzer Ebb and Douglas McCarthy gave this genre its best. Since then, the Englishman has done more subtle and more mature things like his notable participations in Recoil where his unique voice flourished. His recent association with the Frenchman Terence Fixmer, a DJ coming from the techno scene, tries to revive the spirit of Nitzer Ebb with the album "Between the Devil...".
Why doesn't your new project have a real name? Why have you chosen to keep your two names for this project?
Douglas McCarthy: I think Fixmer/McCarthy is a real name! We chose to use our own names partly to make it easier for people to identify what and who the project is about, and partly because we like the look and sound of it.
How did you meet each other? Who was the first to contact the other?
Terence contacted me through my old label Mute after he had been dealing with Seth at Nova Mute. Terence then came to London and played me some tracks, and we decided on two or three that might be interesting to work on in the studio. We then found it so easy to work together that we went on with the process. Terence would send me a disc of tracks, I would choose ones I felt had potential for vocals, and we would communicate by email or phone until I would return to the studio in France to record. This went on for over a year, and we realized we could have a whole album of material. We then released ‘Destroy/Freefall' as a kind of limited white label to see if there was any interest from record companies in what we were doing, and started to play some shows.
When you released the (excellent) album "Big Hit" and then later in your different collaborations (with Recoil etc.), you were into more subtle sounds than at the begining of Nitzer Ebb. Why do you use these "old" (or maybe shall we say outdated or, at least, vintage) sounds again on this new project?
I think one could definitely argue that the sound of ‘Big Hit' was quite deliberately "old", or "outdated", perhaps even to the extent that people did not recognize what Nitzer Ebb were trying to achieve with that album until much later. Whenever I have been involved in the production of music, film or design I can only go with what feelings I, and the collaborators have at the time of making it. By definition it is wrong to approach any creative process in any other way as it ceases to be created by your self, and becomes some kind of democratic second guessing game. All wrong! Creativity by its very nature is a wholly selfish act, where one person feels they want to express something of themselves, and not of some one else.
Is it your idea or Terence's idea to use these "classic" Nitzer Ebb's sounds?
It's obvious that Terence has been at least partly influenced by NE's earlier style with his own style of music, but it's wrong to suggest that his music is a direct copy of that period. I hear pure Terence Fixmer.
And why the name of this project is not Nitzer Ebb?
I think Daniel Miller and Bon Harris would have a thing or two to say about that don't you?
What are the differences between "Between the Devil" and the "old" Nitzer Ebb records?
Terence Fixmer.
When you were in Nitzer Ebb, electronic/EBM bands didn't think, as they do now, about the influence of their songs on the dancefloors. Did you think about people dancing on your music while working on this album?
It's not the album I'd reach for while having a quiet candle lit meal with my girlfriend! Of course the album is a dance album, so some thoughts were that people might, in due course, dance to it.
Have you ever been interested in the techno/rave scene?
I'm not very strict when I go to a club. In Shoreditch, where I live in London the scene is very mixed with punk, electro, rock, and some pop played in no particular order pretty much in every bar or club in the area. This non-conformist approach suits me.
The title of the album is "Between the Devil..." and it suggests "...and the Deep Blue Sea". This expression means "a difficult situation". Why this title?
It's a joke. The expression actually means that a person is between two difficult, or impossible situations. In contrast, Terence and I feel we have made a great album, so what ever happens in terms of its sales no one can take that away from us. Which means the two situations we are faced with are: 1. we have a great album, and get financial gain from it or 2. we have a great album.
Which is the meaning of the skull with Mickey's ears on the cover of the album?
I just love the symbolism of it. I think it was first used in the 1970's and quite a few times since, but however it's drawn it is always seen by the viewer as Mickey Mouse Ears. I love that one of the America's greatest capitalist propoganda tools can so easily be used against itself, especially given Disney's refusal to distribute Michael Moore's new film, and that Walt was a racist right wing fuck.
Is this album a one-off or will you go on working with Terence?
No, we are already discussing how to make the next album.
Some Nitzer Ebb reissues are regularly announced in the Mute's news, but nothing has never been released. What do you know about them? Will they contain some rare or unreleased tracks? Do you know why it's been postponed?
Unfortunately Daniel Miller and Mute Records have kept me very much out of the loop on what's happening with the re-issue of the music that I was 50% responsible for for twelve years of my life. I suggest asking them. | | | | | | | |
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