(From Rock & Folk, French music magazine, March 1982) Special thanks to Simon Myers for providing the English translation.
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You cannot get rid of the
idea that if the members of the Killing Joke had been born ten years
earlier, they would have formed Hawkwind. The historical and sociological
context of the two bands are not the same, but there are striking similarities. Musically, both are hard and hypnotic, while being surrounded by a certain mystique. Even if you don't agree with Killing Joke's philosophical position, it seems to me that you could find yourself living in a world created by the words of Jaz Coleman, the singer who surely must have read the "Morning of Magicians" at an impressionable age and somehow never got it out of his system - it has to be said that you can see in him an impressive sincerity and a conviction that could move mountains. Deliberately avoiding the reputation that occasionally occurs during the course of Killing Joke interviews, here is the gospel according to Jaz Coleman....... "Killing joke, after the personnel changes of the last year, are the best that they've ever been. During the course of the European Tour, they have attracted more fans than Mötorhead or any of the also-ran punk bands without any kind of support, bar word of mouth. This because we have a direction and more and more it controls us and our music. The public are important. "You are not merely a fan of the Killing
Joke, you are actually part of it. It is a level of emotion and
we demonstrate this through our music. It is a primal music, we invoke the
ancestral spirits that are in
every last one of us. Through this, we establish where we've come from,
where we are, and where we are going, without analysing or defining it in
any way. When we hit the stage it is much more than a gig, it is a
celebration of life itself. Everything we do is a ritual, be it drinking a
cup of coffee or eating. "The Killing Joke is our life. In concert everybody
must adapt themselves to our ideology, our mentality,
our way of thinking and the atmosphere we project, otherwise they would find
it unbearable. What we do is becoming more and more connected back to life
in modern western society, which shows a total lack of any sort of
responsibility with regards to the future. The Killing Joke is the feeling
in the inside of any individual who wants to control his destiny. Many
people have the impression that the western world is a ship that is on the
verge of sinking, and fear that it will take them down as it goes.. For us
this is the start of something new, the possibility of defining a new
world. And that is what Fire Dances is about. "There are going to be major problems. Evil will reach inconceivable levels, but if you establish your own personal foundations with your own heart and vision, you will be able to maintain them. The old values are going to re-emerge. Man is going to transcend his intellect, he will live in a state of knowledge. Everything will become spontaneous and activated. All activities of man, of society, of the planet and of the universe will take place harmoniously. This will be bought about by a simplification of life and the reaffirmation of the individual, which will bring an end to nationalism. We have a very simple demand, we want to become more than human". |