KMFDM

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Biography

KMFDM (originally Kein Mehrheit Für Die Mitleid ) is an industrial music|industrial band led by German multi-instrumentalist Sascha Konietzko , who founded the group in 1984 as a performance art project. KMFDM has released seventeen studio albums, and had sold approximately 2 million records in the United States alone as of September 2003, with multiple albums selling more than 100,000 copies, and a number of singles becoming club hits.

The band has undergone many line-up changes, including countless guest appearances by other musicians. The earliest incarnation of the band included German drummer En Esch and British vocalist Raymond Watts , the latter of whom would leave and rejoin the group several times over its history. Guitarist Günter Schulz joined in 1990, and both he and Esch continued with the band until KMFDM broke up in 1999. Konietzko resurrected KMFDM in 2002 (with Esch and Schulz declining to rejoin), and by 2005 a consistent line-up emerged, including American singer Lucia Cifarelli , British guitarists Jules Hodgson and Steve White (guitarist)|Steve White , and British drummer Andy Selway .

KMFDM is considered one of the first bands to bring industrial music to mainstream audiences, though Konietzko refers to the band's music as "The Ultra-Heavy Beat". Their early albums relied heavily on samples, drum machines, and synthesizers. The addition of Schulz moved the band in a more industrial metal direction. The band incorporates heavy guitar riffs, electronic music , samples, and often female vocals in their music.

History

Early years in Germany (1984–89)

KMFDM was founded in Paris, France on February 29, 1984 as a joint effort between Sascha Konietzko and German painter/multi-media performer Udo Sturm to perform for the opening of an exhibition of young European artists at the Grand Palais . Their first performance consisted of Sturm playing a synthesizer, Konietzko treating five amplified bass guitars, and four Polish coal miners pounding on the foundations of the Grand Palais. Sturm had no lasting musical aspirations, and Konietzko was more interested in studio recordings than the occasional art performance, so he began collaborating with then- Hamburg -based studio owner Raymond Watts and drummer Nicklaus Schandelmaier, who adopted the stage name En Esch .

The band's first album, Opium (album)|Opium , was recorded in 1984, and cassette copies of it began circulating through the underground clubs and bars of Hamburg . The next album, What Do You Know, Deutschland? , which was recorded from 1983–86, was released in December 1986. The album was re-released in the UK on Skysaw Records, who introduced the band to visual artist Aidan Hughes , who is usually credited as Brute! in their albums. Hughes created a new design for the album cover, and would go on to design almost every KMFDM cover from then on.

After working the Hamburg underground music scene and releasing albums on European labels, the band began its long-standing relationship with Wax Trax& #33; Records when their 1988 album '' Don't Blow Your Top (album)|Don't Blow Your Top was licensed to the label for US distribution. Watts left the band at this time to start his own project, Pig (band)|Pig .

Success in America (1990–94)

After arriving in America for the first time on December 16, 1989, KMFDM toured the U.S. with Ministry (band)|Ministry in 1990 in support of their fourth album, UAIOE , which was licensed for distribution in both the U.S. and Europe. They returned to Europe to record their fifth album, Naïve (album)|Naïve , which included the debut of long-time guitarist Schulz, known as Svetlana Ambrosius at the time. They signed directly to Wax Trax! to distribute this album.

Konietzko then moved to Chicago in early 1991, and Esch followed a year later. KMFDM quickly became a part of the industrial music scene in Chicago that included Ministry, Front 242 , My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult , and Revolting Cocks . In 1991, they released the single " Split (song)|Split ", which was their first club hit, reaching No. 46 on the Hot Dance Club Songs|Billboard Dance/Club Play Songs Chart . During this time, Konietzko and Esch began working on their halves of what would have been their sixth album, Apart , but became two separate albums. Esch's half was used later in his solo album, Cheesy . The official KMFDM album used Konietzko's material, and was renamed Money (album)|Money . It spawned two more club hits in 1992, first "Vogue", their biggest club hit, which reached No. 19 on the Billboard Dance/Club Play Songs Chart in April, and then the title track, which reached No. 36 on that same chart in July.

After touring in 1992 with drummer Chris Vrenna , the then-core of KMFDM (Konietzko, Esch, Schulz, and second guitarist Mark Durante ), went back into the studio as a group to record their seventh album, Angst (KMFDM album)|Angst , in 1993, which went on to sell more than 100,000 copies over the next two years. KMFDM received their first exposure to the mainstream with their single " A Drug Against War ". Despite the band's anti- MTV , "anti-mainstream" attitude, the video of "A Drug Against War" received airplay on MTV and was shown on the MTV cartoon Beavis and Butt-head . Meanwhile, the track " Light (KMFDM song)|Light " reached No. 31 on the Billboard Dance/Club Play Songs Chart in May 1994.

The song "Liebeslied" from Naïve originally contained an unlicensed sample of "O Fortuna" from Carl Orff 's Carmina Burana (Orff)|Carmina Burana . The band was threatened with legal action by Orff's publisher, and the album was withdrawn from production in 1993. The following year, a new version of the album was released entitled Naïve/Hell to Go , containing remix es of several songs, including the offending track (with the sample removed) which was renamed "Leibesleid (Infringement Mix)".

Peak popularity (1994–99)

The mid to late 1990s were KMFDM's most successful years in terms of album sales and mainstream awareness. In 1994, Konietzko moved to Seattle, and Esch moved to New Orleans. Watts rejoined the band to work on their eighth album, Nihil , which sold over 120,000 copies. It marked the first contributions by drummer Bill Rieflin , who would also work with the band on their next five albums. Nihil featured KMFDM's most widely known song, " Juke Joint Jezebel ", versions of which appeared on both the Bad Boys (soundtrack)|Bad Boys and Mortal Kombat (soundtrack)|Mortal Kombat soundtracks, the latter of which peaked at No. 10 on the Billboard 200. and sold over 1.8 million copies.

In late 1995, close friend and president of Chicago's Wax Trax& #33; Records Jim Nash died of an illness complicated by AIDS, and Seattle became the official headquarters of KMFDM. Watts toured with KMFDM throughout 1995 in support of Nihil , but then left the group to continue work with his own band, PIG. Esch also separated from the group temporarily, and Xtort was created in 1996 almost entirely without his input. Instead, Konietzko brought in a number of other industrial artists, such as F.M. Einheit and Chris Connelly (musician)|Chris Connelly , to assist with the album. Xtort was the first KMFDM album to chart on the Billboard 200, and it was also the highest-charting and best-selling album in the band's history, reaching No. 92, and selling more than 200,000 copies.

Esch was back for the Symbols (album)|Symbols album, which was released in 1997, and featured Abby Travis and Skinny Puppy 's Nivek Ogre . Symbols reached No. 137 on the Billboard 200. Tim Skold , formerly of the band Shotgun Messiah , helped write "Anarchy" for the Symbols album, and became a full member of the band after touring with them in 1997 in support of the album.

Adios (1999)

The album Adios (KMFDM album)|Adios was written almost exclusively by Konietzko and Skold. The album again included vocals from Nivek Ogre , as well as a song with vocals by German musician Nina Hagen . The album reached No. 189 on the Billboard 200. Esch and Schulz wrote very little, and did not contribute as much musically to the album, foreshadowing the coming breakup.

KMFDM disbanded, albeit temporarily, on January 22, 1999. Konietzko said the split was due to "lots of stress and pressure, as well as differences in vision and drive". Esch said "There was a lot of negative energy between Sascha and Günter Schulz and myself and we all decided on the phone to call the band quits." Adios (KMFDM album)|Adios was released three months later, with the album originally being the fulfillment of the band's ten record contract with Wax Trax!/TVT, but later signaling the break-up of the band itself.

In the wake of the Columbine High School massacre , it was revealed that lyrics to KMFDM songs ("Son of a Gun", "Stray Bullet", "Waste") were posted on the website of shooter Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold|Eric Harris , and that the date of the massacre, April 20, coincided with both the release date of the album Adios (KMFDM album)|Adios and the birthday of Adolf Hitler . The media was quick to jump on the apparent connection of the massacre to violent entertainment and Nazism . In response, Konietzko issued a statement:

:"First and foremost, KMFDM would like to express their deep and heartfelt sympathy for the parents, families and friends of the murdered and injured children in Littleton. We are sick and appalled, as is the rest of the nation, by what took place in Colorado yesterday.

:"KMFDM are an art form& mdash;not a political party. From the beginning, our music has been a statement against war, oppression, fascism and violence against others. While some of the former band members are German as reported in the media, none of us condone any Nazi beliefs whatsoever."

Slick Idiot, MDFMK, and reformation (2000–2002)

After the group disbanded, Schulz and Esch formed the band Slick Idiot , while Konietzko and Skold temporarily regrouped as MDFMK with the addition of singer Lucia Cifarelli . MDFMK released one MDFMK (album)|self-titled album with Republic Records|Republic/Universal Records and toured in the United States and Japan. KMFDM reformed in 2002 with Konietzko, Skold, Cifarelli, and former collaborators Watts and Rieflin, due to "public demand", according to Konietzko. He also said that Schulz and Esch were invited to rejoin the band but declined. Esch said "I was happy about my new creative freedom at that time and so I refused the concept of a fast reunion of the original KMFDM."

New line-up (2003–2007)

Skold left after Attak to join Marilyn Manson (band)|Marilyn Manson . Meanwhile, Watts' bandmates from Pig joined KMFDM one by one, with Jules Hodgson playing guitars on a couple tracks of 2002's Attak , Andy Selway showing up as the drummer for WWIII (album)|WWIII , which was released the following year, and Steve White (guitarist)|Steve White helping with 2005's Hau Ruck after touring with the band.

Shortly after the release of WWIII , Konietzko began work on the soundtrack for the Spider-Man 2 (video game)|Spider-Man 2 video game, which was released in 2004. The album Opium was re-released in 2002, and 84–86|a collection of songs recorded between 1984& ndash;86 was released in 2004. With the band line-up now stable, Tohuvabohu was released in 2007.

Following the Finnish school shooting s of Jokela school shooting|2007 and Kauhajoki school shooting|2008 , some media reports again attempted to draw a connection from the shooters to the band, noting that both listed KMFDM among their favorite bands. Konietzko, in an interview with Norway|Norwegian broadcaster Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation|NRK shortly after the 2008 incident, rebutted any claims of connection as being purely a by-product of the copycat crimes|copycat mentality and the Finnish shooters' desire to emulate the lifestyles and actions of the Columbine shooters, "One of my biggest concerns immediately following this incident was that there would be copycats repeating such things in the future, as there often are when people commit heinous crimes and acts of violence. I was, unfortunately, right."

Back in Germany (2007–present)

Konietzko and Lucia Cifarelli moved to Hamburg , Germany. In February 2009, KMFDM Records released Skold vs. KMFDM , a collaboration between Skold and Konietzko, completed entirely over the Internet without the two ever being on the same continent. KMFDM's sixteenth studio album, Blitz (album)|Blitz , was released in March 2009, featuring contributions from Skold and less input from the band members not living in Germany. WWIII , Hau Ruck , Tohuvabohu , and Blitz have all charted in the top ten on Billboard's Dance/Electronic Albums Chart.

KMFDM released two compilation albums, Würst and Greatest Shit , in September 2010. Konietzko has said that he and Skold have plans for a follow-up to their 2009 collaboration, but that it was not a high priority.

On December 14, 2010, the official KMFDM website was changed to include a single image with the text "All Systems Have Been Ripped. The Internet Has Been Shut Down." There was also a new song titled "Rebels in Control" available for listening and download on the site. KMFDM posted the song in support of Julian Assange with regards to the controversy over WikiLeaks .

In April 2011, former band members Esch, Schulz, and Watts appeared with Mona Mur at the Wax Trax& #33; Retrospectacle in Chicago, a charity event celebrating the industrial music label. The group performed KMFDM songs from the Wax Trax& #33; era, including "Juke Joint Jezebel" and "A Drug Against War". Konietzko expressed a desire to perform with the current band line-up, but was turned down by event organizers.

KMFDM released WTF? ! in April 2011, featuring what Konietzko called "a slew of guest musicians" including Rieflin and Koichi Fukuda .

Musical style

KMFDM's earliest output was performance art , as Konietzko incorporated not only visuals, such as burning beds and exploding televisions, but non-musical devices as instruments, e.g. vacuum cleaners. Their albums from the 1980s featured heavy sample (music)|sampling and studio manipulations, and the primary instruments used were synthesizer s and drum machines . Konietzko has cited T.Rex (band)|T.Rex , David Bowie , and Frank Zappa as inspiration in the early stages of KMFDM.

According to Konietzko, the band has made heavy use of guitars since its inception. While the album '' Don't Blow Your Top (album)|Don't Blow Your Top '' was more sparse in content, due to the influence of producer Adrian Sherwood , it was the exception rather than the rule. Shortly after the release of 1989's UAIOE and while on tour with the band, Ministry (band)|Ministry founder and frontman Al Jourgensen described KMFDM as "a battalion of guitars marching through Europe." KMFDM's music has since been a fusion of electronic music|electronic and heavy metal (music)|heavy metal , with occasional elements of dub music|dub , as well as orchestral samples and live horns. Many songs feature prominent backing vocals by female singers such as Dorona Alberti , Abby Travis , and Lucia Cifarelli . With the addition of guitarist Schulz, KMFDM had been described as industrial metal , with heavy guitar riff s driving its sound. After the band's three-year hiatus which ended in 2002, KMFDM adopted a more "traditional" rock sound, that is, recording and performing with a typical band lineup& mdash;lead vocalist, lead and rhythm guitarists, bassist, and drummer& mdash;while continuing to incorporate electronics and sampling.

From KMFDM's inception, the band has been "politically charged", according to Konietzko. Their lyrics often express their political concerns, calling for the rejection of and resistance to terrorism, violence, oppression, censorship, and war. Their songs sometimes feature samples of news broadcasts and speeches by political leaders. Many albums also feature one or more songs in which they lampoon themselves, notably in the lyrics to "Sucks" and "Inane".

While recognized along with Ministry (band)|Ministry , Nine Inch Nails , and Skinny Puppy as pioneers in introducing industrial music to mainstream audiences, KMFDM describes its sound as "The Ultra-Heavy Beat". Konietzko once stated, "If I was to give myself a label it would be industrial-alternative-electronic-crossover-rock and danceabilly."

Touring and fanbase

KMFDM has released an album on average every year and a half, and usually tours at least once in support of each album. Previously confined to touring the United States and only portions of Europe and Japan, KMFDM embarked on a 2004 world tour in which they performed in Australia, Russia, Canada, and much of Europe in addition to the US.

KMFDM has a history of personal interaction with their fans. Konietzko and most KMFDM members both past and present often converse with fans via e-mail and chat rooms . At most concert venues, KMFDM typically mingles with the fans before and after the show to sign autographs, pose for photos, and answer questions. Konietzko and the band's representatives have experimented with ways for fans to interact directly with the band. In 2002, KMFDM launched the "Horde", an exclusive fan club in which members had the opportunity to attend a private meet-and-greet with the band before every show, as well as gaining access to members-only music and footage online. In 2004, they experimented with "fankam", a project in which a member of the audience was selected to record that night's show, as well as some back-stage antics, with a hand-held digital video camera. The resulting footage was incorporated into the 20th Anniversary World Tour DVD the following year, which also included fan photos submitted to the KMFDM official website. In March 2007, KMFDM encouraged fans to call a special "FanPhone" and leave a voice message. The song "Superpower" from 2007's Tohuvabohu includes sound-clips from these messages.

During the summer of 2006, Metropolis Records announced that it would reissue KMFDM's entire Wax Trax!-era studio album back catalog, which had been out of print since the early 2000s. The albums were released in chronological order in groups of two or three every couple of months from September 2006 to May 2007.

Etymology

KMFDM is an initialism for the nonsensical and grammatically incorrect German (language)|German phrase Kein Mehrheit Für Die Mitleid , which literally translates as "no majority for the pity", but is typically given the loose translation of "no pity for the majority". The most common account of the origin of the name involves Konietzko cutting headlines from German newspapers and shuffling around the words to produce the now infamous expression. The name was shortened to KMFDM in 1985 in order to simplify the long phrase, with one popular account having Watts originating the initialism to avoid the difficulties he had in pronouncing the German.

In the original phrase, the articles preceding the nouns Mehrheit and Mitleid are inflection|inflected for the wrong gender, as the proper declension would be Keine Mehrheit für das Mitleid. However, swapping the two nouns yields the grammatically correct Kein Mitleid Für Die Mehrheit , which additionally translates directly as "no pity for the majority". Adding to the confusion is the fact that this version of the phrase appears within the lyrics to the song "Megalomaniac", which Konietzko revealed was done in order to confuse people who were always telling the band their name was wrong.

When the band first toured the US in 1989& ndash;1990, band members and their associates began using alternate English meanings for their name to tease journalists who did not understand German. After the release of Angst (KMFDM album)|Angst , TVT/Wax Trax& #33; Records launched a promotion, without the participation or approval of the band, in which fans were encouraged to come up with at least 1,001 different meanings for KMFDM. College radio DJs Kinslow and Smith of WKGC Florida won the contest with an entry of more than 1,200 potential meanings. The lyrics to the song "Moron" feature a slight variant of the traditional translation: "no pity for the masses". Likewise, the song "Light" reveals another possible alternate meaning: Keiner macht für dich mehr , which translates as "no one does more for you".

Album artwork

KMFDM has a long-standing relationship with commercial artist Aidan Hughes|Aidan "Brute!" Hughes , who creates the iconic artwork adorning almost all of the band's albums and singles. Brute!'s artwork is also featured in KMFDM's music videos for "A Drug Against War" and "Son of a Gun", and on the band's promotional t-shirts. In an interview with Brian Sherwin , Brute& #33; stated, "KMFDM have cornered the market in industrial post-modern angst and so my work reflects that." The only album covers he didn't create were Opium (album)|Opium and Nihil , the latter of which was designed by Francesca Sundsten , wife of drummer Rieflin.

Prior to the 2006& ndash;2007 remastering and rerelease of KMFDM's back catalog, the design and packaging of the albums were inconsistent. Upon their release on KMFDM Records, they were repackaged by designer Justin Gammon to be visually similar. These changes included standard organization of the liner notes, lyrics, photos, and songwriting/guest musician credits.

KMFDM "code"

Since the release of UAIOE , KMFDM has followed a pattern of naming most of their albums and certain songs with a single five-letter word, going as far as altering the spellings of words to fit this pattern ( Xtort , Attak ). In 1997, they took the concept a step further by adopting five unpronounceable symbols as the album's official title (see image), imitating similar stunts previously done by Led Zeppelin (see Led Zeppelin IV ) and Prince (artist)|Prince (see Love Symbol ). The band, fans, and record executives alike simply referred to the album as Symbols (album)|Symbols out of convenience. The five-symbol title is also used in the song "Down and Out", according to the printed lyrics included with the album. Symbols Liner Notes In the song itself, the place where the symbols would be spoken is bleeped out. The tradition of five-letter-word album titles was broken in 2005 with the release of their fourteenth studio album, Hau Ruck , which is the German equivalent to "Heave Ho". The original title of the album was to be FUBAR which would have adhered to their tradition. None of that album's song titles are five letter words. The next album, Tohuvabohu , had five syllables rather than five letters. The band resumed the tradition with 2009's Blitz (album)|Blitz .

Members

Official line-up

The official line-up of KMFDM consists of:

Sascha Konietzko & ndash; vocals, guitar, bass, programming, keyboards, synthesizer, percussion

Lucia Cifarelli & ndash; vocals, keyboards

Jules Hodgson & ndash; guitar, bass, keyboards

Andy Selway & ndash; drums

Steve White (guitarist)|Steve White & ndash; guitar

Key former members

En Esch & ndash; vocals, drums, guitar, programming

Raymond Watts & ndash; vocals, programming

Günter Schulz & ndash; guitar, programming

Tim Skold & ndash; vocals, guitar, bass, drums, programming

Other contributors

Other notable musicians that have contributed to KMFDM projects include: Mark Durante ; Chris Connelly of Ministry (band)|Ministry ; Bill Rieflin of Ministry and R.E.M. ; Nivek Ogre of Skinny Puppy and ohGr ; John DeSalvo of Chemlab ; F. M. Einheit of Einstürzende Neubauten ; Jr. Blackmale; Abby Travis ; Nina Hagen ; and spoken word artist Nicole Blackman . Additionally, Chemlab , Die Warzau , Nine Inch Nails , My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult , Combichrist , and Giorgio Moroder have remixed music for KMFDM.

Discography

Opium (album)|Opium (1984)

What Do You Know, Deutschland? (1986)

'' Don't Blow Your Top (album)|Don't Blow Your Top (1988)

UAIOE (1989)

Naïve (album)|Naïve (1990)

Money (album)|Money (1992)

Angst (KMFDM album)|Angst (1993)

Nihil (1995)

Xtort (1996)

Symbols (album)|Symbols (1997)

Adios (KMFDM album)|Adios (1999)

Attak (2002)

WWIII (album)|WWIII (2003)

Hau Ruck (2005)

Tohuvabohu (2007)

Blitz (album)|Blitz (2009)

WTF? ! (2011)

Side projects

Members of KMFDM have either fronted or supported several side projects throughout the band's activity, often simultaneously with their work in KMFDM. Former members have also formed new groups.

PIG (band)|PIG & ndash; Raymond Watts (1988& ndash; ) (PIG members Jules Hodgson , Andy Selway , and Steve White (guitarist)|Steve White joined KMFDM in 2002), Günter Schulz (touring guitarist 2006& ndash; )

Pigface & ndash; En Esch (1990& ndash;1993, 1999& ndash;2005), Günter Schulz (1999& ndash;2005)

Excessive Force & ndash; Sascha Konietzko , En Esch, Günter Schulz, Mark Durante (1991& ndash;1994)

En Esch released the solo album Cheesy (album)|Cheesy in 1993

Schaft & ndash; Raymond Watts (1994)

Drill (band)|Drill & ndash; was fronted by Lucia Cifarelli prior to her involvement with KMFDM/MDFMK. (1995& ndash;1996)

Skold was a solo album released by Tim Skold in 1996, prior to his involvement with KMFDM.

Slick Idiot & ndash; Formed by En Esch and Günter Schulz following the 1999 break-up of KMFDM (1999& ndash; )

MDFMK & ndash; Formed by Sascha Konietzko, Tim Skold, and Lucia Cifarelli during KMFDM's hiatus (2000& ndash;2001)

Schwein & ndash; Raymond Watts, Sascha Konietzko, Jules Hodgson, Steve White, Lucia Cifarelli (2001)

Lucia Cifarelli released the solo album From the Land of Volcanos in 2003.

Günter Schulz|Schulz & ndash; Günter Schulz's spin-off of Slick Idiot (2005& ndash; )

KGC (band)|KGC & ndash; Sascha Konietzko, Lucia Cifarelli (2006)

The Spittin' Cobras & ndash; Jules Hodgson, Andy Selway (2009& ndash; )

Copyright Citations

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