THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF MUSIC

INDUSTRIAL MUSIC FOR INDUSTRIAL PEOPLE:

THE HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT OF AN UNDERGROUND GENRE

By

BRET D. WOODS

A thesis submitted to the

College of Music
In partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of
Master of Music

Degree Awarded:
Summer Semester, 2007

Copyright © 2007
Bret D. Woods
All Rights Reserved
The members of the Committee approve the thesis of Bret Woods defended on June 6,

2007.

________________________________

Frank D. Gunderson
Professor Directing Thesis

________________________________

Michael B. Bakan
Committee Member

________________________________

Jane Piper Clendinning

Committee Member

The Office of Graduate Studies has verified and approved the above named committee

members.

ii
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I wish to mention Philip K. Dick (1928-1982), who wrote several of my favorite

stories, including Blade Runner, and H.P. Lovecraft (1890-1937), who wrote the Cthulhu
mythos, among other works, both of whose works inspire me greatly. In addition, I thank
the committee, Dr. Frank D. Gunderson, Dr. Michael B. Bakan, and Dr. Jane Piper
Clendinning, for their critical eyes, wonderful hearts, and intelligent brains as well as
their willingness to see this project unfold. I thank the industrial music community for
providing me with an interesting topic as well as many years of fun listening to and
participating in music. I especially thank my friend and informant Paul Vermeren, who
also wished to see this project realized; I hope it is good FGM reading. Finally, but
primarily, I thank three immensely important people, Lyndsey Thornton, Kathryn, and
Meredith, who make my life whole. I am appreciative of their love, support, insight, and
counsel in my academic and other life endeavors.

iii
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF FIGURES vi

ABSTRACT vii

INTRODUCTION
Brief definitions 1
What is industrial music? 3
Purpose and significance 4
Background 6
Literature review 10

CHAPTER 1: THE SCOPE OF THE PROJECT

Theoretical issues 16
Methodology 18
Problematic terms 19
Unpacking and discussing text 21

CHAPTER 2: INDUSTRIAL RECORDS AND BEYOND: EARLY

INFLUENCES AND THE REINTERPRETATION
OF STYLE
A new genre: Industrial Records 27
Industrial culture and bourgeois society leading to May 1968 32
Electronic music, experimental music 35
Further background: The Futurists 38
Historiography: The history of industrial music since its inception 39
Further historical influences, artists, and contributions 41
Changes in industrial style 45

CHAPTER 3: ISSUES OF TEXT

Dystopian embrace 57
Industrial music in the contemporary mind:
How is the term “industrial” used? 59
Issues in communicating about the music: Intertextuality 64
Re-interpretive moves through instruments, images, and the
concern for authenticity 67
The analysis of a work and its impact on genre 77

CHAPTER 4: ISSUES OF CONTEXT

The industrial aesthetic 84
Community, acceptance and catharsis:
The application of the industrial aesthetic 87
Social, historical, and cultural contexts 89
Production and reception 91

iv
 Industrial people for industrial music: Ethnographic interviews
and analysis 92

CONCLUSION
Traditional genre theory, structuralism and definitions 99
Genre, communication, and conceptualization 104
The paradox of genre 105
Why debate genre? 107

APPENDICES
A: Industrial Records discography 111
B: Political art and the founders of industrial culture 113
C: A century of electronic musical instruments, 1876 – 1976. 123
D: Futurist manifesto 128
E: Album art, film art 130
F: Dystopian images 139
G: Most used interview questions 144
H: Select interview transcripts 146
Interview 1: Paul Vermeren 146
Interview 2: Livejournal industrial community 161
Interview 3: Industrial community questionnaire 172
Interview 4: The Castle, Tampa, FL 180
I: Sound examples 185
J: Human subjects board waiver 186

BIBLIOGRAPHY 187

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH 194

v
 LIST OF FIGURES

1. COUM transmissions, advertisement flyer. 28

2. COUM transmissions, Cease to Exist 4. 28
3. Front 242 Poster. 49
4. Varying rivethead style. 50
5. The development of industrial music. 55
6. The communicative versatility of the generic title. 56
7. Potential cognitive genre placement of industrial music and related genres. 62
8. A model of formal features of a contemporary industrial music text. 62
9. The cover of the movie Gunhed. 70
10. Poster for the movie Blade Runner. 71
11. The cover of 20 Jazz Funk Greats by Throbbing Gristle. 72
12. The cover of The Second Annual Report by Throbbing Gristle. 72
13. The cover of The First Annual Report by Throbbing Gristle. 73
14. The cover of Solipsik by SPK. 73
15. The cover of Odio Bajo El Alma by Hocico. 74
16. The cover of the self-titled album Feindflug by Feindflug. 74
17. The prototypical minor 1-6-5(-3) pattern. 78
18. Repeating rhythm part in “Awaken the Ghost” by Tactical Sekt. 81
19. An industrial music text situated within context. 90
20. The role of genre in linking a text between its producers and interpreters. 102

vi
 ABSTRACT
Industrial music was born in 1976 in London, England with the creation of
Industrial Records. Originally, “industrial music” referred to the musical output of the
label, which included a variety of experimental, electronic, often noise-oriented
compositions, altered instruments, and music-accompanied performance art. The first
artists that recorded at Industrial Records were Throbbing Gristle, Non (Boyd Rice),
Cabaret Voltaire, The Leather Nun, Surgical Penis Klinik, and Clock DVA; each sharing
a similar anti-bourgeois rejection of mainstream culture and social order. Since those
early days (often deemed the “first wave,” 1976–c.1982) industrial music has come to
represent any underground electronic music either directly tied to or influenced by
Industrial Records as well as those musicians who share in the cultural and musical
aesthetic of industrial. In the second decade as the genre grew in relative popularity
(referred to as the “second wave,” c.1982–c.1990), several sub-genres emerged and many
bands began to change the shape, sound, and style of the genre as the fan base became
more populous and diverse.
This thesis examines the elements that comprise this broadly-encompassing music
genre, the influence it has had throughout history, and its current concepts and practice in
order for a well-informed and contextually working definition to become evident. What
follows is a look into the history of industrial music since its inception three decades ago,
as well as a genre-based approach to music. The focus of this study is three-fold. First,
the ambiguity of industrial music will be addressed by discussing the history and
development of the genre. Second, the textual versus contextual aspects of industrial
culture, and of the music itself, will be explored. Lastly, the nature of genre in music will
be addressed. This thesis will look at genre in the theoretical sense, as it represents
communication in culture. In communication about music–stylistic elements, genre
classification, influences, history, and sound–generalized speech become part of a
dialogue which consists of shared understanding about issues of text and context
concerning the music. In industrial culture we can see an example of how these issues can
generate debate regarding the nature of genre, as well as how genre studies can reveal an
understanding of the music not only through its purely musical features, but through
communicative elements of culture.

vii
 INTRODUCTION

Even though many people rightly quote punk as a turning point in late
seventies music, important in its own way was the “Industrial Revolution”
that came along in its wake. The Cabs and [Throbbing Gristle] were
forward-looking, creating a music that reflected the technological
disassociation and dislocation of its age.

It was a homegrown movement. Industrial music started out as essentially

a British phenomenon. There wasn’t a hint of anything American about it.
No recycling of blues or R & B riffs. It saw the world as a mess of sound;
a harsh, bleak landscape. In effect the reality that many people had to live
with every day, particularly through the eighties. It wasn’t escapist or full
of the frills or trappings of rock ‘n’ roll. Bands like the Cabs, Clock DVA
and TG held a mirror up to British life, and a lot of what was reflected
wasn’t very pretty.

With their noises, cut-ups, walls of sound, ethnic strains and synthesized
bleeps, the early industrial groups were awash with the flotsam and jetsam
of modern life. A snapshot in time. It wasn’t that different from the
Dadaists and surrealists of the twenties who had jumbled up and
reassembled their version of reality. Or, in the late fifties when Burroughs
and Gysin had stumbled across cut-up writing as a way of peeking into the
future. TG and the Cabs opened up a similar schism. The fact that many
others have produced more musically adept and proficient ways of saying
the same thing is to miss the point. It is probably better to learn from those
who have kicked down the stable door, than from the horses that bolt out
of it. Of course, it is just a fact of life that the horses will always earn more
money and achieve greater acclaim. 1

Brief definitions
Industrial music exists in a nebulous realm to those who concern themselves with
thinking about it. As a genre of music that has never pervaded the charts of popular
music, industrial is often overlooked by scholars and casual listeners alike. In addition,
the notion of the overall soundscape of industrial–what the music sounds like–is not as
accessible as it is in other genres, and this contributes to the ambiguity of its
classification. Despite its seeming anonymity, industrial music has had a profound impact
on many other genres of music throughout its history to the present.

1
Mick Fish, Industrial Evolution: Through the Eighties with Cabaret Voltaire (London: SAF, 2002), 189-
90.

1
 In 1983, Jon Savage was one of the first people to suggest elements embodied in
industrial culture. He proposed five aspects that he considered purely industrial:
organizational autonomy, access to information, the use of synthesizers (anti-music),
extra-musical elements, and shock tactics. 2 Brian Duguid, in his article “The Prehistory
of Industrial Music,” expounds on Savage’s five elements of industrial music by making
strong connections to the history of performance art and electronic music, yet the
definitive concept of industrial is tenebrous. Its ambiguity, however, is seen by some as a
good thing. Many of the early industrial artists recording on the Industrial label disliked
being identified with one specific genre, and resented the notion that their music could be
labeled as such. They viewed a generic 3 title as stifling or somehow detracting from their
avant garde 4 nature. While some musicians have completely disavowed the genre in
favor of broader categories such as electronic or experimental music, many others well
into the present proudly regard aspects of their music as industrial, an example of how
this genre, however broadly conceived, has impacted the face of music.
Since the early days (often deemed the “first wave,” 1976–c.1982), industrial
music in the strictest sense has come to represent any underground electronic music
either directly tied to or influenced by Industrial Records as well as those musicians who
share in the cultural and musical aesthetic of industrial. In the second decade as the genre
grew in relative popularity (referred to as the “second wave,” c.1982–c.1990), several
sub-genres emerged, such as EBM (electronic body music), Coldwave, and Industrial
Rock, to name a few, and many bands, such as Front 242, Wumpscut, Ministry, Young
Gods, Leætherstrip, and Autopsia began to change the shape, sound, and style of the
genre for a fan base increasing in size and heterogeneity.
Thus, though it is invoked in a variety of situations by a variety of participants,
each conforming to one set of generic descriptors or another, industrial music is a
contemporary electronic/experimental music genre that crystallized in 1976 and has since
developed into many different off-shoot styles and sub-genres. There is little agreement,
however, on when and how this generic title should be attached to specific music acts,

2
V. Vale and A. Juno, Industrial Culture Handbook (San Francisco: RE/Search Publications, 1988), 5.
3
Throughout this thesis, I will use the term “generic” as it pertains to genre theory. The word itself simply
means “classificatory.”
4
The connections between industrial music and the avant garde will be described in this thesis.

2
which keeps the idea of what it is to “be industrial” difficult to define. This definition is
simplistic, to be sure, thus one of the goals of this thesis will be to examine the elements
that comprise this genre, the influence it has had throughout history, and its current
concepts and practice in order for a well-informed and contextually working 5 definition
to become evident.

What is industrial music?

It is safe to say that the generic term “industrial” is rather ambiguous. In most
popular instances the title is used as an adjective, to denote a specific musical
characteristic or mood, such as “industrial rock” or “industrial metal” or
“goth/industrial.” Still other uses of the term in music refer to the changing soundscape of
industry itself–machinery. But what is the industrial music genre, as it is conceived as
music today?
The majority of the publicity for industrial music is distributed over the internet,
and so it is prudent to search there for initial clues and definitions of what industrial is.
Not surprisingly, the definitions range from misguided and incorrect, or simply vague, to
the opposite end of the spectrum. The former type is demonstrated in the following
example:
[Genesis P-Orridge] got his start in the 70s forming the band Throbbing
Gristle (what a great name!), releasing music on his own label, called
“Industrial Records.” That word–and the label–would go on to become
synonymous with all abrasive forms of music for the rest of the century
and beyond. 6

And the latter by this particular astute definition from allmusic.com:

The most abrasive and aggressive fusion of rock and electronic music,
industrial was initially a blend of avant garde electronics experiments
(tape music, musique concrète, white noise, synthesizers, sequencers, etc.)
and punk provocation. As industrial evolved, its avant garde influences
became far less important than its pounding, relentless, jackhammer beats,
which helped transform it into a darker alternative to the hedonism of
mainstream dance music. Industrial’s trademark sound was harsh and
menacing, but its rage was subordinate to the intentionally mechanical,

5
A “contextually working” definition refers to a definition that is generally agreed upon in the industrial
music community.
6
“Industrial Music,” Ishkur’s Guide to Electronic Music <http://www.di.fm/edmguide/#>

3
 numbingly repetitive qualities of the music, which fit the lyrics’ themes of
alienation and dehumanization quite well. In the early ‘90s, Ministry and
Nine Inch Nails took their variations on industrial to wider alt-rock and
metal audiences, but a substantial number of industrial artists chose to
remain underground. The first group of industrial bands–England’s
Throbbing Gristle and Cabaret Voltaire, and Germany’s Einstürzende
Neubauten–were initially as much about beyond-edgy performance art as
they were music. The second generation of industrial artists–including
Skinny Puppy, Front 242, and Nitzer Ebb–added pummeling dance beats
to their predecessors’ confrontational sounds, for a substyle often referred
to as electronic body music (centered around labels like Wax Trax).
Meanwhile, bands like Ministry and KMFDM added metal-guitar riffs,
which helped Ministry break through to a wider audience in the late ‘80s
and early ‘90s; similarly, Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor added more
traditional song structures, and made his own persona the focal point,
giving the music a rare human presence and becoming a star in the
process. This more widely appealing strain of industrial continued to
influence alternative metal throughout the ‘90s. Still, after industrial metal
began to fade, a near-exclusively electronic form of industrial dance
continued to thrive as an uncompromisingly underground style, with many
artists coming from the U.S. and Germany. 7

This definition is the most thorough I have found on the internet (in a public forum),
which is currently the largest source for the dissemination of industrial music and
information about industrial music. A definition such as this one is not uncommon for
industrialists, as many tend to be well read and learned participants of this culture. The
sentence from the above quotation, “As industrial evolved, its avant garde influences
became far less important than its pounding, relentless, jackhammer beats, which helped
transform it into a darker alternative to the hedonism of mainstream dance music,” 8 is the
most pertinent for establishing, in a poetic way, a working model definition of the genre
itself.

Purpose and significance

The focus of this study is three-fold. First, the ambiguity of industrial music will
be addressed by discussing the history and development of the genre. Second, the nature
of genre will be theorized in depth. Lastly, the textual versus contextual aspects of
industrial culture, and of the music itself, will be explored.

7
“Industrial Music,” All Music.com <http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=77:141>
8
“Industrial Music,” All Music.com <http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=77:141>

4
 Representation (or misrepresentation) is one reason why industrial music is
relatively unknown in popular culture today. The primary goal of this thesis will be to
provide a solid historical background for the music in question. With this is an analysis of
the music itself, focusing on the general aural components, as well as an examination of
the extra-musical elements associated with the genre. There are many historiographic,
iconographic, and organological issues to consider, and an appreciation of the music (as
many bands are an acquired taste) is often heightened by understanding the context and
irony in which songs have been composed. This research will also demarcate the
development of genres, sub-genres, and meta-genres of the encompassing category
industrial music and its derivatives, since as of yet this has not been undertaken. This
type of classification is the milieu of musicologists. In addition, this thesis will make
connections between trends in popular culture and various aspects of this underground
electronic music. At the heart of these connections rests a discussion of cultural trends
and the increasing acceptance of the concept of dystopia and its cultural milieu in today’s
society.
What is it about the nature of genre that is necessary yet inadequate? We need to
use genre in order to talk about music, but does the consideration of genre give the
scholar or the casual listener any real clues about the nature of the music itself?
Especially in the case of industrial music, the generic title carries with it a lot of
“baggage.” Speaking the word “industrial” brings to the conversation no clear sense of
instrumentation, form, content, or overall style. Rather, the word itself is only able to
evoke a visual and aural perceptual space. In contrast, when one identifies music as rock
or jazz, there is a general understanding of instrumentation and form. In addition, any
number of contextual factors contribute to the overall communicative sense of what it
means to invoke the genre. Despite the ambiguity of its generic title, industrial is indeed a
genre of music in its own right, such as rock or jazz, with its own origins, influences,
history, performance practice, representative bands, touring groups, record companies,
sub-genres, and fan base. It may seem odd that a contradiction like this could exist
logically, but music genre, unlike literary genre, exists mainly as an oral tradition and
thus is driven by popularity.

5
 Another goal of this research will be to make sense of some of the generic titles
associated with industrial music, as well as provide a social/theoretical connection to the
nature of genre and communication about music. Industrial provides an interesting case
study in this regard, considering that genre classification in underground music is often
fan-inspired, band-responded, and fan-disseminated.
Finally, text and context, that is to say subject (in this case the music itself, its
structure and formal features) and setting (in this case the culture in which the music is
created and disseminated–what I would refer to as “industrial culture”), are an important
combination in anthropological research. For industrial music to be more successfully
understood, this project will also emphasize how fans in today’s local and global
industrial counterculture “scene” view industrial music. It is important to explore the way
in which fans experience the music and participate in industrial culture. In so doing, it
becomes more evident how this particular underground (that is, outside the mainstream)
music is regionally disseminated and interpreted.

Background
Industrial music is a genre virtually unknown in the contemporary popular music
scene, mainly due to the idea that industrial music emerged from a rejection of
mainstream globalized Western culture. Yet while industrial artists have in most cases
rejected the popular culture (more true of early industrial music), it is quite noticeable
how many industrial sounds, images, and ideals have been appropriated by the
mainstream. Throughout this thesis, I will use the terminology “popular culture,”
“mainstream,” “counterculture,” “industrial community,” and “society” and so it is
prudent to situate industrial music relative to these terms to engender their intended
meanings.
Industrial music began in London and Sheffield, England, and was quickly
adopted by audiences throughout Europe, most notably in Germany and Belgium. Like
the punk movement preceding it, industrial generated a following among the youth of
these industrialized nations, as well as spuriously in the United States. When I speak of
society I refer to the society of these and similar industrialized nations, separated by
cultural and political differences yet connected through globalization and mass media

6
culture. The popular or mainstream culture disseminated by the mass media of these
nations projected a utopian ideology that was rejected by the punk and industrial
community alike, an act which placed them in the realm of counterculture. Industrial
rejected the repressive ideology of the mainstream, repression that had been building for
nearly one hundred years.
Politically, the late 1960s–early 1970s were in a near chaotic state among the
youth in many industrialized nations. Not only was the Woodstock generation outwardly
protesting military action in Vietnam, many other groups in this generation, especially in
academic circles in Europe and the United States, challenged the decaying social
structure through writing, film, music, and other performance-oriented outlets. These
youth found themselves disillusioned and bored with no clear sense of a future. The
politics of boredom 9 certainly contributed to the general response of punk rock around
this time with bands such as The Ramones, The Stooges, The Velvet Underground, and
the Sex Pistols. It was with this same mentality that industrial music was performed,
though industrial artists believed that punk music did not go far enough in rejecting the
mainstream.
Industrial music was used as a statement to counteract the hegemony of
“sameness” handed down in society for generations since the beginning of the Industrial
Revolution. Industrial musicians embraced and mirrored the sounds, images, and moods
of industry in their music, and in evoking these mechanical sights and sounds they sought
to dispel them, or at least, do away with the elements of society that are a cause of them.
The music itself was composed in order to express these ideals and in many cases to
provide a more audible voice of protest and anti-bourgeois sensibility against European
and American popular culture and government. By its very nature at the time, industrial
music served to challenge the ideology of repression as well as the stifling taboos that
existed in these societies.

9
The “politics of boredom” refers particularly to the Situationists Internationale (SI) and their political
activism in the 1960s and 1970s, primarily through self-published propaganda and avant garde art. The
group, founded by Guy Debord in 1957, was said to have roots in Marxism and Lettrism (A French avant
garde movement established in Paris in the mid-1940s). As such, it makes sense that SI were strong critics
of the bourgeoisie and that they contributed to the 1968 riots in France. For further literature on this
subject, see Ford (2004), Plant (1992), and Sadler (1998).

7
 Western electronic art music, such as the music of Luigi Russolo, Edgard Varèse,
Karlheinz Stockhausen, John Cage, and Philip Glass, carries with it a general aesthetic of
experimentation and separation from the status quo. By this, I mean to say that the use of
electronic instruments and unconventional techniques placed these composers outside of
normal practice–essentially they were experimenting with sound and music. The
innovators of industrial music identified with the disparate and experimental nature of
early electronic music; indeed they considered it to be a strong influence in their own
works. Experimentalism and speaking out against the established order was at the heart of
everything these artists performed.
Early electronic art music and experimentation were an important influence on
industrial music (as well as on many other genres of music), but these were not the only
inspiration. Literature by such authors as Aleister Crowley, William S. Burroughs, Philip
K. Dick, et al, informed many of the innovators of industrial music. Fighting what was
referred to as the “information war” 10 through literature as well as music was important
to early industrial musicians.
After a decade of experimentalism and politically charged shock tactics in the
genre (1976–1985), popularity within industrial culture grew, expanding the social
network of fans and encouraging the appreciation of the genre on more aesthetic, less
political levels. This gave birth to many sub-genres of music that wear the banner of
“industrial” but whose similarities lie in the aesthetic milieu of industrial culture. It
seems, though, that the disparate, dystopian aesthetic of the genre (that is, the ideal or
rejection of established order as well as the imagery and character of the music) has
allowed the music itself to continue to develop outside mainstream popularity, and as a
result, industrial remains something of an enigma.
The ambiguity of the genre encourages intrigue, and in turn more ambiguity.
Popular music groups since the 1980s have used dystopian imagery and sounds to create
a dark, mysterious, or disconnected mood and image–a technique first introduced by
industrial artists that has often been labeled as “industrial” itself. Bands in the mainstream

10
Information warfare is a widely researched and heavily debated topic (see Cohen [2006] and Kopp
[2000]). In today’s global society, information war could mean a number of ways to collect, withhold,
disrupt, or disseminate information about an enemy in order to gain a tactical advantage. The musicians
recording with Industrial Records may have embraced this definition as it pertains to the breakdown of the
status quo, but it is doubtful that these musicians wished to destroy society as a whole through their art.

8
have also changed the face of the popular perception of industrial music simply by
invoking its imagery and sounds. A clear example of this is the popular new metal group
Korn, who, when asked in a 1995 interview how one would describe their music, were
reported as stating that they “sounded industrial,” so they must play “industrial music.”
Of course, based on the history of industrial music before the popularity of Korn, the only
similarity they share is dark, dystopian imagery, if even that. The music itself is quite
different, and once again its generic descriptor is largely inadequate.
Industrial music at present is characterized by independent artists, independent
record companies, and regional cell groups of fans. The internet certainly exposed many
artists to a larger pool of listeners, but still the majority of underground musicians have a
very localized following. This disconnected, regional popularity encourages the nature of
the genre to become increasingly complex, as the majority of independent bands who are
considered “industrial” fall under this blanket generic category yet would not (and
perhaps could not) describe their sound as simply “industrial music.” In addition, sub-
genres used from band to band are regionally specific and subjectively derivative. One
might notice three groups from three different areas with nearly identical sound and
instrumentation but each are labeled as a specific sub-genre which, while they would
acknowledge similarities, they consider unique. There are countless communities of
industrial music fans who argue endlessly about the nature of the genre. This of course is
not only true of industrial music, but of other less mainstream genres such as techno and
its sub-genres (breakbeat, house, dance, trance, jungle, etc.) and hip hop and its sub-
genres (electro, electroclash, old school, Miami bass, breakdance, etc.).
In addition, industrial music, by virtue of its dissemination, encourages this
individuality and innovation in order to achieve relative success. While contemporary
industrial artists continue to reject the mainstream, their legitimacy still lies in how their
music is received by their target audience–in this case industrial culture. On some levels,
the music must change rapidly to accommodate its fans while retaining elements that
keep the genre intact. Originally, industrial musicians were not concerned with a
following per se–they wanted to make what they called “anti-music” 11 as a message of

11
An important goal of Industrial Records; their response to punk rock “not going far enough” away from
or “not challenging” the mainstream enough.

9
rejection. Essentially, this anti-music refers to the creation of sounds through atypical
performance of instruments, creating new instruments, and through the use of noise.
Subsequent groups bearing the generic descriptor “industrial” no longer make “anti-
music” the utmost priority. Indeed, they do desire a following, even though they expect
that following to be limited.
I use noise here not only in the musical sense that places it as a binary opposite to
discernable pitch, but in line with the conceptual framework suggested by Jacques Attali
in his book, Noise: The Political Economy of Music. Attali writes:
Our science has always desired to monitor, measure, abstract, and castrate
meaning, forgetting that life is full of noise and that death alone is silent:
work noise, noise of man, and noise of beast. Noise bought or sold, or
prohibited. Nothing essential happens in the absence of noise…Among
sounds, music as an autonomous production is a recent invention. Even as
late as the eighteenth century, it was effectively submerged within a larger
totality. Ambiguous and fragile, ostensibly secondary and of minor
importance, it has invaded our world and daily life. Today, it is
unavoidable, as if, in a world now devoid of meaning, a background noise
were increasingly necessary to give people a sense of security. 12

If the comprehensive soundscape of life is noise and certain human interactions are
musical, then noise can be recognized as musical interaction. Within music is a mirror of
life itself, and the reflection cannot be selective in its image–at least not for long–for a
true reflection must include not only harmony but disharmony, not only pitch but noise.
Certainly these ideas were popular among the Futurists in the early twentieth century, and
they still represent a popular model to which industrial musicians subscribe.

Literature Review
Beyond the wealth of recorded music and visual art (including film) surrounding
industrial music, the nature of the history of this genre affords many materials from
which to gather information about history, organology, iconography, biography, and
social theory. The majority of the literary resources cited for this project fall in the realm
of history and social theory. In addition to the representative source material, this project
draws from the body of social theory and anthropological literature. Genre theory will

12
Jacques Attali, Noise: The Political Economy of Music (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press,
1985), 3.

10
play an important role in this work, in determining how the ambiguity of genre can be
reconciled in a cognitive framework.
Modern Genre Theory, 13 edited and introduced by David Duff, is a collection of
influential essays concerning the nature of genre. For the purposes of this research, these
collected writings, and in particular the essays “The Law of Genre,” by Gennette and
“Transformations of Genre,” by Derrida, stand as the central point of reference, as the
authors of each of these essays discuss genre’s representation of a text (that is the subject
of its description) and its development of and with changing media. The social theory
encompassed within provides a strong precedent for any particular theorization about
genre labeling and will link together the itemization of industrial into its many
associative- and sub-genres. The book lacks any in-depth discussion of musical genre, but
in writing about industrial music genres I will draw important parallels to the social
theory that is well outlined in the book.
David Fishelov’s Metaphors of Genre: The Role of Analogies in Genre Theory 14
gives insight into the connotative nature of genre. Prevalent definitions of genres tend to
be based on the notion that they constitute particular conventions of content (such as
themes or settings) and/or form (including structure and style) which are shared by the
texts (subjects) which are regarded as belonging to them. This is important for
understanding de facto genre labeling, which is the spontaneous creation of generic labels
that draw connotative descriptions of a text. Fishelov explores how various generic labels
serve to create an abstract or accessible symbolic template for the subjects they describe.
The attempt to define particular genres in terms of necessary and sufficient textual
properties is sometimes seen as theoretically attractive but it poses many difficulties. For
instance, in the case of films, some seem to be aligned with one genre in content and
another genre in form. The film theorist Robert Stam argues in his book Film Theory 15
that “subject matter is the weakest criterion for generic grouping because it fails to take
into account how the subject is treated.” As it applies to industrial culture, this remains
true of nearly every generic descriptor, for example “EBM” or “Electronic Body Music”

13
David Duff, Modern Genre Theory (Harlow, England; New York: Longman, 2000).
14
David Fishelov, Metaphors of Genre: The Role of Analogies in Genre Theory (University Park, PA:
Pennsylvania State University Press, 1993).
15
Robert Stam, Film Theory (Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2000).

11
which is a genre of music affiliated with industrial culture that is centered around
dancing. What complicates the issue even further are the disparate perceptions of this
phenomenon among regional cell groups of fans, and also between these cell groups and
mainstream culture.
Of particular importance is Carolyn Miller’s “Genre as Social Action.” 16 In this
article, Miller outlines her ideas on genre as a human behavior, informed and reinforced
by society. This article promotes several ideas about the nature of genre that can be
solidly supported with examples from industrial culture.
One of the most influential publications concerning industrial culture is Andrea
Juno’s and V. Vale’s Industrial Culture Handbook, 17 published in 1988 through
RE/Search. It is no surprise that these editors chose musicians as primary representatives
of industrial culture, considering the inextricable link between music and culture. This
book became an important rulebook for people who were fascinated with industrial
culture as well as those who lived the lifestyle. In addition, those fans of the music found
biographical and political information in the handbook that linked them to their growing
community and legitimized their counterculture against the mainstream.
The handbook is comprised of several biographical entries about the forerunners
of Industrial Records (1976) as well as other artists and musicians who were their
contemporaries. In addition, the editors compiled interviews with each artist. This
handbook is a wonderful textual and contextual source. It is a static look at the face of
industrial music culture during the first wave. The majority of the tendencies of early fans
of industrial music were (and/or are) informed by the Industrial Culture Handbook.
While the source is not very comprehensive, it is an important early reference.
Another clear source for the early history of industrial music is Brian Duguid’s
contribution to EST Magazine Online. 18 Duguid connects early electronic music
influences to the performance artists of Industrial Records. While he does not provide a
detailed history of the genre (and indeed admits to this), Duguid makes several important
points about the ambiguity of the generic title “industrial” that were glossed over in the

16
Carolyn R. Miller, “Genre as Social Action,” Quarterly Journal of Speech 70 (1984): 150-167.
17
V. Vale and Andrea Juno, RE/Search: Industrial Culture Handbook (San Francisco: RE/Search
Publications, 1988).
18
Brian Duguid, “A Prehistory of Industrial Music,” EST Magazine Online
<http://media.hyperreal.org/zines/est/articles/preindex.html>

12
Industrial Culture Handbook. He discusses how while many groups were happy to adopt
the title “industrial,” there were several bands that wanted to separate themselves from
such a label.
Pascal Bussy wrote the biography Kraftwerk: Man, Machine, and Music about
one of the most influential groups in popular music today. Bussy’s insights into the
electronic (what Kraftwerk calls “robotic”) music of the group are not a direct
representation of industrial music, per se, but they describe the general tone of electronic
sound and practice in the 1970s and 1980s. More than the biography, Bussy outlines the
history of the music scene with references to the political environment in Germany and
Europe around this time period.
There are several other sources confirming historical events and representing
biography, such as Joel Chadabe’s Electric Sound: The Past and Promise of Electronic
Music, 19 Dave Henderson’s article “Wild Planet” 20 (originally appearing in a 1983 issue
of Sounds in the UK), Charles Neal’s Tape Delay: Confessions from the Eighties
Underground 21 , and Peter Shapiro’s Modulations: A History of Electronic Music:
Throbbing Words on Sound. 22 These outline the definite origins of the genre.
Other important sources for this research consist mainly of articles published
online or in journals such as Effigy, Virus, Interface, and MFTEQ Ghafran, as well as a
handful of theses and dissertations, both undergraduate and graduate (but all
unpublished). “The Future is Happening Already: Industrial Music, Dystopia, and the
Aesthetic of the Machine” 23 is a Ph.D. dissertation written by musicologist Karen E.
Collins which describes in scholarly detail the nature of industrial culture while
theorizing extensively about the dystopian aspects of the genre. She explores the aesthetic
of industrial culture at length, and provides a good backdrop of understanding with which
to theorize about the inner-workings of genre. While she outlines the connotative aspects

19
Joel Chadabe, Electric Sound: The Past and Promise of Electronic Music (New Jersey: Prentice Hall,
1996).
20
Dave Henderson, “Wild Planet,” Sounds (1983).
21
Charles Neal, Tape Delay: Confessions from the Eighties Underground (London: SAF Publications,
1987).
22
Peter Shapiro, et al, Modulations: A History of Electronic Music: Throbbing Words on Sound (New
York: Charles Rivers, 2000).
23
Karen E. Collins, “The Future is Happening Already: Industrial Music, Dystopia, and the Aesthetic of
the Machine,” Ph.D., University of Liverpool, (2002).

13
of genre in industrial music, Collins never goes beyond this notion in the direction of
genre theory, focusing instead on the role of dystopia in culture. Where this research
departs from Collins’s investigations is in the work with genre itself, as there is currently
no definitive precedent in the study of music genre at the theoretical level. Collins’s work
in this dissertation, as well as in other papers, 24 represents one of the only recent
academic investigations of this genre and culture.
An understanding of performance art in the late 1970s (such as that of COUM
Transmissions), as well as a familiarity with the political climate of that time, was gained
from several books and articles, such as Simon Ford’s Wreckers of Civilisation 25 and
Mick Fish’s Industrial Evolution. 26 The literature and poetry of dystopian authors is also
important to my research, such as the poetry of Aleister Crowley, the writings of Philip
K. Dick and William Burroughs, and Cyberpunk fiction 27 –all of which created a fantasy
that was often fetishized and featured in industrial music and culture.
While this project is interdisciplinary in nature, the core concepts in discussing
genre are grounded in ethnomusicology and anthropology, particularly in the works of
Steven Feld and Clifford Geertz. Feld’s article “Communication, Music, and Speech
About Music” 28 discusses the communicative purposes of music that I believe take place
through genre. Geertz wrote essays on interpretive anthropology 29 that have an important
place in ethnomusicological discourse, not only for their influence on fieldwork and
human interaction, but concerning the question of genre and how these theoretical
concepts seem to operate in communication about music and culture. The written ideas of

24
Karen E. Collins and Phillip Tagg, “The Sonic Aesthetics of the Industrial: Reconstructing Yesterday’s
Soundscape for Today’s Alienation and Tomorrow’s Dystopia,” Sound Practice (2001): 101-108.
25
Simon Ford, Wreckers of Civilisation: The Story of COUM Transmissions and Throbbing Gristle (UK:
Black Dog, 2000).
26
Mick Fish, Industrial Evolution: Through the Eighties with Cabaret Voltaire (London: SAF, 2002), 189-
90.
27
Cyberpunk fiction is a sub-genre of science fiction that combines cybernetic and punk sensibilities and
often storylines revolve around end-of-times, post-apocalyptic settings, artificial intelligence, and
dominating corporations. These are predominantly set in a near future, as opposed to a distant, unknown
future. Some classic examples of literature of this genre are William Gibson’s Sprawl Trilogy, Philip K.
Dick’s Blade Runner and his short story “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale.” Films include Shinya
Tsukamoto’s Tetsuo: The Iron Man, Paul Verhoeven’s Total Recall, based on the previously mentioned
short story by Philip K. Dick, and the Matrix Trilogy by the Wachowski brothers.
28
Steven Feld, “Communication, Music, and Speech About Music,” Yearbook for Traditional Music 16
(1984): 1-18.
29
Clifford Geertz, Local Knowledge: Further Essays in Interpretive Anthropology (New York: Basic
Books, 1983).

14
both of these scholars, as well as other ethnomusicological literature, have influenced this
thesis.
The research material for this topic is extensive; still the topic itself, in the manner
that it is approached here, is virtually untouched by musicologists. Researching the
history of industrial music requires an exhaustive review of materials encompassing a
relatively short period of time through to the present. Beyond the simple linear
representation of events, the thesis will include the exploration of varying
instrumentations and styles associated with the genre. Also, the close ties to performance
art and visual art (tragic, satirical, etc.) form an integral aspect of the accurate retelling of
the past. Biography will come into focus when discussing the important bands and
musicians in industrial music.

15
 CHAPTER 1: THE SCOPE OF THE PROJECT

Theoretical Issues
Many in the industrial community find the term “genre” problematic. These
industrialists do not consider industrial music a genre in its own right, but rather a
specific style of the genre of electronic music. This is further based on the idea that
industrial music as a style was only prevalent between 1976 and 1981 and no longer
exists, and those musics that have appropriated the term since should be more accurately
referred to as “post-industrial” styles of electronic music. This notion is understandable
as a way to pay homage to the original innovators of industrial music, locking them in
place as the only industrial musicians, as well as solidify industrial’s connection with the
art tradition of electronic music. Perhaps industrial is simply a style–a way of performing,
a certain sound with specific motives and practices–that cannot be classified within the
corpus of developing popular and underground electronic music genres. If classification
is our final goal, it may indeed be important to make these distinctions. But what is the
goal of perceiving industrial music as a genre? What is genre? Why does it make sense to
use genre with music?
This thesis is intent on emphasizing the important relationship in music between
text and context. The usage of “text” here represents the subject being analyzed, and by
this I refer not to the music itself as an entity or “work,” which can be analyzed through
an investigation of its technical components (and is the general purview of musicology),
but rather to the idea of the music–what it means in everyday communication as a
conceptual human interactive phenomenon. In this sense, the text in its theoretical
application, can be the music or the conversation about music (either monologue or
dialogue), and I will elaborate on this concept in a later section.
“Context” represents the setting in which the text is relevant, that is to say how
the text is used and communicated among people. The description of this relationship is a
task best accomplished through an exploration of the origins and original interpretation of
the genre then linking this history to current trends. I will begin by discussing the
ambiguous nature of industrial itself. Genre links music between its cultural icons and

16
participants in the realm of communication. This thesis will expand on these ideas as its
main focus, using examples from social theory and other related fields.
Currently there is little organized history of the genre of industrial music. What
has been collected in other writings is by no means definitive and will require structuring.
While events associated with industrial music span only three decades, there is a large
amount of relevant information to consider. Several issues present themselves.
The instrumentation of industrial music is so broadly encompassing that it is
nearly impossible to codify. A clear place to approach an understanding of genre is
setting up various themes in experimentation and practice that represent the soundscape
of industrial music. Indeed, how does something sound like industrial? The implications
of this question will be explored in the thesis.
The subject or text in this case is the music itself. Industrial is a genre that is only
three decades old, but in that time it has experienced much change in style and practice.
There are countless recordings amounting to a large body of music to be consulted.
Analysis of this collection of music will give clues to an overall style or genre of music–a
quantifiable sound. Visual art, film, and related imagery also have a longstanding tie to
industrial culture. What Collins calls “the aesthetic of the industrial,” has been
propagated not only by literature but by the iconography of the genre. In some ways, the
only representative aspects of industrial culture to observers both inside and outside
mainstream culture have been through iconographic representation. This alone should put
forth the case for the inclusion of industrial iconography in painting an accurate picture of
industrial music as an identifiable text.
Issues in context stem from the ambiguity of text and its placement in the popular
mind. Can music that does not expressly share the aspects of the industrial music
promoted by the original recording artists of the Industrial Records label be considered
“industrial?” Some fans think yes, others think no. Is “goth/industrial” a working label, or
does it represent two incompatible generic descriptors? These current debates and others
are exchanged often among the participants of industrial culture, both musicians and fans
alike. Only by observing the text while taking into consideration its context can one make
educated and important connections with genre that are relevant to musicology.

17
Methodology
As a participant in industrial culture and this particular project, my own
perceptions and ideas concerning genre and the nature of industrial music will be
pertinent to the study. Genre studies, particularly the research that has focused on music
(which is limited) and film, will be consulted in order to approach the issues inherent in
music genre. The discussion of music through the use of genre is commonplace in our
society today, yet genre remains largely inadequate for communicating the idea of the
musical text. Using a large body of social theory to support my ideas, I will argue that
genre theory is indeed necessary in music as in other fields, but that music genre takes on
an interesting dimension that other literary or media genres do not, due to the nature of
communication, conceptualization, and interactions between text and context. Music can
indeed be viewed as a text, but beyond lyrical content or counterpoint exists the abstract
and interactive, indefinable realm of music–its cultural context.
The history of industrial music will be investigated through research of extant
documents and media relating to the past thirty years. I will begin with an investigation of
the events surrounding the establishment of the Industrial Records label in 1976. This
will include noting the influences and practices that led up to that time. Along these lines,
I will outline a general framework for understanding genre based on the history of
accepted terms for participants in industrial culture. This type of delineation will be a
structural organization of still debated generic titles within the participants of industrial
music, but these types of analyses should be formally handled by musicologists if there is
to be any authoritative claim about them at all. The end result of this historical aspect of
the thesis will be a clearer sense of the scope of industrial music–its origins, influences,
recording practices, organology, iconography, and development, as well as a collection
and explanation of the generic titles that have been prevalent–through the present;
essentially I will have created an organized reference for industrial music history.
In addition to history and social theory, this project calls for an exploration of the
industrial scene through fieldwork employing two models: oral history, and observation
of current practice. This will include the author’s involvement in the industrial scene as
well as listening to a wide collection of industrial music of varying subgenres with
careful analysis in mind. Interviews were undertaken in the Tampa, FL goth/industrial

18
scene, as well as in internet communities dedicated to the discussion and dissemination of
industrial music. Particularly here the issue of regional genre labeling will be explored, as
several interesting debates about the nature of specific sub-genres are disputed among
fans. Ultimately, the nature of communicating about music itself will be confronted
through ethnographic interviews.
For instance, when I sat down to compose a pool of questions from which to
interview my informants, I expected the process to flow smoothly. By this, I mean to say
that I imagined a fairly straightforward interview in which my informants would answer
my questions to the best of their ability and then wait for the next question. Instead, I was
surprised to discover that the questions I was asking inspired more of a discussion than an
interview. I felt as if I was back in the DJ booth, chatting away and reminiscing about the
music of my youth. It was these conversations that got me thinking about communicating
about music, which elements of the conversation are important and telling about the
music, and the unspoken information that is shared as well, all in seemingly informal
dialogue.
Interviews performed in the field will be analyzed to examine several perceptive
aspects of the genre. Questions that can be considered will span from broad concepts to
specific queries. What is industrial music? If you could name five aspects of industrial
culture, what would they be? What do you like or dislike about industrial music? Which
bands are representative of specific waves of industrial music? How do you know you are
listening to industrial music? How does music sound “more” or “less” industrial? These
are some of the basic questions that could be addressed in any interview. The goal of
interviewing is to examine a large group of perceptions of the music, culture, imagery,
genres, and direction of industrial. Not only will fans be interviewed, but the focus group
will include band members and disc jockeys, newcomers and “old-school” fans, and first-
time listeners.
Problematic terms
Throughout the thesis I will use terms that are “loaded” in the sense that they have
multiple connotative meanings. Since I am writing about genre, which is at its core intent
on encouraging communication, it is only logical to qualify these words in the way I will
use them.

19
 The term aesthetic is likely one of the most problematic in this thesis, given its
tumultuous history. Etymologically, the word finds its roots in the Greek verb
aisthanesthai, which means “to feel” or “to perceive.” The eighteenth-century
philosopher Alexander Baumgarten invoked the term for the study of poetry in terms of
criticism of taste, though earlier Immanuel Kant had originally translated the word to
describe “the science which treats the conditions of sensuous perception.” 30 Since that
time, the word has undergone additional re-conceptualization, experiencing scholarly
resistance each time. I will be using the term as an extension of its popular use as a noun.
Quite simply for this thesis, aesthetic will mean: An underlying principle or set of
principles; a view often manifested by outward appearances or style of behavior.
Throughout the thesis I will refer to industrial music’s connections to
experimentation, or experimentalism. This refers to compositional techniques that
challenge established notions of what music is. The music of John Cage, for example, is
often regarded as experimentalist. Some scholars (Cage, 1961; Nicholls, 1998; Nyman,
1999) have gone so far as to describe elements of experimentalism as a genre, comparing
it to the avant garde to find commonalities as well as differences that set the two apart.
For the purposes of my research, I have no need to specify distinctions between
experimentalism and avant garde concepts as they both at their core represent my
intentions for the term experimentalism–outside the established norm.
Genre, meta-genre, and subgenre are three terms that can be quite misunderstood.
Genre itself will be explained in a fair amount of detail throughout the body of this thesis.
Building on its conceptual foundation, the word “meta-genre” will refer to a genre
descriptor that encompasses under its heading another set of recognizable genres. Meta-
genre is purely a conceptual term. Linnaeus’s concept of “genus” lying below “family”
would suggest that meta-genre and family are synonymous. This is true, in terms of the
classificatory nature of genre, however, when theorizing about genre systems in human
communication, using the term meta-genre is an important distinction, since taxonomy
alone does not address modes of communication.
Sub-genre is a class of text that belongs to its parent genre and cannot be
conceptually removed from it. In communicating about music, sub-genres often denote

30
“Aesthetics.” Encyclopedia Britannica, fifteenth edition.

20
origin as well as connotation. The term has several accepted uses, but I use it sparingly to
mean a distinct derivative of a defined genre. Duff further defines sub-genre as “a type or
class of text which is identifiable as a subclass or offshoot of a larger category.” 31
Style is a difficult word to define in music. It can have multiple meanings and is
often used interchangeably with genre when discussing music. I will use both genre and
style in specific ways in this thesis. While genre will be discussed and theorized, style
will maintain a singular meaning–the manifestation of a mode of expression. For
example, in music the elements of a song or work are represented in various ways to
produce a distinct profile for that work, and this is referred to as “style.” I will use this
term likewise, to define the way in which elements are displayed through practice.
For this thesis, the word “mechanical” will refer to any machinery or tool that
gives a mechanical advantage–that is reduces workload, increases productivity, etc.–
while remaining in direct control of people. In other words, mechanical means “old
technology,” such as that of chains and pulleys, saws, grinders, drills, etc. In addition, I
will use the word “technology” to represent “high-technology,” that is, machines created
by humans to perform tasks on their own. For example, computers, artificial intelligence,
automatic locking mechanisms, security interfaces, etc.
Context is setting–time, place, and use–in culture. This involves not only where
music is created and disseminated, but how this takes place and why. Of particular
importance to genre is the way people talk about music in their daily lives. I will unpack
what this entails more in later chapters.
Lastly, an industrialist is a participating member of industrial culture. I use the
word “industrialist” here as an extension of Luigi Russolo’s conceptual “Futurist,” an
idea I will introduce later in this thesis. Industrialist refers to a member of the industrial
community, specifically, an active proponent of industrial music. Invoking the term, in
Russolo’s sense, makes a positive connection between the avant garde and industrial. In
addition to tying the term to the Futurists in this way, I am also aware that industrialist is
a quite common word in everyday language that invokes very specific images of industry,
capital, and production. It is also my intention to use this cultural imagery in an ironic
way by “mis-using” the word for the purposes of this thesis.

31
Duff, xvi.

21
Unpacking and discussing text
Text, quite simply the subject, is the crux of this thesis. The term text is the most
problematic when discussing music, as it is at a literal, symbolic level accepted to mean
the words or poetry of a song, as in song text. However, in the investigation of this
underground music genre, I submit that words to songs will be referred to as “lyrics,” and
the word “text” itself will represent a subject to be defined by genre. In other words, a
text in industrial music will be the song itself, as a musical entity, which awaits
placement within the genre. As Mikhail Bakhtin writes, “The ‘implied’ text: if the word
‘text’ is understood in the broad sense–as any coherent complex of signs–then even the
study of art (the study of music, the theory and history of fine arts) deals with texts
(works of art).” 32
However, the concept of text is not so easily and decisively definable. While the
text represents any organized system of symbols in human thought, the difficulty lies
within the text as a human phenomenon and how it stands apart from perceived empirical
truth (such as measured phenomenon in the natural sciences). Bakhtin goes on to say:
Thought about the human sciences originates as thought about others’
thoughts, wills, manifestations, expressions, and signs, behind which stand
manifest gods (revelations) or people (the laws of rulers, the precepts of
ancestors, anonymous sayings, riddles, and so forth). A scientifically
precise, as it were, authentication of the texts and criticism of texts come
later (in thought in the human sciences, they represent a complete about-
face, the origin of skepticism). Initially, belief required only
understanding–interpretation… Regardless of the goals of research, the
only possible point of departure is the text. 33

While the study of the physical world encourages definite thought, we cannot forget that
a text exists at the forefront of a language system that is only generally understood.
Defining formal features of a piece of music may well have a foot-hold into the
empiricist’s realm, but communicating these features–the elements of a text–cannot be
divorced from its habitat. This is especially important to music research. Scholars in the
field of music negotiate these aspects of study in finding elements of a text (music
stylistic elements) that extend beyond language into the realm of physical data. “If there

32
Mikhail Bakhtin, Speech Genres and Other Late Essays, trans. Vern W. McGee (Austin: University of
Texas Press, 1986), 103.
33
Bakhtin, 103-104.

22
is no language behind the text, then it is not a text, but a natural (not signifying)
phenomenon,” 34 writes Bakhtin. In music, there is a significant amount of expression
detached from signification of language, but it is not separate from text. “There are not
nor can there be any pure texts. In each text, moreover, there are a number of aspects that
can be called technical.” 35
Expanding on these ideas, Richard Bauman writes about the nature of what he
calls “intertextuality,” that is, the relationship of texts to other texts. He states:
Whether by the attribution of literary influence, or the identification of
literary sources and analogues, or the ascription of traditionality, or the
allegation of plagiarism or copyright violation–or, indeed, by any of a host
of other ways of construing relationships among texts–the recognition that
the creation of literary texts depends in significant part on the alignment of
texts to prior texts and the anticipation of future texts has drawn critical–
and ideological–attention to this reflexive dimension of discursive
practice… In this philological perspective, which had a formative
influence on textual criticism more generally and which was inscribed into
the scholarly tradition of folklore and anthropology by the Brothers
Grimm and Franz Boas, the texts are conceived essentially as cultural
objects: durable, repeatable, classifiable, linked to other texts by
relationship of descent (both textual and national) and generic similarity. 36

Bauman notes that he forms his “exploration of intertextuality as discursive practice” 37

from Bakhtin, who proposed that “the text lives only by coming into contact with another
text (with context),” and that the interaction “is a dialogic contact between texts,” behind
which is a “contact of personalities and not of things.” 38
In speech about music, the empirical realm is trapped behind a system of symbols.
As such, the recognition of a text evokes a mutually understood language–a discourse.
The positivistic temptation to abandon significance of language in favor of empirical
order is evoked by an uneasiness with the apparent contradiction of text as it exists not on
either opposite end of the spectrum, but in the space between. Stephen Tyler writes:
The text has the paradoxical capacity to evoke transcendence without
synthesis, without creating within itself formal devices and conceptual

34
Bakhtin, 105.
35
Bakhtin, 105.
36
Richard Bauman, A World of Others’ Words: Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Intertextuality (Oxford:
Blackwell Publishers, 2004), 1-2.
37
Bauman, 2.
38
Bakhtin, 162.

23
 strategies of transcendental order… It avoids any supposition of a
harmony between the logical-conceptual order of the text and the order of
things, and it attempts to eliminate the subject-object nexus by refusing the
possibility of their separation or of the dominance of one over the other in
the form of the text-as-mirror-of-thought. It accomplishes a cognitive
utopia not of the author’s subjectivity or of the reader’s but of the author-
text-reader, an emergent mind that has no individual locus, being instead
an infinity of possible loci. 39

Indeed, text exists in an unconditional realm of meaning and non-meaning,

preception and perception, that ultimately has no tangible form except that which we
prescribe. It exists in an abstract realm between two binary opposites: everything and
nothing. In research, it is possible to move closer the either of the opposite ends of this
spectrum, and doing so will reveal more of the nature of that text. And this, of course, is
discourse.
It is not possible, however, to completely realize this spectrum. Tyler writes, “It is
impossible in text or speech to eliminate ambiguity and to structure totally for all time the
auditor’s purposes and interests. Her reading and listening are as much expressions of her
intentions and will as is the author’s writing and speaking.” 40 Every human act is what
Bakhtin calls a “potential text” and thus it can only be understood as such–not as a
physical action. In other words, human acts can only be understood “in the dialogic
context” of their own time, “as a rejoinder, as a semantic position, as a system of
motives.” 41
Is there no hope, then, for understanding and communicating text? I think there is.
In navigating theoretical realms of ambiguity, there is no need to think that scientific
reason is unable to find useful conclusions when operating outside of a true empirical
dimension. Tyler writes:
Because the text can eliminate neither ambiguity nor the subjectivity of its
authors and readers, it is bound to be misread, so much so that we might
conclude… that the meaning of the text is the sum of its misreadings.
Such may indeed be the fate of the text, but the meaning of this inherent
failure to control ambiguity and subjectivity is that it provides good reason

39
Stephen A. Tyler, “Post-Modern Ethnography: From Document of the Occult to Occult Document,” In
Writing Culture: The Poetics and Politics of Ethnography, ed. James Clifford and George E. Marcus,
(Berkley: University of California Press, 1986), 122-40.
40
Tyler, 135.
41
Bakhtin, 107.

24
 for rejecting the model of scientific rhetoric, that Cartesian pretense that
ideas are effable in clear, unambiguous, objective, and logical expression,
for the inner form of a text is not logical, except in parody, but paradoxical
and enigmatic, not so much ineffable, as over-effable, illimitably effable,
possessing a surplus of effability that must always exceed the means of its
effability, so that the infinite possibility of its effability becomes the
condition of its ineffability, and the interpretation of a text must struggle
against this surplus of meaning, not with its obscurity or poverty. 42

What Tyler essentially says here is that once we overcome the subjective-objective binary
opposite in which text cannot naturally exist, we are able to understand that text better in
the communicative sense, and ultimately this is the point of genre. In speech about music,
genre is the link between producer and interpreter of the text. This link is at its nature
classificatory without being completely empirical. It is a pragmatic link–a bridge which
transcends the non-signification of pure-objective while also providing a stable plane
from which to approach the text beneath the fog of pure-subjective.
When I say, then, that text is the subject that awaits placement within genre, it is
not without taking all of these issues into account. I say this while standing on the bridge
of genre, with communication and facilitation in mind. The music, as text, must cross this
bridge as well. Bakhtin said, “No natural phenomenon has ‘meaning,’ only signs
(including words) have meaning. Therefore, any study of signs, regardless of the
direction in which it may subsequently proceed, necessarily begins with
understanding.” 43 Ned Rorem acknowledged this aspect of text with his famous
quotation, “The hardest of all the arts to speak of is music, because music has no meaning
to speak of.” 44 If music is seen as simply a thing–a natural phenomenon–then it has no
meaning. But speech about music, whether internal monologue or external dialogue, has
meaning that is evoked through understanding and organized by genre. The band, as text,
also travels across the bridge. In the popular mind, the band exists as the face and symbol
of the music in question, in that a band and its members can be a direct representation of
the music. Bakhtin writes:
The author cannot be separated from the images and characters, since he
enters into these images as an indispensable part of them (images are dual

42
Tyler, 135-36.
43
Bakhtin, 113.
44
Ned Rorem, Music from Inside Out (G.Braziler, 1967).

25
 and sometimes double-voiced). But the image of an author can be
separated from the images of the characters. This image itself, however, is
created by the author and is therefore also dual. It is frequently as though
the images of characters had been replaced by living people. 45

Finally, genre as text, the embodiment of communicative purposes–that is to say

the genre itself as the symbol of communication–is another important rhetorical
dimension. Using the subject of industrial music as a case study, the nature and use of
genre and of text–in variable incarnations–will become apparent.

45
Bakhtin, 116.

26
 CHAPTER 2: INDUSTRIAL RECORDS AND BEYOND: EARLY INFLUENCES
AND THE REINTERPRETATION OF STYLE

A new genre: Industrial Records

Industrial music was born in 1976 in London, England, when a controversial
performance artist and performer named Genesis P. Orridge with his band calling
themselves Throbbing Gristle, formed the Industrial Records label. Originally, “industrial
music” referred simply to the musical output of the record label, which included a variety
of experimental, electronic, often noise-oriented compositions, altered instruments, and
music-accompanied performance art. Throbbing Gristle, then consisting of front man P-
Orridge, Peter “Sleazy” Christopherson, Cosey Fanni Tutti, and Chris Carter, formed
Industrial Records with the particular intention “to explore the psychological, visual, and
aural territory suggested by the term ‘Industrial.’” 46 Another performance artist
associated with the group, Monte Cazazza, coined the slogan, “Industrial Music for
Industrial People,” and with that the genre was born.
Throbbing Gristle (which is Yorkshire slang for “erection”) formed directly from
an extreme movement in art and in music–the late 1960s-early 1970s performance art
group COUM transmissions–involving shocking, grotesque imagery and acts (See
Figures 1 and 2). 47 Cazazza, who was involved with the band in the early years was
certainly one of the most extreme artists and performers of the time, and contributed
greatly to the mood and protest within this scene. These outrageous practices were
inspired by experimentalism in other areas, such as the poetry of Aleister Crowley, dada,
Futurism, the Fluxus movement, and surrealism. It was all part of an experiment to test
the limits of what society had put in place for them. This main credo developed into
wildly experimental music and performance art. Throbbing Gristle has received a lot of
criticism over the years for their antics being hypocritical or non-artistic. Despite any
controversy over the subject, they set the stage for the British industrial sound (Sound
Example 1, Sound Example 2). 48

46
Vale, 9.
47
Simon Ford, Wreckers of Civilisation: The Story of COUM Transmissions and Throbbing Gristle (UK:
Black Dog, 2000).
48
In order to hear the example, click on the number. For the full list of sound examples, see Appendix I.

27
 Figure 1: Advertisement poster for COUM Transmissions 49

Figure 2: Cosey Fanni Tutti and Genesis P-Orridge in Cease to Exist 4 50

49
Ford, 8.4.

28
 P-Orridge stated in an interview:
All culture is fed by the extreme. Throbbing Gristle, in 1975, printed a
newsletter that we gave away free, and it said all you need is a cassette
recorder with a condenser microphone and you can make an album. We
made our first album that way. We put the tape on the table and we played
live and released it as an album, which has never been deleted. 51

The typical instrumentation of Throbbing Gristle involved synthesizers and other

electric/amplified instruments, such as the cornet, guitar, bass guitar, micro-monitor
amplifiers and others. The instruments themselves were played in various ways to
produce “shortwave noises” and loops of piano sounds, screaming voices, and feedback.
Throbbing Gristle was indeed the inspiration behind the Industrial Records label and the
sound that would become known as industrial music, but many other groups who were
part of this scene, part of industrial culture, took the music and the industrial aesthetic
into new and different directions. Genesis P-Orridge notes, “All of us were working
before it became ‘industrial,’ and discovered each other and recognized that kindred
spirit, that driving force, and that’s what made us all, if you like, ‘industrial
culture.’…The other thing that is quite staggering is that ‘industrial’ has become a word
that is used worldwide–there are record sections in shops in Japan that say ‘Industrial
Music.’” 52
In an interview, P-Orridge, had this to say concerning the creation of their label:
Industrial Records began as an investigation. The four members of
Throbbing Gristle wanted to investigate to what extent you could mutate
and collage sound, present complex non-entertaining noises to a popular
culture situation and convince and convert. We wanted to re-invest Rock
music with content, motivation and risk. Our records were documents of
attitudes and experiences and observations by us and other determinedly
individual outsiders. Fashion was an enemy, style irrelevant. 53

Other artists who recorded with Industrial Records include The Leather Nun,
Clock DVA, Surgical Penis Klinik (SPK), Cabaret Voltaire, Richard H. Kirk, Thomas
Leer, performance artist Monte Cazzaza, and author William S. Burroughs. The group’s

50
Ford, 6.32.
51
Ford, 6.17.
52
Vale, p. 16.
53
Genesis P-Orridge, “The Industrial Records Story.” Industrial Records Online.
<http://www.industrial-records.com/>

29
members split into two different partnerships in June of 1981. P-Orridge and “Sleazy”
created Psychic TV/The Temple of Psychic Youth, and Cosey Fanni Tutti and Chris
Carter created CTI, the Creative Technology Institute (Originally called “Chris &
Cosey”). “Sleazy” and a friend, Jhonn Balance, also began the musical project called Coil
(Which disbanded in 2004 with the death of Balance). These groups rarely work on major
music projects today, but are still involved in the community at large.
After Throbbing Gristle broke up, Industrial Records production nearly came to a
halt, but the label itself still serves the counterculture that it has appealed to over the past
thirty years. Recently, Throbbing Gristle came together again under the label to produce a
“best of” album, The Taste of TG: A Beginner’s Guide to the Music of Throbbing Gristle
(Mute 2004). Beyond the general production of Industrial Records, in less than a year
after the label first disbanded many other musicians became associated with their
ideology and the sounds they produced. These pioneers of their time became industrial
musicians.
The label has had only a small output of media over the past thirty years,54 and
perhaps surprisingly, this was the original goal of its founders. In other words, the point
of producing records was not to sell music, but to communicate a message. While the
punk scene waned with artists being signed by big named record companies in order to
continue to market the punk sound to a wider audience, Industrial Records remained true
to its vision of fighting the status quo:
Big records companies produce records like cars; we are connected to a
contemporary social situation, not a blues orientated past style; we work
hard for what we want, we are industrious; we parody and challenge large
industrial companies and their debasing ethics and depersonalization; we
work in an old factory; industrial labor is slavery, destructive, a redundant
institution so we call it the Death Factory.55

Throbbing Gristle established the legacy of rejecting the hegemony of large record
companies and the mainstream. Even when Industrial Records began generating a
substantial fan base, they did not compromise their opposition to popularity.
The word industrial spoke to these artists and their audience in a number of ways.
P-Orridge noted in an interview, “There’s an irony in the word ‘industrial’ because

54
See Appendix A for Industrial Records full discography.
55
P-Orridge. “The Industrial Records Story.”

30
there’s the music industry. And then there’s the joke we often used to make in interviews
about churning out records like motorcars–that sense of industrial. And…up ‘til then the
music had been kind of based on the blues and slavery, and we thought it was time to
update it to at least Victorian times–you know, the Industrial Revolution.” 56
Their debut album, The Second Annual Report, recorded in 1977, was an
important release for both the band and the Industrial Records label. The first track,
“Industrial Introduction,” was particularly influential among fans. In its original release,
the album sold 786 copies but was later re-released due to high demand. 57 In an
interview, Genesis P-Orridge said:
It’s funny, because in a way it’s added a kind of romance to the urban
landscape–urban decay in factories has become a kind of romance. I don’t
like using the word “real,” but in a sense we were trying to make
everything more real…and to portray, the same way that a Cut-up
theoretically does: what it’s like to be in a house and go along the street
and have a car go past or a train and work in a factory or walk past a
factory. Just a kind of industrial life, or suburban-urban-industrial life.
When we finished that second record, we went outside and we suddenly
heard trains going post, and little workshops under the railway arches, and
the lathes going, and electric saws, and we suddenly thought, “We haven’t
actually created anything at all, we’ve just taken it in subconsciously and
re-created it.” The funny thing is, we didn’t sit there to make industrial
noises, per se. Afterwards, we discovered that one could actually sort of
describe in a very documentary way, exactly where we’d created the
sounds, in and around Martello Street…We were also being deliberately
perverse by doing the opposite of everything everyone else said was
feasible or practical or acceptable. Like everyone else thought it was an
incredible breakthrough for a punk band to do a rock ‘n’ roll single on
their own label. So we did a non-rock ‘n’ roll LP. Everyone said we must
be complete mental suicides…I wouldn’t have seen the point of having a
group that was just entertainment. I’d only have wanted it to be a group
that would remain some kind of cult group like the Velvet Underground
did–to have that kind of longevity, to be a seminal group. So although I
find it on one level irritating or boring that it still exists, at the same time it
had to be that way. But I’m really so disinterested in that now [September
1982]–it’s got a life of its own now. 58

Other examples of Throbbing Gristle’s contrary and ironic use of taboo elements
in their performances and records include their song title “Beachy Head” (from the album

56
Vale, p. 10.
57
“Industrial Records Official Website,” <http://www.industrial-records.com>
58
Vale, 11.

31
20 Jazz Funk Greats), which is a location where people frequently commit suicide in
England. Also, their label produced a recording of Elisabeth Welch singing the popular
song, “Stormy Weather,” something that was considered very mainstream, and by the
time of its recording, no one thought Industrial Records would do. It is also interesting to
note in the vein of rejection from the mainstream, Throbbing Gristle receives no mention
in the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, nor are they noted in Grove Music
Online. With such a clear and documented place in history as a founding group of a
particular musical practice, one wonders, why do they have little or no representation in
popular music studies?

Industrial culture and bourgeois society leading to May 1968

Understanding industrial music as the experimental, electronic sound of Industrial
Records is only viewing part of the equation. Indeed, the name of the genre itself was
invoked for the connotation it suggests–industrialization. But in many ways, the
musicians and visual/performance artists who were innovators of industrial music were
also spokespeople, in a sense, for the numbness and sameness that had come to pass in
society as a result of mass industrialization prior to the invention of the label. The
sociopolitical content of lyrics and choices of sampling communicated a clear message–
something is wrong with this world, and we are going to tell you; we are going to show
you what it is.
The second Industrial Revolution (which emerged in the 1850s) gave birth to the
ideology of the bourgeois society, that is, of a society of free and independent people who
could manage all problems in a peaceful and “civilized” way, without cause for
hierarchy. While this was the new, enlightened philosophy, there were many problems
with the actual realization of such a civil policy that continue on to today. Without an
imposed hierarchy, the people of these industrialized societies developed an increased
number of professions, delving into subsidiary classifications within the bourgeoisie as
knowledge and technology grew. This brought on a new hierarchy. For example, prior to
the Industrial Revolution, artisans who made cabinets were members of the working class
in Europe and America and were responsible for designing, making, and selling their
product. In bourgeois society, the cabinet maker was no longer a member of a lower

32
social order (though it did take time to grow out of this mentality), but the way he
produced cabinets became part of an industrialized process that increased productivity in
order to meet economic demand and ultimately, to gain profit. The design, the fashioning
of the wood, assembly, staining, painting, detail work, sales, and maintenance of the
cabinet were now all occupied by different people who needed to focus on these areas in
order to meet high demand of the product. These types of changes were happening on a
global scale in industrial nations. As the middle class continued to grow, so did the
uneasiness of the people. This process continues today.
The Industrial Revolution inspired a utopian outlook for bourgeois society,
describing a group of citizens who enveloped the power of the ruling class through an
increase in market economy from an expanding middle class. The increasing free trade
population needed to take a more active role in public decisions. Ultimately, the
bourgeoisie class wanted to create a capitalist, utopian society of free and independent
people who could manage all problems in a peaceful and “civilized” way, without cause
for hierarchy. “…Certain institutional arrangements were needed: the guarantee of
individual rights; the protection of the family; markets; and arena for public debate; the
nation-state; due process of law; constitutional government; and parliamentary
representation. These demands were intrinsically linked to a new conception of social
relations: work, achievement, and success–not birth and privilege–should determine the
distribution of wealth, status, and power.” 59 While this was the new, enlightened
philosophy, there were many problems with the actual realization of civil society that
continue on to today. New categories of class divisions began to emerge at the beginning
of the twentieth century, separating a growing number of professions into subsidiary
classifications within the bourgeoisie. Karl Marx predicted this outcome in his
Communist Manifesto:
Modern Industry has converted the little workshop of the patriarchal
master into the great factory of the industrial capitalist. Masses of laborers,
crowded into the factory, are organized like soldiers. As privates of the
industrial army they are placed under the command of a perfect hierarchy
of officers and sergeants. Not only are they slaves of the bourgeois class,
and of the bourgeois State; they are daily and hourly enslaved by the
machine, by the overlooker, and, above all, by the individual bourgeois

59
Jürgen Kocka, Industrial Culture & Bourgeois Society (New York: Berghahn, 1999), 280.

33
 manufacturer himself. The more openly this despotism proclaims gain to
be its end and aim, the more petty, the more hateful and the more
embittering it is. 60

These types of changes were happening on a global scale in industrial nations. As the
middle class continued to grow, so did the uneasiness of the people. Jürgen Kocka nicely
sums up the condition in which industrialization has left the bourgeoisie:
Crisis and success, expansion and erosion have characterized the history
of the bourgeoisie since the First World War. The dissolution of the
working class has deprived the bourgeoisie of its major remaining
opponent. On the other hand, the distinction between aristocracy and
bourgeoisie had already lost most of its legal importance by 1918/19 and
subsequently lost any remaining political and social meaning. The
aristocracy has lost all of its privileges and ceased to be the powerful
ruling elite it had been for many centuries. In a way, the bourgeoisie has
outlived its opponents; but without them it has also lost part of its
identity. 61

The utopian hopes of the bourgeoisie drowned in the turmoil of capitalism–exploitation,

forced labor, poverty, and pollution–and as the middle class grew in size, so did the
hopelessness of the population.
As the impetus for political protest around the world, May 1968 is sometimes
noted as the date of one of the most important events in recent Western history. The post-
World War II political climate was near chaos in France, and around the world students
and workers began an uprising that inspired a sort of satirical mimesis in the music scene,
beginning in England. A description of the events in Sorbonne, France in May provides a
good idea of the atmosphere of the insurrection that broke out:
The strange siege of the Sorbonne lasted only ten days. This first act was a
curious mixture of the unexpected and the inexorable. The rulers,
bewildered, stumbled from blunder to blunder. Political parties were
completely taken aback. In this spontaneous movement the leaders were
those who sensed the direction of the shifting tide. After merely a week,
but what a week, the night of the barricades marked the triumph of the
apparently vanquished students. The government then tried to limit the
damage by confining the victors to their academic ghetto–in vain. 62

60
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, The Communist Manifesto (London, 1848), 27.
61
Kocka, p. 287.
62
Daniel Singer, Prelude to Revolution: France in May 1968 (Cambridge: South End Press, 2000), 115-16.

34
It was this attitude of rebellion that waved over the entire industrialized world in 1968,
not just in France. Mark Kurlansky points out, “What was unique about 1968 was that
people were rebelling over disparate issues and had in common only that desire to rebel,
ideas about how to do it, a sense of alienation from the established order, and a profound
distaste for authoritarianism in any form… The rebels rejected most institutions, political
leaders, and political parties.” 63 It was in this sense of rebellion that industrial music
thrived: Nations were dividing to either extreme of right and left. Rebels, such as they
were, created politically charged imagery and satire to communicate their message.
In France, students came up with many ridiculing slogans, such as “On achète ton
bonheur. Vole-le,” which means, “Your happiness is being bought. Steal it,” and “Sois
Jeune et Tais Toi,” “Be Young and Shut Up” (See Appendix B). Here we see the
historical correlation between the mood of satirical protest moving into the 1970s and the
evocation of contrary and antagonistic imagery and sound of industrial music. By 1980,
this type of protest was completely incorporated into what had become “industrial
culture.”

Electronic music, experimental music

Industrial music developed into many varying forms of music that claim ties to
older traditions in electronic and experimental composition and performance art. Many
“first wave” groups such as Kraftwerk, Cabaret Voltaire, and Einstürzende Neubauten
have often cited as their direct influences electronic musicians who were important to the
development of this art in the twentieth century, such as Luigi Russolo, John Cage, and
the early music of Philip Glass and Karlheinz Stockhausen. Despite the fact that many
industrial groups did not directly compose with the technique, style, or instrumentation of
their “influencers,” these musicians felt a connection to the experimentalism and drive
found in the music of early electronic composers, thus it is important to explore briefly
the history of the use of machines to make and produce music. The development of
industry and machines is mirrored in the development of industrial music.
In 1972, shortly before the industrial scene really began to take shape, David
Ernst, an electronic musician, composer, and pianist, published a short book, Musique

63
Mark Kurlansky, 1968: The Year that Rocked the World (New York: Ballantine, 2004), xvii.

35
Concrète. In this book, Ernst outlined the contemporary concepts of electronic music,
ideas that continue to develop into the present. “There are three main types of electronic
music: musique concrète; music by synthesizers; and computer music.” 64 These
categories can be expanded, especially since this statement was first written, by
developing several different subcategories under each of Ernst’s three original headings,
such as computer music: digital music, sampling, tape splicing, waveform alteration, and
distortion processing, to name a few. 65
We can trace this mechanical experimentation with sound as far back as the ninth
or tenth century, with the hurdy-gurdy. It is a chordophone consisting of drone strings, a
melody string which is controlled by a keyboard which partitions the string, and a crank-
operated wheel which acts as a bow to sound the instrument. Though its origins are
unclear, iconographic evidence of this instrument dates back to the twelfth century.
The carillon is one of the first instruments designed with a certain amount of
indirect automated playback in mind. First constructed in the fourteenth century, it
consisted of a series of bells, each tuned to its own pitch that sounded when a key was
depressed by manually or through an automated set of pulleys.
Another example is the hydraulic organ, developed in 1644 by Salomon de Caus.
A large wheel, powered by the flow of water, generated airflow within the organ. The
glass harmonica, invented in 1763, was an instrument that consisted of a series of glass
discs of varying thickness, which were kept wet by a revolving mechanism. The
revolving tray was powered by a foot pedal that allowed each disc to pass through a
trough and remain wet. Other examples of early instruments with a functioning level of
mechanical automation include the musical box, an instrument which consists of a series
of tuned steel bars are plucked by small knobs situated on a turning mechanism. Still
another example of the mechanical automation of sound is the Pianola. The first Pianola
was completed by Edwin S. Votey in a workshop at his home in the spring and summer
of 1895. By 1897, this and other designs of player pianos were becoming widely
popular. 66 From automation and mechanical experimentation came the desire to produce

64
David Ernst, Musique Concrète (Boston: Crescendo, 1972), 3-5.
65
See Bakan, et al, “Demystifying and Classifying Electronic Musical Instruments.” Selected Reports in
Ethnomusicology 8 (1990): 37-64, for more research in this area.
66
Shapiro, 16.

36
sounds electronically. Before the advent of computers and digital technology, electronic
instruments were the next step in innovation. The ability to harness electricity incited the
leap from the mechanical into the technological. Over the course of a century, many
instruments were invented that greatly impacted the soundscape of Western music (See
Appendix C).
The two most important inventions that influenced the general development and
dissemination of electronic music were the phonograph and the tape recorder. Thomas A.
Edison invented the phonograph in 1877, and with it came the fetishization of sound as
object; people began recording everything from concert performances to monologues to
sounds in nature. Composers also began incorporating recorded sounds into their music.
In the 1950s and 1960s, Darius Milhaud experimented with phonograph speeds to alter
pitches and tempi with recorded performances. Ottorino Respighi wrote Pini di Roma
(1924), in which he called for the sounds of birds to be played along with the orchestra’s
performance.
The invention of the tape recorder in 1935, by Allgemeine Elektrizitäts
Gesellschaft in Germany, ushered in a new era of electronic sound experimentation;
indeed this device was paramount in the development of what electronic music is today.
Ernst writes, “Without this instrument electronic music would have been virtually non-
existent.” 67 Tape compositions set the precedent for stylistic elements of industrial music
(and many other electronic genres) in the way of organization of sound, sampling, and
effects, such as pitch shifting, distortion, reversing sound, and so on.
Yet another early sound influence to mention is that of musique concrète. Since 1948,
with the advent of the first electronic music studio in Paris, composers such as Pierre
Schaeffer, Pierre Henry, Luc Ferrari, Iannis Xenakis, Luciano Berio, Edgar Varèse,
Vladimir Ussachevsky, Otto Luening, John Cage, Karlheinz Stockhausen, and Steve
Reich 68 have set the stage for electronic sounds with their influential compositions.
Elements of their innovation and invention can be heard in the genre of industrial as well.
These historical examples present to us a picture of the twentieth-century avant
garde’s propensity for experimentation with sounds that is the foundation of the advent of

67
Ernst, 7.
68
Ernst, 10-19.

37
industrial music. Here we can conceive of two elemental aspects within industrial that
comprise its identity–electronic music and experimentation–and notice the differences
and interactions between these two categories.

Further background: The Futurists

At the end of the nineteenth century, electricity flowed into the traditions of
mechanical experimentation with sound. The Futurist movement began to challenge the
conventional notions of music, sound, and noise. Luigi Russolo wrote in his “The Art of
Noises: Futurist Manifesto:”
The ear of the Eighteenth Century man would not have been able to
withstand the inharmonious intensity of certain chords produced by our
orchestra (with three times as many performers as that of the orchestra of
his time). But our ear takes pleasure in it, since it is already educated to
modern life, so prodigal in different noises. Nevertheless, our ear is not
satisfied and calls for even greater acoustical emotions.

Musical sound is too limited in its variety of timbres. The most

complicated orchestras can be reduced to four or five classes of
instruments different in timbres of sound… Thus, modern music flounders
within this tiny circle, vainly striving to create new varieties of timbre.

We must break out of this limited circle of sounds and conquer the infinite
varity of noise-sounds. 69

This is an excerpt from a letter to Balilla Pratella from Russolo glorifying the wonders of
“noise-sound.” Russolo and the Futurists developed a noise instrument orchestra that
performed throughout Italy and Europe at the beginning of the twentieth century. The
noise orchestra was not well received, and in his book Russolo describes concerts where
audience members began to riot in response. His mention of humans’ collaboration with
machines is most likely among the first acknowledgements of technology with expressive
art. The Futurists believed that many people were “trapped” by the sounds of the past and
needed to be awakened to the beauty of noise-sounds. While the Futurists were not well
received in popular culture, their innovation would go on to have a lasting effect on the
general face of experimentalism.

69
Luigi Russolo, “The Art of Noises,” Monographs in Musicology no. 6 Trans. by Barclay Brown (New
York: Pendragon Press, 1983), 23-25 (See Appendix D for the full Futurist manifesto).

38
 Some scholars have searched for ways to apply the name “industrial music” to the
music of the Italian futurists in the early twentieth century, 70 citing specifically Balilla
Pratella’s collection, Musica Futurista. The futurists certainly shared some stylistic
elements with industrial music, however, making any connection between the two musics
other than historical and influential is a stretch of the imagination. Even after the initial
year of recording at Industrial Records, industrial music was not yet conceived as such a
genre and was only beginning to be referred to as such. Their experimentation in the
tradition of futurist composers (such as Russolo, Marinetti, and Pratella), electronic
composers and the avant garde (such as Cage, Varèse, and Stockhausen), paved the way
for a new genre of music–industrial. Cazazza and the members of Throbbing Gristle were
dedicated performance artists who vigorously challenged social order through deviant
acts not only on stage, but in their imagery as well. The logo for the record label itself is
said to depict a chimney stack at an Auschwitz death camp–a clear provocation of social
order.

Historiography: The history of industrial music since its inception

Investigating the history of an underground musical phenomenon only three
decades old raises interesting issues pertinent to historiography. History, more than
simply the documenting of factual events, is a narrative of sorts, and must concern itself
with more than statistical and quantitative motives. “Apart from philological topics such
as dating, transmission, attributions and editions, the approach to general
historiographical problems is inevitably conditioned by the aesthetic views of the art
historian.” 71 As with any history in music and the arts, rigorous study is needed
concerning all of the issues mentioned here as well as “the critical examination of
sources, chronological narrative, periodization, change and causality, and biography.” 72

70
Coreno (1994), Duguid (1996), Lewis (1998), and Collins (2001) have each attempted to situate the first
use of the genre term industrial music during the Futurist movement. I would submit that this is misleading;
certainly there are connections between the traditions within the two genres of music–the Futurists created
an “industrial” music which informed the development of the genre in question–but industrial music as a
genre today carries with it no notion of the Futurists other than influence, and the history of the genre and
use of “industrial music” are clearly rooted in Industrial Records and the late 1970s.
71
Glenn Stanley, “Historiography.” In The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, rev. ed., edited
by Stanley Sadie. (London: Macmillan, 2001). 546-61.
72
Stanley, 546.

39
 In the Industrial Culture Handbook, Jon Savage refers to organizational
autonomy as one of the five main elements of what he considered “industrial.” Simply
put, this was one of the aspects of non-commercial music: artists recorded independently,
or through independently sponsored record labels. This is true of most “underground”
music of the time, such as reggae, some jazz acts (free jazz, etc.), and the blanket genre
“world” music. Independence is the autonomy that fostered the insular nature of the
genre. In early industrial history, being separate was especially important in order to
make an impact on the music scene, as punk music, especially in England, was becoming
more mainstream. Punk music was successful in appealing to many people, and as a
result, more rock groups were incorporating elements of punk style and sound into their
own acts. Industrial acts were rooted in synthesizer and electronic music traditions, not
rock, as has been pointed out. These musicians, both learned (in Duguid’s sense) and
amateur, developed while disavowing rock music in order to be successful in their
mission of true autonomy. Industrial Records is the prime example of espousing
independence from the mainstream, a practice that was important to the industrial music
community. Especially early in industrial’s history, the music was of such a disparate
nature that musicians would not be accepted by mainstream labels at all. As time
progressed, mainstream culture began to appropriate more dystopian imagery, and
susceptibility to shock tactics became less of a concern. As a result, more opportunities
became available to industrial musicians to bring their sound to the mainstream, which
brought up issues of “selling out” among industrialists. As it relates to formal features of
stylistic elements in industrial music, this issue of mainstream versus underground is an
important one and often serves as the determining factor of whether or not something can
be considered part of the genre.
Access to information was also important to early industrial development.
Musicians who were a part of this new sound were also a part of the new information age.
Industrial was one of the first genres to use information to such an extent within its
music. Compositions were informed by literature of the time and musicians continued to
use music to identify with it. “Experimental literature had peaked in the 60s, and the
importance of the industrial groups’ awareness of it was primarily their role as

40
disseminators and popularizers.” 73 Literature by authors such as Aleister Crowley,
William S. Burroughs, Philip K. Dick, Marquis de Sade, Michel Foucault, Samuel
Beckett, Jacques Attali, Pierre Proudhon, Andy Warhol, Martin Bax, Gillian Freeman,
Jacques Sternberg, and Jacques Derrida, 74 to name a few, informed many of the
innovators of industrial music. Indeed, waging the information war was important to
early industrialists.
The use of synthesizers and anti-music, and extra-musical elements refer to the
core fundamentals of what makes industrial music a stand-alone genre. In “use of
synthesizers” 75 one can see the close ties between industrial music and its electronic
music heritage. Synthesizers have always been at the center of the industrial sound,
regardless of other instrumentation. Anti-Music is, as the name suggests, against the
contemporary trends of what is aesthetically acceptable in music acts, for example, the
use of silence and noise as musical events. Industrial artists challenged the expectations
of listeners, following the example of experimental composers such as John Cage. Extra-
musical elements, such as the use of film, processed sounds and distortion, spoken word,
and machinery, became the benchmark of industrial sound and style. These aspects of the
music will be explored more in chapter three.
Lastly, shock tactics were effectively defined as an element of industrial between
1975 and 1985. More than a way for performers to become noticeable through the
publicity generated by the act of “shocking” audiences, shock tactics challenged the
taboos in society. Monte Cazazza was notorious for his appaling imagery and outrageous
and offensive performance art. Boyd Rice of Non used noise in his performances at
amplitude levels near and above the human threshold of pain. Countless other innovators
of industrial music embodied these stylistic elements that define the genre. If there can be
such a thing as an “Industrial Manifesto,” it would certainly take all of this into account.

Further historical influences, artists, and contributions

The current industrial soundscape is a result of the music of many influential
bands in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Noting these origins is important to

73
Duguid, 2.
74
Vale, 18, 41, 49, 67, 81.
75
Vale, 18.

41
understanding the way in which industrial music has been treated in its early history and
ultimately how a collection of electronic experimentation and alienation from the status
quo has developed into a particular genre of music with its own definitive sound.
Additionally, the genre’s evolution and reinterpretation over the past three decades have
contributed to increasing variance of understanding and invocation of the generic title
“industrial.” As more and more bands continued to innovate and the sounds common in
industrial music became more popular within mainstream culture, the genre itself became
more inclusive and subsequently more ambiguous.
One of the most influential groups on all popular music since the 1970s has been
the German group Krafwerk. Pascal Bussy writes:
Kraftwerk arose out of this experimental explosion and moved the whole
perception of German music up a gear, ultimately extending their
experimental philosophy and shining a torch toward a more
technologically motivated future. They took synthesized music to its
logical conclusion, finally establishing electronic pop with a mass-market
credibility. Spawning legions of imitators and influencing music far
beyond the experimental or electronic, Kraftwerk provided the natural link
between the German avant garde and pop music. 76

Bussy, who wrote the more definitive biography of the group, attests that “without them
there would have been no hip hop, no house, no ambient music, no electro and even
Michael Jackson–with whom they flatly refused to collaborate–would have sounded
different.” 77 Industrial musicians have Kraftwerk to thank for the genre of electro and the
dissemination of aspects of that music that have been influential to the industrial sound.
Elements of form, mixing, programming, and sound presets in electronic music are
characteristic of this German group (Sound Example 3). Kraftwerk’s highly innovative
approach to electronic music–what they called “robot music”–has been especially
influential in industrial culture. Based on the formal features of an industrial music text,
Kraftwerk’s music could arguably be considered as part of the genre. Indeed, their style
directly influenced industrial as well as many other pop and electronic genres, but did not
develop with the genre. Buckley defines their sound as such:
Along with Can, Tangerine Dream, Ash Ra Temple and La Dusseldorf,
Kraftwerk became one of the leading exponents of kosmische music, a

76
Pascal Bussy. Kraftwerk: Man, Machine, and Music (London: SAF, 2005), 17-18.
77
Bussy, 202.

42
 fusion of Stockhausen’s avant garde music with American pop. Following
four experimental albums which married synthesized and treated sounds
with woodwind instruments, they had an unexpected transatlantic hit in
1975 with Autobahn (from the album Autobahn, Vertigo, 1974), a paean to
German Wanderlust. Following Radio-Aktivität (Capitol, 1975), the title
track of which dealt with the dangers of nuclear energy (reflecting
Germany’s Green politics), Kraftwerk recorded three seminal albums.
Trans-Europa Express (Capitol, 1977) codified what would later develop
into techno (the title track was famously sampled by Afrika Bambaataa for
his 1982 rap album Planet Rock). Die Mensch Maschine (Capitol, 1978), a
huge influence on the burgeoning British synth-pop groups such as New
Order, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, the Human League and
Depeche Mode, remains their finest work, while Computerwelt (EMI,
1981) was both musically and thematically prescient, detailing the rise of
the global village and extending Kraftwerk’s music into polyrhythmic
dances. 78

If not industrial music in a specific sense, as I define the genre in this thesis, they
certainly represent the electronic experimentalism that is the core of influence for
industrial music. I would add to Buckley’s entry, that Kraftwerk’s album Radio-Aktivität
had the most influence on industrial music in sound and subject.
Einstürzende Neubauten have been an important German electronic experimental
group since the 1980s. While they consider themselves experimentalists in the purest
sense, the borrowing of ideas between their music and other industrial artists is noticeable
over the past two decades and certainly adds to the development of the soundscape
(Sound Example 4). A trademark of the group is their use of invented instruments,
machines, and other unconventional ways to produce sound. Their name translates as
“Collapsing new Buildings,” specifically post-WWII buildings, such as the Berlin
Congress hall that collapsed on 21 May 1980 due to poor construction. 79 Their name
alone suggests a very industrial aesthetic and their music is often regarded as part of the
genre.
Cabaret Voltaire (now inactive), from Sheffield, represents the general industrial
sound, and are a major example of industrial culture. Isolated from, though inspired by
the extremist experimentation in London, Richard H. Kirk, Stephen “Mal” Malinder and

78
David Buckley, “Kraftwerk,” Grove Music Online <http://www.grovemusic.com>
79
Klaus Maeck, Hor Mit Schmerzen: Listen With Pain : Einstürzende Neubauten, 1980-1996 (Berlin,
Germany: Gestalten Verlag, 1997), 4.

43
Chris Watson represented a new kind of industrial expression. They “began exploring
electronic sound territory with ideas and attitudes inspired by the Dadaists and William
Burroughs.” 80 It is this sound that is most recognizable to listeners today as true
“industrial” music, and many fans refer to early Cabaret Voltaire as “old school
industrial” (Sound Example 5). One of their first performances resulted in a near riot
from their audience demanding rock ‘n’ roll, and one of the band members was attacked
and injured. From these roots, their sound has developed beyond the complete abstract
into a more refined form, and is more indicative of what many fans hear as the genre of
industrial today. After one of the band members, Chris Watson, left to pursue a career in
television instead of music, the sound became even more refined. The advent of video in
performances is another element of their music that sets Cabaret Voltaire apart from other
acts in the early industrial scene. This quickly became a practice with many other groups.
The sound, style, and direction in which industrial music has developed owe many of
their origins to Cabaret Voltaire.
Boyd Rice of Non, with longstanding ties to Mute Records, has introduced an
intensity to the soundscape of industrial music since 1977. His live performances have
been self-proclaimed “de-indoctrination rites” where he plays music at maximum volume
levels and introduces unconventional instrumentations and sounds. His goal was to
combat the generalized expectations of people: “I think that most music is dangerous
because it tends to systematize thought–you think in patterns–you know what’s coming
before you even hear it.” 81 His standard practice was to assault audiences with his
experimental sounds in order to make his message clear. He was an innovator in that the
music he listened to was not what he envisioned music should be, and he created his
specific sound and “noise music” very much for himself, so that he could enjoy listening
to it. For example, he developed the roto-guitar, an experimental instrument developed
from an electric guitar with an open fan mounted on the body of the guitar directly above
the pickups. The end result was a drone and howl of distorted noise that could be likened
to a prop plane engine (See Appendix B).

80
Vale, 44.
81
Vale, 53.

44
Non’s recorded music stayed true to his concepts of what music should be–noise and
difference–and played an equal role in delivering his message. “His first album with a
label showing pieces of records spread out on a floor was more than a critique–the
recording actually was a compilation of excerpts from many records [that he]
treated…the next 45 was the first to offer extended possibilities for listener-modified
playback, with 2-4 (he would have liked more) holes in the center for multi-axial
rotation.” 82 On his first album, Rice composed a piece from various albums and songs
recordings of Lesley Gore singing the word “cry.” Such experimentalism is at the heart of
this early industrial sound, and continues to inform the genre in the present (Sound
Example 6).

Changes in industrial style

The overall soundscape of industrial music cannot be tied to any one particular
application of musical expression or formal practice, which is most likely why its
classification remains so ambiguous even today. The soundscape has permeated other
aspects of society as a result of both its ambiguity and unpopularity, such as in the media,
in entertainment such as movies and video games, documentaries, and elsewhere. From
these examples, we can see the contributors to the development of the sound and note the
legacy that keeps the industrial soundscape fresh and innovative. In many ways, the
success of remaining out of the mainstream and only appealing to a niche audience has
allowed industrial music to develop somewhat more quickly than popular music. Ideas
were promoted on a purely creative level first, instead of on the marketing level.
Mainstream appeal was of little or no concern, and as a result, many artists made music
for music’s sake, encouraging the genre to go through rapid shifts and reinterpretations,
as well as disseminating the industrial aesthetic in different regions through different
ways.
This rapid development is also most likely due to the fact that industrial music
was caught up in the explosion of dance genres in the 1980s. Kembrew McLeod writes:
Within the electronic/dance music communities, the somewhat cryptic
adjectives and nouns that appeared in the review reprinted above function
as subgenre names that describe a multitude of musical styles that are
82
Vale, 53.

45
 invented, quite literally, on a monthly basis. Without lapsing into
hyperbole, I can confidently claim that the continuous and rapid
introduction of new subgenre names into electronic/dance music
communities is equaled by no other type of music. Metagenres like rock
and roll may have spawned rock, folk rock, acid rock, garage rock, punk
rock, and more recently grunge, alternative rock, post-rock, and other
semantic combinations yet to be coined, but electronic/dance music
generates that many names in a fraction of the time. To illustrate, a careful
scan of electronic/dance-oriented magazines and electronic/dance
compilation CDs published or released in 1998 and 1999 yielded a list of
more than 300 names…The process of naming new subgenres within
electronic/dance music communities is not only directly related to the
rapidly evolving nature of the music itself. It is also a function of the
marketing strategies of record companies, accelerated consumer culture,
and the appropriation of the musics of largely non-White, lowerclass
people by middle- and upper-middle-class Whites in the United States and
Great Britain. Further, the naming process acts as a gate-keeping
mechanism that generates a high amount of cultural capital needed to enter
electronic/dance communities. 83

This cultural practice in electronic/dance music discussed by McLeod is no different for

the electronic genres and subgenres that appropriated (and continue to appropriate) the
term “industrial” for their music. Industrial also came about during the “cassette
culture” 84 craze; indeed, Industrial Records and the artists that were involved with the
label set the stage for a genre of music based on independence and disparity. But despite
the multitude of possible causes for this reinterpretation within the genre since the first
wave, the generic descriptor “industrial music” has become more and more broadly
encompassing.
Industrial has disseminated into underground culture, spawning many derivative
genres and subgenres of music that contain similar formal features. Since the first wave,
the concept of industrial music has grown from a specific music to an idea and aesthetic.
As the sound distributed throughout Europe and the Americas, many other musicians
borrowed from its stylistic elements and incorporated them into their own music. German

83
Kembrew McLeod, “Genres, Subgenres, and Sub-Subgenres, and More: Musical and Social
Differentiation Within Electronic/Dance Music Communities,” Journal of Popular Music Studies 13/1
(2001): 59-60.
84
This reference to cassette culture refers to the off-shoot of the mail art movement of the 1970s-1980s,
described in Robin James, Cassette Mythos (Autonomedia, 1992), not the phenomenon of international pop
music cassette sales discussed in Peter Manuel, Cassette Culture: Popular Music and Technology in North
India (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993).

46
audiences especially embraced the rhythmic sound of bands like the avant garde punk act
Deutsche Amerikanische Freundschaft (DAF). Belgian group Front 242 injected
machine-like samples and shouting vocals into highly energized beats. American groups
like Ministry and the Revolting Cocks infused rock guitars with industrial electronics to
create an appealing hybrid. 85 From the second wave through the third wave of industrial
music, the sounds continued to be reinterpreted to create new genres and sub-genres of
music. Reception and reinterpretation effectively changed the motive of these musicians
from waging information war and political irony to creating meaningful music.
After industrial collided with the highly charged dance genres of house and trance
in the early 1980s, several sub-genres of music emerged adopting the industrial sound
and aesthetic, even the generic title to various extents. Electronic Body Music is the
prime example. EBM neared mainstream popularity in the mid to late 1980s, though has
since kept to its niche audience, mingling with other genres such as synth-pop, acid
house, and techno. The music was predominantly popular in Europe, most notably in
Germany, Italy, Great Britain, Belgium, Denmark, The Netherlands, and Sweden. The
Belgian group Front 242 coined the phrase “EBM” in the early 1980s in an effort to
describe the new electro dance sound that was becoming popular throughout Europe.
EBM has distinct origins in many other genres, including Italo disco, new wave, synth-
pop, Belgian new beat and dark synth. Many fans see a correlation between the title
EBM, and the way DAF described their music as Körpermusik, which means “body
music.” Whatever its origin, the title gives us a sense of the general style of the music–it
is music created for club dancing. Front 242, along with other artists, such as Bigod 20, A
Split-Second, Fatal Morgana, Pouppée Fabrikk, Nitzer Ebb, Die Krupps, Front Line
Assembly, and Leætherstrip, all with slightly different approaches and styles, shaped the
sound of what is now referred to as “old-school EBM” (Sound Example 7).
Front 242 has established a lasting precedent of sound in their music over the past
twenty years. The group was created in 1980 by Daniel Bressanutti and Dirk Bergen.
After releasing a number of singles, Jean-Luc De Meyer (vocals) and Patrick Codenys
joined the group and the first album, Geography, was released on LP in 1982 (Ten years
later this album was reissued on CD). After the album’s release Dirk Bergen left the

85
Duguid, <http://media.hyperreal.org/zines/est/articles/preindex.html>

47
group. In 1983, Richard 23, who was born Richard Jonckheere, joined the group as a
percussionist and vocalist. With this line-up, the band went on to release several albums
and received mainstream popularity with the release of their 1987 album, Official
Version. Other notable appearances of their music were in popular films, such as the song
“Rhythm of Time” from the album Tyranny (For You), which was incorporated into a
scene from the 1992 film Single White Female starring Bridgett Fonda and Jennifer Jason
Leigh, and the trailer for the movie K2, which featured the song “Moldavia,” also from
the album Tyranny (For You).
John Bush, of Allmusic.com writes,
Not dissimilar to Depêche Mode and other synthesizer bands at the time,
Front 242 began playing live later that year, adding percussionist Geoff
Bellingham but later replacing him with an ex-roadie, Richard 23 (born
Richard Jonckheere). (Dirk Bergen also left the working band, but stayed
on to direct management) The group’s sound began to grow more
aggressive with 1984’s No Comment EP, still reminiscent of synth-pop but
with harder-hitting rhythms and added menace from de Meyer’s vocals.
By 1987, Front 242 had gained an American contract through Chicago’s
Wax Trax!, the home of a diverse group of mostly European aggressive
synthesizer acts later lumped together as exponents of industrial rock.
Wax Trax! reissued much of the group’s recordings (including the rarities
collection Back Catalogue) and released a new album, Official Version.
The first Front 242 LP to coalesce as a consistent recording, the album
contained several cold-wave club hits (“Masterhit,” “Quite Unusual”) and,
for the time, excellent production values. Released in 1988, third LP Front
by Front was undoubtedly the group’s best yet, with more emphasis on
song structure than loose mechanistic grooves. Besides the alternative club
hits “Headhunter” and “Never Stop,” the record was Front 242’s most
consistent. 86

Front 242 were largely responsible for defining the sound and style of the
emergent “rivethead” culture (in reference to fashion and identity within the industrial
community), the new face of what would be associated with industrial music (See Figures
3 and 4). By the mid-1980s, the group’s aggressive live stage shows began to influence
style in fashion with the wearing of military gear, such as flak jackets, camouflage, and
combat boots, as well as hairstyles, sunglasses, accessories, tattoos, piercings, etc.

86
John Bush, “Front 242,” Allmusic.com
<http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:h9fpxqw5ld6e~T1>

48
 In 1993 the group’s style changed radically, with guest musicians, the
disappearance of their military look, and the exploration of both harder and softer sounds.
This included the introduction of guitar samples and heavily distorted beats, and at other
times demonstrating a softer, more ambient sound, with female vocals and string
keyboards. During this period of change in their style, 1993-1999, Front 242 had all but
disappeared from the mainstream. After nearly a decade of this new sound, the group re-
emerged into the industrial scene with the Re:boot tour which introduced more modern,
dance-oriented remixes of their more popular songs. In 2003 they released the albums
Pulse and Still & Raw, both of which hearkened back to the early EBM sound.

Figure 3: Front 242: Original rivetheads 87

87
Photo by David Dobson (2005) <http://www.front242usa.com>

49
Figure 4: Varying rivethead style: (Left to Right) Vaughan David Harris (Bon) of Nitzer
Ebb 88 and Guido Henning of E-Craft 89

Since the early 1980s, EBM has itself become a broadly encompassing genre in
its own right, riding in the wake of the innovators of industrial music. As fans refer to the
music as “EBM,” as opposed to “Electronic Body Music,” the connotation of the generic
title has shifted, invoking less of a sense of “moving bodies” while its connection to
industrial music is retained. Much of the electronic underground music that falls into the
category of EBM could also be considered industrial and in a sense these two generic
terms have become interchangeable. 90 I asked one informant, “For you, is EBM a type of
industrial music, or is it something else?” He replied:
It’s a genre that was informed by “old-school” industrial, along with
synthesized pop and punk. You could certainly apply the term “industrial”
to it, but I personally find it more useful to think of it as more or less
separate from what Vale defined as industrial…in that I can say that I
88
Photo from the Nitzer Ebb official website. <http://www.nitzer-ebb.de>
89
Photo from the E-Craft official website. <http://www.e-craft.de>
90
Not interchangeable in the sense that fans see no difference between the two. There is a clear
understanding in industrialist community that industrial came first and EBM developed as a result of
industrial and several other genres. However, the majority of the music that represents the industrial genre
today is either EBM or a sub-genre of EBM.

50
 really like the new Tyske Ludder album as an EBM album and not have to
worry about somebody going, “That’s not industrial!” And useful in that I
can work within the confines of the “EBM genre” and not worry about not
fulfilling all the criteria Vale and Genesis P-Orridge laid out. In Europe,
where there is a larger “club scene,” I think there is much less emphasis
placed on being “truly” industrial. 91

EBM inspired and cross-borrowed with a handful of sub-genres, each with a

specific style, each represented by numerous bands. Among the most notable are the
directions some artists took when they began incorporating more stylistic elements from
synth-pop and trance in their music to create a sound often referred to as futurepop. Some
exemplars of this sub-genre are VNV Nation, Apoptygma Berserk, Covenant, Interface,
Rotersand, Assemblage 23, and Neuroactive. Another notable sub-genre is electro-
industrial or “terror EBM.” Artists of this sub-genre incorporate elements of first wave
industrial, dark elektro, and EBM to create harsh-sounding melodies and vocals. Beats
are often distorted, droning and repetitive, and the harmonies create a dark mood. Their
lyrics often contain social critique. Bands that represent this sound are Hocico, Aghast
View, Amduscia, Suicide Commando, Die Sektor, Psyclon Nine, Dot Execute, Dulce
Liquido, Life Cried, Tactical Sekt, Virtual Embrace, Aslan Faction, Grendel, Agonoize,
God Module, Combichrist, and Funker Vogt (Sound Example 8).
Interestingly enough, the various sub-genres of EBM share the industrialist
propensity for ambiguity–different regions of the world argue endlessly about generic
titles and about which bands belong to which genre. The regional differences in styles of
EBM are of interest; the generic titles aggrotech, terror EBM, hellektro, and elektro dark,
all refer to the same sub-genre of EBM (though many fans sidestep this issue by lumping
all post-EBM acts as “electro-industrial”). Consequently, the popularity of this genre and
multiples of regional terminology are mainly due to the explosion of internet social
culture 92 and the fact that much of the music is disseminated and criticized through this
medium.

91
Interview 1, 02/08/2007, Appendix H, p.151.
92
Internet social culture refers to user networks such as myspace, facebook, livejournal, and other groups
where people can interact via the internet and share opinions of everything from movies to music to
recipes. Myspace, a group designed for sharing music, is a haven for independent industrial artists and DIY
musicians to disseminate their work.

51
 Since its inception, industrial music has been represented by underground record
labels, die-hard fans, and a few scholars who have taken the time to compile information
about the dissemination of the genre. The problem that arises in the writing of a narrative
about industrial culture is the tendency to generalize common practice and reception of
the genre based on one or two representative models. Given the unpopular nature of the
music and reinterpretation of the genre apart from mainstream culture, styles have
developed that are regionally based. You may find one interpretation of a specific band’s
music in Los Angeles, and an entirely different concept of their sound in New York. The
differences in regional development crop up not only in the United States, but also all
over the world. Additionally, derivative genres are often alternately interpreted based on
region despite the fact that musically they can be classified under the genre.
Further issues concerning industrial music stem from the classification of sound
based on influential groups within the genre. Portion Control, Skinny Puppy, Front Line
Assembly, and Ministry, to name a few, are groups who many classify under the blanket
term “industrial,” or EBM/industrial, yet the stylistic differences in their music and their
own individual departures from early historical industrial music create problems with
understanding the industrial sound–in a sense these discrepancies compound the
ambiguity in the popular conception of industrial music.
It is important to also note that much of the music prevalent in today’s industrial
scene–that is most of the music that is called “industrial” music–is essentially a
conglomeration of the EBM and electro-industrial sound. Generally speaking, if the fan
base ambiguously refers to music as “industrial,” then it can most likely be classified in
these groups as well.
Another genre that is specifically considered a descendant of industrial music is
powernoise. Not to be confused with the genre noise, which is a sub-genre of power
electronics music, powernoise (or rhythmic noise) bands write about corporate
privatization and terrorism, governmental control and the environment. Many effectively
remain combatants, so to speak, in the information war. The name “powernoise” is
indicative of the music’s sound, and it has direct roots in industrial music. It uses
traditionally militaristic beats, danceable rhythms, loud, distorted sounds, and often,
violent imagery and themes in recordings and during live performances (Sound Example

52
9). Powernoise bands include Ah Cama-Sotz, Black Lung, Genetic Selection, Greyhound,
Iszoloscope, Panzer AG, Pneumatic Detach, S.K.E.T., Synapscape, Terrorfakt, This
Morn’ Omnia, and Winterkälte. 93
The industrial aesthetic has influenced other forms of underground electronic
music over the past two decades. IDM (which is an acronym for Intelligent Dance Music)
was influenced by early industrial, based on instrumentation, experimentation, and
coordination of electronic sound (Sound Example 10). Industrial drum ‘n’ bass (DNB) is
another genre that was part of this trend. These genres are sometimes errantly grouped
under the blanket term “techno,” which has in many ways come to represent all forms of
electro-beat dance music. However, techno is actually a dance music genre inspired by
new wave, electro funk, and cyberpunk culture that originated in Detroit in the mid-
1980s. Since that time, of course, there has been much cross-borrowing among these
genres. Bands that exemplify the IDM and industrial DNB sound are Amon Tobin,
Aphex Twin, Autechere, Plone, CIM, Hrvatski, Detritus, and Dryft. In these genres there
is less of a question about whether or not groups are industrial music, though fans do
argue endlessly about whether or not bands are IDM, and most fans have no problems
negotiating the difference between industrial DNB as industrial music but still separate
from Throbbing Gristle and the Industrial Records camp. 94
Neo-Folk music was informed by industrial as well, in an aesthetic sense. This
genre is generally played on acoustic instruments, found object instruments, and altered
instruments, but the synthesized and electronic element of industrial is typically not
present. It is a genre that managed to escape the whirlpool of electronic dance music that
enveloped the genre of industrial in the early 1980s. As such, the sound and culture is
older, more rooted in the British folk movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Not only are
experimental practices prevalent in neo-folk music, but the lyrical content is
characteristic of the industrial sense of fighting an information war. There are many
crossovers between neo-folk and contemporary goth culture as well. Most industrialists
do not claim neo-folk as “industrial music” per se, though for the fans that know about
the genre, the concept of an industrial influence is a strong one. Typical bands that

93
“Archives,” Virus Magazine Online <http://www.virus-mag.com/>
94
Ishkur’s Guide to Electronic Music <http://www.di.fm.edmguide/edmguide.html>

53
represent neo-folk are Blood Axis, Darkwood, Fire + Ice, Harvest Rain, Luftwaffe, Sol
Invictus, and Valence. 95
The manifestation of industrial music that has had the most influence in the
United States is coldwave and consequently industrial rock. Coldwave in the United
States differed from the French coldwave of the 1970s, which was a genre that evolved
essentially from goth music. In the US, bands like Ministry, Acumen Nation, Hate Dept.,
and Chemlab merged the industrial aesthetic with guitars and a rock-metal sensibility to
create an upbeat, driving music. The music often featured drum machines and
synthesized bass lines with guitars and growling vocals to communicate its message of
anger and frustration. Several bands in Europe and Canada joined the mix–KMFDM, Die
Krupps, Cubanate, Rammstein, et al–and by the late 1990s, the sound began to culminate
into what would be more commonly referred to as industrial rock. It gained mainstream
popularity with bands like Nine Inch Nails, Rob Zombie, and Korn, though by the time
these groups had become extremely popular, the industrial aesthetic had been largely left
behind, leaving in its wake a darker, louder sound that remerged with metal.
The term industrial has also been appropriated in popular music to generally refer
to elements of abstract and electronic sound. Here, the argument over what is and is not
industrial is even more poignant, for two reasons: (1) the heavy metal and rock musicians
that have appropriated the genre title have a larger fan base, which popularizes the term
“industrial” in an unusual way, and (2) the popular application of the generic title causes
a backlash of rejection in the industrialist community, exacerbating the argument and
increasing the divide between inclusionary and exclusionary elements.
There are still a few artists around who exemplify what was the original industrial
ideal of experimentation, such as Einstürzende Neubauten, but many fans feel that
industrial music as a genre ceased with the dissolving of the record label. I tend to think,
based on my own experience and observations of current trends, as well as through
interviews and analysis, that industrial music as it existed between 1976 and 1981
developed a lasting aesthetic that is permanently attached to the generic term “industrial.”
This being the case, when the genre collided with the rush of dance music in the 1980s, it
shattered into several derivative genres, each of which contain different stylistic elements

95
“Archives,” Virus Magazine Online <http://www.virus-mag.com/>

54
from the original, yet all of which still embody the industrial aesthetic. So in a sense, if
we are going to appropriate the term “industrial” as a genre descriptor in music–based on
the industrial aesthetic which has specific, definable formal features–then we must
acknowledge that particular music, which embraces the industrial aesthetic at its core, as
industrial music, in a generic way. Otherwise, industrial would no longer exist, and it is
clear from the way it has been appropriated that it still does. As P-Orridge stated, “it’s got
a life of its own now” 96 (See Figures 5 and 6).

Avant garde Rock

Experimental Electronic

Disco
Punk
Electro
Industrial
New Wave Italo

Goth Electro-Industrial EBM Synth-pop

Futurepop
Darkwave House

Industrial
Acid
Coldwave Rock

Figure 5: The development of industrial music: Historical influences and genre connections.

It is increasingly difficult to even attempt to chart history and interrelationships of

the numerous derivative genres of industrial over the past thirty years, and thus my
humble attempt is by no means definitive. Rather than read Figure 6 as a diachronic guide
to which music is or has been industrial, think of this as a synchronic way to place many
similarly inspired genres within the communicative realm of industrial. Others have made

96
Vale, 11.

55
concerted efforts to develop a descriptive timeline, such as Ed Klein’s
Industrial/Goth/Techno Music Database, which contains over 4,000 artists organized into
ten different categories. However, there is much debate over why he classifies certain
bands under certain genre headings. 97 Also, Ishkur’s Guide to Electronic Music provides
an in-depth look at the development of electronic music since the 1970s. There are
sounds samples and notes for each genre, but the notes are vague and there is
confusion over why certain genres are connected to one another.98 While many genres
have existed, few have remained influential. The underground nature of the dissemination
of industrial music coupled with the broad possibilities of electronic sound continues to
inspire musicians to create their own specific style or “off-shoot” genre.

Figure 6: The development of industrial music: The versatility of the generic title.

97
Ed Klein, Music Database Online <http://kzsu.stanford.edu/eklein/>
98
Ishkur’s Guide to Electronic Music <http://www.di.fm/edmguide/edmguide.html>

56
 CHAPTER 3: ISSUES OF TEXT

Dystopian embrace
Industrialists positioned themselves as the new order that counteracted the
hegemony of “sameness” handed down in society for generations since the beginning of
the Industrial Revolution. Industrial musicians embraced the sounds, images, and moods
of industry in their music (what Collins calls “the machine”) and in evoking these
mechanical sights and sounds they sought to dispel, or at least, point out the elements of
society that exist as a result of them. In other words, industrial music exposed the
symbolic capital of bourgeois society. Attali writes:

More than colors and forms, it is sounds and their arrangements that
fashion societies. With noise is born disorder and its opposite: the world.
With music is born power and its opposite: subversion. In noise can be
read the codes of life, the relations among men. Clamor, Melody,
Dissonance, Harmony; when it is fashioned by man with specific tools,
when it invades man’s time, when it becomes sound, noise is the source of
purpose and power, of the dream–Music. It is at the heart of the
progressive rationalization of aesthetics, and it is a refuge for the residual
irrationality; it is a means of power and a form of entertainment… All
music, any organization of sounds is then a tool for the creation or
consolidation of a community, of a totality. It is what links a power center
to its subjects, and thus, more generally, it is an attribute of power in all of
its forms. Therefore, any theory of power today most include a theory of
the localization of noise and its endowment with form. Among birds a tool
for marking territorial boundaries, noise is inscribed from the start within
the panoply of power. Equivalent to the articulation of a space, it indicates
the limits of a territory and the way to make oneself heard within it, how
to survive by drawing one’s sustenance from it. And since noise is the
source of power, power has always listened to it with fascination. 99

Dystopian genres see through symbolic capital and make noticeable the power-
play inherent in music and society. This dark outlook is often rejected by the status quo;
indeed it must be, in order to preserve the sounds mirrored in ideal utopia and hidden
hegemonic hierarchy. Attali continues:

It is necessary to ban subversive noise because it betokens demands for

cultural autonomy, support for differences or marginality: a concern for

99
Attali, 6.

57
 maintaining tonalism, the primacy of melody, a distrust of new languages,
codes, or instruments, a refusal of the abnormal–these characteristics are
common to all regimes of that nature. They are direct translations of the
political importance of cultural repression and noise control. 100

Of course, the way in which the embrace of dystopia exposes the sinister
hegemonic realm of repression in society is by a metaphorical, poetic manifestation of a
political structure that has moved from persuasion to coercion of the masses. This has
inspired several literary genres, notably cyberpunk, cozy catastrophe, and dying earth
science fiction. With no hope for utopia in a failing present and bleak future, the only
alternative is an embrace of dystopia. Industrial music is quite preoccupied with this idea,
and thus it embraces dystopian themes and imagery. Karen Collins remarks on dystopia:

Inherent in nearly all dystopias is a critique of the socio-economic system

prevailing within that narrative, whether socialist or capitalist. Contrary to
utopian visions of the future, dystopias are typically drawn from what the
authors consider to be the logical outcomes of the present-day. Dystopia’s
criticism is commonly of present-day systems of power taken to their
logical conclusions: not only governments, but corporations are also seen
as the corrupt elite, particularly in post-WWII dystopian narratives. 101

In addition to and often inspired by literature, film has played an important role in
disseminating the dystopian worldview. The embrace of dystopia has changed the clean-
cut picture of science fiction from technological mastery and interstellar exploration to a
broken earth, struggling for survival:

Dystopian films since about the 1970s have frequently been set in a post-
apocalyptic world of industrialized urban decay. …Settings, like those of
Mad Max, Hardware, Running Man, Tetsuo, Rollerball, 1984, Brazil,
Twelve Monkeys, and many similar blue-filter dystopias offer us similar
visions of the future as a post-apocalyptic disposal site for decaying and
now defunct or obsolete technology. The sonic characteristics of these

100
Attali, 7.
101
Karen E. Collins, “The Future is Happening Already: Industrial Music, Dystopia, and the Aesthetic of
the Machine,” Ph.D., University of Liverpool (2002), 53-54.

58
 scenarios are also marked by metallic noises: banging, clanking, grating,
etc. 102

Industrial music has embodied this dystopian worldview in sound and aesthetic.
Industrialists saw the modern world heading in a downward spiral of chaos and
disconnectedness. The way to represent this with their art was to embrace the “sonic
characteristics” of the machine age. They identified their worldview by demonstrating
metaphorically and often ironically through sound. This was accomplished by rejecting
normalcy, utopia, and consonance by embracing the abnormal, dystopian, and dissonant
elements that represented a separate worldview. What was shocking or even frightening
to the majority of society was proudly touted by the industrialists. This practice still
continues today in the counterculture scene. In a sense it is a kind of catharsis, wherein
participants identify with a community while remaining insular from the aspects of
society they reject. How far people take this rejection varies greatly.

Many industrial artists even envisioned themselves as waging war against what
they saw as a legacy of control; indeed, the origin of the industrial music “movement,” if
it could be considered as such, had developed due to the changes in society as a result of
modernization and industrialized culture. What this meant musically was an eruption of
experimental sound. Artists were altering instruments, inventing new instruments,
manipulating electronic sounds, and shaping noise into musical molds in order to make
performance pieces–statements through art–that would communicate the disparity of the
dystopian world in which industrialists believed they lived. Fueling the fires of protest
and “war” throughout the world, the political atmosphere of the late 1960s and early
1970s was in many ways the catalyst that took industrial in its specific directions.

Industrial music in the contemporary mind: How is the term "industrial" used?
We now have a clearer sense of the early history and influences of industrial
music, as well as how the genre has shifted in style and concept. How, then, can we
define what it is to sound industrial? To be industrial? I must first make note of the

102
Karen Collins and Phillip Tagg, “The Sonic Aesthetics of the Industrial: Re-Constructing Yesterday’s
Soundscape for Today’s Alienation and Tomorrow’s Dystopia,” Tagg Articles Online <http://www.
tagg.org/articles/dartington2001.html>

59
stylistic elements that comprise the genre and then look at how industrial is defined in
popular culture, both publicly (in journalism and in the industrial community) and
academically (by authors and musicians).
Based on my analysis of Collins’s model, 103 in which she identifies through
interview and analysis features in industrial music texts, I can extrapolate the basic
elements from these varying “styles” that are universally prevalent but not mutually
exclusive for the genre. In other words, the investigation and analysis I am undertaking
here will allow me to design a basic template of recognition for industrial music by
identifying and defining common text content, language, and convention.
Collins writes, “Industrial was at first stylistically diverse, joined loosely by intent
and ideology, but gradually developed a more homogenized, recognizable sound. Fans
now generally divide industrial into a series of different ‘styles.’” 104 She is able to divide
these variations into seven different categories: classic industrial, electronic body music
(EBM), industrial metal, industrial rap, cybergoth, noise, and the seventh being deemed
“other.”
I see Collins’s “styles” as contradictory to her description of the genre as
“homogenized” and “recognizable.” Perhaps those among the fan base can easily
recognize a particular text as industrial (though I have discovered that this is a locus of
contention among many fans–what “is” or “is not” industrial is often debated). However,
if the sound is indeed homogenized, as is suggested, why then break it up into varying
styles? The fact, is the greater corpus of industrial music is “stylistically diverse.” Collins
uses “styles” to denote specific variations of music that fall under the generic label
“industrial,” but in doing so fails to acknowledge that industrialists consider some of her
styles as genres in their own right. Thus, differing styles of industrial music connotate
distinct, identifiable sounds. In a sense, especially when communicating about the music,
each of these styles becomes a genre of music which concurrently is a member of the
meta-genre “family” as well as conceptually exists on its own. An analogy for this
concept can be found in geography, as I liken this genre relationship to the conceptual
interrelationships of a greater metropolitan area. While the representative identity for the

103
Collins, 539.
104
Collins, 45.

60
overall area of a city and its suburbs is usually the city itself, and indeed the suburbs
would not exist without the city, each suburb has its own distinct location or identity.
Sometimes a city will grow near an existing town, and while the town is older
historically, it borrows from the success of the urbanization within the city limits. In a
similar way, industrial music as it exists conceptually can be seen as surrounded by
several sub-genres that are interrelated to each other and to the main genre heading in
specific ways (See Figure 7). What governs these conceptual relationships is not always
diachronic, nor is it definite. Consequently, the industrial genre and all its related
genres/sub-genres are at the center of a hotbed of discussion concerning the classification
of their varying texts.
I have determined that industrial music has as its roots electronic music and
experimental music. Upon examining instances in the history of this musical tradition,
themes emerge that can inform a basic model of formal features for any given industrial
text. This means that in general, any text that has been and could be labeled as industrial
predominantly includes specific elements of instrumentation, musical features, subject
matter, and imagery (through lyrical content and melodic and harmonic progression)
from this model (See Figure 8).
Despite the fact that fans rarely agree on whether or not a specific text could be
classified as industrial and what is agreed upon differs from region to region, the stylistic
elements that are characteristic of the genre of industrial, that is the formal features of
what could potentially define something as industrial, are for the most part all agreed
upon. Furthermore, many industrialists claim that some of Collins’s proposed “styles” of
industrial music are genres of music in their own right and, though related to industrial’s
formal features or even informed by industrial music, cannot be considered as a part of
the genre. Indeed, Collins’s styles as outlined in her study are problematic when
considering the nature of genre–while some of her styles are indeed what Fabbri would
call “systems” or “sub-systems” of the genre, 105 others are recognized as genres in their
own right by many people and therefore cannot be ignored as such.

105
Fabbri, 1.

61
 Electro EBM Electro-Industrial

Industrial

Dance/House Music Noise

Dark Synth Industrial Rock Cold Wave

Figure 7: Potential cognitive genre placement of industrial music and related genres

Instrumentation Musical Features Subjects and Themes Imagery

• Synthesizers • Minor modes, mostly tonal • Political issues • Dark, abrasive, harsh

• Drum machines • Dissonances, high amplitudes • Fascism, Communism • Evil, hate, anger

• Acoustic drum set • Unconventional progressions • Dystopia • Discontent, anguish

• Tape machines • Unconventional sounds • Dance • Shocking, eerie

• Guitars • Experimentation • Social critique • Fantasy, Science Fiction

• Computers • Independent, insular, DIY • Love • Fascist propaganda

• Vocals • Distortion, processing • Religion • Communist propaganda

• Altered instruments • Predominant rhythms • Violence • Tension

• Home-made instruments • Sampled sounds • Taboos • Bleakness

• Found objects • Sampled speech • Irony • Death, cold, alien, inhuman

• Non-instruments, samples • Machinery • Chaos • Future

Figure 8: A model of formal features of a contemporary industrial music text.

62
 Thus, the basic stylistic elements of industrial are essentially universal as
descriptive features of the music, though the various elements are neither wholly
inclusive nor mutually exclusive. Collins hints to the reasons behind these phenomena
(the reasons being the need for interpretation of genre through context, the cultural
aspects of music), but does not explore these issues fully, either through formal genre
analysis or otherwise. In an interview, I asked one of my informants, “How do you know
you’re listening to industrial music?” He answered:
Well, beyond some combination of the elements Vale listed [in the
Industrial Culture Handbook], not necessarily including all of them, I
think what lets me know is a feeling of “tension.” Or maybe “discontent”
would be a better descriptor. I hate to say something that essentially
amounts to “you know it when you hear it,” but in most industrial, there is
a strong sense of discontent, whether it’s a general feeling of uneasiness
conveyed by the sound or actual lyrical content. You could say the same
for other genres. But it’s that feeling combined with the techniques laid
out by Genesis P-Orridge and Vale that distinguish it from the other
genres that have similarities. 106

I have explored the stylistic elements of this genre in order to produce a model
through which we can understand a specific industrial text. However, the interpretation of
genre, especially in a musical practice, cannot rest on formal features alone. Each genre
has a specific model of formal features that must be interpreted as situated in social
practice–that is, in relation to the context in which it is produced and received. Only in
doing so can we assess the ways in which particular genres of music function, grow, vary,
and evolve.
In an attempt to codify the contemporary understanding of industrial, Collins
performed a comparative analysis of various definitions of the genre in search of
common themes for a clearer sense of what elements comprise the music and the culture.
The data she uncovered revealed the following:
Despite being a musical genre, not all [ten] definitions attempted to
mention musical elements, possibly due to the wide variety of artists being
labeled industrial and the diversity of styles. Among the definitions that
included the music, there was an obvious emphasis on
synthesizers/electronics (seven instances), non-musical instruments (five
instances), percussion (four instances), noise (four instances) and samples
(three instances). Examining attempts to place industrial in a historical
106
Interview 1, 02/08/2007, Appendix H, p.147.

63
 context (from the ‘late 1960s’ to the mid-late ‘1980s’) reveals another
problem: dating the genre. The focus on the 1970s and 1980s is inaccurate,
as it falsely assumes the genre has ended now. Most artists commonly
associated with the genre are still making music — Einstürzende
Neubauten, Throbbing Gristle in the form of Chris & Cosey and Psychic
TV, Front 242, Skinny Puppy in the form of Download and Ritalin/Rx,
etc. Therefore, the genre can be situated only roughly from the late 1960s
to the present. Other genres and styles that were mentioned as
juxtapositions and parallelisms do little to indicate the style of the music.
Punk appears to be the favored comparison point (four instances),
followed by techno (two). There was a recurrence of several band names,
especially Throbbing Gristle (five instances), Test Dept (three instances),
Nine Inch Nails (three instances), Ministry (three instances) and
Einstürzende Neubauten (three instances). Undoubtedly if we are to go by
these ten definitions, then these bands can be classified as industrial. More
interesting was the mention of two non-musicians; Andy Warhol, and
William Burroughs, as well as several avant garde musicians; Cage,
Varèse, and Stockhausen. It is perhaps unlikely that such mentions of
artists, writers, and musicians would occur so frequently in definitions of
other popular genres, and from this we can probably assume that the
musicians had some artistic or literary background, and that there are
avant garde elements in the music. Industrial is known for its overt
political ideologies (through lyrics, cover art, performances and
interviews), and it is not surprising to find that there were only three
definitions that made no mention of ideological or social elements.
Although what exactly the bands are trying to say is ambiguous in the
definitions, there is an obvious emphasis on being politically active
against a feeling of oppression or alienation. Adjectives used to describe
the feel of the music, lyrics and images all capture similar moods; loud,
chaotic, harsh, cold, inhuman, alien, eerie, and abrasive. 107

I quote Collins at length here as she is the only other scholar who has done any study in
the way of an in-depth definition of the genre of industrial music. Her conclusions point
to the same set of formal features for a typical industrial music text that I have found.

Issues in communication about the music: Intertextuality

Hindsight is not always 20/20. Convention often supersedes attention. Many pop
scholars have appropriated the term “industrial music” and continue to apply it to music
much in the way that anyone else would–as an adjective, with all sense of its identity

107
Collins, 500-03.

64
hidden behind a sterile connotation. 108 The New Grove Dictionary of Music and
Musicians, 109 the “world’s premier authority on all aspects of music,” currently makes
only four mentions of industrial music that I can find. Keep in mind there are several
references to “industrial sounds” in music, but these are not in reference to the genre of
industrial music that is the subject of this thesis.
The first is in an article by David Buckley about the popular English synth-pop
group, Depêche Mode.
…Depêche Mode played pop music influenced by such groups as
Kraftwerk, but they progressed to more experimental work after Clarke,
their sole songwriter, was replaced by Alan Wilder. With Gore taking on
the role of chief songwriter, the group developed a sombre, macabre
lyricism. With Construction Time Again (Mute 1983) and the single
Master and Servant the band embraced industrial music. Their late
1980s work on albums such as Music for the Masses (Mute 1987) was
starker still, with Gahan’s plaintive, almost monotone, vocal set against
huge, crunching synthesizer patterns... 110

In this concise and accurate article, Buckley gives the reader a clear outline of Depêche
Mode’s career, but at the same time assumes that what he means by “industrial music” is
understood. If there is confusion about what exactly industrial music is, neither the New
Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians nor Grove Music Online provides any help or
elaboration of any kind.
A second mention is in an article by Dave Laing about the record company,
Rough Trade. This label largely produced records from industrial acts. Laing writes,
…The Rough Trade label was launched in 1978 with a single by French
‘industrial’ group Metal Urbain. Other groups featured on the label
were the all-female bands the Raincoats and the Slits, the Belfast punk
group Stiff Little Fingers, Scritti Politti and American avant gardists the
Red Crayola. They were followed by Cabaret Voltaire, Young Marble
Giants and the Fall. 111

Here, Laing places industrial in quotes. “Industrial.” Is this a hint that industrial is a
nebulous genre term? Is it an inference that the genre itself lies outside of scholarly

108
Buckley, Peel, Middleton, Laing, et al.
109
The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, rev. ed., edited by Stanley Sadie. London:
Macmillan, 2001.
110
David Buckley, “Depêche Mode,” Grove Music Online <http://www.grovemusic.com>
111
Dave Laing, “Rough Trade,” Grove Music Online <http://www.grovemusic.com>

65
attention? Or is it simply to denote that Metal Urbain may or may not be an industrial
group, whatever “industrial” might mean?
Ian Peel writes in an article about the history of dance music:
Ambient house and acid house converged in the Balearic islands soon
after to create ‘Balearic beats’, which has continued to act as a testing
ground for new styles and clubs. The ‘Balearic beats’ scene of the early
1990s included remixes of anything from teen pop (Mandy Smith) to
industrial music (Nitzer Ebb). It was transformed in the late 90s into the
Ibiza scene which regenerated Trance. 112

Peel situates industrial in the realm of trance music, which others have done to some
extent. He makes note of acid house, a genre involved in the rave scene with elements of
house and trance, whose name is rumored to have been suggested by Genesis P-Orridge
of Psychic TV, though this has been disputed.113 He also gives us a larger clue than either
of the other two articles have–a definitive band representing industrial music. Or has he?
I asked three members of an online industrial music community, “What genre of music is
Nitzer Ebb?” The unanimous answer was, “EBM.” Recall that Collins has written that
EBM is a specific “style of industrial.” If this is the case, Peel’s description still holds,
however, what happens when EBM is perceived as a genre of music in its own right?
Here, this mention of industrial music again leaves us unsure. Surely, Nitzer Ebb, a single
band from Essex that formed in 1982, cannot hope to represent an entire genre!
A fourth, perhaps more telling mention of industrial music is in an article by
Richard Middleton and Dave Laing, that positions industrial music in the proper era of
history with a passing mention of the historical inspiration behind the genre–
experimentalism.
…the most outstanding example of a continental European contribution to
international pop music came from the German-based groups Kraftwerk,
Tangerine Dream and Can, whose work took inspiration not from rock but
from the electronic experiments of Stockhausen. This ‘industrial music’
of the 1970s led directly to the techno dance music of Detroit which in
turn inspired house music, a dominant trend in European pop during the
1990s. 114

112
Ian Peel, “Dance Music,” Grove Music Online <http://www.grovemusic.com>
113
Fred Gianelli, “Interview for the Family OV Psychick Individuals (FOPI),” Psychic TV fan club, 2000.
114
Richard Middleton, Dave Laing, et al, “Pop: Europe: Continental Europe: Transitional Development,”
Grove Music Online <http://www.grovemusic.com> (My bold face font)

66
Again, industrial music is placed in quotes. In this instance, it seems more likely that for
the author, a genre such as industrial has not been defined enough to stand on its own,
though the entry could also be perceived to mean that industrial music, such as what he
mentioned, existed only in the 1970s. Certainly, the inference is present that industrial
music came not from rock, but from the experimentation in the style of Stockhausen that
was popular among certain German-based groups. The entry is further misleading in
stating that industrial music led “directly to the techno dance music of Detroit.” Indeed,
Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dream, and Can were all influential in the development of both
techno and industrial (that is most likely the music that industrialists were listening to at
the time); however, these two genres are linked later in history through cross-borrowing
and sub-genre collaboration. There was no progressive development from one to the
other. Still, despite the ambiguity and misleading chronology, this article elucidates the
most information about the development of electronic underground music in post-WWII
Europe and America, and gives the reader a few examples of what early German
industrial music sounds like.
Other general pop music sources 115 have just as little to say about industrial. Peel
stated it best in the beginning of his “Dance Music” article: “20th-century club dance
music…developed out of Disco and the invention of the synthesizer into a major
worldwide force, eclipsing rock; unlike most others genres, it has developed at a very
fast rate, aided largely by the continual invention of sub-genres and frequent artistic
collaborations.” 116 Perhaps the locus of the ambiguity of underground electronic music
genres rests upon this very point. Subsequently, vagueness and contradictions may be
inevitable when discussing the origins of this music. Whatever the case, industrial music
has been often misconceived; its origins muddied in the conglomerate of underground
electronic music practices since the 1970s.

Re-interpretive moves through instruments, images, and the concern for

authenticity.

115
Bussy (2005), Kettlewell (2001), Shapiro (2001).
116
Ian Peel, “Dance Music,” Grove Music Online <http://www.grovemusic.com> (My bold face font)

67
 A source of intrigue and sometimes contention in the industrial music genre
concerns the nature of instruments used to make music, and how the discourse about
these instruments contribute to the understanding and popularity of sound; thus it is
important to mention these issues here. During the first wave of industrial history, music
was the vehicle for creating a massive statement, and instruments were the tools that put
that vehicle into motion. Instruments in this history have been largely personally
constructed or found object experimental instruments, electronic instruments, and
electronic processing tools. Throughout the reinterpretation of the genre, instruments
have become increasingly electronically based and less experimental. The variety of
instrumentation among groups deemed industrial since 1976 inspires many interesting
organological questions.
In many ways, the instruments made the band, in that the specific sounds
developed by industrial musicians have been largely inspired by the instruments available
to them at the time. Though the accessibility of electronic instruments has changed over
the past thirty years, this availability issue is still a large factor in being able to create a
successful sound for the underground market. Recently, many industrial groups are re-
incorporating live instruments (guitars, acoustic drums, et al) into their performances
where they had all but disappeared. The first industrial musicians used guitars and other
traditional instruments in their performances, but these were used in unconventional
ways. The return to acoustic instruments in contemporary performances has often been
met with resistance, as many feel the instruments are being used as they would be in a
rock performance. Thus, many believe that true industrial music will always be grounded
in electrically generated and emulated sound and acoustic instruments have no place in
the music.
Electronic instruments popular in this genre include original synthesizers such as
the Putney, keyboard synthesizers such as the Yamaha DX-7, analog synthesizers such as
the Moog, oscillators of various types, processors and other electric distortion effects,
digital manipulation, drum machines, tape recorders, and other electrically amplified
instruments. Newer digital keyboard workstations operate like computers through MIDI
(musical instrument digital interface). And finally, computers themselves are equipped
with software that can emulate all of these mentioned, as well as create new sounds and

68
effects. Digital technology has revolutionized the instrumentation of industrial music and
its derivatives.
Is digital manipulation an instrument, or is it a musical act? Computer technology
evokes many important questions concerning the way in which people make music. A
computer can act as both instrument and performer, guided by the hands of the
technological musician who has neither skill in dexterous practiced performance nor
literacy in standardized musical traditions. In the realm of software manipulation,
performer has become programmer, his instrument the program itself. Where are the
instruments to be studied when they only exist as digital code?
Similarities between sights and sounds in industrial music are a longstanding
tradition. Instruments tend to play in specific modes and elicit certain signature moods,
and the iconography of industrial music does this as well. Through album covers, flyers,
magazine ads, and video (including movie posters and stills), industrial musicians create
an atmosphere of surreal imagery that has come to be identified with the culture. Philip
Tagg and Karen Collins, in their article “The Sonic Aesthetics for the Industrial: Re-
constructing Yesterday’s Soundscape for Today’s Alienation and Tomorrow’s Dystopia,”
clearly elucidate the organological and iconographic connection in industrial music:
This aesthetic of the decommissioned industrial factory is so prevalent in
many dystopian films that, for example, 1989’s Gunhed (set in 2038 in a
computer-chip manufacturing plant) features puddles on the floor, oil
canals, steam pouring from visible piping, metal rung-ladders along
elevator-like shafts, chains hanging from ceilings and meat hooks. The
corresponding soundscape is, of course, characterized by a mixture of
hissing, whooshing, spitting, spluttering, banging, clanking, rasping,
grating, grinding, and scraping. 117

The marriage of industrial music and dystopia has been most evident in film and the
iconography of album art (See Figures 9 and 10). One of the main reasons iconography is
such an important aspect of the dissemination of the industrial aesthetic is due to the fact
that the imagery associated with industrial music has been in many ways the only
representation of that aesthetic. This changes the connotative characteristic of the genre
itself, as those who hear the term industrial may not have heard examples of the music,

117
Tagg and Collins, 2-3.

69
 Figure 9: The cover of the movie Gunhed. 118

118
Internet Movie Database <http://www.imdb.com>

70
 Figure 10: Poster for the movie Blade Runner. 119

119
Internet Movie Database <http://www.imdb.com>

71
but they have gone to the movies. A veritable rift is created between the original makers
of industrial music and the music’s popular sense. Take the following examples:

Figure 11: The cover of 20 Jazz Funk Greats by Throbbing Gristle.

Figure 12: The cover of The Second Annual Report by Throbbing Gristle.

72
 Figure 13: The cover of The First Annual Report by Throbbing Gristle.

This album art demonstrates the ironic and antagonistic sense in which Throbbing
Gristle constructed their albums, however, these examples do not communicate the
dystopian worldview. In these album covers, the message is subliminal and almost
humorous. I tend to think that it was the union of film and dystopia that gave the
industrial aesthetic a more confrontational nature, a nature that can be evidently seen in
later album art, such as the following:

Figure 14: The cover of Solipsik by SPK.

73
 Figure 15: The cover of Odio Bajo El Alma by Hocico.

Figure 16: The cover of the self-titled album Feindflug by Feindflug.

74
 As industrial music began to settle into varying styles, it mirrored the
representation of dystopia seen in film not only in sound but in imagery. And as dystopia
became an easier tool for communicating the industrial message–the deconstruction of
the ideology of repression–musicians related more directly with film and iconography in
their music as a means to recreate and represent their worldview.
Instruments and images continue to play an important role in the industrial sound
and style in the present–specifically in communicating and disseminating the text itself.
By replacing manual instruments with technological ones, and showing dystopian (a
beyond-modernist theme) iconography as opposed to utopian (a modernist theme),
industrial musicians related with their niche audience and communicated their message to
the world (See Appendix E for further examples).
Other musicological considerations can be noted when considering the
communication of and about music. Authenticity, per se, suggests a critical view of art
and music as, according to Taruskin, “genuine,” or traceable to a certain origin. 120 These
specific beginnings are reached through the study, comparison, and criticism of similar
works found to be of the “age” of those works under scrutiny.
The critic’s supposition of authenticity concerning any music created and
performed since the advent of recording sound has been rendered obsolete. It seems that
past conceptions of performance practice and authenticity are not an issue in popular
music due to recording and computer technology, but with evaluation and criticism of
industrial and electronic music, “old-school” bands, and style, we must recognize that
“authenticity” exists in a realm of ambiguity between recording and live performance
practice. It must be given its full weight when considering the definitions that modern-
day critics designate when evaluating both where the style of a song falls and how a
performance effectively communicates its sounds and ideas.
Within the scope of one genre, industrial music, we can recognize aspects of style
in any decade of popularity as a result of their recordings. Performance practice is simply
a matter of redundantly recreating a performance, and this seems easier to achieve in the
case of electronic music genres, as sounds can be recreated with surprising “accuracy”
and consistency through computer programs. However, other issues come to light in the

120
Richard Taruskin, et al. “The Limits of Authenticity: A Discussion.” Early Music 12 (1984): 4.

75
reinterpretation of the word “authentic” and within the evaluation of live performances of
industrial music.
On one hand, when classifying industrial music, criticizing performance practice
and authentic performances is simply a matter of comparison. On the other hand,
performance practice could take on a new meaning when discussing how sound is
programmed and organized in the performance of any typical industrial song. Many fans
consider authenticity when evaluating the music they listen to. “Cover bands” play the
music of older, sometimes defunct, groups at open venues and must consider the
elements of the music they are reproducing in order to produce a successful “old school”
sound.
In addition, some fans view the performances of certain musicians as inauthentic
if they do not actually perform their music during a live show. Some bands pre-program
their music before venues in order to maintain a consistent sound and reduce problems
that may creep up during a concert. As a result, they are left “acting-out” behind
electronic equipment to put on the guise of producing sound, as this is what most fans
expect to see. Bands with vocals are putting on a virtual “karaoke” show. For some critics
of industrial and electronic music, this simulated performance is not authentic at all, yet
this trend continues to become more and more commonplace as this popular practice
changes and develops.
The reinterpretation of industrial music has spawned many other genres of music
in the underground scene. This could be likened to the performance of other music
throughout history. Professional musicians who play the music of another composer
strive to adhere to proper performance practice, while also impressing their own
particular style and technique as a recognizable element of the performance. Much in this
way, musicians in the electronic underground strive to create a standout sound by using
new techniques while still adhering to the legacy that has been common practice in
industrial music. In a sense, the industrial aesthetic has become a cultural tool. Those
musics which embody the industrial aesthetic are grouped in the category of industrial
music. The interesting confusion and paradox of genre that arises in this instance resides
in the dialogue (or argument) between whether the music that embodies this aesthetic can
or cannot be considered industrial.

76
The analysis of a work and its impact on genre
Given that many performances in the history of early industrial and electronic art
music were nothing more than improvised tones on stage resulting in no written,
repeatable work, in a very minimal sense it is difficult to find patterns of function within
such a context. However, much later industrial music (late second wave-present) is overly
structured, repetitive programming. The music is created for dancing and its form is fairly
consistent.
Analysis (historically speaking) has been a method to identify quantifiable
elements of a piece of music and classify them, especially if these components, however
basic, constitute a trend or practice within the composition or genre. Of course, analytical
treatment of any work should be historically informed. The analysis of old and new
trends in a popular electronic musical genre that dates back only three decades, though
informed by a tradition of tonal harmony and basic Western structure, must in some cases
designate new ideas and terminology for the various functions within the music. The very
language of analysis must be modified to address the subject, as applying classical music
theory to such a tradition seems at the very least inadequate and anachronistic. However,
some trends are recognizable as technical features of the genre.
Many of the early progenitors of industrial music sought to break out of the
“confines” of formal structure in their music, but in so doing they created an entirely new
form and structure of their own. Composers such as Karlheinz Stockhausen set a
precedent for this, to a degree, at least to the effect of creating elements of redundancy
and motive in musique concrète that can be analyzed. Stockhausen’s music spans from
the traditions of serial technique and formula composition to new ideas of using an entire
piece of music itself as a backdrop to a larger musical idea, such as in Helikopter-
Streichquartett (which he premiered in 1996). As such it seems appropriate that many
industrial and electronic musicians claim him as an influence in their own music.
I have noted that music mirrors social trends. This is due to the idea that music is
a sociocultural phenomenon. Indeed, this notion is reinforced by the number of notable
features discovered in the analysis of industrial music characteristics. These stylistic
elements of the music have, whether intentionally or unintentionally, represented
Savage’s concept of “anti-music,” in that they are unconventional and often times atonal.

77
First wave industrial music was highly experimental performance art, often improvised,
and focused on a broad stance outside the mainstream. Still, as the genre embraced a
more quantifiable dance-oriented of style, its insular nature was maintained sonically
through specific sonorities that were similarly unconventional and anti-mainstream.
One specific way industrial has sonically separated itself from the status quo is
through the use of primarily minor sonorities and unconventional harmonies. Collins
refers to this practice as “the sonic aesthetic of dystopia,” and presents an overly
meticulous analysis of varying industrial themes. She cites the work of various Western
music scholars who set a historical precedent for our societal soundscape–that is, certain
sonorities, or modes, evoke specific moods. She then writes, “Aeolian tonality is common
in industrial, particularly a melodic 1-b6-5 pattern.” 121 There are a surprising number of
examples of this pattern, either in the melody, as a transitional element, or in the bass line
of a piece (See Figure 17).

Figure 17: The minor 1-6-5(-3) pattern 122 as heard in “Untold Blasphemies” by Hocico

Indeed, this pattern is widely noticeable in industrial, especially in music from the
second wave to the present. Collins has gone into detail noticing this pattern in various
works, but I will choose here not to duplicate her work as such an exercise would be
nothing more than redundant. Indeed, empirical musicology is not the goal of this thesis.
Suffice it to say that this pattern is a prototypical industrial motive. This scale degree 6-5
descending minor second pattern could also be likened to the “sigh” motif, a common
Western musical trope, which composers have used for centuries to paint aural images of
weeping and sighing into their compositions.
Minor sonorities are the mainstay of the sonic profile of industrial music and thus
represent a primary technical feature of the sound. Minor thirds, sixths, seconds, and

121
Collins, 370.
122
Collins mentions the “melodic 1-b6-5 pattern” in Aeolian mode. I leave the “b” (the flat) off of the sixth
scale degree recognizing that in Aeolian mode, scale degree six is already flat. Essentially, though, we are
talking about the same melodic pattern.

78
sevenths create dissonances organized in a variety of ways to invoke a sense of
uneasiness, darkness, or discontent. Collins recognizes the recurrent keys in industrial
music as Aeolian and Phrygian modes. She also notes a parallel between the
appropriation of minor sonorities in dystopian film soundtracks. Not only are dystopian
film soundtracks characteristically industrial in sonority, the opposite is also true. For
example, many dystopian films borrow their soundtrack directly from industrial music
sources and industrial musicians often sample sounds and spoken dialogue directly from
dystopian film. This type of melodic and harmonic cross-borrowing has created a
matrimonial genre link between industrial music and dystopian film music. Some of the
most lucrative creators of industrial music are employed as full-time composers of
television shows, documentaries and films.
The reason why the appropriation of minor sonorities in industrial music is
significant is due to the modern sociohistorical soundscape. Alf Björnberg writes:
It may be suggested that the use of aeolian harmony signifies a change in
the way life in contemporary Western industrialized societies is
experienced, a change affecting large and heterogeneous social groups.
The ideology of industrial capitalism dominant in these societies has, as
has been argued in several contexts, a musically encoded representation in
functional tonal music, which in its structure reflects the assumptions,
inherent in the ideology, of the naturalness of an orderly, progressive
societal development. The alternative to the unidirectional, goal-oriented
progressions of functional harmony which aeolian harmony constitutes,
may in its turn be seen as the musical coding of a conflict between
important traits of the dominant ideology and the way in which reality is
actually experienced. Faced with the growing threats affecting Western
industrialized societies today: atomic war, environmental pollution,
increasing unemployment, the rapid dissolution of traditional social values
and institutions, people in widely differing social situations, it can be
argued, experience a more or less conscious distrust in the optimism for
the future contained in the dominant ideology. Due to the relatively
marginal status of young people in these societies, the awareness of crisis
is first expressed in youth-oriented music, where it is also often verbally
formulated in the lyrics. However, since these symptoms of crisis affect
much larger social groups, they now appear in musically encoded form
also in mainstream popular music. Although such topics are rarely directly
addressed in the lyrics of mainstream pop, their presence is manifest on a
musical-structural, non-verbal level. 123

123
Alf Björnberg, “On Aeolian Harmony in Contemporary Popular Music”
<http://www.tagg.org/others/bjbgeol.html>

79
Björnberg speaks of dystopia without invoking the word. The sonic profile of industrial
music embraces this dystopia and communicates its uneasiness and discontent–the
industrial aesthetic–through the utility of minor sonorities.
In addition to the harmonic proclivities of industrial music, a technical analysis of
the music hints to certain rhythmic trends that are popular within the genre. Most
industrial groups use programmed synthesized drums; only a handful of acts have
acoustic drummers. An obvious feature of industrial beats, then, is repetition. Collins
writes,
Industrial rhythms are in general highly repetitive in the sense that a single
one or two-bar motif may be constantly repeated through an entire song.
Machine-based repetition has been an intentional and key part of the
industrial sound, and it is sometimes felt by artists to relate closely to the
political sentiments involved. Repetition is central to a machine aesthetic
and closely associated with rationalized assembly line production. 124

Indeed, repetition is an important identifiable aspect of the industrial sound. While not all
exemplars of industrial music demonstrate a repetitive rhythm, an inevitable byproduct of
programming drums is exactness, consistency, and the tendency to construct an entire
piece of music around one percussive idea, almost certainly in one meter.
An example of this sound can be heard in the Tactical Sekt song, “Awaken the
Ghost.” The song has a steady beat which is metronomically defined by a piercing
electronic kick and an explosive, distorted snare sounding on beats two and four (See
Figure 18). Throughout the song, at various points, the rhythm section rests to feature
machine-sounding samples, percussive electronic hits, and a restatement of the melodic
theme. Also, there are other percussive elements within the work that add rhythmic
character to the overall sound. However, when the rhythm–that is the basic driving
percussive unit of the work–is a running part of the song, it steadily repeats this two
measure pattern. If this technical point elucidates anything, it is that consistent repetition
has a presence in some industrial music, and this demonstrates similarity to dance music
genres. Even in coldwave and industrial rock, genres which have very rock-style
rhythms, repetition is common as are programmed, synthesized drums. The clean,

124
Collins, 376-77.

80
 Figure 18: Repeating rhythm part in “Awaken the Ghost” by Tactical Sekt

synthesized nature of the percussive tracks in many industrial songs demonstrates in a

near literal way the industrial aesthetic, technology, and the driving force of the machine.
A third key technical feature of an industrial work is sampling. This practice was
not invented within the genre, but industrial did redefine the way in which sampling can
create multiple musical ideas within a given work. More than just an extra-musical
element of sonic interest or character within a given work, industrialists sample dialogue,
sound, and score from film, as has been previously mentioned, and merge these samples
within the overall piece. For example, in the Disharmony song “Sacred Truth (Gaping
Chasm Remix),” extensive sampling of the 2002 movie remake Solaris (by Steven
Soderbergh), allows dialogue from the film to act as lyrics and the song to take on a new
character. Sampling from films, particularly dystopian films, is an important industrial
archetype. The art of sampling is a rich topic for study as there are thousands upon
thousands of examples in industrial music. In addition, I should note that discussing the
origin of samples among industrialists is a widely discussed subject, and musicians often
spend a great deal of compositional time deciding on the “right sample” in their music–
one that is innovative, interesting, and fitting for the work.
By extension, discussing analytical treatment of the remix is of importance to the
genre. Remixing is a practice that finds its origins in reggae, hip hop, and dance music
genres, but holds a uniquely social position in industrial music. Artists often trade songs
in order to remix them, ask another group to remix a specific song, or offer one of their

81
own songs up for remixing. The artist who does the remix must ensure that thematic
elements from the original piece remain extant while adding their own style and sound to
the work. A successful remix must be innovative enough not to be the same song, yet
respectful enough to the original composers to still be recognizable in some way. Most
contemporary industrial musicians exchange remixes in this manner, using digital
software to effectively make music. Earlier in industrial history, remixing was more
similar to musique concrete and tape composition, and it was predominantly done by the
original composing artists. Clearly, sampling and remixing are two topics of interest that
could yield an interesting study in the field of analysis.
The contemporary ideas of form, time, structure, programming, and mixing, to
name a few, also contribute to the analysis of the industrial sound, but a specific analysis
of these elements in various exemplars of the genre is likewise not the purview of this
thesis. What is of importance concerning genre and the industrial text has to do with the
many ways the music exists as an exemplar of the industrial aesthetic and not with the
observation of technical and tonal elements of a specific work. Technical elements create
a mood that mirrors society, but it is the reflection itself that is of interest, not the
schematic elements that are a part of producing that reflection.
All of that being stated, when analyzing a specific song or larger work in
industrial music is of importance, certain aspects can be classified from the viewpoint of
having a basis in tonal music and then expanded with a vocabulary (some of which may
still require creation) of new ideas that pervade electronic music today, as I have
described above. Musical features are more precisely evaluated based on the breakdown
of their components, that is to say the actual electronic and (at present) digital
representation of sound is how music is mixed and manipulated. Vocal tracks are often
saturated and distorted to create effects within a song. Beats are electronic and looped.
Industrial music is very much a practice that would not exist the same way without
recording technology. While most rock music has an acoustic side, industrial is part of
the electronic music culture that manipulates synthesized and recorded sounds to create
fluid pieces of music. In a phrase, there could be no popular “industrial unplugged.”
However, it is important to note that industrial music today, especially in America, is
continuing to align itself with rock traditions, yielding increasing varieties of industrial

82
rock. With this is the tendency to incorporate more acoustic instruments–drum set,
guitars, stand-alone synthesizers–which vastly alters the sound and style of the music and
fuels further genre debate, as many industrialists feel that in order for music to be
characteristically industrial, it must at the very least have synthesized beats.
It occurs to me that the analysis of a specific work can indeed codify important
conventions in music, yet the data compiled about a specific trend must be pondered and
discussed in order to be relevant. In a sense, this means that any technical analysis of a
work is still a communicative event. Bakhtin writes,
The text–printed, written, or orally recorded–is not equal to the work as a
whole (or to the “aesthetic object”). The work also includes its necessary
extratextual context. The work, as it were, is enveloped in the music of the
intonational-evaluative context in which it is understood and evaluated (of
course, this context changes in the various epochs in which it is perceived,
which creates a new resonance in the work). 125

This can be true of each of the prototypical musical features of an industrial work.
Analysis of the work does yield important aspects of text–in quantifiable formal features
that are the milieu of genre–and of context–in dimensions of common practice,
sociocultural interaction, and intertextuality. Yet, analysis of the work is inherently too
focused on the minutia that is often overlooked in cases of genre.

125
Bakhtin, 166-67.

83
 CHAPTER 4: ISSUES OF CONTEXT

The industrial aesthetic

Industrial music in the contemporary mindset cannot be limited to one specific
practice but several, due to the popularity of the genre among musicians and fans who
participate in what has become the industrial aesthetic. I have outlined the preliminary
musical elements that are characteristic of industrial. I have established a set of formal
features for the generic evaluation of a musical text as industrial. I have also explored
some of the sociohistorical events that led to the development of the particular aesthetic
of the genre of industrial. But now I must dig deeper. The original Industrial Records
artists made a brief statement between 1976 and 1981 that had a lasting impact on
industrialists, as the music is alive and well in many forms today. What started as an idea,
essentially, became something greater than itself, inspiring a cultural aesthetic that was
and continues to be nurtured in the industrialist community. As such, in order to
understand how music can be imbued with the industrial aesthetic we must first
determine what comprises this aesthetic. In other words, what, beyond issues of text,
beyond instrumentation and imagery, makes a particular musical (cultural) practice
industrial? Investigating only the text from its formal features–the “what”–leaves the
question of genre incomplete, as any genre study must also focus on the discursive
practices that operate around the texts–the “where”–in order to be fully realized. Before
this can be accomplished, more must be said about the direct historical background of the
music itself, which will allow us to address questions of context.
In the beginning, in many ways, music was only the vehicle. Brian Duguid wrote,
“Industrial music was fundamentally a music of ideas. For all its musical power and
innovation, the early industrial groups were much happier talking about non-musical
issues than about musical ones, a direct result of the fact that few if any of them had any
real musical background or knowledge.”126 Here Duguid is referring to the fact that many
industrial musicians did not study music professionally. He is not implying, as it may
seem, that early industrial artists had no knowledge of music, but that they were not
formally taught how to perform what they performed. This is not true of all industrialists,

126
Duguid, <http://media.hyperreal.org/zines/est/articles/preindex.html>

84
for example Z’ev was a trained percussionist and ethnomusicologist, but many were self-
taught, using music as a tool for communication through experimentation. Music was
accessible and it was effective.
Moving this idea briefly to the present, we can note that this practice is largely
still true of any underground electronic music genre. And now, with the advent of digital
technology and increased accessibility to computers, this type of DIY 127 music making
has become normal practice.
Industrial has been said to expose the symbolic capital of bourgeois society. It
seems a logical extension of this view to accept that an industrial aesthetic is at its core
confrontational. The embrace of shocking and taboo imagery is at the foundation of this
aesthetic. Behavior that exists outside of the mainstream–not within the realm of what is
socially acceptable–is potentially industrial. It is important to point out that the industrial
aesthetic is not, indeed never was, deviant for deviance sake. The rejection of the
mainstream is accomplished in a specific way for specific purposes. Rejection of the
mainstream is often misconceived as the binary opposite of acceptance of the
mainstream. This is of course not so, nor can it be generalized as such. After all, the
industrial aesthetic is not an embrace of theft, vandalism, or murder. A cultural practice
which appears to be opposite is often marginalized 128 as opposite in every way, even
beyond superficial cultural iconicity, but industrialists share the same general goals and
hopes as their “counterparts” in society. It is the way in which society is viewed that sets
them apart. Thus, at the heart of this aesthetic is separateness from popular cultural
perceptions. This includes perception of the present, as in interpretation of political and
societal struggles, as well as perception of the future, such as a dystopian outlook. And
often, the view of the present yields a pessimistic view of the future.
Collins writes, “Dystopias nearly always revolve around technology: either
technology is used by a ruling elite to maintain power, or technology itself has become

127
Do It Yourself music and DIY culture refer to the community oriented movement based around the idea
that people can be in charge of their own expression as opposed to following specific popular guidelines
and organizations. Largely a punk and industrial ideology, DIY musicians reject the hegemony of
mainstream influence in the dissemination of their art, and as such choose to be self-sufficient. The internet
and social software over the past decade have contributed to an explosion of DIY artistry and
dissemination.
128
The politics of identity within culture and counter-culture are not the subject of this thesis, however, it is
important to recognize the interesting dynamics of idea exchange and power play inherent in this dialectic.

85
the oppressor as a metaphoric version of the former.” 129 Dystopia itself embodies that
which the world is destined to become. It is no wonder that the industrial aesthetic should
involve the concept of dystopia, given that industrialism (both in an historical and a
musical-cultural sense) has always revolved around technology as well. As the music has
progressed over the past three decades, though, dystopia became more of an ancestor of
sorts; not all at once defining the nature of the musical practice so much as being, in a
general sense, related to it. This is most likely the result of increased appropriation of
dystopian imagery in mainstream culture.
An informant says this about the industrial aesthetic:
It’s similar to the punk aesthetic in some ways. But while punk says, “I
know I can’t play, fuck you, I have something to say,” industrial says, “I
played it that way on purpose–I meant to piss you off!” At least… that’s
what it did early on. Maybe not “piss you off;” maybe, “wake you up?”
...Nobody ever meant industrial to be a tool of change. People have
complained (perhaps rightly so) that even the socially motivated industrial
acts provide no solutions, only outrage. But like it or not, in my view, the
discontent is the point. 130

Since the beginning, industrial has been rooted in twentieth century performance art, and
ultimately the industrial aesthetic still embodies this. This approach to making music is
diverse and difficult to define, which is why there is much debate among industrialists
and others in the music community about which music exactly embodies this aesthetic.
To generalize this aesthetic, I will state that the industrial aesthetic is an approach (to
music and to life) that is confrontational and rejecting of mainstream culture, while not
necessarily advocating change, embracing a dystopian discontentedness and somewhat
ironic outlook through a fetishization of machinery and industry. This aesthetic
challenges popularity and social sameness by the appropriation of taboo, in a sense by
remaining separate and accepting nothing.
Whether a particular artist is taking a political stance in their music or they are
simply producing a sound that easily lends itself to dancing, the specific approach to the
music–its aesthetic–is what allows it to be generically perceived. In other words, one of

129
Collins, 102.
130
Interview 1, 02/08/2007, Appendix H, p.158.

86
the key concepts behind genre is the notion that its application is governed by a “definite
set of socially accepted rules.” 131

Community, acceptance and catharsis: The application of the industrial aesthetic

In chapter three, I mentioned the embrace of dystopia that is typical of industrial
music. Along those lines, it is important to note the way in which this type of action
inspires identity and community among the participants. I asked one informant, “What is
it that you enjoy most about coming to The Castle over other clubs?” He answered:
Well, the people here are into stuff that I’m into. You know, tattoos,
piercings, leather… stuff like that. Plus, they play okay music. I mean, I’m
into the dance music somewhat–but I listen to heavier stuff at home.
Mainly I can just relax at a place like this, ‘cause everyone here is just
letting loose, you know. No one is judging you or anything. You can come
and just hang out without having to do anything to impress anyone. Most
other places you run into all sorts of people just like here, but it’s like
nobody cares what you think or what you do here. 132

This observation is typical of any tightly-knit community. People are able to share in
common interests in that setting, without finding themselves in opposition to those
around them. In the goth/industrial club, a perfect community is constructed for people
who embrace dystopia and separateness from mainstream culture. It functions as a
collective catharsis through setting and interaction (primarily through music and dancing)
for all participants.
Beyond the club scene, one can delve deeper into the industrial aesthetic in a
number of ways, primarily through being involved with the discourse and cultural
exchange that is typical among industrialists. One element of the industrial aesthetic that
the internet seems to promote is this idea of “confrontation,” both in the music itself and
in the community in communication about the music. An interview yielded this example:
Recently, [the front man of] Terrorfakt, [Ben], made a post on livejournal
about a UK EBM act called Ground Zero who use a 9-11 inspired logo.
This offended Ben, who took them to task. Ground Zero responded with a
lot of rhetoric about the United States causing terror and suffering around
the world, etc. etc., which Ben took the time to refute, but I felt that it was
neither here nor there. The front man of Ground Zero is apparently of

131
Fabbri, 1.
132
Interview 4, 03/09/2007, Appendix H, p.181.

87
 Arab descent and said he wanted to make people aware of American
atrocities. They were trying to “make a point.” Somebody else [on the
website] said something to the effect of, “this is in poor taste.” Another
said, “What is the point you’re trying to make?” Now, as shock tactics go,
using 9-11 struck me as a cheap way out but it made me think: what is
Terrorfakt’s point? What is the “point” of his music? What is the “point”
of his live performances? Keep in mind that I enjoy both [groups]… Ben
says he started Terrorfakt in memory of what happened on 9-11. So, is his
point reminding people that it happened? That doesn’t seem much
different from what Ground Zero purports to do, even if Ground Zero is a
bit more juvenile about it and might just be trying to attract attention. I
don’t really see much difference…I’m not a supporter of terrorism, and
Ground Zero seemed to be saying that 9-11 was justified, which I certainly
don’t agree with, but his stated goal of making music about American
international policy seemed fine. It seemed “industrial,” if that makes
sense. 133

This type of discourse is central to the industrial community. In terms of context, this
sense that everyone has a voice is a common industrial theme. While the internet,
especially over the past fifteen years, fuels this sort of discourse in every cultural outlet,
not just industrial music, it is important to note that this type of involvement was
noticeable in industrial culture since its inception, as an extension of the DIY ethic.
Everyone has a voice, everyone can criticize. The artists are not larger than life–
essentially everyone has access to their type of expression–and as a result the community
becomes stronger and the aesthetic is legitimized.
Acceptance of this aesthetic is also the driving force behind debate over inclusion
and exclusion of varying texts. Most people I interviewed have a clear personal sense of
the industrial aesthetic:
Personally, I only consider true “industrial” projects [groups] who adhere
to the original principles of the movement. Music for me is of secondary
importance in this case. Surely, I enjoy what is out there nowadays, but
compared to the earlier days it seems somewhat lacking in ideological
sense, kind of soulless. I guess it was the direct result of gradual
popularization of the scene and music. 134

Many other points of view concerning this aspect of context are visible from interviews
and in internet forums. What this demonstrates is the nature of community among

133
Interview 1, 02/08/2007, Appendix H, p. 159.
134
Interview 2, 10/13/2006, Appendix H, p. 171.

88
humans relating to music culture. Identity and acceptance within a community promotes
communication and social interaction, the very core of genre interaction, and as such
discussing genre issues would be remiss to overlook the impact of identity and
community on genre discourse.

Social, historical, and cultural contexts

In researching contextual issues, historical and political events play an important
role in the development and impact of a genre. Essentially, seeing any particular text exist
in a specific setting is to see where that text exists in time and space (See Figure 19). It is
also important to take note of the impact that world events have inspired on the genre.
Exploring how the text is received and how it is communicated are important in
understanding and utilizing genre.
When exploring the history of industrial music, it seems relevant to do so from
the perspective of political criticism, as I have demonstrated in earlier chapters, but it is
pertinent here to discuss the basic concepts of this methodology with a few examples.
From the advent of industrial music, musicians were growing more aware of two
concepts that would continue to gain popularity throughout the movement’s music: the
struggles in society were struggles of power, and the best place to combat this oppression
was through waging “information war” with music. Many early industrial artists saw
societal interaction as a figurative battlefield, where television bombarded everyone with
ever more clever ways of the dissemination of mass culture, of assimilation. In some
ways, industrial is a product of this globalizing force of control, since bands, musicians,
and (by extension) fans sought to fight against control. Bands like Throbbing Gristle
focused on the process of control, and fought what they saw as the Information War in a
revolt against power systems, of government and society, and against “the obedience
instinct,” namely essentialization. Said Throbbing Gristle on the subject, “We’re just
troublemakers, really, ‘cause otherwise the world’s a very boring place to be…” 135
Perhaps this is true, but the ramifications of their outwardly protesting, contrary, and
dystopian sounds and politics were a reflection, sometimes literal, sometimes satirical, of
the dangers of oppressive power.

135
Vale, 11.

89
Social, Historical, & Production &
Cultural Context Reception

Time Dance Clubs Historical &

Political
Media Internet Events

Industrial Music
Text
(Figure 8)
Place Values &
Attitudes

Technology Publications

Ideology Authenticity

Communication

Figure 19: An industrial music text situated within context

One of the most evocative examples of political criticism in industrial music is

Non. Boyd Rice sought to break down every assumption about the performance and
reception of music and did so in reference to what he considered the blind assimilation of
mass culture. His performances have been overtly experimental, with electronic sounds
and distorted guitar amplified to the pain threshold of human hearing. He incorporated
many “found object” instruments into his routines, such as shoe polishers and fans, and
sometimes performed from tape reel leaving the stage altogether to monitor how the
audience was “pre-programmed” to receive music in certain ways. Accused of
purposefully disparaging and alienating his audiences, he has received much criticism
over the years. In an interview with the RE/Search publication staff, he said, “I have

90
never understood alienation. Alienation from what? You have to want to be part of
something in order to feel alienated from it.” 136 Rice has been a constant influence in
industrial music since 1977 as an example of innovative ways to circumvent, or even
bypass altogether, preexisting standards and aesthetics as well as a voice against any form
of control and assumption.
Attali wrote:
The cardinal importance of music in announcing a vision of the world is
nothing new. For Marx, music is the “mirror of reality;” for Nietzsche, the
“expression of truth;” for Freud, a “text to decipher.” It is all of that, for it
is one of the sites where mutations first arise and where science is
secreted: “If you close your eyes, you lose the power of abstraction”
(Michel Serres). It is all of that, even if it is only a detour on the way to
addressing man about the works of man, to hearing and making audible
his alienation, to sensing the unacceptable immensity of his future silence
and the wide expanse of his fallowed creativity. Listening to music is
listening to all noise, realizing that its appropriation and control is a
reflection of power, that it is essentially political. 137

Industrial is a good example of music’s ability to subvert control by way of its

status of relation to the social climate in which it was produced. The political climate in
which industrial was created dictated the uproar of experimentalism and creation of the
music. These sounds were rarified into the 1990s through many derivative genres and are
only recently branching out again into the more politically aware protest style of
information war that was important thirty years ago.
It is also important to note that some industrial artists use Marxist, socialist,
and/or communist imagery in a shocking and satirical way to represent tyranny and their
protest against tyranny. These are not to be seen as endorsements of particular ideologies,
but are to be taken in context to their intent, a commentary on oppression.

Production and reception

The internet and social software have revolutionized the way people gather
information and discuss topics. Consequently, the way in which music is disseminated
and discussed via the internet greatly impacts the way genre is perceived. In the case of

136
Vale, 52. (Italics in original)
137
Attali, 6.

91
industrial music, the internet has exposed regional industrial communities to music
groups they might never have heard. Websites such as “myspace” give independent
artists a voice that they know will be heard.
It is also worth mentioning the role that dance history has played in the growth
and popularity of EBM. Underground culture presented a demand for electronic dance
music that EBM supplied. Especially in Germany in the 1980s, dance clubs were very
popular as a means of interaction between members of the underground scene, and the
music that became popular was composed specifically to facilitate dance.
EBM is composed with little variance in beats per minute from song to song.
Musicians need to be sure to clearly elucidate the downbeat in their music as well as
make the beat repetitive yet interesting while taking care not to make their music too fast
for dancing. Dance history is one of the main reasons that German EBM, among others,
has such a distinctive sound.
The issues inherent in genre context provide a pool in which texts are situated
(See Figure 19). Obviously this outline of contextual issues can be expanded; yet doing
so to the point of exhaustion is not the goal of the thesis. I simply wish to establish a
working understanding of contextual issues of genre, namely music genre, that must be
considered when classifying and including (or excluding) varying texts. It is the context
of genre that allows the text to develop and change over time and thus must not be
ignored as it is elemental to communication about music.

Industrial people for industrial music: Ethnographic interviews and analysis

Music exists as a human phenomenon, equal parts expression and interaction. As
such, music is an important element of human culture, and culture an important element
of all human musics. As context, music is community that, at varying levels of social
interaction and setting, exists in the practical and rhetorical dimensions of understanding
and application. The interviews that I performed in the industrial community did much to
confirm these ideas. In addition, interviewing revealed a fascinating dimension of
communal interaction among industrialists, though not through arduous formal study, but
through casual conversations and utterances.

92
 Despite the informal nature of the interviews, a lot of interesting information
came to light. One of the initial questions I asked my good friend and first informant,
Paul Vermeren, was, “How do you define industrial music?” As a longtime participant in
and fan of industrial music, he chose to talk about the Industrial Culture Handbook
published in 1988. For him, the authority on what “is” or “is not” industrial lies in that
publication, though as I discovered throughout the interview, this authority is rather
subject to very liberal interpretation.
For example, when I asked Vermeren about how the elements listed in the ICH
contribute to a sense of industrial culture, he replied:
You have acts that have a strong political message, though this is probably
something Genesis P-Orridge and his contemporaries did not envision.
That’s an obvious manifestation of discontent. Skinny puppy focused a
large part of their output on social issues (animal rights being the most
notable)…

Terrorfakt uses a non-stop barrage of video clips of military violence and

terrorist-related footage, but are less forthcoming with any real agenda
other than a general sense of being influenced by post 9-11 politics. Some
would argue that just being “in your face” with no real message would be
“more industrial.” I’d argue that shock for shock’s sake is pretty hard to
pull off these days.

Though the elements in the Handbook create a clear picture of what industrial culture
stood for in 1988, it is difficult to hang on to many of these elements as generic
identifiers in our time, as the genre has changed and culture has reinterpreted it.
It was interesting during the beginning of the first interview when Vermeren was
asked about how he knew when he was listening to industrial music. At first, he stated
“you know it when you hear it.” This opened up a rather extensive dialogue (the
informant’s insightfulness had a lot to do with its extensiveness) in which we began to
uncover what it is that he looks for in the music and we arrived at a basic idea, or tenet,
for considering a style of music “industrial.”
From there, we began talking about many different musical groups who
considered themselves industrial, and why he thought that was. The concept of “more” or
“less” industrial came up in this part of the interview, and I tried to fashion the discussion
around the basic tenets that we had concluded earlier. Even though I manipulated many

93
of my pre-composed interview questions to fit into the growing conversation, each one
seemed to encourage a large amount of tangential discussion about a few key themes.
The first theme is definition. In all of my interviews, the informants had ideas
(whether clear or unclear) about how they define the genre of industrial music. While
some people believed that it was not something that can be defined, the general
consensus is that industrial is a pervasive genre of music in its own right, and has a
distinct history, development, and aesthetic. Furthermore, the many directions from
which so many different people approached the genre evoked in me the notion of text.
There was a distinctly historical direction that some of my informants took when
talking about the music. By “historical,” I mean to say that these industrialists situate
themselves with the music as it developed. Our past for understanding and relating to the
music was their present. Their directionality points forward and takes note of how the
genre became more broadly encompassing. One informant said, “Nowadays when I hear
the term industrial, I’m reminded of how the scene was perverted by techno and trance,
and I long for the days when it was just a bastardization of music styling with a metallic
rigid noisy sound, and some anti-establishment intent. I miss the ‘machines.’” 138 The
directionality of this statement seems to only identify with the first wave of industrial
music, the locus of definition of the genre insulated from so many other reinterpretations
of its descriptor. Of course, not all of these “old-school” industrialists resisted the
changing face of the genre and thus have a rather open view, such as this informant:
There’s really no ambiguity [within the genre]; there are simply people
[who] witnessed the scene as it developed, and new-comers who have
adopted the term and applied to their experience watching their scene
develop. I don’t think there is any question [about] what is and what is not
industrial, just what people are willing to admit “is” and “is not,” for their
own sake and self-motivation. 139

Other informants became acquainted with industrial culture later, and

subsequently their understanding of the genre embraces differing styles, instrumentation,
intentions–a veritably different soundscape:
I got into the industrial scene in the 90s with the coldwave guitar stuff....so
for a long time to me “industrial” was just electronic music mixed with

138
Interview 3, 03/26/2007, Appendix H, p. 177.
139
Interview 3, 03/26/2007, Appendix H, p. 177.

94
 rock music with a lot of cyber-punk imagery. Since then, as I’ve been
exposed to more and more music that falls into the industrial subculture,
I’ve found a lot of the popular “industrial” music now just doesn’t “feel”
industrial to me. To me for something to feel or sound industrial it has to
have a certain dirty, grimy, mechanical feel. I don’t think industrial should
be “clean” or overproduced. I do not consider futurepop to be industrial...
It’s just synth-pop with a fancier name. Though there are quite a few EBM
bands that do have an industrial feel to me. Out of all the newer sub-
genres that have popped up, I feel powernoise is the most industrial
feeling of them. 140

The nature of the underground genre as it stands next to a mainstream genre–including

how it has been appropriated by the mainstream in specific ways–gives it legitimacy.
That is to say, classifying industrial music as a genre is very important to many people in
the industrial community largely due to the organization of music in popular culture.
Record companies, especially, have “muddied” the boundaries of what is and is not
industrial by virtue of their addition to speech about music. The result is that there are
many running misconceptions about what industrial music means, even among the loyal
fan base and the artists themselves, and people either choose to engage in the subsequent
debate, or ignore it altogether.
And thus we arrive at our second theme–genre. Each one of the informants, in
their own varying ways, acknowledges the musical elements and expectations of
industrial music. Though it is predominantly an electronic music, there are other factors
that are not necessarily created by instrumentation that can denote something as
industrial. Obviously, everyone has their own opinions about what “makes something
industrial,” but what is astounding is how much these opinions vary from person to
person. The conclusion that this type of phenomenon inspires is that industrial is an idea–
an idea that can be harnessed in music–but an idea nonetheless. Though the music has a
clear history, and though its artists are generally vocal about what “genre” of music they
play, in order for anyone to arrive at a consensus about whether or not a particular music
is “industrial,” it must embody this idea. For Vermeren, this idea was what he called
“discontent.” If the music has this mood of discontent, it can be considered industrial. It

140
Interview 3, 03/26/2007, Appendix H, p. 179.

95
is through this type of contextual understanding of industrial music that I can arrive
closer to a working definition of the genre itself.
Indeed, the genre exists in its context as a fluctuating entity. The over-
encompassing Western notion of classification in the empirical, Linnean sense
encourages a static and definite view of genre. But this cannot be so, since genre is by its
nature a communicative element–genre is the text. While it will embody empirical
aspects it cannot be wholly consumed by them. The interview process revealed to me
how this nature of genre is acknowledged (even if sub-consciously) in speech about
music:
Well, as a person involved or interested in several fairly small subcultures
(industrial music, tabletop gaming) I have to say that to me the tendency to
exclude or include things from one category or another is very often a
pissing contest. Even the more erudite goal of gaining an academic
understanding often carries with it tones of elitism and validation. “I read
a 900 page, 20 year study on industrial music and they never mentioned
Orgy, so if you listen to industrial you can’t listen to Orgy”.) Now this is
by far not always the case–there is the much more useful goal of quickly
making your likes and dislikes heard, as you pointed out. But in both
tabletop gaming and industrial music I have seen the tendency for
factionalization and artificial pigeonholing that actually cancels out the
usefulness of being able to be understood quickly. 141

“Being able to be understood quickly,” that is the key. Genre functions, it does not lock-
down. It can change; it is part of a discourse. The more I interviewed, the more I began to
realize that the ambiguity of genre is not a result of missing information, or omissions
from the historical taxonomy that comprises its classification. It is a culmination of the
many uses that genre has in connecting ideas, styles, elements, etc. between people who
communicate about music.
The third theme is impact and intent. By this, I mean the impact that the music has
on its audience along with the intent that artists express through the music itself. The
direction that industrial music is heading continues with this legacy of impact on culture
through the use of shock tactics, dystopian imagery, and experimental sounds. However,
people in today’s society grow more and more desensitized to these types of “in your
face” expressions. Industrial music has evolved, in a sense, to accommodate the changes

141
Interview 3, 03/26/2007, Appendix H, p. 173.

96
in culture in order to remain uniquely industrial. For example, some bands display an
overtly political message in their imagery and lyrical content, but they are not necessarily
working toward changing the system. As Vermeren puts it, “Nobody ever meant
industrial to be a tool of change.” 142
The more I interviewed and actually sat and discussed music with people, the
more I began to become fascinated with the nature of that communication. I recalled the
words of Derrida:
A text cannot belong to no genre, it cannot be without or less a genre.
Every text participates in one or several genres, there is no genreless text;
there is always a genre and genres, yet such participation never amounts to
belonging. And not because of an abundant overflowing or a free,
anarchic, and unclassifiable productivity, but because of the trait of
participation itself, because of the effect of the code and of the generic
mark…If remarks of belonging belong without belonging, participate
without belonging, then genre-designations cannot be simply part of the
corpus. 143

More and more this communicative process revealed itself to me in the field as the
discourse surrounding the intertextuality of industrial music. How could I perform a
music genre study and leave out what these interviews had uncovered? Indeed, I cannot.
It seems to me that these communicative events are the most important aspect of musical
interaction outside of the actual performance of and participation in the music–a
community-shared discourse about the music, a discourse made meaningful and possible
through genre.
The interviews that I conducted have encouraged me to open up my questions
more to include issues concerning the differing generations of fans, regional differences
in genre interpretation, and the industrial aesthetic–both as embodied in the genre itself,
and in its varying contexts, the way that “die-hard” fans envision industrial music will
progress in the next three decades. The selected interviews that I have included in
Appendix H represent the directions that I took during all of my interviews, and provide
an interesting insight into the nature of genre and communicating about music.

142
Interview 1, 02/08/2007, Appendix H, p. 158.
143
Jacques Derrida, “The Law of Genre,” In W.J.T. Mitchell, ed., On Narrative (Chicago, London:
University of Chicago Press, 1981), 61.

97
 Reviewing the number of interviews I conducted elucidated interesting trends in
thought about industrial music, as well as (in the theoretical sense) important connections
between genre and speech about music. I think that not only do these types of
communicative purposes generate discourse in the industrial community, but in all
communication about music within inter-community dialogue and intra-community
dialogue. This means that genre itself, beyond taxonomy, is the theoretical framework
behind “communication, music, and speech about music.” 144

144
Borrowing here from Steven Feld and his article of the same title.

98
 CONCLUSION

Traditional genre theory, structuralism, and definitions

“Genre” is a French word of Latin origin (genus) which means “kind” or “class.”
We use the word in everyday speech, especially in speech about music, and in its primary
invocation it is meant to represent any general type of music. But beyond this literal
meaning, I believe that we, as musicologists, should think about issues of genre based on
the large scholarly body of genre theory and analysis outside of musicology which
addresses the more abstract ways in which genre is used by people to define the music
they hear and in which they participate.
John Swales defines genre as such:
A genre comprises a class of communicative events, the members of
which share some set of communicative purposes. These purposes are
recognized by the expert members of the parent discourse community, and
thereby constitute the rationale for the genre. This rationale shapes the
schematic structure of the discourse and influences and constrains choice
of content and style. Communicative purpose is both a privileged criterion
and one that operates to keep the scope of a genre as here conceived
narrowly focused on comparable rhetorical action. In addition to purpose,
exemplars of a genre exhibit various patterns of similarity in terms of
structure, style, content and intended audience. If all high probability
expectations are realized, the exemplar will be viewed as prototypical by
the parent discourse community. The genre names inherited and produced
by discourse communities and imported by others constitute valuable
ethnographic communication, but typically need further validation. 145

While genre is classificatory, its primary function is communication. The main reason
why a collection of “communicative events,” as Swales calls them, becomes transformed
into a genre is due to a related shared set of “communicative purposes.” I have pointed
out in this thesis that the classification of music in terms of stylistic features and inherited
practices alone–absent of context–leaves an incomplete picture of any given text. In
communicating genre, many of the more formal textual and contextual issues, indeed as
they increase in complexity, are overlooked, giving way to simple specific purposes for
communicating that text.

145
John Swales, Genre Analysis (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990), 58.

99
 Defining communicative purposes in speech about music is multifaceted. For
example, the communicative purposes of industrial music are not easily interpreted as a
specific goal. Indeed, any industrialist involved in a conversation about music may have
multiple goals in mind that are each in constant flux. These discrepancies in the shared
communicative purposes of industrial, or any music genre, contribute to the contention
that surrounds its invocation as a classificatory descriptor. Sometimes shared purposes
are difficult if not impossible to define in music, considering music can affect different
people in different ways.
Swales’s concept of the prototypicality of examples of genres that embody all
features and functions is nothing new to speech about music. In industrial, when a group
exhibits sound and imagery much like that of the original, they are said to be “old-
school” or more true to the genre. This is also true of other genres. It is a slippery slope,
however, as in music an exemplar of genre cannot be too much like its predecessor; else
it would be deemed a copy. Innovation is still an important feature of industrial music
texts. This being noted, it is true of industrial music texts that if they embody the
industrial aesthetic as well as every formal feature typical of industrial music, they are
considered the prime example of what it is to be industrial.
At the end of his definition, Swales points out that “The genre names inherited
and produced by discourse communities and imported by others constitute valuable
ethnographic communication, but typically need further validation.” 146 This is an
important point concerning industrial music, as “further validation” is the impetus for
involved and sometimes heated discussions about which texts are or are not “industrial.”
While this does not address the ambiguity per se, these examples solidify the notion that
industrial music does operate in the realm of genre and can be analyzed as such.
In traditional genre analysis, which is based on a structuralist paradigm, texts are
classified within genres by identifying their common content, convention, language, and
style. This involves research of the data surrounding any given text and accumulating
criterion that can be organized into a hierarchy of inclusion and exclusion based on
features that texts exhibit. We can see an example of this method by remembering
Linnaeus’s taxonomy of organisms in biology. This technique is often referred to as the

146
Swales, 58.

100
“definitional approach,” and has received much criticism in genre analysis of late.
Focusing only on the formal features of genre–the common aspects–fixes genre in a
stable realm and prohibits understanding of the ways in which genre varies, grows, and
functions. Since music is not a static entity, the classification of and communication
about music must also not be stagnant. Identifying commonalities among texts does not
elucidate how texts can mediate differences, no matter how numerous. While formal
features do contribute to the classification of a genre text, they cannot be the only clues to
understanding and communicating within a particular genre.
Similar examples can be found in media genre theory. Film and media have a
long-standing tradition of theoretical analysis of genre. Rick Altman discusses the
problematic nature of establishing a genre corpus:
When we establish the corpus of a genre we generally tend to do two
things at once, and thus establish two alternative groups of texts, each
corresponding to a simple, tautological definition of the genre (e.g.,
western=film that takes place in the American West, or musical=film with
diegetic music). This inclusive list is the kind that gets consecrated by
generic encyclopedias or checklists. On the other hand, we find critics,
theoreticians, and other arbiters of taste sticking to a familiar canon that
has little to do with the broad, tautological definition. Here the films are
mentioned again and again, not only because they are well known or
particularly well made, but because they somehow seem to represent the
genre more fully and faithfully than other apparently more tangential
films. This exclusive list of films generally occurs not in a dictionary
context, but instead in connection with attempts to arrive at the overall
meaning or structure of the genre. 147

There are many parallels between understanding and thinking about film genre and that
of music genre. For example, music is often placed into broad genre categories in an
inclusive sense, such as Baroque music is music composed during the Baroque era, or
rock music is popular music of a general instrumentation. Those who investigate music
more formally, however, find cause to choose elements of exclusivity for various reasons,
be they temporal, instrumental, receptive, perceptive, or otherwise.
In music, defining and redefining genre focuses more broadly on the relationship
between the makers and audiences of texts (a rhetorical dimension). To varying extents,

147
Rick Altman, “A Semantic/Syntactic Approach to Film Genre,” In B.K. Grant, ed., Film Genre Reader
II, (Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 1997), 26-27.

101
the formal features of genres 148 establish the relationship between producers and
interpreters. Indeed, in relation to mass media texts Andrew Tolson redefines genre as “a
category which mediates between industry and audience.” 149 In music, especially
marketed popular music, this is true. It is to be noted that such approaches to genre
analysis undermine the definition of genres as purely textual, as textual commonalities
exclude any reference even to intended audiences.
For example, a basic model underlying contemporary media theory is a triangular
relationship between the text, its producers and its interpreters (See Figure 20).

TEXT

GENRE

PRODUCERS INTERPRETERS

Figure 20: The role of genre in linking a text between its producers and interpreters.

From the perspective of many recent commentators, genres first and foremost provide
frameworks within which texts are produced and interpreted. Semiotically, a genre can be
seen as a shared code between the producers and interpreters of texts included within it.
Alastair Fowler suggests that “communication is impossible without the agreed codes of
genre.” 150 Within genres, texts embody authorial attempts to “position” participants using
particular “modes of address.” Gunther Kress observes that:
Every genre positions those who participate in a text of that kind: as
interviewer or interviewee, as listener or storyteller, as a reader or a writer,
as a person interested in political matters, as someone to be instructed or
as someone who instructs; each of these positionings implies different
possibilities for response and for action. Each written text provides a

148
Formal features are the stylistic elements that comprise a text.
149
Andrew Tolson, Mediations: Text and Discourse in Media Studies (London: Arnold, 1996), 92.
150
Alastair Fowler, “Genre,” International Encyclopedia of Communications, 216.

102
 “reading position” for readers, a position constructed by the writer for the
“ideal reader” of the text. 151

Genre links music to its creators and receivers, performers and fans, bands and audience
members, cultural icons and participants.
Industrial is a genre that is only three decades old, but in that time, it has
experienced much change in style and practice. Visual art, film, and related imagery also
have a longstanding tie to industrial culture. The industrial aesthetic (what Collins calls,
“the aesthetic of the industrial”) has been propagated not only by literature but by the
iconography of the genre. In some ways, the only representative aspects of industrial
culture to observers both inside and outside mainstream culture have been through
iconographic representation. But what of the text that is being represented?
The importance to all these concepts, and the key in the relationship between text
and context, is this notion of genre, and it is this concept that sits at the center of this
thesis. Stuart Borthwick said it well in his introduction to the book Popular Music
Genres:
In using the term genre, I am attempting to categorize musical styles
within certain broad textual and extra-textual parameters. Of course, this
approach is schematic and not without its limitations. The relegation of
generic terms to certain key works and movements will not be definitive
or beyond dispute. Indeed, dispute is central to genre-based study. For
instance, one of the most commonly employed generic terms in
contemporary usage is R&B. However, upon examining the disparity of
musical performers and styles all included under this heading, the term
ceases to have any clear definition. In examining genre, I would argue that
such an analysis must be historically grounded and tightly categorized.
Whereas overarching meta-genres such as rock or pop transcend historical
epochs, others, such as progressive rock or Britpop, do not. Such genres
(or sub-genres) are intrinsically tied to an era, a mode of production, a
Zeitgeist and a set of social circumstances that effectively ensures their
demise, or at least mutation into other forms. Genres have a high degree of
elasticity, but there invariably comes a point when they split under the
pressure of some force or another - be it musical, technological,
commercial, or social. 152

151
Gunther Kress, Communication and Culture: An Introduction (Kensington, NSW: New
South Wales University Press, 1988), 107.
152
Stuart Borthwick and Ron Moy, Popular Music Genres: An Introduction (New York: Routledge, 2004),
3.

103
Genre, communication, and conceptualization
It seems that genres are taken for granted as specific classifications of music.
What I mean here is that in the academic study of music we seem preoccupied with
formal features of music texts, or with reception or use of those texts, and in so doing
ignore the interlinking of these two dimensions through communication. Even when we
take a specific approach to defining genre–that is, we use genre in a very purposeful
manner–its function is obscured by the definitional approach, and the sense of
communicating music is overlooked.
Steven Feld wrote, in his article “Communication, Music, and Speech about
Music,”
We can first refine this notion of communication by moving it from the
physicalist exposition to more firmly social ground. Being fundamentally
relational, communication is process and our concern with it should be a
concern with the operation of social determination-in-process. The focus is
always on relationship, not on a thing or an entity. In the case of human
expressive modalities, it is a relationship between the origin and action of
sensations, and the character of interpretations and consequences.
Communication in this sense is no longer ontologically reified to a
transmission or force; it can only exist relationally in-between at unions
and intersections. To the extent that we take this notion as the serious
grounding for an epistemic approach, we must claim that the origins and
conditions of communication are multidimensional. Communication then
is not located in the content communicated nor in the information
transferred. At the same time, it is not just the form of the content nor the
stream of its conveyance. It is interactive; it resides in dialectic between:
form and content, stream and information, code and message, culture and
behavior, production and reception, construction and interpretation.
Communication is neither the idea nor the action, but the process of
intersection where objects and events are rendered as meaningful or not
through the work of social actors. 153

One of the key concepts behind genre is the notion that its application is directed
by agreed convergences of practice in culture. Franco Fabbri defines musical genre as, “a
set of musical events (real or possible) whose course is governed by a definite set of
socially accepted rules.” 154 Thus, at the heart of any communicative interaction, in this

153
Steven Feld, “Communication, Music, and Speech About Music,” Yearbook for Traditional Music 16
(1984): 2.
154
Franco Fabbri, “A Theory of Musical Genres: Two Applications,”
<http://www.theblackbook.net/acad/others/ffabri81a.pdf> 1985, p. 1.

104
case concerning music, rests genre. Incorporating a theoretical framework for
understanding these connections in music seems like an important goal for musicologists.
Classifying and conceptualizing is an important human behavior. Indeed, it is at
the very basis of communication and understanding. Carolyn Miller writes, “The urge to
classify is fundamental, and [it is] necessary to language and learning.” 155 It seems to me
that overlooking the importance of generic description in any event, be it learning,
visualizing, communicating, or other, can be counterproductive.

The paradox of genre

The example of industrial music represents a picture of the theoretical role of
genre in the rhetorical dimension. Noting the issues that have been introduced thus far, a
number of seeming contradictions appear. As Robert Stam concisely notes:
A number of perennial doubts plague genre theory. Are genres really “out
there” in the world, or are they merely the constructions of analysts? Is
there a finite taxonomy of genres or are they in principle infinite? Are
genres timeless Platonic essences or ephemeral, time-bound entities? Are
genres culture-bound or transcultural? Should genre analysis be
descriptive or proscriptive? 156

The idea that genre in speech about music is necessary to communicate

conceptual musical ideas about sound, form, mood, etc., is not difficult to swallow.
Whether using genre in specific ways to develop a taxonomy of musical features, or
using it to make broad connections between texts, people make use of music genres in
speech every day, yet conceiving of genre in a theoretical sense remains largely unvisited
by music scholars.
At first glance, one might think, as in literary analysis, that paying credence to
genre from an intellectual standpoint dictates too much hierarchy:
To the modern ear, the word genre–in the sphere of literature at least–
carries unmistakable associations of authority and pedantry. Even when
there is no mention of ‘rules’ or ‘conventions’ (its usual corollary), the
term seems almost by definition to deny the autonomy of the author, deny
the uniqueness of the text, deny spontaneity, originality, and self-
expression. Most of us have an instinctive or ideological attachment to one

155
Carolyn R. Miller, “Genre as Social Action,” Quarterly Journal of Speech 70 (1984): 150.
156
Robert Stam, Film Theory (Oxford: Blackwell, 2000), 14.

105
 or more of these values, and most of us are therefore at some level
resistant to, or suspicious of, the concept of genre. 157

Perhaps, even unconsciously, we are sensitive to this circumstance in music research as

well. It was this concern that encouraged the Romantic departure from genre studies in
literature, and it seems that this could be behind the hesitance to engage in a study of
genre in music in contemporary musicology. However, if Feld is any indication, to
understand music, we must acknowledge the function of genre.
Communication is dependent upon the exchange of words, but it is also dependent
upon genre. The Saussurean theory of language–langue, langage, et parole–attempts to
explain the system of speech but neglects the reality that subsystems and types of
language exist. Mikhail Bakhtin theorized about the existence of “speech genres” and
their role in communicating ideas. He argued that these are a precondition for meaningful
communication, since they “organize our speech in almost the same way as grammatical
(syntactical) forms do,” 158 conveying expectations of content, style, and structure, which
assist in the shaping of any communicative event, from the simplest conversation to the
most complex academic statement.
Genre essentially groups texts into categories by generalizing them so that they
are easier to understand and communicate. In the case of industrial music, as this thesis
demonstrates, this is done in a variety of ways. Genre is an integrated framework of links
between modes of transmission of a number of varying textual and contextual elements
that exists in the social realm of use and communication. And, beyond the theoretical
world into the world of communication exists the interesting dilemma of categorizing
music in various spheres of understanding (practical, emotional, communal, cathartic,
etc.). How and why do we do this, and to what end? The paradox of genre is precisely
this: knowing what genre in which to place a text requires specificity, while categorizing
a text in order to communicate about it is a process of generalization. It seems the
generalizations are drawn from specificities, so are the specificities drawn from
generalizations? In communication about music, these types of negotiations between
dimensions of conceptualization take place instantaneously and often unconsciously.

157
Duff, 1.
158
Bakhtin, 90.

106
Additional issues of authority arise. Who has the right to decide what commonalities
determine genre inclusion? Musicologists? The fan base?

Why debate genre?

One of my informants asked the question,
What’s the use of genres and sub-genres? …I get the point, but I think that
categorizing music into little boxes has no meaning beyond a certain point.
Skinny Puppy is an industrial band. But Skinny Puppy is also a crossover
band. And Skinny Puppy is also an EBM band. Which doesn’t mean all
EBM bands can be labeled as industrial–well, actually, that depends what
you mean by “industrial”... Ok, now my head begins to ache. I had hours-
long conversations about the definitions of “goth,” “industrial,” “electro,”
and “metal,” and I don’t think it helped me enjoying any record.
Especially since some bands currently labeled as industrial absolutely
deny being part of that movement - Einstürzende Neubauten or Foetus for
instance... 159

If we can divorce our minds from the concept that genre is only here to codify an
authoritative taxonomy and realize that it exists for communicative purposes, we can
begin to realize the ways in which a music genre can be studied with relevance to
changing times and cultures. Another informant states:
The use [of genre] is communication. Genres and sub-genres comprise a
language that can be used to discuss music in a meaningful way, as well as
to describe the trends and tastes of individuals and societies. I’m
concerned about the history and ethnomusicology of industrial music from
an intellectual standpoint. I can’t study those things without genres. 160

The paradox of genre has left the musicologist in the position of authoritative
assessment concerning inclusion and exclusion of a greater genre corpus. Musicology in
the historical, albeit very Aristotelian, sense follows musical trends to note the events and
features of the music after the fact, codifying the impact and importance of these stylistic
elements into a general taxonomy that can be organized, studied, and transmitted. Indeed,
in this sense of genre–taxonomy–it would seem that proper understanding is simply a
matter of these authoritative codifications, and no further debate is necessary. After all,
based on this model, in a century scholars can look back and provide a definitive

159
Interview 2, 10/16/2007, Appendix H, p. 164.
160
Interview 2, 10/16/2007, Appendix H, p. 165.

107
classification of the music. But what about investigating the music in its current
manifestation?
Karin Kosina writes, “Distinguishing between music genres is a trivial task for
human beings. A few seconds of music usually suffice to allow us to do a rough
classification.” 161 Perhaps this is true if “human beings” are informed of two important
aspects of the music: (1) The stylistic elements that comprise the boundaries for inclusion
and exclusion of the genre (that is, if they are able to be codified), and (2) the cultural
context in which that genre exists. And, to be informed of these elements of the music,
communication must take place at some level. It seems to me that classifying music is far
from trivial. Music is fluid in production, transmission, and reception and at no point can
it be forced into a mold and expected to remain there for all time.
Even for the empiricist who places a definition over genre–a list of features for
inclusion and exclusion of texts–no definitive, positivistic claims can be made about
classifying a musical tradition. Certainly features can be identified in music with clarity
and the context can be presented in a proper representation. But the interaction of these
two dimensions is necessary for utilizing genre, and ultimately for communicating. The
analysis of genres based purely on their textual features becomes inescapably
problematic.
I will take a moment to invoke the words of Tolson, who makes this important
point:
…we need to be clear what we mean when we use this term. Genre as an
aspect of film production is quite different from, say, the notion of the
“model” in the production of commodities like cars. Genre admits, indeed
requires, difference; whereas the model turns out the same product (albeit
in different colors). However, despite such differences and variations,
writers…are agreed there remains a basic unity to the genre which defines
it as such. The theoretical question, which we will… consider, is where to
locate that unity; that is to say, where do we discover the principle that
allows us to recognize the [genre]… as a genre? 162

I have located that unity in this thesis, concerning the genre of industrial music. This
gives us a clearer scope of the genre, but at no point does acknowledging this unity

161
Karin Kosina, “Music Genre Recognition,” Masters Thesis, Hagenberg, (2002).
162
Tolson, 90.

108
preclude how genre functions and evolves in everyday speech about music. Conceiving
genre in this light allows it to change with culture.
Furthermore, and getting back to our original question, in terms of investigating
culture and modes of communication, it is prudent to place genre analysis at the heart of
human conceptualization. Clifford Geertz writes,
Grand rubrics like “Natural Science,” “Biological Science,” “Social
Science,” and “The Humanities,” have their uses in organizing curricula,
in sorting scholars into cliques and professional communities, and in
distinguishing broad traditions of intellectual style. And, of course, the
sorts of work conducted under any one of them do show some general
resemblances to one another and some genuine differences from the sorts
that are conducted under the others. There is, so far anyway, no
historiography of motion; and inertia in a novel means something else. But
when these rubrics are taken to be a borders-and-territories map of modern
intellectual life, or, worse, a Linnaean Catalogue into which to classify
scholarly species, they merely block from view what is really going on out
there where men and women are thinking about things and writing down
what they think. 163

Clearly, Geertz sees limitations in a simple classification of materials within cultural

studies. Music is indeed a cultural phenomenon, and thus, placing music in the realm of
communication and inclusion, exclusion, and interpretation of genre function is likewise
a cultural exchange. Geertz writes later in his Local Knowledge:
In the way that Papuans or Amazons inhabit the world they imagine, so do
high energy physicists or historians of the Mediterranean in the age of
Phillip II–or so, at least, an anthropologist imagines. It is when we begin
to see this, to see that to set out to deconstruct Yeats’ imagery, absorb
oneself in black holes, or measure the effect of schooling on economic
achievement is not just to take up a technical task but to take on a cultural
frame that defines a great part of one’s life, that an ethnography of modern
thought begins to seem an imperative project. Those roles we think to
occupy turn out to be minds we find ourselves to have. 164

The genre-based approach to studying culture, and by extension music, has a basis in
Geertz’s work as well. Feld’s concept of “interpretive moves,” 165 which are his proposed

163
Clifford Geertz, Local Knowledge: Further Essays in Interpretive Anthropology (New York: Basic
Books, 1983), 7.
164
Geertz, 155.
165
Feld, 11.

109
dimensions of communicative action, are essentially this genre approach for which I
advocate in thinking about music and communication.
Genre exists in the cognitive world of reorganizing features in order to
communicate them. With this thesis, I have helped to address the ambiguity of the genre
of industrial music in contemporary popular music studies, and used this example to clear
away some of the cloudiness surrounding the concept of genre itself. It seems to me that
debating genre, or taking a theoretical approach to genre in the analysis and study of
music cultures, will help elucidate ways in which people communicate about music
genres and ultimately what importance is gained from such an endeavor.
There are indeed ties between the ways people discuss various media in today’s
global culture. Music, movies, literature, and art all exist as types and kinds of texts that
are in some way relevant to us all and certainly the hypertextual environment of the
internet plays no small part in the changing development of our cognitive processes. In
the case of industrial music, the discourse surrounding the genre is an interesting cultural
phenomenon that, if anything, demonstrates how pertinent the debate of genre can be.

110
 APPENDIX A: INDUSTRIAL RECORDS DISCOGRAPHY
IR0002 THROBBING GRISTLE, “2ND ANNUAL REPORT” 1977 (LP)
IR0003 THROBBING GRISTLE, “UNITED”/”ZYKLON B ZOMBIE” 1978 (7”)
IR0004 THROBBING GRISTLE, “D.O.A. THE THIRD AND FINAL REPORT” 1978 (LP)
IR0005 MONTE CAZAZZA, “TO MOM ON MOTHER'S DAY”/”CANDY MAN” 1979 (7”)
IR0006 THE LEATHER NUN, “SLOW DEATH” EP 1979 (7”)
IR0007 THOMAS LEER AND ROBERT RENTAL, “THE BRIDGE” 1979 (LP)
IR0008 THROBBING GRISTLE, “20 JAZZ FUNK GREATS” 1979 (LP)
IR0009 THROBBING GRISTLE, “HEATHEN EARTH: THE LIVE SOUND OF TG” 1980 (LP)
IR0010 MONTE CAZAZZA, “SOMETHING FOR NOBODY” EP 1980 (7”)
IR0011 SURGICAL PENIS KLINIK, “MEAT PROCESSING SECTION” 1980 (7”)
IR0012 ELISABETH WELCH, “STORMY WEATHER”/”YOU'RE BLASÉ” 1980 (7”)
IR0013 THROBBING GRISTLE, “SUBHUMAN”/”SOMETHING CAME OVER ME” 1980 (7”)
IR0014 DOROTHY, “I CONFESS”/”SOFTNESS” 1980 (7”)
IR0015 THROBBING GRISTLE, “ADRENALIN”/”DISTANT DREAMS (PART TWO)1980 (7”)
IR0016 WILLIAM S. BURROUGHS,
“NOTHING HERE NOW BUT THE RECORDINGS” 1981 (LP)
IRC00 THROBBING GRISTLE, “BEST OF....VOLUME I” 1976
IRC01 THROBBING GRISTLE, “BEST OF....VOLUME II” 1976
IRC02 THROBBING GRISTLE, “I.C.A., LONDON” 1976
IRC03 THROBBING GRISTLE, “WINCHESTER/AIR GALLERY” 1976
IRC04 THROBBING GRISTLE, “NAGS HEAD, HIGH WYCOMBE” 1977
IRC05 THROBBING GRISTLE, “BURLINGTON POLYTECHNIC” 1977
IRC06 THROBBING GRISTLE, “NUFFIELD THEATRE, SOUTHAMPTON” 1977
IRC07 THROBBING GRISTLE, “RAT CLUB, PINDAR, LONDON” 1977
IRC08 THROBBING GRISTLE, “HIGHBURY ROUNDHOUSE, LONDON” 1977
IRC09 THROBBING GRISTLE, “WINCHESTER ART SCHOOL” 1977
IRC10 THROBBING GRISTLE, “RAT CLUB, VALENTINO ROOMS, LONDON” 1977
IRC11 THROBBING GRISTLE, “BRIGHTON POLYTECHNIC” 1978
IRC12 THROBBING GRISTLE, “ARCHITECTURAL ASSOCIATION, LONDON” 1978
IRC13 THROBBING GRISTLE, “GOLDSMITH'S COLLEGE, LONDON” 1978
IRC14 THROBBING GRISTLE,
“INDUSTRIAL TRAINING COLLEGE, WAKEFIELD” 1978
IRC15 THROBBING GRISTLE, “FILM MAKERS CO-OP, LONDON” 1978
IRC16 THROBBING GRISTLE, “CRYPTIC ONE CLUB, LONDON” 1978
IRC17 THROBBING GRISTLE, “CENTRO IBERICO, LONDON” 1979
IRC18 THROBBING GRISTLE, “AJANTA CINEMA, DERBY” 1979
IRC19 THROBBING GRISTLE, “SHEFFIELD UNIVERSITY” 1979
IRC20 THROBBING GRISTLE, “THE FACTORY, MANCHESTER” 1979
IRC21 THROBBING GRISTLE, “GUILD HALL, NORTHAMPTON” 1979
IRC22 THROBBING GRISTLE, “Y.M.C.A., LONDON” 1979
IRC23 THROBBING GRISTLE, “TG IN THE STUDIO” 1979
IRC24 THROBBING GRISTLE, “BUTLERS WHARF, LONDON” 1979
IRC25 THROBBING GRISTLE, “FAN CLUB, LEEDS” 1979
IRC26 THROBBING GRISTLE, “SCALA CINEMA, LONDON” 1979
IRC27 THE LEATHER NUN,
“SCALA CINEMA”/”MUSIC PALAIS KUNGSGATAN” 1980
IRC28 MONTE CAZAZZA, “LIVE AT LEEDS FAN CLUB”/”SCALA CINEMA” 1980
IRC29 THROBBING GRISTLE, “AT GOLDSMITH'S COLLEGE” 1980
IRC30 THROBBING GRISTLE, “OUNDLE PUBLIC SCHOOL” 1980
IRC31 CLOCK DVA, “WHITE SOULS IN BLACK SUITS” 1980
IRC32 CHRIS CARTER, “THE SPACE BETWEEN” 1980
IRC33 THROBBING GRISTLE, “AT SHEFFIELD UNIVERSITY” 1980
IRC34 RICHARD H. KIRK, “DISPOSABLE HALF TRUTHS” 1981
IRC35 CABARET VOLTAIRE, “1974-1976” 1981

111
IRCD02 THROBBING GRISTLE, “I.C.A., LONDON” 1976
IRCD03 THROBBING GRISTLE, “WINCHESTER/AIR GALLERY” 1976
IRCD04 THROBBING GRISTLE, “NAGS HEAD, HIGH WYCOMBE” 1977
IRCD05 THROBBING GRISTLE, “BURLINGTON POLYTECHNIC” 1977
IRCD06 THROBBING GRISTLE, “NUFFIELD THEATRE, SOUTHAMPTON” 1977
IRCD07 THROBBING GRISTLE, “RAT CLUB, PINDAR, LONDON” 1977
IRCD08 THROBBING GRISTLE, “HIGHBURY ROUNDHOUSE, LONDON” 1977
IRCD09 THROBBING GRISTLE, “WINCHESTER ART SCHOOL” 1977
IRCD10 THROBBING GRISTLE, “RAT CLUB, VALENTINO ROOMS, LONDON” 1977
IRCD11 THROBBING GRISTLE, “BRIGHTON POLYTECHNIC” 1978
IRCD12 THROBBING GRISTLE, “ARCHITECTURAL ASSOCIATION, LONDON” 1978
IRCD13 THROBBING GRISTLE, “GOLDSMITH'S COLLEGE, LONDON” 1978
IRCD14 THROBBING GRISTLE,
“INDUSTRIAL TRAINING COLLEGE, WAKEFIELD” 1978
IRCD15 THROBBING GRISTLE, “FILM MAKERS CO-OP, LONDON” 1978
IRCD16 THROBBING GRISTLE, “CRYPTIC ONE CLUB, LONDON” 1978
IRCD17 THROBBING GRISTLE, “CENTRO IBERICO, LONDON” 1979
IRCD18 THROBBING GRISTLE, “AJANTA CINEMA, DERBY” 1979
IRCD19 THROBBING GRISTLE, “SHEFFIELD UNIVERSITY” 1979
IRCD20 THROBBING GRISTLE, “THE FACTORY, MANCHESTER” 1979
IRCD21 THROBBING GRISTLE, “GUILD HALL, NORTHAMPTON” 1979
IRCD22 THROBBING GRISTLE, “Y.M.C.A., LONDON” 1979
IRCD24 THROBBING GRISTLE, “BUTLERS WHARF, LONDON” 1979
IRCD25 THROBBING GRISTLE, “FAN CLUB, LEEDS” 1979
IRCD26 THROBBING GRISTLE, “SCALA CINEMA, LONDON” 1979
IRCD29 THROBBING GRISTLE, “AT GOLDSMITH'S COLLEGE” 1980
IRCD30 THROBBING GRISTLE, “OUNDLE PUBLIC SCHOOL” 1980
IRCD33 THROBBING GRISTLE, “AT SHEFFIELD UNIVERSITY” 1980
IRCD36 THROBBING GRISTLE, “S.O. 36 CLUB BERLIN 7/11/80” 1980
IRCD37 THROBBING GRISTLE, “S.O. 36 CLUB BERLIN 7/11/80” 1980
IRCD38 THROBBING GRISTLE, “KUNSTHOFSCHULE FRANKFURT” 1980
IRCD39 THROBBING GRISTLE, “RAFTERS CLUB, MANCHESTER” 1980
IRCD40 THROBBING GRISTLE, “HEAVEN, LONDON” 1980
IRCD41 THROBBING GRISTLE, “LYCEUM, LONDON” 1981
IRCD42 THROBBING GRISTLE, “VETERANS AUDITORIUM, LOS ANGELES” 1981
IRCD43 THROBBING GRISTLE, “KEZAR PAVILION, SAN FRANCISCO” 1981

112
 APPENDIX B: POLITICAL ART AND THE FOUNDERS OF

INDUSTRIAL CULTURE

A student protest banner from May 1968 satirically depicting

General de Gaulle silencing the youth. 166

Genesis P-Orridge, Chris Carter, Cosey Fanni Tutti, and Peter “Sleazy” Christopherson
Of Throbbing Gristle. Photo from 1981. 167

166
Art History Club Archives <http://www.arthistoryclub.com/art_history/May_1968>
167
Vale, 10.

113
 Sleazy, Cosey, Chris, and Genesis in 1977. 168

Mal, Richard, and Chris of Cabaret Voltaire

in front of Rough Trade, San Francisco, 1980. 169

168
Vale, 3.
169
Vale, 46.

114
 Boyd Rice of Non in front of the “happiest place on earth.” 170

Boyd Rice at the scene of a serious accident in Los Angeles, 1981. 171

170
Vale, 63.
171
Vale, 66.

115
 Boyd Rice with the “roto-guitar” at the Deaf Club, San Francisco, 1979. 172

172
Vale, 54.

116
Mal, Richard, and Chris of Cabaret Voltaire
Posing for an album photo shoot, England.

Throbbing Gristle

117
Sleazy, Chris, Cosey, Genesis, and German Shepherd

Cosey, Chris, Sleazy, and Genesis, 2002.

118
Chris, Cosey, Genesis, and Sleazy in 2005.

Cabaret Voltaire promo poster

119
Clock DVA

Clock DVA

120
The Leather Nun

SPK in concert

121
SPK promo poster

SPK

122
 APPENDIX C: A CENTURY OF ELECTRONIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS,

1876–1976.

I have compiled these instruments into a chart as a portrait of the human

experimentation with sound and machines in the century before industrial records.
Sources include Grove Music 173 and the “120 Years of Electronic Music” website by
Simon Crab. 174

The Musical Telegraph Elisha Grey USA 1876

The Phonograph Thomas Edison USA 1878

The Singing Arc William Duddel United Kingdom 1899

The Telharmonium Thaddeus Cahill USA 1897

The Choralcello Melvin Severy USA 1909

The “Intonarumori” Luigi Russolo Italy 1913

The Audion Piano Lee De Forest USA 1915

The Optophonic Piano Vladimir Rossiné Soviet Union 1916

The Theremin Leon Termen Soviet Union 1917

The Sphäraphon Jörg Mager Germany 1921

The Staccatone Hugo Gernsbak Germany 1923

The Pianorad Hugo Gernsbak Germany 1926

The Dynaphone René Bertrand France 1927

The Celluphone Pierre Toulon & Krugg Bass France 1927

173
Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy <http://www.grovemusic.com>
174
Crab, Simon. 120 Years of Electronic Music <http://www.obsolete.com/120_years/

123
The Clavier à Lampes A.Givelet & E.Coupleaux France 1927

The Ondes-Martenot Maurice Martenot France 1928

Piano Radio-Électrique A.Givelet & E.Coupleaux France 1929

The Givelet A.Givelet & E.Coupleaux France 1929

The Sonorous Cross Nikolay Obukhov France 1929

The Hellertion B.Helberger & P.Lertes Germany 1929

The Trautonium Dr. Freidrich Trautwein Germany 1930

The Ondium Péchadre H. Péchadre France 1930

The Rhythmicon Henry Cowell & Leon Termen USA 1930

The Theremin Cello Leon Termen USA 1930

The Westinghouse Organ R.C.Hitchock USA 1930

The Sonar N.Anan’yev Soviet Union c1930

Saraga-Generator Wolja Saraga Germany 1931

The “Ekvodin” Andrei Volodin & K.Kovalski Soviet Union 1931

The Trillion Tone Organ A. Lesti & F. Sammis USA 1931

The Variophone Yevgeny Sholpo Soviet Union 1932

The Emiriton A.Ivanov & A.Rimsky-Korsakov Soviet Union 1932

The Emicon N. Langer USA 1932

The Rangertone Organ Richard H. Ranger USA 1932

L’Orgue des Ondes Armand Givelet France 1933

124
Syntronic Organ I.Eremeef & L.Stokowski USA 1934

The Polytone Organ A. Lesti & F. Sammis USA 1934

The Hammond Organ Laurens Hammond USA 1935

The Magnetic Tape Allgemeine Elektrizitäts

Germany 1935
Recorder Gesellschaft

The Electrochord - USA 1936

The sonothèque L. Lavalée France 1936

The Heliophon Bruno Hellberger Germany 1936

The Grösstonorgel Oskar Vierling Germany 1936

The Welte Licht-Ton-Orgel E.Welte Germany 1936

The Singing Keyboard F. Sammis USA 1936

The Warbo Formant Organ Harald Bode & C. Warnke Germany 1937

The Kaleidophon Jörg Mager Germany 1939

The Novachord L Hammond & C.N.Williams USA 1939

The Voder & Vocoder Homer Dudley USA 1940

The Univox Univox Co. UK 1940

The Multimonica Harald Bode Germany 1940

The Pianophon - - 1940

The Ondioline Georges Jenny France 1940

The Solovox Hammond Organs Company USA 1940

125
The Electronic Sackbut Hugh Le Caine Canada 1945

The Tuttivox Harald Bode USA 1946

Hanert Electric Orchestra J. Hanert USA 1945

The Minshall Organ - USA 1947

The Clavioline M. Constant Martin France 1947

The Melochord Harald Bode Germany 1947

The Monochord Dr Freidrich Trautwein Germany 1948

The Free Music Machine Percy Grainger & Burnett Cross USA/Australia 1948

The Electronium Pi René Seybold Germany 1950

The Polychord Organ Harald Bode USA 1950

The Electronic Music Box Dr Earle Kent USA 1951

The Clavivox Raymond Scott USA 1952

The RCA Synthesizer I & II Harry Olsen & Hebert Belar USA 1952

The Composertron Osmond Kendall Canada 1953

MUSIC I-V Software Max Mathews USA 1957

Oramics Daphne Oram United Kingdom 1959

The Siemens Synthesizer H.Klein & W.Schaaf Germany 1959

The Side Man Wurlitzer - USA 1959

Moog Synthesizers Robert Moog USA 1963

The Mellotron & Chamberlin Leslie Bradley United Kingdom 1963

126
Buchla Synthesizers Donald Buchla USA 1963

The Donca-Matic DA-20 Keio Corp Japan 1963

The Synket Paul Ketoff United Kingdom 1963

Tonus/ARP Synthesizers Philip Dodds USA 1964

PAiA Electronics, Inc John Paia Simonton USA 1967

MUSYS Software David Cockrell & Peter Grogno United Kingdom 1968

EMS Synthesizers Peter Zinovieff & David Cockrell United Kingdom 1969

GROOVE System Max Mathews USA 1970

The Optigan Mattel Inc. USA 1970

The Electronium-Scott Raymond Scott USA 1970

Con Brio Synthesizers - USA 1971

Roland Synthesizers Roland Corporation Japan 1972

Maplin Synthesizers Trevor G Marshall Australia/USA 1973

The Synclavier New England Digital Corporation USA 1975

Korg Synthesizers Korg Japan 1975

EVI wind instrument Nyle Steiner USA 1975

PPG Synthesizers Wolfgang Palm Germany 1975

Yamaha Synthesizers Yamaha Corp Japan 1976

127
 APPENDIX D: FUTURIST MANIFESTO

Ancient life was all silence. In the 19th Century, with the invention of
machines, Noise was born. Today, Noise is triumphant and reigns
sovereign over the sensibility of men. Through many centuries life
unfolded silently, or at least quietly. The loudest of noises that interrupted
this silence was neither intense, nor prolonged, nor varied. After all, if we
overlook the exceptional movements of the earth’s crust, hurricanes,
storms, avalanches, and waterfalls, nature is silent.

In this scarcity of noises, the first sounds that men were able to draw from
a pierced reed or a taut string were stupefying, something new and
wonderful. Among primitive peoples, sound was attributed to the gods. It
was considered sacred and reserved for priests, who used it to enrich their
rites with mystery. Thus was born the idea of sound as something in itself,
as different from and independent of life. And from it resulted music, a
fantastic world superimposed on the real one, an inviolable and sacred
world. The Greeks greatly restricted the field of music. Their musical
theory, mathematically systematized by Pythagoras, admitted only a few
consonant intervals. Thus, they knew nothing of harmony, which was
impossible.

The Middle Ages, with the developments and modifications of the Greek
tetrachord system, with Gregorian chant and popular songs, enriched
musical art. But they continued to regard sound in its unfolding in time, a
narrow concept that lasted several centuries, and which we find again in
the very complicated polyphony of the Flemish contrapuntalists…From
the beginning, musical art sought out and obtained purity and sweetness of
sound. Afterwards, it brought together different sounds, still preoccupying
itself with caressing the ear with suave harmonies. As it grows ever more
complicated today, musical art seeks out combinations more dissonant,
stranger, and harsher for the ear. Thus, it comes ever closer to the noise-
sound.

This evolution of music is comparable to the multiplication of machines,

which everywhere collaborate with man. Not only in the noisy atmosphere
of the great cities, but even in the country, which until yesterday was
normally silent. Today, the machine has created such a variety and
contention of noises that pure sound in its slightness and monotony no
longer provokes emotion.

In order to excite and stir our sensibility, music has been developing
toward the most complicated polyphony and toward the greatest variety of
instrumental timbres and colors. It has searched out the most complex
successions of dissonant chords, which have prepared in a vague way for

128
 the creation of MUSICAL NOISE. The ear of the Eighteenth Century man
would not have been able to withstand the inharmonious intensity of
certain chords produced by our orchestra (with three times as many
performers as that of the orchestra of his time). But our ear takes pleasure
in it, since it is already educated to modern life, so prodigal in different
noises. Nevertheless, our ear is not satisfied and calls for even greater
acoustical emotions.

Musical sound is too limited in its variety of timbres. The most

complicated orchestras can be reduced to four or five classes of
instruments different in timbres of sound… Thus, modern music flounders
within this tiny circle, vainly striving to create new varieties of timbre.

We must break out of this limited circle of sounds and conquer the infinite
varity of noise-sounds. 175

175
Luigi Russolo, “The Art of Noises,” Monographs in Musicology no. 6 Trans. by Barclay Brown (New
York: Pendragon Press, 1983), 23-25.

129
APPENDIX E: ALBUM ART, FILM ART

130
131
132
133
134
135
 Los Angeles in 2019, frame from the film Blade Runner

Deckard at Tyrell Corporation, frame from the film Blade Runner

136
James Cole (Bruce Willis) being “volunteered” for surface duty,
frame from the film 12 Monkeys

Cole (Willis) gathering information on the surface of the planet,

frame from the film 12 Monkeys

137
12 Monkeys promo poster

138
 APPENDIX F: DYSTOPIAN IMAGES

Photo by Peter Christopherson. 176

176
Vale, p. 142.

139
 In New York City. 177

Lancashire in Great Britain during the Industrial Revolution. 178

177
<http://www.arthistoryclub.com/art_history/Industrial_Revolution>
178
<http://www.conservationtech.com/x-MILLTOWNS/RL-Photographs-4x5/England-4x5s.htm>

140
 Analog 179

Bus No. 173 180

179
Photograph by Bret Woods.
180
Photograph by Bret Woods.

141
 Anguish 181

Exposed 182

181
Photograph by Bret Woods.

142
 Exposed, part II 183

182
Photograph by Bret Woods.
183
Photograph by Bret Woods.

143
 APPENDIX G: MOST USED INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

1. Do you think that we could begin to outline specific generic descriptors in the
present that would lead to a more codified idea of how to pin down what is and is
not industrial?
2. Is there a way to codify what is or is not industrial? Let’s say, hypothetically, that
in 150 years music has progressed beyond what could be tied to the term
industrial. Will we be able to look back and historically speaking put specific
genre descriptions on what was or was not industrial, do you think?
3. Do you think the debate about what is or is not industrial will ever be reconciled,
or grow in ambiguity as the term is applied to more and more genres of music?
What are your thoughts on this?
4. It seems that industrial carries with it a bit of intrigue or mystery that lends it a bit
of extra power or more interest. What do you think of this?
5. What is the aesthetic of industrial?
6. Where did you first hear the term “dystopian” in connection with industrial
music?
7. And do you remember where you heard it?
8. What does the genre “industrial” inform for you, that is to say, what do you think
of when you hear the word “industrial” as it pertains to music?
9. Let’s discuss the nebulous nature of genre.
10. Do you find that the debate over what is industrial or how to codify it is somehow
exacerbated in industrial music? How do you reconcile this exaggerated
ambiguity?
11. What makes a group industrial?
12. How does something sound industrial? How can something sound more or less
industrial?
13. If industrial is more of a feeling of discontent in the music, what are some other
factors defining industrial that make it a specific genre?
14. How do you know when something “is industrial?” Or when it’s prudent to say,
“That’s not industrial?”

144
15. For you, is EBM (or other genre) a type of industrial music, or is it something
else?
16. Why do you think that the majority of these groups who cropped up between 1980
and 1990 were deemed “industrial?”
17. What are some of the expectations of industrial music?
18. What are some of the elements of the music?
19. Is industrial its own identifiable genre, like rock? Why?
20. What is industrial music?
21. What do you think about bands appropriating the term “industrial?”
22. For you, what are some of the key factors in appreciating industrial music?
23. How do you know that you are listening to “industrial” music (and not some
electronic music)?
24. How do you define “Industrial music?”
25. How long have you listened to industrial music? What got you interested in it in
the first place?
26. How long have you listened to EBM?
27. Name some industrial bands.
28. Name some EBM groups.
29. Name some electro-industrial groups.
30. What is industrial culture?
31. Why do you enjoy coming to this club?
32. What do you like about industrial music?
33. What do you like about coming here?
34. How are industrial music and film related?
35. How are industrial music and literature related?

145
 APPENDIX H: SELECT INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTS

Interview 1: Paul Vermeren, 02/08/2007

An interview with Paul Vermeren, former member of the now disbanded EBM
group Auspex.

Bret Woods: Good morning.

Paul Vermeren: Yo.

B.W.: I would just like to open a dialogue with you about my thesis topic, which we have
discussed a bit before. Mainly, I would like the interview to flow through the general
theme of these two questions: The first, How do you define “Industrial music?”
And the second: How long have you listened to industrial music and what got you
interested in it in the first place? We can chew on those for a while.

P.V.: Oh, Jesus.

Laughter

P.V.: Well, for your first question, like, how do you define anything, man? Music is what
you want it to be, man, why you gotta label it?

Laughter

B.W.: Or, I could refine question one to state: “How do you know you are listening to
industrial music?”

P.V.: I’m kidding, I’m kidding.

B.W.: Right on.

P.V.: On a serious note, I think Vale did a pretty good job of defining the basic elements
of industrial music in his Industrial Culture Handbook…

B.W.: It’s interesting that you mention the ICH…

P.V.: …As much as it applies to the aesthetic of what industrial music was at the time.

B.W.: Vale pretty much took cues from Genesis P. Orridge in order to come up with a
working definition.

P.V.: Well, my own opinion of GPO’s work aside, he is inarguably one of the founders of
industrial music and his definitions should be regarded as important.

146
B.W.: I agree. Your “joke” brought up an interesting reinterpretation of my first question,
though. How do you know you’re listening to industrial music?

P.V.: Well, beyond some combination of the elements Vale listed, not necessarily
including all of them, I think what lets me know is a feeling of “tension.” Or maybe
“discontent” would be a better descriptor.

B.W.: Discontent?

P.V.: Yeah; I’m sorry if this sounds intangible.

B.W.: No, not at all. Please go on.

P.V.: I hate to say something that essentially amounts to “you know it when you hear it.”

B.W.: …Right…

P.V.: But in most industrial, there is a strong sense of discontent, whether it’s a general
feeling of uneasiness conveyed by the sound or actual lyrical content. You could say the
same for other genres. But it’s that feeling combined with the techniques laid out by GPO
and Vale that distinguish it from the other genres that have similarities.

B.W.: So, for you, one of the key factors in appreciating industrial music, is the general
discontent that the music expresses?

P.V.: Yes, I think that is a major factor. I can’t think of anything I’d consider “industrial”
where it’s not a major element.

B.W.: I get the same feeling, I think, from the music. It’s not so much a result of specific
instrumentation or choice of programming, it’s a mood that has been created.

P.V.: Yes, exactly. There are various forms this could take - some expresses a discontent
with “the system,” some a discontent with specific personal situations.

B.W.: Do you think this “mood of discontent,” if I can coin that phrase, carries through
the music into other elements of industrial culture, and if so, how do you see this
happening?

P.V.: What precisely do you mean by “industrial culture?”

B.W.: I mean anything that people do involving industrial music or its general mood.

P.V.: Well, you have acts that have a strong political message, though this is probably
something GPO and his contemporaries did not envision. That’s an obvious manifestation

147
of discontent. Skinny puppy focused a large part of their output on social issues (animal
rights being the most notable)…

B.W.: Right.

P.V.: …And most use the shock tactics approach for expressing this.

B.W.: …All of these as Vale laid out in the ICH…

P.V.: Terrorfakt uses a non-stop barrage of video clips of military violence and terrorist-
related footage, but are less forthcoming with any real agenda other than a general sense
of being influenced by post 9-11 politics. Some would argue that just being “in your
face” with no real message would be “more industrial.” I’d argue that shock for shock’s
sake is pretty hard to pull off these days.

B.W.: I agree. So, what do you mean by “more industrial?”

P.V.: There is a perception among some fans of the genre that things that hew closely to
the spirit of the original industrial artists - those on Industrial Records and their
contemporaries - are the only things that are “really” industrial and the rest is something
else, something that has co-opted the term.

B.W.: I see. Terrorfakt is a good example of a band that embodies that “industrial” sense
of discontent. While their music is quite a bit different from the founding groups (TG,
SPK, CV), they are certainly considered industrial music. So they have appropriated the
term?

P.V.: In the strictest sense they may be right, they may indeed be industrial, but
definitions of something as nebulous as genre should probably be allowed to evolve.

B.W.: Interesting. Let’s get to the “nebulous” nature of genre in a second and stick to
defining the genre industrial (if it is a genre) first. For you, industrial is this discontent,
but is it an actual identifiable genre in its own right, say, like “rock?”

P.V.: I would say it’s a term that can be applied to several related genres. Perhaps not as
wide a blanket as “rock,” but yes.

B.W.: Elaborate, if you would.

P.V.: Well, I have a sense of rock as being inclusive of a huge variety of sounds.
Anything from the Beach Boys to Slayer could be rock.

B.W.: Exactly.

148
P.V.: Whereas industrial is a bit of a tighter net. Nine Inch Nails could conceivably be
called industrial. You might even be able to describe some Depeche Mode tracks as
industrial. But the Pet Shop Boys, despite their use of similar techniques, are right out.

B.W.: A tighter net, I would agree, but the blanket term “rock” at least gives the listener a
specific sense of instrumentation, form, progression, etc., but we don’t have that sort of
content awareness in industrial.

P.V.: Yes, industrial is associated with certain instrumentation as well, maybe not content
awareness, like in rock, but there are expectations, many expectations.

B.W.: Let’s talk about those.

P.V.: Well, to a large extent, especially from the late 1980s and onward, there is a strong
expectation for industrial to contain synthesized and sampled sounds.

B.W.: Exactly.

P.V.: Einstürzende Neubauten uses these only sparingly, but would certainly have an
industrial aesthetic in my view.

B.W.: I’d like to also come back to them if we have time, but right now, what are some
more of these expectations, as you see them?

P.V.: Well, it depends on who you’re talking to, at the risk of sounding glib.

B.W.: Well, I am just looking for your opinion on this.

P.V.: Some people feel like industrial needs to sound “harsh” or even “evil” (and yes, that
word is used).

B.W.: I have heard this quite a lot, actually.

P.V.: Some feel that it shouldn’t be easy to listen to. Some feel that if it’s danceable, it’s
not really industrial. This is a sense that you should feel discontent listening to it, if you
will.

B.W.: This is where “EBM” and other genres (or sub-genres) have come into effect?

P.V.: Precisely.

P.V.: EBM is interesting because it has its roots in a number of differing genres. And it
has proven to be longer-lasting than most other things that the term “industrial” has been
applied to. But maybe I’m letting my own interests color my commentary here.

B.W.: Please do. I think Front 242 is a major example here.

149
P.V.: EBM, to a large extent, grew from punk as much as it did from Industrial Records

B.W.: I agree

P.V.: Front 242 coined the term “electronic body music,” but even that could be seen as a
modification of what DAF described their sound as: “Körpermusik” (“body music”) and
DAF began as an avant-garde punk act.

B.W.: Exactly. Most fans are not that well informed.

P.V.: Well, even I only recently discovered that. Front 242 and their contemporaries drew
from the Industrial Records stable, but specifically, they borrow most from the works of
Cabaret Voltaire, which began as extremely experimental, but had become highly
synthesized and danceable by the early 1980s.

B.W.: It’s an interesting point for me, looking at the history of the genre in the way that I
do. I think by the early 1980s, electronic music fans needed a danceable, easily accessible
musical outlet and that is why we see so many genres and styles appearing in that decade
that fit this description.

P.V.: The demand was clearly there.

B.W.: Why do you think that the majority of these groups who cropped up between 1980
and 1990 were deemed “industrial?”

P.V.: Are you asking why EBM acts were labeled such? As industrial, I mean.

B.W.: Right. EBM would be only one example, but other electronic music has been
labeled industrial as well–whether it has been associated with a specific “scene” or not.

P.V.: Well, I think there are probably several reasons. What other electronic music are
you referring to?

B.W.: Let’s just say any sub-genre that appeared in that decade: Elektro, Coldwave,
Neofolk, EBM, etc.

P.V.: Okay, well, neofolk is something I don’t feel qualified to comment on, because I
don’t really know much at all about it.

B.W.: Fair enough

P.V.: But as far as the others you listed, I think there was a tendency among labels and
club DJs, and possibly by extension listeners, to categorize almost anything that utilized
electronics along with any sort of “dark” or “hard” aesthetics as “industrial.” In the 1990s

150
that expanded to mean that a band with a hard rock sound that used synths or samples,
even sparingly, might be called “industrial”

B.W.: Or call themselves industrial, right, like Korn. This suggests that what makes
industrial “industrial” is not content, per se, such as in rock, but rather what we were
talking about earlier.

P.V.: Now, a lot of listeners didn’t appreciate this, but it happened and probably changed
what the word means for the mainstream.

B.W.: Exactly. And added to the ambiguity I think.

P.V.: When you have something like Stabbing Westward being marketed by labels, radio,
and video as “industrial,” the distinction between rock and industrial gets muddied.

B.W.: These are all great points.

P.V.: This leads to some people using the term “industrial rock” to distinguish it from just
rock. Other people see “true” industrial as anti-rock or even anti-music, and disdain that
phrase.

B.W.: Ok, so to bring this home, for you, is EBM a type of industrial music, or is it
something else?

P.V.: It’s a genre that was informed by “old-school” industrial, along with synthesized
pop and punk. You could certainly apply the term “industrial” to it, but I personally find
it more useful to think of it as more or less separate from what Vale defined as industrial.

B.W.: Useful in what way?

P.V.: Useful in a practical sense, in that I can say that I really like the new Tyske Ludder
album as an EBM album and not have to worry about somebody going “That’s not
industrial!” And useful in that I can work within the confines of the “EBM genre” and not
worry about not fulfilling all the criteria Vale and GPO laid out.

B.W.: That’s a really great observation.

P.V.: In Europe, where there is a larger “club scene,” I think there is much less emphasis
placed on being “truly” industrial.

B.W.: I think this is a good segue into the fan discrepancies I have noticed about what “is
industrial” and the endless arguments about what bands can be considered as such. How
do you know when something “is industrial?” Or when it’s prudent to say, “That’s not
industrial?”

P.V.: How do I personally know? Is that the question?

151
B.W.: Yes.

P.V.: “Fuck you that’s not industrial!”

Laughter

B.W.: Exactly.

P.V.: I have my own opinions about what is and isn’t, just like everybody else. Obviously
I think mine are the best.

B.W.: I gathered as much. So, what are your opinions about what is and isn’t?

P.V.: Personally, I don’t see “industrial rock” as particularly industrial at all.

B.W.: Right, OK. Why is that?

P.V.: My feeling is that it uses so much of traditional rock structure and instrumentation
that it doesn’t really have much of anything to do with [industrial]. But others have
advanced pretty convincing arguments to the contrary.

B.W.: I would agree with you.

P.V.: The Beach Boys and the Beatles used cut-ups, sampling, and synthesizers, but
nobody would insist that they are not rock.

B.W.: If industrial is more of a feeling of discontent in the music, what are some other
factors defining industrial that make it a specific genre?

P.V.: Well, let’s take Nine Inch Nails as an example.

B.W.: OK

P.V.: It’s a very “rock” sound, these days especially.

B.W.: I would agree.

P.V.: There is innovative use of electronic sounds, but the lyrical content is so personal
that it’s not particularly industrial in feel… To me.

B.W.: Of course.

P.V.: I have a personal interpretation of industrial as being somewhat impersonal, and

nine inch nails is anything but.

152
B.W.: Right on, that’s a good example.

P.V.: However, there are acts that I do consider industrial that really do have strong
personal, emotional content, such as Klangstabil.

B.W.: I hear a large electro influence in Klangstabil.

P.V.: When you say “electro,” do you mean 80s break dancing music?

B.W.: Yes.

P.V.: Hip-hop inspired, most definitely.

B.W.: Yet, industrial in style? What makes them industrial if you feel they are very
personal in their lyrical content?

P.V.: Klangstabil are certainly not within the bounds of what is traditionally considered
industrial, but yes, you could apply the term, I think. Their music is delivered in a way
that I find more within the bounds of what I consider industrial.

B.W.: Fair enough.

P.V.: I should point out that older Klangstabil releases have a much more experimental,
“traditionally” industrial sound.

B.W.: I agree, and I agree with your point.

B.W.: I think it has a lot to do with how we first approach the music and how [the artists]
present themselves.

P.V.: I would agree with that.

B.W.: You brought up Terrorfakt earlier…

P.V.: …Yes…

B.W.: We can entertain the idea that there seems to be a lot of ambiguity in saying that
Terrorfakt is industrial as well as saying Klangstabil is industrial. The two groups both
represent drastically different sounds, styles, and approaches. I think this exists in rock as
well though, and I appreciate that.

P.V.: There is bound to be ambiguity whenever you talk about genre.

B.W.: Indeed. But do you find that the debate over what is industrial or how to codify it
is somehow exacerbated in industrial music? How do you reconcile this exaggerated
ambiguity?

153
P.V.: There are probably people who consider neither Terrorfakt nor Klangstabil
industrial, just as there are some who consider both or only one of them industrial.

B.W.: Granted, but for the people that do, the question stands.

P.V.: Even Terrorfakt has made some inroads into the realm of “hardcore techno.”

B.W.: True.

P.V.: Well, what is the question? How do I reconcile considering both [genres]
industrial? All right. Well, for one, on a structural level, I think both Terrorfakt and
Klangstabil use techniques from Vale and P-Orridge’s “list,” though they don’t use all of
them. In a more subjective sense, I would probably consider Terrorfakt “more industrial”
than Klangstabil, simply because Klangstabil uses more elements that are explicitly not
part of what is traditionally considered industrial. Terrorfakt is straightforward–harsh
electronics, samples, “shock tactics” performance–even if it borrows from hardcore
techno and the like. Klangstabil qualifies for less of the industrial criteria, if you will, but
the mood is definitely there, as well as a presence at events designed for industrial music
and a historical background in that style.

B.W.: That sounds good.

P.V.: Klangstabil may become “less industrial” as time goes on–as they: move more into
the electro/hip-hop direction, go back to the overtly industrial style of releases like
“Menschenhass,” do more electronic experimentation like “Gioco Bambino,” or go
someplace else entirely–my money is on the latter.

B.W.: Right on, man, thanks.

P.V.: No problem.

B.W.: The “nebulous” nature of genre, let’s talk about that for a bit.

P.V.: Oh noes… go ahead.

Laughter

B.W.: What does the genre “industrial” inform for you, that is to say, what do you think
of when you hear the word “industrial” as it pertains to music?

P.V.: Well, that’s changed as time goes on, for me, personally, I mean.

B.W.: Right, that’s what I’m after here.

P.V.: Early on it probably made me think of things like blade runner…

154
B.W.: What else?

P.V.: The idea of industrial as foward-looking, “dystopian” music. It was very much in
vogue at the time.

B.W.: As an aside, where did you first hear the term “dystopian” in connection with
industrial music?

P.V.: probably in the mid-1990s

B.W.: And do you remember where you heard it?

P.V.: The mid-to-late 1990s were kind of the heyday of the “cyberpunk” type approach to
industrial, with acts like Haujobb and FLA very much working in that vein. I probably
first ran into that connection online.

B.W.: I associate that term with Cyberpunk as well. Anyway, so early on, industrial
makes you think of blade runner… what else?

P.V.: Later, it makes me think of a kind of mechanized, clinical approach to music.

Alienation, dehumanization…

B.W.: Right, right…

P.V.: That’s still kind of where I am, but I think of it less in terms of mood and more in
terms of approach.

B.W.: By “approach,” do you mean the artists own approach to the music?

P.V.: Yes. Something like your typical pop/rock might be considered more “organic” in
terms of sounds used… using what’s already available, what has a tradition behind it,
whereas industrial creates new sounds, generally electronically. I realize that ignores a lot
of things that are certainly industrial but not electronic, but that’s where my perception is
at the moment.

B.W.: Fair enough. So, the “aesthetic of industrial” if we could envision such a thing
would be this dystopian approach to creating a discontented mood in music?

P.V.: … Possibly.

B.W.: What could make up an industrial aesthetic, in your view?

P.V.: Well, I wouldn’t emphasize the dystopian aspect as much.

B.W.: Why is that?

155
P.V.: Because I don’t feel it’s necessarily a major part of industrial at the moment. I tend
to see “dystopian” as opposed to “utopian,” and both in terms of foreseeing the future–or
visualizing it.

B.W.: I agree. Lately it seems that the music doesn’t care to emphasize this.

P.V.: I think the emphasis on the future isn’t much of a concern anymore, though there
are some who want to make it such–Grendel, apparently, plans to focus in this direction
on his new album.

B.W.: Or with a group like S.K.E.T.?

P.V.: S.K.E.T. is largely political, if their packaging artwork and samples are any
indication, though they also seem to be intrigued, at least, by historical movements like
soviet communism but I doubt they are proponents of it. This reminds me of acts like
Feindflug, who concentrate almost exclusively on history.

B.W.: Exactly

P.V.: In Feindflug’s case, [it is] the history of the Second World War, which they’ve
dedicated entire albums to. This crosses over with idea of military music, which crosses
over with Neofolk, but again I should probably abstain from commenting much on those
genres, since I’m not up to speed and haven’t actually heard much of it.

B.W.: It’s interesting to me that S.K.E.T. do not consider themselves “highly political”
considering the fan base generally gets that message from them

P.V.: Well, when you make tracks with names like “Center of Evil,” revolving around
manipulated samples of George W. Bush that culminate with a voice saying “You’re a
fucking liar!” in response, it’s hard not to make that conclusion.

B.W.: Good point.

P.V.: Then again, many (most?) of their tracks lack that sort of incendiary commentary

B.W.: And it adds a new dimension to understanding “industrial” as something even

more than approach and mood where the perception, or “interpretation” if you will, of
these sorts of political issues can be an impetus for identifying with “industrial” ideals.

P.V.: Well, in the United States at least, “industrial” appealed to younger people who
considered themselves part of a counter-culture

B.W.: Indeed, and still does, I would say.

P.V.: Most have left-of-center political ideas and want those ideas reflected in the music.

156
B.W.: Exactly.

P.V.: That doesn’t always happen. But I imagine most people who consider themselves
fans of industrial music... they might enjoy listening to a song full of samples of Hermann
Göring…but they’d stop short of endorsing a band that was blatantly neo-nazi…
generally speaking.

B.W.: Right… It seems that music needs only one of any certain number of expected
criteria to be able to carry the genre title “industrial,” or rather for artists to appropriate
the term.

P.V.: I think you’re right. I think you have a strong point there. Not everybody will agree
that whatever band that does so actually is “industrial” but somebody will think so and
probably position itself as such.

B.W.: Right, which is the current situation we have in music. Industrial rock, for
example…

P.V.: Exactly. The project I was a part of, Auspex, which is probably EBM, is listed as
“industrial” on its myspace page… but that’s partly because there is no “EBM” option.

B.W.: Right! It seems also that industrial carries with it a bit of intrigue or mystery–
perhaps it’s that mood we discussed–that lends it a bit of extra power or more interest.

P.V.: Still, you see plenty of Korn-style rock bands with “industrial” in their description,
too. And yes, I think a lot of acts that simply want to be taken seriously will glom onto
the “industrial” label. It has a certain connotation that is different from, say, “metal” or
“gothic.”

B.W.: Right. It seems sort of like, “Just slap industrial into your genre and people will
listen.”

P.V.: Not necessarily that they will listen, but that you want them to think you have
something to say… that you have a strong artistic motive.

B.W.: “Artistic.” I think we’re on to something here.

P.V.: As in “I’m not a musician, I’m an artist!” In some cases it’s even an excuse for why
something isn’t particularly appealing or pleasing to the ear. “You’re not supposed to
enjoy it…”

B.W.: Because “it’s art.” As in, the performance art of the late 1970s…

P.V.: Yeah! Performance art is a perfect parallel! “I know it’s not pretty, but I’m making
a point.”

157
Laughter

B.W.: “Fuck you, I’m industrial!”

P.V.: right…

Laughter

P.V.: “I know it’s out of key; I meant to do that!” …And to be fair, sometimes they really
did.

B.W.: Sure, I agree. If that’s their point, then point well taken.

P.V.: It’s similar to the punk aesthetic in some ways. But while punk says, “I know I
can’t play, fuck you, I have something to say,” industrial says, “I played it that way on
purpose–I meant to piss you off!” At least… that’s what it did early on.

B.W.: Right.

P.V.: Maybe not “piss you off;” maybe, “wake you up?” I don’t know.

B.W.: I think that that mentality lives on though.

P.V.: Nobody ever meant industrial to be a tool of change.

B.W.: It’s behind that mood we discussed–discontent.

P.V.: Right

B.W.: These are great points, thanks.

P.V.: People have complained (perhaps rightly so) that even the socially motivated
industrial acts provide no solutions, only outrage. But like it or not, in my view, the
discontent is the point.

B.W.: I agree.

P.V.: Though socially conscious industrial is rare these days. That was more of a late
1980s–early 1990s thing.

B.W.: Right.

P.V.: Again, bands like Front 242 have songs about politics, literally. Songs like
“Controversy Between” are simply about politics, not taking a side or making a stand. In

158
a large extent, industrial is often about throwing something contentious in your face, not
necessarily making a decision about it.

B.W.: Right, right.

P.V.: Even saying that it’s motivated by “raising awareness” would typically be
inaccurate.

B.W.: I agree; good point. To put it in a phrase, “This is what I see wrong with you.”

P.V.: Recently, Ben from Terrorfakt made a post on livejournal about a UK EBM act
called Ground Zero…

B.W.: Yeah?

P.V.: …Who use a 9-11 inspired logo. This offended Ben, who took them to task.
Ground Zero responded with a lot of rhetoric about the United States causing terror and
suffering around the world, etc. etc., which Ben took the time to refute, but I felt that it
was neither here nor there. The front man of Ground Zero is apparently of Arab descent
and said he wanted to make people aware of American atrocities. They were trying to
“make a point.” Somebody else [on the website] said something to the effect of, “this is
in poor taste.” Another said, “What is the point you’re trying to make?” Now, as shock
tactics go, using 9-11 struck me as a cheap way out…

B.W.: Right on…

P.V.: …but it made me think... what is Terrorfakt’s point? What is the “point” of his
music? What is the “point” of his live performances? Keep in mind that I enjoy both
[groups].

B.W.: Right.

P.V.: Ben says he started Terrorfakt in memory of what happened on 9-11. So, is his
point reminding people that it happened? That doesn’t seem much different from what
Ground Zero purports to do, even if Ground Zero is a bit more juvenile about it and might
just be trying to attract attention. I don’t really see much difference.

B.W.: Yeah, good point. So let’s steer that idea back toward the nature of industrial
music. All this being said, industrial seems to be a term that people apply liberally for any
number of reasons, and this is either accepted or not accepted by the general fan
population.

P.V.: Right, I’m not a supporter of terrorism, and Ground Zero seemed to be saying that
9-11 was justified, which I certainly don’t agree with, but his stated goal of making music
about American international policy seemed fine. It seemed “industrial,” if that makes
sense.

159
B.W.: Sure, at least in the way we’ve sort of defined it here!

P.V.: But there are obviously viewpoints that are not going to be accepted by most of the
fan base, which, ironically, might make it “too industrial for industrial fans,” in a sense.
Still, I don’t believe that industrial is purely about offense.

B.W.: Or the fans are changing what in their minds “is industrial.”
P.V.: Right… shock tactics falling by the wayside.

B.W.: They have become desensitized and less effective–less of a statement.

P.V.: In fact, in that livejournal thread, several people expressed exasperation or boredom
with that aspect of the music.

B.W.: Nice.

P.V.: To be honest, I generally am not a huge fan of it either. Acts like Marilyn Manson
make such use of it that I associate it with teenage “shock rock” more than anything. As
an aesthetic component of industrial, it’s probably outlived its usefulness.

B.W.: That’s a good point. I have to bring our interview to a close soon here, so let’s
wrap it up with some final questions.

P.V.: Cool, shoot.

B.W.: Do you think the debate about what is or is not industrial will ever be reconciled,
or grow in ambiguity as the term is applied to more and more genres of music? What are
your thoughts on this?

P.V.: Well, I think industrial has become pretty insular of late. I don’t see it appealing to
a new, larger fan base any time soon. So for fans, what is enjoyable as “industrial” might
change, but I don’t know if you’ll see it applied on a large scale to something new.

B.W.: I should specify a little. Industrial has always, in a sense, been isolated since the
beginning. It has stood alone and separate, and continues to do so. Yet, it continues to be
appropriated by everyone from the underground to the mainstream.

P.V.: Pretty much.

B.W.: But the term itself, which has been applied to many differing styles (we used the
example of Korn earlier), and everything that we’ve been talking about as in what makes
something “sound” industrial…

P.V.: I don’t think the debate will stop, no.

160
B.W.: Why not?

P.V.: Because there are already too many different things that are described as such and
everyone has an opinion (and a strong one) about what should and should not be
included.

B.W.: “Fuck you, this is industrial!” That sort of sense?

P.V.: Basically

B.W.: Now for a couple of “out there” questions. We’ve talked about how every fan
seems to have his or her own ideas about what is or is not industrial music. Sometimes
people agree, and largely I have found that this is true in specific regions, but many
people disagree as to the specifics of what elements comprise an industrial aesthetic and
sound. Is there a way to codify what is or is not industrial? Let’s say, hypothetically, that
in 150 years music has progressed beyond what could be tied to the term industrial. Will
we be able to look back and historically speaking put specific genre descriptions on what
was or was not industrial, do you think?

P.V.: Well, one would certainly be able to, but in the present day, that’s just impossible.
As long as there is a dedicated following and acts labeling themselves as such, it won’t
happen.

B.W.: Do you think that we could begin to outline specific generic descriptors in the
present that would lead to a more codified idea of how to pin down what is and is not
industrial?

P.V.: Geez, I really don’t know. We are living in the mess, it would be next to impossible
to define it now.

B.W.: Right on, thanks. Unfortunately, we are out of time. Thanks, Paul. I hope that we
can meet and talk about this more in the future. As always, it’s a pleasure to talk to you.

P.V.: No problem; glad I could help.

Interview 2: Livejournal industrial music community, 10/16/2006

An Internet forum interview with an industrial music community at
livejournal.com, to which I posed the following questions:

All you industrial/EBM/electronic music fans out there, I pose these questions to you:

The connotative and ambiguous nature of genre being what it is, what are your thoughts
on the directions that industrial music has taken in the past 30 years? Specifically, when
you think of the course of industrial music and EBM from origin to present, what genres

161
and sub-genres come to mind, and how do they interact (across genre and sub-genre
lines)?

I am curious, for us as fans: what are examples of pervasive genres that come to mind,
who are the bands that “coined” that particular genre term or represent(ed) it, and how do
these genres exist in our minds not as definitive elements of music, but as connotative
descriptors that are more or less accepted as “terminology “ based on their popularity and
application?

Let’s discuss this and be specific, including examples of musicians and bands that you
think define the various genres that will come up.

The following replies in the forum were allowed to remain public. There were threads of
this conversation omitted, mainly because it was irrelevant trolling and not related to the
topic, or it was argumentative and not addressing the questions at hand.

P.V.: There are a lot of things that need to be kept in mind during a discussion like this,
one of which is the blurred distinction between “EBM” and “industrial,” and how that
divide is perceived differently in different parts of the world.

Still, the answer to one of your questions can be taken care of fairly easily. The EBM
acronym (for “Electronic Body Music”) was coined by Front 242. I don’t know the exact
date of when they started using it, though, or even if they defined it, but since they coined
the phrase it could probably safely be said that they are one of the acts that exemplify the
genre.

Now, you could argue (convincingly, in my opinion) that there were EBM acts before the
term was coined by Front 242 (say, DAF) and you could also break EBM down into any
number of sub-genres…

B.W.: Yes, thank you. The blurred distinction between EBM and industrial, and among
other genres in and of themselves in electronic music is also of importance to this
discussion.

Front 242 certainly coined the acronym EBM in 1984. Further, I think that EBM
solidified in our minds as a bona fide “genre” due to the popularity and innovation (and
appeal) of the band and the music. Thanks for the insightful comments.

VX69: Most people I am in relation with use the word industrial only for bands like
Throbbing Gristle, SPK, Test Dept., Whitehouse, Neubauten... So I guess if that is
“industrial,” there’s not even the slightest relation with EBM stuff.

Actually that’s why I don’t care a lot about terminology: take three people, put them into
a room, and they’ll create new definitions of “industrial music”...

162
P.V.: This is actually what I was getting at. People in Europe and in North America tend
to have drastically different views of what “industrial” vs. “EBM” are.

VX69: Some of my friends even say–and they are very serious about that–that there is no
EBM band except Front 242. That may be a bit fanatical, though. I really think DAF and
Nitzer Ebb should be categorized as EBM. But historically, a lot of artists that were
classified EBM back in the days, especially on compilations, were just dance acts. Take
Praga Khan and the early Lords of Acid, for instance... They were closer to The KLF than
to Front 242, weren’t they?

P.V.: I agree with you on all of these points. I think the term “EBM” was originally a lot
more nebulous than it is now, especially in Europe, where it basically came to mean
“electronic dance music” (of any kind) to most people. I don’t know if it’s still seen that
way–I tend not to think so–but in the 80s it probably was.

B.W.: So has the term gone from nebulous to basic “electronic dance music” and back to
nebulous?

P.V.: Well, I’m unclear on the use of the term in its earliest days, but in the late 80s (in
Europe, anyway) it seemed to be fairly catchall. These days the word “EBM” is used a bit
more rigidly, I guess, but there is still debate about what exactly it entails.

B.W.: Not to get too off topic, but what are your thoughts on some claims that I have
heard placing EBM as a sub-genre or “offshoot” of industrial? Personally, I tend to find
such claims bogus, though I do recognize cross-genre influences. What are your
thoughts?

P.V.: You could make a case for EBM being a sub-genre of industrial, I suppose–go to
any so-called “goth/industrial” night at a club in the US and the only “industrial” you are
likely to hear is probably EBM (or even more likely, Futurepop, which helps lead to the
current confusion between the two). So there is certainly some degree of conflation
between industrial and EBM, at least in the minds of certain individuals in certain
subcultures.

As to the question of it being an “offshoot” of industrial, which means something entirely

different to me, I would have to agree that it’s a “bogus” claim. I think early EBM acts
were certainly influenced by the more danceable industrial tracks–even Throbbing Gristle
had a few–but I think they owe equal debts to acts that simply weren’t considered
industrial at all at the time. (Examples of these acts would include Wire, Fad Gadget,
DAF, Suicide, certain tracks by Joy Division, etc.)

On second thought, I can’t really make a clear-cut distinction between sub-genres and
offshoots. I was thinking that there are certain styles of music that I could point as having
definitely branched off from the “original” industrial sound - maybe power electronics -
but as I thought more about my own lack of knowledge of that style of music, I start to

163
wonder if the situation isn’t more like that with industrial and EBM. So maybe there isn’t
“entirely different” at all.

B.W.: Yes, thanks for the further elaboration.

Starscream242: Well, that’s sort of a trick question. Early Lords of Acid and Antler
Subway stuff from that era is technically “new beat,” which is nearly identical to EBM
structurally but with a slightly removed cultural backdrop. The various Bigod20 side
projects (Umo Detic and the other two whose names are escaping me) and the bulk of A
Split Second’s early catalog are also definitive new beat. A Split Second, however, are
also a definitive first wave EBM band. So, you’re kind of splitting hairs here.

VX69: What’s the use of genres and sub-genres?

B.W.: Good question. Is there really an answer? Only partly I think. The bottom line is
that when we talk about music, we just need to be able to call it something that gives who
we are talking to a quick idea of what style and collection of artists we are referring to.

So on the one hand, especially in electronic popular music, it is easy to “make up” genre
by just referring to music in connotative terms, and that seems to work just fine
(sometimes); on the other hand, for continuity’s sake, it can be useful to have more
definitive terminology to refer to music in a broadly understood manner. A “vocabulary,”
so to speak.

VX69: Well, I get the point, but I think that categorizing music into little boxes has no
meaning beyond a certain point. Skinny Puppy is an industrial band. But Skinny Puppy is
also a crossover band. And Skinny Puppy is also an EBM band. Which doesn’t mean all
EBM bands can be labeled as industrial–well, actually, that depends what you mean by
“industrial”... Ok, now my head begins to ache. I had hours long conversations about the
definitions of “goth,” “industrial,” “electro” and “metal” And I don’t think it helped me
enjoying any record. Especially since some bands currently labeled as industrial
absolutely deny being part of that movement - Einstürzende Neubauten or Foetus for
instance...

B.W.: Point well taken. There are bands that produce music that we would consider
“cross-genre “ and the like. And I agree, it’s frustrating to try to force a style into some
descriptive genre. There are people out there that feel they know definitely what groups
are “industrial” and “EBM,” etc., that disagree with each other about many bands.

This goes to the heart of how “genre”“ just isn’t enough to classify music (or many other
creative arts), yet we all continue to employ it in our lives. And, it is the meat of this
topic: It always depends what you “mean” when you say anything, of course, but we all
still seem to know what people mean when they say things like, “Great Old-school EBM
sound!” or “Two of your songs sound more industrial than the rest of your stuff.” Hence
the “connotations” inherent in popularized genre terminology.

164
I agree too that engaging in genre labeling doesn’t improve listening aesthetics, but it
exists nonetheless. Probably because we hear and experience and enjoy music separate
from discussing and thinking about it.

Starscream242: The use [of genre] is communication. Genres and sub-genres comprise a
language that can be used to discuss music in a meaningful way, as well as to describe the
trends and tastes of individuals and societies. I’m concerned about the history and
ethnomusicology of industrial music from an intellectual standpoint. I can’t study those
things without genres.

Every time I try to have a meaningful historical conversation on the internet about
industrial music, as B.W. is trying to instigate, this question comes up, and I think it’s
bullshit. Creating a language to describe music doesn’t somehow “limit” it or prevent
bands from moving outside of their genre’s description. I can say “I enjoy EBM” and still
listen to whatever the hell I feel like, but at least if I say that people have a starting point
for what my tastes are.

If you ask somebody what kind of music they like and they give you some bullshit
answer like “I like all kinds of music except country” or something, what have they told
you? Nothing! If they say “I like a lot of industrial music, but I’m not into powernoise or
coldwave. I also like some new wave and trip hop” then you’ve got a useful and
meaningful idea of that person’s taste.

Bruise_Lee: [Industrial music] has generally become shit due to the digital age. Too
much chafe, too little quality. I’ve talked with a lot of more established acts, and they
tend to agree with me. I’m not going to name drop, but I’m strong in this opinion. Some
people might not like this view, so give it to me if you want, I won’t respond.

Travvvv: I think the genre’s popularity in the 1990s has something to do with the quality
as of late as well. With more and more artists realizing they can “make money” at this, a
lot of the music coming out these days seems too polished, an easier listen for a larger
audience.. What happened to the creative/aggro/political bent that was an important part
of early industrial? Gone.

B.W.: By “the genre’s popularity in the 90s” are you referring to the popularity, however
trivial, of EBM in that decade? I’m not seeing the connection between your assessment of
(inferred) low quality “of late” and popularity. Please elaborate.

Also, I disagree that EBM bands or others of seemingly similar style (powernoise, terror
EBM, industrial, whatever) are getting into the music to make money. There’s simply no
money in it.

I’m nostalgic for the past attitude in industrial too, but I think despite many “dance-
oriented” bands, there are groups out there even today that are expressing similar ideals,
political or otherwise, through their music.

165
Binarysins: The thing is, and this is probably something that is extremely regional (I grew
up in Southern California), it seems that early “industrial” acts could be grouped more
along the lines of who was working with whom, as opposed to what kind of political or
philosophical stand they exemplified, what the band sounded like, etc.

It’s like 6 degrees of Genesis P-Orridge. Or something. As a result, my friends and

myself categorized music by gut instinct. What label was it on? Does it sound
“industrial”? Who worked on the project?

This led me to realize upon first hearing (for example) The Bog that someone from Front
242 was involved, even though at the time there was no direct evidence. Had a buddy
who’s dad was a marketing exec at Sire records, and the story about BiGod 20 being
signed is an amusing one… basically, because CBS (I think it was) had signed Front 242,
Sire wanted an act that sounded like Front 242. So someone heard The Bog single and
decided that was their act. You can guess the crazy antics that resulted from that.

Getting back to the topic at hand, before all of this separation with EBM, and darkwave,
and futurepop, and noise, and powernoise, I was aware of three major divides in
industrial music:

There was the umbrella term “industrial.” Like I said before, we grouped these by a
combination of sound, the artists involved, and the label that the artists were on.

There was “experimental music.” This tended to include things that are considered
Musique Concrete (I probably got that name wrong, I always do). Controlled Bleeding,
Sleep Chamber, and a bunch of others were in this category.

There was “EBM.” This tended to be what we heard in the clubs–mostly electronic,
danceable, etc. Most of the bands were European, and generally I’d lump Front 242,
Nitzer Ebb, A Split Second, etc. in this category.

Over time we started to become aware that there were some other groupings - New Beat
comes to mind (which came about from playing 45s at 33rpm - the New Beat version of
A Split Second’s Neurobeat is a good example). Regional styles (Sheffield, etc.) started
to crop up (or we became aware that it was considered a “style”), some of them in
response to the growing house and techno music scene.

And in the early 90s, it started to branch out further–there was more cross-pollination
(industrial-metal, industrial-rap). Other bands started to appropriate industrial aesthetics,
and some “industrial” acts started to try doing things like, oh, actually singing or writing
lyrics that weren’t either surrealistic or sociopolitical manifestos. Then we started to get
bands that were taking inspiration from older industrial bands (kind of the point we’ve
been at for a while...which is kind of weird to see a newer band being inspired by a band
that you remember just starting out!).

That’s all just my impressions though...the first few years that I was actively seeking out

166
and listening to industrial music were spent in relative isolation from any large groups
with the same interests, so I got my information from magazines when I could,
pamphlets, newsletters, publications like the Re/Search book on Industrial, etc.

B.W.: All good points. I agree that some of the groupings of genre you are discussing
here are region-based.

“…my friends categorized music by gut instinct.”

This certainly goes to the point of the connotative nature of genre, as it exists in the realm
of having to classify music. That is one of the things I find so fascinating about electronic
music, specifically industrial music. Nearly all genres of music that even remotely owe
their inspiration to industrial have extremely connotative genre descriptors, where as
industrial, which seems to have a clear enough definition (at least to be able to gloss it
into “industrial-metal” or “industrial-rap” descriptors), in and of itself is not connotative
beyond the original musicians recording on industrial records. But, I digress...

I think we all do that as fans of this music, given the nature of the idea of sound we are
trying to convey.

I like the way you break industrial into three categories–industrial, EBM, experimental–
realizing of course the different track of each of these genres, their intentions, sub-
genres/off-shoots (if any), and their interactions (cross-genre influences).

Thanks for the insightful comment.

Mulletslayer: Oh well… starting with synths. It was cheesy. I’m sorry but it’s true.
kraftwerk is a good example. “I’m the operator with my pocket calculator. “bleep, bloop,
beep, beep, de-beep.”

Then… I don’t know, not too much. Sort of 80s I guess there were some electronica
bands but again. It was missing something. I think the genre peaked mid-late 90s when
bands like Funker Vogt and VNV were pissed off about something and wrote songs that
weren’t just fluff to be played in clubs. When bands like Hellsau could release stuff and it
was innovative. Then the trance scene sort of broke into the electronica / industrial scene
and ebm sorta took some of that sound. And everyone got happy. At least our modern
idea of EBM–electronic body music–which suggests “dancy,” which is I guess the point
now. Maybe not when it was coined years and years ago.

With exception of course. There are still bands that are creating music with attitude -
Tactical Sekt, Combichrist to name a couple. Or guys like Myer (Haujobb) who have
always done their own thing and it’s always been good..

It’s funny that so many of us promote our individuality and uniquness but the goth/
industrial scene is just as big a victim of bandwagon jumping as anyone else–clothing,
trends in music. The whole 9 yards.

167
It’s funny though, when I go out to clubs in Toronto, I think probably 60% of the music
played is from 4-6 years ago or so.

Industrial (which used to be stuff like Funker) sort of went the way of power noise and
fizzled out (at least here. noise was huge and now its almost non existent). We used to be
riverheads. Now we’re just stompy guys with no real classification

EBM is going strong, which I suppose some of it I don’t mind - but the bands I USED to
like who were more than run of the mill EBM stuff.. I cant stomach it knowing what they
used to be, but bands that sound like they always did - Neuroticfish, Assemblage 23 and
so on, its cool ‘cause that’s how they’re supposed to sound.

I suppose that’s the difference between those of us who’ve been around for a decade and
those who are fairly new (1-5 years or so). I remember when it was “about” something.

I feel old! My two cents! But I’m from Toronto, and the scene here is kind of hurting, so
maybe I’m just bitter. :)

Binarysins: You feel old… try being generally interested in industrial music for almost 20
years. One of my first CDs ever was Pet Shop Boys’s Please (I know, not industrial but
still electronic). Nitzer Ebb’s That Total Age was not far behind (I think I got it a couple
years after Please).

But in the ‘80s there were a lot more electronic “industrial “ acts than most people think -
Cabaret Voltaire, Manufacture, Microchip League, A Split Second (hell, the almost the
entire Antler-Subway line-up...Klinik, Noise Unit, etc). There was some really good stuff
there, mostly electronic (and mostly from Belgium!).

I was introduced to a good many of those bands through a friend of a friend who made
these mix tapes called “VOID Radio.” He custom made covers for the tapes so every one
was different, spliced in sound clips from movies and TV. You don’t find stuff like that
any more...it was cool to have this tape that someone else made with bands you’d never
heard of.

It actually makes me think that part of the luster that industrial music has lost is that sense
of discovery...

Genocidex: I don’t think there is enough of a audience base of fans that can make an
opinion based on the last 30 years, barely let alone 10.

Starscream242: Why not? I listen to a large selection of industrial music that spans its
entire 30 year history. What’s wrong with my opinion?

168
B.W.: Exactly. Recording technology gives us the ability to listen to the music (or should
I say examples of the music) of the past 30 years. And even if there is only a fan base of
one, opinions can still be made.

Starscream242: Your [primary] question is kind of impossibly vague. I could go on about

all that for a hundred pages without even doing any outside research. What exactly are
you getting at? I think it might be more interesting to zone in on a particular trend and
look at that–like for instance the sharp reactions against popular trends within the genres
that seem to occur every 4 years or so, i.e. futurepop beginning in 1999 as a sharp
reaction against the metal influences of coldwave, then powernoise reacting to the overly
happy and accessible overtones of futurepop, then aggrotech/terror EBM reacting sharply
against the lack of traditional song structure in powernoise...

B.W.: Well, I’m not really going for impossibly vague, so allow me to clarify. I
understand that some of the elements of my questions are inevitably ambiguous; such is
the nature of genre. However, I am getting at where we, as fans and participating critics
of music, define the genres of this music and why.

I am talking about the development of industrial music, as we know it, since good old
Monte Cazzazza, Throbbing Gristle, and that whole scene in 1976. How this music
developed unique and recognizable traits, expanded from there, and how it has informed
(and continues to inform) our whole scene.

Of course with this scope, we would be remiss to leave out EBM and other shall we say
pinnacle genres that give us our understanding of the general gauge of music and many
genres in the “industrial “ scene. Next comes us fans discussing what music groups we
believe to be the major players in specific trends of various genres related to this scene.

I think you said it best in your final paragraph. Reactionary movements in various genres
as a result of cross-genre borrowing, etc. notwithstanding, I think here you (perhaps more
eloquently than me) gave some examples of just the type of things I am looking to
discuss in this forum.

So, expand on some of the ideas in your final paragraph; that’s the kind of thing I am
getting at. And, aren’t you that guy from Psyclon Nine?

Starscream242: If by “that guy from Psyclon Nine” you mean “that guy from Psyclon
Nine,” then yes, yes I am. If by “that guy from Psyclon Nine” you mean “a thirty foot tall
sasquatch” then no, and I’m baffled as to how you’d use those two concepts as
synonyms.

B.W.: Damn, I thought I had made a connection there…

Binarysins: Well, by its very nature the genre must reinvent itself...that happens when the
core aesthetic can be roughly boiled down to “controlled audio chaos.” It’s just the
proportions of “controlled,” “audio “ and “chaos “ change. I think it’s also a part of what

169
can be a large disconnect between very recent converts and “old hands “ - the dominant
style could have changed over three or four times between the bands that got one person
into the music and the bands that got another person into it.

B.W.: Genre must reinvent itself, yes, but only at the disposal of those who are doing the
reinventing. Culture doesn’t change, people do.

Dominant styles change with the times and “old hands” as you say remain dedicated
based on informed individual decisions of what is their “threshold” of acceptability in
stylistic difference, and simply what new sounds are aesthetically pleasing or in some
cases are seen to be “true” to the older ideal. I think these things are also dominant factors
in “elitism” between fans, especially in our scene.

Binarysins: 100% true… the people trying to do the reinventing are the ones that get
plowed under and most of them are simply forgotten about. A lot of little turtles have to
die before a few big ones can live to be 100.

P.V.: I don’t know if I agree that powernoise as a movement was “reacting to...
futurepop,” but if I understand your point correctly, [Starscream242,] you’re saying that
the increased popularity of it (powernoise) was reactive. Am I right in thinking that was
your point?

So if the rise of terror EBM over the past few years is a reaction to powernoise–which
I’m not sure is the case, but that’s a different story - what’s next? Any ideas?

Binarysins: Air Supply....with samples and a vocoder.

P.V.: Nah, Apoptygma Berzerk already did that. It was called Welcome to Earth.

Binarysins: It all is one big cycle! I liked Welcome to Earth actually…

Starscream242: Well yeah, I’m not really saying that the initial creation of the music was
so reactive, but at least its popularity was. And I think the same is absolutely true of
powernoise–terror EBM.

I think the thing that’s coming next is as of yet unnamed, but it’s already coming into
existence. A while ago Combichrist told me that he thought terror EBM would hit an
absolute breaking point and ultimately go down because it has no vocal melodic hooks,
and that prevents people from getting emotionally attached to it. I agree. I think we’re
starting to see the reaction to that in stuff like Manufactura’s last album, [as well as from]
Dismantled, Battery Cage, yadda yadda yadda. I also think we’re going to see a re-
emergence of guitars in industrial music, but not in the way we had it a few years ago.

I’m hoping we’ll also see an increase in quality of live shows. I think everyone’s pretty
tired of the one keyboardist plus singer formula, especially when the keyboardist is
faking it and the singer’s so processed they could be snoring in to the mic without the

170
audience knowing the difference. Our (Psyclon Nine’s) show has been drastically,
drastically enhanced by the addition of a good drummer on a full acoustic set–I’m hoping
others follow suit.

P.V.: Well, Andy might have a point with the lack of melodic vocal hooks being a
hindrance for some people, but I think there are bands that manage to have “distorted”
vocals that still carry emotional resonance. Hocico would be an example. Granted,
they’re usually distorted naturally (metal-style) rather than electronically processed...

Also, while the bands you mentioned might be headed down the road to more
“emotional” yet aggressive industrial music, I don’t know how successful Manufactura,
Dismantled or Battery Cage have been outside the US. (And I mean that literally, I
simply don’t know.) Then again, it might be the case that the “next big thing” will come
out of the US this time. If so, you certainly might be on to something.

My own personal tastes make me dread the possible return of guitars, especially if it’s
CHUGGA CHUGGA CHUGGA power chords like we had on a lot of coldwave stuff.
But hey, that’s just me being a cranky elitist old fart Klinik fanboy. And if the guitars can
be used well–like Pail’s use of weird, distorted jangly guitar on “What They Call
Paradise,” or Haujobb’s tasteful use of it in live performances–I’m down. Just no more
cyber-metal, please.

And I think that’s what we’re really getting at here–people’s boredom with recent live
performances. It’s tough to put on a really dynamic, purely electronic show (though there
are veterans like Meat Beat Manifesto that do it all the time), and I think that’s why
people are starting to branch out.

Interestingly, there are bands associated with “powernoise” (Klangstabil, for example,
and This Morn’ Omina) doing the same thing, throwing in vocals and live
instrumentation. In Klangstabil’s case, you have extremely impassioned vocals, and in
TMO’s, you have live percussion.

You know, I’m excited now. Things are going to get interesting again very soon, I think.

Theblackoil: Old-school industrial: Poison. New school industrial: Poison after CC left
the band.

Fuckyoucity: LOL

Mr._D: What can be considered industrial and EBM has definitely changed over the
years. I don’t think there are even any true “industrial” artists out there anymore, it’s all
been fractured into sub-genres. If anything I see the whole electronic music scene
becoming further split into newer sub-genres.

It’s funny going to a club nowadays and seeing DJs trying to mesh all the sub-genres
together in one night. Most of the time it’s just jarring.

171
Commiepig: I agree with you. Personally, I only consider true “industrial” projects, who
adhere to the original principles of the movement. Music for me is of secondary
importance in this case. Surely, I enjoy what is out there nowadays, but compared to the
earlier days it seems somewhat lacking in ideological sense, kind of soulless. I guess it
was the direct result of gradual popularization of the scene and music.

B.W.: Thank you all for your insight and contributions.

Interview 3: Industrial community questionnaire, 03/26/2007

I asked fellow members of an internet industrial community to take a four

question “quiz” of sorts, providing brief answers to four of the questions I had the most
success with in the interviews I have conducted. The following was what the
questionnaire yielded.

B.W.: Essentially, I think of this as a survey, though these are some of the questions I
have asked a number of people face to face in an interview setting. These questions are
purposefully loaded, so try to answer them in whatever way you take them, but they are
for research purposes - so don’t waste my time with trolling.

1. What does the genre “industrial” inform for you, that is to say, what do you think of
when you hear the word “industrial” as it pertains to music? Include not just bands, but
anything that for you is industrial.

2. How does something sound industrial? How can something sound more or less
industrial?

3. Why do you think bands appropriate the term industrial?

4. Do you think the debate about what is or is not industrial will ever be reconciled, or
grow in ambiguity as the term is applied to more and more genres of music? What are
your thoughts on this?

The following contains some of the pertinent transcript:

Binarysins:

1. For me it means that the music was either created with a certain aesthetic in mind -
creatively, philosophically or physically). That means that I’ll tend to call an artist’s
music “industrial” even if they may not be exactly producing “industrial” music at the
time. A lot of it has to do with affiliations–who has worked with whom, whatever. The

172
reason for this is simple - what was considered core “industrial music”) (not “core” as in
“k0r3” but as in the “core of music that is being produced that is considered industrial”)
25 years ago is no longer the case. In fact, it’s gotten a lot sillier now such as when
someone told me I shouldn’t like Front 242 because they’re EBM and I obviously “don’t
like EBM” (I almost had to smack myself to make sure I understood them correctly).

That aesthetic is, but not limited to (because limiting industrial music is kind of un-
industrial): Espousal or criticism of political, religious or philosophical standpoints that
are often ignored in mainstream music; DIY attitude in terms of producing music;
dismantling, subverting or ignoring traditional musical structures (rhythm, melody,
lyrical content); use of nontraditional instruments, especially electronic. You’ll notice a
lack of many things that people take for granted: fast paced, aggressive, focused on
warfare and violence, etc. That’s because while those things are typically present in
industrial music, they do not define industrial music for me.

2. Typically if it is harsh, fast and electronic it “sounds” industrial. It can sound more or
less industrial by sounding more or less like other musical genres. Yet, In The Nursery,
Controlled Bleeding, Sleep Chamber, Nocturnal Emissions and others are (or were)
considered “industrial.”

3. Obviously to try to reach what they believe is a particular market. Why do clubs that
play hard rock put, “hard rock, punk and industrial” on their flyers?

4. I think it’s already been diluted almost to the point of uselessness. In the late ‘80s the
term “industrial” was applied to The Jesus and Mary Chain and several other bands. The
debate is only even relevant because people have tried to make it relevant, usually
because of some pissing contest to prove that their choices in music are more valid than
others. Most people grow out of this (most...).

B.W.:

Thanks for your thoughts. As to my take on your no. 3...

I believe that the term carries a bit of ambiguous mystery along with a sense of dark,
harsh sounds. So, while most folk or R & B concerts probably would not put “industrial”
on their concert fliers, it is an easily accessible term for punk or hard rock when they
want to imbue that particular dark quality or mysterious sense. Indeed, the appropriation
of the term is to as you say, “reach ... a particular market,” but I do not think it is limited
to that, since many hard rock, metal, or punk fans who don’t know the first thing about
the corpus of industrial music still have an idea what is being said when someone calls
their music “industrial” in this day and age. Now, what that idea is... there’s a discussion.

I agree that the debate is useless at this point (no. 4), for the sake of pinning down in
some definite sense what “is industrial.” However, since I don’t think that can or should
be done, and the debate exists nonetheless, I find it interesting why people tend to
gravitate toward certain trends in finding commonalities between musicians and practices

173
in order to codify their own “vision” of a genre. It seems to me an interesting human
tendency. Thus, I like to hear about reasons why people include or exclude various
examples from the genre corpus.

Thanks for your comments!

Binarysins:

Well, as a person involved or interested in several fairly small subcultures (industrial

music, tabletop gaming) I have to say that to me the tendency to exclude or include things
from one category or another is very often a pissing contest. Even the more erudite goal
of gaining an academic understanding often carries with it tones of elitism and validation.
“I read a 900 page, 20 year study on industrial music and they never mentioned Orgy, so
if you listen to industrial you can’t listen to Orgy”.) Now this is by far not always the
case - there is the much more useful goal of quickly making your likes and dislikes heard,
as you pointed out. But in both tabletop gaming and industrial music I have seen the
tendency for factionalization and artifical pigeonholing that actually cancels out the
usefulness of being able to be understood quickly.

B.W.:

I agree with your points here... but to use your metaphor, from an academic standpoint I
am not interested in who wins the pissing contest, whose piss is in question nor where the
piss lands. It’s the fact that people are pissing about something that I find interesting and
worth mention. :) To add on your other example: If someone does exclude Orgy from the
corpus of industrial music based on an academic paper, then I submit they never had
many convictions of their own placing Orgy among the genre in the first place. But,
people will still argue about it, and it is of interest that these types of conversations exist.

If that makes me an elitist, well, so be it. However, it is not my intention to use research
to find out definite answers about anything that exists in the realm of communication
(indeed, that would be impossible!). Instead, I am interested in the communication itself
and what it means about us - our music and culture.

You always have great comments. Thanks.

Theblackoil:

1. k0rN!!!!

2. It sounds like k0rN!!!!

3. They want to sound like k0rN!!!!11

4. k0rN!!!!1111!!1

174
B.W.:

NICE.

Theblackoil:

Ok, serious answers now...

1. I usually think of something dark and abrasive. This can be either primarily electronic
based, or be very noisy with a lot of found sound and clanking percussion. This sort of
combines the older and newer meanings of the term, so I’m covering all the bases, I
guess. :) The key is the first sentence. The instruments don’t really matter.

2. Well, the answer above applies, but I agree that the level of experimentation involved
is important as well. For instance, Autechre isn’t really considered industrial in the truest
sense of the term, but a lot of their stuff is certainly pushing the bounds of music, exactly
like the old industrialists did. So I think Autechre has some right to use the term.
Industrial at its heart SHOULD be about doing something outside of the norm, even if
that’s not really what it means anymore.

3. Simple. Ever since NIN got big, industrial implies “edginess.” Not that I’m blaming
NIN here. It just happened.

4. Of course not. What would we have flame wars about?

It’s not as if industrial is any different than any genre in this regard. Rock ‘n’ roll
certainly doesn’t mean Chuck Berry or The Big Bopper anymore.

B.W.:

Thanks for the comments.

I agree that there are “flame wars” in all genres, especially popular music genres,
concerning ambiguities about inclusion and exclusion in the genre. I do think industrial is
slightly different, though, from many other genres in the sense that we can use the term as
an adjective of sorts, representing, as you say, “edginess.”

“Rock” invokes the genre rock - its sound, style and varying functions. “Classical”
invokes, for the most part (and for better or worse) orchestral music. There are
ambiguities inherent in these types of classifications, but the result is the same. Bands
don’t appropriate the term rock in the same way that they would industrial, because
calling themselves “rock” wouldn’t really be saying much.

But, your point is well taken that there are arguments in every genre about what music
belongs as part of the corpus.

175
Thanks

Bornintobondage:

1. When I think of it applied to reality, industrial becomes a weekly routine that in my

opinion needs to be challenged.

There is such a huge potential in it with all that contribute to a music scene and all the
people I meet are really awesome talented people but it seems directionless.

When I strip down what people think it is, “industrial music” reminds me of something
raw, saying something, challenging music/ideas culture, etc.

2. Something sounds industrial by people calling it industrial nowadays. That’s really it.
Its become almost a buzz word like the term electronica it seems. I really don’t give a
fuck what people think is industrial cause at the end of it all it matters if its honest and
you can relate to it. Does it affect me in a good way? make me think? do I dig the
programming/synth lines?

3. Bands do it for their own reasons. Some of it is so people that listen to other “industrial
bands” will understand around what genre its in, some of it is marketing and some of it is
because a lot of other terms to describe electronic music sound retarded (Laughter).

I do think there are bands that are so mindfucked that they have to inform everyone that
they are an “industrial band.” That’s just sad.

4. No I don’t think the debate will be done with. People feel comfortable putting things
into genres. The reality of it is no one outside of our scene even knows what industrial
music is.

I try to explain it to people and all I get back is blank stares so whatever...

We don’t know what it is entirely and the world outside of it doesn’t know at all, or even
know it exists so whatever.

B.W.:

Yeah, I understand that; believe me. Thanks for the comments.

Sinibyte:

I’ll try and keep it to simple answers.

1. Nowadays when I hear the term industrial, I’m reminded of how the scene was
perverted by techno and trance, and I long for the days when it was just a bastardization

176
of music styling with a metallic rigid noisy sound, and some anti-establishment intent. I
miss the “machines.”

2. Anything that sounded like a by-product of the industrial revolution, whether it is

short-wave radio transmissions, or factory machinery operating rhythmically. The more
“mass produced default patches on modern synthesizers” have no resemblance to what I
think of when I think of industrial.

3. To be associated with electronic music pioneers of that aggressive sound, even though
many new artists are closer to trance and techno, but that wouldn’t incite the same mental
image they were after (making it more of a fashion statement than a music genre).

4. There’s really no ambiguity, there’s simply people that witnessed the scene as it
developed, and new-comers who have adopted the term and applied to their experience
watching their scene develop. I don’t think there is any question what is and what is not
industrial, just what people are willing to admit is and is not for their own sake and self-
motivation.

That’s my “quick-take” on those questions.

B.W.:

Do you have complex answers? I’d like those too.

So for you, industrial music does not exist today, and bands that appropriate the term are
some form of post-industrial/EBM/electro? How would you classify the music?

It’s interesting how using the term industrial to do just what you said has become so
popular that it’s a major genre heading, as on myspace, yet the same website does not
have a genre heading for EBM.

Thanks a lot for the comments.

Sinibyte:

Probably more “rant” than complex, I’d say I suffer from some cynicism regarding
industrial.

I think [industrial] still exists, there are still quite a few underground projects pursuing
the same sound from back in the late 80’s/early 90’s (that was my experience timeframe
anyways), but I don’t think the new breed of “industrial” is industrial at all. It’s dance
floor EBM. (...and even that term differs from the pioneers of EBM, ala early Frontline).

It’s inevitable that any genre progress (and in the sense of industrial more-so), they were
the pioneers of aggressive “machine-like” music, and I think a lot of it had to do with the

177
tools used to create the music... i.e. heavy quantization (no swing or groove to the
rhythm).

For me I think a major turning point was around the release of KMFDM Light, where-as
instead of progression, it was regression; simplifying the beat structure, and bringing in
musical elements in “traditional” format, rather than innovation of any sound
(particularly the 4/4 dance rhythms, with guitars). It wasn’t so much this album itself that
made the change, but all the other bands pursuing the same “sound”. Around the same
time you had an abundance of tools to create the music, and the technology to create
became increasingly cheaper, and brought a lot of clone-like sound, rather than
innovation...

B.W.:

Yes, I think innovation is the key. Industrial since the late 1970s has been innovative.
When the music lost innovation with some of these copy-cat groups, it lost a
commonality to industrial.

Thanks for the insightful comments.

Carnosaur:

Great post.

I too have been suffering from industrial cynicism lately, especially since Combichrist
(horrible band) has gained widespread acceptance with the KMFDM fans. Can you
recommend some modern underground projects that sound like real industrial?

Sef:

1. Industrial music, for me, has a lot to do with alienation. I’m one of the few here that
does strongly believe that Nine Inch Nails are an industrial group, or better said, project. I
say this because Reznor seems to be one of the most alienated people there is in the
music industry. To go on, Alienation can be due to social affairs or technological ones, so
I don’t feel so limited in describing what makes one a contender for the genre affiliation.
Musically speaking, most of industrial music seems to rely heavily on vamps and
ostinatos, regardless of if the music is some rock-machine hybrid, purely electronic
throbbing or purely experimental 20th Century work (to the point of homemade
instruments or sounds produced from objects not usually considered musical instruments
[powertools, etc]. All of these attributes seem to prosper because of a performer’s
alienation.

2. There are stereotypical aspects of the genre which I’m sure anyone can easily repeat:
synthesizers, heavy drums, samples, loud drums, hissing and/or screaming, purely 16th
note bass lines (read NITZER EBB :-) ). However, something sounds industrial by it’s
ability to.... well, to beat a dead horse... display alienation. I think all instrumental

178
‘industrial music’ displays this through programmatic means and that all vocal ‘industrial
music’ displays this lyrically.

3. I think currently, most artists outside of the industrial/rivethead, goth/deathrock and

metal scene avoid this term like the plague. It was once ‘hip’ in the mid 90s, but now it
seems stale. Industrial music, like all genres, has the issue of becoming stagnant and
bands imitating one another. People within the previously mentioned scenes use this term
to sell records or to appeal to fans or to announce what they think they sound like.

4. No way. This debate will never have a clear winner. If it did, what would people have
to talk about? Ambiguity I don’t think will occur either, there’s always a new upstart
secondary genre that can be applied to industrial (coldwave, powernoise, darkwave, etc).

B.W.:

Thanks.

Djverablue:

I’m not going to answer all the questions because I just woke up and my brain is not fully
working yet....so here’s a little summery.

I got into the industrial scene in the 90s with the coldwave guitar stuff....so for a long
time to me “industrial” was just electronic music mixed with rock music with a lot of
cyber-punk imagery. Since then, as I’ve been exposed to more and more music that falls
into the industrial subculture, I’ve found a lot of the popular “industrial” music now just
doesn’t “feel” industrial to me. To me for something to feel or sound industrial it has to
have a certain dirty, grimy, mechanical feel. I don’t think industrial should be “clean” or
overproduced. I do not consider futurepop to be industrial... It’s just synth-pop with a
fancier name. Though there are quite a few EBM bands that do have an industrial feel to
me. Out of all the newer sub-genres that have popped up, I feel powernoise is the most
industrial feeling of them.

Ugh, am I even making sense? Perhaps I’ll come back to this after I have some coffee...

B.W.:

You definitely are making sense to me, as I tend to agree with you that industrial really
exists in the contemporary mindset as this sort of aesthetic that music does or does not
embody.

Thanks for the comments!

Eve_ripper:

179
1. It is very experimental and unusual music term. It has its own rules, memories,
philosophy and life. I think it’s another protest, but it is more realistic, political and
intellectual than the other genres of music.

2. I think there should be many synths-samplers. And there must be many samples. There
should be samples from the movies, life, etc. Some ambient of noises makes it
industrialized.

3. If it is a very clear industrial genre, I think band can call themselves and industrial
band. Anyway KORN isn’t industrial - you know. Throbbing Gristle - industrial.

4. I tried to debate. Because there is some situation like: “RoB ZomBiE is a MEGA-
TRUE-INDUSTRIAL BaND”!
So I think it would be better to say that some band “blah-blah-blah” use industrial
samples in their songs (like MM, NIN, Rammstein ETC).

B.W.: Thanks for your comments.

Interview 4: The Castle, Tampa, FL, 03/09/2007

This is a transcript of an interview at The Castle where I discussed the

goth/industrial club experience with two patrons. The transcript follows a portion of my
field notes from that evening, describing the scene.

After standing in line for about twenty minutes, we were able to enter. It seemed
like a fairly good turnout tonight, and I was looking forward to hearing what “coffin
classics” had in store. We grabbed a beer, and then headed upstairs to the couches to sit.
There are no photographs or videos permitted in The Castle, and it is not difficult to
imagine why. The dance floor is where scores of people gather in scant clothing; there are
several people socializing in their underwear. There are four cubes located at either
corner of the area designated for dancing, and on the cubes stand costumed dancers who
add to the ambience of the scene. I was scribbling away in my pad, listening to And One,
and sipping my beer when two men sat down on the wall couch next to me. After a time,
one of them addressed me:

Raver Kid: I’m dying to know what you’re writing down in that pad.

180
B.W.: Oh, I’m just writing field notes. I’m doing my thesis on industrial music and
industrial community.

R.K.: Cool. So, what are you writing about?

B.W.: I’m just writing down what I notice about how people are dancing more to certain
songs and how the crowd responds to the music in general… stuff like that.

R.K.: Cool.

B.W.: So, do you mind if I ask you some questions about this scene?

R.K.: Sure.

B.W.: Why do you like to come here?

R.K.: Actually, this is my first time here.

B.W.: Really?

R.K.: Yeah, a friend of mine told me about this place so I decided to check it out.

B.W.: So, what do you think?

R.K.: It’s really cool. I mean, I’m a raver, so this isn’t my sort of music exactly, but you
can still dance to it.

I decided to engage Raver Kid’s friend in the conversation as well.

B.W.: So, how about you, is this your first time here too?

G.W.A.R. Fan: No, I’ve been here plenty of times. It’s pretty cool.

B.W.: How’s the turnout tonight?

G.F.: It’s pretty good; Coffin Classics usually attracts a few people–so do the drink
specials.

B.W.: Right, right. So, why do you like to come to this place?

G.F: Well, the people here are into stuff that I’m into. You know, tattoos, piercings,
leather… stuff like that. Plus, they play okay music. I mean, I’m into the dance music
somewhat–but I listen to heavier stuff at home. Mainly I can just relax at a place like this,
‘cause everyone here is just letting loose, you know. No one is judging you or anything.
You can come and just hang out without having to do anything to impress anyone. Most

181
other places you run into all sorts of people just like here, but it’s like nobody cares what
you think or what you do here.

B.W.: Right, it seems like everyone is having fun.

R.K.: I’ve had a lot of fun so far.

B.W.: So, what do you think of this music? It sounds like they’re playing a lot of EBM,
lots of industrial music. If you had to describe this type of music, how would you go
about doing that?

R.K.: It’s all dance music, even the harsher sounding stuff. I mean, when I’m listening to
it, I’m basically just listening to some good dancing beats. The lyrics don’t really get
through to me or anything. It’s really just the experience.

B.W.: Right; how about you?

G.F.: Well, I don’t dance mostly to this stuff, but I like coming here to meet people and
just hang out–feel like myself.

B.W.: Right, cause it’s a comfortable atmosphere.

G.F.: Right.

B.W.: And you said that the music isn’t really to your personal tastes?

G.F.: Yeah, I like metal and industrial metal, but there’s really no club that plays that sort
of stuff, so this is the closest you can get. You can request stuff here too, but the DJ never
plays it.

B.W.: Yeah, I requested a Hocico song a while ago and I still haven’t heard it.

G.F.: Don’t count on him playing it. He plays what he wants.

B.W.: Well…

R.K.: I tried to get him to play some jungle, but I don’t think he has any.

B.W.: Yeah, his selection is kind of rooted in EBM. So, what do you think about a place
like this being referred to as a goth/industrial club? What does that name mean to you?

R.K.: Well, I don’t know, I hadn’t really thought about it. I guess that’s what they call it
cause they’re the only people left in the scene.

B.W.: But you’re here, right?

R.K.: Yeah, maybe they’ll call it the goth/rave/industrial club sometime soon.

182
Laughter

G.W.: Or the goth/rave/industrial/metal club.

B.W.: I don’t know. It seems like the word “industrial” has sort of a separate meaning
from all of these music terms though. I guess “goth” does too. It’s like people tack that on
to say something about the music, instead of just describe the music itself.

G.F.: I think there’s a point to what you’re saying.

R.K.: Yeah, but to me, industrial clubs don’t just play industrial music.

B.W.: Right. What else do they play?

R.K.: Well I think a lot of DJs play all sorts of dance music because you don’t want to
come out to a club to hear weird, loud music that has no beat. It’s probably a combination
of that and the fact that for a while now, DJs have only been to clubs where that’s true, so
the only music they like is dance music.

B.W.: Hmm…

R.K.: I know I wouldn’t be able to dance to some music unless it had a beat.

B.W.: So DJs appeal to many different people by playing simple, easy to recognize dance
beats?

R.K.: Yeah, it’s like that’s all that anyone can play really, if they want people to have fun.

B.W.: What do you think?

G.F.: Yeah, that sounds right, I’m just not much of a dancer, so I’m less interested in
dance music when they play it and I get more into the heavier, more evil sounding stuff.
It keeps me interested when I hear that sort of stuff, enough to where I have fun even
when they play some fruity pop stuff.

B.W.: (Laughter) Right, right.

The conversation continued along these lines, but an important point had been
introduced. The fan base of goth/industrial clubs was not localized to people strictly in
the industrial community. In addition, many people who identify with this alternative
culture find a release in the music, atmosphere, and community accessible within the
club.

183
 Ultimately, all of my interviews elucidated fascinating points about
communication and music. The way in which people organize important cultural/musical
data in order to transfer that information involves a genre process. Genre is the link
between dimensions of musical understanding.

184
 APPENDIX I: SOUND EXAMPLES

Example 1: “20 Jazz Funk Greats,” by Throbbing Gristle. 20 Jazz Funk Greats.
Industrial Records, 1979.

Example 2: “Beachy Head,” by Throbbing Gristle. 20 Jazz Funk Greats.

Industrial Records, 1979.

Example 3: “Radioactivity,” by Kraftwerk. Radio-Aktivität. EMI/Capitol, 1975.

Example 4: “Merle (Die Elektrik),” by Einstuerzende Neubauten. Zeichnungen

des Patienten O.T. Some Bizarre, 1983.

Example 5: “Landslide,” by Cabaret Voltaire. Red Mecca. Rough Trade, 1981.

Example 6: “The Immolation of Man,” by Non. Might! Mute, 1995.

Example 7: “Im Rhythmus Bleiben,” by Front 242. Front by Front. Rre, 1988.

Example 8: “Untold Blasphemies,” by Hocico. Signos De Aberracion,

Metropolis, 2002.

Example 9: “Street Justice,” by Terrorfakt. Cold Steel World. Metropolis, 2004.

Example 10: “Pete Standing Alone,” by Boards of Canada. Music has the Right to
Children. Warp, 1998.

185
APPENDIX J: HUMAN SUBJECTS BOARD WAIVER

186
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Adorno, Theodor W. Aesthetic Theory. Trans. Robert Hullot-Kentor. Minneapolis:

University of Minnesota Press, 1997.

Allouis, Jean-François, et al. “Recherche Musicale au GRM.” La Revue Musicale 394-

397, 1986.

Altman, Richard. “A Semantic/Syntactic Approach to Film Genre.” In B.K. Grant (ed.),

Film Genre Reader II Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 1997, pp. 26-40.

Appleton, Jon H. The Development and Practice of Electronic Music. Upper

Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1975.

Attali, Jacques. Noise: The Political Economy of Music. Minneapolis: University of

Minnesota Press, 1985.

Bakan, Michael B., Wanda Bryant, Guangming Li, David Martinelli, and Kathryn
Vaughn. “Demystifying and Classifying Electronic Musical Instruments.”
Selected Reports in Ethnomusicology 8 (1990): 37-64.

Barlow, William and Peter Shapiro. An End to Silence: The San Francisco State College
Student Movement in the ‘60s. New York: Pegasus, 1971.

Bent, Ian D. and Anthony Pople. “Analysis.” In The New Grove Dictionary of Music and
Musicians, rev. ed., edited by Stanley Sadie. London: Macmillan, 2001. 1: 526-
89.

Booth, Martin. Aleister Crowley: Selected Poems. London: Crucible, 1986.

Briggs, Charles L. and Richard Bauman. “Genre, Intertextuality, and Social Power.”
Journal of Linguistic Anthropology 2/2 (1992): 131-172.

Brown, Howard Mayer, and Stanley Sadie, eds. Performance Practice. 2 vols. The
Norton/Grove Handbooks in Music. New York: W. W. Norton, 1990.

Brundson, Charlotte. “Text and Audience.” In E. Seiter, et al (ed.) Remote Control:

Television, Audiences, and Cultural Power. London: Routledge, 1989, pp. 116-
129.

Bussy, Pascal. Kraftwerk: Man, Machine, and Music. London: SAF, 2005.

Cage, John. Silence: Lectures and Writings. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University
Press, 1961.

Cammell, Charles Richard. Aleister Crowley: The Man: The Mage: The Poet. London:

187
 The Richards Press, 1951.

Cavallaro, Dani. Cyberpunk and Cyberculture: Science Fiction and the Work of William
Gibson. London, New Brunswick: The Athlone Press, 2000.

Chadabe, Joel. Electric Sound: The Past and Promise of Electronic Music. Upper
Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1997.

Collins, Karen E. “The Future is Happening Already: Industrial Music, Dystopia, and
the Aesthetic of the Machine.” Unpublished dissertation. University of
Liverpool, 2002.

Coreno, T. “Guerilla Music: Avant-Garde Voice as Oppositional Discourse.” In J.S.

Epstein (ed.) Adolesents and their Music: If it’s too Loud, You’re Too Old. New
York: Garland, 1994, pp. 189-224.

Derrida, Jacques. Of Grammatology. Trans. Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak. Baltimore,

London: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1998.

Duguid, Brian. “A Prehistory of Industrial Music.” EST Magazine Online (Accessed 2

March 2006) <http://media.hyperreal.org/zines/est/articles/preindex.html>

Duff, David. Modern Genre Theory. Harlow, England; New York: Longman, 2000.

Ernst, David. Musique Concrète. Boston: Crescendo, 1972.

Fabbri, Franco. “A Theory of Musical Genres: Two Applications.” (1981) Accessed

online (3 March 2007) <http://www.theblackbook.net/acad/others/ffabri81a.PDF>

Feld, Steven. Sound and Sentiment: Birds, Weeping, Poetics and Song in Kaluli
Expression. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press,1982.

___________. “Sound Structure as Social Structure.” Ethnomusicology 28/3 (September

1984): 383-409.

___________. “Communication, Music, and Speech About Music.” Yearbook for

Traditional Music 16 (1984): 1-18.

Fish, Mick. Industrial Evolution : Through the Eighties with Cabaret Voltaire and Local
Government. London: SAF Limited, 2002.

Fishelov, David. Metaphors of Genre: The Role of Analogies in Genre Theory.

University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1993.

Ford, Simon. Wreckers of Civilisation: The Story of COUM Transmissions and

Throbbing Gristle. UK: Black Dog, 2000.

188
Fowler, Alastair. “Genre.” In International Encyclopedia of Communications 2, by Erik
Barnouw (Ed.) New York: Oxford University Press, 1989, pp. 215-7.

Geertz, Clifford. Local Knowledge: Further Essays in Interpretive Anthropology. New

York: Basic Books, 1983.

Gianelli, Fred. “Interview for the Family OV Psychic Individuals (FOPI),” Psychic TV
fan club, 2000.

Goehr, Lydia. “Political Music and the Politics of Music.” The Journal of Aesthetics and
Art Criticism 52/1 (Winter 1994): 99-112.

Goldberg, RoseLee. Performance Art: From Futurism to the Present. London: Thames
and Hudson, 1988.

Goodwin, Andrew. Dancing in the Distraction Factory: Music Television and

Popular Culture. Minnesota: University of Minnesota Press, 1992.

Greene, Paul D. and Thomas Porcello. Wired for Sound: Engineering and Technologies
in Sonic Cultures. Middletown, Connecticut: Wesleyan University Press, 2005.

Harris, Barbara. “A Contextual Approach to Understanding Genre.” ALEA Conference

Proceedings (2005): 1-10.

Hassler, Donald M. and Clyde Wilcox. Political Science Fiction. Columbia: University
of South Carolina Press, 1997.

Hebdige, D. Subculture: the Meaning of Style. Suffolk: Richard Clay Press, 1979.

Hensley, Chad. “The Beauty of Noise.” Esoterra 8 (Winter 1999): 34-39.

Hodge, Robert and Gunther Kress. Social Semiotics. Cambridge: Polity Press, 1988.

Hodkinson, P. Subculture as Substance: The Identities, Values, Practices and

Infrastructure of the Goth Scene. Ph.D. Thesis: University of Birmingham, 2001.

Hutchinson, Roger. Aleister Crowley: The Beast Demystified. Edinburgh, London:

Mainstream, 1999.

James, Robin. Cassette Mythos. Autonomedia, 1992.

Keil, Charles, et al. “Responses to Feld and Roseman.” Ethnomusicology 28/3

(September 1984): 446-66.

Kettlewell, Ben. Electronic Music Pioneers. Vallejo: Artistpro, 2001.

189
Klein, Ed. Music Database Online. Accessed 03/30/2006.
<http://kzsu.stanford.edu/eklein/>

Knapp, Bettina Liebowitz. Machine, Metaphor, and the Writer: A Jungian View.
University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1989.

Knight, Deborah. “Making Sense of Genre.” Hanover (2002) Accessed online (3 March
2007) <http://www.hanover.edu/philos/film/vol_02/knight.htm>

Kocka, Jürgen. Industrial Culture & Bourgeois Society: Business, Labor, and
Bureaucracy in Modern Germany. New York: Berghahn, 1999.

Kress, Gunther. Communication and Culture: An Introduction. Kensington, NSW: New

South Wales University Press, 1988.

Kruse, Holly. “Subcultural Identity in Alternative Music Culture” Popular Music 12/1
(1993): 31-34.

Kryter, Karl D. The Effects of Noise on Man. London: Academic Press, 1970.

Kurlansky, Mark. 1968: The Year That Rocked the World. New York: Ballantine
Books, 2004.

Lewis, S. “Situating Industrial Music: An Avant-Garde in Popular Music.” In T.

Hautamäki and H. Järviluoma, (eds.) Music on Show: Issues of Performance.
(Finland: Tampere University Department of Folk Tradition, 1998), 183-197.

Locher, D. A. “The Industrial Identity Crisis: The Failure of a Newly Forming

Subculture to Identify Itself.” Adolescents and Their Music: If It’s Too Loud,
You’re Too Old. Epstein, J. S. (ed.): 100-117. New York: Garland, 1994.

Martin, P.J. Sounds and Society: Themes in the Sociology of Music. Manchester:
Manchester University Press, 1995.

Maeck, Klaus. Hor Mit Schmerzen: Listen With Pain : Einstürzende Neubauten, 1980-
1996. Berlin, Germany: Gestalten Verlag, 1997.

Manuel, Peter. Cassette Culture: Popular Music and Technology in North India.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993.

McLeod, Kembrew. “Genres, Subgenres, Sub-Subgenres, and More: Musical and Social
Differentiation Within Electronic/Dance Music Communities.” Journal of
Popular Music Studies 13/1 (2001): 59-75.

190
Middleton, Richard. “Articulating Music Meaning/Re-Constructing Musical
History/Locating the 'Popular'.” Popular Music 5 (1985): 5-43.

Miller, Carolyn R. “Genre as Social Action.” Quarterly Journal of Speech 70 (1984):

150-167.
Monroe, A. “Thinking about Mutation: Genres in 1990s Electronica” Living
Through Pop. Blake, A. (ed.): 146-158. London: Routledge, 1999.

Neal, Charles. Tape Delay: Confessions from the Eighties Underground. London: SAF
Limited, 1987.

Neale, Stephen. “Questions of Genre.” In B.K. Grant (ed.) Film Genre Reader II. Austin,
TX: University of Texas Press, 1997, pp. 159-183.

Negus, Keith. Music Genres and Corporate Culture. London and New York: Routledge,
1999.

Nettl, Bruno. The Study of Ethnomusicology: Twenty-Nine Issues and Concepts. Urbana
and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1983.

Nicholls, David. “Avant-garde and Experimental Music.” In Cambridge History of

American Music. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 1998.

Nyman, Michael. Experimental Music: Cage and Beyond. Cambridge & New York:
Cambridge University Press, 1999.

Roseman, Marina. “The Social Structuring of Sound: The Temiar Peninsula of

Malaysia.” Ethnomusicology 28/3 (September 1984): 411-45.

Samson, Jim. “Genre.” Grove Music Online (Accessed 12 January 2005)

<http://www.grovemusic.com.>

Schaeffer, Pierre. La Musique Concrète. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1967.

Shapiro, Peter. Modulations: A History of Electronic Music: Throbbing Words on Sound.

Boston: Charles Rivers, 2000.

Singer, Daniel. Prelude to Revolution: France in May 1968. Second edition.

Cambridge: South End Press, 2000.

Slobin, Mark. Subcultural Sounds: Micromusics of the West. Hanover, NH: Wesleyan
University Press, 1993.

Solie, Ruth A. Musicology and Difference: Gender and Sexuality in Music Scholarship.
Berkeley: University of California Press, 1993.

191
Solomon, Maynard. “Biography.” In The New Grove Dictionary of Music and
Musicians, rev. ed., edited by Stanley Sadie. London: Macmillan, 2001. 3: 599-
601.

Stam, Robert. Film Theory. Oxford: Blackwell, 2000.

Stanley, Glenn. “Historiography.” In The New Grove Dictionary of Music and
Musicians, rev. ed., edited by Stanley Sadie. London: Macmillan, 2001. 11: 546-
61.

Sutton, Julia, et al. “Dance.” In The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, rev.
ed., edited by Stanley Sadie. London: Macmillan, 2001. 6: 879-908.

Swales, John M. Genre Analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990.

Tagg, Philip and Karen E. Collins. “The Sonic Aesthetics for the Industrial: Re-
Constructing Yesterday’s Soundscape for Today’s Alienation and Tomorrow’s
Dystopia.” In Sound Practice. ed. J.L. Drever. UK: Dartington, 2001.

Taruskin, Richard, et al. “The Limits of Authenticity: A Discussion.” Early Music 12

(1984): 3-25.

Tolson, Andrew. Mediations: Text and Discourse in Media Studies. London:

Arnold, 1996.

Toop, David. Ocean of Sound. New York: Serpent’s Tail, 2001.

Tyler, Stephen A. “Post-Modern Ethnography: From Document of the Occult to Occult

Document.” In Writing Culture: The Poetics and Politics of Ethnography, ed.
Clifford, James and George E. Marcus. Berkeley: University of California Press,
1986.

Vale, V. and Andrea Juno. RE/Search: Industrial Culture Handbook. San Francisco:
RE/Search Publications, 1988.

Walser, Robert. Running with the Devil: Power, Gender, and Madness in Heavy Metal
Music. Hanover and London: Wesleyan University Press, 1993.

Select Video Examples

Laibach: A Film From Slovenia/Occupied Europe NATO Tour 1994-95. DVD. Directed
by Laibach. Europe tour, 1995.

Live at the Hacienda, ‘83/’86. Cabaret Voltaire. DVD. Cherry Red Studios, 2002.

192
Made in Sheffield. DVD. Directed by Eve Wood. Sheffield, UK: Sheffield Film Festival,
2005.

Modulations: Cinema for the Ear. DVD. Directed by Iara Lee. San Francisco, CA: MVD
Music Video Distributors, 2003.

Survival Research Laboratories: Ten Years of Robotic Mayhem. DVD. Directed by

Jonathan Reiss. San Francisco, CA: MVD Music Video Distributors, 2004.

193
 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

Bret Woods was born in Ilion, NY on 14 July, 1978. He holds a Bachelor of Music
Degree in vocal music education from Nazareth College of Rochester, NY, with a
certificate in conducting. He has performed as a baritone soloist throughout Rochester
and participated in several vocal ensembles affiliated with Nazareth College, including
the chamber singers under the direction of Dr. Mark Zeigler. He taught K-12 vocal music
in Brookfield, New York from 2001-2003, where he served as head of the music
department, and K-12 vocal and instrumental music in McClave, Colorado from 2003-
2004. He has directed several vocal and instrumental ensembles during his years of
teaching, both in New York and Colorado, including a madrigal singers group and a
community jazz ensemble (for which he also played bass). His current musical activities
include playing recorder with the Florida State University Early Music Ensembles, vocal
performance with the University’s Schola Cantorum, and the Irish tin whistle. In his
spare time, he composes electronic music. His academic interests include the history,
genre, and the diaspora of Scottish Gaelic song, cultural identity among Celtic people in
the wake of the Gaelic renaissance, human behavior, linguistics, genre studies, popular
music studies, and the exploration of little known and insular music.

194