LUFTWAFFE: Proclaiming the uprising of the Solipsist Nation.
You've probably already read the reviews on two LUFTWAFFE demo works, posted in Fortitude. If not, you should check them out at once, since both of them are utterly impressive. Finally, I managed to scrap up an interview with the band members, b9 InVid and j1 StatiK (nice nicks, huh?). Although, they still didn't manage to clarify the most controversial patterns specific to the band, they shared tons of info regarding their nihilistic views, LUFTWAFFE's live appearances and their upcoming debut full-lenght. Enjoy the reading.
(Krasniy; 20.05.2001)
Firstly, greetings to you, guys! I would like you to start this one by citing all of your releases at this point and some more of your achievements.
b9 InVid: I can tell you that our first 3 cds "International Condemnation", "Live in Feraland" and "The World That is Lost" we recorded at home and burned on my computer... I guess since we made such a small amount of them, and the recording quality is not so good, that they could be considered demos---except for "Live in Feraland" which was recorded live, and sounds the best of the 3...we plan to repress it... I suppose that my main plan with making the first 3 records was to use them to appeal to other artists that we like, and it has worked! We have become good acquaintances with Boyd Rice (and did a collaborative song), Richard Leviathan (of Ostara, who plans to invade the US and do a show with us in the fall)--Albin Julius and Michael Moynihan also seem to dig our music as well, as they have been very courteous and friendly toward us...the new record, "Solipsist Nation", will be professionally pressed and since we have begun recording of it just this weekend (09.04.01), it will sound sooooooo infinitely better than anything else we have done.
I wonder how you guys give shows, since it is quite difficult to handle all those instruments, applied on your recordings on stage. By the way, how does the audience usually react to your live appearances?
b9 InVid: Yeah, you know the last show we played saw some trouble...well potential trouble. We had a group of antifa punks show up, as result of our military and German band name, to see if we needed to have the shit beaten out of us. I guess they weren't as offended (or they were perhaps confused) as there was no fist fight. One guy, who had seen our show and said he enjoyed it, crossed my path out in a club one night-so I gave him a handbill for KILLKORPS.COM...he immediately held up the handbill in my face (which displays our symbol: The Trepan) and said: "My uncle was killed in World War 2, and this kind of fucking shit really offends me!"...I tried to explain to him that we had nothing to do with WWII, as I am only 25--and that the German airforce is still called the Luftwaffe and was only the Nazi airforce for 12 yrs of it's 83 year lifespan...but he would have none of it. It is funny, when people ask us if we are a nazi or anti-semitic band, I say no that we are a Nihilist band. When they find out that we don't desire to single out Jews and minorities or any sub-groups, but in fact we want to kill and destroy all people and everything equally, then they are ok with it...go figure.
Yes indeed, your appearance bears an obvious resemblance with the uniform of Nazi soldiers. How come?
b9 InVid: The accoutrements we implement in our shows (black leather pants, high boots, shirts and ties, Sam Brown belts) bears an obvious resemblance to a huge number of military and police regimes, but the similarities to nazi uniforms only seem to be targeted as it proves to be the only similarity that people find offensive. I dare say that Heinrich Himmler would not have
paraded around Germany in black leather lace-up pants. High boots, ties and Sam Brown belts have been worn by so many groups and factions: The Soviet Army; our own U.S. Marine Corps; The Red Chinese Army (And have you seen them goosestep? Even Hitler would have to say, "Goddamn! Those sons-of-bitches can goosestep!" haha); The East German Army--from which my jodhpers find their origin. In one of our early shows we were asked if we were supposed to be the LAPD (Los Angeles
Police Department--one of the most corrupt in the world). To be honest, the reviews we have received from Fortitude on our two demo CDs, have been the first to acknowledge our actual M.O which is Solipsism, by actually mentioning it. (That's because I never tend to criticize any band without deeply getting into the whole thing. Of course, if it's not shit. -Ed.)
(from left to right: b9 InVid; j1 StatiK)
j1 StatiK: We do try to adopt a militant stage presence. We do not use nazi symbols, in particular we do not use swastikas. The symbols we deploy are of our own making. We place a large priority on performance. Performance and technical musicianship are distinctly different art forms. There are many bands who are excellent musicians, but mediocre performers. There are also many bands who give dynamic live performances, yet lack any musical talent. We try to put everything we have into both our music and live performance. Performance-wise what could be more
dramatic than military pageantry! Combined with our band name, our mode of dress may raise eyebrows--we cannot be bothered with this, nor can we allow it to restrict or limit our artistic expression. As Solipsist Nation, we pledge allegiances to no geographical locality, other than the geographies of our own being. We are not racists, we are not patriots, we are not nationalist as such. We are all there is, and to ourselves we are true with a fervor that would rival any nationalistic zeal.
What do your pseudonyms symbolize? They sound kindda weird for my Black Metallish ears that are used to all sorts of "Nergals", "Shagraths", "Frosts", "Samoths" and nicks like that.
j1 StatiK: As solipsist nation, we regard our being, not as singular, but legion. The Me that goes to work for a living, that pays bills, that balances the checkbook is not the Me that creates and performs art--nor should we share the same name. This serves us not only in terms of maintaining a degree of anonymity, it also serves in keeping the sacred distinct and separate from the profane. J1.StatiK is the guiding intelligence of my being. I am J1., J-one, or John.
I am StatiK--stasis, the consistent thread of vision and theme that intertwines itself throughout all of my being and leaves its mark of consistency upon all of my endeavors both creative and practical. I am for this and all other creative endeavors J1.Xit.StatiK--the one who escaped, a warning to all and a promise!
b9 InVid: I certainly agree with j1 that the Me that creates our specific method of Nihilism through Solipsism, should be distinct from my other artistic faces. b9, in of itself, is merely a reprocessing of my actual first name, which is Benjamin, or Ben--thus b9. InViD actually comes from Robotech. An Invid was a nasty robot kill drone--kind of a fitting symbol of
anti- technological terror, which we ourselves try to impart. InViD has nothing to do with my actual last name.
Since you spoke much about Solipsism and the so-called "Solipsist Nation" that you proclaim, can you define the actual meaning of these notions to Fortitude readers?
j1 StatiK: In declaring ourselves Solipsist Nation, we have accepted and internalized certain shamanic truths that most modern day progressive thinkers avidly play lip-service to while, yet, still kneeling at the altar of the Plurarch. Like the shaman, we regard this world as a dream, and our waking reality no more than a meta-dream that is able to subvert our higher functions, as nocturnal transmissions subvert our lower more primal functions. We also believe that by gaining a mastery of the nocturnal dream-scape that we can, by proxy, control our waking state, which is but a mirror thereof. It is not too vast a leap. We regard our lives according to the principles of Jungian dream analysis. Within the nocturnal transmission, the other, however autonomous he or she may seem, is merely a reflection of the dreamer's psyche. Thus all dialogue is regarded an act of "active imagination". Solipsist Nation regards the meta-dream, that is our waking consciousness, in the same light--though here we must step more lightly. Whereas the nocturnal transmittive state is a series of unrelated episodes--the meta-dream that is our
"waking" conscious is a continuous story, ending only in our death. Nevertheless, the same principles apply.
As Solipsist Nation, we regard ourselves as the only real being in the universe. We take for fact events as they are filtered through our own perceptions. How we interpret any given phenomena is how, in the final analysis, it took place--any other explanation is disregarded. Our morality is dictated by our interest. Linguistic adeptness has, does, and always will supercede ethical parameters. Our actions are dictated by our interests. If our interest is not engaged we appear magnanimous. If our interests are engaged we will always have our way. Our interests are served and we are able to justify ourselves linguistically. No one sees or understands the hand we hold. We are able to justify ourselves, even able to adeptly use
Plurarchical terminology. To deceive others is only a mobilization of our own forces. Each and every one of us is all that is real. To deceive another is only an alignment of our one and true and only psyche. (this one was definitely not destined for low-IQ individuals. -Ed.)
Your spoken and written language comes as a highly developed and intelligent one. Therefore, I'm asking you, guys, about your academic degrees and your studies.
Luftwaffe: j1 Statik has a collegiate degree in Journalism with a minor in Sociology, and in his spare time enjoys writing and drawing. b9 InViD has a collegiate degree in Performing Theatre, and originally moved to Chicago to pursue acting at the Theatre of Cruelty.
Your position on the events that took place in nazi Germany? I'm giving this one just to get confident that you don't have anything with neo-nazism (sux).
j1 StatiK: We do not consider Luftwaffe to be a political band. We like to think of ourselves as artists as opposed to activists. As artists, we try to present our visions be they beautiful or ugly--our job is to flesh them out, and to make them tangible to the listener or observer.
The events that took place in Nazi Germany occurred long before our birth. Personally, I think that genocide is a bad thing, and I do not believe an intelligent argument can be made in it's
defense--nevertheless, human history is ripe with such endeavours. The events that took place in Nazi Germany represent only one such instance, and again these things happened long before my birth and the world that I grew up in had little to do with them. The nation in which I grew up practiced genocide (the Native Americans), practiced slavery and interned Japanese, Italian and German Americans in Concentration Camps in the 40's. Incidentally, these events took place under our current "democratic" regime. The atrocities continue with the United States' treatment of Iraq and Yugoslavia. (I fully share the latest statement. Fuck NATO for having bombed Yugoslavia -Ed.) "The Plurarch subsumes the atrocities of past generations..."
Your main musical influences are...
j1 StatiK: Current 93, Nick Cave, Crass, Sol Invictus, Psychic TV, SPK, The Pogues, Blood Axis, Laibach, Einst�rzende Neubauten, early Swans.
b9 InViD: NON/Boyd Rice, Death in June, Ostara/Strength Through Joy, Throbbing Gristle, The Moon Lay Hidden Beneath a Cloud, Der Blutharsch, Skinny Puppy, Fire and Ice.
And what about the Metal genre and BM in particular?
b9 InVid: I got turned on to the music of Mortiis about 5 or so years ago, and my discovering Emperor was obviously soon to follow. I have not listened to a great deal of black metal, although "Hordanes Land" is a really excellent album. I also really enjoyed the Norse black metal scene a few years ago when there was the rash of church burnings and inter-band murders and violence. Although, it did make me wonder, amidst all of the terrorist campaigns and brain stew, when the bands had time to make albums...
j1 StatiK: We live in an age where the "underground" has become virtually indistinguishable from pop culture. To us who seek novelty in a stale and boring culture; this is intolerable, so we go even deeper underground. Black metal is one progressive art-form that has
filled the void and I applaud. We seek only the introduction of novelty to a tired and dying culture. We seek to do it by force, as does black metal.
Since you have a girl featured in the band (which is J 1's girlfriend, by the way), how do evaluate love and friendship. Do they still exist in this putrid world of constant hypocrisy and pure reason?
Luftwaffe: Both are a certain intangible level of sharing, whether it be a common goal or vision or a unique way of communicating. One of these factors must be immediately apparent or established, else pursuing a relationship of any kind is futile. One can have plenty of "acquaintances", but those who are worthy of friendship or love can be counted on one hand. To
sift through the faceless hoard for the one or two potential friends one might find is a waste of effort, and it seems at this point that relationships happen most effectively on a spontaneous basis.
Is there anything you would like to add as a final?
Our new cd "Solipisist Nation", of which we are in the midst of recording this week, will be done hopefully by early June. Hail the Shining Sphere! And thanks for all you kind words!
LUFTWAFFE Official Homepage
Interview taken by Krasniy
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