I have been into Power Electronics for several years and it is a form of music in which it is more appropriate to directly express even more violent and sadistic ideas than in DEAD WORLD.

Your recent CD on PURE has a french title why?

The meaning behind the title fits the music on the CD very well. It is all new material that I did specificly with the RRR Pure series in mind. The vocals are more buried than on most of my other recordings and the subjects are less obvious.

On “tríumph of death” you have covered a track from Final Solutíon. who are the bands that have influenced you in a way or another?

FINAL SOLUTION is definitely a great band that has been a big influence on my work. Other early influences include: INTRINSIC ACTION, WHITEHOUSE (obviously), SPK, and THROBBING GRISTLE. I also enjoy newer bands like SLOGUN, IUGULA THOR, STAHLNETZ, ATRAX MORGUE, TAINT,CON-DOM and BLOODYMINDED.

Is there any specific concept or meaning behind your moniker?

It comes from a song on DEAD WORLD's "Thanatos Descends" CD that about mass extermination of most of the human race. It seemed to be an appropriately powerful name for this project.

You've done several releases on dífferent italian labels? why such a choice? How do you see European scene?

Italy is a great place for sickness and perversion! It is the homeland for horror films, pornography, the circus maximus, fascism, the mafia, excellent guns, and Power Electronics. The European scene is much more receptive to extreme music than the U.S. is. Germany especially has a large amount of experimental music fans. In the U.S. there are a lot of great bands but the audiences that attend experimental/noise shows are usually really ignorant of what is going on. I'm sure that most people that have seen DEATHPILE live here in Denver have no idea that there is a Power Electronics scene throughout the world.

Your tracks have explicit subjects what is your goal has a lyrics writter?

I don't have a specific agenda behind my lyrics. I'm just dealing with my personal obsessions. The subjects I deal with in DEATHPILE are simply things I find fascinating such as: hatred, misogyny, death, serial murder, power politics, and sexual violence. I enjoy it when others are positively or negatively stimulated by DEATHPILE's lyrical subjects.

Can you tell us more about collaboration work Blunt Force Trauma?

It is strictly a straight noise CD that is a collaboration between me and Scott Candey from GRUNTSPLATTER and CINDER SKIN. We mutually admire each others music and it just seemed like a good idea to work together on a project. We both wanted to do a harsh noise CD that had more complexity and range of emotion than most of the shit out today.

I’ve heard you gonna do another project for a tape on Labyrínth?

Yes, the name of that project is THE URGE WITHIN. It is going to be a more varied experimental project. The first tape is titled "Raging Inside" and it is minimal analog keyboards in the vein of Maurizio Bianchi. It should be available on the Labyrinth label soon.

How was your performance with BloodyMinded & more generally your live acts?

DEATHPILE has played with BLOODYMINDED twice in the past and they've both been excellent experiences. Not only is Mark's band one of the best Power Electronics acts going but he is just a great guy and an exceptional host to out-of-town guests. When DEATHPILE visited him when he lived in New York City he took us as well as Marco from ATRAX MORGUE and Patrick of SKIN CRIME to all the local sights including one of the greatest and most filthy porn shops I've ever seen. When we visited Mark in Chicago he took us around to all the famous murder related spots including Gacy's house and the Speck murder site. Anyway, the shows with BLOODYMINDED were incredible and they are definitely an act that has to be seen live to be truly experienced.Usually DEATHPILE performances are just one or two people on electronics and then I do the vocals and occasionally some electronics as well. A few times we have used video to accompany the performances but Denver venues do not appreciate the imagery I have used in them. The most recent DEATHPILE performance revolved around the theme of serial murderers that preyed upon prostitutes. All the lyrics and projected video imagery were related to the "work" of Bobby Joe Long, Bill Suff, Arthur Shawcross, Dayton Leroy Rogers, and Peter Sutcliffe. That was a more elaborate performance than we normally do. I would like to add that finally I have a solid line-up for DEATHPILE, which is myself on vocals, Brian D'agosta and Don Poe on electronics. The live sound is finally close to my past studio recordings therefore the focus of future shows will be on the physical performance instead of other visuals.

What was the fírst release of Malsonus? & describe us the up-coming compilatíon?

The first release was DEAD WORLD's "Thanatos Descends" CD. The compilation is called "The Sound of Sadism". It is an international all Power Electronics CD that will feature: BLOODYMINDED, CON-DOM, BLACK LEATHER JESUS, ATRAX MORGUE, SLOGUN, DISCORDANCE, TAINT, SKIN CRIME, DEATHPILE, IUGULA THOR, HYDRA, SSHE RETINA STIMULANTS, GRUNTSPLATTER, and STAHLNETZ. I've never seen a compilation that is dedicated exclusively to Power Electronics so I felt that this CD would fill that void. All the tracks are fucking incredible so I think it will really blow away people that are into this style of music.

What about Dead World activity?

I'm currently dedicating all my time to working on new DEAD WORLD material. I hope to release at least some kind of new EP later this year

Are you satísfied wíth your participation to Penus Rectus compilatíon? & more generally to compilations?

I like the track I did for the most part. The work DEATHPILE does now is much stronger than in the past. I do find that there are some definite failings with compilations in general. For instance, I hate appearing with bands that are assholes (you know who you are). My main motivation behind agreeing to all compilation appearances is to always further expose the DEATHPILE sound to new people. I think that is fundamentally important and worth the effort of doing comps.

Do you think there’s a new wave of american power noíse like you, Slogun. Strict, Bloodymínded?

Absolutely. America has some of the best bands. As far as straight noise goes, I find that RICHARD RAMIREZ, BLACK LEATHER JESUS and SKIN CRIME are the best in the world at this time. For Power Electronics we have all the American bands on "The Sound of Sadism" plus DEATH SQUAD, ULTRA, and TERRE BLANCHE which comprise a ton of competition for all other bands worldwide.

What are your future plans for Deathpile & Malsonus?

DEATHPILE will continue playing live but recording will cease until the new DEAD WORLD material is recorded. Hopefully "The Sound of Sadism" will be out soon as well as HOLLOW EARTH's "Dog Days of the Holocaust" and the AUBE/DEATHPILE collaboration CDs.

Anything to add?

Thank you for the interview Ben. For further information on DEATHPILE and related projects write to: MALSONUS: P O. Box 18193, Denver, CO 80218 USA. Or visit the Dead World / Malsonus web page :http:// members.tripod.com /~deadworld/ index.html.

Look out for John’s new project The Urge within with “raging inside” tape out on Labyrinth!

How do you usually work for creating a song? Do you use improvised vocals?

I always do the noise first to determine length and the approach I should take to the vocals and lyrics. I write lyrics most of the time although I have improvised on a few releases, my RRR Pure CD for example, and live. When I want to get drunk before a DEATHPILE performance I improvise the lyrics.

Have you tried some new things with "on the prowl"? What has influenced you for such album? Personnal prowling or famous serial killers ones (richard ramirez, david berkowitz, ted bundy,...)?

There was no specific influence aside from the name of the release. That came from a series of porn videos by Jamie Gillis. There are songs that deal with serial murder on the CD but just as many about sexual violence. I read quite a bit of true crime so that does come through into DEATHPILE often.

3) Can you tell us more about your project The urge within? releases? plans? Why such a different act?

I just have done one release and one live show. The tape is called "Rage" on Labyrinth/Circle of Shit. Both that release and the live show were my attempt to do analog noise similar to MB. I started this project as an outlet for non-vocal and conceptual experimental noise but I haven't done anything with it in a long time. Perhaps I'll do another release under that name one day.

4) Any new material from Dead World?

I am currently working with my friend David E. Williams on some new songs that may or may not use the DEAD WORLD name. My hesitation stems from the fact that what we have written so far is vastly different from previous DW material. There is no heavy guitar and the songs are much more subdued. I would compare this material to early COIL crossed with later SWANS although there are many other influences and approaches going on.