KMFDM
Published October 05, 2003
Sascha Konietzko is founder, bassist, programmer, sometime-vocalist, producer and focal point for the German/American industrial group KMFDM (which stands for "Kleine Mitleid Fur Das Mehrheit," translated "No Pity For the Majority"), perfecters of the metal guitar and electronic beats approach to industrial music.
KMFDM has released classic albums Money, Angst, Naive/Hell To Go, Nihil, and Xtort, which feature some of industrial's best songs: "Virus," "Godlike," "Money," "Light," "A Drug Against War," "Sucks," and "Juke Joint Jezebel" - every one of which features razor-sharp guitars, a hummable tune, clever lyrics, and a danceable beat in the funky-to-brutal range.
Sascha Konietzko was born in 1961 and grew up in Hamburg, Germany. He chafed under a typically conservative father who didn't approve of his son's music ("What's all this fucking hippie-type, hash-consuming, nincompoop doodling noise?"), friends, hair ("hippie-to-be little girl"), or contemptuous attitude.
Young Konietzko was torn between respect for his father's idiosyncratic pleasures (a professional hydrologist, Konietzko senior recorded tribal beats as a hobby while testing water along the Congo for the Belgian Royal Zoo), and rebellion against his father's autocratic ways.
Konietzko, a bassist, joined his first band when he was 11. His most pervasive early influences were glam-rockers like T. Rex, Alice Cooper, Sweet and Slade. In 1976, when punk rock was bubbling up in England and America, Konietzko was in the first punk band in Hamburg.
"It was definitely a very interesting time to make music. Punk rock really opened my eyes in terms of 'you can just do it': if there are enough people who think it's cool, then it's just cool. It doesn't need any education, just a fucking urge. That liberated me from all kinds of constraints that were put on me by my parents and society in general," he said.
"Needless to say, everyone hated us: we were spitting beer, throwing raw meat and dead mice into the audience."
In the late-'70s, another, even more radical musical form emerged: "industrial" music (with instrumentation including power tools, and metal objects beaten upon with implements of destruction) created by bands like Throbbing Gristle, SPK, and a little later, Berlin's Einsturzende Neubauten ("Collapsing New Buildings").
"Everything started to take shape, and I was really intrigued by the idea of a mix of industrial aggression with a more-musical expression that was maybe going against the industrial ideal. I still liked glam rock, and I liked the industrialists, too. I could pretend that I was a hard-liner and industrial noise was the coolest thing to listen to, but deep down, listening to metal vessels being smashed against each other continuously was not my idea of art. I've always felt there must be some sort of hybrid solution."
KMFDM was formed by Konietzko and German painter/performance artist Udo Sturm, on February 29, 1984 to perform for the opening of an exhibition of young European artists at the Grand Palais in Paris. The performance consisted of Konietzko on five bass guitars run through five amplifiers placed "in strategically significant areas of the huge turn-of-the-century steel and glass construction," Sturm on a "fragmented Arp-2600 synthesizer in feedback mode," and "four Polish coal miners putting their tools of trade to work on the buildings," he recalls.
- KMFDM
- Published: October 05, 2003
- Type:
- Section: Music
- Filed Under: Music: Alternative Rock, Music: Electronica, Music: Metal
- Writer: Eric Olsen
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Comments on this articleComments
Thanks very much Brady, glad to hear there are some fans out there. I think they're great.
What, I used to know a guy named Brady that use to stage dive like Super Dave at the Houston KMFDM shows? That wasnt you was it?
Eric, great write up. I dont know where you got all that history, but it was a great read on a band that will always hold a place in my angst ridden teenage reflections. I personally think Naive was the most original and greatest album from KMFDM.
Thanks Brett, I got the information from the interview with Sascha himself, and from having most all the records.
I am probly one of those assholes who would walk up to sascha and ask for a pic with him but still i find myself to be stupid as fuck, i've been a fan for two years and i'm obsessed when ever i see a band member name or meet someone else who knows kmfdm(they are not very known around were i live)i light up it's just fuckin stupid i don't have high selfesteem hate pity and seem to be obsessed with german shit and kmfdm
Patrick, don't be so hard on yourself - it's great to be a fan, but remember they're just people too.
And I always heard that KMFDM stood for "Kill Mother Fucking Depeche Mode". Thanks for destroying one of my most cherished illusions, Eric.
I liked your piece,, but it kinda portrays Sascha as this like Elvis/Michael Jackson type fan-hater.. And hes not hes super nice and will take as many pictures and sign as many autographas as you want, but of course it is rude to go up to someone and ask them for that kind of thing when they are in the middle of theyre family time
I liked your piece,, but it kinda portrays Sascha as this like Elvis/Michael Jackson type fan-hater.. And hes not hes super nice and will take as many pictures and sign as many autographas as you want, but of course it is rude to go up to someone and ask them for that kind of thing when they are in the middle of theyre family time
Hey,
In German KMFDM means Kein Mitleid für die Mehrheit.
Hi there, everyone who listens to KMFDM!I knew about this band but have never penetrate to it seriously, and haven't read texts(lyrics).I wrote my own lyrics and poems...but now i understand that i'm not alone with such thoughts!Great!i'm inspired more than ever!Sasha is great!i'm not a fan and i dislike fanatism,but i'm just very, very proude of him!...be yourself!we'll make our band too to rise people up, now it's the only way i know!
great thanx to people who made and hosts this site! thanx!
Oh goodie! A post that has a little flavor form this neck of the woods (Seattle, Van BC). Good of them to keep on kickin'
peaceloveguidance
why yes, by way of Germany and Chicago
Very true. I love the pathway taken by this band. Very modern and global...
peaceloveguidance
So what are these guys doing now. They were - or still are??? - one of the best of their era?
Dude, it hasn't even been two years yet. The man did say it takes them a long time to put a new record together.
Fok! Great write up Eric. Love to see it draw in folks from the hinterland and beyond. You are so much more than just an MJ paparazzi!!!
Thanks for the inside view.
I covered a concert of theirs last Halloween:
here
Good shit Chris! If they ever hit Montreal (or Burlington, VT) I'll make an effort to check 'em out. Liked the dazed pov of your review. Honest, and powerful! Thanks!
thanks Bennett, was anyone under the impression that I'm NOT anything more than a "MJ paparazzi"? I was unaware this was an area of concern for me
in addition to Chris B's review, Chris Akin wrote about them here.
Heh... Twas a backhanded compliment for sure! Little doubt about it. Sounded funny to me last night, hope it made you chuckle.
Bennett
How do you do! Hello! He is Japanese KMFDM Hwang! A voyage is made from Japan for seeing the live of KMFDM of Berlin, Prague, and Wien in November! It is uncanny pleasure! Are you allowed to often carry out a blog look?
Hello! This is my favourite group! KMFDM I love you!!! Thanks a lot for this interview.
thanks Jim, so glad to hear that KMFDM still has a good following
As a listener with an interest in Ministry/NIN, I'd say KMFDM has a much more approachable sound--which Sascha himself wanted to do for the sake of art. Excellent stuff, very melodic. :P Nonetheless, great job on the release of Hau Ruck and keep going, the new is just as great, if not better, in cases, as the old.
Great background article but I always wondered why En Esch and Guenter left KMFDM.
how do you do and hello! KMFDM -- he is a great fan's Japanese. It went to see liveshow of kmfdm to berlin, praha, and vienna in November, last year. It is the smartest! tour this year also makes a voyage and goes from Japan. I am also doing blog.
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Great piece on KMFDM!
I've been a fan for over 10 years and good to see they are still at it. Definitely one of the best live performers I've seen.