Álex Balaclava interviews Chris Korda for Belio

September 26, 2001

An article based on this interview was published in a Spanish magazine called Belio. A copy of the article's text is here and an English translation is here.

You’d define yourself sexually as…?

I wouldn’t. All proposals will be seriously considered. Please include a recent photo.

I think Music has no specific sex (I find absurd to speak of ‘gay music’, for instance), but I do believe that sexuality can somehow influence Music when making or performing it ¿What’s the importance of sex in your life and in your music?

I don’t find “gay music” more absurd than any other aspect of consumer culture. The essential function of technological society is to replace diversity (both biological and social) with monoculture. One way it does this is by creating “fake” diversity: a profusion of shallow styles of “fake” consumer culture. I call these cultures “fake” because they are so obviously subservient to, and dependent on, the “one world” global, standardized culture of industrialism. Gay culture is one of the richest and most powerful of the “fake” cultures, and it shouldn’t be at all surprising that it has its own music, as well as its own clubs, restaurants, resorts, and politicians.

In case you couldn’t make the music you actually do what other kind of music you think you’d do? Or, to say it in other way, did you think about working with other musical styles (such as Electro-Country-Opera, or whatever)?

I’ve made many different kinds of music, ranging from popular to unlistenable. Over the last five years or so I’ve been interested in electronic music, and by sheer luck some of my electronic music happened to attract the attention of someone who liked it and was in a position to distribute it (DJ Hell). Success of any kind tends to generate a demand for more of the same, but that doesn’t mean I want to keep doing the same thing. I have to balance the advantages of making more electronic music that might interest Gigolo (further distribution, further success), against the disadvantage of losing time that might otherwise be spent doing something else.

Tell us about your musical influences and your personal heroes in Music–if you have any. Let us know about your musical background and personal musical course

My main influences are John Abercrombie, Ralph Towner, Jan Hamer, and Pat Metheny. I’ve also been influenced by 70’s psychedelic music (Jefferson Airplane, Grateful Dead, etc.), 70’s art-rock (Pink Floyd, Yes, etc.), and 80’s music including punk (Fear, Suicidal Tendencies, etc.), new wave (Cars, Talking Heads, etc.), and avant-garde (Lori Anderson, Brian Eno, Phillip Glass). I studied bebop and music theory for years, I used to teach guitar, and I’ve played in a few obscure bands.

Tell us about your social influences and your personal heroes in this area–if you have any. Do you think there’s any real connection between the musical and the social or it all’s just words?

My main social hero is Saint Kevorkian, also known as Dr. Jack Kevorkian, who is currently in prison, serving a life sentence for helping more than 150 people commit suicide. I also greatly admire Jacques Ellul, the french author of “The Technological Society,” despite the fact that he was a Catholic. Margaret Sanger is another hero, despite her support for eugenics; she almost single-handedly made birth control a fact of modern life.

Do you prefer American or European Music? Maybe both of them depending on musicians and styles?

In general, Europe is more supportive of experimental and electronic music. In the larger picture, any remaining differences between European and American culture are rapidly being erased by globalization. It takes time, but eventually you’ll learn that McShit is good for you and tasty too.

What’s the real importance of Club Culture? And what’s its importance for you? Do you find main differences between American and European clubs?

Blessed are the masses that worship at the perfectly standardized, plastic altar of disco. How nice that in our brave new world, the great stars are DJs, who have mastered the fine art of consuming records. How inspiring that thousands gather to watch the great consumers spin their oh-so-unique and expensive treasures. How grateful we are for the deafening volume, which relieves us of the tiresome burden of communicating with our fellow partygoers. How noble that an entire generation of humans have permanently damaged their hearing. The notion that in every country, at every hour, people are wearing the same clothes, saying and consuming the same things, and dancing to the same boring music, fills me with indescribable fear and loathing. What slogan could more aptly describe the horror of a fascistic, sterilized world than the Love Parade’s slogan, “One world, one future”?

Let us know any remarkable records that have influenced you

“The Mystery of the Bulgarian Voices.”

The same for Books and Movies, and whatever other cultural or artistic expressions you think about

David Lynch’s “Eraserhead.” George Lucas’ THX-1138. “O-Zone” by Paul Theroux.

Tell us about 4 or 5 musicians you’d love to work with

I wouldn’t. I’m too anti-social.

The same for any musicians you hate (them or their work)

Musicians don’t rate very high on my list of things to hate. They seem relatively harmless, compared to computer programmers, or interviewers for example.

Explain us or describe in 5 or 6 lines the main porpoises of the Church of Euthanasia.

The Church of Euthanasia seeks to restore balance between humans and the remaining non-human species, through voluntary population reduction. The Church has only one commandment, “Thou shalt not procreate,” and every member of the Church takes a lifetime vow to not procreate. The four “pillars” of the Church are suicide, abortion, cannibalism, and sodomy, and they are all optional.

The same for your music in 1 or 2 lines. Can you define it somehow? And please explain us the connection between it and the Church of Euthanasia.

I really can’t define it in 1 or 2 lines. You’ll just have to listen to it yourself and form your own opinions. The music in some cases expresses the Church of Euthanasia’s ideas, and in some cases, not. The most concrete musical expressions of the Church’s ideas can be found in “Save The Planet, Kill Yourself,” and “Six Billion Humans Can’t Be Wrong.”

The Church of Euthanasia is actually closer to:
a) The Association in defence of turkeys against Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Eve
b) The Village Green Preservation Society
c) The Association in praise of self-mutilation
d) Aleister Crowley’s Golden Dawn
e) Ufo Sects

The Church of Euthanasia may be the world’s only anti-human religion. It is similar in some respects to its sister organizations, which are VHEMT (Voluntary Human Extinction Movement) and the GLF (Gaia Liberation Front).

What do you regard as more important, the music or the message?

They are both important to me.

What are your performances like? What do you expect when you go to see an artist play live?

My performances are quite dull, like most electronic music performances. I stand behind a table, sliding faders and clicking on things with a mouse, while waving my arms around to make it look more interesting. People nonetheless find it entertaining, which is no surprise in an intellectual climate where people literally spend hours watching someone spin records. I could be a mannequin or a robot, and the effect would probably be much the same. Kraftwerk explored this idea in their live performances many years ago, by making robots of themselves, and while I admire their sense of humour, the reality is considerably less amusing.

How you see yourself: more as a composer, as a performer, as a global artist, all of these or what?

I am a visionary, by which I mean that I have received a vision. Since 1992 I have devoted my life to expressing this vision in various forms. I usually choose a particular form because it fulfills one or more of the following criteria:
a) It reaches very large numbers of people (e.g. the appearances on Jerry Springer and other TV shows).
b) It’s economically self-sustaining (e.g. “Save The Planet Kill Yourself” bumper stickers and other merchandise that propagandizes the Church’s message).
c) It takes advantage of a unique situation, allowing what would ordinarily be an ineffective action to become powerful (e.g. organizing a fetus barbeque at a Catholic pro-life rally).
d) It has some personal appeal (e.g. making music, which I did before I had the vision).

Let us know the path your themes take from the basic idea to the final result.

Rapid expansion followed by slow, tedious detail work.

What do you think of Underground nowadays? Is there a possibility for it or no longer exists due to stuff like Internet and so on (since many people actually talk about ‘Overground’, no Underground at all).

As I understand it, the term “underground” describes a marketing strategy that targets young people. I don’t know what other meaning the word could have in a media-soaked global society.

Some say Electronic Music is driving itself into a dead end. That the only way it may survive is to be assimilated by other kinds of Music, such as happened to Punk (Today Punky may be considered more as an attitude than a concrete, defined sound, except if you’re into revival).

Don’t worry! Other equally ridiculous categories will rise up to take its place.

Who are your enemies (If you’ve got any)?

Leftists, especially the hippie non-violent kind who stage these anti-globalization riots. Every time the Church shows up at a leftist demonstration, the hippies try to beat me up. Non-violent my ass! These people demand total conformity; it’s terrifying. The right-wingers can be just as dangerous, but they are usually less hypocritical about it.

Did you find any kind of discrimination towards you in the music world or simply you are considered too extreme or weird to be discriminated?

Only if discrimination includes not buying my records. My music is almost totally unknown in the United States, and doesn’t sell so well even in Europe, despite the tireless efforts of Gigolo records. Considering its unusual style and subject matter, it always surprises me that it sells at all.

A normal day in the life of Chris Korda is like…

It’s not that interesting, trust me.

Do you feel satisfied with your work or do you have any complain about the results? (It seems to me you must be very demanding, very exacting)

It is very demanding and exacting. I have no complaint about the results, but I’m exhausted.

How do you picture yourself 30 years on or more both musical and personally?

With less hair, and quite possibly with less teeth. Brush after every meal, and use dental floss!

Did you imagine, say, 10, 15 years ago, that your life would be like this?

No, not at all. My life changed dramatically after 1992. I guess visions do that to people.

And how is your life actually?

Not so bad. I live in a rich country, so I don’t have any serious problems, the way someone in Lebanon or Afghanistan does, for example. My main problem in life consists of coming up with new reasons not to kill myself. So far I’ve been successful, but it’s getting more difficult all the time.

You were seen around in the last edition of the Sonar Festival in Barcelona: What’s your opinion about it? What did you like in it and what you didn’t? Would you fancy performing in Sonar?

My performance at Sonar went well, and the audience seemed to enjoy it. The Sonar organizers were very helpful and professional, and I’m extremely grateful for that.

Have you got any concrete opinion about Spain? Do you like any Spanish musical act?

Vittoria is the future. Globalization is coming soon to a city near you. On the other hand, the old parts of Barcelona still have a lot of their original medieval character, and some of the beaches up north (around Bilbao) are very beautiful. I was happy to see plenty of evidence of imperial decline, and particularly the “five gastronomic signs of imperial decline” (white flour, sugar, drinking before noon, overcooked vegetables, bulimia).

What are your fans like?

It’s depressing, I don’t want to talk about it.

Any advice for newcomers to your music?

Don’t forget to mention the Church of Euthanasia in your suicide note.

Euthanasia can be described as some kind of assisted suicide. What do you think about the way that the terrorists helped several thousands of Americans (plus some foreigners) find the death in the Twin Towers and Pentagon attacks?

Technically the Church can’t endorse their actions, since we only support voluntary suicide. That doesn’t prevent me from admiring their actions personally.

Do you feel horny or rather insecure about the possibility of new terrorist attacks?

Definitely horny. I know I’m not the only person in the United States who got a sexual thrill from watching the Twin Towers get blown up, but I’m one of the few who will admit it. It’s nice to see Americans getting fucked for a change.

Do you regard stupid the people of North America, the Western Man or generally the whole human race?

All of the above.

Regarding the Twin Towers disaster, in case you’d have enough money and power to, what would do about in NYC?
a) Build an enormous, solemn Mausoleum in victims’ memory
b) Rebuild the towers and hire ever-smiling people to make them flutter all around pretending nothing ever happened
c) Leave it all the way it is and make a concert and Festival area out of it (some kind of horrid Woodstock) so musicians may play and perform upon the wreckage and mutilated corpses remainders.
d) Erect a Museum in the way of Hiroshima’s Peace Museum –but placing Disney Buena Vista to do it

If I had that kind of money and power I wouldn’t screw around. I would release an airborne virus that only killed humans, with a second release a few weeks later, to get the politicians and generals, after they came out of their bunkers.

How do you feel now the Twin Towers, a double phallic symbol to Western World has disappeared? How do you feel by seeing Pentagon turned into a Square, something of a Boxing ring? Do you think the USA still can win the game with no towers left on the chessboard?

I feel a bit better, but only a bit. In the big picture there’s nothing to hope for but more of the same. The industrial nations will continue to slaughter anyone who interferes with their strategic interests, and the “developing” nations will occasionally find a new and exciting way to return the favor. The industrial nations will use this as an excuse to further restrict the feeble constitutional freedoms that we’re supposed to be so grateful for. Meanwhile, it will be business as usual, with the monkeys marching off to work every day, drinking and drugging themselves into oblivion at night, and then fucking each other to make more monkeys. Maybe you think this is a game but I certainly don’t.

One of the Church of Euthanasia’s mottoes says: “Paedophile priests for life”. Do you base this slogan in any personal experience you lived in your childhood?

I base it on the following observations. Why do Catholics oppose abortion, suicide, euthanasia, birth control, and sex-education? What do they all have in common? The common element between all of these is the body. The Catholic religion is essentially hatred of the body, which smells, eats, shits, has sexual urges, and ultimately dies. Many Catholic rituals express this hatred literally by whipping or otherwise punishing the body for its sins. Why do they hate the body so? Because it is a constant reminder of our animal nature, and of our mortality. A religion that places humans above every other living species, and shuns the reality of day-to-day life, while longing for an imaginary perfect world after death, is bound to be offended by any suggestion that we are in fact hairless monkeys. Thus we have the paradox of life-hating Catholic priests, who are ultimately driven by their monkey nature to furtive sexual encounters with young boys. Interestingly, the technological utopians (a.k.a. trans-humanists), who seek to “download” their consciousness into machines and escape into outer space, can be viewed as modern Catholics. The same escapism, the same denial of our animal nature, and the same rejection of the limitations of life can be observed in both movements. Rave culture is profoundly influenced by trans-humanism, especially the idea that humans will transform themselves into a “hive” of intelligent machines and spread throughout the universe. The real tragedy is that in their futile effort to realize these absurd fantasies of interplanetary conquest, humans have done, and continue to do irreversible damage to earth’s ecosystems.

I think there’s a lot of black humour in most of your words and public manifestations, but I guess many people in the USA see you as a menace. Do you think your commentaries would be seen in Europe in the same way or, otherwise, would not be taken seriously? Do you find many differences between Europe and America?

I don’t know about Europe as a whole. I have found a receptive audience for my ideas in Germany, and to a certain extent in Spain. The absence of nationalism in post-war Germany may help to explain why anti-humanism is taken seriously there; for a generation that grew up ashamed to be German, being ashamed to be human is not such a huge leap. About Spain I’m not so sure; possibly it’s because of the centuries of Catholic repression, and the anarchistic ideas that flourished briefly during the civil war. Regarding America, the originally proposed cover for “Six Billion Humans Can’t Be Wrong” provides an illuminating example. The photo shows me lying inside one of the ovens at the Dachau concentration camp. The photo couldn’t be used in Germany, but in America, it poses no problem; most Americans are so ignorant of history that they assume it’s a pizza oven.

Are your campaigns very successful? What if they’d told you one day: “Three million people have committed suicide after buying Chris Korda’s CD”?

Of course they aren’t successful, nor will they be. I don’t do all this because I have some utopian leftist idea that I’m going to change the world. I do all this to bear witness to the ugliness of human society, and because I want other humans to know why we deserve extinction. I don’t care about the future; the man of the future is an engineered product. We will continue trying to escape into space until there’s nothing left but rats, roaches, pigeons, and people, and then we’ll finally become extinct. After that, if we haven’t totally destroyed the atmosphere, eventually some form of non-human life may flourish on the earth again. But don’t count on it.

Korda for President? I guess it should end up by encouraging the voters to be wiped out with a few nuclear heads assistance to.

This will never happen, so it seems pointless to discuss it.

Do you see yourself as a Star? At least as an Underground Star, in the way of Warhol’s? In case not so, would you like to be a Star? What does it mean to be a Star for you? The Mother of Annihilation?

I probably am a star in some fashion, but I don’t think that’s anything to be proud of. It’s one of the prices that I’ve had to pay in order to communicate my vision to large numbers of people.