At the risk of sounding not as cool as the rest of you, I can pinpoint the two exact moments in my life when Killing Joke really clicked with me. First, was hearing Metallica’s rendition of “The Wake” on their Garage Days EP, the cover of which turned me on my pimply teenaged head and had me giving additional thought to giving the band a second chance after their post-punkness failed to pierce my armoured thrash metal-obsessed exterior. Second, it was 1990’s Extremities, Dirt and Various Repressed Emotions album that cemented the sell and turned me into the googly-eyed fanboy I (basically) remain today. Loaded with bangers like “Money is Not Our God,” “Age of Greed,” “The Beautiful Dead,” “Inside the Termite Mound” and “North of the Border,” Extremities is easily in my top three of KJ’s fifteen-strong discography. So, when I got wind that former drummer Martin Atkins (1988-91) was putting together a one-night only revival of said album, well…excuse my excitement!
THE DETAILS:
MARTIN ATKINS PRESENTS: Killing Joke’s Extremities to be performed in its entirety for the first time in 33 years with original drummer Atkins, a group of friends and musical collaborators, in Chicago at Reggie’s on November 28th.
“So here I am once more, falling backwards into the universe… Listening to the album a lot has made me fall in love with it all over again, or, maybe more accurately, for the first time. It was a painful triumph when we made it, our bodies too tensed as we pushed through the wall, to relax and absorb where we were. Now, I can listen and feel it. And try my best to honor it.”
—Martin Atkins
Read Atkins’ thoughts in their entirety, here.
From the official press release:
“Iconic post-punk drummer, producer, record-label founder, teacher and lecturer Martin Atkins (Public Image Limited, Ministry, Nine Inch Nails, Pigface, Murder Inc.) returns to the live stage and behind the kit to revisit Killing Joke’s 1990’s ominous release, Extremities, Dirt And Various Repressed Emotions for one night only Nov 28th at Reggie’s in Chicago. Atkins will revisit the energy he felt when he joined Killing Joke in 1988 to propel the band before leaving in 1991. “Extremities is a huge part of my history as a musician, composer and producer,” Atkins says. ‘And after 33 years, I think it’s something that needs thrust back into the world.’
“The lineup so far includes characters from the various realms of industrial, metal and hardcore. Lamb of God’s dynamic vocalist Randy Blythe summons the fear and integrity inherent in these songs. Guitarist Steven Seibold of Hate Dept., carries the specific ability to capture Geordie’s legacy for positively glorious results. Bassist Justin Pearson (The Locust, Deaf Club, Planet B) is the perfect foil to assist Atkins in the requisite propulsion. I Speak Machine’s charismatic and commanding vocalist/synth-queen, Tara Busch and electro-punk stalwart, vocalist Nicola Kuperus of ADULT., add atmosphere and abject terror to the proceedings. The contributions of Pigface alumni Leyla Royale (cello) and Orville Kline (synths and samples) bring all the textures to heighten the experience. Former Killing Joke tour manager/author/raconteur Steve Silver will regale attendees with a history of that era of the band, one that fans were previously cordoned off from.”
To celebrate and also take advantage of this opportunity, I cornered the ever-explicative, storyteller extraordinaire and picked his brain about his top five favorite road memories from that era and beyond. True to form, he hit me back with his top five-and-a-half and not even all of them are road stories.
TOP 5.5 ROAD STORIES
1) When Killing Joke opened for Tool a few years ago the righteous hysteria from long term loyal fans was delusional (“Tool should be opening for Killing Joke!”), but sweet, and reminded me of a situation we had right before I left the band. We were offered a string of dates across Europe opening for the Pixies. I was excited as I was a big fan, but the rest of the band were incensed. In between pots of tea from the mighty FiL, a vibe started to hatch: how can we fuck them up? “Hahaha,” I thought, underestimating my bandmates’ righteous indignation and their commitment to fuck-uppery. I think [vocalist] Jaz [Coleman] and [guitarist, Kevin] Geordie [Walker] had some ideas about incantations and lay lines that would create physical force fields and disorientate the fans, or the band, or a combination of both. [Bassist] Paul Raven stepped up to the plate: “I can do something with the silver paper out of a cigarette packet and a paper clip. It’ll blow the bass amp and could possibly start a fire!” “Whaaaaaat!?” I exclaimed, but Jaz and Geordie were delighted, rubbing their hands together in glee. I jumped in, “I have an idea,” everyone leaned forward. They should’ve been around their witches cauldron, but there was just the tea pot. “What if we play the best Killing Joke set possible? All killer, no filler! ‘Change,’ ‘Love Like Blood,’ ‘WarDance,’ ‘Beautiful Dead,’ ‘Money is Not Our God,’ ’Eighties,’ ‘Night Time’? Basic rock and roll shit, right!” They thought it was a good idea. A few weeks later, we delivered that set to thousands of delighted European fans and it worked. I got to see [Pixies members] Charles (Black Francis) at the side of the stage with [bassist] Kim [Deal], shitting their pants. Wonderful. Too late for me to change my mind about staying with the band, but nice all the same.
2) When we were on the road with the Pixies, I’m reminded of what a creative productive time that was. I was fresh off the road with Ministry, had started Pigface, and armed with a DAT machine and my binaural stereo microphone I recorded [Pigface album] Gubs “Symphony For Taps” in a dressing room in Barcelona (I think), letting the faulty plumbing resonate and throb like a Giorgio Moroder Moog bass line, occasionally flushing the toilet next to the faucet, too. Also, perhaps in Barcelona too, we closed down a bar. I don’t mean we shut that fucker down, I mean we were there when the bar closed and as the bartender hit the ‘report’ button on the cash register, it leapt into dot matrix print mode. I leapt up to my room and asked him to repeat the process so I could record it and it became the loop that starts the Murder Inc. song “We’ve Come to Fuck You Over.” On the original DAT recording I can hear Paul Raven explaining to the bartender that we are a band called Killing Joke.
3a) The announcement of the Extremities event, the museum’s upcoming fourth birthday [the Museum of Post Punk and Industrial Music located in Chicago which Atkins curates] and recent significant acquisitions have put me in a reflective and thankful state of mind. I’ve been drumming (in the main room at the museum) too. It’s not simple and not easy for my arthritic fractured fingers, but that is unimportant. I need to talk about the Killing Joke event and what just happened. Too meaningful I think for my usual description of ‘bonkers!’ I’ve italicized some comments from ChatGPT: “Performing Extremities again after 33 years is already spiritual. In esoteric numerology (which Crowley, Jaz, and chaos magicians take very seriously), 33 is the ‘Master Teacher’ number — representing transformation, sacrifice, and higher purpose. In Killing Joke terms, this is not nostalgia: this is ritual return. You’re not just revisiting an album, you’re reactivating a spiritual current.” OK so, let me describe the events of last week…… I am trying to create this event correctly and be respectful of families, legacy and band members, so I sent a message to Jaz through his manager letting him know what I was up to. She responded later in the week that Jaz sent his very best and was busy himself working on a new work centered on the works of Aleister Crowley. I responded and mentioned that the Crowley Thoth Tarot deck (now at the museum) was the deck he and Geordie used to give me a reading during my first few days in the band! A few days later I was at a stop light when I saw a return message from his manager: ‘I just spoke with Jaz and he roared with laughter!’ I looked up and the car in front of me, license plate: KWALKER. Areyoufuckingkiddingme?? The lineup for the night is amazing can’t wait!
3b) I recently found six of the demos Geordie and I made with Steve Albini at his 8-track studio on Francisco Street. This isn’t a paragraph with a raucous story, but just a moment in time that’s special. I’d just finished the Ministry Cage tour and I wanted Killing Joke to reclaim their place in the middle of all of this. Jaz kept sending me and Geordie ballads! Ballads! Eventually after many faxes back and forth, Geordie came to Chicago and we went to Albini’s place to record six ideas that all made it onto the Extremities album. That 8-track tape machine now sits in my studio.
4) 2024 South Wabash Avenue in Chicago is a special place in the history of industrial music having housed Steve Silver, Lab Report, Invisible Records, Mattress Factory Studios and H Gun Video. The first scenery I made was the dollar bills for Killing Joke’s “Money is Not Our God” video we were shooting at the Metro. I made miles of the stuff and a small few pieces still exist. There are two cutaways from the Metro video. One is the shotgun scene on the roof. The other is Jaz gleefully dousing a cash register with gasoline then setting it on fire. The explosion (we tried to warn him!) leapt flames up through the L train tracks and stopped trains for 90 minutes while the police investigated. Fun fact: H Gun filmed NINs “Down In It.” The scene where Trent is beaten up in the alley is the same spot. Needs a blue plaque, I think?
5) Geordie Set the Keyboard Player On Fire – A Journey. Your first response to this might be – that’s outrageous! And I think that would’ve been mine too, until I spent some time on the road with Dave [Kovacevic], the keyboard player. I tried to be nice for a while, but shit started to mount up. He was upset one Christmas. We’d just played Portchester Hall, my second gig with the band after a warm up in Birmingham. He was upset. At first, everyone rallied around to try and cheer him up. Turns out the day after Xmas was the worst day at the cat euthanasia facility he had chosen to work in. Anyway, fast forward eight months after a show and we are in Florida and Dave is in full stream in the hotel room. At the end of the corridor in the room, he is telling a girl he is the sexiest guy in the band. Not a throwaway remark made sarcastically, but a point-by-point case made by a cat killing accountant type. After a while, Geordie pulled out a fuel refill can for his lighter, opened up the nozzle on the end, sprayed it all over his shoes and set him on fire. I don’t remember him stopping talking at all. The flames from his feet started to flicker yellow and orange on the ceiling in the confines of the hallway. Time stood still. It was glorious really. Eventually, of course, he realized what was up and danced around a bit before stamping it out. His shoes were pretty damaged and the lace up area was burned along with the skin underneath. He spent the next few days shoeless, hobbling around with orange ointment and cotton wool situated around his flip flops.
Purchase General Admission tickets, here.
Purchase VIP tickets, here.
The post Show Announcement/Preview: Martin Atkins Presents: Killing Joke’s <em>Extremities</em> appeared first on Decibel Magazine.