Thanks to Paul Abramson from VAN RICHTER RECORDS, I was able to arrange this interview with German Industrial band TESTIFY. Myk Jung was kind enough to answer my questions about his band's style of aggro Thrash and Industrial.
When and where was Testify formed?
TESTIFY was formed in late '92, in Essen, Western Germany, in the Industrial area named Ruhrgeblet. It was after Rascal's return from London where he had found his inspiration and clearer vision of what TESTIFY might be, for already in the summer of '92 we had only blurred ideas of what it might be. The artistic idea behind this could be: TESTIFY should be the harsh super powered BLACK AVENGER in the aural dimension, filled with wrath about a world that's going sick.
Can you catalog your releases to date, including videos and promotional releases?
There are three releases yet: the Testify EP, Testify Your Vision (released in Germany in May '93), the Testify album (European release October '93, USA March '94) and the Ballroom Killer mini album which was released in the winte '94/'95. The "A.N.G.E.R" video is the only real/professional video production so far.
What other bands/projects have the members of TESTIFY participated in?
As you perhaps know, TESTIFY was started as a sideproject of the old German band, THE FAIR SEX, which works more on electronic fields. There are some more projects we are connected with, for example 1A.M. or NGBLEED which are completely unknown in the States, having no releases so far. But this may change some day, of course.
TESTIFY has been stylistically compared to both MINISTRY and SKREW. How do you feel about such comparisons?
MINISTRY and SKREW are members'sf the same Industrial family, so to say, and they are great, but TESTIFY has its own individual features, for example the pornographic samples as you find them in "Spoil".
If forced, how would you label the music of TESTIFY?
TESTIFY represents the sound of dissatisfaction, wrath, burning-soul-rage, insane thought patterns. Angry lost half-humans as they are, I fear.
Who are some of your influences, in both the Industrial and Metal genres?
MINISTRY and SKREW. Ha. And Drown, and 16 Volt, and NIN, and Skinny Puppy, and Front Line Assembly, and Rolling Stones, and... and I could go on for years, because we copy anything we ever heard and decided to like.
What other media do you find influential?
Sixties movies, Eighties soundtracks, Science Fiction books, Splatterpunk stores, our own nightmares, nowadays newspapers, comic books like "Sandman" from DC, European theatre performances when they treat the theme of the sickening human brain, and so on... we find too many things influential I guess.
How do you feel that the Industrial music scene has and will evolve?
It will become bigger and bigger, in Europe as well as in the States, that's what I hope and think.
What future plans do you have for TESTIFY?
Let us finish our new album (perhaps with the help of Adam from Skrew), and then we will make the next move, which will be something like controlling the world, or fucking girls that are definately too young, or even paying our bills, or getting rid of this burning feeling which should befall anyone who hears of guys that have in mind to abuse young ladies' bodies...
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