20 years ago: Interview with CLAN OF XYMOX
(The following interview was first published in the Orkus! issue September 2003)
Nihilistic Melancholy – Part 2
20 years ago we did an extensive interview with Ronny Moorings of Clan of Xymox on the occasion of his then newly released album “Farewell”. We continue the conversation from the first part:
“…a dark, ominous mental torture.”
Orkus: May we ask where you got the samples that were included on “There’s No Tomorrow”?
Ronny Moorings: Those are from “Bitter Moon.” The film is about blind infatuation that the main protagonist feels towards his new love, but which he later tires of, as does she. Both of them desperately try to revive their partnership by any means, mainly by playing with other people and S/M games, but their relationship gradually turns into a dark, sinister mental torture. This fits perfectly with my lyrics, and the intro sets the mood for the song perfectly.
“….then this is an escape to my inner world…”
O: On the title track “Farewell” a very black atmosphere spreads more than ever.
RM: In fact, I wrote the song when I was fed up with everything, full of self-doubt and self-loathing, cynical about my own future – in other words, in a self-destructive mood, so I wanted to chuck everything I’d ever done and quit. The piece was a kind of self-therapy. My music is above all a personal therapy. When I lock myself in my studio, it’s an escape into my inner world and an invulnerability where I can give free rein to feelings I didn’t even know existed inside me. So I also felt much better after recording the song.
O: And why was this particular track chosen as the title of the entire album?
RM: Picking a record title can sometimes be a bit daunting as people are always looking for a hidden message. For me, the term “Farewell” has something very strong, and all of us have experienced such situations I must admit that I was in a sarcastic and cynical mood when I chose the title, especially in relation to the music industry and where it will all take us. In my opinion, we’re looking at a pretty bleak future where many bands will be dropped from their labels or entire labels will disappear. We are at an impasse that has already brought numerous acts to their knees. It’s a time when the record industry is on pretty shaky ground. If everyone actually copied music, the next time I finished an album there might not be any labels, distributors or record stores left.
O: What do you think about the record industry in general?
RM: The major companies don’t really interest me in the slightest, because their vision is abundantly limited, and I find their latest experiments in creating instant bands on demand quite off-putting. They want to target each segment of the market with a kind of purposefully produced Frankenstein prototype that, according to their marketing departments, is intended to appeal to a specific subculture. After all, the industry’s main complaint in this area is that they don’t sell enough records, but they are too blind to see that their policy of short-termism is working against them over a long period of time. In the last decade, numerous majors have already been bought out by other majors, reorganized, people laid off, new people brought in – and this is likely to continue until there is only one mega-corporation left trying to manipulate us all. There are several reasons why people are buying fewer CDs and burning some at home. Most people have a lot of things to focus on; they have their Internet, their cell phones, their Playstation, DVDs, and all the other expenses of our society, like rent, food, and things like that. No one earns enough to keep up with all this media; that’s how you make decisions about what to spend your money on. But since there aren’t very many really good releases from bands in a year, the industry is shocked that you don’t sell enough. But that’s also simply because groups put out one album a year – which, in my eyes, simply can’t be good. But unfortunately, musicians are also forced to do this, because they also have their cell phones, their Playstations, DVDs and computers, where they want to stay up to date.
O: And how would you solve this problem?
RM: I think if you lowered the number of releases a little bit, everyone would have more time to get to know a record, and could focus on the new releases more easily. The market is simply too oversaturated with a lot of known and unknown outputs. I would say everyone should support their favorite band: Buy their records and leave your Gameboy in peace! (laughs) Read a book…
In a week, we’ll be talking to Ronny about his own ideals and dark spots in life in the third and final part of our nostalgia interview.
Peter Sailer
You missed the first part? You can read it here .
Here you can read the review of “Farewell”:
Listen to “Farewell” on Spotify:
You can subscribe to the Orkus1.com newsletter here:
