We spoke to Jürgen Engler father of Die Krupps about the bands double vision.
Can you tell us about new album Vision 2020 Vision?
The new album was supposed to be a combination of classic Die Krupps but [with an up-to-date] sound. You got the pumping sequencers paired with heavy guitars, the trademark of DK, which I call metal machine music.
Lyrically the new album was based on a vision I had; 2020 was the year that would change the world, and it certainly has. I could clearly see the signs that we were in for a very tough year. I have the news on in my house all day long, until I go to sleep at night, I can even hear it in my studio. I’m always up to date and all that I hear finds a way into the music and lyrics. That was the basis for the new album vision 2020 vision. And as we know now prophecy became reality.
“Industrial stood for Art, Rebellion, Innovation and Confrontation.”
Die Krupps played a big part in the popularity of industrial music in the 90’s but what inspired you then and how does that compare to now?
The first album The Stahlwerksinfonie was released in 1981, even before the first Einstuerzende Neubauten, and was pure experimental industrial noise. That was long before industrial music was even called [industrial.] We [laid] the groundwork for ebm with more danceable hard electro tracks paired with metal percussion and by the end of the 80s, when combining electro and metal elements, [made] what was later to be called industrial metal. We always [try to innovate] and never follow anybody, [we] stay ahead of the pack.
In the beginning I was highly influenced by Pere Ubu’s The Modern Dance, the first Suicide album and Lou Reed’s Metal Machine Music, although there is no direct audible influence to be heard in our music.
We have long found our niche and signature sound, so all that influences me nowadays stems from hearing the news and observing the changes around me.
Do you feel the philosophy of industrial music has changed since die krupps came onto the scene?
It has changed dramatically as most people don’t even know what Industrial is, or stood for. A distorted pop song is not industrial.
Here in the U.S. Industrial [music] has never had a direct connection with the origins of the genre. Industrial [was happening] in the U.S. [even when] nobody here took notice.
In Germany and England we picked up the fragments and put them together [to] build the basis for this genre. [For us] Industrial stood for Art, Rebellion, Innovation and Confrontation. You need an enemy to create something like that, but most bands nowadays don’t know that. I wish new bands wouldn’t try to sound like [everyone] else. You have to be different to keep the scene alive. And understand the roots. You should incorporate elements of it into your music.
“Globalization […] just separates people and creates more friction.”
If you were required to write an album with only one of these, a synthesiser or a sampler, which one would you choose and why?
[I’d take] a synthesizer over a sampler, always. I never could have created the signature DK sound with a sampler. A synthesizer is alive. Whereas a sampler is a dead instrument. Without feeding it sounds it wouldn’t even be usable. I also love to tweak sounds [to] get what I want. I’m a very happy owner of a great collection of synths [and they are] the basis for our sound. Without them I couldn’t do and we wouldn’t be who we are.
No sampler can replace what makes Die Krupps sound like Die Krupps. A sampler to me is an additive element [and] never the heart of the machinery.
What do you see for the future of music?
The last 20 years haven’t brought much change or innovation. Trends came and disappeared, but there are no more youth movements, and that’s really what’s needed. A global underground movement, like punk or grunge for example.
Globalization should make it easier but it seems like it just separates people and creates more friction. I’m hoping for the moment when a new generation is sick of the status quo again and rebels. Stagnation is the biggest enemy of art and progress, and we can’t let this go on.
Let’s lock ourselves in and try to reinvent the wheel. We have to anyway now. We will see permanent changes in society following the virus disaster. You must adapt. Accept the new normal. The future has begun.
[Article has been edited for brevity. – Ed]
