Babes in Boyland

This is an hour in the life of artist renegate, electro-feminist, uncompromising activist .... DIESEL. (or was it Remi who answered?) of course, we could have named her band first, it would have summed it all up. You would have got the sincerity, the integrity, the political and artistic perspective, the criticism, the refernce... and the humour: PHALLUS UBER ALLES.

An hour and no time to waste, if you don't know this band, check them out as soon as possible, but now you're here, you can read this interview first, thanks for your time, dear reader and you, DIESEL (and your work). We hope you'll enjoy the talk:

Babes in Boyland : Where and when did you meet?
Phallus Über Alles: We (Diesel and Remy) actually met ten years ago in high school in Memphis, TN

Babes in Boyland : What is Slave Industries? Can you tell us a little bit more about this artist/activist collective? What do you fight against/for? Are there some feminists in it?
Phallus Über Alles: Slave Indvstries is an artist collective that we formed in college with Jayson of Infec+ek, Mason of Exclipsect, and Jeremy of NYX. We all had a communal attitude and shared so much between one another that SI came to reflect that level of camaraderie and kinship. We are most interested in the free exchange of ideas, challenging and questioning everything that we see around us in every arena from politics to music to living. We love to see a multimedia approach and count the painters and clothing designers and graphic designers among us of equal importance with the musicians. In addition, we want to see a total DIY attitude in everything we do and we love the independent spirit that rules the music industry these days. Generally speaking, Slave Indvstries is a leftist collective, but we represent a broad spectrum of political beliefs. There is usually a lot of talk on our guestss about issues of politics both domestic and international, military, women’s rights, civil rights and, of course, music and so those are perhaps most broadly the things we fight for and against. As far as we know, men outnumber women in the guestss-- something we would like to change-- but among the men, there are quite a few with honorary vaginas.

Babes in Boyland : Do you feel strong in a wider, supportive activist community or do you feel isolated, ignored?
Phallus Über Alles: It’s a little of both. Activists can be quite clique-ish, as with all identifiable groups, and there have been times when we have felt the burn of a snub because our politics do not perfectly match. On the other hand, the recent US election proved that large bodies of somewhat disparate people can unite under a common objective and, when that happens, it feels so powerful and moving that being a part of it is electrifying. We would love to see more openness among people, less hostility in the sharing of ideas, and we generally want to be a part of a great activist community.

Babes in Boyland : Is the collective PUA from driven by a Do It Yourself spirit or not? How/when/why did you manage to create it?
Phallus Über Alles: Definitely! That DIY drive most likely stems from our personalities more than anything else, but it has come to be a cornerstone of Slave Indvstries. Particularly in the midst of the Wal-Mart age where quality is sacrificed for affordability, we have come to cherish those things hand-crafted and artisan-made, and we celebrate the creativity and beauty that springs from limited means. We have among us people who have always made their own clothing or fashioned furniture from found objects, built their own musical instruments, or spent fruitful evenings diving in dumpsters for useful items other people have discarded and so, when approaching creating CDs for distribution or promotion of our bands, we tend to do so from a very DIY perspective: what recycled materials can we use for the packaging, where can we paint stencils that would catch people’s eyes, how can we augment our stage shows to make them more memorable for the audience? When we need technology or need an instrument to perform a certain function, we also tend to teach ourselves how to modify it to our own needs. We hope our DIY spirit never dies.

Babes in Boyland : What and who influences/-d you as musicians or as lyricists?
Phallus Über Alles: We find our influences from sometimes bizarre, sometimes obvious places. Other musicians and genres of music play a prominent role, but they may not always be the kinds of music that one would initially think of... For PÜA, most people recognize the digital hardcore influence, but what they probably don’t hear is how much sound exploration and noise have influenced us or how much video game themes and old blues songs influence us. There is music in everything, and it is our goal to find it.

Babes in Boyland : Who does what in the band?
Phallus Über Alles: Currently we have three members: Sinderella is our newest addition to our live show, and she plays bass and does second vocals. Remy and Diesel write all of the music. For performances, Remy handles all of the electronics live and Diesel does lead vocals. Depending on the show, either Remy or Diesel also plays the guitar.