Punish Yourself
After seeing Punish Yourself, French punk-goth-industrial band, at Texas Chainsaw Birthday Massacre on March 23 2007, we managed to get an interview with the vocalist, VX69.
When did the band start?
In the early nineties, but we didn’t really tour until 1998, when we issued our first album.
What made you want to start a band?
An uncontrollable urge to get alcohol for free and cheaper drugs. And sex of course. Maybe also the obvious fact we weren’t able to do anything else. We were real wankers and still are, in many ways.
Who’s who in the band and what are their roles?
Miss Z sings and plays guitar. Guitar, not bass; she gets very angry at people telling her how well she plays the bass. We don’t have a fucking bass player and she has never played a bass, but people tend to think a girl in a band always plays that awful four-strings instrument.
Xav is on the drums. Pierlox plays guitar and does some vocals.
I sing, program all machines and do the production and studio work.
What are your influences?
We are so easily influenced by music we like... I can’t list it all. But if we had to choose our most important influences, I’d say: Ministry, Sheep On Drugs, Hawkwind, Alien Sex Fiend, Foetus, Iggy Pop, White Zombie, The Cramps, Front 242 and digital-hardcore stuff. Having JL De Meyer singing on one of our songs was one of the most wonderful experiences we’ve had as a band.
Who is your fan base?
We have quite a strange audience. Lots of goths, punks, metal-heads, teenagers and techno-heads, everyone seems to like our music, even true-black-metal fans. It’s really mixed, lots of young girls, their mothers, gays and lesbians, people who enjoy visual stuff. It’s really strange sometimes when I talk to fans who don’t even know who Iggy Pop is and don’t get the humoristic side of our music and performance. Older people often get into the joke and the tribute aspect of our music.We’re a tribute band in a way, Iggy goes cyberpunk. Some people understand that and some don’t, they love us like we were some kind of Slipknot type band. After all, who cares?
Who writes your music?
We write the music collectively, this is not a one-man-band with additional musicians. But sometimes I get the strange feeling my computer is writing all the stuff.
How would you describe yourself to people?
Visually: a funny-scary-sexy-horrendous freak show with lots of black light and sparkles. Sonically: big machines with big guitars in your fucking face.
What image do you think your music conveys?
Decadence. Foolishness too.
In terms of your stage show you often refer to many visual effects, what kind of performance do you you try to produce and what does it include?
Basically, we use UV lights and UV-reacting bodypaint; we use a lot of paint. This is the basis of our show. We also have a dancer, Klodia, who throws sparkles with a metal grinder and fake snow when the machine works; plus a video background when that works, too. We've been often described as "fluorescent zombies", which is a shame. Zombies don't jump around the stage and end-up naked, we do. We still really don't know why we're doing all this, but as people seem to like it...
What are your songs about?
Sex, drugs, rock ’n’ roll, left-wing politics - Z-movies, science-fiction. Lots of cut-up wordplays. We sometimes write songs with meaning, but generally we don’t care about lyrics, we just try to create an overall atmosphere of a song.
What are your long-term goals?
Making records again and again. Touring again and again.
Drugs. Alcohol. Sex. We’ve been doing that for years and we’ll never stop.
What live performance experience have you had?
More than 400 gigs right now, across Europe and Canada, with almost any kind of band, from Oomph to The Skatalites. Some experiences were really incredible; opening for Rozz Williams, Fishbone, Suicidal Tendencies...
Tell us about your record label.
We are signed on Active-Entertainment, a small but active label. The sad part is they essentially work for the French market and we get bad deals on the international side. I won’t even mention the name of the fuckers we’re working with in the US. But we’re distributed by
Shellshock in Great Britain.
Finally, sum up your band in 3 words.
Sex, fun, and machines. Or the good, the bad and the ugly.
www.myspace.com/punishyourself
