The inteview with John Balistreri was done in 2005.
:: SLOGUN is well known project... but I still think we should start this interview with brief introduction... of you. Who is mister Balistreri? How old are you and where are you come from? What people should know about you when they meet you for the very first time?
I guess I'll start with the fact that I'm 36 years old, born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. I'm just a Sicilian guy who is obsessed with baseball, old New York City graffiti and serial killers, as well as collecting things. If you're not "real" with me, I don't want to know you.
:: I recall that your project's name comes from notorious composition of SPK. The track affected you so much that you have decided to start creating your own music... am I right? Don't you think that even today SPK is one of the most influential and at the same time one of the most underrated bands in the history of contemporary music?
Spk did indeed influence me a great deal. The first time I heard the track "SLOGUN", i was just blown away. It made everything else that people considered "violent" a joke in my eyes. It was pure chaos. I don't know if SPK is considered underrated, they always seem to be mentioned along with Throbbing Gristle, Non, etc when it comes to the early stages of "Industrial" music. If you mean underrated by the "masses", fuck them, they do not matter anyway. They all still think that Trent Reznor is the "Godfather of "Industrial Music"! It's pathetic.
:: You have started your project when you were very young and it's pretty common for youngsters to choose violent and extreme styles. SLOGUN is till alive and kicking, even more - it is as violent as never before. Usually, the older people get the softer music they play. And it's pretty common for bands to become 'softer' with every new album. But it's not your case. So, what helps you to create music without compromises for years?
Well, to be honest I wasn't exactly young when I started SLOGUN. I was 26 years old. As a project SLOGUN will never become "softer" because I will end it before it can get there! I was always an extreme person and short of temper, and getting older has not changed things. As a matter of fact I seem to be getting even more short of temper with age. Creating any new material has thankfully not been a problem for me. I just tap into my frustration with my own life and what I hate about me and those around me to project it through my music.
:: I'd like to ask you about your pre-SLOGUN activities. You have mentioned that you were collecting analog keyboards, so I guess you were into experimental electronic music. Am I right?
Well, I was into a lot of different types of music, but when I started messing around with equipment I can tell you the exact piece that inspired me to try something, and that was a track by 23 SKIDOO called "Just Like Everybody", which to this day just blows me away. It MADE me want to create "music". Things like CURRENT 93'S "Christ and the Pale Queens", Coil's "Wrim Wram Wrom", or even Gilbert & Lewis' (Wire side project) "3R4": pieces that are repetitive, droning, long works. That's what inspires me to do things.
:: Power electronics is not a music in 'typical' way, it's sound-oriented, and 'sound' is most important for any PE band. Some people think that this kind of music is very easy to make: turn on computer, play around with some programs and that's it. In some way it's right (for beginners), but almost every serious harsh noise/ PE musician creates sounds with various self-made equipment and know-how machines... what about you?
I have always just created sounds and textures with whatever I can get ahold of. When I started SLOGUN I was in the middle of this craze of collecting old analogue keyboards like Moogs, Arps, and Rolands, and I would play with them night after night, combining their output along with video tapes, old records, anything I could think of. But honestly, I was never one to "create" my own equipment or gadgets. But I would NEVER be a "computer" guy either. I never used a computer and never will. I just love to have old keyboards and old Walkmans, record players, etc to create everything. I wouldn't say that PE is easy to do, but at the same time I don't think it's terribly difficult to do either if you have a clear idea of what you want to produce.
:: SLOGUN's discography is quite impressing. Plus you took part in various festivals and shows almost all over the world. I recall, you have visited even Baltic States not long ago - it's almost Russia. What do you consider as SLOGUN's most important achievements so far?
For me the most important achievement as "SLOGUN" has been the travelling. Being able to travel to places like Japan, Lithuania, Latvia as well as Western Europe and performing has been amazing! I never thought that doing this "SLOGUN" project would allow me to travel around the world for free and see things I never thought I'd ever get to see. I remember when I toured Japan, it was an early afternoon and the guys and I were out eating some late breakfast in a parking lot, sitting on the floor watching people go by, and I turned to Thomas from Control and laughed, saying "You know, this is amazing. We really got no business being here!" And we all started to laugh. Funny enough, "We got no business being here" became the Tour "Slogan" for the European tour the next year.
:: ...and how do you imagine SLOGUN's ultimate album? Was it already written or you are still on the way to perfection?
I really have no ideas for an "ultimate album". I really don't. But I do have thoughts of an "ultimate show". The show I did in Chicago on June 13th, 2003 with Brighter Death Now and Projekt Hat was as close as I've come to the "perfect show". It was just pure chaos. People fighting, girls throwing things, the audience yelling and screaming at all of us. At some points you could not make out the "performers" from the "audience". It was one big mess. Everyone was just exhausted, energized, and beat up at the end of it.
:: Could you tell me about your most important interests beside music? Are there any?
I have too many interests actually! My life is all about interests. It's honestly the only thing that keeps me going. I am absolutely obsessed with Baseball for starters. I am a Baseball encyclopaedia. I have a giant New York Yankee tattoo on my leg to show it. Another "obsession" of mine is old New York graffiti. I wrote graffiti as a kid in the early 80's but I was always more interested in the first few years of graffiti, 1969-1976 or so. To this day I am friends with many of the early "Kings" and frequent get-togethers. I am also currently working on two books on early graffiti: one of my own collections of early pictures and one with the legendary early master, "Tracy 168" who is actually the person credited with coining the term "Wild Style"! I am also an obsessed True Crime enthusiast/ collector. Killers, Mobsters, etc. I have always been terribly interested in criminals, killers, etc since I was a child. Then there is the obvious: an extreme obsession with music of all types. Everything from Industrial, Goth, New Wave, Punk, Hardcore, Hip Hop, classic rock, Goa Trance and Techno. I love all types of music and cannot live without it. My favourite music acts are varied: Dead Can Dance, Dead Kennedys, Joy Division, Brighter Death Now, Death In June, Minor Threat, Velvet Underground, and of course SPK. There are many more interests but I could write for hours talking about them, (New York Subway history, New York City history, Living Dead Dolls, Documentary movies...)
:: You told me that you are interested in graffiti. In our part of the world it's pretty popular, but, in my opinion, it's totally amateurish and ugly (I talk about my city). I really do not understand what is so special in spraying letters on buildings. May be things in the States are different.
So, I'd like to ask you the following: do you think that graffiti already could be called as Art? And what makes it different from other types of Art?
Well it's absolutely a different thing for me here in New York. I hate to sound bitter, but to me, the only graffiti worth a damn is original New York City graffiti from before 1980. Anything since then is popularized garbage! By 1980 the "art-world" got a hold of it all and exploited it, turning it into what it is today, "MTV-Bullshit".
I am friends with a lot of guys who started it all around 1969/1970. You have to understand, as a kid growing up in NYC, there is such a connection between these old writers, what they accomplished, and how it connected with us here in the city, growing up on the streets. Us younger kids identified with these guys. They created something so amazing, something that became so widespread worldwide, and they had NO IDEA what they were creating. These were kids from the streets of New York with no formal training in art. What they created on their own is nothing less that incredible. I don't care how nice graffiti looks today, and how artistic it is, it pales in comparison to what the innovators did in the early 70's with NO REFERENCE. You have to remember, these kids were INVENTING this stuff, not copying anything from the past. They were creating the past!
So, it's more than the "art" itself that engages me, it's the sociological importance to urban history that keeps me obsessed. Where else will you find and art form that was CREATED by kids between the ages of 10-15 with NO formal training, no guidance, no vision: just to gain "fame" by writing your name as much as possible around the city you lived in. And look at what it has become now, all from those handful of kids in the late 60's/early 70's.
:: Your violent music is creation of violent soul or it's your answer to this violent reality?
Everything I have done with SLOGUN is a reflection of my life, and my experiences. I took these experiences and wrapped them around the subject of "True Crime" to keep a sort of distance between me and the project, but the "feel", the chaotic energy is all from my life and those around me. I come from a nice neighbourhood, but with a famous criminal background: Bensonhurst. All "Mafia". All angry young Sicilians with chips on their shoulders ready to bash someone else's head in. And on many occasions it did happen. We fought a lot. Many of my friends ended up dead or in jail. It still amazes me how we were so accustomed to violence as children. I saw my first dead body at 9, had about seven of my friends murdered in the summer of 1988 alone, and attended more funerals in one year than most people attend in a lifetime.
:: How do you imagine a typical SLOGUN's fan? And what do you expect from your listeners?
I would like to think that the "typical" SLOGUN fan is someone who doesn't care about what anyone else thinks, does what they want without worrying about "image", and is "real". No bullshit, no "weak" shit. As far as what I "expect", I don't expect anything. I just want them to honestly enjoy my material for what it is, and feel free enough to criticize me if they felt they had to. I just want them to be "real" and honest.
:: SLOGUN's compositions consists of two vital parts: violent power electronics and vocal/ your messages. How important this second part for you? How do you choose words for your music? And do you expect that people will receive your message, understand it?
The second part, or the lyrical part, has always been the most important part of any SLOGUN track. The words and delivery of those words are what I am about with this project. The sounds and samples are secondary. It was always the my intention to deliver lyrics the hardest way I could, and I hope, the hardest way ANYONE has done before or since. That's what I want to be remembered for with SLOGUN: The vocals. I never worry about how much people "understand" what I'm talking about. I just have to write what I need to write and leave it at that. I've been fortunate enough however, to hit a nerve with people and have them "connect" with me on some level. I guess there are a lot of pissed of people out there.
:: How fertile American soil for harsh industrial music? What do you think about PE/ noise scene in the States?
The States has never been "open" or fertile for any type of "experimental" music. Sadly, Americans are very reluctant to any type of "different" material, whether it be film, music or even art. As fort Power Electronics, it is almost "non-existent" here, terrible. America is indeed an "MTV" culture. The worst of the worst!
:: Our medias create image that typical American is always a patriot. Do you consider yourself a patriot? And what do you think about the situation when your motherland became world's dictator?
I really don't care. I'm not terribly "political" or "Patriotic". For me life is too short to worry about such large-scale things. On the other hand I am tired of others from other countries complaining about America. They can all go fuck themselves and shut the fuck up. They should all stop their whining. As far as being the world's dictator, that's a ridiculous argument anyway because nations seem to love taking our money and accepting our help when they need it, but then they complain when they realize it was at a price. Nothing is for "free" and life is a bitch, so they should not be surprised when they are screwed over. People suck, there's no other way around it. I know that American politicians do not care about me or those around me, and people outside of America should realize this as well while also understanding that their own politicians and government do not care about them as well. It's all a joke! But you must realize that your media is lying by trying to create this myth that the typical American is a patriot. It's a lie. People have more important things to worry about (jobs, family, etc) than our corporate run sham of a government.
:: My other question would be about your obsession - True Crime. It's mentioned even on your site. So, you collect books and videos about this kind of things, or your obsession is more serious you are doing researches?
Well, it's been well documented that my interest in "crime" as a subject alone has a personal importance (where I'm from, my friends and family, etc). It's what I am and where I "come from", but as a child I started hearing about all these guys on the TV (Gacy, Bundy, Hillside Strangler, Danny Rolling). It was fascinating to me! It was like the "Boogeyman" really did exist. The "Son of Sam" killed his last victim in my neighbourhood! I remember the morning after, his last victim lived around the corner from me! He was shot through the eye and his girlfriend was killed. Remember, I am 36 years old, so when I was about 10, there were all these killers on TV and in the newspapers. It was an "active time" for serial killers. I just latched onto the subject then and kept reading more and more, become more and more interested in all aspects of serial murder (The "why's, where's, when's, etc). As with anything else I'm interested in, I become obsessed and throw myself into the topic full-on.
:: Crime, maniacs, murderers are some sort of national heroes in the States. They are on TV, on pages of papers and so on... Don't you think that today's System itself creates new criminals? It looks like young generation grows up in atmosphere where violence is a norm and killing a man is OK. The good examples are those serial murders in American schools.
Before I answer this, I have to say, it's not fair to say that America creates "National Heroes" out of these serial killers. That's not rue. Maybe that's what your media wants you to think. But believe me, sure, the American media covers, and sometimes sensationalizes these murderers, but they are far from looked upon as "Heroes"! I think the word you want to use here is "celebrity". American media has always created "celebrities" from tragic news events, and not just serial killers (look at the Mafia, Susan Smith, Yusef Hawkins, etc). Also, please remember, those kids who shoot up schools are NOT serial killers, they are spree killers, and there is a HUGE difference! If I turn around and shoot a bunch of people on a subway at once, that does not make me a serial killer. I won't lie, children nowadays do indeed grow up with extremely violent imagery, but that is not the problem, it's the home, the "family", or lack of it, that creates violent children, NOT the media. In America there are way too many children growing up without the correct adult supervision, and we are NOW paying for it. Children need adult influence. They need guidance, but in American culture, with widespread divorce, or both parents working everyday for long hours, kids are growing up learning things on their own, making their own judgments, and that is tragic. Also please remember that America is not the only country with the "Celebrity of Serial Killer" problem! Great Britain Has been doing this for years (Ian Brady, Jack the Ripper, etc), as well as Germany (Peter Kurten, Fritz Haarman, etc). It's always easy to point to America for the world's problems, but let's be fair, we haven't cornered the market on irresponsible behaviour! People are the same all over, and we as a species are pathetic, weak individuals who refuse to take responsibility for our actions (It's always someone else's fault!)
:: And your another obsession is NY Subway history. A lot of cities have subways, my Minsk has a subway, but I hardly can say anything entertaining about it. So, you study when certain stations were built and so on? Or NY subway full of mysteries and secrets?
The New York City subways were built over 100 years ago, and there is a great deal of history in the subway, and how it influenced the city's growth in the far edges of the city. Places like Brooklyn, Queens and The Bronx all grew the way they did ONLY because of the development of the subways. These areas were too far for people to live, and still work in the city-center.
The subway here in NYC is an amazing system of tunnels and elevated tracks that thread their way through all types of neighbourhoods, from the good to the bad, but it still keeps everything "connected". And for those of us who wrote graffiti or were just curious enough to venture down into the tunnels, there are many secrets and "underground lairs" that are fascinating!
There are people down there that have been there, LIVING, for years and years, never coming up to the surface! I have come across families that are living in the tunnel system, with electricity, heat, water. It's amazing. You should check out a great documentary called "Dark Days", which is all about these people.
:: BTW, what is it Living Dead Dolls?
Ah yes, I should have explained earlier. "Living Dead Dolls" are a series of dolls that are "Dead". That is, they are dolls of "dead children" that come packaged in coffins, some of which are based on well known figures like "Damien" from the movie "The Omen", or "Lizzie Borden", the axe-murderer from the 1890's. They are quite collectible and are famous worldwide among us crazed collectors. If you go on ebay and type it in, you'll be surprised at how "big" it is!
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