Throbbing Gristle Interview: Boing Boing Video (2009 Reunion Tour)

Before we shot this Boing Boing Video interview with legendary industrial music band Throbbing Gristle, Richard Metzger and I spoke to the band's sound technician backstage, and asked what we should expect in the way of sub-bass frequencies -- rumored to be so powerful during performances that cameras can't hold a steady shot, and bowels sometimes can't hold their contents. Charlie Poulet, TG's sound tech, cracked up and flashed an evil grin. "Oh, we got some frequencies," he laughed, "Yeah, we definitely got some frequencies ready for you people tonight." Those "frequencies" are part of what make TG's music so transcendental and disturbing, and in the BB interview with Chris Carter, Cosey Fanni Tutti, Peter "Sleazy" Christopherson, and Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, we explore their technical and creative underpinnings. We hear TG members talk about the sort of mind-meld trance they all fall in to while performing, and we learn about the early days of recording work like "Hamburger Lady" to cassette tapes, then walking down to have a hamburger together at a corner sandwich shop down the street from their old studio in what was then a really shitty part of London. Gen talks about her first time with Twitter, and we hear what it's like for the band once called "wreckers of civilization" to be celebrated, more than 30 years later, as living legends. Xeni Jardin Complete blog post on Boing Boing: http://www.boingboing.net/2009/05/06/... More on Throbbing Gristle's website: http://throbbing-gristle.com/