Discover! 47 original albums that are a well kept secret.
Out of the underground comes a marathon of music that is yet to be heard.
First interview with D.I.Y. recording artist coL.
Out of the underground comes a marathon of music that is yet to be heard.
First interview with D.I.Y. recording artist coL.
coL was not an easy man to find. Surprisingly he has left no traces on the mighty Internet.
A Google search reveals little to nothing. Only the entrance to JesusWarhol.com is visible -
to those with an exclusive invite, most often a small card handed out to you personally.
Don't fret – we are not talking about a religious pop-art cult! JesusWarhol houses the
craftsmanship of coL; his music, video, and visual designs. Along with the
impressive JesusWarhol Records catalogue. Browsing thru JW.com, one is not
in doubt that coL means it and wants to share with you. The coL
discography is a visual experience in of itself; album after album, all
enigmatically titled, sitting like colourful gems in a treasure box.
Having lived in various U.S. cities, coL is now experiencing Europe, where in
between music recordings he is also working on a “ 21st century silent film”.
Significant for his outsider observant temperament is his small apartment situated
on the outskirts of Berlin, a good distance from the centre; yet close enough to take
in the vibes of the city.
recording gear, vinyl LPs and notepads.
A young silver haired man with an aura of shyness, yet an unusual alluring energy about him.
In 7 years he worked at manic speed, not to set any records, but simply out of a
constant, necessary need to express the mind of a determined, restless soul.
The recording activity has slowed somewhat, but only to be replaced with the
making of music videos, graphic arts and script writing.
A young silver haired man with an aura of shyness, yet an unusual alluring energy about him.
In 7 years he worked at manic speed, not to set any records, but simply out of a
constant, necessary need to express the mind of a determined, restless soul.
The recording activity has slowed somewhat, but only to be replaced with the
making of music videos, graphic arts and script writing.
“I’d like to play you one of my newest songs”, he says, as he turns to the computer…
Out of the speakers flows the strangest music. Robotic metallic drumbeats surrounded by layers of keyboards, guitars and humming choirs that each seems to be playing their own tune. Swimming in a deep sea of spiralling echoes. And in between floats an insisting light male voice. That in one phrase can go from a pleasant man reaching out to a diabolic usher.
Think of being drunk, while being in a room next to where the music is being played. Your ears constantly hunt for something to hold on to, a fix point. It feels like looking into a labyrinth from above trying to eye your way into the centre. From time to time you find yourself on the right track towards some musical idea or core, other times you get totally lost
into disharmonies. When you have found something to hold on to, coL throws in an element of destruction. Like thoughts suddenly changing directions, or a multi layered dream. Each track is a concentrated flow of the unconscious mind. Each track demands all and nothing.
into disharmonies. When you have found something to hold on to, coL throws in an element of destruction. Like thoughts suddenly changing directions, or a multi layered dream. Each track is a concentrated flow of the unconscious mind. Each track demands all and nothing.
On his website coL explains his instantaneous process of recording:
“Many if not all of the 47 records were done in a quick improvised manner, which lends to some sounds being askew. This is only meant to reveal the expression as being true.
The goal was to get the composition recorded, it was nice if it came out
sounding nice, but the intent was to get it out of the body, and on to a canvas.”
The goal was to get the composition recorded, it was nice if it came out
sounding nice, but the intent was to get it out of the body, and on to a canvas.”
Here is what one of his contemporaries thinks:
"I Got Awesomely Head-fucked with 123. It's MAJOR! coL is totally the Darkest Mother Fucker on the planet, and he has harnessed the sound of sorrow PRECISELY with this album. He twists melodies in the cruelest way, without sacrificing basic song craft or the clear stark arrangements - Which is of course beside the point, because it's the most Natural thing. His songs have a distinct aura, but this fog is fine-tuned, I'm imagining a futuristic aerosol bio-death spray, like Raid, but for use on humans... It's my new favorite album, hands down."
- Ariel Pink on coL’s album: “123”. One of the few reviews on coL’s music.
Naturally meeting with an uncompromising artist like coL, questions rise and you soon begin to wonder; what kind of price do you have to pay being somewhat absent from the world, hidden and so deeply absorbed in one’s own? And due to the secrecy surrounding the artist; how much does coL in fact want the world to know about him?
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The first time I listened to your music, I felt like I entered a completely different world. Can you tell me about this ”world of coL”?
That’s a big question. Because; it encompasses more than music. I look at my whole life, as my art, so every experience I have, every interaction, is part of my expression. So, I may put it to music years later, make a drawing or something other.
Do you have any idea why it may seem different or ”strange” to people?
I think it’s hard for me to say, because I’m both the facilitator or creator of the work, and also I have my own opinion of art and music and what I like to hear. So for me it’s difficult to answer, because then that’s me taking a perspective that I don’t know of. If somebody were into a lot of obscure music compared to mainstream it maybe wouldn’t sound so strange. Somebody who is familiar with Suicide or early Peter Gabriel, something like that, is not going to think, “What the hell is this?” but, somebody who has been listening to Coldplay, maybe would…
What is obscure music to you?
I think it’s anything that is not knocking on your door. So much of culture is force-fed. Not fed to you but forced down your throat like the latest soda products, but it’s not even the latest, it’s just the same stuff from the 50’s. They just keep ramming it. It’s been a long time, and they still try to get new costumers, it’s amazing. No, it’s completely terrible. The things that are forced which are mainstream are what most people get and they don’t really look outside of that, because they are fulfilled. They got a burger and a coke and Britney Spears - and who else? - Fill in the blank (laughs). That is what is obvious to people and very few people go outside of that because it is enough for them. And obscure to me means stuff that isn’t so visible. It exists and it is in the world, just with a different light. There is different colour and shading to it, so you may have to move yourself into a different perspective or position and then you can see it. Once you move into that space you see something else that you didn’t see, and you keep going around like a musical tree. And that’s what I’ve done. Everyone that I was always interested in from you know the records that my parents played growing up, The Beatles and Ziggy Stardust, stuff like that led me to all the others. I mean that’s a great place to start with Bowie and The Beatles. That can lead to so many other people, just by who they have collaborated with.
Is it “worth the bother” to search for the obscure?
I think it is difficult for some people, maybe a lot of people to do anything. Not just take or experience, but to actually get up and do something. That is hard for a lot of people, especially when there is no cause or motivation from society to do that. If you are asking me if I think it is more relevant today because of our current culture state: of course. I mean we are living in bleak times. It’s kind of always been that way though. People just can’t seem to get past the idea of destruction for pleasure, and that pleasure can be money or power or... But it’s something they continue to do whatever the reason, and I don’t think until we get past annihilating one another we can actually appreciate one another. There are pockets though, great pockets of culture throughout the world, but it’s kind of like Lisa Simpson on the Simpsons. She is small and not really heard.
When did you start playing music?
When I was a teenager. My best friend at the time, when he and his family moved into his house there were two acoustic guitars that the previous owner had left, and he let me borrow one. Then my friend went to jail, so I got to keep it (laughs). I always knew that I would start to play it, but it sat in the corner of my room for a couple of years and I never touched it.
Have you had any music teaching?
I had some lessons on how to play the guitar when I first started. But, I didn’t really like it, because it was just playing other people's songs. I always came to the teacher with something I wrote, and I was more excited about that. Or I would ask him about this lick that I’d heard, how to play that. So, it didn’t really last.
When did you start recording you own songs?
I was about sixteen, and I don’t know where I got it, but I had a little cassette one-track recorder, and I would set it on the floor and just make stuff. And any time I played with anybody that is what we’d use to record, so you could hear what you sounded like.
What do you record on now, and what instruments?
A hard disc recorder. And a lot of old keyboards, things you find at thrift stores. My grandfather gave me a couple of keyboards cause’ he always plays and gets a new one every couple of years, so it would go to my mom and then me. Guitar, I think that is the root of a lot of it. Bass, and any kind of rhythm I can do; a drum set, programming or just hitting things in the room.
Where do you record?
Wherever I’m at. Sometimes it’s at somebody else’s place. Wherever I can pick up an instrument and have something to record on.
What is your approach to creating music? How do you start a song, where does it come from?
It is rare that I have a sound in my head that I want to recreate. A couple of times I have done that where I’ll hear a song in my dream and I just fall out of bed and go straight to the recorder and pick up the guitar or keyboard and try and map it out the way I heard it. But, 99% of it is improvised. I think that is because I like the concept of surprise. So, if I am composing a song and I’m learning it or hearing it for the first time while I am making it, that is interesting to me.
Do you write your lyrics first or do you make them up as you record?
All different experiences. Sometimes I write down lyrics before and I’ll have a song title and I’ll try and place it with some music that I have written. I went through a period where I improvised – I think there is one album where I improvise all the lyrics on the spot in one take. Because I was in a place where I was really feeding off of different energies. And it just flowed in a manner, that I didn’t need to do anything other than let go of my thoughts and let those other thoughts come in, and just turn on the microphone.
What are your songs about?
Life, my perception of my life and the other people that I witness. Will it be that I meet or read about, or watch on film.
Your songs have a dark tone, I think, you’re not exactly singing about finding Utopia…
I think I work towards that though, in the sense that I focus on what needs to be looked at. People don’t like to look at the negative things – maybe because it brings them down or they think it gives praise to the negative – I think it’s important to shine a light on what’s dark in order to change it.
Can songwriting fix the broken system just by shining a light on it?
Can songwriting fix the broken system just by shining a light on it?
I don’t think a song can change the world, not anymore. The world is in a very deep sleep right now. And I think it must happen through a bigger, global awakening, essentially: every individual deciding for themselves that they want a change. This is a slow process though, nothing moves too quickly around here.
47 albums in 7 years. That’s an awful lot of songs! More than a few artists produce in a lifetime…
Well, I think it is relative, because you could say that none of my albums could stand up to time, so it would be like sandcastles. As a quality product or quality work of art, I mean. I don’t know if they can stand up over time, and I am okay with sandcastles, because I had fun creating them.
You must have been working day and night!
In 2002, I recorded 150 songs: writing, recording and having it finished.
What was going on in your mind at that time?
Hell….(laughs) I was deeply in love. Just trying to get a handle on the situation and I was expressing every single thing that came up through song. I was also painting and doing other things as well, but the songs kind of took over. I think it was all I could do, because I couldn’t do anything about the situation and I could only express myself on tape.
Do other lyricists inspire you?
I think I am inspired by any good prose; it doesn’t matter where it comes from. Some influences are: Dylan, Bowie, Eno, Talking Heads, Eurythmics, Pet Shop Boys, New Order, Gene Loves Jezebel, Julian Cope, Kate Bush, Love & Rockets, Beatles, Neil Young, Cleaners From Venus, Tears For Fears, Nick Drake, OMD, Peter Murphy, Tones On Tail, Echo and the Bunnymen, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The The, Depeche Mode and The Cure. Writers that are wordsmiths that work words in a wonderful way as well, people like Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asimov and Roger Zelazny.
Those are Science Fiction writers, aren’t they?
Yes, I am primarily interested in science fiction writing, because it places people past all the strife or negative behaviour of today, even though there are human problems there, it’s not the problem of food or killing, usually. So I like to dwell in that world or zone.
Your artwork seems kind of futuristic, too. Are there any elements of sci-fi in your songs?
No, I don’t think there is any sci-fi in my songs; it’s actually the complete opposite or other spectrum, where it has to do with Earth, maybe civilization. It has to do with getting in touch with one’s spirit and the bigger truth which can sometimes be freaky, or more to the point it is not well-received. Most people don’t like to look at that thing; where you would go to a mystic or sage, a monk or someone like that and talk to them and see where you are in relation to them and their idea of life. That is kind of what my songs are about. Mystical I guess... (Reflecting...) Donovan! Donovan is huge; he is very underrated in my opinion. I don’t think so much to other musicians or artists, but in the world’s eyes.
Yeah… He was big in the 60’s and 70’s and then later he got the thumbs down. In the 80’s he didn’t fit in …
It was all big business and money. If you are not in fashion you are out of fashion, and if you’re out of fashion people don’t even acknowledge you exist, let alone deal with you. Why? Because if you can deal with someone who is in fashion, then you’re cool, you know. It’s all image.
All these TV programs where everyone is; being touted as being a superstar, just by showing up (laughs). You show up in the right outfit and that’s it. You get applause and the judges’ opinion and these judges are… (silence). Well, it’s a small segment of the populous broadcast on a national and world level; it’s just the mainstream - that’s all. But, I guess what is going on is that there is a lack of real talent in stardom. Now; it’s just enough to be famous whether you’re a stockbroker or serial killer, as long as you get your mug out there. It is really frightening because it seems to make the true auteur, poet and painter turn their backs on society and go inward and say: well, I‘ll just go into my cave. Then I think the world really misses out. With praise comes livelihood, you get all this fanfare and you get a big chunk of change. And then the people that are actually contributing, even though it may be on a subconscious level, that are actually contributing to the betterment of society, they are not even looked upon. So, then they have trouble just surviving. I think the whole human organism is kind of wheezy right now. It’s having a hard time breathing. Because, it is such a flipside of what is necessary for the spirit and the soul. We are just feeding our brains and egos instead of our hearts. People don’t know that they need to feed not only their body, but also their spirit.
Who is your biggest musical influence?
I am big on David Bowie. I was very, very influenced by his singing. I think he’s got one of the most amazing voices out there. And his approach, I find it very traditional, but at the same time: modern-untraditional. He just goes wherever his heart or mind dictates, whether it’s painting or philosophy or dance…
He is also an artist that always seems ahead of others.
Well, that is probably because he leaves behind himself. He does something and it may be amazing, close to amazing, or whatever comes out, and he doesn’t stick around for the parade. He does it, (and this is my impression) and he goes on and looks for something new. Generally people stick around and get the praise or whatever comes from sticking around. And then they get stuck. They wear the same mask for their whole careers. Michael Jackson did that. I think U2 is definitely stuck in that. They did for sure change with different albums, but they got locked into something, this mega mart thing where they are a product. They do a damn fine job; I’m sure every night that they play. But, I don’t think I care for the package. As far as being ahead of things, I think it’s just the searching you know, when you’re not caught up in your own illusions, you are free to explore. And I don’t think many people can do that, because when they leave themselves to explore then they leave the ego, the praise, and the comfort that comes with success. So you lose in some peoples eyes, a lot, because you are putting that down and going for something else, which for some people is scary and unnecessary. But I find it necessary to be stimulated more than to be admired.
It is like the more fame and the bigger audience you have, the more you have at stake when you experiment…
Yeah, I’m sure there are all these fans that at a moments notice could just disappear, because they don’t like what you are doing. And then you don’t have that income and that celebrity. People stay in one place and don’t do crazy things, because it sells.
That is the plus of being an independent artist; you can do what you want…
Yeah, that’s the bonus of not having any fans; you can do whatever the hell you want (laughs)…
I was thinking about not having a record label behind you, to tell you what to do!
I don’t see myself ever being in a position of having somebody like that tell me what to do. I would not get involved in a situation like that. Because this is my expression and it is no place for anyone else to tell me what to do. So, if they were offering to give me a lot of money or whatever in exchange for telling me what to do, why would they need me then?
Did you ever try to get a record deal?
Did you ever try to get a record deal?
I sent material to various underground and alternative record labels when I was younger to not work at a fast food place. But… I have worked in fast food places.
It sounds like you haven’t been knocking on many doors with your music?
Well, I haven’t made any great strides at making myself known. And I don’t really do any advertising, because I don’t have the funds.
You created your own label?
Yes, it was to have a place for people that I admired or wanted to work with in some way, as well as my own catalog.
What is the explanation of the name “JesusWarhol”?
I get asked that from time to time. I don’t know… It came to me probably subconsciously. I really admire Warhol and I like his way of looking at art as both a product and just a way to do whatever the hell you want and call it art. To allow it to be art even if other people don’t. And I really strive and work towards the demystification of words like Jesus. I think the fact that we have generation upon generation using words in a way that is unoriginal just because they have been taught that these words should be said in this manner and that they mean this. I think it is important to use them in different ways so that they can just be words again and not some holy thing that you are not allowed to say or that you kill for.
You closed your myspace page since we last met, why is that?
Because I didn’t enjoy going to their website anymore. I was stopped at their login page. I didn’t like what I was seeing. So, that is a major factor - to enjoy where you are. I think that is gone from most people’s mind. They don’t really care how something arrives as long as they get it. And I don’t need anything that badly to have to go through such things in order to get it.
Why do you continue to make art, when it is such a difficult way to make a living?
The simple truth and reason is that I don’t do it for contracts or celebrity or money. Those things are an addition to what somebody does. I do it because I love to do it. I love to hear music that I don’t hear from other people and I think it’s grand if I can pull it off myself and hear my own voice.
Do you ever feel like quitting or giving up?
That’s a hard angle. I mean the joy is not from other people; it is from the act itself. Anything from other people whether it’s support, friendship, or experiences – that’s an after effect. As long as I enjoy doing it, that’s why I do it. If I don’t enjoy doing it I will pick up something else.
What are your dreams for the future, what do you want to achieve with your music?
Just the fundamental realization of what I want to express. If I want to bring in a string section, a horn section or choral singers I want to be able to do it. But at this point I can’t. It is impossible without help. It’s about being able to utilize tools other than my own hands. Because I could build fake people and prop little recorders in their mouths… But it is not the same as having a group of people and you show them the lines and they sing it with heart and you record some piece of magic.
