EINSTÜRZENDE NEUBAUTEN
When I meet Blixa Bargeld, gone are the dark clothes and the super-slick, black hair. Instead, I’m greeted with a bespectacled, professor-like figure with two grey streaks trailing his untamed locks. It’s certainly not the cutting-edge figure we’ve witnessed in band photos. But then again, nothing about this frontman or his music has ever been ordinary.
Formed in West Berlin in 1980, Einstürzende Neubauten opened new doors by using instruments made from unconventional objects, such as steel parts, drills, hammers and saws. This result was noise-intensive, anti-pop anthems, which combined with Bargeld’s terrifying screams and apocalyptic references, further cemented their distinctive sound.
“I don’t think death and destruction was … something that we tried to achieve; it was just something that happened. When I started doing Neubauten I was 21 and I was certainly was carrying around a lot of destruction,” says Bargeld with a laugh.
“And that somehow manifested itself on stage every now and then, but I never really tried to provocate and I never tried to destroy anything for the sake of destroying something.”
Bargeld says his attitude is fairly unmusical as he never wanted to be a musician, but was instead motivated by poverty. He admits his ideas come from other disciplines or art forms, and every song originates with an object. Despite this, he isn’t greatly interested in the sounds that these things make.
“There’s always an inspiration in these things that we find or steal … and … we have to develop a strategy, to tickle out whatever is sleeping in these materials.”
It’s been two years since Einstürzende Neubauten have played together and even longer since Bargeld was on our shores. He was a regular here when he was in Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. But Australian fans will have the rare opportunity to witness their musical assault when they play live shows in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.
These shows will mainly feature songs from the last 15 years. This means material created from the current line-up, which includes: Alexander Hacke, N. U. Unruh, Jochen Arbeit and Rudolf Moser. However, the set list has been carefully designed to reduce the weight of their instrumentation and also reflect the scope of their work.
“We’re probably bringing over two tonnes of material but, we have things like the innards of a Jet Turbine, not the Jet Turbine itself,” says Bargeld. “We’ve taken parts from the inside, and that alone, weighs, I believe 650 kilograms.”
The use of this material will be offset by a solo performance and songs like Silence is Sexy, which doesn’t need any special equipment. The whole song is composed around the drags of a cigarette. The silence is found in between. The concert will also mix languages with five or six pieces performed in English, while some will be a hybrid of English and German.
Mick Harvey will be the special guest support and joined on the stage by violinist/guitarist, JP Shilo and double bassist, Rosie Westbrook. Harvey’s presence will have extra significance as both he and Bargeld were founding members of the Bad Seeds.
Feb 22, Enmore Theatre, 118-132 Enmore Rd, $73, 9550 3666, enmoretheatre.com.au
