Monte Cazazza is a sort of underground icon. He's probably best known for his appearances in the Re/Search Publications books: "Pranks", "Modern Primitives", and "The Industrial Culture Handbook". These books are essential documentaries of Monte's famous performances and antics. He's the one who, while working alongside old friends THROBBING GRISTLE in the late 1970s, coined the phrase "Industrial Music For Industrial People", to describe TG's sounds. He's recorded much music of his own as well, from his classic early singles on the Industrial label to his soundtrack work with Mark Pauline's legendary SURVIVAL RESEARCH LABORATORIES machine performances. He was also an early member of PSYCHIC TV and worked much with unheralded and overlooked San Francisco experimental group FACTRIX. Mute's compilation CD,"The Worst Of Monte Cazazza", collects much of Monte's early and classic nihilist electronic fare. Monte's cynical and antisocial philosophy has come to full fruition with M & M Films, which is his outlet for his film work with Michelle Handelman. Monte is also presently working on film soundtracks with Aldis Seaton, which run the gamut from weird electronic moods to upbeat and rhythmic pieces. These soundtracks, which remain unreleased, are excellent and deserve some sort of label support. Monte Cazazza was interviewed in July/August 1998 for GODSEND ONLINE.

Questions (T):Todd Zachritz

Answers (M):Monte Cazazza

T-First, what is MMFilms?

M-It's a small underground distribution and film company that Michelle Handelman and I worked on in order to provide outlets for some projects of ours, and other filmmakers including: Charles Pinion, Tessa Hughes Freeland, Jon Moritsugu, and Charles Gatewood. Simply a "Do It Yourself Distribution and Production Co".

T-I know you've released several music/sound projects in the last few years, including "The Worst Of.." compilation CD on Mute and "Power Vs. Wisdom" on Side Effects. Anything else you've been involved in musically of late?

T-Well, I also had 2 cuts on the excellent Side Effects double CD compilation "Deep Net". Played on "Chaos Of The Night" CD with Miyuko Hino of C.C.C.C., Elden M., and Mason Jones. And, I put out a special record designed for DJs titled "Kill Yourself" on Fred Giannelli's Telepathic label. Also have been trying to do more soundtrack projects. I worked on Jon Moritsugu's "Terminal USA". And, along with Aldis Seaton, did the soundtrack for Anne MacDonald's "Just Desserts". And was the audio producer for Michelle Handelman's "BloodSisters". I'm always looking for more soundtrack projects, plus trying to get interest in other things I've been recording although this is a very slow process lately.

T-Describe what the ATOM SMASHERS were/are...

M-The ATOM SMASHERS was a lineup with Joseph Jacobs of FACTRIX and Chris Warden, which resulted in the LP, "First Strike", on Pathfinder Records. Some cuts from that appear on "The Worst Of" CD. Later, guitarist James Maniello played on the live shows...

T-Likewise, what was/is THE LOVE FORCE?

M-The LOVE FORCE was a project which started out with Beth Love and Kris Force and Elden M., and later Michelle Handelman came in and did some vocals. Some of those recordings appear on "The Worst Of" CD also.

T-Looking back at the old Industrial Records days, how do you feel about the influence you've had on pop culture, as "industrial" sounds have since found their way into the mainstream? Are you at all interested in what has become of the "industrial" music scene(s) these days? Any current artists you think are worthwhile?

M-That's a very difficult question to answer. It's always been very hard for me to have perspective on my own work...Obviously there has been an effect, but from my viewpoint, I started out as the unpopular talking to the unpopular. The mainstream, in my opinion, is just a total waste of time and really filled with mediocre minds at best. I was interested in doing my own thing as self-expression--period. So, I didn't care about popular opinion. The ideas and fads that the general public supports makes me puke. Since I have a very deep cynical streak which most Americans can't intellectually or emotionally tolerate, I don't believe in putting any trust into what an audience might or might not say. That's like giving a lynch mob a rope and expecting not to get hung with it. So I would say I have a somewhat jaundiced view on the whole process. As to what is going on with the "industrial" music scene now, I'm not going to comment on it too much. Some of it is interesting but I'm not going to give publicity to other people who wouldn't even give me the time of day. As to worthwhile stuff I've been listening to lately, LUSTMORD is always great in my opinion, and I liked Lydia Lunch's "MantrikMantra". The music and sound by Joseph Budenholzer was excellent and the players--Joan Dalin, Laura Rogers, Greg Shakar, and Kamilsky did a great job. Of course, I always appreciate Lydia's acidic view on life.

T-You've been actively involved with Genesis P-Orridge/PSYCHIC TV and Mark Pauline's SURVIVAL RESEARCH LABS in the past...any thoughts on these looking back and any plans to do further work with either?

M-Tons of thoughts on both of those situations, but that could be a whole book in itself. They were excellent people to work with and--never say never, but no current plans about doing any future work with either.

T-Your work in the past has been synonymous with "extreme", from your early filmwork with Tana Emmolo-Smith to your music like "Mary Bell" or "Candy Man". Was/is this an art-conscious attempt to shock and stretch the preconceptions of your audience or more of an angry reaction at our mindless consumerist culture? Maybe a bit of both?

M-You hit the nail right on the head. It was definitely a combination of both. Which made it fun for me. It's good to get on an audience's nerves. I'm not interested in the perverse disneyfication entertainment for the stupidity of the masses.

T-You worked with FACTRIX early on...please describe this work and do you think this group never got the attention it deserved? What are the other members doing now?

M-I was so fortunate to be able to do anything with FACTRIX. We ended up becoming good friends because we produced a bunch of shows totally ourselves and we would many times end up playing parts of the sets together. Also, we worked on videos--for instance "Night Of The Succubus" and Joseph Jacobs played on and produced THE ATOM SMASHERS, which Bond Bergland played some great guitar parts on. In fact you should do an interview with them. Those are 3 of the best people one could ever meet in life. The band never got the attention it truly deserved. Totally underrated, although there is going to be a double enhanced CD coming out on Storm Records of the singles and "Scheintot" and a bunch of unreleased material that is going to blow the socks off of everyone. They were just so ahead of their time. Not like these crappy alternative bands who just want to suck up like leeches to egacorporate scum society. Bond Bergland is still doing lots of great music and Cole Palme is still doing all types of music projects and great writing as he has always done, but neither of them is still getting the attention they deserve. And Joseph Jacobs works extremely hard for Hearts Of Space. So watch for that (FACTRIX CD). It will be a barn burner.

T-The webpage on Brainwashed (http://www.brainwashed.com)seems to focus solely on your early works...why the lack of any recent information?

M-There's a plethora of reasons--a lot has to do with lack of interest. I've never had a big audience base, economic underfunding, lack of heavy distribution, censorship, and also I like to keep a certain amount of privacy so I won't put myself out as far as I should to try and sell things. In fact, a lot of times, I don't feel like being a whore for myself, let alone for a bunch of mental midget music industry pimps who can't get their dicks up without ingesting a boxcar full of Viagra.

T-What is on the horizon for Monte Cazazza and any parting words of wisdom?

M-Don't know. As the KLF said: "Fuck The Millennium". We want it now! Maybe the whole Y2K problem will bring everything down for which the world will be better off. One can always hope!