Einsturzende
Neubauten
Interview by Matt Fink
Now 27 years after their first release,
Einsturzende Neubauten might not be attracting the attention they received
when they were creating a pioneering blend of industrial, noise, and avant-garde
pop music in the 1980s. But having released no fewer than ten albums over
the past four years, the German band have certainly never been more prolific,
and, by creating a unique system by which their projects are essentially
funded by subscribers 
to
their website, they may be again changing the future of popular music.
With their recording sessions broadcasted live over webcam, Alles
Wieder Offen might be the first studio album ever created in front
of and with feedback from a band’s audience. The results are nothing
less than the most viscerally immediate tracks from Blixa Bargeld and
his bandmates in a decade. For a band that has spent its career finding
new ways to imitate the sounds of industrial decay, their lasting legacy
may be the sound of the wall of separation between artist and audience
collapsing. Bargeld answered our e-mail questions.
Under the Radar: Since
Alles Wieder Offen was financed by your fans and recorded over
webcam, did it change your creative process to have someone looking over
your
shoulder the whole time? Did you feel responsible to give your fans the
album they wanted?
Blixa Bargeld: EN is known as a great live band, and the recording studio is usually not good for drawing that out of us. Knowing that there’s several hundred people watching us, even at a distance during webcasts, brings a semi-live atmosphere to our recording sessions, which we have used to our advantage in the process.
UTR: What inspired you
to make the creative process visible to them? 
Bargeld: We were asking people for quite a lot of money for something indefinite that would probably not be finished for a year or more, so we had to be creative and use technology in a new way to keep people interested during the time, something that they normally have no access to. Not every band can offer this because your average recording process is very boring.
UTR: How much did the feedback of your fans shape the album that you made? Did they push you in directions that you wouldn’t have gone otherwise?
Bargeld: The feedback that we look for is similar to what we’d do if our friends came to the studio and we would play work in progress for them. It doesn’t determine what we do, but it does give us some general indicators.
UTR:
Given the intensity of your fans’ interest in your music, is it
difficult to please them?
Bargeld: They are partly paying to give us creative freedom, so it is really not a matter of trying to please them.
UTR: Did you have a clear vision for how you wanted the album to sound? Did it turn out the way you had originally conceptualized it?
Bargeld: No, there was no specific concept or vision for the sound of this album. But yes it did come out the way we wanted. Normally it takes several months after the finishing of the album for me to have enough distance from it to actually be able to listen to it and really know what it is about.
UTR: Was there anything you did on this album that you had never done before?
Bargeld: Not really. It’s played on the usual unusual EN instruments that we have carried around for a while. Perhaps it shows more finesse because we know these instruments well now and can coax more subtlety out of them.
UTR: Is it generally easy to get the entire band to agree on the direction for an album?
Bargeld: We never really have a direction for an album. We work on pieces or songs and after a while we start noticing what direction we are actually heading.
UTR: Do you have any concern that tearing down the wall of separation between fan and artist will demystify the band and the art you create?
Bargeld: Yes, it is our intention to demystify.
UTR: How does working for your fans compare to working for a label?
Bargeld: We have never been signed to a major record label, so the interference from the label has always been relatively minimal. The usual issues with labels have always been about peripheral things like the packaging, artwork, and other administrative issues. The main difference with our listeners is that we get instant gratification and response.
UTR: Since you’ve maintained a prolific pace with official releases and those released through your website, is it difficult to continually find new ways of inspiring yourself and keeping the process fresh?
Bargeld: If it would not be difficult, it won’t be worth trying.
UTR: Seeing that you originally intended to release Perpetuum Mobile independently but eventually signed with Mute, what changed to allow you to release Alles Wieder Offen without a label this time?
Bargeld: We learned from the process. In Phase 1 we had no idea of the production costs involved, what we could reasonably expect from the supporters, etc. This time around we had more information, planning, and business structure in place.
UTR: After 27 years of making music, do you think your ideals and goals as an artist have changed?
Bargeld: No, not in its nucleus.
UTR: Do you expect to continue to work with your fans as financiers of your albums?
Bargeld: That depends on the outcome and impact of this current record. If we continue at all, then yes, we would continue along this way, with more lessons learned.
11/2007