From the beginning of having industrial music be part of the club experience, it was tethered to some other genre, with that genre being the prefix. The alternative dance nights of the late 70s/early 80s became the first places where industrial hit dancefloors in the US. Many would recognize this because of the event genre designation that has been the most enduring, "goth industrial." In previous volumes, I have explained the almost obvious industry and real estate/economic pressures that led to the mainstreaming of the ideas of industrial music while negating the culture it derives from and is inextricably connected to. Because my focus is industrial culture, my concern is aimed at preserving the industrial experience, and whether venues continue to exist must take a back seat. I have seen many, many scenes come and go since the mid-1970s, and as a DJ I have gone from mixing soul/slow jams in the early/mid-1970s to hardcore industrial, jungle, noise and such in 2025, which all culminates into a reality demanding that the origins of any culture supersede the needs of any scene due to their inherently unstable lifespan. It is my belief that there needs to be an unadulteratedly fervent industrialist movement that doesn't include any of the other components that have been attached to the genre over the decades since 1976.
About a decade ago, I noticed that there were a number of interesting anniversaries that would intersect in 2026. They would be… my 40th of transitioning from being a 1st gen hip hop turntablist into an industrial turntablist, my 30th of retiring from producing weekly and monthly events, and the 50th of the founding of Industrial Records. Public Disturbance™, the hardcore punk band I was in during the early 1980s, recently was signed to PNV Records to release unreleased materials, our album, and 7" EP entitled, "S&M" had a new 40th anniversary release "PD Live at CBGB 1984." [pre-release Dec 2024/release Mar 2025] The process of writing the liner notes made me rethink those times, which drove me take a close[r] look at where I currently am creatively, how do I feel about my performance styles, the possible impact my creative output has, and the messages my personal behavior has presented and presents. All this culminated in realizing that there needed to be an "Industrialist" movement that returns to the principles set forth in the 1976 founding of Industrial Records by Throbbing Gristle. It was pro-experimental culture, multi-gendered, anti-mainstream, multi-ethnic, pro human rights, and 100% anti-xenophobic. Simply put, it was a gender fluid community of life and art experimentalists that were revolting against the conservative movement of the 1960s and 1970s, in the UK specifically, and the world in general. That was the same energy that brought me to the new wave/punk community of the mid-1970s.
When Genesis P. and I talked in the early 2000s about the community industrial came from, he/they pointed out that there was very little difference between the punk, new wave, and industrial scenes. They were all friends and the primary differences were stylistic, not cultural. That was true here in the US as well. All of our movements also spoke against the growing wave of conservatism that became the primary weapon Maggie Thatcher and Ronald Reagan inflicted on global society. If the last sentence bothered you, this is the time to stop reading now, because this isn't a community for you. But, I would imagine there are not many people that would be reading this that are apologists for either of their policy positions. Gen also pointed out that the dance component that once was so epic in changing what danceable club music was had changed into something that became inviting to a culture of people this culture was designed to be away from. If telling xenophobes that they "aren't welcome" is controversial wherever you are, it may be the time to take a deep look at your own life's path, and most importantly, who you are surrounding yourself with. As I heard someone say, "If you want to know who someone was when they were alive, see who comes to their funeral." Their point wasn't about the number of people. It was about the humanity and empowering spirit toward others that was represented by whomever was in attendance. That was the punk spirit that literally was a driving force in why I dedicated my life to living out my beliefs of social betterment in whatever ways I could. Here is a great breakdown of the hardcore punk movement, even though there are many regions left out, including the one I was part of that produced a number of bands whose releases became punk collectables that have value over 40 years later, including PD™ [because it is only 14 mins long… so they focused on the "primary" scenes. I say that because I know a number of people who would take issue with it. LOL!].
Hardcore punks made up a sizable part of the fanbase for the fledgling industrial movement of the early 1980s. I really came into industrial through the intersections of new wave, punk, eclectic hip hop like Africa Bambatta and the Soul Sonic Force, the sonic vibe that came from what was happening in the DJ world as turntablism became codified as a skill by those outside of our community, and eclectic club music like Paul Hardcastle's "19." 19 spoke to me the most because it had a powerful message and the music was infectiously hardcore electronic music. To look at my evolution from a beat perspective, it was the incredible style and skills of DJ Chuck Chill Out that influenced me and my DJ partner, DJ Squirrel more than any DJ of the time. His work on the B-Boy's "Two, Three, Break," felt legendary at the time. In 1984, Chuck Chill Out released "Hip Hop on Wax Volume 1." This was epic in featuring just DJ skills, breaking beats down and scratching them into new beat structures composed of layered scratches. The glue that pulled all this together when I was 8 in the early 1970s was my love of experimental prog rock like Pink Floyd that exposed me to funky beats, ambience, and noise in music coexisting with electronic sounds, driven by deep introspective lyrics, which also was an influence of Gen, although Gen had their own vibe in 1971 that clearly set the path for what they would deem "industrial." College radio was my lifeline to new music that no one would ever play on mainstream radio, and that pushed the boundaries of what could be played. I listed those foundational components to inform why I am so dedicated to maintaining a semi-flippant statement I made to Gen about nurturing the culture, but it turned out to be more of a mission than I ever thought when I uttered them nearly 25 years ago.
Now that I have lived this life for over half a century, and do not fit the stereotype, I owe so much to a community that was founded on principles that made me want to make my efforts and skills go to the betterment of more than just myself. This was also very much the value structure of my family, and my father in particular. The Black Power Movement that was foundational in the culture and discussions of those in and around my family also shared these primary traits, which included the rebellion against the social, economic, legal, and physical violence inflicted by parts of the society that have consistently been supported by those espousing conservative/xenophobic beliefs. A big chunk of my older mentors were hippies that were returning from Vietnam [existing my entire childhood until I was 12 when the United States fled that country in disgrace], who were also amazingly clear about society, and that we needed to be a positive part of it. All this flew through my brain as I considered my response to this epic chronological and cultural convergence.
This brings us to the meat of the issue. [No disrespect to my vegan fam.] Having lived through the creation of nearly every genre associated with the underground music culture, and also lived through their mainstreaming, the only way to address this was to gather together a global Sonic Squadron to bolster the original movement in modern times. As I have repeatedly stated, there are a number of amazing new [meaning, have been in existence for less than 10 years] industrial acts like Dame Area from Barcelona, Spain, that seem to get very little attention in formal music venues due to the aforementioned pressures, and in far too many cases, the lack of interest by the small group of people who curate [y]our IRL venue experience. With my entrance to the music industry being through the hardcore punk movement [Public Disturbance™ was the 3rd release on the Mutha Record Label that was founded in 1982], the notion of taking the movement local and in the streets is absolutely in my bones. I say that because the way I see us achieving this is to take our movement away from the clubs and their legitimate economic pressures, and scale [y]our scenes around what the culture can support, and not what can keep people on the dance floor and bartenders working. [Also no disrespect to the many bartenders who kill it even though they have to deal with PEOPLE all too often.] Without those concerns, a new industrial movement could begin to take hold from within communities, instead of being gatekept by Live Nation venues that have removed local acts from their tours, decimating local scenes that once thrived with audiences being entertained by performers from their communities and scenes. Interestingly, while I was preparing for my classes, I watched an amazing episode of Bare Feet on PBS where the host explored Bolivian culture in NYC. It was like I had returned home to my own roots of growing up in a dope network of Black house parties that was generated because most of the entertainment venues on the Jersey Shore catered to the art and interests of the dominant ethnic group. Because Bolivian culture is one of the smallest ethnic groups in the United States, and only has approximately 10,000 people in NYC, they hold on to their culture through using their homes, public spaces, cultural institutions, and culturally invested/supportive venue owners, to have a self-supported community and associated scenes. This is the perfect model to build an industrialist movement on.
To prepare for the implementation of this, I have been networking and discussing this with numerous people. One that I return to over and over is Evan Michelson. Although she is commonly known for being the co-owner of Obscura on the Lower East Side of NYC, which also became a global hit TV show on the Science Channel called "Oddities," she is my go-to old friend because she was cofounder of the industrial band Killer Weasel in 1983. She and I met soon after I cofounded Abstinence™ in 1985. We also created a fun project called Machine Age Madness that leaned into a kind of interesting hybrid between Abstinence™ and another NYC industrial band she was in, Fractured Cylinder. She has removed herself from any professional scene involvement for decades, so she is a kindred spirit for me to share and discuss these issues with someone else who is fully interested, knowledgeable, and has an extreme legacy in the culture, yet has no economic concerns/interests/nor competition in the outcome to influence her thoughts.
The industrialist movement we are in full support of and promote embraces and encourages boundaries to be pushed beyond whatever the acceptable monetized scene dictates in [y]our region[s]. It is music that in some cases can be danced to, but it isn't a mandate of the genre. Music that isn't beat driven is as important to the genre as music that can be and is intended to be danced/grooved to. Artists, especially younger artists, are inspired to create the largest vision they can come up with. [...versus being told to keep it small to have the best chances of performing for an audience, which has sadly been a real thing young, and old, artists have been told for decades.] It is anti-xenophobic. Period. If one believes themselves superior to others to the point where they believe they have the right to tell someone how many genders we are allowed to have or whatever… THEY ARE NOT WELCOMED. It is apparent that there are enough places that currently exist where they are fully welcomed and embraced, so please allow us the simple dignity of having our scene as we are allowing you to have yours.
The industrialist movement is directly connected to the core principles of being pro-experimental culture [as I discussed with Einstürzende Neubauten founding percussionist, FM Einheit. PT1 & PT2], DIY innovation heavy, anti-pop*, multi-gendered, multi-ethnic, pro-human rights, anti-dress code, and 100% anti-xenophobic. [* Being "anti-pop" doesn't mean you have to hate pop music or whatever. It only means that the tropes, mechanisms, and motivations of why pop music is produced, promoted, and proliferated must have nothing to do with this specific movement.]
Working on this has been so exhilarating because I have been able to clearly find a new path that is equivalent to being a teenager in the mid 1970s and having the dominant music of my region be overwhelmingly mainstream rock, yet to be fully immersed in being a first gen hip hop turntablist, new wave/punk rocker, and later, industrialist. I want to be 100% clear that this isn't something limited to urban dwellers. Wherever someone lives, there are places to make things happen. In a public park, in the woods, around old barns/warehouses/buildings, on beaches, in addition to the use of more traditionally accessible spaces like garages, basements, living rooms, backyards, and the like.
We are building this Industrialist movement with a scene model that can be applied anywhere, by anyone, and is also designed to be linked together in the same way that underground scenes have been for the history of our species… by seeing common interest and vibe, finding community, friendship, and comradery. Only now, we can create groups that reach far beyond geography and such to be in contact and fellowship much more effectively, IRL and virtually. We also hope that the individual scenes embrace their own vibes and styles and hold them in as high a regard as those they check out from other scenes/regions. Often people respect things from outside of their regions while ignoring those who represent the same things locally.
Let's do this.
Peaceness and Sledgehammers,
dh