The Mechanized Resistance Chronicles

One of my life's blessings was to have been a member of Emergency Broadcast Network. EBN was a revolutionary video production group that eventually got signed to TVT Records. About 5 years before I joined, and about 10 years after they were founded while attending Rhode Island School of Design, they had done the video for U2's simply insane 1992-93 Zoo TV tour. The level of video used in it was a wet dream for any experimental video artist. EBN built an amazing array of video gear they named "Emergency Broadcast Vehicles." Fast forward… and Abstinence would headline NYC's legendary performance space The Palladium in 1992 during a series called H.A.R.D that was produced by my long-time friend and colleague DJ Denard Henry, and the person who on that night would become my longest biz collaborator [to the present], Wolfgang Busch. While setting up on that incredible stage, after explaining that all the metal, powertools and such that we were using was not some random thrown in component, but a highly thought out use of very dangerous tools as instrumentation… being used on a smoky stage… while performing… with constantly flashing lights… while nicely stoned, the lead tech was great and facilitated everything we could have wanted. That included flying some of our metal up into the fly tower… next to the suspended logo sign for MTV Dance Party, which was also filmed / produced there. It was also where I went to one of the rare seated concerts I attended, which was Iron Maiden's first headlining tour after opening for Judas Priest. I have always sought out [and still do…] club performances and experiences where there is no distance between the artist and the audience. All that said, after our soundcheck, the lead tech told us about someone who had performed there recently that we would love based on our performance. That was EBN. Less than a year later, we were on a double bill at the Limelight! Once we met, we were inseparable.

The lives of music performers are filled with epic times that seem euphoric. I believe it is because of the type of connection our species makes to music and those who create it, in addition to it being intrinsic to the human species, where every culture has some form of sonic way of distincting themselves. That innate sonic energy has been distilled into a drug that's pimped out to the masses to get everyone to believe that if they get into the "industry," they have a real shot at having millions of adoring and screaming fans and / or should be mindless screaming fans themselves that would pay any amount to see their musical "hero." But for industrialists who resisted any mainstream entertainment industry hype bullshit, our creative career path [almost] guarantees that there will be no screaming fans… nor should we be ever seeking them. When I was a teenager playing punk rock in the late 70s / early 80s, I had said, "If you don't act like a rock star, you won't get treated like one." Nearly 50 years later, life has provided the evidence that proved it to be true.

That is the frame of the loop; whatever art form that bubbles up from the underground is eventually co-opted by those on the edge of whatever portion of the culture has been absorbed by the hype machine. Following that are those who kind of flow from vibe to vibe, who are counted on by the industry to energetically support whatever hype machine output. This cadre of entertainment engagers is the fulcrum between it staying out of mainstream focus or being absorbed by it. Third to join any scene are the filler people. They are typically defined by the industry as scenesters who usually go where the party is, but rarely get deep enough into the culture that they would enthusiastically go to a place sparsely attended, and typically are fine with whatever is accepted by the group as a whole. They are also the ones that bring in mainstream ideas, along with the producers, club management, DJs, and promoters who see a chance for reaching a prospective larger audience, or simply need enough people to justify the event to the financial model of whatever venue. Either way, the result is a rationale that leads to the removal of anything that may seem too extreme for, or have the chance of alienating mainstream-ish sensibilities.

When that group showed up in hardcore punk in 1982-83, they made the scene more violent, removing the tranquil underground aggression that our culture was once known for, which resisted any mainstream shit or thought from infiltrating the movement. Slamdancing and the raw energy that was our community's trademark eventually attracted the wrong people who mistook it for raw violence, bringing on the age of "combat dancing" around 1983-ish, which is what people refer to as slamdancing now… but it isn't at all. A decade later, industrial would suffer the same fate. This time, it resulted in the need for more accessible music to not scare off those who like dance to eclectic music or are enthusiasts metal / rock industrial, while not truly embracing the artform for its roots that was 100% against whatever mainstream culture had to offer. That didn't mean that there weren't many forms of music that were [and are] of interest. But, it did mean that when we were composing industrial music, the mandate was to bring no mainstream elements into the execution of this specific artform. Its edict is to push boundaries of all types.

Since it happened with rock & roll, jazz, and many other genres, we once again see the loop of an artform that was once reviled by the mainstream, but once a mainstreaming element was added, the unique and sometimes abrasive origins of the artform were abandoned. For rock & roll it was people like Bobby Darin and Doris Day that were brought in to mainstream the music, replacing the soulful originators with smoothed over weak versions that were designed for maximum public consumption. For jazz, it was many things, but racism was once again the primary component that brought people like Benny Goodman to be leaders in a movement they were not originators in. However, much credit to Brother Goodman because he used his power to have an "integrated" band. But think of what it was like to be an originator, yet a newcomer is the one who has the power to include or exclude. Decades later, smooth jazz attracted people to that artform who would've never listened to free jazz, and 1000% would have never tolerated bebop when it came out in the 1940s. I liken industrial to jazz because they both range from incredibly subtle to completely abrasive, and both were developed outside of a mainstream industry that originally loathed them, only showing interest in so far as it could be seen as generating revenue. Gaslighting for profit is an incredibly long running loop that no one seems to want to shut off.

For industrial it wasn't racism, it was capitalism. The simple need and/or lust for attention that we are endlessly fed through every mode of communicating with everyone that resides outside of our heads and beyond our skin creates this energy. When I started playing industrial in 1985, there was no thought of fame, nor could there have been. As I have already stated in this series, playing industrial music then required explaining and justification to the club management of places I had played many times for years prior with a predictable artform. This would be a break from anything that fit someone trying to "rock." Also, a residual gift of my new wave / punk / hardcore punk roots was and is the ability to hear anything without it being considered "too abrasive" or "too weird." That led me directly to whatever the most aggressive version of what any artform was. Even if it was thoroughly minimalistic, it still had to have an intensity that was magnetic. Because of their explosive performance style, and my prior love of Survival Research Laboratories, which I found out about around 1980, Einstürzende Neubauten was the perfect marriage of everything I thought the industrial compositional form had to offer beyond the traditional rock-based compositional style I had been a slave to for the first decade of being a musician. Having run to the margins in Public Disturbance™, in 1982 we worked on and recorded the first multitrack recording of a noise composition using powertools that I was the technical and recording engineer for. My first noise recording ever was called "Spodyssey" that I did in 1980 when I was 16 with my longest musical collaborator, Jerry Franklin [a monstrous guitarist and all around sonic creator], who has been a member of Abstinence since 1989, and is the guitar player / song writer in my current hardcore punk band project called Digital Disturbance, with Jason Franz [who was the drummer for Christian Death when he did the 2014 DD recording session] on Roland V-Drums, and me on bass and vocs. I challenged him to compose an entire 1981 style hardcore punk album on drums playing a V-Drum set, where he fully killed it in ways I hadn't foreseen, totally knowing he's a monstrous percussionist, creating an amazingly dope frame for Jerry to write songs to. It is this free compositional style that has been the through-thread of whatever creative output I brought to fruition.

All that is why industrial satiated me and gave everyone under its ideals the edict to experiment on the form. Industrial as we know it had evolved out of people doing endless art actions that involved many forms and not a single form. The only connective tissue was they were all created and executed with a style that was confrontational and not designed to be accepted. In fact, Cosey Fanni Tutti showed by her actions that she distrusts acceptance, although she is honored to have the respect as an originator of the artform. With her still creating sonic art that is unlistenable to mainstream ears, now at 75-years-old, she epitomizes and has personified the essence of industrial, as it celebrates its 50th year since Industrial Records and industrial music was birthed in the Death Factory.

Because DJs have to remain in the minds of the small cadre of folks if they hope to perform, in any scene, DJs are "free" to explore anywhere they chose within the constrictions and limitations set by that cadre. For anyone who questions that, ask any DJ that you see that frequently plays clubs. They will have to admit that there's a format and various limits at most events branded as "industrial" on how much unadulterated industrial can be played, if it can be at all in the environment they were hired to play for and to. With the artform being founded by people who made art and found an audience that would go along for the ride, enabling them to freely explore their visions without concern for creating "accessible" art, why is so much of what is played as industrial designed to be so comfortable? That is why I say that the drive and need to get and keep people on the dancefloor for productions that brand themselves as being enthusiasts of the artform is in direct opposition to enabling the totality of the artform to be presented 100% of the time. When I go to modern metal events, I know that I won't hear Ratt, White Lion, or whatever because the mainstreamed versions of that artform have been banished to an often mocked boy band-ish classification known as "hair metal." With industrial, the pop elements have far overshadowed anything that is unadulteratedly representative of the artform. Even those who are referred to as industrial "defenders of the faith" fall victim to these ever-growing capitalist realities of producing public music in formal venues. Since our call for the outgrowth of industrial micro-scenes outside formal venues has been well covered in this series, we can move on.

As industrial approached its 50th, it seemed like the so-called defenders of the faith had no interest in truly celebrating the artform that was the foundation of all the more accessible outgrowths they continue to celebrate more than industrial. sektor 6 kommunikations™ and Furnace Records has proudly celebrated the 50th of industrial with the same fervor the mainstream celebrated 50 years of hip hop. s6k have always been, were founded on, and will always remain determined to present unadulterated industrial events. Industrial was founded in a derelict basement, without trying to "rock" out… no filler people… and most importantly, not in a posh and / or trendy club. Cosey commented that when she is now shown acceptance for her early works, although appreciating the sentiment, for her the rejection and revulsion to her art at the time it was created is something that can't be separated from the art's recollection.

2026 is also the 30th anniversary of the ending of s6k producing Tronik NYC, which was the last completely and proudly "all industrial" monthly in New York City. It was the first production collaboration between sektor 6 kommunikations™ and Wolfgang Busch's New York New Rock. The 1995 interview we did with Terminal Sect at The Limelight for New York New Rock really is a foreshadowing of where we are now. Although I look back at some of my early interviews and cringe a bit [LOL!!!], the points I was making, however hackneyed, were trying to get people to see what was coming, provoking active engagement, not just theoretical solidarity. It is also clear that the industry pressures to make it an outsider artform a musical career path proved to be the lynchpin in the industry's unsuccessful attempt to mainstream industrial. On the other hand, they were very successful in mainstreaming our fashion… suffering the same fickle fate that the punks, hippies, beats, etc. did at the bloody hands of the culture vulture industry. We ran for four amazing and uncompromising years [I had to go back to flyers to actually remember the dates… LOL] during the high-point of the industrial movement in NYC where multiple weekly events were in multiple megaclubs simultaneously with local DJs and performers, also including the constant flow of national and international talent being brought in by diligent and dedicated event producers and promoters that took great financial risk to present the artform. This was long before culture vultures like Live Nation dominated the industry. Now, all of the bands that once came through a networked web of independent producers, booking agents, event promoters, and creatives are solely produced by Live Nation or their horrid ilk.

To put a perfect bow on this specific point, when Skinny Puppy did their last performance in NYC, I was stoked that my Abstinence™ bandmate Dre Robinson blessed me with comps for both nights with badges for the band's VIP area, which in Irving Plaza is in the stage left balcony that is opposite the balcony area designated for those who purchased a VIP ticket. I found it interesting that for both nights I nearly had the band's VIP balcony basically all to myself, along with literally a handful of folks. I shared it with Edisa [my wife] on the second day. I had never seen it have so few people, and I started going to that club since it was only a few years old. Not to be understated, one would think that for a pair of events that had as much importance as those two performances did, it would be an overflow situation like all the other high-profile shows. It was perfectly indicative of how Nivek responded to being asked about the current state of industrial in one of the first interviews after their final tour. “As far as the scene goes, it seems to have devolved into more of a metal vibe, for the most part. All of the stuff that I loved about industrial music that came out of Genesis, with industrial records, or even going back to Stockhausen, all of that kind of, just freedom to do whatever with whatever. That's the thing that's missing in industrial music.” It was illustrative that people in the industry really not giving two shits about them, which is why there was no resemblance to the industry interest to "be there" when the more accessible bands connected to the genre play there, with the VIP being uncomfortably packed with clamouring industry fans. It is a point that needs to be made about what the audiences that lay claim to industrial are presented as options when they attend a formal music venue seeking to engage that artform, and how the various industry restrictions that have been placed on the artform have shaped the tastes of people who currently have interest in the artform.

And then there was Cosey. As I was approaching my own milestones in the artform, I considered what my next 40 years [LOL…] should be, and the mechanisms / strategies that would enable me to continue in executing 100% of the vision that led me to being a creative within the artform in 1985. In 2024, it was clear that industrial in formal venues had become either a primarily EBM-friendly and/or retro experience due to the economic pressures that have been well articulated throughout this series. Bouncing forward for a moment, as I read the book Sex, Art Music by Cosey Fanni Tutti, when she recounted the early TG works, performances, and actions, she was clear to point out that she often had no idea what the audience thought, and didn't care. The only relevant point to them was that they as a group dug what they had done. Returning to 2024, it was clear that people are producing eclectic dance nights that were [and are] formatted in a way that wasn't inviting to, nor interested in a non-EBM, free expression execution of the artform. After months of strategic discussions with those throughout my network, it was clear that I needed to divorce myself from the scene to remain boundless and restriction free, and most importantly to push a larger vision of industrial that didn't involve formal dance venues, fashion, and wasn't exclusively dance/rock-based industrial. As they emphatically stated throughout the life of the artform, it was about taking the rock and pop out to see what's left. Not knowing that in 1985, and only being inspired by my intense love of the industrial bits I'd known of at the time, I was executing an identical vision.

On the actual 40th anniversary of founding Abstinence™, I decided to reach out to Cosey to seek her blessing on launching a 2.0 movement through a new division of Furnace Records and s6k Media I created called Industrial Culture For Industrialists. Its point is to support an unflinching and fervent industrial reawakening that returns to its original principles. To my shock and excitement, this random virtual "cold call" resulted in her responding. After some treasured correspondence over a few months, she asked me to read her book. Being neurodivergent, my dyslexia makes reading books difficult, but I seem to have no issue when researching or seeking specific information in reading extremely long documents. But what the fuck ever. [LOL!] In any case, reading books takes me a long time to digest without the words and ideas jumbling, which may also explain my writing style. [LOL!!] Seeing her thoughts unfold felt like the words of discovering an elder sister who seemed to be a spirit guide. All the things she painfully recounted that Gen had done to her and his years of abuse saddened me. Not only was his abuse of her unforgiveable, it required [and requires] outing. Too much of Gen's energy has been the dark underbelly of the scene that people have endlessly gossip about… for decades… but have done nothing to stop. How she expressed having a vision that spanned so many different vistas also dovetailed with how I have survived outside of the mainstream entertainment industry system for 50 years while maintaining a strong cadre of high-level collaborators and a hyper-broad spectrum of output. After making contact and receiving her blessing on my Industrial Culture For Industrialists project, it forged me in my mission because to get the approval of the oracle of the movement meant everything. It was truly a mic-drop moment.

As I said in the beginning of this, there are many highlight moments in the life of a creative. After decades of experiences, they feel like undulating looping moments. But then there are moments that simply stick in one's mind, transporting them back and propelling them forward. For me, a perfect example is when EBN was working on the MTV Music Video Awards, which was the third project I worked on as a [proud] member. As we put in endless hours working with video samples and such, the phrase "everything has its loop point" was comically uttered by either Josh Pearson or Gardner Post [rest in noise]. It had the poignance of Mark Twain's "history doesn't repeat… but it rhymes." The other loop in play was that I had removed myself from many scenes over the last 50 or so years. Each was to find a level of freedom I had originally believed I'd found with whatever I was then expanding away from.

Since switching my focus, I have launched numerous initiatives to empower others and bring the unadulterated industrial artform to whomever and wherever I could. From bringing industrial to the unwitting public through Sonik Invasions, Furnace Records providing free studio sessions and production services for DJs and other sonic artists, our D.W.I. Happenings live event series, [D.W.I. = Drinks, Weed, and Industrial], and using industrial to help preserve a planetarium, I have removed any and all industry pressures from my expression of industrial art and culture. The last year has felt like it did when I was 21-years-old and decided to expand from playing hardcore punk rock, and DJing hip hop [as a 1st generation hip hop turntablist], to this boundless artform. I wish this energy for all of those still behind the walls of chasing and competing for gigs and residencies. I say that from the heart because I know, care, and am passionate about many of the DJs that I know are not being enabled to express the artform fully. Our first published Sonik Invasion comes from DJ Maniak [NYC] As you hear this, I was hearing him for the first time. I had heard many of his sets over the years, and he has never been given the mandate to play the set he did. It is my hope that people will hear how dope their sonic environment could be through this series and these DJs are booked to share that vibe.

This artform should produce collaborators, not competitors. Noam Chomsky's quote on creative freedom perfectly applies. "If it is correct, as I believe it is, that a fundamental element of human nature is the need for creative work or creative inquiry, for free creation without the arbitrary limiting effects of coercive institutions, then of course it will follow that a decent society should maximize the possibilities for this fundamental human characteristic to be realized." Beyond the disappointing Epstein-factor, the theorem is a 100% truism. Having founded Abstinence™ the same year as Public Enemy, when I look at the enormity of what they did, meant, and inspired, and the fact that my current high school students [in the fucking heart of the South Bronx] know who NWA is but don't know PE, also explains why people know about Gen and mostly see Cosey as a background person to him. To be clear, I hadn't seen PE until seeing them on Soul Train in 1987 when they performed [lip-synced] Rebel Without a Pause, although I'd heard them via DJ mixes on the weekend Black radio of the early 1980s. Their impact was the same as when I first heard the Dead Kennedys, and as aurally impactful.

From what I have seen and researched since e-meeting her, I haven't seen nor found any of the grandstanding or industry vitriol connected to her that Gen bathed in. [A direct reference to the time soon after the first TG performance when Gen ran off to do an interview representing the band that the rest of them only found out about after he returned.] I have also not seen the instances or patterns of abusive behaviors that were so prevalent in how Gen engaged her and so many others… including me. To be perfectly clear, I am not proclaiming her to be, and I am emphatically certain she would reject being seen as some perfect being. What I believe should be honored is her commitment to the artform she helped to birth into existence, and that her life's behavior shows that she fervently lived artform in a way that deserves to be and remain the articulated standard for the artform.

As Cosey celebrates her 75th birthday on November 4th, 2026, and the kismet of it being the 50th year of industrial codified, Industrial Culture For Industrialists believes it is extremely fitting, and long overdue, to proclaim November 4th as Industrial Day, adding that to the calendar that has everyone celebrating February 24th as EBM Day. She has always celebrated her birthday with a fervor, making it an even more tributary gesture. By annually celebrating the origins of industrial, it will help to keep its original principles and creative objectives in public view.

Lastly, there are still a number of weeks left until the 50th anniversary year comes to an end. We hope that our hometown NYC industry folk are prompted to pick up the 100% industrial baton that was dropped on the ground 30 years ago in this cultural relay race. In the age of [t]rump, I should be clear that I am not seeking, and would not accept performance requests through this initiative. Its purpose is to motivate and support the development of a bold new cadre of DJs that are as fervently driven to fully express industrial without restriction as they were in the Death Factory in 1976. The final thought on moving forward must also be that the bullshit hype, powerplays, coercion, bullying, character assassinations, and outright scumbag behavior must never be allowed to happen without a swift external response from all who know… yet do nothing. THAT is what it truly means to be as industrial as fuck… for real.

Let's do this.

Peaceness and Sledgehammers,

dh