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Skinny Puppy is an influential Industrial band, which formed in Vancouver , BC , Canada during the early 1980s. SOUND AND STYLE Inspired by the groundbreaking music of Kraftwerk , Cabaret Voltaire , Throbbing Gristle and others, Skinny Puppy experimented with electronic recording techniques and methods. Skinny Puppy composed multi-layered music generally using keyboards, synthesizers, found sounds, drum machines, manual percussion, tape splices, and samplers. Whereas many contemporary remixes and re-edits of songs were created in order to make a song more suitable for dancing or different radio formats, Skinny Puppy approached remixing and re-editing as an artistic process of reinterpreting compositions, often using remixes to push their sound into styles of Ambient , Dub and Techno . With interests in filmmaking, they made a number of music videos, each attempting to further the theme and concept of the composition at hand. Most of these videos received little air play by major music video networks such as MTV (USA) and MuchMusic (Canada) and some were outright banned. For example the video for ''Worlock'' was universally banned because it is a "non stop gore fest" of clips from various horror movies. Because none of these clips were authorized for usage in the video it has never been commercially available. Their concerts have been marked by their bizarre and bloody conceptual performance art, which for every concert was planned with the intention of challenging the notions of all who observed. Their music had some acceptance in dance clubs because of its danceable beats, but had little play on commercial radio. Skinny Puppy had little commercial success outside of Canada, but their influence on Industrial Music is immense. HISTORY Membership Skinny Puppy formed in 1982 out of the partnership of CEvin Key (Kevin Crompton; instruments) and Nivek Ogre (Kevin Ogilvie; voices). Key was frustrated by the direction of his then-current band Images In Vogue , and began Skinny Puppy with the intention of doing something "raw" and "real". The band's name was derived from the concept of a "dog's eye view"; Ogre penned fragmented, observant and philosophical lyrics "seeing through the keyhole" and voiced them in a rough growl that resembled that of a small talking beast. With engineer/producer Dave "Rave" Ogilvie (with no relation to the vocalist), Skinny Puppy began recording with Nettwerk Records in 1984, and their productiveness would eventually assist in Nettwerk growing from a fledgling imprint to arguably the most prominent and successful independent Canadian record company of its time. Key and Ogre brought Wilhelm Schroeder (aka Bill Leeb; bass synth and voice) into the band in 1985, but by 1986 Schroeder had left the band to form Front Line Assembly . His departure has been attributed to his lack of involvement and loss of interest in the band as well as a desire for his own project. Schroeder's departure allowed for the entry of Dwayne Goettel (synthesizers and samplers), who was classically trained and highly skilled as a keyboardist. Remission - Cleanse Fold... The dark electro-pop styles of their debut EP '''' ( 1986 ) and '' Cleanse Fold And Manipulate '' ( 1987 ). MTPI's ''Dig It'' received a fair amount of airplay on Toronto's CFNY . VIVIsectVI - Rabies They eventually became outspoken advocates for '''s Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart in 1989. During the late 1980s , the band members began working on various side projects, including Doubting Thomas, platEAU and aDuck. For '' Rabies '' ( 1989 ), Ogre brought Ministry 's Al Jourgensen to produce with Rave. Prominently featuring Jourgensen and Rave playing electric guitar, ''Rabies'' was Skinny Puppy's first venture into Heavy Metal . This made it their most controversial and poorly reviewed album up to that time, owing to disagreement among listeners over whether the expansion of their sound into rock music made for effective artistic statements and whether they were deliberately making their sound more accessible and more mainstream. Jourgensen's presence did more to help divide the band than it did to keep it together, as they didn't tour to support ''Rabies'' while Ogre toured as an additional vocalist for Ministry. Key and Goettel were alienated from Ogre, who they felt was more interested in other projects than on keeping the band together. Creative differences also caused them difficulty working together. Too Dark Park - Last Rights '' Too Dark Park '' ( 1990 ) was considered by many to be a defining album of the then-emerging "industrial dance" sub-genre. It combined the danceable, yet still harsh industrial of previous albums with waves of samples, layers upon layers of electronic instrumentation, and the most menacing ambiance yet heard from the band, producing a dense, claustrophobic, suffocating album. The record '' Last Rights '' ( 1992 ) was arguably their instrumental, compositional and artistic masterpiece. Due to confusion and conflicts over the copyright to a talk by Dr. Timothy Leary used in the song, "Left Handshake" was excluded from ''Last Rights.'' The Process and Dissolution Ogre, Key, and Goettel signed a contract with by 1995. The band's bickering and excessive drug use made the recording process take so long, and thus cost so much money, that American Records reduced Skinny Puppy's contract from three albums to one. Key would later tell the press that their creativity at the time was also badly affected by the company's pressure on them to create music that was similar to and as commercially acceptable as that of contemporaries like Nine Inch Nails . In 1995, Ogre quit Skinny Puppy to pursue other musical projects, which effectively ended Skinny Puppy. Goettel then fled back to Vancouver with the master tapes of the recordings. Days later, he was found dead of a heroin overdose in his parents' home. Ogre, Key and Rave completed ''The Process'' in his memory; it was finally released in 1996 . Key continued his musical efforts in the bands Download and Tear Garden , as well as performing solo. Ogre collaborated with major industrial acts KMFDM and Pigface , and since 1996 was mainly involved with OhGr , his collaboration with Mark Walk. Dresden Reunion - Greater Wrong... In 2000 , Ogre and Key performed as Skinny Puppy at the Doomsday Festival in Dresden , and then toured together in 2001 to support Ogre's solo project, Ohgr . In 2003 Ogre, Key, Mark Walk and various guests including Danny Carey of Tool recorded the new full-length Skinny Puppy album, entitled '' The Greater Wrong Of The Right '', which was released on May 25 , 2004 . Skinny Puppy toured in support of "The Greater Wrong of the Right" twice in 2004, during which several shows were filmed for Greater Wrong Of The Right LIVE , which was released in September 2005. This live show became controversial due to content critical of President George W. Bush . A pro-Bush site called PABAAH attempted to boycott college radio stations that played Skinny Puppy's music. In a recent interview Ogre claimed that the boycott actually increased record sales and radio airplay. Key has recently revealed that a new album is in the works. DISCOGRAPHY LPs
Sleeping Beast Rodent (DDT) Deep Down Trauma Hounds Singles/EPs Dig It (12" version) Chainsaw Stairs and Flowers (Def Wish) Addiction (First Dose) Censor (extended) Spasmolytic (remix) Inquisition (single mix) Collections Dig It (12" version) Intro (live in Winnipeg) :Vol. 3 -- ''Back'': mutlimedia/''Jackhammer''/''Splasher''/''Double Cross''/''Yo Yo Scrape''/''Carry''/''Guilty''/''The Soul that Creates''/''Brap'' (live)/''Sparkless''/''Dead Doll'' (demo)/''Deadlines'' (demo)/''Last Call'' (live on CBC radio, Sep. 26th 1986) :Vol. 4 -- ''Forth'': multimedia/''Uranus Cancelled''/''All Eyes''/''Reclamation'' (live in 1990)/''Spasmolytic'' (outtake)/''Grave Wisdom (alternate version)''/''Tin Omen'' (two live performances edited together)/''Gods Gift (Maggot)'' (live at the Palladium in Los Angeles, Dec. 14th 1990)/''Convulsion'' (live at the Palladium in Los Angeles, Dec. 14th 1990)/''Nature's Revenge'' (alternate version)/''Love in Vein'' (remix)/''T.F.W.O.'' (live at the Palladium in Los Angeles, Dec. 14th 1990)/''Left Handshake'' (version; original German pressings only)/''Choralone'' (live at the Palladium in Los Angeles, Dec. 14th 1990) Testure (S.F.) Addiction (Second Dose) Meat Flavoured Factor Videos Dig It "Pro-Test" REFERENCES EXTERNAL LINKS SEE ALSO |
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