LEÆTHER STRIP

It was one of the first songs I ever wrote. Man, was i proud! It was recorded on a double cassette recorder in my "teeny" room at my parents house. Back in the days when PC's and Sequencers were out of my league.

All the songs on "The Pleasure of Penetration" were included on my first demo tape by the same title. I mailed out 2 tapes, 1 to Zoth Ommog and 1 to P.I.A.S. A week later I got a very good offer from Zoth, and the rest is history.

After 4 years of floor stomping elektro you released "Serenade for the Dead". This release seemed to mark a turning point in your career. Can you tell us what was going on in your life at that time and the events that lead up to its release?

I've always been fascinated by classical music and movie soundtracks, and I wanted to prove to myself that I could do an album like that. I also hoped that some movie maker would hear it, and ask me to do some soundtrack work. But that hasn't happened yet, sadly...

"Self Inflicted" was definately a major comback album for Leaether Strip and a return to the aggressive days of old. Would you say this is an accurate statement?

I wouldn't say it was a comeback. I never really went away.

Your most recent release is a 5 song MCD tribute to Soft Cell entitled "Anal Cabaret". What inspired you to write and release this?

Soft Cell, was one of the biggest reasons for me to start writing songs, and I guess I felt that I had to pay tribute to that. I would have done it years ago, but I think I was too afraid to touch their work.

There is talk of a Leaether Strip box set that will be released later this year. Can you tell us about this and its contents?

It's not really planned yet. But if and when, it will contain some of my work before the Leaether Strip period, and deleted Strip stuff

Being a major innovator to modern day elektro, one can hear your influence in the music of many elektro acts today. Tell us, what influences YOU and the music that YOU write today?

I listen to everything I can get a hold of. Everything from Classical to Hardcore. What inspires me to write a song, is more based on what I'm thinking and feeling at the same time.

One artist who openly admits that he was heavily influenced by Leaether Strip, especially in his earlier works, is Rudy Ratzinger of :Wumpscut: Have you ever met Rudy and how do you feel about his work?

I feel honoured when other artists, or any other listener get's influenced by my work. I think that Rudy is a talented guy, and I wish him all the best. I've never met him though.

Are there any elektronik acts out there now that you listen to? If so, whom?

Right now, I listen alot to the new albums by Curve and Gary Numan. I'm also in a retro mood at the moment, with bands like Tangerine Dream, Kraftwerk, Fad Gadget and John Carpenter.

You've remixed quite a few artists, from Lights of Euphoria to Psychic TV to ! A i B o F o R c E n <- . Do you have any remixes that are in the works at this time?

Recently, I did a remix for Gary Numan of the classic, "Are Friends Electric". It was quite an honour to do that. It will be out on Cleopatra this month.

If you could exchange remixes with anyone in the world, who would it be and why?

I know that Marc Almond doesn't remix, but i would love to do one of his tracks. It could also be fucn to do one for Depeche Mode, cause I dont really like the remixes they've done for "Ultra", hehe, I really wish they would try me.

We've heard of Leaether Strip coming to the US to tour on several occasions now. Unfortunately, each time was only a rumour. Will a US tour ever happen?

I know, and it hurts every time that rumour came around, but chances are getting better now that I've changed US labels. They are actually willing to support a tour. So now I just gotta get a band together, and that's pretty hard to do around here...

interview conducted byDisCorD