Interview:1997/03/19 Interview for Zane Lowe
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| Interview by Zane Lowe | ||
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| Interview with Marilyn Manson | ||
| Date | March, 13, 1997 | |
| Source | Max TV | |
| Interviewer | Zane Lowe | |
Transcript[edit]
 This page or section contains speech recognition generated transcription and may be incorrect.
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Zane Lowe: ... quite rare nowadays. How do you about rock and roll in general? Do you think that's something that that's that's lacking there? A belief in in people's own views?
Marilyn Manson: Well, it has been. I mean that's it's always I've always felt like a duty to to be more than everyone else was because seemed like nobody took what they were seriously enough. I think if you really care about what you do, then it's not just your music, it's also image and your videos and your photographs. And I take each one just as serious as the other.
Zane Lowe: Antichrist Superstar - it's kind of the similarities and the differences in the name and and the concept of the album as such. Just to talk about the balance between the two that you went into recording the album with the name Antichrist Superstar.
Marilyn Manson: Well, the record is really a biography. It's my story from um beginning to end and find myself in the middle of it right now. But it's about, at an earlier age not really having faith in myself trying to find faith in something else like God and... And realizing, and being veryful in realizing that [inaudiable] that I was told so many lies over the years that it began I began to resent that. And I became Marilyn Manson, and that's I started to believe in myself. The end of the story is really where it goes from here, you know.
Zane Lowe: Well, you talked a bit about the path. I mean, like you say, you address the past on the album. But you've also said that you openly addressed the future as well and predicted things that you think will happen. Is it, is it happening?
Marilyn Manson: So far everything I've said has happened. I mean, as far as the band's rise to power and, you know, the trouble that comes with that power, you know. Dealing with, whether or not you can control it or if it consumes you, whether or not, you know. You have faith in mankind and you, you want to try and open their minds Or if you just become selfish and you'd rather see it all destroyed. That's really the struggle of Antichrist Superstar on the album.
Zane Lowe: Must be difficult balance the whole way down the line. People have constantly talked about you as saying that, you know, you, you talk about doomsday and the apocalypse, which is which is true. But surely you must have an interest in in humankind to be fighting with an album like this to try and put forward a different view.
Marilyn Manson: Well, that's, that's the two, the two endings that, that I see before me. Whether the apocalypse is people killing off their old ways of thinking... ... and, and becoming individuals. And the world becoming a better place or an actual apocalypse and everything is destroyed. But an actual if you think about it hard enough, the world is really just what you have inside your head. And if you wanted to destroy the world, it's as easy as killing yourself. So, I mean, all these things were things that I was faced with when writing the record. So, it's a lot of stuff for me to think about.
Zane Lowe: You've addressed this in the past with your albums, Portrait of an American Family and, and with the EP Smells Like Children as well. You know, you've you've questioned a lot of beliefs and talked about that things like morality and family values and and even the media and so forth. Think about Antichrist Superstar, you know, you, you, you got somewhere into finding some answers as opposed to just just making asking questions?
Marilyn Manson: Absolutely. I think Antichrist Superstar definitely provided an answer instead of just saying this is what I don't believe in. I said this is what I do believe in. And instead of saying okay everybody we've had enough of listening to this. I said well now it's time to listen to this. And and I've also pointed out the similarities in that that, that by people the dangers of, of, of putting a lot of power, you know, and belief in a rock star is is just as dangerous as as putting it in God or something else.
- [Cut, "Lunchbox" music video]
Zane Lowe: ... knowing your position as leader of the band and saying what you say...
Marilyn Manson: It's hard to say, you know. Looking back, I just usually do what feels right. You know, I don't think about it that much.
Zane Lowe: And the recording of the album, I mean, it's, it's such an intense sounding album. And it's pretty common knowledge that studios can be quite sterile places to try and create. How did you guys, you and Trent Reznor, and, and the crew that you worked with the band, how did you go about sort of creating an environment to, to convey that intensity on onto a, a deck?
Marilyn Manson: Well, we went through a lot of, a lot of things that, that almost seem unimaginable to some people. Some things I couldn't even describe cuz it would just, it wouldn't make sense to people. But we did pay a lot of careful attention to environment. And I mean most of my inspiration came from dreams. So there was a lot of experiments with sleep deprivation to the point where the longer you stayed up when you would fall asleep your dreams would be more intense. And things of that nature...
Zane Lowe: You're lucky you can remember your dreams. I know a lot of people few people that can't actually remember the dreams otherwise you probably wouldn't make it out in the future a lot than you dream.
Marilyn Manson: Right. Yeah. But I, I like to write when I wake up. So..
Zane Lowe: The whole sleep deprivation and, and the kind of you know way that you approach the album, you know, I believe you also dabbled around in substances and stuff to try and get different areas of your mind open up different areas of your mind with the times when even as a, as as a recording artist as Marilyn Manson you were kind of scared at what you discovered in yourself as well the things you addressed?
Marilyn Manson: Absolutely. I think that that comes out on the album too. There's there's certain moments the record where on a song like "Dried Up" where the realization of, of you're not paying attention to what you're trying to say to yourself. You know, I'm, I'm trying to my subconscious is trying to tell me one thing, but I'm ignoring it. And finally realizing that it comes into a song. Or a song like "Kinderfeld" where I realized that you know some of the things that I disliked in my childhood things that that I've evolved into and things like that. So...
Zane Lowe: Yeah, your music seems to be kind of have this kind of fierce reaction against repression. I suppose repression that you felt when you were when you were younger. Was it difficult first adopt you know addressing those issues in you as well looking back on some of the things that have have manifested into Marilyn Manson now?
Marilyn Manson: Oh, I don't think my childhood affected me any more than anyone else's would. I've just rather than keeping it inside or, or letting it, you know, be something that weakens me. I've just used it as an expression and, you know, maybe something that other people can relate to.
Zane Lowe: A lot of the music that's been created in New Orleans has a lot of the albums that bands have recorded have been really dark. It's obviously, you know, it's quite well known that that New Orleans has a really sort of dark atmosphere about it. And I mean, you know, what was it about that, that, that was attractive to you specifically New Orleans as a place to record an album?
Marilyn Manson: Well, I didn't really know what I was getting myself into when I went there. But it's actually a, a very miserable place. I think it brings out the dark elements in everybody. It's, the temperature is very relentless. It's very humid and hard to breathe. And it's there's a, a joke in New Orleans that there's two things: they're bars and graveyards, and that people just go there to die.
Zane Lowe: Trick or die or both.
Marilyn Manson: That's really pretty fair assessment of the town. So it was something that I felt proud to have lived through and got out of more than, you know. I would never want to be a resident of that place. It was kind of a place to to visit and learn from.
Zane Lowe: Your relationship with Trent Reznor has been going quite a few years. I think like six years, you guys, have known each other now. As a collaborator, as someone who works with you on your music, has he sort of developed? Has his role become greater in that time through, through your first album right through to now?
Marilyn Manson: Well, it did on Antichrist Superstar. It kind of developed and came to a climax because I think we both realized that it was the last time we probably worked together.
Zane Lowe: You were actually looking at other producers at the time, weren't you?
Marilyn Manson: Yeah, we were thinking about it. We realized that he knew what we wanted and we were friends. So we thought we would would do that. But it really can be trying on friendships when you work so long together. But we're happy with how everything came out. But...
Zane Lowe: So it's quite an intense recording process. It was hard work?
Marilyn Manson: Yeah, I'd definitely say so.
Zane Lowe: How long did you guys actually spend in New Orleans recording the album?
Marilyn Manson: About six months.
Zane Lowe: So it's quite a long time. Was it really focused the whole time? Give yourself a bit of breathing space. Creative side of the recording process.
Marilyn Manson: It was a little bit of both. It was, you know, in and out, chaos and control.
Zane Lowe: Playing live on stage is where your kind of reputation has really manifested. I mean, you actually enjoyed the stage more than more than the studio?
Marilyn Manson: Probably. I think there's, there's great things about both. But I think performing is, is probably the the best way to show people your music, you know, because it's not just to one person it. There's the interaction of a lot of people. And the visceral feeling of the music, you know, you can actually feel it in your body. I think that it's more powerful that way.
Zane Lowe: Portrait of an American Family sounds a lot lier to me soundwise than Antichrist Superstar as far as a band putting their songs to tape. So obviously you spent a bit of time, six months making Antichrist Superstar, and working a lot more in the studio making a more technical sounding album. How much of a headache was that to try and sort of reproduce live on stage having come from a live background?
Marilyn Manson: It actually worked out pretty well. I mean, we had never even though we're, you know, notoriously live band. We've never really written our songs as a band. And this album in particular was a different collaboration. It was more between me, my basist, Twiggy, who played nearly all the guitar on the album. So, it was it was a much more comfortable collaboration. We really knew what each other were thinking and it worked better.
Zane Lowe: Losing Daisy, you know, during the making of the album, was that a bit of a bit of a a problem, you know, was it more of a relief than anything?
Marilyn Manson: It was definitely a sign of relief.
Zane Lowe: Was it?
Marilyn Manson: Yeah.
Zane Lowe: What were the, what were the factors leading up to Daisy's departure?
Marilyn Manson: Well, he never took the band very seriously. It was more of a job to him. And that was always an insult to me, because I, you know, I'm very proud of what we do and it. I take it very personally and he didn't really look at it the same way. So I, I thought that that just weakened what the band was about.
Zane Lowe: Your persona is Marilyn Manson: so strong on record and off record on stage and so forth. You know, I'm kind of interested to, to know whether you are at all frightened at times that perhaps your persona will overshadow the power of the music, which is which is really powerful in itself.
Marilyn Manson: I think in the past there was a danger of that, but I feel like Antichrist Superstar really stands on its own feet. And it's just the beginning really. I think it wasn't what people were expecting. And our next record won't be either. I think and the personality of Marilyn Manson is what really drives the music, I think. I think that makes it even more real to people.
- [Cut, "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of These)" music video.]
Zane Lowe: [Inaudiable]... you do in the band seems to be really [inaudiable] based on extremes... [inaudiable] ... uhear that you kind of band, of balance as well to try and level the two off, because I'm sure that you know you had desires to take your music on a more extreme level than perhaps what you do on a record sometimes. I'm sure there's even scratch the surface. Sometimes is it difficult to hold yourself back?
Marilyn Manson: No, I've learned to take things to extreme in different ways, you know. There's also extreme subtlety and there's extreme vulnerability. And there's, it's not necessarily always hardest and loudest is the best way to express something, you know. And that's something that I'm experimenting more with is achieving the same kind of feelings but in a way that people wouldn't expect.
Zane Lowe: You must take an enormous comfort out of the irony that comes from, you know, comments in magazines and stuff though that, that like label you as a child molester and, and a total deviant. It's obviously just people's fears of what you're doing that, that, that provide you with those labels, but it must be the only comfort you take from it is, is it seems like very ironic that people have a attitude towards you when you're a rock star, a musician.
Marilyn Manson: Yeah, I think it's I mean Marilyn Manson has always been a mockery of the sensationalism of media. When people think that I'm being sensationalist, I'm mocking that very sensationalism. I think people will always miss a lot of the irony in what I do, but it seems that our fans don't miss it. And that's really all that counts.
Zane Lowe: Your fans must place quite a bit of pressure on you, though, because you put yourself up on stage and, and on a pedestal or such and say, "This is what I believe, and I'm sure a lot of you out there believe the same things." Does sometimes, you know, how do you how do you sort of behave around the fans that come to you and askfor your advice? Does it feel right all the time or there times you just don't want to deal with it?
Marilyn Manson: Well, I, I really limit myation with the public to, you know, performing on stage and, and doing interviews because I don't think you know, people would want the answers that, that I would give them. I think answers are best found when you look for them yourself. And that's what I always tell people.
Zane Lowe: Some of the bands that have come out of the underground and become mainstream have always talked about, you know, the irony again of, of playing to crowds that would have smashed them over in school or thrown the lunch at them. You know, are there times when you've seen your crowd and, and taken a look at them, and thought, "God, you guys are the people at school that would have would have tried to stick my head down a toilet bowl.", you know.
Marilyn Manson: It is. There's a part of me that that laughs, but the it's also that's the biggest challenge. I think that's quite an accomplishment if you can you can do that.
Zane Lowe: You seem to me to be following in the same tradition as say The Stooges or, or Kiss. And I know you're, you know, you've been a fan of Kiss and Alice Cooper and Ziggy Stardust. It was, was a blueprint for you as well. In, in the days when those bands were big, it people didn't understand them and didn't necessarily have an adverse reaction to them. Why do you think all of a sudden in the '90s an artist like yourself, who is basically an extension of those artists, is all of a sudden a subject of really negative attacking reaction? You know, why do you think that is?
Marilyn Manson: Probably because I haven't comforted them by, it's just an act or this is just show business that I told them that this is very real. And that they see that other people agree with it. And probably, you know, once again, like you said, it's, it's what they're afraid of because it's it's themselves. You know, they, they're afraid to admit that they have the same feeling and that. I'm, I'm not very different from them.
Zane Lowe: Sometimes you must feel like you were born in the wrong period. But maybe if you came out in the '70s, this would have been, you know, or do you see it as more of a challenge to have been born in the conservative '90s where everything is a, is a crisis?
Marilyn Manson: I think it's more of a challenge, you know. It gives me more reason to want to do what I do.
Zane Lowe: So, as far as this touring goes, you're heading off and you're doing another leg of America. And then you're anxious to get back in studio and begin working on on another album?
Marilyn Manson: Well, I, I carry a studio with me on tour in America. So, we've been working on music as we go along.
Zane Lowe: Is it more of a band thing or is it still you and Twiggy as far as the writing, writing of the music goes?
Marilyn Manson: It's a little bit of everyone now, you know, is open to all kinds of different ideas. I've been collaborating with a couple people, with Tricky been doing some stuff with.
Zane Lowe: He's a New York resident now as well. So.
Marilyn Manson: Yeah. And Billy Corgan and I are doing some stuff together. So trying to open up different avenues.
Zane Lowe: How do you find collaborating with artists like that? Having come from such a strict belief in yourself and what you do as an artist?
Marilyn Manson: It's great 'cuz you can learn things from other people. I think it's important, you know, especially if they're very different from you.
Zane Lowe: Hey, listen. Thanks for coming in, [inaudiable]. I appreciate it.
