Skinny Puppy
Encyclopedia
Skinny Puppy is a Canadian
industrial musical group, formed in Vancouver
, British Columbia
, Canada
in 1982
. The group is widely considered to be the founders of the electro-industrial
genre.
Initially envisioned as an experimental side project by cEvin Key
while he was in the new wave band Images In Vogue
, Skinny Puppy evolved into a full-time project with the addition of vocalist Nivek Ogre
. Over the course of a dozen studio albums and many live tours, Key and Ogre have been the only constant members. Other members have included Dwayne Goettel
(1986–1995), Dave "Rave" Ogilvie
(long-time associate, producer, and "unofficial" fourth member until 1995), Mark Walk
(2003–present), and a number of guests, including Bill Leeb
(1985–1986, under the pseudonym Wilhelm Schroeder), Al Jourgensen
(1989), and many others.
After the self-release of their first cassette in 1984
, Skinny Puppy soon signed to Vancouver label Nettwerk
, anchoring its early roster. From their Nettwerk debut EP Remission
in 1984 to their 1992 album Last Rights
, Skinny Puppy developed into an influential band with a dedicated cult following, fusing elements of ambient
, noise
, new wave
, electro, and rock music
and making innovative use of sampling
. "Who's Laughing Now" was utilized very heavily in the closing scenes of the 1990 film Bad Influence
. Over the course of several tours of North America and Europe in this period, they became known for theatrical, horror-themed live performances and videos, drawing attention to issues such as chemical warfare
as well as propagating anti-animal testing
sentiment.
In 1993, Skinny Puppy left Nettwerk and long-time producer Rave, signing with American Recordings and relocating to Malibu, California, where drug problems and tension between band members plagued the recording of their next album, The Process. Ogre quit Skinny Puppy in June 1995, and Goettel died of a heroin overdose two months later. The album was completed with Rave and released in Goettel's memory in 1996. Key and Ogre, already active in a number of other projects, went their separate ways, reuniting for a one-off Skinny Puppy concert at the Doomsday Festival
in Dresden, Germany, in 2000. Reforming Skinny Puppy in 2003 with Mark Walk, they have since released two albums on the German label Synthetic Symphony
, and toured extensively.
(Kevin Crompton) and Nivek Ogre
(Kevin Ogilvie) in Vancouver
, British Columbia
, Canada
. Key was dissatisfied with the pop direction of his then-current band Images in Vogue
, and began Skinny Puppy with the intention of doing something more raw and experimental. Initially Key had planned Puppy to be a side project while he continued his work in Images, however, when Images in Vogue relocated to Toronto
, Key made Skinny Puppy his full time project. Key had already created the name of the project and the concept of music from a "dog's eye view" when Ogre joined, and it was with this idea that they recorded their first self-released cassette Back & Forth in 1984, with help from Dave "Rave" Ogilvie. This was the beginning of a long partnership between Skinny Puppy and Rave, who would serve as their producer until 1993, and again in 1995, and was occasionally listed as a member of the band in album liner notes. Back & Forth drew the attention of Vancouver startup label Nettwerk
, who signed the band later that year. The first live Skinny Puppy show was at Unovis in Vancouver in February 1984.
The dark electro-pop styles of their debut EP Remission
in 1984, and first album Bites
at the following year, earned the band a fan base. Tom Ellard
of Severed Heads
lent a hand to the production of the Bites track "Assimilate", which became one of the band's first underground hits. Other popular songs from this period included "Smothered Hope", "The Choke", "Dead Lines", "Last Call", and "Far Too Frail".
Key and Ogre opened for Chris & Cosey on their 1985 Canadian tour as Hell 'O' Death Day; some of this material appeared on later Skinny Puppy releases. Bill Leeb
, working under the pseudonym Wilhelm Schroeder, an early friend of the band, was never listed as a member in album liner notes, but contributed bass synth to a handful of tracks and was a touring member in 1985. By 1986 he had left the band to form Front Line Assembly
. Dwayne Goettel
, who played synthesizers and samplers, joined Skinny Puppy in 1986 (his band, Water, had opened for Skinny Puppy in Edmonton
during the year 1985). Classically trained as a pianist/keyboardist, Goettel had previously worked with the synth pop band Psyche
, among others.
Their audience expanded with a distribution deal with Capitol Records
/EMI
, while Play It Again Sam
issued a number of their releases in Europe. Their production values continued to improve with the addition of Goettel on Mind: The Perpetual Intercourse
in 1986, and Cleanse Fold and Manipulate
in the year that followed. Skinny Puppy performed live in-studio on CBC Radio
's Brave New Waves
program in September 1986, while M:TPIs "Dig It
", the band's first single and video, received a fair amount of airplay on Toronto's CFNY-FM
. Other prominent songs from this period include two singles and one extended play
, "Addiction" (remixed by Adrian Sherwood
), "Chainsaw", "Stairs and Flowers
" (12" vinyl; United States
only), along with two other tracks: "Deep Down Trauma Hounds", and "One Time One Place".
Skinny Puppy toured for three years in North America and Europe; a live performance at Toronto's Concert Hall in 1987 was released on VHS in 1989 and CD in 1991 as Ain't It Dead Yet?
.
, and used the European Head Trauma tour and North American VIVIsectVI tour to draw attention to the issue. The title of the album, VIVIsectVI
, released in 1988, was a pun intended to associate vivisection
with Satanism
(i.e. the "666
sect"). The album's lyrics dealt with criticism of pollution
, chemical warfare
, deforestation
, rape
, cocaine addiction, and the promotion of sexual abstinence
to stop the spread of AIDS/HIV. Lead track "Dogshit" was released as a single in 1988 under the name "Censor" (due to censorship issues, radio stations urged the band to change its name for radio airplay), while the single "Testure
" (which denounced the vivisection
of animals for research purposes) reached #19 on Billboards Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart in 1989. A music video was produced for "Testure", featuring footage of a man being tortured by monstrous-looking surgeons, augmented with clips from The Plague Dogs
and Unnecessary Fuss
, and included a statement denouncing vivisection. Key and Ogre were arrested for "disorderly conduct" at a 1988 concert in Cincinnati, Ohio
after an audience member, believing the stuffed animal
Ogre was "vivisecting" to be a real dog, called the police.
During the late 1980s and early 1990s, the band members also worked on various side projects. Key and Goettel were involved with The Tear Garden
(a collaboration with The Legendary Pink Dots
), Doubting Thomas (an outlet for their non-Skinny Puppy instrumentals), and the rock band Hilt
. Ogre struck up a friendship with Ministry
's Al Jourgensen
, and joined Ministry and some of its side projects on their live tours. For Skinny Puppy's fifth album, Rabies, released in 1989, Jourgensen joined Rave as producer. The album, featuring Jourgensen's electric guitar work on several tracks, drew mixed reviews, although the singles "Tin Omen" and "Worlock", the latter which paired a riff sampled from The Beatles' "Helter Skelter" with a clip of Charles Manson
singing the song, became enduring favorites among many fans. A video produced for "Worlock", featuring spliced-together footage from dozens of horror films, and a statement denouncing censorship of the genre by the MPAA, was circulated widely as a promotional and bootleg item.
This period marked the beginning of divisions within the band, as rather than tour in support of Rabies, Ogre joined Ministry's The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste
tour as an additional vocalist. Key was later quoted as saying of Ogre's involvement with Ministry and Martin Atkins
' Pigface
during this period that he sometimes felt "like a wife that's been cheated on".
, was released in 1990. The album is built on the harsh electronic rock of previous albums, yielding the singles "Tormentor" and "Spasmolytic". Environmental degradation was a major theme on songs such as "Nature's Revenge" and "Shore Lined Poison", while layers of background noise grew to a crescendo on the album's closer "Reclamation". The North American Too Dark Park tour included the band's most graphic backing film to date, featuring everything from Budd Dwyer
's televised suicide, to animal experimentation, to nerve gas attacks in the Iran–Iraq War. Ogre was restrained in a stage piece called "The Chair of No Cares" and injected with various substances, then prowled the stage on large metal stilt
s. Similar sequences were featured in the "Spasmolytic" music video, directed by Jim Van Bebber
.
The album that followed two years later, Last Rights
, pushed the dark noise of Too Dark Park further into experimental territory. The stage show of its accompanying tour in North America was built around a detailed narrative that involved Ogre interacting with a backing film, a "virtual reality" machine, a bleeding crucifix
, and a large, rotating device called "The Tree of No Cares" from which dangled severed heads and pornographic magazines. The 1992 single "Inquisition" included the b-side "Lahuman8", one of several pieces commissioned by the contemporary dance
group La La La Human Steps
for their 1991 production Infante C'est Destroy. A second single, "Love In Vein", was never released, although some of the remix and b-side material intended for it later appeared on Brap: Back and Forth Series 3 & 4
in 1996. The "Killing Game" video and tour backing film were directed by William Morrison
.
A track titled "Left Handshake" was excluded from Last Rights, leaving a blank track 10 on some copies of the album. Clearance for a lengthy vocal sample from Timothy Leary
's Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out
, released 25 years prior to the album's release, was approved by Leary, but denied by the copyright holder. The song, in which a crazed Ogre responds to Leary's instructions for avoiding a "bad trip
", was eventually released on the initial European edition of Brap in 1996, and on a limited edition single called "Track 10
" sold at the Skinny Puppy reunion concert in 2000 at Dresden.
, with Roli Mosimann
producing. The recording sessions were beset by everything from fires to the Northridge earthquake
(this event occurred in early 1994), and Mosimann was eventually replaced with Martin Atkins
. Atkins' presence exacerbated the rift that was forming between Ogre on the one hand, and Key and Goettel on the other. The band's bickering and excessive drug use made the recording process so long and costly that American reduced Skinny Puppy's contract from three albums to one. In 1994, Key and Goettel returned to Vancouver with the master tapes, but Ogre remained in Los Angeles
and quit Skinny Puppy in June 1995. Goettel was found dead of a heroin overdose in his parents' home two months later. The Process was eventually completed with Rave, released in 1996, and dedicated to the memory of Goettel. It was an overall stylistic departure from their previous albums, prominently featuring untreated vocals, guitar, and more accessible song structures. The liner notes that accompanied the CD included thank-yous to "Electronic Music Lovers" and "Puppy People", followed by the words "The End" in bold type.
During the Process era, a loose-knit art/philosophy collective also known as The Process
was formed, with early contributions from Ogre and Genesis P-Orridge
, among others. P-Orridge and Larry Thrasher
of Psychic TV
jammed with Skinny Puppy during this period, a recording of which was eventually released as Puppy Gristle
in a limited edition in 2002. These jams partly inspired the creation of the Download
project, which Key and Goettel formed with Mark Spybey and Phil Western
in 1994. Download explored everything from electronic improvisation with spoken vocals to minimal techno
and IDM
, and toured in 1996. Earlier, in 1993, Goettel and Western had issued a breakbeat hardcore
single on their own Subconscious Records, and after Goettel's death in 1995, Subconscious evolved into a recording studio and record label imprint that Key used to release a number of his own and Skinny Puppy's recordings. Key also continued to work with The Tear Garden
, produced ambient techno and chill out music
with Western in the side project platEAU
, and released his first solo album in 1998.
Ogre had toured extensively with Martin Atkins' industrial supergroup
Pigface
since 1991, and toured with them again in 1995 after leaving Skinny Puppy. He recorded material for his side project W.E.L.T. with Ruby's Mark Walk
before quitting Skinny Puppy, but due to legal issues with American Recordings, this would not see release until 2001 under the new name ohGr
. In the meantime, he guested with KMFDM
in 1997 and 1999, and released an album with Martin Atkins under the name Rx
(also known as Ritalin). The ohGr and Rx releases included some of Ogre's most pop-oriented songwriting to date. Ogre and Mark Walk also contributed several tracks to the Descent II
game soundtrack.
Several collections were released while Skinny Puppy was dormant, including Brap: Back and Forth Series 3 & 4
in 1996 and The Singles Collect
and B-Sides Collect
in 1999. Nettwerk commissioned a remix album
in 1998; titled remix dystemper
, it featured classic Skinny Puppy tracks re-worked by a diverse range of artists, including IDM pioneers Autechre
, alt-metal band Deftones
, rapper/hip hop producer Guru
and Industrial mainstay KMFDM
. Ogre and Mark Walk also took part, contributing a breakcore
remix of "Dig It" and an updated version of Remissions "Smothered Hope" with new vocals by Ogre.
, Ogre and Key reunited and performed live as Skinny Puppy for the first time since 1992 at the Doomsday Festival
in Dresden
. This unique concert was professionally filmed and recorded, and while a DVD never materialized, live clips of "Testure" and "Worlock" were broadcast on the Crazy Clip Show in Germany and "Worlock" was included on a VCD compilation by German magazine Sonic Seducer in 2002. The live album Doomsday: Back and Forth Series 5: Live in Dresden
was released in 2001.
Key joined ohGr
on drums for its 2001
tour, while Ogre appeared on the track "Frozen Sky" on Key's 2001 album The Ghost of Each Room
. The first new Skinny Puppy track in several years, "Optimissed", appeared on the Underworld soundtrack in 2003. Ogre, Key, Mark Walk
and various guests, including Danny Carey
of Tool
and Wayne Static
of Static-X
, recorded the band's ninth studio album, The Greater Wrong of the Right
, released in 2004 on Synthetic Symphony, a sub-label of SPV
, their European distributor since th amounge mid-1990s. The new Skinny Puppy sound was in a similar vein as The Process, with a somewhat more rock-oriented style. "Pro-Test", the band's first music video since 1996, was rather different than any of their previous video work (featuring a showdown between rival b-boys and goths breakdancing/krumping
crews on a sidewalk in Los Angeles). The song eventually became one of the most well-known songs from the group.
Skinny Puppy toured North America and Europe in support of the album in 2004, joined by William Morrison
on guitar and Justin Bennett, formerly of Professional Murder Music
, on drums. Shows in Toronto and Montreal were filmed for the live DVD Greater Wrong of the Right Live
, which was released in September 2005. The DVD included Information Warfare, a documentary about the U.S.-led wars in Iraq made by Morrison. The anti-Bush administration
stance taken by the band at their live shows drew the ire of PABAAH (Patriotic Americans Boycotting Anti-American Hollywood), which attempted a boycott of college radio stations that played Skinny Puppy. Skinny Puppy toured Europe again in 2005, and returned to the studio to complete their next album, Mythmaker
, which was released in January 2007. While some fans longed for the sounds of their earlier days, the band stated their intention to move forward rather than dwell in the past, and played a mixture of new and old material at their shows, including material from the back catalog that had never been performed live before. The band's 2007 North American and European tour, titled Mythrus, began in May 2007.
In October 2010, there were reports that the new Skinny Puppy album would be released in February 2011. In May 2011, Skinny Puppy announced that they finished recording a new album titled HanDover
, and that they are soliciting it to other record labels for a September 2011 release date. On August 27, 2011 HanDover was officially confirmed as having an October 25, 2011 release in the United States and an October 28, 2011 release in Europe. Steven R Gilmore created the artwork for the album once again.
Skinny Puppy were scheduled to perform at numerous European festivals in the summer of 2010, including the Amphi Festival
in Germany
, the 2010 Waregem Gothic Festival in Belgium
, and the Recession Festival in Denmark.
and electronic music
is considerable. Widely considered originators of a unique sound and live performance style, Skinny Puppy are also known as pioneers of industrial rock
and electro-industrial
, genres in which they may be seen to have spawned "a litter of like-minded bands". Their influence extends from independent acts like Tin Omen, to mainstream stars Nine Inch Nails
, who opened for Skinny Puppy for a short time on their 1988 North American tour. Trent Reznor
also acknowledged that Skinny Puppy's "Dig It
" inspired the very first Nine Inch Nails track written that became the first hit song, "Down in It
". The band inspired two tribute album
s, Hymns of the Worlock published by Cleopatra Records
and ReMix Dys Temper published by Nettwerk Productions, both released in 1998.
, Download
, platEAU
, and The Tear Garden
. Key also works as Scaremeister, his film scoring alter ego, having previously contributed to John Debney
's score for End of Days (1999).
Ogre's main project outside Skinny Puppy is ohGr
, which released four albums, Welt
(2001), SunnyPsyOp
(2003), Devils in my Details
(2008), and Undeveloped (2011). Ogre toured with KMFDM
in 1997 and contributed vocals to their albums Symbols
(1997) and Adios (1999). He also toured extensively with Pigface
(1991–1995) and Ministry
(1987–1990) and appeared on a number of Pigface and Ministry-related recordings during this period.
, Portion Control, and The Legendary Pink Dots
, music which had been accessible to the band primarily via tape exchange
, Skinny Puppy experimented with analog and digital recording techniques, composing multi-layered music with synthesizer
s, drum machine
s, acoustic percussion, tape-splices, found sounds, distortion, samplers, and conventional rock music instruments. They also incorporated samples from films and radio broadcasts into their songs, and applied liberal amounts of distortion and other effects to Ogre's vocals, which were often delivered in the stream of consciousness style. Lyrical themes included animal rights
, politics
, religion
, drug abuse
, disease
, and environmental degradation
; these themes were often lyrically and conceptually intertwined. Skinny Puppy's often informal, improvisational approach to musical composition is indicated by use of the term brap, coined by them and defined as a verb meaning "to get together, hook up electronic instruments, get high, and record".
Skinny Puppy were noted for theatrical and controversial live performances that blended performance art
with music, especially in an ambitious period that spanned their Head Trauma (1988), VIVIsectVI (1988), Too Dark Park (1990), and Last Rights (1992) tours. Live performances involved periods of musical improvisation
, film projections, and elaborate stage props and machines. On-stage theatrics included Ogre being suspended from racks and cables, play with a hangman's noose, Key cutting steel with an angle grinder
, and mock execution
s of Ogre and George H.W. Bush. The band also worked with directors such as William Morrison
and Jim Van Bebber
on a number of music video
s, the themes and style of which typically mirrored their live performances.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
industrial musical group, formed in Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
in 1982
1982 in music
This is a list of notable events in music from 1982. 1982 was a big year in music with Madonna making her debut as well as the year that Michael Jackson released Thriller which became the world's best selling album and it still holds that title today....
. The group is widely considered to be the founders of the electro-industrial
Electro-industrial
Electro-industrial is a music genre drawing on EBM and post-industrial that developed in the mid-1980s. While EBM has a minimal structure and clean production, electro-industrial has a deep, complex and layered sound. The style was pioneered by Skinny Puppy, Front Line Assembly, and other groups,...
genre.
Initially envisioned as an experimental side project by cEvin Key
CEvin Key
cEvin Key is the pseudonym of Kevin William Crompton , who was a founding member of the industrial music band Skinny Puppy, along with Nivek Ogre. In addition to his work with Skinny Puppy, cEvin Key has had several side projects, including Doubting Thomas, Cyberaktif, and Hilt...
while he was in the new wave band Images In Vogue
Images in Vogue
Images in Vogue was a Canadian New Wave group in the 1980s.The band was formed in 1981 in Vancouver, and originally consisted of vocalist Dale Martindale, guitarist Don Gordon , synth players Joe Vizvary and Glen Nelson, bassist Gary Smith and percussionist Kevin Crompton...
, Skinny Puppy evolved into a full-time project with the addition of vocalist Nivek Ogre
Nivek Ogre
Nivek Ogre is a Canadian musician, performance artist and actor best known as a founding member of the industrial band Skinny Puppy. Since that band featured another Kevin and was produced by another Ogilvie Nivek Ogre (born Kevin Graham Ogilvie December 5, 1962) is a Canadian musician,...
. Over the course of a dozen studio albums and many live tours, Key and Ogre have been the only constant members. Other members have included Dwayne Goettel
Dwayne Goettel
Dwayne Rudolph Goettel was a member of the industrial band Skinny Puppy. He played keyboards for an early incarnation of the Canadian gothic/synthpop band Psyche, as well as a band called Water, who opened for Skinny Puppy in 1985...
(1986–1995), Dave "Rave" Ogilvie
Dave Ogilvie
Dave "Rave" Ogilvie is a Canadian record producer and musician. He is a producer of industrial music and has been associated with bands such as Skinny Puppy , Doughboys, The Birthday Massacre , Marilyn Manson, Jakalope , Killing Joke, Queensrÿche, Alexz Johnson, Fake Shark...
(long-time associate, producer, and "unofficial" fourth member until 1995), Mark Walk
Mark Walk
Mark Walk is an American composer, producer, multi-instrumentalist and current member of the bands Skinny Puppy and ohGr. He also composes material for film and television under his name or as a ghostwriter. One such piece was for the "Kitchen Confidential" opener, which was a Fox TV show that...
(2003–present), and a number of guests, including Bill Leeb
Bill Leeb
Bill Leeb is an electronic musician.He moved to Kitimat, British Columbia, Canada with his family when he was 13...
(1985–1986, under the pseudonym Wilhelm Schroeder), Al Jourgensen
Al Jourgensen
Alain David Jourgensen , is a Cuban-American musician best known as the founder and frontman of the industrial metal band Ministry. He is sometimes credited as Alain Jourgensen, Alien Jourgensen, Hypo Luxa , Dog, Alien Dog Star and Buck Satan...
(1989), and many others.
After the self-release of their first cassette in 1984
1984 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1984.-Janury-March:*January 21 – "Relax" by Frankie Goes to Hollywood reaches number one in the UK singles chart, despite being banned by the BBC; it spends a total of forty-two weeks in the Top 40.*January 27 – Michael Jackson's...
, Skinny Puppy soon signed to Vancouver label Nettwerk
Nettwerk
The Nettwerk Music Group is the umbrella company for Nettwerk Management, Nettwerk Records, Nettwerk One Publishing, Nutone Records, and Artwerk. With over 150 employees, the Vancouver-based company has offices in New York, Los Angeles, London, Boston, Nashville, and Hamburg...
, anchoring its early roster. From their Nettwerk debut EP Remission
Remission (Skinny Puppy album)
-Personnel:*Nivek Ogre - vocals, keyboards, synthesizer, horn*cEvin Key synthesizer, drums, percussion, tapes, vocals, treatments, production)*Dave Ogilvie *Wilhelm Schroeder...
in 1984 to their 1992 album Last Rights
Last Rights (album)
-Personnel:*Nivek Ogre - vocals*cEvin Key - synthesizer, drums, percussion, guitar, bass, production*Dwayne Goettel - keyboards, synthesizer, guitar*Dave Ogilvie *Ken Marshall *Anthony Valcic...
, Skinny Puppy developed into an influential band with a dedicated cult following, fusing elements of ambient
Ambient music
Ambient music is a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality.- History :...
, noise
Noise music
Noise music is a term used to describe varieties of avant-garde music and sound art that may use elements such as cacophony, dissonance, atonality, noise, indeterminacy, and repetition in their realization. Noise music can feature distortion, various types of acoustically or electronically...
, new wave
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
, electro, and rock music
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
and making innovative use of sampling
Sampling (music)
In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...
. "Who's Laughing Now" was utilized very heavily in the closing scenes of the 1990 film Bad Influence
Bad Influence (film)
Bad Influence is a 1990 American film starring Rob Lowe and James Spader. In this noirish film, Spader plays a yuppie who meets a mysterious stranger who encourages him to explore his darker side. Bad Influence was the first original screenplay for which David Koepp received a sole screenplay credit...
. Over the course of several tours of North America and Europe in this period, they became known for theatrical, horror-themed live performances and videos, drawing attention to issues such as chemical warfare
Chemical warfare
Chemical warfare involves using the toxic properties of chemical substances as weapons. This type of warfare is distinct from Nuclear warfare and Biological warfare, which together make up NBC, the military acronym for Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical...
as well as propagating anti-animal testing
Animal testing
Animal testing, also known as animal experimentation, animal research, and in vivo testing, is the use of non-human animals in experiments. Worldwide it is estimated that the number of vertebrate animals—from zebrafish to non-human primates—ranges from the tens of millions to more than 100 million...
sentiment.
In 1993, Skinny Puppy left Nettwerk and long-time producer Rave, signing with American Recordings and relocating to Malibu, California, where drug problems and tension between band members plagued the recording of their next album, The Process. Ogre quit Skinny Puppy in June 1995, and Goettel died of a heroin overdose two months later. The album was completed with Rave and released in Goettel's memory in 1996. Key and Ogre, already active in a number of other projects, went their separate ways, reuniting for a one-off Skinny Puppy concert at the Doomsday Festival
Doomsday Festival
The Doomsday Festival was a two-day music festival held August 19-20, 2000, at the Ostragehege in Dresden, Germany. The event featured a wide range of bands, but is best known as the occasion of Skinny Puppy's reunion concert, which closed the festival and was recorded for the live album Doomsday:...
in Dresden, Germany, in 2000. Reforming Skinny Puppy in 2003 with Mark Walk, they have since released two albums on the German label Synthetic Symphony
SPV GmbH
SPV GmbH is an independent German record label.Founded on January 1, 1984, it has slowly grown to be one of the largest independent distributors and record labels worldwide....
, and toured extensively.
Early years and first releases (1982–1987)
Skinny Puppy formed in 1982 from the partnership of cEvin KeyCEvin Key
cEvin Key is the pseudonym of Kevin William Crompton , who was a founding member of the industrial music band Skinny Puppy, along with Nivek Ogre. In addition to his work with Skinny Puppy, cEvin Key has had several side projects, including Doubting Thomas, Cyberaktif, and Hilt...
(Kevin Crompton) and Nivek Ogre
Nivek Ogre
Nivek Ogre is a Canadian musician, performance artist and actor best known as a founding member of the industrial band Skinny Puppy. Since that band featured another Kevin and was produced by another Ogilvie Nivek Ogre (born Kevin Graham Ogilvie December 5, 1962) is a Canadian musician,...
(Kevin Ogilvie) in Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. Key was dissatisfied with the pop direction of his then-current band Images in Vogue
Images in Vogue
Images in Vogue was a Canadian New Wave group in the 1980s.The band was formed in 1981 in Vancouver, and originally consisted of vocalist Dale Martindale, guitarist Don Gordon , synth players Joe Vizvary and Glen Nelson, bassist Gary Smith and percussionist Kevin Crompton...
, and began Skinny Puppy with the intention of doing something more raw and experimental. Initially Key had planned Puppy to be a side project while he continued his work in Images, however, when Images in Vogue relocated to Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Key made Skinny Puppy his full time project. Key had already created the name of the project and the concept of music from a "dog's eye view" when Ogre joined, and it was with this idea that they recorded their first self-released cassette Back & Forth in 1984, with help from Dave "Rave" Ogilvie. This was the beginning of a long partnership between Skinny Puppy and Rave, who would serve as their producer until 1993, and again in 1995, and was occasionally listed as a member of the band in album liner notes. Back & Forth drew the attention of Vancouver startup label Nettwerk
Nettwerk
The Nettwerk Music Group is the umbrella company for Nettwerk Management, Nettwerk Records, Nettwerk One Publishing, Nutone Records, and Artwerk. With over 150 employees, the Vancouver-based company has offices in New York, Los Angeles, London, Boston, Nashville, and Hamburg...
, who signed the band later that year. The first live Skinny Puppy show was at Unovis in Vancouver in February 1984.
The dark electro-pop styles of their debut EP Remission
Remission (Skinny Puppy album)
-Personnel:*Nivek Ogre - vocals, keyboards, synthesizer, horn*cEvin Key synthesizer, drums, percussion, tapes, vocals, treatments, production)*Dave Ogilvie *Wilhelm Schroeder...
in 1984, and first album Bites
Bites (album)
-Personnel:*Nivek Ogre vocals, synthesizer, metallic percussions, treatments and objects*cEvin Key - bass guitar, synthesizer, sequencers, tapes, sampler, treatments, acoustic and metallic percussions, drums*Dave Ogilvie - production, engineering...
at the following year, earned the band a fan base. Tom Ellard
Tom Ellard
Thomas Ellard , is an Australian electronic musician best known as the founding member of the electronic and industrial music group Severed Heads.-Early life:...
of Severed Heads
Severed Heads
Severed Heads is an Australian electronic music group based and founded in Sydney in 1979 as Mr. and Mrs. No Smoking Sign. The original members were Richard Fielding and Andrew Wright, and were soon joined by Tom Ellard. Fielding and Wright eventually left the group, leaving Ellard as a singular...
lent a hand to the production of the Bites track "Assimilate", which became one of the band's first underground hits. Other popular songs from this period included "Smothered Hope", "The Choke", "Dead Lines", "Last Call", and "Far Too Frail".
Key and Ogre opened for Chris & Cosey on their 1985 Canadian tour as Hell 'O' Death Day; some of this material appeared on later Skinny Puppy releases. Bill Leeb
Bill Leeb
Bill Leeb is an electronic musician.He moved to Kitimat, British Columbia, Canada with his family when he was 13...
, working under the pseudonym Wilhelm Schroeder, an early friend of the band, was never listed as a member in album liner notes, but contributed bass synth to a handful of tracks and was a touring member in 1985. By 1986 he had left the band to form Front Line Assembly
Front Line Assembly
Front Line Assembly is a Canadian electro-industrial band formed by Bill Leeb in 1986 after leaving Skinny Puppy. Influenced by early Industrial acts such as Cabaret Voltaire, Portion Control, D.A.F., Test Dept, SPK, and Severed Heads, FLA has developed its own unique sound while combining...
. Dwayne Goettel
Dwayne Goettel
Dwayne Rudolph Goettel was a member of the industrial band Skinny Puppy. He played keyboards for an early incarnation of the Canadian gothic/synthpop band Psyche, as well as a band called Water, who opened for Skinny Puppy in 1985...
, who played synthesizers and samplers, joined Skinny Puppy in 1986 (his band, Water, had opened for Skinny Puppy in Edmonton
Edmonton
Edmonton is the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta and is the province's second-largest city. Edmonton is located on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Capital Region, which is surrounded by the central region of the province.The city and its census...
during the year 1985). Classically trained as a pianist/keyboardist, Goettel had previously worked with the synth pop band Psyche
Psyche (band)
Psyche are a Canadian dark synthpop band, now based in Germany. They are centered on singer Darrin Huss, who has been the only constant member, with various line-ups including his brother Stephen Huss, later followed by David Kristian, Per-Anders Kurenbach, and Remi Szyszka, all recording albums...
, among others.
Their audience expanded with a distribution deal with Capitol Records
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
/EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
, while Play It Again Sam
Play It Again Sam (record label)
[PIAS] Recordings is the recorded music division of the [PIAS] Entertainment Group, a European independent artist and label services company.The record labels that operate under the [PIAS] Recordings umbrella are: Play It Again Sam, Wall of Sound and Different Recordings.Aside from the three London...
issued a number of their releases in Europe. Their production values continued to improve with the addition of Goettel on Mind: The Perpetual Intercourse
Mind: The Perpetual Intercourse
"Dig It" is replaced by its 12" version on the CD; it lasts 7:40. On vinyl, "Burnt with Water" ended with a locked groove repeating the phrase "Amen, Lord, hear my prayer" endlessly until the needle was lifted....
in 1986, and Cleanse Fold and Manipulate
Cleanse Fold and Manipulate
- Notes :Cleanse Fold and Manipulate is a cyclical album, the end of the track 10, "Epilogue" segues into the beginning of track 1, "First Aid."...
in the year that followed. Skinny Puppy performed live in-studio on CBC Radio
CBC Radio
CBC Radio generally refers to the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which are outlined below.-English:CBC Radio operates three English language...
's Brave New Waves
Brave New Waves
Brave New Waves was a Canadian radio program which aired on CBC Stereo, later known as CBC Radio 2, from 1984 to 2007. Airing weeknights from midnight to 4 a.m., the show profiled alternative and indie music and culture, including film, comics, literature and art...
program in September 1986, while M:TPIs "Dig It
Dig It (Skinny Puppy song)
"Dig It" is a single by the band Skinny Puppy, taken from their 1986 album Mind: The Perpetual Intercourse. Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor once mentioned that the song influenced the first song he wrote, Down in It.-Track listing:...
", the band's first single and video, received a fair amount of airplay on Toronto's CFNY-FM
CFNY-FM
CFNY-FM, promoted under the branding 102.1 The Edge, is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting at 102.1 FM. The station rose to prominence in the 1970s and 1980s due to its freestyle DJing format and unique choice to play alternative music...
. Other prominent songs from this period include two singles and one extended play
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
, "Addiction" (remixed by Adrian Sherwood
Adrian Sherwood
Adrian Sherwood is an English record producer best known for his work with dub music as well as for remixing a number of popular acts such as Coldcut, Depeche Mode, The Woodentops, Primal Scream, Pop Will Eat Itself, Sinéad O'Connor, and Skinny Puppy...
), "Chainsaw", "Stairs and Flowers
Stairs and Flowers
-External links:*...
" (12" vinyl; United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
only), along with two other tracks: "Deep Down Trauma Hounds", and "One Time One Place".
Skinny Puppy toured for three years in North America and Europe; a live performance at Toronto's Concert Hall in 1987 was released on VHS in 1989 and CD in 1991 as Ain't It Dead Yet?
Ain't It Dead Yet?
- Notes :All artwork by Steven R. Gilmore.Some pressings incorrectly list "One Time One Place" as "God's Gift Maggot". All copies of the CD version incorrectly list "Draining Faces" as "Brap"....
.
Subsequent success (1988–1989)
Over time, the band became outspoken advocates for animal rightsAnimal rights
Animal rights, also known as animal liberation, is the idea that the most basic interests of non-human animals should be afforded the same consideration as the similar interests of human beings...
, and used the European Head Trauma tour and North American VIVIsectVI tour to draw attention to the issue. The title of the album, VIVIsectVI
VIVIsectVI
-Notes:"Dogshit" was released as a single under the title "Censor"."Who's Laughing Now?" was included on the soundtrack of the 1990 film Bad Influence.A note in liner notes is a reference to playing music at a very loud volume, or else...
, released in 1988, was a pun intended to associate vivisection
Vivisection
Vivisection is defined as surgery conducted for experimental purposes on a living organism, typically animals with a central nervous system, to view living internal structure...
with Satanism
Satanism
Satanism is a group of religions that is composed of a diverse number of ideological and philosophical beliefs and social phenomena. Their shared feature include symbolic association with, admiration for the character of, and even veneration of Satan or similar rebellious, promethean, and...
(i.e. the "666
Number of the Beast
The Number of the Beast is a term in the Book of Revelation, of the New Testament, that is associated with the first Beast of Revelation chapter 13, the Beast of the sea. In most manuscripts of the New Testament and in English translations of the Bible, the number of the Beast is...
sect"). The album's lyrics dealt with criticism of pollution
Pollution
Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into a natural environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the ecosystem i.e. physical systems or living organisms. Pollution can take the form of chemical substances or energy, such as noise, heat or light...
, chemical warfare
Chemical warfare
Chemical warfare involves using the toxic properties of chemical substances as weapons. This type of warfare is distinct from Nuclear warfare and Biological warfare, which together make up NBC, the military acronym for Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical...
, deforestation
Deforestation
Deforestation is the removal of a forest or stand of trees where the land is thereafter converted to a nonforest use. Examples of deforestation include conversion of forestland to farms, ranches, or urban use....
, rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
, cocaine addiction, and the promotion of sexual abstinence
Sexual abstinence
Sexual abstinence is the practice of refraining from some or all aspects of sexual activity for medical, psychological, legal, social, philosophical or religious reasons.Common reasons for practicing sexual abstinence include:*poor health - medical celibacy...
to stop the spread of AIDS/HIV. Lead track "Dogshit" was released as a single in 1988 under the name "Censor" (due to censorship issues, radio stations urged the band to change its name for radio airplay), while the single "Testure
Testure
"Testure" is a single by the band Skinny Puppy, taken from their 1988 album VIVIsectVI. The phrase is most likely a play on words of the words 'Test' and 'Torture' and equates medical experimentation on live animals as being akin to torture.-Track listing:-Personnel:*N. Ogre*cEvin Key*D...
" (which denounced the vivisection
Vivisection
Vivisection is defined as surgery conducted for experimental purposes on a living organism, typically animals with a central nervous system, to view living internal structure...
of animals for research purposes) reached #19 on Billboards Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart in 1989. A music video was produced for "Testure", featuring footage of a man being tortured by monstrous-looking surgeons, augmented with clips from The Plague Dogs
The Plague Dogs (film)
The Plague Dogs is a 1982 animated film based on the 1977 novel of the same name by Richard Adams. The film was written-for-screen, directed and produced by Martin Rosen, who also directed Watership Down, the film version of another novel by Adams, produced by Nepenthe Productions and released by...
and Unnecessary Fuss
Unnecessary Fuss
Unnecessary Fuss is a film produced by Ingrid Newkirk and Alex Pacheco of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals , showing footage shot inside the University of Pennsylvania's Head Injury Clinic in Philadelphia....
, and included a statement denouncing vivisection. Key and Ogre were arrested for "disorderly conduct" at a 1988 concert in Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio. Cincinnati is the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located to north of the Ohio River at the Ohio-Kentucky border, near Indiana. The population within city limits is 296,943 according to the 2010 census, making it Ohio's...
after an audience member, believing the stuffed animal
Stuffed animal
A stuffed toy is a toy sewn from cloth, plush, or other textiles, and stuffed with straw, beans, plastic pellets, cotton, synthetic fibres, or other similar materials. Stuffed toys are also known as plush toys A stuffed toy is a toy sewn from cloth, plush, or other textiles, and stuffed with straw,...
Ogre was "vivisecting" to be a real dog, called the police.
During the late 1980s and early 1990s, the band members also worked on various side projects. Key and Goettel were involved with The Tear Garden
The Tear Garden
The Tear Garden is a psychedelic/gothic/electronic band, formed by Edward Ka-Spel of The Legendary Pink Dots and cEvin Key of Skinny Puppy in 1985 after Key served as a sound engineer on tour in Canada for Ka-Spel...
(a collaboration with The Legendary Pink Dots
The Legendary Pink Dots
The Legendary Pink Dots are an Anglo-Dutch experimental rock band formed in London in August 1980. Although far outside the mainstream , LPD have released more than 40 albums, have a devoted worldwide following, and tour frequently.-Overview:The Legendary Pink Dots formed in August 1980 in London...
), Doubting Thomas (an outlet for their non-Skinny Puppy instrumentals), and the rock band Hilt
Hilt (band)
Hilt was a collective group of Vancouver musicians, usually referred to as a side project of the group Skinny Puppy. The group comprised Alan Nelson, a seminal member of many local Vancouver rock and punk groups, on vocals, with cEvin Key and D.R...
. Ogre struck up a friendship with Ministry
Ministry (band)
Ministry is an American industrial metal band founded by lead singer Al Jourgensen in 1981. Originally a synthpop outfit, Ministry changed its style to industrial metal in the late 1980s. Ministry found mainstream success in the early 1990s with its most successful album Psalm 69: The Way to...
's Al Jourgensen
Al Jourgensen
Alain David Jourgensen , is a Cuban-American musician best known as the founder and frontman of the industrial metal band Ministry. He is sometimes credited as Alain Jourgensen, Alien Jourgensen, Hypo Luxa , Dog, Alien Dog Star and Buck Satan...
, and joined Ministry and some of its side projects on their live tours. For Skinny Puppy's fifth album, Rabies, released in 1989, Jourgensen joined Rave as producer. The album, featuring Jourgensen's electric guitar work on several tracks, drew mixed reviews, although the singles "Tin Omen" and "Worlock", the latter which paired a riff sampled from The Beatles' "Helter Skelter" with a clip of Charles Manson
Charles Manson
Charles Milles Manson is an American criminal who led what became known as the Manson Family, a quasi-commune that arose in California in the late 1960s. He was found guilty of conspiracy to commit the Tate/LaBianca murders carried out by members of the group at his instruction...
singing the song, became enduring favorites among many fans. A video produced for "Worlock", featuring spliced-together footage from dozens of horror films, and a statement denouncing censorship of the genre by the MPAA, was circulated widely as a promotional and bootleg item.
This period marked the beginning of divisions within the band, as rather than tour in support of Rabies, Ogre joined Ministry's The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste
The Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Taste
The Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Taste is the fourth studio album by industrial metal band Ministry, released in 1989 through Sire/Warner Bros. Records. The music took a more hardcore, aggressively guitar-driven direction...
tour as an additional vocalist. Key was later quoted as saying of Ogre's involvement with Ministry and Martin Atkins
Martin Atkins
Martin Clive Atkins is an English drummer and session musician, best known for his work in post-punk and industrial groups including Public Image Ltd., Ministry, Pigface, and Killing Joke...
' Pigface
Pigface
Pigface is an industrial rock supergroup formed in 1990 by Martin Atkins and William Rieflin.-History:Pigface was formed from Ministry's The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste tour, which produced the In Case You Didn't Feel Like Showing Up live album and video. For the tour, Al Jourgensen brought...
during this period that he sometimes felt "like a wife that's been cheated on".
Too Dark Park and Last Rights (1990–1992)
Their next album, Too Dark ParkToo Dark Park
-Personnel:*Nivek Ogre – vocals*cEvin Key – drums, synthesizer, guitar, objects, treatments*Dwayne Goettel – synthesizer, keyboards, guitar, bass*Mr. D. Pleven – fretless bass , stick bass *Green Guy – 12 string *Greg Reely – piano , mixing...
, was released in 1990. The album is built on the harsh electronic rock of previous albums, yielding the singles "Tormentor" and "Spasmolytic". Environmental degradation was a major theme on songs such as "Nature's Revenge" and "Shore Lined Poison", while layers of background noise grew to a crescendo on the album's closer "Reclamation". The North American Too Dark Park tour included the band's most graphic backing film to date, featuring everything from Budd Dwyer
Budd Dwyer
Robert Budd Dwyer was an American politician in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. He served from 1971 to 1981 as a member of the Pennsylvania State Senate representing the state's 50th district...
's televised suicide, to animal experimentation, to nerve gas attacks in the Iran–Iraq War. Ogre was restrained in a stage piece called "The Chair of No Cares" and injected with various substances, then prowled the stage on large metal stilt
Stilt
Stilt is a common name for several species of birds in the family Recurvirostridae, which also includes those known as avocets. They are found in brackish or saline wetlands in warm or hot climates....
s. Similar sequences were featured in the "Spasmolytic" music video, directed by Jim Van Bebber
Jim Van Bebber
Jim Van Bebber is an American film director. Van Bebber attended Wright State University where he studied cinema. Instead of using a bank loan to pay for a second year of college, he used the money to finance Deadbeat at Dawn, and founded the indie film company Asmodeus Productions with several...
.
The album that followed two years later, Last Rights
Last Rights (album)
-Personnel:*Nivek Ogre - vocals*cEvin Key - synthesizer, drums, percussion, guitar, bass, production*Dwayne Goettel - keyboards, synthesizer, guitar*Dave Ogilvie *Ken Marshall *Anthony Valcic...
, pushed the dark noise of Too Dark Park further into experimental territory. The stage show of its accompanying tour in North America was built around a detailed narrative that involved Ogre interacting with a backing film, a "virtual reality" machine, a bleeding crucifix
Crucifix
A crucifix is an independent image of Jesus on the cross with a representation of Jesus' body, referred to in English as the corpus , as distinct from a cross with no body....
, and a large, rotating device called "The Tree of No Cares" from which dangled severed heads and pornographic magazines. The 1992 single "Inquisition" included the b-side "Lahuman8", one of several pieces commissioned by the contemporary dance
Contemporary dance
Contemporary dance is a genre of concert dance that employs compositional philosophy, rather than choreography, to guide unchoreographed movement...
group La La La Human Steps
La La La Human Steps
La La La Human Steps is a Québécois contemporary dance group in Canada, known for its energetic, acrobatic style that often involves fast-paced and athletic physical contact...
for their 1991 production Infante C'est Destroy. A second single, "Love In Vein", was never released, although some of the remix and b-side material intended for it later appeared on Brap: Back and Forth Series 3 & 4
Brap: Back and Forth Series 3 & 4
European pressings include "Left Handshake", the omitted track from Last Rights, in between TFWO and Choralone, excluding the data tracks on both discs.- External links :...
in 1996. The "Killing Game" video and tour backing film were directed by William Morrison
William Morrison (director)
William Morrison , is a Canadian born Juno Award-nominated music video director, documentary film director, and musician...
.
A track titled "Left Handshake" was excluded from Last Rights, leaving a blank track 10 on some copies of the album. Clearance for a lengthy vocal sample from Timothy Leary
Timothy Leary
Timothy Francis Leary was an American psychologist and writer, known for his advocacy of psychedelic drugs. During a time when drugs like LSD and psilocybin were legal, Leary conducted experiments at Harvard University under the Harvard Psilocybin Project, resulting in the Concord Prison...
's Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out
Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out (Timothy Leary album)
Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out is an album credited to Timothy Leary. It consists of a narrated meditation mixed with freeform psychedelic rock music.-Track listing:Side A#"The Turn On" - 2:23#"The Tune In" - 3:34...
, released 25 years prior to the album's release, was approved by Leary, but denied by the copyright holder. The song, in which a crazed Ogre responds to Leary's instructions for avoiding a "bad trip
Bad trip
Bad trip is a disturbing experience sometimes associated with use of a psychedelic drug such as LSD, Salvinorin A, DXM, mescaline, psilocybin, DMT and sometimes even other drugs including cannabis, alcohol and MDMA....
", was eventually released on the initial European edition of Brap in 1996, and on a limited edition single called "Track 10
Track 10
"Track 10", originally called "Left Handshake", is a single by the Canadian post-industrial band Skinny Puppy from their seventh album Last Rights. The song features samples from the Timothy Leary album Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out which the band failed to receive clearance of from Henry Saperstein,...
" sold at the Skinny Puppy reunion concert in 2000 at Dresden.
The Process and breakup (1993–1999)
Ogre, Key, and Goettel signed a contract with American Recordings and moved to Malibu, California, in 1993 to record The Process, a concept album inspired by 1960s cult The Process Church of The Final JudgmentThe Process Church of The Final Judgment
The Process, or in full, The Process Church of the Final Judgment, commonly known by non-members as the Process Church, was a religious group that flourished in the 1960s and 1970s, founded by the English couple Mary Anne and Robert DeGrimston...
, with Roli Mosimann
Roli Mosimann
Roli Mosimann is a drummer, electronic musician and record producer who has worked in genres ranging from industrial to pop. Originally from Switzerland, Mosimann first came to attention with the New York City no wave band Swans and later collaborated with Foetus leader J. G...
producing. The recording sessions were beset by everything from fires to the Northridge earthquake
Northridge earthquake
The Northridge earthquake was a massive earthquake that occurred on January 17, 1994, at 04:31 Pacific Standard Time in Reseda, a neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, California, lasting for about 10–20 seconds...
(this event occurred in early 1994), and Mosimann was eventually replaced with Martin Atkins
Martin Atkins
Martin Clive Atkins is an English drummer and session musician, best known for his work in post-punk and industrial groups including Public Image Ltd., Ministry, Pigface, and Killing Joke...
. Atkins' presence exacerbated the rift that was forming between Ogre on the one hand, and Key and Goettel on the other. The band's bickering and excessive drug use made the recording process so long and costly that American reduced Skinny Puppy's contract from three albums to one. In 1994, Key and Goettel returned to Vancouver with the master tapes, but Ogre remained in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
and quit Skinny Puppy in June 1995. Goettel was found dead of a heroin overdose in his parents' home two months later. The Process was eventually completed with Rave, released in 1996, and dedicated to the memory of Goettel. It was an overall stylistic departure from their previous albums, prominently featuring untreated vocals, guitar, and more accessible song structures. The liner notes that accompanied the CD included thank-yous to "Electronic Music Lovers" and "Puppy People", followed by the words "The End" in bold type.
During the Process era, a loose-knit art/philosophy collective also known as The Process
The Process (collective)
The Process is an art and philosophy collective formed in the early 1990s. The idea was initially birthed at the same time as, and with a subset of the same people from, the studio work for the Skinny Puppy album The Process, though the direct interrelation ends there. Some of the early...
was formed, with early contributions from Ogre and Genesis P-Orridge
Genesis P-Orridge
Genesis Breyer P-Orridge is an English singer-songwriter, musician, writer and artist. P-Orridge's early confrontational performance work in COUM Transmissions in the late 1960s and early 1970s along with the industrial band Throbbing Gristle, which dealt with subjects such as prostitution,...
, among others. P-Orridge and Larry Thrasher
Larry Thrasher
Larry Thrasher is an American experimental musician, remixer, and producer. [] Thrasher was an important member of Psychic TV, Thee Majesty and Splinter Test. In addition, Thrasher is in collaboration with Kim Cascone on the experimental noise project Thessalonians. He is credited under the...
of Psychic TV
Psychic TV
Psychic TV or PTV, is a video art and music group that primarily performs psychedelic, punk, electronic and experimental music...
jammed with Skinny Puppy during this period, a recording of which was eventually released as Puppy Gristle
Puppy Gristle
-Personnel:*Genesis P. Orridge *Dwayne Rudolph Goettel *cEvin Key *Larry Thrasher *N...
in a limited edition in 2002. These jams partly inspired the creation of the Download
Download (band)
Download is an electronic music group formed by Dwayne Goettel and cEvin Key of Skinny Puppy in 1994. The initial lineup also included Off & Gone's Phil Western and Mark Spybey of Dead Voices on Air, but has since been particularly fluid, with Key and Western being the only constant members...
project, which Key and Goettel formed with Mark Spybey and Phil Western
Phil Western
Phil Western is a Vancouver-based musician who is a founding member of the bands Download, PlatEAU, Frozen Rabbit, and Off And Gone....
in 1994. Download explored everything from electronic improvisation with spoken vocals to minimal techno
Minimal techno
Minimal techno is a minimalist sub-genre of techno. It is characterized by a stripped-down aesthetic that exploits the use of repetition, and understated development. This style of dance music production generally adheres to the motto less is more; a principle that has been previously utilized, to...
and IDM
Intelligent dance music
Intelligent dance music is a term that describes an electronic music genre that emerged in the early 1990s. The genre is influenced by a wide range of musical styles particularly electronic dance music such as Detroit Techno...
, and toured in 1996. Earlier, in 1993, Goettel and Western had issued a breakbeat hardcore
Breakbeat hardcore
Breakbeat hardcore is a derivative of the acid house and techno, of the late 1980s and early 1990s, that combines four-to-the-floor rhythms with breakbeats, and is associated with the UK rave scene.-The rave scene:...
single on their own Subconscious Records, and after Goettel's death in 1995, Subconscious evolved into a recording studio and record label imprint that Key used to release a number of his own and Skinny Puppy's recordings. Key also continued to work with The Tear Garden
The Tear Garden
The Tear Garden is a psychedelic/gothic/electronic band, formed by Edward Ka-Spel of The Legendary Pink Dots and cEvin Key of Skinny Puppy in 1985 after Key served as a sound engineer on tour in Canada for Ka-Spel...
, produced ambient techno and chill out music
Chill out music
Chill out music is an umbrella term for several styles of electronic music characterized by their mellow style and mid-tempo beats — "chill" being derived from a slang injunction to "relax."Chill out music emerged in the early and mid-1990s in "chill rooms" at dance clubs, where relaxing music...
with Western in the side project platEAU
Plateau (band)
PlatEAU is an electronic music project featuring cEvin Key and Phil Western. The project resembles a very loose approach to the Download project featuring the same members. The song names and album titles refer to the coffeeshop culture of Amsterdam in The Netherlands implying a "trip" throughtheir...
, and released his first solo album in 1998.
Ogre had toured extensively with Martin Atkins' industrial supergroup
Supergroup (music)
In the late 1960s, the term supergroup was coined to describe "a rock music group whose performers are already famous from having performed individually or in other groups"....
Pigface
Pigface
Pigface is an industrial rock supergroup formed in 1990 by Martin Atkins and William Rieflin.-History:Pigface was formed from Ministry's The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste tour, which produced the In Case You Didn't Feel Like Showing Up live album and video. For the tour, Al Jourgensen brought...
since 1991, and toured with them again in 1995 after leaving Skinny Puppy. He recorded material for his side project W.E.L.T. with Ruby's Mark Walk
Mark Walk
Mark Walk is an American composer, producer, multi-instrumentalist and current member of the bands Skinny Puppy and ohGr. He also composes material for film and television under his name or as a ghostwriter. One such piece was for the "Kitchen Confidential" opener, which was a Fox TV show that...
before quitting Skinny Puppy, but due to legal issues with American Recordings, this would not see release until 2001 under the new name ohGr
OhGr
ohGr is a band formed by Nivek Ogre, of Skinny Puppy, and musician/engineer Mark Walk. Although the pedigree of the group's members might suggest otherwise, early ohGr releases differed in sound to its related industrial bands, drawing more on hip-hop and electro-pop influences, incorporating more...
. In the meantime, he guested with KMFDM
KMFDM
KMFDM is an industrial band led by German multi-instrumentalist Sascha Konietzko, who founded the group in 1984 as a performance art project...
in 1997 and 1999, and released an album with Martin Atkins under the name Rx
Rx (band)
℞ or Rx was a one-off side project by Skinny Puppy band member Nivek Ogre, in collaboration with Invisible Records founder Martin Atkins. The project was originally called Ritalin, but the name was changed for legal reasons....
(also known as Ritalin). The ohGr and Rx releases included some of Ogre's most pop-oriented songwriting to date. Ogre and Mark Walk also contributed several tracks to the Descent II
Descent II
Descent II is a 3D first-person shooter video game noted for popularizing the use of true 3D rendering technology and providing the player with six full degrees of freedom to move and to look around....
game soundtrack.
Several collections were released while Skinny Puppy was dormant, including Brap: Back and Forth Series 3 & 4
Brap: Back and Forth Series 3 & 4
European pressings include "Left Handshake", the omitted track from Last Rights, in between TFWO and Choralone, excluding the data tracks on both discs.- External links :...
in 1996 and The Singles Collect
The Singles Collect
-Personnel:*Nivek Ogre*cEvin Key*D.R. Goettel -Guests:*Dale Plevin *Tom Ellard *Wilhelm Schroeder *Alien Jourgensen...
and B-Sides Collect
B-Sides Collect
B-Sides Collect is a compilation album by Skinny Puppy, released in 1999. The album serves as a collection of several B-sides from earlier singles that went out of print around the time of its release. With the exception of "Serpents", this collection compliments Twelve Inch Anthology which...
in 1999. Nettwerk commissioned a remix album
Remix album
A remix album is an album consisting mostly of remixes or re-recorded versions of a music artists' earlier released material.One of the earliest remix albums was 1971's Aerial Pandemonium Ballet by Harry Nilsson, which was released by Nilsson after the successes of Everybody's Talkin and The Point!...
in 1998; titled remix dystemper
Remix dystemper
-Trivia:* Both the Rodent Remix by Hi-Watt and the Spasmolytic remix appeared on different soundtracks of the famous Saw franchise. Rodent appeared on the soundtrack for Saw II while Spasmolytic appeared on the soundtrack for Saw IV....
, it featured classic Skinny Puppy tracks re-worked by a diverse range of artists, including IDM pioneers Autechre
Autechre
Autechre are an English electronic music duo consisting of Rob Brown and Sean Booth, both natives of Rochdale, Greater Manchester. Formed in 1987, they are one of the most prominent acts signed to Warp Records, a label known for its pioneering electronic music and through which all Autechre albums...
, alt-metal band Deftones
Deftones
Deftones are an American alternative metal band from Sacramento, California, founded in 1988. The band consists of Chino Moreno , Stephen Carpenter , Chi Cheng , Frank Delgado , and Abe Cunningham . Currently Sergio Vega is standing in on bass while Cheng recovers from a car accident...
, rapper/hip hop producer Guru
Guru (rapper)
Keith Edward Elam , better known by his stage name Guru, was an American emcee and member of the hip-hop duo Gang Starr, along with DJ Premier. He was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts...
and Industrial mainstay KMFDM
KMFDM
KMFDM is an industrial band led by German multi-instrumentalist Sascha Konietzko, who founded the group in 1984 as a performance art project...
. Ogre and Mark Walk also took part, contributing a breakcore
Breakcore
Breakcore is a style of electronic music largely influenced by hardcore techno, drum and bass and Intelligent dance music. Its sound is largely characterized by a high-tempo, well-timed mingling of distorted kick drums , break beats arranged from samples of the Amen break, and audio samples from a...
remix of "Dig It" and an updated version of Remissions "Smothered Hope" with new vocals by Ogre.
Reunion, The Greater Wrong of the Right and Mythmaker (2000–2008)
In 20002000 in music
See also:* 2000 in music Record labels established in 2000-Events:*January – Gary Glitter is released from jail, two months before his sentence for sexual offences ends.*January 1**John Tavener is knighted in the New Year's Honours List....
, Ogre and Key reunited and performed live as Skinny Puppy for the first time since 1992 at the Doomsday Festival
Doomsday Festival
The Doomsday Festival was a two-day music festival held August 19-20, 2000, at the Ostragehege in Dresden, Germany. The event featured a wide range of bands, but is best known as the occasion of Skinny Puppy's reunion concert, which closed the festival and was recorded for the live album Doomsday:...
in Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
. This unique concert was professionally filmed and recorded, and while a DVD never materialized, live clips of "Testure" and "Worlock" were broadcast on the Crazy Clip Show in Germany and "Worlock" was included on a VCD compilation by German magazine Sonic Seducer in 2002. The live album Doomsday: Back and Forth Series 5: Live in Dresden
Doomsday: Back and Forth Series 5: Live in Dresden
-Original Performance:The CD is an edited version of the concert as four songs were omitted. The original concert setlist was as follows:#Choralone *#Deep Down Trauma Hounds#Love in Vein#Inquisition#Hardset Head *#Convulsion#Worlock#Grave Wisdom...
was released in 2001.
Key joined ohGr
OhGr
ohGr is a band formed by Nivek Ogre, of Skinny Puppy, and musician/engineer Mark Walk. Although the pedigree of the group's members might suggest otherwise, early ohGr releases differed in sound to its related industrial bands, drawing more on hip-hop and electro-pop influences, incorporating more...
on drums for its 2001
2001 in music
See also:* 2001 in music Record labels established in 2001-Events:*January 1**Comeback of Guns N' Roses in House of Blues**Hum disbands.*January 17 – Bass player Jason Newsted leaves Metallica after 14 years with the band....
tour, while Ogre appeared on the track "Frozen Sky" on Key's 2001 album The Ghost of Each Room
The Ghost of Each Room
The Ghost of Each Room is the second solo album by cEvin Key released in 2001.- Track listing :All tracks by cEvin Key.# "Bobs Shadow" – 4:59# "Tatayama" – 5:52# "Horopter" – 6:01# "15th Shade" – 3:42# "Sklang" – 3:10# "Frozen Sky" – 3:52...
. The first new Skinny Puppy track in several years, "Optimissed", appeared on the Underworld soundtrack in 2003. Ogre, Key, Mark Walk
Mark Walk
Mark Walk is an American composer, producer, multi-instrumentalist and current member of the bands Skinny Puppy and ohGr. He also composes material for film and television under his name or as a ghostwriter. One such piece was for the "Kitchen Confidential" opener, which was a Fox TV show that...
and various guests, including Danny Carey
Danny Carey
Daniel Edwin "Danny" Carey is an American drummer best known for his work in American Grammy Award-winning rock band Tool...
of Tool
Tool (band)
Tool is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1990, the group's line-up has included drummer Danny Carey, guitarist Adam Jones, and vocalist Maynard James Keenan. Since 1995, Justin Chancellor has been the band's bassist, replacing their original bassist Paul D'Amour...
and Wayne Static
Wayne Static
Wayne Static is an American musician, and the lead vocalist, guitarist, keyboardist, and programmer for the industrial metal band Static-X. He released his first solo studio album Pighammer on October 4, 2011.- Early life :Static grew up in Shelby, Michigan before moving to Chicago and eventually...
of Static-X
Static-X
Static-X is an American industrial metal band from Los Angeles, California. They were formed in 1994. They are signed to Warner Bros. Records and have released six albums, their most recent being Cult of Static, which was released on March 17, 2009....
, recorded the band's ninth studio album, The Greater Wrong of the Right
The Greater Wrong of the Right
The Greater Wrong of the Right is the ninth studio album by Skinny Puppy. It was their first new full-length LP since 1996's The Process. It was also their first album since 1985's Bites without the support of deceased keyboardist Dwayne Goettel...
, released in 2004 on Synthetic Symphony, a sub-label of SPV
SPV GmbH
SPV GmbH is an independent German record label.Founded on January 1, 1984, it has slowly grown to be one of the largest independent distributors and record labels worldwide....
, their European distributor since th amounge mid-1990s. The new Skinny Puppy sound was in a similar vein as The Process, with a somewhat more rock-oriented style. "Pro-Test", the band's first music video since 1996, was rather different than any of their previous video work (featuring a showdown between rival b-boys and goths breakdancing/krumping
Krumping
Krumping, also spelled Krumpin, is a street dance popularized in the United States that is characterized by free, expressive, exaggerated, and highly energetic movement involving the arms, head, legs, chest, and feet...
crews on a sidewalk in Los Angeles). The song eventually became one of the most well-known songs from the group.
Skinny Puppy toured North America and Europe in support of the album in 2004, joined by William Morrison
William Morrison (director)
William Morrison , is a Canadian born Juno Award-nominated music video director, documentary film director, and musician...
on guitar and Justin Bennett, formerly of Professional Murder Music
Professional Murder Music
Professional Murder Music is an Alternative Rock band, from Los Angeles, California.They are currently signed and own indie label, Wormhole Records. Their music has been used for such film soundtracks as End of Days, Ginger Snaps, Valentine, and Jet Grind Radio, a video game for the Sega Dreamcast....
, on drums. Shows in Toronto and Montreal were filmed for the live DVD Greater Wrong of the Right Live
Greater Wrong of the Right LIVE
The Greater Wrong of the Right LIVE is a 2-DVD set from Skinny Puppy. Disc one is live footage from their 2004 fall tour shot in Toronto, Ontario and Montreal, Quebec...
, which was released in September 2005. The DVD included Information Warfare, a documentary about the U.S.-led wars in Iraq made by Morrison. The anti-Bush administration
George W. Bush administration
The presidency of George W. Bush began on January 20, 2001, when he was inaugurated as the 43rd President of the United States of America. The oldest son of former president George H. W. Bush, George W...
stance taken by the band at their live shows drew the ire of PABAAH (Patriotic Americans Boycotting Anti-American Hollywood), which attempted a boycott of college radio stations that played Skinny Puppy. Skinny Puppy toured Europe again in 2005, and returned to the studio to complete their next album, Mythmaker
Mythmaker
Mythmaker is the tenth studio album by industrial group Skinny Puppy. It was released on January 30, 2007.Lead vocalist Nivek Ogre said the band took a simplified approach, but that it was a difficult record to make...
, which was released in January 2007. While some fans longed for the sounds of their earlier days, the band stated their intention to move forward rather than dwell in the past, and played a mixture of new and old material at their shows, including material from the back catalog that had never been performed live before. The band's 2007 North American and European tour, titled Mythrus, began in May 2007.
In Solvent See Tour and HanDover (2009–present)
According to a news posting on the official Skinny Puppy website, the band's next studio album was originally slated for release in October 2009, but the release of this album has since been delayed due to insolvency issues with the SPV label (thus leading to Ogre naming the 2009 tour the "In Solvent See" tour). These issues were not expected to be resolved until the end of 2009. However, the "In Solvent See" Tour took place as planned, and began on October 30.In October 2010, there were reports that the new Skinny Puppy album would be released in February 2011. In May 2011, Skinny Puppy announced that they finished recording a new album titled HanDover
HanDover
- Personnel :* Ogre: vocals, synths* Cevin Key: synths, percussion, electronics, guitar, theremin* Mark Walk: programming, guitar, bass* Ken "Hiwatt" Marshall: programming, synths, FX* Traz Damji: additional programming, synths* Saki Kaskas: guitar-Charts:...
, and that they are soliciting it to other record labels for a September 2011 release date. On August 27, 2011 HanDover was officially confirmed as having an October 25, 2011 release in the United States and an October 28, 2011 release in Europe. Steven R Gilmore created the artwork for the album once again.
Skinny Puppy were scheduled to perform at numerous European festivals in the summer of 2010, including the Amphi Festival
Amphi Festival
The Amphi Festival is a music festival that has been taking place since 2005 featuring a wide-ranging program for a heterogeneous audience, albeit primarily fans of alternative, electronic music, and dark music...
in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, the 2010 Waregem Gothic Festival in Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, and the Recession Festival in Denmark.
Current
- cEvin KeyCEvin KeycEvin Key is the pseudonym of Kevin William Crompton , who was a founding member of the industrial music band Skinny Puppy, along with Nivek Ogre. In addition to his work with Skinny Puppy, cEvin Key has had several side projects, including Doubting Thomas, Cyberaktif, and Hilt...
- synthesizer, guitar, bass guitar, drums - Nivek OgreNivek OgreNivek Ogre is a Canadian musician, performance artist and actor best known as a founding member of the industrial band Skinny Puppy. Since that band featured another Kevin and was produced by another Ogilvie Nivek Ogre (born Kevin Graham Ogilvie December 5, 1962) is a Canadian musician,...
- vocals, keyboards, synthesizer - Mark WalkMark WalkMark Walk is an American composer, producer, multi-instrumentalist and current member of the bands Skinny Puppy and ohGr. He also composes material for film and television under his name or as a ghostwriter. One such piece was for the "Kitchen Confidential" opener, which was a Fox TV show that...
- keyboards, synthesizer, guitar
Former
- Dwayne GoettelDwayne GoettelDwayne Rudolph Goettel was a member of the industrial band Skinny Puppy. He played keyboards for an early incarnation of the Canadian gothic/synthpop band Psyche, as well as a band called Water, who opened for Skinny Puppy in 1985...
- Bill Leeb
- William MorrisonWilliam Morrison (director)William Morrison , is a Canadian born Juno Award-nominated music video director, documentary film director, and musician...
- Dave "Rave" OgilvieDave OgilvieDave "Rave" Ogilvie is a Canadian record producer and musician. He is a producer of industrial music and has been associated with bands such as Skinny Puppy , Doughboys, The Birthday Massacre , Marilyn Manson, Jakalope , Killing Joke, Queensrÿche, Alexz Johnson, Fake Shark...
Influence
Despite little mainstream airplay, several Skinny Puppy releases have charted in North America and Europe, and their influence on industrialIndustrial music
Industrial music is a style of experimental music that draws on transgressive and provocative themes. The term was coined in the mid-1970s with the founding of Industrial Records by the band Throbbing Gristle, and the creation of the slogan "industrial music for industrial people". In general, the...
and electronic music
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
is considerable. Widely considered originators of a unique sound and live performance style, Skinny Puppy are also known as pioneers of industrial rock
Industrial rock
Industrial rock is a musical genre that fuses industrial music and specific rock subgenres. Industrial rock spawned industrial metal, with which it is often confused...
and electro-industrial
Electro-industrial
Electro-industrial is a music genre drawing on EBM and post-industrial that developed in the mid-1980s. While EBM has a minimal structure and clean production, electro-industrial has a deep, complex and layered sound. The style was pioneered by Skinny Puppy, Front Line Assembly, and other groups,...
, genres in which they may be seen to have spawned "a litter of like-minded bands". Their influence extends from independent acts like Tin Omen, to mainstream stars Nine Inch Nails
Nine Inch Nails
Nine Inch Nails is an American industrial rock project, founded in 1988 by Trent Reznor in Cleveland, Ohio. As its main producer, singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist, Reznor is the only official member of Nine Inch Nails and remains solely responsible for its direction...
, who opened for Skinny Puppy for a short time on their 1988 North American tour. Trent Reznor
Trent Reznor
Michael Trent Reznor is an American multi-instrumentalist, composer, record producer, and leader of industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails. Reznor is also a member of How to Destroy Angels alongside his wife, Mariqueen Maandig, and Atticus Ross. He was previously associated with bands Option 30,...
also acknowledged that Skinny Puppy's "Dig It
Dig It (Skinny Puppy song)
"Dig It" is a single by the band Skinny Puppy, taken from their 1986 album Mind: The Perpetual Intercourse. Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor once mentioned that the song influenced the first song he wrote, Down in It.-Track listing:...
" inspired the very first Nine Inch Nails track written that became the first hit song, "Down in It
Down in It
"Down in It" is a song by American industrial rock act Nine Inch Nails, released in 1989. Released as the project's debut single, the song was the first to be written by Trent Reznor, the only constant member of the act. It was released as a teaser single prior to the group's debut album, Pretty...
". The band inspired two tribute album
Tribute album
A tribute album is a recorded collection of cover versions of songs or instrumental compositions. Its concept may be either various artists making a tribute to a single artist, a single artist making a tribute to various artists, or a single artist making a tribute to another single artist.There...
s, Hymns of the Worlock published by Cleopatra Records
Cleopatra Records
Cleopatra Records is a Los Angeles-based independent record label.- History :Founded in 1992 by Brian Perera, it specializes in gothic rock, hard rock, heavy metal and reissues of out-of-print music...
and ReMix Dys Temper published by Nettwerk Productions, both released in 1998.
Other projects
Key and Ogre are active in a number of other projects. Key has released several solo albums, and major side projects include Doubting ThomasDoubting Thomas (band)
Doubting Thomas is an industrial band formed by two members of Skinny Puppy: cEvin Key and the late Dwayne Goettel. It is considered a Skinny Puppy side project. The band shares its name with an American roots band, to whom they have no relation....
, Download
Download (band)
Download is an electronic music group formed by Dwayne Goettel and cEvin Key of Skinny Puppy in 1994. The initial lineup also included Off & Gone's Phil Western and Mark Spybey of Dead Voices on Air, but has since been particularly fluid, with Key and Western being the only constant members...
, platEAU
Plateau (band)
PlatEAU is an electronic music project featuring cEvin Key and Phil Western. The project resembles a very loose approach to the Download project featuring the same members. The song names and album titles refer to the coffeeshop culture of Amsterdam in The Netherlands implying a "trip" throughtheir...
, and The Tear Garden
The Tear Garden
The Tear Garden is a psychedelic/gothic/electronic band, formed by Edward Ka-Spel of The Legendary Pink Dots and cEvin Key of Skinny Puppy in 1985 after Key served as a sound engineer on tour in Canada for Ka-Spel...
. Key also works as Scaremeister, his film scoring alter ego, having previously contributed to John Debney
John Debney
John C. Debney is an American film composer. He received an Academy Award nomination for his score for Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ...
's score for End of Days (1999).
Ogre's main project outside Skinny Puppy is ohGr
OhGr
ohGr is a band formed by Nivek Ogre, of Skinny Puppy, and musician/engineer Mark Walk. Although the pedigree of the group's members might suggest otherwise, early ohGr releases differed in sound to its related industrial bands, drawing more on hip-hop and electro-pop influences, incorporating more...
, which released four albums, Welt
Welt (album)
Welt is the first album by the band ohGr, formed by Nivek Ogre of Skinny Puppy, and musician/engineer Mark Walk.-Track listing:All songs written by Nivek Ogre and Mark Walk.- Personnel :* Nivek Ogre* Mark Walk...
(2001), SunnyPsyOp
SunnyPsyOp
SunnyPsyOp is the second album by industrial band ohGr.-Track listing:All songs written by Ogre and Mark Walk.Note: "PawSee" is a hidden track that begins 23 seconds into track 13....
(2003), Devils in my Details
Devils in my Details
-Personnel:*Nivek Ogre*Mark Walk*Bill Moseley - poetry/spoken word on tracks 4, 7, 9, 10, & 11-Notes:*The original album title was purportedly Blurry Dotted I's after Ogre's dog....
(2008), and Undeveloped (2011). Ogre toured with KMFDM
KMFDM
KMFDM is an industrial band led by German multi-instrumentalist Sascha Konietzko, who founded the group in 1984 as a performance art project...
in 1997 and contributed vocals to their albums Symbols
Symbols (album)
The tenth KMFDM album is titled with a string of five unpronounceable, non-alphabetic symbols , but usually cataloged as Symbols. Another title used on the KMFDM website, circa 2001 was Anger...
(1997) and Adios (1999). He also toured extensively with Pigface
Pigface
Pigface is an industrial rock supergroup formed in 1990 by Martin Atkins and William Rieflin.-History:Pigface was formed from Ministry's The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste tour, which produced the In Case You Didn't Feel Like Showing Up live album and video. For the tour, Al Jourgensen brought...
(1991–1995) and Ministry
Ministry (band)
Ministry is an American industrial metal band founded by lead singer Al Jourgensen in 1981. Originally a synthpop outfit, Ministry changed its style to industrial metal in the late 1980s. Ministry found mainstream success in the early 1990s with its most successful album Psalm 69: The Way to...
(1987–1990) and appeared on a number of Pigface and Ministry-related recordings during this period.
Style and themes
Inspired by the music of Nocturnal EmissionsNocturnal Emissions
Nocturnal Emissions is a sound art project that has released numerous records and CDs in music styles ranging from electro-acoustic, musique concrète, hybridised beats, sound collage, post-industrial music, ambient and noise music....
, Portion Control, and The Legendary Pink Dots
The Legendary Pink Dots
The Legendary Pink Dots are an Anglo-Dutch experimental rock band formed in London in August 1980. Although far outside the mainstream , LPD have released more than 40 albums, have a devoted worldwide following, and tour frequently.-Overview:The Legendary Pink Dots formed in August 1980 in London...
, music which had been accessible to the band primarily via tape exchange
Cassette culture
Cassette culture, or the cassette underground , refers to the practices surrounding amateur production and distribution of recorded music that emerged in the late 1970s via home-made audio cassettes...
, Skinny Puppy experimented with analog and digital recording techniques, composing multi-layered music with synthesizer
Synthesizer
A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
s, drum machine
Drum machine
A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument designed to imitate the sound of drums or other percussion instruments. They are used in a variety of musical genres, not just purely electronic music...
s, acoustic percussion, tape-splices, found sounds, distortion, samplers, and conventional rock music instruments. They also incorporated samples from films and radio broadcasts into their songs, and applied liberal amounts of distortion and other effects to Ogre's vocals, which were often delivered in the stream of consciousness style. Lyrical themes included animal rights
Animal rights
Animal rights, also known as animal liberation, is the idea that the most basic interests of non-human animals should be afforded the same consideration as the similar interests of human beings...
, politics
Politics
Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...
, religion
Religion
Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...
, drug abuse
Drug abuse
Substance abuse, also known as drug abuse, refers to a maladaptive pattern of use of a substance that is not considered dependent. The term "drug abuse" does not exclude dependency, but is otherwise used in a similar manner in nonmedical contexts...
, disease
Disease
A disease is an abnormal condition affecting the body of an organism. It is often construed to be a medical condition associated with specific symptoms and signs. It may be caused by external factors, such as infectious disease, or it may be caused by internal dysfunctions, such as autoimmune...
, and environmental degradation
Environmental degradation
Environmental degradation is the deterioration of the environment through depletion of resources such as air, water and soil; the destruction of ecosystems and the extinction of wildlife...
; these themes were often lyrically and conceptually intertwined. Skinny Puppy's often informal, improvisational approach to musical composition is indicated by use of the term brap, coined by them and defined as a verb meaning "to get together, hook up electronic instruments, get high, and record".
Skinny Puppy were noted for theatrical and controversial live performances that blended performance art
Performance art
In art, performance art is a performance presented to an audience, traditionally interdisciplinary. Performance may be either scripted or unscripted, random or carefully orchestrated; spontaneous or otherwise carefully planned with or without audience participation. The performance can be live or...
with music, especially in an ambitious period that spanned their Head Trauma (1988), VIVIsectVI (1988), Too Dark Park (1990), and Last Rights (1992) tours. Live performances involved periods of musical improvisation
Musical improvisation
Musical improvisation is the creative activity of immediate musical composition, which combines performance with communication of emotions and instrumental technique as well as spontaneous response to other musicians...
, film projections, and elaborate stage props and machines. On-stage theatrics included Ogre being suspended from racks and cables, play with a hangman's noose, Key cutting steel with an angle grinder
Angle grinder
An angle grinder, also known as a side or disc grinder, is a handheld power tool used for cutting, grinding and polishing.Angle grinders can be powered by an electric motor, petrol engine or compressed air. The motor drives a geared head at a right-angle on which is mounted an abrasive disc or a...
, and mock execution
Mock execution
A mock execution is a stratagem in which a victim is deliberately but falsely made to feel that his execution or that of another person is imminent or is taking place. It may be staged for an audience or a subject who is made to believe that he is being led to his own execution...
s of Ogre and George H.W. Bush. The band also worked with directors such as William Morrison
William Morrison (director)
William Morrison , is a Canadian born Juno Award-nominated music video director, documentary film director, and musician...
and Jim Van Bebber
Jim Van Bebber
Jim Van Bebber is an American film director. Van Bebber attended Wright State University where he studied cinema. Instead of using a bank loan to pay for a second year of college, he used the money to finance Deadbeat at Dawn, and founded the indie film company Asmodeus Productions with several...
on a number of music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
s, the themes and style of which typically mirrored their live performances.
Discography
Studio Albums- BitesBites (album)-Personnel:*Nivek Ogre vocals, synthesizer, metallic percussions, treatments and objects*cEvin Key - bass guitar, synthesizer, sequencers, tapes, sampler, treatments, acoustic and metallic percussions, drums*Dave Ogilvie - production, engineering...
(1985) - Mind: The Perpetual IntercourseMind: The Perpetual Intercourse"Dig It" is replaced by its 12" version on the CD; it lasts 7:40. On vinyl, "Burnt with Water" ended with a locked groove repeating the phrase "Amen, Lord, hear my prayer" endlessly until the needle was lifted....
(1986) - Cleanse Fold and ManipulateCleanse Fold and Manipulate- Notes :Cleanse Fold and Manipulate is a cyclical album, the end of the track 10, "Epilogue" segues into the beginning of track 1, "First Aid."...
(1987) - VIVIsectVIVIVIsectVI-Notes:"Dogshit" was released as a single under the title "Censor"."Who's Laughing Now?" was included on the soundtrack of the 1990 film Bad Influence.A note in liner notes is a reference to playing music at a very loud volume, or else...
(1988) - Rabies (1989)
- Too Dark ParkToo Dark Park-Personnel:*Nivek Ogre – vocals*cEvin Key – drums, synthesizer, guitar, objects, treatments*Dwayne Goettel – synthesizer, keyboards, guitar, bass*Mr. D. Pleven – fretless bass , stick bass *Green Guy – 12 string *Greg Reely – piano , mixing...
(1990) - Last RightsLast Rights (album)-Personnel:*Nivek Ogre - vocals*cEvin Key - synthesizer, drums, percussion, guitar, bass, production*Dwayne Goettel - keyboards, synthesizer, guitar*Dave Ogilvie *Ken Marshall *Anthony Valcic...
(1992) - The Process (1996)
- The Greater Wrong of the RightThe Greater Wrong of the RightThe Greater Wrong of the Right is the ninth studio album by Skinny Puppy. It was their first new full-length LP since 1996's The Process. It was also their first album since 1985's Bites without the support of deceased keyboardist Dwayne Goettel...
(2004) - MythmakerMythmakerMythmaker is the tenth studio album by industrial group Skinny Puppy. It was released on January 30, 2007.Lead vocalist Nivek Ogre said the band took a simplified approach, but that it was a difficult record to make...
(2007) - HanDoverHanDover- Personnel :* Ogre: vocals, synths* Cevin Key: synths, percussion, electronics, guitar, theremin* Mark Walk: programming, guitar, bass* Ken "Hiwatt" Marshall: programming, synths, FX* Traz Damji: additional programming, synths* Saki Kaskas: guitar-Charts:...
(2011)
Videography
- Ain't It Dead Yet?Ain't It Dead Yet?- Notes :All artwork by Steven R. Gilmore.Some pressings incorrectly list "One Time One Place" as "God's Gift Maggot". All copies of the CD version incorrectly list "Draining Faces" as "Brap"....
, 1991, VHS/DVD- Live performance at The Concert Hall, Toronto, Ontario, May 31 and June 1, 1987.
- Video Collection (1984-1992)Video Collection (1984-1992)Video Collection is a collection of music videos by the band Skinny Puppy, first released on VHS in 1996, and DVD in 2001. It contains most of the band's Nettwerk-era videos, a prominent exception being "Worlock". Directors involved include William Morrison and Jim Van Bebber.-Track listing:...
, 1996, VHS/DVD- Includes videos for "Dig ItDig It (Skinny Puppy song)"Dig It" is a single by the band Skinny Puppy, taken from their 1986 album Mind: The Perpetual Intercourse. Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor once mentioned that the song influenced the first song he wrote, Down in It.-Track listing:...
", "Stairs and FlowersStairs and Flowers-External links:*...
", "Far Too Frail" (live footage 1985), "Smothered Hope" (live footage 1985), "Deep Down Trauma Hounds" (live footage from the 1987 Ain't It Dead Yet? performance), "TestureTesture"Testure" is a single by the band Skinny Puppy, taken from their 1988 album VIVIsectVI. The phrase is most likely a play on words of the words 'Test' and 'Torture' and equates medical experimentation on live animals as being akin to torture.-Track listing:-Personnel:*N. Ogre*cEvin Key*D...
", "Spasmolytic", and "Killing Game".
- Includes videos for "Dig It
- Brap: Back and Forth Series 3 & 4Brap: Back and Forth Series 3 & 4European pressings include "Left Handshake", the omitted track from Last Rights, in between TFWO and Choralone, excluding the data tracks on both discs.- External links :...
, 1996, 2-CD- Includes a number of video clips on those editions which included a CD-ROM portion.
- Greater Wrong of the Right LIVEGreater Wrong of the Right LIVEThe Greater Wrong of the Right LIVE is a 2-DVD set from Skinny Puppy. Disc one is live footage from their 2004 fall tour shot in Toronto, Ontario and Montreal, Quebec...
, 2005, 2-DVD- Live performances in Toronto, Ontario, and Montreal, Quebec in late 2004. Also includes videos for "Pro-Test", "Spasmolytic" (live footage 1990), and "Love In Vein" (live footage 1992).
- A number of other, promo-only videos were released, including "State Aid" (live footage 1988), "Worlock" (1990), "Candle" (1996), "Curcible" (1996), "Hardset Head" (1996), and "Haze" (2007).
See also
- List of bands from British Columbia
- Music of VancouverMusic of VancouverVancouver, a city in British Columbia, is one of the major cultural centres of Canada. The music of Vancouver is diverse, representing the many peoples that live in the city, ranging from classical and modern avant-garde orchestras and composers through a wide range of pop, rock, rap, jazz, world...
External links
- The Official Skinny Puppy site
- Skinny Puppy's Official Facebook Page
- Litany.net Official News, Resource Library, and Fan Forum
- The Skinny Puppy FAQ and Lyric Archive by Corey Goldberg
- Jonathan Lyons' interview with cEvin Key at MP3.com