With a back catalogue spanning over 30 years, one can imagine the difficulties of composing a set list for Neubauten’s live shows, let alone the logistics of touring. As Blixa explains, “we always have to bring particular materials for each piece and there is a vague limitation to that. For example, we do have the innards of a jet turbine – it weighs 1.5 tons. It is really, really heavy and we know already we cannot take that to Australia – it would be outside the limitation of what we are able to take, so I cannot play the songs in which the jet turbine plays an implacable role”. Although Australia will miss out on the jet turbine, which Bargeld describes as sounding like “a vibraphone from outer space”, there are some exciting things in store for Neubauten fans. One such example is a monstrous metal tank, which is currently being rebuilt in Australia to specifications the band has sent over. With these logistical concerns in mind, a Neubauten set list is constructed based upon what makes sense for the intended audience and which materials are available.
Known for their groundbreaking use of custom-built instruments, Neubauten have similarly made innovations within the realms of media and technology, specifically with the neubauten.org website and the development of crowd fund. This involved building a subscription based model where supporters pay for records that haven’t yet been made. When they are finally released, the recordings are exclusive to the subscribers, giving fans an intimate experience with the band, devoid of record label interference. “We made three records [with the] crowd fund technology offering a particular type of intimacy for the working process of the band, streaming from the studio. All the things that are now common knowledge in the internet world we did first in 2000. We started that and now its common terminology,” Blixa says.
The conceptual nature of an album, however, is as important as ever for Einstürzende Neubauten. “I grew up with it” Blixa reflects. “ I grew up with vinyl and cassettes. A CD was something alien to me and I’m glad that it’s disappearing again. If I think about making music with Neubauten or something else, I don’t get that album format out of my head. It’s always there, I always think about sequence and all that. I don’t know if it’s a valid format, I don’t know if it will disappear because the record, the technological bracket that holds it together is disappearing. I think there is certainly more things that are changing because the technology is changing but I also think it is very valid that a single song becomes marketable”.
Not only are these brackets changing, but technology has also changed the way artists interact with their audience, allowing broader scope without the influence of a record label. On this subject Herr Bargeld seems particularly stirred, “my experience is that if you give the possibility [to bands] to handle and rule everything themselves they will not do a good job. For most musicians a record company is a necessary evil because they need somebody to blame things on and if they don’t have that entity to blame things on, they’re lost”. Indeed, with the advent of websites such as Bandcamp and Soundcloud, promoting music online has never been easier. Blixa seems somewhat skeptical about these platforms, reflecting that “some people have tried to build workable models on the net where artists/musicians can start their own thing, be their own record company, promote themselves, make their own money and they’ve failed because the entity to blame things on is no longer there”. With a potent air of truth, Blixa continues “I like to be utopian about all these things and I like to open doors where there weren’t doors before, but that’s my particular experience”.
Working for 30 years with Einstürzende Neubauten and 20 years as a member of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Bargeld has certainly been around the traps. Musing on his long career in the music industry, Blixa seems adamant to point out there is no bad blood between Cave and himself. On why he ultimately left the Bad Seeds, he replies,“ I was married and in two bands, one being Neubauten and the other being the Bad Seeds. It got to the point that I could not justify being away from my wife for so long throughout the year. I had to choose between the band and my wife, and I chose my greater love”.
On the eve of Einsturzende Neubauten’s first Australian tour since 1991, Blixa Bargeld is understandably content with his past achievements. Reflecting upon the bands colossal discography, Bargeld contemplates “if I am in the strange mood of wanting to hear a Neubauten piece, which happens maybe twice a year, then what would I like to hear? Interimsliebenden I think is a fantastic time. Its strange making compliments about myself”. Blixa pauses, and then continues, “When I look back at the things we have released I’m not ashamed of anything. I think we have aged quite well”.
BY CASSANDRA KIELY