There\u2019s not much difference between a playground bully, a corporate CEO and the self-absorbed figureheads of many of the world\u2019s current administrations. They\u2019ll all tell you that by surrendering your lunch money or tax dollars, they\u2019re working toward \u201cyour best interests.\u201d And we all realize these people are merely imposing a will of their own choosing to enhance their own mythology. Of course, fake benevolence isn\u2019t the sole domain of public figures: Life has taught us the most insidious masters of manipulation come in more covert and intimate forms. Consider your friends, lovers and spouses.<\/p>\n
Skinny Puppy Nobody knows these constructs like Ogre and cEVIN Key, the braintrust behind Skinny Puppy, who, while entering their third decade working together, remain the world\u2019s most forward-thinking electronic\/industrial-rock unit. The records they make are harrowing song cycles framed in dark, intriguing atmospheres that explore the concept of control and the manipulation of culture that falsely enhances the lives of the duplicitous.<\/p>\n
\u201cBetween the first SPV release, 2005\u2019s The Greater Wrong Of The Right and the SPV 2007 release Mythmaker, \u201cI went through tumultuous upward and downward spirals within various relationships,\u201d reveals Ogre, who found inescapable parallels between the manipulative aspects of public figures and levels of deceit within his own circle of friends. \u201cThe lyrics on recent recordings were inspired by me doing a very detailed post-mortem on several very important relationships in my life. The personality types were different, but their psychological makeup was quite the same. I expanded from my interpersonal realm, and expanding [the songs] into an externalized theme.\u201d The most amazing thing that I\u2019ve found is that people usually look outwards and project on others what they hate the most about themselves.
\nSkinny Puppy\u2019s art has never been something to be taken at face value, and careful attention to Ogre\u2019s commentaries on Mythmaker & Greater Wrong Of The Right will reveal an underlying sense of seething.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith Greater Wrong Of The Right, I think we weren\u2019t believing that we were actually making an album,\u201d Key says, laughing. \u201cIt was more like a re-gathering of the spirit and the incentive. It was more like a collaborative effort with other people, than focusing back in on the basic components of what makes Skinny Puppy.\u201d
\nIt is to their credit\u2014and longevity\u2014that Skinny Puppy have been able to simultaneously cast light on societal ills and expand the sonic notions of their music with considerable aplomb. Consider that many of Ogre and Key\u2019s longtime colleagues are resigned to frequently remaking their old records as some sort of self-fulfilling prophecy, while the new guard have nothing to offer outside the realm of bigger hard drives and severe haircuts. Their most recent record, Mythmaker separates both the pretenders\u2014and the resigned\u2014from the sonic anthropology that has been Puppy\u2019s stock in trade. The old adage of \u201cart imitating life\u201d is patently clich\u00e9; however, a closer inspection of the big picture guarantees that Skinny Puppy won\u2019t be delivering love songs, party anthems or rock-radio miasma anytime soon. Hell, Ogre and Key are hardwired in a way that practically mandates them from following roads paved by others\u2014or the ones they\u2019ve built themselves.<\/p>\n
\u201cI find it so hard to believe that we\u2019ve been around for a quarter century and still making music,\u201d says Key, in earnest. \u201cWhen I hear Mythmaker & Greater Wrong Of The Right, it brings the same feelings I had from the very first time we made music. It\u2019s a really odd thing. I think our ability to stick to our guns and be true to ourselves all along has been quite amazing. If I had to sum up Skinny Puppy, I\u2019d say it\u2019s not knowing how to control style, as much as it\u2019s been about working with concepts.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe experience of making these records has made me examine my own issues of control,\u201d says Ogre. \u201cNot about controlling other people, but control of my own ability to accept certain situations.
\nWith the recent decline of world economies and global upheaval Skinny Puppy has never been more relevant than they are today!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4200,"template":"","festival":[55],"class_list":["post-4202","act","type-act","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","festival-2010-en"],"acf":{"website":"http:\/\/skinnypuppy.com\/","facebook_url":"","spotify_url":"","instagram_url":"","tiktok_url":"","date":null,"begin":"","end":"","location":"","amphi_festival_premiere":false},"yoast_head":"\n