LAIBACH ANNOUNCE THE SOUND OF MUSIC

“The hills are alive, with the sound of music
With songs they have sung, for a thousand years”

LAIBACH have announced details of their eagerly awaited album, The Sound of Music, out on Mute on 23 November 2018 on vinyl, CD and digitally.

Listen to the opening track, a classic Laibachian interpretation of ‘The Sound of Music’, here: https://youtu.be/2oD0W6SSBUA

The Sound of Music was conceived when Laibach were infamously invited to perform in North Korea in 2015. The band performed several songs from the 1965 film’s soundtrack at the concert in Pyongyang, chosen by Laibach as it’s a well-known and beloved film in the DPRK and often used by schoolchildren to learn English. Laibach are joined by Boris Benko (Silence) and Marina Mårtensson on vocals and the album gives the Laibach treatment to tracks such as ‘My Favorite Things’, ‘Edelweiss’, ‘Do-Re-Mi’ and ‘Maria’, here reworked as ‘Maria / Korea’ (“How do you solve a problem like Maria / Korea?”).

While the majority of the tracks on the album are from the film, the band also included ‘Arirang’, an interpretation of a traditional Korean folk song considered the unofficial national anthem of both North and South Korea (and released recently to mark the historic summit in Singapore between President Donald Trump and the leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-un), as well as their own workout of the Gayageum, a traditional Korean zither-like string instrument performed by students from the Kum Song Music School in Pyongyang and a recording of the band’s “welcome” speech to Korea from Mr. Ryu from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Committee for Cultural Relations.

Laibach’s groundbreaking performance in North Korea was documented by director, artist and cultural diplomat, Morten Traavik in the film Liberation Day (described by MOJO as “a humorous, disturbing, illuminating and sometimes moving immersion into an anomalous communist mirror-world …”) which is out now via ITunes following its screening for Storyville on BBC4.

The album was recorded and produced in Ljubljana, Slovenia and in Pyongyang, DPRK and represents another successful collaboration between Laibach and Silence (Primož Hladnik and Boris Benko), who previously co-created Laibach’s 2006 Volk album.

The cover was created by Valnoir, who has previously collaborated with Laibach and oversaw visuals across the band’s North Korean project. Valnoir explains, “Laibach and NSK have been without any doubt the most influential artists in my career. And since I was in charge of most of the visual elements for Laibach’s North Korean project, it was both logical and easy for me to dive into this fantastic and monumental project!”

The band will open the Steirischer Herbst festival in Austria with the live premiere of The Sound of Music on 20 September. The performance will feature a string sextet and children’s choir, and a member of Laibach will DJ in a club in the middle of a mountain in the city of Graz later that evening. On the 21 September Ivo Salinger (aka Ivan Novak) will be in conversation with the director of the festival. Ahead of then, the band will perform in Ljubljana with a Lviv Philharmonic Orchestra and have confirmed two dates in Russia in October, further dates to be added – full details at http://www.laibach.org/future-events/

7 Sep – Ljubljana, Križanke SI - Laibach with Lviv Philharmonic Orchestra 
20 Sep – Graz, Steirischer Herbst festival AT - premiere of The Sound of Music + DJ set
9 Oct – St Petersburg, Opera Club RU - Also Sprach Zarathustra & The Sound of Music
11 Oct – Moscow, Glav Club RU - Also Sprach Zarathustra & The Sound of Music 


THE SOUND OF MUSIC TRACKLISTING
The Sound of Music
Climb Ev'ry Mountain
Do-Re-Mi
Edelweiss
Favorite Things
Lonely Goatherd
Sixteen Going On Seventeen
So Long, Farewell
Maria / Korea
Arirang
The Sound of Gayageum
Welcome Speech

Over 35 years on from their genesis in the then-Yugoslavian industrial town Trbovlje, Laibach are still the most internationally acclaimed band to have come out of the former Communist countries of Eastern and Central Europe. Founded in the death year of the country’s founding father Tito, and rising to fame as Yugoslavia steered towards self-destruction, Laibach can make you think, dance and march to the same music.



www.laibach.org
www.mute.com

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Review: Laibach – 'Also Sprach Zarathustra'

LAIBACH
'Also Sprach Zarathustra'
MUTE

Slovenian provocateurs Laibach return with their latest sonic offering in the form of 'Also Sprach Zarathustra', an album based on music originally created for a theatrical production of Thus Spoke Zarathustra (Also Sprach Zarathustra) based on Friedrich Nietzsche’s philosophical novel of the same name, which premiered in March 2016. The official release sees the original music updated and reworked into a studio album rather than released in it's theatrical form as they did with 1986's 'Baptism' and 1990's 'Macbeth'.

The album is therefore a follow-up to their 2014 outing 'Spectre', and album that was as approachable as it was subversive, and perhaps saw the band's most favourable critical outing in their 30 year career. With the artistic intelligentsia now fully caught up with what Laibach have been doing for the past three decades this release will feel like a major swerve from anyone who have just encountered the band.

'Also Sprach Zarathustra' returns to the band's avant garde and neo-classical past and forgoes the pomp filled electronics of albums like 'Spectre', 'WAT', and 'NATO' that proved their most commercially successful. Tracks such as 'Ein Untergang', 'Ein Verkündiger', 'Von Gipfel zu Gipfel', 'Das Nichtlied I', and 'Als Geist' are sinister, foreboding blending metallic industrial rhythms and noise, with ambient drones, classical strings and horns, and the occasional piano refrain dominating the tracks, while Milan Fras' unmistakeable vocals power through.

There are one ore two moments where the softer and more melodic side of the band come through unabated by noise such as the album's opener 'Vor Sonnen-Untergang', and 'Vor Sonnen-Aufgang' which features the stunning vocals of Mina Špiler. But just as you feel you can breathe again the group pull you back into the darkness with the swirling, psychedelic noise of 'Von den drei Verwandlungen' to definitively shatter your sanity.

While this album returns to the strong neo-classical, avant garde and even martial sounds of their earliest albums. 'Also Sprach Zarathustra' is still executed and produced to the same high standard we've seen on the band's more recent commercial albums. Noise is textural, not over saturating, all the instruments come through clear and the mix feels spacious.

Anyone that has followed the career of Laibach won't be surprised by this album, in so much as with spectre being such a commercially friendly album that wrapped their subversive nature in dance rhythms and Wagnerian pop melodies, it seems natural that they would follow it up with a more experimental and less user-friendly release. Such is the joy of a group like Laibach, you can't make assumptions or take things for granted. 

Those looking for 'Spectre' part 2, or even a hint of their other recently performed works such as the songs from the sound of music may have to wait longer for an official release. But in the here and now this is a welcome return to the dark and disturbing underbelly of the Laibach collective.  

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Review: Laibach – 'Spectremix'

LAIBACH
'Spectremix'
MUTE RECORDS

Laibach are a force of nature in the world of music. The band have, for 30 years, presented an unrivalled tour-de-force of avant garde art dressed as pop music set on subverting the mainstream. With albums such as 'Nova Akropola', 'Let It Be', and 'WAT' they pushed buttons, provoked, celebrated and mocked the meat on which they fed. In 2014 the collective released 'Spectre', hailed as their most complete and political album to date, the world seemed to have finally caught up with the Slovenians.

In 2015 the band release the deluxe version of the album including the bonus remix album 'Spectremix' (which is also available as a standalone release). The band are no strangers to remixes and collaborations to rework their material as can be seen with the 2^nd disc of the band's 2004 “best of” collection 'Anthems' which collected some of the more notable ones together.

In a world where the remix album is a necessity for most bands to extend the shelf-life of the original, it seems strange at first that the group would play along with this new convention. But Laibach being Laibach, there is always an ulterior motive. The band have always looked to dance orientated producers and artists to allow their message to spread into dance floors in the forms of what ever the current trends happen to be.

This time around the duties fall to producer Marcel Dettmann, labelmates Diamond Version, Sandwell District’s Function, longtime collaborator iTurk, Slovenian electro-pop band Torul, Scottish DJ and producer Alex Smoke, German DJ, producer and co-founder of the Common Sense People event series Konstantin Sibold, and Slovenian producer, DJ and musician Gramatik. The result of which is a varied and intelligent blend of EDM, IDM and Techno that preserve the menace of the source material. In particular it is the likes of Diamond Version, iTurk, Torul, Function, and Konstantin Sibold provide the highlights on the album, giving the tracks suitably interesting and different sounds.

There is one issue though with the album, which is the repetition of songs. Instead of offering up all of the tracks on the original for remixing, there is just a small selection available, and the omissions in some cases are glaring. But there is no denying that even in this reworked form the tracks, no matter how different they are from the originals, they still cut through with Laibachian wit and menace. At the end of the day though, especially as a digital only release (why no limited vinyl run?!), this is one that is really just for the DJs and completeists out there.  

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Laibach announce deluxe edition of 'Spectre' and 'Spectremix' album

Laibach have announced details of the digital deluxe version of their acclaimed album 'Spectre', which will be released on 30^th March 2015 via Mute Records. The deluxe version of 2014’s 'Spectre' will feature the original album plus bonus tracks and 'Spectremix', a remix album which also available separately on the same date.

'Spectremix' features remixes from Spectre from techno producer and DJ Marcel Dettmann, labelmates Diamond Version (aka Olaf Bender and Carsten Nicolai), Sandwell District’s Function, longtime collaborator iTurk, Slovenian electro-pop band Torul, Scottish DJ and producer Alex Smoke, German DJ, producer, mastering engineer and co-founder of the Common Sense People event series, Konstantin Sibold and Slovenian producer, DJ and musician Gramatik.

Track List:

SPECTRE

The Whistleblowers

No History

Eat Liver!

Americana

We Are Millions And Millions Are One

Eurovision

Walk With Me

Bossanova

Resistance Is Futile 

Koran

BONUS TRACKS

The Parade

Love On The Beat

Just Say No!

See That My Grave Is Kept Clean

Love On The Beat – Live (Edit) – recorded at the Tate Modern

SPECTREMIX

Eurovision (Torul remix)

The Whistleblowers (Marcel Dettmann remix)

The Whistleblowers (Diamond Version remix)

Koran (Alex Smoke remix)

Eat Liver! (Gramatik remix)

Resistance Is Futile (Function remix)

Koran (iTurk remix)

We Are Millions and Millions Are One (Konstantin Sibold remix)

Eurovision (Marcel Dettmann remix)

The band will also be on tour on the following dates:

European Dates

13 Feb - Mannheim, Alte Seilerei - DE

14 Feb - Hamburg, Kampnagel / Krass Festival - DE

15 Feb - Bochum, Zeche – DE

12 March - Rostock, Mau Club - DE

13 March - Malmö, Moriska Paviljongen - SE

14 March - Stockholm, Debaser Medis - SE

16 March - Helsinki, Tavastia - FI

17 March - Talin, Rockcafe - EE

18 March - Tampere, Klubi - FI

22 March - Dresden, Beatpol - DE

24 March - Brno, Sono Centrum - CZ

25 March - Krakow, Fabryka - PL

26 March - Warsaw, Palladium - PL

27 March – Berlin, Astra / Out of Line Weekender - DE

28 March – Oberhausen, Turbinenhalle / E-tropolis Festival - DE

29 March – Breda, Mezz – NL

30 March – Brighton, Concorde 2 – UK

31 March – Glasgow, Classic Grand - UK

2 April – London, Electric Ballroom - UK

3 April – Manchester, Academy 2 - UK

4 April – Maastricht, Muziekgieterij - NL

5 April – Paris, Divan Du Monde – FR

8 April – Vienna, Arena – AT

9 April – Budapest, Barba Negra Music Club - HU

11 April – Munich, Residenztheater – DE (part of The Dark Ages production)

North American Dates

11 May – Washington DC, Black Cat – US

12 May – Philadelphia PA, Theatre Of The Living – US

13 May – New York NY, Irving Plaza, with Ministry – US

16 May – Toronto ON, Danforth Music Hall – CA

20 May – Chicago IL, Abbey Pub – US

23 May – Denver, CO, Summit Music Hall - US

26 May – Seattle WA, El Corazon – US

27 May – Vancouver BC, Rickshaw Theatre – CA

28 May – Portland OR, Wonder Ballroom – US

30 May – San Francisco CA, The Fillmore - US

1 June – Los Angeles CA, The Roxy Theatre – US

Please see the official Mute Records store for details on how to order the digital deluxe edition of 'Spectr' and 'Spectremix'. For more information on the band, including forthcoming releases and tour dates, please visit their official website.

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Review: Laibach – '1 VIII 1944 Warszawa'

LAIBACH
'1 VIII 1944 Warszawa'
POLISH NATIONAL CENTRE FOR CULTURE

Avant garde Slovenians Laibach were invited by the Polish National Centre For Culture to create this EP to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Warsaw Uprising. This was an operation led by the Polish resistance forces during the Second World War with the aim of liberating the Polish capital Warsaw from the control of Nazi Germany.

The EP harks back to the band's 2006 album 'Volk' with its hints of ethnic Polish musical influences filtered through the Laibachian avant garde process to create something truly unique. The three tracks come together to create a solemn and almost mournful atmosphere despite the up-tempo construction of 'Warszawskie dzieci' with its funky slap bass high in the mix, and 'Zog Nit Keyn Mol' with its undeniable groove. Although the final track, 'Mach Dir Nichts Daraus' tugs at the heart strings the most with a lighter and more sinister lullaby feel to it.

The EP as you'd expect from a highly regarded collective such as Laibach is not some hastily put together throwaway oddity. The songs stand shoulder to shoulder with the best of their recent output and although separate from the contemporary critiques of 'Spectre', it doesn't feel a million miles away in terms of sentiment.

This may be a discography oddity that hardcore completists will have to have. But the strength of Laibach's song writing, the strong conceptual element and the sheer quality of these tracks mean that '1 VIII 1944 Warszawa' is a very rewarding listen for those who will seek it out. 

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A 'Spectre' is Haunting Europe...

They say timing is everything, and if so then there is one particular group of cultural warriors who have hit pay-dirt.

Yes, cheeky iconoclasts Laibach roll into the UK this month (not literally, thankfully) to promote their new album 'Spectre' just as 6,000 (and rising) Russian paramilitaries are occupying parts of the Ukraine. For a band that broke out of the Yugoslavian cultural system only years before the Balkans exploded in a series of brutal wars it must seem that their most satirically bleak predictions have come to pass.

It is hard to recall a more precipitous tour by a major artist. Killing Joke toured the UK during the 1991 Gulf War, which was an irony delicious enough in itself for Jaz Coleman, but other than that it is very rare indeed for a band's music and context to synchronise so well.

So we could forgive them if they laughed the laugh of men & women vindicated. It is hard to believe that their epoch-defining album 'N.A.T.O', which was released in the midst of the Balkan wars, is twenty years old. In the intervening years we all slowly grew to forget the age of land grabs, annexations and European conflict, whilst all the while the Slovenian troupe constantly reminded us that these intractable problems had not gone away.

The 'end of history', the 'war on terror' and 'the hour of Europe' all seem a very long way away now, so perhaps we should all have been paying more attention. Laibach cast a deliciously cynical eye over art, ideologies, nations and structures and told us how dangerous and futile they all were. However, they also pointed out that these things are more durable than the cocky post-modernists of the Blair-Bush years suggested. Now we have a conflict in Europe seemingly devoid of any ideology at all, and the cherished linchpins of modern European security (NATO and the EU) are flailing in the face of a rather retro Russian offensive. All so very 1968, darling, but with 24/7 rolling news coverage and a social media soundtrack to boot (or is that jackboot?)

So we have the sight and sound of an industrial rock act that are formed over 30 years ago actually becoming more relevant with age. It's hard to tell if Laibach are more & more reflecting the times or if the times are more & more reflecting Laibach. Watching the news it almost looks like a giant art installation about the nature of war and the media - but if the combatants get to the stage of blasting rock music at each other a la General Noriega in Panama then don't be surprised if the soundtrack is 'W.A.T' rather than ZZ Top.

Nobody knows where the situation in the Crimea is going, but we do know that these cultural eclipses don't happen very often. So cherish these moments and get down to London on the 12^th March to see them...before things get really interesting.

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Review: Laibach – 'Spectre'

LAIBACH
'Spectre'
MUTE

Laibach's last proper full-length foray into the studio produced the incendiary 'Volk' in 2006. An album that playfully de-constructed the nationalist identities of a variety of countries through pop restyling of their respective anthems. It's this kind of avant garde approach to both politics and music that has cemented the Slovenians into the public consciousness. Fast forward a few years and the collective have since scored a film in the form of Iron Sky [2012], performed at the Tate Modern in London and even being invited to play in the People's Republic Of China. It seems that in 2014, the controversial group that were once banned in their home country have well and truly solidified their subversive presence.

Sharing it's title with the fictional terrorist organisation from the world of James Bond, the band's latest studio album, 'Spectre', marks a renewed attack on the political status quo. The album begins almost exactly where 'Volk' left off. 'The Whistleblowers' is a new anthem for political dissidence in the 21^st century with it's martial rhythms giving way to classic Laibach high-camp Wagnerian pop that recalls the likes of 'Gerbut Einer Nation' and 'NSK'. This is promptly followed by the darker electro-industrial of 'No History' which makes excellent use of Mina Špiler's vocals as a counterpoint to Milan Fras' sinister growl. Whereas, 'Americana' and 'Eurovision' for all their dark electronic allure, subtle melody and enticing rhythms show that the band still brim with the sinister fire that gave rise to tracks such as 'Brat Moj'.

The likes of the revolution flaming 'Eat Liver!' and the corporate monster-baiting 'Bossanova' are frantic up-tempo rhythmic assaults that hark back to the band's 'WAT' era. The album's outright centrepiece though, is the 80's synthpop tinged degenerate ode to blitzkrieg that is 'Resistance Is Futile'. A self-referencing anthem it its own right, this dramatic and unrelenting piece will no doubt prove to be a lasting favourite in the band's live arsenal. The album's closer 'Koran' treads in dangerous territory by virtue of it's title alone (just as 'Anti-Semitism' did on 'WAT'), however this sumptuous ballad is a haunting and thought provoking exclamation point, with Fras cynically stating “Words are nice” in response to Špiler's hopeful and idealistic opening declaration of “I believe in a better world”.

The musical intelligentsia may have caught up with Laibach's seditious ambiguousness thirty years after it was put into motion. But they are by no means part of the establishment. The groups polemic stance will always be at odds with the mainstream. But the band's talent for blending sheer musical prowess and provocative concepts means that they’re as just as relevant in the second decade of the 21^st century as they were during their conception at the height of the cold war. The world may change around them, but Laibach will always be there to show society it's own reflection... whether society likes it or not.

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Laibach announce album and tour details

Slovenian avant garde troupe Laibach have announced further details of the forthcoming album 'Spectre' due to be released on 3^rd March 2014 via Mute records.

The album will be released in CD, Vinyl and Digital Download formats with the Deluxe edition of the CD containing a Partybook: a laminated linen bound party membership book with a manifesto and an invite to register your allegiance to its thesis.

The band have also announced they will be playing as part of their Spring tour schedule, a show at London's KOKO on 12^th March.

Track List:

The Whistleblowers 

No History

Eat Liver! 

Americana 

We Are Millions And Millions Are One 

Eurovision 

Walk With Me 

Bossanova

Resistance Is Futile 

Koran 

TOUR DATES - 2014

6 March - Luzern, Schüür, CH

7 March - Weinheim, Café Central, DE

8 March - Paris, Trabendo FR

10 March - Leuven, Het Depot, BE

12 March - London, KOKO, UK

13 March - Amsterdam, Melkweg, NL

14 March - Cologne, Stollwerk, DE

15 March - Schorndorf (nr Stuttgart), Manufaktur, DE 

16 March - Munich, Technikum, DE

22 March - Hong Kong - The Vine Center, CN

2 April - Rome, Orion Club, IT

3 April - Trezzo (Milan), Live Club, IT

4 April - Frankfurt am Main – Mousontrum, DE

5 April - Dresden – Reithalle, DE

7 April - Berlin, Volksbühne, DE

8 April - Hamburg, Uebel & Gefrährlich, DE

10 April - Malmö, Babel, SE

12 April - Poznan, C.K. Zamek, PL

13 April - Gdansk, B90, PL

15 April - Wien, Arena, AT

16 April - Budapest, A38, HU

18 April - Praha, Archa Theatre, CZ

9 May - Zagreb, Tvornica Kulture, HR

16 May - Ljubljana, Krizanke, SI

'Spectre' is available to pre-order now via the band's official website.

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Laibach in China: Bigger Than Nixon?

The recent news that industrial legends Laibach are to play their first ever dates in China next year raised a few eyebrows. How will the playful post-modernism of the Slovenians go down in the Communist state? Will they escape with their liberty and their reputation intact? 

That is not to say that anyone can expect them to perform protest songs or make a political "statement". For one, they wouldn't do anything that obtuse and obvious. They are not the Rolling Stones or Bob Dylan... they are more relevant than that. We would be doing Laibach a disservice by expecting any standard political response from them, or in fact any political response at all. They have made a career out of prizing ideology, art and politics out of context and juxtaposing them with a deadpan sense of mischief. They are not going to shout "Free Tibet!" in the middle of 'Tanz Mit Laibach', unless they impishly followed it with a cry of "Free Trans-Dniester!". Laibach seem content to leave the politics to the politicians and the gestures to the People's Liberation Army gymnasts.

Laibach always understood the post-ideological world that we now live in better than their contemporaries (with the honourable exception of DAF , and possibly now also KMFDM and Rammstein). While many industrial acts still use political imagery as a symbol of authenticity, be that neo-Nazi insignia, uniforms and other militaria, or Stalinist iconography, they prefer to subvert them and demonstrate how empty and useless these images really are. The era that these symbols belong to is over – like the USSR, Reaganism, and action movies staring Schwarzenegger. Laibach, on the other hand, have been working in the 21^st century for some considerable time and have used the ephemera of twentieth century pop culture and political history to troll the world.

So the contrast with China promises to be delicious – the first post-communist band in the world's largest Communist state, but one which is ridden with the kind of contradictions ripe for Laibach's satire; a closed political system ostensibly beholden to a Leninist ideology but in practice working as the largest neo-liberal economy on earth. A developing nation that is now starting to develop the growing pains of the classic post-industrial nations of the West. And Laibach, who probably saw this coming years ago.

So what they will make of the scene in Hong Kong is anyone's guess. It is obvious that behind the hyper-modern façade China seems anachronistic, with their gunships prowling the South China Sea, their regulated search engines and poets under house arrest. Or maybe Laibach might admire the brutal, honest hypocrisy of modern China all the more. 

Either way, it should be the art installation to end all art installations. A film release is a must. Just don't expect them to sing 'Wind Of Change'... although if they did, it would probably be sarcastic.

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Interview: Laibach

Interview: Laibach - 2012 Revisited

2012 had been a very busy year for Laibach and spanned not only touring and recording but also writing a soundtrack, exhibiting and speaking in public. In between they responded to a series of questions to help further cloud the intentions behind the band's ever-elusive modus operandi and spread more panic and confusion...

Intravenous Magazine: The association of self-stylised Nazi sci-fi B-movie Iron Sky with Laibach seems likely and natural. Yet, did the context of a film soundtrack allow you a freedom to step a bit out of character, play with musical styles new to the band?

Laibach: Actually no, we found ourselves quite limited working on this soundtrack. Originally we wanted to be experimental and playful with music and styles, but it didn’t really fit. There are Wagnerian and Nazi signifiers all over the film, dominated by the American, Hollywood-esque narration, which dictated a very specific language and approach we simply had to follow. Not much freedom there. Quite rightfully so - after all, this film is discussing the Impossibility of Freedom in the modern age.

IVM: The soundtrack is practically littered with 'Sieg Heil' and 'Mein Fuhrer' samples lifted off the film and integrated into the music. The 'Nazi Kunst' in Laibach's legacy is taken to an outmost camp extreme.  Did you revel on the opportunity to almost parody some common perceptions of the band?

L: On the contrary, the logic of the soundtrack album demanded that we edit the score but we still had to follow the narrative of the film and introduce separate scenes with the recognisable film dialogues. Since most of the scenes in this film start and end with ‘Sieg’ and ‘Heil’, or even with ‘Sieg Heil!’ we simply could not avoid using these greetings occasionally, to create the dramatic suspense. We surely did not do it for our own fun.

IVM: How did the collaboration with Tate Modern come about?

L: We were invited to do the show by the Tate curators Catherine Wood and Kathy Noble after they had attended our LaibachKunstderFuge show in Bush Hall, London, and the Laibach Revisited shows in Roundhouse and Trbovlje, as well as our exhibitions in Maribor and Trbovlje, including the Laibach Symposium events in Trbovlje and Kum in 2010.

IVM: How was the concert experience there for you and the rest of the group?

L: It was a bit unusual for Laibach, we all felt very modern.

IVM: How did you select the songs you played on that concert, and on 'Revisited'? Do you build some narrative or simply choose songs you haven't played in a long time and feel a desire to play again?

L: Firstly, we were asked by Tate to present something special so we decided to partly reconstruct the Music Biennial Zagreb/Occupied Europe Tour show from 1983 and open the Tate concert with that. Secondly, the Tate people really wanted us to do a kind of historical overview of the essence of Laibach’s music and since we are releasing several records discussing Laibach’s past work, we created the program you could hear in Turbine Hall. Of course, there were also a few songs off Iron Sky and some that do not belong anywhere in particular.

IVM: How did you 'recruit' the past members of Laibach like Srečko Bajda who played in the first part of the concert?

L: It was a pleasure to work with Srečko in Tate again - he was the first lead singer of the group and he was the front person at the aforementioned Zagreb Music Biennale show in ‘83. Although Srečko left Laibach in ‘83, we occasionally worked together on diverse projects, like for instance Baptism. He also did the original Laibach mix of B-Machina and you can find his touch in many other songs Laibach did.

We were also very pleased that Dan Landin/Stan Bingo, from Last Few Days, was able to join us on clarinet for the Tate Modern performance. Dan Landin is very much co-responsible for the ‘83 Laibach/LFD Occupied Europe Tour and he has occasionally performed with Laibach on stage, on that tour as well as at the Biennial concert in Zagreb.

IVM: The choice to have Mina sing 'Across The Universe' seems irresistible...but for example how did you decide on the one song from Kapital? The text? The music?

L: It was about time to play a song from Kapital - we hadn’t for a long time, and it is such an interesting album. Quite a few songs from Kapital are very difficult to present live, but we decided to do at least one for a start. It is now exactly 20 years since the Kapital album was released.  

IVM: With the 'Laibach Revisited' tour and now the current one you have reworked many songs from your early repertoire. How did you work on the reworking? What part of it is experimentation in the studio or rehearsal space and what part is an outcome of discussion?

L: Obviously there was some basic discussion going on but eventually someone had to do the work in the studio as well. In principle the whole process was a collective work, but we gave more space in these reinterpretations to the young guns in Laibach, so they could get acquainted with the historic material.

IVM: Since Mina Spiler joined there is much more female singing in Laibach, including in the new versions of old songs. Did you consciously decide to change this balance of Laibach's masculine music and aesthetics, or was it a natural outcome of Mina's contribution?

L: Laibach always had a strong feminine side, which is maybe yet to be unveiled. But although we collaborated with many women through our entire career (with some on stage and many more off stage) we never used them to camouflage or balance our masculinity with their femininity. On the contrary - most of Laibachian female side was strictly produced by our collective testosterone, and even femme fatale ladies like Mina were only able to work with Laibach because they corresponded with it in a manly manner and not like a woman.

IVM: The cover versions compilation - I always felt that the reason your cover versions are so effective is not just the change of context of a song and of course the bombastic compositions but also because I think you love those songs and have respect for pop and rock. Do you agree?

L: If we’d agree on this we’d have to agree on many other things we don’t want to. This would be the end of Laibach, who can only exist through disagreement. Do you agree?

IVM: Alexei Monroe often claims that the cover versions led English critics and listeners, perhaps because of the English tradition of absurd humour, to consider Laibach a novelty/parody act.  Now, with the recent explosion of Laibach and IRWIN activity in London it looks like Laibach and NSK are taken much more seriously - do you think it is because it took time to fully understand Laibach Kunst, or maybe because the economical instability of the west makes Laibach's ideas more popular? Do you think Laibach is a band that thrives in times of crisis?

L: One of the reasons why British Empire was so expansive and lasted for so long is because they didn’t take any other nation seriously, anyone who did not speak native English. When the Empire finally shrank, the British only survived because they wouldn’t take the shrinking situation seriously. Even more - they wouldn’t take themselves seriously. So how could we expect they would suddenly take Laibach seriously? Just because we are telling them the truth?

IVM: When will Wolkswagner be released and are any DVD releases of the tours since Volk planned?

L: Unfortunately Volkswagner will not be released, due to high recording expenses, and we also did not have in mind any DVD releases of the tours at this point. Everything is on YouTube already anyway, so why bother?

IVM: What direction would you like to see the activity of post-congress NSK citizens take?

L: If the citizens of NSK want to have a good State, they should organize themselves and make it functional. We did our part of work regarding the creation of the State and we don’t want to interfere in its substance more than necessary.

IVM: Do you accept this democratisation of NSK?

L: As long as it is utopian - yes.

IVM: What is your favourite-ever Laibach song, or at least your favourite at this moment?

L: Unfortunately we cannot reply you on this question because the word ‘favourite’ does not exist in Laibachian vocabulary.

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