Description of equipment used on stage by Throbbing Gristle

Text: Peter 'Sleazy' Christopherson (of Throbbing Gristle)
Originally printed in Flowmotion 1, January 1981
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Description of equipment used on stage:

• One rack containing 3 Clarion Auto-reverse car cassette machines customised so that all of the four tracks from each tape head are available. All or the 12 resulting channels are routed to a keyboard which selects the output combination.

• One Apple II computer fitted with Mountain Hardware's Supertalker and Symtec's SSG synthesiser boards. This provides extensive facilities not available from other equipment. For example sound can be stored digitally in memory and then played back in a non-linear manner or be manipulated mathematically prior to recall. Also the computer offers virtually unlimited sequencing facilities and can enter and display any musical piece as standard musical notation; that is, one can type in the tune from the score and then type "play" and the computer will play it. All data, stored sound or lines can be stored on floppy-disc and recalled as and when needed.
  

• One Cornet (made in Taiwan).
  

• One Larry Adler professional harmonica.

All the above are routed to a Roland Jazz Chorus Combo, via Memory Man analog delay line and a Roland Waa-Waa. (As are any vocals I might do).

Sources or Sound fragments used:

These vary considerably. As far as possible I try to stay within the law both in terms of copyright and the respect of peoples privacy. However in general the use or any specific fragment is so short that these considerations are not too important and if a piece of sound seems right I will normally use it. Without wishing to be too specific (for obvious reasons, sources of sound have included: recordings of legal and illegal radio and T.V. broadcasts (mostly not in this country), interviews with people (usually interesting people who have only come to light when they were indiscreet), tapes made without peoples knowledge (methods used in this case have to remain unspecified - suffice to say I see no reason why technology used by politicians in covert Watergate-type situations should not be used in a more enlightening and hopefully enjoyable context), lastly I also used a certain amount of purely 'atmospheric' sound (cars, rain, dogs barking at night, people crying etc) most of which is recorded in situ as it happens and most of which is recorded binaurally. (The binaural system, which, we now always use to record gigs, is one in which the two stereo mics are separated in a similar way to human ears. On playback the minute phase differences that result between the signals give a considerably enhanced spatial effect when listening with headphones.)

Regarding the formation of T.G. material:

Usually T.G. Songs are formed for the first time live on stage (We very rarely rehearse other than to check the equipment) Each person working on ingredients separately - a title, a lyric, a rhythm (why can I never spell that word?), an idea for a sound etc. etc. And all these somehow come together on stage to form the song, which invariably alters in each performance until we do a definitive version on record. (After which we don't usually repeat it.)

Regarding what we are 'doing':

I don't really see what we do in terms of the conventional 'rock & roll' thing at all, although the format of a group making records is one which is immediately acceptable to many people (much more so than virtually any other, apart from film/T.V.) I don't think we are a "group" in the normal sense of the word. We are just trying to express ideas and feelings in a way that seems appropriate to times in which we live. What we decide to do at any point is as far as possible based only on instinct - what "feels right". So I have no idea what we (or I) will be doing in the future but it will be certainly be something I find interesting because there's no point doing anything boring, ever.

~Flowmotion 1, January 1981

HATERS (aka GX Jupitter-Larsen) Discography

h a t e r s : d i s c o g r a p h y

COMPACT DISCS

THE TOTIMORPHOUS (V2 Archief, 1992)
Featuring a series of 16 noise collages. Each individual piece made from the sounds of things falling apart; some being partly or completely silent. Some of the gaps between the pieces are silent, while others are of noise. So while some pieces of silence are interrupted by gaps of noise and some pieces of noise are interrupted by gaps of silence, other pieces of noise are followed by gaps of more noise and other pieces of silence are followed by gaps of more silence. The theme being the role that uncertainty plays in knowledge.

BLANK BANNER (We Never Sleep, 1993)
"Noise as the Blank Banner of an Untitled Ideology", "The Facts On Polywave", "Strength Through Emptiness".

WIND LICKED DIRT (Self-released, 1993)
Blank CD and sample of dirt packaged together with instructions stating that one plays the disc by rubbing dirt on it. Bypasses any need for a stereo.

URBAN SENSITIVITY (Commercial Failure, 1994)
"The Stuff Twitching", "Touch Upon Inappropriateness", "Accidental Similarity", "Slipping Between Slight".

ORDINARILY NOWHERE (RRRecords, 1995)
Released as part of the PURE Series by RRRecords. Includes the following tracks "Smack", "Fireback", "Mangle Whack", "Make A Fire And Be Happy".

MIND THE GAP CD (Vinyl Communication, 1996)
"Mind The Gap #6", "Mind The Gap #8", and "Things Can Only Get Hater". All three tracks were produced from stapling records together with an amplified staple-gun.

DRUNK ON DECAY(Release, 1997)
"Drunk On Decay 3", "Drunk On Decay 4", and "Drunk On Decay 5". All three tracks were produced from an amplified funnel eroding on rotating sandpaper.

HEARING MUD DRY (V2 Archief, 1997)
3 inch mini CD release featuring the track "Hearing Mud Dry".

CULTIVATING CALAMITY (Vinyl Communication, 1997)

HATERS' VOICE OF VICTORY (Self Abuse, 1998)
The clici-clic, smash-up, and auto-crash versions of "Haters' Voice of Victory", "Mind The Gap #11" and "Mind The Gap #12".

VINYL-

THE HATERS (Self-released, 1983)
Silent EP which comes with instructions informing the holder that one must first complete the record by scratching it before listening to it on one's own stereo.

IN THE SHADE OF FIRE (Silent Records, 1986)
LP of 10 noise compositions made from the sounds of things falling apart.

WIND LICKED DIRT (RRRecords, 1988)
Blank LP and sample of dirt packaged in a transparent bag with instructions stating that one plays the record by rubbing dirt on it. Bypasses any need for a stereo.

FUCHAIT (vis'a'vis, 1988)
A flexi disc, featuring the track "Fuchait".

TRACTOR (Alamut Records, 1988)
LP of 3 recordings taken from live performances. Grooves on one side run from edge to centre, while the grooves on the other side run centre to edge.

FIRE (Silent Records, 1990)
EP featuring the fire soundtracks "Fire 20" and "Fire 21". Pressed on translucent flame-coloured vinyl. Packaged in a clear transparent sleeve marked with black fire motif.

A BASIC INTRODUCTION TO THE T.N.U. (Alamut Records, 1990)
Enclosed in this special third printing is an EP featuring four tracks of Jupitter-Larsen reading from said text. Record has standard grooves on one side, and random grooves on the other. Booklet printed on grey card; record pressed on grey vinyl.

DISSOLVING METAL ZEROS (Banned, 1993)
7 inch single featuring two collaborations by Jupitter-Larsen and David Jackman. Both individual pieces are titled "Dissolving Metal Zeros".

K2 & THE HATERS (K.M.I/Banned, 1994)
EP featuring two collaborations by Jupitter-Larsen and Kimihide Kusafuka. Tracks are "Smell of Shovel" and "Will for Junk Foods". Jointly released by K.M.I. and Banned.

POLYWELLE TYKIT (Syntactic, 1994)
Single-sided 7 inch EP with the track "Polywelle Tykit" on both sides. Features hand-made sleeves by Jupitter-Larsen.

TRUNCATED FORMICA (Self Abuse Records, 1995)
An EP containing the smash and clici-clic versions of "Truncated Formica".

SWEET AUSTERITY (Commercial Failure, 1995)
10 inch mini LP containting "Kaboom", "Kapow", "Random Cross Sections", and "Brisk Blaze". On each side the outside track plays inwards while the inside track plays outwards. Both end at a silent lack groove in the middle of the record.

PREDETERMINED BY ACCIDENT (Vinyl Communication, 1995)
12 inch EP: "Predetermined By Accident 8" and "Predetermined By Accident 12".

ROT (Apraxia, 1995)
7 inch EP: "Rubbish Often Tears" and "Reflections Off Trash". Pressed on white vinyl.

BREAKTHROUGH (Banned, 1995)
7 inch single featuring two recordings of the sound of breaking glass. Pressed on clear vinyl. Produced and engineered by David Jackman.

DROPS ASCENDING (Vinyl Communication, 1995)
Double 7 inch EP: "Drop Ascending One", "Drop Ascending Two", "Drop Ascending Three", and "Drop Ascending Four". First 200 pressed on translucent green vinyl.

NIRGENDS (Syntactic, 1995)
7 inch picture disc EP: "Nirgends 2" and "Nirgends 3".

A FURTHERED PAUSE (Robot Records, 1996)
7 inch EP: "A Furthered Pause 2" and "A Furthered Pause 3".

NIKUMU (kubitsuri Tapes, 1996)
7 inch single: "Nikumu Ni" and "Nikumu San". Half were pressed on translucent red vinyl, while the other half were pressed on clear vinyl.

BLOTCH (Behemoth Records, 1996)
7 inch single: "Stain" and "Smear". Produced by Mark The 3 Kord Scissor King, sounds of destruction were sampled, edited, and processed beyond all recognition.

AUTOFICIAL (Noisopoly, 1996)
7 inch compilation EP ompiled by Jupitter-Larsen, and featuring "Rectal Mucus Popsicle" by Smell & Quim, "Flint" by Chop Shop, "Calldown" by Com-Dom, and "Rough" by The Haters.

HELLO HATER (Pinch A Loaf, 1997)
7 inch single: "Disconnected Number" and "Unlisted Number". Pressed on greenish-copper coloured vinyl.

CULTIVATING CALAMITY (Vinyl Communication, 1997)
Mini LP: "Cultivating Calamities" and "Cultivating Calamities Again".

LITTLE FYODOR AND THE HATERS (Noisopoly, 1998)
7 inch single.

CONCEPTUAL-

OXYGEN IS FLAMMABLE (Self-released, 1990)
A broken piece of plastic packaged in a small box. Enclosed are instructions which state that the broken plastic is a record. And that it¹s played by pouring water over it. The instructions also call attention to possible similarities between the sounds of water falling and fire rising.

SHEAR (Self-released, 1991)
Ball of cotton batting packaged in a small box. Rapped around the contents are instructions on three thin strips of paper. Instructions which informs the holder that the cotton batting is a recording. And that this record is played by being squeezed. The sound this record gives being a "sharp fluffy slightness" and a "thin fluffy pressed".

CASSETTES-

THE WHIPPING (We Never Sleep, 1987)
C60 featuring a noise collage in two parts. A sound-poem made from the shrieks and cackle of a young girl being whipped by her lover.

CLICI-CLIC (S.P.H., 1992)
C60 containing a two-part collage of clici-clicing.

BUILDING EMPTY HOLES (Old Europa Cafe, 1993)
C60 featuring a two-part collage of clici-clicing.

SILENT SHOVELS SMASHING SUT (Noise, 1994)
C30 containing a two-part collage made from the sounds of things falling apart. Included is a 12 page booklet, published in Chinese, containing text about The Haters by the editors of the Taiwanese magazine Noise.

THE SUBSEQUENT RIP (Banned, 1995)
C02 featuring clici-clicing on one side and over-modulated paper-tearing on the other.

COMPILATIONS-

At last count, there were 309 CD, vinyl, cassette and 8-track cartridge compilations featuring The Haters.