Do you have any particular favourite recording in your body of work? Or great disappointment in any of them?

Chris: Shipwreck is my favorite piece of work. As far as disappointment goes, I get disappointed by the absolute snobbery I have faced from a lot of pseudointellectual indie rockers. There are some times I feel like my past is a black mark against me in a lot of people's books. It's frustrating, because I have always been accepting and open. But it's nothing that hinders me -- I just keep on doing what I'm doing. So fuck all y'all!

Indeed! I agree totally with you there. [Laughs] What exactly went down in your deal with Wax Trax? Do you feel that it was an appropriate time to sever those ties? That is to say, you were already evolving musically away from the certain "formats" of music on the label, if you will. You were growing musically beyond the parameters of most, if not all, of the other bands on the label into something less "clubby" and into a type of work that was far more sublime in its feel and delivery.

Chris: I felt that Shipwreck could have done a lot better, and I think they felt the same way. It's not their fault. Look at what I did: I changed gears all the time on a whim or an instinct. I get bored easily, and I'm not happy to conform -- not because I like to be difficult as a person, I am very easy going in general -- but I follow my own paths. It's the joy of discovery. So we parted ways. It was also at the time when Jim [Nash, owner of Wax Trax] died, so it made a lot of sense to me.

Oh, yes, of course, that's completely understandable to me now. There were rumours or talk, I guess, that you had refuted doing, and I hate this term, "industrial music" (as it is so readily been coined) that you'd tossed that into the binbag and were striving for different altitudes creatively. Was that true? Was there a conscious decision on your part to avoid that "scene," or...?

Chris: Well, like I said, I am too curious. I moved on without knowing it. This "industrial music" was something I had been with ever since its inception. I just got bored of it. A lot of it began to sound the same, just like most of these lame-ass indie rock mumbling underachievers -- at least the industrial rock had a good bite to it. And it was fun! I still like a lot of it and hear stuff that I think is great, so I dip my toe back in once in a while.

There was an extended hiatus after the Shipwreck album where I wondered if you were ever going to do another solo record. When you did The Ultimate Seaside Companion, what prompted you to take up with Hit It! Records? I am aware that at the time most of their catalogue was nothing like the kind of work you were doing.

Chris: Yep, nobody's catalogue is ever like what I do. I was looking for a label and I couldn't get fucking arrested. [Laughs] I was writing strongly. I was writing with Rieflin and with William Tucker (R.I.P.). I had a great band at my fingertips, but Chicago had turned its attentions to utter bollocks like Veruca Salt and a bunch of other wannabe stadium rockers trying to look like downtown Manhattan in a cow field. It was all pretty funny, and each to his own, but I just did not fit. I hate patronizing these larger record companies and kissing any ass when I really, really loathe them and have torture fantasies. Yeah...blah, blah, blah.

You were doing a good share of spoken word performances for some years when I lived in Chicago. I remember seeing one in particular which was quite enjoyable. Is doing that form of presentation as satisfying to you as performing within the context of music? Did that also somehow play a role in doing your book Confessions Of The Highest Bidder?

Chris: I don't know about spoken word. It was okay for a while, but I began to realize how stupid I sounded during the performances. It is not like singing.

Quite frankly, at least in my opinion, it was all fairly mesmerizing, really. I distinctly remember after that evening, among the crowd, that was the first time I'd heard anyone attach the term poetry to what you did -- which I'd believed all along as far as your lyrics were concerned. But, then again you know, they were young ladies! [Laughs] Did this help in deciding to release the Confessions spoken word disc?

Chris: I had been asked to do it by several people and it was fun to do. I did it in my bedroom with a bottle of wine.

Do you feel pleased with the results of your book? Would you ever consider doing another? Perhaps a novel even?

Chris: I will do another book. I don't think a novel though.

You've found yourself back at Invisible with the joining of forces with Jah Wobble, Martin Atkins, and Geordie Walker initially via The Damage Manual, then have had a reissue of The Ultimate Seaside Companion, along with Blonde Exodus, as well as the forthcoming record. It was a fairly shocking thing to me when I heard about and then bought the Damage Manual EP, One. I really didn't expect that you would go into terrain like that again.

Both Damage Manual releases are quite good, and it was a refreshing break from the rest of what had been being put out by Invisible. Do you feel that there is any potential for another Damage Manual release? Then, of course, you have your solo records coming out on Invisible, plus the fairly recent performances with Pigface again. This is most likely an absurd question, but do you think that you may stay with Invisible for some time to come? Would you ever entertain the idea of recording with Pigface again?

Chris: I never rule out anything these days. I look back on the last 20 years and think of the ways I was sometimes involved in some of the silliest situations, whereby my peers or my own pomposity might stop me from doing something or, even more ugly, some kind of legality. I have felt disappointment in the past and the path I have chosen guarantees that. These days I try and allow myself to think of what I do as a very privileged situation and to explore the pathways that open whether they are collaborative or not. One problem with rock music, though, is that you meet the biggest knuckleheads.

Yeah, I could see that being sometimes eventual. Ugh. Speaking of collaborations, do you feel that perhaps you and Bill Rieflin will do another record to follow Largo?

Chris: Both of us were quite thrilled with the results. We write well together and it was really such a pleasure to make.

And on yet another collaboratory note: it has been told to me that you have guested on Jarboe's next album, MEN. True?

Chris: Yup.

I gather she has has a good number of guests appear on that recording. Did you get the opportunity to interact with any of these other individuals? It seems as though she had a fairly marginalized palette of people "sitting in," so to speak, from the likes of you, to David J., to Maynard Keenan from Tool, to Paz Lenchantin, to Bill Reiflin.

Chris: No, I don't even know who else is on it. All I know is that I was flattered beyond belief to be asked. That woman has the richest, most beautiful female voice. If there is a female equivalent to the voice of Scott Walker, it is Jarboe.

So on a more informal level, is there anything out there musically these days that catches your interest, solo artist, or band, or otherwise? There seems to be a good deal of rapturous music out there. But you have to work for it to find it, you know what I mean? What are your thoughts on this?

Chris: You may be right. Most of what gets accolades these days is undeserving, always such a let down. Over the last while I have enjoyed the album Fed by Plush, and Heathen by David Bowie, but for the most part I listen to more atonal sounds. I find this provides a somewhat perverse catalyst to pull the melody out of me, so I have been listening to a lot of Throbbing Gristle -- as I have always done, a map and compass for my subconscious.

One silly little sidenote: what's the story with that bank commercial?

Chris: My good friend Paul Elledge, the photographer, was the director.

Brilliant. I thought that commercial was fucking hilarious. I loved it -- and I generally loathe commercials, as I would expect most people do -- but you really put on a good show there.

Tell me a bit about your new record, Private Education. What sound samples I've heard thus far are brilliant. Would you mind giving me and our readers some idea as to the lyrical themes involved? I am fully aware that you love to write, so I am certain themes are abundant.

Chris: At the time of recording -- which took place over two days in February -- I had a backlog of songs and I wanted to do something that presented my songs as more like charcoal pictures -- stark reliefs, but not stark enough to club the listener over the head with its intention. With the exception of one song, the record documents a change in my life that occurred over last year. I was especially interested in bringing a focus to the lyrics on the record. The lyrics often came about spontaneously and are quite narrative in some ways. It also documents an increased yearning I have to go home.

Did you take a differing musical and production approach to this record? Does it hold that near elusive cinematic quality that Blonde Exodus had, or...?

Chris: Well, like I said, it was recorded over two days. It is the opposite of Blonde Exodus, I don't know why, it just is.

As per what I've heard, the tour is set to begin in August. Are you planning to strictly play on a solo acoustic platform through all of this?

Chris: Yes, a lot simpler.

What would be your biggest fear or nightmare?

Chris: Being found out!

Hah! Well for many of us out here, 'tis a bit too late for that, eh? [Laughs] Well then, that all said, I would like to sincerely thank you for the time to chat, Chris. And I most certainly wish you all the best for the new record and upcoming tour!

My highest respect goes out to Chris Connelly; whose thoughtfulness, kindness, great humour and unabashedly true and honest discussions regarding his life and love for his craft proved to be both quite insightful as well as entertaining. I cannot say it enough, ladies and gentlemen of the class: get out there and pick up a copy of Private Education (available from Invisible Records) or, at the very least, make a concerted effort to go out and see Chris perform live. It will be worth the time, believe me. Simply keep an open eye on local venues for tour dates. Further information will be posted on both www.chrisconnelly.com, or www.invisiblerecords.com. Only but a click or two away!

This lesson of a private education is over for now. But remember this well: there will be a quiz counting for 100% of your grade within the coming months. Keep that in mind, children.

Class dismissed.

On the web:
Chris Connelly (official site)

Inside Earpollution:
Interview (May 2000)
Damage Manual 1 EP album review
Damge Manual album review