Skinny Puppy Say 'hanDover' Isn't Intended to Bolster 'Occupy' Movement

Skinny PuppyCourtesy of Skinny Puppy

Almost 30 years in, Skinny Puppy still has bite. The Vancouver-born industrial music pioneers have released a cutting indictment of global economic chaos and collapse in the form of 'hanDover,' their 11th studio album. But as singer Nivek Ogre explains, 'hanDover' isn't so much a political protest statement as a reflection on their own personal struggles within the music business of late.

"We went through an insolvency with our German label, SPV," Ogre tells Spinner. "Before our last tour [2009's In Solvent See], our album was supposed to be delivered, but we didn't know if it was going to be delivered into a black hole, if SPV was going to exist. We were dealing with accountants from the German government. It was a pretty strange 'handover.'"

Skinny Puppy HandoverAmazon

Listen to Skinny Puppy's Full 'hanDover' Album for Free

SPV did survive, but the two-year delay meant the album has now hit the streets at a time when a song like 'Village' (an angry dance-floor stomper with lyrics about "busted broken dreams" and the "rape of man") seems particularly well-timed to be a soundtrack for the rising "Occupy" movement in North America, however unintentionally.

"We've always seemed to be either a little ahead of the time frame -- I'm not suggesting we're geniuses -- or behind the times. After we recorded [1996's] 'The Process' and [keyboardist] Dwayne [Goettel] passed, we kind of missed that wave that was taken on by NIN and Ministry.

"But this album feels like it's falling in a pocket, however cryptically. I don't want to stand up in any movement, necessarily. I think it's great that kids are getting out into the streets because they've finally seen how they've been sold and sold again. The problem with the Occupy Wall Street is that there isn't a clear message and it might burn itself out, which would be a drag. Somehow, it's about trying to rip the power from all these lobbyist and the banks and redefine the Federal Reserve to what it really is, which is no more Federal than Federal Express. That's what happening now. And that's what Skinny Puppy tries to do, in a more esoteric way."

Musically, 'hanDover' is a rather experimental journey through the different electronic subgenres the band has worked in over the years, from dissonant noise to melodic ambience and pop psychedelia. Call it post-industrial: less sonic brutality, more melancholia. As Ogre admits, the record reflects a certain resignation in the face of things he can't control, from the Fukushima fall-out to the fall of the recording industry.

Watch Skinny Puppy Perform 'Assimilate' Live

"As musicians, we have been dealing with a business that is eroded to such a degree that you can't really make a living off of it. How do I exist in this world? Hawking T-shirts? ... All I wanted to be was a musician and now I've started to become a bill collector, chasing mechanical royalties, for example. It's money that is not only owed to you, it's your right to have it. It shouldn't even be an issue. I know there is a business involved, but there is no decency."

"Because I feed on this, in a sense, I guess I'm a parasite," he adds. "Ultimately, though, it makes me sad. How do you fight the invisible ... if you think about it long enough it will kill you."

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michael

one of the best bands ever! keep rockin' in the unfree world, guys!

March 04 2012 at 5:36 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Enchante

OhGr is a very real person and doesnt condescend. He has paid attention to the Occupy Movement like everyone else, and I will quote above..."But this album feels like it's falling in a pocket, however cryptically. I don't want to stand up in any movement, necessarily. I think it's great that kids are getting out into the streets because they've finally seen how they've been sold and sold again. The problem with the Occupy Wall Street is that there isn't a clear message and it might burn itself out, which would be a drag." Many Americans have said it over and over and I agree...There has to be a clear concise movement to this.
As far as the comment about Capitalism, You make the music, you expect to get paid. You dont make the music, dont expect to get paid for it. The problem about just "Dividing the wealth" is people dont want to work anymore...they just want to get handed everything, which is not how the real world works.
One last note, is that the Music is very good. Thanks again "Skinny Puppy" for releasing a truly inspirational piece or artistic creativity once again!

October 25 2011 at 7:00 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Enchante

OhGr is a very real person and doesnt condescend. He has paid attention to the Occupy Movement like everyone else, and I will quote above..."But this album feels like it's falling in a pocket, however cryptically. I don't want to stand up in any movement, necessarily. I think it's great that kids are getting out into the streets because they've finally seen how they've been sold and sold again. The problem with the Occupy Wall Street is that there isn't a clear message and it might burn itself out, which would be a drag." Many Americans have said it over and over and I agree...There has to be a clear concise movement to this.
As far as the comment about Capitalism, You make the music, you expect to get paid. You dont make the music, dont expect to get paid for it. The problem about just "Dividing the wealth" is people dont want to work anymore...they just want to get handed everything, which is not how the real world works.
One last note, is that the Music is very good. Thanks again "Skinny Puppy" for releasing a truly inspirational piece or artistic creativity once again!

October 25 2011 at 7:00 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Enchante

OhGr is a very real person and doesnt condescend. He has paid attention to the Occupy Movement like everyone else, and I will quote above..."But this album feels like it's falling in a pocket, however cryptically. I don't want to stand up in any movement, necessarily. I think it's great that kids are getting out into the streets because they've finally seen how they've been sold and sold again. The problem with the Occupy Wall Street is that there isn't a clear message and it might burn itself out, which would be a drag." Many Americans have said it over and over and I agree...There has to be a clear concise movement to this.
As far as the comment about Capitalism, You make the music, you expect to get paid. You dont make the music, dont expect to get paid for it. The problem about just "Dividing the wealth" is people dont want to work anymore...they just want to get handed everything, which is not how the real world works.
One last note, is that the Music is very good. Thanks again "Skinny Puppy" for releasing a truly inspirational piece or artistic creativity once again!

October 25 2011 at 7:00 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
cmdrwyvern

Did he mean "kids" condescendingly, or has he just not paid real attention to the Occupy movement?

October 25 2011 at 6:23 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
cmdrwyvern

Did he mean "kids" condescendingly, or has he just not paid real attention to the Occupy movement?

October 25 2011 at 6:20 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
cmdrwyvern

Did he mean "kids" condescendingly, or has he just not paid real attention to the Occupy movement?

October 25 2011 at 6:20 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
cmdrwyvern

Did he mean "kids" condescendingly, or has he just not paid real attention to the Occupy movement?

October 25 2011 at 6:20 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Dan C

Even though I am probably going to be screamed at for saying so the end of that article sounds a lot more pro-capitalism then pro-occupy. Note is about collecting the money he is owed, not saying he has enough, spread it out to those in need.

October 25 2011 at 6:13 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Dan C

Even though I am probably going to be screamed at for saying so the end of that article sounds a lot more pro-capitalism then pro-occupy. Note is about collecting the money he is owed, not saying he has enough, spread it out to those in need.

October 25 2011 at 6:13 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Dan C's comment
nate dion

From what I've been told by sources that know the band, Ogre lives in very humble surroundings and struggles to get by on a daily basis financially. I don't think he's hording wealth, but rather scraping by like the rest of the 99%. Don't make the common mistake of thinking that fame=wealth, especially in the music biz. Skinny Puppy is not, and has never been, some top-40 cash cow. These guys make music out of love, not to get rich. Like his bandmate, Cevin, Ogre has his hand in numerous projects to pay the bills.

I think what he's saying is that the music industry has evolved away from the model where musicians are payed regularly by a single entity (their label) to one where they often have a trickle of income coming from many different sources, which requires either paying an accountant, or being one, to keep up with... if those sources cough anything up in the first place.

October 26 2011 at 1:26 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply