digital hardcore documentary

[AnthonyDavid94]

That thing the interviewer said was spot-on: The Prodigy doesn't want to be political. They were only labelled like that.

[unknown9069]

This is awesome, thanks for uploading this! (although I wish I could understand it :/)

[THVStudios]

Pt.2 ;) it took about 6 months (from when this interview was done) until ATR got accused of pretty much the same thing, when Burn Berlin Burn went gold via Grand Royal. We didn't 'hate' Prodigy, but when mainstream media people try to put all different electronic music artists into one basket, people defend themselves. Would I word it this way nowadays? probably not. Back then it was a gloomy time in Berlin. All clubs were closed. Mainstream techno was taking over everything.

[THVStudios]

Hey guys, this is Alec. This interview is from late 1996, it was aired in 1997. The reason why many of the scene back in the day commented on Prodigy was because they were having top 40 records/hits. Obviously they were entering a different level of fame (as opposed to the 'underground' we all came from). This was pretty mainstream television, so of course me (and a lot of other artists back in the day) had to draw a line to explain the difference between our music and The Prodigy in 1996.

[ookami3380]

yea this dude is not considering playing anywhere unless you pay 2000 euros and provide hotel room and whatnot. punk? phahahaha.....

[THVStudios]

@ookami3380 that is not true and you know that. Yes, when a promoter makes a lot of money, the bands are entitled to get a fair share of that. We are all professional musicians (since 1991 by the way). Do we also do free shows when we can afford it? Yes. Can we afford that all the time? No. Not without corporate sponsorship deals or major label tour support in place. Everybody in the team gets paid. You can't expect technicians to work for free. Just an example.

[ookami3380]

@THVStudios well is there squat parties anymore? the ones that you play for food and drink?

not really. when you say professional musicians that moment i know that you are not into it for the scene,people and idea. professional today means " i make money out of this "

[THVStudios]

@ookami3380 'food and drink' is payment by the way. If the squat has the sound engineers, lighting people, basically everyone who 'works' at a show, yes. Playing a show does cost money. Would you pay for the travel of the whole band? Or does 'playing for free' mean that everybody else is paying so you can 'party'? It is very easy for you to accuse other people like that, but what are you really doing to make sth happen?

[ookami3380]

@THVStudios uh uh dont you pin those things on me. people that i work with are always payed for travelling and have to eat and drink as much as they want. and i do not believe that alec empire is the regular anarchist that wont accept money. just the opposite. people like drumcorpse would play for 300euros. thats ok but band like this wouldnt sleep anywhere and eat anything. cause they are professionals right :) ? if you think that anarchist community has a promoter then you missed the point.

[THVStudios]

@ookami3380 we never said 'we won't accept money'. I think you got the wrong idea. We are anarchist libertarians. If someone makes money from other people's work, we think the profits must be shared fairly. What is your problem? If you want us to play a free show at your squat, behaving like a dick and accusing us of bullshit won't make it happen. When someone works for 'free', someone always has to pay the costs. The question is if you let money compromise your music and not if you get paid.

[ookami3380]

@THVStudios what is there to share? noone is going to make anything. behaving like a dick? i dont know what you are talking about btw we know who to invite ( cause people talk about their experiences with bands).

[Bloodclaatkrabbz]

"........geht es darum sich weiterzuentwickeln und nicht still zu stehen.......also zum Beispiel bei drum and bass und house oder so ist es sehr stagniert in letzter Zeit......"

naja, Alec reitet seit zehn Jahren auf seinem ausgelutschten New wave anarcho rock sound rum, der wie vor dreissig Jahren klingt. Weiterentwicklung? Wohl eher weniger......

[endorphobiaxs]

@Bloodclaatkrabbz

da carl neben ihm sitzt, ist das interview auch mindestens zehn jahre alt... da war noch nix ausgelutscht. und vor dreißig jahren klang wohl eher auch nix so wie atr. die haben ja für ihren stil nicht umsonst props aus allen ecken der musikwelt erhalten. ein bisschen differenzierterer kommentar wär schön gewesen.

[Bloodclaatkrabbz]

@endorphobiaxs: puh, das wird ne mehrteilige antwort....

[Bloodclaatkrabbz]

@endorphobiaxs: puh das wird mehrteilig....

ok, dass das interview älter ist, ist ein berechtigter einwand. Aber musikalisch finde ich persönlich ist Alec seit 1999 nicht mehr wirklich innovativ gewesen. Ich finde es schade dass er nicht die Raggacore/breakcore Richtung weiter eingeschlagen hat hin zu komplexerer Musik. Da hat er nämlich sehr krasse und gute Sachen rausgebracht, z.B. die Digital Hardcore E.P. und diverse ander Maxis.

[THVStudios]

@Bloodclaatkrabbz @endorphobiaxs Wir hatten fast 10 Jahre breakbeats, jungle, usw gemacht. 2001 hatten wir einfach keine Lust mehr. Lag auch an der damals kaputten Szene. Das hatte nichts mit Geld zu tun. Jeder hat seinen Geschmack. Wir haben einfach gemerkt, daß die Qualität sich nicht mehr hochhalten lies, da es sich für uns etwas abgenutzt hatte. Deshalb habe ich ehrlich einfach einen Schlussstrich gezogen (Alec vs Elvis). Nicht für immer, aber fürs erste. Hoffe, das hilft. :) 

[Bloodclaatkrabbz]

@THVStudios: Hey cool, Danke für die Antwort! Hab ja auch zugegebenermassen ein bisschen polemisiert. Wo mein persönlicher Geschmack hin tendiert ist ja unschwer zu erkennen :D

Danke für die inspirierende Musik! Hat mich damals tief beeinflusst..........

[Bloodclaatkrabbz]

@endorphobiaxs Part2: Die logische und konsequente Weiterentwicklung wäre Sound in Richtung Aaron Spectre/Drumcorps gewesen - statt dessen gibts langweiligen IDM/Industrial geschrammel Schrei einheitsbrei - der aber zugegebenermassen wohl ein grösseres Publikum und Marktetingpotential bietet.

[Bloodclaatkrabbz]

@endorphobiaxs Part3: Klar, jeder muss seine Brötchen verdienen. Irgendwie ist Alec Empire inzwischen ein Abziehbild/Posterboy geworden......... Ein ziemlicher Gegensatz zu der Systemkritik die er früher sehr gerne geübt hat. Aber wahrscheinlich untergräbt er das System um seine Message rüberzubringen.....

[Bloodclaatkrabbz]

@endorphobiaxs Part4: Ist halt ironisch dass er Prodigy vorwirft fake zu sein wenn man sieht in welche Richtung er sich weiterentwickelt hat. Die aktuellen Prodigysachen sind auch nicht besser. Die alten Prodigy- Alben aber waren um längen musikalischer und mehr funky als Alecs Produktionen. Das interessante an Alecs Produktionen war schon immer die Power und Radikalität - die Herangehensweise ist eine ganz andere.

[Bloodclaatkrabbz]

@endorphobiaxs Part5: Meine subjektive Meinung.

DIfferenziert genug? :)

[thatcasiokid]

And now look at you, Alec. What have you become? What happened?

[Buzzmancer]

god i wish their was a english translation of this :(

[anarchyforus]

to bad the digital hardcore bands nowadays like 'ambassador 21, and 'DHC meinhof, arent very known.

[Hunterfrag]

@anarchyforus DHC meinhof !! what a band!!!!

[anarchyforus]

@Hunterfrag yeah i know man, as anarchistic as it gets

[imababyshark]

@anarchyforus the reason why other DHC groups aren't well known is because they lack the energy and destructiveness of ATR... none of them can outdo ATR live... that's because their music is not as catchy, aggressive and well delivered as Atari Teenage Riot.. ATR has the image/looks/sex appeal (hanin), catchy sounds (nic endo), a good MC (RIP) and a talented songwriter (Alec) tell me, which other digital hardcore group has nailed it as well as ATR?

[Metactyl]

the funny thing is, that nowadays hardcore is something completely different..

[AnarchoFrog]

yaahhh ist everthing in language i nicht understand yaahh

[vincentizghra]

ATR are so funny. Joker-hardcore.

[spacenoise5]

punk is not necessarily political, its more freedom of expression that needs to be heard by those who are willing to hear.

[21stCenturyDub]

Tommy thanks for posting this!! Check my documentaries

[MrAsaf1984]

If  Alec Empire hates Prodigy so much,how come Atr's first album Delete Yourself sounds like bad copy of Prodigy's Experience?????

[Hsaabedra]

Uh...what? Have you even listened to Delete Yourself? It sounds nothing like Experience, at all.

[MagnitudePerson]

OLD DAYS OFF THE PRODIGY WAS AWESOME, I LOVE THEM BOTH BUT THE PRODIGY CREATED STUFF LIKE FIRESTARTER(If thisi sn't Big Beat CORE'd i dont know what is...)

[WaterChip4012]

Thats a well known "Amen" break, which is often used by all sorts of dance music producers, and sharpnellsound tracks often cut and blend it with 4-2-floor gabbarized beats.

[King0rKING]

yeah. it´s right. I´m german and understand him. he says that prodigy is a kind of a fake to him. because they make different punk hair cuts and say they are punk. and also that they have no `political energy´

[ATDHR]

the prodigy not is 100% poltical, but are good djs and musicans, atari teenage riot is more political and anarchist two bands are diferent and good

[NeedleFactoryTube]

@ATDHR Id say The Prodigy are about as political as Jedward ha l do like some of there tracks though.

The best way to be political in a band is the ask the questions a child would.

[Hematemesis]

@King0rKING And that makes him an hypocrite, his new band member CX KIDTRONIK has a very notorious mohawk, does that mean ATR became fake just because of an aesthetic decision???. ATR is great, but Alec Empire sometimes gets too pretentious and offensive with his opinions. new song aint that political either.

[DraconianLover]

Prodigy used to be total Toy Town cheese, I would imagine that's why they dissed them.

[mjoyner]

Lmao he was dissing the shit out of The Prodigy.

[tripleue]

i never really liked dhr. it's just annoying, boring noise. it's not surprising nobody cares for them anymore nowadays. it was just a hype for a couple of years for people who hated mainstream

[sy2pie]

go back to your justin timberlake you conformist arsehole

[toomanykittens]

who was the black chick with the fro... never seen her before

[noisecommando]

The so called "black chick" is Carl Crack's sister who toured with ATR when Hanin Elias was absent because of her pregnacy

[YeahYeahKoolAid]

Was she pregnant in the too dead for me video?

It REALLY looked like she was, but it was so radical I couldn't be sure.

[sy2pie]

id be so fucked off if i actually got to see the BEST BAND EVER and Hanin wasnt there!

[urbanarakawa]

when was this documentary made ?

[hipervision]

oohh fuck oFFF

[sy2pie]

sigh, and i never got to see ATR live....*dies*

[mephigog]

Awesome.

[Fruity606]

RIP Carl Crack!! respect!!!!

[P0SSESSEDNINTEND0]

Thank you SO MUCH for this.

[BigOldToe]

Great find