In January of 1999 KMFDM was on the eve of major changes. Founder and KMFDM backbone slash frontman, Sascha Konietzko announced that after 15 years and 10 Full Length Albums KMFDM was over. The news shook the very industrial music foundations the band had built.

For the few who may not know, KMFDM is an icon in the "underground". Forming in Europe in 1984 and re-locating to Chicago in '91 during the Industrial Music Heyday surrounding Chicago record label, Wax Trax, KMFDM has sold over a million records and has had a consistently successful touring history.

During late 1988 after months on the road supporting their "Symbols !@#$%" album, KMFDM hit the studio to record what was to be the final KMFDM album, aptly titled "Adios". Joining Sascha on the road and in the Studio was longtime musician/producer Tim Skold. Skold hails from Sweden and was the founder/frontman of the renowned "Industrial-Metal" Band Shotgun Messiah and later the sole proprietor of the band "Skold" which enjoyed its debut on the now defunct RCA records Label.

What became of this partnering between Sascha and Skold was the realization that they both wanted to continue their path. KMFDM was a limitation for both members and they wanted to explore outside the bounds of that name and its related history. MDFMK was born. In early April I had a chance to sit down with Tim Skold at the S&RNR offices and chat about it.

Eric Powell: So whats the deal with the name change?

Tim Skold: The deal?

EP: Well, people want to know.

TS: Sasha has been in KMFDM for 15 years. I was only in for 2 years. There were things locked up in that name. People had certain expectations, maybe rightfully so, of what KMFDM was supposed to be and should be. We decided to go someplace else. We are still the same people. I think changing the name was a stroke of genius and we will always have a tie in with KMFDM.

EP: And now you are not confined to anything.

TS: Exactly. Blown wide open.

EP: So everything kinda changed, the record company, the name and the members. How has going from a large indy label to a Major affected things?

TS: Well you know a record company is a record company is a record company. Some record companies are better than others. But its like the lesser of evils. That's my opinion, everyone knows that. The whole thing is a disgusting blob of industry bullshit. But, for a record company [Republic/Universal] they are pretty cool.

EP: Which brings me to the new record. Your roll in the band has obviously changed; you are now a full time member. Can you elaborate?

TS: Since the last record [Adios], It hasn't changed. It was essentially me and Sasha making that record. This time we didn't have as many side guys come in and do parts. Its not a secret that Sasha felt he had to bear the "Cross" all by himself. He was the only guy working, getting the job done. So, he was kind of looking for someone else to come in and side with him, take on some bullshit. So it didn't change so much. It just got less convoluted. What is that saying? Less chefs in the kitchen means less flies in your soup?

EP: Less milkmaids pulling on nipples?

TS: YEAH!!!!!! I mean we could then focus. There was less politics involved, When you under scrutiny from 5 guys, telling you that your idea kinda sucks, you aren't motivated to back-up your idea because it becomes a communal effort. This time it was personal. If I have an idea now, I'm not going to bother presenting it to Sasha and the same goes the other way. We have filtered through the inner workings of being in a ROCK BAND.

EP: Thats hard to find - someone you can work that closely with and maintain a positive working relationship.

TS: Who said it was positive? Anything you do on that level is going to get hard, frustrating and difficult. You have to hope that the person you are dealing with is old enough, smart enough and willing to work through it. God! It sounds like I'm talking about a divorce.

EP: Well, it kind of is. You guys produced the record your selves, did you do it in your own studio?

TS: Yeah, the way we were set up was we had the exact same rig; Macintosh computers, Synthesizers, Sampling Keyboards, Drum Machines, Digital hard disc recording systems, etc. We could actually switch songs and work on the same one at 2 different locations. It was like we were working side by side or back to back. We never sat down and "Jammed on a rock tune". If anything, it was quite the opposite. We could then bring it together in the end for scrutiny. You know, different speakers, different rooms can make all the difference, but having that set-up, you feel like you have control, like you have a grip. When I look at Keyboard magazine. It's like Synth Porn, I'm like check that baby out, then you get past that and want to master the bitches you have. It's kinda cool when you get to that point.

EP: Where did you mix it?

TS: We went to Studio X in Seattle. We got Chris Sheppard from Chicago who has a history with KMFDM. We needed to know we weren't going crazy. So many hours, so many weeks, so many months. We took over a year to make this record. Maybe we went too far, on the double scrutiny and 2nd guessing. Everything went 360 at least once. One day we were like: Wow this is great the next was what is this fucking crap?! We started over more than once. It's not the best way to work. You have to be careful you don't lose the spontaneity and the rawness in it. When you start over padding and stacking, kinda like Monty Python: you put one thing on top of another. It can turn into a blob-a monster.

EP: Will We See a Tour soon?

TS: Yes. We are dealing with that now. What we want to do (if it works) will be fucking amazing. We want it to be spectacular. Maybe it's an ego thing but we need to get the revenue to pull it off. I'm hoping that will happen, I would put my life on ebay and buy lots of electronics. Nowadays you have to do something different, with all this wrestling and video games you gotta do something different.

EP: What about your Skold project? Any plans for the future?

TS: Yeah, I have plenty of material but right now MDFMK is spanning.

EP: Since I've known you, you have done some great web sites and graphics stuff, anything new we can look at?

TS: MDFMK.net, thats my creation, it is supposed to be art- punk- cool, not e-commerce, the opposite.

EP: Its supposed to break.

TS : Yeah, I added the record company 411 part for obvious reasons, but I like it to be art. It's my hobby. That's a fucked up word.

Eric Powell