KMFDM (KMFDM -
Kein
Mehrheit
Fur
Die
Mitleid -
Roughly Translated: No Pity for the Majority) is an
industrial rock band and the brainchild of founding member
Sascha Konietzko.
It was founded in Paris, France on February 29, 1984 as a joint effort between Konietzko and German painter/multi-media performer Udo Sturm to perform for the opening of an exhibition of young European artists at the Grand Palais. Typically featuring a revolving lineup, Konietzko is the only member to be on every album. However, the current lineup has been stable for the four most recent albums, with the exception of
Raymond Watts leaving to pursue his solo project,
Pig.
Notable contributors include Nivek Ogre of
Skinny Puppy, Bill Rieflin of
Ministry and
R.E.M. (among others), the aforementioned Raymond Watts, and Tim Skold of
Shotgun Messiah,
Skold and
Marilyn Manson. Former members
En Esch and
Günter Schulz are now the duo
Slick Idiot. KMFDM’s first two proper albums (which were preceded by a cassette-only release,
OPIUM 1984)
What Do You Know, Deutschland? and
Don’t Blow Your Top, were dominated by samples and abrasive
electrofunk. Both are influenced by
Frank Zappa and
On-U-Sound; particularly the latter album, which was mixed by
Adrian Sherwood. Wax Trax! licenced
Don’t Blow Your Top for America, making it their first US release. Raymond Watts left to form Pig. The remaining members added Rudolph Naomi and Morgan Adjei to record
UAIOE, which significantly expanded their sonic palate: the album experiments with
reggae (
Loving Can Be An Art), metal (
En Esch), and industrial funk (
More and Faster, released as a single). This record, and the subsequent non-LP singles
Virus (a
dub-influenced record) and
Godlike (their first embrace of
Metallica-like guitar work, which is actually a slight sped up sample from
Slayer’s
Angel of Death ) began to attract a substantial fanbase.
Signing outright to Wax Trax, the band—having lost Adjei, added guitarist
Svet Am, and having opened for
Ministry on their
Mind tour—released
Naive, another stylistically varied record that became their first notable college radio hit. The title track and
Leibslied demonstrated their dance-industrial sound (as did a subsequent non-LP single,
Split),
Piggyback and
Die Now-Live Later crossed their
metal leanings with their electrofunk roots. In 1992, the band released
Money; its singles,
Money,
Vogue, and
Help Us Save Us Take Us Away (the final single on Wax Trax before the TVT merger), were all well-received, and a subsequent tour solidified the group’s standing as a preeminent industrial band. Another non-LP single,
Sucks, was a statement of purpose for the group — anti-corporate and anti-
pop music.
With 1993’s
Angst, the group had narrowed its range of styles, embracing
heavy metal on almost every track (the notable exception being the female-sung
The Problem). The album’s first four songs,
Light,
A Drug Against War,
Blood, and
Lust, run together like an industrial-metal symphony; the rest of the album is more conventional post-Ministry
industrial metal. Watts returned for
Nihil in 1995, and the rejuvinated band rebounded with a strong album featuring
Juke Joint Jezebel, a bouncy, poppy track that infamously appeared in an episode of
Beverly Hills 90210. The album proved their biggest commercial success. Expectations were high for 1996’s
Xtort, and upon release it became their first record to enter the Billboard album charts. But the record proved artistically disappointing, with too many songs reprising previous material.
Nicole Blackman’s spoken-word piece,
Dogma, was the record’s highlight.
The current lineup, which has been stable since the departure of Raymond Watts, includes
Lucia Cifarelli (vocals and songwriting),
Sascha Konietzko (songwriting, vocals, bass, synths, programming and percussion),
Jules Hodgson (guitar, bass, keyboards),
Andy Selway (drums) and
Steve White (guitar).
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