In this episode of MFM Speaks Out, Dawoud Kringle interviews guitarist, and Live Skull co-founder Mark Chimples, a.k.a. Mark C.
"We Had Changes We'd Never Thought of That Created Surprise and a Chaotic Feel."
Our guest for this episode of MFM Speaks Out is Mark Chimples, a.k.a. Mark C. Mark is the guitarist and synthesizer player with Live Skull. Formed in 1982, Live Skull is considered by many aficionados to be the quintessential New York City noise band. Rising concurrently with bands such as Sonic Youth and Swans, Live Skull helped define the post-No Wave underground "noise rock" in the 1980s music scene in New York City. Over the following decades, Live Skull released five albums and three EPs with a rotating cast of 11 members, all of whom added new ideas to the group’s evolving sound. Themes of struggle and chaos permeated and inspired their music. Their constant progression inspired New York Times critic Robert Palmer to call them “as challenging, as spiritually corrosive, and ultimately as transcendent as Albert Ayler’s mid-’60s free-jazz or the implacable drone-dance of the early Velvet Underground. It’s one of the essential sounds of our time."
Topics discussed:
The beginning of the No Wave scene and how it emerged from the savage and atavistic Lower East Side of New York City in the 70s and 80s, how Live Skull formed in 1982, where the term "No Wave" came from, Live Skull's relationship with other bands on the scene like Sonic Youth, The Swans, The Lounge Lizards, Theoretical Girls, Tone Death, Television. Suicide, Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, Lydia Lunch, how no wave influenced other art forms such as visual art, dance, and film, how no wave related / coexisted with other scenes such as Downtown music scene, punk, etc., some of the main venues the no wave scene thrived in, the artistic visions behind Live Skull's music videos, how Live Skull was received in other parts of the country, Live Skull's break up in 1990, Mark's involvement in Spoiler, Int'l Shades, Fuse, and SoSaLa, how they translated the No Wave aesthetic into the 90s, Live Skull's reunions, how logistics and economics of touring change since Live Skull began touring and how it works in the post-pandemic era, physical media releases vs. digital releases, music activism and Mark's involvement with MFM, the rise of AI in music and art and how musicians should deal with it, and Live Skull's cultural relevance in the mid 21st century.
https://liveskull.bandcamp.com/
Music featured in this episode:
1) Mad Kingship
2) Hit So Hard
3) Party Zero
(From the album "Party Zero by Live Skull. Used with permission)