Gunter Jacobs, Sep. 5th, 1998

"Enough with the clown-act"
Elektro-pioneers Front 242 throw off their masks

Brussels - People in black coats who still want to move to the forcing elektrobeats of Front 242, better find the places Nandrin and Ternat on their map. The risen pioneers give their only Belgian concerts there on 5 September and 10 October. Yep, Front 242 has resurrected themselves and has no intention to ever stop again. The traffic-fines they'll get with that will be accepted with a smile, they say.

The last studio-album with new work of Front 242 was released in 1993. In the meanwhile, they only released the live-cd 'Live Code' and the remix-album 'Mut@ge.Mix@ge'. The short resurrection of these Chemical Brothers avant-la-lettre delivered another live-cd, 'Re-Boot'. What's up with that?

Daniel B.: When we quit a few years ago, it was because we were threatened to collapse under the outside pressure. That pressure is gone now. Albums used to be a reality check. Then we told ourselves we would quit as soon as the sales would go down.

Don't you have a lot of new work ready in the meanwhile?

Yes we do, but not for 242. We did a lot of productions and made music for fashion shows. When someone asked us to do a one-time-only performance last year, the rehearsals went so well we decided to go on the road again. But making new music? We don't have the time for that. And I wonder if we still can do something new with this formula.

Can Front 242 claim the money with this reunion-tour now that the new techno-garde is succesful with your pioneers-work?

We are too late for that. When we quit, The Prodigy, Underworld and The Chemical Brothers appeared. In the music of those bands is an evolution we never had. The renewers always see others walk away with the big money. It's like what happened with Kraftwerk and Cabaret Voltaire.

In these MTV-times, bands with a hip image have an advantage. Why did Front 242 threw away that recognisable militant image?

You have to be realistic. I don't want to become the Elvis Presley of electronic music. If you're young, you can afford things like that. In the meanwhile, we have aged fiftheen years. I don't wear the same kind of clothes like I did then. Why should I act like a clown on stage then?

You have been touring for years in the USA and were part of the big Lollapalooza-circus. Is having success in the States the top?

We just finished another tour throught the United States: 28 concerts in 31 days, in halls with 800 to 2000 people. When we first toured there in 1984, it gave us a kick to be the first Belgian band to be appreciated in America. But our career in the States has helped us more in Europe than over there. For bands like dEUS and Dead Man Ray, a tour through America will help their image here in Europe more, than their recordsales in the US. If you see how K's Choice performs there: in a club for five dollars... And everbody in Belgium thinks that band is big there. Believe me, a lot has to do with the stories that are told afterwards.

Gunter Jacobs

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