Introduce yourself; who are you, what do you do?

Rachel Haywire... I make sounds and travel. Sometimes I put random objects together and pass this off as art. I am still into fucking with the mundanes and breaking shit, as immature as that might be. I often get naked in the junkyards of Brooklyn... later I go home and discuss obscure futurist literature over red wine.

What is Experiment Haywire? Where did the name come from?

I honestly forgot how I came up with the name but I know that Experiment Haywire is a cult.

What do you hope to achieve with/through music? What can be achieved through the medium of music?

I hope for my music to move people who have been waiting for something like this. You can achieve a lot through the medium of music if you become popular... shit like public mind control... but I’d rather just reach the people who need to hear this. 

What inspires you to make music?

I had to create what I always wanted to hear because it wasn’t out there yet. Also, raw hate. 

What is the inspiration behind your lyrics? I actually expected the album to have more screaming and rage; why did you choose to go with spoken word-esque vocals?

My recent stuff has more screaming and rage yet it is also a bit more structured. I thought the dadaist aspect of my (anti)music on World War 23 would be interesting to mix with some dark spoken word, and since I was doing that sort of performance art before I started Experiment Haywire this seemed like a logical transition.

Explain the song writing process on World War 23.

There wasn’t a specific process, really. I went out smashing shit and recording myself smashing shit and then cutting up these samples and pasting them all over the place. “Eat the People” was recorded  late at night on a playground in Portland and involved using the playground for percussion samples.

How do you come up with the track titles? ‘Toxic Hospital Revolt’ is probably my favorite. It’s so ridiculous but so good.

I am too much of a dork to know what people consider ridiculous. For “Toxic Hospital Revolt” I was thinking about a bunch of mental patients having a riot involving dangerous chemicals. In a coma. “Wasteland of Demented Toys” was pretty much like that too except with demented evil toys after the apocalypse. “Moving to New York” was what was going on in my life at the time I wrote it.

How is the writing of Experiment Haywire different from writing with your band Nuclear Riot Party? Do you prefer working solo or with the band?

There’s a lot less writing for the NRP because it’s metal percussion and analog synth based as opposed to digital. EH is electronic so it’s a completely different world. I prefer working solo because I don’t need to rely on other people. Things move a lot faster that way and I’m able to travel. Performing with the Nuclear Riot Party is an incredible experience though, and our stage shows are always completely insane since we are 5 or 6 girls screaming and banging on scrap metal. I wish I could find girls for the NRP that were more dedicated. We still play out in Brooklyn sometimes, but nobody else in the band wanted to take it beyond that.

Why do you choose to write noise music rather than stuff like Combichrist?

To rebel against what is trendy? No, because noise is more of a challenge. It’s not easy or comfortable. It’s provocative.

I noticed that on World War 23 you had a couple of collaboration tracks. How do you feel about collaborating with other artists? Can we expect to see more collaborative tracks in the future?

I love collaborating with other artists and doing collaborative tracks, especially when I’m working with people whose ideas are more fucked up than my own. I’ve collaborated with a few different producers for my new album, and I’m currently working with several different artists on entirely new projects.

Do different parts of the US respond differently to noise music or is the reaction to it kind of the same everywhere? Is there a noise scene in NY?

It really depends on the noise music. In large cities I’d say that the harsh and experimental stuff is usually less popular but with more of a devoted and elitist following while the more structured stuff like powernoise and rhythmic noise always seems to do pretty good, at least on the edges of the club scene. I do notice that noise is more independent in places like Portland and Oakland while in NY, DC, and Philly it ‘s more about being on a tight underground record label if you’re in the realm of industrial. There are a lot of noise bands in Brooklyn that don’t associate themselves with industrial at all and dress like fans of utter crap like the Flaming Lips. The disturbing thing is that some of these bands are harder than bands that get played at the clubs. In Sacramento there is a great noise scene that was never meant for the clubs to begin with.

It seems to me that today a lot of industrial bands get signed with no history or previous albums. Do you think that, from an artist’s point of view, doing DIY shit and releasing demos and so forth is helpful prior to going for a major deal? Would you ever sign to a major label?

I think that doing DIY shit is beneficial to the artists if they are into creative authenticity. I met some friends at the Brainwaves festival in Boston who have created some amazing packaging all on their own that would not be possible to release on a large scale. It’s a lot more personal that way. Some artist just want to make money though, so I don’t think that doing DIY shit would be beneficial to them. For some people DIY is the only way to go and I have major respect for that. A major label would never sign me so that isn’t really an issue, but I  think it would be cool to sign to an underground label so I could be in a network of similar artists and play shows/festivals with them.

Do you have any idea what your next album will be like? Are you going to continue doing noise-ish music or go in a different direction?

My next album is going to be very noise-based, but this time I actually created beats so it’s sort of a noise/digital hardcore/harsh ebm thing. I’ve always had this perverse desire to subvert the dance world. Fuck with them so they’re never the same again.

Is there any hope for the future of ebm or is it destined to collapse in on itself with thousands of combichrist clones?

The future of ebm is futurepop. It’s reverse musical darwinism. Just wait till Combichrist is considered the new Merzbow.

What is the future of electronic music in general? Where is there left to go?

No idea. I’d like to see more bands as original as Babyland though. More DIY percussion. Performances as intense as Crash Worship. Performanceswith multi-media displays containing political and social commentary, especially at a time like this. Also, other females working on extreme noise and industrial. One of the main reasons I started Experiment Haywire was because of how rare that was.

How has living in NY influenced your thinking/music writing?

Living here longer than I’ve ever lived anywhere else (a year) has enabled me to actually work on recording. This was the only place that I was really able to settle down. The people in NYC aren’t artificially polite like they are in California: instead of expecting you to pick up on subliminal social messages (which I’m horrible at) they just tell you what’s up your face. Maybe this has increased my ability to release my anger since I was constantly expected to be relaxed and reserved in San Francisco and Portland. Being clam is considered “hip” out there. That’s really annoying.

How has the current political regime influenced your thinking/music writing?

Regardless of politics I am completely humiliated that we have Bush in office due to his general character. I think the war in Iraq is idiotic, but this sort of catastrophe inspires my thinking and music a lot more than an easy climate where the biggest issue is Bill Clinton cheating on his wife. Post 9/11 and the elimination of our civil liberties make for a dark post-apocalyptic future which I like for lyrics and concepts. My music is propaganda.

What are the top 10 albums that inspire you?

Einsturzende Neubauten - Kollaps

SINA - Snapshot

Coil - Constant Shallowness Leads to Evil

Front 242 - Tyranny for You

Suicide Inside - Theory of the Arising of Desire

Mentallo & the Fixer - Revelations 23

Babyland - Outlive Your Enemies

Phallus Uber Alles - Iron Woman

Plasmatics - New Hope for the Wretched

SPK - Auto DaFe

What are the top 10 movies that inspire you?

Lunacy

V for Vendetta

28 Days Later

I Shot Andy Warhol

City of Lost Children

12 Monkeys

The Forbidden Zone

Nowhere

Hard Candy

Inland Empire

What are the best books…ever?

1984, We, Do Androids Dreams of Electric Sheep?, Neuromancer, The Diamond Age, Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Being and Time, The SCUM Manifesto, and Generation Hex. (cause I’m in it)  When I was 14 The Anarchists Cookbook and the Satanic Bible were the shit but so was GIrl, Interrupted so...

When is the Experiment Haywire tour?

I just played Women Take Back the Noise in Oakland and Audio Waffle in Sacramento. Then I played Asylum in DC. As of now I’m working more on recording but touring is my true love so I’m sure it won’t be long...

What is currently on the Experiment Haywire agenda?

A more professional sound without losing the raw chaos. World domination. The new Apoptygma Bezerk. (since they invented industrial music) Alienated narcissism. Disturbing the peaceful energy of Burning Man types without effort. Parties.

-january 2006    by [.d4n b4rr3tt.]