In Defence of Kirlian Camera.

http://www.whomakesthenazis.com/2011/06/far-right-tendencies-in-wave-and-gothic.html

Far-Right Tendencies in the Wave and Gothic Scene

Artical by Arne Gräfrath, posted by Strelnikov.

After reading the article in the link above, I feel compelled to speak out in defence as a fan of the band Kirlian Camera and point out the irony of anti fascist campaigners accusing artists of taking a white supremacist stance on the flimsiest evidence imaginable without realizing that their own actions are also the thin end of the wedge.

The basis for the claims against Kirlian Camera are comments made in 1999 by a German sociologist Alfred Schobert who stated in Der Speigel that,

"The band uses original audio-documents from the leader of the fascist Iron Guard in Romania, namely Corneliu Zelea Codreanu. The bands says that they want to build a monument in his honour." and also accused them of performing a Hitlergruß (Nazi salute) on stage. This was as part of an interview with Martin Wolf where Kirlian Camera, along with several other artists, were accused of being in some way guilty by association for the Littleton massacre in Colorado.

Kirlian Camera are an Italian electronic darkwave band, their creative kernel being Angelo Bergamini along with front woman Elena Alice Fossi. The band has been around for over thirty years now, their first release being in 1980. Looking at the line up of the band members alone over the last thirty years illustrates how absurd the claims that the band endorse white supremacy are. Sarah Crespi, who plays violin, viola, keyboards and guitar has oriental ethnicity. Nancy Appiah was a dark skinned Ghanaian and guitarist and keyboard player Paul David Sears, who was officially involved with the band from 1982 to 1985 was Jewish. The bands producer from 1982 - 1987, Allan Goldberg, was also Jewish.

The band were not allowed to reply to the allegations made against them in Der Speigel, so they responded by including a statement on their next CD release stating that they do not align themselves with any political ideology. They denied the accusations that they were right wing extremists and pointed out that as well as being officially involved with Jewish people and people of other races, they sing lyrics by the Jewish German poet August Stramm. This testimony is backed up by statements band members have made during interviews.

Cyber-angels: "Who is Elena Fossi?"

Fossi: "One who would like the world to get joyful instead of continuously seen people slaughtering each other, one who would like justice to become a simple and clear concept for the whole humanity, not for the “intelligent” ones only... one who would like to uplift and build up rather than destroy, who likes making and singing songs more than anything else."

Didier Becu (Dark Entries magazine): "During the Kirlian Camera history, there were some annoying periods in where people were accusing you from things you weren't. I thought it's frightening to see how much power people can have who are the so called right ones."

Bergamini: "Well, yes, we have paid a hard bill for facts we were only supposed to be involved in. Rumours, gossips... it was enough to giving shape to a Great Enemy. But today everything is going on a bit better, as many people have realized that political involvement is by far an alien, to us. We have proved that many, so many times it looks even weird! How can I be involved in any “totalitarian/populist” ideal, if I live like a hermit and I don’t trust “people” at all!?! How could I be communist or even fascist?!?!?"

In appearance, the band have photographs on their site where they are dressed in a military type attire, with everyone including Elena Fossi and the obviously oriental Sarah Crespi wearing shirts and ties while Angelo Bergamini has very short cropped hair. After trawling through hundreds of photographs and videos of the band's performances, I could not find one example of any fascist paraphernalia being worn by any of the members or of anything that looked remotely like a Hitlergruß being executed.

If Schobert was prejudiced by the band's stage appearance, something that a sociologist should know better than, then perhaps he should have to look at Kate Wax, who also has a penchent for wearing ties, as a potential suspect and completely ignore the fact that she is of mixed race. Then there is Madonna, who has been filmed in military uniform, she must be suspect as well. Kate Bush was also guilty in this respect.

If Schobert was simply basing his attack on the band on his own assertion that "The Gothic movement is attractive to unsteady and doubtful characters." then he would have to mark Shania Twain as being in some part responsible for the 2006 firebombing of Fallujah. Country and Western pop music seems to be attractive to Southern U.S. chickenhawks and she did appear dressed in a shirt and tie in her video "Man, I Feel Like a Woman."

As far as the use of a sample of Corneliu Zelea Codreanu goes, why not have a listen to side two of Pink Floyd's "The Wall" and check out some of the fascist language and rhetoric used in that album. Is Roger Waters a fascist? Of course not, he's an unabashed left winger. He was making a valid artistic point in having the character portrayed in the album saying hateful things.

How about the example of the Sisterhood, a side project of Andrew Eldritch, where he used a sample of a long monologue on the specifications of the AK47 assault rifle. It would be a stretch to describe Eldritch as a man who endorses arms proliferation.

While there may be people involved in the Gothic Rock / Darkwave scenes with political ideals that are questionable, that does not account for the vast majority of artists and fans and there is certainly no evidence that it is applicable to Kirlian Camera. In fact, any musical genre and indeed any walk of life put under a magnifying glass will reveal people involved with political leanings that offend the moral majority.

For the record, I am not a right winger.