[John Kevin White] recorded a Pax 12" with I Scream Brothers under the watchful production eye of Cabaret Voltaire.

What was it like having Cabaret Voltaire controlling the knobs and switches when you recorded at their Western Works studio?

They might not like this, but I'll say it. I'd worked with Cabaret Voltaire before, when I was with I Scream Brothers. I'll not dwell on that, because although the group was a major stepping stone for me, I don't really have a lot of respect for the other two members at all. We're not really on good terms now. We've slagged each other off y'know, they wasted a lot of my time. But anyway, I approached the Cabs again and said, "How about having a go with this? I'm doing a single for Marcus (Featherby of Pax Records)". He wanted me to do an anti-war single...

Weren't the tracks originally intended for the Pax "Wargasm" album?

Yes, for "Wargasm II". He said "John, record a couple of tracks for 'Wargasm 2'. I'd not specifically written an anti-war song, and I wouldn't have gone out of my way to write anti-war type tracks, but I did happen to have two things of that nature, "Just A Game" which speaks for itself, and "No Songs Tomorrow" which isn't so obvious, but it's the story of me killing a bird with an air-rifle as a teenager. But anyway, I approached the Cabs and they said "Yeah, why not. We're quite busy at the moment, but we've worked with you in the past and you've been here before. We seem to get on O.K.". Because they don't seem to have to do this sort of thing. They're not a commerical studio. If they don't like the person there's no reason at all why they should do it. They don't do it for money, because to be quite honest, the money you give
them hardly justifies the time they spend with you. They must WANT to do it. So I went along for just one day because they were quite busy. And I was really knocked out with it at the time.

Digital assistance and credit: Simon Dell

© ROAR, 1984