THROBBING GRISTLE PERSONNEL
Peter "Sleazy" Christopherson
In his own words (from TG CD 1):
For some reason it never seems to be possible to enjoy the results of
one's own work, as much as that of others, which one hears or sees
without having gone through the experience of its creation. TG was no
exception. Even now, separated from the experience by time, I am
unwilling to pIay TG records. Notwithstanding this, TG remains unique.
For me, the multitude of other groups that followed in the so-called
"Industrial" mould were and continue to be a complete waste of time.
How can this be? Firstly, we had little or no musical knowledge and had
no idea what we were doing. Secondly, none of us had very much in common,
other than being social misfits of one sort or another. The result of
this was that the influences we each brought to bear on the sound were
rich in style and diversity. Thirdly, the way we made the music was
completely different from any conventional method. That is, pieces were
created more or less spontaneously, without any rehearsal or preparation
other than Chris's privately made rhythm tracks and a general discussion
about possible topics for a new lyric which Gen would use as inspiration
for the lyric. As far as I know the words came out as spontaneously as
the music.
This 'improvisation bore little resemblance to any other form of musical
improvisation which is usually heavily intellectually based, and
structured to allow specific instruments to extemporise while the rest
provide a solid musical base. With TG we had little if any idea of what
was going to happen in any performance or recording session, and each of
us contributed our share entirely on the basis of what was going on at
that very moment. Frequently the level of attention and emotional
involvement was such that, at the end of a performance, we had
little or no recollection of what had taken place.
As far as the types of sound were concerned, we used whatever we could
find or afford, anything from a fucked up fuzz box mounted in a metal
plunger to devices that were totally new. I was using digital sampling on
stage before Fairlights were even invented, and Chris was building
equipment that was at that time unheard of, never mind unobtainable. We
made sounds we liked and wanted to hear. Usually these were not the
conventional ones our 'contempories' were using, since we felt
that there was little or no point in rearranging the same tired old pop
cliches - they just weren't interesting.
I for one, continue to feel this way even now. Whatever it was that we
were doing, it was obviously of value. Not least to the thousands of
young people who brought TG records and tapes, and wrote in to tell
us how we had influenced them, nearly always they said, for the better.
Many of these have, in the years since, become great friends and now in
their turn influence me. From my point of view the most important of
these is John Balance, with whom I now work as COIL.
We can be contacted at BM/CODEX, London WC1N 3XX.
Peter Christopherson (Sleazy). 18th June 1986 London.
Career Highlights
- Born end of February 1955 in Leeds. Youngest in large academic family living in Wimbledon and later in Durham. Educated at Chorister School and later at Quaker co-ed boarding school at Ackworth. After A levels in sciences went briefly to State University of New York, in Buffalo studying fiction writing, computer programming, theatre design and video.
- Returned to London Summer of ‘74 and joined Hipgnosis as junior assistant. Now joint partner. In spare time Director of Industrial Records, member of Casual ties Union, technician for Throbbing Gristle and working on a number of projects with painter John Harwood. Hipgnosis split up in 1983, and Peter is now a full partner in Greenback Films.
- After the split of TG, formed Psychic TV along with Genesis and John Balance and after two studio albums departed along with Balance and formed Coil.
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