CLINT RUIN: The Foetal View of Heaven, or, the Top-40 From Hell [1986]

Text by Julia Masi / FFanzeen, 1986
Introduction © Robert Barry Francos / FFanzeen, 2015
Images from the Internet

While I never saw Clint Ruin play, I did have the opportunity to meet him, sorta, back in the 1983, when he appeared on Videowave, the long-running cable access show while I was a floor manager on the program.

He was interviewed along with fellow Aussie Nick Cave by present-day fashion maven Merle Ginsberg. They arrived with Lydia Lunch, as they were all collaborating on a join project called Immaculate Consumptive. When they appeared in the studio that late morning, Clint and Nick entered with literal bottle in hand, and were already smashed out of their minds, giggling like little girls. They were courteous, nice, and seemed to have a good time with the whole event, never letting go until the container was empty; whether they remember it or not is another matter. After the taping, they disappeared into the late afternoon. A clip of the interview is at the bottom.

Considering the categories that describe his music, such as Electronic, Experimental and Industrial, it should come as no surprise that I’m not a listener, though I respect the work he has accomplished over the years, with his own music and his production work with bands like Jon Spenser Blues Explosion, the Swans, Pantera and Nine Inch Nails.

This interview was originally published in FFanzeen, issue #14, dated 1986. It was written by the Managing Editor of the magazine, Julia Masi. – RBF, 2015

 

No one understands red haired people. Our intellectual superiority is ignored by the masses who fail to appreciate why we contemplate death during a day at the beach or the fact that we face aesthetic terrorism every morning when we look in a mirror. Although some of us have been accused of possessing a persecution complex, Clint Ruin’s work on the album Nail, which hasn’t a prayer for commercial success, and his confession of a “crucifixion addiction,” inspires the revelation that he is either an extremely avant-garde genius or his brain has rusted.

Clint Ruin is the current alias of Jim Thirlwell, the man who introduced the Foetus concept to rock’n’roll. “It’s the lowest common denominator. Everyone will not deny being one, yet everyone is offended by it. So, it’s basically the words that surround it that people take offense to, I suppose,” muses Ruin, who has fronted such bands as Foetus Art Terrorism, You Have Foetus on Your Breath, and now, Scraping Foetus Off the Wheel.

All of the LPs that he has released have four letter titles (Dead, Ache, Hole, and Nail) and his music has a strange appeal. It’s your basic Top-40 From Hell, concerned with subjects running the gamut of negative situations from murder to death and disease. Oddly enough, some of these songs sound almost pretty. And Nail would be a great score for a (very modern) ballet. But not even in your wildest nightmares could you imagine this stuff being mainstream enough to make elevator music.

Nail is a concept LP. A short of catalog of oppression that describes Ruin’s vision of “the balance of power” and a state of mind called “Kingdom Come, a Foetal View of Heaven.” Nail culminates with “the ultimate tour de force in my positive negativism theory, which is a song called “Anything,” which is a rejection of all that oppression.

“So, having built a seemingly negative landscape beforehand, I am rejecting it.” Further questions on the theory of positive negativism lead Ruin to fix his laser-like blue eyes into a piercing stare that scores your soul as he sneers, “Buy the record.” He also declines the offer to share his concept of death with a menacing growl of, “I’d rather show you.” But he does love to talk about his theory of aesthetic terrorism.

“I see aesthetic terrorism as plundering various forms and throwing them together in a way they’re just not supposed to be thrown together. I mean, plundering forms of music as well as visuals, for the sleeves, and juxtaposing them in such a way that they haven’t been seen before and, as a result, terrorizing them.”

One of the most terrifying images of Ruin is a poster that he put out a few years ago that depicts him nailed to a cross. “It was the natural culmination of the recording that I was doing that time, and the visual equation of the rigorous schedule that I’d been holding. Just the basic rigors that I’d put myself through under such a situation. I think everyone, to a certain extent, has a Christ complex.”

He acknowledges that his music is a “cathartic experience. It’s getting a lot of the seemingly negative aspects of my personality out.”

One of the more positive aspects of his personality is that, when he likes a question, he gives an honest answer. “As an artist, I don’t’ feel oppressed because my art is carried out in fairly rarefied circumstances, like a recording studio. As a human being, I feel oppressed.”

 As with his audience, he feels (aesthetically) terrorized.

 

 

 

 

 

Videowave Clips 2: Hüsker Dü, The Murmurs, Buzzcocks, Philip Glass,Ofra Haza, Lene Lovich, Holly Beth Vincent

Text (c) Robert Barry Francos, 2011
Videos (c) Alan Abramowitz/Videowave

I became involved in the Videowave cable access program pretty early on, starting off as a photographer and ending as a videographer, but for most of the shows from the 1980s, I was floor manager for those clips below, being the connector between the set and the control room. Yeah, the guy with the clipboard and the headset. There was no money involved for anyone, but it gave me the opportunity to meet a lot of great talent, and also connected FFanzeen to some future interviews.

Here is a selection of a half dozen of bits of interviews of shows on which I worked. Meanwhile, Videowave is still on in many of the tri-state markets, and new shows are still being created.

Here is the second in a series of blogs, but I will only put up ones that has a direct link to either FFanzeen, or to me directly. As more interviews are digitized, I will put more up, with Alan’s kind permission, of course.

1. Hüsker Dü, May 1985
Here is a short clip of the band being interviewed by Executive Producer Alan Abramowitz (off-camera) backstage at the Peppermint Lounge. I worked the camera. Before the shoot, I gave the band copies of FFanzeen which they kept open on their lap throughout the interview (thanks, guys!). They were their usual surly selves, but not to an obnoxious level, and I liked them, as they were being themselves rather than presenting who they thought they should be. The unrelated partial clip following them is Alan being esoteric, as he’s wont to be on occasion.


2. The Murmurs, September 1994
Jennifer Krantz interviews the alt-folk rock duo who still has an incredibly strong following, years after they have parted ways. Alan and I had come across them performing at a street fair in Tribeca, and were immediately struck by their sound. The interview was done in two parts in an apartment. While I was the videographer on the second half, Alan actually video’d this first part because I was late (that’s me at the door in the interview; I enter into the room at 3:15). Leisha Gordy (left) went on to some acclaim co-starring in yogurt commercials and The “L” Word, and Heather Grody Reid formed the group Redcar.


3. Buzzcocks (Pete Shelley, Steve Diggle), December 1991
The ex-Dawn Eden conducts the interview with the Buzzcocks on a hotel bed in New York. I was on camera, trying to avoid embarrassing angles as much as possible, which was hard because of Alan’s placement of the tripod in juxtaposition to the position of the bed. The ‘Cocks were very pleasantly British, and seems to be enjoying Dawn’s antics. While not a very deep interview by any means, it’s uncomfortably interesting in a way an accident must be seen.


4. Philip Glass , June 1983
Alt-composer Philip Glass brought along his son, Zack, who was a punk-dressed pre-teen, and a great kid. The whole crew liked both him and Philip. Interviewer Merle Ginsburg does a great, informed job interviewing him, and he gave his full attention, which was appreciated. It certainly made the experience all the more absorbing. I was Floor Manager for this shoot.


5. Ofra Haza, January 1992
Dawn Eden does a better job interviewing the late Yemenite / Jewish singer Ofra Haza in her room at the Hotel Excelsior in NYC. I was on camera (which was actually my VHS camcorder that Alan used for a number of years), and was standing behind a comfy chair in a very small, uncomfortable space with the heavy and bulky camera on my shoulder (hence the shaking). Ofra was very nice - if professionally distant - off-camera, and I admired how open she was to a small, non-commercial outfit as we were, while she was on a major tour and getting a large press push to the majors.


6. Lene Lovich, Holly Beth Vincent, March 1983
As I promised in Part I, here is the Young Filmmakers Studio interview with both Holly Beth Vincent and Lene Lovich. Both were expats from the US living in England for a number of years, who came back to live in the States, one by choice, and one not. You know this is a long time ago, as Holly is smoking on the set. She came across as quite unpleasant to me, but some of the others present that day, including Alan, found her to be actually nice. Maybe it was my mood, or the fact that Alan was running the show and I was just the guy with the clipboard (re: insignificant to her)? Still, I like and respect her Holly and the Italian’s “Shut Up,” and the work she did with Joey Ramone. As I stated in the last Videowave blog, Lene was quite wonderful to work with, took the cues right on, and was totally present in the moment. They are interviewed by Merle Ginsberg, and segment is introduced by Michele Piza and Victoria Vesna.

Videowave Clips Vol. 1: Joey Ramone, Lydia Lunch, Nick Cave, Jim Foetus, Bow Wow Wow, Lene Lovich, Nina Hagen

Text (c) Robert Barry Francos, 2011
Videos (c) Alan Abramowitz/Videowave, with permission

I became involved in the Videowave cable access program pretty early on, starting off as a photographer and ending as a videographer, but for most of the shows from the 1980s, I was floor manager for those clips below, being the connector between the set and the control room. Yeah, the guy with the clipboard and the headset. There was no money involved for anyone, but it gave me the opportunity to meet a lot of great talent, and also connected FFanzeen to some future interviews.

Back then, the technology was top of the line U-Matic 3/4-inch tape, but in today’s HD world, well, it looks worse for wear. However, the artists are what matters, and what they say is still relevant for fans, if dated. However, it is not as passé as some of the fashions being worn by the artists and especially the interviewers.

Here is a selection of a half dozen of bits of interviews from shows on which I worked. Meanwhile, Videowave is still on in many of the tri-state markets, and new shows are still being created. These interviews were taped at Young Filmmakers Studio (no longer in business), on Rivington Street on the Lower East Side, during the first half of the 1980s, except for the first one, done on-location. The stage background was a painted on shower curtains by the late artist Chester Parnell.

Here is the first in what I hope will become a series of blogs, but I will only put up ones that has a direct link to either FFanzeen, or to me directly.

1. Joey Ramone, April 1997
With me on camera at Arturo Vega's apartment, Jimmy Marino interviews Joey R. on the night he was filming a clip to be shown at a party for Boston DJ Oedipus, which we got to watch being taped, and included Aurturo paint the “blood” on the apron. The apron was thrown into a corner after the interview, and I took it home as a souvenir; I later heard that Joey had a fit, and I returned it with an apology. If I still had it, it would be framed and put on the wall. RIP, Joey…


2. Lydia Lunch, October 1983; November 1985
Merle Ginsberg (who has gone on to a media-focused career: www.buddytv.com/info/merle-ginsberg-info.aspx) interviews Lydia first, followed by my then-FFanzeen Managing Editor Julia Masi. I had interviewed Lydia back in 1977 when she fronted Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, and she was a complete asshole, but she was still quite young. A lot of her anger came across as bullshit poseur, and that’s what turned me off to her. The whole I’m cool because I’m a nihilist; aren’t I just terrible and annoying? came across as performance art to me. At the time of the first interview shown here, which I floor managed, she was collaborating with Nick Cave, Clint Ruin and Marc Almond, as well as doing “poetry” with Exene Cervenka of X. I don’t believe I was present for the second interview, though. It could also be noted that she did not remember me from our first encounter.


3. Immaculate Consumptive (Clint Ruin and Nick Cave), October 1983
This is just a short clip of Merle interviewing Clint Ruin (Foetus on the Wheel, etc) and Nick Cave (Birthday Party, Bad Seeds, etc.), which was taped the same day as the first Lydia Lunch interview above (explaining why Merle is wearing the same outfit). While Lydia was being taped, they sat in the back of the studio finishing bottles of whatever it is they were imbibing, and by the time it was their turn, they were completely blitzed (note the bottle in Cave’s hand). Though they were pissed to the gills, they were not disruptive to whatever was going on around them, I’m happy to say. The pre-chaste Dawn Eden talks us down at the end, and I believe the photo of her is one I took when she was interviewing the Buzzcocks on a hotel bed.


4. Annabella Lwin (Bow Wow Wow) , July 1983
They had recently played at a club called the Brooklyn Zoo (great show, BTW), and from there went further on their tour when disaster struck. This was actually the beginning of the end of the band, though Merle or Annabella could not have known that. It was really hot in the studio that day, as it was mid-summer and the air conditioner broke, but Anabella was a true dear and stayed around in a sweat without complaint.


5. Lene Lovich, March 1983
Introduced by Michele Piza, Lene was a pleasure to work with, as she was when Videowave interviewed her again in 1990, on location near Grammercy Park. Here in the studio, she was interviewed by David G. (Rosenberg), and was very open and friendly. American born and living in England, she later shared the interview stage with fellow expatriate Holly Beth Vincent (to be shown in a later blog), who gave me the impression she did not want to be there (though Alan had a different, more successful experience with her that day). But Lene, no one had any argument about her positive energy on that day, and in ’90.


6. Nina Hagen, February 1984
Nina Hagen did everything she could to be a thorn in the side of all of the people working on the show, including holding up a can of guava juice in front of her face and refusing to take it down for a long, expensive waste of time. Again, I wonder how much of her “personality” is real, and how much is affectation. I do know that I wanted to smack her. Merle was a total pro, though, and she did not reflect the previous goings on during the interview.


Should I continue this series, readers?