How did you begin your alliance with Graeme Revell and SPK?

At the time, about 1978-79, SPK were in the process of releasing material on Throbbing Gristle's Industrial Records label, and Cosey of Throbbing Gristle suggested that it would be a good idea for me to meet up with Graeme, and since she though that SPK were crazy, I would get on well with them. (I'm still not sure how I was supposed to take that))
I visited Graeme in London and we've been friends ever since.>Which of your early experiences provided the most in terms of learning?
I wouldn't go as far to say that learning was limited to those early days (daze ?), it's an ongoing process.
I'm fortunate in that in one way or another, most of my friends are closely involved in all aspects of music production, so not only have I been able to learn from my own actions and mistakes, but also from the knowledge and experience of others, I've been able to take advantage of this and have perfected a few abilities of my own, which I'm now able to exploit on my own projects, and use to assist and advising others
I'm a strong believer in that one should never be embarrassed to ask questions when you don't know something, never fear looking stupid, it's the only way to learn.

Just how did you manage to pull off these unannounced live appearances at rock concerts back in the old “industrial” days?

Like most things in life, a matter of sheer bravado, I'd just turn up with some friends for extra help (lights, sound, "security" etc) and start to perform.
The length of any given performance was based entirely on how long it took someone to halt the proceedings, sometimes a performance would last 10-15 minutes, sometimes less.
They'd usually end in violence in one form or another.
All very crazy, but I must admit, good fun.
Incidentally, I've never considered what I do "Industrial", that definition is vague at best.
(don't get me started on the question of pigeon-holing and categories !)

Your earlier albums such as Paradise Disowned and Heresy utilize different >subterranean field recordings in creating an atmospheric density. How did you first become interested in this?

I've always been attracted to subterranean locations, the indefinable but tangible sense of volume and space that they posses.
Using specific locations as part of "the Lustmord sound" was a very important factor in starting the project , and recording underground was a natural step, especially considering the acoustics of such places.
Doing such things has always seemed obvious to me, I'm surprised more people don't do it.
>What sorts of problems were encountered with such recordings?
Purely physical. Access being an obvious one, and haveing to carry equipment to awkward places, -early portable digital recording equipment which was heavy and bulky. Power supply was another big problem.
...now that I think about it, I CAN see why other people wouldn't bother !

Which do you feel was a more effective means through which to create a specific space with your albums: through the old location recording augmented by studio manipulation technique or the more synthetic computer oriented approach you have been using more recently?

Both are equally valid, and both have negative aspects, based purely on aesthetics, it's a matter of utilizing whatever best for a given purpose.
Over a period of time Lustmord as a project evolved from being one founded on the physical aspect of location recordings and the manipulation of such recordings, and became instead the manipulation of a ever growing library of sound to create a non existent, but sonicaly very real environment.
I think in hindsight, that Lustmord would have changed earlier if the technology was available.
There's still a certain amount of location recording, but is a much smaller part of the overall effect and is manipulated beyond recognition, the idea is no longer so much to capture the sound of a given location, but to use it as yet another sound source.

What was the original concept behind the multi-layered The Place Where the Black Stars Hang?

Each album has an overall concept, a theme which links them all, but it's something I prefer to listener to find, or create, for themselves, there are clues, but that's all you need., and it's all I'm going to give.

Arecibo takes your repertoire along a very different terrain encompassing a more rhythmical synthesizer approach to your music. Did Arecibo first emerge as an outlet through which you could further expand upon your body of work?

Lustmord is what it is, I have other ideas that I want to explore, since these are areas that aren't directly linked to Lustmord, it's somewhat logical to give them separate names to go along with their separate identities, such as Arecibo, Terror Against Terror and Isolrubin BK.

Will you be incorporating the elements of cosmological activity into the second Arecibo album?

It will contain some elements, as that is the underlining theme within Arecibo, the way the second album is currently developing, there is less actual cosmological recordings than in the first album. As ever such things are subject to change.

How do you wish to differentiate Dark Matter from Trans Plutonian Transmissions?

Dark Matter will most probably be the third Arecibo album (the second Arecibo album is "Astronomicon") with which I intend to create an album consisting only of material derived from manipulated cosmological activity. It will be a very pure cosmological project, in that it wont involve beats or synthesis.
My problem at the moment is that Dark Matter evolves at it's own pace and sometimes seems more like part of the Lustmord mythos, at other times it seems like a project in it's own right, but I don't let such things worry me.

The album with Shad Scott (Metal Beast) is yet another uncompromising sidestep for you. How did the opportunity arise to participate in this rather improvisational performance? Would you like to collaborate with Shad in the future?

Shad is a good friend, the Lustmord vs Metal Beast album happened when he called me up at short notice to work together on a live radio show, one of those "seemed like a good idea at the time" moments.
We have recorded other material together over the last year, and have begun preliminary work on a second Terror Against Terror album.
My own tastes in music are very eclectic, and rhythm features heavily, so it 's only natural that rhythm should be incorporated heavily in some of projects that I'm involved in.

For the layman, explain what a sound designer does in motion pictures.

Er...he/she designs sounds...
(Ha ha)
One of my job descriptions is "music sound designer" , which you can pretty much interpret as you wish.
What I actually do, is create original sounds and atmospherics that are used as part of the overall music score, it can be just about anything, atonal, musical, whatever, and is sometimes a very important part of the score, and at other times a very minor one, the idea being to add an element that will give the music a little more edge.

Do you prefer working on a horror or science fiction project as compared to say an adventure or a drama film? Why?

Horror and science fiction allow one to create truly unique sound environments which is much more rewarding, the downside being that the genre produces some very sub-standard movies.
Reality based movies rely on more conservative methods, but if the music and it's elements works at all you shouldn't really notice it, it should reinforce the emotion of the story without drawing attention to itself.

How do you deal with working on a film that is particularly uninspiring?

It's a job like any other, no more, no less.

At what stage of development is the Metavoid album with Paul Haslinger of Coma Virus?

(Note: Paul has a very worthwhile reputation in his own right, Coma Virus being only a small part of his overall body of work)
At the moment I'm working on the next Lustmord album "Metavoid" as and when time and other commitments allow, Paul is supposed to be involved, but at the moment he's too preoccupied with his on work.
Hopefully we'll be able to work together on it latter, if not, we will work together on other projects.

What is it that you look for in Side Effects talent?

Mostly I look for originality, and at the very least a project which has something to say, otherwise there isn't any point.
Unfortunately, most of the demo's I receive are more concerned with imitating what Side Effects has done before, which is a waste of everybody time.

Many have merely dismissed your work as “dark.” How do you cope with this shallow perception?

I smile.

Where do you see civilization in the next millennium?

It's interesting to see that you assume that we are actually civilized.
Personally, I think that's open to debate : )
The question is immaterial.
The process of evolution and the mutations it produces is an interesting process in itself, weather our species is an integral part or not.
And after all, the journey is usually much more interesting that arriving.

Any closing comments ?

Nope.