The Craft Work of Kraftwerk [PT II]

In part 1 we looked at various quotes from members of the group Kraftwerk as well as friends/associates. We considered whether they are/were not just an "influential music group," but some sort of international cultural engineering vehicle. We observed that founders Ralf Hütter [RH] and Florian Schneider [FS] seemed to be the "gatekeepers" representing a publicly invisible think-tank, which I am calling "The Organization," behind Kraftwerk. Given the seemingly inpenetrable wall of secrecy surrounding The Organization, we can only hope to reach conclusions indirectly, by analyzing the group's music, image, statements to the press over the years, and other circumstantial evidence.

While some may find this exercise boring, pointless, or even offensive, nobody can deny the eccentric/secretive nature of the group's founders. Secrets naturally invite curiosity, even obsession. We are not robots, who simply follow the protocol or whatever narrative is fed to us. We are inquisitive, and want to know about our environment and where information comes from and who is producing it. We are self aware. We are HUMAN.

YOU ARE THE ROBOTS

[The Jackson 5 performs "the Robot" dance with Cher on Soul Train, circa 1973]

Michael Jackson came on the phone around 1985/6 during the Electric Cafe period. He wanted to have permission to use the original Man Machine multi track….Ralf and Florian refused... - Karl Bartos [KB]

David Bowie and Michael Jackson are just a couple of major pop icons who were famously "denied" a music collaboration with Kraftwerk. But were these just urban myths sensationalized by the press, designed to make the larger "robotic agenda" seem more organic and less intentionally manufactured? In a sense, these collaborations happened anyway, by way of influence.

[It is widely known that David Bowie fueled the popularity of Kraftwerk prior to and during his Berlin years 1976-77…He played the Radio-Activity album as a prelude to his own performances in a 1976 tour and even considered hiring Kraftwerk as his support group. - Pertti Grönholm]

Since Bowie could not obtain Kraftwerk as his back-up band, he went with British synthesizer legend Brian Eno, of Roxy Music fame. Together, they wrote 3 albums, dubbed Bowie's "Berlin trilogy," of which the song "Heroes" would probably be the most recognizable. The album "Heroes" contains a song called "V-2 Schneider" in homage to Florian Schneider, if the Kraftwerk influence was not obvious enough already.

The Maschinenmensch (literally 'machine-human' in German) is a fictional robot featured in Thea von Harbou's novel Metropolis and Fritz Lang's [1927] film adaption of the novel...Maschinenmensch was one of the first fictional robots ever depicted in cinema, and as a result popularized the concept worldwide. - wiki

You, the journalists, you will be amazed. One day, the robots will be the ones who will answer your questions, they will have an electronic brain and memories with all the possible questions. To get the answers, you will only have to press a button. - RH

The Robots were entirely appropriate to Computer World - thematically, at any rate - because, after all, home computers are nothing more than electronic servants, carrying out our orders and commands at the touch of a button, and this is happening in every office, in every household and in every child’s bedroom, day and night. - Wolfgang Flur [WF]

…What was significant for us [about the first Star Wars film], to my mind, was the 2 robots. C-3PO was clearly recognizable as the male version of the machine woman from Fritz Lang’s Metropolis…Even before Star Wars…The press too referred to us as human machines, robots, androids, or mannequins. These comparisons were by no means intended positively…a critic complained: “Kraftwerk has dehumanized its musicians into robots.”…A German journalist, exhausted from listening to Trans-Europe Express declared: “After 2 sides of Kraftwerk, I feel more like a robot myself.”…Star Wars and particularly C-3PO and R2-D2 changed that negative view. - KB

The image of the robot is very important to us, it’s very stimulating to people’s imaginations. We always found that many people are robots without knowing it…So, we have opened the curtains and said, “look, everyone can be robotic, controlled.” In Paris, the people go on the Metro, they move, they go to their offices, 8am in the morning - it’s like remote control. It’s strange…but at the same time it’s funny, full of humor….I think that the things speak for themselves. That’s one reason why I don’t like to explain so much what we do. - FS

I find that the robots are funny - let’s say between funny and…it’s like horror movies, it can be funny and it can be horrific or magical. It depends upon your point of view. - FS

It's always fascinating to look back and observe certain individuals accurately predicting what will occur in the near future. But in the case of RH and FS, do we give them too much credit concerning such predictions? What I mean to say, is that perhaps they were not merely geniuses who could see into the future. Perhaps they were privy to information via the Organization directly related to what they were doing. I'm talking about an actual PLAN to help dehumanize the culture through a mechanical type of music. To DELIBERATELY make their audience more robotic. Controlled. It is quite easy to "predict the future" when you are in possession of the playbook being implemented by the powers that be! And it is very easy to see the purpose of all this: to gain a greater level of control over the population.

Consider FS's quotation above noting the robotic nature of everyday people in their daily commute to work. Now think of New York city rush hour traffic. Los Angeles commuters...What we have here is modern urban work culture, which is robotic in nature. Now put your hands together and in your best Mr Burns impression, ask the question: How do we turn everyday leisure into the same controlled robotic dance? How do we turn people's socializing and even their sleep into a controlled robotic operation?

We humans are completely unimportant, interchangeable. That’s what we want to demonstrate with our dummies. We say what’s interesting about us through our music. We don’t consider ourselves rockstars just because we sell alot of records. We’re scientists. We experiment with our machines every day. We research and then we deliver the results - music. - RH, BRAVO teen magazine

We are told Michael Jackson invented "the robot," a dance routine which emulates a non-human machine trying to move like a human. It's quite an odd concept when you think about it! Why would you want to deliberately try and move like a machine incapable of the exact fluid motions of humans? From this perspective, MJ would seem like the ultimate "show room dummy" or trained animal. An embodiment of the glorification of self-dehumanization. Now think about what this does to an audience. Mesmerized, they feel compelled to learn and emulate these same movements. To behave more like...robots? You must imagine yourself inside the mind of an extremely evil power mongering individual to comprehend the larger implications here. You want to control people on a MASS scale. This is how you do it!

Talented as MJ was, are we again giving too much credit to someone for "inventing" something that was perhaps being done under instruction of an invisible organization? It may sound like an absurd suggestion, but consider how easy it is for people to accept that MJ was robbed of his childhood by his father and other shady industry types so that they could capitalize upon his raw talent. It's easy for people to visualize that, but for some reason it's much harder for people to grasp that a larger intellectual agenda may also have been driving MJ's exploitation, and his deliberate influence upon American culture and beyond.

THE GERMAN INVASION

One such episode occurred in 1982 with a certain Afrika Bambaataa, who released an album called Planet Rock…put together a hip-hop rap album on which they mixed parts of “Numbers” and “Trans Europe Express” for a single release…They didn’t even ask…this is the nastiest kind of theft! - WF

Up to the end of the 19th century, it was general practice in Western music to repeat rhythms in regularly accented patterns known as pulse groups…Exactly like in our modern pop music, the schematic repetition of these beats made listeners feel safe. We might describe it these days as “a groove.” We might compare it to the constitutions on which today’s societies are founded, which we tend to forget in daily life when everything is working well. But if they are overruled, or suspended anarchy breaks out. - KB

During the session, our polyglot Ralf remembered his basic Russian and pointed out to us that the word Robot - robots - originally has a slavic root, meaning work. Then he had the idea of having the robot add a line of Russian to our sound collage: Ya tvoi slugs, ya tvoi rabotnik” - I am your servant, I am your worker.” Ralf and Florian then brought a number of Russian visual artists into play…I think it was the very next day that we ended up poring over a book about the work of El Lissitzky, which Ralf had opened up on our mixing desk.

“Kraftwerk Members…are surprised at their success in the disco scene!” - Billboard full page ad, Oct 22 1977

…we decided to produce a few mixes in the Kling Klang Studio to test for danceability…we made regular trips to the Morocco disco in Cologne…we listened to our music under dance-floor conditions with a full house. - KB

Our ideas really come from our experience…everyday life. We are playing the machines, the machines play us, it is really the exchange and the friendship we have with the musical machines… RH

...as well as Mora’s Lover’s club, there were a few other night-clubs we would look into…This was where we carried out our “sociocultural studies” and felt close to the music of the day and the audience’s reactions. - KB

…In America, there was always a large part of the audience which was dancing, the black audience, hispanic, Hispano-American…Electronic music is really a world language, it is the music of a global village. RH

As we read these quotations, an image starts to appear in the mind. Not of a music group, but a social/cultural engineering team. Scientists, clearly using their extentive education in various areas of expertise and applying it to their musical movements and marketing. But to what end exactly? This never seems to be clearly stated by the group. Maybe that's because it is completely obvious and in your face already! "We are the Robots." The Man-Machine. Die Mensch-Maschine. Do they really need to spell it out any clearer? To do so outside of the music would spoil the mesmerizing spell.

Ralf Hutter articulates Kraftwerk's success within America's Black/Hispanic dance clubs as a positive thing, if somewhat vaguely. Who would have thought that a soft spoken, conservative, highly educated, classically trained white German musician would be most responsible for creating popular dance music dominated by American Blacks and Latinos? A type of music [hip-hop] that would more or less fuse itself with American black culture, and at times be used as a vehicle upon which to express black pride and specific distinction from white culture, whatever that is?

I don't think it's a coincidence that Kraftwerk's output slowed down substantially after their 1981 "Computer World" album and Afrika Bambaataa's sampling of their music the following year. The birth of Hip-Hop and all sorts of electronic pop dance music seemed to coincide with the "decline" of Kraftwerk. But I'm not so sure this is the most accurate description, popular as it tends to be. Perhaps what some viewed as a "decline" was actually the accomplishment of a monumantal goal: The perminent establishment of "robot-culture" through music! Once this goal was reached, the group had less purpose - hense their apparent lack of output since the 80s. After the immense success of "Computer World," the goal of the group seemed to be "now, just keep it going. Put out an album every so often, tour, re-issue the old catalog, and just drive home the same messaging. Keep the machine moving forward, like a cyclist training for the Tour De France..."

Apparently, Afrika Bambaataa settled with Kraftwerk in a legal ruling where the former must pay royalties to the latter for use of their music on the classic "Planet Rock" single. While most news articles on this topic tend to depict Kraftwerk as some assholes from Germany who won't let someone sample their music for free, no one ever considered the idea that Afrika Bambaataa may have had permission all along. There could have been a "secret" agreement that they would use the music, and Kraftwerk would get a cut, in order to introduce "Robot-Pop" to a wider American audience somewhat covertly. Meanwhile, the public would be told it was all done without permission and court hearings would be held to ensure the willful collaboration was not detected. Even the musicians themselves could be hidden from the truth, so that only those who "needed to know" would be aware of it.

ORIGINS AND PHILOSOPHY

The Essen Song Days were organized by a team led by the eccentric Rolf-Ulrich Kaiser, a music journalist who later founded the krautrock labels Ohr and Kosmische Kuriere before suffering a mental breakdown and retreating from the scene. He was inspired by the Monterey Pop Festival of the previous year but wanted to mix pop and politics more overtly at Essen, invoking the New Left, quoting Herbert Marcuse in the booklet for the festival, and stating that "songs don't make a revolution but songs accompany revolutions." - 70s Krautrock in Germany

It put a lot of new ideas out to a much wider audience, firstly through attracting some 40,000 people to watch, listen and participate in events held across the city, and shortly afterwards, when the documentary Zwischen Pop and Politics was broadcast on German television.

The underground scene in Germany in 1968 really arose through the influence of flower power from San Francisco, the musical HAIR, and also somewhat through the politicized ’68 movement throughout Europe. - Konrad Mallison

One day, I got a surprising opportunity to see the Steve Reich Ensemble…The music put me into a kind of hypnosis…The music’s psychological effect is based on taking familiar-sounding musical material and subjecting it to constant repetition…this sound…leads to a new experience of time. If you engage with it, it develops a musical undertow that puts the listener into a trance like state. KB

They [Ralf and Florian] not only had a perfect knowledge of rock but also jazz. - Marc Zermati, French label Skydog

I'm not prepared to get into the early origins of Krautrock in any sort of detail, but it is important to touch upon it briefly and to observe the primitive mechanics that was theoretically behind it.

As I stated in part I, the birth of Krautrock seemed to evolve out of German exposure to 60s psychedelic rock. The Monterey Pop festival in America was the famous concert where Jimi Hendrix, endeavoring to top The Who, lit his guitar on fire. It is known that a CIA presence was there, and had copious amounts of LSD distributed to attendees. In retrospect, some view the Monterey Pop Festival as a contrived event who's purpose was to test LSD's military application, by dosing large numbers of people and taking note of the responses. Large scale mind control. From this perspective, we might view the "eccentric" Rolf-Ulrich Kaiser and his motives behind The Essen Song Days a bit differently. It seems plain to me that this was just another international deep state operation designed to import the psychedelic mind control experiments to German Youth and to help shape the post war culture there. This seems to have spawned the "artistic" German culture from which Kraftwerk originally arose.

…there had just been a lot of noise, and their performance had sounded like stukka air raids - they obviously enjoyed imitating the sounds of war. It certainly wasn’t music and I was horrified…As I later learned, this was experimental music… - WF

Maybe the idea was to try to achieve a concept, it worked better later, of course. But today we don’t consider the first albums as important works… FS

The first 2 Kraftwerk albums utilized more traditional musical equipment, but experimented with a variety of rhythms, sounds, and beats. It wasn't "standard music" and would be regarded as unlistenable to some, because on a certain level, it really WASN'T music, but an actual experiment in sonic extremes. Various performances were carried out along side art shows in the German underground to an audience which seemed to be searching for a culture of their own in a post-war country that would probably prefer to delete the past 40 years and start from scratch. Or...were audiences being HERDED into a new culture, which was being cultivated for them?

Time-wise, the leap from Kraftwerk I to Autobahn was about 4 years. Sonically, it was a leap from traditional instruments to entirely electronic based ones. Everything in between was literally an experiment in how audiences would react to various forms of sound stimulation, and in many cases, mixed with visuals [This is more or less what early Pink Floyd was doing in England during their Syd Barrett era at places like the UFO Club. Germany had a similarly short lived club called the Zodiac]. Autobahn was the last of a 3-album record deal with Philips, and was clearly and deliberately crafted into something far more digestible and accessable, if still very experimental compared to most pop music of the day.

In technical terms, I would describe Autobahn as having far cleaner and distinct SOUND SEPARATION, in the same sense we might refer to COLOR SEPARATION in photo graphics terminology. With electric sounds, one could achieve a far greater level of sound separation, thus allowing for greater sonic control of the frequencies themselves. This took another great leap forward in the digital age, at which time Kraftwerk more or less abandoned the habit of releasing albums and proceeded to spend all of their time converting their catalog into a digital format, in order to continue their sonic experiments almost exclusively via live performances.

At the time of Autobahn, we adopted the “German” image at Florian’s suggestion...They [the Americans] thought we were singing “fun fun fun on the autobahn” , a homage to “fun fun fun,” the surfing anthem by The Beach Boys. WF

As Hutter and Schneider saw it, The Beach Boys represented an almost scientific pop perfection. Their music had succeeded in crystalizing certain essential features of American culture and lifestyle. Schneider noted that “When we reached California and Hollywood, we were able to say: yes, it’s exactly like that, like the songs of The Beach Boys.” This was the goal of Kraftwerk as well: to create a Genuine German sound…to re-define and popularize post-war Germany and its cultural past. - Littlejohn, 2009.

Ralf and Florian discussed the poster for the American [Autobahn] tour. They wanted it to pick up on the look of Fritz Lang’s film Metropolis, I remember - the city of the future, transport, electricity, and the movie’s main theme, the coexistence of man and machine. The Autobahn tour poster…already featured Ralf and Florian’s term “man-machine.” - KB

[Fritz Lang’s utopian cinematic versions of Machine Land is] “Where the scientists and artists are working hand in hand…We are the children of Werner Von Braun and Fritz Lang. We start from the 20s and just to the 70s and 80s. We’re not concerned with history lessons, we are concerned with today. I think that’s one of the basic faults of society, to look backwards and all this fool stuff…if you are driving a fast car and you look too much in the back mirror you might crash in front. We’d rather watch what we’re doing right now, what we could do today or tomorrow.” - RH, Christmas issue of NME [1977?]

We just came up with this concept: Let’s do a song like driving on the autobahn. Ralf specifically asked me to write some lyrics. - Emil Schult

I can’t say whether that 1964 track - part of the American pop canon - was the blueprint for the “Autobahn” lyrics, but wouldn’t it make sense if Emil had associated his “fahr'n fahr'n fahr'n” with “fun fun fun”? Both songs are about driving cars, after all. - KB

Later I found out the track we’d listened to was “You Doo Right” from the Can album “Monster Movie.” Just recently, so many decades later, I listened to it again and I was surprised by how much it reminds me of “Autobahn.” - KB

Their music is very smooth, very slack, a kind of long bewitchment… - Herve Picart, France’s “Best” magazine

It’s beyond me how they’re album broke into the US charts but here it is defying all trends and previous expectations. - Todd Telcos, Melody Maker

Most Americans, myself included, are probably too young or were not even alive in 1974 when Krautrock's first "hit" arrived on mainstream radio, Autobahn. The first time I heard it, it reminded me of music from primitive 80s home video games, such as those found on Commodore 64 and Atari. That is because these video game systems utilized the same synthesizers Kraftwerk was using in their music, a good 5-10 years earlier.

Reactions from American audiences during the Autobahn tour were mixed, according to what I have read. In some cases, they were not so well recieved and shows were not always so full. Although there were obviously plenty of Americans who appreciated what Kraftwerk was doing, it was regarded as experimental even to the prog-rock crowd, who's ears were attuned to music which was either rock, blues, jazz, or classical based in sound. Electricly filtered noises and computer generated sound was a much further stretch, and one would be justified in wondering if Autobahn wasn't FORCED onto American radio, in order to condition American audiences to such sounds. A soft sort of "force feeding" of Krautrock.

Although Ralf and Florian were often dismissive of the influence the Beach Boys [and probably their Krautrock peers, CAN] had upon Autobahn, I think it is quite clear that The Organization systematically took the music of Beach Boys apart, and rebuilt it within a German context, in order to tap into its' "mesmerizing" pop quality. In short, it is the sound of German culture being rebuilt by sonic architects.

[German News headlines]
German Pop Autobahn Conquers America
The New Conquerors of America

WF features the above news headlines from papers he kept from his time with Kraftwerk. Notice the language of the headlines above is similar in feel to the phrase "British invasion," in the sense that the music of a foreign country takes the audience of another "by storm." Of course they don't literally mean that Kraftwerk was "conquering America." How could music do that? But at the same time, there is a certain sinister truth to the headlines, if we think in terms of propaganda. This trend continues upon the group's signing with British based label EMI.

THE FINAL SOLUTION

…It is nonetheless still the radio that Joseph Goebbels commissioned for mass production. Hitler’s propaganda minister knew that communication between radio and listeners was key, but it wouldn’t happen with political messages alone. People were much easier to reach through emotive songs…By coincidence or intention, quite a few things with Kraftwerk seemed loaded with historical symbolism. - KB

…”Wenn’s um unsere Zukunft geht” (when it comes to our future) sounds like a 1970s advertising slogan for the nuclear power lobby…the line “In the air for you and me” could refer both to nuclear radioactivity and radio airplay. Years later the ambivalent lyrics became an anti-nuclear credo and the Third Reich Volksempfanger radio on the album cover was replaced by a radioactive pictogram. Back in 1975, however, the album’s main emphasis…was on communication. In my view, the other half of the concept…was intended to be absolutely neutral. How else could we have been photographed for the album promotion at a nuclear power station, decked out in white coats and protective shoe covers? - KB

It is fascinating how well educated, self aware, and well read some of the members of Kraftwerk are/were. Karl Bartos, for example, is very good at articulating something potentially sinister about The Organization's motives, but puts it in a perspective where it feels like it is comfortably on the other side of the room. But in reality, he seems to be describing what was going on within the brain of The Organization, and how the Craft Work would be applied to the public. Not only is the radio pictured upon the cover of the album "Radio-Activity" a genuine Nazi radio [with the swastika logo removed], but he's telling you what is being depicted by it, from the perspective of Hitler's propaganda minister! The music itself coming from this "radio" [your turntable speakers] would deliver propaganda through emotive songs. Bartos is even willing to consider that this was being done intentionally, which is quite a surprising admission from a member of the "classic" Kraftwerk line-up.

The most important aspect of mixing pop music is to work out a song’s “storyboard,” the narrative thread and dramatic structure running through the composition… - KB

Similar to how a movie script will be put to primitive story board images before attempting to film it, Kraftwerk clearly had a combination emotional/frequency "script" drawn out before attempting to record songs like "Radioactivity." In fact, this was something I detected before reading Karl Bartos' book, where he acknowledges this approach to songwriting. That's not to say there wasn't plenty of improvisation and genuine mastery of musical melody going on. But with a song like "Radioactivity," we can very clearly hear the shift from "scary" to "awe" to "catharsis," to "relief," and finally "safety." As if frequencies corresponding to specific human emotions have been charted out in order to provoke specific responses in listeners, to nearly hypnotic affect. But unlike classical music, which can be similarly dramatic, electronic sounds allow for a greater level of sound seperation and, therefore, a greater level of frequency control, and therefore a greater level of LISTENER EMOTIONAL RESPONSE.

After the moon landing, Wernher Von Braun [NASA] was an American National hero, the shining star of the rocket industry… “One of those rare engineers with charisma” wrote the New York Times…He never had to answer to his Nazi past, distancing himself from the crimes of National Socialism and denying any personal culpability…Depending on how one views it, the story of that dynamic German physicist plays a role in our song [Spacelab]. “In a way we feel related to Warner Von Braun; German scientific research is related to our music. We make acoustic rockets.” Ralf explained to Interview magazine rather bluntly. - KB

We are the children of Werner Von Braun and Fritz Lang... - RH, Christmas issue of NME [1977?]

Werner Von Braun was a rocket scientist for the German Nazi party. After WWII, he was brought over to America, probably under the Project Paperclip program, in order to continue his work with the newly formed NASA. His engineering skills would lead to the launching of Apollo 11 and alleged moon landings. This is all very interesting, but Von Braun was a Nazi! For members of Kraftwerk to so fearlessly cite him as an inspiration seems a bit bold, if they did not want to be percieved as having nefarious fascistic political motives. Something they would get accused of upon release of Man Machine.

Many people later misunderstood the cover shot, finding it too fascist. They were unable to understand that it was pure irony to us…Huge red posters were stuck up all over Paris showing the cover of our new album…and anyone who didn’t know us might actually have found them quite fascist…Everything in the room in which our presentation took place was decorated red, matching the Russian style album cover… - WF

While we were touring the UK, New Musical Express printed the interview in its 6 September issue, with the new headline: Kraftwerk: The Final Solution to the Music Problem?..The magazine also illustrated the interview with a photo montage, featuring the group shot of Kraftwerk copied into a historical photo of the Nazi party rally grounds in Nuremberg..Was this the British sense of humor we’d heard so much about?

The German SOUNDS called the album [Man Machine] R2-D2’s favorite record. - KB

The perception of Man Machine as having a fascist/soviet communist sort of intent is not without merit. The key is, we are supposed to appreciate the irony and humor of it all, which I did upon first seeing the album cover and the accompanying video for "the Robots". But humor is a very interesting thing, which can sometimes deliver information which would otherwise be deemed "taboo." Because the fascistic imagery is delivered with humor and irony, we assume it is not to be taken seriously, and that only dumb people would. But supposing you are the author of the music, and you know full well how "dumb" people will percieve it. Is THAT your actual target audience?

TOUR DE FRANCE

After the successful "Computer World" tour, Kraftwerk came to a screeching halt. Whether it was Ralf getting into a bicycle accident, the band becoming overly perfectionistic about the new recordings, or they just got too caught up in converting their catalog into a digital format - something clearly changed productivity-wise. The single "Tour De France" was released in 1983 as a teaser for their new album, which never came out. It wasn't until 1986 that the somewhat underwelming "Electric Cafe" album was released.

It would be a good 17 years until Kraftwerk released the confusingly titled "Tour De France Soundtracks" album in 2003, which appears to be their last release of original music.

The bicycle is already a musical instrument on its own. The noise of the bicycle chain and pedal and gear mechanism, for example, the breathing of the cyclist, we have incorporated all of this in the Kraftwerk sound… RH

There is no doubt that RH became obsessed with bicycle riding. And although he got the rest of the group on board for a time, he was ultimately alone in his obsession. I have my theories regarding this, mainly that it was something he could talk about and refer to in interviews which humanized him to their audience, who were never sure what to make of the group's stand off-ish, cryptic interview answers. On a larger symbolic level, it represented their "Man Machine" concept, in combination with the idea of motion - which I think was all Kraftwerk had towards the end. A vessel in motion, which had already brought "Robot Pop" to the mainstream , and now had a life of it's own.

I remember I had an appointment with Ralf and Florian…I still remember the image of them, sitting there all dressed in black, with their precise haircuts, their made-to-measure suits. It was like an expressionists’ picture, a very stylized one, the dummies could have been there and it would have been the same. I tell you, the girl I was with was frightened. - Paul Alessanrini

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Pearl Jam High 5

If we consider all of the death in so many iconic bands over the years, it is understandable that people might wonder if it's just "part of the deal" in the industry. Is it all run by some psychopathic cult which believes in "blood rituals" and "sacrifice?" Is there some kind of Black Magic involved and is that why so many popular bands reference Crowley, Satan, and other Demonic themes? Why do so many bands, even in the underground, use the "all seeing eye" of the Illuminati in their logos and images?

With all of this in mind, I looked at the major Seattle "grunge" bands of the early 90s and noticed that nobody in Pearl Jam had died. Now I certainly don't wish death upon them or anyone else! But I look at Eddy Veddar and I go, "hmmm he seemed really troubled early on. Troubled as any other singer of the era. And yet, here he is, still singing "Alive." And thank god! But then it hit me. Andrew Wood. He is the reason Pearl Jam exists in a way. Was HE the "sacrifice" for their fame?

Conspiracy: a SECRET plan by a group to do something unlawful or harmful. - Oxford

Before getting into these occult symbols and themes, let's remember WHY this information is important. As the late Bill Cooper used to explain on his radio show "The Hour of the Time," it doesn't matter if YOU believe in any of this stuff. We are studying it because it's what THEY believe. And if we ever want to defeat the great enemy hiding in the shadows, we must understand how they think. When we can shine a light upon those dark corners, their crimes can no longer be done in secret, and their magick can be seen for what it is: a big fraud designed to give them control over us and hide their heinous acts. It is SECRECY which protects them, and that is why we must CONSTANTLY be lied to and decieved.

First, where does the name "Pearl Jam" come from? The most popular explanation is that Pearl was the name of Veddar's great grandmother, who made amazing jam. But according to wiki, "In a 2006 cover story for Rolling Stone, Vedder admitted that this story was "total bullshit", but added that he did have a great-grandmother named Pearl." So what is the real story? Apparently, it's a big secret...

If we assume the name "Pearl Jam" is nonsense, perhaps it contains an encoded message, via anagram. An anagram is a word or group of words formed out of another word or group of words. The rarest type of anagram is one that uses ALL of the letters in a particular word or phrase, to form a new one. It is even more rare for an anagram to correspond with the word/phrase it was formed from, such as "Mr Mojo Risin"[Jim Morrison]. With Pearl Jam, I came up with Reap Lam J.

Who is the LAM to be REAPED? If we are thinking it terms of sacrifice and blasphemy, my first thought was "Lamb of God," which would be [J]esus. Now coming from a warped, blasphemic, allegorical point of view, Andrew Wood could be seen as the "sacrificial Lam" that was made in order to form Pearl Jam. Now this is just a theory, but there is more corroborating it, as I will demonstrate later in the blog.

I'm going to discuss occult symbolism on the first Pearl Jam album, 10. But before doing that, we must take a look at the Kabbalistic Tree of Life and note a few things. The Kabbalistic Tree of Life comes out of Jewish mysticism. We don't really know how old it is, but it is integral to many Freemason Orders as well as Aleistar Crowley's magickal system and his Thoth Tarot deck.

1 is at the top and is called Kether or The Crown. This is part of the "supernal triad" of 1, 2, and 3 [forming a pyramid.] Notice the outline of a human body behind the tree. These 3 sephiroth reside at the upper most area of the head, signifying the highest level of spiritual consciousness, and is separated from the lower sephiroth by Daath, which is that "hidden" sephira between Kether and 6 or Tiphareth. 1 is obviously the "most high" and the idea is to strive for that supernal triad, or pyramid. But most of us reside within the lower levels, similar to the trapezoid sitting below the floating pyramid with 1 eye over it.

Note that the number 10 is located on the bottom. This represents the Earthly realm, and all things physical. If you notice the outline of a body behind this allegorical "Tree" you can see the legs or feet reside in "Malkuth" [Kingdom in Hebrew].

Lastly, we are looking at the 5th sephira, Geburah. Red for war, blood, courage, etc...5 fingers on the hand, 5 limbs of the body, 5 points of a pentagram. Now let's go back to the Pearl Jam album cover...

5 band members = Geburah = war, fighting, courage, RED background. All 5 members stand at the bottom of our metaphorical tree in Malkuth, or 10 [the album title]. All 5 "holding up" the eye of providence or "capstone" missing from the larger truncated pyramid [or trapezoid]. The idea that the large "A" represents a truncated pyramid is enforced by the 2 smaller "A's" which are lined up perfectly on the edges of the larger "A". Jeff Ament points upwards, expressing his allegiance to "the one" way at the top, which is the ALL SEEING EYE of the Illuminati. However, the entire band looks off into different directions, pretending publicly that this is NOT what they are doing. Meanwhile, the first song on the album is called "ONCE," which coincidentally has the word ONE in it!

The 2nd Pearl Jam album "Vs" was originally titled "5 against 1." Do you understand what that means symbolically now? The 5 band members decided to REBEL against the 1, and this is why we saw so many stories about friction within the band and Eddy Veddar's famous "I don't wanna be a rockstar" tantrums - which we also saw echoed in Kurt Cobain's narrative. This all culminated in Pearl Jam's legal war with Ticketmaster, which they eventually lost.

If we look at the lyrics to "Animal," which is probably Pearl Jam's most aggressive song to that date, we see the line "1, 2, 3, 4, 5 against 1" He's emphesizing the numbers because there is a MESSAGE there. But why did they change the title to Vs? V = Roman numeral 5! As far as the "s", my best guess is that it stands for SATAN. 5 against the 1. The Illuminati. Satan.

So what's with the album cover? According to wikipedia, it's a GOAT. Wiki cites a Spin magazing article, which does NOT quote Jeff Ament calling this animal a goat, but a SHEEP. A sheep is an adult LAMB. Reap Lam J. The sacrificial lamb is grown up, and it's trying to break out of it's metaphorical cage. The "animal" is the 5 band members. "I'd rather be with an animal" than be with the elites at the top?

[Pearl Jam's album "Lightening Bolt" features their beloved "All Seeing Eye," that so many oblivious fans will deny they are paying tribute to. Or perhaps they just don't care to make the connections because it will ruin their rock and roll fantasy?]

I admit there are times where I doubt all of this stuff and wonder if I am just losing my mind here. But then something like this comes along to re-enforce all of it. I'm talking about the 2022 film "Studio 666."

The film stars all members of Foo Fighters, including David Grohl and Pat Smear who were both in Nirvana when Kurt Cobain died. Pat Smear was also in the Germs back in the early 80s, who's singer also died. So that makes at least 3 bands Pat Smear was in which has/had band members who are now dead.

Notice in the above image how Dave Grohl's head is at the top of a vaguely pyramid-esque shape. The roles of the camera reel function a little like sephiroth. Are they saying that Grohl is at the top of their allegorical "supernal triad?"

In October 2019, the band announced that they were recording their tenth studio album based on demos by Grohl...By February 2020, Grohl announced that the new album was complete. In November 2021, it was reported that a film starring the Foo Fighters entitled Studio 666 had been shot in secret...Grohl recorded a whole album of heavy metal songs for the in-movie fictional band Dream Widow. The album was released on March 25, 2022, consisting of eight tracks. Studio 666 was released theatrically on February 25, 2022, by Open Road Films. The film held its world premiere at the TCL Chinese Theatre on February 16, 2022...On March 25, 2022, Hawkins [drummer] died in his room at the Casa Medina hotel in Bogotá, Colombia. No cause of death was given. - Wiki

Ok, so let's break this down: Foo Fighters record their 10th studio album between October 2019 and February 2020. That's 4 months, not very long for a band this big. By November 2021, the band had also completed filming a movie [in secret]. "Studio 666" premiered on February 25th, 2022. Grohl released an ENTIRE ALBUM of music for the fictional band that appears in the film on March 25th 2022 - the SAME DAY Taylor Hawkin's died!

To summarize, Dave Grohl allegedly recorded 2 albums and a film between October 2019 and probably late 2021 [assuming the film was completed a couple months before the film was released, and that's being generous] That means Grohl did all of that within about 2 years. This is a band that typically release 1 album every 2-4 years. We could be generous and say that the Covid lockdown provided Grohl and company more time to get more accomplished. But look how they spent this time!

It is also worth noting that Foo Fighters claim they actually recorded their 10th album in the same house the movie was filmed. Wikipedia quotes Grohl stating the house seemed to be haunted, but Grohl later admitted he was lying about that just for effect. At what point does the audience acknowledge the obvious effort to convince them that the story in this film is the story in reality?

In the above scene, a "possessed" Dave Grohl forces Taylor Hawkins to finish the drum tracks on the band's 10th album. Immediately upon completion, Dave Grohl throws a cymbol at Hawkin's head, killing him. While Taylor's bloody body flopped to the floor, Grohl flips him off! Now before we get into this any further, just think how disrespectful this scene is towards his former band mate and his loved ones in retrospect! While we can excuse him for "not knowing in advance that his band mate would very soon be dead in reality," there is no excuse for the fact that this film is still totally available and collecting money from fans of the band.

But let's just note something here - and maybe you are just along for the ride to see what "crazy theory" I'm gonna come up with next? Just look at how Hawkins was executed. The top of his head was seperated from the bottom. Remember this?

Observe again, the human head behind the "supernal triad" on the Kabbalistic Tree of Life. A line goes directly through the head, a little higher than where Taylor Hawkin's head was severed in the film. So what does this represent if we assume the industry is run by an elite group that worships the illuminated eye at the top of the pyramid of life? It seems to me that Hawkins was rebelling and this was the cost of that rebellion. The film is sending a message to others that would rebel. It helps to look at this from the "Mafia" angle. You cross the wrong people, you pay with your life. And when they take your life, they will make an example of you to freak others out. That is the main purpose of this film, in my opinion. But that doesn't mean Hawkins wasn't chosen way in advance to be "sacrificed" anyway. It's impossible to know many thing for sure, but Hawkin's death was planned - and it seems they WANT us to know that.

Near the beginning of the film, the band is getting scolded by their manager for being slow in producing their 10th album. [note that Pearl Jam's first album is called "10"] We know that Foo Fighters typically take 2-4 years to complete an album, so they are not exactly known for their speed of production, although these days that is faster than many other bands at their level. Grohl says he wants to do something special for the album, that he want's to be like Led Zeppelin and get castles and devils and demons and wiizards involved. This is a reference to the fact that Zeppelin recorded in a castle once. The drums for "When the Levee Breaks," which was later sampled by Beastie Boys, was the result of one of these recordings. In fact, Jimmy Page was a known occultist, and even purchased a castle previously owned by Aleister Crowley.

The band manager then calls up his secretary and there is some sort of diabolical understanding that the band will use a particular house in Encino, CA to record their album. The secretary says something to the effect of "oh good, finally!" as if this was something they were waiting to do for many years. This is echoed towards the end of the film, when the manager re-appears dressed like some sort of Warlock and tells Dave Grohl "we've been waiting 20 years for this!" We know that Foo Fighter's released their 9th album "Concrete and Gold" in 2017. At that point, one can assume work on their 10th album would begin. 2017 was the 20 year mark for Hawkins officially joining the band. Was his "sacrifice" planned that far in advance and are they telling you so blatantly in the film?

This meeting concludes with Grohl announcing a "Pearl Jam high 5". This is obviously a nod to the first Pearl Jam album and the pose of the band on it. First, notice that Hawkins is the only one not touching the other hands. Pearl Jam has 5 members, Foo Fighters has 6, but only 5 are touching hands to form the "pyramid." Grohl then says "Jeremy has fuckin spoken!"

If Foo Fighter's 10th album represents the plan for a big ceremonial sacrifice, this scene makes a lot of sense. The "High 5" represents the band's agreement with "the plan" to complete an album who's climax will be the death of their drummer, reducing their number from 6 to 5. It also represents their allegience to "the one" or the all seeing eye of the Illuminati. The one that Pearl Jam seemed to rebel against during their "5 against 1" album. So really, this is re-enforcing just about every theory of mine regarding the first Pearl Jam album's cover and what it means! It also reveals the purpose of the film. To send a message to those in the industry who want to rebel: Show your allegiance to the 1 or we'll make an example out of you.

Also note that in the song "Jeremy," the chorus goes "Jeremy spoke in class today." Jeremy kills himself in front of the class, that is what is meant by "Jeremy spoke". So when Grohl quotes that lyric, he is saying that someone who spoke up is gonna die. Was Taylor Hawkins that person? The second time the "Pearl Jam high 5" occurs, Hawkins again does not touch any of the other hands, hinting that he is not in agreement with "the plan." Grohl then says something like, "yeah, I'm still alive!" which is a reference to another song on Pearl Jam's first album. According to Vedder, the lyrics to Alive speak about incest - which was probably part of his early experiences with trauma based mind control.

The "delivery guy" is played by Will Forte, who's name in the film is Darren Sandlebaum. Darren plays a musician trying to get his band's demo to Dave Grohl. He also bears a resemblence to a younger Lemmy Kilmister. If you look at the name Darren Sandlebaum, it contains 5 syllables. Lemmy Kilmister also contains 5 syllables. Now I believe there are many red herrings in this film, and this may be another. But given Darren's gruesome demise, the fact he is a musician, looks like Lemmy, same amount of syllables in the name - I feel like the film is saying something about Lemmy's death. We all know Lemmy was old and in bad shape, but that doesn't mean he wasn't murdered on December 28th, 2015. Are they telling us? There is at least 1 Motorhead song on the soundtrack, and it is "Stone Dead Forever."

In the film there is an annoying neighbor who ends up informing members of Foo Fighters about the curse of the house they are recording in. When they first meet her, Grohl asks her about the history of the house, and the neighber gets really wierd and says something like, "No Dave, I don't know what you're talking about" as she slowly disappears behind her yard fence. This is one of many Stanley Kubrick references. In this case, 2001: A Space Odyssey, where H.A.L. famously states "No Dave, I can't do that..." There are also parallels to the Shining. A house where people are murdered, then the murdurer's spirit enters the body of current occupants. "One Flew Over a Cuckoo's Nest" is also name dropped, another film starring Jack Nicholson and written by CIA asset Ken Kesey.

Another red herring involved Grohl's mentioning that the song will be in the key of L#. There is no key of L#, but if you count out L in the order it appears in the alphabet, you get 12. That would theoretically make L# a half step higher. Numerically, 12 1/2. Half a number shy of 13. This is the film letting us know that they realize who is watching it, and this is for people like me. I see this number and I go "hey look, it's ALMOST 13! That means something!" When in fact, it means nothing. It's nonsense designed to send people like me on a wild goose chase and make us look silly.

Another example that has a very Spinal Tap feel to it, is when Grohl demands Taylor Hawkins count the song off "5-6-7" instead of "1-2-3." That could be another reference to the "5 against 1" thing, but it's also another red herring. It means nothing, but we're supposed to go looking way into it for meaning. Another example is when Grohl insists Hawkins count off ODD numbers. "1-3-5!

The album cover for the fictional band "Dream Widow" contains a Unicursal Hexagram. This symbol represents the religion of Thelema, created by Aleistar Crowley. Grohl pulls out an easel in the middle of the film with this symbol on it, so that the band can perform before it. At each point is a symbol representing each band member. I hadn't seen this film when I started taking a closer look at the Pearl Jam 10 album cover, so I found it interesting that Grohl was basically allocating numbers to his band members in a similar manner I did with Pearl Jam.

Lastly, Kerry King of the band Slayer plays a small role in the film. He is a technician named Krug setting up to record, when he gets electrocuted to death. Coincidentaly, Foo Fighters stage manager Andy Pollard died right around the time the band would likely have been filming the movie. There are several points in the film where someone dies, and it is made into a sort of black comedy, where Grohl pretends to be sad but insists that the recording goes on because "that's what he would have wanted! He was a fan! We'll dedicate the album to him!" There is just no other way to interpret this: the film is mocking those who have died in connection with the band, but in a way that could only be confirmed in HIND-SIGHT. In other words, the film seems to very blatantly forshadow the deaths of Andy Pollard and Taylor Hawkins IN REAL LIFE.

I don't claim to have all the red herrings sorted from genuine occult messages here, but clearly the film puts a lot of effort to reach a few different types of audience members they know are watching:

1 - Ignorant masses who will take it for a simple horror movie.
2 - People like myself, searching for confirmation of conspiracy theories.
3 - Members of the music industry, or others "in the know."

Of all these, I believe number 3 was the prime target audience. This film did not do well at the box office, and I don't think it was intended to. Grohl has said that Eddy Veddar was amused by the film, but I've never seen or read anything where Vedder is quoted directly. For all we know, the OPPOSITE may be true. Perhaps this is a blatant mockery, referring to the original "oath" expressed by members of Pearl Jam on the "10" album cover. The film is a reminder to those who think they can rebel or get out. A reminder of who they must serve.

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The Craft Work of Kraftwerk [PT I]

TECHNO POP

Kraftwerk was formed in Dusseldorf, Germany by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider in 1970. They were initially part of a musical movement occuring in the German underground that came to be labeled by the press, somewhat mockingly as, "Kraut-rock," which is really just another way of saying "new original music from Germany."

Although I am no expert in the origins of Krautrock, it seems to me that what the bands had in common, besides occupying the same general geographic location in time, was their experiments with incorporating noise into music. This encouraged the listener to confront and challenge their own basic beliefs regarding what music actually is, and what differentiates it from noise. Are they ultimately one and the same?

In a sense, this Krautrock movement took off from the sonic fringes of 60s psychedelic rock, such as the Seeds, The Velvet Underground, The Stooges, and Iron Butterfly - executed with calculated German precision, taken to new levels so as to become something else entirely. Something new and original.

Kraftwerk's particular identity as we now know it today involved the abandoning of traditional instruments for completely electric based ones. Using various forms of recording/playback devices, keyboards, synthesizers, and drum machines - they "mimicked" instruments, everyday noises, and even the human voice - combining them into various forms of sound collages - held within strict rhythmic pulses more similar to those found in disco, than in prog-rock of the day. Unlike most of their peers, Kraftwerk turned all of this noise into something accessable, and even dance-able, to an international audience. Something they would themselves label "Techno-Pop."

In hind-sight, Kraftwerk ended up creating music who's influence can now be fairly compared in scale to that of the Beatles on the world wide level. Hip Hop, New Wave, Techno, Industrial, etc. can trace some of their basic roots to what 1970s Kraftwerk refined in their mysterious Kling Klang studio. Even people who have never heard of them have probably HEARD THEM without even realizing it, via samples used by pop artists as varied as Africa Bambaataa and Coldplay.

But who are the individuals behind Kraftwerk exactly, and what was their goal in creating such abstract and influential music?

REGARDING THE NAME

[Flingern II Power Plant - Düsseldorf, Germany]

Kraftwerk:[German for] "Power station." - Online-Translator.com

Although the German word "Kraftwerk" stands alone quite well as a name for a group which mixes industrial noises with pulsating beats, taking the word apart yields some interesting definitions as well...

Craft: an occupation, trade, or activity requiring manual dexterity or artistic skill.

Work: "exertion or effort directed to produce or accomplish something; labor; toil. productive or operative activity." - Dictionary.com

...we call ourselves musical workers, kraft-werk. - Ralf Hütter [RH]

We always thought of ourselves as workers in sound, as studio or musical workers, not musicians or artists. But as musical workers going, going into the studio to work. - RH, Bohn 1981

Here we have RH confirming the association between the "work" the band does, and the name. "Music" being their "craft." What other definitions can be contained within the name?

THE ORGANIZATION

[Ralf Hütter (L) and Florian Schneider (R) formed Kraftwerk in 1970, and appeared to be the main individuals behind the group up until Florian's exit in 2008. Schneider passed away in 2020 and Hütter remains the sole original member, and is presumably the "band leader" to this day of 2024.]

Hütter is a secretive musician who avoids interviews. - wiki

The Kraftwerk co-founder [Florian] remained a mystery even after death... -TheGuardian.com

No other band shuns publicity with such dedication. - BBC, 2009

The pair usually kept a polite, but discreet distance from the person they were talking to in a very stilted, rather shy, almost etherial way. They were more like culture diplomats or the representatives of a humanitarian organization, than musicians. - Wolfgang Flur [WF]

Ralf’s monologues gave me the impression he was holding imaginary press conferences…his rhetoric had become more mysterious over time…I believe the nature of narrative manipulation is that you not only pretend to others but at some point, also to yourself… - Karl Bartos [KB]

It is a well documented fact that the group never answers correspondence. The detective hunt that ensued was more like trying to penetrate the corridors of a secret society or intensely private business corporation than that of a pop group…people were reluctant to talk to us without first having approval from the group. - Pascal Bussey [PB]

I can’t pretend that I know him [Ralf] really. In fact, very few people really know him, I think. - Patrick Codenys

I couldn’t have avoided joining Kraftwerk in 1973. Even if they had all been part of a criminal conspiracy, I wouldn’t have been frightened away. - WF

The above comments from various band members and friends/associates over the years seem to suggest that Ralf and Florian [Ralf in particular] are/were perhaps members of some sort of secret organization. Given that we cannot absolutely verify the nature of this secret entity, or even its' existence, let's just call it "The Organization" for convenience. I will also use this phrase when I am referring to the presumed "think tank" or "intelligence operation" behind the group.

THE CRAFT WORK

While the German word KRAFTWERK translates to "power plant," there are other ways to logically infer the meaning behind it. We have already seen how Ralf seperated the name into 2 distinct words, while describing what they do: KRAFT and WERK, or Craft Work in English. Being that I research Freemasonry as a hobby, it is obvious to me that "The Craft" is a phrase used to mean "Freemasonry."

Craft:...signifies skill or dexterity, in any art. In reference to this skill, therefore, the ordinary acception is a trade or mechanical art, and collectively, the persons practicing it. Hense, "The Craft" in speculative Masonry, signifies the whole body of Freemasons, wherever dispersed. - Mackey's Encyclopedia of Freemasonry

If we consider for a moment whether the founders of Kraftwerk were Freemasons, we find some signifficant circumstantial evidence in support of this theory, starting with the name itself. [the] Craft + Work = Freemasonic Activity!

In some of my other blogs, I have discussed the symbolism behind the Freemasonic square and compass. We know that Freemasons use symbols often having more than one meaning, depending upon the context. The "G" in Freemasonry can stand for Gnosis, Geometry, God, Genetics, Generative force, etc. I find the latter to be the most applicable generally, as demonstrated in the above image showing the Freemasonic ceremonial apron, which places the G [very intentionally, it would seem] exactly where the phallus is. Much of this GENERATIVE [or phallic] force evergy is discussed at length in Albert Pike's "Morals and Dogma" and is found all throughout Aleister Crowley's writings. [A.C. was said to have had many Freemasonic titles to his name.]

With all of this in mind, note the small step required to go from "generative force" to "power plant." A power plant IS the "generative force" of a city, and the modern industrial world. The decidedly "phallic" looking construction cone found upon the first 2 Kraftwerk albums fits right in with this concept. The cone's sillouette can also be seen as volcanic, or can be likened to a power plant tower. The cone represents a construction zone or an area where work is being done on industrial infrastructure. Building. Architecture. Masonry.

[Paul Schneider-Esleben, Father of Florian Schneider [FS], in his office, with a model of Cologne/Bonn airport, 1962.]

Great Architect of the Universe, Grand Architect of the Universe, Sublime Architect of the Universe, GAOTU, Supreme Architect of the Universe… is a conception of God discussed by many Christian theologians and apologists. As a designation it is used within Freemasonry to represent the deity neutrally (in whatever form, and by whatever name each member may individually believe in). - Freemasonry.network

Freemasons regard themselves as builders, hense the tools used to represent their various concepts. But unlike contemporary architects, Freemasons incorporate ceremonial, religious, and philosophical concepts into their craft work. Obviously, not every architect is a Freemason, but it just so happens that many city center buildings and structures were designed by Freemasons. Since we are on the topic, it is noteworthy that members of Kraftwerk's "classic line-up" had/have strong connections to architecture.

Franz, Florian’s grandfather, built beautiful, bold, early 20th century churches and helped train his son Paul to become an architect...Like his forefathers, Florian was an architect, but of sonic cathedrals. -faroutmagazine.co.uk

At one point I did [study architecture], and constructing music and live performance comes from the same spirit. - RH

The home had been built during la belle époque, and had been designed by my great grandfather, the same architect who had built the famous Berghof sanatorium featured in Thomas Mann’s novel The Magic Mountain, on Davos…I also spent some time engaged in practical training with an architect. - WF

Berghotel Schatzalp is a historic hotel built in the Art Nouveau style and listed Cultural Property of National Significance in Davos, eastern Switzerland...A former hi-tech tuberculosis sanitorium, it opened as the hotel Berghotel Schatzalp in 1953. The hotel caters for global economic and political leaders during the World Economic Forum Annual Meetings in the third week of January

At least 3 members of the classic Kraftwerk line-up were trained in architecture, and 2 of them allegedly have a family history in this field going back generations. It is important to note that these relatives of Kraftwerk members were not merely building residential housing! The World Economic Forum [WEF] is thought to be one the most, if not THE most important known gatherings for the Globalist elites [think: Illuminati, New World Order]. The fact that WF is related to an architect who built the structure this annual meeting occurs within is something I can probably fill an entire blog itself with.

I think we can safely assume that members of the "classic" Kraftwerk line-up were not just ordinary working class German artists. They are clearly connected, by blood, to the very tradition of German infrastructure. And yet, they chose to build "sonic cathedrals" rather than apply their craft in a more practical way. But music is an expression of culture, and politics is downstream from culture. So when a band reaches the level of Kraftwerk, in terms of popularity and influence, the music then becomes part of the global "cultural infrastructure," and therein lies, I believe, the hidden objective within The Organization.

Freemasons will argue that oaths such as the above are either outdated, or not to be taken literally - but that is not really of concern here. My point is this: Freemasons have a well known tradition of taking oaths of secrecy. So if we consider whether members of Kraftwerk were/are in fact Freemasons, secrecy would come naturally to them.

Whether the Organization is Freemasonic Illuminist in nature or not, I can't say for sure. But I find it interesting how easy it is to fit Kraftwerk into the "New World Order" agenda, which I will elaborate more upon in part II.

The myth of the important artist has been overexploited. It doesn’t fit anymore with the standards of modern society. Today, mass production rules…Everyone is a star. - RH, Adrien [French Magazine?], 1978

“Every man and every woman is a star.” - Aleister Crowley, "the Book of the Law" [Originally published in 1904]

[BBC interview with Kraftwerk, conducted with a Robot/Dummy version of RH]

WHAT THEY SAY

I don't like to go on and on about my own theories and assumptions for too long without allowing the group to speak for themselves. Using their own words as a guide, we can theoretically shed more light upon The Organization and its mysterious objectives:

The music of Kraftwerk didn’t actually emerge spontaneously through emotional group sessions, like that of normal bands; instead it tended to be created via a procedure one might find in a research laboratory or on a musical research program, as if an academic professor was making up a new musical format for the needy of the world. WF

With Kraftwerk, we went through a hard time as pioneers, protagonists and propagandists, but in the end our obstinacy paid off and other bands became increasingly enthusiastic about synthesizers, putting their guitars to one side and developing the individual sounds of electro pop… WF

Their music is the theme tune to the Kennzeichen D programme…there was a lot of talk among musicians about Kraftwerk’s expensive sound system, so I was aware they seemed to have plenty of money. KB [Karl Bartos, recalling his perception of the group previous to joining]

I couldn’t get my head around why we were constantly investing in extremely high end technology…the more capital went into allegedly optimizing the means of production, the less music came out at the other end. KB

The essence of Kraftwerk is not so much the musicians. Rather our friends who are from other fields like doctors, computer technologists, psychologists, writers and painters. FS

Ralf was like the unappointed leader, he was the spokesman….commercially or financially, Ralf and Florian were leading… Emil Schult

We make everything alone. We have our own music publishing house, we produce ourselves, and two months ago we got our own record company. - RH, 1975

[Pete Townsend, demonstrating the gear apparently required to play "Baba O'Reily]

[In his book "I was a Robot," Wolfgang Flür claims to have invented the electronic drum pad specifically for the group - a claim which seems to have caused legal action from his former band mates.]

When bands like The Who, Pink Floyd, and Emerson Lake, and Palmer began giving the synthesizer a prominent role in their songs, this caused people to wonder, "what is that sound?" Other musicians may have thought, "hey that's cool, how do I get a hold of that equipment?" But it's not like your average garage band could simply walk over to guitar center and pick one up! This equipment was expensive, and were sometimes invented shortly prior to use. Inventions require not only money, but experts from various fields who probably do not work for free.

Kraftwerk clearly had funding and a think tank behind them very early on, seemingly with the objective of PROMOTING the use of electronic equipment in music and to modernize the musical-cultural propaganda machine for new generations. This seemed to have taken a leap forward with the release of their 1975 album, and debut with EMI, "Radio-Activity." Although RH is quoted above as stating the band "got our own record company," this isn't entirely true if we consider that "their record company" was basically a satellite of the larger EMI. This could be percieved as an attempt by RH to hide the Organization backing them from public view, by claiming to be more autonomous than they actually were. [Quorthon, who I talk about in a previous blog, did the same early on by putting the label name "Black Mark" on Bathory albums, when it was actually released by his father's label, Tyfon Grammofon"].

It seemed to me as if Ralf was using the cycling conversation as a kind of verbal cloak of invisibility, so that he could talk about something without really saying anything…Now and then when we were alone, we did “talk” about how things were going. It wasn’t usually about music, more about strategy and tactics… KB

I wake up in the morning, I brush my teeth [laughs], I go to the studio, I work, I go back home, I eat, I sleep. RH

I wake up in the morning…then I brush my teeth [laughs]. First I read the newspaper, I go to the coffee house for breakfast, I do the daily things which people have to do. FS

I live my life like a railway, doing exactly the same thing everyday. - RH, according to KB

We played concerts here and there, at Universities, parties or happenings. We traveled around in a Volkswagen van, living at various friends’ houses in other cities. It was not a big organization like it is today...We were very lucky, at the time there were electronic music concerts, happenings, the Fluxus group, etc…we were engaged in the artistic world, galleries, universities, etc… - RH

The idea was to make contemporary electronic music…We didn’t really have a strategy, we rushed into making industrial music, abandoning all our other activities from before - our education, our classical background. It was a total rupture for us. Neither then nor now did we think about the future, or about some strategy. Why would we think about the future? - RH

We have invested in our machines, we have enough money to live, that’s it….We don’t do cola adverts, even if we might have been flattered by such proposals, we never accepted. - FS

What I get from the above are attempts by Ralf and Florian to understate the contrived nature of their group's origins. [paraphrasing] "Oh we were just lucky that there happened to be an electronic scene going on and we were just kinda there going along with it!" Also, statements like "it was not a big organization like it is today" remind me quite a bit of statements made by Quorthon to the press [again, see my blogs on the band Bathory, where he often tried to downplay Bathory's contrived nature.] These types of statements are a sort of "oh, don't look there it's not very important anyway" type of game. Or "Oh no, we didn't have a strategy at all, it all just emerged in a completely organic way! It's not like we look into the FUTURE to plan stuff or anything!"

Everyday we hear about huge trillion dollar deficits. Yet our governments always seem to have billions and billions of dollars to spend on wars, nonsense social programs that tend to accomplish the OPPOSITE of what they state up front, and wasteful environmental measures often designed to funnel money into certain people's pockets and drain it from others. Point being, if The Organization behind Kraftwerk is/was connected to some sort of "deep state" black ops entity, there was likely never a funding issue. So when Florian seems to admirably profess his dedication to "art over profit," the truth is, he probably was never lacking for funds in his life. In other words, he never needed Coca Cola's money because he already had plenty!

The interesting thing is that both of them came from families of upper middle class. Sometimes I get the feeling that they were intellectuals from the high bourgeoisie who wanted to discover another world. - Paul Alessandrini, group friend/journalist

Both came from wealthy families; Hutter's father was a well-off salesperson and Schneider's father, Paul Schneider-Esleben, was one of the most famous architects in post-war West Germany. - Pertti Gronholm

The culture of Central Europe was cut off in the 30s, and many of the intellectuals went to the USA or France, or they were eliminated. We are picking it up again where it left off, continuing this culture of the 30s, and we are doing this spiritually….We want the whole world to know we are from Germany, because the German mentality, which is more advanced, will always be part of our behavior. - RH

When RH speaks of Kraftwerk's objectives, he uses the word "WE" alot. We think he means "the band," the members of Kraftwerk. But I suspect he is referring to the Organization. The think tank he is the public face of, which only masquerades as an "eccentric artist."

PART 2

SOURCES:

www.nzherald.co.nz
"The Sound of the Machine" by Karl Bartos
"Man, Machine, Music" by Pascal Bussy
"I was a Robot" by Wolfgang Flur
"Kraftwerk - The Decline of the Pop Star" by Pertti Gronholm

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