Personnel: Jim Marcus, vocals, programming; Van Christie, guitar, programming. Augmenting the duo live: James Woolly, drums, and Burl Avante, turntables, keyboards.
Formed: June 1987.
Sound: Christie calls it ”funky industrial street beat.”
Influences: Christie cites Foetus, Sly and the Family Stone, James Brown and Chicago`s ”big, heavy, pounding sound-the Chicago groove.”
In-concert cover versions: The band has played ”pretty ripped apart”
renditions of K.C. and the Sunshine Band`s ”That`s the Way (I Like It)” and Aerosmith`s ”Sweet Emotion.” ”Nobody knows what songs they are until the vocals start,” Christie says.
Namesake: The band, originally called Die Warzau Synfony, is named for an orchestra that played in Warsaw until Hitler invaded and killed its members.
”They were one of the only music groups to be censored to death,”
Christie says. ”We felt they were kind of inspirational.” After its first album, the group dropped ”Synfony” from its name.
Live setup: Christie says the band uses no tapes and much computer sequencing to capture their sounds. ”We`re trying to bridge that techno and live experience and get something that works. A lot of stuff on our record is unrepeatable on stage. There`s no way we could bring 26 drummers on stage.”
Memorable concert experience: Kansas City officials condemned a club just before Die Warzau was to play there, prompting the group to move to a somewhat inadequate venue. ”We played seven half-songs; each time the fuse snapped,” Christie says. ”It was the stupidest thing. We have better power in our apartment.”
Extracurricular activity: The duo is founding its own independent label, Nude Records. The first two releases will be singles from Plasma Tool, a Romanian techno band, and the Bass Pigs, a local industrial group.
Sign of the Times: Plasma Tool has already modemed its first two songs to Marcus and Christie.
Switched-on Museum: Marcus and Christie have a collection of about 20 old synthesizers in their basement, including 12 Moogs.
Recordings: Die Warzau`s major-label debut, ”Disco Rigido” (Polygram), came out last October. Marcus and Christie are currently reworking two of the album`s songs, ”Shakedown” and ”Body Bag,” at Chicago Trax for a single. They have also written the next album`s batch of songs, which will be ”a lot funkier,” Christie says.
Philosophy: ”We`re trying to bridge a gap between being a bunch of political idiots and being just straight entertainment,” Christie says.
”It`s important to us that people listen to us as much as dance to it. We`re also trying to bridge a racial gap. Of course we`d like to bridge the gap of radio too, but that would be the toughest accomplishment of all.”
Goals: ”To get the music out to as many people as we can,” Christie says. ”To appeal to the masses without compromising our sound.”
Next appearance: None scheduled, but they hope to play Lil Louis` still-unopened Wildlife Cafe in late July.,
