~Interview for the german Elektric-magazine~

1. Signal 12 - here you are not known at all, therefore we would like to know who you are?

LEIF: We're two brothers who got started in music at a very early age. We later began working together on a dark electronic project called Oneiroid Psychosis and released three full length CD's, and one single. We've also appeared on a number of compilations, done several remixes for different bands and have been remixed by Severed Heads, Drown and Chris Peterson of Front Line Assembly. In between that we had been working on a faster techno project (Signal 12) which was eventually released by COP International.

2. Who are your innovators or the one who gave the ideas?

LEIF: Alot of the ideas that have inspired the sound of Signal 12 for me is my childhood love of science-fiction movies. As a kid I really enjoyed being taken to other planets and strange places, and escape from the everyday world. I like to convey that same feeling through music and sound.

LARS: I have always liked the sound of synthetic music when it is written and produced well. I love the idea of a sound you're hearing being created by an electronic signal. I feel that electronic music covers the full spectral rainbow of sound with the sub-sonics to the high ends. Some of the bands that have done it well are Orbital, Sect, Juno Reactor and even some rap.

3. Which one of your two musical projects have priority, Signal 12 or Oneiroid Psychosis?

LARS: I would have to say Oneiroid Psychosis because it's the music we feel most passionate about. It has more emotion and depth in it. Signal 12 is intended to get into a groove rather than an emotion. But we love both projects and intend to keep working on both. We just didn't want to keep writing the same style of music all the time.

4. How do you see the techno scene?

LEIF: I honestly don't know much about the scene. Lars and I don't go out to clubs or parties much, and we don't know many other musicians. Things change so fast in the electronic music scene, especially techno, and we don't want to get too caught up in what other people are doing. We spend alot of our free time at home in the studio, always working on something. In a way, I want to avoid the scene because I think it helps keep our ideas unique and different.

5. Your music sounds pretty european, partly even like oldschool EBM - was that on purpose?

LEIF: People have said that about Oneiroid Psychosis too, that it's like European darkwave or gothic. I don't think we do it intentionally. If anything, we're generally just not very impressed by what people are doing in America today musically, and we want to do something different. We like to leave alot of room open to play around with ideas, and don't want to limit ourselves to any particular style. I think there's alot of cool older techno, and sometimes musicians don't explore all the possibilities they could, and they move on to something else when there's more they could have done. So we're doing what sounds good to us without thinking too much about what the latest trends are.

6 Why are there no vocals on Signal 12?

LARS: I don't feel it is necessary. I think the music does as much talking as we want. If we ever did add vocals, they would probably be very basic. The current Signal 12 music we are writing has some harmonizing female vocals. But I just don't think it will ever go too far beyond that.

7. What are you doing besides music?

LEIF: We've been making some changes to our house, and we're planning to build a new larger studio. I play alot of videogames when I have the time, and I draw and paint too, though that's been neglected lately because of the music. Lars and I both work nights at the same hospital in Madison, Wisconsin.

LARS: My interests are very similar to Leif's but I also love motorcycles as well as some other deviant things that I probably shouldn't talk about. . .

8. Is the condition, discribed on your CD, only if you produce?

LARS: No, Leif and I choose to keep our minds and body free of any drugs that would effect our way of thinking and perceiving. We choose to experience reality in its true form. The reason that we have that statement on all our CDs is because we've had several people comment (mostly about Oneiroid Psychosis) that they couldn't believe that the songs were created without drugs. I was really insulted by this. It's as if they are saying "humans can't be creative on their own." I've done my share of chemical experimentation and it does alter your perception of reality. But I choose not to because it slows me down and I was embarrassed about submitting to a synthetic state of mind. I always like to be in control. Even if I am doing the wrong thing at least I know it and will learn from the experience.

LEIF: Drugs are everywhere in the music scene, and we know some people whose lives have been completely wrecked by them. It's not a pretty or pleasant thing. We don't want to preach about it, but with all the drug symbolism and suggestiveness out there, we didn't think it would be too much to take the opposite stance.

9. Are we going to see you anytime in Europe?

LARS: We've never been there so it would be great to travel and do some shows. But unfortunately we don't make that much money and can't afford it. Maybe one day that will change.

10. What are you hoping for in the near future for your music and private?

LEIF: We're planning to build a new studio in our house, but it will take alot of work. It should be perfect once it's all done though. There's talk now too of a possible Oneiroid Psychosis tour, and we'll probably do some Signal 12 material live.

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~Interview for the New Empire!~

1.)What kind of a signal is this signal 12 and why has it the number 12?

LEIF: Lars and I like to watch a real-life TV show called "Cops." On one episode, a policeman arrived at a crime scene and found someone dead, and said it had to be called in to headquarters as a "signal 12," which means someone's been killed. So it's a police code, at least in the city where this episode was filmed.

2.) Tell us more about you, the musicians. Are you brothers? Where do you live, what are you doing for living (jobs, family) and how do you become musicians?

LARS: Yes, we're brothers. Leif and I own a house in a little town in Wisconsin. We both have jobs at the University Hospital here. At a young age we started playing guitar. Later in life we gained access to more and more electronic instruments and realized they had much more diversity, and used guitar less and less. We use a little bit of guitar here and there in our other project Oneiroid Psychosis.

3.) Please name some of the equipment you prefer and tell us why. Do you have a special piece of equipment, that is not longer up-to-date but you still use for nostalgic reasons?

LARS: Every piece of equipment seems to have its own personality. The sounds that each synth or drum module creates are unique from one another. So certain synths do well for certain areas of the song. To name a few favorites, we have an older Korg Mono/Poly that we use for low end bass sounds. Then we have a Roland JD 800 that we use for heavy pad and spacey sounds. More recently we purchased a Roland JV 2080 and are just beginning to explore its possibilities. For some reason we hang on to an outdated Korg Poly 800. I guess you can still get some cool sounds from it if you touch them up with effects.

4.) Signal 12 sounds like a re-union of EBM/Electronics and Techno. Where are your musical roots? Is it an intention of Signal 12 to reunify the styles that seperated in the late 80s?

LEIF: Our musical roots go back to hard rock from the 70's and 80's. We both learned to play guitar because we were into hard rock and metal. But when I got to college in '86 I heard Skinny Puppy and Severed Heads for the first time, and my ideas about good music or what music should be really changed. I was very inspired by "(Come Visit) The Big Bigot" by Severed Heads, and I decided to learn more about keyboards and how to create those crazy electronic sounds. Synthesizers are just fun to play with, and they have a lot of potential to evoke many musical styles. Our intention wasn't to create or re-create a particular thing. I think we both enjoy industrial in its different forms, and techno in its different forms, so it can all be heard in our music.

LARS: There is a mood people feel when listening to the groove of electronic music. We wanted to explore that mood and create our own style.

5.) What do you think about the Rave-music, events like The Love Parade in Berlin or other big, commercial Techno Events? Are these people traitors of the music?

LEIF: To be honest, I'm not too familiar with the rave culture. It doesn't really interest me. People will naturally enjoy the music in whatever way feels right to them, but personally I'm not concerned with the latest fashions or being popular in a crowd. If people are willing to spend money on events like these, then they will continue to happen. Wherever there's a demand for something, somebody will try to make money off it.

LARS: From my point of view, people are free to enjoy music in whatever form they choose. I personally write music because I love it, not to make money. I don't care for music that is changed from its original form to make it more accessible to the general public. If these events are true to the music then I'm OK with it.

6.) Signal 12 is all instrumental, but is there a message in your sound anyway? The cover and the music seem to be very futuristic. A human being in front of a computer-board. What is the message of this pictures and soundscapes?

LEIF: The picture is an MRI of a cadaver, and the computer board is the circuit schematics of a synthesizer. If anything, I think the images point to the close relationship of modern humanity with electronics, in this case electronic sound and music. I think the human body is an amazing work of nature, and the enjoyment of music and rhythm is very natural, so in a way there's nothing unnatural about the blending of complicated technology and music. Humans will make music any way they can. Some people don't like electronic music because it's all programmed and therefore less spontaneous than someone strumming a guitar or banging a drum by hand, but I think technology and music go together extremely well. Computers have helped us create forms of music that were unimaginable in the past.

7.) Do you think the modern man is lost in a world of technology?

LEIF: I think modern man is getting too dependent on technology. I love it for many reasons, from computers and the internet to video games to telephones or synthesizers. But I love to go outside with my shoes off and forget about the hassles of modern life as well, and unfortunately I find less and less time to do that, because there are so many things to do inside the house. People really crave sensation and stimulation in just about any way they can get it. The stronger the better. And technology delivers stimulation of an almost hypnotic level very quickly and easily. It is enjoyable, but I don't think it's necessarily healthy for human beings in the long run. So I think it does cause us to get lost, in the sense that we forget what life is about and what kind of goals we should set.

8.). Is your music intended to be played in clubs? Do you visit a lot of parties and clubs? What do you think would be the ideal party for you? What was the best party you ever experienced and what the worst? Tell us a few stories about that.

LARS: This music is intended to be played loud. Clubs are an excellent place for that and create a great atmosphere with the lights and people expressing mood and energy through dance. But Leif and I are very reclusive people and rarely go to clubs. We have a handful of people we hang out with and we're content with that. We spend most of our free time creating music or working on something music related.

LEIF: For me the ideal party would probably take place at home, and involve videogames, Mountain Dew, and a few close friends. I really dislike parties where everyone's drunk or high and the place smells like smoke and vomit. That's just no fun for me.

9.) You use a lot of numbers on your record. Could you explain them? Insect 470, 256A, 5159 Head, Discussion of Module IV?

LEIF: All the titles have some kind of story or background. Insect 470 comes from an old videogame for my Sega Genesis called Insector-X. When the tomb of Tutankhamen was excavated, the archaeologists carefully numbered and tagged every artifact, and the famous golden deathmask was tagged "256A." That song has sort of a Middle-Eastern feel, so I thought that would make a good title. At the hospital where we work there's a long hallway where extra beds are stored. Each bed has a number, and the head end and the foot end are labeled. So on the end of one bed was written "5159 Head." Also at the hospital, I found an old discarded cassette tape of doctors talking. We used it to record an early version of a song, and since the tape was labeled "Discussion of Module IV," that's what we called the song. I still don't know what Module IV is, and I guess I never will since we taped over it.

10.) Do you have a medical background? A lot of terms are use in the song-titles like "Deep Vein Trombosis" or "Psychasthenia".

LARS: I would have to say yes, but from a more distorted view. Our father was a dentist and had a nice collection of medical books in his office. Leif and I would sneak in there and look through these books as if they were dirty magazines. The photos within these pages were very disturbing. Pictures of diseased and disfigured people. One page would show a normal naked body the next would have a photo of someone with tumors covering their entire body. So we were always afraid of getting caught. I think this stuck with us over the years because since then we've created our own collection of medical books and instruments.

11.) Where do you think electronic music is going in the next millenium? Are their still undiscovered countries for a musician or is everything already pressed on CD?

LEIF: There are a lot of creative people out there, and neither the musicians nor the listeners will be content to let things remain static. I think keyboards are more flexible creative tools than a guitar for instance, yet guitar-based music has thrived and evolved for decades. Heavy metal alone has branched off and changed in many interesting ways, some predictable and some unpredictable. So I believe there's still alot of undiscovered territory for electronic music. All it takes is one musician or one band to break new ground, and other musicians will take inspiration and ideas from it, and soon a whole new style is created. It's something that's very difficult to do deliberately. You just have to go with new ideas when they happen and try not to be too influenced by existing and established styles.

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1) Tell me something about your musical and private biography... When did you start off doing music? Where would you see your musical roots? What have you done so far concerning gigs, releases, collaborations,bands etc.

LARS: Leif and I both started playing guitar around the age of ten. We were into a lot of heavy metal at the time so that's mostly what we learned to play. Then around the age of fourteen, we had access to a four track recorder, Casio synth and a drum machine. We then started creating and composing songs of a more unusual nature. We are both artistic and we found this as another media for art. But it wasn't until about 1992 that we started writing music together. We've never tried to write the kind of music we listen to. We just try to write music that we feel is right for the mood we want to project.

LEIF: As a child I loved to draw and paint. I didn't like talking to people and didn't make friends very easily, so I was always looking for ways to express myself without words, on a deeper and more personal level. I had alot going on in my head, and had trouble understanding the world and human beings. Music became a very natural way of dealing with all kinds of emotions as well as a way of communicating with people and connecting with them. As Lars said, our musical roots are really in heavy metal and hard rock, though that's not at all what we do in our studio. We grew up in the 70s and 80s when Scorpions and Michael Schenker and Iron Maiden were big. We still love to listen to that stuff. But our musical career didn't really take off until our band Oneiroid Psychosis was signed to Decibel, a label here in Wisconsin. We released two albums and a single with them, and did a few remixes for other bands and appeared on several compilations. Oneiroid Psychosis was carried by Discordia for awhile, and we appeared on Taste This 5. We also had a live track on Living for Music 2.

2) What was the most exciting experience during your work so far?

LARS: I feel the most exciting was our debut release for Oneiroid Psychosis "Stillbirth". It's really a beautiful feeling when you set you mind to accomplishing something, and then you're holding it in your hands. It was a milestone for me and it has helped me to believe in myself and my abilities.

LEIF: It's always exciting for me to be approached by fans at one of our shows and hear how much our music means to them. The music is very important to us, and it's encouraging to know that it's important to the fans, and that the feeling and energy we put into it are coming across.

3) What artists or bands have had the biggest impact on you? What are your favourites currently?

LEIF: In college someone played Severed Heads for me, and my whole life changed. I didn't know music like that existed until then, and I loved it. I put all my metal albums away and started buying Skinny Puppy and Foetus and Front Line Assembly. Another big inspiration to me is Cocteau Twins. They helped me realize that music is about melody and harmony, and no amount of experimentation or technical trickery will have the same effect as a deeply moving melody.

LARS: I've really admired Brian Eno for a long time because of his intelligence and experimentation. But lately I've been going back to my roots and listening to a lot of 70's hard rock like Aerosmith, Robin Trower, Johnny Winter, etc. That music has so much more meaning now that I'm a little older. As far as current music, I've recently been introduced to a band called Rotting Christ. I can't seem to stop listening to them. There is so much power and emotion in their music.

4) What was or is the general idea behind this project? Where does the name Signal 12 come from?

LEIF: We've slowly been building up our studio over the years, and learning more and more about how to get the most out of our equipment. There are so many things that can be done with synthesizers. We wanted to put them to use in a way that we normally wouldn't for Oneiroid Psychosis. We wanted faster beats, no vocals, and a very dance-oriented electronic groove. We listen to that kind of music too, but we feel that usually it's very up-beat and happy, and we wanted to do it with a darker and more ominous attitude. As far as the name goes, Lars and I often watch a tv show called "Cops," and in one episode the policeman found a corpse at a crime scene, and called it in as a "signal 12." It means somebody's been killed, at least in the city where this episode was filmed.

5) Does there exist any spare-time activity beyond forging new tracks in your studio? What about your civil jobs? Can you already make your living by doing music?

LARS: Unfortunately we haven't made much money at all. So we both have jobs at the university hospital here. That takes up a lot of our time. Beyond that and music, I enjoy riding my motorcycle, video games, and building things. We're currently remodeling our house and plan on building a custom studio.

LEIF: I still love to do artwork when I have the time, and in fact I did all the design for the Signal 12 album on the computer. I've been really into video games since the old 8-bit Nintendo days, and I'm more into it than ever now that I'm an adult with more money to spend. I read alot as well, mostly on philosophy and religion. Alan Watts and Meister Eckhart are a couple favorite writers.

6) Your sound blurts out a very intense soundtracklike mood. What would you consider the best situation or condition to listen to your sound?

LEIF: For some reason, I love listening to techno and electronic music when I'm driving. Something about the speed of movement and the loud volume makes it more enjoyable. Lars and I don't dance, so we never go out to clubs unless we're doing a show, but I think it would be cool to hear Signal 12 really loud in a club.

LARS: I've always enjoyed listening to music in a dark bedroom. I love to let the music manipulate my emotions and let my mind wander. That's what I have in mind when I create music - having it be an experience rather than something that only has surface value.

7) Do your songs deal with any special subject or is it just a matter of experimenting with sounds? Where do you get the inspirations for your soundsculpturing? Movies? Nightmares? TV commercials?

LARS: We like music with a heavy groove and we wanted have that element in the music which sets it apart from our other projects. I would say that some of it is a reflection of our emotions.

LEIF: Science fiction has always appealed to me since I was little, so I think those kind of movies and my interest in spaceships and other planets and aliens has influenced the sound of Signal 12. I love watching old Dr. Who episodes where they did the soundtrack with the old analog synths that are hard to find today.

8) The album seems to me as a soundtrack for an unnamed film of the science fiction, horror or manga genre. Would you like to do a score for such a film? What are your cineastic favourites?

LARS: We would love to do a film score or video game soundtrack. We just haven't had any offers and don't know how to get into that part of the business. Some of my movie favorites are Natural Born Killers, Santa Sangre, Wild at Heart, Star Wars, Harold and Maude, Rubin and Ed.

LEIF: I really love animation by the Brothers Quay. It's the most fascinating and spellbinding imagery I've ever seen on film.

9) How much attention do you pay to the combination of music and corresponding imagery such as video or photography? Do you intend to do a music-video?

LARS: I feel CD cover art alone has a big influence on how the music is perceived. We've never intended to do a music video. Usually videos ruin music for me. When we've performed, we've had a video playing in the background with a sort of medical theme. I suppose that if we ever did make a video, it would have the same theme.

LEIF: I've recently been learning about photography. I bought myself a good quality camera, so it should be interesting to see what I end up doing once I feel comfortable with the medium. Hopefully some of it will become cd cover art.

10) What's your opinion about the world around you and its near future? Just draw me your subjective image of it.

LEIF: Deep down I have faith in human beings, and I believe that we are all ultimately the same. We generally want the same things and feel the same things, but we can be so very very blind and stupid. Thinking doesn't take much effort or energy, yet very few people take the time to do it before they act. In the long run this has created a disastrous situation for humanity, and subsequently for every other species on the planet. It seems that improvement needs to happen within people since it can't really happen anywhere else. I mean, efforts to clean up the environment are futile when we're just going to mess it up again. Putting someone in jail seems futile when someone else will take their place on the street committing crimes. The problems aren't "out there" in the world, the problems are inside people's minds, and we can control and improve our minds if we choose to do so. I forgot who the famous person was that said, "The fool who persists in his folly will eventually become wise."

LARS: It seems to me that people want to have something to worry about and want to feel doomed. I find that sad.

11) I got the information that you run another project called Oneiroid Psychosis. What's the difference between these two? (Unfortunately I don't know any track of O. P.) Why hasn't OP been published in Europe yet?

LARS: OP is a much slower and darker project with emphasis on natural sounds like cellos, violins and bells, etc. I feel it has more freedom with sound because we have vocals, guitar, and blend in a lot of synth sounds with the natural sounds. With Signal 12 we wanted to concentrate on a faster electronic sound. We would love for OP to be published in Europe. We think it would go over really well there. We just haven't found anyone to publish it there.

12) What about your local scene for Industrial and Tekkno-music?

LEIF: There's really not much going on here as far as that goes. We've known a couple DJs and some other musicians, but it's a struggle to generate interest locally. Many of our fans are from very far away, either here in the States or in Europe. We occasionally do live shows locally as Oneiroid Psychosis and we've received a good response, but not enough to make it worthwhile to do them more often. The internet has really helped us make contacts and keep in touch with people.

13) What (musical) genres or trends do you appreciate the most? On the other hand which would you consider as unnecessary or even annoying?

LEIF: It will be interesting to see where electronic music goes in the future. We're definitely trying to help push it in different directions, because there's so much potential and so many things synthesizers can do. I'd say Orbital is a good example of musicians pushing the boundaries and keeping their integrity and intellectual presence strong. Alot of what becomes popular I think is pretty shallow and worthless though. I don't understand it. I guess some people just want to dance or party and not think about anything serious.

LARS: I appreciate the musicians that are stable in the business. That's one of the things I really admire about Brian Eno. He has done so many different things and hasn't become washed up by trying to do the same thing over and over again. Music is always evolving into new and different things. I hate to classify us as doing one specific style and have people expect that from us for the rest of our careers.

14) What are your next plans? Do you intend to invade Europe with a club-tour in the next period of time?

LEIF: We've never been to Europe and would love to do some shows there and meet some of the people we've talked to over the internet, and see the countries. Unfortunately that's a bit beyond our ability right now, but we'll see. We haven't worked on any new Oneiroid Psychosis music for quite awhile, so we want to get going on that, and COP International has been very enthusiastic about Signal 12, so it's inspired us to write some more material for a follow-up album next year.

LARS: I think we would like to evolve Signal 12 more. It's a project we haven't taken too seriously until COP international signed us. They've breathed new life into that project. We also have a new Oneiroid Psychosis album out entitled "Garden of Remembrance" that we want to promote, and we've created an new web page promoting all our projects. It would be great to tour Europe with both projects. We'll see what happens.

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Electroage

What is the meaning of "Signal 12"?

Signal 12 is a police code meaning there's a dead body on the scene.

How did you find your name?

We often watch a tv show called "Cops," and in one episode the policeman found a corpse at the crime scene, and called it in as a "signal 12."

What were the other choices you had?

We knew right away that Signal 12 would be the name, so we didn't really consider anything else.