Your last album, especially its last song "Thanks For Everything" has
already been some kind of farewell. Is "When I'm Dead" the definitely final
one (as for Dismantled)?

Yes, I think at this point this is definitely the closer. Mainly because the
label Dependent is closing and Metropolis has passed on carrying the album.
I'm used to writing albums when there's a record label involved. Frankly, my
motivation for getting this done was to have a last "bang" for Dependent.
The way it's looking right now, I doubt I will get enough interest from
another record label. And quite honestly, this is healthy for me right now
because it forces me to focus my talent on other projects. I kept releasing
albums on Metropolis and Dependent hoping something would happen and
realized that I was just digging a hole for myself. It's like working a dead
end job. There's people with a million times my passion and energy although
less talented that keep this scene going by constantly touring, interacting,
and making themselves known because it is all they have in their life. I
feel like I have more to offer than just that. So let those people take over
and get what they deserve while I exit quietly.

The opener "Start Digging" seems to me like the central track on "When I'm
Dead". What is it all about? To me it sounds like a final statement about
Dismantled.. Do you really see Dismantled as an obsolete machine?

I think the frame of mind where Dismantled comes from is an obsolete frame
of mind. The same way that Dependent nurturing artists and promoting them in
a traditional sense wasn't enough for them to stay open. It's just not
enough anymore. I can even quote Stefan as saying that Dismantled is one of
the more original bands in the scene right now and that people just don't
want to hear anything new.

Your last album was no huge success in the US. Did this surprise you? I
mean, you've always said "Standrad Issue" was some kind of an ironic release
to show people how superficial they are and their musical taste is! So didn't
you get the comeuppance you could have expected?

Dependent actually promoted the album in Europe and got sales from it.
Metropolis, being a distributor, just put it out without any promotion and
expected it to float. I guess it is my fault that I didn't promote it myself
in the US like I should of but Dismantled is not the kind of band that
promotes itself just through image-- it actually takes more than that for
people to realize what it is. Dependent did its homework in that regard and
Metropolis just didn't care. And that's fine because I feel that trying to
please Metropolis is just unhealthy for my creativity. It's like trying to
explain to medieval people that the earth isn't flat and there's more to it
than the one-bit acts they're so good at promoting. Show me a creative /
dynamic band on Metropolis that's RECENT, succesful AND that changed their
sound over time? I dare you!

Did this force your decision to concentrate more on Aerodrone and NNN?

Definitely. I didn't want to be stuck in the same well as Dismantled so I
started branching out. Aerodrone at least appeals to a bigger market. It is
more of a challenge to appeal to the populace than to a small scene.

"When I'm Dead" sounds very calm and not that bombastic to me. More like a
introverted and even resigning album. When you look upon the whole history
of Dismantled, would you today say, Dismantled has failed?

I once had a dream about a death that was perhaps the most realistic feeling
I'd get-- as if I was really in that situation. I was walking through a
sidewalk while the "Walk" signal was blinking and there was construcion work
nearby. The construction continued, some machine started moving while I was
walking and somehow while I was crossing the sidewalk I got trapped in its
path. It kept winding around me until I realized that I was in a small space
and was going to get crushed by the machine. I thought to myself "Wow, this
is so senseless, I am just going to get crushed by this machine. What a
meaningless death." And then I felt my body tense up, as in defense, and the
thing just smashed me. And I woke up in a sweat and realized that that would
be just like a real death. So in a way, "When I'm Dead" is that kind of a
fantasy, of me venturing out there and trying to succeed when all of a
sudden, something goes wrong and I die. Not because I tried so hard to do
something and failed but because someone just forgot to put warning signs or
cones around the trap that I call stagnance. It's not trying to be a concept
album, or a huge statement, it just kind of resigns itself to the fact that
change / death is the only thing that governs me.

I wouldn't say Dismantled failed. I think bands that fail don't impress
anyone. I think I succeeded critically with Dismantled because otherwise the
likes of Combichrist, VNV Nation, Wumpscut, or Haujobb would have no
interest in acknowledging me. But the fact of the matter is that all of
those bands did acknowledge me in some form. Daniel Myer helped me out with
my WGT show and let him stay with me, VNV Nation and Combichrist guestlisted
me, Wumpscut let me do remixes for him. I got pretty good critical reviews
of my album. But on the other hand, I have sold consistently less on
Metropolis because this critical acclaim does not equal sales. Writing the
same album over and over, however, does equal sales and for some reason, I
wasn't blessed with the gift of public accessiblity. My loss!

In our last interview you said: " I can do everything anyone does ten times
better and still feel like whatever I'm doing is a total joke. And that's
the basis for my new album and my new personality. I love it!" Do you still
see "When I'm Dead" as a product of this intention?
And how would you describe your new personality?

I feel that I am in some ways "too wide" in my interests and talents when it
comes to music because I don't know many artists who can pull off doing an
indie rock band and a completely different genre of music like Dismantled.
And I still agree with the "ten times better" statement although that's
actually the flaw because everything that I choose to do that's simple still
goes over everyone's heads. If someone could cut off a part of my brain, I
would be content with myself enough to repeat my first album over and over
and make everyone happy. But fortunately or unfortunately, something in me
tells me to evolve. And that means whatever it may be. In this case, it's
getting ignored by the dark electro industrial masses and having a small
following with people who are intelligent enough to get what I'm doing.
Hopefully the road with my other projects will turn out different. I
honestly am a better fit for them than Dismantled since I don't have any
interest in industrial music, am not surrounded by people who listen to it,
and don't go to clubs that play it. It's really a joke to me how many people
think I am a certain person because of my music when I am completely not. So
many people out there are just completely defined by their image and music
and I am proud to be one of the few without that association.

You live in San Diego for nearly two years now!? How is living down there?
Better than in Oregon?

I can't say I love it but it's definitely better than Oregon. Oregon was the
whole reason I started Dismantled because I felt a void there. The void here
is gone and I can focus on different inspirations for my music. California
is big and stupid-- everything is covered with malls and parking lots and
freeways. But in my opinion, this is a more normal representation of human
society and I feel more comfortable in it. Oregon was just a green hole in
the ground covered with hippies, darkness, and stagnance.

I read your bulletin on myspace when you were searching for a keyboard for
the concert at the WGT. I saw your gig and how you treated your equipment.
What did the owner of the keyboard say when you brought him back his
destroyed synths?

I didn't destroy any synthesizers for the record. My own keyboardist did.
All that I did was break a mic stand and destroy a manequin that Daniel Myer
gave me. It was too tough to break fully, though, so the torso still resides
at Daniel Myer's house. The limbs were taken by various fans though.