by John Ganiard

Wiggpaw: Skarekrauradio started off as loosely as a cassette-recording project using a standard portable battery powered monaural cassette recorder. My friends and me would goof around on it and make up songs mainly to humor ourselves. We were not musicians but we has a Casio keyboard and a crappy electric guitar, so since we were not old enough to go out to most of the clubs or bars we would bust these out and write up crude ideas and execute a horrible songs sitting in a circle with the recorder in the middle. Some were pretty funny and painfully weird. Sometimes we would just have the recorder with us as we went out and taped ambient sounds or fucked up conversations with strangers or even us running down a sidewalk laughing at each other. We made friends doing this along the way and eventually some of us decided to make a more traditional formatted rock band. It came down to three of us and we still had no decent instruments. Somehow one of us found an ad for drums, bass, and a few other things that was being sold from a band called “perfect strangers.” We borrowed a small hatchback in the dead of winter 1988 with our feet going numb along the way and bought it all for around 50 bucks. I used the same crappy guitar, Eric played the bass, and Joe played the drums and since Eric had some experience as a lead singer in the band previously he was designated the leader of the band. We called it “scarecrow radio” and it was unbearably schizophrenic in nature due to different interests in style but we managed to create quite a few songs over the three plus years together.

We released two official cassettes and one unofficial, even made a music video but never played live. Somewhere during this I bought a Tascam cassette 4-track and worked on my own sounds. This stuff was low fidelity adventures of found objects, atonal disfigured folk guitar playing, and submerged franticly hurried or sluggishly mumbled vocals. Later I found more enjoyment doing my own monstrosities than playing with Joe and Eric and early 1992 I was no longer in scarecrow radio as a band, but both fractions kept the name going both releasing cassettes under scarecrow radio. Eric dropped the name and went on to form Motion Picture, Joe moved to London, and I moved to Chicago. This is when Skarekrauradio found it’s calling and transformation. On a CTA bus coming home from working at the Adler Planetarium with my buddy Ultrafox of Strawberry. We were both guards there. I was telling him about a band I played in a year or so earlier called scarecrow radio but while I was telling him the name of the band I sneezed and a golden yellow mist collapsed out my mouth like lava out an erupted volcano. It engulfed the both of us. It was kinda fucked up. But then when I came out of that shock I realized when I said scarecrow radio it came out because of this crazy sneeze as “skarekrauradio.” I looked over at Ultrafox and he was on the floor of the bus pissing himself and crying. His hands were grasping alternatively at nothing and he was kicking his feet in the air, and all I could imagine is his tiny pink anus grotesquely winking at me. That is when I first saw the eye of Kuu. It was then I knew what I had to do. I knew music was and is the only way to effect people in ways only masturbation could. I needed to start a rock and roll band. But the band needed a good name. I thought of many but nothing came to me, so I went back to what I said on the bus as I sneezed. When that wet golden mist pushed its way out my mouth. Skarekrauradio man, what about that? When one brakes up skarekrauradio it means (taken from many different languages from many worldly cultures) “dangerous forehead of the sun god.” “Krau” in Inuit means “forehead” which can be referred to as having great knowledge. In many places in the world throughout time the sun is god’s eye looking down at us doing whatever shit. So it can be translated as “dangerous knowledge of the eye god” - a one eyed god with great knowledge emitting dire warnings for our mortal human kind while we just sit around and doing whatever watching TV yelling at the kids. I knew by spelling “Scare” with a “K” it would attract the attention of the young peoples. I knew it was the final piece to the grafting the band name that will take off! I was pounding on my desk in my apartment on Division Street and shaking hideously. I ripped my clothes off and stripped down to Kuu!! That was when I first heard Kuu speak to me.

Kuu told me long ago that I was chosen to be in a group called scarecrow radio just for me to sneeze when I said it thus releasing Kuu from my primordial mind of insectoids out my mouth thus my being. Kuu now tapped into my mind, can translate it’s words. Kuu said others will join and follow, but of course all the members of skarekrauradio were chosen by Kuu in similar ways. But we all knew we had to get Kuu’s warnings out in the form of a sound orb which we call “warning orbs.” Warning Orbs is how we as a people of Kuu can warn the masses of the vast insectination of our being. A giant funnel surrounds us all at all times waiting to guide us into a blissful state of submission where we accept and forget the most horrible crimes catered by our national leaders. As an insect would die for a queen, the most profound state of governmental devolution. When one finds Kuu you accept this funnel and learn to fill this deformity of logic with the natural healings of love and unity. It's simple really, care beyond self. Our sect creates an orb of sound in hopes to shatter the minds to boldly give a shit. We thought forming a rock band would be a good way to connect with younger people.

Our future is our leaders desire, so we hope we will become commercially viable enough to perform Warning Orbs to the largest of youth markets. Some say we are a brood of non-talents, but we do know about currents of image and cool. When we perform a Warning Orb we dress in our very best and most expensive worship garments and having spent many hours working out at the YMCA we look attractive and desirable. We rehearse everyday on our musical riffs that we repeat endlessly so we never mess up on stage. Its a gruelingly slow process but very, very effective. I think we are connecting with people. To know Kuu is to be Kuu. At first we would play music that was hip at the time..except we could not play our instruments, but gradually over time we threw out this game and went with the vibrations of Kuu’s being and what you hear now is just that. It is the most comfortable way to play music for us so our influence is Kuu and we are all Kuu , thus in turn you for instance would have as much influence on our music as any band throughout time.

WP: The web site involves mostly of what is happening today in the sect. I left out the early “scarecraow radio” releases and a couple small run “skarekrauradio” releases from the site since they were not readily available. Most of that stuff, including the very early monaural cassette recordings can be found on “Clogs” which was a box set of three cassettes and a book that was self released in 2002 which in itself is out of print now. Today, we have a lot more support from the likes of Cave’s Cooper Crain who recorded and released our split LP with Columbia's Jerusalem and the Starbaskets and the “One Eyed Swine is Queen” CD under a blanket moniker “Real Reel.” He has been an amazing person for us. Cooper is the inspirations for having releases come out more regularly, at least getting us in the mind set of having something new out every year. He also got us involved with Apop records, which helped with distribution and gave us more confidence to continue. Apop even re-released some of our earlier work like the “Feel Pee EP” which is one of my favorite recordings which ironically was recorded on a cassette 4-track as a band and not just my noodling. Really, before Cooper came along, we were releasing everything ourselves and it was hard to do so. I have and the band has always made music and did our warning orbs, but until Cooper came along, we didn’t release much inspirational documentation. Kuu gave us Cooper as Cooper gave us our interpretation of Kuu for the masses.

WP: I mentioned that I have been in and out because there was a hiatus in the mid-1990’s which I myself was not playing warning orbs to pursue learning experience with other bands. This was an exploratory time for me. Before this, my warning orbs were a solo act where I borrowed a drum machine and used tapes to play along with my guitar and singing. Besides playing in the more conventional scarecrow radio, I didn’t have much knowledge of playing with others. Kuu’s teachings is complex so I needed to find others with vast musical backgrounds to emulate this complexity. So yes, it’s a more free and loose kind of mind-set with Skarekrauradio…so I needed to learn to play music as a freedom than just a musical self-indulgent outlet. I was involved with Chicago’s Strawberry, which was a great inspiration as far as attitude and execution of the live experience. I played in Cheerleader, which taught me to play live with vindication that led me to meet many of the Skarekrauradio’s members and contributors today. I learned the pleasure of improvisation from playing with Nondor Nevai and Sasha Tai in my stint with Hatewave. Then later reached a great state of free freakness within the improv with playing with the likes of Josh Vance and Lee Issecson in various projects. I worked with many people and many projects during that time, and it all led to moving back into playing Skarekrauradio with the confidence I needed to do warning orbs with other like minded individuals, so in the late 1990’s, a Chicago area Skarekrauradio came about with folks who were involved in the early cassette recordings. Then after meeting my wife Rainbow, relocated to St. Louis in 1999 where we assembled Skarekrauradio Tempora Kuu sect which evolved in what it is today – a vehicle to warn the masses of the ways of the insectoid and in hopes to live on the fabled land of Mt. Zoovious which is our nirvana if you will. In this respect, it is more than a band, but like any band, it’s there to attract attention to itself, which is the best way in my mind, to influence the people.

WP: Basically the creative process is us lying on our backs on the floor is circular fashion with our heads making the “core” of the circle and our feet the outer “rim” of the circle. Kuu appears above our collective heads and we all understand Kuu in our minds. Kuu then teaches us the way to Mt. Zoovious and how it would be like to be part of this fabled state. It is then we are told we must complete our time on planet earth to release it from the ancient and harsh stranglehold the insectoidian mind has on our being. Then maybe we will be free. Maybe then the earth’s people can evolve. These things that our told to us become fodder for our songs. So none of us actually write Skarekrau songs, they are presented to us. We then have to translate to make others understand, to make us understand. We only wear our contemporary ceremonial outfits when we play live. We have members who spend many hours making them. We can only wear them once and then they are burned. We cannot have the insecoidian mind make any coherent way to follow us; we do this to confuse them. This is the same as our Warning Orbs where they are different every time. So individually and collectively we are expressive uniquely. No body in the band tells what the others should do at any time. It is not Kuu to limit an individual’s expressive and creative input in the band. This has led to very interesting developments in our recordings and Warning Orbs. We find ourselves enacting plays and skits, conducting sermons, and making film that is propagates our religion if you will. Most bands don’t need this sort of over reaching expression, but for us, it’s a necessity.

WP: Oh yes, St. Louis is great for anyone doing music. Like any city, there are many different types of music styles within and they form collectives if you will that play with each other and help and promote each other. But unlike many smaller cities, there is a broader sense of musical community that seems to transcend any sort of style. This is great because it helps bands get a larger range of audience where some folks would come for one type of band and while there see a band they never seen before of a very different sort. Also it keeps from having the same bands play with each other all of the time. This is nice because it keeps shows less homologous and silly. Also many of the folks booking shows are people who are also in bands, and this helps a lot due to the catering to a band’s needs. I’m not too familiar with many of the local labels, only that most of them tend to sign bands within the city or the metro-east (IL). Apop is more of an international and very eccentric label signing all kinds of different styles from Duchesses to Jerusalem and the Starbaskets. I think we are as of this interview is the only St. Louis band other than the Beatoffs to have material on it’s label, and they have been able to get our recordings out to places all over. As a store and venue, they are very accommodating and a huge asset to the music community and the community in general.

WP: This is mixed, like any religious sect, we have a either you love us or don’t understand us kinda relationship with the locals. We have people who follow us to any show we do anywhere in the city no matter how we perform and those who can’t stand the thought of seeing spasmodic preaching in the nude. Our shows can be so different from the next that some will be disappointed if we don’t play the way it was perceived positively the time before. We evolve in to many different branches that I think some might find hard to follow consistently. We are free mass psychogenic rock and it’s not for everyone, yet we feed on those who come to our warning orbs. We react to the mood and energy of a collective audience to the point where the spectators guide the show. We play many of the same songs from orb to orb, but I think they can sound so much different due to how much the audience sets it’s boundaries. The more free the people the more free we’ll be. As a place physically located, we were summoned here by our God Kuu for Mt. Zoovious is under the Mississippi river just east of St. Louis. Then again that’s a pretty broad area as it is an obvious one, so being in Tempora IL is an optimal place. Tempora can't be found on any map since dimensionally it does not exist. It's there but for only those who feel it. Tempora Heights however can be found on most local Illinois road maps. We never leave Tempora unless we reach Mt. Zoovious. Our bodies may travel anywhere in search for the lost souls of the insectoid. It is our passage to help those away from the funnel of insectation. We use rock music and trek the world to create warning orbs to spread the word of Kuu. But we are always in Tempora. We never forget that its not far from Mt. Zoovious. It will rise from the river.

Mr. Curious: The latter! Most of the band members live in St Louis now. Wiggpaw did take me to a place he called UFO ROAD on the east side once. Maybe that was an inspiration for him. Certainly, living in the suburbs must engender a strong sense of the whole insectoid way of life!

Elmochitree: we're just here in my mind. some days it feels like a cultural void. the midwest is hardly known for being progressive, and there are few exceptions here. however, when you live in a place like this (instead of say brooklyn nyc) you have less camaraderie and an "us against the world" mentality begins to develop. kuu is mighty, but there are few supporters here on earth, as a result we've taken up the cross of being mind fucking freaks in an attempt to jolt people from their glazed state.

WP: Playing in Skarekrau has taken it’s toll on my personal life just as any religion might I guess. It became an obsession where everything became 2nd in my life. This included my family, work, and other personal functions like pooping and eating. I am very grateful that my wife had not left me taking the kids with her. To give an example, I would worry so much that I might not be able to perform a Warning Orbs due to Illness I developed a Howard Hughes like persona of insulating myself and my family from germs. It drove my family nuts. I have been going to counseling to correct this and other obsessive compulsive disorders Skarekrau gave me. …I know now that if Kuu does not want a particular Warning orb to happen, Kuu will strike me or others in the sect with a malady so great that we would have to forgo the teachings for that evening. This is part of the path, and I have accepted this.

Mr. Curious: Well, it's only central in that it gets me to travel more and play more and go out and meet people! It's a sporadic thing. Practice once a week if you're lucky. But it's close to everyone's hearts I'm sure. It's a unique experience as far as performing is concerned so it has a pleasure all it's own.

Elmochitree: we are with Kuu the creator at all times.

WP: Warning Orbs have a greater impact on the masses than our recordings do, thus I think our focus when we rehearse is for just that. Basically we bring Kuu into the space we are performing. Events change day to day in our world, so we react and formulate our teaching in such a way that the audience can relate. Recordings are a document of a set time and a set space...When we document our teachings it's in fact a Warning Orb being recorded. All of our recordings with the sect is live sort of speak. We are very fortunate to have fine documentarians take their time with wonderful results at mostly no cost to the sect to record bountiful impressions of our Warning Orbs.

Mr. Curious: Warning Orbs is what it comes down to, that's when the chocolate-soaked panties hit the whirling fan blades! At the end of the day, you're just a witch doctor trying to perform emergency therapy on some audience. The recordings r just something to sell and a vehicle for communication, a trophy of something chaotic channeled into something slightly less chaotic. But the band originated in recordings and that sense of imagination one gets listening to a recording are true to the bands name: RAdio. In the show however, nothing is left to the imagination and one might see: my foxy phallus receiving digitalis, for instance!

Elmochitree: the focus is to destroy this place.

WP: I’d say our message is effectively and strategically compelling enough to keep most of the youth from being put off by having the love of Kuu being inserted in to them. Those who may not are likely to have no problems with the inane social laws designed only to keep us consuming useless shit and to narrow the competition of those who profit from the useless shit. But, a typical gathering at our Warning Orbs is many people focused on a dream of Kuu together as one organic compound ejected on to the love self pleasure...yes?

Mr. Curious: There might be that reaction at first. But the band's mood is infectious and it's message easy for hip audiences to embrace, being a very camp, tongue-in-cheek message having to do with religious messiahs etc. which has been oft in vogue since the sixties and whose ultimate directive is total hedonism! So it is something people already want anyway.

Elmochitree: there are typically both those who have been/are being converted, and those who don't know what to make of a warning orb ceremony. most of the latter happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. but many who never thought they'd encounter anything like it are forever changed, whether they realize it or not.

WP: We are all Kuu no matter how Kuu we are.

Mr. Curious: Certain members such as backing singers or instrumentalists tend to rotate more. There is generally a more or less solid band, eight people at this point! Sometimes ex band members or honoraries might appear, if they are in town or vice versa. I used to be one of these. We all have transitory lives so the rotation of people onstage reflects this. It's not written in stone like the fab four!

Elmochitree: kuu is no repressive regime, members of the sect are free to carry on lives away from the group when they must. In many ways this is an advantage as members often engage in mission work while away. spreading the message.Once a member is initiated he/she can never be ousted. this makes the process of adding new members very selective. All sect members who can attend a warning orb are welcome to perform at their own will.

WP: Members of the sect made musical impressions of our documentation of Kuu's teachings and transformed them as propaganda imagery. The trailer you speak of was created by an "organzanational-incorporated" digital video industry "Porksword Productions." They were the force behind most of the video work you saw in the document "Irreal me." One of those is of an equity influential merit, "Lepers TV" which is currently working on an unofficial doc follow up of "Naugacide." Naugacide being the only official video documentation in our natural element outside of Warning Orbs has become a standard in academia in the science behind cult activity and police/state response. Those at Porksword are currently under investigation by the FBI so I can no longer tell you about Naugacide or the trailer...only that it's the next film by Porksword and it's called "Grandeur."