Atari Teenage Riot have spoken of their love of designer labels, claiming that fashion is often more exciting than music.
Returning earlier this year, Atari Teenage Riot reminded fans of their explosive past. With their uncompromising sound and anti-Capitalist stance, the band once caused a full blown riot at a show in Germany.
Dressed in black, Atari Teenage Riot would seem to be the much needed antidote to corporate, brand-led rock. Yet in a new interview leader Alec Empire heaps praise on designer labels.
“Some of our fans would kill me for saying this, but I find that fashion is way more exciting than the music scene. Designers take risks, most musicians can’t” he told Dazed Digital.
“When I go to the Comme des Garcons store in Paris, I have ideas for 10 new songs. I love what Hedi Slimane did for Dior. Ann Demeulemeester… Alexander McQueen… Vivienne Westwood pieces work well on stage.”
Continuing, the singer spoke of his concern at fashion overwhelming the message his band is trying to give. “It is important that the audience doesn’t pay too much attention to what I wear, or it immediately takes away from the ‘musical credibility’. In our time if you look bad and have a beard, people assume you’re a genius. I’d never give into that marketing approach.”
Elsewhere, Alec Empire also reminisced about the time he record an album with Bjork – in a tent. “I recorded the album ‘Low On Ice’ in Iceland in a tent in the nineties when we played there with Björk. It was freezing. Certain places make you create in a different way, if you’re open to it.”
Finishing, the singer outlined his latest areas of concern. “The most obvious one is Obama’s politics. CX is perfect to criticize what goes on in the US. It is not as simple as it is often covered in the media” he said.
“Important issues are cyberwars, sex in the internet age, human trafficking, the concept of government, nation states in a globalized world, and the death of the mainstream music industry.”
