Snuff Pop Inc.

Infobox musical artist
Name = Snuff Pop Inc


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Background = group_or_band
Alias = SPI
Origin = Copenhagen Denmark
Genre = Alternative rock
Years_active = 1997—present
Label = Liquid Records
Associated_acts = Mozart Khadaffi
URL = [http://www.snuffpopinc.net snuffpopinc.net]
Current_members = Ant Mozart Khadaffi Max Funk Sonic Red Ochre
Past_members = Kristoffer Høeg Jesper Staustrup Steffen Andersen
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Snuff Pop Inc. (commonly abbreviated as SPI), is a four-piece Danish pioneer Alternative rockband from Copenhagen formed in the spring of 1997 by [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0432964/ Chris Juris] , Jesper Staustrup, Benjamin Funk and Kristoffer Høeg.

Background

The first step towards Snuff Pop Inc as a concept was made by the singer Ant (Chris Juris) already in 1991 when he made the initial material, this a short while after the breakup with his former creation, the rock band President Fetch. In 1992 Ant invents the name Snuff Pop Inc. which to begin with is the title of a project in which the music enters into various contexts, such as performances and film music.

Band members

Snuff Pop Inc. as a band was fully formed in 1997. Lead singer Ant (aka [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0432964/ Chris Juris] ) became acquainted with the bass player Jaev (aka Jesper Staustrup) in 1996 and the guitar player Kristoffer was implicated in the project this year, too. In 1997 Max Funk (aka Benjamin Funk) became the drummer of the band. In 2000 Kristoffer decided to leave the band and was replaced by Steff (Steffen Andersen). In the end of 2002 Steff and Jaev leave the band to engage in their own projects, and are replaced in the spring of 2003 by Red Ochre (aka Anders Rathmann) on bass and Sonic (aka Thomas Buchwald) on guitar. This lineup has remained in force ever since.

The music style

The music and lyrics are composed by Ant in keeping with the concept as initially devised. The concept forms the basis of the overall expression of the band, i.e., instrumentation, composition, lyrics and staging. In addition to the analog instruments (bass, guitar, drums and vocal) the final and equally significant part consists in an expanse of sample- and synth sounds arranged by Ant, embracing all from industrial sounds to musical instruments, orchestral as well as synthetic. These digital and analog parts play an equally dominating role in the arrangements. The overall result is a wide and well-developed musical panorama, developing a style that the band, inspired by a review, calls Warped Industrial. In concert the synth- and sample-arrangements are executed from a hard disk recorder, controlled by Max Funk playing to a metronometrack in headsets from the hard disk.

Ant's compositional background originates from classical music as well as popular music, consequently the band's compositional reference, albeit it in a rather hidden way, lies in the classical field. However, it is difficult to place Snuff Pop Inc. within one certain category of style. Still, it isn't difficult to recognize their characteristic genre, once introduced. Fundamental to the band is the theatrical line of approach by which the musical elements at times illustrate and exemplify the contents of the lyrics, characteristic of musicals and film music. In terms of harmony and form the compositions don't allow of any marked definition of genre. But the band is frequently placed in alternative genres such as Industrial and so-called Alternative rock - an educated but not adequate reference. The independent genre and characteristic stage show may provide comparisons with bands like Marilyn Manson, T. Rex, Foetus and Mr. Bungle. These comparisons can be slightly useful.

The name and concept

The internally contradictory name Snuff Pop Inc. derives from an ambiguous analogy between snuff porn and pop mainstream. Hence, the name is a contraction of the names of the two institutions. The analogy consists in the view of the pop star as a product of a business mainstream industry, exploiting and suppressing the free creative will that ends up being subjugated by a greedy media apparatus. The majority of the mortal stars we follow in the Media never last long as they are pressed by the industry to the limit of their own abilities in order to maintain success, and therefore get burned out after a comparatively short while. So the term 'snuff' in relation to the band is only employed in a figurative sense to express a critical dissociation from the commercial exploitation of the creative artist, and has nothing to do with the urban legend referred to as snuff films.

Industry versus creativity is the leitmotif and the guideline of the concept, rubbing off on the compositions to a certain extent. Snuff Pop Inc. is voyeuristic exhibitionism / exhibitionistic voyeurism in an Information Age in which the highest desirable state is in the part of the exhibitionist (celebrity) paid and adored by the voyeuristic audience. Taken to its logical conclusion all managers are pimps. The concept is a reaction towards our introspective self-contemplation through the stars that represent us as the lay figures we are for any given product that the business world wants to sell to us!

Concerts

Snuff Pop Inc. debuted by warming up for the well-known American band Christian Death in the spring of 1999 hereby obtaining exposure to a big audience. In relation to Christian Death's musical affiliation with the Goth subculture, Snuff Pop Inc. was to some extent drawn into this category, not least because of their outwardly theatrical appearance, which undoubtedly resounded in the Danish Goth subculture at the time, however little the musical style belongs in the Goth genre. The most recent tour abroad took place in Germany 2003, where the band was touring with [http://www.kiew.org/ Kiew] among other bands in several cities.

Discography

* "Promotion", 1998 (demo)
* " [http://www.findlyrics.com/snuff_pop_inc_/album_for_the_love_of_pig_brother For the Love of Pig Brother] ", 2000 (demo)
* "Session", 2001 (demo)
* "Want Candy?", 2003 (demo)

External links

* [http://www.snuffpopinc.net/ Official website]
* [http://www.mymusic.dk/redaktion/artikel.asp?id=1137 The making of the Snuff Pop Inc. sound (Danish)]
* [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0432964/ IMDB The Internet Movie Database for Chris Juris]
* [http://vidsearch.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=23183657 MySpaceTV: The Elixir Of Life (music video)]