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warcom media
does warcom media really need an introduction? it seems to me that anyone familiar with the goings-on of extreme music should already be familiar with this infamous label. if you have not yet been introduced to warcom then be prepared to witness the embodiment of total independent thought and decide for yourself why so many people waste their time with meaningless labels. what follows is a conversation with label founder, beau. he really is a nice guy.
q. when and why was warcom media formed and who are the founding members?
a. warcom media formed in 1994 because everyone was too cool to have anything to do with me and i needed a label. w.m. was nothing but a hobby for a couple of years, then i formalized it into a sole proprietorship. i'm the only founding member and the only current member. friends and family have been supportive, but i've had to do most everything myself.
q. would you mind explaining your views on race, culture, and humanity in general?
a. too many people, especially in our underground niche, seem to find it easy idealizing these concepts, turning them into something pure, absolute. too many people are into hiding behind the ridiculous lies they create. these concepts are only meaningful to me when understood personally. i think it's cool when someone takes an interest in heritage and investigates the past, where he or she came from. how you came to be who you are fascinates me. this is where race has meaning, in the search of lineage, the bonds of blood, of genes. as a social construct, it only interests me in how it's used by various groups to manipulate sympathy or anger. playing the race card. this is where race becomes meaningless, yet it's used in a pitifully canny way to cajole hundreds of millions of dollars into the fat pockets of our world's fomentors of hate. race becomes a bizarre fantasy land, fantasy manipulated into an industry. as for culture, i live in silicon valley, perhaps the most mixed-culture setting on the face of the earth, and it's fucking incredible. i love it here. i see no reason to fear or worry about anyone or anything. i don't feel threatened that some old-fashioned, uber-valued way of life is being annihilated. i don't need to be surrounded by like-minded people with the same lifestyle and cultural habits. there's a suspect insecurity in people who need homogeneity. if your strength of character comes from safety in numbers, well, there's no way about it: you've got no strength of character! as for humanity, life itself (yes, even human life!) is beyond amazing. from a very early age i was blown away by the sense of just being alive. but, coming from that perspective, from a very early age i've been extremely frustrated. it's painfully rare that i've met anyone who appreciates life. i could never understand why so many ungrateful people exist, lifelessly shuffling through their days, only looking forward to the next pathetic episode of whatever lowly personal sitcom they've framed their lives in. so i read books. lots of books written by life-filled but usually long dead men and women. books seemed to be the only place to find anyone with sensitivity. outside of books, humanity for the most part inspired disgust. when i started warcom, that disgust flourished. but there's nothing to be done about the state of humanity, so i've come to accept people's limitations, and just get on with things as best i can. how i feel about humanity doesn't matter. through w.m., though, i've met a good bunch of people who do appreciate life deeply, the best friends of my life-so the sincerity of my disappointment attracted beauty. humanity-it's not healthy to take it too seriously.
q. did you expect to become as notorious as you are today? do you believe that any publicity is good publicity or have you been offended by certain comments concerning the group?
a. i never thought anyone would pay much attention to me and w.m. it's a very tiny niche. i was pretty much just having fun, mostly just venting my frustrations. i hadn't done anything with the idea of making money-that just wasn't a concern of mine, which is where i differed from most. most liked to play with ideas, call it art, then sell it off. pimps selling off their ideals like whores. i wasn't playing that game. maybe it got out of hand. i heard about a big guy in the scene refusing an interview with a zine because i was mentioned in the salutations. and then distributors started warning people not to have anything to do with me, threatening labels. i was being screwed. and why? because i wasn't playing their game. i started saying rougher and rougher things, usually out of spite and frustration, sometimes just to piss people off, just to enjoy the shock. but, you know, these guys really are more deeply into the things they shunned me for. they enjoy obfuscation. i honestly don't care who you are, what the hell you make love to, how you live, what you think. what can i say? you see, when these eurotrash, especially in britain, started giving me trouble, hell, i called 'em out, said i couldn't wait to kick their sissy asses, said uglier things. years later, they apparently still can't quite forget me. i really don't know about whether any publicity is good, but i do know it's nice to have the luxury to associate with whomever i choose, regardless. and it's liberating to allow myself the freedom to say whatever i want, whenever i want, to whoever i want. no ass kissing here. the bottom line is: if you have integrity, no matter what you believe or do, you'll have no problem with me or w.m. as time passes, more and more people are finding that i actually am a fair and fun person to do business with. it pays to ignore the naysayers, to find out for yourself.
q. please explain the ideology behind the new wave revolution.
a. for the definitive answer, you'd have to ask robert x. patriot, mr. swankitude himself. the only revolution i'd like to see is a revolution of sincerity. ideology does nothing for me. but i do see the new wave revolution as a positive encouragement of cats and chicks to the hep, as an alternative to the nowheresville of ideology itself.
q. have there been many problems with getting distributors to carry your first cd release, the compilation "men among mice"?
a. not that i'm aware of, because going into it i knew none would carry it! by the time it came out, i'd already become the black sheep of the extreme music niche. a few did approach me and pick it up, but i didn't make an effort to push it on any.
q. are you in contact with charles manson or james mason and was it easy getting them to agree to be on the disc?
a. i used to write mr. mason when he did his first prison stint. just, "how's it going?", "what are you up to?" letters. he was very much enthused about recording for warcom media, often giving up his tiny allotment of prison phone time to get things done. i've never written charles manson. white devil inc. was very accommodating, providing the tracks for "men among mice" and the very soon to (finally!) be released "plan 8 from outer space".
q. would you mind telling about some of the projects that warcom releases and distributes?
a. i especially like to work with new people who are just getting started, people excited about just getting things done. generally, i involve w.m. with people and works that reflect fearless individualism.
q. what can people expect from you in the future? any new robert x. patriot material or collaborations in the vein of the atrax morgue/white wolf rrradio cassette?
a. lots of new rxp and warcom (the musical project) will be coming out on cd and cd-r. projects outside the current w.m. realm are picking up, more collaborations and that sort of thing. noise and more musical material. expect ever more eclecticism.
q. i'm afraid i'm out of questions. would you care to say anything in closing or recommend a good terrorist group to join?
a. if anyone's interested in terrorism, the best terrorist groups have always been aligned with the state. batf, fbi, or any of the innumerable federal enforcement agencies would be a smart terrorist career decision. where else can you go to destroy lives with impunity? if that's a little too intense for you, the adl, jdl, or the southern poverty law center would also be smart choices for the safer, hipper, thought-control style terrorist. if you don't want to be part of group terrorism, then as newsman scoop nisker used to say, "go out and make some of your own." if you really want to change the world though, i'd say take a cooking class and invite some friends over sometime to show off your new skills. have a good time and, best of all, chat about personal things. it's as simple as that.
contact: po box 1175, san jose, ca 95108, usa
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