E U N U C H

Eunuch was formed in or around April of 1999 in order to combat the useless so-called "serious" noise and experimental torch-bearers of today's music scene. Utilizing mostly records and field recordings, Steve Railey and Jordan Krall began creating engulfing phonography that continues to baffle those who try to comprehend. They have also accepted assistance from outsiders: Josh Frankel, a Godzilla fanatic who loves "Q"; and Dana Seymour, Jordan's dame who loves Grover, the Muppet Show and The Joy Luck Club.
Mr. Krall and Mr. Railey are still etching along with their Eunuch activies as of May 2001 but also indulge in other projects and feats of fancy as they see fit.

Discography:
-"You Can Tune a Piano but you Can't Tune a Eunuch" C-60 (Childish)
-"Dancing on the Toilet of Love" C-30 (Temporary Ltd.)
-"The Aroma of Imodium" C-60 (Temporary Ltd.)
-"The King in Yellow" C-60 (Childish)
-"Black Ass Kilo" C-60 (Childish)
-"The Aroma of Imodium (reissue)" C-60 (Childish)
-"Million Dollar Slug Bait" C-60 (Childish)
-"Fiberglass Tiger (retrospective)" 5xC-60 (Childish/Hollywood Birthdeath)
-"The West End Girls and the Little Red Funeral Pyre" C-60 (Childish)
Coming Soon:
-"Holy Eunuch, Batman!" C-60 (Childish/Boy Wonder)
-"Untitled" split C-60 with Gefahrlich Madchen
-"Eunuch Goes to Hollywood" C-60 (Hollywood Birthdeath)
-"The Complete Black Ass Sessions" C-60 (Childish)
-"The I'm a Little Tea Pot Tour collection" 3xC-60 (Childish)
-"The Return of Black Ass" C-60 (Childish)

THIS INTERVIEW WAS TAKEN FROM THE CHILDISH zine, issue 1 of 2001.

Steve Railey and Jordan Krall have burst onto the music scene together like a pair of crazed monkeys, causing a fracas of phonography and fun. Under the guise of Eunuch, they are continually releasing interesting new facets in the world of experimental music. This interview was conducted at the Chili's Restaurant in East Brunswick, New Jersey and has been edited for length and content.

CHILD:What or who is Eunuch?
JORDAN: Eunuch is primarily Steve and me.
CHILD: When and why did Eunuch start?
JORDAN: I really honestly don't remember when. I know it was probably in late '98 or early '99. Most likely '98.
STEVE: It started as more of a "cut-up" type of thing. We didn't really think of phonography as our calling card until probably the "Million Dollar Slug Bait" cassette.
JORDAN: Yeah, and now that whole "King in Yellow" idea really cuts into the continuum of the Eunuch sound.
CHILD: Is that the release that's pretty much an hour of an insane laughing loop or something?
STEVE: Yeah, it barely changes. It wasn't made using a phonograph, either. It's a study in annoyance and after effects. I dare anyone to listen to the whole thing and stay the same.
JORDAN: (laughs) Heavy stuff.
CHILD: I feel more intellectual already. Now, you said Eunuch is primarily you two. Who else?
JORDAN: Sometimes my girlfriend, Dana. Sometimes a friend of ours, Josh, who really doesn't grasp the whole concept of what we're doing but he likes to help.
CHILD: So he's sort of like a groupie?
STEVE: (laughs) Yeah!
JORDAN: Nah, we can't get groupies..!
CHILD: Well, what have you two been listening to lately?
STEVE: Pere Ubu, Masonna, Devo, Cable Regime, Modest Mouse, Mountain Goats..
JORDAN: The Cramps, Wang Chung, Steely Dan, Frankie Goes to Hollywood, The Bassholes,
John Coltrane, the Halloween 3 soundtrack, Johnny Paycheck...
CHILD: Johnny Paycheck? Never heard of him..
JORDAN: He's good. His 1977 album, "Take this Job and Shove it" is a masterpiece.
CHILD: I see. Well...for curiosity's sake.. what are your favorite songs...and favorite albums?
STEVE: My favorite song is "Domino Dancing" by Pet Shop Boys. Favorite album is "Sports" by Huey Lewis.
JORDAN: My favorite song is "Rock the Casbah" by the Clash and my favorite album is.. uh.. I'd say the Halloween 3 soundtrack... or "Dancing on the Ceiling" by Lionel Richie.
CHILD: Wow, that's great.
JORDAN: I sense sarcasm.
CHILD: (clears throat) Okay, guys...what about bands you hate...?
STEVE: Pink Floyd!
JORDAN: Any band who's description includes the phrase "dark disturbing ambient". And those annoying noise idiots who are so preoccupied with being the harshest. I have a noise project....Antibody.....I'll tell you.. I perhaps don't do the harshest noise...but I like it and I think it's interesting. It pisses me off really when someone dismisses anyone's stuff because it's not "harsh" or just simply because they don't like it. It's like..they don't want to be considered "musicians"... so we can't judge the stuff like that... so they want to be "artists"... but the thing is.. you can't judge art by those kinds of standards. Ah, well. Anyway, those are the guys who'll have heart attacks by age 40. To heck with 'em!
CHILD: Okay...well then. Let's get back to Eunuch. Describe the sound.
STEVE: Basically we are involved in the art of phonography.
CHILD: Which is basically a fancy word for what?
JORDAN: Using records to make collages of sound. Interesting stuff. Often very relaxing.
STEVE: Annoying, too.
CHILD: What equipment do you use?
JORDAN: Most of the time a myriad of records, a phonography, microphone and it all goes into the four-track.
STEVE: Yeah and for people who think we use digital means or computers to make the loops, we don't. Everything is by hand or by chance. All loops are caused by us or by Sir Accident. And everything is recorded into an analog four-track. No digital.
CHILD: Very primitive.
STEVE: We've used guitars in the past, too.
JORDAN: Eww, yeah for one or two songs...in the beginning. I think it's on "The Aroma of Imodium".
CHILD: You don't like guitars?
JORDAN: Not for Eunuch. You know, the guitar being an erect phallic symbol and all.
CHILD: Gotcha. What do you have planned?
JORDAN: A few upcoming tapes, a sequel to "Black Ass Kilo". It's a soundtrack to a blaxploitation film. Um, a few other tapes, boxed sets.
STEVE: And then we'll split.
CHILD: Split?
JORDAN: Yeah and change to Eunuch III.
CHILD: Why? Are you German?
JORDAN: Shut up, Krautface.
STEVE: Jordan loves Halloween 3...hence the 3.
CHILD: Isn't that great. Speaking of movies... any favorites?
JORDAN: Halloween 3.
STEVE: Ransom, Multiplicity... Alone in the Dark.
JORDAN: Asylum of Satan, Breakdown, Escape from New York.
CHILD: Do they affect you musically?
JORDAN: Halloween 3 makes me happy and comfortable and that probably contributes. Sometimes I get inspired by it also...
STEVE: The movies just put me in a certain mood.
CHILD: How does Tom Atkins affect you musically?
JORDAN: He's my sole inspiration.
STEVE: What about Lionel Richie?
JORDAN: Yeah, him too.
CHILD: Now, what is this fascination with anti-diarrhea medicine? You seem to package a lot of Eunuch tapes in those boxes.
JORDAN: Actually a lot of Childish Tapes releases come that way. Mainly because I go through a lot of them and I figure I'd use the boxes for something. I have a problem with my stomach. It's worse in the morning when I'm getting ready for work. I've tried to stop it naturally with coconut macaroons and stuff but nothing really works. Usually I just go as much as I can and then pop 2 or 3 pills. Sometimes 4. My stomach pretty much dictates what I do. I cannot go somewhere if there isn't sufficient bathroom facilities. And I always carry baby wipes around with me along with the pills.
CHILD: To clean up the mess?
JORDAN: Yeah, I like to be fresh. I also powder my butt.
CHILD: You carry powder around with you?
JORDAN: No, not yet. But when I can, I powder it.
CHILD: Does that affect you musically?
JORDAN: It makes me less irritable.
STEVE: Which still doesn't say much.
CHILD: Oh, is Jordan difficult to work with?
STEVE: Well...
JORDAN: Son of a bitch!
CHILD: Why did you choose "Eunuch" as your name?
JORDAN: We just liked the look and sound. Honestly the meaning never played a part.
CHILD: I don't know what it means anyway..
STEVE: It means "death industrial" in German.
CHILD: Does it?
JORDAN: Yeah, it was the title track of an album by the seminal harsh death noise band Jeez Flacks. Incidentally they aren't around and haven't been heard from for a few years.
STEVE: They broke up after they saw that Whitehouse stole their act.
JORDAN: Yeah, Jeez Flacks' first single "You Really Don't Have to Say Excuse Me" sounds suspiciously similar to a Whitehouse track.
CHILD: Yes, it does. Someone call Peter Sotos.
STEVE: No, don't. He's scary.
JORDAN: And impotent.
STEVE: Really?
JORDAN: I'm guessin'...
CHILD: I don't think he is.
STEVE: How do you know? (giggles)
JORDAN: Is that you, Marc Almond?
CHILD: Yeah, funny. Let's go on. Any vinyl or CD releases planned?
STEVE: No. No one would invest in putting something out by us. No one would take that risk. We're too scandalous.
JORDAN: And we don't have the money to do it ourselves.
STEVE: Tapes are cheap. And can be recorded over.
JORDAN: I say we just save ourselves some trouble and just release blanks.
STEVE: I think someone did that.
JORDAN: I think it was the Gerogerigeenegeage..
STEVE: Yeah. They're German, right?
JORDAN: No, Chinese. No, I think...Korean. Yeah, Korean.
CHILD: What sort of person does Eunuch attract?
STEVE: I'd say a person who has patience and a sense of slight humour.
JORDAN: Slight humour and puns. Eunuch is a lot of times meditative, it's a kind of noise that you sit down and listen to with full attention. A lot of "experimental" or "noise" music is ambient in the fact that you can screw to it or clean your room. Eunuch is not like that. It's too demanding. And different everytime you listen to it. It needs your full attention.
CHILD: You're starting to sound like a noise star.
JORDAN: I'm not being pompous. Eunuch is interesting, humorous, fun and amusing. What more can you want?
STEVE: The thing is, it's not humorous like Cock ESP tries to be. Eunuch is more...slight, not all together. It's light-hearted and the mix and structure is humorous in the simplest sense.
JORDAN: We don't go out saying "okay, let's be funny" or "let's try to push the limit". I mean, we have no real points to make.
CHILD: Oh, I'm sorry, I thought you two were intellectuals.
STEVE: Oh, you must have us confused with Coil.
JORDAN: Or the Smiths.
CHILD: Do you guys have any favorite books or authors... or do you not read?
JORDAN: Um.. Confederacy of Dunces by Thomas Kennedy O'Toole, Thomas Hardy, A.E.Van Vogt, Joseph Conrad, Tolstoy, Irene's Cunt by Louis Aragon..
STEVE: Great and Secret Show by Clive Barker, Jack Vance, Jean Genet, Georges Bataille, William Burroughs. The Fountainhead.
CHILD: Do any of those affect you musically?
STEVE: No, not at all.
JORDAN: No, of course not.
CHILD: How long does it take to record?
JORDAN: It depends on our schedule. If we have time, we can do a half of a tape in a day. But that's rare. But we do things pretty quickly. We're not perfectionists. We like to play with chance and luck, plain old synchronicity, serendipity, something like that. It doesn't make our music any less good.
STEVE: We just get it right the first time.
CHILD: Thank you both. Any last words?
JORDAN: I hate wiccans.
STEVE: I want more salsa. (looks for waiter)

A REVIEW OF EUNUCH'S CASSETTE "You Can tune a piano but you Can't tune a eunuch" can be found at http://www.monotremata.com/dead/issues/da45.html
which is the Dead Angel e-zine and is also the home of a great Skullflower site.
Here are pictures of the 1st edition of that cassette:

Contact Eunuch via Childish Tapes.