KMFDM HISTORY
NEWSLYRICSHISTORYDISCOGRAPHYMESSAGE BOARDMULTIMEDIAGRAPHICSLINKSFAQ

HISTORY & GENERAL INFO

IT HAS BEEN TWELVE YEARS SINCE KMFDM'S FIRST RELEASE "WHAT DO YOU KNOW, DEUTSCHLAND?" AND FOURTEEN YEARS SINCE THE INCEPTION OF KMFDM ON FEB. 29TH, 1984.

KMFDM IS AN ACRONYM FOR :
KEIN MEHRHEIT FÜR DIE MITLEID
(WHICH LOOSELY TRANSLATED MEANS: NO PITY FOR THE MAJORITY)

AS PART OF A 1994 "MARKETING CAMPAIGN" (ONE OF THESE REDUNDANT THINGS ONLY RECORD-COMPANIES CAN THINK UP)
1001 POSSIBLE MEANINGS FOR KMFDM WERE CREATED BY FANS WORLDWIDE. KMFDM NEVER FUELED THESE EFFORTS, BUT STOOD BY, MERELY WATCHING IN ASTONISHMENT.

HOWEVER,OVER THE PAST THREE YEARS, AFTER THOUSANDS OF THREADS IN VARIOUS INTERNET NEWSGROUPS,THIS SUBJECT HAS BECOME SO OVER-EMPHASIZED AND POINTLESS THAT IT IS NOW PLAINLY ANNOYING...!
KEIN MEHRHEIT FÜR DIE MITLEID WAS FOUNDED BY SASCHA KONIETZKO AND UDO STURM, A GERMAN PAINTER AND MULTI-MEDIA-PERFORMER, ON FEBRUARY 29TH, 1984, IN PARIS, FRANCE.

THAT DAY, THE MULTI-NATIONAL KUNST-KONSPIRACY "ERSTE HILFE"(GERMAN FOR "FIRST AID"), WAS TO PERFORM FOR THE OPENING OF AN EXHIBITION OF YOUNG EUROPEAN ARTISTS AT THE GRAND PALAIS IN PARIS.

THE AUDIO-ACCOMPANIMENT WAS CONDUCTED BY STURM (HE PLAYED A FRAGMENTED ARP -2600 SYNTHESIZER IN FEEDBACK MODE) AND SASCHA (WHO TREATED 5 BASS-GUITARS AMPLIFIED BY 5 AMPEG BASS-AMPLIFIERS PLACED IN STRATEGICALLY SIGNIFICANT AREAS OF THE HUGE TURN-OF-THE-CENTURY STEEL AND GLASS-CONSTRUCTION) AS WELL AS FOUR ORIGINAL POLISH COAL-MINERS (PUTTING THEIR TOOLS-OF-TRADE TO WORK ON THE BUILDINGS FOUNDATIONS).

SHORTLY THEREAFTER, BACK IN HAMBURG, GERMANY, SASCHA STARTED ANOTHER PROJECT WITH PETER MISSING, AUDIO-ANARCHIST FROM NEW YORK CITY, "MISSING FOUNDATIONS".
IN SEARCH FOR A DRUMMER EN ESCH WAS FOUND, WHO HAD RECENTLY MOVED FROM HIS HOMETOWN, NEAR FRANKFURT, TO HAMBURG.

EN ESCH'S AND SASCHA'S PARTICIPATION IN MISSING FOUNDATIONS DID NOT LAST, AND TOGETHER WITH ENGLISHMAN RAYMOND "PIG" WATTS, A FRIEND OF SASCHA'S, KMFDM (THE ABBREVIATION WAS INTRODUCED BY WATTS WHO COULD NEVER PRONOUNCE THE TONGUE-TWISTER) PICKED UP STEAM.

A CASSETTE-ALBUM ENTITLED "OPIUM" WAS CIRCULATING THRU THE UNDERGROUND CLUBS AND BARS OF HAMBURG,SPREADING THE KMFDM-VIRUS FROM MOUTH TO MOUTH.

KMFDM'S FIRST ALBUM "WHAT DO YOU KNOW, DEUTSCHLAND ?" WAS RELEASED IN DECEMBER 1986. IT CONSISTED OF RECORDINGS MADE IN THE YEARS 1983-1986, SOME OF WHICH WERE DONE BEFORE EN ESCH JOINED THE BAND ("WHAT DO YOU KNOW, DEUTSCHLAND ?" AND "THE UN-RESTRAINED USE OF EXCESSIVE FORCE"). IN EARLY 1987 KMFDM RELEASED "KICKIN' ASS" AND LICENSED IT TO SKYSAW RECORDS, A LIVERPOOL-BASED RECORD-LABEL.

SKYSAW INTRODUCED THEM TO THE ARTIST KNOWN AS BRUTE! WHO RE-DESIGNED THE COVER OF "WHAT DO YOU KNOW, DEUTSCHLAND?" FOR THE U.K.-RE-RELEASE. SASCHA ESTABLISHED A RELATION WITH ADRIAN SHERWOOD, PRODUCER/ENGINEER FOR MARK STEWART & THE MAFFIA, BIM SHERMAN, TACKHEAD AND MANY MORE. THE SUBSEQUENT 1988 RELEASE "DON'T BLOW YOUR TOP" WAS HEAVILY INFLUENCED BY SHERWOOD'S SONIC WIZARDRY. SKYSAW RECORDS LICENSED "DON'T BLOW YOUR TOP" TO WAX TRAX! RECORDS IN CHICAGO AND THE FUTURE OF KMFDM HAD BEGUN. IN THE LATE 80'S, THE GOLDEN DAYS OF AMERICAN "INDUSTRIAL", KMFDM COULD EASILY ESTABLISH THEMSELVES AS THE GERMAN CONTRIBUTION TO A PARTY THAT CONSISTED OF ALL THE WAX TRAX! FAVORITES, SUCH AS MINISTRY, REVCO, FRONT 242, MY LIFE WITH THE THRILL KILL KULT ETC.

HOWEVER, MORE THAN A YEAR WENT BY AND KMFDM HAD NOT YET SET FOOT ON AMERICAN TERRITORY. THE BAND WAS STILL TOURING EUROPE UNDER THE WORST CONDITIONS, OPENING FOR ACTS SUCH AS EINSTÜRZENDE NEUBAUTEN, THE YOUNG GODS AND BORGHESIA.
"UAIOE" WAS RECORDED AND RELEASED IN EARLY '89.

THEN, IN THE SUMMER OF '89, MINISTRY INVITED KMFDM TO OPEN ON THEIR "MIND IS..."-TOUR. THE TOUR GOT POSTPONED AND POSTPONED AGAIN DUE TO ILLNESS OF A. JOURGENSEN.
FINALLY, IN MID-DECEMBER KMFDM BOARDED A PLANE AND ARRIVED IN CHICAGO.

AFTER SEVERAL MONTHS OF TOURING THE U.S. WITH MINISTRY, KMFDM LEFT FOR EUROPE AND RECORDED "NAIVE". MASTERTAPES IN HAND, SASCHA RETURNED TO CHICAGO IN THE SUMMER 0F '90 AND FORTIFIED RELATIONS WITH WAX TRAX! BY DIRECTLY SIGNING TO THE LABEL. WORK ON EXCESSIVE FORCE, A COLLABORATION BETWEEN SASCHA AND BUZZ McCOY FROM TKK BEGUN.
IN THE FALL OF '90 SASCHA RETURNED TO GERMANY AND KMFDM KICKED OFF A SHORT EUROPEAN TOUR TOGETHER WITH THE THRILL KILL KULT.

IT BECAME APPARENT THAT THE FUTURE OF THE BAND LIED IN THE U.S., NOT IN EUROPE AND SASCHA CONSEQUENTLY MOVED HEADQUARTERS FROM HAMBURG TO CHICAGO IN EARLY '91.

THE BAND TOURED THE U.S. FOR THE FIRST TIME AS A HEADLINER IN THE SPRING OF THE SAME YEAR. SASCHA RETURNED TO GERMANY IN THE FALL OF '91 TO RECORD "MONEY" WITH THE REST OF THE BAND, STILL OPERATING OUT OF GERMANY.

IN EARLY '92 "MONEY" WAS RELEASED AND EN ESCH DECIDED TO PERMANENTLY RESIDE IN THE U.S.
AFTER TWO SUCCESSFUL TOURS IN THE SUMMER AND FALL OF '92, KMFDM RETURNED "HOME" TO CHICAGO TO FIND WAX TRAX! IN BANKRUPTCY PROCEDURES, ITS FOUNDER JAMES NASH SUFFERING FROM A HEART ATTACK , MOST OF THE STAFF LAID OFF AND EVERYTHING FALLING TO PIECES.

WAX TRAX! WITH ONLY TWO BANDS REMAINING(SISTER MACHINE GUN & KMFDM), WAS NOT A SIGHTLY WRECKAGE.

KMFDM OUT OF LOYALTY AND COMMITMENT TO WAX TRAX!, AND ESPECIALLY TO THE FOUNDERS/OWNERS JIM NASH AND DANNIE FLESHER, RESIGNED A NEW CONTRACT IN THE HOPES THAT WAX TRAX!'S LIFE COULD BE EXTENDED WITH HELP FROM OUTSIDE.


NEW YORK BASED TVT RECORDS, SNATCHED THE REMAINS AND WAX TRAX! NEVER WAS THE SAME AGAIN

IN EARLY '93, KMFDM COMMENCED TO RECORD "ANGST" IN CHICAGO AND AS SOON AS THAT WAS DONE AND OVER, REMIXED THE "NAIVE" ALBUM WHICH, IN ITS CURRENT FORM, HAD TO BE DISCONTINUED DUE TO COPYRIGHT ISSUES WITH A SAMPLE OF CARL ORFF'S 'O FORTUNA' WHICH WAS USED ON THE ORIGINAL VERSION OF THE SONG 'LIEBESLIED'. BRUTE! AND H-GUN WORKED ON THE VIDEO FOR " A DRUG AGAINST WAR" AND THAT FALL "ANGST" GOT RELEASED.

SASCHA THEN LEFT CHICAGO FOR SEATTLE AND EN ESCH MOVED TO NEW ORLEANS.

IN 1994 KMFDM DID THE "ANGSTFEST"-TOUR WITH CHEMLAB AND SISTER MACHINE GUN AND RECORDED "NIHIL" IN SEATTLE. 1995 SAW THE RELEASE OF "NIHIL" ACCOMPANIED BY TWO TOURS, "BEATBYBEAT" AND "IN YOUR FACE".
SASCHA RETURNED TO CHICAGO THAT YEAR TO BE CLOSE TO HIS FRIEND, WAX TRAX! PRESIDENT JAMES NASH WHO WAS SLOWLY DYING OF AIDS.

NASH'S DEATH IN OCTOBER OF '95 MARKED THE END OF AN ERA.

KMFDM RECORDED "XTORT" IN CHICAGO IN LATE '95 AND EARLY '96
AND SASCHA ONCE AGAIN PACKED UP AND MOVED OUT WEST TO SEATTLE.

AFTER SPENDING THREE MONTHS IN THE FALL OF '96 PRODUCING TREPONEM PAL'S ALBUM "HIGHER" SASCHA GATHERED KMFDM AND FRIENDS IN SEATTLE AND THE BRAINSTORMING SESSIONS FOR THE NEW ALBUM WERE HELD. RECORDINGS THEN PROCEEDED VIA MAIL, E-MAIL AND FED-EX ON A MODULAR BASIS.
APRIL AND MAY KMFDM SPENT TOGETHER AGAIN, HOLED UP IN A SEATTLE STUDIO FINALIZING THEIR NINTH FULL-LENGTH ALBUM "SYMBOLS !@#$%" WHICH WAS RELEASED SEPTEMBER 23RD, 1997.

FROM SEPTEMBER THRU DECEMBER '97 KMFDM TOURED EUROPE AND THE U.S. WITH PIG AND RAMMSTEIN.
IN 1998, KMFDM RECORDED THEIR LAST ALBUM "ADIOS", TO BE RELEASED IN EARLY 1999. THEY ALSO PRODUCED PETER MURPHY'S EP "RECALL" AS WELL AS MUSIC TO THE COMPUTERGAME "PREY" AND MANY REMIXES FOR VARIOUS ARTISTS.

KMFDM DISBANDED ON JANUARY 22ND, 1999.