I read this interview years ago and have been looked for it off and on ever since. Somehow I managed to find it today:
For instance, “Start the Riot,” the first track on Atari’s new disc, Burn, Berlin, Burn!, suggests that the fastest way to affect social change is through violence–an argument that makes perfect sense coming from Empire, a man who praises extremist organizations like the Red Army Faction and the Baader-Meinhof terrorists. “I think without them, everything would even be worse in Germany,” he insists. “I want every mainstream teenager to respect terrorism and risking one’s life for change. I think that’s the most important thing anyone can do–to die for change.”
From: Denver Westwood, September 4, 1997.
Meanwhile, Empire remains alive and rather well off and doesn’t seem to have initiated much change.
February 4, 2009 at 7:58 am
You know very well that this quote was taken out of context.
What you and the magazine didn’t mention was the part in which I describe West-Germany after the 2nd World War. The student movement clearly went against old Nazis which were kept in powerful positions in the country.
When the police started to use guns at student protests, they provoked organizations like the RAF.
Back then the young generation reacted out of fear that the 3rd Reich would happen again.
To then fight that even if it is hard, that is what I respect.
You must understand the context, the history of Germany before judging a few sentences from an hours worth interview.
all the best,
Alec Empire
February 11, 2009 at 5:24 pm
I’m sorry, I did not know that comment was taken out of context. Thank you for the clarification.