here so much of electronic music seems to have been chasing its tail for the last twenty-odd years, the sound of cEvin Key still resonates as distinctively and dangerously as when Skinny Puppy crushed out what became the Back & Forth demos nearly forty years ago. Working with Skinny Puppy, Tear Garden, Hilt, Doubting Thomas, PlatEAU, Cyberaktif and Download, he perfected a singularity of hyper-saturated sonic overload that cross-bred industrial’s austere structure with the grime of splatterpunk cinema and the decadent aesthetics of goth and psychedelia. After putting out the weirdest records Capitol ever got duped into releasing and a catastrophic stint on American Recordings, Key seized the creative and entrepreneurial reins of the Subconscious Communications record label founded by late bandmate, Dwayne Goettel; it’s since become a conduit for a cornucopia of undiluted freakness, from Skinny Puppy basement tapes to bespoke effects boxes and vinyl toys. Somewhere in between, he’s continued to tour with a newly reincarnated Skinny Puppy, beaten cancer and produced his first solo album in twenty years.

When Skinny Puppy was three people, the live performances were like fire-juggling. Watching you tackle drums and multiple keyboards in the same song was as anxiety-inducing as anything Ogre did to himself. How has the creative and concert dynamic changed with the added personnel and new technology? Has the guiding ethos of the band evolved (from the dog’s eye view of the world concept) as well?

In the beginning, we experimented with how to make a live show. So, we tried all angles. We were adding everything but the kitchen sink. It was a fun challenge, and now when I think about it, it is hard to believe. I don’t think I would impose such a crazy setup on myself again. Though I never actually seen anybody like us at the time, I just kind of figured—us? Why not? I think the thing I miss between today and then is the chances we took in the show. It seemed to make sense though we never stayed the “exact” same for any album or tour. It was live for the moment times. The concept of Skinny Puppy was growing as we were able to grasp the direction it was heading. The initial theme of life seen through a dog’s eyes quickly grew into a theatrical adventure.

So much of your output shares a psychedelic aspect that previously seemed incompatible with the Goth/industrial aesthetic. Having reclaimed psychedelia from mindlessly positivistic hippie and rave cultures, how much of a role does the gnosis acquired from altered states play in your music now? How important is the musical induction of altered states in the listener? 

At first, there is no doubt there was a connection to deep psychedelia. I think MDA was flourishing at the time in Vancouver dance clubs, and so it was hard not to miss the wave. The music was created in a scene sponsored mainly by an ever-growing drug community (it seemed), though we were surprised that we appealed to other senses because of the dance rhythms. At times we had a few experiences where the whole tour bus was on acid, and we drove to Washington D.C. and just sat on the lawn of the Capitol Building. It felt at the time like we were putting on a festival for people to enjoy a really crazy trip, and we’d provide the music for such an adventure.

Returning to a solo album with so many collaborations and bands under your belt, how has your sense of what defines your personal work evolved, and what did you want to do most urgently with RESONANCE?

This album has been more a less a complete evolution. Life goes fast. Before you know it, you’re looking back on everything. It’s been crazy to think of 35 years going by! I suppose that the experiences of the past few years really ripped me a new perspective. I started generally writing in 2015, and shortly into 2016 was having to go through a pretty crazy Cancer ordeal on my face. I could literally scare people with the number of stitches I had at one point. This was followed by the death of three of my animals, so I found music was a bit of an escape. I made several folders of music over time. Eventually, I started turning some of the ideas into albums, beginning with a collaboration with Edward KaSpel in 2017 with the Brown Acid Caveat album. Always enjoy working with him, this followed with Phil Western coming down for two months, and we worked on Unknown Room for Download. This was tuff because Phil was dealing with some major addiction issues, luckily, we finished the album, but Phil died two months later. Being pretty devastated, I was thankful I had pre-written some 25 songs for this project to devote my mind to. Covid hit, and I just decided to slow down and get into each idea. Carving out an emotional album was really my thought. I had plenty of emotion, that was for sure. I’m not sure if it was an urgent thing, more so, a healing thing.

It still feels like your work was so far ahead of your peers that it’s taken three decades for the territory you staked out to be colonized, and much of what's come in the last twenty years is still circling the same familiar ground. When you create and listen to music, is there a sense of an undiscovered country, or has everything we’re capable of enjoying been mapped out? How important is it to be a pioneering mutant now, versus just making tunes?

I think not trying to fit or follow anything, but the inspiration seems to always lead to new places as we progress and grow older. It seems a bit like evolution, and I’ve always felt that really, we were barometers for how we felt about society and our lives. I’m surprised that we were so broke but still able to make art, so I’m proud of the fact that we’ve learned to be fringe dwellers. Never really making a lot but just enough to continue. That has seemingly always been the way it is and will stay. There hasn’t been really anything that’s changed our scenario too much. The hardest thing to deal with and get past is the death of so many of my compatriots. I often wonder what may be if Dwayne, Phil, Al Nelson, or others were still alive. I wish I could hear the results. I know it would have been interesting, at least to me, because honestly, I’ve always loved collaboration and the happy accidents that come with that and making electronic music. There have been times where I’ve felt like we’ve merely channeled spirits. Such uncanny things have occurred with music-making, so in some ways, that curiosity is what kept me coming back.

You famously ditched the old SP studio gear for digital instruments some years back, and have since created bespoke fx and modular synths. What capabilities or qualities do you put into gear that you create, that you couldn’t find at the store? What new gear developments are you most excited about?

Actually, I never ditched the original setup. I was one of the lucky few who saved the earliest gear, so I have it all set up in Subconscious studios. I can go back and use that stage’s (time period) or advance onward to other sections of the studio devoted to Modular or quite a vast collection of the gear we’ve used over the years. I got involved with making Modular synths with Subconscious Communications about ten years ago, and now on our 5th released module (though we’ve developed several others unreleased), I think it’s been fun to create an instrument. It just opens the doors to thinking about what may be created from it. So, the latest module is based on inspiration from one of my favorite pieces of gear I’ve used since day 1—the Pearl Syncussion. We’ve built a hype DCO version, so it’s just like the music. A radical psychedelic adventure module called BRAP Sy1!

How much did the corporate crackdown on sampling change your sonic palette? Was the move away from sample collage with clear allusions to horror movies, news events and other collage opportunities a choice, a business/legal concern, or just maturity?

That was definitely copyright clearance issues that stopped that train. We had run unabated until Last Rights, and then we used a voice that we received clearance directly from Timothy Leary. Still, the record company went to ask permission of the copyright owner, which was the first time someone said NO! Also, it was the first time we asked. So Shortly after that, we started to hear things getting more complicated for many bands. Luckily, I guess we came out before all the hurrah. It’s quite funny because when we used samples of a famous movie, we’d then release that on a label, and sometimes it would be WB released on Capitol. So, I think we were lucky to be in that golden era where people didn’t “know” yet. So much fun it was to monumentalize a classic line from a film... It just added to the lyrical content as well.

For the budding electronic artist trying to make sense of the modular synthesis explosion, what do you suggest as a blueprint to get started?

Money! Lol. Well... actually, I wouldn’t recommend anyone get into Modular unless prepared to venture into a realm that 50% of the time may be educational vs. music-making. There are plenty of positive reasons to get into understanding signal flow and voltage control. If introduced at the wrong time, it could be your biggest nightmare. My advice is always to find the instrument you feel you can enjoy playing, and see if you can get something out of it that impresses you. That’s really the goal of creative music-making. Happy accident and all sorts of things can make for great inspiration.

Your music has always had an intense cinematic quality and you live in Los Angeles. Why aren’t you scoring more movies?

I did work with composer John Debney on End of Days and another film called The Double, but I think Hollywood, from what I’ve learned these days, is LESS about what is cool and creative and more about what makes money. The creative offers I think I’d be attracted to come in the form of a license from our catalogue or perhaps a library I worked on called “scaremeister,” which has two editions of music filmmakers, tv people license, and that did well. Ideally, I’d like to find the right project with which to make my mark, like how Charlie Clouser has the ‘Saw” franchise. So yeah, I live here and hope one day another interesting project will arise. I do love making music to a scene. So fun!

You haven’t been shy about naming who informed your sound in the past. Please take us through some of the artists who are still enduring influences on you, and what are you enjoying listening to now?

Well, I guess I’m lucky in that I get to work with people I also listen to, like LPDs and Edwards music or meeting Chris from IAMX 6 or so many years ago. We formed a friendship but never had a plan to make music, so it’s been fun falling into these scenarios with people I get to work with but have also been inspired by. Chris and I linked through listening to old Japan records, and it seems this is where our creative minds met and made a link. You never know where your inspiration will come from. I’ve loved so many types of music, and I’m ever-morphing. Never listen to just one genre, but a smattering of all genres. I’ll never forget my ultimate inspiration, which is early YMO.

With the unfortunate loss of Ryuichi Sakamoto and Yukihiro Takahashi, two members of YMO (Yellow Magic Orchestra), for those interested in familiarizing themselves with their extensive body of work, what specific sections or albums would you recommend exploring?

B2 Unit changed my life, especially "The End of Europe" in the '80s; recently, I fell in love with Ryuichi Sakamoto Async. It's an absolute masterpiece. I originally saw YMO on Tv while on a youth exchange program around 1979. I had hoped to see them live one day—that happened June 26, 2011, at the Hollywood Bowl. I'm so thankful to have witnessed that.

You’ve mentioned sourcing instruments by scouring pawn shops and music stores. Do you still? Did you ever buy a programmed sequencer or loaded sampler? What did you do with it? Do you ever sell gear still loaded with your goodness?

I haven’t bought a piece from a pawn shop in years, so now I think it’s about appreciating the many I’ve collected and rediscovering all the time. It seems each year you can back and rediscover things about synths you forget about. I haven’t sold many things, but last month I did finally decide to sell my Sp1200. The only reason being it was mint but not being used. I saw the value had kind of gone up to collector’s prices and took that one opportunity to sell it and now thinking about what to get as a result. I’m doing a lot of thinking, so far upgrading my computer to an ever-greater power workhorse, then strolling the idea of getting a new polysynth or sampling drum machine. I’m still on the fence and moving slowly. I do like the idea of a Quantum, though. But so pricey!

Tell us a little about your nonmusical endeavors, i.e., Basal and other sofubi projects, and anything else you’re currently obsessed with.

Basal has been another dream goal, you might say. I didn’t intend ever to set out to make a soft vinyl toy, I got introduced to the scene and the people through a good friend, and he introduced me to Paul Kaiju, who lives in California. We soon became good friends, and he really inspired me with all his sculptures, so when I got Cancer and was healing from the surgery, I felt as though I wanted to put my hand to clay. No idea why. I thought about how Paul had explained building one, so it became a great pastime while healing. Before I knew it, I’d made a piece, and through some lucky turns, it ended up being able to be accepted to make a toy in Japan. The process took about two years, so I was literally dreaming of the day I’d actually introduce Basal as a toy. I had thought about it for so long that I was just so blown away when he finally showed up. I’m currently working on a second toy and have a new sculpt I made with Simon Paul, and we hope to have this completed this year. Fingers crossed. I’d say other than synths, and I have been the most obsessed with this scene for the last seven years.

Looking deeper into the future of music, what do you long for that hasn’t been invented yet?Do yousee new developments like AI composers as tools, or competition? What is your vision of the music of tomorrow?

Well, I know AI is coming, which may change things as far as new experimental music. We never know. I always thought that we’d hear more new things with the advent of new instruments, but in some cases, it seems true that it’s in the imagination where the inspiration lay. It seems we have so many options these days, and strangely that has made things vaguer instead of more understood. Paths aren’t as unique, and being unique isn’t as easy.

I’m looking forward to the new BRAP SY 1 module for its playability and connection with the user. Look out! <3