Kommunity FK

by Julie Ojeda

photo by Iggy Vamp

During the early 80's a new sound was already forming in America and overseas. Infused with the raw energy of punk and tempered with a heavy dose of the macabre, many struggled to give it a name. Labels such as "death punk" and "horror rock" fortunately never stuck and over time we came to know it as gothic. In Los Angeles a handful of promising bands were emerging. Among this group was a well known band with a loyal following: Kommunity FK. With the recent re-release of both Kommunity FK albums on Cleopatra, new life and interest has been rekindled. With a new album in the works, frontman Patrick Mata talks about the past and future of Kommunity FK.

Could you give a brief history and the pest line-ups of Kommunity FK?

You mean the formation from the get go?

Yes

Ok, in 1979 we came up with the idea and name Kommunity Fuck, that's what we were originally called and we had a lot of trouble trying to get bookings. The original drummer was Don Bolks of 45 Grave and CeCe Cole on bass - at that time she was my girlfriend. We bought a keyboard but didn't have anyone to play it, so we would use matchbook covers to sustain noise and let it play itself. Don was so busy with forming 45 Grave that we had to find a new drummer. We found Matt Chaikin and that became the Vision and the Voice era. We had that line-up for a while, then CeCe and I broke up. I broke up the band and wasn't going to continue, but I met Kevin Kitner who is on the Close One Sad Eye album - this was in 1983. He talked me into keeping the band going like The Damned, kinda, with different band members. So I did that, and met this girl who looked like Louise Brooks, and no one looked like her. Her name was Margrete Arana. I asked her to be in the band and she told me she couldn't play and I said "that's perfect. I don't want you to know how to play." So she went out and bought a synthesizer, and that became the Close One Sad Eye era. Then Kevin became a really bad person and tried to fuck up my band, and tried to change the sound of us; to sound almost more poppy. That's why that album sounds a little more poppy than Vision and the Voice. So I fired him and got another bass player named Kevin and it just kinda kept going and going. We never recorded anything after that really. Then I broke up the band to move to England. I was invited by Bauhaus management to move to England and either continue Kommunity FK over there or form another band. So I formed another band called Between the Eyes. That had Cam Cambel of Sex Gang Children from the Blind album, Eddie Branch who tours on bass with Peter Murphy to this day, Kevin who was a drummer for Andi Sex Gang, and a Danish girl named Lone Erickson on synthesizer. We toured with the Virgin Prunes on The Moon Looked Down and Laughed tour and then toured with Xmal Deutchland on the Tucson tour. Then I came back and reformed Kommunity FK again with a guy named Gaudi on synthesizers and Matt Chaikin the original drummer, myself on guitar and got the second Kevin back on bass. We just continued till we couldn't do it any more which was like 1986-87. I broke up the band for good and started Sativa Luv Box, but that's another story.

Do you plan to work with any of the past members?

No.

How did the revival of Kommunity FK come about this time?

Well, what happened was I got bored with Sativa Luv Box. It was something I had for six years. I don't know what you call it, something I dedicated my whole life and love relationship to. Since then Sativa and I have broken up. For six years I had this idea that I was going to do something completely different from Kommunity FK and try to branch myself out. And I did. We got signed to MCA by accident, we weren't even looking for a record deal. And that was fun for three years, but then I wasn't happy again. I was asked if Iwanted to put out the very first Kommunity FK album The Vision and the Voice on CD by Brian at Cleopatra. Now the thing is with that album, we only made a 1000 copies of it back in 1981. And I just thought why not? So I went in and remixed it and put it in a different song order. Then it dawned on me, what would happen if I brought this thing back now? What if I were to find the right people and just do it? So that's what caused me to do it. Plus the passion for the music, a certain type of music I always have in my soul. It's just so easy for me to communicate and to create things in that way and I just said, fuck this is it, I just want to stay and just bring it back, and continue it.

Can you tell me about your new members and is this a permanent line-up?

Yes, this is a permanent line-up. We have Johnny Indovina of Human Drama on bass and backing vocals. We have Shane Taladay from STG on synthesizer and backing vocals, Eric Blitz on drums, who used to be in a band called Cock Fight, and me on guitar and vocals. I tried guitar players, I can't find the right guitar player to fit the perfect mentality or anything like that.

With the recent re-release of The Vision and the Voice, whet sort of feedback have you been getting from people who are hearing this for the first time?

Some people like it, some people don't understand it, because it doesn't sound like Rosetta Stone or like whatever that whole genre of stuff is. You have to remember when we did that record there was no Goth movement. We were called "gloom and doom" by the LA Times. Bands like Christian Death and 45 Grave, we were just starting. All this started at the same time. We all knew each other, we all hung out together kinda at the same clubs and things like that and we didn't call ourselves Goth rock. Ever since then it's really changed a lot, the way the sound is. It used to be punkier then. So now, the people who don't really like punk rock and just like the really beautiful and solemn sounds of Goth don't quite get that era. That's OK though because they eventually will. The way that Kommunity FK sounds now is heavy but is also solemn and it's beautiful and has a lot of passion to it and I think they'll see it if they see us live and understand more when we have something new.

In your live shows how do you pick whet songs to play and what is the feedback you've been getting from the audience?

Oh, I think they love it. I'll look at the song list and it's pretty long so I think what if we did this, this time and just mix things up and not just take people up and down, but try to make a point of getting a feeling we're trying to convey. It's more of a feeling than anything else - not just our greatest hits. Every show we're going to make different. There's so many songs I've written since then that no one has ever heard and that will be even more surprising to the audience, because they're going to hear things that aren't on any of these records. Also, there is an acoustic set that Johnny and I have written, which is unreleased, that we've been sitting on for five years. We've been getting it back together. I play guitar, he does the singing and he wrote all the vocals, melodies, lyrics and titles and I wrote the music. And in the reverse fashion there is a song where I just sing and he plays all the music.

On your second album Close One Sad Eye, you released a video for "Something Inside Me Has Died" Were there any other videos produced and do you have any plans of re-releasing any of these?

When I was in England there was a guy who did some stuff of one of the other songs, "Junkies". But I don't have access to that, so I guess no one will see it. There is a video circulating in the underground of us live from 1984 at the Lhasa club and it's brilliant. It was a packed house, we were in really good form and that's with the Close One Sad Eye line-up. If I could get access to the master or even a copy, I'll put it out. We do have a new video we will be working on. It will be for the new song that will be on thePermission compilation called "Avitas", which is my farewell song to Sativa. It came out beautifully. Johnny does background vocals with a girl named Denise.

When can we expect a full length album?

In 1995 definitely. Right now we're just going to go out and start playing.

Is this a set tour or are you planning an extensive one later on?

Yeah, we are planning an extensive tour.

How do you feel about writing new material for Kommunity FK?

I feel like it's the best thing that has happened to me in ages. Because what I've gone through now, it effects your art. It's been perfect for me because I've been very sad and going through a lot of pain. So now I'm starting to feel better...

It's kind of an outlet?

Exactly. So it's perfect for the band because that's what we're all about.

With the revival of Kommunity FK does this mark the end of Sativa Luv Box?

Yes, completely. Forever.

What do you hope for the future of Community FK?

I hope that we gain a lot of fans. In our day we had very dedicated fans and a lot of them. I just hope we can get them to support the band and to understand what I'm trying to say with the words. Just to continue making records, CDs, whatever - more videos. We want to play to everyone in the world. A lot of people never saw us. We were ahead of our times in a certain way and a lot of promoters didn't know where we were coming from. Back in 1981 we opened up for Killing Joke at the Whiskey A Go-Go, and because of that and everyone liking us, we opened for all the Batcave bands that came over. We opened for Specimen, Alien Sex Fiend, Sex Gang Children, P.I.L., even punk bands like the Toy Dolls. We opened for everybody and want to try to get that back so we can see more people and play for more people. I just hope that we're successful. I just want people to like us, and if they hate us, that's cool too.

Are there any last statements, comments or plugs you'd like to make?

Just look forward to the new Kommunity FK. I hope to see everybody and that they'll support us, that's all. I'm glad to be back and I think it's the best thing that's happened. Oh I guess this would be a plug. Mick Mercer wrote me from England and he's always been a big fan (on the UK side) of Kommunity FK since day one. He's written a lot about us over there, which not a lot of people know about over here. He wants us to be in the next Gothic Rock book. They also want a new video from us to circulate in their international cable video program they have over there...