Image via Divine Enfant
To understand where Martin Rev is now requires understanding where he came from. In the mid-1970s, as one half of the pioneering electro-punk duo Suicide, Rev and vocalist Alan Vega presided over a series of live shows that regularly devolved into apocalyptic nightmares of carnage and physical abuse. People threw axes, wrenches and broken bottles at them. Vega used to cut his face with glass to freak out the audience. Police sometimes had to be called in to teargas their crowds. On a 1978 tour in support of The Clash and Elvis Costello, the pair recorded an infamous live album called 23 Minutes Over Brussels. The name came from the length of time it took the attendees to start rioting.
By normal standards, this would be considered urban warfare. These guys were literally doing battle with their audiences. Listening to songs like “Cheree” and “Sweetheart”, it’s hard to imagine anyone having this reaction to their material, but it was an almost nightly occurrence.
Rev is 76 years old now and still performs regularly. His last solo studio album, the 34-track Demolition 9, came out in 2017. Rev lives in his birthplace, New York City, which, according to him, hasn’t changed much. For our Zoom call, he appeared in a dark room lit by a single bulb wearing his signature giant, wraparound shield frames. These are a style choice, he explained, but they serve a practical purpose as well. “I always wear some anti-glare glasses if I’m on the screen more than a few minutes.”
Rev speaks in a grizzled baritone, following loose, digressive trains of thought. It’s fun listening to him recount stories. He’s open and friendly. You’d never guess this is the guy who endured all those bloodbaths years ago.
Suicide’s legend speaks for itself. They were the first act ever to use the phrase “punk music” in their promotional material. Bruce Springsteen named them as an influence (he was channeling Alan Vega when he recorded “State Trooper”. He later covered “Dream Baby Dream” and wrote a touching tribute to Vega on the news of his passing). Suicide never had a hit record or a Top 10 single, but they’ve long been critically revered and influenced nearly every artist of the post-punk explosion (and beyond). You can hear their DNA in songs like “Being Boiled” by The Human League, “Shoo Be Doo” by The Cars, “Psycle Sluts, Pt. 1 & 2” by John Cooper Clarke, “Satellite” by TV on the Radio, “She’s Mine” by Alex Cameron and “Grid” by Perfume Genius.
Suicide’s sonic concept was unique. They’re the only synth group I’ve ever heard that sounds like they were forged in the fires of the earth – a primitivism that should contrast with their sleek, futuristic, cold-blooded, lunar, space-age instrumentation. But somehow, Rev’s stark, minimalist beats and Vega’s tortured shouts come together to form a totally integrated whole. They achieved a surprising amount of stylistic range in their music. What other group could move in the span of a few tracks from the syrupy-sweet love ballad “Cheree” to the sadomasochistic murder-suicide fantasy “Frankie Teardrop”?
The first Suicide album was an audio portrait of New York’s lower depths, its grisly album cover of stenciled lettering and blood-red smear against a pure white background establishing them as some of the city’s foremost musical anti-heroes. Always transgressive. Never trendy.
Rev’s solo career has been similarly far-ranging and often includes re-workings of material from the Suicide era. He’s delved into electronic classical music on albums like Stigmata, bubblegum pop on Strangerworld and screaming atonal feedback noise on Demolition 9. He leads a regular kind of life now and seems at ease with the past, operating just out of step with the mainstream. It’s an inspiring thing.
Anyway, that’s all I’ll say, because I can’t think of too much to say about Martin Rev that he doesn’t say for himself. But while you’re listening to this music, remember that people endured axe blades being thrown at their heads in order to release it. And ask yourself what it might mean to have survived this long. – Jackson Diiani
(This interview has been condensed and lightly edited for clarity.)