Translated into English from an interview originally printed in the July 1988 release G = Glasnost
After the concert we did an interview with Click Click's drummer Derek E. Smith.
G: The Swiss are funny people: they stand around motionlessly during the whole show. DS: It's been the same since we started the tour; people standing and staring. But at least you can say they're not leaving! I think most of the people don't know us. G: Your last LP has recently been released. Why have you changed to Play It Again Sam? DS: Because our own money ran out. G: Was Rorschach Testing your first label? DS: Yes, it belongs to Dek, our manager. PIAS offered a three-year-contract to us and we didn't say no. G: Do you get any money for the records? DS: That's not worth speaking about. G: Are the old records on Rorschach Testing still available? DS: They are as good as sold out. If the new album sells well PIAS will probably re-release the old records. G: What do you think about remixes? Some bands, especially from the techno sector, are constantly releasing records containing new remixes of one song over and over again. DS: Crap! It's done to make people buy more records. G: This tour in Germany has been organised by the agency Hammer Promotions. Normally journalists get free entry to concerts. When you played in Frankfurt they didn't want to let us in for free. DS: Really? That's a shame! You are writing about us - they should let you in. We didn't know about that! If we had known we would have let you in. But normally we don't get to know when people are standing outside. G: What salary do you get for your gigs? DS: We don't get any salary but we can use the PA for free. There's usually a certain amount of money to play with, about £1500, which pays for food and fuel. We're treated really well in Europe. People let us stay in their homes. Someone actually left us their house keys one time, because they were going to be late arriving home. He even told us where the coffee was kept. Other times we'll sleep in the van. G: That's totally unbelievable, you don't even get a hotel? And we pay DM20 entrance-fee. How could you think about making a tour under these circumstances? DS: We owe the gigs with Love & Rockets to our lighting man, Pete (Luton) Hosier. Love & Rockets engaged him for themselves so we could tour with them as their support. Unfortunately our lightshow was quite simple because Pete brought the real good effects into action for Love & Rockets. The support band isnt allowed to have a better lightshow than the main act. But nevertheless we are happy that we had the chance to play some gigs. G: Have you already played as a main act? DS: Last year in Fribourg (Swiss) and Amsterdam. On 6th August we will play again in Amsterdam, at the 'Melkweg'. G: We would like to see you in Freiburg but when an agency like Hammer Promotions is managing I think it won't work. We don't co-operate with them. DS: Neither do we. That was only on this tour because we play together with Love & Rockets. The next tour will be organised by ourselves. Agencies don't do anything for us and they only want to earn money. If you want us to play, you only have to ask Dek, he's our manager, then we will come! G: Who plays the synthesisers in the band? DS: Adrian. G: Is that why you use a lot of tapes on stage, because he has to concentrate on the vocals? DS: We didn't want to take on more people in the band, that wouldn't be good. It's hard enough getting along with each other as it is. G: Do you use the same tracks on stage as on the records? DS: They vary slightly but on the whole you can say they are the same. G: Are all rhythms played by the drums? DS: Additionally we have a drum machine. G: What kind of feeling is it to play together with a drum machine? DS: Excellent. The machine fires me. It's so perfect and never gets tired. That turns me on to fight against it. I play harder and better then. G: As you supposedly can't live on making music you surely have normal jobs? DS: We don't make music for the money but for fun. I work as an independent t-shirt printer, Graham is a guitar teacher and teaches mentally handicapped, Adrian is a factory worker. I worked in a factory as well for a long time. G: There you are: factory worker makes industrial music. DS: We aren't a classic industrial band although we work a lot with noises and hammering. G: But the work in the factory formed your music. DS: Yes, that's why it's so depressing. G: Therefore you make oppressive music? DS: Yes, oppressive, but not depressive. Atmospherics' a good term to use. G: Are you influenced by Cabaret Voltaire and Throbbing Gristle? DS: No, we're influenced by Can, Captain Beefheart and Stockhausen. G: In one piece? DS: In two pieces. Adrian vanished for a weekend and recorded the synth-tracks. Then Graham an me went to the studio with it and made the rest. Adrian wanted to come along but on the way his car broke down. So we did the final mix by ourselves without him. G: Beside the music, are you engaged in other forms of art? DS: T-shirt printing, ha! ha! ha! G: About what? DS: I don't know. I've never read one. I don't know what he is singing about either. That's his business. For each listener the lyrics mean something different. Everyone has their own interpretation…which is why we chose the name Rorschach Testing. G: What does Rorschach Testing mean? DS: It's a psychological test used by shrinks. You take a piece of paper, make an ink stain onto it and fold it in the middle. When you open it again the ink stain has run to a bizarre figure. You have to tell the psychologist what you see in this figure. He interprets what you see and draws up an analysis about you. That's the point with our music. We let the people find out themselves what they see. G: Do you believe in Rorschach tests? DS: No. G: What do you think about other occultist things in music.? DS: Nothing.
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