with
conducted by chris beyond at the smell in downtown los angeles october 21, 2005
It's hard to talk about this band without either wincing or giggling uncomfortably because of their name. There is something so horrible about the name CHILD PORNOGRAPHY which puts it one-up over other bands with scary names like JOY DIVISION or A.C. but luckily the band is actually really nice and features no actual pornography in their act. Instead they are a heavy neo-wave electronic music duo with songs that sound like they were plucked out of the film Liquid Sky and sped up with heavier beats added to them. The vocals tend to be pretty funny but much of that can be due to the lead singer Aaron's bizarre stage (and floor) antics that come with them.
I caught the band after a recent show at The Smell in Downtown Los Angeles. My friend Dominique was there with me. We made our way into the alley entrance of The Smell and conducted the interview right there.
A = Aaron aka Killah E! (vocals / guitar / pushes play on the drum machine)
B = Brian aka Brizzahh (keyboards)
C = Chris Beyond (the interviewer)
D = Dominique (Chris Beyond's pal who runs a vintage store in Silverlake)
C: I just want to get it out of the way right away because everyone's going to ask you... What kind of name...is Kanye West anyway?
A: (laughs)
B: It means Africa.
A: Does it?
B: Yeah.
A: I didn't know that. Thanks.
B: (shakes his head no)
A: Really? Because I really thought you were knowledgeable.
B: No, I like Hip-Hip, but I don't listen to him.
C: Do you like Africans?
B: I do. I do.
A: I don't know any Africans.
B: Margot from Totally Mag is African.
C: Is she?
A: Oh, that's right, she's Ethiopian. I forgot. Seriously I don't know anyone who is African so I don't know if I like Africans. You know what I mean?
C: Yeah, it's an honest answer. It's not a bad answer.
A: I can say that I don't HATE Africans...because I don't know any.
C: Have you had any problems getting shows...because of Kanye West?
A: Um, well...when we were touring with him...when we were trying to tour with him on our first tour...we couldn't get any shows in Utah because of Kanye West's name.
C: Mmmmm.
A: It was totally fuckin' weird. They're racist in Utah!
C: You can pretty much say ALL of Utah, right?
A: Yeah, they're pretty much racist. All of them. All of them are.
C: Every single one.
A: I don't know any U...people in Utah,...but I know they are all racist.
B: But we can say that we don't hate them.
(everyone laughs)
C: Aren't they the only state that won't use www? Instead they use kkk.utah.com? Dot gov, I mean.
A: Dot gov, yeah.
C: Dot gay.
A & B: Dot gay?
(everyone laughs at our silly jokes about Utah)
C: (laughing) I gotta get that now. If you could pick any album to play at this moment, 
what would it be?
A: It would be the third disc from the LED ZEPPELIN box set.
(Everyone laughs)
B: I'm not good with coming up with something quick, but...
C: The second one you'd pick then...
B: The second one I'd pick? I would have to be...Kanye West. It's really good.
C: Um, who are some of your favorite local bands?
B: I like ABE VIGODA a lot. aaannnd... HELLO ASTRONAUT' is good.
A: Um, yeah...
C: That's Not their full name by the way. (HELLO ASTRONAUT, GOODBYE TELEVISION.)
B: I like PRAYER PARTNERS.
A: Oh, Yeah...I like THE WIVES and MIKO MAKO and many bands that are good.
C: I haven't seen THE WIVES forever.
A: Yeah, dude what happened? They're on tour...a million miles from us. Yeah.
C: Which reality show would CHILD PORNOGRAPHY best be suited for...and why?
A: Wait...I have an opinion on this. Yeah, I don't know about reality TV cuz I don't watch reality TV, but I've seen commercials. Right? And maybe I feel...and Brian might feel differently about this, but I think we'd be in Drawn Together cuz we're about fantasy.
C: Awwww... That's sweet.
B: Yes. I will agree. I dunno. I kind of have this fantasy about being in My Sweet Super Sixteen. It's my favorite show. And I Wanna Be A Divo too.
C: (surprised) DEVO? Is that a real show?
B: Oh, yeah. It's on Mtv.
C: Oh, DiVA?
B: DiVO...because there is a guy on there. It's the best one. Like a DiVA, but with a guy.
C: (finally gets it) OOOOOH... I thought they wanted to be in the band.
B: Not the band DEVO. Like d - i - v - o.
C: (sad) Oh. Divo.
D: I'll explain it to you later. It's brilliant.
C: "Brilliant" eh...that's a strong word.
D: It's fucking brilliant.
C: Um... Hey, we play a lot of your original demo songs on No-Fi "Radio". When will we hear a full length CHILD PORNOGRAPHY album?
A: Um...well, we have one.
C: (surprised) Um... Is it full length?
A: Yeah, it's pretty long. It's like 50 minutes.
C: Where is it?
B: It's on our merch booth.
A: It's the infamous 'Beatles' album. It looks just like the white album. Maybe that's why you didn't see it. It looks just like the white album...and it says "The Beatles" and not CHILD PORNOGRAPHY.
C: (embarrassed and speechless at my lack of knowledge)
A: We'll be recording soon. We're releasing a split 12 inch with a band called QUEM QUAERITIS...oh, among one of my very favorite local bands.
B: Yeah, mine too.
A: They just broke up. Our side sounds like an album. We just did a 7 inch and then before our friend Gil leaves for Arizona we're going to record our next album. It might be shorter than 50 minutes. It might be more like a half hour.
C: I can accept that.
A: Cuz all our songs are really short right now for some reason. None of them are epic.
C: That's good. I like sweet and short.
A: They sound epic right now,...but they're short. Yeah.
C: It actually makes sense to me.
A: That's why I'm listening to LED ZEPPELIN right now...cuz I wanna make longer songs...and they have mastered making long...
C: Tediously long songs.
A: But if you listen to disc 3 of their box set... It's the best of their epics.
C: Is it actually called that?
A: No. But it should be. I stumbled upon it in my research.
(we laugh)
A: I typed in key letter epics. Uh, word. Key word.
C: (laughing) I like 'key letter epics' though.
A: (laughing) Key letter. It's a greek letter.
C: That's what that key was for.
(everyone laughs)
C: Have you ever held a monkey?
A: No, but I know somebody that has.
B: I'm going to say "No."
C: You've never held a monkey?
B: No. Just a stuffed monkey.
C: (To Aaron) What was this monkey story? Is it something you can sum up?
A: Well they just told me, "Hey, I held a monkey." That's it really. I wasn't really interested so I didn't make them divulge anything.
C: Well it's good that way. You don't want somebody grandstanding about holding a monkey.
A: Now that I think about it I wish that I gave them my attention so that they would have given me the story. I was probably doing something. I'm always doing something. Right now I'm doing research on all the first ladies. Yeah seriously.
D: Why?
A: Oh, it's some art thing. I'm just going to draw all the first ladies.
C: What makes the clown cry?
A: Um...his happiness?
B: Ummm...
A: Oh! Brizzahh's the clown!
B: Oh yeah, El Payaso.
A: His name is clown. That's his tagger name.
B: I have a tagger name and it's Payaso.
C: Do you draw like a little clown face?
B: Mm-hmm.
C: Ohhhhh...
B: And it's crying too. I swear to god it's crying.
A: Why do you make it cry?
B: Cuz it's like the gangster thing, you know. Smile now. Cry later.
(laughing ensues)
C: What is your favorite (laughs)... What is your favorite CHILD PORNOGRAPHY song and why?
A: Um um um um um...OH...uh..."Sock On My Foot" because it's Brian's favorite song.
C: Awww. Why is that?
B: It makes me giggle when I hear it and I just like it a lot. It's the best punk song ever.
A: Oh yeah, it's a punk song. That's probably why I like it. Cuz I'm really into punk right now.
B: I like "Cold Fingers." It's our new one, yeah. I like it a lot.
A: It's going to be on our 7 inch coming out. Blah... Just plugging.
C: No plug away. Uh...imagine you are a pirate.
(they look at me for several seconds. More laughing follows.)
C: Why should people go see CHILD PORNOGRAPHY live?
A: Uh, because I wear stripes. Duh! (laughs) And I wear white belts.
B: Pointy shoes.
A: Cuz we're so darn good darn it.
B: We kick ass.
C: How much ass are you kicking?
B: Tons.
C: Wow. That's like two people...in America.
(laughing again)
A: I'm not kicking ass. I'm not the violent type.
B: I have rage.
A: Yeah, he has rage. Someday he's going to blow up.
C: Oh, like in 28 Days Later. They have "The Rage."
A: OH! That's the reason you should come see us, because SOMEDAY Brian... He pictures himself where someone is like fucking with him at a show...
B: Or you.
A: Or I'm fucking with him at a show...and then he just goes ballistic.
B: No somebody's fucking with YOU.
A: Or someone's fucking with ME and then he just goes ballistic. He has dreams about it. He always dreams about it. We feel that someday it might happen. This is the reason why you should go see us because it'll be the moment of our self destruction.
C: You might be the lucky one.
A: Yeah, you might be the one to see this happen.
B: It might be you.
C: You might be the only one who lives to record it.
A: Yeah. Yeah. It's true. Just go to every single show and follow us....when we tour.
(everyone giggles)
C: How can people find you...online or not?
A: Oh, well, well we have a website. It's childpornography.tk.
(chris warns everyone about going to that site at work)
A: Yeah some people have trouble with our name. It's weird.
C: Your names? You have normal names.
A: Oh, no I mean the BAND name. We were playing at The Glass House and they put out ads with our name CHILD PORNOGRAPHY, but then on their website it said WILD PHOTOGRAPHY...
C: Whaaaaaaaaat?
D: WILD PHOTOGRAPHY?!?
B: Even on the poster outside the Glass House it said WILD PHOTOGRAPHY.
A: Ok, if you ever want us to play a show DON'T do that to us cuz the next time that happens we're not showing up. Our NAME is CHILD PORNOGRAPHY. We're not DINOSAUR PORN. We're not WILD PHOTOGRAPHY. It's not that offensive. They're just words.
C: JOY DIVISION. (for those of you don't know...JOY DIVISION named themselves after the camps of women who were forced to have sex with soldiers in nazi germany)
A: Yeah. They're just fucking words.
B: It doesn't mean anything.
C: This is the serious part of the interview.
A: Yeah, this is the serious part. I know. Seriously. Seriously though really, seriously.
C: Totally though seriously.
A: I mean maybe we're too comfortable with it now because we've been around for 5 fucking years. It just like... There's much more shocking shit in the world....you know, than a band called CHILD PORNOGRAPHY. We're not going to scare your parents I swear. Mine weren't.
(laughing from everyone)
C: Um...we're already at the end. So as we're at the end here...what would your final words of wisdom be for our No-Fi readers?
B: I just want to say thank you to everyone who comes to our shows and supports and I just love the world.
C: Awwwwww!
B: I love everybody.
A: If you ever DON'T want us to play...change our name. There you go.
I thank the band and we say our good-byes. Dominique and I make our way down the dark alley where just a couple hours earlier I spied a man urinating behind a garbage bin from which a trail of pee was flowing into a river of what I figured out was all pee (and I had luckily avoided stepping into it even earlier as well). You can see what's new in the world of the band CHILD PORNOGRAPHY on their website at http://www.childpornography.tk and on their myspace page at http://www.myspace.com/childpornography. Just be careful when looking them up on the web because you might find yourself in a bad bad place. We plan to have the band play live on No-Fi "Radio" soon so keep listening.
the end!
