Earlier this year, Canadian industrial band Skinny Puppy sent the U.S. Department of Defense an invoice for the use of their music in torture scenarios at Guantanamo Bay. According to bandmate cEvin Key, the amount of services rendered has been tallied up to $666,000. From CTV News:
“We sent them an invoice for our musical services considering they had gone ahead and used our music without our knowledge and used it as an actual weapon against somebody,” Key told CTV’s Kevin Newman Live.
And Key said band members were “offended” to learn that their music was played in the notorious prison to “inflict damage” on detainees.
“I wouldn’t want to be subjected to any overly loud music for six to 12 hours at a time without a break,” he said.
Key says a former Guantanamo Bay guard and fan of the band contacted the musicians to let them know their music was being used at the detention centre.
“I think he was coming at it from the fact that he was shocked that our music was being used because although he was a guard at Guantanamo Bay, he also happened to be a fan of our music,” Key told CTV News Channel.
According to Key, the original idea was to design an album cover based on an invoice made out to the U.S. Government instead of actually sending a physical bill. It wasn’t until they learned their music was being used without their permission that they decided to bring a lawsuit against the DoD.
Key said that while the band’s music could be “a terrible nightmare” for some listeners, to others, “it’s a creative artistic endeavour that plays with dark writings and dark cinema.”
As a former goth/industrial club kid, I applaud the band for taking our government to task. Other music that was allegedly used for torture at Gitmo was none other than the Meow Mix theme song. Sure, Skinny Puppy’s music may be considered nightmare inducing, but the concept of the Meow Mix song blaring at high decibels for extended amounts of time suddenly makes Too Dark Park seem like a lovely jaunt through the roses.
(Via: CTV/Boing Boing/ Gawker/Mic)
