Jaz Coleman

Its youth

Coleman was born from father English and Indian mother , both teachers. It starts to take lessons of Piano and Violon at the six years age, and will be at the time member of several whole of choral society in England. During its adolescence, it gains several prices of violin then, young man, studies the opera, the musical composition and the Orchestration. It will leave in Suisse during three years to study the banking systems international.

Killing Joke

In 1979 it founds the group Killing Joke with the beater Paul Ferguson with Notting Hill, district London. Their first individual fate in October 1979 and their first album éponyme in 1980. Thanks to the talents of Coleman as a singer and a clavierist, and on the addition of Geordie Walker as guitarist, the group is essential like pioneer of the sound Post-punk and precursor of the industrial Metal and the metal. Coleman, known to promote political opinions and social radical and subversive, sees its public life strongly tinted by its role within Killing Joke. It is in fact sometimes difficult to separate the actual facts from the legend. It is also known for its extraordinary scenic presence, often visually aggressive, and transforms into Rituel S its appearances on scene. It is always implied in the experiment Killing Joke, as well in studio as in round.

Musical influences and work

Coleman studied and played of the musics originating in many cultures. He studied the Arab Musique with the Conservatoire of the Cairo and has a passion for the traditional musics Czech and maori, inter alia. One of its parts in language and music maori is called Second Symphony for Maori Voice and Orchestra .

With the collaboration of Anne Dudley of the collective Art off Noise, he coécrit and plays on the album Songs form the Victorious City , left in 1990 and strongly tinted means-Eastern music . The title refers to the city of the Cairo, in Egypt. In 1995 it leaves the first of its three albums of music Rock Symphonique: Custom and Them: Symphonic Pink Floyd . Will follow, in 1997, Kashmir: the Symphonic Led Zeppelin . The two albums are written and produced by its care, with, with the direction of London Philarmonic Orchestra, the leader Peter Scholes. In 1999 it arranges for orchestra and produces an album based on the musical topics most famous of the Doors, left in 2000: Riders one the Storm: the Doors Concerto . He worked several times with New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Auckland Philarmonic, and is type-setter resident of the Symphony orchestra of Prague.

Catalog of films

In 2002, Coleman played its own part in the Czech film of Petr Zelenka, Rok Ďábla ( Year off the Devil ). The film received several prestigious prices as a Czech Republic. Changing artistic field again, it recently Co-directed a fiction-documentary film entitled The Death and Resurrection Show , same title as one of the pieces of the album éponyme of Killing Joke of 2003. The exit of this film is planned for the end 2006.

Killing Joke, Coleman and the world of the occult one

If the texts of Killing Joke often lean towards the Millénarisme, it is mainly because of the mystical field crop that Coleman during its life was forged. It is set on Occultisme and studied the Divination and the Numérologie. Allusions to events to come, places charged with Spirituality and to crowned texts (as prophecies of Ezechiel) are legion in the albums of Killing Joke and this since the origins.

Coleman very often evokes the end of the world, although it seems that it is necessary to understand by there an end of the Civilization such as one knows it currently rather than a pure and simple disappearance of the human race. It is following the revelation of the imminence of such a Cataclysme that Coleman took refuge in Iceland, quickly joined by Geordie Walker, with the beginning of the year 1980. In 1988, at the time of the writing of the album Outside the Spoils , it uses the principles of ancient numerology to fix the Tempo its compositions. He will say himself then disturbed by the course of the topicality of the time, which seems to stick closely with the intuitions or premonitions which are transmitted to him during the recording. He would have thus had a presentiment of, little time in advance, the Attentat of Lockerbie.

Many texts contain disconcerting elements and in a way perhaps more visible for the uninitiated persons, as for example America which seems to refer to the events of the September 11th, 2001. It is of course advisable to note that the made-to-order of prophecies of Nostradamus, the words leave a well too great freedom of subjective analysis to offer a guarantee of exactitude.

Coleman is posed only since recently out of transmitter of its culture occults and speaks about it more and more openly. It seems deeply influenced by the occult heritage of Aleister Crowley and its Hermetic Order off the Golden Dawn (see hermetic Ordre of the gilded paddle). He does not see the scenic services of Killing Joke like simple concerts, but like a celebration, a mystical Communion between the group and his public. Coleman plays readily with the religious symbolic system, like when, in the DVD in the concert in Shepherds Bush Empire, it holds up a Latin Croix above the public.

In the same way, binding music and spirituality closely, its appearance in the film Year off the Devil reveals its way of concentrating positive energies, of waking up the creativity, and of binding a group of people by other means that the simple friendship. It takes along thus the members of the Czech group Cechomor in an isolated place, vacuum of any reference mark, and officiates as master of ceremony to make them share a mystical experiment, with an aim of improving their way of playing together. In this scene, it makes use of substances Psychotropes to wake up the spirit with the occult forces. It is there another common point with Crowley, which, in a notebook, had gotten busy to note the effects of the consumption of Cocaïne on its body and its spirit, increasing the amounts until reaching regularly a form of Extase.

In short, Coleman preaches the acceptance of the animal inclinations of the man, and their use with " good escient" rather than them diabolisation. He advises " thus; to let leave the démons" for better using them. The text of Exorcism , on the album Pandemonium , clearly refers to this way of letting the unconscious one be expressed: “ Small channel from the unconscious let it small channel - Get it out - Watch it bubble to the surface - Wash it away ” - “Let demon leave the unconscious one - Make leave - Look at doing it bubbles on the surface - Sweep it”.

It comes out from some talks granted to the press that Coleman believes in the Panspermie, bases important number of its beliefs.

Discography & catalog of films

Albums and collaborations

Songs from the Victorious City - 1990, composed in collaboration with Anne Dudley.
Custom and Them: Symphonic Pink Floyd - 1995.
Kashmir: the Symphonic Led Zeppelin - 1997.
Riders one the Storm: the Doors Concerto - 2000.

With Killing Joke

Catalog of films

Rok Ďábla (Year off the Devil) - Film of Petr Zelenka - Reference mark. Czech - 2002

Anecdotes

One owes him the addition of a verse in language maori with the national anthem of the New Zealand. This version is that which was sung by the artist maori Hinewehi Mohi at the time of the matches disputed by the All Blacks during the World cup of Rugby of 1998. After a national controversy, the verse was finally added officially.

Coleman affirms, in a maintenance granted to Prague TV, to have a Intelligence quotient higher than 190. However, the ironic tone that it uses during a good part of the written retranscription of maintenance does not make it possible to conclude that it is necessarily serious on this subject.

External bonds

(in) Official site of the group Killing Joke
(in) Discussion with Jaz Coleman on Prague.tv
(in) Discussion with Jaz Coleman on Rockdetector.com
(Fr) Interview of Coleman to Paris on disturb.org, in January 2006, offering a good lighting on its beliefs as regards occultism, and the influence of those on the writing of some of its texts.

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