28 November 2009

Will the real Chris Kirby please speak up? (cont...)

Living in America gave Chris opportunities he felt he would never have had in Australia. “As far as America was concerned, it’s always been the idol – the god. I wanted to go and work in America because it was just supreme. I’d be sitting there with Milton Berle, having a conversation about comedy, being asked my opinion. It was just too good. That never happened to me in Australia… I was living up in Beverly Hills, staying in the best hotels, and being driven around in a Cadillac. It was great, fantastic.”

Throughout his time living in America, Chris came back to Australia for 3 months every 18 months or so. Channel 9 asked him to host his own Saturday Night Show during the mid-70s, and he was doing club gigs too. In 1984, after touring with Frank Sinatra Jnr, his manager suggested he went back to Australia to have a rest from working. His second marriage with an American girl, Judy, had split, and there didn’t seem to be any reasons he shouldn’t come back to Australia for 3 or 4 months. “Then I met Christine… so I lost my green card, and because you can’t keep it if you’re not living there.”

While he was back in Australia, he wrote the play he is trying to perform again now, Lips, and was writing for television dramas, Neighbours and E-Street. However, he was slowly becoming tired of the business here, and believed there would have been many more opportunities if he stayed in L.A, or London. “One of my trips to London, Mickey Dolan of the Monkeys wanted to meet and talk about doing my play in London... He didn’t have an exact plan, but he had access to money. But this was when I was married to Christine, and I had Pete and the whole thing. Well. I won’t get into the story, but I was getting a bit of hard time about my show business – and umm, I just felt if I was going to save my marriage, I’d better go back to Australia. But, it was a bit late, I think. But well, you know, it’s been hard, but I’m OK now.”

Terry has been Chris’s partner through the earlier part of his career, but it is clear now that his pride and joy is his play Lips. When I ask about his ‘tragicomedy,’ play, Lips, he quickly shows me the trailer he and his colleagues have been working on. “I want to continue this line a bit about changing the perception about ventriloquism, so it becomes my act and not the doll’s act. It was about me being real and the doll not. And that’s what Lips is about – me finding it necessary to explain that to the doll.” After he and Christine split, and he was ready to talk seriously about the play, the interest from Mickey was lost. It has been performed in London, and Edinburgh and received rave reviews by critics. Chris is currently filming the play, and has a bit of interest in London. “The people in London keep saying, ‘if you get your arse over here, we can do something, but if you’re not here, all we can say, is that we’re interested.’ The business is too small here. That’s why I don’t want to do it in Sydney.”

Even though Chris isn’t married, it seems like it is this move to London that is troubling him the most. His son, Pete is 22 and hasn’t lived with him for a few years, however, it is clear that his relationship with him is very important. “I don’t want to lose what he and I have, because it’s so good. And he’s very special to me, of course, I’m his Dad, but you know – he was an opportunity for me. With my other two kids who I don’t know, well, I’ve met them now, but I don’t know them. And I imagine I never will. But ahh.. Pete’s got a very special talent, he’s a very talented boy.”

Chris doesn’t mention too much about his personal life and relationships, however, when he does touch on them, it is very revealing. He seems as if he has had a rough time, and he is a person who internalises his problems and easily slips into bouts of depression. Chris’s current relationship with Terry sounds bitter-sweet. Terry gave Chris a platform for being one of the most well-known ventriloquists, however, when it came time for Chris to move on and do his own work, people couldn’t understand him without Terry. “People knew Terry, and every time I do an interview, they always ask about Terry. One of the problems I had was… everyone wants me to do something with Terry. When I wrote the play, and when I did the first run of the play with Terry as the doll, when I revealed him on stage, people were going ‘oh it’s Terry, it’s Terry,’ you could hear them in the audience. It was awful, they’re not taking it seriously as a play… The ventriloquist thing is interesting. Part of me hates it, because it’s limiting” Throughout his life, Chris always seemed to be pushing again some kind of barrier; his name, his doll, his marriages, his career. His son, Pete, is one of the only things he really cherishes, yet even their relationship can be seen as a limit, as it is the reason he is apprehensive to go to London. It seems as though Chris Kirby is still waiting to be set free.

23 November 2009

Will the real Chris Kirby please speak up?


From the age of 5, Chris Covington knew he was going to be a ventriloquist. “I went to a birthday party and the woman had hired a ventriloquist. None of us knew what one was. This guy walks on stage with a chair and suitcase. He opens the suitcase and pulls out this humanoid thing. The kids were quite disturbed by it. And then suddenly it spoke, it was bizarre. It scared the hell out of me. He (the doll) looked straight at me and asked in this horrible voice; “What’s your name?” I burst into tears and wet my pants. I just got up and ran away.” It seems odd that he continued to follow this profession, considering his first experience with the doll wasn’t a happy one. Once Chris’s mum explained to him what ventriloquism was, he thought it was just fantastic.

Fewer people would know Chris Covington by his real name. He decided to change his name when he was first starting to do nightclub gigs in Sydney, somewhere in the early 60s. “For some strange reason, agents and club managers and people couldn’t handle the name Covington. They couldn’t get it right. They used to put up the act on a chalkboard outside the hotel, and once it had, ‘Appearing tonight… Chris.’ And that was it. I could have been a stripper. God save us from that. So I went through the phone book and I always liked alliteration. I went to K and saw Kirby, and I thought, I like that – Chris Kirby.”

Ventriloquism wasn’t as rare as it is now when Chris was training himself during the 50s and 60s. He doesn’t think that there were that many ventriloquists in Australia, but the ones who were performing, were quite well-known. However, it was very popular in America and was known as a ‘Big Act,’ because there were so many people in it, and sometimes even an orchestra. It didn’t have to just be a man with his doll.

While Chris was interested in ventriloquism from a young age, he says was “[v]ery much into music. I wanted to learn to play guitar. My dad wouldn’t let me play guitar. I guess he figured it would cost more money, and he reckoned guitar playing was too easy. It was in the 50s when Rock n’ Roll first broke out and he said ‘if those idiots can play guitar, it can’t be too bloody hard.’” Strangely enough, his father seemed to be happier with Chris experimenting with ventriloquism rather than music, and it was because of his father that he got his first doll. A dentist owed his family some money so he offered Chris’s dad an old ventriloquist doll in lieu of the 10 quid. “So I got that doll, and had to get a name for him. And I came up with Gregory… Gregory the doll. Chris Covington and Gregory the Doll. It was doomed from the start.” But, it was this duo of Gregory the Doll and Chris Covington that got Chris his first television gig for a kid’s show in Adelaide.

The TV station that hired Chris were pleased with how he was doing, but they started getting phone calls that the children didn’t like the doll, because it was so ugly. During this time on the kid’s show, Chris got a call from Eric Sykes, who was a ventriloquist too. “He was a member of the Brotherhood of Ventriloquism… and he said, ‘I’m just calling to tell you how much I love your work, and I think you’ve got a lot of talent. I do have one criticism. I don’t like your doll. I’ll make you a doll. And I’m not going to charge you because I think you’re that good. I’d be honoured to make you a doll for when you go on, but if you don’t go on, I’ll charge you.’ I’d always had in mind a Dennis the Menace type bloke. So he drew up some pictures, and in that time we came up with the drawing. One came up and I was like ‘that’s it, that’s the one.’ And I had a name for him, it just came to me. Terry. And I experienced that moment where everything is right.”

The partnership of Chris Kirby and Terry worked well. They were working every night of the week, and were on television frequently. He spent 2 years away while his international career was being launched when he performed on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1967 and Sunday Night at the London Palladium. On the strength of what he’d done overseas for 2 years, he got even more work in Australia and more publicity. When Chris was 30, his agent received a phone call from Donald O’ Connor’s representatives. “Donald O’Connor was coming to Australia to do some corporate stuff, so I – it was very exciting. So I met with them and we worked it all out… and we did the show together and it was one of the best things I’ve ever done.”

It was after performing with Donald O’ Connor in Sydney at the Silver Spades Room, that O’Connor convinced Chris to move to America. Chris had written a half hour sitcom that O’Connor was going to invest money into and they would try and sell it in America. The decision to move wasn’t too difficult, “In the meantime, my first marriage was crumbling, with Judy. And it had been for a year or so. So I said ‘Look, I’m going to go to the states for a while and find out about this.’
‘Oh yes, I know where you’re going. All those girls in Las Vegas.’
‘Well, yes. Let’s hope.’
I’m very flippant about it now, but it was anything but. So off I went and one thing led to another, and they fixed up my green card, and O’Connor’s manager said he’d handle my work.”

To be continued....

awards and such

I found out last week that I won an award at Uni - 2nd year award in print media for creativity. I'm going to post my most recent article for this subject. My interview subject was fantastic and it was because of him that I got the marks that I did....

24 September 2009

Suspension of Disbelief (continued...)

The cultural significance of suspension is under debate, Valenti cites about 50% of his audience see resonances of the crucifixion, or something similar, however, he states the motivations vary and a lot of the time it’s just achieving something that seem humanly impossible. He has suspended people in the past, and it has been a spiritual and ritualistic thing for them, his clients being students of suspension that dates back hundreds of years to India and Sri Lanka. He believes that there are rituals, which share similar reasons and outcomes to suspension, that are linked to religions and spiritual experiences; such as in different types of Muslim sects, where they would beat themselves to the point of passing out, and even in Christian cultures, there were and are monks that carry out blood rituals.

When piercings started to re-surface again in the 1970s and 1980s, it was targeted to the gay and fetish community, which is an idea that has permeated people’s minds until today. That is one of the assumptions that Valenti encounters a lot; people assume the things he does to his body is because of the pain and to fulfil a fetish. He is quick to acknowledge how individual these experiences are, and for many people, it probably is a fetish thing. He says that he does suspension for the adrenaline and endorphin rush, as well as the nervous energy of building up to a performance. Valenti and his colleague, Ben, created a performance group of about 16 people, where they do suspension as performance art. While they get booked for shows through fetish nightclubs like Hellfire, which supports the idea that suspension and piercings probably is fetishised for many people, they are also booked for more conservative gigs like the Opera Bar. Last year, they did a total of 8 shows and in the last month and a half, they did 2 shows, which Valenti says is very uncomfortable, as they didn’t have enough time to heal between shows, because of the amount of movement required by the performers.

Polymorph may offer seemingly intimidating practices to people who aren’t part of this subculture or lifestyle, but Valenti says one of the most important things to him is bedside manner. “The reason we operate the way we do in the studio is because I think the hardest thing for someone to do is walk through the door and ask you a question… I don’t see the point in making someone feel uncomfortable when they are getting something done, which makes them feel so vulnerable.” By just walking into the studio, you can see the difference between this clean, privately owned space with friendly workers compared to walking into a seedier, biker-type tattoo/piercing studio. All the piercers are dealing with and accommodating to customers, and in the corner, there is a group of people who appear to be just hanging out in the studio.

Valenti does deal with people projecting clichéd stereotypes onto him, particularly when he visits his mum in the Western suburbs. However, as he pointed out, that his body and every individual’s body are immune to censorship politics, while other cultural practices, such as art and literature may be more susceptible. His balance of viewing the body as clinical, while also an artistic site takes on its own political implications. “Well, hell, if it’s the only way I can really express myself without anybody giving me the big ‘fuck off,’ then I’m going to do it.”

17 September 2009

Suspension of Disbelief



Censorship and controversy concerning art, literature and culture dates back as far as 3rd Century, and as recently as the 20th and 21st Century. From the 3rd Century in China, the Qin Dynasty burnt books that represented a threat to the dominant or prevailing order. The Nazi book burnings in the 1930s and 1940s destroyed books by Jewish, or perceived degenerate authors. Picasso delivered Les Demoiselles d’Avignon in 1907, which represented a group of prostitutes as opposed to the traditional passive woman, which challenged the contemporary art community. Even in May, 2008, Bill Henson’s exhibition opened to a private viewing, and was cancelled soon after due to complaints and anxiety that it was too close to child pornography. Robert Valenti, who is the director and owner of Polymorph Body Piercing Studio in Newtown, believes that at the end of the day, “[t]he human body is the only thing that… basically you can do whatever you like to, and society, the government can’t actually stop you from doing that; it’s the only thing that politics and the government has no actual control over you. And for them to actually say, ‘no, you can’t put a hole in your body or modify your body in a way you see fit,’ it goes against anyone’s basic human rights.” While using the human body as a statement or protest may cause controversy, it can arguably never be censored. When we consider the Buddhist Monk’s self-immolation during the Vietnam War, or even of suicide as a form of self-representation, Valenti’s use of body modification can also be seen as a challenge to what is socially acceptable.

Valenti has two eyebrow piercings, one in his left and one in his right. He has a large labret piercing/plug, about 20mm in diameter, and two conch piercings, which is the inner ear cartilage, and they are 8mm in diameter. He has stretched earlobes that are 33mm, which took about two and half to three years to stretch. He has 3 small implants around his left eye, 2 transdermal implants as horns on his forehead, and a transdermal Mohawk. He has faint scarification on his forehead, as well as some lines on his chin. His nipples are pierced at 8-gage, which is about 3mm thick, as well as his 3mm thick naval piercing. On the shaft of his penis, he has 3 bead implants, and a 6-gage, Prince Albert piercing, about 4mm thick at the end. Valenti also has tattoos, one design of a cartoon-esque rooster chasing a duck, a half angel and half devil, the Mother Mary, his family tree in contemporary Maori art and another tribal design.

So how does Valenti do it? How does he cope with inflicting pain upon his own body and the body of others? Renaissance art and literature viewed the body as sacred, and Modern day science sees the body as a site of empiricism, a clinical exploration ground. Valenti has created a balance between viewing the body as clinical, as well as a type of text, or artwork, which is evident when you look at Valenti himself. He says that, “[d]ealing with other people’s blood, skin, really doesn’t phase me… I’ve always had an interest in the human body. Before I wanted to be a piercer, which I told mum I wanted to do when I was about 6 or 7, before that, it was brain surgery.” Polymorph offers anything from basic piercings and stretching through to heavier modification, branding and scarification as well as ritual suspension, where hooks are placed in the skin and the person is suspended. Their website, highlights anthropological concerns in different cultures to stretch piercing and scarification which dates back as far as the Aztecs, and Valenti thinks that probably further than that. In tribal cultures, it was to mark a certain event in a person’s life, such as birth, marriage or death. However, in today’s society, where there is no tribal structure, he says that we do body modification for different and usually aesthetic reasons, whether it is for fashion, or changing their own body in a way more acceptable to the individual.


(to be cont...)

Polymorph and Valenti

A couple of years ago I saw Robert Valenti, an owner of a piercing studio, being interviewed by Andrew Denton, and I have been keen to meet him since then. He seemed so personable, interesting and intelligent. I wasn’t too worried about going and asking him to do the interview, as I thought it would probably be a little stroke to his ego that someone saw him on television and wanted to find out more about him.

Before I spoke to him, and then even more when we were doing the interview, I recognised how many assumptions and stereotypes I adhered to. One of the first things I said was how I was surprised at how lovely he was on Andrew Denton. As soon as the words came out of my mouth, I thought to myself; ‘Why should I be surprised that he was nice?’ I like to think that I don’t often judge people, and I try to steer clear of stereotypes and clichés, so the interview was really beneficial for me, because I can see how I am always forming opinions in my head. I spoke openly to him about this, that I was surprised at myself for believing the stereotype that piercing and tattoo artists are scary bikers– and he was so understanding, and part of his reason for modifying his body the way he sees fit is to shock people and prove when they do talk to him, that he is not that much of a ‘freak show.’

I’m going to put up the article I wrote in two bits… because I think it may be a bit long for one read

p.s be sure to look at the website of the piercing studio when I put up the link. Hectic photos.

23 March 2009


Punters and audiences have always and will always play one of the most significant roles in a concert by actively listening and engaging with the musicians, as well as creating the tone and atmosphere for the entire event. Why then, do people insist on encouraging and partaking in aggression while watching a band that they paid to see?

I feel like that this type of audience interaction came out of Punk music, as Punk thrived on man’s primal instincts, usually perceived to be anger and aggression. If you look at early performances of Iggy and the Stooges (even if they are ‘pre-Punk’) and then the bands that defined Punk such as The Sex Pistols, The Ramones and The Clash you can see the complete anarchy and chaos involved in their concerts, but welcomed and encouraged by the bands themselves.

I know that this type of audience interaction may have been part of the Punk experience thirty years ago, why does it continue to happen to bands who are not part of the Punk movement? At the 2001 Big Day Out, At the Drive-In performed before Limp Bizkit, where the infamous mosh pit crushed a girl to death. During At the Drive-In’s show, their frontman, Cedric Bixler-Zavala stopped and addressed the audience, “[I]t’s a very, very sad day when the only way you can express yourself is through slam dancing… You learnt that from the T.V… You’re a robot, you’re a sheep.” It is completely beyond me why people insist on creating mosh pits or death circles; they are so dangerous, as well as the fact that someone has paid money to see the band perform, but they do not even get to listen to the music because they are fighting or fending off others. At the Drive-In could obviously see the potentiality of the aggression in the audience that day, and felt the need to address it. I suppose you are probably smart to expect ‘death circles’ at metal concert, but surely not at Incubus, the Foo Fighters, and on a lesser scale, British India. Early last year, Josh Homme, front man of Queens of the Stone Age, had to make a public apology for abusing one of his fans during the Norwegian Wood Festival. While Homme’s use of the word ‘faggot’ understandably was not taken well, he was fighting with one of the crowd for continuously throwing things on stage, namely, a shoe. The shoe seems to be a popular choice to throw at bands. Why do people throw things on stage; are they so overcome with excitement that that is how they express themselves? Or do they actually not like the band? And if that is the case, I suggest not paying to go and see them.

Maybe bands and musicians are too precious now, according to the Punk mentality, but if the bands do not claim to be punk bands and are spending their time playing music for us, maybe we should just shut up and listen… and even save a shoe.

21 February 2009

Exhausted and Exasperated


While this may be a little dated, as The Mars Volta’s Bedlam in Goliath was released last year, I still feel it worth my rant. Street Press such as The Drum Media and The Brag raved about the album, but magazines such as Rolling Stone concluded that The Mars Volta are pretentious, Bedlam was only worth one and a half stars, and is ‘exhausting’ and ‘exasperating’ to listen to. I want to encourage everyone to expand your horizons and open your minds!
The Mars Volta’s ‘back’ story has often been ridiculed, their inspiration of the ouija board unleashing the spirit Goliath, insinuating that they are lying. As Cedric Bixler-Zavala and Omar Rodriguez-Lopez themselves have said, they come from a completely different culture and often people in the Western world who inhabit a conservative and fairly intolerant value system dismiss their beliefs as crazy. However, when the Ouija story is relayed to people from Latin America, the response is an authentic acceptance of the presence of supernatural forces, and disbelief that anyone would dare tamper with a Ouija board. Even if they are having us on, isn’t it intriguing that they have a story behind their album?
I have often heard complaints of their song names, being too prog-rock for their own good, but what is the harm in using extravagant song names? An active listener would drag out a thesaurus and piece together the significance of the titles, and perhaps, have new meaning created for them. But who needs hidden meaning when we have all these ‘inventive’ bands just bombarding us with the same old clichés?
What troubles me is that magazines prominent in popular culture such as Rolling Stone, dismiss The Mars Volta as ‘pretentious’ but feel that a four page spread is necessary on the ever transparent, money making machine and, dare I say pretentious, band Fall Out Boy. To me, The Mars Volta is anything but ‘exhausting’ and ‘exasperating’ – they are daring, significant, creative and progressive. This strikes very true when attending their concert last year; they played for nearly 3 hours with a set list of about 8 songs. They deserve credit for their inventive and creative ‘jamming’ with their songs, and I have never seen energy levels so high for such a long concert.
At the risk of me now sounding pretentious, I urge people to invest their time in looking at bands that are creative and diverse, who may not fit into the reductive and repetitive expectations of the Top 40, or even the ‘Indie’ scene for that matter.
So keen for the upcoming album!

15 February 2009

John Frusciante's The Empyrean


If you haven't already listened - do it ASAP. Completely and totally beautiful.
And read this

09 February 2009

Gunners


Guns n’ Roses seem to be one of the definitive rock bands that appeared and eventuated out of the late 80s and 90s. If this is so, one has to wonder why someone like Axl Rose, a man who used to yell out on the Santa Monica Boulevard to homosexuals, “Why don’t you guys like pussy?” is fronting a band that engenders such respect within rock history. Sure, Rose may be able to sing, but to be immortalised as he is, categorised as a ‘legend’ of rock, is something worth asking.

To me, music should be viewed as a vehicle of access to a bohemian way of life, a vastly different option to the traditional and conservative corridors of power that underpin our communities. Axl Rose, however, perpetuates all of the social injustices that exist in our society, such as racism and homophobic beliefs. He claims that, “…I’m confused, I don’t understand it” about the concept of homosexuals. His fans think that he is ‘controversial’ and, therefore, acceptable within the fringes of our society, acceptable because he is in a rock band. I can acknowledge that most rock bands are rock bands for the very reason that they are controversial; The Doors for instance, Jim Morrison, by most accounts, was an alcoholic and a womaniser, however, he also demonstrates a philosophical purview and social commentary that contributes to an insightful reading of human behaviour, reflected in his music. I have yet to find insightful readings from Axl Rose. One of the definitive reasons rock bands are controversial, and thus credible, is because of their anti-authority views; rock music gives listeners an alternative mode of politics than that of Capitalist governments and institutions. Axl Rose may claim that he is providing another option in his controversy, but he is, in fact, just perpetuating the conservative heterosexual, white supremist ideology that western governments strive for. Rose’s popularity is far more terrifying that than Bush or Howard’s subversive political racism. His overt politics are articulated in a brazen and brash manner such as the lyrics of ‘One in a Million’, singing of ‘faggots’ who ‘spread some fucking disease.’

What troubles me even more is that so many music magazines, continue to produce large numbers of ‘re-hash’ articles on Axl Rose, and his time in Guns n’ Roses. This shows me the public fascination for Rose and his band, and, by default, the ideas perpetuated by their music. It worries me – what are music enthusiasts listening to? Does our music community want to uphold a man like Axl Rose in the forefront of the music media, supposedly ‘defining’ rock music and its associated value system?

Why do all the mediums of music, magazines, articles, music shows and countdowns, perpetuate great suspense in waiting for Rose’s solo album, Chinese Democracy? Sydney Morning Herald’s S magazine even did a review on Chinese Democracy when it was released, likening Rose to Michelangelo. The reviewer was attempting to justify why Rose took so long to finally record and release his new album, along the lines of, ‘no-one would have pressured Michelangelo to finish the Sistine Chapel, art takes time.’ Why did Guns n’ Roses fans pay to see a concert that had Rose singing with a band ‘Guns n’ Roses’, a band that has not retained one original member but Rose from the original line up? These questions baffle me, and thus keep me interested – probably, I suspect, part of Rose’s popularity, a fascination with stupidity and ongoing conservatism in the face of our rapidly changing culture.

07 February 2009

BDO and Aussie pride


I went to the Big Day Out at the Gold Coast this year - certainly was an experience, if not for the bands, but for the people watching. There were amazing sets from bands that I really wanted to see (even though the sound was pretty poor) but the punters were something else. Big Day Out in Sydney is usually a couple of days before or on Australia Day, but the Gold Coast patriots were out in full force on the Sunday a week before Australia Day. It was more common than not for everyone to have their symbol of Australian pride on them somewhere; whether it was tattoos of the southern cross, outlines of Australia or the Australian emblem. Patriotism was the theme for the day.
This is something I have never understood; I am happy to be Australian, and happy to live in a democratic society but usually to be ‘proud’ of something, you actually have to do something to be proud of and I’m thinking that a piece of land doesn’t really fulfill that. When I also hear about the scenes that happened in Manly on Australia Day, it makes me even more reluctant to jump into the socially constructed pride and celebration of being ‘Australian’. Tony Abbot stated that the group of 80 kids are ‘ratbags,’ rather than racists, although it’s hard to see how the slurs being chanted at Manly Corso - ‘Clap your hands if you’re white’ and ‘Fuck off, we’re full’ - can be misinterpreted.

BUT at Big Day Out, all the acts that I went to see lived up to expectations. I had been told to go and watch My Morning Jacket, and I'm sad to say that I hadn't listened to them before seeing them. But they have inspired me to listen and have been since seeing them - such a good set, and such interesting musicians. Even a bit of theatrics thrown in for good measure - donning a vampire-inspired cape.

Never been the greatest fan of the Arctic Monkeys, but travelled with someone who adored them, so by default, knew most of the songs the played (which usually is the making of a good show). I was happy to watch them, very fun.

I was hanging out for Neil Young, who was awesome - drew a small crowd as most people were at the Prodigy. His guitar playing is incredible - nothing makes me more content, happy, exhilarated and awe-struck than the sight and sound of someone playing the electric guitar well.

The Prodigy were just insane... wandered over there after Neil Young. So so hectic. I was slightly skeptical of them - I tend to group together techno/trance/house/dance, but whatever you label the Prodigy, you can not get their full potential unless seen live. The Presets may consider themselves as dirty, underground music, but The Prodigy have to be the hardest and most intense music, as well as being the scariest people I have ever seen live.