Krang

Krang are a Sydney outfit comprised of regular members Adam Fischer, John Prendergast, Matthew Bright and Franc Conn, and their reputation for live electronic eclecticism preceded their current jaunt down to Melbourne - a reputation reiterated with resounding effect via performances at Zeitsprung 2 and Global Warming in the past couple of weeks, and equally so by the interview that follows. Krang's manipulation of traditional electronic devices, interspersed with microphonal abuse via megaphones and dictaphones to carry forth bizarre subliminal messages, is something unique, drawing as it does upon various influences as diverse as the industrial musicians of the 1970s, improvised rhythmic beats, John Cage, and contemporary acid techno.

To begin with, there's that name. Krang The Conqueror is a character drawn from 'The Avengers' comic book who travels in time and does some pretty nasty stuff. Is that where these elusive Sydneysiders got the name of the act from- "No, it's from something totally else", John answers, "although I didn't know about that one! It's actually from the most stupid place I could think of for a name - it's taken from 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'. . ." He shrugs at the concept. "It's that little Krang guy who's carried around by the robot host; I just like the way he's a total sort of despotic, megalomaniacal kind of guy but he's completely inept. He had all these great things - he drove around in this really cool vehicle called the Technodrome with Rock-Steady and Be-Bop."

Then a more meaningful or philosophical consideration was never a major part in the naming of the band- John pauses to consider further. "Well, it's also a phonetic kind of thing . . ." Here his erstwhile colleagues enter into the discussion. Adam: "Yeah, the word itself, 'krang', is kind of a sonic word." Matthew: "That's another reason why we decided to use it as our name."

Deep within the bowels of the promotional material that preceded Krang's journey down to Melbourne was the annotation that Krang's mutual interests include images of flight - stratospheric and extraterrestial - as well as aliens, TV, ecology and our planet. "Well, like with 'Ninja Turtles', it's anything sci-fi, outerspace, aliens; we're really into hollow-earth theories and all that. It's a really mixed bag", John confirms. Attaining an almost cryptic air about him, Matthew leans forward to speak. "Fridges of perceived realities", he interjects, with a wry smile to emphasize his meaning. The comment strikes a chord within his colleagues, who barely repress their smirks. "Yeah, the greyer edges of everything, you know-", John adds.

What then, is the imperative behind Krang's existence- "We're always pushing out to the edges to see what lies beyond", Matthew answers, and John agrees. "It comes across in the music we create - if you visualise it, that's what it seems to me. It's taking off; it's stratospheric, and there are lots of ascending noises to create this illusion. Our ethic is continuous revolution in sound. It's like this juggernaut going forward all the time!"

During Krang's recent hiatus in Melbourne they've performed at Global Warming, Zeitsprung 2 at the Punters Club, and will reappear again tonight at Filter. What's the audience reaction been like up to this time- "Really good!" Adam declares. "The music culture's really happening down here", Matthew goes on. "People are excited by electronic music, and there are lots of things going on." These are sentiments shared by both the other artists. "People like to hear different things", Adam continues, "and we've heard that we sound a bit different to the bands down here. They like that, too." John's response is equally positive. "It doesn't seem to be as rave-oriented down here - there's a much better live techno music scene. It's happening in Sydney too, but it's almost overwhelmed by the number of rave type of events happening every weekend. It's really hard to get the audience nu

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