Interview for South African Web Mag

1) Who is Spanking Machine? (The Band lineup)

Mistress Victoria Kalimata – Vocals
Lord Spanky – Synthesizer and guitar
Kiki – Bass



2) How was the band conceived and what inspired the name?

Mistress Victoria: Lord Spanky and I had a lot of ideas we wanted to express. Originally, we started the band as a hobby out of boredom with what we were hearing on the radio. At that time, we were actually focusing more of our efforts on making a short film. But the band rapidly started to eclipse our achievements with the film. In fact, what people liked most about the film was the music. At the same time, we began going to a club in Los Angeles called Sinamatic, where we heard a great combination of trance and industrial. This inspired us to go in the electronic dance music direction, which not only changed the focus of our band but also the focus of our lives.

Lord Spanky: The name "Spanking Machine" was inspired by a game that people play in the U.S. (and most likely other places as well). A line of people stand with their legs apart. Then one person crawls on all fours between their legs. As they pass, everyone spanks them. Thus, they have gone through the "Spanking Machine". We liked the name because it is humorous but still rather sinister and imposing – much like our personalities. It also combined two of our favorite things: spanking and machines. And the initials SM were irresistible.


3) Describe your music and what you would like to achieve with it.

Lord Spanky: There are so many ways to describe our kind of music. Some people call it synthpop. Others refer to it as futurepop. Sometimes it gets put into the general category of industrial. I've always thought our sound was a fusion of new trance and old school industrial, which are two of our biggest influences. To that sound we add passionate lyrics and melodies.

Mistress Victoria: Our goal is to make the kind of music that has inspired us. I can be in a room surrounded by people and still feel incredibly lonely. But I can be all alone with one good song and feel like the entire universe is speaking to me.


4) Your music is definitely not mainstream, but do you have any followers outside the fetish scene, or is that impossible?

Lord Spanky: I believe that fetish and BDSM are much more mainstream than many people may think. They were once such forbidden subjects. But over the years, the imagery and language of fetish have truly entered "normal" society. I saw an ad for a major job recruiting service that mentioned "nipple clamps". Even when we go to the most hardcore, underground BDSM play parties, we run into people who are accountants, lawyers and other "responsible" citizens.

Mistress Victoria: There are also many people who are not necessarily into fetish who still like our music. There's a sense of freedom associated with fetish that is very appealing, even if you never so much as pick up a riding crop or paddle it’s nice to know that someone out there has the sense of freedom to go ahead and do it. Also, in our latest songs, we don't sing about acts of BDSM as much as we use it as a metaphor for how the world works. We are all dominant or submissive at times. For example, we all have dealt with a boss at one time or another. Look up "boss" in the dictionary: someone who exercises authority. Hmmm, sounds familiar….


5) What can one expect from your onstage performance, or what is a typical live performance like?

Lord Spanky: Sonically, we've worked very hard to replicate the sound of the CD while maintaining the energy of a live show. It's a very delicate balance of technology and humanity.

Mistress Victoria: I still believe that art can liberate the masses. So for our live shows, we create an open environment where people can get together, express themselves and meet others who share their view of the world without the restrictions of societal norms. Each of our shows has a different theme designed to inspire the audience to cast off their inhibitions and explore something new. Every show is different in energy and aesthetic. There are many acts who use nudity or live BDSM on stage for shock value, or to get themselves written up by the increasingly superficial fetish magazines. We strive to create a deeper experience for the audience. Our stage show explores the beauty and sensuality of fetish.


6) Some bands or artists have little rituals they follow before going on stage. What is the Spanking Machine rituals?

Mistress Victoria: Oh, yes we do. I am a firm believer in the psychological power of ritual, each performance in itself is a ritual. But in order for them to work, they must remain secret.


7) Who influences your music style?

Lord Spanky: Our early influences were groups like DePeche Mode, Nitzer Ebb, Nine Inch Nails and Front 242. Back in the 90's we also discovered the genres of trance and hard dance. Today we're really inspired by bands who can fuse both with the intensity and emotion of industrial music and the spirituality and hypnotic sounds of trance. Some of those groups include VNV Nation, Apoptygma Berzerk, Lab 4 and Assemblage 23.

Mistress Victoria: For me I’m not so sure if it is a who, so much as a what. There is a feeling you get when a song hits just right. A tingling. A vibration. Everything else melts away and you step into that world for a couple minutes. It moves you emotionally and physically. Your brain interprets the sounds and your body follows. Bands, styles and fads all come and go, but a good song is always a good song.



8) What is each member busy with away from the band scene?

Mistress Victoria: At our current level, there is little time for anything other than the band. We do all our promotion, bookings, management, sound engineering, logistics, design and marketing, as well as finding time to practice, work on new songs and develop ideas for stage shows. In our off hours, we enjoy going to clubs, seeing shows and, of course, romantic evenings at home.


9) Are there any conquests or world invasions planned for the new year - a world tour maybe?

Lord Spanky: Most definitely. After our new CD is done, we want to tour extensively. We encourage any promoter wishing to book us for a show to contact us at bookings@smdungeon.com.


10) Are you satisfied with what Spanking Machine accomplished so far?

Lord Spanky: Over the past couple years we've played some incredible shows. And we're extremely excited about how our new CD is coming out. We've released a three song DJ promo and it's been getting a good amount of play in the US, Europe and Australia. Of course, there are many goals that we have yet to achieve and we are determined to do so this year. Chief among them is touring Europe and finding a European label or distributor.


11) Have you come across any negative responses to your music?

Lord Spanky: If we didn't, it would mean that we're not being original enough. Everyone who does something new is always criticized by those who want nothing to change. There are still people out there that don't like any band that doesn't sound like an exact copy of something that was done 20 years ago. Fortunately, the numbers of the closed minded are far exceeded by those who are really excited about new sounds.

Mistress Victoria: Most of the time the response is quite positive. I’ll take any sound criticism to mind but it usually comes from people trying to get attention the only way they know how. I had one man approach me before a show and say "Hey, I’ll give you a critique when you get offstage." That's the last thing I want when I’ve finished a show to an audience of dancing people. Oh yes, doesn’t that sound fun.

I do feel that our music is sometimes not as valued as most male fronted bands. Music is far too male oriented, especially industrial. Why are all the women ushered into little sections of music like we all are on the same bus with Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera? Men can go onstage wearing baggy pants and button up shirts while women have to look like supermodels, bear their midriff, sing about being a dirty slave and shake their moneymaker. What happened to respect? Aretha Franklin and Janis Joplin would have never made it in today’s climate. I know it’s a sexist world we live in, but gender shouldn’t matter when it comes to music. To be fair I know that it is harder for men now too, but with Radiohead leading a class of groups that barely look like they’ve showered that are constantly played on MTV in between rap videos where women serve as décor, I think you can start to get where I am coming from.

You can’t even it out with things like the Lilith Festival either. I understand the idea but it just broadens the rift. Nothing ever got solved by alienating people. Besides, I don’t want to be known as a female band. We are 50% male. I want to be known for good music.

I’ve been dancing at industrial clubs since I was 13 and can keep up with the roughest powernoise. But to me, industrial is so much more than people beating their chests. It’s always been more intelligent and socially aware than mainstream. But what about women? We are much more than casserole makers and baby machines. We are forced to survive in this world just like men. We get angry, we get stomped on by the working world and we are sick of injustices. I want to offer people solutions and escape. Dark music to match our dark lives. Anyone can run around and scream loudly about anything and anyone they hate. But what are we going to do about it? Kill everyone? I don’t think it works that way. I expect more from Industrial, it is supposed to be better than mainstream and I expected it to be more openminded.

One genre of music where the female vocal is treasured is trance. I can easily name many trance acts that have female vocals like Lustral, Four Strings, Faithless, Dido. Plus Lisa Lashes is tearing up Hard House. Should music really be split like that? Should it be women over here and men over there? But unlike industrial where I have a hard time naming any women, the men are thriving in trance. You’ve heard of BT, Armin Van Burren, Paul Van Dyk. Maybe I’m an idealist but in a world where Eminem is accepted as a rapper, women should be openly accepted in all forms of music. Despite my love of Industial, right now I feel we have no solid genre to call home.

But the one thing I refuse to do is to pretend to be a man and hide the female qualities of my voice or dress like a man and stomp around onstage to be accepted in a genre. To me Spanking Machine is the perfect universe of men and women working together while still retaining the qualities of our own gender.


12) What is the Spanking Machine philosophy?

Mistress Victoria: The overall message is to not allow the authority figures of the world tell you what to do with your life, who are they to tell you anything. The world is based on choices - domination and submission. Choose your submission well. If you are to dominate, understand that the most pure power comes when people submit willingly, not out of fear. Most importantly, there is nothing wrong with pleasure. And lastly, fight when you need to fight.