"I will keep speaking my mind and wearing my heart on my sleeve." - Interview with Grendel's JD Tucker

by Stina Isabel Gavrilin

The very first edition of Tallinn Industrial Festival is upon us! On April 19, Kinomaja is taken over by both local and foreign names hailed in the dark electronic scene, as well as our residents Numbskull and 4-got-10 in the DJ section. The crown jewel of the night will be none other than the legendary Grendel, finally returning to Tallinn after 18 years! We had the honour and privilege to ask JD Tucker - the mastermind behind the project - some questions about what was, what is and what will be...

You founded Grendel as a teenager. What were your main impulses at the time?

My main impulse at the time was my love for this genre of music, and making my contribution to it’s legacy. I grew up with a lot of electronic music around me, in the ‘80s and ‘90s, ranging from Italo disco & pop, synthpop, rave music and EBM/Industrial (which back then was featured on MTV Europe, with the likes of Nitzer Ebb, Front 242, NIN and Ministry). So I had a big love for it early on, and going in this direction felt very natural to me. In the late ‘90s I got heavily into the local goth scene in the Netherlands, where I was living at the time, where EBM/Industrial was starting to break through again. This resulted in the new wave of harsher EBM (or hellektro, aggrotech, etc), which Grendel would become a part of.

I was also indulging in electronic music production at the time, albeit through primitive means, using simple tracker style software and a few external pieces of gear. The possibility of creating fully fledged songs & recording on my own was very exciting, and these genres were a perfect vehicle for my mindset at that time.

Having spent a fair share of recent years in Scotland, how much has that influenced your creative direction? Is there a proper scene for dark electronic artists?

Very much so. Glasgow is my place of birth, so for the first time in my life I knew what it felt like to feel truly at home somewhere. Combined with the welcoming & friendly culture, beautiful nature, wonderful architecture and quality of life, it’s definitely been good for my state of mind and inspiration.

One major impact was moving back here right at the start of the covid lockdowns, at the start of 2020. Due to there being no jobs going, but having all the time & serenity in the world, I decided to learn how to do mastering and improve my mixing & production skills. This offered a great way to earn a living, and practice & improve my skills actively. Having focused on this for a while, I’m now coming back to focusing on my own music with a fresh perspective & appreciation, and at a higher skill level.

Would you say Grendel is still at the height of its popularity?

I’m honestly not sure. Let’s see what the future brings! However I can say that the popularity has continued to grow and I’m immensely grateful for such a hardcore fanbase, who have stuck with me & supported Grendel over the past 25 years. Right now I’m very excited to release my new material, which is an absolute respectful nod to my fanbase and to what Grendel truly stands for.

There was, at a certain point, quite a lot of angry noise surrounding the cover image of your debut album. Does people’s ever-increasing lack of critical thought still bring you backlash for using controversial themes in your imagery and music?

The backlash was honestly minimal at the time, as most people fortunately understood that it was anti animal cruelty. However, being older & wiser now, it wouldn’t be something I would repeat. I now think there are far more tasteful ways of conveying a message. As for the message in my music, I try to be as clear as I can regarding my mostly anti-authoritarian and progressive stances, which I stand by wholeheartedly. So if people object to these, I think that’s quite telling, and not my problem. I will keep speaking my mind and wearing my heart on my sleeve.

Heard you mention somewhere that you hate the genre name ‘hellektro’ for electro-industrial. Nervous laughter... what about aggrotech?

I definitely wouldn’t say I ‘hate’ them, which is a bit of a heavy word, haha! I feel EBM/Industrial or Electro-Industrial allows for more artistic freedom, for me personally, whereas the mentioned genre titles narrow things down very specifically. I’ve always ventured into new territories, over the years, as my personal taste in music has evolved. It keeps things fresh & enjoyable for both the listeners & myself. Lyrically I also haven’t really gone for horror or angsty/edgy themes for a long time now, but rather focus on contemporary political & personal matters. I believe these things set Grendel apart from titles such as ‘aggrotech’ and ‘hellektro’. But at the end of the day it’s not really something that keeps me up at night, haha!

You’ve revealed at shows that you intend to release a new modernized version of the album “Harsh Generation” soon. What do you have in mind for the revamp?

I’m actually currently finishing up work on a series of singles & collaboration tracks, which will be released throughout the year ahead. This will then be followed up by a 25 year anniversary album, featuring reworked tracks from all releases. These have all been recreated from the ground up, bringing them to modern day standards and with a fresh twist.

What are some other projects besides Grendel that you’re working on right now? Have you ever thought of reviving old projects like Urkom for example?

I’m currently working on a melodic techno & house project, called Aiteall, with which I’ve recently done a remix for Isaac Howlett of Empathy Test. Other than that, I’ve mostly been focusing on Grendel and my (post-)production work lately, which has been taking up a lot of my time.

I noticed at your show a couple of years ago that when asking the crowd whether they wanted to hear more oldschool or fresh material, it was the former that somewhat unjustly got much louder cheers. Does that ever bother you?

Not really, to be honest. I think this is something every long running band faces at a certain point, and simply shows people have a deep connection to certain older material, connected to that point in their lives. It’s something I’ve grown to appreciate and respect. However, I have noticed some newer fans are starting to show this same appreciation or connection to the later material, which is great! These things always take time and, as long as it keeps happening, I’m just happy seeing the joy on people’s faces when we play their favourite songs.

What drove you to the decision to switch from harsh to clean vocals, even for the old harsher songs at live shows?

Once I started reducing the amount of effects & processing on my vocal recordings, I discovered there is far more room for character, emotion, nuance and dynamic using my natural & melodic voice. And once I quit smoking, back in 2016, my vocal range doubled, which allowed for even more possibilities. I simply don’t see the point in hiding behind a wall of distortion and pitch shifting, when there’s so much one can do with even a halfway decent voice. Each to their own though, and for some others it can totally work, which I respect.

Recently, you made the observation that Grendel has started to attract more and more metal crowds. Do you see it ever creeping into your sound as well?

For a while it was something I played around with, but at the end of the day I prefer to focus on the electronic side of things. The use of subtle rhythm guitar and some organic elements can really add that extra bit of energy to a track though, so love doing that.

It’s been a while since you released new material. What defines the current sonic identity of the band in the studio?

Grendel’s new material is definitely a return to true form, being electronics focused and high in energy, with a nod to techno, trance, electro and classic EBM/Industrial. The sound is very multifaceted and layered, but much more transparent in nature now, while delivering more impact. Vocally it’s also more diverse, but not shying away from venturing into ‘harsh’ territory. All in all, this is the most excited I’ve been about producing new material for the band in a while, and can’t wait for the fans to hear it!

In the interview for your first Tallinn show in 2007, you predicted that club oriented EBM & industrial would crossbreed with techno in the future, which came true. What’s your current vision like of the future of the dark electronic club scene?

I’m predicting that the ‘dark disco’ or more electronic side of modern post-punk will continue to grow in popularity, and it’s already crossing over into some areas of melodic techno and progressive house. On the flip side, I think we’ll see an increased amount of hard (Gen Z) techno seeping back into the dark scene’s industrial music. It’s all one big back and forth of influences, and I’m sure very interesting things will come out of it. Let’s all embrace what sparks joy, indiscriminately, and have fun with it. That’s what music is about!

Huge thanks for answering! We’re very excited to have you here in Tallinn once again, it’s been a while!

Thank you for the great interview, and also very excited to finally play Tallinn again! Missed you guys!