Controversy

Skinny Puppy Used for Torture?

When I first encountered Skinny Puppy in 1986, I didn’t get it.  How could anyone like a song like “Dig It?”

Yet in time, I began to understand what they were trying to do.  I became a fan.  (Sometimes you need repeated unintentional exposure to some music before you get it.  This is a problem in today’s music environment, but that’s a column for another day.)

Admittedly, Skinny Puppy’s music can be very scary and disturbing for the uninitiated–which is why I’m not at all surprised to hear that it was allegedly used for torture purposes on prisons at Guantanamo Bay.  From The Phoenix New Times:

“We heard through a reliable grapevine that our music was being used in Guantanamo Bay prison camps to musically stun or torture people,” founder cEvin Key explains by phone from his Los Angeles home. “We heard that our music was used on at least four occasions. So we thought it would be a good idea to make an invoice to the U.S. government for musical services, thus the concept of the record title, Weapons.”

Read more here.

Alan Cross

is an internationally known broadcaster, interviewer, writer, consultant, blogger and speaker. In his 40+ years in the music business, Alan has interviewed the biggest names in rock, from David Bowie and U2 to Pearl Jam and the Foo Fighters. He’s also known as a musicologist and documentarian through programs like The Ongoing History of New Music.

Alan Cross has 38022 posts and counting. See all posts by Alan Cross

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