Monte Cazazza is an American

artist An artist is a person engaged in an activity related to creating art, practicing the arts, or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse refers to a practitioner in the visual arts only. However, th ...

and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

best known for his seminal role in helping shape

industrial music Industrial music is a genre of music that draws on harsh, mechanical, transgressive or provocative sounds and themes. AllMusic defines industrial music as the "most abrasive and aggressive fusion of rock and electronic music" that was "initiall ...

through recordings with the

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

-based

Industrial Records Industrial Records is a record label established in 1976 by industrial music and visual arts group Throbbing Gristle. The group created the label primarily for self-releases but also signed several other groups and artists. The label gave a nam ...

in the mid-1970s.

Career

Cazazza, based primarily in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

during his early career, is credited with coining the phrase "Industrial Music for Industrial People". This was later used to encapsulate the

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

and the artists representing it. Later, the

noise Noise is unwanted sound considered unpleasant, loud or disruptive to hearing. From a physics standpoint, there is no distinction between noise and desired sound, as both are vibrations through a medium, such as air or water. The difference arise ...

collages and experimental sound manipulation coming out of Industrial Records came to be known as

. Cazazza had built up an underground reputation as a particularly volatile performer with a potentially dangerous and antisocial aesthetic.

Re/Search RE/Search Publications is an American magazine and book publisher, based in San Francisco, founded by its editor V. Vale in 1980. In several issues, Andrea Juno was also credited as an editor. It was the successor to Vale's earlier punk rock fanz ...

Magazine's ''

Industrial Culture Handbook RE/Search No. 6/7: Industrial Culture Handbook from RE/Search Publications, 1983 is a book about industrial music and performance art edited by V. Vale and Andrea Juno. It features interviews and articles with Throbbing Gristle, Mark Pauline, ...

'' described his work as "

insanity Insanity, madness, lunacy, and craziness are behaviors performed by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns. Insanity can be manifest as violations of societal norms, including a person or persons becoming a danger to themselves or to ...

-outbreaks thinly disguised as art events". The

Futurist Futurists (also known as futurologists, prospectivists, foresight practitioners and horizon scanners) are people whose specialty or interest is futurology or the attempt to systematically explore predictions and possibilities abou ...

Sintesi show near the end of 1975 was heralded on a promo flier as "Sex - religious show; giant statue of

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

got

chainsaw A chainsaw (or chain saw) is a portable gasoline-, electric-, or battery-powered saw that cuts with a set of teeth attached to a rotating chain driven along a guide bar. It is used in activities such as tree felling, limbing, bucking, pruning, ...

ed and

gang rape Gang rape, also called serial gang rape, group rape, or multiple perpetrator rape in scholarly literature,Ullman, S. E. (2013). 11 Multiple perpetrator rape victimization. Handbook on the Study of Multiple Perpetrator Rape: A Multidisciplinary Re ...

d into oblivion". Cazazza did not limit his "performances" to the familiar dynamic of stage, audience, and audience reaction. Much of his work involved acts designed for maximum

shock value Shock value is the potential of an image, text, action, or other form of communication, such as a public execution, to provoke a reaction of sharp disgust, shock, anger, fear, or similar negative emotions. In advertising Shock advertising or Sho ...

. While a student at the

Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...

campus of the

California College of Arts and Crafts California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the mo ...

, Cazazza created a cement waterfall that disabled the main stairway of the building for his first sculpture assignment. He was expelled shortly afterwards. He once created a 15'x15' screw-together metal

swastika The swastika (卐 or 卍) is an ancient religious and cultural symbol, predominantly in various Eurasian, as well as some African and American cultures, now also widely recognized for its appropriation by the Nazi Party and by neo-Nazis. It ...

and was known to visit his friends with a dead cat and

formaldehyde Formaldehyde ( , ) (systematic name methanal) is a naturally occurring organic compound with the formula and structure . The pure compound is a pungent, colourless gas that polymerises spontaneously into paraformaldehyde (refer to section F ...

that he would use to set the cat alight. Much of his early work is considered

obscene An obscenity is any utterance or act that strongly offends the prevalent morality of the time. It is derived from the Latin ''obscēnus'', ''obscaenus'', "boding ill; disgusting; indecent", of uncertain etymology. Such loaded language can be use ...

and virtually impossible to find. He worked with both print and

sound collage In music, montage (literally "putting together") or sound collage ("gluing together") is a technique where newly branded sound objects or compositions, including songs, are created from collage, also known as montage. This is often done throug ...

, film, performance, and presentation. He was also heavily involved in the

Mail art Mail art, also known as postal art and correspondence art, is an artistic movement centered on sending small-scale works through the postal service. It initially developed out of what eventually became Ray Johnson's New York Correspondence Schoo ...

movement of the mid-1970s to early 1980s. Some of his early output was collected and released by The Grey Area of Mute in 1992 under the title, ''

The Worst of Monte Cazazza Monte Cazazza is an American artist and composer best known for his seminal role in helping shape industrial music through recordings with the London-based Industrial Records in the mid-1970s. Career Cazazza, based primarily in San Francisco ...

''. Cazazza worked frequently with Factrix, an early industrial and experimental group from San Francisco, and recorded soundtracks for

Mark Pauline Mark Pauline (born December 14, 1953) is an American performance artist and inventor, best known as founder and director of Survival Research Laboratories. He is a 1977 graduate of Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida. Pauline founded SR ...

and

Survival Research Laboratories Survival Research Laboratories (SRL) is an American performance art group that pioneered the genre of large-scale machine performance. Founded in 1978 by Mark Pauline, the group is known in particular for their performances where custom-built mac ...

. More recent activity has included co-creating the independent distribution and film company MMFilms with

Michelle Handelman Michelle Handelman (born 1960) is an American video installation artist, filmmaker, photographer, performance artist, writer and professor. She is an associate professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology, Fashion Institute of Technology (FI ...

and various soundtrack recordings. Cazazza sent out photos of himself in an electric chair on the day of convicted murderer

Gary Gilmore Gary Mark Gilmore (born Faye Robert Coffman; December 4, 1940 – January 17, 1977) was an American criminal who gained international attention for demanding the implementation of his death sentence for two murders he had admitted to committing ...

's execution. One of these was mistakenly printed in a Hong Kong newspaper as the real execution. Cazazza was also photographed alongside

COUM Transmissions COUM Transmissions was a music and performance art collective who operated in the United Kingdom from 1969 through to 1976. The collective was influenced by the Dada and surrealism artistic movements, the writers of the Beat Generation, and underg ...

Throbbing Gristle Throbbing Gristle were an English music and visual arts group formed in 1975 in Kingston upon Hull by Genesis P-Orridge, Cosey Fanni Tutti, Peter Christopherson, and Chris Carter (British musician), Chris Carter. They are widely regarded as pi ...

members

Genesis P-Orridge Genesis Breyer P-Orridge (born Neil Andrew Megson; 22 February 1950 – 14 March 2020) was a singer-songwriter, musician, poet, performance artist, visual artist, and occultist who rose to notoriety as the founder of the COUM Transmissions arti ...

and

Cosey Fanni Tutti Cosey Fanni Tutti (born Christine Carol Newby; 4 November 1951) is an English performance artist, musician and writer, best known for her time in the avant-garde groups Throbbing Gristle and Chris & Cosey. Tutti first performed under the name ...

for the "Gary Gilmore Memorial Society" postcard, in which the three artists posed blindfolded and tied to chairs with actual loaded guns pointed at them to depict Gilmore's execution.

Discography

Solo

*'' To Mom On Mother's Day'' (7") (Industrial Records) (1979) *'' At Leeds Fan Club/Scala, London/Oundle School'' (Cass) (Industrial Records) (1980) *'' Something For Nobody'' (7") (Industrial Records) (1980) *'' Stairway To Hell/Sex Is No Emergency'' (7") (Sordide Sentimental) (1982) *''

'' (CD) (The Grey Area) (1992) *'' Kill Yur Self'' (12") (Telepathic Recordings) (1996) *'' Power Versus Wisdom, Live'' (CD) (Side Effects) (1996) *'' The Cynic (Monte Cazazza album)'' (CD) (Blast First Petite) (2010)

with Factrix

*'' California Babylon'' (LP) (Subterranean Records) (1982)

with Chaos Of The Night

*''Live At KFJC'' (CD) (Endorphine Factory)

with Psychic TV

*''

Dreams Less Sweet ''Dreams Less Sweet'' is the second studio album by English experimental band Psychic TV, released in 1983. It was the last Psychic TV album to feature co-founder Peter "Sleazy" Christopherson. Recording The album was recorded using Zucca ...

'' (LP) (CBS) (1983) *'' Godstar'' (12") (Temple Records) (1985) *''

Mouth Of The Night The discography of the experimental music group Psychic TV consists of over 100 full-length albums, over 15 compilation albums and over 30 singles and EPs. Studio albums *''Force the Hand of Chance'' (LP, cassette) (1982) *''Themes'' (LP) (198 ...

'' (LP) (Temple Records) (1985) *''

Themes 3 Theme or themes may refer to: * Theme (arts), the unifying subject or idea of the type of visual work * Theme (Byzantine district), an administrative district in the Byzantine Empire governed by a Strategos * Theme (computing), a custom graphical ...

'' (LP) (Temple Records) (1986) *''

Live In Heaven The discography of the experimental music group Psychic TV consists of over 100 full-length albums, over 15 compilation albums and over 30 Single (music), singles and Extended play, EPs. Studio albums *''Force the Hand of Chance'' (LP, cassette) ...

'' (LP) (Temple Records) (1987) *''

Allegory and Self ''Allegory and Self: Illustrations in Sound'' is an Vinyl record, LP released by Psychic TV in 1988 that comprises a varied selection of their work. Several versions have appeared, including the original picture disc (TOPY 035) and black vinyl ...

'' (LP) (Temple Records) (1988) *'' A Real Swedish Live Show'' (LP) (Thee Temple Ov Psychick Youth Scandinavia) (1989) *'' Live In Glasgow Plus'' (CD) (Temple Records) (2003) *'' Godstar: Thee Director's Cut'' (CD) (Temple Records) (2004)

with The Atom Smashers

*''First Strike'' (LP) (Pathfinder Records) (1986)

with The Love Force

* "Climax", "Six Eyes From Hell", and "Liars (Feed Those Christians To The Lions)" on the album ''

The Worst Of Monte Cazazza Monte Cazazza is an American artist and composer best known for his seminal role in helping shape industrial music through recordings with the London-based Industrial Records in the mid-1970s. Career Cazazza, based primarily in San Francisco ...

'' (CD) (The Grey Area) (1992)

with Esperik Glare

* "A City in the Sea" on the 7" ''As the Insects Swarm'' (7") (Static Hum Records) (2008) with Charlie Martineau

References

External links

Review of The Worst of Monte Cazazza

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cazazza, Monte Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American industrial musicians Industrial Records artists