Industrial Band Skinny Puppy Demand $666,000 after Music Is Used in Guantánamo Torture
IN FOCUS, 10 Feb 2014
Band file claim for $666,000 and express outrage at their music being used ‘as an actual weapon against somebody’ in the US detention centre.
A Canadian electro-industrial band is asking for thousands of dollars in royalties after learning that the US military used their music to torture prisoners at Guantánamo Bay. Skinny Puppy claim they filed a $666,000 (£368,000) bill with America’d defence department.
“We sent them an invoice for our musical services considering they had gone ahead and used our music without our knowledge and used it as an actual weapon against somebody,” keyboardist Cevin Key recently told CTV News. “I am not only against the fact they’re using our music to inflict damage on somebody else but they are doing it without anybody’s permission.”
Skinny Puppy first learned about the alleged use of their music from a former Guantánamo Bay guard, who was “affected or offended” by the detention camp’s practices. Although the Vancouver-born band originally planned to use their new album cover as an invoice to the Pentagon, they have now received “coaching” and apparently sent an actual physical document to government officials. They are even considering a lawsuit.
“We’re not making a point looking for financial gain,” Key underlined. But nor is the group entirely surprised that their songs were used as sonic punishment for Gitmo’s detainees: “We thought this would end up happening, in a weird way,” he admitted in an interview with the Phoenix New Times. “Because we make unsettling music, we can see it being used in a weird way. But it doesn’t sit right with us.”
Skinny Puppy aren’t the only group whose music has reportedly been used to torture terrorist suspects and “enemy combatants” at the United States‘ base in Cuba. According to earlier reports, interrogators have employed songs by Metallica, Rage Against The Machine, Queen, Eminem, and even David Gray. “It’s an issue that no one wants to deal with,” Gray said in 2008. “It’s shocking that there isn’t more of an outcry.”
Weapon, Skinny Puppy’s 12th studio album, is out now.
Go to Original – theguardian.com
DISCLAIMER: The statements, views and opinions expressed in pieces republished here are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of TMS. In accordance with title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. TMS has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is TMS endorsed or sponsored by the originator. “GO TO ORIGINAL” links are provided as a convenience to our readers and allow for verification of authenticity. However, as originating pages are often updated by their originating host sites, the versions posted may not match the versions our readers view when clicking the “GO TO ORIGINAL” links. This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.