[Robobaby]

Aside from the jokes, there is only ONE rule to idustrial... GO BERSERK!! Feel free to experiment, do weird shit that no one else bothered to do before. Also, NEVER listen to dumb debates like PC vs Mac, analog vs digital, software vs hardware; just try and create what you hear in your mind, regardless of the means used to achieve that.

Pretty much this.

The whole point of Industrial in the beginning was that it was working class (hence the name). It required no special skills and no specialised equipment to create. It was meant to be inclusive - an activity that lots of people can join in from all walks of life, not exclusive which is why this thread is so hilariously ironic.

If you listen to any of the stuff on Industrial Records you will work out pretty fast that it ain't music (i.e. Hamburger Lady) or its a very amateur attempt at music (i.e. United, not the sped up version). The only way I can describe it is that Industrial was to popular music what Dada and Modernism was to Classical art: an attempt to breakdown and subvert classical ideas of form and beauty, to reject standards in technique and composition and to remake them anew. To allow anybody to get involved in making music, not just a privileged few.

The first round of Industrial artists have direct association with Industrial Records or released records through them like SPK and Cabaret Voltaire. Where it gets confusing is that these folks didn't always stick to the Industrial manifesto and both of them I guess you could say 'sold out'. Both started making synth pop and Cabaret Voltaire at least became quite successful doing that. But Cabaret Voltaire used to make stuff like Eastern Mantra and thats the part of them that has the direct connection to Industrial. Graeme Revell you may remember from the Sin City soundtrack (and quite a few other movie soundtracks). He was an SPK founding member and the beginning of his soundtrack work you can trace back to Zamia Lehmanni. You can hear the past influence of Industrial Records but by that point, SPK was something else entirely.

Then there were the bands that were born from the collapse of Industrial Records in or around 1983 like Psychic TV and later Coil. Industrial Records had to die because it had become something of an institution and somewhat exclusive. Some folks like Christopherson were never really happy with the direction it was going and Psychic TV in particular turned into (I guess you could say) a gigantic troll with that Temple of Psychic Youth bullshit. He jumped ship to form Coil with John Balance.

Coil started with the ideas behind alchemy and magic - this idea of turning 'shit into gold' or something mundane and ordinary into something extraordinary through an alchemical process. Coil was the search for the philosopher's stone but in 'musical' form and the way they did it was not always to do with music or sound at all. They used to do things like handmake the packaging for some of their records in very small numbers so they became these priceless relics for Coil fans. Like turning shit into gold. If you are interested in abstraction in music you should definitely check out Coil because they are amazing, not just for what they sound like but because of the philosophy behind it and because of how humble it is. Some folks say Coil is Post Industrial like Post Modernism is to Modernism, a rejection of but also a continuation of what came before it. I don't really think it makes sense to pigeon hole things like that though.

After that theres alot of bands which take influences from Industrial and the creative philosophy behind it, then incorporate it into their own musical or anti musical context. I think NIN were really tight with Coil at one stage what with Christopherson directing the Broken and March of the Pigs videos for NIN (which really pushed the line in terms of what is socially acceptable in popular music). This is just another necessary step in the creative process which happens to be reinterpretation and recombination. Without that everything stays the same, everything stagnates, everything dies. I mean I like some of the old Industrial stuff like Slogun and I still find some of it interesting but I'm more interested in where people are taking the influence now. Where they are mixing it up with things that the original guys didn't think of and didn't intend.

So the original question is kind of loaded. Industrial always was part philosophy so W-W-Int is pretty close to the mark. Remember how Industrial started and what made it what it is. The absence of form and technique. Just go nuts with whatever you have around you and let it happen. Later you can reinterpret it, reuse it, recycle it, re-evaluate it (in a musical context if you wish). That doesn't mean that you just make random shit and call it a day. It means that for a moment you don't let your lack of skill and lack of expensive gear hinder you from creating something that matters. It also means that for a moment, you suspend your idea of what makes music 'music' and just run with what you have. See where it goes.

Part of it is also to do with Coil's philosophy I guess you could say. Unrealworld82 gets it because hes done it and I know what hes talking about. Its about taking mundane sounds, anything, one shot samples, movie clips, and mundane synth buzzing noises and through keen interest and experimentation, turning these sounds into something that moves and which is alive. Its necessarily DIY. When you think about it, alot of DIY music gets that from Industrial. Dance music, Hip Hop etc. All of that is homebrew all the way but the difference is that these have become institutions with rules of form and they have become somewhat exclusive in a way.