After swapping various emails with its mastermind Diego Loop we decided to make this post with an up-to-date biography and some nice pictures,therefore I must give my biggest thanx to Diego for his help and for giving me permission to post this amazing album.You will find here also a complete biography written by Diego himself for this blog-
Enjoy it.~f(a*r)a~w*a)y~
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KEBABTRÄUME BiographyNovember 1989: KEBABTRÄUME was born in Bari (Apulia, Italy) by an idea of the electronic musician Diego “D. Loop” Loporcaro, the only constant member of the project.
The name, ironically chosen by D. Loop soon after the fall of the Berlin Wall, came from the title of one of the most politicised song by the German synth-punk band D.A.F. "Kebab träume in der mauerstadt" (Kebab dreams in the city of the wall): it was a tribute to one of their earliest musical inspirers and a reference to the Turkish blood flowing through Apulian veins, following the Turkish rule of Apulia of the 9th century.
The first incarnation of KT was already active since 1986, changing many times names and music styles (always retaining a strong electronic and wave attitude) until reaching a personal mix of synth-punk and early EBM in late 1989, as proven in the demo-tapes released in winter 1990 and summer 1991.
Vincenzo Dipino (vocals, lyrics), Joe Di Giuseppe (synths, programming, backing vocals, music composition, production), Gianfranco Di Lillo (guitars, tapes, additional programming, additional music composition), Diego Loporcaro (synths, backing vocals, arrangements) and Antonello Rossini (additional synths) started experimenting with sounds in search of the right formula for a new form of sonic attack to the "new world order" of the late ‘80s / early ‘90s.
On September 11th, 1991, ten years before the disaster in NYC, KT started working on a proper album, recording a more complex, multi-layered and harsher music than one of the previous demos. Antonello Rossini left soon after, due to musical differences, being replaced by the video-maker Antonello Polito (who later choose the moniker P.An, from the name of a disco in which KT played in early 1993).
Polito, passed away on May 12th 2015, He was an important member of KT, turning a standard band into a real multimedia collective, giving directions and suggestions also during the process of music composition.
At the completion of the first album “Electrifying Times” in late January 1993, also Di Lillo left the collective.
The remaining three musicians and the video-maker played out in mid-February their first “real” audio-visual performance to present the new album: the PAN disco in Adelfia (a small town near Bari) was filled with TV screens and loudspeakers (both of different forms and sizes) in each hall/room (even bathrooms), so it was nearly impossible not to watch the show of the collective for those who were in the disco that night. Gianfranco Ferrulli (from the EBM band Technique Over Line) was on the front-of-house mixing desk.
The promo tape of “Electrifying Times” caught the interest of Wonderecords, one of the many independent labels run by the electronic band from Milan Marika Martyr, which invited KT to participate to the cover-album “Death Is Everywhere – A Tribute To Depeche Mode From Italy”.
Soon after that first show, Gianfranco Ferrulli replaced Gianfranco Di Lillo in both studio and live line-up.
With Ferrulli on sampler and computer programming, KT contributed to the Depeche Mode tribute compilation with the cover version of “More Than A Party”, recorded in late February 1993 (and released on CD one year later) and arranged in their typical synth-punk attitude.
In July KT played out a new show, this time in San Francesco’s Park in Bari, playing new tracks and reworks.
In February 1994 KT finished their second album called “Religion vs. Technology – I”, giving up on having the first album officially released (“Electrifying Times” has to be considered de facto a promo tape album).
At the end of recordings, D. Loop and Dipino were forced to leave Bari for the mandatory military service.
The album was self-released on tape in September and distributed through specialized Italian record shops.
Minus Habens, an electronic label from Bari, liked the album and included the track “D.O.C.S.” in the upcoming label compilation “Body Frequencies” (January 1995).
Understanding that the collective could achieve more from the album, if properly recorded and distributed, KT decided to rework it in a more mature and professional way, soon after the release of “D.O.C.S.”.
The small “success” of tape and compilations revealed an increasing interest in KT from both electronic and industrial audience and Italian press: between March and April, the group did their first Italian mini-tour.
The studio work was interrupted by another audio-visual performance in July to try the new reworks into a live environment: at the foot of the Medieval Castiglione Tower, in the countryside of Conversano (Apulia), KT played electronic instruments, metallic percussion, and ancient stones!The album was finished in early November, mastered in early December and in the meanwhile the packaging of the tapes were ready: before Christmas, the new tape, re-titled “Neural Earthquake”, was out.
In late January 1996 KT signed a contract with Minus Habens (home of Nightmare Lodge, Sigillum S, Teho Teardo, Dive, Clock DVA, Front 242, Front Line Assembly, Pankow, Angelo Badalamenti…) for the release of “Neural Earthquake” on CD, including all the tracks of the tape except “More Than A Party”.
The CD of “Neural Earthquake” (including a new and more guitar-driven remix of the track “Immortal Spirit”) was released on March 6th 1996 and the new KT Digital Studio was inaugurated on March 8th 1996.
The musical intuitions of KT were fully revealed in “Neural Earthquake”, a collection of the best tracks written between 1986 and 1995 in a reworked form, summary of nine years of sonic experimentation.
A TV appearance and two dates in Apulia followed in April: these were good tests before the launch of the “Neural Assault Tour” in the northern part of Italy between October and December.
The show was based on the whole album plus three new songs, recorded and mixed between May and August 1996, among them a radical rework of “More Than A Party”.
The live line-up saw on stage the sole D. Loop and Dipino plus the video-performance by P.An: Di Giuseppe was on the front-of-house mixing desk, while Ferrulli was unavailable for dates outside Apulia.
In 1996 KEBABTRÄUME was credited as one of the best Italian electronic newcomers of the year by music magazines as Vertigo (DE), Side-Line (BE), Industrial Nation (US), Rumore (IT) and others.
In December 1996, while recording new tracks, Di Giuseppe left the collective, being replaced by another Technique Over Line member: Aureliano De Iacovo.
For the first time, De Iacovo joined as a collaborator, adding some tracks to the new songs already recorded and performing as the new front-of-house engineer during the live shows.
The “Neural Assault Tour” was resumed in January 1997 with more dates in the north of Italy: at the end of the second leg of the tour in late April, De Iacovo was officialized and included in a new photo-session.
The new line-up started writing new material and re-arranged old tracks from “Electrifying Times”.
From September 1997 to mid-January 1998 took place the third leg of “Neural Assault Tour” in the center of the Italian peninsula, in which KT played the new tracks plus a selection from “Neural Earthquake”.
These "live actions" contributed to build up the “cult” status of KEBABTRÄUME: the physical interaction between the musicians on stage and the audience, the anger and the energy of the performance, the high-tech sound, and the shocking visuals distinguished KT from the other Italian electronic acts of the period.
In late March 1998 KT performed their final “Neural Assault” show in their hometown, anticipating the upcoming line-up and album (titled “Human Disease”): Gianfranco Ferrulli (back on stage) and Aureliano De Iacovo were at synthesisers, samplers and backing vocals, D. Loop and Dipino shared the stage (for the last time in many years) as lead vocalists and electronic percussion players, the new member Nicola Lonigro (in KT soon after the third leg of the tour) was on front-of-house mixing desk and P.An on visuals.
On the day after that show, Dipino left KT and D. Loop remained the only vocalist and founding member.In April 1998 D. Loop and Lonigro were busy in re-recording almost all the vocals and mixing the new album, leaving in it minimum contributions of former members Dipino and Di Giuseppe.
Between June and September KT played out a completely new show in some Italian open-air festivals with a line-up formed by D. Loop (lead vocals, electronic percussion, analogue synthesiser), Gianfranco Ferrulli (synthesisers, samplers) and Aureliano De Iacovo (synthesisers, samplers, backing vocals, dub effects) plus the new digital videos by Gianluca Mininni, replacing the old performance of P.An; off stage Fabrizio de Latouliére replaced Lonigro as front-of-house mixing engineer in the dates outside Apulia.
Since October KT sent (directly or through Minus Habens) promo CDRs of the new album around the world.
The right occasion came when Minus Habens joined forces with the German Zoth Ommog in April 1999: at this point KT started re-recording and remixing the album to gain a more competitive and updated sound.
In late summer a new master was ready for a Minus Habens/Zoth Ommog co-production: planning to have the album out in time, KT organised an Italian tour for November, but it started without a new release out.
The line-up of the “Human Disease Tour” was the same of the previous tour, even if KT were helped by two members of the electro-gothic band Vespertilia: Tommaso Danisi became the new sound engineer since September 1999 (replacing Lonigro) and Nick Barah replaced Ferrulli only in the band’s first European Tour (June 2000), ending with a show at the prestigious German festival Wave Gotik Treffen in Leipzig.
At the financial collapse of Zoth Ommog in July 2000 (“Human Disease” was sold during the concerts on CDR format), Ferrulli and De Iacovo left KT, deciding to re-form Technique Over Line.
In April 2001 the two musicians (plus Barah on backing vocals and keyboards) toured Italy both as opening act for the German electro-industrial band Das Ich and as headliner, including a gig in Rome at Jungle Club.
At the end of 2001 the financial collapse of also Bloodline abruptly stopped the re-recordings of “Human Disease” and D. Loop remained once again without band members.
In 2002 D. Loop was joined by the sound engineer Antonio Tafaro and the dub-master Francesco Stolfi.
In May KT toured Italy starting as opening act for the electro-gothic band L’Ame Immortelle and continuing as headliner: the live line-up was completed once again by Barah on keyboards and backing vocals.
KT got the offer of a tour in the former Yugoslavian countries from Andrej Sokic, a promoter from Belgrade.
The group accepted the offer and in August toured Montenegro, Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia with a line-up composed by D. Loop (lead vocals), Barah (synthesiser, backing vocals), Tafaro (front-of-house mixing, dub-master), Mariateresa Ciervo (of Vespertilia too, on sampler and synthesiser) and Sokic starting as tour manager and later replacing Barah on analogue synth in the last dates of the tour, after he fell ill.
The continued illness of Barah didn’t let him perform in the last date of the year, a gig in Apulia: for that show D. Loop, Tafaro and Stolfi recruited Vincenzo Dipino, historical co-founder of KT.
With this line-up the band resumed once again the re-recordings of “Human Disease” until early April 2003 when Stolfi left after the breakup of the Pro Tools system, putting de facto an end to KEBABTRÄUME.
The remaining members, after a one-month break to get everything in order, decided to start KTRÄUME, a future pop band with Dipino back on lead vocals and completely new songs, but this is another story.
D. Loop, again with Sokic, Ciervo and Tafaro, played live one last time as KEBABTRÄUME (August 2003) in Greece, Montenegro, Serbia, Hungary, Slovenia, and Croatia, before terminating the project forever.
During its fourteen years of activity, KEBABTRÄUME evolved its style from electro-industrial/EBM of the early years to a personal mixture of industrial, EBM, trance and techno, becoming one of the pioneers of the current trend of using trance and techno sounds/rhythms in EBM and electro-industrial music.
PS: In mid-2011 there was a failed attempt to reboot KEBABTRÄUME by D. Loop with Dipino and Ferrulli.
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