{"id":1102,"date":"2023-01-18T18:33:51","date_gmt":"2023-01-18T23:33:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mkultramagazine.com\/?p=1102"},"modified":"2023-01-19T21:42:58","modified_gmt":"2023-01-20T02:42:58","slug":"the-electric-hellfire-club-m-k-ultras-band-of-the-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mkultramagazine.com\/?p=1102","title":{"rendered":"THE ELECTRIC HELLFIRE CLUB M.K. ULTRA\u2019S BAND OF THE YEAR"},"content":{"rendered":"
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from MK ULTRA Issue #6 The One Year Anniversary Issue 1996<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

No other band that graced the pages of M.K. Ultra better deserves this title. We saw
them countless times. We listen to their music endlessly. And, when I hired my new
staff, each member loved the music of these Wisconsinites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Electric Hellfire Club even made a cameo in our Demon Dancer comic strip twice.
The interview with singer Thomas Thorn was the longest interview ever to run within our
pages. It incidentally created the most controversy as well (which we welcomed, by the
way).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Formed in 1992, after Thomas Thorn left My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult, a fact that
really doesn\u2019t matter as of late, Thorn recorded a project called Slave State and met up
with Shane Lassen and company and formed the Electric Hellfire Club.
They were subsequently signed to Cleopatra Records, and began a string of club
shows, playing with the likes of Christian Death and others.
I found their debut, \u201cBurn Baby Burn,\u201d very exciting, since I\u2019m a big fan of psychedelic
music. Although, at the time, I was very ignorant about the seriousness of the message
the band conveyed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before long, I received two more EHC releases, \u201cSatan\u2019s Little Helpers\u201d and \u201cKiss The
Goat.\u201d The latter made me a diehard fan. It wasn’t long after that I met the band and began to travel to Chicago on a regular basis to check out their live sets. No two were the same. Not once could I not get Shane Lassen\u2019s keyboard groove out of my head, nor did I mind being hit with Mr. Thorn\u2019s whip when I\u2019d rush the stage with other eager show goers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sooner than later the Electric Hellfire Club were to perform shows with Type -O Negative
(one sold out on Halloween), and release on limited edition orange vinyl a medley called
\u201cTrick or Treat.\u201d which included John Carpenter\u2019s \u201cHalloween Theme.\u201d EHC\u2019s own
\u201cIncubus,\u201d a cover of the Bauhaus classic, \u201cBela Lugosi\u2019s Dead\u201d and Type O\u2019s \u201cBlack
#1.\u201d Also on the platter was a cover of AC\/DC\u2019s \u201cHighway to Hell.\u201d The tour ended up
taking the band across the United States and out to California and back again before
heading home to Kenosha. The boys were taking a little time off before heading back into the studio to record the much anticipated follow-up to \u201cKiss the Goat\u201d when tragedy struck. <\/p>\n\n\n

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Early the morning of January 22nd, 1996, keyboardist Shane Lassen, who was known to fans as the Rev. Dr. Luv, died of injuries sustained in a fatal car crash. I received a call informing me of the sad news early the next morning and spent that week in shock. Our cover story to the band we loved so much in our first year of existence, would now be a tribute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As stated before, his keyboard sound would stick in our heads long after each show. In
Keyboard Magazine had compared his playing to that of Ray Manzarek of the
Doors. Shane was always very friendly to our staff as well as many of his fans. He
always seemed more concerned with what we were up to as opposed to talking about
himself and the incredibly talented band he was part of.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Shane Lassen The Rev. Dr. Luv<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

When I called Thomas Thorn to talk about Hellfire Club\u2019s recent losses as well as new
found success, he wanted to assure us as well as you that they were going on with the
band. The band will go into Chicago Trax in April and are calling the new album \u201cCalling
Dr. Luv.\u201d The follow-up to last year\u2019s milestone, \u201cKiss the Goat.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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Alex: I guess the first thing I should have you do is reflect on Shane for a moment. How
has this affected you and the band?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thomas: Obviously it\u2019s easily the most tragic thing that has ever occurred in my life.
This is somebody I\u2019ve spent the last five years of my life usually not more than six feet
away from. In every part of my life, as a roommate, and working on the band
together, every part of my life has been linked to him in some way, shape or form.
So, it wasn\u2019t a business partnership, it’s that we were really, really good friends. It\u2019s the most
tremendous loss in all different ways. It hasn\u2019t just hit the band really hard. It\u2019s destroyed
my life in all ways that I knew it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The situation we\u2019re in we have to rebuild everything, from square one. At the same
time we want everyone to know and understand that we worked incredibly hard to bring
this band to the point it is now. It would be like running the ball all the way down the field
and dropping it at the goal line. If we stopped right now, it would be a disgrace to his
memory, if we were to stop going at this point. This is what he would\u2019ve wanted. It\u2019s
what we need to do to keep him and his memory alive.<\/p>\n\n\n

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A better rendition of this image coming soon<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Alex: His play style remains one that has been very unique. Are you still going to keep
the same psychedelic sound?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thomas: The thing is that the Electric Hellfire Club definitely developed as a group
effort. It was something where the sound grew out of a love for music like Iron Butterfly
and the Doors as much as the hard and heavy electro, or heavy metal. Everybody in the
band plays keyboards, and everybody has that sort of musical learning as far as their
interests, and their playing style. So, at this point, we\u2019re not really looking at replacing
him. On April 10th, we started recording a new album, and he was certainly the
more skilled of all of us. But, it\u2019s a sound and feel that we\u2019ll be able to carry on, because
it\u2019s a part of us. We\u2019ll record it with the current line up as is. Then, we\u2019ll start putting
ourselves together as a live band. The project is called \u201cCalling Dr. Luv.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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Alex: What do you think you\u2019ll do live?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thomas: We\u2019ll have live keyboards on stage. Go-Go Partridge, who was dancing for us
on the last tour, is probably going to take over the keyboard duties. We talked to her,
and she was here a few weeks after the funeral and she tried it out and it worked. But
as far as the album is concerned, it\u2019ll be us. Most of it\u2019s written at this point, and I feel
more comfortable with us now than trying to bring somebody new in.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Alex: Any idea how many copies have sold of \u201cKiss the Goat?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thomas: It\u2019s way up there, I know that. I really don\u2019t know what the numbers are at this
point, but if the last check I got is any sign of what\u2019s going on out there, it\u2019s going quite
well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alex: With the success that you\u2019ve had in the past year, has the negative press on your
message diminished to inflated?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thomas: I think it\u2019s inflated. Monday I\u2019m flying out to do Bob Larsen\u2019s TV show again.
At this point, it\u2019s funny because the more they pay attention, the more they promote you.
It\u2019s like how MTV went through the huge thing about Marilyn Manson not being allowed to
play in Utah, so they came out and tore up a Bible on stage and it was this incredible
scandal. Man, I\u2019ve torn up bibles on stage for years, and MTV has never put me on
there. So, that\u2019s really funny, and as one\u2019s notoriety grows, those things\u2026The more
you\u2019re made to be this big evil thing, the more popular it makes you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alex: Has this increased your fan base, or has the word of mouth been responsible?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thomas: It\u2019s a simultaneous thing. Each can be linked to the other because I think
there are people out there looking for this sort of thing, although we don\u2019t have the
visibility that Marilyn Manson has. But, at the same time, we win over the rebellious kids
at that point where they\u2019re acting out a political, social, and spiritual rebellion\u2026It\u2019s very
easy for them to embrace groups like us, that embrace that completely. So yeah, I think it\u2019s
a matter of both.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alex: Do you think you\u2019ve finally shed the tag of being \u201cformally of TKK?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thomas: Yeah, I don\u2019t think anyone mentions or talks about it anymore. It was a tool that
Cleopatra used initially as a selling tool to increase interest in the band. But, by the time
we put out \u201cKiss the Goat,\u201d it wasn\u2019t used in any advertising. There are a lot of people
who don\u2019t even know that unless they read the bio. So, I think we\u2019re pretty much an
established entity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alex: \u201cIncubus\u201d showed up on the A.P. dance charts, and you went to New York to film a
video. Whatever happened to that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thomas: We didn\u2019t like the edit we got. It had weird things put in that were done without
our knowledge, like news clips of planes dropping bombs, O.J. Simpson and things that
had nothing to do with the song. It was cheesy, ridiculous and I have no idea why it was
included. So, we got all the master footage and David Glass of Mephisto Waltz and
Christian Death is re-editing it. I heard it was done, but haven\u2019t seen it yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alex: For you, what was it like to play a sold out show in New York City?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thomas: It was remarkable. That was one of the greatest shows of my life. Maybe the
greatest show that I\u2019ve done. I\u2019ve played to crowds about that size with TKK when we
did the NMS at the Ritz in New York. But this was an amazing show, particularly
because when I was in TKK, we were the headline band and that was the band
everyone came to see. When we play with a band like Type O Negative for over a
week\u2019s worth of shows, where people only know who Type O Negative was. So, it was a
completely different crowd than we were used to playing to. Lycia was opening and in a
lot of places people spit on them and were furious at what Lycia was doing. And even
those people, the guys cruising around in their Trans Ams, wish that Type O was
available on 8-track, were still responding to our music, too. So, as we opened with the
theme from \u201cHalloween,\u201d 5,000 people stood up and started screaming. so, it was really
a rush for us. And we sold over $1,000 worth of T-shirts that night. It was definitely a
reflection that people like what they saw, and that regardless of whether you create your
art for yourself or for other people it\u2019s definitely a nice thing to know that it\u2019s appreciated.
At least you\u2019re communicating with some of these people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alex: That short tour grew into a lot more dates, didn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thomas: Theoretically, what we were supposed to do was a week and a half with
them. Then, we went out with Spahn Ranch in New Jersey, did a little back tracking,
covered whatever we didn\u2019t hit on the east coast. Then went around the country and
ended up in Seattle. Suddenly, part way through the tour, we were offered the
Genitorturers tour. So, we should\u2019ve been done by December 7th, but it kept growing. We
had so much fun, we were asked to go to Florida and finish out the tour. And, it\u2019s not like
the Christmas holidays mean that much to us, so we did that and spent the holidays
with our friends in Atlanta, Liars In Wait. We\u2019re like the Addams Family on vacation. We have so much fun on tour.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Alex: On the new project, are you addressing any new themes?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thomas: On one hand, I can say it\u2019s more of the same but on the other, it\u2019ll be different.
What I can say is different is that we\u2019ve just about exhausted all the songs we wrote
prior to this recording. Like with \u201cKiss the Goat,\u201d it was half new songs and half songs
that existed as far back as when \u201cBurn Baby Burn\u201d was done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alex: As you know, the staff of M.K. Ultra have seen EHC countless times and one
thing we really appreciate is that no two shows are alike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thomas: Yeah, we try to do that. We always, especially when we play Chicago, try to
play different songs along with the more traditional numbers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alex: I just can\u2019t say how glad we are to know you\u2019re going on. We\u2019ve received more
letters regarding EHC than any other band we\u2019ve covered and it\u2019s all been positive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thomas: There was never any question. We talked to his parents about two days after.
They said it\u2019s exactly what he would want. It was never a consideration in our minds that
the band was over. It\u2019s a shattering blow. Every day we go into the band room to work
on new material. It’s a painful process, because the more you immerse into it, the more it
intensifies the sense of grief and loss. All the notes are written in his handwriting, it\u2019s
one of those things you get an overwhelming sense of Shane not being there, that is
just devastating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alex: Did you have any closing comments you\u2019d like to share with your supporters?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thomas: Just thanks to everyone who expressed their condolences. The people who
came to the funeral or sent flowers, just sent cards and called. It\u2019s been very helpful and
meant a lot to me. That\u2019s what\u2019s going to keep him alive. We have to keep his spirit in
our hearts. That tremendous love we felt from all the fans and friends has been
incredible. We really look forward to continuing on and to interact and give something
back to everyone that has given something to us. We look forward to forging ahead.
The new album should be out late July or early August, and we\u2019ll be on tour with Type O
hopefully by the end of August.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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2022<\/strong> The Electric Hellfire Club \u2013 Burn Baby Burn (Double Orange Vinyl) This reissue features digitally remasterd audio and revamped artwork assisted by Thorn including several never-before-seen band photos!<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n
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\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

from MK ULTRA Issue #6 The One Year Anniversary Issue 1996 No other band that graced the pages of M.K. Ultra better deserves this title. We sawthem countless times. We listen to their music endlessly. And, when I hired my newstaff, each member loved the music of these Wisconsinites. The Electric Hellfire Club even made… Read More »THE ELECTRIC HELLFIRE CLUB M.K. ULTRA\u2019S BAND OF THE YEAR<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1139,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1102","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-innerviewz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mkultramagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1102","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mkultramagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mkultramagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mkultramagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mkultramagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1102"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/mkultramagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1102\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1142,"href":"https:\/\/mkultramagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1102\/revisions\/1142"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mkultramagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1139"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mkultramagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1102"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mkultramagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1102"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mkultramagazine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}