From InSocPedia
Date: Thu, 20 Apr 1995 12:25:32 -0500 (CDT)
From: Brad Will <duke@vulture.creighton.edu>
_________________________________________________________________
INFORMATION SOCIETY FAQ v2.0 by Brad Will 21 Apr 95
Amended by Kurt Harland. Written with help from: Kurt Harland, Nick
Johnson, Jeri Beck, H.P. Nagel, and Mike Brown.
_________________________________________________________________
Band History
1. Who are the band members? (past/present)
2. Where is the band from?
3. Has Insoc released any music lately?
4. What is the band currently doing?
Music
5. What albums do they have out?
6. Have they done any soundtracks?
7. What songs has Information Society released?
8. Is that Kurt's voice that sings "Running"?
9. Is there an Information Society video collection?
10. Who was Think Tank?
Computer Programs
11. Where else online can I find Information Society info?
12. Are there any InSoc programs for the computer available?
13. Are there any email mailing lists?
14. What was the "Super Secret Encoded Message"?
15. What was the "InSoc Plan For World Domination"?
16. How do I view the CD + Graphics from the first album?
17. How can I view track 12 of Peace and Love Inc?
18. What does track 12 say?
Misc Info
19. What does InSoc mean?
20. What is the address for the Information Society fan club from the
albums?
21. What is Ctl-Alt-Del?
22. Where does Kurt get his hair done?
23. What kind of car is Kurt's?
24. Is it true that the band once played a song on a daytime Soap
Opera?
_________________________________________________________________
Who are the band members, and when and where were
they involved?
In order of appearance:
* Paul Robb/Schwitters - Minneapolis 01/82 - 06/93
* Pamela Tzara/Brussman - Minneapolis 01/82 - 10/83
* Kurt Valaquen/Harland - Minneapolis 01/82 - 11/83, 12/84 - Present
Heather LeFay - Minneapolis 02/82 - 05/82
* Kaerlin/Kristie Leader - Minneapolis 10/82 - 11/83
* James Richter/Cassidy - Minneapolis 04/83 - 06/93
Chris Little - Minneapolis 09/83 - 03/84
Belinda Beasely - Minneapolis 01/84 - 02/84
Shauntelle Martin - Minneapolis 01/84 - 02/84
Lisa Tonra - Minneapolis 01/84 - 03/86
Murat Konar - Minneapolis 01/84 - 03/86
Mithat Konar - Minneapolis 01/84 - 05/86
* Amanda Kramer - Minneapolis 05/86 - 08/88
Sally Venue-Berg - Ney York City 10/88 - 09/89
Ed Potokar - New York City 11/89 - 06/91
Maria Nocera - New York City 11/89 - 03/91
Sherry Hart - New York City 03/91 - 12/91
Will Loconto - New York City 10/92 - Present
Ed Wozniak - New York City 06/91 - 12/94
Kris Larson - New York City 06/93 - Present
Liam Hart - San Francisco 01/95 - Present
* - Actual partner/owners of the name, Information Society
_________________________________________________________________
Where is the band from? The band originates from Minneapolis,
Minnesota, where they grew up.
_________________________________________________________________
Has InSoc released any albums lately? No. Their latest album was
"Peace and Love Inc." and it was reelased in October of 1992. Kurt is
planning on releasing a new one early next year, maybe even as soon as
January.
_________________________________________________________________
What is the band currently doing? The band, Information Society, as we
know it has broken up. Kurt bought the name from James and Paul, and
he plans to start putting out music soon again. Currently, Kurt is
producing music for video games and also performing shows occasionaly.
He also recently announced that he has signed with Phisst records and
will hopefully have a new album by January of 1996. Paul is doing a
lot of music for MTV and others, he has done most of the incidental
music for MTV's "Real World". James is living somewhere outside of
Portland, Oregon, and has a job making sausage.
_________________________________________________________________
What albums does Insoc have out?
* The Information Society - 1983
* Creatures of Influence - 1985
* Running - 1985 (a single from C.O.I.)
* Information Society - 1988
* Hack - 1990
* Peace and Love Inc. - 1992
_________________________________________________________________
Have they done any soundtracks? As a matter of fact, they have,
otherwise I wouldn't have included this info in here. They performed
the song, "Hit Me" on the Earth Girls are Easy Soundtrack. That's the
only one, though. However, Kurt has recently done 2 soundtracks for
video games, and is about to start another. The first is a SEGA
Genesis cartridge called "X-Men II, the clone wars", made by HeadGames
of San Francisco, and the second, not out yet, is a 3DO title called
"BALLZ" by P.F.Magic, also in San Francisco.
_________________________________________________________________
What songs has Information Society released?
* Running
* What's On Your Mind (Pure Energy)
* Walking Away
* Repetition
* Lay All Your Love On Me
* Think
* How Long
* Now That I Have You
* Peace And Love Inc.
* Going Going Gone
_________________________________________________________________
Is that Kurt's voice that sings "Running"? No, it is not. It was done
by Murat Konar, who also did most of the vocals on Information
Society's second EP, "Creature of Influence".
_________________________________________________________________
Is there an InSoc video collection? No, sorry, there is not. There has
been talk of putting one together in the future, though.
_________________________________________________________________
Who was Think Tank? Think Tank was a fake name that Information
Society used to promote a couple songs that were to be on the "Hack"
album. It was released by Tommy Boy records under the pseudonym,
"HAKKATAK" records. The album contains the songs "A Knife and A Fork"
(Massively Parallel Mix) and "Hack One" (Internet Worm Mix), and was
only released to DJ's. Paul Robb used the pseudonym "Mil Spec", and
Fred Maher was the producer and he used the pseudonym "Freddy LeMarr".
_________________________________________________________________
Where else online can I find out more Information society info? WORLD
WIDE WEB - http://vulture.creighton.edu/~duke
NON-INTERNET BBS'S
* (904) 689-4339. Nick Johnson's Insoc site. Login as "cad" with
password "thecat"
* (508) 832-7542. Charles Grosvenor Jr's site.
* (716) 626-4463. The Information Society BBS.
IRC - Type "/join #insoc".
PRODIGY - Insoc can be found on the Music Board #1 under the Alternate
Rock Topic C-A-D: (Subject)
AMERICA ON LINE Forum: Keyword: Rocklink, then Messaging, then (More);
then Alternative Rock Topics; Browse Folders; Page down to C-A-D
folder. Since we have been granted the permanent forum on AOL, the
heading is C-A-D not InSoc/C-A-D. All InSoc news and Network News is
posted there, but it is no longer InSoc specific; other Network bands
post there as well.
_________________________________________________________________
Are there any InSoc computer programs available? Yes, You can find
some of them on the Insoc home page,
http://vulture.creighton.edu/~duke/download.html Here is a basic
synopsis of what is currently available:
* insoc2.bmp - This is a Windows wallpaper BMP file.
* is.zip - The newest version of the InSoc screen saver.
* insoc.exe - A press kit for the first album
* insoc90.zip - A program intended for distribution with the Hack
album.
_________________________________________________________________
Are there any Information Society electronic mailing lists? There are
two mailing lists.
1. "thecatalyst@delphi.com" runs a free email newsletter which
periodically updates everyone on bands featured in Ctl-Alt-Del,
including Information Society.
2. "duke@vulture.creighton.edu" runs an Information Society
discussion mailing list. To subscribe, send a message to
"automailer@magellan.creighton.edu" with the message "subscribe
insoc-list your_email_address" in the body of the message. To send
a message to this list, send it to
"insoc-list@magellan.creighton.edu".
_________________________________________________________________
What was the "Super Secret Encoded Message"? The Super Secret Encoded
Message was part of the insoc.exe program that was part of a press kit
released with the first album. Basically, you had to answer a bunch of
numerical trivia questions like "How many weeks was Amanda Kramer
originally supposed to tour with the band for?" (The correct answer is
"6") After answering the questions, there was a bunch of
multiplication, division, etc, and if you got the answer right, the
screen flashed a famous quote by lead singer Kurt Harland-Valaquen,
"IT'S A GREAT BIG DISCO WORLD!" If you want to cheat and not do the
math, the correct final answer is "2". That will get you the message.
There is also a dark and unconfirmed rumor, that the program has a
flaw: There is a section not intended for public viewing, and no one's
sure what it is, because the program is designed to prevent access to
that file. However, the rumor says that if you just keep on trying,
you'll eventually get in...If you get in, you'll see Insoc's plan for
world Domination.
_________________________________________________________________
What was the InSoc Plan For World Domination? This is the message that
you get if you get into the Insoc restricted files from the above
question:
I N S O C P L A N F O R W O R L D D O M I N A T I O N
AS OF 2/88, FOUR OF THE SIX MAJOR ECONOMIC/CULTURAL VECTORS
HAVE HAD SIGNIFICANT INROADS MADE UPON THEM. ALTHOUGH NO VECTOR
IS COMPLETE, THREE ARE LIKELY TO ALLIGN THEMSELVES IN A WAY
FAVORABLE TO OUR INTENTIONS THROUGH CURRENT INERTIA ALONE.
INTERNATIONAL TRADE DEFINITION AND SPACE EXPLORATION HAVE YET
TO BE POSITIVELY INFLUENCED. THE FOLLOWING IS NEEDED:
- FURTHER INFLUENCE UPON WESTERN IDEOLOGICAL CLIMATE
THROUGH POPULAR MUSIC. (SEE PRINCIPIA 7; INFORMA-
TION SOCIETY BROADCAST MUSIC EFFECTIVE RANGE
- GREATER TRAP VECTORING FOR TELEVISION PROPAGANDA
CONTENT.
- CONTINUED PROLIFERATION OF 'INFORMATION SOCIETY
MEDIA OUTPUT.
- CONSIDERING DEVELOPING OUR OWN INDEPENDENT SPACE
PROGRAM.
THESE CONSIDERATIONS, COUPLED WITH A STRENGTHENING OF OUR IDEOLOGICAL
INFLUENCE THROUGH INFORMATION SOCIETY AND THE M-3 RADIX SHOULD
BRING US WITHIN VISIBLE REACH OF WORLD DOMINATION BY 2030.
_________________________________________________________________
How do I view the CD + Graphics from the first album? You can look at
them by simply putting the CD (not the tape, sorry) into a Sega CD
player, or a CD + Graphics player if you have one. The graphics
inlcude: top ten lists, stories of how the band met, amusing cartoons
of the band, etc.
_________________________________________________________________
How can I view track 12 of Peace and Love Inc? Pick up an extention
phone and wait until you have no sound... you may have to wait through
various loud noises, recordings and the like. Then place the extention
phone by the speaker you're playing track 12 out of. Walk over to you
computer and in your terminal program type "ATD" and hit enter. Type
nothing else on the line. The modem will pick up and wait for the
track 12 carrier.
_________________________________________________________________
What does track 12 say?
So we're supposed to play in Curitiba in 18 hours, but our bus is being
held hostage by the local promoters. They've formed some unholy alliance
with the Brazilian counterpart of ASCAP: The PRS. Apparently the PRS has
the legal power to arrest people, and they want a piece of the national
tour promoter's money. The local security force, "Gang Mexicana", has been
bought out for 1800 Cruzados and a carton of Marlboros each. The only
faction still operating in our defense is "Big John", our personal security
man, and he's hiding in his room because a local gang is out for his blood
because of a 1982 knifing incident in which he was involved. Our 345-pound
road manager, Rick only had this to say: "You wanted the life of a rock
star!". Paul, Jim and I realized that this was one situation we were going
to have to get out of ourselves.
We convened a hasty conference in the hotel lobby. Paul suggested contact-
ing our national tour promoter in Sao Paulo, but we remembered that he was
in Recife with Faith No More, who had just arrived for their Brazilian tour.
We thought about contacting our Brazilian record company in Rio, but they
weren't home. Our ever-diligent American manager was arranging help of
numerous forms, but he was in New York, and just too far away to get
anything moving in time.
And there were 6000 kids in Curitiba who just wouldn't understand.
We knew it was time for action. Paul went up to the PRS guys and invited
them into the bar to discuss it like civilized men over a few Brazilian
drinks, offering each of them a cigar on his way. The amused PRS heavies
seemed to like the idea of a few free drinks, even if they knew they would
never give us our bus back. When Paul winked at Jim and I on his way in,
we went into action.
I stole off to my room to prepare while Jim went into action. Creeping
carefully through a service duct, he managed to gain a vantage point some
three meters above the bus, and dropped carefully onto the roof. After
using his all-purpose Swiss Army knife (affectionately known as the "skit
knife") to jimmy open the roof hatch, he went through the darkened inside
of the bus and removed the inside engine service panel. Using some spare
electronic parts he found while on an island in the Amazon, he wired the
entire bus for remote control, not unlike a remote control toy car.
At this point, he asked himself "Now how shall I get out of here?!?"
Paul was having difficulties of his own.
"Couldn't you see your way clear to letting us fulfill our contractual
obligations in Curitiba? Think of the kids!"
Through our translator, Fabio, the PRS man, Aldo, said:
"No. You Americans think you own the world. Hah! We'll burn down our
rain forest if we damn well please. We need room for cows!! We want a
McDonald's on every... oh, sorry, yes anyway, no. We need 40% of your
concert receipts to give to David Bowie," he said, winking to the local
promoter, Phillipe.
As Paul continuted this elaborate distraction, Jim effected an escape
from the heavily guarded bus by crawling down into the cargo bay, cutting
a hole in the floor with the Swiss Army knife's arc-welder, slipping into
the manhole cover situated under the bus, and walking up to the hotel's
basement from there. Jim called up to me in my room and gave the signal.
We were now to meet at the back entrance, with our tech guys. But first,
Paul would need some help getting away from his unwelcome guests, as
things were getting ugly.
"He says he has lost his patience, and that he can think of other ways
of extracting payment from you Kurt and Jim physically," our trembling
interpreter said.
The moment had come. Jim began operating the bus from his back entrance
vantage point. As the remote-controlled bus lurched towards the parking
lot exit, the superstitious security youths fled in terror. Paul was
pulling anxiously on his collar as the PRS man began describing his
collection of World War II Nazi ceremonial knives when a sudden
crash split the tableau.
Jim had purchased me the gift of a complete black ninja stealth assassin
outfit in Aracaju. I had been gearing up and crawling through the air
conditioning ducts all this time. As I crashed through the cheap
imitation-Styrofoam hung ceiling tiles, skates first, I flashed ninja stars
all about me. In the ensuing panic, Paul escaped to the pre-arranged bus
pick-up point. Unfortunately, my skates were a poor choice of foot gear
for escaping over the broken glass of the table I had landed on. Were it
not for the confusion and the ninja-star-inflicted-wounds delivered to the
bad guys, I would have been set upon while floundering on the glass-strewn
carpet. As it happened, however, I leapt through the open door of the
careening bus as it departed the city of Maringa forever.
If only we had managed to get our equipment in the bus, too . . .
Every word of this story is true.
- Kurt H
_________________________________________________________________
What does "INSOC" stand for? Insoc is a shortened term for
"INformation SOCiety". This is the politically correct version of the
name. The preferred spelling now is "InSoc" (Note the similarity to
"IngSoc" from "1984".
_________________________________________________________________
What is the address for the Information Society fan club from the
albums? Don't bother. I haven't heard from them yet, and I asked for
membership over 7 years ago. Kurt would like to apologize once again
for the shoddy mis-handling of the original "fan-club" address. Don't
ever send anything to that address again. The official and functional
InSoc fan club is C-A-D.
_________________________________________________________________
What is Ctl-Alt-Del?
C-A-D is a newsletter and a network in support of electronic music. We
started with and for the fans of the band Information Society, but have now
into grown an international Network linking fans of this genre with the bands
producing the music we love. We issue a quarterly newsletter and maintain
mailing lists and e-mail distribution lists for updates.
Control-Alt-Delete
PO Box 38553-1010
Houston, TX 77238-8553
TheCatalyst@Delphi.Com; JBeck@aol.com
If you would like more information about the Network, e-mail your
address and I will send you some of our flyers. Please join us.
. . . keep spreading love and widening the bandwidth! ::TheCat::
_________________________________________________________________
Where does Kurt get his hair done? Kurt's hair is done by Sonia
Peterson of the Hair Police in Minneapolis, Minn. (612-824-1641) There
is also a new hair police in amsterdam, so if you're ever there, look
it up. They have been the ones responsible for all of his great
haircuts over the years. Oh, for those interested, his real hair color
is "Scando Mouse Brown".
_________________________________________________________________
What kind of car is Kurt's? Otherwise known as "The Hack Car", this is
the car that appears on the front cover of the group's album "Hack".
Kurt's car started as a 1973 Plymouth Satellite Sebring 318 V8. He
installed a 440 cu. V8 HP from a 1977 Gran Fury police car which was
later rebuilt with a 3/4 racing CAM, a high-rise manifold, tuned
exhaust ports, and a beefed up transmission. He then welded an
exoskeleton of an expanded steel mesh, re-bar, steel tubing, and steel
structural augmentation. After gutting the interior (including the
back seat), leaving only exposed metal, Kurt attached 18 Halogen
floodlights, a functioning laser, an antique computer data port, and
LED counters.
_________________________________________________________________
Is it true that the band once played a song on a daytime soap opera?
Yes, they performed live on the soap opera "One Life to Live". That
was quite a long time ago though.
_________________________________________________________________
This FAQ written by Brad Will, "duke@vulture.creighton.edu". If you
find any errors or typos, or if you have a question that you would
like answered for the next version of this faq, ask here.
