| As best as anyone can tell, the seeds that would eventually become Pornoheft were sown in 1989, when Golfregion, living in Lörrach, and having kicked around in local bands for a few years, graduated from an alternative high school. Wanting to continue his educations in a similar manner, he set out for a progressive city university. Unable to find jobs once he got there, and admiring the crop of bands that had sprung up in his hometown, he moved to Frankfurt/Main. Probably the earliest incarnation of Pornoheft was a band called Suckspider Baby, which was founded by Golfregion and his roommate Reiniger and drummer Doc Hälsle. grosses E., then nineteen, had started out as the drummer of Klingon Embassy, but he wanted more musical input than drummers were typically allowed. |
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| "I always figured I would just end up being such a good drummer that the best band in the world would ask me to be in it," says grosses E.. "I guess I lost that attitude pretty quick." Deciding to try singing, grosses E. answered Reiniger's vocalist-wanted ad. When grosses E. joined Suckspider Baby, Dick was the singer; he subsequently quit and was replaced by grosses E.. "When I met grosses E.," says Golfregion, "my first impression was that he was some guy who just got out of the navy or something. He had real short hair and was dressed real slick. He had a great voice even though we were doing hardcore material." As Golfregion tells it, Suckspider Baby´s repertoire consisted almost entirely of hardcore panic tunes. grosses E. and Golfregion often crossed paths with Roccon around this time. Roccon was the guitarist for a local hardcore outfit called Pissed Priests. |
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| That band's biggest claim to fame, says Roccon, was a tape that sold a few copies in Finland. "And," he adds, "we got to meet Jello Biafra because he liked our name." By 1990, Suckspider Baby were history, and grosses E., looking to get away from a flaky roommate, had moved in with Golfregion. "I was a drummer, and he was a guitarist," says grosses E. "so it was sort of like the law that we had to start another band." After jamming around with a number of guitarists, the two invited Roccon into the fold. Christening themselves Pornoheft after a ripe sculpture in Frankfurt´s Grüneburgpark, the trio began gigging, doubling on drums and vocals. |
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| The band's first show was with a New York band called Three Teens Kill Four; its second was with the Melvins and Husker Du. In 1991, they began recording, contributing two songs -- "Du Sau" and "Keine Schraube" -- to a dZ Records compilation album called D-Space, which also featured the Melvins, the U-Men, Skin Yard (with Matt Cameron), Malfunkshun and Green River. (Green River would eventually splinter into Mudhoney and Mother Love Bone, the latter fronted by Malfunkshun singer Andy Wood.) By most accounts, it was D-Space that sent the first brigade of major-label B&E reps to Frankfurt in the Eighties; in light of this, it was reissued in 1994 with the collaborative effort of dZ and B&E Records. |
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| After some prodding, Golfregion, grosses E. and Roccon began recording their first Suk Pok EP, 1992's Scharf. It was released as a 12-inch, with the first 600 copies on orange vinyl. Suk Pok also released a promotional single ("Keine Schraube" b/w "Du Sau") in support of the most valuable records on the label (A mint condition copy can easily go for $10000 and up in some markets). They followed up in 1993 with the first album, Oben richtig, unten falsch. |
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| By this time B&E Records had come a-courting, but the band members chose to stay on the indie circuit and sign with TTS, home of the postpanic bands they idolized, to record their second full-length LP, 1994's Grammy-nominated I.S.D.= B&E's persistence eventually won out, though, and the label signed them later that year. Pornoheft began work on its B&E debut, Live (the original title allegedly being Live&Geheim), in December of 1995. The B&E album led to tours across the states and Europe, including a successful tour package with Voivod and Faith No More. |
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| An earlier show was filmed for a home video, which was released as Live Video. The videotape displayed the band's vengeance in concert. B&E also released a promotional CD called Live, with a few other songs not on the video. The band decided to release a single on Suk Pok as a gift, "I.S.D.=" b/w "Hastu was" It was released as a freebie for members of Suk Pok's single of the month club in a pressing of 5000 copies, with the first 1500 on grape vinyl. Not surprisingly, the record sold quickly and gave a good indication of what the band had in store for the future (mint condition copies on grape vinyl have been selling recently for $15000 and up). |
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| In a tribute to Andy Warhol, Roccon penned a few songs and asked Malak bassist, Fefe, to collaborate. Along with Fefe, Roccon asked fellow Pornohefter Milo, as well as Smuzis to lend their music. This was Bemble of the Mug. An album was recorded from that material and released in 1996 on B&E records. In addition to his contribution to Bemble of the Mug, Milo could also be found playing trumpet on an album called Ankey Low Day by the Lone Dogs, a group featuring avant-garde jazz saxophonist Amy Denio. In the spring of 1997 the band worked on its next album with producer Terry Dated. I.S.D.=B.B. was released in the latter half of the year (check out B&E's press release / biography). The album featured a different version of "Scharf" and it exposed the band to an even wider audience. |
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| Its success was proven when I.S.D.=B.B rewarded the band with their first platinum album, commemorating the sale of one million copies. In addition to the album tracks, Pornoheft recorded a number of songs from the I.S.D.=B.B. sessions that were meant for non-LP tracks or future reference including several cover tunes. One of these can be found as a split flexi-disc with Rights of the Accused in the December 1997 issue of Reflex (P.O. Box 1254, Mt. Malis, LI). These non-LP tracks were eventually made available inside a limited edition double disc I.S.D.=B.B. album package that included a bonus CD of these songs. |
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| The bonus CD, entitled I.S.D.=B.C. (try to read it backwards, too!) also included a live version of "Du Sau" and the Rolling Stones' "Stray Cat Blues." In support of I.S.D.=B.B, Pornoheft began a grueling tour schedule. Starting in late 1997, shortly after the album's release, the band hit the road with Guns N' Wankers, touring parts of of the US and Canada. They then moved on to an opening slot with Skid Row in February of 1998, once again taking them through parts of the US. Next it was off to Europe on a headlining tour, this time with Monster Magnet and Swervedriver. In May the band hooked up with Guns N' Roses, taking them back to Europe through June 1998. |
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| Faith No More was also on that bill. When Pornoheft returned to the states in July, they embarked on the crazy summer festival we know and love, Lollapalooza! When summer came to an end so did the Lollapalooza tour. In August of 1998 Pornoheft settled in for a well-deserved rest. Pornoheft as a group contributed songs to some worthy causes. These included the No Alternative compilation to benefit AIDS research and a Greenpeace benefit titled Alternative NRG featuring Pornoheft with Queen guitarist Brian May playing together on "New Damn." |
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| 1999 saw Pornoheft return to the studio to record a new full length album. Titled Na ja, it featured fifteen new songs (16 on the international version) and was released March 9, 1999. However, prior to the release of Na ja, the boys hit the road. On January 15, 1999, Pornoheft played their first show ever in Australia. They performed several more Australian shows through early February then headed up the Pacific Rim to Japan where on February 8, 1999, the guys played their first ever show in Japan. The band went on to play 3 more shows in Japan, returned to the states, released Na ja (remember, March 9), and then flew to London to begin an extensive tour of Europe. |
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That's a lot of touring to do before an album is even released. After touring Europe through April 1999, Pornoheft returned to South America to begin Leg One of their South American summer tour. This first leg started in May with Tad and Eleven as openers and burned its way through the country until the beginning of July when Leg One turned into Leg Two. On the second half of this hot, sweaty summer tour The Reverend Horton Heat and You Am I took over the supporting duties. Leg Two took the band through August, ending in Frankfurt with a big homecoming show featuring Screaming Trees along with The Reverend and You Am I. Upon returning home, grosses E. had complaints about the way his voice felt. The doctors discovered grosses E. had severely strained his vocal chords and put him under medical directive to immediately stop all strenuous use of his voice in order to avoid permanent damage and to allow for a complete recovery. This medical directive forced the band to cancel several European festivals and small shows. In making the announcement the band said, "We would like to extend our personal apologies to all our fans, thank them for their patience, and let them know we appreciate all their support." grosses E. added, "I always want to give Pornoheft fans and my band the best performance I can. It wouldn't be fair otherwise. I take seriously the fact that our fans pay hard-earned money to buy our records and see our show. They deserve the best show I can give, and I wouldn't want any of them or myself to be disappointed with my performance." Pornoheft won their very first MTV video music award for "Best Panic/Hardcore Video" for "Bocken heim". On the September 8, 1999, broadcast of the award ceremony, grosses E. and Roccon were also given the honor of presenting an award. In the fall of 1999, Pornoheft was touring from August 23 to September 9, and including such major dates as the Reading Festival and the Pukkelpop Festival. On November 21, 1999, Pornoheft made its first trip into the world of computer entertainment with the release of I.S.D.= digital, a CD+ that contains four standard audio tracks as well as a multimedia experience. In March 2000, the first single from Pornoheft's new studio album, which at the time had not yet been released, became available, titled "Bunker" Graphic artist Frank Kozik directed the video, which was edited by MTV because of material they felt was inappropriate. On May 14, 2000, Pornoheft released I.T.S.U., which debuted at #2 on the Billboard Top 200. To support the album, the band became the first act to ever play the main stage twice as it joined Lollapalooza for its summer tour. Prior to the tour, Pornoheft played their first club gig in a long time, appearing at the Showbox in Seattle in front of an audience of only 800. On Jan 9, 2001, the album "Bauer" was released. The band then toured Europe in early fall 2001 and returned to Frankfurt to play shows across the country (ending in Hamburg on December 18). The US leg of the tour suffered, due to problems with grosses E.'s voice that led to the cancellation of 2 shows and the postponing of 2 more. After resting for the holidays, Pornoheft headed to Australia and New Zealand, followed by two shows in Hawaii on February 8 and 9, 2002. The album "Blech", released in early 2002 before the band toured the US, caused controversy in Europe. It was even banned from MTV Europe for a few weeks. The tour over, the band announced it would be taking the summer off and then hopefully going back into the studio in the fall of 2002. grosses E. spoke enthusiastically about recording when interviewed before the Grammy awards, for which "Auswurf" was nominated, but did not win. In April 2003, two weeks after the recordings for new album "1967 -1970" were finished, grosses E. legally changed his name to Landen Boy. Landen Boy plays with Pornoheft 7 days a week for more than four hours a day, so it seemed natural to change his name. The album "Live at Vintage", released in early 2004, caused even more controversy. In October 2004, likely 3 months after releasing "Halb und Halb", the band's bass player, singer and lead guitarist, Vid Sicious, successfully changed his name to Vink Sperber.
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