Pioneering and prolific Vancouver-based industrial-electronic musician Bill Leeb has released music with so many projects that it’s difficult to keep track, but Model Kollapse marks his debut as a solo artist. Exploring the intricacies of artificial intelligence and the survival of humanity, the album features contributions from Mimi Page, Jason Corbett (Actors) and Shannon Hemmett (Actors/Leathers). Model Kollapse was written during a burst of creative activity that also saw Leeb rejoining Skinny Puppy’s cEvin Key as Cyberaktif.
Leeb got his start with Skinny Puppy before launching his primary project, Front Line Assembly, in 1987. His primary musical collaborator over the years has been Rhys Fulber, and the pair have also achieved great success with Delerium. Other projects Leeb has been part of include Noise Unit, Intermix, and Synæsthesia. Model Kollapse is being released on September 13, 2024. Over Zoom, Leeb discussed the motivations for making a solo album and the process behind it.
You’ve done so many projects over the years, why release an album under your own name now? How did Model Kollapse come about?
Bill Leeb: Well, it’s twofold. Over the last few years, we’ve done a lot of touring. When Rhys and I weren’t together, he was releasing some Berlin techno music on a smaller label and spinning a bit. I found that the downtime I had, I just thought I wanted to keep busy. Also, for about 11 years, Jared, Jeremy, Jason, and I did a bunch of albums and toured the world. And then when Jeremy passed away and then Jared checked into rehab; everybody had these things and things happened. And then Rhys came back in. But the album was just sort of me and Jared reconnecting. The last thing he did with me was a song on Wake Up The Coma, and the album before, Echogenetic. I think was one of our top three most popular albums. We really hit a great stride there until it sort of all crashed and burned with personal lives. This was a way of reconnecting.
And so, we just threw some ideas around and ironically enough, at the same time, cEvin from Skinny Puppy … they were launching their last farewell tour, which was big deal. And cEvin sort of started talking to me about … he had some tracks, and talked about how it’s been 31 years since we released Tenebrae Vision. He said, ‘How about we make a Cyberaktif album.’ Skinny Puppy was on its last tour. There seemed to be time. So I got into a really good mode and was writing lyrics the year before last, during the rainy winters in Vancouver. And both those projects just seemed to gel. And the other thing was Dave Heckman [the late Metropolis Records founder/owner], who I considered a really good personal friend. He also just sort of threw that at me, ‘Maybe you should do your own, do a solo album or something.’
And he’s always championed me. So he said, ‘Yeah, just tell me what you need and what you want.’ I said, ‘Okay.’ The craziest thing was, as I started doing it, he passed away. So he actually hadn’t even heard the final product, even though he gets a big credit, thank you, inspiration for this record when it does come out. And his wife, Gail, who runs the label now, is also a good friend. So it all is kind of personal. And I also thought, ‘well, how do I release this? I could release it as a Front Line record. Should it be solo?’ But Front Line released a lot of records. And also I have Shannon Hemmett from Leathers and Actors, I’ve got her in a few tracks. I just thought it just sort of felt right to do it this way.
So it was all those things, like reconnecting with everybody. I always feel kind of weird every day that Dave’s not around because he gave me the green light and championed my idea just for doing this as well. And so that thought has reoccurred in my mind in the last few weeks as the launch date gets closer and closer, because if it wasn’t for Dave, I probably wouldn’t have even gone forth either. And I guess being a little older now, me and cEvin, we talked about the last 35 years. I guess it all just sort of ended up in this realm that we are in now. It was all those elements working together that made it possible and made me feel like now it was the right way to do things. I do think we’re going to probably play a few of these songs live. I would like to just throw ‘em into our set.
Do you feel this material represents any specific ideas or musical styles that you previously didn’t have an outlet for?
Bill Leeb: Well, you always go down that road. I mean, I’ve talked to Rhys before, about, “Hey, we should take all our classic tracks and do like an acoustic version of it,” and then you talk about changing things or how you want to do it. Even though it’s my vocals, I think the music itself sounds still pretty different from the stuff that me and Rhys do. The whole AI thing, I found that theme really incorporated into this record. And even the lyrics are kind of odd in their own way, different from a lot of the other Front Line albums I’ve done. So for me, it was different just in that aspect. The environment, not working with Rhys, also was a big change. So, I think to me personally, that mindset represents this record.
How did this fit within the other things you were working on? Did you dedicate a block of time to just make the album, or did it overlap with the Cyberaktif album and/or Front Line touring?
Bill Leeb: Well, for some reason both these projects seemed to come up sort of at the same time. I was just in a really good writing space. Living in Vancouver in the winters here in the rainy seasons, it’s just a good time to sit at home and be creative. And I also found the first Gary Numan/Ministry tour we did to be quite inspirational. I mean, me and Rhys just loved it. So after that ended, knowing that they wanted to do a bigger one, and dealing with the Cyberaktif thing, it all inspired me. After all this time, that all these things coming together, me and cEvin back after all this time. Years ago, I never thought me and Rhys would be hanging out with Gary Numan and becoming really good friends. He’s the nicest guy.
And same with Al and just all the musicians involved, it just felt like it made the whole thing worth it. I think all of that added to this particular way of being inspired at this particular timeframe. I don’t think this could ever happen again this way. And I said, again, with Dave passing away, it also made it more relevant and personal. So all the cards just lined up for all this just to be this particular way. I think when people listen to the record, obviously they won’t [all] know this story, like what I’m explaining to you. How life just sort of happens whether you want it to or not. But I think all of that joined forces and got me to this point. And even the artwork, Allen Jaeger, who did it, does a lot of the Puppy merch and stuff and posters, and he joined forces to do the artwork. It was just this big circle of people that I trusted and really liked. And so like I said, it would probably never happen again.
Was it always obvious whether a musical idea was something to use on this album versus Cyberaktif?
Bill Leeb: Well, the one thing I always found is that even with Delerium and stuff, we sort of try to find a theme for the record and how to express it. I mean, I think being an artist, people try to always reinvent the wheel. Can you present who you are and what you do in a new way? And will it keep people interested and how will they respond? I think all of that sort of sits in front of you while you’re doing it. Again, when you work with different people, it just changes the whole environment and the atmosphere. So I think in that way, this sort of created its own feeling. Even just using Shannon on a few tracks, I mean, I’ve never really used a female vocalist to do anything for the Front Line thing.
I know the album title references AI, and that’s been a subject for Front Line Assembly in the past. So I’m wondering, as an artist, what are your thoughts on AI and how it’s quickly become a part of our everyday lives at this point?
Bill Leeb: I’ve always sort of had the concept [with] technology, that you’re damned with it, and then you’re damned without it. And I think now, it’s the subject people can talk about for hours. It’s changing. I think it’s taking more hold and root in our everyday lives than people realize, and it’s moving so fast that they haven’t even had time yet to put laws and restraints on how to use it and where to use it and how you shouldn’t use it. And I think it’s obviously played a big part in the music scene with virtual synths, with effects and stuff. And so I guess for a lot of people now that are in their twenties that have grown up with this technology, it’s just kind of normal. But when we started all this music business, we didn’t even have computers and all the synths were manual analog things and everything had to be done manually.
And just, I guess for me, to see that big shift from then to now, it always still kind of gives me a lot to draw from and I can shake my head and just go, “Wow, we’ve entered a new era.” And then at the same time with music, when does the artist become disposable? When will AI just create its own music and its own thing and you won’t even need a voice? I mean, how far do we go with that before we protect that? So these are all interesting scenarios on where and how we go. There are so many single people in the world, they say more people live alone now than ever before. Do we all end up having our own AI partner, like a synthetic person, and we won’t need divorce lawyers anymore?
I’d give up five years of my life now and be able to come back in a hundred years just to see how far we’ve come. Would my brain capacity even be able to accept and make sense of that? Because of how fast we’re going. I think a good example was the world’s biggest supercomputer now. They gave it a challenge. They put up a maze and asked it, ‘how many different ways can you get through?’ And then they did it through AI. And AI was like the speed of light and it gave you a million different ways where the supercomputer gave you a hundred thousand ways. That’s how complex and how AI is. I think I’ve watched one of the leading guys explain it like that and show it to you.
There’s a lot of great things and possibilities, and it will probably be amazing in the next 20 or 30 years, what they’re going to figure out. So these are great things to think about, to write about. There’s no point in hating it. The first video we did was very polarizing because people either loved it or hated it because they’re like, AI, ‘is that real art’ when you create something [with it], and it’s a different form? But I figure you might as well use it, embrace it in the way you see fit and you like it, because things are going to keep changing.
So I feel like I just want to be part of that. I think AI definitely has a big place to play in the world. Can you re-create a Rembrandt painting, an AI version?. Yeah, you probably can. Will it be the original? No, but I mean, people’s tastes change as well, so a lot of young people now don’t care about that anymore. They want new things and different things. I think we’ve just got to keep evolving. And I feel like I’ve seen both sides of the battle because I’ve been around long enough. So for me, it’s just really interesting to see old versus new. And I’m all for it. If you can find new ways to make things better and more interesting, go for it.
You mentioned how when you started making music, you weren’t using computers. So I’m curious as to what degree the limitations of the time might have shaped your sound or approach.
Bill Leeb: Well, I just remember going in on the first Skinny Puppy album “Remission,” and cEvin bringing in a Pro One and we’d bring in a drum machine and there wasn’t anything to store things on. So, to recreate a sound on the Pro One and find the right sequence took hours. Now on a computer and with Pro Tools, you have everything. You can edit it, you can look at it, you can change it. And so I think back then manual playing skills were probably [important], and being able to really sing, because there was no Auto-Tune. It was kind of like, you could either do that, you couldn’t, and hence, I guess there was way fewer bands around than there is now, because now there’s just a million bedroom warriors who are great on a computer and can do whatever they want.
Even metal bands back then, they would record drum tracks and there was no Pro Tools. And now when they record it, they can actually sit there and they have a guy who Pro Tools every beat that you hit. So it’s literally like a drum machine. And some people don’t like that. They say it takes the feel away. So there are pros and cons to all that, but I think it’s fun coming from that world and then coming into this world and just being able to see all the differences. And I mean, when you listen to old music, sure, some of it sounds pretty dated now because everything now is so super slick and linear and there’s no mistakes or faults because everything is Pro Tool-ed and done through perfection. So I guess it just depends on your mindset; live can still be sound a bit more like the old days if it’s not on backing tracks.
But most DJs and a lot of electronic stuff are pretty much on playback of some kind. So it’s just personal taste. But it’s definitely made it a lot easier now to sit at home and program out a song and then just bring it in, and most people now just record at home as well. With Pro Tools, you don’t need to go to a studio and pay big fees and have assistance and all that. So there’s definitely pro sides to it as well. People don’t buy as much music now, so record companies are not going to give you $200,000 to make an album. So people just make it themselves at home. Adaptability and change are what’s required now.
Is there anything else coming up you want to mention? What will the next single/video be?
Bill Leeb: Yeah, so we’ve done two videos and we’re going to do one more song, “Muted Obsession,” and Shannon is on that one as well. And I guess the label really likes that track. I guess that should drop the same day the album does, I think September 13th. I wanted it to come out on my birthday, but the 21st of September was taken. You can’t have everything. I was just looking today at the DAC chart and “Terror Forms” is number three, and now “Demons” has entered at number 10 out of 20. It feels good. I think most people just say they like it and nobody’s really dwelling about whether it should be one thing or another.
And so as I said, I just wish Dave would’ve been around to hear it, but he’s not. But I’m excited about this and then I’m actually looking forward to maybe playing a couple of the songs live in our Front Line set. We’ll just see what people say, but why not, right? It’s our show and we’re going to go to Europe and do some shows in November, December. I’d be curious too, when people hear the album, what they’ll think overall.
Purchase Model Kollapse at frontlineassembly.bandcamp.com.
