“Con-Dom” – brutal provocation in the name of Freedom.

Since the times when the concept of society/civilization was born, humans became voluntary slaves unconscious of whom they are serving to and who owns their FREEDOM.

“Con-Dom”? No! It is neither the master nor the vassal. Mike Dando – one of the prophets of modern world, unfortunately, must be included into the Red Book as if the rare, high endangered or exterminated plant of individuality, producing bitter medicine in his thorny stem against the cancer of social system, paralysing all spheres of existence. The “Con-Dom” manifests direct to the gate of FREEDOM. Are they visible to our eyes, perceivable to our conscious senses? Do/shall we take enough bravery not only to look through the key hole, but to overstep the threshold painfully and to move on?

Perhaps due to primitive “law of compensation”, the cradle of capitalism – Great Britain – produced the new music style “power electronics” in 1980, lashing deadly the different defects of civilization. Though the capitalism was namely agreed being the most mature form of civilisation nowadays. Wiljam Bennet, also called the father of “power electronics”, being a teenage, formed “for fun” the legendary trio of scene ropers – “Whitehouse”, and gave the direction for the new cultural movement. It is hardly to indicate the extent of teenage consciousness during the show making process that was provoking the fighting almost in a partway of performance. However, even in the very beginning these guys were not the only ones having something to say in public, replacing or accompanying the words with uncompromising noise. Soon in 1983, the next form was born – “Con-Dom”. The project blood and body Mike Dando was brutally spreading out the different vision of reality of civilization, whose primary concept – the precedence of control domination principle above the rest of the principles. This is the forthright knowledge about the factors regulating mass culture, media, education, religion, politics, society, mentality, sensibility, in one word – fucking EVERYTHING.

Besides the “Whitehouse” and the world we are living due to inevitable grant of “condition”, it is necessary to mention another personality who has highly influenced the works of “Con-Dom” – T.E. Lawrence (1888-1935). He was the British lieutenant and the partisan of the Arabic Nation, trimming between the two opposite camps, later became an ascetic, accepted the challenges of desert, but still managed to keep his sincerity – TO HIMSELF, TO HIS FAITH AND DREAMS. This sincerity helped Lawrence to disengage himself from earthly chains and from the power of overall principle of Control/Domination. Mike Dando in his works presents Lawrence as a sample of that everything is possible and FREEDOM can be achieved. The true freedom is not the freedom in political or social sense. The true freedom is the status created by the strong inner experience and physical challenge. According to Mike, the asceticism is necessary. Cruelty, power exercise, personal discipline, personal enforcement and austerity – these are the means for personal development. “Con-Dom” forces us to reveal the “true ourselves” in order to express oneself, to create, to dream. It encourages seeking for something more than just passive, dictated existence. “We shall endeavour for spiritual background (perfection), not to obey the restrictions, regulations, standards”, – states Mike.

From the very beginning of creation till now, Mike has been faithful to his concepts. He remains human, whose creational productivity and energy are still unfading perhaps due to his rooted faith resistant to precise definition. Mike professes: “The aim of “Con-Dom” is not to involve people to one more sect, not even to set the goal for them, but to show that only they can achieve freedom.”

Due to its persistent intellectual games, “Con-Dom” is one of the most shocking and controversial music projects in the world. Every new step of creator, would it be either the interview or the new set performance, or the concert, is a challenge which gradually becomes much harder to figure out. “Con-Dom” discography is innumerable and it hides the knowledge possibly to perceive only by the creator himself. Some works were unreleased, they were destroyed or not publicized. Moreover, all releases are of limited edition. Even today, when technology is progressing, the “Con-Dom” records are still being released in a format of audio cassette. Mike explains – thus he gives an opportunity of purchasing the record to those who are not over rich. It would be incorrect to consider releases as the albums. There are few records of a different medium possible in the release set. The additional material is none the less important: photos, flyers, books, video tapes. These accessories are intended to facilitate or to impede the challenge. Every set is every time the new prophecy, the content of which depends from the concepts expressed.

The improvisation of “Con-Dom” live performances mainly depends on the category of the audience. It is a game with the reasonable, puzzling rules. The substantial element of this game is “low-fi power electronics” “– the grim wall of noise, generated by the artist using the same technologies as 20 years ago. Mike remains staid and believes that self-mollycoddling using the “new technologies” suppresses the creativity and ingenuity. The live evidence for this presumption is the “Con-Dom” (anti)music, being as harsh and powerful that only few can equal it. Another noticeable element of this game is the texts created by Mike, where the structuralized, synthetic vocal straightaway reveals the trash stuffing by the insincere systems. The effect is strengthened by video installations which being thoroughly selected by Mike according to the state, where the performance will take place, to its historic experience and traditions implanted in the locals. That is visual facts of how the society system recruits the person and by what means this being displayed. The key element in the performance of “Con-Dom” is the direct relation between the artist and the audience. It is the driven power of the project or the forth component of multimedia. Mike states that his message truly reaches only few persons in the hall and simply proud people often feel as being jeered or degraded. For example, the performance in Tokyo “Many Are Called But Few Get Up” was considered as a totally outrage by the Japans. Mike Dando ordered to stand up for those persons who considered themselves as minority, different than the rest “mass”. Upon the major part of the audience got up, everyone realized the trick they were surrender to and how easily they were manipulated. That was one of the lightish provocations.

When the world is fighting for domination, oil and territory, the struggle for sincerity to oneself is coming along the cultural underground. And though many years had passed since the word “civilization” was formulated, only in the eighth decade of this century Mike Dando generated and expressed aloud the prototype of control domination – “Con–Dom”. Even if freedom hasn’t been more spreading, nobody can maintain that there were no efforts made.

Written by Geli, 2005-04-27