Keith Levene unveils Commercial Zone 2014
PiL guitarist Keith Levene, unveils Commercial Zone 2014 on the 30th anniversary of Metal Box. Commercial Zone or the “lost” 4th PiL album was originally a 1984 bootleg under Levene’s own name as songwriting for the planned fourth PiL album fragmented. The PiL bootleg This Is What You Want… This Is What You Get from the same year contained many of the same tracks with different musicians. Neither unofficial release proved satisfactory; Now with the help of crowdfunding, Levene has been able to represent the album in a way that is “embracing the original & proper PiL ethos.”
The album will include the best of that material, remixes and original material and will be more than the usual industry re-release. Levenes approach includes unique hand-painted and numbered cover art designed by Levene himself to accompany the CDs that Indiegogo project backers who selected this perk will get.
“I cannot tell you what came first: the music or the art; the visual or the sounds because they emerged together,” says Levene. “I sat at my desk in the white room at Faust Studios with my guitar in my lap and a paint brush in my hand surrounded by all these bright colors that seemed to bring the music to life. I painted as I composed. As I played guitar these abstract vibrant inky images popped into my head and I painted them. So the music and art took shape at basically the same time.”
Commercial Zone 2014 includes completely new music composed by Levene. Nonetheless where the marriage of Levene’s art and music is concerned, some things remain the same.
“One of the best known tunes from the Commercial Zone 1983-1984 project is called ‘the Slab.’ It was about this huge slab of black concrete which a well-known graffiti artist painted on. I guess you could say art in the early ‘80s in Manhattan inspired me to write my music. Same is true today – only it’s my own art now,” Levene explains.
Commercial Zone 2014 is available exclusively through Levene’s website www.teenageguitarist76. For further information contact the CZ2014 team at teenageguitarist76@gmail.com
At the time of press the Indiegogo campaign had achieved almost double its intended target.