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1970: Born Jonathan Casey at Spalding, Linolnshire, UK. Maybe it's about time to start lying about my age - but if anyone reads this I'll be buggered so I'd better not.
1973-7: Move up north to Durham. I was brought up with classical music and refused to sleep unless listening to the Schubert Trio. I still have trouble sleeping but the trio sounded like a right dirge the last time I heard it.
1977-9: Move "up further north" to St Andrews, Scotland. Bought my first record "C'mon Everybody" by the Sex Pistols. Also played with the radio and discovered Radio 1, which was a bit of a revelation to me. Tubeway Army were ace!
1979-86:

1979-86: Moved to Nottingham. School work went down the drain as I listened to punk and metal music - best played in common rooms to shock the girls. Fave artists = Sex Pistols (still), The Exploited, Iron Maiden, Motorhead. Got my first computer in '80 - ZX81 - the data recorder (i.e. cassette tape) never worked so I had to program in my own games from a book. As computer/arcade games progressed so did I from the point of view of playing them all the time. I also got more into the game music (C64 Crazy Comets theme ('85) fuckin' rocked!) so I got a music software program and started trying to write/ mess about with sounds. Also "wrote" a music software program for my computer studies GCSE. "Wrote" in that I nicked most of it from a book.
1986-87: Despite doing no work whatsoever I scored 7 O-levels so stayed at school as I couldn't think of anything better to do. I was spending so much time on the computer music program that I decided to sell the C64 and buy a "proper" synth - a Yamaha DX27. It was digital and the "real world" sounds were shite but once I'd spent a year or two experimenting I wrote some class sounds mostly by using white and pink noise to distort the filters. Dork fucking city, this! The DX was still going strong in '95, though. Also used twin tape decks to build up tracks normally based on the concept of taking the piss out of people.
1988: Talked my parents into buying me a music computer (Atari ST) and a multi-timberal (more than one different sound at the same time) synth. So that was the end off the A-levels, then. I'd spend many hours each day writing embryonic house music and churning out New Order/Sisters of Mercy/Front 242 covers. Enrolled to Goldsmith's college in London for a diploma in sound engineering - apart from the first week it was seriously crap - learning how to record an orchestra (which obviously the lecturers hadn't done properly) or how to record a lecturer's shite songs - they were using our tuition time to get the recording studio for free. Those who can't and all that… I also formed a band with my mate Al on guitar and me singing - which was probably marginally worse than the songs of my "teachers."
1989-90: Got seriously obsessive about programming music and got a job working in a record shop which was seriously shit --8½ hours a day on my own selling shite music to shite people on my own without a break. My band with Al got slightly more serious - we called ourselves "Down In Flames" and did several Nottingham gigs - our best track was called "Terminator" and was just one riff repeated with hard (at the time) beats and we'd play it with our backs to the audience. Also notable was a 240 bpm version of "Gimme Gimme Gimme" by Abba which was solely responsible for the "termination" of our residency at the local Yates's bar. We went in the studio and recorded a couple of tracks - I was still making the mistake of trying to imagine that I could sing so nothing came of it - if we'd ditched the vocals maybe it would have. I also recorded two "albums" from the point of view of my cat - one with an accompanying novella which seems completely fucking mad looking back on it. Mid '90 Al went back to university and I spent many long nights writing very aggressive and agitated instrumentals which as far as I could see at that time served no purpose except to vent my own anger - after a few months I changed my mind about that and started saving up for studio time to record them properly. I also was going to a lot of clubs/raves but I had no interest in the cheerful "coming together" side of the music - only in the cathartic effect it had on me. So I suppose as far as I was concerned my music was taking that to it's logical conclusion.
1991: I saved up some money (around £100) and booked up some time at Square Dance Studios to "properly" record some of my latest music. I had everything together - discs from the Atari and tapes of samples I wanted to use. The night before I sensibly decided to frequent a local club - on my way home I discovered through overhearing a car stereo that the Gulf War had just started. It sounds really bad to say, but I considered that to be a good omen! I'm not one for any mystical shit but hey…the next day I staggered to the studio hangover in tow the next day to record just one track called "Shout!" It sampled Lulu's "classic" of the same name…the intro being the same "WEEELLLLLL…you know you make me wanna…" closely followed by my vocoded voice saying "FUCK YOU!" with around four minutes of fucked up techno to follow. It must have got the attention of the people at the studio as I was summoned on several occasions with a view to some kind of management deal. Nothing came of that but they were impressed enough to give me the BIGGER studio for the same rate when I returned in April to rerecord "Shout", along with two other tracks - a remix called "Shout and Destroy" and another track called "You'll Never Sleep Tonight" which was easily the best one - the subject matter was the insomnia and confusion which had started me writing music in this style in the first place. It also contained samples from Twin Peaks (that show was fucking amazing at the time) and "A Clockwork Orange." I think it must have been around this time I decided to call myself Ultraviolence. I sent out a few demo tapes…I really wanted to be signed to either Creation or Food Records because of how they'd had success with slightly unusual or interesting artists in the past year or two. I had a few calls back from Creation's A&R man but nothing came of it Then the Gift Of God came to me…no, no Lottery win but I was sacked from my job in the record shop…well I was told I was being made "redundant" but seeing as how the next time I went there some other mug was doing my job…I spent a couple of months on the dole before hearing about the Enterprise Allowance Scheme which allowed people such as myself to get off the dole by starting a business. Looking back on it it was probably a government scam to get people off the unemployment register but to me I really wanted to press my own records, which technically meant I had to start my own business. So I had to spend many long days (on the Enterprise Allowance Course) listening to irrelevant information about various bullshit things and sucking up to the supervisors…if you've ever watched "The Office" (classic UK sitcom from last year) you'll get the picture. A long time before the end of the course I'd already secured a bank loan and used the money to start pressing singles (which was against the Enterprise Allowance rules). I secured a distribution deal within a week. I had a final EA exam culminating in a vocal interview…this guy actually knew what he was talking about so I told him that I was already had bank loan, distribution etc and he was really cool about it…he told me I was doing well and to get on with it. Which I did. I mailed out about ten copies of the 12" single to DJs and record companies, spending many late nights gluing on labels for the 400 copies to go to the distributors. One night whilst I was busy "gluing" I had Radio One on and John Peel played "You'll Never Sleep Tonight"…whilst I was listening I remember thinking "he's going to turn it off half way through and say something like "that was Ultraviolence…but the less said about that the better...now here's The Fall" or something." But he didn't…he played alll seven minutes odd then he said "that's a seriously wonderful record from Ultraviolence!" Cloud fucking nine I was on. The next week Food Records supremo David Balfe phoned me up…he told me he loved the single and would like me to come down for a chat…that week I also received offers from two other record companies (albeit smaller ones) but I really wanted to be on Food. The first time I went there for a it fucking freaked me…Voice Of The Beehive (famous band at the time) were there and I was like…"umm…you're famous…um hello!" One of them was kind of flirtatious with me so seeing as I probably looked about seventeen that was perverted! Arrest this woman! I gave Food more demos and thrashed out a deal with Balfe for more money than I'd ever seen in my life…there was only the legal shit to contend with. John Peel phoned me up the same week to say how much he liked the single and wanted me to do a session for his show…so by now you can imagine I was pretty gobsmacked by the whole thing. Cool daze.
1992-93: Food Records. The deal wasn't signed until around April - the legal shit took alot longer than I expected - I naively thought myself and the record company could have reasonable conversations to agree basic terms and save a fortune in solicitor's fees. Unfortunately, with the recording and publishing contracts weighing in at 50+ pages apiece and "reasonable conversations" transforming themselves into chinese whispers my idea only prolonged the process. At one stage the deal nearly fell through as we both thought each other to "on the sneak!" In the meantime, Balfe was setting up a dance music subsidiary label tentatively called IT. This was bad news for me as the reason I had signed for Food was because they'd taken slightly leftfield acts such as Jesus Jones and taken them into the mainstream which is what I wanted for Ultraviolence. I also wanted to be an albums-with-singles artist as opposed to concentrating on mixable twelve inch singles destined for compilation albums which is the way most dance labels operate. However, the signing fee enabled me to kit myself up with a £6000 recording studio so I completely lost myself playing with that and wasn't especially bothered by anything else in life at all. Apart from perhaps "Johnny Violent's Techno Revue" which was a super manic monthly column I was writing for a magazine called Overall - some of the pieces were later printed on the "Johnny is a Bastard" single sleeve notes. Overall's editor, Paul, claims to have christened me Johnny Violent as does my friend and vocalist Gil Savage but I can't remember - I thought it was my idea but that's not very likely. In any case, its a better name for making hardcore music than "Jonathan Casey" but I could really cope without streams of people commenting reflectively "You're not really very violent at all, are you?" Mind you that surly beats "So you think you're fuckin' violent, do you?" which doesn't happen very often, fortunately.
After a couple of months getting used to the studio I had demos of 3 tracks collectively entitled Vengeance EP. Food had their own studio at their offices in Camden and we chose to re-record the EP there as they had a 24 track tape and I'd written extensive (ie not enough memory in a sampler) vocals for one of the pieces that was called Time the Avenger. The recording was rather up and down as Ian the engineer (one half of the KLF's production team) didn't really understand the music, persistently referring to me as being "on drugs" which I wasn't. I was however young and not that assertive at the time so I played along instead of being contradictory. In any case, it was clear to me that a 24 track studio wasn't really the right environment for Ultraviolence as the analog tape toned down the harsh digital sound rather. We also recorded a techno version of the main theme from the film Terminator entitled Amphetamine Termination which went well as the music was more conventional. A few months later they had an up and coming producer named Goldie come in to remix it . He used none of the original at all and his version went on to be renamed Terminator. It was released under his (then) recording name "Metalheadz" and went on to be quite a big club hit. I can't say that bothers me very much but I get a bit irked when I hear him on the TV saying how the track was recorded spontaneously at night after a club, because they were phoning me in the day to ask how my floppy discs worked. But maybe they went back again later or something...fuck knows.
By the time my EP was released the politics at Food between the dance subsidiary and the main label were becoming fraught - I won't mention names or go into detail as the whole situation was never made clear to me. The mix ups began with the insistence I should move to London - I didn't want to at all but I got as far as putting a deposit on a flat before I was informed it wasn't necessary. So I didn't. More importantly, they couldn't decide which of their labels to put the record out on. I was totally inept in the marketing meetings - I've still no idea who there was "on side" and who wasn't. It ended up on their Safe moniker which had just put out Dave Clarke's Kiss of Death project's excellent "Not Me" 12". However, I discovered that they had just pressed 1000 copies which all sold and then they did nothing at all. My record was similarly fated. I don't know how may were eventually sold - not many. The pressing quality was very poor - we used two different mastering studios but neither could reproduce the extreme high and low frequencies and it ended up with one side having an annoying "warble." The only good things that happened were getting favourable write ups in Melody Maker, Select and Lime Lizard which were all quite big music magazines at the time. Amusingly, for the only photo shoot I did to promote the release I dipped my hand in lighter fluid and set light to it which really fucking hurt. In a subsequent meeting John Truelove accused me of wasting money by "poncing" around for the camera. Um...
October. Now Food, Safe or IT or whatever it was called had no idea what to do with me at all. Just for fun, I did a "rave" version of the theme from the Super NES version of the video game "Lemmings" for a friend's birthday and thought I might as well send it to the label. Thus a long and painful saga commenced whereby over the space of about 6 months it changed from a fun little track to the KLF's producers turning it into a low rent version of "Last Train to Transcentral" with lyrics that sounded like they were taken from the Lord's Prayer. It saw a "proper" (video etc) release but flopped. During this period Food sent DJ and producer Dave Clarke up to visit me with a view to doing a collaboration. We both used different computer software and my room was a bit small so we ended up working independently using each other's ideas and samples. From what I remember the results were pretty good with his tracks sounding assured and brainfuckingly repetitive using synth variations for interest and mine being soundtrack oriented sonic assaults. The label couldn't decide whether to release them and eventually Dave put one of his mixes out on his own label. I have no idea at all if he credited my sounds and studio as I never received a copy. Good on him though for his subsequent success as he's a truly gifted guy and nice with it.
The wafflathon continued. John Truelove left the dance side of the label and wasn't replaced leaving two young guys in charge who decided I should make "trance" music. Trance at that time meant a sort of posh acid house and I'd recorded a track called "God in the Electric Chair" that vaguely fitted the bill. So I was back in their studio with now in-house engineer/producer Kevin White. He was under orders to make the track commercial in a "sell 5000 12" singles" sort of way. And thus the track was diluted and made to be a low rent rip off of other "sell 5000 12" singles." The duo running the dance label (now called Synthetic) didn't know what to do with it so they had Kevin do a "progressive house" remix and me do a hardcore mix which I later modified and became Electric Chair on the Life of Destructor album. Five copies of the single were pressed. Regardless of that situation I consider that track to be my first truly accomplished piece of music. Around that time I also recorded (home) versions of tracks entitled Hardcore Motherfucker, Hiroshima, and three concept pieces about child abuse entitled Psycho Drama (1-3).
Despite my skills as a producer improving by the day it was clear that things weren't working out with the label at all (and that's a real fucking understatement having just written the above.) I suggested to David Balfe that they "let me go" and he agreed. That day I recorded and sent him a track called Death of a Child in return. In retrospect they would have dropped me anyway but I was feeling super confident about the power of my music so wanted to move on ASAP. In the space 18 months I from gone from being a 21 year old with a major recording contract to a 23 year old unemployed musician with tax problems. I used to have a golden future. But I always believed in the MOTHERFUCKING POWER of Ultraviolence and I still had my own recording studio and a phonebook. And sometimes that's enough.
To be continued…