KMFDM is an
industrial rock band and the brainchild of founding member
Sascha Konietzko. KMFDM was founded in
Paris,
France on
February 29,
1984 as a joint effort between Konietzko and German painter/multi-media performer Udo Sturm to perform for the opening of an exhibition of young European artists at the
Grand Palais. Sturm had no lasting musical aspirations, and Konietzko was more interested in studio recordings than the occasional art performance, so he began collaborating with then-
Hamburg-based studio owner
Raymond Watts and drummer Klaus Schandelmaier, who adopted the stage name
En Esch. After working the Hamburg underground music scene and releasing three albums on European labels, the band began its long-standing relationship with
Wax Trax! Records when their
1988 album
Don't Blow Your Top was licensed to the label for
US distribution. After touring with
Ministry in
1989–
1990, they signed directly to Wax Trax! and quickly became a part of the industrial music scene in
Chicago that included Ministry,
Front 242 and
My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult. Konietzko then moved to Chicago in early
1991, and Esch followed a year later. After close friend and president of Wax Trax! Records Jim Nash died of an illness complicated by
AIDS, KMFDM relocated to
Seattle,
Washington.
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