© 2025 Rev Publishing & Saturn Strip, Ltd
Martin Rev

You might have heard their single, Dream Baby Dream, thanks to Bruce Springsteen's popular cover. But how does one begin to explain a pioneering musical act like Suicide? You could start with adjectives: provocative, revolutionary, experimental, daring, gritty, confrontational... but that would only be a superficial attempt.

Given their influence and riotous reputation, it's an admittedly difficult and intimidating task at hand. How do you explain why a non-mainstream band that locks its audiences inside its performance venue continues to be cited as major influences by the likes of Bob Gillespie, Spacemen 3 and Aphex Twin? How do you explain why people willingly attend the duo's shows despite having flying axes, boots, glass bottles and unanimous boos as almost-regular show fixtures? You're basically asking for a death wish.

Perhaps it's better if we don't even make the attempt ourselves and leave the explaining entirely to them — even if they don't have any particular reason or conscious decision-making process for doing some things. We chatted with the band's instrumentalist, Martin Rev, to get his own account of everything Suicide-related. In this interview, Rev not only tells us the story of the proto-punk band (or whatever you want to call it) as we go beyond the duo; he also discusses the art of music-making, explains why he wears those shades, how diversity is paramount, and giving it all you've got for what you believe in.