The Northern Iowan

Caesar Pink and the Imperial Orgy

Sally Calcara
NI Lifestyles Writer

Throughout history, music has been a source of revolutionary ideas and an expression of modern thought—Caesar Pink and the Imperial Orgy is no exception. Bringing about widespread controversy, the band’s 2005 album, “Gospel Hymns for Agnostics and Atheists,” opposes organized religion and western conventionalism with four anthems of similarly paradoxical titles and lyrics accompanying multiple genres of creative sound.

Born into the once-dubbed “all-American” city of Lewistown, Pennsylvania, Caesar Pink grew up at a time when his town began facing a spiritual deviation from the religious, conservative right toward a whirlwind of drugs and violence that led many of its inhabitants to self-destruction in the 1970s.

As if the spiral of a devastated environment were not enough to drastically shape the perceptions of a young man, Pink followed generations of men with varying spiritual experiences and hallucinations, which was sure to leave a mark on his initial thoughts about spirituality and society. He felt oppressed as a social misfit in an extremist community and flew into a frenzy of sex, drugs and alcohol by his late teens as he began his music career with his garage band “Friction” in a first attempt to affect social change.

Seized by a supernatural revelation, Caesar Pink spent the next few years living in contemplation and poverty until he struck it rich from a government lottery, after which he began another twister of trouble with the law and drugs and women that eventually landed him in a state of what Pink himself calls a spiritual death. Now at ground zero, he stumbled across a book by R.D. Lang that suggested his mental breakdown might actually be a sort of spiritual transformation.

Caesar Pink now resides in Brooklyn, New York, where he writes music reflecting his anti-religious, nihilistic views on life as well as thoughts on pan-sexuality and political and social change.

The first song titled “The Amazing Tenacity of Job and His Brethren” has a “gospel” rock style infused with industrial guitar riffs. Pink satirically touches on the persistent strains of the church and the apparent hypocrisy of Christian people.

“We preach what we lack, we curse what we sow, and people are the opposite of what they show,” the band sings in chorus, pointing to the unresolved efforts of the church, preaching a righteousness that it cannot attain, condemning pleasures as sinful acts and claiming a purity of character to which it doesn’t adhere.

The song establishes a foundation of atheism and reveals the ideals that follow from a worldview absent of God with lines such as “there’s no second chances, and no one forgives,” and mocking religious sentiment in “we say hail Mary’s till we’re sore, Satan’s got a handgun and no one’s keeping score.”

The second song on the album, “In Praise of Shadows,” Pink literally praises the darkness of not knowing and rocks to the nonexistence of religious and moral ideals. He points to these things as merely figments of the imagination. He preaches dismal ideas, but uses undoubtedly poignant imagery. For example, Pink says that “destiny is a crossword puzzle written on a chain link fence” and “compassion is a parable spoken by a tongueless monk.”

He suggests a comfort in the ambiguities of the agnostic life, singing in reprise, “lay down, lay down, rest your head, what is, it shall be.”

The tropical reggae feel of “So It Is” shows the versatility of the group members, and in “Our Happy Endings,” the fourth hymn on the album, Pink introduces a slower, blues tempo with a touch of western twang.

In the latter and final hymn, Pink pokes fun at fairy tale dreams of a rosy life and points to the daily ins and outs of the average blue collar worker as a happy enough ending.

“These are our happy endings, it’s the best we can do,” he sings. “Always thought that smile on your face was a lie. I see trailer parks and roadside diners, my feet are tired, but I keep movin’ on.”

The off-kilter impression of Caesar Pink is joined by his band, composed of six other musicians with a similar knack for creating new religious and sexual doctrine to catchy melodies and funky guitar riffs. The group often faces controversy and opposition from Christian, feminist and political groups who occasionally boycott their shows or demand cancellation.

INSight magazine said that Caesar Pink and the Imperial Orgy would make “even Marilyn Manson” scratch his head. Rush Limbaugh called his work anti-establishment propaganda. The Daily Collegian called the band “a blazing beacon of originality” giving “hope to those searching for real rock and roll.”

Whatever the group might be labeled, their message is definitely not for the narrow-minded. Even Caesar Pink’s website bears the warning: “We respectfully request that people who do not have an open mind do not enter this site.

The Michigan Journal

The Michigan Journal

The Imperial Orgy sparks controversy
Four out of five stars
by Rene' Cizio

Listeners and audiences alike have extreme love-or-hate reactions to the message contained in the music of Caeser Pink and The Imperial Orgy. It's not just the name of the band that caused this controversy; it seems to be everything about them.

Their album, Gospel Hymns for Agnostics and Atheists has caused them to be banned and picketed nearly everywhere they perform. Shows have been canceled due to terrorist threats from Christian organizations, their posters have been banned from college campuses, radio stations have banned their recordings and their Web site, theimperialorgy.com, was banned from its Web hosting company for being "an insult to God."

The Imperial Orgy began in 1994 at Penn State University's film department and was soon mixed up in controversy for its nonconformist message. The Imperial Orgy's musical message quickly transformed into a lifestyle as the band's fans began to form a multi-cultural community exploring sexuality, alternative spirituality and social activism.

While most bands create recordings and perform concerts, The Imperial Orgy and their network of fans have also presented street theater protests, as well as created their own underground TV series and a network of unique Web sites to create an interactive experience for a "journey of spiritual self discovery."

On multiple occasions, Caeser Pink, the band's leader, has been physically attacked by audience members who were enraged by the band's performances. However, the hate reactions have garnered them quite a bit more press than the love has.

It's not only the title of the album, it's the lyrics they "preach." They point out the flaws of society and claim a Godless world with lyrics such as, "We preach what we lack, we curse what we sow, and people are the opposite of what they show."

"It's no longer graphic content that's controversial, but nonconformist ideas which people find offensive," they claim on their Web site. "It's caused an uproar from those who oppose freedom of thought."

At Penn State University, the band battled over censorship of their flyers, which were banned because "they were offensive to some students." But Penn State isn't the only college that has banned them. The CD has been banned from airplay by stations across the country. Other stations chose to play the CD, but only under the condition that the band only be referred to as Caeser Pink.

"I don't really see what the controversy is all about," said band frontman Pink. "I think it all has to do with the CD's title. When people hear the word 'atheist' they seem to go insane. What bothers me is that they don't seem to listen to the music or read the lyrics, but because these stations get it into their heads that the CD reflects a different religious belief than their own, they are banning us from the airwaves."

The Imperial Orgy's music consists of a variety of musical genres, often mixing elements of different styles to create new sounds. It's not something you'd likely hear on the radio, it isn't "pop" or rap or rock or gospel - it's a mixture.

The Imperial Orgy's live show is also a mixture. It combines music, performance art, video projections, theater, dance and poetry. It's described as "part tent-show revival-meeting, part political rally and part tribal fertility ceremony."

It may be different than audiences are used to, but should it be banned?

"This trend towards censoring expression is disturbing," Pink stated on a Web blog. "For an artist, if you don't have access to the media, you have no voice with which to reach people. It's a sign of the conformist spirit that has taken America. It's odd because these days, you can be as outrageous as you want when it comes to sex and violence and no one gets too excited, but ideas are what tend to get censored. If you dare to suggest that people should think for themselves and not blindly accept the dictates of church and state, that is when people get nervous and try to shut you up. Rock music has become so safe and vacuous that young Americans have forgotten that music is an art-form with which to express ideas, and that there was a time when rock music was a conduit for social change."

The Los Angeles Loyolan

The Los Angeles Loyolan

Caeser Pink & the Imperial Orgy Challenge the Norm
- by Raveen Battee - 3/1/2007

"Gospel Hymns for Agnostics and Atheists" -- these words strung together alone could give many readers pause. But I urge you to continue reading for the sheer randomness and unconventionality of it all. In all my life I never thought I'd see the day when gospel hymns might become linked with agnostics and atheists, but here we are.

Who is behind all this, you ask? Caeser Pink & The Imperial Orgy, that's who. I assure you the name is real. Spawned at Penn State University's Film Department in 1994, they have never been strangers to controversy. The group has had posters and songs banned from college campuses that find the material too political, too controversial and anti-religious and have had cancelled shows due to threats from Christian organizations. Nevertheless, the idea is quite ingenious and creative, striving to push the envelope to another dimension. How far is too far? The answer is completely left to the listener.

Lead singer Caeser Pink has come to a likely conclusion that "it all has to do with the CD's title. When people hear 'atheist' they seem to go insane. What bothers me is that they don't seem to listen to the music or read the lyrics...these stations get it into their heads that the CD reflects a different religious belief than their ownÖ[and] they are banning us from the airwaves."

I too find the problem purely based in the terminology, though not solely in the word "atheist," but in the word "gospel" as well. The general population has come to see these words in a distinct light and used in a specific context to which Caeser Pink & The Imperial Orgy have not conformed. Most people are familiar with the gospels of the Bible, and so the word "gospel" presented in any other way is seen as a perversion of the word.

But this is not so. "Gospel" is a generic term that, according to the dictionary, simply means the essential beliefs or principles of a person or group of people. Logically, Orgy's usage of the word is correct. Yet, because of the word's natural connotation with religion and figures such as Jesus, misinterpretations often result.

One might call this album the gospel of life or truth, because Imperial Orgy effectively points out and satirizes those things which build us up and tear us down. The songs are hymn-esque in their hypnotizing mixture of soul-clenching lyrics and a melodic, danceable beat. In its title track "The Amazing Tenacity of Job & his Brethren," the group sings "Pills can make you happy / I seen it on TV / so drug me with your video screens / S&M scenes and altered genes / Drug me, drug me, drug me 'til I believe."

The first conclusion is that this song is praising drug use and S&M lovers, but to conclude such a superficial analysis would only scratch the surface of the underlying message. In these lyrics, there is a reflection of the general self that exists today-we enthrall ourselves in television and magazine propaganda which tells us how to look, act and live.

Catchy music and thought-provoking lyrics are definitely excellent reasons to stay tuned into Caeser Pink & The Imperial Orgy. That is, if you dare.