Skinny Puppy, the Vancouver industrial rock band that sent an invoice to the U.S. military for allegedly using its music in Guantanamo Bay, says it was “coached” in ways to potentially sue the U.S. Department of Defense for using its material illegally.
The band says its music has been played at Gitmo in the interrogation of detainees, and is now demanding $666,000 in compensation.
The military prison, located within the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba, was established in 2002 to detain and interrogate prisoners. Physicians for Human Rights, a U.S.-based human rights organization, says it found evidence of torture and war crimes after doctors had examined former prisoners.
Cevin Key, the band’s keyboardist, says the band at first planned to design an album cover based on an invoice for the U.S. government, rather than sending a physical invoice. But after learning that the government had allegedly used their music without permission, Key says the band was told it could bring a suit against the Department of Defense.
“We sent them an invoice for our musical services considering they had gone ahead and used our music without our knowledge and used it as an actual weapon against somebody,” Key told CTV’s Kevin Newman Live.
And Key said band members were “offended” to learn that their music was played in the notorious prison to “inflict damage” on detainees.
“I wouldn’t want to be subjected to any overly loud music for six to 12 hours at a time without a break,” he said.
Key says a former Guantanamo Bay guard and fan of the band contacted the musicians to let them know their music was being used at the detention centre.
“I think he was coming at it from the fact that he was shocked that our music was being used because although he was a guard at Guantanamo Bay, he also happened to be a fan of our music,” Key told CTV News Channel.
Key said that while the band’s music could be “a terrible nightmare” for some listeners, to others, “it’s a creative artistic endeavour that plays with dark writings and dark cinema.”
