A note on the name "
KMFDM":
I do not speak
German, or know much about
Depeche Mode. However, I have gleaned this information from numerous sources, most of which are lost to my memory. One source was a teacher at my high school, though, and the others were almost as reputable. Please, please correct my spelling of
German words if anything is wrong besides a lack of
umlauts.
"
KMFDM" might stand for one of two things. It could stand for "
Kein Mitleid für die Mehrheit", which means "No compassion for the majority", or, more loosely translated, "
No pity for the masses". The latter translation is a
Depeche Mode-ism. "
KMFDM" could also stand for "Keine Mehrheit fur das Mitleid", which would mean "No majority for the compassion" or "No masses for the pity", neither of which makes sense. This ambiguity fits in well with
KMFDM's sense of
nihilistic,
sarcastic wit, as does the
Depeche Mode reference; although
KMFDM was definitely influenced by
Depeche Mode, they claim to hate them, most notably in the song
Sucks.
The most amusing false statement of what "
KMFDM" stands for that I've ever seen was "
KMFDM makes freaky damn music." That would be a good one to put on a t-shirt.
As I understand it, the reasoning behind Sascha Koneitko and Tim Skold naming their new band "
MDFMK" was something like "'
KMFDM'" wasn't supposed to really mean much in the first place, so what does it matter if we use it backwards?" "
MDFMK" could also be a reference to the line "
KMFDM forwards, the ultimate sound, and a message from
Satan if you turn it around"