by LORRAINE CARPENTER

In March 2003, when the Mirror last spoke to musician, magick-worker and serial mis-speller ov thee English language, Genesis P-Orridge, he and his significant other (Lady Jaye) had recently acquired matching breast implants in their quest for "pandrogynous hybridization." This year, the self-described "cultural engineer" - who invented industrial music with Throbbing Gristle and later coined the term "acid house" - has followed through with some his 'n' hers facial surgery, which fans will catch violent glimpses of via mixed and mangled video when a rebooted line-up of P-Orridge's other band, Psychic TV, takes the stage next week.

P-Orridge reformed the band to coincide with the release of Godstar: Thee Director's Cut, the double-disc soundtrack to his would-be feature film about deceased Rolling Stone Brian Jones, a project P-Orridge claims was beset by sabotage and thievery after the 1986 release of Psychic TV's psychedelic pop single "Godstar." The Mirror questioned P-Orridge about the vast Rolling Stones conspiracy.

Mirror: So you believe Brian Jones was murdered?

Genesis P-Orridge: I don't just believe it, it's been accepted. You would think it would make headlines, but it was about a one-and-a-half inch paragraph in one paper in England, and it's been mentioned in one or two books. But just as I'd always suspected, it was the builder, Frank Thorogood. He actually made a deathbed confession in 1993. He said he held Brian under the water because he resented everything he stood for, which, in a way, is the same reason why people scapegoated me in Britain, or do other people who live alternative lifestyles - there's always a pseudo-moralistic backlash that wants to destroy that which is different. But yes, he did confess, and for whatever reason - perhaps certain interested parties preferred to keep it quiet - it was kept very quiet. Of course, Frank Thorogood was on the payroll of the Rolling Stones at the time [of the murder].

M: Were these interested parties also responsible for "Godstar" being pulled from BBC radio?

GP-O: Yes, it was the Rolling Stones office, as it was in 1986. They threatened to pull all Rolling Stones music from the BBC if they played that song. They began with threatening phone calls to our business manager, saying, "This record will not succeed." He was terrified because he was convinced they were gangsters, so he backed out and has not been seen since. He also stole all our money.

M: In the liner notes for the new CD, you've written extensively about your reverence for Brian Jones. Was seeing him, then meeting him, really a turning point in your life?

GP-O: The more I consider it, the more I think it was an epiphany, a pivotal moment. Something in my nervous system responded really vividly to the implications of the way he looked and moved. His complete androgyny shifted my entire approach to how to live a life. I'm sure he wouldn't have been conscious of what he represented as a symbol, but if he walked into a club today, dressed as he used to dress, people would turn and look. He was a remarkably visual character, and a very mysterious person, and he's constantly in my mind.

With Metha Mean at Café Campus on
Wednesday, Nov. 17, 9 p.m., $20

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