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This is 'Liberation through Amplification.'
Hailing from Chicago,
IL, the genre of noise rock and its
forbearers have undeniable imprinted upon the DNA of today’s featured band Escape Is Not Freedom.Crossings the boundaries of rock, sludge,
noise and grunge, this trio convulsant manage to generate a cacophonous racket,
where riffs are monotonously cavernous whilst retaining a strong sense of
melody and originality. With influences ranging from the AmRep bands of yore
through to Julie Christmas and Rabies Caste, Escape Is Not Freedom new album “Goldsmith” is further proof that the noise rock movement is alive
and well, are will surely see the band garner praise in much the same way their
peers, Wrong and Whores., have
garnered over the last 12 months.
With “Goldsmith”
set for release on February 24th 2017, today you can get your first
taste of the record with this exclusive premiere of the track “Night Light” with following parental
advisory sticker: guaranteed to riff you the fuck out.Check out the track below, follow the band in
the usual places and preorder a copy here
“Gold” is more than an album, it’s an
invitation to get your ass down to the rock show and have it get beat in the
pit.
“Gold” CD//DD//LP track listing:
1). Playing Poor
2). Baby Teeth
3). Participation Trophy
4). Mental Illness as Mating
Ritual
5). Ghost Trash
6). Charlie Chaplin Routine
7). Of Course You Do
8). I See You Are Also
Wearing A Black T-Shirt
9). Bloody Like the Day you were
Born
10). I Have A Prepared
Statement
The Review
Atlanta 3-piece noise punk merchants Whores. have returned with more no-holds
barred behaviour on their new release 'Gold' which came out on October 28th
on E.One Records. This band certainly
need no introduction but for those unfamiliar, it can be described in a couple
words... nasty fucking noise.
The album has an impressive 10 tracks and each one is a brutal, unrelenting
assault in its own right. The other mind-blowing aspect of this band, is the
fact that despite only having 3 members, they manage to create a towering,
heavy sound.To kick things off, Track 1
is called 'Playing Poor'. The first
few seconds give you a taste of what's to come with that rumbling fuzz bass and
before you can register what's going on, the song takes off into their
trademark style of aggressive noise punk. It's a super tight unit and the vocal
style fits the tempo and heaviness of the riffs wonderfully.
'Baby
Teeth' comes next and tips the scale into sludgier
territory. The guitar and bass tones are heavy as Christ and the drums
pummel away like a sledgehammer. The breakdowns towards the end with
isolated bass are great and once the whole unit comes back in again it is
carnage. If you had any baby teeth before this song started, you'll be sure to
be spitting them out once it's over.'Participation Trophy' is the third
track on the album. Another ripping riff to begin with and then the vocals
start to take the lead, shouting every syllable with utmost viscerality. Parts
of the vocals on this track remind me of Maynard James Keenan after smoking 100
Marlboro with a throat infection. Very heavy shit indeed.
'Mental
Illness As Mating Ritual' has one of the many
excellent song titles on this record. Whores. are merciless when it comes to riff
writing and every last one of them are ferocious. The thick, fuzz bass fills
every crevice of space in the low-end and the guitar has freedom to run riot on
top of it.'Ghost Trash' comes next and begins with a Clutch-styled riff before going
into one of the many isolated bass breakdowns. The dynamics of having little
touches of clean guitar among this monstrosity is a great effect and when the
pedals are kicked in, you really notice how powerful the riffs are. The drums
are particularly great on this track with some excellent fills between the
episodes of manic noise-craft.
'Charlie
Chaplin Routine' ups the tempo and delivers a
crucifying barrage of instrumentation. High octane behaviour that
crosses a brief area of sludge halfway through before returning to the
fast-paced wrecking ball that the song started with.'Of
Course You Do' is a straight up stoner rock track in the vein of Kyuss
or Melvins
and has some fantastic drumming keeping the ship afloat. There are some killer
riffs in this track and it never loses steam as they keep churning out the
goods. The last section at around 3 minutes sounds like a flight of hornets
besieging a burning city to eradicate any living survivors. Devastatingly
heavy.
Track 8 ‘I See
You Are Also Wearing A Black T-shirt' wins my award for the best song title
of 2016. Coarse screaming vocals leading the onslaught with pure disdain for
whatever makes him so angry. This track has a bit more of a traditional punk
structure and the riffs are so weighted that Chuck Norris may need a few extra
eggs in the morning to attempt to carry them.'Bloody Like the Day You Were
Born' is the penultimate track on the album. It is maybe one of the
angriest sounding tracks on the album and the atmosphere is filled with
psychotic fury. Yet again, they make superb use of the sections without guitar,
allowing the bass sounds to permeate through and provide a pedestal for the 6
string to rear its ugly neck.
The final track on the album 'I Have a Prepared Statement' is without a doubt my favourite track.
Saving the best for last and all that. It begins with some guitar feedback
which gives way to the beast lurking behind. The patient drums help build the
moment up and the faint sound of the bass riff under the feedback makes you
want to beg for the guitar to rip in and complete the trifecta. And it does.
One of the best riffs I've heard in a long while and the vocals
linger nicely between words to drag out this powerhouse. The lyrics 'I'm
gonna sink this ship, down, down down!' are extremely catchy and
seem to use up every last drop of energy that Christian Lembach has. The brief
false stop at 4:40 makes you desperately hope the riff will return and before
that thought has time to process... it's on top of you. It's a hugely
impressive track and definitely what I would've picked to close the album.
Whores. displays a keen sense of what makes a song a song
by making sure that each riff, verse, or drum fill spins violently around a
hooky chorus, like water does a drain. Coupling hard rhymes with a gruesome
distortion on pretty much every instrument is the formula that makes these
songs burst at the seams, literally. “Gold”
is therefore more than an album, it’s an invitation to get your ass down to the
rock show and have it get beat in the pit.
A riveting debut from a band that
successfully integrates the feel of noise-rock with the fury and aggression of
hardcore, spitting out an arty hydra of epic proportions.
"Sing Praises" DD//LP track
listing:
1). The Cutting (03:03)
2). Shake the Meat (03:08)
3). War Dance (03:40)
4). Pastures/Abuelas (08:34)
The Review:
I threw this on at work and the thing that came to mind was
SMASH STUFF. As I cannot punch any of my patients, I stayed tuned in for
an abrasive blend of noise rock and hardcore. HAAN’s debut EP "Sing Praises" starts heavy and
ends heavy. Starting with the caustic opener "The Cutting" which never lets up throughout its length,
gorging us on a riff-fest of epic proportions.
The second track "Shake
the Meat" has a crazy layout and jumps furiously all over the place
with scything guitar over rolling drumbeats. Syncing into the heavy but
brief head nodding chorus which transitions on second pass into a nice brief
open section before coming back with some furious almost tremelo picked punk
fury definitely a fun song that I'm sure is killer live.
The third track "War
Dance" starts with a plucked Native American feeling open riff with
some simple but pretty decent clean singing. With a cool moving chorus
when HAAN
breaks back into the verse they add some cool rhythmic syncopation that I can
only describe as being similar to Tomahawk's more straightforward songs.
Closing their debut EP "Pasture/Abuela" starts with some choice bass grind moving
under some feedbacking guitar melody as the vocals kick in. A song that
begins almost strangely out of place, "Pasture/Abuela" delves into deeper sonic territory then the
proceeding tracks and includes a slick noise/feedback guitar freak-out in lieu
of a chorus. The bridge of "Pastures/Abuela"
brings the song back to ground with a spiralling Unsane style riff which meanders
into some cool changes. An awesome track that literally flips genre mid
song but is written so well it's completely seamless. As the track
concludes I am left wondering which tracks are my favourites and honestly they
are all really good.
A riveting debut from a band that successfully integrates the
feel of noise-rock with the fury and aggression of hardcore, spitting out an
arty hydra of epic proportions leaving me eagerly wishing for a full
length/full US tour.
“Wronger” is a great album with a lot of great songs and high energy. Not a ton of diversity in song writing but this is a pretty powerful album that stays the course on annihilation
“Wronger” CD//DD//LP track listing:
1. A Great Blight 2. The Life In Pink 3. Bet It All On Black 4. Amateur Hour In DickCity 5. Mope 6. Wrap It Up 7. Mouth Dump 8. Make Sure To Forget 9. Bug Boy* 10. Wronger 11. Donnybrook *vocals by Julie Christmas
The Review:
Hell of a racket coming from the Pigs' latest release, “Wronger”. These guys sound tough as nails even if it feels like I've heard this sound before. I want to put them in the same category of modern bands like Metz and Whores with vocals that sound like their being sung through a distortion pedal. A very agro bass heavy discordant guitar driven band. Too many adjectives? Yep.
First song, “A Great Blight”, is a total test of wills, with a song title that's indicative of the sonic sound of guitars. I'm guessing the band is trying to weed out the meek before dive bombing into the rest of the album. I wouldn't even call this a song but more of an intro as there is no real structure since drums do not stay in time the entire length of this track and there's 3 or more guitar tracks trying hard to pierce your skull with an invisible needle.
Track #2, “The Life in Pink”, pummels through like a freight train with full on guitar/drums and bass. Vocals sound shrill and upsetting. It's a fucking punisher.“Bet It All On Black”, is another shredder with fist pumps in the air and car wrecks in my immediate future. Probably my favorite track on this album as it has some great riffs in the vein of possibly early Am Rep stuff ala Melvins and maybe a bit of the Jesus Lizard and plenty of Unsane.
They go off on a tangent with the song, “Mouth Dump”, which is an instrumental of sorts with banjo and a kick drum. Then you have some dialog in the background that is more or less political but with rednecks.Another notable track is “Bug Boy” which has Julie Christmas (Made Out of Babies) singing vocals throughout. Sounds like she's hemorrhaging and it works. Lots of guitar noise with steady bass and drums. You even get to hear her hack something up at the end. Great track.
“Wronger” is a great album with a lot of great songs and high energy. Not a ton of diversity in song writing but this is a pretty powerful album that stays the course on annihilation. I'd recommend this to those of you that like to party with lots and lots of cocaine... or maybe you just like noise bands. Dig it.
A
synonym of “Noise” refers to a din, racket, clatter and blast, indeed to
describe the sound of today’s featured artist Fight Amp, those words would not
be out of place. Hailing originally from
NJ, but natives to Philadelphia for the last 5 years, Fight Amp have been creating their own brand
of off kilter dissonance for the last 8 years, noise rock as their music is
affectionately known, is nothing new of course, indeed the genre perhaps
garnered notoriety due to the influx of more popular bands during the early
90’s, with bands commonly known in the AmpRep style stemming from the formation
of the influential label, where many of the purveyors of the off kilter style,
found their home during perhaps the scenes most influential period.
Bands
such as Helmet
would eventually sign to major labels and as was the case back in the day, with
any specific trend of music, other labels followed suit, signing up bands such
as Barkmarket,
featuring renowned producer D. Sardy.
Of course bands such The Jesus Lizard would have their day with Duane Denison,
perhaps gaining wider recognition years after their split for his contribution
to Mike
Patton side project, Tomahawk.
But
for me on a personal level Steve Albini is synonymous with the scene and
his work with Big
Black, Rapeman and latterly Shellac, who continue to produce some of their
best music to date has had perhaps the biggest influence and his/their
influence can still be heard in new bands today. Indeed whilst it would be unfair to specially
credit those bands for creating the “noise rock” sound or style alone, what is
true is that those bands especially Albini are often name checked by many or
most people when referring to “noise rock”.
All in all, whilst I do not profess to be an expert on this scene, it is
clear the sound is in the ascendency once more, with artist such KEN mode,
Great Falls, Whores. and
Fight Amp
helping to continue the tradition of producing superior and yet off kilter music,
latterly you could also add Kowloon Walled City into the group, indeed the
list is endless. Just this month Grizzlor and Kowloon Walled City featured in
our very own “Sour 16” feature, so clearly top quality music is still being
produced and remains an integral part of the heavy rock/metal scene.
Having
released their strongest album to date with “Constantly Off”, Fight Amp is certainly a band who needs to be
heard and having stumbled across them back in 2012, following their
contribution to the awesome Hell Comes Home 7inch package, I have been
following them ever since. Therefore I
am stoked that guitarist Mike McGinnis agreed to talk to us about his love for Melvins,
Kowloon
Walled City, Gibson SG’s and his response to folks who ask
him “how much pussy you got on tour” So
check it out and thanks for reading.
SL). Mike, welcome to Amped
& Doomed, could you perhaps give us a brief history of your playing
career?
Mike
McGinnis)It’s a little hazy, but I started playing
guitar when I was around 13. It all stemmed from skateboarding and being
exposed to the music surrounding that culture and from liking Nirvana
and digging deeper into their influences like Black Flag and The Melvins.
At some point playing guitar started cutting into my time skateboarding and it
eventually took over. I took maybe 3 guitar classes and two years of music
theory/history in high school, but the book always bored me and I found a lot
of flaws in my peer’s use of music theory in that they would generally use the
rules to write music instead of writing what they heard in their head and using
theory to transcribe it and communicate with other musicians.
From that
point on I was self-taught and playing guitar was just a means to an end;
writing the riffs and music that I was hearing and still hear, in my head. I
played in some weirdo hardcore punk bands with friends in high school in the
late 90s (Pride
of Youth) being the first and only that really played shows),
bounced between a couple metal/grind type bands shortly afterwards in the early
00s, and spent a couple years doing short tours in a punk band called The Funeral
Bird (which had members of Creepoid, Into It. Over It., Ladder Devils, Gunna Vahm).
After a short lull I started writing what would become the first Fight
Amputation riffs sometime in 2003, played our first show in 2004,
and really didn’t start putting out real albums and doing any real touring
until 2008 when we became something a little more “serious” than a part-time
band.
SL). Are
there any bands, guitarists, currently on the scene that continue to inspire
you and push you to try new things?
MG). The obvious answer for me is always The Melvins /
Buzzo. Their / his approach has always been extremely influential to
me. It’s never anything but honest and my playing/writing style is very similar
to his. Steve
Albini is another obvious answer for me. It’s weird because those
guys are classic examples yet they remain on the scene currently because of
their prolific nature, which is exactly why they’re so hugely inspirational to
so many musicians. Lately I’d have to say Scott Evans and Jon Howell of Kowloon Walled
City. Yeah, they’re my buddies, but they put together some of the
best dual guitar interplay I’ve heard lately, and it’s tonally on point yet
simple.
SL). Whilst we’re on the subject of inspiration or
heroes, do you have 5 records that stand out as favorites, what influence did
they have upon you and what is it about those records in particular that
resonates amongst others?
MG) Man, top 5
of all time? That might be impossibility for me. I’m not a fan of top lists in
general because they’re so steadfast and concrete. My moods often dictate my
taste and my favorites list probably changes every day. I’ll use this as an
opportunity instead to tell you my five favorite albums of 2015 because
all-time is gonna dig back decades and turn into a top 20.
So my 5 this
year are:
Cherubs –“2 Ynfynyty”
Kowloon
Walled City – “Grievances”
The Hex Dispensers
– “III”
Ecstatic Vision
– “Sonic Praise”
Spray Paint – “Punters On A Barge”
SL). Can you remember your first electric guitar?
MG) A black Squier
Stratocaster. The only Fender-ish guitar I've ever owned. Still had
its remains until recently.
SL). What guitar(s) are you using today and how did
you gravitate towards the guitar you currently use?
MG) I play a Gibson SG.
I gravitated towards SGs early in life, love the way their necks feel,
how lightweight they are and their simple setup. I don’t exactly know why, but
I’ve never been comfortable playing most other guitars. I also use a rebuilt Epiphone SG
that I’ve owned since maybe ‘99. I generally only play that on songs that are
tuned below drop C# and as a backup guitar/extra tracks in the studio. I do
like Jaguars
and Les
Pauls though and if I feel like adding guitars in the future it’d be
one of those next.
SL). What amps and pedals do you currently use?
Do you use a combination of amps, or a full/half stack? Talk us through
your set up both in the studio and in the live environment.
MG) I really
subscribe to a bare-bones (yet oddball) philosophy when it comes to rigs. I
play two half stacks currently, a Peavey Classic 100 tube amp through a Marshall 4x12
and an Acoustic
Model 450 solid state amp through an Ampeg 2x15 loaded with EV 100s.
I’ve always tried to pair a tube amp with a solid state amp to get the best of
both worlds; some warmth from one and some attack from the other. I basically
get the best clean tone I can out of them and then run a RAT and an MXR Micro Amp to boost the
signal. I occasionally use a delay pedal for certain riffs but I’m not a big
pedal guy and focus on tone and riffs more than effects or bells and whistles.
I use the same setup in the studio but generally go back with accent riffs and
a third guitar track with different combo amps and/or a Musicman HD150 through a 2x12.
SL) What’s one pedal you could not live without and
why?
MG) My tuner.
And I’m still out of tune sometimes because I strum hard naturally. Kill
me.
SL) What tunings do you use and why, and as a
result is there a specific brand / gauge of string you prefer?
MG) Mostly in
drop C#, lately some songs have been way down in double drop G#.
I like D’Addario 11s.
SL). Do you have any advice for up and coming guitar
players, bands?
MG) Yeah, a ton,
but I doubt they’d listen, and maybe they shouldn't. Do what makes you happy,
not what other people are telling you you’re supposed to do. Anyone that tells
you there’s a strict set of rules for bands has an agenda and can fuck right
off.
SL). Do you feel there are deeply held
misconceptions about being in a band?
MG) Yes. The
next person that wants to know “how much
pussy I got” on the last tour can take a fuckin hike.
SL). Moving on a little then, what can you
tell us about any of your current projects, tours, CDs, etc you’re currently
promoting, completed and anything else band related we should know about?
MG)Fight Amp
put out a new album, ‘Constantly Off’, in June on Brutal Panda
Records, we also released a new two song 7” on Reptilian Records in September.
We recently wrapped up a west coast run with KowloonWalledCity
and currently have no shows scheduled and are pumping out new material for
future releases. I was also part of a self-released EP last year with a band
called Pale
Shelter with the guys from Bubonic Bear, but that's now defunct.
SL). What springs to mind when you think about the
completion of your new/current record and how is the mood in the camp at
present?
MG) We’re
happier than ever with our new releases and view it as a jumping off point for
our future sound and albums. Personally when I listen to “Constantly Off” I hear the album I’ve wanted to make for the last 8
years. We hit the nail on the head with the new stuff and now we’re ready to
make more. Hopefully people get as excited as us about it, but either way we
make the albums we want to hear and if it doesn’t please people then that’s
just a by-product of us having off-kilter taste I suppose. Every second on “Constantly Off” was calculated.
SL). What are your favorite songs to play live? What
is it about them that makes them so good to play live? Anything from your
catalog that you wouldn’t play and why?
MG)
Currently all the songs from “Constantly
Off” and the new 7” have made their way in heavily. We’ve never made an album
that was front-to-back so much fun to play live. Every other album has some
songs that ended up being “studio” songs that we’ve never played live. Other
than that, personally I love playing “Dead
is Dead” from “Hungry For Nothing”
and “Fly Trap” from “Birth Control”. There’s probably
nothing we’d ever take off the table for playing live depending on the
circumstances.
SL) Who are some of your favorite bands you have
toured with and what has been your proudest moment and/or performance of your
playing career?
MG) We’ve
seriously formed such great relationships with almost every band we’ve toured
with and there’s not a single band we’ve toured with that we don’t enjoy
musically. I’d have to say standouts are definitely Black Tusk, KEN Mode, Weedeater, Whores.
and Kowloon Walled City.
Proudest
moment…. Hard to say, first thing that comes to mind is playing the Naked Raygun
reunion show in Austin
in 2008. Crazy show and an honor to play with such an influential punk
band.
SL). What can fans look forward to from you over the
next 12 months? How is your schedule shaping up?
MG) We’re
writing heavily. Maybe some shows in 2016 but we’re not hell bent on playing
live unless the circumstances point towards killer shows for the bands and the
crowd. We’re focused on new material above all else, but it’s too early to talk
release schedule especially with how current production times are so lengthy
because of pressing plant backups.
SL). Right on man, thanks for taking the time to
talk us. Before we sign off, do you
have any final comments/word of wisdom you’d like to bestow upon us?
MG) Don’t
believe everything you read on the internet.
East (Coast) meets West (Coast) in noise rock: WHORES and RABBITS joined together in misanthropy and misery. And what better material to manifest their unwavering rage than that of The Cure?
WHORES crushes "Jumping Someone Else's Train," taking said train on a insanely heavy ride, the main riff stretched into a hypnotic groove forever beat into your brain. RABBITS opens with the stark "A Reflection" before cranking out an uncaged, claustrophobic version of "Give Me It.” Who let these maniacs out? A killer slab of new noise.
The WHORES/RABBITS split is out now on wax and digital, a cooperative release between Eolian Empire and Brutal Panda Records. The vinyl version, limited to 500 copies -- 100 on pink/400 on black -- the EP is housed in a full color fold-over jacket featuring art by Went Knipe and Josh Hughes.
Review :
Now this truly is a thing of beauty. My initial reaction was to laugh when I discovered what the subject of a split between two of my absolute favourite modern purveyors of noise rock fuzzery would be, but then I realised that it would actually make perfect sense for Whores and Rabbits to do a 7" of Cure covers. It’s that unexpected, left-field mentality that makes them both thinking man's riff wranglers. And boy does it sound HUGE.
The Whores contribution is their version of 'Jumping Someone Else's Train'. Released in 1979, it was only the third ever single that the band had put out. You'd never know it was anything other than a Whores track though, after they put their own spin on it, soak it in feedback and force it sideways through the meat grinder. Still retaining that kind of dawn of post punk vibe, the cover is appropriately gloomy yet poetic at the same time. So while it doesn't sound like The Cure in a straightforward manner it still manages to retain the key qualities I guess. Still a complete shitkicker though, mind you.
Rabbits have two outings on here, and the first is 'A Reflection'. Taken from The Cure's second album 'Seventeen Seconds', by this point in time the Goth factor had really started to kick in and this reflects in the doom-laden stance of this instrumental lead-in to 'Give Me It'. A seamless blend between two songs that featured on albums that were miles apart in terms of time is pretty cool. Rabbits are a somewhat 'punkier' affair than Whores and the mood in the room is a lot more confrontational. Less of a party, more of an argument. Rolling drums give way to early hardcore beats and the riffs are never anything short of incendiary. What I wouldn't give for the chance to witness both of these bands share a stage.
This is an early contender for split of the year. Noisy as fuck and catchier than a barb wire covered sack that's full of the common cold, you can grab it in a variety of soothing colours from the good folks at either Eolian Empire or Brutal Panda. I suggest you do so with the greatest of haste.
If gargantuan helmet esque riffs are your deal, then you won’t have failed to notice, the holy ball
buster that was Whores. sophomore release,
Clean. Fitton described the record best
saying it is so good; it should be
illegal for it to exist. The amount
of groove base riffs per capita was truly mouth watering, so much so in fact
that after hearing a mere 2 tracks, I immediately headed to their bandcamp site
and purchased both their records. Result!!
Therefore,
I am beyond stoked Christian from Whores. agreed to talk to us here for the
second installment of The Double A Doom Interview. Following the
release of Clean. these riff dealers are not resting on their laurels and
during our conversation, they seem agitated to get back into the studio to
record a follow up. So with talk of new music and whole lot more, It is
gives me great pleasure to welcome, one Whore to SludgelordHQ, Christian
Lembach. They ain’t no pimps!!
(DAD) Who are you, state your name (s) and purpose?
My name is Christian, and I’m here to fuck shit up.
(DAD)
Summarise your musical journey (s) this point?
I love Journey. Seriously. Steve Perry can sing his ass off.
(DAD)
What can fans look forward to from you in 2014? How is your schedule shaping up?
We have a bunch of stuff coming up. We have a split single coming
out that we did with the band Rabbits (Portland), we’re recording an indieATL
session, we’re recording a song for the Amphetamine Reptile’s revived Dope,
Guns and Fucking in the Streets series, we’re playing the Metal Sucks showcase
at SXSW, and we have a U.S. tour directly following (dates with Deafheaven, Lo
Pan, Gay Witch Abortion, Fight Amp, Rye Coalition and Roomrunner). And that’s just
March.
(DAD) What springs to mind
when you think about the completion of your new/current record?
I’m ready to
get cracking on the next one, honestly. I love everything we’ve done so far,
but I feel like we’re just getting going.
(DAD) Who handles song writing
duties?
I usually bring
in riffs or basic structures and we flesh out arrangements together. Then we
record the rough arrangement and I bring the recording home to write words and
tweak the arrangement.
(DAD) How long was the
gestation of your new/current opus from conception to delivery?
We’ve played a
few of the songs on Clean in our set for a little while, and some of the songs
were brand new, so it’s hard to say. The words for “Last Looks” were written in
the studio, but Cougars, Not Kittens is actually one of our oldest songs. We
also recorded more songs than we released. We get shit sometimes for not
putting out longer records, but we’d rather release something that we are super
proud of than something we’re 80% proud of, you know?
(DAD) Reflecting on your
new/current record, was your artwork designed with a particular physical format
in mind? Who designed it? What are your thoughts the finished physical product?
What format is/will be available?
I usually have
an idea in mind as far as the name of the record and the artwork should reflect
that. We treated Clean as a companion piece to our first record, Ruiner, so I
had the concept of the matches and the name together. Our friend Chad Hess took
the picture and our friend Patrick Copeland did the layout. I absolutely love
the grey splatter vinyl, and the purple version is beautiful as well. Sadly,
those are both long sold out. We are self-releasing a CD with both Ruiner and
Clean on it for our upcoming tour, and Brutal Panda is doing a second pressing
of Clean on vinyl as we speak.
(DAD)
The best and worst things about being
in a band?
The best thing is everything. I couldn’t
do anything else.
The worst part is scraping by to make ends
meet financially.
(DAD) Influences and heroes,
what are turn offs and turn on’s?
Our influences
are pretty obvious, I think. What a lot of people probably don’t know is that
we all really like pop music like The Pixies and I personally love 80s stuff
like Bauhaus and The Birthday Party. A sort of morose aesthetic really
resonates with me for some reason. Dax Riggs and Mark Lanegan are two of my
favourite singers.
(DAD)
Any record from the past or present that springs to mind?
I like so much stuff; it’s hard to say just one record. Let’s say
Rated R.
(DAD) The last album that kicked your arse?
Easy. Retox’s YPLL.
(DAD)
What was your first instrument or
musical experience and what do you use today?
I had a friend growing up who had an
electric guitar and amp, and I used to go over his house to make noise with it
while all of our other friends were outside playing or whatever. I was so drawn
to it.
I could talk about gear for hours. For the
sake of brevity, I play single-coil guitars, fuzz pedals and loud, clean amps.
(DAD) One item, gear or otherwise that characterises
your band and one item from your set up you cannot live without?
Another easy one: the green Russian Big
Muff.
(DAD)
Pro-tools versus old school?
Both work. I’m no purist.
(DAD) Blogs
and social media vs. getting on the road and touring?
I shepherd our
online stuff pretty closely, and I think it has definitely helped our band, but
there is no substitute for melting faces. I love knowing that people like our
band based on recordings alone, because that means we’re going to absolutely
fuck them up when they see us play.
(DAD) What are your survival
tips for the road, any rider requests?
I have to drink
a gallon of water a day, sleep constantly and not eat any dairy whatsoever.
We’re nowhere near having any sort of rider yet, though. Two words: Waffle
House.
(DAD) Have you ever been
starstruck and what have been your band highlight (s) thus far
I haven’t really met any
celebrities or whatever through the band, but that stuff is kind of silly to me
anyway. As far as highlights, Playing with Retox and meeting JP was a pretty
big deal for me.
(DAD) Vinyl Junkie or Ipod
flunky? Discuss
As a band, you
have to do both, but I want both as a listener as well. I listen to a ton of
vinyl at home, but I have to have access to music everywhere, so an iPod is a
must. I recently lost an iPod with over 5,000 songs on it. I was so bummed. I’m
populating a new one now. On the flipside, I just got two records in the mail
today.
(DAD)
Indiegogo or creative no no?
Never. That shit is disgusting to me.
(DAD)
Finally, do you have any final comments/word
of wisdom you’d like to bestow upon us?
Hahahaha. Certainly not.
Thank
you on behalf of the Sludgelord.
Thanks buddy. I hope we can get over to the UK sooner than
later.
