Gully Of Noise

Clarity in Ambiguity - A Discussion with Jonathan Snipes of Captain Ahab

2009-07-30T08:24:00.000-07:00

Jonathan Snipes and Jim Merson comprise Captain Ahab, a electro-dance duo from Los Angeles, CA. I was introduced to their sound via Brian Miller of Foot Village, and was immediately impressed with the energy manifested in their recordings and live performances alike. Captain Ahab manage to strike a unique and intriguing blend between biting sarcasm and playful humor, irony and sexuality, and thought-proviking lyrical ambiguity and direct, hard-hitting beats, all with a heartfelt and occasionally intimidating energy that promises to stir the synapses. I spoke with Jonathan about his sonic endeavors with Captain Ahab - the results of our interactions are as follows:

[note: the following is a largely unedited transcript of a phone interview]

Jonathan G: So, first of all, I just wanted to thank you for agreeing to do the interview! I confess, I have only recently recome acquainted with Captain Ahab. I found out about you guys via Brian Miller of Foot Village, so, I first wanted to ask: do you have a close relationship with that band? Do you guys tour or work together at all?

Jonathan S (Captain Ahab): Well, Brian runs Deathbomb Arc, the record label that's released the majority of Captain Ahab records, and I record and produce on there as well. We have done one tour together, but we've been close friends for a long time.

J: You were friends, I take it, before the musical endeavors started up?

CA: Well, before Foot Village, anyway. I met Brian because he'd heard Captain Ahab and wanted me to contribute to a compilation he was doing.

J: So, would you consider yourself the principal member of Captain Ahab, or is there a pretty even distribution of labor between you and the other member?

CA: Well, I write all the music and perform all the music. Jim is the other member of Captain Ahab. His contribution is solely to the live shows, where he dances. So, I guess "Principal Member" is fair.

J: Alright. Well, let's see if I got this correct: I seem to remember reading on the Internet that when you met Jim, he was in attendance of some of your concerts, and you were impressed by his energy and then recruited him into the band. Is that right?

CA: Well, we were friends, because we going to college together. I didn't have a car, so he would give me rides to shows, and he would basically do what he does now in the audience during those shows. Then, we had a show in which, on the way there, I got really sick in the car, and I was vomiting, and I was like, "No, I don't think I can do this! I'm gonna just crouch behind the laptop and hide, and you, you run around and be the physical Me," and that's kinda how it started.

J: So, in terms of the recording and writing process, is it difficult to translate what you've written and composed into the live environment? What sort of challenges do you face when trying to convert things to a live format?

CA: Well, it's basically exactly the same - it's literally the same files, you know? It's really not that difficult, and not that different. I wouldn't say that I've run into challenges. Well, there are difficulties when I write something that I'm really proud of and really happy with and, then, I realize that it just doesn't work in a live environment at all, and it just doesn't have the necessary energy, or the complexities in the music don't really translate on a loud PA where you're just sorta smashing it, you know? Usually, I don't sit and rework things so that they work live - I just play them.

J: Is it pretty straightforward - will you just activate a button or a module, playing things pretty much automatically, or are there still plenty of parameters you can control during the live performance?

CA: Well, the thing about making this kind of music is that it's almost pointless to try to recreate the music live, because you're not making something that's intended for some sort of human interpretation beyond the writing. The writing and the recording process is the same. So, to bring a bunch of equipment to live shows in attempts to recreate it 100% would be kind of a flawed approach to dance music. I use software that I wrote in MAX/MSP - do you know it?

J: Yeah, I'm familiar with that.

CA: Ok, good. It is pretty rigid - I mean, basically, it just plays back pre-recorded loops and samples that I then sing over. However, I also have limited processing ability over that, and the ability to rearrange the sets and the songs as I go.

J: I wanted to ask you a quick question about the subject of interpretation. You had mentioned that there's not too much room for interpretation - you know, it's a pretty straightforward process, at least in terms of writing and recording - but I wrote to you via email a while ago about my reaction to the video for U Want Me, and when I first saw it, I felt as though it resonated within me, it seemed like a story I could relate to, and I formed my own face-value interpretations of it. Then, I started reading some of the comments on YouTube, and once I became more familiar with your music, I began wondering whether the song was sarcastic in tone, whether I might have misinterpreted it. Was it meant to be taken straightforward?

CA: I definitely do everything to be taken completely seriously. I think, in re: the ethos of our generation (namely, college age people, in the US, right now), that we've got a really refined sense of irony. I have noticed, while listening to records, that I will tend to listen to "bad" records more than the "good" records - and I'll laugh, and I would think them silly, but I would be having a lot of fun, and a lot more fun listening to sort of silly music than to serious music, if that makes sense. People always use the phrase "so bad, it's good," - it was like that, you know? But, I came to terms with this, and I sort of reached a point where I decided that it really didn't have any meaning, that something couldn't be so bad it's good: it's either bad, or it's good. You either enjoy it, and get something out of it, and it enriches your life as you consume it, or it doesn't. And, often, the things that I like and respond to and gravitate towards are very silly, but they're very heartfelt in their silliness. Sometimes, the artist is aware that they're silly, and sometimes, maybe, they're not. Maybe, sometimes, the reason I'm enjoying something is vastly different from the reason somebody made it. I guess Nine Inch Nails is a good example. I love Nine Inch Nails, but I also think [Lyricist/Composer Trent Reznor]'s one of the dumbest lyricists ever.

J: Yeah, I can relate there. I've been a big fan of Trent Reznor's for a long time, but I seem to remember from Pretty Hate Machine, there are lines like "I guess I'm not the only boy for you," or something like that, and every once in a while, there'll be these little lyrical "gems" that really don't convince me.

CA: Yeah, yeah... I mean, his lyrics are really juvenile and dumb and silly. But, it's a big part of the charm of the music, and part of why I like the band, too. I mean, obviously, it's the composition, the production and the songwriting that I really respond to, but, lyrically, there's something about that kind of sentiment and the really weird, clunky phrases that he comes up with that are a huge part of the charm of the music, and I realize that that's OK - that I can love and embrace this, and also think that it's kind of dumb and silly, without thinking any less of it. I think the cliche' is "to laugh AT something" versus "to laugh WITH something," but I find that kind of meaningless - the idea of laughing at something means you somehow dislike it, or degrade it, or don't think it's worthwhile? I think that's totally silly!

J: Well, I think it specifically implies scornful or disdaining laughter.

CA: Right, right. But if I'm scornful or disdainful of something, it's not when I'm laughing.

J: So, basically, if something enriches peoples' lives and creates joy, and if silliness is a mechanism by which that can happen, that's not something you object to at all.

CA: Right.

J: Is it instead something you try and cultivate - do you make a conscious effort to write songs with a silly edge to them?

CA: Yeah. It's a fine line to tread, right? Because you can be way over the top and do way too much, you know? And it becomes hollow and too jokey - your songs become novelty songs. The other band comparison would be to a band like Sparks - do you know them?

J: I'm not familiar with them.

CA: They're an old Southern California band that are mostly popular in England, and they're essentially a novelty song band. Each song is its own individual concept, and it's really goofy, and the concept is essentially explained in the title of the song. It's like a joke, or a play on words, or a pun, but they somehow then manage to write these really interesting and provoking songs around these sort of silly, simple ideas, and they somehow elevate the novelty song beyond a simple joke. There, you have something that's a great, serious song - well written, well recorded, well produced, with a lot of serious and interesting ideas in it - that is also fun, and comical, and silly, in a way. So, I respect them a lot for being able to do that.

J: And is that something you strive to incorporate in Captain Ahab songs as well?

CA: Well, yeah, a little bit. I think it's always most interesting when there's no clear message or interpretation. I think it's most interesting when the artist isn't trying to manipulate the audience into agreeing with him/her, or into getting one particular thing out of the art because, regardless of how much you try to spell out exactly what you want people to take from what you are doing, it will never work. It's never gonna be completely effective, simply because communication is difficult between people. It's impossible just to do that in conversation, almost, and to hope to achieve that with music is kind of laughable, honestly. So, instead of trying to communicate specific ideas, I'm a big fan of communicating a lot of contradictory, specific ideas, or to evoke - well, I don't want to use the word "general," or the word "vague," because you have to be very specific, right? You have to have very clear ideas that you can express elegantly and simply that then contradict each other, if that makes sense.

J: I think so. So, I take it, then, that you're not concerned with eliciting any one specific reaction from your audience.

CA: No.

J: But do you like to stimulate thought and debate? Would you prefer your listeners to take an active role in interpreting your music?

CA: Well, that's gonna happen regardless, right? I mean, hopefully, anyone who listens to anything interprets it themselves and has their own way of thinking about it. What I want is for people to listen to my music and develop opinions about it in the same way that I might listen to Nine Inch Nails and develop opinions about it: namely, regardless of the artist's intent. I had this realization in high school: specifically, I said, "to like Nine Inch Nails, I am going to have to ignore artist intent." There's a lot of other stuff that I like that I think is interesting art that I think is, maybe, in its message or in the intent of the creator, something I don't agree with at all. Maybe, for example, there might be political art that espouses views that I don't necessarily agree with, but I'll still think that it's interesting art. I think that's totally valuable, so I like putting people where the artist's intent is so clouded, so confused, so contradictory that they can't do anything by say "well, what do I think of this?" and like it for those reasons - but there's a very distinct difference between that and just being obtuse.

J: I see what you mean. Going back to the video for U Want Me: there were a lot of conflicting comments on the YouTube, differing opinions and whatnot - and I think a lot of people seemed to take it almost as a satire, because... if I remember correctly, there's a scene in there where an individual is writing a poem, or writing something down in a book, and it contains a phrase along the lines of "pwned by life -" is that a correct recollection?

CA: I believe it's "the hatred pwns me 4 ever"

J: Ah! Thank you for that correction! I remember from the comments that people seemed to be taking that as satire, as a joke, and, I'm wondering: do you ever get concerned - not that people will get the "wrong idea," but - I suppose I could phrase it this way - does it irk you when people miss the point, or when they skim over a message that you've been trying to convey?

CA: No, because, usually, I'm trying to do something that's so deliberately contradictory and confusing that there isn't one clear point, right? So, to me, it's really fascinating for me to see people react in different ways. The only times I get upset with interpretations of my work are when people decide that they're misogynistic or hateful - that actually does happen a bit.

J: So, how do you react to that, then?

CA: Well, I don't know... there's nothing I can do, you know? People are gonna react however they want to to what I do, and I just have to take a step back and say "wait a minute, am I being misogynistic, or is this person just dumb?" Usually, if I read in to what I've been doing, I've still been doing what I want to do, and I know that I shouldn't use peoples' comments to drive my creative process at all.

J: So, what does drive your creative process, then? What's the fuel that encourages you to make music, and that keeps you going?

CA: I don't know - I just kinda always do it. Right now, I'm really lucky in that my official job still involves writing music. I've been writing a lot of music for TV, and, doing that kind of work professionally, I've kind of realized that if I wasn't doing that, if I had to have a job unrelated to music, I'd still be writing music. I've just kind of always been doing it - I can't really help myself!

J: It's a wonderful affliction to have.

CA: Yeah, it's good - it's great! It can be very expensive, though, when you're making electronic music. There are a lot of toys that are easy to get sucked in to, distracted by, etc. But, I was a music listener before I made or played music. I didn't really take a lot of music lessons as a kid - I listened to a lot of different music, and I've always obsessively listened to a lot of different music, like, constantly. I have an enormous record collection - I can't really help myself. And I think that's a big part of it, too. A lot of music could be thought of as critical theory of, like, critical theory about music, and it's so much a product of things that I listen to. I've called it "mashups without samples" before, too: I'm taking this kind of lyric over this kind of beat, and then this kind of chord progression, and that's sometimes how I write songs. I'll say, like, I want to write a sort of spacey 50s Beach Boys sort of Doo-Wop thing, but with Miami Bass beats and like Avril Lavigne guitars - that's what I want to do, and so it's really original in that way - I'm not necessarily sitting, doodling away at the piano and coming up with song ideas. It's a little more calculated than that. But it's all definitely informed by what I listen to, and what I consume constantly.

J: Do you collaborate regularly with other musicians?

CA: No, not very much - certainly not in the way you would think of collaboration, like, I never write music with people. I've been using the services of more and more acoustic musicians for the TV work, but I don't really write songs with others at all - I don't do that very well.

J: Do you think that you wouldn't function well, or it wouldn't be a good creative environment for you to be in a band-type situation?

CA: I don't know how that would work, exactly, because I don't really play music in the way that people play music. I program, and I sequence, and I sit in the studio and I record, and once I'm done recording something, then the ability to play it essentially vanishes. And, so, I've never really been in a band - I've never played a traditional musical instrument, you know, in front of people, so I don't quite know how that would work. I mean, I've definitely jammed out with friends, but never for any serious reasons.

J: How about your vocal work? Do you have a training routine that comes along with that? Have you had any lessons, or are you entirely self-taught?

CA: I did take vocal lessons when I was much younger, but I haven't for a long time, and I don't know how much of that really stuck with me. I certainly don't have any "technique."

J: Well, I don't know about that. I think that, even despite not having had a regimented technique implanted in to you by some other institution, you must have begun to develop your own technique, and your own way of going about things, over time. Would you agree with that?

CA: Perhaps sometimes. In this case I'm not totally sure, but there are definitely things that have stuck with me, despite the fact that I don't do warm-ups - and, if I ever had it, I've lost the vocabulary to talk about singing, like with another singer, you know?

J: Yeah, I know what you mean. Okay, I wanted to backtrack a little bit. I had a friend who was asking me about your origins - why you selected Captain Ahab as a name - and she was wondering if it was taken directly from the Moby Dick character, or if you were aware of the biblical importance that the name may have had. What was your reason for choosing that name?

CA: Well, there is a King Ahab in the bible, but, honestly, as to my reasons for choosing that name... I was pretty young, whenever it was I first heard the artist Moby and his "Everything is Wrong" album, which is still a pretty big influence on me. I really don't like anything else he's ever done, but that album - there's something about the freneticism, and it's totally weird for techno, because it's songs, yes, but not only is it songs, it's static piano trance that turns into speed metal, that then snaps into some weird lo-fi thing with a sample over it. I mean, it's really all over the place - that album's pretty crazy. So, I got really into that, and he named himself Moby because he's Herman Melville's great-great-nephew or something - I don't remember exactly what the relation was, but he's related to Melville, and I thought, well, being 13 or however old I was when that album came out, I thought it would be really funny if there was a band called Captain Ahab. I just kind of sat on it, and when I started making music on my computer and put it on MP3.com in the late nineties, I chose that as my name, and it just kind of stuck. I tell people that it's from a desire to hunt and kill Moby, but that's kind of silly, too. It's really just kind of a catchy name - that's really the reason why it stuck, honestly. There have been times where I've thought to change it, but not anymore.

J: Now, have you actually had any interaction with Moby - do you guys get along?

CA: Nope! Never met him.

J: If you were to meet him, do you think you'd be on a friendly basis with him?

CA: You know, I loved that album, I don't care much for the rest of his stuff, but I think he's one of the most interesting people to read interviews with.

J: Why's that?

CA: I remember around the time that Play came out, when that first song got huge for him, I read this interview where he was talking about this game that he and his friends played. They were, all of a sudden, getting invited to all of these really huge celebrity parties, and so they invented this game where they would walk around in these parties in these really tight packs, so that it was hard to move around between people - and they would just unzip their pants and let their dicks hang out. No one would notice, because they were so tightly packed together, and they would then compete to see who was the more famous person that they could touch with their dicks without them knowing.

J: [Laughter] That's amazing!

CA: Yeah, so Moby seems like a pretty cool guy, via interviews and whatnot, but I don't foresee any sonic collaboration, that'd be terrible. I think he was a part of that whole "What's Going On" cover that came out after 9/11, when they had the world celebrity benefit.

J: A cover of the Marvin Gaye song?

CA: Yeah, yeah.

J: Well, I haven't heard this, but if it's that appalling...

CA: Oh, dear... like, Fred Durst, and Gwen Stefani got involved... an all star lineup...

J: Holy shit, that sounds painful. Thanks for the heads up.

J: Alright, I have a couple more questions here, if you still have time.

CA: Yeah, sure!

J: First of all, most of the Captain Ahab songs I've heard thus far seem to have something of an overt sexual theme, albeit with a jagged edge, at least from my interpretation. I wonder, why does sexuality appeal to you as subject matter? Do you make a conscious effort to write about sexuality in particular, or does that just sort of come out naturally?

CA: Well, as I sort of said before, I view this as critical theory about music a lot of the time, and so much of the lyrical content in dance music and in pop music is about sex, you know? I never write lyrics from any kind of personal place. I don't write about things that have happened to me. I don't write about my own feelings or situations or anything like that. I write lyrics in the same way that I choose specific drum sounds. Like, I pick content and ideas in the same way that I'm picking the rest of the timbres that go into my songs. So, to me, it just seems obvious: if you're gonna make electro and drum n bass and gabber and jumpstyle, and you're gonna write lyrics, they should be about sex. I just try to take them further than they should go.

J: In terms of live performances and live crowds, I take it that you'd prefer it for people to be up and moving and dancing along with the music. Does it bother you if people just stand there and listen, and have you had to deal with unresponsive crowds before?

CA: It doesn't bother me. Honestly, I don't really dance at shows. I guess I used to more, but getting older and having done so many shows, you just kind of get tired, and I want to just listen to the music. So, I respect peoples' decisions, to dance or to not dance, you know? I want to create an environment in which you can do both. Jim might have a different answer, because he's actively trying to force people to move, you know? But, definitely, when we tour, and we're not in comfortable places with audiences that know us, we definitely have to say "Hey, I think tonight's the night that people are gonna watch, so we should do more stuff with each other on stage," as opposed to Jim just running around and riling up the crowd, cause that could kinda fall flat, it could get killed, or something. The idea is to have something that you can kind of change depending on the circumstances.

J: I definitely appreciate that. It's difficult to account in advance for how people are going to respond, so having things be dynamic and flexible has its advantages for sure.

CA: Yeah, I mean, it's easy to say, as an artist, like, "Oh, I don't care if people like what I do or not" - and I don't - but I want to make sure that my method of delivery isn't undermining why I'm trying to get people to like it, you know? If people don't like it, then they just don't like it, and that's a fact. But, since I don't necessarily like dancing at shows, I don't get offended if people don't want to dance. If people, like, attacked me and forced me to dance at a show, that would turn me off from liking it - that would be a stumbling block between be and getting to the content. So we try to be respectful of that. Jim might have a completely different answer - I don't know what he does at shows, most of the time...I think he's being respectful!

J: Well, I don't know! I did some research about the band before calling you up and I read a few interviews and show reviews, and I get the impression that audience members tend to view Captain Ahab shows as abrasive - well, maybe not abrasive, but definitely in-your-face, and dangerously energetic. I mean, the reviews I read were very positive, but they were also kind of surprised at how much, erm... the extent to which balls were applied to faces through the course of the evening, is the best way I can describe it.

CA: [Laughter] Yeah, it's definitely aggressive! It's loud, it's fast, it's in your face, but I still think we try to leave the choice up to the audience as to whether they are actively participating in the chaos, or whether they're just an observer.

J: You do seem to have a pretty substantial following. I understand you guys have a fan club?

CA: Yes, yes we do.

J: What prompted the decision to start that up?

CA: I think it was Brian Miller's idea, actually. We thought it would be funny, you know - bands needs to have fan clubs. We thought it'd be a good way to mail a bunch of shit to people.

J: How's that been working out for you - have you gotten a good response?

CA: Yeah, a really great response! We're woefully behind in our mailing of course, but other than that, it's a great thing!

J: Cool! Alright, I guess that wraps it up. My final question is for any fans who may be reading this: what future endeavors are coming up at the end of the tunnel? Do you have any imminent releases, any tours or shows coming up that people should know about?

CA: Well, we're just about done with our next album, which is called The End of Irony, which will be on Deathbomb Arc in the US and Cock Rock Disco in Europe, and, I believe, Dual Plover in Australia, and I have a 12' coming out on Needs More Ram records from Vancouver, and I guess that's about it!

Check out some amazing live footage from a captain ahab show below, then head over to the Captain Ahab MySpace and show some love!

Punk, if you think about it - an Interview with Nathan Joyner and Justin Pearson of All Leather

2009-06-08T22:37:00.000-07:00

All Leather are a fast-emerging, genre-eluding trio of musicians from San Diego, California. Consisting of Justin Pearson (Vocals, The Locust), Nathan Joyner (Guitar, Some Girls) and Jung Sing (Drums, Maniqui Lazer), All Leather have a distinctive, cutting, challenging and engaging approach to songwriting that reflects a wide variety of musical influences and keen artistic sensibilities. Their synthetic sound, spurred by the use of an electronic drum kit and heavily processed guitar, brings refreshing elements to what some might dismiss as "dance music," keeping in line with these artists' tradition of shattering boundaries and defying expectations while producing quality music. Justin and Nathan recently granted me a phone interview, and I had the opportunity to discuss their current musical endeavors, including All Leather and Leg Lifters, a hybrid radio show, film crew, song remix unit and production group that they are both a part of. The results of our interactions are as follows...

(note: the following is a largely unedited transcript of a recording of a phone interview. JP and I started off the discussion, and Nathan joined in about half way through)

BAND INTERVIEW - ALL LEATHER

JONATHAN GROVER: So, what have you been up to? Is the EP - Hung Like a Horse - has that been released yet?

JUSTIN PEARSON: No - there's two release dates. There's a digital one, and then there's a physical one. I actually honestly don't even know. One of them's in July and, then, other one's, the physical release, is in August.

JG: I was hoping you could briefly trace the origins of All Leather and Leg Lifters. What was the force that brought you guys together and initiated the creative process?

JP: Well, Nathan and I both played in Some Girls and, I met Nathan through Sal, the drummer of Some Girls, who joined later on and toured with the band. And him and I got into certain kinds of music, like more electronic-based stuff, and we were talking about artists like Mr. Oizo and stuff like that. It was actually this Ida Corr song that prompted us to start a more - I don't know, straightforward, electronic thing? Actually, our current drummer Jung Sing has an electronic drum kit, while our original drummer who we were playing with, Tin Cagayat, she accidentally - something happened with her and her rehearsal space, and we ended up rehearsing in her apartment, with her electronic drum kit, and we were like, "We gotta do this!" The instrumentation is pretty simple, but having her play drums, and then, with all the effects Nathan uses, it sounds very electronic. We have more elements - it sounds like there's more than just three people in the band. But, you know, that's how Nathan and I started playing. Back then, our original drummer, Tin, was just a friend I knew from around San Diego, and that was that, but she ended up quitting, actually, and we got Jung Sing, who is the drummer from Maniqui Lazer who I knew from The Locust touring with his band.

All Leather's Original Lineup - from left to right, Tin (Drums), Justin (Vocals), Nathan (Guitar)

JG: So, is this the first of your more heavily electronic and "beat-oriented" projects? Actually, I seem to remember you doing a remix for DAMAGE [Return of the Satisfuckers - Visit the DAMAGE MySpace to hear it, and check out the music video below]. a little while ago - the Satisfuckers remix - was there a similar process involved in creating that song to how you go about creating All Leather songs?

JP: Not necessarily. I think that the Damage remix is similar in the sense that it was remixed in the same way we recorded our album - in this studio, actually - but I think that writing in All Leather is just like writing in any other band. It's just the instrumentation and who's playing that determine the outcome. There have always been elements of typical dance music, especially in Holy Molar - I think we definitely verged on the side of more "digestible" or "typical" dance beats. I just think it came out more with All Leather. But, at the same time, not only did we, in a tongue-in-cheek sort of want to do a "dance-y" kind of band, and draw even from things like some of the Britney Spears type things. We would listen to them and be like, "Oh, that's a great riff, but the vocals are mediocre, or the lyrics are mediocre, or the bassline's too soft" or whatever. Then, we would naturally draw elements from where our roots are - say, something like Arab on Radar, or Wolf Eyes, where there's a more pronounced, heavy kick, a heavy beat, and just make it dirty and really nasty and more aggressive.

JG: You mentioned that All Leather could be considered more digestible, in terms of the overall orientation of the music. I guess I'm more familiar with bands like The Locust and Some Girls, and I haven't really ever heard the term "digestible" applied to those bands. In fact, generally, the descriptions of those bands that I hear, and my own interpretation is that they are constructed to be difficult to digest, which I personally really like about them. I am wondering, though, if you've had any negative response from your old listeners - is there any resistance or animosity to you doing things that might be considered a bit more digestible?

JP: I think that, unfortunately, there's a large amount of unconstructive criticism in all aspects of art. Especially for me, it's like: "Hey, I have this new band," and everyone's like "That sucks," or "You're faggots," or this or that, you know? Or, "I could do this better..." Even with The Locust, we got that all the time. That was the most common feedback we got: "you guys suck." Especially when we signed to ANTI-, which was a major label (a subsidiary of Epitaph) and, not only did we have people who were already our fans thinking we'd sold out, but we had people that listened to your typical Epitaph stuff who said we were "fucking garbage" or just "bad music." But it was still a vehicle that we wanted to use for our music. I think it's the same thing with All Leather - we're not doing our music for other people, we're doing it first and foremost for ourselves. So, it's not like we're really concerned that other people will look at it and go, "Oh, you did this?" I mean, I'm sure that some people are like "Oh, you signed to Dim Mak, that's label sucks, Steve Aoki's a bad DJ," or something, but those peoples' opinions are irrelevant, and it's the same kind of thing with The Locust signing to ANTI-: when All Leather signed to Dim Mak, I was like, "That's my friend, I've been in touch with Steve for over 10 years, since when The Locust first started touring out, so it makes sense." Granted, his label is submerged in the electronic and DJ culture, and that's cool with us. I guess why try to subconsciously bridge the gap between punk and hardcore elements into the whole dance world. Not only is our EP coming out, but there's a whole other Remix EP coming out with remixes by all these different artists that I think are pretty awesome. It's all kind of foreign to me. There are all these people doing remixes that are kind of on Steve's side of the camp, and of course we're like, "we're gonna get Otto von Schirach and DJ Urine and all of these kinda weirdo, more avant-garde DJs" and stuff, too - once again, bringing the two worlds together, you know?
JG: So, is Otto Von Schirach actually going to be contributing something?

JP: Yeah.

JG: Excellent! I found out about him through you guys and I've been listening to Oozing Bass Spasms a lot recently. Actually, most of the artists I've been listening to recently are people I've found out about through various communications on the 31G Forums.

(The interview was interrupted momentarily by a rather vocal puppy)

JG: Oh! What kind of dog do you have?
JP: A cocker spaniel.

The canine in question

JG: Nice! I've got a puppy I'm raising myself now, too - she's going on 2 years. She's a German Shorthair!

JP: Oh, nice!

JG: Do you have trouble taking care of her when you're on tour? Is that a concern?

JP: It was a concern before I got her, but when I got her I was persuaded because she has a mom, too, if I'm on tour. I live with my best friend who also is her mom, so she's got another parent in case I'm on tour. I was really hesitant about getting a dog. And then my mom - my real mom - she's a super grandma to my dog. So, it all works out.

JG: I'm glad to hear it! I was a little worried about that myself, with my dog - I'm hoping to tour sometime in the near future, and I don't have anyone to take care of her yet. I'll try and work something out. Well, I was going to ask about the 31G Forums. I know you get a lot of flak on there from various forum members and I'm very curious as to what motivated you to open that up to the public in the first place, and what keeps you going with that despite all of the useless negative feedback that can come out of it.

JP: Honestly, I've kinda trained myself to avoid a lot of the negative feedback and to focus on not paying attention and just doing what I do because I enjoy it. I have to admit, it's pretty defeating - I literally pay to run 31G and don't really make money, ever. I pay to run the label and with all the negativity that's out there... well, I guess that's just how it goes, you know? It's a drag, but, at the same time, there are so many things that are rewarding about it. Those things are few and far between, but they are definitely worth it. So, a lot of those things on the forums, I will just purposefully avoid. There's gotta be a certain element for me to even look at a topic on there. Even if there is a good topic, it always gets bastardized pretty quickly.

JG: Yeah, I'm all too familiar with that. Well, you mentioned before that people tend to call you faggots, and you've got that song, "I don't hate fags, God does." I was checking out the Dim Mak website earlier today, and I noticed that the word "Fags" in reference to that song is censored - it's replaced with a bunch of random characters. I was just wondering if that was a conscious decision on your part, or on Dim Mak's part - have All Leather or Leg Lifters ever been hindered by censorship concerns?

JP: No, not really. I mean, that was the distribution company for Dim Mak that was hesitant about having that word appear. I'm not really a fan of censorship at all, but, at the same time, I didn't try to justify it, like "Ok, fine, I'm gonna compromise." It was more like - I don't really care, first of all - it's a word, and I really don't care that they took Fuck out of a title, too. I mean, ironically, they were like "what song is clean for radio airplay on your EP?" and I was like, "Uh... nothing." I guess I'm some kind of potty mouth because everything's got something offensive on it. But, ultimately, either way, if it says fags, if it doesn't say fags, it will still make you think about it. If you see the title as it is, someone's gonna say "Why is that censored?" or "What is that word?" The title is meant to be offensive, or maybe comical, or whatever - it's meant to be whatever it is, but it's definitely made to make people think - that's the point. So, either way, the word fags being censored or not being censored, it's gonna make people ponder. So, in some way, my job's done at that point.

JG: So, in general, do you like to cultivate a sense of pondering or thinking on behalf of your audiences? Do you like to try to leave things more ambiguous - to encourage people to think for themselves about it?

JP: Sure! I mean, here's your obvious punk element: "Fuck the Police," or "Stop Police Brutality!" OK, everyone can agree on police brutality sucking or whatever, but it's like - it doesn't really resonate, you know? It's kinda like the quintissential, run-of-the-mill agenda of a pseudo social-political band. So, I think it's like - OK, I'm gonna use two bands as examples, and I think that both are fantastic bands, and this is totally constructive criticism because I respect everyone involved in these bands, but if you compare Born Against song titles and lyrics to, say, Seeing Red song titles and lyrics, Born Against has this tongue-in-cheek, sort of comical aspect added to it, whereas Seeing Red is really specific and more like "this is our agenda, here's our manifesto." I think what happens is that Seeing Red is preaching to the choir, and not really pushing that boundary of "let's be creative or think out of the box," or "let's open up an internal progression." I guess that's what I'm more drawn to.. not that I'm copying Born Against, but that whole element of how they deliver their product, their art.

JG: I was wondering: I know you have All Leather, and The Locust and, now, Leg Lifters, and I assume that it would be a challenge to manage all of those things simultaneously, plus running 31G, and any other endeavors you might be involved in. Is it indeed a struggle to try to balance everything, including your family concerns and your puppy? Is there a sense of strain associated with trying to micromanage all that different stuff at once?

JP: I think I am still kind of young, so I can do all of it, but it definitely is tiring. I mean, I work six nights a week at two different jobs to pay the bills to do all the things that I really want to do because, unfortunately, all the musical elements don't really cover that. If I did somehow alleviate the fact that I go to work every single night, it would be fantastic, and I could probably take on a lot more. When I rehearse with The Locust, we have a set date for rehearsals, and I go, and we write, and I generally write on bass, and when the music's done, we start working on the lyrics, so, for me, when I go to All Leather rehearsals, I just sit there with my computer and a dictionary and a thesaurus and just go over the song in my head and I write and I rehearse, obviously, with singing, but it's two different elements that don't really necessarily clash. The thing is, I do have set days to do those rehearsals. And then, the Leg Lifters thing is very new. It's kind of an all-encompassing element: it started off as a radio show, and then we started doing videos, then remixes, and now it's an all-encompassing production company sort of thing, and that's where we're falling short on time, because there are all of these things that we want to do that we don't get to do, like, "We want to do another radio show," or "We have all this footage and want to make a video," or we won't get around to remixes that we want to do because we just don't have the time for it. I mean, eventually, it will happen. In the meantime, I try to do as much as I can and, at the same time, I try not to look back at it and say "Is this going to hold water," you know? Because, a lot of people churn out shit.

JG: Well, one a similar note, I was talking to Chloe, from the band AIDS Wolf about a week ago, and she mentioned that she wouldn't "delude herself into thinking she could ever have a career doing difficult music." I also remember an interview you did with Vestal watch a while ago in which the interviewer asked you a question related to your career, and I think your response was "I don't have a career, look at me." But, that all being said, I get the impression that you do take your music very seriously and really endeavor to put out quality music. So, do you really not view your music as a career? Have you always had to maintain other jobs on the side in order to support your music?

JP: Yeah, I have, and everyone I've ever played with has too - everyone in most of the bands I've been in do that. They have a job on the side - I mean, when you think of a career, in American culture, you go through the setting of, like, College, and a degree, and then, career - that's your life, and I think that, to some people, it does have a negative connotation to it. I guess I would pick a different word. To me, Career sounds so "I work in a cubicle, I wear a suit."

JG: I am curious as to what inspired you to dedicate yourself and put all that effort into music. What was it about musical performance or composition - or whatever aspects of music most appealed to you - that really motivated you to put all the sweat and blood and tears into it that you have over the years?

JP: Well, I think it's just one of those things, you know? For me, when I was a child, I just listened to all sorts of music, and then, for whatever reason, I felt myself being drawn towards all this weird shit that trickled down into the avenue that I think I've gone down musically. I remember being a child and being into Kiss and, then, at some point, realizing that Kiss really sucked - on the radio, they sounded like crap - and I was only drawn to the way they looked. But then, I started focusing on, I don't know - weird stuff - and, through skateboarding, I got into Thrasher skate comps and, luckily enough, I was a 12 year old kid listening to Septic Death, which is, I think, kind of rare for a 12 year old kid, but Iw as so grateful that I was able to not waste my time with, I don't know, whatever a 12 year old kid might be exposed to - like New Kids on the Block or something. By the time New Kids were around, I was already listening to Carcass and, therefore, going back to your previous question, developing my "career" at an early age.

JG: Do you feel as though you've had to make a lot of sacrifices in order to get to where you have gotten musically, and do you feel like it's been worth the effort invested over the years?

JP: Sure. I mean, it's kind of like a joke, you know - I always say "look at us. We ruined our lives to do what we do, to play this kind of music." Some people have, like - I think it's like a class situation, you know, they'll come from the other side of the tracks - and some people luck out. All of us have made sacrifices - and it's one of those things, it's like, at the end of the day, what pays off. And it sucks, because we're all working our asses off on every aspect of trying to create this art and, like you said, people will just shit on you on the forums, or have their opinions. But, at the end of the day, we know we did rad shit, and we did it on our own, on our own time, and what we did got us to travel the world, and play to people that are cool, and see things that are also, in a sense, inspiring. And I mean, if we didn't do music, what would we do? We'd just be those people with "careers," in those cubicles, you know - living a mundane life. Yeah, we chose kind of an obscure and sort of obscure career, in a sense, but, at the same time, we kind of are able to live life in conjunction with that - and a lot of people don't get to do that. I think it does hinder a lot of things, like, we can't hold steady jobs, and a lot of people are faced with the element of having a relationship and having to leave for months on end, which is kind of difficult - and that whole thing you brought up about having a dog, and leaving on tour, that is a huge concern. It's difficult- family structure, or lifestyle structure, it's not as good. You find yourself spending a good chunk of the year living out of a suitcase, and even when you're not on tour, you're at home in a rehearsal studio for six hours a day. It is a weird lifestyle, but, at least for us, it's what we do - what else would we want to do?

JG: I just remember reading an interview - it may be outdated at this point - with The Locust, and the way you described it, it sounded almost as if you felt stuck, as though you didn't have another option, in terms of pursuing things outside of music. Like, you'd just been doing music so long, you couldn't imagine what else you could do. Is that a correct perception? Do you ever feel trapped in your style of living?

JPI don't think any of us would say that we're trapped. I mean, it's like, "what else do you want to do?"

NATHAN JOYNER: It just happened, you know?

JUSTIN: I don't want to sound cliche, or cheesy, but it's kind of like we were born into it. I don't know - at some point in my life I just realized, I wanna play music, and it just happened. Granted, when I first started thinking about music, when I first heard the Sex Pistols, I didn't think like "Oh man, I wanna be like them," I just felt like, "I wanna play music, 'cause this is cool stuff." At the same time, I'm shocked that I got to the point where I'm at, and I'm also like, "well, it could be better." They key is not to focus on that. The key is to say, "this is what I'm going to do," and just keep doing. I don't really know what else any of us could do - it's not really a concern. I just get up, and I'm like: "I'm going to go play music."

JG: So it just sort of comes out naturally?

JP: Yeah.

JG: I think I can relate. I've been playing cello since I was 5 years old, and it's just so much a part of my life now, it doesn't feel like an obligation necessarily - it doesn't feel like I'm trapped in there. But, every day, when I think of, you know, "what do I really want to be doing right now," or I have "free time," I just tend to naturally gravitate towards producing music in some form, usually with that instrument.

JG: All right, moving on - I was wondering about your live performances. Earlier today, I was looking through some live performances on the Three One G YouTube account, and I noticed a bit of a contrast. For example, in the old Holy Molar videos, it's not uncommon to see the audience members knocking over your equipment, getting in your faces - I even think there was one clip of somebody riding on Bobby's back while he was playing synth. Then, in the videos of All Leather, the audience seems detached and contemplative. Would you prefer people to be more active, maybe physical, or do you like people to be more distant, or is that not even a concern?

JP: Well, for me - I don't know what Nathan would feel like, but I don't really care what the audience's reaction is, and the comparison between Holy Molar and All Leather feels... well... First of all, Holy Molar was a joke band, and the more absurd situations we could get that band in, the better. I think we weren't necessarily very concerned with musicianship. With all Leather, we're dealing with elements that none of us have ever dealt with. One of them is having all synthetic instrumentation, so there's no acoustic drums, and we do rely on a good PA and monitors for everyone to hear the different elements of the music, so that would require us being in more of a club environment, with at good sound system. I mean, we've done shows that have been a little more aggressive, like smaller places, and it loses an audible aspect - you kind of have to compromise: do you want to sound really good and play in a club with a good PA, or do you want to play in someone's living room and have it be super intense, and have it be a more party-like atmosphere. Both of them have pros and cons, and I think they are what they are - and I guess it's to your disadvantage to just go with what you see on the Internet. We've played in Tucson, where it was absurd: people were picking me up and throwing me across the room. I think, ultimately, we're really concerned with sounding good. We really rely on a lot of the drumming and a lot of the synthetic elements that come from that for the outcome of the songs. And that can be harder to achieve in some of those places where Holy Molar played. In some of that footage, we played at the Che Cafe, and I love playing at the Che, but it's really difficult for us to play there.

Leg Lifters "NOTHING" from Leg Lifters on Vimeo.

JG: You mean, just for the overall sound setup?

JP: Yeah, because the PA speakers are in front of the band, so when we're playing, our drummer's sitting there, playing his drums, and you don't hear them right there, because the sound's not coming from the drums, it's coming from in front of the stage, out of the PA. So, all you hear is the guitar. Even with the vocals there, you don't hear them unless you're up at the front. We're not a typical punk band, where we can just get up and play, and nothing really matters - we're trying to work with elements that, I guess, reflect more actual musicianship. It's about musicianship, not just about playing fast riffs. That's how Some Girls was, it was more stripped down.

NJ: I don't think the crowd is contemplative, I think they just don't understand what's happening. They will see us and they'll notice that the guitar doesn't sound like a guitar, and JP's standing there singing. I mean, with the YouTube footage, at the Moving Units show, you know, we're on top of a stage. We're elevated. We're above peoples' heads, so there's not much room for them to jump up there and jump on us - the security guards are just gonna kick 'em off. Of there. There have been shows, like JP said, where people respond really well. And I think the times where people don't seem quite as into it may be because it's something new.

JG: I see what you mean. Given the choice, though, would you prefer to get a more visceral reaction from your listeners, or is that not of concern to you?

NJ: I don't think it's as much about the reaction, I think it's more about the fact that we ourselves are trying something new. If we're happy with it, then we're happy with it. If there are shows where we're not happy with it, but the crowd is happy with it... well, those aren't the best shows for us, really.

JP: I mean, I think, for us, we just take what we've got, and say, "OK, this is the show," and we make the best of it, be it on a big stage or in a living room, and just deal with whatever aspect that the show is. Like I said before, both have their pros and cons, and we're just like, "Well, it is what it is."

NJ: It's almost the same as when we were in Some Girls, too, when we played Deathface. Deathface is a ten, fifteen minue song. Sometimes, we wouldn't even play our whole set - we'd just play Deathface for a half hour, and it was the same reaction. At first, they'd be really into it, but, after about fifteen minutes of the same riff, they'd be like, "what the fuck is happening?"

JG: I really regret that I never got to see Some Girls live, but I have seen some extended videos where people will just very gradually trail off, and their interest wanes over time - it's a shame.

JP: I suppose. Sometimes we would just get so pissed off with the audience - you know, there would just be some fuckhead in the crowd, and we'd just say to each other, "OK, let's just Deathface 'em." Our goal was to just clear the room...

NJ: And it worked!

JG: Do you feel inclined to take a combative stance with your music and with your performances? Do you feel the need to fight to get people to listen to you, or to make yourselves heard?

JP: I think that's a horrible thing to do, and NO - but, like I said, when you're given a circumstance or a certain situation, you have to deal with it in the best way possible that you can. So, it's not like we try to go piss people off, but if we're playing to people that are just being shitty, well, then, we're gonna be shitty back. I mean, Nathan and I both work at this bar that has horrible bands every night and, granted, sometimes we are a little vocal about our opinions on their music, but we're not up there being all "Shut the fuck up!" or "You suck!" or whatever. I'd like to at times, but I don't do that - it's just not appropriate. They've come from wherever, they're playing, they're doing their thing, so I just let it go. But if someone's gonna get up in our face, or throw shit at us, or call us names, it's like, well, you're messing with the wrong people, because not only are we all super witty, but we are, in a sense, a bit ruthless. We don't have reservations like a lot of people would in that setting. Even with The Locust, we dealt with that shit for years, where people would just talk shit to us, and it's to the point where you can sit there and argue back and maybe belittle them, but is that really progressive? And why are those people even standing there? That's the thing: if Nathan and I are someplace and there's a band playing, and they suck, we're not gonna stand there and observe them for half an hour. I don't want to hear shitty music - I'll just bail. That's the thing - it makes a spectacle for them, and if it isn't their show, they just need to shut up.

NJ: And they paid to get in to the show, so they must have had some sort of reason to be there, be it us or some other band.

JP: And the thing is, with people being aggressive or rude, or whatever, I can appreciate it when it's good, but the thing is: it's always the same shit. It's that lowest common denominator. They might not be actually calling us faggots, but they might as well. We're like, "come on, dudes, is that the best you can do? At least be creative about it. If you're gonna make fun of us, put a little bit of effort into it." You know, that definitely wins me over, if someone's gonna heckle us and get me to laugh about myself, then that's pretty good.

NJ: There was one show in particular - do you remember Jagermosher, JP?

JP: Oh, no...

NJ: We were in Cleveland - I forget, at the Grog Shop?

JP: Yeah.

NJ: And there was this dude... he was being such an asshole, moshing, punching girls, and shit like that - just being an asshole - so we just played Deathface, and I actually spit on him at one point, and it obviously pissed him off, but he never approached the stage. Then, we were done playing, he came up to me and apologized. I was like, "Well, I accept your apology, but, next time, don't be such an asshole." I think in those certain circumstances, when someone crosses the line, well, duh, we're gonna cross the line with them.

JG: Heh, makes sense. Okay, I've got a couple more quick questions. First of all, I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly All Leather appeared, expanded, and made its presence known. It just sort of seemed, at least to the uneducated internet public (namely myself), it seemed to sort of come out of nowhere and, within a month, you had an impressive amount of material available for everybody to see. Were you involved in an extensive preparatory phase for that? Did you plan things out elaborately beforehand? Also, how has the online medium, e.g. using MySpace, forums and such, helped you get the word out - have those been useful tools?

JP: Fortunately, I think they have been useful tools, but I don't think that things necessarily happened that fast. I think that all of us are seasoned musicians, so what happened was that we wrote a record, and we already knew a studio where we could record at. It's not like we were in a new band - we had the avenue laid out for us. I guess we'd already paid our dues: we'd already been in other bands, in all those other projects, so that first step had already been taken care of.

JG: So, you were familiar with the general process, which made things easier?

NJ: We'd already done a lot of the groundwork.

JP: And beyond that, it's been a whole, "Oh, those guys from that band have a new project," you know... "All Leather, Featuring EX MEMBERS OF..." that kind of helped us get our foot through the door, I guess.

JG: I've heard The Locust and Some Girls described as punk bands, and you've used the work punk quite a bit in this interview and in previous interviews in association with a variety of musical acts that you're a part of. I'm not too well-verse in what the current definition of punk is, or where the barriers are between different genres, or whatever, but a lot of people would argue that punk is dead, that it's a faded movement - but that doesn't seem to be the case with you guys. Could you give me some insight into what being punk means to you in this day and age - what the definition or importance of the term is to you?

JP: I think that a lot of people should step up the philosophy of punk. I think it definitely pays to voach for what has happened and why it's happened, but I would rather not just tell you - well, you said the word "being," and "being punk," and I think that it's more of a moral or ethical thing. For me, I would consider elements that aren't even musical to be punk. Like aspects of society that are challenging - like I have these friends that are part of this gay church, and I think that's pretty punk! They put up this huge billboard, apologizing for Christianity being narrow-minded and homophobic - on a billboard, promoting their church - and I'm not an Athiest, and I'm not religious, but that aspect of what they did is punk. It's not about mohawks or spikes or fast drum beats or anything like that - that's just a punk element.

JG: So it's more about progressiveness and more about a more challenging, forward-thinking attitude than any specific aesthetic or musical inclinations?

JP: Sure. Even in the 70s, when the punk explosion happened, they were just sick of society, they were tired of it, they were just over all this shit they had to face, and they were punks - they were the organizers. They took what they got, and they challenged it. Like, the new Green Day record, is that punk? Fuck no! That's not punk. That's pop music - it's not punk. So, yeah, it's dead, in a sense. I think it's come down to a lifestyle and opinions, and how you perceive things. It's one of those things that is open to interpretation.

JG: This question goes back to something we talked about earlier: Ida Corr and that song, "Let me think about it." Could you tell me more about the significance of that song to All Leather? Was Ida involved with the remixing process at all? Is she aware of All Leather?

JP: Well, we didn't record that song, it was just on our radio show - but she has no idea that we're a band. What happened was, I kept hearing that song at this place I worked at, and I told Nathan about the song, that it was killer. The funny thing, her part is the worst part of the whole song. He voice sounds really good, but there are cheesy vocal lines, and cheesy lyrics. They're so bad, I can't even sing them. I had to change them, 'cause they're so embarrassing. And some of her delivery, like in the breakdown and more of the sensual parts, I was unhappy about that. I think we were just drawn to the riffs and the way the hooks of the song were delivered - it had this really nice staccato on it, and the bass synth just kinda went through us for that song.

NJ: The producer for that song - that dude, Fedde le Grand - everything that he's done, well, you could use the word punk... it's not typical dance music. It's still hooky and poppy, with dance beats, but the chord progressions he'll use, the intervals - he's doing something different. I think Ida Corr just threw her vocal lines over it to make it more marketable.

JP: For me, I was at this bar, and I'd hear all these songs, all this shitty music, and then, the Ida Corr song would come on, and I'd be like, "Holy crap! This is that song!" You know, it stands out among whatever else is playing, and I thought, "that shit is tight," and it definitely had punk elements added to it. I mean, if I asked Fedde le Grand if he's a punk, or if he does punk music, he'd probably say no, but, ethically, I think that's what geared us toward that song.

JG: Alright! Well, just as a final, general question, I know you tend not to have parting words to interviews, but I would like to know what the future plans are for All Leather. What can fans hope to see soon in addition to the LP? Do you have any upcoming tours, or any interesting collaborations impending with other artists?

JP: We're waiting for our record to come out, then we'll be doing a bunch of tours in the States and Europe, and we've already started recording an LP. There are already collaborations with a couple of different people remixing it - Nick Zimmer. Also, with Leg Lifters, we're doing stuff with other artists as well. As far as All Leather, though: new album, touring.

JG: Well, that wraps it up. Thank you very much - I appreciate it.

JP: Thank you! Bye!

Primal, but far from primitive: Prying into the realm of Foot Village

2009-06-06T16:18:00.000-07:00

Foot Village are a self-described Drum - n - Shout band hailing from the Hollywood, CA area: their sound is fed solely by a barrage of tribal drumming and yelled, yelped and screamed vocals. While some might dub such as setup as "reduced instrumentation," don't be fooled: Foot Village are able to generate more sound - and more compelling sound, at that - per instrumentalist than any lesser group could hope to put forth, regardless of the size of their amplifiers. The band has grown tremendously and in inspiring fashion over the years and, with the release of their newest album, Anti-Magic, on the horizon, Foot Village reach new sonic heights that are sure to delight, impress, and confuse old fans and new listeners alike. Brian, one-fourth of the village's source of sonic energy, graciously granted me an interview over G-Chat a few days ago: here are the results of our interactions. (Brian is also involved with the most excellent punk/experimental Death Bomb Arc record label - please check it out for more lovely noise!)

Band Interview: Brian of Foot Village

(note: this is a largely unedited interview that was conducted over instant messenger – smileys and the like are preserved)

Jonathan: Okay! How are you doing?

Brian: This is a pretty sweet week - I finished some big projects. Namely, getting the last of the Deathbomb Arc Tape club done... after months of delay. :)

J: That's great to hear! Will it be available to the public in the near future?

B: Future, yes. Near... well, my computer ate shit and had to get formatted last week, so now I have to recreate all the digital masters for 240 min worth of music before it can be archived.

J: Argh, I'm sorry to hear that. Computer problems are the worst, especially when you lose stuff you've worked hard on.

B: I need to get better at backing stuff up. But really, who has the time??!?!

J: Well, yes... but when you consider the time you can lose if you don't make backups, it is usually worth the investment... but, hell, I hardly ever get around to it, so I really shouldn't be preaching here, heh. By the way, I just heard Clubtraxx I III for the first time a few minutes ago - and the "inspirational message” at the end. [You can hear the track for yourself on Foot Village's MySpace page] 'Tis a very good point, and it's funny I should hear it today of all days, when I'm doing a lot of goal-related questioning. So, thanks for the implicit long-distance mini pep talk! It helped.

B: Jonathan from Captain Ahab has an incident where both his computer and backup hard drive died at the same time. Now his computer automatically backs up to like 4 portable hard drives every night. The inspirational portion of Clubtraxxx is 100% thanks to Josh Taylor. Often he knows just the right little thing to add to recordings.

J: In reading over your MySpace page and the Foot Village Web site, I have seen a lot of words referring to friendship, family, or community. Does FV work to cultivate a sense of community with other musicians?

B: I hope that FV inspires a certain sense of community with anyone we encounter. Not necessarily the type of community where we all have to work together, but one that understands that miracles are in everyone's power, as silly as that may sound - community in the sense that we all are important.

J: Do you use music as a specific tool to help more people become aware of that notion, that we are all important?

B: I think we kinda use spectacle more than the actual music. We're pretty aware that our instrumentation alone catches people's attention. We try to have a pretty upbeat spirit with it all too, and a fairly casual manner. I love early rock n roll, the really happy stuff like "Surfer Bird". I think, especially live, the joyous spectacle of the band conveys a sense having fun that is political without treading into blatant Rage Against the Machine territory. I know this is laughable, but I think the most important political rock song is "Fight For Your Right To Party!” :) I'm also very aware of the limitations of art/music to make social change. I just hope we set a good example.

J: I don't think it's laughable - it's actually very nice. It seems that music with a political edge does tend to be on the aggressive and hostile side of things. When reading descriptions of Foot Village, I often come across quips like "barrage of noise" or "maelstrom of feral sound-" the band is regularly described in something of a fearsome light. Would you agree with that description? Do you think it's at odds at all with the upbeat spirit you try to maintain?

B: It is very hard for me to know what Foot Village recordings sound like to someone that has never seen us live before. We are high energy, and there is a lot of sound. That is for sure. Hopefully the silly lyrics/vocal delivery informs the listener that the drum energy is positive, but since we also play with negative ideas sometimes, I realize that audience response will be varied. Our new album will definitely fuck with people on that level.

Foot Village - "Erecting the Wall of Separation" from Deathbomb Arc on Vimeo.

J: Do you think that a listener wanting to experience Foot Village for what it really is should do his or her best to get to a live show? Is it a more "full" or "authentic" experience than the recordings?

B: We treat the live and recorded versions of the band as two different things that need different types of effort and expression to live up to our expectations. We love them both. But the live experience probably gives people an ecstatic feeling that the recordings don't necessarily give. Although... it seems like your listen to Clubtraxxx made you feel happy? But the visceral experience of the live show - while I'm not going to say is superior, is definitely unique. We wouldn't put so much effort into the albums though if we didn't think they were a super fun and entertaining experience as well.

J: Absolutely. And yes, it did make me feel happy :) I find that there is a strong positive correlation between times I feel happy and times I listen to FV.

B: That's the highest compliment we can get, thank you!!! That said, we have some intentionally negative songs on our next album... because we aren't really heroes on it.

J: Could you tell me a little more about the intention that inspired those negative songs? Is the band "moving in a different direction?"

B: Anti-Magic, our next and third album, is actually something we have planned since before the first album was done. The first album would be about researching other countries. The 2nd would be about forming our own nation. And the 3rd would be about our first war. It is about Foot Village becoming intolerant to other nations, aka “magic nations” that make other forms of music using electricity. By the end we repent and thus the huge collaboration with dozens of bands for "Chicken & Cheese 2". We remain a happy band in the end, but to tell this particular story we needed some very evil sounding shit. We aren't concerned about putting ourselves on a pedestal. We can say things in songs that make people thing we are stupid because we telling stories, fictions, fairy tales. This isn't Crass or Rage. This is Foot Village!

J: I'd like to learn more about the image of the Village. What are its residents like? What books would you find in its public library? What parts of town would tourists want to stay clear of?

B: This level of detail hasn't really been revealed yet... our album art kind of jokes at this...when you see Foot Village in the art, all you see is a giant wall :). The lyrics to our song National Jamthum tell a little bit though:

[PAUSE]

Oops! I just realized that those lyrics won't be printed on the art! its the only lyrics we left off. Mysterious, eh? Sorry! It had something to do with free wi-fi and bottomless pizza. It's probably best that details like you asked for are mostly left up to the imagination. The plot of our albums is more a spirit than a backbone anyway. We don't do rock operas.

J: Well, what of the graphic on your MySpace page? I was curious about that - is it a rendition of the village itself?

B: I'm curious, what did you think?

J: Well, first of all, I was struck by the apparent lack of technology or machinery. There appears to be a juxtaposition between the architecture of the buildings on the far left and those to the center - almost a mishmash of two different cultures. The trees growing out of an otherwise apparently barren desert were striking as well. All in all, it gave me the impression of being a forlorn place, perhaps a village abandoned by its residents in fear of an impending conflict - there's a sense of "uneasy calm before a storm" about it.

B: Hmm... I think you may have just convinced me that we need to change it. Although I think we do love the desert.

J: Oh... I'm sorry! I hope my interpretation wasn't too far off - keep in mind that it is just one interpretation.

B: It's a decent representation of the idea, but we probably should make something better. I think that, once people see the extensive art we've included on the Anti-Magic album, it will really help paint the right picture. It's all landscapes that we built and photographed.

J: I confess that I haven't had the pleasure of experiencing the album art myself.

B: That art is under lock and key until July.

J: So, perhaps after putting it in more context, I would be a bit closer to the truth...ah! Well, my birthday is in July, you know! That will make an excellent present. (i.e. having it available will be most excellent!)

B: Perhaps I should make a public wish list too: Foot Village fans should buy me Green Lantern comics! :)

J: I will keep this in mind :)

B: Maybe we can trade. I actually have a deal like that with a friend of mine... he buys me comics every week and I give him a copy of everything I put out on my label or that Foot V does.

J: That sounds like a plan. So, I have a couple of questions related to FV's sound...

B: No prob!

J: First of all, I was impressed and intrigued when first hearing tracks by FV because you were able to do so much with what some would consider to be "so little -" using "just drums and vocals." What attracted you to that style of instrumentation - what about drums, specifically makes them such an important instrument for the band?

B: We started off this way just because we were a group of people that didn't know how to play drums, wanted to learn, but were embarrassed to play with people that knew their instruments - a drum camp of sorts. But we've stuck with it because it is such a surprising way to make an infinite combination of sounds. Even though the instrumentation is narrow in a physical sense, the fact that such unsuspected limitless possibilities come from it really helps convey that spirit we were talking about before, a spirit that says anyone can do anything they set their minds to. Besides, we love hard rock. In NYC someone said we sounded like Metallica. Why mess with our sound when we sound like that?

J: Indeed. Well, in terms of composition, what are some of the challenges, if any, of working with a limited array of instruments? Does it put taps or restrictions on the way you express yourself? If you or any of the other band members have been in more "traditional" band setups, how does the compositional process compare?

B: The one thing that is hardest to do is make verse-chorus-verse style songs. We tend to do more linear compositions that just have weird references to early/later parts of the song, rather than actually repeating stuff. But maybe that's just us. Grace and my old band, Rose For Bohdan, was that way too. We actually think of our sound in terms of bass lines, guitar riffs, etc a lot. But we also think in more abstract terms too. There aren't really other bands doing this, so its hard to reference much. We make up the rules as we go along. We try to keep it catchy and true to the rock spirit though. I don't really think we're a noise band or anything.

J: How did you go about selecting the various drums/kits that the band uses? Do you aim to maintain a homogeneous sound between the different kits, or do you try to select drums that will create more of a complimentary array of tones when played together?

B: Each of us has pretty personal taste in our own drum sounds. We've found that by letting these natural tastes exist, there ends up being these weird orchestras of sound that is really rich. We do think of the arrangements in terms of low drum here, high drum there, etc etc. But as far as all the timbres go, we just like to have a wide variety of tones going on.

J: Do your vocal styles emerge in a similar, natural way? To what extent to you target specific sounds or timbres where vocals are concerned?

B: Usually we sing the way we would in any other band, which means screams and such. But the demands of singing over such loud drums has led me to do this more operatic stuff lately, that carries more. Josh though is a true vocal artist and loves coming up with lots of crazy voices and attitudes.

J: Is attitude important to you in your live performances? I read in a previous interview with the band that some of the members (Grace, if I recall correctly) will go so far as to scream in the face of audience members. Do you prefer to elicit visceral reactions from your crowds?

B: Well, we like to engage. It's on the same page as getting the audience near us even when we play on stage. In fact, we wont play on stage if the audience cant join us.

J: Alrighty! do you have the time for three more quick questions?

B: Sure! I got distracted because we were on the phone with the Ghost Busters. for real!

J: Hahaha. Have a spirit infestation on your hands? (I confess, I took a phone call earlier in the interview as well - no worries)

B: Actually, yes! There is a ghost in our kitchen that keeps smashing shit and making the walls knock and saying creepy things in our ears. We saw a Craig's List ad for GhostBusters. So they are coming over Saturday.

J: That's pretty amazing

B: It will be on some TV show.

J: Oh! Like Ghost Hunters? You should send a link to the 31G forums when it airs.

B: I will :)

J: Which leads me to my next question, actually - how did you come to join the 31G Forums? And how do you feel about the animosity that gets tossed around on there on such a regular basis?

B: It's actually less negative there than most music boards! I post FV news pretty much everywhere. but 31G is one of the few places where the response to our news makes me excited to engage in conversations. If you want to see true negativity, just check out this: http://terminal-boredom.com/forums/index.php?topic=18490.0

J: That's.... pretty fucked. And also kind of hilarious, in a weird way.

B: Yeah, i don't mind or take it personally. I even responded to that thread just to let them know that we can handle "dude talk" if that's what they feel the need to test us on. I mean, it's just music. Why get upset? It's all in fun. Or, at least, it should be.

J: I agree. I don't know why so many people see the need to use the Internet as a weapon - and such an ineffective one at that.

B: Well, it just goes to show that the pursuit of happiness is still something that needs a lot of work in this world – apparently, the Internet isn't enough :) lately I've been realizing that just being in a "happy band" isn't really enough to make me feel like I'm doing my part. I've turned my sights to some more direct volunteer work.

J: I was just about to ask about that. Do the members of FV need to rely on extrinsic sources of income to support themselves financially? Is it challenging to strike a balance between music and other forces in your life? And, one more related question: A lot of musicians that I have spoken to in recent times have mentioned that they have to make great sacrifices to pursue progressive music. Do you feel personally that you've had to fight to keep your music going - and is it worth it?

B: FV is not our job, but more than any other bands any of us have been in, it has a lot more opportunities for us... like going to EU and doing albums with crazy art. So I've pretty much eliminated most other music projects so that I have lots of time for FV and all the other stuff I do for fun, income, life, etc. But I would be doing music no matter what, so I don't consider it a hard fight or anything. I work hard regardless of how well things are going. Its more just a matter of keeping a good attitude. We all slip. But the four of us offer each other good company and always have our friendship to fall back on. I also have incredible people in my life that help me keep my head/actions in line with my heart/beliefs.

J: Well, that wraps up the main body of questions! I do have one bit of advice I was hoping I could ask you for: I am a noise musician, and am hoping to spend a great deal of more time invested in my music - but I have this cognition that I would have to sacrifice the integrity of my family in order to make things work. What advice would you have to someone who's just starting off as a musical performer doing less than common music to strike a balance between those various life forces, such as finances, family, etc?

B: I've risked a lot and sacrificed a lot to get where I am. I spent a year living in my car because I believed I was on the verge of paying my rent through music if I could just stop working so much. I don't know if I'm just lucky or what, but I pulled it off. My expenses are low, but I pretty much pay them through running a label and other music things - just not Foot Village :) I guess the only for sure advice I can give is to ask yourself with every decision you make, "When I'm old and on my deathbed, will I be glad I made this decision?"

J: Thank you kindly :) Well, I will have to get going soon. Any closing thoughts?

B: Sure, I just want to make sure people know that if they can't afford to buy our new album, they should copy it or find a place to download it. We are really proud of it, and lots of people helped contribute. It should be heard. The money is important for many reasons, but the listening trumps that.

Trundle on over to Foot Village's lovely website for more info in the band!

Ever Expanding - A Brief Bout of Banter w/ Bobby Bray

2009-05-28T18:02:00.000-07:00

Bobby Bray is indubitably a force to be reckoned with in the realm of progressive music. I was first introduced to his distinctive talent when a good friend of mine played me a track from The Locust's Plague Soundscapes - Bobby's guitar and vocal work on that album (and all other Locust offerings, for that matter) was nothing short of revolutionary to me at the time, and I've continually been impressed over the years with the spirit of expression, expansion and exploration he applies to all of his musical endeavors. He's also lent his talents to the now-defunct Holy Molar as a synth player and to San Diego-based band Vaginals as a guitarist, not to mention the intriguing and occasionally mind-boggling solo work he's put forth as Henk.

In addition to all of the above, Bobby has the distinction of being a wonderfully friendly and helpful individual. I contacted Justin Pearson (Bassist/Vocalist of the Locust and founder of Three One G records, among many, many other things) about a month ago, asking for assistance on a college project: I was investigating the recording techniques of producer Alex Newport, who's done extensive work with The Locust, and wanted to gain some insight into the recording process from the band's perspective. Justin forwarded my request to Bobby who, despite his extremely busy schedule, was kind enough to grant me an interview. The results of our interaction are as follows:

Jonathan: To start off, could you please briefly trace the history of how the recording process has changed from the early days (e.g. Flight of the Wounded Locust, Follow the Flock, Step in Shit...) to your recent endeavors, such as New Erections?

Bobby: Many of our earlier records, including the ones you mentioned, were recording at a recording studio here in San Diego called Double Time, recorded and engineered by Jeff Forest. Back then we would record an entire record in two days. Of course our records were/are shorter in length than most, but with those time frames we worked within there wasn't that much room for error, or over dubs. Plague Soundscapes was our first release on Anti, which is a subdivision of Epitaph, recorded at a studio in LA called Grand Master, with Alex Newport. We did an EP on Ipecac (Mike Patton's label) and then New Erections, both of which were with Alex at his studio. All three of these records we spent about a week recording, and then two to four days mixing. Spending more time really allows for precise execution. Plague Soundscpaes was the last recoding we did on analog reel, which is one of the reasons we decided to work with Alex. The digital advances lead to Protools, and allowed for easier editing such as drum edits, which when done by splicing tape can be risky.

J: What were some of the greatest challenges, hurdles or limiting factors The Locust had to overcome while working on those first few CDs? What new, perhaps-unforeseen challenges are you facing while recording these days?

B: Working on the records was not a problem, that was fun! Touring was an issue cause we'd have to quit our jobs and sometimes move out of our homes due to not finding sublet-ers.

J: As a young cello student, I was often encouraged to tape and listen to my own practice sessions to become aware of subtle things that I might have missed while playing, which in turn affected my approach to the instrument. How has the recording process affected your attention to and relationship with your instrument?

B: In the early days we were recording the music that we wanted to hear (basically brutal hardcore with moog sounds). I played those records over and over, at that time period (10 years ago). Recordings are kind of like snapshots of a song: the song's life may go on to morph and/or evolve. And, I guess sometimes there can be a slight imperfection that just irks you, when you hear it or think about it. Once you've done that a couple of times, the memory of that irked-ness remains clear, and a plan can be put in place to minimum the risk of repeating a similar situation. That plan is obsessing over the compositions, which seems to come natural: practicing.

J: In a recent interview with the band Daughters, Nick (if I recall correctly) described a shift in the band's approach to composition, by which they intended to reduce the number of stompbox effects and switches between different effects used per song in order to facilitate live performance, thus allowing the guitarists to be more mobile on stage. As a general rule, do The Locust design new songs with specific performance or recording aspects in mind, or do the recording and performance aspects get tailored to fit the mold of the song?

B: Composition is never compromised for the sake of on stage movement. In fact, the physical limitations of playability are not much of a concern during composition either. Speaking for myself here; even if I think Ill never be able to pull something off at the time of writing (for example turning 5 stomp boxes on or off in a fraction of a second while finger tapping and singing), it becomes a personal challenge to be proficient at it by the time the song is planned for performance. As a general rule though, we sort of stuck to the semi unspoken rule: whatever we record, we have to be able to reproduce live. So, although I could layer several guitar tracks playing multiple supporting riffs on a recording, i dont. As a fan of music myself, I know what it feels like to be a bit let down by a band's live performance when it becomes obvious that they cannot reproduce what they recorded. I guess it can cause a listener to feel a bit duped by a band. This raises a question as to what it is about a band that makes a person want to see them live and i guess seeing if they can pull it off is sometimes a part of why I want to see a band whos recordings i enjoy. When I hear an impressive piece of recorded music, one of the first things i think of is whether or not they can do it live, or was it the magic of Protools. However, if Its known to be a "recording project," I dont expect the live version to be the same.

J: I've heard fluid remixes by [Locust bassist/vocalist] Justin (e.g. Damage's “Return of the Satisfuckers,”) solid, engaging beats from [Locust drummer] Gabe (via Farg Narg) and, of course, the ever-delightful, mind-boggling work you've done as Henk (regretfully, I've yet to hear any of [vocalist and synthwizard] Joey's solo work to date – does he have any to share?). You all have very keen musical ears and apparently have a solid knowledge of production techniques, as all the aforementioned projects sounded crisp and clear, to say the least. With all this in mind, I'm surprised that more Locust albums haven't been self-produced! Why and when did you make the decision to work with a producer?

B: To be honest Ive been thinking about that for quite a while. Actually, I did a lot of the recording duties on Holy Molar's last recording Cavity Search at home (Synths, guitar, and samples). It was nice to be able to experiment on the fly and spend as much time as i wanted to without the thought of time costing money. I definitely did things I wouldn't have in a studio, due to experimentation. It was the investment of Anti that afforded us the option of actually having a producer, so we went with Alex Newport. Basically we spent any advance we got on the recording costs. And yes Joey sometimes performs Modular Synth pieces under his name. Sometimes he does collaborations with an artist named Dave Stone.

J: How did The Locust come to meet Alex Newport, and why did you choose him as a producer for recent Locust albums?

B: We had friends that worked with him (Omar of Mars Volta), and he was suggested by our manager, Molly Neuman, as well. When we recorded Plauge Soundscapes we gelled with him really well, so we continued to work with him. I have always been more open to working with other engineers than the rest of the band, just for the sake of working with other people, but thus far we have not. Although Alex's role with us is much more of an engineer, he only records bands if he gets to use the "produced by" statement. I suppose the word producer means different things to different people. I guess i thought producers rearrange songs and have a large creative part in composition. Thats not what we wanted and thats not what we got from Alex. But nevertheless, he is credited as a producer.

J: I recall reading in a previous Locust interview that the band were so impressed with Alex's work that the interviewee referred to him as (to paraphrase) a fully-fledged band member in his own right. Could you please elaborate a bit on that point – what does Alex bring to the table that has earned him such accolades?

B: He helps us achieve our goals. Sometimes he's the missing communication between band members. At times its hard to convey compositional ideas to people, and Alex can help validate those ideas. Sometimes he functions as the tie breaking vote.

J: When The Locust present a song for production, is it generally in a completed, set-in-stone, polished state, or is there room for rewriting and revision? To what extent is the producer involved in The Locust's songwriting process itself?

B: The songs are ready to record. There have been times when lyrics to a song are not quite finished and this is usually not a good scenario to be in. Before recording New Erections Alex came to hear the songs for a couple of days and suggested the rewrite of a sort of bridge part in a song, for the sake of cohesiveness. I think it was a song we were still working out at the time.

J: Will Alex be collaborating on any future Locust albums?

B: Its very possible.

J: These last few questions will be a bit tangential: I've read many interviews with self-taught guitarists who claim that the best way to learn to play the instrument is by putting on your favorite record and trying to figure out the riffs. Did you follow a similar path while becoming acquainted with the intricacies of your instrument, or did you favor a more experimental approach?

B: I picked out Jimi Hendrix songs by ear. Then I went on to Metallica's guitar tablature book for their album "...And Justice for All" in jr high. Much later I took a couple of piano classes and a Year of Music theory. Along the way I experimented with inventing new scales: the 16 note, equal tempered scale was my favorite, but its major flaw was no perfect 5th. Now at UCSD I' ve taken quite a few more non performance music classes. My approach to guitar still hasn't changed throughout. I play what I find pleasing to my ear.

J: In a previous iteration of your personal MySpace page, you listed “dedicating my life to music” as one of your interests. What does that phrase mean to you – what does a life dedicated to music entail? What was the deciding factor that lead you to choose music as the subject of your life's dedication?

B: Dedicating my life to music i guess means making most decisions about my life focused on the music entity. In our weird lives that we've built up in societies, as possibly the strangest species in the history of this planet, we have a respected field of study/entertainment called music. This music idea can convey ideas that might not have another outlet such as visual cues or words. If an alien were to come up to me and ask me to explain our species and what my function was, i would be proud to report my life was dedicated to such a concept and i would wonder what they thought about that.

J: Finally, can you give us a preview of your upcoming musical work, be it with Henk, Vaginals, The Locust, or any other sonic endeavors?

B: Ive working on new releases with The Locust and Henk but those may be while. The Henk stuff is the stuff thats too weird or crazy for the Locust and lot of it is done on computers. One method in Henk is to draw random notes on a screen and then sift through searching cool sounding strings of notes/harmonies. The process is repeated many many times: stream of consciousness - refine refine refine, stream of consciousness - refine refine refine. As for the Locust stuff its too soon to report what it might be like. Ive been finishing up some demoed Vaginals recordings. Im not on them, but ive been helping them record with a mere Mbox. Mixing with Maria (singer in Vaginals), can be rough at times (perhaps because weve been dating for 6 years hahaha).
Im also planning on building a stomp box that can upload PD patches to. The idea is that i could write a new effect in PD and upload it to my pedal. This might be my senior project.

Some of Bobby's work can be heard at:
Henk, Bobby's solo Project!
The Locust (Bobby's on Guitar and Vocals)
Vaginals, a band that Bobby regularly contributes to
Holy Molar, a now-defunct band that Bobby provided Synth work for

Oh yeah... I pilfered that photo is from his MySpace page. I believe it was taken by Gabe Serbian - at the very least, I take no credit for it! It is a lovely photo, though...

Turmoil and Tenacity: The art of AIDS Wolf

2009-05-28T07:52:00.000-07:00

AIDS Wolf are an exceptional noise-rock band hailing from Canada. I could offer you a list of similar artists and spew out a slew of name-drops and cross-genre references in an attempt to convey the magnificence of their sonic offerings, but it would come nowhere near to doing the band justice. It's an experience every appreciator of innovative music should have for him/herself - so, before you read any further, if you haven't heard what this band's got to offer, do yourself a favor and head over to www.myspace.com/aidswolf and dedicate a few minutes of your life to letting the sounds sink in.

On to the meat and potatoes of this post... I've been a denizen of the forums run and frequented by members of the Three One G musical collective (www.threeoneg.com) for a few years now, and have had the pleasure of conversing with a slew of excellent artists and musicians who also frequent the boards - including Chloe, vocalist of AIDS Wolf and one half of the Seripop art team (www.seripop.com). Chloe was kind enough to dedicate a significant portion of her afternoon to discussing the band, her artistic endeavors and life philosophy with me - the results of our interaction are as follows....

Interview: Chloe of AIDS Wolf

Jonathan: First of all, I'm just a bit curious as to how you came to meet and join the 31G community – and, more specifically, the message boards. What was your introduction to that subset of the music community?

Chloe: Oh, shit, I don't even remember! I think it was through Toby (from Night Wounds, Bailout, Blessure Grave), you know, we had been on-line friends for a long time... he was on there...

J: So it was kind of a friend-of-a-friend situation...

C: Yeah, yeah.

J: Have you collaborated with anyone else on the 31G Team? I know that you had – well, this wasn't specifically 31G-related, but you did some work with [fellow forum members] Foot Village Recently? (http://www.myspace.com/footvillage)

C: Yeah, yeah, we participated in their...I don't even know how you would call it... it wasn't a remix, but... we did a track where they had a whole bunch of different bands re-interpreting their riffs. When you asked me about collaborating with the community, what do you mean exactly?

J: Well... I just looked over the AIDS Wolf website today (http://www.skingraftrecords.com/bandhtmlpages/aidswolf_pg.html), and I was reading through the 9 principles you had listed there, and how you described yourself as a “nuclear family,” and I understand that there seems to be a lot of connections between the individual bands and musicians, either just through friendship or shared ideals, or band-member exchange, collaboration, stuff like that. So, I'd just be interested in learning about anything AIDS Wolf have done recently that's been in that collaborative vein.

C: We haven't really done that much recently. We've been on tour a lot of the past year, so that's been putting the kibosh on a lot of musical collaborations. In the past, we've done a lot of stuff where we've jammed with other bands. Recently, when we were on tour with Shearing Pinx, we played a couple sets where, between our sets and their sets, we would do all seven of us playing together and that was really fun! We had a good time. We do lots of stuff like that. We've done work with Athletic Automaton where more than half of the material was all six of us playing in one band, so that's the kind of thing we're really interested in a lot. Right now, I'm working on a bunch of different projects where I'm submitting vocals or drum tracks via distance. For us, it's kind of all about doing shit with our friends, you know? We're not really delusional enough to think that there's any kind of a “career” really possible from doing difficult music, so it's all about getting to hang out and play with and jam with and do art for our friends. That's the way that Yannick [also of AIDS Wolf and Seripop] and I collaborate with a lot of bands that we're into: we do art and design for so many other bands on top of our own.

J: So you say that you don't delude yourself into thinking that you're making a career out of this, do you have to have another job on the side, like a day job, to support yourself?

C: Yes, doing editorial illustration work, graphic design for bigger bands, or advertising here and there. Our two band mates have day jobs: Alex does translation and works at the local college radio station and music library, and Miles was a cook until really recently and now he does grant writing for other bands in town. All the stuff that we do is kind of related to music and arts, but the stuff that we make our money from is a bit less personal. You know, obviously, it's not always as fun! But I've got no complaints... I think I've got a pretty sweet life. I might not enjoy doing an illustration for a newspaper article about violence in high schools as much as I enjoy drawing my own shit or jamming out, but compared to when I used to have “job” jobs, it's a thousand fucking times better. So, even when it's kinda lame, it's usually pretty good, comparatively speaking.

J: And there's still an opportunity for you to put in some of your own creativity, it's not just one of those soulless jobs that just demands that you follow orders on a routine basis, right?

C: Weeeell.... with illustration, depending on the art director, yeah, but usually you try to follow the orders as closely as possible, you know? We do a lot of illustration stuff and I just put my ego aside, in a box, and just focus on getting what the client wants done. And then if I can do that, it gets done quicker, they're happy and there's no revisions, and then I can go off and do my own wacky drawings and gig posters and installations and freak-out jams and stuff. I used to try to look at hired work as a creative outlet. Now I think that it's kind of a battle that doesn't make any sense. You get the odd client here and there that's into something kinda crazy and pretty free, and obviously doing work for other bands is extremely free, compared to doing more editorial or corporate work, but I think that when you're doing creative work, it's important to not lose sight that it is WORK, and just do the best job you can, and then do your personal stuff when you're finished.

J: Do you apply a pretty serious approach to your own personal stuff, and your own music, for example? I would assume that you take a pretty serious approach, trying to maximize and to do things as best you can when you're producing your own art and own music... or is it a more free-form, experimental approach?

C: I don't think that the two are mutually exclusive. For us, art and music are the two things we want to do, so we do them as often as we can... and we try to do something good. We spend a LOT of time rehearsing with bands, and when Yannick and I do art shows, we'll work on a show for months. I don't think that those hours necessarily mean that there's not room to be more free-form within that. We kind of incorporate a lot of wackiness and off the cuff ideas.

J: If I remember correctly, one of the first principles you had listed on that list-o-nine was to keep and follow a daily ritual, so I was wondering if you could describe what YOUR daily ritual consists of.

C: Well, usually, I get up... have a pretty intense breakfast, with Yannick. Then, we'll usually go to the gym, then the day is spent mostly on visual art. Then, in the evening, we'll go to our rehearsal space, usually around 8 o'clock and spend around 2-4 hours working on music. Then, we'll either come home and do more drawing or go out to a show. So, that's usually the everyday thing: we'll usually wake up around 9:30 or 10:00, go to bed around 2:00 or 3:00, and every day, weekends, whatever, we're working on our shit, because when you do creative work there's so much bend over between your professional life and your personal life, you know? So if we're not at the studio screen printing, we're pretty much always at at home drawing; we'll do at least 10 hours a day, and then the music side usually comes after. Heh, I don't know if it would even be possible to sustain playing music at the kind of velocity that we do for the hours we spend drawing, we'd probably be all destroyed, physically.

J: Either that, or you'd all build up some sort of crazy resistance and ascend to a new level of musicianship? Either way, it's a pretty scary thought...

C: I'd just be worried... all three of the men have varying degrees of tendinitis or carpal tunnel, so we try to have a little bit of sanity in there, and for me, with my throat, I don't think I'd be able to do any more. As with the other stuff I do in other side projects, like playing drums and playing guitar, I think that with the extreme loudness we play at, doing it for an entire day, every day, we'd be in the grave, basically!

J: In terms of your vocals, do you take specific cautions to preserve them? Do you have a specific warm-up routine to avoid damaging your voice when you're focusing on the louder aspects?

C: Usually. I usually am pretty diligent about warming up my voice before playing or rehearsing. Sometimes I'll flake out and forget... I don't have any training or anything, so it's usually just hitting notes for a while before we go on so I don't lose my voice, and then when we're on tour, recording or practicing more than usual, I'm pretty much constantly sucking on a lozenge or spraying my throat with some mix of herbs. I'm not even really sure how effective that stuff is... but it's not hindering, so I just try to keep it going! Other than that, for keeping the voice in shape, as well as keeping your body in shape when touring and stuff, it's really important to us to be working out a lot and drinking lots of water, eating really healthy foods, etc. When we're on tour, we don't party (well, we don't really party in real life, either) – but when we're on tour, we're probably the most boring band ever. We're all about having picnics, doing our laundry, going to museums, going to bead relatively early. I think that's key – since it's pretty demanding, we try not to burn ourselves out with other shit, and spend as much time as we can outside.

J: I know that, for some some bands, if one of the members falls sick or ill or something, like, if the vocalist has a sore throat, they'll just cancel the show outright. Have you ever had to deal with that? If you did have to deal with it in the future, would you cancel, or might you still find a way to put on the show in some limited capacity?

C: We've actually had to deal with that situation twice. Once, where I broke my ankle while on tour, and while I was in the hospital getting my bones re-set, the boys played an instrumental set without me. And then, this past fall, during the Pop Montreal, which is a big independent music fest here, Miles got really bad food poisoning the day of our set and couldn't perform. He couldn't even talk to us on the phone because he was puking so much. So what we did is we had our buddy Steve from Athletic Automaton and Erin from Shearing Pinx, who were both on the bill that night – and, because we jammed with them before, we were like “Well, why don't you guys just sit in on guitar and we'll do an improv set with three guitarists?”

We're really not into canceling shit. We had to cancel two shows on our last tour because our van died and we got stranded in Iowa city while it was being repaired, and we felt so bad and so stressed out about it! Usually, we figure that we'd rather do something creative and still play... and we figure that we're not exactly playing pop music, so we're hoping that our audience is open-minded enough to appreciate when we try to pull something off and play with a different circumstance.

J: That is definitely respectable. In terms of the audience itself, I was trying to get a little more info on the band earlier today, and I came across your Blogger website, and I noticed that you had posted a very, erm, passionate email from one of your listeners who had seen one of your videos on YouTube, and didn't exactly approve of it. In general, do you face a lot of animosity and resistance in what you're doing, musically? How do you feel about that caustic response that noise and punk music can get a lot these days?

C: 99% of that animosity seems to just be random people on the Internet who probably don't like any of the kind of music we like anyways. I find it a little puzzling that people would go out of their way to listen to and then comment on something they don't like. I guess that's what the Internet's about: people complaining?! I don't know, there's a lot of music I don't like, but I couldn't even imagine spending the time or energy complaining about it, especially not to the band! I just spend my time on what I do, and try to spread the word on what I think IS interesting and awesome, but... different hobbies for different people, I guess? I mean, we used to get a few people bummed out at our shows earlier on, you know? Like, maybe they didn't really know what to expect or something. But I think that nowadays we play within such a specific scene that most people know what they're getting into. If they don't like it, they really only have themselves to blame. Seriously, there's fucking, like, 10,000 bands. If you don't like us, why would you even bother? Go listen to another band!

J: It seems like some of these people are almost on a crusade to just eradicate or, at the very least, discourage any subset of bands that they don't happen to agree with. It's kind of stupid, to say the least.

C: Well, I think that with the Internet and stuff like YouTube or Last.fm, it's really changed things a lot. The kind of people who are sending us those kinds of emails and whining about our shit... well, 15 years ago, these people wouldn't even be aware that a band like ours existed, you know? They'd just be in their dorm rooms, listening to fucking Phish or whatever. I don't fucking know, I don't know what these people are into. But, now, with the Internet, people will be aware of a lot more stuff, and a lot of people who are going to be aware of our band or other like-minded bands might not have any context for our band, what we're doing, or even understand that this is an actual genre of music.

It also has its good points, though, because it brings more difficult music to a much, you know... it makes it a lot more accessible to people who do want to hear it, people who are ready to experience something a little different. I mean, if I had access to this kind of shit when I was a teenager, It would have really changed a lot for me. I remember that finding out about weird bands was so hard, you know? You'd be playing the guessing game half the time. I was lucky enough to have been involved in college radio, and had a pretty decent local record store, where the owner would often recommend me stuff that would usually be right on, but even with that I remember mail ordering so much stuff blind and maybe liking about one third of it. It definitely is cool in a lot of ways, but at the same time, I guess since it's a relatively new social phenomenon people haven't really figured out how to interact with it or use it in a productive way all the time?

J: I know what you mean. And I think, in general, it's just sort of easier to achieve an instant catharsis and an instant make-a-statement, get-your-energy-out-over-the-internet-type-action, especially when you don't have to deal with any of the consequences. I mean, you have the shield of anonymity to hide behind, in case someone actually tried to call you on your shit, you know?

C: Haha, “Dude, no one can call you on your shit, it's only the Internet, man!” I mean, if that's how people get catharsis, I kind of feel sorry for them, you know? I get my catharsis, by fucking lifting weights, playing music, doing art... and I think a lot of people would probably benefit from getting outside, into the fresh air more, and maybe starting a garden, taking up some fucking tennis or something.

J: Yeah, well, you see, all of that actually requires effort, which, I think, is a lot more than these people are willing to put in.

C: Maybe. It seems like people are just indoors too much, and concentrated on their computers too much.

J: Yeah, I'm suffering from that myself. I'm trying to force myself to get more outdoors these days.

C: Where do you live?

J: I live in Portland, Maine right now. And there's actually a really nice artistic community around the Portland area, so I've been trying to get more involved in volunteering at the local clubs. And I have a puppy now, so I've been trying to spend as much time as possible outside with her, for her benefit as well as mine. But I definitely know where you're coming from with the notion of spending too much time indoors – I'm definitely guilty as charged on that account!

C: I didn't grow up with the Internet, you know? My first interactions with the Internet were in my early twenties, so, maybe I just have a really different perspective? Maybe I'm just a crotchety old person! Even with the Internet aside, I don't understand being angry about something you don't like unless it personally affects you. I guess you could be angry about a band you don't like if they were like jamming upstairs from your house, and preventing you from getting to sleep or something. But with our band – pretty much any independent band – it's easy enough to fucking avoid, it's not like playing at the fucking supermarket, you won't be walking around being bombarded by AIDS Wolf or Burmese, you know? Even though the access is so much easier, it's still music you have to seek out. It's not music in peoples' environments, so it just seems to me to be so fucking ludicrous that anyone would be upset about something that they took the effort to seek out.

J: I dunno, maybe they feel as though they have a pretty solid understanding of “what music should be,” what rules should be followed, and the mere act of seeing someone else existing in defiance of those rules somehow offends them on some fundamental level? And they feel like they gotta go out and “change the world for the better” by limiting creativiy? I don't know...

C: They want to change the world for the better? Then they should fucking start their own band or something!

J: Yeah! Start their own band, and even if they're just gonna end up writing songs about how much other bands suck, at least they're doing something creative. I guess, with having everything on the computer... you can get your groceries delivered to your home now, and stuff like that. You don't even have to leave the house if you don't want to. It just waters down and tones down everything if you don't use it the “right way,” so maybe it's in part that.

Another question: would you say that AIDS wolf has, or has ever had a “target audience?” Do you ever try to appeal to a specific subset of people, and/or do you ever try to deliver a specific message or invoke a specific reaction from your listeners?

C: No, we're pretty selfish, the way we approach playing music. We are our target audience. We try to make music that we like, find challenging and fun to compose and play. Everything else is kind of a bonus, like, if other people like it... fuck, we never expected things to ever get even close to the level they are at now. We just thought we would be playing basement shows in Montreal and Toronto forever. We didn't think that anybody outside our circle of buddies would ever care, and that people do, well, that's really cool! But it's not especially important for us, and if, all of a sudden, tomorrow, we decided that we wanted to radically change directions in what we are doing, we wouldn't really consider “Well, what is our audience going to think?” It seems almost like preemptive censorship. We never thought about fitting into a scene or appealing to anyone in particular, just playing music that, to us, felt really honest. We've been really luck to have a lot of really great interactions with a lot of our peers who we really respect and admire and even love and that means a lot, and it's always pretty awesome when we meet kids who tell us that they started bands because they were listening to our band, but that was never really the point, and it's not the end goal. The end goal is just figuring out how to keep our own neuroses at bay.

J: In a similar vein, in terms of the end goal, do you have any specific plans or future goals for the band? Is there a certain plateau or sonic destination you're hoping to reach? Or, I don't know what the alternative would be... just sort of letting things evolve naturally... do you have a more specific plan of what you'd like to see happen in the next 10 or 20 years?

C: Well, Hopefully in the next 10 or 20 years, we'll still be playing! We're all in our 30s now, and we've managed to keep a pretty good balance between real life, with adult responsibilities, and playing difficult music. Intention reveals itself to us little by little. I feel that, while things have been pretty organic and gradual, we still sound like a pretty different band than we did when we were starting out. While we like to kind of let nature take its course in that way, we also do specifically want to move away from rock as much as possible while still keeping somewhat within its boundaries, if that makes any sense at all.

J: Yes, definitely.

C: I guess, without trying to sound too pretentious, we're really trying to change the definition of rock. That's the main goal right there.

J: By that, do you mean you're trying to change it for yourselves in terms of how you approach music, or you're trying to affect the way the musical community sees rock – are you trying to invoke a change in peoples' eyes?

C: Both. I mean, I listen to a lot of older music and I also listen to a lot of new music, but when I listen to something like Beefheart, which came out in the 60s on a major label, to me it makes no sense that a lot of Indie rock today is so fake, you know? I don't want to put people down, but if things were that fucked up in the 60s, how come it hasn't evolved to be more challenging? I don't know... maybe we'll never achieve that, but we'd like to have some part in achieving or defining a new type of music. Hah, now I'm realizing I'm sounding totally pretentious... I mean, I have no idea if we're even anywhere close to getting there yet. If we're not now, we would like to eventually be playing music that has some kind of rock basis that does change and challenge the status quo on an aesthetic level, and on a compositional level.

J: Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. I personally don't think that sounds pretentious at all, I mean, it sounds like you're just being earnest, and that you've actually defined a set of principles that you stand by and that you try to incorporate into your music. I think that's something that a lot of bands do overlook. I've gotten discouraged recently while looking for similar artists – I play cello and I've been looking for other people to play with in a noisy-type situation, using sites like Craigslist and all that, and a lot of people don't really seem to put a lot of thought into anything, you know? I understand there's often an immediate desire to get out and produce something, and to make music, and just create, sure, but there's no real inclination towards doing anything new or different or even challenging 95% of the time. It's just about getting free beer, and getting laid – which has its benefits, too, I'm not denying that, but that's not all that music is about, at least not to me.

C: Well, since everyone in our band's in a long-term relationship, the getting laid part of it really isn't a concern! We don't feel like the natural evolution of a band is to get more palatable and get more catchy as time goes on. We're always trying to challenge ourselves more and push what we can do musically and compositionally. Like, for instance, we've been asked so many times, and I don't even understand why, but people want to remix our songs, and to me the whole idea of that is against what this band is about. We don't want someone else to take our music and make it palatable! We don't want our music to be playing in clubs for a bunch of douchebags on coke!

J: Do you mean techno remixes, beat-oriented remixes...?

C: Yeah, like dancey-oriented stuff, which is like the absolute antithesis of what we're trying to do. And that's kind of puzzling, that people would even contact us about that stuff, because we're so far removed from that kind of culture... and I actually find most of it pretty repellent, personally. But we don't have any goal, like “let's make catchier songs, so our stuff can get played on college radio more,” or “let's do a remix so we can get played in the clubs.” Today, to us, that's just a bunch of bullshit. Obviously, if your aesthetic inclinations lead you that way naturally, then that's fine and dandy and, once again, I'm not trying to push people down for having other interests or inclinations than us, it's just from where we're coming from, musically, it's really not about trying to evolve into something more palatable or catchy or popular, it's really about trying to evolve into something that we find spiritually satisfying.

J: So, in terms of remixes overall, let's say one of your fans, listeners, or even a fellow musician wanted to do a remix that wasn't about just taking your music and watering it down to something more palatable, but they wanted to work with the basic ingredients and wanted to make something new out of that – say, even a noise remix, or a slightly glitchier version of something that you've already done. Would you be adverse to that?

C: Yes! People have asked us to do less commercial remixes, and obviously we're not going to, like, be at their houses trying to stop them, but our music is our art, and when we record a song, it's done. That's the definitive iteration of that song. Obviously, we can't stop people from fucking with our stuff, if they really want to, but it's something, at least now, that we would rather not. We think our songs are good as they are, and while we appreciate that someone might be inspired to do something, I think it'd be more interesting if they would just write their own song from scratch.

J: My guess is that you would feel the same way about a cover song, too? Like, if another band wanted to cover one of your songs – would you appreciate that, or be opposed to it at all?

C: I would be opposed to it, but on a different level. Well, I don't know, I just don't think it's really that kosher to be covering songs of bands that are still around. Again, while I wouldn't stop anyone from doing it, and I might even enjoy the end result, I'm not going to help them, you know? I'm not going to email them my lyrics or send them our alternate tunings or anything. I don't really think that there's a ton of value in playing covers unless you're really doing something really different with it. For young bands to get their footing and to get their sound, they're so much better off just writing their own material, and then maybe covers can come later. Fuck, we're only doing our fist cover now, after six years of being a band. And we wouldn't cover a band that was still around, unless it was a very specific project that we were participating in.

J: Alright! This question is a little bit tangential. I kind of get the following impression – this is what I've heard: I'm not too big into the black or death metal scenes, but I've heard that a lot of those bands will go out of their way to deliberately sound brutal and aggressive, they will target specific melodic progressions and chord progressions that sound really disturbing or dark in an attempt to make themselves as black and macabre as possible. Do you observe that in the noise rock world as well and, more specifically, does AIDS wolf ever say, “Okay, we're going to take this particular chord structure and we're going to really try to sound abrasive and guttural;” or, “we're going to structure this song specifically to be sonically grating;” or does the musical aesthetic that you guys have just flow naturally?

C: It flows pretty naturally. I mean, when we write, we don't really consider stuff like that – it's more on a compositional level, not on a tonal level. So, you know, we will sometimes deliberately make something more disjointed, but, to us, that's not grating, that's just interesting! I don't really know anything about black metal or anything like that, I don't really relate to that. To me, it's very much a dude thing and, as a woman, I don't really see a place for myself in that culture at all. Our interests are definitely heavy, but we're more interested in approaching things from a more playful way, and trying to incorporate a wider range of influences. And, I think, in the noise rock scene, a lot of other bands are like that. People have a sense of humor, people are into play, people are into fun, and, at least with the bands that we tend to do stuff with – I obviously can't speak to every band in the scene – but I'm attracted to people who like to approach things in a very playful way. I keep saying playful again and again.... I think you can take playing music and making music very seriously, but at the same time, not be overly serious in your approach, if that makes any sense.

J: Yeah, definitely. I think there's a certain element of pretentiousness that comes with the black metal scene in particular, because everybody feels like they're in a constant competition to be as dark as possible, and, so, rather than just being as openly expressive as they can, or as playful as you said, they're all just sort of competing and swaggering about... and, there are some death/black metal bands I do enjoy, don't get me wrong - I'm not inherently opposed to any particular genre of music - I've just noticed this sort of egotistical posturing that comes along hand in hand with that style of playing, or, at least, with that approach to music.

C: Well, I guess one thing that's cool about noise rock is that it's a very fluid term. Bands in the noise rock scene don't necessarily sound alike. In black metal, there's a very specific sound – if you don't have that sound, you're not black metal, you're something else. Noise rock is very forgiving. You can have pretty much any instrumentation, lots of different approaches to composition, and it'd still be noise rock. It's not about “Well, I've gotta be more brutal than him,” you know? With noise rock, when, sonically, the stuff is so different, you can't really compete in that way, you know what I mean? AIDS Wolf is a noise rock band, and Neptune is a noise rock band, but we don't sound like Neptune, and they don't sound like us – and we'd never think of trying to one up them.

J: Yeah, in general, I get the impression, especially with 31G – sorry I keep parroting that one name, I'm just... I've been a real big fan of that whole community, and it was actually through them that I was originally introduced to you guys – anyway, I've just noticed that there's a much stronger inclination towards collaboration, and just treating each other with respect, like human beings, and actually focusing on creativity and good music making rather than trying to be Number One, and reaching the top of the charts, and blasting through everybody else in your path – that never seems to be a concern.

C: A big part of that is probably because a lot of this music is inherently non-commercial. I mean, what's the prize if you are number one?

J: Some people just get off on the ego-inflation that comes along with receiving an arbitrary award.

C: I guess, but when you're playing the kind of music that, in most cities you go to, you're going to be lucky to get 100 people out, and often you're going to be lucky to get 30 people out, you might as well just leave your ego at home. There are probably much better ways to feed it an fulfill it than by playing in a noise rock band! If I was really ego involved, I would probably seriously re-think what kind of music I wanted to make... and, maybe go for something that had a bit more popularity.

J: In terms of people actually showing up to shows, when you do have a good crowd, and you have a live performance going, how do you feel about the crowd's reactions in general? Would you rather people be contemplative and just stand and take things in? Do you prefer it when people are active, moving around, and engaging in the expression somehow?

C: Well, as a performer, a visceral response is more interesting. I actually had a really hard time on some of our European tours where, in some countries, people tended to be a lot more chin-scratchy and to me it felt very alienating. At least with a visceral response, You know that you're moving people in some way. At the same time, I don't want to be there to mediate or dictate how people react, because how you react to art or music is a very personal thing. It's just, because I'm a visceral person in my own reactions to stuff around me and in my performance, then I can immediately relate with a crowd that reacts in kind, and it kind of makes me feel more comfortable and at home.

J: Alright! I've got one more question, and it's just a general, final, concluding thought. I'm curious as to what your current project are, i.e. if you have any information on upcoming AW related events that you'd like to share, or interesting opportunities for your fans that are approaching in the near future.

C: Well, we have an EP that's coming out in September that Yannick and I are actually in the middle of screen printing the sleeves for right now. It's got five songs, and it's going to be coming out on Skin Graft Records. We're working on lots of smaller recording things right now: we're doing a split 12” with our friends, Shearing Pinx, from Vancouver. I'm doing vocals for this band Breast Fed Yak. Yannick and I are working on an album with our side band... Miles just put out a 7” with his solo project called Blue Lions, and it's a split with a local band called Black Feelings, which is probably one of my favorite bands in Montreal right now, and that's saying a lot, cause our scene's pretty awesome. Alex is doing kind of a million things at once, with both his solo project and his noise band. We have a lot of stuff going on... I think Miles has a full-length in the works, and on top of that, we're working on a new AIDS Wolf LP right now... I mean, it's not gonna be recorded for a long time – we're still kinda in the songwriting process – it's a concept album about Canadian politics. That's kind of where we're at now, building the songs and doing an insane amount of research. It's sometimes a little dry – I've been spending a lot of time at the library, reading biographies of different presidents and prime ministers.

J: Well, I think it's great that you're really investing yourself in the process. It sort of goes back to what we were talking about – little effort being put into the music making process as a whole, so I definitely appreciate that, and I'm really looking forward to seeing what you guys will put out in the future, it's been amazing so far, so – yeah!

C: Thanks, man!

AIDS WOLF ARE:

Chloe (Vocals)

Yannick (Drums)

Alex (Guitar)

Miles (Guitar)

AWESOME LINKS ARE:

Seripop Art
AIDS Wolf MySpace
AIDS Wolf Band Page on Skin Graft
The AIDS Wolf Blog
Thee Outernet, a blog run by AIDS Wolf members

(The above is a transcript of a phone interview, largely unedited, apart from me removing gratuitous utterances of words like "uh..." and "like..." on my part.)