Sydney hackers Second Nation list a set influences to make any self-disrespecting rock ‘n’ roll fan’s ears prick up – Psychotic Turnbuckles, Rose Tattoo, Bronx, Beasts Of Bourbon, Eddy Current, Drones, etc.

Having gotten off to a shaky start with UNBELIEVABLY Bad’s resident bullshit-slayer The Greasy Belcher quitting as their lead singer after one gig, Second Nation have found their feet as a power trio. Their self-released second EP, Delinquent, is back-to-basics rock, fresh out of a smelly suburban garage.

UB.com’s Danger Coolidge caught up with guitarist / vocalist Marco Klave…

Name 10 things that have inspired Second Nation?
Growing old ungracefully, trusty chords, punching below our weight, the punk DIY thang, nice legs in black stockings, overdriven guitars, great bands/shit bands, lyrcra, fucking the world up one song at a time, midget porn, Second Nation, Mr. T… is that 10? Whatchu talking bout fool?

Second Nation was originally formed by Greasy Belcher but he split. What’s the story?
He bought a Triumph, found a new woman, sent us a text and rode off into the sunset. We will sometimes get an encrypted secret message from him and wish him all the best in whatever conspiracy he chooses to fight next. We tried to find a singer and actually came close a couple of times only to be jilted at the altar. So finally we said fuck it! Lets just share vox between Rob (Rankin, bass / vocals), and Marco (Klave, guitar / vocals) keep the groupies and rock ‘n’ roll millions we’re raking in for ourselves.

What’s your favourite celebrity gossip magazine?
That would be New Weekly, how else can you to stay up to date on the state of the Nation in relation to the size of Kim Kardashians’ arse.

Who would emerge triumphant in an all-in brawl between the members of Second Nation?
Rob is the biggest at six and a half feet tall but soft as puppy shit so probably not him. Michael (Surina, drums) is a Vegan and is always sick, so I guess that leaves Marco.

Second Nation’s latest EP is Delinquent. Give us the whos, whats, wheres and hows – where was it made, who recorded it, how’d you pay for it, how is it different to First Gear, what label is it out through, where can folks get it?
Delinquent was Recorded at the SAE studios in Sydney by Stephen Beran and later mastered by Lamar Lowder. It was paid for in beers and out of our own pockets. Despite its raw sound it was a much more professional endeavor, with a lot more pre-production. It’s also more of a group effort than First Gear was. You can get it now on iTunes, CD Baby and Big Cartel, or you could contact the band through myspace or facebook.

Have any of you ever won a trophy or been given an award for excellence?
Rob was once voted the most likely to become a serial killer. That was before he let himself go…

How would you rate the scene in Sydney right now? Other good bands around, venues to play, pubs to drink at, record shops, etc…?
The Sydney scene is a bit slack in so far as it doesn’t seem to support emerging acts. The venues don’t want to promote and the bookers don’t either. Trying to get heard is harder than ever at the present. There are so many great bands out there and the Venues seem to put them thru like cattle. You all know these places already, Revolve, Pigeon Ground, Egg are great, also Repressed is bringing in some competition. Beatdisc is cool but that means navigating to Paramatta or the internet. There was some cool stuff at the rock n roll markets the other week, that might turn into something worthwhile. The Sandos home ground, the band room is great if you don’t mind stairs. The Carlisle for hiding out and the best pub food in Newtown.

What’s the best / worst gigs you’ve seen in 2010?
Worst gig was when we played at the Lewisham with Celebrity Morgue, the opening greeting was hello support bands… Best gigs, well, haven’t seen too much of note this year, maybe Faith No More at Soundwave. Looking forward to Cancer Bats and The Gaslight Anthem.

Final thoughts?
Yeah let’s thank Pandora, Janet, Bianca B, Bianca L, Kate, Peter, Nick, Orphan Annie and Bryce, The Licks, Eye on You and Eager 13 for their support. Michael wants to thank his cats but he can get fucked. Those who less than helpful can all get fucked and you know who you are. Also to all the virgins out there, thanks for nothing.

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Second Nation’s Delinquent EP is out now

Second Nation MySpace: www.myspace.com/secondnation

The latest outlet for the demonic musical stylings of Damian Sawyers (HISS, ex-Scorched Earth Policy), The Warm Feelings return to solo mode this week after a recent post-gig street fight ended his two-year creative relationship with drummer Mert Balkanli.

The back-to-back one-man noise attack begins this Friday evening at Newtown RSL as part of a free-for-all with Royal Headache, Woollen Kits and Low Life, followed by an encore ear-bashing the next arvo at Black Wire Records with Heil Spirits / Glacial Avatar Archives and others (see below for details).

In the following interview, UB.com’s Danger Coolidge taps into the warm feelings, fiery opinions, shady past and hot TV picks of old mate Damian Sawyers…

Name 10 things that have inspired The Warm Feelings.
My whole life experience is the main inspiration for The Warm Feelings. Growing up in the southwestern suburbs of Sydney in the ‘80s I was a rebellious delinquent child. I loved movies like First Blood, Class of 1984, Dirty Harry, Deathwish, Toxic Avenger, Class of Nuke em High, Robocop, The Warriors, Predator, all that violent bleak stuff like John Carpenter and a bunch of horror and gore as well as raunchy comedies like Porkies. Before I discovered music I was really into BMX, motorcross and skateboarding. I was one of those kids that got into fights and trouble at school. Other kids used to make up crazy, exaggerated stories about me to their friends that didn’t know me so I had this reputation as a psycho and by the time I was a teenager no one really messed with me and I no longer needed to prove myself. I discovered metal as a teenager first with Iron Maiden and AC/DC and then thrash bands like Slayer and Metallica and also liked glam stuff like Gunners and Motley Crue but always the heavier it was the more I liked it. So death metal and grindcore bands became my favourites. The top of the list was S.O.D, Carcass, Napalm Death, Terrorizer, Sepultura, Godflesh and Morbid Angel. By the time I was 16 I knew I wanted to play bass after mucking around on guitar a while so I bought a bass from the local hock shop for $300 that was actually worth $2600 new which I still have to this day. I made the money for the bass by selling a bunch of army helmets me and a mate had stolen from the local army barracks. His Dad was a soldier so he knew where to find their supplies. We stashed a heap of stuff under a building and were then spotted as we were leaving and had to run away. We had the whole barracks searching for us with trucks and guys running around everywhere looking for us but we were lucky and got away by escaping through a stormwater drain. I formed my first band with a mate from school and Mr. Danger Coolidge himself on guitar we used to play metal covers in my back shed for fun. Danger and I had a few other bands after that a grunge band that played a party and a grindcore band. Later we moved to the city and got heavily into industrial music so we decided to start a new band but this time skip the dramas of drummers started playing with a drum machine as a duo. The band was called Scorched Earth Policy. We put out a 7-inch on Blackhole Records and played live around Sydney and Melbourne between ‘94 – ‘96 and toured with Zeni Geva and Unsane. I started a noize/soundscape band around this time called Hiss and put out a CD called Alien Bass Soundscapes and formed the label Agrocalm and toured America. After the tour I lost the plot for a while had a bit of a life crisis and I ended these music projects and was on a self-destructive path using heroin and dropped out of society into my own world. This lasted for a few years, I nearly died a few times and decided life was worth living again so I rehabilitated myself went to TAFE and got a diploma in design. After finishing my studies I got back into music and started to write songs on guitar and formed The Warm Feelings.  It started with some mates but the others were too busy so I went solo for a while and then played with a drummer for a couple of years and now I’m playing solo again. I often write songs telling myself to get my shit together or reinforce my beliefs they’re kinda like a self-help books but in song format, other stuff is about social situations and ethics. I’m wishing for a better world but it seems to be getting worse and this is my way to speak out against it and try and encourage others to wake up to their true nature and be themselves without fear. I have always had an interest in esoteric knowledge, writers like Robert Anton Wilson, Christopher S. Hyatt, Aleister Crowley, Israel Regardie, Wilhelm Reich, Timothy Leary, William S. Burroughs have helped me open my eyes to the ways of the world and shown me on a path towards self liberation and enlightenment.

Warm Feelings used to be a duo but now it’s just you. What happened to your drummer Mert Balkanli and what led to you guys breaking up?
I met Mert via a mutual friend after I had been fired from Club X, a sex shop that I worked at. She said she knew a guy that worked at another store and might be able to get me a job. It wound up that Mert quit his job and then got a job at my old work after his place closed down. Mert’s from Turkey and had been living in New York, he was doing some experimental music with traditional Sufi musicians and I got interested to possibly collaborate on a soundscape piece. So I visited him and he played me a recording of a jam of his drumming with a rock guitarist that used to be in Tumbleweed. We then talked about metal and I knew we had to play together. The music came together very quickly and I got much better as a musician playing with him. The songs developed, plus we could jam and improvise on all kinds of genres. We became good friends, like brothers, but we used to fight and argue all the time, pretty much after every show over the most stupid reasons, usually about lugging gear, it was getting really ugly. I ended it after we had a huge fight after a gig. I chucked his drum case to the footpath whilst unloading our gear from a taxi so he threw my effects pedal case into the street and my pedals went everywhere. I then grabbed him by the throat and he then pushed me into a fence and that was it, one time too many. I had enough. I knew we would wind up killing one another if it kept up. Playing music is fun for me and this was ruining my experience of playing live. I would be on a high from the gig then it would always turn to shit. We’re still mates. He is doing his solo electronic thing, Izzettin, and learning to play guitar and write songs at TAFE.

How have things changed musically since going solo?
I taught myself to play guitar and a drum at the same time a few years back. I hold a drumstick in my right hand and hit a drum as I strum down on the guitar. I got really good at it and started to play shows and people were into it. Not long after I met Mert and we started to jam on stuff I’d written he made the songs more filled out and it sounded huge so I changed my style of playing and we developed the songs were pretty much a stripped-back hard punk rock band. I have since gone back to playing the drum and guitar together and stripped it all back and changed the songs it is now a lot poppier and more experimental, it’s still got some anthemic power rock elements to it but incorporating more noise and weirdness.

Seen any good TV / films, read any good books, heard any good conspiracy theories, etc. lately?
I’m a total addict for all the good quality TV shows coming out over the last few years. I don’t watch normal TV anymore; I just download the shows I like. I loved Twin Peaks and Carnivale and HBO set a high standard with big budget shows like Deadwood and Rome. The main guy now works for Starz so they are now producing similar quality shows like The Pillars of the Earth and Spartacus Blood and Sand. You can’t go wrong with HBO shows like True Blood, The Wire, Curb your Enthusiasm, Entourage, East Bound and Down. Showtime, FX, AMC and scyFi are all putting out great shows too, like Breaking Bad, Dexter, Sons of Anarchy, Justified, Supernatural, The Prisoner, Legend of the Seeker. Superjail and Metalocalypse are amazing cartoons. I also love black comedies like Parks and Recreation, 30 Rock, Freaks and Geeks, Arrested Development, It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia and my SciFi favs are Battlestar Gallactica, Firefly, Stargate and Warehouse 13. I’m collecting old Aussie movies. I just watched Last of the Knucklemen, which was funny. I recently watched Bad Boy Bubby again everyone should see that. Conspiracy theories? Well, that whole theory on the Illuminati creating a New World Order ain’t no theory, it’s a fact. George Bush Snr announced it in a speech on September 11, 1990. Were already living in the Brave New World. Everywhere we go we are spied on by surveillance cameras. It is just a matter of time until we will be living under a single World Government. The World is not run democratically by elected politicians it is run by big business overseen by the International Banking Organizations that have been in control of the World for hundreds of years. In 1760 a banker named Mayer Amschel Bauer changed his name to Rothschild and financed the creation of the Bavarian Illuminati with Adam Weishaupt. They created a network of the most powerful influential people and infiltrated Freemasonry and used it to recruit members to start a New World Order, which is still being carried out to this day. The Illuminati members infiltrated all the top positions of power and started the French Revolution. They took control of the wealth of Europe via their banking organizations which gave them the power to dominate and take control of the World. This power was kept exclusive to select ruling families that marry amongst each other to keep their wealth and power for themselves. These people are still in power and have been behind the scenes of nearly every war and political assassination in history. They use the World Bank and the Federal Reserve, both of which are private companies that run the money of the World, for their own purposes. I don’t know if I’m actually for or against this lot as they are opposed to the Church and its influence and power over society, which I am also of the same mind myself. If they were about bringing enlightenment and a better quality of life for everyone I would embrace it but it seems they are enslaving everyone getting us all into debt and dumbing everyone down into gullible morons so they can carry out their plan without interference.

What stuff has Warm Feelings released so far?
The only thing released is a track called “Anarchy JC” on a comp with UNBELIEVABLY Bad. Mert and I argued about recording too so we never got around to mixing the sessions we did. So all that stuff got scrapped. I’m now recording an album in my home studio which should be finished released by the end of 2010. There is a Hiss split release with Heil Spirits coming out and eventually a Hiss album will be released when I get around to compiling all my old material and remixing it and do some new recordings. I released a Hiss CD in 1996 called Alien Bass Soundscapes on my label Agrocalm which I’m reviving and will release some CD-Rs to start with.

Ever won a trophy or been given an award for excellence?
I won a trophy when I was 13 for BMX racing and I also won a trophy for shooting rifles in army cadets.

You’ve got a couple of gigs coming up, two in a row in fact. If we could only come to one though, what one would you recommend we come to?
The Friday night gig will be more of a party I’m organising it and have put together an amazing line up with Royal Headache headlining, Woollen Kits are coming up from Melbourne and Lowlife are a new punk band with members from Whores and Nevada Strange. The gig at Blackwire is an in-store with noise-based bands put on by my good mate Eli of Heil Spirits (former vocalist of Stockholm Syndrome). My set will be more experimental based like my project Hiss, I’m now starting to cross over the two projects and adjust my set according to the bands I’m playing with. I have around 20 songs that are all really diverse so I can play with metal, rock, noise or folk bands as my music contains elements of all that stuff.

You’ve been around the Sydney weirdo / noise / rock scene for a lot of years. What changes do you see compared with the “good old days”?
The underground rock scene is pretty good at the moment there are quite a few good bands around and people are supportive of each other. The only problem is there are no decent venues in Sydney to support the scene so a lot of stuff doesn’t get the chance to develop. Bands often break up before recording so unless you’re in the know and are at the shows it’s easy to miss out on even hearing some of them. The noise scene is pretty much dominated by academic types that make boring conservative music I don’t get much of a look in because I’m a bogan so I occasionally put on a show. I helped curate an experimental festival at the Darlinghurst barbershop Sedition. I made sure it had its fair share of weirdos play because I’m sick of these things usually being dominated by noise nerds. I got the legend Kriss Hades to play, which was a highlight. When I started to play live things were more scene segregated now people are into all kinds of stuff so you will see the same people at different kinds of shows which makes me happy. When I first started to put on shows my aim was to bring likeminded people together others like Lucas Abela (AKA Justice Yeldham) from Dual Plover have put on shows with this approach over the years too so we now have a diverse healthy scene.

What’s the best / worst gigs you’ve seen in 2010?
Nothing has excited me much. Probably parties at people’s houses with bands local like at Whore’s old house in Chippo and Shogun from Royal Headache’s backyard have been best. It’s probably not the worst but seeing Om at The Factory was such a letdown. The sound was pissweak for a huge PA and the beers were way over priced. Why do all Sydney venues suck arse? I don’t get it.

Final thoughts?
Always take things to a higher level that others would fear to go and you will always come out on top. If you’re going to do something do it well or don’t do it at all. Be true to yourself, don’t worry about offending others say it how it is. Thanks to all the folks that play music like their life depends on it! Fuck you to all the people who have put on a regular night and not booked me! Eat shit and die to all the selfish cunts that destroy what’s good in the World! Cheers to all the folks running alternate venues like Dirty Shirlows and Red Rattler! Love and respect for all the people that are trying to make the World better!!! Cheers,
Damo

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DATES:
Friday 20th August - Newtown RSL, Enmore Road [with Royal Headache, Woollen Kits and Low Life]
Saturday 21st August - Black Wire Records, 219 Parramatta Road, Annandale [with Heil Spirits / Glacial Avatar Archives, Un (aka Turds of Prey) and Festive Jackals]

The Warm Feelings MySpace: www.myspace.com/thewarmfeelings

Louisville sluggers Coliseum have just put out their third full-length, House With A Curse, the best damn piece of “pussy shit” you’ll hear all year.

UB.com’s Danger Coolidge caught up with leader Ryan Patterson to talk about evolution, Crime & The City Solution and Howling III: The Marsupials…

Everything’s new – a new record done in a new studio with a new drummer and released on a new label and newly reinvigorated sound. Did you feel like the band needed a shake-up or are all these changes unrelated to one another?
They were mostly unrelated… Well, no one thing caused the others to happen, but a lot changed in a short amount of time, that’s for sure. I definitely felt like the band needed a shake-up to a certain degree. We split with Chris mostly because of musical reasons and when I started writing songs I took a very different approach than ever before. I tried to give each new song a distinct personality and voice, to avoid writing in any specific genre trappings, to focus more on the rhythm section, to give more space for the songs to breathe and for vocals to thrive, among many other things. We decided to record with J. Robbins, we’d done one record with Kurt [Ballou] and wanted to work with someone different this time around. I had history with J. from working with him on the first Black Cross album and had always wanted to work with him again. We had planned for the album to be on Relapse and they wanted to put it out, but some behind the scenes events enabled us to be out of our contract with them. This gave us a clean slate and we were able to re-evaluate things and think about where we really wanted to be. Temporary Residence wanted to do the record and they were more in line with what we wanted, more in the classic indie label mould of Touch & Go or Dischord, with a great diverse roster. So it all came together, no one thing was the cause of any other, this all occurred over the course of six months or so, but from the outside I could see how it seemed like a major sea change. We didn’t broadcast much of this until it was all in place. It’s not like we had an open audition for drummers or went “shopping” for a label. Everything came together in a really wonderful and comfortable way, then we just let out the word once everything was in place.

What was the catalyst for change? What are some of the influences that went in this time? Is the greater variety more indicative of your tastes as a listener?
There are so many reasons for change, but at the same time it’s just a batch of new tunes, so they’re going to be different regardless. I didn’t want to cover the same ground we’d already travelled. In some cases we’d been trying to write the same types of songs over and over in the past, using some of the same blueprints each time. I also felt that the band had drifted to a different place than I’d intended. We definitely didn’t want to abandon anything – we’re still a punk band and always will be regardless of what the songs sound like. I do think the variety of the album reflects my tastes a bit more. My heart and soul is punk and hardcore and its offshoots, but that covers a lot of ground. In my mind that encompasses a lot of music, most of what I love from the past thirty years has some root in punk. I think influences come and go, they kind of get stronger or weaker here and there, without ever leaving you. So in that regard, this record was influenced by most of the same things that I’ve always been influenced by, it’s just that they manifest themselves in different ways over the years. One of the few big influences on the record was Crime & The City Solution, who I was introduced to in the last few years and became one of my favourite bands. Their music had a huge impact on me, so much that I named a song after the band and quoted Roland S. Howard in the song “Statuary”, although it’s actually a quote from his days in The Boys Next Door. There’s some Australia connection for you!

Old drummer Chris Maggio split and joined Trap Them – was that down to “musical differences” or was it personal? How did you recruit new drummer Carter Wilson?
We kept the split based on musical differences, but it’s all personal on one level or another, isn’t it? Ultimately we spent three years trying to all get on the same page musically and it never happened. We had great times and made some great music but I was unhappy and it reached a point where the band would end or Chris would go. I wasn’t ready to call it a day yet. Some time has passed now and we’re all friends. It was a tough thing to do but I think everyone is happier in the end. We got in touch with Carter by suggestion of my brother Evan. Evan’s band Young Widows played a show with one of Carter’s old bands in Birmingham, Alabama (where Carter lives) and he was impressed by his playing. Evan had suggested him numerous times, so when the time came I tracked Carter down through common friends and he came up to play with us. Carter and I have very similar influences, a lot of the same favourite bands, and a fairly close musical perspective. Carter works to serve the song and the groove, his playing is incredibly solid, he could be flashy but chooses to focus on hammering it down. Honestly, he has made the band better than it has ever been. We’re playing like a unit for the first time in many, many years.

What is your favourite movie, or maybe your all-time Top 5?
I watched Cool Hand Luke yesterday and was thinking it could be the best movie ever, it’s a great one. I don’t think I could pick five favourite movies, my passion for film goes just about as deep as my love of music. I think that Hitchcock and Kubrick are the two best directors of all time. I love just about everything that Michael Haneke has done, same with Sam Peckinpah and the Coens. If I had a week to really consider it I could probably come up with a list of my ten favourite directors. There are quite a few directors, like all the ones I’ve mentioned here, that are more important due to their body of work than any single film. A few favourite flicks off the top of my head: Badlands, Chinatown, North By Northwest, The Thing (Carpenter’s version), Raising Arizona, Robocop, Apocalypse Now, The 400 Blows, Le Samourai, Black Orpheus… There are so many.

House With A Curse features some pretty surprising guest appearances, like Will Oldham (Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy), J. Robbins (Jawbox) and Peter Searcy (Squirrel Bait)… Why did you decide to bring in outside contributors and how did you go about recruiting them?
Most of the guests were people whose music we love and respect, so we wanted to have them involved in the record. In some cases that was using their voice, in others it was playing an instrument that we couldn’t play ourselves. In all cases it was something that they brought to the album that was unique and important. Since most of them were from Louisville, we wanted to try to represent Louisville’s vast music community and how closely related it all is here. With the exception of the violinists on the record who were friends of friends, everyone else is someone I know and so I just asked them, simple enough. Most of the guests are long time friends and it meant so much to have them involved.

The song “Lost In Groningen” – what’s that about? I’ve been to Holland but never got up to Groningen because I was too busy getting stoned in Amsterdam – from what I’ve heard, the Vera Club is one of the greatest places on the planet.
We played the Vera club in Groningen on our second European tour. It’s a great place, really awesome. The song was inspired by our time in Groningen, but not in a literal sense. I spent some time that evening roaming the city in the rain, not lost but soaking up that feeling of being alone in another country… Vera has a room where the bands eat before the show and the walls are covered with those old 8×10 promo shots that every band had in the days before photos where emailed. It was just about every band you could imagine… Legendary bands, some of the best bands to ever exist, cult heroes of the underground, band who had travelled the world, bands who had a massive impact on music as we know it… But scattered throughout, between all the greats, were bands who were all but forgotten, who were essentially lost in the annals of music. At times I feel like I’m lost right there with them… The song is about the futility of the dream we pursue, about trying to having some impact and carve out some type legacy in our little microcosm of the massive world of music. I guess I feel like I’m lost in Groningen most of the time.

What’s the best and worst of the feedback you’ve got so far?
The worst, but maybe my favourite, was the first review I saw on some website where the person called some of the record “pussy shit”. Quite eloquent. For the most part, it seems like people are loving the record and connecting with it in all the right ways. I think way too much has been made of how “different” the record is and people form opinions without hearing it or letting it sink in. Most of my favourite records where the ones that I didn’t like upon the first few listens, but have stuck with me over time to become a big part of my life.

You toured Australia with Dillinger Escape Plan – how was that? What chance another Australian tour?
Man, it was kind of mind-blowing on a few different levels… John Howarth / Riot brought us over with Dillinger and he’s an incredible guy, so warm and welcoming, he treated us so well. It was the best we’ve been treated on any tour we’ve ever done, John and his crew of guys were great to us. Flying to each show was wild, a far cry from our usual days spent in the tour van. The shows were all great and I know some of the Dillinger guys from way back, so it was a really cool time. I realise that the cost of some of the shows was higher than the average Coliseum fan might pay, but it was an opportunity to play to a lot of people that were unfamiliar with our band and the response was great. As a tourist I was a little surprised by how similar Australia seemed to the States, it seemed as a bit of mixture of modern Europe and America, at least what we saw in the cities. Most westernised major cities are going to be essentially the same these days, I suppose. I had some dreams of seeing more of the country and the outback, getting to experience some of the magical Australia I’d seen in Walkabout and Picnic At Hanging Rock. Maybe next time. We’re working on another Australian tour and talking to some other great bands about coming over together… We’ll see what happens. If the shows and the finances work out, we’d love to come over again soon… Despite the painfully long flight over and back!

Final thoughts, shouts outs, disses, g’days, get fuckeds…?
I love UNBELIEVABLY Bad, it’s the best zine left on the planet. Australia’s Escape 2000 aka Turkey Shoot is one of the greatest exploitation flicks ever. Also, Australian trashterpiece Howling III: The Marsupials is the weirdest/worst movie I’ve ever seen and should be seen by anyone who reads this. Hello to John Howarth / Riot, Brett and Maus, 4Dead, My Disco, Carpathian, Mit, and everyone else we know Down Under.

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House With A Curse is out through Temporary Residence

Coliseum MySpace: www.myspace.com/coliseum

“My mum is 4-foot tall and everyone is still scared of her. That’s what I want this band to be.” – Jem Maloney, Fangs Of……….. drummer.

Fangs Of……….. (AKA Fangs Of A TV Evangelist, Fangs Of Satanic Soccer Mums) is a Melbourne trio comprised of Jace (guitar/vocals), Mikey (bass) and Jem (drums). They graduated with honours from The Melvins college of noisemaking, majoring in headfuckery.

To taste the awesomeness for yourself, get your fangs into this free download of their latest release, Fangs Of A TV Evangelist LP <click here> courtesy of Jem’s label WeEmptyRooms. If you dig it, buy the vinyl, ya cheap fucker! And go see ‘em on tour with the mighty Hard-Ons right now (remaining dates listed below).

UB.com’s Danger Coolidge got the Fangs Of……….. story from drummer, label-owner and DIY demon, Jeremy Maloney…

You’ve released stuff under the names Fangs Of Satanic Soccer Mums and Fangs Of A TV Evangelist… Do you wear different fangs for different occasions?
Jace asked me to be in a band with him. My condition was that we change names all the time ‘cos I love how Foetus / JG Thirwell etc. has done that over the years. Interestingly with each name change our tunings have gotten lower. Actually that probably isn’t very interesting. In years to come when we are a cult band with actual fans I wanna do gigs under the old names where we play the old albums and people can pretend they own the old records and have always loved us.

10 things that inspire Fangs Of………..?
Honestly I think our strength lies partly in the fact we don’t all like the same stuff or look to the same places for inspiration but I do love making lists so…
1. Conservative Brisbane governments.
2. John Platten (Hawthorn Footbal Club 1986-1997).
3. Passive aggressive nudist drum circle hippies in Lismore making abominable curries and dropping pills.
4. Fair to say we all love Melvins.
5. Driving 10 hours to your LP Launch in Adelaide to be told the venue fucked up and you can’t play.
6. The opportunity to swim nude when on tour.
7. Jace has a kid, that’s pretty inspiring stuff.
8.  My mum is 4-foot tall and everyone is still scared of her. That’s what I want this band to be.
9. Bands who sell more T-Shirts than records.
10. The anticipation with each gig that this could be the one where we sell a record.

Ever won a trophy or been given an award for excellence?
Never! And to be honest it shits me. My mum keeps my grade 6 graduation plaque thing on the kitchen bench ‘cos that’s the highest accolade I have yet achieved. Jace won the Mullimbimby Banana throwing competition in 1983. It’s still talked about upon return to trips to his hometown. The local boy done good. I can’t get onto Mikey but chances are he is a little higher achieving than Jace and I.

What other bands have youse been in, and what other bands are you in right now?
Mikey’s old band Brain Resin (Brisbane) would have been huge if they weren’t so ahead of their time. Jace is from a bunch of bands even less popular than Fangs of and probably led a few drum circles in Lismore and I am in Fire Witch, Inappropriate Tough Guy Behaviour and elise&jem. Essentially this is a ‘supergroup’ but the media haven’t really cottoned onto this yet.

What stuff have you released so far, are any of these still available?
Fangs of CDR, Fangs of Satanic Soccer Mums CDR and Fangs of a TV Evangelist LP. If recent history is anything to go by all will still be available for some time. We also have screen-printed undies. You can get our stuff from these places: www.weemptyrooms.com (our label), Conspiracy (Belgium), Crucial Blast (USA), Fuck Yoga (Macedonia), Robotic Empire (USA), Super-Fi (UK), X-Mist (Germany), or if you live in Oz go to good indy stores like Missing Link, Repressed, Black Wire, Vox Cyclops, Round and Round, etc.

What have you got on the horizon?
We have a live record coming out in a few months which might just be the greatest live album of all time, a Split 7” with Perth band ‘Injured Ninja’ (out via boutique label Aniseed Records) and an LP later in the year/early 2011. It’s all recorded and mixed, just trying to convince some other labels to jump on board and help release it. No anyone keen to tarnish their labels reputation?

Who would emerge triumphant in an all-in brawl between Jace, Jem and Mikey.
Being that we live in Melbourne Jace and Mikey could safely gang up on the Indian knowing the law is on their side. I think Mikey could beat us both but he’d feel terrible about doing it. Someone asked me the other day who would win in a fight between nude me and clothed me? I said clothed, she insisted upon nude.

What’s the best gig you’ve seen in 2010?
Dad They Broke Me final gig at The Old Bar. The scale by which heaviness is measured was ceremoniously destroyed. Newcomers “Flesh World” have also reassured me good new bands are still coming out of this town which is important to me.

Youse are playing a few gigs with the Hard-Ons at the moment – how did you hook that up? BTW, how amazing are the Hard-Ons – do they keep getting better as the years go by or what?
I have been putting out Nunchukka Superfly records (via WeEmptyRooms) and booking them shows for a few years. More recently I put out a Hard-Ons 7” on WeEmptyRooms and am doing a follow up LP. I told them it’s not fair I have to be stuck at home printing and glueing records together and I wanna play the big rock shows. You give a little, you get a little. Indeed they do just get better with each record. I have to say it took me a while to come round to them, at first I thought they were the weaker cousin to Nunchukka Superfly but then I got a sense of humour and Hard-Ons made sense!

Any desire to tour overseas? Any thoughts about where you might find a willing audience?
Your question is rather poignant. Mikey is convinced there is a country out there with an audience for us but we just don’t know where it is yet! We are organising a tour of South East Asia for early 2011. Japan, USA and Europe are all possibilities but if and when they will happen is yet to be seen. No shortage of desire mate.

Final shout-outs, g’days, get fucks, etc…?
I’d like to give a shout out to the chick who gave me a bag of hash cookies after our show at The Annandale on Friday. Thanks, and I hope you meant to do that and didn’t wake up the next day lamenting their loss. Get fucks… not sure you got the space on your website mate. Try to be a glass half full man anyway. Thanks DC. I feel like our cred just skyrocketed from being published in UNBELIEVABLY Bad. And I mean that, I’m not being a prick.
Cheers. jem

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DATES [Hard-Ons, Fangs Of...........]:
Friday 13th August – The Maram, Canberra
Saturday 14th August – Hamilton Station Hotel, Newcastle

Fangs Of A TV Evangelist LP can be downloaded free at: www.mediafire.com/?6szons6y1xk5pnn

This and other Fangs Of……….. releases are available to buy from WeEmptyRooms: www.myspace.com/weemptyrooms

Fangs Of……….. MySpace: www.myspace.com/fangsof333

Holy guacamole, hold onto your nachos, Mariachi El Bronx are coming back to serenade Australia this October.

The snazzily attired alter egos of LA punk rockers The Bronx will be here for a one-off show at the Beck’s Bar as part of the Melbourne International Arts Festival.

And in case you hadn’t heard, The Bronx themselves will be back travelling the countryside early next year with Soundwave 2011, which also stars Iron Maiden, Slayer, The Melvins, Social Distortion, High On Fire, Kylesa, Trash Talk and The Sword as well as about 50 lame American bands.

UB.com’s Danger Coolidge caught up with El Bronx vihuela-slinger Joby J. Ford…

Mariachi El Bronx are coming to play Melbourne Festival in October. That’s a long way to come just for one date – I smell a shitload of money behind this scheme. Why can’t you come and play other parts of Australia too?
I think it’s because we are doing Soundwave next year. Radius clause? I have no idea. We should though. I’ll make some calls.

Was Mariachi El Bronx inspired by any particular musicians / bands? How do you know so much the fundamentals of Mariachi music, the tunings, techniques, etc.?
Mariachi Vargas and Los Lobos were probably the biggest influences. As far as learning it, being on the road all the time we found lessons on YouTube. Gotta do what you can when you can.

Who designed and made your awesome uniforms?
A man named Elias in a section of East LA called Boyle Heights. Pretty sweet going in to get (fitted) groped by the dude. He has pictures of himself on the wall in this massive Aztec headdress jumping in fire. He is pretty stoked on the male to female ratio of mariachis in LA. Party while you work.

How do you care for your uniforms on the road, do you keep them washed and ironed?
We don’t. Ken [Horne, jarana] always yells at us for treating them like shit. They all get pretty funky after a week. That’s nothing on how funky they are after three months.

What’s happening with new Bronx / Mariachi El Bronx records?
About halfway through a Bronx record song wise (I think). Haven’t started Mariachi yet. We wrote a ton of stuff on the road but ever since my wife started making me juice vegetables and drink them every day I have a new energy. I feel like Bronx right now. Probably looking at releases next year.

You’ve gotten heavily into the production side of things over the past few years. Where’s your studio at? What projects have you been working on?
Studio is in a town called Van Nuys. Horrible place. Nothing but recording studios and pornos being shot. It is probably the grimmest city on earth. Good Mexican food though. Projects – I am just wrapping up records for Face To Face and Cerebral Ballzy [Check ‘em out UB readers - www.myspace.com/cerebralballzy - DC]. Both are coming out fantastic. Shutting down the production for a while to focus on creating new Bronx records.

Any more Social Club singles on the cards? What about more Drips stuff? Jedi Nights?!!!
Jedi Nights will only perform in Birmingham, England until the record companies agree to our demands of having two recording contracts instead of just the industry standard of one. Progress is being made. Drips – there is a few ideas floating about. I just talked to Dave [Hidalgo Jr., drums] and Vince [Hidalgo, bass] and we have “plans”. Social Club is something I really want to bring back. I haven’t touched that project for a long time. Perhaps it is time.

Seen anything good lately?
My bed.

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Mariachi El Bronx will play the Beck’s Bar at The Forum on October 23rd as part of the 2010 Melbourne Festival

Mariachi El Bronx self-titled CD is out now through White Drugs / Shock

The Bronx MySpace: www.myspace.com/thebronx

Who started the label?
I (Matt) started the label about four years ago with the aspiration to release my friend’s bands, have fun and as a nice way to waste any excess money I had coming in from my full-time job. I’m happy enough to say that nothing much has changed since then and that I have achieved all these goals. I still release my friend’s bands, I still have fun and I still waste my money.

Where is your homebase?
Like all good record labels my homebase is my home, the label started on the Central Coast, I moved to Sydney about three years ago and as of last week am now based in Redfern, the heart of Sydney. I don’t have any sub branches but I do enjoy working closely with other Australian labels to release music.

What kind of distribution do you have?
You can find most Lesstalk releases at Beatdisc Records, Repressed Records, Missing Link and dribs and drabs around other parts of Australia in CD bargain bins, DIY distros, etc. As a part of digital shift I have spent the last month uploading all the wav files of every release to bandcamp <WWW.bandcamp.com> for streaming/downloading from the Lesstalk website, which I think is pretty cool and unique for a label, hopefully by the end of the month you will be able to listen to every release from start to finish, which if you had the determination would take you just under a day.

How can a band get signed to your label?
Buying me a beer would be a nice start. Nah, I dunno, I’ve never really thought about it. All of the bands on the label are friends of mine with a mutual perspective on their love of music. I think that is most important (other than playing killer songs). I was once approached by a company that managed a bunch of Australian Idols finalists to sign and release their latest singles blah blah, I insisted that they start a Shitfight/Crux/New Justice Team cover band and call themselves “The Australian iDolls” and they had themselves a deal, it never eventuated.

What are the biggest challenges you face as a record label owner right now?
The challenges… convincing people to support Australian music with their back pockets at a time when everyone seems most unwilling to part with the dough. I think it is rather bleak commercially all round, but other streams of income will eventually form to support the bands and music. But I don’t think I’ll ever see a day when I can give up my day job, nor do I want to. But saying that, I think we are definitely in a strong position, all majors have started to try to “look independent” and the way I see it most people are able to download for free any major label record as they become available, but smaller labels are able to guard their catalogue much closer and more easily, and control when and how it is released to the public.

Why do you do it?
The same reason as everyone else, because they love it and wouldn’t rather be doing anything else in the world. I think it combines my two passions of business and creativity together, and it’s always great to hold that final product in your hand and listen to it over and over again, and then get heaps psyched about the next one, album launches, album tours, parties, yeh love pretty much everything about it. Wait… I think my most favourite part about owning a record label is the “label signings”, it usually involves getting the artist round my place, cooking food and getting completely obliterated until one of us confesses their love to the other.

What else do you do?
I play in about half of the bands released on Lesstalk, the other half of the releases is the music I sweat over the most. Then I have my normal job behind a desk as a marketing program manager for a small software firm, which gives me the flexibility to release what I want without many constraints that others might face (time or money).

What is your favourite holiday destination?
My favourite place to tour to with music as a holiday would have to be probably Melbourne for its atmosphere and refreshing music (it’s like Sydney but different!). But when I want to get away from all that I always dig playing the south coast for their empty waves, great scenery and frothing music.

What is your most recent releases and what’s on the agenda for the short-term future?
I’m just waiting back for the final master for a release coming out soon, it is a compilation of bands covering their favourite children’s theme songs, featuring Aktion Unit, Fox Trotsky and the Explosives, Penguins, Drillbit, Simo Soo, Anal Discharge, Michael Crafter and heaps more. It’s taken me ages to collect all these covers and compile them but it’s sounding heaps varied with a billion different genres all having their own take on their favourite kids show growing up.

And the long-term future?
Putting on a camping/music festival called Artless Armchair 6 that is taking place from October 22nd till the 24th at Bungwahl near Seal Rocks. It will be so awesome that I am unable to conceive life past that weekend at this point in time.

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Lesstalk site: www.lesstalkrecords.com

I Exist hail from Canberra, where the shadow of Henry’s Anger still looms large.

Featuring ex and current members of 4 Dead, Hard Luck, Slowburn, Pod People, Blood Duster, etc. they have started to turn heads with a heavy rockin’ hardcore sound with undercurrents of stoner and doom.

They recently released their debut album, I: A Turn For The Worse, through Common Bond Records, the follow-up to the Three Nails And A Book Of Flaws 7”. Imagine Eyehategod and Integrity going toe to toe and bong for bong.

I Exist are preparing to hit the Tarago for a bout of touring with Extortion and Sex Wizard (see below for dates)…

UB.com’s Danger Coolidge caught up with guitarist Aaron Osborne…

10 things that have inspired I Exist?
Eyehategod, Sleep, Iron Monkey, Integrity, Mindsnare, beer, weed, mates, Gibson guitars and loud amps.

What other bands have the members been in, and what other bands are youse in right now?
A lot haha. Hard Luck, Slowburn, 4 Dead, Pod People, Blood Duster, Vera, Coldfront, Mad Rush, Stab in the Dark, list goes on, but those are probably the memorable ones, haha.

You guys are from Canberra. What bands / venues / pubs / labels / porn and fireworks wholesalers / etc. are happening in the ACT at the moment?
Hahaha, good question. Bands: Dead Kings, 4 Dead, Pod People, Vera, Jerkstore. Venues: ANU Bar, Bar 32, various Youthies, Civic pub, RSLs and the Basement. Labels: Not much. Porn: Fyshwick and parts of Hume are pretty much solely devoted to it. Fireworks got banned last year – worst thing to happen to Canberra in ages.

What’s your favourite movie?
Godfather pt 2, I can’t ever get over how much I love that movie.

Give us the whos, whats, wheres and hows of your album, I: A Turn For The Worse? Where was it made, who recorded it, what’s it sound like, how’d you pay for it?
Was recorded with Jason PC from Blood Duster in his studio in Melbourne called Goatsound. It sounds like a cross between Integrity and Iron Monkey or Sleep perhaps. We have fast hardcore parts and we have slow blues riffs. I’m really happy with how it turned out. We paid for it with our own money and a very little bit of money we had left after some shows from merch.

It’s out through Common Bond, which is now a subsidiary of Resist? How did you hook that up? Is there any difference between being on Common Bond than being on Resist – like, why not just release it though Resist?
I just emailed Graham and asked him basically. Not much more to it. He was into the band, we were really keen for him to release it and he did. Um, I don’t really know as I’ve yet to experience being on Resist so I only now the Common Bond side of things so far. We deal with Dani (who does most of the running of CBR) as well as Graham but they wanted it to come out on CBR and we were happy with that. Wasn’t really in a position to argue at the time, haha.

Who is smelliest member of I Exist?
No one really smells that bad, everyone is pretty pleasant, haha. Jake gets grumpy when he sleeps in the van, so he’s a wuss and Kelly our somewhat live member may have pissed in a van once. So I guess those two.

Youse are touring with Extortion and Sex Wizard in a couple of weeks. It’s a solid line-up, even though all the bands play different styles. Is that exciting?
Very exciting. Extortion are one of the best bands in the country right now and Sex Wizard are doing some awesome stuff and I can’t wait to see them live – two drummers, awesome guys, should be great.

Got any desire to tour overseas? Any thoughts about where you might find a willing audience?
Yeah for sure. I guess it’s everyone’s dream to go overseas and see the world and get to play shows, get drunk and fuck around while seeing it all. I dunno where we’d find anyone at this stage. I’m sure someone somewhere likes us though.

What’s the best gig you’ve seen in 2010 so far?
Ughhh not too sure, probably a Mindsnare / Extortion / Agents of Abhorrence / Pod People one.

Final shout-outs, g’days, get fucks, etc…?
Thanks heaps for the interview, come out and see us on the Extortion tour and check out our album, out now on Common Bond, vinyl version released August 13th through Midnight Funeral. Cheers!

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DATES [Extortion, I Exist, Sex Wizard]:
Friday 13th August – ANU Bar, Canberra
Saturday 14th August – Sandringham Hotel, Sydney
Sunday 15th August – The Loft, Newcastle [AA]
Wednesday 18th August – YAC, Byron Bay [AA]
Thursday 19th August – Snitch, Brisbane
Friday 20th August – Black Box, Sunshine Coast [AA]
Saturday 21st August – Shed 5, Gold Coast [AA]
Thursday 26th August – Arthouse, Melbourne
Friday 27th August – Enigma, Adelaide

I: A Turn For The Worse is out through Common Bond / Shock

I Exist MySpace: www.myspace.com/iexistmusic

A few weeks back at The Old Bar in Fitzroy, sludge supremos Dad They Broke Me launched their new LP, ROT, and played their last gig at the same time. Grown men cried. I know because I was one of ‘em, and I was at home in Sydney at the time!

UB.com asks that you please reserve a minute’s silence before reading this final interview with bass player Rob Webb…

Name 10 things that inspired Dad They Broke Me.
1. Rob (bass) and John (Box, drums) playing in a punk band called Corrosion in country Victoria in their mid teens. Seeing Pungent Stench, who’d incurred the wrath of Derryn Hinch on A Current Affair in high school, and deciding grind was the most achievable means of expressing their feelings.
2. Simon (Robbins, vocals) going to every gig at EVs in Croydon between 1989 and 1995, witnessing local heroes the Aqua Nuggets, as well as international acts like Fugazi and Mudhoney. Being there when the local Christian group successfully shut down a Deicide show, which Shagnum was scheduled to support in 1995. Shagnum features John from Dad They on drums, and later Simon himself on vocals.
3. John and Simon meeting through Darren Davidson, another outer Easter suburbs local, who introduced John, Rob and the three other OK people in Omeo to Christbait and Fudge Tunnel.
4. Ramzy (Hamra, guitar) meeting Ceridwen, John’s sister and later marrying her. John discovering Ramzy had seen every great band to pass through Melbourne from 1990 onwards, and Ramzy introducing us all to Slint and the Amphetamine Reptile back catalogue.
5. A short-lived band called Buggins, named after the Aussie stuntman who killed himself, featuring Ramzy, John and Rob, which ended when John moved to Japan.
6. Living in Japan and seeing bands in Osaka take heavy music in interesting and original directions.
7. Returning to Melbourne and finding a whole new crop of bands also pushing the envelope, such as Whitehorse, Agents of Abhorrence and Grey Daturas.
8. Max Agents, Pete Whitehorse and Rob(s) Daturas bringing out amazing bands, such as Iron Lung, Artemus Pyle, Yellow Swans and Municipal Waste, and realising that it’s possible to get great bands to come here and also to find an audience for them to play to.
9. Our partners and children, the people we’ve met and bands we’ve played with, our record collections, the movies we’ve seen, the books we’ve read and the places we’ve visited.
10. The UNBELIEVABLY Bad article on Sadistik Exekution & Jem’s Japan tour diary.

DTBM seem to have a strong connection with Japan. What’s the story?
Simon moved to Japan first in 2000 and started taking photos at shows. John followed shortly after. The Osaka crew was initially pretty suspicious of their intentions, because most foreign guys who go to Japan do so to sleep with as many Japanese girls as they can. It took quite a bit of persistence before they were accepted. This led to John appearing in Tetsuo as a metal percussionist, a band which featured Shibata and Iso from Birushanah. When Tetsuo disbanded, Shibata formed Birushanah with John and Simon in 2001. I (Rob) lived in Japan as well during 2001 and 2002, but I just got drunk and had teeth knocked out whilst watching Birushanah.

There has been a bit of Japan / Melbourne band exchange program happening over the years. How did that all get rolling?
Shibata from Birushanah was keen to establish what he called the ‘Hokage Community’, which is basically a network of bands that assist each other with touring. This has seen them go to Europe a couple of times as well as the US, and has resulted in many bands touring Japan as well. John organised the first tour, which was intended for Australia, but it was a disaster because Immigration sent Birushanah back to Japan. They’d arrived carrying their guitars and a friendly customs officer casually asked if they were intending to play any gigs while they were here. They innocently answered ‘yes’, and were sent home on the next flight. They weren’t allowed to return for two or three years as a result. Palm toured in 2005 and was the first taste that Melbourne audiences had of the jaw-dropping intensity of the Osaka crew. It was really good for us to be able to share these bands we’d been enjoying whilst living in Japan with our friends, and Palm set the standard for the bands that followed. In 2006, Dad They toured Japan with Agents of Abhorrence. We were ‘chaperoned’ by different bands depending on which leg of the tour it was. This formed the connection with Realized from Sapporo, who also looked after Fire Witch, and completely blew them away too, and a bunch of other bands as well. Birushanah and Ryokuchi came out to Australia a few weeks after our tour of Japan ended and their visa ban had been lifted. Pete Whitehorse and Jem Fire Witch helped book some of the shows on the tour and this led to their respective tours of Japan. In the years since, Jem has booked a tour for Ryokuchi, he and the Dad They co-organised a tour for Realized and earlier this year Rob Mayson from Whitehorse brought Birushanah out again. A few years back, The Rivalry (awesome Adelaide band now sadly defunct) booked a tour for Palm with Palm returning the favour in Japan shortly afterwards. It’s been a healthy, mutually beneficial relationship that I hope continues. Within Dad They, we’re all married and have four children between us, so our involvement has been less and less in recent years. It’s nice to think we had a hand in starting it though.

Ever won a trophy or been given an award for excellence?
I won the most determined award in footy (you’re shit but you turn up to training) when I was thirteen. Dad They, however, sadly has an empty trophy cabinet. We hear the words ‘underrated’ a lot, but we’ve always been our own biggest fans and that’s been enough to sustain us for the past six years. On the rare occasions we’re able to get together socially, we bore our partners silly with ‘how good are we’ conversations.

Give us the whos, whats, wheres and hows of your new LP, ROT?
Rot was recorded over a weekend in September of 2008 by Neil Thomason (formerly of Ricaine) at his studio, Head Gap. In the two years between its recording and release, Ramzy and I became parents for the first time, and John for the second, so the band went into hibernation for a bit. We approached Jem to release it on We Empty Rooms in April, and he did in 2 months what we couldn’t do our-useless-selves in 2 years. We recorded its predecessor, Lack at Head Gap as well. It’s the best way to spend a weekend. John said that even if you didn’t come out with a recording it’d be worth the money, because it’s relaxed, quality time enjoying Lebanese bakery treats, Neil’s fanzines from the late 80s/early 90s, proper coffee and bagging out other bands. The technical side of things is a bit of mystery to me, but we wanted it to sound as much like what we heard in the rehearsal room as possible, no matter how unpleasant the result. This seemed to fit comfortably with Neil’s approach. He has a sweet desk and tape machine, and the whole place looks and smells really nice. The process was exactly the same with Rot as it was with Lack. With the exception of vocals and the odd guitar overdub, both were recorded live, Ramzy (guitar) and I (bass) playing in the small room and John (drums) in the large room. We liked the drum sound on the Ricaine albums, and Nick Carroll recorded albums in general, and were keen to achieve a similar, unaffected sound. The most significant difference between the two was Ramzy’s guitar tone. It was much more bottom-end-y on Lack, and he wanted it to be brighter on its follow-up. Consequently, Rot is a much less murky recording. Having said that, I quite liked the murkiness. The first recording was done by Edryan Jafaar and Simon Taylor as part of their sound engineering course at RMIT. Those guys used to be an unbelievable noise duo called Malakat. It’s pretty scuzzy and my bass sounds like I’m playing in the rehearsal room three doors down, but it captured us pretty well. It was a really awesome experience. We set up and played our set start to finish and it had the feel of a gig.

Looking back at the life (and death) of DTBM – what are some of the things you are most proud of?
Touring Japan with Agents; bringing Palm, Birushanah (a couple of times), Ryokuchi, Realized and Edge of Spirit out to Australia and playing a small part in hooking them up with the likes of Fire Witch, Whitehorse, Grey Daturas and The Rivalry, who’ve been able to tour in Japan on the basis of these relationships, or assist Japanese bands with touring; and recording and releasing three albums, despite busy jobs, families and procrastination.

Why break up? Why can’t the band continue to exist but only play occasionally?
We started winding down a couple of years ago, but the reason it’s become more definite is because John’s moving back to Japan with his family for a few years. My wife’s from the UK and it’s more than likely we’ll move back to England in that space of time. If we’re still here when John gets back, we’ll definitely play again. We’ve talked about trying to do a tour in Japan or Europe, and I think Pissbolt (3/4 of Dad They) probably will tour Japan before too long. I hope it’s not just talk, but in the end it’s money I spose. We’re not particularly volatile people nor do we have personality clashes, it’s just circumstance that’s brought this about.

You launched your new LP and played your last show at the same time. Was it more like a celebration or a funeral?
It was just a regular, albeit awesome, gig at the Old Bar. It wasn’t particularly charged with emotion or anything. It did sell out two bands in though, which was nice. It featured Spacebong from Adelaide, who kindly hooked us up with a show over there a couple of weeks beforehand, and play the rockin’ eyehategod style of doom I enjoy; Breathing Shrine, which is Rob and Bonnie formerly of the Grey Daturas, who do really focused improvisation; Fire Witch, who seemed even more intense and muscular sounding despite a three-year break; and Whitehorse, featuring its best line-up ever. We were able to finish up with the bands that had inspired us and kindly put us on shows on so many of the great tours they’d organised. We’ve been really lucky to be part of such a great little community of motivated people who get shit done. Dudes like Jem Fire Witch, Pete Whitehorse, Mayson and Rob McManus (Grey Daturas) have been really good to us over the years and the sad part about finishing up is not getting to see ‘em as often as you’d like to.

What other projects will the members of DTBM pursue now?
Apparently Shibata from Birushanah has already extended an invitation to John, but they’re a pretty successful band now and often tour which is difficult to juggle with a young family. Ramzy is good friends with Sean from Little General and I think they’re talking about doing something together at some stage. I’m not sure what Simon intends to do. He’s on his honeymoon in Japan at the moment. I hear he was out drinking with Shibata and John’s brother, Duncan in Osaka (John, Duncan and Simon played in Shagnum together) and Shibata fell foul of the law, drink driving and trying to evade the cops. It’s a familiar tale. I think Jem had a similar experience when they toured Japan. Lastly, I play in Molten Duke Ranch, a stoner band very similar to Fu Manchu or Nebula, which has played on and off over the past twelve years. Off more than on really, but we’re jamming again.

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ROT LP is out via WeEmptyRooms. Comes on 400gsm wax in hand screened/assembled covers with bonus CD version included.

Dad They Broke Me MySpace: www.myspace.com/dtbm

When Ceremony was first thrust in our faces around the time of their 2006 full-length debut, Violence Violence, it was presumably because they pulled off such a fantastic impersonation of Infest.

Things started to get a bit more interesting with 2008’s Still Nothing Moves You, which was a weird variation on a similar idea.

The new third full-length from the Californians, Rohnert Park, is something completely different. It’s clear right from opener “Into The Wayside Part I / Sick”, we’re not in Kansas anymore, Toto.

Guitar chords ring out, a beat starts to thump, the bass pumps its tires, the guitars rip in wildly as frontman Ross Farrar lets fly: “Sick of being sober, sick of starting over, sick of Black Flag, sick of Cro-Mags…”

Named after the San Franciscan suburb they grew up in, and where three of the five members still live (the other two are based in Oakland), Rohnert Park is highly personal record. From its cover photo of a skater in a Minor Threat hoodie rolling by the all-American dream house to its old school hardcore punk sound, it expresses the desolation of a suburban upbringing while at the same time celebrating the music that probably saved them all from blowing their brains out.

UB.com’s Danger Coolidge had a chat to Ceremony vocalist Ross Farrar…

The new album Rohnert Park has a bit of a different feel, more old school punk rock than flat-out fast hardcore. Would you feel limited just sticking to the one style?
We try to do something a little different each time. Before we started writing this record we said, do you want to do something a little bit more punk involved? I guess something more in the vein of Minor Threat, Black Flag, early punk bands like that. So we did it like that but we also did it in more of a Ceremony vein – it’s a little bit weird I s’pose? If you’re doing anything involved in the arts, whether it’s music, film, painting, photography, writing poetry or whatever, you can’t be doing the same thing every time otherwise it gets boring. You try and make it different each time so that you progress.

Will some fans of your older stuff think this is a bit too different?
Yeah. The thing is, Ceremony is so weird because everyone in the band is so different and that very much came out in this new record. I think it’s inevitable that some people will stop liking us and other people will start liking us. The longer you’re a band, the more you’re out there and the more people have a chance to be introduced to you and learn about your music. And it’s natural that a certain amount of fans will eventually stop liking you, because they get tired or bored or whatever. But it’s cool because for this record I’ve seen where people have said, “I didn’t really like Ceremony that much before but I really like this new record.” I haven’t heard as much negative as positive, so that’s a good thing.

When I saw you guys live your guitar player had glittery eye make-up on, which I thought was pretty hilarious. Is that all part of fucking with people’s expectations?
Yeah, Anthony [Anzaldo], he has a strange style. Some people would look at it as being very weird but it’s probably one of the most punk things you can do. He dresses like a total lunatic, he wears the craziest stuff and has crazy hair and he looks like no one you know, he looks like no one you’ve seen before. He’s probably the most punk person out there right now.

Ever had any fights about how the music or lyrics should go?
Oh yeah. Before Rohnert Park, what we were originally going to do was make two records split up. We were going to do a punk record that was just nothing but old school punk verse-chorus songs, and then we were going to do a record of totally weird experimental stuff. But as we were writing the record we just decided to put it all into one with a whole bunch of different songs on it. We had a very heated argument about it all but it actually came out well.

Was the experimental stuff cut back a bit? Because the songs, while they might not be the 20-second blasts of Violence Violence, they still rip in and get their shit done without a lot of fucking around.
We didn’t do all the experimental we were going to do. One of the songs, which is actually a secret track on the CD version of the album, it’s like a hidden track, the intro to that is pretty weird. There are some other weird little parts on the record but nothing totally abstract like we were going to do.

I read an interview where you mentioned you were an Eddy Current Suppression Ring fan – I can actually hear a bit of that on the new album, songs like “The Doldrums”, where you don’t yell and scream so much. When did you discover them?
I love them. I got into them about a year and a half ago; my friend gave me Primary Colours. I actually just saw them in New York, that was a good show. I’m a strong believer in the simplest songs being the catchiest and best – I think they do a really good job of that.

What else are you qualified to do besides Ceremony?
I go to school right now, studying English at a college nearby. Everyone else is doing random stuff. JD [Justin Davis] our bassplayer is going to Berkley next semester to study mathematics; Anthony works with kids at the YMCA, like a day-care type place; Toast [Ryan Mattos] runs a screen-printing business; and Jake [Casarotti] is a farmer. So everyone does weird stuff.

How does a farmer tour during harvest?
He doesn’t. That’s why he’s not touring with us much this summer because he’s got a whole lot of work to do. We have fill-in drummers on the east coast and west coast just in case we need someone, but most of the time we do have Jake with us.

How did you enjoy the Australian tour last year?
It was my favourite place to tour that I’ve ever been to. I never care as much about the shows as the actual place. I thought Australia was very beautiful, it was warm, the people were really nice, like genuinely nice, the food was good, a lot of beautiful women, I brought my skateboard and skated a bunch of good spots… Everything was good about it, I loved the whole thing, I want to come back so bad.

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Rohnert Park is out now on Bridge Nine / Stomp

Ceremony site: www.ceremonyhc.com

Sacramento thrash vagabonds Trash Talk were one of the best things I saw all last year. And their new album, Eyes & Nines, is one of the best things you’ll hear all this year.

With beefed-up production by Joby J. Ford (The Bronx) and longer songs with more intriguing twists, Eyes & Nines is a double shot of adrenaline that’ll have you headbutting brick walls and craving raw baby meat.

Guitarist Garrett Stevenson is fairly confident you’re gonna really dig it. His mum says it’s the best thing Trash Talk’s ever done…

Is Trash Talk trying to bring a threat back?
Nah, we’re just trying to do our own thing. We just want to put on a good live show and make people feel excited to be there. I have always, I’m talking both personally and all of us as a band have always tried to make a conscious effort to give 150% every time we go out. We’re not really trying to reignite anything, we’re not really doing anything for any reason other than having a good fuckin’ time and trying to show everyone else a good time.

I’d estimate the new songs are on average twice as long as your old songs. Did you decide your music needed to sing a little more.
Totally man. My mum is a huge fan of Trash Talk and the only complaint she’s ever had since we started this band was like, “Man, I love this song, I wish it was longer.” So this record is definitely one my mum will be able to sit and listen to and be happy about.

Your mum is a Trash Talk fan? That’s insane!
She loves it. My mum has never missed a show in the Northern California area, she comes to every single show, everyone knows her. She sits onstage, hangs out, she’s awesome. My parents are like my number one supporters, it’s great. My mum’s been going to shows for years. My dad used to sing back-ups for Marvin Gaye. He was a touring musician his whole life pretty much and my mum kinda met him on the road and she’s never really stopped going to shows.

Why’d you record Eyes & Nines with Joby Ford – did he talk you into it?
[laughs] Partially. Joby has been my go-to guy as far as a lot of things go. With him and how he manages The Bronx, he’s been my DIY guru, we call him that, and I ask him questions every single day. He’s played a role in helping this band out for a long time, before anybody knew. When it came time to record it was just the most natural thing ever. It’s like, “OK cool, we’ll go work with Joby, we’ll hang out, it won’t be weird, it will be the most chilled out experience in the studio,” and that’s exactly what it was. We just went in and played music and hung out with friends. It wasn’t like we were playing for some engineer or playing for the clock like to hurry up and finish the session so it doesn’t cost a ton of money. It was the first time we’ve actually chilled and relaxed when we went to make a record. Joby helped out a lot, his suggestions were cool. I like how it came out.

Bit different to working with Albini, yeah?
For sure. We’ve never recorded for longer than two days before. Everything we’ve ever done we’ve recorded in two days tops. When we recorded with Albini I saved up all my money, I sold all my records, and I had X amount of dollars which was good for like seven hours of recording time. So we’d have to just go in and power through it and we’re done and that’s it. With Joby we did it over the course of a few weeks and that was mind-blowing. It was like, “Oh, I don’t like how that sounded, let’s try it again.” Or “Let’s try something different here.” We got to try things out, we got to record some demos, it was just a completely different recording experience the whole way round.

Is it fair to say Eyes & Nines has more of a sludgy rock ‘n’ roll feel, as opposed to just fast, raw hardcore?
Yeah definitely. I think the rock ‘n’ roll influence came from what we were collectively listening to at the time. We didn’t make a conscious effort to write the record a certain way. It just kinda happened. I’m really psyched on it. I like the sound we came up with. I think Joby also helped bring in that rock ‘n’ roll influence. We’re all about challenging ourselves. That’s why we play on so many different tours and with all kinds of bands, so we can grow.

The band is made up of black guys and white guys. Does that have any bearing on the kind of band you are?
I don’t think it sets us apart. But I do feel like our band is very different in a way. I write a ton of the music and I didn’t grow up listening to punk at all. I come from a jazz and soul background, a lot of blues and shit like that. That’s all I’ve ever listened to. I didn’t have any kind of punk rock playlist to start off. I don’t write to any kind of template. I joined the band because I knew how to play guitar and I figured out the music was supposed to be fast and pissed-off and I just kinda winged it. And now I just write whatever the fuck I want to. We’ve all kind of grown up differently and our influences are spread so far across the board. So I think that, more than race or anything, has more of a bearing on the way we sound.

Being able to play jazz and soul stuff, does it ever feel limiting playing in Trash Talk?
I’m working on a soul record right now. But Trash Talk is like the last thing from limiting. It’s definitely challenging. Jumping around onstage for 30 seconds at a time is like a fucking handful but jumping around onstage for a two-minute song is even fucking crazier. Every day I’m pushing myself to the absolute limit onstage when I’m playing these songs. I don’t feel limited at all. It feels like I’m giving the best of my musical ability as well as my cardio.

Tell us about the soul record you’re working on.
I haven’t really talked much about it with anybody but I’ve got a couple of songs I’ve been demoing. Me and Spencer [Pollard, bass] and Sam [Bosson, drums] play a lot of music outside of Trash Talk. I have all my recording equipment on tour and before shows I spend time with my headphones on recording shit. Once we get a break I’m going to go into the studio and get some more stuff done. I have a soul and hip-hop project that’s as of now just instrumental stuff. It will be cool when it drops this year. We’ll probably put it out on our Trash Talk Collective label. We’ll probably do some cool vinyl or something.

You previously had Keith Morris singing on “East of Eden”, now you’ve got Greg Hetson playing guitar on the new album. How did the Circle Jerks connection come about?
The thing with Keith happened because he’s been a good friend from LA and he’s supported our band for a long time and always come out to our shows and been really cool. So we were recording in LA and we has this spot and we’re like, “Fuck, it would be cool if Keith could do it.” So we called Keith, we’re like, “Keith, come sing.” He’s like, “All right, you guys gotta buy me lunch and I’ll come do it.” He rode his bike over to the studio and we sat there hanging out and listening to him tell stories for hours. We got the song recorded and it was awesome. The Greg Hetson connect was just completely random. We were in the studio working on a song called “Vultures” and Joby was on the phone to Greg just completely randomly. So he gets off the phone and says, “Greg’s gonna come by and check the studio out.” So he came by and was listening to the song and he’s like, “Dude, this is sick,” and we are like, “Do you want to play on it?” and he’s like, “Yeah! Let’s do it.” He had his guitar with him and we laid it down right there.

Will you go absolutely anywhere and play even if you might lose money?
Yeah, for the most part. That’s what we love to do. Playing in a different spot is always the best situation. The thing about losing money is, it’s all kinda relative. When we’re home in our beds we’re losing money, you know what I’m talking’ bout?

Your first Australian tour last year – how was that?
Australia was rad, man. It was a really welcoming tour. Didn’t really know what to expect but right from the gate, right from when we hopped off the plane and played the first show, it felt like we were playing in California or something. It was fucking great to see people in a place that you’ve never even set foot in singing along to every song, it was just mind-blowing. We’re looking to come back, I’m waiting to get some details back right now but if it all goes to plan it should be a pretty rad tour coming in October.

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Eyes and Nines is out now on Trash Talk Collective / Shock

Trash Talk MySpace: www.myspace.com/trashtalkfu