For the past two and a half years Sydney has been a relatively peaceful place, full of brotherly love, free from violence and disorder… But all that’s set to change this Friday when Pure Evil returns from wherever it is that Pure Evil goes when it decides it needs a break.

Following an extended period of inactivity during which they contemplated whether to commit hara-kiri or just go part-time/casual, Pure Evil Trio have decided to grace us with their odorous noise once more.

This Friday at the Sando, Aaron (vocals/guitar), Abe (bass/vocals) and John (drums) will be thrashing up a hellstorm, playing not-so-easy listening hits from their 2004 LP, This Is Our Music, as well as selections from the as-yet-unreleased follow-up, Cognitive Dissonance.

They’ll be joined by Newcastle’s favourite hardcore/grind fiddlers Conation (who’ve also been MIA for a long time but have re-united to launch their final EP, The Clouds Are Gathering), as well as highly active local punk threesome Lungs.

With tears of joy flowing freely, UB.com’s Danger Coolidge enjoyed a quick WTF session with guitarist/vocalist Aaron…

Why break up an incredible band for no goodly reason?!
You should try being in a band with me. I am a dick. I’m surprised those other guys didn’t tar and feather me and run me outta town on a rail long before our ill-fated record launch (i.e. the last time we played live). But never fear, wipe those tears cuz we are back from the land of the dead bringing good tidings; we’re all gonna die, so band break-ups don’t matter!

Has Pure Evil been on a hiatus or did you break up? Why can’t the band continue to exist but only play occasionally?
There was a time when it was uncertain whether this was hiatus or break up, but as it stands now, hiatus is the go. It is likely that we will exist in some form similar to your suggestion. We’re not that keen to play as often as we used to (we were pretty busy over those six or so years!), but we will reappear from time to time to wreak general and occasionally specific havoc. It looks like we already have some Melbourne shows shaping up in early May…

Looking back at the life and work of Pure Evil Trio – what are some of the achievements you are most proud of?
I’m pretty proud of the fact that we played shows (many shows!) over the years on our own terms and never compromised our sound or ethics. I’m proud that a half-baked idea to make a bunch of noise could take us so many places and introduce us to so many people, and that some people would actually enjoy it!

If people want to buy This Is Our Music, is it still available?
I still see copies kicking around shops and distros from time to time, but if anyone is desperate for a copy of either the LP or the CD, you could certainly do worse than dropping me an email (spincontrol @ mindless dot com) and taking some off my hands. They are clogging up my office, help a brother out!

The band had written a bunch of material post-This Is Our Music. What will happen to all that now?
Well, we have a new record coming out soon, entitled Cognitive Dissonance. It is made up of three songs we recorded around the time of our last gig, as well as an extensive noise collage culled from a bunch of live recordings. I hope we can record some of our other stuff that remains unrecorded, and I have a bunch of new songs up my sleeve that I hope to get cranking too.

I only just passed Year 10 so big words confuse me. What does Cognitive Dissonance mean? Sounds like uni homework.
Hehehe, yeah. Uni homework seems likely. It’s a phrase I was introduced to by science fiction author Bruce Sterling. It relates to the mental noise that appears when a mind tries to hold two conflicting ideas at the same time. I am of the opinion that it is an all-too-common experience when we live in a society and culture as schizoid and hostile as ours.

What was the most memorable gig Pure Evil did?
I’m sure we played some memorable gigs, but I can’t seem to remember… Ha! Nah, but seriously, one does spring to mind. It was Reclaim The Streets in Erskineville several years ago. We had a generator on the village green and played, as did Conation. Well, it got pretty hectic with the pigs starting to beat people up and arrest them, and generally play the role of funstopping fuckwits. They tried to shut us down mid-set, but all the people watching surrounded us and our gear and stopped the cops from unplugging us, allowing us to finish our set! It was fucking ace, seeing coppers stopped by people power and it remains one of my all-time favourite shows.

Gig this Friday, first in 2.666 years. Is this a comeback and a farewell all in one? What you got in store? Any choice covers up yer wizard sleeves? Will you be treating it like a celebration or more like a funeral?
Don’t call it a comeback, we’ve been here for years! We’re rockin’ our peers, putting suckas in fear! And so on. On the other hand, it ain’t a farewell neither. All we have in store is to bash ears and break hearts, just like always. I’m thinking we will treat it like a celebratory funeral, an electric funeral… a funeral for the death of the death or our band. As for covers, we may have a secret secreted in our cloak of secrecy, but that would be telling.

Conation will be playing too. Everyone is on the reunion bandwagon, huh? Did you coax them out of retirement for the gig or was it just good timing that you were both ready to reform at the same time.
Actually, Jamie from Conation hit us up about playing, but there had already been talk in our camp of coming out of retirement, so I guess good timing was definitely a factor. Conation are an ace band, and our good buddies (our friendships go back to pre-Pure Evil bands), so it is fucken tops to be playing with them for their last hurrah (for real this time!).

Had many rehearsals yet? Still remember all the old songs?
We’ve had a few rehearsals. It’s been surprisingly smooth actually! Just thrashing it out like always. It seems that the hardest thing is playing as fast as we used to, now that we’re old men and past it and all that shit.

What other projects are the members of Pure Evil Trio pursuing now?
Abel plays in 3 of Millions and Trio Apoplectic, as well as being a musical gun for hire around the traps. John was playing in Crus and Scum System Kill, both fairly recently defunct. He also has a new band coming soon featuring members of Lawnsmell, Frenzal Rhomb and The Optionals [the new band is called Chinese Burns Unit – DC]. Total mid-90’s core I suspect. I don’t know what else he has up his sleeve, but he plays a mean accordion and I suspect this will be demonstrated to the world at large… As for me, I’m playing guitar in a band called Ether Rag, as well as making noises on my own as Turds Of Prey and in a duo with Eli (Heil Spirits, Stockholm Syndrome) called Grimm Tongue. We all love making noise of various kinds, and will always continue to do it, together or alone!

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See Pure Evil Trio this Friday 26th February at the Sandringham Hotel, Newtown. Also starring Conation and Lungs.

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