Arven Interview

Can you give us an update on what is going on with the band these days?

Ines: We are very excited at the moment that our new Album „Black Is The Colour“ seems to be a great success for the band. We entered the German Charts in the first week what we never had expected... Some great gigs followed at German festivals where we were booked as headliners and we had the great opportunity to support FAUN two weeks ago. We have a lot of new fans and we are happy that the old ones love our new album :)

2.How would you describe the musical sound of the new album and how it
differs from previous releases?
Ines: “Black Is The Colour”, as you assume has become darker then “Music Of lLght”. The guitar parts sounds harder now and there are less folk elements. The development of the songs wasn’t planned, it just happened. But I think on both recordings you can find typical Arven melodies, which makes us unique. Many people say that Anastasia's songwriting is much better than on the first recording.

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores
with the new album?
Ines: The main topic of our songs is love with all its facets. “Believe” for example is a very happy song with lots of positive energy.  “All I Got” and “My Fall” are the opposites: sad and lonely,”My Darkest Dream” is full of anger and frustration. The Song “Don't Look Back” is also a love song, but like the title suggest it's about finding strength to move on and to believe, that happiness still lies ahead.

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the bands name?
Ines: The inspiration to choose the name “Arven” comes from the main-female character from “Lord of the Rings”. We liked the idea to have a connection between the old and fantasy world and the story of “Arwen”, who gives up her immortality to be together with the love of her life!

5.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and
how would you describe your stage performance?
Anastasia: We already played many great live shows, of course the festival shows with a big audience, like in “Shiffenberg Rocks” or in “TUNIX”, were the most impressive. But sometimes we enjoyed smaller shows even more, when we were greeted especially warm by the audience, like for example as support act with “Faun”  or on our show in a small place“Cercle d'Emeraude” in north France. We even named one number on our new CD after that place.

Well, it's hard to describe our own performance, but other people usually say that we look sexy, but also nice and friendly and that we look like we enjoy the music very much. I'm glad that that's the impression we  make, because that's exactly the way we feel on stage and the number one reason we make music in the first place.

6.Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?
Ines: We don't have plans to make our own tour so far, which would be an awesome idea! We are very proud to play 3 gigs in February and March as a support of “Van Canto”. Besides this there will be a lot of opportunities to see us live, just check our homepage or facebook page.

7.On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to the new album by
fans of metal?
Ines: Of course we got a lot of feedback to “Black Is The Colour”, most of them are positive and certify an improvement to “Music of light”. Of course we can't (and don't want to) satisfy everyone and there also a few people who don't like the music, which is totally ok. We are happy so far with the feedback especially from our fans! :)

8.What is going on with the other musical projects these days?
Ines: Most of the band members have also other musical projects, which I think is great, because it brings a lot of inspiration into “Arven”. I am right now in Los Angeles to study classical guitar with the well known guitarist Bill Kanengiser which is an amazing experience for me.

9.What direction do you see your music heading into on future releases?
Ines: Well, this is a great question... unfortunately I can't give you an answer... ;) The new album is darker then the old one, but we didn't plan it to be darker. It just happened while writing the music. We didn't really start to write new songs so I am excited to how the next album will sound! But I can promise there will be a 3rd album and of course it will sound like Arven! :) The rest is written in the strars...



10.Outside of music what are some of your interests?
Ines: We are all doing a lot stuff, only our keyboarder Elena and me are professional musicians so everyone in the band has a job or is studying. We are all working in different subjects, Carina for example is a speech therapist, Till is about to finish his diploma in geography, Anastasia is studying psychology and Lisa is working on her bachelor degree in tourism-management. I like the variety of different characters in the band, it's never boring and we have a lot to talk about. Till for example gave me a little lecture about wind energy a few month ago which I really enjoyed... :)

Harm Wulf/There's Honey In The Soil We Wait For The Till/Deathwish/2013 CD Review

  Harm  Wulf  are  a  1  man  band  from  Pennsylvania  that  plays  a mixture  of  rock,  folk  and  experimental  with  a  touch  of  hardcore  and  this  is  a  review  of  his  2013  album  "There's  Honey  In  The  Soil  We  Wait  For  The  Till"  which  was  released  by  Deathwish  Records.

  "Oldfur"  begins  with  some  soft  acoustic  guitar  playing  that  combine  folk  and  rock  together  which  leads  up  to  some  dark  and  melodic  sounding  vocals  and  the  song  closes  with  some  spoken  word  parts.

  "Silk  Soul"  begins with  some  heavy guitar  distortion  and  acoustic  guitars  which  lead  up  to  the  vocals  and  you  can  also  hear  some  percussion's  being  utilized  in  the  song  and  there  are  all  some  female  vocals  in  certain  sections  of  the  song.

  "Astral  Oblivion"  begins  with  some  tribal  style  percussion  before  the  acoustic  guitars  come  in  along  with  some  male  and  female  vocals.

  "When  Old  Becomes  New"  begins  with  some  soft  acoustic  guitar  playing  and  then  some  whispered  vocals  start  coming  into  the  song  and  towards  the end  their  is  a  brief  use  of  synths  and  spoken  word  samples.

  "More  Weight"  begins  with  some  acoustic  guitars  that  are  very  dark  sounding  along  with  some  melodic  clean  singing  vocals  and  then  percussion's  and  distorted  noises  start  making  their  way  into  the  song.

  "Spectrum  Blues"  begins  with  some  dark  sounding  acoustic  guitars  and  vocals  and  you  can  hear  some  different  sounds  being  utilized  in  the   background.

  "We  Hold  Empty  Names"  begins  with  some  acoustic  guitars  that  utilize  both  finger  picking  and  full chords  which  also  leads  up  to  some  vocals  and  the  song  is  long  and  epic  in  length.

  "Bonepicker"  begins  with  some acoustic  guitars  that  utilize  finger  picking  and  then  the  melodic  vocals  make  their  way  into  the  song  and  after  awhile t he  guitars  start  utilizing  some  full  chords.

  "Theres  Honey  In  The  Soul  So  We  Wait   For  The  Till  ("  begins  with  some  acoustic  guitar  that utilize  some  finger  picking  and  then  the  vocals  start  coming in  along  with  some  dark  sounds  being  utilized  in  the  background  and  after  awhile  full  chords  are  added  into  the  guitars  along with  some  drum  beats  and  towards  the  end  distorted  guitar  effects  are  added  in  and  the  song  closes  with  spoken  word  parts.

  Song  lyrics  cover  dark  and  metaphysical  themes,  while  the production  has  a  very  strong,  powerful,  and  dark  sound  to  it.

  In  my  opinion  Harm  Wulf  are  a  very  great  sounding  hybrid  of  rock, folk  and  experimental  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  genre.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Oldfur"  "Astral  Oblivion"  "We  Hold  Empty  Names"  and  "Theres  Honey  In  The  Soul  So  We  Wait   For  The  Till  (".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.

Thraw/Decoding The Past/Metal Tank Records/2013 CD Review

  Thraw  are  a  band  from  Slovena  that  plays  a  very  heavy  and  old  school  form  of  thrash  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2013  album  "Decoding  The  Past"  which  was  released  by  Metal  Tank  Records.

  "Obscene  Anatomist"  begins  with  some  sound  effects  before  the old  school  thrash  metal  guitar  and  bass  riffs  start  kicking  in  along  with  some  drums  and  then  the  aggressive  and  melodic  vocals  make  their  presence  known  and  after  awhile  back  up  shouts  are  added  into  the  song  and  towards  the  end  there  is  a  brief  use  of  guitar  solos  and  leads  being  utilized.

  "Induced  Adrenaline"  begins  with  some  powerful  bass  guitars  before  the  regular  guitar  riffs  and  drums  kick  in  and  a  few seconds  later  vocals  start  making  their  way  into  the  song  along  with  some  back  up  gang  shouts.

  'Beats  Of  Aggression"  begins  with  some  heavy  mosh  style  guitar  riffs  and  drums  along  with  some  vocals  and  you  can  hear  the  bass  guitars  in  the  background  as  well  as  the  riffing  utilizing  some  technical  elements  which  in  return  leads  to  some  back  up  shouts  and  after  awhile  guitar  solos  and  leads  start  coming  in  and  out  of  the  song  along  with  some  melodic  elements  being  utilized  at  times.

  "Pandemic  Reflection"  begins  with  some  soft  acoustic  guitar  playing  and  after  awhile  heavy  bass,  guitar  riffs  and  leads  along  with  some  drums  make  their  way  into  the  song  and  the  music  goes  into  a  heavier  direction  which  in  return  also leads  up  to  the  vocals  kicking  in  along  with  some  back  up  shouts  and  towards  the  end  there  is  a  brief  use  of  guitar  solos  and  leads  being  utilized.

  "Injecting  Hate"  begins  with  heavy  guitar  and  bass  riffs  along  with  some  drums  and  a  few  seconds  later  the  vocals  start  kicking  in  along  with  some  back  up  gang  shouts  and  towards  the  end  there  is  a  brief  use  of  guitar  solos  and  leads.

  "Factual  Perspective"  begins  with  some  clean  guitars  before  the  distorted  guitar  and  bass  riffs  come in  along  with  some  drums  and  after  awhile  the  vocals  start  kicking  in    and  as  the  song  moves  on  it  gets  a  lot  more  technical  sounding  along  with  some  exotic  sounding  guitar  solos  and  leads  being  utilized  towards  the  end  of  the  song.

  "Insanity  Is  Unquestionable"  begins  with  heavy  guitar  and  bass  riffs  along  with  some  drums  which  leads  up  to  the  vocals  and  back  up  gang  shouts  and  after  awhile  melodic  and  technical  elements  make  their  way  into  the  song  along  with  a  brief  use  of  bass  guitar  leads.

  "Thraw"  begins  with  heavy  thrash  metal  guitar  riffs  and  drums  and  then  the  vocals  start  kicking  in  and  you  can  hear  hear  the  bass  guitars  in  the background  along  with  some  back  up  gang  shouts  and  towards  the  end  there  is  a  brief  use  of  guitar  solos  and  leads  being utilized.

  Song  lyrics  cover  hateful  and  philosophical  themes, while  the  production  has  a  very  strong,  powerful,  heavy  and  professional  sound  where  you  can  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  this  recording.

  In  my  opinion  Thraw  are  a  very  great  sounding  old  school  style  thrash  metal  band  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  this  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  album.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Obscene  Anatomist"  "Injecting  Hate"  and  "Thraw".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.     

Pigs/Gaffe/Solar Flare Records/2013 10 Inch Review

  Pigs  are  a  band  from  New  York  that  has  been  featured  before  in  this  zine  with  a  musical  style  that  combines  noise  rock  and   sludge  together  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2013  10 Inch  "Gaffe"  which  will  be  released  by  Solar  Flare  Records.

  "Gaffe"  begins  with  heavy  bass  guitar  riffs  and  drums  which  lead  up  to  some  distorted  and  melodic  guitar  riffs  along  with  some  sludge  style  vocals   that  combine  aggressive and  melodic  parts  together  as  well  as  adding in  some  heavier  guitar  riffing.

  "Elo  Kiddies"  begins  with  some  drums  and  heavy  bass  and  guitar  riffs  which  utilize  some distorted  elements  along  with  some  melody  and  then  the  vocals  start  kicking  in  and  then  the  song  starts  getting a  lot  heavier.

  "I'f  I'm  In  Luck"  begins with  some  distorted  and  melodic  sounding  guitar  leads  before  the  bass  guitars  and  drums  start  kicking  in  and  then  rhythm  guitars  and  vocals  start  making  their  presence  known  and  after  awhile  guitar  leads  start  coming  in  and  out  of  the  song  and  the  song  closes with some  distorted  effects.

  Song  lyrics  cover  everyday  themes,  while  the  production  has  a  very  strong,  powerful,  heavy  and professional  sound  where  you  can  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  the  recording  with  the  last  song  being very  long  and  epic  in  length.

  In  my  opinion  this  is  another  great  sounding  recording  from Pigs  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  noise  rock  and  sludge,  you  should  check  out  this  10  inch.  RECOMMENDED  TRACK  "Gaffe".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.

    

Luder/Adelphophagia/Small Stone/2013 CD Review

  Luder  are  a  band  from  Detroit,  Michigan  that  plays  a  mixture  of  stoner,  rock, shoegaze  and  psychedelic  music  and  this  is  a  review  of  their  2013  album  "Adelphophagia"  which  was  released  by  Small  Stone.

  "Never  Liked  You'  begins  with  sound  effects  before  adding  in  some  70's  style  melodic  hard  rock  guitar  riffs,  bass  and  drums  which  lead  up  to  some melodic vocals  and  clean  sections  and  after  awhile  psychedelic  rock  guitar leads  are  added  into  the  song  along  with  some  heavy  guitar  riffing.

  "Astrolube"  begins  with  some  heavy  bass  riffing and  drums  which  lead  to some  vocals  and  after  a  couple  of  minutes  psychedelic  sound  effects  make  their  way  into  the  song  and  make  it  sound  more  powerful.

  "One  Eye" begins  with  dark  guitar  riffs  which  lead  to  up  to  some  drums,  bass  and psychedelic  keyboards  and  a  few  seconds  later  vocals  make  their  way  into  the  song  and  after  awhile  the  music  gets  alot  heavier  along  with  a  brief  use  of  slide  guitars  and   towards  the  end  there  is  a  brief  use  of  guitar  solos  and  leads.

  "Heartfelt"  begins  with  some  heavy guitar  riffs  which  leads  up  to  some  bass  and  drums  and  a  few  seconds  alter  vocals  make  their  presence  known  in  the  song  and  after  a  couple  of minutes  melodies  are  added  into  the  music  as  well  as  some  psychedelic  sounding  guitar  leads  a  minute  later  and  the  song  closes  with  some  shoegaze  elements.

  "Ask  The  Sky"  begins  with  some  sound  effects,  bass  guitars,  melodic  vocals  and  drum  beats  and  a  few  seconds  later heavy  guitar  riffs  start  kicking  in  and  after  awhile  guitar  solos  and  leads  are  added  into  the  song.

  'You  Try  It"  begins with  some  bass  and  guitar  riffs  before  the  drums  and  vocals  kick  in along  with  some more  distorted  elements  and  a  minute  later  guitar  solos  and  leads  start coming in  and  out  of  the  song  and  towards  the end  distorted  elements are  added  into the  song.

  "Dirge"  begins  with  some  sound  effects  and  distorted  elements  before  shoegaze  style  guitar  riffs  and  vocals  kick  in  and  the  music  starts  getting  a  little  bit  heavier  and  halfway  through  the  song  there  is  a  brief  use  of  guitar  solos  and  leads  being  utilized  as  well  as  some  shoegaze  and  psychedelic  sound  effects.

  "I'm  Afraid  Of  Americans"  begins with  some  synths  effects  and  drum  beats  before  the  guitar,  bass  and  drums  kick  in  along  with  some  melodic  guitar  riffs  and  leads  and  then  the  vocals  start  making  their  presence  known  in  the  song and  towards  the end  there  is  a  brief  use  of  guitar  solos  and  leads.

  "Remember  What  I  Said"  begins  with  some  distorted  sounds  which  leads  up  to some drums  and  melodic  guitar  and  bass  riffs  and  a  few  seconds  later  vocals  are  added  into  the  song  along  with  some  guitar solos  and  leads.

  Song  lyrics  cover  everyday  themes,  while  th e production  has  a  very  strong,  powerful,  heavy  and  professional  sound  where  you  can  hear  all  of  the  musical  instruments  that  are  present  on  this  recording  along  with  some  of  the  songs  being  very  long  and  epic  in  length.

  In  my  opinion  Luder  are  a  very  great  sounding hybrid  of  stoner  rock,  metal,  shoegaze,  psychedelic  and  progressive  rock  and  if  you  are  a  fan  of  those  musical  genre,  you  should  check  out  this  band.  RECOMMENDED  TRACKS  INCLUDE  "Never  Liked  You"  "Heartfelt"  "Dirge"  and  "Remember  What  I  Said".  RECOMMENDED  BUY.

Rising Interview

1. Can you give us an update on what is going on with the band these days?

A lot of things has happened within the last six months. I'll give you the short version. We recorded our second album “Abominor” and just after finishing it the other two members left. We've had a year of severe disagreement, but we managed to do this final album together, and despite of the disagreements, I think it came out really good. The demise was off course a blow to the band and me personally. In July just some weeks after the split I decided to carry on with a new line-up. I write most of the music and is practically managing us anyway, so why stop this thing, that I have been working hard on the last five years? As the first one, I contacted our original drummer Martin Niemann, and he was all in. The last couple of months we've been jamming new stuff, and it's really awesome playing  with him again, and we're looking for other new members to finalize the line-up. So kind of a weird situation having finished an album, suddenly no band, and then all of a sudden writing the next one with, while preparing for the release of an album with the now demised line-up. But it's all good, and Rising is heading the right direction,

2. How would you describe the musical sound of the new album and how it differs from previous releases?

“Abominor” is a faster, more raw sounding and aggressive album. The songs are more straightforward and there's no epics as on the first one. The vocals are less melodic, more growling and cold, and the guitar works incorporates a lot of noise and chord work as opposed to only riffs. Still there's riffs all over the place , and it's unmistakenly Rising.

3.What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the new release/

This was our singers department, so quoting from our bio:  Thematically “Abominor” departs from the band's first album by addressing multiple subjects of darkness, grief and violence. More

personal and earthbound than previously, the lyrics depict the frail nature of man; the

cowardice and the valor, the hope and the despair that sets the stage for man's interaction

and his place in the natural (dis)order.

4. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name Rising?

We wanted something primal, something describing the forces and structures behind life. Rising is tapping into those energies, powers and changes that rules the universe and also affects human life in a basic, underlying fashion.

5. What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and how would you describe your stage performance?

Actually a couple of our festival shows has been the best, fx at Roskilde Festival in 2010. But also some of the small club shows in Europe has been intense. Our performance is energetic and direct. Not much talk, but lots of sweat and headbanging. It's a metal show.

6. Do you have any touring or show plans for the new release/

No. As a direct consequence of the break-up with the former members, we can't and don't even want to play shows in support of the album. This album is kind of an end to an era, and what I and  Martin, the drummer, is focusing on now is the future, new songs and a new line-up. We might perform some of the songs one day, but we wont be playing live until late next year. We do love to play live, so we want to get out there asap, but I guess we need to hold our breath for some time though.

7. The new album came out on your own label, can you tell us a little bit more about the label you have started?

Forming a label in an idea – maybe an unoriginal idea, but still an idea – that a good friend of mine and I have had for some time. We've both worked or are still working professionally on bigger labels, been playing music for ages and have some experience doing this for 20+ years. Kind of a hard earned knowledge of what-to-do and what-not-to-do. And we've just been talking about doing some records with good bands, giving good music a home and a place to grow from. And when all the Rising drama occurred, I thought, instead of shopping the album with no band to back it live, we might as well put it out ourselves and get this label thing going. So “Abominor” is our first release, and I do think it's a pretty good start, hehe. As to what we're going to release, we don't wanna limit ourselves. Our background is metal, but we can put out any kind of music, as long as it's good according to our tastes.

8. on a worldwide level how has the feedback been to the newer music by fans of extreme music?

I think we've gotten a lot of positive feedback from both media and music fans. We're still a small band , but the people buying out records and attending the shows are very much into it. It's a thing which is common within metal music and heavy stuff all around, I think. People are really into the music itself and support it, and I feel the same way, I'm a fan, I buy records and go to shows. As opposed to mainstream music, where a lot of artists bleed due to bad sales etc, the dedication hasn't changed within extreme music, and it's great.

9.What direction do you see your music heading into on future releases/

The new stuff we're writing is very dark, very aggressive and has of lot of eerie atmosphere going on. It's definitely very metal, even more than before and also on “Abominor”, and you can hear some death metal in the tonality and riffing, but still it has a lot of melody, hooks and first of all big riffs. Some songs are short, fast and to the point, some are more slow and epic in form. For me it's a further return to what I want Rising to be: Epic and huge sounding, yet still raw and direct, heavy, melodic, aggressive and disturbing. We aim to record the new mateial some time late next year.

10.What are some bands or musical styles that have influenced your music and also what are you listening to nowadays/

I listen to a wide variety of music, but back in the day my first inspiration was heavy rock and heavy metal from the 70's and the 80's. That still remains the closest to my heart when talking heavy music. I've been very much into early death metal such as Autopsy, Morbid Angel, Carcass and Entombed, and that has influenced my playing and writing a lot. These days I find that a lot of the interesting extreme music is from The States, lot of good black, doom, sludge and HC stuff coming out of the US.  Spinning right now is the HOAX ep's, Early Graves, Baroness' Blue Record, Lord Mantis. And Captain Beyond, Stones and Neil Young, when talking oldies.

11.Outside of music what are some of your interests?

My family and friends foremost. Politics and society, but I find it to get me depressed more and more, as I get older, so I try to stay away from that. But really, my life really revolves around music – playing, writing, doing the label, doing PR for other bands, buying records, listening to records, going to shows, reading music biographies, nerding with friends about music etc etc. It never stops.

12.Any final words or thoughts before we wrap up this interview?

Yeah, thanks for the interview and to you reading it, check out Rising and ”Abominor”, if you like heavy music. You might like, you might not, but either way, thanks for your time.

Cleanteeth Interview

1. For those that have never heard of you before can you tell us a little bit about the band?

We are artists that attempt to create what I believe is the most accessible music ever made, just so that we can really make a name for ourselves in the world of popular music. Or we are a bunch of dudes who like to play loud, noisy, soul shattering heavy music and don't care who approves.  

2.How would you describe your musical sound for those that have yet to hear the band?

There aren't a lot of bands we all collectively like, but you can definitely tell where the crossovers are.  That's really the best way to describe our sound -- by our more direct influences.  Godflesh, Neurosis, Harkonen, KARP and Jesus Lizard were probably the main ones we really came together on over the years.  And literally every time we go on tour, once a day James utters the phrase "DUUUUDE we should listen to Botch!".  So somewhere between those things -- we really like to hit hard with riffs and repetition, then get really abrasive and noisy, then occasionally a little melodic.  "Beard Impregnating Doom Metal" is probably the best description ever.

3. What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?

We go pretty much everywhere.  My favorite thing in the world to do is write lyrics that might resemble a series of dick jokes, but in actuality deals with very dark, personal issues that we have shared throughout the history of the band.  On this record, the most common themes are religion (I grew up in the South), drugs and addiction, mental illness, and NASCAR (I grew up in the South and James is a recovering Catholic).

4.What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name Cleanteeth?

It's like your mind's teeth and you're supposed to bite off a piece of the sonic doom wall and chew on it with your incisors until your teeth are worn down to nubs.  It's the spiritual experience that you get when you... okay nevermind, it was the best sounding name in a long list of nonsense.  

5.What are some of the best shows that the band has played so far and how would you describe your stage performance?

We have played some really incredible shows with bands like Eyehategod, Weedeater, Kylesa, and tons of others but there is nothing better than playing with our friends from all over the country.  We always have the most fun with bands like Colossus (NC), the Ascent of Everest (TN), The Osedax (VA) or all the local bros like Sannhet, Meek Is Murder, and Godmaker.  On stage, we play way too loud and in between songs I constantly get yelled at for making fun of everyone at the show because I am a dick.

6. Do you have any touring or show plans for the future?

Our record release show will be at the infamous Saint Vitus Bar in Brooklyn on October 13th, and we'll be in DC in early December with The Osedax. We will most likely be touring again in 2014, and I will start stabbing people if we don't play Roadburn soon.

7.The new album came out on Dullest Records, can you tell us a little bit more about this label?

This is a total DIY label run by a couple of guys named Danny and Luis outside of Philadelphia.  We met them on a tour with The Osedax and Danny's band Hollenlarm last year, and really loved them as people and their taste.  These are guys who just put out music that they want to put out, no bullshit attached.  It is super refreshing to meet people that are still putting out music without the concern of making money back, becuase god knows they won't see a dime on this one.

8. On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of doom metal?

People seem either very receptive to what we do, or very confused.  We are definitely a heavy band, but we sometimes don't fit in with the more "metal" shows.  Typically stoners seem to enjoy us, and I have no idea why.

9. What is going on with the other musical projects these days?

Kenny plays in another band called White Widows Pact and is also the drummer for Goes Cube.  James has an electronic side project called Ghost Tuxedo, and Drew has been dabbling with some very interesting new things as well.  I just launched a new Chicago/NYC record label called Gypsyblood with Steve from the Atlas Moth and my brother Rob that will be putting out a shitload of records in the coming months.

10. What direction do you see your music heading into on future releases?

We already have some stuff written for an EP we plan to release in 2014.  Hopefully we could include some recordings of a few of the covers we've done more recently as well, because they are tons of fun to do.  We love playing heavy music, so we pretty much will keep trying to write songs that are heavier than the previous ones.

11.What are some bands or musical styles that have influenced your music and also what are you lsitening to nowadays?

We all listen to a lot of metal obviously, like I said -- Godflesh, Harkonen, Neurosis (the obvious ones).  We've all been very partial to the new KENMode, and Kowloon Walled City's newest record rules.  Sannhet's record is incredible.  I think my personal favorite albums so far this year are Faemin by Process of Guilt and Perils From The Sea by Mark Kozelek and Jimmy LaVelle.

12.Outside of music what are some of your interests?

I think we all pretty much work and play music.  Kenny works at a bar, Drew works like 3 jobs, and James is a tattoo artist/graphic designer/animator/everyman.  I run a web development company called Ashe Avenue that keeps me pretty busy.

13.Any final words or thoughts before we wrap up this interview?

Everything is for you, Dale, #3, the Intimidator.  Never forget.