Of all the stereotypes in Metal/Hardcore/Punk, none is more true than the good drummer playing in five or so bands at the time. Connor Donegan is Exhibit A of that stereotype for Washington, D.C.. Recently, he has been most active with Thrash/Crossover band Red Death, around the release of their ripping LP Sickness Devine, out of Century Media. You can also find him behind the kit for Death Metal bands Genocide Pact and Innumerable Forms, both of which are set to release a new album in early 2021. While we can’t wait to hear Genocide Pact’s follow-up to the excellent Order Of Torment, you can already take a peak at Innumerable Forms’ new material, with a recently released two-song teaser of some of the most crushing Death Metal recently put on tape.
Name five songs that you consider “perfect songs” and explain why or what they mean to you.
THE STOOGES – I Got A Right – The absolute essence of Rock N’ Roll. No frills, pure energy, and catchy as hell.
SINEAD O’CONNOR – Nothing Compares 2 U – I’m pretty sure this is my favorite song ever. Corny answer but it’s the truth. Maybe it’s cause I’m an Irish guy that loves PRINCE?
THE JAM – That’s Entertainment – Such vivid storytelling over a hauntingly beautiful progression. Paul Weller knocked it out of the park with this one.
THE OBSESSED – River Of Soul – This song takes me into another dimension. I don’t know how to explain it any other way.
STEVIE WONDER – I Believe (When I Fall In Love It Will Be Forever) – Another candidate for my #1 song of all time. Pure dopamine.
Which music genre do you listen to the most? List your five favorite albums in that genre.
I’d say in general I listen to just plain old Classic Rock the most out of anything. It has the widest variety of style and sounds so I can almost always find something that fits my mood.
As far as top five favorites go? I won’t name my absolute favorites because some of those will appear in my all-time top 10 (sorry – I read ahead), but here are some records that I’ve been listening to a lot recently.
DEEP PURPLE – Burn
BLUE OYSTER CULT – Tyranny And Mutation
UFO – Phenomenon
JIMI HENDRIX – Axis: Bold As Love
PAUL STANLEY – S/T
Five greatest hardcore EP’s of all time? (can include demos.)
MINOR THREAT – Filler
NEGATIVE APPROACH – S/T
POISON IDEA – Pick Your King
ANTI-CIMEX – Raped Ass
CROSSED OUT – S/T
Your five favorite rappers of all time? (Alternate: five best guitarists, five best drummers, five best vocalists, etc)
Rappers:
GZA
MCA
Ghostface Killah
Juicy J
Prodigy
Guitarists:
Eddie Hazel
Jimi Hendrix
Tony Iommi
James Hetfield
Prince
Drummers:
John Bonham
Dave Lombardo
Billy Cobham
Vinnie Appice
Phil Collins
Singers:
Dio
Chris Cornell
Jeff Buckley
Stevie Wonder
Glenn Danzig
Five hardest riffs of all time?
Not sure if I could come up with a top 5 but I definitely know what #1 is… The mosh part in CARNIVORE Predator. Nothing harder has ever been written. End of story.
What’s the album you’ve listened to the most in your life? Do you still listen to it?
That’s a really hard question to answer…Maybe Highway To Hell? LED ZEPPELIN IV? MINOR THREAT Discography? Not entirely sure what the actual answer is, but whatever it is, I’m positive I still listen to it.
What are some of your favorite song lyrics? Either a song, a line or the overall work of a particular lyricist.
“I ain’t no goddam sonofabitch – you better think about it baby!”
Do you have an absolute all time favorite band or musical artist? What makes them so special to you?
There are 3 bands that can claim that spot, and they’re all my #1 for different reasons.
THE BEATLES – There really isn’t another band that can compare. They’re the Michael Jordan of music.
GREEN DAY – The band that truly got me into music. My cousin showed me Dookie and after that music was literally all I cared about. They were also the first band I ever saw live.
MINOR THREAT – The first band I ever truly related to on a personal level. Perfect discography.
What are your ten favourite albums of all time (all genres)? Name a standout track on each of these albums.
This is the hardest question ever but I’ll do my best…
AC/DC – Highway To Hell (Walk All Over You)
BLACK SABBATH – Master Of Reality (Into The Void)
CELTIC FROST – To Mega Therion (Innocence And Wrath)
THE CURE – Pornography (A Strange Day)
FUNKADELIC – Maggot Brain (Super Stupid)
LED ZEPPELIN – Physical Graffiti (In The Light)
METALLICA – Ride The Lightning (Creeping Death)
SS DECONTROL – Get It Away (Get It Away)
THE STOOGES – Fun House (Dirt)
WU-TANG CLAN – Enter The Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) (Da Mystery Of Chessboxin’)
Next time ask me for my top 200. That’ll be a little easier haha.
Do you remember the first time music had an impact on you?
It was definitely hearing The BEATLES in my mom’s car when I was a little kid. PHIL COLLINS – You’ll Be In My Heart from the Tarzan Soundtrack was another song that heavily impacted me very early on.
What were you listening to in elementary school? then in high school? (Your favorite bands/records back then?) How much of that music is still a part of your playlists today? How have your musical tastes evolved since?
In early elementary school, I was listening to the BACKSTREET BOYS, Aaron Carter, and N’SYNC like every other kid my age did in 1999. Late elementary school (4th / 5th grade) is when I discovered Punk like GREEN DAY, RANCID, and The OFFSPRING, as well as some older stuff like The RAMONES, The CLASH, SEX PISTOLS, etc… I was also listening to a lot of whatever Rap was on the radio at the time (EMINEM, JAY Z, D-12, LLOYD BANKS, 50 CENT, that kinda thing).
Middle school was when I became obsessed with underground music. 80’s Hardcore, Thrash / Death / Black Metal, older Rap like WU-TANG and TRIBE, and tons of Classic Rock were all huge for me around that time.
The first couple years of high school I was a METAL ONLY type of guy. I wore a CARCASS hoodie every day and was constantly trying to find the most brutal and technical bands imaginable. DEATH, CYNIC, NILE, MESHUGGAH, NECROPHAGIST, OBITUARY, SUFFOCATION, MORBID ANGEL, CRYPTOPSY, etc were all part of the daily rotation. Thankfully that somewhat narrow minded phase of my life also helped expose me to other more technical types of music like Jazz Fusion, specifically MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA and TONY WILLIAMS LIFETIME, which had a big impact on me.
My junior and senior years of high school were when I “re-discovered” Punk / Hardcore and started going to local DIY shows. I met some older dudes that showed me tons of amazing bands that I had never heard before, including a lot of stuff from Japan, Sweden, Finland, and the flyover states. By that point I had put the Carcass hoodie in the closet and was full on obsessed with Hardcore again. My brother used to make fun of me because I’d make us listen to Pick Your King every morning when I’d drive us to school haha.
I pretty much still listen to everything I liked when I was young other than the 90’s boy bands, Ska, and a lot of the Epitaph / Fat Wreck stuff that I used to love.
What beloved music do you share with your parents? Any specifics memories?
My dad is a rare breed – a white guy born in the 60’s that doesn’t like Rock music. He’s big into Funk, Soul, Disco, Blues, etc. When I was a kid I remember him listening to a lot of MARVIN GAYE, PRINCE, CHIC, CAMEO, and other stuff like that. I was into FUNKADELIC cause they were almost like a Rock band, but I didn’t have the same passion for Funk and Soul that I did for SLAYER or something. As I’ve gotten older I find myself listening to Funk and Soul almost more often than I do Rock!. These days I’ll text my dad about whatever D’ANGELO song I’ve been obsessing over and he’ll send me a SMOKEY ROBINSON track or something. It’s a beautiful thing.
What are some of the most memorable shows you’ve ever seen? What makes them stand out?
GREEN DAY at the Patriot Center in Fairfax, VA on Halloween 2004 – My first concert ever. They were incredible and left a huge impression on me.
BOLT THROWER at Chaos In Tejas 2013. The best band I’ve ever seen. Absolutely unreal. They opened with The IVth Crusade – what more can you ask for?
IRON MAIDEN in northern Virginia last year (2019). Setlist was incredible and they killed it. I went with a bunch of good friends and we got floor tickets so we were close as fuck to the stage. Awesome.
I’m sure there’s a million more that I could talk about, but those stand out the most.
Is there any band that you’ve always wanted to see live but never had the chance to catch them? Any classic show that you wish you could have experienced?
Unfortunately, there are a million bands I love that I’ve never gotten the chance to see. The three that hurt the most are BLACK SABBATH, DIO, and SLAYER with Lombardo and Hanneman. It eats me up inside that I never got to see those bands.
As far as classic shows that I wish I could have gone to, #1 on the list would be the BAD BRAINS Christmas Eve gig at CBGBs in 1982. I also would kill to have been able to see LED ZEPPELIN in their prime.
What is the most impressive band you’ve toured with? The one that you just had to watch every night? Did you learn anything from them/by watching them?
It’s gotta be POWER TRIP. I’ve been lucky enough to tour with those guys quite a bit and they always fuckin’ bring it big time. Another one would be INCANTATION. Genocide Pact toured with them a couple years ago and I ended up watching them pretty much every night. They still crush.
Is there any classic / universally acclaimed artist that you missed out on when they first came out and discovered way later? Any artist that you didn’t like at first and learned to appreciate over time?
Yeah actually there’s two very specific examples that come to mind. I remember when The College Dropout came out and Jesus Walks was all over the radio and stuff. I liked those songs back then but I never really dove further into KANYE’s music. Last year my friend Paula and I were listening to The College Dropout at work and I was like, “fuck man, every song on this album is incredible”. It sent me down a Kanye rabbit hole which I’m kinda still in the process of going down. I have a lot of catching up to do.
The other is LIL WAYNE. I hated him back in the day cuz that’s what every douchebag at my high school was into, but when I got older I realized how fucking amazing he is. I feel really dumb for ever hating on him but hey, at least I can admit that I was wrong. Wayne rips.
Do you have any unpopular music opinion that you would like to defend? Something that you love and yet can hardly find anyone to agree on how great it is?
People love to hate on U2 but will jock a bunch of crappy Alt Rock stuff that’s way worse. U2 fucking kicks ass. To quote Noel Gallagher – “I’ve given up trying to defend U2 now. I’m like, if you get it – great. If you don’t, you’re a fool.”. Amen Noel.
Name one or several cover songs where the cover is better than the original? What makes them superior?
JEFF BUCKLEY – Hallelujah. I’m probably gonna get shit for this but I don’t really like the original by LEONARD COHEN and I think that Buckley’s version is one of the greatest songs ever recorded. The fuckin’ voice on that guy, sheesh… RIP.
What albums have been on heavy rotation lately?
Oh man, there’s a few… The first one that comes to mind is THE ISLEY BROTHERS – Givin’ It Back. It’s all cover songs but in my opinion some of their renditions are actually better than the originals. That’s been on constant repeat lately.
FUNKADELIC – Maggot Brain has been pretty consistently in my headphones since the world fell apart. That’s a desert island pick for sure – one of my all-time favorites. Another Funkadelic-related record that’s been spending a lot of time on my turntable is EDDIE HAZEL – Game, Dames, and Guitar Thangs. I recently found a copy at a record store and even though I had never heard it before I knew I had to buy it. Eddie looks so fucking cool on the cover. He was already one of my favorite guitar players but somehow I had never heard his solo stuff – mindblowingly good.
I also recently heard this record by a 90’s Memphis Rap producer named BLACKOUT called Dreamworld that I’ve been pretty obsessed with. Other than that I’ve been doing this thing where I pick a band and just go through their discography all week, usually listening to one or two of their albums per day so I don’t burn myself out. Recently I’ve done it with a lot of the early Earache bands – MORBID ANGEL, BOLT THROWER, CARCASS, NAPALM DEATH… That’s always fun.
What are some up and coming artists that you would recommend?
I really like MORTIFERUM, WOUND MAN, and DESTRUCT.
Is there a band that you’ve discovered live recently that blew you away?
Not a band I discovered from seeing live but Red Death toured with ENFORCED earlier this year and they destroyed every night. Great live band.
What are you listening to right now, while answering these questions?
Right now I’m jamming CAPTAIN BEYOND’s first album. Classic.
Final thoughts? Is there anything you would like to promote?
Genocide Pact, Innumerable Forms, and Brain Tourniquet will all be putting out new records in the first half of 2021. Hope you like ‘em.
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