You would be hard-pressed to find someone involved in the Montreal underground “heavy” music scene who doesn’t know Shawn Central. He has been part of the punk/hardcore/metal scene since the 80’s and you’ll still catch me attending or playing shows on a regular basis. These days he is drumming for heavy hitters DOPETHRONE. Perhaps his most active band ever, they are fresh off an European tour, in support of their latest album, Transcanadian Anger, and yet, they’ve already started working on its follow-up. Of course, he’s also been running Sound Central Store for an incredible 17 years. A lifetime, by record shop standards. I met him at the store on a Sunday afternoon, talking all kinds of music in between sales.
-Ben F.
What’s your favorite way of discovering new music? Is it live? On records? Through friends’ recommendations? Just dumb luck?
Dumb luck has a lot to do with it, but there’s a lot of a recommendations through friends because you know, being in a record store, I mean, you can’t…Anyone who thinks they know it all doesn’t know Jack. Okay. Because right off the bat, that means they’re fucking arrogant. They’re insecure. They’re frustrated musicians. Sorry, but that’s the way it goes. I mean, I remember hearing stories like “well if I don’t know it, then it can’t be good”. Well, it means you really don’t know anything good. I’m sorry, it’s in the ear of the beholder. It’s a question of opinion. One man’s candy is another man’s poo-poo. You know, someone might not get it. This is not a question of talent, it’s a question of taste.
Sometimes, believe it or not, it can be through something like a spotify or youtube. You’ll listen to one thing and of course it’s only an algorithm, but sometimes they’ll recommend something that you really like. Obviously it’s just some sort of liaison or segueing, but there’s a good chance you might discover something good. I have, in fact. Like MACHINE GIRL, because I was listening to DEATH GRIPS, you know, and all of a sudden I’m like, what the fuck is this? And yeah, I was hooked on it for a while, you know, to a point where I was listening to it too much and I got bored. But uh, at least it got to that point.
And do you prefer records or live?
Ah, well, yeah, discovering a band live is…I’m not going to say like, Hey, you’re good if you impress me, but it’s impressive if I am impressed. I like to think I know how to play drums and I know music as far as how one creates and what’s the formula aspect of it. Also when I’m seeing a band live and I’m enjoying it, they’re doing something right.
What’s the first thing that strikes you when you see a new band?
I hate to say it, I guess I’m slightly biased, and I know a lot of people are the same way, but it’s the drummer. I mean they have to be at least tight. They don’t have to be amazing but at least, if they’re sloppy, they still need to be on time. There has to be some sort of presence because, you know, if the drummer sucks, then the band sucks…It doesn’t matter how good the other musicians are.
Is that what makes or breaks the band for you?
Exactly. I mean, THE WHO weren’t any worse when Moon died but, it’s a good thing they had Kenney Jones who was at least steady to replace him. And yeah, if the singer is annoying, that can ruin it too. I know a lot of people who don’t like certain bands because of the singer, just like, “oh, the vocals ruined it for me”. Even with some of my bands. Like my dad loves Dopethrone but not the vocals. It’s not really his thing. But musically speaking, you know, it’s not that far off from him listening to ZEPPELIN or SABBATH or shit like that. He understands this is just really, really heavy blues but the vocals kind of don’t work for him. He’s just not into the growly thing. So yeah, those would be the things I look at or consider or like put it this way…I’ll notice right away if the drummer is not tight or just weak or the singer is just not capable of singing or doesn’t have the right style for it. It needs to fit.
Let’s dive into these list type questions now. Name 5 songs that you consider perfect.
That’s not an easy one. There’s so much music out there and obviously, you know, with 40 plus years of listening to music, you can’t remember everything. I really tried to break it down, but obviously, these are things that did kind of come to mind and here we go.
SLEEP – Dopesmoker. I mean why is it a perfect song? Because someone had to fucking do a two-hour song. Obviously it’s not two hours, but it’s something like an hour and a half or something like that. Obviously if you listen to it on CD, you get the full effect because if it’s on a vinyl, you have to keep on switching the sides. But yeah, if you listen to it on CD, it takes you somewhere because eventually you forget you’re listening to the song and you’re doing whatever the fuck you’re doing. Either you’re droning out or you’re driving or whatever. It’s perfect for that and it never gets boring. There’s enough switches. But at the same time they’re gradual. Like I’ve seen the markings of how the song was made and it’s just like 17 bars of that, you know, and then bum, bum, bum, bum, bum, bum. And at the end of it all, you still kind of want more. It’s insane. It’s just like you can listen to that fucking thing only. All. In fact, I remember one day, I was a little polluted and I was blasting it in the store. I mean like so fucking loud. You could hear it on mount royal street and the speaker was just exploding and I don’t know, it was perfect because it was just like ominous. And it’s perfect for its simplicity too because there’s really not much going on, but it’s the right mix. It does what it’s got to do.
Then…and this is all in no particular order by the way, these are just examples. So then I would say a IRON MONKEY’s Fink dial. I can never get tired of that song. It’s punishing, there’s enough changes in it to just kind of take you for a little ride. It’s basically like saying, let’s fucking eat some vomit and try to keep it down! It’s just so brutal. Personally, I would listen to that if I’m going into battle. You know, just put it on repeat and just…you start thinking like a tank. So yeah, that’s the reason why I think that one’s a beautiful, a beautiful track.
JIMI HENDRIX – 1983…a merman I should turn to be. This song is epic. I can listen to this anytime it’s got everything from it being whimsical to…it feels like Sunday, you know. It’s just a, dare I say, beautiful song and at the same time it’s almost kind of haunting too. It’s melodramatic, passive aggressive, it has sort of a chill vibe to it. It’s a thinker, but at the same time there’s a bit of melancholy, but it’s still positive, I find, in the end result.
To me it has the sweetest riff ever written.
Oh Man! Yeah. And at the end, the drum solo, the Bass Solo..which by the way was Hendrix as well. It’s just a great song.
Next would be MDC, Multi death corporation. I mean it’s fast, it’s a short song. From the beginning you know you’re in trouble. It just winds up and takes off. The lyrics obviously is where it’s at because I mean, 30 years later, they’re more prevalent than ever. You know? It’s like, these were premonitions, like nursery rhymes. So yeah, the conviction’s there and if you really break it down, these guys are doing some crazy, crazy little nuances. It’s almost like jazz. It’s not like one, two, three, four, one, two, three, four. If you really break it down, there’s actually more than meets the ear.
Then, I kind of started running out of ideas, but I felt that it was important to mention something as obvious as QUEEN’s Bohemian rhapsody. I mean, you’re talking about perfect songs. Well this is a perfect example of a perfect song. It does it all. It talks about trials and tribulations and it’s just epic. In a classic rock vein, I mean, it’s operatic. It’s got the guitar leads. It’s got it all. You know, it’s not MY favorite song, but if it plays on the radio or whatever, we’re all going to sing along, it’s inevitable.
I don’t think anyone hates that song.
I don’t know. If they do then wow, I’ve yet to meet them.
Which music genre do you listen to the most?
I think I would just scratch that one up because I felt that I kind of bounce off one thing over the other.
That’s an interesting take. So you feel like you need to listen to all kinds music, all the time?
Yeah, there’s too many emotions out there. I mean, I don’t feel like, black metal all the time. I don’t feel hardcore all the time. I don’t feel like being a four four techno dude all the time, you know what I mean? I try to find music that sort of caters to my emotions. Or in some cases it’s like, I’ll feel down and want to feel differently. So I choose music to address that. Sometimes I’m just feeling really, really aggressive. I’ll actually play some hardcore techno and it’ll calm me down. Certain music, you know, it’s almost like Ritalin. It has to be speedy so I actually fucking shut the fuck up! I’ll listen to some breakcore just to be thinking about that and not being distracted by everything else.
So your main motivation in listening to music is how you feel right now and how you want to feel afterwards?
Exactly. If I want to continue feeling a certain way then I’ll put on particular music or if I want to change my mood because I don’t want to feel, say down and I want to start feeling a little bit more uppity then, yeah, a particular choice will be made at such time as well.
Who would be your top 5 rappers?
It’s funny because I like a lot of hip hop, but sometimes the MC is not the focal point for me. I listened to a lot of punk rock and hardcore and shit like that. And once you kind of understood how you feel and think, hearing someone go about, you know, fuck the system all the time…It’s like, yeah, okay, I get it. You’re preaching to the converted so I don’t fucking care. That’s cool, someone’s got to say it, but I’ve heard it. So if you want my attention, talk about something that it hasn’t been overdone because again, I know, fuck the system, I get it, trust me. That’s why this list wasn’t as easy as I thought, but ICE-T because he was one of the first ones that got my attention as far as like, we’ll say hardcore. You know, not by today’s standards, he’s obviously not that tough or whatever. I mean there’s always a next generation that’s trying to up the next, right. The point being, when I saw that album Power, it was like, what the fuck is going here, with the guns and all? I think he was genuine at the time. Also, you had the movie Colors and the song itself, I thought that was pretty hardcore. I was like fucking 17 or something like that when that came out so that had impact.
PUBLIC ENEMY definitely is in my top. But the thing is, I wouldn’t say Chuck D is my favorite rapper though. Or BEASTIE BOYS, as a collective yeah but, I wouldn’t necessarily say MCA is my favorite. But KRS ONE, yes. His lyrics, his rhymes, he’s conscious and it’s not just about blowing people away or showing off bills and stuff like that. He’s actually trying to say something with a bit of substance. I like that.
EAZY-E because he’s a dirty fucking kid and he had no shame. Obviously, it cost him his life because he was being so reckless but that’s part of the charm. He went out the way like he was for real. I have hard time with ICE CUBE. I know he might’ve been real, but it’s hard to believe that now. He seems so soft. EAZY-E actually never got soft because he never got the chance to. So I think he was one of my favs, thought he was fun to, you know, like, even though he’s brutal, I thought he had a sense of humor, even though it didn’t seem as obvious.
MF DOOM just because I like his flow. Just simple, laid back, reminds me of GRANDMASTER FLASH and that sort of scene. It’s like old school, and I don’t think they’re taking themselves too seriously either. I would’ve said IMMORTAL TECHNIQUE but I just don’t know enough of his material, but I definitely respect him for sure. So that would have been my number six. EMIMEM just because, you have to have balls to do what he did and he’s good. He’s not like, oh, you happen to be okay. If you’re out of your element, you have to be twice as good in order to be respected. Like me, I remember being a b-boy and I had to do crazy, crazy fucking stunts in order to get the respect of my peers, you know? Like doing backspins but hopping up and down on concrete. So all the brothers are like, whaaaaat? That’s how I got respect because I was just doing things that was just not expected…by anyone for that matter. So yeah, I think Eminem proved himself for sure.
What would you say are the five hardest riffs of all time?
Like heaviest? Uh, Angel of death (SLAYER). Clearly. That got me into metal, right? When it came out…well, first of all, this guy’s cool. He’s got DEAD KENNEDYS and SNFU stickers on his guitar. These guys obviously understand what hardcore is, and that album was written in a kind of hardcore vein with over the top, thrash metal emphasis. The approach was definitely hardcore punk. So yeah, Angel of death is definitely a fucking ultimate riff. MASTODON’s Blood and thunder…that riff is just insane. SABBATH…(humming the riff to Into the void)…what’s that one again?…You know what, anything Sabbath. There you go. Anything Sabbath, boom!
My choice would be Symptom of the universe.
Yes, that is a good one. Actually. I remember playing that on acid at a fucking hippie party. Fucking cleared the place out! hahaha. And they put us in a van and they drove all around and they dropped us up in the middle of the woods. I was like, yeah, these hippies are fucking crazy too! hahaha it really went through a bad trip fast. I come up with this more or whatever, but I’ll come back to this example.
What’s the album that you’ve listened to the most in your life?
Probably BAD BRAINS’ self titled. It’s the perfect length. It definitely changed my opinion on punk and hardcore. I mean here’s four brothers, fucking Rastafarians, playing, you know, kinda like how we were talking about ENIMEM, only in reverse. They fucking played hardcore better than most people in the scene at the time. They put a standard, like, okay, you want to play hard, you want to play fast? Well, check it out. This is how it’s done. It influenced soooo many bands, so many people that it changed New York, gave it a new breath or life or whatever. Because the scene, everything was happening in the west coast. So when the Bad Brains moved from Washington, it was a game changer. I’m sure most people know but no Bad Brains, no BEASTIE BOYS. Potentially no CRO-MAGS, no…I think AGNOSTIC FRONT were already kinda doing but it but it put life into the scene for sure.
You still listen to it on semi-regular basis, right?
Yeah, I’ll put it on and I’m like, here we go. It’s almost like a fucking tattoo on your heart. It’s there. You’ll never get enough of it. And I love their reggae. Their style, their roots…and it’s simple, but it’s so done well. There’s no need for too much studio, it’s not over dubbed as it were. It does what it’s got to do.
What are some of your favorite song lyrics? Lyrics that have been important to you or that had an impact on you?
I kinda had a hard time with that one. I kinda said I might come back to that or skip it for now, just because, like I said, there was a time when lyrics meant something to me. But then when you start to have a sense of self or at least what your beliefs are, you kind of get tired of being told or whatever. I mean, it doesn’t always have to be the case, sometimes it’s just more of a poetic sort of stance on something and it happens to be backed up with music. Unfortunately nothing comes to mind right away. Recently I listened to mainly more instrumental music because while I’m working, I don’t get distracted by lyrics. I’d start listening too much and start breaking it down and I’m like, oh shit, what was I doing? So in most cases I, tend to levitate to a lot of instrumental music or soundtrack type stuff or techno or electronic music because there’s not much in the way of vocals usually.
Do you have an absolute all time favorite band or artist?
I would have to say THE WHO. It has a lot to do with my dad because it was one of his favorite bands. But musically speaking, the way I see it, they’re kind of like the godfathers of punk. They even have a song called that, The punk and the godfather. It is almost like a premonition there because their attitude…I mean you’re listening to songs like My generation and stuff like, that was punk. There was rebellion. Also, when I got to see footage of Keith Moon, seeing him play and how he played. Well, it’s probably the reason why I’m drummer today. I was just like, what am I watching? Who is this? What is he doing? What’s going on? It was just so much energy and you could tell that he was happy, but at the same time pissed off. You can tell he’s putting everything in there. I ate that up. I just thought it was amazing. And then you’ve got the singer, Roger, fucking swinging his microphone around. At any moment, someone’s teeth could get knocked the fuck out. You got Pete who’s doing his windmill on that guitar, jumping up and down. It was the first time I saw a pair of docs even. And then you got John Entwistle and he’s just standing there not moving, but those fingers were doing all the work, so I mean he didn’t have to move.
As a package, seeing them live, to me this is the epitome of a hard rock band. This is rock and roll. This is rock and roll and how it should sound. This is rock and roll and how it should be presented. How you’re witnessing it. They can improvise, they were able to do jams there and you know, they would smash their shit. They were just everything. There was chaos. The perfection and yet the due diligence. So I felt that, The Who represents…you know, a lot of people know them, but I think they might be slightly underrated too.
What are your ten favourite albums of all time? Name a standout track on each of these albums.
Again, in no particular order and I probably could have found more but I felt I was also looking at just the whole of the album, like the reason why it’s not just one song or two, it’s potentially the concept. In reality I should have put PINK FLOYD Dark Side of the Moon in there, but there’s so many obvious choices out there. I’m going to go with the things I can at least vouch for. Here we go again, BAD BRAINS, self titled. Standout track, I guess Sailing on. It’s just a perfect intro track, it says everything. It’s like, gotta stay positive, gotta get going, gotta get stuff done. Don’t let that bullshit keep you down. I’m sailing on, I’m moving on. I’m getting it going.
ART OF NOISE – Who’s afraid of. Certain picks I chose were just to sort of diversify the list and it’s another go to band for me. At the time there was nothing like them. They were a full band but they didn’t have any conventional instruments. They didn’t have actual drums, no guitars. There was no vocalist or whatever. Everything was like sequences and samplers. Eventually they did become a band to play live so they did have like a backup singer and a drummer and a guitarist and all the makings. What made this album interesting is because no one else had done that before. After that, everybody wanted them, wanted a track with them. YES had a track with them, TOM JONES…everybody wanted to get with them because they had such a unique sound. And no one was doing anything like that and had packaged it as an album before. And you know, it came out of the roots of hip hop in some ways because…for standout track, we’ll go with Beat box (diversion one). Those beats inspired a genre which is now known as big beat. ICE-T had rapped on top of that in, I think it was like Breakin’ or Breakin’ 2 maybe. So yeah, it had a lot of influence and I thought that album showed that up.
Again, no particular order, but REFUSED, The Shape of Punk to Come. When I heard that, first of all, I didn’t know what the hell happened. The title says it all and it really did sort of revive or rekindle the hardcore scene because it showed that you didn’t have to be just like, one, two, three, four, one, two, three, four. It can be a little bit of dynamics. It didn’t have to be completely hardcore sounding in a sense of, you know, your typical riffs. It did have more of this sort of jazzy or progressive sort of undertone, but it still maintained its fury. And I thought that the flow from one song to the next was just brilliant. It’s really more of a conceptual album. Some albums you can’t just go to that track. You got to listen to the whole thing so unfortunately, I don’t have a track on this one to say particularly, but maybe the one that starts with the drum like (humming the pattern to Protest song ’68).
That’s the makings of a good record, when you’ve listened to it hundreds of times and yet, you cannot identify one standout song. Or sometimes not even name a song.
Right, exactly. And that’s a good example of that right there for sure. There’s so many, so many albums from FRANK ZAPPA. It’s hard to choose one in particular, but I felt that Sheik Yerbouti was a go to there because there’s a lot of material on it. There’s some improvs, there’s some jams, there’s actual songs. There’s always his sense of humor. So like, does comedy fit in music? Absolutely because he made me laugh throughout that album. I mean, it’s just ridiculously funny and yet there’s some serious tracks in there because it’s also social, politically charged. Songs like Flakes that basically talk about people who are constantly taking advantage of the fact that you need to get something fixed, let’s say your toilet or your TV, and there is these people wasting your time who don’t even finish doing the job properly. There’s so many people on our backs and wasting our time, that kind of thing. What would be a good track though? I think it’s either Broken hearts are for assholes or I’m so cute and it’s just because actually both of them were pretty, pretty good. Let’s go with I’m so cute because first of all, it’s not even Zappa singing, it’s Bozzio, the drummer and the song was written for him by him, sung by him because he was basically so vain and they had to write something about it so it’s very tongue in cheek.
CONVERGE – Jane Doe. Again, kind of like The Shape of Punk to Come, this album is just relentless. I like to think it’s conceptual of sorts. From start to finish, it just kicks butt. For song, I would go with Concubine because you just hear that riff…speaking of heavy of riffs there…and oh my God. You hear the dissonant notes and you get goosebumps, you’re wondering what’s going to happen and you know you want to punch somebody, it’s automatic. It’s such a relentless album in a sense of brutality and ending up with the song Jane Doe is just, you know, holy shit. So yeah, that’s another killer album.
FRONT 242’s Geography. Again, I hadn’t heard anything like that at the time. Now I think they’ve coined the term, it’s now known as EBM but at the time it was just known either as electronic and/or alternative. It was very dark, very, very winter sounding, you know. It was like a soundtrack for my mind, like I would listen to that and I wish they would put me places and it just stood out for me versus any of the other similar artists at the time. Let’s see if I can find it my favorite track on this. We’ll just go with Operating tracks. I know a lot of the times it’s the, the opening track, but yeah…
Well, it can be obvious or even cheesy, but at the same time it’s the one that introduces you to a record. And there is a reason why they choose to place it there.
Exactly. Because they knew that was the hook, line and sinker. Like BLACK SABBATH, I mean the first album…Let’s not forget, without that album, without that band…they represent everything that’s heavy. I’ll argue with some people, like one person was like, that’s not doom, that’s not sludge, that’s metal. I’m like, are you an idiot? You’re arguing about the same thing. Yes, it’s metal. Yes, it’s doom. Yes, it’s punk. It’s hardcore, it’s all that. Seriously, no BLACK SABBATH, no BLACK FLAG. It’s not about just all the stoner bands, it’s not all about the metal bands. It also had an influence on all that is heavy and that album, I mean the opening track! Again, we’ll go with that. But I mean I can only imagine people who were there at that time. I was born that year so obviously, I’m not hearing it like that but I’m imagining if you were at age and this album comes out. I can only imagine what you were to think. This was the soundtrack to the apocalypse of sorts, you know, but a slow stirring one. Like, holy shit.
PIG DESTROYER – Prowler in the Yard. You want to talk about a soundtrack for, you know, a vengeance. Yeah. Put that on. There you go. Put that on your headphones, flack it down your throat and wake up in jail or in a cemetery! It starts off with that creepy…like “eeeeww…Jennifer…” and all that crap. So you’re going what’s going on? It’s very ominous. And then when it just kicks in and it’s like, whoa, someone wound that fucking top real tight and it’s going to spin for half an hour and it’s not gonna stop. They do it all from grind to blast to death to… not so much black metal, but pretty much all of the different kinds of metals you can think of. And it’s done well. And it’s not like one type of song, they use all those elements within and I would say it’s a good example of again, from start to finish, a perfect album, or at least the concept.
SEVERED HEADS. See there was a time when I was listening to a lot of, we’ll say alternative. What was considered alternative at the time, but like something like SEVERED HEADS, pioneers in what would be called back then or now considered tape culture. They did a lot of sampling, but not in an orthodox way. Like ART OF NOISE was a little bit more structured. They had actual equipment, whereas Severed Heads, a lot of it was very unorthodox, was grassroots. I mean, I heard one situation where in order to get the recording, he took a record and he would just throw it across the street and getting it wet and just fucking it up in different ways. And then same with the turntable itself and then trying to make music, you know what I mean? Like very unconventional, very raw, definitely a punk rock approach when it comes to electronic or experimental music. Sadly, I missed the more recent show. I think it was three or four months back, but I heard it was off the hook. But Clifford Darling, Please Don’t Live in The Past. It’s a compilation of outtakes and b-sides or whatever, from 79 to 83. Right off the bat, wow man, they did this like 30, 40 years ago. This is insane. I would say it’s…not disturbing, but it’s hard/weird…it’s just off. Not everybody’s gonna dig that out. There’s a lot of tape loops and a lot of repetition and in some cases, it can be annoying but I think it’s creative. Again, I don’t think anyone came close to their sound, maybe a NURSE WITH WOUND.
THE WHO again, Who’s Next, because everything else prior to that would have maybe as a track or two on the album that’s good. And then there’ll be a compilation but I don’t like considering compilations as an album, it’s just that, it’s a compilation. So conceptually speaking, I mean that’s why Clifford Darling is a bit of an exception because it’s songs that were not on other albums AND it was mixed, it was a continual mix. You couldn’t find the beginning of a track and there was a flow so it did work that way. But yeah, with Who’s Next, every song’s a winner. Obviously Baba O’Riley and Won’t get fooled again are the gems but from start to finish, those are the book ends and everything else in between is listened to. I thought that was a good album from them because without mentioning, let’s say soundtracks or you know, like Tommy or Quadrophenia, I felt that this is an album that represents the band appropriately. Not to mention, they were in their prime because shortly after, maybe a few years later, they put out Who Are You, which is a great album, but there’s only a few songs that are top notch. And then of course, Moon passes away shortly afterwards so that was a bit of a tragedy.
Alright, so we’ll switch gears. We’ll move to the music that shaped you. First off, do you remember the first time you enjoyed music?
It was an eight track and obviously it had some impact because I kept on listening back to it and trying to cue it back, but it was Fantasia’s soundtrack, A night on bald mountain. I guess, if you think about it, that’s pretty fucking metal. Maybe there was something else that was there prior, but I remember this one so obviously this had some sort of stigmatic impression on me, musically speaking.
How did your musical tastes evolve throughout the years? As a kid, through high school, etc.
In elementary school, I started listening to the BEATLES and the WHO because of my dad and then I started discovering bands that were more relevant at the time. So I actually was listening to AC/DC. THE POLICE was a favorite at the time too. QUEEN, BLONDIE, stuff like that. So I was listening to a lot of classic rock, let’s say. And then when I got to high school, I think it was around 82. I remember one day I went into the lounge and there was all the black kids fucking break dancing. I had never seen anything like that. Even in 82, it’s still kind of late because it started in like 78 in New York. But I mean, being that there’s no internet and being in Montreal, Sir Winston Churchill High School in St-Laurent. I just was like, whoa! That music, like electro, and these moves! Next thing you know, I’m spending $100 on a nike breakdance suit and all that. My parents were like, what are you crazy? So I got into a lot of hip hop and electro. But then I guess around 84 it really became commercial. Now you’ve got hip hop in car commercials so at that point, you want to distance yourself from that, you know, because everyone and their grandma was in on it. You know how that is as a kid, you’re like that’s not cool anymore. I want to get the fuck away from there.
Therefore, that’s how I kinda got into ART OF NOISE and FRONT 242 and SEVERED HEADS and these types of artists because it still had the electronic or electro feel but I felt as long as it doesn’t have any emceeing, then it’s not considered hip hop. Which is kind of silly but that’s how I was thinking at the time. So I got into like, we’ll call it alternative. I even didn’t mind a little bit of THE CURE that my friend was listening to and shit like that. Or even like a little bit grittier…well I guess what really happened is, around 14 or 15, he bought this compilation. I remember hearing DEAD KENNEDYS and I just thought it was like, okay. It just didn’t do it for me as much. But then I heard the Primitive Air Raid compilation and something happened. A switch just went off, I was like, HO-LY SHIT! I knew from that point on, that’s what it’s all about. It felt like someone opened the door or broke the cage or gave me wings. I don’t know, it spoke volumes. It was weird because I borrowed the album…which no one does anymore. Who lends out their records anymore…But that’s something you did: “Hey can I bring it home and you make a copy?”. Eventually I bought my own but at least in the meantime.
I remember it was 6 o’clock blues (FAIR WARNING)…“I don’t want to get out of bed. I don’t want to raise my fucking head. I don’t want to see the daylight…” I was just like, oh my God, yeah, I get it. I get it. Because you know, all teenagers are depressed by default. And then it was also VOMIT AND THE ZITS’ song called Suicide, “Suicide, suicide, what can I do? Suicide, suicide, no present for you”. I wasn’t suicidal, but again, any teenager is going to feel like they’re dealing with all of these emotions, so one of them is going to be just that, self doubt. But I played it sooo low because I didn’t want my parents hearing me…
To have them smash the record!
Well actually, shit like that did happen. Well, they actually went to Woodstock. So they took it as a rebellion against them. Then they finally realized that no, this is just a violent hippie and I’m rebelling. And it had nothing to do with them being the authority. They weren’t the authority that I was complaining about. And then next thing you know, they’re coming to the shows or the practices and supporting and they’ve been nothing but amazing support ever since. They understand. This is how I am, this is what makes me thick. So like in high school I went from hip hop to hardcore and then, because of SLAYER, I was like now accepting metal because the first time I heard Master of Puppets from METALLICA, I was like, nah, not fast enough. Because I was getting too much into punk and hardcore but Slayer changed the game and then I was able to go back to like, Metallica. I started appreciating good metal. Therefore I was like, now I don’t mind MERCYFUL FATE, you know. Cause before I was like, what’s with that guy? What the fuck is that? Annoying.
So then, mid nineties, now I’m in my twenties and I’m now working at Cargo, which is a record distribution house. I’m being exposed to everything, pragmatically speaking and that’s when I was reintroduced to techno because I found late eighties and early nineties techno or electronic music, the technology wasn’t there so it sounded weak. But then you got LENNY DEE and the whole industrial crowd from New York. And I was just like, whoa, okay. First of all, the bpm’s were there, 200 fucking beats per minute, and the production was way heavier. So I was like, oh my God, this is just basically hardcore or speed metal, but in the techno vein. In fact, I remember at cargo in the warehouse, I was one of the head shippers and there’s other pickers and packers and stuff like that. There was a clipboard and everyone had an hour of music that they can listen to and I’d always put some, some gabber shit and everyone HATED me. Fucking hated. I said, I’m on to something here and I’m doing something right because everyone was working because it was too loud, too fucking relentless. They couldn’t have their stupid little conversational, fucking hipster bullshit. So everyone was picking and doing work. I’m like, oooh, I’m packing boxes. I’m doing my shit. I remember even like John Coiner who was a super hardcore punk. He had a whole sleeve of Corrosion of conformity album and shit like that. He just couldn’t stand it. I was like, but I’m a punk too. The funny thing is I can listen to what you listen to but you can’t listen to what I listen to. So I knew I was onto something though right there.
The feeling I get is that, as you went along, nothing fell aside. You just expanded, right?
Yeah, exactly. I didn’t stop listening to anything and that’s what I was going to get to that next: because of that, it became a full circle. Maybe you stop for a while there. Everyone does that for a while. You become elitist and can’t tell that there’s other music out. But then you grow up and you realize you can listen to more than one thing. I think I was just like that in the mid eighties, being a punker and shit, I was very narrow minded. Like, I didn’t receive METALLICA at first. Obviously that’s debatable now because they’re not really that great of a band anymore. But the first few albums, you have to hand it to them. I mean, without Metallica there wouldn’t be half the fucking decent bands there are today. They did influence and actually, they made metal a household name. I mean, your grandmother knows who fucking Metallica is, you know. So they did something for the metal scene. Definitely. Or the underground in general, so I give ’em props for that. But sometimes, you know, when you’re discovering yourself and you’re into that style of music, you tend to forget about everything else. So when I started working at Cargo and got reintroduced to certain genres of music, but the technology had evolved and I was able to accept everything again. Yeah, it came full circle and no, there’s not a genre of music that I stopped listening to. It’s not like, oh, they’re racist now? I’ll stop listening to that now. It’s not a genre of music that becomes racist, it’s either the artist that is speaking it or using that vehicle to convey that shitty fucking message. Which by the way, I think humor belongs in music, but not racism. You can’t use something creative to be destructive. I’m sorry, you’re a hypocrite and you shouldn’t be allowed to play music. Very simple.
You’ve mentioned your dad a few times. Is there music that you share with him? Music that you both equally enjoy? It seems like you can pretty much listen to anything with him?
Yeah, he’s pretty open minded too. Obviously, there were times where it’s like, okay, that’s too fast, turn that shit off! Like we’re trying to do some roofing and like, I’m gonna throw you off the fucking roof kid, turn that shit off. I hate PTL KLUB. I was listening to everything from the Boston scene, GANG GREEN and all that shit. But yeah, believe it or not, there’s bands that he introduced me to and vice versa. So like obviously, you know, there was THE WHO, like I said before, THE BEATLES, ROLLING STONES, you know, the obvious go-to’s, BOB DYLAN. But I also did the inverse whereas I was listening to some bands and you know, it wasn’t too crazy and therefore he was listening to ART OF NOISE, we’ll bring them up again. TONES ON TAIL was another one. He really, really enjoyed them, which is basically an offshoot of BAUHAUS. When Bauhaus sort of was about to break up or when they did, one member went on to THE JAZZ BUTCHER, Peter Murphy did his solo thing and then the others went onto being Tones on Tail which eventually became LOVE AND ROCKETS and then blah blah blah. But yeah, Tones on Tail was one of those bands that I was able to get him into. And I guess, I’m not a fan of the BEACH BOYS, but he loves the Beach Boys and like so like when I’m over there he’ll put some on and it’s nostalgic for me clearly. If I hear the Beach Boys right away, obviously my dad comes to mind for sure. Even though he’s not a surfer by any means!
What’s his favorite band of yours?
He actually enjoys SQUALOR a lot because there’s no vocals so he doesn’t have to worry about being offended or whatnot. He’s not having to listen to someone screaming. He doesn’t like people screaming. He’s much, much chiller now. Squalor, it was a lot of improvisation too, so like he likes that. He likes music. Put this way, if it wasn’t from my dad being so heavily into music, I wouldn’t be the person I am today. You know, maybe I’d be a rich doctor or something. So, definitely Squalor, but he also bought two copies of Dopethrone’s Transcanadian anger. One to listen to and one to, I don’t know, maybe sell on Ebay, if he thinks we’re ever going to get somewhere! He likes the music because, he does listen to heavier shit. Back in the day, SABBATH, he didn’t mind the music, but it was the lyrical content and the imagery. He was just like “they’re satanists!” Even though that’s not the case, but let’s not forget they were really pushing that edge. So it’s easy for anyone to misconstrue what they were really about. The name, Black Sabbath, I mean c’mon. And then there’s crosses everywhere for Christ’s sake! So yeah, he probably would have enjoyed the band, but I think the imagery kind of scared them off a little bit. So now that, you know, Satan’s working at every depanneur now and whatnot, who gives a shit? Dopethrone he likes, well, maybe he doesn’t mind the other albums, but obviously there’s going to be a little bit of a bias because I’m on the last one so therefore he’s more inclined to listen to it. But again, no offense to Vince and I’m sure he knows that, but the vocals kinda don’t work for him. To him it sounds like someone’s dying or whatever. It doesn’t turn him on.
He didn’t mind BLOOD SAUSAGE. The musical style wasn’t his fave, but he did enjoy certain tracks, especially the more sort of ska punk, you know, beer anthems or whatever. I guess I think it would be in that order, Squalor, Dopethrone and then Blood Sausage. Didn’t give a fuck for HANDS OF DEATH, no! haha
Live shows. Do you have one single memorable show that sticks out?
Obviously, there were a lot but I would say GWAR. The first time I saw them. I was like, what the fuck is going on? We were supposed to go to this party. I was the only one who didn’t go because my friend from Texas was like, you GOT to see these guys. I knew he had good taste in music. He knew what he was talking about…My friend Jack Nobles, if you’re out there buddy…and he’s just like, you’ve got to see these guys. This was like when they’re just starting out, so like they’d didn’t even come up with Scumdogs yet. This was tour support for the first album on Shimmy disc, Hell-O. Even their shtick wasn’t fully on, like they were at mark one compared to like mark four now or whatever. They didn’t have the big dinosaurs and whatever, but they still had a lot of blood. They was still Gwar, just a stripped down version. I still walked out of there with green and red and chunks of meat on me and whatever. I’m on the bus and the metro and people are just staring at me. I’m like, well what the fuck happened to you? I didn’t go to the party but I met up with my friends afterwards and I was like: “you missed out on the craziest thing I’ve ever been”.
Sure enough, by the time they came back again to support the Scumdogs of the Universe album, then their shtick was tenfold. They got more money, they have more blood and everyone was just like, yeah, you’re right Shawn. This is insanity. That was around ’91 when I think there were pretty much at their peak at that point. It was a privilege, you know, I got to see them before anyone else did because there wasn’t that many people there. It was at Foufounes and there might’ve been like maybe 100 people. It was really not well attended, but everyone from that day on was like “did you hear about…” and so on and so on. They told a friend and they told a friend so. Yeah, that sticks in my mind for sure.
Quickly I will mention that show though, OBITUARY, CANNIBAL CORPSE and AGNOSTIC FRONT, all bands played amazingly. And OBITUARY, the sound for them was insane. It was like, it was so sub. It wasn’t that they were super loud, but the sub, like my gut was literally like becoming one organ. It was like all being mushed…am I going to get sick?
What year was that?
Around 91. Yeah. I guess I was still at an age where there was a lot of things happening. Still being impressed or influenced or whatever. Still had the sparkle!
Do you have an all-time favorite venue?
Not reeeeally, but I mean there are some places I prefer over others. Sometimes I’ll be: “oh cool, the show’s happening there.” Great because it’s close or the sound or the size. But the reason why I’m going to choose Rising Sun is strictly out of nostalgia because it was where a lot of good memories were had. I was, you know, young and impressionable. These were my first shows, hardcore and whatnot. It was a good size. It was kind of the size of this store here, which I’m thinking is about 800 square feet. It was probably more about 1200 square feet and went a little further and it was a little wider. It had two floors. Upstairs was couches and everything like that and you could hang out. Before GRIM SKUNK, they were known as FATAL ILLNESS and they were always playing with another band called BLOCK PARENTS. And it was the first time I was like, so punks can watch sports? Because they wouldn’t go on until the hockey game was done, watching it upstairs. And I’m like, guys, it’s time to fucking play. But I didn’t say that, I’m just thinking, what the hell, why are we watching hockey? Aren’t we against that shit? It’s nationalism. It just weird how you perceive things differently as a kid. Like, the first time you see someone with a shaved head, you automatically think there were a skinhead. But that doesn’t necessarily represent that. Especially now, everyone’s got a fucking shaved head because everyone wants to be fucking Bruce Willis, right? I’m losing my hair, hey, there you go. That’s how you deal with it. Don’t fucking flip it to the side like Donald Trump, you dick.
Um, so yeah, the Rising Sun, I had a lot of good times there. It was just kind of like CBGB’s. It started off as kind of trying to be a country bar, but the only clients they could get or the only people that would rent, they were punks. Same with the Rising Sun. So even though it was run by rastas, it was known to be like a punk bar, at least for shows. I remember one time going there and, because I had a practice space next door that I lived in actually, I’d go to the Rising Sun all the time trying to score some weed from the rastas and instead of charging me, they gave me free weed for moving their equipment down. And holy shit, reggae bands have heavy gear. They have their own soundboard for fuck’s sake. It sounded like a good deal at the time I guess…there was a lot of seeds in it though! haha I was like, never again, fuck it. I’d rather pay the $10, fuck that. At least, it was only about an hour’s worth of work so I guess back in the day, you know, $10 an hour was pretty good money, like in ’85.
What’s the most impressive band that you’ve toured with?
I’ve done a few tours but the thing is, not always with another band. I did consider the ones that we have done, so therefore there was XPLICIT NOIZE, at one point ARMED AND HAMMERED a bit, but as far as opening up for bands, I mean the list is long and I could definitely name drop. I’m not joking. It’s not funny. Actually, it’s pretty funny. I was going to mention the last tour with BONGZILLA because that was in fact, to answer your question specifically and perfectly, I think out of the 25 shows I probably watched them 20 times. I had to watch. An amazing band, fucking hilarious. These guys became instant party favorites of mine. They could be their own fucking sitcom, you know, the rhythm that they have with each other. Obviously they’ve known each other for a long time, but that transcends on stage too. You can see that they’re well greased and they enjoy themselves. But what really does it for me is Magma, their drummer. He’s amazing to watch. He’s tight, like, holy shit. And everything is precise, it’s the same thing every night, in a good way. There’s a lot of work in there, he’s doing a lot, especially for a sludge band. There’s a lot going on. Me and Jason, the drummer that was filling in for SONS OF OTIS, the two of us would just stare and be like, did you see? What the? Like, oh, we’re not worthy. So yeah, Bongzilla was definitely a treat because I already had so much appreciation for them prior, you know. I love the Amerijuana album. Too bad they didn’t get to play it because they didn’t have a talk box for one of the tracks. It was just great to see them live and to hang out with them. And again, for me to be enamored by another musician, especially a drummer, you know….See, I’m speechless. I just love that.
Is there a band that you always wanted to see but never had the chance to catch?
Um, I don’t know…Jimi Hendrix would have been fucking amazing for sure. I would definitely have done a lot of the right drugs for that show. Um…
Did you get to see the BAD BRAINS early on?
Not quite but it was all the members. HR wasn’t, you know, far beyond approach at that point. He was there, he was lucid. He seemed a little pissed off but…This was at the Rialto and I think it was in support of The Quickness tour. So yeah, they were playing the old stuff and everything up until then was still decent too. I did manage to see Bad Brains once Israel and, no offense to him, but if you’re trying to sound like someone else, then it’s not you clearly. I mean, I understand his vocal styling is very important to Bad Brains, but it’s just kinda like…You know, at least when they had someone filling in for DEAD KENNEDYS…I think it was the guy from uh, ADOLESCENTS maybe? Forget who it was, but he wasn’t trying to sound like Jello and he was just, he was singing Jello’s lyrics, but his style. Even though I thought that rendition of Dead Kennedys was pretty much a cover band because without Jello, it’s just not the same. Because you needed the banter between songs, him talking about stupid shit, which is really not stupid shit, but like him going off. Him telling a story, that’s important. We need his political input. Whatever happened to that band is really interesting because it literally became the epitome of what it shouldn’t have. What!?! You’re suing each other!? Oh my God.
Can you think of an established band that became better after replacing a key member or their frontman?
Dopethrone! Hahaha Sorry Carl, haha. Um, good question. I’ll try to think of something and maybe get back because there’s got to be a example. I hate to say it but most of the time, it’s the opposite though. Like, no offense to IRON MONKEY…I think they did a great job, but…It’s not so much the singer, I think it’s just the production on the last album. It’s too overproduced. They were a very dirty, dirty sounding band. Like, you don’t clean up fucking vomit when it’s supposed to sound and look like it, you know, you gotta keep it dirty. So I felt that was a bit of a disappointment because I think a lot of people had high expectations but it just sounded like a cleaner version of what they’ve already done. But yeah, I’ll try to think of something.
Is there any classic universally acclaimed artists that you missed out on originally and picked up later on?
I hate bringing up the same bands all the time, but BLACK SABBATH was one of them. The reason why is because everybody was listening to it and maybe I wasn’t into classic rock anymore at that point. So I missed out when I was listening to AC/DC and stuff like that. Like I said, my dad didn’t like them so I didn’t get introduced that way and I didn’t necessarily pursue it. All my friends were listening to it and…Same thing with RAMONES and MOTORHEAD, everybody had that in their collection so I didn’t feel I needed it. I was like: “Oh, I’m going to collect something else and then eventually get to that”. If everyone’s already got that in their collection and you’re going to their house and they’re always fucking listening to it, then there’s no point. So yeah, I think everybody in their teens listening to Sabbath but me, I finally discovered them with, or rather dug into it, around 21 or 25. And again, I didn’t want to go with the usual obvious picks like Master of Reality or Volume 4 or the self titled or Sabotage for that matter. I picked up Never say die.
Which is great. Super underrated.
You know what I mean? Like Johnny Blade and all. I was like, what? This is amaaaazing! And I’m trying to tell my friends and they’re like, nah, that’s a shitty album. It’s because you don’t listen to it. To this day, I mean, people ask us, what was the first Sabbath album you bought? And they find it strange. Same with IRON MAIDEN too, everyone had everything so when I bought one, I went for Seventh son, which is not a bad album either.
That’s one of the perks of getting into it after the fact, because you’ve listened to the whole body of work and can say, well, THIS is my thing. You’re not biased by the experience you had through these records. You’re looking at it as a whole.
Exactly. That’s what allowed me go, yeah, Never Say Die. Now, I was on the Sabbath train. Privately. Before that, I was like, meh, and people would look at me sideways. What? It’s like saying you don’t like to breathe. Well, oh, sorry.
Which decade has produced the best music?
I would say…well, it’s not a decade, but I would say probably from 75 to 85 because pretty much everything was invented then. Whether it be like, punk, metal, reggae…at least the way we know it now…Even electronic music. I mean this is where DEVO and these people came from. Everything that we know as a genre today that’s established was started from that period there, 75 to 85…Maybe we’ll just go with the seventies because in some cases, you know, punk, you can go back as far as THE STOOGES, because they were doing this in 1970. If you really listened to it, it’s fucking punk. It’s not dirty rock, it’s fucking punk. So I would say the seventies was probably the most important decade because it brought everything to where we are today.
Do you have any controversial/unpopular music related opinions that you would like to defend?
I don’t know if I have any.
Well, actually, Never Say Die could be the answer.
I guess you got a point there. We can go with that because anyone who listens to Sabbath would not consider that to be their best.
But is it your best record these days? It probably ain’t.
No, it wouldn’t be…Put this way: I favored it over the other ones because everyone was listening to everything else so much. Therefore I didn’t feel the need to but I mean, I still have a soft spot for it. I just think it’s a really, really well made album. The songs are fun and not over formulaic, yet memorable. Even when you got Bill Ward singing. Not the best singer, but I think he actually pulls it off and it’s a bittersweet song. You kind of hum along with it.
Is there any artist that you didn’t like at first and learned to appreciate over time?
Actually, I hated NIRVANA at first. Fucking hated them. Not so much because of the music but at the time, I was, you know, full blown punk or hardcore and whatever, and I felt, here’s a band that’s selling the scene out. It wasn’t so much the band, perhaps it was the people who liked it because it was what I considered normies and now, they thought they had something in common because they’re wearing plaid like I was wearing plaid. I’m like: “no fucking way!”. It’s kinda like how I feel with people and their tattoos. Some fucking Joe Schmoe who hangs out at some fucking Crescent (street) bar, who’s got a full fucking sleeve overnight sensation bullshit comes up to me and says, hey man, look…nah, we have nothing in common. Trust me, we have nothing in common, not even the tattoos because you don’t have a story, you just want it to look good. Every tattoo I have, I can explain why I did it and that’s why there’s a like fuckin Axl Rose here…fucking prison tattoo kind of shit.
So yeah, I think Nirvana was an important band clearly. And now that I know the backstory, I realized that even Kurt himself was not digging what was going on. The industry killed him. Not him. Maybe it was Courtney, I don’t give a fuck. Fine, but one thing’s for sure, had I known how he was feeling, I probably would’ve had way more respect for them at the time, but it probably would’ve been just as frustrating because I might’ve liked the band, but again, not wanting to go to the shows because of whatever. But I remember, my girlfriend at the time, she was working at Foufounes and she was doing the Monday Formula One night, whatever, or was it the Tuesdays? Anyway, there was a band that would play for a dollar and you’d get your beer for a dollar and she happened to be there working. She came home one night and she was like: “you would love these guys!”. Man, you know, they broke their guitars, they smash their drums. I’m like, I love THE WHO. No…fuck them. Who the fuck did they think they are? You know, like that kind of attitude. And then next thing you know, you see the video. I’m like, okay, there’s people wearing BAD BRAINS t-shirts. Okay. I didn’t mind the song. And next thing you know, like a week later they’re playing the Forum. And I’m like, okay, no. So I did not appreciate what was happening around that band, and therefore I couldn’t listen to them. Which is ignorant in my end. Over time, I realized what was going on and obviously after his death, you know, the whole grunge thing died basically, and then I was able to appreciate him and the band on my terms.
It makes sense. It brings us back to that question about the impact on your mood in listening to music. You need to be in that mood to appreciate it.
Yeah, if something feels like it’s being contrived or it’s being sold to me then I can’t enjoy it for those reasons. To the point where, Dopethrone, we’re fucking around with a potential Nirvana cover. Obviously we’re going to dope it up but it just goes to show that there is no prejudice as far as what kind of music you play or who, who was the artist prior and it’s all about how you interpret it.
Do you have an artist that you love in a genre that you don’t usually listen to? What makes them stand out?
Actually, I’m not a fan of opera. I can listen to classical generally speaking, but because of the vocals, I just find most opera annoying. BUT, I do like Carmina burana because it’s just such a powerful piece and most of the time when I hear that song, it’s usually part of a soundtrack. There’ll be a particular scene in the movie that’s very intense and they’re using this song. I find it very moving. Otherwise, no, I usually stay away from opera because I just can’t handle it. AAAAAAAH! It’s the same reason why I can’t deal with new jack swing, R&B and stuff like that. It’s just too much. It’s okay, you sing, great, I get it. But basically you’re whacking off my fucking throat. Fuck off…Or my eardrum I should say! haha
Which artists (2 or more), dead or alive, and from what era, would you dream to see collaborate?
Um, I just thought this would be an insane, insane, insane fucking ensemble. Imagine Richard D. James, of APHEX TWIN, with TANGERINE DREAM and THE LOCUST. You got It all right there. You’ve got your metal, your punk, your sound…I can only imagine what they could do all together. I think those three entities can pretty much touch every style or come up with a new one for that matter. So I would think that’d be pretty bad ass.
What’s been on heavy rotation lately?
Someone dropped by the store about a month or two ago and I think we remembered each other from when we were on Ste-Catherine street. I wasn’t here when he left this CDI…He remembered that I was heavily into hardcore break, like techno, because back then, I used to cohost some parties downstairs at L’X. So I was kind of like, involved with that scene. Anyway, he dropped by and they left a copy of SHITMAT’s Full English breakfest. It came out around 2001. It’s just a full on, relentless breakcore. For whatever reason, I’ve been listening to it like almost once or twice a day. Reasoning for it is, there’s a lot of tracks and because it’s breakcore, there’s just so much going on. Every time you listen to it, you’re going to hear something else. It’s impossible to remember every fucking thing because it’s going by so fast. It’s schizophrenic and I think it works with my brain for that same reason. I can get shit done because it’s busy. If it’s minimal, than it allows me to start creating. Like I’m not saying I’m bored, but if it’s busy, then I can’t. And there’s not much in the way of vocals. I mean it’s breakcore, like electronic music, so therefore it’s perfect for doing data entry, stuff like that. So it allows me to focus, believe it or not. Whereas other people would lose their fucking mind.
(A customer walks to the counter and they start talking about Warzone) Actually, Blood Sausage played with these guys a couple times. The flyer’s up there on the wall… WARZONE, ONE FOR ONE and BLOOD SAUSAGE. And then a year later fucking Raybeez passed away. It was fucking brutal. He died on tour from pneumonia and it’s actually against the law what they did, but they drove him back while he was rotting in the back in the van. Can you imagine? Whoa…(customer leaving) Thank you. Sorry for the story!
What are some up and coming artists that you would recommend?
I don’t know if GosT can be considered up and coming anymore, he’s already been around for five years or so but…darkwave, or actually they call it slasher wave, I think? Or he’s coining that for himself. But yeah, he’s definitely part of the darkwave, synthwave scene which to me, sounded really fresh. I mean, I was listening to these artists when they were literally just coming out because my friend Swizz, who’s actually GLOOM INFLUX…definitely check it out if you’re into that type of thing…he’s also my webmaster. He was like, hey, check this out, because he knew I was into electronic music and stuff like that. And I’m like, yeah, this is working for me. Now, low and behold, PERTURBATOR is now practically a household name. The whole genre has taken off, especially with that tv show, Stranger Things or whatever it’s called. So I guess if you think five years is still considered up and coming. Put it this way, it’s the last two albums that people are starting to recognize him, to get where he’s coming from. I feel like he’s a little bit outside of the genre itself because everyone else has got this very formulaic sound. Especially the last album, I think he’s pushing the envelope a little bit. There’s a lot of elements of black metal and it’s usually not something found in electronica.
Is there anything that you’ve discovered live recently that blew you away?
Well, it’s not a band that I discovered. I’ve already known about this band but never really seen them live. We had a few dates with them…CHURCH OF MISERY…just flawless. Here’s a situation where people from all bands, either us or SONS OF OTIS or even BONGZILLA, we just stand there on the side of the stage going like: “whoa!”. Just sheer perfection. The guitarist is fucking smoking, not cheesy, his flow…and like he’s playing with no pick! No pick and he sounds that good? And make no mistake, the drummer is fucking solid. He was a bit of a robot, as far as how we looked when he plays but I mean, close your eyes. There was nothing but flow. It was just butterflies with fucking anvils, it was awesome, haha.
What were you listening to while prepping for these questions?
I was listening to this electronic duo called THE VULVA. They are on reflex records, which is actually…we’ll bring him up again…Richard D. James’s label. It’s now defunct since, uh, 2014? Obviously he’s put out a lot of his own material with APHEX TWIN and other artists. Believe it or not, I’m just trying to make sure the CD doesn’t skip because it looks like hell, but it’s worth about 50 bucks. A CD! So, um, that’s kind of smooth, sort of like ambient electronica. Again, that doesn’t impose too much and I can get stuff done. There’s no lyrics and I was able to come up with all these answers. So yeah, there you go.
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