Interview with Digg* (Netherlands) by Joost Devriesere

'Barriers and Passages’ has been released for some weeks now. Are you satisfied with the result and how are the first reactions and reviews?

Kevin Hufnagel: I, personally, am really pleased with the way this record came out. It's the strongest representation of our band yet. We wanted to keep the record on the shorter side so it would have more impact. I always felt like our other records were perhaps a bit too long. I haven't seen too many reviews for it yet. It's still kind of early. The few that I have seen have been kind of disappointing honesty... a lot of the traditional metal press and European metal press that our records get sent to don't seem to understand us. They respect the musicianship, but can't seem to get past the "no vocals" thing. People also seem confused by what to try and catagorize us as....the metal critics think we're too indie and the indie critics think we're too metal. We fall in between the cracks...I mean, why does it always have to be one or the other? Anyway.. the feedback we've seen and heard so far from followers of the band, people that actually buy our records and come to our shows, has been really strong... most saying it is their favorite Dysrhythmia record so far.

It might have something to do with me, but when I first listened to ‘Barriers and Passages’, I didn’t exactly know what I had to do: just being impressed by the stunning technicity and structure of the songs or go mental because of the sheer madness you guys put on the record. Are you aware of the duality of your music? Is that something you always intend to achieve or is it a natural process?

KH: That's great to hear. I'm glad it had that kind of impact on you. I don't know what else to say. I want everyone to "go mental" when they hear it. [laughs]

I must admit that it took me a while to ‘connect’ with your music, but once I did, I couldn’t help hearing a band that has a lot of fun composing and playing together. Is that a fact, or do you consider playing in Dysrhythmia as an adventure, in crossing the borders of virtuosity?

KH: Yeah, I mean most of the point of doing this is because it's enjoyable and rewarding and I have a natural need to express myself through music and I've been lucky enough to find other like-minded people to do it with.

How much of your music is based on improvisation? Do you write down everything before playing it? Or could you tell me what happens at a Dysrhythmia rehearsal?

KH: Not much is based on improvisation anymore. It used to be years ago but we've moved more towards working on ideas alone then presenting them to each other at rehearsals. Nothing is written down. It's all in our heads. Though Colin runs a recording studio in the space we rehearse in, so we always throw up a few mics and record any new ideas or arrangements so we don't forget them. That's really come in handy and it's great to be able to have a decent recording to go back and listen to and pick apart as we write a song to get a better sense of how it's coming out. A typical rehearsal basically consists of us playing through some older songs, then working on new material, and digressing into "name-that-riff" moments with each other in between. We're total dorks.

One of the nicest compliments a reviewer ever made about Dysrhythmia, must be "...the record Sonic Youth would make if they cared more about heavy metal, the record Slayer would do if they were art-school nerds". But I can imagine that not every reviewer has a positive opinion about your music. Do you care about negative criticism, does it help you to evolve or make better songs?

KH: I definitely welcome criticism because it's hard for me to really listen to our music as an outsider. The only times negative reviews irritate me are when I can tell the person didn't even listen to the whole album or just make lazy comparisons. If a critic actually goes in-depth on the production of the album/instrument tones/album layout, etc. or does a song by song review, then I tend to take it into more consideration. Ultimately though, we are our own biggest critics. There's always something we know we could've done better and that what gives us a purpose to keep continuing.

The least I can say, is that you guys are not one-trick-ponies. I recognize a lot of familiar sounds, stretching out from The Jesus Lizard and Dillinger Escape Plan to Don Caballero, but the sum of your influences is strictly unique. What are the bands/genres that have influenced you personally?

KH: Those artists you mentioned are bands all three of us probably enjoy equally, but there are individual influences each of us bring to the band as well. Jeff studied a lot of jazz growing up and that is reflected in his playing style. I love a lot of ambient music and all those old "shoegazer" bands like Slowdive, My Bloody Valentine, Seefeel, and all the 80's 4AD Records output. Colin's into all sorts of obscure black metal and modern classical music. So these influences are in our music as well, just not as obvious on the surface perhaps.

What’s the connection with Voivod? Some of the guitar parts on ‘Barriers and Passages’ remind me of their more progressive work on ‘Dimension Hattross’ and ‘Nothingface’ and drummer Away designed the artwork for ‘Behold… The Arctopus’, the project your bass player Colin Marston’s involved in.

KH: Oh! I grew up on those classic Voivod albums. There's no denying Piggy's influence on me as a guitarist. I try to do my own thing of course but he was definitely the one to make me realize dissonance could be beautiful. As for Away doing the design for the Behold... the Arctopus split record, that came about through Mick Barr, who is the guitarist in the band Orthrelm [the other band on the B...tA split].

For ‘Pretest’ you worked with the great Steve Albini. ‘Barriers and Passages’ was produced by the relatively unknown Martin Bisi. How did you meet him and did he influence the songs on ‘Barriers and Passages’ in any way?
And did it help he already gained experience with producing other ‘complex’ acts like John Zorn and Bootsy Collins? And if possible, could you tell me how the Albini-method differs from the Bisi-method?

KH: The idea to work with Martin Bisi was Colin's idea. I wasn't familiar with him by name when he was first brought up but then I checked into what he had recorded in the past and a lot of my favorite bands were listed. The other plus was that he was right here in Brooklyn, used analog tape, and was fairly affordable, especially considering who he's worked with. He didn't really have any influence on the songs for "Barriers and Passages", they were already completely written before we went in to record.
Martin's way of recording is fairly similar to Albini's, but his way of mixing is WAY more meticulous. But then again there is more detail and overdubbing on this record... "Pretest" was pretty stripped down. Overall, I would say Martin is a little more intense and gets more involved with the band and experimenting with different ideas. He also hardly took any breaks while we worked on the record, even when he ate. [laughs]. I enjoyed working with both of them, they're legends of recording in my book.

Your label Relapse has signed a lot of instrumental bands lately (Zombi, Don Caballero). Which is strange, because their major interest used to be in the grindcore/death metal genre. It must have been hard for a progressive, complex and instrumental band like Dysrhythmia to find a place amidst all those harder, more straightforward bands?

KH: I think it's good that Relapse is really starting to branch out now with their roster. The people that work there like more than just death metal and that's obviously starting to show. I kind of liked being the odd band out on the label, but it's also nice to have some other great instrumental bands as labelmates now too.

What’s the reason for your relocation from Philadelphia to Brooklyn, NY?

KH: Basically when our original bassist Clayton Ingerson left the band in late Summer 2004, we started talking to Colin Marston who was living in Brooklyn and running a recording studio, about joining the band. When he accepted, Jeff and I started traveling there for rehearsals, since Colin had the space and we could record there too. After about a year of riding the China Bus [a very cheap but sometimes risky alternative to Greyhound or trains] to Brooklyn from Philadelphia every weekend, we decided we'd just relocate to New York to make things easier.

I’ve never seen you live, but the pictures on your site and on the internet convinced me that you are literally going crazy on stage, doing all kinds of funny poses and headbanging like maniacs. It must be extremely difficult to entertain visually while playing some of the most intense and complex musical pieces on the planet?

KH: Well, we don't really think about trying to be entertaining visually on stage. We just go with the moment. Usually after playing a song so many times, it gets easier to play and we don't have to be so still or concentrate so hard.

How come you never crossed the ocean to tour Europe? I think your music would be very much appreciated and gain a lot of attention over here. I once saw Oxes in this nice Belgian club called De Kreun (The Moan), and they turned the venue upside down.

KH: Believe me we want to. We're going to make this happen this year or early next.

You’ve toured with bands that make rhythmically less complex music, like High On Fire, Nebula and Isis. How difficult is it to open for such bands and what’s their fans’ reaction to your music?

KH: Yeah, for the last record we toured with a lot of the more "stoner rock" type bands. I think the crowds were pretty divided on us. But a lot of the people that go see those bands are old dudes that grew up on bands like Rush and stuff and to them we remind them of the whole 70's prog kinda thing and they can get into what we do.

Maybe a strange question, but what’s you’re opinion on silence? Do you – apart from the time you are asleep – allow silence in your life or is music everything that makes you tick? I hope you understand what I mean . I also hope this question makes any sense at all.

KH: Living in a major city, it's hard to ever get any real silence. I often like to try and get away and retreat to my parents cabin in West Virginia at least once a year and just sit in the woods or go fishing. Other than that, there is not much silence in my life. I'm always listening to music when I'm walking around and even when I go to bed.

To end the interview: are you aware of the very rock ‘n rollish Dutch meaning of your name, Hufnagel?

KH: No! Please tell me. I know what it means in German, but it's not very rock 'n rollish.