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Interview with METAL SHOCK (Greece) First
of all, what made you want to play completely instrumental music? What
KH: I wanted Dysrhythmia to be an instrumental band because I enjoy listening to the musical interaction of a trio. I like the stripped-down sound of it, the intimacy. The fact that there is no vocalist or lyrics means the music is more open to interpretation. There are specific feelings that go into a song or inspire a song. Sometimes people might get a different kind of sensation from it than what we were originally intending, which I think is what makes it more interesting. What kind of songwriting
have you developed through the years? How much is KH: Throughout the years we've been trying to find a balance of raw energy, memorable songs and creative approaches. I think we've learned in time to make our songs a little more "to the point". After the first album 'Contradiction' we listened back and realized our songs needed some editing! Free improv is a great way to generate a song idea in rehearsal. We take that approach sometimes. However, once the song is written it's performed live pretty much the same each time, structurally, but there is room for improv in the drum fills, bass fills, etc. How much of your personality,
of your own feelings do you want your music to KH: As much as possible. That's one of the main reasons I play in this band. In what way are the song
titles (and the album title) linked to the music as KH: We put a lot of thought into our song titles. We want them to convey what we think the music represents. The title "Pretest" came to me when I was flipping though a dictionary. I thought the title was perfect because a pretest is when a company tests a product out on an audience to see what the reaction is. In a way that is what we [and Relapse] are doing with this record. It's like an experiment. How are people going to react to this music? We already had the cover concept in motion, with the petri dishes, when I thought of the title. So "Pretest" fit well with the imagery too, that sort of cold, medical feel. I've read that you have
an academic background; let me say that it doesn't KH: Thanks! I consider that a compliment. I don't think it's important to have an academic background to play any kind of music. I think some people are just born creative and they should just run with that and not worry about if they're doing things "correctly". It's really up to the individual if they want to study music or not. There's nothing wrong with doing that at all. I'm not going tell anyone what they should do. What do you think are
/have been your main influences/ sources of KH: I can only really speak for myself here. I grew up loving metal, but at the same time, always had an open ear to most other forms of music as well. I played in metal bands in high school, while studying classical guitar, I then went on to study jazz guitar as well. There have been guitarists throughout the years that have effected the way I think about the instrument. In the early days I was into the whole "shredder" thing. That made me practice a lot, which was good for developing my technique, but didn't do much for being a creative player. Later in high school, players like Michael Hedges, who experimented a lot with alternate guitar tunings, got me excited about trying that myself. Listening to bands like My Bloody Valentine and Cocteau Twins, etc. got me interested in playing more atmospherically. Piggy from Voivod is a huge influence. His twisted, quirky way of playing was totally inspiring to me. How did you come to sign
for Relapse records? What took you to choose them? KH: A few people at Relapse had been coming to see us play for years, but I never thought they would be interested in signing us. We ended up playing a show with Dillinger Escape Plan here in Philly and we went over really well that night and they began talking to us shortly afterwards. I think they noticed we'd been at it for awhile and put a lot of work into the band ourselves and they wanted to help. We're used to playing with extreme bands, death metal bands, whatever, so I don't really feel out of place on the label. Favorite bands on the label? I don't like to pick favorites but I've always liked Dillinger, Neurosis, Disembowlment, etc. In the past year we've toured with a lot of Relapse bands that I think are fantastic like: Mastodon, Burnt by the Sun, ATP, Cephalic Carnage, Uphill Battle, 27, Today is the Day, The End, to mention a few. We've become friends with every Relapse band we've toured with or met. It's like a big family. The album artwork is extremely
basic; was it an intentional choice, maybe to KH: We're all fans of more minimal approaches when it comes to the artwork for this band. "Less is more" as they say. We just wanted something eye-catching and simple. The cover image represents ourselves, what we put into the music and this band. It has a personal feel. The music recording also sounds very personal, as if we are in the room playing for you. The body samples in the dishes are from each of us. The hair is mine, the blood is Clayton's, and the sweat is Jeff's. Explain the quote: "To
look inside / To find yourself / So many different KH: Clayton wrote that. Make of it what you will. How did you guys hook
up with Steve Albini? How was it like working with KH: Steve's very approachable. We just called him up and set a time. Working with him was very easy. He mics everything up and it's up to you to play your ass off. What are your actual listenings?
Nowadays, do you see any band which could KH: Current listenings include a lot of ambient music like Yellow 6, Pan American, Coil. I think after playing loud rock music night after night I just want to relax when I'm at home, it seems lately. I don't know who's out there now that is really doing what Dysrhythmia is doing. There are a lot of instrumental bands but it seems they are all either doing something more simplistic and "metal" like The Fucking Champs, Oxes, etc. or more over-the-top like Orthrelm. I like to think we stand out in our own way. You've been compared to
the first Don Caballero, do you agree with that KH: I can see that with some of our material. I like the early Don Cab stuff. I think we are more melodic and structured then they were though. How much is the live dimension important for Dysrhythmia? KH: It's a huge part of this band, the live show. It's how we've gained most of our audience and it's the best way to experience our music. It's also been the best way for us to grow and improve as a band. You've toured with several
different bands such as The Dillinger Escape KH: We love playing with all different types of bands, especially bands that don't sound like us at all. It's a great way to expose ourselves to people that might never be interested in us otherwise, or even give us a chance. Instrumental music has a certain stereotype about it, but I think we break a lot of those stereotypes. Hopefully we're opening people's minds. I've been particularly
impressed by the fact you've played live with Earth: KH: That Earth show was a last minute thing. We got added on the day of the show! That was here in Philly. It was a good show. I love a lot of heavy, drone music, especially lately with bands like Sunn o))), Jucifer, Floor, etc. Have you got particular
expectations for the album? What kind of feedback KH: I don't expect anything in particular. The feedback has been mostly positive. I've seen some negative things as well. I don't expect everyone to like it. Some people have a hard time listening to an entirely instrumental album it seems. What's this year going to hold for Dysrhythmia? KH: We just returned from a 5 1/2 week tour across the US, which we did alone. It was quite a success. We will take a much needed break for a month and a half and be back out on the road in the Fall. There are some festival dates coming up that we are doing like CMJ, The Futility Fest, The NJ Metal and Hardcore Festival. We hope to write some new material soon too and just keep pushing ahead! Thank you for the questions! |