Interview with Violence Magazine (Poland) DYSRHYTHMIA is a total novelty
on HC / metal scene, the band goes its own path by itself, laying new
trends on scene by its individualism and originality, same as THE DILLINGER
ESCAPE PLAN does. Gentleman play heavy rock, devoid of vocal parts, 100%
instrumental music, which sometimes can make think of FUGAZI, sometimes
JESUS LIZARD, some DEAD KENNEDYS or NO MEANS NO echoes can be found in
it too, but it is something much more extreme with powerful kick and dynamite,
but with less dose of emotions than in all these classics mentioned above.
As they made something new and intelligent, something which made me to
kneel, we are talking about "Pretest" - their new album on Relapse
Records, I would like to proudly invite to reading the interview, which
was realized in the beginning of year 2005. (AS). At first, I would like to know about your personal changes in the band this year. Who is who in the band, and who does what? Describe the band. Did you played in other bands? Colin Marston: As of now, the band is Jeff Eber: drums, Kevin Hufnagel: guitar, and myself on bass. I just joined the band in September, replacing Clayton Ingerson. I am currently in a number of other bands. I play the notorious Warr guitar in Behold… The Arctopus, guitar and drums in Infidel? / Castro!, guitar in Byla (an ambient duo consisting of me and Kevin), and guitar in the death metal supergroup Skullgrid. All these bands are currently active, but some more than others. Where are you planning on recording new album and who will be producing this, record session, studio? Can you give me more information about your new album - “Live Bootleg Series” on Relapse Records? So it’s a big release for you? CM: After the upcoming tour with Isis, we plan to work on new material and hopefully have more than enough for a new album by the spring. Then we’ll probably tour and then record in the fall. We have no set plans as to where we’ll record. We’ll be playing 3 new songs on this tour and we already have a million ideas for new stuff, so we’re all excited to start putting together a lot of new music. Kevin Hufnagel: The new live album that is coming out consists of our full set from the Relapse Contamination Festival which took place on January 18-19 2003 at the Trocadero Theater and upstairs Balcony Bar in Philadelphia, PA. We had an amazingly fun time performing that night. I'm happy it was captured on tape. They also released a DVD of the fest, but not with the entire sets, just a few selections from every band that played. I'd like to have a more comprehensive live record one day that covers more of the band's catalog. The "Live Bootleg Series" just has five songs from the "Pretest" record. How did you get hooked up with Relapse Records? What do you think about having your last album –“Pretest” on Relapse Records? Could you tell me more about co-operation? Are you satisfied with this contract and why did you choose Relapse Records to released it? KH: Relapse approached Dysrhythmia after seeing us play with The Dillinger Escape Plan here in Philadelphia back in 2001. There had been a few people over there that were fans of ours for awhile and I think they started to notice that we were a serious, hard-working band. Our music was kind of different from what they were known for regularly releasing. I was grateful there was interest and excitement on their part about working with us. At that time we had an album written but we knew we didn't want to self-release another one again. Relapse does a very good job advertising their artists and we've been given some great opportunities since joining up with them. I can only see more and greater things coming as long as we keep at it and enjoy ourselves along the way.
KH: 2004 was busy at the start of the year, then we took a break during the summer and Clayton left the band shortly afterwards. Thus began us working with Colin as our new bassist. 2003 was a lot busier. We were on tour at least half the year, if not more. We toured with label mates like Mastodon, Cephalic Carnage, Burnt by the Sun, and a bunch more. I enjoy the sense of community when touring with other bands. I personally had a great time on each one of those trips. Best shows? Hard to say, there were a lot of them. SXSW in Austin, TX 2004 was a blast. We performed a Black Flag cover ["My War"] with our friend Rich Hoak on vocals and I think people were pretty unprepared for that, which was sort of the plan. Worst show? We used to have way worse shows in the earlier days, ones where not a single person would show up, or we would get paid $5 after driving 15 hours to some shithole or whatever. Within the past year though, it would've been Salt Lake City, UT at this ridiculously tiny bar where there was no stage and I had to play in front of the main entrance where people were constantly trying to walk in and out. Clayton's amplifier was malfunctioning and we had been inhaling gas fumes for hours on end from our van for the past week and half, as it needed repairing. We weren't in the best spirits, let's just say. Still the positive far outway the negative. Could you tell me more about your US Tour with ISIS last winter 2004. What were your expectations? How did your tour with ISIS spring up? KH: The tour with Isis was brief, only 5 shows in a 9 day period along the East Coast, but it was one of the better tours we've done in awhile. The crowds were great, very appreciative. Everything just ran so smoothly. We had played with them years ago and had talked about doing more shows together when the time was right. Hopefully we can do something with them again that is more extensive. Which places were especially insane to DYSRHYTHMIA? What was your favorite place/city you played this year? KH: We ALWAYS have amazing shows in Little Rock, AR: Lafayette, LA: Memphis, TN: Austin, TX and Albuquerque, NM. There's something about the South and Southwest...people just go nuts there and have a good time and love to shout and holler while we play. It's not like that on the East Coast where a lot of the time people just stand there with their arms folded, far back from the band, even if they are enjoying the music. Who and what influences your music? What inspires lyrics and artwork? How you can describe the band and music for people in Europe who've never heard about DYSRHYTHMIA? KH: Regarding influences, it could be so many different things. Musically, there are some artists who changed and/or expanded my perceptions of music. Examples being: Voivod and Gorguts for their use of dissonance and altered chords; Acoustic guitarist Michael Hedges or bands such as Sonic Youth for their own unique experimentations with alternate guitar tunings and harmonics; My Bloody Valentine's Kevin Shields's use of guitar as an ambient texture or a wall of beautiful noise. Avant-jazz guys like Nels Cline and Sonny Sharrock for just reckless and free playing. Of course our own personal life experiences influence our music as well. It's a much-needed catharsis, especially live. Since we have no lyrics,
I can't comment on that. The artwork for our album designs are usually
fairly minimal and tend to contrast with the "complexity" of
the music. I sure people like used other bands to describe what you sound like. What bands don’t you understand that people use to compare and why? KH: I used to get a little irritated when people would compare us to bands I didn't like or even listen to. After awhile I would notice the comparisons would be so vastly different from person to person. Everything from Dream Theater or Watchtower to Black Flag or The Jesus Lizard. I came to realize most of the time what people are comparing you to is only based on what their own musical background or knowledge is, which is sometimes very limited. Ultimately, we just make the music we want and don't pay much attention to what we're being compared to.
CM: There are many things I would never do with Dysrhythmia. No need for a singer. I’ve actually never been in a band with a singer. I wonder what it’s like… So the election results are in, and America has four more years of George Bush. What do you think about this event? CM: It's so imcomprehensable to me that this actually happened. It's so frustrating and sad.. Do you think that Hillary Clinton has a chance to be the first woman president? CM: It's either going to be her or Oprah. Could you tell me you have voted for George Bush or John Kerry? CM: Kerry. A million times over if I could have. What's the people's reaction there in the USA? Did You meet with people's approval or discontent? What's the ratio between different points of view? CM: Well... aparently the ratio is about 51% red, and 49% blue, but i live in New York City, so pretty much everyone i deal with is a liberal. My sense of it is skewed by where in the US i live. That's probably what makes it so hard to believe that Bush got re-elected. Sometimes it's hard to believe that SO much of this country is made up of complete idiots. How is today’s US metal / HC / punk scene in your eyes. What new bands, labels, magazines would you mention? CM: The only current metal bands I’m really excited about are from Canada (e.g. Martyr, Gorguts, Cryptopsy). Other than that most of the metal I’m into is from the late 80’s through mid 90’s. Ok, actually if you consider Orthrelm a metal band, then they’re an amazing band from the US. I know very little about hardcore and punk, but I love Converge. KH: I don't listen to much current metal beyond a handful of bands. Most of the time I'm not listening to metal at all. As for punk or hardcore, I don't claim to be any aficionado but I love Fugazi, Bad Brains, Black Flag. Starkweather are fucking amazing. A lot of it our old bassist turned me on to. I think the current metal/HC scene is mostly made up of a bunch of faceless clones. One band creates a sound and within 2 years there are a million wannabes. It's just really out of control how many bands there are that all look and sound the same. Hell, even their band names are practically all the same. It like "hair metal" was in the 80's.
CM: I’m very excited to play live with Dysrhythmia for the first time! I was a big fan of the band ever since my high school band played with them way back at their 6th show, so it’s an honor to get to play this music. I feel like what’s-his-face being asked to join Metallica (only Dysrhythmia’s music hasn’t degenerated into a steaming pile of Bob Rock’s shit!). KH: I think Colin has an unhealthy obsession with Metallica movies. I mean, I know he's watched "Some Kind of Monster", "Cliff 'em All", and "A Year and Half in the Life Of..." all within the past month or so... Plans for the future are to finish writing the next record, tour a whole bunch, record the new record, then tour a whole bunch more. I can't wait. Thank you very much for taking the time to answer all these questions. Any last comments? Who would you like to thank? CM: Thanks to YOU for the interview! I’d also like to wish Clayton good luck with his new undertakings. |