Matt Widener – Liberteer

Champ Morgan – Kill the Client

Phil McSorley – Cobalt

I am a person with outlets.  I draw, I write, I skateboard, I work out and I am into motorcycles.  I like the feeling of being physically worn out from doing something I love.  Another outlet is listening to music.  It may not sound like much of an “outlet” but if you’re familiar with the type of metal I listen to, I think it’s pretty accurate to refer to it as an outlet.  I listen to the strange, heavy droning sounds of bands like Sunn O))) when I want to sleep.  When I draw, I try and match the sound to the subject matter, if possible.  When I am deployed, my physical outlets and drawing are taken out and they need to be replaced.  I replace them with music.  When I’ve been deployed, the aggression level of my music multiplies.  I love intense, passionate music and that only increases with a hostile environment.  In Iraq, the bands I listened to most were Plague Bringer, Insect Warfare and Eyehategod.  In Afghanistan it was All Pigs Must Die, Nails and Thou.  Not only was it something familiar, but it was an outlet for times of frustration and when I needed motivation.  I listen to a lot of music, but the grind and hardcore tend to get increased play when I am deployed.

The three individuals I interviewed are all related to the military.  Matt Widener, of Liberteer, Cretin and several other bands served in the Marines in a time of peace and despite never deploying to a combat zone, still traveled the world.  Champ Morgan, of Kill The Client, served in the Army and deployed in support of the Gulf War.  I recently found out that he was driving a fuel vehicle and didn’t even have a weapon for part of the time.  Phil McSorley, of Cobalt, is still in the Army, recently redeployed from Iraq.  In fact, while McSorley was enroute back from his second deployment to Iraq, President Obama announced the that the last combat unit had pulled out from Iraq.  McSorley is getting ready to head off to Drill Sergeant school and continues to train soldiers.

Outside of the military and being active in music, these men have almost nothing in common.  They all have different opinions and they all had different experiences.  My goal was to ask metal musicians who were in or are currently in the military and ask them questions from the standpoint of a fellow soldier.  It couldn’t have come out better.

Read the Interviews Here:

Matt Widener – Liberteer

Champ Morgan – Kill the Client

Phil McSorley – Cobalt

When did you serve and what was your job in the military?

I served in the US Army from 1989-93 as an 88M Combat Support Driver

Where and when did you go?

I left for Basic Training in September of 1989.  Basic Training and Advanced Individual Training (AIT) were both at Ft. Leonardwood, MO.  From there I was deployed to my first duty station Garlstadt, Germany which is also where I deployed to Iraq from.  After that, I finished out my enlistment at Ft. Hood, TX.

Which came first, your interest in metal, or joining the military?

That’s hard to really say.  When I was a kid I always played with army men and loved military and combat movies of all kinds.  It didn’t really matter what era (of military) as long as there was some kind of conflict and the good guys were defeating a horrible foe.  I did really get into the “gun” aspect as I got older too.  Big explosions, gunships, tanks, etc…  All that shit got me excited.  When we played army I was always the guy in command of everyone else.  I guess it grew from there.  But, I’ve always been into music.  From as far back as I can remember I’ve had music going through my head.  The metal part came on as I got older and the metal part came into play around the 5th grade.

Were you active in any band when you were in the military?

I wasn’t active in a band at the time but I went to shit tons of shows in Germany and at Ft. Hood.  Metal, hardcore, or punk rock, it didn’t matter as long as it was loud and angry.  I was writing all the time and had hopes of being in a band or just putting out a book of my writings.  I still have all of my old notebooks and pads.  The one from Desert Storm still has sand in it.

The metal that you play and are interested in is pretty far from what the mainstream considers heavy metal.  Were your peers and superiors aware of your interest and that you were involved in a metal band?  What were their opinions?

Well, I wasn’t in a band at the time, but as I said I was going to shows all the time.  So there were plenty of times I showed up for Physical Training (PT) smelling like the bottom of a whiskey bottle and tired as hell from going crazy at shows.  When I was in Germany I would hit up a train and travel to see shows.  I went Away Without Leave (AWOL) for three days just to go see the Monsters of Rock concert in 1990 to see Metallica.  Of course with metal and punk rock comes rebellion which doesn’t really go over in the military.  All of the people “above” me were firmly aware of my dislike for any rules or real command structure. Most of the guys I hung out with were all metal heads and punk rock/hardcore guys.  We were pretty much trouble from the jump so that was pretty widely known through the ranks.

What was the outcome of you coming back AWOL?  Did you tell them that you did it for the love of metal?

It was over a holiday weekend that started with a Company sports and recreation day.  Me and a friend in my Platoon waited until everything got underway and made sure we were “seen”.  We were being loud and talking to the powers that be (which is something we rarely did) and when the time presented itself we snuck back to the barracks, picked up our packed rucksacks and hopped on a bus.  Then we were onto a six hour train ride to Mannheim, in southern Germany.  The train ride alone was awesome. It went through the mountains and all the scenic things.  Plus, I had my walkman and was jamming metal the whole way.  We got to the train station in Mannheim and realized we didn’t speak German.  I just started yelling, “METALLICA!” until some random guy asked if we were going to the show.  He helped us get a cab to go to the abandoned airfield where Monsters of Rock 1990 was.  There ended up being a traffic jam, several miles long, leading to this airfield.  We ditched the cab and walked for a few miles, partied with random Germans, slept in a field and were some of the first people to get in.  It was awesome to say the least. It was the most rebellious thing I had done up to that time.  I was 18 years old and a rabid Metallica fan.  We rocked out for the whole show and then headed back to post.  It was a long journey back to post.  We got hassled at the barracks duty officer because no one knew where we were.  I told him we were “camping.”  It didn’t take long for word to get around that we were way out of our restricted travel range over the weekend and I got called into my Platoon Leader’s office.  He asked me what the fuck I was thinking.  Only a single word answer came to mind… “METALLICA!”  was my answer.  He sat there for a minute just staring at me.  Then he said, “You know you’re an asshole don’t you?”  I said, “Yes, sir, a big asshole!”  He just chuckled a little bit and told me to get the fuck out of his sight.  Months later while in Iraq he asked me about my “camping trip” and said he wished he was “camping” with Metallica instead of Saddam.

I know that was a very long answer but it was one of the greatest weekends of my life.  Plus, I got away with it, no real repercussions at all.  It’s too bad Metallica sucks now and I wouldn’t walk across the street to see them!

The military is pretty conservative both politically and religiously.  Did you ever experience any backlash? 

I caught a little shit for being an atheist when I deployed to Iraq/Kuwait, but nothing too serious.  It was the standard, “Aren’t you worried about your soul?” garbage.  Everyone above knew I didn’t give a shit what they thought and I didn’t make a habit of hanging around in the circles of the command structure.  There were plenty of brown-nosers in the way of that.  I experienced backlash on a daily basis by having a “fuck you” punk rock attitude.  I looked out for my friends, not shitheads that shared the same uniform as me.  That just wasn’t part of my mind set.

How has the metal community responded to your military background?

Both good and bad really.  I’ve run the gamut on reactions.  I’ve had the full onslaught of, “You’re a baby killing imperialist gorilla.” to the, “Thanks for your service!” hugs.  People have their opinions of service.  My opinion has changed a lot since the day I signed the papers to go in.  That comes with age and the gaining of knowledge of the world and how it works. I have nothing against the military and serving your country. I do have issues with the upper levels of the powers that be and how they affect the world we live in.  I am a proud veteran and stand by the women and men that righteously serve.  I have nothing but contempt for the assholes that commit war crimes and disgrace the uniform they wear.  Combat is not an excuse for crime or unlawful acts.

How did your time in the military and/or deployments affect (or not affect) your writing?

I got to see the best and the worst of people while I was in, both in and out of combat.  At the time I didn’t really understand the whole levels of power and how they world works.  I joined the military when I was 17 and still in high school.  My writing at the time was really depressing and angry because I am manic depressive.  As a kid in a different country, and then in a combat zone, separation anxiety is a bitch.  My writing style back then wasn’t what it is now.  Now I know that the world is corrupt and too many times the military is just a tool for imperialist mindsets.  I’m 40 now and I’ve seen a lot more of the world and it’s workings.  I guess my writing has changed with my eyes being opened to the world.  Now I write about greed, manipulation, and corruption.  Back then I still thought I was freeing oppressed people from a brutal dictator.  All that ended up being a lie.  It’s amazing how easy it is to break a patriotic heart with the truth.  That breeds bitterness and distrust, which is what I have now and that comes out in every Kill The Client song I’ve ever written or worked on with James (Delgado) and Chris (Richardson).

Many people in bands are also involved in the Occupy Wall Street movement.  What is your opinion on that?

I support the Occupy movement fully.  I wish they would’ve had a more focused agenda.  The media (which is controlled) really played on the lack of “leadership.”  Of course most of the media tried to find the biggest dirtbag, idiot in the group to talk to. This was used to deface the message and the movement. That’s pretty standard practice in the propaganda department. The same tactics were used against anti-war protestors in the 1960s.  I hope more activism comes out of these new movements.  People’s eyes are being opened more and more every day.

What is next for your band?   

We are writing new material now for the new album. SXSW is coming up soon and we have a European tour coming up this year also.  We plan on doing what we do best which is GRIND!

When did you serve and what was your job in the military?

I served in the United States Marine Corps from 1996-2000.  I was in Security Forces Battalion, an anti-terrorist guard unit, then I was an Infantry Rifleman for the last three years of my enlistment.

Where and when did you go?

I was extremely fortunate in that I didn’t serve during wartime and saw no combat.  I was stationed in Iceland for a year, then in southern California, then in Okinawa and then on an aircraft carrier in the south Pacific.

Which came first, your interest in metal, or joining the military?

Metal came first.

Were you active in any band when you were in the military?

No.

The metal that you play and are interested in is pretty far from what the mainstream considers heavy metal. Were your peers and superiors aware of your interest and that you were involved in a metal band? What were their opinions?

When I enlisted, I had already been in the band Exhumed.  During my enlistment I met, maybe, two other Marines in four years who knew what death metal was.  It wasn’t until I was doing cold weather survival training in northern Norway that some of the Norwegian Army guys recognized Exhumed from tape trading. This was the mid-’90s so black metal was pretty big over there, so we traded some CDs and I told them stories about opening up for Autopsy, whom they loved.  Other than that I didn’t really talk about my metal love since half the Marines listened only to country and the other half listened to rap.  I was musically lonely.

The military is pretty conservative both politically and religiously.  Did you ever experience any backlash?

I had one friend who was a brilliant musician, studied philosophy, an amazing man who I’m still friends with, but other than him I was constantly surrounded by idiocy.  Everyone was religious and held conservative views, and most were below average intelligence.  There was a guy in my platoon who was probably an atheist but even he was too nervous to talk about it even behind closed doors.  I spoke my mind all the time but I think they dismissed it as strange, clownish behavior.  Some of the officers, they’d know what I was talking about but grew nervous, like such things weren’t good for morale.  They were steeped in the classism of the elite, which the military fosters and needs in order to operate.

How has the metal community responded to your military background?

I have no idea. They probably hate me because of my political views.

How did your time in the military and/or deployments affect (or not affect) your writing?

It put a stop to all music for me.  I couldn’t bring my bass around with me on deployments, and even when I had an instrument back at the base, I didn’t play it much.  It was an awful environment for creativity of any sort.

Many people in bands are also involved in the Occupy Wall Street movement. What is your opinion on that?

I’m an anarchist.  The Occupy movement doesn’t go nearly far enough.  I want to put an end to statism and capitalism.  You do realize that I’m so far left wing that I’ve fallen off the spectrum, right?

What is next for your band?

I’ll record a follow up album for Liberteer later this year after I release some other music, including the new Cretin album.

When did you serve and what was your job in the military?

I went to Basic Training in July, 2005.  I am still pounding sand and kicking ass to this day with nearly seven years, time in service.  My job is 19D, Cavalry Scout.  It’s a combat arms Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) designed around reconnaissance, but in my deployments I have done a traditional infantry role kicking in doors and whatnot.  As for my rank I am currently a Staff Sergeant (E6) and my current duty position is Section Sergeant, which is being in control of half a Platoon basically.  I will soon leave to attend Drill Sergeant School for my next assignment.

Where and when did you go?

I spent 2 years in Korea, up by the DMZ.  I trained all over the US doing Airborne School, Master Gunner School and some other training.  I am currently stationed at Ft. Riley, KS, though I am leaving there soon.  While at Ft. Riley I was deployed two times to Baghdad, Iraq for two year-long tours.  While in Iraq my unit was in control of basically all the battle space west of the Tigris river in Baghdad.

Which came first, your interest in metal, or joining the military?

I’ve been into metal since I was probably 5 years old.  My brothers were big into DRI, Slayer, old Metallica, SOD, Iron Maiden etc.  I have been doing this shit for life.

I know you’re active in Cobalt since you’ve been in the military. The military is more than a full time job – how do you figure in writing, practicing and recording? 

It’s a huge pain in the ass honestly.  Erik and I collaborate through phone/email and we record our parts usually separately.  In the early days, before the Army, we did the normal band thing and practiced together all the time etc.  Now we write, bounce ideas off each other and I trust that we will make unique music based off our diverse personalities.

The metal that you play and are interested in is pretty far from what the mainstream considers heavy metal.  Were your peers and superiors aware of your interest and that you were involved in a metal band?  What were their opinions?

I don’t go around pushing my band on people.  I don’t like the attention and it’s distracting from my professional duties as a leader.  There are people who know about Cobalt in my Chain of Command and they’re cool with it.  They like to ask questions and ask if they can get CDs for free, ha ha.  There have been a few guys who have recognized me from Cobalt in the Army and it’s cool to shoot the shit with them about music, but I don’t let it get in the way of my role as a leader.  They are not my friends, they are my subordinates and my role is to train and mentor them.

The military is pretty conservative both politically and religiously.  Did you ever experience any backlash? 

I am politically and religiously offensive in many ways so it’s nothing new for me.  Their insistence on relying on a fairy tale for moral support is not my fucking problem.  I’ve dealt with bullshit religious politics in the Army just like everyone else and I’ve stood my ground.  I don’t let it get unprofessional but I won’t pander to that shit either.  As for politics, I keep my mouth shut for the most part because people are too stupid in general to see what’s right in front of their faces.  I believe in the overman and the underman, period.  Want to know my politics? Read Nietzsche.

How has the metal community responded to your military background? 

I have gotten lots of support from good people, some of it seems fake to be honest. I think some people feel compelled to say thank you over and over.  I don’t need it.  I am a lion doing lion’s work in service to myself, paralleling the aims and traditions of the mighty US Army. There have also been some pussy ‘metal heads’ calling us baby killer music etc.  Those losers can drink their cruelty free coffee, wear hemp underwear and ironic tee shirts and get the fuck out.

How did your time in the military and/or deployments affect (or not affect) your writing?

It’s put a serious damper on it.  Plus I have a family and kids now too, so it’s hard to make the time.  The thing with Cobalt is that it will endure no matter what.  We don’t rush to make stupid albums for the sake of making a new album.  We will be patient and we will consistently make amazing albums.

Many people in bands are also involved in the Occupy Wall Street movement.  What is your opinion on that?

Flies in the marketplace. Fuck them. Cobalt has nothing to do with that weed smoking unemployed hipster trash.

What is next for your band?

Aggressive invasion of defenseless countries with a bloodbath of cruel indifference.   And maybe a new album later this year.

Click the image below to see the full-size design and other art for bands:

I would also like to make note of the amount of female musicians and vocalists in metal this year that came out with albums. A handful of them are on my list, but there is a plethora that isn’t on my list and still came out with a banger of a record. I hope that we’re getting to the point where a metal band won’t get recognized simply because a woman is in the band.

So, without further ado….

20. Rotten Sound - Cursed

Holy Nasum!  Rotten Sound managed to somehow copy the late, great Nasum’s particular brand of grind, while still remaining fresh.  In a year where I was a little underwhelmed by the grind that came out, Cursed showed through.

19. Ilsa – Tutti Il Colori Del Bui

I find death metal to be pretty stale.  It’s all been done, but fortunately, some of the really good trends from days past are turning up, Old School Death Metal being one of them.  You can actually figure out a couple of Ilsa’s influences just off their song title, “Frosthrower.”  They’re pretty much equal parts of Celtic Frost and Bolt Thrower with a dash of late 20^th century Italian horror films.  Well executed.

18. Vastum – Carnal Law

This album was neck and neck with Disma’s Toward The Megalith all year.  Both are really good Old School Death Metal albums, but there was something particularly special about this one.  Part of it lies in the song, “Re-Member” and the rest of it lies with the guitars and vocals of Leila Abdul-Rauf and the vocals of Dan Butler.  Their influences of French philopher Georges Bataille make them that much more interesting.

17.  Atriarch – Forever The End

Somber, moody, dark and meditative.  I love that they’re from Oregon, because it makes so much sense.  It’s pretty easy to want to listen to this in the woods under some grey skies by a lot of water.  Water is kind of a recurring thought when I listen to them.  Mist, dark, deep water, rain- any water, really.  I don’t even know exactly what to call it.  I am sure someone is labeling them, “Cascadian, sage-burning, ritualistic, blackened-funeral doom” or some such nonsense.  I just know that I really enjoyed listening to this in my basement, while it was raining, with a pint of a good, dark stout.

16. The Ergon Carousel – Dead Banks

These guys were new to me.  This is a neat, weird brand of grind.  At first I thought it was the letter ‘E’ in the name that made me think of Employer, Employee, but there are some other parallels.  This band manages to be a little sloppy while playing extremely tight and catchy.  They somehow make it sound natural and it just explodes out of your speakers.  These guys were one of my favorite discoveries this year.

15. Kindest Lines – Covered In Dust

Will someone please, please ask Kindest Lines to be a part of their film soundtrack?  These guys somehow manage to make you think of the 80s, Depeche Mode, The Cure and a whole lotta angst without coming off as corny or as a parody.  In a way, and I can’t believe I am saying this, it’s Goth done right. The combination of the guitars and keyboards alongside Brittany Terry’s wistful, hopeful vocals kept me coming back throughout the year.

14. Robocop – Robocop II

Noisy, grinding, powerviolence that manages to keep the genre’s simple, primitive sounds while demanding you to come back and find something new each time you listen to them.  The most unique thing about this band, a powerviolence band, is that they really understand sound.  While it sounds chaotic and on the verge of falling apart, nothing is where it shouldn’t be.  Everything has a purpose.

13. Dead Language – Dead Language

I saw these guys labeled as a “powerviolence super group.”  There’s a joke involving irony somewhere in there.  This band does the powerviolence thing just right, but my ears continued to perk up when it slowed down to a near stop, let the song take a deep breath and just smack me in the head.

12. Pygmy Lush – Old Friends

One of the loveliest albums I’ve heard in quite some time.  Pygmy Lush have refined themselves into a very pretty, relaxing band.  They basically sound like a nice Sunday afternoon.   Everything is comfortable and familiar even if it’s brand new.  They make remind me of better, less polished Fleet Foxes.

11. Weekend Nachos - Worthless

Ugh.  Pissed off music just doesn’t work unless it’s 100% legit.  You can’t fake anger and disgust.  You just come off as a mockery.  This is not the case with Weekend Nachos.  Their music is as frantic as ever and Hoffman changed up his vocals from the powerviolence, mongo-throated style of grunting to a more audible, yet twice as furious style of vocals.  I am not going to do a separate list, but “Jock Powerviolence” is easily one of my favorite songs of the year.

10. Leviathan – True Traitor, True Whore

Leviathan came back out of nowhere to release an album that had to be released.  In a time where even black metal attempts to go the “transcendent,” positive route, Wrest does it right by releasing an extremely personal album.  I always find the best albums to be the ones that the artist had to create, not out of want, but out of necessity, and this album seems to be right up there.  An extremely dense and dark album while being both controversial and interesting, True Traitor, True Whore manages to not only be a Leviathan record, but if my ears are correct, there are also some Lurker of Chalice moments which are always welcome.

9. All Pigs Must Die – God Is War

One of the most important albums of the year.  All Pigs Must Die are a very special band to me.  Their self titled EP and this, their debut LP, bookended my deployment to Afghanistan.  This band was a constant for the entire year.  Not only are they important to me, but I think they’re important, in general.  They take the negative aspects of society, religion, war and humanity in general and in a really intelligent way, they say, “Look, this is why.”  Kevin Baker remains to be one of the most legit vocalists in music, while being accompanied by some of the most brutal hardcore of the year.  This really is a sermon for the end.

8. Peste Noire – L’Ordure à l’état Pur

French black metal weirdos, Peste Noire, put out probably one of the strangest, controversial and yet, most exciting albums of the year.   L’Ordure à l’état Pur is not your typical black metal by any stretch.  In fact without the vocal stylings and some of the tremolo picking that shows up in the guitars, this is arguably black metal at all.  Some music is cinematic, but this is the first time where I’ve ever said that a particular piece of music belongs in a play.  Watch for the unusual instruments of various horns, accordions and the backing vocals of a barnyard full of animals.  And it all works.

7. Thou – The Archer & The Owle, To The Chaos Wizard, and Big City EP

Yes, I am well aware that Thou didn’t technically put out a full length this year.  No, I don’t care, that’s why I am putting the three EPs here.  Thou manage to be extremely prolific and continue to put out quality release after release.  This handful of releases features covers (including an exceptional cover of Nirvana’s  “Something In The Way) and some songs that were on albums, but not originally meant to be.  Sometimes some of the bands Thou was supposed to work with were unable to, and in typical Thou spirit, they put their share of songs anyway.  Arguably my favorite band of the last five years, it’s been a pleasure to watch them grow and evolve.

6. Fell Voices – Untitled

A refreshing album that is a unique mix of black metal, punk and doom.  The album is alive and it moves.  I reviewed this album earlier this year and I described it as nostalgic and familiar and it’s still that way for me.  It has all the ugly parts of black metal, yet the way they treat them is uncharacteristic.  It’s imaginative and  creative and it makes me want to hear more.

5. Ash Borer – Ash Borer

What a year for Cascadian black metal gaze or whatever silly moniker is attached to this type of black metal that continues to show up on my list.  Ash Borer is furious.  They’re the dark side of nature.  They were another black metal band that quickly became the cream of the crop for me.  They don’t have a wide canon, at all, but it’s totally flawless.  It’s not music to be listened to; it’s music to be experienced.

4. False – Untitled

I am quite guilty of hyping this band to the point that some of my friends didn’t appreciate them as much as I do.  They play extremely visceral and schizophrenic black metal that sounds like punked up Emperor.  The music is well crafted and exciting to listen to, but the proof is in the singer’s voice.  She really belts it out, you can hear her breathing and it makes it so much better when everything else is overproduced or Protooled to death.  Very excited to see what this band has in store.

3. Barghest- Barghest

This album went back and forth with False as Black Metal album of the year for me.  Barghest goes the traditional route and kept it lo-fi and downright evil. Their album eschewed trends, didn’t allow any image to get in the way and just knocked it out of the park with a mean, misanthropic album.  Nothing represents them aside from the music itself, which is pretty rare nowadays.  This isn’t “blackened”, black ‘n roll, inspired by or any of that stuff.  It’s straight up Black Metal done right.

2. Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats - Bloodlust

I love how every year, I kinda have a plan as to what is going to be the best and what I am going to like the most.  Then some album by a band I’ve never heard of comes out and just blows everything away.  This year, Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats was that band.  So many bands go for the 70s sounding, stoner/psychedelic, Black Sabbath worship and they just fall flat on their face.  Just because you have an Orange amp doesn’t make it so.  Uncle Acid beats that theory to a pulp.  Bloodlust is a perfect album where the stars align and nothing is forced and all is natural.  They drink from the same well that Electric Wizard and Blood Ceremony drink from, but they play up the druggy occult stuff just right to where it’s like a soundtrack to some horror exploitation snuff film.  Man, I need to go find an early 70s era ‘Cuda with a body in the trunk to go do donuts in right now.

1. Cloud Rat – Fever Dreams

This is a barn burner of an album.  Crust, punk, grind and some other more avant-garde elements creep in this album.  At it’s core, they’re an intelligent Infest inspired grind band, but then they’re so much more than that.  The music is constantly changing, never stagnating and then combined with the urgency and fury of the vocals, it all gels together.  Once again, this is a band that really works because the emotion is real.  She believes what she’s screaming about.  It has to come out.  I identify with that.  I read a few things about them how some people thought that they were a little too “mid-90s hardcore.”  I guess I can hear that in their influences, and their website has them labeling themselves as anti-oppression and anti-discrimination but there is so much more in there too, though I love hearing those labels.  I can’t say enough good things about this record, or their previous self titled record for that matter.  I can’t imagine their show being too low on the energy either.   I just read that they’re playing with Thou and False in a few days and I will be missing it.  That’s a bummer.

Nearly made it:

SubRosa, Tombs, KEN Mode, Disma, Wugazi

Looking forward to next year:

Pig Destoyer, EHG, Gaza, Cobalt, Thou

Discoveries of the year:

Ascension, The Austrasian Goat

Letdown of the year:

Yob – Atma

The fine people at DLX in San Francisco, CA just sent me a Real skateboard featuring their new Low Pro technology.  I am a big fan of anything put out my DLX and having just returned from Afghanistan and not being on a skateboard in a year, I was pretty excited to give this deck a try.  I was especially interested after reading the description of what Low Pro decks offered.  It is actually somewhat physics related, so I thought it would be better if I just transcribed the description that DLX sent me with the deck.

“Board Control REALized.  Low Pro decks are built using a slight nose to tail rocker starting in the center of the deck.  This rocker lowers the deck’s center of gravity for more control and allows for a quicker pop off the nose or tail.  Low Pro decks increased strength and reduced weight come from a slightly tighter radius side to side concave that strengthens the board and allows for custom milled thinner plies to be used to lower the weight without sacrificing strength.  All Low Pro decks also utilize exclusive, new black seal water resistant glue that you can see, which increases the deck’s strength, stiffness and life.  More control, a quicker pop, strong, light and 100% bad ass.  Just skate ‘em – you’ll get it.”

I actually had to read that a couple times to see what I was getting myself into.  I am pretty wary of gimmicks in skateboarding and usually laugh them off.  Plastic truck sliders, embedded holograms, aluminum decks, Kevlar plies…  It’s not my thing.  I don’t even go for colored wheels and trucks with hollow axles.  I’ve ridden nothing but Independents since I started skateboarding in 1988 and with a few exceptions, I’ve not strayed from riding Spitfire wheels for nearly as long.  If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

However, I put that aside because I fully trust and support Jim Thiebaud and Tommy Guerrero and the rest of DLX not to put out some half-cooked concept.  Plus, this concept was just about altering the deck’s construction a bit and not reinventing the wheel.

After opening the box and reading the enclosed description, I looked at the plies since that seems like it would be the most obvious thing I would see.  Sure enough, the plies are about half the size and there was two colored plies that easily illustrated this.  I didn’t see the black seal glue, but at the same time, I didn’t really know what I was looking for.   Outside of the plies, the deck appears to be just like any other board.  However once I set it up, I could definitely feel the difference.  The board is extremely stiff and as odd as it sounds- it actually does feel more solid and strong.

Now, for this quicker pop and increased control….  These were the two things I was most interested in.  I skate street almost exclusively and having just spent a year off my board, I was really interested in the idea of having more control.  In addition to that, I like to skate fast and my neighborhood isn’t too skate friendly.  I’m always having to dodge something, go between something or try and quickly ollie something that just got in my way.  After popping a few ollies, I could definitely feel the difference.  There is a quicker pop, but there is also more of it.  It’s not just the feeling of skating a new board either, where the deck has that nice crispness, this actually feels like the board has a lot more response than your average deck.  Where I really noticed the difference though was in spinning tricks, like 180s and shove its.  The board responded to me more and simply did what I wanted it to.  One of my “go to” tricks is a nollie backside shove it.  So often with that trick, the board wants to go into a nollie backside heelflip though.  That’s not the case here.  The deck popped really hard off the nose and every time the board turned just 180 degrees, even when I played around with my foot placement.  That lower center of gravity seemed very apparent here.

Overall, this is a great deck.  The most obvious thing I noticed with the Low Pro features was the lower center of gravity and the quicker pop.  The only detractor, and I say this in jest, was the graphic.  I’ve always joked about how Real is no frills and it shows.  The Since Day One video was nothing but pure skating.  Most of Real’s graphics are just some slight tweaks to their iconic logo.  This board is no different except the graphic was in this awful tie-dye pattern.  If you recall my article comparing metalheads and hippies, I am sure you know my feelings on tie-dye.  But seriously, who cares about the graphic when the board is at this level of quality and is just going to get scratched off in the first session? Which is exactly what’s going to happen this weekend when I take this board on a four day skate mission through Louisiana with some friends.

Check these boards out – they should be hitting your local shop any day now! For more information visit RealSkateboards.com.

• Metallica “Motorbreath” While the song’s opening pretty much sounds just like a motorcycle engine this song makes me think of right around the time I started skateboarding and couldn’t handle a song like this.  I am pretty sure that the eight-year-old version of me had some pretty heavy internal conflicts about whether I should draw skeletons on motorcycles or skeletons on skateboards.
• Speedwolf “I Am The Demon” I am fairly certain that if you dislike Speedwolf, you just are against having a good time.  The band is essentially a Marvel Comics “What If” issue where you get to have Misfits era Danzig fronting Motorhead.  This song will make you want to wear a leather jacket without a shirt on and a chain for a belt and just do donuts on a parking lot on a motorcycle after drinking a case of something domestic.
• Doomriders “Black Thunder” What is essentially one of the best bar fight songs ever written,
  this song is such a fun level of chaos. The song sounds like it should be the party jam for any of the beasts in the cult classic Werewolves on Wheels.  I think if someone busted a whiskey bottle over my head, and this song was playing, I’d probably forgive them and buy them a shot.
• Poison Idea “Plastic Bomb” Music is a really visceral thing for me.  If I like a song I will automatically get a picture in my head.  This song BEGS to be put into a skateboard video with the epic piano intro that just needs a nice slowmo slam section synced to it. The rest of the song is just excellent hardcore, complete with the “Who-ooa” in the chorus that just makes you wanna go that much faster on your board.  Seriously, is this in a video?  If it isn’t I’d really like it to be.  Maybe I should just put it over another crappy song in some other video.
• Minor Threat “No Reason” I am a skater and I am from DC.  There is no way a Minor Threatsong wasn’t going to end up in here.  This song just begs to have a hill bombed to it.  I think it’s the bass and the drums, there’s also that little break that would probably make me need to push down the hill even faster and still try and ollie as many manhole covers as possible without eating it.
• The Dwarves “Back Seat Of My Car” Hahaha!  I can’t mention The Dwarves without laughing.  They just crack me up.  This song is such a mini-ramp jam.  I don’t why specifically mini-ramps, it just is.  Maybe it’s all the, “Hey, hey, hey” business going on.  I also picked this because a lot of skaters and bikers embrace the dirt.  Most of my favorites are total scumbags, but in the best way.  Not the type of scumbag to steal from you; actually they’re quite the opposite, always willing to share a brew.  I mean the type of scumbags who walk outside and just get dirty standing still.  You know the ones, I am talking about the dudes that blow their nose on their shirt.  The Dwarves are supreme scumbags, probably the bad kind of scumbag too.
• The Misfits “Halloween” I love Halloween and Halloween is a favorite holiday of most of theskaters and motorcycle riders I know.  I love the part of this song that says, “Little dead are out in droves” and, “This night anything goes” because it captures the fun part of Halloween.  Two Halloweens ago, I was painted up as a zombie and pulled behind a motorcycle through my neighborhood.  Seems about right.
• Motorhead “The Ace Of Spades” Alright, I know this song is a super clichéd pick, but it’s perfect.  It’s haphazard as hell and it goes over equally well with both skaters and bikers.  Even though it’s a fun song it maintains this sense of danger throughout and plus… it’s got the Midas touch of Lemmy.  I dare a skater or a biker who knows who Lemmy is to say something bad about him.  It is impossible.  “That’s the way I like it, baby!  I don’t wanna live forever!”  Dude just had a documentary done on him not too long ago and it’s solid gold.
• High On Fire “Rumors Of War” Ugh.  Man, this song is nasty.  I’ve liked skateboarding and motorcycles for over 2/3 of my life.  My very first vehicular accident, even before a skateboard accident, was on a motorcycle.  I was tossed off a bike on some California fire roads when I was four years old.  I was too small to ride on the back, so my dad just plopped me on the gas tank. Four-year-old me would not be able to handle “Rumors Of War.”  I’d get way too hyped on my air guitar and probably do that thing where I fall down and run around in a circle.

• San Francisco, CA, sometime in the 1980s – I was at a 7-11 with my mom and Ron Howard was there buying a pack of gum.  I don’t remember this, but my mom kept talking about Opie being at the 7-11.  Like I am going to know who “Opie” or Ron Howard is.
• San Francisco, CA, sometime in the 1980s – Now this one is WAY cooler than seeing Ron Howard, the ginger and his giant bald head.  At a stoplight, my mom and I were right next to Christopher Reeves, who was driving a Corvette.  Now, this would have been the height of his career and somewhere in the middle of the Superman franchise which clearly means we were not next to Christopher Reeves, we were next to Clark Kent.  Now this was about 25 years ago, but I am almost 100% sure he smiled at me, which would have been a huge deal to me.  Something else of note: I don’t recall learning that Santa wasn’t real, but I do remember figuring out that Superman wasn’t real and being crushed.
• Washington DC, 1997 – I was skateboarding somewhere in DC with some friends and we saw Allen Iverson walking out of some boutique or something.  This was back when he was the rookie of the year for the 76ers and had already made up a reputation for being a bit of a bad dude.  We skated over and wanted to see what was up but he didn’t want to give us the time of day, so being the 17-year-olds that we were, we started shouting, “Allen Iverson is RIGHT here!” and pointing at him.
• Silver Spring, MD, 1998 – When I moved back to the states from Germany, I had a pretty easy schedule because my school in Europe required more credits, so I just stacked up art classes.  I had a really good art teacher named Ms. Amini and she came into the class and stopped by my table and whispered quietly, “I just thought if anyone were to appreciate the fact that Chuck D from Public Enemy is in the library talking to students, it would be you.”  Uh, yeah!  I grabbed my skateboard out of my car and ran to the library where Chuck D was giving a talk about some national program called “Building Bridges.”  Who knows what he was talking about?  I waited for him to finish and then on my way out I got him to sign my skateboard and I was totally starstruck, like, weak knees and everything.
• Tyson’s Corner, VA, 1998 – I was working the stock room at a Pottery Barn and the guy in charge came back in the stock room and told us all that Mike Tyson was at Legal Seafoods right next to our store.  Well, there was NO way we weren’t going to pass up a chance to see Mike Tyson.  I am not really an autograph seeker, but Mike Tyson is much different.  So one of the guys I worked with, Dale, and I walked over to try and get a glimpse of the champ.   We started over and could see Tyson through the window eating with who I can only imagine being his “handler.”  We didn’t get 50 feet before Tyson looked at us, put his fork down, and gave us the finger.  He just flipped us right off.  We made 180° turn and walked right on back.  Tyson doesn’t give many second chances.  Strangely enough, this was right around the same time that Tyson got arrested for allegedly punching and kicking a man in the balls after a traffic collision who was ironically named Richard Hardick (there was NO way I was going to leave that one alone).
• Tyson’s Corner, VA, 1998 – Once again, I was at the Pottery Barn unloading some boxes. My mom was the manager and she came back and was all giggly and said that Rudy Huxtable was in the store buying stuff for college. Well, of course I had to look. But seriously? Big deal. It’s Rudy.  It’s not like it was Theo or Denise or anything.
• Memphis, TN, 2001 – Hahaha! This one is hilarious!  I was a fresh 21 year old in Memphis, TN for the Memphis in May Beale Street Music Festival and boy was I drinkin’!  I had wandered off from the festival and was up at one of the bars drinking whiskey and playing trivia and there was this really cute blonde with her hippie boyfriend there playing trivia as well.  I was making jokes and drinking and just playing like everyone else and somehow I struck up a conversation with the couple.  After about 20 minutes or so, they had to leave.  The bartender then came over and asked me who I was.  Huh?  I told him my name and he asked if I was a musician.  I assumed he was asking me because I was drinking pretty liberally, didn’t have a southern accent and had already started amassing a few tattoos.  I was wrong. He said, “Well, I thought you might be a famous somebody because you were talking to them.” I asked him who they were. “That was Kate Hudson and Chris Robinson from The Black Crowes.”I had NO idea.
• Leawood, KS, 2003 – Oh, my wife, Heather, loves this one! I was visiting my cousin at her job at hoity-toity delicatessen, Dean & Deluca when Billy Corgan from the Smashing Pumpkins walked in with his parents for lunch. He was very tall and skinny and sorta looked like Nosferatu. He was also very nice and obliged me with a hello. For seeming to be a bit of a control freak weirdo, he was very polite and nice to me.
• Little Rock, AR, 2005 - My roommate, Greg, and I drove down to Little Rock to hang out with my old Air Force friends.  Of course, we wound up at Midtown.  Midtown was my friends’ and my favorite dive bar. It was open from 8 a.m. to 5 a.m., served great bar food, had cheap drinks, live music and was the ultimate dive bar. This particular night was no exception. Adam Duritz from The Counting Crows was there partying it up with some friends.  I don’t know why or how this happened, but somehow, someone in my party (I won’t reveal the identity of the thief), swiped Duritz’s hotel room keycard right off his table and it went unnoticed. I am not sure, but I think the thief still has the keycard in his wallet.
• Overland Park, KS, 2011 – Just recently, when I was home from Afghanistan on R&R, Heather threw me a great Welcome Home party at a bar back home in Kansas City.  Our party had started to dwindle when Lou Diamond Phillips walked into our little reserved area to play pool.  He was so nonchalant about it that we all second-guessed who he was until my Aunt Beth just went and asked.  Sure enough, it was LDP.  Now, no one except my college roommate, Mitch, will understand the coolness that it was specifically LDP.  We made jokes about him constantly.  We would always talked about how a movie would be better if LDP was in it.  I even drew a picture of LDP with an alien head growing out of his and he was wearing a monogrammed shirt that said, “LDP.”  Weird.  Anyway, truth be told, he was an incredibly nice guy who was VERY into supporting the troops and happened to be in town because he was playing the king in The King and I at The Starlight.  So cool.  We even talked tattoos.  I wanted to convince him to get a huge back piece of himself as Chavez y Chavez from Young Guns fighting himself as Richie Valens from La Bamba. Oh well.

Meeting Lou Diamond Phillips in Kansas City

Baton Rouge, LA’s Bryan Funck and Howling Mine are two examples of the DIY ethos. In a time when tangible media is dying, record sales are failing due to the onset of downloading and the consumer wanting instant, cheap gratification, Funck swims against the grain with both his label and his band Thou. He consistently puts out some of independent’s best music often collaborating with other independent labels. His own band, Thou, even puts their own releases out to download for free. Funck continues to give back to the music community with his label Howling Mine whose records can be found online, at Thou shows and local area shows.

Read my reviews of four Howling Mine records here:

• Barghest – Self-Titled
• False – Untitled
• Fell Voices – Untitled
• Kowloon Walled City – Turk Street

How did Howling Mine come to be?  Were you a label or a distro first?

I have been doing a distro in some form or another, off and on, since I started doing shows in 1997; I would basically just haul boxes of records and CDs to the shows I was doing and set up a small table.  At some point I started sporadically putting out CDs and records for (mostly) local bands under the One Eye moniker, a name some friends and I used as the “publisher” for our old zine The Hatemonger.  Over the last few years, I had decided that One Eye needed to be strictly about documenting Louisiana based bands, and more recently I have been moving that label in more of a collective based direction, collaborating with some friends, so we can help out more local bands and in a more timely manner.  Around the same time, Thou had decided that we wanted to start self-releasing more of our records, and I had been toying with the idea of doing a label under a new name that could focus on the Thou releases and also put out friends’ bands from outside Louisiana.  I also wanted to do something that was focused strictly on heavy music and that had a regular release schedule, as opposed to the eclectic, scattered releases on One Eye.  And so I started doing Howling Mine.  The distro portion of the label is just an online list of the records I stock at the Iron Rail Infoshop in New Orleans—a collective-run, non-profit bookstore that I have been volunteering at for the last few years.  At some point, I took over the records section there, and I have been trying to build that up.  Selling the records through mailorder—especially since a chunk of the stock comes from trades with other labels—helps me sell records a little quicker than just having them at the shop.

From the perspective of someone who runs a record label and a distro, what is your take on the decline of tangible media?

I mostly see people getting away from digital media.  I think CDs have become really disposable.  Most people seem to buy a cd, rip the mp3s, and then toss it.  But as people lose interest in CDs there has been a huge upswing in vinyl and cassettes, so I think it balances out a bit.  I know from Thou that giving away our music as free mp3s has only generated interest in people purchasing the physical record.  If there has been a decline in record sales for indy labels, it probably has more to do with the economic situation we are embroiled in.

As someone who also lives in Louisiana, I know that the heat, humidity and potential hurricanes can play hell on media, especially vinyl.  What precautions do you have to take, especially with you also mobilizing your distro on tours with Thou and on local shows down in the South?

I try to make sure that the records are stored in an area that is not getting a lot of heat or moisture, somewhere climate-controlled whenever possible.  Nothing too crazy.  Luckily my house and the Iron Rail are not located in flood zones.  So, hopefully, I will never see piles and piles of records wiped out like some of my friends did after Katrina.

Both of your releases were done in as co-releases with other labels.  Thou does not put anything on just one label either.  Why do you choose to work with so many other labels?

Have we not put out any records on a single label?  There has to be one?  The Baton Rouge EP, at least! From the perspective of the band, there have just been a lot of people we have wanted to work with and not enough material on our end.  There are even now, a pile of labels and bands we would like to do stuff with.  It has been a similar situation with the label.  I love working with Adam Bartlett.  I love working with Chris Braddock.  With Chris, it makes a lot of sense for us to do a co-release because then he can get the record out easily around Europe, and I can get the record out easily around the US.  With Adam, it usually means a lot less work for me because he is always so on top of everything—which has been an enormous help with getting the False record done in time for their tour with me being in Europe for a month right as everything was coming together.  It all depends on the record and the situation.  Usually with the label, I am working with someone else who is really excited about that particular band or record.  Chris and I are both huge fans of Kowloon Walled City, so it only made sense for us to both chip in and get that 10” reissued.

Adam Bartlett from Gilead Media said getting False to record an album took some convincing.  How did that take place?  The end result is easily one of the best records of the year.

I think he maybe meant that getting him to do the False record took some convincing.  As far as I know, there was not any aversion to recording on the band’s end.  In fact, I think they already had their recording schedule planned when we first met them in Minneapolis.  I am really glad that people are having such positive reactions to the record.  I think Adam Tucker did a great job with the mixing and mastering.  Hopefully, people will make it out to their shows on tour, as I think that live they are just astonishing.  And wonderful people to boot! But, yeah, I think Adam was on the fence for a while about putting that one out because he had never heard the band.  But once I got him a copy of the rough recording, he was hooked. Also, I should point out that I have read in several interviews how Thou “discovered” False, and that just sounds really silly to me.  We played a show with them, they were amazing, we ranted and raved about them, I offered to help out with their record, Adam got on board, and here we are.  But believe me, this band definitely would have gotten out.  The record would have made its way into the ethers one way or another.  The folks in the band are all punk veterans.  And the music is incredible!

What are your future plans for Howling Mine?

Just to keep putting out music I can get excited about, records that I want to have in my collection. After the False LP is done, I need to finally get this reissue of the first Body LP out.  Trying to make that a little more deluxe than the original.  I also need to get the 10” version of the Thou “To the Chaos Wizard Youth” EP done.  And the 12” reissue of Moloch’s 10” and demo.  At some point me and Adam are doing to do a DLP reissue of the Thou “Tyrant” and “Retaliation” records, since those are out of print.  And I’m trying to do a reissue of Altar of Plagues’ “White Tomb” LP and a four-way DLP split with Velnias, Hallowed Butchery, Falls of Rauros, and one other band sometime in the fall.  And at some point during all of this, I need to finally do the Tem Eyos Ki DLP discography, convince Josh Ploeg to let me reissue the Mukilteo Fairies and Behead the Prophet stuff, and convince Brian Dingledine to let me reissue the Catharsis LPs!  Too much!!!

Visit Howling Mine on the Web