måndag 18 maj 2009
Chris Andrews (Devourment) Interview [done for www.decayed-metal.com]
This interview was done last year and is a bit dated, it was posted on www.decayed-metal.com at that time however. i decided to repost it here since some people might find it interesting, lits of great words from Chris.
so here we go, enjoy!
I had a quick mail-chat with bassist Chris Andrews of Devourment.
Q: what are the plans for the band as of 2008, will we see more of Devourment soon?
A: You'll probably see less of Devourment. We've had to turn down so many festival and tour offers this year that it makes me want to fucking cry. The only live event we have planned for the remainder of 2008 is Central Illinois Metalfest, and maybe a couple of local shows. We're mainly focusing on the new album that, in the process of writing as we speak, and we'll probably record it and release it on Brutal Bands this year.
Q: what about us europeans? is there any chance for a tour over here?
A: You must have missed the BUTCHERING EUROPE TOUR last May. We hit about 8 countries in Europe and had a complete blast, despite the United Queendom's better efforts to fuck us over royally. The greatest crowds in the world, unless there are some rabid scenes in the Middle East, Nigeria, or Antarctica that we don't know about, are in Europe. The NRW crew is at the center of some of the most insane moshing we've ever seen. We would love to go back, but we've got an Aversion to Using Vacation Time.
Q: what are your influences?
A: Ric Flair, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Chris Benoit, Motley Crue, Kurt Angle, Appetite for Destruction, Rambo, Metallica, RVD/THC, Luis Bunuel, Hieronymus Bosch, Ted Bundy... I'd list death metal, but, come on... we all know George W. Bush is influenced by George H.W. Bush, let's move on to something new.
Q: what about the music music industry today, is there even space for more bands/artists
A: I'd say no, but I'm a pessimist. There are too many bands with nothing new or original to say and too little motivational resources to be divided up amongst them, so, to these "more bands/artists," I say give up the dream before your level of obligation becomes too large, and get a real job. But, by the same token, nothing would make me happier than to be proven wrong in this respect.
Q: do you have any advice to lesser known bands out there?
A: Be an artist. Be a genius. Be a visionary, a trailblazer, a unique, untouchable star from outer space, but, for fuck's sake, don't start a band because you really like the way something sounds and want to sound like that... this type of motivation usually leads to scene pollution and band failure. If you've got a sound that nobody else has and you play quality shows and release well-produced recordings, there's no way you won't be able to rise out of lesser-known-dom. But the most sure-fire formula to underground band success is touring all the damn time -- make a full-time job out of it. It is quite the gamble, but the bands that do this make a name for themselves almost 100% of the time if they stick with it for a couple of years.
Q: what are your thoughts on piracy, do downloads hurt the band? or just the corporations?
A: I'm a pirate of the seven seas at heart, so the sheer fact that downloading/copying media is called "piracy" makes it A-OK in my book. But I personally don't download shit anymore -- partially out of paranoia, partially out of laziness, partially out of never being able to make the more recent file sharing programs work for me, and partially out of respect for working artists who deserve compensation for their efforts. I don't even know how many copies of our CD have been sold, so I sure as fuck have no idea if we've personally been "hurt" by downloading, but the fact of the matter is, in 2008, you can't go back -- you can't return the world to a state where, in order to enjoy a piece of media, you have to fork over money for it in exchange for a neatly produced little package. Since they installed record buttons on tape decks (and probably before that in media other than music), we've found ways to copy recordings and redistribute them on our own terms, and those methods just keep getting simpler and simpler. We're all broke, and there's too much shit that we "have to check out," so it's no wonder people resort to downloading. I personally wait until I know for sure that something is completely genius and life-enriching before I purchase it, which explains why I rarely get exposed to anything anymore.
Q: whats a Devourment show like? backstage crazies?
A: A Devourment show is like a plane taking off that you know is going to crash, but that's the reason you're flying it. It's like the ship transport scene from Fitzcarraldo or the battle scenes from Braveheart. It's like the entire venue, however big or small it is, turns into a single, living, breathing beast that can crush buildings and destroy masses of people with a stomp of its foot. Being at the head of it is quite amazing... it's like really great sex, except it's with hundreds of people and it's violent and loud enough to damage your hearing. I used to be a total folded-arms tech-and-speed guy with a "guilty pleasure" view of breakdowns, but I love the fact that our music is full of mosh parts, because the high is always increased by the level of crowd participation/activity. I like it when the crowd gets crazy and reckless and it feels like we're weaving a car at top speed through moderate traffic. Our sub-sub-genre is brutal death metal, but when you peel back the layers, it still all branches off of Rock & Roll, and Rock & Roll is all about this unstable destructive force that our shows tend to conjure. As far as "backstage crazies" go, I feel like our level of debauchery is kind of minor league, but we have a good time. I typically party all day like it's a sport and there's a scoreboard with my name on it, running around looking for adventure, but at the same time trying not to do anything too outlandishly stupid or disrespectful like start fights with police or destroy the valued property of the undeserving. When other nut jobs like Embalmer or Condemned get involved, it becomes a whirlwind of decadent brutal stupidity.
Q: Any last words?
A: Haters wanna hate. Lovers wanna love. I don't even want none of the above. I want to piss on you. Yes I do, I'll piss on you. I'll pee on you.
so there you have it, if you're retarded you've probably missed that Devourments new album is out any day now, so...fucking get it when it arrives.
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