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ABRASIVE OUTLETS

ION DISSONANCE:
Holy fist fuck, Batman! Quebec’s Ion Dissonance have unleashed a masterful grouping of aggressive romps of chaotic frenzy with their Willowtip Records debut Breathing Is Irrelevant. Hold on to something, Robin!

"It always makes me smile to see that the term ‘chaotic’ is so often used to describe our music," begins singer Gabriel McCaughry. "Okay, at first it might sound like that, but that’s only the primary surface (the technical aspect). Beneath it you’ll discover that there is a lot of work involved to create this ‘chaos.’ To me, it sounds more like maelstrom of sudden changes and a nice application of the Law of Possibilities. There is also the ‘emotional’ violence that is quite present throughout each track, and I think that’s adding even more to the insane frenzy and thus makes the first listen even more difficult to digest, I guess.

"It’s definitely for extreme music lovers," he notes of the debut. "We are lost somewhere on the edge of the newer style of tech/hardcore and metal (death/black/whatever). I truly think there is enough appeal to our stuff that everyone might find something interesting in it."

It must have been hard for the band—rounded out by guitarists Sebastien Chaput and Antoine Lussier, drummer Jean-Francois Richard and bassist Miguel Valade—to assemble all of this apparent chaos.

"I can’t say that it was easy, but looking back it was a lot of fun. Everyone put their ideas in the mix to create something that we would be proud of for a long time. We are very easygoing people so we are quite open to everyone else’s suggestions, whether it is musically or conceptually. Everything fell together quite naturally, but we were constantly re-arranging the songs to suit our needs. Some of them took more time to complete because of that."

As well, do you wonder if some music fans might find the music too intense and chaotic?

"No!" says the singer. "There’s nothing too intense, nor frantic—and we are not even close to our prime achievement yet, so if the fans dig our stuff then great! But if they don’t, they can always listen to something else, you know? There should be neither limits nor barriers to musical creativity, only new standards to be set—always heavier, more insane and viler. If I read a review about us saying that we are ‘too much’ as a negative way to criticise our band I’ll be glad, for we intended on being like that, so it means that we have achieved some of our goals."

Bud Dwyer has become a cult/pop culture figure of sorts. Why did the band decide to do something on him with the track "The Bud Dwyer Effect"? <br><br>
He answers, "I might be a little retarded, but I never knew that Bud Dwyer was a cult/pop figure before I wrote ‘The Bud Dwyer Effect.’ I only saw a short movie on the Internet where the guy blew his head off with his monstrous .357 and I thought it was so brutal that I had to use his name somewhere. But if you take closer attention to the lyrics, you’ll see that this song is not at all related to this Bud Dwyer character, in fact, apart from his name in the title there is no real connection with him. It mainly revolves around repressed emotions kept secret until the day you decide to burst and let everyone know how you truly feel and commit suicide in a most graphic way."

As some may know, you are also part of the black metal band Unquintessence. Tell me about how being in this band differentiates from Unquintessence?

"First and foremost, both scenes are completely different. There are good and bad elements in both—such as the imagery which is so damn important, fuck that!—and I couldn’t really tell which one is more close to me. None I guess. Conceptually speaking, there are a lot of similarities in both bands since I’m the one writing all the lyrics. I’ll always stay true to subjects that matter most to me, but the major difference is that Ion Dissonance is less metaphorical and more anchored in the concrete everyday life. It was difficult to immerse myself in Ion Dissonance at first because the music sounded completely different to everything I’d previously done and it took a serious adjustment period in order to adapt myself fully to this particular style. Fortunately, my experience with previous bands helped me a lot in getting through this relatively easily. Unquintessence has been a great part of my life in the past four years, but now things have changed; it has become more a side-project to me since Ion Dissonance takes a lot of my time. Unquintessence also suffered from a drastic change of lineup recently, so right now the only thing I can do with this band, is writing the new album (which is almost finished). Once that will be done we’ll see what the future holds for Unquintessence."

He ends off, "Right now, Ion Dissonance is my main priority and I’m thankful that things turns out the way they did. I cannot stress enough how important music is to me, so whatever projects I might be involved in, it will always require all my energy and devotion, and so far, Ion Dissonance has repaid me for every effort given. It is very rewarding to be part of such a band."
-Adrian ‘The Energizer’ Bromley


TOKYO:
Over the many years I’ve worked as a music hack, I’ve never worried about "scoops." Whether or not this particular interview with Tokyo’s singer, Dimitri Minikakis, could be considered a scoop is debatable. However, it was, for various reasons, an event of some consequence. Not only did I get to shoot the shit with an old friend, but this was also the very first interview granted by this Philadelphia band that features ex-members of BoySetsFire and, of course, The Dillinger Escape Plan. Before Minikakis joined, they were called Knives Out. Additionally, it’s been a couple years since Minikakis left Dillinger and until now, I don’t think he’d ever gone on record explaining why he walked away from one of extreme music’s most popular outfits. So, in the interest of setting the record straight, I asked the obvious question and prepared myself for this momentous occasion. Of course, it wasn’t until after Dimitri finished his explanation that I realized I hadn’t turned my phone recorder on! No wonder I never score the scoops. He was kind enough to backtrack.

"To recap on your mistake," he says, to laughter. "Basically, at the time I wasn’t 100 per cent into the band—touring took its toll on me and my heart wasn’t into it. I had a nagging ankle injury that I couldn’t get addressed because I didn’t have health insurance and I was in major debt. I mean, it’s fun to play music, make money and make a living, but that’s not why I did it. Basically, it was the effects of constantly touring and always being away from home didn’t put money in my bank account, plus I was planning on getting married. So, I sat down together with those guys [DEP] and it ended up in the clichéd ‘mutual agreement.’"

A difficult decision indeed. What brought you back to playing music?

"Actually, seeing bands that Dillinger used to play with on MTV2 or signing to such-and-such label made me think that if you keep going with what you’re doing, something can happen. Unfortunately for me, there was a breaking point and I had to drop off because of it. I missed playing right away. Even though I knew I was unable to do it, I missed it from the second I left. If you enjoy that life and you enjoy playing music and you’re not doing it, you constantly miss it."

Despite being an "ex-members of" band, Tokyo are an entity unto themselves. Their debut recording (The Jones Demo) is only three tracks in length but it’s plainly obvious that this band is heading in an opposite direction from any of the members’ prior bands. As I see/hear it, Tokyo’s sound is two pronged. One half of The Jones Demo is rooted in Dischord punk, though not as primal as Minor Threat, heavy-handed as Fugazi or arty as Shudder To Think, mind. Think Jawbox and Dag Nasty played in minor keys. The other half recalls the myriad of go-nowhere, "let’s form a band because there’s a house party we can play in Riverside next weekend" punk-and-roll bands that Flipside magazine’s contributing writers used to drool over in their alcoholic rants that passed for columns; bands that weren’t overtly blazing hardcore or punk, but bands with a punk attitude who genuinely enjoyed playing energetic rock music. All in all, Tokyo is a far cry from what Minikakis is known for. What sort of accommodations, if any, were made for the new sounds he’s working with?

"My vocal approach hasn’t really changed and my lyrical topics are pretty much the same. It’s just that I’m not restricted to the intensity and aggression that Dillinger brought out in me. I mean, I wrote a song about gambling on the demo. It’s more laid back, like ‘grab a girl and start dancing’ instead of..."

Kicking her in the face? After all you were the chap who wrote "I smell that whore/Bring me back/Bring me a brick" ("43% Burnt"). <br><br>
"Well, I was going to say clenching your fists and gritting your teeth," comes the laughing reply.

Given that many people will be expecting Dillinger Mk. II and/or, to a lesser extent, BoySetsFire Jr., it’s natural to wonder what sort of the reactions this new band are getting. Have the kids been walking away disappointed?

"I already did the Dillinger thing and I can’t, and I don’t want to, duplicate that sort of intensity. I’ll just leave well enough alone. Tokyo is more straightforward. People have told me it’s really refreshing and that they haven’t seen a fun band like ours in such a long time and that’s the main goal—to be a fun band. This is going to sound funny, but we just want to remember how fun it was to start a band again. There’s no pressure on us to perform, we’re not in demand or anything. We’re just having fun being a band."
—Kevin Stewart-Panko



HALO:
S. Klein and R. Allen, the Australian duo that make Halo, have delivered their latest release, the crushingly heavy Body of Light, an introverted sonic monster that continues to take that essence of sound, pushing and stretching it to new standards of heaviness by creating a wall of reflecting and devastating sound that reaches deep within the boundaries of how far a musical entity can take the essence of sound and use it as a destructive, and constructive, movement.

"It’s is an extension of our last album," says Klein on the follow-up to their last album, Guattari. "It’s a progression whilst inevitably keeping the sonic and emotional elements that make Halo. Musically, I think there’s a lot more light and shade in the new album, more extreme dynamics. After the uncompromising assault of Guattari, we tried to accomplish a more varied range of atmospheres while retaining the intensity and heaviness. I think BoL achieved a pretty good mixture of the dense and the sparse, the harsh and the empty.

"I think what we learned with the new album is that intensity and heaviness can be achieved with so much more than just harsh noise," continues Klein. "Its interesting that you mentioned ‘hypnotic,’ as I think BoL gains much of its intensity from repetition. Some of the music I listen to that I find the heaviest has very little in common with most ‘heavy’ musical styles—its power comes from its hypnotic repetition, almost trance-inducing, and from its emotional intensity. There is so much more intensity in a single word sung with conviction than in a wall of amps at 11. I believe Halo will become more and more intense and heavy while we experiment not only with pure sonics, but with pure dynamics, atmospherics and emotional impact."

How would you describe the collaboration between the two members that make Halo?

"Our musical tastes are pretty different, although they do overlap at certain points, which is probably important for the mutual understanding of what Halo is. We both share a similar mind when it comes to Halo, although it’s an unspoken understanding. We both play more or less unconsciously, that is, we don’t write parts or anything. Most of our music is improvised, and what we play usually just spontaneously fits. Well, according to our own understanding…"

You have coined the term "antimusic/antisound" to describe the essence of your…"music." Is this a term you use mainly because your pieces of work don’t follow traditional song structures, or is there more to it than meets the eye, so to speak?

"I would say that’s pretty much correct. We don’t tend to follow any rules or conventions regarding making music; we just follow our ears and some sense of internal logic related to making our music. It’s kind of a piss-take also, and a reactionary response to the banality of a lot of music in general. I mean, if fucking Robbie Williams or whatever is ‘music,’ then we want no part of it..."

The title of the album, Body of Light, comes across as elegant, celestial, almost heavenly, and that it serves as a great counter to the music at hand (especially when one can refer to the band moniker itself). How were the title and themes of BoL conceived, and how do such elusive concepts and themes fit into this nightmarish vision?

"The title was a concept that came to me while we were mixing the album. For me personally, it was an abstract concept that described for me visually what I was hearing in the music. It will mean a different thing to every person—which is really half the point of music or art in general—but for me it describes an intense, all-consuming brilliance, like a supernova, an unspeakably hot and destructive/constructive force which is contained in the sub-freezing absence of space. The themes of the songs in general are often reoccurring themes that are present in all our music. They are there, if even subconsciously, while we’re making it, and take on a more unique meaning when they’re presented as a whole, as an album. But then with hindsight I try not to read too much into the non-musical concepts behind our music. In the end I think the title fits well, and what connections a listener makes are completely valid and true, for themselves."

What lies ahead for Halo then? How do you envision Halo’s future and its development as the tide continues to push forward? <br><br>
"‘The tide continues to push forward.’ I like that. We will continue to push our music further. I mean there really is no limits on what you can achieve with music, with sonic experimentation, emotional intensity… I do see, eventually, Halo becoming like this incredibly dense thing, like a singularity, a black hole, where it just can’t go any further. And then it will end."
—Chris Bruni



STRIKE ANYWHERE:
It’s funny when you think about the way punk has become such a hydra-headed monster. In its infancy, any band that displayed rebellion was cast as a punk band. Describing their sound was secondary to the movement they stood for. So you could have bands like The Exploited (oi-punk), Discharge (metal/punk), Black Flag (hardcore/punk) and The Damned (goth/punk) all parading under the one all-important "punk" banner. Those terms in parentheses only came later.

So how do terminology junkies find punk parentheses for Strike Anywhere? They don’t. Consisting of musicians who embrace and emulate nearly every variety in the punk genre, Strike Anywhere strums a familiar chord with every punk fan, thereby transcending definition. Members Thomas Barnett (vocals), Matt Smith (guitar), Matt Sherwood (guitar), Garth Petrie (bass) and Eric Kane (drums) have all been entrenched in the punk rock scene for years, and have played for an extreme variety of punk bands in their days.

One late afternoon, I talked with singer, Thomas, about what this quilt-of-a-punk-band of his is all about.

"It didn’t happen deliberately," he begins, "but each of us kind of represents a UN of punk and hardcore. We all have different backgrounds, which has given us the longevity and the energy to discover new things. And all the songwriting takes place on a pretty collaborative scale.

"It’s like we could all go to the same shows together, but we’d all be there to see different bands on the same bill—or even play in different bands on the same bill. We’re not just like the same five guys that have been in the same five bands for the last five years. It takes a little more discipline and a little more compromise, but it’s fun too. We all love hardcore/punk music, it’s just that our focuses are in slightly different directions, but it’s nothing major. They’re only differences that help to enhance us, not divide us.

It seems that, in no time, Strike Anywhere has built up quite a good following. With only their second full-length release—Exit English on indie Jade Tree Records—emerging as this article is being written, they can already boast an average of 400 fans per night on a headlining tour. Rather than boastfully attribute their popularity to good songs (of which they have plenty), Strike Anywhere’s soft-spoken vocalist modestly gives credit to a solid work ethic and a solid ethical stance.

"It’s easy to forget that it’s work because it’s fun, but you have to be really disciplined," Thomas admits. "It’s really important to lose yourself in touring and make that your life, not just make it a profession. This is bigger than that. <br><br>
"It’s also about sharing ideas and helping punk rock culture grow and find itself. We’re ‘lucky’ to be a part of really hard, horrible times politically in the U.S. The punk rock culture is a culture of protest, so the ideas we disseminate get stronger and stronger. We’ll do things like have a show and then announce a peace march from our hotel the next day. 100, 200, sometimes 300 kids will show up for the peace march and bring their parents.

"A lot of punk bands have the opportunity and experience to incorporate aggression and social criticisms, and try and move that into their community and mean something to their cities, rather than foster a clique of kids that might like it today, might not like it tomorrow. We’re trying to add a sense of permanence and real culture to this thing. It also keeps the band alive because, as the generations pass on, your music is still relevant and your ideas hopefully still have some integrity."
—Paul Silbiger



GLASSEATER:
Through Glasseater’s short but productive history, you can practically hear the gears of evolution grinding away. 1999’s eight-song Miles Ahead of WhereWe Left Off on the Ideas of March imprint—released when all the band members were in their teens—featured an abundance of screaming and choppy guitar riffs that somehow worked. The "Fearless Years," featuring two very solid albums for Fearless Records, advanced their sound by peppering some singing amongst the screams, complemented by a movement towards a more consistent, flowing pop/punk/emo style of songwriting.

While all those releases were great, it seems Glasseater have bettered themselves again with 2003’s Everything Is Beautiful When You Don’t Look Down on Victory Records. All elements of their past have been embraced, and what we’re exposed to is a pop/punk sound with a very dark, sinister backdrop.

I mention to Julio, Glasseater’s lead vocalist, my abstract summary of his band sounding like a vampiric version of New Found Glory, and he lets out a hearty (though not bone-chilling) laugh. "That’s awesome, man, I’m glad you said that," he says earnestly. "We got pigeon-holed on the last record because of that one single, ‘Medicine,’ so everyone thought we were just a pop/punk band. What we tried to do with this record was show that we could do a lot more than just pretty, happy stuff. We tuned down for this whole record to make it heavier and a lot darker."

Listening to the new album’s first track, and knowing Glasseater’s penchant for screaming, I kept waiting for the scream the way a horror movie addict waits for the knife. It never happened. And while the screamless song initially felt like a letdown, I have to admit the tension created was awesome. Julio rationalizes their matured approach by pointing out, "When the growling is there, it sounds like it fits, whereas on the previous records, I think we overdid the screaming. I listen to those records now and realize that a lot of those screams shouldn’t have even been there. With the new record, when the screaming does come out, it fits a lot better. It feels like it really needs to be there."

I know that the dichotomy of Glasseater’s sound has freaked out the odd reviewer. Some ask rhetorically whether this is a screamo band or a pop/punk band; a bunch of musical extremists or a bunch of emotional saps. And while reviewers have faulted them for their schizophrenia, this type of review is exactly what the band gets off on. "I kind of want that; I mean, I want them to be surprised," Julio begins. "Music should be different every time you hear it. It shouldn’t get to the point where you can expect what’s going to happen next. I want the unexpected to be the way we write, and I think we’ve been doing a good job of that.

"That’s why I like the feeling of this band—we’re five guys who pretty much write whatever we want and try to make it blend and work. Whatever critics take out of that is fine, because this is what we want. We always want to be able to do what we want and have complete freedom with music. I’d hate to be in a band that plays the same thing over and over. It would get so fuckin’ boring!"
—Paul Silbiger



ON BROKEN WINGS:

In this day and age—as we all know because we follow the hardcore/noisecore/metalcore scene religiously, right?—is that most bands coming into the scene need something to stand above the rest, or at least make an impact. Lots of bands fall into the trap of sounding like a particular band and/or playing their hearts out but coming up a bit short with something to draw you in. Boston’s On Broken Wings—the band comprises drummer Kevin Garvin, guitarists Mike McMillen and Sean LaForce, keyboardist/samples by one Johnny Cupcakes, singer Johnathan Blake and bassist Huck Lamboardo—need not worry as their debut for Eulogy, titled Some of Us May Never See the World, jabs at you with a ferocious and chaotic frenzy. How could you not pay attention?

"I think right now we fit into the ‘metalcore’ genre, which I guess I don’t really care about, though some of my favourite bands would be classified as ‘metalcore,’ but now that term gets looked down on upon quite a bit," begins singer Blake when asked about where the band fits into the music scene. "Earth Crisis, Strife, All Out War—they’d all be called ‘metalcore’ now. On Broken Wings don’t try to be anything; we just write and the way it comes out is how it goes. It would be stupid if we sat around and said, ‘I dunno, guys, that was a little too metalcore, and that’s not what’s cool right now.’ You’d never catch us doing that—ever!"

On the debut there is a real raw, almost smothering angst of aggression filling up this album from the start—was that a main focus of this album? What kind of things did the band try with this recording that you may not have done before?

Responds Blake, "I think we all just wanted to make a CD that we would all want to listen to. I have a lot of CDs I like, but I listen to them and sometimes and just wish some things would be different. I guess we all just wanted to make a CD that we could listen to ourselves that didn’t make want to change things after hearing it a few times. Now I know a lot of people don’t like a lot of things about our CD—I’ve heard complaints on the amount of breakdowns, my low growls, the recording quality, all sorts of stuff—but I think we really just focused on what WE would want to listen to as a whole. There are six different people in the band though, and we all have different ideas about what sounds good. Like I don’t so much love when bands have melodic singing parts on CDs, but some of the guys in the band really dig that kind of stuff, so we had to compromise. All I do is try to make the singing parts as not whiney and interesting sounding as possible. As far as the amount of aggression on the CD I think we all just like that kind of sound. I wish there were more fast parts kind of, but I’m not displeased with it as a whole. I think we all just wanted to make a CD that would have people dancing from start to finish. Or at least make them want to. We’re not trying to break any new ground; we’re just trying to make the most of ground that’s already been broken."

Tell me about the images/themes/lyrics that accompany the album title. Why was this subject matter chosen?

"I’d say the overall concept of the CD is just about not wasting your life. The layout is supposed to be about a guy who travels around for work a lot and ends up killing himself cause he realizes how pointless his life is," says the singer. "The title has to do with that. This guy traveled everywhere, but he never just saw the world for what it was. He never looked around and just saw what was there. I don’t mean like, saw how beautiful it was‚ or some crap like that. I mean, saw that that’s all there is. Everything’s already been discovered. You know what your life has entailed, so just live it. I have a lot of friends that worry themselves away, they’re so concerned with their future and what will happen when they’re older, when in the meantime, they’re not living when they’re young enough to appreciate it. You’ve heard the expression ‘Youth is wasted on the young,’ right? Well, even if you haven’t, it means that by the time you’re old enough to realize you’re close to death and that you want to live, you’re too old to do anything about it. I think people put a lot of emphasis on the wrong parts of life. A lot of the songs are about how we’re going to die anyway, nobody lives forever. So you might as well live while you’re around."

So I guess it is safe to say that, unlike the character in the album themes, you are pretty happy with the way life is going right now? <br><br>
"For sure," he says. "I made a lot of new friends on tour and met a lot of people I may not have had the chance to meet. I did a lot of things I may not have had the chance to do had I not been in On Broken Wings and given the opportunity to go places and be in situations I was in. I just like to have fun. I love playing out. I love just being able to drive around and do something I have fun doing and not have to worry about being homeless and not having enough money, and my bills, and all the crap I sit and think about when I’m home."
—Adrian ‘The Energizer’ Bromley



ALEXISONFIRE:

In Canadian indie terms, Alexisonfire’s sudden rise to prime-time prominence is impressive. Considering the abrasive music they play, it’s goddamn meteoric.

With two videos in heavy rotation on Canada’s Much Music, these boys have made a pretty good name for themselves here at home. Their sound—a melange of swirling guitars and abrasive, screamed vocals—has introduced countless kids to the "screamo" sound, leading them away from clichéd bands such as Linkin Park and Good Charlotte. Just recently, with over 12,000 copies sold in Canada, Equal Vision Records in the United States picked up the disc for American distribution. Meanwhile, the accolades continue to pile up.

While on their way to Thunder Bay as part of their first cross-Canada tour, I talked with one of the band’s founders, Wade, to get his opinion on what has generated Alexisonfire’s continuous rise in popularity.

"From day one, we’ve always tried to play as many shows as we can," Wade humbly begins. "We also try to play as hard as we can, whether we’re playing in front of three people or 300 people. We started to build a buzz through playing a lot of shows, and we handed out tons and tons of sampler CDs and tried to push those on as many people as possible."

Of course, as Wade admits, the big push was the band’s first video, "Pulmonary Archery," which ended up taking the number one position on the Much Music charts. "The first video helped so much," Wade agrees. "Like, tomorrow, we’re playing Thunder Bay, which is uncharted Alexisonfire territory, and somehow the shows are sold out already. We’re incredibly pleased and excited that we have the opportunity to go play in front of a bunch of people who dig us and know what we’re doing."

But how did a video from an independent, unheard-of band end up going all the way to number one? Wade explains: "That, I would pretty much have to say, has to do with our fans voting and spamming Much Music like crazy with emails, and tons of calls from kids who support us. In fact, that’s 100 per cent the reason we got bumped up into such high rotation. The fans who support us are just an incredibly great group of people who do their best to get us played more. That’s the reason we are where we are today.

"I would agree that our sound is a hell of a lot different from anything else that Much Music plays, but I think there’s a lot of people out there in our scene that appreciate the fact that it’s not the same stuff that’s already getting played constantly. It’s a real breath of fresh air, which also helps us get played more."

Amusingly, not only is Alexisonfire’s music getting played more, but also a certain strip artist known as Alexis Fire, The Lactating Contortionist, is getting a few more hits on her Web site these days. You see, Alexis Fire owns the rights to alexisonfire.com, a porn site, while Alexisonfire’s domain is theonlybandever.com. Logically, a number of Alexisonfire fans expectantly type in the dot com and get the unexpected. Interesting site. Powerful band. My recommendation: check out both
.-Paul Silbiger




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