For all you underground maniacs here is the Sept/Oct issue of Cryptic Inscriptions:
Interviews with:Recreant,Igorrr and Atrium Carceri
Reviews of: Recreant "Split 7 inch" LP,Igorrr "Nostril" LP,Les Sentiers Conflictus vs Andrew King "1888" Collaboration and E.V.P. "Postmortem Canticles of Necromancy" LP
Enjoy currently working on the Nov/Dec Issue.That's all for now!
Joe and Ashley
Saturday, October 15, 2011
E.V.P. "Postmortem Canticles of Necromancy" LP Review
E.V.P. Postmortem Canticles of Necromancy
The band E.V.P., who originates from Kusel, Germany, can be ranked in the top for me as far as ambient acts with the exception of Atrium Carceri, Beyond Sensory Experience and Collapsar. E.V.P. paints a paranormal soundscape with the mixing of trance esque industrial, neo classical and dark ambient. The opening track “Left Hand of Glory” begins with a trance drone opening followed by neoclassical instrumentation then transitions smoothly into a haunting dark ambient interlude that draws you in. “Flesh Boiling from Bone” gives you the essence of human sacrifice and ritual, while the “Ever Downward Journey” and “Full Moonlight upon Dead” and “Frozen Soil” almost sound like the perfect soundtrack to a horror film particularly the movies Puppet Master and Creep Show. “The Undertow of Styx” is my personal favorite with its neo classical composition that will bring the dead back to life. The haunting Gregorian monk chants on “Consecration De Profundus” add a ritualistic feel to the albums already haunting undertone. I’m actually really anticipating a follow up to this album. I would like to see where EVP will take us next. This one I recommend for the living as well as the dead.
Les Sentiers Conflictus vs Andrew King "1888" Collaboration Review
Les Sentiers Conflictuels and Andrew King 1888
I found out about this release on a blogspot, and when I read that it was a concept album based on the letters of Jack the Ripper I was drawn in. The album, which is the collaboration between France’s Les Sentiers Conflictuels and England’s Andrew King, takes the listener back to when it all happened. The haunting soundscapes courtesy of Les Sentiers Conflictus consist of eerie voices, the sounds of people walking the streets, horses galloping and music playing on the streets. Andrew King who does the vocals on this creates the very un-nerving persona of Jack the Ripper himself with every haunting letter that’s being read on this album. In my opinion the movie “From Hell” was the best visual depiction of this time period and this album is undoubtedly the best audio depiction of this time period. Along with marvelous artwork courtesy of Skyhigh this is definitely one for hardcore fans of dark ambient. In my opinion this is one of the best dark ambient/spoken word pieces I’ve heard this year.
Igorrr "Nostril" LP Review
Igorrr Nostril LP
The third release by France’s Igorrr has once again proved to be a twisted deranged journey into the mind of creator and madman behind the project (Gautier Serre). On Nostril their seems to be more of a mix of death metal influence along with the usual baroque and electronic music that lacked on his second release Moisissure. Long story short even though Moisissure was weird and eccentric Gautier has somehow managed to top that album with this new opus of depraved and insane material, from the opening track “Double Monk” with its weird tripped out ambience to “Tendon” with its trip hop undertones mixed with its intense breakcore/death metal breaks, to “Excessive Funeral” which has an almost cartoon vibe to it, while “Caros” and “Pavor Nocturnus” mixed elements of classical and trip hop. This album has so many twists and turns there’s no way in hell that you’ll be bored listening to this. Along with bizarre artwork as usual this is definitely one to add to your record collection. Long live the depraved and bizarre!
Recreant/Dawn Split LP
Recreant 7 inch LP
Tampa’s Recreant( features former members of noted local punk bands Unholy War, Bum Charge and The Filthy Nomads among others.) is the perfect example of not abandoning your musical roots, but taking it in another twisted crazy direction. The album Musical Core is laden with guitars, bass, drums, vocals and the most out of place instrument a violin? Yet these guys make it work and do a damn good job at it. The bands lyrical themes dabble in the typical social political themes, but the band’s musical influence branches off from crust punk, to old school screamo, to black metal and some elements of classical music. Which makes the release an interesting ride for anyone who wants to listen, this release might be too experimental for some, but for anyone with an open mind I definitely recommend picking this up.
Interview with Simon Heath of Atrium Carceri
Atrium Carceri Interview:
Joe/Cryptic Inscriptions: I like to thank you Simon for taking the time to take part in this interview. Give a brief history of Atrium Carceri, the name bio etc. What made you decide to form the band and are you involved in any other musical projects besides Atrium Carceri?
Simon/Atrium Carceri: Atrium Carceri has from the start just been an outlet for me to express my inner vision and experiences from the start. I am involved in quite numerous acts besides Atrium Carceri, but we are in a point on the timeline where single-mindedness is cherished and so I refrain from guiding anyone to my other projects. Those who are free of mind are free to experience my ups and not just my enlightened downs.
Joe: I noticed that most of your albums were released yearly with the exception of the gap between Kapnobati and Pthail. I noticed you took another almost 2 year gap to release your newest album Reliquaie, was there a particular reason for this? Also why did you choose this title for the record?
Simon: Well CMI was on ice for awhile, but I actually completed a shorter album last year but after much consideration and listening I decided that I would have to release longer or album to fully portray my experiences. When nearing completion I felt that I could either release a double CD with 43 minutes on each CD, or fine-tune the album down to one fully packed CD. I did the latter and Reliquiae now spans 19 tracks. This decision felt the most fair to everyone. I also had to wrap my head around the entire theme of the album quite a bit. The title Reliquiae seemed fitting for an album revolving around the destruction of time, beliefs and the ego.
Joe: Do all of your albums have different concepts or do they all follow each other in one long strange bizarre story?
Simon: Both, they are all part of the same dwindling storyline and each album is set after the previous one in "time" if you will. The earlier albums were more physical and horror like I guess, because the physical senses are the first wall that needs to be razed to reach the next level of awareness and the more we move down the timeline (as do I personally, as this is in much a reflection of own journeys) we come to the acceptance of reality as an illusion and breaking down of the lies that surround us, accepting the true shattered self, being reborn into a higher state and seeing the worlds in a completely different light and so on. If you listen to the albums in order there is this sense of progression of thought, like an unveiling of your own mind. At least for me.
Joe: I love the artwork to all your releases they really coincide with the actual soundscapes being portrayed. Apocalyptic, dark and leaving you with a feeling of loneliness and depression. Do you put the artwork together or does someone else do the art for the albums?
Simon: I put the artwork together, they are as important to me as the music in many ways and there are a lot of hints on to what is going on in the music in the artwork. For example in one booklet there is a depiction of Sumerian statues looking up at a cross, the new replacement symbol of power. "The pupil is now the master"
Joe: What gear have you been using to create your soundscapes? Has the gear usage changed over the years or did you stick to the same basic setup? Are you more into hardware based gear or software based gear or both?
Simon: I have used a wide variety of gear over the years; I think that the hardware-software discussion has been over for years as almost every piece of music nowadays are converted to digital bits in the end. What can be discussed is the emulation of hardware through software, which I think is getting pretty good as of late. But the most important part of gear for me are microphones which I use a lot.
Joe: If you could put your soundscapes in a movie which movie would it be and why?
Simon: My own…
Joe: Has Atrium Carceri ever played live, and if so has it been easy or difficult to recreate the soundscapes live?
Simon: I have played live a long time ago, I did not find the soundscapes that hard to recreate but the setting is just wrong when playing live sets with AC. On stage with spotlights and a crowd drinking beer, that is not how I myself enjoy experiencing music, I prefer a darkened room with no visual interference. I know a lot of my listeners share this kind of escapist tendencies and while other forms of music might be taken lightly, AC is not meant to be. It is meant to be dissolved carefully and whole. My test listeners are forbidden to use most senses except hearing when I do my experimentations and studies.
Joe: What’s the future of Atrium Carceri? Also what do you hope to achieve with the new album, and if you could change something on one of the past releases what would it be?
Simon: Although I have a good perspective on the future, I cannot really know what lurks around the corner but let's say this, I have yet more to tell. I hope to awaken peoples’ minds and greet both the sleepers and the ones already awake in the collective mind. If I could change something on my past releases I guess maybe go back and re-master Seishinbyouin and Cellblock, but then again they are what they are and reflect my experiences in their place in the crooked timeline.
Joe: If Atrium Carceri’s music was a painting what would it look like?
Simon: The imploding big bang.
Joe: Would you describe Atrium Carceri as the ruins of a city with no survivors or would you describe it as wandering the icy cold winter night?
Simon: Definitely a ruined city, the survivors are there though... they just don't know it yet.
Joe: Once again thank you Simon for taking part in the interview. Any last words to the readers about recordings, releases, shows etc?
Simon: Be free brothers and sisters!
Joe/Cryptic Inscriptions: I like to thank you Simon for taking the time to take part in this interview. Give a brief history of Atrium Carceri, the name bio etc. What made you decide to form the band and are you involved in any other musical projects besides Atrium Carceri?
Simon/Atrium Carceri: Atrium Carceri has from the start just been an outlet for me to express my inner vision and experiences from the start. I am involved in quite numerous acts besides Atrium Carceri, but we are in a point on the timeline where single-mindedness is cherished and so I refrain from guiding anyone to my other projects. Those who are free of mind are free to experience my ups and not just my enlightened downs.
Joe: I noticed that most of your albums were released yearly with the exception of the gap between Kapnobati and Pthail. I noticed you took another almost 2 year gap to release your newest album Reliquaie, was there a particular reason for this? Also why did you choose this title for the record?
Simon: Well CMI was on ice for awhile, but I actually completed a shorter album last year but after much consideration and listening I decided that I would have to release longer or album to fully portray my experiences. When nearing completion I felt that I could either release a double CD with 43 minutes on each CD, or fine-tune the album down to one fully packed CD. I did the latter and Reliquiae now spans 19 tracks. This decision felt the most fair to everyone. I also had to wrap my head around the entire theme of the album quite a bit. The title Reliquiae seemed fitting for an album revolving around the destruction of time, beliefs and the ego.
Joe: Do all of your albums have different concepts or do they all follow each other in one long strange bizarre story?
Simon: Both, they are all part of the same dwindling storyline and each album is set after the previous one in "time" if you will. The earlier albums were more physical and horror like I guess, because the physical senses are the first wall that needs to be razed to reach the next level of awareness and the more we move down the timeline (as do I personally, as this is in much a reflection of own journeys) we come to the acceptance of reality as an illusion and breaking down of the lies that surround us, accepting the true shattered self, being reborn into a higher state and seeing the worlds in a completely different light and so on. If you listen to the albums in order there is this sense of progression of thought, like an unveiling of your own mind. At least for me.
Joe: I love the artwork to all your releases they really coincide with the actual soundscapes being portrayed. Apocalyptic, dark and leaving you with a feeling of loneliness and depression. Do you put the artwork together or does someone else do the art for the albums?
Simon: I put the artwork together, they are as important to me as the music in many ways and there are a lot of hints on to what is going on in the music in the artwork. For example in one booklet there is a depiction of Sumerian statues looking up at a cross, the new replacement symbol of power. "The pupil is now the master"
Joe: What gear have you been using to create your soundscapes? Has the gear usage changed over the years or did you stick to the same basic setup? Are you more into hardware based gear or software based gear or both?
Simon: I have used a wide variety of gear over the years; I think that the hardware-software discussion has been over for years as almost every piece of music nowadays are converted to digital bits in the end. What can be discussed is the emulation of hardware through software, which I think is getting pretty good as of late. But the most important part of gear for me are microphones which I use a lot.
Joe: If you could put your soundscapes in a movie which movie would it be and why?
Simon: My own…
Joe: Has Atrium Carceri ever played live, and if so has it been easy or difficult to recreate the soundscapes live?
Simon: I have played live a long time ago, I did not find the soundscapes that hard to recreate but the setting is just wrong when playing live sets with AC. On stage with spotlights and a crowd drinking beer, that is not how I myself enjoy experiencing music, I prefer a darkened room with no visual interference. I know a lot of my listeners share this kind of escapist tendencies and while other forms of music might be taken lightly, AC is not meant to be. It is meant to be dissolved carefully and whole. My test listeners are forbidden to use most senses except hearing when I do my experimentations and studies.
Joe: What’s the future of Atrium Carceri? Also what do you hope to achieve with the new album, and if you could change something on one of the past releases what would it be?
Simon: Although I have a good perspective on the future, I cannot really know what lurks around the corner but let's say this, I have yet more to tell. I hope to awaken peoples’ minds and greet both the sleepers and the ones already awake in the collective mind. If I could change something on my past releases I guess maybe go back and re-master Seishinbyouin and Cellblock, but then again they are what they are and reflect my experiences in their place in the crooked timeline.
Joe: If Atrium Carceri’s music was a painting what would it look like?
Simon: The imploding big bang.
Joe: Would you describe Atrium Carceri as the ruins of a city with no survivors or would you describe it as wandering the icy cold winter night?
Simon: Definitely a ruined city, the survivors are there though... they just don't know it yet.
Joe: Once again thank you Simon for taking part in the interview. Any last words to the readers about recordings, releases, shows etc?
Simon: Be free brothers and sisters!
Interview with the bizarre Igorrr
Igorrr Interview:
Joe/Cryptic Inscriptions: I want to thank you Gautier for taking the time to do this interview. To get things started give a brief history of the monstrosity that is Igorrr?
Gautier/Igorrr: This is a really hard question, can you answer it for me?
Joe: What made you decide to combine genres that were completely different from one another from death metal to trip hop to Baroque style music? Was this always how Igorrr was intended to be?
Gautier:What made me decide to do it? I wanted to hear something that I couldn't find anywhere else, I'm just making the music I want to listen to.
That's a bit selfish, indeed.
From the beginning, Igorrr intended to be the place where I connect different universes. That is a really funny thing for me. It's like a huge party with all of your friends, but really different.
Joe: The one thing that draws me to the band besides the music is the artwork itself. Do you feel that the art really gives a great visual sense of the band itself?
Gautier: Definitely, really often, the visual makes the first impression of the music; it gives an idea about the way of understanding the music.
Imagine a suite of Baroque tracks on a CD with a True Black Metal cover, the point of view of the listener on these tracks will be totally different.
Joe: With every band the goal is to top the next release and I can definitely say you did that with your recent album “Nostril”. Did you feel that to make an album even crazier than the prior release “Moisissure” was going to be a challenge or did it just come to you?
Gautier: In Nostril, I just wanted to get the album which was the closest possible to what I was thinking about music in that time.
It came to me, but it was a really long way, I was making myself sick of my own tracks, forced to listen them over and over again. I was improving the tracks until the moment they sounded "perfect" to my ears. There was no challenge with any other albums, the only challenge was to make the ideas the most precise possible.
Joe: What inspires you as far as Igorrr is concerned; is it music, themes, experiences, life or is Igorrr a bizarre figment of your imagination?
Gautier: I don't know really, I think, the chickens inspire me a lot recently, but i don't know why.
Joe: Would you say Igorrr is more Salvador Dali or Pablo Picasso or a little of both? Explain.
Gautier: I'd rather say that Igorrr is more a mix between Julio Iglesias and Johnny Hallyday, watch carefully their haircut, you'll understand.
Joe: I know you play live with Igorrr, is it hard to recreate these bizarre recordings live, and what do you use in live scenarios?
Gautier: Yes it's quite hard to play it live, there are thousands of instruments everywhere, coming, disappearing, coming back again, and all of this, often at the same time.
As I’m alone on stage, it is impossible to recreate exactly everything, so I'm playing live, like with a puzzle, bringing the right sample in the right moment.
Joe: What’s going on with the other project your involved in called Whourkr? Any new recordings in the works with that band/project?
Gautier: There were some changes recently in Whourk, the singer ( -i snor ) left the band to spend his time on his own project, as the first singer of Whourkr did for Öxxö Xööx some time ago. There is a brand new singer here known as "Mulk" and we are working hard on the new album which hopefully will see the daylight at the beginning of 2012.
Expect mental breaking and pigs, but much worse than everything else.
Joe: Are there any other genres of music that you haven’t touched on with Igorrr that you would like to use on future recordings or have you already touched on everything that you desire as far as Igorrr is concerned?
Gautier: I haven't touched everything I wanted yet, there will be some new explorations, but the main vs. I wanted to express is already existing, the Baroque / Breakcore stuff.
Joe: If you could collaborate with another artist who would it be? How do you think the recording would turn out?
Gautier: It would be Julien Clerc, I love his huge and fat bass drums.
Joe: Are you currently contemplating ideas for the next recording? If so what should we expect from the new recording?
Gautier: Yes, I’m totally into the new Igorrr now and the new Whourkr as well. I think you can expect some taboulé, little, thin sausages and few slices of white cheese.
Joe: Thanks for taking part in this interview. Anything else for the readers concerning recordings, shows/tours etc?
Gautier: Yes of course! …
Joe/Cryptic Inscriptions: I want to thank you Gautier for taking the time to do this interview. To get things started give a brief history of the monstrosity that is Igorrr?
Gautier/Igorrr: This is a really hard question, can you answer it for me?
Joe: What made you decide to combine genres that were completely different from one another from death metal to trip hop to Baroque style music? Was this always how Igorrr was intended to be?
Gautier:What made me decide to do it? I wanted to hear something that I couldn't find anywhere else, I'm just making the music I want to listen to.
That's a bit selfish, indeed.
From the beginning, Igorrr intended to be the place where I connect different universes. That is a really funny thing for me. It's like a huge party with all of your friends, but really different.
Joe: The one thing that draws me to the band besides the music is the artwork itself. Do you feel that the art really gives a great visual sense of the band itself?
Gautier: Definitely, really often, the visual makes the first impression of the music; it gives an idea about the way of understanding the music.
Imagine a suite of Baroque tracks on a CD with a True Black Metal cover, the point of view of the listener on these tracks will be totally different.
Joe: With every band the goal is to top the next release and I can definitely say you did that with your recent album “Nostril”. Did you feel that to make an album even crazier than the prior release “Moisissure” was going to be a challenge or did it just come to you?
Gautier: In Nostril, I just wanted to get the album which was the closest possible to what I was thinking about music in that time.
It came to me, but it was a really long way, I was making myself sick of my own tracks, forced to listen them over and over again. I was improving the tracks until the moment they sounded "perfect" to my ears. There was no challenge with any other albums, the only challenge was to make the ideas the most precise possible.
Joe: What inspires you as far as Igorrr is concerned; is it music, themes, experiences, life or is Igorrr a bizarre figment of your imagination?
Gautier: I don't know really, I think, the chickens inspire me a lot recently, but i don't know why.
Joe: Would you say Igorrr is more Salvador Dali or Pablo Picasso or a little of both? Explain.
Gautier: I'd rather say that Igorrr is more a mix between Julio Iglesias and Johnny Hallyday, watch carefully their haircut, you'll understand.
Joe: I know you play live with Igorrr, is it hard to recreate these bizarre recordings live, and what do you use in live scenarios?
Gautier: Yes it's quite hard to play it live, there are thousands of instruments everywhere, coming, disappearing, coming back again, and all of this, often at the same time.
As I’m alone on stage, it is impossible to recreate exactly everything, so I'm playing live, like with a puzzle, bringing the right sample in the right moment.
Joe: What’s going on with the other project your involved in called Whourkr? Any new recordings in the works with that band/project?
Gautier: There were some changes recently in Whourk, the singer ( -i snor ) left the band to spend his time on his own project, as the first singer of Whourkr did for Öxxö Xööx some time ago. There is a brand new singer here known as "Mulk" and we are working hard on the new album which hopefully will see the daylight at the beginning of 2012.
Expect mental breaking and pigs, but much worse than everything else.
Joe: Are there any other genres of music that you haven’t touched on with Igorrr that you would like to use on future recordings or have you already touched on everything that you desire as far as Igorrr is concerned?
Gautier: I haven't touched everything I wanted yet, there will be some new explorations, but the main vs. I wanted to express is already existing, the Baroque / Breakcore stuff.
Joe: If you could collaborate with another artist who would it be? How do you think the recording would turn out?
Gautier: It would be Julien Clerc, I love his huge and fat bass drums.
Joe: Are you currently contemplating ideas for the next recording? If so what should we expect from the new recording?
Gautier: Yes, I’m totally into the new Igorrr now and the new Whourkr as well. I think you can expect some taboulé, little, thin sausages and few slices of white cheese.
Joe: Thanks for taking part in this interview. Anything else for the readers concerning recordings, shows/tours etc?
Gautier: Yes of course! …
Interview with Cheddar of Recreant
Recreant Interview:
Joe/Cryptic Inscriptions: I want to thank you Cheddar for taking the time to do this interview. Give a brief history of Recreant? What made you guys choose the name and what does it mean?
Cheddar/Recreant: Thanks for thinking about us. Well last year spring B really wanted to start a band with me, we had been hanging out a lot, going to shows together and were all in all really inspiring to each other. She really wanted to do a Grindcore band, badly. I at the current time, couldn’t really write stuff like that very well (now is a little bit of a different story), but I gave it a whirl. We tried some dudes out on drums and we really couldn’t find what we were looking for. We pretty much scrapped that idea and I moved to Nashville over last summer. While I was in Nashville, I wrote a ton of music, not grindcore, but my own thing. I desperately tried to start a band up there, with really no luck. That town bored me to death and I was suffering through the loss of a friend that overdosed. So all I really did was play guitar and drums for hours on end a day that was seriously all I did. At the end of the summer I had moved back with full intentions on trying to do something else with her. We brought my best friend Jesse into the mix, he is one of the best bass players I have had the pleasure of knowing, so it only made sense to bring him in. We searched for a drummer, for a very, very, long time. We made craigslist ads and everything. Tried many different people, none of which could hang with what we were doing. By the beginning of this year we were pretty much throwing in the towel and saying fuck it. We tried out a lot of drummers, most of which were metal drummers which you would think would be able to do with no problem, none of these people we tried could play a fucking punk beat/d beat, but they could blast and double bass all damn day. Their styles were just fucking whack. I put out one more ad and blew up everyone on the inter webs that I know searching for a drummer. I got a response for an old acquaintance of mine Tristan. He is not the most amazing drummer out of the people we tried out, but stylistically he fucking killed it! He came in after like 4 practices and knew like 8 songs. So shit took off for us pretty quick when we got him and the ball rolling in Feb. We played our first show in May and started recording. The name Recreant, is to be a coward and/or to be disloyal to your master.
Joe: You guys seem to take off of many different genres in metal, punk and adding a violin definitely separates you from what most people would expect. Do you feel that taking from so many genres actually helps in you creating more original music than just sticking with one genre?
Cheddar: For sure, it helps loads!!! The great thing about the 4 of us is that all of us listen to sooooo many different kinds of music and all 4 of us have completely different backgrounds. Jesse is a diehard metal head to the core. It actually took a long time for me to get him to get into any punk/crust/ hardcore he fucking hated it. He couldn’t stand it at all. Eventually with age he came around, probably because most of his friends are punks and we was never really in the metal scene. B was a Christian Mennonite growing up and found the glory that is heavy music. She is obviously no longer in practice and is pretty much anti religion and general. She is really into grindcore and post rock/post metal. She also listens to a good handful of crust and hardcore. She kind of skipped the whole "punk evolution thing" though. She was never into NOFX, she pretty much just skipped all the bands punks listen to for the first like 5-6 years of even being into it. It’s crazy that also has its ups and downs with me lol. Tristan was a late bloomer to the punk scene as well, he didn’t even really know who the holy mountain was until they were pretty much done, which is of the biggest and most influential bands in our scene at least from me growing up.
Joe: Who writes the majority of the music/lyrics? Does someone write the majority of the music or do you guys all get together and come up with material? What’s the lyrical content about?
Cheddar: I write the majority of the music; Jesse called me a "song writing powerhouse!" We have only been a band since Feb. and we have 13 songs now. I was also out of commission all of june and july from a motorcycle accident where I broke my wrist, elbow, dislocated my collar bone, and sprained my other wrist really bad. So we didn’t do shit most of summer. Lyrics are pretty 50/50 between B and I. We seriously sing about everything. Most of the songs that we recorded (not our new shit) is socio political, but we sing topics we have covered as of far is anarchism, feminism, anti classism, death, drug addiction, depression, being over worked/under paid, and wanting/wishing to kill cops or anybody in power that we feel oppresses other people. We have many more things we plan on covering in the future. A lot of it is going to be things from our past that have fucked with us really hard. The 4 of us have all been through some serious childhood shit, b being in a cult, Jesse being born in prison, tristan with his formely drug addicted parents, and me being abused by my first step father and having a drug addict for a father and having a single mom that is only 16 years older than me.
Joe: The material you have posted that’s going to be on your upcoming vinyl LP is pretty impressive when do you think it’ll be released and what other material do you guys have in the works?
Cheddar: You know it really sucks, originally I expected the vinyl to be in by fall sometime, but its looking more like winter. It’s really not up to us, we are not the ones pressing it, we are just in line behind others. We are hitting the studio again in November, no plans for a real release but time will tell. A 7 inch would be really nice. We already pretty much have it written, but we will probably end up writing more knowing us. 1 of our 2 new songs is over 7 minutes though the other being 2. So we will probably be recording much more material than anything that could fit on a 7 inch. We have been asked to be on a lot of comps. We are going to be on the forward to apocalypse comp coming out in November with phobia, fuck the facts, and eye hate god!!! We are very stoked about that. My buddy Floyd who is currently living in savannah right now is putting that out. My buddy Ryan who lives in Tampa is putting out a comp with us on it called "bottom of the bay" and it’s going to be every punk band in the Tampa bay area on that thing. Everything from pop punk to crust it should be awesome. Another friend of mine named Pete Monte who lives out on the Waldo punk/anarchist collective/farm outside of Gainesville is also putting out a comp with us on it, but it’s probably not going to be out till next year because he is out in Cali harvesting weed last time I talked to him. It’s going to be pretty much a Florida hardcore comp.
Joe: I definitely like the fact that you guys are branching off into different territories with your music, when you guys played your first show did you guys get a good reception or were some people puzzled by what was going on?
Cheddar: It was a mixture of both, it still continue to be that way. Everyone either really likes us to the point where you almost don’t know how to take it, it’s almost obsessive, or they are just puzzled and confused and trying to figure out what is going on. I know we are going on tour in September, but we have only played 4 shows, so I guess only time will tell how people judge it. Quite frankly, I really don’t give a shit whether or not people like our music or not. We are doing this for ourselves and if we like it, that is all that matters to us.
Joe: If you could play a show with a band that you haven’t played with yet who would it be with and why?
Cheddar: That is the hardest question in the universe. Probably Tragedy because they are so reclusive, but yet they are super fucking huge! They don’t use the internet and they self release all their stuff, I don’t know how they do it other than the cult following his hero is gone had.
Joe: Do you feel that the internet helps in terms of bands getting promotion or do you believe that the old school ways of word of mouth, tape trading and passing out flyers helps bands out more?
Cheddar: I believe that both are very important. I have found tons of amazing bands both ways. Honestly the best way is to just play your fucking ass off. Get out their and play in as many towns as possible and do it as often as you can.
Joe: I know you’ve been in the scene for quite some time what’s the one thing you’ve learned being in a band? From what you’ve learned how’s that affecting your stint in Recreant?
Cheddar: I could go on all day about what I have learned from being in a band, but I will tell you this, they are all thankful because I got 10 shows in 10 days worth of tour booked which is something typically of a band for how long we have been together fucking impossible. I support my scene as much as possible and book shows constantly. Im always helping other bands and people out so I have managed to make a lot of friends from a lot of different places. I cant wait for our month tour at the start of next year!
Joe: Do you guys have side project besides Recreant or is this the only band you guys put your time into?
Cheddar: None of us currently have a side project at the moment. I am however starting a band with a few friends where I will be playing drums. It’s going to be a grindcore/neocrust crossover. I am interested on how its’ gonna turn out. From the way my friend Sean described it, it’s probably going to be similar to Skarp or Splitter.
Joe: If you could describe your music in one word what would it be?
Cheddar: One word? Fuck man!? haha umm.. Queer. As in strange, different.
11. Anything else for the readers any upcoming shows, releases, and updates?
11. Tour Dates for September:
September
15 Tampa @ the basement house
16 Gainesville @ wayward council
17 Tallahassee @ Pandaconda house
18 Tuscaloosa @ baby house
19 Birmingham @ helms deep
20 Nashville @ world trade center
21 Knoxville @ the poison lawn
22 Greenville @ club Sammich
23 savannah @ sweet Melissa’s
24 Atlanta @ the wonder root
I already told you about the releases, split LP with dawn, forward to the apocalypse comp, bottom of the bay, and the Florida hardcore comp(not sure what that one is called). We are recording again in November. we will be touring again from Feb 24th-mar 24th. We will be going to Florida, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, PA, New York, Mass, Maryland, Virginia, N.C, Tennessee, and Georgia.
Joe/Cryptic Inscriptions: I want to thank you Cheddar for taking the time to do this interview. Give a brief history of Recreant? What made you guys choose the name and what does it mean?
Cheddar/Recreant: Thanks for thinking about us. Well last year spring B really wanted to start a band with me, we had been hanging out a lot, going to shows together and were all in all really inspiring to each other. She really wanted to do a Grindcore band, badly. I at the current time, couldn’t really write stuff like that very well (now is a little bit of a different story), but I gave it a whirl. We tried some dudes out on drums and we really couldn’t find what we were looking for. We pretty much scrapped that idea and I moved to Nashville over last summer. While I was in Nashville, I wrote a ton of music, not grindcore, but my own thing. I desperately tried to start a band up there, with really no luck. That town bored me to death and I was suffering through the loss of a friend that overdosed. So all I really did was play guitar and drums for hours on end a day that was seriously all I did. At the end of the summer I had moved back with full intentions on trying to do something else with her. We brought my best friend Jesse into the mix, he is one of the best bass players I have had the pleasure of knowing, so it only made sense to bring him in. We searched for a drummer, for a very, very, long time. We made craigslist ads and everything. Tried many different people, none of which could hang with what we were doing. By the beginning of this year we were pretty much throwing in the towel and saying fuck it. We tried out a lot of drummers, most of which were metal drummers which you would think would be able to do with no problem, none of these people we tried could play a fucking punk beat/d beat, but they could blast and double bass all damn day. Their styles were just fucking whack. I put out one more ad and blew up everyone on the inter webs that I know searching for a drummer. I got a response for an old acquaintance of mine Tristan. He is not the most amazing drummer out of the people we tried out, but stylistically he fucking killed it! He came in after like 4 practices and knew like 8 songs. So shit took off for us pretty quick when we got him and the ball rolling in Feb. We played our first show in May and started recording. The name Recreant, is to be a coward and/or to be disloyal to your master.
Joe: You guys seem to take off of many different genres in metal, punk and adding a violin definitely separates you from what most people would expect. Do you feel that taking from so many genres actually helps in you creating more original music than just sticking with one genre?
Cheddar: For sure, it helps loads!!! The great thing about the 4 of us is that all of us listen to sooooo many different kinds of music and all 4 of us have completely different backgrounds. Jesse is a diehard metal head to the core. It actually took a long time for me to get him to get into any punk/crust/ hardcore he fucking hated it. He couldn’t stand it at all. Eventually with age he came around, probably because most of his friends are punks and we was never really in the metal scene. B was a Christian Mennonite growing up and found the glory that is heavy music. She is obviously no longer in practice and is pretty much anti religion and general. She is really into grindcore and post rock/post metal. She also listens to a good handful of crust and hardcore. She kind of skipped the whole "punk evolution thing" though. She was never into NOFX, she pretty much just skipped all the bands punks listen to for the first like 5-6 years of even being into it. It’s crazy that also has its ups and downs with me lol. Tristan was a late bloomer to the punk scene as well, he didn’t even really know who the holy mountain was until they were pretty much done, which is of the biggest and most influential bands in our scene at least from me growing up.
Joe: Who writes the majority of the music/lyrics? Does someone write the majority of the music or do you guys all get together and come up with material? What’s the lyrical content about?
Cheddar: I write the majority of the music; Jesse called me a "song writing powerhouse!" We have only been a band since Feb. and we have 13 songs now. I was also out of commission all of june and july from a motorcycle accident where I broke my wrist, elbow, dislocated my collar bone, and sprained my other wrist really bad. So we didn’t do shit most of summer. Lyrics are pretty 50/50 between B and I. We seriously sing about everything. Most of the songs that we recorded (not our new shit) is socio political, but we sing topics we have covered as of far is anarchism, feminism, anti classism, death, drug addiction, depression, being over worked/under paid, and wanting/wishing to kill cops or anybody in power that we feel oppresses other people. We have many more things we plan on covering in the future. A lot of it is going to be things from our past that have fucked with us really hard. The 4 of us have all been through some serious childhood shit, b being in a cult, Jesse being born in prison, tristan with his formely drug addicted parents, and me being abused by my first step father and having a drug addict for a father and having a single mom that is only 16 years older than me.
Joe: The material you have posted that’s going to be on your upcoming vinyl LP is pretty impressive when do you think it’ll be released and what other material do you guys have in the works?
Cheddar: You know it really sucks, originally I expected the vinyl to be in by fall sometime, but its looking more like winter. It’s really not up to us, we are not the ones pressing it, we are just in line behind others. We are hitting the studio again in November, no plans for a real release but time will tell. A 7 inch would be really nice. We already pretty much have it written, but we will probably end up writing more knowing us. 1 of our 2 new songs is over 7 minutes though the other being 2. So we will probably be recording much more material than anything that could fit on a 7 inch. We have been asked to be on a lot of comps. We are going to be on the forward to apocalypse comp coming out in November with phobia, fuck the facts, and eye hate god!!! We are very stoked about that. My buddy Floyd who is currently living in savannah right now is putting that out. My buddy Ryan who lives in Tampa is putting out a comp with us on it called "bottom of the bay" and it’s going to be every punk band in the Tampa bay area on that thing. Everything from pop punk to crust it should be awesome. Another friend of mine named Pete Monte who lives out on the Waldo punk/anarchist collective/farm outside of Gainesville is also putting out a comp with us on it, but it’s probably not going to be out till next year because he is out in Cali harvesting weed last time I talked to him. It’s going to be pretty much a Florida hardcore comp.
Joe: I definitely like the fact that you guys are branching off into different territories with your music, when you guys played your first show did you guys get a good reception or were some people puzzled by what was going on?
Cheddar: It was a mixture of both, it still continue to be that way. Everyone either really likes us to the point where you almost don’t know how to take it, it’s almost obsessive, or they are just puzzled and confused and trying to figure out what is going on. I know we are going on tour in September, but we have only played 4 shows, so I guess only time will tell how people judge it. Quite frankly, I really don’t give a shit whether or not people like our music or not. We are doing this for ourselves and if we like it, that is all that matters to us.
Joe: If you could play a show with a band that you haven’t played with yet who would it be with and why?
Cheddar: That is the hardest question in the universe. Probably Tragedy because they are so reclusive, but yet they are super fucking huge! They don’t use the internet and they self release all their stuff, I don’t know how they do it other than the cult following his hero is gone had.
Joe: Do you feel that the internet helps in terms of bands getting promotion or do you believe that the old school ways of word of mouth, tape trading and passing out flyers helps bands out more?
Cheddar: I believe that both are very important. I have found tons of amazing bands both ways. Honestly the best way is to just play your fucking ass off. Get out their and play in as many towns as possible and do it as often as you can.
Joe: I know you’ve been in the scene for quite some time what’s the one thing you’ve learned being in a band? From what you’ve learned how’s that affecting your stint in Recreant?
Cheddar: I could go on all day about what I have learned from being in a band, but I will tell you this, they are all thankful because I got 10 shows in 10 days worth of tour booked which is something typically of a band for how long we have been together fucking impossible. I support my scene as much as possible and book shows constantly. Im always helping other bands and people out so I have managed to make a lot of friends from a lot of different places. I cant wait for our month tour at the start of next year!
Joe: Do you guys have side project besides Recreant or is this the only band you guys put your time into?
Cheddar: None of us currently have a side project at the moment. I am however starting a band with a few friends where I will be playing drums. It’s going to be a grindcore/neocrust crossover. I am interested on how its’ gonna turn out. From the way my friend Sean described it, it’s probably going to be similar to Skarp or Splitter.
Joe: If you could describe your music in one word what would it be?
Cheddar: One word? Fuck man!? haha umm.. Queer. As in strange, different.
11. Anything else for the readers any upcoming shows, releases, and updates?
11. Tour Dates for September:
September
15 Tampa @ the basement house
16 Gainesville @ wayward council
17 Tallahassee @ Pandaconda house
18 Tuscaloosa @ baby house
19 Birmingham @ helms deep
20 Nashville @ world trade center
21 Knoxville @ the poison lawn
22 Greenville @ club Sammich
23 savannah @ sweet Melissa’s
24 Atlanta @ the wonder root
I already told you about the releases, split LP with dawn, forward to the apocalypse comp, bottom of the bay, and the Florida hardcore comp(not sure what that one is called). We are recording again in November. we will be touring again from Feb 24th-mar 24th. We will be going to Florida, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, PA, New York, Mass, Maryland, Virginia, N.C, Tennessee, and Georgia.
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