AUDITOR REVIEW AND INTERVIEW.

FBN:First off, who are you and what do you do?

Brandon Elkins, known variously as B., Auditor, Iron Forest, or A Crown of Amaranth.  Professionally I’m a pixel pusher and musically I do a little bit of everything that mostly involves staring at a monitor with headphones on.

FBN:Thoughts on the underground music scene as of right now?

Depends on which “underground” we’re talking about.  I spend a lot of time digging through BandCamp looking for new projects.  There are tons of great ideas coming out of some very “underground” black metal and noise projects like Emanation and Venowl but the more I’m involved with actually talking about either the metal or noise scenes, the more I see a sort of puritanical, closed-off kind of thinking.  The “holier-than-though” attitudes and self-serving ego stroking are what will end up choking off and invalidating any sense of experimentation the underground might have.  That’s sad to me.

Having said that, there are still a lot of really great people that I’ve met that are doing solid work in creating, writing about, or releasing what I think will go down as a sort of revival in truly experimental music.

FBN:What bands or projects are you listening to?

At any given time I’m all over the map with what I’m listening to.  I get to sit at a desk all day with headphones on so I get 40+ hours of time to listen to music each week.  In the last few days I’ve been listening to Emanation, Brobdingnagian, Phobonoid, Cara Neir, Axis of Advance, REVENGE, the new Earth and YOB albums, new Pallbearer, INVDRS, A Pregnant Light, Dead Congregation, Cyanotic, the new Venowl/Highgate split, and (believe it or not) a lot of Chief Keef, Young Thug, 2 Chainz, Migos, and A$AP Ferg.

FBN:How did you come up with the sound for Auditor?

I pull pretty equally from heavy industrial like Frontline Assembly, Skinny Puppy, Bile, and Author and Punisher along with harsh noise and wall noise, death industrial (SHP, Theologian, Navicon, Gruntsplatter), doom (Khanate, Sunn0))), MOSS), and black metal.  Anything that fits that punishing, bleak mold gets thrown in the pot and stirred around.

 FBN:What are your musical influences?

I’m influenced by everything I hear.  Complete willingness to be open to new sounds is my only rule.

 FBN:Do you draw any influences from movie scores?

 I don’t, but I do envy people that can work like that.  I do try to lend a bit of “cinematic” or narrative flow to not only individual pieces but whole albums.

  FBN:What is your favorite ice cream flavor, if any?

The last truly amazing ice cream I had was at the Green Goddess in New Orleans and it was a Bacon Sundae.  Yeah, you read that right.  Coffee pecan brittle ice cream, bacon caramel sauce, Himalayan pink and black salts, bits of applewood smoked bacon, topped with whipped cream.

I think I achieve official “Fat Kid” status by saying I think about it far more often than I should.

FBN: Any future plans for Auditor, or for you in general?

I’m working on a couple different collaboration projects that I won’t reveal too early but, suffice to say, they should be pretty cool.  I’m also digging into a remix for Jason Walton’s (Agalloch) Self Spiller project, so that’s exciting.

In addition to that, Danvers State Recordings will be doing a tape release of the collaboration that I did with Crowhurst last earlier this year.  I’m also working on an album that will see vinyl release on Die Song probably early to middle of 2015 that I’m really excited about.  Early in 2015 I’ll also be hitting the road providing live ambience/noise for the absolutely insane ÆVANGELIST and maybe playing an Auditor set here and there.  I always stay busy.

FBN:Any shout outs or last words you would like to say?

I’d like to give big love to Leech from Theologian/Annihilvs Power Electronics, Derek Rush, Andy Grant, James from Die Song, ][ // and :: from Venowl, Ryan from IxDx/TTADA, and my lovely wife.  All of them have helped push me forward.

FBN:Thank you for your time.

Thanks for having me, it was a pleasure typing

Auditor is the brainchild of the ambient-industrial project of Brendon Elkins, who is based in Chicago, Ill. Brendon was very kind and sent me a copy of “Form Destroyer”.

The depression started off with the opening track “Protocol 1”.  From the opening of the track I was thrown down into a pit and buried alive from the oppressive nature of the audio that was filling my ears with ambient waves of dirt. I felt as if I was dying, the sample, or what I think was a sample, “I am not sorry for what I did” mixed with background screams of agony further dug my grave of audio suicide.

            The second track politely titled “And Vomit As You Devour Them”, this track features a very solid drum track that hits you in the chest like a rubber bullet from ignorant cop.  The shortest track on the album, it is hard hitting and keeps your attention long enough to cum on your face.  Id say this industrial sludge fest is my favorite on the record. 

            Next up is “Flea On A Dead Dog”, like the track before, it features a very industrial beat that is reminiscent of Godflesh in the best of ways. When I first listened to this, I instantly was taken to a boiler room. The oppressive nature of the ambient sounds mixed with the paranoia that something bad is going to happen crushed me. This track is slow, mind numbing. It will consume you.

            “Betrayer Of Sleep”, is death. Pure death. ThIs track made me feel helpless. The slow droning experience drowns you in its massive riff. Taking everything you have and making it, and you obsolete. This song is heroine. This song is a slow hypodermic needle injecting nothing but black slime into your veins.  Some serious SunnO))) worship on this track.

            The final track on this record is “I Can Never Be Far Enough From You”, reminds me of the project “Stalaggh” with its ambient overtones and creepy haunting chanting vocals in the background. This track is the longest on the record at over 14 minutes. This track will leave your mind in pain, and aching for some sort of relieve. But there is none. Only mind numbing ambient brutality.

            Overall this record is nothing shy of a religious experience and needs to be listened to at high volumes to get the full effect of what Brendon is doing here. The abrasive and dark nature of each song leaves the mind in a warped sense of detachment from what is healthy and good for you.

Zack

Links!!

http://theauditor.bandcamp.com/

Interview with Gabe from Symptom and Human Bodies

Interview by Zack Dion

FBN: First off, who are you and what do you do?


Gabe: My name is Gabe. Currently I live in Allston Massachusetts and play in the bands Symptom and Human Bodies. I have been involved with various other failed musical projects in the past.


FBN: What made you want to play music in the first place and what keeps you going when it comes to making music?


Gabe: This might sound stupid but I honestly think it was just genetics. My grandmother was a professional singer. My father played in rock bands when I was younger and now is a touring Celtic guitar player. Pretty much everyone in my family is some kind of a musician- at the very least for recreation. I can't pinpoint a certain reason why I ever picked up a guitar or a microphone or drumstick. It doesn't even feel like it was a conscious decision sometimes, just something I was born to do. Am I cheesy? Yes. Whatever. 
Continuing as a "musician", on the other hand, has taken a level of acceptance that nothing I or anyone does with art really matters that much outside of your own personal gratification. I will always feel like I'm not playing well enough or doing music as often as I'd like to -which is a good motivation to improve and work harder- but at the end of the day, honestly, I just dont know what else I would do with my time here! Thats it really...


FBN: How do feel about the current state of underground music right now?


 Gabe: I Dont really know enough to have any feelings about it. Ive stopped paying attention really. I know the names of bands that are currently hype in the "underground" but am more interested in listening to Judas Priest and Manowar or Taylor Swift's Red album. Either way, trends and trendy bands will always be coming and going, rising to their fullest potential, falling out of fashion and being replaced by something more repugnant and/or nostalgic; especially in a city like Boston where people are coming and going just as quickly. But thats just how it is. Either way, there is so much old music that I am always discovering and rediscovering and it is always enough to keep me excited about making music. The ever-increasing amount of great new music is just so hard to keep up to speed with. I try but I mostly fail.


FBN: What bands stick out to you, and what makes a band stick out to you? What makes a band special in your opinion?


Gabe:  The first band that comes to mind has to be Aspects of War, mainly due to their incredibly tight, violent and engaging live sets. This is what makes them or any other band special in my opinion.


FBN: Are you reading any books at the moment? If so what are they and why are you reading them?  Do you have a favorite book?
  

Gabe: At the moment I am reading The Stranger by Albert Camus. I picked it up while I was still playing drums for Stranger since the book was our namesake. I had tried reading it before but never finished it. So far I'm enjoying it. Very good personal narrative.
I dont have a favorite book but I have some favorite authors. Ursula K Le Guin is one that has grown with me from the time I was 12 until now. Her material is so abundant and diverse that I am constantly discovering books of unpredictable depth and subject matter the older I get...so she's been able to stay relevant to me as years go by.
In recent years I've also become obsessed with Cormac McCarthy. Such a twisted dude. Human Bodies actually takes our name from a line in The Road!
 Also, HP Lovecraft without a doubt.


FBN: How important do you think touring is for a band? Do you have any tips or advice for a young band looking to tour for the first time?


Gabe: Well, again I will harken back to an earlier response. Realize first that nothing you do is important at all. Then, figure out whatever the fuck it is that you actually WANT to do and just DO it. If you WANT to tour, isn't that enough to make it important? If you are asking me whether I think touring is important in reaching some arbitrary goal of "success" then I dont know what to tell you because to be honest, I have no idea what in the fuck I am actually doing like ever. But if tour life is something that seems fun and romantic to you, just do it. You'll figure it out. But hear me out, its not all roses and perfume so do whatever it takes to make it worthwhile. If its not for you then its not for you. If you find that is I am sorry. Good luck and have fun!


FBN: How do you feel about the current state of America in regards to the many recent accounts of police brutality that have been reported and not reported?


Gabe:  I think what we see happening is the true face of our capitalist imperialist society laid bare. These accounts of police brutality are nothing new and our government has been murdering its own civilians for as far back as you could care to look (ie. Philadelphia fire-bombings of 1985). What is really unnerving though is how boldly militaristic the government is becoming as a reaction to protests these days. The level of militarization in civilian police forces is fucking scary and if it wasn't obvious before, it should be now: we are absolutely, without a doubt, a fucking police state. Wake up!


FBN: Care to talk about the latest (and final) Host LP that came out recently? 
 

Gabe: Sure. 
The final Host L.P. was recorded last April in two days at Dead Air Studios in Western Massachusetts. As always Will Dandy turned the knobs. Some of the songs are old, some were comprised of riffs I had written that had been floating around since me and Dan started working on the project as teenagers. Most of the songs are new and some were co-written by our other guitarist Casey (now in Death Injection and Youth Funeral- peep it). This was the first and only recording to feature Casey.
The recording sat around for so long because, 2 months after laying it down, we decided to call it quits for a number of reasons. Also, I honestly didn't feel very confident about the recordings at all at the time. Call me neurotic, but I felt like we'd lost most of the rawness we had on our first 7 inch and it bummed me out. It took me a whole year of putting it out of mind to be able to finally revisit it and listen objectively. At that point, I finally gave in and agreed to let Cricket Cemetery put it out. Hydrogen Man hopped on and co-released it. I mean, why the fuck not. Its out now and there's nothing I can do about it. Sorry.


FBN: Kill, marry, or fuck- Country Love, Avril Lavigne, or Meryl Streep?


Gabe: Kill Courtney Love. Marry Avril Lavigne (as soon as we both stop wanting to "mess around" so much). Fuck Meryl Streep.


FBN: Boxers or briefs? 


Gabe: Boxer briefs dude. But if it were one or the other, definitely briefs. C'mon. Youre an adult. Boxers are for kids and make you look silly. If I were heading to bone town with some dude and he took off his pants to reveal some bullshit baggy checkered boxers Id be like HELLLLLL no you ain't no lover. Briefs or boxer briefs. Nothing else.


FBN: Any thing you want to add before the interview ends, any shout outs - anything else?

Gabe: I don't know. I hope I don't sound like an idiot. I'm always afraid I sound like an idiot. But either way. The final Host LP. is out now so act quick and pick it up if you haven’t cuz its super limited and all the money goes to a very good cause.
 Also Human Bodies has a new 6 song cassette EP coming out next month which will fucking destroy you I cant stop listening to it so be on the lookout for that. 
Symptom also has a new song coming out on a 4-way split 7 inch with a few other awesome bands (Neutron Rats, Paradox, No Tomorrow) and are recording for our first 7 inch EP next month and will continue touring all over the place as much as possible so get into that.
And in the meantime check out the Poison Vacuum distro online at: www.poisonvacuum.storenvy.com


FBN: Thanks for your time!


Gabe: Thank YOU!


Links to Gabe’s bands are here:

https://punkisacult.bandcamp.com/releases

https://hmnbds.bandcamp.com/track/harlot

 https://ibrokethemirror.bandcamp.com

Be sure to check out that Host lp by the way, it rips. 

Interview with Territory

Interview by Brayden Bagnall

I make no secret for my love of Arizona's ridiculously good music scene - whether it's punk, noise or hardcore - there seems to be a never ending stream of above-par bands trickling out of that state. Territory are no exception. Their facebook page describes them as a ' Dark Mo$h/Black Pit' band - which oddly enough, is relatively close to being an adequate description. On their latest 7", Blowback (out via Crown And Throne ), Territory bring the, uh, black pit - recalling the metal/hardcore acts of the 90s and lending it a much darker, sinister vibe. I had a chat recently with ringleader Sam Abate about Territory, their influences and their new record.

FBN: Hi there! Who are you, what do you do and what's the name of your band?

Sam: My name is Sam and I sing in Territory

FBN: Can you tell us a bit about how Territory came to be a band?

Sam: Ryan (guitar player) and I started Territory in like January of 2010, our original intention was to just start a band that sounded like Negative Approach and 86 Mentality.  I was playing drums and we were jamming as 2 piece.  The stuff we naturally wrote ended up being quite a bit heavier so we said fuck it and just ran with a more metal sound.  We wrote a 4 song demo and we recorded it with me doing drums and vocals and Ryan doing bass and guitar.  It took longer than we had hoped to find some decent musicians, but luckily we found some dawgs that were down.  Matt plays drums and Sean plays bass.  We started playing live in the summer of 2010 and here we are in 2014 with all our wealth and fame.

FBN: What would you say are the biggest influences, musically, on Territory's sound?

Sam: Ringworm, Sepultura, Craft, Merauder, Kickback, Buried Alive, Godflesh - a bunch of cool shit.

FBN: And how about thematically? What inspires the lyrics behind the music?

Sam: Mostly armed struggle, although lyrically the themes and ideas are often more complex than that, but I guess the initial theme is about seeking and exacting justice/revenge from the individuals who destroy this planet and create death and misery for its people.  A few songs focus more on personal themes, but mostly we make violent music with violent lyrics for a violent world.

FBN:  Can you tell us about the the recording process behind your latest 7"?

Sam: Our guitar player Ryan Bram runs a studio called Homewrecker Studios, and we initially recorded these songs just to be a demo.  For a myriad of reasons it took like 5 months to actually finish the recordings.  We were gonna just use it as a demo to show some labels, but we liked the songs and quality enough that we thought, fuck it, let’s release it.  We were lucky to have our buddy Garth show a lot of interest and this summer he released it on his label,  Crown And Throne LTD out of Denver, CO.

FBN: What's the local scene in Arizona like for you guys? I know there's quite a few punk and hardcore bands, but how does your brand of dark, metallic hardcore go down with the masses?

Sam: Eh, we do alright, I think we are more of a “band’s band,” haha.  Territory is not an easy band to digest , we like the music we play so I’m happy if anyone digs what we do.  We mix a lot of styles of heavy music so we are the odd band out a lot of times, too metal, too hardcore, whatever.  Arizona has some really rad bands doing cool shit right now though; I implore anyone reading this to check out Sex Prisoner, The Beautiful Ones, North, TOAD, Gatecreeper, and Seas Will Rise.

FBN: Would you say there's a higher tolerance for metal/hardcore crossovers nowadays?

Sam: Absolutely, I mean I don’t really worry about that kind of shit, but I definitely feel like a lot of newer bands are more prone to blending metal and hardcore and people are definitely digging a lot of these bands.

FBN: The whole 'what are the top 3 albums you'd want to have with on on a desert island' question is a bit old. In lieu of this, what are the top 3 albums you'd like to toss into a  fireplace?

Sam:  like this question, but I seriously don’t waste time on records that I think suck, so I had a hard time thinking of records outside of like a Nickelback record or some bullshit.

So I chose three records that I think are great, but that are not well liked by fans of these bands

Cro Mags - Alpha & Omega, Carcass - Swansong, Life Of Agony - Ugly.  I think all three of those records are awesome.

FBN: What's planned for the rest of 2014 for Territory - any shows, tours, writing or recording?

Sam: A couple shows here and there, but mostly writing.  We are 5 or songs into writing our next LP, we are putting most of our focus on writing and recording a killer record by the end of 2014.  A few of us started new jobs so touring is difficult for the moment,  but I’m hoping in the spring we can do a little touring.

FBN: Lastly, any final words of wisdom, thanks or shout outs you wish to impart with the web?

Sam: Umm, get the new Old Wounds record, those are our homies.  Our drummer and bass player are in a new band called Gatecreeper, check that out.  If you are in a band on the West Coast come record in Tucson with Ryan at Homewrecker Studios.  Thanks for the interview!

And a great big old thanks to Sam for the interview. For those of you keen to hear the new 7", head over to the Crown And Throne bandcamp HERE, where you can stream and/or purchase it. Head over to Territory's bandcamp HERE, where there's quite a few releases available for download.

Finally, Territory have scored a place on A389's annual mixtape (!!!) which you can have a geez at HERE

Interview With Of Feather And Bone

Interview by Brayden Bagnall

Hailing from Denver, Colorado, Of Feather And Bone's caustic mish mash of grindcore, hardcore and metal recalls some of the more chaotic sounds coming out of the late 1990s, old school death metal and modern technical precision. Of Feather And Bone contribute two blistering tracks, alongside Reproacher on their latest split 7" release. I interviewed bassist/vocalist Alvino to discuss the split, Colorado's music scene and the finer things in life (i.e blastbeats).

FBN: Greetings! Hi! Hello! - who are you and what do you do?

Alvino: Hi. My name is Alvino and I sing and play bass for of feather and bone. 

FBN: I'm curious, where did the name 'Of Feather And Bone' originate?

Alvino: The name came from a variation of longer names and phrases till we all agreed on "of feather and bone".  Nothing too deep about it haha

FBN: And how did the band itself originate - how did you guys meet and start playing music together? 

Alvino: Dave (guitar) and Preston (drummer) have been playing music together for quite some time and have a great chemistry with one another. Ive known Dave for a long time from being in bands from Denver and whatnot. Dave and Preston were in a power violence band together when I first saw them play music together. When that band disbanded they started another band in the vein of 90's hardcore. When I saw their first show, I noticed they didn't have a bass player. I went up to them immediately after and asked if I could play bass and for some crazy reason they agreed to let me play. After some writing and a couple of shows, we went from a four piece to a three piece and I took over vocals. We've discussed a few times to maybe add someone to the band so I can solely sing, but I think we've come to a consensus that the three of us work well together and we don't want to mess up the luck we've had thus far.

FBN: What influenced you to play the music you do? Any bands, events or issues in particular?

Alvino: For myself personally, I've always wanted to play in a heavy band. When I saw these two playing it, all I wanted was to be a part of it. As for them, their pasts and musical interests are what drive this band and those variations allow for us to write the way we do. Rooted in grind, power violence, crust, hardcore, death metal and punk, we all bring something to the table.  

FBN: How does the band write and record its music - is it a spontaneous process, or is there more planning and pre-planning involved?

Alvino: Writing for us is organic. Sometimes Dave has an idea and we build off of that and sometimes he plays a riff out of nowhere and three hours later and some crankiness, we have a song. It's the first time I've ever been in a band where the songs come together on their own. Where someone isn't at home on their own writing an entire song then coming in and teaching everyone what to do. It's a great way of writing. When we record, we definitely plan. We like to have the songs flow so the recording sounds like one well put together piece of art. We practice the songs into oblivion so when we record we do it in the best possible ability we have. We've recorded three times as a band and every time we learn something new and what we like and what we can change for the next time. 

FBN:  I've just listened to your split with Reproacher, and I've gotta say, I was impressed - how did that split come together?

Alvino: Reproacher are some of our closest friends and one of the best bands from around these parts. We've had the honor to play quite a few shows with them. So when Garth from crown and throne mentioned possibly doing a split with them, we were in immediately. Garth's labor of love for his bands and releases is unmatched and made it extremely easy to do this release! We couldn't be happier with the outcome.

  

FBN: How's the music scene in Denver, Colorado? Is it kind to heavier bands such as yourselves?

Alvino: Denver is torn into several different scenes and styles of hardcore/punk. Each functioning on it's own and surviving quite well. We've always strived to stay neutral in our city and will play a show for anyone as long as they're a cool person. We are fortunate to be part of an extended family of bands that are similar in style. We all seem the same on the surface to maybe a newcomer to our style. But the beauty is that we all differ enough that if we all played a show together you'd get a different variation of heavy and dark and fast and whatever the whole show. Denver is home. Denver is often overlooked because we're located in the middle of the country where every major city is at least an 8 hour drive away from us. But like our friends, we are setting out to show the rest of the world that Denver can bear amazing music and it should never be overlooked.  

FBN: What's in the pipeline for Of Feather And Bone for the rest of 2k14?

Alvino: We are about to leave for a three week tour through the Midwest, Canada and the north east in august with our friends in exalt from canada and black mask from Pennsylvania. We couldn't be more excited to head out east of Colorado and show what we got. After the tour we are going to lock ourselves away and finish writing our first full length which we will be recording in early October in Salt Lake City with the almighty Andy Patterson. We're excited for the new stuff and for everyone to hear it. 

FBN: The question I often ask myself is 'is there anything better than a blastbeat?', and I genuinely struggle with this on a daily basis. My question to you is - can you name five things better than a blastbeat? 

Everytime we write, we ask, "what should we go into next?" And more often than not the first suggestion is a blast haha. But if I had to pick 5 things that could be better than a blast but might not be they would be: 

1) burritos 

2) 7-11 for their beverage selections 

3) touring

4) Preston: dressing nicely Dave: coffee me: vinyl records (which crosses over to all three of us) 

5) ummmm....burritos again

FBN: Lastly, any thank-yous, shout-outs, shameless plugs or words of wisdom you wish to impart with us all?

Alvino: Haha. Not much for wisdom here. But you should listen to: primitive man, Reproacher, catholic girls, call of the void, prison death, exalt, old wounds, seizures, black mask and entombed (if you don't already). A

A massive thanks to Of Feather And Bone for the interview!

The split with Reproacher is bloody brilliant, and you should probably head on over to the Crown And Throne bandcamp HERE, where it's available for streaming or purchase - either in digital or touchy feely format. Of Feather And Bone also have their own bandcamp, which you can have a gander at HERE 

Interview with Kyle from E.V.A and his very cool ambient electronic project. This project will take you to space and drag you into a black hole


Q: Who are you and what do you do?

A: My name is Kyle Kozlowski, I am a multi-instrumental musician from New Jersey. I have been making Experimental Electronic music under the name E.V.A (Extra-Vehicular Activity) for over a year now. Before that, I was in a rock band called K.D and The Damn Kids, an Experimental Improvised Jazz band called

Hum Of The Monoliths and when I was 15,

i played drums for a Metal band called Eternal Sin. I have been making noise since I was a child using various everyday items like buckets and pans, eventually upgrading to drums when I was 12 or 13 and moving up to Bass, Guitar, Piano, etc. I have been involved with local music for 6 years and am currently booking shows in NB for all of the artists I meet. Besides music, I am an avid gamer and vinyl collector and spend most of my time quoting Tim and Eric and making weird noises with my mouth. Oh, and I love Dogs more than most human beings.

Q: What are your musical influences?

A: Boards of Canada, B12, Frank Zappa, Tool, Brian Eno, AFX, Orbital, Mogwai,

Casey and His Brother, Sun Ra, Skip Spence, Solo Andata,

Roy Buchanan,  Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti, Mooncake, 90's Television shows and anything nostalgic.

Q: How do you feel about the current state of music?

A: As a listener, I think music is at its finest point. There is complete and total freedom to listen to any style of music or noise being made all around the world. Especially with the rise of independent musicians through Bandcamp and Soundcloud, If you want to listen to music that makes you hate, love, or feel anything at all, you can find it on the internet. If it wasn't for Soundcloud and Youtube, I do not think I would be the musician I am today.  As a musician though, I think its one of the hardest things to be now a days. You deal with rejection and self criticism on a daily basis. Sometimes it feels like your projecting a rainbow for people and all they want to see is money. I think its more important for the musician in this current age to be self employed and release music for free, or even a buck or two. Get a shitty part time job, save your money, and release records and movies instead if charging people $10 to $15 for digital. Be a true artist and push yourself beyond your music rather than simply trying to get in the music industry by charging people to simply listen to your music.

Q: What are your goals in life?

A: To play music for humans and animals around the world, convince the education system to support music and art as much as they support English and math, buy an acre or two of land and let it run as a dog rescue, learn to hunt, survive off the grid and die somewhere in the middle of the woods. Also, to convert churches into concert venues instead of religious gatherings

Q: How do you plan on achieving them?

A: Simply by shutting the fuck up and doing it.

Q: How do you feel about drugs in music and drug culture in music, especially in  electronic music?

What other people do is their own buisness. I do not think that you need drugs to enjoy music or become more creative, it just makes it easier for some. I have written some riffs while I was tipsy or high that I winded up keeping, but mostly destructive to the creative process. As for concert goers and fans of musicians, It really depends on the setting, for example, if its an EDM festival than I understand why people are on drugs because its one giant party with music, and not a concert. If your going to a concert, you should respect your favorite band or artist your about to see and try to have fun on your own, maybe smoke a j and have a beer, but try to be sober enough that you can actually enjoy music in its truest form rather than filtered through your drunk or hallucinating brain. For me, I only smoke weed and drink. I have done shrooms twice in my life, firsg time was great, second time I called my mother and thought I was a ghost. Being that I play electronic music currently, I have had multiple people assume that im constanly on acid while im playing music. I do not like the fact that people assume that making anything psychedelic or trippy sounding means I had to of taken acid to create it. It makes it sound like what I did means nothing when I had to work hard to create that sound. Everyone assumed Jimmi Hendrix was high and tripping his whole life, when in fact he was sober during most of his recording sessions, and I always felt bad for him in a way that he would probably hated most of his fans for relating him towards drugs more than his creativity and imagination. With or without drugs, anyone can still be creative in a psychedelic way without using hard drug

Q: Do you think the earth can sustain the human population for the next 100 years?

A: Yes, In my own opinion,  I think the earth has its own way of balancing things out. Even though ill be dead by then and I wont really care whats going on in that existence, Id like to think the earth will have its own way of controlling the human population or humanity somehow changes as a whole and quits screwing around with politics and money.

Q: Tell me your thoughts on the current state of movies in America? DO you like them? Do you hate them?

A: I honestly like them in any genre except Horror. Sci Fi and Horror where my favorite genres growing up, Horror being most of what I watched when I was a child. I have seen almost every horror film, even foreign ones from Japan and Italy. For the past 15 years, there has not been a single good horror film thats true to the genre. Most of them are Slasher/Gibblets and Gore movies or Paranormal Thrillers yet none of them are horrifying to look at. You never feel desperate for the characters and none of the villains are even close to being disturbing or intimidating. Its a shame that there aren't more movies like Carpenter's Halloween or Barker's Rawhead Rex. Don't get me wrong though, I loved 80's and 90's Slash and Gore flicks, just when its over the top disturbing and using lots of bubble gum and corn syrup make up effects.

Q: What is the music scene in New Jersey like?

A: Pretty alive but narrowed down to maybe 2 or 4 genres, like Heavy Rock/Hardcore/Punk/Acoustic. There is alot of great bands around here, you just get sick of eating the same sound every night. The cool part about playing a different and almost unheard of style of music around here is there are other just like me, trying to contribute something completley different than the norm. New Brunswick actually has a pretty lengthy history with noise musicians and bands. We have had a few noise acts come through here like Hatchers, who have been playing out of NYC for over 10 years and played tons of basement punk shows here during that time. My main goal for this year and next year is to bring more diversity to the shows around here and help build a stronger musical community with all different types of genres in one show rather than keeping them seperated and isolated in their own genre settings.

How did you come up with the name for your project?

A:  Before I wanted to be a musician, I wanted to be an Astronaut. I watched alot of Discovery channel shows and documentaries on astronomy and space travel when I was a kid and I remember watching a program on astronaut engineers who repair the outside of space shuttles after the reach space and before they return to earth. Some where tethered to an oxygen cord and others would fly around in jet packs. Obviously sounds like fun and looked beautiful so I wanted to do that but I was young and you want to be everything when your a kid. So later in life, after i had decided to become a musician, I went to school in NY for audio engineering at the Institute of Audio Research. I took a few classes on MIDI and Synthesizers and I had this super cool tutor (Connor Martin) who hooked me up with alot of plug ins and tips for using Reason and Logic. As I was learning all of this, I would take it all back home and apply it to my own creativity. One of the first tracks I made was called E.V.A and it just stuck with me. From there, I came up with the concept of E.V.A being a musical sequencer for astronauts to listen to as they forfill there duties in outer space, reparing space crafts and upgrading satellites, and completley seperating myself from it, as if I where the engineer aboard this space craft.

Q: What bands are you currently listening too?

A: Plaid, Tim Buckley, Gordon Lightfoot, Solo Andata, MPHIAT, Monoliths, My Bloody Valentine, Source Direct, Prodigy, Sting.

Any last words you want to say?

First off, Thank you for interviewing me. This is a first for me as I normally don't like to talk a out what I do, but this experience as certainly opened my shell a little wider. Im sure my family is not aware of this side of me so of your reading this, I dont apologize as this is who I am and I think youll love me regardless of who I have become. For all the musicians and artists out there, whether you make music or write books,  keep doing what you are doing. Stick to it, dedicate your whole life to it, learn from it, and harness it as if it where your own superpower. If you just keep calling yourself what you think you are, you will eventually become it.

-Zack

Bandcamp!