Malokul Artist Drugs of Faith Interview is up
http://www.drugsoffaith.com
- Tell us a bit how Drugs of Faith got that crust meets doom meets grind filled post hardcore sound?
We sure don’t fit into one
music category. It’s the mix of influences that we have, and just
as important, or more important, is how we put them together, I
think. We never wanted to mash it all together without any sense of
flow in order for it to sound crazy, if that makes sense.
- You have been on several labels over the yrs including self made god. Do you think Malokul is your home now or is it better to seek out labels for each release?
Well, to give you the rundown,
we had one song on a Terrorizer Magazine comp, two songs on a Relapse
Records comp, and the rest of our “official” releases have been
on Selfmadegod. The other labels in the mix have been vinyl versions:
Fast & Furious did our self-titled wax and we put out the
Corroded wax ourselves. We’re going to do our next
full-length on Selfmadegod—it’s the label we’re signed
to—hopefully in 2014. And then again, they won’t do the vinyl
version then either!
- I know your from Northern Virginia its there a good indie and hardcore scene we all know about the DC emo hardcore scene with discord etc. Are there any bands in your area the masses should know about?
There are lots of scenes in
this area—Northern Virginia, D.C., Maryland—and indie and HC are
just two of them. To name a couple of bands from each: Passing Phases
and Tideland for indie, and for hardcore, and I use that term
somewhat loosely, you have B.S.R. and Möbius Strip. There are
several very young powerviolence bands that have come out that are
worth mentioning, two of which are Vile Faith and Black Sparks.
- How would you describe Drugs of faith to a fan of underground music?
I usually say something about
us being a mix of rock, metal and grind. And then maybe I would start
getting more specific if the conversation went that way.
- I hear alot of His hero is gone, DRI and Kiss it goodbye. What are some of the bands that influenced you?
We did a His Hero Is Gone cover
on Corroded, so there you go. I listened to a ton of Kiss when I was
young. The bands that rubbed off on me won’t be too surprising, I
think: Voivod, Napalm Death and Killing Joke are some of the major
ones. Mick Harris, ex of Napalm Death, I think it was, said once that
it’s fine to have your influences, but you’ve got to move beyond
them. I haven’t gotten there quite yet!
- The Ep is so short for Architectural Failures will we see another release soon?
Yeah, we already have a fistful
of riffs for the next full-length. I wouldn’t say we’re going to
have enough songs to record one soon. It’s going to be a while.
- What your thoughts on the digital age of music, promotion and press. Are you fans or do you miss the old world ways of underground music?
I do miss the old ways, but
it’s quite something to look up bands on blogs and dig for them on
YouTube. I would say MySpace, but you know, at some point everybody
left that platform, so it was only bands and PR companies marketing
to each other at that point. I have a blog that used to be a zine,
and I get overwhelmed by digital promos. I’m not able to get
through them all. Of course, in the physical promo days I’d get
overwhelmed then too, but it took a lot longer.
8.Is there a running theme in
the songs or releases of Drugs of faith?
Lyrically I’d say, more than
the music. For a while we’ve been talking politics, but in a vague
way so that they’re hopefully open to interpretation. Musically, we
try to keep that mix going, and we have some tunes that we call our
“rock songs” that don’t have especially fast parts in them, and
don’t jump around as much. So those elements I think will keep
appearing.
9. What are the members of
Drugs of faith listening too and does it ever influence the sound of
new songs?
I’m doing a Slayer cover band
for Halloween with some guys and I’m wondering if I’ll end up
writing some “shredding” riffs in the future. Taryn doesn’t
listen to much metal, but she has a few staples like one Hypocrisy
record and some Iron Maiden and Black Sabbath. I listen to a lot of
it, along with old-school death metal, grind and all the rest of it.
But then there’s things like Smashing Pumpkins or newer Ulver, for
example. You have to mix it up with other things so you can keep your
horizons broad.
10. When you perform do you
feel more at home with metal bills or the punk/hardcore diy shows?
We don’t play metal bills
much, unfortunately. I’d like to do that more often to see how we
come across. I’d be fine with a stage of any size and some
monitors. But DIY shows are good too as long as there’s some
awesome energy. It comes down to whether the show is fun or not.
11. Do the members of the band
have other musical projects as well or is this the focus for the band
only?
I’m one of the singers in
Agoraphobic Nosebleed, but there’s not a lot going on there lately
since Scott Hull has been concentrating on Pig Destroyer. Also I’ve
got my blog. Taryn has had a folk project that she does solo, but
that’s for her own satisfaction instead of trying to get music out
or play shows. We’ve got plenty going on so that the band isn’t
the main focus.
12. Were did the name Drugs of
faith come from?
I was in a band and we
discovered that our name was already being used by two or three
others, and it wasn’t a very good one anyway. So the drummer
suggested Drugs of Faith, and it got rejected. So when I started this
band, I stole it!
13. Thank you for the time any
closing thoughts here?
Thank you as well. Talk about
old school, this interview was very old school.
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