Relapse Artist - Wrong Interview is up
Answered by Eric:
1. All I hear when I listen to " Feel Great " is a mix of Helmet, Melvins and Jesus Lizard. How did this Metallic Noisey Hardcore force come to be?
Yeah, I figure those are everybody’s influences as well. It really came about just messing around and wanting to have my own band after a few months of not actively playing in one. The inspiration for the sound came from just not really hearing that out there; there were a lot of doom and metal bands coming out at that time, and I was just wondering why no one sounded like helmet or quicksand? Ha ha. That being said, it was it’s not our intention to replicate any of that or tether ourselves to any particular sound. For myself, it’s still just a rock band where all the songs sound different, or have their own signature. Those signatures, however, are usually pretty heavy.
2. You’re from Miami two bands I love are from there Cavity and Floor. What is the scene like today still a strong Crust and Hardcore scene?
Actually yeah there’s a lot of stuff happening right now in terms of shows and music in Miami for sure. Definitely a lot of punk and heavy music, but there’s also a particularly eclectic and diverse collective of musicians taking up residence in Miami as well. There has been for a long time. It’s just that it’s literally the most southern tip of the United States so bands would rarely make it down there, however over the last five years or so , there have been more bands flying down and playing shows simply because of the demand and will of certain promoters to get their favorite bands down to Miami. There are also bands like Floor and Cavity that reformed recently, among others.
3. How did you come to work with Relapse and how do you feel Wrong blends with the amazing history of Crusty, Noise Hardcore bands on this label?
Well, Relapse, over the years, became more associated with all kinds of music and that is really what we love about them. The story of how we end it up working with him it’s pretty straightforward. We did our first tour with two Relapse bands and when we played in Philadelphia the Relapse dudes came out. After we played they told me they were going to release our LP. It was pretty cut and dry ha ha. And all those guys working over there are super cool and fans of music and art and such. And you can tell because their roster has definitely grown and both variety and quality as far as releases.
4. I really want to know where the name Wrong came from and how does it reflect the sound of the band?
It was just an easy, obvious name. Fortunately, the only other band to use the name that I know of is a Spanish/ circus/ black metal band from Spain, and I don’t think they do very much. And the name itself just has all kinds of connotations in relation to brutality and punishment, pretty much how we like our music to be perceived. Ha ha. On the other hand, one aspect of it is the fact that we’re not really trying to break new ground, or be some horribly original flag waver calling out all fake punk or fake metal or whatever. The band really just started for fun, and to play the type of music that we grew up with and connected with, and we wear that on our sleeves. We didn’t expect to be touring or signed to a label or anything like that, and we aren’t exactly breaking the bank doing it. The bank is pretty intact, believe me ha ha. But as long as it’s still fun, what’s wrooooong with that?
5. What is a live show for Wrong like how does it differ from the recorded product?
The live show is really where it’s at with any band, or at least that’s what you hope. We haven’t done a recording live yet, so naturally the record is a different animal than the live setting. Both have their appeals, but for us playing live is what really drives the point home. Listening to the record, one can imagine one’s visuals to the music. But when you see it live you see what the music does to us playing in the band, you know what I mean? Watching a band playing the music they wrote with conviction and really laying into it, well that’s just the essence of what this band is. We try to write music that brings that out of us.
6. If you knew that “ Feel Great” was your last album as you recorded it would you can anything now?
I don’t think so. Of course there’s always something when you go back to it that you feel you could do better or improve on. But when all is said and done, and everything is mixed and packaged and out there for the world to hear, you just want to keep looking forward and let that be what is it. Live is a different story. We can tweak the songs live to our hearts content, and they can evolve and grow and mature. Kind of like we do, if we’re lucky. After you’ve recorded the songs and then you have to play them live every day on tour, You try to keep things as fresh as possible.
7. Do the members of Wrong have other project we should hear or are there any bands you want to share to my readers ?
We all have other ventures for the most part yeah. I play bass in Torche from Miami as well who has a new record coming out next year. Ryan (guitar) is a very talented sound engineer and does sound for bands like Red Fang and Wolves in the Throne room. Our drummer and bass player both have other bands as well that play both locally and internationally. As usual, being creative for a living is a good way to stay busy. Though I do use ‘for a living’ loosely. Haha
8. If the members of Wrong could no longer make music what would you all be doing ?
Probably janitorial services or flipping burgers. No haha. I’m actually in school finishing a writing degree. I’ve always wanted to write comics. It’s kind of a hobby at the moment but something I would like to pursue in the real world. Our drummer is currently finishing a degree in journalism in England. So as you can see, we have plenty of other endeavors to keep us occupied.
9. Theme and Lyrics on " Feel Great" how do they tie in to album cover ?
Well the album cover is a giant marijuana plant I photographed at a friends house in Colorado. So that’s pretty self explanatory I would think. Haha. I mean, the actual theme is generally the contrast of light and dark and feeling good - or great- despite terrible things that happen around you. Whether they are personal problems or universal. Smoking weed can help of course, and that’s not for everyone. Whatever it is, no one should be afraid to do what they love to do and feel great about it.
10. Social media and Digital age how does a underground band in 2018 cope and thrive in this scene?
I guess you just have to forget about coping and thriving haha. This band started only four years ago with spotify and all the streaming services in full effect, along with the so-called collapse of the music industry. Yet even with all that this band still came to fruition, simply because it’s fun and we really enjoy doing it. We tour and make records because we want to, not because we want to be rich or popular. And we’ll keep going out there and blowing our savings and losing sleep and half starve until we don’t want to do it anymore. Haha.
We’ve been fortunate with the support we’ve gotten and we are more than grateful, but yeah, we’re not deluding ourselves with any kind of rock n roll fantasy destinations or anything. It would be nice though haha.
11. If you could cover any song and make it sound like a Wrong track which and why?
I always wanted to cover ‘Black Diamond’ by KISS. We could do that pretty close to the original and it would still sound like I think. I like to do covers that either already kind of sound like WRONG or already have a quirk we can exploit. We did ‘Stay away’ for Robotic Empire’s Nirvana’s Nevermind tribute. We just did the song in 7/4 and added a solo and it felt pretty natural. Really anything can be made into a cover if you put your mind to it. The music can be totally different, you just do the lyrics over it and presto.
Any Nirvana song is always a great cover too. Always wanted to do ‘I hate myself and I want to die’. One of the heaviest riffs ever.
12. Zero Cool and Culminate are the two track that have videos off new album how do they represent the band and if you had no budget limits would you have changed them at all?
Oh the things I would do with no budget limits. ‘Culminate’ we did in our house with our friend filming using a fancy rented camera. The song itself is pretty a straightforward heavy rock song for us. ‘Zero cool’ is a little more engaging musically, so it’s usually the favorite for us to play live. The video was done by a Mister Frank Huang at Relapse and he is just a fantastic visual artist. I gave a brief overview of an idea and he just rolled with it. He has a unique style that we think compliments our aesthetic. But yeah, obviously with an unlimited budget there would be no telling where we would be now haha.
13. Is Facebook, Twitter, Bandcamp and good PR all a band needs to get name out there today or how do you see bands succeed?
We mostly use instagram actually haha. And it is a fun way if providing that visual element for a band. But honestly, even in todays world, those means may not be necessarily detrimental to a bands success. Depending on what you want to achieve maybe? I mean, success is relative when it comes to art or music and all that. For most, success is measured by how much money you make or assets you attain or retweets you got. For some, success is just completing an album or being able to buy yourself a meal or pay rent or someone showing appreciation for the art and an understanding of the work you put in. From there it just depends on which one you are. Haha. I have a day job, and I’m college educated (mostly) so obviously being in a band is something I do for myself. Don’t get me wrong, if I got paid thousands of dollars a night to play my songs I would be uber grateful, but you shouldn’t expect any of that when being creative. Unless you are KISS and the whole point is to merchandise yourselves and get paid. Personally, we like to keep most of our promotion vague and possibly enticing for someone to come find out what’s going on over here. That may not be the best way for a small band like ours to get noticed, it’s just more fun like that haha
14. Are you fans of Vinyl at all do you think it makes releases more special today and many people rather have larger art and physical items still?
Oh, for sure. I remember getting a copy of the first vinyl I performed on and there was this euphoric wave of accomplishment that passes over you. Then seeing the art and holding it in your hand. It’s great! Vinyl never really went away I think. It’s just still around and it seems like a resurgence. I bought a record player when I started playing on more vinyl releases, which in turn inspired me to by more records. As a band putting put your first vinyl record is a milestone. Same as when a great band puts out a record, or you by a classic record you love, you remember when and where you got it. Right? Haha.
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