deterra

The Bastard Noise Interview

By S. Bowden

A continuation of sorts from Californian 'power violence' band Man Is The Bastard, The Bastard Noise has predominately been a power electronics duo for over 10 years. Powered by founding members Eric Wood(Man Is The Bastard / Neanderthal / Crossed Out) and WT Nelson (Man Is The Bastard / Sleestak / Geronimo /Trogotronic)and occasionally Henry Barnes (Man Is The Bastard / Amps For Christ) and Leila Rauf (Saros, Amber Asylum, Ion Channel, Frozen In Amber), The Bastard Noise has prolifically toured and released recordings the world over and now for the first time has incorporated drums and bass into it's 'rogue electronic' sound.
Wood and Nelson are quick to point out that, far from being a return to the `power violence' sound that is synonymous with bands such as Man Is The Bastard, Spazz and Capitalist
Casualties (to name a few), the latest incarnation of The Bastard Noise is about 'now' and not a retro revival of days past. The intensity and 'brutality' of Man Is The Bastard is still evident in every note and chord of The Bastard Noise sound but the creative focus is where these musicians are here in the present.
In 2009 The Bastard Noise have a new release on Gravity Records entitled 'Rogue Astronaut' and a Japan tour beginning in late february. The Japan tour will see the very first The Bastard Noise shows with new member, drummer Danny Walker (Phobia / Jesu / Intronaut / Exhumed) and also guest vocalist Justin Pearson (The Locust).

This interview was conducted by e-mail with Eric Wood (E.W), W.T. Nelson (W.T.N), Danny Walker (D.W) and Justin Pearson (J.P).

1. The Bastard Noise has recently recruited some new members. Can you introduce the new members and also explain about what brought about the lineup change?

E.W: The Bastard Noise has added now Danny Walker (Intronaut / Phobia / Murder Construct) on drums and Justin Pearson (The Locust) on vocals. Wood's "Four Steel Girders" are back as well (and it is the true sound of Neanderthal / Charred Remains a.k.a. Man Is The Bastard!) to accompany Danny Walker's phenomenal drum style and attack. W.T. Nelson remains on custom 'Trogotronic' electronics. So the touring line-up in JAPAN will be Nelson / Pearson / Walker / Wood. The line-up change was brought about from the burning desire to re-discover the sheer brutality of progression and song writing as a conventional unit using "unconventional means" in structure and in audio signals. This is the best unit for a "live" performance for sure !

2. Please talk about the new recording 'Rogue Astronaut' which was recorded with the power electronics Wood/Nelson line-up. Any themes behind the recording?

W.T.N. Rogue Astronaut continues The Bastard Noise project's development in a direction we have been traveling since the Sources of Power days which we call Sci-Fi Noir... It allows for our own admiration and wonder at man's technical innovation juxtaposed simultaneously
to a total lack of any common sense; Unlimited genius and hopeless moron at the same time... It allows for I. Kant's concept of the nature's "sublime" truth— human mortality rendered in rainbow swirl of galaxies nebulas and other light emitting / reflective bodies' set against the velvet black of infinite void. The certainty of fish-out-of-water instantaneous death for any any space monkey without his actual tons of cumbersome technological support echos Mans certainty of moral failure as in the past it will be in the future-- "a single human glitch" and the whole mission comes apart in catastrophic failure.

E.W. 'Rogue Astronaut' was a major work for Nelson, Leila Rauf (guest vocalist) and myself. Tracking was performed in San Diego, California (with Matt Anderson of Gravity Records) under trying conditions and late hours. After basic tracking was completed, the tapes and analog reel to reel tape machine were brought up to North Hollywood, California (to Michael Rozon's Speed Semen Clove Factory Studios) and the sessions were transferred to digital format for the "sculpting", mixing and final editing. Lots of "magic" moments were captured and the results both musically / vocally / lyrically were extremely satisfying to us as a "collective". Tireless hours were spent to make sure this would be our absolute BEST recording to date both in it's "written form" and in sound clarity. It promises to challenge the listener with very "spacial" pathways. The theme is concerning a lone astronaut / botanist named Reese Fowler from the television series 'The Twilight Zone' (a character played by veteran american actor Warren Oates). The particular episode in question is titled "THE MUTANT" and in it an expedition team of various astronauts gets stranded when Reese removes communications electronics (due to exposure from an isotope shower he was caught in and is blackmailing the group to help him to be "normal" again) from the teams spaceship so that communication back to earth is rendered impossible. The team is stranded on a very earth-like planet known as ANNEX 1 and except for no night time and isotope showers (that can quickly blind an "un-goggled" human and cause the human in question to read minds with destroyed "fried egg eyes") the planet is exactly like earth. The recording follows the journey of Reese Fowler's vision to be cured of radio isotope exposure by the team's physician with horrifying consequences !

3. What can Japanese crowds expect from The Bastard Noise in 2009? Will there be any power electronics sets or will the live set feature all new material with the new line up?

E.W: Japanese crowds can expect continuing brutality with all new,unheard material (some from the not yet released and upcoming 'Rogue Astronaut' full length c.d. on Gravity Records) and some from the not yet recorded shared full length with Toronto, Canada;s The Endless Blockade. This is what we have been envisioning for a while now and with the addition of Danny Walker to The Bastard Noise line-up, things have remarkably "picked-up" in terms of dynamic, forceful and moving compositions. Real energetic musicianship, vast spacial electronics (at times minimal and at times dense with horrifying layers) and sick and vicious vocal content by Justin Pearson (lead vocalist) and Wood (support vocalist). It will by far be our best tour to date !

W.T.N: Though a few venues on the schedule cannot support us with backline equipment (such as "rock" style drum set and bass rig) these will be the exceptions to the rule; The material picks up where the Skull left off the last time there was traditional instrumentation along with tight integration; the new material aims to be progressively more challenging, more punishing, more integrated in form, to not only pick up where we left off but also be true to the heritage of genre challenging repertoire built over the last two decades. I'm sure that the view points and compositional talent brought to bear upon the project by Walker and Pearson as co-creators manifest in an organic, unpredictable, and if it's any good at all indescribable manner.

4. Question for Eric. Some may see your swinging of the axe again as a kind of 'The Return of Power Violence Hardcore' kind of thing. How will the new lineup be different to what you have done with other projects?

E.W: My return to the "Four Steel Girders" (the electric bass) is a dream come for me and again meeting Danny Walker and rehearsing with him has shown immense progression in a very short time He is a pro so it reflects very positively on my "musical mindset" !! In fact besides three cities we will play before we come to Japan (Los Angeles, San francisco and Berkeley) Japan will hear the new brutal compositions before anyone else! This will be different for a few very profound reasons : #1 : the people involved believe strongly in what they are doing within this unit so the outcome of the sound (and recordings) will demonstrate this automatically. #2 : The Bastard Noise has never had better musicians / players in its entire existence (the real power is soon to be delivered with might !!) and #3 : The new member's backgrounds are musically diverse without sacrificing "sick and brutal" power or work ethics to get there !

5. Question for Danny. What was the attraction for you to become a member of The Bastard Noise? Were you already familiar with the work of Eric Wood and WT Nelson?

D.W: Well basically Martin with Ovrcast Records informed me that The Bastard Noise was looking for a drummer to fulfill duties on a new recording project and tour of Japan. I grew up listening to Man Is The Bastard and really respected what they were doing musically/lyrically. I thought it would be fun to partake in this journey. Eric is a madman on the axe!!!!

6. Question for Danny. Danny what other projects are you involved with? How about a bit of a short personal history?

D.W: I'm a California resident studio & session drummer and have been playing drums for about 17 years. I started in late 1997 with hardcore / grind group UPHILL BATTLE.
In its' 5 year existence Uphill Battle toured North America and Canada, released 2 e.ps and 3 full length records on Relapse. Amongst this I additionally played with death metal band Thornlord for a few years, playing a handful of shows and releasing a couple of demos. This band eventually faded away into obscurity. Jumping at the chance to do something different, I teamed up with LA's avant garde goth-rock group CINEMA STRANGE between 2002-2006, touring extensively in regions such as North America, Europe, Japan and Mexico. During this period I also played drums on a couple of their albums. Between 2003-2004 I filled in on drums for label mates and death / grind group EXHUMED, touring the United States, Europe, Japan and Australia supporting their "Anatomy Is Destiny" record.
After parting ways with main group UPHILL BATTLE to pursue other musical obligations in early 2005, I relocated to Los Angeles to help birth a progressive metal group called INTRONAUT. While keeping this group a top priority, I teamed up with Orange County's grindcore legends PHOBIA, appearing on the albums "Cruel" and "22 Acts Random Acts Of Violence." while also touring regions such as North America and Mexico.
In early 2007 I was fortunate enough to complete tour obligations, filling in for Hydra Head recording artists JESU (ex-GODFLESH/NAPALM DEATH) on their run through North America supporting ISIS.
Now I'm continuing to play with my main band INTRONAUT while still playing with PHOBIA on occasion and started a new grindcore band called MURDER CONSTRUCT with guitarist Leon Del Muerte (ex EXHUMED, IMPALED, PHOBIA AND INTRONAUT)

7. What Japanese musicians/bands are you all fans of and who are you hoping to see during the Japanese tour?

E.W: I am really looking forward to seeing bands like Corrupted / Slight Slappers / dREADEYE / Senseless Apocalypse (Man Is The Bastard was supposed to play with S.A. and Dystopia a long time ago in southern california back in 1997 BUT M.I.T.B. dis-banded two weeks before the gig !!!) and hopefully Nice View / Mind of Asian and UNHOLY GRAVE on the more "conventional" side of things and as for the more experimental artists I would love to see Guilty Connector / Kelly Churko / Government Alpha / Culpis etc. We (Nelson and Wood) will feel a sense of KOJI TANO (R.I.P. dear friend) watching down on us with approval - we miss him as he helped The Bastard Noise so effectively in both the years 2000 and 2004 when we toured. I do not know about great bands like C.S.S.O. / 324 and the like - but I love them !!

8. For Japanese readers, please explain the role/concept of The Skull in The Bastard Noise. How do you think the sense of 'Man Is/As The Bastard can best be related to society in Japan? Maybe this is an important point as often in Japan people don't see how such concepts relate to them as they appear to be foreign concepts and not universal/human statements about life on the planet. You follow?

E.W: As far as the concept of The Skull goes in The Bastard Noise, it was the first "modern man" skull found by archeologists in the Neandertal Valley. It originally was a "progression" from the "early man" skull that my earlier band NEANDERTHAL used to represent us. With this "modern man" skull of Man Is The Bastard and The Bastard Noise, it simply is supposed to resonate that humans are the thing that ruin the world we know and live in and need!! We abuse resources / kill each other over "little things" and extinguish animals / nature like they will never disappear (but we obviously know they will and do !). Japan is a country I know little about but the history of war concerning ANY country is something we should all be embarrassed by. Religion + War + cruelty to humans / animals / nature = Our demise! We must bring an end to complacency / laziness in this world and that is something that no matter where one lives one can do by helping the elderly, rescuing homeless animals, planting trees and denying bullshit propaganda that comes with bullshit war! These are just a couple of alternatives to being totally ignorant / selfish.

W.T.N: The M.I.T.B. concept is about Humans' unique ability to be more brutal, diabolical and —as we say in english colloquial— "FUCKED UP" than any any other life form on earth.
Japan, like any nation that flies a flag, has it's share of truly horrible deeds in her past AND present; Historical revisionists still exist in her military (seems like this is current affairs right?) who would have their country-people believe that The Leadership and Imperial Heritage of Japan have never made a mistake-- truly a the biggest sack of shit ever foisted on any people ANYWHERE is that their leaders' SHIT DONT STINK. Look at George Bush and the countless toothless lard-assed rednecks in America who think that the USA is always right-- SAME SHIT. Look at the North Koreans and their fearless leader-- SAME SHIT. Look at China and their brainwashed masses who flirt with entitlement in trade for blind obedience to greed and to their backwards assed Totalitarian Government.
The ongoing theme of THE SKULL is that whenever we monkeys start looking down on the "Other" we become a waste of natural resources ourselves...
This is the very root glitch that makes colonialism OK that makes pointless slaughter OK that makes fucking over the hakken OK and we as individuals must CONSTANTLY resist and struggle to live our lives in a manner that is positive enough to outweigh the negative impact that each of us has on the planet rather than buy in to the cult of consumerism or the faiths of hate and destruction. The thing that blows my feeble mind is that per capita the Japanese people are probably one the smartest/best educated populations on earth and yet allow the same party (and therefore no doubt many of the same families that ALWAYS have ruled) unfettered executive power LONGER THAN FUCKING MEXICO which is a joke on ya'll... So far the management has not fucked up so bad that people are FORCED to wake up (like during the 30's when food ran short). Perhaps a time of awakening from the techo-floating world of edo-like convenience is at hand but for the time being it seems like the vast majority are a slaves to the perceived status quo and the tyranny of the "scheduled life".

9. Question for Justin Pearson. What's the history of your association with The Bastard Noise and will you be a regular member from now on?

J.P. My association began with the Locust / Bastard noise split 10" ep, which was The Locust's first release. prior to that, some of my previous bands played with M.I.T.B, so I suppose its safe to say that we are all family at this point. as far as being a regular member, I'm not sure. I'd love to but it's too early to know how things will turn out.

10. Question for Justin Pearson. What have The Locust and yourself been up to since The Locust last toured Japan?

J.P. The locust has been writing a new album. We have done a few tours since then as well. I've also been working on stuff with a new band that I'm in called All Leather.

11. Question for Nelson. You will remain behind the controls of your own hand made TROGOTRONICS for the Japan tour. How are your sounds fitting into the new bass/drums line up of TBN?

W.T.N. Anyone familiar with the past MITB material will immediately realize that this is a great question.
For the most part in those days Henry Barnes really set the precedence for the material with the his caveman electronics and guitar playing. Myself and Lawrence (former Man Is The Bastard member) really owed our parts played consequently to Barnes' original vision.
Unlike many players who view this instrumentation as its own end I have always (excepting within the strict confines of Unicorn and up till now The Bastard Noise) viewed and constructed most of the instruments I play for the precise purpose of playing WITH traditional instrumentation. Geronimo is certainly a clear example of this mindset.
The central challenge is that (opposite in sensibility to Geronimo) during passages of maximum complexities extreme care must be taken so that the execution is rendered in a comprehendable manner--no small feat as the execution of these passages should be by definition INCOMPREHENDABLE in terms of speed, harmonic progression and sheer brilliance. While the new compositions acknowledge the heritage of M.I.T.B's body of work and decidedly step forward in terms of complexity, attack and maturity in composition to be a successful progression rather than simply a return to the past. Perfection of my own performance would be audio that dovetails into the central construct of drums and bass in a fashion that is seamless to the beholder; to play all roles needed but never obstruct the audio view of the most detailed instances of the design.

12. 2009 is going to start with a major tour of Japan and a whole new chapter for T.B.N. What else do you all have planned for 2009 as The Bastard Noise?

W.T.N. First priority is the very best studio documentation and then support via performance. The very beginning will be Nippon on this upcoming RA tour but with any luck a debut in europe is at hand and appearance at a few festivals stateside. But again more writing and no compromise documentation are the very top priorities.

E.W. 2009 will see The Bastard Noise recording for our full length split release with THE Endless Blockade(from Toronto, Canada), getting in shape for 'Murder Fest' here in Los Angeles in May and hopefully touring europe extensively at the end of the year among other things. Danny has helped this unit see a "new road" of expression and has personally helped me realize the power of the "four shaking cables" once more ! As much recording as possible is always a plus too !

deterra

stuff from a wednesday afternoon

AGAINST 2010: FUKUOKA EXTREME MUSIC FESTIVAL

Blog Archive