Here's the full text of my interview in Repulsive Regurgitation, available from me as well as others.
Interview conducted between 7/7/15 and 7/16/15 by Epul Rikard, printed in Repulsive Regurgitation #2, released August 2015
"1- Hi Dom, how are u and thanxx for
interested to get interview by RRZ.
Hey there bud, I'm doing well, keeping
busy in the thick of the growing season at home and the restaurants,
it's great to be interviewed alongside so many other more deserving
interviewees, haha.
2- How your label, Pan Del Muerte
Records nowadays? What motivated u to start this DIY label? Any
future plan / next release?
The label is going alright, things are
a bit slow, I don't go at it as gung ho as some people and try to
make a proper business out of it or anything. I feel like if I did I
would start to hate it because it could potentially add so much more
work to my already hectic life. I guess the motivation came from
Taylor Geddes of Scream and Writhe compiling a list of resources a
few years back and me just thinking, “Well, fuck, I could do that.”
And so I did. The Dilution 7” I chipped in on should probably be in
my hands by the time this is published, that's a collaboration
between Adam Jennings recording vocals for an Italian fastcore band a
la Fuck on the Beach. I normally hate that term, but Fuck on the
Beach is about the only band I feel it's an apt descriptor for. And
maybe Hummingbird of Death. Otherwise Dan from SPHC and I are doing
another co-release soon, doing the first Shitnoise Bastards solo 7”,
which we're both pretty excited for. Trophy Husband – Work is Hell
tape should be out and I'll probably start working on You Pose, But
Why? #3 soon.
3- Did u still believe that people
buy physical format(tape, cd, vinyl) nowadays?
I think that in punk and grind, people
definitely still do, especially in person. When you see a really
great band, that adrenaline high tends to carry over to more impulse
buying, plus the usual booze association doesn't hurt. Online sales
aren't great for me, but I also do very little to get exposure. I
think it's just harder sometimes because of the oversaturation of the
market, but that really applies to everything in the world today.
It's so easy to put stuff out there, but because there is so much,
the bar has to be set higher from the listener's perspective.
4- Most Success released from Pan
Del Muerte Records?
I'd say the Mustache Mincers 10” comp
was probably the most well-received, which is cool because I think
it's a great record and I was happy to be able to work with so many
of my friends. It took a long time to gather and assemble, so to see
people actually enjoy it was nice. Working with Jon from Third Eye
Grind was cool too, that guy puts way more effort into his label than
I do.
5- Besides run label, u are editor
and writing You Pose, But Why Zine. How its begin? and yeah, what is
most hardest obstacle did u experience during writing zine?
I started to do You Pose, But Why?
because I had some things I wanted to talk about and a few bands that
I thought could use some exposure. I think it probably had a lot to
do with reading Invocation of Obscene Gods and also hearing the
Exacerbacion splits with Penis Geyser and Psychotic Sufferance and
wanting to hear more and wishing more people knew about that band
which led to their comp tracks and interview and eventually the
Desastre Humano 7”. The hardest part is the editing/formatting. I'm
totally computer-impaired so for the first one it was a lot of
printing, cutting, pasting, reprinting, recutting and then the second
issue I had someone else do that, which came out great, but it also
took a while, because he's a busy guy. The actual writing I crank out
in no time at all, haha.
6- Personally for me, You Pose, But
Why Zine really special zine which #1 come with 7” flexi and #2
come with tape. Where did u get idea to make this kind of strategy
and yeah, what is your target?
My strategy with that is to sucker
people in with bands they like and want to hear, and then get them to
read my preachy punk ethic rants and diatribes and maybe reassess
their positions on some things or at least give it some thought. So
far it seems to be working.
7- As I remember, u play bass and
vox in USTAT, any news on USTAT or did u just form/focus on other
noise project? Can u share with RRZ your latest shit?
We recorded about ten songs, which had
to be remixed by Geoff Montgomery because the metalcore kids who
recorded it the first time around did such a bad job, which is what
was on the tape we sold when we went on tour. There were supposed to
be splits with Chronic Demise and SMG, but Chronic Demise broke up
and the SMG tracks were used elsewhere and then I never heard anymore
about it. Then my drummer moved away and I just didn't really feel
like doing anything with the tracks after that so I think they're
floating around in my computer or email somewhere. The track on
Mustache Mincers is the only one that ever materialized, so that was
one expensive track. I'm sure it's a common story to anyone who's
been in bands. Oh well.
I thought it was funny when you guys
told me what that word meant in Malaysia, which just goes to show you
shouldn't try to re-appropriate words you have no context for just
for shock value in a name. But hey, I was a kid.
I was doing The Lowest Animal, but life
gets in the way of that. I may continue it as a solo project. I also
play bass and yell like an angry stepdad in Trophy Husband, which is
like Kiss/Motorhead/Rupture.
8- Between gardening(and farming),
duck rearing, dog, chef(cooking) and music(run label and play band),
which bring u more happiness and increase your mental health?
They definitely provide solace in very
different ways. It's therapeutic to just sit back and look at the
life you've cultivated in your garden by having such limited
knowledge and manipulating these very complex systems, and humbling
just to see how very little we understand about the soil and nature.
And it's hard to be too upset when you're sitting watching ducks
wiggle around your yard or splashing in the pool. My dogs are by far
what brings me the most happiness and even though they can make my
life difficult, I wouldn't change it for a second. Having said all
that, after a particularly shitty day at work, sometimes none of that
is going to cut it and a few shots of rye whiskey and hopping on the
drum kit at 2 am or blasting some Industrial Holocaust and punching
yourself in the face are all that will do. Sort of that cathartic
release that taps into something very primal in me.
9- U visit Kuala Lumpur(Malaysia)
in early 2012. What is your opinion about Malaysia(Kuala Lumpur, Shah
Alam) noise/grind/core (music,band,people)?
I had an amazing time with you, Hazree,
Khabir and Sham when I was there. I was overwhelmed by the
graciousness of everyone and I encourage anyone else to visit, with a
band or otherwise. I really enjoyed the few shows I got to see at
your practice space, Rumah Api and one other place I can't recall.
Rumah Api was especially cool because of all the fellow travelers I
met. I'm sitting there watching Tools of the Trade go on right after
an all female power pop punk band and talking with people from Europe
and Canada and browsing an awesome zine selection. No complaints
here. I just wish I could have seen more. The food was great too, and
cheap, which is always nice.
10- Your personal opinion about
noise/grind/core future?
It's a strange and wonderful time to be
into grind and noise. It's especially weird to see a band like Sete
Star Sept become so popular, but given the live show it shouldn't be.
It's almost like performance art. And maybe there's something to be
said for that. Maybe the future of noisecore goes back to the
beginning and says fuck it to releasing anything at all, and just
focuses on the intensity and brevity in live settings and creating
(in a sort of situationist sense) this microcosm of space and time
and brutality. I think that would be cool to see.
11- 10 album that changed / impact
your life.
Oh boy. Well, I'll try not to be too
typical or hold back anything that might be embarrassing.
In no particular order:
Assuck – Anticapital (best
combination of thought provoking lyrics and nontypical rhythms in a
grind record)
Napalm Death – From Enslavement to
Obliteration (duh. The pinnacle)
Karate – Pockets (jazzy indie rock I
was into for a long time)
Junior Kimbrough – All Night Long
(probably the most creative blues guitarist I've ever heard)
Sleep – Holy Mountain (best Sabbath
never wrote, my favorite band ever)
Black Sabbath – Paranoid (actually my
least favorite of the first five, but it was the first one I bought
when I was a kid)
Insect Warfare – World Extermination
(I was 17 when this came out and was into grindcore, but not the way
I am now. This album more or less cemented it for whatever reason)
Refused – The Shape of Punk to Come
(mainly for the lyrics and liner notes impact on me at 16)
No Comment – Downsided (still one of
the fastest records I've ever)
Fear of God – Pneumatic Slaughter
(the most fucked up and “brutal” sounding seven inch)
12- thanxx Dom, last word for RRZ
reader and maybe u have secret spaghetti ingredients that u like to
share here.
Thanks for the interview, listen to
more Penis Geyser, and as far as spaghetti goes, as a dago I'd say
always start with the best quality of ingredients you can and then do
as little as possible to fuck them up. Season your water properly,
don't overcook the pasta or rinse the starch off and reserve the
cooking water to add back to your sauce."
