Last January, I already presented you this killer side-project of members from SOLACE, BLOOD FARMERS, FISTULA and SOLLUBI... As an appetizer before the already recorded full length ""your Destroyer" their killer debut ep "Liquor bottles and broken steel", released 2 months ago, consists in 5 songs of an amazing brand of Sludge !!!!
Always groovy and filthy, it before all reminds us that this is all just about R'n'R and its unpredictablility... Enhanced by a garage sound and jaming approach, THE DISEASE CONCEPT's style can recover so many caracters in the same song that this richness is not easy to describe, but their thickness and tight musicianship make the overall extremely homogeneous. Just take the anthemic "troublemaker makes trouble" as a representative piece of this nasty beast : this song mixes lacerating grind/HC and psychedelic bluesy Stoner rock like nobody did it before...listen to it now through the video below ;)
I'm again quite doubtful towards the fact that this ep doesn't get more echoes since it came out, I sometimes wonder how many people in this fucking world are really interested in discovering TRUE underground bands that are not formated by any shitty standards established by the mainstream press and touring system ? Well, hope this interview with David Szulkin (guit and headthinking in Blood Farmers) will convince you to put an attentive ear on their sick sound and from then get incurably addicted by THE DISEASE CONCEPT !!!
First, why the name of THE DISEASE CONCEPT and who did come with it ?
I suggested the name off the top of my head - the other guys liked it, so we went with it.
Who's sick : the world, you guys or your neighboors (more deaf than sick maybe !) ?
All of the above !
I suppose you're all old-time friends, did the band form around beers spontaneously or was it maybe a project a part of you had in mind for a while but that couldn't happened before ?
I hadn't met any of these guys before we did the Disease Concept record, but the rest of the guys knew each other. I was just a fan of their music in various bands and talked to them online. The project came about through conversations I had with Corey Bing. We'd been planning to do a Sollubi/Blood Farmers split release and I asked Corey about collaborating since I like his style of playing. Corey got the other guys involved and set us up to record with Big Metal Dave at Bad Back Studios in Cleveland. I had corresponded with Griff and Jesse before, I love the Pennsylvania Connection record as well as the stuff they did with Corey in Sollubi. Tommy had played guest guitar on one of the Sollubi tracks - when I heard he was down to do it, I was really excited because I had already heard him in Solace. Anyway, we all just showed up in Cleveland and made the :LIquor Bottles and Broken Steel" EP in three days.
Sure there's some ultra-catchy riffs, nice grooves and some psyche airy guitars but the ambiance of the album is generally painful and sick, sometimes very angry, like if this band was a kind of exutory to the diverse unlucky situations of your other bands... is that a coherent impression or do you think that this is mainly Jesse's vocals that give this impression ?
Jesse's vocals are a big part of it. Even if you can't understand what he's saying, he brings the angry, painful, sick tone you're describing! We've all had our unlucky band situations, I'm sure, but I don't think that was any kind of inspiration here. We were laughing a lot while doing the record.
Jesse lyrics have a social critical dimension, do you think his vocals would be very different if he was singing about women's anatomy or I don't know ... astronomy ? !
Actually, Griff wrote most of the lyrics. (I'm to blame for some of them.) By the way, Jesse sings about the female anatomy in his other band 3-INPUT WOMAN which also features Tommy on guitar.
The sound of THE DISEASE CONCEPT is melted of all your different personnalities and influences, creating something pretty unique with the massive tone of Tommy Southard, the psychedelism and Stoner groove of David Szulkin, the filthiness of SOLLUBI in Jesse Vocals, the hammering drums of Fistula's Corey Bing... all this with a Sludgey, filthy and raw sound but there's also a jaming edge between you and Tommy, especially on the last song that even includes heavy metal and southern touches... how did you enjoy working/composing ?
I had a great time doing the Disease Concept records. I like what everybody brings to the band, and the spontaneity of just showing up and throwing down riffs. I'm used to being the only guitarist in Blood Farmers so having two guitars is especially cool for me; it opens up a lot more possibilities...and Tommy Southard is a monster guitar player! Recording was a lot of fun, a very easy, natural meeting of the messed-up minds. Big Metal Dave said, "Every time you guys come here to record, I want to call my Mom afterwards."
Is it possible to think that some of your riffs played here could have been included in some BLOOD FARMERS material if the band had regularly composed for the new album last year (I'm thinking about the last song especially) ?
Sure, some of those riffs could have been in Blood Farmers songs. A couple of them had been thrown around in BF rehearsals.
You told me that the full-length "your destroyer" is already recorded, how many songs will it contain ?
We did 7 songs: "It's Only Abuse if You're Doing It Wrong", "Life is Shit", "Dead By 50", "High on Amphetamines and Love (But Mostly Amphetamines)", "Razorface", "Bad Credit and Dead Friends" and "Super Clam".
Do you feel the songs are maybe even more achieved after some more practising together and the experience of the 1st recording ?
There's no practicing since the band members live in scattered parts of the country (and out of the country)...but yeah, since we had already done the EP, I think there's some progression. (Big Metal said, "It's the same.") We had no bass at this session since Griff couldn't make it, so Tommy and I wrote the riffs. Griff wrote the lyrics, except for "Bad Credit and Dead Friends" which is a borrowed Fistula lyric. But again, it was the same approach where everything was written and learned and recorded on the spot. We only had a few days to do it, but we managed to put together a full-length album. I think Tommy and I could easily come up with a double album's worth of riffs in the time it takes to drink a six-pack (well, we'd need more beer for Tommy.)
Will it be released on the same label ?
Yes, Goat Skull Records is releasing it. http://www.goatskull.com/. We're still waiting on Griff to finish his bass tracks. As soon as that's done, we'll hand it to BIg Metal Dave to be mixed and mastered for release.
Is the vynil version of "liquor bottles and broken steel" out now ?
Not yet...I think there will be some vinyl coming out, though.
Is there any chance to see THE DISEASE CONCEPT playing LIVE ?
Not in the near future but there's always a chance!
Are the other guys busy with their bands within the next months ?
Corey has a new Fistula record coming out called "Northern Aggression" and they are playing the 305 Fest in Miami. Solace and Blood Farmers just played Days of the Doomed II in Milwaukee. Tommy and Jesse are continuing with 3 Input Woman.
Do you have a real common reflection as a band for the future of THE DISEASE CONCEPT or is it a side-project that is active for the moment but still dependant of the other bands future activities ?
Everyone wants to keep doing it. I guess it's a side project, but the other bands don't have an impact on DxCx. It's mostly the geographical separation between the band members that keeps us from doing more with the project.
Thanx David, all the best to you and your bands, add something you feel important that I might have forgotten and please conclude this IN FRENCH !!!
Merci beaucoup ! https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Disease-Concept/272020072859843
http://www.goatskull.com/.
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