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Interview: Psycroptic
In each of our cases I could have listed more stuff, like that early on
we all liked Guns n Roses, and Anthrax and so much more. I could also
have listed all the bands we like, but I think we draw our individual
inspirations from the ones I mentioned. I think there are bands that
provoke you emotionally, and ones that inspire you musically, and I
guess I have tried to list ones that (mostly) combine the two.
Do you think it's that important still, in this day and age and with the
recording and manufacturing technology we now have, for bands to
continue to seek out getting signed by established record labels? You
released your albums, at first, on your own - what can your new record
label offer you that you were not able to gain/accomplish by
yourselves? Do you think the act of getting signed by a recognized
label will also draw more attention to bands in Australia that try to
write music outside of the "war metal" stereotype?
I think there are two sides to the answer to this question. I think the
growing ability for bands to self-release material of a decent quality is
mostly beneficial to the metal scene, and it can work well. There are
several problems with this though. One (the most fickle) is the ability
for bands who can't really play or write music particularly well
recording an album, and then releasing it, promoting it themselves
with statements on flyers like "the most brutal release ever", or more
commonly "brutal death/grind with guttural vox, extreme blasting and
excellent production", and you actually spend money on it, only to
receive a very average recording, sometimes on a CD-R (which they
don't mention), and generally I think of this as a kind of deception,
although I suppose its hard for some people to be objective when
describing their own band promotionally. Another problem is that as
we all know, not many people plan to make money from metal, but
when you self release, many people don't want to buy your CD, they
want to trade their CD for it. You are then left in the same
predicament, as with the purchase of music you haven't heard. Often
you do a great trade, and sell all the CDs you trade, and make your
money that way, but you never make much, because if it's a sick
album, all band members keep a copy, and you lose a part of your
money instantly, and as I said, its not about making money, but you
have to get some profit so you can put money [back] into other things
like transport, merchandise (t-shirts, etc), postage, etc. I think the
good aspects of self-release are many, like the simple ability to release
an album if you have the money to do so without restraints of any
kind. You almost always know where your CDs are going, and get an
idea where your strongest market is, and where you need to do more
work/promo. You also get to interact with many labels and other
bands first hand, and that is very cool. You also get to hear a lot of the
response to your music, mainly from mags, because you know most of
the ones that received a copy of your disc. The biggest problem with
self-releasing is distribution outside your own country. We did quite
well ourselves on our first disc, but to sell/distribute as many as we
would have liked would take LOTS of time and effort, and we are
generally at our limit as it is. So in this regard being signed is good.
Our label (Unique Leader Records) does all the manufacturing and
distribution outside of Australia, which not only makes it easier for us,
but they have many more contacts than us, and therefore should sell
(hopefully) lots more albums. We do sell some CDs outside of Australia
(of our new album), but not many, as we don't want to cut too much
into their market. This last sentence obviously says what I should have
mentioned - we still "manufacture" and distribute our CDs in Australia,
as we have a good hold on the market here, and have great
distribution in this country, and this means we have copies to sell to
whoever, wherever.
As far as the last part of the question, I think it's a shame if people
outside of Australia think that the "war metal" style is big here, and
that it is our main style - there actually aren't that many bands here
that play it, it's just that some that do are known around the world I
suppose. Australia has a diverse metal scene, each major city seems to
have its own culture and slightly communal sound (sort of), but most
bands are relatively different. If the fact that we are signed gets that
idea [out there] that Australia may have some other metal than just
"war metal" to offer - then great, but hopefully people have [heard]
some of the sick brutal bands we have here already - like Intense
Hammer Rage for example.
What are your goals for your band? All of them, any of them - what
would you like to accomplish with Psycroptic? Where do you want this
band to take you? Has it been worth the effort so far? Do you ever get
discouraged? Have you been disappointed by any reactions on the part
of fans or the "press" to your music?
Since Psycroptic started, we have had, and still have many goals . In
the beginning, there was a major goal - starting and keeping a serious
band going. Prior to Psycroptic, I was in a band, Dave and Joe were in
a band together, and Cam was in a band also - the thing we all had in
common was that our bands were not serious enough, generally due to
other members. So, when we started the band, the first goal was to be
as professional and serious as a young group of guys could be, and to
keep the band going a long time. The next goal obviously was to
release something, that dream turned into "The Isle of
Disenchantment". Other major goals were to get known in our country
and overseas. I guess one of the major goals (I assume most people
want this) that has always been there and is still, is to be one of the
biggest metal bands in the country, and the world. I would love to be
able to financially support myself from the band - this is a less realistic
dream, but I love music/metal so much that to just do it for a living
would be amazing. There are also lots of messages within our music
that I would like people to "get" as well - this is also a goal. I don't
like to force things upon people, but we are very anti-discrimination in
many ways, and this is a message I like to work into our music,
without making it even close to the purpose of my lyrics. I guess other
things we want are to tour the U.S and Europe, these are big goals. I
personally have many goals in the realm of meeting certain people in
other bands that I admire, and there are many bands I would love to
tour with. Right now we are in the midst of organising a tour for Deeds
of Flesh in Australia next year, so that is definitely big on my "things
to achieve" list. As far as getting discouraged - yes, there are many
times when I/we feel a little perturbed I guess. Like when you rely on
people in other states (of our country) to organise gigs and they fuck
you around, or someone in another country asks for some discs on
consignment, and we trust them because we believe that if you are
always suspicious the world will keep regressing, and then you send
off the discs and never get a reply for months, etc. Look, these are
petty things I know, but we like to let other people help us sometimes.
One goal we have achieved is doing things ourselves. We don't have a
manager, and we have done fine - this means we are always hands on,
and I hate leaving shit up to other people mostly, as they often fuck
you around - its great when you have people to rely on though, it's a
great reward. We love playing metal, and being a small part of the
scene, and I guess we want people to help each other out. There is a
lot of misplaced and unnecessary arrogance in the scene, and this
makes it very similar to the pop scene - and ffuuucckk that with a
stick.
Last of all, let me just ask you this: do you have any general criticisms
of the world death metal scene at this time? What would you like to
see appear in death metal music in the future, and what would you like
to see disappear? Is Psycroptic trying, in itself, to point the way
towards something just through its music? What would you like people
to take away from the experience of listening to your work?
Wow, what a question. This is the sort of question that an answer too
in depth would definitely make lots of people think I am a fuckstick, or
whatever. So I will answer as well as possible. One of my general
criticisms is arrogance. Many larger bands (in my country and
overseas) seem to get to a point in their popularity and turn into rock
star cocksmokers. I don't understand why people playing metal can
get huge egos, I mean, none of us are better than others at a personal
level, and none of us are rich from our music, or are respected highly
in society, so where the fuck do these egos come from? I think it's
great for people to be confident in themselves, and it doesn't even hurt
to be a little sure of yourself, but when people start referring to
everyone who doesn't play as "fans" or "punters" or "groupies" and
talks down to any of these "types" of people, it makes me fuckin' sick.
I can see with bands like Dream Theater (for example) having maybe a
little more confidence, as when you are very accomplished musicians
like those guys you have earned it (sort of), so in some cases when an
artist or group is of a REALLY high calibre of playing and push it hard,
they get a little more room to be tools, but when its some metal band
who just gets "popular" and think they are "the shit" then it sucks, I
think. Another thing I don't like in metal is the promotion of war and
killing. Its fine to sing about things like that, it makes for great lyrics,
but when bands use their lyrics in a kind of propaganda sense, it
annoys me. I mean, I put messages in my songs, but I don't push the
point, or say that what I have to say is all there is to know, but some
bands just say "kill, rape, kill Christians, kill other races" etc, and this
to me is fucked up. I am anti-racism, anti-war, anti-discrimination
against minorities. I don't expect everyone be like me, that would be a
joke, I just wish everyone was a little more tolerant. And while I'm on
the subject of tolerance, another thing that annoys me about the
"scene" is this ongoing rivalry between some people playing different
styles, especially black and death metal. I would love to see this
barrier gone. I mean, the styles may be different, but not much - I
mean, its all extreme metal music. Just because some black metal
people want things to be "true" and some death heads say "its piss
weak, not brutal enough" doesn't seem to constitute any reason
enough for this predicament. I love black metal and death, [and
although] I don't like everything I hear in either of these genres, I
won't give it shit. I mean, I don't really like gothic metal, but if other
people do, great - at least they are listening to metal, and supporting
part of the "scene". I mean, that's the basis for my last point, if more
people stopped hating other styles for unnecessary reasons - I mean if
they have a good reason, then they should stick with that - and started
supporting other genres within the overall title genre of "metal" then
the scene would be heaps stronger, the bands would be more
financially secure, and the best thing (apart from the fact people
wouldn't hate each other because of music) would be that people
would see more of their favourite bands, because it would be more
affordable for bands to tour with more cash. There are so many bands
I would love to see tour Australia, but they will never be able to afford
it, unless the scene gets stronger. So I suppose these are some of the
things Psycroptic and I are trying to "point towards" with our music,
but especially when we get opportunities like this. I mean, I would
love the whole "brotherhood" of metal to be really embraced also (
sorry if that is misogynistic, it isn't meant in a literal sense). Also I am
sick of many girls/women in metal not being taken seriously just
because they are women, fuck that, if you love metal, no matter what
sex, age , race, etc., that is awesome, and it makes me happy to see
anyone support this brilliant form of music.
Thanks so much for taking the time to answer this interview, please
use this space to announce anything else you would like our readers to
see. What is on the horizon for Psycroptic?
I would just like to say thank you very much for such a great
interview. You presented me with the best questions (also the hardest
in a sense) that I've had to answer. I could have gone on for a long
time on all subjects, but that would be boring for readers, so I hope I
answered your questions satisfactorily. Any readers who want
information or correspondence can email me/us at
psycroptic@hotmail.com, or come to our website at
www.psycroptic.com. Also our record label has a great list of some of
the best metal acts in the world, headed by the mighty Deeds of Flesh,
and they are at www.uniqueleader.com, so check it out if you want.
Keep an eye out, Psycroptic may be releasing something next year,
perhaps in the form of an EP. Also we will be touring our own country
a lot over the next 12 months, but we also may be journeying to
Europe next year sometime, but that is in no way definite. Once again
thank you sincerely for the interview, we appreciate all those who
support metal, especially enough to write about it. Thank you to all
those who took the time to read this, we appreciate it. Cheers, and
support the underground (and the rest).