GOREGRIND THRASH ATTACKYo Ballz. Thanks for the interview! I haven’t seen many Fuck I’m Dead interviews around so it’s killer to have you guys in Vomitose..First off, 2007 saw Fuck I’m Dead recruit 2 new members - Xavier on Guitar, and Darren on Drums. Tell us about why you decided to add new members.. Did you try out any other people?
We'd been thinking about the possibility of getting a human on drums for some time but never really followed thru with it until Darren mentioned he'd be able to do it and was super keen. He learnt a bunch of songs and we had a rehearsal which was killer! He really nailed it and we thought it improved the sound overall. So I thought if we're going to get a drummer we should get a second guitarist for the full band feel and to maximize the fret board gymnastics, the Xavier was an obvious choice as he's an excellent guitarist who cast many spells on the fret board in Roskopp. We didn't try out any other people besides Xavier and Darren basically because they were spot on right away.
You were in charge of writing most of the music before, guitar and drums etc. Has this changed since the introduction of new members into the band?
Well now Xavier has a lot of input into the song writing, which is great. He has some killer ideas for new stuff and cool ways of enhancing old stuff now being played with two guitars. I still program alot of the drums when writing tunes to get a feel for the songs, and Darren add his own spin on things too.
The drum machine parts were really well programmed in the earlier FID material. Did they take a long time to programme?
It took a little time to work out using the drum machine, but once that was done it was quick enough to not lose any flow when writing guitar and drums together. I just programmed them like I wanted to hear a real drummer play them, with lots of variation and interesting stuff which sometimes took a bit of time.
What are your thoughts on drum machine bands in general, and drum machine bands playing live?
Overall I think alot of drum machine bands could make the programming more interesting you know so you're not constantly aware it’s a drum machine when you're listening to the music. It’s hard for drum machine bands to play live and get a cool full sound and good feel from what I’ve seen in Australia. With FID we were always worried about the stage looking empty with no drummer and feeling like something was missing, which it was I guess. We managed to get a bag tattering sound from the drum machine we were using which gave the sound engineer a lot of control over individual sounds from the drum machine rather than just controlling volume of an already mixed drum set.
What were people’s reactions like in the beginning to FID using a drum machine? What was the first Fuck I’m Dead show like?
No one seemed to mind that there was no drummer, I thought more people would see it a bit shit or a joke band or something. The first FID show(s) were cool, we had a great response and it didn't take long for us to get used to playing with the drum machine live where there is no room for error.
Do you feel as though you’ve proved people wrong who think drum machine bands aren’t ‘real bands’?
ha! yeah I think so, its was something that we always were a bit worried about from time to time even up until we got a drummer last year. The Majority of people didn't mind the drum machine at all, and a lot of people were more apprehensive about us getting a human on the cans.
Where did the name come from? When and why did you start using butchers aprons?
Myself and Tom(bass) came up with the name, it’s not from anything as far as we know and I’m not really sure how it popped up one day. We started wearing those aprons a few years ago, just because we thought it would be fun and extremely tuff of course. I think we did it first at a Metal for the Brain.
What’s the stupidest/most embarrassing/disastrous/hilarious thing that’s ever happened involving Fuck I’m Dead?
We once playing the worst show ever at the Espy in Melbourne I think it was supporting Hate Eternal or something... Firstly Jay got smashed before we played and lent on a door which opened and he fell backwards down some stairs onto his head, while this was happening Tom's equipment had fucked up and he had no distortion and had to play clean bass, my guitar case (which had never EVER been locked) had locked it self and I could get my guitar out. I eventually had to break the fucking thing open to get out the case. So finally we were right to go with concussed singer, clean bass and bent guitar and there was no fold back what so-ever which I really bad if you don’t have a drum kit on stage. No one wanted to see us either at a brutal death show WORST SHOW EVER!
Does Jay use lyrics? How important are lyrics in a band?
Jay usually starts singing the song with no lyrics, maybe just the song name somewhere in there. But then over time lyrics seem to evolve. The lyrics haven't been that important to us up until now we're making sure every new song has proper lyrics.
What are the meanings behind the following song titles:-
Code Brown - Code brown is the unofficial "code" which is called in a hospital when a patient shits the bed.
Waft of Stench - Waft of Stench is either about a rancid fart or a stinky dead person, which ever Jay feels like singing about on the night
Licky Webster - Licky Webster is about that Australian girl Nicky Webster who sung at the Olympics one time and did some other shit, don't know why but jay thought it was funny.
Tarquin the Terrible - Tarquin the Terrible, (what a shit song) was about this retarded character that one of friends used to do.
Fuck I’m Dead and TDEBN have both been added to the Maryland Deathfest 08 bill. How did this all come about? Have you got any expectations of what it will be like?
Well both bands just got asked by the promoters about 6 months ago, we've heard it’s a killer show and by the looks of all the bands that have played in the past and that are playing this year, you can't do wrong!
Have you got any US tour plans around the same time? Are there any bands you’d really like to play with in the USA?
Both FID and TDEBN are doing a 10 show tour leading up to MDF basically on the east coast of the USA... personally I’d be keen to play with Impaled and Ghoul who both happen to be playing MDF.
What are your plans for the next recording? What are the reasons behind it being so long since your last release?
This next recording will be the first with a human drummer, so we're a bit anxious about how its going to turn out, as far as the quality of the sounds go, because we never had a problem with potential bad drum sounds before now. But song writing is going well and we should be recording in the next few months and have something out in the second half of 2008. There is no real reason why its been so long since the last release, teaching a drummer and new guitarist all the old stuff took up a bit of time and well as constantly playing shows around Australia and other time taken up with TDEBN for me, and just being lazy I guess.
No Escape recently released a live Fuck I’m Dead DVD+live CD. Are you happy with how these came out? What has the feedback been towards these releases?
I'm really happy with the way it turned out, sound wise and visually. The feedback has been really positive from everyone.
Razorback Records released the FID full length, Bring on the Dead back in 2002?What effect did this have on the band and its profile at the time?
That release on Razorback as great for us at that time, it exposed FID to a heap of people around the world that had never heard of us.
Why has it been unavailable for so long? Are there any plans to repress or re-release that material?
I'm not really sure why, it was re-pressed a few times at the beginning but nothing for a few years, there is talk about a re-issue of it being done thru No Escape Records.
Are you surprised at how popular FID is considering you’ve only done a few releases??
Yeah definately, I’d be totally sick of us by now listening to same shit all the time with never anything new for years.
There was a rumour about a split 7” with Rompeprop being released as part of the Relapse Slime wave series. Any truth to this? Will this still be happening?
That was the original plan when we were asked to do it about a year or so ago. Then the Rompeprop part changed to another band we hadn't heard of so we decided not to do it and save those songs for the new album.
Your label No Escape Records is arguably one of the best grind labels in the world these days. The first NE releases were Fuck I’m Dead ones.. Was the label started just to release these?
No Escape was started just to release the FID demo then the split 7" with Sanity’s Dawn, I just thought it would be easier to do it myself rather than trying to find a label to do it that had never heard of FID. Then the opportunity to release some other Australian bands came up, then some international bands and it just grew from there.
How has the label progressed since the beginning? What have some highlights been for you personally?
It’s become a lot busier so much so that Christoph from the band Roskopp has become part of No Escape Records and he takes care of half the work. My whole time working on No Escape has been a highlight really, it’s great to release CDs of such awesome bands from around the world!
What’s in store for No Escape in 2008?
We've got a bunch of new releases planned from The Kill, Parlamentarisk Sodomi, Skullhog/Coffins 7", new TDEBN and Fuck...I'm Dead albums, hopefully a Roskopp album to name a few
You and Tom were both in a band before Fuck I’m Dead named Arseripper, who released a split 7” with Demisor. Can you please outline what the primary motive was for that band? And why did you finally decide to cork the wind that was Arseripper?
The primary and only motive of Arseripper was to excrete severe stinkin wind throughout Australia and the world, and spread the gospel of the anus to those that might not be familiar with the flatulent fig and the symphony of the sphincter. Although Arseripper was full of strict wind we had to take a break from passing gas for our own safety.
Do you think Arseripper accomplished everything it could have? Will you ever breathe new wind into that old band?
Arseripper accomplished more than we could have ever hoped, I mean with hits like "Aimin at the Ain", Defunct Dingleberry", Won Over By Your Wind" and the classic "Fartality" there was not much more we could force out without dominating the world. One day you may see the return of the raging ring piece that was Arseripper, when the methane reserves are about to overflow and the poo particle to air ratio is at its highest... Arseripper will return.
Your other band, The Day everything became nothing has been a lot more prolific with releases and is due to release a new album in the near future.. Can you tell us your plans for this release?
The new album has been recorded, mixed and mastered as of this last week. We're currently working on artwork to match the extreme bag tattering that has been recorded, and it'll be released in the next couple of months.
Is the way that TDEBN works different to the way FID works?
In TDEBN everyone has a really laid back approach, we won’t do anything for a while then we'll decide to write a new album and we work hard on it for a few months play a bunch of shows then take a break again for a bit, it keeps everyone really interested in the band and enthusiastic about it. FID is more of a constant thing all year round, we always seem to be playing shows and don’t have enough time to write a lot of new stuff.
Is it hard to find time for everything considering members of TDEBN and FID are in so many other bands?
Not really, it always works out fine, when one band is quiet the other is busy. And we've done a few split rehearsals from time to time which works out well.
Was Fuck I’m Dead part of the “Melbourne Grind Syndicate”?
I guess so, I don’t know if there was any official induction procedure but we are from Melbourne and we play grind.
What do you think about how the scene is here now compared to back then?
I think over the years the popularity and enthusiasm of the scene fluctuates, but at the moment I reckon it’s better than ever. All the bands from Melbourne are great, the turn out at shows are awesome and there’s shows all the time, most of the bands are putting out or working on releases. No Escape just put on a huge show GRINDCORE 2008, which I was worried about how well it might go, we had 9 bands, two stages and a really great turn out, which shows that people are extremely keen to see and play GRIND in Melbourne!
Is there anything in particular that’s made the Melbourne grind scene so strong and respected all over the world?
I'm not sure if it’s anything in particular, I guess a lot of cool bands have come out of Melbourne over the years and continue to do so.
What’s the best and worst band you’ve ever played with?
One of my favourite bands we've played with was Exhumed when they toured Australia, they were absolutely killer live. I can't think of any one particular band that’s been the worst, just any metalcore/sport metal/slam rubbish that we've happened to play with over the years.
What bands got you into grind?
Carcass was the thing that I really got excited about, I’d never heard anything so heavy and bag tattering!!
Who’s better D.A.D or KLF?
The question is quite a conundrum, both are the best ever! I mean how can you compare "Girl Nation" and "3am Eternal"? I
think D.A.D. and KLF should do a collaboration album.
What are your mandatory top albums?
CBT - Opuss(y)
Impaled - Mondo Medicale
Soilwork - Chainheart Machine
What have you been listening to lately?
Die Pigeon Die -Ripped From V To A
Impaled - The Last Gasp
Exit Wounds - Exit Wounds
Parlamentarisk Sodomi - Har Du Sagt "A" Får Du Si "Nal"
Thanks Dave! Any merch/website/contact info can be left below…
Thanks Rebecca, and check out:www.noescaperecords.com
We'd been thinking about the possibility of getting a human on drums for some time but never really followed thru with it until Darren mentioned he'd be able to do it and was super keen. He learnt a bunch of songs and we had a rehearsal which was killer! He really nailed it and we thought it improved the sound overall. So I thought if we're going to get a drummer we should get a second guitarist for the full band feel and to maximize the fret board gymnastics, the Xavier was an obvious choice as he's an excellent guitarist who cast many spells on the fret board in Roskopp. We didn't try out any other people besides Xavier and Darren basically because they were spot on right away.
You were in charge of writing most of the music before, guitar and drums etc. Has this changed since the introduction of new members into the band?
Well now Xavier has a lot of input into the song writing, which is great. He has some killer ideas for new stuff and cool ways of enhancing old stuff now being played with two guitars. I still program alot of the drums when writing tunes to get a feel for the songs, and Darren add his own spin on things too.
The drum machine parts were really well programmed in the earlier FID material. Did they take a long time to programme?
It took a little time to work out using the drum machine, but once that was done it was quick enough to not lose any flow when writing guitar and drums together. I just programmed them like I wanted to hear a real drummer play them, with lots of variation and interesting stuff which sometimes took a bit of time.
What are your thoughts on drum machine bands in general, and drum machine bands playing live?
Overall I think alot of drum machine bands could make the programming more interesting you know so you're not constantly aware it’s a drum machine when you're listening to the music. It’s hard for drum machine bands to play live and get a cool full sound and good feel from what I’ve seen in Australia. With FID we were always worried about the stage looking empty with no drummer and feeling like something was missing, which it was I guess. We managed to get a bag tattering sound from the drum machine we were using which gave the sound engineer a lot of control over individual sounds from the drum machine rather than just controlling volume of an already mixed drum set.
What were people’s reactions like in the beginning to FID using a drum machine? What was the first Fuck I’m Dead show like?
No one seemed to mind that there was no drummer, I thought more people would see it a bit shit or a joke band or something. The first FID show(s) were cool, we had a great response and it didn't take long for us to get used to playing with the drum machine live where there is no room for error.
Do you feel as though you’ve proved people wrong who think drum machine bands aren’t ‘real bands’?
ha! yeah I think so, its was something that we always were a bit worried about from time to time even up until we got a drummer last year. The Majority of people didn't mind the drum machine at all, and a lot of people were more apprehensive about us getting a human on the cans.
Where did the name come from? When and why did you start using butchers aprons?Myself and Tom(bass) came up with the name, it’s not from anything as far as we know and I’m not really sure how it popped up one day. We started wearing those aprons a few years ago, just because we thought it would be fun and extremely tuff of course. I think we did it first at a Metal for the Brain.
What’s the stupidest/most embarrassing/disastrous/hilarious thing that’s ever happened involving Fuck I’m Dead?
We once playing the worst show ever at the Espy in Melbourne I think it was supporting Hate Eternal or something... Firstly Jay got smashed before we played and lent on a door which opened and he fell backwards down some stairs onto his head, while this was happening Tom's equipment had fucked up and he had no distortion and had to play clean bass, my guitar case (which had never EVER been locked) had locked it self and I could get my guitar out. I eventually had to break the fucking thing open to get out the case. So finally we were right to go with concussed singer, clean bass and bent guitar and there was no fold back what so-ever which I really bad if you don’t have a drum kit on stage. No one wanted to see us either at a brutal death show WORST SHOW EVER!
Does Jay use lyrics? How important are lyrics in a band?
Jay usually starts singing the song with no lyrics, maybe just the song name somewhere in there. But then over time lyrics seem to evolve. The lyrics haven't been that important to us up until now we're making sure every new song has proper lyrics.
What are the meanings behind the following song titles:-
Code Brown - Code brown is the unofficial "code" which is called in a hospital when a patient shits the bed.
Waft of Stench - Waft of Stench is either about a rancid fart or a stinky dead person, which ever Jay feels like singing about on the night
Licky Webster - Licky Webster is about that Australian girl Nicky Webster who sung at the Olympics one time and did some other shit, don't know why but jay thought it was funny.
Tarquin the Terrible - Tarquin the Terrible, (what a shit song) was about this retarded character that one of friends used to do.
Fuck I’m Dead and TDEBN have both been added to the Maryland Deathfest 08 bill. How did this all come about? Have you got any expectations of what it will be like?
Well both bands just got asked by the promoters about 6 months ago, we've heard it’s a killer show and by the looks of all the bands that have played in the past and that are playing this year, you can't do wrong!
Have you got any US tour plans around the same time? Are there any bands you’d really like to play with in the USA?
Both FID and TDEBN are doing a 10 show tour leading up to MDF basically on the east coast of the USA... personally I’d be keen to play with Impaled and Ghoul who both happen to be playing MDF.
What are your plans for the next recording? What are the reasons behind it being so long since your last release?
This next recording will be the first with a human drummer, so we're a bit anxious about how its going to turn out, as far as the quality of the sounds go, because we never had a problem with potential bad drum sounds before now. But song writing is going well and we should be recording in the next few months and have something out in the second half of 2008. There is no real reason why its been so long since the last release, teaching a drummer and new guitarist all the old stuff took up a bit of time and well as constantly playing shows around Australia and other time taken up with TDEBN for me, and just being lazy I guess.
No Escape recently released a live Fuck I’m Dead DVD+live CD. Are you happy with how these came out? What has the feedback been towards these releases?
I'm really happy with the way it turned out, sound wise and visually. The feedback has been really positive from everyone.
Razorback Records released the FID full length, Bring on the Dead back in 2002?What effect did this have on the band and its profile at the time?
That release on Razorback as great for us at that time, it exposed FID to a heap of people around the world that had never heard of us.
Why has it been unavailable for so long? Are there any plans to repress or re-release that material?
I'm not really sure why, it was re-pressed a few times at the beginning but nothing for a few years, there is talk about a re-issue of it being done thru No Escape Records.
Are you surprised at how popular FID is considering you’ve only done a few releases??
Yeah definately, I’d be totally sick of us by now listening to same shit all the time with never anything new for years.
There was a rumour about a split 7” with Rompeprop being released as part of the Relapse Slime wave series. Any truth to this? Will this still be happening?That was the original plan when we were asked to do it about a year or so ago. Then the Rompeprop part changed to another band we hadn't heard of so we decided not to do it and save those songs for the new album.
Your label No Escape Records is arguably one of the best grind labels in the world these days. The first NE releases were Fuck I’m Dead ones.. Was the label started just to release these?
No Escape was started just to release the FID demo then the split 7" with Sanity’s Dawn, I just thought it would be easier to do it myself rather than trying to find a label to do it that had never heard of FID. Then the opportunity to release some other Australian bands came up, then some international bands and it just grew from there.
How has the label progressed since the beginning? What have some highlights been for you personally?
It’s become a lot busier so much so that Christoph from the band Roskopp has become part of No Escape Records and he takes care of half the work. My whole time working on No Escape has been a highlight really, it’s great to release CDs of such awesome bands from around the world!
What’s in store for No Escape in 2008?
We've got a bunch of new releases planned from The Kill, Parlamentarisk Sodomi, Skullhog/Coffins 7", new TDEBN and Fuck...I'm Dead albums, hopefully a Roskopp album to name a few
You and Tom were both in a band before Fuck I’m Dead named Arseripper, who released a split 7” with Demisor. Can you please outline what the primary motive was for that band? And why did you finally decide to cork the wind that was Arseripper?
The primary and only motive of Arseripper was to excrete severe stinkin wind throughout Australia and the world, and spread the gospel of the anus to those that might not be familiar with the flatulent fig and the symphony of the sphincter. Although Arseripper was full of strict wind we had to take a break from passing gas for our own safety.
Do you think Arseripper accomplished everything it could have? Will you ever breathe new wind into that old band?
Arseripper accomplished more than we could have ever hoped, I mean with hits like "Aimin at the Ain", Defunct Dingleberry", Won Over By Your Wind" and the classic "Fartality" there was not much more we could force out without dominating the world. One day you may see the return of the raging ring piece that was Arseripper, when the methane reserves are about to overflow and the poo particle to air ratio is at its highest... Arseripper will return.
Your other band, The Day everything became nothing has been a lot more prolific with releases and is due to release a new album in the near future.. Can you tell us your plans for this release?
The new album has been recorded, mixed and mastered as of this last week. We're currently working on artwork to match the extreme bag tattering that has been recorded, and it'll be released in the next couple of months.
Is the way that TDEBN works different to the way FID works?
In TDEBN everyone has a really laid back approach, we won’t do anything for a while then we'll decide to write a new album and we work hard on it for a few months play a bunch of shows then take a break again for a bit, it keeps everyone really interested in the band and enthusiastic about it. FID is more of a constant thing all year round, we always seem to be playing shows and don’t have enough time to write a lot of new stuff.
Is it hard to find time for everything considering members of TDEBN and FID are in so many other bands?
Not really, it always works out fine, when one band is quiet the other is busy. And we've done a few split rehearsals from time to time which works out well.
Was Fuck I’m Dead part of the “Melbourne Grind Syndicate”?
I guess so, I don’t know if there was any official induction procedure but we are from Melbourne and we play grind.
What do you think about how the scene is here now compared to back then?
I think over the years the popularity and enthusiasm of the scene fluctuates, but at the moment I reckon it’s better than ever. All the bands from Melbourne are great, the turn out at shows are awesome and there’s shows all the time, most of the bands are putting out or working on releases. No Escape just put on a huge show GRINDCORE 2008, which I was worried about how well it might go, we had 9 bands, two stages and a really great turn out, which shows that people are extremely keen to see and play GRIND in Melbourne!
Is there anything in particular that’s made the Melbourne grind scene so strong and respected all over the world?
I'm not sure if it’s anything in particular, I guess a lot of cool bands have come out of Melbourne over the years and continue to do so.
What’s the best and worst band you’ve ever played with?
One of my favourite bands we've played with was Exhumed when they toured Australia, they were absolutely killer live. I can't think of any one particular band that’s been the worst, just any metalcore/sport metal/slam rubbish that we've happened to play with over the years.
What bands got you into grind?
Carcass was the thing that I really got excited about, I’d never heard anything so heavy and bag tattering!!
Who’s better D.A.D or KLF?
The question is quite a conundrum, both are the best ever! I mean how can you compare "Girl Nation" and "3am Eternal"? I
think D.A.D. and KLF should do a collaboration album.
What are your mandatory top albums?
CBT - Opuss(y)
Impaled - Mondo Medicale
Soilwork - Chainheart Machine
What have you been listening to lately?
Die Pigeon Die -Ripped From V To A
Impaled - The Last Gasp
Exit Wounds - Exit Wounds
Parlamentarisk Sodomi - Har Du Sagt "A" Får Du Si "Nal"
Thanks Dave! Any merch/website/contact info can be left below…
Thanks Rebecca, and check out:www.noescaperecords.com
1 comment:
hey!
nice to see you have a blog too, added to links for sure!
keep up the good work!
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