VMU: Hey guys how are you?

 

R- Good for the most part. I’m getting over the flu. Unless this is the beginning of the “pandemic” they keep talking about, in which case I’m screwed.

VMU: Could you tell us who's the current line up and where your from?

 

The current line up is: Braxus Bane on guitar. He’s from Hollywood, California.  Noxious Conundrom on Bass, and as you can tell by his name, he’s also from Hollywood. Steven Michaels on drums, he hails from the nether regions of Echo Park. Of course there is myself, Robert James on vocals.  I currently live in beautiful Hesperia, so I spend a good deal of time at El Charro tacos on Main St. We have just added a new keyboardist but his name and origins will remain a secret for now. We think that will make him more mysterious and more appealing to chicks. We’re probably wrong though.

VMU: How many releases have you put out and who produced? (and where)

 

We have two released. Our first release was the E.P. “Beautiful Dead Little Girl.”  We recorded it at Loyola Maramount College in LA. They have a really nice studio there.  Our newest release is the full-length cd “We Miss The Russians,” which came out on Halloween. We recorded “Russians” in our own studio in Glendale. Both of these releases were self-produced, which is important to us. Any artist should maintain creative control of their work. Getting opinions from people you trust or respect is beneficial, but if you give someone outside of the band power in making final decisions on the music then the work won’t truly represent the band anymore. It is important to all of us that what we put on a cd for people to listen to is a true representation of our combined musical efforts and nothing more.

VMU: Were the recordings done digital or analog? (if computer what programs)

 

Okay, it was digital. But I have to be completely honest with you: I have no concept of technology.  The idea of doing digital recording in our own studio with computers was all Noxious’.  Braxus and Noxious handled all the technical stuff. I was very skeptical of the idea. In the end, I see the benefits and know it was the right decision for us. As far as the programs and boards that were used, I have no clue. They’ve told me the names and I forget them a minute later. I just smile and nod and act like I know what they’re talking about. They haven’t caught on yet, so let’s just keep it a secret. I’m not completely hopeless though, I know what an Atari 2600 is!


VMU: How did you guys get together?

 

Getting together was a slow process. It started off as a bunch of guys goofing around with music. Different people came and went and the project began to take on an identity. After awhile we had put together some songs that we thought were pretty good, and decided that we should maybe play these for some people. At first you don’t want to seem like you’re taking it too seriously. I think a lot of bands do that. It’s kind of like a self-defense mechanism. It took a little while to get out of that mindset and get to the point where you don’t give a shit if someone says your stuff sucks, because you know you have been honest with it. You can’t worry about that, you just put it all out there and see what happens. And then you see that somebody gets what your doing, and is into it, and you just bring them into the moment and say “fuck yeah, let’s do this.”  Once I reached that point I knew we weren’t a “project” or a “fuck-off music hobby,” we were finally a band.

 

 

 "Now there’s music that I don’t care for but I can still respect, and then there’s crap with no integrity." - Igor Spectre

VMU: "Broken Things" is a very emotional song! What is that about and what do you express in all your lyrics?

 

I’m glad that you enjoy “Broken Things.” It is basically about caring deeply for someone who is self-destructive and how that can be transferred once that person is gone. It sort of represents the cycle of self-destruction.  I drew on a lot of personal experiences for “Broken Things” and channeled them into the lyrics and the vocals. There’s just a ton of personal shit in that song and I really feel that it comes through in the music. I am constantly drawing from my personal experiences for lyrics. Even the most sarcastic or hypothetical songs are usually based on real people or events. Doing this, for me, adds to the realism of the song and gives it a meaning beyond its face value. There’s even a real event that inspired “Fangs Out First,” but if I told it to you I would have a very pissed off girlfriend of a friend out to rip my beating heart from my chest.


VMU: Were your recordings done 1 on 1 or live?

 

All of our recordings were tracked separately. We did an initial “live” scratch track that we then went back and recorded over.


VMU: Could you tell us in detail what gear you use?

 

I use a Shure 55 SH microphone and a mic stand adorned with bones. I call my mic stand Exquisite Ted, but I’m really not sure why.


VMU: Do you prefer live or studio recording?

 

I have never recorded live so I can only guess.  There are benefits to both situations though.  In the studio I like the control that you have and the ability to bring out the mood of the song. It has definitely helped us develop the songs even for live performance.  When you record a song you have a chance to listen to all the parts carefully and add or subtract things to really fit the song.  The greatest thing about live performance is the energy that you can draw from a crowd. It is very hard to generate that energy in a studio. I would love to try live recording sometime. Any volunteers?


VMU: How do you feel about the mainstream music scene?

 

For the most part I don’t care for it. Now there’s music that I don’t care for but I can still respect, and then there’s crap with no integrity. I guess that music is alright if your greatest goal in life is fucking some vapid chick in the backseat of your Toyota, but I’ve never lived my life that way. I guess I just can’t relate to it.


VMU: How do you feel about other bands expressing their beliefs in music? (political or religious)

 

I think it’s great. Music is all about self-expression. Religious beliefs and music are both deeply personal things and so they compliment each other well. Personally, I don’t listen to either very much.  Bands like that tend to focus on that one thing and it gets old real fast. After about two or three songs I get that they love God, or that the government is fucked up. Then I feel like they got that one message across and now they don’t really have anything else worth saying, and are just out of any other creative way to say it. Just mix it up a little. Even the Dead Kennedy’s did “Too Drunk To Fuck.”


VMU: Any bad experiences playing live?

 

The good list is a shorter one. Are you sure you don’t want that one? Yeah, I’ve had a few bad experiences. Nothing too crazy though. Just minor things going wrong like sound problems, or just not feeling the moment. Every band has those shows. The worst was at The Derby. We played “Fangs Out First.” It was still a new song and I just blanked out on the lyrics. I just couldn’t remember any of the words at all. So I got the idea to pretend the mic wasn’t working. So after the band finished playing an instrumental version of the song I saw the sound guy scrambling around trying to figure out why my mic was out. I figured I had to come clean because the poor guy was pulling his hair out. So I just said into the mic, “Hey man! When you see me pointing at the mic, that’s just sign language for ‘my dumb ass forgot the lyrics.’” At least I was honest…eventually.


VMU: Any of you own a home studio?

 

No. We just have our band studio. I think Steven might live there though. I keep finding Twinkie wrappers and erotic pictures of Charro around the studio.


VMU: What's the music scene like in your home town?

 

There was one?


VMU: Any advise to new indie groups breaking into the scene?

 

Have fun and show consideration for the other bands on the bill. For example, if you’re in a boring ass swing band don’t play for 30 minutes longer just because your parents, aunts, uncles, and all the folks from the rest home keep clapping. Remember that there is a band playing after you, and it is very cold at Victor Valley College in November. Not that I’m bitter, but hey. I may be grumpy but they are unprofessional shit-heels.


VMU: Thanks so much for your time!! Any last words?

 

Pork!


VM UNDERGROUND
www.v-m-u.com

JAN 11 2005