all questions answered by all 3 members of Myles of Destruction. Interview by DJ.
Myles of Destruction are a band that are sure to impress any fan of heavy Underground music. They have a Underground Sound and Feel. They have no guitar, instead a violin! They been desribed as "Heroin Metal For The Apocalypse" by Metal Maniacs. In another review it was stated that they sounded like someone "Masturbating with Sand Paper" So It brings me much joy to present them as the Featured Band for August 2003. Enjoy. Photos: Richard Bump
Could you give some background info on the Myles Of Destruction? When
and How was the band formed? Who is all in the band? Has it been the same
lineup?
MYLES: I stared playing shows and recording with this band four years ago
with just my screechy self, my bass and a drum machine. Since that time,
Myles Of Destruction has had a handful of different (at one point
multiple) drummers and an electric cello player, before natural selection
stripped it down to the current steady line up of Audrey on Violin, Tony
on Drums and myself on Bass and Vocals. We will never have a guitarist,
but somehow that doesn’t stop the arrogant axemen from approaching us
after shows trying to join our band.
So what's new in with Myles Of Destruction?
TONY: Gear, songs and a 7"!
MYLES: we just came back from our second mostly new england tour. It was
allot of fun. I started the first night with laryngitis and ended the last
by playing my bass with the ceiling.
We sold allot of merchandise and had a fantastic time. Right now, we’re in
the midst of recording a split 7” with ABIKU (www.mp3.com/abiku), a
female fronted abrasive darkwave band, also 100% guitar free. Worldeater
Records (worldeaterrecords.com) is pressing this one for us
and it should be available through their website by the time this
interview sees print. Check with them. Apart from that, there is some talk
of doing a collaborative recording with JUHA (http://www.juhamusic.com),
the self proclaimed "Maui-grown Queer Arab Hip Hop Explosion" who we met
last tour, and we have a 9 song cd available called “Running Only Makes
The Fire Worse”, which we release on our own label, Burst Into Flames.
The new Album "Running Only Makes The Fire Worse" is fucking cool as
hell.
MYLES: awww, shucks..thankyou!
I seen the awesome review Metal Maniacs wrote recently. I liked the
"Heroin Metal For The Apocalypse" description they gave. How have the
other reviews been so far?
AUDREY: Mostly positive and very interesting. My favorite has to do with
jerking off with sand paper.
MYLES: that metal maniacs review really made me laugh because I wasn’t
expecting something so positive. It was nice, but I never know what to
expect from reviewers when I send stuff out. I send our cds to reviewiers
mostly to get our bandname out there more, and after getting both glowing
praise and being ripped to shreds by surprising sources, I’ve pretty much
learned to appreciate any extreme reaction we can get at all. What we do
is cathartic and sincere and sacred and fun to me and I don’t care so much
if a review is positive or negative…as long as there is some evidence that
the person doing the writeup actually LISTENED to the recording.
TONY: It seems that the overwhelming majority of reviews have been
pretty good. There's been a few people who've heard us and said, "Uh, I
don't know what this is and I don't know if I like it...". There's also
been the fair share of people who heard it and we just like, "this is
bizarre and awful" or "they're trying too hard". Generally, I don't care
about reviews. I like it when we get a good one, but more often than not,
I would say that most reviewers are frustrated musicians who can't keep a
project together. But, yeah... generally our reviews have been pretty
good.
What is the meaning you have behind the title "Running Only Makes The Fire Worse"?
AUDREY: It's from a G. I. Joe dvd we watched while recording and it seemed
to describe our state at the time quite well. Now you know... and knowing
is half the battle.
TONY: See, when your on fire, you can't run away from it.
MYLES: (laughing and wincing) the truth hurts…but avoiding it can kill
you. Audrey read the lyrics after we recorded that record and remarked on
how paranoid it sounded overall. I’m sort of with her on that. We’ve all
had some rough years. I need to get so much shit out of my system. I’d
probably be long dead if I didn’t have this outlet.
Have any recording studio stories you care to share?
MYLES: not really. once when I was a one man band recording vocals a
person walking into the house thought I was being stabbed to death.
TONY: Generally, recording for us is a pretty bland event. We have the
songs written when we go into the studio and we just play them. We're
planning to spend more time and money on the next recording so its
something that'll have a bit more range than the last record. When we
recorded "Running", we knocked out all the instrumental tracks in 2 days,
vocals in one night and mixed in 3 days. This time, we want to not stress
ourselves in terms of not getting everything done all in one shot and just
enjoy the process of putting something together that's really well-thought
out. I'm excited to see how it goes.
AUDREY: We record at our friend's house, and his roomate has the most
intense figurine collection I've ever seen. Also, it's in South Philly, so
you canget these awesome canolies while you're waiting.
MYLES: also, for anyone interested, the studio we use has a website:
www.planbstudios.net their slogan is "Low Project
Rates-Professional Results". Long live darren morze.
You have a very original heavy sound, what is your inspiration behind it?, (both music and lyrics)
AUDREY: For me: I play the way i play from being classicially trained,
and also from playing bass in punk bands for 10 years.
MYLES: I just don’t like guitars that much. I grew up feeling really
alienated by most american rock music, it’s imagery and it’s whole
“conservative hipster good ole boys” mentality, and I think that one
instrument in particular really symbolizes that whole attitude to me. I
personally don’t want that shit in our music. Ever. For us, it’s not
really so much of an attempt to create a gimmick or shtick as it is to
combine types of sounds and instruments we already like into something we
want to hear and hammer away at constantly. I don’t think what we do is
even that “out there” yet. there are way stranger bands, More power to
them all.
TONY: I like to hit my drums REALLY hard. That and like a lot of old metal
from when I was in high school (Nuclear Assault, Sepultura, Slayer, Over
Kill), so that kinda influences my playing. I'm into a lot of wierd music
thats from the middle east and India too, but I think thats actually more
of a structural rather than a sonic influence... so mostly I think its
because I like to hit the drums hard.
Where are you guys exactly from? Think you'll play Pittsburgh anytime soon?
TONY: We're from Philadelphia, PA. More specifically, Myles and I live in
West Philadelphia... Audrey is moving from North Philly to West Philly in
the next month or so (we hope). I can give you my address if you'd like me
to be that specific...
AUDREY: I'd love to play Pittsburgh. If we get a show, we'll come. I'm
originally from Paris, France, I grew up in NY and I've lived in Philly
since 1995.
MYLES: I’m the son of a violin maker and an x-hula dancer. My brother is
one of these guys http://www.mummersstringband.com . I’ve lived in philly
my whole life.
Play any cool shows lately? Do you have a favorite or most
memorable show you've played?
TONY: Hmmm.... Most memorable is definitely the show we played at Goddard
college in Vermont. We dubbed that show "Vomit Fest" based on the 6 kids
that were there and part of this truly awful band called "Vomit
Dichotomy". They have this whole GG Allin schtick that they do and they
claim to have never heard of him. So, when it was our turn to play, there
was a room FULL of drunk people and the handful of kids all puking in a
bucket and drinking it and whatever the hell they were doing and we're
trying to set up our stuff... we keep looking at each other nervously.
Myles is telling me that he's certain he's gonna get hit in the face with
a bottle and I'm starting to believe him. Audrey is trying to find a way
to play behind something to keep her violin safe... When we started
playing, the room just kiind of erupted into this wierd interprative
gypsyesque dancing mess and there was a stairwell going up to a balcony
that was just lined with people who were rhythmically bobbing their heads.
All in all, it was a really cool night of playing. Everything before and
after playing sucked, but that 35 minutes of playing was really good. The
night before that, we played at Bard College in NY State and that was a
really good show too. I remember a truckload of people crammed into this
little red room in the basement of a school gym who looked really excited
to be there. Some kids danced and after the show, some of them took us
home and fed us and gave us beds to sleep in. That was awesome. Shit, I've
talked too much already.
AUDREY: We haven't played any shows in a few weeks, because we
wanted to concentrate on writing songs and just playing, but we toured for
a week in May which was fucking fantastic. One of my favorite shows was at
946 Mason st. in Morrisonville, NY. There were kids doing interperative
dances to our music. But the most memorable was a show last year on tour
in Vermont at Goddard College. The kids were dancing there too, but they
were also eating and drinking each other's piss and puke, throwing beer
cans, copulating everywhere, and ferociously head banging to us. Pretty
exicitng stuff.
MYLES: I liked the christian hardcore show where the audience started a
circle pit. Playing underneith of the highway outside and watching kids do
skate tricks to our music was fun too.
What bands do you enjoy playing shows with?
AUDREY: Abiku, Crush Bastard System, The Phantomb Limbs,
Fleshies, Low Budgets, Juha, Delvic, Scumdrunk, Shotwell
MYLES: I really love watching Clayton from Dysrhythmia play bass every
time we’re lucky enough to share a bill. In addition to being technically
incredible, performing just seems to be such an acrobatic, physical thing
for him. He makes me proud to be a bassist and a philadelphian. Melissa
from Discharge Information System is also sickass cello player and Dixie
from Weedeater is the fucking Almighty God of dirgy loud sludge bass. I
told him he was my hero and he made fun of me.
TONY: Just about anyone that's interesting and energetic. I'm really
tired right now, so I'm not coming up with specifics... Juha
was cool to play with and so were the Phantom Limbs.
Top 5 All Time Favorite Bands?
AUDREY: The Dead Milkmen, Crimpshrine, Jawbreaker, Dinosaur Jr.,
Fleshies
MYLES: (Cliff Burton era) Metallica, Mukilteo Fairies/Behead The
Prophet No Lord Shall Live, Crisis, Dead Kennedys, Diamanda Galas
TONY: Wow, tough one... hmmm... Now, this is too big a question to
answer, so here goes.... Metallica (Pre-Black Album) Jane's
Addiction Slayer (only with Dave Lombardo) The Jesus and Mary Chain
Pigface (From "A New High in Low" on back)
Top 5 All Time Favorite Albums?
AUDREY: Greenmind, Duck Tape Soup, Big Lizard in my back yard, 24
hour revenge therapy, Beelzebubba
MYLES:
1. Captain Beefhart “Trout Mask Replica” (this and that
Laurie Anderson record with the annoying “superman” voice loops are pretty
much my first actual memories of music)
2. Diamanda Galas “Plague Mass”
3. Tom Waits “Bone Machine”
4. Crisis “The Hollowing”
5. Mukilteo Fairies “Special Rites” 7”
TONY: I can only name my top 5 for right now, since this list has an
ever-changing cast, so that'd have to be,
Master of Puppets-Metallica
South of Heaven- Slayer
Nothing's Shocking- jane's Addiction
The Musicians of the Nile (Ocora Collection-
Radio France)
Apocalypse Across the Sky- The Master
Musicians of Jajouka
Top 5 All Time Favorite Movies?
AUDREY: Midnight Madness, Cady Shack
MYLES:
1. Speaking In Strings: The Nadja Solerno-Sonneberg
Documentary
2. Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me
3. The Blue Planet Volume Two: Deep Sea Fish
4. Jan Svankmier’s version of Alice In Wonderland
5. My Own Private Idaho
TONY: Another tough one! Here goes.... The Dark Crystal The Big Lebowski
Death to Smoochy 2001: A Space Odyssey Beetlejuice
Which is do you think is cooler: Vinyl or CD?
AUDREY: I'm not cool enough to define coolness.
MYLES: I’m not either. But most of my introductions to cool
underground music came through vinyl, so I’d put my money on that. 7”s are
pretty. I’m glad we’re doing one.
TONY: I like the portable nature of the CD, but for true sound,
vinyl. To quote another favorite of mine, "The future belongs to
analog loyalists, fuck digital." -Steve Albini
Best live band or live show you've seen?
AUDREY: The Dead Milkmen
MYLES: probably either Yat-Kha, Crisis, Behead The Prophet No
Lord Shall Live or Burn Witch Burn. I caught Julee Cruise last weekend in
New York and that was impressive.
TONY: I saw Jane's Addiction on their "Relapse" tour and that was
incredible. I was also on a fistful of mushrooms, but I think that
only added to the whole thing. I saw Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds at
the Beacon Theater about 4 or 5 years ago. That was awesome. I saw
Slayer on the "Seasons in the Abyss" Tour... that was just sick. The
first time I saw Pigface at the Trocadero here in Philly when Martin
Atkins was playin his drums behind a shoji screen and En Esch was
screaming at us in German... Fantastic! I saw Shellac when they were
touring on their first 2 7" records in a loft above a liquor store.
That was great too... Frankly, there's too many to list.
Favorite Drugs?
AUDREY: I plead the 5th
MYLES: “PCP, You Know me!” –Firepussy
I spent an entire paycheck on LSD once. Some kid at Bard College
also offered to pay us in mushrooms for a performance, but that never
materialized.
TONY: Pot. Far and away, the best thing goin' is pot. I like shrooms
a lot too, but I'm into the au natural thing.
Favorite Food?
AUDREY: Lasangna
MYLES: I like buying candy in Asian Supermarkets because I often
can’t read the ingredients and it’s sometimes an exciting gamble risking
eating something truly disgusting or delicious.
TONY: damn. Uh, this is too weird for me to answer.
Favorite Actor or Actress?
AUDREY: Rodney Dangerfiled
MYLES: I don’t know…Divine? The Muppets? I think Colin Farrel and
Ewan McGregor are really cute but I hate their stupid fucking movies. They
should stop making them and date me.
TONY: I really can't say I have any... I like Johnny Depp and Ed Norton. I
don't know... I've got nothin' else goin' on here.
Best new band you've just found out about?
AUDREY: Send More Cops
MYLES: I listened to Xiu Xiu’s “Knife Play” record allot this
winter. It’s really beautiful achingly sad psychotic music. I’m also
planning on releasing a long lost 7” recording for this amazing, now
defunct band ,PINCHU MACHA sometime in the future. I love them. More
people should have heard their stuff. Their singer sounds like Betty Boop
channeling Kali Maa.
TONY: I keep finding out about old bands that I should've known about
awhile ago... To name some names, I'll say the Haunted, Lamb of God,
Melt Banana and Crisis.
Thoughts on the World in it's current state?
AUDREY: sad
TONY: Frankly, the world is in bad shape, but anyone with a half a brain
can figure that out. The Arab world is being pushed around in a way that
can only be described as alarming because our current propoganda
mouthpiece that's in office is keeping people scared... too scared to ask
questions and too scared to act. The threats against America may only be
25% as real as our government would like us to believe, but if you say
this aloud, you're subject to public shaming and censure by lemmings who
are too afraid to stay away from the cliff. This is probably a bad
question for me to even try to answer.
MYLES: let’s see…I’m a Gay Male. It’s 2003 and we’re still working
the legal bugs out of being allowed to have CONSENSUAL SEX IN THE
PRIVACY OF OUR OWN HOMES.
Don’t get me started on us being deprived of even the basic
financial benefits of marriage or the flaming hoops we have to jump
through to attempt adopting children. Is this the fucking middle ages or
a bad Sci Fi movie? Oh yeah, and I guess killing masses of innocent
civilians because our trigger happy president couldn’t wait for a weapons
inspection to complete itself wasn’t so nice either.
Hooray for the USA.
How would describe the sound of Myles Of Destruction to
someone who was looking for something new?
AUDREY: I would say to listen to it and see for yourself.
MYLES: We’ve been compared to “an 80s horror movie soundtrack”, “a meteor
flying inches above your head”, “music to kill to”, “gypsy grindcore” and
(my personal favorite) “someone vomiting over ‘the devil went down to
georgia’”.
Let’s just say we are not for everyone and may not be for you.
And we wouldn’t have it any other way.
TONY: Another good question. Unfortunately, I don't have an
answer... maybe something like a heavy convergence of separate
musical ideologies on a single point. I don't know. Check us out on
our website to get an idea! www.mylesofdestruction.com
Thanks for doing this interview, keep up the cool tunes,
i definitely am a fan. Anything you'd like to add or close with?
AUDREY: My favorite footbal team is the NY Giants!!!!!!!!!!!
MYLES: Hey you’re from Pittsburgh, right? What the hell is up with this
“Yinz” terminology I keep hearing from you people?! It seriously makes no
sense. In Philly, we say “Youze”, because as far as we’re concerned,
“Youze” is the plural form of “you”. It’s very practial.
This “Yinz” stuff is nonsense. Jibberish. Youze Freaks need to Get wit the
Program.. =>
TONY: Thanks for your time.
MYLES OF DESTRUCTION Links:
Myles of Destruction Website
Bushmado Web-Zine's Review of Running Only Makes The Fire Worse
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