1. hey christian what's up bro? first of all give us a brief bio of embludgeoned. and surprisingly i've not heard about you before so what was the idea behind the band and who came up with the name and were any of the members involved in any other bands before embludgeoned?
Well I didn't know anyone in Embludgeoned previous to starting the band that much. I just had an idea to start a straight guttural slam band, cause Pittsburgh aint never had one of those before. I met Jesse our singer at an Origin show and he said he wanted to start a similar project. I met Lee our drummer through some other people we were jammin with and I found out he wanted to start a brutal death project to. Jesse was friends with Pat (bass) so eventually we all got together one night and just clicked. Most of us have played in smaller bands previous to Embludgeoned. I've played in alot of local hardcore bands. Jesse did somethin with Drew from Circle of Dead Children, Lee's been in acouple metal bands prior, and Pat plays in acouple other bands right now. He's in another similar styled death/grind band called Tunturi ( www.myspace.com/Tunturi), good shit check it out. No real magic behind the band name...Lee our drummer made some mock logo that said Embludgeoned prior the us bein a band on a shirt or somethin and I guess we used that hahah. Random as hell.
2. after finally hearing the band i can definitely say you guys got the ultra brutal slamming style down pat, but describe it in your own words. and feel free to add the names of the bands that play in similar style's as your own.
We just wanna play straight guttural beatdown groove slam shit. Not tryin to impress anyone or stand on stage and do that fretboard masturbation shit like all those tech nerds today, or start spazzin out like all those seizure fashion-grind dorks, fuck that shit. I dunno, theres a gazillion bands who we probably soundlike... but I'd say we'd appeal to any fans of Devourment and brutal guttural shit mainly.
3. when it comes to writing songs how does it work? and how do you create the guitar riffs and breakdown parts? are there any bands you learn from?
Theres no real organization on how we come up with songs. Sometimes I'll come to practice with acouple riffs already written in my head and see what the rest of the guys think about them. Other times, I'll just randomly start jamming on some shit at practice and then it just clicks. Pat will add his input and contribute ideas and Lee will work on fitting drum parts together. Jesse just makes frog noises and is usually pretty intoxicated during this point.
4. i thought you guys were influenced by some breakdown styled hardcore bands when i first heard your songs and actually you said you dig the breakdowns of all out war, irate and shattered realm correct? in what way do those bands influence your band?
Well I can't speak for the rest of the band cause they all hate hardcore haha but I'm definetly influenced by a TON of hardcore. Alot of brutal metal fans misconstrue typical 'hardcore' kids as white belt wearing hipster homos, which sadly most of them are. But bands like All Out War, Irate, Shattered Realm and Day of Mourning are just as equally influenced by death metal as straight forward hardcore.
5. the new logo that was done by alex is sick as fuck, are you satisfied with it? and do you plan on making new logo t-shirt's and any other kinda merch?
Fuck yeah! We can't thank Alex enough for drawing that up for us, we feel like a REAL band hah. I mean, isnt that what death metal is about, who has the most brutal logo? haha joking...not really. Our singer Jesse is in the process of screening up shirt designs, some patches, and maybe acouple hoodies, at least he's claimed for past 3 monthes. If it actually materializes, thats a different story. We'll probably just have logo only merch as of right now until we can get ideas for artwork and maybe talk to some more people who could draw some sick shit up for us. It would be sweet to have a legendary Majewski design done sometime down the road. I've always hated blowing like 15 bucks on shirts with just a logo, seems like such a ripoff, i think every band should do full sleeves.
6. are you planning to release something anytime soon? and will it be self released or will a label get a chance to release it?
We've already released our 3-song demo right now finally! Drew did a sick job on recording it just on his 8 track! Some of the cds we've pressed we included our radio broadcast from local Pittsburgh college station which has a bunch of other songs we didnt record yet, came out real good to. We'll definetly send you one out man! Label wise we're not on anythin right now, but we've been contaced by Alex about puttin somethin out on Inherited Suffering as well as this crazy french fuck NAPPY hahah.
7. what kind of gear do you guys use?
I play through Marshall Valvestate Head, Crate cab, and Jackson Dinky with EMG-HZs. Lee has probably one of the biggest Orange County sets in Pennsylvania. And I have no fuckin idea what play plays through, some custom head he built or modified or something. But he does play outta a Fender cab, which is pretty sweet actually. I'm not thrilled with my rig right now, but everyone says it sounds sick live, so I dunno. Can always buy better shit!
8. where do you live in the usa? any sick new guttural bands from there? and do you guys have any side bands besides embludgeoned?
We're from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and live in different areas, but since its a small town we're all pretty close to one another. Pittsburgh used to have a great death/grind scene back in the mid-late 90s with bands like Commit Suicide, Circle of Dead Children, and Sadis Euphoria who were all on Pittsburgh based Willowtip Records. CODC is the only band out of those who is still around today and still real active. Pittsburgh in general isnt a death metal-friendly town for the most part. Hardcore and indie rock are the most populars styles coming out of the city now. Our hope is to get more people interesting in sick guttural slam shit and hopefully get more people startin up more bands like that. Check out our boys in Colossus, Mennoraghia, Liquified Guts, Shattered Soul, First Day Dead, Caducus, Unit 731, and of course CODC/Zimmermann Note.
9. what releases and bands have you been into lately?
Well, Dripping and Devourment are always on rotation every day of the week. But lately Guttural Secrete, Vitality, Malamor, Orchidectomy, Repudilation, and Sect of Execration. I also listen to alot of non metal shit like jazz, hip hop, alot of ambient stuff to. My taste in music is like Rosie O Donnell's pussy.....WIDE AND SICKKKKKK.
10. have you checked out our jpdm scene? we have some cool guttural breakdown bands like disconformity and rest in gore.
Fuck yeah dude! Disconformity and Rest in Gore are some of my top shit! I'm into a ton of Japanese brutal death and hardcore as well. Lately I've been listenin to demos of a new band out there called One Last Victim, perfect mix of nyhc with txdm. One of my favorite hardcore bands from japan is 43 Urban. I'd love to travel over to Japan someday, not only for your scene over there but just the culture to, seems like awesome place.
11. if i'm not mistaken drew from circle of dead children will record the demo. how did you hook up with him?
Drew's been friends with me, Pat, and Jesse for awhile now. He's a fuckin wizard with sound production and all that kinda stuff, so he volunteered to record us on his 8 track. Shit came out better than any of us had thought. Plus, he hooked it up free! My nigga.
12. alright last question man, have you gotten a chance to play gigs yet? what do you expect from people when you play gigs? you want them to start crazy mosh pits or listen to the music and see your guys show?
We've played I think around 7 shows right now. Some better than others. The first one we played was at this like yuppie coffeehouse. Shit was wierd as hell, people were sitting indian style in front of us. That place sucked leper balls, I think we're banned from there to, good. We havent played any shows with 'bigger' bands yet, but in August we've been confirmed on opening up for CODC, Commit Suicide and ORIGIN!!! Every show's been fun as hell for us though, reactions have been real good and we're always drunk.
thanks bro!!!! any comments you'd like to add like shout outs or plugs?
Big ups to Drew & Circle of Dead Children, Damien/Brooks and rest of Zimmermann Note, Colossus, Shattered Soul, Unit 731, Lefty/Fat Boyz Productions, and just everyone else who booked us/played with us/drank with us/gave our shit a chance. www.meatholes.com for givin me inspiration to be a numero uno scumbag for the rest of my life. Thanks for interview Seiji!