Massacres - Interview

In this new occasion we have the great opportunity to interview the Rock/Punk Rock/Hardcore band Massacres from UK, here we will let you their FACEBOOK PAGE to give them a like and follow them. We have nothing more to say, so enjoy this interview!

1.Where did you get the idea for the band name, you planned it or came out just like that?  

KRIS: When I started writing stuff for MASSACRES I felt the need to go heavier than I had done before - I don't know why, maybe because I'm angrier in my thirties than I was ten or twenty years ago! So here I am with a bunch of angry fucking hardcore songs and needing a band name. I started thinking about other metal bands names like 'Slayer', 'Megadeath' and 'Anthrax' and just thought it would be funny to give us a name that was in that 'darker' category. When people see 'MASSACRES' they probably think we play Black metal or something! Also, when I first recorded the demos it did sound like I was 'massacring' every song...

2.Why did you want to play this genre?  

DAVE: Because this genre is the most fun to play. It gives us a chance to cut loose a little more than kitchen sink indie or miserly folk would, and It's utterly cathartic. It allows us to put all of of ourselves out on display, particularly in a live setting - after gigs we each feel as if we've been hit my a car, but in the best possible way. It's oddly addictive.

3. Did you know each other before the band was formed?  

DAVE: I met the rest of the band by applying to an ad for a vocalist on GUMTREE of all places. Before we got together for the first time to play through some stuff, Kris and I corresponded over e-mail - he'd send me demos and I'd write lyrics and scream vocals into my laptop in a rehearsal space in Dalston. I got bollocked once for using a microphone that was too nice and too expensive for the shit I was putting it through - I knew then that I was on the right track.

4. Each band member favourite band?

DAVE: Pissed Jeans, again and again and again. Great albums, wry lyrics, an awesome frontman, and just the right amount of we-don't-give-a-shit. The perfect band in my eyes.

KRIS: I can't pick just one! At the moment though, I'm listening to a lot of Feed The Rhino and Norma Jean.

MARTIN: Sikth - there's nobody better at what they do.

ANDY: The Dillinger Escape Plan, because they're great musicians and a source of inspiration.

5. Who or what inspires you to write songs?  

DAVE: Lyrically, I'm inspired by my favourite bands, musicians and songwriters - Falco of Mclusky, Korvette of Pissed Jeans, Lenman of Reuben, Palumbo of Glassjaw. I write a lot about what it is to be 31, single, male and living in London - lots about the futility of marriage, the rigmarole of work, the pressures of an encroaching middle age, that sort of thing.  KRIS: I'm most inspired to write when I hear a new band that I really like - that tends to give me loads of new ideas and gets the creative buzz going. I also draw on my love for a lot of bands that were about when I was a kid in the early 90's like Nirvana, Helmet, Melvins, Gruntruck - those kind of guys. When I was younger they made me realise that you don't have to be technically gifted or be able to play like Eric Clapton or Stevie Ray Vaughan to make good music - you just need passion and the desire to create.

6. Where was your last gig?

DAVE: The Fiddler's Elbow of Camden. It's a great venue with a really good sound. Also, the stage isn't too high so I can quite easily leave it and mosey around the crowd mid-song, as is my want.

7. Where would you like to act?  

DAVE: Anywhere that will have us. The dream is to do a European tour.

8. Whom would you like to feature with?  

DAVE: Pissed Jeans or Jamie Lenman's new outfit, because I love both those bands. Also, I think I could probably learn a lot from them in terms of what it is to be awesome.  KRIS: I'd love to jump on bus with Every Time I die, Cancer Bats or John Coffey - because those guys look like they always have an awesome time when on the road (and because we'd get to watch them slay every night whilst I drink beer - my idea of a party!)

9. Whom not?  

DAVE: Anyone not nice. It sounds like an odd thing for a hardcore band to say, but there's nothing better than turning up to sound-check and being greeted by other bands on the bill that are decent and friendly - guys you can chat with and drink with and cheer on during their set, keeping in touch post-gig to possibly pop up on other bills together down the line. Confronting twatty bands at gigs puts a dampener on the whole evening, particularly when they are miserly with equipment / stage times / riders / audience etc.

10. Any of you has ever suffered from stage fright? Any tip for beginners on how to beat that?  

DAVE: I never, ever get stage fright. It's probably because I have no shame.

11. What bands have inspired you the most?  

DAVE: If we're talking long-term, I'd say the following: Deftones, Slayer, Glassjaw, Weezer, Reuben, Pissed Jeans, Mclusky/ Future of the Left, ...Trail of Dead, Dillinger Escape Plan, Hooded Fang, Sonic Youth, thisGirl, Nirvana...loads and loads and loads. Also, many years ago, I was in a band with tom Hudson of Pulled Apart by Horses. He taught me a lot about what it is to be a great frontman, even back when we were 18 years old.

12. What's the weirdest thing a fan has ever asked you for?  

DAVE: At our last gig, a girl asked for my sweaty, sweaty shirt post-gig, but I think she was just being sarcastic.

13. What do you think of your fans?

DAVE: We only have two so far and we are very fond of both of them.

14. What do you think of our site?  

DAVE: Your site is awesome. You give small-time bands like us a shot at exposure, and for that we, and I'm sure many other bands like us, are truly and eternally grateful.

15. Something to add?  

DAVE: Yes, some advice for anyone who wants it - don't take yourselves too seriously. As my favourite writer of all time, Kurt Vonnegut, once proclaimed: "I tell you, we are here on Earth to fart around, and don't let anybody tell you different."