Interview

CEASE UPON THE CAPITOL

Lundi 11 juin 2007

1.Please present the band to the Belgian audience who would not know you already? How would you describe your music to someone who would never heard about you?

- We're from Nashville, Tennessee, generally regarded as the country music capitol of USA. Nashville isn't really near the east coast, so there's not many interesting bands that come through here, unless we book the shows. Unfortunately, we're all very busy with jobs, family, and other responsibilities, so we can't put very much time into putting on shows. There's not really any sort of cohesive scene here either, at least not one that we're a part of. Because of all this, we have been playing together for a long time, and have grown together, finding new bands out, bringing in other outside influences. Matt (guitar) and I have been playing together for almost 6 years now, and we've taught each other so much in that time. It's almost like we're musical brothers (ha ha!). So, we started this band to play music that we're excited about. After every release we pretty much start from scratch and allow ourselves to change, we don't try and repeat anything we've done before.
- It's always difficult to describe our music. I think we play in and are listened to by the screamo/emo-violence scene. And sure, we enjoy that music. But, we really come out our music with tons of influences. Matt is really into the 90's indie rock scene in Louisville, shoegaze stuff, Hum, the Jesus Lizard, things like that. I really enjoy fast music. A lot of times I listen to the drums in bands, like Ekkaia, Exclaim, Drop Dead, etc. But of course, we both listen to a wide variety of stuff. One of our favorite albums of 2006 was Mew's and the glass-handed kites. That was like a revelation for me. So, continuing with the description, we're heavy, we're not always fast, but always energetic.

2.From where comes the influences you put in your music. The bands you listen and that may have influence you in one way or another.

- I guess I answered some of this in the last question. But one thing that we're both really into is European and Japanese bands. The bands, coming from different cultures, have a different sense of melody that is really refreshing to us.

3.We've met in the Cry Me a River Fest in 2006. I felt a great atmosphere of friendship, that was great. You were on a European Tour...so how was the feeling you felt in that tour? And why did you brought a German guy to play the second guitar in a band where you usually are three guys!?

- It was great meeting you Julien! I wanna meet your little boy next time. Well, the tour was a huge learning experience for all of us. It was our first tour, and our relationships really changed. Before, I didn't really see the guys very much except for at practice and at shows. So going from little contact to 24/7 living with them was hard at times. But at other times it was great. I think we all really had a great time and wouldn't have done anything different. Of course, Ben (bass) left the band after the tour, but I don't think it was because of happenings on the tour.
- We've always wanted a second guitar player, but being in Nashville, it's hard to find people who are into the same music we are. We wanted the chance to do that, and asked Lars (React with Protest Records, who booked the tour) to play with us. He couldn't, so his brother, Chris, volunteered. It was a weird experience playing with 2 guitars, but Chris was a really awesome guy. Having him on tour made it 500% better. We miss him!

4.We now hear here Al Gore touring around the Globe with its movie about global warming of the planet. What do you think about this? You maybe know more than us about that guys, his good and bad sides. He seems like discovering his new ecological side and start to preach for a global change...it looks a bit strange. But it is a great thing to do also. Your opinion?

- Al Gore actually taught a class at the university that Matt and I go to (I graduated last spring, though). He was born and raised in Tennessee, so I guess we see a little bit more of him than the rest of the world. It seems like Al Gore is like a lot of politicians. Sometimes they mean well, and maybe have good intentions, but because of the surrounding government, and the way things happen in our system, bad things keep coming out of him. I see how vocal he is now about global warming, and I think, Why wasn't he doing anything when he was the vice-president? I wonder if maybe because his political career is over, now he thinks he can say the things he was afraid to say when he wanted to be president. I think that's cowardly.
Knowing all that, I understand that sometimes shitty people can sometimes say good things, get good messages out. Look at Michael Moore, he's a total hypocrite, but I still support a lot of the things he says, because he's bringing up good points that people should think about and talk about. To me, it doesn't matter so much that he lives in mansions, because I don't give a shit about him. I do give a shit that nobody was calling George W. Bush out on all the lying, cheating, and stealing that he was doing.
And also, I start to question global warming. It seems like everyone is totally agreeing about what's happening. But I've been hearing small, dissenting voices, and I wonder why the pro-global warming people can never answer these questions. So, I'm not 100% sure about global warming. I think it's important that people stop fucking up the environment for sure, and I want to find some alternative fuel vehicle really fast, and also stop making so much waste. But, whether global warming is happening, or it is natural, or something else, I don't know because I'm not a scientist and can't understand everything about it. It seems too complex. Ha ha! sorry if I sound like an idiot.

5.Actually we hear about the fact the United States want to build a wall between USA and Mexico. What's your opinion as citizens of USA on that topic? It's like in Israel they build a wall to protect them from arab people. It seems humanity do the same history again and again. All those walls remind me that Berlin Wall in Germany years ago, between Western and Eastern countries.

- The wall between Mexico and the USA is so fucking stupid, I think. They say things about how much it will cost, something like 45 billion dollars. Where is this money coming from? We are fighting a useless war, we are in a huge deficit, and now they want to spend more money on building a wall that won't work. It's stupid. Mexican immigrants are coming over and working jobs that are empty. They aren't kicking Americans out of jobs, so what is the problem? Instead of trying to kick them out, we should make them legal citizens so they can pay taxes on the money they earn, and then maybe we could get out of the deficit we are in.
It seems this fence they want to build is similar to the gated communities popping up around the USA. People are building suburbs that are surrounded by fences, to keep out un-desirables. It's ridiculous, and quite scary. It's making the « haves » and « have-nots » even more visible. This fence in front of Mexico is the same thing. Just designating one side as first world, and the other as third world.

6.Ryan, you have your own label. This question is a chance for you to present it to some people here around who would not know it! So present it, stuff, bands, etc. And why did you chose to release so much bands that are not from the States, that is not that usual for a North American label.

- Well, I studied abroad in Japan for one semester, and went to lots of shows and found tons of bands that I was amazed by. But, none of them were releasing anything other than demos, and of course, no one in America had heard of them. So, when I came home I started a small distro, trying to get stuff from Japan, and then I released a 12inch from Gauge Means Nothing. This started the label. I do the label with my best friend Roy. Since the label started, I've traveled back to Japan, to South East Asia, and all over Europe, so this has given me a chance to meet lots of people I only emailed before. When I see things that are unfair, like the lack of attention foreign bands get in the US, I feel a desire to help out. I think it's just my nature. This is kind of how I operate the label. The whole point is to bring foreign bands to the American audience.
So, we've got a very busy spring. We've got numerous co-releases with various labels. Probably are biggest releases are a re-release of The Third Memory's album onto vinyl (third memory is French emo-violent screamo), a 2x3inch CD of Japan's 3 cm tour (very nice indie rock with screaming), new LP from Sweden's Amalthea (screamo w/epic instrumental parts), and finally a new Cease Upon the Capitol CD before tour. We have many other releases, but too many to name. Check our website here: http://www.childismine.com

7.What does it represent for you to evoluate in a DIY scene? Touring the world and playing each night in front of small crowd and in small places (even in basement). is this better and more important for you, that DIY ethic...in place of touring the big place, for load of money in front of a crowd just there to consume music like their consume television.

- the DIY mindset has always just been natural to me. I don't try to do anything because I think it's DIY, I just do things that seem right to me and make me happy. With touring, it's the same way. I want people to enjoy the music, and I want to enjoy playing for them, and I want to meet them and find out about their lives. Going on tour is just making new friends every day, and sharing something with them that is really important to me. I think if we toured at bigger places, I wouldn't be able to meet people in the same way.

8.There's a video documentary on the CD version of the « S/T » album. Please tell us more about this and what it is all about! I guess it may interest the people who have the LP version for example.

- Our good friend Sean is really into film and makes short films. We had him come into the studio whenever we were recording, and also shot a practice and a show. So, I just thought it would be cool to add something visual to the album.

9.Last question : what's up next for the band? Thanks a lot for the answers, and hope to meet you again in Europe.

- Our current bassist, Roy, just had a baby girl, Langley Claire Batts. We're going into the studio in the next month to record an 8 song EP. This should be released on vinyl and CD by various labels around the world. We've also got a split 7inch with the Third Memory coming out soon from Parade of Spectres (England), Desertion Records (France), and I've Come For Your Children (USA). We'll be coming back to Europe in June and July2007, playing Trashfest and Cry Me a River. Thanks for reading and hope to see you this summer!
- Ryan

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