![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.modernfix.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/Himsa.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
\nRarely would I let someone else do my job of describing the vibe of a band. But their website captures the sentiment of the bands latest EP \u0091Death In Infinite\u0092 better than any words I could throw at you. For you too lazy (or too punk) to own a computer, basically, the first thing you will notice is the little squares houses images of grainy, black and white photos of people. Upon mousing-over each, a small bit of text appears in the middle describing their suicide. Certain souls are actual links to the various pages one normally finds on a band website. I found it rather deep to think one\u0092s universal importance, might not be known for anything more than link on a website, chosen for the dark effect of how they departed this world. Whatever the motivations, it sets the mood precisely. Musically, it\u0092s metal with a hardcore shell. It\u0092s the drive and askew ideal behind this music that first drew me to the bands \u0091harmonic thrash\u0092 assault. It riffs and it barks. And has some shit buried way down deep that\u0092s had years to fester, and now John Pettibone has found some good therapy. It\u0092s called Himsa. <\/strong><\/p>\n
The band has brought hardcore and underground music to some pretty remote areas by booking tours in regions no one has really pulled off before? (China, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia, Korea, Hong Kong, and Japan). Why is that important to Himsa?<\/b>
\nJohnny: Only two members of the current lineup right now did that tour. I did not go on that tour because I had other engagements with another band I was in called Botch. We already had a tour booked when they decided to go to Asia. So we had a fill in singer and our first drummer is actually the one that went on that tour. We have a different drummer now. But the year before, our bassplayer Derek had went to Asia just to backpack around and met a lot of hardcore kids and kind of got the name Himsa to the kids out there. And they really wanted them to come over and play because bands don\u0092t go over there. He came back with the idea of the band going over there and at the time everyone wanted to do it, knowing that it would cost us a lot of money as far as plane tickets. We\u0092d just have to show up there with just our guitars and play on the equipment there. It was really really DIY. They went over there for a little over a month and had a great time, traveling by train, and just hanging out with kids. Still today, we get a lot of email from kids that were at those shows, a year and a half later, saying that was the best thing they ever saw.<\/p>\n
Something you might consider doing again?<\/b>
\nJ: We are thinking about it. It\u0092s a matter of timing cause right now we concentrating on writing on a new record. Trying to get to Europe because some of the guys have never been to Europe at all in any band they\u0092ve played in. So that\u0092s probably our main concern right now.<\/p>\n
That seems to be a real focus of your band. To get out and bring the music to the people.<\/b>
\nJ: That\u0092s all we want to do. All of us have been in bands in Seattle for numerous years. Some have gone on to tour the entire US, some have gone to Europe. Two of us are 30, a couple of people in our late 20\u0092s, so this is kind of our last ditch effort to really make it in a band. This is like our passion. With all the other bands we\u0092ve done before, we\u0092ve never found out how far we can go. We want this to work. We\u0092ve sacrificed so much in two years of the Himsa lineup now, so it\u0092s like all or none.<\/p>\n
\u0091Death Is Infinite\u0092 is the title of your new EP album. Do you believe that? Whatever state of being you pass into after you die… that\u0092s it for eternity?<\/b>
\nJ: Yes. I think so, yeah. It\u0092s a good in my aspect because it could happen tomorrow, it could happen 50 years from now. By looking at that, I just make the time I have now the best I can in fulfilling my life. And the other members of the band feel the same way. It\u0092s just about living for the time that you have.<\/p>\n
Hardcore and metal seems to be adjectives thrown around the Himsa description, but the guitars are very metal, almost speed thrash in the dexterity. Do you get the metal kids or the hardcore kids at the shows? Is there a difference?<\/b>
\nJ: It\u0092s a good mixture of both. What\u0092s funny, in Seattle, in just the last couple of months that the EP has been out, we\u0092ve had a lot of nu-metal kids. Kids that would never, ever know about the underground hardcore scene, or even the underground metal scene, that are starting to show up at our shows. Because we\u0092ve had the opportunity to jump on a couple of shows here in Seattle. Like playing with Mushroomhead. Which they never would have thought of asking us to play. So we got that crowd. Even the pop punk kids come to see us here. It\u0092s awesome. That\u0092s what I want. I don\u0092t want to stick to a certain genre that we fit in.<\/p>\n
On the \u0091top 10 quotes form your last tour\u0092… #3 was \u0091Are you down with the sickness\u0092? Is that a jab at Disturbed?<\/b>
\nJ: (laughs). Not a jab, we just heard the song constantly on the radio. The kid that does our merch and roadies with us, his name is Colin, when we play he throws out just fucked up things out of the blue just to get us to laugh. Because on stage, we try to come off as a serious band. Especially me, because if a strings breaks, I get pissed off because I don\u0092t like talking between segues. With the silence I kind of choke. So Colin will just throw something out and make everybody laugh. Makes the audience laugh.<\/p>\n
Do you sell Satanic Merchandise? <\/b>
\nJ: We have some pentagrams on some stuff. I guess I wouldn\u0092t peg us as a satanic band at all. Each person in the band has their own views on what they stand for as far as faith. As for me personally, there\u0092s aspects of Satanism that I agree with, some that I don\u0092t. Even some Pagan and Wicca aspects that I like, but I would never ever put myself or anyone else as a religious person. I have faith in myself. Some people will try and take it seriously and I break it down that the sign is more of a rebellious sign, against Christianity than being a Satanic band.<\/p>\n
And speaking of your website, you have a certain sense, of say Macabre. Is that a representative view on the band?<\/b>
\nJ: I write all the lyrics and I do run it by all the guys. Most of the time they agree with what I write. I write in an abstract way with a darker feel to it. Living in Seattle it\u0092s kind of a gray area of living. It\u0092s not a big metropolis. There\u0092s always rain. It\u0092s a depressing place, but I love it. I\u0092ve always kinda been a depressed kid throughout my life, just how I grew up. People that know me, that really really know me. My close friends that know how I am. But then they see the lyrics I write and they are like, \u0091I didn\u0092t know you were this disturbed.\u0092 I hide it well. I don\u0092t let it shine when I\u0092m in a crowd. It\u0092s just kind of my own personal issues I deal with myself.<\/p>\n
Himsa music has been self-described as aggressive. What is it in your environment that has bred such motivations?<\/b>
\nJ: It stems from Junior High and High School. Fucking assholes that picked on me. It\u0092s the classic story of the kid who didn\u0092t have many friends and the asshole jocks picked on him. \u0091Born to Conquer\u0092 that song is written on an exact person that was a senior in my high school when I was a freshman that constantly picked on me, and that was my revenge that I sought out on him. In fact, I see that guy still today because my parents still live in the town I grew up in. And when I go back there, he\u0092s still there and I run into him. He doesn\u0092t know who I am. I recognize him in a second. He\u0092s worked at the same gas station he\u0092s been working at since high school. He\u0092s still the auto mechanic there and I\u0092ll come in and I\u0092ll see him, and he\u0092s missing a thumb and I look at him, and I know that I did.<\/p>\n
He\u0092s missing a thumb?<\/b>
\nJohnny: Yeah.<\/p>\n
And you did that?<\/b>
\nJ: This guy made me fucking cry in front of people. This asshole just humiliated me in front of so many people. In high school, you had to take electives and I didn\u0092t want to be in sports, so I got thrown into auto mechanics. He happened to be the teacher\u0092s assistant. He even lit into me more, with me having to answer to him. So one day, I just couldn\u0092t handle it. He had his car up on car jacks, and he walked away from his car for a minute, so I fiddled with it so hopefully the car would just fall down and maybe the hood would bonk him on the head or something. For me, I thought that was big because this guy was going to beat the hell out of me any day. He leaned forward on the car; the car fell down off the jacks and his hand slipped into the engine. Into the fan belt, and it tore his thumb off. He just thought it was his own fault. I actually never told anyone until just a couple of years ago about this story. I still want to beat the hell out of him.<\/p>\n
Were you an angry kid?<\/b>
\nJ: Definitely. My mom would say different because I was a momma\u0092s boy. My parents were always cool as long as I did my schoolwork and my chores, they let me do what I want. So I got to go to punk shows at an early age. At home was one thing, and outside of that, it was another. My parents knew there was something wrong with me but kind of looked the other way from it and kind of let me sort it out myself. I think it helped better than harping on me and making me get more depressed about my life at the time.<\/p>\n
How did music help you during this?<\/b>
\nJ: The very first show I ever went to. The Black Flag show in \u009186. Just seeing Rollins play just made me want to be in the music scene forever. Collecting Misfit videos and seeing how Danzig was on stage, and that just blew me away. I loved that. At the time, I didn\u0092t know kids in bands or anything like that. Then I went to see a band called Inside Out in \u009189. Just blew me away. I was a straight edge kid at the time. From that point on I wanted to be a singer in a band. Some friends of mine had a band and needed a bass player and I jumped in playing bass for a little while, but ended up taking over singing for a band called Undertow. From then on, I\u0092ve always wanted to be into music.
\n
\nWhat makes you laugh?<\/b>
\nJ: Richard Pryor. Just good times with my friends. Touring. Touring always makes me happy. No matter what. We could have shows canceled, be starving and dirty and I\u0092m still stoked to be on the road. I\u0092m happiest on stage. I\u0092m angry and I\u0092m in the moment, but deep down, it makes me happiest. And my family.<\/p>\n
What\u0092s the most hardcore moment you\u0092ve ever witnessed?<\/b>
\nJ: I guess the first time I went to Europe and kids over there knowing songs of my band. That was the most amazing thing. That kids living half way across the world singing back to me was just amazing. But better than that, was my old band, Undertow, played a reunion show in \u009197. It was like, kids flew from Europe to Seattle to come see us play. Kids from all drove all over the US to come up and see it. That was probably the best time of my life. That one moment with three guys I grew up, playing in a band, touring everywhere and putting out a couple of records. Never believing something like that would happen, and then selling out the big club in Seattle to kids from all over the world. I had this big speech and thank you and I came out and just choked. So I was just like, \u0091We\u0092re Undertow\u0092 and the place just erupted. Like 20 kids went to the hospital for broken bones. We went to go visit them and they were like, \u0091No, this was the best time of my life.\u0092 So it was awesome.<\/p>\n
What does Himsa music mean to your life?<\/b>
\nJ: Passion. Anger. Brutality. Making kids have a good time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
HIMSA interview by mike bushman Rarely would I let someone else do my job of describing the vibe of a band. But their website captures the sentiment of the bands latest EP \u0091Death In Infinite\u0092 better than any words I could throw at you. For you too lazy (or too punk) to own a computer, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10026,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,17],"tags":[3233],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/modernfix.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10019"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/modernfix.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/modernfix.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernfix.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernfix.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10019"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/modernfix.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10019\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernfix.com\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/modernfix.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernfix.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernfix.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}