{"id":384,"date":"2014-03-01T23:29:58","date_gmt":"2014-03-02T07:29:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.modernfix.com.php72-4.lan3-1.websitetestlink.com\/?p=384"},"modified":"2014-03-01T23:29:58","modified_gmt":"2014-03-02T07:29:58","slug":"interview-cattle-decapitation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/modernfix.com\/interviews-2\/interview-cattle-decapitation\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview: Cattle Decapitation"},"content":{"rendered":"

(this interview originally appeared in issue #18 of Modern Fix Magazine in 2002).<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Cattle<\/a><\/p>\n

-interview by PR!<\/strong><\/p>\n

After a brutal and mesmerizing performance at the Chain Reaction, I had a chance to talk to the death\/grind band from San Diego, Cattle Decapitation. Amid the closing band\u2019s set, and the subsequent stream of leaving people, we sat on the tailgate of their truck and shot the shit about San Diego\u2019s scene, the future of the band and music, and some other crap that you\u2019ll only be able to find out by reading on…<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

So, you guys are in the process of getting signed to Metal Blade Records. How is that going?<\/strong>
\nTravis: Slow, but it could be a lot longer.<\/p>\n

What kinds of prospects are on the horizon for that?<\/strong>
\nT: Do shitloads of albums.<\/p>\n

You\u2019re going to be recording a new album in Florida, in like April you said? What\u2019s the title?<\/strong>
\nJosh: \u201cTo Serve Man\u201d<\/p>\n

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Why record in Florida?<\/strong>
\nT: With this kind of label, we have access to broader spectrum, I guess. \u00a0So we decided we want Erik Rutan, who did Morbid Angel, to do it. He\u2019s\u00a0open, and Metal Blade is really cool about hooking shit up.
\nJ: That was just kind of a name we threw out there as an ideal. And to see one\u2019s actual ideal, that\u2019s really cool.<\/p>\n

Does signing with a label like Metal Blade mean you\u2019ll be touring in a larger scale now?<\/strong>
\nT: Yeah.
\nJ: Oh, yeah.<\/p>\n

What excites you most about the signing?<\/strong>
\nT: Bigger tours, and being able to jump on with other bands.<\/p>\n

Is there anyone you guys would like to tour with, ideally?<\/strong>
\nT: You know, the bigger the better, I mean there are a lot of cool underground bands, but really we\u2019d like to hop on the some of bigger tours. And then go ahead and do our own latter. I\u2019d really like to bring Disgorged from Mexico. That would be the best, but we\u2019ll just have to see how it goes.<\/p>\n

What do you think about the San Diego scene? Is there an extreme scene brewing?<\/strong>
\nT: Stupid, pointless.
\nJ: There isn\u2019t. There isn\u2019t one. I mean the one that there is, is just a\u00a0bunch of shitty bar bands, and nobody cares.
\nT: There\u2019s Disgorged, and Deprecated, who I don\u2019t think are doing anything. Gutrot, finally.
\nJ: Mortuus Terror.
\nT: Mortuus Terror and Gutrot, and that\u2019s pretty much it. And us.
\nJ: Disgorged. Don\u2019t they just put out albums and maybe tour? They don\u2019t really play around, maybe occasionally.
\nT: That\u2019s what I\u2019d like to do. I mean, playing around is fun, I\u2019m glad we get the crowds we do down there.<\/p>\n

Is it hard being a San Diego Metal band? Not many places to play?<\/strong>
\nT: No, it\u2019s kind of always been that way. It\u2019s been like that since like \u201895, \u201894. In \u201895, when it kind of went away for a while, and fucking now, we fit in with the grindcore and the hardcore and shit, so people come, and they like it, and that\u2019s cool. As far as a metal scene, there isn\u2019t one really.<\/p>\n

Do you guys like playing at the Ch\u00e9 Cafe, or is it more of just a place to play?<\/strong>
\nT: It was fun at the beginning, but now it\u2019s getting kind of boring.
\nJ: The crowd kind of sucks. They just stand there.
\nTroy: Same old thing over and over. I\u2019d rather travel more. It\u2019s become draining.
\nJ: I mean, the environment there… like Troy said, it\u2019s really draining. I\u2019m just a baby, or getting old or something, but I\u2019d rather play at 7 o\u2019clock instead of waiting till 4:30 at night.
\nT: We always get stuck playing at the end.
\nJ: It\u2019s always like, I worked, got home, and then went to the show. And then basically, hurry up and wait, sit around for four and a half hours. I don\u2019t know if there is any blame to be placed, if it\u2019s the people who work there, the dynamic of things. So many bands, people trying to move their equipment and stuff.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Che Cafe in San Diego, CA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Last time you guys played there you went on really late, and I heard you complaining.<\/strong>
\nJ: Mightiness – one o\u2019clock usually.
\nTroy: Oh, god…
\nJ: Only \u2018cause of that, \u2018cause me and him (points to Travis) work. It\u2019s just, fuck, and then it becomes kind of competitive, and that\u2019s just stupid.
\nT: Everyone says this dumb shit: \u201cEveryone just wants to see you guys.\u201d Yeah right! Half the people are gone by the end of the night, by the time we go on.
\nJ: I don\u2019t blame them, there\u2019s like 4 or 5 bands and they get to like the first quarter of the 4th band, and they think \u201cI just want to go home.\u201d I don\u2019t blame them – I wouldn\u2019t want to be standing around through all that. You know, it just drains you, and it\u2019s just unfortunate. \u2018Cause there\u2019s a lot of good bands that play there.
\nT: You know, with the bars and shit, like Brick By Brick – that\u2019s pretty much the only one – when the big tours come through, we never get on \u2018cause we hear about it way too late, or they don\u2019t pay attention. So hopefully with Metal Blade we\u2019ll be able to combat that.<\/p>\n

Where else do you play around? I\u2019ve noticed you play here (Chain Reaction) several times.<\/strong>
\nT: We almost play in rotation. We play here, Koo\u2019s, which just closed down, and the Ch\u00e9.
\nTroy: Scolari\u2019s Office.
\nT: Fuckin\u2019 Scolari\u2019s Office is crazy.
\nTroy: Awesome place.
\nT: As far as San Diego, we don\u2019t play bars. But when we do, they suck usually. But this place goes off. It\u2019s this little dive bar out in the middle of San Diego.
\nJ: Tons of people come out too. It\u2019s rad.<\/p>\n

Where\u2019s it at?<\/strong>
\nT: North Park.
\nJ: 30th and University.
\nT: That\u2019s in North Park.<\/p>\n

How do you find out about shows, when they\u2019re going on?<\/strong>
\nT: My old guitarist, Gabe [Serbian, of the Locust] has brought us there, and they hook it up.
\nTroy: It\u2019s a different bar. It\u2019s not like Brick By Brick, where it\u2019s stamp the hand and wait around to be frowned at.
\nT: Basically, that place and Ch\u00e9, they show that San Diego is hit or miss. A lot of tours don\u2019t come through here for a reason.
\nJ: It\u2019s so close to LA, [so] they figure why bother. If these people want to see us that bad, they will drive up to LA.
\nT: And with bands like this, you really want to play more all ages shows instead of bars. I think a lot of bookers go for that.<\/p>\n

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Seems like there is a lot of conflict within the metal scene, because there is this pressure about the \u201cunderground\u201d and knowing the most minute, unheard of bands. And as soon a band gets a fan base, people stop listening because it\u2019s \u201csold out.\u201d<\/strong>
\nJ: Look at the Relapse message board [Relapse Records, www.relapse.com]. Any time any band gets remotely successful, they suddenly suck. I may really like all the really underground bands that they\u2019re talking about, but whatever.
\nT: Which really defeats the purpose.
\nJ: Yeah, if you notice, people in certain bands – and they\u2019re not \u201ccelebrities\u201d – they can put up their names, and people recognize them, and it\u2019s all \u201cGreat, we all love your band.\u201d Until the second you start to get noticed. \u201cOh so-and-so\u2019s paying attention to you.\u201d You don\u2019t even have to go on there and say we\u2019re getting noticed, if it\u2019s known through some other channel, and then people say your totally sold out. \u201cWhen\u2019s your tour bus going to arrive? Where are the hookers, when\u2019s the cocaine going to come in?\u201d<\/p>\n

So has your band gotten that backlash at all? Have your fans started to respond that way?<\/strong>
\nT: No, I\u2019ve seen some of that stuff that [John] talked about. For some reason the Relapse message board is the universal shit talking…
\nJ: Which doesn\u2019t mean I\u2019m not going to visit it every day.
\nT: Find out anything you want on anything, man. But not so much, and if so, then they are just trying to score indie points by being so independent or whatever – fuck that. That\u2019s stupid. What\u2019s the point of being in a band\u00a0if you\u2019re not going to try and do it full force.
\nJ: Otherwise, just sit in your house and play by yourself.<\/p>\n

How long has this lineup been together?<\/strong>
\nTroy: August 16, or something like that.
\nT: Yeah! We had to power train him [John] for a month because Gabe was on tour with the Locust in Europe. So we had to train him for this tour we did, and he ruled. I think he learned it all in one month.
\nJ: I learned it all in one month.
\nT: And we\u2019ve just been writing songs ever since.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the new album going to sound like?<\/strong>
\nT: Exactly like what we played tonight I guess.
\nJ: …minus the old songs.
\nT: …\u2019cause that\u2019s all we played tonight. I don\u2019t want to label it, but I guess you could say it\u2019s going to be more death metal than our other stuff. The other stuff was more harsh, but this is what we like doing.<\/p>\n

Are you guys listening to different bands while writing this album?<\/strong>
\nT: Sorta. Dave\u2019s fairly into Cryptopsy, Krisiun, Malevolent Creation, Suffocation…He\u2019s more into the bands with really good, fast drummers.
\nJ: I like the Cult, a lot.
\nT: I\u2019m really into Indian film music and American song poems right now.
\nTroy: And I love power metal.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

What kind of Power Metal?<\/strong>
\nTroy: Avantasia, Simbix, Iron Maiden. It\u2019s all about the old school.<\/p>\n

What do you think the most important band is for Cattle Decapitation?<\/strong>
\nT: Oh, Carcass.
\nJ: Yeah.
\nT: But now we\u2019re going to be Carcass clones, which is absurd.<\/p>\n

You guys have mentioned before, like when you played a Carcass cover at the Ch\u00e9, that you were talking back to the audience about how they label you as sounding just like Carcass.<\/strong>
\nJ: Which I don\u2019t think is accurate at all.
\nT: It\u2019s not at all – I mean, they aren\u2019t listening. You write the gory lyrics, and put a little bit of textbook terminology in there and dual vocals, and all of a sudden you\u2019re a Carcass clone. People don\u2019t pay attention to the music, they just look the aesthetics or whatever. But I don\u2019t think we\u2019re like them at all.<\/p>\n

For the vocals on the album, do you [Travis] record both, or does someone else help out?<\/strong>
\nT: Oh no, I do all of it.<\/p>\n

So you don\u2019t try to reproduce that live?<\/strong>
\nT: With teaching them, or whatever?
\nJ: We thought about it.
\nT: We thought about it, but we never really tried. It would sound cool, it would definitely sound cool, but I don\u2019t know. You know what? I wouldn\u2019t want it to sound just like the album live, it adds for a different…
\nJ: It adds another level of creativity.<\/p>\n

There is a certain kind of heavy metal band that likes to think of their sound as being static, and doesn\u2019t change. It sounds like you guys are still trying to reach creatively and expand your sound.<\/strong>
\nJ: This album, every song is kind of… different.
\nT: Changes.
\nJ: Yeah, progresses. Get better at what were doing, try to get it to flow\u00a0more.
\nT: We have the perfect chemistry right now, with these guys. \u2018Cause [Troy] joined like a year ago? And [John] has been with us since August, and it\u2019s just prime line up I think.<\/p>\n