It’s been said time and time again, but Melt-Banana are as unique as bands come. Now well into the third decade of their career, Yako (vocals) and Agata (guitar) are still writing and touring their brand of light-speed noise rock with rare, enduring levels of excitement and proficiency. Now on the verge of a 15-date UK tour (the band’s eleventh on British shores), the pair found time to fill us in at Sputnik on their past experiences in the UK, their hopes for this tour, and a few hints about their elusive upcoming record…
JohnnyoftheWell/Sputnikmusic: Hello! Thanks so much for taking the time to chat! Is this a busy time for Melt-Banana? Do you have much to do to prepare for your upcoming tour?
Agata: Hello. I think we are quite busy! Besides preparing for the UK tour, we are also working on new songs for our next album.
Yako: Hello. We constantly play shows in Japan when we are not on tour — like once or twice a month.
For anyone unfamiliar with you, would you mind explaining the essence of Melt-Banana?
A: If I need to explain our music to my parents’ friends, I say we play rock music, but a little bit faster, along with using noise sounds.
Y: Yes, we usually say we are a rock band basically. It is quite difficult to explain ‘sounds’. Maybe it is simple to say ‘fast loud rock with female vocals and effected, unique guitar, music like…
For once, it’s truly pertinent for me to state where a band are from rather than it being a formality — Seizures, metalcore band from Dana Point, California, have created an album which encapsulates a complex relationship between band and hometown, as well as their past and present. If you’ve heard The Sanity Universal, then you hardly need any introduction to the band; it definitively establishes Seizures’ dizzyingly detailed and dense songwriting, characteristics which the newly released Reverie of the Revolving Diamond embodies and expands on. I spoke with guitarist Albert Navarro on the creation of Reverie of the Revolving Diamond; here, he describes the (intriguing) compositional process and his influences, and also provides insight into the themes and stories illustrated within the album.
Claire: It’s immediately apparent that Reverie of the Revolving Diamond is a different beast from your last full-length album, The Sanity Universal — the former is more condensed and arguably more focused, with the introduction of a jazzy dynamic that I see has been aptly tagged as surfcore. What were your main motivations for this particular shift in sound, and what sort of experiences have shaped the creation of Reverie… in comparison to those informing The Sanity Universal? Furthermore, would you consider the split with Arms a precursor to this significant change?
Albert: TSU started off as a batch of songs, some newer and some way older than others. It wasn’t until the recording of it that we realized how much spontaneous experimentation was happening. Nathan (my brother, guitarist)…
Kyle Bates is the primary creative force behind the Portland-based experimental lo-fi project Drowse. I say “primary” because Drowse has taken the form of a collaborative space, with Bates as the singularity in the centre. This year, he released Light Mirror, an album highly influenced by his time spent in residency in Iceland. I decided to reach out to Kyle, since he seems pretty cool for a guy named Kyle; and, when it comes to bedroom recording, his intuitions are almost unmatched.
Tristan: You mentioned, at one point, how your newest album Light Mirror “marks the first time [you’ve] been able to translate [your] intention directly into sound” (and not having to struggle with technical hurdles). I have a couple questions: 1. if you had to describe this intention in writing, what would that look like on paper?, and 2. If I assume that the limited resources you had at your disposal during your Iceland residency forced you to be more resourceful, then it’s interesting that you were able to pull this off and not concede to artistic compromises. How do you think it all worked out?
Kyle: When I wrote that I was addressing sonic intention, in terms of lyrical meaning and songwriting Cold Air conveys my intention as well. While recording I am often pushing towards two seemingly polarized extremes: a warm, lo-fi style perfected by bands like Duster, and this clear, detailed way of sculpting sound found in the work of musicians…
State Faults is a band that hardly needs any introduction on this site. Coming off of a 6-year hiatus, they’ve received universal acclaim for their newest album, Clairvoyant. Lead singer and guitarist Johnny Calvert-Andrew was kind enough to correspond with me about their comeback. Enjoy, y’all.
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Slex: First, I wanted to address the hiatus. What brought you guys back together? Is it safe to say you guys are here to stay?
Jonny Calvert-Andrew:Well we had tried a couple times getting together and playing the songs but the spark wasn’t really there. Last year Noisey published an article listing R/D as like a top ten hardcore record of the decade or something, and that got us looking around and realizing people were still listening and waiting. We each got the itch, went into the practice space again around September or October of last year and this time the spark caught flame, it felt like we were a brand new band.
S: Seeing as how you guys are a 3 piece now, how has that changed the dynamic? Did it make songwriting more difficult, or less?
JCA: It certainly changed our writing dynamic. I think it forced us to be more rhythmically interesting you know? Our older songs more or less relied on dual guitar parts for dynamics. Switching to one guitar, I had to make the riffs interesting haha. It was way more fun honestly instead of having to come up with rhythm and lead parts. This…
At the time of writing this, I don’t know where Remorse are from, I don’t know when they formed, I don’t know even who they are. What I do know that they are an oppressively harsh sludge group that offers a blackened, noisy approach to the kind of metal played by bands like Dystopia, Grief, and Eyehategod. It’s a intense sound, one that feeds into paranoia and anxiety (this is a positive, mind you), but is also fiery and cathartic, biting at anyone dumb enough to get close to it. There’s some subtle melodies hidden underneath but, that’s not what you or I are here for, we’re here for the distorted noise and pummeling, industrial percussion, as well as the dissonant, murky guitar and bass tones.
But, other than sound and mission statement (“Think about your faults. Remorse is entirely antifascist and intersectional feminist”), I know very little about the project and, because I’m either a curious writer or a nosey prick (take your pick), I’m very eager to get a hold of them and ask a few questions. I’m also very eager to spread the word about their record, Inward, as it’s a hell of an introduction to the world of sludge metal. It’s very obviously a labor of hatred to the evils and prejudices of mankind, the kind of which that’s made to suck your soul out of your body as you headbang along.
This series is a new effort to highlight artists on Bandcamp by talking with them, discussing their music, and why I find it rad.
Mental Fatal, a three piece out of New Zealand, are the definition of a garage punk group. Rough around the edges in all the right ways, the group is the kind of project made for the internet age of music distribution – DIY punk with enough energy to take down a fortress (one most likely made of capitalism). Using that raw aesthetic that hundreds of bands try to either shed or embrace to their advantage, songs like “Jeffree,” “Reckless Times,” and “Burning People” all bring that snotty groove and power pioneered by the likes of the Circle Jerks and the Dead Kennedys and the burning intensity of Choking Victim.
Because I so earnestly believe in the quality of their product and admire the fruits of their labor, I wanted to shine a spotlight on these garage-destroyers from Christchurch and their lovable jams – below you will find a condensed showcase of the brand of throw-a-chair-through-window punk titled The Virus. It’s a lively little bugger, short enough for you to listen to on a lunch break or between chores (or whatever you may be doing with your time), but long enough for the band to make their presence known to the listener.
I had even had an opportunity to ask the group some questions:
that band with the 3.6 seconds of free jazz after the riff
In the past month, we’ve welcomed a widely-diverse group of users into the fold, four of which made the grade and got the illustrious Staff tag and all that came with it. To mark this occasion, we took some time to get to know our new Staff members, each getting an interview like no other. For volume one, we sat with Clavier to see what got her to this point…
Alright, so first and foremost, congratulations on the well-deserved promotion to staff.
Thank you! It still feels a bit weird to think about that, because I remember going on Sputnik many years back and thinking “yeah, I’m never going to be able to write a review”.
I see a lot of current contributors and staff members had the same mindset, just dropping in quietly, putting a review or two out, never thinking it’d be anything too major. But what do you know? I guess something clicked one day for you?
I actually have to credit verdant’s writing as the initial inspiration for me. I’m not sure why exactly I had the sudden urge to write my first piece, but I recall reading his stuff back in May 2017 and thinking about how lyrical reviews could come across as. It made me realize that the review format was a lot more flexible than I’d initially thought of it as.
Despite the name, noise rock gone post punk group Ed Schrader’s Music Beat is primarily two people, Ed Schrader and Devlin Rice. Both take part in writing and performing brilliantly sharp hooks and idiosyncratic melodies, especially on the superb Riddles, which you can read about here. Alternatively you could listen to the album or see them live, check this bandcamp for their albums and information on their tour.
I recently had a chance to ask Ed Schrader himself a few questions about modern music, what music means to him, and more.
Sean:Thank you so much for your time, I’d like to start with one specific question. What does music mean to you?
Ed: I don’t think I am qualified to answer this but I’ll try. When I am not on tour or performing, music just means a fun place where I can escape judgment entering in and out of many worlds of sound. Sometimes it’s nostalgia and comfort, like listening to an early 90’s playlist. Other times it is escape, that’s when I turn to Elton John’s Ice On Fire, a weird, polished, mechanical mess that always pleases! Music is tofu – it’s whatever you want.
Sean: Music has a big part in all of our lives. When did you first get into music? Who were your original go-to artists? Do you think their influences have a part in your current style?
ITEM, a Cleveland-based indie rock group, came into my life as a surprise discovery by a friend. I was immediately entranced by the sleepy absurdity of Sad Light, which ends up juxtaposing heavily with its most poignant moments — tales of environmental destruction and emotional dysfunction meeting with non-sequiturs and childlike playfulness. I spoke to Dylan Glover, the band’s vocalist and synth player, about the themes and basis of Sad Light, his take on composition, and the importance of humour in ITEM’s music.
This transcript has been condensed and edited.
It seems like there is a lot of absurdity, humour, and medical references in the lyrics. How did you come to settle on these particular themes for Sad Light?
I’m wondering how to even begin answering that, because one thing begets another thing begets another thing. How it began — I’m trying to think what the first song I wrote was on the record. Lyrically, I want to say it was “Horse Pill”, which is inherently medical — it is related to pharmaceutical drugs and my problem with them — so that opened the floodgates for the rest of the album to have a medicinal, medical theme; there’s a lot of mention of medical environments, hospitals. It was because that laid the groundwork for all of those themes that it just kept expanding on those basic ideas. And absurdist humour is just me coming out in full form — I feel like if I didn’t respect…
One Friday afternoon a few weeks ago, I was routinely digging around for new music when I stumbled across “Guilt” in the New Blood section of Spotify. Within the song’s opening seconds, I was hooked. Seeped in a thick, dismal atmosphere, this morose offering hit me in the face like 1,000 hammers. It sounded tough, menacing and, most importantly, fresh. This powerviolence trio from Manchester, UK is called Leeched and they’re out for blood. Formed in 2017, the band have already caused sizeable waves in the underground metal scene with last year’s EP, Nothing Will Grow From the Rotten Ground– an abrasive blend of grind and hardcore. 2018 is set to be an even bigger year for them as they tour with Full of Hell and prepare to unleash hell with their debut album next month. I’ve recently had the pleasure of talking to the band’s frontman and bassist, Laurie, to discuss lyrics, songwriting and what their live shows set out to create.
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Simon: Firstly, thanks for your time. I’ll break the ice by asking the obvious: how did you guys form the band and what were your goals for writing music?
Laurie: Thanks for taking an interest! Tom [drums] and I knew each other from previous bands and we knew Judd [guitar] mutually. We started Leeched as a side project which quickly took over our lives. As for aspirations, our goal was to see…
To those of you who actually keep up with this: I thank you. This week’s interview was meant to have a ~secret~ guest, although he was unfortunately unable to make it tonight (therefore, he’ll be making his appearance on a future interview). But more importantly, I sat down with TheLongShot, fellow Beach Boys and Elton John enthusiast and talked for an ungodly amount of time (4hrs, 13mins to be exact). LongShot earned himself a one-way ticket to the frontpage with his stellar review of Kacey Musgraves’ Golden Hour, which can be read here.
Cocaine is a hell of a drug.
So, with every interview, as redundant as it is, how did you discover Sputnik? Was it the rockin’ Web 2.0 layout or the ghost town-esque comment section at 5 A.M. that attracted you to mx’s humble abode?
Amazingly, the aesthetic was not the main draw. I had known of Sputnik for some time, but I hadn’t bothered to check it out further until about a year ago. I’m the head administrator of this other music-related website called The Range Place, and one of the primary contributors on there is a semi-frequent Sputnik poster (he goes by IhateMana on TRP and Jasdevi087 on Sputnik). After hearing him talk it up on the TRP Discord, I decided to check it out, and within one day I had made an account, posted a review for Queen’s Innuendo, and also posted a…
On the third round of interviews, I’ve received the opportunity to pick at ‘ol Young Bloon, resident Ween fan #2 and devoted Goofcore (what is it???) follower. I proceeded to stuff my face with chinese food as he told me his life story and then some, but when it came down to it, Bloon was just like me: another dude on his computer on a Friday night. How did this turn out? Wonderfully…as wonderful as Billywitchdoctor.com showing up at your front door, perhaps. If you want to know Bloon some more, just peep his stellar review for Deen Ween’s Rock2 here.
You won’t like Bloon when he’s angry…
I’m gonna start this off relatively simple, something everybody’s gotta a story for: how did you find Sputnik? Were you forced to sign up one day at gunpoint or were you feeling ~experimental~ in your teenage curiosity? Although, I could be entirely off the mark and you may be some 40-something roleplaying as a teenage boy on the internet….just like my Dateline VHS!
Well, it’s probably more close to the first one. A very good friend of mine, on Sput as BBGames, called me one day on Skype and told me to make an account, saying we could keep track of the albums we listened to. I joined the same day and started rating my CD collection. I’ve only been on the site for a little bit but I am very glad he told me…
Yet again, the review competition featured some fine entries in which I had to sit for a moment to evaluate my options. This time around, I had the pleasure of chatting it up with granitenotebook, who won the competition with his review of DJ Taye’s Still Trippin’, which you can read here.
(And to anyone interested in future iterations of the competition, I’ll further emphasize this aspect of the game: it’s bi-weekly. The next competition will take place on the week of March 16th. This allows for a week’s time for all entries and for me to not get burnt out on the process. A winning strategy hopefully? Now, on to the interview…)
Look, I could make a shitty joke here but I got nothin’.
…uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh so to start things off (along with congrats on winning this review comp) how did you stumble upon the website? Was it by curiosity or was it due to Wikipedia citing some bad 2006 staff review?
Thanks, I actually don’t remember. I got here around 2013, lurked for a while, and then made an account in 2014 when I wrote a review I thought was good enough to publish (a tbt of Since I Left You (Avalanches), which kind of destroyed the point), but I don’t actually remember what led me to finding a website that didn’t even focus on the kind of music I liked at the time. it happened…
So, with the blessing of those who will not be named though know who they are, our lovely expose on the users of Sputnikmusic shall make a bi-weekly return to no remarkable avail; with little haste on my end, the first of the revived series ended in a crossfire of three reviews that all took a trip to the ~features~ queue, but in the end, TheBoneyKing won an all-expense paid trip to meet yours truly for a one-on-one interview that ultimately revealed Boney’s level of thinking to be far superior to my pea-brained self and by proxy, all of Sputnik. In a way, he really made me think! And with such a fierce appetite for knowledge, Boney has an equally voracious hunger for Indie and Americana (or alt-country idk); his review of Brandi Carlile’s By The Way, I Forgive You can be read here.
~Boney’s true form~
Let’s start with the beginning of the user known to all as TheBoneyKing: how did you come to find sputnik in the first place? What drew you to this wonderfully outdated music website and its community?
I remember when I was first falling down the wonderful rabbit hole that is music, I spent a lot of time reading about albums on Wikipedia and Sputnik reviews would often be linked on those pages. Usually these were klap or SowingSeason reviews due to the kind of music I was exploring at the time. So I was aware…
TalonsOfFire here – This is the second of a series of staff on staff interviews. Arcade and I decided to keep things conversational, but in the interest of clarity, my posts are bold. Enjoy!
I’m glad to finally see someone else enjoyed the new LCD Soundsystem as much as I did. Why do you think it got such a mixed reaction from so many fans that were initially excited that the band were back?
I’ll be honest, I wasn’t under the impression American Dream was doing too poorly until they cancelled their Australian tour recently and chalked it up to ‘scheduling conflicts,’ or some other code for ‘nobody’s buying.’ It’s especially jarring considering the hullabaloo around a year or 2 ago that made it seem like this was meant to be the next big comeback. Blogs were hyping this as a bigger deal than the Guns n’ Roses reunion, and now here we are, with what is probably their worst album yet.
But (and I hate to say this because it’s actually the stupidest thing to say and doesn’t articulate very much, but whatever I’ll say it anyway) that’s still pretty good, considering Sound of Silver and This is Happening are meant to be classics of that whole David Byrne soundalike New York thing that was inexplicably big about 15 years ago. In that sense, I think American Dream was sufficient synth bullshit for that audience of guys in their 30s with receding hairlines and a evangelical love of New…
