Indestructible Noise Command interview with Erik
Indestructible Noise Command
INC
Erik Barath – Guitar
Tony Fabrizi – Guitar
Dennis Gergely – Vocals
Dennis Leeflang – Drums
Samuel J. Roon – Bass
They’ve been in the game for quite some time, and Indestructible Noise Command (often referred to as INC)Â is back after years of silence with a new album out this May.
Recently, I spoke with Erik Barath about the new album, the UFC, their banned music video and more. Â Check it out!!
Erik Barath, guitar
You all have been playing music for over 20 years. Do you feel like you’ve changed a lot as a band in those years or stayed pretty true to your original?
Well probably the most controversial aspect to us coming back is that we’re nothing like we used to be. Since our Bleed the Line EP came out last January, we’ve made so many new fans and our old fans are like, “Hey why don’t you guys sound like Razorback or The Visitor?†and ya know, it’s kind of unreasonable to expect to a band that wrote their first two albums at 17 years old to sounds the same. We’re different people, now we’re 40, we have a whole different take on life and on song writing. We still have some of the aspects we had in the original band. We like to mix things up, we don’t like to box ourselves up in one style, but we’re a little more serious now. We sang a little and we had goofier themes back then, and now we’re more aggressive, vocals are more aggressive. We’re just a heavier version of the original INC. It’s INC on steroids on and crystal meth.
What made you go with darker, more brutal lyrics in the new songs? Is this years up pent up anger coming out or did something happen?
Ever since I’ve been writing songs, it’s been organic. Whatever pops up or pops out. I never plan to write a song about this or that, it’s just whatever comes out and just let it happen. Let them take you where they take you has been my philosophy. Now we’re a bit older and all this crazy shit is happening so we’re taking on the more moden, serious themes. In high school, you wanna get famous, get laid, it’s all you care about. The world has become more serious to us.
I read that you’re re-working some of your older songs. Can you tell us which ones you plan to re-release?
We’re going to re-release our first two albums. But now we want reestablish ourselves so… once we get going we want to remaster the first two albums, clean the sound, modernize, etc… We aren’t re-recording them as of yet, but I wouldn’t mind doing that on a future album. We plan to rerelease the old stuff. The old label folded so you cant even find the older stuff except on eBay.
The photo on the cover of your Bleed the Line EP is a blood splattered man covering his eyes. Can you tell us the reasoning behind the photo?
It’s the song about the German cannibal arem weiwez. The inspiration behind the song was him, so when I hooked up with the dude that did the cover, I told him what I wanted, hiding his face in shame covered in blood and all that. He took an actual photo of a guy and then animated and photoshopped the blood and everything.
The original video for God Loves Violence was banned from YouTube after only two weeks. Did you suspect that might happen due to it’s graphic content?
I really didn’t think they would ban it. I thought we’d get complaints, of course. The original video was actual terrorist videos blowing stuff up and everything. Basically it was like a YouTube collage with us in-between performing. We weren’t trying to make a video for MTV, it was for our site and YouTube, we did it ourselves, filming each other and it came out cool at the end. I don’t know if some muslim groups complained or what it was, but all of a sudden this video was banned due to graphic content. All the stuff is from YouTube so… bunch of hypocrites.
Can it be viewed anywhere?
I’ve seen it online after it was banned. Someone grabbed it and has it up somewhere. the original was popular but this one maybe has like 100 views. If you google it, it should pop up somewhere and hopefully people will make copies and it will spread more. Our YouTube account got banned for trying to re upload it actually.
Do you still feel like sports are a waste of time or are you becoming a fan of any teams now a days?
Because of the UFC, theres been a marriage with sports and metal. Football, NASCAR; they’re more like country music stuff and baseball is more hip hop. With metal though, it found a home with the UFC. We’re huge UFC fans, the track RAIN off the album, I wrote for the UFC. I wanted to write something to show them how I appreciate them and I think since UFC, there has finally been a sport that gets metal and metal gets that sport.
What is your opinion on all the nu-metal bands popping up? A Day To Remember, Bring Me the Horizon… are you a fan of what they’re doing or are they bringing a bad name to metal?
I’ve always been the kind of person to keep an open mind. I’m not one of these purists, they drive me crazy. They’re like, “Oh your’e not the original, so you sold out.†When I listen to the internet radio and something pops up and it’s not exactly my genre, ya know, if I like it I like it, if not, oh well. BMTH came up once and really, some of their shit is alright. I don’t like some of it, but Diamonds Aren’t Forever, that song is tight! I don’t know ADTR, but BMTH is alright. If you’re in a band and you’re doing what you like, it’s cool with me. I don’t really judge.
Your fans are eager to know what caused you guys to drop off the metal radar?
It was just success and failure are just a series of fortunate and unfortunate events. The break up was a series of unfortunate events. the record company wasn’t really supporting us. They didn’t offer any tour support so we couldn’t tour. We left the label and we were close to getting signed to a major label. It was to the point where the contracts were written but the A&R guy that was going to sign up got fired and then his bands were wiped off. We were without a label playing shows for like, 50 people and suddenly the air gets sucked out of the room. It’s like a marriage… it’s good until the money runs out! We love each other like brothers but after a while it’s like, what are we doing? We had no place to go so we went our separate ways. With things the way they are now, we can make some history.
You’ve got a new full length coming out soon. Are you nervous at all at how old fans will react?
Yup, in May! I speak for the band that we’re all really proud of what we did here. Anyone in the band will say you have to be the biggest fan of what you do. The minute you write for other people and not yourself is when you need to hang it up. Do what you love and do you what you feel. The old fans don’t have to buy it if they don’t like it, but it’s 100 % where we wanna be and it’s been great so far. If we lose old fans, we have an ocean of new fans and I hope the old fans stick around but some of them want us to be like we were in 1987 and we’re not those kids anymore.
If anyone out there hears our stuff on the radio or internet and they’re thinking of buying it, PLEASE DO. This is a record financed by us and two of the guys in the band are fireman so those guys are worked a ton of overtime get this out there. So is instend of illegally downloading it for free somewhere, go support it if you like it. We’re blue collar guys working our ass off to make our dream come true. Buy the record, support the band. We’re looking forward to the next one.
To learn more about INC, check out:
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About the Author
Denise Borders 39, Los Angeles. Denise founded PWV in 2008 and remains the primary manager and photographer/videographer. She is not secretly obsessed with Joey Cape.
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