Saturday, September 12, 2009

Inhuman


Article by Ama Reeves

Invasion: What is your role in Inhuman?
Mike: I am the lead singer/lyricist and founding member of the band, along with our guitarist Nick, who was actually the drummer for Inhuman when we started in 1995. I also book most of the shows and semi-manage the band as well.

Inv: This band has a long history. Can you give us a brief summary?
Mike: Inhuman started in the early summer of 1995 and it is now the fall of 2009 and we are still here. No breakups, no sellouts, no reunions and no bullshit. Our guitarist Joseph James has been with the band since 1997, our bassist Hank since 2000 and drummer Steve since 2006. Although Steve was in Inhuman from 2001 - 2003, he re-joined us in 2006. We added Nick as a 2nd guitarist in March of 2008 and we have been a 5 piece ever since.
We have put out 4 full length cds and one cdep, all on different labels, with the last being on I Scream Records with our best release to date "Last Rites", which came out in October 2007 in the USA and January 2008 in Europe.

Inv: Thats awesome. Can you tell us a little about I Scream Records for people out there who aren't familiar with them?
Mike: Well, I Scream is a label that started in Europe, Belgium to be exact in like 1994. But 3 yrs ago they opened up a US office which is now based in NY. I really don't want to shit talk, but I will say that we are no longer on the label and that is for the best scenario for us. We didn't feel that "Last Rites" was pushed at all and it was an unfortunate situation since we feel it is our best record to date and deserves to be heard. We hope to find a new label to call home soon.

Inv: What kind of line up changes of come about over the years?
Mike: We have had a few, mainly drummers since they are so hard to keep in any band it seems because most of them are usually in 3 other band or are insane, or both! But the core of the band, being myself, Joe and Hank, have been doing this for nearly 10 yrs straight on. Over the past 14 years as a band, I will say that every lineup change we have had has been for the better, so it's not that big of a deal. It's been the same vocals and the same people writing the songs for the last 2 or 3 records.

Inv: You are synonymous with New York hardcore.. how do your reactions fare outside the city?
Mike: Sometimes better than NY, sometimes not so much. Lateley we have done quite well when traveling outside of NYC which is great. NYC is a strange place sometimes. You have a good chunk of the crowd at a show in bands themselves or you have kids who don't think it is cool to move up front or dance, but then you have kids who love you and see at every show and those are the ones I play for. I do this for them and for my own selfish reasons I guess becuase I still love playing Hardcore.
Inv: What are some of the places you've been travelling to recently? What bands have you been playing with?
Mike: We played a cool festival in RI called the "Built To Last Fest" with some great bands like Wisdom in Chains, Madball, Strenth For A Reason and many others. Over the summer we did a sold out show in NYC with Sick of It All, Bane and Capital @ the Blender Theatre which will go down as one of our best shows ever in NYC. We have been to Europe, Canada the East Coast and the West Coast, but it has been a long time and we are dying to play out more again. It gets a bit hard with Joe's Agnostic Front schedle sometimes (Inhuman guitarist Joseph James has also been in Agnostic Front for 4 years) but we work it out.

Inv: You've often been referred to as a "compilation band" but over the years you've secured several releases. Do you think you've gotten out from under that title?
Mike: Actually, I think one review said that, which is odd because the last compilation Inhuman was on may have been about a decade ago. As a matter of fact, we would love to be on more compilations. So any labels reading this, do get in touch, ha. Being on a good compilation can get a band some nice exposure so it's not a bad thing. Not sure why anyone who knew the band would say that, but such is life.

Inv: Right now NYHC is at an all time high in popularity in the hardcore scene. I see Merauder shirts going for hundreds of dollars on ebay. ha ha. Has this caused an influx of new fans?
Mike: Since "Last Rites" came out, we have got a lot of new fans and for that I am thrilled. As far as NYHC being at an all time high...I beg to differ. Being from Mass or Long Island or even Cali is "cooler" than NYC these days. Some of the really good labels arent even looking at NYC bands and that is a shame. As far as Merauder goes, they are great friends of mine and I had the honor of being on the bands new cd "God Is I", where I co -wrote and song on the track "Built on Blood". I want anyone and everyone reading this to get the new Merauder cd, it is their best since "Master Killer" or maybe even better than that one! I grew up with Merauder and I am happy to see them put out a new cd after so long. RIP to my brother SOB
Inv: Oh trust me! Your time is coming. Bands out here in California like Downpresser and Ruckus are really striving to emulate the NYHC sound and with a label like Reaper it's only a matter of time before NYC actually realizes it's a cool kid again ha ha. Was working on the Merauder record a challenge since they're coming from a new writing standpoint?
Mike: It was an honor to work on that track for the new Merauder record. I have known Jorge since 1988/1989 and was at Merauder's second show ever in 1990, when Minus was the singer. Being from Brooklyn, back then I had a band called Confusion ( I was the bassist) and Confusion and Merauder did countless shows together in the early 90's. The track "Built on Blood" was just about done as far as the lyrics went but all of the music was done and when I heard the song I was blown away! I wrote my part right there in the studio, after Jorge gave me the scoop on what the song was about and what he wanted to say in it. I really like how both or our voices mix together, very hard and brutal. It was a lot of fun and I'd love to work with more bands in the future if ever asked.

Inv: Your current art work is awesome! Who's the artist?
Mike: Thanks for noticing! All Inhuman artwork, t-shirts and flyers are done by our bassist Hank and he does a great job every time! He did the layouts and covers for "Last Rites", "The New Nightmare" and "Black Reign" as well as our shirst for the last 8 yrs or so and many flyers. Hank may be doing work for other bands soon, so check out our myspace or facebook pages for info on that.

Inv: There is a slight horror vibe to your music, is this intentional?
Mike: I am a huge horror fan with several hundred horror and exploitation dvds. Although we are a Hardcore band, I don't think we should be limited to writing about the Hardcore scene or society or feeling etc. Sometimes I am as moved by a film as I am by something that happens in real life so I almost feel compelled to write about it. On the "Last Rites" cd there is a song called "Grindhouse" which is not about the film from 2007, but about Times Square in NYC in the from the late 60's to the early 90's where they showed some of the sickest movies ever made on the big screen. It was also inspired by a book about the Times Square moviehoueses called "Sleazoid Express" which I highly recomed for anyone interested in film or NYC history.
Inv: I'm a big fan of horror myself. We could probably do a whole interview just about that ha ha. What are some of your favorite films? Do you still love Dario Argento in 2009?
Mike: Hmmm..something says to me that you too hated "Mother of Tears" as well perhaps? Well, yes I am still a huge fan of Dario Argento in 2009. So much so that I spent nearly $50 to get to meet him and have him sign a few dvds sleeves this past June @ the Fangoria Convention in NYC. This was the 2nd time I met him actually, the first was in 1999 @ yes, the Fangoria Convention as well! Only back then I cut a huge line and paid nothing to have him sign a "Demons" vhs sleeve, which is now also signed by Lamberto Bava and framed on my wall at home. Here are my all time top 20 horror favorites in semi-order: 1. The Shining 2. The Exorcist 3. Suspiria 4. Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Hooper) 5. Halloween (Carpenter)6. The Beyond (Fulci) 7. Hellraiser 8. Phantasm 9. The Thing (Carpenter) 10. Cannibal Holocaust 11. Tenebre 12. Deep Red 13. Audition 14. Last House on The Left 15. Bram Stoker's Dracula 16. Dawn of the Dead (Romero) 17. Maniac 18. Last House on Dead End Street 19. An American Werewolf in London 20. Nightbreed

Inv: Ha ha, yes Mother of Tear's was a terrible film and a let down to the Triology, so what do you have coming up? Shows? New Albums? Tours?
Mike: We are in the process of writing a new record and finding a new record label for Inhuman to call home as we are no longer with I Scream.
We are always playing around the Northeast and hope to get out West once a new cd comes out, which should be in 2010 sometime.
Check out our websites www.myspace.com/inhuman, www.facebook.com/inhuman and www.inhumanlegion.com to see what we are up to.
Thanks a lot for the interview and thanks to all who support the Cult of Inhuman.

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