Demise Of All Reason

How did you guys all decide to on the band name “Name”?

- Originally, it was the name of my solo project where I wrote and recorded all the instruments myself. But when our band at the time, about 4 years ago, dissipated, it just worked out nice due to the various meanings behind the name. 1, we know that the name "name" doesn't limit us to a genre. When you hear "Cannibal Corpse" you think death metal... Not with name.. It also stands for "The New Approach to Martyrs' Expressions". We're artists and believe strongly in what it is were doing, that will never change. Its also a tongue-in-cheek thing, because WHO names there band "name"? Regardless, you don't forget that shit.

There are a lot of bands that play your genre of music and many people call it a genre that is overdone. How do you guys go about sounding original and still keep everything fresh all at the same time?

- As individuals, our musical collection is a bit ridiculous. We find ourselves always listening to something completely different then another member at that time, then after awhile, it shifts... As a collective, we're really bitter and disgusted with the current sordid state of music and the lack of art in such. We feel the frustration behind our intolerance to stagnant preconceptions of music fuels our creative process. We make the music we enjoy hearing, that will always be the basis of this band and we will ALWAYS evolve.

If you had to think about that one moment in your life that convinced you to play in or start a band it would be…?

- I was always influences by ALL the music around me growing up. But certain moments are kind of blurry to me. I know one was when I was young, I went to an Ozzfest, it was incredible. Seeing the energy of how many people came together over intense, aggressive music blew my mind. Also seeing bands live and hearing them over and over again their records just stewed it in me. Bands like Soundgarden, Deftones, Napalm Death, Cannibal Corpse, Led Zepplin, Tears for Fears, Depeche Mode, Miles Davis, etc. I'm just head over heels inlove with music.

Being in a band is hard work and to crown it all, you guys had a very bad car accident last year. How has all the bad experiences made you guys stronger and most important of all better at what you do?

- The van accident was a terribly unfortunate thing to happen. This band is infamous for its shitty luck, but we run through it because we love what we do. When it happened, it put us out about 5 or 6 months. We lost everything, including members and our homes due to debt. So it took a while to recover from all that. For a few months there we were basically done, we were just to injured and disheartened to make an announcement. But when I finally mustered up the courage to do so, I saw the comments from our fans leaving the most amazing things, it sparked back in us. We know that sounds cheesy, but if it hadn't been for the fans, we wouldn't of pulled through. So since they did that for us, we're trying to give as much as we can back. We just want to hit the road again and have an experience together. Create stories with each and every one of them. Everyone deserves a chance at uncompromising release, we're just hoping we can be a part of that.

You also have a cool Jazz vibe going on in your music. What aspects in the bands music are you guys working on improving, and how much work still needs to be done to get more bands like yourselves greater exposure to a greater audience?

- Most of us are classically trained jazz musicians and we just appreciate the art form in general, regardless. Its so free, chaotic, thoroughly unpredictable... We like to apply that to everything we do so every time is an experience, for us and the listeners... For anyone out there trying to do something honest, it's hard as hell. It's like swimming upstream in a seeming river of monotonous, meaningless, heartless shit. Art is dying and they're pulling the trigger.

How much do you guys try to perform in a month, and can a band ever perform too much?

- I dont think we could ever see ourselves performing to much. We're addicted to the stage, its the greatest release any of us could ask for, so we give it everything we have every single time we're on that stage. That sometimes can take a toll physically, but we're cutting corners and we're just gonna let it catch up to us in 25 years or so, heh.

Would you consider yourselves more of a live act than a recording act or the other way around?

- Recording and Live are two seperate beasts. We take both very seriously. We more sell the aspect of our creativity as musicians through the recordings, but we present the experience through our live show. See for yourself.
How much preparation goes into your live shows, and where do you like to perform the most and why?

- Not too much preparation. Just a lot of focusing, stretching, laughing, smiling... We just get excited and focus that energy to when we hit the first note. LOTS AND LOTS of stretching. No real particular place that we like to play. Honestly? Anywhere out of our area, honestly. Don't get me wrong, I love the Bay area, an incredible amount. But it always feels good to get back out there and meet new people. We've been part of this scene for so long out here, we know literally EVERY band involved in our genre and theres no surprises anymore. They are great people, but I enjoy the aspect of being cut away from the daily habitat and meeting new people.

What have you guys heard about South Africa and would you ever consider playing a few shows over here?

- We haven't heard too much about music out there, but we would LOVE to go out there. It would be an experience that we would usually never see ourselves doing. That's always exciting.

Are you planning to release any new material in the near future?

- Yes, we're actually recording our record in June with producer Matt Bayles (Mastodon, Isis, Minus The Bear, Norma Jean, etc) who is AMAZING. We've been fans of his work for a long, long time. So we're incredibly excited about that experience. The album should be out before the end of the year.

Making the type of music you guys do, what type of music do you guys usually listen to and are there any other bands that you know of that people should go and check out?

- Theres way too much to listen to. Personally? There are bands like Yes, Karsh Kale, Jaga Jazzist, Engineer, Coalesce, Massive Attack, Hate Eternal, Sade, Deftones... I'm on a huge Blonde Redhead kick.. Right now: Blonde Redhead, The Beatles, Led Zepplin, Bad Brains, alot of grind, noise, trip hop, drum and bass... I try to steer away from alot of heavy music to avoid an indirect influence when we write since Jeremy and myself write the material... Bands people should check out, our friends in: A Black Rose Burial, Thousandswilldie, Rise of Caligula, The Dajjal Persona, Century, Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza, Worker Bee, and anyone else you'll see on our upcoming tour.

Where can people find out more about the band?

- Our myspace. We definitely will have a website up and running before the albums release, but our myspace allows us to get involved with anyone who listens to us. If you want to talk to us, let us know whats HAT'NIN!

Any last comments or people you would like to thank?

- Thank YOU for this opportunity and thank you to the people who are actually taking the time out to read this, you're amazing and we appreciate everything about you all. We look forward to seeing you out on the road this summer... and fucking destroying all of you. - Fireangeldesign.co.za