Southern Lord Artist Centuries Interview Up !!!
1. For my reader tell us a bit about out Centuries
came to be and your explosive crust/sludge/ noisecore sound.
Dan and I (Vincent) were in a previous band when we
were very young, and later when we started Centuries, Eric was one of
this first of our friends to join. We really had no clue what we were
doing; we just felt things out as we went. It was something we had to
do. We essentially grew up together playing in this band, and I
believe that’s what got us through the tougher times. Other members
came and left, but the three of us have remained constant, and for us
the band became an increasingly serious commitment and mandatory
aspect of our lives.
The sound gradually changed. We wanted something that
was based in heavy hardcore, but remained fast and driving. Something
that had emotional elements and got lost in itself, yet remained
focused. We gradually developed something of our own style, and
hopefully we’ll continue to accomplish something new and genuine
with our writing.
2. From listening to your debut of southern lord
several times in a row now. I Hear influences like His hero is gone,
cavity, Oathbreaker and Integrity . Is this something the band would
agree on and were did your influences come from?
To give a completely honest answer, I believe His
Hero is Gone would be the only band from that list that has had any
influence on us. There’s something about the eeriness and depth of
HHIG songs that no band has been able to touch, so it’s flattering
to hear that a band like that is reflected in our album.
Early on we were influenced by a strange array of
“dark hardcore” bands, and although that broad genre was very
fitting for what we loved to hear and loved to play, it took us a
long while to find our footing in that style of writing. Eric is the
primary songwriter, and I think that he took a great pleasure in
using odd chord arrangements and minor keyed progressions at very
fast punk pacing. Later on bands like Tragedy and Martyrdöd
influenced us to maintain an un-breaking flow with song-to-song
writing.
3. The post hardcore scene is a vibrant one right
now. Do you think the times and strife of the day bring out more
bands like this again?
I hope so. There’s certainly a lot to chew on
politically, with society and world events playing out like something
from 20th century dystopian literature, but I hope bands don’t
get bogged down in purely political writing. In my opinion, bands’
lyrics and styles can get too hung up on the technical elements, and
ignore the important emotional emphasis. If we’re thinking of the
same thing when we say “post hardcore,” then it’s the emotional
elements of such bands that make the genre important.
4. How did you come to work with Southern lord a very
important label today in the extreme underground music movement.
We were on tour when we received a brief email from
Greg asking to hear some of our earlier releases. It took us
completely by shock, and we mailed him our previous records as soon
as we got home. As time went on, we remained in touch and at his
request, provided a demo of our newest songs, which later became the
beginning of the Taedium Vitae release. It was all very surreal, and
it still feels that way at times. We're incredibly grateful for the
opportunity to be on a label we've respected for a long time.
5. If you could cover or rearrange any one song with
the blessing of that band what would it be and why?
A personal fantasy of mine would be to cover anything
by Tom Waits. His music continually redefines and redefines again
what music is “supposed to” sound like. He’s one of the artists
that the world will have to catch up to. If there was some way to
creatively work one of his songs into the kind of music we’re
making, I would be extremely happy. Although, whether or not he’d
give his blessing is beyond me.
6. What is a live show like with centuries .How does
it differ from the record?
It’s hard to describe a live dynamic; for us
playing live requires a constant adjustment to the venue setup, the
sound itself, the number of people, the way people react, etc. Every
night it’s a different experience, and a new way of performing in a
way that feels genuine for us, and sounds accurate to what we’re
trying to create. We give it all we can every single night. It’s
why we play short sets: we want to use all of our energy the entire
time and finish completely exhausted.
We’ve been lucky to have a close understanding of
style and intentions of sound with the people who have recorded our
albums in the past, especially with Kris Hilbert at Legitimate
Business for this newest album. Because we write and record albums
with a constant flow between songs, which is the way we organize our
sets, I feel like the record is very comparable to the live sound, or
at least what we strive to have the live sound be like in the ideal.
We do play very loud, however, so in certain places the sound may be
more “overblown” than on the records.
7. Just a question why release such a short album for
Southern lord ? It makes you want more yes but a few more track would
have been greatly enjoyed by this music writer and fellow musican.
To be completely honest, the album is the entirety of
what we had written that we were comfortable using. We had a few
other ideas and fragments of writing that could easily have become
songs on the record, but were dropped because they would have ended
up being recorded with at least some of the intention being to fill
time.
For us, twenty minutes is the ideal set length, and
similarly is a suitable length for recorded content. Not so much to
make the listener “want more,” but because we’d like the record
to be able to be played through entirely, uninterrupted, without
overstaying its welcome or warranting any skipping-through. We may
come to write longer records in the future, but for now, any
additions to the record would have been forced.
8. What is the one thing Centuries most wants to get
across with their music?
As individuals, when we suffer emotionally from a
loss, from insecurities, from doubts or personal defeat, from anger
or depression, we’ve always turned to our favorite bands and our
favorite records. Because of this, writing music has become the
primary creative output for the three of us in order for us to create
a genuine essence of what we endure in our own personal lives. In a
way, this is our only outward contribution. If we can, in turn,
provide an outlet or a comfort to someone else, or inspire them to
continue to create themselves in their own independent light, then
that’s all I could ask for in the world.
9. Whats your thoughts on the digital age for music
as a newer band. Is it hurting or does it allow a whole new freedom
to create art?
When we started going to shows, it was at a time when
there were touring bands playing at least two times every week at our
local venue. This was how we heard about new bands; they showed up
from wherever it was they were from and played in front of us. The
exact genre of heavy music didn’t matter as much then. Bands of
extremely varying genres of heavy music would play together
regularly, and everyone would go regardless of the lineup. When
social media really began to gain traction, touring became less of a
crucial, do-or-die trial for new bands. I think a lot of the
spontaneity, excitement, and genuine effort left DIY music at this
time. Our mentality has always placed touring and performing as the
end result of writing and recording music. I think contemporary bands
have kind of flipped the process on its head.
Also, I feel like the ease in which music can now be
accessed and compared has curtailed creative diversity. Where there
was once an ability to identify regional styles, you now have bands
in Seattle sounding exactly like the bands in South Florida, and
vice-versa. Kids in every scene dress the same, move and interact at
shows in the same way, and as a subculture, genuine expression is
suffering.
If we’re discussing music culture as a whole,
including the mainstream, then the modern recording process has
simply shot to death any idea of creative freedom. So-called artists
are afforded handicaps at every turn, tones and rhythms are
completely synthetic, and the details that make music relatable at
the emotional level, such as a quavering of the voice, have been
completely washed out with computer correction. Auto-tuned singing is
creative censorship at a level indicative of Fahrenheit 451.
10. What are the members of Centuries listening to as
of late any new bands you like to have our readers check out or
something you have found as a treasure people missed in the past?
Our favorite newer releases have been the recent
albums by Birds in Row, Celeste and Martyrdöd.
In previous years, bands that we’ve adored are
Blackbirds and Swallowed Up. They’re both broken up now, but
they’ve meant a lot to us as a band and have definitely influenced
us. There’s a handful of oddball bands that we all collectively
care for on a long-term scale, such as Brand New, or the Blood
Brothers. Bands like Fear Before and others I can’t think of at the
moment.
11. Where do you see your sound evolving to more
extreme,melodic etc?
Ideally, we’d like to move in both directions
without sacrificing the other. To in some way become both heavier and
more melodic is a very conscious goal of ours. We’ve always been
careful not to dull any edges while writing melodic riffs; it’s a
bit of a cliché for bands to become more “creative” yet suffer
in terms of excitement or heaviness as they progress. I think that
part of the reason why bands like Converge and Cursed have been
immortalized is because they were able to expand in all directions at
once as time went on.
12. Thank you for your time any closing thoughts here
Thank you for caring about our band, it means
everything to us to have people listen to our songs. Thank you for
taking the time to put these questions together and hopefully I’ve
answered them well. We have a lot of plans regarding upcoming tours
and we don’t plan on slowing down; we’re doing our best to play
as often and in as many places as possible.
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