Log Interview
DEMONSKULL: Log has three members. Each use to play in a different band. Everybody
knows GWAR, but Barefoot & Pregnant and Pleasure Astro are unknown in
Holland. Can you tell something about these bands?>>
LOG:Barefoot and Pregnant was an avante-garde pop band that was active in the
underground performance art scene in Manhattan, N.Y.C. in the late 80's.
Holly used experimental drums made of found objects in addition to the
traditional kit. This undoubtedly influenced her powerhouse tribal style of
percussion with Log.
Pleasure Astro was a mostly female noise pop band in Richmond, VA in the mid
90's in which Terry played all guitars. Steve met Terry when he was asked to
produce Pleasure Astro's first recordings for a Richmond compilation album-
the rest is history. Besides his stint as the legendary Balsac Jaws of Death,
Steve also played in the 80's hardcore band Death Piggy, (which evolved into
GWAR).
DEMONSKULL:How was playing in GWAR?
LOG: Naturally it was a blast! A messy experience, but worth every drop of spew.
Some of the members especially Dave Musel and Brockie (Oderus), who have been
there from the beginning, are great. The hired guns in later years and the
whiners started taking it too seriously and lost sight of the true spirit of
GWAR, but the Hell-O days were wonderful. Unfortunately, they still owe me a
lot of royalty money.
DEMONSKULL: You released two cassettes on your own label. Why did you start your own
label?
LOG: Just to get the music out to people. We didn't have the money to press a disc
yet, and needed promotional material. We have a strong D.I.Y. philosophy,
that way we don't owe anyone, and no one can control our music. Planetary,
our label, allows us complete musical and artistic autonomy. That's important
to us.
DEMONSKULL: Did you also release other stuff on your label 'Revenge Records'?
LOG: No, but would have if we had the money- we love other bands. We just did not
do Revenge for long enough for anything else to happen with it. We could
always go back to that though- that's a possibility. Planetary provides us
with valuable distribution and promotional aid, taking a little bit of the
business load off of us.
DEMONSKULL: Your CD ' Dodge and Burn ' is almost four months old. What kind of
reactions did you receive?
LOG: So far we've been truly amazed at the unanimously positive response- in our
local press, nationally, and through the internet, internationally. We've
updated the reviews on our web page, and soon will include complete access to
the local and other print reviews. The newsprint reviews have just now
started to come out, whereas we had internet reviews 3 days after our release
date- we love the web!
DEMONSKULL: You've probably toured. Where did you play and how was the audience's
reaction? Did you play as a support act of other bands, or did other bands
play as a support act of yours?
LOG: Log has done 3 tours, the first was from Virginia to Miami, Fla,; the second
was a regional Northeastern states tour; and the most recent was from
Portland, Maine to Austin, Texas and then a loop back (6 weeks) When we
toured we were primarily headliners. We have supported lots of national acts
in our hometown. Some of our favorite shows were with Fear, Kelley Deal 6000,
D.R.I. and GWAR of course. We have opened out of state for the Dictators
(CBGB's in NY) and did a leg of one tour opening for the Leaving Trains. (SST
rec. artists from San Francisco, CA) Once the CD is fully promoted and
distributed we will hit the road again- probably late spring- hopefully in
Europe, then the US.
DEMONSKULL: Your lyrics are pretty funny, who mainly writes the lyrics?
LOG: Terry and Steve write most of them. Holly wrote some of "Waiting", and our
friend Mebane wrote the song "Albert." We got real stoned one night and
bought that song from him for $10.
DEMONSKULL: You took a child's prayer and a part texture from J.G. Ballard. What
else inspires you?
LOG: We consume huge amounts of pulp media, serial killer books, true crime
novels, sci-fi and horror such as Philip K. Dick, Clive Barker, Lovecraft and
of course Richmond, VA natives Edgar Allen Poe and Patricia Cornwell. We also
love anything to do with muscle cars and hot rods, and we like both
retro-futuristic design and fiction. We revel in our paranoic fantasies that
Freemasons are conspiring to take over the world, and have quite a few
'illegal ' manuscripts to this effect. We stay stoned most of the time, but
get a lot of work done. We find marijuana very therapeutic and inspirational.
We also spend several hours a day in cyberspace and several hours a day
sleeping. We also enjoy cool old analog synthesizers, and in general,
anything that makes a good noise. Also, our kitty, Astro channels the
knowledge of the ancients into our subconscious.
DEMONSKULL: You covered a song of the Frogs. Do you cover other songs?
LOG: Not really- every once in awhile, something strikes us as a fun song to play,
and we'll pick it up for a few weeks, or until we get tired of it. We played
Cracker's "100 Flower Power Maximum" for awhile- that was a good one too. The
reason we started playing the Frogs song was that we were asked to be on a
tribute compilation (coming out soon) and we were playing the song live to
rehearse for the recording. People liked it so well it became a standard for
us.
DEMONSKULL: How is the scene in Virginia? Are there a lot of good bands?
LOG: Like any scene, it's up and down, but on the whole it's better than a lot of
other places. There's a lot of cool bands, and a good sense of community.
GWAR, fulflej, Malacoda, Kepone, Cracker are just a few of the better known
bands based here. It's nice that there's a wide variety, even to extremes.
DEMONSKULL: Are you going to tour in Europe? And can we then expect you in Holland?
LOG: We love Europe and Holland in particular, and will be there as fast as we
can. Anywhere where we can smoke great bud legally is at the top of our list
to tour. We'll be planning our European tour in the coming months and would
appreciate any help from abroad.
Neutron Cafe Interview
Demonskull: Why did you call yourself Neutron Cafe?
NC: Our music is intergalatic food for the universe
DEMONSKULL: How did you meet each other, are you friends for a long
time?
NC: We were all specimens at the local science lab...in the Photon clan.
DEMONSKULL: Where did you learn to play guitar/bass/drums?
Debbie: private lessons, and knowledge from other instruments played
Angelique: I've been singing since I could talk, and always played piano,
so it was easy for me to make the transition to guitar.
G: I started playing when I was 8 years old- I decided out of the blue to
just take a drum class at a school, and I haven't put down the sticks
since!
DEMONSKULL: How long did it take to record 'Now serving'? How did you
record the songs?
NC: "Now Serving" came together almost overnight! It was done in a few
weeks. Drums were layed down first, followed by the rhythm guitars and
bass tracks. Vocals were done, follwed lastly by the guitar solos.
DEMONSKULL: On the booklet of your debut is written: all selections
written by Neutron Cafe. But who does what by writing songs?
NC: The music comes together from jamming basically in the studio...
and evolves into a brilliant composition. Angelique writes all the
lyrics.
DEMONSKULL: Now Serving is produced by Steve Amend, who is he? And
how did you came in contact with Photon Records?
NC: We knew Steve Amend from the local scene for many years, and he
immediately took an interest because he thought our songs were epic.
Steve Amend is the consummate music professional. He has taught many
of today's touring musicians, produces albums, soundtracks and
commercials. He co-owns our label, Photon, with George Petersen.
DEMONSKULL: How is the distribution of Photon Records? Can I buy or
order Now Serving everywhere in America? And Europe?
NC: Our label is in the process of switching distributors, so at the
moment you can't buy it everywhere, but they are negotiating the details
at the present time. You CAN order our CD through the label by making a
check or money order payable to Cat's Paw Records for 12 dollars
(includes shipping) and send it to P.O. Box 2550 N. Babylon, NY 11703.
Or visit our website for details at:
http://www.whyldflower.com/neutroncafe
DEMONSKULL: Do you have any airplay on American (College) radio
stations?
NC: YES!! We've been marketed in the hard rock genre, and are about to be
marketed in the alternative/aor genre. Stations across the world have
requested the album and are spinning it.
DEMONSKULL: Do you have a lot of gigs?
NC: We play live as often as we can!! :)
DEMONSKULL: How importants is the Neutron Cafe website for the band?
NC: Extremely important! It allows us to get in touch with zillions of
people that wouldn't be possible without the web.
DEMONSKULL: On your website I found links to typical women-websites, are
you feminist?
NC: We don't consider ourselves feminists...we just simply support others
that support us. Being that there's alot more women involved in the
music industry , women are becoming more prominent.
DEMONSKULL: Why do people have to listen to your debut 'Now Serving'?
NC: Because we're definetely breaking new ground. The CD is filled with
timeless, epic, aggressive, melodic songs.
* And we all would like to say a big thanks to you , Stephan for this
interview and your support!! Demonskull rocks!!!!