The Red Chord pour l'album "Clients"

1. First, could you please introduce The Red Chord to our readers, your main influences, the band history…?

We've been around for more than 20% of my life. We've played over 500 shows in 5 years. Our main influences are Suffocation, Buried Alive, Nasum, Earth Crisis, Death, life experience and cereal.

2. What can we expect from “Clients” compared to the previous ones?

I think it's a heavier, more focused record. And I like my voice way better on this one, I don't care what the kids say. It sounds closer to the Suffocation vocalist than the last one and Frak Mullen's voice is pretty much the starting point of brutal voices for me. That and Kevin Sharp on the good Brutal Truth records. Sick.

3. I had a hard time trying to define your music, apart from the “brutal” thing. How would you qualify the Red Chord’s music?

Progressive and experimental. We like to dabble in a little bit of everything.



4. You just came back from a long American tour, how was it? Will we have the chance to see you playing in Europe?

It was the longest tour I've ever been on. 58 shows in 60 days. We'll be coming to Europe sooner than later, actually. We just returned from a short UK run and October 20-November 20th we're doing another UK/Euro run with our good friends in Bury Your Dead.

5. Could you explain us the meaning of some lyrics of the album?

Here's some background on a few of my favorite songs:
Fixation on Plastics: I used to take a children's literature class in college to fulfill some God-aweful requirement even though I was in my last semester and couldn't give two shits about kids and the way they think. This weirdo came in to give a lecture on being a children's write and was discussing how he just wrote a book on the many uses of plastic. I swear he was getting a hard-on talking about it. He was absolutely ecstatic.
Seizing the opportunity, I asked him so many questions on all these different types of plastics that eventually the professor had to intervene and keep it moving. I acted extremely upset and was almost escorted out of the lecture. The song is written somewhat tongue in cheek, painting this dark image of the world coming to an end as the result of reliance on technology and the whole system crashing. I figured most people who cared enough to check out the lyrics would think it was about the Matrix movie which is where "You start to think that Matrix shit is going down" line came from. Otherwise, the song is about a mental case being fixated on the many uses of synthetic fibers and consequently is about me being fixated on some lunatic who is fixated on plastics. But then there's stuff about the world ending and garbage like that. God, I'm an idiot.
Black Santa is about this superhero/Godzilla size schizophrenic, Black Santa, awaiting this bone-crushing, fight to the death between he and his arch-nemesis, The Antman. But on the way to the battle, he goes off on a schizo-rant and begins giving his life theories on religion and 1950's movie stars and forgets what he was initially going to do that day and the epic battle never ensues.
Blue Line Cretin is about a mentally handicapped guy who is obsessed with this news reporter on one of the big news networks. He decides the only way he'll achieve immortality is by detonating a bomb attached to his chest while taking the subway during rush hour. Part of the song has to do with him getting excited at the idea of this hot newscaster saying his name on television during the news after the fact. It's all about achieving immortality by doing something so horrid that at least in the minds of the victims' families, you will never be forgotten.

6. What do you do for a living apart from the band?

I work at a pharmacy part time and run my label www.blackmarketactivities.com.

7 What is the best (an the worst) memory you have from your musician’s life?

This was pretty much one in the same. During the end of our set at last years' Hellfest, hundreds of people jumped on the stage and sang along at the end. My shins got all destroyed and I think my leg was broken from all the people climbing on me. It was the first day of tour so I had to deal with mangled legs for a solid 30 days. I don't have health insurance so I covered with with an Ace bandage and to this day I still have weird bumps on the front of my left shin.



8. Do you know the French metal scene? What do you think of it?

The only bands I'm really familair with are Knut, Comity, Inmate and some other stuff off Overcome records. Everything I've heard is pretty awesome.

9. The same question goes for the metal scene as a whole. How do you think it will evolve in the few years, and how would you like it to evolve?

I'd like bands to stop writing the same trash and get their own style. This obviously doesn't go for every band out there, but it sums up a lot of them.

10. If you could organise your own metal festival, whose bands would be invited?

Suffocation
Buried Alive
Sheer Terror
Madball
Earth Crisis circa 1998
Deadguy (RIP)
Converge
Cave In circa 1998
Nasum (RIP)
Muse
Mars Volta

11. What are you listening to these days? Any good metal / non metal albums to recommand?

Animosity-Empires..it comes out August 23rd on my own label www.blackmarketactivities.com. Ed Gein, Paria, From A Second Story Window, Born from Pain, Premonitions of War as well as Between the Buried and Me, Black Dahlia Murder, A Life Once Lost, Muse and Mars Volta.

12. If you could change something in this fucked up world, really anything you want, what would you choose?

It's just perfect the way it is and I'd be worried by changing even the smallest thing that my life wouldn't be so damn good.

13. This interview is made for a French webzine (http://www.thrashocore.com). Any good / bad comments to make about it ?

Why the 'o' after thrash?

14. And what do you think of France as a country ? Have you ever had the chance to come over here?

I've played maybe 3 shows in France. They were all pretty cool. I experienced a great flaming drink called the Mondo Bizarro, bought for me by the guy who runs Overcome. We're coming back sometime between October and November with our pals in the band Bury Your Dead.

15. Thanks for your answers, last words are yours!

Thanks for doing the interview. I look forward to meeting you and all the French listeners!!

www.theredchord.com
www.blackmarketactivities.com