On September 20th, 2012 we had a chance to talk to Australia’s grindcore machine FUCK…I’M DEAD. Being in the scene since 2000, the Melbourne act is back after a few years of being away from the game. They will be playing some new tunes off the upcoming album at BASTARDFEST, “Australia’s “ugliest” touring music festival”. Scroll down to check out our chat with the band’s guitarist Dave Hill.
You’re one of the lucky bands playing Bastardfest this October. Excited? What’s special for you about this year’s edition?
Yes!! All us in the band are super excited about playing this years Bastardfest shows. There’s an awesome bunch of bands playing the various Bastardfest shows around the country. This year’s edition is particularly special for us for a couple of reasons, firstly we’re welcoming back Tom Raetz on bass who had a couple of years break from the band, but is now back in full force. We’re the most excited about launching our new, and long overdue album “Another Gory Mess” and the bastardfest shows!
Cool. We’re pretty excited about your live drummer Darren Condy. Were you happy with his Bendigo Hotel debut on September 1st? Did you get a proper feedback from people gathered at the spot?
The show at the Bendigo Hotel was great, we hadn’t played live in over a year and it was a killer show to return too. Darren always does an amazing job on the drums and in my opinion is a vast improvement on the drum machines, adding a lot more life and feel to the drum parts. We had a lot of positive feedback about the show afterwards and the crowd was extremely enthusiastic during the show which was great!
It’s been years since your last official release. How does it feel to bring people new tunes?
It has been a very long time, and as i mentioned before this new record is LONG overdue. It feels great to be on the verge of finally releasing new material for people to hear. Its been a long process and the 21 new songs on the album have been written over an 7 or 8 year period.
Tell us about the story behind the album, if there’s any [laughs]. No, really, I guess it’s not a concept album, but what message do you spread this time?
The album is called “Another Gory Mess” and that pretty much sums up the message we are getting across; a huge and disgusting cacophony of all things ghastly. The themes of all the songs are basically all about the most horrible and abhorrent things humans can get up to.
Ok. What about the process of writing and recording that record? What was it like this time?
It was an extremely difficult process this time around. It usually works with myself(guitar) or Xavier (guitar) coming up with guitar parts and working together on song structures and plans. I also always still use the drum machine to write with as well, it helps develop the song arrangement further towards a finished product before bringing it to the rest of the band. The whole process of writing this album was spread out over 7-8 years. I definitely wasn’t writing stuff this whole time [laughs] there was massive breaks of no activity in there when I was busy with another grindcore band The Day Everything Became Nothing that both Xavier and I am a part of. Once all the songs were written and were demo’ed with the drum machine at various different times over the years, i got all the tracks together and we started rehearsing as a full band and finalised all the songs.
What are the next steps for the album promotion, after the fest shows?
The Bastardfest shows will launch the album around Australia but we currently looking for a record label to release it in other parts of the world.
Nice. I hope you’ll find one asap.
You recently talked to KillYourStereo and stated that you’ll be back to writing some new stuff very soon. Another release coming up?
Yes, Jay (vocals) did that interview a short while ago and after the Bastardfest shows are over I imagine we’ll start writing again at some point, but there is no other releases planned at this stage. We are just keen to finalise the mastering and artwork for the new album and promote that as best a possible for a while before considering any further releases.
What made you so active recently? [smiles]
I think when we realised we had enough material finally for a full album it inspired us to get to work and finish it. And being asked to play the Bastardfest shows was a great opportunity to launch the album around the country, so when that idea came up it definitely gave us an incentive to finish the album
So what’s your everyday life like when you don’t do the FUCK…I’M DEAD business?
When I’m not doing FUCK… I’M DEAD stuff, I’m usually going to see live shows, playing guitar and hanging out with my wife. I used to run a grindcore record label No Escape Records for around 10 years which took up a lot of my time.
Any hyped Melbourne grinders you’d like to recommend?
Jay’s other band THE KILL!!!
Tell us about your side-projects. Have you been active musically, besides FUCK…I’M DEAD for all these years?
THE DAY EVERYTHING BECAME NOTHING is my other band, Xavier who also plays guitar in FUCK…I’M DEAD plays bass in TDEBN. That band started a couple of years after FUCK…I’M DEAD and has been pretty active over the years, releasing a few albums and touring North America with FUCK…I’M DEAD back in 2009.
Do you surf? [smiles] Why?
[laughs] No, I’m absolutely terrible at it!
That’s good. You’ll live longer, man. Australian sharks are badass [smiles].\
Thanks, guys. Feel free to add anything you want, especially all the stuff I forgot to ask you about [smiles]. Cheers from Poland!
Cheers Karol! thanks for the interview, you’ll have to come to Australia soon and catch a FUCK…I’M DEAD show!
