FEDSMOKER is a 3-piece Northwest outfit featuring legacy members of the Northwest music scene, bands like Infrablaster, The Festering, Rot Monger, & Sterileprayer. Comprised of Drummer Benjamin Hall (from Rot Monger and Honey Badger), guitarist Devon Jensen (Infrablaster, The Festering), and Scott Rozell (Sterileprayer, Scatterbox), the band is the result of months-long pandemic cabin fever. Right off the heels of their debut self-titled EP released earlier in 2020, the band has returned with “Splatter Pattern”, the new single from their upcoming split 12” coming in 2021. We’re pleased to give you its first official hearing above, along with a special commentary on 2020 and a list of top 10 things that happened in 2020.
FEDSMOKER’s music has a penchant for the sick. Mental illness, lack of preservation, and the urge to harm are at the forefront of the lyrical content of “Splatter Pattern”, telling the story of a drug trafficker’s large-scale drug deal before (and after) someone decides to make it his last. They lyrics are led by Hall and Jensen’s crushing groove-tinged grindcore/noise exchange to set the brooding and depressive tone. The track as a whole is crushing, depraved and a solid representation of the new material on the upcoming record.
The band will see a limited run physical EP release via Blackhouse Records Ltd in early 2021, with the digital format seeing a world-wide release on all streaming platforms. Select tour dates are to follow the official release date.
We asked Scott Rozell of Fedsmoker, Sterileprayer, Scatterbox, and Blackhouse Records to give us his thoughts on 2020, drop some predictions for 2021 and share his top list for 2020, including music, movies, important events, and people worth mentioning for what they did this year. Here’s the full piece by Scott.
Hi there. Scott here from Fedsmoker and Sterileprayer.
𝐼𝑓 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠, 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑠! 𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑣𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑦 𝑓𝑢𝑐𝑘𝑒𝑑 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑒𝑥𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑢𝑠 𝑓𝑎𝑟 (𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑓𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑦 𝑖𝑠 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑔𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑙 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡), 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑑𝑖𝑑𝑛’𝑡 𝑑𝑖𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑦 𝑑𝑜𝑝𝑒. 𝐺𝑜𝑜𝑑 𝑗𝑜𝑏.
We’re going to need you around to possibly come out and see us play live when we tour once all this shit has subsided!
The year treated us as well as it could have, I guess. We, like many others, have been laying low, doing what we can from where we are posted up, and adapting accordingly. Let’s be honest, 2020 was an absolutely garbage year in so many ways that it makes one’s head spin, but at the same time, trying to find a way to make the most of it was what kept us all sane. The good thing; FEDSMOKER came out of all of this as a result, and I am pretty stoked on that. In these current times, the band basically just functions like a bunch of dysfunctional and distant relatives, living all over different parts of the Northwest and sending ideas back and forth until we can get into a room to hash them out. It seems to work pretty well amidst the obvious obstacles.
No one knows what 2021 is going to bring; honestly, I don’t even want to try and guess. The amount of death, sickness, social and political instability (especially in our country with an absolute psychotic as a soon-to-be-ex-president…holy hell…) and general uncertainty has kinda shown just how resilient the human psyche really can be. Pretty amazing that in the grand scheme of things that more people didn’t completely lose their minds and start going on rampages over stupid shit. We all acted like grown-ups I suppose (haha)? If we can all just maintain that shit for a while longer, then it should serve us all well down the road. What I can say though, is that if venues start opening back up and regular “life” becomes “regular” again, then we plan to get fucking busy, maybe just in time to head out around the time our 12” comes out. Guess we will see.
For a quick top 10 list to exit the year, I offer the following. I chose a mix of things to list rather than just sticking to just one kind of medium. I had a little more free time than previous years, so here are the highlights of said free time:
Top 10 (**In no particular order – equally awesome**)
1. Boiled Angels – A documentary film about underground comic book artist Mike Diana, the only cartoonist ever to be charged (and convicted) of obscenity.
2. Encyclopaedia Supermundanae, By Chaz Bell – Slug Christ (ex-vocalist for An Isle Ate Her and prolific Awful Records rapper) wrote a book that is accompanied by a ton of original artwork pieces and it’s mind-blowing. It’s like a big coffee-table hardcover art book. Amazing.
3. Adam Chaplin – The absolute goriest, most over the top, absurd low budget action/horror film I have ever seen. I’ve been collecting horror films my whole life, and this gem makes Dead Alive (Braindead) look like Frozen. Watch it.
4. To Live A Lie Records – Literally everything this label did this last year has been GOLD. The Fading Signal Demo and the Peace Test EP were my personal standouts, but yeah, everything was top notch.
5. Dead End America “Crush the Machine” EP – An awesome supergroup release on Southern Lord featuring members of Eyehategod, Poison Idea, The Accused AD, and more. RIP Steven “Thee Slayer Hippy” Hanford.
6. Finishing another semester of college – School is an absolute bitch when you run a label, work a day job and have a family, but I pulled it off and am almost finished. I don’t recommend it. Kids, DO IT EARLY and get it out of the way.
7. SWANS “Where does a Body End” – A pretty solid documentary about M. Gira and SWANS. Highlights the entire duration of their existence and the many reformations/incarnations of it. An interesting watch.
8. Gekiretsu “Reasonless Hate 2020 Demo” – Gekiretsu is the brainchild of Harvey Jackson (Wretched Fuck). It’s an industrial project that is pretty heavy and well calculated. Dude does some great stuff. Looking forward to more releases down the road.
9. “Your Worst Nightmare” – This is a TV series I became glued to while passing time. Hilarious and fucked up stories about dating relationships going completely haywire, with people doing insane stalker-level subhuman type shit to their significant others before winding up in jail. It hits home because we’ve all probably been there a time or three. Total trash television. It’s fantastic.
10. Donald Trump getting voted out of the White House.
