martedì 28 maggio 2013

IRON LUNG interview 2002


One of the first interview I did for Perro Maldito. 11 years later and Iron Lung are still going strong and proved to be one of the best when it comes to deliver brutal powerviolence! Conducted via email with guitarist Jon Kortland sometimes around '01/'02. Originally featured in PM#1.

Perro: Ok, start with the classic brief hystory of your band.Jon: Jensen and I started playing together in a band called Kralizec. It was basically Iron Lung but with a singer. All the songs were about Dune. I think we started doing Iron Lung about two years ago.

Perro: Why have you decided to call it Iron Lung? Do you have any respiratory problem?Jon: No respitory problems. We both have an interest in medical technology. The Iron Lung is just this really cryptic, unusual machine. Jensen came up with the name and I agreed that it was a good name.

Perro:How would you describe your sound to the uninitiated? Into the Slap a Ham website you have been described as a mix of Crossed Out, Discordance Axis and Melt Banana, which I think is the best way to give an idea of your unique sound. Do you agree? If your answer is positive, what do you think to have in common with the aforementioned bands?Jon: I think that is a pretty good description of what we sound like. We both love those bands and I'm sure we are both influenced by them musically. The song structures owe a lot to Crossed Out. The way Jensen sings is also comparable. We don't have a bass, so that's an obvious similarity with Discordance Axis. I think that their experimental approach to grindcore is inspiring. Melt Banana is probably my favorite band of the last ten years. If you want to talk about experimental...Anyway, it is a huge compliment to be compared to those bands, but there is no way we could ever approach their groundbreaking status.
 
Perro: It's not a secret that you are also in Gob. Do you think this help in anyway to spread the Iron Lung verb?
Jon: Oh absolutely not. I would say if anything it would be a hindrance.

Perro: You are a duo without bass guitar. Is it your own decision or is due to a lack of good bass player in your zone? What are the advantage of being only a two pieces band?Jon: We made that decision. There are plenty of great bass players out there. We just wanted to simplify everything. It's amazing to see the difference one more person in a band can make. I would say there are so many advantages to being a two-piece. Shit man, we tour in a station wagon.

Perro: Binge a duo without bass is not too  uncommon for bands outta USA. Why do you think there are so many bands in this way? Can a heavy guitar sound replace a bass?Jon: I think a lot of people are just seeing how easy it is to be in a two person band. I don't know if a guitar can replace a bass. I am a huge fan of the low end. I love the way bass sounds. I do think that it is possible to get a full, heavy sound out of a guitar though.

Perro: I know the upcoming split 7" with Lana Dagales became a split 12". What can we expect from your side?
Jon: I was doing a 7" for Lana Dagales and Greg was doing a 7" for Iron Lung. It just made sense to combine our efforts. We had talked of doing a split for a long time and we took the opportunity. I think it will probably be done in April. The masters have been sent off and I am finishing up the artwork now.

Perro: You have just finished a long tour in the states. How was it? Best/worst gigs?Jon: We just got back. There were some totally outrageous shows. My favorites were Seattle, WA; Austin, TX; Haltom City, TX; Athens, GA; Columbia, SC; New York, NY; Columbus, OH; and Denver, CO. That is not to say that there were many other shows that really kicked ass. Those are the ones that really stand out in my memory. The shows in the bay area were totally amazing too. That is one of our favorite areas to play. We always seem to have a great time there. I want to keep my tour memories positive, so I'll just not mention the bad ones.

Perro: Do you have any funny tour story for us?Jon: There are way too many funny tour stories. I can't really narrow one down that would even make sense. Most of it revolves around these little inside jokes we have. I'm sorry.

Perro: Any plan to cross the ocean and come here in europe to do some gigs in the future?Jon: There are no solid plans right now, but I know we would both love to do that. We have a split 5" with Quattro Stagioni from Germany in the works right now. Maybe we could tour together.

Perro: Why have you done this tour before the release of your full length that will be out soon? Wasn't it better do it after the release of the album to support it?
Jon: We will be touring again after the full length comes out. Our 7" on 625 came out before we left, so we were supporting that release. We love to tour. We have toured 3 times in the last 8 months, so I'm sure it will be no problem to get out on the road again when the record comes out.

Perro: Talking about the album, when will you record it? Please, give us some dectailed info about it.Jon: We are going to go into the studio in late April/May. We are still in the process of writing it. We are going to have some guests on it doing noise. There has been some talk about doing an enhanced CD with some video on it also, but I don't really know all the details right now. We are still formulating our plan of attack.

Perro: What do your parents think about Iron Lung and all your activity connected with the hc underground?Jon: I'm sure they would rather have me be an accountant or a doctor or something, but I think they have grown to accept who I am. I mean I'm 31 years old. This isn't some kind of phase I am going through that I will be "growing" out of. I don't think they really understand what I am doing, but they are somewhat supportive.

Perro: What could we expect from your label Satan's Pimp in the future?
Jon: Satan's Pimp is dead. I am starting a new label called Cryptological Research. The first release is the Lana Dagales/Iron Lung split 12". I am working on that with Boredom Noise. Next will be a Society of Friends discography and a StretchHeads (Scotland) discography that I am working on with Enturruption Records.

Perro: Ok, tell us your plans for the future with your various activity and conlcude as you prefer.Our upcoming release are: Lana Dagales/Iron Lung split 12", Iron Lung live tape, BG/Iron Lung split 7, Quatro Stagioni/Iron Lung split 5", Goat Shanty/Iron Lung split 7", Iron Lung full length, Iron Lung "Cover Songs" 7" and a few other things in the works, comps., etc. Thanks for doing this interview. We appreciate your support.

giovedì 23 maggio 2013

Totaalinen Kaaos

Here's the official repress, courtesy of Svart Records of course, of the first Kaaos full ep "totaalinen kaaos" that was originally released by Propaganda Records in 1982. This band need no introduction. Uber-classic, genre-defining band that you'd play to someone who has no clue of what traditional finnish hardcore is. Some of the tightest and most solid stuff that came out from the land of the thousand lakes. It's not a surprise that these guys are now legends.
Svart Records did again a solid work. Gatefold cover & a repress of the original 12 pages booklet. I got the blue vinyl edition, limited to 300 copies. 100 copies were pressed also on yellow but if you need a coloured version of this record, blue was the right and only choice. Like the limited Propaganda version. At this point I hope both the Mellakka eps will receive the same treatment!

mercoledì 22 maggio 2013

Part III

The third and final part of the super elusive Exithippies 7" series, released by Detonate Records (click for the interview), finally came out circa 2 weeks ago. For months I keep checking (almost daily!) if it was finally out. Of course the week it came out was a pretty busy one so I totally forgot about it. When I suddenly remembered it saturday afternoon, according to Detonate's bigcartel, it came out and of course it was already sold out. I was pretty bummed that I missed it. After complaing for half an hour about records pressed in ridiculous amount with my girlfriend, I decided to write directly to Lasse to see if he still had copies. It worked for Part II (I got the very last copy since a distro decided to get one copy less to save postage!!), so why not trying? It worked again, so I was able to secure a copy even this time. Now I only need Part I to complete the series.
Like the previous one, Exithippies "Part III" 7" has two excellent classic noisepunk tunes on side A and what I guess it's a remix of a song titled "Country Boy" on side B. Usually I don't like their techno tunes but I must admit that I enjoy this one. Great release. Too bad it was pressed in 100 copies only. More people need to hear it.

martedì 7 maggio 2013

La Città è Quieta...Ombre Parlano

After my post about "disastro sonoro" of a few months ago, recently I've been able to score a copy in near mint conditions of Peggio Punx second effort, the "la città è quieta...ombre parlano" 7", released one year after their first ep. Again on their own Peggio Records. This continues exactly in the same way of their previous effort: unique and schizophrenic songwriting, adrenalinic fast tempos, snotty nasal vox and guitars with almost no distortion. Love this band! 
Got it from an old punk from my area. I spent a nice hour with him. He played for me his Wretched records and he shared lots of funny stories from back in the days. Like anarchists throwing everything at CCCP when they played Virus squat. But the best one was a personal one. He told me he got in touch via letter with Wretched singer Gianmario and they fixed a live interview for his 'zine before a Wretched gig. He was quite scared by Gianmario aggressive look & stage presence. So he admitted to me that he was a bit nervous before meeting him. But then, when he finally met him, it turned out that Gianmario was an extremely kind guy with a soft voice that even offered him a green tea. Can you image Wretched drinking bloody green tea??? Priceless story, ahahah.
At this point I can consider my Peggio Punx collection completed. I'm not too much a fan of the funky approach of the material they released after these two eps.