Avenpitch interview with 100% Unnatural - Complete Transcript:

Were the Fleshpeddlers just a warm-up for Avenpitch? If not, how are the two projects different - in terms of their musical character, not just personnel? Do you feel bad about breaking up the old band, seeing as it was your old high-school band and all, or better now that you've got this project going on? Would you just as soon make a fresh start of it, and not encourage new fans to go digging through your back catalogue? Has your attitude/approach to making music and being in a band changed?

TODD: Looking back I realize the Fleshpeddlers were a warm-up for Avenpitch. Of course, at the time I didn't feel like that, but as with everything hindsight is 20/20. Don't get me wrong --- that's not to discredit the ideas, music, or guys in the Fleshpeddlers, but realistically; we were amateurs out having fun with lofty aspirations and big dreams, but not quite enough muscle or desire to pull it off. That said, I am proud of everything I did with the Fleshpeddlers and I‘m flattered if people want to take the time to seek my back catalogue. It’s not a secret or anything.

I don't know if it's apparent in the music, but for me there is quite a significant attitude change between the two bands - especially in the personal of myself, David Miller, Darren Siaw, and Paul Hudalla. I can honestly say that this is the first time I’ve ever been in a band where I feel like everyone is doing their job and we’re all working towards a common goal. Avenpitch is sleeker, meaner, and more professional than the Fleshpeddlers ever desired or intended to be; it‘s not good or bad, it‘s just a step I needed to take for myself and with my music. I had to raise the stakes in order to keep myself interested.

You're always screaming on your albums, yet you don't sound angry - at least not in the generalized, someone-needs-psychological-counseling way all those nu-metal guys do. Would you describe any of your songs as being "pissed off"? Or are you just hyper? Are you a fundamentally angry, sad, or happy guy?

DAVID: I think Todd is just fundamentally a guy and, you know, guys sort of like to shout. Underneath the angst and all I suspect there's a certain amount of pure fun in every dude who's out there screaming his lungs out. What do you think Todd?

TODD: David may be onto something. I hope I don't come across as some guy who's pissed off at the world and my only release is getting up and stage and yelling my lungs out. I don't know if "hyper" is the right world, but I'd say it's more along those lines than a genuine "pissed-off" anger. I mean there are a lot of things to be angry about, but it's not a conscience decision for me to yell out of anger. My main goal is to make sure Avenpitch’s music sounds fun, exciting, and entertaining. Thus far my yelling is the best way I can get this across. I guess I still need to work on my soft soothing sexual voice for the ladies.

As for my fundamental personality... I don’t really think I’m extreme anything. Like everybody I have my good and bad days. I just figure unless one opts for suicide you just sorta have to live through your life and make the best of it. Music is a drug that helps you get through the day as much as anything else.

There's this really grandiose, melodramatic vibe under a lot of your songs - both musically (with the huge string swells and sudden crescendos) and lyrically. A few critics have dropped the word `teenage' in reviews of Avenpitch, and I can kinda see why. Your music sounds the way I remember feeling as a teenager: all my emotions blown way out of proportion. Would you dispute these charges? Do you think your music is more mature than critics are giving it credit for? Or did you intentionally set out to give the impression they're getting?

TODD: I don't mind the "teenage" term. To a point I even agree. I want our music to be grandiose and melodramatic and I want it to sound like a collision of emotions. I mean the combination of all these "out of proportion" emotions are why people remember their teenage years as so exciting. Besides, most things in life are not black and white; there are a lot of gray areas and situations, so it’s cool if our music can capture a situation as being sad, happy, exciting, and funny all at the same time.

As for what the critics think? I think everyone wants to believe that what their doing is so great and is misunderstood by all but a select few. I’m shamefully guilty of that too; I want to believe that our music is a lot smarter than what some people sometimes give it credit for, but people get what they want out of it. So if it’s "teenage" and fun that’s cool and if it’s smart and interesting I’m happy with that too. I guess it’s good if they’re talking about us...

A lot of the songs seem to be about some tortured relationship or at least a slightly co-dependent one. Are these all about the same person? Are you singing from the heart, from experience - or are you sometimes singing from the head, telling fictional stories about imaginary people? Or are they about you, but coming from some point in the past?

TODD: I try to make it so that everything I write has some sort of reference to me, but still not all about me. Some lines are important and meaningful, some are observations, and some are just ballyhoo and thrown in for poetic effect. I figure it’s up to the listener to decide what they want to believe as true. Everything I write makes sense to me, but I fully understand and welcome the misunderstanding that comes along with trying to present an idea to an audience. I don’t think I really want them to understand too much (at least about me) from my music.

Sound-wise Avenpitch sounds cleaner, yet at the same time meaner, than any of the Fleshpeddlers discs. There are even moments, like in the beginning of "Replay", where it almost sounds `slick'. What did you do differently this time around, in terms of recording. Were you worried that not going quite as lo-fi this time around might cost your music a bit of its edge?

TODD: I didn't intentionally set out to make a more polished record; I think the majority of the overall sound improvements come more or less from experience. I've gotten better at knowing how to get the sound in my head from the equipment I have. This disc was recorded on the exact same equipment as the Fleshpeddlers' Falling Into a Dream disc.

Obviously, the fact that this record was professionally mastered and I didn't mix the whole album completely in the red helps the overall fidelity of the album. I also spent much longer obsessing over the sounds and mixing. I made it a point to use at least 75 tracks while recording every tune. I like to make sure every song has an assortment of noises, sounds, and effects, to keep the listener from getting bored. I want them to keep finding something new in each and every song on repeated listens.

At first when the disc was completed I was worried because it was little too polished for my own taste. But now when I listen to it (especially in the context of most other records) I realize that there still is this lo-fi quality to our music that I really enjoy. I think it comes from our approach as oppose to our recording techniques. I play guitar in a way that just sounds like me and it doesn't matter if I've got a cheap guitar from the local pawnshop or a $3000 Les Paul; the personality is there.

DAVID: Lo-fi, hi-fi are states of mind - compared to Throbbing Gristle live albums Fleshpeddlers were quite hi-fi, compared to Justin Timberlake Avenpitch is lo-fi. I think a music's edge lies in its honesty rather than recording technique. That's why Bush can go to Steve Albini to record a "lo-fi" album and it still has no edge and why Iggy Pop could have Bowie produce him in the height of the 70s and make these two raw as fuck albums that have guts to spare some 25-30 years later.

You've also lightened up with the distortion on your voice, to the point where I can actually understand everything you say. Is it a matter of increased confidence, or just a stylistic choice? You even go out on a limb with a quasi-power ballad, "Gravity". Are you going to start taking voice lessons like Sebastian Bach and turning yourself into a pop crooner?

TODD: I've actually had quite a few years of voice lessons already - I took them growing up and also in college. Obviously, I don't sound anything like it - which is good! My "proper" singer voice is much lower. I think my voice has just kind of developed from singing in rock bands and living up in Minnesota. I mean, I can't pull off a fake English accent or anything that sounds "cultured" convincingly.

As for less distortion, I kinda fell into singing by default and I guess as time has gone by I’ve just become more and more confident as a singer and front man. It seems like I’ve been using less and less distortion and effects on my voice on each consecutive album.

Is there a "softer side of Avenpitch" - I mean, even KISS and Alice Cooper did sappy ballads - or do you see yourselves as an AC/DC/Stooges kind of group, cranking out wall-to-wall rock and roll?

TODD: I guess it's still too early to tell. My big problem with ballads is that at one moment your spilling your heart out and it's the most important thing in the world and the next day you hear the playback of the tune and it's the most sappy piece of garbage you've ever heard. You know it's too much when you listen alone and still cringe. I guess if the right tune came along I’d be up for it, but it definitely needs to be the right tune. I don’t think we’ll ever be one of those bands with the token ballad on each album for effect.

You're still in Minnesota. How tuned in are people up there? Are they still all about Prince and Soul Asylum? I'd imagine the whole `electroclash' thing must have seemed a million miles away when it was happening. Do you feel isolated, as a band, or no? Do you ever think of leaving, or is being in Minnesota an essential part of your creativity?

TODD: I like Minnesota. I guess it's hard for me to comment on the scene because, unless I’m playing, I usually don’t go out to shows. To be honest I don’t listen to too much modern music, so the "electroclash" thing could have been here and I’d be just as ignorant. My knowledge of "electroclash" consists of a picture of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs in Rolling Stone.

DAVID: My favorite of old school synth bands is Devo and they were from Ohio. My favorite of the new synth bands is by far and away The Faint and they are out of Omaha, so I think there's almost a pattern of quality coming out of a vacuum. If we were from Berlin we'd probably sound like a male Miss Kitten or some kind of EBM knock-off act. Scenes can do that to a person. Still, Minnesota an essential part of our creativity? I don't see that either. If the time comes where we really have to move then we should move. That said, David Cronenberg never moved from Canada to Hollywood and he's one of the few modern directors to have had such a lengthy a career who has not fall into the cycle of churning out bland Hollywood crap. Cities can do that. I guess all of that is just answering your question with a big fat "dunno".

PAUL: Minneapolis has a great music scene. There are several awesome clubs here where you can hear innovative music. It is an excellent place for a band with unusual style like Avenpitch's. The town is too small to host many bands that fall in our genre, yet its a big enough city to create a buzz for our music. Prince and Soul Asylum are big when you talk to people from out of town, but the real music scene caters to underground bands that push the envelope of standard-fare music.

Ray Davies once said of the Kinks "We're committed to forever remaining amateurs. The day we become `professional' about things, it's all over". Would you say the same for Avenpitch, or could you see yourself really refining your musicianship and studio craft to the point where you could make something really slick n' sophisticated like The Wall or whatever? To put it another way, could Avenpitch ever be a `Bob Ezrin' kind of super-professional rock band, or would that just kill all the joy?

TODD: I think we could go as far as our imagination takes us - I don‘t think it's our abilities that are in question, it just sorta depends on how we develop as a band and individuals. I‘m not oppose to a super glossy "Bob Ezrin" album - it‘s just that if we do decide to do something like that, I’d want to it right. Right now, I wouldn’t know where to begin... I want to make sure Avenpitch can pound people over the head, tear up the dance floor, and rip people a new one before we worry about a "concept" album of sorts.

DAVID: If by amateurs you mean that we remain the sort of people who love what we do and do what we love regardless of all other factors (fame, women, drugs) then, yes, I hope we always are that way. If by amateurs you mean that the song structures never grow from where they are now and no one gets one bit better on their instruments then God no, how boring.

How've the live shows been going? How similar or different is the live show to the album? Do you draw a crowd beyond your friends and, if so, who are they? What's the audience reaction like? Any mosh pits or is moshing passe even in Minnesota? Any dancing? Head-banging? Do you play old Fleshpeddlers material? If the quality of the music were the only concern - would you rather only release albums or only do live shows? In other words, which do you think comes off better?

DAVID: We've only had three shows so it's a bit premature to talk about them yet. So far it's been fun, mostly friends in the crowds but a few others. I think the songs are starting to open up in some surprising directions as we move from being four individuals with their parts into one band with four members (and since we're all guys we do have four members...). I doubt any of us would want to get rid of recording or playing live and it really is too early to say which is the definitive experience. It'll be a blast finding out.

TODD: The live show has been coming together nicely. We’re getting better and better with every show. Sound wise - I think we’re quite a bit more punk live in terms of energy. We’re kinda this electronic cyborg metal thing ---- definitely LOUD, definitely ENERGETIC. Thus far, we haven’t played any Fleshpeddlers tunes with the exception of "Walrus Teeth", which we remade for the Avenpitch album. David wants to give "Lady Electric" a shot so if we can somehow figure out how to pull it off live I’d be up for it.

PAUL: The live shows are definitely punkier than the recording. The addition of live drums fills out the sound and gives a dynamic punch. The recording, however, has intricacies that would get covered up on a live presentation so we stripped things down and it works well. Because our live sound is so different than the recording, we tend to get mixed reactions. However, most people are thrilled to hear a electronica-based band with live energy. So many times the monotonous tones of drum machines from electronica bands make a really flat performance - that is why we found it so critical to add the live drums and focus on a show that capitalizes on dynamics for our live presentation.

We have been drawing people other than friends to the shows and it is a great feeling. We have all struggled in many bands but Avenpitch seems to have the chemistry to make stuff happen.

And, for its next trick, Avenpitch will...

TODD: I'm just as excited to find out as you.