2006-04-09 | Katarzyna NINa Górnisiewicz and Brian Backlash | e-mail interview

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NINa: You have written: "Probably won't ever be on MySpace Records"? Why? Do you say that because they don't openly support industrial music?

Shane: Well... Being an underground act... and Myspace being owned by a major corporation makes these things a bit contrary. It would be an act of divinity to actually happen.
Chad: Nothing to do with industrial music, more like unpopular music. STG only had about 600 friends when the MySpace Records thing was announced. I figured with only 600 friends, why would MySpace even bother to look at a band like us. Call Florence Pow would be another great example. They're not industrial, but they're great indie, experimental music. But, they have no friends, so why would anyone ever consider them for something so obviously commercial like MySpace Records?

Brian Backlash: Has the Los Angeles industrial / goth scene been conducive to ressurrecting the band?

Chad: The reunion only happened because the local scene demanded it for so long. It was very L.A. "We only want the band we can't have". Good thing we don't have to live off of this though, because the merchandising has been poorly received. I think people just want to see the live shows. Nobody really wants the t-shirt.
Shane: Hmmm.....throughout the years a reunion has been brought to our individual attentions via our fans about town... I think the current state of affairs that this country and it's presidency is undergoing has also had a part in this as well.
Lars: Nearly every time I go out to the clubs (das Bunker, Release the Bats, etc.) someone asks me when we're playing again... Sounds conducive to me.

NINa: What kind of support do you think the industrial music scene has these days? Do you even believe support exists in the first place?

Chad: Paul Barker came to my work the other day looking for product endorsements. He's currently producing emo bands and film soundtracks. What does that tell you about the State of Industrial?

Brian: Your latest song, "Nursing the Dead" has had quite a few spins on Myspace, and is also one of the best songs I've heard you guys throw out there. Will the track be on the next record, or is the song generally reflective of the direction STG is going in the 21st century?

Chad: It'll be on the next record, but maybe not the exact same version. I don't think it reveals too much about where STG is going.
Shane: Progression.

NINa: Jeff Smith (from Hate Dept. tour) is mentioned among the band's musicians list. How did you catch him?

Shane: A big slice of cheese and a huge rat trap.=)...No really, He's a well balanced musician both live and in the studio, Also He can dish it out and take it like a champ....I love the man.

NINa: Seems there were lots of musicians running through the band to note that STG was founded in 1989. Are you an open band to rotate musicians so often, or you are still looking for the best lineup ever?

Chad: The best line-up was when we were all in our 20's. I think we should be like Menudo.
Shane: I think what we have here is a well cultivated garden that with just the right amount of love and attention can render a lethal harvest.

Brian: Who is in your present lineup, and how did you rope each noisemaker in?

Shane: What were we talking about again?....Oh yeah...Chad, Bruce, Jeff, Lars, James, Occasional Dave, and Myself...Well... Once the poison is mixed, proved, and determined that it works...It's always defeating to go changing the ingredients.....
Lars: They kidnapped me from an orphanage as a small child and raised me in a cage in the basement.

NINa: What do you remember most from about the 90's, in terms the height and glory of industrial rock's heydey?

Chad: I'll sum the 90's up by paraphrasing a popular saying. "We built it, nobody came."
SHane: Us, Chemlab, Skrew, Cradle of Thorns.. I never was much for the MTV generation.. I only recognized Blood, Sweat, and Tears to be cliche about it.

NINa: There is written in your bio: (1992) "A series of brutal live shows dominate the year." Could you give us a few examples what the brutal live shows were like?

Chad: We've had to toss people in the bathtub a few times...people covered in ketchup and feathers...speaker columns falling over...Shane crowdsurfing a bunch of Marines...picking up hitchhikers too drunk to remember where they live...drinking all of Spahn Ranch's shots...
Shane: lol..oh boy..They would lock me in the room for days on end...starved, feeding me nothing but rumours and bullshit drama, hyping me up...pump me full of some sort of substance then let me loose with the other rabid baboons that would frequent our shows....Violent, Chaotic, Humbling, Horrific displays of anger during a volatile time.

Brian: When I was in Montclair (CA) in 2003 visiting Rhino Records, I acquired a copy of your 1993 record 'No Longer Human.' The art direction on the record is fabulous; in what way do you determine what an album cover is going to look like? Do you have any parameters or requirements when deciding on the physical artistic presentation of your music?

Shane: I discovered the work of John Bergin through a series of art comics called "Ashes" . A Very Dark, Sparse, Apocalyptic representation of the humanity...and it's mind. Suggested this to the rest of the members and we were a go.... John's brilliant.

Brian: What kind of promotion have you been undertaking to spread the word that STG is resurrected?

Dave: "Listen bitch, how 'bout I stuff you full of peanut butter, pull a burlap sack over your head and beat you with a stick? Then and only then will we succumb to such a brutal interrogation!"

NINa: Has Idiot Stare fulfilled your expectations and achieved what you were hoping to accomplish?

Chad: Not even close.
Shane: Sure.......

NINa: There is a note in your Myspace blog: "Shhhhhhhhhhhhh. STG is sleeping again. That is all..." Is STG dead?

Chad: More like STG is on hold. Shane has his solo album to finish up, and Idiot Stare is finishing their next album. Both those project are long over due and need to be finished before any more progress on STG could take place.
Shane: ...Brooding, is more like it.
Lars: Not dead... just in an alcohol induced coma.

Myspace | STG

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