FABRYKA INDUSTRIAL ROCK & METAL ENCYCLOPEDIA

2007-06-07 |

Katarzyna NINa Górnisiewicz and Brian Backlash |

e-mail interview

Brian Backlash: It's always a pleasure to interview or give exposure to a fellow Portlander, especially one who's involved on the heavier end of our music scene. Do you believe Portland is a good place to gain exposure and perfect your sound? What kind of support have you been met with?

Eric: To be honest, Portland as a town, is so laid back that it it gets overlooked so often when there is a lot of good talent around. I think it's the type of town that's really good when trying to soak up ideas when writing music. Any town has its distractions, but Portland is different when writing, theres a lot to pull from here but, getting exposure here is another subject all together, were not L.A. by any means nor would I ever want it to be. So, write your music in Oregon and whore yourself somewhere else. As for support, if you can find it or if it finds you, grab it and appreciate the hell out of it! I'm not at all "big" in the music world but from what I've received as an artist, it's been a blast! And it's been very positive... so far.

Brian Backlash: Industrial rock certainly has it's following, tho no one could dare to call it mainstream. What is the appeal of combining electronics with guitars for you? Do you feel it's a style that still has room for growth and exploration?

Eric: To me, it's all about making the music sound fucking huge, the two together work like
a symphony in my opinion. I've always loved the electronics and synth sounds in Industrial music, and I am a huge fan of metal as well with the catchy riffs and crunch. I play what makes sense to me and what sounds good. I'm all self taught so usually everything is done by trial and error. I think it's more pure that way if that makes any sense at all. It is a dying breed of music. It's not as big as it once was
before in the 90's but, you do what sounds good to you and there's bound to be someone out there that likes that genre too. As for growth and exploration... without a doubt! Someone is going to shake things up again, it always happens. Hopefully noones going to mix hip hop with it, but hey, what do I know.

NINa: Seems like industrial music is dominated by men. Have you heard any women performing in a guitar driven industrial band?

Eric: Yeah! There's this bad ass band from Seattle I believe called CharlieDrown. Their last album was produced by one of the guys in KMFDM, I think. Never saw them live, but I heard the music, very nice!

NINa: One of your songs sounds very in 16volt style. Have they been an influence for you? What are your expectations regarding the forthcoming 16volt album?

Eric: Without a doubt! Been into them/him since i was in early highschool. I wouldn't deny for a second that one or a couple didn't sound like them or one of many bands that have been huge influences in my life. I got to kick it with Eric Powell for the day awhile back at his place when FullBlackHabit was still a ProTools file, very talented man and has a great family too. As for the upcoming album, I can't fucking wait! And I think it's going to to do really well for him and his band.

Brian Backlash: You inked a deal recently with Murder City Records, a Portland based label. What did you like about the label (and vice versa) that they became the home for your music?

Eric: MurderCityRecords has been really great with puting my name out there and really getting the fire lit under my ass as far as making music. They have a total, I believe, of 13 bands that have joined with them so far, and are about ready to put out a compilation CD together called "The 13 Murders Comp. Vol. 1" so that will be exciting to see how that's received. They're all a bunch of great guys, we've been in contact with each other for awhile, one of the guys there, name Joel, is in a band called Dead End Nation, I dug their music from the beginning and just thought it would be a good fit for me.

NINa: 10 years ago record labels were creating Rockstars, even in our industrial rock/metal scene. What is the best way to become a Rockstar in 2007?

Eric: Apparently, we need to get onto a reality show for "RockstarSupernova" to make it.

Brian Backlash: The track "HITV" is hard hitting, aggro, and just a killer slab of industrial rock goodness. As you're largely working on your own, do you always know if you're on to something good - or do you have to wait for a finished product to really know if it the material works?
Eric: When writing music and lyrics I prefer to do it by myself these days mainly because you can get into situations to where one person wants a song to sound more aggressive and the other wants to play it softer. I like to skip all that, figure it out myself and if it sucks then the only person to blame is me. I can throw myself down the stairs just fine thank you, i don't need a helping hand. I usually think all my stuff is crap, then after awhile i start tweaking with things and throwing guitar riffs into the mix and somehow cool shit appears, sometimes. Theres a lot of ideas that just get shoved into the corner. But, that just means theres always stuff to work on I guess.

NINa: Sounds like you like NIN. Does NIN still sounds like NIN to you after the few latest releases?

Eric: It does, but to a point. For me I do like his older music personally, but I did like the Fragile. Alot of people didn't but I enjoyed it. For me It worked. As for the new album....not so much.

Brian Backlash: An independent horror movie, "Full Circle" is currently being made and you submitted some music for the soundtrack. Is there any word yet as to how that's going?

Eric: Nothing is known yet so we'll see what happens, all I know is the movie is like "The Sixth Sense" and "Psycho" put together, hopefully that Haley Joel Osment kid isn't in it, that boy gave me the creeps.

NINa: Do you plan a full length album release this year?

Eric: I do plan on it, my wife is pregnant with our second child so that's why I'm pushing for late this
year or early '08. I'm going to be pretty busy this year with everything going on. We'll see what happens.

NINa: Boys in make up, women without it. Why do the roles in society between the sexes invert? What are we short of that much?

Eric: LoL! That's a great question. I don't think I could really give an answer for that, but for me
I'm comfortable in it I really don't care what people think if I do wear it, which is usually just for playing
a show or for pics. But, my dad said that it does look good and does bring out my eyes, I shit you not, he did say that. Apparently, the thing that you are short of the most is the eyeliner and black nail polish that your boyfriend or husband is using, sorry babe, I'll buy you a new bottle of black nail polish.

Brian Backlash: Have you played any live shows yet? If not, when and how do you plan to make your live debut?

Eric: No shows have been done yet, but I'm being asked to play some shortly, but everything is not where it needs to be yet musically. So nothing is planned as of yet, but as soon as I feel it is you'll know. As of "how" thats also undecided.

Brian Backlash: What are your favorite themes to explore lyrically? Are there any topics you're uncomfortable writing about - or would like to explore more?

Eric: Lyrics come last after the music is all done, I like to have the music write the lyrics, its funny how it works that way but it can really bring out ideas. Certain riffs or beats can set the entire tone of the song and how it's sung and what it's about. As for themes, I usually pull ideas of whats happening in society and things around me, if it sparks something in my head it's gonna get used. My mom passed away a little while back and I would like to write a song, no lyrics, just a kind of somber industrial song with some grand piano in the background or something, I think that's where it becomes a little uncomfortable in the topic area of things. But, we'll see.

NINa: What music do you listen to these days? Do you have any favourite albums to recommend our readers?

Eric: These days I'm usually listening to and always recommend FrontLine Assembly, Iron Maiden, MotoGrater, MudVayne, Strapping Young Lad, Sepultura, I'm sure theres others but can't think of all the CD's in my car.

NVEiN at Myspace