Haven't posted an interview on here for too long, so tonight after working on the next issue of Downsided Fanzine (issue 5, out in about a week or so), I managed to muster up the motivation to put this together. This is an interview that I did with Arizona's Get Destroyed a couple of years ago. It appeared in Downsided #4 (yes, it's been a long time between issues). These guys put out my favourite record of 2009 and they're on the verge of unleashing it's predecessor in the coming months. In my opinion these guys are one band of a select few that manage to do PV true justice. Blasting.So you guys have been around long enough to get a couple ep’s out and about. What’s the basic round up of the band? Members etc?
Zach plays guitar. Ben Sings. Jay plays bass and I play drums.
How did you guys form? I heard that it was from the ashes of a couple other bands?
We have all been playing in the same bands for years. I played drums in Call the Cops with Zach who played guitar. A couple of our songs were released on a 625 comp. I also played guitar in a thrash band call No Shit with Ben (guitar) and Jay (bass). We broke up before we could release anything. Zach and Jay were in another thrash band called Coughing Up Blood, Zach sang and Jay played bass. They release a 7in. on a local record label. I loved all of these bands very much. It has been a ton of fun playing with them, and watching these guys play music.
The first 7” came out a while back now, after it all, how do you see that record? Was it received well? Anything you’d change about it?
I love our first record. I know it sounds weird to say that because I’m in the band. It was done so long ago that sometimes I find myself listening to it and forgetting that that is our music. I think people liked it. Our shows are always fun and people seem to enjoy what we play. To be honest I don’t think I would change anything about the record, it turned out better that we thought it would and we all still love it today.
The new record, “Burnt Offerings” has just dropped, what’s different to you guys about it? Did you approach this new one differently at all?
We actually recorded this record about a year and a half ago. Our song writing process is pretty ridiculous. We wanted to record another7in. and wrote the songs in a two or three week period and went into the studio with them. Although we kind of threw it together, we all really like the record. It’s a little different than the first one. Still pretty brutal, but we tried some new stuff. My favorite part of the record is Ben’s vocals. His voice sounds so mean. P.S. Ben might be one of the nicest, fun loving guys in the world, he is always drinking hot tea and playing mellow music. He plays guitar in a band called Destination Wilderness. He goes to school in Washington State and has a couple of bands up there. When he comes back in town though he tears it up with Get Destroyed!
It’s credited to be recorded back in 2007. I heard that originally you guys were recording for a split LP. Were these tracks meant for that? What happened there? WHo was the split going to be with?
The split was supposed to be with a band from Germany called The Gentle Art of Choking. They wanted to release the record sooner than we could get ours together, so it just didn’t work out.
I am pretty sure, almost positive that I hear Alex Hughes on vocal duties on a handful of songs on this new release. Am I hearing things? Or is it someone who sounds a load like him?
You are hearing things. We are friends with Alex. Hatred Surge is actually driving out to Arizona to play our record release show on Dec. 26th. Ben called Alex while we were recording and asked how he did his vocals. He told Ben to cup his hands in front of his face and scream into them. That’s how Ben got that sound. I love it!
Especially with Burnt Offerings, I’m hearing a heavy Evolved To Obliteration influence going on. Would I be wrong in this observation? How much of an influence would these guys (and similar bands from this era) be on the Get Destroyed sound?
We draw influences from all over the place. Mostly from the mid 80’s to late 90’s. I love everything Max Ward has been, Scholastic Deth, Spazz and of course WxHxN, etc... We all love Crossed Out and Infest and always looked to those bands as the best Power Violence had to offer. We also like new PV bands like Mind Eraser and Hatred Surge. We are all big fans of the Machine Gun Romantics too. Truth is we all listen to a ton of different types of music and who knows what is influencing the songs, they just come out and if we like them they stay.
Ben’s vox also ring true, I believe, to Andy from No Comment a fair bit. And over the years I’ve come across various bands whos vocalists often do attempt to manipulate their chords so that they do sound similar to their influences, often pulling it off rather well. Does Ben try this? Or is he just doing what he does?
Ben is just Ben. I consider Ben a real musician. I mean I play music and mess around with this power violence stuff, but Ben plays drums, guitar and sings well in many different genres. He just gets up there is rips out some brutal vocals. Who knows how the hell he does it. Must be all that damn hot tea and hippie Washington shit.
You guys hail from Arizona, an area of the country which I’m largely unfamiliar with in terms of the scene. It would seem that it’s certainly no Texas Gulf Coast, Cali or Boston. What kind of scene do you guys have going on there? I’d assume that you guys probably aren’t that far away from Cali. Travel there much for show?
I like our scene. There have definitely been some great bands to come out of it, and great bands still around playing. There is a dedicated group of people that keep underground venues open so all of us have places to play. We never play shows in California, especially now that Ben lives in Washington. A little while ago Get Destroyed went on a west coast tour with another drummer. I couldn’t make it because of school.
I spent half a day in the Phoenix airport once. Flying in and flying out it just seemed like a big, dry, hot plain. Would my observations be right? What do you guys do for fun in an environment like that?
The summers here are wicked hot. But for about nine month out of the year the weather is perfect. During the summer you either stay inside or get yourself into a pool. This last summer I went to a ton of pool parties. We usually just get together at someone’s house and hangout with each other. Always fun with friends.
With both records you guys have had a handful of record labels pitch together to release them both. Namely 625, Give Praise and To Live A Lie. How come? It’s not often that labels go 3rds in pressing records.
It actually was put out by four labels. 625, To Live a Lie, Give Praise and Vulgar Rex. The economy is in the shitter right now so I think this was the best way to get the record out. The distribution on the record by the four different labels has been amazing. The record is all over the world, which is all we really care about, getting the music out there to as many people that like Power Violence as possible.
Now I don’t know what it’s like where you guys are from, but round these parts it’s almost ‘taboo’ to say the word Powerviolence. Joke origins or not, I do like to believe that their is certainly a defined PV sound, a sound that you guys seem to play pretty hard at. That stop/start/fast/slow sound. What’s you opinions on the term? Do you like to use it? Do you believe that there is a defined sound that would suit the term? Do you think it’s stupid the way some people get so worked up about it?
Yeah, that is dumb. I don’t know what else you would call it. We definitely consider ourselves a Power Violence band. No one around here cares about that term. I always describe Power Violence as being real fast, fast and then real slow, slow, kind of how you described it. People are dumb.
I’m sitting here writing this interview, and the news on TV in front of me is reporting about some dust storms that are affecting your area at the moment. For conversations sake, have these storms affected you guys at all? Does this kind of shit happen often?
Nope, we are dust free. Just a little winter rain, but nothing to crazy, Arizona is pretty mellow on weather.
So what’s next for you guys? Does a chance to tour happen often? Does work/study interfere with that kind of thing?
We actually have been talking about writing another 7in. Were going to try to get it done by the end of April. Definitely no tour, though. I am moving to San Diego, CA May 1st to go to law school. Zach is moving away to go to medical school (he’s also getting his PHD, that kid looks retarded but he’s actually wicked smart). Ben is in Washington finishing his undergrad and Jay is here at ASU finishing his undergrad too. We love playing music, but have always put school first.
Thanks for the time Nik. Any thanks/fuck yous?
Thanks so much. Your questions were great. I had a bunch of fun with this interview. The only other thing I want to say is check out all the other bands we are in. I just recorded with my new band, Mark of The Rat. I play guitar in the band and really like the new stuff. Jay plays guitar in a band Netzeah and they are so good!!! My favorite local band by far. Ben is in that band Destination Wilderness. He went on a U.S. and European tour with them. They also played South by Southwest. That band is awesome. Thanks so much. Good luck with the zine and we can’t wait to see how it turns out.
So as I mentioned, I've managed to amass a small TT them collection over time, but sometimes I question why I've bothered. They've had their moments over the last few years, but overall, I've never been crazy about them at all, and I don't really know why. This should be right up my alley. Heavy, frantic structures, Euro styled death metal guitar tone, dark aesthetic, but for some reason I've just never really been able to get really excited about anything other than a couple songs off the "Seance Prime" 7". Namely 'Pulse Mavens', what a song.
Anyway, with this new album, they continue down pretty much the same path they've tread for the majority of their life as a band. Energetic, mis-timed structures, blast beats, some big heavy riffs, raspy vocals. If you've heard anything they've done before then you know what to expect here. What makes this release a little different though, is the noticeably cleaner recording. They lose no punch with the approach, but it's markedly tidier, crisper and arguably a little more clinical sounding, almost generic.
Inner dust sleeve that acts as the liner notes. The record in my package came sleeved in a separate, white dust sleeve though.
Gatefold sleeve that is left to waste though. All black with a few scribbles at each end. It's all part of the 'look' though I guess.
