Who are you
guys wearing today?
James:
A black Buzzoven shirt and an old pair of shorts I used to wear at this pizza
place.
Rafael:
A gray shirt. It has the Hindu symbol
for peace, kind of a smiley face sun. If you ever see it, it’s a symbol for
peace and goodwill. It’s a shirt from this band called Shelter, they’re a
Krishna hardcore band from New York. And the hat is Dillinger Escape Plan,
an amazing jazz-grind band from New Jersey.
Before we go
any farther, how can people get a hold of your music?
R:
They can come to the show on Wednesday
the 14th at Burt’s (Tiki Lounge),
it’s free. Starting at 9:30.
We’re playing with Fukrot, Below the Sound and this amazing band from Seattle,
Bloodhag. They’re this amazing band, they look like bible salesmen, they play
this amazing metal that’s inspired by science-fiction writers. Should be a lot
of fun. So, if you come to the show we can give you our CD or you can e-mail me
(devilsweed1@exite.com).
J:
By the way, you can also e-mail James at hempyre@aol.com.
How
would you describe your music?
 R:
Obviously there’s metal, a bit of a noise thing going on. With the way Eli
writes stuff, there’s very jagged stuff. I mean there’s grooves to things,
repeated parts. It’s melodic chaos. It’s even hard to play in ways. But
I’ve gotten so used to it over the years, I can’t play anything else. That
straight ahead stuff, its boring to me.
Who
have been some of your favorite bands to play with?
R:
I guess, most of our friends. When it’s a band and it’s friends of ours,
it’s always going to be fun. Noisear, a grind band from here, from
Albuquerque.
J:
From across the street.
R:
And then Fukrot, another local band, a lot of fun. Then Below the
Sound, who I think we played with more that any other band. They’re really
great guys. Bullet Train Mafia is another local band we played with a
bunch of times. We’ve played with a lot of styles of music. We’ve played
with death metal bands, pop bands… it’s been interesting.
I saw you
guys practice last night. That new song you have, “Collapse of Stars”? That
was amazing. What’s your favorite song that you guys play?
J:
Archetype. It goes through a lot of different moods. I think it’s a great
example of all three of us working together.
R:
I really like “Sunset Ceremony”. It sounds completely like 3 different
songs. Mellow beginning, then it kind of builds up and it’s this poppy kind of
sound to it, then it gets really heavy and really weird, time change wise. Then
it goes back to this pretty, mellow thing. It’s the antithesis of what we do,
to play things that people don’t expect we’re going to. Not everybody likes
that, though. They like to be fed what they already think it’s going to be
like, which is boring. It’s just one of those things. They
don’t like to be challenged, and I do, so I want to hear something that’s
just completely going to make me feel different things all at once.
Then I know it’s doing the right thing. I need it to be special.
J:
It’s like producing a product is more important than art.
What
was the last album you bought?
R:
The last one I bought was Antenna by Cave-in.
J:
A Blue Oyster Cult compilation.
Who
is your favorite Muppet?
 R:
Mine was, it was a combination, I liked Animal –he’s a drummer- and Rolph.
Cause that’s close to my name, so everybody would always ask do I play piano?
J:
I haven’t thought about Muppets in a long time… Well, Gonzo.
What was the
best live show you’ve been too?
R:
I would say one of the most fun I just saw recently
was at the back of this kid’s house right off of Broadway and this band
Kylessa played this guy’s garage was packed with maybe fifty kids with
more people outside. The band was just amazing, the energy was there and the
crowd was practically on top of the band. It was awesome. That’s
the epitome of show.
J:
We actually played with these guys, but having that opportunity of getting to
see them afterwards… Follow the Bastards, that’s what they’re called.
Absolutely amazing.
R:
They play really flawless black metal. And too see that up close, when they’re
playing so flawlessly and amazing and there’s no goofy gimmick about what they
look like or whatever.
What’s your
favorite kung-fu movie?
J:
What was the Bruce Lee one where he fights Chuck Norris at the end? “Return of
the Dragon”? (“It was.” –Miah)
R:
could be…
J:
Well, that one’s my favorite.
R:
I always liked the one where he fought Kareem Abdul Jabar. (“It was Game of
Death, which Bruce Lee actually died making.” –Miah)
Which one was that? I loved the –Chh!
Chu! When they hit each other? I was always hoping that if you did hit somebody,
that sound would happen.
J:
that was a letdown.
When
was the last time you were arrested?
R:
I was about 13 years old and driving with my cousins in my older cousin’s
truck, illegally. He thought the truck was stolen so he put a thing out. They
ended up pulling us over. We were drinking beers. And so they put us all in the
D home and my aunt had us stay there for two days so we’d learn our lesson. We
didn’t, by the way.
J:
It was about four years ago, to the month. I got picked up for smoking pot while
driving. So they tried to get me on a DUI. I won.
Raphael, you
started playing with Eli a while back, right?
R:
He’s our guitar player. I’ve known him now since ‘97. I hated him when
I first met him. He was such a wise ass. We hung out and he seemed really
interested to play and we started this slower kind of Sabbath-influenced noisy
thing called Devil’s Weed-we started as a duo and so we needed a bass player
and we got this friend of ours to play she was amazing. People would come to our
shows to see this cute girl playing bass basically and things didn’t work out
J:
I got a call from Rafael, he was responding to an ad I put up in a music store
and that was that. The first time I went over and met them, I knew our
personalities clicked.
R:
I thought it was really cool; the first time he came over he
brought a six-pack. Good beer. I said, “I like this guy”.
What ended up happening was that he would bring his gear over but we would get
so drunk, so fucked up, that we would never actually play. I didn’t even know
if he could play the bass. And then eventually, 2 or 3 nights before this big
show we had at the Golden West he learned all the songs right away and could
play better than any bass player we ever had and was a great musician.
When
you were a kid what was your favorite TV show?
R:
Oh, wow. I’d have to say the Muppets. It was on Monday nights at seven thirty.
J:
(laughs) I was obsessed with GI Joes. I think the cartoon was probably my
favorite.
R:
I had the older GI Joes with the kung-fu grip.
J:
Like the ken doll ones? The full…
R:
Yeah, they’re full size. They had hair, beards and stuff. And they would come
with the little set with a string that you could zip them down the zip line,
remember that? And then I really got into the Evil Knievil figures. They had
this cool little bike and you put him in this little thing and rev the wheel and
then the bike would go. And he was bendy, the arms and legs were bendy,
and after a while if you bent them too much they would break, so the arms would
be all deformed and they wouldn’t work anymore.
Such a jip, man. You’d always loose the helmet.
J:
I was really into war. So I liked stuff like “Air Wolf”.
What
was the best show that you’ve played?
R:
It was one of the one’s we played at Smooches. It just felt really good.
Y’know, and we had a lot of people who were into it. We had a bunch of kids
right up front. And I think we played really well.
J:
That one we did at the Launchpad, with the Paradise Players Club.
Jesus,
Buddha, Muhammad, and Ronald McDonald play poker. Who wins?
R:
I think Ronald McDonald wins. He’s kind of this weird specter of coming
together and family. But he’s not. He’s really the devil. And the
devil’s the only one who would knowingly cheat to win.
J:
I agree.
What’s your
favorite Star Trek episode?
 R:
I can’t remember what it’s called; it’s the one where they first meet
Kahn? It’s a two-parter and they end up banishing Kahn and his followers on
this planet and they leave him there. And hence the movie “the Wrath of
Kahn”. Kahn’s pissed.
What was the
worst job you’ve ever had?
J:
working at a gas station. I liked being a janitor more than that.
Are you
really done with that (Pointing
to James’s leftovers)?
J:
Oh no
R:
He’s (Dr. Shin) all ready to dig into it.
This guy, man, holy shit. It’s like he’s never eaten before. It’s
this new thing. Trying everything. “Let me get some crackers with milk and a
hot dog and some cereal with some gravy”. All in separate plates. This
guy must have bacteria in his stomach that will eat steel.
That’s
just a rumor.
Recommend two
eighties movies for me what would they be?
R:
What I always recommend. "To Live and Die in LA" and "Manhunter". Really super 80s.
Hi (to waitress), I think we wanted to get something else.
Waitress:
ok
R:
I was going to get a piece of pecan pie. And can I get some whipped cream on it?
Waitress:
Do you want it warm?
R:
No.
J:
I’m just going to have some more coffee.
I’m
going to get the mushroom burger with the bowl of soup.
Waitress:
No cheese?
No
cheese.
(the
pie comes to the table)
R:
-sigh- Uh-oh. It looks really blended.
I don’t like that. It’s got to be that right texture. I hate room
temperature too .And it’s got to be cold, with cream. Then occasionally
ice-cream. Honey vanilla.
What’s your
favorite monster movie?
R:
I love Godzilla, but I have to say “The Thing”. The new one, that came out
in ’82. The John Carpenter one, on a lot of levels it’s just perfect
J:
"Aliens" I guess. I got into that one more; I’ve seen it more, than the first
one.
R:
the first one’s amazing.
I already
know this, but why is "Alien" such a great movie?
R:
I think it’s amazing movie because it’s defiantly shows what happens when
you mess with nature and there’s nothing you can do to stop it when nature
fights back. And also, showing really strong woman characters is really cool
too. Especially in the, what?, mid-80’s, when they had women wearing green
neon and then all of a sudden you have this amazing Ripley character. At the
time, it was like, maybe the roles have swapped and
women are in control. Which they actually
are, don’t let anybody fool you.
Who’s your
favorite robot?
J:
Favorite robot…
It
can be a "Transformer".
J:
I really like this one; I don’t
even know if he has an actual name.. The Robot Bastard? That was entertaining.
R:
Max, from the "Black Hole" movie. I think his names max. no, no Maxamillion is the
big red one V.I.N.C.E.N.T. is his name. It’s a whaddayacallit?
An anagram?
R:
An anagram, right. V.I.N.C.E.N.T. means something. He looks like this little
garbage can and his head pops up from the top and he has guns… he’s got a
lot of personality.
How was your
food?
R:
Really good. I wolfed it down. I love this place. I haven’t been here in a
while though I’ve been so broke.
J:
Ditto. (Both laugh)
I’ve
heard some stories about Satanism and animal sacrifice.
R:
There was this small arcade that closed down in El Paso, called Castle Park, and
we used to break into it and have parties on the roof. And what ended up
happening one night was that we had some boxes of wine, some candles, and some
chicken. We went up there, had a party, whatever, hung out. Got a little drunk,
started writing on the walls, just goofing around, drew some pentagrams, just
being silly. Then a couple of nights later, they had condemned the site and
actually boarded everything up and the news reported that there were satanic
rituals going on. Animal sacrifieces. But they were full of shit, it was
just the chicken bones and burnt candles that we had so we could see. They were
just trying to create the story. That’s just how fucked up El Paso is. Really
conservative, really anal.
The
Asymptotes will play their last show on Wednesday, before Rafael leaves for
Kansas to see about a lady. Go and see them! Emptyv will have exclusive coverage
of the farewell show and just may beat the shit out of you while wearing a bunny
suit.
Dr.Shin
lives in and around the back-alleys of America. He is the Emptyv news head.
Photos
by Jack.
© Dr.Shin
2003
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