Rumsfield
We all know that Canada
on the one hand produces less bands when compared to the U.S. for example,
but on the other hand the bands over there have this special something
that sets them apart. Canadian bands are unique and have an innovative
and original sound. Rumsfield are Canadian... Need I say more?
1. FIRST OF ALL I THINK IT’S IMPORTANT TO
INTRODUCE YOURSELVES TO OUR READERS AND TO GIVE US A BAND BIO IN A FEW
WORDS.
We're Rumsfield, from Oshawa Ontario Canada.
Dean (vocals, guitar), Eric (bass), Mike (guitar) and Luke (drums). Our
music is influenced by metal/hard rock/hard core and punk. We've played
together for 6 years and have 2 full length discs (a new one in the works)
and 3 music videos that we've produced independently.
2. PLEASE FILL US IN ON YOUR BAND RELEASES. IF
YOU WERE ASKED TO WRITE A REVIEW ABOUT YOUR LATEST MUSICAL ENDEAVOR, WHAT
WOULD YOU SAY TRYING TO BE AS OBJECTIVE AS POSSIBLE?
We released our first disc "Violent Mood Swings"
in 2000 and our second "Terrible Times" in 2004. An objective review of
our last release would include commentary on the equal use of singing and
screaming in the vocal dept., a wall of destorted Californian rhythm guitars,
aggressive drumming and a prominent bass tone. More or less: "Aggresive
music with melodic sections, possibly lacking a defined singular direction
but performed with a palpable sincerity that draws the material together
into a cohesive collection that will kick your ass and keep you guessing."
3. MENTIONING SOME OF YOUR MOST BELOVED BANDS
AND INFLUENCES IS INEVITABLE I THINK FOR THE READERS TO UNDERSTAND YOUR
MUSICAL DIRECTION…
Our influences are always changing. We all
listen to a variety of different music to keep things interesting. During
the recording of our last disc we were listening to bands like Helmet,
Deftones and Filter. This time around our material is being more influenced
by bands like Metallica, Slayer, Misfits, Bleeding Through and Lamb of
God.
4. WHAT’S THE BEST AND WHAT’S THE WORST PART OF
YOUR MUSIC, ACCORDING TO YOU?
The best part of our music is the feeling
it gives us when we're playing it live. The worst part about our music
is how we feel AFTER we've played it live lol. We're usually 4 sweaty,
beaten up, worn out sacks of shit by the time we've finished a set. It's
pretty draining but great fun.
5. HAVE YOU GOT ANY NEW SONGS READY? HOW WILL
THEY SOUND?
Yes we do have new songs ready. There are
a few demos up on our Myspace page right now. U want to hear 'em? Go to
www.myspace.com/rumsfield
!!!!!!!
6. WHICH ARE THE TOPICS YOU DEAL WITH LYRICALLY?
WHICH ARE YOURS SOURCES OF INSPIRATION?
Lyrically we deal with everything from personal
issues to movies to stories to anything that really suits the music or
the mood that we're in when we're writing. It's important to us not to
repeat ourselves lyrically. It can get pretty tiresome going over the same
subject matter over and over again. So the big trick becomes finding new
things to write about that still resonate with us and hopefully with the
people who listen to our music. We're inspired by the things that we go
through ourselves, art, movies...pretty well anything that seems relevant.
7. I SHOW THE COVER YOU HAVE ON YOUR MYSPACE BLOG,
BUT I COULDN’T UNDERSTAND WHAT IT IS. CARE TO EXPLAIN WHAT THOSE RED PATTERNS
ARE? WHO CREATED IT?
The red patterns are a smiley face. It was
done with a cut finger and a piece of cardboard.
8. HAVE YOU DONE ANY LIVE SHOWS SO FAR? IF YES,
WHAT DID YOU LEARN FROM THIS EXPERIENCE? HAS IT CHANGED YOUR WAY OF THINKING
CONCERNING THE WAY YOU BUILD THE SONGS? I MEAN DO YOU TRY TO WRITE LIVE
SONGS?
lol Yes we've played a ton of live shows.
Live shows are where this band really comes to life. We've just learned
how to take advantage of a stage, how to project our energy and how to
really get the most out of an audience. It's hard not to think about how
a song is going to translate live when you write it. We don't specifically
think about how the song will work live but it does go hand in hand with
the writing process.
9. HOW ARE YOU THINKING TO PROMOTE YOUR WORK AND
MUSIC? HAVE YOU BOOKED ANY LIVE SHOWS?
As far as promoting ourselves, we've shot
numerous music videos (which are available on www.youtube.com)
we've played countless live shows, developed and sold merch, contacted
record companies, managers, lawyers, distributors and we STILL haven't
fooled any of them into helping us yet :)
10. WHAT KIND OF FEEDBACK HAVE YOU RECEIVED SO
FAR? WHAT WAS THE MOST FLATTERING AND WHAT THE MOST UNFAIR COMMENT YOU
HEARD ABOUT YOUR MUSIC?
The most flattering comment we heard was from
an A+R rep (from a label we won't mention from the USA) who saw our show
and said "Guys, this could be really, REALLY huge"... The most unflattering
thing was that we apparently "didn't all look like we were in the same
band" lol.
11. WILL YOU SEND YOUR DEMO TO ANY LABELS OR DO
YOU THINK IT’S STILL TOO EARLY?
Naw, we won't send any of our demos out to
labels. If anything, we'll send them a few of the finished tracks once
the recording process is complete.
12. YOU COME FROM CANADA, A COUNTRY WITH A VERY
SPECIAL ROCK/METAL SCENE, SINCE SOME OF THE MOST QUALITY AND ORIGINAL BANDS
COME FROM OVER THERE. HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN THIS? ARE THERE ANY BANDS YOU
THINK DESERVE OUR ATTENTION?
There really isn't much of a purely "metal"
scene where we are from. However, there are a lot of very talented bands
over here that do deserve a lot of attention including Angerkain, Tantrumn,
Future's Past and RPO. All of these bands have myspace pages!
13. WHAT PROCEDURE DO YOU FOLLOW WHILST COMPOSING
SONGS? IS IT A ONE MAN WORK OR DO YOU ALL HAVE A SAY?
The usual writing procedure is that one of
us will come up with a basic song structure and bring that to rehearsal.
The rest of us will learn it, develop it, add parts and arrange it. Then,
Dean writes the lyrics to it and it becomes a completed work.
14. IF YOU HAD A BIG BUDGET TO VISUALIZE ONE OF
YOUR SONGS, WHICH ONE WOULD YOU CHOOSE AND HOW DO YOU IMAGINE IT TO BE?
Well we did videos for "Blister" and "Mass
Heart Attack" off our last disc. We did not have a lot of money to pull
them off but they turned out really well (both were played on Much Music
in Canada and "Blister" was played on "Headbanger's Ball" on MTV in the
U.S.A.). We just try our best to have some sort of original twist to them.
It helps if the mood of the song influences the visuals and the director
that we have worked with on the last 2 videos (Jacob Troy Miller) is excellent
at making this happen.
15. WHAT’S, ACCORDING TO YOU, THE MOST SUITABLE
TITLE THAT COULD SUM UP THE WHOLE RUMSFIELD ESSENCE AND MUSICAL IDENTITY?
16. IF YOUR MUSIC WERE AN EMOTION, WHAT WOULD
IT BE? IF IT WERE A PAINTING, WHAT WOULD IT SHOW?
Our music never really stays in one emotional
area. On the surface it would appear to be all angst and rage but we try
to involve other emotional aspects too. As for a painting, it would involve
a lot of red. :)
17. WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF THERE WAS NO MUSIC IN
THE WORLD? HOW AND WHERE WOULD YOU CHANNEL ALL YOUR CREATIVE ENERGY?
If there was no music in the world life would
be boring. I suppose that we would have to find other ways to express ourselves
through art or violence.
18. WHAT’S THE WEIRDEST OR FUNNIEST QUESTION YOU’VE
BEEN ASKED SO FAR?
The weirdest question that we've been asked
is "Jeeezus! Do we have a traffic warden!??!"
19. THANK YOU! IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE YOU’D LIKE
TO MENTION AND I FORGOT TO ASK YOU? LEAVE A MESSAGE TO OUR READERS…
I think all we'd like to add is: Please check
out our myspace page and keep an eye out for our new recording this year.
We want to thank everyone who has checked out our music and we hope that
you all stick with us!
Christine Parastatidou
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