you are at the beginning of a huge tour right now. have you been looking forward to it or are you just thinking of it as hard work?
we've all been looking forward to it. we haven't done a full u.s. tour in over a year, so i think we were all getting a bit restless at home.
i was wondering how you can abide it every night for some of you act kind of self-destructive on stage.
it definitely takes it's toll. chris currently has two busted up hands, one of which might be broken. i have a bum knee from jumping off an amp and landing unevenly on a monitor. steve is currently limping from falling on a snake box, and then there are the daily hangovers and bangovers. you learn to deal with it though...
to me it seems like that you spend half of your life in a van. is the band the center of your lives? if not, what is it?
i guess it's pretty central for all of us. we all have jobs at home, but we drop them when it's time to go out on the road. i can't really imagine doing this when i'm 40, but then again, i don't know what else i'd do at this point. i'm pretty unemployable.
your second album has just been released. why do you think it's your best album so far?
it's the most accurate representation of where we're at with the band at this point. it's also the record we spent the most time on in the studio, so we were able to make sure we had everything the way we wanted it.
when you just started the band you said that it would take you about a month to write a single song. why was that and have you become quicker meanwhile?
i think part of the problem is that we were still figuring out what kind of band we wanted to be and how the creative dynamic within the band works. we've definitely gotten better at being more efficient with our time, but we're also still figuring out how to write songs.
the way you're playing the guitars is exceptional. don't you like power chords?
power chords are fine, but it's pretty hard to work in that realm and not feel like your stealing from nearly 50 years of power-chord-based music. we still find ourselves accidentally ripping off bands, but the margin of error tends to be smaller when shit gets a little weirder.
there have been a lot of changes in the line-up in quite a short time of band history. which effects did that have on your music?
it definitely has lead to some variations in style on each record. it also has caused a quite a few setbacks considering that we've had to teach all the old songs to three different people. but it has been a pleasure to work with some great musicians.
even though you lost your original keyboard player you didn't stop experimenting with new sounds. this time the spectrum is wider than ever. is permanent change what makes the band?
definitely. we're all music nerds that are constantly exploring new bands and genres, and as result we try to find new sounds within our own band. i also figure it keeps the band interesting and relevant. after all, you never know what the new melvins or sonic youth record is gonna sound like.
i've read a statement of you that said that you never wanted to play a song the same way twice. why not?
we play nearly 200 shows a year. it gets really boring playing songs over and over again the exact same way.
i think the sound of your band is kind of steril and sometimes even hostile (but in an interesting way). do you do that intentionally according to the motto "this is meant to hurt you"?
we're not trying to be unlistenable, but i guess we are trying to make music that is a bit dark and pessimistic. there's a lot of territory to explore in that realm of human nature, and it's not always pretty.
how important is it for you to provoke?
ideally, i'd like for people to really appreciate the band. if not, then i'd prefer people to totally hate it. i'm happy just as long as they're not bored by it.
it seems like switching from kill sadie and botch to taas has happened pretty quick. to which of those bands are you affiliated more, concerning both music and spirit?
musically i think we've used pretty minimal elements of both bands, but i think TAAS is really just a continuation of the spirit of botch and kill sadie. both bands were interested in exploring uncharted territories, and that is definitely something that applies to our current endeavors as well.
how did you get in contact with jade tree records?
we sent them a demo, but neglected to put any contact information on it. they contacted a few local promoters till they found someone with our phone numbers. they thought we were deliberately trying to be mysterious, but in reality, we were just stupid and completely forgot to include an email address.
you are from seattle, which is a city that many europeans look at quite reverential because of all the bands it has put forth. can you reveal its secret?
geographical isolation and nine months of rain a year definitely lends to nurturing bands in the area. all we do is practice, and we haven't been corrupted by having an over-arching local music industry like NYC or LA. we have a long history of independent and visionary artists.
please visit www.thesearmsaresnakes.org. interview done by christian.