Interference
Volume 2, Number 7
Free
For more information, contact Mike Hammer at 440-779-9340 or rainermaria@hotmail.com.
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How much do you really want to know about the bands you love? Maybe, just quite possibly, a tiny, tiny bit less than this?
"OK ...so we snuck into this pool on the first day of tour, and it was the giant pool, and I had to poop real bad so I just pooped in it and didn't have to wipe."
That's a direct quote from Interference magazine's current cover story, coming from Gavan Nelson, bass player for Las Vegas's hardcore experimentalists Curl up and Die. It's, er, quite a scoop, wouldn't you say? The fact that Gavan is spelled Gavin throughout the article doesn't detract at all from the in-depth insight into Hellfest, CUAD's lack of respect for Cleveland or why it's illegal to tear off mattress tags.
Hold on, that's just the lead article. This month's Interference finds editor Mike Hammer talking shit, sometimes literally, with the best of them, turning in sophomorically entertaining profiles of female punkers (don't call them a girl band) Fabulous Disaster, beautiful minimalists Spokane, and the Curl Up and Die guys mentioned earlier.
Dianogah and the Gadjits answer the zine's perpetual 10 questions. (Dianogah goes for Zepp, while the Gadjits opt for Sabbath, once again failing to decisively settle the eternal '70s metal debate.)
There is a short interview with 5 Rue Christine impresario Slim Moon (who, of course, also runs Kill Rock Stars), along with some very amusing copy lifted from the label's web site. (Sample text: "There is nothing we aren't afraid to do. Music is fine but that's just the keystone in this organization. Today we release an album. Tomorrow we're dedicating a bridge in Tangiers. Friday we are all going to the sea-side. You get the idea." Actually, no. I am still trying to picture a bridge as beautiful and crazy and out of control as Deerhoof, one of the label's best-known bands.)
A non-music feature on the 20,000 Leagues Under the Industry film festival is equally interesting. The festival, held in Cleveland, is a long way from air-kissing confabs like Cannes or Toronto. Most of the movies are made on home equipment for less than a month's rent. The results sound incredibly diverse and brilliantly off-key. For example, I live only a few miles from universally-scorned documentarian Ken Burns, so it is always fun to read about a DIY documentary on him built entirely out of snippets from public access video promoting Jazz. The article also drives home the point that creative people need lots of outlets. Among the filmmakers, Codey Critcheloe is also in a fabulous band called SSION.
The zine ends with CD reviews, once again allowing for several listeners to agree or raucously dissent. Interference seems to be attracting more widely available albums these days -- I had heard of or listened to at least a third of the ones in this month's issue -- but the reviews are still written in the very informal style that the magazine prizes. A quick run-through revealed no startling dissent among the reviewers, though naturally, different people occasionally liked different things about the same album.
Hammer says that the zine has been redesigned, and it does look a bit less busy, though the type remains tiny and he is clearly not too fond of white space. Still the screaming headlines about screaming hardcore guys, the all-cap band names, the multitude of fuzzy, black and white photos are all part of the charm of magazines like Interference. You can't even worry about it getting too slick or selling out in any way. It's just not conceptually possible. That's kind of comforting, don't you think?
-- Jennifer Kelly
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