...I'm having a good little interview with Caustic (part 1)

A face you can trust.

Earlier today, Matt put it out there that he's up for doing interviews. Being a very curious person about all things music and what people think when they are making their art, I decided "what the hell, worst thing he'll say is no." 


Background, I've only "known" Matt since early 2010 when Dan Clark and Eric Oehler put together the Fading Belief tour and had am.psych and Caustic on the bill for the Madison/Milwaukee/Chicago shows. I must say, Matt is a riot, I love what he does on stage, and I wish I got to see more of his performances in my younger years. Great stuff. To this day, I get Lady Business in my head out of nowhere and just rattle off "boom boom boom, lady business." It scares people. 


Other than that, I just have good conversation with the guy. We hit each other up on Facebook from time to time, and I've even sparked his interest in possibly doing a cover song of an old 80's tune with me in the future.


So after the jump is part one of my interview with Matt of Caustic: 



So, lets do this here instead of Facebook. Only because I can't stand their new messaging interface. We'll go back and forth, starting with one question, you can answer it, I might have some follow up to it based on your response or an entirely new line of questioning. I'm sure you're used to this with your podcast and all.

Caustic interview take 666 - 

Falken: We'll start this one off with something that I myself have been wanting to ask. Back in 2010, after doing the mini tour with Dark Clan, Null Device, and Am.Psych.... you posted that you lost interest in doing live shows and were going to be giving them up. Kick forward to 2011, you're signed to Metropolis Records, you just got back from Europe, and have played a few shows stateside as well. What changed between that post and your Kickstarter promotion for the new album? Was it the new album, the need to be on stage for the adrenaline rush, or something else?

Caustic: Well there's a few facets to the answer on that one.  Mostly I was just ridiculously frustrated when I'd get brought out to do a show on a promoter's dime and have a small turnout.  It didn't have anything to do with me thinking I DESERVED a bigger turnout, just that the promoter potentially lost a LOT of money and I felt responsible for that and hated that feeling time and time again (mind you, I've also done shows for huge crowds lots of places as well, but I can tend to dwell on the negative which is what I was doing then). 

I was also sick of what I considered an "apathetic" crowd reaction, and this WAS more egotistical.  I think every artist imagines their new songs being played and the whole crowd losing their shit in slow motion like some stupid music video, but the fact is (especially with most of Caustic's performances and music) that people tend to just want to watch the melee and/or record it on their cellphones.  And some people DO lose their shit, but a smaller crowd dictates a more passive atmosphere a lot of the time.  I just didn't like the truth of that.

Eat your heart out Slayer

I was also only a few months sober at the time and getting a grip on a life where previously I could just get hammered and do a show and not worry about feeding off audience energy-- I gave less of a shit and made all my own fun, if necessary-- but I was really needing that interaction with the audience and since I wasn't getting it...well, I just didn't know if I could do it anymore.  So it was a "it's not you, it's me" situation as well, but since I refuse to half-ass performances that was the only solution I felt made sense at the time, and considering my massive mood swings at the time due to depression it was my finger to the world for me not getting what I wanted.  Add to that I don't feel like I fit in with 90% of the other artists in this scene (which is probably how 99% of other artists feel as well) so I was just tired of feeling like the freak at the party, but I've learned to embrace that again and shut the hell up about my "hard life".:)

Frankly, I was being a whiny shit at the time, and while I still firmly believe my shows need that interaction. it was more of a learning curve on my part to get my groove back and learn how to interact with a crowd sober.  Getting to open for some big shows like Atari Teenage Riot and playing the UK again were a nice confidence booster as well.

It was also fairly widely misunderstood that I was quitting ALTOGETHER at the time.  I never said I'd stop making music-- I was just sick of playing live.  The Golden Vagina of Fame and Profit's concept was already in place by then and I knew what I needed for it in terms of money and wanting to move to Metropolis for it as well.  I just needed to do it.

I really enjoy playing live again, though.  I just needed to throw a stupid temper tantrum and have a few more great shows to realize and appreciate it.

Falken: I've been there as well with the live shows. It's really something that can wear on you. I've only played in SE Wisconsin, Chicago, and Madison. But you think to yourself, "Man, I've seen those Rammstein shows from Germany and those guys were all over the place having a great time in the audience. Why don't people do that for our shows too?" I know I get burned out on it sometimes, but then the itch really comes back to you after a while because in the end, at least for me, I feel like I need that adrenaline rush. It helps fuel the performance to a degree.

Caustic: Totally. If you see enough major players in the game, your Hocicos and Combichrists, etc, you totally want that same reaction. At the same time, you get what you inspire, and I don't mean that in the sense that you can't put on an amazing show to a non "freaking out" crowd, but that maybe your music just doesn't do it YET.

Falken: So going in to TGVOFAP, you had a concept in place already. Some bands just write songs and throw them on an album because it's what they have at the time, other's go in to it as a concept album where it's a start to finish knowing what it should convey for a message and feel. Is that something that you normally do when writing, or is this a new way of putting an album together.

Caustic: Well when I say there was a "concept" for the new CD, I mean it in a really broad way. Post Trail of Vomit I was thinking "what haven't I done yet" and honestly the thought of doing a "club" CD was both exciting and frightening to me. Exciting because hell, it'd be fun to do, and frightening in that I've never REALLY tried to do "club" stuff with the express intent of it being PLAYED in clubs. I mean Cock Blockin' Beats and some other tracks have done well enough, but they weren't CRAFTED for the clubs-- they just worked out and were dancey.

So I knew I needed money to do it, because even if I could get some big hooks and solid music I knew I'd need a more professional polish to do it, so that's where raising the money came in. I actually wanted to raise the money in a "kickstarter way" even before I knew kickstarter.com existed.

Basically I wanted to see if I could do it, AND get signed to Metropolis in the process, because in the U.S. if you're going to Make It Big in this scene that's considered by most to be the benchmark. There was a certain degree (okay, a LARGE degree) of me wanting to prove to every asshole who's shit on my music or dismissed me that I can beat the hell out of the dancefloor as well, moreso wanting my detractors to be dancing to my shit and not even KNOW it's me, but it was all about pushing myself and learning a lot about how to write music that way. Trail of Vomit and Golden Vagina are polar opposites in my thinking process and, in my mind, my most successful releases creatively. One was all about saying "fuck everything-- I'm doing EXACTLY what I want to do and it may not be accessible or easy to listen to but it's my visceral take on my life and my problems", and the new one is saying "fuck everyone who says I suck and can't roll with the big boys (and girls), I'm STILL going to do exactly what I want but at the same time surprise the hell out of people."

I also did Trail of Vomit for virtually no money and the new one was by far the most expensive CD I did, even though everything included with production, mixing, art, etc was only a few grand. I like to think of myself as the Robert Rodriguez of industrial-- take a buck and make it seem like 100 bucks:)

I also don't believe in limiting my style and actively try and keep changing what I consider "right" and "wrong" for myself as an artist. Even though there's a distinct voice for Caustic, IMHO, if I can figure something out for a song I'll do it regardless of if it's what I think "Caustic" is. Luckily I think people who like what I do enjoy and EXPECT that of me, so it's quite a nice position to be in.

I'd hate to be an artist stuck within parameters of what keeps them popular. That's got to be immensely stifling creatively.

Head on over to Part II by clicking HERE