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| am.psych live |
Falken: Here we go. Let's start this thing off right.
Talking with John of am.psych about life, music, and anything else we decide to talk about. I talk with him on a very normal basis (I am in the band as well) and know him quite well. We're going to dive right in and start asking some questions.
Falken: John, four years ago when we were sitting at a bar, you turned to me and said "hey, you play guitar, right?" My response of "yeah, just not lately" was immediately followed up with "great, you're my new guitar player!"
Did you just know back then that it would change the way am.psych's shows would progress as well as the band itself, or were you just looking to start something up again that would be fun to do on your birthday and every fall?
John: In most situations, I don't like to have expectations or high hopes. I thought, at the time, that it would be a fun change and maybe, having been at it for a few years and having just lost our original guitarist, we might be able to revitalize things. The style was stagnating, and I wanted to be working with people who were as committed to making it right as I was. Of course, the added bonus is that new blood gets everyone in the band excited about everything all over again. I had no idea the band would even exist anymore.
Falken: We really did do a lot of work right off the bat when the lineup changed. Then fast forward in to October, I was there for all of 3 months and we played a show and kind of floored everyone with a new sound. And then the day before Thanksgiving we got to share the stage for, at least for me, two of my most respected people in the genre... Jared from Chemlab and Paul Barker who was in U.S.S.A. at the time.
I think that is what kind of got us to a point of "we should really record something and get it out to people". I know that show is what really motivated me to keep going with am.psych. What has kept you motivated?
John: Well, that time period was a really big deal for me, of course. Those couple of shows led into the WTII shows at Darkroom as well as solidifying a lot of the friendships we've made with other bands and promoters. We were doing really well, but it still hadn't really clicked in my head yet.
The big turning point for me, obviously, was the enormous shift in my personal life at the beginning of last year. I really felt like I'd fallen as low as was even possible. I needed to be able to mark one off in the "W" column really badly. The EP happened BECAUSE of what happened in my life. I needed somewhere to scream or cry or whatever, and it made me feel better to have people listen. It was a cathartic victory seeing "Side Effects" go to print. I could thumb my nose at the people in my life who were thinking I was the loser I was being accused of being.
Falken: So, side effects is done... we're working on the full length. I think it's time to dive in to some fun stuff. Video games. It is after all, an am.psych group activity.
What do you think of the state of video games now as compared to the SNES/Genesis days?
John: I think, honestly, the world of gaming as a whole has grown up along with a lot of the people who were growing up in the SNES.Genesis era. Games went from being the sort of thing you sat around with your friends and did when it was raining out or whatever to being the focal point of social interaction.
With the dawn of internet-based gaming on consoles, especially in terms of the PS3/XBOX360, you're looking at gaming as a replacement for time that, for me when I was in High School, was spent in coffee shops and shitty cafes with my friends. You don't need to leave the comfort of your home to have serious "bro time" as we like to call it. It's easier to fit into a schedule.
Does that mean that gaming is creating a completely different, lazier and less socially active sub-culture? Sure, of course it does... That doesn't mean that these people don't still love awesome music. People are always going to need good, angry music to game to. I'd have never muscled through the original Quake without using assorted cd's as my own soundtrack (personal favorites were Rammstein's "Sehnsucht" & Stabbing Westward's "Darkest Days"... for Quake, that is. Even though I didn't much listen to either album elsewhere.)
The problem we face now is prying those gamers out of their seats and into venues for live shows. Complacency in regards to live music is what really scares me more than anything in the creative arena these days.
Falken: way to bring it back to music. Sorry, but we're staying on video games. What do you currently have racked and loaded in your 360... seeing as I know the fate of your PS3.
John: Well, for starters, I've not written off my life with the PS3. The console, as a whole, has some amazing franchise properties that I refuse to abandon (namely: Metal Gear, Killzone, and Infamous). I'm a sucker for violence in video games, keeping with my philosophy of, "I play games to do shit I can't do in real life. Like kill people.", plus... Infamous is like a comic book in a video game. It's a double-sell for me.
As for my 360, well... I end up going in waves. I've had some big releases that I've sunk a lot of time into lately, some of which I'm still working on (Dragon Age 2, Mass Effect 2 DLC stuff), as well as the great sequels that have come out (Dead Space 2, Fallout: New Vegas). Of course, lately, I've been sinking time into a handful of things I've been able to play along with my son (Lego Star Wars, Force Unleashed). There are always the staples, mind you. I'm a big fan of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, I have no real interest in Black Ops... And, of course, for quality squad-based am.psych time, I'm always a fan of Battlefield: Bad Company 2.
In spite of the recent crash of the playstation network, also, I've fallen in love with my PSP all over again. I've committed myself to a handful of PS1 classics like Vagrant Story, Xenogears, and Final Fantasy VIII.
Gaming's an arguably constructive outlet for me. I have a rather high amount of stress and frustration in my life, and it's only healthy to find functional ways to vent that. I suppose, in general, I latch onto a lot of "distraction hobbies" (gaming, comics, sci-fi literature, tv/movies).
I think it's better for me to spend time focused on those things rather than stewing in my own juices, writing a "hit list" or something like that... Which is how I spent the latter half of my teen years.
Falken: (I already know what's going on with am.psych so this isn't for me per say but our readers) What's up with the future of am.psych? Is there a new release to look forward to or are people going to have to wait 4 years for something again?
John: The future of am.psych is, well, a bit hazy. We've got things we've been working on and working towards. By my estimation, we're about halfway through recording the full-length album. A lot of people have asked if any of the tracks from the EP will be one there and I've always said no, but as time goes on, I find myself wondering if we'll put a fun version of something on there. I've got that mostly piano version of "Necrophile" sitting somewhere that I've been thinking about sending to Dan to get produced.
To be honest, I've never been much for having long-term big dreams for am.psych. Looking at how much our personal lives have all changed in the last year, I've really come to realize how fluid everything in life is. I wish we had more time, I know that... When you've got kids, jobs, and school... Then you couple that with Meg, the heart, soul, and breasts (editor's note: those are John's words, Meg... not mine) of the band moving to DC, it slows the whole process down a bit.
How about this: I want this LP finished and released by mid-summer, late-summer at latest... Then maybe we'll see about juggling a few other fun things like another EP, more remixes, that sort of stuff. The LP is going to be spectacular, of course...
I know, as of right now, I've got a bunch of invites out to friends in other bands to do guest spots on some of the tracks we're going to be hammering down soon, we've got Dan on a bunch of the stuff doing some backing vocals with me (because we do a sweet duet. You should hear our rendition of "Almost Paradise" from Footloose), and Dan and I are also working on my personal pet project song. I know that all of us are diversifying our input into the tracks and taking new approaches... I get excited and lose all grasp of grammar when I start talking about it, so that's probably a good sign, right? Of course, we're going to be (finally) done overhauling and salvaging old tracks once this album is under our belt. It'll be all all-new material from that point forward. It could really result in a different sound.
Falken: I think that wraps up our music portion of this... and it brings us to the every famous "lightning round" that I enjoy doing so much.
7 questions, 7 answers. Your call on how long each answer is.
1) Blondes or brunettes?
2) Best music release in the last 5 years
3) Favorite studio album, any time period
4) Journey or Whitesnake?
5) Instrument you wish you could play?
6) Favorite video game of all time?
7) Modern Warfare 2 or Bad Company 2?
John:
1) I've been accused of preferring both throughout my life. It's always depended in which of the two I was in a relationship with at the time. In truth, I'd never much liked blondes. I've always loved red hair, honestly. As it looks right now, my first and my last will have both had red hair, whether natural or not. So... I suppose I'll go with brunette.
2) The last five years have been an odd time for me, musically... Looking back at things that I just couldn't stop listening to, I'd say either 16Volt, "FullBlackHabit" or The Dark Clan, "Fade/Dance Magic Dance".
3) Favorite studio album, well... Nine Inch Nails, "The Downward Spiral"... Chemlab, "Burn Our at the Hydrogen Bar", or... Pet Shop Boys, "Very". Take your pick.
4) Even though Journey's attributable for some of the greatest bar sing-along songs of all time, my personal favorite of which is, of course, "Separate Ways"... I can't shake the fact that Whitesnake has that amazingly thick guitar sound, plus they have credit for, "Still Of The Night".
5) Any? All? I suppose guitar, but only if I can noodle out amazing solos like Dan Clark.
6) That's a really tough one... Legend of Zelda, "A Link To The Past" for SNES... That or Super Metroid.
7) If I'm flying solo or in a squad of more than four, MW2 for sure. Better weapon variety, better perks, faster pace. If it's a three or four man squad, BC2, but only if we have a good medic.
Falken: That's a wrap. Thanks again for doing this and helping promote the WTII Minifest II in Chicago at The Abbey, June 9-12. Any last words for the readers?
John: Sure. If you're thinking about MAYBE going to the Minifest, DO IT. If you're thinking about catching one particular band, come down early and check out the openers. Supporting live music is what keeps these bands making music. If you like their cd but don't see them live ever, don't be surprised if another cd never comes out.
Falken: Thanks John, lets try to get together this week to work on that new music you mentioned...
Be sure to check out am.psych down in Chicago for the WTII Minifest II on June 11th!
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