In my freshman year, I went to a guy's
dorm to play guitars. I was pretty good. I played Slayer and Ozzy. A few years later he asked if
I wanted to start a band. He wanted to sound like Linkin Park, but I was into The Dillinger Escape Plan by then.
He had never heard Dillinger, so I played "Calculating Infinity" on my car stereo for him. He didn't like it: "Who wants
to listen to this?"
I asked the same question about Linkin Park: trend-chasing
commercial music for idiots, I thought.
Since then, I shed some snobbery and learned to see
his side of it. It's fine if you care whether people like your music. Like, when I listen to music, I usually decide within two minutes minutes, asking, "Where is the bite? What's in this for me?"
But on the merits of sounding like Linkin Park
versus The Dillinger Escape Plan: Dillinger was an admirable success for over
15 years. Its audience was loyal, and the band's influence continues. Linkin
Park changed nothing and shed fans rapidly after a few years. The lead singer
killed himself in 2017.
Note: - Success in the music industry is the Holy Grail, anyway. - Funny, all the little details of these two moments.
In the lead-up to the hardcore band’s new release, Outright’s singer Jelena Goluza talks music,
inspiration, and elections
A melodious ferocity runs through the new album by
metallic hardcore band Outright. Keep You Warm will be released
July 15th through the Australian band’s own label, Rage and Reason Records. I took this release as an opportunity to hear directly from the
band’s vocalist, Jelena Goluza.
Damon:
Jelena, thank you for your time! I read that the band formed around 2010. Since
then, the band has released a couple of EPs and is about to release its second
LP. You have also toured with bands like Propagandhi, Refused, and Rise
Against. How has life since 2010 shaped you? How do you think experiences have
affected the band and the music?
Jelena Goluza:
I think playing in this band has provided a lot of catharsis over the years.
Having a voice and the energetic output has enabled us to express a lot of what
we’ve been through or feel. While this still comes through in our new music,
there’s also more reflection and introspection that comes with having the space
to push beyond the urgency to focus on other things.
Musically, and with many line-up changes over the
years, we’ve evolved to play a broader range of heavy punk that leans both to
metal and melody at times, faster in some songs and much slower in others. It’s
nice to stretch our legs. In the past 12 years, we’ve had the opportunity to
play anything from small art spaces to enormous arena shows, and we’ve learned
to fill each space differently and take our own special memories from them.
D: How has
the experience and work of being in a band changed?
JG: As a
band member and our label owner, I’ve definitely experienced the impact of
increasing digitisation, and it hurts. Normally, record sales would cover all
the costs for production so we can keep doing what we do, but online streaming
has taken all that away. There’s also the added burden of having to invest in
more video clips just to have that online presence. I mean, it’s fantastic to
be creative in more ways and to work with brilliant filmmakers to do that, but
the financial pressure is hard to manage.
We’ve noticed time management and touring gets harder
as we get older and carry other responsibilities in life, but we wouldn’t take
it on if it wasn’t fun and meaningful for us and important to back up what we
do in the studio.
D: The
album is remarkably focused—the songwriting and performances keep up a sense of
passion and enthusiasm. And I like how the aggression is balanced by guitar melodies.
For example, “Truth Teller” has a nice mix of urgency and drama, and I really
liked the parts that come at 1:07 on “Tied Through Time” and 2 minutes into
“Tyrants Vultures.” Please describe the song-writing process. How do you and
the band write songs? What comes first?
JG: Thanks
for being so kind. It’s nice when other people pick up the same bits we love in
those songs. The riffs come first. Always. Someone will come with an idea, we
workshop it together, and then when it finds some form, I’ll write lyrics to
match the mood and we go from there, adding layered guitars and backups. I
always love seeing what random changes get made at the last minute in the
studio, too, just to lift the track some more. We compile a library of ideas,
which is really useful for those times when we can resurrect a scrapped idea
that ends up being perfect for something else. It was interesting adapting to a
virtual song-writing process while our city was in lockdown for many months due
to COVID, but I’m proud of how we made it through.
D: What
non-musical works or forms of art and media influence you and the music?
JG:
Aboriginal artists like @coffinbirth teach us a lot about the First Nations
experience and inspire our solidarity and action. Our song “Tied Through Time”
is informed by reflections of the Bringing Them Home report on its 20th
anniversary. Forced removals in modern child protection policies are known to
cause what is now considered a second stolen generation event among First
Nations peoples in Australia, yet Aboriginal people remain the
longest-surviving civilisation in the world and should be celebrated.
The song “Silent Spring” is inspired by Rachel
Carson's book of the same name published in 1962. It taught us about the
environmental impact of pesticides, and we’ve since learned the risk and
tragedy when we don’t pay attention to science, even for our own survival.
Our video for “The Hammer” takes the premise
from Maleus Maleficarum and flips it with the influence of various films
and plays based on the history of witch hunts.
More generally, we’re influenced by intersectional
progressive literature and commentators, artists like Weiwei and Haring and
political documentaries and podcasts.
D: What
makes you feel good?
JG:
Personally, exercise and nature always makes me feel good. I think what makes
the band feel good is knowing we’ve tried our best and connected with others
who relate to what we do. Everything always comes back to community-building,
creativity, and catharsis.
D: In the
US, where I am, news of Australia’s most recent election was largely crowded
out by domestic stories and the war in Ukraine. What are your thoughts on
Australia’s election?
JG: I think
our recent federal election was a clear indication that our national community
is rising up and speaking for people and the environment. We’ve seen more seats
move away from the conservative party to greens and independents than ever
before. People have witnessed the crushing impact and disappointment of
conservative governments and become more engaged to set things right. I think
there was also a strong backlash against the former government for how poorly
it handled sexual assault in Parliament and industry, delayed vaccine roll
outs, homophobic and transphobic policies, flood and bushfire prevention and
relief, constitutional recognition for First Nations people, and corruption.
Women spoke out with their votes louder than ever. Young people spoke out with
their votes to make a difference when the older generations never acted on
their behalf. It’s been the change we’ve been waiting so long for, and we’re
invigorated to hold the new government to account to carry that change through.
D: What do
you think of compulsory voting and Australia’s version of it?
JG: I think
there are arguments for and against compulsory voting, but I’m satisfied with
my experience of it in Australia. I feel it is the best opportunity to engage
and capture the views of a wide population and get as close as possible to the
level of representation required to comprise a democracy. Even though we have
to deal with preferences, we can still vote to ensure our preferences also lean
in the direction we want leadership in. This increases legitimacy and
responsiveness more than other electoral systems can. Even though true
democracy relies on higher levels of education, compulsory voting is at least a
way to engage and inform more people about how policy and power affects them
and equalises them in the weight of each vote. Some people think it forces
people to vote, but there is nothing stopping someone from lodging a blank
paper if they choose to disengage. That said, voting policies aren’t the be-all
and end-all. Our entire political system needs to back that up, and its players
need to constantly be held to account with transparency and integrity.
I'm a bassist with over 20 years experience in multiple genres. I have hundreds of tunes under my belt and can learn, read, or fake my way through anything else. I have chops for fingerstyle and slapping. I know how to do this, and like any Ho that's been doing this for a while, I have some tricks to please the customers. I have reliable toys and a ride as well.
Why go with a ho? - A Ho knows what they are doing, and can get right in on the action with little warm-up time. I don't need a movie and dinner to do my thang. - A Ho knows not only how to please one client, but all different kinds of clients. I love you long time... - You don't wanna deal with the crazy ho after you had your fill? No problem, I'm out after I get dressed and paid. - I got no agenda other than makin money, so you have all your artistic freedom, control, etc. - You can still go back to your steady if you want, I'll still be around if he/she goes out of town and you're lonely.
So if you find yourself needing a bass player for a gig or more, hit me up. But like any Ho, I ain't doing anything for free except unless it's for my pimp (my wife). And if I don't got her money when I come home, Lord help us all......
I've been checked by the doc, and I'm clean, so let's rock!
Chronicles, Volume One is a Bob Dylan memoir. Dylan's reflections pass quickly through these 300-plus pages. His prose is loose; he ends his sentences with a comma so that he can tag on an afterthought or rephrasing.
Not a traditional memoir, Chronicles, Volume One offers only bites from the living legend's five-course career. The original idea was to release three volumes. This first one was published in 2004, and there is no sign that the other two are imminent.
Of the bites chronicled here, the best moments come when Dylan documents the people he has known, the songs that shaped him, and the frames of mind he has that have endured. The man is multiplicitous. The people he describes are scene makers rather than scene stealers or celebrities. There is no gossip here. His favorite songs have all aged well. And his states of mind are, as expected, always at odds with the world.
Notes: Chronicles, Volume One is worth reading if you are a Dylan fan.
