MD Interview for Comatose Rose #4 The following interview with Rod and Nebulous appeared in issue #4 of Comatose Rose, 2002... >Tell me about the theme of "Trash-Eighty." ROD: Actually, a lot of people think that the title of the album is a reference to 80's pop-trash. That wasn't the intention, although it's an amusing (and appropriate) interpretation. The phrase "Trash-Eighty" is actually a nick-name that was attached to the old TRS-80 home computers. It was one of the earliest home computers ever available. NEBULOUS: Essentially, this album represents the cool elements from the early 80s - both the sound and the technology. The TRS-80 computer as symbol of both something primitive, yet genuinely cutting edge and interesting. And, of course, the analogue synths, digital samplers and sequencers that followed them soon after. It's a reminder of what it felt like when all of that retro gear was new. >Tell me about the track "Headspace." NEBULOUS: It's about a mind-expanding, and not altogether enjoyable, trip. Having your head go somewhere you don't want it to, and having no control to stop it. ROD: John Mortimer (Toxic Shock Syndrome) wanted us to dedicate this song to him when we played in Edmonton last year. He claims that this and "Images" are his two favourite MD tracks. He even threatened to do a set of nothing but MD covers when we played with him at the CJSW fund-raising gig a while back. What a goof. >Tell me about the track "Autofire." NEBULOUS: Autofire is semi-aggressive, electro-pop. It's almost intruding on Industrial's territory. ROD: It's all about video games and their place in modern society. When people are frustrated or angry, and want to take it out on somebody, they would really be better off taking it out on a good shoot-em up video game, instead of on another person. >Tell me about the track "No Fun." ROD: No Fun is one of the first songs we wrote together as a band. We wanted to capture the 80's synthpop feel, but without the dance aspect. It seems that most of the modern synthpop bands are going for a dance sound almost all of the time. This was our way of doing it a little different. This song is also one of the few on the album with only vocals in the verses. The chorus is pretty much straight instrumental. The words for this particular song were mostly written \about three years earlier. They're about realizing that there's more to this world than meets the eye, but being to busy with day-to-day life to be able to explore it. The words and the music kind of contradict each other, and that's what I love about this track. I love music that pulls you in more than one direction. "Break" is very similar that way. NEBULOUS: No Fun is 100% electro-pop. Catchy, to the point, and addictive. No Fun (along with a few other tracks on this CD) is an authentic electronic 80's synthpop song, drenched in technology, with a solid hook and mind-twisting lyrics. More fun than the name suggests. >Tell me about the track "Cyberdelic." ROD: Cyberdelic is mainly an instrumental, but it originally had lyrics. The phrase "it's a lie" is one of the only lines still left in the song. It's refering to the everyone-gets-a-happy-ending crap that society tries to shove down your throat. You know what? We're not all going to meet the perfect mate. You might, you might not. That's life. We're better off just dealing with it one problem at a time. Adapt to your changing situation and just accept things when they don't pan out. Worrying about it won't fix anything! Of course, I'm no good at following my own advice. >Tell me about the origin of your sound. NEBULOUS: Our sound came out of the early post-punk movement of the late 70s and early 80s. It was the DIY ethic of punk, mixed with the experimental and warped world of electronic sound. Everything from Cabaret Voltaire, the Velvet Underground, old OMD, and Prog Rock (supposedly the antithesis of punk). Let's face it, the prog guys pushed the analogue synth limits, too. Essentially, "Trash-Eighty" is an eclectic and eccentric mix of what we thought was (and is) cool from a pop and noise angle. ROD: We kind of like our stuff to be a little "rough around the edges." Most of today's music, in general, seems to be overly clean and polished with no personality. In some ways, we're a reaction against that. We use electronic sounds and instruments because we love the sound, not because they're clean. In fact, we will intentionally record some tracks in very primitive ways to get them to sound dirtier. Songs seem to have a life of their own. Some songs demand to have a clean pop-esque mix. Other songs demand to sound like they were recorded in a garage with a ghetto blaster. Once the songs begin to have life, it's up to us to do what they tell us. The control shifts from us to the song itself. That's what it's really all about. Doing what's right for the song. [5~ >Tell me about the inspiration for the cover art ROD: We're big fans of the Cubist art movement, and the front cover is inspired by that. Actually, quite a few bands from the 80's were also nspired by that same movement (Joy Division / New Order springs to mind). Big, basic and minimalist. NEBULOUS: The back cover is a re-creation of the TRS-80 computer screen which, as we mentioned before, was the inspiration for the album title itself. It's an homage to the technology of the early 80's. In this case, the classic 8 and 16-bit computers, their simplicity and elegance (and the fact that the damn things did what you told them to). They represented an explosion of creativity and new, original, ideas. Innovation is the key word here. The 8-bit movement is much like the quick evolution of analogue and digital synthesisers that preceeded and paralleled it. >Tell me about the direction of the band. ROD: In the begining, we were electro-purists. During the recording of "Trash-Eighty," we started using a little guitar here and there and some real-time percussion. I think there's a good chance we'll be doing a little more of that, but we won't let it over-power the electro elements. This first album of our's introduces who we are and what we feel. It's a very introspective album. Our new material is shaping up to be a bit different song-wise. The other guys are starting to write more lyrics now and we're talking more about the world around us and how it's affecting us, and everybody. These are strange times these days, and I think our music is bound to reflect that, whether we intend it to or not. Of course, that doesn't mean we still won't have some personal introspective songs. I'm a very emotional person and writing songs about how I feel is great therapy! NEBULOUS: I think we'll essentially be doing more of the same, with additional sophistication and experimentation. A continuation of the cool elements of the early 80's electronic era - a genre that has a great deal to offer. A movement that came to an abrupt end, only to be furthered in the underground of Industrial and Goth. Expect more electronic, more pop, more noise, and more surprises.