Denver's own CLUSTERFUX blends hardcore and thrash with raw energy. We discuss their latest release, Defy, and how they’ve evolved since the '90s.
1. First
off, congratulations on the release of Defy! How does it feel to
finally have this album out for the world to hear?
Thank
you! It feels really fuckin’ good! We had been talking to Beer City
pre-pandemic and signed an agreement to do the album back then, like just weeks
before it all shut down. 2 weeks maybe, we were on cloud nine and then no one
can leave their houses or whatever. We used the down time to self release
an ep and hone the songs a bit more. The ep was almost like a really well
done demo and it helped us stay relevant over that span. We were working
on a few more songs knowing there would be an LP somewhere in the near future
we just weren't sure how it was going to come about. But we’re here and
that's what counts! We’re really proud of it, we really pushed each other
and everyone is stoked with what they brought ot the table on this one.
2.
CLUSTERFUX has been blending thrash and hardcore since the mid-90s. How has
your sound evolved over the years, and what new elements did you bring to Defy?
The sound
has changed and evolved a bit as we have grown or maybe as different members of
the band brought in different influences. A couple of the early guys were
very punk oriented, not too much into any metal. But Matt, our first
drummer, was into a lot of the same stuff that Justin and I were into. At
the start we had dual vocals as that was kind of popular in the DIY punk
scene at the time. That became hard to manage and we finally decided to
go with one vocal. Half the shows we were playing were that way since the
other singer wouldn't show up. Depending on the album or maybe even more
so a song on an album you might hear more punk or more thrash, hardcore,or
crust or whatever. On Defy we made a conscious decision to trim the fat,
cut the lengthy intros and keep the songs shorter. We also added a second
guitar player, Joe P. He used to play bass in the band a few years ago.
I look at it by song, does this song ask for a more hardcore vocal,
crusty vocal, or a shout. On one lyric sheet I had a note “bark like
Wattie”. So the sound changes a bit and it morphs and evolves but at the
same time has become a more basic attack with cutting out all the extra
crap. When you are younger maybe you're trying to emulate something with
your band but you find your real stride when you just let your influences swirl
together and play the music that comes naturally to you.
3. The
title Defy suggests themes of resistance and nonconformity.
Can you dive into the meaning behind the album and what you’re pushing back
against?
Between the
cover and the lyrics to the song the definition behind Defy might change
slightly but its all about standing up to whatever is grinding you down.
On the cover it’s portrayed on a larger, more grand scale, like defy whatever
is trying to destroy you and you will rise above the chaos. The lyrics
are on a more personal level and describe how we treat ourselves. We
subject ourselves to patterns of behavior learned through our
conditioning. We often think it's hopeless but every moment of every day,
we have the opportunity to take a different approach or path. Now we’re
starting to get into freewill, if you subscribe more to the idea of determinism
maybe our choices have already been made for us.
4.
You’ve been described as "Denver’s underground legends" and have
shared the stage with some big names in hardcore and thrash. How have those
experiences shaped your band over the years?
“Legend” is
a strange term really and gets tossed around too easily. The real
definition is something along the lines of an old story that's believed to be
true but isn't. Haha! We’ve been around a long time, we’re still
here and we persevered. I’m sure there are some stories that have turned
into legend! Haha! The experiences we had playing with many of the
bands we’ve grown up listening to has certainly influenced how I want to act as
a band and a band member. We’ve played with “legends” that are very
grateful and appreciative of where they are at and what they are doing.
They are humble and genuine. And we’ve played with some of these big names that
were just entitled jerks and it makes you wonder how they are still getting
gigs when they treat people the way they do. There have been a few bands
that when I got home I was like can I still wear their shirt and listen to
their records?
5. Defy is
your latest release under Beer City Records. How did your relationship with the
label come about, and how has it supported your vision for this album?
We used to
joke around that the right label for us didn't exist, that Combat Core was long
gone as was Metal Blade offshoot Death Records. The story goes that when
I was running the Profane Existence mail order and was emailing ILD on behalf
of the label Mike recognized my email address and asked if it was that
band. I said it was, he saw us in San Francisco years ago so we got to
talking. He does ILD but also runs Beer City and the roster of bands was
right in our wheelhouse: Attitude Adjustment, Broken Bones, the Faction,
MDC…D.R.I. !!! We had a mutual friend band that had just signed to
Beer City too, Deathwish. We go way back with those dudes so it just all
made sense. I started sharing demos with Mike and we started talking
about how to work together. But like I said Covid hit and everything came
to a screeching halt… And then one day I had a message from Mike asking
me to call him. He answered the phone “Lets do a record!”. It moved
fast from there. Neither of us are fans of the goofy, pizza party,
thrash stuff that gets called crossover. What he was looking for and what
we do was aligned. Mike and I seem to see things in a similar way and
have similar thoughts on what’s cool and what’s lame. From there it was
really a piece of cake. He’s put a ton into us, we have mad respect and
are very appreciative. So back to the idea of determinism; the record came
about when it was supposed to. Not a moment before.
6.
With Defy, you continue to merge punk and metal influences. How do
you keep that balance between hardcore energy and thrash metal aggression while
staying true to your roots?
It's who we
are. We were there in the mid/late 80’s when this shit was
happening. So we aren't some faded late generation xerox of a xerox of a
band. I was the kid that had Black Flag on one side of a recorded
cassette and Metallica on the other. We were crossover before we ever
heard the term, before the DRI album came out! Haha! We worshiped
Thrasher magazine. Thrasher and the Puszone were way more important to us when
we were younger than say Maximum Rock N’ Roll was. San Francisco was far
away and Thrasher was happening outside the front door. And again we dont
force anything, we just let it flow. Joe P and I played in this death
metal band together, I was only in it for a couple of months and I quit before
they kicked me out. I wasn't good enough. But the premise for the
band was Swedish Death Metal 94-97 or whatever years Jeff was pushing.
That's obviously incredibly limiting. But like I said we have some songs that
are more crusty, or that are more hardcore or whatever. That's our
influences mingling about and getting in the mix. At one point we were
getting into really long intros and sort of losing the plot so we cut out all
the excess and got back to hardcore punk and crossover thrash stuff. It's
like we were “trying” and not just letting it happen. That's what flows out of
us, Black Flag and Metallica. We are a crossover band by default not
because we said “hey dudes, let's put together a crossover band”. Where the
band has been on the crossover spectrum at any given time varies, if punk is on
one end and metal is on the other we are wherever we need to be at any given
time.
7. What
were some of the biggest challenges you faced while creating Defy,
both musically and personally? How did you overcome them?
Covid was
the big one. The first thought is Covid derailed the album but then you
accept it was just pushed to when the time was right and we were better
prepared. Within the band was the idea and conversation of adding another
guitar. Justin and I talked about it for a couple of years. I was
for it but really left it up to him because he had always been the sole guitar
player and on a personal level it would impact him the most. We knew
Piker was the guy, he was in the band for years on bass. Before Piker on bass
Van was on bass. With Van back on bass it made sense to add Piker back in
on guitar. One major obstacle is Joe M, our drummer, lives on the other
side of the state. But when we needed a drummer we didn't need any
drummer, we could find a drummer. We needed Joe M. So we make it
work. Watch that video of his drum track, that's why we needed him.
And he was already the homie, we all grew up together.
8.
Crossover bands often attract fans from both punk and metal communities. How do
you see CLUSTERFUX fitting into both scenes, and what’s been the reaction from
those fans to Defy so far?
The Punks
thought we were metal. The metal heads thought we were punk. Sort
of… We used to get comments like “I thought punk was like Green
Day”. That's like saying I thought metal was like Poison. We’re all
sharing the same apartment building but we like the bands that are closer to
the basement. Poison is throwing a rooftop party and we’re in the
basement cranking Extinction of Mankind. It’s punk, it’s metal, its everything
in between. We’ve held our own on stage with Sacred Reich and Napalm
Death and we’ve been kicked ass with Agnostic Front, the Exploited and even
melodic hardcore bands like Verbal Assault. That song was too punk?
OK, try this one, it's a thrasher. Over time the only crowds that didn't
seem to get us were the pop-punk kids or maybe a faction of the street
punks.
9.
You’ve been making music since the 90s, surviving in a scene that’s constantly
changing. What’s been the key to your longevity as a band?
The real
key to the survival of any artist is to create for yourself. If it
resonates with people, great! We’ve never followed the trends, we don't
“try” to fit in. We do what we do and maybe it clicks and fits for a time
or maybe it doesn't. Longevity comes from being real and being genuine
and doing what you do without worrying if you fit in to what's cool this
week. Trends come and go. If you follow the trends you go out with
them. We’re still here.
10.
Lastly, what’s next for CLUSTERFUX? Can fans expect a tour or any other
surprises following the release of Defy?
With the
album drop today we released another video, this one was for ‘Trained to
Kill’. Im super stoked with how cool it turned out. Jarrett Barnes
did it for us, he’s a local dude that has a solid resume for making punk and
hardcore videos and photography too. That was such a fun experience I’d
love to do another video! We’re always writing music and half an album
ready to go already! But first we have to get out there and play some
shows in support of Defy. We have more scheduled the last few months of
this year then we did in the last year and half! We’re getting after it,
getting out of town as much as possible. We’re looking forward to 2025
and the chance to get out even more. We’ll definitely be doing regional
stuff and hopefully a bigger tour too. Thank you for taking interest in
our band and for the opportunity to do this interview. Peace!
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