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You might think that the greatest thing about this job is getting all those free cds and other goodies. I have to admit, it's fun receiving these in the mailbox, but we shouldn't exaggerate. We're not loaded in CD's here. In fact, the greatest thing is actually the response from some of the artists themselves. Bittered for example, have become quite good friends over the past few months, gladly returning the support we've shown them. Of course, their album 'Hubris Aggression' was very well received at our headquarters. Not only for the music but also for the messages behind it. In that way, we completely understand each other and we're clearly on the same wave-length as far as our opinions about modern day society are concerned. So I figured some kind of interview was in order. Paul (guitars) and Kasey (vocals) were very glad to guide us through the blistering world of Bittered.
First off, what are you guys 'Bittered' about?
Paul: We are a dirty doomy slow grind band... and angry
Kasey: We write from the reflection of every day problems that are plaguing our country so it general comes out pissed off
So in a way you're expressing the current 'zeitgeist' through a massive sound? I guess you saw the Zeitgeist movies?
Paul: We agree but you can't really take it as conspiracy when it's happening. The problem why people still view our lyrics based off conspiracy is because they want to turn a blind eye to reality, it's ignorance really
Well, conspiracy or not, it's not going quite well in the world, that's for sure. Your album Hubris Aggression reflects that quite well. Where do you get the musical inspiration from?
Paul: We are all influenced musically. I personally like old School death metal and grindcore. Kasey pulls a lot of his influence from the grindier crust, doom or sludge and the other guys like all kinds of metal, grind, and punk. As a bonus we sit under a tree in public naked and meditate on it for hours (ha ha). Well, anyway. In your bio I see that you have been active in a lot of bands before.
Any successful ones?
Paul: We like to think all were successful in their own way, some small with no releases and some with professional releases.
Paul: We are a dirty doomy slow grind band... and angry
Kasey: We write from the reflection of every day problems that are plaguing our country so it general comes out pissed off
So in a way you're expressing the current 'zeitgeist' through a massive sound? I guess you saw the Zeitgeist movies?
Paul: We agree but you can't really take it as conspiracy when it's happening. The problem why people still view our lyrics based off conspiracy is because they want to turn a blind eye to reality, it's ignorance really
Well, conspiracy or not, it's not going quite well in the world, that's for sure. Your album Hubris Aggression reflects that quite well. Where do you get the musical inspiration from?
Paul: We are all influenced musically. I personally like old School death metal and grindcore. Kasey pulls a lot of his influence from the grindier crust, doom or sludge and the other guys like all kinds of metal, grind, and punk. As a bonus we sit under a tree in public naked and meditate on it for hours (ha ha). Well, anyway. In your bio I see that you have been active in a lot of bands before.
Any successful ones?
Paul: We like to think all were successful in their own way, some small with no releases and some with professional releases.
So you all have been around for some time. How do you feel the metal scene evolved over time?
Paul: The metal scene was much more true and real before the internet fucked it up and technology fucked it up Bands had to be really committed to spend money to record and to mail out demo's everywhere. There are now millions of bands that don't do work and don't wanna put in the work and are easily plugging up the scene. But there are still a lot of great bands new and old taking advantage of technology.
You guys seems like one of those hard working bands, focused on quality. Has it become more difficult to get gigs and deals?
Paul: Yes, deals are harder to get because anyone can release on digital format only in a few minutes after recording in their bedroom. And gigs are hard because so many younger bands are willing to sell tickets or I should say just pay to play. We don't support pay to play
That's even worse than the whole 'play for exposure' thing. I didn't know that was such a problem in the US
Paul: Yeah, I think if you work hard you get noticed.
Well, you did get noticed over here. Do you think Europe is a possibility for Bittered?
Paul: We are dying to come there! Europe has always been more accepting of metal and extreme music then the states, I think most American bands do a lot better in europe.
I hear that often. When I wrote the review for Hubris Aggression, I imagined a frenzied audience, as it would be in many places I went to see gigs. Do you get a lot of that over there?
Paul: Some shows the audiences for bands are crazy but some venues won't let it happen, go nuts. 50/50 on the craziness
Back to the album. It's among the heaviest ones I've heard in a while. Was that intentional?
Paul: Of course it was intentional. We wanted as a band to put out some music that when people heard it they felt every note played and every lyric screamed. We wanted people to say 'damn that's was bitter'
Well, that worked quite well on me and your sound we be perfect for some of the heaviest festivals. With that in mind: who would you guys like to share the stage with?
Paul: Thanks. In other bands we have all played shared stage with a lot of bands we like, big and small. So not much on that bucket list but to say a few EyehateGod, Asphyx, Primitive Man. Personally I (Paul) would like to play with the Edge Of Sanity line-up with Dan Swano if that would ever happen again
Fuck I miss Edge Of Sanity with Swano
Paul: The metal scene was much more true and real before the internet fucked it up and technology fucked it up Bands had to be really committed to spend money to record and to mail out demo's everywhere. There are now millions of bands that don't do work and don't wanna put in the work and are easily plugging up the scene. But there are still a lot of great bands new and old taking advantage of technology.
You guys seems like one of those hard working bands, focused on quality. Has it become more difficult to get gigs and deals?
Paul: Yes, deals are harder to get because anyone can release on digital format only in a few minutes after recording in their bedroom. And gigs are hard because so many younger bands are willing to sell tickets or I should say just pay to play. We don't support pay to play
That's even worse than the whole 'play for exposure' thing. I didn't know that was such a problem in the US
Paul: Yeah, I think if you work hard you get noticed.
Well, you did get noticed over here. Do you think Europe is a possibility for Bittered?
Paul: We are dying to come there! Europe has always been more accepting of metal and extreme music then the states, I think most American bands do a lot better in europe.
I hear that often. When I wrote the review for Hubris Aggression, I imagined a frenzied audience, as it would be in many places I went to see gigs. Do you get a lot of that over there?
Paul: Some shows the audiences for bands are crazy but some venues won't let it happen, go nuts. 50/50 on the craziness
Back to the album. It's among the heaviest ones I've heard in a while. Was that intentional?
Paul: Of course it was intentional. We wanted as a band to put out some music that when people heard it they felt every note played and every lyric screamed. We wanted people to say 'damn that's was bitter'
Well, that worked quite well on me and your sound we be perfect for some of the heaviest festivals. With that in mind: who would you guys like to share the stage with?
Paul: Thanks. In other bands we have all played shared stage with a lot of bands we like, big and small. So not much on that bucket list but to say a few EyehateGod, Asphyx, Primitive Man. Personally I (Paul) would like to play with the Edge Of Sanity line-up with Dan Swano if that would ever happen again
Fuck I miss Edge Of Sanity with Swano
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Now, as pissed off as your music sounds, you all seem like nice guys with jobs and families. Am I right?
Paul: I have two kids and Dennis (drums) has two kids, the other fellows have no kids but nice gals at home. We all work, except Kasey is still in studies / school. And yeah, we are all nice guys (ha ha)
How do the kids feel about their 'metal-dads'?
Paul: Well my kids are not so much into metal, they seem to tolerate Clutch though and I'm not sure about Dennis' kids but they are cool little men! My oldest daughter things her metal dad is in a gang (ha ha)
How old is she?
Paul: 15
Did the kids ever see you guys live? If so, how did they react?
Paul: Nope never ! I tried to get them to go to the all age shows but they decline, got better things to do I guess (ha ha)
So, back to the pissed-off part. Can you guide me through the lyrics a bit?
Kasey: Any song in particular you want to know about?
I think some are quite clear: 'America Is Killing You' or 'Mouth Full Of Shit'. So, politics and religion mostly?
Kasey: Yeah man I can't write lyrics that have no meaning to me. I think religion is one of the biggest Ponzi schemes (read about Ponzi schemes on Wikipedia) ever created in order to obtain social control. I spend a lot of time reading independent news. Not that mainstream government propaganda but from people who really are trying to keep people inform on what's happening in the world.
Is ecology and the environment also a subject or do I take 'Consumed By Garbage' to literal?
Kasey: The song is really personal to me because at a very young age they diagnosed me with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) and manic depression and tried to force me on medication that just made me want to kill myself. So take a lot of pride in informing youth about these suicide pills big pharmaceutical companies are trying to push down our throats
To answer your last question the environment is huge issue for me. I just don't understand why man feels we are above all things on this earth
Do you think these diagnoses are genuine or tricks by the pharmaceutic industry?
Kasey: Well I feel people can have chemical, in balance, in their brain but the pharma companies don't care about your wellbeing. You're just a a dollar-sign to them. There are tons of natural remedies you can take that have been around for decades and don't have the bad side effects. What really makes me sick with the whole things is if you watch any government main stream media here in the states like Fox News, MSNBC, CNN there major sponsor is Pfizer. Maybe it's just me reading between the lines but I feel there's something really wrong with that
Many people seem to start realizing these things. You think there's hope for the future of mankind?
Kasey I feel more and more things are coming to light now, more than ever. More and more people are opening their eyes then ever before. So yeah I believe there's hope for mankind. We just need to come together as one and stop fighting each other.
and with that loud and clear message, Bittered locked themselves back into their rehearsal studio. In the mean time, they also released a live e.p., which was premiered on our website. Listen and download here
Paul: I have two kids and Dennis (drums) has two kids, the other fellows have no kids but nice gals at home. We all work, except Kasey is still in studies / school. And yeah, we are all nice guys (ha ha)
How do the kids feel about their 'metal-dads'?
Paul: Well my kids are not so much into metal, they seem to tolerate Clutch though and I'm not sure about Dennis' kids but they are cool little men! My oldest daughter things her metal dad is in a gang (ha ha)
How old is she?
Paul: 15
Did the kids ever see you guys live? If so, how did they react?
Paul: Nope never ! I tried to get them to go to the all age shows but they decline, got better things to do I guess (ha ha)
So, back to the pissed-off part. Can you guide me through the lyrics a bit?
Kasey: Any song in particular you want to know about?
I think some are quite clear: 'America Is Killing You' or 'Mouth Full Of Shit'. So, politics and religion mostly?
Kasey: Yeah man I can't write lyrics that have no meaning to me. I think religion is one of the biggest Ponzi schemes (read about Ponzi schemes on Wikipedia) ever created in order to obtain social control. I spend a lot of time reading independent news. Not that mainstream government propaganda but from people who really are trying to keep people inform on what's happening in the world.
Is ecology and the environment also a subject or do I take 'Consumed By Garbage' to literal?
Kasey: The song is really personal to me because at a very young age they diagnosed me with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) and manic depression and tried to force me on medication that just made me want to kill myself. So take a lot of pride in informing youth about these suicide pills big pharmaceutical companies are trying to push down our throats
To answer your last question the environment is huge issue for me. I just don't understand why man feels we are above all things on this earth
Do you think these diagnoses are genuine or tricks by the pharmaceutic industry?
Kasey: Well I feel people can have chemical, in balance, in their brain but the pharma companies don't care about your wellbeing. You're just a a dollar-sign to them. There are tons of natural remedies you can take that have been around for decades and don't have the bad side effects. What really makes me sick with the whole things is if you watch any government main stream media here in the states like Fox News, MSNBC, CNN there major sponsor is Pfizer. Maybe it's just me reading between the lines but I feel there's something really wrong with that
Many people seem to start realizing these things. You think there's hope for the future of mankind?
Kasey I feel more and more things are coming to light now, more than ever. More and more people are opening their eyes then ever before. So yeah I believe there's hope for mankind. We just need to come together as one and stop fighting each other.
and with that loud and clear message, Bittered locked themselves back into their rehearsal studio. In the mean time, they also released a live e.p., which was premiered on our website. Listen and download here
