IRT Magazine

Story: Ron Hart

Sci-fi instrumentalists Zombi create some of the creepiest analog soundtracks to your worst nightmares since Wendy Carlos’ haunting work for Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining. However, on his solo debut for Relapse Records, entitled The Henge, keymaster Steve Moore has created a snythesized symphony more on par with Rebecca DeMornay’s hot train fuck scene in Risky Business than running into the scariest girls of all time in the hall of the Overlook Hotel. To celebrate this most excellent release, IRT recently asked this modern-day Vangelis for the doom-metal set to list his five favorite synth-based albums of all time, and here’s what he gave us:

Tangerine Dream Stratosfear

Best of Artist and Best of Genre, definitely. This was the first Tangerine Dream album I heard, and really the album that got me interested in Berlin School-style electronic composition in the first place. The combination of stark, minimal bass sequences against a wash of mellotron and blues-based guitar licks opened new worlds for me. Every time I listen to this album I get the same feeling I did when I first heard it.

Michael Hoenig Departure From The Northern Wasteland.

Hoenig’s propulsive sequencing and dramatic synth leads give this album a sense of urgency and motion that draws the listener in, whisking him or her away to far off, fabled lands. I probably didn’t need to include “her” in that last sentence.

John Carpenter Halloween III: Season of the Witch Soundtrack

Though the film’s worth has been debated for decades, the soundtrack is untouchable.

Frantic and lopsided sequences with gnarly, cross-modulated Prophet 5 stingers. There are very serene moments as well, giving this soundtrack a depth rarely achived in either horror film soundtracks or electronic albums. And for the record, I really did like this movie.

Klaus Schulze Moondawn

It is difficult to accept that a man made this album, and that it hasn’t always existed like the elements. This album is as spacey and droney and lush and dreamy and hypnotic as anything you could hope to ever imagine - only Schulze imagined and realized all of this over 30 years ago. For reference: “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” by Elton John and Kiki Dee and “Silly Love Songs” by Wings were the top singles of that year.

Steve Roach The Magnificent Void

While it isn’t quite old enough to have achieved classic status (recorded in 1996), it is rapidly becoming one of my favorites. The 20-minute-long closing track, “Altus,” is a dark and vast soundscape built around a simple, repetitive chord progression, but the result is so massive and climactic one might feel pangs of withdrawal when the track inevitably ends.

NYC’s Best Kept Secret Is About To Release Tom Morello-produced Debut LP

Story: Ed.

Empowered by a rabid disgust for the Bush empire, an undying love for mid-90’s revolution rock and an open mind to incorporate traditional Indian instrumentation and jazz drumming into its unique sound that has caught the ears of everyone from Tom Morello to The Pogues, NYC transplants Outernational have given all you kids who still keep Rage Against The Machine’s Evil Empire in our All Time Top 5 a new reason to uprise. After meeting group co-founder and multi-instrumentalist Sonny Suchdev, following Outernational’s incredible opening stint for Fishbone at CBGB last fall, the realization that this band is the very definition of everything IRT was raised on hit me like a ton of tablas. Following an already-impressive first three years that has included opening up for everyone from Wyclef Jean to The Coup to The Slackers to Gogol Bordello to Michelle Shocked to Antibalas to Steve Earle and gigging some of the biggest anti-war rallies in the country, including the now-legendary 2004 Republican National Convention “Not In Our Name” mega-protest at Union Square, Outernational are prepared to send the Bush regime packing in 2007-08 with forthcoming debut album, recorded and produced by Mr. Morello himself. The following electronic conversation between IRT and Mr. Suchdev took place just a week ago, shortly after Outernational rocked the Knitting Factory like a magic kiss in late March. For more information, check out the band’s official website at www.outernational.net or hit ‘em up MySpace style at www.myspace.com/outernational.
IRT: How did the Pogues gig go? How did you wind up opening up that gig?

Sonny: Opening for the Pogues in Boston was great. It was our first show in almost five months and was our first one with our new drummer, Justin Brown. It was an honor to
share the stage with the Pogues, who put on an amazing show. They are very different from us for sure, but there is a similar spirit to the music I think. Some of us were Pogues fans before, but it was my first time seeing them.
IRT: How did you initially hook up with Tom Morello?

Tom has been a supporter and fan of the band since we first started. Miles and Tom have known each other for years, which is how he eventually got interested in Outernational. They became friends in the earlier Rage days while Miles would be tabling at shows with
activist organizations. It’s been really helpful to get Tom’s insight about the band and our music and learn from his experience. He really gets what we’re all about, musically and politically. And besides that, he’s a musical genius and going to be one hell of a producer for the record.

IRT: What are your thoughts on the Rage reunion?

Sonny: We are all totally excited about the Rage reunion. There’s no better time than now for Rage Against the Machine to be playing again. The world really needs bands out there in a major way displaying resistance and outrage at what is going on in the world under
Bush’s leadership. Tom’s interview with MTV about the return of Rage says it all quite well:
http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1551733/20070206/morello_tom.jhtml

Believe me, we will be rocking out front and center at Coachella! That will be some good inspiration right before going into the studio to record the album.

IRT: The music you had sent me is outstanding. Can we expect more of the same in your new recordings or are you going in a different approach?

Sonny: The music has really evolved and progressed in the last several months. We have a new drummer now, like I mentioned, who is AMAZING and brings a whole new
element to the band. We’ve also been writing a lot and making improvements on old material. I see it all as a progression of what we’ve been doing the last 2 years - bringing together different styles of danceable, rebellious music from throughout the world
with rock. It’s exciting to be finally gearing up to record the first album.

IRT: How did the Knitting Factory shows go?

Sonny: The Knitting Factory show on March 25th was amazing. It was really powerful to be on stage in front of our hometown audience again, hundreds of die-hard fans who
have been waiting for months to see another Outernational show. There was so much energy and and passion in the room and it bounced back and forth between the stage and the audience. It’s significant to see so many really young people at our shows singing along to every song - I mean like junior high school kids rocking out, chanting “Not my country!” Our audience is really diverse, mostly young folks from lots of different backgrounds and scenes. It means a lot to see that. We played a bunch of new material that traveled to lots of new places for us, and I think the audience took it well and was feeling the new directions. I’m fairly confidence it was the wildest Outernational show to date.

IRT: What exactly is your nationality, Sonny? Do you come from a strict family background? What do your folks think of your music? Are they supportive?

Sonny: I am South Asian and Sikh. My parents are immigrants from India, and I was born and raised here (well, Charlotte, North Carolina to be exact). My parents have been pretty supportive of the band and my increasing focus on making Outernational my life. I’ve been playing music my whole life, which started in Gurdwaras (Sikh temples) playing harmonium and tabla and singing when I was a kid. So my parents have seen the importance of music in my life. Sure they were surprised at how serious I’ve been about this band, but it’s been a process and they’ve been won over to it. And of course my Indian background
influences our music a bunch too, and my parents love that. They saw us play in Cleveland (where they live now) on Warped Tour last summer and were definitely feeling it.
IRT: Have you experienced a good amount of racism while on the road with Outernational? If so, do you plan on addressing it on record?

Sonny: I experience racism mostly every day living in this country. Being a brown-skinned, turban-wearing child of immigrants has deeply shaped who I am and how I see the world, no doubt. Sure, I’ve gotten shit on tour from people staring and making comments, but honestly, some of the most explicit bigotry I’ve seen has been right here in the most diverse place I’ve ever lived - NYC. If you’re interested, I wrote about an incident
that happened on the subway and it was posted on this site:
http://www.racewire.org/archives/2007/02/the_day_my_skin_came_off.html

In terms of addressing my experiences with racism on the record, I’m not much of a lyric-writer myself, but more broadly speaking, the experience of oppressed people in this country and throughout the world is a key element of what we’re talking about in our music. We tell stories of immigrants who come to this country looking for a better life and instead get treated like dirt in songs like “Que Queremos.” In “Riviera Uproar” we sing about the uprising of African immigrant youth in France last year who were “rioting”
in response to living in a racist country. Those are some examples.

IRT: Your email handle is Sonnyska. I take it you were in a ska band prior to
Outernational, yes? Don’t you think its time for another revival? And who are some of the classic ska acts you grew up listening to?

Sonny: Yes indeed, ska was probably the first music scene that I was really a part of when I was in high school and college in Arizona. I used to play in a Tucson-based ska band called Turban Jones. I still absolutely love ska music and find that it’s the easiest music for me to dance to without feeling self-conscious. ha. Some of my favs were/are: Hepcat,
The Skatalites (of course), The Specials, The Slackers who continue to rock on, The Toasters, Jump with Joey, Los Fabulosos Cadillacs, Stubborn Allstars, Yeska, to
name a few…

IRT: Speaking of which, how much of a trip was it to open up for Fishbone at CBGB back in the fall? Did you get to hang with Angelo and Co. at all that night? What are your thoughts of being one of the last bands to play CBGB?

Sonny: That was a fun show and quite an honor to share the stage with Fishbone, who I’d say is an influence for us in some ways. I was blown away by how much energy
Angelo still has after all these years. He’s an incredible performer, an inspiration really. We
actually hung out with Angelo on Warped Tour, since he had a tent out there where he was performing and selling the “fuck racism” t-shirts and all of that.

I’m glad we got to rock CB’s during that last month. It is sad that it shut down, like so many music venues in NYC. But we’re not tripping about it, kids will create new spaces, new scenes and take history into their own hands rather than be nostalgic for the past.

IRT: Are you guys all originally from New York?

Sonny: Not at all. Miles is the only one. He grew up in the Village. Jesse is from northern NJ. minimum tek is from Seattle, Justin is from Oakland and I’m from Arizona/NC. But we’re all here now and are very much rooted here.

Ministry is a band that has been around a lot longer than most and maintains a level of success that most bands from the 90’s would give their right arm for. They are recording a new album for release this fall and have added Revolting Cocks’ (a Ministry side project) guitarist Sin as a permanent guitarist. I recently talked to Sin about his experiences with the RevCo/Ministry camp and his days as part of Porn auteur Matt Zane’s band Society 1. Society 1 was known for crazy on stage antics including suspending Matt from hooks though his body. From that to the notorious bad boys in Ministry, Sin has seen a lot in his short time in the biz. How did you hook up with al? I stated about a year ago. Last March I came up and started to do rehearsals for the Revolting Cocks. That’s when we first started working together. Not writing material, just working on stuff with the Cocks. I went on the road with the Cocks and that’s how our musical endeavor began. While we were on tour he asked how I would feel about writing some stuff fro Ministry. That’s how that whole thing started. How did you become a full time member of Ministry? That didn’t come about till about November when I came out to start recording material for the Ministry album. Did you record with the Cocks on their last record? No. I came in right after that for the tour. I was the live guitar player. How was that tour? Any crazy stories? Oh man! That tour was out of control. It was blast. It was a zoo every single night. We had a few guest players come out on the road. One show that sticks out is at the Chicago House Of Blues show when Rick Nielsen of Cheap Trick came out. I’m a big Cheap Trick fan so it was crazy having Rick come out at sound check and me showing him the guitar parts. For me that was insane. He came out and did Fire Engine with us. That’s probably the most fun I’ve had on tour in a long time. It reminds me of when I was just starting out and playing in garage bands and just doing it for fun and your love of music. Through years of touring you kind of lose that. Not that it’s not fun anymore, but it becomes somewhat routine and the business side of it makes it feel that way. But with that tour it was just a total blast. I know that Society 1 did some crazy shit on stage. Who had the crazier tours Revolting Cocks/Ministry or Society 1? Its two totally different things. Society 1 was much more of a shock rock type of band. Not that we didn’t take pride in what we did musically, but we also did a lot of things on stage to get a reaction and shock people. With Ministry and RevCo it was a different vibe. It was crazy in more of a traditional rock-n-roll sense. There was a lot of destroying hotel rooms and lobbies and trashing back stage dressing rooms. What were some of the things Society 1 did to shock people? We did the suspension thing. We did it at the Download festival in front of 35,000 people. Where do you go form there? We were a band that loved to push buttons. And we found the buttons to push. Nudity on stage, simulating sex acts on stage while we were performing. Did you get a lot of hate mail? Oh man we used to get everything from religious groups to feminist groups. We used to have picketers at our shows. You are writing stuff with Al. Is he open to the stuff you bring to the table? I didn’t know what to expect when I first came out to Texas. I had never written anything with anybody else outside of my old band. I was nervous when I first came out here because I didn’t know what to expect. But I was pleasantly surprised to find him open to ideas and suggestions. We work very well together in the way we bounce ideas around. Al is a guy who I’d looked up to for years. I try and learn from him and his experiences as much as possible, but he is a very open minded guy who is always asking for my thoughts and ideas. It’s been a complete blessing. I can’t tell you haw great it’s been writing with him. How far into the new Ministry album are you guys? I’d say we are about 75% done. We’ve got about 10 songs done down and have another two or three to go. It’s sounding phenomenal. It’s going to blow people away. I think we’re bringing some of the older feel to it with a bit of a modern twist. I think old fans will dig it and newer fans will REALLY dig it. I think we are going to make people notice that we are musical as well. The last few Ministry albums have been very political. Is it the same with the new album? It’s going to tie in with the Bush administration and his cronies. It will probably be the last statement dealing with that. Who else is on this record? On this record is myself, Paul Raven (who was on the last record), Tommy Victor (Also on the last record) and Al. Is that going to be the touring band? Yes. I’m pretty sure keyboardist J.B. will be around as well. I’m not sure right now what the drummer situation is. Who’s been playing drums on this record? It’s all been programmed so far. But that’s’ not to say we won’t bring someone in to go over what we’ve done. Do you have an idea when the new album might be released? It will be out mid September. -

interview by Brad Filicky

Is it harder to write when you are happy or when you are feeling down(this may seem like an odd question but many singers say when they are happy they are busy living so they don’t write and I know you try hard to keep things positive)

It’s not an odd question- Down! For sure…can’t you tell? Like on In

Deep- Maybe this applies to my upcoming album-but there are all kinds of songs on there.

Some of my songs are happy but when I write about something happy it’s usually not about what I’m feeling in that moment of my life or someone else’s, it’s more of an observation or something from the past. But even my “down” songs have an “up” in them. Some gold at the end of the rainbow.

Would you ever consider writing a political song?

Yes I’ve considered it….I’m not the most political person; I am trying to learn more. But I’m very involved in animal politics/issues right now.

Anti-abuse/neglect songs, you know. I actually wrote one of those when I was up in Woodstock once for the Film Fest there where I was playing. I wrote it after I went to an amazing animal sanctuary where they save abused farm animals. One beautiful, sweet horse named Cinnamon was shot in the head because the owner just didn’t want her anymore and she lived! They saved her. So now she has this hole where the bullet was and they flush it out every day but she is taken care of, loved and seems fine. I also adopted a pretty cow named Penelope at another one upstate. Not sure if it’s “political” per se but it is when some humans get involved and think they have power over these beings to treat them anyway they want to. It’s horrible and it’s a huge issue to me.  These animals can’t speak for themselves and need help. Jelly was not in good shape when I met him; it was heartbreaking that someone could do that but he is a strong survivor and is doing well now. You know he is also the sweetest guy. I learn from him. Helping him helped me and changed my life. We also just had a banner up on an anti abuse site with our photo that we were asked to make.

What is the one song you wish you had written?

Such a good question… and a hard one. Right now I’m saying In the Sun by Joseph Arthur. Or Up Here by Terra Naomi. There are many more I wish I had written.

Is there any genre of music you WOULDN’T incorporate into your music?

Jazz. Death Metal (sorry).

When did you first realize you wanted to be a musician?

I sang as a kid here and there and loved it. When I started going to concerts and seeing live shows a whole new world opened up for me. When I saw the Dead for the first time I was fascinated (and scared) by the whole scene but fell in love with it and community existing around music- Got into that scene in school but also was out dancing on South Beach at night with flamenco, club, reggae and grunge which I was really into at the time too-Music was everywhere, it accompanied our lives. That’s the time when I wanted a guitar and asked my dad for one.  I also had a crush on this guy who played. It was just for fun but I started writing on it immediately. Took a few lessons from a guy named Julian Lesson-seriously- and started jamming a bit with people.

The first time I ever got onstage and sang rock music though was when my friend Dave and I went to see one of my favorite bands at the time Day By The River in Miami. I had a huge crush on the lead singer (different guy) and my friend pushed for me to go onstage and sing with them. I sang back up on a song called Naked where the lead singer did this thing where he drops his pants at the end but he is concealed with his guitar(from the front). What a night- I was hooked.  I was also asked to sing with this Dead cover band a couple of times after that-the bass player or something was a professor at my school and they had a big biker crowd. When I went back to NY I was introduced to Tony Polemeni, my first producer/collaborator and fell in love with recording too. Then it just spiraled and I worked with a hip hop producer for a while and Muzz-which made me a much better guitarist-inspired me to start playing it solo. And here I am.

What was the first song you remember really inspiring you?

You know, I was thinking about this one for a while and I can’t remember! Maybe All Along the Watchtower or Love Street-Zeppelin and Pearl Jam were big for me in high school? I love so many songs from different people, genres- so many inspire me. Artists like PJ Harvey, Liz Phair, Cat Power, Juliana Hatfield, Elliot Smith-they inspired me to feel like I can go off and try to make my own recordings.  It’s constantly changing for me.

I get into a song and I listen to it over and over again until the next one I that can’t stop spinning. You have been subjected to that!

I was always inspired by music -since I was a little kid. My parents used to listen to it/have it playing around the house.

My dad still does sometimes-Dylan, The Beatles, CSNY, Van Morrison. (mom was into a bit harder stuff-Bob Seeger, The Stones, Guns & Roses-yeah). Dad has an amazing record collection that we pulled out and listened to one night, it was rad. The next question is related to this kind of music…

What decades of music do you like the best? Why?

The late 60’s-early 70’s.I was brought up on music from this time which I think started my interest in it. To me there was no time like then, I am taken by it. In fact I have a phat collection of books from that time.

The collection is mostly bios like Marianne’s but just finished reading Laurel Canyon, which I lapped up, about the music scene up there back then when Joni and CSNY were living there and Clapton and Zeppelin first came to Cali. They all lived next door and hung out and played music in the mountain in LA -it seemed magical until it turned bad. I also just saw the Rolling Stones Rock & Roll circus on TV which blew my mind. Plus Marianne (and others) perform in it and is gorgeous. There was just so much heart in that music and it was so radical at the time. It was more than just music, it was a culture.  They looked different, acted different, sang different. They shook it up. It seemed free. For a while.

If you could work with anybody in the history of music who would it be?

I think I am learning that I am NOT a one answer kinda gal from this interview -of course I have more than one “anybody”…I am sure there are many that I just can’t think of now but off the top of my head Bill Graham, Ahmet Ertergun and innovators like that. People that did something shocking and new. All of the artists I adore and probably their PRODUCERS too. That’s vague..I know but trying not to make this a book.

Oh and Timbaland. Ha! Remember I told you that the other night?!

Is there any subject you wouldn’t write about? IN other words when does songwriting become too personal for you?

Um, I’m pretty honest in my writing but I do shade things here and there -there are times I will not say exactly what I mean and play around with words or it will just come out that way. And there are times I say just what I want and have those lyrics that I make people blush.  It’s not always what it seems but sometimes it is. There is one song I don’t play right now and it’s not on an album.

Talk about your recording process…

Well, what I did on Back to My Roots, is put down the guitar(s), then vox, then ear candy. Then final mixing. Those songs were already written, I want to try creating one as I go. Now that I dipped into working with loops on In Deep I’m more apt to do that.

If I had a full band I think I would have drums and bass put down first or all at the same time. Sometimes it’s different; Swallow It Down Remix was backwards! Viola put the bass/drums on through cyberspace after the acoustic/electric parts and vocals because they were already done!

It’ll be different with bringing other peeps in and I welcome that.

We’ll see then. Check ya later.

interview by Brad Filicky