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| artwork by Lev Sloujitel |
To start things off, would you share an overview of Starkweather's history? Looking back, what are your thoughts on your past musical output?
Rennie Resmini: Yes, I'm doing well considering the shelter in place state we're in and not being an essential worker. From the jump let me apologize for being long-winded and rambling. Right now all I have is time on my hands. Hopefully you guys are doing well where you are.
Honestly I really don't look back on what the past recordings are. I've moved on as soon as the whole process for a release is complete. Each recording to me is capturing a performance at a specific time. We were fortunate in a sense that the music isn't confined to a certain sound or period of time. We never followed a formula that was conventional. When I do listen back I'm critical of things, moreso recording issues than the actual songcraft. Sure, there are things I would do differently, but, that's the case with any band that wants to evolve their sound and playing ability. For that end I'm somewhat satisfied. There is always the next phase of sound construction.
Ok, as to history... Todd and I met at Temple University by chance at entrance exams in 87. I saw he was wearing a Descendants shirt and asked whether he was at Uniform Choice the previous night. He had the same opinion - they were awful - and we started bouncing bands back and forth. We were into a lot of the same outsider bands: Voivod, Celtic Frost, Amebix, Articles of Faith, Void, die kreuzen, sheer terror, prong. My friend Sean Roberts was also going to Temple University and he and I really thought about putting together a band. Sean was into similar heavy underground bands as well as things like Fields of the Nephilim, the Mission, Sisters of Mercy which I really had no knowledge of until he played it for me. By 89 we had Todd and Michelle fill out the roster.
Our original drummer who was on our first recordings, Len Emrick, had influences ranging from hardcore to industrial and metal. We picked up Harry once Len was getting deeper into school work and couldn't commit to playing. Harry and his brother Vince were playing in a local prog metal act Netherworld that happened to rehearse at the same spot and we were able to poach him.
The original recording core from 90 to 99 is Todd, Shell, Harry and myself. Further down the line after we had written a lot of music with that core we would acquire Jim Winters and Liam Wilson for the recording of Croatoan. We had a couple shows with that line up. Liam you know was recording both croatoan and miss machine. So, given what this band is there is far more opportunity to roll with Dillinger Escape Plan. The secret weapon we have is Bill Molchanow for lead guitar. He was in bands with Harry and Vince. His first recording with us is on the definitely not the majors compilation.
Since you don't tour and are a rather slow-moving band, has the current confinement situation affected you much?
We have a bunch of songs written that we've been playing out for over the past 5 years. The problem with this line up is we don't have time to rehearse adequately to go into a studio and record. The shelter in place actually is a hassle as we can't get to the rehearsal room and ratchet things down. If it isn't one thing - whether it is a family issue, work issue - it's another.
Vince is at a Dow chemical plant that is an essential manufacturer. He's been rolling a ton of overtime as they ramped up production since the plant in California was idled more than a month ago due to the pandemic. So, even if we weren't shelter in place we wouldn't be rehearsing.
I've actually been sitting on one song that we started recording when we did the song for the split with Concealment. I've let the rough mix out of the box from time to time on soundcloud. It is the complete opposite of "Divided by Zero". Far more open space. Todd and I would jokingly refer to it as the Ved Buens Ende Space Jam or the no chug zone. Probably the most open and expansive thing since "Wilding" for us though not utilizing acoustic guitar textures as that song does. I don't want to release this before the material we've written with the newer line-up. Though with the way things are mired it may have been the wrong idea.
Any other producers/studios in sight for the next recordings?
I think each recording we've done with Alap has improved upon the last. I think there's a world of difference between this sheltering night and the splits with Overmars and Concealment. I'm particularly happy with the Concealment recording and the mastering. We had so much trouble with the mastering of that song until Filipe (Concealment and Wells Valley guitarist/vocalist) steered us toward Nelson Canoa. Even Alap found that to be next level. We had several masters and they all felt one dimensional and flat to me. Nelson really did a spectacular job - the spacious sections sound enormous, the dense sections are massive and retain clarity. I'd enjoy having Alap engineer again, but, the thing is right now Alap is in a different mental space. He's more on a production angle with building beats as well as mixing. I don't know if he'd be the proper person for to get immersed in a metallic project. I love the drum room that deadverse used to have in Union City, NJ. I'm not even sure if that facility is even a studio any longer. It used to have a shared space with Found Soundation (Jesse Cannon) but I believe Jesse is in Brooklyn now. The obvious choice would be the thousand caves. I'm rambling. All of it is up in the air as we have to get back to rehearsing. We haven't done anything in months. We really don't have the means to do things remote as our equipment is in a rehearsal studio.
Mind to share some insight into the band's writing/composition process and how it has evolved over the years? What are some your most important influences (musical, artistic/literal or ortherwise)?
Todd and I were more musically informed by things like Celtic Frost and Voivod, Mercyful Fate and Venom as well as noisier hardcore the likes of Void, die kreuzen, swans, aof, black flag, coc, amebix. He and Michelle were also into post punk husker du, killing joke, cure, joy division, the jam. So all of these touch points we're bouncing off each other. We're self taught so when your influences are a little off kilter and atonal that could be a strange spring board to start from in 89. When we got Harry in the band he's coming from a far more disciplined, theoried style. Even though he is self taught, he and his brother Vince were learning Rush, Iron Maiden, Fates Warning, Queensryche, Van Halen which would lead to Dream Theater, Watchtower, Atheist, Cynic, Confessor and the like. Plus, Harry is into classic rock, r & b, jazz. He has a wide musical vocabulary to pull from.
If anything, we dummied him down in order to catch up to him. He really helped us to be able to execute things seamlessly in terms of making our barbarian approach sound technical. Jim has a similar background as Todd and I but has broader knowledge of music and is technically more sound. He's closer to Harry and Vince in that sense, but, again probably more expansive when it comes to certain genres. He and I have similar interest in contemporary classical. The rest of the guys have no reference with that.
The way Jim writes is different than Todd and I. He's more fluid, jam oriented. Todd and I sculpt things. We'll have a skeleton outlined and work off that. Todd and I are more concrete riff with variations to tails whereas Jim has an EVH flair where his guitar parts morph in subdivisions. He likes to cycle riffs and get a feel for how things will evolve. Let matters run their course or until they sound right to him.
My end of writing is different. I'll recycle lyrics in the rehearsal room - even live - until it's time to record. I try to get all the math worked out in a live setting then I'll do the original lyrics in studio. I used to write a lot and simply edit. I really haven't been writing. So, in a sense it will be stream of consciousness. Maybe dream related as you're thinking. My favorite lyricists were definitely Vic Bondi in Aof and later Jones Very, Baron/Amebix, John Kedzy - Effigies. They wrote intelligently, practically poetic given their peers. A lot of it personally based. For me a lot of political lyrics are too time specific. Especially if you look at 70s punk and 80s hardcore. It is so rooted in time and place. I like writers that are timeless. Plus, I will reference certain authors, artists, films from time to time.
The split with Overmars has Thomas Ligotti references. His writing style isn't at all like mine. He's way more exact, clinical. Yet full of menace and dread. As you can see I'm a rambler.
Bradbury's october country and something wicked this way comes and John Gardner's grendel were probably the most impactful to me growing up. I had a teacher in 7th grade who pulled me aside, handed grendel to me and told me to not let any teacher know I got it from him. Again, you take this sort of writing and mix it with the lyricists I like and that's the petri dish. I remember first reading Mark Richard's Fishboy when it originally came out in 93 and felt what he's doing is a lot like what I was doing with things I was writing for into the wire, "mainline," and things that would be on croatoan and this sheltering night.
Even song structure I'll try to mimic things. When we were originally writing "bitterfrost" I was thinking a lot of composer Giya Kancheli, specifically symphonies no 6 and no 7 and his use of complete quiet interrupted with explosions. Then we were thinking in compositional terms with "bitterfrost," "taming leeches" and "machine rhythm." They share similar elements but each arrangement is an expansion or contraction of theme. Even "nightmare factory" I view as a more complex, compact introduction of themes explored on "divided by zero."
Judging by your social media presence it seems that you process an incredible amount of music, I've discovered a good number of awesome bands/projects thanks to the stuff you post. What are some of your current favorites? Any recommendations past or present?
Current and lesser known Haeiresis, Avezuha and Sleepwalker immediately spring to mind. Honestly I think Haeiresis - Emanations is one of the greatest things I've heard since the Dodecahedron debut. When Dodecahedron came out my thought was this is the best thing since Gorguts - obscura.
After Gorguts - obscura I think DsO's kenose was the next evolution. It was if all of these people who were informed by Voivod began taking things to an almost chamber orchestra, modern classical level. For instance after Voivod there was Ved Buens Ende taking those jazz, discordant chords and implementing them in a black metal setting and incorporating theatrical vocals of Nick Cave or even Nick Blinko for Written in Waters. Probably something the likes of Blut Aus Nord and Axis of Perdition to really change things up until Kenose came around.
Sure, there were things like Atheist, Confessor, Cynic, Watchtower doing jazz-ed up technical metal, but, they sonically weren't bringing dissonances the likes of Voivod. I'm really a mark for things with dissonant, progressive edge. I jokingly call a lot of it the sons of the Steeve Hurdle sonic cloth. After Piggy I feel he really brought an alien intelligence to playing. Maybe Adam Kalmbach/Jute Gyte is the next evolution.
For me right now there's Pyrrhon, Ulcerate, Nero di Marte, Zhrine, Baring Teeth, Jute Gyte, Coma Cluster Void, departe, portal, ploughshare and the like bringing their own sensibilities and skill sets to the table. Chaos Echoes were really special. And, in a way they remind me of Voivod in that they morph direction. Sometimes a listener may like it, other times not so much. Voivod is definitely my favorite band but I don't think every record is great.
Again, I'm droning, I'm definitely forgetting things, but, if you follow this evolution from Voivod that, to me, is the slipstream where my favorite acts of the past and current tend to reside.
You're from Philadelphia, any comments about the city of brotherly love? From what I saw it's a rather special place with this kind of feel you don't get anywhere else. There's a striking class division, and you can encounter grim poverty and luxurious wealth on the same sidewalk.
Lots of crime over there too... Does 'Mean Streets' (the song from your first LP, that is) still stands true today, or has ir calmed down a bit?
Yeah, this city is special all right. You're exactly right, neighborhoods here can turn from corner to corner. One block can have housing that's half a million dollars and the next block is in shambles. Next one even more expensive or desperate than the last.
You would think a city under quarantine would be less violent. Not the case. When that song was written the city was in the midst of an extremely violent period. A lot of drug gang violence, internal violence with mob families. But, yes, here in 1990 we had our most homicides at 505. the lowest it's been the past 30 years is 246 in 2013. It's been on the rise again. We've already passed 100 for the year. Again, we're in shelter in place as of yet without curfew and there is a lot of gun violence. Some communities are absolutely ravaged by drugs. Scenes from a Bosch hellscape only replace medieval plague masks with N95 masks.
What about the musical scene there? Any Philly bands/artists worth mentioning?
I'm not really up on things as I should. I don't go out to see many shows so I'm not totally current with what is going on. But, yes, there are a lot of diversity in music and great bands. We also have a number of exceptional artists working out of here.
For bands in the area, and I'm going to forget a shit-ton of them, at the tip of my fingers you have Rosetta, Hyve, Teeth Engraved with the Names of the Dead, Tides of Emptiness, Supine, Dark Blue, Done Deal, Horrendous, Pissgrave, Witching, TheEndAD, Veilburner, Crowhurst, among more.
We've been fortunate to have worked with Philly artists like Paul Romano, Mike Wohlberg, Alex Eckman-Lawn. Then you have people like Darla Jackson, Caitlin T. McCormack, Jeremy Hush, Judith Schaechter, Andrew Pinkham, Adam Wallacavage, and many, many others.
Starkweather emerged among the early 90's hardcore scene but quickly developped a more personal sound, that I always found closer to metal (even with progressive tendencies).
Nevertheless, the band is still often refered to (somewhat idiotically if you ask me) as metalcore. What do you think of this rather disparate appellation? Do you feel closer to one genre or another, and how would you define Starkweather's music today?
We always felt our music was far more metal than hardcore. Not a lot of hardcore bands were diving into the Mercyful Fate playbook, utilizing dynamics of going from sudden distortion to acoustic passages. It's difficult to even recall much early hardcore punk I grew up with that broke the verse/chorus mold.
We were always distanced from traditional songwriting and leaning into multi-riffed songs and foregoing repetition. It was always arranged like a metal band. Our drummer is a metalhead. He has no reference to hardcore other than bands we play with.
Rhythmically we were tribal - that's a lift from Swans and Amebix. We used to joke at the time our first record came out that we were "tribal metal." This was long before Sepultura took up that phrase. Plus we had the weirdo chords of things that straddled both outsider metal and hardcore.
Vocally I'm as apt to lift something off Geoff Tate, King Diamond as say John Brannon, Blaine Cook and Sinead O'Conner.
Our work ethic and mindset is definitely more akin to hardcore. But, sonically, not so much. I'm not sure how bands after the initial crossover wave of CoC, Leeway, Ludichrist, Crumbsuckers, Beyond Possession, Carnivore, dri, the Venice, cali bands and so on and so forth got lumped as metalcore.
To me Stigmata, Overcast, Converge, Arise a bunch of us that pre-dated the nonsense that would truly define the worst aspects of the category. You know, simply a metal guitar sound and downpicking style and beatdown hardcore dynamics. We've none of that. I couldn't even wrap my head around it then. Forget about it now.
All said and done we've been fortunate that we could play with a wide variety of bands. We could play with Morbid Angel, Overkill, Fear Factory as well as Disassociate, Laughing Hyenas, Amen Ra. Define it as evolving atonal narrative songcraft.
We were always distanced from traditional songwriting and leaning into multi-riffed songs and foregoing repetition. It was always arranged like a metal band. Our drummer is a metalhead. He has no reference to hardcore other than bands we play with.
Rhythmically we were tribal - that's a lift from Swans and Amebix. We used to joke at the time our first record came out that we were "tribal metal." This was long before Sepultura took up that phrase. Plus we had the weirdo chords of things that straddled both outsider metal and hardcore.
Vocally I'm as apt to lift something off Geoff Tate, King Diamond as say John Brannon, Blaine Cook and Sinead O'Conner.
Our work ethic and mindset is definitely more akin to hardcore. But, sonically, not so much. I'm not sure how bands after the initial crossover wave of CoC, Leeway, Ludichrist, Crumbsuckers, Beyond Possession, Carnivore, dri, the Venice, cali bands and so on and so forth got lumped as metalcore.
To me Stigmata, Overcast, Converge, Arise a bunch of us that pre-dated the nonsense that would truly define the worst aspects of the category. You know, simply a metal guitar sound and downpicking style and beatdown hardcore dynamics. We've none of that. I couldn't even wrap my head around it then. Forget about it now.
All said and done we've been fortunate that we could play with a wide variety of bands. We could play with Morbid Angel, Overkill, Fear Factory as well as Disassociate, Laughing Hyenas, Amen Ra. Define it as evolving atonal narrative songcraft.
Besides currently planned activities, how long do you see Starkweather continuing as a band?
You've never had any side-projects as far as I know. Do you see yourself playing in another band/project full time, or will your musical endeavors end when Starkweather does?
Starkweather is my main thing. Yet, it's not a full-time thing as you can see. It goes into stasis now and then. I'll do vocal spots here and there. Too many for me to remember without looking them up. There is something I'll be lending voices to shortly. Once that is set in motion and I have recorded we'll make an announcement if we feel good about the fit for the project. I'm not even quite sure yet until I physically do it. Vince does stuff with End Christian, Jim does things here and there that we don't even know about as he's an international man of mystery. But, people will know him from Believer - dimensions, Turmoil, the Promise, Vigil, to doing roadwork for Kiss It Goodbye and Earth Crisis.
Starkweather is my main thing. Yet, it's not a full-time thing as you can see. It goes into stasis now and then. I'll do vocal spots here and there. Too many for me to remember without looking them up. There is something I'll be lending voices to shortly. Once that is set in motion and I have recorded we'll make an announcement if we feel good about the fit for the project. I'm not even quite sure yet until I physically do it. Vince does stuff with End Christian, Jim does things here and there that we don't even know about as he's an international man of mystery. But, people will know him from Believer - dimensions, Turmoil, the Promise, Vigil, to doing roadwork for Kiss It Goodbye and Earth Crisis.
Thank you for taking the time to answer this interview, really hope to hear some new Starkweather soon. Any closing words/shout-outs/fuck-offs?
Thank you, Milton for entertaining this. As I mentioned at the beginning under current circumstances I have nothing but time on my hands so I've spent it on being long-winded at your expense.
Starkweather @bandcamp
Starkweather @facebook
Starkweather @soundcloud
Thank you, Milton for entertaining this. As I mentioned at the beginning under current circumstances I have nothing but time on my hands so I've spent it on being long-winded at your expense.
Starkweather @bandcamp
Starkweather @facebook
Starkweather @soundcloud
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