A Sunday Conversation with Cancer Killing Gemini

Hanging out with Eric Michael Cohen from Industrial sex slaves, Cancer Killing Gemini:

What have been your musical epiphany moments?

I remember the first time I heard, Jane's Addiction, NIN, Faith No More.... I had been listening to Bon Jovi, Van Halen and whatever else Boston radio had to offer. There was no alternative station then, and to be honest, I didn't even know college radio existed. So all of a sudden (to me) there's this music that's not about bikinis and bullsh*t, and it sounds awesome. Then the whole palette of alternative opened up: The Cure, The Cult, The Replacements, New Order, The Stone Roses, Violent Femmes, Ministry, Big Black, etc etc etc.


Talk to us about the song-writing process for you. What comes first, the idea? A riff? The lyrics? How does it all fall into place?

I start with melody and simple accompaniment, usually bass. I'm not really a riff writer. For me, the melody is the most important element of the song. If you start with a riff, it can force the vocal to go in certain directions. If you can create a killer melody, the chords almost write themselves.If I don't start with bass, my second choice is usually Rhodes (vintage electric piano by Fender). When I write on Rhodes, the end result is often very slow and sad. A nice balance to wall of guitars.

Who has influenced you the most?

Ask me that question every 5 years and you'll get a different answer. Kurt Cobain and Trent Reznor were there closer to the beginning. More recently, it's been Silversun Pickups, Ben Folds, Fiona Apple, The Jesus Lizard, Mutemath...

Where do you look for continuing inspiration? New ideas, new motivation?

Everywhere. The trick.. the skill.... can be taking the mundane and making it interesting, or taking a great story and not wrecking it by putting it in a song. I'm trying to move away from always writing about myself and instead writing for other people. Does that make sense? I'm hoping to try to start a conversation with a song. We'll see how that goes.

How do you see your music as different that other artists in your genre?

I'm hoping to do what we can to leave genres behind (and yes, I know how pretentious that sounds). There's a loud industrial edge to much of the first record, but there's also down tempo, post-grunge, electronica / dance... As the band progresses (especially the live band), more and more genres are going to enter into the equation. I like electronic music, but my roots are in rock, and rock is a giant "genre" with thousands of styles. The band has the ability to jam, not like Phish or The Dead (thank God), but to take a song section and just bury you with it. "Christcontrol" (from "It only hurts when we breathe") now has a monstrous break in the middle that totally kills.

 I was in an electronic project before Cancer Killing Gemini where some keyboard parts and loops would play from a sequencer. If forced the song to be the same every time we played it. No deviation or there'd be a trainwreck. This time is different. Everything is live on stage.

What is you musical intention? What are you trying to express or get your audience to feel?

Subversion / perversion / distortion of your mainstream. Bringing the fringe of society to centerstage through music. I really enjoy pushing the boundaries of people's comfort zones and seeing how they react. More and more of that in CKG's future.
 
Come on, share with us a couple of your great, Spinal Tap, rock and roll moments?

I wish I had specific Spinal Tap moments I could think of.... there's definitely stories in my past, but I don't think they're all funny. I had a drummer hang himself in jail in a previous band, I dated the singer in kittymonkey until she switched sides / became a lesbian (not my fault... well maybe), in another band my ex-girlfriend became the bass player's wife (awkward!)....

You worked with Julie Simone on your recent video for "Should I tell you that you're pretty?" Stories please!

At one point I was going to go down to NY and meet her to shoot some of the footage for the video, but the timing didn't work out, so it was actually all done via email after email. I worked out a "plot" and sent her a slideshow. Bit by bit, the plot morphed, based mainly on suggestions from Julie until we had the final product. She has a specific way she wants to be portrayed. Victim is not part of that image. So, despite the male-chauvinist angle of the song, the video is more about femdom (doubt that word's in Webster's). The footage in the choruses is from her archives. I had an interesting time editing around the nudity, penetration and dildoes to make a video that could be played on YouTube.

 What makes a great song?

If you want to immediately hear it again, there's a good chance it's great.

Tell us about the first song you ever wrote?

A prog rock anthem called "Sterile Rabbits" with a friend of mine. It was about sterile rabbits.

What piece of your music are particularly proud of?

Each piece of music I write has something about it that makes it my favorite, in a certain way. "Christcontrol" is just balls to the wall aggression, "Century" has this undeniable low key groove, "Prescription Drugs" is just plain fun. It's always the newest piece of music that's the best in the eyes of the writer, so right now I'm really keen on "Carousel", "You Let The Honey Out Of Me" and "University" which you should see in 2011.

Who today, writes great songs? Who just kicks your ass? Why?

Cee Lo Green. Fuck that guy. That song (F You) is awesome. Back Eyed Peas. Not great songs, but great pop music. Big difference. Phoenix. Can't understand half the lyrics, but man are they catchy.
Silversun Pickups. Throwaway lyrics but an awesome soundscape.

 
Vinyl, CD, or digital? What's your format of choice?

It's not vinyl. Go ahead and shoot me. I don't want a non-faithful reproduction format that I can't play in my car or on the beach that degrades over time and has to be manually flipped every 12 minutes. Compact Discs are adequate but not awesome. Digital will be amazing once someone figures out a cool way to embed more stuff when you download a song (lyrics, photos, videos etc), so digital should be my format of choice, soon.

Whiskey or beer? And defend your choice

On beer I get sleepy and pass out. On whiskey I'm more likely to rage, then crash. Whiskey it is.

We, at the Ripple Effect, are constantly looking for new music. What's your home town, and when we get there, what's the best record store to lose ourselves in?

I'm in Boston. I don't do much record shopping but when I do, it's Newbury Comics. They're a local chain that understands alternative music.

Any final comments or thoughts you'd like to share with our readers, the waveriders?

Help out your favorite bands by telling them what you'd be excited to buy from them. We (musicians) don't care all that much about getting rich, but if we can not go broke as we create, that means alot. Do you want bonus tracks, T-shirts, signed copies of something, blood, pee, private concerts? Help us survive as the record labels die. And buy us drinks at shows.

Attack of the Ripple Bursts - Featuring The Cold Beat, Cancer Killing Gemini, Daniel G. Harmann & The Trouble Starts, Shades of Rhythm, Dragontears, and Shuteye Unison

So much music to catch up with:

Here’s a quick snapshot of what’s spinning in the Ripple CD player.

The Cold Beat  - Get Safe

Hailing from Allston, MA, The Cold Beat could be defined as a sleeves-rolled up, working class, roots-level indy rock band with an arm full of punk tattoos.  Having delved deeply into their recently released split 7”, I eagerly anticipated Get Safe, the trio’s first long player, and I wasn’t disappointed.  Think of the Replacements as your starting point, throw them into a beat up 1957 Mercury driving through the heartland of the USA, toss in some punk spittle and snot and a touch of emo energy and what arrives at its destination is a rousing album full of urgent modern anthems.   Melodies are never overlooked amongst the clashing guitars and wild-eyed bass and drums.  Never is this more clear than on the album stunner, “Copper Green,” with it’s clear Replacements-spawned verses and sing-along chorus.  There’s even a chunk of the Gin Blossoms here, if they’d grown up with a love of punk.   Nothing safe here, just good rock and roll.


Buy here mp3: Get Safe

Cancer Killing Gemini – It Only Hurts When We Breathe

In this post-Nine Inch Nails world, it’s hard to be an industrial band without falling upon the common comparisons.  Trent Reznor cast such a long shadow.  But Cancer Killing Gemini are just the band to crawl out from underneath that shadow, forge ahead, and create shadows all their own.  Sure we got the requisite percolating synths, the synthetic throbbing bass, and walls-upon-walls of distorted guitars.  But CKG don’t stop there.  Mix in some truly captivating melodies, a sense of drama and cinematic scope, a willingness to experiment with tempo, and a dirty grunge edge, and you’ll get a feeling for It Only Hurts When We Breathe.  I can think of no logical reason that lead track “Christcontrol,” shouldn’t lead-off every Industrial compilation or radio station for years to come.  The song is absolutely addictive.    The rest of the album follows suit, with gems like “Prescription Drugs.”  Industrial fans, check it.

Buy here mp3: It only hurts when we breathe
Buy here: It only hurts when we breathe

Daniel G. Harmann & The Trouble Starts – Risk

Lately, I’ve been listening to a lot of Japan, particularly their later period stuff, which coincidentally put me into a perfect frame of mind to enjoy Risk.  Daniel G. Harmann & The Trouble Starts delve into moody, lush, atmospheric pop with the same aplomb as Japan or Blue Nile, never sacrificing listenability or becoming too full of themselves.  This is serious music, not because it dwells in its own self-importance but serious in the intent, the rigor and the craftsmanship.  Ambient passages collide with noisepop, breathy vocals bleed into delicate piano chords.  Crashing guitars explode and disappear at a moments notice.  Moody, atmospheric drone,art pop at it’s finest.  Japan’s been gone for far too long now.  Nice to have Daniel Harmann & the Trouble Starts here to fill the void.

Buy here: Risk
Buy here mp3: Risk

Shades of Rhythm – Shades of Rhythm (Extacy Edition)

Another killer reissue from the vaults of ZTT, sure to please even the most hardened dance/club fan.  Right around the late 80’s and early ‘90’s, the dance, club, warehouse rave scene exploded in London.  I was there, living near King’s Cross for a spell in 1989, and it was impossible not to get caught up in the frenzy created by some of these dynamite dance-music collectives like Soul II Soul.  Shades of Rhythm jumped into that fray releasing platter after platter of rave-inducing, dancefloor madness.  Hyperkinetic rhythms, inspired piano, and a generous helping of joy fueled Shades’ rise up the charts.  Here, you’ll relive those heady days when a happy face, a thumping bass really were the sign of a loving race.  “Sweet Sensation is here as are some true dance, proto-lounge masterpieces like “Shakers,” and “Lonely Days, Lonely Nights.”  If you’re a dance fan, this two-disc deluxe edition is sure to put a smile on your face.

Buy here: Shades of Rhythm (Extacy Edition)



Dragontears – Turn On, Tune In, Fuck Off!!

Another demented masterpiece from the heavily fuzzed mind of Lorenzo Woodrose, mastermind behind Baby Woodrose.  Here, the THC’d-one cranks the fuzz quotient up to ‘11’ and unleashes 6 masterful garage-psych fuzz sunbursts.  Both hands dip deep into the candybowl of multi-colored pills as Dragontears unleash this 40-minute headtrip, the band’s farewell statement.  If you find that guitars simply can not swirl enough to satisfy your tastes, if garage rock can’t crunch enough to fill your belly, have we got a treat for you.  Huge looping bass runs, crunchy guitars, crackling percussion and enough left over, second hand smoke to light up the nation.  Turn on, tune in, fuck off!!

Buy here mp3: Turn On Tune In Fuck Off [Explicit]



Shuteye Unison – Our Future Selves


It’s fitting that Shuteye Unison’s killer new disc arrived on my desk as the autumn rains began their torrential attack.  Two years ago, I included Shuteye’s amazing self-titled debut in my Autumn Listening Guide.  Then, the delicate, dreamy, indy pop reminded me of a pensive walking through a changing colorful landscape.  But this autumn is different.  Winds are blowing, rain is pounding.  And seeming to match that, Our Future Selves finds Shuteye Unison taking a far more aggressive stance.  Crunchy guitars kick off  “Be Kimball,” with a violent sense of foreboding, bringing in a charging post-punk, post-Fugazi groove far and away from the introspective self-titled debut.  But rest assured, Shuteye Unison aren't content to leave it there.  Our Future Selves acts like a reconnaissance mission though the badlands of indy pop.  At times lush and atmospheric, at times dense and mean, and at times sprawling and droning, Our Future Selves is and album for listening.  Don’t think about putting this one on by the fire and ignoring it while you play monopoly.  Our Future Selves demands your attention.  It grabs your inner ear, your brain, and your imagination and insists you go on the journey with them.  What waits around the next corner is a mystery until you actually approach it, and still, it seems to change with each listen.  A remarkable album.

Buy here mp3: Our Future Selves