| |
Features - Interview
 Genghis Tron Pushing it to the limit Interview by Chris Hodge | July 19th, 2007
Genghis Tron—the very name alone suggests a sound made of manic aggressiveness and electronic flurries, and needless to say the moniker does not disappoint. Formed in 2004, the extreme trio consisting of drum machine, keyboard, guitar and vocals set out to create a sound unlike anything heard before. The Cloak of Love EP was the result—an unlikely concoction of grind, ambient electronic, and pop-infused metal insanity. In 2006, the trio unleashed their first full-length album on the world in the form of Dead Mountain Mouth; with a running time of less than 32 minutes, Genghis Tron packed in more sonic density than most bands hope to achieve with an entire discography. After touring for the last year in support of their debut album, the band headed back into the studio to record their Relapse Records debut with none other than Kurt Ballou. With the recording process nearly complete, the band took a moment to talk with us about their upcoming album and life as a band.
SF: First off, we have to ask about the band name, Genghis Tron. How did you guys come up with that name?
Hamilton Jordan (guitar, drum programming): Unfortunately, the story behind this is pretty boring...it was suggested to us by our friend Jared, and we thought it was pretty appropriate at the time.
SF: This last year has been by far your busiest. You releases your first full-length album, and a tour that included a total of 5 nations, 33 US States, and 26,000 miles. With such an itinerary, how do you guys handle life on the road?
Hamilton: Well, despite those numbers, it doesn't FEEL like we toured our asses off...but I guess we did! I think it helps that there are only 3 people in the band...a lot of bands out there with 5 people, plus a few crew people, have a lot of shit to handle and a lot of people to get happy. At the most, we go out with five people total, so that helps us keep things somewhat in control. Plus, we're all three very good friends -- as we were before the band existed -- so we tend to get along pretty well, even though we spend a ridiculous amount of time together. This next year looks to be even busier, though...so I may have a different perspective a year from now!
SF: Your 2006 release Dead Mountain Mouth makes reference to The Waste Land by T.S. Elliot, one of the most complicated and widely studied poems of the 20th century. What about that poem inspired you guys to name your second album after it and include direct references to it?
Mookie Singerman (vocals, keyboards): We wrote DMM during a very tough time for the entire band. One of us had been experiencing some very disorienting and scary health issues (which is addressed in White Walls), we were involved in a traumatic car accident during our first U.S. tour a few months before we started writing (The Folding Road)--and then a good friend was involved in a far worse accident only a few months later--and my family was completely falling apart (Chapels & From The Aisle). It was a very humbling and frightening period for us and that was reflected in all aspects of those songs. It's a much darker record than Cloak of Love.
I referenced The Waste Land because lyrically it's the bleakest, most dread-inducing thing I've ever read. In the midst of all this awful stuff that was happening to us, I felt that I couldn't possibly touch how well he conveyed this helplessness and malaise--but I thought that drawing on some of the same imagery and themes could help get all that across.
SF: How did you all get together as a band? Its not everyday that you hear grind mixed with electro synth-pop and trip-hop, especially in Poughkeepsie (NY).
Hamilton: Yeah, Poughkeepsie is a strange place...most people know it for the Chance venue, Shai Hulud, and Matchbook Romance, so it doesn't make a lot of sense that we'd grow out of that scene. But really, we never had anything to do with what was going on in Poughkeepsie musically. We actually all met in college -- at Vassar -- and decided to combine our diverse music tastes into something which would be unique and challenging for us. None of us are actually from Poughkeepsie -- Michael and Mookie are from New York City and I'm from Atlanta -- we all just moved to Poughkeepsie for school. Now, we're all graduated and living together in Philadelphia.
SF: You guys collaborated with Greg Weeks and Gunface (both of The Red Chord) on Dead Mountain Mouth. Any more collaborations planned for the future?
Hamilton: We don't have anything planned right now, but I'm sure something will happen. We've discussed the idea of guests on the next album, but if so it wouldn't be as much of a collaboration as it would be "we like your voice, so sing this part." That's how it was with Greg and Gunface...they were awesome to come in and help, but it was very last-minute, and we had their parts written for them. So in the true sense, we've yet to really collaborate with anyone...and it doesn't look like it will happen for this record. But we are definitely open to doing so in the future.
SF: Your latest EP "Triple Black Diamond" is available on tour only, as was "Cape of Hate." You guys seem to have a penchant for doing this; any particular reason?
Hamilton: Well, I guess there are lots of reasons...we enjoy remixing our own songs but haven't had the time to organize any sort of "official" release of the sort...so by doing these tour EP's, we have a chance to share experimentations with interested parties without all of the hype, pressure, and expectations of a "real" release. Furthermore, it's just fun to be able to have something unique that can only be purchased at shows...it gives people all the more reason to get out of the house and come out to a show.
SF: Dead Mountain Mouth was very different from Cloak of Love. Any surprises in store for listeners on your upcoming Relapse debut? Have you already started formulating ideas for an album name?
Hamilton: I hope there will always be surprises for our listeners on our recordings...we hope to never stagnate or repeat ourselves as a band, because otherwise we'd be unable to keep ourselves interested and passionate about the music we make. This next album will sound quite different from Dead Mountain Mouth and Cloak of Love, but it will still sound like Genghis Tron...or perhaps it will expand people's perceptions of what Genghis Tron sounds like. We're all convinced it exceeds the sum of those recordings times ten. Unfortunately, we're terrible at deciding titles, so I'm sure we won't figure it out for another month or two...
SF: You guys have shared the stage with a diverse list of bands. If you guys could choose the bands to do a festival with, which bands would you pick to put on the bill and why?
Hamilton: Oh man, there would be too many acts to name. I'll limit myself to 10 so that it's reasonable. The reason why is that they are all awesome, and we hate shows where all of the bands sound the same:
- Meshuggah
- Nine Inch Nails
- Autechre
- Neurosis
- Dillinger Escape Plan
- Kraftwerk
- The Boredoms
- Daft Punk
- The Residents
- Queens of the Stone Age 
Listen to Genghis Tron on MySpace
Buy Dead Mountain Mouth from Relapse Records
See Dead Mountain Mouth in SF's "Best Albums of 2006"
|
| 
|
