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While there has always been room for all out rocking and destructive dance pits in the realms of heavy music, sometimes we tend to forget that initially one of the main intentions of underground music was to have a message and create awareness amongst youth of all the things going on in the world around them. Although a lot of bands have forgotten that these days, Nevada natives The Molotov Solution are well aware of their duty as the modern day town criers. I was able to interview the band's vocalist, Kyle Davis, during their tour with Impending Doom and Lynch Thy Beauty. Davis: We're all crammed in a stranger's house in Portland right now, so I think we can do this now. Me: I'm always ready with the questions, man. If you guys are ready, then so am i. Davis: Alright, let's do it! Me: Alright. *ahem* So you guys are on tour right now. How's that going? Davis: It's going pretty well. Lots of nudity, black tar heroin, with a pinch of food fighting between moving vehicles. A few dates got cancelled and that was unfortunate, but we're making the best of it. Me: Sounds like a pretty good time. Who set up this tour? Davis: Robbie from our band and Shane from Lynch Thy Beauty. We signed a contract with BA Booking, but we quickly found out that he was all talk, so we were stuck booking another tour ourselves. Me: You guys are signed to a label, and you're still pretty much doing your tour DIY? Davis: Yes, our label is actually helping us out quite a bit. And as for booking agencies, they stress us out to the point of IBS (diarhea), so fuck it. We'll keep the solid turds and keep booking shit ourselves.
Me: That's a good outlook to have. How are the crowds reacting to our new material...and since you're playing a lot of new places, all of your material as a whole? Davis: Every city is different. For the most part, everyone on the West Coast is really into our style and we have been getting good responses. It seems like every time we play a city that we have already hit before kids are even more into us and more come out. Me: Let's talk a little bit about the new material. Obviously, it's a bit of an understatement to say you guys are a bit political. Davis: Haha, yeah. Me: The lyrics are really well informed. So I think that brings to question, if the lyrics are so well written and socially aware, why make them...well...inaudible? Don't get me wrong though, the vocals are all ut disgusting, I love them. It just seems to me if you have so much to say you'd want people to understand it. Davis: I do have a lot to say, but I also love guttural vocals. So what I have been trying to do recently is talk between songs, and we play some clips as well. At the same time, I try not to be too "preachy", and I expect that if kids are interested in what I have to say, they can read the lyrics and investigate the issues themselves, or simply come talk to me. Me: That's pretty cool. What sort of things, if any, influenced your lyrics? I mean that by way of literature and things like that. Davis: I read a lot of non-fiction. Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States, Anthony Arnove's Iraq: The Logic In Withdrawal, William Cooper's Behold A Pale Horse, and Russ Kick's Disinformation series books influenced this cd the most. I also spend hours each day on alternative news websites like www.PrisonPlanet.com, www.PropagandaMatrix.com, www.WhatReallyHappened.com, and a bunch of others. And I listen to some underground radio shows quite often as well. Me: Now, musically, a lot of the time bands will go into the studio with a sound in mind, maybe even some cds in tow for a producer to check out and say, "this is the sound we're going for". In terms of musicality, what would you say you guys were trying to accomplish with your new songs? Davis: We have just been trying to keep the music intense, and do the deathcore thing without sounding like the 800 other Job For A Cowboy rip-off bands that have just popped up, and we write the songs based on what we would like to hear. We don't stress too much about writing the heaviest breakdowns just so the kids at our shows can practice their kung-fu moves, and we like to explore different genres and experiment with every song that we write. Me: There's a few sporadic, almost spaced-out jazzy sections on a few of the songs. How does your writing process usually work and what do you guys really consider when you're choosing songs and writing parts? Davis: We are constantly writing songs. When we have written a few rough songs, we will go through them together and decide which parts we want to keep and which parts we want to throw out, and then we fine tune them until we have written one full song that we really like. So usually, out of every four or more songs that we write, we might get one full song that we are satisfied with. Me: So do one or two members of the band do the majority of the writing, or is it a whole group process? Davis: It's an entire group process. Me: Now, the new songs are on a split. How did that come about? Did you get together with the other band and decide to do a split together, or how exactly does that work? Davis: War From A Harlot's Mouth messaged us on Myspace.com and said they would really like to do a split cd with us. They're from Berlin, Germany and we really liked their sound, so we thought it would be a great idea to help get more exposure internationally for both of us. Twelve Gauge Records got word that we were looking to do a split with them and contacted us, and made us an offer we could not refuse. Me: Did you do any collaborating with them for the project, or did you both just work separately and submit your tracks to...whoever? Davis: War From A Harlot's Mouth had already recorded their material when they contacted us. So yeah, we basically just worked separately and then submitted them to Twelve Gauge. Me: When you recorded your half of the split, did you work with a producer, or did you pretty much do it yourselves? Davis: We produce all of our music. Me: Do you plan on going back into the studio to record a full length any time soon? Davis: Yes, we're releasing a full-length on Twelve Gauge in the spring of '07. Me: Do you want to shop around for bigger labels once that album comes out, or are you pretty satisfied with the way things are at Twelve Gauge? Davis: We're pretty satisfied with what Twelve Gauge is doing for us right now. I guess we will just see what happens after we release the full-length. Me: Do you plan on doing a national tour any time soon...or am I an idiot and the tour you're on is a national tour? Davis: The tour we're on right now with Impending Doom and Lynch Thy Beauty is just a West-Coast, but we plan on doing a full U.S. and possibly Canadian tour in October/November of this year. Me: Any idea who that will be with, or are you going to just go out on your own? Davis: As of right now we're probably doing this one on our own, but possibly one other band. We have a few ideas of who it might be, but nothing is set in stone. Me: Now, as far as the new record, is it written yet or still in the works, and what sort of things can we expect? Davis: We have a lot of ideas floating around and after we get back from this tour we are going to start writing. As for what to expect? 8 discs, 47 tracks, 3 bonus DVDs, and a pop-up book of our personal lives. Me: Well done. What about trading cards? And a major movie deal so you can make a better version of Spinal Tap? Davis: Actually, Pokemon hit us up and they want to makr our own characters. As for a major movie deal, we can't really discuss it at this time, but I will say that Will Ferrell will be playing Matt. Me: Oh shit, sen. How many shows are left on this tour? Davis: Six more dates left, we're not stoked on going home so soon. Me: Any possibility of you extending the tour? Davis: If it could be done, you bet your sweet ass! Touring is quite possibly the best part about being in a band. The sights, the drugs, the police confrontations, the nudity, the dollar menu, the sleeping in another stranger's house each night, and of course, the jerking off in a sock in the back seat of a car when the other band members are sleeping. Me: That sounds disturbingly like my family reunions. Davis: Word. Me: *ahem*. Right, now on to the introspective questions. What makes you guys want to play death metal? Obviously it's not the cash or the hoes. Davis: Who told you death metal doesn't get you cash or hoes?! It's one of the most challenging styles of music to play, we have been listening to it for quite a long time, and I feel, it is the perfect style for the kind of shit I like to scream about. Me: That's a very good reason, actually. Chris Barnes is the one who told me death metal doesn't get you cash or hoes. But to be fair, he did have a dollar bill hanging out of his nose at the time, so he might have been delusional. Anything else interesting in the world of Molotob Solution that the masses should know? Davis: We would like the world to know that our drummer, Matt, has seizures. Cassidy smokes way too much weed, and he looks like a bug. Nick's penis is entirely too big for his body. Robbie hates tin foil, so when you see him, chew on some tin foil. I have to take a poop right now. Me: Uhm...awesome. And any shoutouts you guys would like to throw out right now, or any shameless plugs? Davis: Nobody that we would like to thank (except Jihad at TG and Cricket for making it impossible for us to play our own fucking hometown) but a big fuck you goes out to: the Bilderberg group, the CFR, the Trilateral Commission, the Bush administration, the Federal Reserve, mainstream media, the Patriot Acts, the Homeland Security Plan, the Illuminati, all those who swear to protect the Constitution of the U.S. and don't, LoveJuice Labs, BA Booking, the Real Bar in Tempe, AZ, every promoter that has tried to get over on us, and a bunch of others that I can't remember at the current moment. Me: Can I throw one on there too? Davis: Of course! Me: and fuck Fred Durst and Limp Bizkit. Alright, NOW it's a 'fuck you' list. Davis: What you got against Fred? ...just kidding. Me: Well, thank you guys so much for doing this interview, and good luck with the rest of your tour. Davis: Thank you. Question everything, never surrender. Check out two songs from Molotov Solution's new split EP with War From A Harlot's Mouth on www.myspace.com/molotovsolution or visit their homepage at www.molotovsolution.tk |
Interviews 
