Enemy Soil

This Enemy Soil interview was conducted by Maciej Balojannis and appeared in Drop Out zine #2 in the Spring of 2006. It appears here in a highly edited form so that the Enemy Soil content is highlighted. Enjoy!

1. Do you remember your first band? When was it? Tell about it.

The first time I started jamming with people it was folks from high school, after we graduated. We didn't do anything at all except try to come up with a name and play a few covers. We never recorded or played outside the living room.

2. Let's talk about your bands. First Enemy Soil. Why did you start a band only as a duo using drum machine? Where there problems finding a drummer, bassist?

That was exactly the reason. We wanted to get something done so I bought a machine.

3. Almost every record of ES was recorded with a different line up. What was the reason of so many personal changes?

We had bad luck finding the right people, that is, people that wanted to put forth the effort or who didn't have personal problems that interfered. Either that, or I made unwise, to put it kindly, decisions about who I should ask to join the band or to ask back into the band after they quit.

4. Did you still have a contact with all ES members? What are they doing now?

Some of them. Brian and JR are in Pig Destroyer, Doshu has a local punk rock band, Adam was in PCP Roadblock but they broke up, Shane has the Addicted to Midgets webzine, TL has a local rock band, Omid has Battletorn and Outlaw Recordings, Jeff had Malady but they broke up and is working on another band, and Mason and Vaughn have Exploding Meth Lab. I think that's everyone I know something about.

5. ES finally manage to find a drummer? How did it happen?

If you want to be technical we had three total. One before we recorded our demo, but that didn't work out, and then Brian and I met because we worked at the same grocery store, and Adam was in a local band that Enemy Soil played with once and was recommended by friends.

6. Which period of ES existence you like better, the one with drum machine or a drummer?

Shows weren't very good with a machine so a live drummer is much preferable. But on the other hand machines are very dependable.

7. What's the story with Random Green?

Shit, now you're talking ancient history. It was a band that Brian and I had on the side when Enemy Soil was still doing the drum machine. We wrote a bunch of songs, just making them up on the spot, but we didn't have any lyrics. So Doshu, who was in Enemy Soil at the time along with Brian, had a journal in which he'd write stream of consciousness, random things, and we used those for the lyrics. Then we took those songs and played them in Enemy Soil instead. They're all on the "The Ruins Of Eden" 12" and CD.

8. Why did ES finally broke up?

After Adam quit I had had enough of it and wanted to try another band. That's pretty much it.

9. You were also involved with Blower. Was it only a side project with Mason or you wanted to keep it alive for longer time?

That was Mason's band basically, but I helped him out by programming the drums. Also, he didn't have enough songs for a split tape with Wadge that I released, so I gave him some Enemy Soil songs that never came out, and he wrote new lyrics for them and sang on them so they'd be like Blower songs.

10. Some members of ANb and Index were involved in this project too?

No, just Scott Hull, who produced it, and I think JR from Pig Destroyer did some extra vocals. I can't remember exactly.

11. Blower did a split CD with mighty Wadge from Canada, another band using drum machine. Did put out anything else?

That was my split tape that Regurgitated Semen re-released on CD. That was the only release Blower had.

12. Do you ever think about doing reunion of any your past bands? Do you even like reunion?

We already did an Enemy Soil reunion. It was a strange experience because I assembled members from different lineups for the reunion and some of them had never played together before. Like the drummer was playing Enemy Soil songs he didn't know and so on. We did it to play a gig at CBGB and an audio recording is going to come out on vinyl this year.

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