1. Please introduce Tastes Like Burning and give a brief history
of the band, including how you came up with the name:
Tastes Like Burning was basically born out of the breakup of P.O.S.,
the band Jamie (bass)
and I had previously played in, and our desire to move
away from crustier punk music
and more into a screamy melodic hardcore sort of vein. We met
Greg (guitar) at a Youth For Social Justice meeting and after
about twenty minutes decided we should all play together. For
quite a while we just fucked around with various people on different
instruments in Jamie's basement, and went through probably 3 or
four different drummers; all other friends, but none who were
really on the same page, musically. Then we hooked up with Jeremy,
who had previously played drums in xxxRESTRAINTxxx and xARMS OF
FEWx, and that basically started tlb as a real band, which must
have been....2000 perhaps? Probably fall 2000. That was our lineup
for a few months until Jamies' grind band CRAPULENCE was forced
to call it quits, at which point we quite unceremoniously ditched
Jeremy for Ryan Gallant, who had also played in MASTER DISGRACE
and OBSOLETE, way back in the day. This was what really solidified
tlb as a band I think, because Ryan was simply the most exciting,
dynamic, and brutal drummer any of us had ever played with. The
name TASTES LIKE BURNING came pretty much out of nowhere. I don't
think anyone really remembers the precise circumstances of its
adoption, or how we ever thought it was a good idea, but it's
a slight variation on a Ralph Wiggum quote from the Simpsons,
and we've had to live with it ever since.
2. How would you describe TLB to someone in the hardcore scene
that has yet to hear you? How would you describe the band to someone
outside of the hardcore scene?
Screamy, chaotic, occasionally melodic hardcore, or to someone
outside of the hc scene, a car wreck that you wouldn't mind listening
to if it weren't for all the horrible screaming.
3. What bands have influenced TLB?
W ell, obviously not many current bands, since TLB's been broken
up for years, but at the time, definitely FINGER PRINT and ANOMIE
from France, EMPLOYER EMPLOYEE, ORCHID, REVERSAL OF MAN, UNION
OF URANUS, YAPHET KOTTO, probably EXHUMED and GROINCHURN on Jamie
and Ryan's part, and definitely LED BY REGRET and EQUATION OF
STATE from Halifax.
4. What does your family think of the band?
I think it was always something that in principle, they were glad
to see me involved in, because my father's a musician, but mostly
my mother was alienated by the total incomprehensibility of the
screaming and was always concerned about the health of my vocal
cords, and the general wellbeing of my body, since TLB shows could
get pretty crazy and were always a vry physically taxing.
5. Is there anything specific you try to communicate through
your music?
At the time, TLB was really focused on being a -political-- band,
and i guess above all to communicate a sense of personal and collective
responsibility not only for how fucked up the world was, but also
how change was possible and attainable not only on a grand scale,
but on a personal level, in our lives and our most basic interactions
with other people. We addressed a lot of different issues, but
for me it was always about pushing the terms of debate one step
further. I felt like there had been a lot of bands (punk/hardcore/folk/whatever)
who had already talked about a lot of the same issues, and usually
said their piece better and more eloquently than I ever could,
so in order not to seem redundant, and hopefully to make more
of an impression, I was very into taking the issue into areas
that either weren't dealt with often enough, or were perhaps beyond
the comfort level of some people. Examples I guess would be instead
of just affirming women's rights to reproductive choice, we would
say "Not only must abortion be legal, but it must be universally
accessible and -free- so that women from all areas and economic
situations had access, otherwise it would remain a privilege for
those who could afford the procedure, those who could afford to
make the (often long, in much of Canada) trip to areas that offered
abortion services, those who could afford the time off to make
such trips." Simlarly, after a number of conversations with a
good friend I came to realize how integral (and often lacking
in radical pro-choice rhetoric) is the access to quality affordable
childcare services to any pro-choice position/policy that truly
believes in the viability of all possible choices. So this also
became part and parcel of how these ideas were put across. Another
important theme in the band for all of us was to go beyond the
usual "homophobia is bad, sexism is bad" and to try to get across
a thorough challenge to how our ideas of "normal" sexuality, and
"normal" sex and gender expression are formed, and how ideas of
what is "natural" is largely constructed by the culture we live
in, and not at all about pre-existing biological "facts." I'd
like to get into that more now, but clearly i'm rambling already,
so....well, you get the idea.
6. Do you think it's necessary for independent musicians and
bands to have a form of ethics?
Well I think -everybody- has a form of ethics, I mean, that's
just the basic set of ideas of right and wrong through which we
navigate our lives...but I guess in terms of political or so-called
"progressive" ethics...I don't think it's -necessary- per se,
but I definitely am more attracted to bands who have something
in mind besides getting signed or getting payed or being "Big."
Which doesn't always mean having political songs, but for me it's
always been important to bring as much of the DIY ethic to music
making, because as an industry it's such a fucked up world. And
yeah, I guess it bums me out a lot to see that sort of draining
out of hardcore, seeing less and less distinction between the
"independents" and major labels. I think the hardcore scene has
definitely become incredibly commercialized, and while -maybe-
I respect some of these bands less for buying into the industry
side of it, that's fine, because it's their lives, their music,
their choice. But what I see as really shitty about it is how
it's influenced the idea of hardcore fandom. I think what was
always really awesome about the punk/hardcore scenes was the sense
of accessibility in terms of going to shows and seeing other kids
up there playing, and feeling like "Hey, those are kids just like
me, I could totally do that, I should totally start a band" (granted,
there's always been a big gap in that accessibility for a lot
of girls and queer kids and people of colour who go to shows and
see so few kids onstage that they readily identify with, and so
can and have gotten the impression that punk/hardcore is a bit
of a straight white boy's club), and how through the DIY ethic
it was very empowering and more direct- kids helping other kids
and creating a scene themselves, as opposed to going to big concerts
with tons of bouncers and promotion and sponsorship and that sort
of bullshit, which I think is changing a lot. I think, especially
with a lot of these 3 or 4 band package tours which are becoming
more and more the norm, where the shows are not only more expensive
to go to, but more expensive to put on because of large guarantees,
but also, there's only room for one, if any, local band, so kids
who go to see these shows really don't get the same sense of "anyone
can do this," they get more of an impression that "to do this
I have to get big and get on a big label," or I have to get the
money and the contacts together to put on big shows like this
and be a "Promoter." which is really weird for me because it's
not at all the scene I came up in.
7. What's your take on bands that try to install moral and
political messages in their music, but scream all the lyrics so
that nobody can understand them? How do you overcome this?
This was always an issue of some contention between both my mother
and I, and many of my friends who would come to see TLB who weren't
necessarily into hardcore music...and I definitely understand
the critique, but I think as a question it overlooks the aesthetic
dimension of the screaming, and how it works with the music. I
always screamed because that's what I wanted to do, that's what
I wanted the band to sound like, and in large part that's the
sort of music that really got it's teeth into me, that I was really
passionate about. Basically what it comes down to is that for
us at least, the band wasn't -just- about "the message," it was
also about music, and catharsis, and having fun, and just rocking
the fuck out, about creating music that we would want to listen
to. If it was entirely about the politics and the music was merely
a vessel than we would have been a folk band, or spoken word or
something. Not that any of that -solves- the problem of communication
and accessibility, but it's where we were coming from. And I was
definitely conflicted about that, which is why we often had lyric
sheets that we passed out at shows, and why I regularly went on
extended explanatory tirades between songs, as a way of getting
the message out, but still expressing ourselves in the terms we
preferred. So in our case, despite the screaming, I don't think
there's anyone who saw one of our shows and -didn't- get the message,
unless they just weren't listening at all, and I don't think singing
comprehensibly would have changed that.
8. Is/was it easy for you to play infront of an audience?
I never found it that hard to be onstage, although I was always
concerned about the performer-audience dynamic, and didn't like
feeling like we were any more important because we had the lights
on us..which was why we always preferred smaller shows where there
was little or no stage (basements, living rooms, etc) and as little
of a line between the band and the audience as possible. big stages
and barriers and stuff always freaked me out, but it was less
about stage fright than it was about wanting to be on the same
footing as the kids we were playing for, and hopefully for them
to feel more personally involved in what was going on as well.
9. Interesting tour/road stories?
There was this time when Mike got trapped inside the ass of this
30 ft tall inflatable gorilla in a parking lot in lockport, NY,
but really that summary is funnier than the story. Also, he got
in a boxing match in another parking lot with one of the guys
from Pg99. The fight was over a soccer ball, and he totally lost.
10. Who would you consider your current contemporaries in hardcore?
I wouldn't even know, really...I don't feel like I listen to that
much music in the same vein as what we were playing then...or,
for that matter, I don't think that there's much of what we were
playing then being played now. In terms of bands though who I
think have a similar ethic and attitude toward the music and the
politics and scene in general, but are also WAY better than we
ever were, I'd definitely name BURIED INSIDE from Ottawa, GREYSKULL
from Tacoma, and BURIAL YEAR from San Francisco.
11. What made you want to be in a band of your own?
At the time I think I had a lot to say, in terms of wanting to
create a political presence in the hardcore scene, and I'd been
involved in the scene for a long time, and a lot of my friends
were in bands, so it just seemed like a natural progression that
I'd get involved myself.
12. A favourite vegan recipe:
My current favorite, although not at all suitable for non-wheat-eaters,
is something which for the sake of naming i'd call French Toast
Brutality. It's basically just french toast with black bean stir-fry
on top..but I don't know really how to explain it in recipe form...umm.
You will need:
-as many pieces of bread as you plan on eating french toast
-1 or 2 cups soy milk
-a few tbsps (whole wheat? maybe it works with spelt too?) flour
-2tbsps nutritional yeast
-dash of cinnamon (to taste)
-1/2 tsp vanilla
-1 cup black beans
-1 small onion
-5 cloves garlic
-1 small carrot, grated
-some spinach
-herbs/spices to taste (I recommend small amounts of cumin and
turmeric, salt & pepper, maybe some basil, and fresh coriander
if you've got it, also a decent hit of cayenne powder or crushed
chilis for hotness)
13. So basically you take put the soy milk in a bowl and whip
into it as much flour and nutritional yeast as it takes to make
it start thickening up a bit, then add the cinnamon and vanilla.
In a pan on the stove you should be frying up the onion, cut fairly
small, and the carrot, in light oil, maybe with a little salt.
After a minute or so add the diced/minced garlic, then once the
onions are just starting to turn translucent add the black beans
and spinach (chopped), and all those herbs to taste, and keep
cooking that shit at a medium heat until the beans start to split
apart and the spinach is cooked and it starts looking like a total
mess. At any time during the process you can have a skillet or
good flat pan heated up fairly high with some melted margarine
on it. Take the slices of bread and dip them in the soy milk stuff,
just enough to coat both sides, and slap them on the skillet.
Then you cook them shits, throw them on a plate, and top them
with the black bean stuff. To drive it home I usually put syrup
on top of the black beans, and more than likely some sriracha
chili sauce, but I like that shit spicy. Personally I feel the
syrup helps achor the meal in its French toast breakfast roots,
but it might not be to everyone's taste. This shit is extra good
with a side of steamed greens, healthier too. I recommend kale
or maybe chard, lightly steamed with some lemon juice and a little
salt or margarine on top, or if you have it, dulse flakes give
'em a nice briney flavour. Anyway, sorry, if it wasn't obvious,
I don't really cook from recipes usually.
14. How can kids contact you?
I don't think there's anything left to contact, but my email is
gnarwulf@gmail.com
