Interview
with Paineater 2014
By
Bradley Smith
Hells
to one of the most cult bands from the Florida death
metal underground. I
have known you guys
to a degree for quite some time and even to me the history of
Paineater's
formation is still somewhat of a mystery.
Can you give me some details regarding how you guys came
together and
what were some of the goals you had with, and influences on Paineater?
Mark: I had been
friends with Bob since the very early 80’s and we were in a hardcore
band
together named Man In The Boat that started around 1987 and it had a
sexploitation/gore theme to the lyrics. We had fun with the band but
wanted to
take it in a more metal/grindcore/industrial direction and that was not
what
Man In The Boat were all about so we transitioned into a new band
called
Paineater which started out as a four piece band. We started out faster
with
more of a grindcore influence, but the members of the band would not
tune down
enough to get the sound we were looking for. We changed the lineup a
bit and
temporarily changed the name of the band to Torso. Dig from Earache
Records
stopped by the radiator shop that we practiced at to hear the band back
then.
Bob and another friend of ours Ray won a Halloween costume contest
together and
Bob took his $500 cash prize and bought a drum machine. We stripped the
band
down to a two piece and crafted our sound and renamed the new lineup
Paineater
again. My goal with Paineater was to turn hatred into sound. Our
influences for
Paineater was the violence that we were always involved in throughout
the
streets of Tampa and Ybor City, the disturbing exploitation and gore
films that
we were always watching, and the extreme metal and hardcore shows that
we were
always attending.
Bob:
Me and Mark were in Man in the Boat together and we wanted to move in a
metal
direction. We
formed Paineater as a full
band, but we couldn't find dedicated members. I won a costume contest
and
bought a drum machine with the money. We both really liked Big Black
and
decided to go at it as a two piece.
Paineater was
quite different than pretty much any band back in the late 80s/early
90s in
that you consisted of a Drum machine and a bass guitar as your only
instrumentation. Why
did you choose to
only use a bass and drum machine?
It was
a big risk don't you think? I
always
found that the underground was really narrow minded back in that period. So how was Paineater
viewed by your peers?
Mark: After
stripping that band down to a two piece it made things easier for
creating
music so we just figured we would take it as far as we could but always
had a
vision to add more depth to our style when needed such as some female
vocals,
violins, more electronics and experimentation in general as long as we
kept the
core of the sound intact without morphing into a completely different
band. We
never saw it as a risk because we never thought we were going to turn
out to be
famous rock stars. Many of the early zines were confused by the sound
but felt
strangely attracted to it and we got some great reviews but there were
some
that were not ready for what we were doing. We just never gave a shit
about
what anybody thought about us.
Bob:
Many people hated us, especially the traditional heavy metal types. We
were
really into creating havoc so we could gain fans or get into fights. We
were
fine with it going either way at the time.
One thing that
always impressed me was Paineater's stage show.
Mark's animated movements and guttural vocals were so
maniacal and fit
perfectly within the context of the music.
Plus Bob was such a ghoul on bass.
Tell me about how it felt up on that stage. Also tell me about the
steady stream of
underground horror violence that played during that show at the Star
Club in
Ybor.
Mark: The violence
of the music would feed the crowd and the tension would build up,
sometimes
erupting into fights. Whether we were playing in front of 25 people or
250 I
would put on the same show with the same intensity because I was driven
by the
music. I never understood how bands could be up on stage playing this
intense
music and standing there like statues. I think too many of these types
of
people are worried that the audience might notice a mistake they would
make
while playing, which is so lame because they are missing the whole
point of a
live show.
Bob:
It was intended to be chaos and it usually felt that way. If it wasn't
chaotic
then the show would really suck. Matt (Mark’s Brother) was into video
trading
so we would splice together clips to play during the shows.
And while we are
on the topic of horror movies, what do you think were some of the most
important horror movies from the Paineater era?
I figure Nekromantik was probably one of them. And what do you look for
in a horror movie
that makes it "good?"
Mark: Yes,
Nekromantik, Cannibal Holocaust, Man Behind The Sun, Salo 120 Days Of
Sodom, In
A Glass Cage, and many of the Herschell Gordon Lewis films like 2000
Maniacs to
name a few. To be a great film it really has to draw you in and leave
you
feeling disturbed and unsettled. There should always be a feeling of
darkness
and danger and you should never feel safe or hopeful.
Bob:
I figure Nekromantik was probably one of them. And what do you look for
in a
horror movie that makes it “good?” (This would be Mark’s domain)
You
just released
a pretty substantial career retrospective for Paineater which includes
a book
and an LP, called Abomination Trials.
Can you tell me what all is involved in this release and
how did it come
about? What
material is featured on the
LP? Why did you
choose now to release
it? Wasn't this
release originally supposed
to come out on Necroharmonic Records?
Mark: Necroharmonic
has most of our recordings and had the Paineater CD discography listed
as coming
soon on the website but Roy has just not been as active with the label
recently. We had been getting asked by some underground fans if we were
ever
going to release the early material on vinyl. Since we had never put
out a full
length recording with our earlier material on it we figured that after
getting
these requests from the underground that we would have to put it out
ourselves.
It was a fan funded project where we had to reach $2,500 in 40 days to
get the
album funded. We were impressed with the diehard fans from around the
world
that made their donations toward the project and made us hit the goal
and got
the project funded. The Paineater -Abomination Trials colored vinyl
album and
book was a true underground project and we thank everyone involved,
including
our friend James Murphy who did a great job mastering the album
considering the
low fidelity recordings that he had to work with.
Bob:
I started an Indiegogo campaign last year and we really pushed to get
it
funded, that took tons of work. We found the artist (Brandon Geurts) to
do the
cover and he agreed. I did all the layout. We initially tried to get
the music
pressed without mastering but, it sent the cutting machine into a
frenzy. We
got James Murphy to do the mastering and it came out really well but it
delayed
the release about a month. It was a ton of work making those old
cassettes work
for vinyl. The record contains both of the demos and 4 rehearsal songs
with Joe
Kiser on guitar. We wanted to feature one of each song we had finished
at the
time. Yes, we
talked to Roy from
Necroharmonik off and on for about twenty years with a bunch of
different ideas
but it never came to fruition.
Paineater
released another album in the not too distant past called Creator
Preserver
Destroyer. Can you
expound upon it a
bit? How did it
relate to Paineater's
early material and how did it show growth and expansion?
Mark: Bob was
living in Colorado at the time and sent me all of the new recordings
that he
had completed just two weeks before I was going to take a vacation with
the
family to Colorado to stay with him. I had been working on new lyrics
and just
talked them out over the new recordings just to get the timing down.
Every
evening after we returned from adventuring Colorado we would go down
into the
basement and record my vocals. All of the recordings were done without
ever
practicing together which made it fun doing the recordings in an
improvisational style. It gave the recordings a raw and loose sound. If
anyone
wants to release a vinyl version of Creator Preserver Destroyer we
would just
need to get it mastered. I would want to use James Murphy again. The
cover and
layout is already complete.
Bob:
Yes we recorded it in 2009. It had four old songs reworked and 5 new
songs. I
played all the music on this release. I’m not sure if it did show
growth or
expansion, you would have to be the judge of that. It is available on a
CD with
all the tracks from the LP. http://Kunaki.com/Sales.asp?PID=PX00ZF7FOA
What
was it like
growing up in Tampa during the heyday of death metal?
How did it shape your views on it extreme
music? What bands
do you feel were the
most special and represented the scene the best?
Mark: I feel very
fortunate having grown up in the Brandon/Tampa area and got to see such
a great
music scene evolve. I got to see Mantas at their first show in Tampa
opening
for Nasty Savage while they were in the process of changing their name
to
Death. Their music crushed me!!! Most people were not ready for their
version
of metal at that time but I met them after their show and became
friends
talking about all of the metal bands that we were into. I knew the guys
from
Obituary and saw them play their first show in a parking lot of a music
store
in Brandon when they were called Executioner. I met Morbid Angel
outside of a
show of the Canadian hardcore band D.O.A. They had just recorded their
first
demo and played it for me and I could not believe how amazing it was.
Massacre
were originally a thrash metal band and I saw Kam working at a
convenience
store in Brandon not knowing that he had just moved there from Orlando.
I told
my friend Bill Andrews that they should get Kam in the band. Kam joined
Massacre and got Rick to move to Brandon with him and join the band as
well. I
got to see one of the greatest metal singers, Jon Oliva, back in the
days when
they were still called Avatar. I had seen Atheist when they were called
R.A.V.A.G.E., and saw Amon before they were called Deicide. Those were
just a
few great moments of the metal scene, but Tampa also had a great
hardcore scene
in the early days as well. As to how it shaped my views on extreme
music is
that it showed me how much originality that spewed forth from the music
of
Tampa/Brandon bands. After the first wave of bands that influenced
Death Metal
and Black Metal, bands like Motorhead, Venom, Slayer, Hellhammer,
Sodom,
Destruction, Kreator, Bathory, Celtic Frost you got the second wave of
bands. This
is when Death Metal and Grindcore were born. Some of the most
influential
bands, excluding Repulsion, came from Tampa and Brandon (the other half
of the
death metal birthplace) Florida. Bands like Morbid Angel, Death,
Obituary,
Massacre, who all came from the same area but each band having their
own unique
sound and style and influenced metal bands around the world. It is
almost
impossible to name any early Death Metal bands (other than
Paineater-haha) that
do not have obvious influences from these four bands. Back then these
people
were not musicians or considered as such. They were fans of extreme
metal and
they got together and created their noise. They were not composing
musical
compositions by writing sheet music. They were not trying to write
avant –garde
jazz fusion by noodling around on their instruments and writing songs
with the
most time changes they could fit into every song. They were fans of
metal
filled with teen angst and aggression who were passionately playing
their noisy
version of metal for anyone who would listen and did not give a goddamn
what
people thought about them.
Bob:
It all happened at the same time as us starting Paineater. It was
really cool,
we got recognition mostly because we were from Tampa and we did things
completely different from the other bands. Had the trend held on
longer, we
probably would've had a record out at the time that Obituary, Morbid
Angel,
Massacre, Death, Nocturnus, and all the most well known bands at the
time did.
I
know every scene
probably has their own important landmarks within their locality. What were the important
ones in your opinion
for Tampa? I know
several of them for me
were The Ritz Theater and Cuban Club in Ybor, Jannus Landings in St.
Pete and
Ace's Records and Alternative Records.
What made them so special to you?
Mark: The Star
Club, The Rainbow Club, Sunset Club, Volley Club, Lonesome Coyote,
Masquerade, and
Children’s Haven are also a few of the memorable clubs in the area.
These clubs
are special to me because I have seen so many great concerts at these
venues
and played at most all of them. Hanging out backstage and raising hell
with so
many bands. So many great times with friends filled with laughter as
well as
many memorable fights. Sneaking into the bigger shows was a fun
challenge in
those days. I remember going to the top floor of the Cuban Club with a
few
friends and running through a business meeting full of men in suits and
climbing out the window in front of them and then quickly descending
down the
fire escape ladder into the courtyard below where the show was about to
take
place and then fading into the crowd.
Bob:
Those were the places that the death metal scene was happening. Ybor
City was
great because that scene ruled the area and nothing else was really
going on
down there.
Why did
Paineater disband and why did you move away from Tampa?
Do you still look back on those days with a
sense of nostalgia? What
are a couple of
your most treasured memories from that period in relation to Paineater
and the
Tampa scene?
Mark: With
Paineater we reached our limit with the electronic equipment that we
had at the
time. We had gotten sounds out of the equipment that should not have
even been
possible so we decided that before we program any new music that we
need to
hold off and buy the new equipment that we would need to further expand
our
sound. We put Paineater on a temporary hiatus back in 1992 but the band
dissolved before we got what we needed to start the next chapter of our
band. It
was not until 2009 that we got back together to record again. My wife
and I had
visited Colorado for our Honeymoon back in 1999 in Breckenridge and
thought it
was such a beautiful state. We thought it would be a great place to
move one
day. After having two kids while I was still living in Florida there
was some
Latin gang tag graffiti that got painted on the fence entranceway of
our
neighborhood and I knew at that moment that it was time to move out. In
Brandon
that was never an issue in the 1980’s until you went out to the city of
Tampa
or Ybor City where we beat the shit out of many gangbangers keeping the
brick-covered
streets red with their blood from street fights.
Bob:
The scene stated to die down and we were getting bored with it. I moved
away
because I grew tired of Florida and wanted to change my environment.
That time
was fun but everything changed at that time and I wanted to move on.
What do you have
going on these days? Where
do you live
now and are you still in touch with the extreme music scene? Any other plans regarding
Paineater that we
can expect?
Mark: I still have
the same hobbies that I have had in the past such as going to concerts,
playing
pinball and video games, hiking, camping, target shooting, swimming,
bike
riding, and watching movies. I have just added a few new ones to the
list after
living in Colorado such as snowshoeing, skiing, and white water rafting
but I
just share these things with my kids now. I live in a small town about
30
minutes south of Denver called Castle Rock. We have played 2 Paineater
shows after
living here over 3 and a half years. I am always searching for new
extreme
bands that interest me as well as always searching out early heavy
bands from
the 60’s and 70’s that I missed the first time around. Bands in the
vein of
Dust, Bang, Sir Lord Baltimore, Gun, and Coven. I also listen to 70’s
glam,
outlaw country and country and western, psych, NWOBHM, and many styles
in
between. I do not like to be limited to music by labels or genres that
are put
upon them. Nothing is in the works right now with Paineater but I would
like to
do some more recordings in the future.
Bob:
We both live in the South Denver metro area. We both have families. I
still
keep up with current music. Some recent faves are Pallbearer, Wounded
Kings,
VHOL, Pinkish Black... No plans at the moment for Paineater or other
projects.
Being as you
guys were into a lot of the old Japanese heroes like Godzilla and
Shogun
Warriors and so forth, what are your thoughts on the upcoming Godzilla
movie? Do you still follow any of the
more recent Japanese Godzilla movies?
What about a movie like Pacific Rim that draws upon all those old giant
monster movies and updates the concept?
What are some underrated movies/characters that we should really
acquaint ourselves with? Destroy All
Monsters!
Mark: The new
Godzilla directed by Gareth Edwards turned out fantastic and went
beyond my
expectations for an American Godzilla after seeing the 1998 disgrace
that
featured Matthew Broderick. The 2014 Godzilla is a must see in IMAX 3D.
I have
seen every Godzilla movie. I thought they did a great job with Pacific
Rim. As
far as early giant monster (daikaiju) movies go, one of my all time
favorites
is War Of The Gargantuas. Some other great daikaiju characters are
Gamera,
Mechanikong, Gappa, Varan, Gorgo, Dogora, Daimaijin, Yongary, and all
of the
TOHO monsters such as Mantango. One of the first Paineater songs was
entitled
When I Die Bury Me On Monster Island.
Bob:
Mark saw the new movie and liked it, I rarely go to movies.
Thanks again, to
the cult and mighty Paineater for the interview! I'll leave
any final words to you, especially
those about becoming a human TAXIDERMIST!
Mark: Thanks Brad
for your massive support and getting behind the band during the album
campaign
and doing this interview with Paineater!!! You are a true fan of
extreme music
that has stood the test of time.
Bob:
Buy at least five copies of the record. Me and Bradley have many copies
to get
rid of!
If you are interested in purchasing the Paineater demos LP, please contact me at nocturnalcult2001@yahoo.com
They are currently priced at $15 postage paid in the USA.
Worldwide customers contact me and I will obtain the postal rates
for a package to your country.