Drown Yourself In The Doomed Drones

Napalm Dave is the man behind WTTA,a drone/doom band that has already got a impressive catalog of recordings under their belt.Dave is a busy man as you should be able to tell by this interview.We talk about WTTA,Drone,Metal and the scene kids that are currently ruining the music scene we grew up with and love.This is a in-depth interview and is a big read but one i feel everyone needs to read.Check it out....

1.Hey Bro,how things been going your world,i hear you are moving house ?

Things have been great, I've been working on the second Somber Gravity full length and the debut WTTA album is near completion, All of the vocals are currently being done, 5 vocalists total on this album, As for my move yes and its been slow and miserable, I dont get my keys til September 11th and i cant start moving in til Sept 12, They have been jerking me around for almost 2 months, But its finally down to a month

2.Can you give the readers a background of your musical history,previous bands and instruments you play or have played ?

Well my dad has been in our local metal scene since before i was born, He was a bouncer (6'6 300 pounds) at the cains ballroom from 87 to 03, And he was a part time promotor there as well so i got to see pretty much any band that played there for free, And got to help with load in's and load outs, So I've delt with the inner workings since i was a kid, Plus my dad had several bands while i was growing up and they always played at my house, I learned to play the drums when i was 11, I had tallicas justice album in my walk man and just played along to it until i learned the whole album, Now i can say that lars is a sh.t drummer,lol, I surpassed his style long ago and came into my own, I started my first band when i was 13, It was called Reality Collapsed, It was a Saint Vitus and Black Flag clone, Although we leaned more towards the flag side, This band lasted from 93 to 98, We recorded a handful of garage recorded demos, I also started making drone around 94, Recorded a bunch of weird feedback and the like on my dads recording equipment, And i was making weird ambient things with his synth, I made around 30 tapes worth of random drone and ambient from 94 to 04, My main focus was on bass created drone from 98 on, Ive had the same bass since 99 which is a 4 string ibanaz, before that i had a cheap off brand 4 string that i used for my drones along with my dads guitars, A fender i believe and a les paul, Dont know much about guitars personally, Just how to create feedback,lol, My main passion is bass and drums, Although i had to give up drums in 2005 due to my asthma getting worse, I just bought a new 4 string ibanaz, So i use those 2 basses and a killer studio set up on my computer, I use Reason 4, Acid pro 6, Adobe audition 3.0 to get most of my sound, My bass lines are all recorded in my dads studio and then i multi track them into everything else in Audition, My dad has a full real time studio and a full Pro Tools set up, So all live sounds are recorded there, But i do all of my ambient music with my computer, WTTA just got a new guitarist and he uses a les paul i believe, You will hear some of the new material with E on the next DMA sampler, Its an exlusive DMA track titled fat guy in a little coat, 50 dollars to the first person who can identifiy the title,lol...

3.How did you arrive at this point for playing Drone ?

What inspired you to head in that direction ? As i stated earlier i started making bass driven drones around 94 out of bordem, but before that i was making drones with a cheap crap bass and my dads guitars, but i didnt really know what i was making at the time, I had heard Earth and knew thats what i wanted to do, And in 98 i got serious about it, I would soon get a new bass and i got a new amp and made some of the most heavy low end drones, They killed, And to this day i preffer bass drones over guitar, My inspiration was Earth and Sunn when i decided to get serious about drone, Sunn blew my mind and Earth just goes without saying, I would get ripped and plug my bass in, I would point my amp right at my face, Sit in my chair and turn the volume and bass all the way up and proceed to blow my brains out,lol It was an amazing feeling and it made me truly fall in love with drone

4.What makes a good Drone song in your opinion ?

In my opinion bass makes a good drone track, Im all for guitar in drone, Hell i just got a guitarist for WTTA to add depth but i think the ultra deep vibrations can only be made with bass, I take pretty much the same aproach as Sunn but with bass, Anyways to me a good drone track is obviously over 10 minutes long, And its got to be low end, I cant stand extreme feedback drone, its annoying, low end and busy as hell, I love ambient music so a good drone track should have a good ambient intro and outro, And you should be able to see the sound, Thats what i go for in WTTA visual soundwaves, Just put on a wtta track and close your eyes, Zone out the world, Although it helps if your stoned, I have a huge amount of respect for Ox as well, I love the way he makes his drone, Or space drone as he calls it, WTTA and Ox will be doing a split next year

5.If you were working in advertising,how would you sell Drone to people.Its not the most accessible style of music ?

Well i wouldnt, personally i like drone because its not saturated with scene kids, I hate scene kids, I hate gender confused boy/girls with comb overs who wear their sisters pants, And they are slowly poisoning everything that meant anything to us growing up, And this isnt ego talking but my music speaks for itself brother, Almost everyone who listens to wtta found me, I look at it this way, I make the music for myself that way im not putting out shite music i wouldnt listen to, And if people dig what im doing then that is a sweet bonus...Drone is for locals only, No outsiders...Scene kids not allowed

6.Do you ever get influenced by 70's bands ?I have always thought that Hawkwind,Pink Floyd,King Crimson and of course Tangerine Dream did some of the earliest Drone in the Rock Music world.There is also some real old classical pieces of Music that are very Drone like !

Yes, All of the above bands were huge in my house, Along with Sabbath, Blue Cheer, Vitus, etc, My dad was a hippy so i got to listen to alot of the obscure non radio bands, In fact God in my house growing up was frank zappa, And i totally agree bro, The above bands with created drone and ambient, And all of the above are huge influences on my music, Along with Sunn and Earth

7.You have done numerous recordings,do you want to tell us about some or all of those ?

Um, Where to start,lol I have recordings from my doom band back in the 90's, 5 or more crappy garage demos, but i doubt they will ever see the light of day, I have as i said earlier 30 or more tapes of random drones and ambient pieces ive made since 94, And alot of random weirdo noise crap, As for official releases i had a new version of Reality Collapsed from 05 to 07, 5 volumes of music released with that, And i had another project called Insomnia Mind Collapse that i released several things with, Both of those projects had drone elements and doom elements all mixed with ambient, Soundscapes and wierdo noise, Then i had In Emptiness which was a straight drone project, I made 2 demo tracks, Only one of which ever got released and then killed that project off, Brought it back in early 07 and started working on new material, Got a demo done before changing the name to Within The Torn Apart, which is my current band, And yes for those who noticed Napalm Dave and the band name Within The Torn Apart it is heavily influenced by Napalm Deaths Inside The Torn Apart, And all of the amazing bands tied into ND, Napalm death was my first true underground love and i remain a huge fan to this day, I have released one unofficial demo, And e.p and the full length is being worked on right now, Theres one track that can be found on the 3rd DMA comp i believe, And 2 more on the next DMA comp, I just got as i said earlier a new guitarist whom is the owner of EEE records, He also has 2 music projects of his own, Oaks Of Bethel and Njiqahdda, Then ive got Elan who is the drummer, He has 3 projects, Elan, Old Forgotten Lands and Asgath, Then we have Mikey Erasmus as vocalsist, He is in Erasmus, Anyways the debut will have all of the above on it accept E, He will be on the second album, As for Somber Gravity i have one full length and a few e.ps, Im working on the second full length, I also have cbfdib which is in the vein of Arglye Park and Circle Of Dust, then there is 22:18 which will be a more industrial version of cbf, And i think thats about it, You can find all of my music at the link below

http://napalmdrones.niceboard.net/forum.htm

8.Lets talk about Metal for a moment.What is the main downside to the Metal scene,there always seems to be too much of a focus on trends,fashions and cliches to me !

All of the above, I have never been part of a trend, As anselmo said it once before you can find todays metal scene on sale at the f..king dollar store, Its worthless bro, The only true underground anymore is doom, drone and ambient music, Scene kids take what we grew up on and ruin it, I was in wal mart not to long ago and i saw this he/she comb over kid with a Burzum shirt tucked into his sisters pants with a bullet belt on, This made me sick to my stomach, Dude i was listenting to burzum before he got locked up, And heres this retarded kid over almost 20 years later wearing this shirt, I walked up to him and asked him what his favorite album was by Burzum and he could not even name one, And he proceeded to tell me that some of the members of Burzum were in jail, Some of the members? The last time i checked Burzum was Varg and thats it, Samoth did the bass lines on Aske but was never and official memebr, Anyways another time i was at work, I had on a Down hat, I got in an elevator and this group of kids got in as well and this girl asked me if the Down stood for system of a down, Are you joking i said, lol, Man its sad, these kids dont know anything about real music...

9.I have always thought Doom to be the true essence of Metal.One of the only styles of Metal not bogged down by having to wear certain clothes and not held back by lyrical cliches.Do you agree ?

100% brother, I really cant see the trend crowd getting into doom, It takes brain power to comprehend doom, And most of these scene kids, Well id safely say all of them lack the depth to understand where doom is coming from

10.How do you see the future of WTTA in terms of recordings ?
Would you consider getting involved with a biggish independent label if that opportunity was handed to you ?

No i would not, I self release and self promote, The only reason im releasing with Sullen records is to get my music heard by a larger crowd, Now i will be releasing with EEE records in the future but they are extremely underground, I also have spoken to Black Winter Recordings and he expressed interest, The biggest i would consider signing to is Southern Lord, As for recordings i do everything on my own, I produce, Mix, Master and promote WTTA by myself, And i woudlnt have it any other way, Drone is not meant to sound pretty,lol Its meant to kill your head

11.What is your opinion the Metal Underground Vs The Mainstream ? They seem worlds apart !

I have never ever been any where near being a part of the mainstream, Its toxic and full of morons and trends, A dime a dozen scene kids who dont know anything about real music, As for whats left of the underground it has been my home since i was a kid and always will be, I would take a small group of a 100 loyal underground fans over a million of the american idol synthetic poser crowd anyday, They are worth nothing and add nothing to the scene, They pollute it

12.You are from Oklahoma which has a pretty solid scene with great bands like Self Inflicted.Have you met many people around there into Drone Music ?

Yes alot of them actually, WTTA will be a live band next year, And it will be made up of cats from this scene, Me on bass, A really good friend of mine on bass whom is a girl and she kills, First girl in a drone band to my knowledge (Before anyone jumps on me if i am wrong it plainly says to my knowledge, So sorry in advance to any female droners out there if there is any) And then another friend of mine on bass, Then one guitar player and a drummer, All made up of locals, The triple bass assault will absolutely kill, The Studio version of wtta will be E, Mikey and Elan though, I have no intentions of recording the live wtta, Maybe one or 2 boots over time, Dont know yet, As for Self Inflicted Keith is a friend of mine, solid cat, We have a killer scene here

13.Onto Songwriting,have you got a mindset you have to get into to create a Drone piece ?

Not really, Im depressed 90% of the time due to manic depression so im already there bro,lol, I just need quiet and a few moments to get psyched and then it just comes out natural, The only thing i hate is recording vocals, Its tedious, But other than that its all pretty touch and go

14.So what is long term ambitions with WTTA ? How far would you like to see things progress ?

Dont really have any, My hopes is to make some small mark on the drone scene, Release an album or 3 and hopefully be remebered 10 years down the road, I would never be delusional enough to compair my band to Sunn o))) but to get where they are would be awesome, Sunn is the reason i make drone

15.You are also involved in other great things like the Within The Doomed Drones and the Record Label.Can you tell us about those ?

Well Within The Doomed Drones is just a forum i made to get away from the more trendy boards, As far as i know its the first drone and ambient board, By the way i would like to say thanks for all your help on the board bro, It is also the home of SDS records also known as Serene Dead Space records, This label is to release my music, The only outside bands on my label are in some way or another tied into one of my projects, In fact one band is Zayin which is Fires project, He is also in Elgibbor and Firethrone, He does session vox for WTTA, And then there is Eclipsing Black which does splits with somber gravity, Then there is Bathyscaphe which is a sweet drone project done by Mikey Erasmus who is WTTA's lead vocalist, And then there is JOB who is another awesome drone band and several future splits with WTTA are planned with him, So thats about it, If i may steal a line from Burtal Existence Radio- Its made by the underground, For the underground

16.OK here you can speak your mind about anything,go for it !!!


Ok bear with me, This next part is going to be long winded, Its 12 points that i need everyone to know who listens to the music i make, This was takin out of a blog on the WTTA page and though it does repeat a few things i stated above for the most part it is a huge part of what WTTA stands for and i feel it is relavent here so i added it to the end of this interview, here we go

1.First and foremost i am a follower of God, If this bothers you then sorry, the reason i tell you this is sadly some people cant just listen without taking offence to this, im not trying to spread propaganda or turn you into a christian if your not, Since i dont follow organized religion i dont feel the need to bother anyone with my opinions, I'm not a preacher, But i do use my music as a way to get God's word out to people whom wouldnt hear it any other way, This i feel is my conviction, I just want to get a side of drone out that isnt very common, And prove that ones religious beliefs dont affect or infect the spirit of the music, This is all about supporting the underground and supporting free thought, Not about flaming, Hassle or bullsh-t, I'm not doing this to make enemies and i dont have time for close minded fools....So if you dont like my music then please make that choice based on my music, Not on me

2., I will say this, drone gets a lot of flack for not being traditional music, so i say this to you, I dont care if you love or hate drone, Its what i do, So as a sign of respect and common kindness please dont bother me about how drone is not music, Any sound can be made into music, What it all boils down to is do you lack imagination? As much as i dislike some music i still give it all a chance, Music is one of the last form's of free expression

3.Close mindedness is a form of sheep mentality, Keep that in mind before you throw random hate, I've never been able to understand people whom for no reason other than to spread pure hatred harrass and flame people, Now i used to do this when i was younger but i have since grown up, And the sad thing is most of these flamers are adults, Showing their childlike mentality, Its pretty pathetic when a 15 year old trend kid who dosnt know crap about old school music has more respect than an old school cat whos been around for a long time, I respect everyone no matter what, So i expect the same, I was raised in a scene back when tape trading was the way, Before the net, Before social networks, Before core music, Back in the day when the pen pals section in Metal Edge and Metal Maniacs was Myspace, I remember the first time i heard D.R.I some friend i met through metal maniacs sent it to me from new york in 91, Now things like that dont matter anymore, Now its so easy to find that same D.R.I boot on any one of these torrent sites, Nothing is the same anymore and its sad, But i guess progress is our destiny, Anyways my point is show respect and get respect, Its a simple lesson any decent parent teaches their kids, One thing that has helped cement in my mind that the old school is officially dead happened one day while me and my best friend Gina were a Vintage Stock, I asked the girl behind the counter to come here, She was emo'd out, Had on a black dahlia murder shirt, So shes got the act down pat, I asked her do you have anything by Faith No More, And you wont believe this, She asked me if FNM was anime, This supposed metal head didnt know who faith no more was, piss off, this generation is hopeless

4.One thing that has begun to really irritate me are these trend scene kids with their core music, Their girl pants, Fake bullet belts and comb overs, I actually saw one of these kids wearing a Buzum shirt at wal mart the other day, What the hell do these kids know about Varg, It makes me sick, I was listening to Burzum back in 92 before he was a famous firgurehead, Back when the underground was just that, And not some playground for gender confused kids with no lives, They latch on to all these things that actually meant something to us growing up and they trivialize it into oblivion, I've had several of these scene anal stain's run their mouths talking about how ambient and drone isnt real music and how their music is better because they actually play instruments, Let me clue you in on a few things, First i was raised around music, My father has been in many bands through the years, He also was a part time promoter and full time bouncer at the ains ballroon from 87 to 2003, So i got to help with load outs and stage set ups, And gear sets ups all throughout my teen years and got to hang out with alot of my favorite bands, Including but not limited to, Pantera, Metallica, Megadeth, Suicidal Tendencies, Type O Negative, Malevolent Creation, Acid Bath, Deadboy And The Elephent Men, Agents Of Oblivion, Prong, My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult, Faith No More (2 times with Big Jim in the band and once with Trey, once with Hudson, I've been a diehard fnm fan since 89), Sacred Reich, Sister Machine Gun, Napalm Death, Nile, Sunn O))), Trouble, Exhumed, High On Fire, Slayer, White Zombie, Deicide, Morbid Angel, Cannibal Corpse, Gorguts, Death, Origin, And since he also promoted for Little Wing and Diabolical Productions i got to see pretty much any show in Tulsa or OKC for free, So i was always around music, My father also has a recording studio in his house, Live drum set up, Bass, Guitar, Synth, etc, Alot of what you hear in WTTA is live, Bass, Guitar, The computer is merely used to put it all together, Which id say 90% of bands on myspace do as well, I myself have been playing the drums since i was 11 or so, Or since 91, The bass since 93 or so, I was in a Saint Vitus influenced doom band from 93 to 98 that would have killed alot of these myspacecore bands, Most of you are under the age of 20 and don't know what real music is (No this is not a blanket statement, I'm not saying all of you), Go listen to Clear Window Pane, Or Defeating Earths Gravity, Or Revelation (life of death) Or Bury Me In Smoke and then tell me your underoaths and killswitch engages hold a candle brother, They don't have a quarter of the heaviness of old school doom and drone, myspacecore music is weak brainless and cloned to the point of Shite and your american idol swine make me sick, I create and produce ALL of WTTA's music on my own, And what i don't create Elan does, I self produce, All DIY, Plus WTTA is signed to a record label, Not a net label, And the sad thing is half of these core bands don't even have that, Mud slinging is a waste of time and just shows your childish mind for what it is, So piss off please, And if you think drone or ambient music is not relavent to your scene that is because its not, Its relavent to the true underground which scene kids will NEVER!!!!! ever ever be a part of, The underground i am proud to be a part of and have since i was a kid, Posers need not apply, Your not welcome here, It makes me laugh to think about this but i would love to have seen a scene kid walk into a Pantera show back in the day, I've seen Pantera 4 times and never once did i see a comb over or pair of girl pants at one of their shows unless said pants were in fact being worn by a girl, Never once did i see any of this karate dancing crap they try to say is moshing, YOU DON'T KNOW THE FIRST THING ABOUT A REAL PIT SON!!! if you would have tried that karate dance sh-t at a Pantera show you would have had your ass handed to you

5.Just because im christian does not make me any different than joe schmoe down the street, I was raised on Saint Vitus, Megadeth, Metallica, Sabbath and Pantera, So i dont want to hear it, I have a pantera tribute sleeve, I've got my CFH brand f..ker, Where is your's?, My hero is the late great Cliff Burton and one of my all time favorite bands is Sunn O))), Christian does not mean close minded or straightlace, I've got long hair, Tats, I wear combats and band shirts, I despise religion which is what 90% of all people judge God for, God is not religion, Religion is man, I follow god, I am my own person, Not a sheep

6.DR(((((((O)))))))NE (((((((ON, For wtta is heavier than thou, This music is meant to be heard at full volume with the (((((((bass))))))) turned all the way up, All hail the (((((((riff))))))), No breakdowns here, No corporate sounds here, You wont hear WTTA on the radio, Or see WTTA on mtv, WTTA will never be one of the top bands featured on myspace, So what, I dont want it that way, Corporate=trendy and you can find it on the shelf at the f--king dollar store (Any true metal head will know where that last line came from, Sadly i bet over half the people who read this wont know)...

7.As you might have noticed i am a pretty outspoken person, I don't hide the truth or sugar coat anything, I'm blunt and to the point, I am always up for a good debate so if you have major disbelief in God shoot me a message and lets have a go at it, But keep it tasteful and respectful, I don't judge anyone for who or what they believe in, Thats Gods job, so don't do that to me

8.Doom rules you, Don't forget it

9.Stephen o'malley and Greg anderson also rule you, Dont forget it

10.Im sorry but Dylan Carlson lost it after the second earth album, They are not drone anymore, No matter how he labels it, And i hate when people say earth is a better drone band than Sunn, Sunn is still drone, Earth is a bluesy doom band now, Not that there is anything wrong with that but get the facts straight

11.Although i have been drug free (Opiates) since 2005 i will be pro pot til death, I dont consider pot a drug, So sit back, Light up and prepare to be DR(((((((O)))))))NED, I had some more stuff to say but after being smoked from 91 to 05 24/7/365 im a bit burnt, smokin strong since 91-), So i guess we can move on to my final statement

13.DOOOOOOOM OR DIEEEEEEEEE

thanks ed for your help with wtta, you are a true soldier in the underground


Napalm Dave over and out...