Interview by kev_stev

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MusicEmissions; Kevin Stevens: First and foremost, what’s up with the album cover? Howard Unruh? 

Soniminos; Mike Dipisa (Bass/Backing Vocals): That’s Ryan’s department.

Soniminos; Ryan Sardoni (Drums/Vocals): I’ve been into reading books since I was a young kid. I’ve been into serial killers and stuff like that, ya know it sounds kind of gay that everyone that listens to death metal likes serial killers but I’ve always liked them. I like reading about them; I like thinking about them, and one guy who always stuck out was Howard Unruh. He’s kind of a cool dude. He’s the father of mass murder and being from Camden NJ it made it kind of personal to us. His whole story was pretty interesting and kind of went along with the lyrics I was writing, so I used his story as a “vehicle” for our songs. The fact that he’s still alive and still in a mental institution is pretty cool.

M.E. Kevin Stevens: You tried to talk to him, no?

Ryan: I tried to get in touch with him but haven’t been able to visit him. I tried to lie and say I was from a school. I’ll probably get arrested for terrorism now or something.

M.E. Kevin Stevens: One thing that stuck out the first time I took out Canvas Met the Quota was the lyrics. Explain the process behind writing and approving lyrics. I understand one song is about a dream?

Soniminos; John Vechionne (Guitars): We usually write the music first and then Ryan will come up with the lyrics.

Ryan: Each song we write has a certain feel or tone to it. It usually has an overall kind of vibe where you can’t just throw something onto it. I’ve been writing for a few years and have a whole assortment of stuff that I’ve written and sometimes I’ll actually go back and take one fitting line from a poem I wrote in 8^th grade. And that one line… it’ll just fit so perfectly. Other than that, being a drummer I know where everything is—where all the changes are—so I basically know all the rhythm and with the lyrics it’s just saying whatever I feel about what I’m playing.

 

Mike: And then at one o’clock in the morning I get an IM, “What do you think of this?” And he’ll paste a line and I’ll be like, “Yeahh.. I like that, except for that word!”

M.E. Kevin Stevens: You lost one of your guitarists after you released your first EP. How have things changed since then?

Mike: The sound has changed pretty significantly.

John: Well writing wise, like musical wise, everything has changed drastically. Now we aren’t limited by any outside singers who really have no rhythm whatsoever. So we’re free to pretty much do whatever the hell we want. And we always have been, but there always seemed to be a person in the band that held us back or whatever. We went through like three singers in the beginning and now, with the exception of Steve leaving last year, we’re pretty stable.

Soniminos; Matt Yarr (Guitars): When I came the band got a whole lot better looking.

(laughs).

Ryan: We actually got a lot of compliments when Steve quit. He’s kind of like the loose end of us, not to rag on him or anything, but it became us three and we worked a lot harder together; we became really tight. And somehow we convinced Matt to come to the band after like three months.

Mike: Yeah, it took three months of convincing to get him into the band.

(laughs)

Ryan: Yeah, cause he’s an asshole like that. He didn’t record on the last album, we just kept getting screwed on recording with the record labels and everything, but he’s helping us with recording on our full length album coming out this December. And with this release, you should hear the music evolved from last album.

Mike: Yeah, hopefully you’ll be able to listen to the first cd and then the second cd will be completely different and then the third cd will be even more different.

M.E. Kevin Stevens: You’re touring soon, correct?

Mike: Hopefully. The last one didn’t pan out too well.

Ryan: Yeah, we’ve been a band for 5 years; we’ve been getting screwed for six.

Mike: Hopefully this next one works out. We’ll be going out in January with a brand new cd.

M.E. Kevin Stevens: Going into a tour are there any fears?

Matt: Yeah, living with John.

Ryan: Yeah, the shower arrangements.

(laughs).

 

John: I got a pretty good fear. Losing this (looks around apartment). Like, I could always go to the frat house in Newark and live with the dudes, but I don’t know man, I like being on my own and I hope I can keep this if I tour.

Mike: There’re definitely sacrifices; like if I go out on tour I’ll probably have to quit my job. You can always get another job though, ya know?

Ryan: That took some convincing, though.

John: Yeah, I know there are other jobs out there, but I don’t wanna be homeless when I come back.

Ryan: I’ve been waiting for this tour since I was…ever. Since I was a little ever. (laughs).

Matt: Since he was ever year old.

(laughs).

Ryan: Even if we go away and it’s the only tour we ever get, at least we can say we did it. I mean, we’re not looking to go out on tour and come back rock stars. That’s obviously everybody’s dream but it’s gonna take a lot more tours.

Matt: Yo, we should just play the lottery in every state we go to. We’re bound to win eventually.

MusicEmissions; Kevin Stevens: First and foremost, what’s up with the album cover? Howard Unruh?

Soniminos; Mike Dipisa (Bass/Backing Vocals): That’s Ryan’s department.

Soniminos; Ryan Sardoni (Drums/Vocals): I’ve been into reading books since I was a young kid. I’ve been into serial killers and stuff like that, ya know it sounds kind of gay that everyone that listens to death metal likes serial killers but I’ve always liked them. I like reading about them; I like thinking about them, and one guy who always stuck out was Howard Unruh. He’s kind of a cool dude. He’s the father of mass murder and being from Camden NJ it made it kind of personal to us. His whole story was pretty interesting and kind of went along with the lyrics I was writing, so I used his story as a “vehicle” for our songs. The fact that he’s still alive and still in a mental institution is pretty cool.

M.E. Kevin Stevens: You tried to talk to him, no?

Ryan: I tried to get in touch with him but haven’t been able to visit him. I tried to lie and say I was from a school. I’ll probably get arrested for terrorism now or something.

M.E. Kevin Stevens: One thing that stuck out the first time I took out Canvas Met the Quota was the lyrics. Explain the process behind writing and approving lyrics. I understand one song is about a dream?

Soniminos; John Vechionne (Guitars): We usually write the music first and then Ryan will come up with the lyrics.

Ryan: Each song we write has a certain feel or tone to it. It usually has an overall kind of vibe where you can’t just throw something onto it. I’ve been writing for a few years and have a whole assortment of stuff that I’ve written and sometimes I’ll actually go back and take one fitting line from a poem I wrote in 8^th grade. And that one line… it’ll just fit so perfectly. Other than that, being a drummer I know where everything is—where all the changes are—so I basically know all the rhythm and with the lyrics it’s just saying whatever I feel about what I’m playing.

Mike: And then at one o’clock in the morning I get an IM, “What do you think of this?” And he’ll paste a line and I’ll be like, “Yeahh.. I like that, except for that word!”

M.E. Kevin Stevens: You lost one of your guitarists after you released your first EP. How have things changed since then?

Mike: The sound has changed pretty significantly.

John: Well writing wise, like musical wise, everything has changed drastically. Now we aren’t limited by any outside singers who really have no rhythm whatsoever. So we’re free to pretty much do whatever the hell we want. And we always have been, but there always seemed to be a person in the band that held us back or whatever. We went through like three singers in the beginning and now, with the exception of Steve leaving last year, we’re pretty stable.

Soniminos; Matt Yarr (Guitars): When I came the band got a whole lot better looking.

(laughs).

Ryan: We actually got a lot of compliments when Steve quit. He’s kind of like the loose end of us, not to rag on him or anything, but it became us three and we worked a lot harder together; we became really tight. And somehow we convinced Matt to come to the band after like three months.

Mike: Yeah, it took three months of convincing to get him into the band.

(laughs)

Ryan: Yeah, cause he’s an asshole like that. He didn’t record on the last album, we just kept getting screwed on recording with the record labels and everything, but he’s helping us with recording on our full length album coming out this December. And with this release, you should hear the music evolved from last album.

Mike: Yeah, hopefully you’ll be able to listen to the first cd and then the second cd will be completely different and then the third cd will be even more different.

M.E. Kevin Stevens: You’re touring soon, correct?

Mike: Hopefully. The last one didn’t pan out too well.

Ryan: Yeah, we’ve been a band for 5 years; we’ve been getting screwed for six.

Mike: Hopefully this next one works out. We’ll be going out in January with a brand new cd.

M.E. Kevin Stevens: Going into a tour are there any fears?

Matt: Yeah, living with John.

Ryan: Yeah, the shower arrangements.

(laughs).

John: I got a pretty good fear. Losing this (looks around apartment). Like, I could always go to the frat house in Newark and live with the dudes, but I don’t know man, I like being on my own and I hope I can keep this if I tour.

Mike: There’re definitely sacrifices; like if I go out on tour I’ll probably have to quit my job. You can always get another job though, ya know?

Ryan: That took some convincing, though.

John: Yeah, I know there are other jobs out there, but I don’t wanna be homeless when I come back.

Ryan: I’ve been waiting for this tour since I was…ever. Since I was a little ever. (laughs).

Matt: Since he was ever year old.

(laughs).

Ryan: Even if we go away and it’s the only tour we ever get, at least we can say we did it. I mean, we’re not looking to go out on tour and come back rock stars. That’s obviously everybody’s dream but it’s gonna take a lot more tours.

Matt: Yo, we should just play the lottery in every state we go to. We’re bound to win eventually.

M.E. Kevin Stevens: Placing in the finals of Indie of the Year can lead to a lot of exposure, is that something a bunch of young guys are willing or are ready to take on?

John: F*** yeah.

Mike: So that’s a yes.

(laughs).

Mike: Exposure’s something you cannot get enough of. There’s no such thing as getting too much exposure.

Matt: Unless you’re Britney Spears.

Mike: There’s no such thing as bad press either.

M.E. Kevin Stevens: The dialogue in the album was interesting. Care to explain the importance behind this? Why the certain clips were chosen?

Ryan: The opening sample is homemade. It’s supposed to be Howard Unruh on the day that he went on a killing spree. It was really edited and really bad in the studio we recorded with, which wasn’t Magic Potions studio. But you couldn’t even hear what you wanted to hear. It had footsteps, the alarm going off, him taking a shower and going downstairs and eventually going into the barber shop. That’s actually how his whole killing spree started. The guy said, “Hey Howard” and he said “I got something for ya, Clarkie,” and shot him. He killed the kid in the chair and left the mother there.

John: Then he started walking down the street and shooting people up. He then began listening to NWA for ridiculous periods of time.

Matt: Straight out of Compton!

(laughs).

Ryan: But that’s that one. As for “Lanced and Quartered,” the quote really fit into about what I was saying in the song.

M.E. Kevin Stevens: And the pledge of allegiance?

Ryan: That was more of a mockery. Being a death metal band I guess we have to be kind of anti-God and anti-government.

Mike: Yeah, it’s sarcasm.

Ryan: Usually when I used to play that live I would say “I don’t pledge allegiance to the flag.” The clip itself is sung by little kids from Texas.

Mike: Actually, I think it was Oklahoma. Yeah, we got that sound clip off of the Oklahoma board of education.

Ryan: It’s about brain washing and stuff.

(George Bush impressions inevitably ensue)

M.E. Kevin Stevens: Moving on. Bruce Springsteen just played here a few nights ago and his show was very politically charged. How do you guys feel about political issues being put into songs?

Ryan: I love it. First off all, if you just like the music, that’s great. I listen to some bands with no lyrical content whatsoever. Bands that sing about like killing God and Satan; I’m not for that, it’s just stupid. But their music… I love it.

Mike: You can listen to something without having to feel anything about their lyrics. The music can just pump you up.

John: The only thing about bands like that is that their musicianship is insane. It’s like, listening to a power metal band and saying, “Those lyrics talk to me.” No, you don’t listen to power metal for that reason.

Ryan: I think it’s awesome though when a band can play good music and also put in lyrics that either mean something to them or mean a lot to someone else. Bruce Springsteen though, he sucks.

M.E. Kevin Stevens: The ending of “Somnambulist Serez Cerement” has a very catchy guitar ending. Being still a young band, do you guys ever think about changing your sound? Not to say you’re going to become a rap band or anything, but on a future album, maybe focus on different aspects of your sound and see where it takes you?

Mike: When we sit down to write something, we don’t sit down and be like, “Oh we’re gonna make a song that’s totally brutal and there’s gonna be like breakdowns here and here.” It’s just whatever comes out. We’re sitting there writing music a couple weeks ago and we came out with something that’s actually really happy. And John’s like, “This song sounds too happy,” and I’m like, “No. It is what it is.”

John: When I write the music I try to think of dark—not like, evil dark—but almost soothing dark: something that will send chills. I don’t like the sound of too much happy shit. It’s just like, god, I can choke a teddy bear with it.

Ryan: As for our style, I mean, I personally think we have a pretty original style. I don’t think we really compare to anybody; we don’t try to do that, it just cuts our style. Me and John have been playing together for five years, and we really click. I’ve worked with other people just like jamming around and haven’t had that same feeling.

John: We can honestly tell each other, “no that sucks, no this sucks.” And like by the time we’re done screaming at each other we have something awesome produced. But that’s why we put up with each other because by the time we’re done screaming we have something awesome.

Ryan: Yeah, basically John and I are polar opposites.

(digression follows. detailed descriptions about their chests are omitted)

Mike: It’s funny though. All of our friends have tried to get into bands and stuff and we’ve seen so many come and go. We’ve been lucky enough to even have this lineup for as long as we’ve had it.

Matt: Mike, you’re out of the band.

(laughs).

Mike: Aw, damnit! Ruined the streak. But seriously, you have to get really lucky and get someone you’re gonna work well with.

John: Also, we don’t call ourselves a death metal band, a black metal band, or a grindcore band…we’re a band, that uh, wears pants.

Ryan: When someone asks me I’ll give them a generic answer like, yeah, death black grind.

M.E. Kevin Stevens: Sounds like coffee.

(laughs).

Mike: We’re pretty proud of the fact that when someone asks what we sound like no one has a straight answer.

M.E. Kevin Stevens: What bands have influenced your sound? If you wanna just name drop a little bit.

Band: Carcass, Slayer, Fear Factory, Cannibal Corpse, In Flames, Dying Fetus, Skinless, Pantera.

Matt: My Chemical Romance…Fall Out Boy.

Mike: But oddly enough we don’t try to sound like any of them. It’s just stuff that we listen to; what we produce is completely different, and that’s awesome.

M.E. Kevin Stevens: What do you think about the current music scene? In town? In the United States?

Mike: (shrug) In one word I’d say horrible.

Matt: No, there’re different bands. Some bands are purely for the scene and some bands are good. Some bands just, wanna look like rock stars.

Mike: If you listen to a lot of the stuff that’s popular nowadays its very simplistic—its very manufactured.

Matt: Exactly. That’s how it always was. On the radio you wanna listen to something simple. Most people who aren’t musicians don’t wanna take the time to appreciate the music.

Ryan: They can’t digest it mentally.

Matt: How many people listen to Mozart everyday, y’know?

Mike: That’s why we realized that the last song on the CD was the quote on quote single of the cd, because it’s something that just sticks in your head.

M.E. Kevin Stevens: That about wraps things up. Final words for the fans and for the music emissions site?

John: Thank you.

Ryan: Love you guys.

John: Well what are their final words?

M.E. Kevin Stevens: I don’t know man, this is going to take me forever to type up.