"Loud, Rude & Precise. Fuck the Mainstream
& Give 'Em a Great Show, Everytime." With this
type of attitude it's no wonder the San Bernardino based
band "Versatile Aggression" has built a allegiance
around its own version of a hardcore, vocal intense sound.
Considered one of the "Loudest" bands around
Los Angeles, Publicity Whore sat down to set the record
straight and see if these guys could just be what the LA
club scene has been so desperately waiting for.
Band Members:
Vocals - Shawn
Guitar- Steve
Bass - Chris
Drums - Jesse
Represented by: TaupNoych Records
PW: Describe your sound for people who haven't
heard it?
VA: There isn’t a description - we are ourselves.
You gotta hear it to make your own description. We tried
to take the ability and musicianship of, like Rush from
the 70’s, and put it to the sound of Pantera. What we have
is a unique sound that will kick your fuckin' ass all day
long. All the songs sound different.
PW: What LA clubs have you guys played so far?
VA: The Whisky, The Garage, we’re playing The Joint
coming up, Rock and Roll Ranch in San Bernardino. We haven’t
done too many shows, we handled the business side first.
We got the product out for everybody to hear us. We decided
to get the music done. Right now we can throw out 2 hours
of original sets. We got enough material right now to do
10 more records – full length records - not a problem. None
of this three chord bullshit, punk bullshit, none of that.
You better be thinking when you are playing our shit.
PW: Who were some of your influences ?
VA: For me, (Chris) I was trained classical, I was
trained fusion jazz. Jack Bruce, Cliff Burton from old school
Metallica - the good shit. There are a handful of
bass players out there in the Rock and Roll scene I’ll give
respect to. I’ve seen shows at Ozz Fest that I could have
walked right out of the crowd and destroyed that fucker
any day of the week. They sit there and play 2 or 3 notes
and band their heads, and think they're bitchin. Fuck that,
I play bass like a guitar. There isn’t a note on that bass
that’s not played. We want to bring back the knowledge.
People who play music today don’t have no fuckin' knowledge.
When you look at our music it’s tough, it’s intricate, the
changes are good, and it flows.
PW: We all hear lots of complaints from people
that music today is in a lull. What do you think will be
required in a group or sound to re-establish the quality?
VA: Their own sound – bring out something fresh.
All the shit on the radio sounds the same. It all sucks.
I don’t even listen to the radio. I’d rather turn on the
fuckin' oldies station than listen to any mainstream radio.
I miss the days of KNAC. That’s where it was at. KNAC was
the shit because they brought out the intelligent side of
the music. The kids today are used to what’s out there,
so they don’t know any better. So they hear what we bring
out, and to us it may not sound all that new, but to them
it’s brand new and they haven’t heard anything like it.
We took everything that was good and made it fresh, we revised
it.
PW: What’s going on with your current album?
VA: We have a five song EP out right now, and we’re
gonna be mixing the new material shortly. We just got done
doing 16 tracks for “Conscience Lost,” which is the name
of the EP coming up. No one should take it literally, it’s
all comic book. It’s life. Life sucks. We need to do some
retracks on a few solos. Once the punch in’s and mix are
done, we start printing.
PW: What has your experience been like with Taup
Noych Entertainment? Aren't they primarily a Hip Hop label?
VA: It’s family. We told them what we wanted done,
and they told us what we could do, and we’ve been workin'
together ever since. Totally trustworthy. When these guys
tell me what’s up, I’ll go with them. Not a problem. They’ve
shown nothing but love and respect for our music, and they
are giving us what we want to do. What more could you ask
for? For someone to give you the opportunity to try something
no one else has? So my total loyalty is with them. The mix
of the backgrounds is what makes the sound rip.
PW: What’s your philosphy when it comes to live
shows?
VA: We don’t talk - we play. When we play The Joint
- it’s small as hell, just like The Garage. We blew that
fuckin roof off The Garage. They told us not to show up
with some shit, we went against their advice. I showed up
with 1200 watt bass stack, a 23 piece drum set, a 300 watt
guitar stack and literally blew the roof off that place.
We plan on doing that to The Joint. If they don’t tie down
their beer bottles and liquor bottles on the wall, I’ll
take them all off with my bass guitar alone - guaranteed.
I want to be able to punch people at 10 rows back.
PW: Describe your look on stage?
VA: The next show I’ll be dressed in full fuckin
drag. I’ll be wearing a black lace dress for mourning –
like Marilyn Manson-type shit. My hair will be braided,
dyed purple, makeup on my face – I’ll go up there as death
itself. Showmanship, you gotta have flash – you gotta catch
people. Going up there with T shirts just won’t cut it.
PW: What artists today do you like?
VA: System of A Down, for sure. Offspring I’ll give
it up to those guys - they’ve grown up. Their music sounds
more intelligent, and the song they released for the 'Orange
County' soundtrack is unbelieveable – it’s a great song.
Older stuff - Pantera is always there – you cannot go wrong
with Dimebag Daryl on Guitar and Vinnie Paul on drums. That’s
all I can think of. I don’t listen to the radio. It’s junk.
If somebody ever puts in a word of Linkin Park next to my
name I’m gonna puke.
PW: What do you think of the Rap-rock sound?
VA: It’s good if it’s done right. Look at “Bring
the Noise” with Anthrax and Public Enemy. Look at metal
and rap today – it sucks compared to what they were doing
back then. There is no sound.
PW: What do you think of Electronic Music?
VA: DJ’s are cool, but where’s the creativity?
You’re using someone else’s shit. Creating music is cool.
Real musicians - not just using a computer.
PW: Tell us about getting signed?
VA: Man they signed us off a video from a Whisky
show! They looked at us and came and saw us play – it was
on. Shawn, our singer, is so fuckin' animated. It just works.
PW: What do you think of the LA music scene right
now?
VA: It needs a shot in the arm.
PW: How important is the live performance to
musicians today?
VA: You gotta have flash, you gotta give them a
show. Nowadays music is cool, but it’s not enough anymore.
Not like back in the day when going to see The Who or going
to see Maiden – Powerslave in ’85. The mentality today is
all on chronic. You need something to grab a hold of people.
Grab ‘em with your fist and make them pay attention to you.
Look at what the Crue did to Hollywood in ’81. They walked
into Hollywood and said “This Town’s Mine!” …. And they
were right.
PW: Describe your song writing process.
VA: Initially, Chris wrote the first 7 or 8 songs.
We all write the music and lyrics. The music is Versatile
Aggression’s. We take all the different influences from
punk to rock to classic rock to metal to speed metal to
slam dance to whatever, and just put them all together.
One thing you’ll hear is that the songs constantly change.
PW: What does it take for a band today to stand
the test of time?
VA: Metallica sucks now. They blow my ass. Those
guys either should have retired a long time ago. When Cliff
Burton died it seemed they lost everything. They lost their
balls. Their music is getting repetitive, AKA: Joe Satrianai
– you’ve heard one song you’ve heard them all. The same
formula. And it sucks. The test of time is creativity and
not to let yourself get stagnant, You have to be able to
change and adapt yourself to the times, yes. Few bands have
done that. Aerosmith being one of them. Kiss has done it.
They’re still alive and kickin. Look at Black Sabbath. 30
yrs, and they’re still selling. Why? Because they appeal
to each generation in a certain way. So if we stay true,
and don’t go the corporate route, we may lose an album sale
here or there because the time goes back to disco or whatever.
But eventually they are gonna come back and buy our records
because we haven’t changed.
PW: How important is dedication and perseverance
for a band starting out?
VA: I’ve quit jobs to play a show. Boss wouldn’t
give me the night off, fuck you … gone. There are two things
that come in front of my music. One is the people in my
immediate family, including my bandmates, other than that
– my life doesn’t even come before my music. I’ve been throwing
up on stage playing shows … I don’t care, I gotta play the
music. That’s what I live for - it’s what I breathe. We
can write between 5-10 songs every day. All of my stuff
is out of a Steven King novel.... fuckin idol. I write horror
stories. But I write comic book horror stories. People may
consider it death metal, hate metal. It’s nowhere near that,
it is all comic book. It’s all imagination.
PW: So how do you get the crowd into a show?
VA: Energy. You can get by sometimes on having ok
decent music as long as you have great eneergy and great
performace. Otherwise, fuck you - you’re boring. If you’re
not bustin' your balls, why even do it? (plays a track
and with ridiculous bass riffs) Listen - that will jump
a crowd! You need to get the crowd jumping in the fewest
notes possible. All of the music should make the crowd jump.
I can't wait for someone to tell me I suck. We’ve talked
to total strangers – and they’ve said “the show was ass
kickin”. If I miss more than five notes in a show, I’m pissed
off. I saw Poppa Roach, Linkin Park & Crazy Town at Ozzfest.
Crazy Town was booed off stage after the fourth song. Linkin
Park could not reproduce their own vocals and Poppa Roach
didn’t even know what they were doing. They're selling millions
of copies - and they suck!
PW: Then why is it these are the bands that are
making it?
VA: They know the people, they got the money backing
‘em. It’s all about money. Look at the dudes in Linkin Park.
Those guys are graduates from design school out of Pasadena.
They design auto cars & shit. They live in the Hills of
the Rose Bowl. They got money. It took us to recycle our
shit and pull together three weeks of paychecks to put our
EP together. They go to daddy and say 'give me 100k.' They
know how to play somewhat, and got a formula that will catch
the youth of today's attention - but that’s it. We can do
more than that. And it’s gonna die. Look at Britney Spears
- she’s awesome. She appeals to a certain crowd, and once
that generation grows up - Britney Spears is done. Unless
she develops into a fuckin' Barbara Steisand/Mairah Carey-type
shit, she’s not going anywhere.
PW: How 'bout The Smashing Pumpkins?
VA: Smashing Pumpkins are great, but I can't stand
Corrigan’s voice. I love his music
PW: What about the caliber of musicians emerging
today?
VA: People are more interested in being 'Rockstars'
today than 'musicians'. Fuck that. It’s trendy and corporate
now. Look at the shows about becoming a rockstar – that’s
all corporate funding. It’s all a tax writeoff. Whatever
happened to paying your dues?
PW: Do you like bands like Creed?
VA: I like Creed for what they are doing, I like
Creed because they are real musicians. Musically they are
tight. I’m not necessarily into their music. But fuck -
they are only three years old, man. Three years ago I don’t
even think they knew each other, and now they're the hottest
fuckin' band on the planet right now. They got four songs
in the top 5. One thing about Creed is you’ll hear them
on a mellow station, 'Coast' on KLOS and on hardcore. Creed
is on every fuckin' station. They are good musicians. Here’s
a band I have respect for, their records are ok but they
are better live – Godsmack. I saw Godsmack live, and was
blown away by how tight they are. Another one, Marilyn Manson
puts on the greatest showmanship show I have ever seen -
ever. He creeped me out. His musicians, his drummer especially
- all top of the line musicians. They put on a great show,
and the music is good.
PW: What are your goals in this business?
VA: I don’t want to be a rockstar. I don’t want
the fame of fortune of Metallica, Guns & Roses and Motley
Crue, I just wanna tour. If that is what’s gonna happen,
then I have no contol over that. If the public likes my
music so much, they are gonna make me that anyway no matter
if I like it or not. But I’m not striving for that. I want
to put food in my stomach, my job is my music, tour & make
records. That’s all I want to do. Pay my bills and I don’t
have to work - all I gotta do is play shows around the world.
I just want to play with the bands, that’s what I’m supposed
to do. I know that’s what I’m supposed to do, because I
suck at everything else. A jack-of-all-trades, master of
none. Except music, it’s appendage.
PW: And finally - what do you think of these guys
at Publicity Whore?
VA: Bad ass dudes, Very blunt and real. Most of
the magazines and media out there today just suck, kinda
like a lot of the music. Just keep doing it because people
need your shit. You're the fuckin best at what you do. Publicity
Whore ... now that's some crazy shit.
For more information on Versatile Aggression,
visit their website at
http://www.versatileaggression.s5.com
or contact: talent@publicitywhore.com
