Intervjuer - Reversal of Man (US)

The current line-up is?

 matt- vocals, john- drums, jeff- bass, chris- guitar, dan- guitar.  

How would you define your sound to someone who has never heard of you?

 you mean for example when people at work that have nothing to do with hardcore ask what kind of band i'm in?  i tell them a noisy rock band.  it's a lot easier than trying to explain hardcore/punk rock to someone that has no idea of what i'm talking about.  

What is the purpose with Reversal of Man, (RoM), what are you trying to accomplish by making your music and sharing your ideas?

 i can't speak for the band so this is a tough one.  when writing music i don't think that we are trying to get a message across to anyone.  a lot of what matt writes about is on a personal level.  He doesn’t attempt to sway peoples opinions one way or the other.  He just writes about life and things that we are involved in directly or indirectly.  so what are we trying to accomplish?  I’m not sure because that has never been our approach.  We aren’t a band that tries to get kids to go vegan or straightedge or anything like that.  However, I do find it amazing when people read our lyrics and hear our music and find interest or can relate.

 From where does the stylistic inspiration to new lyrics come from? Authors etc. How do you become a good lyricist? 

i wish matt could answer this one for you.  he's so involved in his writing and could go on forever about this one.  matt just graduated with his degree in English literature and is one of the most interesting kids i know.  a lot of his inspiration comes from things that go on around him that he feels he needs to address.  also, i know he writes about things that he has read that he can somewhat relate to or that has affected him.  for example, our next record is a five song series based on the short story/poem by T.S. Elliott called The Wasteland.  Apparently the guy was an idiot but matt is so intrigued by the poem that he wrote lyrics about all 5 parts.  How do you become a good lyric writer?  i don't know, i suck...i think just practice.

There is this song on the "this is medicine" LP, called ”mittens and muzzles”,  where you critizise the use of the Internet, saying that the Internet removes feelings and emotions. How do you cope with the fact that this interview is done by e-mail? Does the Internet offer anything positive at all?

 we have caught so much shit for this one...of course the Internet is an amazing thing for obvious reasons (research, etc.)  However, that song is about how even though the Internet improves lines of communication it does not compare to one on one communication and a lot of people are replacing that for the Internet.  we do not hate the Internet, this is obvious because you contacted us via email.  it just sucks to see people depend on the Internet for means of social interaction in lieu of real life situations.  i think this interview is great but you have to admit that it could be better in person. Given the circumstances though, you living in sweden and me in the u.s., reinforces the fact that the Internet can be good.  otherwise i may have never met you.

 ” mittens and muzzles - can we keep up with technological advances when time is spent exalting dots per inch and it sucks them in the information age is forming a glut progression digression a demon has formed through nonmaterialistic creations and we avoid starving it while human communication is its stable diet - reversal of man. ”   

How do the other members of RoM relate to the lyrics?  

we all have different opinions on a lot of things but i think we can all relate to a lot of what the lyrics are about.  i think when matt writes about things like the Internet they are pretty opinionated but still on some kind of neutral ground to where we can all relate in some way.  when matt writes lyrics, he tells us what they are about. we don't all sit down and have a meeting about them.  we just all kind of take what we can from them and end up forming some kind of opinion on what he has written.  if we agree...great, if we don't...it tends to make it more interesting.  however, i don't think matt would use lyrics about something that one of us was strongly against.    

It would be interesting to find out how a new RoM song is created. Please explain the process.  

lately, song writing has been so much fun for us.  one of us will come to practice with an idea. we will show it to each other and 9 times out of 10 by the time we have put both guitars, bass, and drums to it the song is completely different. we all share ideas with each other, it's so much fun!  

What keeps you going when you're not motivated to playing music? How do you get motivated again?

 For me?  Watching friends who are in bands play a show.  That does it to me every time… 

Are small fanzines like Colors make you blind equally important as the bigger ones as for instance HeartattaCk or Skyscraper?  

Of course, everyone’s effort is important.

Do you think talented musicianship is undervalued in hardcore? (Are people more interested in danceable songs rather than creative and complex technical songs?) What are your aims when writing songs - is it to write songs for people to mosh and dance to, or is it to push your own musical skills?

as much as it is going to hurt when the other guys read this and beat the shit out of me for saying this, we don't write songs so that people can mosh. we just write this kind of music because it is something that we are all influenced by and can relate to. i guess we aim to make songs as interesting as possible.  this doesn't mean technical.  some of my favorite songs that we do are the easiest to play.  for us, it's not about writing music to be technical or so that people can mosh.  we write music because we like to.  that's all.

How do you cope with the fact that a kid like me, living in a small suburban village in Sweden that you probably never heard about, is listening to RoM?

it's amazing!  i never would have thought that we would have come this far. in a way it's really rewarding because we get to meet all kinds of kids that we might have never met.

What makes you angry/happy? 

Angry- when people talk during movies…it’s stupid but it pisses me off.

Happy- finally catching up on everything I have to do. Traveling with friends.

How come many hardcorebands tend to neglect the important role of presentation in terms of packaging? (I don't think it's a money question - Immigrant Sun often has great artwork and layout on their releases and I don't think Sean is the richest guy in the world.) What do you feel about it? Is it important to be in control of the artwork and layout as well as the music? What does the artwork on your records mean to you?  

sometimes it is a money issue.  you have to take into account that recording and pressing can cost a lot which doesn't leave much for layout/printing.  it's a different story for each band.  Of course, when buying a record i prefer getting a lyric sheet and stuff to look at rather than just a record to play.  it's so much more personal.  yeah, i think that it is important for the band to be somehow involved in the process of layout/decision making.  the record as a whole represents the band.   

What was it like to work with Steve Heritage? What did he bring to RoM that you did not have before?

steve has done a lot for rom.  everything from recording, to helping with tours, fixing our equipment/van, putting out our records... we owe him a lot.    

Any future plans? New releases?  

we are working on a new record that's going to be on steve's label, schematics.  it's going to be some kind of split with combat wounded veteran and should be out this summer.

 Are any of the members of RoM currently involved in other projects?

 both chris and i play in a band called combat wounded veteran.

 If someone came up to you and offered you to make a living out of music, would you do it?

Can’t really say.  It would depend on the circumstances.  As for Reversal, no I wouldn’t want to live off this band.  That has never been the intention of this band.  I don’t think its necessarily a bad thing when people can survive off their band.  I mean, a lot of people in bands work really hard to get where they are and some deserve it.  However, we are just friends playing music, it’s not a career.  

What question(s) did I forget to ask you?

“I thought you guys broke up.”

What question(s) are you glad I didn't ask you?

Any question about bands that wanted to beat us up 3 years ago.  

Thanks Johan, hope to see you this summer!