The Ergon Carousel Interview
Like a phoenix rising from the ashes of Narcosis comes hyper-fast newcomers The Ergon Carousel, their brand of spasmodic hyper fast grinding madness has been brewing on the quiet for a while, practicing in a chamber 20,000 feet below sea level to stop any pre band hype. Check out their new as yet unreleased tracks, safe to say that they have way surpassed any hyperbole. I caught up with human whirlwind drummer Brody for a total autopsy doss last month. Read on…
Can we have a brief introduction to The Ergon Carousel? With a brief history of its legacy.
We’re a grind band from the north of England (sort of!) and here to take your souls, and I might do your washing up to if you’re lucky. There’s John boy and Daniel on Guitar, Oliver on Bass, Fontaine on vocals, and myself bothering the skins. When Narcosis split, myself John Boy and Ol had a bit of a break, then decided to keep jamming and writing to see what came out. We realised we could do with a couple more people however, so we approached Daniel, because we knew he was free after the Beecher split. He was up for it, so we made him sign a contract in blood and sperm, and then sent one of our carrier pigeons down to the vague south, Kent to be exact, where Fontaine was lurking. He assured us that distance was no object, and he’d been wanting to do something with us (ahem) for ages anyway.
What the fuck is an Ergon Carousel?
The name comes from a piece of wood-machinery!
Do you think you will have a hard time shaking off the ex-Narcosis tag?
I think with any new band that emerges featuring ex-members of another, there’s always going to be that comparison. It’s natural. I remember in the past, when I heard such-a-body was doing such-a-band, the first thing I thought was, will it sound like the last band? Ergon and Narcosis will sound similar to people in some ways, short grind songs, with three Narcosis members etc. The thing is, in Narcosis, Chris wrote most of the riffs. We all had input, and it was very democratic, it was just that he was a natural songwriter, so that’s the way it went. In this it’s JB and Ol who write at the moment, though we’re hoping everyone can get a shot, cos Fontaine plays too. (Not me obviously, I’ll just stick to smacking things).
What projects are ongoing besides The Ergon Carousel?
John boy does Mechagodzilla, spazzy jazz grind kings who’ve been going forever, and his noise project, Balberith. Ol plays in Atavist, Fontaine does Carmen, and I do Arendia, which is Thrash/black metal stuff.
With The Ergon Carousel just seeing the light of day, can you tell us of what you intend to do with it? Will you be as busy on the gig front as previous bands?
We’ve got no big plan, but obviously we wouldn’t have bothered if we weren’t intending to do something with it! We’ve recorded enough stuff for an EP, which we hope we can get released. We’re just keeping on writing at the moment, to get some more stuff. As far as gigs go, we’ll be very welcome of gig offers, but we don’t have enough songs for a set yet! Narcosis, and especially Beecher, had busy gig schedules, so I don’t think we’ll do as much as that, with Fontaine being down south, and us all having jobs and other bands, but we do intend to bother the rest of the country with our racket!
Is Johnboy really dead?
Yeah, from the neck up! His body is still stumbling around though!
For anyone that doesn’t know what the previous question was about, can we have a few words from the man himself?
JOHNBOY: I think it was just a case of tour boredom, and we thought that it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to people believe it! Basically, we posted out on loads of forums etc while we were away that I’d died. Some people sussed right away, but some believed it, some people got really wound up too!
Will Seth Putnam be joining as guest vocalist?
Is this cos John boy nicked his mike at one point when we played with em? I don’t think he’d be falling over himself to return the favour, no!
What are your opinions on band reunions? Do you think that a band that split in their hey-day should just put it to bed or do you feel “why not?” if they still have something to offer?
I think it’s got to the stage where you expect a band to reform, it’s that common. In terms of all the big old rock bands, you could argue that they don’t need the money, and should let it lie. I’d largely agree, but there’s always that thing where you’d get a chance to see a band you missed because they were before your time. When less mainstream bands reform, I think in some cases it is to do with cash. It’s very hard to live off extreme music, so you can bet some of these bands are doing it just to pay off debts and bills!
Obviously with the previous bands having such a good (or bad!) reputation, I wouldn’t imagine you will have no trouble finding gigs and/or label interest? Will the Myspace recordings be put to use?
Well, those two myspace tracks are from a recording session which we hope to put out in the form of an ep, so hopefully they’ll be put to good use!
What is your opinion on the extreme music underground scene at the moment?
I think the whole concept of undergroud changed with the internet and myspace. It wasn’t too long ago when you and myself used to tape-trade and write letters – it took ages to promote your band and discover new stuff. These days it’s so quick – and instantly worldwide. Also, Home computer recording technology means that loads of bands who don’t have the cash to get in the studio have a chance to be heard, so I think that’s a good thing. On the down side, I think the cycle of trends is ridiculous. There’s so many trends within trends, and things come round so quick, people still remember it from the last time! Something that was intended to be anti-trend is now such a trend. I think you’ve just got to be honest and play what you want to play. Chances are you’ll still be doing it and getting recognition when the band-of-the-moment have sloped off into the sunset after their fifteen minutes.
Who is better? North or south?
Ha! Ha! I have to say north don’t I?
Thanks a lot for your time, feel free to plug your wares and add a few final words…
Thanks for the interview. Please check out www.myspace.com/rocklikeergon and jump on the carousel!
May the force be with you…
…Always
Interviewed by: Jas Murray
