When you hear the stark robotic juggernaut that is Author& Punisher, you would never guess the master mind behind the machines is one of the most down to earth and friendly science geeks you could ever meet. Well, he was and here is the conversation we had with him.
Abysmal Hymns-The new album "Women and Children" inhibits a much different sonic space than "Ursus.." did. What place were you coming from to invoke this kind of evolution?
Tristan-It's a mix of all the sorting of the past couple of years. Sorting through drummers and switching to machines. I wanted it to be pure and able to reproduce it live. It id frustrating to only be able to play four songs live then have to have another set up with a drum kit. So I wanted to play the whole thing pure, returning to that idea with no guitars to mix.
As far as the lyrics and melody, life is a mess, I'm hustling in every way possible. Its not going into some cabin and be able to work. Some of it I came up with doing art show in galleries where I played with synths and no machines, forced me into other sounds.
Abysmal-You have really been embraced by metal audiences.Is it something that you have a background with?
Tristan-Absolutely, Godflesh, more stuff rooted in hard core. Melvins and Neurosis and graduated into more extreme stuff like death metal. I listen to a lot of Drum and Bass as well as dub at warehouse parties I throw which sound great through a sound system, that's more of my social scene.
Abysmal-So your are touring with Phil Anselmo's solo band. What are your thoughts on that? Is there any concern there might be a bunch of rednecks just there to hear Pantera songs who might not get what you do?
Tristan-I'm not so sure about that, from what I have heard of his new album it sounds more like Deadguy. I think that will change the crowd. I came from headlining 100 capacity rooms with local support, so it will be good to play through real sound-systems.Its the best way to hear what I am doing, rather places where it's more d.i.y sound.
Abysmal- Haha, yeah and the monitors are blown out.
Yeah, So I'm excited about that , though I'm sure there well be those who see what I do as gimmicky and think its some type of Hipster Metal.
Abysmal-Have you ever toured or thought about touring with Industrial bands?
Tristan- Seems more of a thing in Europe. Its big in Belgium and the Netherlands, all though there is a lot of break-core and heavy noisy dance music coming out. We have had the leather industrial kids with the dreadlocks come out and I think they were disappointed there was no sequencing. We were going to tour with a lesser known industrial band that I like, but cancelled that to do the Phil tour.
Abysmal - So have you ever been into stuff like Skinny Puppy ?
Tristan-No, though I like Ministry though they were always more of a metal band. I think that crowd is torn because they want to like it but what I do isn't flashy, though they see it as a gimmick. When I built every thing to be efficient live so no computer crashes and I can control drum trigger with my mouth.
Abysmal-Hows the response in Europe been?
Tristan-Good , though it has started to even out. You can play with a doom band and a D.J spinning break core all-night. The U.S. has begun to loosen for us there are more crossover festivals. It gets to be a little annoying when you are always playing with doom bands that have Orange amps stacked to the ceiling. The Life Once Lost tour was more than we could have hoped for.
Abysmal- I think a band like Atriarch or Pinkish Black would be a good fit for you.
Tristan- Yeah, I know those guys. We are on the same label. There has been some talk of a little Seventh Rule Festival. Its cool there are more bands using industrial and electronic elements.
Abysmal- Like Wreck&Reference.
Tristan-Yeah we have reached out to each other.
Abysmal- Well there you go. Lets get on the phone and set up the tour You , Atriarch, Pinkish Black and Wreck&Reference.
Tristan-laughs
Abysmal- Aside from control, what do you see as the plus side for being a one man band and what is the draw back?
Tristan-I am pretty confident in what I am doing so it's not like being in a band where you might be second guessing yourself and you start to sound like other bands because some of the wackier more experimental ideas which you know would sound cool get trampled in democracy. Draw back is you are doing every thing yourself, the website , the merch, getting a van. A lot of people have some one who works for them and I don't know how they afford it. I mean you play a club and if that's split between a band it comes out to less than minimum wage For this tour though, I'm bringing another guy to do video. So you can see what I'm doing as well as conceptual video. He will also handle extra sounds and sequencing where I will be playing the main lines.
Abysmal-What were the lyrical themes for the new album?-
Tristan-Personal stuff, there's one song about drinking, its comical. A lot of it is unconscious. Then the song "Women and children" is referring to the downfall of humanity and wildlife, but you would not know that by reading the lyrics. Some of it is more simple , my family live far away so there's that isolation.
Abysmal-So I know you juggle working a regular job with making music , how is that ?
Tristan- I am lucky to work in a field closely on the engineering side. I like getting exposed to new technology, it gives me ideas to take back to what I do. Its an academic environment so not many musicians and creative types that leaves me working in a vacuum.
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