Teddie Taylor interviews ASEETHE
Aseethe bears a rare, serene form of doom. In the midst of never-ending, stomach churning riffs, there exists a calm, enchanting feeling that opposes the generic connotations of their metal categorization. Before any section of one of their monumental tracks can become too comfortable, slight shifts occur to further build and intensify the eternal and inevitable downfall they foretell. The Iowans are like the eye of a hurricane in that at the center of their plodding power there is an unexpected sense of tranquility; Aseetheโs strength lies in the ability to blur the lines of torture and relaxation. In the wake of a February release, Hopes Of Failure, we talked to the trio before their damning set at Austin Terror Fest about the meditative aspects of repetition, Glenn Jones and nature.
Instead of listing bands that have inspired you, how have your favorite bands directly influenced what you do?
Danny Barr: I feel like as a musician, of course when youโre in love with a band and a record, you just pick up stuff.
Brian Barr: I think with some of the bands, just the way it appears they may work or the way they run their aesthetic, or the way they sound, that directly influences how we may operate. A lot of it comes from bands who don’t even sound like usย โ like Fugazi, who are very DIY. The way they work is very do-it-yourself and that definitely directly influences us. Sound-wise, seeing Sunn O))) and Neurosis and stuff and being completely destroyed by what theyโre doing liveย โ that definitely influences us.
Eric Diercks: I think sound-wise youโre always chasing something that you hear. Itโs not necessarily something thatโs based off of something youโve listened to forever, itโs always changing. At shows all the timeโฆitโs something new that you see. Youโre just always chasing and can never catch it. Yeah, which is also part of the fun of it. I donโt know if itโs necessarily something thatโs really influenced me.
Brian: Even listening to stuff in the van, like when we were listening to Majority Ruleย โ I hear elements of a record and Iโm like, You know what? Iโm going to use my delay pedal more on the next because what theyโre doing is awesome! [Laughs] I hear things in records where Iโm like, That sounds really cool. Maybe I can think about that. Not aping it completely, but obviously everybody borrows from everybody. Hearing other bands and what they’re doing and maybe taking your own inspiration from there. I do that all the time. Whoever Iโm listening to over the monthsย โ thatโs the way the riffs tend to go. [Laughs]
Eric: Well yeah, because thatโs whatโs influencing you at that point.
Brian: That would be a direct influence I guess.

Teddie Taylor
What attracts all of you to the drawn-out, slow sound that you have?
Eric: Weโre old. [Laughs]
Danny: To torture the audience. [Laughs]
Brian: That was it, right there. That was your answer. Silence. [Laughs] Iโm going to take ten minutes to speak and itโll be ten minutes to the next note! [Laughs] I think itโs meditative. Honestly, playing it and listening to this type of music, as a listener, itโs almost a meditative effect. Your eyes roll back in your head and you kind of just hear the sound and let it take you over. Thatโs for me, personally. Thatโs what draws me to it.
Eric: For sure.
Danny: I like the torture.
Brian: The torture? Of waiting for the next note, or the fact that itโs like, Come on, get on with it! Get on with the riff! Goddammit!
Danny: The first one. [Laughs]

Teddie Taylor
Related to what you just said, is there a reason behind the repeated parts other than creating this disorienting, trance-like state?
Eric: I donโt know if thereโs necessarily a reason behind it, itโs more of a feeling inside of when we feel that itโs ready to change. Itโs hard to explain I guess.
Brian: We use our own intuition. When we write this stuff, a lot of it is just like, Letโs just do every part four times. Just get the song written. A lot of the times four or eight. We usually play it pretty short.
Eric: We usually play it way faster and we play it really short.
Brian: As we start getting more solid we end up being like, I feel like this was too short or this is long enough or it should be longer. So how would that riff sound REALLY slow? REALLY slow it down.
Eric: Itโs our own intuition.

Teddie Taylor
The simplicity of your sound is what makes it so heavy and almost suffocating โ in a good way. Do you find it hard not to overcomplicate things when you write?
Brian: Actually, we usually overcomplicate things at first.
Danny: Yeah, we always do.
Brian: We do. We come from playing in hardcore bands, so usually thereโs a lot more stuff going on and then we just kind of strip it down from there. We donโt start from the other end of the spectrum. It usually starts out more complicated.
Eric: And then we start picking apart, What is the basic part of this riff or this rhythm that makes it stand out to us? What can we pull away from it so weโre not just doing stuff to do it?
Brian: Itโs like creating a piece with the least amount of lines possible. Thatโs the way we strip it down to its very basic necessities where we feel itโs interesting enough, maybe to us playing it. You exactly hit the nail on the headย โ that draws you in to the power behind it because we’re able to hit these notes with a lot of power.

Teddie Taylor
Since the songs are so expansive, when you write how do you get to the point of itโs finished?
Danny: Thatโs usually impossible. We donโt even really know.
Eric: We donโt really know.
Danny: Itโs up to Eric. He decides.
Eric: A lot of the endings are usually kind of open-ended so they can be a little bit longer. Yeah, I donโt even think we know.
Brian: Itโs just on our own intuition again. Weโre never really like, I think itโs done. Actually, when we come up with the end riff where we feel like, This is the end riff, then the song is done. It just depends on how long we want to play that end riff. Sometimes five minutes, sometimes ten minutes.
Danny: You always have an end riff.
Eric: That is definitely end riff.
Brian: Itโs down on our board when we write. Part one. Part two. Part three. End riff. Dot dot dot. So we know itโs not done until we come up with that riff that ends it. Thatโs just what it has to be. Otherwise weโre like, weโre just going to keep writing.
Eric: Weโre just gonna keep going!
Indefinitelyโฆ
Eric: Thatโs just going to be another riff!
Thrill Jockey has everything from folk-country to experimental metal. When you were sort of shopping around for labels, was it important that you found somewhere that you stood out and weren’t just another metal band?
Brian: Actually, weโve had an established relationship with them for the past four years or so, because they distributed our last two records, so we literally only sent our record, done, recorded and mastered, to two labels. One of them being Thrill Jockey, they were the only people that we had worked with and had a good rapport with. It just so happened that one of those was Thrill Jockey.
Danny: Bettina picked it up right away. That was really fast.
Brian: As a musician and a person who likes music, I donโt just like heavy music. I like a lot of other stuff on their label. Sometimes I try to shy a little bit away from in-your-face metal aesthetic. You know? So, itโs kind of nice to be on a label that is eclectic and not justโฆ You go to their site and this is a metal site and definitely a metal label. Itโs not necessarily a bad thing, but itโs my personal taste. SUMAC and The Body and the heavy bands on that label are just amazing. To be in their company is pretty incredible.
Danny: I think Glenn Jones is the heaviest band on that label.
Brian: Glenn Jones?! [Laughs]
Danny: I do love some Glenn Jones.
Eric: Glenn Jones is great! Nice guy, too.
Danny: Never met him.
Eric: Aw, heโs super awesome.
You mean you haven’t met everyone on the label yet!? [Laughs]
Eric: We met Glenn Jones before. It was four or five years ago. He was playing in Dubuque at a place called Monkโs and we just went and saw him play.
Brian: He gave me some drink tickets for The Mill in Iowa City. He was like, Youโre from Iowa City?! I got these drink tickets that I didnโt use last night. Here you go!
Eric: I have not used those drink tickets. They went into the record that I bought that night. Thatโs the only time I get fanboy-ish.
Brian: I remember when I got these drink tickets. I was in Dubuque! [Laughs]

Teddie Taylor
The lyrics on the new record are environmental-based, right? How does nature inspire you musically, if at all?
Danny: Itโs all we care about.
Brian: Thereโs a reason why we did West coast tours for the most part. Not because the music sceneโs great and we know some bands out there, but going to the mountains is amazing. Iโd rather drive through the mountains if Iโm going to be in a van.
Than the plains of Texas?! [Laughs]
Brian: Yeah! No offense Texas.
Danny: I love Texas.
Why?!
Brian: Heโs a lizard.
Danny: I am a lizard.
Brian: Iโve always had a good time here but when Iโm not driving.
Eric: Yeah, when youโre not driving through.
Brian: People try to draw lines between the cornfields of Iowa, but I donโt think that has much bearing on how the way we sound. I enjoy a walk or two. [Laughs]
Danny: You old man. [Laughs] Nature is just important and I feel like it should be brutally pushed in peopleโs faces. Although no one can understand our lyricsโฆ
Brian: We are but ants, really. Anything can wipe us out at any point and it would normally be nature. All of our buildings. Everything. Being from the Midwest, a tornado could come and wipe everything that you own away. By the same token, we should protect the fact that we live on a blue ball floating in space. And nothing else.
Danny: And respect it.
Brian: And respect it. Especially when you have politicians and corporations who have the most short-sighted view just to make a quick profit. And then people who blindly believe it or for it or donโt see the importance.
Danny: I donโt think anyone actually believes it, they just donโt give a shit.
Brian: Let the other people in the future sort it out, but I can make an extra few jillion dollars.
Danny: We warned you we were bad at this, right? [Laughs]
Itโs good! Not the worst, if thatโs any comfort. What do you hope people feel or come away with when they listen to you?
Danny: I always answer this question and itโs always ridiculous.
ย

Teddie Taylor
Well whatโs your ridiculous answer?
Danny: I want people to be sad.
Eric: Just be sad!
Danny: They always give me that look! Thatโs why I donโt know why Iโm the only person to answer this question.
Eric: I donโt know if itโs necessarily sad, I would prefer that they were somehow emotionally affected. Not necessarily sad.
Danny: Coming from the dude that has no feelings.
Eric: I have feelings dammit!
Brian: I would say probably drawn in enough that they were physically and mentally exhausted. Mentally exhausted, I guess.
Danny: Thatโs good… Thatโs better than sad.
Brian: We just want people to be sad. [Laughs] Thatโs what weโre about โ ruining everybodyโs day. [Laughs] You know, heavy music is supposed to be dark. To me, it has always been more dark.
Danny: You donโt listen to doom metal to feel like you want to play with a puppy.
Brian: You donโt listen to it to think that everythingโs going to be okay.
Danny: Itโs there to tell you, No, youโre right, itโs horrible. [Laughs]
Brian: And now youโre going to listen to this crushing guitar and bass.
Danny: But itโs reassurance. If you listen to that kind of music, I feel like doom metal in particular, even funeral doom, like Bell Witch, when Iโm really depressed, makes me feel better. Itโs like, Yep, Iโm not out of my mind. There are other people.
Eric: Thereโs other people who are also out of their mind?
Danny: Yes!
Brian: It could be on the other end, how they say crying makes you happy in the end because it releases endorphins and all that stuff. Maybe Iโm giving doom metal too much credit now, though. Itโs not quite like bawling your eyes out and then feeling great in the end. But I guess you got it all out.
Danny: Weโre not like that because after weโre done playing people are just trying to get the ringing out of their ears. [Laughs]
Brian: You guys were heavy! [Laughs]
Itโs almost peaceful, though. I think it is.
Brian: Oh, well thank you! Thatโs cool.
Danny: Thatโs like the best compliment weโve ever gotten.
The repetitive parts. Itโs not like assaulting black metal. The drawn-out aspect makes it peaceful.
Danny: Weโre not destructive.
Brian: Yeah, I can see where youโll listen to a black metal or even a tech metal record and itโs an assault of riffs. You donโt even remember the riff that was three down because itโs just insanity. You listen to Ulcerate and youโre like, I donโt even know what they played just two minutes ago. It was amazing, but I donโt remember! So, yeah, we try to make it flow in a way that pulls people through it. And yeah, weโre into repetition. One of my biggest influences is Swans and they freakinโ play those chords forever.
Danny: Most of those songs are just one riff.
Eric: Like one drum beat!
Brian: Yeah, for twenty minutes! Who oddly enough, is like the heaviest band live. Theyโre ridiculously heavy live. I try and will never probably get there.
Danny: No oneโs Michael Gira. No one.
Brian: Michael Gira.
Danny: Michael Gira is apparently Michael Gira. In my mind, heโs like a god.
Eric: The first time when I got to see them when they came back on that first record, it was like a bunch of dudes in their mid-50s that sound heavier than any metal band Iโve ever freakinโ seen. Every fuckinโ metal band that Iโve ever seen thatโs super heavy and dark โ itโs like, nope.
Danny: Is that the show I went to? That was intense.
Brian: The most intense band. I donโt know if youโve seen them live?
Not yet. I missed them and itโs maybe #2 on my list of regrets.
Brian: Definitely catch them. Especially this lineup because I think itโs changing after this. Heโs changing the lineup up, from what I read. Not for another year or so, but yeah, itโs pretty incredible. Them and Neurosis. Those two bands live are probably the two that I could say are the most influential. Neurosis doesnโt seem to get into the repetition as much as they used to. Both bands are incredibly cathartic, but powerful and you donโt think about anything else when youโre watching them.

Teddie Taylor
And itโs not complicated. Itโs simple.
Brian: No, itโs not! Itโs not overly complicated. Thereโre delicate intricacies in there. Subtle intricacies in there if you just listen to the music. There are subtle changes within there but if you arenโt listening theyโll pass you by.
Eric: I think that type of stuff draws you in more emotionally. Those slight, subtle changes.
Danny: Yeah, they hit you in different spots.
Eric: It more emotionally tugs at you than just straight, forceful, tough guy metal. Beat you to death metal.
Danny: Thatโs why we try to do little subtleโฆ You do your cymbal scratches.
Brian: Thereโs not as much on this record. We used to have a lot more noise. We used to be noise and then doom.
Danny: And then I joined and ruined it.
Eric: You didnโt ruin it, geez!
