Toxic Rock Syndrome With BloodDuster

Wed 5th Jan, 2005 in Features

In a rather bloody FasterLouder exclusive, Nick Lord threw a few Dorothy Dixers at Blood Duster’s purveyour of bizarre urine rituals, Jason p.c

Considering the never-ending list of superlatives that groovy Fitzroy nu-metallers toss around when discussing Australia’s burgeoning metal scene – and considering how damn good some of the bands are – it never ceases to amaze me how such a large percentage of people are completely oblivious to what makes it so.

Two words, folks: Blood Duster.

Blood Duster is currently the largest metal band in the country. It’s also the smelliest, the most offensive and the weirdest. Taking in such songs like and Atracksuitisnotappropriatemetalapparel as they are delivered by a pack of blood-covered, mostly-naked men is a Zen-like experience.

So, what’s the sound of one man yapping? That’s easy. In this band, it’s resident wordsmith, spokesman and all-round-rock-slut, Jason p.c. He’s a man elected because of the diplomacy he brings to discussions about sensitive band issues. Knowing his distaste for dawdlers, I decided to cut right to the chase.

FL: Jason, you guys are damn successful. What are the sales figures for all your albums?

“How the fuck should I know?” he replies. “I’m in the band! Labels don’t like to give us any information like that. If we knew how many copies we were selling, then we’d know how much money we’re owed. Can you see the bind they [the labels] are in?”

FL: I’ve heard whisperings [like that one, a second ago] that the band has fallen out with Relapse Records. How did this come about?”They don’t want to pay us or give us sales figures but they want to own everything forever,” he says. “I guess those could be contributing factors. That, and the fact that they have had no interest in the band for the last few years besides getting albums handed to them for free, is maybe why there’s been a falling out.”

This all comes as a bit of a shock to me. I knew that the band had spent part of 2004 involved in court battles with Relapse Records but, in my mind, Relapse has long been considered one of the good guys. Primarily this is because of the label’s roster of unique and talented bands. Blood Duster is a perfect example of the Relapse philosophy of developing acts with a difference. Does this mean the honeymoon is over between them?

“We are no longer signed to anyone to the best of my knowledge,” says Jason.

I ask if Relapse is just like all the other record labels?

“In what way do you mean?” says Jason. “They put out records so they have that in common with other labels.”

FL: So, what are your biggest record label gripes?

“That they be bad people!”

FL: Do you ever get paid?

“We get paid now that I handle things,” says Jason, “and Dr. Jim was always honest and on time without any bullshit. We also get paid well for shows.”

Dr. Jim refers to Dr. Jim’s Records, the first label to release Blood Duster material with the release of the groundbreaking debut album Fisting the Dead (1993). This, together with the 1995 EP Yeast, is widely considered to be one of the first and strongest grindcore albums around and placed Blood Duster in direct competition with Australia’s other favourite sons, Damaged. While Damaged chose to continue with the intensity of grindcore, new material from Blood Duster revealed a talent for the stripped-back groove of “Redneck rock” as the website coins it.

With the 1998 full-length record Str8 Outta Northcote, the group’s first global release on Relapse Records, Blood Duster took huge steps towards cultivating a sound that is unmistakably all them. The band grabbed the dirtier elements of deathrock and sludgemetal and mashed them together with the groove-infused techniques of rhythm and blues to create their most experimental album to date and, quite possibly, their defining work.

After Str8 Outta Northcote, the merriment (and the deathrock) continued with Cunt, a rock album titled to “fuck with the label and the distribution.” But instead of sounding a death knell for the group, the notoriety pushes the flames of Blood Duster’s success higher still.

Marketing an album with a title like Cunt has proved easier than anyone could have imagined,” said a statement on the Blood Duster website, “with almost all magazine and radio media all too keen to spread the filthy word. This album resulted in the first magazine covers for Blood Duster and the highest chart placing yet! Who could have thought that an album called cunt could actually chart?

Sure, there were mixed reviews aplenty. I recently saw the album listed at number 8 on an Amazon.com list of “Albums that must be destroyed”, and K-mart certainly baulked at the proposition of stocking it but, title aside, the album succeeded in bringing more fans to the band. With the masses behind them, and a self-titled album loaded with chart toppers, Blood Duster landed the unthinkable: a spot at the legendary Big Day Out 2004 – previously unheard of for a band so genuinely non-mainstream. In true Blood Duster style, the boys lapped it up, beating Metallica’s Lars Ulrich at ping pong, bathing semi-naked with Dandy Warhols’ Zia McCabe (Zia McBabe, if you ask me) and getting spanked by one of Peaches’ dancers.

Will it happen again?

“Well, we are a metal band and lucky to be given a shot,” says Jason, “and I guess there are other bands that need a shot too. We are not the only metal band that should be playing. Alchemist deserve a go too.”

No strangers to the weird and wonderful, Blood Duster shows have contained some of the most anarchistic and histrionic moments in rock history. It was only a few months ago that vocalist Tony ended up with a ‘shattered collarbone and five stiches in the back of his skull after launching himself into the drum raiser during the third song of a Geelong gig. The injury caused the cancellation of a long list of Blood Duster shows in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth. I wonder if this was because the band made him wait until the end of the show before taking him to hospital.

It’s a natural progression to ask, “What’s the wildest thing Blood Duster ever did on stage?”

“I’ve seen quite a bit of stuff,” says Jason. “Multiple sex, piss… all kinds of stuff. I pissed on M-lo’s leg during a show full of Blood Duster-hating, non-drinking, scene policing emo kids and a male groupie once asked the whole band to piss on his Blood Duster merchandise for him.”

Knowing that the band is now in between labels, I ask what conditions would have to eventuate for them to “have their cake and eat it too.”

“We’d sell everything online,” says Jason, “with payments made directly in our account so no one else could rob or steal or be dishonest with something you have worked hard creating.”

FL: How far away is the next album?

“I’d say late next year, just in time for summer. We’re doin’ it for the fucking kids, man! We are releasing a split 7” with Venomous Concept shortly though.”

Venomous Concept, a sorta-punk supergroup, features The Brutal Truth’s Kevin Sharp, The Melvins’ Buzz and Shane and Danny from Napalm Death. I ask if the band has any big name producers in mind to go with such big name musicians.

“No, but Eric Valentine would be cool,” says Jason, “as the last couple of Dwarves albums sound awesome. Either that or someone like Rick Rubin, but I’m sure he would have no interest in a band like us.”

I comment that it’s refreshing that the band wishes to use someone other than D.W. Norton, the most overworked metal-producer and engineer in the land, and ask what Jason thinks of the fact that 90 per cent of Australia metal albums are recorded by the same man.

“They sound 90 per cent the same,” he responds in true stereo deadpan.

FL: With a history of compilation tracks and interesting covers, are there any particular projects that Blood Duster is looking to do?

“I would like to record the entire Blood, Guts and Pussy album by The Dwarves and release that as a mini cd or something,” says Jason.

With plans for extended re-releases of the entire Dr. Jim’s Records catalogue, that is, Fisting the Dead, Yeast and Str8 Outta Northcote, it looks like a very busy year for the boys in 2005. There is talk of a DVD, apparently already filmed, and an EP titled Drink. Fight. Fuck. which will include a handful of rarities also but what I really yearn for is the original Blood Duster demo titled Menstrual Soup. Only 1000 copies were ever sold and I’ve never even seen it, let alone heard it.

FL: The Blood Duster website mentions that it is impossible to get a copy of Menstrual Soup and that people should stop asking, right? Can I have a copy of Menstrual Soup?

“YES! It is newly available at our shows in a limited edition picture disc,” says Jason. “That will be $10 dollars, please.”

Stay tuned to FasterLouder.com.au for Blood Duster gigs.