It’s only February 2, but Chicago-based Meth has already released one of the heaviest records of the year with their second album SHAME. An unsettling feeling permeates the record as the band takes you to new depths of sadness with stellar, hard rhythmic instrumentation. -Impactful lyrics that deal with devoted trauma, guilt, addiction, and lost innocence, and a visceral voice that you can feel on a molecular level. SHAME is now available through Prosthetic Records. methamphetamine. They are traveling lately in North America and will be traveling through the western United States in the spring.
Punknews editor-in-chief Em Moore sat down with bassist Nathan Spainhower to talk to him about the album, his integration into the band, ghosts, the purple curse, and much more. Read the interview below!
SHAME is the first gambling version of methamphetamine. How did you get involved in the band?
Andrew and I have been in hardcore bands on and off for ten years. I was originally in a band with him years ago and I know most of those guys. I’ve known Seb and Andrew for a long time. When the pandemic hit, methamphetamine. The speed slowed down and when things started to improve, the old bass player, Kyle, broke tactics with the band. Seb posted on Facebook: “Hey, methamphetamine. is looking for a new bass player. You want your own vehicle, your own device, and your own travel experience. “I sat on the couch with my wife at the time, leaned over to her, and said, “I think I’ll get a phone call here in about 30 minutes. “Sure enough, Andrew said, “Hey, are you back in town?” I like: “Am I going to use meth?And he said, “If you want. ” That’s how it happened. I was a fan of the band before. I thought they were wonderful and I had noticed them several times, so I knew the music well. It’s quite logical.
How would you describe the dynamics of the group?
Music can be unforgiving and punishing and I think we try to be as scary and harsh as possible. We are the opposite of this as an organization. [laughs] We’re all the dumbest and dumbest, so we laugh a lot together. It’s no challenge to be in this organization. When you play, it’s a real test because “Recheck the output to channel all the fucking negativity you can, but after that, have a great time together. We all love to swoon and do this together. We’re lucky to have an organization of other people that we get along with so well. We all get upset and think, “You’re my teddy bear! No, no, you’re my teddy bear! [laughs]
Like the atmosphere of promotional photographs where you are surrounded by flowers and nature.
That was amazing. That day we went to our friend Vanessa’s house, she plays guitar in a screaming band called Crowning and she’s also a wonderful photographer, and we said, “Okay, let’s go to the basement of her studio and find a cool guy of steel. “”Images in which we’re all hunting down the angry got herera. “It was like, “It sucks because it’s like we’re hunting to put anything in. “Then Seb came up with the idea of doing something like Throbbing Gristle. like, “Let’s go out into nature and be satisfied and smiling. “This one was a lot of fun. We had the most productive time.
This album was recorded through guitarist Zack Farrar at the Rose Raft in New Douglas, Illinois. How did you find where to record?
I need not be wrong, but I think our drummer Andrew knew someone who had recorded there. It’s a farm that was once a funeral home. It’s become this two-story space where other people record. One part is a kitchen and living room and the other part is this awesome living room. Zack is a very smart engineer. We took his control console and what little outboard gear he had, they delivered it there and just plugged it in for a week.
Did you have any scary moments there because it used to be a funeral home or was quiet?
It was quite cold. That’s not to say we’re looking to stir up ghosts or anything like that [laughs], however, those kinds of bands would enjoy watching scary recordings. But no, it was all pretty kosher. It didn’t bother them much, which I guess is a smart thing to do.
Probably the best part is that you don’t need to make ghosts angry.
Probably the best. No, and they ruin the recording or whatever.
All portions are spoiled. You have a mysterious organizational voice.
Someone bent over all day to tune my bass.
Strings are snapping.
Don’t want that. That’s not good for business so at least they were respectful.
How would you describe the overall atmosphere of the studio?
How wonderful. I think all of us instrumentalists were looking to be together at the beginning. Seb wasn’t there for this role, he did his roles later. We were all looking to get into that little area and not have distractions. We all worked from 12:00 to 20:00 or from 12:00 to 21:00 and I had a great time. It was also very fast. I think we ended up packing our bags and leaving a day early because we had already done everything.
How would you describe your songwriting process?
I came to the band when the record was maybe partially finished or at least the skeletons of the songs were there. Some of them had been around for a while. I think “Give In” has been around in some form since 2019. Normally, it starts with Zack laughing on the guitar. He made an effort on this album to concentrate less on riffs and more on a textural technique of the genre: “How dirty and greasy can I make my guitar sound?How much can I do this without having to rely on riffs or core techniques?”Points or something? So it’s Zack who comes up with anything that looks awful, and then Andrew puts a beat on it, like anything that matches what Zack produces, and then we all apply the most sensitive thing to that. It comes out pretty well It forms before Seb starts making a song about it. End up taking a stand in this process.
Do you have the theme of the album in mind when you write the instruments or are the instrumentals the theme of the album?
I think the way it all worked out was a coincidence, because when Seb presented us with the concept for the record, it made a lot of sense given the absolutely dark sound of the record. I think that, in general, the instruments influence how the voices are going to be written. . With the track, I think Seb needed to get rid of a lot of that, and the absolute sadness of the instrumentals contributed even more.
What helped you this dark shade?
I’m blowing really hard. [laughs] I would say the emphasis on musical moderation. For me in particular, it’s a record where I sought to play fewer notes and be much more intentional in everything we did. Because of this, it’s much more overwhelming and time-consuming in inputs than I imagined. I can’t speak completely for the rest of the guys, because on a lot of previous releases, other people called them mathcore or mathgrind where there were a lot of notes and a lot of subtleties. There’s more effort on this album to say, “Let’s be slower, slower, more crushing, darker, and more painful. Let’s scale down and just push what’s harder. “
What were you hearing on the recording?
When I joined the band, I was told, “You have to pay attention to Vile Luxury through Imperial Triumphant,” a pre-jazz black steel band founded in New York City. I think it was combined through Colin Marston, who combined our record. It’s been a big influence. Swans has a huge influence on this group, and probably will be at all times. Bands like Gilla Band too. Personally, I love Converge. Whenever I think of dark hardcore, steelcore or steel, Converge is a band I always go through. We have a lot of comparisons to Godflesh, which I think is wonderful because I love Streetcleaner. Pay attention to that record all the time. It’s conceivable that this has also leaked out a bit. It’s not something I pay that much attention to, but Andrew and Zack were very influenced by it at the time.
How were you going to put your influences into it?
I come more from punk and hardcore, so I think those genres lend themselves more to attitude or intensity than technical prowess. For me, it was just a matter of betting on my component or making sure my functionality was as competitive as possible and had as much attitude as possible. It’s not about making sure that everything is in the song and that everything plays perfectly, it’s about making sure that everything is played deliberately, very loudly, and really desperately. I think that’s how I locate my voice in the clutter. methamphetamine. [laughs] I think it’s probably a matter of attitude, rather than the notes you play.
The music video for “Shame” filmed in Metro in Chicago. What does this position mean to you?
I have worked at the Metro for about 6 or 7 years now. I started in 2017 and I’ve worked on their production team for most of that time. I just sent an email to the owner and asked, “Hey, do you mind if we use the fourth-floor theatre?” It’s called the Top Note Theatre and every now and again there will be shows up there but it is a very spooky kind of haunted theatre. Almost everybody who’s worked at Metro for some time has some sort of weird, creepy ghost story. [laughs] We had a spot fall through for where we were going to shoot the video and I said, “Hey, I’m sure Metro would not mind us coming up to do it”. Dave Cullen from Crowning did the video. We have a lot of Crowning on the release of this album. [laughs] Those guys are homies. Lowell from Crowning also plays in Frail Body who are super big homies of ours. We love those guys.
What’s your Metro ghost story?
The ones I’ve been closest to are like a mop bucket flying out of the janitor’s closet and the door slams shut. In Chicago there’s Mr. Leather International Weekend, which is a great gay occasion and we’ve had a lot of dance parties. We were closing the stall after dark, our lighting manager had turned off the lighting fixtures, and all the fixtures were off. Then the light fixtures were turned back on and made the colors of the rainbow shine. [laughs] And we thought, “Huh? We looked at Haley, who said, “Man, the truck left. I don’t know what it was! So, was it something newly programmed?It makes more sense, I don’t know. There’s a ghost and his call is Rose. It leaves a floral and aromatic aroma. Every once in a while you can walk on the balcony and feel it. kind of weird.
This one is quite interesting. My mom passed away about two years ago and about a week later I went back to painting because, you know, I have to pay my bills. Of course, I was disappointed to lose someone so close to me, and I went up to the lighting. loft. I had all this negativity in me, disappointment and all this darkness. I went in there and things started falling off the walls. They gave us guitar stands there and extension cords. I think two things fell down on the walls and I said, “Okay, I’m out of here!”For me, I was the one who entered an area with so much negative power that whatever spirit was there, I would just say “No” and get started. Telling me something like, “No, get out! I’m not going to deal with it now. “So it was anything else. There are also some strange things going on there.
Why is it so haunted? What’s all this?
The building was once a Swedish network years ago, it’s an incredibly old construction. It’s also above the Smartbar, one of Chicago’s oldest bars. There are several exits. They call them “Capone Entrance” or “Foo Fighters Entrance” or whatever because you can get other people in or out through those secret doors. A few other people have died on the spot over the years. We have had incidents with the elevator to the offices. People have died in accidents. Apparently, someone has been killed. I think it’s possibly Rose’s story, that she may have been murdered there. It’s just one of those constructions with a lot of other people coming in and out, there’s a lot of life in it. . I’m a bit skeptical, I’m not necessarily a true believer, however, there are some strange things going on there. I think the fact that there are so many other people who have gone there and come there will have to have an experience. an effect on that.
Is the red light that’s used in the video a callback to the Choir of Red Light?
methamphetamine. It’s just kind of a red stripe. [laughs] At one point, we tried to say, “Okay, let’s do a purple display. ” The display was horrible. It was so bad. Zack found out he had COVID 3 hours earlier. I think we were the opening act for the group Omerta. They’re cool guys and they’ve been supporting our band for a while, so we were like, “No, we can’t cancel the show! We put purple lighting fixtures on our lamp and did the best we could. I think after that, we said : “No, I think we are a red stripe. I think we just have to be red from now on. ” [laughs]
Curse of purple.
It was a good shot to try to get out of our comfort zones by putting a different colour bulb in but some things are just meant to be. meth. is just a red band. I think maybe Seb wanted to get away from everything being red, red, red a little bit but then the record’s called SHAME and what is “shame” but that blush-red colour. We have a song called “Blush” and at the release show we’re going to have a specialty cocktail called “Blush”. Red is just the meth. colour. Unfortunately for us, we just have to stick with being the red band forever.
Maybe we’ll softly release the next Being Blue album. I fuck with the Blue too, I think it’s a shit that reigns supreme. We said the other day on a podcast that we were some kind of pissing band. I think we were going to make a variant of the urine disc or the canopy was going to be an opaque color, so we’re betting on that as well. We’ll see what the temperament of the next album is.
I like the “urine clump. “
Yes, pissing. We were talking about this podcast and I went off on a tangent like, “I think Seb and I would pee our pants on stage. I think Mike would, too. We’re going to have a hard time getting Andrew to pee. “”The young man who interviewed us was incredibly cool and then became a little calmer. I don’t think I’m in a position to do that. But it’s rock ‘n’ roll.
What’s in your specialty cocktail?
I think there’s something about Sprite and grenadine that gives it that blushing color. I think we make rum and maybe some other fruit. Here we go, it’s kind of a riff on a cocktail called “Unicorn Piss” with our own modifications. I’m not a vodka guy, I’m more of a rum guy. I like to add a little flavor to the liquor.
Tonight [February 1] you’re kicking off your North American tour and then you’ll be touring the Western US in April with Dreamwell and State Faults. What are you looking forward to the most about these shows?
There’s some cities that we’re going to that I’ve never been to and I imagine that there’s some that the whole band has not been to yet. For me personally, it’s checking more of those cities off my bucket list. I’ve never made it out to Portland or Seattle so those are going to be really fun. We’ve played some shows with Dreamwell and they’re awesome. I don’t know the State Faults guys but I’m sure that they’ll be great. But yeah, just getting out and working. We’ve been sitting on this record for so long, we just want to get out there and see what people’s reactions are – what songs they like, what they respond to. We just want to get out and work now that we’ve got to this point where it sort of makes sense for us to go out and hit the road a lot.
Which one from the album do you prefer to play live?
I think the name of the song “Shame” exemplifies all of the most productive aspects of meth. There’s the noise rock guitar genre, there’s a very punchy, hypnotic drum beat, and there’s a punchy, punchy bass line. The lyrics and vocal functionality are wonderful and dynamic. I think it’s possibly my favorite to play live just because of the way the song is conceived. It may not be much fun to play my instrument, but being part of this cacophony of sound is a wonderful thing. experience. I think “Shame” is definitely the one I’ll enjoy playing the most each and every night.
Are you going to play the entire tour album or combine it?
Yes, we’ll be betting our full album on our launch showcase on February 2nd at Thalia Hall. I think we’re going to trim it down a little bit. Tonight [February 1st] we’re going to play some new songs, some old songs. We’re probably going to play the song that we released on Secret Voice tonight, it’s called “Blind Animal. “We put it on Jeremy Bolm’s screaming compilation, Balladeers, Redefined. It ended up being wonderful and great and I’m so glad I was able to do that. For the rest of the tour, we’ll be mainly going for new songs, although we’re going to have some old ones just for the kids. Kids love old things too.
What does the long term hold for methamphetamine?
I hope there will be a lot of touring. Just play in cities we’ve never been to and play in cities we’ve played in a few times. I’m looking forward to some interesting visits. We’ve been given some headliners coming up. Some interesting and unpublished things that I can’t communicate or give a full description of, but we are in a position to eventually move to Europe at the end of the year. We haven’t worked out all the main points yet, but this will be the first time any of us have. In fact, we’re excited to start racing and see where the record takes us.
Around the world!
With a bit of luck. Mike made a clever comment once: I think we had just gotten in the van after betting on a really smart gig and he said, “Man, I enjoyed doing this when nobody cared, so it’s salsa. It’s a supplement. ” That other people pay attention to us and help us means everything to us. Whatever happens, we’re going to do it because we love it. If we feel like we’re doing the most productive task we can, that’s what matters, that’s what helps us keep going.
At the end of the day, we’re proud of it.
Yes, surely. If there’s one thing we can keep in mind, it’s that it’s an authentic and simple experience. Surely it’s just methamphetamine in its purest form.